it’s Holy Week. if you know Jesus, you need to get to church to remember + celebrate. if you are in the chicago area, i made a list of a bunch of friends you could check out if you are looking for something new. we would of course love for you to join us at Good News in the Neighborhood for our 1st Easter at 312 E. Wood St in Palatine.
Good Friday - a communion / worship service at 6p w. kids program for birth - 5 yrs old. dinner at 7.15p for all w. an egg hunt at 8p (we have flashlights + bags for you).
Easter Sunday — join us at 9 or 10.45. full kids program, birth - 5th grade. bible teaching, gospel music w. choir + fun stuff to celebrate.
we are streaming friday at 6 and sunday at 9 on youtube / facebook / our website.
Thursday the 21st - our Thursday Service launches at 6.30 w. worship + bible teaching. groups for teenagers (5th - 12th grade) + young adults to follow as well.
Red is What Love Looks Like
what is the pinnacle of human love?
is it the couple who can’t stop touching and seems to be exploding with infatuation?
is it the newly-weds who have life + dreams all right in front of them?
is it the couple in mid-life juggling 100 responsibilities and still making time to make it work?
is it the couple 5 decades in and still holding hands?
it’s good friday, so i would suggest the blood of Jesus is the pinnacle of love, of human existence sin fact. a man (sure, also a God), gave his life for people who would mostly reject Him. the color red is the symbol of the beautiful story of redemption that winds it’s way from Genesis to 2022.
in the story of Abraham we see, Red made another way
the assignment was to kill the promised son. Abraham trusted God enough to be willing, yet at the last minute, he didn’t have to.
while God spared Isaac in another way,
God GAVE his son as the other way.
in the story of the Exodus we see, Red chose another house
as the plagues kept getting larger, clearly, something dramatic would be needed to break Pharaoh’s will. God chose to kill the firstborn son of every family who didn’t have blood on the doorposts. the blood spread became the payment that sin required.
This was not loan forgiveness but loan payment
the BILL WAS PAID, just not by you or me.
Jesus would someday soon pay it all.
in Numbers we see, Red gave another chance
the people were ungrateful. although God kept providing, they kept complaining. finally snakes arrived, with a zombie-like ability to kill everyone they bit. an epidemic arose quite quickly that day and soon Moses was begging God to intervene.
a bronze snake was lifted up, a symbol again, just as one man who suffices for all men, all who looked at the snake would live. even though the complainers didn’t deserve it, Red gave another chance.
Jesus made it clear in John 3 that raising up the bronze snake wasn’t a random event. He said, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
in the new testament we see, Red paid it all himself
Jesus put Himself in our place, not because we were good or kind or He saw something in us, simply because of His love.
His sacrifice satisfied + smashed any claim death could have on us anymore. His red blood made it so although we will die physically, we have eternal spiritual life assured.
red made another way.
red chose another house.
red gave a chance
red paid it all Himself.
Best Good Friday + Easter Songs
there are tons of wonderful resources to celebrate this week, see below for 3 songs that really drive my heart towards what Jesus has done.
1. Lamb of God
2. The Anthem - good news ft. jgriff
3. thank you Jesus for the blood
God, may you give us fresh eyes to see what you have done + may you give us overflowing gratitude to bless you in kind. Help every pastor of every person reading this to speak with clarity and power .. in Jesus name, Amen.
back to our normal programming next week ...
this is good news,
Pastor Luke + Kristen MacDonald