“One of the earliest textual evidences for the presence of Christianity in Britain is a graffito found scratched into the wall-painting of a Roman house uncovered at Cirencester in 1818. The inscription is a word square in Latin consisting of the words ROTAS, OPERA, TENET, AREPO, SATOR, arranged as depicted below, and usually translated as:

 

At 6am, after no sleep, we started watching The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.  Our next youth group event will be to go see the sequel Prince Caspian on May 17th.

After the movie, we will come back to church for ice cream and some fun.  The time for the movie has yet to be determined.

THE COMING JOYFUL DAY

               This Sunday is Jubilate,or “Joyful.” On this day we consider what it means to live in joyful anticipation of the coming perfect and everlasting Joy that will be ours when we are fully united with our Savior in heaven.

On this Sunday get a sense of just why the Gospel of Christ is so relevant to everyone on earth – and yet a little strange. The Gospel of Christ is for every human being of any human culture, but it is not of any human culture. The Gospel of Christ is important to every person on earth precisely because none of us will live forever on this earth.

In our Epistle reading for today (and sermon text) Peter helps us ponder the fact that we live in this world as foreigners, as outsiders – and yet we do live in this world. Therefore our lives very much involve day-to-day living, and are wrapped up in the very physical life of eating, sleeping, being sick or well, marriage, becoming parents, age, and finally death.

But here is the key: As Christ went through the suffering of this life to a very real and physical resurrection, with a very real and physical joy in heaven, so we also pass through this world as “on-the way” to perfect joy in the place that He has prepared for us.

This world dies; we look forward to eternal life.

This world suffers under sin’s curse; we are on the way to a place where the curse is lifted.

The world has no hope in itself; our hope is in the true and perfect Savior, Jesus Christ.

This “otherworldness” shows in the way that we live – giving comfort and help to those in the trials of life, yet reserving our full and final hope for heaven.

This “otherworldness” shows in the way that we worship – with relevant applications of God’s word, but joining with all the saints on earth, and all the saints and angels of heaven to give praise to Christ for a salvation that counts not only on earth but in heaven.

FIRST LOOKS:  Here we take a look at the theme of the coming week.  For the Sunday after Easter we look at I John 5:4-12, which ends with these words: ¹²Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

WHO REALLY WINS?

Modern aircraft are marvels of engineering. They are incredibly strong for their weight. Nevertheless, they all have limits. A pilot has to know and respect the limits of his aircraft. There is the V_ne, the never-exceed speed. There are g-force limits. There is the limit to the icing that the aircraft can tolerate.

The limits are included in the Aircraft Operation Manual and often the key ones are on placards in the cockpit. In addition the Federal Air Regulations make it clear that violating the noted limits is against regulations.

The limits are a matter of physics. Even with margins built in, aircraft cannot operate far beyond the physical limits without fatal results. 

Every so often, however, a pilot comes along who views the restrictions as a personal limitation on his freedom. “They won’t even let you do loops in this thing! That isn’t fair!” But there is no “they,” and the laws of physics aren’t fair or unfair, the just “are.”

Sad to say, many such pilots eventually make the “what went wrong” safety articles in the aviation magazines. They push an airplane beyond its limits with fatal results. They “won.” They showed that they could go beyond the operational limits. Do you think they really won?

In our text for today, we have a similar situation. John writes, ¹²He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. He makes it clear that without Christ, there is no salvation. Only Jesus has redeemed the world. Only by faith in Him do we receive the gift of His redemption.

There are people who respond in various ways: “Narrow minded!” “Unfair!” “Bigots!” “Who do those Christians think they are?!” You can add to the list.

But John isn’t being bossy. He is just telling us the facts. Nobody can make another person put their trust in Christ. Those who are offended can reject Christ and denounce those who bring the good news of His redeeming work. They can assert themselves and avoid anybody telling them what to do or believe. Do they really “win” against John and others who invite them to know and trust Christ?

The fact is that there is only one Savior for mankind.

¹²Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) That’s just the way it is.