When I was setting out for my regular morning walk, I thought to myself, “I am going to go in a different direction today.” We can get so used to always walking the same route and always doing the same things in the same way. With our faith in God, we can take the risk of doing something different in a different way,. This could lead to a whole new understanding of God and His Presence in our lives and His will for us. The choice to be willing to walk a different route could result in a fresh encounter with our God, the Living God. In order for us to trust God for the possibility of walking in a new way and on a new way, we will need the assurance of His Presence with us. We can find this assurance in Scripture: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) When we pray, we can claim this promise that the Lord our God will be with us wherever we go. Knowing that God accompanies us always can give us the courage to walk a new path that we had not considered before. This week our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow April 26th at 1 pm will affirm our trust in God when we are not sure where a new path may lead.
Praying that we will be strong and courageous for the possibility of a new path that God has for us, Pastor Lola
Thank You our God for this gift of faith in you. Throughout our lifetimes, we have seen and experienced that You have been with us wherever we have gone. We admit to You that it is easy for us to fall into familiar patterns of repeatedly doing the same things in the same ways. This can be good, yet we do not want this to keep us from openness to new ways of living for You and new experiences of You and Your loving Presence in our lives. Sometimes our hesitation to consider a new path has to do with our uncertainty of what that will mean for us. We wonder how we will respond to new challenges. We do want to trade being afraid and discouraged for being strong and courageous. The only way we can do this is if we claim Your promise and recall that You are with us wherever we go. We rest in the assurance that You are available to lead us and to guide us. As springtime is introducing new signs of life all around us, we want to see new signs of life in us. We invite You God to bring these about as You continue Your holy work in us and through us. Where there is faith that is ready to blossom in fresh ways, we invite that. Where there is new growth in becoming more like Jesus, we long for that. God, there are times when the world we live in seems like such an unlikely place to find strength and courage. There are multiple circumstances that could stifle growth in faith. We know that wanting to walk in the way You have for us will require continued dependence on You. Our God, we pray that we will not limit our expectations of what You can do. As we walk new paths of commitment to You and Your direction for our lives, we do want to be strong and courageous. We are well aware of our weaknesses and lack of capacity for the challenges we face when we move into new territory. If it were not for you and Your promised accompaniment, we cannot imagine taking the risk to step onto a new and unexplored path. And God we do want to be aware of others that we meet on a new path. If we had not taken that risk and trusted You to guide us, we would have missed meeting with and sharing life with others who are also earnestly seeking You and looking for Your presence on an unfamiliar path. Sometimes those who travel with us on a different path than usual are struggling. They do not know that You are available to walk with them and to give them strength and courage. How can we be those who generously share our faith in You? If our willingness to walk on a new path leads to encounters with those we have not yet met and those who have not yet known You then we welcome that. Please guard us against resistance to change. Please guard us against putting off the inclination to explore a new direction. We are asking God that every day You will prompt us and show us what our lives could be for You. Please set us free from regret over wasted time and move us to embrace the possibilities of the time we have in today and each coming day. As you show us the way, we want to walk in it. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
While we were really enjoying the warmer temperatures and lovely spring breezes just recently, did you notice something? Many of us in the same breath as we were being grateful for the pleasant days, were speaking of it not lasting. We were anticipating a return to colder days and even the possibility of snow again. When we are experiencing good things, sometimes the anticipation of the less desirable things to come can rob us of “at this moment” gratitude. If we bring this kind of attitude and outlook to our prayer life, it will mean that we miss the awareness of and appreciation for God’s blessings because we are already expecting that what is good now will not continue. I am reflecting that we can choose to enter into an “at this moment” kind of thankfulness to God. We are not guaranteed that what we now find satisfaction and pleasure in will be sustained, but we can know for certain that God does keep bringing blessings into our lives that we will have reason for which to thank Him. In Psalm 107:1 we read, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.” While our preferences for weather or for good things we hope for do not endure, the love of the LORD our God does endure and gives us reason to thank Him. Our gift of “at this moment’ gratitude will be the focus of our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow April 19th at 1 pm. We can choose to thank God for what is good in our lives right now and we can choose to trust Him with what is to come.
Thanking God for what is good right now, Pastor Lola
Our LORD, we do thank You because You are good and Your love does endure forever. Thank You God for the constancy of Your love whatever is happening in our lives. We do not want genuine gratitude in our hearts directed towards You to be on hold because we are waiting for the next thing to go wrong. We do now review in our minds reasons we have to give You thanks at this moment. Thank You God that when we are faced with the hard experiences of life that still Your love endures forever. Thank You God for the health we currently have. Thank You for the ways we are able to live our day to day lives and to find renewed strength for each new day. Thank You for those who care for and support us in wanting to be well. Thank You God for our families and what they mean to us. Thank You that we can figure out life together even when we do not agree about everything. Thank You for meaning and purpose you give to our lives in caring beyond ourselves. Thank You for ways that our compassion and concern can bless others. Thank you for the comfort and shelter of where we live. Thank You that while we are grateful to live in peace here in Canada, we can pray for those who do not live in peace. Thank You for wisdom gained as we grow older. Thank You God for friends who make our days brighter. Thank You for lessons in trusting You. Loving God, we thank You for fresh mercy from You for each new day. Thank You for evidence that You are with us always. Thank You that our faith in You can grow ever deeper and stronger. Thank You for helping us to find things that have been lost. Thank you for courage from You for challenges we face. Thank You that as we are willing, we keep having life lessons to learn and that You are our Teacher. Thank You God that when we are focused on gratitude to You at this moment that at this moment we can be content. And God we thank You for all our prayers You have answered before. Thank You for Your care for those whom we are concerned about. Thank You that prayers we have not yet seen answered are not forgotten by You. Thank You for the solutions You have for what we have not yet figured out. Thank You God that when there is change in our lives, You do not change. Thank you that endings can bring new beginnings. Thank You God for conversations that are meaningful. Thank You for ways that You arrange for us to know each other more and to understand each other more. Thank You God that each new day is a blank canvas that You are willing to paint for us. Thank You for this gift of prayer that permits us to bring everything to You. Thank You that when we lose sight of You, You do not lose sight of us. Thank You for all the other reasons for at this moment gratitude directed towards you that we have not even mentioned. Thank You that You are worthy of all our praise and thankfulness. LORD, Your love does endure forever and we will always be thankful for this truth that we have discovered. We rest in Your enduring love and pray that through us others will also discover this gift of You and Your enduring love. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
I was talking with my friend on her cell phone because her landline needed to be repaired. Apparently, on a Friday, since there a loud buzzing sound on her landline phone, she called to arrange for it to be fixed. A telephone repairman came to investigate that same day, but said that he did not know what was wrong and that figuring that out would require a “Level 2 repairman”. A Level 2 repairman arrived on Saturday and was able to determine what was wrong, but explained that to have it fixed would require a “Level 3 repairman.” The Level 3 repairman came early Sunday morning and filled in a work order that the problem was fixed, but had no communication with my friend. After, he left, there was no more buzzing on the phone, but neither was there any dial tone. The phone was dead. So on the Wednesday, 3 days later since Sunday, my friend was waiting for yet another telephone repairman to come and fix her landline. She was not sure what level he would be…
The message of Easter that we carry forward with us is that Jesus was able to fix what needed fixing. His willingness to give Himself for us has repaired our relationship with God, damaged by sin! Consider this Scripture: “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-9) We do not have to wait for someone else to arrive and repair the problem of sin in our world and in our lives. Jesus has accomplished this for us through His resurrection from the dead. This miraculous event gives us the miraculous gift of new birth into a living hope. Whenever we pray, we can be reminded that Jesus has done for us what we could not do ourselves. He has restored our access to God and we can come freely to God in prayer because of Jesus, our Divine Repairman who knows exactly what the problem is and exactly how to fix it! We will thank God for this when we pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow April 12th at 1 pm.
Continuing to celebrate the Easter message of hope because our Jesus has fixed what needed fixing, Pastor Lola
Our Father in heaven, Easter confirms for us that Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever! We want to keep on celebrating what has been accomplished because Jesus was willing to go to the cross for us and was raised from death to life. God, we need Your life-giving work in our lives. We need You to persist with repairing our lives of the damage caused by sin. We recognize the ongoing struggle to overcome the effects of sin in all of our relationships. By ourselves we cannot repair what needs repairing. We appeal to You to do your work in each of us. When we have spoken words carelessly and caused damage, we pray for You to forgive us. When we have been reluctant to say and do what You were urging us to, we pray for You to forgive us. When our thoughts have been obsessed with our own comfort and preference, we pray for You to forgive us. We long our God for the outcome of new birth that Jesus Your Son makes possible. We have our own ideas about how we want You to renew us and restore hope and carry our Your deliberate repair work in us. Right now we want to trust You for Your rejuvenation. We do rely on You for diagnosing and treating what needs to be repaired in us. Sometimes our human experiences are extremely frustrating with those who are not capable of addressing what is needed. Our God, we want to be in the habit of reaching out to You to repair and to mend what is needing repaired in us. We pray that we will not deny our need for You God and what You are prepared to repair in us. We want to welcome Your rearranging of us so that we can receive what You have for us and our world. We offer You praise for our inheritance being kept safe in heaven. Thank You God that we do not have to wait until heaven to receive blessing for our faith in You. Easter has reminded us again that through faith we are shielded by Your power for our journey here. We do anticipate the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time because of what Jesus has done for us. You knew exactly the repair that was needed God and through Jeus You enacted it and we are forever grateful. We commit to move forward from here trusting our living hope in Jesus Your Son and our risen Saviour Who lives and reigns forever. AMEN.
Luke 23:1-5 Then the whole assembly rose and led Jesus off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by His teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
Luke 23:20-25 20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time He spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have Him punished and then release Him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that He be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Luke 23:32-3732 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals—one on His right, the other on His left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at Him. They said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
Luke 23:44-49 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed His last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their chests and went away. 49 But all those who knew Him, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
JESUS BECOMING GREATER AT THE CROSS John 15:13 Springford Baptist Church Good Friday: April 7, 2023.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
In our ongoing desire and prayer for Jesus to become greater and for us to become less, we come on this Good Friday to the cross. Here we encounter the greatest expression of love ever displayed.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
We recall the events that led to Jesus going to the cross for us. He was completely innocent, but was willing to take the punishment for everything wrong we have ever done. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
We as human beings react strongly to what is unfair and unjust. There are loud protests when we or someone we know is falsely accused. Jesus, motivated by His intense love for us was willing to express what is the greatest expression of love by laying down His life for us. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
The remarkable thing is that rather than being overcome by death and diminishing from view, as a result of the cross, Jesus is magnified. Our awareness of Jesus and His love for us is never to be forgotten because of the cross. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
Jesus lifted up on the cross has become a forever reminder of what love is and what love looks like.
What then does Jesus’ supreme example of love demand of us? If we are to become more of Jesus in our living and loving and less of us, what will that require?
Jesus did not just pretend to love us. It was in every fibre of his being. He counted the cost and was still willing to go ahead with this plan that would secure our redemption. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
When, day after day we witness people acting in their own self interest, Jesus’ definition of love seems quite foreign to us. There is a common pattern of people working hard to secure their own comfort and pleasure. There appears to be an innate tendency to do more for self and less for others.
Plans are generally made with the thought of our own enjoyment in mind. It is radically different to consider an expression of love that involves laying down one’s life.
This is what Jesus was willing to do and here we are almost 2000 years later still remembering Jesus and what He has done for us at the cross.
Love is remembered! I think about hearing of someone who was deeply touched by an act of love expressed when their baby died. Several years later, this individual remembered what an act of love and compassion meant to him at a grief stricken time in his life.
Each of us can recall what it felt like to be loved and supported at a time when we desperately needed that. When that kind of love is offered, we do not forget it or the one who expressed it.
Throughout our lifetimes, there are plenty of experiences and details of life that do get forgotten. Sometimes we are reminded of them when we look at some old photographs and think, “I had forgotten all about that.”
Having been loved greatly is not something we can push aside and dismiss from our minds.
That is why we have gathered on this Good Friday. We have come to remember together how much we are loved by our Saviour. Jesus’ loving act of grace compels us to recognize Him and the depth of His love for us. We are also confronted with how costly it was for Jesus to lay down His life for us. Jesus defines the greatest concept of love and then He walks the steps to the cross to carry out what that very definition.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
As well as coming on this Good Friday to remember Jesus and the extent of His everlasting love for us displayed at the cross, we must also hear the challenge of us becoming more like Jesus. Just before this verse that I have repeated throughout this message, Jesus says emphatically, Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) In our loving as Jesus loves, He does become greater and we do become less!
This will not happen without intention and commitment. The only way for us to be transformed by the love of Jesus into individuals who become more and more like Jesus in our loving, is for us to keep our focus on Jesus. Not just on Good Friday, but every day we can be compelled by the love of Jesus. In this greatest example of love ever, we encounter the possibility for us, by God’s grace to love each other as Jesus loves.
Jesus does become greater at the cross, as we remember Him and the truth of His words,
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
As Jesus faced the cross, we read in Luke 22:39-46,“39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. 40 On reaching the place, He said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. 44 And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When He rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” He asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” This Scripture reveals for us the consistent pattern of prayer in the life of Jesus. Whatever was happening, Jesus was in the habit of praying. He did not simply turn to God His Father in prayer in desperate times, Jesus had already demonstrated that prayer and spending time with His Father was a priority all the time. Jesus counsels His followers that they should pray that they will not fall into temptation. When circumstances of our lives are in turmoil and when we do not know how to understand what is happening, we can always pray. It is prayer that keeps our faith grounded. This is how Jesus approached this time of anguish in His life. He poured out His heart to God in prayer. Jesus comes through this concerted focus on God in prayer with a releasing of everything into God’s hands. He invites God’s will, not His. We can follow the pattern of Jesus by regularly committing our lives and their circumstances to God in prayer. We can actively engage with God and come to the sincere conclusion that we want what God wants. As a result, our faith can be strengthened and we can avoid the temptation of faltering in our faith, as we stagger under the weight of what is before us. We can become more like Jesus when we join for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow April 5th at 1 pm.
Wanting to follow Jesus and become more like Him, with prayer being the consistent focus of our lives, Pastor Lola
God our Father, we thank You that we have free access to You through Jesus Your Son. We recognize that it was the usual pattern of Jesus’ life to be committed to spending regular time with You in prayer. This is why He turned to You when facing the incomprehensible reality of the cross. We see in Scripture that Jesus’ disciples followed Him to His usual place of communing with You. We too want to follow Jesus to a place of communing with You in prayer. Please God, may prayer be the usual practice of our lives too. We want prayer to be such a habit that we naturally turn to You for guidance and for strength that living life requires. This truth that prayer can be the means of us avoiding falling into temptation, motivates us to want to pray more often and more effectively. And also like Jesus, we do not want to give up praying. When we are in anguish and distress, we ask that we will pray even more earnestly. Thank You God for assurance of Your loving care for us that is established as we do pray even more earnestly. Our God please lead us to continue in prayer until You show us that it is time to rise up from prayer. When we return to those we have asked to pray, we ask that they will have remained faithful in prayer. We do want to avoid the temptation of having our faith falter. When You do meet with us in prayer and lift us up and give us renewed hope in You, we want to be reminded to trust You even more. And God, with busy activities and family gatherings that are often part of Easter weekend, we want to maintain time to pray. Like Jesus, we ask to be lifted up in prayer. Beyond our personal experiences of meeting with You in prayer, we do pray that others will also want to encounter You God through prayer. Thank You God that each of us will have unique transformation that You bring about through sincere prayers. For those things in our lives that we have been bringing to You in prayer for an extended time, we continue to invite what You will do. When how we hoped You would answer our prayers is not what happens, we do not want to abandon our faith in You. We actually pray for faith in You that deepens with the struggles of our lives. We do pray for compassion towards the anguish of others. Our prayer is that following Jesus in His pattern of prayer will result in following Jesus more closely in every aspect of our lives. We anticipate that remembering Jesus and what He has done in giving Himself for us can amplify our commitment to Him and our amazement at what He has accomplished in being willing to go to the cross for us. We pray this prayer with profound and humble gratitude in the Name of Jesus. AMEN.
