Holy Saturday Prayer Vigil

Written by Erika Castiglione

If you are new to the church calendar, Holy Saturday is the day between Good Friday and Easter, and it marks the end of Lent. It is a time of anticipation, and a time to contemplate the time between when Jesus said, “it is finished,” bowed his head, and gave up his spirit (John 19:30), and the time when the women discovered the empty tomb and the angel declared, “He is risen!” (Luke 24:6). Throughout church history many Christians have marked this day with prayer and fasting. 

A prayer vigil is a dedicated period of time, often communal, focused on intercession. Would you consider joining our prayer vigil by taking one hour of your day (or night) to pray, wherever you are, to prepare your heart for Easter, to pray for Waypoint Church, and to pray for the many visitors we will have on Easter Sunday? For some it will be the first time ever to go to church and for others it will be a return after many years. 

It is also a time to pray for our brothers and sisters who will be celebrating Easter around the world (link to Lisa’s prayer) including those at Garden City Church in Malaysia (link).

We hope to always celebrate the glorious reality that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has made a way for our salvation, and we hope to always provide a hospitable environment for those who are exploring Christianity, but Easter provides a unique opportunity to put both of those things front and center.

If the thought of praying for an hour feels a little daunting, I have created a guide to give you an outline of what this time might look like. I pray this would be a sweet time of communion with God! 

You can sign up for the Prayer Vigil here.

Prayer for the World

Written by Lisa Parrott Oh Gracious God,

We come before you today both humbled by your grace and grateful for your mercy. 

You are our refuge and our strength. We exalt you.

As we continue to lean into the spiritual practices of gathering, praying, worshipping and

lamenting, we come to you with our concern for the world around us.  We know that this

earth is broken and fragile, prone to natural disasters like the recent earthquake in

Myanmar. In an instant, 1000s of lives were taken away and huge swaths of land all the

way to Thailand were destroyed.  We live in a time when people have taken up arms to

fight in anger, revenge or even in the cause of justice, like in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and

the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Children in these places are frightened, Jesus. 

May you provide shelter and hope.  Even in our own state of North Carolina we have

seen mountains fall, waters roar and fires consume what we have carefully built.  In all

this, Lord, we pray that you hear the cry that rises from every corner of this fragile earth;

from those torn by violent conflict and those swept away in disaster.  We pray for you to

meet the suffering and to grant strength and wisdom to those who come alongside to

help.  We ask for rescuers, peacemakers and leaders who look beyond boundaries of

race, religion and nationality. We pray that we see the common humanity that makes all

of us your children, and brothers and sisters to one another.

May we today, right in this moment, be still and know that you are God.  You love us and

we pray that we shine that same love to the nations, starting here in this sanctuary.  We

praise you, knowing that you have given us each a part to play when our world is in

chaos.  You are our fortress and we come to you today to sing your praises.

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen

The Journey Continues

Written by Erika Castiglione

As we enter the last weeks of Lent and we continue in our lifelong pursuit of growing in Christlikeness, it might be a good time to remind ourselves why we are choosing to give some things up as well as all that we hope to receive. As N.T. Wright says in From Wilderness to Glory: Lent and Easter for Everyone, “Lent is a time for discipline, for confession, for honesty, not because God is mean or fault-finding or finger-pointing but because He wants us to know the joy of being cleaned out, ready for all the good things He now has in store.”  We practice the disciplines (or habits or invitations if you prefer) not to earn God’s favor—he has graciously given us that in Christ—but that we might better know how to love both the triune God and our neighbors. So, in that vein, here are some resources to help you as you walk forward and upward on your spiritual journey.

Books related to Spiritual Formation:

The Possibility of Prayer: Finding Stillness with God in a Restless World by John Starke

Liturgy of Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster

Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Chris and The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard

Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World by Mike Cosper

Every Moment Holy by Douglas Kaine McKelvey

Life of the Beloved by Henri J. M. Nouwen

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene H. Peterson

Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become like him, Do as he did by John Mark Comer

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Podcasts, Websites, and Other Resources:

Rule of Life Podcast (John Mark Comer’s teaching)

Bibleproject.com

https://generousgiving.org/events/jog/

https://www.tinytheologians.shop/collections/theology/products/my-god-is

Lectio 365 App

Renovare.org

5-5-5 Scripture memory method: read it 5 times, say it 5 times, write it 5 times

Ongoing Resources from Waypoint:

The weekly Sunday worship gathering

Yellow Lanyard Prayer Ministry on Sundays during the music time after the sermon

In Between Service Prayer (every Sunday between 10:20-10:50)

Special prayer and worship events (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Prayer Gatherings…)

Our church library (the bookcase by the prayer room)

Weekly blog post

Waypoint Academy Classes

Podcasts

Community Groups