May 24, 2020
Yes, God so loves us that our bodies are raised up too. If they’re not, than Jesus is not, and Jesus is, so we are, and our bodies are us. ALL will be made alive in Christ. What will they look like? Will they be the same? Will they be more? We can’t say. But we can say what has been passed on to us: Christ has ben raised form the dead. This is for a reason, it is not meaningless. We are the body of Christ in the world, in this building and out, and we will be with Him too.
April 27, 2020
In the days after the Holy Spirit had shown up and fallen on the people, after three thousand were baptized, Peter and John were heading up to the temple to pray. The temple was the place where the people of God went to pray, but also to see others. They gathered there, and the ‘Beautiful Gate’ was a special entrance, a place where wealthier members or special guests might enter. It makes sense then, that those who were in need might choose that as a place to ask for help from folks that went into the temple that way. This man was unable to walk, so he had people carry him to the place where he could ask for a little money to survive. Collecting a small amount might be the difference between life and death for this man. He saw Peter and John. He noticed them. All we can know for sure is that he saw them as they were going into the temple, maybe just like anyone else, but we might wonder if after the coming of the Holy Spirit there was something different about them. Did their faces shine with the glory of God? Did they carry themselves differently after that transformative moment? How do you think they would have seemed to this man waiting at the temple gate?
April 19, 2020
I have to imagine the disciples were worried. They were afraid. They were faithful too, that’s important to know. So are we. But we worry too. In our time, we wonder how to survive, what to do next, and how to get through the trials we all face, not just a virus, but also grief, pain, illness, strained relationships, and more. How do we calm our worried minds (besides eating and watching Netflix)? How do we heal broken hearts? How do we live while we wait to see Jesus? How do we work through the worries we carry during this time?
April 12, 2020
This is Real Life. Jesus didn’t ‘virtually’ rise from the grave. He wasn’t “kind of” alive. He is Risen! And we have been raised up with Him! Our lives are already in Christ Jesus – we are already living in the Kingdom of God, and we know there’s more to come, but this is real life! We are in Christ Jesus, and His life, the Holy Spirit, the gifts of God are ours now and forever.
