Finding Strength in Faith Through the Holy Week Experience

As we tread the solemn path of Holy Week, we invite you to walk with us through the poignant contrasts of Palm Sunday and the ensuing days that shaped the very foundation of faith. In the latest episode of Resilient Faith, we'll unravel the complexities of trust, particularly during Lent, and the challenge of keeping faith amid life's inevitable uncertainties. Prepare to experience a journey through the key moments of Holy Week, as we take you from the jubilation of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to the introspective reflection brought upon by His suffering and crucifixion. Together, we'll share a prayer and extend an open invitation to participate in the upcoming services at Brentwood Presbyterian Church, fostering a space for continuous spiritual growth and resilience.

Amidst the trials we face, the strength of our faith is often tested. This episode of Resilient Faith is more than just a recount of biblical events; it's an exploration of how unwavering belief serves as an anchor in believers' lives, through prosperity and adversity alike. Delve  into Brentwood Presbyterian Church's dedication to nurturing a resilient community in West Los Angeles, reinforcing faith's role as a sustaining force. We discuss the importance of connection in these trying times and invite you to join the conversation through our social media platforms. This Holy Week, allow the Resilient Faith podcast to guide you in cultivating a faith robust enough to weather life's storms and emerge steadfast and hopeful.

Chapters

• 0:08 Holy Week Reflections and Encouragement
• 11:31 Resilient Faith Podcast Outreach

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Welcome to Resilient Faith, the podcast. Opportunities to find deeper resilience within ourselves can come when life seems most challenging. This podcast is to help you develop that resilience and connection with God. Being resilient and having power starts with faith.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Welcome to another episode of the Resilient Faith podcast. I'm Laura East, the Associate Pastor at Brentwood Presbyterian Church, and here we are, my friends, in Holy Week. So to set the stage for Holy Week, this most sacred week in the Christian year, I'm going to read from the Gospel of Matthew, starting at the beginning of chapter 21. This is considered Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So hear these words from the Gospel of Matthew. When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethpage at the Mount of Olives, jesus sent two disciples saying to them Go into the village ahead of you and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this the Lord needs them and he will send them immediately. This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Tell the daughter of Zion Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest heaven. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil asking who is this? The crowds were saying this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

Speaker 2: 3:03

Palm Sunday can also be considered Passion Sunday, when we choose to read past this joyful procession at the beginning of Matthew 21 and go more into how the week unfolds, it is, by design, a day of drama and paradox, of triumph and tragedy. Jesus processes into Jerusalem like royalty, but by the end of the week it's a different story. Of course, we now, today in the year 2024, have the benefit of knowing how the story ends. In fact, many of us have heard this story since our infancy. But of course, the people living through this experience 2000 years ago had no idea what was to come and how the week would unfold.

Speaker 2: 4:13

This Lenten season at church at Brentwood Presbyterian, we have been talking about trust and I honestly wonder if one of the challenges of hearing this story today is that we know how it ends. So it can make it an all too easy example of trusting God to turn death into life, but the reality for so many of us is that can be so much harder for us, here and now, in the context of our own lives. Trusting in God's presence with us or trusting in God with our hearts, our minds, our lives, our church, our world this is a part of the great mystery of our faith. We know how it turns out for Jesus, but we don't know how it turns out in our own lives. We don't know what today holds, or tomorrow or the day after that, or even how these years will unfold. We know that bad things happen every day and we get scared. We get scared and we are afraid that the darkness will triumph, that darkness will have the final word. Disappointment is a reality. Devastation seems to unfold with each new day.

Speaker 2: 5:43

The grave is real and yet core to our faith, foundational to our Christian theology, is that the grave doesn't have the final word. That's not to say that everything will turn out the way that we want it to turn out. Our lived experience teaches us that it does mean that we can trust in a loving God who cares about us and cares about our lives and calls us to care about one another. It means that we can trust that God is ever-present. We can trust that God has gone before us in the life of Christ to experience what we experience and feel what we feel. We can trust that God conquers the grave. We can trust that God is working through us and our lives to bring about new life. So, as the story of Christ's passion unfolds this week, from Palm Sunday into Maundy Thursday, into Good Friday, into Holy Saturday, into Easter, we can trust that God is present with us through this story and through the story of our lives. Now it's important for us not to skip from the Hosanna of Palm Sunday straight to the Hallelujah of Easter morning. If you just go from one Sunday to the next, you're just getting up one parade to another parade. You're missing the meat that's.

Speaker 2: 7:43

In the middle of this week, as the story of Christ's passion unfolds, the shouts of praise turn into demands for his death. Through this week, jesus is handed over to be mocked, tortured and killed. The crown he receives is one of thorns. We acknowledge the fullness of the paradox of Palm Sunday to insist that we not avoid the cross. God's way of glory leads through the grave. So, friends, as we enter into this holy week indeed, we are in its midst, it is happening. Indeed, we are in its midst, it is happening Let us pray together as we pause to acknowledge this sacred week. Eternal God, whose word silences the shouts of the mighty quiet within us, every voice but your own Speak to us through the suffering and death of Jesus, that we may receive grace and that we may show Christ's love in lives that are given to your service. Amen, beloveds. I pray that you are blessed.

Speaker 2: 9:21

This holy week. We're having service at brentwood presbyterian church on thursday night at seven o'clock, a monday thursday service. It will also be live streamed for those who can't make it in person. And then, friday night, we will be at pacific palisades presbyterian church, also at seven oclock, and that service will also be live streamed, so you can catch either or both of those services. Of course. I encourage you to come to both on Thursday night and Friday night. And then, of course, join us for Easter morning. We'll have two services, one at 9 and one at 11. And those will be live-streamed as well.

Speaker 2: 10:06

Beloveds, be blessed this Holy Week. I encourage us, no matter how uncomfortable and challenging it is, to walk with Jesus through the fullness of this week, indeed even to the grave, because we trust that God goes with us to the grave. We trust that God goes with us into the deepest, darkest moments of our lives and in and still is still able to redeem all things, is still at work to make all things new, to bring about new life, indeed even to bring life out of death. And when we have the choice, when we have the power, that we will also choose life in the face of death, that we will lean into the light, even as we, in all of our lives, have to go through times of darkness, that we trust that it is not the end for us. Blessings to one and all my friends. May it be so amen.

Speaker 1: 11:31

You've been listening to resilient faith. The podcast resilient faith is sponsored by Brentwood Presbyterian Church in West Los Angeles. You can follow our church and this podcast on Facebook at BPC Team and Instagram at BPC underscore USA. Make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and thanks for listening.