Authentic People Series: Week 2-Authentic Hope

In continuing the Authentic People series last Sunday, April 22, Associate Pastor Daniel Thueson gave a message on "hope". The notes that you will read are taken from  Pastor Daniel's message and many quotes are his. 


The passage of scripture that was presented was Luke 24:13-35. Jesus' tomb had been found empty that morning with the stone rolled away. The news had spread from the women finding the empty tomb, to the disciples of Jesus. Verse 13 says that "two of them", meaning two disciples, were going to a village called Emmaus, just a few miles from Jerusalem. While they were walking they were talking and discussing everything that had happened with Jesus concerning his death and  then his body not being found in the tomb. The two disciples had hoped Jesus was the one that would save them from the oppression of Rome.They had put their hope in him only to watch him be crucified: a death that they only did to those they wanted to make an example of. 


Not recognizing that this man walking beside them was Jesus, He began to tell them starting with Creation down through to the prophets of the sufferings of Christ that were foretold, and a fulfillment of the scriptures. Arriving at Emmaus, the disciples in their sorrow and weak faith, asked the stranger to stay with them and break bread. As they sat down at the table, Jesus broke the bread and gave thanks for it. He gave it to them and that is when they realized who he was. He then vanished from their sight and they got up and went back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples that He HAD risen indeed!


The sadness that the two disciples felt on the road to Emmaus was gone... Jesus' resurrection was the beginning of the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:16-18) which brings about HOPE. 


What are you putting your hope in today? Are you walking along the road to Emmaus being sad and weak in your faith, not realizing that Jesus is right beside you - every step of the way.... waiting for you to put your hope and trust completely in Him?


Pastor Daniel quoted this next scripture and then gave us some great insight to it.  It really stuck with me as this is a favorite scripture of mine and now it means even more to me.


Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". The word prosper here in the Hebrew is actually "shalom" which we all know to mean peace. However, in this context, it goes much deeper than that. Here the word prosper means encompassing the entire range of well being. To expound more on that it means this: 
Having peace between us and others, 
Having peace between us and creation 
Having peace between us and ourselves 
Having peace between us and God

That is the plan God has for each of us! Total and complete peace.


God has given us love and hope for our path, our road to Emmaus. All we have to do is ask for Him to remove the stones that stand between Him and us. And then, continue to ask Him... every day. 


We as the body of Christ can help others remove their stones by sharing our hope in knowing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


So, I ask you again: what is your hope truly in?

Authentic People series: Week 1 "Genuine Love Removes Stones"

Authentic: to be genuine, trustworthy, unfake, real.

This is the definition of authentic that was given in today's message by Pastor Shante' with a few added words that I looked up on my own. My notes on this posting are from today's Crosswalk Worship service as we start a new series called "Authentic People".

We live in a world of appearances, knock-off's, and copy-cats. Our inner most being craves what is real, what is authentic.

We throw the word "Love" around so often: we love that TV show, or we love our new dress. We love our "stuff"..... Pastor Shante' read a passage of scripture that sums up the true meaning of Love. It says "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." (John 3:16-17 The Message) THIS is authentic love.

The Love of God can never be exhausted! God will never say "I'm done with you!" Many of us do the proverbial "washing our hands" of people that hurt us or disappoint us on a regular basis. But God, no matter WHAT we do, have done, or are going to do, no matter how bad it may be, will ever turn His back on us.

"Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance." (John 20:1 NLT) Pastor Shante' broke this verse down as this: Jesus could have left that tomb with out rolling away the stone- remember who He is! No rock, no stone, or any kind of barrier could have kept Him from getting out! So, maybe the rolling away of the stone was an example of what Jesus could do for US. The stone was very large and heavy, and it was mentioned that it would take more than one person to move the stone, let alone be able to move it by one's self.

Let's look at the stone as obstacles in our lives: Things that are keeping us from giving ourselves completely to God and to whatever He has for our lives. Our stone could be anger or stubbornness. Our stone could be an addiction. Stones are many different things that we allow to keep us from God's authentic love. Just as the stone that covered the tomb of Jesus was heavy and could not be moved by one person, so are our stones- we cannot remove them alone by our power, but God can with HIS power and His Love!

Lastly, Jesus loves us too much to let us go back to who we once were. In the passage of John 21:15-19 there is a verbal exchange between Jesus and Peter. Peter had told some of the disciples that he was going fishing. The idea here was that Peter was going back to what he was doing before Jesus came into his life. That next morning, Jesus appeared to them on the beach. He was cooking fish for them for breakfast, and began to ask Peter if he loved him. Jesus asked this question 3 times to Peter. Each time Peter exclaimed "Yes Lord, you know that I love you".

In this passage, when Jesus said "do you love me" to Peter, the Greek word for love used here is Agape love which is the unconditional love that God has for us. The highest form of love there is. When Peter says "yes Lord, you know that I love you" the word love here in the Greek is Philia love which is the type of brotherly love that most Christians practice toward each other. John 13:34 says this "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Again, the word love here used by Jesus in the Greek is the verb Agapao. It is used here as a verb deriving from the noun we mentioned earlier as Agape. Using it as a verb here, to me, would mean that this love means to act or to demonstrate.

Active love- what a concept! Imagine what the world would be like if we all would give some of our time to actively show authentic love to a broken world as Jesus commands us in John 13:34. We are never the same when we experience the resurrected life of Jesus Christ and His Love for us. We will want to live a resurrected life and come out of our tomb to shine the light of God's love for the world to see. All we need to do is ask Him:

God, how can I give my love away......?