He Has Risen!

He has risen indeed!

Easter is finally here, and I think that this verse really applies to what Easter is all about. It is from John 11:25-26: Jesus said to her, "I am the ressurection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." I think that this bible verse clearly depicts eternal life because Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins and that we may have eternal life in Heaven. As long as we believe, like the verse says, we will live forever with Jesus.

I really liked the video that was shown at the service because it showed the true meaning of Easter. I also liked how it was narrated by little kids, because it clearly depicted whole story of Easter in kid-friendly terms and they were able to relate to it. After all, according to 1 Timothy 4:12, don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, set an example for the believer. Children were so important to Jesus.

I think that Easter is the happiest service in the whole entire year because everyone knows that God sent His only son to come and save us from our sins. I don't know about you guys, but I know that it makes me feel really special that He cared so much about us. Here is one of my personal favorite traditional Easter hymns:



Easter is by far my favorite holiday and my favorite church service to go to (other than Pet Sunday) because it is the time that I feel closest to God.

Good Friday

The Good Friday church service is most definitely the most somber service out of the whole year. Here is a visual representation of what went on from the time Jesus was arrested from the time he was buried. (Note that this is a continuous slideshow and the first picture is Jesus being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.)

Passover at the Wagman's

Last night marked the first night of Passover, an eight day holiday in which the Jewish faith celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The term Passover comes from the fact that the Israelites marked their doors with lamb's blood so the Angel of Death would "pass over" their houses, and this is one of their faith's most important festivals. The Death of the Firstborn was the tenth plague sent by God through Moses so the Egyptian pharaoh would have no choice but to free the Israelites. The first nine plagues are as followed and the tenth will be illustrated through a brief clip from Disney's The Prince of Egypt:

1.) Blood

2.) Frogs

3.) Gnats

4.) Wild Beast

5.) Pestilence

6.) Boils

7.) Hail

8.) Locusts

9.) Darkness

My friend, Allison, invited me and four of her other friends to her house last night to participate in the first of the two Passover Seders. Since this falls during the time of Lent, I thought I would share my experience with my readers. Traditionally, Seders are a few hours long, but she told me that many Jewish families condense it using the 30 Minute Seder: That Blends Brevity with Tradition. Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) begins on the fifteenth day fo the Jewish month of Nissan. The exact date changes every year, but is usually in March or April, depending on the Jewish lunar calendar.

The Seder begins with the lighting of the festival (Yom Tov) candles, which signifies the beginning of the holiday. Then the festival Kiddush is chanted over the first cup of wine (we used grape juice), and throughout the meal there are four cups of wine. After this, each person took a bitter herb (we used celery) and dipped it into a bowl of salt water, and the salt water reminds us of the bitter tears shed by the Israelites when they were slaves. Then, Allison took the middle of the three covered Matzah bread and broke it in half, wrapping the larger of the two and hiding it (this is called the Afikomen, which means dessert). Then the four questions were asked in Hebrew:

1.) Why tonight?
2.) Why bitter herbs?
3.) Why dip the herbs in the salt water twice?
4.) Why do we eat reclining?

After this, the second cup of wine was blessed, and a lamb shank was presented on the Seder plate as a symbol of the original passover lamb. Next, the Afikomen was broken and passed around and the third glass of wine was blessed. Lastly, the final cup of wine was blessed, which was the conclusion of the Seder meal. I really enjoyed attending a Passover Seder, and it was really neat to experience another religion's holiday. Also, Mrs. Wagman makes REALLY delicious brisket!

Here is a picture of a Seder plate:

My Thoughts on the Aside to Jesus

Aside to Jesus: "You know, don't you, that today's younger generations are decidedly suspicious of institutions and organizations? They like you but don't care for your body, the church. That you became a new family, that you located among a gathering of sinners, that you made the poor, old church to be a sign of you in the world may be the most difficult thing for them to believe about you.

In my opinion, atheism is the fastest growing religion in the world. Secular/nonreligious/agnostic/atheists populate about 1.1 billion of the world's population, the third largest religion only exceeded by Islam at 1.5 billion followers and Christianity at 2 billion worshippers. I think that this is because the younger generation is either too lazy to go to church or other religious institution, not believing is a form of rebelling, or they are just simply too skeptical because of all the advances we are making in modern day science.

Teenagers could also be wary of the church and suspicious of it as a whole. They might feel that they could be oppressed by the adult members of the church. Or, they could also feel like they would be unable to express their thoughts, ideas, or faith because they don't want to feel vulnerable or run the risk of being belittled for their views. Also, being a teenager, I know that there are some weird, conflicting thoughts running around in a teenager's head. They could feel embarrassed in revealing their faith or confused over what they believe in. This is what I like about church, if there is something that I am confused about, I know there are adults other than my parents that I can talk to. :)

I honestly feel sorry for those who do not believe in God or another type of religious figure. Whenever something bad happens to them, who do they go to for comfort or support? If I stopped going to church and believing in God, I think I would feel an empty section in my heart where He used to be. I take comfort knowing there is someone else watching over me.

PS I thought this picture went along with this post nicely. I hope you think so, too.

Wednesday Evening Lenten Worship Service: March 30th, 2011

I thought last night's service was very nice, and I especially liked the first topic raised for the night: Was Jesus a home wrecker?

There were some interesting points raised in this discussion. Jesus seemed to have wrecked his own family before He was even born! After all, Mary was an unmarried virgin who was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. If Joseph had not have agreed to marry her, I wonder what Mary's situation would have been like. Also, did Jesus know immediately that He was the son of God, or did He ever think that Joseph was his father? Secondly, He asked people to drop everything and follow him, causing the disciples to leave their families. The real message behind this could be that God comes first no matter what the situation. Here is an example of Jesus calling people to come and follow Him (although technically the person in the video calling them to baptism is John the Baptist).


Also, Jesus has homewrecking tendencies on modern day living. People could be further along in their faith than other family members, causing tension. But honestly, I would have to agree that Jesus was more of a home messer upper seeing as He talked to people that society deemed He "shouldn't," meaning tax collectors, criminals, lepers, and He even ate with sinners. This was just plain unheard of! This relates to one of the topics in our small group discussions: What are Jesus's Family Values? Some of the ones that our group came up with were love, acceptance, forgiveness, and support. Jesus loves us unconditionally and accepted the fact that we will always make mistakes and sin, but He will always forgive us because of His unconditional love. He also supports us, and everything that we have we owe to God.

The readings of last night's service were Mark 3:31-14, Ephesians 1:5-14, and Galatians 3:26-27, 4:4-7. I really liked the reading from Galatians. The last portion of the reading was, "And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance." The fact that we are a child of God further enforces His unconditional love. It also means that we will all enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and this is why God sent His only son to die on the cross: He saved us because of His unconditional love for us.

The hymns that were sung were "The Church of Christ, in Every Age," "Go, My Children, with My Blessing," and the one that I indentify the most with, "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less." To me, this hymn described how Jesus is, metaphorically speaking, our "rock," meaning we can depend on Jesus. The line, "All the rest is sinking sand" means that Jesus is the right path and everything else will just lead us astray. Sinking sand reminds me of quicksand, and when a person is engulfed by quicksand, they sink into the ground. This could be an allusion to hell. The hymn also relates back to the initial topic of Jesus being a homewrecker. The lyrics also mean that in our human life, we will encounter many things such as jobs, friends, creating a family, but only Christ is the true solid rock on which we can stand. If Jesus calls to us, we should listen, no matter what it means we have to leave behind.

Chosen 300

On March 11th, 2011, my parents and I went on Chosen 300 with Upper Dublin Lutheran Church, and this was my second time going. For those of you who don't know, this should explain what Chosen 300 is:



There were other adults and youth who went on Chosen 300 with me, and I could see that they enjoyed the experience as much as I did. First, there was a church service featuring music, a Gospel reading, and music. Then, it was time for us to put the food on plates like a giant assembly line (I was a corn scooper) and serve to our guests. Part of what made this experience special was seeing how truly grateful they were for the warm meal, especially since you could see that they all needed one.

I think God wants me to help make the world a better place, because I have a great life with enough food to eat, a warm house, and loving family/friends. Since God has blessed me and my family, I think that He wants me to give back to those who aren't as fortunate. I think part of what made me perfect for this servant project was my sunny disposition. Because I was a cheerful server, I think people were able to momentarily forget about their bad situations while they were eating. I really enjoyed helping others and I really want to go on Chosen 300 with my family again :)

Ash Wednesday Service

This was the first Ash Wednesday service I had ever been to, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. There seems to be an overall somber feeling surrounding this service. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the time we take to cleanse our souls and prepare for the time of Jesus's death and resurrection. Although it isn't the most serious service of the Lenten season, that would be Good Friday, it's still very solemn because we know Jesus is going to die. The liturgical act in this service is the placement of ashen crosses on people's foreheads. The cross retraces our baptism anointing, because when we were baptized, a cross of water was etched on our foreheads. The ashes are to remind us of our sinful ways and unworthiness. Also, it means that we all return to "dust" meaning we all eventually die But it's okay, because we will be born again since Jesus died to save us from our sins. We will live with Him forever until the end of time. There were many songs/hymns played in this service. I think that the one that captured the essence of the service the most was Lord, Make Us Worthy. The song meant to me that everything we have and everything else we might need was given to us by God. The last line of the song is "Lord, make us worthy such blessings to receive" is asking God to help us become ready and truly deserving to be cleansed of sin and entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. To me, this is appropriate for this service because the song pretty much describes the point of Ash Wednesday. Other hymns featured in the service was Psalm 51: 1-17, Savior, When in Dust to You, Create in Me a Clean Heart, Lamb of God, and the Communion Hymn: Just As I Am, Without One Place, which was close to the conclusion of the service.