Easter 2021: Good Friday and Easter Study Guide

This weekend we celebrated Good Friday and Easter! During this special time, we got to reflect on what Jesus did for us on the cross and celebrate the greatest comeback of all time: the resurrection! In our time together, we got to discover once again how the resurrection of Jesus has changed the world and has the power to change our story for all time.

In this week’s group study, Calvary Young Adult Director Drew Eales and Calvary Women Director Annie Harley invite us into a deeper conversation on these two special services.


THIS WEEK’S GROUP RESOURCE

Below, you’ll find some key questions to reflect on and consider in your group, with your family, or in your circle of friends, some action points for the week, and a look ahead.

Ice Breaker: What is your favorite Easter memory?

Getting the Conversation Going: There is no Easter apart from Good Friday, and there is no comeback without the cross. If it wasn’t for Jesus’ sacrifice, there would be no resurrection and thus no victory over sin and death. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:17 (NIV), “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” So, in order to get to victory, the suffering and death of Christ was necessary to pay the price for the sins of all people. This hindsight truth; however, doesn’t change the fact that the disciples, Jesus’ mother, and all those who believed in Him, likely felt deep hopelessness and despair on that world-altering Friday 2,000 years ago.

The disciples, and all those who loved and believed in Jesus, still had to watch Him be made a public spectacle of and watch as He was beaten, mocked, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, and breathed what was seemingly His final breath. They had to endure a hopeless two nights before the resurrection took place. Can you relate to a hopeless season that remained or endured; where it seemed the enemy had his way?

“Years may pass; all may seem dormant and lifeless, but eventually, the weeping that endured and even lodged for a time will pass away, and the sun will break through.”

Discussion Question 1: What happens in the waiting? What do you do to help endure such hard seasons?

The Comeback. The Victory: In Matthew 28, right before the resurrection, we’re told there was a violent earthquake followed by an angel coming down from heaven to roll the stone away. And when you really think about it, it’s often the same in our lives! So often, before the night gives and the light of Jesus breaks through, there is a shaking up. But that shaking has a purpose: It causes the “stone” to roll out of the way. You see, the Lord knows what it will take to get the roadblocks and hindrances out of the way. And sometimes in that process, things get shaken, but only to bring us to a place of fulfillment and joy! As we’re assured in Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV), “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

“The greater the pain and loss, the greater the glory of the comeback.”—Pastor Doug Sauder

Discussion Question 2: How has the resurrection of Jesus changed your life?

Discussion Question 3: What areas are you asking the Lord to bring healing and resurrection?

Discussion Question 4: In what ways is the Lord using you to reach others with the message of the gospel?

This Week: Thank the Lord for the greatest comeback, the resurrection. Thank Him for bringing you back to life through Jesus.

Pray It Out: Share prayer requests in your group. Write down the requests of your group members, spend time praying over these requests, and keep praying individually over them throughout the week.


A LOOK AHEAD

This weekend, we’ll continue our study through the Gospel of Mark as Pastor Doug shares from Mark 6:1–29. In this message, we’ll see Jesus get rejected by the people of His hometown as well as Him sending out His disciples.


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About the Author

Danny Saavedra

Danny Saavedra is a licensed minister who has served on staff at Calvary since 2012, managing the Calvary Devotional and digital discipleship resources. He has a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling and Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry from Liberty Theological Seminary. His wife Stephanie, son Jude, and daughter Zoe share a love of Star Wars, good food, having friends over for dinner, and studying the Word together as a family.