Ecc Online: The Podcast Of Everglades Community Church

In this Easter Sunday message we discuss the relationship of Jesus and Mary Magadelene and how the risen Christ affects our relationship with God.

In John 3, Jesus explains to Nicodemus that He has come into the world so that people can be born again into a different kind of life - eternal life. "So loved" doesn't mean "loved so much" but "loved in this way." God's love is life giving and purposeful - to rescue and give life. Eternal life means a meaningful life lived both in the present and the future. Like Nicodemus, we join with Jesus as co-laborers in God's Kingdom when we receive God's purposeful and life giving love. We are called to Take Up the Challenge to share this live giving love to the world.

This Sunday our text is John 2:13-22 for the message "Take Up the Charge." We will talk about what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ as a countercultural movement. As Jesus entered the Temple marketplace and turned the money changers' tables upside down, we will be challenged to seek out ways where our own "personal tables" need to be turned upside down. This story is in line with many of the parables of Jesus in which the Kingdom of God turns the normal order of things on its head. This is a passage where the voice and actions of Jesus are that of a prophet. Prophets not only speak words from God; they also act. What might the Prophet Jesus be saying to you? To us?

The call of God to carry the Gospel knows no boundaries. In the text for this Sunday's sermon, the Apostle Paul shares how he has become all things for all people so that some might come to know Jesus Christ. Going onto other mission fields leaves one no choice but to become like them for a set amount of time. It is no different for all of us here at home. We become like all people because God loves all people. We do not share the Gospel with a select few but seek to experience the Kingdom of God in all people and everywhere while ever telling the story of Jesus Christ. We must be sure to remember that God does not fit into the boxes we create, but rather God bursts them open!

Reflection on selected verses from Hebrews 10 and testimonies of our missionaries returning from visiting our sister church in Cuba.

What do you do when God blesses your church with the promise of a new building? With a mind-blowing amount of pledges toward that vision? With a team who is working vigilantly to find a structure that will support the blessing? What do you do when the building you will fill supports a multiple of the people who are currently here? When it is clear that God did not intend to bless us with a building without sending a flood of people to fill it? What do you do? You perfect the architecture of discipleship that will land on dry land when it appears!

In a busy world, Advent helps us not rush to the manger singing "Silent Night," but allows us a glimpse into the prophets' hearts as they remind us to "prepare the way of the Lord." Advent is a season of opening up our lives and our souls with active anticipation and renewed hope that Jesus Christ is Lord of all!