Author: Bradley Alexander

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16 “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:11-18) 

18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

Gosh I love this story. It’s so great and filled with anxiety, pain, and wonder all at the same time. Many times in life we can feel this way as Mary Magdalene feels in this story. Tonight we are going to talk about Mary Magdalene.

Mary sees a gardner in the garden because that is what makes sense. She doesn’t know it’s Jesus until He says her name. A name in the Hebrew culture is of huge significance. It means someone’s story, where they have been, gone through, and where they are actively heading towards. Mary’s story is one with a lot of baggage, not so great decisions, and lots of heartbreak. For the longest time I am sure she thought that is all her life was going to be. A complete and utter failure.

Can you relate to this feeling?

You are just one person with six and a half billion neighbors. On a planet 25,000 miles across circling a star in a galaxy with a hundred billion other stars in a universe 93 billion light years across.

You are just one person and God knows your name.

There are six billion reasons why the cross happens. They are you and me and everyone that exists in the world right now, but not only that they are all the ones that have ever existed and will ever exist.

Turns out that resurrection is personal. It all goes back to God deepest desire of reuniting His children with and creating everything new. Now everything that is baptized in the Holy Spirit and confesses in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is made new and becomes an active part of the ministry of reconciliation.

Yes we are going to experience not so great days and we are going to falter in our faith, but God’s grace awakens us from our sins and prevents us from going further into sin.

You are God’s reason.

Everyone in the world is His reason

Everyone who ever existed and will ever exist is His reason

The day you entered into this world as you took your first breath, before you even knew who your parents and your family are and who you were, God’s prevenient grace greeted you.

Essentially saying before anything else could….

You are loved, and no matter what I will always be here FOR you and WITH you.

Always.

Let’s pray.

Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness,[a] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. 3 But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance,4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 3:1-5)

28 We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

I don’t know if you know this but there are many things that as disciples of Christ we have come to believe an say that aren’t necessarily biblical. We think they are, but they are not. I would like to talk about tonight about a phrase that we hear and possibly say frequently.

“God only gives us what we can handle.”

The basic logic is that if God loves me and wants me to have a good life in Christ he will give to us only that which we can bear or handle.

Let’s think about this and how this is not true. We can all admit that because of what Jesus said in John 16:33 that bad things and suffering is going to happen. There is no getting away from that because ultimately we live in a broken world and not that God engineers bad things to happen but the simple fact that we exist in this world which is broken we will experience suffering. That is not really about us, but about this world.

Think for moment. Have you felt defeated? Like you can’t handle what you’ve been asked to “bear?”

I read a quote from an article this week that I will reference tonight called, “21 Reasons God may allow more that you can bear.” You can find it here. The quote goes like this.

Imagine telling a mother of two young children after she suddenly loses her husband and fears being able to raise the children, to provide for them, and keep the home in which they, “Remember, God will not put more on you than you can bear.”
Doesn’t sound very comforting to me – or probably to her, but God certainly allowed her to have more on her than she can bear.

If this were not true and God only gave us what we can handle, then why would He die for us? There is no need for Jesus, because we can handle it because God will only gives us what we can handle. This simply is a lie.

Now, I am not suggesting that God puts things on us intentionally to make life harder, no, that is not how God operates. Things get put on us by life itself, by people’s decisions, by our decisions, and by us saying that we don’t need God which ultimately leads to our sinful nature.

Yes, it’s true that we will experience great days and not so great days. That’s life. Sometimes life just plain stinks. Sometimes nothing seems to be going right, but let me read you from Romans 8.

“We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

At our baptism in the church we are all called to His purpose and so we know that no matter the circumstance that we find ourselves in God is actively working for the good in our lives. That’s not to say it’s not going to be hard. It’s going to be hard and we will get through it, but we have to go through the darkness to get to the light.

When Amy got sick my world stopped. Literally we were about to move to Granbury and start as pastors in Granbury and Cleburne and then in 24 hours the fat content in her blood quadrupled and her body was in shock. Not even 24 hours after that she had to go on the ventilator and for 14 days she in an medically induced coma. I didn’t sleep much because my sense of reality was dislodged. So I went to the hospital daily from 8:30-8:30 and refused to leave my wife’s side. Everything was put on hold. Cleburne, Acton and the move.

To say it was hard is an understatement, but everyday I felt God’s strength. I literally felt God’s presence with me everyday. He was actively working for the good with His love and grace and she is healthy now and in active ministry as the Pastor of Discipleship at Acton. I was scared out of mind, but God held me in His embrace and soothed my fears, and I didn’t think it was possible to love Amy more but God quadrupled my love for her and for Him. This happened when her body quadrupled in fat content in her blood and God through this quadrupled my love for her and for Him.

That’s how God operates.

So, know that no matter what you are facing right now in your life, you are not alone and God has not forsaken you. He with you, holding you in His embrace and soothing your fears.

He is actively working for good in your life.

Thanks be to God.

13 One day Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. 14 A messenger came to Job and said: “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were grazing nearby 15 when the Sabeans took them and killed the young men with swords. I alone escaped to tell you.”

16 While this messenger was speaking, another arrived and said: “A raging fire fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and devoured the young men. I alone escaped to tell you.”

17 While this messenger was speaking, another arrived and said: “Chaldeans set up three companies, raided the camels and took them, killing the young men with swords. I alone escaped to tell you.”

18 While this messenger was speaking, another arrived and said: “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 when a strong wind came from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people, and they died. I alone escaped to tell you.”

20 Job arose, tore his clothes, shaved his head, fell to the ground, and worshipped. 21 He said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb; naked I will return there. The Lord has given; the Lord has taken; bless the Lord’s name.” 22 In all this, Job didn’t sin or blame God.

Let me hit you with a reality. Life is beautiful and terrible. Somedays it can be these two things and everything in between in the same day only separated by hours. Our world is broken at a very systemic level. Meaning the very systems of the world are broken because guess what we are broken.

Embrace that. You are broken.

It’s beautiful and its terrible. That is what a favorite author of mine, Frederick Buechner says about the world we live in. The original quote goes like this:

“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”

In the scripture above we meet a man named Job and by all things we can tell, Job is a good man who loves his family, friends and above all else loves God. Even God himself affirms that there is no one in all the earth like Job, so he’s doing good with himself.

Then as the saying goes “Everything hits the fan.”

In a span of hours he loses everything, except for himself and his wife. They are the only part of Job’s life that survives this tragedy. This story teaches us not if bad things will happen, but when.

Now this means a couple of things and I want to be very clear. I don’t believe that God is punishing Job. I don’t believe that is how God works because scripture tells us many things about God and this type of behavior I believe in not in God’s character.

Why do I believe that?

Because of Jesus.

Because of what happened on the cross, because of what Christ did for us and the world. Yes beautiful things happen everyday, yes terrible things happen more than every day. Because the world that we exist in is broken so broken that God came down to heal us from the inside out.

This is important because what God did on the cross solidified a truth in the systems of the world. It brought forth resurrection and resurrection means that the worst is NEVER the last thing. Not even death itself can stop God. What’s more is that our God, the one true God is the only God that came down and died for those that deserved death themselves.

Whatever you are facing right now in your life, it pales in comparison to what God can do through the power of Jesus. Resurrection happens everyday. It can happen right now, and is happening now as I speak. God is creating newness in you. You are being made more and more perfect with each passing second.

Here in this world beautiful and terrible things will happen, but don’t be afraid Christ has overcome the world.

Today begins a great journey that we all can join in together in preparation for CTCYM Mission Trips this summer. Every year as we prepare to serve in the communities that God is calling us to in June and July we are given the opportunity to be in prayer together for the June Mission Trip and July Mission Trip. The CTCYM 100 Days of Prayer is a set of 100 daily prayers that are written by members of CTCYM Advisory Task Force team that organizes the CTCYM Mission Trips every year.

This is an awesome opportunity for all of us that are going, supporting, or a part of churches that have people going or people coming to stay at their church for this years mission trips. It unites us in prayer with our Creator. I hope you will join me in this awesome opportunity. Also encourage you to join us for the Instagram Photo Challenge as well. Instructions are below which are followed by the link to the 100 Days of Prayer so you can connect daily with us!

The age old question of the walk with Christ is how do we live into this call that Christ has given us. How do we daily live with Christ? The Bible is stocked full of how to live a life that is holy and full of love and grace, but one of the things that God has shown me during lent this year is not just giving things I do up, but noticing when I feel closest to Christ and what I am doing to feel that closeness.

Right now in this moment tonight I would ask you the same that God has asked me this season.

What activity in your life makes you feel the closest to Christ?

I think the best answer to this is listed in Philippians 4:8.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (NIV)

I might be crazy, but I think if we do things that are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy then we will draw closer to Christ. So….

What activity in your life makes you feel the closest to Christ?

This life in logic is not difficult. If you truly love your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ you will find ways to be close to Him as much as possible. We always say that the trouble begins when we apply this to action, but does it really?

Mike Yaconelli, one of the founders of really youth ministry itself once said this:

“There are a whole lot of people who are so freakin’ busy – they’ve so cluttered up their lives – they’re at their wits’ end. And if they’d only just stop for a minute, they could hear the God of the universe whisper to them, I love you.”

This quote always reminds me a favorite passage of mine from 1 Kings 19:11-14

Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?”

We can get so busy with school or work, friends, family, and life itself and ultimately lose touch with what life is really about. You were not created to be a Human Doing, always doing things and trying to become something. You were created to be a Human Being, always accepting who you are because in that God gave you something more than you could ever become.

Right now know that you are His masterpiece, you. You weren’t created to be busy all the time. You were created to be in relationship with your creator and to help Him create more love and grace in this broken world. At FUMC Student Ministries we have the same mission as the United Methodist Church: To Make Disciples

That EVERY STUDENT would feel loved and accepted here as Christ loves and accepts all of us where we are and for who we are, but doesn’t leave us there. We exist to encourage, empower, equip, and energize the young people of this world to be a partner with God in transforming the world.

So, I ask what God asked Elijah, what are you doing here?

Let’s pray.