Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 24 April 2014 "You are witnesses"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 24 April 2014  "You are witnesses"
Reflection Questions:
After meeting the risen Christ at Emmaus, the two disciples rushed back to share the news with the others. As they were speaking, Jesus himself appeared. Luke reported in detail that he was no ghost, but physically alive. Jesus again explained the Scriptures to the disciples, and commissioned them to share his message of repentance and forgiveness of sins. "You are witnesses," he said, promising that God's power would help them spread his message.
Jesus conquered death, robbing evil of its greatest power. As Pastor Hamilton says every Easter, the resurrection means that "the worst thing is never the last thing." That is good news—celebrate and praise God! But Jesus' words in verse 48 apply to you today as much as they did to his first disciples. Jesus called you to share that hope with others. In what ways can you be a "witness" and share the hope of the resurrection this week? Next week? Throughout the next year?
Jesus' summary of his message in verse 47 was "the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations." In what ways does believing that Christ rose from the dead change your heart and life? How does the resurrection make credible for you Jesus' claim to have the divine authority to forgive your sins?
Today's Prayer:
King Jesus, I am so grateful that you conquered death and offer me the hope of resurrection! Help me to rejoice in that hope, and to be your witness, sharing that hope with others. Amen.
Daily Scripture:  Luke 24:33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
36 As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
37 But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 He took them, and ate in front of them. 44 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
45 Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Insight from Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist.
I had flown multiple times across the country and across the world, and I had never been scared. That is, until I flew from L.A. to Palm Springs in a plane that seemed just larger than toy-sized. I boarded it with the other 9 passengers like squeezing into a clown car.
The ride didn’t start out being scary. It ascended just like all the other flights when all of a sudden – DROP! Woah!  Holy fall-out-of-the-sky!
I caught my breath as the plane (and my stomach) climbed a little higher. And then – DROP! Back and forth, up and down, we were being tossed around like dice on a craps table. I thought maybe it was just while we were gaining altitude, but the flight never seemed to get much better. Mile after mile, we were all over the place.
I knew there was no way Barbie’s dream plane was going to survive this. I started to panic, digging my nails into the armrests. My breathing was shallow, and  I came to the realization that I would soon meet my Maker. A list of life’s regrets ran through my mind. Why wasn’t I a better friend? A better daughter? A better neighbor? Why didn’t I ever go to the Final Four?
It was all too late for that now. Good bye, world! Good bye, life! Good bye, March Madness!
And then a calm voice came over the speaker, “We know it’s been a little bumpy, but we hope you’ve enjoyed your flight with us today. We’ll be on the ground in 20 minutes. Come back and fly with us soon.”
Wait. We were going to live?!!! It seemed to be impossible, but sure enough – in twenty minutes we landed safely.
I later came to learn that it wasn’t atypical for that flight to be rocky. A small plane and the terrain underneath leant itself to a lot of turbulence.
I wish I would have known this before the flight, as it might have saved my nerves (and the armrests). But going in unaware, left me shaken – both literally and figuratively.
There have been times when my spiritual journey has taken a similar path. I grew up in the church, and I was very active in both high school and college ministries. My faith was still strong in my mid-twenties when all of a sudden – DROP! Doubts appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t know what to do. Where did these come from? What did they mean? Had I fallen out of Christianity? Was I headed for a faith disaster?!
I didn’t want to tell anyone as I was so ashamed. What would they think if they knew? Would they see me as weak? As a disappointment to God? I kept my secret hushed – scared of judgment from others, feeling I was living a lie, fearful of damnation.  This was a very dark and lonely time for me.
Just when I felt that my faith had all but extinguished, I told someone about my doubts. I knew this opened myself up to being shunned from my Christian friends as word of my rare disbelief would become quite the juicy tidbit. But my friend didn’t shun me. In fact it was quite the opposite. “We all experience doubts on occasion,” he said. “It’s part of growing, owning, and testing your faith. God is big enough to handle your questions, and I assure you that He hasn’t left you.”
This was the first time that I had been told that doubts were a part of the journey – that there would be moments when theology doesn’t make sense or faith seems irrelevant or pain draws you further rather than closer to God.
I had always thought that a slight crack in your faith meant the whole thing would come tumbling down. I wish that I would have known earlier that doubts are normal and to be expected. I would guess that knowing ahead of time doesn’t mean that they won’t throw you around. You’ll still hit bumps, and you may get bruised. But at least you’ll know that your faith isn’t crashing towards the ground – you’ve just hit a little turbulence.
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