Grace and Peace to you!
Where do people look for the answers to life’s big questions? In Paul’s day he wrote about how “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom”
An example of this is when, after Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, the people wanted to force Jesus to be their king. Why? Look at the miraculous sign he had done. If he would keep on doing that again as their king, their bellies would always be full. They wanted to use Jesus to satisfy their desires and appetites. They figured that would be the answer to life’s big questions.
Still today, in each of us, a part of us wants to feel signs of power or hear ways of wisdom. Maybe we don’t expect Jesus, to miraculous reproduce food. But doesn’t a part of us want to be excited. Don’t we have an appetite to be stimulated, entertained, captivated? And then when we come to church, we feel disappointed. Church doesn’t usually excite us like an over-time basketball game excites us. Church doesn’t entertain us like a flashy movie or funny show does. It’s so easy for us to put church second in our thoughts and attention because all these all things are like spectacular signs that grab our attention and seem to promise an answer to life’s big questions.
And when it comes to wisdom, the world thinks it has so much of it that we can so easily be drawn into thinking like the world. On the one hand, worldly wisdom seems to offer the answer to so many problems. Do you have a problem? Buy this latest gadget. Are you hurting? Take this pill or search your symptoms online. Are in distress? Watch a TV doctor. We can easily find ourselves thinking like the world. Instead of trusting in God and turning to him first, he becomes a second or third or fourth option after worldly wisdom fails to help.
God’s answer that he reveals in Lent does answer a lot of these questions. However, none of those questions will acknowledge God’s answer as the right one. Why? Because all of those questions focus on our own wisdom and power: “How can I …?” The real question begins: “How has God …?” How has God brought me close to him? How has God saved me?
Lent is a time that we especially remember that God wants our total love and trust in him as the one and only God. He wants that his name be continually in our hearts as go about our daily life in conversation with him. He requires that we never neglect his Word. Our God wants He commands us to help those in need and to defend those whom others tear down.
Lent confronts us with our sins and crushes us. We have failed. We have no power to come to God. We have no wisdom to know the way. We sit in the dust and ashes of our own worthless works.
Lent answers life’s big questions. For Lent points us to Christ crucified; eastern religions, modern wisdom, or powerful sensations do not. And when Lent concludes with the glory of Easter, there we have the absolute guarantee that Christ crucified is the answer because Christ is risen. He keeps on leading through the big question you face in life.
In Christ!
Pastor Bakker
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
1 Corinthians 1:22-23 (NRSV)
Lenten Bible Study
Who were the disciples of Jesus? What happened to the disciples after Jesus ascended? What is an apostle? What is a disciple?
These are some of the questions that will be explored during the Lenten Bible Study. This study will again be at both churches and offered twice a week at each church. Please check the newsletter calendar and/or the bulletin announcements for specifics. Please contact Pastor Bakker about any questions about this study.
Grace and Peace to you!
Where do people look for the answers to life’s big questions? In Paul’s day he wrote about how “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom”
An example of this is when, after Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, the people wanted to force Jesus to be their king. Why? Look at the miraculous sign he had done. If he would keep on doing that again as their king, their bellies would always be full. They wanted to use Jesus to satisfy their desires and appetites. They figured that would be the answer to life’s big questions.
Still today, in each of us, a part of us wants to feel signs of power or hear ways of wisdom. Maybe we don’t expect Jesus, to miraculous reproduce food. But doesn’t a part of us want to be excited. Don’t we have an appetite to be stimulated, entertained, captivated? And then when we come to church, we feel disappointed. Church doesn’t usually excite us like an over-time basketball game excites us. Church doesn’t entertain us like a flashy movie or funny show does. It’s so easy for us to put church second in our thoughts and attention because all these all things are like spectacular signs that grab our attention and seem to promise an answer to life’s big questions.
And when it comes to wisdom, the world thinks it has so much of it that we can so easily be drawn into thinking like the world. On the one hand, worldly wisdom seems to offer the answer to so many problems. Do you have a problem? Buy this latest gadget. Are you hurting? Take this pill or search your symptoms online. Are in distress? Watch a TV doctor. We can easily find ourselves thinking like the world. Instead of trusting in God and turning to him first, he becomes a second or third or fourth option after worldly wisdom fails to help.
God’s answer that he reveals in Lent does answer a lot of these questions. However, none of those questions will acknowledge God’s answer as the right one. Why? Because all of those questions focus on our own wisdom and power: “How can I …?” The real question begins: “How has God …?” How has God brought me close to him? How has God saved me?
Lent is a time that we especially remember that God wants our total love and trust in him as the one and only God. He wants that his name be continually in our hearts as go about our daily life in conversation with him. He requires that we never neglect his Word. Our God wants He commands us to help those in need and to defend those whom others tear down.
Lent confronts us with our sins and crushes us. We have failed. We have no power to come to God. We have no wisdom to know the way. We sit in the dust and ashes of our own worthless works.
Lent answers life’s big questions. For Lent points us to Christ crucified; eastern religions, modern wisdom, or powerful sensations do not. And when Lent concludes with the glory of Easter, there we have the absolute guarantee that Christ crucified is the answer because Christ is risen. He keeps on leading through the big question you face in life.
In Christ!
Pastor Bakker
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
1 Corinthians 1:22-23 (NRSV)
Lenten Bible Study
Who were the disciples of Jesus? What happened to the disciples after Jesus ascended? What is an apostle? What is a disciple?
These are some of the questions that will be explored during the Lenten Bible Study. This study will again be at both churches and offered twice a week at each church. Please check the newsletter calendar and/or the bulletin announcements for specifics. Please contact Pastor Bakker about any questions about this study.
