Preparing for Holy Week & Beyond

Dear Church,

With ‘Minnesota Spring’ officially in the air, I wanted to give a short update about some event coming up and our preaching schedule over the next several months. 

Holy Week Events

This Sunday, April 10, is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. I’ll be preaching Galatians 6:1–10, hoping to draw out the effect that keeping in step with the Spirit has on a church.

Then on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (April 11, 12, and 13) I hope you’ll join us one night for Stations of the Cross, on display in the sanctuary 6:00pm–9:00pm on Monday and Tuesday; and 6:00pm–8:00pm Wednesday.

On Thursday, April 14, we’re having a special Maundy Thursday service, 7:30pm–8:30pm. I’ll be giving a short message on the betrayal of Jesus, and we’ll worship together and solemnly reflect on this unique holiday.

Good Friday and Holy Saturday will remain quiet.

And then, God willing, on Easter Sunday we will hear the final sermon in our Galatians series, “Boasting Only in the Cross.” Pastor David Mathis will expound Galatians 6:11–18, with special focus on Paul’s amazing words in verse 14: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

Preaching Schedule

On April 24 we are having our largest baptism service to date! In God’s grace, there are several individuals who are following Jesus in believer baptism. I’ll preach a (short) stand-alone sermon on the meaning of baptism and its wonder in the church’s life, and then will celebrate God’s grace as several publicly confess their faith in the Lord Jesus.

On May 1, we will have a stand-alone sermon on the pastoral calling and the life of the church.

Then on May 8 we begin a new, topical series called “The Heart of the Gospel.” This will be a four-sermon series all about the cross of Christ. As I’ve been praying for revival and studying the topic, I’ve found Martin Lloyd-Jones to be a wise guide. In his book, Revival, he writes, “Revival, above everything else, is a glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” While we certainly hope to do that every Sunday, and in every sermon, for this series we are locking in to do especially that. We will be preaching four central passages about Jesus and his work. The hope in this series is that the Spirit would fill us afresh and give us boldness with our words. I’m praying for a summer of gospel-sharing.

And speaking of summer, on June 5 we will start our Summer Psalms series, picking up in Psalm 45. Our hope is that you will invite several non-Christian friends and family to our Sunday services. With the May series helping to equip us in evangelism, we plan for the June-August series to be evangelistic. My goal is for us to make the gospel explicit in our sermon, and to call people to believe. God willing, we will have another baptism service at summer’s end. 

God delights to give us fruit. Let us ask him for it!

In hope, 

Pastor Jonathan