Last year, our April 7 anniversary fell on Good Friday. I didn’t know how that would work out or what that would be like, but it ended up being perfect, because we got to lead worship together — with Anthony preaching and leading communion — for Cause Kids at The Cause Church in Brea (North Orange County).
It was such a powerful service!
We got to lead some of our own songs, which was fun for all and meaningful for us. And we were grateful to be joined on stage by some of our friends – not only people associated with The Cause but also the kid siblings Lily and Ivar Nord.
Lily helped with actions, and Ivar, who played the drums our wedding, played the drums at Good Friday service. (They both help lead worship with us almost every week at Mt Baldy Village Church, where we had our wedding). Anthony’s best friend Tim, who was the best man in our wedding, played bass.
Though April 7 is not our wedding day, it’s a significant anniversary for us because it has to do with us both surrendering to God about our relationship. It’s a holy and stunning story that I will post about on the day of.
But for now, let’s talk about the Good Friday service that fell on that date in 2023!
In addition to the upbeat praise songs with games and actions, we transitioned into slower worship, and Anthony preached, which he is so good at! It’s a gifting that I hope he can use more often.
Something Anthony did that I had never seen before, and others said they had never seen before either, is how he
weaved the meaning and act of communion into his message.
He talked about the bread, had them take that if they wanted, continued with the message, and then talked about the wine (actually juice in this case) and had them take that if they wanted. And he also made it kind of an altar call, where kids could come up and partake if they believed and wanted to say yes to Jesus.
When the kids came up for the altar call/communion, some of their faces looked so earnest, like this was something that was important and sacred to them.
I was glad to see them take it seriously.
God gave Anthony a really good revelation about the meaning of the bread and the “wine” and why Judas was not involved in the drinking of what represented Jesus’ blood.
The blood of Jesus is so powerful!
Thank you to Cause Kids for having us. And — on a whole other level — thank You to Jesus for dying for us on the cross so that we could be made right with God the Father. Thank You for taking the punishment, pain and rejection that should have been ours.
We don’t deserve You. But we love You.
And we’re amazed You love us.
PS: If you live in Southern California and don't have Good Friday plans, I would recommend either The Cause (which has excellent activities for all ages at 5 and 7 p.m.) or Mt Baldy Village Church, where we'll have a nice country service at 7 p.m. with some good worship music that Anthony and I are helping lead.
Also, even if you "never" make it to church, please try to go on Easter (Resurrection Sunday). It is such a powerful time to connect with Jesus and let your soul be revived!
And if you don't like to get up super early, Mt Baldy has the latest sunrise service in the Los Angeles area, because the sun comes over the crest where our hilltop service is held at 8:30 a.m. We also have a 10:30 a.m. service.
And The Cause has Easter Sunday services at 6 a.m., 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon.
Wherever you live, I hope you make it to a service at least once this weekend.
You'll never regret time you spend seeking God.