Is Jesus Real To Me?
Today, I begin a 21-day series of blog posts (yes, everyday...I hope!) based on "The Wesley Challenge." We are doing this series based on John Wesley's "Holy Club" Questions in our worship services at Mount Pleasant, and if you want to read the initial thoughts on this challenge (and some of the background), you can check out today's sermon here.
The first question this week is the title of this blog: is Jesus real to me?
I would think it would be impossible to be a Christian if you answer "no" to this question, though I suppose some folks could subscribe to the "idea of Jesus" and attempt to live their lives by the "principles of Jesus." But that, to me, seems to be a futile exercise. If Jesus is not real, if he is not real to me and in my life, then why would I waste my time trying to live up to some nebulous principle?
Personally, I have found him to be real and present so many times in my life...
...at the communion table and in the waters of baptism...
...in the prayers of saints who have walked with him for a long time...
...at the bedside of a dying man or woman, someone for whom faith is becoming sight...
...at church camp, at an Emmaus Walk, during Vacation Bible School and every week in worship...
...as I have walked the hills of the Holy Land, touched the stones his feet have trod upon and stood near the place where he once was buried but is no longer...
...in the stories of the Gospels and the words of the prophets...
...in the living hope that the worst thing is never the last thing, for his death and resurrection reminds me that there is always hope...
Yes, Jesus is real to me, in these and countless other ways. In what way is he real to you?
The first question this week is the title of this blog: is Jesus real to me?
I would think it would be impossible to be a Christian if you answer "no" to this question, though I suppose some folks could subscribe to the "idea of Jesus" and attempt to live their lives by the "principles of Jesus." But that, to me, seems to be a futile exercise. If Jesus is not real, if he is not real to me and in my life, then why would I waste my time trying to live up to some nebulous principle?
Personally, I have found him to be real and present so many times in my life...
...at the communion table and in the waters of baptism...
...in the prayers of saints who have walked with him for a long time...
...at the bedside of a dying man or woman, someone for whom faith is becoming sight...
...at church camp, at an Emmaus Walk, during Vacation Bible School and every week in worship...
...as I have walked the hills of the Holy Land, touched the stones his feet have trod upon and stood near the place where he once was buried but is no longer...
...in the stories of the Gospels and the words of the prophets...
...in the living hope that the worst thing is never the last thing, for his death and resurrection reminds me that there is always hope...
Yes, Jesus is real to me, in these and countless other ways. In what way is he real to you?
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