Blog - Meredith Ludwig Curtis

Sunday after Easter, The Power of the Resurrection

4/15/2012

Read the Bible

I Corinthians 15:12-28
I Corinthians 15:38-55
Ephesians 1:15-22
Philippians 3:1-21

What kind of power raised Jesus from the dead?

Driving it Home

Try reading the Bible with only 1 lamp on….first use a 25 watt colored light bulb. Then switch to a regular 100 watt light bulb. Power makes a difference.

Easter Week Devotions, Resurrection Saturday: The Ascension!

4/13/2012

Read Bible

Mark 16:19-20
Luke 24:51-53
Acts 1:9-11

How did Jesus go back to Heaven? Isn’t that cool?!
What do you think the disciples were thinking as they watched Jesus leave earth?

Driving it Home

Buy or make a traditional diamond shaped kite. The sticks behind the diamond can symbolize the cross. Fly the kite together and talk about how Jesus ascending into Heaven through the clouds.

Easter Week Devotions, Friday: Great Commission II

4/12/2012

Read Bible

Luke 24:45-50
Acts 1:1-11

Give the order of the places that the disciples are to spread the Good News to starting with where they are in Jerusalem.
Locate these places on a map.
How far are they going to have to travel?

Driving it Home

Take out a map of your city, state, country, and the world. Talk about how your family would have to fulfill the Great Commission from your city. What kind of people are “Samaritans” in your city?

Easter Week Devotions, Resurrection Thursday: The Great Commission

4/12/2012

Read Bible

Matthew 28:16-20
Mark 16:14-20

What is the “Great Commission?”
Who has the needed authority to get this job done? Is He with us?
How long will it take for the “Great Commission” to be accomplished?
What three things are involved in making disciples?

Driving it Home

Take a piece of paper and write “Make Disciples” on it. Turn it over and fold it in thirds, making three columns.
At the top of one column write, “Go!,” at the top of another column write “Baptize,” and at the top of the third column write “Teach everything.”
List ways your family can fulfill these three different aspects of making disciples. When you are finished, cut out pictures for the other side of the paper that represent making disciples.

Easter Week Devotions, Resurrection Wednesday: Jesus Reinstates Peter

4/10/2012

Read Bible

John 21:1-25

How would you feel if you were Peter, after denying Jesus?
How does Jesus treat Peter?
How does He restore him to ministry?

Driving it Home

Act out 3 parts of this song together: Jesus predicts Peter’s denial, Peter denies Jesus, and Jesus reinstates Peter).

Easter Week Devotions, Resurrection Tuesday: The Road to Emmaus

4/9/2012

Read the Bible

Luke 24:13-35

Who was traveling on the Road to Emmaus?
Why didn’t Jesus reveal Himself right Away?
How do you think the disciples felt after Jesus had left them?
Has God ever revealed things to you and you just didn’t get it for awhile? Share some of those things with one another.

Driving it Home

Take a walk with one another and show each other something using Scripture only, not your opinion or experience.

Easter Week Devotions, Resurrection Monday: Jesus Appears to His Disicples

4/8/2012

Read Bible

Mark 16:9-15
Luke 24:36-44
John 20:19-31:

Why didn’t Jesus call FOX News or CNN to make a very splashy, public display of His Resurrection?
Name all the people Jesus appeared to.
What did Jesus say and do?
How do you think His disciples felt when they saw Him again.

Driving it Home

Discuss a friend or family member that has already died. Imagine that they came back to life. What would you want to ask them? What would you do with them? Remember that people who had died came to life when Jesus died. It was an exciting time to be alive!

Holy Week Devotions, Resurrection Sunday!

4/7/2012

Alleluia! Alleluia! He is Risen! Praise Him Forever! Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Read the Bible

Matthew 28:1-15
Mark 16:1-8
Luke 24:1-12
John 20:1-18

Who saw the risen Lord first?
Why did Jesus appear to them first?
Why did John and Peter run to the tomb?
How did Jesus show His disciples that He had risen from the dead?

Drive it Home

Hand everybody an empty egg. Have them go outside and find something to put into the egg that represents new life. You might find a flower or a budding twig. A small rock might represent the rock that was rolled away. This is fun when everyone shares what they chose and why.

Holy Week Devotions, Holy Saturday, Jesus' Death & Burial

4/6/2012

Read the Bible

Matthew 27:45-66
Mark 15:33-47
Luke 23:44-56
John 19:25-42

Describe Jesus’ death?
Who was with Him?
Why do you think Joseph buried Jesus’ body?
What would you have thought about everything if you were a bystander?

Drive it Home

Here are the Seven “Last Words” or Phrases of Jesus

1.      “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34)
2.      “This day you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43)
3.      “Woman, behold your son” (John 19:26-27)
4.      “My God, My God, why have You forsake Me?” (Mark 15:34)
5.      “I thirst” (John 19:28)
6.      “It is finished” (John 19:30)
7.      “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit” (Luke 23: 46)

Each person write down their last seven phrases and share them with one another. What would you want to communicate and take care of before you die?

Holy Week Devotions, Good Friday: Jesus' Death on the Cross

4/5/2012

Read Bible

Matthew 26:57-27:50
Mark 14:53-15:37
Luke 22:54-23:46
John 18:12-19:30

Summarize the entire story….there is a ton of reading today.
Name all the things that Jesus endured as part of the punishment you deserve.
What does His betrayal, arrest, beating, mocking, agony, and death show us about the holiness of God?

Driving it Home

Have your devotion time at 3 pm, the time that the Bible says Jesus was died.
Everybody writes down their sins on pieces of paper. Papers are nailed to a wooden cross.

Holy Week Devotions, Thursday: Betrayal & Arrest in the Garden

4/4/2012

Read Bible

Matthew 26:36-56
Mark 14:26-52
Luke 22:39-54
John 15:1-18:14

Why was it so hard for the disciples to stay awake?
How did the John, James, and Peter fail Jesus as a friend?
Why was Judas betrayal of Jesus with a kiss so significant?
Have you ever been betrayed? How did it feel?
How did Jesus behave through this entire ordeal?
What did Jesus focus on through his prayer, betrayal, and arrest?

Bible Prophecy Fulfilled

Messiah Betrayed
Psalm 41:9 / Mark 14:17-18
Zechariah 11:12-13a / Matthew 26:14-15
Messiah Abandoned
Psalm 22:11 / Mark 14:50
Psalm 69:20b / Mark 14:33-41

Driving it Home

Try to stay up and pray as late as you can. Who stayed awake the longest?

Holy Week Devotions, Wednesday: The Passover, Last Supper

4/3/2012

Read Bible

Exodus 12:1-36
Matthew 26:17-29
Mark 14:12-31
John 13
I Corinthians 11:23-25

Who celebrated the Passover together?
What preparations were made?
Jesus did the job that the lowest servant would do by washing their feet. Then He gave a new commandment to love one another as He loves us. How are these 2 things related?
How can you wash feet?
How is communion a memorial to the Lord?
How does communion help us to remember Jesus’ Death & Resurrection?

Drive it Home

Read about the Passover Feast and how it is fulfilled by Jesus. See the section in Celebrate Easter that explains the Passover and celebrate a Christian Seder Meal.

Celebrate Communion: Bread representing the Body and Wine representing the Blood of Jesus.

Get feet really dirty by playing outside; then wash one another’s feet. Yuck!

Publix has a great booklet, Passover Haggadah written in Hebrew and English.

Holy Week Devotions, Tuesday: The Plot to Kill Jesus

4/2/2012

Read the Bible

Matthew 26:3-5
Mark 14:1-2, 10-11
Luke 22:1-2
John 11:45-57

What plot were the Jewish leaders hatching?
What problem did they have with their plot?
How did Judas help the plot?

Driving it Home

Make a “plot” of some kind as a family. It might be to trick another family into joining you for dinner. Or send someone on a treasure hunt with several clues that are hard to find.

Holy Week Devotions, Holy Monday: Cleansing the Temple

4/2/2012

Read the Bible

Matthew 21:12-17
Mark 11:15-19
Luke 19:45-48

Why was Jesus angry?
Why were the chief priests, teachers of the law and other Jewish leaders angry?
Who had righteous anger?
What things exist in the church of the twenty-first century that grieve the heart of God?

Driving it Home

Pull out the refrigerator, stove, washing machine and dryer. Clean behind them together as a family. Why is there so much dirt and muck back there? How is this cleaning project similar to what Jesus had to do?

Holy Week Devotions, Palm Sunday: The Triumphal Entry!

4/1/2012

Read the Bible
Matthew 21:1-11
Mark 11:1-11
Luke 19:28-44
John 12:12-19

What does Jesus ride into Jerusalem?
Why do you think riding a donkey is so important?
How do the crowds worship Jesus? What do they say? What do they do?
What does it mean to “come in the Name of the Lord?”
Hosanna is a cry of praise and adoration that literally means “Help!” or “Please save!” Why are the people crying out, “Hosanna!”?

Driving it Home

Enjoy a family parade around the house or neighborhood. You might want to invite another family to join you.

Or dress up and act out the triumphal entry as a family. We loved using towels as head coverings!

Holy Week Devotions, Palm Sunday Eve: Jesus Anointed at Bethany

3/30/2012

Read in the Bible

Matthew 26:6-13
Mark 14:3-9
John 12:1-9

What did Mary do to honor Jesus at this dinner?
Why did Jesus consider it a “beautiful thing?”
Why did Judas pretend to care about the poor? What would he have done with the sale of the perfume?
What is the place of extravagance in worship?
How can we be extravagant in our personal and corporate worship?

Driving it Home

Gather perfumed lotions from the corners of the house. Every family member gets a luxurious foot rub. What is special about receiving a foot rub? What is awkward about giving one, especially to someone you don’t know very well?

Or look at pictures of extravagance in worship: cathedrals, art work, banners, dances, and ceremonies created to honor Jesus

Celebrate Holy Week!

3/28/2012

"Christ the Lord is Risen today! Alleluia. Our triumphant holy day! Alleluia.

Raise your joys and triumphs high! Alleluia. Sing ye heavens and earth reply. Alleluia."

(Christ the Lord is Risen Today by Charles Wesley)

Without the resurrection, there would be no Christianity! Jesus' death and resurrection are the foundation of our faith! Because Jesus died and rose again, we can face life and death with confidence and hope! Easter is a great reason to celebrate!

Easter is my favorite holiday! I love remembering that Heaven is my home because my Beloved Savior conquered death. What a reason to rejoice at Easter! i focus less on decorating at Easter (At Christmas I go wild with decorating.) Instead, I focus more on drawing near to God. Yes, we have fun and feasting in our house, but we also set aside time to focus on each part of the Holy Week saga.

Would you like to celebrate Holy Week & Easter with me this year, using this time to draw closer to God?