Good news

Do this because you have been given new birth—not from the type of seed that decays but from seed that doesn’t. This seed is God’s life-giving and enduring word. Thus, All human life on the earth is like grass, and all human glory is like a flower in a field. The grass dries up and its flower falls off, but the Lord’s word endures forever. This is the word that was proclaimed to you as good news. (1 Peter 1:23-25, CEB)

You have been given a new birth one that comes from a seed that will not decay.

It is a new birth from God’s life-giving and enduring word.

This is good news for all people. A new birth for all people.

Proclaim it and share it.

Love, Grace, and Mercy for all!

Loving People. Loving God.

What a walk!

On that same day, two disciples were traveling to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself arrived and joined them on their journey. They were prevented from recognizing him. He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” They stopped, their faces downcast. The one named Cleopas replied, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who is unaware of the things that have taken place there over the last few days?” He said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. Because of his powerful deeds and words, he was recognized by God and all the people as a prophet. But our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel. All these things happened three days ago. But there’s more: Some women from our group have left us stunned. They went to the tomb early this morning and didn’t find his body. They came to us saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who told them he is alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women said. They didn’t see him.” Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! Your dull minds keep you from believing all that the prophets talked about. Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then he interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets. When they came to Emmaus, he acted as if he was going on ahead. But they urged him, saying, “Stay with us. It’s nearly evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. After he took his seat at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?” They got up right then and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying to each other, “The Lord really has risen! He appeared to Simon!” Then the two disciples described what had happened along the road and how Jesus was made known to them as he broke the bread. (Luke 24:13-35, CEB)

Why did they not know it was Jesus? I mean in John’s gospel Jesus appears to the disciples and shows them his hand and side, so there are wounds, were there no wounds for Cleopas and the other to see?

And why did they not recognize him? If they were disciples they had followed Jesus or went around with him probably for a while so they should have known what he looked like and his appearance probably didn’t change much. I’m not sure though the toil death has on one’s appearance.

But Jesus asks them about the stuff that had happened and when they laid it out he got upset because they hadn’t gotten it. They had heard what Jesus said during his ministry and they saw the signs and everything that happened, and yet they still questioned what the women said.

I wonder if we would have been the same way?

Would we have heard what Jesus said and not actually have heard it?

Sometimes I think we are slow to get it, but the disciples show us that we are still ok even when we are slow to understand.

This could have been a time I would have actually ran. I would love to take that walk with Jesus and hear him tell the stories of the Hebrew Scriptures and open up the wonders of the stories that tell about my faith and hear him tell of God’s love for all creation. When I finally understood who he was and he was gone, I would make that 7-mile hike back as fast as I could so that the others could know it was really all true.

Let us not question it and wait for Jesus to show up to tell us. Let us have faith and trust that Jesus has risen and is always with us.

Loving People. Loving God.

Invite

Then Jesus said to the person who had invited him, “When you host a lunch or dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return and that will be your reward. Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. And you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. Instead, you will be repaid when the just are resurrected.” (Luke 14:12-14, CEB)

When you have a party, invite those who no one else would invite. It isn’t about giving to get something in this life, it is about sharing what we have been given so that those who do not have will also have.

Simple. Store up your treasure in what God has given you and know that that source will never run dry.

Loving People. Loving God.

Holy

Therefore, once you have your minds ready for action and you are thinking clearly, place your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Don’t be conformed to your former desires, those that shaped you when you were ignorant. But, as obedient children, you must be holy in every aspect of your lives, just as the one who called you is holy. It is written, You will be holy, because I am holy. (1 Peter 1:13-16, CEB)

Place your hope on the grace Christ gives us.

Do not continue to live your life about yourself, but live life for others.

Share the love and grace we have been given with the world and make sure people know God loves them and so do you.

Loving People. Loving God.

Love and trust

Although you’ve never seen him, you love him. Even though you don’t see him now, you trust him and so rejoice with a glorious joy that is too much for words. You are receiving the goal of your faith: your salvation. The prophets, who long ago foretold the grace that you’ve received, searched and explored, inquiring carefully about this salvation. They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was saying when he bore witness beforehand about the suffering that would happen to Christ and the glory that would follow. They wondered what sort of person or what sort of time they were speaking about. It was revealed to them that in their search they were not serving themselves but you. These things, which even angels long to examine, have now been proclaimed to you by those who brought you the good news. They did this in the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven. (1 Peter 1:8b-12, CEB)

I’ve never seen Jesus but I love him.

I don’t see Jesus now but I trust him.

I’ve never seen God (ok that really isn’t true, I see God in the face of every person I come in contact with, but I think you get what I mean by that statement) but I still love God.

I don’t see God now (see the above parenthetical) but I still trust God.

This reading flies in the face of yesterday’s, where they wanted signs to know the promises were real. The author of 1 Peter says that faith is our way and we have received the goal of faith, our salvation. We trust, believe, and have faith the promises are true even though we have not seen and still do not see.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the trust that God is good for God’s promises.

Believe it. Trust it.

Loving People. Loving God.

Give us a sign!

At that time some of the legal experts and the Pharisees requested of Jesus, “Teacher, we would like to see a sign from you.” But he replied, “An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign, but it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign. Just as Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three days and three nights, so the Human One will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The citizens of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it as guilty, because they changed their hearts and lives in response to Jonah’s preaching. And look, someone greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will be raised up by God at the judgment with this generation and condemn it because she came from a distant land to hear Solomon’s wisdom. And look, someone greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:38-42, CEB)

Do you need a sign from God that what God says is true?

We hear the promises and see the things God has done in others’ lives and yet we still want to know for sure that this is all real.

Why?

Why do we question the love that God has for us?

Do you really need a sign? Have we not seen and heard enough?

It is faith after all!

Loving People. Loving God.

death…

If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest of those who have died. Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too. In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ. Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest, then those who belong to Christ at his coming, and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end. It is necessary for him to rule until he puts all enemies under his feet. Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end, since he has brought everything under control under his feet. When it says that everything has been brought under his control, this clearly means everything except for the one who placed everything under his control. But when all things have been brought under his control, then the Son himself will also be under the control of the one who gave him control over everything so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:19-28, CEB)

I love this cartoon because it depicts death destroyed by the tomb. Now we know we will all die, but if you have faith in God and believe the promises we have been given, then death is not the end but a step in eternity.

Know there is no enemy God can not and has not overcome and God walks with you through life.

So go into the world knowing we are free and there to be beacons of hope.

Share Love.

Loving People. Loving God.

as you go

So if the message that is preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, “There’s no resurrection of the dead”? If there’s no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless. We are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn’t raise him if it’s the case that the dead aren’t raised. If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. If Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins, and what’s more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever. If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest of those who have died. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20, CEB)

We preach Christ raised from the dead. And if some say there is no resurrection, then our faith is false and our preaching is useless.

And today, have you ever seen a person come back to life? I have heard stories of good friends who were dead, from them. They died but were resuscitated. They were clinically dead, but are alive. So yes people are still resurrected today. We have medical science to explain it today, but it does happen.

Faith in believing Jesus was dead, but then was alive again is what gives us hope. Jesus came to show us how to live, and God showed us that if we love as God loves then death is a step in eternity and not the end.

Hope is believing in the resurrection.

Live in hope. And share love as you go.

Loving People. Loving God.

Unbelieving Thomas

It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” Thomas, the one called Didymus, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.” After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, signs that aren’t recorded in this scroll. But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, CEB)

This text for the longest time was known as the doubting Thomas text because what Jesus says to Thomas was translated incorrectly.

In the text above Jesus says, “No more disbelief. Believe!” In the older texts, it said do not doubt but believe. The text in the original Greek is καὶ μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός. The part that gets translated doubt but believe is the same word only the first has a negation added to the front of it. απιστος and πιστος. The word means faith, trust, or believe. So if you say the translation should be do not doubt but believe, then doubt is the opposite of faith. Is doubt the opposite of faith?

Doubt makes us look for answers or dive into darkness. Faith brings us out of the darkness and could be the answers we are looking for. So in this sense doubt could be the opposite of faith, but I think doubt is more of a helper along the way to faith and not the opposite. Like is the opposite of love hate? I think the opposite of love is indifference. Hate still means there is a connection, indifference is nothing.

Do not be unbelieving but believe. Let your questions point you more to faith.

Loving People. Loving God.

_________

Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her. It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. (John 20:11-20, CEB)

We all give Mary a hard time, or at least I have heard it asked, why didn’t Mary know Jesus?

Have you ever been so filled with grief that you couldn’t remember things?

Have you ever lost a dear family member and didn’t know how you were going to get out of bed or face the day?

Grief is powerful. Mary was overcome with grief. The person she loved who she had spent every waking day with for the past years was brutally killed by the Romans. She was overcome by grief. And through that cloud and not expecting to see Jesus alive she didn’t know who he was. Until he spoke her name.

I can imagine the moment. Probably a lot like the moment I saw my oldest daughter after she was brought home after she ran away. I wasn’t sure I would see her, hear her, or hold her again. The moment I wrapped my arms around her was sweet. And when Mary heard her name roll off the tongue of Jesus, her grief moved over and her mind said, wait a minute, that is Jesus!

When God speaks your name you can feel the love.

When God speaks your name you know you are loved.

When God speaks your name everything may not be right, but you know you are not alone.

Loving People. Loving God.