Happy Easter! The wonders of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. He is not here. He has risen! While we always think of our resurrected Lord, this morning I also want you to think about something for which to be thankful. Music has always been a huge praise driver for me, but especially on Easter…
Saturday | Waiting and Watching
Years ago, when I was in third grade, our youth group leader asked the class, “What is the most difficult part of being a Christian?” The class had a variety of answers – I don’t even remember what my response was – but sixty years later, I know what I would have answered. The most…
Friday | Good or Grim?
The headlines on news service websites over a year ago were startling. 79 million Americans braced for the worst as damaging tornadoes formed in Missouri and start their march eastward. Tornadoes were confirmed in the early hours of Wednesday morning near Glenallen, Missouri. Fatalities and injuries have already been reported. Fierce weather patterns again…
Thursday | Service and Sacrifice
We continue to move through the days of Holy Week. Today, we come to what the church has identified as “Maundy Thursday.” The Maundy in Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin mandatum which means commandment. The word is taken from a phrase Jesus uttered during the Passover meal: “A new commandment I give to you…
Wednesday | Woes and Welcomes
Traditionally, the church has accepted that Jesus taught in the Temple area on Wednesday of Holy Week. They place the Last Supper – the celebration of the Passover meal – on Thursday. We will cover events in this way, realizing that probably the Passover meal was celebrated on what we would consider Wednesday evening. Earlier…
Monday | Cursing, Questioning, and Cleansing
As our devotions continue during the days the church labels “Holy Week,” it is important to keep our focus upon Christ’s earthly mission – to secure redemption for the sins of mankind. More than likely, the events of Holy Week provide context and explanation that the sacrifice of Jesus would fulfill the Law’s requirement for…
Tuesday | The Point of the Parables
When our youngest daughter was about five, we were sitting in the family room after dinner watching reruns on television. It was a steamy, summer’s evening and the thought of something cold was stirring in my mind. While ice cream trips always sounded good to me, sometimes carting everyone to a Dairy Queen was more…
Sunday | The Problem with Palms
Our thoughts over the last few weeks have helped us focus on the reason for the cross and the events of Easter Sunday. The journey rests today, a single week before Christianity’s most sacred Sunday. Traditionally, Christianity has called this day, “Palm Sunday.” Each day this week, we will look at the activities and teachings…
Guilt Free
As we come to the end of our discussion about meaningful repentance, you may have changed your idea of what it means to repent. Starting repentance with a heart toward God may not have been a part of your theological understanding. Repentance may have stirred some sorrow within you, but it didn’t touch a real…
Lament
What image comes to your mind when you think of the word “lament?” I spent two extended stays confined at home in bed; one when I was five and one when I was seven. During the confinements, I listened to the radio almost every waking moment. The first stay was in Terre Haute in 1960…