The Big Difference
The Big Shift
March 27, 2016 • David Parker
Shattered. It is really the only one word description that fits what happened to the faith and hope of Jesus’ disciples in the aftermath of His crucifixion. It had all seemed to end in mind-numbing, soul-wrenching defeat. Evil won. Then it all changed. Not everything all at once, but everything altogether, it all changed because of one significant life-altering event. The resurrection. He was not dead but alive, He had risen as He promised. The tomb was empty, and He appeared to His startled, perplexed and fearful followers to point them on, to lead them forward.
The Big Hope
March 20, 2016 • David Parker
Everybody has a “big hope” in life. It is a hope defined by dreams and desires, sometimes even by dreads and disasters. The life, ministry and person of Jesus were the source and object of so much hope in first century Israel. The big hope of these people, for their own lives and for their nation, was focused on Him. But the events of that week would not fulfill the hopes of those who heralded Him as King. His arrest, trial and crucifixion would dash those hopes, and crush those dreams. His resurrection from the dead would vindicate and transform the hope people had placed in Jesus. In the new reality of His resurrection, crushed hopes and dashed dreams can become something more, something bigger...