FROM THE Senior PASTOR’S PEN
BEING Disciples … MAKING Disciples as we LOVE – EQUIP – SHARE!
Dear Fellow Saints at Resurrection,
“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4)
We Christians are a strange lot. We spend six weeks in somber humility. We talk of sin and confession. We sing what seems like dirges, weighing heavy upon the soul. We watch a man eat a final meal with His friends, pray a prayer of torment, taken into custody, stripped, beaten, condemned, nailed to a cross, suffer and die a tortuous death and placed into a tomb. Then, like a grieving widow, in our lives and on our actions, we want to jump into the tomb with Him as we remember St. Paul’s words: “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Baptized into His death? — strange words indeed!
Oh, but friends in Christ, the weighing down that comes with Lent, the heaviness, the confession of sins, all that only heightens the final word. We are indeed “baptized into His death!” We join in a somber procession of knowing that we are poor, miserable sinners. But the second part of the verse lifts us up again – it resurrects us, you might say! “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life.”
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! – don’t they mean that the victory is won, heaven is ours? Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! – does that not mean that eternal life is ours, that the empty tomb of our Lord Jesus is our empty tomb as well? We are risen! We are risen indeed! – does that have implications for the here and now as well as for eternity? The resurrection speaks of victory over sin, death, hell and devil. But, it also speaks of victory over all the nasty stuff of life – stuff like sin, stuff like failure, stuff like anxiety and temptation and worry! The resurrection says that we can take that stuff and drown it!! – “buried with him through baptism into death!” “Jesus Christ is risen from the dead … that we may live a new life!”
Strange? Well, maybe for eyes that do not see through faith. But, for those of us who have watched with eyes of faith as our Savior went the way of the cross – endured its horrible cost – it makes all the difference in the world! For us who cling to the cross, we revel that in life and in heaven, in this world and in the world to come, and in problems of living on this side of heaven, the FINAL WORD is this: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! A most blessed Easter Season to all!
Being Disciples … Making Disciples UNTIL ALL HAVE HEARD!
“Be Ye Filled”
Christ came to fill …
Our hearts with joy –
Our minds with truth –
Our souls with peace –
Our lives with love –
Christ came to fill,
To leave nothing empty but a tomb
– L. L. Miller, Professor, St. John’s College (d)
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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT …
Dr. Kent Hunter, an LCMS pastor and Church Growth Teacher and Leader, has written these words:
“Why do some people resist change in your church? Do you? Unfortunately we con-fuse the content of our Faith (Jesus who is always the same) with the baggage of our religion: certain songs, instruments, programs, buildings, etc. What happens? We baptize the containers, the rituals, the methods, and call them Christian doctrine. But Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ! It is a commitment to Biblical truth!”
Does this apply to us here at Resurrection? What do you think?
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“Making Disciples by Our God-given Talents and Time”
This is our April emphasis: the use of our God-given Talents and Abilities and Special Gifts, and the use of the most precious of commodities: our God-given Time. Through the appointed lessons and sermons, along with our Bible Studies, we will be challenged to use the gifts of TIME and TALENTS to God’s glory and for the benefit of those in our community. Our Congregational Memory Verse is a familiar one, and one we should commit to memory: “… In view of God’s mercy … offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.’” (Romans 12:1)
Together, with YOU, in Service to Our Lord,
Pastor Hank
