Name: The Back Row Guide to Easter
Price: 12 USD

Preface 

The Back Row Guide to Easter

Wonder why Tim is sitting in the back row? He says it is intentional. People who chose the back pew are closer to the door and away from the front of the church where the “fire” is. Are you in a place where you have easy access to escape?

Tim reads a passage from the Bible that predicted the return of Jesus to the city of Jerusalem that is commonly known as Palm Sunday. The Bible describes how the people of Israel believed that this was the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as their long awaited Messiah. 

John 12:12-15
12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,“Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”

If God had a destiny for a donkey’s colt, how much more has God placed His destiny in you?

Palm Sunday

The Bible records how Jesus rode on a donkey’s colt when He returned to Jerusalem prior to His crucifixion. Tim reveals how the scriptural detail of this animal being included in the text reveals how God cares and shares concern for the details of your life.

Irreverence 

The type of things that matter to God differ from the social pressures we experience. Strive after that which is of high import to Him and revere these things.

For a list of ways to edify your brothers and sisters in Christ, see 1 Thessalonians 5.

Luke 22:14-16
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

God protects those who are in covenant with Him. In this particular passage, Jesus is reminding His disciples that He is not just reminding them about when the death angel passed over their ancestors who were bound in Egypt, but that He was actually speaking about Himself. Jesus is literally the lamb whose blood would be shed so that death would pass over our lives.

Maundy Thursday 

Tim teaches from his back row bench that the first Passover meal is described in the Old Testament book of Exodus - specifically found in chapters 12-13. He explains how the Bible uses significant moments as “Types and Shadows” that reveal who Jesus is.

Passover

The Old Testament points toward a future Messiah. The New Testament depicts Jesus performing rituals that were significant to the Jewish faith. How were the rituals that his disciples saw before his death informed by their religious background?

Matthew 26:36-39
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and He said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and He became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 He went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.”

Tim reminds us that gardens are a place where things go to die. Every flower that you see in the garden started with a seed that died. Consider that there are some things in your life that God is telling you to die to. The life that comes out on the other side is far more beautiful.

Good Friday 

Tim teaches us something that might be shocking to many of us. Is it possible for Jesus to have a different will than the purpose, plan and passion that God the Father had for Him?

Sacrifice 

Good Friday came with a cost. Reflect on how God's love was poured out on your behalf without a demand for restitution.

John 21:3
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

What row are you sitting in? Have you allowed your disappointment to rule, or assume that people are judging you?

Tim encourages us to not let the disappointments of life take you back to a season of nothingness. There is nothing in the back row. You started there - but don’t stay there. God will always call you forward. If you chose this relationship with Him - the best is yet to come.

Peter's Back Row

How many of us, when we are disappointed with God, go back to some familiar place that is comfortable? Maybe you feel that God is not answering your prayers so you chose to go back to something that works.

1 Peter 4:6
6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead —so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.

So, what is so good about the Saturday between the death of Jesus on the cross on Friday and His resurrection from the dead on Sunday? It is that we have this narrative of how much God loved us. This Saturday becomes a day to reflect that we have been given the greatest news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that we heard the news before we met our Creator and this made the difference between an eternity with Him or without Him.



Holy Saturday

We talk about Good Friday, but we don’t talk about Easter Eve - Holy Saturday.

John 20:14-16
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

How many times did you not even know that you had a Jesus moment? There has likely been a time where Jesus showed up in our lives and we missed that it was an encounter with the living God!


Resurrection Sunday 

Mary does not recognize Jesus after His resurrection, mistaking Him as a gardener. We have all experienced times in our lives when we had encounters with Jesus but did not recognize Him.

John 20:19-25
19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” He said. 20 As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again He said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas 24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Maybe you are like Thomas who needs some proof. Jesus allows Thomas to put his hand into His side where He was pierced. Jesus, in His glorified body, still has His wounds because He knew that there would be people like Thomas who would need proof. God can remove all your doubts and be the answer that you need.

Upper Room Appearance to the Disciples 

Thomas gets labeled a doubter because he asked for proof. Perhaps we have been in a similar situation when we have asked God to give us proof for something He has said.

Community

The strength that we draw from does not always come from within ourselves. Community is a means by which God wants to provide you the strength to carry out his purpose for you.

Authenticity 

Community has to be established in trust and authenticity. Seek this boldness for yourself and benefit all those around you.

Why Tome?

Tome is a place where you can flourish. Tim tells you his "why" as he partners with Tome to make content that raises your biblical IQ.

The Back Row Guide to Easter  

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Are you the person who has experienced significant church hurt that has you sitting all alone on the back row? Maybe considering quitting on God?

Tim Ross has several decades of pastoral experience and personal therapy that has uniquely equipped him to speak to those who are suffering from relational trauma and theological confusion.

In seven lessons, Tim reveals how each of us has a God given destiny. He uses the Bible to reveal to us how there are significant “Type and Shadow” moments that reveal who Jesus is. Tim encourages us that through the power of a made up mind we can go through the most painful situations and encounter a far more beautiful side.

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Tim Ross

International Speaker | Podcast Host

Tim Ross reveals to the brokenhearted seven untold stories of the Passion of Jesus.

If you are desperately in need of hope this course offers significant life-changing revelations only found in the Easter story.

Discover how to flourish through this “Back Row Guide” as it unveils the destiny that God has placed inside of you.

Your guide, Tim Ross