WE HAVE POWER!
As I am sitting here in our Pastor’s office after a busy day of Vacation Bible School, I am filled with so many sensations from the day. In particular the sight of the many children jumping up and down joyfully as they sing the V.B.S. songs. In particular, the V.B.S. song that keeps running through my head is, “There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb! There is power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb!”
And in a nutshell, this past week, the children have been experiencing through snacks games, crafts and Bible stories that Jesus gives us POWER!
Now this word, power, may make us a little uncomfortable as we hear so much in the news these days about the corruption of power. But in V.B.S., we’ve been learning about a whole different kind of power. It’s not the kind of power that comes from ourselves which eventually leads to corruption, but it comes from God. For as St. Paul lifts up in his letter to the Corinthians, the true power of God, humanly speaking, is revealed in a very foolish way, when Jesus gives up his life upon a cross. But what appears very foolish is in fact the most powerful act to occur here on earth. For as we learned in V.B.S., Jesus pays the ultimate price so that we can be set free from our sins. And why would Jesus do such a thing? Because he loves us. Limitlessly, Jesus loves us.
This past week during V.B.S., I was one of the location leaders in Bible Blasts along with Cheryl Ritter and Ryan Habib. And one day, as we were experiencing the power of Jesus through the dramatization of a Bible point, one of the little boys exclaimed, “But Jesus is dead!” It’s true, Jesus died on the cross, but thank God that’s not the end of the story, but only the beginning. For through the waters of Holy Baptism, Jesus gives us the power to be transformed into his children of the light. And as we learned this past week, the power of Jesus sets us free to be thankful, help others, be brave and tell others about God’s great love. In other words, the power of Jesus sets us free to share this power with others and with the world. The gift of the power of Jesus is too great, there is no way we can keep the power to ourselves. For as the children have been teaching me this past week, this exciting power just bubbles all over with jumping and joy!
Thanks be to God who gives us the power, power, wonder working power of the precious blood of the lamb!
Peace,
Pastor Janell
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