Continuing by Faith*

By faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham and Sarah . . .

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth . . . they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, by faith Isaac, by faith Jacob, by faith Joseph, by faith Moses' parents, by faith Moses, by faith the people passed through the Red Sea, by faith the walls of Jericho fell, by faith the prostitute Rahab . . . was not killed . . .

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

By faith, fifty years ago, a group of Christians began a congregation . . . may we continue by faith, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith . . .

*from Hebrews 11: 3-40 and 12: 2

Announcing a Special Event

God prepared the Hebrews for their departure from Egypt, as told in the Book of Exodus, He commanded them (verse 14 of Chapter 12): “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD – a lasting ordinance.” In verse 17 He again says: "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. This commemoration has come to be known as the Passover Festival. It was so important that God further told the Israelites to renumber the months of their calendar so that this commemoration would occur during the first month.

Would it surprise you to know that as Christians, and for the most part Gentile Christians, we have learned the meaning of, and continue to celebrate the Passover?

This year the original Passover festival, more or less as laid out in scripture (Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23) will be celebrated for a week beginning at sunset on Friday April 18. How and why is this significant to Christians? Why, how and when do Christians continue to celebrate this festival? Come share a different kind of experience with us. Find out the answers to these questions and more.

During our worship service on Sunday, April 13, we’ll begin to explore the Christian significance of the Passover festival. Then, on the following Saturday, April 19, you are all invited to explore the full meaning of the Passover Seder - the combined service and meal associated with this holiday. If you’ve never attended a Passover celebration, this is your opportunity to learn all about it. If you have had this unique experience, this too is for you, because we’ll explore Passover from a Christian perspective.

So bring your family and join your Springfield brothers and sisters for a fascinating learning experience and a potluck meal. More information will follow, and the specific time will be announced over the next few weeks. We’ll also have a sign-up sheet (so we’ll know how many we need plan to accommodate). Mark the date on your calendar now, and plan to be with us for this special event.

More Facts About Acts: Women

If we were to pick up the book of Acts and look for a theme in regards to women, we’d have a few choices. Women are mentioned either directly or indirectly over 20 times in the book of Acts. Here are a couple suggested themes:

How about the theme of suffering? (we might call this women’s sufferage;-)

There are three separate times that it mentions women who were tortured for their faith:

Acts 8:3 Saul committed women to prison,

Acts 9:2 That Saul might bring women bound to prison,

Acts 22:4 Saul/Paul testifies how he had committed women to prison before his conversion.

It’s true that they suffered but it’s not exactly a consistent “theme”.

How about the theme of women behaving badly?

Acts 5:1-11 When Sapphira lied for her husband and God judged her for her part.

Acts 12:13-16 Rhoda didn´t open the gate for Peter!

Acts 13:50 The Jews stirred up the “devout and honorable” ladies who did a pretty good job of joining with men to get Paul and Barnabas tossed out.

The problem with that one is the theme of men behaving badly is much more consistent, and the men are guilty of slightly worse offenses than “not opening gates”.

But how about a theme of Women Being Faithful?

In Acts chapter 2 Peter stands up and quotes the prophet Joel:

17" 'In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

18Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

We see the prophet Joel’s words come true in Acts. The very first European convert is Lydia. We see faithful women in Acts 10, 12, 16, 17, and 18. Thanks to our faithful sisters at Springfield…many of whom get limited press but do much of the work. Perhaps that is the major theme that has not changed since the first century . . .

Mark

Off the Bottom of My Screen

I have noticed there is a phenomenon at play in my life that drastically affects all I do. I suspect that it may be at play in your life as well. I call it "The Bottom of My Screen Syndrome". Basically it works like this: my life seems to revolve around people contacting me via emails. (Even my telephone voice mails at one job get automatically emailed to me as Mp3's.) They pile into my in box at a terrific rate. They come in fast enough that I can't possibly reply to all of them, so I find myself sort of randomly replying to the ones that are not urgently sent from someone work-related. Therefore, as soon as the emails disappear off the bottom of my screen...they join the thousands of others down there, and they are literally out of sight, out of mind. The only encouraging thing about this is that I don't yet have a Blackberry...which has an even smaller screen and thus subjects more and more of my emails to the "bottom of my screen" reality. Ironically, as I write this bulletin article it is this reality that causes me to forget to send an article to Carrie much of the time!

Sadly, we live in a culture where this is the way we operate. Priorities are often sacrificed because they get pushed off the bottom of our screens. Whoever shouts the loudest or sends the most SPAM gets our attention. God, who does not play that game, often gets pushed so far down the screen that we never even think of him. We are too busy handling the things on our screens... regardless of whether they are all that important.

Paul did not have this problem. God never left his screen, never became an after thought, and never got pushed aside by the worries of the day. This was true of Paul before he met Jesus, as he endeavored to serve his Lord as a Pharisee of Pharisees. But it was even more true of his life AFTER he met Jesus. Before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus he was passionate about serving God, but after he met Jesus he began giving speeches like the one he gave in Acts 17, where he said, "God is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."

What was it that kept service to God on Paul’s screen even after he realized that the old-school-Pharisee motivation for serving God was not the main reason to serve him?

Mark