A Note from Pastor Dann Farrelly
Something beautiful and deep has been swelling at Bethel Church heading into Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. It’s kinda like we have a holy week before holy week. God called Lou Engle to a personal 40-day fast in town culminating in 6 hours of prayer for revival on Friday, April 4 at our ballfield. Heidi Baker will preach 2 days later, BSSM students are returning with profound and mundane (God’s in the ordinary stuff too) testimonies of God’s faithfulness during their missions trips. All this because we trust that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Holy Week, also called Passion Week, is the week between Palm and Resurrection Sunday. These events have been commemorated and celebrated by Christ’s people for 2000 years as the most important thing to ever happen in human history. The ministry, death, & resurrection of Jesus created the conditions whereby God defeated His enemies & indwells His people forever. This Gospel is God’s just and loving healing of humanity from rebellion & creation from its corruption by restoring us & making everything right again.
Life is super busy; I want to encourage you to make a decision to intentionally slow down and make extra space for Jesus during this week.
Monday through Thursday (April 14th - 17th) we have morning prayer opportunities at various places from 8:00am to 9:00am. In the evening, we will gather from 6:30pm to 8:00ish-pm for adoration and prayer in the Sanctuary. Our school-aged kids are on Easter break, and invited to everything. We scheduled the mornings later than usual and the evenings earlier so families can attend together (babies are welcome, there’s no childcare on purpose). These will be informal like our times during the January fast. Come for as long as you’d like.
On Friday, we will celebrate Good Friday at the Redding Civic Auditorium with many of the other churches in town. We used to do this regularly before COVID, so we are really looking forward to uniting with the rest of the Body of Christ of Redding to soak in the permanent reality of God’s self-giving love. Plan on attending at 4:00pm, 6:00pm, or 8:00pm. There is no registration, but I suggest those without younger children attend the late one if possible to make room for the kids early.
In addition to other prayer points, these are some of the key prayer/thanksgiving/worship priorities from Holy Week we will focus on during our time together based on the timeline of Jesus’ journey to Calvary and to Resurrection.
Sunday: Palm Sunday demonstrates humanity's fickleness and expectation that God comes and does things the way we want. Though it foreshadows the true worship God deserves, Jesus is only temporarily received with joy before the crowds and His followers turn on Him later in the week.
Monday: Jesus cleanses the temple demonstrating His zealous desire for a holy House of Prayer where the nations may worship God. Paul says we (as individuals and corporately as the Church) are God’s temple.
Tuesday: The sign of the withered fig tree proclaims God’s desire for a fruitful and faith-filled people under His reign.
Wednesday: Mary extravagantly worships Jesus by anointing Him in preparation for His death (this event occurred earlier in the week).
Thursday: Jesus serves His disciples by washing their feet, initiating communion as a regular expression of the new covenant, cries out to the Father in anguish in Gethsemane, and stands righteous before an unrighteous court.
Friday: Jesus’ substitutionary sacrificial suffering and death creates a way of restoration for all.
Saturday: The original disciples were shell-shocked and despairing wondering how God would make things right.
Sunday: On Resurrection Sunday, Jesus’ identity and ministry is vindicated by God as He defeats death and the fear of death.
Some of you may be new to the Lord or not quite understanding the nature and meaning of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice for our sin. It is a beautiful and multifaceted reality that Scripture and Church have explained in a variety of powerful ways over the centuries. I’ve included a link to a short and beautifully illustrated teaching by the team at the Bible Project called Sacrifice and Atonement that may be quite helpful and/or refreshing. Enjoy.
Grace and Joy,
Dann
