Good Afternoon Girlfriends!
Settle in Girls...I got a little carried away. Be sure to check the very bottom of the email for a special announcement.
Wow! This week is just flying by! Several years ago there was a department store called Mervyn's. They had the best TV commercials. I remember one where this woman absolutely could not wait for the store to open...so much so, that she would wait for hours outside the store's doors with her face pressed close to the glass, her hands on either side of her face, and gently tap the glass saying: "Open. Open. Open." Mervyn's was known for its great one-day sales. Now, I told you that story, to tell you this one....
This past Sunday was Easter (He IS Risen!), and my heart and mind have simply been reeling with the amount of people that were in church! We must've run close to 3000 people through my church on Sunday. In my service alone there was close to 1,400. I sit on the front row, so I have prime placement to watch all of the people come up to the front of the church for Communion. I was sitting there with my family, and watching the countless faces come up to the altar, receive the Lord's Supper, His forgiveness, His peace, and then depart back to their seats. My heart was overwhelmed for each one of them. The sanctuary was busting at the seams. People were everywhere. There was a sense of urgency, as though that day were the only day we would be open. Pause.
There are two times a year that droves of folks will come into church. The first: Christmas Eve. The second: Easter Morning. Today, I want to talk to you about both of those plus a little something extra. Today's Thought has been about four months in the making, though I didn't piece everything together until this moment. (Thank you Pastor Noack for enlightening me) I want you to come with me to a stable in the little town of Bethlehem. The stable is small, and dank. It does not smell sweet, it is not well lit. There is no soft bed and no precious baby cradle. There is however, a Baby and an open door. God Almighty chose this humble place as the beginning of His Son's earthly appearance. God, in all of His wisdom and power announced His Son's birth, not to the royalty of the day, but rather to a group of rag-tag shepherds. "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:8-11 Can you even imagine? The shepherds were minding their own business, at night, when a host of angels appear in the night sky proclaiming the birth of the Messiah. What did the shepherds do? They hurried into town to see what the angels were talking about and knelt at the manger where the Christ Child lay. Now, fast forward thirty-three years. That Baby grew, until He was a full grown Man. He did so many marvelous and miraculous things that there are not enough papers to write them down on. The most miraculous thing He did, was lay His own life down for those same shepherds who came to Him when He was an infant, He laid His life down for you and for me. "Then Pilate [the Roman Governor] took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head...and they struck him in the face." John 19:1-2, 3 It gets worse before it gets better, stay with me, there will be some good news at the end. Continue reading with me from the book of John. "So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. [Jesus] Carrying his own cross...they crucified him..." John 19:17-18
Now, I could leave us here. But how would that work for sharing the Gospel and the Good News of Christ? Where's the openness of that? It's totally true, Jesus was put on the cross. He was crucified. He did die. He did NOT, however stay in the tomb. Three days later, when the women went to the tomb to fully prepare Jesus' body for the proper burial, found when they arrived that the tomb was wide open! He was gone! The almighty and awesome power of God had raised Him from the dead! I don't want to minimize the true miracle here: Jesus' death and resurrection saves us from our sins. Without those two things we would be lost and condemned forever. There are two quick Scriptures I want to draw your attention to: remember the shepherds? They saw the Christ as an infant. They witnessed His birth announcement in the form of a host of angels, yet after they'd seen Him, "the shepherds returned" (Luke 2:20) to their fields. They went back to their daily lives. And the women from the open tomb? They ran from the garden, and met Jesus face to face, "'Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." Matthew 28:10 See, the disciples were instructed to return to their lives as well. Jesus would meet them back where it all started. What does all of this have to do with Easter and Mervyn's?
For some, Easter and Christmas Eve services are like a one-day sale. Some think that the deals available to them on that one day simply will not be around at any other time of the year. Some feel that way about the church. Sure, we put a great deal of effort into these special services, but the power of God is present every other day of the year. My prayer for everyone who attended church on Easter morning was for the Holy Spirit to convict each of them in such a way as for them to feel the same urgency in their spirit to attend church next week, and the week after, and the week after. Stand at the doors....we are OPEN. Have a blessed week.
Side-note:
For those of you who don't know, tomorrow is my last day on staff here at Trinity. It has been my honor and privilege to serve the women of this congregation. No one panic! Things here at the church are great. I've been praying over this decision for many months. My husband and I strongly feel that God is calling me into a new area of ministry through my writing and my speaking. I will still send out my Thoughts for the Week--no worries there. :) Thank you for allowing me to be a part of so many lives. These past several years have truly been a blessing to me.
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