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Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

Charles Wesley, 1739

Read Romans 6:1-11

(Made like Him, like Him we rise. Everlasting life is this, Thee to know, Thy power to prove. So many good lines in Welsey’s hymn. Read through it. Ponder the ones that strike you. Christ the Lord IS risen today. It is as real, as vital, as urgent as the day it happened. Alleluia!)

With His Own Blood

By Paula Leave a Comment

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12

Redeemed.

Not by His teaching.
Although it is profound.

Not by His miracles.
Although they were astonishing.

Not by His sinless life.
Although it was unprecedented.

With His own blood.
He secured our eternal redemption.

Redeemed
Once for all.

Redeemed with His own blood.

Journey to Easter: The Garden

By Paula Leave a Comment

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” Matthew 26:36

Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was not swept up by the events around Him. Every moment of His entire life was part of a divine plan laid down before time began. Each stop on the journey to Easter was purposeful and planned. Last week we stopped in the Upper Room. Today’s stop is the Garden at Gethsemane.

The name Gethsemane means olive press. How fitting. It was here Jesus faced a spiritual test beyond our imagination. The content of the temptations are not recorded, but Jesus’s prayers are. “If there is any other way, let this cup — the cup of divine wrath and judgment — pass.” A few verses later He says, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That’s not simply a proverb. Jesus speaks from His experience just moments earlier and just yards away.

One remarkable thing about Gethsemane is that even in these moments of deep struggle and anguish, Jesus never stopped teaching His followers, and in this crucial moment, He taught them how to handle crushing sorrow and anguish. We can take those lessons to heart when we find ourselves in a crucible.

He enlisted the support of His friends. Granted, they failed Him. But He didn’t head off to the Garden alone. He wanted His friends close by. They guarded the entrance to the garden and kept watch so He could pray without being interrupted. He invited His closest friends to pray with and for Him.

Then He prayed for the support of His Father. He was strikingly honest, yet unwaveringly reverent. He was persistent and when He faced His enemies it was with the resolve and strength the Father sent.

We will go through intense periods of trial, sorrow, and anguish. Count on it. Thankfully, this stop on our journey to Easter gives us Jesus’s own example on how to face it.

Next stop: The Chamber

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

By Paula Leave a Comment

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale Thou art with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish
Which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord hast suffered
Was all for sinners’ gain:
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain;
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
‘Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this, Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee.

Either Bernard of Clairvaux, 12th c, or Arnulf von Loewen, 13th c

Read Zechariah 12:10

(Generally, we cannot bear the suffering. Our own. Our loved ones. Even our pets. This hymn, written by a monk who spent hours meditating on the suffering of Christ, forces us to look Him in the face and consider what our sin required. It is a shocking, wrenching sight. Then we are forced to confront our hand in it. Mine, mine was the transgression,/ But Thine the deadly pain;/ Lo, here I fall, my Savior!/ ‘Tis I deserve Thy place.)

Redeemed

By Paula Leave a Comment

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) Galatians 3:13

Redeemed.

It means to buy back a slave’s freedom.
Only we were the slaves.
I was the slave.

Curse.

It’s not just a run of bad luck. It is anathema.
Set apart for destruction by God.
I was set apart for destruction by God.

Become.

Jesus didn’t just pay the price. He didn’t just lift the curse.
He BECAME the curse.
God’s wrath and judgment against sin were poured out on Christ.

For us.
For me.

Journey to Easter: The Upper Room

By Paula Leave a Comment

He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there. Luke 22:12 NIV

I live in a small town where the major industry is an oil refinery. Periodically, the company does major maintenance projects, bringing in scores of outside labor to help. One is going on right now, and an estimated 1700 workers are in town, a town of under 7000. Because this happens regularly, plenty of people have small homes, garage apartments, or even extra rooms to rent out to accommodate the short-term workforce.

This is not unlike Jerusalem at Passover.

Every year, Jews made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. The population of the city swelled to a million or more. All of these pilgrims needed places to share the meal and remember their deliverance. Jesus and His followers were from Galilee so they needed a place to celebrate the Passover.

But this Passover was like no other. In fact, Jesus said, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” Luke 22:15. These would be the last quiet moments Jesus had with those closest to Him. He had to prepare them, to comfort and to encourage them. He also had cautions and instructions. All of it needed to be delivered away from the crowds and without the religious authorities bursting in to arrest Him.

Jesus made sure they had that opportunity. This stop in the Upper Room afforded them the necessary seclusion and security. Only Peter, John and the owner of the house knew where He would eat the Passover, so Judas couldn’t tip off the high priest. In fact, Judas couldn’t even leave until Jesus dismissed him.

As we journey to Easter, do we need moments of seclusion, away from the press of the crowd and the hassles that we face? Do we need to hear the cautions and instructions? Do we need the encouragement and the comfort? Do we need to prepare ourselves for what comes next? Do we need to remember and celebrate the deliverance we’ve experienced?

Yes? Then we need to stop in the Upper Room.

Next stop, the Garden

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

With His Own Blood

Journey to Easter: The Garden

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Redeemed

Journey to Easter: The Upper Room

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series