I'm really excited for our Service Day on Saturday! We're giving out 400 free lunches to people in our community! Why? To show the love of Christ in a practical way!

We still need people to step up and be a part. Can you come and serve?

Here's a thought. Some do "community service" because they have to. That is, as a part of a sentence a judge will sometimes make people do community service. But we, as Christ-followers, do community service because we get to! It reminds me of Mark 10:45:

"The Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Thankful for and sharing Jesus!

James 2:17: ". . . faith without works is dead." In other words, don't just talk the talk; walk the walk! As we approach Saturday's Service Day, how can each one of us put our faith into action?

Do you have the courageous faith that is willing to help someone? As we transition to a church that increasingly values showing the love of Jesus to a jacked up world, each one of us is crucial.

Hope to see you there! It's going to be great!

I'm excited for Saturday and the Service Day. Thanks to everyone who signed up to help in various ways! Keep the Service Day in your prayers.

1 Peter 4:11: "If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength that God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." Why does God get the praise "through Jesus Christ"? Because the strength comes from God through Jesus. So God gets the praise when we step out in faith and serve.

Hope to see you Saturday!

Jesus says, "Love your enemies," and we hate our enemies. Jesus says, "do good to those who hate you" and we do bad to them. Jesus says, "bless those who curse you," and we curse them. Jesus says, "pray for those who abuse you," and we are likely to visualize for their destruciton. Jesus' seemingly ridiculous list continues on. "To the one who strikes you on the cheek, off the other also and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either." But why be so extravagant and over the top with demonstrating love to those who do not deserve it? The simple answer is that there is no benefit if we do not. Luke 6:35: "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and evil."

Personally, these are very challenging words. How about for you?

Oh, and here's a community need I've identified -- the need for peacemakers. Every community has conflict where people become enemies. What can we do as the church to be peacemakers? Check out hispeace.org for an example of a systematic approach to ministry. Wouldn't this be a great Community Impact Team to have -- a peacemaking team?!!!

How many needs can you identify in your community? Here's a starter list based off of Sunday's message . . . I mentioned areas of poverty, imprisonment, blindness, and captivity. Here are some random thoughts.

Poverty Needs -- (economic poverty) job access, job training, sinking under a debt load, materialism as an idol, food, shelter . . . can you think of more? (education poverty) literacy, access to internet, ability to use computer, attaining high school or college degree . . . can you think of more? (medical poverty) uninsured or underinsured for catastrophe or serious illness that results in bankruptcy, conspiracy theories about the medical field . . . can you think of more? (justice poverty) injustice . . . (family poverty) conflicted relationships characterized by unhealthy conflict such as dominance, violence, abuse . . . (spiritual poverty) a lack of delight in God and childlike faith in Jesus to lead us.

What do you see as needs in your community?

Our Faith in Action study probes the topic of sharing what we have with others. Deuteronomy 24:19-22 instructs harvesters to leave overlooked grain "for the alien, the fatherless, and the widow." Olive pickers were to "leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless, and the widow." Ditto for grape harvesters. The motivation? "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt."

How do we fit this concept of planned sharing into our personal budgets? Not all of us are harvesting crops but we do have access to resources. Some have a "rainy day fund" that is fueled by fear and leaves little to nothing to share with others. Others are so burdened by debt that generosity is not even considered. But in a recession where jobs are lost and houses are foreclosed upon, there is plenty of need for generosity. Your thoughts.

One of the core biblical truths about Jesus is that He is the Son of God who was born as a baby boy at Bethlehem. He is "fully God" and "fully human." At the core of our faith in Jesus is this truth: redemption comes through divine detours.

Like Jesus, we are called to be part of God's plan. The Good Samaritan had a divine detour to help the man who was bleeding out by the road called "the Way of Blood." It cost him: risk, personal involvement, time, and money. But some times life's interruptions are God's opportunities. (Luke 10:25-32)

Let's stay ready for the "divine detours" God has for us this week. As one man said to me today, "If you are going to sincerely live out your belief, then take the detour."

Do you have a story of a divine detour that you can share?

Jesus' resurrection is the destiny of all who believe in Jesus. It is a future reality that affects our present. "When we speak of Jesus' resurrection, we are not talking only about Jesus' present but also about our future and the ways that our future is breaking into the world in which we now live" (J.R. Daniel Kirk, Christianity Today, April 2010, 39).

Since we "have been raised with Christ" already (Colossians 3:1), we can "walk in the newness of life" (Romans 6:4), "set our minds on things above" (Col. 3:1), and "consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). Through the Holy Spirit's power Christ was raised from the dead as the first fruits, we too will be raised by the Holy Spirit's power (Romans 8:11) and through the Holy Spirit's power we can "by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13). We have not yet been raised but our future destiny affects our present in ways that transform lives today.

As followers of Christ, our lives are scripted into the Lord's story of death and resurrection. This gives us such hope that we even look at hardship differently. "But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed" (1 Peter 4:13).

Imagine the difference if we were to live as a people filled with such hope! This hope would transform how we do marriage, family, church, work, and school. We would "rejoice in the Lord always" and refuse to whine and complain. Instead of busying ourselves with the things of this world we would be drawn into the Lord's presence to let our minds be "renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator" (Colossians 3:10). The overflow of this renewal would be a life lived out of a sense of fullness and purpose, guided along by the Holy Spirit -- instead of frenzied, fruitless, busied living.

What's your destiny look like today?

Easter worship was awesome yesterday! Thanks to everyone who helped. The Lord is risen!

So what difference does the resurrection make? This week we'll discuss several of many biblical connections to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 we find our first connection. "For as in Adam all die, so  in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn, Christ the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." Jesus' resurrection comes first. Here, His resurrection is referred to as the "firstfruits." This is a timely word picture. The "firstfruits" was the first part of the harvest. And the barley and wheat harvest begins right around the time that Jesus was resurrected. Additionally, early figs appear on the fig trees. So, here's the idea. Jesus is the firstfruits -- His resurrection happens first. Those who put their faith in Him are the rest of the harvest. That harvest follows at a later time. Specifically, that time is "when he comes." So, when Jesus returns, all who have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ will be raised from the dead, too!

And what will our resurrected bodies be like? Check out 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. The Lord is risen and we, too, will rise!

Dan has struggled for life since I met him but early this morning Dan passed away. I/we will miss him.

But it is Good Friday -- the day that we remember the horrid execution of Jesus some 2000 years ago. Because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross death is not the end for all who put faith in Jesus. At 3 pm on the first Good Friday, Jesus gave up His spirit and died. It was the same time of day that the daily lamb was sacrificed at the temple. But on this day, something very different happened.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom "at that moment" (Matthew 27:51). The curtain divided the most holy place of the temple from other parts of the temple. It was 60 feet high and 30 feet wide. A LOT of force was required to tear it -- and it was torn from the top to the bottom -- as though God Himself did it. Normally, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. Suddenly, because of Jesus' death the Most Holy Place was accessible. Through Jesus we have access to God our Father. There is no longer any separation! We have confidence to enter God's presence in the name of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19-22). And that confidence makes all the difference, particularly when each one of us, like Dan did today, steps into eternity.