Ogallah Christian Church

04/05/2026

The Empty Tomb

Everything seemed lost. Jesus was dead. His body had been placed in a tomb, sealed behind a massive stone. His followers were in hiding, grieving the loss of the one they had believed was the Messiah. It felt like the end.

But God wasn’t finished.

Early on Sunday morning, a small group of women went to the tomb. They weren’t expecting a miracle. They were expecting to find death. Instead, they found the stone rolled away. The tomb was empty. And then a stranger appeared.
.. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! ...” Luke 24:5-6 NIV

Can you imagine the chaos of that moment? The confusion, fear, and hope? The women ran to tell the disciples, their hearts racing with a mix of emotions. Was it possible? Could it be true?

At first, many didn’t believe them. The idea was too shocking—seemingly impossible. But soon, Jesus Himself appeared alive. Death had not defeated Him. The grave could not hold Him. The cross wasn’t the end of the story. It was the beginning of something new.

The resurrection changes everything. It proves that Jesus is who He claimed to be—the Son of God, the Savior of the world. It means that sin and death don’t have the final word.

But just like the women at the tomb, we each have a choice in how we respond.

Will we believe in the power of the resurrection?
Will we run to share the good news?
Will we allow it to change our lives?
Jesus’ resurrection isn’t just a historical event—it’s a personal invitation. If you’re wondering what it means for your life, or if you’re ready to take the next step in your faith, you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Scripture: Luke 24:1-9, Mark 16:1-8, Romans 3:23-26

Prayer: Jesus, You are alive! Thank You for defeating sin and death and making a way for me to have new life. Help me to respond to Your resurrection with faith and action. Amen.

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04/04/2026

Can't wait to see you tomorrow!! Sunday's COMING!!

04/04/2026

HOLY SATURDAY DEVOTIONAL
Written By Erin Jean Warde

I believe one of the greatest challenges of the human life is the experience of sitting inside pain and grief. I find that when I am entombed in my suffering, my prayers take the form of questions as I ask God to offer me the compassion, tenderness, and deliverance I thought I could count on when I first believed. There is something about that middle place, the place where my faith and my reality feel deeply at odds, where I am forced to wrestle with doubt knowing that the tussle won’t tear me from my belief, but instead that it will somehow join me to a God who can survive the fight. The remembrance that my love for God and God’s love for me can survive the conflict is, in and of itself, a form of belief, as it means that instead of disappearing from God entirely I stay connected, because even when my prayers are questions they are passionate, as they are born out of my desire to be connected to God, to feel the love of God, not to leave God and my faith.

Inside this tussle I always experience during my suffering, one of the great comforts to me is my belief that Jesus Christ himself experienced the same doubt, the same questions of God, the same big ask that God would spare him suffering and instead offer him the compassion, tenderness, and deliverance he thought he could count on when he dipped toes into the river Jordan. My grief over the entombed Jesus calls to mind his prayer: My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want (Matthew 26:39b). Even Jesus knew the tussle, the conflict of desiring to follow in belief and also escape suffering. And yet today, we behold him in the tomb, his prayer in the garden only delivering him into another garden, this time the garden where his body is laid in death.

Holy Saturday invites us to be honest about the reality of our suffering, the prayers we pray out of conflict, the ways we tussle with the tension between our faith and the reality of life before us. The gift of Holy Saturday is that we are able to behold the dead body of Jesus and know that, against all odds, there is a way out of the tomb. When we are in our own sufferings, feeling so covered in the reality of death and suffering that we can almost smell the spices that promise we are given into decay, we can remember that this day is not the last day. There is a tomorrow that will greet us at dawn with the compassion, tenderness, and deliverance of God.

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04/04/2026

04/03/2026

GOOD FRIDAY DEVOTIONAL
Written By Kara Slade

Today, we find ourselves at the end of words. Today, God says No to everything that separates us from him, but only because God also says Yes to everything that reconciles us to him. This is something we can’t do for ourselves, regardless of how much we wish we could. As Karl Barth writes, “That God has intervened in person is the Good News of Good Friday. What he has done, He has done without us. He has done it entirely in his Word which became flesh.” He has done it once for all. In him, the world is converted to God. In him, we are made friends of God. In him, the covenant is renewed and restored. In him, in Jesus, God is for us, irreversibly and absolutely.

As we walk to the foot of the cross, we find that we’re not alone there. Near the end of Saint John’s Passion narrative, we hear what seems to be an odd interruption to the flow of the story: “Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.”

Far from being an insignificant detail, this is a crucial part of what happens at the Cross. The faith that we find at the foot of the Cross brings us together, where Christ gives us to each other as mothers and sons and brothers and sisters. On a God-forsaken hill outside the city gates, in a place where it might seem that all hope is gone, we are given a family that we didn’t know we had and never expected to find. Three days later, when we walk with broken hearts to the tomb, we will find out the extent to which we’ve been given much more.

Charity Gayle - Thank You Jesus for the Blood (Lyrics)listen: https://music.apple.com/us/album/thank-you-jesus-for-the-blood-single/1555826439charts: https:/...

04/03/2026

Join us for the Community Good Friday Service today at 12:15 PM at the WaKeeney Presbyterian Church

04/02/2026

Join us for the Community Good Friday Service tomorrow at 12:10 PM at the WaKeeney Presbyterian Church

04/02/2026

MAUNDY THURSDAY DEVOTIONAL
Written By Katherine Apostolacus

Even in the frigid cold can our hearts burn. But if not tended, we may lose ourselves along the way. The only way to tend such a flame—that is, the flame which lives in the heart—is with love, both given and received. Hence, Jesus commands the disciples: “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). Love is our blood, our bones, our very being. Even when this is understood, to say “peace I leave with you” is a daring thing to say to a room full of friends who have some inkling of Jesus’ impending demise (John 14:27). Death looms. The disciples know it and Jesus reminds them constantly: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

Maundy Thursday is the day of the Last Supper. What Scripture intimates is not only the God’s glory will shine in Christ’s sacrifice, but also that the disciples are tasked with living like Jesus, by giving themselves in service, even unto death. Maundy Thursday’s message rests in the middle of the anticipation of a friend to become martyr. The anticipation of this moment is also a mystery that beckons us to become little eucharists, as the mystical Body of Christ.

Along the way, moreover, we must care for those little things which carry us, for if grace abounds anywhere, it abounds in our feet too. It is, for many, elation to have one’s feet washed, but we should also ask: Who are my feet? Who helps to bear my burdens? Who carries me along the way? How to tend the flame beneath my feet and in my heart? Washing is evermore efficacious when the water is warmed with a flame. Do these things in the face of death. Love loudly, quietly, and unashamedly, for “love is as strong as death” (Song of Solomon 8:6). Christ’s command to love one another is not without root in reality. On the contrary, it is a command to tend closely to all that so intimately sustains us and helps us to be. Death has no claim over us because it has no claim over Him.

Official lyric video for “The Jesus Way” from Phil Wickham.Stream or download the song here: https://fts.lnk.to/TheJesusWayDon't forget to SUBSCRIBE: https:/...

04/01/2026

Worshipping the One Who Truly Matters on Holy Wednesday
by Grace Valentine

“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3 (NIV)
If you’re anything like me, your to-do list can feel overwhelming:
📍Go to the grocery store for eggs, milk and avocado (and hopefully salmon is on sale so I can make that healthy recipe).
📍Wake up early for a work obligation (I’m already dreading the alarm).
📍Check in on family members with declining health.
📍Meet up with a friend I’ve been trying to see for two months.

I often find myself saying, “I need to do this,” as though everything will fall apart if I don’t. The truth is, much more often, I need to check my heart, remember who Jesus is and realign my priorities.

Sometimes I let my schedule, work, possessions, pursuits or social status take precedence. But when my focus shifts from Jesus to these things, I lose sight of true purpose and peace.

For instance, I remember a time in my life when work consumed me. Hitting numbers and meeting goals became my sole focus. At first, it seemed productive, even admirable. But gradually, without realizing it, I let it define me. I stopped prioritizing Jesus and began worshipping my work instead. I became less loving, less gentle, and definitely less like Jesus.

With worship in mind, Holy Wednesday invites us all to remember two pivotal events from the Bible:

💰Judas agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16).
🏺Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, showing her devotion to Him (Matthew 26:6-13).

On the same day Judas decided to betray, Mary chose to worship.

John 12:3 says, “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

We face a similar choice daily: Will our priorities be selfish or holy? True purpose comes from devoting time to humbly being with Jesus. When we prioritize anything else, like Judas, we lose sight of who we are meant to be.

Mary’s example shows us what it means to live with holy purpose. She worshipped Jesus, sat at His feet, and humbly surrendered her most valuable possession to Him.

This Holy Wednesday, I invite you to prayerfully reflect: In what ways have you prioritized the wrong things? Are you living like Judas, trading eternal joy for temporary gains, or like Mary, finding peace and purpose in worship?

We will never find lasting peace and purpose until we sit at our Savior’s feet. Every day is an opportunity to offer ourselves to Him.

Dear Jesus, this Holy Week, help me to remember Mary’s example. I confess I’ve often prioritized the things of this world over You. I know I’ll miss a truly rich life if I forget to sit at Your feet. Lord, I humbly worship You as my Savior and my Friend. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

03/31/2026

Holy Tuesday Devotion
by Heather Hart

When Jesus entered the temple on Tuesday morning, the Chief Priests were waiting for Him. They wanted to know who gave Him the authority to teach and preach. When they didn’t get a definitive answer, they decided they would trip Him up with theology. They wanted to trap Him in His words.

The Pharisees and Herodians came together and asked Him about paying taxes. Then the Sadducees asked a complex question about what happens when everyone is resurrected (which they didn’t even believe was a thing). When that didn’t work, the Pharisees came at Him again asking about which commandment was most important.

That question, asked out of spite, became one of the most fundamental elements of our faith. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27—see also Deuteronomy 6:5). In 1 John 4, John wrote that “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (vv. 8). In Romans 12, Paul encouraged Christians to “Never be lacking in zeal” but to “keep your spiritual fervor” (vv. 11, NIV).

One parable Jesus told this day gives us a profound look at the first and greatest commandment. This guy’s son was getting married, so he was holding a wedding reception. He invited all his family members, friends, and associates. Only none of them came. They were too busy. They had better things to do. Some of them even sneered at the messengers, mistreated them, and even killed them. They scoffed at the invitation and went on with their daily lives.

There’s more to that parable. You can read it in Matthew 22. But that’s where my heart stopped and Jesus whispered to my soul, “Are you coming?” Each and every day, Jesus invites us to spend time with Him. To prioritize Him. To love Him. We are His brothers and sisters, and He wants us to come to Him.

Especially during the Holy Week.

But all too often, we’re too busy. We have more important things to do. We don’t feel like investing our time and energy in our relationship with Christ.

Jesus promised that if we “seek first the kingdom of God” everything else will fall into place (Matthew 6:33). Instead of trusting Him at His Word, we make sure everything else is where we want it, then if there is any time left over, we’ll think about our relationship with Christ… or, you know, watch TV, depending on our mood.

Several years ago, I wrote a blog post about feeling like a whitewashed Christian. It was Easter then, too. We were at church in our fancy Easter attire, but my heart and mind were a million other places. Was everything ready for Easter dinner? What other chores needed to be done before the end of the weekend? What all was on my to-do list for the coming week?

Jesus told His followers that those who worship Him should do so in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Showing up only counts if our hearts and minds are in the moment. We’ve all had dinner with someone who was on their cell phone. Yes, they were physically present, but they weren’t spending time with us. They weren’t really there. So today, as I look back on Jesus teaching in the temple on Holy Tuesday, the message that’s sticking with me is that Jesus wants us to want Him. Not just on Christmas and Easter, but every moment of every day, He wants us to love Him. He wants us to seek Him and know Him.

Lyrics music and background Video are all copyright by Katy Nichole "Have Your Way" LyricsI’ve crawled through the v...