Have you ever dreamed of what you could do with just a little financial start? My family is full of idea people, so I have grown up with people around me dreaming up new entrepreneur projects, thinking of how to plan an awesome family get together, and scheming about how to help others in need. Do you have those people around you?
I’m not sure I really knew what I was getting into when I signed up to help with Whiz Kids. I knew it was a tutoring program and that I would be working with a student each week. I’m not a teacher, so I was slightly concerned that I wouldn’t be qualified. I was assured that being a teacher was not a requirement.
When I was just starting on the pathway of doing children’s ministry at Council Road Baptist Church, I encountered that quote. As I remember, it was credited to a man who was a famous actor, singer, dancer and comedian. His name? Danny Kaye. Now I don’t know if he was a particularly wise man, but I do know that he realized a truth about children: they are a treasure of great value and it is imperative for the future that we protect, nurture, guide and love them.
With Mother’s Day approaching, we thought it would be a good time to remind the women in our lives that we love them. There are many types of mothers- birth mothers, adoptive mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers. Then there are those we refer to as “others.” These women may have stepped into our lives as mentors, friends, colleagues, friends of our mothers, or any “other” way. We all know having a mother or “other” to walk alongside us in life is incredibly important to our earthside journey. Take the time this week to share your appreciation to the mothers & “others” in your life! We went ahead and had a few women share their appreciation in the blog post below about some women in our church! Take a look for some inspiration!
Every Tuesday, our Whiz Kids and their tutors fill the Cube with energy and more hugs than you can count (and most recently, a lot of 4th grade drama). Every Friday, our Celebrate Recovery meets for dinner and 12-step groups, passing out chips to celebrate markers of sobriety and life change. Our partners around the city are faithfully serving, loving and sharing the gospel in a variety of spaces including education, recovery, vulnerable families, outdoor ministry and food insecurity. Our deacons and bereavement team serve our church every single day in meaningful ways that impact every single person in our church, whether they know it or not. Our groups are accessing the Care Portal and meeting the needs of families in our community. We have had adoptions finalized, babies come into loving foster homes and biological families strengthened. Around the world, we have partners living out their calling to move overseas, plant gospel-centered churches, train pastors, provide clean drinking water, bring kids out of street life into a life of purpose and provide quality education. This is just the beginning of all there is to celebrate in the life of our church.
Her eyes opened, still swollen from endless tears over the past two days. Had she even slept at all? Asleep or awake, both seemed like a nightmare; eyes open or closed, she still saw Him hanging there. Her Lord, the promised Messiah. The One foretold from generation to generation, yet now dead and buried in a tomb.
Christmas and Easter stand as pillars--monumental events that transformed the world. While I adore Christmas because the symbolic décor and traditions point to God dwelling with us, Easter is equally my favorite holiday. Years ago, when my children were young, my family chose to incorporate a Passover Seder into our Easter traditions. Every year, the Seder reminds us in an amazingly profound and symbolic way of the hope we have in the Resurrection. Not only does the Seder commemorate God’s miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from the ten plagues and the bondage of slavery in Egypt, but it also beautifully foreshadows the Messiah, our Great Deliverer, who redeemed us at Calvary. Now, through Messiah, we can escape the slavery of sin as well as experience the hope of eternal life.
While the entire Exodus story foreshadows the Messiah, specifically, the Seder plate provides a magnificent picture of Jesus with each element divinely pointing to Him:
Matzoh-an unleavened bread without yeast that is striped and pierced represents the bread eaten in haste by the Israelites. It also represents Messiah’s body and His sinless sacrifice (Luke 22:I9, Psalm 22:I6, and Isaiah 53:5).
Karpas--a green vegetable such as parsley dipped in salt water represents the hyssop dipped in lamb’s blood. It reminds us that the Redeemer provides new life with freedom from the bondage of sin. (Hyssop was also dipped in vinegar and given to Jesus to drink on the cross).
Maror--or “bitter herbs” such as horseradish represents the bitterness and sadness of the bondage of slavery, as well as a life without redemption from sin.
Charoset--a sweet mixture of apples, wine, nuts, and cinnamon not only represents the mortar the Israelites used to make bricks, but it also represents the sweetness of redemption through our Redeemer.
A roasted or hard-boiled egg--dipped in salt water represents mourning over the destruction of the Temple, as well as new life and the resurrection of Messiah.
The four cups of wine or grape juice--these Cups of Sanctification, Deliverance, Redemption and Restoration represent the blood of Christ. It was regarding the third cup of Redemption that Jesus said, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).
Zeroa--a lamb’s shank bone that represents the tenth plague and the sacrificial lamb of salvation.
The Passover Lamb endures as the most powerful symbol of Messiah. When God decreed the tenth plague, the death of the first-born of every family, He also provided a way of salvation from this death--a lamb. Using a hyssop bush, the Israelites were to place the blood of a spotless male lamb on the doorposts and lintel. Then, when the Angel of Death saw the lamb’s blood on the top and both sides of the door with blood dripping on the ground, he would see the entrance was covered and so pass over them. By faith, the Israelites trusted in the lamb’s blood to save them; this blood when connected with invisible lines formed the outline of a cross. What an incredible picture of salvation in Messiah--He is our Passover Lamb (John I:29; I Corinthians 5:7); He is the Door of Salvation (John I0:9). Because of the Resurrection, He is our Hope (I Corinthians 5:20)!
Moreover, on the tenth day of the month of Nisan, the Israelites were to inspect their chosen lamb for spots and blemishes; then on the fourteenth day, they were to sacrifice that lamb, catch its blood in a basin, and then roast the entire lamb without breaking any bones (Exodus I2).
Once again, Jesus fulfilled all perfectly. On the tenth day of the month of Nisan at the Temple, a spotless lamb was chosen to be the Passover lamb for the nation of Israel. On the same day, Jesus, the true Lamb of God, entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; John I2: I-5). Then, a few days later when Passover began at six that evening, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples, instituting the New Covenant of communion before His arrest. All throughout that night, after enduring trials by the Sanhedrin, Pilate, and King Herod, Jesus was found to be innocent and blameless.
At the Temple at nine on Passover morning, the High Priest tied to a stake the perfect lamb that had been chosen as the nation’s sacrifice. Similarly, at nine o’clock on the fourteenth of Nisan, Jesus was nailed to the cross. Because the Passover meal had to be eaten before 6 o’clock that evening- the beginning of a new Hebrew day, thousands of Jews stood in line at the Temple to sacrifice their lambs by three o’clock.
Moreover, at the Temple at three o’clock each Passover afternoon, the High Priest sacrificed the Passover lamb for the entire nation of Israel while declaring, “It is finished.” It was three in the afternoon as Jesus breathed his last breaths on the cross, crying, “It is finished.” Then, with unbroken legs, He was taken from the cross and buried before six o’clock, the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. With His resurrection on the third day, which is also the Feast of First Fruits (I Corinthians I5: 20), we now have the hope of redemption, the hope of salvation, and the hope of eternal life.
All of the Old Testament perfectly points to and foreshadows Jesus (Luke 24:44). The more I learn about the depths of the Bible, the more I am amazed. Because of the Seder, Easter has an even sweeter meaning to me. Incorporating a Passover Seder or simply the elements of a Seder plate into Easter traditions can serve as a beautiful illustration of Passion Week and Resurrection Day, and it is a wonderful way to celebrate the hope we have in Messiah.
Nolene Niles, a member of Council Road for over thirty years, is a 7th grade English teacher at Yukon Middle School. She has been married to Troy for thirty-five years this May and has two boys, Landon and Tate, and will gain a new daughter, Kaitlin, in September. In her free time (summers), she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, and most especially writing and creating Biblical curriculum for her class at school.
How do you pray when you’re afraid that your will is not God’s will?
I find that knowing how to pray is difficult when I want something badly, but am afraid it is not what God wants or is going to make happen. Fortunately, we can look to the most divine example we will ever find: Jesus praying when He knew He was about to be betrayed and sent to a gruesome death He wished to avoid.
