No Monday let-down!

 It’s Monday after Easter and my heart is full of joy. The song echoes in my mind of the Mystery of our Lord. “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again… Celebrate His death and rising… Lift your eyes!”  Around me in the church, I heard voices rise in holy worship. As our hearts and the Spirit met in faith, the stresses of life were eclipsed by the joy of the Lord. No wonder we call that part of the church building a ‘sanctuary.’  As we worship, we feel eternity in our being, finding refuge and renewal!

We may not maintain the excitement that the celebration brings, BUT we can be sustained by the Truth that remains. God is the same this morning as He was on Easter Sunday morning. The beautiful songs, the flowers and songs, create holy expectation. Let’s not let that go! Just as came to Resurrection Sunday with our minds prepared to rejoice, let’s meet Monday with the assurance that He is still Lord, that His life is ours.

Monday, what do we expect of this day?
Are we open to the Spirit’s mystery?
Will we, in our prayers and with faith, be receptive to the grace He has for Monday mornings?

God does not only speak on Sunday or live in the church. The Holy Spirit is not defined by place or holy day! He is with us everywhere. Jesus illustrates the holy connection that allows us to hold onto the joy with the vine and the branch picture. He says, “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing." (John 15:4-5, The Message) Ah, there it is!

We cannot hold onto a feeling, but we can stay connected in faith. That connection to Him allows the Spirit to work in us, to keep us, to fill us with holy joy! This day after Easter, don’t leave Jesus at home. Don’t just slide back into drudgery, into a dutiful and joyless Christianity. Eagerly ask, “what’s next, Lord?”

Here’s a word from the Word. "So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life." (Colossians 3:1-4, The Message)

__________________

MYSTERY
(celebrate the faith!)

Sweet Jesus Christ, my clarity.

Sweet Jesus Christ, my sanity.
Bread of heaven, broken for me,
Cup of salvation held up to drink.

Jesus – Mystery.

Christ has died, and
Christ is risen,
and Christ will come again!

Celebrate his death and rising!
Lift your eyes! Proclaim his coming!

Jesus – Mystery!

Mystery
Charlie Hall
SixSteps Music, Worship Together
CCLI License No. 810055

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EASTER 2019 Worship