Holy Week Worship Recap: "And I Saw the New Jerusalem"

During Holy Week, we gathered for worship four times over the four holiest days in the Christian calendar.  Each of the services was unique -- and I heard comments from several people who found them meaningful in different ways.  From the gathering in the upper room to the approaching darkness on Maundy Thursday, to listening to Christ's teaching from the foot of the cross, to the vigil with the celebration of God's mighty hand through history and our invitation to participate through baptism and communion, and finally to the joyous news again of Christ's resurrection on Easter morning, it was a full four days, filled with scripture, prayers, and lots of music.

Even a couple of days later, I'm still recovering a bit from all of it.  But I'm always excited by the journey of Holy Week (even if it began oddly this year with our cancelled Palm Sunday service), and it was particularly meaningful to journey with so many people at Eastgate this year, leading up to our very full sanctuary on Easter morning.  The combination of the beautiful Spring day, the bright colors, and the joy of the resurrection made Sunday morning special.

Along with the Sunday sermon recording, I will post recordings of my meditations from Maundy Thursday and the Easter Vigil.  If you missed one of these services, if you'd like to listen to the meditation/sermon again, or if you'd like to share one or all of them with others, you can find audio recordings below.

On Maundy Thursday, I reflected on Jesus' desire for three disciples to accompany him to the Garden of Gethsemane to watch and pray that fateful evening.  Why was it so important for Jesus that they come?  Spoiler alert: I think it was a personal example of his love for them -- on the day when he commanded his disciples to love one another.  You can listen to an audio recording of the meditation, "Keeping Watch," here.

During the Great Vigil of Easter, there are several scripture readings, spanning the whole history of the Bible. I chose to focus on the famous prophecy of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, and imagined what we could learn of God's promises for our past and future.  You can listen to the audio recording of the meditation, "Through the Valley, Full of Bones," here.

On Easter, I concluded on series on the Hebrews' journey from Egypt through the wilderness by considering how our Promised Land, the Kingdom of Heaven, is an altogether unexpected, new thing -- whose newness is demonstrated by the radical newness of the resurrection of Jesus.  Focusing both on Christ's resurrection and on the prophecy of the new heaven and new earth, I suggested that our ideas about heaven are all too often incompatible with God's hopes for the faithful to live as one.  You can listen to the audio recording of the sermon, "And I Saw the New Jerusalem," here.