Tag: Spirituality

Resurrection Now And Hereafter

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(Regarding her brother, Lazarus) Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (The Gospel of John 11: 24-26). Do you believe this?

Noel Coypel resurrection of christ

“The Resurrection Of Christ” 1700, Noël Coypel [Public domain]

The Resurrection lies at the center of Christian life, faith and hope. For the Apostle Paul, God’s raising of Christ affirmed the redemptive nature of Jesus’ death on the cross and served as a conclusive declaration that Jesus was the Son of God. (Romans 1:3-4) Christ’s resurrection is the lens through which his followers interpret his life and teaching. For that reason, Christians around the world gather in sanctuaries and graveyards, on mountains, and seashores each Easter to proclaim God’s victory over the power of sin and death and God’s promise of eternal life with the words, “The Lord is risen.”

Yet the Resurrection is not just a hope deferred until our death or the death of a loved one. If we so choose, it can be an everyday reality shaping all aspects of our lives. We can look within and around us to discern where God is bringing about new life. Only as we do so do Jesus’ words to Martha begin to make sense: “everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Elsewhere Jesus says: “This is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

  • How is God working within you to bring about new life? – A resurrection of spirit?
  • How is God working within those around you to bring about new life?
  • How is God working within God’s church to bring about new life?
  • How is God working throughout the world to bring about new life?

Of course, in order to perceive the action of God, one must first believe such action is possible. At first Martha could not believe when Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” (John 11:23). The truth was too good to be true. But with God, all things are possible. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

Do you believe this? Do you live this belief?

– Pastor Derek French

God Is In The Stillness

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When is the last time you experienced quiet and the absence of potential distraction? If you’re like most Americans, probably not very recently.

Scientists use the phrase “ambient noise level” to define sound pressure at a given location. Sound pressure is measured in decibels. In the wilderness, you might experience an ambient noise level of 30 to 45 decibels. In contrast, many urban areas have an ambient noise level of 85 to 90 decibels. That’s just the background noise. To that, one must add the ringing of cell phones, the volume of the television, radio or iPod, and any other noise that you or others near you might be making. We live in a noisy world surrounded by different messages competing for our attention. Often it is the loudest, most frequent, or most dramatic message which arrests our attention and shapes our worldview.

As often as not, these messages seek to manipulate us into buying a certain product or buying into a certain world-view. Some are irrelevant, some annoying, some frightening, and some harmful. Most do little to further spiritual growth or nurture our relationship with Christ. Even the greatest of prophets of a more quiet past needed times of silence and freedom from distraction to hear the still, small voice of God.

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19: 12-13)

As Lent continues during March, now might be a good time to consider setting aside a few moments each day to spend with God. During this time you may wish to…

  • read the Bible
  • reflect on what messages are shaping your life
  • focus on aspects of your life for which you are thankful
  • ponder where and how you sensed God’s presence in your life of that of others
  • consider changes might you make in your life to be a better follower of Jesus, or simply heed the wisdom of Psalm 46, verse 10

“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”

– Pastor Derek French

Tithing as Testimony

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Tithing is a tangible expression of gratitude for God’s past blessings. It is a statement of trust in God’s future care. Tithing testifies to the centrality of faith and relationship with God in one’s life. To tithe is to dedicate the first tenth of one’s income to the work of the Lord. Because Jesus is no longer physically present we give to God by giving to institutions which carry out Christ’s work. Chief among these is the church – which scripture describes as the “body of Christ.” (Ephesians 1:22-23 and elsewhere)

St. Paul understands of the spiritual need of the believer to give and the blessings which generosity conveys to both recipients and givers still rings true:

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. (2 Corinthians 9:6-12)

Our Joint Board trusts in the bounty of God and the miracle of generosity. We have selected The New Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program in order to present the biblical, spiritual perspective on giving and assist those who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship and worship. We encourage persons to progress towards intentional, proportional, systematic giving in response to the question: “What percentage of my income is God calling me to give?”

On Consecration Sunday, November 2nd we will ask worshippers to make their financial commitment to support East Hills Moravian Church’s ministries of worship, education, outreach, and mission through its general budget for the year 2015. All attending will have the opportunity to make their commitments as a voluntary, confidential act of worship. Afterwards we will gather in the Family Center to share a celebration brunch.

Sunday November 2: Consecration Sunday
One unity service worship at 9:30 am followed by brunch

Sundays, November 9, 16, 23, & 30:
Two worship services at 8:30 &11:00 am/ Sunday School at 9:45 am

– Pastor Derek French

A Unity Worship Service For World Communion Sunday

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Given the diversity of human personalities, perspectives, and priorities, unity in the secular world is often hard or impossible to achieve.  Yet, followers of Christ are already united with God and each other through their Savior.  Though from many different ethnic, national, and confessional backgrounds, Christians share a common identity and purpose with all others who have given their lives over to Jesus.  “There is one body (church) and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

world communion sunday

Jesus taught that unity in diversity was a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit working within believers to transform their self-understanding and interactions with each other.  He prayed, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.  As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21)  Our demonstration of living in harmony with those different from ourselves is a powerful witness to the world of the possibilities for societal as well as personal transformation inherent in the Gospel (Jesus’ teaching, action, and person).

On Sunday, October 5th we will unite in one Unity Worship Service to be held at 9:30 am in the East Hills Moravian Church Sanctuary.  As we gather together as a single worshipping body we will join millions of other Christians worldwide in observing World Communion Sunday.  I urge you to attend and to make a special effort to reach out to members of the congregation whom you may not know as well as your close friends.  Let this be your witness to fellow worshippers and to the world as together we see to make Christ known.

– Pastor Derek French

On Being Lazarus

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Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

lazarus

Raising of Lazarus, Jacapo Tintoretto, 1558

Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
(John 11: 21-26)

I suspect that from time to time we each wish God would free us from the necessity of facing death and wonder why God does not do so. Martha’s pained awords of loss after the death of her brother, Lazarus, echo in our hearts even if they do not escape our lips. The fantasy of God whisking persons off to heaven in whirlwind and chariot of fire like Elijah or the prospect of Christ descending in glory, heralded by archangels’ trumpets, and being lifted to meet Him are equally appealing. Yet our experience has more in common with that of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus than that of Elijah or those living at Christ’s Second Coming. Followers of Jesus may not be “of” this world (i.e. shaped by its values) but we continue to live in this world and so must deal with its adversity.

While faith in Christ does not remove us from this world or free us from its tribulations, it can sustain us and point to a reality beyond present circumstances. That’s what happened in Martha’s case. She knew Lazarus had been dead in his tomb for four days. Through grieving and hurt by Jesus’ delay she still made a powerful profession of faith the equal of St. Peter’s: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God …” Elsewhere in the Gospel of John, Jesus defines eternal life as a quality of existence characterized by relationship with God rather as a limitless number of years. By that measure Martha is already living eternal life. She is connected to God through Jesus Christ. Though Martha’s body may die – like that of her brother – she (her truest self) will not. Martha “gets it;” many of those watching when Jesus raises Lazarus do not. They are so fixated on the miraculous physical restoring of life that they miss the deeper truth Jesus is trying to convey. There is more to life than material existence and more to us than a physical body. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

Do you believe this?

Lent as an expression of counter-culture

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Given our hedonistic culture it’s no surprise Mardi Gras, that pre-eminent celebration of personal indulgence, has found broad acceptance while the season of Lent has not. Themes of penitence, preparation, and reconciliation do not resonate with our society’s consumerist or narcissistic proclivities.

lent_ash_wednesday

Pop culture and marketers urge us to gratify our desire for pleasure and convenience whatever the cost and tell us that we each deserve such things. Lent suggests we forgo certain pleasures for the sake of spiritual discipline in order to grow in our faith. Culture celebrates the ego-self and places each person at the center of his or her own virtual world with every perceived need and whim being catered to. Christ calls us to self-sacrifice, saying: “Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39)

The conflict between the values of secular society and those commanded by Christ make Lent the most profoundly counter-cultural season of the church year. Followers of Christ can expect no support from the culture around them as they try to deepen their relationship with God or grow spiritually. For this reason, it is important that the church help its members keep a holy Lent. One way your church supports your growth as a disciple of Christ is by scheduling dinners and programs each Wednesday in Lent.

Ash Wednesday Worship (imposition of ashes if desired) Sanctuary, March 5 at 7:00 PM

Wednesday Lenten Dinners & Programming March 12, 19, 26 and April 2, 9
(To be held in Fellowship Hall)

Dinner at 6:00 PM followed by prayers and song at 6:50 PM

Half hour programs for adults and children on Christian discipleship 7:00 to 7:30 PM

Children will be learning the good news about Jesus as they add one reminder bead each week to a bracelet in a program entitled, “The Good News Beads.”

The adult program is entitled “Jesus Still Lead On” and is a study of Christian discipleship based on the Moravian Covenant for Christian Living and The Foundation of Our Faith by The Rev. Kevin Frack of the Moravian Church in America, Southern Province.

Holy Week Reading Services April 14-16, at 7:00 PM

Maundy Thursday Holy Communion April 17th at 7:00 PM

Good Friday Tenebrae Service April 18th at 7:00 PM

– Pastor Derek

Pastor Derek French’s Lent message appears in The Star, March 2014

Everyone Can Find True Love

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Whether you go to the grocery for milk or to the pharmacy for a prescription, you won’t be able to avoid Valentine’s Day merchandise in the form of balloons, candy hearts, and cards. Ah, yes, a holiday devoted to idealized romantic love. What could be more heartwarming?

church churches lehigh valley

Yet, as wonderful as romantic love may be it is only one form of love – and an often fragile and volatile one at that. To be fully realized, romantic love depends on the one we love loving us in return. If that doesn’t happen, you may find yourself tolerating or enduring Valentine’s Day rather than celebrating it.

The unconditional love of God spoken of in the Bible is something quite different. God’s love is the most stable of loves. We cannot earn it, buy it, or lose it. God loves everyone. Those who are humble and honest enough with themselves to accept their need for God’s love can experience it in the core of their being as they come to know the presence of God/Christ/Holy Spirit within them. Before he died Jesus prayed:

… The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

(John 17: 20-23)

Once we have encountered God and accepted (really accept in our hearts, as well as our heads) the truth that God loves us unconditionally, we are free to accept and love ourselves in the same way. Such love also propels us beyond ourselves and compels us to love others without conditions.

Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4: 8-10)

The experience of God’s unconditional love and sharing of that love is the essence of Moravian Bishop Zinzendorf’s “Religion of the Heart.” This vibrant, powerful, life-giving faith fueled the explosive growth of the 18th century Moravian Church and is reflected in the lyrics of the church’s traditional hymns.

Long before the time of the Renewed Moravian Church, such love motivated a priest to give his life for the sake of his sisters and brothers in Christ. His “crime” was officiating at Christian marriages, celebrating Holy Communion and otherwise serving his congregation.

According to tradition, St. Valentine was killed by Roman authorities on February 14th. Certainly, as he went to his death he would have recalled Christ’s words “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Wishing You a Peaceful Christmas and a Joyous New Year

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nativity

Jacob Jordaens, The Nativity, 1653

A bit over two thousand years ago Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was born in a stable because no one would make room for him anywhere else. His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, were of extremely modest means. Their son’s first resting place was a re-purposed feeding trough. Outside of heaven, Jesus’ birth was a decidedly low key event. Except for a few shepherds and astrologers, no one took much notice – either then or at any point during the next two hundred years. We don’t even know the exact day upon which Christ entered the world.

The first Christmas was of necessity simple, peaceful, and intimate. Given the fanfare and
preparation which precede a child’s birth today we might feel sorry for Jesus. Yet, from the moment of his birth, Jesus had all that truly matters in life. For that matter, so did Mary and Joseph. Mary had time to nurture her newborn and contemplate the love and support of her husband, Joseph, who stayed by her side even though the child who now looked up at her was not his own. With Joseph she could reflect on God’s blessings, on the miracle of birth, the messages of angels, the power of love, and the wonder of the Incarnation. As the angels sang their Gloria, there was peace on earth among those whom God favored.

It is ironic that peace, simplicity, intimacy, and time for prayerful contemplation are so hard to
come by as we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. Having perfected celebration of “the
Holiday season” in all its festive glittering allure, have we lost Christmas? The true treasures
of Christmas–those which Jesus and his parents enjoyed–are free. They cannot be bought with gold or silver.

The Prince of Peace was born in a stable for there was no room for him anywhere else. Have you made room in your heart and time in your life for the Christ or does he need to seek shelter elsewhere?

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us
today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord
Immanuel.
Have a Blessed Christmas,

Pastor Derek French