Posts in Lent
He Is Alive! Believe & Live!

March 31, 2024

Mt 28:1-10, 16-17; Mk 16:4-8; Lk 24:1-12, 21-24, 36-45, 52-53; John 20:1-29 — Resurrection Sunday — He is risen. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is alive indeed. How does this reality influence, shape, and transform our worldviews, beliefs, feelings, thinking, and actions? How do we respond to the reality that Jesus Christ is alive? The resurrection should inspire and drive us to continually worship God acceptably with reverence and awe (Heb 12:28). Because of the resurrection, we should continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12). At the cross and through the resurrection we have become new creations, kingdom citizens, children of God. Therefore, let us now live as such.

This concludes our Lent series for 2024 — At the Cross—Who Are You?

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“Follow Me!”

March 24, 2024

Mt 26:31-45, 51-54, 69-75; Mk 14:27-42, 47, 50-52, 66-72; Lk 22:31-46, 50-51, 54-62; 24:12; Jn 13:36-38; 18:10-11, 25-27; 20:2-10; 21:1-22 — Peter at the Cross — Bold and brave Peter cowardly denied Jesus. Then Jesus restored and called Peter to follow him. Peter’s life was changed. No matter who we are or what we have done we have new life and hope in Jesus. The Living Lord forgives, heals, and restores us. Amazing grace invites us to come and have breakfast, to enjoy the new life in Christ. He then calls us to follow Him, to love and serve Him.

This is part of our Lent series for 2024 — At the Cross—Who Are You?

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LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
Are We Following Jesus?

March 17, 2024

Mt. 27:55-56,61; 28:1-10; Mk 15:40-41; 47-16:11; Lk 8:1-3; 23:27-31,49, 55-24:11,22-23; John 19:25-27; 20:1-2,11-18 — The Women at the Cross — From the women at the cross we learn to follow Jesus; to give up everything and to follow Him everywhere, all the time, and all the way to the end. We learn to stand firm in our Father’s kingdom business until it is completed. We learn to surrender our lives, everything, and everyone we hold dear. At the cross, through the eyes of the women, we no longer see fear, loss, and death but only love, hope, joy, and new life. When Jesus says, “Come and follow me,” we leave everything behind and follow Him all the way, all the time to the end.

This is part of our Lent series for 2024 — At the Cross—Who Are You?

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LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
Are We Serving Jesus?

March 10, 2024

Mt 27:57-61; Mk 15:42-47; Lk 23:50-54; John 19:38-41 — Joseph & Nicodemus at the Cross — Joseph and Nicodemus loved, honored, and served Jesus at great personal risk and expense. Are we willing to risk everything to follow Jesus? Are we willing to serve Jesus at significant personal cost and sacrifice and pay the cost of discipleship? Or, are we secret believers, perhaps even secret unbelievers? We serve Jesus by leaving everything behind, taking up our crosses daily, dying to ourselves, and following him, submitting to him as our Lord and Savior. We follow and serve Jesus by obeying and putting into practice everything he has commanded us. We do so out of love, thanksgiving, and worship of our Lord.

This is part of our Lent series for 2024 — At the Cross—Who Are You?

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A New Family At the Cross

March 3, 2024

John 19:25-27 (cf. also John 1:12; 13:1, 14-15, 34-35) — Mary & John at the Cross — Mary’s heart was pierced. She suffered the unspeakable horror of seeing the slow, painful, shameful death of her son. Although Mary didn’t fully understand the reason for his death, she obeyed, followed Jesus, and followed through in being a servant of God’s mission. She gave up her son. She is an example of radical discipleship—to follow Jesus requires us to give up everything. Even at the end, while dying, in the midst of his suffering, Jesus showed compassion and exercised loving care for the people he loved. He honored his mother. He provided a new family for her and John. Jesus’ death reveals God’s self-giving love. Out of that love and his suffering a new spiritual family has come into being, that is the church where the ties of the Holy Spirit transcends family ties, physical relationships and all other boundaries. Jesus calls people into a new relationship with God and one another — a relationship of self-giving love.

This is part of our Lent series for 2024 — At the Cross—Who Are You?

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LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
Are We Indifferent to Jesus?

February 25, 2024

Matthew 27:26-37 (Mark 15:16-24; Luke 23:26, 32-33, 36-37; John 19:16-18, 23-24; 31-34) — The Soldiers at the Cross — The soldiers at the cross were indifferent to Jesus. They ridiculed him as the unbelieving world today ridicules Jesus. Are we indifferent to Jesus like these soldiers? Even as followers of Jesus, we can become indifferent to Jesus so that we miss him and the life he has to offer us. We don’t see and experience the living Son of God, the all-powerful Lord who is real, who loves us, who cares for us and is concerned for us. Also, the soldiers’ mockery and the crucifixion show us that the way of God’s Kingdom is self-giving love. The crucifixion is the means by which His Kingdom is established. The radically different way is the way of self-giving love by Himself as our Lord and it is the way we should take up our crosses, follow Him, and live the kingdom life.

This is part of our Lent series for 2024 — At the Cross—Who Are You?

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Are We Afraid or Jealous of Jesus?

February 18, 2024

Mt 27:39-44, 48-49; Mk 15:29-32, 36-37; Luke 23:35 — The Jewish Leaders at the Cross — The Jewish leaders feared and envied Jesus. They were jealous of his authority, power, teachings, influence, and following. They plotted to kill Jesus because of religious reasons, political, cultural, personal, and selfish reasons. They were looking out for their own self-interests and self-protection. We could be like the Jewish leaders. Some people can be so jealous of their own selves and their lives that they reject Jesus outright. We can be so jealous of our self-interests that we only follow Jesus half-heartedly. We can become so jealous of our faith, doctrines, and theologies that we miss the Lord of our faith. We can become so jealous of the Jesus we created in our image, of our traditions, that we miss the real, true living Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. At the cross, who are we, and who is Jesus for us?

This is part of our Lent series for 2024 — At the Cross—Who Are You?

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Becoming Like the Father

April 16, 2023

Luke 6:27-36 (& 15:11-32) — Coming home is not the end of our spiritual journey nor the goal of our spiritual life. Now that we have come home, we are called and challenged to become like the Father. We are to love as the Father loves us and to show compassion as He shows compassion to us. The hands of the Father that forgive, console, restore, heal, and give a feast must become our own hands so that we can make the Father’s love known and call home His lost children.

This concludes our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

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LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02