Any New Year's resolutions this year? Lots of people make them. I'm gonna learn Spanish. Buenos Dias! That's about as far as I've gotten. Actually, Feliz Año Nuevo - that's Happy New Year. I read somewhere that the top five resolutions are to get personal finances in order, lose weight, stop smoking, become more physically fit, and improve personal relationships.
A Christian memorial service is an Easter liturgy. All its significance comes from the resurrection of Jesus. What happened on the first Easter morning was not an isolated event, a freakish curiosity. Instead, what occurred was the detonation of a power greater than the glue holding together every atom.
This sermon was preached at the funeral of Harrison Young, an actor known especially for playing Ryan as an old man in the movie Saving Private Ryan.
Tom's obituary in yesterday's paper was a wake up call, even for those of us who knew him well. For there, listed in print, were the many local organizations that benefited from his participation, his service, his leadership, over the years. Tom was also a man who saw his family and called them precious.
When travel was less common than now--and higher education not as available as now, Mary headed off at a young age to college become a teacher. She crammed two years of study into one and soon was back in this area, no longer a student, but a teacher. She left a fearless girl; she returned a fearless woman.
What in the book of Revelation that impresses you most? Is it the enormous crowd? We read, "I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages...."(Revelation 7:9). Here before the throne of the Lamb we a see a mass of people, untouched by racism, sexism, nationalism, unionism or any other "ism."
The vision of heaven kept Paul's troubles in perspective. His troubles were only passing events, but the joy of heaven was forever. With that in mind he could endure anything. How many times have I sat with those whose time on this earth has been limited, but they demonstrated amazing calmness? They knew where they were going.
In the midst of John's dungeon, as he prayed, something happened--a miracle. God reached down and lifted John out of his Hell of Earth to give him a glimpse of Heaven. God hadn't taken John up to Heaven permanently. God just brought him to Heaven for a visit, so John could see what God was doing and could tell Christians what he had seen.
Have you ever heard an entire stadium burst into singing? It must be like that for John when this assembly roars out their song! It is impossible not to hear the sound, yet it is so loud that recognizing the words proves difficult. Still John makes out what they sing: "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
All of us just shouted that Easter word, Alleluia. And maybe you've been in a stadium at a game where everybody shouted together, and it felt like the mightiest roar you've ever heard. But that is nothing compared to what John tells us about in "The Big Cheer."