The First Baptist Church of Redlands
TA PE S T RY Woven Together In Love: Colossians 2:2 APRIL 2017
ISSUE No. 4
A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR SHAWN
What If It’s True
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NRSV) Throughout Lent we have looked at the encounters that various people have had with Jesus as told in the Gospel of John. One of the questions that we have asked is what if it is true that God loves the world? That question leads to other questions to ponder: Who or what is included in “the world?” What does it mean for us? What should we do about it, if God so loves the WORLD? This month, as we move into Holy Week and then into Easter and we ponder again the life-changing and history-changing act of Jesus’ death on the cross, and ultimately his resurrection from the dead, to ultimately defeat evil and sin and death, we ask the question, what if it is true that Jesus really did rise from the dead? And then there are the questions to follow: What does it mean for us as followers of Christ to live on this side of the Resurrection? If Jesus ultimately defeated sin, evil and death, what does it mean for our battles with sin, evil and death
every day? Can we find power in the resurrection of Jesus and our own hope of resurrection for those very real battles in our lives and our world? As we move into the future as the people of God that gathers at The First Baptist Church of Redlands these questions need to be pondered. We need to move from the theoretical and hypothetical answers to the very practical ones that impact our daily lives and actions. It must be real as we share the Good News of Christ to our neighbors and world and those in need around us. We will continue to explore these questions on Sunday mornings during worship. But I invite you to be a part of the activities of Holy Week: Palm Sunday worship, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services in addition to services on Easter Sunday. But we also ponder
those questions and related ones on Thursdays at 6:45 pm. Very practical discussions about these questions happen in groups around the church beginning at 9:00 am on Sundays before worship. I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to go deeper and find the resources we need to live life as the people of God who loves the World and followers of Christ in the power of the cross and the resurrection to defeat sin, evil and death. It’s a big life we are called to…and THAT’S GOOD NEWS!