For the last several years, I have mentioned in this letter, that “this is an unusual time.” But, for the most part, we are putting the unusual-ness of the pandemic behind us and accepting what’s left as a new normal. We are going out to eat, holding church dinners, attending plays and concerts, and doing almost all of the things that we were doing before we first heard the acronym COVID-19.
But why does it matter that we are returning to normal?
It matters because a return to normal means that we can be done focusing only on surviving for the next few months or even for the next year. Returning to normal means that our focus once again shifts to look farther into the future. How do we envision Christ Church five years from now, a decade from now, or fifty years from now? Shifting our focus requires that we imagine how Christ Church might be different and how it might change. And imagining how Christ Church might change means that we must consider how we might change. And considering how we might change must include both the plural and the singular, both we collectively, and each of us individually.
But those things are also a part of the message of Lent and Easter. As we hear the familiar stories from scripture, as we read and listen to the story of Lazarus’ resurrection and his unprecedented second chance, as we hear the wonder in the voices of the crowd of witnesses, of the women who find an empty tomb, of the men walking to Emmaus with Jesus, of Thomas as he puts his hand in the Jesus’s wounds, and of the disciples who witness Jesus appear in a locked room, we must imagine with them, how our lives will be changed.
The resurrection of Jesus changed everything. It changed the direction of the lives of everyone who knew him. Peter and the others would never go back to their fishing boats because God had a different future planned for them. And twenty-one centuries later, the resurrection of Jesus is still transforming lives. As we celebrate Easter and move into the season of Eastertide, let us once again consider where God is leading us, how God intends to change us and transform us so that we are fit to do the work and the mission of the future that he has planned for us.
We are the disciples of Jesus Christ.
And God is still calling us to do his work.
Let us listen to his voice, consider what we must do, and how we might need to change in order to receive his blessings and arrive at the future that he has planned for us… for our children… for our grandchildren… and beyond.
In Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by three spirits over the course of an evening. These visits, by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, serve to remind Mr. Scrooge about the real meaning of Christmas, and of life, rather than his miserly devotion to the accumulation of wealth at all costs. In a way, today’s message borrows from that format as we visit scriptures from before, during, and after the life of Jesus Christ, that tell us something about the deeper meanings of baptism in our past, our present, and in our future. We begin with God’s promise of his spirit, eight centuries before Jesus’ birth, found in Isaiah 42:1-9.
42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”
Isaiah says that the coming messiah will be filled with God’s spirit and bring justice to the world but will be so gentle that he will not do any further damage the most fragile among us. Moreover, God will not only call his people to right living, but will hold their hands, call the Gentiles to become a part of his family, and will rescue those who are imprisoned by jailers or by their infirmities.
Last week we talked about how God would use the Messiah to open the doors of his kingdom to the Gentiles, but for our purposes this morning, take a moment to notice how Isaiah declares the promise to put God’s spirit in and upon the Messiah that he would send. And with that in mind, we move forward to the moment of Jesus’ baptism, and the moment when God fulfills that promise in Matthew 3:13-17.
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Jesus tells John that he has chosen to be baptized even though he, as the perfect messiah, had no actual need of baptism. Rather, Jesus chooses to be baptized because it is necessary to fulfill God’s promises that the Messiah would be called to righteousness and to model obedience to God for all who would follow him. And the moment that he rises out of the waters of the Jordan River, the heavens open, the Spirit of God descends, lands upon Jesus, and God audibly proclaims this love for, and his satisfaction with, Jesus and the work that he is doing.
But if the words of Isaiah speak about the spirit of baptism past, and the Spirit of God at the Jordan River appears as the spirit of baptism in Jesus’ present, then what does that leave us for the spirit of baptism future? For that, let us jump ahead another few years to a month or two after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, and we find Peter as he speaks to a gathering international crowd, Jews, and Gentiles from across the known world, on the day of Pentecost in 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.”
Paul’s point is that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and then appointed us to follow in his footsteps. When we choose to follow Jesus, are baptized, and join God’s family as the brothers and sisters of Jesus, we, like Jesus, are baptized and filled with the Spirit of God. We are therefore empowered by God, to go out into the world and do the work of Jesus Christ and the work of God’s kingdom. Jesus commands us to preach to the people his future, and of our present, to tell them that Jesus is the one whom they will face on the day of judgement, that it is Jesus about whom the prophets were writing, and that forgiveness comes to everyone who believes in him and puts their faith in him.
In the story, A Christmas Carol, the overnight experience with the three spirits of Christmas past, present, and future, transformed Ebeneezer Scrooge and changed the direction of his entire life. As the followers of Jesus Christ, our experience with the Spirit of God through baptism, past, present, and future, is similarly transformational. Just as the spirits did in A Christmas Carol, God does not intend to leave us in the same sorry state in which he found us. Baptism is a transformational moment when we receive the anointing and the presence of the Spirit of God, and we are commanded by Jesus Christ to be his witnesses, to share the good news with the people around us so that they too can be rescued and adopted into God’s family.
Ebeneezer Scrooge wasn’t visited by the spirits of Christmas so that he could stay the same miserable creature that he always was. Likewise, we were not baptized to that we could stay the same as we were and do the things we had always done. Our baptism is transformational.
As I write this, Thanksgiving is just a few days away and Sunday we will begin our celebration of the Advent season. During that season we will constantly be looking outwards, at others, and at the world. We will look at Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, Caesar Augustus, shepherds, wise men, angels, as well as a few other characters with smaller roles. We will think about the coming of the Messiah and what that means to the church, to the world, to our calling as evangelize and share the good news, and other important lessons. But, despite the value of doing all these things, we might also want to spend some time looking inwards.
Looking inwards means asking what the story means to me, what the story is calling me to be, and to do. When we see the shepherds, we should ask ourselves, “What would I have done if I were among them?” Would we have stayed behind with the sheep? Having heard the angels, and having seen the baby in a manger, would we have gone throughout the city rejoicing and telling everyone that we could find?
When we hear the story of the wise men, we might wonder how willing we are to hear the calling of God. Would we drop everything, based on our best research and study, to spend months of unpleasant travel, just so that we could witness a miracle, bring gifts, and then spend months traveling home again?
After every story, there is a moment for us to look inward and ask God what he is calling us to hear, not just about a two thousand year-old story, but how God wants that story to change our lives, us, today. Is God calling us to be more faithful, like Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Simeon the priest, Anna the prophetess, the shepherds, or the Magi? Do we hear the calling for the church, and us, to evangelize the world in the story of the shepherds and the Magi? And there is more. In every story that we read in scripture God calls to us. If we listen, our souls can feel the pull of God’s leading us in a new direction.
And so, as we celebrate the season of Advent and Christmas, I invite you to open your hearts, and take the time to reflect. Ask yourself, “What does God want me to do with this story?” What is it that God is trying to tell me? How is God asking me to change? What kind of a person is God calling me to be? Is God calling me into something new?
Every day, God is calling us to be transformed and renewed into the image of Jesus Christ. Our regular prayer on Sunday morning is to become more and more like Jesus and the person that Jesus created us to be. And so, when we hear the angels proclaim that they bring “Good news of great joy for all the people” we might ask ourselves if the same is true for us. When people hear that Christ Church is coming, is that good news? Or what do people think when they hear that we are coming? Is the arrival of _(insert your name here)_ “good news of great joy”?
The stories of Advent and Christmas are wonderful and inspiring, but they aren’t just there to stir wonder and bring inspiration. The stories are intended to transform us. The stories of Christmas, and all of scripture, are intended to change us so that we become less like Saul and more like Paul, less like Satan and more like Jesus, less like we once were and more like God intends for us to be.
As we plunge into Advent, I hope that we will do more than splash around in the shallows or swim along the surface. This year, I invite you to…
In his description of soldiers at war, in his novel “War and Peace,” Leo Tolstoy describes how disciplined and trained soldiers would be marched into battle, but once they came under fire would be seized by fear, become a disorganized rabble, and chaotically flee for their lives. But, once having reached the rear, and being no longer afraid, would once again fall under the discipline of their command, reorganize, and march forward into battle. But, once they came under fire, would again be seized by fear, and the process would repeat itself. This observation led Tolstoy to conclude that,,,
“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs.” (Leo Tolstoy, “War and Peace”)
While the resurrection story doesn’t contain the same sort of warfare that Tolstoy was describing, we do see many of the same human reactions to fear at the beginning. However, the power of Jesus’ resurrection allows us to see a transformative change in the disciples and other followers of Jesus, particularly as it relates to fear. We rejoin the gospel story on Easter Sunday evening as described in John 20:19-31.
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 believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
When we join the disciples, they are hiding behind locked doors because they are afraid that the church leaders who had rigged an illegal trial to convict Jesus would be looking for them next. But in the middle of their fear, Jesus arrives and his first words to them are, “Peace be with you.” Jesus knows that the disciples were missing something, and immediately shares two things with them. First, Jesus gives them purpose by declaring that the mission that God had given to him was now being passed on to them, and second, Jesus gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit that will empower them and give them the strength that they will need to do that work.
But not everyone was there. Thomas was not among them when Jesus appeared and, as clearly as they tried to explain it to him, and regardless of the trust that they had built among one another over the last three years of their ministry together with Jesus, he remained skeptical. And his skepticism remained until he met Jesus for himself and put his fingers in the nail holes and his hand where the spear had pierced him. But Jesus knew that not everyone would be able to see him and touch him to cure them of their skepticism. And of those people, to whom the disciples would be sent, Jesus declares a blessing for their ability to overcome doubt and skepticism and find faith.
John declares that his reason for writing this gospel was so that those people, people like us, could hear the story from the eyewitnesses who, saw it, felt it, and lived it, and believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing might find life that was unafraid, bold, and courageous. That transformed life, that started in fear of the church leaders, ended with disciples and followers of Jesus who were unafraid to preach the gospel and share the stories about the things that they had seen, heard, and lived. And Luke describes how that transformation changed them, as individuals, and as a group, in Acts 4:32-35 saying…
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.
One transformation that was caused by the three years of living beside Jesus, and of the resurrection, was that the disciples and followers of Jesus became a family that not only shared their life experiences together, but a family that shared their finances together. They shifted from claiming that they individually owned their possessions, to recognizing that God owned everything and entrusted their possessions to them. I don’t think that’s the same as declaring that all their possessions were owned collectively, because the owners of those lands and houses still oversaw and administered the wealth and the possessions that they had, but they now shared that wealth in a new, and deeply generous, way so that everyone in their community of faith was cared for and had the things that they needed.
In 1 John 1:1 – 2:2, a letter that was written to circulate among established churches and gathering places of believers, the apostle John wrote:
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 allsin.
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.
2:1My 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 reminds the churches that from the beginning, the disciples, apostles, and followers of Jesus took up the mission of sharing what they knew. They shared their experiences, what they had seen, what they had heard, and what they had lived, with the people, and the world around them. They shared the story of Jesus Christ, they shared the story of the resurrection, and they shared the stories and lessons that Jesus had taught them. John particularly notes that they do these things, not only as an act of obedience, but that by sharing their stories, and by sharing the story of Jesus, they receive joy. It makes them happy to share with others the things that they had been given.
And just to be sure that no one was confused about what he was talking about, John drills down to the specifics, that the message we share is the message that we heard from Jesus, that God is light and cannot have any part with darkness. That means that if we want to be a part of what God is doing, and be a part of God’s kingdom, and a part of God’s church, then we must do our best to walk in the light and live the way that Jesus taught us to live.
At the same time, John is clear that he was not perfect, that we are not perfect, and that the church itself is not perfect, that we sin, and that we fail to live up to the truths that we have learned. But if we confess our sins, Jesus will forgive us and purify us. It is John’s hope that the followers of Jesus will not sin, but if, and when, we do, we can find comfort in knowing that Jesus is our advocate. He paid the price for our sins and stands beside the throne of God to speak for us in our times of need and to speak words of forgiveness when we fall short.
Just as the disciples were transformed by the events of the resurrection, when we put our faith in Jesus, our lives are similarly transformed. Where we were afraid and tossed about by the events of the world around us, we become unafraid, bold, and courageous. Our faith leads us to repentance, our repentance brings us forgiveness, and that forgiveness takes us to a place of hope, healing, recovery, joy, and peace.
Tolstoy may have been talking about something completely different, but the gospel story, and the story of Jesus’ resurrection assure us that there was truth in his words.
“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs.”
And, through our faith in Jesus Christ, we no longer fear death, or life, or principalities, or powers, or peer pressure, or anything else because we know that our trust and faith can only lead to joy… and peace.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Whether we hear it from retiring Baby Boomers or job-changing Gen-Xers, Millennials, or GenY or GenZ workers looking for better, or more fulfilling work, one of the phrases that we often hear is “I want to make a difference.” I have known Baby Boomers to walked away from six figure jobs to go back to their roots and do basic research, or to take jobs at non-profits so that they could focus on doing what they loved, or on making the world a better place rather than just trying to make as much money as they could. Many of us either won’t have that opportunity, or we can’t afford to make those kinds of decisions, but many of us do find the time to volunteer in our free time in food pantries, to ring bells for the Salvation Army, or train lifeguards for the Red Cross, teach CPR, or volunteer for other charities so that we can help others and give back to our communities.
There is something in us that wants to be a part of something outside of ourselves, to give of ourselves for something other than our own pleasure or profit, and to make life better for someone else. But sometimes we just aren’t sure how to do that or, we are trapped by the inertia of our lives, or by indecision, and we just get carried along with the flow of life and we get stuck.
But we are meant to spend our lives stuck in a rut.
Remember that after Jesus’ resurrection, he came to his disciples and told them about a gift. You might remember that we read the story of John 20:19-22 a few weeks ago:
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.
Remember that in both Greek and Hebrew, the words for breath, wind, and spirit are the same word. And so, Jesus breathed on them and told them about the holy breath, the holy wind, and the holy Spirit. And then in Acts 1: 4-5, just before Jesus left the earth and ascended into heaven, he told them not to leave town until his gift would finally arrive.
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
And so, the disciples, and the followers of Jesus, stayed in Jerusalem, praying, and worshipping, and sharing stories about what they had done, and what they had learned from Jesus. And they kept doing that… until the Day of Pentecost. And we read that story in Acts 2:1-21.
2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Although we read this passage every year, we must resist the temptation to think that this is ordinary. The gift of the Spirit of God was nothing short of transformational in every way. Everyone changed. Everyone was empowered. Everyone was used by God, and everyone used their gifts for the Kingdom of God. We can see that when they received the gift of the Spirit they immediately went out into the streets and began to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with people who had come to Jerusalem, from across the known world, to celebrate the Jewish holiday. But Peter’s transformation was the most exceptional of all. Peter, the disciple who denied he knew Jesus three times, the follower who went home to Galilee after the crucifixion, the one who, with the other disciples, would only meet after the resurrection in a house with the windows closed and the doors locked. Peter was a man who feared being arrested and crucified for following Jesus and he allowed his fear to drive him to deny Jesus, to run away, and to hide behind locked doors.
But all that changed at Pentecost.
In recent weeks we have seen that after Jesus’ resurrection Peter had begun to change and was becoming increasingly bold and fearless. And, with the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost, that transformation is complete. With the other followers who were gathered in that room, Peter goes out into the streets of Jerusalem, addresses the entire crowd who had gathered around them, and he proclaims that this is the fulfillment of scripture, that the last days foretold by the prophets had arrived and that the Spirit of God had come and was now living in, and among, the people of God.
But impressive as that is, what difference does it make to us?
It certainly might be interesting and exciting to read about the transformation of Peter, the disciples, and the other followers of Jesus in Jerusalem some two thousand years ago, but what does that have to do with us here in the twenty-first century?
And the answer, again, is everything.
In in letter to church in Corinth, more than two decades after Pentecost, Paul explains it this way:(1 Corinthians 12:4-13)
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Remember that Paul is writing to a church in Greece, almost two thousand miles from Jerusalem, and more than twenty years after Pentecost. But he still speaks about the gift of the Spirit of God being distributed to the followers of Jesus Christ and, he says, “it is the same Spirit” that distributes them. The story of the disciples at Pentecost cannot be disconnected from our story, nor can we discount the story of Pentecost because it was far away and long ago. As the followers of Jesus Christ, the Spirit that came to rest upon the disciples at Pentecost, is the same Spirit that comes to us today.
In the church of the twenty-first century, the Spirit of God still brings gifts to the followers of Jesus and, while those gifts might not be the gifts of speaking in tongues (though they might), we are assured that the gifts of God, to each one of us, are given to us for the common good. We are given gifts that are to be used for the common good of the church, for the common good of our communities, and for the common good of the Kingdom of God. Those gifts might be any of the examples that Paul gave, such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment, as well as gifts of service and work. Those broad categories allow for us to receive gifts that Paul could have never understood. We might receive gifts of facility with computers or social media, gifts of healing through the use of modern medicine, gifts of auto repair, or any other kind of work or service to others. But regardless of what gifts they might be, we can be certain that the Spirit of God is still in the business of giving these gifts to all the followers of Jesus Christ.
On the Day of Pentecost, these gifts were transformational. Once they received the gifts of the Spirit, the followers of Jesus were transformed and changed. The Spirit made a difference in their lives, and that difference allowed them to make a difference in the world around them. Two thousand years later, we haven’t simply inherited the gifts that the disciples received, the Spirit of God has carefully selected gifts for each person, and gives those gifts to the followers of Jesus for the common good of the church, for the common good of our communities, and for the common good of the Kingdom of God.
So, what difference does it make?
The Spirit of God is the difference that makes a difference.
The Spirit makes a difference in each one of us, so that we can make a difference in the world around us.
So many people are saying, “I want to make a difference.” Some quit their jobs, or change jobs, or work on their time off, but many are confused or frustrated because they don’t know how. The answer is simple. God has given you gifts. Take the time to discover the gifts that you have been given. And then ask God to show you how you can use them for the common good.
You can make a difference.
God intends for you to make a difference.
God’s Spirit has already equipped you to make a difference.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Some of us have known, or might still have, family members who lived through the Great Depression, followed by World War Two. Eighty years later, we can still see how that experience changed their lives, and their lifestyle forever. People who watched banks collapse never completely trusted banks again. People who lived through hard and uncertain times learned to save for a rainy day because they knew, from experience, that sometimes life rains on our parade. People who found their way through a life filled with ration cards and nationwide shortages of practically everything, learned how to keep a garden, can and preserve their own food, and keep reasonable amounts of many staples, canned goods, and other things in stock, “just in case.” The experiences that they had living through the Great Depression and World War Two changed them forever and shaped their lives because of the hard lessons that they taught. And those of us who were their children, grandchildren, or even friends, only had to listen and pay attention to see the deep and enduring impact those experiences had on them.
It isn’t surprising then, that the events of Jesus’ crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection would also have a similarly transformational and enduring impact on the lives of the people who lived through them. And scripture tells us that is exactly what happened. We begin in John 20:19-31, where we rejoin the disciples, after the resurrection of Jesus, but still so frightened of the religious leaders and government authorities that they only meet with the windows closed and the doors locked.
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 believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
At the beginning, the disciples are afraid. So afraid, that when they even dare to meet, they will only meet in a house with the windows closed and the doors locked so that no one will see or hear them and know that they are there.
But Jesus.
At this point, they already know that Jesus has risen from the dead, but they are still afraid. And Jesus shows up again, this time there are no missing disciples. Peter and John are there, and so is Thomas. And this passage concludes by saying that Jesus performed many other signs so that they, would believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and that by believing we could have life in his name.
Why is this important?
Because it is after this, and after the events of Pentecost, that the events witnessed by the disciples and the other followers of Jesus, begin to completely transform their behavior. Nowhere is that change clearer than when we see Peter speaking in Acts 2:14a, 22-32, where this happens:
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
Peter was the one who was so afraid of the Pharisees and the leaders of the Temple that, three times, he denied that he even knew Jesus. Peter was the one who was so disheartened and emotionally wounded from his denial, and from witnessing Jesus’s crucifixion, that he went home to Galilee and back to his fishing boat. Peter, even when he was personally summoned back to Jerusalem at the request of the resurrected Jesus is, with the other disciples, still so afraid of being arrested that they will only meet with the windows closed and the doors locked.
But that isn’t the person that we see in Acts. The difference in Peter, and in the other disciples, is nothing short of a total transformation. It is as if this is a totally different person. Suddenly, Peter not only stands up and preaches, but he openly confronts the very same people of whom he was so very recently afraid. Peter not only stands up in public and preaches in front of them, he openly confronts them, and reminds them that they were the ones who killed Jesus, and in his summation says that it is because of what he has seen, and because of what he has heard, and because of the experiences that they have had, that they now understand what must be done. Like those who lived through the Great Depression and World War Two, the experiences, and the trauma, of the disciples and the first followers of Jesus have transformed their lives. They are changed forever and will never be the same as they once were.
But so, what?
What does that mean to us in the twenty-first century, particularly as we endure the changes, and the strangeness, of our collective fight against the Corona virus?
For that, let us listen to what Peter thought in 1 Peter 1:3-9 where he says,
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. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Peter says that in his mercy, through the experience, and through the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, God has given us all a new birth into a new life filled with hope. And not only hope, but a living hope into an inheritance in heaven that can never be taken away from us. Although, Peter admits, that in this life we may have to suffer grief from all kinds of trials, including disease and pandemics, through it all we can still rejoice greatly. It is through our trials that our faith is revealed, proven, and refined as if by fire and it is through those same trials that may result in praise, honor, and glory when Jesus Christ is finally revealed at the end of days. It is because of the experiences, stories, and trials of Peter and the other disciples that we too have seen Jesus, why we too have come to love him and believe in him as they did, and why we are also filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
And, from that, I want to draw a conclusion specifically for us as we endure the unusual circumstances of this present pandemic. Certainly, from everything we know about the Great Depression, and World War Two, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and the story of Easter, we all know that our experiences, especially the experiences of trauma, change us. Regardless of what we endure, or the illnesses that we suffer, or the friends or family members that are lost, those trials, those experiences, will change us. These experiences will change us all, whether we go to church, or whether we have faith, or not. And, if we are paying attention, we will notice that these experiences are already changing us. Whether this ends in six months, or eighteen months, or in thirty-six months, we will not come away from this the same as we were at the beginning.
We will be changed.
But we do have faith. We have already heard the stories, and we have experienced the difference that faith in Jesus Christ has made in our lives. We are already a people who are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy because we have been given new birth into a new life filled with hope.
May these trials prove the genuineness of our faith. May we be so determined, so hopeful, and so anchored by our faith, that the change that God brings to us through this pandemic is not a change wrought by fear, but a change that only amplifies our courage, our hope, and our joy. Let us pray that we may we emerge from this experience, and from whatever trauma we are called to endure, like Peter and the other disciples. Let us pray that we emerge as a people who are more courageous, more fearless, more faithful, and more loving than ever before.
May we emerge from this pandemic so much like Jesus that the world cannot help but to stand up and take notice.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Have you ever been strangely captivated by television images of natural disasters and incredible destruction? In recent years we’ve seen the towers fall on September 11th, 2001, earthquakes in various places around the world, and because of the popularity of cell phones and security cameras, we have seen countless images of tsunamis in Thailand, and Japan.
But imagine with me what would happen if time travel were possible.
On April 18th, 1906 the earth shook for less than a minute in San Francisco, California, but between the shaking, poor construction, and the resulting fires, the city was devastated. Nearly 500 city blocks were destroyed, 3,000 people were killed, and 400,000 people, nearly half of the city’s population, were left homeless. Enormous tent cities grew up in Oakland in and other places across the bay as the homeless found their way across the few bridges that hadn’t been destroyed.
But imagine that someone from the twenty-first century, perhaps you, had travelled back in time and wandered the streets of those tent cities with the displaced residents of San Francisco. Imagine what they would think of your message as you told them how their city would recover, rebuild, grow, and flourish in the next century. Assuming that they believed you, can you imagine the hope that your message might bring to them. It’s difficult to imagine a brighter future, when you’re surrounded by the destruction of everything familiar. It would take something extraordinary to grasp the vision, to see and understand, that there might be a path that would return the world to normal again.
But that is exactly what Isaiah does. As Isaiah writes to the people of Judah, Syria and the northern tribes of Israel, and all their lands, have already been captured by the Assyrian army. Many people have seen the handwriting on the wall, they have heard the prophecy of Isaiah, they understand that soon, the nation of Judah would be next. The people despair for their nation, lose hope for the future, and struggle to understand what this means to their faith in God. And in the midst of this uncertainty and despair, Isaiah writes a message of hope for the future. (Isaiah 62:1-5)
62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, [ Hephzibah means my delight is in her.] and your land Beulah; [Beulah means married.] for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
For the people of God, the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem is the almost the same as saying that God is a lie. Jerusalem is God’s city, it contains God’s place of worship, and Israel is God’s people. If they are all taken away, then what does it say about the reality of God himself? But Isaiah tells of time when Jerusalem and Israel are vindicated. When God, and his people, are proven right in front of the entire world. Jerusalem herself will be renamed. Instead of being known as “deserted” she will be known as “delightful.” Instead of “desolate” she will be known as “married” or perhaps we might understand it better as “my beautiful bride.” Isaiah says that just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will God rejoice over Jerusalem, over Israel, and over his people.
Much like it would be if we could go back in time and tell the refugees from a destroyed San Francisco about the wonders of their city in the twenty-first century, Isaiah speaks of a time that is a hundred years or more in the future, when their city, their nation, and their people will be rebuilt.
It is, for them, a message of transformation… and of hope.
And then, eight hundred years later, Jesus is invited to a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee, and, quite by accident, begins his ministry by performing his first miracle. And in this miracle, Jesus brings hope to the world by bringing about a transformation of an entirely different kind. (John 2:1-11)
2:1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Although this is a great story, what we often miss is the culture of the time. Jesus lived in a culture of honor and shame. In that culture, there were certain events, certain taboos, that could not be broken without bringing shame, and loss of honor. That loss of honor could be personal, or quite widespread. In some cases, in the Old Testament, entire tribes were dishonored and carried that dishonor for hundreds of years. The loss of honor, as a person, as a family, or even as a tribe, could cost someone money, customers, business contracts and many other things. In this story, it is quite likely that the servants and hosts in the back rooms were in a blind panic. Weddings were attended by people from the entire village and beyond. Running out of wine so early in the celebration would have been a major embarrassment that could have caused a loss of honor to the family and to the entire village. It was a really big deal.
And so, Jesus’ mother, remembering all those things from Jesus birth and childhood that she had “treasured in heart,” comes to him with the confidence that he could do something about this problem. And Jesus, although not originally intending to begin his ministry this early, transforms 180 gallons of plain water, into fine wine. By doing so, Jesus doesn’t just save one family from a minor embarrassment and rescue one party, Jesus literally redeems an entire village from a dishonor that could have cost them jobs and livelihoods for generations.
In the very first act of Jesus’ ministry, he provides a glimpse, a sneak peek, into his transformational power that will rescue his people and redeem the entire world from sin and death.
And then, in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, the Apostle Paul describes how that same transformational power flows into the modern world that we live in today.
12:1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Paul writes to the church in Corinth, but he speaks just as clearly to us half a world away in the twenty-first century. Paul says that we used to be (past tense) pagans and unbelievers that were led astray and worshipped idols. But now, we have been filled with the Spirit of God and given gifts that have transformed our lives, prepared, and equipped us to serve the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in our world. Each of these gifts, Paul says, is the manifestation, the living example, of the Spirit of God in the modern world, who is working for the common good of all humanity.
No one, Paul says, gets skipped, forgotten, ignored, or missed. To “each one,” to each person, the living example of the Holy Spirit is given. Not everyone is the same, and not everyone gets the same gift, but everyone is gifted, everyone receives a gift from God through the Holy Spirit. Some receive wisdom, others knowledge, some receive the gift of faith, others healing, or miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment, or gifts of languages. These are all gifts of the spirit and each of these gifts is determined by the Holy Spirit, in order to advance the message and the mission of Jesus Christ in the world even in the twenty-first century.
In the time of Isaiah, God revealed that he could and would transform Israel, in the time of Jesus, God revealed that he can transform not only the physical and material world, but the lives of the people and culture around them. And in our modern world, God continues to do the work of transformation in our physical lives, our culture, our world, and in our spiritual lives as well. God pours out the gift of transforming power into the lives of his followers by giving us amazing and powerful gifts that he intends for us to use to as his agents. We are called not only to be grateful for the gifts that he has given to us, we are called to use those gifts, each and every one of us, to transform the world around us, to carry out the mission, vision, and ministry of Jesus Christ, to rescue to lost, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, be a voice to the voiceless, a father to the fatherless, and in every way possible reveal the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world around us.
It is a huge responsibility and an incredible, even herculean, task.
But that is exactly why we have been transformed, gifted, and equipped by the creator of the universe to do it.
Right now, I want you to think of one person. I want you to think of one person whose life you can make better this week. Call them, love them, shovel their sidewalk, pay a bill for them, buy them a cup of coffee, for each of you, and for each person you are thinking of, it will be different. But I want you to choose one person, whose life you can change, even a little bit, and show them the love of Jesus Christ this week.
Let’s get busy.
Let’s go change the world.
One.
Life.
At a time.
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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 references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Have you seen all the paranormal shows on television? It isn’t just funny movies like “Ghostbusters” anymore, there’s “Ghost Hunters,” “Paranormal Lockdown,” “Ghost Adventures,” “The Dead Files” and something like sixty others that are either currently on television or older series that are sometimes rebroadcast. With varying degrees of seriousness, these shows describe, or investigate, the activities of supernatural, non-spiritual, beings. More simply, ghosts. These ghost hunters or paranormal investigators do not even consider the possibility that the disturbances they are searching for might well be the same sorts of creatures described in the Bible, but in any case there are some things that haven’t changed.
In two thousand years of history, there are some things that everyone seems to know about ghosts. 1) Ghosts can pass through walls and locked doors. 2) Ghosts are not bound by the laws of physics as we understand them. By that I mean that not only can they pass through walls and locked doors, but that they can fly, swim, walk on water, and other things that living people cannot do. 3) Ghosts are generally quiet but can also occasionally communicate with the living. 4) Ghosts are not solid so you cannot shake hands with one and they have been known to pass right through a living person as well as solid objects. And 5) because ghosts are not solid, they generally can’t move solid objects and certainly can’t eat or drink.
Do why does any of this matter?
It matters, because there were several moments when Jesus’ disciples thought that Jesus was a ghost, and each time it scared the snot out of them. You may remember that when the disciples first saw Jesus walking on the water in the middle of a storm, they were frightened because they thought that he was a ghost. Jesus had to call out to them, calm the storm, and explain that it was really Jesus. And as we continue reading the Easter story, our first scripture also finds the disciples, shortly after listening to the story told by the men who had returned from Emmaus. The disciples are afraid because, once again, they think they’ve seen a ghost. (Luke 24:36b-48)
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. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
This clearly one of the best arguments that Jesus simply appeared, rather than knocking and being let in through the front door. Jesus was supposed to be dead, but there he was and the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus shows them his hands, and his feet and lets them touch him. But just to be sure, he asks for something to eat, is given a piece of fish, and eats it in front of them. Since everyone knows that ghosts can’t eat solid food, Jesus is obviously trying to calm their fears and convince them that he is not a ghost before he begins teaching. And once he begins his teaching, he explains from scripture why the Messiah had to suffer, die, be buried, and rise from the dead after three days. Jesus then explains that because he has done this, the next step will be theirs. Jesus declares that the news of repentance and forgiveness of sins must be preached to every nation, and that soon he would be sending them out to tell the world.
But not yet.
For now, Jesus tells the disciples that he is sending them a gift and that they need to stay in Jerusalem for a little longer until it arrives. While they wait, Peter and the others travel to the temple daily to pray. And one day, after the events of Pentecost, on the way to the temple, Peter heals a lame beggar that had spent years of his life begging at the same gate to the city. After he is healed, he is seen running, and jumping, and praising God in the temple courts and that attracts a crowd. People recognize the beggar that they have often walked past and they wonder if this could be the same man. (Acts 3:12-19)
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. 1
Remember, that just a month or so before, Peter and the other disciples had met Jesus while they were together in a house in which they had closed the windows and locked the doors. They were living in fear. They feared being discovered. They feared being arrested. They feared death. They were afraid of ghosts. They were afraid that Jesus was a ghost. And Jesus had to keep telling them, “Peace be with you.” A month or so earlier, Jesus could not communicate with the disciples without repeatedly telling them not to be afraid. But now, together they walk boldly to the temple, Peter heals a lame beggar sitting at the gate to the city, and then stands up and witnesses and preaches to the gathering crowd about the risen Jesus.
In the span of a month to a month and a half, the disciples have been completely transformed. Where they were quiet and afraid, they are now bold, courageous, loud, and in-your-face. Where they had been afraid to be associated with Jesus, now they are proclaiming it in the center of the temple mount. So dramatic is the change in the disciples, that one could easily say that they are hardly the same men. The difference is both stark and dramatic.
This is not the change that you would expect if they had seen a ghost.
People who see ghosts tend to be more afraid, not less.
But meeting the risen Jesus has had quite the opposite effect. Seeing Jesus, or rather, meeting Jesus, has transformed the disciples from a gaggle of frightened fisherman and businessmen into fearless and passionate witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.
For the disciples, meeting the risen Jesus was a transformational experience. Their lives were fundamentally and demonstrably changed. How they acted, what they did, and even where they did it, was dramatically different after the resurrection than before it.
But what does that mean for us?
We didn’t have the opportunity to walk with, and learn from, Jesus for three years. Most of us haven’t been to seminary, or to bible college. So what does it mean for us to follow Jesus and to be his disciples?
In what scholars think is probably a letter to churches in Asia, the Apostle John wrote these words:
(1 John 3:1-7)
3:1See 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. 2Dear 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, 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.
At first that may not seem to answer our question, but if we look a little deeper, we can find what we were looking for. First, John reminds us how much God loved us and how much of his love he “lavishly” poured out on us so that we could be called the children of God. God loved us so much that he stepped down from his throne in heaven, came down to earth, became a human being, suffered alongside of us, and then was tortured, hung on a cross, and died in our place all so that we could be forgiven by, and reconciled to, God. When we put our trust in Jesus we know that we will one day be like him and live with him in his father’s house in heaven.
But John also says that “All who have this hope, purify themselves, just as he is pure.” John also says, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” And finally, John says, “7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” Each of these statements tells us something about who we should be and what we should be doing.
John knows what it means to have his life transformed by meeting the risen Jesus.
And that’s exactly what he’s describing for the rest of us.
Everyone who comes to faith in Jesus begins to pursue purity. They do not immediately become pure, but begin to work at purifying themselves because our desire is to become more like Jesus. John also says that if we have seen the risen Jesus or if we even know Jesus, then we will do everything we can to stop sinning. We want to do what is right, because Jesus has done, and is doing, what is right. What John is describing for us, is nothing less than the total transformation of our lives. Meeting the risen Jesus has always been, and remains still, nothing short of a transformational experience. Once we meet Jesus, we want to become like him and we begin to do whatever we can to do so.
Two thousand years ago, the disciples at first thought they were seeing a ghost.
But ghosts don’t transform lives.
Only a living and resurrected Jesus does that.
Two thousand years later, the risen Jesus is still transforming lives.
Jesus is transforming lives in this church today.
Have you met my Jesus?
If you haven’t, I’d love to talk to you.
Maybe today is the day, that your life begins to change.
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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Do you have a favorite NASCAR driver, football, baseball, or soccer player, or any other favorite sports figure? How committed are you to watching your favorite team?
Teams want you to support them financially, to buy tickets, and jerseys, and memorabilia, and they want you to cheer for them. The Cleveland Indians have favored the phrase, “Go big, or go home.” A few seasons back, their players were seen wearing shirts that predicted 100 wins. But during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ run for the national championship last year, the question that fans were asked was…
…“Are you all in?”
LeBron James and the rest of the Cavaliers wanted to know if your support for the team was wholehearted and hot-blooded, and not just lukewarm. And that’s a good way of thinking about the theme of today’s message and the thread that winds its way through our scripture lessons. We begin today in Genesis 21:8-21, where we find a jealous Sarah who is so enraged by the presence of her husband’s mistress and their semi-illegitimate child, as well as the fighting and sibling rivalry between their children, that she simply wants them gone from her life.
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
If you aren’t familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah, here’s a quick summary: Despite God’s promise that their ancestors would become a great nation as numberless as the stars in the sky, Sarah was childless. And so, at some point, Abraham decided to help God out, and took Hagar, one of his slaves, as a mistress in order to father a child. This was an accepted practice at that time in order to preserve wealth and the family line. But then, as we discussed last week, long after Sarah was past the age of childbearing, God gave her a son of her own, Isaac. But now, as if looking at her husband’s mistress every day, as well as the child that they had together, wasn’t enough, Hagar’s son was mocking Isaac. And all of Sarah’s frustration, and rage, fear, and hope for the future exploded. She wanted them gone. And so Abraham packs Hagar a lunch and sends her out into the desert.
The core of this story is two-fold. First of all… people stink.
As good, and as godly as we are told that Abraham and Sara must be, they both stink. What they did is understandable, but still pretty horrible. Even though we look up to Abraham and revere him as the founder of our faith, sending his own son, along with his mother, out into the desert to die is an inexcusably horrible thing to do. But the second part of this story is that as bad as human beings stink, God doesn’t. God cares. Despite the fact that the blessing of God is on Isaac and it is through Isaac that God intends to bless the world, God still cares about Hagar and Ishmael. God finds them in the desert, saves their lives, gives them water to drink, leads them out of the wilderness, blesses them both, and promises that Ishmael will also be the father of a great nation.
And again, if you are unfamiliar with this story, Isaac becomes the patriarch of the nation of Israel and the people known as the Jews; while Ishmael becomes the patriarch of the people we now refer to as the Arab nations. Curiously, all of these peoples are referred to collectively, as the Semitic people.
So to summarize, people stink, God cares.
But God’s plan is to change that. God’s intent is to transform humanity into something better. And the coming of Jesus Christ is a huge part of that plan. Jesus came to earth to rescue humanity from its wickedness and sin so that we could become something better. In Romans 6:1-11, Paul puts it this way…
6:1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
At the very beginning of this passage, Paul wants to eliminate the notion that Jesus’ sacrifice and the infinite grace of God might be used as an excuse to continue in our sin. In no way, shape, or form should we excuse our error and try to justify it by claiming that we are already forgiven for it. Instead, we must realize that our sinfulness was the cause of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, and it is our sinful nature, our “old self,” that was crucified with him. For that reason, Paul explains, that our “old self” is already dead and, as a result, we should do everything in our power to stop sinning, to break the bonds that sin and death have over us, and act like people who have been set free from sin.
Jesus didn’t die to give us an excuse to keep doing the same wrong stuff we’ve been doing all along, Jesus died so that our lives could be transformed into something better.
In Matthew 10:24-39, we hear Jesus echo that same sentiment.
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.]
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Do not be afraid.
God cares.
You are worth more than many sparrows; you are of incredible value to God.
The followers of Jesus Christ will turn against their families and against their parents, not because they are violent or because Jesus encourages them to be violent, but because Jesus intends to completely transform their lives into something new, different, and far better than we have ever been before. When we choose to follow Jesus, we want what he wants, we follow where he leads, we go where he goes, and we do what he calls us to do. And in doing these things, we will leave behind the people that won’t go with us. Families, friends, and others will turn against us because we have chosen to follow Jesus and because we are becoming something new and different than the people we once were. As we lose our old lives, we are transformed and we discover a new life that is lived through Jesus Christ.
Jesus calls for us to devote ourselves to him wholeheartedly and to walk away from a lukewarm faith. In the end, Jesus asks us a familiar question…
…Are you all in?
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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Scripture: Luke 15:1-10 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
On October 14th, 1987 the attention of the entire nation, and much of the civilized world, became focused on one small backyard in Midland, Texas. An 18 month old girl, Jessica McClure Morales, was playing in the backyard when she fell into a well casing and became trapped in a pipe only 8 inches in diameter, but 22 feet below the ground’s surface. News organizations from around the world made “Baby Jessica” a household word as rescuers worked non-stop for the next 58 hours to return baby Jessica to her parents.
And most of us are old enough to remember the confusion surrounding the events of September 11th fifteen years ago today. As the day progressed, we weren’t sure at all who might need to be rescued, or what it might be that we all might need rescuing from. Both then and now, it evokes powerful emotions when we encounter those moments when the rescuers are in need of rescuing. But in times of terror, natural disasters, and even as we live a life of faith, we know that sometimes happens.
As we attend church, and as believers in Jesus Christ we often talk about rescue and salvation but we aren’t always clear about the things from which people should be rescued nor about what rescue really means.
During the rescue of Baby Jessica, no one doubted what it was that she was being rescued from. A baby 22 feet below ground that is stuck in a pipe is in big trouble and, without immediate help, will soon die from starvation, exposure, dehydration, or any number of other things. But the people with whom we work every day, or the children that go to school with our children, or the curious folks who occasionally wander in to churches, do not seem to be in any immediate danger. For many of them, and perhaps for some of you, our continued emphasis on “being saved” or “being rescued” seems more than a little curious and requires some explanation.
Hopefully, today’s message will provide some help.
We begin in Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 where we hear God pronounce judgement against the people of Jerusalem for abandoning him and doing evil.
11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”
22 “My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good.”
23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone. 24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying. 25 I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away. 26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27 This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,
though I will not destroy it completely. 28 Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow dark,
because I have spoken and will not relent,
I have decided and will not turn back.”
God says that the future of Jerusalem is a future filled with drought, destruction, desolation, doom, and death.
This is not a glowing, fun-filled chapter of the Bible and, while it is specific to a particular people from a particular chapter in the distant past, it paints us a stark picture of what can be expected when we abandon God. Granted, there are a great many people who live out their entire lives without coming to faith in Jesus Christ and, from all outward appearances, seem to do just fine, even thrive, in doing so. But scripture reminds us that there is more to our existence than the life that we are currently experiencing. And while we aren’t exactly crystal clear about what it will be like, life, according to scripture, continues on past our earthly death. And so although the darkness, doom, and despair that Jeremiah describes may have been initially intended for the people of Jerusalem, we would be well served to take note of what eventually lies in store for people who abandon God.
And so the next question we ask is this: What does “rescue” look like?
And for that let’s continue by reading from Paul’s first letter to his friend Timothy (1 Timothy 1:12-17).
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul says that even though he blasphemed God, persecuted Christians, and was a violent man, God showed him mercy because he had done all those things out of ignorance and unbelief. And so, being a man who had literally become an enemy of God, and yet found mercy, forgiveness, and grace, Paul summarizes our rescue (and his) this way: Jesus came into the world with the sole purpose of saving and rescuing the very people who had turned their backs on God even those people who had declared war on God and upon God’s people. Because of Jesus Christ, God showed mercy to Paul so that the world could see a display of God’s patience and know that everyone who chooses to believe in Jesus can still be saved from destruction, desolation, doom, and death and receive the gift of life eternal in God’s house.
And then in Luke 15:1-10, we have another example, but this time from the life of Jesus himself.
15:1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Jesus is rebuked by the authorities and leaders of the church because he dared to show hospitality to the outcasts of their society. Tax collectors, prostitutes, the poor, and others, despite the fact that virtually all of them came from Jewish families and would have, in modern language, “identified” as Jewish, the church leaders labelled all of them as sinners. For the Pharisees, it was acceptable to meet with “those” people when you went about your daily business in the marketplace because society, government, or culture demanded it, but at home… that was different. Sharing a meal with people, actually showing them hospitality and compassion, that was something that good people only did with other good people. Jesus was disrupting the status quo and defying the desires of the church leaders, by showing love to people that the church had decided were no longer lovable.
And so, in answer to the complaints of the Pharisees, Jesus tells everyone three parables, two of which we heard today and the third is the parable of the prodigal son. In telling these parables, Jesus paints a picture of what it really means to be rescued and makes it excruciatingly clear that every one of the people in the room, sinners or not, have great value, and that God will stop at nothing to get them back. For Jesus, being lost can be thought of as a sheep that has wandered away from the flock, or a coin that fell out of a wallet, or a child that disowned their family. In that sense, “rescue” or “salvation” means being brought back in to the flock, returning to where you belong and to where you are valued, and being brought back into the family where you were, are, and always will be valued and loved regardless of what you have done in the past.
Baby Jessica had to be rescued from certain death so that she could be returned to her family where she was loved and valued.
As followers of Jesus Christ, when we talk about people who are in need of rescue or who “need to be saved” what we really mean is that these people, regardless of how healthy, happy and prosperous they might look, are separated from God and ultimately face a future of destruction, desolation, doom, and death.
But the followers of Jesus Christ cannot condemn people who are in need of rescue because Jesus’ single mission on earth was to save and rescue the people who had turned their backs on God even those people who had declared war on God and upon God’s people.
Real rescue means that the followers of Jesus must treat these “lost” people the way that Jesus did, with forgiveness, mercy, and respect. Real rescue means inviting the lost to rejoin God’s family. Real rescue means that the people who are rescued have the opportunity to experience God’s transformational compassion and love.
If we are to be the agents of real rescue, then we must be prepared to treat everyone as people who are truly loved and valued.
God will stop at nothing to get them back.
And we shouldn’t either.
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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online athttps://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Pastor Partridge 