He Is Risen!

He is risen! The glorious truth of the Christian faith. We serve a risen Christ, not a dead legend but a risen Lord. I read in "The Earliest Christian Confessions" that this was more than likely the earliest of the creedal statements of the church. It was with these simple truths that those who began the first house churches stood. Paul stated that he was satisfied to preach the sole message of "Jesus Christ and Him crucified". Then I think about how I came into ministry with a westernized church system already in place. Creedal statements didn't have much to do with it, I simply stepped in the pulpit and followed the established ministerial patterns. I relied on past practices and testimonies from others who "knew how it should be done" and got along pretty well. Problems and issues are dealt with simply by methods that any organization uses, faith-based or otherwise.

But now things will be different. We can only go where the Holy Spirit leads us. I am not the "pastor" anymore who calls the shots, orchestrates the "worship" and serves as the "go-to person". This will be a community of faith that develops according to the diversity of gifts of individuals who make it up. We begin only with the core truths of our faith and with little else. We start with only prayer and a dependence on the presence of Christ who promises to be in our midst. The fact that our (physical) journey begins with Easter Sunday emphasizes this. We celebrate the simple truth that the Body of Christ gathers around, "He is risen!"

We should not dismiss the Biblical witness to the origins of the Church. We cannot skip along to the Western version and say, "we finally got it right!" I think there is something to be said for allowing the Holy Spirit to direct, evolve, and have full authority in a local expression of the Church. Sounds pretty risky but I do believe it is worth the risk!

Celebrate Our Risen Savior!