The Story Continues
The Story Continues
Have you ever watched a movie which was a true story and at the end of it they tell you what happened to the various people in the story as their lives continued? “Remember the Titans” was one movie that did it. So did, “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” And just recently, “Heartbreak Ridge.” It really pulls everything together, doesn’t it? It reminds you that these were real people and their stories continued….and in fact, maybe they lived through a number of stories after the one you just saw.
The story of Jesus did not end with Easter…or with the Resurrection Stories that we have just focused on. No, rather, His story –and His mission of love and grace for you and for all of humankind –continued and continues to this day. In the next few weeks, we are going to focus on that part of the story that came right after the Resurrection Stories. Just like with the above movies, it really fills in the blanks for us…..and helps us to understand our part in His continuing story entwined in ours.
Sunday May 28 Living in Anticipation
God has a great sense of the dramatic. I think He would have been a great script writer…oops, I mean He is! Today, it is like He is saying, “Drum roll please” as he is building up the anticipation for a climax of grace that will crash on the world like a giant wave! It’s like that song…”An-ti-ci-pa-a-tion!” It is what happens next in the story of the living Jesus and how His story entwines with ours. Through it, He would touch us with something about Himself and empower us to live every day in anticipation in Him!
Sunday June 4th Living in Power (The Crash of the Wave)
I'm tired.” When is the last time you have said this?…or thought it? And what kind of “tired” was it? Physical? (Not enough sleep tiredness… or muscle tiredness?…or?) Emotional? (some situation just draining you?) Mental? (I have to think it through but I can’t find the answer!) Psychological? (I need to get away!) Spiritual? (It seems that I am like a zombie with my relationship with God!)
We sometimes get tired out….really. It is part of our human condition. Even the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Even youths grow tired and weary…” What do you do when you get tired…I mean, really tired? Today, the living Jesus pours out His power on His people, a power that can “lift us up on wings like Eagles.” (Isaiah again) Interested?
Sunday June 11 Living In The Snapshot
I am not sure how a dictionary would define the word, “snapshot.” For me, it is a photograph that catches a significant moment in time, revealing an abundance of knowledge concerning the people in the photograph and what their lives were about in that moment. A snapshot is a record of the moment – the where, and how and what and when! It shows a situation. It shows the emotions. It puts life to the relationships. Have you ever wanted to be part of what you saw in a snapshot? Today, God gives us a snapshot of the aftermath of the wave of grace of Pentecost. It is a snapshot that we are meant to be a part of….this is God’s gift to us today!
Sunday June 18 In All Things, A Love That Serves Father's Day Celebration!
Today we celebrate dads. We celebrate families. We celebrate love. We celebrate dads who in great love lay down their lives for their wives and their children. We recognize their service and their importance to their families. And we praise God, celebrating this gift of God to us wherever it is found! And it is my heart felt hope and prayer that each of you has great joy in this gift. Yet, we also remember the struggles of being a dad. We remember the challenges. And we remember those who on this day struggle with things that “should not have been,” whether it is a dad or child who has died, a dad or child who was not what they should have been, or one who wanted so much to be a dad, but it was not meant to be. Yet, in all these places and in every broken relationship, we remember the love of our Heavenly Father which, in Jesus, continues to serve us in all things, empowering us to do likewise!