APRIL 17 – 20, 2025

Passion Week. Holy Week. Jesus’ Final Days. In this La Sierra community, we call it “4 Days with Jesus.” We have made it our habit to slow down and lean into this story year after year. There is drama and there is tragedy; there is also redemption and persistent love. This is a story we need, the story that gives us life.

This year we’re listening to Matthew’s telling of the story. There are various “tearings” during Jesus’ final days according to Matthew, and, of course, mending. We observe the events of every day and ponder what it means for us today.

We invite you to consider this story again—to absorb it, let it work its way into your bones, and trust it to do its work on us all. We also pray that you will take time for your own reflections these 4 Days with Jesus and make space to share your journey with others. These are unhurried spaces and days. May they surprise us with healing and hope.

Considering your next step after 4 Days with Jesus? Have questions? Want to talk to a pastor? Click Here.

“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34).

We gather for a service with music, scripture, and reflection, centered on Communion and the ancient practice of washing one another’s feet. We begin our journey with the meal that forms a community.

“He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise’” (Luke 23:43).

We gather for a Good Friday service. Our focus turns to the betrayal, arrest, and overnight trial of Jesus. We witness power misused and crowds calling for the end to a good man’s life.

“Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last’” (Luke 23:46).

We share Silent Sabbath worship in the Sanctuary, together. What else can we do on this strange day-in-between, when Jesus lies in a tomb and God seems silent?

“While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (Luke 24:36).

We gather for a brief service in the sanctuary, then move outdoors.
We share Communion on the church steps.
We rejoice, we sing, we feast!