Break Away

          “The quarterback pitches the ball to the tailback. He’s got some room to the right…he cuts into the open field…breaks one tackle and then another. There’s one man to beat and he’s gooooooone! He’s out of the stadium. He’s through the parking lot and by tonight he’ll be past the county line. What a run!”

          This scene might fit in the movie “Forrest Gump” but it certainly wouldn’t make sense in a real football game. One would expect this break away run to end with the announcer shouting, “Touchdown!” But in this imaginary football game there are no sidelines or end zones. When someone gets loose he just keeps running until he drops. Then whoever finally catches up takes the ball and runs in another direction until he can’t go any farther and another player takes it from there.

          Of course, not having sidelines or end zones pretty much ruins the game of football, doesn’t it? Nobody would go to watch because there would be no point to it. We want to see which team will score more points. Sidelines and end zones bring accountability to the game. Players have to remain within the boundaries of the field. That seems restricting and yet it is that accountability which makes the game worth while.

          Unfortunately, many people don’t understand how important accountability is in daily life. We don’t want others to hold us accountable for a certain type of behavior or level of work. But as a football game without boundaries is meaningless, so is life without accountability. This Sunday we’re going to study the Ascension of Jesus Christ, the day he removed himself physically from the sight of human beings and took back his full glory as God.  As Jesus was leaving his disciples, two angels told his followers that Christ would return again just as he left—visible to all. We know from other sayings of Jesus that this second coming will be to bring accountability to all people of all time.

          For some this day of accountability or Judgment Day makes God out to be a mean and bitter tyrant. A closer look, however, reminds us that it is the fact he has made us accountable to himself that our lives have meaning and purpose. Join us this Sunday at 10:00 am as we study the theme: Accountability: Unleashing Your Life Potential.

Did You Make This Week Count?

     Seems like a strange question to be asking at the end of the work week. Most of us are probably satisfied with just surviving much less achieving something noteworthy. And yet, it is a question worth asking because survival weeks turn into survival months and survival months turn into survival years. It isn’t difficult to end up living a life characterized by the words, “I just got by.”  But who wants to live like that? Who of us would like to think after a life full of struggle and effort that little or nothing resulted in our being on this planet?

     We tend to associate the resurrection of Jesus Christ with life after death. That, however, is a limited view of the meaning of Easter. Jesus said that he came to give human beings the “full” or “abundant” life right now. The word Jesus spoke originally for “full” has the meanings: superior, extraordinary, surpassing, more excellent. Isn’t that the life all of us wants—a life that goes beyond just getting by? In our last study of the series “Everyday Easter” we’re going to see what Jesus told his disciples when he appeared to them after returning to life about knowing what to live for. Join us this Sunday at 10:00 am and begin living out your resurrection life mission.