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The Invitation and Challenge of the Risen Jesus

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:05:22 +0000

John 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Pastor Mike McCoy
Vineyard Christian Fellowship (Concord)

Every Easter Sunday, we would go to my motherinlaw’s house for dinner. Upon arriving, Margie would call out to us, “HE is risen!” Our expected and joyfully given response would be, “HE is risen indeed!” This ancient call and response is being uttered throughout the world today by those who follow the risen Lord and King – Jesus of Nazareth. In the reality of this proclamation lie the invitation and the challenge of the risen Jesus.

It starts on the evening of the first resurrection Sunday. Jesus suddenly stands among His fearful disciples. He is alive and with them again, and they are filled with joy. How does the presence of the risen Jesus fill you with joy on this Easter Sunday?

Then He gives the invitation: “Peace be with you! Rest and don’t be afraid. I am here.” Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is with us, and He alone has overcome the power of evil, sin, and death so that we can rest without fear. He can and will take care of us and our world. And He has invited us to enter into His care. Do you want to receive the invitation of Jesus and learn to rest in Him without fear?

Next is the challenge: “As the Father sent Me, I am sending you!” Jesus was sent into the world to fulfill the Father’s purpose, and He sends His disciples into the world to continue His mission – to speak God’s word, do God’s works, and give their lives for the sake of others. Do you want to accept the challenge of Jesus and go to whom He is sending you?

Finally, Jesus breathed on His disciples and commanded them to receive the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, we cannot apply the invitation and the challenge of the risen Jesus to our lives. With the Spirit, we can live in peace and go in power to whomever Jesus sends us. Today, will you ask Jesus to breathe on you and fill you again with the Holy Spirit?

Jesus, please empower me to accept the invitation and the challenge of Your resurrection in my life – to live in Your peace and to go where You send me. AMEN.

RISEN

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:02:47 +0000

Artist: Lori Butler

This is an image inspired by the campaign images for Barrack Obama. Some artists on the internet even went so far as to refer to our future president as a “savior” or “messiah.” I thought it was time that Jesus’ image take its rightful place above those words. This portrait of Jesus is the first that I have ever painted. It represents the iconic image of Christ and states in no uncertain terms that HE has risen again.

Easter

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:02:34 +0000

The pain of finding my Lord not there
The sorrow of seeing his body hung amidst the fathers night air
To serve so long! To follow, believe, to Trust.
For what?
To see his body bloodied and beaten?
to find his grave robbed and barren?
My Lord, I followed! I trusted!

I denied you, three times, as you said.
But was I wrong?
Three days gone deep into the ground.
I find my faith fading
Fooled again-
Tis my greatest sin
Seeming so real, so true
Lord, how deeply I loved you!

To view your face, hear your voice for one time more
to be filled with the joy of your love
Illusions! Tricks!
How I make myself sick
But, you weren’t just a man!
Water into wine, loves and fishes,
Where these figments of man’s mind

Walking, solemnly to the tomb, where I know you still lie
Carrying the last of my praise,
No longer believing you’d raise

Stopped, detoured from my plan
This man in my way- there is no way I’ll let him keep me from reaching you
I know I’ll find you!
This mere man won’t stand in my way.
See how I still love you Lord?
Even when you are no longer here.

The man passed on the path softly calls my name
But I keep going forward
Determined to seek your body
Again he calls,
My mind scoffs. I’ve been with the Lord! I’ve no need for this man!

Yet he calls again and I find myself turning
My eyes open and I see
it is He!
My Lord, My God,
How dare I doubt thee.

~ Madison Barrett

Because He Lives

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:00:36 +0000

Bill and Gloria Gaither

Chorus
And because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives

God sent His Son they called Him Jesus
He came to love heal and forgive
He bled and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove
My Savior lives

How sweet to hold our newborn baby
And feel the pride and joy he gives
But greater still the calm assurance
This child can face uncertain days
Because Christ lives

And then one day I’ll cross that river
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain
And then as death gives way to vict’ry
I’ll see the lights of glory
And I’ll know He reigns

Hallelujah

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:00:20 +0000

Art Heckman, 2009

When storms they come and doubts arise
When hope seems lost, out of our sight
When our hearts break and our worlds shake
When fear is stronger than the strength to persevere
Our God reigns

When grace abounds and joy is found
When we awaken to the wonder of your love
When hungry eat and sufferings cease
When the broken sing the song of the redeemed
Our God Reigns

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Our God Reigns

Stronger than the mighty sea
More faithful than the air we breathe
You are and will forever be our God
Our refuge and the strength we seek
The grace that sets the captives free
You are and will forever be our God

Life and Death

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:05:10 +0000

Romans 8:10-11

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Rev. Mary Holder Naegeli
Adjunct Instructor, Fuller Seminary

The Christian faith is a life and death matter! The life and death of Jesus Christ, which we have pondered over the last few weeks, are both significant for the life and death we experience as human beings. The Apostle Paul was well aware that the death of Jesus on our behalf was not his only calling. The thirty-three year life of Jesus accomplished something, too. He faced the challenges of mortal “weakness” without succumbing to sin (Heb 4:15), and he modeled “walking in the Spirit” as redeemed day today behavior. By giving it purpose and meaning, he proved that this life—as we know it—is worth living.

But here is the staggering news well worth remembering on this “in between day” of Holy Saturday, falling between Good Friday and Easter: The very same life that invigorated Jesus during his thirty-three years and then raised him from the dead dwells in us! Stop and think what this means, Paul urges: You have this same life now, giving energy to this old sack of bones you carry around with you every day. The Spirit that called Jesus Christ out of the grave is the same Spirit giving life to you, oh mortal. Despite your physical limitations, despite your age, despite your discouragements or the roadblocks in your path, despite your mortality, the Spirit of God is at work in you to empower life this side of death.

Experiencing this Spirit-filled life day by day actually prepares us to face our physical death with joy and anticipation of life after death. Death is a transition from this life to the next, but it is your one continuous life that is being sustained by God’s eternal Spirit. Wow!

Lord, such knowledge is too wonderful for me: that your Spirit dwells in my heart and gives me life, energy, purpose and meaning!

Peter’s Pathetic Performance

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:05:57 +0000

John 13:36-38

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

Doug Stevens
The Renewal Project

Peter is so transparently human. We don’t know whether to laugh at him, banish him as an embarrassment or just enjoy his childlike antics. He’s always impulsively asking questions, making presumptuous demands or promising the moon. His heart seems to be right, but his character is appallingly weak. His follow-through is just atrocious.

Here he is pledging his life to Jesus (again) without understanding what this might mean. When all the other disciples are fearful and cautious, Peter steps up with this naïve declaration. He’s often the first to speak (even before he thinks!) and always sounds so sure of himself. He’s enjoying this moment and the spotlight on his verbal bravado. We all know he will fail miserably as this fateful night unfolds.

Jesus is arrested, convicted and goes to the cross. Peter runs away and plays it safe, hanging out at the edge of the crowd — at the edge of panic. He denies he even knows Him, when people recognize his familiar face and Galilean accent. Three times he denies Him! What happened to “I am ready to die for You?!” Some champion!

At dinner that night, a couple of hours earlier, Jesus had shocked Peter with the warning that the devil was coming after him. Jesus knows Peter very well, loves him still, and doesn’t give up on him even after his total meltdown and humiliation. This was a bad Friday for Peter, but God is determined to salvage and rebuild this broken-down man. He sends His Son to the Cross to forgive and redeem fallen humanity, such as Peter, who more than once played the fool and the coward…such as me…such as you.

Lord, we have failed again and again, publicly and privately…You know! Yet You invite us to restore our relationship with You, based on Your victory, which now becomes ours, in Christ. It’s our second chance, even though we thought it was too late. We are overjoyed and forever grateful!

Honest to Jesus or Corporate Bluff

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:05:41 +0000

Mark 14:17-19

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.” They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?”

Pastor Art Barrett
New Life Christian Fellowship (Concord)

The challenge is to be honestly there with the Twelve and hear Him say, “One of you will betray Me.” You are there. You don’t know precisely to what He is referring, but you know you are guilty enough. You know at some level you have betrayed Him. You have not believed, not enough, not the way He believes. He says, “If you believe if you have faith you can move mountains.”

You walk with Him, pal around with the others, this eclectic band of wannabes.
You are one of His inner circle, but you know you have never budged a mountain. You hope He never challenges you to do it. You know you would not measure up; you would not make the cut. If He knew what was really in your heart, you fear He would cut you from the team. You would cut you.

You want to walk with Him; you want to be there when He cashes in and takes the throne, and you know there is something of a betrayal even in your self-interested fellowship. You know your heart is not like His, though you wish it was. No wonder you are saddened as He raises the specter of exposure.

What does He mean? What does He know? What doesn’t He know? To which of us is He referring? You figure we are all in the same boat. Like the time all twelve of us were in the same boat in the storm. Without Him, we would have sunk. It’s no different in this room. Whatever is going on, He knows, if I were left to lead, I would sink us. It’s best to go with the corporate bluff; the odds are 111 He’s talking about one of the others. So you go with the flow. “One by one they said to Him, `Surely it is not I?’” The challenge is to be honest, to believe and be honest to Jesus, Honest to God.

Jesus, You already know everything about me. Help my faith to become strong enough to be honest with You.

Giving Back to God

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:05:08 +0000

Mark 12:1-2

He then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

Pastor Russ Belmont
Calvary Baptist Church (Concord)

God provides everything needed to produce good fruit. Look at the vineyard the landowner (God) prepares for the tenant farmer: he provides protection, production equipment and security to produce good fruit. It is comforting to know that God has a plan and purpose for our lives.

In this parable of the tenant farmer, Jesus showed that Israel had killed and rejected past prophets and that Israel would soon kill and reject the Son of God. This rejected stone would, however, become the chief cornerstone of God’s Kingdom. This parable was directed to the chief priests, teachers of the law and the elders. By what we read in Mark 11:27, we know that they struggled with giving Christ authority in their lives.

What are different ways we struggle with giving God authority in our lives? How are we like the Pharisees? What obstacles get in our way of giving back to God what he has already given to us?

Is it by retaining control and believing that my way is the only way?

Do I prefer to live legalistically rather than gracefully?

Am I willing to trust the truth of the scriptures 100% at all times?

Do I think that the gifts I have been given are for me alone?

Am I willing to be changed and transformed by Christ?

Lord, I don’t want to be religious; I want to be in a relationship with you. I want to be able to accept your plans and purpose for my life so that you can be glorified.

By Whose Authority?

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:05:13 +0000

Mark 11:27-33

They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?” Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’….” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Pastor Kevin Murphy, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church (Walnut Creek)

As Jesus’ Passion rapidly approaches, this scene becomes all the more important because we see all three factions, which made up the Jewish ruling Council coming to Jesus to ask him the “authority question.” They are asking the question because there is no greater authority than their own, and they have not authorized Jesus to do what he is doing, especially healing on the Sabbath – their primary concern!

Mark’s Gospel tells Jesus’ story in a straightforward, almost journalistic, style. Mark presents Jesus’ teaching and claims and then reflects on those who come to trust in him and those who don’t. When Jesus answers the authority question with a question, he unmasks the religious leadership’s difficulty in recognizing any authority but its own. They can’t say John or Jesus was from God because then they would have to give an account of why they did nothing to acknowledge God’s presence in their midst. I love Jesus’ insistent, “Answer me.” But they refuse (see John 5:39).

The question is not “by whose authority?” but “are you refusing to come to Jesus?” The religious leaders (of every stripe) always refused – with rare exception. Sometimes I see religious leaders more tied to their traditions and church polity than aligned with Jesus, his message and his agenda. This is not just an issue two thousand years ago; it is still true today.

The “by whose authority” question can be answered by every baptized believer: “I have the authority of my Father in heaven and he promises the power of the Holy Spirit will attend to me all the days of my life.” Our authority is directly connected to our identity – we are children of the Most High God, the King of the Universe!

Gracious God, help us to claim your authority and boldly proclaim, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.” Amen.