Tag: worship

Easter Sunday (a.k.a. Picture Day)…

Yesterday was Easter – a busy day around our house!  As a pastor, Sundays and the weekend are always busy, but when it’s Easter weekend the level of activity ramps up just that much more.  You have to plan for Easter…

For example – just try and eat out after church on Easter without any reservations.  You’ll find you are quickly relegated to the local Mexican Restaurant or your neighborhood McDonald’s.  (Those are great places but definitely not what your wife would hope you would choose for Easter dinner.)

Easter morning arrives and we (the pastoral staff) have an awesome service planned.  Today is the day that the “CEO’s” will be in church.  And by “CEO” I mean the Christmas and Easter Only crowd – you know the ones you see in church only twice a year.

We know the crowds will be bigger and everyone wants the service and the day to be excellent – not just the pastors.  All you have to do is watch the parade of people dressed to the nines with their new Sunday threads.  This seams to be the day that new suits, hats, shoes, dresses, sweaters, and shirts make their debut.  So much so that I have secretly taken to calling Easter by it’s other little known name – “Picture Day.”

It’s no different in my house.   I know that it’s a special day because my daughters have new dresses, new shoes, and new accessories.  Even the hot rollers have appeared on the bathroom counter just waiting for their role in this special occasion.  In fact, I have to confess, I picked out (and wore) a tie for the day…

Everyone is dressed – the car is loaded – the camera is grabbed – and off we go!

This is where the picture day part comes in.  Easter is a special day in the church.  In fact it is THE day in the church.  So it is natural that we do things extra special on this Sunday.  The kids have a small program, the choir sings, baptisms are scheduled, eggs are hunted, brunch is served, and everyone is dressed to impress!

But as I sit here this Monday morning after Easter I am actually kind of disappointed.  Not in my Easter experience – it was incredible and the service was amazing!  But I sit disappointed because next week isn’t Easter.  The cameras won’t be there….the “CEO’s” won’t be there….the fanfare won’t be there….

“Picture Day” has come and gone for another year.  As a pastor this severely disappoints me!  Why does it have to be that way?  Why can’t we as a church strive to have every Sunday be “Picture Day?”

Let me challenge you….let’s take it a week at a time….let’s make this next year a year of 52 Sunday’s all being treated as “Picture Day’s.”   The day that you roll out the very best to worship a risen Savior!  The day that everything is excellent….

Now that would be cool!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

“Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com”

Where is your heart centered?

Earlier this week I was reading the story about Jesus healing the ten lepers.  The story where all were healed but only one came back to thank Him AND to worship Him…  We can learn so much from that one leper, not just about being thankful but about where our hearts should be centered.

His heart was centered on Jesus – on who Jesus was – and on what Jesus had done.  The lesson we learn should learn is that when we are focused on what Jesus is doing, we will be absorbed into knowing who He is, and when we are absorbed into knowing who He is – we will become like Him!  It is this complete absorption into “worshipping” Him that leads us into having a heart centered on Him and a heart like His.

But what does having a heart like Jesus’ or a heart centered on Him look like?

In my religious tradition we define this as holiness, sanctification, christian perfection and perfect love.  These are terms that have long caused confusion for clergy AND non-clergy alike, mainly due in large part to the difficulty of defining and applying this concept to everyday life.

But we have to…So let’s try…

In order to have a heart centered on God it follows that one must be set apart for God.  John Wesley understood the Christian to be a holy person set-aside for God as shown in verses such as Exodus 19:10 and 1 Peter 2:9.  To be set apart for God is to be made holy!

But what does “being set apart” look like?  If we know that love is the center of Wesley’s understanding, then this love must be the true test of holiness.  Out of love we are to emulate Christ.  Out of love we are set apart.  Out of love we are holy.

Love is what caused the healed leper that returned to Jesus.  Love is what caused him to see who Jesus was.  Both Jesus’ love for him and the leper’s love for Jesus fueled their actions. Love is what should fuel our actions.

We are told that Jesus’ wept two times in the New Testament – once when his friend Lazarus had died and the other when He was looking over Jerusalem and was broken because the people just didn’t get who He was.  It was His passion, His compassion, His brokenness, His love that caused Jesus to weep at these times.  It showed where Jesus’ heart was – it showed His heart was broken.

So perhaps, we should ask ourselves, “Who do I weep for?”  I bet the healed leper was weeping when He saw what had happened and realized who Jesus was…

So let me end with this thought…

It is only after we are broken and weeping for a deeper knowledge of Christ, for our families, our neighbors, our community, and our churches, that we develop a heart centered on God and therefore become “set apart” for God.

Where is your heart centered today?

Until next time…

Pastor Barry