Reflections on Silent Wednesday

Today is known as “Silent Wednesday.” It is the only day between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday about which the Gospels do not record anything. It is possible that Jesus secluded himself to rest and pray in preparation for his death and the events surrounding it.

Like a silent pause in a musical masterpiece, like the lights dimming and the curtain closing before the final act of a play, like the calm before the storm, Silent Wednesday anticipates the most important event in the history of humanity.

While it is appropriate for Christ followers and churches to silently pause and reflect on the events of Passion (Holy) Week, we know that what happened at Calvary and the empty tomb necessitates proclamation. Like the prophet Jeremiah, we cannot keep quiet indefinitely.

My prayer for you this week is that your contemplation of the crucified Messiah and your celebration of his resurrection fills you with gratitude, hope and a resolve to live for Him and to share the good news with others.

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of attending an event organized by Texas Baptists and hosted by First Baptist Church Arlington. “Sharing Christ at the Cup” was an evangelism training event led by Oza Jones, director of evangelism, in collaboration with Rolando Rodriguez, director of Texas Baptist en Español and Noe Treviño, director of the Center for Missional Engagement.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be hosted by North America (Canada, USA and Mexico) this summer. Six and a half million fans from around the world are expected to travel to North America to watch these soccer matches. There will be 16 host cities, eleven of them in the USA, including Dallas and Houston.

Forty-eight countries will send teams to compete in 104 matches from June 11 to July 19 to determine the victorious recipient of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Sixteen of these matches will take place in Dallas and Houston, with an estimated fan participation of over 5 million people. This global event anticipates having 5 billion viewers from around the world.

Whether you are a soccer fan or not, the reality is that the nations are coming to Texas and North America in an unprecedented manner, with a focus around the sport most played and watched globally.

What it means to us as Texas Baptists is an opportunity to share the gospel with the nations. The opportunities and ways to do this are as abundant as our imagination. For those in the Dallas and Houston areas, it means serving in various ways around transportation and hospitality hubs.

For everyone anywhere, it can mean hosting watch parties, organizing block parties with giant screens, leading soccer camps or clinics for kids, interacting on social media and more. I encourage you to talk to others at work, church and school to pray about what your role might be in sharing the love of Christ during this time.

While there are multiple tools and resources available to facilitate evangelism during the World Cup, I would like to share one with you called the Yellow Card Initiative. I encourage you to visit the website, watch the 1:38-minute YouTube video and consider how you might use this.

For more information and other resources, you may contact our evangelism office. If your church is interested in hosting a World-Cup related outreach event, please fill out this form. For resources in Spanish, you may contact our Texas Baptists en Español office. By the way, the Yellow Card Initiative is now available in 13 languages (click the website’s top-right corner for a list).

Today may be silent, but this summer let’s be loud with the love of Jesus!