I have always been intrigued with this idea that Jesus asked His disciples to come into the garden and pray with Him. He took three of them deeper into a more intimate place to agonize over the events that were to come. The only problem for the disciples is that they had absolutely no idea what was going to come next, so they had were unable to feel the anxiousness of Jesus. But the garden was a critical moment. While at any point on the journey that Jesus took, He could have said, “Enough!” He made the decision in the garden that He would not utter that by placing Himself in the Father’s hands and saying, “Thy will be done.”

Tonight, Cornerstone is offering you an opportunity to accept the invitation to go deeper into the garden and keep watch through the night. Even now, I feel the heaviness of my own sin that had a part in crucifying Him. I know the victory and freedom I have Christ and that He paid for my sin without regret of having to give up Himself completely, but I believe we cannot celebrate truly and fully what He has done for us until we realize the weight of how hopeless our case was before Calvary.

Come worship through prayer with us tonight. The doors will be open from 8:00pm until 6:00am on Friday morning.

Again, today I would challenge you to read in Matthew. Take chapter 24 today and live in the words of Jesus. Without a doubt, He feels the hour drawing closer and closer.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about tomorrow night and the prayer vigil that we will experience together. We have been working diligently the last few days to have the worship space set up for you to have a unique experience of preparing your heart with Jesus and the disciples in the garden the night before the betrayal and the crucifixion. Our desire is that you will feel the weight of Jesus as he prepares to offer His life for the world. We encourage you to carve some time out of your schedule tomorrow night and Friday night to join us on the journey. We’ll be here all night tomorrow until 6:00a.m. on Friday morning.

Today, only a quick note. Take some time to read chapters 22 and 23 in Matthew. These are words and teachings that Jesus was pressing into people as He was thinking about what was to come. Place yourself in the story and hear His words in a fresh way knowing the weight that He was feeling. Think about why He would so desire to press this message in to people just before this critical event in history.

Continue to prepare your heart for the crucifixion. Feel the heaviness. Plan some time to come pray with us Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday.

As we follow the moves of Christ during the Holy Week, we see that Jesus moved in and out of the city every day (though with much less fanfare than how He was received on Sunday). On each of these days as Jesus came into the city He spent time teaching. He knew these were the last moments where He could pour into people.

Along with continuing to live in chapters 26 and 27 of Matthew where we see the events of the cross, take some time to read through Matthew 21 today and soak up the teachings of Jesus in the last hours. Place yourself in the story knowing the weight Jesus was feeling as He moved towards His death.

Just a quick note about Thursday night. Even today we will begin to prepare for that night of prayer. I want to encourage you to arrange your schedule so that you will be able to come and experience at least a few moments of watching and praying with us. Think about that two o’clock hour when your body will be tired and weak. In that sweet hour, think about coming and allowing Christ to be your strength to prepare your heart to feel the weight of the sacrifice that was made for you.

Josh asked us all to dive into the journey and to be immersed into the story by reading chapters 26 and 27 of Matthew and really focusing in on what is happening there. Five chapters before, 21 of Matthew is where the story picks up of the few days before the terrible and glorious events of the crucifixion and resurrection.

Jesus enters the city today and we are part of the celebration. We sing of the glory of the King. We sing, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.”

Begin the story today and walk through it completely with us.