From Your Pastor

April showers bring May flowers! Thats how the saying goes. The idea behind the saying is that when its pouring down rain in April, we can endure it because we know that sunshine and nicer weather are in store come May. Theres a similar idea going on in the Bible. The apostle Paul talked about it. He wrote in his letter to the Philippian church: I want to know Christyes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal (Phil. 3:10-12). Paul knew what was ahead for him, and for all those in Christ: resurrection. But Paul knew he had not attained that goal yet. The events of the past few weeks have reminded us, in a brutal and undeniable way, that we have also not yet arrived at our goal. The bombings in Boston and the escalating crime in our own neighborhoods have shown us the reality of sin and evil yet again. Things like this tend to get me down. I wonder why I work so hard to tell people about Jesus if there seems like so little evidence that anything in this world is changing. Francis Chan, a pastor and writer, offers these thoughts in the Spring 2013 edition of Leadership Journal: We need to realize a simple and yet complex truth. The ultimate work is Gods doing. We cant make people do anything. Pauls commandment in Ephesians 3:14-19 is to pray harder, and to pray for a specific thing: that people would know the fullness of God, so that people can understand Christs love for them. Thats a difficult concept to fully grasp. No matter how hard we work as Christians, we will never be able to get people to love God. That work comes from God by the power of his Spirit. Its a supernatural exchange. God grants the love. If a person does not truly understand the depths of Gods love, you will not be able to talk the person into it. This granting is something only God can do. You cant make anyone fall in love with Jesus, either. When it comes to Jesus and people, you can only make the introduction. I can only tell them that God, the Creator of the world, the only God that matters, loves them deeply. More than any other human being could. God loves you so much that he gave his son to die on a cross for you. It doesnt matter how messed up you are, how much youve rebelled against him, or even how indifferent you might be to matters of the cross; God still loves you deeply. Who does this? Who chooses to die in place of someone else? What an amazing God this is! Yes, I can make this introduction, but nothing will happen until the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives a person the ability to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. He enables people to know something they cant know. You understand Gods love in your inner being. Oh, how God loves us! And for people to understand this love, it comes only through prayer. Prayer is the first and greatest work that we do. We havent arrived at our goal yet. Until we do, this world will keep reminding us of the distance between where we are and where well be someday. And its not up to us to bring the someday into existence. Are things rough in this world? You bet. Can any of our best efforts change that? Nope. But with God, all things are possible. Lets press on, praying that the Holy Spirit would move powerfully to show all people the fullness of God so that they can understand Christs love for them. Lets press on, showing the world that we actually believe God is already at work in peoples lives and so we need to be, too. Let us pray for others, and

then lets follow our prayers into the lives of those people, asking God to work thro ugh us to change this world until the day when someday well reach our goal becomes Thanks be to God, we have arrived! Your brother in Christ, Josh