Remembering Easter And The Day I Lost My Dad
“You must have wished this was just a cruel April Fool’s joke,” my father’s friend finally said to me, still in disbelief at the sight of the white coffin lying serenely in front of him
Despised for All of This
Susannah Cibber gained fame in the eighteenth-century for her talent as a singer. However, she was equally well known for her scandalous marital problems. That’s why when Handel’s Messiah was first performed in Dublin in April 1742, many in the audience did not approve of her role as a featured soloist.
During that inaugural performance, Cibber sang of the Messiah: “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Those words so moved Rev. Patrick Delany that he jumped to his feet and said, “Woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven thee!”
The connection…
Heedfulness or Hypocrisy in Ourselves?
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. —1 John 5:16
If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it…
The King’s Crown
We sat around the table, each person adding a toothpick to the foam disc before us. At our evening meal in the weeks leading up to Easter we created a crown of thorns—with each toothpick signifying something we had done that day for which we were sorry and for which Christ had paid the penalty. The exercise brought home to us, night after night, how through our wrongdoing we were guilty and how we needed a Savior. And how Jesus freed us through His death on the cross.
The crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear was part of…
Holiness or Hardness Toward God?
He…wondered that there was no intercessor… —Isaiah 59:16
The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial— that our minds are quieted and our…
What Does Paradise Look Like To You?
When you picture paradise, what comes to mind? Swaying palm trees and warm tropical breezes? Today on Discover the Word, we discover that paradise isn’t so much found in a place, but in a person. It’s the conclusion of their weeklong study on“The Rebel Next to Jesus.” Be part of the Good Friday conversation on […]
Jesus Didn’t Just Come to Die
It was the start of the Holy Week. But he was withdrawn, quiet, and visibly tired. Though he had his ups and downs, I had never seen him more downcast than this.
The Via Dolorosa
During Holy Week, we remember the final days before Jesus’s crucifixion. The road Jesus traveled to the cross through the streets of Jerusalem is known today as the Via Dolorosa, the way of sorrows.
But the writer of Hebrews viewed the path Jesus took as more than just a path of sorrows. The way of suffering that Jesus willingly walked to Golgotha made a “new and living way” into the presence of God for us (Hebrews 10:20).
For centuries the Jewish people had sought to come into God’s presence through animal sacrifices and by seeking to keep the law. But the law…
Our Lord’s Surprise Visits
You also be ready… —Luke 12:40
A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we…
Everyone Likes A Winner
Everyone likes a winner. And when the Jews imagined the Messiah, they imagined a conquering king, not a crucified criminal. But today on Discover the Word, we’ll discuss how Jesus’s “kingdom” is different than we might imagine. It’s a kingdom the thief being crucified on the cross next to Jesus wanted in on! Join the […]
Basin of Love
One day in physics class many years ago, our teacher asked us to tell him—without turning around—what color the back wall of the classroom was. None of us could answer, for we hadn’t noticed.
Sometimes we miss or overlook the “stuff” of life simply because we can’t take it all in. And sometimes we don’t see what’s been there all along.
It was like that for me as I recently read again the account of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. The story is a familiar one, for it is often read during Passion Week. That our Savior and King would stoop to…
Amazing Faith
When you think of stories about amazing faith, what comes to mind? Today on Discover the Word, the team shares what they believe is one of the most amazing stories of faith recorded in the Gospels. Be inspired when you join the Easter week conversations on Discover the Word today!
Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?
“Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “…are You going there again?” —John 11:7-8
Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing…
Communion: Not just a ritual
I was 12 when my parents pulled a packet of bright yellow papers out of a drawer and placed them in front of me. My young eyes fell onto the pages filled with verses, and fill in the blanks as Mom and Dad slowly and lovingly led me through a study about what communion is all about.
Look and Be Quiet
In the song “Look at Him,” Mexican composer Rubén Sotelo describes Jesus at the cross. He invites us to look at Jesus and be quiet, because there is really nothing to say before the type of love Jesus demonstrated at the cross. By faith we can imagine the scene described in the Gospels. We can imagine the cross and the blood, the nails, and the pain.
When Jesus breathed His last, those who “had gathered to witness this sight . . . beat their breasts and went away” (Luke 23:48). Others “stood at a distance, watching these things” (v. 49). They looked…
