Our theme picture for Asking Jesus this Lent has been Liz Swindle’s beautiful painting of the walk to Emmaus. Each day as we take up a question or a request of Jesus, we’ve had this scene in the background.  Would you like to walk with Jesus for a couple of hours talking about the Scriptures? I would!

 

Every year during Holy Week, Christ’s people try to do just that. We walk closely with him. We retell the epic events asking the Holy Spirit to make them present experiences in our lives. We want to keep watch with Jesus, to let him know our gratitude for all he did to undertake so great a salvation.  

 

And at FPC, we literally take walks with Jesus! On Palm Sunday we process around North Blvd. with palm branches. The children lead us as we declare, “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  We participate in that brief moment when the world recognized its savior. It’s been three years since we’ve been able to close North Blvd. for our procession and the big picnic that follows. To celebrate this return to a great tradition, we’re going to have a massive crawfish boil! Plus, of course, egg hunts, games and hot dogs for the kids and a glorious time as one church. 

 

On Holy Thursday, we take another walk. From the dramatic reading of the passion, we walk from the Sanctuary to the Terraced Garden where the body of Jesus is laid in the tomb.  We answer the question as we sing, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” As last year, the music will be richly layered with instruments and voices. We’ll add visuals on our stunning new screens to accompany the readings. And by all means, bring your children. This is a significant opportunity for the drama of the passion to be imprinted on the next generation.

 

Holy Saturday we don’t walk. We sit. We enter silence. We ponder the meaning of this huge pause, creation’s deep breath, between cross and empty tomb. If Easter joy has become stale to you, the antidote is to push deeper into the darkness of this bleak Sabbath.

 

Easter Morning we make our way to the Terraced Garden at first light, rejoicing to see the stone rolled away and declaring the news at the heart of the gospel, an announcement that has been reverberating throughout the cosmos: The Lord is risen! Breakfast in the Garden follows sunrise service before two glorious festival services of worship light up our sanctuary. 

 

Come take the walks with us! Don’t let anything stop you or your family. Not sports, not entertainments, not tiredness, not taxes, not doubt, not fear. There is no more important news in all of human history than what the church proclaims in Holy Week. Compared to this, nothing else matters. Let’s walk with Jesus!

 

Further Details About Holy Week Worship

 

Energizing Marriage Seminar. FPC will host Pete and Dee Adams leading a Created for Connection seminar for married couples, Friday evening, April 29 through Saturday afternoon April 30. Past participants describe the weekend as “enlightening, encouraging, revealing, hopeful, powerful, safe, loving and renewing.” Rhonda and I still reap the benefits from attending two years ago. Sign up at createdforconnectionbr.org. And here’s a little more incentive: for FPC church members, we will cover 50% of the cost! Just email Jaci Gaspard (jaci@fpcbr.org) to let us know you’re attending.  

 

Register for the Workshop