Tag Archives: Palm Sunday

Holy Week 2024

24 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Today is Palm Sunday 2024…the beginning of what most Christians call “Holy Week.” 

Credit ChurchArt

This is the week that led up to the death and burial of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  There is something nearly every day this week that symbolizes what our Lord went through during the last week of His earthly life.

It all culminates on Friday, when Jesus hung, nailed to a cross for hours until He gave up His life – for you and me.  And be aware…He GAVE UP his life – it was not taken from Him.  And it was my sins – and yours – that nailed Him to that cross.  The entire plan of God’s salvation for mankind was completed when Jesus said “It is finished,” breathed His last, and gave up His spirit.  Thank You, Lord, for loving me so much that you would do that for me.  

In testimony in previous years, I have made the statement that, I firmly believe that if I were the only person to ever have lived on this planet, that Jesus would still have died in my place!  There would still be sin and Satan, and I’m sure that I would have dived in with both feet into that sin!  God made a way for me – and all mankind – to escape His terrible wrath of unbelief, and share in Heaven with Him for all eternity.  Thank You Lord!

But all that took a sacrifice.  God directed the ancient Jewish nation in blood sacrifices to ask God’s forgiveness for their sins, and bless them.  Jesus became that sacrifice for us – once and for all.  He didn’t have to die again and again, each time we sinned.  He took care of it on that cross.

There is a cartoon by Johnny Hart called B. C. that I have enjoyed through the years.  But one of the ones I enjoy the most is about Good Friday.  What do you think?

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Hope in the Steadfast

22 Mar

Guest Post

Rebekah Lyn

Reblogged from Rebekah Lyn’s Kitchen

The word anchor has many definitions, most obviously an item used in boating to secure the vessel, but also, according to Webster’s online dictionary: “a reliable or principal support; something that serves to hold an object firmly; a broadcaster (as on a news program) who introduces reports by other broadcasters and usually reads the news; the member of a team (such as a relay team) that competes last; a large business that attracts customers to a shopping center or mall.”

Most of these definitions are positive. When you go out on a snorkeling excursion, you want your boat to be anchored, so it doesn’t float away and leave you behind. In planning a shopping center, you want to secure big-name stores to anchor the property and generate business. During a hurricane, homeowners may use heavy weights to prevent outdoor furniture from blowing away. Vendors at craft fairs often use anchors to prevent their tents from flying away.

However, there can be negative sides to anchors. If a storm comes up and drags the anchor while you’re snorkeling, you can get tangled in the rope, trapped underwater until you drown. Or an anchor can be something invisible: guilt over past mistakes, unforgiveness, career, worry. These can weigh you down, taint the way you look at the world, and enslave you until you feel just as overwhelmed as the swimmer tangled in the anchor rope.

There is another anchor, though, one that a storm can’t dislodge, one that only has positive outcomes. That is the hope that believers have in Jesus Christ. He is steadfast, unchanging, unshakeable. His character is the same from the beginning of time to the end. Throughout the Bible, we are told we can call on God in any circumstances. Before Jesus returned to Heaven, He promised His disciples that He would send them a helper, the Holy Spirit, to live inside them. He followed through on that promise on the day of Pentecost and he continues to follow through as new believers join the faith each day.

We experience the Holy Spirit’s presence in different ways during our walk of faith. When we first believe and accept the gift of grace God offers us, we are excited and feel completely alive in the Spirit. But as time wears on, if we don’t nurture that relationship and seek time in God’s presence, we feel more distant from the Spirit. However, we are the ones who moved away, not the Spirit, not God, not Jesus. They are right where we left them, steadfastly waiting for us.

In this week leading up to Palm Sunday, consider where you’re at in your walk. Are you communicating with God, reading His word, listening for His direction? Or are you distracted by colorful adventures and sights that have led you astray? Are you ready to sincerely proclaim: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”?
Jesus is our living hope. As I’ve mentioned before, the world’s hope is uncertain, built upon sand, but the living hope of Christ is solid and steadfast, able to overcome all difficulties. Isn’t that something to shout about?

Don’t forget to check out the resources page I am developing with content I have found encouraging, has taken me deeper in my walk with God, and generally builds my hope.

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Palm Sunday 2023

2 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Credit ChurchArt

Today is Palm Sunday, 2023.  So much has been written about Easter Sunday – and it deserves all the accolades written about it.  Easter to the Christian is the foundation of our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

But not much get written about Palm Sunday.  Yes, it’s a “lead-in” to Easter, but in its own right is so much more.  But we must understand that Palm Sunday was the preparation for the torture, crucifixion, death and burial of our Lord.  And all of that HAD to happen in order to secure our salvation.  Yes, God the Father sent Jesus to earth to die for the human race, but one thing that isn’t told very often, is that Jesus willingly GAVE UP His life – not just at the command of the Father, but of His own free will.  

The Palm Sunday story is told in John 12, verses 1-36 (NIV).  I have taken bits and pieces from that passage to show just what Palm Sunday means.  I encourage you to read the entire chapter:

….Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him.  Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

,,,, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of My burial.”

….Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of Him but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

….The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting,

        “Hosanna!”

        “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

        “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

        Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it

…. Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.  Many people, because they had heard that He had performed this sign, went out to meet Him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”

 ….Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.

Jesus, the Perfect Lamb of God willingly gave up His life so that we – all of humankind who believe on Him – could spent eternity with Him in Heaven.  I am so thankful that I am counted in that group who will spend eternity praising God.  May you also belong in that group. 

That is my prayer this Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter morning.

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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