Holy Week – Day 5: Maundy Thursday: This Is Love
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. -1 John 4:10–12 The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin “mandatum,” meaning commandment. This is in reference to the new
Holy Week – Day 4: Aged to Perfection
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -2 Corinthians 5:17 What is one of the main themes that keeps recurring in the faiths and literature of the world? What is that longing in the human heart that never goes away regardless of the time or place? It’s the desire that the old, the worn out, and the temporary pass away and the new, the fresh, and the lasting appear! This is what
The Battle Belongs to the Lord
“… This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's." -2 Chronicles 20:15 We can’t face the day and fight the same battles any longer—we’re worn out, and there are too many enemies, too much meanness to take on. We’re tired of fighting the same emotional war. What is there to do? In this unusual passage, God orders the people not to try to fight
Seek God’s Presence
In my Bible reading today, it was a blessing to read Psalm 105: Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! (vv. 1–4) Psalm 105 calls us to praise God! We have so many reasons to thank God, and so does David.
Storm Rider: Drawing Closer to God
Are you going through a storm right now? Something so difficult or traumatic that you aren't sure you'll make it to tomorrow? Don't give up hope. It often takes a storm to get our minds off our own plans and ways and onto God's greater plan—to realize there's a purpose for our life that is far better than our own. Our storms help draw us closer to God than anything else. So when we're facing a storm, let's remember three things as we
Holy Week – Day 3: Children of God
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. –Ephesians 1:7 The apostle Paul reiterates here the essence of the Gospel message: It is only through the sacrificial death of Jesus (“his blood”) on our behalf that we can say we’re forgiven of every sin. The word he uses here for this transaction is “redemption.” This comes from the realm of the slave trade, where slaves were redeemed or purchased by someone
Holy Week – Day 2: The Doorway Into Life
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. –Hebrews 12:2 If Jesus did for us what we couldn’t possibly do for ourselves, what keeps us from fixing our eyes on him and keeping them fixed where they belong? As believers through the centuries have discovered, the problems arise when we take
Holy Week – Day 1: Palm Sunday – What’s the Buzz?
An Introduction Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” –John 11:25–26 Most of us are familiar with the verses above, but think about the last part of the Scripture—do you believe this? This is the heart of our discussions about our faith and something we should continue to ask ourselves daily. Do we really
From the Pastor: The Privilege of Repentance
Many of us think that Jesus came for the sole purpose of bringing us into lives of mind-numbing boredom and monastery-like religiosity—with endless Bible lessons focusing on rules, warnings, and condemnation. I’ve been in churches where the Holy Spirit doesn’t show up unless you’ve sung choruses for over 45 minutes or the sermon has to be at least an hour long. Often, non-believers and believers alike think Jesus spends most of his time in deep fear that somebody somewhere is
Jesus Is Lord
No matter where we go or what we do, we need to remember that we don’t exist for ourselves, but for a higher will and greater purpose than our own. For this reason, God never intended us to set off on our life journey by ourselves. He is very aware of the powerful forces surrounding us and how inadequately prepared we are to stave them off. So he promises to be our Helper and our Guide. In short, then, the
