Easter
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The Upper Room
Today I would like to challenge you to read the Upper Room Discourse, John, Chapter 13-17. These chapters are some of the most meaningful, powerful and life-transforming in the entire Bible. I become lost in pondering these passages. For example, a couple of weeks ago one of my prayer clients asked me, “How to do…
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Easter, And A Break in Our Relationships Study
Easter is next Sunday so we will take a break from our Healthy Relationships Study. Let’s focus our time on the Greatest Event in History, the Holy Week. It’s Monday for most readers here at Sum. Today marks the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 11 As they approached Jerusalem…
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And So We Reach Friday: Thank You for the Blood
Friday, the day of all days! Matthew 26:47-27:66, Mark 14:43-15:46, Luke 22:47-23:56, John 18:2-19:37 There’s a song I heard this week for the first time called ‘Thank you Jesus for the Blood’. Well, as we come together on this little place in the web, that’s what I want to say to Jesus today Thank you…
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Thursday, the Last Supper …
Jesus spends Thursday with his disciples. Matthew 26:17–29, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-20, John 13:1-17:26 No more crowds; it's just him and them. Round an intimate table he washes their feet and tenderly gives them bread and wine. He says this is something he has longed to do: He just adores them so much, and this…
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Tuesday, Three Days Before The Crucifixion …
My friends, we've reached Tuesday of Holy Week. Matthew 21:20-26:16, Mark 11:19-14:11, Luke 20:1-22:6, John 12:20-50. Honestly, so much happened on this day that it makes my head spin. It's not just the amount of things that happened; it was also the things that Jesus spoke that were particularly intense. You'll see what I mean…
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Sunday, Five Days Before the Crucifixion …
Hi friends, It's Ann here and I'm looking forward to diving into our journey through Holy Week. Let's start here: Following in Jesus’ footsteps, we find ourselves in Jerusalem five days before the crucifixion. It's Sunday. This day is described in Matthew 21:1-9, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19. And based on those four…
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“It is Finished.”
Dear friends It's Ann here, and we've reached Friday, the very last day of Holy Week and the day where Jesus was eventually taken to his death. This particular year I have been thinking a lot about the visual signs of power in that last moment on the cross: "From noon until three in the…
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Heavy Stones and Dry Bones – A Poem by Charumathi R. Rao
Heavy Stones and Dry Bones – A Poem by Charumathi R. Rao She walked down the dusty path, very early on that Sunday morn, A bag of spices in her hands, teary faced and heart forlorn. She’d seen him stripped and beaten blue, a crown of thorns upon His head, All He’d said had…
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The Slithering Snakes of Holy Week
We've now got to the middle of Holy Week. My friends, one thing we see in the Gospels is that those Pharisees were an absolute pain in the backside! No, not just a pain. It's serious. Their rejection of Jesus is really, really bad. Really bad. Jesus shares pearls of wisdom that final week. His…
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Monday of Holy Week
It’s Monday of Holy Week in Jerusalem. With just three days to go before the crucifixion, Jesus is walking around Jerusalem ministering to others. In love. Miraculous, amazing Jesus. I cannot imagine the turmoil within his soul as he dug deep to carry out those last ministry tasks, knowing what he would endure next. At…
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What Does Hosanna Mean – Passion Week Starts Now!
SUM Nation. Lynn Donovan here. Gang, it’s TRIUMPHANT ENTRY Sunday. Do you know on this day the people of Israel believed their Messiah arrived. AND INDEED HE DID. This story is very familiar to Christians world-wide, but there is so many nuances and unsaid statements that we completely miss. Here is one. The disciples and…
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Holy Week Here at SUM
Hi SUM family, Ann here. This time of year is ever so special. It’s a time when we lift our eyes collectively to the cross of Jesus. There’s such value in faith routines, and I know many of you have routines that you follow, year after year. For me, one treasured routine is to follow…
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Let the Fragrance of Worship Fill My House
Hi friends, Ann here! During this time of incubation in my home, I’ve been reflecting on what I’m to focus my energy on. I sense it’s this simple thing: Lock my eyes onto Jesus. As far as I can, I need to fix my eyes firmly on Him, and steadily hold that gaze. This week,…
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Strange Easter? Chronicles of the Donovan Clan
Friends, I will tell you that my Easter was strange. I attended my church on Saturday evening and was overcome by the presentation and the holiness of Jesus and what He gave to me. And then on Sunday morning, I attended my old church with Mike. It was weird and different and good.
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Early on a Sunday Morning …. Everything Changed!
Very early in the morning…
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Good Friday
John 12: 24-25 Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it…
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Centrality Of Easter
Easter, the death and resurrection of Christ, is an event that altered the fabric of humanity. Easter is the centrality of love. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. -John 13:35 As I consider the love in the heart of Christ that He willingly offered Himself to…
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Via Dolorosa, Walk With Jesus
Via Dolorosa, The Way of Suffering: “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the…