This Sunday begins Holy Week sometimes known as Passion Week. It is the week before Easter when we remember and observe the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

We do some things on this week that we do not do other weeks of the year. As a church we will gather for worship on Maundy Thursday to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and to remember the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed. On Good Friday we gather for one of the most moving worship experiences of the year to hear and to reflect upon the seven words Jesus spoke from the cross. Worship on each of these nights begins at 7 PM.

Going beyond these worship gatherings I would encourage you in your own personal devotion time to read through the passion narrative. Here is a suggested reading guide for Holy week:

Palm Sunday: John 12 Monday: John 13 Tuesday: John 14 Wednesday: John 15 Thursday: John 16:1 – 18:11 Friday: John 18:12 – 19:42 Saturday: Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 Easter Sunday: John 20

Yet, another way to observe this special week is to rent the movie the passion of the Christ. I am sure there are others ideas you may have for observing this Holy Week. If you have some unique ideas or family/personal traditions for observing Holy Week I would love to hear about them. Please feel free to share.

Holy is one week of the year and thus is called holy. Holy means to be different and to be set apart. I like this idea that holy week is not every week. It is one week of the year and then we move on. It is a week where we are reminded of Jesus suffering and of the reality of our sin. The sorrow of holy week is brought to an abrupt end with the joy of Easter Sunday. I am reminded of Psalm 30:5, “weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Maybe that’s just the point. We are not to continue to dwell upon our sin and are suffering. Easter morning comes where Christ stands triumphant. Yes, we take the time to reflect upon our sin and our sorrow. There is a time for that. But God has not called us to live in sin and sorrow. Jesus died to take away our sin that we might live in Easter victory. Sure, it helps to remember from where we came, but were not going back to Egypt.

So please join me in observing this one week of the year as Holy Week, but even more so, join me in celebrating and living in the triumphant victory of Jesus each and every day. There is no challenge that is too great that you face in your life that God cannot overcome. Jesus victory over the grave shows us that is true! You were created to overcome all things through Jesus who loves us.

Lord of Life will soon be receiving the newest member of our staff, Chloe the Comfort Dog. Last night our new Comfort Dog handlers completed their initial training with Chloe along with Comfort Dogs Abbi, and Olympia. It will not be long before we start seeing Chloe on a frequent basis. It is our prayer that Chloe will be used in a mighty way by God to touch hearts and lives with God’s grace, mercy, and compassion. Please join me in praying for God to prosper this new ministry that he has brought to Lord of Life and to our community.

Some have asked, why a dog? What does a dog have to do with the ministry of the church?

There are several answers to these questions. The first is that Chloe will serve to build a bridge into our community. Chloe will help us to develop relationships that we would have never been able to initiate without her. Instead of waiting for people to come to us to experience the love of God, Chloe helps us to take the love of God to them. Chloe moves us outside the walls of the church and out into the community.

Another benefit to bringing Chloe to Lord of life is that it gives opportunities for God’s people to serve. We have trained a number of people who will serve as our initial handlers. Those who submitted applications and were accepted as handlers include Diane Roloff, Sue Kessler, Sandi Kessler, Rob Geiger, Cathy Geiger, Bob Guetoff, Diane Brasfield, and myself. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to serve and congratulate them on the completion of their training. But there are also other opportunities to serve. Diane Bingham is a professional dog handler and will be helping by providing grooming services. Jim and Barb Krage are serving as part of a leadership team to organize this ministry. We will soon need additional help with organizing some fundraisers to help cover the ongoing costs of this ministry. If you would be interested in getting involved in this ministry in any way, please let me know.

Still another benefit is that Chloe helps to provide care in times of need and of grief. Chloe is a calming influence. It is shown medically that a Comfort Dog will lower a person’s blood pressure and anxiety. Often times a Comfort Dog will help a person to open up and share feelings and emotions that have been bottled up inside. The Comfort Dogs and handlers are there to listen and to provide that shoulder to lean on.

We want you to recognize that this is a ministry of our church and we want you to have ownership of this ministry. Chloe is so much more than a church pet. Chloe is there to help all of us together to minister to our community. Chloe is a resource to help you serve as a missionary to the people around you. If you have a person, an organization, or an event that might benefit from a visit from Chloe please let us know.

You should know that Chloe is there for you as well. When Chloe is not working in our community she will be present at Lord of Life. If you would like to visit with her just call the church office to make sure she is available. She will soon be getting her own Facebook page and have an e-mail address as well. We will share these when the time comes.

If you would like more information about the Comfort Dogs please visit k9comfort.org or “Like” their Facebook page at facebook.com/k9comfort.

This weekend we are going to be looking at the 6th Commandment, “you shall not commit adultery.” This commandment is all about faithfulness and loyalty.

Faithfulness is one of the fruit of the Spirt described in Galatians 5:22-23 and is one of the most important characteristics of God. The Bible emphasizes God’s faithfulness over and over. Consider the following verses:

1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NIV84) The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV84) But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

2 Timothy 2:13 (NIV84) If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Isaiah 25:1 (NIV84) O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

Psalm 89:8 (NIV84) O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

1 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV84) God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Psalm 36:5 (NIV84) Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

Psalm 119:90 (NIV84) Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.

Lamentations 3:23 (NIV84) They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

God’s promise is that never will I leave you or forsake you (Dt 31:6, Josh 1:5, Heb 13:5). God’s faithfulness is indescribable, unfathomable, and unending. Amazing!

To help us grasp God’s faithfulness, the Bible gives us the image of a groom’s faithfulness towards his bride. Because of this, it is no wonder that the sin of adultery is especially troubling to God. When we violate the 6th commandment we are corrupting the image of his faithfulness towards us.

While God places great value faithfulness and loyalty, these values often go lacking in our culture. Even more unfortunate is that faithfulness and loyalty are often lacking in the church as well. Anytime we look at the divorce statistics among non-Christians and Christians it is troubling. We have a long ways to go to learn the meaning of loyalty and faithfulness.

Jesus says, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” (Matthew 5:37). What this means to me is to be loyal and faithful to your commitments. If you say you are going to do something, then do it.

I read a great definition of loyalty earlier this week. “Loyalty: The willingness to make an investment or personal sacrifice to strengthen a relationship.”

Faithfulness and loyalty are not easy. Know that you will have resistance against staying faithful to your commitments. But don’t be a quitter! Unfortunately, in a culture of convenience, when we hit a bump in the road, we leave our spouse for another person, we leave our church for the church down the street, or we leave our friends for “better” friends.

The faithfulness and loyalty of Jesus took him to the cross. It is not a road we are often willing to go down. The cross was a personal sacrifice he made out of his commitment to us. It was not because we made in happy. Our sin grieved him much. It certainly did not make him happy to die on the cross. But without the sacrifice of Good Friday there would not be the joy of Easter. Know that when you take up your cross of faithfulness and loyalty that there may be great pain in the experience, but that there is an Easter joy that will result.