Brown's Daily Word 4/26/11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for His Resurrection from death and the grave. He is the Resurrection and the Life. It is going to be a brilliant spring day. Many of the spring flowers are in full bloom. I walked over three miles yesterday in one of the local parks gazing at the beauty the Lord displays all around us with so much love and grace.
In Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book", Mowgli, the man cub, asks the animals to name the most feared thing in the jungle. He is told that when two animals meet on a narrow path that one must step aside and let the other pass. The animal that steps aside for no one would then be the most feared. Mowgli wants to know what kind of animal would that be? One tells him it’s an elephant. Another tells him it’s a lion. Finally the wise old owl exclaims, “The most feared thing in the jungle is death. It steps aside for no one.”
We find that statement to be so true. It doesn’t matter how physically strong, financially rich, fantastically popular, or overwhelmingly powerful one might be. Death is an absolute truth for each and every one of us. No one is exempt from death
Hebrews 9:27 states, "It is appointed to all men once to die and after that the judgment." In Ecclesiastes 7:2 it is stated " …for death is the destiny of every man."
Death, however, was not the final destiny of Jesus Christ. Since He was God in the flesh, death had to step aside for him.
Luke's account follows from Luke 24:1-8 – On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.
As a coward steps aside for the brave, death cowered in the presence of the power of Jesus Christ. Romans 6:9 – "For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him."
John Maxwell told a story about a blazer that he bought from Nordstrom. "About a year and a half ago, I bought a new navy blazer at Nordstrom. It was one of those cases you may have gone through where you buy an item of clothing and the more you wear it, the more you realize you don’t like it. My blazer wasn’t the right color, and to make matters worse, it attracted lint like it was going out of style. After wearing it pretty regularly for six months or so, I stuck it in my closet and didn’t wear it for a long time.
"Tucked away in the back of my mind all the while was that famous Nordstrom unconditional-return policy. I thought, I’ve had this thing for a year and a half. I’ve worn it lots of times, and there’s just no way they’re going to take it back. About two weeks ago I decided I had nothing to lose. I pulled the blazer out, threw a lot of lint on it to make it look bad, and took it down to Nordstrom’s men’s department. I walked in, and immediately I felt nervous. I felt like I was about to pull a scam of some sort, but I played it straight. I walked right up to the first salesman I saw and gave this little prepared speech. I said, 'I am about to put your famous unconditional-return policy to its ultimate test. I have here a blazer. I’ve worn it lots. I’ve had it for a year and a half. I don’t like it. It’s the wrong color, and it attracts lint like it’s going out of style. But I want to return this blazer for another blazer that I like.' Then I stood there.
"I couldn’t believe it. This guy with a big handlebar mustache just looked at me and shook his head. He said, 'For heaven’s sake, what took you so long? Let’s go find you a blazer.' Ten minutes later I walked out with another blazer that was marked seventy-five dollars more than I paid for the one that I brought in. It was perfect for me. Didn’t cost me a penny."
In a very small way, the Nordstrom Department Store is a lot like God. They are willing to back up their promises. (Preaching Today)
I think that at Easter, more than any other time of the year, we realize that God has made all sorts of outlandish promises. They seem so outlandish that some of us cannot bring ourselves to believe that they could possibly be true. Easter is about the promises that God has made to us: the promise of forgiven sins, the promise of eternal life, and the promise of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/HPBmFwBSGb0

Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott

Saturday, April 30, 2011
5 PM Indian Buffet at the First UMC, Endicott
6 PM Coffee Fellowship

6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Laureen Naik, Emma Bronson
Speaker: Rev Bill Turner