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The Celebration Continues
Memorial Day. The 4th of July. President’s Day. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Special days of remembrance and celebration are powerful in our lives. They remind us and renew in us powerful things. In the Old Testament, God set up certain Festival Celebration times of worship on which His people were to remember and be renewed in the powerful, saving acts of their loving God. These reminded them and by the power of the Holy Spirit renewed in them who they were, who their God was, and what they were to be about. Do you ever need this?
In the same spirit, the early New Testament people of God also set aside special days of worship to remember and be renewed in the acts of God for them in the Resurrected One…to remember who they were, who their God was, and what they were to be about. The following Sundays are the celebrations of three such days.
Note: While Ascension Day is on May 5th as well as Pentecost and Trinity Sundays falling on May 15th and May 22nd respectively, we will celebrate them on the following three Sundays.
Sunday, May 8th In the Brokenness, Love Reigns Mother’s Day
When Jane was pregnant with our first child, we had some very close friends who were also pregnant with their first child. Our due dates were so close together that we were in the hospital at the same time having our babies. What joy we had as we greeted our first born – a healthy baby girl! Our friends also had great joy as they greeted their first child…but it was mixed with sorrow and concern as their baby had a number of special needs that would last a lifetime. Today, we celebrate mothers, a gift of God’s love to us! But in those places of our brokenness where this celebration brings sorrow, the pain of loss, and perhaps even tears - or even a bad conscience - God would touch us anew with Christ’s love that has overcome all brokenness and made us family in Him! Let’s celebrate!
Sunday, May 15th Where do We fit in?.. Bringing the Now Into Focus Ascension Day
Have you ever seen one of those “Where’s Waldo?” children’s books? Every page is completely filled with all kinds of different things, but somewhere on that page, camouflaged and hidden, is Waldo. You just have to find him. Do you ever feel like your hunting for Waldo as you are trying to figure out where you “fit in” to things? Today, God brings everything into focus and with it, He reveals our place in it all. Let’s celebrate!
Sunday, May 22nd Wind and Fire; Power to Live In! The Day of Pentecost
“I’m tired.” “Worn out.” “Done.” When is the last time you have said this?...or thought it? The followers of Jesus were told to wait for power from on high. It came in the form of wind and fire, like the roaring and power of a spreading brush fire….and it has never left us. Where are you weary? Tired? Worn out? Done? Where do you need to remember and be renewed in God’s power for you? Today is for you! Let’s celebrate!
Sunday, May 29th The Gift of Certainty Trinity Sunday
Have you ever tried to decide which restaurant to go to when neither one of you really cared and you both have problems making decisions? It is hard - even frustrating - to live in uncertainty. A couple of weeks ago, I saw the advertisement for a Television show where the host traveled the world exploring how humanity connected with God, kind of throwing them all “into the same pot.” Tell me, do you think they could all be right even if some were as diametrically as opposite as black and white? Today, God would give us the certainty of knowing who He is and what this means for us, no question about it. Where do you need this gift? Let’s celebrate!
Unshakable Faith
Have you ever heard of the “Unsinkable Molly Brown?” She was a real person! She was a Denver socialite who was aboard the Titanic when it sunk….and she survived! Even though over 1,500 people lost their lives she survived! But what was most remarkable is how she survived. In accounts written later, it was told how she had heroically and selflessly aided in the evacuation of the ship, even taking an oar once she was safely in a lifeboat, to help row to safety. Yet, once the ship went down, it was reported that she urged the crew of her lifeboat to return to the capsize sight in order to try to save others even though the crew of the lifeboat was afraid to do so. She was, in many remarkable ways, “unsinkable,” even when many others around her were not!
Unshakable Faith. This is our focus in the next few weeks. As we bask in the glow of the certainty of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ –He is risen! He is risen indeed! – how do we live in this reality in the challenging times of our lives (when the “boat” is sinking and many others are “going down!”) with “Unshakable Faith?” And what does it look like to live in this “Unshakable Faith?”
Where are you especially challenged right now in your life of faith? Where is the “boat” sinking around you? Where are others sinking around you? Where do you long to live in “Unshakable Faith?” Where do you need to be lifted up, empowered, to live in “Unshakable Faith?” And where do you need to know what this looks like? This is our focus in the next few weeks. We pray it is a blessing to you….and to all.
Sunday, April 3rd Facing Trouble - Catastrophic Trouble – with Faith
Catastrophic trouble. How would you define it? How about something like, “the crumbling away in our lives of the pillars that we thought would never crumble?” As a nation perhaps the Great Depression of the 1930’s is a good example. Individually, maybe the unexpected loss of a job. Or perhaps a relationship that disintegrates before our very eyes which we can do nothing to prevent. What would this look like in your life? What does it look like right now? Today, the question is, how can we face these things with “Unshakable Faith?” And what does it look like?
Sunday, April 10th Facing Failure With Faith
It is hard to try again when you have failed –or even feel like you have failed, no matter what others say, isn’t it? When children –or even adults – flunk a test or maybe a number of tests, it is so hard for them to have the confidence to continue, isn’t it? On the other hand, when we experience success, it is so much easier to confidently take the next step, true? Today, we talk about “Unshakable Faith” in the midst of absolute failure. Where is this for you right now in your life? Where do you feel like a failure? Or, Where have you failed? Where do you need the power – the confidence – to take the next step?...to try again?...to go forward? Where do you need to know what this looks like?
Sunday, April 17th Facing Doubt With Faith
We all have doubts –right? While we would like to vilify Pontius Pilate when he asks Jesus, “what is truth?” if we are honest, we can, at times, identify with his doubts, can we not? The problem with doubts is that they tend to paralyze us with respect to doing the right thing. Just ask any basketball player who, after shooting and making a particular shot perhaps hundreds of times, for some reason loses their confidence – doubting their ability to make it – and so passes the ball instead of taking a wide open shot. Where do you have doubts? Where do you need to be empowered to face them with “Unshakable Faith?” Where do you need to know what this looks like?
Sunday, April 24th Facing Grief With Faith
There are many types of and reasons for grief, but they all involve loss. How have you experienced grief? What - or who – have you lost? Where in your life are you grieving today? And how has this threatened your faith? Today, in His unshakable love for you, God would come to you right in this place to empower you to live in “Unshakable Faith” in the things that you will never lose! Today, He will show you what this looks like! Today is for you!
Sunday, May 1st Facing Illness –and Death – with Faith
This is where the rubber hits the road. None of us are getting out of here alive. Death touches each of us. And illness is not far behind, ravaging and destroying lives that once had such promise. It is THE human condition.
The temptation is to see only death and defeat and hopelessness. How has this temptation touched you? But there is a greater reality. It is the foundation and reason for an “Unshakable Faith” even in the face of illness and death. And in it is the power to live like it! Today, we see what this can look like in our lives!
Turning Point
The Example of the Savior…in the Turning Points of Life
Have you ever heard or read the poem by Robert Frost which begins, “Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood?” It is about a traveler who simply comes to a fork in the road....a turning point in his walk…for he must decide which fork he will take. And, as the poem says, the fork he takes “will make all the difference.” Life is full of forks in the road, isn’t it? It is full of turning points. In the next few Sundays, as we approach the celebration of Easter, we will look at a number of Turning Points in our lives and the example of Jesus as He leads the way. Turning Points are tough. Sometimes it’s hard to know which direction to take. Thank God Jesus is with us. He will guide us – not simply by telling us what to do, but also by His example in the life He lived for us! Need a little help in the Turning Points of your life? This series is for you!
Sunday, February 14th In the Face of Great Temptation, He Listens to the Father
“I think I saw a “puddy cat.” Do you remember the cartoon? The main characters were a parakeet and Sylvester, the cat. Often, Sylvester is pictured with a Good Angel speaking in one ear and an evil angel speaking in the other ear…And when Sylvester listens to the wrong one, he always -and hilariously- suffers for it. But in the Turning Points in our lives, amidst the cacophony of voices, is there one that we can trust and listen to? Come and see what Jesus did. Turning Point! He is our example, our template, our Savior, our King!
Sunday, February 21st As the Storm Approaches, He Prays
Do you remember the last time a hurricane hit the Florida coast? Do remember seeing film during the Newscast of people boarding up their windows and generally “battening down the hatches” in preparation for the storm? That’s what wise people do; they prepare for the storms in life. How? Come and see what Jesus did. Turning Point! He is our example, our template, our Savior, our King!
Sunday, February 28th When All Hell Breaks Loose, He Heals
I remember seeing a movie where, in a very difficult and dicey situation, as “all hell is breaking loose,” a man named Faramir says to himself, “this is an opportunity for Faramir to show his character.” What do you do –how do you show your character – when “all hell breaks loose” in your life? Come and see what Jesus did. Turning Point! He is our example, our template, our Savior, our King!
Sunday, March 6th When All Depends on It, He Makes the Good Witness
Have you seen a movie or watched one of those shows such as Law and Order where the conviction of a horrible criminal hinges on someone testifying to what they know and saw in court, even though their life has been threatened and may be forfeited if they do? It’s always easy to say, “Oh, they need to testify,” ….but what if it was you? Whether we realize it or not, we often come to such Turning Points in our lives, where we have the opportunity to make the Good Confession. What should we do? Come and see what Jesus did. Turning Point! He is our example, our template, our Savior, our King!
Sunday, March 13th In the Face of Impending Death, He Gives
Have you ever heard the phrase, “where the rubber meets the road?” It means something like, “when you scrape all the veneer of life away and you are faced with a foundational issue and question, what will be your answer, your reaction, and your action?” That is, on the most basic level, who are you and what will you stand for….and what will it look like? Such is the question of facing impending death…a question, really, once you scrape the veneer away, that we face every day. So, what should we do? Come and see what Jesus did. Turning Point! He is our example, our template, our Savior, our King!
Sunday, March 20th When He Could Have Turned Away….. Palm Sunday He Embraces the Road of Suffering
Have you ever read the poem, “Into the Valley of Death Rode the 600?” It is the account of an English Calvary charge during the Crimean War. In the poem, it acknowledges that everyone knew immediately –with canon to the right and canon to the left of them – that someone had made a mistake….yet they rode on. And in stanza four it says, “Then they rode back, but not –not the 600.” Sometimes, in the Turning Points of our lives, we are challenged to be “all in” on something, no matter what. How do we know what to do? Come and see what Jesus did…and why! Turning Point! He is our example, our template, our Savior, our King!
Sunday, March 27th He is Risen! End Game! Slam Dunk! We Win! Easter Sunday
Approaching the Super Bowl, all the pundits make their picks but then say something like, I just hope we have a good, close game. Well, not me. I want the champion to be the champion. I want the champion to win overwhelmingly convincingly so that no one can say, Well, they were lucky to win that one, or It could have gone either way. I love it when the champion blows out the other team so there is no doubt! In fact, that's the way I think it should be!
Easter is God's blow out victory for you and me. God left NO doubt! Jesus is The overwhelming champion. End Game! Slam dunk! Scoreboard! We win!
Today, we celebrate!....And we remember what this means for us!
40 Days With Jesus
The cross of Jesus. The main thing. For well over a thousand years many Christians have set aside the 40 days (not counting the Sundays) prior to Easter as a time of self-examination, reflection, and renewal in order to keep the main thing –Jesus and His cross - the main thing. This is why we add Wednesday worship during this time. This year, we will focus on Jesus as he enters the lives of those around Him; and in so doing, enters our lives as well. He is the main thing. These Wednesdays are meant to help us as we refocus our eyes on Him!
Wednesday, February 10th Simon Peter: It Feels Like We Lost (Failure) Ash Wednesday
Failure. I remember losing a championship game 3 yards from the winning touchdown. Devastating. Failure. I remember embarrassing my father because of something wrong I did. Devastating. Failure. I remember failure after failure before God. How about you? It’s not hard. My life is full of them. Devastating. Failure. It always feels like I lost. But no matter how I feel, Jesus is greater…and he won for me….and for you! From ashes….to victory!
Wednesday, February 17th John the Baptist: It Feels Like God is On the Move! (Starting Over)
When I was growing up, we spent hours shooting hoops on the basket that my dad had put up on the garage. Every once in a while my dad would get home from work, and seeing us playing, would walk over and say, “one shot!” We would, of course, joyfully pass him the ball...and if he made it, great. If not, he often would say, “One more,” “one more,” “one more,”….until he finally made one. Where do you need “just one more?” Where do you need to “start over?” As we will see with John the Baptist, this is what Jesus is all about!
Wednesday, February 24th Simon Peter: It Feels Like Dad Strength (A New Mindset)
Have you ever heard of the West Coast Offense? If you are a football fan, you have. Before the San Francisco 49’ers with Bill Walsh popularized it, the mindset of almost all of the coaches of the NFL was that an offense had to be built around running the football –and only then could you pass effectively. Bill Walsh with the West Coast Offense turned this thinking around. Mindset. It is the way we see something or someone. It is very hard to change. It takes someone strong and influential in our lives to change our mindset. Enter Jesus….for both Peter and for us!
Wednesday March 2nd Widow in the Temple: It Feels Like Being Rescued (Good News!)
Both of my sons were lifeguards. One of the things that always amazed me was that how in their training they were taught to be explosive –almost violent- in order to rescue someone. Have you ever been rescued…when you really needed it? What did it feel like? How strong and explosive did your rescuer need to be? Today, we focus on those life and blood things from which Jesus rescues us. He is strong, explosive –almost violent – and powerful for you! Good News!
Wednesday, March 9th Nicodemus: It Feels Too Good To Be True (Freedom!)
But wait! We will give you another one absolutely free…just pay shipping and handling… Sometimes things are too good to be true, aren’t they? Today, we join Nicodemus as he was “blown away” by the things of Jesus which, while perhaps too good to be true, are true. And they are true for you as well. Freedom!
Wednesday, March 16th God’s Voice in the Thunder: It Feels Like Something’s Going To Happen (Anticipation)
A child waiting for Christmas…on Christmas Eve. A football fan waiting for the kickoff of the Super Bowl when your team is playing in it. A parent waiting for their child’s name to be called at their college graduation ceremony. Anticipation. It’s like you can feel the excitement in the air. Today, we join the anticipation of hearing “God’s Voice in the Thunder.”
Maundy Thursday, March 24th Flesh and Blood Presence
Have you ever seen or read about those massive radio transmitters that are searching the galaxy for other life? It seems that we just don’t want to believe that we are alone. It is scary…and somehow, deep down, we know not right. Today, we remember that we are not alone and that Jesus took time out “on the night that He was betrayed” to make sure we know it. We are not alone. He is present in our flesh and blood reality with His true flesh and blood. He is not far away. He makes His home within us!
Good Friday, March 25th Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit
The bottom line. After the beating and the crown of thorns and the nails and the crucifixion and the jeering and the ridicule….even after being utterly forsaken by the Father, how could He do this? And more importantly, can we?
Does Everything Just Go Back In The Box?
(Christmas Insights For Every Day Living)
How quickly do you put the “Christmas stuff” away? The day after Christmas? New Year’s day?..or the day after? When does the extra stuff on display in your home lose its excitement and luster and just become clutter? When does the tree become a “fire hazard?” When does leaving the outside lights up just become silly? When do you “put everything back in the box?” When do you just “get into the swing of things” again?
Can I make a suggestion this year? Maybe the things that really matter shouldn’t just “go back in the box.” Maybe they were meant to be lived in. Maybe this is what Christmas was really meant to give us; not a flash in the pan that we bask in for a short while but rather a living reality that we can experience every day.
In the next few weeks we will focus on “Christmas Insights for Every Day Living”… for some things were never meant to just “go back in the box.”
We all long for Christmas. We all need Christmas. What if the gifts of Christmas that spring from Jesus, the gifts that really mattered, were meant to be lived in every day?
Sunday, January 10th Who Am I? (The Gift of Identity)
There is a great scene in the “Lord of the Rings” second movie, where King Theoden, overcome with the great evil and seemingly overwhelming destructive force that is against him and his people, with all that he thought secure crumbling around him, for a moment loses his perception of who he is –his very identity - and cries out, “Who am I?”…to which a loyal soldier replies, “You are our king, sire.” Do you ever struggle with your identity?...especially when there is great changes and upheavals around you? Jesus came at Christmas revealing who He was and is and always will be. Today, He would open our eyes to see anew our identity in Him, the Rock who never changes.
Sunday, January 17th Never Alone? (The Gift of Presence)
In every text book that talks about care for the sick and hurting, there is always a section that in Christian circles we would call, “the ministry of presence.” In short, the idea is that the greatest thing one can bring is themselves; to be actively “there,” listening and focusing with a caring heart on the one who is sick and hurting. It is a such a powerful gift to give another who is sick and hurting your presence so that they know and feel that they are not alone. As I have shared with countless people who are a little hesitant about visiting someone, this “ministry of presence” is the second greatest gift a Christian can give someone. What is the first? The presence of Jesus. During Christmas, we focused on Jesus as Immanuel, God with us always. Where in your life right now do you need to know and receive His presence brand new? And where is God calling you to the “ministry of presence” as you share His presence?
January 24th What Am I Doing Here? (The Gift of Meaning)
“So, what are you going to be when you grow up?” “Where do you want to go to college?” “What do you want to major in?” “What kind of job do you want to get?” These are tough questions!...especially for a 16 year old –or even an 18 year old! Yet, we ask them…often! We try to guide them, at least the thought process. We hire counselors on the High School level to give them direction and help them to think it through. And many of us tell stories about how we struggled with these questions mightily (and still might be!). Why? We all seem to agree that it is important to have a purpose and direction in our life. In fact, we all seem to know intuitively that we were meant to have a purpose and a meaning –a reason for our existence and why we do what we do. Jesus knew what He was about and He knew why. In Him, we can also. This gift too is tied to Christmas.
January 31st A Little Help, Please? (The Gift of Power)
In the book of 2 Chronicles, there is a verse where the writer says, “this enemy is too great for us!” And in the book of Psalms there is another verse where the writer says, “our hands hang limp,” again because they are overwhelmed by the power of the enemies which are against them. When is the last time you came up against an enemy that is too great for you? Where is this happening right now? When is the last time your strength failed you?...when you needed “a little help?” What if Christmas was about someone coming who had the power to help, no matter what? What if Christmas was about so empowering you that you also could be one who could help?
February 7th How Will It All Turn Out? (Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!)
Some would say that we live in a scary time. Terrorism. Lawlessness among nations. Economic chaos and upheaval. Ecological concerns. Does it frighten you? Do you ever wonder, as many have who have lived before us, how it will all end? Christmas is about God entering our world. He is Immanuel – God with us! But it is also about a plan – God’s plan; “In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…” Gal. 3. How will it all end? And what does it mean for us in our lives right now? This is God’s Christmas gift for us, today!