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Alleluia - 17 April 2022
Part 1 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
I have two challenges for you this Easter and this Easter season. First, come to God as you are. Bring to God whatever you are thinking, whatever you are ashamed of, and whoever you are now. All that God cares about is the direction you are facing; whether you are turned away from or towards God. God does not care how far or how close you are. After you resolve both to face God and to be honest with God, your next challenge is this: Believe God. This is the hardest one. It is hard to believe God when there is a world of evil, hate, and suffering all around you. It is hard to believe God when people die due to senseless acts of violence, especially when it is someone or somewhere close to your heart. But Jesus did not promise believers a life absent from suffering. Jesus promised eternity in heaven for all who believe, but warned that the road on earth would be difficult. The road on earth tries to get us to turn away from God. And sometimes it succeeds. We envision the day when God’s kingdom will reign both in heaven and on earth, but that day is not today. We are set here to be the little bit of God’s kingdom that we can be. When you realize that you cannot control the world, but you can control your reaction to it and how you interact with the world, I think that means that you believe in the power and the grace of God. You know that you cannot change the world in a day, but you can change the heart or attitude of maybe ten people in your life just by being pleasant, kind, and a generally positive person. And those ten people can then go on and make their impact on a hundred people. Some of you may recall the story of a boy throwing starfish back into the water. They had all washed up on the beach. When the boy is asked why he is doing this, because he cannot possibly help all of the starfish dying on the beach, the boy responds by picking one up, throwing it into the sea and saying, “I made a difference for that one.” Believe in God, one smile at a time.
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By Bryan NiebanckPart 1 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
I have two challenges for you this Easter and this Easter season. First, come to God as you are. Bring to God whatever you are thinking, whatever you are ashamed of, and whoever you are now. All that God cares about is the direction you are facing; whether you are turned away from or towards God. God does not care how far or how close you are. After you resolve both to face God and to be honest with God, your next challenge is this: Believe God. This is the hardest one. It is hard to believe God when there is a world of evil, hate, and suffering all around you. It is hard to believe God when people die due to senseless acts of violence, especially when it is someone or somewhere close to your heart. But Jesus did not promise believers a life absent from suffering. Jesus promised eternity in heaven for all who believe, but warned that the road on earth would be difficult. The road on earth tries to get us to turn away from God. And sometimes it succeeds. We envision the day when God’s kingdom will reign both in heaven and on earth, but that day is not today. We are set here to be the little bit of God’s kingdom that we can be. When you realize that you cannot control the world, but you can control your reaction to it and how you interact with the world, I think that means that you believe in the power and the grace of God. You know that you cannot change the world in a day, but you can change the heart or attitude of maybe ten people in your life just by being pleasant, kind, and a generally positive person. And those ten people can then go on and make their impact on a hundred people. Some of you may recall the story of a boy throwing starfish back into the water. They had all washed up on the beach. When the boy is asked why he is doing this, because he cannot possibly help all of the starfish dying on the beach, the boy responds by picking one up, throwing it into the sea and saying, “I made a difference for that one.” Believe in God, one smile at a time.