Connecting

A few days ago, we here at Messiah celebrated Easter… along with approximately 2 billion other Christians around the world. We rejoiced in Christ’s triumph over sin and death that purchased “God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense” (GRACE) for all of us. It was an awesome day of connecting.

People who just come on Christmas or Easter were connecting with family and friends. I pray that the Scripture readings, the Pastor’s message, the music, or someone’s friendly “Hello” may have made a deeper connection.

Dozens of staff and volunteers were making the connections they make every Sunday:
- The Pastors coming close to connecting with everybody;
- The musicians, singers, and choir connecting us all with their music;
- The greeters, ushers, and information people connecting while serving;
- The breakfast team connecting us with food and beverages;
- The childcare staff connecting kids with smiles, games, and hugs;
- The parking crew connecting with just a smile and a friendly wave;
And most importantly: all of our members connecting in fellowship.

Families who attend every week were connecting with each other in worship. On Easter, there are no adult learning classes, special high school worship, or Sunday school, so… grandparents, mom and dad, and all the kids streamed into the sanctuary to worship God, to pray to God, and to praise God… together.

This week’s picture was taken during the last service on Easter Sunday. Pastor Ron was leading the congregation in prayer, and I was struck by the tiny little girl in front of me. You may notice that the picture is blurry. That’s because I had the flash turned off during the service, and another contributing factor was that the girl’s father was gently rocking her back and forth. She had her head bowed, her eyes closed, and her hands folded in prayer.

Certainly, a young child does not approach prayer in the same way as an adult. Actually, there were many other children that were squirming, chattering, or struggling in a parent’s grasp. Yet here was this precious little girl… meekly assuming an attitude of prayer.

Her parents had obviously connected with her, and taught her the importance of prayer. In doing so, they connected her to a future that includes a walk with God. At some point, they must have connected to Scripture:

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
Proverbs 22:6

This Easter, I believe I connected with an inheritor of the Earth.

As she was being held in her earthly father’s arms, I could envision her being held in her Heavenly Father’s arms. This is the relationship that is the promise of Easter… that God loves each of us as a precious and dear child. That God so loves us that he sacrificed himself to make sure each of us could make that connection. It’s time to stop squirming and struggling. It’s time to say: “Pick me up, Daddy!” It’s time to be swept up in the strength and security and the love of our Heavenly Father’s embrace.

As we walk from Easter into Pentecost, I continue to encourage you with the Easter greeting/response:

“Christ has risen. He has risen, indeed!”

Your brother in Christ,
Dave

P.S.: I apologize that this week’s posting is so late. I’ve had several challenges to overcome… not the least of which was that the blog server was not accepting my new post for the last few days. It seems much better today. :)