On June 23, 1910, John Mott delivered the closing address of the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh. The Conference marked the beginning of what is known as the ecumenical movement—where churches of different beliefs work together to spread the gospel.
You expect highways to be jammed during rush hour. You expect to find hamburgers at McDonalds. You expect spring to follow winter. You came to church this morning expecting to smell the fragrance of flowers. And you do.
We yearn for the finish lines of life! When we are young, we want to be done growing up. After dating for several years, a young couple desperately looks forward to that day when they hear, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Many games run on the principle of passing it on. Think of a relay race. A runner runs her leg of the race as fast as she can. She approaches the next runner and carefully passes on the baton. Woe to the runner who drops the baton!
We’re almost there now, aren’t we! We’ve spent the last nearly 40 days preparing for Easter. And now we’re here, at the beginning of the week we call Holy. Holy week is an emotional roller coaster. We’re up, we’re down. We twist, we turn.
“Do you believe this?” How many Badger fans do you think uttered those words last Friday as the buzzer beater went in? “Do you believe this?” How many people disgustingly said those words when they heard about the terror attacks in London or the shooting spree in Wausau?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Christ returned as we sit here this morning, worshiping him? Perhaps, just maybe as we gaze into heaven he will now appear. Perhaps, just maybe in this service we shall see him as he is, as we sit with him in the heavenly realms.
Almost 500 years ago, the world was turned upside down—not with a weapon of mass destruction but with an instrument of mass instruction—a man’s pen.
It was a once-in-a lifetime experience. There’s really no other way to describe it. This was definitely something you don’t see everyday. In fact, only three men were permitted to see it at all.
Martin Luther and the Roman Catholic Church disagreed about many things. But there was one thing they actually agreed upon: the ideas of Galileo. Galileo was an Italian scientist who supported the theories of an earlier scientist, Nicolaus Copernicus.
Eastside Evangelical Lutheran Church and School
2310 Independence Lane
Madison, WI 53704
