Monthly Archives: March 2024

2414 – You Have to Keep Reading

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John 13:31-35 New International Version

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him,[a] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Friday’s Word

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Two Momentous Days

Good Friday and Easter.

Today is Good Friday—for those reading Friday’s Word on Friday. And this Sunday is Easter.

Two momentous days.

One no more important than the other.

On Friday evening, our great choir will sing, Without His Cross, there Is No Crown.

Without Good Friday, there is no Easter.

The “prop” for the Good Friday service tonight is a life-sized image of the burial shroud of Jesus.

The “Shroud of Turin,” as it is called.

(The radio-carbon dating was wrong. Two more recent dating tests are right. It comes from the time of Jesus.)

The Shroud image will be referenced as we follow the story of Jesus’ last hours from John’s gospel.

John’s gospel carries the close-to-first-hand account provided by “the beloved disciple.”

It is powerful.

Standing at the foot of the cross were four Marys: Jesus’ mother, Mary the wife of Clopas. And Mary Magdalene.

Jesus’ aunt, his mother’s sister, was also there.

And “the beloved disciple.”

That is the only way he is named in the Gospel of John. I do not believe he was John. He was not one of the twelve. We do not know his name. But his witness takes us close to both the death and the resurrection of
Jesus.

I turn to that witness again on Easter Sunday morning.

Please consider this your personal invitation to both of these services.

Tonight, we have a light supper at 6:30 before worship. The service starts at 7:00.

On Sunday the kids hunt Easter eggs at 10:00.

Easter worship starts at 11:00. Let us, too, gather at the foot of the cross.

Max’s Corner

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Last Sunday—Palm Sunday

It was a memorable Sunday.

What a great lunch! Thanks to Bill and Linda Parker and all who brought food.

Folks called me to comment on the choral anthem, the great piece by G. F. Handel. It had all of us rejoicing. We thank the Lord for the blessings of the day.

Holy Thursday—7:00 p.m.

I don’t mention it is Friday’s Word, which comes out the day after. I hope you can come on Thursday evening. (Light supper at 6:30 before worship.)

Mary will lead this service.

What’s it all about? It is about celebrating our Lord on the yearly anniversary of the Last Supper.

“Do this,” he said, “in remembrance of me.”

Good Friday—7:00 p.m.

Light supper at 6:30.

The crucifixion narrative from John (and “the beloved disciple”) will be illustrated with a life-sized image of the Shroud. The image will be mounted on a 7-foot piece of plexiglass. I am working on how I will get
this large piece of plexiglass to the church from Oak Cliff Glass and Mirror in Dallas. Then, how do I make it stand up at the front of the church?

Is it worth all this effort?

The Good Friday service is—for me—the most important service of the year. I consider it a privilege to be part of it.

It is always a hard service to prepare for.

And this year, it will be different from all previous years. Come, if you can.

Easter Sunday

Egg hunt for the kids at 10:00.

The great Hallelujah of Easter begins at 11:00.

Our great choir. A brass quintet. Lilies fill the sanctuary. Joy abounds.

You know how it is.

And I can hardly wait.

God bless—MB