Good Morning,
This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Alice and I drove down to Washington, DC, Monday afternoon and spent overnight with Sunita and Andy. We went to Johns Hopkins for my doctors appointment yesterday. I will be going back for another visit in June. It was a very warm day (even hot) yesterday in Washington. The Spring Season already has sprung in Washington. Alice and Sunita took a morning walk in the National Arboretum in the morning yesterday. The magnolias and the other flowering trees are in full bloom. On the way to Baltimore we saw several magnificent patches of daffodils on the way along the Interstate. Praise the Lord for the way He decorates the earth with His beauty and His majesty. While in Washington we spent some time in prayer with Sunita and Andy, along with their very good friends and neighbors, Jenn and Rob.
Tonight we will be meeting at 6 PM at the church for a meal, followed by Bible study and a time of prayer, beginning at 6:30 PM. Choir will practice at 7:30 PM. All are welcome.
As we walk with Jesus our Lord during this Lenten Season I have been blessed as I reflect on the various prophecies and passages that deal with the Suffering Servant. I also share with people special times of prayer and praise. I was talking with one young mom the other day and she was sharing with me that the Lord has laid in her heart during the 40 days of Lent to send forty letters to 40 people who have been the Lord's blessing to her. The Bible says, “He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed.” (Isa 53.5) This is a very powerful passage that portrays the suffering of Jesus our Lord at the Cross. It also portrays that His suffering brought something good and powerful to us. His suffering brought to us wonderful salvation, wonderful healing and wholeness, and wonderful freedom.
I was reading about a man named Ray Burton who was made whole by Jesus Christ as he put his faith in Him, he received by faith through His grace full and free salvation. He served the Lord with great joy and obedience. Ray Burton was wheel chair bound, but he knew that there were no wheel chairs in Heaven. Heaven is about wholeness, ultimate wholeness. He had 18 surgeries. Vascular disease was eating his body away; his legs were gone – he was a paraplegic. A simple man, Ray was embarrassed a bit by his smoking. Yet, there was something about Ray Burton – his body was no longer whole, but there was a wholeness in his spirit that was rare. He had tasted something. Ray was loved by his family. He was one of the sweetest, gentlest, most godly men. He kept a prayer journal, although folks in his church didn’t know about it until after he died. He was a bit embarrassed by it – parts were typed, parts handwritten, filled with scratches and misspellings. It contained 50 pages single spaced, with multiple columns of names of people he prayed for every day. Four hours a day, five days a week, for twelve years he prayed for others. He said, "there’s nothing else I can do, so I pray". His body was broken, but still Ray was more whole than many of us.
Real wholeness isn’t about a beautiful body, or a balanced budget, or a beautiful wife and perfect kids, or an enviable social circle. Real wholeness isn’t about temporary things. Real wholeness isn’t found in things our world pursues so obsessively.
Jesus said, “I came that you might have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10.10) “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” It’s more than patching up our sins and giving us a better self image, and restoring our peace with God. It's about real love, and it’s about real joy, and it's about real peace and real purpose. These are the kinds of things that will last forever.
Because He emptied himself of all but love, we can be filled. Because His body was broken, our life can be whole. Because he was forsaken, we will never be alone. Because He was buried for us, we can be raised. Because He reached down to us we don’t have to work our way up to Him. Because He became sin, We can experience ultimate wholeness and receive His Righteousness.
Real wholeness isn’t about a beautiful body, or a balanced budget, or a beautiful wife and perfect kids, or an enviable social circle. Real wholeness isn’t about temporary things. Real wholeness isn’t found in things our world pursues so obsessively.
Jesus said, “I came that you might have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10.10) “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” It’s more than patching up our sins and giving us a better self image, and restoring our peace with God. It's about real love, and it’s about real joy, and it's about real peace and real purpose. These are the kinds of things that will last forever.
Because He emptied himself of all but love, we can be filled. Because His body was broken, our life can be whole. Because he was forsaken, we will never be alone. Because He was buried for us, we can be raised. Because He reached down to us we don’t have to work our way up to Him. Because He became sin, We can experience ultimate wholeness and receive His Righteousness.
In Christ,
Brown
Friday March 16, 2012
Television Outreach
Time Warner Cable Channel 4
Time 7:00 PM
Saturday Evening Worship Service:
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott, NY
Sponsored by: Union Center United Methodist Church
Time: 6:00 PM gathering for Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Date: Saturday, March 17, 2012
Speaker: Rev William Puckey
Special Music by Hawleyton United Methodist Church Worship Band.
For information, call 607-748-6329
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