Experiencing Jesus
I have drawer full of old tickets. Not parking or traffic tickets, mind you, but event tickets. There are ticket stubs from all kinds of athletic events. College basketball and football games, both minor and major league baseball games, and a ticket stub from a USA vs England soccer match. I have museum tickets from places I have visited around the country and more than a few concert tickets from my favorite rock band to country and bluegrass shows.
Each one of these has a story to tell. The ticket can show you what section, row, and seat I was in, but it can’t tell you what the experience was like. For instance, I can show you the ticket of when my Dad and I took my son to his first St. Louis Cardinals game but you won’t see the look on his face when he saw his favorite player or his enjoyment of eating his first ballpark hot dog. The ticket can’t tell about walking through the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and standing in front of my favorite painting, one that I had only seen in books. I can’t even tell you how tired my legs were and how sore my voice was from standing, singing, and yelling during a three-hour concert. Each event was an experience that just seeing each ticket brings to back to life.
This Sunday we are starting a new sermon series called “Experiencing Jesus” and each week we will have the chance to experience Christ anew through the scriptures. We will follow him through the Gospel of John and hear about hear about how he offers salvation, living water, healing, and life even when there is death; we’ll hear how he loves abundantly and reverses expectations. Each week will be an opportunity to experience Jesus, as if for the very first time.
I can tell you how great it is going to be. I can bring you the bulletins from worship on Monday morning; you can even watch our services online or listen to the sermon podcast in iTunes, but it’s not quite the same as experiencing it for yourself. So as the Lenten season begins, I invite you to experience the presence of Christ in worship. There’s nothing quite like being there. The hymns and the songs, the warmth of the people, the invitation to gather at the Lord’s Table, there’s nothing quite like it.
I look forward to experiencing worship with you this week!
Between the Lines 