How Should We Think About Holy Week?

In this episode, Chris Rivers, Scott Mozingo, Brian Darnell, and Chris McGowan discuss how we should be preparing for Holy Week (2:00), what people can look forward to about our Good Friday services (13:58), and how we should think about Easter (17:00).

The week leading up to Easter, also known as Holy Week, is a season of self-examination, self-denial, and repentance. It is an opportunity to mourn our complicity in sin and Jesus’ death on the cross. It is also a time to remember and celebrate the conquering of sin through the resurrection. Holy Week reminds us of all that Jesus has done. In order to prepare our hearts, we should get into the Scriptures and take advantage of the resources and experiences Grace has made available to us.
One of the events that allows us to engage with God in a visceral, tangible way is Good Friday. Over time, this has shifted to less of a service and more of a drop-in time of reflection. The goal is to help us reflect on our sin, repent, and prepare our hearts for Easter. It creates space to remember who we are and what it took for us to be forgiven. Last year, Grace focused on Old Testament promises and highlighted the lives of five prominent Bible figures during the Good Friday reflection. This year, there will be a two-part experience utilizing Mark’s account of Holy Week and the crucifixion. A few chapters of Mark will be read aloud with a visual depiction, and then there will be an open time to pray and take communion.
As we prepare for Easter, it is important that we create moments during the week to search and examine our souls. Doing this work will allow us to fully embrace what God has for us on Easter Sunday. In addition to preparing our own hearts, we should also come with a missional mindset. Easter is a time where we will see many guests at our campuses. Having a missional mindset may look like coming to a different service to free up space for guests, showing up early to serve, taking opportunities to engage those around you, or simply being hospitable. Taking intentional steps to engage what this week means for us will allow us to show up ready to celebrate Christ’s work and reach out to those around us.

Welcome back or to the grace church members podcast, I'm your host Chris rivers and I'm excited to be joining you today. You know, Easter is fast approaching and for many Christians, this is an important holiday tradition. But how important is, it is Easter, just a cultural event that Christians, like, in the spring. I mean how does our preparation for this Holy Week? Help us maximize the opportunity. We have spiritually to grow our devotion to God and others.

Oh, well, in this interview, Scott Mozingo and I speak with Chris McGowan and Brian Darnell. Chris serves as the pastor of Creative Communications for Grace Church, and Brian serves. As the worship Minister for Grace Church poem campus and we have a great conversation about preparing for Holy Week. What members can look forward to about Good Friday services and how we can think about this important week leading up to Easter.

Okay, let's listen in on this discussion. Let's just jump right into this compared to The Christmas Easter gets less publicity. And so, why is that? And how do you guys think we should be thinking about Holy Week? Yeah, Christmas does get a lot of attention and it's interesting. I don't fully enter understand why other than the culture has really adopted Christmas as its own.

And as a church, from Christianity standpoint we want to recapture Christmas and you know, the whole Advent season, we put a lot of effort to it and it is interesting. How Easter doesn't quite get the same energy? A lot of times we don't all decorate our house for Easter necessarily. You might put some fun colors up, or whatever at your house and maybe doing Easter Erik hunt, but for the week or really for the season of Lent, however, you celebrate or however you reflect upon this season, leading up into Holy Week, it's an opportunity for us to slow down and remember, and prepare ourselves as we walk into this week.

Yeah, walk us through just some ways that we need to be thinking again about Holy Week. Yes, so think about Holy Week I'll quote this. So it's a season, I would say really this about all of Lent leading into Holy Week. Season of self-examination, self-denial and repentance. And in a way leading into the week, it's an opportunity for us to mourn or even lament our complicity in sin, and Jesus death on the cross. As preparation to celebrate the Conquering of sin death, that we see on Easter and in the resurrection.

And so, the season of Lent actually gives us the opportunity to do that and to slow down and remember, and I like that idea of just our complicity in all of it and reflect on. That with the intent that it leads us into celebrating because of what Jesus has done. And so it's an opportunity for me personally to be reminded of those things. How can we take some of the like day-to-day events from the last week of Jesus life? Think sometimes that's referred to as the passion.

So how do we take some of those events and tap into this remembering? And that's a pretty that's a that's a that's a journey to go from complicity. T2 celebration. Yeah, I mean nothing like the journey over savior, obviously. It's right, which is why it's important, which is probably why it doesn't get as much publicity as just celebrate his birth birthday party, right?

So to kind of take us through maybe, you know, we have Palm Sunday, some different elements of the week just to kind of help us just Orient us to one word for someone who's like holy week. I'm not really it's called Easter and help us think about the week. Yeah.

That's great. Yeah, so we'll think of Palm Sunday, which would be this Sunday this weekend, coming up is triumphal entry. So you think about the palm branches? That the folks laid down as Jesus came through Messiah and that leads all the way into Sunday, which is the resurrection, right?

So ways you can do this. Personally, I know, for me, starting the really beginning with that Sunday, getting into the scriptures, getting into the story, whatever, gospel that you May choose like we've been in the Gospel of John I've actually been reading through March some so getting into the gospels personally and absorbing what that could be for you. Daily, we have a reading plan through the week that will help prepare us emotionally. Prepare us mentally for what all is happening and then we have intentional events throughout the week that let's talk about that many of you have attended over the years that actually give really set you up and stack the cards in your favor personally for you to engage this way.

And so one of those is we do a, our children's ministry, does the Seder dinner, I don't know if y'all know more about that. Yeah. Something that that, our kids ministry has been doing a long time and it's really a Jewish tradition and getting to partake of the meal and from a Jewish standpoint, each piece of the mill represents something different. And there's, there's a whole liturgy if you will going through what those represent.

So specifically for kids. No Grace kids sends resources related to that. That as a parent, you can know and talk with them about and walk them through that.

But they do that at the church. And I think for all of us but especially kids, having some something tactile something to shrink it to participate. In helps your heart and head engage. Yeah, and I know as, as a follower of Christ individually. Let's take, let's take a step away from being a dad and having a family, having tangible things to do that are visceral. Variances in our faith are a lot of times hard to come by, right?

We, we talk theoretically, we're reading scripture and trying to apply it to have something tangible, and it's what this week gives us. So that's a great example. And then as a dad, as a father, as a husband to have something like a Seder dinner or a good Friday experience that will talk about just a moment to help lead me but then help me to even be set up to lead my family.

Well and so we have the scriptures to do that and then as a church we want to Create experiences and opportunities for for our parents and for our individuals to be able to engage with God, in a very tangible again. Visceral way. Yeah.

And so that's one way to take advantage of the Lesser. I is to engage in something, that's abnormal and So Good. Friday, Chris tell us a little bit about kind of the tradition of Good Friday if you will at Grace Church. Yeah.

So for me, it was a new tradition. I grew up in a small Baptist Church and I would say most of our A typical practices or atypical for a normal Sunday were less often. We did communion once a quarter and baptism maybe a couple times a year and we celebrated Easter, I had heard things like lint or Good Friday, but just the tradition I was coming from those things were not as utilized, I think primarily because a lot of that came from a Catholic tradition and you know, historically there's been differing thoughts on Salvation and faith.

And so then the baby gets thrown out with the bath water. So when Matt Kelly, I believe was who's talking about doing a Good Friday service, it was kind of intriguing to me thinking, oh, I've heard of that, I guess, I guess we can do that. Let's think on that. And we actually ended up early on partnering with another local church North Hills to do like every other year. We would kind of share the responsibility of putting on a good Friday. I'd forgotten about that.

I know this is Brian and I were talking about Nancy. Yeah, that did happen though. Yeah, I'm time again and downtown. When we first started downtown, we went over to Long Branch, Branch Baptist Church. I preach that little Branch Baptist Church. You did it in.

They came to downtown the next year. Yeah. So the importance of recognizing and sharing in that event with Believers. Yeah, so I mean, it was a neat opportunity to Unity between churches, but it was also practical, you know, we're trying to figure out this new thing and, you know, not all of our members would come to it and not all of their members would come to it.

But, you know, Of space. Why don't we just share this? But it really quickly for us, it became a very important tradition and so much so that we had to stop doing it together because we needed more space and we at some point pretty soon. After that kind of shifted it to being less of a service and more of what I would consider, like a drop in time of reflection. And it's funny because we're so used to it now as a church, like, having meditation moments or reflection, moments is just part of our culture now.

But when we We started doing this. It felt very novel, it felt like we were doing something like. Wow, this is this is different.

But really all we were doing was creating a space that provide an opportunity to reflect we would put some scriptures on the screen, we would, you know, get the lights low and turn on some music. And that was it, that was Good Friday for us and it was very meaningful. And it's grown and morphed over the years. Doing different special versions of that from like, words from the Maybe 2019 to last year if we did something like promises was it different promises in scripture? Yeah, Old Testament.

So it's a neat opportunity to engage people's minds and hearts and in a visceral experience. But all of those are aimed at recognizing your need for a savior and then not just that. But what Jesus did to reach us.

And so with Good Friday, you're trying to internalize and And worship Jesus Through acknowledging the suffering, through acknowledging your need for what he did. You're going right up until Resurrection, you stopped just short of that because the celebration comes Sunday and all too often we just want to rush, right? To happy ending, and So Good. Friday is a tuffet. It's a tough practice for us where we have to say, no, let's sit in this lets, you know, we don't want to be morbid or, you know, down on ourselves because the whole time I recognize, That, you know, we're New Creations in Christ, but to look back and go, this is who I was.

This is what it took for me to be forgiven and my debt canceled, it took Jesus is life and to just sit in that that's the whole point of Good Friday. And so we do it in different ways but that's so helpful because Sunday, we need to know what we're celebrating. I think is we're quick to jump to the resurrection for good reason, right? Really good reason because it's so important. It's so fundamental to our faith but good Friday gives us that pause to say.

Okay, let me acknowledge how terrible this was how let me knowledge, both my sinned and the payment that what Jesus had to do and how big of a deal that is. So when Sunday comes, you know, what you're celebrating is the whole idea of just, you've got to understand your need for Jesus for us to fully appreciate what he's done. Yeah fully appreciate that if they've Grace now. Yeah and that's the irony behind good. Friday without Easter, you know, then it's not good but you know, we call it good because of what happens on Sunday.

And so Chris before we talk about this year take us behind the scenes of how you were constantly trying to keep it, keep it new and remind us what we did what we did last year on the, the tactile piece, specifically? A sure. Yeah. Just because we don't want to become wrote. We don't want to become just just another thing that we do during this week. Yeah, it's It's it's pretty intentional balance of not trying to be over-the-top or just doing something new just to do it or topping last year because I mean as human beings and creatives you can get into that spiral pretty quick and so we're very intentional every year to think okay what is our church need?

What would it look like with the goal being people recognizing their sin reflecting on it repenting and preparing for Easter? What do we need to do this year? You know, it's probably different for different people but it is good to change, things up to give people a new way to work through that process.

So last year was promises and we walked through Old Testament promises and how Jesus was the Fulfillment of those. So we have five characters if you will Bible figures like a large Banner with some artwork of that character you know from Abraham. Who else do we have? David. There's five of them I should do this like to Rattle them off but Because this Moses, yeah, it's coming back. We didn't sit and reminisce on this before.

Better run, we sat down, but but and then there was some tactile things related to. So David was the king. So he had a crown, something that you can touch and anointing oil is he was anointed and so each station had its little explanation and so you could reflect on that your for yourself. You could talk your kids through it. If you have kids they could touch it. Make it touch it.

Yep. And all of our Good Friday services whether we have this sort of It's or not. We have communion in the room and so that day corporately even though we're not all gathering at the exact same moment. We are that day saying we're Gathering as a church in a different way. Today, to remember what Jesus did and communion, obviously is a very visceral reminder that the cup, the blood-red the broken body. It's just another way to remember what Jesus did.

And I think in a lot of ways having communion on that day, enhances how you Think about communion other weeks. Yeah. As a family it was a very powerful experience for our family just to sit in all that and then afterwards going through all those stations being able to sit and song worship pray together. I really love that. Brian, what can people look forward to this year for Good Friday? And I'm excited about this year.

It is so it'll be a little bit different than we've done the last few years. For most of us, it will be a two-part experience, and we're going to be using Mark's account of the crucifixion of Holy Week using his account really as our base of what we're building everything off of. And so you'll be able to watch a visual depiction. We have a video that will depict the really be acting out the Holy Week as a few chapters of Mark are read to you allowed.

So it'll be that'll be kind of step one and then step two will be the room that's open for you to take as long as you need to pray to maybe lead your family through the week and And have a conversation and they'll be kind of a guided question process for you to pray through coming from The Book of Mark. So very excited about that this year. And I want to just remind everybody that we ask that you make this a priority. If you can, which means maybe getting off work early. Maybe it's coming on your lunch break.

We do keep the campuses open until what time guys. Typically. It runs noon to 8:00 p. m. Yeah, so you got time after work that Vary from campus to campus but also remember that you don't have to go to your campus, you go to whatever campus is closest to you. And that moment and we do ask you that you make, make it intentional, you can tell just by the thoughts that Good Friday has become very significant for our church, depending on the tradition. You grew up in Chris mentioned earlier, I mean, I grew up.

We had, we had sunrise services on Sunday morning. Some people do monday-thursday, you know, which is kind of a foot washing type celebration. In on Thursday connected with celebration of the Lord's Supper.

So different churches do different things and that's totally fine. It just seems like for us in the culture and the temperament of our church Good Friday. Has been a place where we like to like to stay planted and even if you only have 15 minutes, good point, you know would obviously more time is better but at the same time I would not skip just because you have a short break you know they'll be enough time and enough for you to do even. It just, you know, Sparks you're thinking for the rest of the day, just a few minutes, even would be good.

I think a good estimation of time. It could be around 45 minutes for most but even if you had 15 minutes, it's a worthy exercise. If nothing else. If we had no content, just the experience of stopping and remembering what Jesus has done, and the gravity and weight of our sin. If you could do that on Friday before Sunday, what it could do for you.

So, Embrace the tension. That's right. We don't like to engine, which is why Easter is not as popular as Christmas and don't rush through it.

But as the old saying goes, Sunday is coming, right? So tell us a little bit about Sunday's a big day. How should our members is the members podcast? How should we think about Easter help us think, well about he's right. I would love for us to be missional in our thinking around Easter. It's a unique.

I'm where you have the person who's coming to church for the first time or you have the family. Maybe it comes to Easter services once a year and that's it, just because it's Easter. So some about thinking of those folks but really our body as a whole, it's a unique weekend. It is the Super Bowl of our faith, right? Is such a powerful weekend for us to celebrate.

So, I would think again, with your, you personally with your family. How do you prepare yourself for that Sunday? When it's a reading plan, go into things like Good Friday. Day creating some moments during your week that when you show up Sunday, you've really done some work in your soul to where you can Embrace, what we have, or really what God has for us on the weekend.

So we do a few unique things and in some ways on Easter Sunday, we always want to do baptisms, baptism such a great symbol of buried in Christ and being resurrected well yesterday, that's right. And so we want to get to do that across all of our campuses, so you'll see folks getting baptized maybe you'll hear some of their stories and sending a powerful. Expression of our faith as a church body in unity.

And so that's one thing to look forward to. And then on that on that mission will fry it for a lot of our campuses. We're going to have lots of, like I said, lots of new folks coming. We get crowded and so way you could think Mission, only personally, as a family is to maybe come to a different service that you're being asked to.

So a Pelham Road campus, we usually will ask lots of folks to come Saturday night, because it frees up space for folks that are coming on Sunday. That may not be thinking about Other services and writing full. And then we have with so many folks getting baptized their families and friends may show up.

And so for you to think, even Mission lie about what service may be choosing a service. That's not your favorite, not your favorite time, maybe not your favorite room, but it's a way for you to serve folks and so that kind of missional thinking. It's just a practical, the Practical nature of you know who's coming on Easter weekend and so even how you serve like both choosing a service but then, you know, it might be helpful for you. I served during a service that you don't normally serve in children's ministry out in the parking lot.

And so those are some more structured ways. But then what I would love for us to do is for you to be aware for you. To not just be in the room dressed up, nice, having your nice tidy, clean Easter Sunday morning, going home, and getting your Easter baskets and doing Easter egg hunts for Sunday morning to be. No, I need to go engage some people today. There's new folks in this room that need a need a personal connection to someone and for us, Again, Mission Ali to be looking around, being aware of the folks that are in the room that you might be the person that is a catalyst for them in their faith.

And this is the first step of many that God's going to bring them into the into the fold of our church and our members in the sitting at this table right now. We get to be a part of that together and so that's just a few ways Mission Ali to think about Sunday morning. It is a celebration, but we do some of our favorite songs teaching is usually around one of those topics. I'm geared. I'm it's Easter teaching, typically.

And so I would just man, have fun really would coming off a Friday, which is more somber. Reflective Sunday, we are celebrating. We're excited were Joyful. We have something to be excited about and so just to come with that mindset and to coach your coach, your crew that you're bringing with you up, to, with that and then to be observant, be aware.

So, you know, we've got Chris Rivers here with us. Obviously, Chris is probably one of the biggest advocates. It's for four guests care here at our church. Chris, do you have any, any thoughts for our members around on that? Yeah, I mean, I think studies indicate that a first-time guest and makes a decision to come back to a church within the first 11 minutes of their experience.

So we need volunteers to help Embrace that 11-minute experience, show up early and ask how you can help and you think about a guest and all the decisions they make. They have to go to the have to turn somewhere. They have to park somewhere. They have to. They're walking somewhere.

So if you see somebody that looks like they're not, Normally here, then welcomed them be hospitable. Just like if someone came to your house and they knocked on your door and you don't know them, you're probably not going to invite them into the house, you know? You just like hey can I help you? You know whatever.

But if there if there are a guest in your house, what do you do? You let them in and you show them where the bathroom is and you probably feed them. And so maybe have that mindset, that the people that are coming to our church of, you've been coming here for a long time. This is your Opportunity to be hospitable and kind and just think, man, what would it be? Like if I was coming here for the first OU? Just somebody did it for us.

That's right. Each one of us, someone went out of their way to make space for you to be engaged that way now, disciples. So it's a good point, good thoughts? Yeah. And this is when we want to take advantage of any cultural momentum that makes coming to church on Easter cool. We want to capitalize on that.

Yeah, we're going to preach a really clear gospel and we're going to call people to life. We're going to be us. We're going to do what we do and we're just asking our members to just not take that for granted and to really not get distracted because there is there's a lot of fun stuff that can go with Easter. There's a lot of good food, there's family that might not normally be together and you're worshipping together with your family but you're also coming to be a part of a bigger church family and so that's really the whole point of this podcast.

It's how not to take it for granted and how not to neglect your soul and the missional component that Easter brings because it It is the most important day in our Christian calendar. Yeah, that's good. Chris what resources are available to members to embrace all of Holy Week As A discipleship opportunity? Yeah, if you go to Grace Church, SC dot org slash Easter and we'll put that in the show notes, right? Sure.

So, they're on our Easter page, we have everything related to Holy Week. So, you know, if you go there now, it's live and you can see reading plans and even some of the The ways that we've worship through Good Friday in the past are available there online. So if you're looking for additional ways to meditate through the season, those are there for you.

So we just pray that you would be intentional with the season and those are there. That's right. I have one last concluding salt from my perspective. I know that for me. I grew up in a more maybe fundamental traditional background where especially around Advent to go back to our Our beginning conversation was very much observed, but very structured and nice and clean and maybe not as emotionally, or in some ways for me, spiritual engaging.

But also I was a high school student, right? So, not quite as engaged on that front, that being said, we're not necessarily asking for all of us to strictly. Adopt an approach towards lent and Holy Week that's rigid. And over least, that's not necessarily what we're saying. Wherever you find yourself on this Continuum, I would just Ask, can you take a step with more intentionality towards engaging, what this week means for us? Personally, so, again, not completely adopt the whole season necessarily unless you want to let your, you know, you have your overachiever.

But for you personally just take a step. What would it look like for you for your family for your community group? Whatever that looks like to take a step towards engaging this week, with a little bit more intentionality for your on discipleship and maybe for others. You're engaged with that, just sets us up well to worship.

Well on the weekend and get to celebrate, that's the big thing I'd want to emphasize, is I really would love for us to all show up, ready to celebrate excited and joyful because we have a reason to be that's great. Well, this is has been a great interview and just to learn more about what this week looks like. I feel like I've gotten a lot out of this and the idea of being intentional, really appreciate all the work that you guys have done to build this momentum for us and the work that you guys have done.

Done in previous Easter's weeks. So thanks so much guys. Is there anything else we need to share? Happy Easter Happy Easter.

Well, as we wrap up today's conversation, we want to thank you for joining us. We realized that listening to a podcast episode. Like this can really be an individual experience which we believe is only enhanced by talking through it and applying it to life. And this is something that we believe lots of people don't naturally seek out or have built into their lives.

So we want to encourage you to share this episode with someone else and ask them to share with you any takeaways. They receive from listening. Be prepared to do the same and approach their feedback with a posture to learn and apply. Why? This is a great way to move towards this discipleship issue. If you have questions or want access to additional resources, be sure to check out our podcast page located in the show notes.

All right? Thanks for joining us today and we look forward to joining you on the next episode. Why? This is a great way to move towards this discipleship issue. If you have questions or want access to additional resources, be sure to check out our podcast page located in the show notes.

All right? Thanks for joining us today and we look forward to joining you on the next episode.

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How Should We Think About Holy Week?

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