Easter

From Chaos to Confidence

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From Chaos to Confidence

April 05, 2026*

(Easter Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:1-18              Acts 10:34-43             Colossians 3:1-4

Easter can still be surprising if we look at it from a different angle than we usually do. And one way to do that is to consider Easter as an act of God’s creation. That may seem unusual but bear with me and this message will become clear before we’re done. In the first words of Genesis, we hear these words:

1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

And, as easily as this passage comes to our memory, consider that the Hebrew that we translate as “formless and empty” is tohu va-bohu which implies an environment understood by the ancient world as one of terrifying disorder, such that in some modern translations, this phrase is being rendered simply as chaos. The world in the beginning was a place of terrifying chaos, and from it, God created order. And again, while the parallels might not be immediately apparent, bear with me as we begin this morning by remembering the first Easter morning that we read in John 20:1-18:

20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

The actions of the players in this story may not seem all that strange to us in the twenty-first century, but in the context of the first century, everything understood to be culturally normal is turned on its head. Women were believed and understood to be unreliable such that, under Roman law, the testimony of a woman in court was only considered to be dependable if produced under torture. But here, while the women are understandably emotional, they are the ones doing the work that must be done while the men have remained at home paralyzed with grief. Similarly, we are told that the disciples, who had walked with Jesus for three years, still did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead. These men were baffled, confused, and emotionally incapacitated to the point that they follow the leadership of Mary and the other women. Moreover, Jesus’ first appearance isn’t to any of his trusted friends and disciples, but to the women whose testimonies would automatically be doubted. From the perspective of the disciples and the people in story, everything here is upside-down and utterly chaotic. If the disciples had chosen to invent a story about the resurrection, this is exactly the kind of story that they would have avoided at all costs because it would have been completely unbelievable. To the original audience, this story is utter chaos.

But just a few weeks later, when Peter confronts a crowd of people in the temple courts in Acts 10:34-43, he says this:

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Peter admits that it all seems crazy. He knew that the women saw Jesus first, that the men were the ones who were overly emotional and paralyzed by grief, and he finally sees the truth, he now understands that God’s plan doesn’t automatically follow the prejudices and favoritisms of human culture. Despite the chaos, despite turning the preconceived assumptions of culture on their heads, Peter admits that they stood as witnesses to the truth of the story that they shared and the message that they preached. The story that Peter and the disciples were preaching was chaotic, crazy, culturally disconnected, and felt uncomfortable and wrong to many who heard it, but nonetheless, they stood up and swore that this was the truth that they had witnessed.

But where does that leave us? Why does it matter? And what does it mean for us?

And as we read Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, he connects the dots for us. Reading from Colossians 3:1-4, we hear this:

3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is yourlife, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Paul summarizes the story that the disciples told. Because Jesus died and rose to life again, and because we have chosen to follow him and to put our trust in him, we too have been raised from the dead. But, because have, and because we have this hope for the future, God calls us to live our lives differently from the people around us. We are called to focus on God’s kingdom and not on the things that our earthly cultures label as important. More importantly, we have confidence that when Christ returns, we will live with him in the glory of his kingdom.

Just as God’s presence in the story of creation transformed chaos into order, the resurrection of Jesus on that Easter morning two millennia ago has transformed the confusion and chaos of our culture into a calm assurance for our future and for eternity.

What began as chaos has been transformed, through faith, into confidence.

Our mission is to remember, and to live out, the words of Peter that we heard in Acts 10. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. We are called to preach, and to tell the world, not because we seek power, or influence, or because we want to manipulate people for our own selfish purposes, but because we choose to share the peace, confidence, assurance, and love that we have found, and because we want to help others to escape the chaos of our culture.

Happy Easter everyone!

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev.  John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scriptures for Easter Sunrise

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Scriptures for Easter Sunrise

April 05, 2026

by John Partridge

Friends, I am not in the habit of preaching a long sermon at the Easter Sunrise service. I use this time as a musical celebration with our praise team, and for remembering the story of Easter. Since last year’s service used the story from the Gospel of John, this year I have interwoven passages from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Happy Easter everyone!

Where we left off on Good Friday…

Matthew 27

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

______________________

And how the story resumes on Easter Morning…

Mark 16

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

Matthew 28

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

Mark 16

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Matthew 28

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Luke 24

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Matthew 28

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Story of Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Christ

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The Story of Palm Sunday and the Passion of Christ

March 29, 2026*

(Palm Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

Matthew 21:1-11                   Matthew 26:14 – 27:66

PROCLAMATION OF THE ENTRANCE INTO JERUSALEM

Matthew 21:1-11

Pastor John:

21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna[save us] to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosannain the highest heaven!”

10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

PROCLAMATION OF THE PASSION STORY

Matthew 26:14 – 27:66

Pastor Chris:

14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Pastor John:

17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

Pastor Chris:

22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

Pastor John:

23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

Pastor Chris:

25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Pastor John:

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of thecovenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Pastor Chris:

33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

Pastor John:

34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

Pastor Chris:

35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Pastor John:

36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Pastor Chris:

47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

Pastor John:

50 Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

55 In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.

Pastor Chris:

59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward 61 and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

Pastor John:

64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Pastor Chris:

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered.

67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Pastor John:

Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

27:1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

Pastor Chris:

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Pastor John:

6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Pastor Chris:

11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Pastor John:

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.

Pastor Chris:

13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”

Pastor John:

14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was JesusBarabbas.

Pastor Chris:

17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

(CHOIR STANDS)

Pastor John:

20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

Pastor Chris:

21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

Choir:  “Barabbas!

Pastor Chris:

…they answered.

22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered,

Choir:   “Crucify him!”

Pastor Chris:

23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder,

Choir:  “Crucify him!”

Pastor Chris:

24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

25 All the people answered,

Choir:  “His blood is on us and on our children!”

Pastor John:

26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

(CHOIR IS SEATED)

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him.

Pastor Chris:

“Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

Pastor John:

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

Pastor Chris:

38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Pastor John:

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Pastor Chris:

47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

Pastor John:

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection andwent into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Pastor Chris:

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Pastor John:

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

Pastor Chris:

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev.  John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Easter and Kermit the Frog

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Easter and Kermit the Frog

by John Partridge

As I began thinking about what to say as we celebrate Easter and see the end of the Lenten season, it occurred to me that we should challenge ourselves to remember the regular appearance of Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street. Frequently, Kermit, in addition to his many other vignettes, Kermit would appear in various sketches asking the question, “What happens next?” In each case, there was a Rube Goldberg (some of you will have to look that up) contraption that Kermit would examine and repeatedly, ask, “What happens next?” And, I think, that’s where we find ourselves as we come to the end of Lent and the beginning of Eastertide.

During the season of Lent, we spent time in private study, Zoom devotionals with Pastor Chris, and both Sunday morning and evening opportunities for worship. In many, if not all of these, we spent time in self-examination considering our sins, our relationship with God, and with one another. But as we reach the end of this season, celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, and the beginnings of Eastertide and Spring, we should be asking ourselves the question that Kermit has asked so many times, “What happens next?”

It isn’t enough for us to go to school and get an education. All of us, as we approach graduation, whether from high school, undergraduate, or graduate education, must ask ourselves, “what happens next?” Will we continue our education? Will we pursue a job and a career? Will we take a “gap year” and travel? Eventually, life will force us into a decision, but choosing our course and making plans for what happens next is always better than stumbling forward and allowing others to choose for us.

Easter is no different. We have spent six weeks in self-reflection, but what have we learned about ourselves? And, more importantly, what are we going to do about it? I had a professor in seminary who taught classes on how to preach, and to do it well. And in his classes, he was fond of reminding us that while a well-prepared sermon was important, we should often, at the end of each message, answer the question, “So what?” We have spent hours studying, writing, preparation, and rehearsal, the scattered congregation has gathered and listened, but so what? It isn’t enough to do all those things if the congregation departs without knowing what they should do with the information and instruction that they have been given.

After all our study and time of self-reflection, what have we discovered about ourselves? As this season ends and another begins, what will we do with what we have learned?

Have we learned what triggers, or leads us into sin?

Have we considered choices and behaviors that cause us to wander away from, rather than closer to God?

Have we discovered habits and resources that are useful in building and maintaining a richer, fuller, relationship with Jesus?

After spending a season in self-reflection, what have we learned? And, what will we do with that information?

We should do something.

And so, as Kermit often asked…

… “What happens next?”

Blessings,

Pastor John

Hope for the World

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Hope for the World

April 21, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

Luke 24:36b-48                     Acts 3:12-19               1 John 3:1-7

The question that we asked last week was “What comes next?” And we asked what we were supposed to do with what we had learned from the stories that we read during Lent and about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. And although we looked at some examples of what the disciples did, and, I hope, better understood what God commands us to do with the story of the resurrection and the message of the gospel, there is another question that was left unanswered. And the unanswered question is… why.

Why does God call us to share the good news of Jesus Christ? Why are we supposed to share our stories and the stories of scripture? Why are we commanded to inconvenience ourselves by having uncomfortable conversations about eternity with our friends, family, and people everywhere?

And so that’s the question that we’re going to dig into this morning, but, to do that, we are going to start in the same place that we started last week, and with the same story, but this time reading from the gospel of Luke, instead of the gospel of John that we read last week. We begin with what should be a familiar story in Luke 24:36b-48, which says…

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Just like we heard last week, Jesus begins his time with the disciples by saying “Peace be with you” just because, knowing full-well that Jesus was dead, seeing him appear in the middle of the room scared the dickens out of them and everyone thought that he must be a ghost.  But Jesus calms them down, allows them to touch him to understand that he is both alive and solid, and even eats in their presence because, I suppose, logically, dead guys and ghosts don’t eat. But then Jesus gets to the important stuff and reminds them that what they have seen in his death and resurrection is nothing less than the fulfillment of dozens of ancient prophecies that they had all read in the Law of Moses, in the writing of the prophets, and in the Psalms. Jesus connected the dots between what they knew about the scriptures, the promised Messiah, and what they had seen in Jesus so that they understood that he was indeed the Messiah that Israel had been promised.

And then Jesus answers the “so what” question. Jesus says that the next step that must come, the next thing that must happen after the arrival of the Messiah, is that people need to repent and be forgiven of their sins, and the good news must be preached to all the nations of the world. In addition, having said that, Jesus declares that the disciples, and the other followers that were there, are witnesses of what had happened. The clear implication is that Jesus is commanding them to go and preach to the nations of the world because they were the people who had witnessed what had happened.

And so, the disciples begin to do exactly that. They are transformed from being scared men and women who meet in private behind closed doors and start to preach the message of Jesus Christ in public places and even in the Temple itself in full view of the priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the soldiers of the Roman Tenth Legion. In Acts 3:12-19, Peter heals a lame man whom everyone had seen begging at the gates of the temple, brings him into the temple courts, and everyone crowded around them asking questions and trying to understand what had happened.

11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

And it is here that Peter says exactly those things that Jesus commanded them to say, that they were witnesses, that Jesus died, that God raised him from the dead, and that by repenting, turning to God, and putting our faith in Jesus, our sins are forgiven, wiped out, and erased as if they never happened so that we can rest and be refreshed in the presence of God.

But that still doesn’t answer the question of why. So far, what we’ve seen isn’t much different than what we saw last week. Jesus sends the disciples out, they go out, they perform miracles, and they preach because they were the people who had witnessed Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection. But how does that connect to us, and why are we called to share what we know if we weren’t the people who witnessed these events firsthand? And we hear the answer in the letter of 1 John 3:1-7, which was written, by the Apostle John, to the churches of in the Roman province of Asia between the years 85 and 95 AD as he says…

3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

John says that even if we weren’t there to see it all unfold firsthand, we have still experienced the loved of God in a lavish and extraordinary way as we have been adopted into God’s family and declared to be the children of God. But John reminds us that not everyone knows the love of God or has experienced the lavish gift of adoption into God’s family. And because others have not heard the Good News, have not been adopted, and have not experienced the lavish love of God, they live without hope.

Let me say that again and let it sink in, all who have this hope in him, purify themselves just as Christ is pure. But the people who haven’t heard the Good News live without hope. We live in a world that is filled with sadness, darkness, hopelessness, and despair. Imagine watching the evening news, reading your newspaper or your morning internet news feed, seeing all of the death, destruction, warfare, violence, bloodshed, greed, suffering, corruption, and outright evil splashed across your screens and into your eyeballs every day without a shred of hope that it will ever get better, without hope that there is a better day coming, without hope that there is a God who cares, without hope that there will ever be justice for the poor and the oppressed, and without hope that there is anything at all beyond the veil of death. That is the reality for all those who have not heard and understood the message of Jesus Christ.

And that’s the answer to the question of why God has called us to share the story of the gospel, of Easter, and the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The answer to why, is simply because each of you, each of us, is the last guardian, the last bastion… of hope.

What kind of human being would watch a child drown when they only had to reach out their hand to save them?

But we live in a world full of people who are drowning in hopelessness.

And we are called to reach out our hands… and share the hope that we have.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Share the Story. Do the Stuff.

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Share the Story. Do the Stuff.

April 14, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:19-31                        Acts 4:32-35               1 John 1:1 – 2:2

Well… You’ve probably noticed that Easter is over. It’s a little weird because in the church there is this big build up to Christmas and Easter, and at least with Christmas, we can argue that December 25th is only the beginning of the 12 days of Christmas, and the official season of Christmas lasts for quite a while after that. But we prepare for Easter through the season of Lent, have a big celebration on Easter Sunday, and then…. …nothing. I’m not suggesting that our United Women in Faith Sunday wasn’t great, but, as it relates to Easter, we’re still left with the question of “What’s next?” In seminary, my preaching professor said that the end of every sermon should answer the question “So what?” And, as big as Easter is, now that it’s over, we’re left with the same question… “So what?” Now that we’ve celebrated, what does it mean? How does this inform our lives? What should we do next?

And, as if often the case, we can find the answer to our questions by looking at the example of scripture, the example of Jesus, and especially the example of the disciples. What did the disciples do after the resurrection? And what did the other rank and file, nameless, ordinary followers of Jesus do? To find out, let’s rejoin the disciples about where we left them on Easter Sunday and then check out some snapshots in time to see what they did with what they had learned. We begin with the story of John 20:19-31, where we hear this:

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believethat Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

As I mentioned on Easter Sunday, we find the disciples living in fear, meeting together with the doors locked because they were afraid that with Jesus dead, the same influential people that arranged a kangaroo court with false charges against Jesus would be emboldened by their success and come after the disciples next. And as they met together, their fear changed to joy when Jesus suddenly appears among them. But even now, the disciples do not completely understand. The ones who see Jesus firsthand are joyful, but Thomas, who wasn’t there, was openly skeptical, as many of us would be, and as many of our friends still are. Our life experience tells us that death is permanent and without firsthand evidence, without seeing Jesus personally, and physically verifying that it wasn’t some kind of imposter, Thomas wouldn’t believe. I would assume that Thomas wanted to believe that this was true but coming back from the dead seemed like a bridge too far.

But even though the disciples were overjoyed that Jesus had risen from the dead, and even after Jesus appeared to the disciples a second time, the disciples still didn’t understand what it all meant or what they were supposed to do even though Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” It wasn’t until they had gone back to their fishing boats, returned to their jobs, and tried to resume their normal, pre-Jesus, lives, that Jesus appeared to them yet again, and called them into his service and his mission… again, that they finally understood what the resurrection meant and how they were supposed live their lives. We see the difference that it made as we read the story in Acts 4:32-35 and see how their behavior has changed:

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

By the time that we see these same disciples in the book of Acts, once they completely understood the meaning of the resurrection, the impact, and the lessons, of Jesus had changed their lives. Now, because of the grace of God that was within them, rather than scrabbling out an existence as individuals, the followers of Jesus have, at least partially, begun to live communally so that the poorest among them would have food to eat and a place to live. Although they legally owned individual property, they did not claim it as their own within the community of faith. Instead, they maintained their individual property for the best outcome for all rather than the best outcome for them individually. But this was not the only change that they had made in their lives. Where before we saw men who attempted to go back to their previous lives fishing in the Sea of Galilee, now the disciples dedicate themselves to sharing the message of the gospel and telling the world about the resurrection of Jesus.

But what else? How does that trickle down to the church of the twenty-first century and ordinary people like us? And we find a satisfactory answer to those questions in 1 John 1:1 – 2:2 as John explains how the community of Jesus followers were living their lives in the first century:

1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make ourjoy complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

John says that because they heard the good news, saw Jesus with their own eyes, and touched his hands with their own fingers they now spent their lives telling the world about the message that Jesus shared. Their mission was to tell others about Jesus so that they could also believe and join the growing collection of followers that would eventually become known as the church. But following Jesus, and being in fellowship with other believers, meant something about how they lived their lives. If they said that they believed, but acted in ways that were contrary to the teaching of Jesus, then their entire lives became a lie. John says that if we follow Jesus, then we must live in the light, and live the kind of life that Jesus taught.

Likewise, because of what we know about the sacrifice of Jesus, we cannot pretend that we are perfect and without sin because that too is a lie. Instead, we recognize our flaws, failures, and sin, confess them to Jesus, and trust that he will forgive us and purify us from our unrighteousness. Any time that we claim to be better that we are, we make Jesus out to be a liar and the people around us cannot find him in us. John says that we do all that we can to live without sinning, but since we aren’t perfect, then we know that we eventually will. And so, whenever we fall into sin, we must remember that Jesus sacrificed himself so that we, and the entire world, could be forgiven of our sin.

So now, we end where we began, with these questions: “So what?” Now that we’ve celebrated, what does it mean? How does this inform our lives? What should we do next?

And the answer that we have found in the example, and in the words, of the disciples and the followers of Jesus in the first century is to tell the story, to share what we have, and to live the way that Jesus lived and the way that Jesus taught.

Simply put, Share the story… and do the stuff.

Easy to say, and sometimes hard to do, but that is our mission… and our life.

Share the story… do the stuff.

Please LIKE and SHARE!

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

From Fearful to Fearless

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From Fearful to Fearless

March 31, 2024*

(Easter Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

Mark 16:1-8               Acts 10:34-43             I Corinthians 15:1-11

Have you ever had an experience that changed the rest of your life? It may have been something that happened in a moment, like almost falling off a cliff while hiking, or something that happened over days, months, or years, like attending college, or joining the military and going through boot camp. Moving away to college forced me to be more independent and self-sufficient and joining the Ada model railroad club during college taught me that my opinion, and my contribution, was valuable even if I was “only” a student and the rest of the club were much older. Being in the military changed my perspectives about a lot of things like the perspective to problem solving learned on the confidence course, and the understanding that I gained from visiting Honduras and seeing real, grinding, third-world poverty for the first time. Getting married, buying our first home, then having children, all changed me in different ways. All of us have had experiences like these. Some positive, like those I’ve mentioned, but other, profoundly negative experiences, like experiencing violence, can exact similar changes to who we are, how we react, and how we see the world.

And when we look at the story of Easter from this perspective, both positive and negative, we can see that the experiences of the disciples and the other followers of Jesus were profoundly transformational. The people that we grew to know in the gospel stories prior to Jesus’s resurrection, are suddenly not the same people that we meet afterwards. One of the common themes that we see in Jesus’ friends and followers, particularly after the crucifixion and before the resurrection… is fear. We are told of the disciples meeting, at night, in a house with all the doors locked and the windows barred… because they were afraid that soldiers were coming for them next. And we hear a similar fear resonating in the story of the women who went to the grave on Sunday morning to care for Jesus’ body in Mark 16:1-8, where it says:

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

It is important to notice that, at this point, the female followers of Jesus, these key and core women who have been nearly everywhere that the twelve disciples have been, have been told by an angelic visitor that Jesus as risen from the grave and is going to meet the disciples, and Peter, in Galilee. It is likely that Peter is singled out because, due to his grief and guilt from denying Jesus three times, has given up, abandoned the other disciples, gone home, and at this time is intent upon a return to fishing as a career. And so, as the women seek out the disciples, despite being told that Jesus is alive, remain bewildered, confused, and afraid.

As I noted earlier, this fear persists for some time. The disciples meet in secret, after dark, in a house with doors and windows locked because they are afraid. Many of them return to their fishing boats until Jesus meets them there and calls them to ministry a second time, almost repeating their original call stories. We see the men who unknowingly walked with Jesus to Emmaus invite him to stay with them because they feared the dangers of being out on the roads and footpaths after dark.

But once it all soaked in, once they had seen Jesus several times, once they really understood and accepted that Jesus was alive, something about the resurrection completely and utterly changed the people who had seen it and experienced it. Because the Peter that we meet in Acts 10:34-43 is not the fearful man who had given up and went home to his fishing boat or who met at night in secret. Instead, here, we find Peter boldly standing in the temple courts, preaching the message of Jesus Christ, and daring the temple leadership, the guards, or the religious leaders to do anything about it. And as Luke tells the story, we hear this:

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

This, of course, is jumping ahead, but the point is that in the span of just a few days, the entire group of disciples, and all the followers of Jesus, both male and female, had a dramatic change in their personalities and in their behavior. If we didn’t know that the resurrection of Jesus had happened, we would still have to explain what happened to the disciples to cause such a transformational shift. We know, from our own experience, that trauma, education, and other experiences can change who we are, what we do, how we behave, and how we react to the situations and the people around us. But for such a dramatic change, from total fearfulness to boldly proclaiming the gospel and daring the authorities to do anything about it, demands that something dramatic, unusual, and amazing must have happened to transform, not just Peter, but the entire group of disciples and dozens of other Jesus followers.

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the complete transformation of the behavior of so many people becomes almost impossible to explain. What’s more, this transformation didn’t end with the disciples and the people who had met Jesus. As Paul explains in his first letter to the church in Corinth, this transformative power rippled throughout the community and across the Roman Empire, through anyone who would hear and believe the story of the gospel. We hear Paul’s words in I Corinthians 15:1-11 saying:

15:1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Paul reminds the church that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples, and then to a gathering of five hundred believers, but also to James, and then to more people that Paul describes as apostles as a distinct group separate from the disciples, and then finally to Paul himself. But the transformation that we saw in the disciples continued because, by the time that Paul writes this letter, churches have already grown up across the Roman Empire including this one, in Corinth, in Greece, on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea and in Türkiye.

But that doesn’t make sense if the change in behavior that we saw in the disciples and the followers of Jesus is related to the trauma of witnessing Jesus’ death, or because they personally saw Jesus alive after he was crucified and buried, or if this change is connected to any other firsthand experience that involved the physical presence of the risen Jesus. According to Paul, the thing that was transformational was the story and the message of the gospel. The transformation didn’t just happen to the firsthand witnesses, it happened to anyone who heard the story and believed that it was true. Paul says that the transformational power that changed his life wasn’t in seeing Jesus firsthand, it was in the grace of God that inhabits everyone who believes. The power was never in the trauma of the experience, it was, and is, in the power of God that is transmitted from one person to another through the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is contained in the gospel.

And that is why we still gather in worship, that is why we celebrate Lent and Easter, and that is why, two thousand years later, we still tell the story. Because the power that transformed the disciples from fearful to fearless, is found in the grace of God, and is the same power that transforms lives in our churches and in our communities today. The grace that lived in Paul lives on in you. The story lives in you. The power to transform lives is inside each one of us.

All we need to do to make it work, is to tell the story.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Considering “What’s Next?”

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Considering “What’s Next?”

Easter 2024
by John Partridge

As we approach Easter, we must all consider the question of “What’s next?” If we’re serious about our faith, Easter is all about the “what’s next” and not yesterday, today, or tradition.

What do I mean by that?

What I mean is, Easter, from the very beginning, was a transformative, and transformational event. No one who saw what happened, or who believed that it happened, was the same afterward as they were before. After the crucifixion, Peter gave up. He left Jerusalem, walked home to Galilee, and went back to work as a fisherman. And it wasn’t just Peter because the story in John 21 tells us that Thomas, Nathaniel, James, John, and two others were with him. This had to be some time after they had seen Jesus in Jerusalem because Galilee is 60 or 70 miles away and probably a three-day walk. But after they meet Jesus, again, but it is here that Jesus commands Peter to “Feed my sheep,” “Feed my lambs,” and “Follow me.”

After this moment, Peter, and all the other disciples, never make any further attempts to go back to a normal life. From this moment onward, they dedicate their lives to telling the world about what they had seen and heard, and what Jesus had done for every human being that ever lived. For the disciples, for Lazarus and his sisters, for the unnamed followers of Jesus, men and women alike, who were gathered in the upper room at Pentecost, and even for many of the Pharisees and priests that came to believe the truth about Jesus, “What’s next” was a life changing question.

Their lives would never be the same. They could never go back to whatever “normal’ they had before they had met Jesus. Knowing the truth changed the way that they looked at the world, changed the way that they saw the people around them, and changed the way that they made the choices that guided their careers, their lives, and everything that they did forever.

As we celebrate Easter, we need to put ourselves in their place. If we genuinely believe that the events of Easter really happened, and that Jesus really is who the gospel writers say that he is, then we need to ask ourselves the same question. “What’s next?”

Knowing the truth changes us.

Like the disciples, we must listen to where God is leading us, what he is calling us to do, where he is calling us to go, and how God intends to transform us. And like the disciples, those changes might be terrific, but they might be terrifying, they might be successful, but they might be sacrificial. Whatever it is that God is calling us to do, and wherever it is that God is calling us to go…

…simply returning to the old “normal” is not an option.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Spring Cleaning

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Spring Cleaning

April 2024

by Pastor John Partridge

By the time you read this, the calendar will say that Spring has finally arrived. Some spring flowers have already blossomed, and baseball season started on March 28th. This is the time when many people begin to think about spring cleaning, a time to wash windows, vacuum behind and under things that don’t normally get moved, and clear out a year’s worth (or more) of clothes that don’t fit and other accumulated clutter.

But what would it look like if we had a spiritual spring cleaning? Some activities might look a lot like the season of Lent when we reflect on our year, on our actions, on our inaction, and repent of our sins against God and against one another. But what else might this version of spring-cleaning look like?

Physical window washing removes accumulated dirt, grime, and the films that accumulate on the windows of our homes and automobiles so that we can see the world outside more clearly. But, just as dirt and grime accumulate on our physical windows, our personal biases and the misinformation that circulates so freely in the world around us colors our perception of the real world, and the people in it. Doing some spiritual window washing might require us to go out into the world, meet new people, make new acquaintances, and see new things. As I said in church recently, knowing just one homeless person by name, as a person, changes the way that we think about homelessness. Meeting the people who come to, and are supported by, the Red Bird Mission and its outreach centers, in person, changes how we think about the people of rural Kentucky. Making friends with the people in Harrisburg, Liberia, or meeting the school children that we support in Sierra Leone, helping with health clinics or building homes with my sister in Jamaica, or a thousand other experiences like that, will clear away our biases and make us see the world in a different way.

Spiritual vacuuming might mean that we take a close look at where we’ve been in the last year, looking under the “furniture” that we don’t usually move, considering the actions and the conversations that we’ve had, and… just maybe, cleaning up some of the messes that we left behind. Our friends and neighbors who work through any of the twelve step programs refer to this kind of cleaning as “making amends.” How do we clean up our messes? How do we apologize? How do we show the people that we’ve hurt that we are genuinely sorry?

And what about those clothes that have gone out of style and don’t fit us any longer? Don’t we have the same thing going on with some of our attitudes that we wear? Or the people who are a bad influence on us? Or the places that we hung out before we committed to following Jesus? Sometimes ridding ourselves of clothes that no longer fit is something that we need to do so that we aren’t distracted from the new path that we’ve chosen to follow.

As we begin spring, celebrate Easter, and do a little spring cleaning in our homes, we should probably take some time to consider the inside of ourselves as well.

What accumulated clutter do we need to leave behind?

Blessings,
Pastor John

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Few. Many. You.

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Few. Many. You.

April 09, 2023*

(Easter Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:1-18              Acts 10:34-43             Colossians 3:1-4

In 1984, the Faberge company hired popular actress and model, Heather Locklear to star in a commercial for their new line of Faberge Organics shampoo.  In that commercial, Heather Locklear says that she was so impressed by the results of using this new shampoo, that she told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.  And with each repletion of those words, the image of Heather Locklear doubles, and continues to multiply.  Many of us remember that commercial. 

But whether we remember seeing it or not, it is a good representation of what happens when we learn of new products that excite us, or hear juicy gossip, or any other kind of news that gets us excited.  And this is the way that the news of the resurrection happened.  There wasn’t a mobile television news crew from channel eight broadcasting live from Jesus’ tomb, nor were there any newspaper reporters or internet bloggers skulking around looking for a scoop that would sell newspapers or make their blog go viral.  News, even incredibly exciting news, traveled the old fashioned way, one person told their friends, and they told their friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.  And that’s exactly what we see in the story of the resurrection recorded for us by the Apostle John in John 20:1-18.

20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

First, I want to notice that everyone is running.  This isn’t the kind of news that is merely interesting and you think to yourself that you’ll need to tell someone the next time you see them.  This is earth-shaking, life or death, call 911 and start CPR, kind of news.  First, Mary Magdalene finds the empty tomb, then Simon Peter and John run to join her and see for themselves.  Then the disciples leave and Mary is left alone, only to be joined buy two angels, and then by Jesus.  But, after Jesus leaves, Mary runs to the place where the disciples are staying so that she can tell as many people as possible. 

The message of the resurrection began with only one, and then to only a few, but it didn’t end there or none of us would be here this morning.  Not too long after the resurrection of Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, Peter and the disciples were still in Jerusalem.  But now, instead of hiding, they shared the good news of Jesus’ resurrection with a crowd of many people as we hear in the story of Acts 10:34-43.

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Rather than sharing the news with two friends, who can share with two more friends, Peter speaks to a crowd of people from every nation to which Jews had migrated.  Being one of the required feasts, pilgrims from everywhere had come to Jerusalem and there, Peter and the disciples shared with them the story of Jesus and the news of his crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection.  The reason that this story is good news is that it is not limited to one group of friends, to one group of people, or to one nation.  Peter preaches that he now knows that “God does not show favoritism” so the people who had come there from Africa, and Asia, and everywhere, are just as known, and just as loved, by God as the people who live in Jerusalem.  God’s love, grace, and forgiveness are not limited by ethnicity or geography, but are now available to everyone who believes.

But that wasn’t the end of the story either.  Decades later, when Paul wrote his letter to the church that he had founded in the city of Colossae, in what is now the nation of Turkey, he says this in Colossians 3:1-4:

3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene discovered that she was the only one who knew the truth, but then she told two friends, and those friends told more friends, and eventually announced the good news to many, and soon that news was traveling all over the known world.  And here, in the worlds of Paul, we find God’s call to us. “Since you” (that’s us) “have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above.  Set your minds on things above and not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ with God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  Like Mary Magdalene on Easter morning, and like the disciples at Pentecost, we are witnesses.  We have received, and we are the carriers of the greatest pieces of good news ever shared from one human to another.  Like Mary, and the disciples, and legions of people since then, we are still called to share the good news that we have received.  Although millennia have passed, this news is so good, far better than the discovery of a new organic shampoo, that we are still called to tell our friends and our neighbors what we have seen, and what we have heard.  And, like always, when we tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on, then our good news will find its way… to everyone.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™