He is Risen,
What now?
What now?
That was the title of Mike's sermon at church yesterday. It wasn't a typical "Easter sermon", if there is such a thing. We of course sang chorus' of praise to our risen Saviour on such a beautiful Easter morning!
Then we began our study on Onesiphorus. Who is that? Onesiphorus was a "minister of refreshment" in the New Testament. What in the world is she talking about? (That's what I was thinking about Mike as well!!)
We read in 2 Timothy where Paul was writing his very last letter to Timothy. If you recall, he was in jail. Think more, hole in the floor .. dungeon! He was lonely, very very lonely. He says there in 2 Timothy that he was deserted by everyone. His friends, family and even his church. Where he had once been surrounded by people who supported him, they all turned their backs when he was sent to jail.
Mike went on to talk about how many lonely people there are in the church, at work, in our homes, on our streets, in our communities. It doesn't matter if we're in a house full of family or have tons of friends to hang out with, we can still feel lonely on the inside. Isn't that true, we've all felt it.
Onesiphorus was a long time friend of Paul, from what we gather. He went on to say that when Onesiphorus came to town, the first thing he did was come to jail to see Paul. He didn't care that he was in jail, that he had to probably shout down through a dark hole to talk to him. He loved his friend and when visiting him, brought Paul a time of refreshment. It lifted his spirits, made him feel "not so" alone anymore. It made his soul rejoice. He said "May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!" (2 Tim. 1:18) He wants the Lord to bless Onesiphorus for being such a faithful friend.
We all make mistakes. Families are made out of people who make mistakes, churches are filled with people who make mistakes. May we all find friends who will love us IN SPITE OF those failures. Even more important though, may we LOOK FOR friends who we can REFRESH in spite of their mistakes, failures or hard times.
It's our job, it's what God wants us to do. He wants us to be saved, have a relationship with him and spend eternity with him. What do we do meantime though?? That was the point of Mike's sermon. He is Risen, we are saved if we accept him. Then what? Then what are we going to do with our lives, with Christ's love? We are to be a spirit of refreshment for those around us. I'm sure we can think of people that might need a little encouragement: a phone call, a visit, an encouraging card or just a pat on the shoulder. May we all look for people that we can bless in our everyday lives.
I thought it was a fantastic take on what Easter can mean to us all!
_________________________________________________________________
On a different Easter note. I spent 45 minutes sitting on the floor in a Christian book store last week looking for a good book to share the story of Easter with my kiddos at preschool. I have a few books, but they just weren't what I wanted this year. I found that either the text was too much, the pictures were too graphic and it just wasn't the way I wanted to share the Easter story with my little ones.
Our Bible verse this month is "Jesus has Risen, just like he said he would." from Matthew. Our prayer is "Help me to tell others the good news about Jesus." I wanted a book that would tell the children what good news they were suppose to share. We talked about it and they are all aware they are suppose to tell others that Jesus loves them and to show people that in their actions. Still, I wanted it all in a story.
I found it! I found a book called "God's love at Easter" by: Joy Morgan Davis. It's great!! It's very simple text. It's also has a rhyming pattern and you know how that helps the children keep their attention on the story. It reminds us about Jesus living with his family on Earth and loving others. (Which was nice to pause and review what we know about Jesus' birth and childhood) Then it talked briefly about his ministering to others (again, good time to review those other Bible stories) and then it talked about his death on the cross. It went on to tell how he arose on the third day and how he appeared to people on Earth and waits for us in Heaven. It ends with saying we need to tell others about God's love. It tells the whole story, all the points I wanted to share. It's a great book!!
___________________________________________________________________
And no a final note... There is nothing more refreshing to me than standing in church on a beautiful Easter sunny Sunday morning, singing praise songs with my church family. There's just something amazing, powerful and "big" about it. I'm so thankful we returned "home" to our church. We spent several years visiting, searching and even being VERY actively involved in other churches. I cherish that time, we made some awesome memories with awesome people. There is something about "being home" though, with those who know you and love you anyway. Those who have watched you grow up, been there through the good times and bad. Here are the words to a praise song we sang yesterday, music moves me in BIG ways. "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong!
Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender
Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus
And the song...you can watch & listen!
Then we began our study on Onesiphorus. Who is that? Onesiphorus was a "minister of refreshment" in the New Testament. What in the world is she talking about? (That's what I was thinking about Mike as well!!)
We read in 2 Timothy where Paul was writing his very last letter to Timothy. If you recall, he was in jail. Think more, hole in the floor .. dungeon! He was lonely, very very lonely. He says there in 2 Timothy that he was deserted by everyone. His friends, family and even his church. Where he had once been surrounded by people who supported him, they all turned their backs when he was sent to jail.
Mike went on to talk about how many lonely people there are in the church, at work, in our homes, on our streets, in our communities. It doesn't matter if we're in a house full of family or have tons of friends to hang out with, we can still feel lonely on the inside. Isn't that true, we've all felt it.
Onesiphorus was a long time friend of Paul, from what we gather. He went on to say that when Onesiphorus came to town, the first thing he did was come to jail to see Paul. He didn't care that he was in jail, that he had to probably shout down through a dark hole to talk to him. He loved his friend and when visiting him, brought Paul a time of refreshment. It lifted his spirits, made him feel "not so" alone anymore. It made his soul rejoice. He said "May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!" (2 Tim. 1:18) He wants the Lord to bless Onesiphorus for being such a faithful friend.
We all make mistakes. Families are made out of people who make mistakes, churches are filled with people who make mistakes. May we all find friends who will love us IN SPITE OF those failures. Even more important though, may we LOOK FOR friends who we can REFRESH in spite of their mistakes, failures or hard times.
It's our job, it's what God wants us to do. He wants us to be saved, have a relationship with him and spend eternity with him. What do we do meantime though?? That was the point of Mike's sermon. He is Risen, we are saved if we accept him. Then what? Then what are we going to do with our lives, with Christ's love? We are to be a spirit of refreshment for those around us. I'm sure we can think of people that might need a little encouragement: a phone call, a visit, an encouraging card or just a pat on the shoulder. May we all look for people that we can bless in our everyday lives.
I thought it was a fantastic take on what Easter can mean to us all!
_________________________________________________________________
On a different Easter note. I spent 45 minutes sitting on the floor in a Christian book store last week looking for a good book to share the story of Easter with my kiddos at preschool. I have a few books, but they just weren't what I wanted this year. I found that either the text was too much, the pictures were too graphic and it just wasn't the way I wanted to share the Easter story with my little ones.
Our Bible verse this month is "Jesus has Risen, just like he said he would." from Matthew. Our prayer is "Help me to tell others the good news about Jesus." I wanted a book that would tell the children what good news they were suppose to share. We talked about it and they are all aware they are suppose to tell others that Jesus loves them and to show people that in their actions. Still, I wanted it all in a story.
I found it! I found a book called "God's love at Easter" by: Joy Morgan Davis. It's great!! It's very simple text. It's also has a rhyming pattern and you know how that helps the children keep their attention on the story. It reminds us about Jesus living with his family on Earth and loving others. (Which was nice to pause and review what we know about Jesus' birth and childhood) Then it talked briefly about his ministering to others (again, good time to review those other Bible stories) and then it talked about his death on the cross. It went on to tell how he arose on the third day and how he appeared to people on Earth and waits for us in Heaven. It ends with saying we need to tell others about God's love. It tells the whole story, all the points I wanted to share. It's a great book!!
___________________________________________________________________
And no a final note... There is nothing more refreshing to me than standing in church on a beautiful Easter sunny Sunday morning, singing praise songs with my church family. There's just something amazing, powerful and "big" about it. I'm so thankful we returned "home" to our church. We spent several years visiting, searching and even being VERY actively involved in other churches. I cherish that time, we made some awesome memories with awesome people. There is something about "being home" though, with those who know you and love you anyway. Those who have watched you grow up, been there through the good times and bad. Here are the words to a praise song we sang yesterday, music moves me in BIG ways. "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong!
Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender
Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus
And the song...you can watch & listen!
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