Good morning:
It’s the perfect plot line for a blockbuster movie. A plane filled with 200 passengers abruptly banks sharply one direction and then another before spiraling into a dive toward the ground 40,000 feet below. A member of the flight crew bursts into the cockpit, only to find both pilot and co-pilot unconscious, slumped over the controls.
Does it ever feel as though that’s the current reality in the world? There is so much uncertainty, so much trouble, so much pain and heartache, that it can seem as though no one is in control and there is no hope. It certainly seemed that way in the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. How much more could things get out of control than to have the holy Son of God taken captive and brutally treated before finally being killed?
Yet things are not always as they seem. At another time of upheaval, the prophet Habakkuk wrote, “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Hab. 2:20). The Creator has always been in control and always will be. Not only is He the sovereign maker and preserver of all things, He is the LORD, the God of faithful love and promise. He controls all things for the purposes of His love for humankind.
We see that in the events of Holy Week. On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowds. Yet He already knew what was going to take place a few days later. The cheers would morph into jeers and demands for His death. It would all seem so out of control. It really wasn’t. God had planned from eternity to crush the devil’s power and rescue hopeless sinners from hell at the cost of His Son’s sacrifice on the cross. The seemingly hopeless chaos would result in the stunning victory of Easter.
That is our encouragement today. When things seem terribly wrong and out of control, remember Palm Sunday, the cross, and the empty tomb. If God could turn wicked intentions and the horror of the crucifixion into the priceless treasure of forgiveness, peace, and eternal life, can there be any doubt that He will protect and bless you in whatever lies ahead? “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
Yours in Christ,
Pastor
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. Services are at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. and will begin with the outdoor procession with palms. Holy Communion will be celebrated. The choir will sing in first service.
Sunday school begins at 9:15 a.m. and adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m. The Bible class will continue the discussion of “10 Lies About God.”
The Ram Page Click here to view the April issue of the Messiah School newsletter.
