miracles

How Was Your Day?

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“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:9 NIV

Sometimes I try to imagine about that day for the young boy. Now I’ve always thought this young fellow was very likely the disciple Mark, so let’s peek in on how his day went. Maybe that morning, he went to his parents asking, “Can I go up to the hillside to listen to Jesus? I’m all caught up with my chores.”

His Dad, who was busy getting ready to head out to work, said, ” It’s all right by me. Go ask your mother.”

Mom, overhearing the conversation sighs, puts her hands on her hips and smiles. “Okay, but no foolishness. Stay with the boys next door, and, don’t forget to take something for lunch. These 5 little loaves and two salted fish should give you enough to share with your friends.”

Now we all know how things happened, but his parents, did not. So, late that evening as Mark walked in the door, the first question they asked was, “So how did your day go? Who did you share your lunch with?”

With the biggest smile of  his life Mark answers with a shout, ” You’re not going to believe it! I could write a book about it!”

Healing Testimony at Nursing Home

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Anyone wanting to serve in nursing home ministry would do well, to consider finding a team to do that ministry with. Lone ranger types of service are fine if no one else is available, but the biblical example is always teamwork. Jesus called twelve disciples; He sent them out two by two and when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He brought three of them with Him. We have a wonderful team that has been helping at Life Care for a few years, who sometimes share their testimonies, and last week our friend Gena shared hers. Everyone at the home knows and loves Gena as she has been volunteering there for over a year. She comes in about three days a week for a few hours and spends time visiting, encouraging and praying with the residents. Then, when we have our Friday morning service, Gena passes out songbooks, opens in prayer and serves communion. So, when she went through a heart procedure last week, and her daughter experienced a seizure everyone was praying for her as they would for a family member. I hope you will be blessed as you listen to her special message of how God brought them both through.

"So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." Romans 12:5 ESV

One Simple Miracle

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But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 
Matthew 28:5-6 ESV

As we get closer to Easter, we need to remember what our faith is really about. Christianity is not about big church buildings, Christian concerts with special effects or elaborate social programs. Instead, all that we are and everything we do is based on one single morning at a tomb. The body of Jesus was supposed to be inside it. The priests were counting on it, because they had sent soldiers to guard it. Pilate was sure of it, because it was shut with a Roman seal. Even the closest friends of Jesus believed He would be there because they went with spices to prepare the body. And the grave was shut. The tomb was silent. The death from crucifixion was final…. Until it wasn’t!

“You seek Jesus who was crucified” the angel said. “He is not here for He has risen as He said!” And in that moment all History turned on the hinge of one simple miracle - an empty tomb and our risen Lord!