Several of you have written personally or on this blog stating your sympathies for me during this difficult time which I shared about in last week's blog. I thank you for your kind words.
There are also some in our team that are currently walking through the difficult time of losing somebody that they deeply care about and I would challenge us all to rise to support, and encourage them as well. I know that we are very good at doing this, but I would still like to encourage us to not grow weary in doing good to each other and supporting each other through tough times.
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I love the Holy Week and Easter part of the church calendar much more than the Christmas part of the church calendar. I especially like it because we do not have the empty festivities, and misplaced attention that is so obviously present around the Christmas/Holiday season. Easter is a church celebration that has not yet completely lost it's meaning and even though it is threatened by the presence of the eggs and the bunny, it is relatively easier to find meaning in this season without the fluff, pomp and commercialization of Christmas.
Jesus' life, death and resurrection are the reason for the existence of Christianity and it is through him that we gain access to our almighty father. Writing this to the worship team at woodvale is pretty much stating the obvious.
Because I have been asking all of us on the team to place much emphasis on the role that we have to play - to connect people with God - I am particularly happy to be walking through this season with you all. It is a time in which we throw light on the immense sacrifice, the satisfaction of Justice against sin and the mercy and relationship that is extended to us by Jesus on the cross. It is a time through which we can better illuminate Jesus' victory over death and the grave by his resurrection and most encouraging of all, it is a time for us to focus on the hope that he shall return again JUST AS HE SAID HE WOULD!
The role that we are called to fulfill as facilitators of worship on a week-by-week basis is to take people on a journey that leads them from ALIENATION from God to INTIMACY with him. This is the journey that we have simply called "Connecting People With God"
Those of you that know me a little better than most know that I have a weekly date with my wife that we try extremely hard to never miss. Normally we are busy getting by from day to day with our busy jobs, and numerous commitments that pull us in every direction and so our dates are a way for us to create uninterrupted time where our focus is us and not anything else. Our dates usually start with the two of us passing the time with small talk about work and the people that we are mad with, etc.. Our body language is very telling at this point in the date because we are sort of leaning away from each other and focused more on the menu than on eye contact and intimacy. However as we become more relaxed and less stressed about what we needed to vent about, the conversation moves to more intimate conversation. If there was a difficult situation in our relationship that we had to discuss at the beginning of the date, by the end of our date (after we have fought about it), it is quite remarkable how I am able to cease to see her as my adversary through the fog of my annoyance and in forgiveness, restoration of intimacy, and humility start to see the beautiful, lovely, sexy woman that I married. By the end of our date evening we really do resemble a pair of giddy, giggly teenagers who (PG moment coming up!) cannot keep their hands off each other.
It is at times like these (the easter season we are in) that I think of God's letter to the church in Ephesus found at the beginning of the second chapter of the book of Revelation of John. God's charge against the church is that they have forsaken their first love. His instructions to the church are really simple: in order to return to their first love, they need to resume the things that brought about intimacy between God and his church. Just like my weekly routine that I have candidly shared that helps to restore intimacy between my wife and myself, I think that we are at one such significant moment in the church calendar where we need to realize our need to constantly restore our intimacy with Jesus.
How I pray that this Easter season shall be a chance for each one of us to fall in love again with Jesus who spared no expense to show us how much he loves us. How I pray that our worship shall be energized even more this weekend as we stand in his presence and thank him for the numerous times he has stepped in between us and certain danger and kept us safe. I sincerely pray that our recognition of God as our sustainer, provider, healer, redeemer and savior shall lead us back to the place of our first fearless and expressive love for him. My prayer is that in realizing again what an awesome Lord we serve, we shall be part of a journey (participating and facilitating) from alienation to a place of intimacy with God that we never experienced prior to this week.
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2 comments:
Thanks for that story about your dates! That was funny to me (the PG part). I love knowing that I worship God with people who are fearless in sharing intimate details of their life. It is such a warm welcoming for others to do the same.
Although I agree that there is still more of a Jesus presence within the holiday of Easter as opposed to Christmas and the commercialization, I still have to admit I am disheartened by the amount of commercialization there is about Easter. Just until tonight, I didn't realize that the bunny and the eggs were a Pagan tradition. I am thankful for this knowledge now because I want to tell everybody! This "holiday" of easter bunnies and halloween shouldn't be celebrated by Christians. Nor should children be raised in the so-called modern day celebration.
That being said, I am so grateful to Jesus that even through all the sin in the world that exists after His sacrifice, He still loves us and desires for us to come to Him! Even in my trials, I can trust that He won't leave me destitute nor forsaken. He is the love that turns my heart to Him every single day. I don't expect anything more on Easter than what He has already provided me with. It is up to me now to choose Him and sacrifice my life for Him.
I hope and pray for us worshippers that we don't get consumed in ourselves and our problems, but come together as a celebration of Jesus' sacrifice and thank Him! And put others before ourselves just as Jesus did. I just can't stop thinking about: what would you be doing when Jesus returns? Do you want to be caught in the act of sin? Will you be ready for Him? Is it not the same today; putting God before yourself? When Jesus returns you can't put Him off to go about your business. Why do we fear war and destruction? Jesus is coming back to create the new Jerusalem! I carry this deep in my heart and I pray I always remember His words and use them to encourage others.
These are my thoughts...and as Pastor Mark said...I'm going to go turn them in to prayers now.
Blessings.
Thank you to everyone for your kindness and comfort over the past few weeks - to me and my daughters - as we come to terms with Mom/Gramma leaving this world.
I've been re-reading the blogs over the past two weeks while I've been away and am drawn to the discussion of intimacy with God and the not-so-unrelated references to having family and/or friends die ... to this life.
When Mom passed away on March 14th, my siblings and I witnessed dying for the first time. We felt a peace fall over us and the air felt like it was sparkling - i liken it to remnants of His pinions gracing over us as He swooped in and took Mom home. Even in death, Mom witnessed to her children. She shared with us the most intimate experience of this lifetime that we will have with God - the time He comes to take us home. There is intimacy with God in death...I find that this ultimate 'revivial' puts a whole new spin on surrendering all! How much are we truly willing to let go to be totally His? What sacrifice are we willing to make to draw nearer to Him?
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