April 15, 2022: Good Friday Tenebrae Service
April 17, 2022: Easter Sunday Service
Welcome to our Holy Week services. On Good Friday, April 15, we will experience Jesus as the emptied cup, who poured out his live as a ransom for many for the forgiveness of sins. Both of these services are vital to the lead up of Easter.
On Easter Sunday April 17, we will experience that Jesus is alive! That means God’s grace will never run dry.
Please support us by giving online: https://tithe.ly/give?c=1377216 or https://paypal.me/newtonumc Your support is vital, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. You can also write and mail a check to First UMC of Newton, 111 Ryerson Ave., Newton, NJ 07860.
If you are from another church that is not able to host online worship, we would strongly encourage you give to YOUR church and support them. They no doubt need that support as much as we do. God bless you all for your generosity.
Join Rev. Todd and First UMC of Newton, NJ for their Maundy Thursday Online Worship service at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time (U.S./Canada) on YouTube. 
Have you ever read the story of Jesus’ betrayal in the Gospels? Have you ever noticed the sentiment conveyed about Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus? Have you ever noticed that as you read through the Gospels chronologically in the order they were written (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John), that there is a progression from cold to seething despise in the representation of Judas and his final act of betrayal? In Mark and Matthew, Judas’ actions are more or less presented in a very “matter of fact” way. Judas decides to betray Jesus, for which no reason is given, and he gets paid for the betrayal. In Luke, the author writes that “Satan entered Judas Iscariot” which led him to go to the high priests. In John, Jesus calls Judas “a devil” (John 6:70) and was possessed by Satan, who entered him following eating the bread at the Last Supper (John 13:26).
Maundy Thursday. This is the day that Jesus had celebrated the Passover feast with his disciples. It is possible that this day was the day that Passover fell, which would have been considered a Sabbath day, or a day of rest, as well. On the week of Passover, the day of Passover is a Sabbath, along with the high holy Sabbath day of Saturday. With that said, John had Jesus being crucified on the day before the Passover feast. Thus, Jesus celebrated the feast early and, on “slaughter day” (when the lambs were slaughtered for the Passover feast), the Lamb of God was being slaughtered on the cross as the final and ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world. This chronology would mean, if Jesus was crucified on a Friday as tradition tells us, that Passover that year fell on the high holy Sabbath day (Friday evening through Saturday evening).
Every year, Christians the world over observe the final week of Jesus’ life, which ends the season of Lent and propels us to resurrected life outside the empty tomb. With that said, in order to experience resurrection and the eternal life that comes from it, one must first experience the passion, the death, and the depths of the cold, dark, dank and hollow tomb. Walk with Jesus as starts his Holy Week journey being hailed a king and finishes it being crucified an enemy of the empire. Enter the dark uncertainty, of the grief-stricken tomb and experience the transformative power of the resurrection on Easter Sunday, when the unthinkable happens, Jesus is RISEN and walks out of the tomb alive! Celebrate Holy Week and encounter the Risen Lord of all Creation, and experience the resurrection through the One who conquered sin and death.
