To know Him and the Power of His Resurrection and the Fellowship of His Sufferings

We bow before you King Jesus and worship you. We confess that your kingdom is not of this world. If it had been of this world, your subjects would have fought the Roman empire that you might not have been delivered into the hands of your own people. You were born for this purpose, King of kings and Lord of lords! You came into the world to bear witness to this truth.

Precious Savior, on this Good Friday, help us to slowly move through each scene in Mark 15. We want to walk the road you walked so long ago so that we may know you and the power of your resurrection, sharing in your sufferings. Amen. (John 18:33-38, Philippians 3:9-11) 

Scripture Reading - Mark 15:1-20 (ESV) 
     And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
     Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 
     And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

Father, what have we done out of envy? Convict us, show us what actions we have accomplished out of envy. Please forgive us. We repent and come to you for mercy in our time of need.

Lord Jesus, have we mocked you unaware? Oh how we grieve over our careless words and actions. Forgive us. Cleanse us by your blood.

Father, you have made a way for us to be citizens in your heavenly kingdom! For through Christ, we are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens of the household of God. Now, we await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will come back and transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. He will do this by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself! (Ephesians 2:18-20, Philippians 3:20)

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Christ, The Passover Lamb

Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed! We bow before you and say:

Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!
Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.

As we read your Word, may we take and eat and drink of the covenant and find nourishment for our souls. Amen. (1 Corinthians 5:7, Revelation 15:1-4)

Scripture Reading - Mark 14:12-25 (ESV)
     And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 
     And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 
     And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
     And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 
     They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 
     He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
     And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 
     And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 
     And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Thank you, Lamb of God, for pouring out your blood so that we may receive forgiveness for our sins and be purified. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. With the new covenant, your Holy Spirit lives inside of us, putting your laws into our minds and writing them on our hearts. You have made your home in our hearts so that we may live for righteousness! (Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 8:10-11, 9:19-22)

Thank you, Father for rescuing us from Satan, sin, and death to show the mercy you promised so long ago, remembering your holy covenant. You swore to our father Abraham that we would be delivered from the hand of our enemies so that we might serve you without fear, in holiness and righteousness all our days. It is you who has raised up the Horn of Salvation for us! (Luke 1:68-75)

Father, we ask for your Spirit to convict us in the ways that we are not faithful to the covenant you have established with us. Please forgive us for our acts and attitudes of unfaithfulness. Help us to bear the fruit of faithfulness in our lives. We confess that you who has called us is faithful and you will do this for your name's sake. Amen. (Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

My Beloved's Vineyard

We praise you, Father, the Vinedresser. In your love and holiness, you are the one who prunes, trains, and cultivates your vineyard for your good pleasure. Every branch that does not bear fruit, you take away and every branch that does bear fruit, you prune so that it may bear more fruit.

We praise you, Lord Jesus, for you are the True Vine, the Everlasting Vine. By your blood we have been grafted into the your vine.

As we read your Word, our desire is to remain in you and for your words to remain in us. Please do this in us today. Amen. (John 15:1-2)

Scripture Reading - Mark 12:1-11, Isaiah 5:1-6 (ESV)
     And he began to speak to them in parables.
     “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 

Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.

When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?

     "He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 
     "But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 
     "What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

     And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.

Father, we hear the warning and destruction to come in this story. You, the Almighty Vinedresser, has made all provision for our salvation. What more could you have done? Yet, some reject your Son's sacrifice. Your Word tells us that anyone who does not abide in him will be cut down like a branch that withers, thrown into the fire and burned. We pray for those we know that are rejecting him now. We pray for your mercy and grace to fall down on them. We cry out for them - Hosanna, save them! (John 15:6)

Oh what a great mystery, Lord, that this was your doing, sending your Son to become the True Vine. And we say, It is marvelous in our eyes. Thank you for grafting us into him by his blood spilled on the cross. This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it! (Romans 11:17-20, Psalm 118:23-24)

We confess that you, Jesus, are the Holy Root who makes us the righteous branches. Forgive us for our arrogance in thinking that somehow we the branches support the roots. It is you, the Holy Root that nourishes the branches. Prune away our arrogance, Father. Make us more fruitful for your glory. Amen. (Romans 11:15-20)

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Highly exalted! Name above every name!

Lord Jesus, we humble ourselves before you. For all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to you. And the Father has give you authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom he has given you. And this is eternal life for us: that we may know the Father the only true God, and you, Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.

We come to your Word today, submitting to its authority and asking for your transforming power to apply it to our hearts. Amen. (Matthew 28:18, John 17:1-3)

Scripture Reading - Mark 11:27-33 (ESV)
     And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 
     Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 
     And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”
     And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Thank you, Precious Savior, for laying down your life for us that you may take it up again. No one took it from you. Of your own accord you lay down your life and the Father gave you authority to take it up again. Even as you anticipated your cross, you cried: Not my will, but yours, be done. May we learn obedience through our suffering just as you did. (John 10:17-18, Hebrews 5:8)

Forgive us, Father, for not submitting to the authority of your Word. Saved by the blood of Jesus, washed and empowered by the Holy Spirit for sanctification, you call your children to obey your Word. We heard you calling: Put off the old self! Now we must do away with whatever is earthly in us.

...sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another...(Colossians 3:5-10)

We repent from our sins and turn back to your authority over our lives.

Father, you have highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Acts 4:12 , Philippians 2:9-11)

Jesus, by the authority vested in you, you call us to Go! Go to all nations to make disciples - baptizing and teaching them to observe all that you have commanded. Help us today to do your will. Thank you for the promise that you will always be with us, to the end of the age! Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)


English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that His Spirit lives in you?

Father in heaven, we worship you in spirit and truth. We confess, Jesus Messiah, that your body became the temple of the living God when you were raised from the dead. We look forward to eternity, the new Jerusalem, for there the temple will be you - The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb!

As we read your Word today, we bow down and worship you. Help us see this reality that we are the temple of the living God and that his Spirit lives in us. Amen. (John 4:23-24, John 2:18-21, Revelation 21:22, 1 Corinthians 3:16)

Scripture Reading - Mark 11:11-25 (ESV) 
     And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
     On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 
     And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
     And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 
     And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 
     And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city.
     As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 
     And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”  
     And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Father, thank you for making us your temple, living in us by your Spirit. We rest in your calling upon us to be a house of prayer for all nations! The promises of Isaiah have come to pass and will come to pass into eternity!

“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:6-7)

Lamb of God, we ask for your merciful, cleansing ministry in our lives. By your power, cleanse the temple! Remind us that we are not our own, we were bought at a price. Forgive us for joining ourselves to another, a prostitute - anything that distracts us from loving you first. Never! Have we forgotten that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Corinthians 6:15-20)

Father, help us to remain in Christ and his words to remain in us. By faith in you, we ask that you would prune us so that we may bear more fruit for your kingdom. We believe that you who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus to your glory! Amen. (John 15:1-8, Philippians 1:6)

  

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Us for the Display of Your Glory

Hosanna to the Son of David! 

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 118:26-29)

We pray for your mercy to be upon us as we seek you in faith. Amen.

Scripture Reading - Mark 10: 46-52 (ESV)

     And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
     And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
     And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
     And they called the blind man, saying to him,“Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
     And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?
     And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”
     And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to your great mercy, you have caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us! (1 Peter 1:2-4)

Jesus, Son of David, we confess that you are Rabbi - Our Great Master. We call out to you, Have mercy on us! All we bring to you is our sin, we have nothing else to offer. Would you cleanse us from our sin by your great mercy? You have called us into your mercy so that we would display the riches of your glory! (Romans 9:22-24)

LORD of hosts, you desire mercy and not sacrifice. You call us to:

Render true judgments,
show kindness and mercy to one another,
do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor,
and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. (Zechariah 7:8-10)

Would you empower us by your Spirit to show mercy just as the Samaritan did on the road to Jericho. Your Word tells us that those who show mercy will be shown mercy. The measure we use it will be measured to us. So fill us up, Father, with heavenly wisdom which is manifested by acts of mercy. Amen. (Matthew 5:7, Luke 10:36-38, James 3:17)



English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

The Ransomed Share in Christ's Suffering and Resurrection

Father, we praise you that by your Spirit we can know the immeasurable greatness of your power toward us who believe. That same power which according to the working of your great might raised Christ from the dead and seated him at your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And you put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

May our hearts grieve as we read about what Christ would suffer in order to ransom our souls. Amen. (Ephesians 1:16-23)

Scripture Reading - Mark 10:32-45 (ESV)
     And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
     And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
     And he said to them,“What do you want me to do for you?”
     And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
     Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
     And they said to him, “We are able.”
     And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
     And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus, it is you who gave your back to those who struck it, your cheeks to those who pulled out your beard. You did not hide your face from disgrace and spitting. The Father helped you as you set your face to Jerusalem and went up. Though men would shame you, you knew the Father would not shame you. (Isaiah 50:6-7)You anticipated the scorn and those who would mock you:

They make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” (Psalm 22)

Thank you Jesus for drinking the bitter cup, being baptized with the baptism of suffering. We boldly pray that we would know you and the power of your resurrection, sharing in your sufferings, becoming like you in your death. That by your righteousness we may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-10)

Father in Heaven, O your glorious power! You, who delights in his Son, rescued him from the power of death after three days in the tomb! The last Adam became a living spirit - exchanging the perishable for the imperishable. For flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We praise you, Father, for you have the power to change our flesh and blood into the imperishable. Because of Christ, we will be raised imperishable! (I Corinthians 15) And...

...the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 51:11)

So, we cry out Maranatha - Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.