Articles

When God Doesn’t Come in Time: John 11 and Your Story When it feels like God is running late, John 11 reminds us that Jesus is still the resurrection and the life. Sometimes he allows us to face the very things we fear most, and even there, we can come to know him more deeply. That doesn’t make the pain easy, but it gives us hope; even when death has written a chapter, Jesus isn’t finished with the story. John places the story of Lazarus near the end of his “book of signs," the miracles that help us see who Jesus is. This sign points ahead to Jesus’ own cross and empty tomb. But first, we face something hard to understand: Jesus chooses to wait, and Lazarus dies. Many of us quietly assume, “God loves this person, and they need help, so surely he’ll step in the way I hope.” When that doesn’t happen, it can leave us hurting and unsure of what to believe.

In 1962 Decca Recording Company rejected the Beatles. They said, ‘We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” In 1977 Ken Olson, Chairman of Digital Equipment Co., said, ‘There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Sometimes we miss what lies ahead.

Dear Friends,

Last week, the man born blind grew in his understanding of Jesus, and marked a path from assessing Jesus as a man to finally worshipping him as Messiah. Father Carl asked us to consider where we are on this path, and to consider why we might be stuck anywhere short of worship. I hope you have taken some time to do that for yourself and have prayed that those you love will be freed to move closer to Jesus as well.

Scriptures for today. Psalm 72 · Leviticus 19.1-18 · 1 Thessalonians 5.12-28 · Psalm 119.73-96 · Matthew 6.19-24

Scriptures for today. Psalm 61, 62 · Leviticus 16.20-34 · 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11 · Psalm 68.1-20 · Matthew 6.7-15

Scriptures for today. Psalm 56, 57 · Leviticus 16.1-19 · 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 · Psalm 64, 65 · Matthew 6.1-6, 16-18. Prayer for today. Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: grant that, as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires, so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Scriptures for today. Psalm 31 · Acts 7.55-60 · 1 Peter 2.2-10 · John 14.1-14

Scriptures for today. Psalm 55 · Exodus 40.18-38 · 1 Thessalonians 4.1-12 · Psalm 138, 139.1-23 · Matthew 5.38-48

Scriptures for today. Psalm 119.49-72 · Exodus 33.1-23 · 1 Thessalonians 2.1-12 · Psalm 49 · Matthew 5.17-20