Dear Church,

This is the week. Across the world, believers remember the eight days that changed everything, beginning with palm branches and ending with an empty tomb, a week where celebration and sorrow meet, and where the purposes of God unfold in a way that demands our attention and response.

In the message we heard yesterday we saw something striking: on Palm Sunday, in the middle of celebration, Jesus wept. While the crowds were loud with praise and filled with excitement, Jesus saw deeper, He saw beyond the surface enthusiasm to the reality of hardened hearts. He knew that the same voices shouting “Hosanna” would soon cry “Crucify Him,” and that what appeared to be devotion was, for many, only momentary emotion without true surrender. And that warning still stands for us today.

 This passage presses us to examine our hearts carefully and we learn three things.

First, spiritual opportunities don’t last forever. There is a window of grace that God, in His mercy, opens to us, but to say, “not now” is not neutral, it is to say “no.” Interest in Jesus must lead to action, or it will slowly fade into indifference and eventually harden into resistance.

Second, the world that rejected Christ then still rejects Him today. People are comfortable with a version of Jesus who inspires or comforts, but not with a King who calls for repentance, surrender, and obedience.

Third, proximity is not surrender. The crowds were close to Jesus, yet their hearts remained unchanged. The same danger exists for us, we can hear the Word, sit in church, be involved in ministry and still never truly yield our lives to Him. So this week’s call for response is to fast and pray as a church.

• Pray for those pockets of resistance in our heart that have not fully surrendered to Christ to be broken.
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to search us, soften us, and lead us into genuine repentance. 
• Pray for a deeper love for Jesus, not just in words, but in obedience. 
• Pray for freedom from distractions, idols, and anything that competes for your devotion. 
• Pray for boldness to share the gospel and invite others.
• Pray for those you will invite, that their hearts will be open and ready. 
• And pray that, as a church, we would not just walk through Holy Week but be truly changed by it.

Here are the opportunities to be in His presence and also invite others to it.

• Good Friday Service
  Friday, April 3 | 6:00–7:00 PM
  A reverent time of worship remembering the cross and Christ’s sacrifice. 
• Resurrection Sunrise Prelude
  7:45–8:15 AM
  A short, reflective gathering to step into the experience of the early believers. 
• Resurrection Sunday Breakfast
  8:15 AM – A time of food and fellowship, invite someone to join you. 
• Resurrection Sunday Main Service
  9:30 AM  – A joyful celebration of the risen King and a great opportunity to invite others. 

Church, don’t miss this moment, and don’t come alone.

Each one, reach one.

Mathews