A good friend of mine was blessed to be able to go to the Holy Land while he was in high school. How do I know? Because every time we are sitting together and a story is read from the Bible, he will lean over to me and whisper in my ear: “I’ve been there.”  Garden of Gethsemane? He’s been there. Mount of Olives? He’s been there. Mount Calvary? He’s been there? The Empty Tomb? He’s been there. (It’s more annoying when you can hear him in person.) I’ll admit it: I’m jealous. I hope one day to travel to the Holy Land and see some of these places for myself. Until then, I’ll have to console myself by remembering why each of these places are important.

Jerusalem. Bethany. The Mount of Olives. Gethsemane. The Courtyard of Caiaphas’ home. Pilate’s Judgment Hall. Have you been there? Do you remember what happened at each of these locations? Can you recall the events of Jesus’ Passion that are tied to these locations or are they just names of places far away?

     In our worship series for Lent, “Places of the Passion,” we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, contemplating what happened at each place our Savior stood along the path of his Passion for our sake. Each service explores the meaning, history and spiritual inspiration associated with the location highlighted. My hope is that you will learn things you may not have known before as they grow to understand more deeply the hard road our Lord took that the way to heaven might be open to us.

     Here's our schedule for our midweek Lenten services this year:

• February 22, Ash Wednesday: The City of Jerusalem
• March 1: Bethany
• March 8: The Mount of Olives
• March 15: Gethsemane
• March 22: The Courtyard
• March 29: Pilate’s Judgment Hall
• April 6, Maundy Thursday: The Upper Room
• April 7, Good Friday (noon): Golgotha

     And, as we did with Advent, we will have a morning service each Wednesday at 10:30 for those who may not want to be out at night as well as our usual service at 7:00pm every Wednesday evening.

In Christ,      

Pastor Tom Vanderbilt