Today's Memorial Day service included a reading of names of Mt. Olivet members from the past who served our country in the military. We thank them for their sacrifice so we can live in freedom today.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Homecoming 2011
We would like to thank everyone who attended the Homecoming service this Sunday. We especially want to thank Darrin and Daniel Howdyshell for sharing their music and Darrin for bringing the message.
Pastor's Penpoint - "Post Easter Living" - May 2011
"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." - 2 Corinthians 4: 10-12
Certain events in our lives change everything. The birth of a child. A wedding. A national tragedy on the scale of 9-11. A near-death experience. Natural disasters and ongoing war. The death of a loved one. Can you imagine experiencing any of these circumstances and not being changed in the way you think, act and feel? No way!
I would add one more event to that list: Easter. The influence of Easter in the lives of those who follow Jesus is overwhelming. Since we just celebrated another Easter let me encourage you to reflect on just a few of the promised realities of Jesus' death and resurrection and how they might change us.
First, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is a profound demonstration of God's unconditional love for us. I believe that the most difficult part of being a Christian is daring to believe that God loves us as much as the cross of Christ says. How could your lives be different if we believed to the depths of our being that God loved us no matter what? How would it change the way we see ourselves? How might our relationships be different?
Second, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are living new lives in which the log book of our past sin has been wiped clean. Our lives are no longer defined by our failures but by Christ's life in us. How would our life be different if we refused to allow guilt and shame to ever sit in the driver's seat of our lives?
Third, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are no longer slaves to our sinful desires but are free to live by the Spirit. Scripture promises that Easter people are people who have within them the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life who promises to guide us into the ways of life and peace. How would we make daily decisions differently if you really believed that we were filled with the Holy Spirit?
Finally, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are living eternal life now. For followers of Jesus eternal life doesn't begin when we die; it begins the moment we are born again. How can we invest our time differently if we really believed that our life has eternal value and implications?
I hope your Easter celebration was joyous, but more importantly I pray that the power of Easter profoundly impacts the way that we live!
~ Pastor Todd
Certain events in our lives change everything. The birth of a child. A wedding. A national tragedy on the scale of 9-11. A near-death experience. Natural disasters and ongoing war. The death of a loved one. Can you imagine experiencing any of these circumstances and not being changed in the way you think, act and feel? No way!
I would add one more event to that list: Easter. The influence of Easter in the lives of those who follow Jesus is overwhelming. Since we just celebrated another Easter let me encourage you to reflect on just a few of the promised realities of Jesus' death and resurrection and how they might change us.
First, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is a profound demonstration of God's unconditional love for us. I believe that the most difficult part of being a Christian is daring to believe that God loves us as much as the cross of Christ says. How could your lives be different if we believed to the depths of our being that God loved us no matter what? How would it change the way we see ourselves? How might our relationships be different?
Second, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are living new lives in which the log book of our past sin has been wiped clean. Our lives are no longer defined by our failures but by Christ's life in us. How would our life be different if we refused to allow guilt and shame to ever sit in the driver's seat of our lives?
Third, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are no longer slaves to our sinful desires but are free to live by the Spirit. Scripture promises that Easter people are people who have within them the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life who promises to guide us into the ways of life and peace. How would we make daily decisions differently if you really believed that we were filled with the Holy Spirit?
Finally, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are living eternal life now. For followers of Jesus eternal life doesn't begin when we die; it begins the moment we are born again. How can we invest our time differently if we really believed that our life has eternal value and implications?
I hope your Easter celebration was joyous, but more importantly I pray that the power of Easter profoundly impacts the way that we live!
~ Pastor Todd
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