TODAY'S BIBLE PASSAGES:
Exodus 34:29-35:29; Psalm 53:2-6; Matthew 25-26
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SUGGESTED FAST: SLEEP
As we approach the end of Lent, think about getting up an hour earlier than usual or staying up an hour later to intentionally spend time with the Lord. Whether that be in prayer or confession, consider giving up a portion of your sleep to focus your heart and mind on God, specifically the passion of Christ.
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PASSAGE: MATTHEW 26:26-29
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
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DEVOTIONAL
As we end our journey through Lent this Holy Week, we look to the nature of our redemption in Christ. In His last meal before going to the cross, Christ redefines the Passover meal as the new covenant meal. The Passover was the significant event in the story of redemption for Israel. For Jesus to take the meal and direct it toward His work on the cross was blasphemous, unless of course He was truly the Savior of God’s people.
His temptation in the wilderness demonstrated that He was the true Israel who resisted Satan and adhered to God’s promises. His Sermon on the Mount revealed that He was the true lawgiver for His covenant people. His ministry to the sick, poor, sinner and broken displayed that He was the true Redeemer to restore God’s creation. The Passover meal was both the culmination of His ministry and the starting point of drawing all peoples to partake in God’s redeeming work.
Christ was to be the one in whom humankind would find their salvation. He was to be lifted up so that all peoples would be drawn to Him (John 12:32). Our Lent journey culminates in this glorious truth: Jesus Christ is the true Redeemer. Though in Holy Week we recognize the grim reality of sin’s cost—and we should not minimize the darkness of Christ’s passion—we emerge with the realization that joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5). He is the one who went before us to take our place so that in Him we may have life and joy to the full (John 15:11). All those in Christ have life and peace and are reconciled to God. As we sit in the darkness of Golgotha, let’s remember that the weight of our sin has been placed upon our Redeemer.
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REFLECTION
Why is it important for Christians to participate in the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis? When you participate in Communion, what are you usually focused on?
As you reflect on this season of Lent, what areas of your life did you discover are still drawn to lesser things? Confess these things to the Lord and ask Him to change your heart so that He is your deepest desire.
In what areas of your life did you gain more trust in God’s sovereign work this season?
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SONG: “COME THOU FOUNT”
Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I’ll raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I’m come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wand’ring from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

Oh to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wand’ring heart toThee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, Lord take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
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PRAYER
Oh, Father God,
I praise You, for You are the Giver and Fount of life.
From You come the very words that I use to worship You, They are adequate because they are the means You’ve given, but so limited, for they cannot capture Your incomprehensible glory. I praise You Father, for You have authored my beginning and my end, And created me to be part of Your eternal story.
In Your hands am I held.

Jesus, Son of God, through whom I have been redeemed, I give You all glory that is yours. Born into death; alive, only to be destroyed.
Died. Buried. Separated.
But then resurrected, glorified.
By You, Jesus, my story has been changed.
Redeemed. Alive. Hopeful.
My salvation is born from Your blood, where mercy met justice, Yet neither were compromised.
In Your death and resurrection I am made new.

Spirit—God present.
By the Breath of God am I upheld.
Sanctified. To be formed into the likeness of the Son.
Spirit, I praise You for sustaining me.
By Your power I am delivered daily from shame and guilt, Freed from sin, empowered to walk in righteousness. Thank You for Your eternal patience and perseverance.
Triune God, I love You and praise You. Amen.

–Book of Prayers (Vol. 1), from The Village Church