Skip to main content

The Gospel Message in Reverse

                Last week started with me flying to Victoria, BC to conduct a funeral service for a former member of our congregation.  It may sound strange to say that a funeral was enjoyable, but, in many ways, this one was because it was a celebration of life and faith.  There were a few tears, but, for the most part, we remembered, laughed and were thankful for a life well lived.
                When I returned home, we met at the church building with some good friends of ours because their son had decided that he wanted to be baptized.  We engage in what is called “Believer’s baptism”.  In other words, we baptize those who are old enough to make the choice for themselves and this young man decided that “Good Friday” was the day.  Romans 6:1-4 tells us that baptism is a participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and so this dad and his son went down into the water where the son was immersed and raised to his new life in Christ (see also Acts 2:38 and Galatians 3:26-29).
                Then came “Easter Sunday”.  As a church, we celebrate Christ’s death, burial and resurrection every Sunday with the Lord’s table (or “Communion” as some call it), but Easter is still special.  We know that that since Easter is tied to the Jewish celebration of Passover that the resurrection happened around this time in the calendar year.  While it is good to remember the resurrection every day, the promises seem to take on added meaning in the spring when we see creation being re-born around us. 
                Taken in reverse order, the events of my week illustrate both the message and the importance of the gospel.  Christ’s death, burial and resurrection paid for our sins and opened the way to our eternal home.  Our acceptance of that gift and our reception of God’s Spirit is seen in baptism.  Those two truths then allow us to live with hope and face everything, even death, in a new way. 
                In the end, real faith is much more practical than most people imagine.  In fact, it changes everything.
                “[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consider This: Who Needs Worship?

  Why does God need our worship? The events of Matthew 14 provide at least one answer.   This chapter starts with the beheading of John the Baptist (verses 1-12). This is the first in a series of events that indicate things are about to become much more difficult for the believers. Next, the scene shifts to a crowd gathered on a hillside in Galilee. After listening to Jesus teach all day, the apostles realized that these people had nothing to eat. They brought the problem to Jesus. He took a child’s lunch and fed the entire group of five thousand men plus women and children. Afterwards, they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers (verses 13-21).   Then Jesus told them to get in a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee. As they went, a storm arose, and the apostles were scared. They struggled along until Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter tried walking on the water too and sank. After Jesus rescued Peter, they got into the boat, and the storm immediately s...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Spiritual Makeover (1 Peter 1:13-16)

 Three responses to the new life God has given us.  https://youtu.be/FmqX5-3jOKc  
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Something to Hold On To

      If you have never stopped to see the Swinging Bridge in Souris, Manitoba, you should add it to your list of things to do. I like it. Others do not. It feels wobbly. It bounces up and down. I have seen people in the middle of the bridge holding on and screaming because it feels too unstable. Of course, there is nothing to fear. The bridge has huge anchors at each end and is secured by steel cables, but sometimes, our feelings make us forget the facts. Peter knows that his readers are about to face some scary situations. He does not want their feelings to obscure everything else, so he outlines three truths they need to remember. First, their hope is greater than their troubles. “For a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold… may be proved genuine and result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Not...
Post a Comment
Read more