You probably didn’t forget that today is Friday—the Friday we solemnly designate as “Good Friday” We know the victorious power of what is coming but we dare not forget what our Lord chose to suffer for us as, “He humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross!
I have placed a short Good Friday “lesson” in the sermon section of the www.fbccs.org page. I apologize in advance if my sermon “themes” sound a bit repetitive. However, my heart’s desire in these days is to be authentic and not concerned about producing a “show”—an appearance of things that is not necessarily real. These “themes” are very real for me. They are where my heart is for myself, you and FBC as a body. The Good Friday “lesson” asks what it is like when the familiar things we comfortably trust are suddenly gone.
Lord willing, the Easter sermon sitting on my desk and ready to go to the www.fbccs.org site, will be loaded with the perfect balance of Friday and Sunday that only God’s Word can bring to all of our hearts. There will be an exceptionally great deal of God’s Word in it for you to consider.
If you have the opportunity, and God leads, listen to or read the first part of the sermon early. I plan to post it Saturday evening. In that first section, I am going to ask you to consider doing something different than you might have expected for celebrating Resurrection Sunday 2020. Some of you might want to make some plans for yourself or with others based on my suggestions.
As you worship this Resurrection Sunday, please remember, we are united by the One Spirit of God even when we are not physically together. I know this is difficult to conceive and to believe, but all else we do to “be together” in this world is only symbolic of the reality that we are united in Christ. As just one example, we think of a good marriage as a sort of an “end game”—a good goal in itself. The Apostle Paul tells us that even the togetherness of a good marriage is but a beautiful symbol of a far, far greater union.
Recall Hebrews 11:10-16. Like Abraham, “we are aliens and strangers on earth.” I’m discovering, as with Abraham, it takes some doing for God to get me to “admit” that truth. We cling tightly to the “familiar things we comfortably trust.”
My prayer is that this Resurrection Sunday, we will “admit we are truly aliens and strangers in this world,” open our clinging hands and see the power of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in ways we never have before. My prayer is we will come back together someday with a new realization—an even clearer understanding—of what truly matters as a church on God’s mission in a world that is not our true home.
Sorry! Got to preachin’ there.
The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!
Everlasting LIFE…by God’s grace alone, through simple faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone!
We can’t GO to church…We ARE the church!
The church does not exist for its own sake but for the sake of the world God loves!
With love in Christ and TOGETHER in Him this Resurrection Sunday 2020,
Raleigh