Responding To Jesus

Today we celebrated Palm Sunday at New Life Covenant Church. Pastor Brad welcomed us and reminded us that it was no ordinary Sunday. Today ushers in the events of Holy Week. Two thousand years ago Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, showing the world that His was a different kind of kingdom. Other kings might be carried in or ride in on chariots. The character of His kingdom was in stark contrast to these others.

Announcements began with a reminder that the Good Friday worship service will be at 7:00 p.m. On Easter there will be no Sunday school, and we will instead have a breakfast from 9-10 followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for the young.

If you are still interested in having a "Secret Sister" contact Joanne Winship.

And there is still a need for five more volunteers to donate blood in April.

Susie brought some of the bowls to show what some of you in our church family made in her studio for the Empty Bowl Project, which raises money for the hungry in Duluth.

Before entering into a time of worship we enjoyed a skit about the meaning of Hosanna, which people were shouting during the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. The skit was a perfect lead in to the reading of this passage from Luke 19 beginning at verse 28, the commencement of what has come to be known as Holy Week.

Responding To Jesus

Two thousand years ago this day began in a very extraordinary way. No one would have guessed that but a few days later it would end at a tomb. Numerous themes crowd around the events of Holy Week. One that Pastor Brad noted today was that our busy lives are not altogether dissimilar from the chaotic crush of crowds in Jerusalem at that time. And in the midst of all this activity, it is possible for us to miss the significant moments just as the Lord's disciples did at that time.

Today's message was striking in its both its simplicity and its brevity. Brad asked, "Will we recognize Him and crown Him King?"

It's hard to imagine the excitement of that first Holy Week beginning with what is now known as Palm Sunday. Two million people jammed the city of Jerusalem for the Passover. And only a few days earlier Jesus raised a man named Lazarus from the dead. Word was spreading that this Jesus was coming to town. When Jesus appeared riding on the back of a donkey, Zechariah's prophesy came readily to mind of a Messiah who would deliver His people arriving in this manner.

The emotional crescendo as He came to the road that went down the Mount of Olives must have been remarkable as the crowd of disciples praised God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. This was a scene like nothing that anyone had ever seen before. Something extraordinary was about to happen.

Yet, even in the midst of all this, the disciples were distracted by their own inward issues and self-absorbed lives. You can see this, Brad said, in the way that they came to Jesus asking him about details like, "uhm, Jesus, where do you want us to go prepare the Passover supper?" It would seem they were more preoccupied with details and were missing the significance of the moment.

Just the day before Jesus told them He was going to be handed over to the authorities, mocked, flogged and crucified. Still, the disciples failed to grasp this. Jesus was fully conscious that these were the men to whom he would be handing over the baton of leadership. These were His final hours. Jesus not only knew He was going to die, but how he was going to die. He knew He would endure not only the physical suffering, butu would bear the sins of the world and experience a separation from the Father.

"Excuse me, Jesus, like, have you made plans for the Passover yet?" Jesus could have been annoyed that these, his closest friends, were so clueless and distracted by trivialities.

Brad turned this around to us. "Are you so distracted by life's business that you miss the significant moments?"

During that first Holy Week the disciples were distracted, but Jesus still invited them to be with Him. Jesus wants to spend time with you, too.

Brad concluded by encouraging us not to miss these moments. Read your Bible this week and acknowledge what Jesus has done for you. We worship a living Savior and a living Lord. God is inviting distracted people to be with Him on this extraordinary week.

At this we turned to celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Keep the Line Tight

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Brad's welcome this morning included a reminder that next week is Palm Sunday and that it is already the fifth Sunday in Lent, which is traditionally a time of reflection, repentance and renewal. "Do you want to get well?" he asked again, which is the theme he has been returning to in various ways these past several weeks. It begins, he said, by admitting we are spiritually busted. Then we surrender, our lives and our wills, to God. Taking a fearless moral inventory was his theme two weeks ago, and last week he spoke of forgiveness, both the need to extend it toward others and to ask for it.

Today's message would be about what is involved in walking down a new street in your life, and the kinds of shoes you will want or need.

Announcements
1. Eric and the youth group will be filling Easter eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids Easter morning. If you bring the candy, they will fill the eggs.
2. Joanne W. will be managing the Secret Friend planning this year. If you have an interest in being a secret friend, see Joanne to sign up before the end of the month.
3. The Women's Ministry took half the money from its rummage sale to support Break the Chains, a ministry aimed at fighting human trafficking.
4. The discount rates for early registrants for Covenant Park summer camp will end soon. Please get your $50 deposit to Cheryl Borndal by next week if you have a child you plan to send to camp.
5. Now that Caribou Lake School fell through as a consideration for our future, the building committee is meeting to discuss plans going forward. There will be a congregational meeting in May for the purpose of visioning.

Darlene played the classic hymn "He Hideth My Soul" for an introit today. A very special rendition, as usual. The choir came forward and ushered us into worship with "Beneath the Cross of Jesus."

The Scripture reading today was John 12:1-8, read by Paula Saxon. A time of prayer followed. It was especially good to see Joe and Arlene back with us after a long winter. (A praise!)

Keep the Line Tight

Those who fish know what this means. Keeping tension on the line is important in order to keep the fish on the hook.

Pastor Brad started by sharing a poem by Porsche Nelson called An Autobiography in Five Short Chapters.

Chapter 1
I walk down the street and there’s a deep hole in the sidewalk, I fall in, I am lost, I am helpless, It isn’t my fault, It takes me forever to find my way out.

Chapter 2
I walk down the same street and there’s a deep hole in the sidewalk, I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again, I can’t believe that I’m in the same place but it isn’t my fault. It takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3
I walk down the same street there’s a deep hole in the sidewalk, I see that it is there, I still fall in, it’s a habit, my eyes are open, I know it’s my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter 4
I walk down the same street there’s a deep hole in the sidewalk, I walk around it.

Chapter 5
I walk down another street.

"My prayer," Brad said, "is that some of you have started down a different street" during this Lenten season. It is interesting how something so simple and amusing can contain such profound understanding.

Citing II Corinthians 5:17, we were reminded that the Scripture talk much about being a "New Creation" and taking a new direction, being a new person and by extension walking in new shoes down a new path.

Today's message stemmed in part from a discussion Brad had with some men last week after church regarding shoes as a metaphor. How do new shoes feel? Sometimes not as comfortable as what we were used to initially. New ways feel different.

So it is with a new life. How do you keep walking in a new direction? Brad used various shoes to illustrate the facets of our new life in Christ so that we could walk in the freedom God intended for us. But first, some of the potholes that can trip us up. It's that time of year when we're painfully aware of the potholes in our roads.

1) Willpower. To get out of the holes we're in we need God's help. Will power is not enough. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord."

2) Don't wait to start feeling good to start doing good. Choose the right thing and do it. The feelings will catch up. Major changes do not always feel good at first.

3) Perfection is another pothole that trips us up. Don't focus on perfection. Focus instead on taking one step at a time toward your goal. You have one decision to make -- commitment to walk a new life -- followed by a day-to-day process. Matthew 6:34 says don't worry about tomorrow, worry about this moment.

4) Surround yourself with people who will lift you up and not bring you down. Galatians 5:7 says, "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?" Don't allow old ties to leave you tangled up. "Bad company corrupts good morals." (I Corinthians 15:33)

I Peter 4:3-5 says, "For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 5But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." If you're going to walk in a new direction, you can't worry what old friends think.

In Romans 12:1-2 Paul writes that transformation has two components. God's part is to transform us. The Greek word here is metamorpho, the same root as when a caterpillar is metamorphosed into a butterfly. Our part is to renew our minds. To fill our thoughts with God's thoughts.

We need to make new ruts or we'll continue to be stuck in our old ones. It is a daily choice we make to renew our minds.

And now to the shoes.

First, before putting on our shoes, we need to learn how to kneel. We came shoeless before God, beginning our day on our knees. "Be still and know that I am God." Surrender to His leadership, daily.

As a symbol of this daily surrender Brad showed us a pair of slippers. It is to be an honest communion between us and God, daily. He cited several important passages. In Psalm 39 the psalmist writes, "Search me, O God, and know my heart." Psalm 19 addresses this theme in a similar way. And Galatians 6:4 invokes us to test our actions to see where we're at.

Flip flops speak to us about relaxing with God. Friendship with God should be a time of feeling hood in His presence. Take a vacation from being at the center of the universe.

Some of us are in bondage to worry, and flip flops invite us to a more carefree stance. Philippians 4:6-7 states, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The next show Brad shared was a pair of wingtips. Though wingtips seem a bit geeky to some, there's nothing geeky about seeking knowledge. Psalm 119:92-93 states,
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.

Brad is working on a bathroom re-modeling project. It's not enough to pull the old wallpaper off. You have to fill in the new surface with substance to make it what it needs to be.

Brad then showed a pair of clogs and equated them to dancing and inward joy. We need to inwardly celebrate our victories.

Finally, he pulled out a pair of cletes. These, he said, speak of battle. Battles will come. The enemy will try to trip us up. To combat this, Paul admonishes us to put on the armor of God.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Brad chose cletes because they are associated with team sports. Our battles are not to be isolated. We go through these together. He then cited the popular song by Bill Withers, "Lean on me... when you're not strong, I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on."

Brad couldn't find a pair, but he liked the name of a brand of Nike shoes called Nike Free. "I want to live free," he said. "Free to be what God intended me to be. I want to walk free every day."

He then appealed to us to place everything we do before God. Everything. This is freedom. This is life, walking free with purpose and passion in your life. Do you want to get well?

Our closing hymn was appropriately, "I Want To Walk As A Child of the Light."