Maundy Thursday and Good Friday
Maundy Thursday
Celebrated on the Thursday of Easter Week, Maundy Thursday is the celebration commemorating the dinner Jesus shared with his disciples and the beginning of Passover. In modern Christendom, it is what we commonly refer to as communion or the Lord’s Supper.
Communion is a holy event. It is a place where God is, and where God is, it’s holy. It’s a time of introspection. Just as the disciples questioned themselves if they were the one who would sell out Jesus, it’s not a bad question to ask yourself - Is there anything that I love more than our Lord?
Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and life and if he reveals something that you need to ask forgiveness for or make a change in your behavior? This is the time to do it. He has promised us…
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Good Friday
Good Friday is the day we remember the crucifixion of Christ. Though for us, salvation is a gift and costs us nothing, it is the most extravagant, unobtainable gift that we could ever expect to be given. Not only was it the death of Christ, but it was the cruelest of deaths.
Read through Psalm 22. This is a prophetic Psalm written over 500 years before the Romans devised the torturous death by crucifixion. It begins with words familiar to those who know the Easter story, but few know that it is a part of a song. This is the first verse…
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Could Jesus have been singing while nailed on the cross?
Now look at Isaiah 53, it tells us why and what he was dying for.
The prophet Isaiah would write about him…
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord make his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:4-12
May Christ be with you and may you grow closer to him during this Easter season.
Pastor Greg
Pastors Blog
I really hope you took your time and followed through in your reading last week. Some of the greatest scriptures and promises are found there. This week our reading will deal with the issues of the birth rite of Israel which might seem a little less interesting but the whole idea of how gentiles are grafted into the relationship that God created for the descendants of Abraham. The word of the prophets quoted in chapter 10 and 11 speak to the inclusion of the gentiles. That will be our stopping place for this week. It will be tempting to jump ahead, but hold on, enjoy Easter, and be thankful God included us in His plan.
If you are just now joining us here is what we are doing.
As you study scripture, it is helpful to hear and see scripture through various wordsmiths and writings. I recommend using an app called Biblegateway.com. It will be helpful in locating this scripture as well as various translations. The various translations will not give you different meaning but might give you a new insight because you are reading it differently than the words you have memorized but no longer stimulate your brain because of overuse. If it is confusing to you, just call me and let’s see if we can get through it together.
Now here is the way I would like you to begin. Set aside a time when you can intentionally set a time and place where you can be alone with God. Begin with a simple prayer and ask God to speak to you and to give you an understanding of the verse today. Write this down in your journal.
Also use this as a time of worship. Listen to some praise and worship music and sing along. No one else is there so if you are slightly off key, and no one knows. Does God ever speak to you through music?
Examine your life, is there anything you feel as though you might need to confess to God anything that you have said or done?
If there are inconsistent areas in your life, confess them, and leave them, move on with life changed and empowered by Christ’s strength.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John1:9
Then give some time to just sit and fellowship with the Lord.
Journaling is not for the faint of heart. It is a true discipline. But write down your thoughts, your prayers, and when you think God is speaking to you, write it down. Listen. If you need to share I will be happy to meet with you or find someone who can assist you. But most importantly, learn to listen to God’s voice and obey Him.
Blessings
Pastor Greg
Personalize God’s Messages
A few weeks I asked you to begin a new discipline for most people, that is to use a journal in your daily quiet time. That we begin our quiet time with a time of worship, Bible reading, and that our prayers be written down as well. People have told me that writing their prayers enables them to feel as though their prayers have been literally handed over to God for his leadership in their lives. This week as we go through the reading of Romans 8, I would like you to do a little extra in your recordings. Romans 8 is filled with things that God has done for us and I would like for you to re-Write the sentence with your name placed within the sentence.
For example, Romans 8:1 …
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
becomes
1 Therefore, there is no condemnation for Greg Mills who is in Christ Jesus.
Obviously there is more to write from this verse, so don’t stop with one, list all you can find.
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you a free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, b God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. c And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life d because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of e his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. f And by him we cry, “Abba, g Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that h the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who i have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, k neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Lent 2022
Lent is a common practice among Christian denominations. In most western churches, Lent is the 40 days not counting Sundays before Easter. The word Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means spring. In 325 the council Nicaea discussed the Lenten season, but it wasn’t until the time of Gregory the Great that the start of the season was established on a Wednesday.
The 40 days is symbolic of the 40 days Christ was in dessert and the 40 years Moses had to endure before reaching the Promised Land.
Ash Wednesday is the day when Catholics and other similar denominations allow their priests or ministers to put ashes on the parishioners as a symbolic gesture. The ash is made from palm branches the year before. Palm branches are used in remembrance of Christ entering Jerusalem.
John 12:13
Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed [is] the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
The ash is more or less supposed to be in the form of a cross. The minister or priest will take his finger into the ash and make the sign of the cross on the forehead making a cross shape.
Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Fasting is also a part of the Lenten season. There are many forms of fasting. To do without the consumption of food was the original concept, denying the physical for the enhancement of the spiritual.
When the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t heal a young man and Jesus could he answered…. These things come about by prayer and fasting.
So Christians, seeking to be more spiritually empowered, employ fasting as a means of obtaining that power, but are amiss in the use of fasting. Fasting leads us to a place of subduing the physical and elevating the spiritual making us more aware of the movement of the spirit rather than giving ourselves to physical desires and mental amusements which both wrestle for our attention over everything else.
In modern days, a larger understanding of fasting has taken hold. Fasting is described as the elimination of anything in one’s life for a period of time. Things like - giving up desserts, cutting back on television, or using profanity. All of these would be good things to do, but they do not accomplish the original purpose of fasting. Again, not that they are bad, but if we are only focused on what we are giving up, and not focused on what we wish to become spiritually, we lose the full benefit of fasting.
So, how shall we celebrate these days preceding Easter?
We are going to look at using other spiritual disciplines to help us enhance our Easter experience and growth.
The first discipline we will look at is to study.
To develop this discipline, you’ll need to use a special notebook or journal.
Paul commends his young mentoree, Timothy…
Study to show yourself approved of God a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing need the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Today, I want you to begin by studying this verse. Biblegateway.com will be helpful in locating this scripture as well as various translations.
Now here is the way I would like you to begin. Set aside a time when you can intentionally set a time and place where you can be alone with God. Begin with a simple prayer and ask God to speak to you and to give you an understanding of the verse today. Write this down in your journal.
Also use this as a time of worship. Listen to some praise and worship music and sing along. No one else is there so you are being slightly off key, and no one else matters. Does God speak to you through music?
Examine your life, is there anything you feel as though you might need to confess to God anything that you have said or done?
If there are inconsistent areas in your life, confess them, and leave them, move on with life changed empowered by Christ’s strength.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John1:9
Then, give some time to just sit and fellowship with the Lord.
Tomorrow I will share with you a passage that we are going to spend some time in for awhile.
Please let me know if you are participating and then let us know what God is telling you and how He is a part of our Easter.