Trinity Sunday A-The Second Sunday of Pentecost is Trinity Sunday when Christians celebrate the Trinity, (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The Jews dealt with God the Father through the priests and prophets, and occasionally through Angels sent to deliver messages. Then Jesus came in bodily form to show us the nature of the Father in a way we could understand. Finally, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to guide us and give us power in restoring the Kingdom of God. The disciples were transformed when they received the Holy Spirit and received power to go out and proclaim the Gospel. Many churches ignore the celebration of Pentecost as they no longer emphasize the new birth in Christ and lives of members differ little from unbelievers around them. The church needs to get a new sense of the changing power of the Holy Spirit.
Archive for the ‘holidays’ Category
Ascension Sunday -May 17
Sunday before Pentecost- Focus on mission-Ascension Sunday reminds us of Christ’s ascent to heaven and is the prelude to Pentecost when the church should be launching its summer evangelistic efforts. Before it starts, the church should be clear on it’s mission. After Jesus rose from the dead and showed Himself to His disciples, He appeared to them in Galilee-Matt. 28: 16-20 He gathered them and told them to go and make disciples of all nations, and to teach them all that He commanded them. During Pentecost, we concentrate on winning the lost. We are to seek the lost and lead them to the Lord. Once they receive Christ, we are to baptize them, symbolically illustrating their death and resurrection in Christ. During Kingdomtide we will focus on making disciples when we seek to teach them to do all that Christ has commanded us. That involves active training, not the passive attendance which is common in many churches today. Now is a good time to finalize plans for a summer campaign to reach those who do not know Christ. Every church board should open every meeting during Pentecost with the question “What can we do to win souls?”.
Palm Sunday-Mar 29
Palm Sunday (A) Palm Sunday is a perfect example of what happens when we put our agenda before God’s agenda. Palm Sunday celebrates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The people waved palm branches and laid them on the road before Jesus to celebrate His coming because they thought He was coming to overthrow the Romans and set them free from the domination of the Romans so He could set up His kingdom on earth. However, the Passover celebrates the time in Egypt when the lamb was slain to atone for their sins and the blood put on the doorpost before the coming of the angel of death, to show the sacrifice had been made. It foretold when the Lamb of God (Jesus) would come to die on the cross to take away the sins of the world and set us free from the power of sin and death. When we stand before the throne in heaven, if our heart is cleansed by the blood of Christ, it will testify that the sacrifice has been made. Had the Jews remembered the meaning of the Passover, they would have recognized what Jesus came to do.
God’s plan for His people
God commanded the Jewish people to celebrate a trilogy of holidays that spell out our spiritual walk. God has fulfilled two of them and is preparing to fulfill the third. God spelled out His plan for the Jewish people and for us in the design of the celebration of the Passover (the first celebration commanded by God) where the death angel slew the first-born sons so Pharoah would release the Israelites from bondage. Those who sacrificed the lamb and put the blood on the doorpost were spared. It foretold Christ’s death as the Suffering Servant when He would die to take away our sins and free us from the power of sin and death which He fulfilled on Passover. Then the Israelites would wander in the wilderness to bond them into a nation, just as the Holy Spirit would then come (on Pentecost) to set up God’s kingdom in our hearts (Pentecost-see Isaiah 53) and the body of believers going through trials would bind us into a church, just as the Israelites wandering in the wilderness bound them into the people of God. Finally, God led the Israelites into the Promised Land where they enjoyed God’s blessings, just as one day Christ will return as the Conquering King and set up His kingdom on earth fulfilling Rosh Hosanna (the third celebration commanded by God) but the Jews ignored what God told them and created their own visions of what God would do. Christ could not overthrow the powers of this world until He first overthrew the power of sin in our hearts, lest we all be lost. (See “Before Our Eyes” in “Understanding the Path We Walk” for more on the meaning of the holidays.)
Second Sunday of Lent-March 1
You Can’t Serve Two Masters. Jesus said, you can’t serve two masters. You must love one and hate the other. (Matt. 6:24) That is especially true of God and Satan. They are exact opposites. You must choose between them or be torn apart. Lent is a time to focus on who we are serving and make sure we are following God and not Satan. Liberal philosophy is so deceiving because they use words we understand but with a different meaning. No Christian would be against two people loving each other but love to them means sex solely for selfish pleasure, not true love and concern for each other. True love can be really satisfying for two people, but the love the world promotes is very destructive. We have to know what they mean by what they say or we will end up supporting things which go against God. Satan goes around like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour. He seeks to deceive even the people of God. Therefore it important to study the Word of God so you will not be deceived. Choose one of the four Gospels and read a chapter a day between now and Easter and see what Jesus says about living a life pleasing to God. If we truly love God, we will want to obey Him. We can please Him by doing what He wants us to do (obeying His Commandments). God set down His commandments as guidelines to show us how to live a life that is pleasing to Him and that would bring us peace and fulfillment. He knows what is best for us and did not give us the Commandments to spoil our fun but to help us avoid that which creates strife and dissension among us. When we ignore His commandments, we throw away that peace and fulfillment and stray into things that create strife and dissension.
Fourth Sunday of Epiphany-Feb 1
– Sharing Christ Most Christians do not talk about church or the Gospel outside of church for fear of offending someone, so most people don’t know whether their neighbors attend church or not. While many Christians assume their neighbors attend a church somewhere, the fact is that most probably do not. If your neighbors attend church, their church may not provide fellowship and support and they may welcome friendship with other Christians, or their church may be too far away for them to participate in many church activities. If they do not attend church, they may be seeking a church but not know anyone who belongs to one providing an opportunity to invite them. Many of their neighbors have not had any contact with a church and do not have any reason to seek one. Those without Christ often live day to day, their only hope is to survive until tomorrow. They will not know that Christ can made a difference in their life until they see that it has made a difference in your life. As you visit your neighbors, you can witness to them about the benefits of attending church and may even get a chance to tell them about Christ.