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1 Corinthians 15:54b-58 – “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. ⁵⁷ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

What a statement!  This was perhaps the first declaration of independence ever recorded.  But it wasn’t independence from people or another nation but from the greatest bondage of all time, sin.  Up until Christ, sin had no antidote.  Nothing could reverse its effects on the human race.  But the Apostle Paul is making it very clear in the above passage this was no longer true.  Death, sin’s greatest travesty, has already been defeated.

Since Adam’s one act of disobedience, sin and death had ruled the destiny and purpose of man.  Paul is declaring, through the act of the second Adam, we are free from the fruit of the first Adam’s actions!  As a result of Jesus’ selfless death and His resurrection, we now have the ability to live strong and confident in everything we do.  This victory at the cross enables us to freely carry on the life Jesus started for us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, whatever we are adversely facing today, we know the outcome has already been determined.  Help us to make our own declaration of independence from sin, disease, depression and lack!  By doing so, we will align ourselves with Your will and become a very useful instrument in Your hands.  Amen.

Pastor Art Barrett
New Life Christian Church

John 19:34-35 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out. 35 This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account; it is presented so that you also can believe.

This gnarly eyewitness account leads to another, “so that” in the story of Jesus. “So thats” are always worth a pause.

“So that you also can believe” is an invitation just too good to miss. It’s an invitation saying ‘come closer.’ You may come closer to this Jesus without distrust. The original language has the invitation bowing before us saying, “others have come this way, you too are most welcome.”

The soldier, the piercing, the flow of blood and water, all say, ‘Jesus is real, He was here, He was really dead.’ The eyewitness is emphasis, You can trust this, He really laid His life down for you. Believe it.

Ten times in John we find little phrases like “so that you can believe.” Over and over our heavenly Father responds to our need for assurance. Over and over Jesus paves the way for faith, for belief, trust. “So that” points to the purpose of this passage, to evoke the fruit of faith in you.

‘Oh I believed long ago.’ Biblical faith is not static, it is constantly responding to invitation. Responding to the invitation, the gap between where I am and where Jesus bids me come, grows smaller.

On this day embrace the invitation. Today, pause and consider the cross. Jesus pierced and bloodied is real. The cross is not silent.  The cross shouts, ‘You can trust Him.’

Let the invitation leak into your place of doubt and insecurity.  Hear the Spirit’s voice, ‘Come closer, believe.’

Prayer: Heavenly Father may we hear the invitation to come closer today. May we take courage in the eyewitness account and respond in faith, believing still more. We pray in the name of the King whom we trust. Amen

***believe present active subjunctive

Pastor Doug Stevens
The Leadership Connection

John 19:28-30 Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures he said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

We cannot know the depth of suffering endured by Jesus on the cross.  We can only imagine —but our best effort to empathize falls far short.

We may know about the discomfort of deprivation, or have some personal experience of physical pain that became a protracted agony, or some memory of social rejection, or some recollection of betrayal, or some connection with a history of injustice — or even been victimized by a cruel conspiracy.  But the cross, this Cross, the Cross of Christ, was unlike any trauma any human has ever faced.

This man was the only innocent man ever executed.  Actually the only sinless man who ever lived.  That he would be so viciously treated is the worst travesty of all time.  And he willingly went to his execution — because of his great love for us and his decision to take our place and absorb the punishment due each of us.  And we didn’t realize or care that this man was carrying our sin.  Before we knew him, we were his enemies.  It was an utterly lonely, indescribably brutal, absolutely undeserved, pitiless and apparently meaningless death.  No one understood, his religious rivals reviled, his close friends abandoned, and his own Father turned away.  There was hell to pay, and he alone paid.

“I am thirsty,” he cried out, and he was offered a swab of bitter vinegar.  And then, ”It is finished,” was spoken with his last breath.  This is where the mystery deepens; we stand in awe, and are at a loss for words.  He endured what no one else has, to accomplish what no one else could.  We cannot comprehend his suffering, but he fully embraces ours — the condemnation we are now freed from, and our great thirst that he fully satisfies.

Prayer: God, we are so grateful.  That you would meet our hostility and indifference with such kindness is beyond explanation.  That Jesus would endure to the bitter end, once and for all time, proves your love for us and our value to you.  What can we do … but thank you with our lives, taking up our cross in solidarity with the One who redeems and releases us.  We love you.  From now on and every day, we belong to you and will live for you.  May our lives speak the only Amen that matters.

Pastor Jim Shields
Sanctuary Ministries

John 13:34-35 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Living the Christian life is so simple. I walk in His mercy, it is new for me every morning. Every time I mess up (which is often, more often than you or I know) His unmerited favor falls from Heaven to find me. And peace, not temporary like the world gives, but a deep fundamental sense of His well being has been gifted me.

Yep, it is simple, tithe, show up at church, read the Bible, pray.

Simple, except for one thing…YOU. I have to love YOU.  And not in a casual, “love ya bro” kind of way. But in a “bear with and forgive you” kind of way. Now “forgiving and bearing with” are only a problem when you are acting in a horrible way toward me.  And that is when it is no longer simple living this Christian life. I wish He would have put some restrictions on my need to love you this way. Like maybe I only have to forgive you when I can understand why you’re acting this way or bear with for a certain amount of time. Maybe a week. If you don’t have together in a week, I can write you off. That would be simpler.

But no, Jesus’ only parameter is this, “love each other as I have loved you’ (which included the betrayer, Judas, by the way). This is the Commandment of Jesus, which makes it pretty important. Also, for me, IMPOSSIBLE! I can barely love like Jim, no chance loving like Jesus. But, it is the way, His way. Our love shown to each other is how Jesus is seen. So we must love this way.

How? Ask Him this Sunday, Easter Sunday. He will show you, He will teach you. Simple.

Prayer: Jesus, breathe Your love for others into me, rain Your Spirit upon my dry heart so I might feel Your compassion for those close to me. Show Your Way, so others will see You.

Pastor Terry Reilly
Creekside Open Bible Church

Luke 22:44-45 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. 45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief.

The job is a hassle.  The kids aren’t “kidding right.”  Marriage is on a downward trajectory.  And financially, there is economic stress all around.  Life can be exhausting…no wonder that for so many, sleep is such a wonderful escape hatch. Exit stage right to a nice “garden spot” and find a Posturepedic mattress and pillow.  We even have a Bible verse for it right here!  Oh, I guess that isn’t the encouragement.  Jesus’ A-team experienced some emotional and physical times that taxed them to the max.  The disciples, while not insensitive to their Savior’s suffering, didn’t sense the seriousness of the mission so they slumbered. Funny thing, gracious and gentle Jesus asks them why they were sleeping and then challenges them again to pray.

Someone said, “When you can’t do anything else, pray!” Seems logical, work hard, do something, make it happen. We try to be like the Little Engine that Could but soon find out we can’t. I confess, I would rather stand and deliver than kneel and pray.  This business of busyness makes me feel more productive and keeps me awake. This is especially true when I’m drained, tired and tuckered out from the mission.   But, you know what?  I’m not so sure it produces more for Christ’s Kingdom mission.  Jesus didn’t seem to think so in the garden.  I wonder if our lives wouldn’t be better served by the thought, “If you can do anything else – pray.” Jesus’ challenge is clear and straight forward.  There are times the body of Christ needs my prayers more than they need my strategies and work ethic….and at times, more than I need my rest.

Prayer: Lord, I’m often like your first disciples.  But I’m learning…I can’t and you can.  You will if I pray. Amen.

Pastor Jeff Reed
Hillside Covenant Church

Luke 22:19-20 Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had thanked God for it, he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This wine is the token of God’s new covenant to save you–an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.

Jesus had broken bread in miraculous fashion before.  Once He broke five loaves and fed five thousand men (Mark 6:38-44).  Later He broke seven loaves into food for four thousand people (Mark 8:5-9). Jesus had also ‘poured’ wine in miraculous fashion before.  At a wedding in Cana He turned six 30-gallon purification jars filled with water into the best wine the maitre’ d had ever tasted.

But, in this quiet moment with His disciples, Jesus surpassed those miracles with the greatest miracle of all.  Taking the bread and the wine of the Passover Seder, Jesus gave Himself to His disciples (and to all those who would ever be His disciples throughout the rest of history) in the most intimate, in the most humble, in the most strengthening and loving way possible.  He gave Himself to them, and to us, as food.  As that which fundamentally nourishes and sustains, as that which makes life possible, as that, without which, there is no hope, no spark, no energy, no life.  In the desert of the broken cosmos, Jesus allowed Himself to become the true Manna that would give life to the world. In the communion meal, whenever we eat it, we receive the invitation of Jesus again to taste life at its purest, and to find ourselves without hunger, to find our deepest thirst quenched (John 6:35).  And with the disciples we cry out, “to whom else shall we go?” (John 6:68). Jesus in us is the mystery of the ages, the hope of glory, the feast without end.

Prayer:  Jesus: thank You for giving Your life for us and to us, that it might live in us and through us, for our sake and for the sake of the world! Amen.

Luke 22:17-18 Then he took a cup of wine, and when he had given thanks for it, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

It is common to call the Lord’s Supper – Communion.  In fact I’ve never heard it called, “By Myself” or “Alone”.  The word “communion” technically says nothing about the meaning of the elements, and it says everything about how the elements are taken … together – shared.  The word communion is all about the “more than one” nature of the sacrament.  I’ve grown up with “communes” and “communism” being bad words.  They became synonymous with free-love and nuclear war!  But even with its cousins taking on bad images, “communion” has held its own.

As Jesus prepares his follower for his imminent death he uses the elements of the Passover Celebration to draw His disciples together.  He also uses one of the cups (possibly the third of the four, the “cup of redemption”) to shed light on his identity as the Messiah.  His message to His disciples is: you are about to see some shocking and incredible events take place (His death, burial and resurrection), and I am preparing you for this by your togetherness.  The actual detailed elements of the Lord’s Supper will be covered in the reading tomorrow, but our verses today place emphasis on the sharing, the communion.

Jesus always goes before us and we are obedient and wise to share the cup together with other believers as we follow after Him.  This coming week at the Maundy Thursday service, we will do just that!

Prayer: Father, as I take the elements of the Communion and remember Jesus’ broken body and shed blood which paid for my sin; may I also be ever thankful for the church (all believers) with whom I share this remembrance and may I stay faithful to doing this until Jesus comes back!  Amen!

Pastor Mike McCoy
Vineyard / Concord

Matthew 21:5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, `See, your king comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ “

“Did you see him?” “See who?” “Did you see the King?”  “No, I just saw some crazy rabble rouser riding on a donkey!”  “Well, I saw our King, God’s Messiah!”

I imagine many conversations like this on the streets of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday.
God was challenging his people.

Do you see your King? He is coming to you just as Zechariah prophesied. Don’t be surprised that he comes on a donkey instead of a warhorse. He comes in peace to deliver you, but not from the Romans. They are not your real enemies. He comes to deliver you from your true enemies – sin, sickness, death, and the devil. And that will take a gentle King who uses the loving and powerful weapons of the Spirit.

On that day God declared Jesus his King. Do you see your King, children of Zion?

Today God challenges us to declare the good news that Jesus is God’s King and he has come to our cities to deliver those he loves from everything that keeps them from the life God intends. He challenges us to seek God’s breakthrough for our cities – for the people and places that need renewal and revival. But we must see our King if we are going to respond to God’s challenge.

Do you, children of God, see your King today?

Do you see our King moving in your home, school, or workplace; in your neighborhood, city, and nation? Do you see that he has come in peace to deliver the people in all of these places from their enemies – sin, sickness, death, and the devil? Do you see his gentleness, love, and power?  Let’s pray!

Prayer:  Lord, open the eyes of my heart that I might see you in the lives of those where I live, work, and play.  AMEN.

// Out asks about
your relationship to
the people in the world.

“OUT” asks questions about your impact and contribution in the world.

• What inspires you, moves you, demands a response from you?
• Where do you want to touch the world?
• Where do you want to serve humanity?
• Whom do you want to see meet with God?

Consider the places where you are called to touch your world.

• On what are you motivated to spend time and energy?
• Do you work or study?
• Who are your friends that aren’t Christians?
• Where do you meet socially with those outside of church?
• Where are you involved with those outside of the church?
• What are your hobbies?

The answers to these questions are an invitation to mission.

• With whom do you engage in the world?
• What do you do to connect with the world?
• How do you connect with the world?
• Where do you engage with the world?

In this final week, we can clearly see invitation and challenge as Jesus sets His face toward the cross. Who we truly are is often exposed in times of stress and trial. This is also true of Jesus, as we see His UP clearly demonstrated in His prayers at Gethsemane; His IN lovingly shared in the upper room on Maundy Thursday; and His OUT reflected in His heart as He says from the cross, “Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they are doing.”

UP – Go to the 40 hours of Prayer this week. Ask God to give you eyes to see someone needing to be encouraged by the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

IN – Go to the Community Wide Communion Service on Maundy Thursday. While you are there, extend a hand of love with an encouraging word to someone who has served you or encouraged your walk with Jesus during these 40 days of Lent!

OUT – Go outside your comfort zone — don’t keep the meaning and joy of this week to yourself. This week, share with one person who is distant from God one place where Jesus has had meaning in your life.