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Apr 09, 2023 18:30pm

Holy Week: Sunday Matters

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

Talk Time

Can you remember a time you felt God’s presence in your life? Maybe it was an answered prayer. Maybe it was a time you were struggling. Maybe it was when you accepted salvation.

Have you talked about this experience to others, like giving a testimony? How did they react to it?

What is the hardest thing about talking about your faith in Jesus Christ?

Bible Connection

Read Luke 23:26-56 and look for all the sad and bad things that happened that crucifixion Friday.

Jesus had to carry His own cross to The Skull (a place called Golgotha) where they crucified Him between two criminals.
People, leaders, and soldiers made fun of Him while He was hanging on the cross and bartered from His clothes.
A criminal hanging on the cross mocked Jesus and dared Him to save all of them.
Jesus died on the cross after approximately 6 hours on the cross (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.).

Look up Romans 8:38 and tell me what it says.

God promises to bring good out of the bad in life for those who love Him. If we look closer at crucifixion Friday, we can find the good:

Simon helped Him carry the cross to The Skull.
Jesus forgave all those who made fun of Him and bartered for His garments.
Jesus forgave the repentant criminal on the cross – in fact, that same criminal went to heaven with Jesus that day upon their deaths!
Jesus overcame death and the Devil’s plan to thwart His death by dying on the cross for all of us sinners.
The Roman Centurion saw Jesus surrender to God and die and believed that He was a holy man.
Those who witnessed Jesus’ death had opportunities to see His forgiveness and surrender of life; they had a chance to believe He was the truly the Son of God.
Joseph, a good and righteous man, got permission to take Jesus’ body down and take it to a tomb (he was a member of the religious people who persecuted Jesus, but he did not participate or agree with them).

Read Luke 24:1-12. Why do we refer to that Friday as “Good Friday”?

Faith Connection

Friday is good because Sunday came! A man who helped Jesus carry His cross could have been saved. A criminal was was saved. Jesus died for our sins creating a bridge between God and us. We get forgiveness for our sins. A Roman Centurion saw first hand that Jesus was who He said He was: God’s Son. And Jesus’ followers witnessed something miraculous: the resurrection of their Savior! Good things happen when we cleave to faith in tough times: we get to experience God! Jesus took the punishment so that we could have a deep and meaningful relationship with God and experience Him in supernatural, life-changing ways.