The August sermon series begins as you read this.
To rise means you started lower and 'something' is elevating you. That something is God. Your spark to believe "tomorrow may be better" that is sometimes strong and sometimes shaky faith is not idle but at work in you.
The boldest, toughest, most honest, in-the-face-of-pain sermon series doesn't start Sunday, August 4th; it began when you faced Big Time adversity. We're going back to go forward this Autumn. And we start not with our suffering, but Jesus'.
Hard knocks and deep hurts put us all in the position to speak to and live into this "game changer" series that will change how you see and respond with Christ.
To begin, please read Richard Floyd's devotional about hope and your new kind of life (far from the old one).
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Living the Risen Life
Richard L. Floyd
July 29, 2019
"So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God."
- Colossians 3:1 (NRSV)
On Easter Day we all sang “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” as we joyfully celebrated the astonishing claim that God raised Jesus from the dead.
Resurrection is not a once-a-year happy moment, but a living reality in the lives of Christians. I am always deeply moved at baptisms by the church’s bold assertion that “we die with Christ in a death like his, and are raised to life with him to live a new kind of life.”
“A new kind of life” sounds pretty good to me since the old kind of life I have lived often has left a lot to be desired. Those “new kind of life” promises—resurrection promises—remind me that Christ keeps working in me and through me and with me. And not just me as a lone individual, but me as a member of his church, his body, his fellowship.
When Christians say, “if Jesus were alive today…” I know that they merely mean “if Jesus was still walking around and talking as he once did in ancient Galilee.” But the truth of his risen and continuing life with us is even more astonishing than his earthly life.
The risen life means that in life, in death, and in life beyond death, we are not alone. In life, in death, and in life beyond death, Jesus is with us. Because Jesus is alive today!
Prayer
Living Christ, may we grow more and more each day into the risen life we share with you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard L. Floyd is Pastor Emeritus of First Church of Christ (UCC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.