Joy Lutheran Church Ocala, Florida

Yesterday we began this holiest week of the year.  We may rightly call it the week that changed the world.  We ponder our Savior’s suffering, death and resurrection for us, for you and for me.  Because of the sacrifice we remember in these days, we are free from the bondage of sin!  Satan’s ropes have been broken.  I need to go back to those words:  bondage and free.  We were slaves, we have been set free!

In John 8:34 Jesus tells the unbelieving Pharisees, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” He uses the analogy of a slave and his master to make the point that a slave obeys his master because he belongs to him. Slaves have no will of their own. They are literally in bondage to their masters. When sin is our master, we are unable to resist it. But, by the power of Christ to overcome the power of sin, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18).

The Week That Changed the World reflects on the footsteps of Jesus as he walked through the last week of his earthly life. The entire life of Jesus was a prelude to the events and teachings during his final week. By reflecting upon the events of Holy Week, we gain a greater understanding of the mission of Jesus. It is a thought-provoking, heart-wrenching week, one that leads to the most important event in history: the resurrection of Jesus, our Redeemer and King.

With humble hearts and penitence, we walk the steps of this week.  The steps of love that led to our salvation.  Praise be to God!

Judy

“Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion! Raise your voice, Daughter Jerusalem. Your king is coming! A good king who makes all things right, a humble king riding a donkey, a mere colt of a donkey.” The Old Testament prophesy from Zechariah, appears in real time in the Gospels. Crowds were lining the streets of Jerusalem. The cheering followers of Jesus were laying palm branches and even their own cloaks and garments for Jesus to enter triumphantly.  They believed Him to be their long-awaited Messianic King. By lining the pathway, they were giving Him the red-carpet treatment. A King’s welcome!

Are you preparing the way for Him in your life? Do you anticipate Him coming again? Are you looking for His blessing and salvation? Jesus loves you unconditionally.  That being said, you need to seek the Holy Spirit within you and stir up your anticipation.  Get ready!

Easter and His resurrection story are ahead awaiting your joy and celebration of our Lord. After the triumphant entry, the trial, the beatings, the horrific crucifixion, we were gifted Jesus’ Holy, most powerful resurrection. We stand in awe!

Today we symbolically stand to anticipate Palm Sunday and to feel what His followers must have been feeling. Joy and love knowing He was/is the LORD of ALL. Be strong in the Lord.  Shout and cheer, raise your voice for our King, as Zechariah prophesied.

Jill

Many of you know our daughter from Vermont recently spent 3 weeks with us. We certainly
enjoyed having her here and we are so proud of the young person she was and the adult she
has become. That being said, that outcome doesn’t just happen because we want it too. It
takes hard work, dedication, love and guidance from our Lord.

I recently read this story about mother’s saying “they just got their pink back” which is referring
to how flamingos lose their pink when raising their chicks. This is due to it being so exhausting
that it literally takes away their pink color. After their chicks grow up, their pink comes back.
That may be the “scientific explanation” but I also think it is a “God thing”.

I don’t think the pink was ever lost or drained. I think it was given to their babies as they are
born colorless. They pour into them their “gift of pink” just as we pour into our children’s hearts
and souls the colors of all that we are in hopes they will grow up to be vibrant, loving, capable,
giving and successful human beings. Even when we are exhausted from our daily lives when
raising our children, we still knew we needed to provide for them and love them. We gave them
our “pink”.

The same is true with our Heavenly Father. He has to be so exhausted taking care of us as we
bumble along in our lives, not always following His guidance. Yet, He still pours His
unconditional love into our hearts and souls and gives us love every day of our lives. We need
to focus our attention on Jesus, whom God offered as the only way to have an eternal
relationship with us. Thanks be to God for giving us His “pink”.

Patty

Or maybe the Procrastinating Gardener. Yep, that’s me. I really do love to plant and tend and watch plants grow and mature. But often, I buy the plants and seeds and they sit for weeks without getting into the soil.

I can’t pass a seed display without buying several colorful packs, like arugula, spring mix lettuce, wildflower mix. You get my drift? I do the same thing with potted plants. I have a whole herb garden on my patio, right next to the Christmas poinsettias – still blooming and looking beautiful.

But, buying and planting are two different things in my gardening lexicon. For example, today I planted the little tomato plant which I bought in January. It already has a small green tomato on it and lots of little yellow flowers, a harbinger of more to come. However, just getting it into the soil today means that I probably won’t get to eat the delicious fruit that it will bear in about two months. Sad!

I do the same thing with my spiritual life. I buy the books and journals, read the first couple of pages or just put them in the book case, but don’t really plant them in my heart. I have good intentions to pray and meditate more each day but fall back to the easy rhythm of my slapdash routine, praying on the run or in the shower and always asking for more help.

Fortunately, our loving and caring Gardener God tends his crop with attention and understanding. He loves us unconditionally and encourages us to plant on, even if it is a little late in the season. He wants us to enjoy the fruits of our labors whenever they mature. Don’t stop planting because you think it is too late. It’s never too late with our God.

Terri

Last month Silas wrote a devotional about communion. It closed with a stanza of Claire Cloninger’s hymn “Come to the table of mercy.”

That reminded me of the many times I communed in the church where I was raised. We often sang hymns during communion. Strangely, I think more of my understanding of communion came through those hymns than from any formal teaching. One hymn that sticks in my mind Is “Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face.”

Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face;
here would we touch and handle things unseen;
here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace
and all my weariness upon Thee lean.

What a wonder to come before the Holy One in such an intimate way, to touch and handle things unseen, the seen bread and wine, the unseen body and blood of the Savior. Here. 

From the very beginning of church the Supper of the Lord was the central act of worship. For almost 2,000 years believer have come to the table of mercy to receive forgiveness, to be strengthened in grace, to be united with each other, and to give thanks.

I believe that Christians do many good works that help people get through life. We should do those things. But I also believe we need the personal connection with God that comes in Communion or we would quickly weaken and fail in our mission.

Here let me feast, and feasting, still prolong
the brief, bright hour of fellowship with Thee.

Read 1 Corinthians 10:16 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

In just four short days we will celebrate Palm Sunday, in remembrance of Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. A fitting time to ponder Jill’s words from a blog written several years ago.

Traverse in your mind, back to Biblical times and history’s accounts of war and the battles that ensued.  Armies of men were armed with the weapon of the times and marched ahead to win.  The commander of the army; however, rode into battle on a horse, above his forces, overseer of the action.  Fast forward to WWII and you find again, the forces marching into battle as the commander was scurried around in a jeep, barking orders and again, overseeing his troops and their movements.

Jesus was in and out of Jerusalem on many occasions, walking, it was the general mode of approach and travel. However, had a king arrived, he surely would have entered the city riding a horse,  raised above the lowly and the height and pomp announcing his power.

On what we call Palm Sunday, Jesus, the King, our Messiah, entered Jerusalem; he was hailed by throngs of people. Palms strewn across the path; hosannas shouted as He arrived.  He was hailed as King of the Jews, Messiah of all, yet humbly riding a donkey which clopped, clopped along the palms, carrying our beloved Lord into the crowds.  No pomp, no vision of power and grandeur, God’s Son humbly arrived on a simple donkey.

Our powerful, almighty Jesus, humbly entered our midst.  Are we His soldiers? Ready to withstand temptation and the powers of this earth? Submit yourself before God.  Know His unconditional love for you and clop, clop forward in humbleness with repentance, into His forgiveness and grace. Hosanna in the highest.

Jill

I just had my first experience using an AI fast food drive-through.

Not a fan.

There was no way to verify what was in the wrap I ordered. Then was told I couldn’t get an iced tea; but I gave up soda for Lent. It was nowhere close to being interactive.

I have a book that a parishioner gave me by Craig Groeschel titled “Not a Fan.” Its’ purpose is to dispel the “Jesus is My Homeboy”, bumper sticker kind of faith. Rather to be a disciple, a true follower of Jesus, is much more difficult

Faith. Not fandom.

I’ve thought of an acronym, a mnemonic – “CHINO”. Christians in Name Only. This blog post may be as far as that gets. I do believe that it checks me and my faithfulness, or oftentimes lack thereof. Am I just taking Jesus for a test drive, or am I okay being a passenger on the wild ride? Asis from analogies on play-on-words devices, I get in the bad habit of thinking that it really doesn’t matter in the end. I may not be a fan of AI just yet, but it does have its usefulness. Figuring out solutions. Saving time. Giving impetus to our creative processes. Improving quality of life.

Faith.

Following Christ, who is Lord of all, despite present-day evidence to the contrary.

Hebrews 11:1, which has served as our mid-week Lenten verse for the theme “By Faith”. Look it up and memorize it. That’s your “homework”! It will help you be more than a fair-weather, “gimmie” kind of Christian. I’m not a fan of churches that don’t observe Lent because it’s “too depressing”, or doesn’t lend itself to “homeboy”, bumper sticker praise choruses. We confront, apprehend our need for God’s grace. I pray that the Holy Spirit will help us be honest with ourselves, to do the difficult yet necessary work of repentance. Don’t be a fan, be a follower all the way to the cross. It is where, first and foremost, we see God’s unconditional love.

Pastor Art

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.  Use them well to serve one another.”  Peter 4:10

Some of you have recently taken the two-session course on Your Spiritual Gifts.  I hope you found it has enlightening as I did.  Yes, each of us has been blessed with spiritual gifts, but our gifts are unique to us.  Praise God that he has not made us all identical.   How unfortunate it would be if all of us had the gift of generosity, but no one could sing.  Or perhaps all of us were gifted with leadership, but no one had a deep faith.  God works in mysterious ways, giving his gifts to each and every one of us.

I’d like to think I have the gift of stringing a few words together to write a blog, though some of you may rightly disagree.  But I don’t have the strength to clean or care for the church and its property.  I may offer comfort to those who are suffering, but leadership is not in my toolbox.   It seems to me that when we volunteer for tasks that match our spiritual gifts, we are happy in serving and find the work rewarding.  If we volunteer for tasks outside our personal gifts, we may find ourselves frustrated and overwhelmed.   

Life is an adventure.  Ponder and pray about the gifts God has given you.   Are you a natural leader, a talented musician, gifted with artistic talents, a teacher, a speaker, naturally generous, strong in your faith, eager to be merciful, blessed with the gift of servanthood, or are your talents in the kitchen?  These and many more gifts have been freely given to us.  Why?  So that we may serve one another.

Praise God for his Wisdom.

Judy

Do you consider yourself a strong warrior? So many folks these days are “work-out-aholics” and have the strength of Godzilla. (My youngest son is in the gym for his mega workout every day at 5:30 a.m., before he showers and heads off to work.  Whew!)

Romans 12:1-2 (in The Message version of the Bible) tells us: “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Ok, Paul does not suggest that each of us must be physically fit, nor does he say we must be so well-read that we are head of the class in knowledge, what he does stress is if we give ourselves to God, focusing our attention on Him, His strength will be within us.

Let’s face it, life is filled with tough battles. They might slam you when you are 10, or 14, or 39, or 81.  Life isn’t a lovely bed of roses for anyone. However, you can focus on God and offer each of your days to Him. He will enable His followers to be strengthened by Him and become His strongest warriors. Our God, who loves you unconditionally, awaits you. Offer Him your day, each and every day. Trust Him and He will bring out the very best of you. Your tough battles will be handled by God as your commander and you as His strong warrior.

Jill

I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from
the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 NIV

Can you visualize yourself and God together? Walking together, working together,
tackling every challenge together and rejoicing together…forever? Can you visualize
yourself with the kind of hope and belief that the above scripture promises us?

Hope is not simply wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation rooted in God’s
character. Time and time again we read in the Bible that He provides, protects and
sustains His people. Remember how he cared for Elijah in the wilderness, guided
Moses through impossible circumstances and carried Noah through the flood? He
continues to care for us today in the same way.

Living with hope changes how we face challenges. Instead of being overwhelmed, we
can move forward with peace that God is in control. When we trust Him, we are freed
from constant worry and reminded that our lives are held in His hands.
Trust God’s word and His power more than you trust your own feelings and
experience.

Remember, God loves you unconditionally.

He is the Rock in Christ,
and it is the sea that ebbs and flows, not Him. Lettie Cowman

Remember this formula: God’s strength + your trust = victory. Thanks be to God!

Patty