Day: April 20, 2014

Christian Leadership, Christianity, Devotion, Encouragement, Faith, Life, Sermon

The Hope of the Resurrection

When I was a journalist and had some responsibilities about what would be in the newspaper the next morning, I would spend the first few moments of my day planning out what stories we would focus on. These stories mainly comprised of games we knew we were covering, planned features, or other news that had developed during the day. Once I had the plan in place, I would start working on getting things ready to meet our deadlines, such as writing stories, editing, and designing pages.

All this would change if a breaking news alert would come across. Now, when we think of breaking news we might think of an interruption to our favorite television show with the ominous theme music network news departments use to lead into the report. We may also think of the instant notifications that might pop up on our smartphones or tablets. When I was a journalist, a breaking news report was a sudden statement that came across The Associated Press’ wires, which would be followed by several other reports in rapid succession.

Any type of  breaking news comes to us suddenly and forces its way into the planned course of the day. These unexpected reports challenge the listener, reader, or journalist, to pay attention to it and to try and make sense of what is being announced. Continue reading “The Hope of the Resurrection”

Christian Leadership, Christianity, Devotion, Encouragement, Faith, Life, Sermon

An Easter Devotion

In the dawn of Sunday morning, the day after the Jewish Sabbath following an eventful Passover celebration, Mary Magdalene and some others decided to go to the tomb. Not just any tomb, but the tomb where Joseph of Armiathea had placed Jesus following his death on the cross Friday afternoon. The Sabbath prevented Mary and her friends from journeying to the tomb, but once the sun was up on Sunday morning they proceeded to go to where Jesus was buried.

Scripture gives us conflicting reports as to why Mary visited the tomb. Some say she was there to finish the burial, while John perhaps focuses on her devotion to Jesus by indicating no other desire other than just to be there. The conflicting reports are simply different perspectives of the same story that focuses on what Mary and her group experienced.

However, once they arrived at the tomb that saw something they did not expect. They noticed that the stone used to seal the tomb was rolled away. This was a troubling sight and the group was fearful that something bad had happened. Back then it was common for grave robbers to come and steal items from graves. Mary’s first inclination is that this is what happened. She doesn’t go near the tomb, but the fact the tomb was unsealed leaves this possibility open to her. Continue reading “An Easter Devotion”