Re-posted and Condensed from To the Source

The first truth. You live in a culture that celebrates perpetual youth, a culture that feverishly tries to wring immortality from mortality. You will hear, when the ashes are smeared, “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” Death awaits us all. No one escapes, no matter what miracles of modern medicine temporarily grant reprieve. All must face death because death will face us.

The second truth. The reminder that we are made of dust takes us back to Genesis, and the truth accepted by faith that we are made from dust, and that it is only by the breath of God that this dust has life. …

The third truth, again from Genesis. Death was not meant to be. Returning to dust, was the punishment for sin. You may, then, hear an alternate line as the ashes are smeared on your forehead. “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” And that is the third truth: there is sin, and we each are sinners. … Ashes are smeared on you; ashes are smeared on me; and we are each told, “YOU turn away from sin, and YOU be faithful to the Gospel.” …

The fourth truth. Repentance is not cheaply bought for it was dearly won. … Ash Wednesday is only the beginning of Lent, the first day of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that stretches for the entire forty days that Christ was in the desert. These are all quite revolutionary acts, especially in our culture, which is very nearly defined by the celebration of the seven deadly sins.

• Fast from lust.
• Fast from gluttony.
• Fast from avarice.
• Fast from sloth.
• Fast from wrath.
• Fast from envy.
• Fast from pride.

The fifth truth. When you submit to having ashes smeared on your forehead, you are saying to all who see them: “I am a Christian first. …” If we blend in with the culture, and it is a culture of death, then we embrace ashes but no hope. If we willingly receive these ashes, then we are marked out for a hope that is not of this world and a culture of life defined by it. These ashes mark you out as a revolutionary. Pray for the courage to live like one.

The sixth truth. When you receive these ashes, and wear them so visibly into the public square, you are boldly reminding the state that from the beginning of recorded time we see nations come and go but the church remains. … “You too shall return to the dust. Let this ashen cross remind you that, while nations rise and fall, the church has remained these two thousand years, and we are in every nation of the world, in them but not of them. And when you are gone to dust, as with all the other nations, the church will still be here.”

The seventh truth. The dark ashen cross is the portal to Easter. There is light at the end of the forty-day tunnel, and at the end of the tunnel we are commanded to put away all Lenten fasting and feast, to rejoice and celebrate, not in debauchery but in holiness and gratitude. But even here, we must always remember: there is no resurrection without the crucifixion; there is no Easter without Lent. And so next year we will here again, “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” And we shall have Ash Wednesdays until we finally do return to dust, and then, so we hope and pray, enter into the eternal Easter.

We have been asked to cook the Pancake dinner for this coming Tuesday’s dinner. We will need help in the kitchen starting around 4 PM and help setting up tables and chairs to begin serving at 6 PM. I would ask each of you to think of someone to invite to help with the cooking and or setup. Sometimes just asking someone to help is all they need to get involved.

See you there.

Jay Tice

Topic  “Bods fo God” Joe Harisson will be sharing about this new ministry. Come learn how you can get your body in shape for God

4367 Solomons Island Rd Harwood, MD 20776

Since Jesus was no longer with the disciples on a daily basis, what were they to do?  They had left everything 3 1/2 years ago to follow Him and become “fishers of men.”  Now after everything that has happened he we see them back in their routine and going fishing again.  The interested thing in this was in Matthew 19:27 Peter has, in an almost defensive way, said in reply to Jesus’ statement of a rich man going through the eye of the needle “Lord, have we not left everything and followed you?”  If they truly had, why are they now back on the fishing boat trying to catch fish.  It was as if they were saying, “ok, Jesus is gone now.  I guess we just go back to our lives.”

Don’t we do this?  Don’t we unintentionally, or maybe intentionally, make our walk with Christ a contest? It is often easy for us to look at others and say, “Aren’t I doing more than them?”  Peter had a real habit of comparing his goodness or his good acts against others.  He certainly does it here in this chapter.  He does it by going back to “his old life.”  He also does it at the end of this chapter by asking what will happen to John after Jesus has told him what will happen to him.  They, but especially Peter, still didn’t understand what Jesus had called them to.  While they knew something big had just happened, they still didn’t understand what He had done or WHAT it meant.

But then we see the gentleness of the Savior once again.  In only the way that He can, He “manifests” Himself to the disciples.  And it is through this loving gesture the disciples finally get it.  Then we are able to see how 12 men from Galilee, some fishermen, but all fishers of men, were able through the power of the Spirit, that Comforter they were promised, to turn the world upside down.  They were able to have boldness and strength to face, in less than 40 days, the persecution they had run from at the end of Passover week.  This same power works in us to turn our world upside down.  Are willing to stop comparing ourselves and our work to others, forsake all we have,  and become fishers of men?  There may be contests for fishermen.  But, there aren’t any for fishers of men.

Wow! In this 20^th chapter of John, the essence of our Christian faith is brought forth. So much has already happened (in previous chapters), and now here is the finale.  There are numerous “characters” in this chapter of the story.   But first, let’s go to the end of  chapter 20, to verse 30 and 31. Verse 30 says that “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book”.  And then verse 31 gives the entire reason for John’s writing. “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 

That says it all.  Everything that has been written, everything that goes before, all leads up to BELIEVING THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD, and it is now that WE RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE IN HIS NAME.

Amen! Praise God! Halleluia!

All Jesus’ suffering and anguish, and then his death on the cross, as told in the previous chapter of John, has ended. Chapter 20 begins with an empty tomb.  How exciting is that ?!

As I read the entire chapter, I place myself among those who were there. I try to imagine all the emotions they felt. Surprise, shock, confusion, disbelief, fear…..

First Mary (Magdalene) …..a woman who had no power or social standing in Jewish society…the first to go to the tomb after the Sabbath had ended. Her love for Jesus would not allow her to stay away from the place he was buried. But she discovers the stone has been rolled away from the tomb!  Panic! What has happened?

Mary immediately runs to find the other disciples and tell them of her discovery…. the scriptures indicate she didn’t even take time to look in the tomb at first. She just immediately turns and runs for the others who had been part of Jesus’ inner circle.  Finding Peter, she tells him…..and then Peter and “the other disciple” (whom scholars believe is John) head toward the tomb. John gets there first but is afraid to go in. Peter arrives next and true to his nature, he charges right in to the tomb.

Can you picture Peter and John just standing there, trying to make sense of this? What did they say to each other?  They didn’t understand….they didn’t know what would come next. Were their lives in danger too? After Peter entered the tomb, then John went in. At what point did he finally realize what had happened? Verses 8-9 say it was not what he had read in scripture that convinced him that Jesus had risen, it was what he saw with his own eyes.

After Peter and John leave the tomb, Mary returns and stands there weeping.  It is to Mary that Jesus first appeared. She didn’t recognize him until he spoke her name. Oh, just imagine how she felt hearing her name on his lips again!  The last time she saw him was when he hung on the cross. She watched him die. She was there when he was taken lifeless from the cross.  Her heart was broken.  But now…..standing before her, was her Jesus, calling her name. Imagine the tenderness in His voice. She wanted to cling to Him, to keep Him with her. But he sent her to the disciples with an important message. “I am returning to my Father and your Father, my God and your God”.

Verse 19 indicates all the disciples were together later that night, locked in a room.  Can you feel the fear? Can you hear their voices as they were all talking at once, trying to understand?  Were they recalling Jesus’ words when he told them that he had to die in order to live again?  What? Did that make sense to them?

Suddenly Jesus was in their midst in that room. And as he had said to them on numerous occasions before during his ministry, he now said once again “Peace be to you.” He spoke to calm their fear. The word “Peace” in Hebrew means “that which brings about the greatest good for people”.  Jesus was blessing them as well as calming them.

And so the cast of characters goes on.  There’s Thomas who refused to believe until he could see with his own eyes. But Jesus knew Thomas’ heart was filled with love, anad he invited Thomas to touch him.

So where do we fit into this story?

Are we like Mary who went on loving and believing even when she could not understand? Are we like Thomas who needed proof before he could believe?  Are we like all the other disciples who, after receiving the Holy Spirt, were emboldened with passion and courage? (And ultimately, as we know, were willing to die for their Lord?)

In verse 21 Jesus told his disciples that he was sending them into the world, just as the Father had sent him. (This is John’s version of The Great Commission as also found in Matthew 28:19.)  Now they would be the messengers for God. They were to share with the world what had happened — they were to speak for Jesus now, they were to do his work.

Verse 29 has Jesus saying “…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”    As we seek to know our Lord and Savior intimately, we should find ourselves listening for His voice to call our name.  We wait for his reassurance that we have nothing to fear. We put aside any doubts we have …. and we believe.  We seek to know where He wants to send us.   Do you hear the action words?  Seek, listen, wait, fear not, believe, and go!

May it be so. May our love for Jesus wipe out all fear and DRIVE us to go forth in His glorious name.

Praise God! Jesus IS the Christ, the Son of God!  And HE LIVES! We have been given eternal life in his name!   Halleluia!

Amen.

Pilate knew the chief priests and their rent-a-mob wanted something done to Jesus so he chose what he hoped would be an evil, but the lesser of the evils – he had him flogged.  Sounds like a horrible punishment until you consider the alternative was a slow agonizing death on a cross.  After an interval, Pilate comes out again and brings Jesus to the crowd and says, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him,” and then summons Jesus to follow.  Jesus’ bruised and bloodied back was covered by trailing purple robes, a crown of thorns jammed on his brow.  Why would a man like Pilate, who values truth and sees no evidence against someone, allow that person to be spat upon, mocked and beaten?  Why didn’t he stand his ground as a judge?  He could just as easily have ordered the soldiers to keep the Chief Priests in line as to have them flog Jesus.  This contradiction in Pilate is one of the reasons we remember him as a villain.

Pilate was a savvy man and he probably took in all the ramifications of the situation at a glance.  Taking on the chief priests of a people who already resent Rome would have set warning bells off in his head.   And yet….  When the chief priests and their mob start yelling, “Crucify him!” he replies, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.”  The chief priests were not about to give in so they called back, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he claimed he was the son of God.”

The scripture reports that Pilate was more afraid than ever.  Afraid of what?  He represents all the power of the Roman Empire.  He has the best army in the world to back him up on any decision he makes.  If the locals don’t like it, he can call out the troops.  So what does he fear?

He takes Jesus back into his chambers and he says to him the same thing that movie characters say when they meet an alien – “Where are you from?”  When Jesus refuses to answer he says, “Don’t you know that I have the power to release you, and power to crucify you?”  Speak up, man, tell me where you’re from!

Right there is where I saw something I’d not seen before.  He is either a desperate man or an arrogant one.  He’s probably both, but now in this moment it seems to me that Pilate is desperate – he sees who Jesus is.  He knows it would be a great evil to put Christ to death.  This is Pilate’s great moment of truth, the moment he must make his decision.  Should he stand for the truth?  There’s a tense situation brewing in the streets.  If Pilate makes the wrong choice for Rome he will never hear the end of it.  And yet….  It is then that Jesus quietly speaks the truth straight to Pilate’s soul:  “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”  The very next sentence starts, “From then on, Pilate tried to release him. “

The chief priests have no love of Pilate or King Herod or the Emperor of Rome, but they mean to win this fight and they’ll sacrifice anything and say anything to win.  So, they play their biggest trump card – they accuse Pilate of the ultimate crime, sanctioning a plot against the emperor.  At that point, Pilate gives up and allows them to take Jesus to be crucified, but he sends along a sign that reads, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”  When the chief priests rebuke him and tell him he shouldn’t write that, he refuses to change it.  “What I have written I have written.”

Pilate was not an orthodox Jew, nor was he a follower of Christ.  He was a judge in a court and every day he had to try to extract truth from lying liars who lie.  As the judge, he listened to the chief priests.  The best they could do was, “We wouldn’t accuse him if it wasn’t true, would we?”  Then Pilate listened to Jesus.  Jesus knew his man so he looked straight at Pilate and said, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Though he wouldn’t admit it, Pilate heard the truth and listened to his voice.  Being a man of decision, he turned back to the crowd and argued for Jesus’ life.  In doing so he tacitly acknowledged who Jesus was and Who had sent him.

Testimonies come to us from many directions and from many sources.  The Bible doesn’t say that Pilate became a Christian.  It doesn’t say he was forever doomed to walk the streets in a fog of grief or that he haunted Jesus’ grave.  It does say that Pilate somewhat wryly told the Jews who they were really crucifying and that he did what he could to see that Jesus’ body got a decent burial.  If the skeptical Pilate who had listened to more lies than he could count could hear the truth in Jesus’ words and recognize him as the Son of God, what holds us back?

Every time that I read this chapter, I am  constantly reminded  how Jesus was denied.  How often do we as Christians deny Him.  When we are with our “Christian Friends” doing “Christian Activities”‘ we are bold!  We are fierce!  We are one!

so what happens when we are alone without our Christian pack, like Peter, and are questioned about our Savior?  Do we stand boldly and proclaim who He is, or do we deny Him?  Do we hope that no one will notice us, or do we stand out in the crowd?

How sad it must have been for him to hear the words of our Lord ringing in Peter’s ears when the rooster crowed!

I pray that this season of fasting has made you bolder for your Savior and that you won’t wait to be asked if you are one of them.  Make the “Christ that is in you, SHINE thru”!!

…not a sermon

For dessert we are looking to/asking the ladies of the church ‘guys if you can cook’ if you will provide some homemade pies, cakes, etc. 

The purpose of the event is to establish relationships and have the opportunity to share the Gospel with the community.

We are looking for volunteers to help with setting up and cleaning up the hall, food preparation and cleanup, etc. Anyone looking to help can contact me, Jay Tice at jaytice@aol.com and let me know how you can help and I will get you in contact with the person heading up that area.

Rather than write something of my own today, I wanted to share from Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost for His Highest.”  Where he speaks today from John 17 is right with where God has been growing us as a Church. So here goes. (These words will be my comments on his work)

The missionary, (that should be each of us), is one in whom the Holy Ghost has wrought this realization -”Ye are not your own.”  To say, “I am not my own” is to have reached a great point in spiritual nobility. The true nature of the life in the actual whirl is the deliberate giving up of myself to another in sovereign preference, and that other is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit expounds the nature of Jesus Christ to me in order to make me one with my Lord, not that I might go off as a showroom exhibit (but as a tool in His hand).  Our Lord never sent any of the disciples out on the ground of what He had done for them.  It was not until after the Resurrection, when the disciples had perceived by the power of the Holy Spirit Who He was, that Jesus said, “Go.”  (He sent them out in the power He worked through them not for them.)

“If any man come to me and hate not …, he cannot be My disciple.”  Not, he cannot be good and upright.  But, he cannot be one over whom Jesus writes the word, “Mine.”  (This pertains to our fast.)  Any one of the relationships Our Lord mentions may be a competitive relationship. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself (or to a certain food, habit, or technology); then, says Jesus, you cannot be My disciple.  This does not mean I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be “His.” (He can’t fully use us as He wills for our will is still with a relationship, thing, or food.)

Our Lord makes a disciple His own possession, He becomes responsible for him. “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” the Spirit that comes in is not that of DOING anything FOR Jesus, but of BEING a perfect delight to Him.  The secret of the missionary is – I am His, and He is carrying out His enterprises through me.  (Like a hand in a glove, so He should be in our lives. Not of our might and strength, but by His.)

Be entirely His.