April 17, 2013 Third Sunday of Easter

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for April 14th: Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19; Theme: Do you really love the Lord? Song: It is Well with my soul UMH 377 Revelation: The challenge for this week is for us to be stretched beyond our comfort zones in our service to God. We think of the book of revelation as a vision of the future. But it is a future that is deeply rooted in the present: in who we are and what we do for God. That is why God wants us to go beyond ourselves in order to reach heaven. Our scripture for today is about worship. We are worshipping with the heavenly angels. They are singing with all that they are. John Wesley instructs us to do the same. Every voice is a part of the heavenly choir. Every voice has reason to praise the goodness of God. What if everything that we did was our best on behalf of God. What if everything that we do was in praise of God? What if we gave our everything all of the time. That is what it means to make the present connected to the future. “And the four living creatures said Amen”. John: During the Easter season, we are seeking the presence of Christ in our lives. We are mindful, so that we can get a glimpse of Jesus in our lives. The way that we get a sense of the presence of Jesus, is through communion. When we gather for communion, we can know that God is with us. Some Christians use bread and fish for communion, instead of bread and wine. The disciples were fishermen. And in our text, Jesus tells them to cast their nets on the right. They were used to casting their nets on the left, because the nets were easier to carry. But Jesus was stretching them to go beyond their comfort zones. We are challenged to also go beyond our comfort zones. To cast our nets in a different way, and to reach new fish (people). It is Easter, and it is time for us to live Jesus life and not ours. Peter was able to bring in the catch for the day. They had much for fish than usual. They have breakfast, and then Jesus ask Peter to feed my sheep. Jesus is challenging us not just to make us uncomfortable, but to prepare us for taking care of those who follow Jesus. He says to follow me – following Jesus means helping others, but also it means giving God his will and not ours. It means letting Jesus order our steps – in order to feed those in need. Questions: Do you typically worship with all of your might? So your typically serve with all of your might? When you help people in the present, are you aware that your actions will carry you to the future of God’s plan? How have you seen the presence of Christ this week? Is it easy for you the change the way you do things? Does it help to accept change, when you see Christ in the situation?