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.

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.