JR. Forasteros - April 20, 2014
Easter
Many of us feel disappointed with God at some point or another in our lives. We experience pain, life doesn't go our way and it feels like God broke his promise to us. But Easter Sunday is the proof that God always keeps his promises. Though Jesus' death on Friday looked like God didn't come through, his resurrection on Easter proves that God's plan was bigger than we'd dare to dream. Easter is a promise to us too that God isn't finished with us, and that we can trust God to keep his promise of life!
From Series: "Hello My Name Is..."
Who is God? The answers to this most basic human question can be found in the Scriptures. Over and over, God comes to humanity, interacts with us in ways we can understand, and we learn more of who God is. Often in these interactions, the people who met God would give God a name - a way to describe how God had worked in their lives. As we explore these stories, we'll learn that God is the same God for us today. God is our provider, our shepherd, our banner, our peace, our mother and more!
More Messages From JR. Forasteros...
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I’m not sure there’s a higher American value than personal freedom. Nearly any conversation in civil discourse, from gun control to economic policies to public speech and religion often end up coming back to this “Don’t Tread on Me” mentality that fed the American Revolution.
“Don’t Tread On Me”… We want to be selves without limits. We want no boundaries, no borders, no limitations. We want to be free, unboxed, uncaged, unrestrained.
We recognize that purely unrestrained freedom isn’t realistic.
I remember learning in elementary school that ‘freedom of speech’ doesn’t mean we can, for instance, shout ‘Fire’ in a crowded movie theater. When our freedom of expression puts others in harm’s way, it becomes toxic to a society.
Similarly, in our relationships we recognize constraints. Our marriage vows bind us, reduce our freedoms (which is why the more cynical among us call marriage a ‘ball and chain’ – an image from prison). We identify friends who take and take and take and never contribute to the other person’s good a toxic friend. Having children involves a complete overhaul of priorities and involves the loss of many freedoms – including the freedom to sleep whenever you want.
And yet we recognize these relationships as good – good for us and good for the world.
Maybe freedom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Maybe it’s a good, but no the highest good. If that’s true, it could change how we engage in conversations over personal freedoms.
Let’s explore in a bit more depth our desire for freedom and what’s behind it. We’ll see that a quest for freedom can become a kind of idolatry (and we’re not the first people to fall for it).
