That Glorious Morning of Hope

 Jesus' friends were sad. They would never see their best friend again. How could this happen? Wasn’t Jesus the Rescuer? The King God had promised? It wasn’t supposed to end like this.Yes, but whoever said anything about the end?
Just before sunrise, on the third day, God sent an earthquake – and an angle from heaven. When the guards saw the angel, they fell down with fright. The angel rolled the huge stone away, sat on top of it, and waited.At the first glimmer of dawn, Mary Magdalene and other women headed to the tomb to wash Jesus’ body. The early morning sun slanted through the ancient olive trees, drops of dew glittering on leaves and grasses – little tears everywhere. The friends walked quietly along the hilly path, through the olive groves, until they reached the tomb. And immediately noticed something odd – it was wide open.

They peered through the opening in the dark tomb. But wait. Jesus’ body was gone! And something else: a shining man was there, with clothes made from lightening. “Don’t be scared,” the angel said. But (they couldn’t help it) they screamed anyway. The angel asked them, “What are you doing here? This is a tomb and tombs are for dead people.” The women couldn’t speak. “Jesus isn’t dead anymore!” he said. “He’s alive again!” And their hearts leapt. And then the angel laughed with such gladness that they felt, for a moments, as if they had woken from a nightmare. The other women rushed home, but Mary stayed behind, How could it be true? Jesus was definitely dead – how could he be alive? Just then Mary heard someone else in the garden. Perhaps it’s the gardener, she thought. He’ll know where Jesus’ body is. “I don’t know where Jesus is!” Mary said urgently. “I can’t find him.” But it was all right. Jesus knew where she was. And he had found her. "Mary!”

Only one person said her name like that. She could hear her heart thumping. She turned around. She could just make out a figure. She shaded her eyes to see … and thought she was dreaming. But she wasn’t dreaming. She was seeing. “Jesus!”

Mary fell to the ground. Sudden tears filled her eyes and great sobs shook her whole body, and all she wanted in that moment was to cling to Jesus and never let him go. “You’ll be able to hold on to me later, Mary.” Jesus said gentlly, “and always be close to me. But now, go and tell the others that I’m alive!”

Mary ran and ran, all the way to the city. She had never run so fast or so far in all her life. She felt she could have run forever. She didn’t even feel like her feet touched the ground. The sun seemed to be dancing and gleaming and bounding across the sky, racing with her shining brighter than she could ever remember in the clear, fresh air.

And it seemed to her that morning, as she ran, almost as if the whole world had been made anew, almost as if the whole world was singing for joy – the trees, tiny sounds in the grass, the birds … her heart. Was God really making everything sad come untrue? Was he making even death come untrue? She couldn’t wait to tell Jesus’ friends. “They won’t believe it!” she laughed. She was right, of course.  (From the Jesus Storybook Bible) Peter had to go and see for himself, and ran all the way to the tomb. He then remembered that Jesus had said, "I will be killed, and then raised up on the third day." Later, Jesus came and showed himself to Peter and his other friends too, and ate with them. They touched his hands that still had the nail marks in them. Jesus appeared to more than 500 people. These people were willing to die for what they believed rather than deny that Jesus had been raised, because they had seen them with their own eyes. And so the good news began to spread all over the Roman empire and all over the world. 

+++

Jesus, you are Lord of all. You rescued us, and conquered death and sin and shame. Thank you, Lord Jesus! I believe. Help my unbelief. I am like Thomas, who needed to touch your hands and know that you were really raised, but Lord, give me faith. Reveal yourself to me in a way that is just as real. If you are really who you say you are, open my mind (the mind that you made) to see the reasons, open my heart... break down my pride and break through my blindness. I want to see you, and know you as the lover of my soul who came to rescue me, too!

Holy Saturday

The day after Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb, his disciples were very sad. All of their hope for Jesus as King, as the one who would save us, were seemingly gone. And their best friend was dead, killed so cruelly, though he was innocent.

Peter was probably having the hardest time. He had denied that he even knew Jesus, and the third time he denied him, Jesus looked at him sadly, right in the eye, so full of love, and yet Peter was so ashamed of himself, he had run away. The disciples were all afraid, and were hiding. They thought maybe the same thing would happen to them, too, if the Jews hated Jesus so much.

Today, on "Holy Saturday," many people stay up late at night and attend church together, waiting for the dawn, waiting to celebrate Jesus' resurrection, feeling the anticipation, feeling the sadness that the disciples must have felt, feeling our own anticipation of Jesus' return when he comes again in power.
+++
Jesus, we are like your friends: we don't understand your plans very well, and we are afraid. Thank you for coming to us, finding us, in the places where we hide... we are waiting for you. We find it hard to believe your promises sometimes, and hard to have faith that the crazy world around us is under your control. Thank you that you will return again to judge everyone and everything rightly, to make everything right.

Jesus is Crucified

Today is called "Good Friday." Why is the day when our King died called "good?" Because he died for us. Today people all over the world took time together to remember Jesus. To remember his gift of love to us that cost him everything. To remember the story. This story can be found in the Bible, in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, or John 19. You can also find the "Jesus film" (1979) in hundreds of languages, and watch a dramatized version if that helps you to imagine. (This account is mostly from the Jesus Storybook Bible.)

The Roman soldiers mocked Jesus. "So, you're a King, huh?" They said. "Here's a crown, and a robe!" they laughed, giving him a crown made out of thorns and putting a purple robe on him. Then they whipped him, and spat on him, in his face. They didn't know who he really was. They made a sign that said, "Our King," and nailed it to a wooden cross. They made Jesus carry his cross to the place where criminals were killed.

Jesus had done nothing wrong, and yet he willingly took our place.
They nailed Jesus' hands and feet to the cross, all the way through. Jesus cried out: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." People mocked him: "You said you came to save us, and now look at you! You can't even save yourself!"

 But of course it wasn't true. Jesus stayed on that cross out of love. Out of obedience to his Father. Out of love for you and me.
Jesus cried out to his Father: "Papa?" He looked at the sky. But for the first time in his life, nothing happened. God had turned his face away from his Beloved Son. His Son experienced separation from God to the fullest. Tears streamed down his face, but he stayed on the cross.

Darkness covered the earth, even though it was the middle of the day. The earth trembled and shook. It seemed that creation itself would tear apart.

The full force of the storm of God's anger at sin was coming down. His anger that should have come down on us, on his people. It came down on his Son.

Jesus shouted, "It is finished!" and it was. He had done it. He had rescued the whole world. "Father, I give you my life," he said, and breathed his last breath.

Jesus' friends carried his body and laid it in a new tomb. They were so confused. "How could Jesus die? He was the rescuer... what went wrong? They didn't know anything anymore, except that their hearts were breaking.

"That's the end of Jesus" said the leaders. But, just in case, they had soldiers guard the tomb. And they put a huge stone and rolled it to seal the entrance. So that no one could get in. Or out.

+++
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
Amazing love, now flowing down
From hands and feet
That were nailed to the tree
As grace flows down and covers me
It covers me
+++
such love, I cannot understand
why you would give your only son for me
to die, to die a criminal's death, in utter shame
but my heart knows this is how
you took away all my shame
such love has never been seen before or since

A Dark Night

(from Luke 22, Mark 14, John 18 and The Jesus Storybook Bible) Jesus knew what was about to happen. He asked his friends to stay up and pray with him. They were too tired, and they fell asleep. So he prayed alone to his Father: "Papa!" he cried out in distress, falling to his knees. "Papa, is there any other way to get your children back, to heal their hearts?" But he knew there was no other way than for him to take their punishment, their poison, into himself.
God was going to blame his Son for everything that had gone wrong, pour into his heart every sadness and pain of our hearts, and it would crush Jesus. And even more painful than that, Jesus was going to lose his Father, which would break his heart. He was going to take the punishment of separation from God that we deserved. He cried so that his body shook. But then he was quiet. Like a lamb. "I trust you, Papa. Whatever you say, I will do."

Then, he heard heavy steps. A big group of armed soldiers, and the leaders who hated him, came out of the darkness, led by Judas. Jesus' friends woke up, and he told them, "Now is the time. Everything that was written about me, everything God promised would happen is about to happen."
Peter tried to defend Jesus, and he cut off the ear of one of the soldiers with his sword. But Jesus touched the man's ear, and it was instantly healed! Jesus said, "No, Peter, that is not the right way. If I wanted to, I could ask God to rescue me with his thousands of Angels."
Jesus' friends were afraid, so they ran away and hid in dark shadows. The guards took Jesus to the leaders, who put him on trial. They asked him, "Are you the Son of God?" Jesus replied, "I Am." "Who do you think you are, to call yourself God? You must die!" Only the Romans were allowed to kill prisoners, so they brought them to the Roman leaders. "We will tell them that this man says he is the Son of God, and that he says he is a King. They will crucify him for us."

The Last Supper

(The Last Supper from Mark 14 and John 13-14 and the Jesus Storybook Bible)
Remember when God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt? They had to put the blood of a lamb over their doors to show that they belonged to God, and the angel of death passed by those houses and did not go in but passed over. Well, every year the Jews celebrated this event, called the "Passover."
Jesus and his friends also celebrated Passover, just before Jesus was betrayed and killed. His friends were arguing about who would wash everyone's dirty feet for them before the meal.

Jesus quietly took off his coat and bent down with a bowl of water. Peter said, "Not you, Jesus!" Peter didn't understand that Jesus was a Servant King. Jesus said, "If you don't let me wash away the dirt, Peter, you can't be close to me." Jesus knew that what people needed most was to be clean on the inside. The dirt on their feet was nothing compared with the sin in their hearts. Peter's eyes filled with tears as he let Jesus wash his feet.
"I am doing this because I love you. You also must do this for each other."

Now one of Jesus' disciples had made a plan to betray him to the people who hated him. Jesus knew his plan, and said, "Do what you will do, Judas... go." Judas went and told those people he'd lead them to Jesus, and he received 30 pieces of silver in exchange for his betrayal.

But Jesus stayed and spent more time that evening with his friends. He took bread and broke it and said, "This is my body, which is broken for you. Take and eat it, all of you." And he also took a cup of wine and said, "This is my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. I will die instead of you. I'll heal your hearts, and you'll be clean on the inside. So whenever you do this, remember me. I have rescued you!"

Jesus knew he was leaving to go back to his Father God. "You'll be sad for a while, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will come to you. And you'll have my Forever happiness, so don't be afraid! You are my friends, and I love you, and I will not leave you alone, ever." Then they sung a song, and walked up to their favorite place, an olive garden, to pray.

Jesus' Feet Washed With Tears

 (From Mark 14, Luke 7, John 12 and the Jesus Storybook Bible)
Jesus was having dinner with some very "important" people. A woman came in, and they all knew who she was: a big sinner! How did she dare come in to their dinner party?
She came and fell at Jesus' feet and washed his feet with her tears. She dried his feet with her long hair. The men whispered to each other, "Doesn't he know who this woman is?" Then, she did something that shocked everyone: she took the most valuable thing she had, a bottle of very, very expensive perfume, and broke the beautiful jar, pouring it over Jesus' feet. The men gasped. "What a waste!" they said. But Jesus smiled at her. "What she has done is beautiful, and will be told all over the world. People anointed the kings with oil, but she anointed me with her tears."

 He knew what the men were thinking. They were thinking, "That woman is a sinner! We are the good ones." They thought they were good enough because they kept the rules, but their hearts did not work properly.
Jesus said to them, "This woman knows she is a sinner who will never be good enough. She knows she needs me to rescue her, and that is why she loves me so much."
He told the woman, "Go in peace. Your sins are forgiven." Again, the men were angry. "Who does he think he is? Only God can forgive sins!" They did not believe that Jesus was God's Son.
Jesus said, "There was once a man who owed a lot, and a man who owed a little. The person they owed the money to forgave both debts. Who do you think loved the man more? He who has been forgiven much loves much. He who has been forgiven little loves little."
+++

Jesus, we would probably have been like those men who did not understand who you are. We want to be like the woman who did know, and loved you. She didn't care what anyone else thought. She knew she needed you desperately. We also need you desperately, but we spend so much time trying to convince ourselves and other people that we are OK without you. That we don't owe you much. Please break our cold hearts, like that bottle of perfume. We want new hearts that can worship you with gratitude, and give you the honor and glory that you deserve for rescuing us and being our humble, beautiful, true King.

Praise! (Save us!)

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the holy city of the Jews and their capital (one week before Easter), he rode on a donkey's colt, on that had never been ridden before. All the people shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!" Hosanna means, "Praise," but it also means, "save us now!"
They waved palm branches and put their cloaks down on the ground for him to pass by on.
They thought Jesus was going to save them from the oppressive Roman rulers. But Jesus upset everyone's expectations. He did not come riding on a war horse, but on a young donkey. He did not come to take political power, but had an even bigger goal in mind, to save the entire world. Jesus was the Messiah, the Promised One, and yet he was a Servant King, unlike any other king they had ever known.

+++
Jesus,
You always surprise us! Your ways are not our ways. We praise you for being our humble King who conquered not only all oppression but also sin, death, evil, and separation from God, for us and for the whole world.

Why Did They Hate Jesus?

Jesus teaching in the temple

 There were many people who hated Jesus. You may be wondering who these people were and why they hated him. Why would they hate a perfect man, who had done nothing but good things for people?
Well, there were many people who were very upset by what Jesus was teaching, and by the way so many people starting following him.
And Jesus had some very challenging things to say. He told the religious leaders that they were laying heavy burdens on people that God had never intended, adding to the law. That they looked clean on the outside, but were empty on the inside. He publicly told these leaders that they were hypocrites, and that they were not serving God's people, or God, at all, though they took the best seats at feasts and wore fancy clothes and made sure to always wash their hands and follow the little things in the law. And yet they forgot about justice and about God himself. The didn't understand God's love for broken people. They felt threatened by Jesus, and wanted to even kill him!

The Religious Leaders and Pharisees

These leaders were so angry with Jesus that they looked for opportunities to trap him. But he was too brilliant to fall into their traps, and always showed them a mirror for their hearts.
One time they asked him, "Should we Jews pay taxes to Caesar?" (Caesar was the Emperor of Rome.) Jesus said, "Give me a coin." He said, "Whose image is on the coin?" They said, "Caesar's." So Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (In Genesis, it says that man was "made in God's image," so what he meant was, you owe your whole self and your whole heart to God, which is the bigger issue.) They were amazed at his answer, and speechless.

+++
Jesus,
I would have probably been one of those people who hated you, too, because you turn everything upside down, all of our pride and the goodness we think we have achieved on our own. I am like them sometimes, Lord. I often try to prove myself, and I think I am better than others. Lord Jesus, show me my need for you, and show me your grace for people like me. We are sinners who think we do not have a problem, but we desperately need you. And you rescue us! Thank you, Jesus!

Note: the next post will be on Palm Sunday (March 29th), one week before Easter. I will post something each day of that week leading up to Easter (April 5).

The mustard seed

"He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (from Matthew chapter 13, Jesus talking)

+++
Jesus, sometimes your kingdom looks small and unlikely. And yet by faith we see that you are Lord of all the earth, and that your authority extends to every nation and culture, in a grand celebration of the good news. We want to be a part of sharing this good news that you are the true King, all over the world! Give us faith to see the unlikely ways that you grow your kingdom, using small and weak people like us who have nothing to brag about in the world's terms.

"Why do you call me good?"

(Excerpt from Luke Chapter 18, English Standard Version. By the way, the bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek, and has now been translated into nearly every language, even languages only spoken by a few hundred people now, thanks to the work of diligent linguists who want to share the good news.)

LUKE 18:18-30
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

+++
Jesus,
You were not just a good man. You are the Boss. The King. You're the Master. You own it all. Everything we have is from you, even life itself. We have a hard time remembering this. We think we earn what we have and we are so worried about how to get more and keep more secure. We want to feel secure and we want our families to be secure. Please help us to learn what this means, that it all belongs to you, and that we really do find deep, lasting security in you. That you are the one we can trust and offer everything to. It is safe to give ourselves to you. You will not use us or dominate us. You're the servant king who gave yourself for us completely on the cross.

Never Too Lost For God

(Today's story is from Luke 15 and the Jesus Storybook Bible)
Jesus told this story: There was a boy who asked his father to give him his inheritance early. He thought to himself, "He doesn't want me to have any fun. I'm going to do my own thing" (in that culture this meant, "I wish you were dead now. I don't love you, I just want what you can give me.") His father gave it to him, feeling very sad.
The boy went away and spend all that he had in wild living. When the money ran out, his new "friends" left him, and the only work he could find was feeding pigs. He got so hungry that he wished he could eat the pigs' food.
He decided to go back to his father and beg to be a servant in his house. But as he was still a long way off, his father (who had been watching for him every day) came running out to meet him (his old father, so dignified, didn't care about propriety, he was so happy to see his lost son!

His father kissed him and put his special ring on his finger and gave him his robe said, "let's have a party! bring out the best food we have!" even before the boy could say he was sorry and explain that he wanted to work to earn his favor back. This is how God feels about us, his lost children. Thought we shamed him, he restores us back to the family with shocking, free, wild forgiveness.

+++
Father God,
Wow, your love is so amazing! Even though we often just love you for what you can give us, and bring shame upon your family name, you watch and wait for us. You come running out to meet us when we just begin to turn back to you... you don't shame us, but instead, give us your full favor again, though we don't deserve it. Why don't you shame us? We can't understand it, but we thank you, loving Father!
We want to love like you do, God... to see others when they are still a long way off, the people we think deserve to be shamed... and run out to meet them, fully forgive them and restore them back to life and close relationship. Please give us new hearts to know your love and share it with others joyfully!
Amen.

A Man Who Didn't Have Any Friends

                                    (From Luke 19 and The Jesus Storybook Bible)

There once was a man who did not have any friends. Why? He was a tax collector. And he made himself rich by stealing from the common people. Nobody liked him, with good reason. His name was Zacchaeus.
Jesus was passing through his town. Everyone wanted to see him. Zacchaeus wanted to see him, too. But he had a problem. He was very, very short. He couldn't see over everyone's heads. So, he climbed up a tree.
When Jesus approached in the crowd, he stopped. He looked up, right at Zacchaeus. He said, "I want to come to your house." Zacchaeus was shocked, but he hurried down the tree and brought Jesus to his home. He thought, "Jesus doesn't know me, doesn't know how I live."
But Jesus did know. And he loved Zacchaeus even so. Zacchaeus was ashamed, and, turning pale, said, "What I have done is wrong. I want to do the right thing and return people's money, even four times what I stole!" And he did.
Jesus smiled and said, "My friend, today God has rescued you!"
Jesus loved Zacchaeus when nobody else did. He showed people what God's faithful, never-giving-up love is like.

+++
Lord Jesus, how can you love people who steal and cheat others? Your love is wild and scandalous. How can you be a God who loves justice, and yet you love those who do wrong, people who everyone agrees are bad people? I'm confused. Please open my eyes. Show me your love. I want to know if you love me. Will you have words of love to speak to me even in the deepest places of my own shame that I cannot even face myself? Nobody I know can love me like that. You are what I want. And I want to learn to love like you love. Set me free from my shame and judgment of others.

Let the Little Children Come to Me!

                      (From Matthew 18, 19, Mark 10, Luke 18, and the Jesus Storybook Bible)

I'm sure you notice the modern day clothes and the microphone on Jesus. I thought this picture was so cute. The man acting as Jesus gets mobbed by little kids who know that the real Jesus loves children!

Jesus' friends argued about who was the most important to God. They had forgotten that they didn't need to do anything to prove themselves to God, like be clever or nice. They forgot that God's love is a gift. And who knows a lot about gifts? Children!

Jesus' friends tried to send the children away. "Jesus is busy," they said. But Jesus always had time for children. He said, "Bring the little children to me, and don't ever send them away." He didn't wait to see if they would behave themselves, but sat them on his lap, told them stories, and made them laugh.
He told his friends, "No matter how big you grow, never grow up so much that you lose your child's heart: full of trust in God. Be like these children. They are the most important in the kingdom."

+++
Jesus, I get so worried about whether I am good enough. I compare myself to others. I try and try to be better and impress them, and you. But then... I see you there... welcoming the little children, though they do not have it all together... though they are beggars for your love! I want to be a beggar for your love, too, and come to you with empty hands. Come and receive your delight in me. What am I waiting for, when you are there with open arms?

Treasure Lost, Treasure Found

                                      (Matthew 13 and The Jesus Storybook Bible)

"God's kingdom is wherever God is king. Where he fills your heart with his Forever Happiness and you stop running from him and love him," Jesus said. He told lots of stories ("parables") to help them understand: "God's kingdom is like a hidden treasure. A man was digging in a field. He found a buried treasure. He buried it again, went and sold everything he had, and bought the field, and gained the treasure."
"Coming home to God is as wonderful as finding a treasure! You might have to dig before you find it. You might have to search, and give up everything to get it. But being where God is, in his kingdom, is more important than anything else in the world. It's worth giving up anything for! God is the real treasure."
God had a treasure too. A treasure that was lost a long, long time ago: his children. And he sent Jesus to regain his treasure. And Jesus would do whatever it took-- even if it cost him everything he had.

+++
Jesus,
You gave everything to win me back. I want to leave everything behind, like the disciples, and follow you, to gain so much more than I could ever find or keep on my own. Some of it is hard to give up. But I leave it behind. Help me to leave it behind. To find my security in your arms, in being your child, a child of the true King, the One who created the world, and me. You are my treasure.

A Picnic

(From Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and The Jesus Storybook Bible)

5,000 people had been sitting all day listening to Jesus. They were sitting on a hillside away from the town. They had not eaten all day, and they were hungry. Jesus' disciples told him, "Send them away to get food." But Jesus said, "You give them food." The disciples looked at each other, puzzled. They didn't bring any food. It would take too much money to buy food, even if there were a store nearby.

Jesus knew they felt panicked. "What food do you have already? Go check." There was a boy in the crowd whose mother had packed him a lunch of five loaves of bread and two fish. He gave all of it to the disciples. Not enough for 5,000... but they brought it to Jesus.
Some people laughed. But God would make it more than enough. Jesus winked at the little boy and said, "Watch."

Everyone wondered, "What is he thinking?" But Jesus knew the One who made the oceans and all the fish, the One who made everything in the beginning, out of nothing. How hard would this be for Someone like that?

Jesus took the boy's lunch, looked up to heaven, and thanked his Father. He handed the food to his friends, and they began to hand it out. And they kept handing it out. And handing it out. And when everyone had had enough, they collected big baskets full of the leftovers. 5,000 people had eaten and were satisfied!

Jesus did many other things that were not "natural." But it was the most natural thing in the world. It's what God had been doing from the beginning. Taking the nothing and making it everything. Taking emptiness and filling it. Taking darkness and making light.

He Can Calm Any Storm

(From Mark 4 and Matthew 8)
Jesus had been helping and healing people all day, and he was tired. He and his disciples got into a boat and set out across the lake. While Jesus was asleep in the front of the boat, a wild storm arose, wilder than any the fishermen-disciples had ever seen. They were terrified!



The boat went up and down violently on the waves and the wind tore at the sails. This storm was more than they could handle. Jesus was still asleep.

They woke Jesus up and said, "Jesus, don't you care that we are going to die? Help us!" Jesus stood up and told the storm, "That's enough. Be quiet." And suddenly, the wind stopped. The waves stopped. The clouds began to lift.

The disciples were amazed, and now they were afraid not of the storm, but of Jesus. "Who is this," they said, "that even the wind and the waves obey his voice?"
Jesus turned to them. "Why were you afraid?" he said. "Did you forget who I am? Did you believe your fears instead of me?"

They did not understand that this was the Son of God. They forgot that if Jesus was with them, they did not need to be afraid, no matter what storm was raging around their little boat.

+++
Jesus, we have heard that you are loving, and that you are strong. When storms come in our lives, we are afraid. But you made the wind and the waves, and they obey your voice. Nothing can happen to us unless you allow it to happen. Help us to call out to you, to remember that you are with us always, and to trust you! It feels so risky and crazy sometimes to trust you, but when we do, our lives are transformed, and we experience peace that passes understanding.

The Singer

(Today's story is based on Matthew 6, 9, and Luke 12 from the Jesus Storybook Bible.)

People loved to be near Jesus. Sick people, well people, happy and sad. Worried people who worried about all kinds of things. "What if we don't have enough food? Or clothes? Or suppose we run out of money? What if there isn't enough... and everything goes wrong?"

Jesus' heart was filled with compassion for the people. So he sat the people down and spoke to them. "See the birds over there?" he said. "Where do they get their food? Do they have cabinets full of food?" The people laughed. "No," said Jesus, "They don't need to worry about that. Because God knows what they need and feeds them."

And likewise he spoke of the flowers, receiving their beauty from God: "They do not need clothes-- God clothes them in royal robes... not even a king is that well dressed!" The people felt a great burden lifted off their shoulders.  

"Little flock," said Jesus, "you are more important than birds! More important than flowers! The birds and the flowers don't sit and worry about things. And God doesn't want his children to worry either. He loves to look after the birds and the flowers. And he loves to look after you, too."

Jesus knew that God was always watching and loving the world he made. Though people had forgotten the song, the birds and the flowers still remembered their song of praise: 

"God made us. He loves us. He is very pleased with us. It was why Jesus had come into the world: to sing them that wonderful song; to sing it not only with his voice, but with his whole life,  so that God's children could remember it and join in and sing it, too."

How to Pray

Jesus teaches people about prayer; paraphrase of The Lord's Prayer, from Matthew 6.

IN THOSE DAYS there were some Extra-Super-Holy People (at least that's what they thought), and they were called "Pharisees." Every day, they would stand out there in the middle of the street and pray out loud in big Extra-Super-Holy Voices. They really weren't praying so much as just showing off. They used lots of special words that were so clever, no one understood what they meant.

People walking by would stop and stare, which might sound rude -- except that's exactly what the Extra-Super-Holy People wanted. They wanted everyone to say, "Look at them. They're so holy. God must love those people best."

Now, you and I both know they were wrong -- God doesn't just love holy people. But the people walking by weren't so sure. Perhaps you did have to be really clever, or good, or important for God to love you. Perhaps you had to know lots of difficult, clever words to speak to God.

So one day, Jesus taught people how to pray. He said, "When you pray, don't pray like those Extra-Super-Holy People. They think if they say lots of words, God will hear them. But it's not because you're so clever, or good, or so important, that God will listen to you. God listens to you because he loves you.

"Did you know that God is always listening to you? Did you know that God can hear the quietest whisper deep inside your heart, even before you've started to say it? Because God knows exactly what you need even before you ask him," Jesus told them.

"You see, God just can't wait to give you all that you need. So you don't need to use long words or special words. You don't have to use a special voice. You just need to talk.

"So when you pray, pray in your normal voice, just like when you're talking to someone you love very much.

Like this . . .

Hello Daddy!

We want to know you.

And be close to you.

Please show us how.

Make everything in the world right again.

And in our hearts, too.

Do what is best -- just like you do in heaven,

And please do it down here, too.

Please give us everything we need today.

Forgive us for doing wrong, for hurting you.

Forgive us just as we forgive other people when they hurt us.

Rescue us! We need you.

We don't want to keep running away and hiding from you.

Keep us safe from our enemies.

You're strong, God.

You can do whatever you want.

You are in charge.

Now and forever and for always!

We think you're great!

Amen!

Yes we do!

You see, Jesus was showing people that God would always love them -- with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Un-breaking, Always and Forever Love.

So they didn't need to hide anymore, or be afraid, or ashamed. They could stop running away from God. And they could run to him instead. As a little child runs into her daddy's arms.

(taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones)

Jesus the Healer

Today's story is from the book of Luke, chapter 8 (paraphrased from The Jesus Storybook Bible). There was a man named Jairus whose daughter was sick. He went to find Jesus, desperate to see his daughter live. He fell at Jesus' feet. "Please!" he said, "My daughter..." Jesus knew. He said, "I'll come."

They must hurry. But there were so many people! Jesus' disciples helped clear the way for them to get through. Then, suddenly, Jesus stopped. "Who touched me?" he said. His friends said, "There are many people, what do you mean?" Jesus had felt power going out of him.
Finally, an older woman, bent low to the ground, said fearfully, "It was me! I thought if I could just touch the edge of your garment, I would be healed." Jesus looked at her. He had compassion on her. His friends said, "We need to hurry!" But Jesus always had time. "Jesus reached out his hands and gently lifted the woman to her feet. 'You believed,' he said, wiping a tear from her eye, "and now you are well."

Just then, Jairus' servant came up and said, "It's too late, your daughter is dead." But Jesus said, "It's not too late," and they continued on towards the house. When they arrived, everyone was crying. Jesus said, "I'm going to wake her up." At this, they laughed bitterly. Jesus went into her room. He sat on her bed and took her hand. "Sweetheart, it's time to wake up." And he pulled her up gently out of death. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around her sleepily. "Give the little girl something to eat" he said.
Jesus healed many other people, too: he made deaf people hear and blind people see. He made lame people walk. "Jesus was making the sad things come untrue. He was mending God's broken world."

+++
Jesus, you are the gentle and powerful healer that our very beings long for.