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EXPERIENCING HOLY WEEK TOGETHER
Holy Week has been a time of reflection for believers all over the world for nearly two millennia. This year, the staff have curated a prayer guide for us to follow together as we meditate on the work that Christ accomplished at the Passion.
The guide consists of passages for reading and reflection, prayer instructions, and videos that correspond to each days theme. We hope this resource benefits you as we look back with gratitude to the cross on Calvary.
DAY ONE - SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2022
Sunday March 29 – AD 33
"Palm Sunday"
Read and Reflect Upon: Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-36
On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey’s back to shouts of 'Hosannah!' as the people waved palm branches and threw down their robes to make a highway for a coming King. Like Solomon, before him and in fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy Jesus entered Jerusalem. He was her true, rightful, yet misunderstood King.
Pray:
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Thank Jesus for all the ways his rule has blessed you (ex. Grace in trials, mercy in sin, providence in struggle).
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Spend a moment confessing the ways you have disobeyed his kingly rule this week.
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Thank King Jesus for his mercy and for opening your eyes to the truth of his enthronement upon the cross.
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Ask for mercy for a lost friend or family member who has not yet seen the light of the gospel.
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Respond in prayer by praising Jesus as King.
DAY TWO - MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2022
Monday March 30 – AD 33
Read and Reflect Upon: Mark 11:12-18; Luke 19:45-48
On Monday Jesus passes by a fig tree in full bloom but that bears no fruit. He curses the fig tree for only giving the appearance of fruitfulness. Later he enters the temple complex and begins turning over tables and driving out the merchants and money changers. They have turned God’s place of worship into an opportunity for greed and are taking advantage of people who have come to worship.
Pray:
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Praise God as the one true God of the universe, the only one worthy of worship by all people and things.
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Confess the ways in which your sin, as the sin of the religious leaders and merchants in the temple, serves as obstacles to others worshiping God.
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Thank God for the forgiveness he offers to you and all peopl who will place their trust in Jesus, and thank him for giving you the gift of faith despite all that might have kept you away.
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Ask for mercy for a lost friend or neighbor who has grown disenchanted with the church or has been hurt by it. Pray for that person’s salvation.
DAY THREE - TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022
Tuesday March 31 – AD 33
Read and Reflect Upon: Mark 11:20-12:12
On Tuesday, Jesus and his disciples pass by the same fig tree that Jesus had cursed, and it is now withered and dead. Jesus makes the point that faith in God, and not one’s spiritual posturing and outward piety, is what marks a true believer. In fact, many of the most seemingly religious people are just like the fig tree on the inside; completely dead.
The spiritually dead religious leaders challenge Jesus throughout the day with difficult, unanswerable questions. However, Jesus proves again and again that he is the true teacher and that he alone has true God-given authority.
Pray:
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Praise God that he has provided the ultimate teacher in Christ, whose wisdom prevails over the world’s.
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confess any secret sin you might be harboring towards God and his authority over your life.
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Thank God for his gift of faith and that we are saved by his grace rather than through keeping the law perfectly.
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Pray for someone you know who is spiritually dead and ask God to give them a new heart. Then call or invite them to come to church with you this Easter Sunday.
DAY FOUR - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022
Wednesday April 1 – AD 33
Read and Reflect Upon: Luke 21:37-38; Matthew 26:3-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2
Jesus spends the Wednesday before his Passion teaching and people were coming to hear him. Bruised by the events of Monday and Tuesday, the religious leaders begin their evil plotting to have Jesus killed. Jesus teachings have made him popular among the people, so the leaders plot to murder him after the Passover when the crowds in Jerusalem would begin to dissipate.
Pray:
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Praise God for his sovereignty over this week of Jesus’ passion and over every second of history.
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Confess to him your confidence that just like with Jesus, no evil plot or wicked deed goes unseen, and he uses all of it to accomplish his purposes.
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Thank him for the confidence that even though the evil plots of men like the religious leaders of Israel, God can bring goodness. Thank him for some specific way in your life that he has brought good from evil.
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Pray for someone in your life who might be considered an enemy like someone who has hurt you. Ask God to guard your heart against anger and to use their sin against you to glorify himself and bring this person to salvation.
DAY FIVE - THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022
Thursday April 2 – AD 33
Read and Reflect Upon: Mark 14:12-42; John 13
On Thursday of Passion week, Jesus sovereignly directs his disciples to prepare their passover meal. Everything is exactly as he describes to them, and so that night, they gather in the upper room and celebrate the passover meal together. Jesus, knowing fully what is about to transpire in the next 24 hours, washes his disciples feet in an act of humble service, even the one who would betray him for thirty pieces of silver and the other who would deny him three times before the rooster crows. Jesus also institutes a new meal, one that would remember his broken body and poured out blood, and one that the church still gathers together to partake of in joyful lament and worship.
Finally, after their meal together, Jesus departs with his remaining disciples, for Judas had already left to betray him, to the garden of Gethsemane. Here Jesus agonizes in prayer over the terrible ordeal that is set before him. His disciples are of no help, continually falling asleep instead of joining their teacher in prayer. Yet still, Jesus is resolved to do the will of the Father, fully submissive and committed to the Godhead’s plan. Knowing what is to come, he sets his face towards Calvary once again.
Pray:
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Praise God once again for not sparing his own son, but instead giving him for us so that we might be saved.
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Confess and lament the sin of the world, as well as your own, that required the body and blood of our savior to be broken and poured out.
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Thank God for the humble and serving nature of Jesus, who models so perfectly what it is to love and serve one another.
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Pray for someone in your life who you know is far from God, who is still his enemy, that they may repent and draw near to God and be saved.
DAY SIX - FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022
Friday April 3 – AD 33
Read and Reflect Upon: Luke 22:47-23:56; John 18-19
Darkness covered the garden where Jesus waited with disciples for what must happen next. Shame and suffering must be heaped upon his head. Betrayed by one of his own disciples, falsely condemned for blasphemy by the wicked leaders of God’s people during an illegal trial at night, and denial by one of his closest followers, Peter, was just the beginning. Herod viewed him with contempt, Pilate didn’t understand him and gave in to the cries of the mob calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. Beaten, mocked, tortured, and ultimately crucified, this certainly isn’t what we might expect from the story of a king and a savior. “You say that I am a king. For this purpose, I have come into the world—. . ." (John 18:37). Suffering and shame were the pathways to your salvation and God’s glory!
Pray:
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Praise God for Jesus’ willingness to endure the shame and suffering of his life and death on the cross so that you might be saved.
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Confess to God the ways you might be tempted to see suffering as punishment or signs of God’s apathy or impotence.
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Thank God for the good news of the gospel that your suffering is being used by God to bring about two wonderful realities: God's fame in all the earth and your salvation.
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Pray for someone you know who is experiencing shame or suffering. Pray that they would find hope in Christ suffering and share in the glory of salvation.
DAY SEVEN - SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022
Saturday April 4 – AD 33
Read and Reflect Upon: Matthew 27:62-66
Silence marks this second to last day of Holy Week. Jesus was dead. His body lay in the tomb. His disciples were hiding, and the religious leaders thought they had won. To be sure and to prevent any attempts by Jesus' followers at trickery, the religious leaders send guards to watch over the tomb. They were anxious, Jesus rested. His work was complete, theirs continued futilely. Over the silence, Jesus waited, perhaps with the Father in paradise, for the sun to rise on the final day of Holy Week.
Pray:
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Praise God for the finished work of Christ on the cross.
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Confess the ways in which you refuse to rest in the forgiveness and acceptance Jesus offers to all who place their faith in him for salvation.
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Thank Jesus for the rest he offers you from the ceaseless work of trying to prove ourselves or earn the salvation he has already purchased for us.
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Pray that someone you know who needs to experience the rest of the salvation Jesus offers to all who will put their trust in him.
DAY EIGHT - SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2022
Sunday April 5 – AD 33
Read and Reflect Upon: Luke 24:1-49, John 20:1-23
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” were the words spoken by the angels to the women who first saw the stone rolled away and the empty tomb. They ran to tell the others and Peter and John soon raced to see with their own eyes if such a thing could be true. It was true, and soon Jesus would appear to others on the road to Emmaus and to all the disciples in a room behind locked doors. Jesus was alive. Death had no power over him, and his resurrection was proof to the world. It was proof that, just as God had promised, the power of sin was now broken and new life, resurrection life, was available to any by faith in Jesus. Jesus was alive, and the world must know.
Pray:
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Praise God for the resurrection and promise that one day you will share in Jesus' resurrection by faith.
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Confess the ways in which you live as if the resurrection weren’t true like your disordered priorities or fear and lack of boldness in sharing the gospel.
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Thank Jesus that his forgiveness covers your doubt and thank him for all the goodness that awaits you when you join him in the resurrection.
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Pray for God to bring the power of the resurrection to the heart and life of someone you know who needs the gospel.