APRIL 10, 2006
Have a Holistic Holy Week!
by Pastor George Van Alstine
By the time you receive this Messenger, at least half of Holy Week will be gone. Here are some suggestions for involving your entire self in experiencing Easter truth during the last four days of the week:
Thursday: Engage your HANDS –
Jesus called upon his disciples to use their hands to express their love. He demonstrated this through the hands-on act of washing their feet on what we commemorate as Maundy Thursday. Think of ways you can show your love for him by doing practical things to help others. (Read John 13:1-17, 33-35; Matthew 25:40)
Friday: Engage your HEART –
God called us to him by prophets and teachers, successes and failures, nature’s beauty and raw power. We did not respond to his call. Finally, God broke our hearts by sending his beloved Son to die on Good Friday. Let your heart be broken anew as you move with Jesus through his sufferings and his death on the cross. (Read Mark 15:16-40)
Saturday: Engage your HEAD –
This is the quiet day, when the body of Jesus lay in the tomb. This is a day for thought, for consideration of the meaning of it all. Think about his innocence, his non-resistance in the face of injustice, how he by enduring that death sentence bore the penalty for your sin. (Read Romans 5:1-10; 8:1-4)
Sunday: Engage your HOPE –
Jesus’ resurrection from death is a solid promise to you. He said he would some day lead you through that same door, through death into life. Whatever your feeling of hopelessness is—in your family, your work, your finances, your health—Jesus has risen to revive your hope and to put you on the road to victory. (Read Mark 16:1-15; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58)
HANDS, HEART, HEAD, HOPE—follow this journey to a HOLISTIC experience of HOLY WEEK.