The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,

His Word was on my tongue.

Through the practice of Lectio Divina we received the Word of God yesterday as we gathered as God’s people in worship, and prayer.  Take and reflect on the message that you received through the Spirit.   Feel free to share your thoughts with us on our Facebook page, or on the website where the messages are shared.

In addition, here are a couple of online tools to help you engage the Word of God by hearing and receiving.

• Common Prayer – Common Prayer is a tapestry of daily prayers inviting faith communities from around the world to pray, sing, and act together. At this site, you’ll find prayers for every evening, morning, and midday that celebrate the best of the Christian tradition and engage with the most pressing issues of our world today. There are also songs from various traditions, including African-American spirituals, traditional hymns, Mennonite gathering songs, and Taize chants—a ‘greatest hits’ from the church’s first 2000 years. There’s a calendar to help us remember our saints and landmark dates in the struggle for peace and justice. And there’s a collection of prayers for special occasions.

• Examen – EXAMEN.me is a simple-to-use web site that fosters your personal interaction with God. This modern approach to ancient devotional practices guides you to examen your life as you meditate on scripture, pray, and journal all of your reflections. No matter where you are in your pilgrimage with Christ, EXAMEN.me will help you interact with God.

Splattered paint.

Leaning up against the paint of others’ lives.

Make your life a masterpiece.

Get personal, get messy!

Don’t pay someone to feed someone, do it yourself – give them a sandwich.

As I listened to the words of 1 John being read in the service yesterday, here is what stuck out, “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”  I started thinking about that.  And here’s what I thought:

Everyone knows love.  Everyone has loved something.  Maybe they have not loved God, or maybe they even haven’t loved somebody (I doubt it.)  But they have loved.  Maybe a favorite t-shirt, or a favorite meal, or a favorite vacation place, or maybe they just loved their self.  But we’ve all experienced that feeling of liking, wanting, valuing, protecting some “thing” – love looks like many things, and looks different in various relationships.  If that is the case, then we all have had an experience with God – whether we recognize it or not.  And because of that, you and I have the opportunity – as known “God lovers” or better yet “Christ lovers” – to help others experience that love more fully.  AND to help them recognize where that love comes from, and started from.  But just like you can’t really feed the hungry by paying someone to feed hungry, you can’t love someone by paying someone to love someone.   You have to be connected in others’ lives.  The truth about lives is that lives are messy.   The first thing you should expect from every relationship, from every other person is to expect to be disappointed.   Now that may sound like a negative approach to life, but it’s true.  All of our relationships have disappointed us.  Even our relationship with Jesus.  And it’s not because Jesus disappointed us – but it’s because our expectations were not in the correct perspective and that left us frustrated and disappointed.  It reminds me of what Paul said in Romans 8:

²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers^[l] in harmony with God’s own will. ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[m] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ²⁹ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn^[n] among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

And it’s not that we want to disappoint, but it’s who we are.  We live in a reality where sin will be present despite our best efforts or intentions.  But that’s what makes Jesus’ message “Good News.”  It’s that despite our desires and efforts to separate ourselves from sin, and yet still failing – his grace is sufficient to not hold us in our guilt of the sins we commit – both intentionally and accidentally.

So go.  Go love!  Knowing fully that your expectations are going to be dashed, and that you will bring disappointment to others.  But that in God’s kingdom, those dashed hopes, and dreams are not left broken but can be restored.  And that the restoration isn’t always through them, sometimes it’s in us.

I want to thank Michele for speaking yesterday.  I also want to thank for board (and you probably want to thank them too!) for making me take a break from time to time from speaking, so I can be among the church family.  It was refreshing for me to not have the back of my mind consumed with the message as I spent time with you before, during, and after the service.  I was able to be fully present without distraction.  But I’m ready for Sunday, I hope you are too.

As we enter into Holy Week, I would encourage you to take a moment and make the journey with Jesus and his disciples by reading the corresponding stories in scripture, and be recognizing the holiness that each day holds.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord.  The service commemorates the Gospel account of how Jesus rode into Jerusalem humbly on a donkey, reminiscent of a Davidic victory procession, and how people placed palms on the ground in front of him. Immediately following this great time of celebration in the entering of Jesus into Jerusalem, he begins his journey to the cross.  Mark 11:1–11, Matthew 21:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19

Holy Monday or Great and Holy Monday is the Monday of Holy Week, which precedes the commemoration of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. It is the third day of Holy Week, after Lazarus Saturday, and Palm Sunday.

The Gospels tell us of some of the events that actually occurred on the day of the Biblical Holy Monday. Some of the most notable and recognizable of these were the cursing of the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22,Mark 11:20-26), the questioning of Jesus’ authority (21:23-27), the Cleansing of the Temple and some diverse parables, depending on which Gospel is read.

Holy Tuesday or Great and Holy Tuesday is the Tuesday of Holy Week, which precedes the commemoration of the death of Jesus.  The Tuesday of the Holy Week is the day when the famous incident between Jesus and Pharisees is thought to have taken place. This was when the churchmen tried to trap Jesus into making a blasphemous, or, anti-god remark. This day is important also on another count. Jesus discoursed to his disciples on the Mount of Olives about the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of the last day.  Matt 21:18-25:46, Mark 11:20-13:37, Luke 20:1-21:36

Additionally, these scriptures are also read Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 71:1-6, 71:15, 71:17; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; and John 13:21-33, 13:36-38.

In Western Christianity, the Wednesday before Easter is sometimes known as “Spy Wednesday,” as a reference to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot – indicating that it is the day that Judas Iscariot first conspired with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins.

This event is described in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-12, Luke 22:3-6.

The Sanhedrin was gathered together and it decided to kill Jesus, even before Pesach if possible. In the meantime, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper. Here he was anointed on his head by Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, with very expensive ointment. Some of the disciples, particularly Judas, were indignant about this; the oil could have been sold to support the poor. Judas went to the Sanhedrin and offered them his support in exchange for money. From this moment on Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, Sheer Thursday and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels.  Matt 26:17-56, Mark 14:12-52, Luke 22:7-53, John 13:1-18:12.

We celebrate with a Maundy Thursday Service at Faith Community.  It is a meditative service where we will practice foot washing, observe the Lord’s Supper, and spend time in prayer and singing, just as Jesus and his disciples would have.  The service begins at 7pm and all are invited to come.

The Friday of the week is the Good Friday. This is the day on which Jesus was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem, at the top of the Calvary hill.

This day is marked by solemn observations in memory of Jesus’ crucifixion. There is no celebration or joy expressed on this day.  The faithful are encouraged to observe the Stations of the Cross that walk participants through the final 12 hours of Jesus’ life.  An online version called “The Bitter Journey” is available.

Christians observe the day usually through fast and abstinence to commemorate the pains and sufferings Jesus underwent on the cross.

The day following Good Friday is the Holy Saturday. This is usually called Easter Eve in Anglican churches, and is held as a traditional time for baptism services.

Presently, this day is primarily a Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, as well as Anglican observance. Roman Catholic churches observe this with the blessing and lighting of a tall Paschal candle. The candle is placed on the altar on the Holy Saturday. While blessing, five grains of incense are fixed in it, representing the five wounds of Jesus and the burial spices with which his body was anointed. The candle is lit and remains on the Gospel side of the altar until Ascension Day. This day comes at the end of forty days which mark the period through which Christ showed up himself following the crucifixion. On Ascension Day Christ is believed to have ascended to the heaven.

Easter Sunday, which immediately follows Holy Week, is the great feast day and apogee of the Christian liturgical year: on this day the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated. It is the first day of the new season of the Great Fifty Days, or Eastertide, which runs from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. Easter Sunday is the main reason why Christians keep Sunday as the primary day of religious observance.

Easter Sunday is the day of the feast. This day, the third since the crucifixion, is where Christ is believed to have shown himself to His beloved Mary Magdalene. Jesus then also joined his other disciples for a meal. Easter comes at the end of the six days of the Holy Week which came to be associated with the life of Jesus before the Resurrection.  This day is when Christ is believed to have shown himself after his death through crucifixion. He had risen up from his tomb that was guarded by the sentries, and met his disciples to get them prepared to continue his works in his absence.

Come join us on Easter Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the “Light of the World” not able to be contained by death’s darkness.  The time of Gathering and Refreshments begins at 10am, and Worship Celebration begins at 10:30am.