Not As We Expected
Take heart church! God is still on His throne. We still have the gift of His Spirit and Jesus is
Risen...He is Risen Indeed!
A last second goal took away my dream of a first conference championship as a High School
soccer coach. A surprise birthday party! A meeting with a boss informing me that my services
were no longer needed. The birth of daughter number two (Elissa) on a freeway! A phone call
informing me of an unexpected death.
Have things ever turned out for you "not as you expected?" They happen all the time if you
think about it. Relationships, conversations, tryouts, work, bills...the list goes on. None of us
expected this. None of us expected the current pandemic with the current uncertainties,
restrictions & distance from one another. As we experience the unexpected, or as Pastor Ben has been teaching, disruptions, there are still some truths we can rest in and be reminded of this Holy
Week.
Let's take a moment to recall that God's Word itself is filled with the unexpected: The Israelites
in captivity? Jonah swallowed by a fish? Jesus washing the feet of His disciples? A Savior
hanging on a cross? The Resurrection!
As we experience this "Holy Week" like no other, apart from church and extended family, let us
take solace in and contemplate upon the fact that this may not be so different as that
experienced by Jesus' first disciples so many years ago. Jesus was betrayed. It was confusing.
The disciples had questions. Jesus was crucified. Mourning, sadness. The day after His
crucifixion more confusion, loneliness and despair. But on Easter Sunday...Resurrection!
Victory! Amazement! Hope!
We have the words of Jesus and God's Word as a whole at our disposal. Jesus in John 16:33
says "...In this world you will have troubles of many kinds, but do not fear for I have overcome
the world." Paul in Romans 12:12 says "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in
prayer." Peter in 2 Peter 1 tells us "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to
life and godliness..."
Take heart church! God is still on His throne. We still have the gift of His Spirit and Jesus is
Risen...He is Risen Indeed!
For further study this week read: 2 Peter 1:1-11, Mathew 28:17-20
Paul Weisz
Risen...He is Risen Indeed!
A last second goal took away my dream of a first conference championship as a High School
soccer coach. A surprise birthday party! A meeting with a boss informing me that my services
were no longer needed. The birth of daughter number two (Elissa) on a freeway! A phone call
informing me of an unexpected death.
Have things ever turned out for you "not as you expected?" They happen all the time if you
think about it. Relationships, conversations, tryouts, work, bills...the list goes on. None of us
expected this. None of us expected the current pandemic with the current uncertainties,
restrictions & distance from one another. As we experience the unexpected, or as Pastor Ben has been teaching, disruptions, there are still some truths we can rest in and be reminded of this Holy
Week.
Let's take a moment to recall that God's Word itself is filled with the unexpected: The Israelites
in captivity? Jonah swallowed by a fish? Jesus washing the feet of His disciples? A Savior
hanging on a cross? The Resurrection!
As we experience this "Holy Week" like no other, apart from church and extended family, let us
take solace in and contemplate upon the fact that this may not be so different as that
experienced by Jesus' first disciples so many years ago. Jesus was betrayed. It was confusing.
The disciples had questions. Jesus was crucified. Mourning, sadness. The day after His
crucifixion more confusion, loneliness and despair. But on Easter Sunday...Resurrection!
Victory! Amazement! Hope!
We have the words of Jesus and God's Word as a whole at our disposal. Jesus in John 16:33
says "...In this world you will have troubles of many kinds, but do not fear for I have overcome
the world." Paul in Romans 12:12 says "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in
prayer." Peter in 2 Peter 1 tells us "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to
life and godliness..."
Take heart church! God is still on His throne. We still have the gift of His Spirit and Jesus is
Risen...He is Risen Indeed!
For further study this week read: 2 Peter 1:1-11, Mathew 28:17-20
Paul Weisz
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