Read John 20:1-18. HE IS RISEN! We have waited seven weeks to say that! HE IS RISEN INDEED. ALLELUIA! So here we are, at the end of The Journey. Here we are at the mouth of an empty tomb. Because of today we are free from sin, we are victorious over death, and the devil must run from our presence. He no longer has power over us. The Journey has taken us through several destinations, and with the reality of the coronavirus, through a couple of detours! But the goal has been achieved. By following Jesus we are a transformed people, a people whose faith has grown and who have experienced the joy and struggle of a life with Christ.   What have you learned on The Journey ? As you come to the empty tomb, what impact has The Journey had on your life?

Read 1 Samuel 3:1-11. The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is often referred to  as Silent Saturday. It is silent because it seems as if God is not speaking. It seems as if God is not doing anything. It seems as if God is dead. That may seem true from the physical eye, but to the spiritual eye, nothing could be farther from the truth. As the Lord called Samuel to be a mighty prophet of the Lord, so the Lord is calling you. He is speaking to you, even when all things seem to be silent. God is speaking to you, even when the world around us has come to a standstill.    What the Lord said to Samuel He also says to you: ​ “ See, I am about to do   something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle ” (vs.   11). ​ What does that look like in your life? How might the empty tomb be realized as the power of God about to be released into your life?  

Read Matthew 16:25-28. I’ve always wondered why Good Friday is called good. In my pondering, I’m  reminded of what Paul said to the church in Rome: ​ “ For we know that in all   things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called   according to his purpose ” (Romans 8:28). ​ While everything that happens to us may   not be good, the power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ will turn it   around for our good and for the glory of His name.      Do you want to save your life? Then lose it. Do you want to lose your life? Then find it. Good Friday is good because what seems to be lost is only about to be found when the rock of the tomb is rolled away.    

Read Luke 22:24-30. Maundy Thursday is a holy day. It is the day in which Jesus gathered together with His disciples in the upper room and instituted the Lord’s Supper. Jesus came among us as a servant. He came not to be served but to serve (cf. Mk. 10:45).  He came to give us an example of how we are to live our lives - not in service to ourselves, lording our power and control over others - but in service to them. Luke tells us that Jesus came among us as “ ​ one who serves ” (vs. 27b).      How might you serve others with the same love and grace that Jesus Christ has   so wonderfully lavished upon you?     

Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Paul is coming to the church in Corinth with words that are difficult to hear: ​ “ In   the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm   than good ” (vs. 17). Though these words seem harsh, they are however true. In  bringing them back to the Word of Christ and the words that Jesus instituted, which is the Word of truth, Paul said: ​ “ For what I received from the Lord is also   what I passed on to you …” ​ He then went on to speak the Words of Institution -   the words that Jesus spoke on the night in which He was betrayed and instituted  the Lord’s Supper.     Receiving the body and blood of Jesus is giving the body and blood of Jesus to others. How might you receive Jesus’ body and blood so that you can give Him to others?

Read Matthew 6:5-14. Prayer is the engine behind which your life of faith moves forward. Prayer is the instrument in which God gives His people direct communication with Him. What a gift that is to be able to approach a holy God in the confidence, grace, and mercy of Jesus Christ won for us on the cross. But Jesus tells us that prayer is a gift to be received, not a gesture in which to boast, for he says, ​ “ When you pray, go   into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen” (vs. 6).     There is no greater time to pray than in a time of crisis and pandemic. What would it look like for you to maximize this time of “social distancing” as an opportunity to approach the Lord in prayer?    

Read Luke 9:51-62. These verses of Scripture have always challenged me to think about the ways God is asking me to respond to His call. God’s call is irrevocable; that is to  say, His call cannot be reversed, denied, or annulled. When God calls, He calls for an immediate response - an action that does not put off for later what the Holy Spirit wants to do now.     How is God calling you? What does that response look like in your life? Don’t put off for tomorrow what God is calling you to do today.    

Read Isaiah 6:8-10.  I love Isaiah’s response to the power, the glory, and the majesty of God that he witnessed in his vision of the Lord. After seeing the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted with the train of His robe filling the temple; and after one of the seraphs touched his lips with a burning, hot coal, his response was, “ Here am I.   Send me! ”     How is the Lord revealing Himself to you - His power, His might, His glory - that   you, like Isaiah might say, ​ “ Here am I. Send me? ”    

Read John 12:12-19. Jesus did it all wrong. He didn’t enter Jerusalem like a conquering hero should. No white stallion. No military force backing him up. No spectacular miracles (like raising another dead man). No powerful speeches. Yet the whole world was following Him. For the moment, anyway. That wouldn’t last long … because He was doing it all wrong. They turned away because He didn’t do it like they expected.  How many times have I been disappointed when God didn’t do things my way? How often have I reacted in childish ways because I didn’t get my way in spiritual things?  Forgive me, Lord! And help me to understand that Your way is always different from my way. Let me patiently watch Your way unfold in my life and in my world. Amen!

Read Isaiah 42:1-9. Our Creator God is always up to something new. And here’s the really exciting part … we get to be a part of it. When He begins to work in someone’s life, we get to be the light! Right now God is doing something incredibly wonderful in our world. Churches are being forced into rethinking their ministries. Dry bones are being called to new life. God makes it clear. He will not yield his glory to anything else – not even a virus. What new thing do you see God doing?

Read Isaiah 6:1-8. When you have been touched by God – really, deeply touched by God – you are eager to let others know. Isaiah came face-to-face with the realization that he needed God’s touch, and he received it. And for him the transition was from “Woe is me” to “Send me.” There is an old Bill Gaither song that uses this imagery: “He touched me and oh the joy that floods my soul. Something happened, and now I know. He touched and made me whole.”   How has God touched you?

Read Matthew 16:13-20. On this April Fools’ Day we read the most non-foolish thing Peter ever said! He says it rashly, of course. He always does. But on that day it was anything but foolish. It was utterly profound. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So profound was it that Jesus acknowledged Peter didn’t come up with it on his own. It was revealed to him from the Father in heaven.  The Psalmist defines a fool as one who claims there is no God (Psalm 14:1). Today Peter proclaims that Jesus is God. No fooling him! I want to find ways to work this truth into the conversations this day has. When my friends are proclaiming “April Fools!” I want to counter with the truth that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. Join me?