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Last updated on April 22nd, 2020
April 8, 2020- Wednesday of Holy Week
Our call to action for today is to reflect on times in your life where you have denied something you shouldn’t have.
All of our Holy Week resources can be found on our website and videos are posted on our Martin Luther Church Toronto, YouTube channel.
Reading: Matthew 26:30-35a, 57-58, 69-75.
30 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.
57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end.
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Call to Action
Our call to action for today is to reflect on times in your life where you have denied something you shouldn’t have.
Dismissal
Go in peace. And soak in the Passion.
Thanks be to God.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has created Worship in the Home liturgies for all of Holy Week. They can be found at this link.
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April 7, 2020 Tuesday of Holy Week
We continue our journey through Holy Week while dwelling in Matthew’s passion narrative. On Tuesday of Holy Week, we focus on Judas’ story.
Reading: Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16, 47-50; 27:1-5
26:1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”
14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
27 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. 2 They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”
Call to Action
Our call to action for today is to think of what you might need to forgive of yourself and think of someone who you might need to forgive.
Dismissal
Go in peace. And soak in the Passion.
Thanks be to God.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has created Worship in the Home liturgies for all of Holy Week. They can be found at this link.
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April 6, 2020 – Monday of Holy Week
As we have passed through Jesus’s entry to Jerusalem, we now take time to look at three parts of Matthew’s gospel in preparation for Maundy Thursday.
Today, Jesus is tested by the religious leaders and his response gives us the two great commandments.
Reading; Matthew 22:34-40
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Call to Action
Our goal together for this week is to spend time dwelling in the story. One way to help that happen is to make some space that you can go to with no (or at least fewer) distractions. So, maybe your call to action for today is to clean the house a bit, or maybe it is taking the time to create a devotional space, even if just for the next week. I’ve created this space in my basement office. I cleared off a shelf, put a small cloth on it, four candles, a cross, and a Bible. Maybe your space is one end of the dining room table. Or simply your favourite chair with a candle placed nearby. Over the next week, as I take time to read the lessons each day, I’ll take some time in this space to reflect on this powerful story and what it means to me today.
Thank you for joining us today. Take time to reflect on the passage we just heard, read it again in your own Bible or in the video description below, and think about how the great commandments are lived out in your life.
Dismissal
Go in peace. Reflect on the passion story.
Thanks be to God.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has created Worship in the Home liturgies for all of Holy Week. They can be found at this link.
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April 3, 2020 – Welcome to Holy Week at Martin Luther Church. While we are celebrating in separate spaces this year, we are joined together in our worship, our attention to the passion story, and the Spirit that unites us all.
The pastoral team at Martin Luther Church has planned a variety of reflections and activities for all ages to help you participate in our journey through Matthew’s experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Please keep visiting this page from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday as new material is added daily!
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