Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

the, rasburry, patch, 21, april, 2016, subscribe, about, me, sacred, meditations, issues, etc, lutheran, public, radio, steadfast, lutherans, wmlt, followers, blog, archive, homily, for, easter, jubilate,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (71), and (48), you (46), that (39), will (23), life (23), this (21), jesus (21), god (19), your (17), with (16), when (14), april (13), joy (13), but (13), march (12), see (12), into (12), february (11), may (11), from (11), december (10), for (10), not (10), little (10), while (10), they (10), october (9), november (9), january (9), christ (9), september (8), june (8), his (8), all (8), remember (8), come (8), july (7), august (7), our (7), one (7), what (7), sorrow (7), who (7), again (6), lord (6), world (6), there (6), time (6), can (6), words (6), are (6), christian (6), says (5), end (5), have (5), them (5), their (5), now (5), just (5), has (5), trials (5), like (5), take (4), does (4), resurrection (4), wants (4), was (4), would (4), did (4), death (4), yes (4), here (4), made (4), labor (4), these (4), struggles (4), shall (4), easter (3), 2016 (3), about (3), subscribe (3), posts (3), share (3), risen (3), presence (3), being (3), means (3), today (3), disciples (3), longer (3), times (3), journey (3), then (3), much (3), else (3), him (3), know (3), always (3), promises (3), had (3), way (3), woman (3), thing (3), child (3), because (3), mother (3), make (3), through (3), baptized (3), were (3), too (3), friends (3), out (3), give (3), frodo (3), sam (3), hidden (3), picture (2), homily (2), jubilate (2), lutheran (2), randy (2), asburry (2), gospel (2), reading (2), heart (2), rejoice (2), mean (2), simply (2), connected (2), son (2), doesn (2), let (2), though (2), really (2), talking (2), place (2), betrayed (2), after (2), truly (2), say (2), sorrowful (2), gives (2), return (2), dead (2), simple (2), isn (2), notice (2), eyes (2), how (2), paul (2), thorn (2), don (2), away (2), grace (2), power (2), perfect (2), weakness (2), uses (2), pain (2), knows (2), endure (2), hardship (2), she (2), soon (2), born (2), sorrows (2), last (2), eternity (2), sometimes (2), very (2), trial (2), baptism (2), father (2), walk (2), face (2), children (2), christians (2), given (2), goal (2), live (2), eternal (2), hard (2), own (2), eagles (2), even (2), body (2), yours (2), rasburry (2), patch (2), window, theme, powered, blogger, 2007, 345, 2008, 2009, 2010, 131, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, blog, archive, followers, wmlt, steadfast, lutherans, public, radio, issues, etc, sacred, meditations, view, complete, profile, louis, missouri, united, states, reader, atom, home, older, newer, labels, preaching, homilies, pinterest, facebook, blogthis, email, comments, posted, john, happiness, giddiness, gift, rejoicing, having, sounds, pretty, easy, look, text, takes, night, shortly, gave, supper, weep, lament, turn, also, series, statements, seven, hear, phrase, going, gone, leave, left, suffered, died, returned, rose, turned, rejoiced, heavenly, rejoices, turns, meant, wouldn, word, each, lives, able, experience, first, hand, still, ascension, behold, age, matt, present, disappear, things, get, tough, instead, weak, helpless, strong, helpful, discover, confess, some, flesh, pleaded, once, twice, three, answered, plea, sufficient, cor, saving, giving, example, her, mind, safely, bring, matters, matter, worth, hardly, came, sufferings, hardships, scale, significant, real, hurt, certainly, romans, chapter, six, been, buried, therefore, order, raised, glory, might, newness, rom, entered, surprise, tribulations, where, daily, dealing, parents, work, pressures, making, living, culture, grows, increasingly, hostile, worldview, other, rise, wherever, placed, daughter, job, classroom, put, family, places, baptismal, shape, difficult, course, keep, focus, could, another, church, birth, purpose, interacts, husband, wife, must, only, hope, makes, any, sense, perhaps, why, allows, befall, coming, alive, actually, impossible, without, firm, opinion, blessings, yourself, pretend, dear, isaiah, scene, rings, arduous, filled, painful, doom, golden, ring, evil, fallen, fiery, lava, along, gollum, trying, steal, himself, lay, side, mountain, beaten, bruised, worn, exhausted, sudden, giant, flying, rescue, carry, safety, cannot, absolve, under, bread, wine, blood, nothing, keeps, forever, amen, wait, renew, strength, mount, wings, run, weary, faint, indeed, alleluia, listen, grief, random, pickings, pastor, devoted,

Text of the page (random words):
the rasburry patch april 2016 the rasburry patch random pickings from a lutheran pastor devoted to the life of christ in the body of christ for the life of the world 21 april 2016 homily for easter 4 jubilate grief into joy john 16 16 22 listen here christ is risen he is risen indeed alleluia jesus says at the end of our gospel reading that he will see you again and your heart will rejoice and your joy no one will take from you what does it mean to have resurrection joy simply this god wants you to have joy in his presence this joy from god is not simply happiness or giddiness it s being connected to the gift of god s son jesus christ rejoicing in god means having your life connected to the life of your risen lord jesus that sounds pretty easy doesn t it let s look at our text though and see what jesus is really talking about today s gospel takes place on the night jesus was betrayed shortly after he gave the disciples the lord s supper jesus says to them truly truly i say to you you will weep and lament but the world will rejoice you will be sorrowful but your sorrow will turn into joy he also gives this series of statements a little while a little while and you will see me no longer and again a little while and you will see me seven times we hear that phrase a little while jesus gives us the picture that he is going on a journey for the disciples there would be a time when jesus would be gone and a time when he would return when did jesus leave them he left them when he was betrayed suffered and died and when did he return to them he returned to them when he rose again from the dead this is what he means when he says that their sorrow will be turned into joy the world rejoiced at his death but now the heavenly world rejoices at his resurrection god turns the sorrow of death into resurrection joy simple isn t it yes it is simple and if this is all that it meant then it wouldn t have much to do with you today now would it so what else does jesus mean when he says a little while and you will see me no longer and again a little while and you will see me notice that word see jesus says that there will be times in each of our lives when we will not be able to see him we can t experience him first hand with our eyes as the disciples did but we know that he is still here with us remember again jesus words at his ascension behold i am with you always to the end of the age matt 28 20 jesus promises that he will always be present with you god s presence does not disappear when things get tough in your life instead it s when you are weak and helpless that he is strong and helpful how did st paul discover this and confess this he had some thorn in the flesh what we don t know he pleaded with god to take that thorn away not just once not just twice but three times then the lord jesus answered paul s plea this way my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness 2 cor 12 9 jesus saving life giving resurrection power is made perfect in your weakness jesus uses the example of a woman in labor a woman in labor has one thing on her mind safely bring the child into the world that s all that matters yes there s sorrow yes there s pain but in a way it doesn t matter because a mother knows that all of it will be worth it in the end a mother can endure the hardship because she knows that the joy of the child soon to be born will make it so she can hardly remember the pain that came with labor this is what jesus means when he uses the words a little while the sufferings and hardships and sorrows of this life last but a little while in the scale of eternity in god it just isn t that significant is it real yes do these struggles and trials and sorrows hurt certainly sometimes very much so but jesus promises here that he will be with you through the trial remember the words from romans chapter six do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into christ jesus were baptized into his death we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father we too might walk in newness of life rom 6 3 4 when you were baptized you entered into this little while that jesus is talking about you are now in the time of sorrow and trials that we all face in this life don t let this surprise you your life is christ s life and like your lord you too face trials and tribulations in this life and notice too where these struggles come they come in your daily life they come in dealing with your children and your parents they come at work from the pressures of making a living they come from friends they come from a culture that grows increasingly hostile to christians and a christian worldview in other words the struggles of being a christian rise out of wherever god has placed you in this life god is the one who has made you a father a mother a son or a daughter he s the one who has given you a job or a classroom he s the one who put you into a family has given you friends and the like and so it s in these places in life that the trials of the baptismal life take their shape what s difficult of course is to keep your focus like the woman in labor from our reading we really have one goal in life to endure this life as a christian so we may live in christ s presence in the end we could say it another way the goal of the christian church is to give birth to christians who are born into eternal life that is our purpose that is our place in this world now sometimes it s hard to see how that interacts with being a husband or wife or a child but see it we must after all it is only in this hope of eternal life that life makes any sense perhaps this is why god allows sorrow and hardship to befall you the christian he wants you to remember that coming through life alive is a hard thing actually it s an impossible thing without his grace god is of the firm opinion that he is god and you are not god wants you to remember that he is god and that you are not he wants to give you all the blessings of eternity but he can t do it if you make yourself out to be your own god or if you pretend that you can make it on your own but take heart dear christian friends remember again the words of isaiah they who wait for the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint is 40 31 remember that scene at the end of the lord of the rings frodo and sam had made their arduous trial filled painful sorrowful journey to mt doom the golden ring of evil had fallen into the fiery lava along with gollum who was trying to steal it for himself and there lay frodo and sam on the side of the mountain beaten and bruised worn out and exhausted from their journey then all of a sudden the giant eagles come flying to the rescue and they carry frodo and sam away to safety even though you and i live with sorrow for a time today god will see you through you cannot see jesus with your eyes but he is very much here with you hidden in your baptism hidden in words that absolve you hidden under bread and wine that is his body and blood he does and will give you joy like nothing else or no one else can you are the children of god and god always keeps his promises to you the time and struggles of this life last just a little while but there will come a time soon when you will no longer even remember these trials because of the joy that is in christ the joy that is yours now and will be yours forever may it be so for you amen posted by randy asburry at 1 40 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels easter homilies joy preaching newer posts older posts home subscribe to posts atom subscribe subscribe in a reader about me randy asburry st louis missouri united states view my complete profile sacred meditations issues etc lutheran public radio steadfast lutherans wmlt followers blog archive 2022 1 january 1 2020 46 november 1 october 3 september 3 august 5 july 3 june 5 may 6 april 8 march 7 february 2 january 3 2019 25 december 9 november 4 october 2 july 1 march 7 february 2 2018 14 december 6 april 1 march 4 january 3 2017 42 october 3 september 4 august 2 july 3 june 2 may 4 april 7 march 10 february 3 january 4 2016 31 december 6 november 1 june 3 may 6 april 1 homily for easter 4 jubilate march 10 february 4 2015 25 october 1 june 6 may 5 april 5 march 4 february 4 2014 29 december 1 november 1 september 1 may 3 april 5 march 8 february 6 january 4 2013 29 december 9 november 7 october 9 august 1 april 1 february 2 2012 67 december 1 september 3 august 2 july 1 june 5 may 5 april 5 march 16 february 20 january 9 2011 131 december 16 november 9 october 7 september 14 august 8 july 13 june 18 may 5 april 17 march 14 february 8 january 2 2010 85 december 1 november 5 october 11 september 8 august 7 july 12 june 12 may 8 april 16 march 5 2009 53 march 4 february 39 january 10 2008 345 december 20 november 7 october 9 september 14 august 15 july 18 june 34 may 43 april 94 march 51 february 18 january 22 2007 98 december 28 november 15 october 28 september 27 picture window theme powered by blogger