Today at noon we begin one the most eagerly anticipated services of the year.  Every year on Good Friday Service from noon until 3 o’clock, Church of the Messiah commemorates the three hours Our Lord Jesus Christ spent on His cross suffering for our sins.  This special service includes a reading of the Passion Gospel and Solemn Collects, special dance offerings, meditations by both lay and clerical speakers, veneration of the Cross, and Communion from the Reserved Sacrament.  This service is structured so that, if needs be, someone may come or go throughout the service based on their availability.  You can stay for the entire service of just come in for some prayer time on your lunch hour.  Childcare is provided throughout the entire service.  We look forward to seeing everyone there for this unique event in the Church Year!

Church of the Messiah and Prince of Peace, our sister parish on the west-side Jacksonville, have been asked by the organizers or the 40 Days for Life campaign to lead three consecutive Liturgies for the Pre-Born on Holy Saturday morning in front of A Woman’s Choice abortion clinic (click HERE for a map).  This is especially significant because Saturday is one of the days that this facility performs abortions and these are the hours that this clinic performs abortions.  We will praying for those women and children who will be entering this clinic and dying or having their lives changed forever.  The Liturgy for the Pre-Born is a modified form of the Litany at the Time of Death which is prayed on behalf of those children who will have no one to pray for them as their government, their society, and even their own parents betray and murder them.  Please join Fr. Looker starting at 8 o’clock, Fr. Bill Jordan at 8:45, and Fr. David Paysinger at 9:30 for this moving a prayer service.  Please consider coming for one vigil or staying for the entire time.  Parking is available at Prince of Peace Roman-Catholic Church (click HERE for a map).   On the day when Our Lord rested in His tomb and completed His atoning work on our behalf, it is a tragedy to think of children dying without so much as a single prayer offered up on their behalf.  40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life campaign with a vision to access God’s power through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigil to end abortion.

Tonight, beginning at 7 o’clock, we commemorate one of the holiest nights of the Church year, Maundy Thursday.  Every Sunday we celebrate that “the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (I Corinthians 11:23-25)  Maundy Thursday is the night on which we celebrate Our Lord’s Institution of the Holy Eucharist are remember the events of the Last Supper.  But tonight it not just a night to remember the Lord’s Supper, we recall all the events that went along with that momentous meal: Jesus washing the feet of the Disciples, Our Lord’s teachings that night, and Judas’ betrayal of Our Lord into the hands of sinful men.  It is a powerful service and one of the most moving worship times of the entire year.  We invite everyone to attend and to invite your friends to join you for this special once-a-year service.

This Wednesday Night, April 16, we will not have our usual Wednesday Night mid-week service.  Instead we will have services throughout the rest of the week!  Be sure to join us Thursday night at 7 o’clock for our Maundy Thursday Service and Friday from noon to 3 o’clock for our Good Friday Vigil.  Just Tuesday we finalized details with our sister parish on the west-side Prince of Peace to lead a series of Liturgies for the Pre-Born in front of the Planned Parenthood Facility on Powers Avenue on Holy Saturday morning as they open up and begin performing abortions.  We will have more information on that shortly!  On Easter Sunday we will have two services: our Sunrise Service begins at 6:15 on our property on St. John’s Bluff Rd. N. and our Easter Sunday Family Service will be in our regular location starting at 10 o’clock with all of the stops pulled out to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord.  Invite your friends and we hope to be seeing a whole lot of you over Holy Week this year!

As we announced Palm Sunday, Our Easter Bible Study will be based on Fifty Days of Glory by Canon Mark Pearson.  In order to get the special rate, you need to contact Janice Paysinger at 904-721-4199 by Wednesday!  The cost of each book is $16.99.   Ordering as a group allows us to get a group rate and give 100% of the proceeds to Fr. Pearson (as opposed to ordering online–which you can do if you miss the deadline–where Fr. Pearson only gets 20-30%).  Be sure to call or e-mail Janice right away so you can get your book for next week.  The Fifty Days of Glory Bible study begins Wednesday April 23 and runs through May 19!

At the conclusion of “The Devil’s Playbook” Bible study last night, Fr. Looker announced that Church of the Messiah’s next Bible study will be based on an exciting new book by Canon Mark Pearson.  Canon Pearson is a CEC priest from the Diocese of the Northeast who has preached at Church of the Messiah in the past.  Within the last few months Canon Mark Pearson released Fifty Days of Glory: from Easter Morning to the Eve of Pentecost, a thoroughly Biblical study of life of Christ after the Resurrection and before His Ascension.  We will be using his book as a basis for our studies on the Post-Resurrection life of Christ.  Our Bible study Fifty Days of Glory will run from April 23 through May 21.  Individuals wishing to order a copy of the book may purchase one through web-sites like Amazon.com, however, those interested in making a Church of the Messiah group purchase should contact Janice Paysinger at 721-4199.  Making a group does not purchase does not afford a cheaper purchase price, but it does allow 100% of the proceeds to go directly to Fr. Pearson (as opposed to 20-30% when purchasing from on-line vendors).  Bp. Simpson, who was one of the book’s early readers, wrote a glowing recommendation for the book and then purchased a copy for every priest, deacon, and seminarian in the Diocese of Florida.  This is an amazing book, and it will be an exciting and life-changing Bible study.  Make plans to join us starting April 23 for Fifty Days of Glory!

The April  Ultreya for North Florida will be this Tuesday night, April 8th, beginning at 6:30 in the evening with a covered-dish potluck meal.  Groupings will begin around 7:30 and we will conclude the evening with the Holy Eucharist.  The Ultreya will be hosted at Church of the Messiah (click HERE for a map and directions) and is open to anyone who has attended a Tres Arroyos weekend or similar 3-day weekend retreat (Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, Lighthouse Via de Christo, etc…).  If you are interested in sharing a brief (5-10 minute) example from your own 4th Day walk, please e-mail Greg Looker. We look forward to seeing everyone there.