Palm Sunday and Holy Week

This Sunday is Palm Sunday and for Christians all over the world it is a day of celebration. This day marks the beginning of a week of contemplating and remembering the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago.  For many churches this will mean Palm Crosses are given out for people to take home, these serve as a visual reminder of what this season of Easter is all about. This day Christians have come to call Palm Sunday is a reminder of the day when Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem. It was during a time of feasting and celebration for the Jews known as Passover. The celebrations meant that numbers in the city had swollen to many times more than normal as Jews from all over the region flocked to Jerusalem to join with others. The city was full to bursting with people everywhere. It was a time when the Jews were living under Roman rule. As Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, people who heard of what this man had been doing began to shout and throw palm branches. The entry into the city soon became a procession with the crowds shouting Hosanna, which means save us.

This year invite you into the dramatic events and stories from this final week of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. With the help of the ‘The Passion Experience’, the Easter story will be told in real-time, you can follow the dramatic last week of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection with a series of free messages via text, email or twitter.  All this will start on 16th April and reach a dramatic climax on Easter Sunday a week later, the amazing Easter story will unfold as it is sent in 30 messages to your phone, smart-phone or computer.  Each message is sent at the time the events would have happened as if from observers witnessing the story 2000 years ago.  To get involved then visit the Hoole Baptist Church, sign up page at www.thepassionexperience.org.uk/hbc or from your mobile phone text ‘hbc’ to 07797 803730. Throughout the week I’ll also be using twitter and facebook to follow the story, so come and join me in what is the most amazing week in human history!