Blog
Holy Week
Easter
Easter celebrates the resurrection of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ but let’s briefly cover the time leading up to that, which is called Holy Week or Passion Week:
Palm Sunday
Passover
Good Friday
Easter
There are other days included in Holy Week but we will focus on these 4 today. Let’s start with Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday:
Can anyone tell me what Palm Sunday is about?
It is the day when Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem, which fulfills the prophecy of the Triumphal Entry, foretold by Zachariah in the Old Testament approximately 500 years prior, of the Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Zachariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the crowd of people spread their cloaks and palm branches on the road and waved palm branches all to honor the Messiah while shouting praises.
Matthew 21:9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
The actions of the crowd that day gave the name Palm Sunday. To the Jews the palms are a celebratory symbol that God, the victorious one, tabernacles with humanity.
Prophecies being fulfilled by Jesus are very important as it gives no denial of who He is, the living Messiah. The next day in Holy Week we will go over is Passover.
Passover:
Can anyone tell me what Passover is about?
Passover celebrates the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and freed from slavery by the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Who led the Israelites out of Egypt? Moses.
God sent Moses to the Pharoah to command he let God’s people go, Pharaoh refused, God sent 10 plagues with the 10th plague being the worst.
Does anyone know what the 10th plague was?
The death of all the firstborn in Egypt. God told the Israelites on that night to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark their doorposts with it’s blood which would cause the Lord to passover that house. Interesting fact, The blood of the lamb saved the Israelites on that night which would happen again much later on.
Exodus 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
What does this have to do with Holy Week when the Passover happened in the time of Moses?
Jesus Christ was killed during Passover time, He fulfilled the Law, including the symbolism. Jesus is our Passover. The Last Supper Jesus shared with His apostles was a Passover meal of His body and blood. By applying Jesus Christ’s blood to our lives by faith, we trust Christ to save us from death. Only the blood of the lamb makes us exempt from death. Jesus was the sacrificial spotless lamb to save us from our sins, freeing us from death.
The next day in Holy Week we will discuss is Good Friday.
Good Friday:
Can anyone tell me what Passover is about?
Good Friday is the day Jesus Christ was crucified for all of our sins, past, present, and future. It is known as the darkest day in all of history. It starts with Jesus making His last plea in prayer to God the Father, in the garden of Gethsemane, where He was so distraught that He actually sweat blood about His upcoming torture, crucifixion, and taking on of sin. He asked God the Father if there was any other way. A lot of times we don’t think about the heaviness of the taking on of sin. Remember Jesus was sinless and came from a place of perfection with no sin, so to take on the sin of all the world, would not only be devastating but also it would cause Him to be separated from God the Father, and that was nearly unbearable for Him.
Luke 22:41-44
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”
43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Jesus accepted His fate.
Does anyone know who the one apostle was that betrayed Jesus?
Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver to a large crowd including a Roman cohort, chief priests, pharisees, scribes, & elders. Jesus foretold the apostles that one of them would betray Him. Judas hung himself after his betrayal.
Now the trial & torture.
First the point of this is not to instill shock, instead it is to show that all of our sin put Jesus there, we are all of us guilty. But remember & know that He endured all of this because of His love for all of us. We have 3 different things to pass around just to show an example of the things Jesus had to endure: a thorn of crowns, a cat-of-nine-tails, and nail spikes to drive through His hands & feet.
-Jesus was mocked, beaten, blasphemed against.
-The priests spit on Him, blindfolded Him, beat Him, and struck Him with their palms.
Mark 14:61-64
61 But He kept silent and answered nothing.
Again, the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
62 Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?
64 You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?”
And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
-Roman soldiers hit Jesus in the face for telling the truth of who He is to the high priests.
-Pilate’s soldiers placed a twisted crown of thorns on His head in mockery, saluting Him saying Hail, King of the Jews. They struck Him on the head with a reed, spat on Him, scourged Him, and stripped Him.
Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
After all of that, Jesus was then forced to carry His own cross to where He was to be crucified. When He could carry it no longer, the Romans then forced Simon of Cyrene to help Jesus carry the cross the rest of the way to Golgotha.
Does anyone know another name for Golgotha? Calvary.
Once there, the cross was placed on the ground, Jesus was thrown onto it, metal spikes/nails were hammered through His wrists & feet onto the cross.
Does anyone know who Jesus was raised between on the cross?
The cross was then raised between two thieves, one mocked Jesus & the other repented. Even in His state, Jesus’s love shown through.
Luke 23:34, 39-43
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Matthew 27:45-46
45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Matthew 27:51-54
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Finally, Joseph, a wealthy prominent disciple of Jesus, wrapped Jesus’s body in linen & laid His body in the tomb. The women who had followed Jesus through His ministry & this entire event, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons the apostles James & John, all saw His body laid in the tomb. Pilate placed a guard outside the tomb & had a large stone rolled against the door of the tomb, sealing it shut.
Easter:
Known as the greatest day in all of history.
Can anyone tell me how many days went by, after the crucifixion, before Jesus’ disciples went to the tomb?
Three days went by after Jesus’ crucifixion. Mary of Magdala & Mary, Jesus’ mother, went to prepare His body with oils and spices but when they arrived, they found the stone had been rolled away from the door of the tomb, and when she looked in the tomb from the outside, His body was not there, only the linen cloth He was wrapped in remained.
Mary Magdalene ran to tell the apostles what happened. The apostles went to see for themselves. Mary then went inside the tomb while the apostles were outside & she saw 2 angels at the head and foot of where Jesus’ body had laid.
John 20:13-17
13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
Mary then did as Jesus instructed & told the apostles what happened & that He would meet them.
The Great Commission:
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.
17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
John 20:21-23
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
And so continued Jesus’ ministry. And now we know the greatest story ever told. Jesus came here for everyone, as a living sacrifice of a spotless lamb, endured what we all deserved in order to save us from death and eternal separation from God, by taking on all our sin, dying on the Cross, and raising from the dead 3 days later, conquering death and the world.
Now it is our turn to continue His ministry and tell as many people as we can about this absolutely wonderful and glorious love Jesus has for us all! Will you accept Jesus Christ today? Will you tell a family member or a friend about His gift? I hope & pray that you will. There is also so much more to Holy Week and I hope you will read each of the 4 apostles stories: Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John as they all give different accounts where you learn many new things.
Homeless Shelter Worship
What a wonderful day today, yesterday, and Monday. We got the opportunity to play and share testimony at the homeless shelter all of those days.
What a connection you can have with people when you share the same or similar experiences as others. And God's plan is for us to share our testimonies to anyone who will listen. That testimony then brings the opportunity to share how great God is and that His forgiveness and sacrifice saved us all.
Can't think of a better way to spend the day! Glory to God!
Senior Luncheon
We had so much fun playing at the Senior Luncheon today at Gospel Way Baptist Church and getting to see our friends and family in Christ! We miss them terribly but it was nice catching up.
We played some newer music this time and prayed that the message in the songs was as much of a blessing for everyone there as it was for us.
We are so blessed to have such talented dear friends to play with us that share the same passion for Jesus.
We love anytime we get to share our passion for the Lord!
The God Who Sees - Jamestown Health & Rehab
What a wonderful presentation on the God who sees today.
We were lucky enough to have our great friends bring their talents and help out with this topic.
We each took one of four people in the bible Hagar, Ruth, David, and Mary of Magdala to discuss how in each of their situations God showed that He was there for them even when they didn't think He was, that He had a plan for each of them, and that they should trust in Him through it all.
We then got to share the song "The God Who Sees" which gathered everything we discussed together.
We then discussed how all of this ties into our lives today.
What a wonderful blessing this was for all of us! I hope you know that God is always there for you, that He has a plan for you, and that you should always trust in Him in everything you do.
Where Is God - Jamestown Health & Rehab
We had a very interesting discussion about where God is in such turbulent times as these with the worldwide slaughter of Jews and Christians; Christians being beaten, attacked, and arrested for praying and standing true to their values; and the physical and mental destruction and indoctrination of our children and youth.
None of these topics are fun or comfortable to discuss but are so prevalent in our society that it does not do any good to pretend they are not there and can benefit everyone by finding Christ in all this chaos.
John 15:18 Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before [it hated] you.”
This verse was not only meant for the apostles with Jesus during The Last Supper but was also meant for us, in this time, letting us know that if we follow Him, we too will experience that same discontent and persecution.
Jesus knew we would experience all that is happening in these times, and all in His name. And like the apostles, we must remain strong and unshakeable in our faith for the reward is an eternity in Heaven with our wonderful Lord & Savior!
Jesus never said following Him would be easy but He offers salvation and an eternity in heaven with Him if we believe, take up our cross, and follow Him.
Matthew 7:13-14
13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad [is] the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 "Because narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
So to answer the question where is God? Jesus has returned to the right side of the Father in heaven to prepare a place for us. Remember that this is not our home, and we have been promised a perfect place to go to when we leave here. Jesus is waiting for us with open arms and perfect love as He gave all for us first!
So what does that mean for us for now?
Luke 21:13 "But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.
This is an instruction for us to remain strong in our faith in God, hold true to the gospel, and share Jesus with anyone and everyone we can. Let us accomplish God’s work. Let us be a light in the darkness of this world right now.
The last question we discussed was why does God allow bad things to happen? Wow is this a loaded and lengthy question and answer. We gave a condensed answer and vowed to devote an entire presentation at another time just to this question alone.
Todd Friel said it like this, “God both causes hard, non-sinful things to happen and then allows sinful things to happen for your own good and for His plan. For the believer, He may be preparing you or having you grow for the next step or journey. For the non-believer, He may be giving you His wrath in order to save you. Maybe God wants you to pray more, rely on Him more, read your Bible more, trust His promises more, pry idols away from your hands, to examine your walk, to heal relationships, He may have a different plan for your life than your plan.”
Because of sin, we were never going to be allowed into heaven because God is perfect and cannot look upon sin in heaven. In the Old Testament animal sacrifices had to be made for us to be forgiven of our sins. The animals sacrificed had to be the best, cleanest, and most pure of all. For us to be able to enter heaven, the ultimate sacrifice of all sacrifices had to be made on our behalf. That ultimate sacrifice was Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. He came to this earth from heaven, born of a virgin, fully God and fully Man, lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, died, was resurrected 3 days later conquering death so that if we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior, confess our sins, and confess with our mouths, we will be saved and spend eternity with Him in heaven.
This is what we need to share with everyone when we feel like the world is lost or when someone says how lost the world is or that there is no hope.
God bless.
The Flu Prevented January Worship
The flu has run rampant the past month or so and while we try to be very diligent about illness prevention, we were not immune. Yes we both got the flu. Calvin recovered in about 1-2 weeks but unfortunately I have two comorbidities that caused me to have significant issues for an entire month.
Last Sunday, 2/1/26, at the assisted living facility, was the first time I was able to sing but it was not easy and I was not at my normal capacity. Flu cases have started to decline but are still there so we chose to wear masks to keep from getting sick again.
We did push through and got to share Jesus with those who needed it so I will call that a win.
Christmas Concert & Sing-a-long at Jamestown Health & Rehab
You know, not every event or presentation is going to go as planned. Sometimes things just go wrong. An entire group of us had worked on this sing-a-long for a couple months and we were ready. We were so excited to be able to use the new equipment that we had ready and had performed a complete run through the day before to make sure everything was good to go.
Everything was ready to go, we had a full crowd, we were going to go change into our Christmas gear and get started celebrating Christmas with others when all of our sound cut out. We worked for about 15 minutes past start time trying everything we could to fix the issue but ended up having to make a work around which was much less than ideal.
In the end, the Grinch did not win, Christmas was saved, many people sang along, and best of all we got to share the reason for the season, our wonderful Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. We couldn’t ask for more than to hopefully bring glory to God. God taught us to find calm in the storm, trust in Him, and to learn from the experience. And we’re ready to do it again next Christmas!
Jamestown Health & Rehab
The topic of the songs and discussion today was salvation at the assisted living facility.
The Holy Spirit was moving in that place and it was incredible!
People hearing the music and the discussion came in from outside the activity area just to listen. One was a nurse who stayed and joined in on the discussion, she knew more than we did and what a blessing she was!
We could not be happier that God gave us this opportunity to share this important message with everyone there. All of the residents were engaged and joined in the discussion.
Glory to God!
Jamestown Health & Rehab
What a blessing it was today to be able to share Jesus with the Assisted Living facility with inspiring song and Calvin led us in the explanation of The Lord's Prayer. What a powerful prayer it is! Many times when we say something over and over it becomes rote and we lose the meaning of what we are saying. How nice it was to share with the residents the meaning behind that prayer and to let them see it in a new light. We thank God for the opportunities He is giving us to share our passion for the Lord!
Jamestown Health & Rehab Assisted Living Worship
What a blessing it was today to be able to share Jesus with the Assisted Living facility with inspiring song and testimony about forgiveness. What a huge topic for everyone. How nice it was to share with the residents that the Bible says about forgiveness, and it’s A LOT! We thank God for the opportunities He is giving us to share our passion for the Lord and to glorify Him!
Commonwealth Assisted Living Worship
Serving others is an act Jesus taught us to do through many examples and is also greatly rewarding. What a blessing it is to give back to such a deserving population as those in a nursing home. Many of whom are unable to make it into a church and are so grateful to come worship every week. This event is lead up by one of the members in our Sunday school class who graciously has allowed us to join in the worship and spread the message of love with these wonderful people. We, and friends, are blessed to offer this to a wonderful and grateful community. This is a private event.
Commonwealth Assisted Living Worship
Serving others is an act Jesus taught us to do through many examples and is also greatly rewarding. What a blessing it is to give back to such a deserving population as those in a nursing home. Many of whom are unable to make it into a church and are so grateful to come worship every week. This event is lead up by one of the members in our Sunday school class who graciously has allowed us to join in the worship and spread the message of love with these wonderful people. We, and friends, are blessed to offer this to a wonderful and grateful community. This is a private event.
Church Family Member Birthday Party
We were blessed to be asked to provide the music for a church family member’s birthday party who lives in an assisted living facility and is no longer able to travel around. What a great time we all had having a sing-a-long to old hymns and a couple secular songs he particularly loved back in the day.
There were several other residents who attended the event that were singing along, toe tapping, and assisting with the maracas during all of the songs, including the hymns. How nice it was to see everyone singing to Jesus!
We also took the opportunity to share Jesus with everyone there. What a blessed and special day!
Church Family Member Fundraiser
We were so blessed to be able to provide the music for our church family member’s fundraising event for Powhatan Supervisor. She is unapologetically Christian and was completely fine with us playing both Christian and secular music. We do not normally play secular music but saw this as an opportunity to share Jesus with nonbelievers so we jumped on the opportunity.
It just so happened that Hurricane Erin was directly off the coast the same day as the event; however, to the percentage of souls that braved the weather, it was still a fun time with good music, wonderful food, and sharing Jesus with all who would listen!
Commonwealth Assisted Living Worship
Serving others is an act Jesus taught us to do through many examples and is also greatly rewarding. What a blessing it is to give back to such a deserving population as those in a nursing home. Many of whom are unable to make it into a church and are so grateful to come worship every week. This event is lead up by one of the members in our Sunday school class who graciously has allowed us to join in the worship and spread the message of love with these wonderful people. We, and friends, are blessed to offer this to a wonderful and grateful community. This is a private event.
Senior Luncheon Event
We were blessed to assist our truly talented and God-fearing friends, David and Nita, in sharing their worship music and how important Jesus Christ is to our church’s Senior Luncheon. How honored we were to be united as Kindred Spirits. What a true blessing it is to share Jesus with those dear to our hearts! We look forward to being able to continue to share and worship Christ with this group again!
Commonwealth Assisted Living Worship
Serving others is an act Jesus taught us to do through many examples and is also greatly rewarding. What a blessing it is to give back to such a deserving population as those in a nursing home. Many of whom are unable to make it into a church and are so grateful to come worship every week. This event is lead up by one of the members in our Sunday school class who graciously has allowed us to join in the worship and spread the message of love with these wonderful people. We, and friends, are blessed to offer this to a wonderful and grateful community. This is a private event.
Commonwealth Assisted Living Worship
Serving others is an act Jesus taught us to do through many examples and is also greatly rewarding. What a blessing it is to give back to such a deserving population as those in a nursing home. Many of whom are unable to make it into a church and are so grateful to come worship every week. This event is lead up by one of the members in our Sunday school class who graciously has allowed us to join in the worship and spread the message of love with these wonderful people. We, and friends, are blessed to offer this to a wonderful and grateful community. This is a private event.
Senior Luncheon Event
We were blessed to share Worship music and how important Jesus Christ is to us at our church’s Senior Luncheon. How honored we were to be united as Kindred Spirits with our friends David and Nita. What a true blessing it is to share Jesus with those dear to our hearts! We look forward to being able to continue to share and worship Christ with this group again!