Enchanted
As women, I think we often revel in fairy tales. We long for the same kind of love that breaks spells, defies odds, and ends on that high note with everything working out perfectly. But I'm not sure that we would actually want to live through the fatal flaws, choices, and battles that these same characters endure. The crazy thing is, God has already written our fairy tale love story and YOU are the main character! And this one is not some made-up story to make you wish your life was better. God is enchanted by YOU and He sent His son, Jesus, to literally DIE for you. So many of us have heard it over and over and sometimes I think it can become mundane. So let me say it again: The King of the universe, Creator, became a creation so that he could die for YOU, pay the penalty of the curse of sin, and rise from the grave to conquer death once and for all. Did you catch that? He did it all for love. That deep, enduring, end-on-the-high-note kind of love that cannot be broken, shaken, reversed, or revised. Agape. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).
Alisha Keating
Processing Pain
Seventeen years ago my dad took his last breath on earth and entered the glorious presence of his Creator. It seems like yesterday that he was coaching my twin's baseball team and driving his ‘68 Charger down Cruisin’ Grand. We still miss him dearly.
I can vividly remember his memorial service. It was a celebration of a life lived wholeheartedly for Jesus. We rejoiced in his life and the fact that he was fully complete with his Savior and Lord. But the time that followed revealed the depths of the pain of loss. Following the service, dozens of family members and friends brought food over to my parent's home, and the time of sharing continued. My mom loved being surrounded by people and found comfort in the company of many. Meanwhile, another close family member retreated to the bedroom in despair, bothered by the dozens of guests, and longing to grieve in quiet and solitude. I remember being somewhat baffled by both responses and probably just overwhelmed with caring for four kids under the age of 8.
This illustration makes me think of the differences between Mary and Martha as they grieved their brother Lazarus. Luke 11:20 says, “So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.” Martha ran to Jesus and pleaded with him for Lazarus’ life. Mary sat alone, weeping over her brother. Throughout history, these two women have received more scrutiny than most Hollywood actresses! Was one wrong? Was one, right? Could it be that both were perfectly demonstrating who God had created them to be? This passage does not communicate judgment regarding a right or wrong way to grieve. Death is not part of God’s design. It’s sad, it’s painful, and it reminds us of our humanity. But death does happen in our broken world and grief is the natural response. What grief looks like though is unique to the one doing the grieving. Mary and Martha both felt free to grieve as they were naturally inclined, with the assurance that Jesus, their Rabbi, would love them just as they were.
Fourteen years later my mom joined my dad in glory. It was then that I realized that both my mom and the other family members were the healthier ones; embracing grief in their own personal ways. Losing a second parent often triggers repressed emotions that may have existed with the loss of the first one. It was in losing my mom that I found space to fully grieve my dad. I finally allowed myself the freedom of grieving both parents whom I dearly loved and desperately missed.
Pastor Chip Whitman used to say, “grief will wait”. I have seen this to be true for myself and for many others. Sometimes our souls are in so much agony that we just don’t know how to approach grief. Jesus says in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” God longs to bring comfort to those who are grieving no matter where they are in the process. He feels our sorrows and he weeps with us.
Are you grieving a loss today? Do you feel like you can approach your Abba with honesty no matter how ugly it may feel? Are you willing to receive his comfort? If you are feeling stuck in your grief, please reach out to the Care & Counseling Department. We would love to walk with you in your journey of grief. Most importantly, call out to your God. He longs to bring you comfort and peace.
Lynette Fuson
Director of Care & Counseling
Confidence and Disappointment
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” - John 11: 21-22
Being familiar with someone is a wonderful thing, you get to see behind the curtain of a person. You get to know their strengths and weaknesses and all the knowable reasons they do things. It takes time and attention to get to know someone enough to have confidence in who they are and what they will do. Disappointment comes when your priorities differ, although your confidence in the person tells you they will act according to familiar comfortable patterns.
Martha’s disappointment and her confidence were both on display, real and raw. On one hand, her grief was palpable as she expressed scathing disappointment, placing the blame for Lazarus’s death squarely on Jesus. And then in almost the same breath, she expresses her confidence in Jesus’s character and his power. She was remarkably familiar with Jesus’s compassion for people because she had seen it repeatedly. And now that Jesus had arrived, things would somehow change for the better.
I wonder, how much confidence do we have in Jesus? Jesus is now continually with us through the Holy Spirit, so we’ll never have to say, “If only you were here”. He is also no less compassionate and no less powerful. Every power is subject to him as he sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, and he proved his eminent compassion on the cross. I’d therefore suggest we should have enough confidence in Jesus to last a lifetime.
Disappointment can come when our expectations diverge from the Lord’s plans. Unfortunately, we don’t know God’s plans most of the time. Martha didn’t know Jesus was going to use the death of Lazarus to accomplish one of the most astounding miraculous feats in scripture. God doesn’t owe us an inside track to what he’s up to. He wants us to simply trust and obey.
Martha was about to witness something spectacular! I wonder, are we expecting to witness God’s power at the end of our frustrations as well? We have to trust that God is at work for our good and his own excellent purposes. Think about all the things he’s done to make it easy to trust him. We have a gorgeous latticework of promises; we have been given the victorious ending of creation’s story; we have the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us, and the supernatural living Word that declares God’s heart for us throughout the ages. Not to mention everlasting life in complete perfection. I think we can trust him, how about you?
Jonathan Duncan
Halftime Conclusions
I make no bones about it, I am a diehard Denver Bronco fan! Go, Russel Wilson! Like any fan, I’ve suffered through disappointing seasons and painful games. It looked like the game on October 15, 2012, was going to be one such game. The Broncos were down 24-0 at the half and their team looked overmatched. I thought about turning the game off, but boy am I glad I didn’t. In the second half of the game, Peyton Manning led the Broncos to score 35 unanswered points and the Broncos won 35-24… to the glory of God. :)
I learned a valuable lesson that day. Never draw an ultimate conclusion in the middle of the story. Never assume you know the ending in the middle. What I’ve noticed is that we have a tendency to do that in life as well - and every time we do, we limit what we think God can do. Jesus didn’t want his disciples to do that, so when they heard that Lazarus was sick, he told them, “This sickness is not to end in death.”(John 11:4, NASB) That word “end” means, “to terminate or reach its final conclusion.” Jesus didn’t say, “Lazarus won't die…” what he said is, “death won’t be the end.” It’s like Jesus is calling his followers not to turn life off in the middle of the story because there is a glorious ending that they could never imagine.
On Sunday, we made the point that because of what Jesus has done we can remain confident in the middle of the story because we know how the story ends. What a great truth. It doesn’t mean we'll always know exactly what Jesus is doing in our lives. It doesn’t mean we will live free from pain. It doesn’t mean everything will eventually work out this side of heaven. It means we are assured that resurrection is our final reality and ought to give us hope in the often painful middle of our story.
We live in the middle, but take heart, friends, we know the end! I don’t know all that you’re walking through today, but I want to encourage you to take a moment to remember one day Jesus will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things, have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) That’s our end, so let’s remain faithful and confident in the middle.
Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor
When Jesus Waits
“So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” - John 11:6
This has always struck me as an interesting little anecdote. On hearing that his good friend Lazarus was gravely ill, Jesus waits for two days. It doesn’t say that Jesus needed to work on something for two more days. It doesn’t tell us that Jesus couldn’t leave for some other important ministry reason. It is written with absolutely no excuses, as if Jesus, the great healer, just decided to get a little rest in while his friend slowly passed away. I’ve often thought that this might not be the best example for us when trying to “live like Jesus.” When a crisis hits, when someone really needs your help, this passage might not be the best place to turn with the question WWJD? What would Jesus do? Because what Jesus does here is not what we would or should do.
You see, Jesus isn’t giving them a lesson on Pastoral Care. He’s got a much bigger lesson in store for them! In verses 14-15, Jesus explains exactly what that lesson is when he tells his confused disciples plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.” Did you catch that? Jesus is glad that someone died?! Now, clearly, he isn’t glad because his friend died, or he wouldn’t weep about it later. Instead, he is glad because of the opportunity his death will give him to teach us something way more valuable than momentary happiness. You see, in this scenario, Jesus could have made his disciples and Lazarus’ family a whole lot happier if he would have hurried over and healed. But he didn’t because he had a purpose in his waiting. Jesus chose to not rush in and save the day so that he could teach his followers what it means to believe. He wanted to teach them about the nature of faith.
The truth is, whether we like it or not, faith and waiting go hand in hand. Jesus knew he would not be around forever in the flesh to fix all their problems at the drop of a hat. He knew most of life, especially the life of faith, involves waiting and hoping for what we don’t quite see yet (see Hebrews 11:1). Sure enough, we often find ourselves waiting for justice, waiting for reconciliation, and waiting for healing. In fact, most of the time we are still waiting. I don’t know about you, but most of the time when I pray for healing, it doesn’t seem to come. At least not yet. And not here. But I think Jesus’ point is we can’t hold him to our timeline. You see, faith is not just the belief that Jesus can, but the hope that he will one day when he wants to, on his timeline. And sure enough, we can have confidence that he will because he did. We know the same power that raised Lazarus from the grave, and the same power that later raised Jesus from the grave will eventually raise our feeble bodies, giving us ultimate healing. But until then we wait. Let’s be thankful that we can wait with confidence.
Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor
Suffering and Glory
It’s super hard and usually feels downright impossible. I’m guilty of it, and I know many of us could raise our hands and join the “guilty” club. Our minds know the Truth, but our hearts really struggle to align with our heads when it comes to tragedy, loss, or struggle. It’s hard to let the Truth breathe when what we’re feeling wants to suffocate us.
We all know tragedy, loss, or struggle in some way, shape, or form. We cannot escape the experience of it living in a fallen world. Maybe it’s the death of someone that feels like their heartbeat is the same as ours, or it’s a diagnosis that is changing the trajectory of life as we know it, or maybe it’s watching a loved one hit rock bottom. No matter the tragedy or struggle we find ourselves at the end of our rope, with uncontrollable tears, or anger, asking the “why”? Why God do I have to experience this gut-wrenching awful thing.
And God gently says….it’s for His glory (John 11:4; Romans 8:28). I don’t know about you, but I know for me, it makes me shift. It forces me to shift my perspective. God doesn’t want us to deny the struggle or the hurt. He wants us to run to Him and pour our hearts out. But I think our perspective matters. Let me explain…
My family went through a tragic loss a few years ago. In an effort to help our kids process the loss, we shared with them the sadness that we felt and that it was ok to feel those emotions. And we also said that we know God works everything together for our good. So even though this felt like a loss to us, we were gonna keep our eyes open to see what God was going to do. We were going to be on the lookout because God said He would bring good from it.
Something about that has stuck ever since when I encounter tragedy or loss. I am hurting and aching and run to Jesus and tell Him I hurt, and that I am going to wait and be watchful of what He’s going to do through it.
When we shift our perspective we can begin to see all kinds of amazing things that we might have missed had we not been looking. Things like loved ones coming to Jesus, restored relationships, a better opportunity than we could’ve imagined, a deeper relationship with Jesus in our own lives, a revealing of something we were missing, clarity on a decision, the ability to encourage another soul that is hurting. The list could go on.
Our peace in the midst of the storm is to know that God will ultimately work all things together for good. So let’s stay watchful and see what God will bring. (Psalm 27:13-14)
Bonnie Nichols
Women’s Ministry Specialist
Growing Through the Pain
John 11: 1 “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha . . .”
Jesus had a special friendship with Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus (which means God’s helper). He didn’t drop everything and run to them immediately but stayed in the place where he was for two days, then he went back to Judea much to the consternation of his disciples who reminded him that the Jews had tried to stone him there. Jesus had his own perfect timing as does his Father and he had a plan that would end up bringing God glory. He knew what would happen to Lazarus and that Mary and Martha’s faith and trust would be increased along with many others when he raised Lazarus from the dead.
We might assume that IF God really loves us, our lives would be free from pain, whether physical or emotional. We also might grow impatient with Him when our prayers aren’t immediately answered the way we think they should be. If we pray for healing according to his will, shouldn’t we or whoever we are praying for be healed? I think most mature Christians know that God’s ways are higher than ours and his timing isn’t ours. He sees the big picture and holds all the pieces of the puzzle of life, we only see our tiny part of His big plan. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
In Pastor Ryan Lunde’s message a couple of weekends ago he said, “How else will you experience God’s comfort if you are not hurting?” He also said, “Hurting is a powerful opportunity to trust.” And trusting through hardship or pain grows our faith, doesn’t it? However, no one seeks pain or wants to deal with it, I know I don’t!
Some have experienced more pain than others, but when you reflect on those times can you see how your faith grew stronger, how God was glorified, and how you matured in your Christian walk?
I think God uses certain painful times that we go through to give us more compassion and empathy for people down the road we might then be able to help through a hard time. Having cancer gave me many opportunities and still does to minister to people who are going through a serious illness. To listen to, pray with and encourage them is a privilege. It’s also resulted in some very special friendships. I’m so grateful for those opportunities and friendships though cancer was a sometimes painful and scary journey. My faith and trust in His plan carried me through the hard times, God comforted me and gave me special peace.
If you are hurting in any way, we are here to help you walk the rocky path you find yourself on. You can email prayer@efcc.org or call the church and ask to speak to the Pastor on Duty or our Care & Counseling Department. We have many good listeners and we are here for you!.
Deb Hill
Executive Assistant
Judging Outsiders
"For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church
whom you are to judge? God judges those outside." - 1 Corinthians 5:12-13a
In my experience, having conversations with people from outside the church, I have noticed that most of them consider Christians very judgmental. They would say that we are self-righteous and lack compassion.
A few months ago, I was invited to do a memorial for one of my wife’s cousins. To be honest, when I received the invitation I was a little hesitant to participate and associate with some people I assumed would attend. For a couple of days, I thought and prayed through the whole situation. I was uncertain about doing the memorial because my wife’s cousin was openly gay and in a relationship with another man. After seeking discernment from the Lord, I felt a strong conviction to say yes, not only to support my wife’s family but to take it as an opportunity to share about Jesus.
As I reflected on my hesitation to say yes right away, I realized that I was questioning if it was worthwhile to minister at this memorial because of the sexual sin that the deceased practiced. In a way, I was judging my wife’s cousin and his partner for behaving in an unbiblical way, and I was tempted to act self-righteously; my thought process wasn’t very compassionate.
This week as I was studying 1 Corinthians 5, God reminded me of this event and in a way, He allowed me to share a brief testimony on how easy it is to be judgmental towards those who are not walking with the Lord. My guess is that I’m not the only one. I’m sure that my initial response to this situation is not uncommon. As followers of Jesus, we are constantly being tempted to act judgmental towards unbelievers for acting like unbelievers. But, according to the apostle Paul, judging outsiders is not our responsibility but God’s. Our responsibility is to get to know them, love them, serve them, and look for opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.
On the day of the memorial, about a hundred people showed up to this celebration of life. As expected, when I arrived at the small chapel the room was divided almost evenly into two different groups of people. On the right side of the room was my wife’s family and on the other side multiple gay couples who were friends of my wife’s cousin and his partner.
When the time came for me to share a message from God’s Word, the tension in the room was obvious. It felt to me as if half of the audience was very nervous as if they were expecting a judgmental sermon from the Bible. But as I began to share about “The God of All Comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3-4), everyone relaxed and became attentive. When I concluded I very respectfully and openly shared with this very interesting audience about the hope Jesus Christ offers to those who are willing to receive Him as Lord and Savior.
As the celebration of life ended, I had a chance to meet most of my wife's cousin’s friends. To my surprise, most of them mentioned how much they appreciated my words. When I had a chance to give my condolences to his partner, he hugged me and gave me thanks. Then, he gave me a present that I keep on my desk. I guess you get nice presents when you are not judgmental!
What I have learned is that instead of being judgmental towards those that don’t believe in Christ, I need to be more passionate about promoting purity within the church. Our responsibility is not to judge outsiders but to give them a taste of the Kingdom of God. My hope and prayer is that we may be the salt of the earth to those outside the church (Matt. 5:13). God bless!
Pastor Esteban Tapia
En Español Ministry
New Lump
Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. - I Corinthians 5:7
What’s happening in this verse? Why does Paul all of a sudden bring up a baking metaphor? And what’s so special about unleavened bread? In fact, what really is the difference between leavened and unleavened bread? Yes, I had to ask that question, because I know next to nothing about the baking end of the bread industry… my only real experience is in the consumption side of things. What I learned on the interwebs is that leavened bread is the delicious fluffy stuff and unleavened bread is the flat, often tasteless stuff. So, why are we the unleavened bread in this metaphor?
I don’t think that he wants Christians to be less appealing to the world. This is not a call to be boring, tasteless, and dry. I think there is something else going on and I think it has something to do with what makes leavened bread leaven… yeast. Most of the bread that we eat these days has yeast in it. But yeast is actually a single-celled organism that spreads throughout a lump of the dough causing the whole thing to rise. So, quite literally, yeast introduces a living organism into the mix, making the bread change. And not all of the change is good. One of the problems with leavened bread is that it doesn’t last very long. Once yeast gets added to the dough, it has to be cooked within 2 days, and then it can only last 4-5 days after being cooked. After that, it has to be thrown away. However, I found out that certain forms of unleavened Matzo bread can last for 5-10 years when properly stored!!
So, maybe this metaphor makes more sense now. Sin is like an organism that works through a community. Sure, sin might be a little exciting, it might be fluffy and bring some new flavors and tastes, but it will quickly kill a community. However, a community that quickly gets rid of the sin organism can become a source of healthy nourishment for years and years to come! This is who we are called to be! The yeast has been taken out of our lives because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, so let’s be quick to deal with sin whenever we see it. Let’s work hard to make sure that it doesn’t influence the whole lump. Let’s be a new lump!
Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor
Tough Love
From 1 Corinthians 5:1-5
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
I was contemplating Paul’s tough love when a youth pastor friend of mine posted this photo:
I like the message of the photo. I want to be a part of a church that emphasizes the gospel and not religion. When I contemplated the words in the photo compared to Paul’s message, at first it seemed that Paul’s edict was more like Religion than Gospel. Then it struck me, there is a reason the two scenarios are very different. The person Paul is referring to in 1 Corinthians 5 never says, “I messed up.” That person pretends that his sin is not sin. He pretends that he isn’t hurting his family or the church family.
God cares about us enough to discipline us. He cares about the church and doesn’t want the church to let sin spread through compromises and approval of sin.
It is helpful to understand what love is and the different ways love approaches life and helps people. Love doesn’t let children put knives into electrical outlets or puppies play in the street. Love protects and love is honest, not overlooking the dangers of sin.
Spend some time considering how this works in your life. Are you living like Paul, who calls “believers” out for sin and addresses it honestly in order to save the church and that person from continuing to live harmful lies? What would it take to love people like Paul does and call sin - sin?
Pastor John Riley
Junior High Pastor
