Camp Grace Passover Seder

This past weekend, we had our 5^th annual Camp Grace Passover Seder (pronounced “say’ der”) presentation. This event has been a highlight for children, volunteers, and staff alike. For campers who have done this before, it becomes something to look forward to – when else do they get a chance to eat things like horseradish, parsley, or matzah? When else do they get their hands washed by their classmates, and in return wash another’s hands? A couple of years ago, we had a parent tell us that they were planning to miss service, because they were worn out with so many things going on, but that their 3^rd grader insisted they go so she wouldn’t miss the Seder. And every year, we have more and more children and leaders who are participating in this event for the first time. There are elements in the presentation that incorporate all five senses, so that we can learn to worship our Lord more fully. Truly, we can “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

Not only is this a fun, hands-on presentation, but our leaders have the opportunity to clearly communicate the gospel message. Most of the time, we’ve done our Seder on the weekend of Palm Sunday, as a prelude to Easter. Did you know that what we call the Last Supper (the last meal that Jesus shared with His disciples before He was crucified) was a Passover Seder? Christ was very intentional in this, to point out that He is the fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Passover, which commemorated God’s redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12). In our presentation, we specifically highlight how Jesus was the Lamb that was to be sacrificed. For example, compare the Old Testament description of the Passover lamb, with how Jesus met those qualifications:

• Passover lamb was chosen on the 10^th day of the month. It was on the 10^th day of the month that Jesus entered Jerusalem (Palm Sunday).
• Passover lamb had to be perfect. Jesus is the unblemished Lamb (I Peter 1:19), who never sinned.
• Passover lamb had to be killed and the blood applied to the doorframe of the house, in order to protect from the angel of death. We need to “apply” Jesus blood to our lives by faith in His life, death, and resurrection.
• At judgment time, God only looked for the blood of the Passover lamb; whoever obeyed in faith would not be judged. When I stand before God at judgment day, He will look for faith in me, and will only see Jesus’ blood, and not my sins.

Jesus is our Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:12) so that we can have eternal life through faith in Him. If you or your child has any questions about the Passover presentation, please leave a comment or email us at children@gracechurchsc.org.

Have a great week and a worshipful Easter! We hope to see you at our Good Friday service (which will include Communion), on April 2, with services at 5 and 7 PM on our Pelham Road campus.  If you haven’t read it yet, you should read our previous post that helps answer the question, “Can my child take Communion?”  Also, we look forward to having over 30 people being baptized during our weekend services, including Saturday night and across all three campuses.