Reflecting on 21 Days of Wonder journey is a little overwhelming.
Am so thankful for the ways God showed up- every single day.
And, am so thankful for YOU and everything that you shared along the way.
The community that formed leaves me… well… wonderstruck.
We encouraged each other. We prayed for each other. We giggled with each other. And, we celebrated. Lots! Continue Reading…
I’ve always struggled with being a little different from everyone else. My story never seemed to sound like everyone else’s story. Let me give you an example.
Sometimes people will ask me, “Where do your parents live?”
A dear friend of mine recently had the opportunity to be on a national television news show to promote his new book. The catch: the time slot assigned was Thanksgiving Day.
“What should I do?” he asked.
Continue Reading…
October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and we’re asking you to go out of your way to show your pastor and church staff how much you appreciate them. We recently shared 26 ideas on how to celebrate your pastor this month.
We invited you share stories of what you appreciate most about your pastor and members of your church staff in our October e-newsletter. We were overwhelmed by your responses! We already awarded a gift card to one pastor, but we quickly realized this is not enough. Too many great people are doing too many great things for their love of God, people, and the church.
We have a handful of gift cards to places such as Starbucks and iTunes, and we want to give your pastor and church staff a chance to win!
I recently asked this question in our monthly e-newsletter. What? You missed it? Simply subscribe on the homepage of this website.
We received some thoughtful and insightful responses that may be of help as you consider your own Passover celebration:
Ruben Barrett wrote:
We started celebrating passover over 15 years ago long before we ever even met Jewish people and it has become a standard part of our Christian experience and tradition. It started with the realization that the early Christians practiced it, and I didn’t know what it was. So I studied the issue and began factoring it into our lives, and it has meant the world to us.
1. Every year we try to invite new guests so someone new can experience it
2. Some years ago I made a crown of thorns and got a large nail. Before we partake of the 3rd cup we pass the nail and crown around the table for each to personally hold and think about what the Savior did for us. My understanding is that the “passing of the nail” is an old European Easter tradition. We have factored into our passover memorial and it has added great meaning to it.
3. Some years we have observed the 14th of Nisan, while other years the 15th. Even if it has to be on another night we make sure that one night during passover week we have the seder.
4. In the beginning we only observed the seder. For the last 5 years or so we have observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the week.
5. Although I read Hebrew well, we keep the Hebrew to a minimum, usually only to the blessings.
6. God has opened doors for me to lead seders in dozens of churches over the years. At one time I was doing as many as 10 a year. Nowadays its usually just 2-3.
Dawn Zapata describes:
For about the last 12 years, my family has celebrated Passover with a Seder meal. We had attended Christian Seder meals at some churches in the past and finally decided to do our own. We have script/booklets that we have made, we assign roles, we have a Seder plate, and a lamb bone that we save and reuse each year. We purchase horseradish, Kosher grape juice, parsely, make cheroseth, and have a special meal. We have even found children’s story books to read to my kids that explains the celebration.
Though we don’t necessarily celebrate it on the night of Passover, we do celebrate it in conjunction with Easter. It is a night that we all look forward to celebrating, even our children (of course, they like having the role of looking for Elijah (or the return of Christ) and searching for the hidden matza to be rewarded with chocolate coins). We enjoy celebrating not only the rich history of God’s saving the Israelites and bringing them out of slavery, but also Christ’s fulfillment of Passover and His saving work of us through the cross. It helps us to usher in Easter with a renewed perspective and is something that we look forward to every year.
So how do you celebrate the Passover?
What resources do you recommend for those who are new to celebrating the Passover?
Artwork from here.
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Margaret Feinberg is a popular Bible teacher and speaker at churches and leading conferences such as Catalyst, Thrive and Extraordinary Women. Her books and Bible studies have sold over 600,000 copies and received critical acclaim and extensive national media coverage. Click the image to learn more.
