Lent

This Holy Week, you are invited to create a holy corridor through Journey to the Cross. A corridor is a pathway or hallway that leads you from one place to another. This experience will help lead you from where you are toward the Cross. A Journey to the Cross is an interactive prayer experience designed for you to walk the pathway found in Scripture. This is an invitation to prayerfully consider how Jesus obediently gave himself to the will of God on our behalf and how his victory over sin and death enables us to live victorious as well. 

This will be available as an in-person experience at Church on the Hill on Sunday, March 24 from 12 pm - 3 pm, Wednesday, March 27 from 5 pm to 8 pm and Friday, March 29 from 3 pm to 6:30 pm. You will need, at least, thirty minutes to fully complete this prayer encounter.

On Good Friday, we acknowledge the profound sacrifice that unfolded on this sacred day. It's the day that echoes with the resonance of an ultimate sacrifice, a moment that set in motion a plan to change everything.

Join us on March 29 at 7 pm for a poignant Good Friday service in the Worship Center at Church on the Hill. It will be a moment of reflection and an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the significance of the journey to redemption.

This Easter, we celebrate the amazing moment when Jesus emerged from the tomb, stepping out of darkness into the light of resurrection. The simple yet profound truth of Easter is this: Because Jesus is alive, our hope is alive! 

On March 31, we invite you to Church on the Hill to celebrate this amazing moment in history. Choose from three services at 8:00, 9:30, or 11:00 am, each filled with the spirit of hope and renewal. 

After the 9:30 am and 11:00 am services, stay for a free kids Easter Egg hunt following each service!

In ancient times, Christians used to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem for Holy Week. One popular activity while they were there was to walk the route from Pilate’s house to Calvary, stopping for devotionals to commemorate various events that took place along the way.

Of course, most people didn’t do this every year, but they got so much spiritual benefit from walking the journey to the Cross that they created a way to do it at home. They made carvings or pictures of each of the events along the way, and placed them at intervals, either outdoors or in a church. Then they could walk the route, stop at each place to do a devotional, read the corresponding Scripture, pray, and relive the experience. Doing so made the experience accessible to people who couldn’t afford to travel to Jerusalem.

The word station comes from the Latin word that means, “to stand.” Thus, every place a train comes to a stop and stands for a while is called a station. You are invited to go for a walk; every point along the way where you find a picture and reading you are invited to stop and pray. It is a station along the way to the Cross.

Originally? Yes, because the popularity of this practice began in the Middle Ages, which was centuries before the Protestant Reformation began. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Stations of Cross. While some Roman Catholic versions of the stations contain some elements that appear to be extra-biblical, the fourteen stations we are using all come directly from the events found in Scripture. Thus, this activity is rooted in Christian history and tradition, steeped in Scripture, highly experiential, and very personal. We believe that wherever we are on our faith journey, God will meet us here and draw us even closer if we are receptive to the workings of God’s Spirit.   

We hope this will be a meaningful encounter with God and give you space to reflect on the events of Jesus’ crucifixion and his willingness to follow the will of God even to the Cross. Here are a few key ideas to help you get the most from this meditative exercise.

• Prepare: You will get the most from this time if you enter into it prayerfully. Take some time and spiritually prepare yourself by being still before the Lord and praying. Part of your preparation should be silencing your mobile device.
• Silence: Consider going through the entire journey without speaking. Be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).
• Take your time: There is no need to rush – if someone behind you is going faster than you – simply allow them to pass through to the station ahead of you.
• Pray some more: Either before you start, but especially at the end. Spend some time in grateful prayer for God’s victory that Christ won for you on the Cross.

We invite you to enter the Story of God and prayerfully make the Journey to the Cross during Holy Week.