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Jesus

The Most Important Week in History

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Its Importance Was Overlooked Then and Now

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. When this week occurred for the first time, what started out as a celebration quickly turned into a dark time for Jesus’ followers.

They were expecting something completely different than what happened. They thought that Jesus was going to over turn the Roman Empire and become a worldly king. They misunderstood Jesus’ message and purpose.

This is like the story Pastor Lee told about a woman that became distraught when she saw a sign in her bank’s window. She went into the bank and asked what was going to happen to her money? The teller asked her what she meant. The lady said the sign in the front window read, “Closed for Good Friday”. When she read it, she saw, “Closed for good, Friday”. We need to be careful to not misunderstand the Message.

It is easy for us to put our perspective on things that in turn lead to misunderstanding. We invite Jesus into our lives and ask Him to make a few changes and freshen things up a bit…you know a little remodeling project. The problem develops when we haven’t really looked at the blueprint, or maybe we don’t know how to read one. God’s plan for our lives more resembles a full-blown renovation, rather than a little remodel.

He plans to turn us into a mansion, if we’ll just let Him.

Usually when we hear the word passion we think of an emotion. We put it in our worldly view. Historically though this word meant to suffer for something cared deeply about, to the point of martyrdom. Jesus cared so deeply for us that He was willing to give His life for us. His passion to for us lead to His death. This is the Passion of Christ.

As humans no matter how high we reach or how long of a ladder we climb on. we can never reach God. He on the other hand can reach us, if we will let Him.

Remember the importance of this Holy Week and let the Master Architect design your dream mansion.

Today, The Scripture Has Been Fulfilled In Your Hearing

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The Bible can seem like an old history book. Full of things that are irrelevant to us today. This could not be further from the truth.

Sure it’s a book full of history…but it’s so much more. It is the “Living Word”. John 1:1-4 says, “1In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people.” (NCV) Jesus is not just the Jesus of the Bible, He is the Jesus of our lives today.

History is important, but we need to be careful to not let history cause us to forget the present and the future. In this week’s scripture, Luke 4:14-20, Jesus had returned to His home town of Nazareth where He had grown up. While there He was teaching one Sabbath and read these words from the book of Isaiah; 18 “The Lord has put his Spirit in me, because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again. Isaiah 61:1 God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly Isaiah 58:6 19  and to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness.” Isaiah 61:2 (NCV)

Jesus goes on to say in verse 21 that  “Today, This Scripture Has Been Fulfilled in Your Hearing”.  This fulfillment didn’t stop with the people who were there physically. It is still being fulfilled in our hearing of it today and tomorrow and the next day.

Then in verse 22 the people who were initially pretty impressed by His reading, began to have second thoughts about this. They remembered Him as the son of a carpenter who grew up in their midst. They were letting their history of Jesus cause them to not see the present or the future.

You may have heard it said that we all have a Jesus shape void in our lives. We all have had the feeling that something is missing. Many people don’t realize that it’s God. They may try to fill that hole with everything but God. He is the only thing that will fit. If you haven’t done so already you should test Him to see how He fits. The Scripture is a great instruction manual for this.

Remember that today, the Scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing. So be sure to listen to it.

The Velveteen Rabbit Teaches Us About Love

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“The Velveteen Rabbit” was the basis of the message this week. It is a story about a stuffed rabbit’s desire to become real and the love that ultimately accomplishes this.

There is a lot of real life comparisons in this story about a stuffed rabbit. Some of the toys are mean and uncaring, some are supporting and caring. There are examples of the power of love and the healing miracle it provides. 1 John 4:7-12; 19-21 tells us what love is and how to use it. It tells us that God first loved us and that He commands us to love our brothers and sisters.

God loved us so much that He became human to show us how to love. It can be hard for us to show that level of love to those who don’t understand it. We need to share with others in a way they can understand.

There is a the story of the man who didn’t believe that Jesus was God in human form. He decided to not go with his family to a Christmas Eve service, but rather to stay home. Shortly after his family left in began to snow. He then heard some birds flying into the window of the house. They were looking for looking for a way out of the storm. He tried to help them but they were scared and didn’t understand what he was doing. He thought, if only I was a bird I could tell them and show them. It was then that he realized this is what God did for us when Jesus became a man.

My favorite version of the story, done by Paul Harvey.

As we go through this new year let us honor the sacrifice of God by loving those around us.