Providence Church Family,
We are so excited you have committed to doing these family devotions for Holy Week! It is our privilege to come alongside you and equip you as you raise your children to know and love God! We hope you find these devotions helpful each night as you discuss some difficult topics. Our hope is to prepare your hearts and minds to reflect on and better understand the sacrifice Jesus made and the need for it in the first place.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! We are more than happy to help! Email Cheri Hogrefe at cheri@providencechurch.com or Tori Corey at tori@providencechurch.com. Thank you so much for joining us on this journey! Providence Children’s Ministry Team
Here are a few pointers to help these special times go as smoothly as possible.
First – Be consistent!
Consistency is key in parenting, especially when trying to instill a new habit like family devotions. Pick a time that works for everyone, and try to be consistent every day.
Second – Prepare ahead of time!
As parents, we don’t have to know all the answers, but it would be nice if we knew what was coming so we could be prepared. To get the most out of these devotions, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the material BEFORE you introduce it to your kids! If your kids DO ask you a question you don’t know the answer to, don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Kids love to stump us, and when we affirm them for asking a great question, it lets them know that hard questions don’t scare us! It also encourages them to keep thinking!
Third – Make sure you have a computer and a bible!
With each devotional, we are going to watch a video and then dive into God’s Word to see what He has to say about what we are studying! If you don’t have a paper bible, make sure you have a bible app downloaded on your phone! (We recommend the You Version app)
Last – Always start and end with prayer!
True followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and He is our teacher. Open up each devotion by asking God to reveal Himself to you and your family, and close out each devotion by thanking God for what you have learned. Closing prayers are also a great time to involve the kids and let them pray. It doesn’t matter what words they use or how long or short it is…God loves it when we talk to Him!
As you start this week, here is what we are praying for your families!
God our Father, we worship You tonight for the privilege of drawing near to Your throne of grace with confidence because of the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus Christ. God, we know that You are delighted when we devote our time and energy to learning more about You, so we ask that through the power of Your Spirit, You will be our teacher this week. Guide us into all truth and reveal Yourself to us! God, I ask You to give our families doing this devotion a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of who You are. I pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened so that we will know You. God, I pray that You would grant these families, according to the riches of Your glory, to be strengthened with power through Your Spirit so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith and that they would be rooted and grounded in love. God, I pray that they would be able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge so that they will be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19) Amen.
SUNDAY, MARCH 24th – THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY:
Parents — open with a short prayer.
God, our Father, in Jeremiah 29:13, You promise us that when we seek You with all of our heart, we will find You. Help us tonight to learn more about You and draw closer to You through our time together.Opening Question:
- How do most people respond when they see a celebrity (someone famous)? Why is that? What would you do if you had the chance to meet someone famous?
- Say, “As we watch the video today, pay attention to how the people respond to Jesus.” LET’S WATCH THE VIDEO! The Triumphal Entry
Closing discussion:
- What was your favorite part of the video?
- Was there any part of the video that confused you?
- How did the people respond to Jesus? Why did they respond this way?
- How was their response similar or different to how we respond to celebrities today?
Open your bible to Matthew 21:1-11 and READ it together.
During Jesus’ three years of public ministry, many people witnessed Him performing miracles and healing people, and they believed that He was the Messiah God had promised them in the Old Testament.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on the donkey, the people praised and honored Him, shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”. Hosanna means, “Save us!” The people were shouting this because they wanted Jesus to save them, overthrow the Roman government, and take His place as the King of Israel.
Jesus WAS coming to save them, but not from the Roman government…He was coming to save them from something much worse…their own sin…and He would do it in a way no one expected.
By the end of the week, we are going to see the people shouting something VERY different, so come back tomorrow to see what happens on the second day of Holy Week.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Parents — close in prayer or give kids the opportunity to pray.
God, thank you for the hope that we have in Your Son. Thank You for sending Jesus to save us from our sins by defeating sin and death on the cross.
MONDAY, MARCH 25th – JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE:
Before the video…
Parents — open with a short prayer.
God, help us tonight to learn more about You and draw closer to You through our time together.
Opening Question:
Share a time when you felt angry. How did you respond to those feelings?
Say, “As we watch this video today, pay attention to how Jesus responded to the people in the temple.
LET’S WATCH THE VIDEO! Jesus Cleanses the Temple
- Discussion questions:
What was your favorite part of the video?
Was there any part of the video that confused you?
How did Jesus respond to the people in the temple?
How was Jesus’ response similar and different than how we respond to anger?
Open your bible and READ Matthew 21:12-17 together.
God’s temple was supposed to be a place where everyone could come together and worship Him, but that was not happening, and this made Jesus angry. The area the people had turned into a marketplace was supposed to be a special area where Gentiles—people who were not Jews—could worship God. But how could anyone pray and worship with the noisy animals and the jingling of coins all around them? More than that, the people were not being fair in the way they did business. They were stealing money from people by raising the prices way more than normal.
I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t take much to make me angry. Most of my anger is based on selfishness, though. I get angry when things don’t go the way I want them to. The emotion of anger is not the part that is sin…it’s what we do with that anger. Do we think hateful thoughts about someone? Do we throw a massive fit? Do we scream and cry because we didn’t get our way? All of those things are wrong.
But Jesus is God’s Son. He is perfectly righteous and holy, and His anger was not based on selfishness…it was based on His righteousness! Jesus was protecting His Father’s house because the people were misusing it. There is a HUGE difference there.
Tomorrow, one of Jesus’ closest friends will make a decision that will change everything, so come back to see what happens on the third day of Holy Week.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Parents — close in prayer or give kids the opportunity to pray.
Jesus, Your love for Your Father shines through this whole story. We need Your help now more than ever because we live in a fallen world, and we don’t always do a good job reflecting You. Please forgive us when we fail, and help us to be more like You.
TUESDAY, MARCH 26TH – JESUS CURSES THE FIG TREE:
Before the video…
Parents — open with a short prayer.
God, help us tonight to learn more about You and draw closer to You through our time together.
Opening:
Watch the video together — Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
Discussion questions:
- Did you learn anything new about fig trees? What did the fig tree represent in the Bible? (Jerusalem) What did it mean if a fig tree didn’t have fruit? (It wouldn’t bear fruit later, and it would be cut down)
Open your bible and READ Mark 11:12-14 together:
Our story tonight is about Jesus’ interaction with a tree, which can seem really confusing, but Jesus never wasted an opportunity to teach His disciples something spiritual through something physical. If this fig tree represents the nation of Israel, what spiritual lesson can we learn from it? Well…the nation of Israel looked like they were healthy on the outside. They certainly acted like they loved God and followed Him with their whole heart, but they were not producing any fruit. In other words, they were doing and saying the ‘religious’ things, but in their heart, they did not believe in Jesus. They refused to accept that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Jesus doesn’t want us to pretend to follow Him…He wants us to truly follow Him. READ Mark 11:20-26 together:
This was a lesson for the disciples in the importance of faith. Remember, Jesus knew His time on earth was coming to an end and that He only had a few more days with His disciples. Jesus wanted His disciples to know that God is powerful enough to do anything!
Moving a mountain is sometimes symbolic of doing something humanly impossible. Jesus wanted His disciples to believe that with faith, they could accomplish what seemed impossible. What can we learn from this story?
1. Jesus wants us to have faith in God. He wants us to trust Him for all our needs and to believe He has our best interests at heart.
2. Jesus also warns us against pretending we are something we are not. If we are indeed going to call ourselves ‘Christians,’ followers of Christ, then we should live our lives as such.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Parents — close in prayer or give kids the opportunity to pray.
God, it is so easy to fall in love with the things of the world, but those things will never bring us true satisfaction. We want to develop a love and a trust for you that far outweighs anything the world could offer us. Jesus, draw us closer to You and help us know how to love You more than anything else!
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27TH – SILENCE:
Before the video…
Parents — open with a short prayer.
God, help us tonight to learn more about You and draw closer to You through our time together.
SAY: “During Holy Week, no specific events are recorded on Wednesday, so today, we will focus on silence.”
Open the Bible and read the following verses:
- Lamentations 3:24-26
- Exodus 14:14
- Psalm 37:7
Discussion questions:
What did all of these verses have in common?
Practice Silence:
Take 10 – 20 minutes to practice silence as a family. Choose the length of time based on the ages of your children.
During this time of silence, reflect on what Jesus did for us. Draw a picture, journal, take a walk, or pray….
Come together afterward to discuss your experience, and then close in prayer.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Parents — close in prayer or give kids the opportunity to pray
God, we know that our days are filled with noise and busyness. Help us find time every single day to drown out that noise and be silent so we can hear You more clearly. We want Your voice to be the loudest one in our lives.
THURSDAY, MARCH 28 – JESUS IS ARRESTED:
Before the video…
Parents — open with a short prayer.
God, help us tonight to learn more about You and draw closer to You through our time together.
Opening Questions:
What is the most difficult thing you ever had to do?
Say, “In our video today, Jesus knows He is about to face the most difficult thing He would have to do.”
LET’S WATCH THE VIDEO – Jesus is Arrested
Discussion questions:
What was your favorite part of the video?
Was there any part of the video that confused you?
Open your bible and READ Matthew 26: 36-75 together:
Jesus knew it was His Father’s plan for Him to die to bring salvation to the world. Jesus needed strength to fulfill this plan. He went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray with His disciples, but they kept falling asleep. Jesus was disappointed that they would not stay awake, but it was too late because Judas was already on his way to betray Him.
Judas, along with Roman soldiers and a large crowd with weapons, came to the garden to arrest Jesus. All of Jesus’ friends turned their back on Jesus and ran away, and Jesus was taken to the temple to be questioned by the priest. Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, followed and watched from a distance. When a servant girl recognized him as being with Jesus, Peter denied it. Others in the crowd insisted that they, too, had seen Peter with Jesus, but Peter again denied that he had ever known Jesus. Three times that night, Peter denied Jesus, just like Jesus had predicted. When the rooster crowed, Peter ran away and wept bitterly. He knew he had let Jesus down, and he was very upset with himself.
Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and had all of His friends turn their backs on Him. Although all of these difficult things happened to Jesus, He was willing to go through all of it because He knew it was part of His Father’s plan to bring salvation to the world.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Parents — close in prayer or give kids the opportunity to pray.
Jesus, thank You for being obedient to Your Father’s plan even though it came at a great cost to You. Thank You for demonstrating how much You love us by being willing to go through great suffering for our sake.
FRIDAY, MARCH 29 – GOOD FRIDAY
Parents, there is no family devotional tonight because we are inviting everyone to join us at the church for a reflective Good Friday family service.
Service times for our Good Friday service will be 5:00 and 7:00, so you will want to get there early to get a good seat!
(Childcare for birth – K will ONLY be provided at the 5:00 service; please register for this on the Good Friday portion of our Easter Page (providence church.com/easter).