Love God Love One Another

Ever since Easter this year, my 4-year-old son Jacob has been asking: when will the Easter bunny come back? He's already forgotten the gifts of this Easter and is looking to the next. Do you feel this way about Easter already? The eggs and candy are over and now it's time for what's next? If so ... take a moment to dwell in Easter the next two weeks. Easter changes us - moves us from despair to hope. And that change changes our relationships, too. Learn this week what Jesus' resurrection means for your relationships: with God and with one another, with a close study of Jesus' words to his disciples in John 15.

Not just a one-time event or annual celebration, Easter continues…and, yet, do we see it this week just like last week? In truth, we notice what we look for. Our Road from Emmaus beckons, will we see Jesus on our walk? Jesus walks on…ready to bring peace and lead us out. Let’s lift our eyes above ourselves to see Jesus ahead and to also see others on the road.

Bob Mooney | Easter comes this year at a time that might not be aligned with great joy in our personal lives. And yet the message of Easter is perfectly timed and quite simple. God loves you. God gives you grace. God calls you by name. God tells you, today, that in this sometimes messy world you will never be alone!

Angela Denker | This Easter season, we've been talking about how to experience God. But you may come to church with the same question Jesus' disciples asked as they ran to his tomb. Where is God? Where is Jesus? In the face of violence and fear, today Easter reminds us that God is HERE. And that the Great I AM means something for every one of us. The Great I AM means YOU ARE. Jesus means you matter, and God is here - in the success and defeats of our lives.

It will be a crazy week as we travel with Jesus from triumphant celebration on Sunday to the darkness of human despair that comes by crucifixion on Friday. As we ponder the transformation, we become aware of Jesus’ hands: rugged, still sensitive; powerful, yet yielding; totally wrecked, and ultimately restored. Looking at our own hands, what are the stories of compassion that others will see in the evidence left by our fingerprints of action?

Lenten testimonial of Carlo Bell

Joseph had every reason to want nothing to do with his brothers. They had hated him, were jealous of him, betrayed him, sold him into slavery and left him for dead. Yet Joseph does three things to create the potential for not only forgiveness but for the possibility of reconciliation. First Joseph avoids sitting in God's chair and does not pass judgement on his brothers, he takes a view from God's perspective, and he responds to his mistreatment not only with forgiveness but with practical affection for his brothers who had harmed him.

Lenten testimonial by Lynne Kiernan

Faced with betrayals we begin to doubt God’s presence, grace, and love. Why doesn’t God take this pain away from me? Betrayal takes many forms between people…deep disappointment can feel devastating. Who, God, can know my situation? Feeling betrayed and denied, Jesus still demonstrated his love for Judas (and for me). “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13). Choosing humility, forgiveness, service, and release are the fundamentals of Experiencing God in the face of betrayal.

Lenten testimonial by Katie LaSoya

This Lent we're continuing to ask the question: Where do you experience God in your life? Today we'll tackle the difficult topic of doubt. We live in a country where the fastest-growing religious affiliation is NONE. Disbelief in God is at an all-time high. All of us experience doubt throughout our lives. Where is God in the midst of our doubt? And what tools does Scripture give us to confront doubt and wrestle through it, with the help of God?

Lenten testimonial by Kelly Reed

How and when do you experience God's presence in your life? What does it mean to be sick, and what does it mean to be well? This Sunday, the second Sunday of Lent, God reminds us that often when we think of as wellness is defined too narrowly, and that God is equally with us in both times of sickness and health. Remember the stories of Jesus healing others find the places where Jesus is healing you, and remember that although the timing is God's and not our own - God promises to heal us, in this life and the next.

Lenten testimonial by Chris Mash

“Lord, if you had been here”…was Martha’s lament in a grief-filled moment. Jesus entered the fragility of that moment to weep with Mary—and to suffer with the suffering world. Jesus weeping was an outburst of brotherly love, a broken heart for his friend, Lazarus. In this same way, today, God hears our cries and demonstrates love for us. We are not alone in the midst or our grief, tragedy, and disappointment. Emmanuel, God is with us.

Love, love, Love! Isn't love great? It is. Love is free. We don't earn it. But that doesn't mean love didn't come without a cost. What is the cost of love? How did Jesus pay it on the Cross? And as we close out 1 Corinthians 13 and our message series on Paul's Most Excellent Way, we dwell in the final six verses of the chapter. What are the costs and caveats to our earthly love? And what kind of love does God promise us in the end?

Love in action comes easily when we make ourselves fully available to God. What makes this natural is recognizing we follow a “love in action” we received first. God gives his first and very best to us. Jesus, the very author of life…gave up his life for each of us. And the Holy Spirit of God encircles us daily. As the widow feeding Elijah learned, giving God our first and best will sustain us daily. Faith, trust, and love grow from a life of thankful generosity.

These are the questions we all seek to answer…Why am I here? What is my purpose? The answer is closer than you might realize. God shares “the most excellent way” to know. In I Corinthians 12 and 13 it is to participate in “the most excellent way” to be loved and to show love. It’s love, love, love…like the sun, like a lighthouse, and like a disco ball.

Today is the final week of our Where Do You FIT series. For the past three weeks, we've been talking about how we as individuals fit into the Body of Christ: the church. We've learned how we come together, how each person is important, and how to be present together in times of rejoicing and in times of suffering. This final week we'll put it into practice—asking ourselves as individuals and as a church: as the body of Christ: What do we DO? You'll learn action steps we take together as a church, and we'll be sharing examples of apostles, prophets, teachers, deeds of power, gifts of healing and more, right here at Messiah. As followers of Jesus, we are called into action—knowing that our action is blessed, even when we are persecuted. So take heart, you are fit for action and it's time to get to work for God's Kingdom.

Oh, how the world needs Jesus…to model the way. We rejoice in His victory, of course, but do I equally comprehend the pathway of suffering Jesus endured for me? God demonstrates love through action. Jesus didn’t run, didn’t strike back, didn’t shrink from any opportunity to spread grace. In the image of God, we are to do likewise. Love requires an action. We are to rejoice and suffer…together. Who needs my compassion today? Let’s not let any fear reduce our capacity to be compassionate.