Topic: BEGIN: A Loving Christ

How do we handle life the week after the party? What do we do when the celebration is over? Especially if, for some reason, we missed it. The power and majesty of Resurrection Sunday does not describe my usual experience. Most days just aren’t like that. If the weight of the world has replaced joyous hope in your life, then trust me: you are not alone. And, in the wake of the happiest event in the history of the world, three followers of Jesus share your story. But it won’t be theirs for long. And, if you are willing to accept the good news, it won’t be yours for long either.

I wonder…what would count as the best day ever? I don’t just mean for you. I mean for everyone. Pick a day, and I wager that scripture would agree with your high estimation. What do you think would count as the world’s best day? Creation? Exodus? Covenant? Christmas? Good Friday? The Last Day? All good options. But one day includes and explains all of those days…and more.

Cast your eyes to the wheat field, to the stalks swaying in the wind. Will they simply waver through the summer til the autumn of their lives? Or will they be gathered and crushed, so that they, being few, may be planted in new soil and yield a harvest of plenty? It seems to go against every instinct—against our need for survival, and against common sense—to go against the grain. It’s also the way of the cross. But, then again, so is resurrection.

There is a story to end all stories. One of a knight, a dragon, and a damsel in distress. This is the tale of the Dragon Slayer.

Without God’s presence, this world is a cold, dark, scary place, unsafe and unfit for image-bearers of God. But with God’s ever abiding presence, says Dallas Willard, “this present world is a perfectly safe place for us to be.” He won’t forget you. He won’t abandon you. And Matthew’s genealogy gives us several reasons to hope that God is with us in the darkness, so we have no reason to fear.

Technology has given us some incredible things. You can now Facetime with Grandma and send mail electronically that will get to its destination in a matter of milliseconds rather than days. But no matter what devices we employ, or commodity we consume, some things you just can’t phone in. Bodies sharing life together is what presence truly means. And it’s why He came. The first lesson in a 3-part series entitled “Christmas Presence.”