United Methodist Women Program Advisory Group Hold First Meeting of 2021-2024 Quadrennium

 By Tara Barnes, Editor, response magazine, United Methodist Women 

The 2021-2024 United Methodist Women Program Advisory Group gathered via Zoom for its first annual meeting March 11-13, 2021. This global gathering included Pam Zwickey representing the Northwest Texas conference. The group members met for orientation and preparing for their work throughout the next four years. The program advisory group studies issues and prepares recommendations to the national board regarding mission priorities, mission education work, and program guidance for United Methodist Women. It includes representatives from every United Methodist conference as well as from national and global partners. 

Program advisory group members are part of one of five working teams: membership, identity, relationship, technology, and story. Members also serve on United Methodist Women’s editorial board, Reading Program team, Legacy Steering Committee, Eliminating Institutional Racism team, and Assembly team. Pam serves on the Story/Brand team and conference officer liaison. Time was spent during the meeting describing the work of the teams and welcoming members on board. 

The meeting’s theme, “Dream It, Believe it, Do it” was reflected in the reports from General Secretary Harriett Jane Olson and National President ‘Ainise ‘Isama’u. ‘Isama’u reminded members that “our foremothers dreamt it so that we - yes, all of us here - could achieve it. It’s now our time to dream bigger dreams and continue the legacy. The dreams we dream today lay the foundation for those women coming behind us. If we dream it, surely, they will achieve it. May it be so.” 

Olson called the program advisory group members to the work of this quadrennium saying, “We will look - seeing needs and hearing women’s stories. We will consult with women “on the ground” and in the know. We will plan, believing that we can make a difference. We will raise funds to support the work, believing that this is our calling. And believing that God will use us for good in the world.” 

Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Tamara Clark gave a report on giving and shared the ways members’ mission dollars are at work in the world through grants and scholarships, national mission institutions, regional missionaries and the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner as well as through member empowerment through leadership training, spiritual growth, transformative education and service and advocacy. 

“Luke 8:1-3 talks about some bold women who gave out of their own means as an expression of God’s grace while still active in ministry,” Clark said. “As United Methodist Women members, we bring our gifts of not only finances but of time and service so that these offerings might be turned into miracles for women, children and youth.” 

Each program advisory group meeting includes training on eliminating institutional racism. The March 2021 meeting focused on the history of United Methodist Women’s antiracism work, defining racism and sharing resources, including the Charter for Racial Justice, United 

Methodist Women’s Just Energy for All and Interrupting the School to Prison Pipeline campaigns, and studying Pushout at Mission u. 

A moving sermon by Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, Baltimore-Washington conference, closed the weekend and called program advisory group members to be unbent women, to stand up straight and let God’s glory touch their faces, referring to the poem “Woman Un-Bent” by Irene Zimmerman. 

“Be unbent, stand straight and walk in your calling,” Easterling said. “Be unbent, stand straight and take thou authority. Be unbent, stand straight and be free of your timidity. Be unbent, stand straight and serve. Be unbent and stand up against those who try to push you back down. Be unbent and stand up and say, ‘Here I am, Lord. Send me.’” 

Throughout the gathering, program advisory group members dreamed and believed together for the future of United Methodist Women and its crucial role in the church and for a world in which all can thrive, and they left ready to do the work. 

United Methodist Women is the official women’s organization of The United Methodist Church, with hundreds of thousands of members across the country whose vision is to put faith, hope and love into action for women, children, and youth. 

Pam Zwickey serves as the national representative on the United Methodist Women Northwest Texas conference leadership team gathering success stories and needs of local membership to report as well as sharing communications from the national office. 

UMC Bishops End 5-day Meeting; Clarify Key Decisions

For Immediate Release

April 30, 2021

UMC Bishops end 5-day meeting; clarify key decisions

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WASHINGTON, D. C.¬: The bishops of The United Methodist Church gathered online for five days to worship, to discern ways to best offer leadership to the church in this liminal time and to hear about the exciting mission and ministry occurring across the global connection.

During the meeting which was attended by more than 100 active and retired bishops from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, the Council of Bishops celebrated the lives of their colleagues and spouses. The bishops began each day in a time of devotion as they grounded their work.  The bishops also spent time in Covenant Groups each day where they shared their heart and life and work.

The meeting opened on Monday, April 26 with the presidential address in which Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, the president of the Council, challenged the clergy, laity, delegates and bishops to use the time well and continue to shape a narrative of mission and ministry for The United Methodist Church. 

The bishops heard and were inspired by the Antiracism work that is occurring throughout the global church as they recommitted themselves to continue to address the systemic racism facing our communities around the world.  Bishops from every corner of the church shared their work and shared inspiring stories of love in action.

The General Secretaries offered their report and provided clarity around their work and their commitment to lead the church in this time.  Chair of the General Secretaries Table Dawn Wiggins Hare told the bishops that the General Secretaries are committed to continuing working with their current boards as they lead the church in this liminal time. 

A portion of the meeting focused on the role of the episcopacy in an ever-changing environment.  The group tasked with this work shared their work to date and invited bishops into small groups to provide feedback.  A final report is anticipated at the November 2021 COB meeting.

The bishops spent a significant portion of their meeting each day listening and learning from one another as they described their current realities and how they might respond in ways that would be faithful to their baptismal, ordination and consecration vows. 

“The bishops were engaged, listened intently, honored one another’s voices and supported one another throughout the meeting,” Bishop Fierro Harvey said.  “These are challenging times for the church, yet the strong, steady and non-anxious leadership of the bishops is greatly needed at this time, “she added.

They reviewed the recent decisions of the Judicial Council and the implications on their work. 

The Council received the work of a writing team, initiated by Central Conference and Jurisdictional Conference Bishops and at the direction of the Executive Committee.  The document, a “Narrative for the Continuing United Methodist Church”, is not an official statement of the Council, but rather a resource that can be adapted and shared by bishops, active and retired, who find it helpful as they exercise the teaching office.

The leaders of the UMC also heard encouraging reports from the COB leadership teams working on Justice and Reconciliation, Missional Engagement, Congregational Vitality and Leadership Development as well as UMCOR’s response to the COVID crisis in India and the rest of the world. The bishops also heard a report and watched a video from the Connectional Table’s work on the State of the Church.

COB Ecumenical Officer Bishop Sally Dyck presented the Ecumenical Report, which highlighted the UMC work with other churches and denominations throughout the world.

The bishops had previously chosen Bishop Hope Morgan Ward to deliver the episcopal address at the May 2020 General Conference.  Bishop Ward requested that she be relieved of the responsibility given that the landscape had changed dramatically and the fact that she had elected to take vocational retirement at the end of 2021.  She believes strongly that the address ought to be given by an active bishop. 

After a period of discernment, the bishops voted Bishop Jonathan Holston of the South Carolina Annual Conference as the one to deliver the episcopal address at the postponed 2020 General Conference scheduled for the Fall of 2022.

The bishops also acted on the following:

·       The Council of Bishops affirmed their interpretation of the Book of Discipline that the delegates elected for the 2020 General Conference that was scheduled for May 2020 are the duly elected delegates to the postponed General Conference scheduled for Fall of 2022.

·       The bishops affirmed the dates of November 2-4, 2022 for the regular sessions of the Jurisdictional Conferences for the purpose of electing bishops and general agency members.

·       The Council of Bishops reaffirmed their interpretation of the Book of Discipline that special sessions of the Jurisdictional Conference may be called at any time by the College of Bishops based on provisions of Paragraph 521 but not for the purposes of electing members to boards and agencies or to elect bishops.

·       The bishops rescinded their November 2020 recommendation for no election of bishops at regular sessions of the Jurisdictional Conferences and that the COB strongly encourage consideration of mission, context, resources and future impact of the COVID pandemic and potential changes in the UMC in making decisions about the number of bishops to be elected, within the disciplinary parameters of paragraphs 404.2 and 512.1. 

The bishops believe the determination of the number of bishops to be elected at regular sessions of the Jurisdictional Conferences is a matter to be determined by jurisdictions at either a special or regular session. 

Bishop Harvey noted: "We have done our best to provide clarity where clarity is needed as we set our heart and mind to using our time well in the in between time leading to the postponed 2020GC scheduled for the fall of 2022.” 

“We continue to listen to each other to find ways to support one another and to lead the church together.  We don’t always agree but I believe we operate out of a sense of love and respect for one another and deep commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Bishop Harvey said.

Videos of the some of the sessions of the COB meeting at available online at: www.facebook.com/umcbishops

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Media Contact: Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga

Director of Communications – Council of Bishops

The United Methodist Church

mmulenga@umc-cob.org

202-748-5172

www.unitedmethodistbishops.org

HEDLEY UMC, HEDLEY, TEXAS, HISTORY WINS THE 2020 KATE WARNICK AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LOCAL CHURCH HISTORY – SMALL CHURCH CATEGORY

April 19, 2021

(Dallas, Texas) The Texas United Methodist Historical Society is pleased to announce that the 2020 Kate Warnick Award for Excellence in Local Church History – Small Church Category – has been awarded to Hedley Station: A History of the First Twenty-five Years of the Hedley Methodist Church, by Rev. Stan Cosby.  Hedley UMC is in the Northwest Texas Conference of the UMC.

The Society also has given Honorable Mention to First United Methodist Church of Brackettville: One Hundred Years 1920 – 2020 by Mary Ellen Miner. First UMC Bracketville is in the Rio Texas Conference of the UMC.

These histories explore the strength and resilience of small churches in rural communities west of the 100th meridian.  Each contain the testimonies in words and actions of the determined Anglo settlers of these tough lands, including their ministers.

Hedley, Texas, sits about 75 miles east southeast of Amarillo.  “God’s people of Methodist faith have made their witness from this corner of Donley County for 115 years,” begins Rev. Stan Cosby, current pastor of the church there, whose wife’s family has been involved in the Hedley church almost from its beginning.  Cosby weaves a wonderfully well-written story of the church in the first three decades of the twentieth century using a wide array of primary resource from the church, the conference records, ministerial obituaries and online genealogical resources.  The book contains wonderful scans and useful images of original source material.  Although these materials sometimes put the ministers in the center of the story, Cosby seeks out the laity and provides a detailed account of the founding families of the church.  Typical of the faithfulness recounted is the story of Dr. J. W. Webb: “Dr. Webb was a Methodist, not a very good church member as the Methodists saw it, but he saved our baby’s life.  Dr. Webb never took a penny. He was a true friend of the community.”

The Methodist presence in Brackettville, which is 30 miles east of Del Rio in the Rio Grande Valley, dates back to the nineteenth century and is tied to historic Fort Clark.  The author, a “Winter Texan” who spends the rest of the year in Michigan, has taken great care to assemble an extraordinary collection of materials documenting the surprisingly tumultuous history of this faith community.  She tells of both the Anglo and Hispanic nineteenth century Methodists and details the rise, near fall and rise again of the Anglo congregation that met regularly starting in the early twentieth century. In the 1950s, the church hosted Rev. Rena Mahler, then the only ordained Methodist female minister in Texas.  In the 1980s, the congregation split between conservatives and moderates.  Recently, the congregation has expressed its hope through mission to its community.  The history includes short films and a series of articles ready for publication in a newspaper.

“The life of the faith is expressed in and around the local church,” said Kent Roberts, Chair of the Kate Warnick Award Committee of the Texas United Methodist Historical Society.  “These wonderful new histories capture the vitality and challenges of the local church in smaller towns.  One hates to have to choose between them.  Both books also instruct other local church historians on the wealth of materials available to reconstruct detailed histories of even small organizations.”

The Texas United Methodist Historical Society established the Kate Warnick Awards in 1978 to encourage the publication of exemplary local church histories within the eight Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church that constitute the Texas United Methodist Historical Society: Central Texas, New Mexico, North Texas, Northwest Texas, Oklahoma Indian Mission, Rio Grande, Rio Texas, and Texas.  The Award is given in the Large Church, Medium Church and Small Church categories.  This year, no awards were made in the Large Church or Medium Church categories.

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Press Contact:

Kent H. Roberts

Judicial Council Refuses COB Request to Rule on Protocol

PRESS RELEASE

April 19, 2021

Judicial Council refuses COB request to rule on Protocol

WASHINGTON, D. C. -  The highest court in The United Methodist Church has exercised its discretion to decline a request by bishops to decide whether the plan for separation on the part of some in the church, known as the Protocol, is constitutional.

In its decision released April 16, the Judicial Council denied jurisdiction in the case, noting there was no indication that the Protocol has been adopted by either the General Conference or the Council of Bishops (COB). 

The COB does not adopt legislation, so the rationale of the Judicial Council raises questions about its decision not to exercise jurisdiction, since three annual conferences noted in the petition have submitted the Protocol as proposed legislation.

“It is, therefore, simply proposed legislation and stands in the same position for jurisdictional purposes as any other proposed legislation not duly adopted by either COB or the General Conference,” the Judicial Council said. 

The COB properly submitted its petition as permitted under Paragraph 2609.2, which authorizes the Judicial Council to address the constitutionality of proposed legislation. 

The Judicial Council said there was no urgency to rule on the Protocol since it was one of numerous legislative plans submitted to the General Conference for consideration, could be amended, substituted, or even rejected, thus, making it unlikely that it will be enacted in its current form. 

Referring to its early decision # 1303, the court said taking an early action on the constitutionality of the Protocol could potentially place a constitutional seal of approval on one proposed legislative item.

“It would be improper for us to anticipate or engineer legislative outcomes. Until the General Conference has the opportunity to consider and act on all proposals, including the Protocol, we must avoid interfering with the legislative process through premature adjudication,” the court said.

The Judicial Council also questioned the authorship and history of the proposed legislation for the Protocol, formally known as the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation.

The court said the Protocol was the work product of a select group of bishops, clergy, and lay persons who took it upon themselves to offer legislative solutions to the longstanding conflict over the role of LGBTQIA persons in the Church and “who met secretly in undisclosed locations over a period of time.”

“The public was unaware of its existence until that group completed its work and issued a press release. More important, the authors of the Protocol received no official backing of the General Church and are, therefore, fundamentally different from the Commission on the Way Forward [hereinafter COWF],” the court said.

The COWF was authorized by the 2016 General Conference and duly appointed by the COB for the purpose of the Special Session in 2019. Its composition, mission statement, meeting schedule, and venues were posted online ahead of time; its meetings and work progress were reported to the church and its operation was funded by the General Church. 

After the COWF completed its work, the final report containing the three plans became the main focus of the 2019 special session of General Conference in St. Louis. 

The decision had one dissent from J. Kabamba Kiboko. 

In reaction, COB President Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey said: “I am grateful to the Judicial Council and for their work in these unusual pandemic times.  The Council of Bishops takes note of these decisions and the implications for their future work”

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Media Contact: Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga

Director of Communications – Council of Bishops

The United Methodist Church

mmulenga@umc-cob.org

202-748-5172 

www.unitedmethodistbishops.org

Empty & Filled - Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter!! Happy Resurrection Sunday! Christ is Risen!

I hope this journey through Lent has brought growth and peace and strange joy to your walk with Christ and for your church. We celebrate this day and the weeks to come as we continue to surrender to the Lord and grow in who he has for us to be. Today we celebrate life and second chances found in new life. We celebrate reunion with our creator.  

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! The one we thought was dead has come to life again! He is risen indeed! Amen!

Scripture to Meditate on:

Mark 16:1-8, ESV

1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Song of Meditation:

Miracle by Mosaic

*The NWTX Conference does not own the rights to this song or video. If you reproduce in your services, please follow licensing rules.

Scripture to Meditate on:

Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24, ESV

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” 17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.[a] 23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Song of Meditation:

Living Hope by Phil Wickham

*The NWTX Conference does not own the rights to this song or video. If you reproduce in your services, please follow licensing rules.

Scripture to Meditate on:

Romans 6:3-11, ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Song of Meditation:

Mighty Cross by Elevation Worship

*The NWTX Conference does not own the rights to this song or video. If you reproduce in your services, please follow licensing rules.

Empty & Filled - Holy Saturday

The day of darkness, Holy Saturday. The day we often rush through. Because darkness can be uncomfortable, it can spur on fear. But there is also growth that can happen in the darkness. Christ’s death ended the story as the Jews, and the Gentiles knew it. But they thought the Messiah was to come and conquer, not die on a cross. How could a man rise from the dead now? We know Sunday is coming because we get to see the whole picture.  

Imagine what that Saturday must have felt like. Where did people turn to? Was it back to business as usual? Were they lost in sorrow, lost in the darkness?

They were stuck in the messy middle - the space between the story that just ended and the one about began. Dawn brought the new story found in Christ’s resurrection. The story we get to share day in and day out as the church with non-believers. But that day of darkness, I sometimes wonder what that really would have felt like to be present.

 How has this season of Lent been for you? Do you feel like you were walking through a wilderness? Do you feel like you walked better in surrender? Sunday’s coming! Where is God calling you to go as we celebrate his resurrection?

Scripture to Meditate on:

Job 14:1-14, ESV

1 “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. 2 He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. 3 And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? 4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. 5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, 6 look away from him and leave him alone,[a] that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. 7 “For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. 8 Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, 9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant. 10 But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? 11 As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, 12 so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. 13 Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal[b] should come.

Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16, ESV

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! 2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! 3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me; 4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me for you are my refuge.

 15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! 16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!

Others to read: 1 Peter 4:1-8, Matthew 27:57-66

Song of Meditation:

Buried in the Grave by All Sons and Daughters

*The NWTX Conference does not own the rights to this song or video. If you reproduce in your services, please follow licensing rules.

Empty & Filled - Good Friday

This was it. The day that Jesus’ time was amounting to on earth. This was the final act of the end of the story they knew. He would either rise or not. I think they were all still caught up in his arrest and rush to death on a cross that no one really sat there trying to analyze what was coming next. But here it was. The death that had been predicted by scripture and Christ himself foretold.

Read through the scriptures. Spend time in meditation. Ask God to reveal something new to you this Good Friday. For truly He was the Son of God. If you have been skipping some of the songs recommended for meditation, I would highly recommend listening to these two on repeat today.

Scripture to Meditate on:

Psalm 22, ESV

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises[a] of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. 11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. 12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet[b]— 17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued[c] me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted[d] shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

Song of Meditation:

Oh, The Power by Kari Jobe

*The NWTX Conference does not own the rights to this song or video. If you reproduce in your services, please follow licensing rules.

Scripture to Meditate on:

John 18:1-19, ESV

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.”[a] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus[b] said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant[c] and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” 12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews[d] arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. 15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants[e] and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. 19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

 Others to read: Isaiah 52: 13-53; 12, Hebrews 10:16-25

Song of Meditation:

Sins and Stones by John Mark McMillan

*The NWTX Conference does not own the rights to this song or video. If you reproduce in your services, please follow licensing rules.

Empty & Filled - Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday brings us special moments into Christ’s last few hours with his disciples. Break apart Christ washing the disciple’s feet for a moment. They must have been so thrown off and confused by what Christ was doing. How do you think you would have felt or reacted at that moment? Would you have questioned or hesitated? Would you have felt uncomfortable or been so drawn into the Lord?  

What do you think was running through Judas’s head at that time? Scripture tells us that he had already decided to betray Jesus. What do you think was consuming him during that last supper?

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26, ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for[a] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[b] 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Have you ever imagined what this first communion was like? Did they understand? Were they going through the motions? Was there a level of knowledge deep within them of understanding this Covenant or what was about to come?

And then Jesus tells them they cannot go with him where they are going next. How weird would that be to hear! After all this time of always being with Jesus, witnessing his teachings and miracles, all of a sudden, they can’t come? This must have been such a confusing time for them. I like to think that the peace of the Lord radiated between all of them during these final hours.

Scripture to Meditate on: 

John 13: 1-17, 31-35, ESV

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,[a] but is completely clean. And you[b] are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant[c] is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Others to read: Exodus 12: 1-4, 5-10, 11-14, Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

Song of Meditation:

Remembrance by Hillsong Worship

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