Holy Spirit

Luke 24:49 And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven."

Those are the words Jesus spoke to everyone in the room. Yea the room everyone ran to days before the He was crucified. let's stop and relive our week last week, simply AMAZING the emotions we rolled through as we journeyed through scripture to relive Holy Week, so can you even imagine the magnitude of the emotional roller coaster the disciples and others who lived with Jesus for the last 3 years felt? You just gotta believe that now the teaching, the promises, the statements, the healing came flashing back in micro seconds. I mean come on, this guy, JEsus who called himself Son of Man, said He is the Messiah and you kinda believed it on some days, other days when the heat was turned up our belief turned to running. And then HE is crucified! WOW and for the day before the resurrection, how heavy was the doubt? I can just hear some of the conversations in the room, after everyone caught their breath. DAng it I can't believe we got dooped like this…how could I be so naïve? What now, we left everything….. they had given up hope, the women are looking for the various ointments to finish preparing His body for burial. they were walking back to a tomb believed to be occupied by Jesus. YET what a glorious day! it's EMPTY, the running is back on, yet this time running with HOPE,running back to tell the others, running with the flashbacks, running with vigor…and you remember back you remember Jesus saying:

Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. (John 3:6) In your running you recall the moments after HE washed your feet that he stated: WHEN not IF the FAther sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. (John 14:26) And that peace, peace of mind and heart will come and that this peace is not what the world can give but only through JESUS…(john 14:27) And you are actually starting to experience this, you are actually starting to feel some of this peace where a few hours ago hope was gone…. a smile is broadening, the chest is swelling, oh my gosh I can't keep from shouting, I can't keep from praising God and that is just what they did. They did all day long (Luke 24:53)

they had a new life….how about us? Let's find out together over the next few weeks how the promised and delivered Holy Spirit through faith in Christ helps us live a new life. Look forward to seeing everyone Saturday

WE ARE STARTING AT NEW TIME! summer start time will be 6:00 pm for the open fellowship, 6:30 pm worship through song begins, help communicate through the various outlets you utilize.

love em up!

two days before

Good morning,

Take the time today to read and soak in Mark 14:1-11….the scene is two days before the festival of the Passover. Jesus is in Bethany and he and his disciples are seated for a meal. Recall the exuberance they felt two days prior on Palm Sunday as they head toward to the cross, Jesus knowing that He is and will be fulfilling prophecy by transferring the LAW into GRACE by placing himself on a cross for our eternal and daily security in HIM. But He must travel through Tuesday before He gets to Friday.

Ask yourself and family questions today in preparation for our time together on Thursday (Maundy Thursday service @ Roasteries 6:30 pm). What is the aroma that we as followers of Jesus Christ fill the room with. You see nard (not a cool name for a perfume hahaha) or known as spikenard is an aromatic perennial herb, some say in the scent of roses. And when Jesus was anointed, when she poured the perfume over His head, scripture tells us the aroma filled the room. The presence and attitudes of the others also filled the room. Quite a different aroma. Which aroma are we?

Go back and look who is in the room, a man who had leprosy (past tense), disciples who probably knowing that they heard Jesus say he must die and suffer, then 3 days later return, but didn't really believe it YET. Or can we relate to the woman, who no matter what the crowd was saying, came in with an alabaster box of spikenard and did exactly what she knew was best for her to do and that was to pour, to anoint Jesus…. I love how Jesus replies in verse 8…She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.

wow, she did what she could, she didn't allow the thought of what she didn't have, she didn't compare to the others who were "busy" around her, she did what she could do.

Let's not concern ourselves with what we can't do, but let's do what we can with what we have!

Have a fabulous day as you journey to the cross and then the EMPTY TOMB this week

keys

Hello Friends,

Spring is here folks! i love it....the color is amazing isn't it? WOW....so how is everyone doing? Good good i see some heads bobbing around out there, not sure if that is just shaking off the winter blues, or or the cobwebs from March Madness...i do enjoy this time of year as baseball starts to crank up from the little league teams all the way up to the loved Atlanta Braves, yep i'm a brave fan, struggled with them through the days at the "launching pad" of Atlanta Fulton County Stadium when in the 80's back in college the fellas would load up and do a roadtrip on Sunday to watch the Braves battle. Not sure what was more fun, the days out in the right centerfield seats with the shirts off getting third degree burns on our paste like chests or laughing at the various stories we could manufacture each trip to and from Atlanta. Can't recall to many of the stories that were told, but i'm sure we thought we held the keys to freedom in our journeys.
Speaking of keys! hahaha....hang with me here...Do you remember receiving the first set of keys to your car, or when mom and dad tossed you the keys to their car and you could go out with some of your buddies. Oh my gosh, how liberating, how freeing, and now that we have a few years under our belt and i have tossed keys to my oldest daughter, and now teaching our middle child how to drive. The responsibility of having keys is tremendous.

That's exactly what Jesus did. No not drive you numbskulls. He tossed keys (figuratively) over to Peter. We have discussed this scene before. It's Matthew, oooopsss ok some of you need to go get your Bible, that's cool....ill wait.........ok here we go. The scene is in chapter 16 where Jesus is asking the boys "who do the people say I am". And the guys are giving their answers and Jesus hones in on Peter. Don't you just love that, when the guy that typically blurts out is the one the teacher picks out to answer the question? Yea, deep down some of us are wanting him to answer incorrectly so we can giggle on the inside (so crazy that's for another time) But Peter answers correctly in verse 16 ...You are the Christ the Son of the Living God. If it were a gameshow, the confetti drops from the sky, the studio audience goes absolutely bonkers and Peter is swarmed under with high fives. But Peter and the gang GET SO MUCH MORE....you too!

v19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Unbelievable right? Not with Jesus folks, he takes the ordinary and makes us EXTRAordinary through our faith in HIM....what had Peter done at that moment to receive such a reward? Nothing other than to place faith in Christ, by stating, what he believed. Sure Peter ran a few hours later, but his place was secured when he stated YOU are the Christ, Son of the living God. You can have those same keys, a bunch of you already do, you are just not sure how to place the keys in the ignition and push the throttle. Think back for just a moment the feeling of freedom you experienced the very first time you drove by yourself...........you had to place the keys given to you in the ignition...YOU have the keys!

Jesus trusts you/us with the church (people, not buildings) and the building of His people, that's why He emptied out the tomb to set the captives free, to experience freedom from ourselves and to teach (disciple) others. Go ahead mash the throttle, live this life WIDE OPEN with us, it's a joy!