03-27-22 “What is the purpose of a tree?”

Scripture    Mark 11:12-25
What is the purpose of a tree?”
We just had a bunch of trees cut down at Put-in-Bay (video maybe)

Purpose of a tree: (help erosion, provide oxygen, shade, home for birds and other animals, fashioned for human homes, tables, chairs, shelves, etc.) Maple – Syrup, Apple, Lemon, etc.

Biblically speaking – trees are associated with many Bible characters:
Noah received the olive branch (see Genesis 8:11).
Abraham sat under the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1).
Moses stood barefoot in front of the burning bush (Exodus 3:2–5).
Joseph appears to be an exception, but Genesis says that Joseph simply is a tree.
Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore fig (Luke 19:1-4).
The blind man saw people as if they were trees walking (Mark 8:24).
The disciples gathered on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39).
The apostle Paul asserted that if we have gone for a walk in the woods we are without excuse for knowing God (Romans 1:20). Paul also wrote that Christians are like branches grafted in.
 
          Trees serve as tangible resources but also as objects to teach us about life:
VIDEO “Purpose in a tree”  (After video – RAISE SCREEN – till song at end)
 
Gen 2:9 And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. ///// In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
 
1)    The Tree of life
2)    The tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil
 
3)    The tree which gave the wood to sacrifice Isaac
 
4)    The fig Tree (withered)
Mark 11:12-25
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.
          15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"
          18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
          19 When evening came, they went out of the city.
          20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
 
          The religious Jews are the fig tree – LEAVES WITH NO FRUIT!
You will know them by their fruit – Matt 7:18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Gal 3:10-13  All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
 
5)    Olive Trees in the garden of Gethsemane
6)    The tree that became the cross
7)    The Tree of life in heaven
Rev 22:1-3  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse.
 
          The cross on earth became the tree of life in heaven. Heaven guarded the way to the tree of life on earth; now heaven came to earth in Christ to die here on a tree to make a way for us to receive the tree of eternal life in heaven.

03-20-22 “Reaching up to hold Daddy’s hand”

Scripture   Mark 5:21-43

          Have you ever felt physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, economically, or relationally tired or exhausted? Have you ever been in the midst of a rough time and you just need a break, you can’t hardly stand it any more? Have you ever felt at the end of your rope, like you just can’t hang on any longer? Or like you are on a bike racing downhill and you forgot how to break? (Me at Put-in-Bay on a bike) Have you ever been in a situation where you need someone to tell you “It will be alright.”? Have you ever gotten 18” of string but a lot more would have made things better?
          By example, On his way to the cross, Jesus shows us how to find strength, comfort and peace in the midst of tough situations, and then by who he is, he shows us how he wants to give us more than a small piece of string.
 
          Let’s look at his example as he is about to face the toughest moments of his life on earth. Remember that besides being God, he is also fully human and feels the same physical and emotional kinds of pain that we suffer from. Not only was he facing, being spat upon, ridiculed, having thorns crushed in his head, sleep deprivation, having his back whipped to shreds, having to carry his own cross and then be nailed to that cross and crucified, he was also facing his 3 closest friends and partners in ministry sleeping when he begged them to stay awake to pray with him, one disciple who would betray him to the Roman authorities, his strongest disciple who would deny evening know him, not once but 3 times, his band of followers would disband so they would not be associated with him as he was on trial and facing death. During his last teachable moments it still seemed like his disciples were not understanding what he was teaching them and he was about to leave his movement, his kingdom, his church in their hands.
 
          You can look in books and on the internet and even in the bible to see what Jesus did during his last week, when he had the advantage of knowing he was facing the cross. When my mom knew she was dying, she got to tie up loose ends and say goodbye to everyone. Jesus has a week to make sure the disciples are ready to take charge and change the world. So go ahead and find one of those charts people have made of his last week and see what Jesus was doing on his very last Sabbath (Saturday) before his crucifixion. Check out and see what Matthew says Jesus was doing on that last Sabbath – I’ll help – Matthew records nothing about what Jesus did that day. So, check out Mark. Nothing. Luke? Nothing. Ok surely John will fill us in as to what Jesus was doing with less than a week before his crucifixion? John mentions nothing. We have no detail as to what Jesus was doing on that day – there was no teaching, no miracle, no direction, no activing, no movement from one place to another. There is nothing to record. WHY? Because, even though Jesus was facing the most difficult thing imaginable, even he knew he had to take a day for Sabbath. He needed to worship and rest.
          We try to make things better or handle things ourselves by doing more. Not Jesus – 6 days before His death – he purposely chose to do less and reach His hand out in worship for his Father’s hand and spend the day resting in him. That allowed him to make it better through the week that was coming.
 
OUTSTRETCHED HAND
          Let’s go to a previous Sabbath to learn a principal about how Jesus can help us through our tough times.  Matthew 12:9-13  Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
 
          God reaching out for us and us reaching out for God is a very common symbol of great importance. The world’s most famous religious art “The creation of Adam” depicts God reaching out to Adam (Creation of Adam SLIDE). Let’s bring this idea of reaching out for God more into our contemporary setting.

 

There is nothing sweeter than when you are walking and your child (or grandchild) reaches up to hold your hand as you walk.
(Holding Daddy’s Hand Illustration to get back home)
There was a dad who used to walk around the block every afternoon, after work, with his daughter. One day he decided to make a grand adventure and go to another, unfamiliar, block with his daughter. Houses, people, pets she had never seen. “Do you know how to get home?” “No” “Does that make you worried?” “No” “Why not?” As she reaches up for his hand, “because I don’t know the way home, but you do daddy”
          Let’s look at a biblical example of two intertwined stories about our reaching out for God during tough times and God, in Christ, reaching out for us.
 
JAIRUS AND TALITHA KOUM
***Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'" But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep."  40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
 
There are many examples in scripture of reaching out to God and God reaching out to us in times of our great need:
Matt 14:25-33 PETER WALKS ON WATER
Peter beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
 
Mark 1:29-31
Peter’s mother-in-law was sick, so Jesus went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her.
 
Mark 1:40-42
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing, be clean!"  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
 
Mark 9:17-27
Jesus removed an evil spirit from a boy and after convulsing, everyone thought the boy was dead, but Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
 

 CONCLUSION

A story I often use at funerals for older people who have shared with me they are tired of living with a low quality of life and they are ready to meet Jesus face to face. They are exhausted, like some of you thought about yourself with the questions I asked at the beginning.
 
Gretchen reaching for my coattails because she wanted to be with me.
 
John 10:24-30
The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

 

03-13-22 “Jesus is all in for the all out”

Scripture   Luke 18:31-19:10 (The MSG)

Baseball – strike 3 you’re out – Dad – Cupping his chin in his hand raising his face so his eyes met the eyes of his father, he said, “Wow son you are a fantastic pitcher.”

 
This dad was all in for his son – who was literally ‘all out’.
 
Jesus does this same thing for his children over and over again. He sees people who have been cast out of society, have removed themselves from mainstream society, or perceive they are an outcast. He helps them see things from the perspective of the one who is all in on their behalf.
 
Jesus was all in for women, who, compared to men, were outcasts in society (woman at the well, widow of Nain, widow in the temple who gave only 2 cents to the church, Mary Magdalene, Mary & Martha, his own mother, Mary, the woman caught in the act of adultery.
Jesus was all in for the Jew's racial enemies (Outcasts) the story of the good Samaritan, the roman soldier whose servant needed healing and Jesus said about him he had not seen such faith among the Jews, again, the woman at the well was a Samaritan as well as her whole village.
Jesus was all in for the oppressed, the lepers, the lame man who came through a roof or the one who sat by the healing pools, the children.
 
All of these people were seen by others, or by themselves as outcasts from either society or certainly from a nearness to God. Jesus comes along and shows them his love and that he desires the very best for them and welcomes them into his family – his kingdom.
          Let’s look at 2 examples of this as Jesus is headed to the cross. Even though he is facing his own death, he takes time to change a strikeout into a well-pitched game.
          Before we get to those two stories, let’s back up and look at one of story that happened earlier in Jesus' ministry that serves as a template for every time Jesus changes our perspective, changes our heart, and changes our final destination.

WOMAN CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF ADULTERY

John 8:3-12
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
          But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
         
2/3                                                                                                                                      03-13-22
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
          When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
 
BLIND MAN
Then Jesus took the Twelve off to the side and said, "Listen carefully. We're on our way up to Jerusalem. Everything written in the Prophets about the Son of Man will take place. 32 He will be handed over to the Romans, jeered at, made sport of, and spit on. Then, after giving him the third degree, they will kill him. 33 In three days he will rise, alive." 34 But they didn't get it, could make neither heads nor tails of what he was talking about.
35 He came to the outskirts of Jericho. A blind man was sitting beside the road asking for handouts. 36 When he heard the rustle of the crowd, he asked what was going on. 37 They told him, "Jesus the Nazarene is going by."
38 He yelled, "Jesus! Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!"
39 Those ahead of Jesus told the man to shut up, but he only yelled all the louder, "Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!"
40 Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought over. When he had come near, Jesus asked, 41 "What do you want from me?"
He said, "Master, I want to see again."
42 Jesus said, "Go ahead — see again! Your faith has saved and healed you!" 43 The healing was instant: He looked up, seeing — and then followed Jesus, glorifying God. Everyone in the street joined in, shouting praise to God.
 
ZACCHAEUS
19 Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. 2 There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. 3 He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way — he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.
5 When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home." Revelation 3:20 – The road to Emmaus story
6 Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. 7 Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, "What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?"
8 Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, "Master, I give away half my income to the poor — and if I'm caught cheating, I pay four times the damages."
9 Jesus said, "Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! 10 For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost."

CONCLUSION

 
Ephesians 2:14-22  (About Jews and Gentiles – meaning about insiders and outsiders)
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.                                                   Church Theme Text:
          19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
RUSSIAN PASTOR
John was a priest in Kronstadt, Russia, in the mid-to late-nineteenth century. That was a time and place of dirty marketplaces. Imperial Russia was decadent, rotting beneath its own weight, and the streets were dangerous, rife with poverty and depravity. Crime ran amok. Alcoholism was rampant. Prostitutes crowded the corners, thieves the alleys. There was no safe place, so most people who weren't part of that world didn't venture out into it. Most of the clergy, used to a life of privilege and status, used what waning powers they had to insulate themselves from the widespread peril and hardship.
Not so Father John. His daily practice was to don his robe and descend into the meanest part of the city. He'd walk among the addicts and the predators, the prostitutes and the thieves, the orphans and the widows, and he did it with healing in his wings. He would find the most broken and dissolute man or woman he could track down, lying in a gutter or standing on a street corner. He would cup their chin in his large hand and lift their face so they were looking directly in his eyes. "This," he would say, meaning this way of life, this means of survival, this condition I found you in, "this is beneath your dignity. You were created to house the glory of the living God."
 INVITATION
          As you feel like an outcast (depressed, down, anxious, unloved, unworthy, a victim, too poor, too uneducated, not good looking enough, not rich enough – just not enough in any way), after stooping to write in the dirt, God is cupping his hand under your chin and raising your eyes to meet His and saying, This way of life is beneath you’re your dignity, you were created to house the glory of the living God. Now stand, go your way, sin no more, and show my love to the world!”

03-06-22 “You can tell a lot about a person by the way they die”

Scripture    Mark 10:32-34
They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."
 

(a) My mom died 10 years ago this past Tues. (b) Gretchen, Gideon, Gemma and I went to the Union cemetery in Oak Harbor to place flowers on her grave and have prayer together. (c) I could barely get through the prayer and broke down when I was there alone after they left.
          Funny things about my mom and death while she was alive – she always said, “No one will ever come to visit me” Little did she know some of her family would live this close. (d) She had her tombstone made several years before she died and a few times a year she said she would go by the cemetery to make sure the end date had not yet been filled in.

          My mom lived her last few years needing oxygen but continued to live well even as she was dying. (e) She still went golfing with me, cared for others driving them to doctor visits, being at all family and most church events. Calling to have me join her for coffee. For 2 weeks she was getting quite ill but we never knew it. (f) Finally, right after church I got a call and got her to the hospital. She never went back to her apartment. She spent that week dying making sure that we were all going to be ok and called all her friends to say good bye. (g) Her only reason for not wanting to die was so she could still be here for us when we needed her. She loved her 3 sons and their family’s more than anything on earth and made that abundantly clear. (h) But she also showed us during that week that life is really short and that we ought to do all we can to show love and compassion to all people – that hatred, anger and bitterness shorten the life while living it and shorten it because of how it affects your body. I learned a lot about my mom by how she died.

          While I was alone at the cemetery I thought about my brother (i) Rick who died just over a year ago and my tears for the loss of my mom mingled with the tears for the loss of my brother. The way my brother Rick died allowed me to learn more about him. (j) I joked about him not fulfilling my dream (50 year revival of Music Man) and he didn’t complain or say I was being selfish – (k) he was upset he would not be able to do it because he wanted to do it so badly – I never realized – it was his dream too.
          (L) We only had one “last day” with him but it was a good day. He taught me the exact same things my mom did as he was dying. (m) He had lived with such care and compassion for other people, he continued to show that as he was dying. He didn’t want to bother anyone with his needs even as he was about to die. (n) Whether it was a family member or the person bringing in medical equipment – he showed everyone that he was glad they were there. He taught us to never speak words of anger and frustration because once they are released they can’t come back. (o) BTW I hope my brother gave his heart to Jesus in his last moments but he lived and died showing these things better than many of us do who claim to be redeemed by our savior. (p) My mom lived most of her life without a commitment to Christ but still had these amazing god-given qualities built into her.
 
          I would like to share the story of one more person I am very close to and the way he died and the things I learned about him by the way he died. He died just over 2000 years ago. He was a carpenter by trade growing up in a little town in Northern Israel near the sea of Galilee. When he was about 30 he became an itinerate preacher, going from town to town preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. His name is Jesus!
 
Mark 10:32-34
They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."
 
The rich man was told to go sell everything and give to the poor, then come follow me. He went away sad because he had great wealth.
It wasn’t about the fact that he was rich – it was that his riches were a block to him following Jesus. It wasn’t legalistic about selling and giving to the poor – it was about following Jesus. We each have things – job, family, recreation, money, drugs, anger, bitterness that serve a block from us following Jesus. Jesus says to each of us – get rid of that thing that keeps you from following me – then COME FOLLOW ME! If you are not following Jesus – you are going the wrong way. He is the only one with the GPS that will get you to heaven – the God Positioning System.
 
It is interesting, as I have been reading about the cross and Jesus’ death, several authors have commented that Jesus death was different, because he died on purpose. At first that seems powerful, my mother and brother did not die on purpose – they both wanted to stay here longer.
One author wrote, “Jesus died…on purpose. No surprise. No hesitation. No faltering. You can tell a lot about a person by the way he dies. And the way Jesus marched to his death leaves no doubt; he had come to earth for this moment.” – Max Lucado
 

          In fact, notice how our text shows his purpose as he is facing death within the week - They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way. Jesus is rarely out front. He is always leading the way but he is usually “with” the crowd. This is the only text I know of that mentions Jesus “leading the way” which suggests marching forward with the purpose that Lucado mentions. Then I thought, I don’t think that tells us a lot about Jesus – many people have died with purpose. Japanese kamikaze pilots died with purpose. The 911 terrorists flew into buildings that killed them – they died on purpose. 35 year old, (q) Scott Beigel, a Geography teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was murdered after letting students take shelter in his classroom & got in the way of the shooter as he tried to enter the class. Beigel died on purpose to save others. (r) Victoria Soto, 27, a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., ushered her students into a closet, and in so doing placed her body between them and the assailant and saving their lives she died for a purpose. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they die. But Jesus dying for a purpose is not necessarily as unique as these authors make it seem.
          However, the last few words I read earlier from Lucado could be so easily missed and when I read it a second time it hit me like a ton of bricks helping me know who Jesus is by the way he died.  At the end of the quote I shared, it read, “he (Jesus) had come to earth for this moment.

          Besides the effect for us, Jesus death was different from anyone else’s death – even those who died with a purpose and/or on purpose. You see, every human dies because they were born. Sounds obvious right? Think about it – we had no choice to be born – we had nothing to do with it. We have no choice about dying (possible choice of when and how but not “if”) – one out of every one person born eventually dies. Jesus was also born and therefore, like all humans, was going to die. The difference? Jesus is truly the only person ever born for the sole purpose of dying. He was not born to teach and to heal and to show miracles. Those are simply products of his journey toward death. From the moment of Holy Spirit conception in Mary, Jesus was born to die? (s) Why? So that we might live. If Jesus was born and taught and healed and did miracles but did not die – we would then still die in our sins. Jesus was born to die – that tells us a lot about who Jesus is – he is God. And, he is love. (t) 1 John 4:9-12 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
          Since Jesus was born to die as a way to show God’s love to us. Then we are not only born but reborn to live and therefore show God’s love to the world by loving one another.
 
COMMUNION
Are you hurting and broken within?  Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin?
Jesus is calling
Have you come to the end of yourself, Do you thirst for a drink from the well?
Jesus is calling
O come to the altar, The Father's arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today, there's no reason to wait
Jesus is calling  -  Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
From the ashes, a new life is born Jesus is calling