holy week at home
HOLY MONDAY
Take a minute or two to center yourself by praying Psalm 46:10 as you breathe:
—breathe in
Be still
—hold breath
and know
—breathe out
that I am God
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader:
I lift my eyes up to the hills—
where does my help come from?
All:
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
OPENING PRAYER
Ask that God would reveal himself in this time and in this place.
If you’re in a group, consider asking different people to pray each day.
Today's scripture text:
John 6:1-13, 28-35
select one (or all) of the following formats:
John 6:1-13 New Living Translation (NLT)
1 Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.
6:28-35
28 [The crowd] replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
New Living Translation (NLT)Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
John 6:1-13, 28-35 (NLT)
After the text is presented, someone says:
The Word of the Lord
and everyone responds:
Thanks be to God!
Response to the Word
Build Your Family Altar.
01.
MEMORY
When has God provided for you? Perhaps it was in unexpected ways. If you’re in a group, share this out loud.
02.
SYMBOL
Find a plate or a basket—something that you could serve bread from—and place it on your family altar. May it symbolize God’s provision.
03.
HOPE
How might we live differently if we expected God to give us what we needed abundantly?
Want more to do?
Additional activities
BIDDING PRAYERS (a new way to pray)
Bidding prayers are a historic form of corporate prayer in which a prompt is given to the people gathered, such as, “Lord, we pray for all those who are sick and in need of your healing touch.” Then, the congregation audibly calls out names of people they know who are sick, or sometimes even offer short one sentence prayers for that particular person. After enough time has passed for all who wanted to add their prayers could, the next prompt is given.
If you’re in a household of people during Holy Week, consider concluding your daily gatherings with bidding prayers. Come up with three or four prompts to lead your group through before offering a concluding prayer. Or, perhaps you’d like to begin a practice of bidding prayer before meals in which you begin, “Lord, you give abundantly. Today, we are thankful for these gifts,” [allow time for prayers to be added]. Then conclude the prayer.
A DEEPER LOOK
Jesus asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” (John 6:5). Take a deeper look into God’s provision and his invitation into a life of abundance and generosity.
