Easter

He Wants to Sit With Us

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: 
Luke 22:15 KJV

When I was in Junior High, (more than a few years ago!) one of the most important things of the school-day was finding who to sit with at lunch. If, as a seventh grader, I could sit with the older cooler guys in 8th I knew I would be set for life! Considering the fact that Jesus already knew that Judas would soon betray Him, Peter deny Him and the rest turn tail and run, it is astonishing to read that He was looking forward to sitting down with them all for dinner. Adding to those disturbing details, a few verses down we learn that while Jesus is giving them the bread and the wine and telling them that it represented His body and blood, they were arguing over which one of them was the greatest. This sounds like the worst possible family get together that we could ever imagine! But as bad as the events occurring around that dinner table sound, it gives me hope! It gives me hope because there are times when every one of us has acted like one of those guys! We have been far less loving, more proud and unkind, yet Jesus still says, He is longing to sit down at the table with us. So, the next time you receive communion, remember that night, when it all began. There, Jesus gave His body to suffer for our sins and His blood to pay the price for us to begin a new life with God. What a loving Savior we have. How amazing that He wants to sit down at the table and share His life with us!

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House Cleaning

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Mark 11:17 ESV

Sometimes we get the idea that Jesus went through His ministry smiling, blessing children, and sitting with lambs. But on Monday of Holy Week; the same Jesus who had forgiven the woman caught in adultery and sat down to eat with sinners, became angry when He went into the temple. At its entrance, He found a group of people setting up shop in hopes of making a quick buck. Then the one we call gentle Jesus, made a whip, and started driving them out while shouting, “Is it not written My House shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?” When Jesus used the word “House” He meant household or family. In other words, the place where God’s family meets should be especially for coming together to pray. It is easy for us to criticize the money changers, but do we sometimes maneuver our way into strategic positions in order to take advantage of others at church? Can we say with all honesty that prayer is the main thing that happens when we show up on Sunday morning? Jesus also went on to say that His family was also supposed to include all nations. Are all nations showing up at our place of worship or are we separated by race, economic status, or education? Yes, Jesus is humble and gentle, but He is also Holy and angry with anyone who hurts His family and tries to keep us from Him

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He Lives!

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  John 20:17 ESV

Though some may consider the song. “He Lives!” a less important Easter song, due to the lack of Biblical context, it makes an important point. Both our lives and our faith are like two-sided coins. On the face of the coin is of course, the image of Jesus. That is because both salvation and grace must begin in Heaven with God, and they need to help of ours. But when God begins His work in us, what He has done by grace will be reflected in our hearts. In the words of Alfred Ackley’s song, I know that He is leading through all the stormy blast,” because “He lives within my heart!” Is He really living in your heart? If you aren’t sure of the answer, then there is no better time to receive Him with praise than on Palm Sunday weekend. Why not humble your hearts for a moment and kneel down and pray right now? There is always hope, because God will always help us to find Him, when we are truthfully looking for Him with all our hearts!