February 11, 2026
It was so good to come to worship in person this last Sunday! Our fellowship together is very sweet, especially after a time away. If you missed Sunday worship you missed out for sure, but now that we’re back, I am hoping we will have no more weather distractions. I did NOT enjoy not being here!
January is gone, February is just about half over, and Holy Week starts in March, so the Music/Worship teams are scrambling to get worship music going for choirs, bells, etc. We are all anxious to get back to bringing vocal and instrumental worship into our weekly service, and to start working on music for Holy Week. Holy Week is one of the most important weeks in the church year, a close second to Advent, and just ahead of VBS week. (Not everyone will agree on my top 3 list, and that is okay.) If you are not familiar with the term Holy Week, it is an 8-day period every spring that starts on Palm Sunday (March 29th this year) and ends on Easter Sunday (April 5 this year). In between those two Sundays every individual day of the week has a special title. Fig Monday, Holy Tuesday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday or Easter Eve are the most common designations among modern churches.
I grew up Southern Baptist, and we only celebrated Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. I don’t remember thinking it odd that there was nothing in between the two, but I was just a kid for many of those years. The first church I was on staff with after college celebrated the Last Supper midweek, but on Wednesday evening. (If you count backward three days and three nights beginning Easter morning you land on Thursday for the trial and crucifixion and Wednesday for the Last Supper and betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane.) We even had a group from a Messianic Jewish church come one year and show us what Passover really looked like. We ate together the lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread and learned the significance of each and how Jesus as the Messiah fulfilled prophecy when He came to be the perfect Passover Lamb.
I first heard the term Maundy Thursday when we came to Salem almost 20 years ago. Salem’s service consisted of songs and hymns about the Lamb of God and the sacrifice He made when He allowed Himself to be killed in our place as the complete sacrifice for our sins. The Lord’s Supper was celebrated, and there was also a time of meditation in the darkened church to remember the betrayal in the garden and how all of His disciples fled and left Him alone. It was a very serious, somber, meaningful service and it grew to become on of my favorites of the whole year. Now there is no need to go straight from the triumph of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to the ultimate triumph of His resurrection. In between now there is time to experience sadness; an opportunity to remember what He was willing to go through for me – even though I was still a sinner (see Romans 5:8)! It is a chance to slow down in a busy season (much like we try to do during Advent) and meditate on the fact that the perfect Lamb of God, who lived a sinless life, was willing to be betrayed and turned over to a sinful government by people who should have recognized Him as the Messiah and followed Him in obedience. He allowed them to beat Him, mock Him, spit on Him and ultimately put Him on display on a Roman cross that stood between two real criminals. It was a long, agonizingly painful death, and He went through it for you and for me. Stopping in the middle of Holy Week to ponder and meditate on these things is difficult, and uncomfortable, but it is a good way to ensure that Easter Sunday morning is truly an amazing celebration of Jesus’ triumphant resurrection. It is such a relief and joy to awaken on Easter morning and shout (to myself, because I get up early that day) “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”
If you don’t have Holy Week marked on your calendar yet I hope you will consider doing it today. It starts on March 29 and continues through April 5, and there will be opportunities for you to participate in multiple services that week. Plan to bring your family with you too. Children are always welcome at Salem, and it is never too early to begin to teach them about Jesus and the real reason we celebrate Easter.
See you in worship on Sunday!
Careen
Worship Songs for February 15:
To God Be the Glory – Fountainview Academy – https://youtu.be/5WmQmL77WkE?si=KBsNTDf-VSADWAhW
Oh How I Love Jesus – Cedarmont Kids – https://youtu.be/K8bThOfq07A?si=NT1LfDayXjT9Sioi
Goodness of God – Bethel Worship/Jenn Johnson – https://youtu.be/n0FBb6hnwTo?si=oK63ZE2-gw_0tGF
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us – Phillips, Craig and Dean – https://youtu.be/oba_KXkf9qY?si=uPfKyvYlDyNcdzPb