New Life UMC

Our God (Crazy Love) – for the past six weeks we have focused in on our God. Our God who has a Crazy Love for us. We’ve spent the entirety of Lent trying to understand what our response to that love should be. Now we come to Easter Eve and we have the opportunity to remind ourselves of the saving work our God has done throughout history.

: For the last several weeks we have been looking at God’s crazy love for us and asking the question, “How should we respond?” Some of the answers may have shocked you. Some of them may have challenged you. You may think that being totally in love with God is a pipe dream, but it isn’t. This week at New Life we are going to talk about some people who have lived life with crazy love. We are also going to take a good look at the ultimate example, Jesus Christ, who lived as one of us and was totally in love with God and is in love with each of us. This “Palm Saturday” we will remember just how much Christ loved us.

Do you obsess much? I do. I obsess about the bills that need to be paid. I obsess about the work that needs to be done. I obsess about my health and wellbeing. But do I obsess about God? A few weeks ago we profiled the “lukewarm” follower of Christ. This week at New Life we are going to do a 180 and profile the “obsessed” follower of Christ. What would it really look like if we were totally in love with God? What would our priorities be? How would our lives be different? The answers may just surprise you. Come and join us and see what living new life in Jesus Christ truly means.

Are you ready to experience new life in Jesus Christ? Are you ready to experience the kind of crazy love God has for you? The first step is fairly simple: ask Christ to come into your life and bring you that new life. He will help you love him more! I experience that crazy love on a daily basis, but it calls me to respond with crazy love. Jesus said that to truly love God we have to love our neighbors. This week we are going to look at some of the ways we can express our love for God. These acts of love may challenge you; but God has so much more in store than what you already have!

The God of all creation loves you with a crazy love! Yet we respond to that love with half-hearted, lukewarm attempts and signs of affection. If we truly want to be in love with God we have to give of ourselves completely. But how can we do that? We are so distracted by the things of this world, by our own desires, our needs, and the stress of life that we cannot ever seem to be completely in love with God. But there is Good News! This week we are going to talk about how to enter into a lasting relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It may just change your life.

Being Lukewarm – the Revelation of John was written around 100 AD; just decades after Jesus died. Even by then there were people who called themselves Christians; but whom God described as “lukewarm”, neither hot nor cold. The following are characteristics of the lukewarm Christian. I warn you; you may not like what you are about to hear.

“Stop Praying” – what if I told you to stop praying? What if I told you to stop talking at God and take a good hard look at who God is before you say another word? We live in a world of instant communication. We update our Facebook status whenever anything happens in our lives. We “Tweet” every few minutes and share with the world what we are having for dinner. Our relationship with God is no different; sometimes we do all of the talking. So before we delve too deep into Crazy Love let’s take a look at God.

Jesus’ Finders Five1.Mary – Jesus never forgot his mother, and even at the end he thought of her safety and well-being. By reaching out to her needs he reached out to her soul.2.Martha, Mary, Lazarus – Jesus loved his friends dearly and he recognized what each of them needed. Martha needed reason and rationale. Mary needed a shoulder to cry on, and tears to share in. Lazarus needed to be brought back to life! 3.Zacchaeus – Jesus knew Zacchaeus had lost his way, and hiding in the back of the crowd Jesus could have passed him by without a second thought, but Jesus called him out, gave him a name, and allowed him to be found again.4.Sick Man – Jesus saw a man who had been completely forgotten about. Unlike Zacchaeus he had not become lost on his own accord, others had lost him. Jesus found him, healed him of his illness and led him towards salvation.5.Samaritan Woman – Jesus often reached out to those others forsake, and the woman at the well was among them. Her community had abandoned her and she lived with so much guilt and shame she went to the well at the worst possible time of day, so she wouldn’t have to encounter anyone else. Jesus met her where she was and offered her an amazing gift. This forsaken woman was the first one to proclaim the Good News besides Jesus.