The Next Chapter
Well, it’s Tuesday, Easter is just a mere two days behind us, but if you are like me and the vast majority of people, the Easter celebration is quickly fading. If you work for a church or serve in a significant capacity, weeks (if not months) of prep came to a beautiful climax on Sunday as you shared the joy of Easter with a hurting world. And now, as you settle back into the routine of planning for next week and the week after, you are already wondering, “who is going be the first to say the ‘C’ word,” you know… Christmas.
The build-up in churches to the two biggest Christian holidays are not without reason. Aside from worshiping and celebrating the incredible life and death of our Savior, those two days bring more visitors to churches across the nation than any other Sunday; and Pastors, Sunday school teachers, care teams, production teams and everyone else working in a church, know this is their best chance to share the life and hope of Jesus with those outside the church.
But before we put Easter behind us too quickly, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “after Easter.”
We shared a daily quote earlier last week that has been resonating with me. “Jesus didn’t say ‘I am finished.’ he said ‘it is finished.’ He was just getting started.”
Christ’s death and resurrection are not the end of the story, merely the end of a chapter. The truth is, everything He has taught us in the 2000+ years since His resurrection, everything I have learned from Him in my own life, everything I know about my purpose, my life, my gifting, are a result of the chapters He has written since the resurrection. Isaiah tells us that He came “to bind the broken hearted and to set the captives free.” He came to restore what was lost. He came to heal the rift between us and God, and that my friends, is not a once a year celebration, but rather a daily gift.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t always walk in the freedom that Jesus gave that day. I don’t always remember to offer him my broken heart moments and lean into what He says about them. I certainly don’t always (or really ever) feel worthy of the sacrifice He made on the cross. And yet he has made it clear we are His beloved, and we were worth it.
As we walk into the chapter after Easter, God reminds me of His truths.
I am a reflection of God.
I am a masterpiece.
I am a child of light and a child of the day.
I am enough
I am created for good..
I am known.
I am chosen.
I am divinely appointed.
I have a calling
I have a purpose.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
I am the beloved.
I have great value.
I am a child of God.
I am delighted in.
I am Royalty.
I have a glory.
Today I’d like to invite you to join me in staying in the moment, of sitting in His truth. Jesus’ story, my story, and your story don’t end at the cross, they begin there. On that day we were rescued, ransomed and restored. We were given freedom, identity, and security. Jesus wasn’t finished with us then and He isn’t finished with you now.
Are you interested in doing some serious identity work and spending time with Jesus? He has so much He wants to say to you and we are excited to invite you to our first Journey in a Box offering: “Crowned- unboxing your identity.”