New Life in Christ

Don’t go back.

A man convicted of a crime sat in prison for five years of his life. Over the course of his time he reflected a lot on the life that had landed him where he is. All the wrong turns, and poor decisions. He realized that something in his life needed to change. He began taking part in a group bible study, a ministry that was offered to prisoners. He began attending weekly chapel services and he realized that the something that needed to change was him. He finally came to the realization that Christ has the solution for those wrong turns and poor choices that have landed him where he is. He gave his life to Christ and his entire life changed, right down to his very behavior. His life had been transformed from the wrong turns and poor choices, God has given him new life.

God began a good work in him, transforming his brokeness into something beautiful and new. His changed life got the attention of correctional officers, the warden and the department of corrections. His original sentence was for 10 years, but because of good behavior he was released after five. He who the son sets free is free indeed. Gone are the walls and chains that once held him bound a new life has begun. Now what?

Alleluia Christ is risen! Broken are the chains of sin and death that once held us bound. Crumbled and broken are the walls that once separated us, humanity from the very presence of God. Open are the tombs to our graves, because Christ died and rose again we too can rise to new life in Christ. We too can shed the chains that once bound us and experience the freedom found in Christ. Now that we have been released, set free from bondage, and have risen to new life in Christ, what do we do? Where do we go from here? How do we live this new life we’ve been given?

These questions are not new to us today. They are not questions only asked by new believers either but they are questions that should be on our minds everyday. The disciples wrestled with this question as well, we can see that from today’s scripture. Seven disciples were gathered perhaps silently contemplating what they have seen. These seven have by now seen their Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead. What they knew and believed has completely been changed. As they sat in silent contemplation and reflection they no doubt were asking themselves this question “Now what?” Where do we go from here? Peter, as he often does, breaks the silence.

Christ has risen from the dead, breaking the chains that once held us bound. If we hear the voice the Holy Spirit calling us from our prisons of sin and death we can respond walk out of our graves and wrestle with the same question “Now what? Where do I go from here?” It is my hope and prayer that each one of us encounter these questions in a new way today and everyday there after. That from this day forward we may more and more like Christ every day. Each day is a new day God’s mercies are new every morning, may we be constantly wrestling and asking God “Now what? Where do I go from here?”

Peter

RETURNS TO FISHING

others follow

SIMON THE FISHERMAN

Mark 1:16-18

PRISIONER STORY CONTINUED

Back to our newly released prisoner. For the first time in 5 years the prisoner’s life was not bound by chains or confined to walls. This new freedom was strange to him not sure where to go or who to contact. He reached out to his friends and family that he had before, many of which who played a role in the wrong turns and poord decisions that landed him in jail just five years before. Back in that environment, without the support group of the bible study he had been a part of, and without a church body he could connect with, he returned to the life he knew before prison. He began to notice that his friends and his family were once again influencing wrong turns and poor choices. Many of the same wrong turns and choices that landed him in prison to begin with. He realized that like a dog returning to his old vomit, he had returned to his old life. He realized something needed to change again before he wound up back in prison.

PETER’S CONFESSION

Matthew 16:13-20

PETER’S CALL

Rock build my church

CHRIST REMINDS PETER OF HIS CALL

Feed my sheep

FOLLOW ME!

John 21:19

Now what?

Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Word made flesh, Emmanuel God with us, has paid the debt for the sin of humanity. Christ the lamb of God who takes away the sins of world has been sacrificed for us once and for all. Through his shed blood we are made perfect before almighty God our Father. Christ has risen because he lives we too can live. Through the same power, the same spirit that rose Christ from the dead we are being made holy. The answer to the question now what is to live as God our Father has called us to live to be holy because he is holy. The question of now what for us today is really the question God how can I better live as Christ today than I did yesterday? Where do I go from here? Holy Spirit guide and direct me today, that I may reflect Christ in all that I do.

To wrestle with what it means to follow Christ can’t be done in isolation. We need the mutual encouragement of one another. If we stop meeting together with other believers, if we stop engaging the word together, if we stop supporting each other in prayer. We will find ourselves back in the very lives God called us from. Christ called Peter from a life of fishing yet not sure where to go after Christ resurrection and appearing he returned to the life he knew. Like the story of the prisoner, faced with new life and freedom and not sure of where to turn he returned to the life he knew. Thanks be to God almighty that because Christ died and rose again his grace abounds. The prisoner realizing the error of his ways that his life has once again drifted to the old sinful life of his past, realized something again needed to change. He found a way to reach out to the leader of the bible study group he was part of while in prison and he got him connected to a church and invited him to be part of their bible study. He made new friends that encouraged his faith, that influenced right turns and good decisions. Decisions that helped him to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to better reflect Christ every day.

I hope like Peter and the prisoner we wrestle with what it means to follow Christ each and everyday. That we might dare to ask God now what? Where do I go from here? God because Christ died and rose again I can experience new life in you. How can I live more faithfully into the calling to be holy because you are holy today? How can I love you more deeply today, and at the same time love my neighbor as myself? God I want to live as Christ lives, love as Christ loves, I can only do that through your spirit guiding and directing me. God it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, help me to live like this each and everyday. This is where we go from here we follow Christ by following the leading of the Spirit within us. Together we encourage one another to live this way.