The following is an excerpt from Fr. Dave’s Mother’s Day Sermon.
“Susannah Wesley, mother of John Wesley, spent on hour each day praying for her 17 children. In addition she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters. No wonder two of her sons, John and Charles, were used by God to bring blessings to all of England and much of America. Here are a few of the rules she followed in training her children:
1. Subdue self-will in and child and thus work together with God to save his/her soul.
2. Teach the child to pray as soon as he can speak.
3. Give the child nothing he cries for and only what is good form him if he asks for it politely.
4. To prevent lying, punish no fault which is freely confessed, but never allow a rebellious, sinful attitude or action.
5. Commend and reward good behavior even if the execution is imperfect.
6. Strictly observe all promises you have made to your child.”
On Easter Sunday it was announced that Ian Hayes is cancer free! Ian, who recently turned 17, had been diagnosed with 3rd stage, non-hodgkins lymoma, just a few short months ago. When asked by Fr. Dave, “Was anyone surprised?” Ian responded, “Yes. The doctors.” Isn’t God good! Ian will be receiving 14 more chemo session over the next eight months so let’s keep on praying.
On Tuesday the 19th Lifepath Church celebrated the Passover. Our seder was attended by 75 people who participated in the traditional festival and partook of the Passover meal. During the evening Fr. Dave led all in the various rituals and songs of Passover. He clarifyed the ceremony and it’s relationship to the New Covenant meal established by Jesus. Additionally, Fr. Dave shared his personal testimony about how he moved from Judaism to believing that Jesus was the Messiah. It was a great time of fellowship and celebration.
On Good Friday a Funeral was held at which Jesus Christ’s life was remembered and eulogized by a small group of family, followers and the curious. Barabas shared some thoughts on his sense of guilt at being released instead of crucified. When he said, “It should have been me!” there were nods of agreement in the room. Others came forward to share thoughts on how Jesus had touched their lives with healing, deliverance and peace. It was noted that most of his primary disciples did not attend because of their fear of arrest. Flowers were layed on his coffin along with the written sins of the participants. Everyone left quietly leaving their sins behind.
Easter Suday Service began with opening the coffin, looking inside and acclaiming, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” With great joy the congregation gave praise to God for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Fr. Dave spoke on the Gospel reading from Matthew 28 pointing out that we all must respond to the risen Christ in the way that the women did. “They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.” We all must come to Jesus, humble ourselves before him, and worship him (become a living sacrifice). The service ended with a re-worded version of the 1964 Zombies song,”She’s Not There” becoming, “He’s Not There”! God can even redeem 60s music.