A Holy Week Message from Pastor Kristen

Hello siblings in Christ!

I am looking forward to joining you all soon! As I write this, Holy Week is right around the corner. I have been reflecting on how the first Palm Sunday was a day where protesters of the status quo took to the streets, crying out in prayer & praise to the Messiah. Within days, however, those same voices cry out for His death.

What felt like victory and celebration so quickly turned into a fearful whirlwind of betrayal, tears & blood in the garden, swords in the dark, denial in the courtyard, condemnation before the crowd, and crucifixion on the cross. Within just a span of days, hope for a bright future and the belief that breakthrough was right around the corner collapsed into the darkness of death and a tomb.

Every Holy Week I am struck by just how fast the tide can turn.

I am reminded sometimes of the times in my own life where the rug has been pulled out from under my feet. What seemed to be healthy and whole suddenly wasn’t any more. When trust led to trauma. When hope led to disappointment. When fear took over because things weren’t unfolding according to the script I thought it should.

Perhaps you can relate? Perhaps, either individually, as a family, as a community, as a church, or as a nation; you’ve felt like there was an unexpected and unwanted plot twist.

Friends, I have good news.

Good Friday isn’t the end of the story. Even as the weight of grief began settling on the disciples’ shoulders, the tide turned yet again. God moved, bringing freedom to those bound in the grave on Holy Saturday. God moved, bringing new life and resurrection power on Easter Sunday. God moved, and sadness turned to joy. Despair turned to hope. Death led to life.

Even as things had taken a sudden change between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, there was an even more sudden shift that happened between when the stone was rolled in front of the tomb and when it was rolled away on Easter morning. What had felt like a final end to the disciples was merely the stage being set for an eternal story of victory.

This Holy Week, I pray that you find yourself in the story somehow. May you hold gently the places of unexpected pain you find in yourself that are echoed by the participants in the passion narrative. May you find new hope for new beginnings as the disciples did as the stone was rolled away. May you encounter the invitation of the Risen Christ to new life.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Kristen