Psalm 51:3 I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

It's Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. You will see evidence of this as you will see the foreheads of friends and strangers marked in black charcoal with the sign of the cross. Today, we'll gather together for worship. We'll come to pray and hear again how the mark on the forehead means love, mercy, and the forgiveness of God in the cross of His Son, Jesus. 

Perhaps as we come closer to the mark, we struggle inside. We struggle with shame, knowing we did not deserve, nor do we deserve, the mercy of God. And yet, the closer we come to the cross, we give thanks for the fact that we know Jesus is there.

The charcoal mark will be gone in a short time. But God's grace, love and forgiveness will remain. That's because Jesus died for us and rose again.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 4:35 Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Jesus tells us. He sends us into the harvest field to find lost people - lost people who don't even know they're lost! Studies show that about 85% of people who trust Christ for salvation do so because a friend or relative told them about the grace of God in Jesus.

Mission isn't something extraordinary we do somewhere else. We don't need to go to another country to live for Jesus. Our everyday life is the mission field God has given us. Instead of hemming and hawing, let's pray for an opportunity to tell others about our mighty and merciful Savior, whose cross and empty tomb announce life and forgiveness for the world.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 3:34 For He whom God has sent utters the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure.

Someone once said, "Church is a place where a group of dull and respectable people listen to a dull and respectable sermon about how to keep being dull but respectable." This particular day in church, everyone felt dull but respectable. The sermon was dull but respectable. Most of the people looked on the dull side, but very respectable!
 

Just when eighteen people glanced at their watches. Just when that child won the wrestling match with his parents, again. Just when three people nodded off, again. Just then, a fire broke out on the altar, on the baptismal font, and on the pulpit! The ushers got up to put it out - but to no avail. The fire kept spreading. It couldn't be contained. Everyone was going up in flames!

Could it happen? It will happen. That's the promise. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit without measure. On Pentecost, the Spirit came with fire to enliven Christ's followers. Even today, God's holy fire breaks when we receive Holy Communion, live in our baptismal grace, and hear the Gospel of forgiveness. This fire ignites our faith in Christ - our crucified and triumphant Savior.

Gone are the blank stares. Gone are the ho-hum lives. Gone are the lifeless looks and the drifting prayers. Boldness, courage, and spine are unleashed when Jesus gives us the Spirit without measure.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 3:19 The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light.

On July 26,1945, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis delivered components for the atomic bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, eleven days later. World War II was almost over, but for the crew of the USS Indianapolis, the worst was yet to come. Four days later, a Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship. The Indianapolis sank in twelve minutes, taking down three hundred men. The remaining nine hundred men were adrift in the South Pacific for five God-forsaken days. Only 316 survived. It was the worst disaster at sea in the history of the United States Navy. Someone had to be blamed, so the navy court-martialed the ship's captain, Charles Butler McVay. After years of mental anguish, McVay took his own life.

It wasn't until 2001 that the navy finally confessed. Naval personnel failed to notice that the Indianapolis was overdue at its next port of call. Then the navy failed to investigate. Nine hundred sailors were left in the Pacific Ocean for five days. Thank God that the navy finally confessed it.

Jesus invites us to come out of the darkness of denial. It's easier to keep our skeletons in our closet. Christ's light steps into this darkness. He looks at every sin and says, "My blood paid for that." Why live with regret and remorse? Instead, walk out of darkness and into your Savior's marvelous light! When it comes to sin, God gives us five wonderful words: Confess it. I forgive it.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel provides the background for this promise of Jesus. In ezekiel 47, the prophet envisions a rebuilt temple with water trickling out from under the altar.

He then sees these drops of water become a river that flows to the Dead Sea - a body of water 1,400 feet below sea level with a saline content of 35 percent. The prophet's vision concludes with the Dead Sea coming to life. "Wherever the river goes...everything will live" (Ezekiel 47:9).

Jesus fulfills this vision - and then some! Living water flows from Christ to us. It begins with just a trickle. Jesus tells Nicodemus that we are born again through water and the Spirit. The river picks up momentum when Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that He gives living water. Then the surge. "Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:38).

Then, in one ironic twist for the ages, this raging river of life is reduced to just a trickle, until it completely dries up. "I thirst" (John 19:28). Here is Jesus, crushed and cursed by the sin of your life and mine.

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). Jesus is alive. His river, when coupled with God's mighty Word, is a baptismal river of life. It forgives our sin, quenches our thirst, and defeats our death.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 1:46 Philip said to him, "Come and see."

"First, secure your own oxygen mask." This directive is familiar to anyone who travels on commercial airplanes. In the event of an emergency ("a sudden loss of cabin pressure"), we're told that an oxygen mask for each person will drop from the overhead control panel. In such an anxious moment, parents might focus on preserving the life of elderly parents seated next to them.

Such kindness might be instinctive, but it isn't wise. If we pass out from a lack of oxygen, our helpless seatmates won't survive. "First, secure your own oxygen mask."

That's what Philip does. Jesus - the One whom Moses and the prophets announced - found Philip and said, "Follow Me" (John 1:43). Philip then finds Nathaniel. But Nathaniel doesn't think anything good can come out of Nazareth. Philip responds, "Come and see" (John 1:46).

"First, secure your own oxygen mask." If we don't, we downplay our Savior's most alarming details. An innocent man died so we don't have to. His heart started beating again on the third day. When we don't breathe in the oxygen of the Gospel, we forget its freshness, its utter and unexplainable joy. I invite you to breathe in Christ's spiritual oxygen. Christ chose you. Christ found you. Christ loves you. Christ forgives you, and Christ pardons you. Our response to the world? "Come and see!!!!!!!"
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 1:32 I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him.

In Genesis 6, the sons of God marry the daughters of men. God then says, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years" (v.3). While still active throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit's full presence left.

One day, though, John tells us that the Holy Spirit, flying like a dove, spotted a man standing in the Jordan River, a man who committed no sin and in whose mouth was no deceit - Jesus. The dove descended on Jesus. John tells us the Spirit remained on Him.

After His sacrificial death and mighty resurrection, Jesus breathes on His disciples and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). After His ascension, Christ sends the Spirit from heaven, fulfilling Joel's words, "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh" (Acts 2:17); Joel 2:28).

Dr. Reed Lessing writes, "The Holy Spirit departed from people because of evil intentions and sinful rebellion. In Jesus, however, because the Spirit remains, the Savior now pours out the Holy Spirit through the Father's appointed Means of Grace - Holy Baptism, the Gospel, and the Lord's Supper. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and dwells in our hearts. Indeed, we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. The curse of Genesis 6 is undone, and the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, is back. Thanks be to God!"
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,