Come and See: The Invitation That Changes Everything

There is a moment in every person's life when something shifts. When the ordinary becomes extraordinary. When a simple conversation, a chance encounter, or an unexpected invitation opens a door to something far greater than anything you could have imagined on your own. The question is whether we recognize those moments when they arrive, and whether we are willing to step through the door when someone holds it open for us.

That is exactly what the Gospel of John captures in one of its most quietly powerful passages.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Call

In John 1:43-51, we find Jesus at the very beginning of his public ministry, calling his first disciples. What stands out immediately is not the dramatic nature of the scene, but the simplicity of it. Jesus finds Philip and says two words: "Follow me." No grand speech. No lengthy explanation. Just a direct, personal invitation to an ordinary man.

Philip was not a religious elite. He was not a scholar or a priest. He was ordinary. And yet Jesus chose him. This is one of the most encouraging truths woven throughout all of Scripture. Jesus consistently calls the ordinary. If you have ever felt too average, too broken, too unremarkable to matter in the grand story of God, this passage speaks directly to you. The very people Jesus tends to call are those who feel the least qualified.

What happens next is equally striking. Philip, having just encountered Jesus, does not sit quietly with the experience. He immediately goes to find his friend Nathanael. He cannot contain what he has just witnessed. He finds him and declares that they have found the one Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth.

The Skeptic and the Savior

Nathanael's response is worth pausing on. His reaction to Philip's announcement is blunt skepticism. He essentially questions whether anything of worth could possibly come from Nazareth. It is a very human response. We all carry assumptions. We all have places, people, or ideas we have already written off before giving them a fair hearing.

But Philip does not argue with him. He does not produce a theological defense or a list of credentials. He simply says, "Come and see."

Three words. That is the entire invitation. Come and see.

There is profound wisdom in that simplicity. Philip understood that no amount of convincing could substitute for a personal encounter with Jesus. He did not need to win the debate. He just needed to get Nathanael in front of Jesus and let Jesus do the rest.

And that is exactly what happened.

Fully Known, Fully Seen

When Nathanael approached Jesus, something remarkable occurred. Before Nathanael could introduce himself or say a word, Jesus spoke about him with an intimacy that stopped him cold. Jesus told him that he had seen him sitting under a fig tree before Philip had even called for him.

This detail is easy to read past, but it carries enormous weight. Jesus saw Nathanael before Nathanael saw Jesus. He knew him before Nathanael knew him. And not just his location or his appearance. Jesus spoke to the content of Nathanael's character, calling him a man in whom there is no deceit.

He saw the real Nathanael.

This connects to one of the oldest and most tender names given to God in all of Scripture. In Genesis 16, a woman named Hagar, cast out into the wilderness, alone and desperate, encountered God. In that moment she gave God a name: El Roi, the God who sees. She was astonished that God had seen her in her most unseen moment.

Jesus, in this encounter with Nathanael, is revealing that same characteristic. He is the God who sees. He sees you in the places no one else looks. He sees you in your private struggles, your hidden doubts, your quiet faithfulness. He sees you before you ever take a step toward him.

Nathanael's skepticism dissolved instantly. His response was immediate and total: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." The man who questioned whether anything good could come from Nazareth was now declaring Jesus to be the Son of God. One encounter. One moment of being truly seen. That was all it took.

The Invitation We Carry

This passage does not simply tell us a story about Philip and Nathanael. It hands us a responsibility.

Philip's invitation brought Nathanael to a life-altering moment. Think about that. One person chose to go find a friend and say, "Come and see." And because of that choice, Nathanael met Jesus. His entire life was redirected.

We carry the same invitation. The Great Commission recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 calls followers of Jesus to go and make disciples, to actively carry the message of Jesus to others. That commission does not belong exclusively to pastors or missionaries. It belongs to every person who has ever encountered Jesus and been changed by that encounter.

The mission field is not only overseas. It is in your workplace, your neighborhood, your family gatherings, your everyday conversations. There are people all around you who have not yet had their "come and see" moment. They may carry skepticism just like Nathanael did. They may have written off faith entirely. But they have not yet had someone sit across from them and simply say, "I want you to meet someone. Come and see."

You do not have to have all the answers. You do not have to be a theologian. Philip certainly did not offer Nathanael a dissertation. He offered him an invitation.

Where Will You Go?

The story of Philip and Nathanael leaves us with two questions worth sitting with long after we close our Bibles.

Where will you go? And who will you invite?

Jesus calls ordinary people. He sees us fully and loves us completely. And then he sends us back out, not to sit quietly with that gift, but to go and extend it to others. The same God who saw Nathanael under the fig tree sees the people in your life who are far from him. He knows them. He loves them. And he is inviting you to be the Philip in their story.

Come and see. Three words. They changed Nathanael's life.

They might just change someone else's too.

The Heart of the Father: A Love That Runs Toward You
There is a question that sits quietly in the back of many people's minds, one that rarely gets spoken out loud but shapes the way we think about God, about faith, and about ourselves. The question is this: Does God actually want me?

Not a cleaned-up version of me. Not the me that has everything figured out. Not the me that shows up on time, says the right things, and has not made a mess of anything recently. But the real me, the one with the history, the regrets, the doubts, and the failures.

The answer that Scripture gives us is not a polite, measured yes. It is a resounding, running, robe-throwing, ring-giving, party-starting yes. And understanding that answer has the power to change everything.

A Mission Rooted in Love
Before diving into the stories that reveal God's heart, it helps to understand the larger picture. In Matthew 28, Jesus gathered his followers and gave them what has come to be known as the Great Commission. He told them to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them and baptizing them, and he promised to be with them always. The word "commission" shares its root with the word "mission," and that is no accident. This was not a solo assignment handed down from above. It was a co-mission, a shared endeavor, an invitation to partner with God in the work he has always been doing in the world.

And what is that work? At its core, it is the work of reconciliation. It is the story of a God who was not content to watch his creation drift away but who entered into history, into flesh and bone, to do something about it.

Three Stories, One Heart
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories in a row, and they are not random. Each one builds on the last, moving from principle to personal, from concept to the deeply felt. And each one is aimed at revealing the same truth: God has a heart for the missing, and when the missing are found, heaven throws a party.

The first story is about a shepherd who has one hundred sheep and loses one. He does not shrug and tell himself that ninety-nine out of a hundred is a fine percentage. He leaves the ninety-nine and searches until he finds the one. When he does, he carries it home on his shoulders and calls his neighbors to celebrate.

The second story is about a woman who loses one of ten silver coins, each worth a day's wages. She lights a lamp, sweeps the entire house, and searches carefully until she finds it. And when she does, she calls her friends and tells them the news.

Both stories end the same way. There is joy. There is celebration. And Jesus makes the point explicit: in the same way, there is joy in heaven when even one person who was lost turns back toward God.

The Story That Changes Everything
The third story is the one that reaches deepest. A man has two sons. The younger one demands his inheritance early, which in that culture was essentially the same as saying to his father, "You are dead to me." He takes everything and leaves, wasting it all on a life that ultimately leaves him starving and alone, feeding pigs and wishing he could eat what they were eating.

Then something shifts. He comes to his senses. He remembers that even the servants in his father's house have enough to eat. He rehearses a speech, a humble, carefully worded plan to return not as a son but as a hired hand, because surely that is the best he can hope for.

What he does not know is that his father has been watching for him. Every day, scanning the road. And when the father finally sees his son coming, still a long way off, he does not wait. He runs. He throws his arms around his son. He calls for the finest robe, for shoes, for a ring. He orders a celebration. And the son never even gets to finish his speech.

This is the heart of the Father. Not a reluctant forgiveness doled out after sufficient groveling. Not a conditional welcome extended only after the right boxes are checked. But a love that runs toward you before you even make it all the way home.

The Other Son
But the story does not end there, and that is important. The older son, who stayed home and worked faithfully all those years, hears the celebration and refuses to go in. He is angry. He feels unseen and undervalued. And if we are honest, many of us understand that feeling. We have watched others receive grace that seemed unearned and felt a quiet sting of something we did not want to name.

The father goes to the older son too. He does not ignore him or dismiss his feelings. He goes out to him, just as he ran to the younger one. And he says something remarkable: "You have always been with me, and everything I have is yours."

The older son was never less loved. The father's pursuit of the missing one took nothing away from him. It simply revealed how great the father's love truly is.

An Invitation to Share the Heart
Here is where the stories stop being about other people and start being about us. Because Jesus is not just painting a picture of who God is. He is extending an invitation to become people who carry that same heart into the world.

This does not require a seminary degree or a memorized script. It does not require a dramatic testimony or a title. It requires simply living in such a way that the love of God becomes visible in the ordinary moments of ordinary days. In the conversations at work, at the lunch table, in the grocery store, in the hard places of family life.

We are not responsible for the outcome. God, through his Spirit, is the one who draws people to himself. We are simply called to love extravagantly, to run toward people the way the father ran toward his son, and to trust that love like that does not go unnoticed.

The mission is to the missing. And the missing are all around us, waiting to find out that the Father has been watching for them all along.

At IYC, our students experienced worship with thousands of their peers, powerful conversations, and moments that challenged them to make faith a daily priority, not just a weekend event.

Earl gave his life to Jesus (WOW GOD!!). Anthany is learning to let his love for God overflow into everything. Gracie discovered the power of serving others through simple acts like sharing pizza with the homeless. Each came back different, challenged to fight for real time with God and to share Jesus wherever they go.

These students reminded us that showing up matters. Even a simple "hello" can impact someone. When we prioritize Jesus, everything changes. Thank you to everyone who supported this trip through fundraising, prayers, support, and encouragement, your investment is changing lives in our students!

Chapters

• 0:00 - 7:16 Chapter 1: Introduction and Trip Highlights
  Anthany, Earl, and Gracie introduce themselves and share their favorite moments from the 2026 IYC trip through rapid-fire questions about the experience.
• 7:16 - 19:15 Chapter 2: Worship and Powerful Moments
  The students discuss their favorite worship songs and powerful moments from IYC, including Hosanna Wong's message and serving homeless people in Cincinnati.
• 19:15 - 28:10 Chapter 3: Life Transformation and Challenges
  Students share how God challenged them to change their lives, like developing consistent Bible reading habits, learning to see people through Jesus' eyes, and understanding how to maintain God's presence beyond special events.
• 28:10 - 33:40 Chapter 4: Community Impact and Ministry Focus
  The students explain why trips like IYC matter, emphasizing community building, discovering God's calling, and learning to bring Jesus into everyday life beyond mountaintop experiences.
• 33:40 - 36:17 Chapter 5: A Life-Changing Decision
  One student reveals he gave his life to Jesus at IYC, sharing how even his family noticed the change, and the group discusses prayer needs for the coming year.

The Power of Love: When Unity Becomes Our Testimony

There is something extraordinary that happens when brothers and sisters in faith live together in unity. The ancient Psalmist compared it to the refreshing anointing oil poured over the head of Aaron the high priest, a powerful image that signifies more than just comfort. In ancient Israel, the pouring of oil over someone's head marked the arrival of a new king. What does this tell us? That when God's people unite in genuine love, a new kingdom reality becomes visible to the watching world.

A Third Great Commandment

We are familiar with the greatest commandments: love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. But on the last night of His earthly ministry, Jesus added another command that deserves equal attention. Gathered in an upper room with His closest followers, knowing what lay ahead, He said: "A new command I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other."

This was not a casual suggestion. Jesus emphasized that our love for one another would prove to the world that we are His disciples. Not our theology. Not our programs. Not our buildings or our eloquence. Our love.

Legend tells us that the apostle John, who lived longer than any other disciple, was asked in his old age to share wisdom with a group of believers. They gathered expectantly, hoping to hear profound theological insights from one who had walked with Jesus. Instead, the aged apostle leaned forward and breathed one simple phrase: "Little children, love one another."

Whether or not this story is historically accurate, it rings true. John had heard Jesus speak these words. He had felt the depth of Christ's love, leaning his head on Jesus' chest at the Last Supper. He understood what mattered most.

The Foundation: Receiving Love First

Here is a truth we often overlook: you cannot give away what you do not have. Before we can love others with Christ's love, we must first let God love us.

This sounds simple, but it is profoundly challenging. Many of us struggle to believe that God could love us unconditionally. We know He loves others that way, we have heard it preached, we have read it in Scripture, but surely not us. Not when He knows everything about us. Not when we know our own faults and failures so intimately.

We say things to ourselves that we would never say to another person. That negative inner dialogue convinces us we are unworthy of the love we proclaim to others. But the message that "you are loved, no matter what" becomes empty and worthless if we do not receive it for ourselves first.

Notice what Jesus said: love your neighbor as yourself. This is not just about checking our selfishness. It is about recognizing that we cannot love others until we first let God love us and, in turn, love ourselves the way Jesus loves us. This is not narcissistic self-obsession, it is the humble recognition of how deeply we are loved, which transforms everything.

Becoming the Expression of God's Love

Once we receive God's love, something miraculous can happen: we can let God love through us.

In 1 John 4:11-12, we read: "Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God, but if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is brought to full expression in us."

Read that last phrase again: God's love is brought to full expression in us.

Just as Jesus was the incarnation of God's love during His earthly ministry, the church, His body, now serves that role. We are the living, breathing testimony to the absolute and unconditional love of God in the world. We are the full expression of God's love to our coworkers, neighbors, family members, and strangers we encounter.

The church becomes believable when God's love becomes visible among God's people.

What the World Sees

Here is an uncomfortable reality: many people today do not reject Jesus, they reject what they perceive about His followers. When asked about their relationship with Jesus, many respond, "Well, I don't go to church," as if the two are synonymous.

The watching world often believes that Christians hate them. Even worse, they believe Christians hate each other. They hear what we are against more than what we are for. They witness our divisions, our conflicts, our splits over minor disagreements. They see us fracture over political opinions, worship styles, and theological minutiae.

Meanwhile, the early church painted a radically different picture. Acts 2:42-47 describes believers who devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, sharing meals, and prayer. They met together daily. They shared everything they had, even selling property to help those in need. They worshiped together with great joy and generosity, praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all people.

And the result? "Each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved."

There is a correlation here. Their extravagant love for God and each other created space for God to multiply their numbers daily. People living in a world where no one seemed to care saw this radical, extraordinary love lived out in practical ways. They witnessed people who believed God loved them enough to do something about it, and who proved that love by doing something about it for others.

The Challenge Before Us

What if we actually did this? What if we devoted ourselves to loving each other with the same intensity the early church demonstrated?

How would it change your life if, every time you felt ticked off at someone, you chose to love them anyway? Not because you liked what they did or were not hurt by it, but because God loved you enough to die for you, so you can love them too.

How would it change your family? Your workplace? Your neighborhood?

Imagine if all the Christians in your community simply loved each other, across denominational lines, political differences, and personal preferences. What if we focused on what unites us rather than what divides us?

The church is not unified because we all agree with each other. Unity comes from something deeper: our shared identity in Christ. When we love each other despite our differences, we prove that God's love is real and powerful enough to overcome human division.

Doing It Together

There is a beautiful story about a young boy born without a left hand. In Sunday school, his teacher led the children in the familiar rhyme: "Here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors and see all the people." She asked everyone to do it together before realizing the boy with only a right hand couldn't. But before she could react, his friend immediately raised his left hand and said, "Let's do it together."

That is the picture. That is the call. Not isolated attempts at love, but joined lives, shared burdens, collective joy.

The stakes are too high for anything less. We cannot afford to be victims in God's story. The world needs to see that God's love is real, and they will see it when we love each other, radically, practically, sacrificially.

Let God love you. Then let God love through you. And watch what happens when love becomes visible.

Option 1: Let God Love You

• Spend 15 minutes in quiet prayer each day this week simply receiving God's love
• Write down 1 John 4:9-10 and read it daily, inserting your name
• Journal about what makes it hard to believe God loves you unconditionally
  
  

Option 2: Love Someone in the Church

• Identify one person in the church you do not know well and invite them for coffee or a meal
• Reach out to someone you have had tension with and take a step toward reconciliation
• Serve someone in a practical way this week (meal, help with a project, etc.)

Option 3: Make Love Visible

• Intentionally speak words of encouragement to 3 different people in the church this week
• Join a serving team or small group to deepen connections
• Pray daily for unity and love in our church

The Beautiful Truth: God is God, and I Am Not

There is a phrase that has the power to revolutionize everything about how we approach faith, how we experience peace, and how we navigate the chaos of daily life. It sounds simple, almost too simple. But within these seven words lies the foundation of authentic worship and genuine freedom:

God is God, and I am not.

When we strip away all the religious complexity, all the rituals and routines, we discover something profound. Christianity is not fundamentally about religion at all. It is about relationship. It is about discovering that the Creator of the universe invites us into intimate connection with Him, not through our performance or perfection, but through surrender and love.

The Heart of Everything

In Matthew 22, a religious expert tried to trap Jesus with a question designed to expose theological weakness. "Teacher," he asked, "what is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?"

Jesus did not hesitate. His answer cut through centuries of religious debate with stunning clarity: "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself."

Everything else flows from these two commands. The entire law, all the prophets' teachings, every spiritual principle, it all comes down to loving relationships. Our relationship with God. Our relationships with each other.

Jesus was quoting what Jewish children learned as one of their earliest prayers, the Shema from Deuteronomy 6: "Listen, O Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength."

This establishes the fundamental reality of existence: God is God. God alone is God. Everything begins with Him. Everything exists in Him. Everything belongs to Him.

Most of us can accept this truth relatively easily. We gather for worship, we read our Bibles, we pray—all because we acknowledge, at least intellectually, that God is God.

But the second part? That's where we struggle.

I am not.

The Struggle for Control

Admitting we are not in control feels like defeat. Surrender sounds like weakness. We have spent our entire lives learning to manage, to plan, to protect, to control our circumstances and our futures.

But what if surrender is not weakness at all? What if it is actually the pathway to the freedom we have been desperately seeking?

Consider the Apostle Paul's honest confession in Romans 7. He wrote with raw vulnerability about his own internal battle: "The things I want to do, I don't do. The things I don't want to do, those are the very things I do." Then comes his desperate cry: "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?"

Have you been there? Have you reached that point of exhaustion where all you can do is cry out for help? Where you finally admit that your best thinking, your best efforts, your best attempts at control have brought you to the end of yourself?

That place of desperation is not failure. It is actually the exact place you need to be for God to truly be God in your life.

When we come to the end of ourselves, we discover the beginning of Him.

The Moment Everything Changes

Picture this: a young man in recovery, sitting in a beat-up borrowed car on the side of a back road in Mississippi. He has just been unexpectedly released from rehab, heading to the next phase of his treatment. For one of the first times in his life, he realizes he is not in control, and somehow, that is okay.

Suddenly, he is overwhelmed with a single thought directed toward God: You knew.

The whole time he thought nobody knew him, nobody cared, God had been intimately involved in every detail. God knew before he was born that there would come this moment when everything would change, when he would finally understand that God is God and he is not.

The weight of that realization, the intimacy of being known so completely by the Creator of the universe, was so powerful that he had to pull over. Sitting alone in that car, tears streaming down his face, he experienced one of the most profound worship services of his life.

No music. No congregation. No ritual. Just a heart finally surrendering to the God who had been pursuing him all along.

The Relief on the Other Side

Here is what is remarkable about surrender: it is brutally difficult right up until the moment you actually do it. And when you do, it takes the weight of the world off your shoulders.

Surrender is simply putting the weight of the world back where it belongs.

In Isaiah 42:8, God declares: "I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to anyone else."

This is not a statement of divine selfishness. It is a vow of protection.

God is saying, "I'm not going to let anybody else, including you, be on the throne of your life, because you cannot handle it. The only way I can protect you, lead you, and guide you the way I want to is if you step off the throne and let me step in."

The heart of the message is not really about surrender. It is about what happens on the other side: relief.

When you give up the weight of the world and let God carry it, you experience a freedom you have never known.

What Are You Still Carrying?

Take a moment to reflect. Is there anywhere in your life where you are still trying to be in charge?

Your family? Your finances? Your future? Your reputation?

Are you grasping tighter and tighter to something, feeling the weight of it becoming an unbearable burden?

God is inviting you to release it. Not because He has control issues, but because He has love issues. He loves you so much that He sees the burden you are carrying, the burden you do not have to carry, and He is saying, "Let go. I've got this."

Living from Worship

Worship is not just what happens during a Sunday service. Worship is a way of life that celebrates the truth that God is God and I am not.

It is what happens in every moment of every day as we live in intimate relationship with the One who created us for exactly that purpose. Every time you acknowledge God's presence in your life, every time you choose to trust Him instead of your own understanding, every time you surrender control, that is worship.

The Apostle Paul went from desperate crying out to triumphant declaration in the span of a single verse: "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."

He was looking for a solution, and he finally realized the answer wasn't a "how", it was a "who." And His name is Jesus Christ the Lord.

The Invitation

Listen, the Lord is your God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

This is the invitation extended to you today. Not to try harder, not to do more, not to achieve some impossible standard. Simply to surrender. To step off the throne. To acknowledge the beautiful, liberating truth that God is God and you are not.

And on the other side of that surrender? Freedom. Peace. Relief. And a relationship with the God who has been pursuing you with relentless love since before you were born.

He's got this. He's got you. And He's inviting you to finally rest in that truth.

Pastor Paul asked: "Is there anywhere in your life this week that you're still trying to be in charge?" Your family? Your finances? Your future? Your reputation? Something else? God invites you to “let go and let God” Choose ONE area of your life where you are struggling to surrender control. Each day this week:

• Morning: Start your day by praying, "God, You are God and I am not. I surrender [specific area] to You today."
• Throughout the Day: When anxiety or the need to control arises, pause and pray: "Help, Lord. You've got this."
• Evening: Journal or talk to an accountability partner, and briefly about moments when you experienced relief by letting God be God in that area.

Rebecca Rhoton shares her journey of following Jesus from childhood through various ministry contexts, from Spain to anti-trafficking work with Scarlet Hope. Her story beautifully illustrates how God faithfully leads us step by step, even when we cannot see the full picture. Throughout her life, Rebecca has learned that faith doesn't require having everything figured out, it simply requires trusting that God goes before us and will provide the direction we need for each season.

Chapters

• 0:00 - 5:51  Chapter 1: Growing Up in Faith and Early Calling
  We hear about growing up in a Christian home where Jesus was a conversation everyday. 
• 5:51 - 11:55  Chapter 2: Discovering Purpose Through Uncertainty
  Rebecca talked about her college and career decisions, trusting God to open and close doors while discovering a calling to serve those affected by human trafficking.
• 11:55 - 20:07  Chapter 3: Stepping Into Anti-Trafficking Ministry
  We follow the journey of returning to the U.S., getting married, and stepping into anti-trafficking work domestically, eventually leading to a directorship role despite initial resistance.
• 20:07 - 27:36 Chapter 4: Learning to Trust God's Timing and Methods
  We learn the difference between believing God can transform situations versus believing He will, understanding that faith requires trusting His timing even when we don't see immediate fruit.
• 27:36 - 36:56  Chapter 5: Discipleship Through Humility and Service
  We discover how serving the broken and marginalized shapes our faith through humility, learning to meet people where they are without judgment while finding spiritual manna in divine appointments.

About Scarlet Hope
Scarlet Hope exists to share the hope and love of Jesus with women in the adult entertainment industry through consistent outreach, discipleship, and community. Millions of women across the United States are working in the adult entertainment industry and many feel unseen, isolated, and without a clear path forward. Most of the women will never walk into a church on their own so the Church must go to them. Scarlet Hope's vision is to go and tell every woman in the adult entertainment industry about Jesus until each one has encountered the hope of the gospel.

It's Not About Religion... It's About Relationship

Have you ever felt like following God was more about checking boxes than experiencing connection? Like you were always one step away from measuring up, constantly striving but never quite arriving? If so, you are not alone. Many of us have confused the systems and structures of religious practice with what God actually desires most: intimate relationship with us.

The truth that changes everything is this: God did not create you to perform for Him. He created you to be with Him.

In the Beginning: Created for Connection

When we open the pages of Genesis, we discover something remarkable about God's nature. Before creating humanity, God speaks in plural: "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us." This reveals that God exists eternally in relationship—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in perfect communion.

Then comes the stunning truth: God made us in His image. Not primarily to look like Him, but to reflect His relational nature. A relational God created relational beings. Your ultimate purpose is not what you accomplish for God, but the life you live in relationship with God.

God placed the first humans in a garden where He walked with them in the cool of the day. This was not a business meeting or a performance review. It was intimate fellowship. This is what God has always wanted, not our religious activity, but our presence with His presence.

And here is something we often overlook: God also said it was not good for man to be alone. While our relationship with God must be primary, He designed us to need each other too. We were not meant to follow Him in isolation. The priority is Him, but once we are connected to Him, that is how we learn to live in healthy relationship with others.

The Great Separation

But something tragic happened. Humanity rejected God's creative intent. The original sin was not eating forbidden fruit, it was deciding that being made in God's image was not enough. The enemy whispered, "You will be like God," and humanity chose to take God's place at the center of the universe rather than live in reflection of Him.

This has been our core struggle ever since. We all secretly believe that everything would be okay if everyone just did what we wanted them to do. We live as though our lives would work if we could just take full control.

Here is what is crucial to understand: separation from God was never His idea. When God removed Adam and Eve from the garden, it was not punishment, it was protection. Out of love, He said, "You cannot eat of the tree of life and live forever in this broken state. But I'm going to work to put everything back together again."

Everything in Scripture after Genesis 3 is His story, God moving through our lives and through His world to restore things to what He intended from the beginning. This is called reconciliation: being brought back into relationship, restored to God's intent.

The Model: Abraham and Israel

God does not leave us guessing about His plan. In Genesis 12, He reaches out to one man named Abram and says, "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you... and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Notice the pattern: God reconciles one individual in relationship to Himself, then blesses the world through that person. This becomes the model. God was not waiting for Abram to find Him, God came looking for Abram.

Let that truth sink in: God is always the instigator of relationship. He comes searching for us.

Through Abraham's descendants, God created the nation of Israel as a living example of how He wanted to work reconciliation in the world. But there was a problem, Israel was still human. They followed the same pattern as Adam and Eve: God restored them, they grew comfortable, they rebelled, they suffered consequences, they cried out to God, and God answered and redeemed them. Over and over again.

Sound familiar? We see this cycle in our own lives. God saves us, we are desperate for Him, things get better, and we think, "Thanks, God. I'll take the controls now."

The Perfect Agent: Jesus Christ

The model through Israel showed both God's intent and humanity's continued brokenness. So God did something extraordinary. He sent the perfect agent of reconciliation, not another flawed human, but God Himself in the form of Jesus.

This is the incarnation: God became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. God did not wait for us to find our way back to Him. God made His way to us.

Jesus lived as one of us, experiencing everything we experience, temptation, struggle, relational complications, physical pain, yet He never sinned. He never separated Himself from the Father.

Then came the atonement, that powerful word that can be broken down as "at-one-ment," the state of being at one with God. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus made it possible for us to be reconciled in right relationship with God. He took on the sin of the entire world.

But the story does not end at the cross. Through the resurrection, Jesus triumphed over sin and death, making it possible not just for our sins to be forgiven, but for us to be taken back with Him to live forever in eternity.

Colossians 1:19-22 declares this stunning truth: "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself... This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault."

We are not saved by our believing, we realize we are saved by believing. God accomplished it. By faith, by daring to believe it could be true, we receive what He has done.

The Consummation: A Wedding Celebration

The Bible ends with a wedding. Revelation 19 describes the ultimate reunion between Christ and His bride, the church: "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb."

God chose to reveal the culmination of history as a wedding celebration because He is teaching us what we have been saying from the start: it is not about religion, it is about relationship. It is about being restored, reconciled, made right with God through trusting belief, not in what we can do for Him, but in what He has done for us.

What This Means for Us

If we understand that God's primary purpose is relationship, it changes everything, both who we think we are and what we think the church should be doing.

The church was not established as an institution of religion. It was established to be instigators of relationship. We are Christ's ambassadors, His resident representatives. God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God."

God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. Our salvation is not the end, it is the beginning. He saved us so we become a force for reconciliation in the world, receiving what He's given us, learning to live with it, and sharing it with others.

Your Response Today

Maybe you have been beating your head against a wall trying to be good enough, trying to measure up, trying to earn God's approval through religious performance. Today is the day to stop.

If it is religion, you work at it. If it is relationship, you accept it.

God has sent you a note through Jesus Christ. That note says, "I love you. Will you love me?" It is not something you instigate, it is something you accept. You dare to believe it is true.

God loves you absolutely and unconditionally just as you are. He created you for nothing more than relationship with Himself. He has fully accomplished everything needed for you to be restored and reconciled in right relationship with Him.

The work is done. Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished."

Will you simply receive what He offers? Will you dare to believe the good news that you are made right with God through trusting belief, not head knowledge alone, but a heart way of life that trusts the truth?

Today, acknowledge what He has done for you. Stop trying to do it yourself. Accept His gift of reconciliation, restoration, and salvation. Dare to believe you are right with Him because of what He has already done.

Then commit to live your life with Him, in relationship with Him, the way He intended from the very beginning.

It's not about religion. It's about relationship. And that changes everything.

Choose one or more of the following to practice this week:

• Daily Relationship Time: Set aside 10-15 minutes each day simply to "be" with God, not asking for things or working through a checklist, but practicing His presence. Journal about what this experience is like for you.
• Examine Your Motives: Pay attention to your spiritual activities this week (prayer, Bible reading, serving, etc.). Ask yourself: "Am I doing this to earn God's favor, or am I doing this from a place of already being loved and accepted?"
• Share Your Story: Identify one person who does not know Jesus and pray specifically for them each day. Ask God to show you how to be an "agent of reconciliation" in their life—not through pressure, but through authentic relationship.
• Memorize Scripture: Choose one of the key verses from this sermon (perhaps Colossians 1:21-22 or 2 Corinthians 5:18-19) and commit it to memory. Let it reshape how you see yourself and your purpose.
• Gratitude Practice: Each evening this week, write down one way you experienced God's relational love that day. At the end of the week, review your list and thank Him.

Going Beyond Ourselves: The Heart of Making Disciples

There is something transformative that happens when we step outside our comfort zones to serve others. It is in those moments, when we are pushing a child on a swing, building walls in the scorching heat, or trying to navigate a storm while children refuse to leave a bus, that we often encounter God in the most unexpected ways.

The Great Commission Is Not Just a Sunday Thing

We are all familiar with the words from Matthew 28:18-20, where Jesus declares, "All authority has been given to me, therefore go make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I've shown you." But here is the thing we sometimes miss: this is not a command reserved for missionaries in far-off lands or pastors in pulpits. It is a call woven into the fabric of our everyday lives.

Making disciples happens at the grocery store. It happens in our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our schools, and yes, even at the gas station when we accidentally trigger a coffee machine malfunction. The Christian life is not compartmentalized into "church time" and "regular time." It is a seamless integration where every interaction becomes an opportunity to reflect the love of Jesus.

This calling has to become part of our DNA. It is not something we turn on when we walk through church doors and turn off when we leave. It is a constant awareness, a perpetual watching for where God is already at work so we can join Him in that sacred activity.

When Kids Don't Want to Go Home

Picture this: a storm is rolling in across the South Dakota plains. Dark clouds gather on the horizon. There is a bus full of children who need to get home, but they are doing everything they can to stay. They are claiming they do not know where they live. They are pointing to random houses. They are creating chaos because, in their hearts, they do not want this moment to end.

Why? Because they have experienced something precious, adults who see them, who invest in them, who make them feel valued and loved.

This scene captures something beautiful about the Kingdom of God. When we genuinely love people the way Jesus loves them, they do not want to leave. They are drawn to something they cannot quite name but desperately need. That is the magnetic pull of authentic Christian community and love.

The Power of Remembering Names

In a world where people often feel invisible, being remembered is a profound gift. Imagine being a child in a community where visitors come and go, and then one day, someone returns, and they remember your name. They made a video calling you by name. They were looking for you.

That is exactly what happened with a young girl who had gone missing the previous year. In communities where women and girls disappear, her absence was deeply concerning. But this year, she showed up. And not only did she show up, but she came every single day.

The trust she demonstrated, handing over her phone, that precious teenage lifeline, and disappearing for an hour to play, spoke volumes. In a generation glued to their devices, that simple act of trust revealed a relationship that had been built, a connection that mattered.

This is the fruit of consistent, faithful presence. This is what happens when we keep showing up, year after year, building relationships that go deeper with each visit.

The Unexpected Lessons We Learn

We often embark on mission trips thinking we're going to change lives. And we do. But what we don't always anticipate is how profoundly we will be changed ourselves.

One person shared that working with older teenagers on crafts tested every ounce of patience they possessed. Another discovered connections to people they never expected, finding out they knew the same people from Paraguay, or that someone was living in a house they had built years ago.

There were moments of frustration, like trying to get children home in a storm, or drawing 56 cards in a rigged Uno game, or attempting to figure out a coffee machine that seemed designed to confound. But woven through all these challenges were threads of grace, humor, and divine appointments.

One volunteer sat on a bench and spoke life-giving words into a young man's heart. Another pushed a silent four-year-old girl on a swing for nearly 40 minutes, never hearing a word, but providing a gift of presence and patience. Nearby, other children sang "This Little Light of Mine," evidence that the message about Jesus being the light of the world had taken root.

The Ministry of Showing Up

Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is simply be present. Not with grand programs or impressive credentials, but with a willing heart and open hands.

The work of making disciples is not always glamorous. Sometimes it is removing damaged portions of a trailer for someone diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Sometimes it is managing rowdy children who throw food at each other. Sometimes it is drawing animal tracks in the sand with a curious child.

But these seemingly small acts accumulate into something significant. They become a testimony to a community that someone cares. That they have not been forgotten. That the love of Jesus is real and tangible.

Partnership Multiplies Impact

No church is an island. The mission work in South Dakota was made possible through partnerships, other congregations contributing financially, teams working together, resources being pooled, and prayers being lifted.

This is the beauty of the body of Christ functioning as it was designed. When we work together across congregational lines, city boundaries, and state borders, we accomplish far more than we ever could alone.

The Best Is Yet to Come

Here is an encouraging truth: God is not finished. The relationships built over four years of mission trips continue to deepen. The seeds planted in children's hearts will bear fruit in seasons to come. The work begun in one community ripples outward in ways we may never fully see this side of eternity.

And the same is true in our own lives. As we faithfully pursue the call to make disciples wherever we are, God is working in ways that exceed our expectations. The best is still ahead.

So the question becomes: Where is God calling you to go? Who is He placing in your path? What relationships is He inviting you to invest in?

The Great Commission is not a burden. It is an invitation to join God in the most exciting, transformational work in the universe, seeing lives changed by the power of Jesus Christ.

And when we say yes to that invitation, we discover that we're the ones who end up most transformed.

Choose one area to focus this week:

• Identify one person in your sphere of influence who needs to hear about Jesus. Commit to praying for them daily and looking for opportunities to build relationship.
• Practice "joining God" by asking each morning: "God, where are you working today? Help me see it and join you."
• Speak life into someone - Take time to encourage someone, especially a young person, with intentional words of affirmation.

This Father's Day we sat down with Bill Bruns and Mo Carpenter. Our conversation offers a powerful reminder that discipling our children is not about perfection, but about authentic faith lived out daily. We hear from fathers at different life stages who emphasize that our kids learn more from what they see us do than from what we tell them to do. The journey begins with meeting Jesus ourselves, then creating intentional space in our busy lives to prioritize our families over our careers and exhaustion. The two talk about how the drive home from work becomes an important transition where we leave behind stress and prepare to be fully present so that they do not give their children their leftovers. But, are instead, present and available the moment they walk in the door of their home. We discover that being transparent about our own spiritual struggles, apologizing when we fall short, and showing humility actually strengthens our children's faith rather than weakening it. The thread running through this discussion is clear: we must pour into ourselves through daily time in Scripture so we can pour into our families. Whether we feel qualified or not, resources exist to guide us, mentors are available to walk alongside us, and most importantly, God meets us where we are. The question we must ask ourselves is not whether we are perfect spiritual leaders, but whether we are willing to be authentic followers of Jesus in front of those who watch us most closely.

Chapters

• 0:00 - 10:25  Chapter 1: Faith Journeys: From Discovery to Discipleship
  We hear personal testimonies of coming to faith in Christ and the importance of transparency in sharing our spiritual journeys with our children.
• 10:25 - 20:00 Chapter 2: The Daily Discipline of Following Jesus
  We explore what it means to actively follow Jesus in different seasons of life, emphasizing daily time in God's Word over mere church activity.
• 20:00 - 30:00 Chapter 3: Creating Space for Open Conversations
  We discover the power of intentional time with our children, creating environments where no question is off-limits and authenticity is valued.
• 30:00 - 40:00 Chapter 4: Practical Steps for Spiritual Leadership
  We receive practical guidance for fathers who feel unqualified to disciple their children, including finding resources, seeking mentorship, and leading by example.
• 40:00 - 40:01 Chapter 5: Legacy of Faith: What We Hope They Remember
  We consider the lasting impact we want to leave, hoping our children remember not perfection but authentic faith, repentance, and genuine love for Jesus.

The Relentless Pursuit: God's Desire to Dwell With His People

There is something profoundly moving about desire, the kind that does not quit, does not give up, and refuses to take rejection as the final answer. When we trace the arc of Scripture from Genesis to Acts, we discover a breathtaking truth: God has been on a relentless pursuit to be with His people, moving closer and closer despite our repeated turning away.

A Journey Through History

In the beginning, God walked with humanity in the garden. Can you imagine the intimacy of that? The Creator of the universe choosing to stroll through Eden in the cool of the day, conversing with Adam and Eve as a friend speaks to friends. But when sin entered the picture and humanity chose independence over intimacy, God did not abandon His people. Instead, He set into motion a plan that would span millennia.

At the base of Mount Sinai, despite Israel's rebellion with the golden calf, God's presence descended in the tent of meeting, a pillar of cloud and fire marking His commitment to remain. Then came the tabernacle, a mobile dwelling that traveled with the Israelites through forty years of wilderness wandering. Twelve tribes camped around it, three on each side, with God dwelling in the center. He was literally in the midst of His people.

When Israel finally settled in the Promised Land, Solomon built the temple, a permanent structure where God's presence would live among His people. Century after century, through exile and return, through judgment and restoration, God continued drawing nearer.

The Word Made Flesh

Then came the most stunning move of all. John writes, "The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." God did not just visit; He put on flesh and entered our mess. He walked our streets, ate our food, felt our pain, and experienced our temptations. In Jesus, the distance collapsed completely.

Before heading to the cross, Jesus took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi, a place of pagan worship, idol sacrifices, and corruption. Standing before what was literally called "the gates of hell," Jesus asked them the most important question: "Who do you say I am?"

Peter's bold declaration, "You are the Messiah, the Son of God", became the foundation for what Jesus announced next: "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."

Notice the imagery. Gates are defensive structures. They are meant to keep people out. Jesus was not calling His followers to huddle behind walls for protection. He was commissioning them for offense, to march up to the gates of hell itself and pull people out.

The Day Everything Changed

After Jesus' resurrection, He spent forty days teaching about the kingdom of God. Imagine the disciples' excitement, their Rabbi was alive! Surely now was the time for action. But Jesus told them to wait. Wait for the gift the Father had promised. Wait for the Holy Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, Jerusalem was packed with Jewish pilgrims from across the known world, possibly 100,000 people or more crowding into a city that normally held about 50,000. The disciples were gathered together when suddenly a sound like rushing wind filled the house. What appeared as tongues of fire separated and came to rest on each person.

Think about that image. The same pillar of fire that once rested over the tabernacle now divided and rested on individual people. God's presence was no longer confined to a building. The temple was no longer a place you had to travel to. God's dwelling place became His people themselves.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in languages they had never learned, declaring the wonders of God to the international crowd. Peter, the same disciple who had denied Jesus just weeks earlier, stood with supernatural boldness and preached the gospel. Three thousand people were baptized that day.

The Acts 2 Blueprint

What happened next reveals the DNA of the early church, a pattern that caused God to add to their numbers daily. Acts 2:42 tells us they devoted themselves to four essential practices:

The apostles' teaching. They were not casual about Scripture. They were devoted, meaning everything in life fell in around it. They gathered in the temple courts and in homes, discussing the Word of God, learning about Jesus, and growing in understanding. The same Bible we sometimes treat as just another book on the shelf was their life source.

Fellowship. The Greek word is koinonia, a rich concept meaning the sharing of time, resources, and life together. This was not just coffee and donuts after service. It was working side by side, pooling resources, showing up at the hospital, attending ball games, celebrating victories, and mourning losses together. They were genuinely doing life as a community.

Breaking of bread. They ate together, opening their homes and their lives. They also regularly remembered Jesus through communion, reflecting on His sacrifice and what it meant for their daily existence. Meals became sacred spaces for transparency and remembrance.

Prayer. They prayed the ancient prayers of their tradition, but they also prayed with urgency for boldness to speak about Jesus. Their prayers were not consumed with temporary concerns but focused on eternal realities, that people would come to know the Savior.

The Church Today

Here is the revolutionary truth: this is not just ancient history. The same promise Peter declared to that Pentecost crowd applies to us: "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call."

We are the church. Not the building, not the programs, not the Sunday service, the people. When we choose to follow Jesus, we are filled with the same Holy Spirit that empowered those first believers. We carry the presence of the God of the universe everywhere we go.

But carrying that presence requires devotion. We can claim Scripture is important while never actually reading it. We can say community matters while remaining isolated. We can talk about prayer while our prayer lives focus solely on temporary concerns instead of eternal realities.

The Acts 2 church wasn't on defense, protecting what they had. They were on offense, reaching into darkness and pulling people into light. They understood their shared identity as God's people and their shared mission to make Jesus known.

A Personal Question

There i's only so far we can go without genuine community, without devotion to God's Word, without authentic fellowship, and without fervent prayer. Eventually, we hit a wall. The question is: what will we do when we reach it?

God's 2,000-year pursuit of humanity culminated in Him dwelling within His people. That same Spirit is available today, offering unlimited power when we feel limited, boundless strength when we feel weak, and supernatural boldness when we feel afraid.

The gates of hell will not prevail. The question is: are we ready to march forward together, united in identity and mission, devoted to the things that matter eternally rather than temporarily?

God is still in the business of adding to His church daily. He's still drawing near to His people. The question is whether we'll devote ourselves to the things that make His presence known to a watching world.

Choose one area to focus on for the next month:

• Devotion to Scripture: Commit to a daily Bible reading plan and check in weekly about what God is teaching you.
• Devotion to Fellowship: Plan a service project together, share a meal in someone's home, or commit to showing up for each other during the week.
• Devotion to Breaking Bread: Schedule regular meals together where you intentionally talk about what Jesus is doing in your lives.
• Devotion to Prayer: Create a group prayer list focused on boldness in witness and the salvation of specific people in your lives.

We had the privilege of introducing our new interim pastor, Pastor Paul Strozier, through a special podcast conversation that gives us insight into his heart, his journey, and God's faithfulness in bringing him to us.

Pastor Paul talks about his diverse ministry background, and God's sovereign timing in calling him to Maiden Lane. We learned about his journey of recovery, his passion for relational ministry, and how God has been preparing both him and our congregation for this season of transition. The discussion revealed a beautiful reminder that our Father is always working behind the scenes for our good.

Chapters

• 0:00 - 11:37 Chapter 1: A Life Shaped by God's Redemption
  We learn about a journey from early faith to addiction recovery, discovering how God transforms brokenness into ministry and uses every experience for His purpose.
• 11:37 - 22:46 Chapter 2: Ministry of Presence in a Secular World
  We explore the concept of being ambassadors for Christ in secular environments, learning from diverse faith traditions while maintaining our Christian identity and building authentic relationships.
• 22:46 - 34:58 Chapter 3: God's Perfect Timing in Transition
  We receive encouragement that God orchestrates transitions before we even know they're coming, and that nothing happens to us that God is not aware of, in charge of, and working for our good.

The Reckless, Foolish, Beautiful Love of God
Have you ever wondered what God really thinks about you?
It is perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves. Not just "What do I think about God?" but more deeply, "What does God think about me?" Because the answer to that question shapes everything, how we live, how we love, how we face our challenges, and how we walk through seasons of uncertainty.

The answer is both simpler and more profound than we often realize: You are loved. Absolutely. Unconditionally. Extravagantly.

When God Seems Distant
Many of us carry distorted views of God. Perhaps we have been told He is angry with us, disappointed in our choices, or distant because of our failures. We lie awake at night convinced that our mistakes have disqualified us from His love. We run from relationship with the One who created us because we believe the lie that we are beyond redemption.

But here is the transformative truth: God does not wait for you to get your act together before He loves you. He loves you right now, exactly as you are, sitting in church or sitting in the bar, in your moment of greatest triumph or your darkest hour. His love does not fluctuate based on your performance. It is the foundation upon which everything else is built.

When we begin to believe that God loves us as we are, it gives us the power to become something different. Not the other way around.

The Power of Understanding God's Love
In Ephesians 3:14-19, the Apostle Paul offers one of the most beautiful prayers in Scripture. He prays that believers would be empowered with inner strength through God's Spirit, that Christ would make His home in their hearts, and that their roots would grow down deep into God's love.

Then Paul prays something extraordinary: that we would have the power to understand "how wide, how long, how high, and how deep" God's love is.

Notice the dimensions Paul describes. Wide and long. High and deep. He is painting a picture with words, describing something we all recognize, the cross of Jesus Christ.

If you ever wonder what God thinks about you, look no further than the cross. A God who created everything that exists subjected Himself to human existence, endured human judgment and misunderstanding, and went to the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. What more could He do to prove His love?

The cross is God's ultimate statement: "I love you this much."

The Foolishness of God's Love
Catherine of Siena, the medieval mystic and theologian, often began her prayers with startling words: "O divine madman, O eternal infinite God, O mad lover." She would describe God as "crazed with love, drunk with love."

Does that language make you uncomfortable? It should challenge us.

The French have a traditional Easter greeting: "L'amour de Dieu est folie"—"The love of God is folly." The love of God is foolishness.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that "the message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction, but to us who are being saved it is the very power of God."

God's love only seems insane to us because it defies our understanding that the Creator of the universe would literally enter our world and lay down His life for us. It is reckless. It is foolish. It is beyond comprehension.

And it is our only hope.

Experiencing What We Cannot Fully Understand
Paul prays that we would "experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully" (Ephesians 3:19). This is crucial. We are not called simply to understand God's love intellectually, we are called to experience it.

However we understand God will always be shallow and insufficient. Our finite minds cannot fully grasp infinite love. But we can experience it.

Miracles happen to people who are willing to see them. When we look at the world with eyes open to God's love, we begin to see it everywhere, in the beauty of creation, in the perfect timing of encouragement, in the people He brings into our lives, in the way He works through our hardest circumstances for our ultimate good.

Nothing Happens That God Doesn't Know About
Here is a truth worth holding onto: There is nothing that will happen to you today or in the future that God doesn't already know about, that God isn't in charge of, and that God will not ultimately work through somehow for your good.

You can take that to the bank.

When you are facing transitions, uncertainties, losses, or challenges, remember that God's glorious unlimited resources are available to empower you with strength. You do not have to be strong in your own power. You can be strong in the power of knowing you are loved by God.

Romans 5:6-8 reminds us: "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners... But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

The Father Is Very Fond of You
There is a story about an 80-year-old Irish man standing with his nephew at the shore of Lake Killarney in the pre-dawn hours. As the sun began to rise over the horizon, they stood mesmerized by the beauty of God's creation. Just when the sun cleared the horizon line, the old man took off skipping down the shore of the lake.

His bewildered nephew chased him down and asked, "What is going on with you?"

The old man looked at him with a big smile on his face and said, "Oh, lad, the Father is very fond of me."

May every sunrise remind you beyond a shadow of doubt that the God who created it takes great delight in you. He loves you more than you could love yourself. He loves you more than you feel like you could ever deserve or even receive.

And thank God His love is not dependent upon our deserving it or even receiving it. He is going to love you no matter what.

The Invitation
Today, you are invited to respond to this extravagant love. Perhaps you need to release your distorted thinking about God and yourself. Maybe you need to let go of the arrogance that says, "I am beyond love", because no one is beyond the sacrificial love of the Father.

If you are already in relationship with God, He is always calling you deeper into intimacy with Him. Where does He need to take you today?

If you have never experienced the love of God through Christ Jesus, dare to believe it could be true. When you take that first step of faith and trust, God will carry you in His arms to exactly where you need to be.

Now all glory to God who is able through His mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever.

Amen.

Choose one. 

• Daily Declaration: Each morning when you wake up, before you do anything else, say out loud: "God loves me. Today I will look for evidence of His love." And do it.
• Gratitude Journal: Keep a daily list of "miracles" - simple or significant ways you see God's love at work in your life.
• Surrender Prayer: Write down your biggest fear or anxiety about the future. Pray specifically, "God, what do You need to do in me to prepare me for what You've already decided?" Then destroy the paper as an act of surrender.
• Love Letter: Write a letter to God responding to His love. Be honest about what makes it hard to believe, and express your desire to experience His love more fully.

The Incredible Gift of Forgiveness: Living in Freedom
There is something profoundly liberating about understanding that we do not come to God because of what we have accomplished, but because of what He has done for us. This truth sits at the heart of the Christian faith, yet it is one we often forget in our daily walk.

The Church as a Mud Run
Imagine a 5K mud run where participants navigate obstacles, wade through mud pits, and struggle toward the finish line. Some runners sprint ahead with ease. Others find themselves stuck in the mud, covered from head to toe in grime. And then there are those who stop mid-race to help fellow runners who are trapped.

This image captures the essence of the church beautifully. We are all running the same race, heading toward the same goal, but we are at different points along the way. Some of us are thriving spiritually. Others are struggling through difficult seasons. And hopefully, many of us are stopping to help those who need assistance.

The beautiful truth is that none of us reach the finish line because we are faster or stronger than others. We all need the same thing: to be cleansed by Jesus. At the end of a mud run, participants line up at a hose station to wash off the dirt. But in our spiritual lives, we do not need a hose, we need Jesus. His sacrifice is what makes us clean, what allows us to come to the table together regardless of where we are in our journey.

When We Forget to Call on God
The prophet Isaiah spoke to a nation that had drifted from God. The Israelites were not outright rejecting their faith, but they had stopped prioritizing their relationship with the Almighty. They were not calling on Him in prayer. They were not bringing offerings or honoring Him with acceptable worship. They had forgotten to express gratitude for His many blessings.

Sound familiar?

It is easy to let our relationship with God slip into the background of our busy lives. We wake up and immediately check our phones instead of thanking Jesus for a new day. We navigate challenges on our own instead of taking them to God in prayer. We accept blessings without pausing to acknowledge the Giver.

Yet God does not ask too much of us. When we consider that He sent His Son to pay a debt we could never pay ourselves, our hearts should overflow with praise, worship, and thankfulness. Prayer is not a religious duty, it is the lifeline of our relationship with God. Whether in our living room, car, office, or an actual prayer closet, we need those moments alone with Him where His Spirit can speak to us, reveal things that need changing, and draw us closer.

The Nature of a Forgiving God
Here's the remarkable truth from Isaiah 43:25: "I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."

God's forgiveness is not something we earn or deserve. It flows from His very nature. He did not have to forgive sin. He would have been completely justified in letting humanity die in rebellion and spend eternity separated from His presence. But instead, He chose to provide forgiveness for anyone who calls on His name, even when there was no guarantee anyone would accept it.

Romans 5:8 puts it beautifully: "But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

We were still sinners. Not after we cleaned ourselves up. Not after we performed enough good works. Not after we completed religious rituals or paid enough money or were nice enough to our neighbors. While we were still covered in the mud of our sin, Jesus made a way for us to be clean.

Salvation: God-Originated, God-Powered
Many people operate under the mistaken belief that they can earn their way to heaven. They think if they just do enough good deeds, attend enough church services, donate enough money, or maintain a decent moral standard, they'll make it through the pearly gates.

But Jesus made it clear: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

There is no other bridge from our sinful state to relationship with God. Jesus is the great High Priest, the bridge builder who constructed a way across the chasm of sin that we dug for ourselves. Salvation comes through Him alone—not through our works, our rituals, our money, or our morality.

Ephesians 2:8-9 reinforces this: "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast."
It's a gift. Unearned. Undeserved. Freely given because of God's love.

God Remembers Your Sin No More
Perhaps the most astounding aspect of God's forgiveness is this: He doesn't just forgive and then hold our past against us. He actually chooses not to remember our sins.

Charles Spurgeon painted a vivid picture of what judgment day might look like for a Christian. The devil comes as an accuser, pointing out all the ways we sinned against God. But God responds, "I don't remember it." Our own conscience might speak up, confessing the grievous nature of our rebellion. And still God says, "I will not remember your sins."
How is this possible? Because of the blood of Jesus.

The Old Testament sacrificial system required the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins. Perfect, spotless animals were offered again and again. But Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, shed His blood once for all. His sacrifice was enough.

1 Peter 1:18-19 declares: "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without defect."

Colossians 2:13-14 tells us that God "canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross."
Our sins aren't just covered—they're blotted out, nailed to the cross, remembered no more.

A New Creation
When we accept this incredible gift of forgiveness, everything changes. 2 Corinthians 5:17 promises: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

This is not just a minor adjustment to our lives. It is a complete restart. A reset. The life we once lived, characterized by sin, separation, and spiritual death, is gone. A new life begins, marked by a relationship with God, freedom from condemnation, and the promise of eternity with Him.

This does not mean life becomes perfect. Following Jesus does not guarantee smooth sailing. But it does mean that whether things are good or bad, Jesus is with us. And more importantly, it means we were created not just for this temporary earth and time, but for eternity.

Don't Wait

If you have never accepted this gift of forgiveness, today is the day. The process is simple: acknowledge that you need a Savior, believe that Jesus' death and resurrection paid for your sins, confess your sins to Him, and turn away from your old life to follow Him.

Those who delay this decision often say later, "Why did I wait so long?"

Don't be one of them.

And for those of us who already follow Jesus, let this be a reminder of how good God has been. Let's stay connected to Him in a relationship. Let's remember that we are all in this mud run together, at different points but heading toward the same goal, and sometimes the most important thing we can do is stop and help someone else who's stuck.

Because at the end of the day, none of us make it on our own. We all need Jesus. And thankfully, His grace is more than enough.

Choose one (or more) of the following to practice this week:

1. Prayer Reset: Start each morning this week with "Thank you, Jesus" and spend 5-10 minutes in prayer before doing anything else.
2. Gratitude Journal: Write down three specific ways God has shown you grace or mercy this week.
3. Share Your Story: Tell someone (friend, family member, coworker) about what Jesus has done in your life—how He's forgiven you and changed you.
4. Let Go of Shame: Identify one sin or failure you keep rehearsing in your mind. Confess it to God (if you haven't already), receive His forgiveness, and choose to stop bringing it up to yourself or Him.
5. Help Someone "Stuck in the Mud": Like the mud run illustration, identify someone in your life who's struggling and reach out to help them this week.

The conversation with Dylan Schirmer explores what it means to be called back into purpose even after we have walked away. At the heart of this story is a profound truth: God never calls us away from the plans He has for us, no matter how far we have strayed. We hear about a transformative moment in the sanctuary where God spoke a name and reminded someone that their calling remained intact despite years of doubt and disqualification. This echoes the story of Peter at the Last Supper, where Jesus told him that Satan would sift him like wheat, but that after his return, he would strengthen his brothers. The wilderness seasons in our lives are not wasted time but preparation periods where God molds us for what He has next. When we embrace these difficult seasons rather than simply praying to escape them, we position ourselves for breakthrough. Dylan challenges us to trust the process, knowing that our darkest moments can become our greatest credentials for ministry. Our weaknesses become the very places where Christ shines brightest, and our broken stories become testimonies of God's transforming grace that can bring hope to others walking similar paths.

Chapters

• 0:00 - 3:55 Chapter 1: A Dramatic Encounter with Jesus
  We hear about a transformative journey from a troubled youth to discovering Jesus through a brother's testimony, and how Maiden Lane Church has been instrumental in spiritual growth.
• 3:55 - 11:13 Chapter 2: The Calling Restored
  We discover how God spoke clearly in the sanctuary, restoring a calling to ministry that seemed lost due to past mistakes and life choices.
• 11:13 - 20:04 Chapter 3: Ministry to a Generation Ripe for Harvest
  We explore why today's youth represent a unique mission field with little biblical knowledge, making them hungry for truth and creating opportunities for discipleship.
• 20:04 - 25:54 Chapter 4: The Power of Presence and Discipleship
  We learn why adult relationships and consistent presence in students' lives are crucial for lasting faith, and how discipleship creates multiplication in the kingdom.
• 25:54 - 31:02 Chapter 5: Embracing the Wilderness
  We receive wisdom about trusting God's process through wilderness seasons, maintaining spiritual disciplines, and recognizing that difficult periods often precede breakthrough.

The Unmistakable Signs of God's Kingdom Among Us
Have you ever walked past something extraordinary without recognizing it? Perhaps a stunning sunset while you were scrolling through your phone, or a moment of grace so subtle you nearly missed it entirely? When it comes to experiencing God's kingdom, we often face a similar challenge, the signs are all around us, yet we sometimes fail to recognize them.

The kingdom of God is not some distant reality waiting for us in the far-off future. It is not merely a theological concept to debate or a promise to anticipate. The kingdom is here, now, breaking into our everyday lives in powerful and tangible ways. Wherever the King is, there the kingdom exists, and since Christ dwells in the hearts of believers through His Spirit, the kingdom is actively present in our world today.

A Kingdom Revealed Through Healing and Restoration
One of the most powerful signs of God's kingdom is found in healing and restoration. When Jesus walked this earth, He did not simply proclaim Himself as King and expect people to follow blindly. Instead, He demonstrated the reality of His kingdom through undeniable acts of power.

Matthew 4:23 tells us that "Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." These weren't random acts of kindness—they were concrete proof that the King had arrived and His kingdom was breaking into a broken world.

Consider the blind man who encountered Jesus and received his sight. Or the woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years, spending everything she had on physicians with no relief. When she reached out in faith and touched the hem of Jesus' garment, she was instantly healed. Jesus told her, "Your faith has made you well."

The lepers were cleansed. The mute began to speak. The deaf could hear. The lame walked. Even the dead were raised to life. Each miracle served as a signpost pointing to the reality that something new had entered the world, a kingdom where brokenness is restored and what was lost is found again.

But here is the challenging question: How often do we miss the work of Jesus in our own lives because we've convinced ourselves that He doesn't work that way anymore?
The kingdom breaks into our world by restoring what has been broken and reversing the curse that sin and death have brought. For those of us living in the kingdom today, recognizing these signs means living in hope that God restores and makes all things new, even when we do not see immediate physical healing, even when our prayers seem unanswered.

God's ways are perfect, even when they are mysterious. Sometimes healing comes instantly. Sometimes it comes gradually. And sometimes, in ways we do not fully understand this side of eternity, the ultimate healing comes when we step into His presence forever. Our responsibility is to trust the King's perfect plan while maintaining faith that nothing is beyond His power.

Power Over Evil and Darkness
The second unmistakable sign of the kingdom is Jesus' authority over evil and darkness. In Luke 11, Jesus made a profound statement: "But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."

Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus confronting demonic forces with absolute authority. There was the man possessed by a legion of demons, living among the tombs, so strong that no chains could bind him. When Jesus encountered him, the demons recognized who He was and begged for mercy. With a word, Jesus cast them out and the man was completely restored.

There was the young boy whose father brought him to Jesus, tormented by a spirit that would throw him into fire. Jesus cast out the demon and set him free. There was the mother who came on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter, and Jesus did not even need to be physically present, He simply declared her free, and she was.

This spiritual reality continues today. The enemy still comes "to steal, kill, and destroy," as Jesus warned in John 10:10. But we are not defenseless.

The Apostle Paul gives us clear instruction in Ephesians 6: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." This armor—the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, is not just spiritual equipment. When we put on this armor, we are putting on Jesus Himself. He is our truth, our righteousness, our peace, our faith, our salvation, and our Word.

James 4:7 offers this simple yet powerful promise: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." When we are facing spiritual battles, our responsibility is not to fight in our own strength. It is to lean into the King, to surrender completely to His authority, and to trust Him to fight on our behalf.

The Good News of Salvation and Freedom
The third sign of the kingdom is perhaps the most foundational: the good news of salvation and freedom. When Jesus began His public ministry in Nazareth, He read from the scroll of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then He made an astonishing claim: this prophecy was being fulfilled in their hearing. Jesus was declaring that He was the good news.

Every step Jesus took, every miracle He performed, every word He spoke was pointing toward the cross. His ultimate mission required the ultimate sacrifice. Justice demanded payment for sin, and humanity was utterly unable to pay the price. So Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, fully man and fully God, lived a sinless life and offered Himself as our substitute.

On the cross, Jesus endured unimaginable torment, the mocking, the beating, the nails, the suffocation, the separation from the Father as He bore our sins. He could have stopped it at any moment. He could have called legions of angels to His rescue. But He stayed there because of His great love for us.

When He declared, "It is finished," the work of redemption was complete. At that moment, Scripture tells us the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, a thick curtain that no human could tear, ripped by the hand of God. This symbolized that the barrier between God and humanity had been removed. We now have direct access to the Father through Jesus Christ.

Living as Kingdom Citizens
So what does it mean to live as citizens of this kingdom today? It means recognizing that we are subjects under the authority of the King. It is not enough to simply begin the journey of following Jesus, we must continually submit to His lordship, obeying His leading even when it is difficult or unclear.

It means living with eyes open to the signs of the kingdom all around us, healing, restoration, victory over darkness, and the ongoing work of salvation and freedom. It means trusting that the King is working all things according to His perfect will, even when we do not understand.

And it means living in hope. The kingdom is a present reality. We reign with Christ now, but we are waiting for that day when the kingdom comes in its fullness, when every tear will be wiped away, when death will be defeated forever, when we will reign with Him for all eternity.

Until that day, may we live as faithful subjects, recognizing the signs of the kingdom, trusting in the King's perfect plan, and proclaiming the good news that has the power to transform lives and change the world.

The kingdom of God is among us. The question is: will we recognize it?

Choose one of the following to practice this week:

1. Recognition Exercise - Keep a journal this week of moments where you recognize God's healing, restoration, or work in your life or others' lives. Thank Him specifically for each one.
2. Armor of God Daily Practice - Each morning, literally pray through Ephesians 6:10-18, asking God to clothe you with Christ for the day ahead. Be specific about what battles you're facing.
3. Access the Throne - Set aside time each day to "emote to the King" rather than trying to fix everything yourself. Practice surrendering one specific issue completely to God's care.
4. Good News Sharing - Identify one person who needs to hear the good news of freedom and salvation. Pray for them daily and look for an opportunity to share hope with them.
5. Kingdom Perspective Shift - When facing a difficulty this week, pause and ask: "How might this situation be serving God's kingdom purposes?" Write down your reflections.

The Kingdom Within: Living as Citizens of a Spiritual Reality
What if everything you have been waiting for has already arrived?

We often find ourselves scanning the horizon, looking for signs, waiting for that breakthrough moment when everything will finally make sense. We want to point to something tangible and say, "There it is, that is what I have been hoping for." But what if the very thing we are searching for is already present, already accessible, already transforming us from the inside out?

A Different Kind of Kingdom
The religious leaders of ancient times asked an important question: "When will the kingdom of God come?" They were expecting fireworks. They anticipated a political revolution, a military victory, a visible overthrow of oppressive systems. They wanted something they could photograph, something they could point to and say, "See? Right there. That is the kingdom."

The answer they received was not what they expected.

"The kingdom of God does not come with observation," came the reply. "Nor will they say, 'See here' or 'See there,' for indeed the kingdom of God is within you."

Within you.

Not in a distant future. Not in a faraway place. Not in some grand political restructuring. Within you.

This is the revolutionary truth that changes everything: the kingdom of God is a spiritual reality, not a geographical location. It's not something we wait for, it is something we enter into through relationship with the King.

Beyond What Eyes Can See
The kingdom of God operates on a different frequency than earthly kingdoms. It does not announce itself with press releases or military parades. It does not establish borders or build palaces. Instead, it establishes itself in the most unlikely of places: the human heart.

This is why the kingdom cannot be observed with physical sight. It is not about conquering territories or accumulating power in conventional ways. God's kingdom is fundamentally spiritual, operating beyond the material, beyond outward appearances.

The sovereign rule of God over the hearts and lives of His people, this is what the kingdom looks like. It is Jesus reigning supreme through the presence of the Holy Spirit, guiding, convicting, revealing truth, and transforming us from the inside out.

The Transformative Reign
When someone submits their heart and life to Jesus, they are invited into this kingdom. And something remarkable happens: the King begins to reign within them. This is not a passive presence, it is a transformative reign that changes everything.

The King rules over our desires. He influences our thoughts. He guides our decisions. Where we once lived under sin's bondage or the world's pressure, we now live under the gracious, sovereign rule of God.

This kingdom influence shapes how we live, how we think, how we relate to others. It produces something beautiful in us, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When the King reigns in our hearts, our lives become living testimonies of God's reign. This impacts our homes, our workplaces, our communities. We become walking demonstrations of what it looks like when heaven invades earth through surrendered hearts.

The Daily Posture of Kingdom Living
Living as kingdom people is not a Sunday morning activity. It is not limited to church services or Bible studies. It is a 24/7 reality, a constant posture of surrender and alignment with the King.

This requires something of us: ongoing repentance. The kingdom cannot coexist with sin, so we maintain a daily posture of turning away from temptation and turning toward God. This is not about perfection, it is about direction. It is about choosing, moment by moment, to align ourselves with the King's purposes rather than our own.

The question that hangs before each of us is this: Is God's kingdom truly reigning in our hearts? Not in theory, but in practice. Not in what we say, but in how we live.

Are we experiencing spiritual transformation? Are we taking steps closer to the Lord? Are we allowing the Spirit to produce His fruit in us?

The Prayer of Surrender
The most powerful prayer we can pray is the one Jesus modeled in the Garden of Gethsemane: "Not my will, but Your will be done."

This is the prayer of kingdom people. It's the prayer that says, "God, I trust You completely, even when I do not understand. Even when Your ways do not align with my plans. Even when the path You are calling me to walk is difficult."

Living in God's kingdom means surrendering our agendas, our timelines, our preferences, and saying, "Lord, have Your way." It means being obedient to His leading, even when it costs us something, even when it requires us to step out of our comfort zones.

This kind of surrender is not weakness, it is the ultimate expression of faith. It is recognizing that God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts, and His plans infinitely better than anything we could devise on our own.

Kingdom People on Mission
When we understand that we're living in the kingdom right now, it changes our perspective on everything. We are not waiting for some future reality, we are participating in a present one. We are not subjects of an absent King, we are serving under His active reign.

This means the mission never pauses. The work of building the kingdom, making disciples, and extending God's reign continues regardless of circumstances. As kingdom people, we are always moving forward, never stopping, never going backward.

The kingdom is always advancing, and we have the privilege of being part of that advancement. Every act of obedience, every moment of surrender, every choice to align ourselves with the King's purposes, these are all kingdom activities that have eternal significance.

The Kingdom Is Here
The kingdom of God is not a distant dream or a future hope. It is a present reality accessible to everyone who chooses to follow Jesus. It is not about a place, it is about a relationship. It is not about what we can see with our eyes, it is about what God is doing in our hearts.

The King is reigning. The question is: Are we living as His subjects? Are we allowing Him to transform us from the inside out? Are we reflecting His character, His love, His holiness, His justice, His mercy, and His peace?

The kingdom is within you. Let that truth sink deep into your soul. You are not waiting for the kingdom to come, you are living in it right now. The King is present, active, and ready to reign in every area of your life.

Will you surrender to His reign today?

Choose ONE of the following to practice this week:

• Option 1: Daily Surrender Prayer - Each morning this week, pray: "Lord, not my will but Your will be done today. Help me live as a kingdom person in every moment."
• Option 2: Fruit Inspection - Pick one fruit of the Spirit that needs growth in your life. Identify one specific situation this week where you'll intentionally let the Holy Spirit produce that fruit through you.
• Option 3: Kingdom Impact - Choose one relationship (home, work, or community) where you'll intentionally reflect God's character—His love, justice, mercy, or peace—this week.

The Kingdom of God is Here: Living in the Reality of Heaven on Earth
For centuries, humanity has waited. Waited for rescue, waited for redemption, waited for a kingdom that would set everything right. The Jewish people of ancient times anticipated a Messiah who would establish a political kingdom, overthrow their enemies, and restore their national glory. But when the kingdom finally arrived, it looked nothing like anyone expected.

The announcement was simple yet earth-shattering: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

These words marked a turning point in human history. The season of waiting was over. The kingdom had arrived, not as a distant promise or far-off dream, but as a present reality breaking into the fabric of everyday life.

The Kingdom Has Come
What does it mean that the kingdom of God is "at hand"? It means the kingdom has already been inaugurated. It is not something we are still waiting for, it is here, now, active in the world through the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

When the King showed up, His kingdom came with Him.

This is not merely a heavenly hope reserved for the afterlife. God's sovereign rule has invaded history, reshaping reality and calling each of us to respond. The kingdom of God is a kingdom in action, actively confronting the powers of sin, evil, and death that hold humanity captive.

Throughout the Gospels, we see evidence of this kingdom breaking through. The dead were raised. Lepers were healed. The deaf heard, the mute spoke, storms were calmed, and water became wine. These were not just miraculous displays of power, they were demonstrations that God's kingdom was invading a broken world, asserting His authority in a new way through Christ.

Satan's greatest attempt to stop this kingdom came at Calvary. When Jesus hung on the cross, it appeared the enemy had won. But the tomb couldn't hold Him. On the third day, Jesus conquered death and the grave, rising victorious. For forty days, over five hundred witnesses saw the resurrected Christ. Then He ascended to heaven, where He now reigns as King.

And here is the remarkable truth: because we believe our bodies are temples, the King is reigning not just from a heavenly throne, but within you and me.

The Call to Repentance
With the announcement of the kingdom comes an immediate call for response: repent.
This single word carries profound weight. Repentance involves more than feeling guilty about our mistakes or experiencing sorrow for our failures. True repentance means literally turning away from the old life we once lived and turning toward God. It is a complete change of heart and mind, a total reorientation of our life's direction.

Picture someone walking in one direction, then stopping, turning 180 degrees, and walking the opposite way. That's repentance. We once lived in rebellion to God, fulfilling the desires of our sinful nature. But when the Holy Spirit draws us, we make a choice to turn from those sinful things that separate us from God and turn toward Him instead.

There is no salvation, no authentic following of Jesus, without repentance. We cannot claim to follow Christ while continuing to live the life we used to live. When Jesus becomes Lord of our lives, change happens.

Sometimes that change is immediate, desires that once controlled us suddenly disappear. Other times it's a process, as God works in us, showing us things that displease Him, and we deal with those things one by one, turning away from them and turning toward God.
Why is repentance necessary? Because the kingdom is holy and righteous. It cannot and will not coexist with sin. To enter God's kingdom, we must remove the barriers of sin through genuine repentance. This is the necessary preparation to welcome God's rule in our hearts and lives.

As Paul declared in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."

Repentance is not a one-time event, either. It is a daily posture, an ongoing call as citizens of the kingdom. We regularly turn from sin and realign ourselves with God's purposes every single day.

Believing the Good News
Jesus's call is twofold: "Repent and believe in the gospel."

After calling us to turn from sin, He invites us to place our trust in the message He brings the good news. And what is that good news? Through Jesus, God's kingdom has come near with power to save, heal, and restore.

The gospel offers forgiveness of sin. It provides reconciliation with God, making us right with Him through relationship. It grants new life—not just improved circumstances, but eternal life that begins the moment we believe.

To believe means to trust Jesus personally and commit to following Him as King. This isn't merely intellectual acceptance of certain facts. It's relational reliance on Him. It's the difference between saying "I know He's the King" and saying "I know He's my King."

Believing the good news calls us to live in the reality of the kingdom with hope and confidence that God is at work to redeem, to transform, and ultimately to make all things new. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 promises, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things are gone. They are passed away. Behold, all things have become new."

Citizens of the Kingdom
Being part of the kingdom of God means we are subjects of God Almighty and His sovereignty to rule in our lives. It means surrendering everything we are and everything we have to Him, following Him with rejoicing because the King knows what's best.

Our plans and God's plans don't always align. Walking away from comfort, leaving behind what we know, stepping into uncertainty—these aren't easy things. But they're the best things because God does all things well. As Jeremiah 29:11 assures us, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

The profound message is this: God's kingdom through Jesus is no longer a distant hope but a present reality.

The Question Before Us
Are you part of God's kingdom? Have you repented of your old life? Have you made that 180-degree turn toward Christ, determined to follow Him wherever He leads? Are you allowing the King of the kingdom to make you new, to transform you into what He wants you to be?

The kingdom of God is at hand. It is present now. And the King invites us to be part of this amazing kingdom.

There's an old hymn that captures this truth beautifully: "The kingdom of peace, it's reigning within. It will ever increase in my soul. We possess it right here when he saves from all sin and will last while eternity rolls."

The kingdom isn't coming someday. It's here. The question is: are you living in it?

Choose one of the following to practice this week:

1. Daily Repentance: Each morning this week, take 5 minutes to ask God, "What area of my life needs to be realigned with Your kingdom purposes today?" Write down what He shows you and take one action step.
2. Kingdom Perspective: Identify one area where your plans and God's plans might not align. Spend time in prayer surrendering that area to His sovereign rule.
3. Share the Good News: The kingdom advances as we make disciples. Share the gospel with one person this week—either someone who doesn't know Jesus or someone who needs encouragement about what God is doing in their life.
4. Study the Kingdom: Read through the Gospel of Mark this week, highlighting every time Jesus mentions the kingdom. What patterns do you notice?

Listen in to a special episode of the ML Podcoast... Mother's Day edition!

This conversation with Maggie Byers, Megan Oyler, and Missy Potts illustrates what discipleship looks like in the trenches of everyday life.  The wisdom shared reminds us that discipleship happens around the dinner table, during car rides, and even while shopping. What stands out is the emphasis on consistency over perfection, and the powerful truth that our children and those we influence need to see us living out our faith, not just talking about it. Whether we are parenting toddlers or adult children or we are part of the village, the call remains the same: point people to Jesus through how we love, listen, and live.

Chapters

• 0:00-8:32 Chapter 1: Introduction and Personal Faith Journeys
  We meet three women from Maiden Lane Church who share their personal stories of coming to faith and how their relationships with Jesus have evolved over different life stages.
• 8:32-21:10 Chapter 2: Discipling Young Children Through Everyday Moments
  We discover practical ways to disciple young children at home, including creative activities, honest conversations about emotions, and letting kids be themselves while pointing them to Jesus.
• 21:10-32:00 Chapter 3: Being Part of the Village: Supporting Parents and Students
  We explore what it means to be a 'villager' who comes alongside parents and invests in children through intentional presence, listening, and bringing the right energy to relationships.
• 32:00-42:00 Chapter 4: Discipling Adult Children and Leading by Example
  We learn about transitioning from parenting young children to discipling adult children by asking questions instead of giving advice, remaining available, and consistently modeling a Christ-centered life.
• 42:00-45:06 Chapter 5: Words of Wisdom for the Journey
  We receive encouraging words about taking that first step toward Jesus, spending intentional time with God, and not walking the journey alone but with community support.

The conversation with R.W. explored the transformative power of intentionality in our relationship with Jesus and with others. R.W. shared his personal journey, demonstrating how God can redeem our past and use it for His glory. Now serving as the Church of God Associate State Pastor, R.W. reminded us that our spiritual growth is not accidental, it requires deliberate choices to pursue Jesus daily, fill ourselves spiritually so we can pour into others, and never underestimate how God might use even our smallest interactions to draw people closer to Him.

Chapters

• 0:00 -3:54 Chapter 1: Transition to Maiden Lane Church
  The journey of joining Maiden Lane Church begins with an unexpected phone call and God's redirection.
• 3:54-7:14 Chapter 2: Called Despite Unworthiness
  A powerful testimony emerges of feeling called to ministry while simultaneously believing disqualification was certain.
• 7:14-9:23 Chapter 3: Leading from Spiritual Fullness
  Effective leadership flows from personal spiritual health, living out what is taught, and recognizing God's providential timing in connecting leaders with those who need encouragement.
• 9:23-12:32 Chapter 4: New Role as State Associate Pastor
  Transitioning from local church ministry to serving as Church of God Associate State Pastor involves overseeing state-wide programming and supporting churches in pastoral transitions.
• 12:32-14:04 Chapter 5: The Power of Intentionality
  Intentionality in pursuing Jesus personally and in relationships with others can transform both our spiritual journey and the lives of those around us.

There is something profoundly humbling about being compared to sheep. They are not exactly known for their intelligence or self-sufficiency. They wander aimlessly, searching for the next patch of grass. They are timid, vulnerable, and completely incapable of defending themselves. Yet throughout Scripture, this is precisely the metaphor God uses to describe us.

Perhaps that is because the comparison is more accurate than we would like to admit.

The Shepherd's Investment
Consider what it takes to be a shepherd. It is not a job for the faint of heart or those seeking convenience. A shepherd does not work nine-to-five hours. When a sheep cries out in distress at three in the morning, the shepherd does not roll over and go back to sleep. He straps on his boots and goes into the darkness to find the one in trouble.

A good shepherd knows each sheep individually. He understands their tendencies, recognizes their voices, and anticipates their needs. He moves them from pasture to pasture, ensuring they have the best grass while allowing the land to regenerate. He protects them from predators that would tear them apart. He tends to their wounds and sicknesses.

Most importantly, a good shepherd does not run when danger approaches. A hired hand might bolt at the first sign of a wolf's growl, after all, he is just collecting a paycheck. But a shepherd who owns the flock? He stands his ground. He puts himself between the threat and his sheep. He's willing to lay down his life for them.

This is the image Jesus painted in John 10:11-18 when He declared, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

More Than Just Words
When Jesus called Himself the good shepherd, He was not making a casual observation. He was making a radical claim to religious leaders who believed they were the rightful shepherds of Israel. He was essentially saying, "I will do a better job caring for these people than you ever did. I will protect them, provide for them, and make sure they are cared for."

But Jesus went even further. He explained that His relationship with His sheep mirrors His relationship with the Father. Just as He knows the Father intimately, His sheep know Him. It is all about relationship, a connection so deep that the sheep recognize the shepherd's voice instantly.

And here is where it gets even more remarkable: Jesus spoke of other sheep not yet in the pen. He was talking about Gentiles, about people who were not part of the original covenant community. He was talking about you and me. He was saying that His love, His protection, and His sacrifice extend far beyond the boundaries anyone had imagined.

The Ultimate Sacrifice
Perhaps the most staggering aspect of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is what He was willing to do. He said, "I lay down my life for the sheep... No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord."

Think about that for a moment. At any point during His arrest, trial, beating, or crucifixion, Jesus could have called down legions of angels. He had the authority as the Son of God to stop the entire process. But He chose not to. He surrendered His divine authority to the will of the Father because He knew that being the Good Shepherd meant laying down His life so we could have a way back to God.

That is not the action of a hired hand. That is the heart of a shepherd who loves His sheep more than His own life.

When Sheep Wander
If we are honest, we are not always the best at staying close to the Shepherd. We see greener pastures in the distance and wander off. We get distracted by what looks appealing and stray from the safety of the flock. We decide to do life our own way, convinced we know better than the One who created us.

Sound familiar?

So how do we keep from wandering? How do we stay close to the Good Shepherd?

Listen to the good shepherd.
There is a critical difference between hearing and listening. You can hear someone speak without actually responding to what they say. But listening demands a response. Listening requires action.

We can hear Jesus calling us to forgive someone who hurt us, but listening means we actually extend that forgiveness. We can hear the Holy Spirit prompting us to help someone in need, but listening means we get up and do something about it. We can hear God's Word telling us to trust Him with our finances, relationships, or future, but listening means we actually surrender control.

Sheep respond to the shepherd out of obedience to what they have listened to the shepherd say. The question is not whether we hear God's voice. The question is whether we are listening—really listening—and responding accordingly.

Stay aware of danger.
We live in a dangerous world, and not just talking about physical threats. There is a spiritual war raging around us that we cannot see with our natural eyes. First Peter 5:8 warns us: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Satan is actively looking for ways to take us down. Maybe it is through an area where we have been struggling to trust God. Maybe it is through an unanswered prayer that makes us question whether God really cares. Maybe it is through that secret sin we keep battling in private.

Hell is coming after us, and we need to be aware. We need to keep our heads up and our ears attuned to Jesus. When we sense danger, we don't move toward it out of curiosity or pride. We run the other direction, back to the safety of the Shepherd's protection.

Depend on other sheep.
Here is something crucial: sheep survive better in community. They instinctively know there is strength in numbers. When they are isolated, they are vulnerable. When they're together, they are protected.

We need each other desperately. We need people in our lives who will support us, encourage us, challenge us, and protect us. We need friends who will hold us accountable when we are drifting. We need mentors who have walked the path before us and can offer wisdom. We need community that reminds us we are not alone in our struggles.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 puts it this way: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

One sheep alone is easy prey. But sheep together, under the watchful care of the Good Shepherd, are a force to be reckoned with.

The Shepherd's Call
There is a beautiful reality in all of this: when the Shepherd calls, His sheep recognize His voice. They do not respond to strangers or hired hands. But when they hear the voice of the One who knows them, loves them, and died for them, they come running.

Are you listening for His voice today? Are you staying alert to the dangers around you? Are you connected to other sheep in meaningful community?

The Good Shepherd is calling. He is calling you by name. He is inviting you into relationship, into safety, into abundant life. The question is: will you listen and follow?

Choose ONE of the following to put into practice:

1. Improve Your Listening
   • Set aside 10-15 minutes daily for quiet time with God
   • When you sense the Holy Spirit prompting you, write it down and act on it within 24 hours
   • Ask someone close to you if they've noticed areas where you hear but don't listen
2. Stay Alert to Danger
   • Identify one area where you've let your guard down spiritually
   • Confess it to a trusted friend and ask for accountability
   • Memorize 1 Peter 5:8 and recite it when you feel tempted
3. Depend on Other Sheep
   • Reach out to one person this week to build or strengthen your relationship
   • Ask someone to pray with you about a specific struggle
   • Offer to be a support to someone who's going through a difficult time
   • Join a ministry team or serve alongside others at church

What does it truly mean to follow Jesus in our everyday lives? The conversation with Jenna Potts reminds us that faith is not about having everything figured out or presenting a perfect version of ourselves. Instead, it's about choosing to say yes to Jesus each day, even when life gets messy and complicated. We discover that discipleship happens not in grand, dramatic moments, but in the small, consistent steps we take toward Christ. Our faith must be lived out loud through our actions, not just our words. Whether it is showing up when we would rather stay in bed, opening our Bible when it feels like a chore, or simply being present with others in authentic relationship, these everyday choices build our faith.  This is an invitation to stop overcomplicating our spiritual journey and instead focus on intentional, relational discipleship that points others to Jesus through how we live, speak, and love.

Restored by Love: The Radical Call to Follow Jesus
There is something profoundly beautiful about restoration. Not the kind that happens to old furniture or vintage cars, but the kind that happens to broken hearts and wounded spirits. The kind that takes our deepest failures and transforms them into launching pads for purpose.

The story of Peter's restoration beside the Sea of Galilee captures this beauty in a way that should stop us in our tracks. Here was a man who had experienced the ultimate spiritual whiplash from declaring he would die for Jesus to denying him three times before the rooster crowed. If anyone had reason to believe they were beyond redemption, it was Peter.

Yet Jesus didn't come to condemn. He came to restore.

The Question That Changes Everything

"Do you love me?"

Three times Jesus asked this question. Three times, one for each denial. But these were not questions designed to shame or punish. They were invitations to healing. Each question was a gentle hand reaching into Peter's wounded heart, offering not judgment but grace.
This is the nature of our God. He does not approach us with a list of our failures, ready to throw our past mistakes in our faces. Instead, He comes with a question that cuts through all our pretense and gets to the heart of the matter: Do you love me?

Think about the things you have done that you believe are unforgivable. The moments you stayed silent when you should have spoken up for your faith. The times you chose comfort over conviction. The ways you've let fear dictate your decisions rather than faith.

Now imagine Jesus looking at you with eyes full of compassion and asking, "Do you love me?"

That is not condemnation. That's restoration.

The enemy wants us to believe that our past disqualifies us from God's future purposes. That is a lie from hell. God's grace is big enough to reach us wherever we are, no matter what we have done or where we have been. There is nothing too big that has dishonored God that is beyond His grace.

Love Leads to Responsibility
After each of Peter's affirmations of love, Jesus gave him a command: "Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep."

This is remarkable. Jesus does not just restore Peter and send him on his way with a clean slate. He immediately gives him responsibility. He commissions him to care for the vulnerable, to nurture new believers, to protect the flock.

The call to serve flows directly from our love for Christ. When we truly grasp what He has done for us, when we cannot get over the fact that He has restored us, there should be a natural overflow into serving others.

Shepherds in the ancient world were intimately involved in caring for their sheep. They led them to green pastures and still waters. They provided protection and rest. They tended to physical ailments. They were willing to put themselves in harm's way for the sake of the flock.

This is what Jesus was calling Peter to do with His people. And it is what He calls us to do today.

Where are you serving? Not out of obligation or guilt, but out of overflow from your love for Jesus. There are children who need to be discipled in their faith. There are hurting people who need the ministry of presence. There are countless ways the body of Christ needs workers who will say, "Here am I, Lord. Send me."

The Power of Silence
In our noise-saturated world, we have lost the art of sitting in silence with God. We approach Him with our agendas already formed, our plans already made, asking Him to bless what we've decided rather than seeking His direction in the first place.

But transformation happens in the quiet places. In the darkness and silence where distractions fade away, we can finally hear what God is trying to say to us. We need those moments where we are not doing all the talking, where we simply come with the posture of Isaiah: "Here am I, Lord. Send me."

Whatever it is You want, Lord, I'm Yours. I'll follow You. I'm committed to You.

This is where we discover God's purposes for our lives. Not in the busyness, not in the noise, but in the sacred silence where His voice becomes clear.

Radical Discipleship
Jesus did not sugarcoat what following Him would cost Peter. He gave him a glimpse of his future, a future that would include suffering and death. Yet His invitation remained the same: "Follow me."

Radical discipleship means total commitment and total surrender. It means recognizing that our plans do not always align with God's plans, and our mission is not to get God to align with us, it is to align ourselves with what He is leading us to do.

Consider the words we sing: "Since Jesus gave His life for me, should I not give Him mine?" Or "Wherever He leads, I'll go." Or "I surrender all."

Do we mean those words? Are we willing to be radical in our discipleship? To be so consumed with following Jesus that people might think we are a little crazy?

Following Jesus is not always easy, and it is not always comfortable. But it is always worth it.

From Chains to Freedom
The beauty of the gospel is captured perfectly in these words: "My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me."

This is the reality for everyone who comes to Jesus. No matter how bound we have been by our past, no matter how heavy the chains of guilt and shame, His grace breaks them. His mercy rains down like a flood. His love is unending.

We were once lost, but now we are found. We were blind, but now we see.

The question is: What will we do with this freedom? Will we simply enjoy our salvation and live comfortable lives? Or will we step into the radical call to make disciples, to feed His sheep, to follow wherever He leads?

The choice is ours. But know this: Jesus is calling. He is asking the question that changes everything: "Do you love me?"

Your answer will determine everything that follows.

There is something powerful about the spaces in between. The pause between heartbeats. The silence between musical notes. The waiting between promise and fulfillment.

When we think about Easter, our minds naturally gravitate toward the triumphant Sunday morning, the empty tomb, the rolling stone, the declaration that He is risen. But what about the in-between? What happened in those hours after the cross and before the resurrection? What was unfolding while Jesus' body lay wrapped in linen in a borrowed tomb?

The answer might surprise you: faith was being tested in the most unexpected places.

When Enemies Believed More Than Friends
Here is a startling truth: sometimes those who opposed Jesus understood His promises better than those who loved Him most.

Jesus had told His followers repeatedly what would happen. In Matthew 20:18-19, He laid it out plainly: He would be delivered to the chief priests, condemned to death, mocked, flogged, crucified, and then raised on the third day. He said it clearly. He said it multiple times. Yet when the moment came, His disciples scattered. They hid. They doubted.

Meanwhile, the Pharisees and chief priests, the very people who wanted Jesus dead could not stop thinking about His promise to rise again.

After Jesus was laid in the tomb, these religious leaders went to Pontius Pilate with an urgent request. They remembered what "that imposter" had said: "After three days I will rise." Even with Jesus' lifeless body sealed behind stone, they trembled at the possibility that He might actually do what He promised.

Think about that. The people who rejected Jesus as the Messiah believed His words about resurrection enough to take action. They demanded guards. They insisted on sealing the tomb. They feared that something miraculous might actually happen.

The Body That Terrified an Empire
There is something deeply ironic about powerful men being afraid of a dead body.
Joseph of Arimathea had taken Jesus' body, wrapped it in clean linen, and placed it in his own new tomb carved from rock. A great stone was rolled across the entrance. Mary Magdalene and another Mary sat nearby, their hearts shattered with grief.

This was supposed to be the end of the story. The troublemaker was dead. The movement should have died with Him.

But the enemies of Jesus knew better. They had seen too much. Prophecy after prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures had found fulfillment in this man from Nazareth. What if this final prophecy—resurrection—came true as well?

So they went to Pilate: "Order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he is risen from the dead."

They wanted armed guards stationed at a tomb. They wanted a Roman seal placed on the stone, breaking which would be an act of treason punishable by death. All this security for someone already dead.

Why? Because they understood something profound: if word got out that Jesus was alive, everything would change.

The Message That Turned the World Upside Down
The religious leaders were right to be concerned.

When Jesus rose from the dead, it became the most powerful news ever proclaimed. The apostles preached it everywhere they went. In Acts 17, we read about Paul arriving in Thessalonica and reasoning from Scripture for three Sabbaths, "explaining and giving evidence that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead."

The response from the city? Accusation: "These men who have upset the world have come here also... saying that there is another king, Jesus."

Upset the world. Turned it upside down. All because of a resurrection.

And here is what confirms it was real: those apostles died for this message. They were martyred in horrific ways because they refused to stop proclaiming that Jesus had risen. People don't die for lies they invented. They die for the truth they witnessed.

The Failed Cover-Up
When the stone was rolled away and Jesus emerged from the tomb, the guards experienced something so terrifying they fainted. Later, they went to the chief priests and told them everything that had happened.

Everything the religious leaders had feared had come true. Jesus was alive.

But rather than believe, they doubled down on deception. They bribed the soldiers with a "sufficient sum of money" and instructed them: "Tell people his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were sleeping."

Think about that story for a moment. If the guards were sleeping, how would they know who took the body? And if disciples tried to roll away a massive stone in the night, would not that wake sleeping soldiers? The lie does not even make sense.

But lies rarely do when confronted with resurrection truth.

The Reality That Changes Everything
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a spiritual metaphor. It is not symbolic language for new beginnings or fresh starts. It is a historical reality that split time in two and changed everything that came after.

No rope could hold Him in that tomb. No Roman seal could contain Him. No government authority could keep Him dead. When the King of the universe decided it was time to rise, nothing in heaven or earth could stop Him.

And because He rose, we have hope that death is not the end. We have confidence that the grave has lost its victory. We have assurance that everyone who puts their faith in Jesus will also experience resurrection life, both now and in eternity.

Living in Light of the Empty Tomb
The enemies of Jesus were correct about His promise. They were concerned about the implications. And ultimately, they were conquered by the reality of resurrection.

Two thousand years later, the message continues. The same good news that turned the first-century world upside down still transforms lives today. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead still works in human hearts, bringing new life where there was only death.

The question is: what will we do with this truth?

Will we be like the disciples who doubted despite His promises? Or will we be people of resurrection faith, believing that what God says, He will do?

The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive. And that changes absolutely everything about how we live, how we hope, and how we face our own mortality.

This is not just a story we celebrate one Sunday a year. It is the foundation of our faith and the reason we can face each day with confidence. Because we serve a risen Savior who is in the world today—who walks with us, talks with us, and lives within our hearts.

The in-between is over. The waiting is done. The resurrection is real.

And that truth is still turning the world upside down.

The greatest day in human history was not marked by political triumph or military conquest. It was marked by an empty tomb.

Every year, we gather to celebrate Easter, a day when death itself was defeated, when the impossible became reality, and when the trajectory of human history was forever altered. But beyond the traditions and celebrations lies a profound truth that continues to transform lives today: Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

The Surprise That Changed Everything
Picture two women making their way to a tomb in the early morning hours. Mary Magdalene and another Mary walked with heavy hearts, carrying spices to prepare a body for burial. Their conversation likely replayed the horrific events of the previous days, the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion. The man they had followed, believed in, and loved was gone.

They had heard Jesus speak about rising again, but in their grief and humanness, they could not comprehend it. How could someone truly die and come back to life? Even though they had witnessed Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, the concept seemed too extraordinary to grasp when it came to their beloved teacher.

As they approached the tomb, the ground shook. An earthquake. The massive stone that had sealed the entrance was rolled away not by human hands, but by divine power. And there, sitting on the stone, was an angel whose appearance was like lightning, clothed in white as snow.

Can you imagine their shock? They came expecting death and despair. Instead, they encountered life and hope.

This is the beautiful surprise of resurrection: God meets us in our darkest moments and does the impossible.

When Stones Block Our Path
We all carry stones in our lives. Heavy burdens that seem impossible to move. Perhaps it is the weight of past failures that haunts you, whispering that you will never be good enough. Maybe it is the crushing pain of loss that feels like it will never heal. It could be fear that paralyzes you, preventing you from stepping into the future God has for you.

These stones represent finality, the end of hope, the death of dreams, the impossibility of change.

But the resurrection reminds us that the God who rolled away the stone from Jesus' tomb can roll away the stones in our lives too. Nothing is too difficult for Him. No hurt is too deep. No failure is too great. No situation is too hopeless.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to bring new life to the dead areas of our existence. Where we see impossibility, God sees opportunity. Where we see endings, God sees new beginnings.

The Message That Brings Freedom
The angel's first words to the frightened women were simple yet profound: "Do not be afraid."

Easy to say, right? They had just witnessed their leader crucified, they were staring at an angelic being, and Roman guards lay unconscious nearby. Fear seemed like the only reasonable response.

Yet the angel continued with words that would echo through eternity: "I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."

This message is foundational to everything we believe. Jesus had predicted his death and resurrection repeatedly, but his followers struggled to comprehend it. Now, standing before an empty tomb, they discovered that every promise Jesus made was true.

The resurrection is God's ultimate "yes and amen" to humanity.

It declares victory over sin, death, and darkness. It proclaims that forgiveness is real, that new life is possible, and that hope is not wishful thinking but solid truth.

Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us: "If anyone is in Christ, the old has gone and the new has come." This is not just poetic language, it is the transformative reality of resurrection power at work in human lives.

Many people believe they need to clean themselves up before coming to God. They think they must stop certain behaviors or start new habits before they are worthy of His love. But this misses the entire point of grace.

Come as you are. Bring your mess, your brokenness, your failures. Jesus does not require you to fix yourself first; He does the transforming work. It starts with three simple steps:
Admit that you need deliverance from sin. Acknowledge that you can't save yourself.

Believe that what Jesus did on the cross was enough to pay for your sins. His sacrifice was complete and sufficient.

Confess your sins. Not by listing every wrong thing you have done, but by agreeing with God that He is right and you have been wrong.

When you take these steps, something miraculous happens. First John 1:9 promises: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

You become justified, meaning it is as if your sins never happened. God tosses them as far as the east is from the west, never to be held against you again. You are pardoned, forgiven, made new.

The Mission We All Share
The angel did not just deliver good news to the women, he gave them a mission: "Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead."

The resurrection was never meant to be a private event. It is a message intended to be shared with everyone, everywhere.

Those women became the first missionaries, carrying the news that Jesus was alive. But the mission did not end with them. It continues today, with every person who has experienced the life-changing power of the resurrection.

We carry the greatest news in the world: Jesus wants to change lives, and He has the power to do it.

This does not mean life becomes easy once you follow Jesus. Challenges do not disappear. Difficulties do not vanish. But here is the difference: you do not walk through them alone. The Good Shepherd walks with you, fights for you, and carries you when you can not take another step.

Because He Lives
There is an old hymn that captures the essence of resurrection hope: "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives."

This is the promise of Easter. Not just that Jesus rose 2,000 years ago, but that His resurrection power is available today to heal, to restore, to transform, to give new life.

God loves you. He sent His Son to die for you. Jesus rose from the grave so you could have life, abundant, eternal, purposeful life.

If you have been carrying heavy stones, today can be the day they are rolled away. If fear has been holding you back, today can be the day you step into freedom. If you have been living in the tomb of past mistakes, today can be the day you walk into new life.

The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive. And because He lives, everything changes.

There is something profound about standing at the foot of the cross. Not as distant observers of ancient history, but as people whose entire existence has been transformed by what happened there. The weight of that moment—when heaven held its breath and the Son of God declared "It is finished"—carries implications that ripple through eternity and into every corner of our daily lives.

The Debt We Could not Pay
Imagine receiving a phone call about an outstanding debt, only to hear the words: "Your debt has been canceled." There is a moment of relief, certainly. But what if that cancellation came at an unthinkable cost? What if someone you loved had to die for that debt to be erased?

This is the reality we face when we approach Good Friday. We stand before a debt paid in full—not with currency or negotiation, but with blood and sacrifice. The cross is not just a religious symbol or a piece of jewelry; it is the place where justice and mercy collided, where the price for human sin was paid once and for all.

Scripture tells us in John 19 that Jesus, bearing His own cross, walked to Golgotha—the place of the skull. There, between two criminals, the King of Kings was crucified. The inscription above His head read "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" in three languages, ensuring everyone could understand who was dying that day.

Love Made Visible
At the heart of Good Friday lies an incomprehensible truth: God's love is not merely an emotion or a pleasant idea. It is action. It is sacrifice. It is a Father sending His only Son to die for a world that had turned its back on Him.

John 3:16 captures this perfectly: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This is not love that waits for us to become worthy. This is love that acts while we are still unworthy.

Consider what Jesus endured: the nails driven through His hands and feet, the crown of thorns pressed into His scalp, the brutal beating from soldiers, the mockery and shame. But beyond the physical agony, Jesus bore something far heavier—the weight of humanity's sin. Every lie, every betrayal, every act of violence and hatred throughout history was placed on His shoulders.

This is sacrificial love. This is unconditional love. And it challenges us profoundly: If God's love is willing to endure pain for the sake of others, how are we loving those around us? Are we loving only when it's convenient? Only when people deserve it? Only when it benefits us?

The cross calls us to a different standard and to love beyond our circumstances, beyond our convenience, beyond what feels comfortable.

Freedom Through Redemption
The word "redemption" carries a powerful meaning. It speaks of being purchased back, of being set free from bondage. Colossians 1:13-14 declares: "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Before Christ, we were enslaved—bound by chains of guilt, shame, and sin that we could not break ourselves. No amount of good works, religious activity, or self-improvement could free us. The weight was crushing, the bondage complete.

But Jesus paid the price we could never pay. His blood became the atoning sacrifice that purchased our freedom. When we come to Him, confessing our sin and surrendering our lives, we experience complete pardon. The weight lifts. The chains break. We are no longer defined by our past but by His sacrifice.

This is not partial forgiveness or probationary freedom. It is full, complete, absolute redemption. The debt is canceled. The record is cleared. We stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ rather than the filthy rags of our own attempts at goodness.

The Call to New Life
But the cross does not leave us where it found us. Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." This is transformation language. This is a new creation reality.

Second Corinthians 5:17 reinforces this truth: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." When we embrace what Jesus did at the cross, we do not just receive forgiveness—we receive a new identity, a new nature, a new life.

We die to our old selves—to selfish desires, to fear, to pride. We are reborn into a life empowered by Jesus Himself. This is not about trying harder to be good. It is about being made new from the inside out.

Friday Is not the End
Here is the beautiful tension of Good Friday: Yes, we remember the sacrifice. Yes, we honor the suffering. Yes, we acknowledge the weight of what Jesus endured. But we do not stay in mourning because we know the rest of the story.

Friday was the day Jesus died. Friday was when the disciples felt hopeless, when everything they believed seemed to crumble. Friday was when Joseph of Arimathea laid Jesus' body in a borrowed tomb.

But Sunday changed everything.

On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered death. He defeated the grave. The battle was won. The victory was secured.

We do not approach the cross with despair but with gratitude mixed with joy. We do not leave Good Friday defeated but victorious. Because while Friday shows us the cost of our redemption, Sunday proves that the payment was accepted and death itself has been overcome.

Living in Victory
So what does this mean for our everyday lives? It means we are fighting battles that have already been won. It means tomorrow is in God's hands. It means we can face uncertainty with confidence, knowing that Jesus has already secured our future.

It means we can live boldly, love sacrificially, and serve generously because we are no longer enslaved to fear or shame. We are children of the King, citizens of His kingdom, recipients of His grace.

The cross reveals God's love. The cross brings redemption and forgiveness. The cross calls us to new life.

And that is worth celebrating—not just on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, but every single day.