From the Heart of the Pastor

​We are in the midst of the most important week of the year.  Maybe this is not your most important week professionally or financially or socially.  This may not even be your happiest or most fulfilling week this year.  As a matter of fact, by December of this year you may not even remember anything about this week.  This week of April may just be dates on an old calendar, but in terms of what this week celebrates, there are none more important.  This is Holy Week or Passion Week.  This is the week between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Day.
          Of course, we all know Easter is important, but why emphasize the whole week leading up to Easter?  I am convinced that we cannot accurately understand the resurrection of Sunday morning without understanding the events leading up to that moment.  The resurrection of Jesus did not happen in a vacuum void of other events. In other words, many historical events took place leading up to that most glorious moment.  In fact, all of Scripture points to that ultimate moment of resurrection.  There can be no glorious resurrection apart from the agony of the cross.  Every event occurring in that final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry is important to our redemption.  From the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday to the temple cleansing and cursing of the fig tree at the beginning of the week to the sharing of the Passover meal with his disciples, all of these are profoundly important.
          What Jesus did for us deserves our careful, thoughtful, prayerful reflection.  Take some time this week to study God’s Word.  Read about Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem.  Remember, we don’t do this merely out of curiosity, but out of love.  Remind your children or your grandchildren about the significance of what Jesus did.  There is no week more important in all of human history than Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem.  Thank you, Lord, for the power of the resurrection.
          I hope you will make it a priority to join us on Thursday evening at 7:00pm for our Maundy Thursday service and observance of the Lord’s Supper.  It will be a special time of remembrance and worship.  Finally, I want to ask you to pray for our time together on Sunday.  There is no day more special than Resurrection Day.  Pray that all of us will encounter the Living Christ.  One hymn states it correctly, “O breath of God, come fill this place; Revive our hearts to know Your Grace; And from our slumber make us rise That we may know the Risen Christ.”
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig