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| 401 East 41st St., Minneapolis, MN 55409 (612) 825-9750 |
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MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR |
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| Rev. Dr. Archie L. Criglar, Sr., Senior Pastor |
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| 401 East 41st St., Minneapolis, MN 55409 (612) 825-9750 |
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MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR |
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| Rev. Dr. Archie L. Criglar, Sr., Senior Pastor |
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FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK 'Often Time The Sweetness Of Life Can Be Found In Its Bitterness' "In this Lenten/Easter season often we reflect on our personal suffering believing that we are alone in that suffering. While no one enjoys suffering, we are called to experience human suffering as redemptive. In the Gospel of John we find as Jesus moved towards his death, some curious Greeks came to see him. Jesus spoke to them in terms of himself and his life as a grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies before it can grow and bear fruit. (John 12:24) Here is a story about how God wins victories, not through conventional means of power, but through suffering and death. As Christians we are to live our lives in the light of that story. Redemptive suffering is not without its bitterness and pain as we learn from the passion of Jesus. Just as our Lord suffered and experienced the darkness of life, none of us can escape life's dark places. Some dark places have their own external events. Others arise from tension and conflicts within us individually or, as a collective group. Whatever the source, the consequence is felt in various ways of fear, bitterness, and pain. For the fourth gospel writer, John, it was in the bitterness of darknes that the ever abiding presence of God the Father is found, that transformed the moment of abandonment and pain, into an occasion when both agony and glory stood exposed. There on Calvary, those with eyes to see, beheld the glory of the Father, whose light shines in the midst of the most intense bitter moments of life. It is the nearness of God's presence that brings the sweetness of life through its bitter experiences. The dark bitter suffering of life, is never without the sweetness of God's love in its midst. We all experience desperate hours from time to time. However, there is nothing we encounter in life that Jesus did not experience. In those hours God does not abandon us but abides with us. The next time life seems to be dealing you a "bitter pill" remember, look for the sweetness of God's presence. Just as he resurrected Jesus, he resurrects us. In the redemptive suffering of Jesus, and his sacrificial death, God vindicated him through the resurrection. In what appeared to be the tragic end of Jesus, we find with the eyes of faith, that God can indeed turn the bitterness of suffering, pain, and struggle, into the sweetness of victory. Lent is the time for personal introspection. As we pray and reflect on the life of our Savior, remember because he over came, we too can over come. The next time the "hour of bitterness" comes to each of us, and it will come; look for the sweetness of God's presence in our midst.. May the peace and joy of the Lord be with you at all times. Rev. Dr. Archie L. Criglar, Sr. Pastor July 2008 |
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