Monthly Archives: May 2020

Jesus will be wherever God leads you.

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Have you ever waited for something really big to happen?

Many young people were looking forward to the day of their graduation and to having a big party with their friends. People get excited when they hear that a new baby is on the way; but they need to wait for the “Big Day,” don’t they? The people of Israel waited for 70 years before they were permitted to return from their exile. Maybe you are anxiously waiting for the day when you can return to the building where you have worshipped and prayed and sung hymns with your friends for many years.

The disciples of Jesus had a time when they needed to wait, too.

Many of the disciples had followed Jesus for three years. They were stunned when Jesus was swept away and was put to death by the Roman soldiers. And then, Jesus was raised from the dead and was seen alive again by more than 500 people. But one day, forty days after He was raised from the dead (a day that we call Ascension Day), Jesus was lifted up into Heaven right before His disciples’ eyes!

It’s sometimes hard to wait for something big to happen and to be patient, isn’t it?

People are beginning to come out of their homes and businesses are reopening. Millions of people in America traveled during the Memorial Day weekend, and even more people have started to ask when they can return to church buildings for weekly worship. Some people are protesting in the streets. Others are arguing that their rights have been taken away. People are fighting with each other on the Internet and some have even physically attacked others. How are you doing during this time of waiting? Are you finding it hard to be patient? Do you, like many others, wish that we could all just “move on” and put the last few months behind us like a bad dream?

I’m sure that the Israelites experienced many feelings and emotions when King Cyrus of Persia told them that they could return to their homeland. Some of them were probably excited because their parents and grandparents had told them about a land flowing with milk and honey; but, others were probably a bit scared because they knew that it was going to be a long time before living in the land of Israel would be easy. I’m sure that the disciples of Jesus experienced many feelings and emotions after Jesus was taken up into Heaven. Some of them were probably excited because Jesus had promised to send them the Holy Spirit, but others probably experienced some angst because the Jesus that they had known and loved was now gone and they knew that everything was going to be very different.

But both of these stories in the Bible and the story of our lives, right now, have something in common.

The Israelites knew that when they returned to their homeland it was probably going to be very different, but they also knew that God would be found there.  The disciples could trust in the fact that, even after Jesus was taken into Heaven, God was going to continue to be found in their future as individuals and as the Church. And that very same promise is something that we can cling to today.

We don’t fully know what our “new normal” is going to be.

But we do know that, whatever that future is going to be, Jesus will be with us. As we continue to find our way through these unusual times together, we know that whatever our future is going to be, Jesus is going to be walking right beside us. And, perhaps, that’s a message that can bring us peace? Perhaps, knowing that Jesus is going to be with us in whatever the future may bring, we can find the courage and faith to continue to live well with each other during these unusual times?

Please know that everything is going to be OK!

Your future’s being held in the hands of the God who loves you; and, whatever the future may bring to you and to those that you love, you can know that Jesus will be found right in the middle of it – walking beside you.

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God’s Living and Active Word

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Does God’s Word speak to you in different ways on different days?

Several months ago, the youngest children in our Sunday School asked me an interesting question. They asked, “Pastor Wayne, do you know all of the stories in the Bible by heart, or do you need to read them just like we do?” And I was struck by that question because it made me think about the times in my own spiritual journey when a story in the Bible spoke to me in a very different way than it had at any other time in my life because of something that was happening to me.

Several days ago, I read familiar words of Jesus: “I will not leave you as an orphan; I will come to you. In just a little while, the world will see me no more, but you will see me.” (John 14:18-19a). And, when I read those words this time, they spoke to me as somebody who knows what it’s like to be an orphan. Those of us who have lost both of our parents know what it’s like to want to be able to pick up a telephone and call someone who is not going to answer your call. I wish that I could ask my father for advice as I am traveling through these unusual times with you. I sometimes wish that I could smell my mother’s pumpkin pies baking in the oven. That’s a normal part of grief, isn’t it? We never just “get over” the death of a person that we’ve loved. The only thing that we can do as we grieve is adjust to our new normal.

Are you grieving, right now?

Grief isn’t something that we only experience when people die. We grieve when we lose a job and don’t know how to restart our lives. We grieve when we can’t do things like have a graduation party with our friends to celebrate one of the biggest days in our lives. Grief can, also, be a part of our spiritual journey. We grieve when we find ourselves unable to worship inside a building where we feel connected to God. We grieve when we can’t hear the music of a praise band or listen to a pipe organ. We grieve when we can’t see people that we know in worship or in a Sunday School class. In fact, we grieve almost every time something radically changes in our lives because we all like to feel that our lives are both stable and secure, and that we are in control of what happens in our lives.

But one of the things I’ve learned is that the Bible is living and active.

I can hear God speaking to me in the words of the Bible on one day; and, on another day, I can hear God speaking to me – in the very same words – in a different way. What Jesus once said about orphans strikes me very differently now that both of my parents have died than they used to speak to me when my parents were both alive. And, maybe, that’s an important truth for the Church to grasp right now.

Maybe God is stretching the Church right now and is calling Christians to remember that God is not only found inside of the buildings where we worship when we read: “The God who made the world and everything in it does not only live in the temples that have been made by human hands.” (Acts 17:27) You see, my friends, the Church isn’t a building. The Church is US – whether we’re singing together inside a familiar building or gathering as God’s people in a Zoom meeting. Maybe God is stretching us and calling us to see the presence of Jesus in our lives in a different way as Jesus tells us: “I will never leave you as an orphan; I will come to you. And, even though the world may not be able to see me, you will be able to see me.” (John 14: 18-19a). Perhaps, we all need to be reminded that Jesus has not abandoned us in these challenging days? And maybe God is stretching us and the entire Church, right now, as He says: “I have asked my Father to give you an Advocate – a Helper – the Holy Spirit who will be with you forever.” (John 14:25-26) You see, God is not far from us at all! The Holy Spirit is leading us and guiding us, and Jesus is still listening to us as we pray about what’s happening in our lives and as we ask God for the types of guidance that we need during these unusual times.

God’s Word is living and active!

And, this week, I want to encourage you to spend some time reading your Bible. Maybe God’s Word will speak to you very differently during these challenging days!

May the peace of Jesus continue to fill your heart and calm your soul. And may you, also, be reminded that God is close to you every time you open your Bible, worship and pray.

Click Here for This Week’s Message

Jesus: Our Good Shepherd

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How are you doing these days?

If you’re at all like me, you’re probably thinking that this whole social distancing thing is getting a bit old. Maybe you’re working at home (if you’re even working right now) and you’re finding it harder to get away from your job because your office is right across the hall from your bedroom. Maybe you live by yourself and social distancing has all but cut you off from the rest of the world. This past week, my granddaughter told her father that she just wants to play with her friends.

But life continues to unfold in other ways, too.

Imagine what it would be like to receive a telephone call telling you that your elderly mother decided to get into her car and take a ride, and was involved in an automobile accident that sent her to a hospital hundreds of miles away. Imagine what it would be like to hear that one of the teenagers in your family was involved in an accident, and know that you couldn’t even wrap your arms around his grieving mother. In 31 years of ministry, I have never had to bury a man before a funeral service and then promise his kids that I will “do right by your Dad” and have a memorial service when things settle down. And so, I ask you again, “How are YOU doing these days?”

I sometimes find it hard to connect with parts of the Bible.

The Bible contains genealogies where somebody begat somebody who begat somebody who begat somebody else. The Bible contains rules that tell us how we should wash our pots and pans, and rules that tell us what we should do if our neighbor’s cow wanders into our backyard and is injured. The Bible tells us that we shouldn’t be wearing clothing with a cotton/polyester blend; and the Bible, also, tells us that God doesn’t want us to eat bald eagles, ostriches, insects with wings and shrimp.

And I have trouble connecting with the image of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd,” too.

The only shepherd that I’ve ever know was my grandfather, who lived in a Conestoga wagon in the middle of Wyoming more than 100 years ago. I have trouble understanding the image of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” because I don’t usually feel lost or afraid that something “out there” is trying to get me. I’ve been blessed in many ways!

But the image of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” is striking me very differently, right now.

I’m feeling a little bit lost these days because many parts of my life have simultaneously changed. I’m reminded that there’s a deadly wolf, who is ready to pop out from behind a rock and even kill me, every time I see people wearing masks. Life isn’t easy for any of us right now; and perhaps, what we all need is a “Good Shepherd”? When you think of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” what images come to your mind? How is Jesus shepherding you, right now? How is YOUR faith affecting your journey through life, right now?

I’m sure that we all realize that it’s a bit naïve to think that bad things will never happen to us as long as we’re following Jesus.

My grandfather often talked about the mountain lions and wolves that tried to grab one of his sheep almost every day; and, “Sometimes,” he said, “one of them was successful.” Have YOU ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? Maybe something much bigger than social distancing in on YOUR mind, right now, because you have lost your job or can’t visit your parents in a nursing home? Jesus once said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10) Are YOU afraid that the thief is going to steal or kill or destroy you, or someone that you love? If you’re afraid of that, right now, please know that you’re not alone.

Jesus is our “Good Shepherd” as we travel through these unusual times.

Jesus is walking beside you as you. Jesus is leading you and guiding you and blessing you with faith even if you’re finding it hard to see Him as work in your life or in the world. And Jesus has also promised you that He’s come into the world “that you might have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) That’s Jesus’ promise for YOU.

In the most famous psalm in the Bible (Psalm 23), the Psalmist writes: “Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil.” (Psalm 23:4a) And why isn’t the Psalmist afraid? Why don’t you need be afraid even as you travel through times like these? “Because you [God] are with me.” (Psalm 23:4b) God is with YOU.

Jesus is with you. Jesus has promised to bless YOU with abundant life.

May Jesus – our Good Shepherd – continue to walk beside you during these unusual times. And may Jesus – our Good Shepherd – bless YOU with the strength and courage and faith that YOU need as we continue to travel through these difficult days together.

 

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Jesus: Right Beside You

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Where have YOU been seeing Jesus in your life these days?

Life’s taught me that Christians tend to respond to challenging and unusual times in two different ways: Some Christians find their faith to be a great source of strength and peace because they continue to trust that Jesus is walking beside them; but other Christians feel totally abandoned and sometimes withdraw from God in challenging times because Jesus seems to be absent. And the hardest part of all of that, at least for me as a pastor, is that I don’t always know which of those two groups a person is in until something that’s really bad happens; and, by then, it’s sometimes too late.

How would YOU answer these questions?

  1. Can you think of a time in your life when Jesus seemed to be very close to you? How would you describe that time?
  2. Can you remember a time in your life when you felt that God had abandoned you? How did that time in your life affect your faith?

The Bible contains a story about people who had trouble seeing Jesus. (Luke 24:13-35)

Luke tells us that two of Jesus’ followers were walking on a road about seven miles away from Jerusalem when Jesus, now raised from the dead, drew near. The disciples told Him about all of their hopes and dreams. The disciples told Him that they had hoped that He had come into the world to save them. But, even as that conversation continued and as Jesus walked right beside the disciples on the road to Emmaus, they couldn’t recognize Him.

Have YOU ever had a time in your life when you couldn’t see Jesus?

Maybe you were so weighed-down by something that was happening in your life that you turned inward even while Jesus was walking beside you? Maybe you’ve had a time when you shook your fist at the sky because God didn’t answer your prayers? Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? I certainly have. And maybe you are wondering, right now, why God doesn’t step onto the scene, wipe out the coronavirus and save people’s lives.

Challenging and difficult times in your life can keep you from seeing Jesus.

Times of adversity can draw you closer to God, but those same difficult times can drive a deep wedge between you and God. The women who came to the Tomb of Jesus on that first Easter were so scared that they thought Jesus was a gardener. At the end of Mark’s Gospel, we see that the women who discovered the Empty Tomb were so overwhelmed that they simply ran away and didn’t tell anyone else what they’d seen. A shining angel of the Lord told the women who came to the tomb, “Do not be afraid,” during a time in their lives when they had many reasons to be afraid. Jesus’ disciple didn’t recognize Him on the road to Emmaus because they were overcome with sorrow; and yet, what we see in all of these different stories of Easter is that Jesus is beside people even when they were finding it difficult to see Him and to recognize Him at that very moment.

And so what are some things that YOU can do during times when YOU can’t see Jesus?

  1. You need to get past the idea that Jesus’ presence in your life (or lack thereof) can be accurately detected by your feelings and emotions. Jesus is present in your life, right now, because Jesus has promised to be present in your life right now. Jesus is close to you whether you can feel it right now, or not. Trust Him!
  2. You need to see that some people were able to recognize Jesus after He was raised from the dead and other people weren’t. And that’s OK! We sometimes fall into the trap of comparing our own journey with Jesus to the journey that other people are taking in a different situation. People see Jesus at different times and in different ways. What YOU are experiencing at this point in your life is OK. Jesus is with you even if you can’t see Him right now. Trust Him!
  3. You need to remember that Jesus often said, “Do not be afraid!” And we don’t need to be afraid while we travel through uncertain times because Jesus has told us: “I am with YOU always, even to the end of the Age.” Trust Him!

And so, where have YOU been seeing Jesus in your life these days?

Please know that Jesus is with you no matter how you’re feeling as we continue to travel through these unusual times together. My hope and prayer for YOU is that Jesus will bless YOU with peace in the coming days, and that Jesus will continue to bless YOU with the faith and courage you need as you walk on the road you’re traveling today, with Jesus right beside you.

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