Jesus’ execution on The Cross was not a misfortunate occurrence. Instead, it was evidence of the intentional and eternal plan of God to redeem humanity. It stands as the ultimate proof of God’s love. Jesus’ resurrection was a declaration of how God is ultimately victorious over sin, death and brokenness. This Easter season join Sunridge in a multi-week journey of teaching and experiences that remember the steps Jesus took in his final days, and contemplate the staggering implications for His followers today. Daily scripture and activities will ground and engage us with Christ and each other (see below). Our journey will culminate in joyful celebration on Easter Sunday as we hold Sunridge’s first sunrise service!
To download the Journey to Easter calendar page, use the button below.
Preparation Week Activities
Every day this week, we’ll be meditating on Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem as found in Luke 9:51-62, which also contains the stories of three individuals who seek to follow him.
Click on the link below to read the daily activity.
Monday (3/22)
Tuesday (3/23)
Wednesday (3/24)
Thursday (3/25)
Friday (3/26)
Saturday (3/27)
Holy Week Activities
The scripture and activities this week will help us walk with Christ as we remember and engage with the final week leading up to his death and resurrection.
For those who would like a deeper engagement with the scripture, we’ve provided a day-by-day harmony of the Gospels in The Voice translation. Click the button to download.
Click on the link below to read the daily activity.
Sunday (3/28): Palm Sunday
Monday (3/29): Temple Clearing
Tuesday (3/30): Figgy Faith
Wednesday (3/31): Sweet Offering
Thursday (4/1): Maundy Thursday
Friday (4/2) : Good Friday/Stations of the Cross/Good Friday Service
Saturday (4/3): Silent Saturday
Sunday (4/4): Easter Sunday
Preparation Week
Every day this week, we’ll be meditating on Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem as found in Luke 9:51-62, which also contains the stories of three individuals who seek to follow him.
Monday (3/22)
Read the scripture (Luke 9:51-62). What time approached for Jesus? What must Jesus go through before being taken up to heaven (9:22,31,44)? What do the words “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” tell us about his decision and attitude toward his mission?
We’re also continuing with our commitments made on Sunday as we prepare our hearts for Holy Week.
Tuesday (3/23)
Read the scripture (Luke 9:51-62). How did Jesus prepare to go through Samaria? Why did people not welcome him? See this resource for important historical context. How did James and John respond to the Samaritans’ rejection (v.54)? How did Jesus correct them and why?
Lastly, don’t forget that we’re continuing with our commitments made on Sunday as we prepare our hearts for Holy Week.
Wednesday (3/24)
Read the scripture (Luke 9:51-62). How did the first man volunteer to follow Jesus? What did Jesus want him to know about the reality of following him? How does Jesus’ own example tell us what mindset should we have to follow Jesus?
This day marks the halfway point in our week of preparation. How is it going so far? Find someone today with whom you can share about how your week is being impacted by your commitment to eliminate distraction.
Thursday (3/25)
Read the scripture (Luke 9:51-62). How did Jesus initiate calling the second man, and how did this man respond? How did Jesus emphasize the priority of proclaiming the kingdom?
Lastly, don’t forget that we’re continuing with our commitments made on Sunday as we prepare our hearts for Holy Week.
Friday (3/26)
Read the scripture (Luke 9:51-62). What conflict did the third volunteer have? What happens when a man puts his hand to the plow and looks back? How did Jesus apply this to kingdom workers? What attitude is necessary to serve in the kingdom of God?
Lastly, don’t forget that we’re continuing with our commitments made on Sunday as we prepare our hearts for Holy Week.
Saturday (3/27)
Read the scripture (Luke 9:51-62). What do the three disciple candidates have in common? What can we learn here about the cost and privilege of being Jesus’ disciple?
Lastly, don’t forget that we’re continuing with our commitments made on Sunday as we prepare our hearts for Holy Week.
Holy Week
Sunday (3/28): Palm Sunday
Today’s Scripture Focus: Matthew 21:1-11
Did you consider, confess, and commit to eliminating a distraction this week to better prepare your heart and mind to remember the final days of Jesus? If so, please join us for coffee, donuts, and conversation about the experience in the Sunridge courtyard at 9:30am on Sunday, March 28th. Afterwards, we will have our service at 10:30am.
Before you come to church today, either go outside and find a branch (palm, if possible!) or find a coat you don’t mind laying on the ground. Bring your items to church and while Britt reads the passage during the service, we will wave and then lay our branches and coats down to welcome our coming King.
Monday (3/29): Temple Clearing
Today’s Scripture Focus: Matthew 21:12-13
When Jesus enters Jerusalem and sees his Father’s house of worship and prayer converted into a center of commerce, he is encountering something that he cannot abide. Speaking with unmistakable authority, He commands them to leave, cleansing the temple of the evil that has taken root. In the same way that Christ cleansed the house of God, believers are invited to be cleansed from sin as they conform to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, 1 John 1:7-10).
With roots in the Jewish custom of cleansing the house of any yeast in preparation for Thursday’s Passover feast, spring cleaning is an outward expression of what we can do internally to prepare for the upcoming events in our faith history. Yeast is often associated with sin in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 5:6), and so on this day we will choose a room to clean in our house. While cleaning, we will be asking God to examine our hearts (Psalm 139:23-24) and clean out the sin that so easily entangles.
Tuesday (3/30): Figgy Faith
Today’s Scripture Focus: Matthew 21:18-22
In first century culture, the idea of moving a mountain was a common way of talking about doing seemingly impossible things, something that from a human perspective is inconceivable (Job 9:5, Matt 17:20, Cor 13:2, cf. Lk 17:6). But when Jesus tells the disciples here that they should have faith and not doubt, and that they would have power through that faith, it’s critical that we look to the context of the rest of the chapter to see that the power of God on which they would draw by faith is not to fulfill whatever they think they want or need, or to perform any miracles that might occur to them to perform. That would be exactly the kind of perversion that Jesus condemns throughout this section of Matthew’s gospel – fruitless religious practices and temple worship that had come to serve the national and personal interests of the people rather than serving God. Instead, the power that is available to them in prayer is the power to fulfill their mission as God’s people, to be fruitful as God’s Kingdom people. By seeking the presence of God in prayer and placing faith in God’s revelation of himself in Jesus who is the Christ, God’s people who inhabit the new Kingdom can move mountains, can do the impossible of being God’s people and producing the fruit of the Kingdom.
Today, stop by the store and bring home either a fig or fig product of some sort (foodie tip – Trader Joe’s has fig butter that is delectable paired with goat cheese!). While you eat it, ponder this food for thought:
What does it mean to you that the Holy Spirit makes it possible for you to bear incredible fruit for the Kingdom of God?
If you believed what Jesus said here about moving mountains through faith and prayer (really believed it!) what is something that seems inconceivably impossible to you that you would ask God to do for the sake of His Kingdom? Might there be someone you’d pray for the boldness to invite to our Easter sunrise service, for example?
Wednesday (3/31): Sweet Offering
Today’s Scripture Focus: Matthew 26:6-13
While those watching criticized this woman’s offering as not “useful” enough to be anything but a waste, Jesus suggests that her act of devotion and sacrifice will be used in a bigger way than she could ever have foreseen. This posture of worship, this inner attitude of the heart, is the foundation for discipleship. Those who cultivate gratitude toward Jesus will be formed for generosity toward others by the act of worship itself. Light a sweet-smelling candle and release the aroma so that it fills the air like this woman’s offering. Offer Jesus your gratitude for the ways he has shown up in your life. What could you offer Jesus today as an expression of that gratitude that would be an extravagant, self-sacrificial act of worship?
Thursday (4/1): Maundy Thursday
Today’s Scripture Focus: John 13
Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word mandatum, or commandment, which refers to the new commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples during their last meal together, a celebration of the Passover feast. Telling them that they were to love one another as he loved them, he then showed them the extent of his love by washing their feet. Tonight, after sharing a meal with your family, housemates, or friends, take turns washing each others’ feet. There is freedom and flexibility in how you do this, and don’t worry if it’s messy and awkward. It was when Jesus did it, too!
Immediately after the meal, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and keep watch. Even though Jesus specifically asked the disciples to remain with Him, they all fell asleep before even an hour had passed. Tonight we will form a prayer vigil from 7 pm until 7 am. If you would like to participate with us, please sign up for the hour during the night in which you commit to keeping watch with Jesus and praying. Click the links below:
Prayer Vigil Sign-Up Sheet
“Keeping Watch With Jesus” Guide
Friday (4/2) : Good Friday/Stations of the Cross/Good Friday Service
Today’s Scripture Focus: Matthew 27
Today we invite you to two opportunities at our church campus designed to more fully engage us with this momentous day in the history of our faith.
The first is a Stations of the Cross experience – a reflective prayer walk that traces the final events leading up to Jesus’ death. When you come to church today you will find a series of 10 large art pieces posted along the wall of the Self Made Training Facility immediately east of our offices on Winchester. An attached QR code will direct you to corresponding Scripture passages and reflection questions. While it is most traditional to do the Stations of the Cross between noon and 3 pm, the hours that Jesus was on the cross before he died, you are welcome to come to campus at any time on Friday or Saturday.
The second opportunity we hope you’ll join us at is our Good Friday service at 7 pm in the courtyard. Yes, it will be dark and keep getting darker…that is intentional! The pain and darkness of this day are a critical step in the way of redemption and the victory of Easter that we cannot miss.
After the Good Friday Service, we will continue to recognize the loss of Christ – the light of the world, through and in whom every sweet gift comes – with a fast from sweets (including fruit and artificial sweeteners!) and all forms of man-made light between Friday night and Sunday at daybreak.
Saturday (4/3): Silent Saturday
Today’s Scripture Focus: John 16:20-22, Luke 23:56
Saturday, being the Jewish Sabbath, would have been a day of rest from work and many typical daily activities. On the Saturday after the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples were mourning the loss of their rabbi, Savior, friend, brother, and greatest hope. Some were probably living in the agony of thinking that Jesus’ last memory of them was one of betrayal. Today our activity will be to rest, reflect, and be still. Perhaps abstain from typical pleasures. Continue your fast from sweets and light. Today should be a solemn day, imagining what that day would have been like without the hope of what is to come tomorrow.
Sunday (4/4): Easter Sunday
Join us for our special sunrise service beginning at 6:15 am.