It was a full and fruitful Easter weekend – each of our house communities celebrated Good Friday with a traditional Passover Seder dinner… the dinner many Jewish families traditionally celebrate during Passover and the last meal Jesus had with his disciples before he went to the Cross. We don’t have a lot of pictures because I think people were busy participating. But we learned how Jesus used the Passover Seder to foreshadow what he would do on the Cross… to bring freedom and hope to a dying world.

Easter Sunday was a full day starting with a sunrise worship hike at 6:30am @ Montgomery Hill in San Jose.

As we walked the trail, we recounted Jesus’ journey to the Cross and the moments after the resurrection. We realized though we celebrate Easter every year, we so easily forget the freedom, joy and victory that was achieved on the Cross and in the resurrection. That we no longer need to let the guilt, the shame, the anger, the fear hang over us anymore. It no longer separates us from God [because of what Jesus did] and we have the freedom/power to reconcile with others. That’s huge.

We were also reminded that we need to spread the life we were given in Jesus. We weren’t meant to keep it to ourselves, but to give it away as freely and often as possible: both the truth and the love. 

Afterwards, it was time for brunch at the Hom’s… and as always, it was time to feast… waffles, hash browns, enchiladas [I think], bacon and lots of other stuff. It’s taken time, but we’ve all grown to be family together… we’ve cried together, celebrated together, worked out issues together. And the fruit of all that was a simple pleasure we all shared as we sat, ate, laughed and reminisced. Lisa jumped in to make waffles, new girls-friends were made to feel at home, Alan taught Billy how to chop wood and we all took naps on the couch. Real family is hard to come by – and it was a blessing from God that morning.

We finished our Easter Sunday with lunch with our friends at the Victorians. The Victorians are boarding houses for many who are formerly homeless and have some form of mental illness. We’ve had a long relationship with our friends there and Billy and Leo took care of bringing buffalo wings and hot dogs to share. It has not always been easy when we’ve done this in the past. We’ve had to get over our own uncomfortableness; learn how to talk to people who are not like us [at all]. And learn to love by just showing up. 

After several years of sporadically spending time there, I think we can say that they are our friends [or more like they're gracious to consider us their friends]. It’s true that they give us more than we give them. Sure we bring all the food, but they remind us that God loves them just as much as he loves us… just because we’re a little cleaner, have jobs, have gone to school doesn’t make us any more loved and them any less loved. They teach us about the Gospel every time we go. 

Thanks folks for a rich Easter season – until next time [though lunch with the Vic's will happen again soon].

Challenge for the month:

>> 10 minutes EVERYDAY with God.
>> Share with 2 people what you believe and why you believe it.

Read on for more detail on this and what we covered.

OVERVIEW

1. Everything Revolves Around the Gospel – As a continuation from last time, we discussed how everything revolves around Jesus’ life, death and resurrection [we call this "the Gospel" - the message that God sent his Son to take our place in paying the penalty for our sins and restoring us to new life through his resurrection].
2. What Separates us from God – We often think it’s the endless things that we do wrong. But what separates us from God is that we replace him in our lives with either ourselves or “things”. This can be analogized with a husband who gives the love that belongs to his wife to another woman or even his career. Or a son who rebuffs the authority and embrace of his father and goes his own way.
3. Who/What is Your Functional Savior? – If we’ve pushed God from his rightful place in our lives and replaced him with something else… what is it? One question that may help us discern, “What is the one thing that if you lost it, you’d find little hope to live?” That my be the thing.

NURTURING SPIRITUAL HUNGER – FEEDING OURSELVES

1. AW Tozer – Your faith is never really real unless you encounter God alone.
2. Spiritual Disciplines – It is often a battle of the wills… to sit and wait on God… instead of God waiting on you.
3. Learn to Savor God’s Voice, Listening for Him, Enjoying Him – The goal is not just to have the Bible read or have spent enough time in prayer. It’s time spent with Father, with the one who loves you unconditionally.
4. When you hear something, when God asks you to do something… DO IT.
5. Nurturing Our Souls is Much Like FARMING – You plant the seed, water it, get up early the next day and do the same thing. You may not get much yield in the beginning. But as you faithfully plant and water and trim, you will yield a harvest.
6. Simple Questions as You Read the Bible:
   >> What does this teach me about God/Jesus?
   >> What does this teach me about People/Myself?
   >> What am I supposed to do?

CHALLENGE

1. 10 Minutes EVERYDAY
   Spend at least 10 minutes everyday with God… this would include reading through Scripture. This would also include days where you are stopping what you’re doing to be in silence, listening, conversing, interacting with God. 10 minutes every day. Begins now.

2. Share What You Believe and Why You Believe It with 2
   Great sharing this past Sunday… keep it on, we’ll ask again next time.

Questions/comments? Throw them out in the comments… thanks folks.