The Space Between Us: Celebration
I have quite a few questions for us today…What is the greatest celebration that you have ever been a part of? What made it great? What sort of things do you celebrate? Have Christians lost the art of celebration? Have we become too caught up in the “don’ts” of religion that we have become fearful of allowing ourselves to celebrate?
John 2:1-11 – Jesus at a party
Matthew 9:9-13 – The first thing that Matthew does after meeting Jesus is throw a party (inviting Jesus along with all of his friends).
Luke 15:11-32 - Jesus tells a story of great depravity, restoration, and a huge celebration
Matthew 22:1-14 – Jesus describes heaven as a wedding celebration
I really believe that God knows how to celebrate. Whenever we are given glimpses of heaven, we see a party going on. When Jesus walked the earth, he was accused of partying too much. He was always at the center of celebration. Take a look at these Scriptures below to get a sense of those celebrations and share your thoughts with us on the blog.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:57 am
One of the greatest celebrations that we have been a part of was in Mutasso, Zimbabwe. The congregation had labored hard to make bricks and raise the money for their new church building. However, they fell short of the money to finish the roof. People literally had to change locations to find protection as the sun moved across the sky during worship services. On our last day there we discovered we had more funds than needed to pay for the seminar (we provide money for food and some transportation for those who come). Our national leader announced that the balance of the money was the exact amount needed to finish the roof and that he had sent two deacons to purchase the iron sheets. The people broke into a celebration such as I have never seen in a worship service. For nearly ten minutes they clapped hands, sang, danced and hugged each other (I have pictures of Peggy right in the middle of them in full celebration).
August 18th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Greetings to one and all in the Pathways Community, with blessings of health in physical and spiritual form.
I like the comment pastor Dean pointed out in stating that Jesus was the center of each celebration. A perfect example of orbit in a genuine Christian’s life creating the gravity which keeps one grounded to the ways of God and not the world. With focus on Christ as the center of attention there is no doubt the joyful heart will celebrate.
In scripture it states that a man to man, God to man, and Jesus to the Father relationship brings joy to God, and this is cause to celebrate.
A genuine celebration in Christ is as the Sabbath rest in stating that it is finished. Founded by grace through faith coming to the understanding that there is no cause to continue in a search for righteousness as it comes only through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
As Christian’s let our celebration allow Jesus to be the piñata, and our love for Him the means of opening Him in a spilling of the candy — His love to those around in need of the sweetness of His message of Hope and Love.
Look to each biblical celebration as a learning device as one can glean genuine meaning from each one in the message Christ so wishes for His people to adhere to in their journey to the promise land of eternal celebration!