SEARCHLIGHT

 APRIL 29, 2022 I'm forgiven Because You were forsaken I'm accepted You were condemned I'm alive and well Your Spirit is within me Because You died And rose again Amazing love How can it be That You my King Would die for me Amazing love I know it's true It's my joy to honor You In all I do I honor You PSALM 44 4 You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. 5 Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes. 6 I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; 7 but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. 8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever. Colossians 1:15-18 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have be

 APRIL 28, 2022 Mark 5:34 He said to her, “Daughter, your FAITH  has healed you. Go in PEACE and be freed from your suffering.”  Could you even imagine it? Twelve years. For twelve years, this woman had been in a constant state of suffering. For twelve years, she had been suffering not only physically from her issue of blood, but also financially and socially. Her relationship with others, even her relationship with God, was defined by her physical ailment. She could not come into contact with those around her for fear of causing them to be ritually impure. She was unable to go to the Temple in order to connect with her God. Alone. Afraid. Broken. Cut Off. Twelve years. And then. One day in close proximity to Jesus, she thinks. “If only I could get close enough to touch the fringe of his garment and I’ll be healed.” Pushing her way through the crowd, maybe crawling, her eyes see Jesus and seeing the fringe of his robe she reaches out, in fear mixed with faith. We are told, imme

  APRIL 27, 2022 JUDGES 6:23-24 The Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. One of God’s names in the Bible is Yahweh-Shalom , which means the Lord is Peace . The sixth chapter of Judges describes how the Midianites terrorized the people of Israel, making their lives miserable, torturous, and destitute. During this situation, God called a man named Gideon from the weakest clan, Manasseh, to lead the people of Israel against the Midianites. Gideon considered himself to be the least in his father’s house and felt totally inadequate for such a calling. We read of the reluctance of Gideon to say yes to God, but the angel of the Lord spoke these words to him “Peace! Don’t be afraid! You are not going to die!” This event had a major impact on Gideon, so much so that he built an altar and named it Adonai-Shalom. Gideon went on to defeat the Midianites in the power and presence of

 APRIL 26, 2022 Luke 24:36 36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” John 20:19 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Romans 1:7 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:3 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In our Sunday talk this past week one of the points we made was that resurrection living pursues peace . Simply put the teaching was that as Jesus pursued peace, and as Jesus gave to his followers his peace in John 20, so also Jesus gives his peace to modern day disciples, those who “have not seen, and yet believed.” The followers of Jesus are a community, a resurrection community, that active

 APRIL 25, 2022 John 14:27 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Micah 5:4-6 4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 5 And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders, 6 who will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with drawn sword. He will deliver us from the Assyrians when they invade our land and march across our borders. Let me ask you this, have you ever awakened after a nights rest knowing that no matter what the day brought, everything was going to be fine? Peace is a wonderful feeling, isn’t it. We know it when we experience

 APRIL 23, 2022 Matthew 28:5-7 "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: "He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him." Now I have told you.'" Earlier this week I came across the following Prayer Ideas that offer us some time to linger with the Easter message. I have found, that so much builds up toward Easter Sunday and the Day of Resurrection, that we move past this event to quickly. But Easter Sunday is just the beginning of a time called EASTERTIDE, in which historically the followers of Christ in many Christian traditions spend several weeks letting the message of Resurrection sink in and transform. Today I just wanted to post some ideas from Lysa TerKeurst blog that I thought were a helpful way of praying through the

  APRIL 21, 2022   Philippians 3:10   I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. Here is a question for us to think about today. What were the days  following Jesus’ resurrection  like for the first disciples? Jesus had died, they witnessed his death and experienced the trauma and grief of that death, and they also saw with their own eyes that he was dead no longer. Just as He promised, He had overcome death, the last enemy. But what did it all mean? My thought is that it must have taken time for Jesus’ followers to grasp the events that had taken place the previous week. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to process all this stuff, would it? However, before returning to his Father, Jesus helped His followers, as he had done so often in his pre-resurrection ministry, to realize some of the implications of their experience. We read “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets he (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concernin

 APRIL 20, 2022 Pictured above are a wonderful tradition in the UKRAINE and among Ukrainians here in Canada  of Painted  Eggs called PYSANKA.  They are rich in symbols of Creation, New Life, Blessing and Hope.  1 Corinthians 15:17-19   “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”   If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we’d have no reason to celebrate Easter. Without the resurrection, as Paul points out in our reading from 1 Corinthians, our faith is pointless, “futile”, that we are to be pitied for believing what amounts to “fake news”. If Jesus wasn't resurrected, we would not have hope. If Jesus wasn't resurrected, we’d have no way to be liberated from the sins that hold us captive (1 Corinthians 15:16-19). Jesus did rise. He is alive. So, Resurrection Matters!! Let's look briefly at

 APRIL 19, 2022 1 Peter 1:3-9 3 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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation

 APRIL 18, 2022 Isaiah 35:10 10 and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. How should you celebrate the day after Easter? With a good laugh, of course. Better yet, with a party, a really fun party. Far from being a strange, new idea, this is actually a long-standing tradition rooted in good Christian theology and practice. I am told it began hundreds of years ago. “A monk, was pondering the meaning of the events of holy week, with its solemn observances of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the astonishing, earth-shaking events of Easter. "What a surprise ending," he thought. Then suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, he had a new insight. His hearty laugh startled his fellow monks, breaking the silence of their contemplation.” "Don't you see," he cried, "It was a joke! A great joke! The best joke in all

APRIL 16, 2022 Today is called by many in the Christian Tradition HOLY SATURDAY. I call it the “DAY IN BETWEEN”. Yesterday was Good Friday, we attended services perhaps, listened or read a devotional, or thought about what occurred on a Friday a long time ago and what Jesus went through and how he lovingly suffered a cruel death that we might live a “life full of hope.” Holy Saturday really hasn’t been significant in my Holy Week reflections to be honest. After Good Friday my thoughts head toward tomorrow, Sunday, EASTER Sunday and its Celebrative features. This year, it is Saturday that speaks to me just now, the day in between, the day of dull numbness after the events of the previous twenty-four hours, the day when there is no hint that the pain and fear of the moment will ever subside. What did the disciples do? How did they comfort each other? Did they even try? Or might they have stumbled through that Sabbath completely unaware of what was going on around them, fearful of a sudd

 APRIL 15, 2022 *****  NOTE    ***** Today you have 2 options for our Devotion.  OPTION 1 : Read the Devotion as presented. OPTION 2 : Scroll to the bottom of the devotion for a Video of Good Friday Reflection with   Scriptures, song, and today's  Devotion. The video is a 20 minute long reflection. ___________________________________________________________________________________ LET'S BEGIN WITH PRAYER Holy and loving God, as we prepare to set aside our busyness and to focus intently on Jesus’ suffering and death, we ask for eyes to see all of the amazing things that Jesus’ death means for understanding you, your love, and our salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. John 19:17-18 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him , and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. “They crucified him…” these three words are the climax of the earthly life of Jesus. They are th

APRIL 14, 2022   John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” Jesus was not fearful of feet. We are probably all familiar with the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Jesus and the disciples have gathered in the upper room to participate in the Passover Feast. As the evening meal is being served Jesus does something unusual. John described what Jesus does “so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.” John 13:4-5 Jesus takes on a task that most of us would find very uncomfortable. Think about it you are at our next Communion Service and following the Lord’s Table celebration it is announced in response to the message of communion that we are going to have a

APRIL 13, 2022 Matthew 26:1-16 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” 6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, bu

APRIL 12, 2022 PSALM 118 19 Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 25 Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. 28 You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. I have been doing some study and reflection on the Holy Week scriptures through the Lent Season. I want to share with you a bit of a word study today about the word HOSANNA. We sing this word in several songs that we sing in worship not just on Palm Sunday but throughout the year. Most of us are familiar with the New Testament readings when it says in three different places, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" Matthew