Reflections on Easter

I have been reflecting a lot the last few days on this Easter season.  I am so grateful for my church, Highland Oaks Church of Christ for many reasons.  The people there are amazing, their love for God and His people is evident and this Easter and the week prior I became event more grateful.  The way our ministry staff continually chooses to think outside of the box and the way in which they allow God to speak through them blesses me everyday.  But this Easter season was amazing.

One thing we have done the last couple of years is offer a prayer experience the week prior to Easter.  There are 8 stations set up in our Fellowship Hall that intentionally and purposefully direct you to Jesus and the cross.  Some of the stations are listening to specific music while allowing God to take you into His space, some of them are reading God's word and then asking yourself specific questions about what you've read, some of them require you to use different senses, but all of them require you to sit and be still with Him.  It takes about an hour to go through all eight stations. I finally was able to participate in this experience this passed Thursday.  I cannot tell you the blessing it was to me.  To be able to take an hour and go through the stations and just spend time resting with God's word and allowing Him to fill my soul was amazing.

On Friday, we had a Good Friday Memorial Service called "an there was darkness".  It was more than I could have ever anticipated.  There was funeral procession of "the family" of Jesus.  One of our ministers lead the procession carrying a cross with a veil draped over it that was placed at the front.  Then we heard from "the prostitute" who Jesus saved from stoning, "Simeon Peter" who denied Jesus 3 times and "Jesus' mother Mary" as each one told their story and how they felt like it was their fault that Jesus was dead.  We were also told to go through the service imagining that we did not know that Sunday was coming.  To imagine as if we were there on that day not knowing what was to come.

That service was more overwhelming that I could have ever imagined.  To put yourself in a frame of mind of not knowing that Sunday was coming and to witness the testimonies of those who walked with Jesus, and to imagine that His death was the end was something I really cannot describe.  There is such darkness, such hopelessness, such sorrow when you have no hope of a savior.  Our family has gone through some personal struggles over the last several years.  The thought of having no hope during those times was overwhelming.  I would not have made it without my faith; without knowing that God is control; without knowing that the tomb is empty and that because of that truth that all things are possible!

On Sunday, we had an amazing message and testimony of God's grace and faithfulness working among us.  We have windows that surround the balcony of our worship center.  As the message concluded and promise of the empty tomb was proclaimed, the shades to those windows were lifted and the light burst forth and shined brightly across the worship center as though Christ himself had lit up the room.  It was amazing; it was emotional; it was evidence of the empty tomb!

The hope that comes from the resurrection is the only thing that gets me through on days when it seems like God is silent, when it seems like he's far away.  And it's because of that hope that I can look back and see that even when I thought God was silent, He right there every step of the way.  Some things can only be explained by the grace of God.  Without the hope of the resurrection, there is no hope.

I am thankful and grateful for that hope!  I cling to that hope always!  The tomb is empty my friends!  And because of that, we all have hope... always!  That's truth!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you!  

1 Peter 1:3,4a

Blessings!

The Hands and Feet of Jesus

I have always been very involved in church work or church ministry. I love being a part of a vibrant church. We came to Highland Oaks a little over 3 years and I've been working full time at Highland Oaks for a little over a year and a half. I love my job without a doubt. I have worked at other churches but this is the first time I've done it full time. Full time work for a church is a little different. You get very busy and you can get caught up in feeling like your job is your ministry. Which I guess to a degree, it is. But if that is your only ministry, you are missing out.

Highland Oaks has begun to go out into the community lately. It's something a little new to Highland Oaks and I'm sure something a little scary for some. Highland Oaks hosted Hoops in the Highlands a few weeks ago and we were able to serve that group. My family was out of town, but I heard it was a tremendous blessing.

This past Saturday, Highland Oaks hosted an Easter Egg Hunt at a Mesquite school including a "cookie" walk, egg tosses, egg decorating, popcorn etc. I was blessed to be able to be a part of that event. It was Saturday afternoon, Chris had to work and couldn't go, so I was really kind of dreading going by myself. I even tried to talk myself out of it a couple of times, (ok, more than a couple!) but I kept feeling this nudging from God to go, even if I had to go by myself.

Well, I went...and it was amazing! It was so much fun getting to interact with the kids from that neighborhood. They were all so excited to see all of those eggs out there. We let them hunt eggs every 10 minutes and let 30 kids go at a time. After everyone had gone through once, we put out the rest of the eggs and let them go to town! We had over 8,000 eggs, yes eight thousand eggs, and we had about 300 kids! So you can imagine the excitement at the grocery bags full of eggs they all left with.

On my way home, I sat in the car and thanked God for giving me that nudge to go alone. I was truly blessed by that one hour, more than I have been in a long time. It reminded me what we as Christians are supposed to be all about. Yes, I love my job, and I wouldn't trade it for anything! But that Egg Hunt was what ministry and serving are all about! I can do all the great work for God possible inside that church building that needs to be done; and don't misunderstand me, it's work that needs and has to be done. But the work outside the church walls are what it's all about!

I had more fun Saturday than I've had in a long time serving God. That's what it means to be "The Hands and Feet of Jesus"! I pray that as a church, Highland Oaks is ready to do more of that kind of work. Not only will it bless those around us, but it will bless us more than we can possibly imagine! As the old Acappella song says, "You can't go to church cause the church is you"! So let's get that church outside more often!

Blessings!