Hey Centennial,
Sometimes, I get overwhelmed by the number of choices there are.
Starbucks has a thousand ways to order coffee.
Jeans come in every possible color and cut.
There’s an endless list of new (and old!) books I could read.
Heck, I could choose a hundred ways to start this email!
And yet, for as many choices as we make, many of them are inconsequential. Nothing will really be different if I get a Latte or a Cappuccino. While some might want me to believe the cut of my jeans is important, it isn’t. OK, the books I read make some difference. And you can tell me whether my opening to this email grabbed your attention or not. However,
Some choices make all the difference.
When have you had to make a choice that would make more than a momentary difference; that would impact years or even decades of life to come?
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, a day Jesus made a choice that would make all the difference.
He chose to go into Jerusalem.
He chose to welcome the celebrations of the crowd, knowing the cross would come.
He chose to go to his death for our good.
And with his choice, he asks us to make a choice.
We will hear him present that choice to us – a choice he presents to all who would be his disciple – in the final passage of his first and most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. The choice is simple,
Will you follow Jesus, or go your own way?
Swiss Psychologist, Carl Jung, emphasized the power and importance of our choices when he said,
“I am not what happened to me; I am what I choose to become.” Carl Gustav Jung
As we enjoy the celebrations of our children waving Palm Branches and remember the joy of Jesus’ triumphal entry, we will hear again his presentation of the most critical choice we will ever make.
This is a great Sunday to invite someone to, “Come sit with me” at church. If there is anyone you know who is new to town, who shared that things aren’t going well for them, or told you they just weren’t prepared for something in their life, those are perfect opportunities to say,
“Why don’t you come sit with me at church this Sunday?”
Grace and peace,
Karl Helvig
Lead Pastor
CENTENNIAL COVENANT CHURCH