So our afternoon started out pretty cool because we saw this guy--
& I immediately thought of this verse. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24
According to Facebook, this guy walked from somewhere in Habersham down to Toccoa Walmart and back-apparently 28 miles. What a trek! What an awesome ministry opportunity for Easter weekend. James & I both got a little misty-eyed and wanted to stop and hug him. This was such a great reminder of how we should all be taking up the cross, dying daily to ourselves, for the cause of Christ.
And after eating Chipotle (Thanks Ida for the giftcard!) we headed to Alpharetta. Thank goodness we brought two blankets and a hoodie, because I underestimated April showers and it was a freezing, damp, and windy night under the foggy ATL sky.
Kristian Stanfill opened the service by singing "How He Loves"---one of my most favorite songs ever. I love the lyrics:
He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us oh
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…
That He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Oh, have I mentioned that we got there right on time around 7:30 and were barely able to find a seat on the crowded hill? There were over 12,000 of us packed in there. PTL! Wouldn't have missed it for the world!! I love seeing so many people ready to celebrate Good Friday and it gets more packed every year!
After Kristian finished, my favorite singer of all time came out to lead worship. I know James gets soooooo tired of Chris Tomlin 24/7 but I really can't help it. I'd love to be able to attend Passion every worship service! (They meet on Sunday nights in different places all over ATL....)
Then, Louie came out and started doing his thing. If you've never heard a sermon from Louie, I highly suggest it. He has such a way of explaining how great God is and really makes you think. In fact, I bet the Good Friday service is already on Youtube.
He read from Colossians 1, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite chapters of the Bible. To tie in in with Good Friday, he spoke specifically about Jesus rescuing us from the dominion of darkness so that we have the forgiveness of sin. He went on to discuss the trinity and how Jesus has been around since before the beginning of time and how we are all created by Him and for Him.
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 been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Doesn't this just make you want to shout "Thank you Jesus"!?!?! Moving on...more about the being created by Him and for Him--how many times to do we stop and actually think about that? It's so easy to get caught up in the hooplah of life that we forget to stop...wait....and think that HE is how we got here and WHY we are here! We are not here for our own purposes or to control our own lives, but to live for Him and bring glory and honor to His name. Louie goes on to re-emphasize this with a passage from 1 Peter 2:
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy....
But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,”but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
We have LIFE. POWER. TRIUMPH. HOPE. All because of HIM--and what do we choose to do with it? Hide our victory under a rock or declare Him to the ends of the earth? When Jesus breathed His last breath, he said "It is FINISHED." Death is finished. Guilt is finished. Shame is finished. Self-righteousness is finished. Sin is finished.
Thank you, Jesus, for bearing the burden of my sin so that I can live victoriously through You. Thank you for dying so that I might have life everlasting. Thank you, God, for the hope I have in You because I know You conquered death at the cross.
Louie went onto my favorite part of the night where he used a metaphor for symphonies and how we are all part of God's symphony. He talked about what everything--heavens & earth and everything in it--must sound it to God. He showed some examples of stars and how they vibrate and give off different pitches--all 200 billion times 200 billion of them. Talk about a symphony. I just wish you could hear it! And then he talked about how even though we can't hear seed pods bursting, God can. Louie showed some videos of whales singing their songs and added them to his remix. Before we knew what was going on, Louie had this symphony playing of different stars, whales, and eventually---us singing worship. It was so cool (for lack of a better adjective). Louie then talked about how everything in and above the entire world is singing praises to Him- yet He cares for us most because we are made in His image and desires a relationship with us. Louie talked about how if we are living our lives for self, then we are not being a part of God's symphony (or at least we are "out of tune"). He also talked about how ultimately Jesus just wants us to be the part of His symphony that He created and that it doesn't matter what it sounds (looks) like to us, because His view/hearing is the only thing that matters. This is a perfect explanation of Psalm 148.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,[b]
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
So I said all this to say that I believe God is asking each of us this important question-
What song are you singing for Me?
Happy Easter, Everyone! May we let the meaning of the day overflow our hearts & minds!
ps. Every year James and I buy a Good Friday t-shirt for all of the proceeds to benefit some world disaster. Last year, Haiti. This year, Japan. Is that where we are headed next? Maybe!
Love y'all!
ps. Every year James and I buy a Good Friday t-shirt for all of the proceeds to benefit some world disaster. Last year, Haiti. This year, Japan. Is that where we are headed next? Maybe!
pps. It's also good to know that everyone hasn't forgotten about Haiti also. Louie spoke about his trip from a while back and about how even though the news & media have turned to something else, God still has a lot of work for the Body of Christ to accomplish in Haiti. Needless to say, I'm barely holding back tears at this point. They took up a love offering for Haiti-Rising as we watched a video of a boy's daily walk to school in Haiti through the city of Port-au-Prince. Anyone want to guess how tore up I was? Just a little :-) .....
Look @ this face!
If you have a little extra money & are feeling generous on this Easter weekend (or just want to check out the site), PLEASE go visit now!!
www.haiti-rising.com
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