EP13: How Should We Think about Holy Week?

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.

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Be prepared to do the same and approach their feedback with a

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we look forward to joining you on the next episode.

Why? This is a great way to move

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access to additional resources, be sure to check out our podcast

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Thanks for joining us today and we look forward to joining you

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