Element Christian Church of Santa Maria

We have all been like Judah at some point.

• We have been separated from God (like Joseph and His family) and Jesus died in our place to bring us together,

• We should have been punished like Simeon and the brothers, but Jesus was punished in our place

• We should have DIED, but what we have received, by trusting in Jesus, is His harvest of righteousness.

We are to be dependent on Jesus, but not in a passive way. We’re active, but not in an independent way. It’s active dependence on Jesus.

“…We believe that the central meaning of the Resurrection is victory. Thus our traditional image is more vibrant and noisy, and it rings with a victorious shout. The Resurrection is a victory over sin, death, and the devil, and a victory over the dark forces that enslave us, despise us, and wish to destroy us.”

Resurrection says, He is not here, but has risen which means that tomorrow doesn’t have to be the same as today.

Ascension says, why do you stand looking into heaven? It is not a loss of Jesus’ leadership, but a magnification of it.

The great gift of the Christian life is that Jesus connects us to God through the Holy Spirit. The World needs Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us, and we need to come humbly and serve and bless those around us so they will learn about God.

Why does God not answer prayers with a “yes” whenever we ask?

1) You are praying, but the request may be off, and in those times, and God says, “No.”

2) Sometimes the request may not be a bad one in itself, but timing may be off.

3) Sometimes people ask for really good things with really good hearts, and that prayer does not get answered, and there is not a human answer “why”.

This story shows that there is room in God’s family for the worst of us.

Because we have a groaning God, we have great hope.

Providence is understating that God made everything and everyone, and He is still involved. Not only is He still involved, He also rules over history.

Better than the gift is the giver of the gifts. Better than the things He gives is the person He is. We need to love not just what God gave, but who He is.

In the book City of God, Augustine says we need a well ordered heart. His definition of well ordered was “Loving the right thing, to the right degree, in the right way, with the right kind of love.”