Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

  

Luke 24:1-12

The last few days had been painful and tumultuous.  They awoke that morning and prepared to do what must be done.  They gathered up their spices and began the walk to the tomb with heavy hearts.  All of the healing and promise had been swallowed up in the brokenness of the world.  The light that they imagined could not be extinguished appeared to have been put out.

They arrived at the tomb only to find that the stone had been rolled away!  And His body was not there!  Two men were in the tomb and their words were jarring and terrifying! And perhaps something else . . . Hopeful?

Easter is about walking in darkness only to be surrounded by blinding light!  Easter is about thinking you know the end of the story only to be surprised by joy!  Easter is about God’s faithfulness to God’s promises despite all the evidence to the contrary!  Easter is about feeling like we are all alone in our pain and suffering only to discover that Jesus is right here with us!

  

Gracious loving God,

Thank you:

For light.

For joy.

For faithfulness.

For presence.

Like the women at the tomb,

Startle us and transform us

That we might share:

Your light,

Your joy,

Your faithfulness,

Your presence.

Through the power of your Holy Spirit,

Amen.

Written by Stacey Watkins-Griffith

Lessons of faith from a Jedi Master

Romans 8:1-11

The first time I read this passage, my thoughts, because I’m a geek, went to one of the main sources of geek wisdom: Yoda. When he is training Luke, his student, he says, “Luminous beings are we; not this crude matter.”  A large part of Luke’s training is about learning to move beyond the limitations of his flesh and body and embrace the power of the Spirit.  This is a perfect metaphor for our struggle as Christians.  When we focus on our bodies and what the flesh can or cannot do, we are limited. We are dead.  When we embrace God and his Spirit and put that first, we come alive.  

I began to think of the time when I set out on my own and believed that I could make it by myself.  I was in college with no one expecting me to be at church and plenty of people questioning my faith.  I had it all under control.  I knew what I was doing.  I focused on me.  I wanted to sleep in.  I wanted to hang out with friends. I wanted to eat breakfast and hang out for three hours in the cafeteria. My faith was discussed and defended as an academic curiosity.  Then I got a test with no paper or answer key.  I reached a point when I needed strength of spirit and did not have it. I had a church but had never fully committed.  I was still focused on body before spirit, on me before Him.  Then I turned that focus around and found the strength I needed.  The more I focused on Him first, the more confident I felt about any test given.  

Verses 9 - 11 remind us that if we nourish only our bodily wants and needs, we are dead, but if we focus on the Spirit, not only will our spirit be alive, but our body, as well.  We spend so much of our lives being bombarded by things from the material world.  There are so many things that pull our focus away from the Spirit of God in this selfish society.  It is a struggle sometimes to think about what will serve him before what will serve us.  We are promised, though, that if we do focus on Him first, He will take care of us completely.

Written by Dan Treharne

Jesus is arrested

  

John 18:1-19

These verses describe the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas led the soldiers to find Jesus. These men came in a large group with torches and lanterns not knowing that the “Light of the World” was the only illumination they needed.

There is so much to look at in the passage, but it is Simon-Peter that strikes a chord with me. A disciple and friend of God, tries to protect Jesus by taking a sword to a slave of the high priest’s ear. Can’t you just imagine Simon Peter pouncing with a quick flick of the wrist as the man’s ear falls to the ground? He has acted and reacted without a thought. Well, perhaps it was his thought that he should protect Jesus and take things into his own hands. His plan may have been to defend Jesus but God had a greater plan for Jesus and all of us, called salvation. In those moments Simon Peter was not in sync with God’s will, but thankfully Jesus’ obedience and humility allowed the great plan to play out. Jesus had spent the time earlier praying and accepting “His cup”. He already knew God’s will.

Recently, Pastor Danny preached and said “God laughs when we make or tell Him our own plans”. I laughed out loud, but this comment hit a nerve with me. I am a total planner, and if you looked at my calendar you would see so many different highlighted colors denoting the monthly agenda of our household. Sometimes we become so programmed with life we forget why we were placed on this Earth in the first place, to worship and serve Him. We create our own agendas (and sometimes those of our children) and we plunge full steam ahead without consulting God’s will for our life. He doesn’t want to steal our joy or the fun things in life from us. He just wants us to be in sync with Him.

I encourage you to be attentive and reflective for God’s will on your life this Lenten season. Draw near and know the gift of each day is an unrepeatable gift. Take time to be thankful and create a trusting attitude that seeks God’s perspective. Relax in Him and He will make you strong and prepared. Your race may not always be easy or fun, but He will be there to see you through. Jesus is our greatest example. He shows us how to be still and draw near even when the path is treacherous. His friend denied Him, he was humiliated, flogged, unaccepted, and even put to death on a cross. He did not waiver in his duty or path because He was strong in faith, his time spent with God had strengthened Him for the path God had planned for Him.  So draw near and get strong, God has amazing things planned for you. If you act like a Simon Peter you just might miss out!

Written by Cassie Plaster

Living a Holy Life

1 Peter 1:10-20

This passage from 1 Peter talks about salvation.  The first few verses talk about how the Holy Spirit was sent to share the Good News of Christ’s eventual return to the apostles and followers so that they would in turn share the message with us.  The Holy Spirit remains with us to serve as our guide to holy living.

What does “holy living” mean?  As God’s children, we should always put His desires above our own desires.  Just as children should obey their parents who know what’s best for them, we must obey God, who knows what’s best for us.  Even though he sacrificed his Son who died for our sins, that doesn’t give us permission to live as we please with no regards to sin, or how those sinful actions impact others.

I like to make lists and set goals for myself for my career, health, and life in general.  This passage reminded me that my relationship with God should be a greater priority than any other goal I set for myself.  We’re human, so we make mistakes, and aren’t perfect, but as long as we do our best to live by God’s moral standards, His judgment will be fair and just.

Verse 17 says: “And remember that the Heavenly Father to whom you pray, has no favorites.  He will judge or reward you according to what you do…” This is my favorite verse in the passage because it says that it doesn’t really matter who you are or what you look like.  It matters how you live your life.  We’re all unique, and at different stages in our lives, but we all should set a common goal to follow the life path that God intends for us.

In this time of reflection, what are some ways that you are striving to live up to the standards of holy living that God has sent to us?

Written by Holly Mabry

Timing is Important

John 12:23

Timing is important.

I recently watched a portion of an interview in which a very successful man was asked about how he was able to amass such a fortune with his business.  In a genuinely humble sort of way, he expressed a sentiment that I have heard others say, “I happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

Timing is important.

 A baseball player must have some concept of timing if he is to be successful at the plate.  The young man must determine when the time is right before he proceeds to ask his beloved to become his wife.  The weekend gardener selects the right time to plant.

Jesus knew the time was right. He saw God’s plans developing before his eyes.  He recognized that he was at the place, at the time, that God had decided for him.  He didn’t take a chance or roll the dice, he was certain that God’s plan for his life was coming together and he declared, “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

How can we get to the point that we can exclaim with the confidence that Jesus had that the timing is right for ‘whatever it is’ that we may have been contemplating for a while?  Our first inclination is to do the research, make preparations, construct a plan and then wait for a sign or forge ahead.  We certainly have a part to play in life’s decisions.

Lent reminds us that first and foremost, our focus should be on God.  Daily, we should seek God’s direction in our lives through prayer and reading the Bible.  Lent also reminds us that regularly practicing the spiritual disciplines of worship, serving others, and sharing in Christian conversation helps us to maintain a relationship with God that will inform us when making decisions.  

May this season of Lent be the beginning of new habits in your life that facilitate a growing relationship with God.  The time is right.

Written by Danny Leonard

Who will you listen to?

Matthew 21:6-11 

and 27:15-24

How often do we listen to the crowd instead of believing what Jesus has taught us?  It is so easy to go along with the voices we hear from people who very probably don’t care about us and who will tear us down at the first opportunity.  Only God wants the best for us and we so often miss a blessing because we are listening to other people.

There was once a little frog that was in a contest to see which of many little frogs could be the first to climb up a tall tower and reach the top.  Crowds gathered as the frogs started to climb and soon voices were heard saying, “You’ll never do it!”  “It’s too hard!” “You’re too small!”  And, sure enough, one by one the little frogs began to fall until finally only the one little frog remained in the contest.  He continued to climb until he reached the very top!  When he came down everyone was amazed and asking him how he did it.  When he didn’t reply his friend turned to the crowd and said, “He can’t hear you.” “He is deaf.”

  

On the Sunday before Jesus was nailed to the cross, he experienced a triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  Everyone was shouting “Hosanna!” “Hosanna!” and placing palm branches on the road for his colt to walk on to bring him into Jerusalem.  The crowds were so excited!  Then on Friday many of those same people were shouting “Crucify him.”  “Crucify him.”  What had changed?  Only the words from the voices differed.  The people were going along with whatever the majority of loud mouths shouted. 

So, will we listen to the shouts or will we listen to God?

Written by Brenda Whicker

With us...with strength

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

God comforts us, in this passage, so that we can comfort others.  “To comfort” doesn’t mean to speak empty words; sometimes it doesn’t mean speaking at all.  It almost certainly means listening.

There’s a profundity to simply being present for someone in a time of sorrow or fear.  A friend sits with her neighbor in a hospital waiting room during the neighbor’s husband’s surgery.  A young woman fails a college exam and her dad drops everything and drives two hours to take her to dinner.  It’s not difficult to sit in a waiting room or to take an unscheduled road trip.  But it’s important.

The word “comfort” comes from the Latin “confortare.”  Its roots are “con” (“with”) and “fortitudo”(“strength”).  From that point of view, then, to comfort is to combine your strength with the sufferer’s.  It’s odd to think of sitting in a hospital chair or picking up the tab at an Applebee’s as a show of strength, but those acts are essential.  Jesus provided “comfort food” to strengthen his followers just as we do for our ill and bereaved. 

So who comforts the comforter?  God.  God sends us comfort in our tribulations and we use that strength to then comfort others.  We are the lightning rods to conduct that strength into the world.  Just as in the Lord’s Prayer we ask Him to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” we ask Him to comfort us as we comfort those who need it. 

By the same token, perhaps we can’t fairly ask God to comfort us if we don’t offer that same comfort to others.  

“Emmanuel” means “God with us.”  Jesus is here, lending his strength, comforting, so that we may comfort others. 

Written by David Parker