Over the last 4 weeks, I have been a part of 5 memorial services! A young woman, 25 years old. My Uncle Bud. My Chippewa Indians football coach. A faithful servant leader. A 57-year old pillar of faith and one of the founders of North Way Christian Community.
This has been an emotional month! Our church family and my extended family has had quite the roller coaster of emotions to work through. I personally have had some crazy ups and downs over these last 4 weeks...like speaking with a family about their loved one's memorial service one hour and then baptizing 46 people the next hour! In this last month, I'm discovering the highs and lows of ministry in a new way.
I'm now preparing to preach on Good Friday. These family's losses of their loved ones would probably feel similar to the wave of loss that the disciples of Jesus experienced when He was crucified before their very eyes. They watched Him die. They didn't understand what was going on and why it had to be this way. I can only begin to imagine what they were feeling...the pain, the emptiness, the heartbreak, the questions, the doubt.
This Friday, I'm praying that I can fully capture and preach the wave of loss that is Good Friday. I'm hoping to convey the weight of loss that all the world and heaven felt that day when Jesus died. There has never been a greater loss.
Equally, there has never been more anticipation (Matthew 26-27)...
