Sunday Sermon: Now What Jesus? “Tell the Story!”

Scripture Passage – Acts 2:22-36

Description – Communion Meditation and initial sermon for April 2013 series, “Now What Jesus?”

We are approaching the time of year when we are again reminded that life has chapters that end and chapters that begin as millions of people

Graduation (Photo credit: uonottingham)

from 17 and 18 year olds and up graduate from high school, college, or trade school. It is a time when these individuals field questions from us that begin long before the actual event of graduation take place:

So what are your plans after graduation?

Are you going to college? Where?

Have you found a job?

We know that this end of chapter experience is a transition in which it is expected that something else will occur – a job or a new educational experience will take place.

It is basically what I call a “Now what?” or even “What now?” experience.

From last Monday to today and beyond this day to tomorrow – we have a ‘what now?’ to answer. Easter Sunday is a very important day in the life of the Christian and the Christian faith. It is a key, if not the key, day of the faith for without the resurrection, we really do not have a faith.

But we have Easter Sunday and then we have this Sunday – the Sunday after Easter. “Now what?”

I cannot help but think that the remaining disciples and those who gathered with them after Jesus ascended back to heaven asked “now what?” before the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came in a great and visible way.

While Easter Sunday is a key Sunday in the life and celebration of our faith, there is a Sunday after Easter, and a Sunday after that and a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday after that as well! “Now what? What now?”

During the four Sundays this month, we are going to walk through the following passages of the book of Acts to answer the questions, “Now what?” and “What now?”:

Today – Acts 2:22-36 What now? “Tell the story!”

Next Sunday – Acts 10:44-48 What now? “Allow the Spirit!”

April 21st – Acts 9:1-20 What now? “Change!”

April 28th – Acts 7:54-60 What now? “Stand fast!”

So there is an answer (actually several answers) to “What now?” and we are going to spend time with those answers because they point to the issue of empowerment and being empowered by the Holy Spirit to engage in a mission, God’s mission, the church’s mission of making disciples.

Let us hear Acts 2:22-36 this morning: (Go to: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:22-36&version=NIV

When Jesus spoke to them back in Acts 1 just before He ascended back to heaven, He told those gathered “You will receive power … go be my

St. Peter Preaching at Pentecost by Benjamin West (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

witnesses.” And as we have just read, following the coming of the Holy Spirit, that is what they began to do. Here we have in our main text Peter, sometimes timid, often impulsive Peter, stepping out and boldly saying, in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, “this is the story behind the strange signs and languages you have just heard.”

The opportunity to tell the story –God’s story- becomes ‘what’s next!’ for the disciples.

The Easter story – the story of the resurrection; the Advent story – the story of Jesus’ birth – the story of Moses, Joseph, Peter, David, Ruth, Esther, and others – is the story about a God who cares about us, wants to be involved in our lives, and offers us forgiveness of all that we have said and done that is wrong. But, the story has to be told, again and again and again.

It has to be told when it is easy to tell and when it is hard to tell.

As I have said before, we do not have to spend time coming up with a mission statement. We already have one – it is in the command of Jesus to “go make disciples” and “to love God and neighbor as one self.”

So what does this mean for this week?

Let me suggest that we need to tell and keep telling not just with our words but with our actions the story of God’s forgiveness and love. Our mission is to help people come to faith in Christ and experience this saving love and grace just as we have by telling the story – God’s story – a story of redemption.

And we are reminded this morning of this story as we take communion together. We practice open communion here, you do not have to be a member, and so if you wish to join us, you are welcome to do so. But let us do so with repentant hearts and openness to God’s working in our lives as we do so today.

I end with this question, “What story and whose story are you telling through your life these days?”

Let us prepare our hearts for communion.

Amen.

Sunday Sermon: “Plus One And Counting…”

Scripture Passage – Mark 16:9-20

Description – The final sermon in the series through the Gospel of Mark
As I sat down to compose the meditation for this morning these two images came to mind
This one, as far as I know, did not get used this past year.

It is the clock at Kennedy Space Center used to count down, and then count up, the Shuttle launches and missions.

I believe it went silent after the final Shuttle mission
The second one is a familiar one from New Year’s Eve, the ball in Times Square.

This is apparently the actual ball which will drop in Times Square signifying the start of 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In speaking about time one of the most common questions asked, perhaps millions of times each day is “What time is it?” Now I have recently deduced that in the Kane household, a variant of this question is asked, “What’s for supper?” It is a time question because the meaning behind it is “Can I get another game of <fill in the blank here> before mom (or Susan) says, “It’s time to eat!?”

And speaking of the issue of ‘how much time is the question “How much time do we have left?” It is a question many people of faith are asking these days. We look around and think, “Can it get any worse?”

“When will God finally say, “ENOUGH people! We’re done here!”

Many years ago I quit trying to figure out when Christ would return. There are so many different interpretations and views regarding His return that when I studied all of them in college, I finally came to the conclusion of “I don’t know. But I do know that He said to the gawking, wide-eyed disciples, “Go be witnesses and go make disciples.” And that is what I have worked on in the years since knowing and believing that Jesus could return at any moment.

And all of this talk about time brings us to the final text for our time in Mark this morning. It is, I suggest, a “plus one and counting…” text. It is Mark 16:9-20 and I want to read it aloud from two different translations. First the New International Version:

⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

And now from the New Living Translation:

After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened. ¹¹ But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.

¹² Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. ¹³ They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.

¹⁴ Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.

¹⁵ And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. ¹⁶ Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.¹⁷ These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. ¹⁸ They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

¹⁹ When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ²⁰ And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

Now what is the first thing you remember about this passage?

THE SNAKES!!! Right?

Like this Cobra!

2013 Mustang Shelby Cobra (Photo credit: Johnny Markus)

(oops, wrong Cobra!)

Like this Cobra!

King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Be honest now, when you hear the word ‘snake’ you tend to become, more shall we say, vigilant?

“But Pastor Jim, Jesus said that the disciples would handle snakes “with safety!”

Uh huh.

Not.Me.

Paul, as we read in Acts 28, had a poisonous snake bite him on the hand after being shipwrecked on the island of Malta but it did not kill him. And the locals thought he was a god of some kind after he did not drop dead. And if you were to read further into Acts 28 you will find that Paul was used by God to heal many people while shipwrecked there from physical afflictions. Just like Jesus said His followers would be able to do.

But this is the important point of our text this morning –  Jesus told the disciples to go and do the ministry, the telling of Christ’s salvation – the Good News and the ministry of miracles that would prove the power they had was NOT their own, but the Lord’s power working through them!

 The remaining disciples are now in a ‘plus one and counting’ time frame. We are in a ‘plus one and counting’ time frame. The end of the mission is Christ’s return. Are you ready for His return?

We do not know when our mission will end. Only God does. We are still on a mission.

Our mission, as followers and as this local church, is to live and tell the Good News of Christ – news that there is more to life than all of what we are dealing with.

There is still hope, not in power or a celebrity or a political view, but in a risen, living,  and loving God who has redeemed us from ourselves and our sinful disobedience and willfulness.

 This morning, as we remember and give thanks to God for His great love and sacrifice on our behalf, let us remember that we are in a ‘plus one and counting’ time and let us resolve to embrace and carry out the mission that God still has for us.

Amen.

Unwrapped and Unraveled

Image via Wikipedia

Scripture Passage – Luke 12:1-2

Description – Communion meditation for November 27, 2011 and introduction to the Advent 2011 series

      

       This time of year brings out the best in us and the worst in us.

We find joy and delight in giving gifts to those we love and care about but do not get in my way as I am getting said gifts or else!

       We show courtesy more often than we do the rest of the year but don’t you dare take my parking place that took me 10 minutes to find!

       The holiday season can be a time for great joy and meaningful gatherings. But will someone please get Junior down for a nap? He’s driving gramps crazy!

       (Slide one) It is easy, any time of the year to become unwrapped and unraveled, but sometimes during the holiday it is much easier to do. And it seems so uncharacteristic because of what we hold, or at least what we think we hold, as the main meaning of this season.

       A very interesting story has come out of the Texas draught and it is illustrates to me that fact that sometimes in our moments of holiday stress we dry up when it comes to things like patience, kindness, and simple human courtesy and we reveal a side that is unraveling. In one part of Texas, Lake Buchanan has concealed the older site of Bluffton, Texas which is several miles east of the current site of Bluffton, since 1937.

(Slide two) But with the draught that has afflicted Texas most of this year, Buchanan, which is normally 20 to 30 feet deep, has dried up and exposed things such as this graveyard that goes at least as far back as the early 1880’s…

(Slide three) … and the tanks and concrete slabs of a Texaco station probably from the 1920’s or 1930’s.

       In other parts of the state, the draught has uncovered Native American grave sites and a 100 year old church near the Rio Grande River. So the draught has revealed some of Texas’ past.

         

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_162-57328356/depleted-texas-lakes-expose-ghost-towns-graves/?tag=cbsSMPB#

 

       Jesus has something interesting things to say about the past being revealed as we read in Luke 12:1-3

        Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy.The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

      

       These are very unsettling words to hear, both for those who first heard them, and, if we are honest, for us as well because we have said and done things that we do not want anyone to ever know. Those words and actions, often it seems, in those moments when patience dries up, when the refreshing attitude of respect evaporates, and the lake of our soul recedes and exposes surprises that have been submerged within us for a while.

       These things are different from grave yards and gas stations and even churches that lie underwater in man-make lakes. These are more like the underwater fault lines that lie miles and miles under water in places like the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans and when they move create a tsunami of disrespectful and sinful words and deeds by exposing the turbulent depths of our souls.

       When those moments happen, and they do happen, what do we do? How do we handle such exposure? How do we put ourselves back together? More important how does the Lord deal with our unraveling?

       (Slide four) First and foremost we need to remember and keep believing, that we still matter to God. Peter had a moment when his soul dried up in the courtyard as Jesus was being questioned. The water level in his soul revealed a weak will and a fearful heart.

       But Jesus still loved him and, in that wonderful final chapter of John’s gospel, He reaches out to Peter and firmly, but gently, probes Peter’s heart to see if there is still love for Him there. There is.

       I was going to say that the first thing we need to do when what is submerged in our souls is revealed, is to not let denial take over and enable us to minimize what we need to face. That is really the second thing we need to do.

       We need to remember that we are loved by God first and foremost when we unravel and unwrap as fear, impatience, disappointment, grief, and the like cause us to have dry souls. The prodigal son was ready to break through the barrier of denial with an honest and true admission of his selfish disobedience. But the father preempted the request to be merely a servant but embracing him and throwing him a Welcome Home Party!

       We have to face the truth about ourselves in such revealing moments but we cannot sit in self-pity and beat ourselves up. We get up and we go.home to our heavenly Father!

       The third thing we do is to let God’s grace and love begin to fill up our souls again. There are dry moments in our life of faith when the water level, if you will, is low because we have dry seasons of the soul. This is when we simply wait on the God to let it rain. Other times our soul is dry because we are disobedient and the dryness is a consequence of our disobedience. We have to pay for such disobedience but the Lord is willing to forgive and help us move forward.

       So this morning, as we again remember and give thanks to God for His grace and mercy and as we enter this advent season to remember and reflect on the importance of Christ’s birth, I encourage each of us to believe and act on the truth of God’s love for us even when we unravel and unwrap – whether in the office or classroom or shop; or waiting, increasingly impatient, for a parking place or two check out; or when trying to be three places at once (not two, three) because we are overbooked; or when the cares of life and the desire to be happy and fulfilled are sought through our own selfish ways and means.

       One day, what is now hidden will be made known and we will all face a final judgment before God. But, what He wants to say to us is “well done good and faithful servant” and not “depart from me.”

       (Slide five) I remind us today that by our decision to confess our sins and accept God’s forgiveness through Christ, what we remember this morning with Communion, sets us on the path to one day hear the words “well done good and faithful servant,” and to have Him, in His way and time, refresh our souls when they dry up with, as Jesus Himself put it, “living water.”

       Let us prepare our hearts for confession and remembrance.

       Amen.

 

Related articles

• Drought reveals old tombstone (gravewords.wordpress.com)
• And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: drought exposes lost cemetery in Texas lake (theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com)

Sunday Sermon: What is the Main Thing?

Cover of City Slickers

Scripture Passage – John 15:9-15

Description – Communion Meditation for November 6, 2011

 

One of the most uncomfortable aspects of life comes when someone asks us a question.

Questions like “Where is your homework?”

Or “What did you do with your pajamas?”

Or “Did you go to the store and get what I asked you to get?”

Or “Did you pickup your underwear and place it IN the hamper?”

Or, one of the biggies, “Did you just hear what I told you?”

 

They can also be embarrassing ones as well:

 

Questions like, “Mommy, why is that person so fat?”

 

“Mommy, where did I come from?”

 

“Mommy, why does Grandpa make those funny noises in his sleep?”

 

“Daddy, why were you and mommy giggling in the bedroom last night? Were you watching cartoons?”

A good question also opens up realms of possibilities concerning faith, hope, and love and sometimes those questions are ones that stop us in our tracks. Jesus asked those questions and they caused as much embarrassment (and pause for reflection) as some of the ones I have just mentioned.

In the story about a despised Samaritan who risked life and limb to help a beat up Jew, Jesus asked the question, “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” It was a question asked in response to a question asked of Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

There was the moment in which Jesus sought to determine what his twelve closest followers truly believed Him to be or not to be, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

And in the final chapter of John’s gospel Jesus asks a question of Peter who had gone back to fishing after his denial of Christ that calls out Peter I think, to make up his mind about Jesus and his relationship with Him.

“Peter, do you love me?”

Questions can, and do, embarrass us because they reveal a gap between what we know and what we don’t know; what we publically sometimes disavow and yet what we privately admit to (or experience)…

Questions are powerful things…

One of the things that are drilled into basic recruits is no questioning of orders because to do so is to challenge not just unit cohesion but its survival on the battlefield. And ‘Because I said so’ almost it seems to become part of a parent’s vocabulary at the birth of their child.

 

All of these thoughts, and questions, about questioning, lead me to our main text for this morning as we prepare for communion: John 15:9-15 which says:

 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.  This is my command: Love each other.”

One of, if not the most important question that Jesus was asked while He walked this earth was the question, “What is the greatest commandment?”  And in these moments before His arrest and death which is the setting of our main text, I think that His answer echoes in what He is telling those who remain with Him to be concerned about in the days, weeks, month, and years ahead.

And I also think that in doing so, Jesus addresses the question which forms the title of this morning’s message, “What is the Main Thing?”

In one of the classic movie scenes of the past 20 years the late Jack Palance, who plays the rough looking cowboy Curly Washburn in the movie City Slickers, holds up 1 finger and says “Do you know what the secret of life is?” One thing. Just one thing.” He is quizzed by other cast as to what he means and he replies “That’s what *you* have to find out.”

For some the one thing is money. “Just give me enough money,” they say, “and I will have it made.” For others power is the one thing. “Once I am able to have the power to be in charge, then I will have it made!”

But, to quote Rick Warren in the opening chapter from the Purpose Driven Life, “It’s not about you!” The main thing in life is about the Lord and His mission and purpose.

And Jesus is making very clear, I believe, what the main thing is for us in this passage of scripture that is very, very important for us to understand and apply. It has been traditionally called the Upper Room passage because it is a written record by one who was there, the Apostle John, of what Jesus said to the remaining disciples prior to His arrest, trial, crucifixion, and (Praise God!) His resurrection.

It is notable for a couple of things. 1. Jesus’ clear affirmation that He is the ONLY way to God. 2. The promised coming of the Holy Spirit to do the important work of the Father as the disciples would share. 3. The hostile reality they would face in the world as they shared the Christian faith. And, among other things, 4. A prayer on behalf of the twelve that reveals Christ’s love for them and his pastoral heart.

Jesus answers Curly’s question with a very strong and pointed statement in chapter 15 that uses the familiar imagery of the vineyard as a way to get across the importance of love and obedience because it is through these two vital things that we remain, like the branch to the vine, connected to God.

It is very important to notice that Jesus says in a key verse, verse 10, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”  He starts with obedience and then brings in love because He links obedience to love.

To love God is to obey Him. And when we obey God we are expressing our love to Him.

This is vastly different from what we think today about love. But let’s think about it for a view moments as we prepare for communion:

Do we love God? We say we do but do we obey Him? With our money? With our power? With our priorities? With our words?

I think that one thing that God might want us to understand today is “to love and obey me is very important to me.”

How well are we loving and obeying God these days?

Let us love God well these days by obeying Him in our daily choices – to listen well instead of disregarding often, to serve rather than just being served, to pursue purity instead of going with the flow and doing whatever, to confess one’s sins instead of denying them.

To love and obey God brings clarity and peace to our hearts. To love and obey helps us see and experience God’s grace and mercy more fully because obedience is a like a cleaner that cleans our glasses lens.

This is the main thing for us to hear, accept, and then do – Love God by obeying Him.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you today? Respond as you need to and let us prepare our hearts for Communion.

Amen.

 

A Time to be Born and a Time to Die

Scripture Passage – Ephesians 2:8-10

Description – Communion Service and The fourth sermon of a spring/summer series “A Faith For and a God of All Seasons”

(Slide one) Grace is one of those church words that we hear a lot and even use a lot especially in the church. But what does it mean? What is grace? Where do we find it? How do we give it?

Could grace be like a mulligan? A mulligan refers to an extra tee shot on the golf course, traditionally given only on the first tee shot, if the first tee shot was not the best one. Is grace like a mulligan? Is grace really giving someone a second chance?

On this first Sunday of June, which means Communion for us, grace is a key word and theme this morning in what follows. And before we look at our main text I want us to consider what grace might mean at a well visited place this time of year – the ball diamond.

(Slide two video clip)

http://www.sermonspice.com/product/39581/grace-no-grace-baseball

(Slide three)

Our main text for this morning is Ephesians 2:8-10 which says:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

God’s grace is a gift of reconciliation with God and, as a result, with others as well. Paul makes this link for us prior to verse 8 when he says in verses 4 and 5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

But he also makes a link afterwards as well, when within the very challenging assertion in that day, that because of what Christ has done for those on the “outside,” that is the Gentiles, were now on the inside as we read verses 19 and 20 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”

       God’s grace, in addition to being a gift that we cannot earn, is a great equalizer. And this equalizing was a radical idea in the early days of the Christian church and faith. The social distinctions commonplace in those days was no longer valid. The grace of God was, and is, available to all. It was a great equalizer because it also makes clear, as the tail end of our main text says, we are all God’s handiwork.

And part of the good works, these good works that come out of God’s great grace, include words and acts of affirmation everywhere we live and work – including the ball diamond. Why? Because every person created, every person is worthy to receive God’s grace as they allow themselves to be.

But also in keeping with our current sermon series “A Faith for and A God of All Seasons,” I want us to think about grace being a part of a “time to be born and a time to die” season of our souls in which there is a death of certain things and the birth of other things to replace the ones that have died.

Now the video we have watched this morning was part of a sermon series in which the congregation of that church was encouraged to understand both their brokenness and giftedness as a way of helping others to do the same, which is part of demonstrating grace. The guy in the exclamation point outfit was part of the series emphasis of “Do Something (exclamation point) Make Your Life Count.”

(Slide four) In order for God’s grace to really do its work in our souls and the souls of other people, and in order for our life to count we have to allow His grace to cause the following to die:

Our agenda

Our motives

Our passion

And replace it with His agenda, motives and passion.

I again remind us, especially as we think about Jesus’ words and actions, that our agenda must be replaced by God’s agenda. Jesus was constantly making this clear in His teaching and comments, in His refuting the temptations at the end of his desert temptation, and in the moments prior to his arrest, He really wrestled with it. It was to be “Your will not mine be done.”

For us to live fully in the great grace of our Lord and Savior we have to surrender our agenda to Him. The father in our video had to give up his agenda which was for his son to make him (the father) look good.

Our motives both drive and are driven by our agenda. In the case of our video dad, his motive, I think, was to be seen as being successful as a father and a man.

But is success the right motive for us as followers of Christ? I personally don’t think so. Faithfulness is. I cannot recall Jesus saying, to the effect, “If you hit your conversion quota for this week, you are being a good follower of mine.” He said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Then there is our passion. This is a very well used word these days. It is used to help people identity what they really want to do well these days. (Nothing wrong with that.) It refers to something that motives us to really get involved and give extra. But not all of our passion is kingdom passion. Love is a kingdom passion and lust is not. Giving is a kingdom passion and greed is not. Again our video dad’s passion was, at first, given to his agenda and motives. But he was given a second shot, literally! He was given a mulligan… called grace.

There are seasons in our soul when our agendas, motives, and passions must die and then be re-born. Re-born not to live again as they were but re-born to exist and function as God would have them exist and function.

(Slide five) What we remember and give thanks for this morning is that our second birth is a reorientation of our lives – our agendas, motives, and passion – as a result of what Christ has done for us. The new creation of which Paul writes is creation that has new agendas, motives, and passion because of God’s grace. So let us, as Jesus said “lose our lives” and find them in Him.  Let us go before the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to examine our souls and our conscience so that we will be fit and empowered for Him and in Him in the week ahead. Amen.

“Sticks and Stones”

Scripture Passage – Isaiah 53:4-5

Description – Communion Meditation for March 6, 2011 and Introduction to 2011 Lenten Series

#1“Sticks and stones make break my bones/but words will never hurt me.”

How often have you said this in your life? How often have we found this to be true? Not.often.

Words do hurt. And words often hurt even more when backed up with actions and decisions that alienate us from friends, family, fellow believers, and even God.

As we approach the Lenten season, and we address the wounds that are both inflicted on and by us, I want us to remember one thing: Jesus knew exactly what it was like to be inflicted by words and actions that hurt.

Our Lenten series this year is entitled “By His Strips.” It is a series that will focus on the following issues that create, escalate, and sustain wounded relationships. It is also a series that will provide us with some ways to work at, with God’s help, de-escalating the environment in which wounded relationships exist and move toward allowing God to bring healing in those relationships.

#2 During the next six weeks, we will be addressing the following wounds: The destructive pattern of escalation seen in Jesus’ arrest; the destructive pattern of invalidation in the testimony against Jesus; the destructive pattern of negative interpretation in the reaction to Jesus; and the destructive pattern of withdrawal as Peter denies his identification with Christ.

#3 But we will also see that Christ, through His willing sacrifice, demonstrates the importance of having realistic expectations and that His redemptive act of forgiveness and reconciliation, to one of the thieves who hung the cross, is a pathway toward the healing of wounds as we experience God’s salvation and mercy.

But I want us to remember throughout this Lenten season that Jesus knew what it exactly was like to be inflicted by words and actions that hurt.

While we will be spending most of our time looking at the gospel accounts of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, a focus passage for this series is Isaiah 53:4-5 and I want to read it from the NLT and NIV, respectively, this morning:

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. (NLT)

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (NIV)

Christ came to die on the cross and then, praise Him, to be resurrected, so that we are free from the pain and chains of our sin that has affected our relationship with Him and… with others. For when sin entered the world, the result was alienation from God and alienation from one another.

Jesus understands what it is like to be wounded with words and actions. He suffered insults and mockery; abandonment through denial and betrayal, and physical abuse in an unjust setting ripe with injustice. The Christian God is a God that understands the human condition and has made it possible for us to be redeemed and to begin the journey toward healing and wholeness!

#4 Be open to the Holy Spirit during this series and I pray that each of us will allow the Holy Spirit to move and act so that we experience the liberating and healing grace of God. But this morning, as we move toward Easter Sunday and what it means for us, I want us to take time to express gratitude to God for His forgiveness, His salvation, His desire to make us right with Him. During Communion, I would ask that we spend time thanking God for all that He has done for us. Amen.

 

A Tale of Two Tables

October 15, 2000

Luke 22:19-20, Acts 2:1-4, 41-42

Some of the most humorous and enlightening moments in our lives center around eating and drinking.

Take for instance the interaction between a pastor and young boy in a certain congregation. It seems this particular congregation loved good fellowship and always served coffee after the sermon. One Sunday the pastor asks a little boy if he knew why they served the coffee. “I think,” said the boy, “it’s to get the people awake before they drive home.”

Or the one about Joe who had been away from his family for two weeks and was lonely. As he sat down in a little cafe to eat, the waitress asked, “What would you like?” Joe responded, “I want some lasagna and a few kinds words.”

The waitress soon returned with his order, set it in front of him and turned to leave when Joe said, “Say, what about my kind words?” She leaned down to his ear and whispered, “Don’t eat the lasagna.”

Eating is not just an important event for health reasons but also for social reasons, and especially this morning, for spiritual reasons.

We have spent five of the past six weeks looking at keys to helping us see and hear God more clearly and therefore develop a more solid relationship with Him.

Our final two keys have an important link with what occurs at the two tables    I want us to read about this morning. They are the keys of evangelism and justice.

The first table setting is recording in Luke 22. This chapter contains the story of the Last Supper. We pick up the story at verse 14 and read to verse 23.

(READ THE PASSAGE)

The second table’s story is told at the end of Acts 2 verses 41-42 where we read these words, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church – about three thousand in all. They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.”

The climates of these two table settings are different. One is filled with anxiety, stress, anger, and uncertainty. The other is filled with joy, life, laughter, and celebration.

Why the difference? It’s what occurred between the two meals that made the difference.

According the Biblical record, approximately 13 weeks took place between these two meals. And the event or events, which took place between, made, literally, all the difference in the world.

Today, we remember and we celebrate the reality of second chances in our lives. Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return to heaven made possible the second supper, the second meal.

When Pentecost occurred, God’s plan of salvation began to spread out. People heard, in their own language, about God’s forgiveness, about who Jesus was, and why He did what He did. . .  . And they believed and accepted the message and were changed! They had new life! They were at the start of something new and wonderful! Life would never be the same again and they were able to share their experience with one another be celebrating communion together.

Communion is both an individual and group experience. We consume the elements

Individually but do so together. The Biblical record suggests that communion is a corporate celebration that is done in the company of one another.

The keys of unity and loyalty that we looked at two weeks ago are two of the final four that deal with the outward, the corporate, the visible ways of seeing and hearing God more clearly.

Communion is an outward expression of commitment to God. It is designed to help us remember why we are here – to jointly share in the experience of remembering Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection and what it means for us – a new way to live.

I would like for us to visualize a table down the center aisle of our sanctuary. It is a long, but simple table. There is food on the table and there are seats on either side of the table. It goes as far as we see. Some of the seats are filled and some are empty. There are people who are coming toward the table and those who are standing around it.

The table represents the Kingdom of God, which includes the church. The filled seats represent those who have made the decision to join His kingdom by follow God through the forgiveness of sins and acceptance of that forgiveness. The unfilled seats represent those who have yet to do that.

Evangelism is about helping people find their place at the table. We can bring them to the table and invite them to sit down. But we cannot make them sit down and join the fellowship at the table. That is the work of the Holy Spirit and the choice of the individual.

But, those who are sitting at the table and those who are standing around or coming to the table also have something else in common – needs. Financial, educational, relational, material, emotional, as well as spiritual – and God is expecting the church to meet them.

God is expecting us to meet them. I don’t mean all of them. We cannot do that and once we learn to accept that, we can be free to meet the ones we can meet. The ones that God wants us to meet.

Justice is about meeting those needs in Jesus’ name. One of the things that made Jesus so angry with the religious people of His day is that they were long on talk, short on action. Justice is about putting our faith, our talk, out on the streets and making a difference in practical ways.

In Matthew 4:13-16 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world-like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

This passage is about justice about living justly in an unjust world. Nothing is harder to do than that.

I close this series out by reviewing both the 7 questions I have already asked you and the final two this morning as well as a suggestion for a way to pray about these 9 areas:

1. How much do you want God in your life? Pray for a new desire for God’s presence.

2. How much do you want God’s forgiveness? Pray for a deeper work of repentance.

3. How much do you want to understand the Bible? Pray for a fresh and deep desire for God’s word

4. How much do you want to know God’s will? Pray for a desire to be more consistent and honest in prayer

5. What habits are keeping you from peace with God? Pray for a true change in your conduct that inhibits your relationship with and influence for Jesus Christ

6. How are you contributing positively to the church? Pray for an increased faithfulness to the church

7. How are you helping your church be a team? Pray that you will be an encourager and practitioner of unity in your church

8. Who is God asking you to help come to Him? Pray for a new desire for those who don’t know the Lord

9. Who and how is God asking you to help those in need? Pray for ways to help people who are in need.

Several years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales meeting in Chicago. They assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for supper on Friday night.

One thing led to another and the meeting ran overtime. The men had to race to the airport, tickets in hand. As they barged through the terminal, one man inadvertently kicked over a table supporting a basket of apples. Without stopping they all reached the plane in time and boarded with a sigh of relief. All but one.

He paused, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He waved good-bye to his companions and returned to the terminal. He was glad he did. The ten-year-old girl was blind.

The salesman gathered up the apples and noticed that several were battered and bruised. He reached into his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this ten dollars for the damage we did. I hope it didn’t spoil your day.”

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered girl called out to him, “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride . . . and he wondered.

That is justice in action. The man acted justly and the little girl made the connection to Jesus. But, I just wonder if the gentlemen didn’t but have the other eight keys in place as well. I wonder if he didn’t sleep better that night because he acted out of a character that seem to give evidence of walking closely with God.

We have sat at the Lord’s Table this morning. Will it make a difference in our lives this afternoon?

Who Is Your Neighbor?

Scripture Passage – Luke 10:25-37

Description – The fifth message in the series based on the six pillars of ‘Character Counts!’

(Slide 1) Ally bank commercial about the two ponies.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qb0vquRcys)

Who said that TV commercials are worthless? Can’t you hear that little girl saying inside, “It’s not fair!”

Fairness, one of the six pillars of character from Character Counts!, is what we studied last week and I think that it is an issue very much in the news these days as we think about healthcare reform, government spending, TARP, and the like.

This morning, we address the fifth pillar, kindness. But as we do, here are some quotes that came across my Twitter feed this week about character that caught my attention:

(Slide 2) Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion. – Aristotle (Source: twitter.com/erbks via philosophytweet)

In other words, our character can influence others in a way that things like money and power cannot.

(Slide 3) Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. -Abraham Lincoln

(Source: twitter.com/philosophytweet)

That statement makes me want to ask, “What kind of a shadow does my character cast?”

Our text for this morning is a very familiar story that we shall reflect on from the perspective of caring – The parable of The Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37:

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?”

Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied with an illustration: “A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

“By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. ‘If his bill runs higher than that,’ he said, ‘I’ll pay the difference the next time I am here.’

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Jesus tells this story in response to a question about “how to receive eternal life.” Jesus invites the questioner to review what the heart of the faith, “the law of Moses” says about this and he hears, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Jesus then responds with a “right on!” “Do this and you will live!”

Then comes a tricky question,

(Slide 4) ‘Who is my neighbor?’ There is a reason for this question. The questioner, wants to justify, rationalize, or validate his actions and so asks Jesus to clarify what He means.

(Slide 4a) I believe that he is asking, among other things, “Who am I supposed to love? Who am I to be kind to?”

Jesus goes on to tell this story that in that setting probably got a lot of people upset, and thinking at the same time. It is like telling a good story about the school bully doing something good like helping somebody get up after being knocked down on the playground by somebody else.

The Jews and the Samaritans had trouble getting along. It goes back a while in history. The Jews thought that the Samaritans were second-class citizens and were not worthy of their time. But it is one of these Samaritans who shows a seriously wounded Jew an act of great kindness and compassion.

This is a story about caring because the Good Samaritan’s actions illustrate what Character Counts describes as caring:

(Slide 5)

• Be kind – by stopping and taking the time to help the wounded man, the Samaritan was kind
• Be compassionate and show you care – the Samaritan, our text says, “felt deep pity” when he saw the wounded man and he acted on that pity by tending to his wounds and taking him to a safe place
• Express gratitude – I think that the Samaritan expressed gratitude by caring for a fellow human being. It is not in the text but perhaps he ‘paid forward’ his caring as act of gratitude done for him in the past.
• Forgive others – Now this is interesting. Who perhaps needed the Samaritan’s forgiveness? Maybe a Jew who had treated him with disrespect and the way to forgive was to help another Jew.
• Help people in need – Clearly the wounded man was in need and the Samaritan chose to help him.
• Concern for others – from the moment the he saw the wounded man until he left him in the care of an innkeeper, the Samaritan showed a concern for another person in a very deep way
• Passion for an idea or a cause – A comment about this passage emphasizes the cause of the Samaritan in caring for the wounded man compared to the others in the story. “The legal expert viewed the wounded man as a topic for discussion; the bandits, as an object to exploit; the priest, as a problem to avoid; and the Temple assistant, as an object of curiosity. Only the Samaritan treated him as a person to love.”

(Source: www.charactercounts.org/sixpillars.html and Quick Verse Life Application Bible on Disc, comment on Luke 10:27-37)

Caring is sometimes a risky thing because it makes you vulnerable to rejection or ridicule. “You are going to help her with that project? Why?” “He’s going to play with us? No way!”

We have to be wise in our caring. Not everyone who we try to help or will help with be grateful. Some of them will try to take advantage of us and use our caring to their advantage. But we must care because we do have a responsibility for/to others.

As we prepare for communion, I remind us this morning of the deep and profound caring that Jesus Christ exhibited in his crucifixion and resurrection.

He cared, and still cares about us! He took the ultimate risk and died on the cross for our sins so that we could be forgiven and, as a result, learn how to care for others, in His name.

He also died and rose again so that our character would change and the qualities that we are examining in this series would become a part of our character because they are qualities that honor God.

Let us then be Good Samaritans this week and take the risk to care. Amen.

Communion Sunday Meditation for April 1, 2001

Later in the service we are going to celebrate and remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as we partake of the Lord’s Supper together. So instead of a full sermon this morning I want to share briefly some thoughts that might at first seem disconnected than connected. However, I have been reading an interesting book called “Circles” written by a popular British science and technology writer who proves life is more connected than we often realize.

Not only is this communion Sunday, this is also our “One Great Day of Giving.” We are being challenged today to pledge our time, talents, and treasures to the ministry of this church. As I have been thinking for the past three weeks about what I was going to say, three things entered my mind.

The first was that I wanted to say what God wanted me to say, not what I, Jim Kane, wanted to say. I try to make sure that what I say to you each week at this time and place is coming from a mind and heart and life that is surrendered to God as best as I know how.

The second thing that came to mind was what I said two weeks ago – when we give, we give to a cause, a cause that is bigger than ourselves. A cause that is not about us, but about a God who cares so deeply and so profoundly for us He gave everything to get us back. Our giving should be both a reflection of that kind of giving as well as a response to His offer through that giving. An offer of a life that is transformed from the inside out by His grace and forgiveness.

That’s why we celebrate communion. That’s why we remember Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The third thing that came to mind was a passage of Scripture out of the Old Testament. It is a passage of scripture that has been in my thoughts every since this day had been planned.

The passage is actually a significant portion from one of the Old Testament books that we find both a challenge to understand and apply because it is the story of a people who is lived in a different time, place, and setting that we do and had a different kind of relationship with God than we do. Yet, its message, when we take time to study it, still has a lot to say to us today.

The book is Exodus and the total story is contained in chapters 25 – 40. It is the story of the tabernacle and how it came to be constructed. However, I want to highlight just a few passages this morning to remind us that our mission as the people of God requires us to give our time, our treasures, and our talents to fulfill that mission.

Chapters 25-31 contain the instructions to Moses from God about the construction of the tabernacle. Chapters 32 – 34 tell of an interruption to the process due to the impatience of the people and the resultant disobedience that causes God to get angry and Moses to become an intercessor on the people’s behalf.

That brings us to chapters 35 – 40 and my observations. The covenant between God and the Israelites has been reaffirmed and construction on the tabernacle has begun.

In chapter 35:5 we read, “Everyone is invited to bring these offerings to the Lord; and in 35:10 we read, “Come all of you who are gifted craftsman. Construct everything that the Lord has commanded.”

The people did what was asked. They brought the items listed in this chapter to be used in the construction of the tabernacle and those with the gifts to build were asked to do so.

What the people were asked to bring were household items. Some were in abundant supply and some were not. Some were cheap and some were expensive. But, these were not some strange items with odd powers, they were ordinary, every day items. I would remind us today that God uses the ordinary to accomplish extraordinary things.

Then over in chapter 36:6 and 7 we read, “So Moses gave the command, and this message was sent throughout the camp: “Bring no more materials! You have already given more than enough.” So the people stopped bringing their offerings. Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project.”

The people gave generously. Why? Could it be because they wanted to? Could it be because they were asked to? Could it be they wanted God to bless them? The reasons are not clearly stated. But, they gave generously. They gave corporately. Yes, some gave more than others. But they gave. God was honored because of generous giving. The people were affirmed and strengthened because they gave well.

Finally, we go to the last chapter, chapter 40 and verse 33 and 34, “Then he [Moses] hung the curtains forming the courtyard around the Tabernacle and the altar. And he set up the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. So at last Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled it.”

The work is done, but the purpose for the giving of time, talents, and treasures is not yet realized. It is only after that the work is done is the purpose fully realized and experienced – God comes to dwell among them and their giving, their stewardship makes it possible. The people of Israel are now going to experience God in a new way as we read in verses 36 – 38. The tabernacle was evidence of God’s presence, as they would continue their journey to the Promise Land.

Which brings me to the communion table and the events surround that last supper that we remember this morning.       During that meal Jesus, as recorded in Luke 22:20 said, “This wine is the token of God’s new covenant – an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.”  The meal that we call the Last Supper was the Passover meal and the illustration of wine as blood would not be unfamiliar to the disciples. They were there to remember the story of God passing over their ancestors’ home in Egypt because of the blood that was spread across the doorframes kept the plague of death from entering their homes and which led to their liberation from Egypt.

Where is this story recorded? In Exodus 12. And these same ancestors would be the ones who would give of the time, treasures, and talent to build the tabernacle. It too, would see its share of blood – blood of the animals that would be sacrificed as an offering to God and as an acknowledgement of sin.

But, Jesus was speaking of His own blood to be shed. An act that would forever end the need for the sacrificial system and make it possible for us to be forgiven by God directly as we ask Him to forgive us.

Which leads me back to giving. The gospel hymn says it best, “Jesus gave it all, all to Him I owe. Sin has left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”

God, through Christ, gave it all so that we can live in a way that is full of possibilities – hope, meaning, belonging to a community that cares, and finding out who we are in Him – gifted individuals. – All of this comes as we give all of ourselves to all of God and discover a richness to life that is beyond measure. Amen.

An Unforgettable Meal

August 5, 2001

MATTHEW 26:26-28

This morning I am asking those of us who are older than 10 to go back in our memory and recall what our Christmas dinner was like when we were 10.

For those of us who are 10 and under think about Christmas dinner time right now.

To help us remember, I want all of us to close our eyes for a moment, okay?

Can you recall the kitchen or dining room – what size is it? What color is it?

What about the table – is it round, square, oblong? Is it big or small? What color is it?

Where are you sitting at the table? On an end? On the side? Next to someone?

Who is sitting across from you?

What is on the table for the meal? What kind of dishes is the food served on? Are they the same as your plate or different?

Okay, you can open your eyes now.

Some Christmas meals we do not have a memory of – some we never forget. Yet, it is a common routine that has occured for centuries. Different times and different customs surrounding Christmas mealtime but nonetheless it is still a part of the holiday routine.

Mealtimes, especially during the holidays bring to mind all sorts of memories and emotions – some pleasant and some not so pleasant. This morning, as we take communion together, I want to remind you that it was first done during a holiday and one which was a celebration of deliverance from oppression and slavery – the Passover.

In Matthew 26 I want us to simply and carefully look at some actions and statements during the Last Supper that Jesus ate with his disciples prior to his arrest, crucifixion, death, and resurrection. We begin with verse 26. READ THE PASSAGE

Notice with me this phrase:

“As they were eating.” They had already begun the passover meal – unleaven bread, probably a roasted lamb, and bitter herbs – that had to be eaten in its entireity if possible according to Exodus 12:8-10. So, when Jesus begins to break the Bread and share the cup of wine – they were already eating.

Now, the next phrase is: “Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God’s blessing on it.”

Jesus, while they are eating, takes an important Passover symbol and gives it new meaning. In Exodus 12:14-15 we read of God’s command to prepare unleaven bread and remove all traces of leaven from their homes. This bread did not take as long to prepare because you did not have to wait for the leaven or yeast to rise. But, Jesus also asks for God’s blessing on the bread. Something that I think is signficant for us to reflect on. For could it be that Jesus as He asked for God’s blessing on the bread was asking for God’s blessing on Himself?

So, now, as the disciples were eating, as they were remembering the past and what it meant to them, Jesus breaks in with some new realities about redemption and deliverence.

What does Jesus do? “He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples.” Then he says, “this is my body. This is me!”

What went through their minds? What if you or I did the same thing at a meal with family and friends? What would they think?

But, Jesus is not concerned about what they think. He is more concerned about their souls and the mission that God the Father has for them when He returns to heaven.

Jesus is not concerned about our debates and discussion over this passage because He is concerned about whether or not we are going to allow Him to free us from the inner bondage of sin that ties us up in many ways.

Jesus’ body was broken for us on the cross. He was beaten, spit on, his hands and his feet were nailed, probably with spikes, to the cross. It was Him!

But, now we move down the page and we notice that what Jesus did with the bread he likewise did with the cup of wine. He “gave thanks to God for it” and said “this is my blood.”

Again, I have to ask, “What went through their minds?” “What would people think if we said that?”

We need to again keep in mind the Exodus 12 passage where we read in verses 6 and 7 that the lamb they are taking special care of was to be killed and some of its blood smeared over the doorposts of their homes as a sign of protection so that the Angel of the Lord would pass over their homes and spare them from death.

Like the bread, Jesus interrupts the familiarity of the wine with new, and yet old, symbolism. It represents his blood, shed for us. His blood not some animals’ blood. Why? Because it is a new way to God.

This morning, I want God to interrupt us. I want Him to take two familiar things – bread and grape juice – and remind us in ways that we cannot put into words and also are hard to understand and accept that as we partake of these elements he wants to break in to the rountines and troubles and frustrations of life – like the Israelites faced in Egypt – and help us break free of those things that enslave us and keep us from experiencing the life that God offers us.

May you experience God personally this morning as we partake together. Amen.