Prayer Part 2 ~ Being Human

Today our study on prayer takes us to what many people consider the prayer book of the Bible, the Book of Psalms.  If you take just about any Bible and open up to the approximate center you will find the Book of Psalms and many people see this as symbolic because it isn’t just the center of the book, it is the center or the heart of our faith.  The songs, prayers and statements of faith and life that we find in this book cover just about every human emotion and experience and they give us permission to pray for all kinds of things in very real ways.

The psalms are so raw and real because many of them were written by or attributed to a very human person, King David.  73 of the psalms we have in the Bible were written by David and while considered a man after God’s own heart, David’s life history is recorded in the Bible in very honest ways.  There are three books of the Bible devoted to David’s life story – 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles and while Chronicles kind of cleans up David’s life, Samuel does not.  The writings of Samuel reveal David as both a very flawed and yet a very faithful man who God not only anointed and used as King but at times also condemned andthen forgave as a sinful man.

David was about 8 years old when he was told that he would one day be the king of Israel.  He was the youngest and least likely of Jesse’s sons to be chosen King, but the prophet Samuel made it clear that God’s hand was upon him.  As a child, David was a shepherd who learned to play the harp or lyre and perhaps it was wandering the hillsides that David first began of singing and writing songs.

Maybe it was a child watching sheep that David first thought to refer to God as a shepherd, and maybe it was as a child he first said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  As a shepherd, David became not only a strong man who was able to protect and defend his sheep from dangerous enemies but he grew strong in his faith learning to trust God to be with him in those difficult and dangerous situations.  It was his time as a shepherd which helps us understand what David was able to do a few years later as a teenager.
When David was about 14 or 15 years old the people of Israel were at war with the Philistines and the armies were in a standoff.  On one side of the Valley of Elah stood the Philistines and on the other side stood the armies of Israel and one day a giant of a man from the Philistine side came down and challenged the people of Israel.  He said that Israel should send out their best warrior for a winner take all battle.  This giant of a man was known as… (Goliath).  For 40 days Goliath came out and taunted Israel and for 40 days the men of Israel just stood around looking at one another to see if anyone would go out to fight.  No one would.

One day Jesse sent David up to the front lines of battle with food for his sons and when he arrived he heard Goliath taunting the people and he wondered why no one was going out to fight him.  David finally said that if no one else would go, he would and so he stepped out to face Goliath.  Now what do you think David was doing as he walked into the valley to face this giant of a man?  What would you be doing?  I’d be praying and maybe David was praying Psalm 27:1-3.  Or maybe this was the moment that inspired David to write these words.

You might know the rest of this story.  David takes a stone and places it in his sling shot and with one well placed toss he takes down Goliath.  David is honored and celebrated after this victory and things go well for him but he is not yet the king so the current king, Saul, is jealous and begins to try and destroy David.  For many years Saul chases David who fled into the remote areas of Israel hiding out in caves and crying out to God.  None of this makes sense to David.  He had been chosen and anointed King decades ago but was being hunted down by Saul and so David’s prayers are full of questions and complaints like this: Psalm 59:1-8.

David finally becomes King of Judah at the age of 30 and King of all Israel when he is 37 and life becomes very good for David.  He is successful in battle and the kingdom of Israel grows rich and strong, but over the course of time, David becomes content and complacent.  One spring, instead of going out to war with his troops, David sends his men out while he stays home and it is during this time that David gives in to temptation and breaks two of the 10 Commandments.  First he covets his neighbor’s wife and then he commits adultery.  When the woman, Bathsheba, becomes pregnant and there is no way David can deny what has happened he tries to cover up his actions and when that doesn’t work he has Bathsheba’s husband killed so David can look like the good and honorable man and bring Bathsheba into his home to care for her and her child.

David thinks that he has successfully covered up all his actions until the prophet Nathan comes to him and asks how he thinks he can keep all of this from God.  While no one else may know the truth of what David has done, God makes it clear that He does and that He is not happy.  David is broken when he realizes how far he has fallen and how much he has failed in his relationship with God and his people and in the darkness of his sin and sorrow David writes a psalm or a prayer to God.  Psalm 51:1-5

This is a prayer that many of us have perhaps read and prayed ourselves when we have found ourselves in a place where the reality of our sin and failure is clear to us.  It’s a powerful prayer because it not only acknowledges our sin and brokenness but it asks God for grace and mercy.  Psalm 51:10-12

What is so powerful about this prayer is that it not only acknowledges our raw human experience but it gives us the hope of being forgiven and washed clean.  It’s a prayer of real life and human experience which not only gives us a voice before God but offers us grace and peace in the moments we need it most.

God did forgive David and continued to bless him as king, but the rest of David’s life was filled with these same kinds of highs and lows.  David was blessed with many children, but at times those children battled among themselves and even battled their father.  David had to flee his own kingdom at one point when one of his sons tried to take over, but God once again restored David as king.
What we see from David’s life are periods of sin and struggle where David would cry out to God in pain, anger and frustration and periods of calm where David could see the fullness of God’s grace, presence and power.  In many ways the full range of human emotion and experience are seen in David’s life and in each phase of his life we not only see that David prayed but we have those prayers and what David’s life experience and prayers teach us is that no matter what we are going through it is ok to pray using very human words and expressing very human emotions.

If we are angry, we can pray.  If we are broken, we can pray.  If we are happy and victorious, we can pray.  If we are defeated and depressed we can pray.   In every season and in every situation we can pray and the psalms provide us with words and images and actual prayers that can deepen and expand our prayers and life.

By looking at both David’s life and his prayers, the author Walter Bruggeman has said that there are 3 phases we go through in life.  There are times of Orientation when things are going well, but they don’t last forever and problems come which leads to periods of Disorientation.  These periods also don’t last forever and in time God lifts us up and moves us into a season of Reorientation.  If we place them on a circle we see what this flow and rhythm of life looks like and we can see it clearly at work in the life of David.

As a child, David was announced as king and spent years growing in his faith and trust in God.  Things were good for David and his psalms and prayers reflected that.  This was a time of orientation and we see what this is like from
Psalm 1
Psalm 8:1-4
Psalm 33:6-16

We all go through seasons where things are going well and we are generally happy and thankful and learn a lot about God and how God works and we grow in our faith and celebrate what God is doing.

But then trouble comes and this leads to a period of disorientation.  Maybe it is when disease enters our lives or affects our loved ones.   Maybe it is a job loss and season of unemployment.  Maybe it is a period of depression or despair where it is a struggle each day to just get up and get going.  Maybe it is a time like David where he was confronted by the reality and consequences of his own sin.  During these times of disorientation our prayers might be dark, somber or even angry.
Psalm 13:1-4
Psalm 22:1-2

But these seasons give way to times of reorientation when the darkness lifts and we are able to see the light and the hope that God provides.
Psalm 30:1-3,
Psalm 23:4-5.

This season can lead us to a place of new orientation and life but what often happens is that we get content or complacent here and in time problems come and we move to another season of disorientation and then God brings us out of that into a period of reorientation and so this cycle continues over and over again through our lives.

Being human means that we go through this circle of seasons and follow these rhythms or orientations and most of us might be able to place ourselves somewhere in this cycle today.  In fact, I want to encourage you to think about where you might be on this circle because where we place ourselves might determine how the psalms can help us pray.  Here’s how it works.  If you are in a season of orientation, then the psalms of orientation might be where we find our voice and as we read these psalms they resonate with our life and spirit.  As we read these psalms they can give new depth and insight to our lives of prayer.

If we are going through a period of disorientation, those psalms and prayers might give us permission to be very real with God.  These psalms include a full range of emotions including anger, frustration, brokenness and pain and as we read them they allow us to be more honest with God then we have ever been before.  When we come out of that darkness we see once again the power and grace of God at work in our lives and it is here that the psalms of reorientation might help us express our incredible thanks and appreciation for who God is and what God has done for us.

In the next steps we have provided for you psalms in each of these  seasons so that if we can identify where we are in life we might be able to find songs, prayers and statements of life and faith that might resonate with where we are.  Again, I would encourage you to do jut that; identify where you are in life and faith and explore the full range of human emotion and experience we find in the psalms and use those prayers to deepen and expand your own prayer life.  Sometimes we get stagnant in our prayers and find ourselves using the same words and phrases over and over again, but if we are willing to use these prayers of David, we might find new expressions of faith and trust that will expand our prayers and enrich our lives.

Let me share some final comments about using the psalms in our prayer life.  One thing to remember is that we don’t have to use an entire psalm in our prayers.  Sometimes it will just be a verse or two that will speak to us and it’s ok to use just those verses.  Jesus did this.  When Jesus was on the cross he used just a few verses of Psalm 22:1 in his prayers.  It’s good to read the entire psalm because sometimes the psalms of disorientation end with words of faith and trust we need to hear that but they may not be words we are ready to pray.

It’s also important for us to understand that the psalms of disorientation sometimes called for vengeance and violence against our enemies with some very strong words.  While we might feel this way at times, we need to remember that Jesus calls us to move beyond those feelings to places of grace and mercy for our enemy so while it is completely ok to say to God that this is how we feel, we also need to ask God to lead us to the place where He wants us to be, and that might be a place where we offer forgiveness to those who stand against us.

The life and words of David teach us that being human in important in our prayers.  No matter what we might be thinking or feeling, the psalms give us permission to be real before God and share with him our raw emotions, the important thing for us is to always keep reading and moving to the place where God wants us to be.  David did this.  David not only kept moving, he kept praying and he kept reading and writing his prayers.  So when David finally came to the end of his life, he may have ended where he began, with the understanding that the Lord was his shepherd each and every day.

Would you join me this most familiar and powerful psalm of David:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters. 
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell] in the house of the LORD Forever




Next Steps
Prayer Part 2 ~ Being Human

1. Read the following Psalms this week and consider how to use them in your life of prayer.
• Monday – Psalm 84:1-12
• Tuesday – Psalm 145: 1-13
• Wednesday – Psalm 9:1-10
• Thursday – Psalm 31:1-5
• Friday – Psalm 22:1-11
• Saturday – Psalm 130:1-8
• Sunday – Psalm 23


2. We all cycle through times of Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation.  Identify where you might be in this cycle and allow the following Psalms to lead you in your prayers.

Orientation
Psalm 1, 8, 14
33, 37, 104, 111
112, 119, 131
133, 145


Disorientation
Psalm 13, 22, 32
35, 50, 51, 73, 74
79, 81, 86, 88, 130
137, 143

Reorientation
Psalm 23, 27, 30
34, 40, 65, 66, 91
100, 103, 113, 117
124, 135, 138, 150


3. While David was a faithful man, he was also flawed and the full range of human emotions and experiences can be seen in him and his prayers.  What human emotion or experience do you have a difficult time bringing before God?  How can the psalms help you do this more faithfully?


4. If nothing else, David’s life reminds us that God is always willing to give us another chance.  Thank God this week for the second chance He is giving you and ask Him to help you make the most of it.

Prayer Part 2 ~ Being Thankful

For the six weeks leading up to Easter we learned how to strengthen our prayer life by looking at what Jesus taught about prayer and how and when He prayed, but Jesus is not the only biblical leader who can teach us about prayer. For the next couple weeks we are going to look at what three other Biblical leaders and pillars of our faith have to teach us about prayer, King David, the Prophet Elijah and the early church leader, the Apostle Paul.  Each man was called by God for a very unique task and each of them had a rich prayer life and their habits and teaching on prayer have something important to say to us today.  This week we are going to start with Paul.

Paul began his life as Saul and he was a strong Jewish leader.  He was an outstanding student who became an important Pharisee and leader in the synagogue at the time of Jesus.  After Jesus’ resurrection when the early Christian church experienced tremendous growth, Saul saw this movement of Jesus as a threat to the Jewish people and traditions so he began to try and stop the spread of their message.  At the end of Acts 7 Paul gives the ok for the people to stone a follower of Jesus named Stephen and then he goes on the road to Damascus to round up more leaders in the early Christian Church to arrest and execute them.

It is along this road to Damascus that Saul is struck to the ground by a light that blinds him and through that light hears the words of Jesus who asks Saul why he is persecuting him.  After Saul has his sight restored by Ananias, a follower of Jesus, he immediately accepts Jesus as the Messiah, is baptized and commits himself to following Jesus.  To mark this change, Saul changes his name to Paul and becomes the most outspoken leader in the Christian Church.  Paul was chosen by God to take the message of Jesus to the Gentile world which took Christianity from being just a sect within Judaism to becoming its own religion.  Paul also wrote 13 of the books we find in the New Testament and in those writings he has a lot to say about how we live our faith and how to pray.    If there is one word that could summarize Paul’s understanding of prayer it would be this – THANKSGIVING.

Paul lived and taught the importance of being thankful and we see this clearly in all but one of his letters to the churches.  In Paul’s letter to the Romans, Corinthians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Ephesians and Philippians he begins by giving thanks.  Look at Ephesians 1:15-16 and Philippians 1:3-8

So Paul gave thanks to God constantly not matter what the circumstances were and he also teaches us to be thankful.  Look at Colossians 2:6-7 and 3:15-17

For Paul, being thankful is just a natural part of life and faith and prayer and he shows us and teaches us that being thankful is what it means to follow Jesus.  We hear this again in Philippians 4:6-7.
So we are to bring all our prayers to God with thanksgiving.  Whether it is something good or bad we are to always pray with thanksgiving.  Now being thankful when things are going well is easy, what’s hard is to be truly thankful when we are stressed, anxious or in trouble but this message of being thankful always aren’t just words for Paul, he knew what he was talking about.  Paul found help and strength and peace by being thankful during difficult times and his example shows us that we can overcome our own anxiety, fear and stress by being thankful.

Because Paul was such an outspoken leader he was arrested multiple times for sharing his faith.  At one point Paul and his friend, Silas, where in prison because they wouldn’t stop talking about Jesus.  After being flogged they were thrown into a prison cell where it says they started to pray, but they weren’t crying out to God in frustration, anger or doubt, it says that they were praising God and singing hymns.  I invite you to read this whole story in Acts 16 this week, but look at what it says in Acts 16:25-27.

At their lowest point they are still giving thanks and singing hymns and they teach us that even when everything is working against us, we can still be thankful.  In fact, it is often when we are at our lowest and most difficult places in life that we need to remain thankful because it is in those moments that we bear the greatest witness to our faith.  When we go through difficult times, people watch us.  People who know we are men and women of faith watch to see how we will handle our situations.  Is our faith real?  Does faith really help people in times of need?  Will we still trust in the God we say we love and believe in?  Paul and Silas did.  In prison they were trusting God and making that known and it says the other prisoners were listening.  They were looking to see what Paul and Silas would do and so with that opportunity to witness to their faith Pal and Silas were thankful and sang praises to God.

But it wasn’t just to give witness that Paul chose to be thankful in this situation; he could do it because he had learned through his life that God would work to bring something good out of every terrible situation.  Paul shares this truth with us in Romans 8:28.  So when bad things happened, Paul just looked for an opportunity to see how God could turn it into something good.  In prison Paul had an opportunity to share his faith with prisoners who he would never meet otherwise so he sings praises so that they could hear and see his faith.  In time Paul shared the truth of Jesus with the jailor who that night placed his faith and trust in God.  So Paul flipped this situation and turned the bad into something good, and in the process – God set him free – the chains fell off and the doors to the prison opened.  Paul knew that God could turn around any situation and bring something good from it which is why he could give thanks even in bad situations.  At one point Paul even says, to live is Christ but to die is gain.  So even in death we find something good, eternal life, so whether he lives or dies Paul is at peace and can be thankful.

It is because of this attitude and faith that Paul can boldly teach about prayer and that brings us to the verses for today, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and I’d like us to say this together.

So for Paul, prayer and begin thankful went hand in hand.  When we pray we need to give thanks to God because God is always working for His good and brings about His perfect will.  The other thing we need to understand about being thankful in prayer is that it really does make a difference in our lives here and now and can improve our lives today - scientific studies have proved this many times.
Several years ago a study was done which showed that people who specifically gave thanks before they went to sleep at night slept better and woke up more refreshed than those who didn’t.  It makes sense, doesn’t it?   If we give thanks and fill our mind with positive things then we are less anxious, our bodies and minds relax and we sleep better.  Even if or for some of us when we wake up during the night, if we remain thankful we will be less stressed and fall back to sleep faster.  Studies continue to tell us how important sleep is to our overall health and mental health so if we want to be healthier we need to sleep better and to sleep better we need to be thankful.

Brene Brown, who is a researcher and the author of the wonderful book Daring Greatly, says that she has found such a strong link between being thankful and our experiencing joy in life that she has made a commitment as a researcher to never talk about joy or happiness without taking about gratitude.  She believes strongly that giving thanks helps bring a sense of wholeness to our lives and so we simply are happier and healthier when we are thankful, but her research went to show that it wasn’t just an attitude of being thankful that made a difference it was the spiritual practices of expressing our thanks that mattered.  She found that people and families that practiced things like gratitude journals or gratitude jars where you write down the things you are thankful for every day is what made the difference.

One of the points Brene Brown makes and I think the Apostle Paul would agree with is that if we want to become thankful we have to cultivate gratitude.  Children do not learn to say thank you on their own.  Studies have shown that children are 4 times more likely to spontaneously say “hi” and “bye” than they are to say “thank you”.  If you are a parent or have ever worked with children you know this.  We have to teach our children to say thank you.  As a parent what is it that you have to say to your child over and over again when they are given a gift or a compliment?  What do you say?   We have to teach children to be thankful which means we need to teach ourselves to be thankful.  It is not always a natural response but it can be if we will cultivate the practice.

When we work at being thankful so it becomes a natural part of who we are our health and overall happiness improves, but our relationships can improve as well.  Marriages can improve when spouses learn how to be thankful for their partners.  When people get married many think the relationship is going to be wonderful, but it doesn’t take long to realize that your spouse isn’t perfect and if you focus on their faults, you could find any number of reasons to walk out on the relationship, but if we can focus on what is positive and learn to thank God for the good we see in our spouses then relationships improve and we realize the blessing of marriage.

The same is true for our families.  Children and students out there, if every day you can learn to give thanks for what you see in your parents, the relationship you have with your mom and dad will improve.  They will still drive you crazy, but you will also begin to understand how crazy in love they are with you and appreciate what they bring to your life.  Parents, the same is true with your teens.  Families will grow stronger if we learn to be thankful and practice routines of giving thanks for one another.

Jobs can also improve when we stop looking at the negatives and start being thankful.  I worked in Yellowstone National Park one summer and for half that summer I hated my job.  I worked in the kitchen and just didn’t like it so I kept trying to get another job.  I finally got another job and you know what – it was worse.  So I had to humble myself and ask for my old job back, which they gave me and once I was back in the kitchen I was grateful for all that I had and once I started being thankful for washing dishes and flipping burgers - my life got better.

We all end up in jobs we don’t like and you might be in one right now, but instead of looking at all the ways the job is driving us crazy and making us miserable, we need to give thanks for what we have and find the opportunities God is giving us.  It might just be that by giving thanks through the struggles that at some point God will set us free from that job and bring us another one – but until that day comes we need to be thankful for the opportunities God has given.

The one truth about prayer that Paul teaches and shows us again and again is that we need to be thankful.  Being thankful can improve our lives.  Being thankful can strengthen and heal relationships.  Being thankful can open our eyes to the opportunities God has placed in front of us.  Being thankful through the dark and difficult days we face gives us strength until the light shines again.  Being thankful can bring us peace because we know that God is working in every situation to bring about something good.  So (will you say it again with me), Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 
Next Steps
Prayer Part 2 ~ Being Thankful

We could summarize Paul’s teaching on prayer in one word:
THANKSGIVING.

1.  Each day explore an example of Paul’s practice of or teaching on prayer:
• Acts 16:16-34
• 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
• Ephesians 1:15-23
• Philippians 1:1-11, 4:4-13
• Colossians 2:6-7, 3:15-17
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
• Philemon 4-7


2. If you are going through a difficult time, how can God flip it to bring about something good?  (See Romans 8:28)


3.  Each day practice being thankful by finding specific things to thank God for in these different areas.  Pick one per day.
• Marriage or significant relationships
• Family (children / parents / siblings)
• Jobs
• Neighbors
• Friends
• The Church
• Your own life (health, faith, gifts, talents…)


4. Each night before you go to sleep, identify 5 things from that day for which you can give thanks.  Say “thank you” to God for these things.

Their eyes were opened

You have to wonder what it was about the resurrected Jesus that made him look so different that people who knew and loved him weren’t able to recognize him when he appeared.  Mary didn’t recognize Jesus when she saw him in the garden – she thought he was a gardener and asked him where they had moved Jesus’ body.  Here on the road to Emmaus two followers of Jesus who clearly loved and were devoted to him didn’t recognize Jesus as he walked and talked with them for an entire afternoon.  Why didn’t these people who loved Jesus so much recognize him?  What kept them from seeing Jesus?  Maybe the more important question is what keeps us from seeing Jesus?

Jesus has promised to be with us always and so what is it that keeps us from seeing him as part of our lives?  What is it that keeps us from seeing Jesus at work in the world?  Maybe what keeps us from seeing Jesus is the very same thing that kept these first followers from seeing Jesus and it wasn’t what Jesus looked like, it was the eyes through which they were seeing.

These disciples didn’t recognize Jesus because they were looking through their own doubt, disappointment and despair.  They said that they had hoped Jesus was the one who was going to redeem Israel.  They had hoped he was going to be the Messiah and the one who would lead them out from under the oppression of Rome and into the kingdom of God.  They had hoped, but now they were disappointed and disillusioned because things hadn’t turned out the way they hoped they would.
They were also filled with doubt.  They doubted the message of the women who said that angels had told them that Jesus was alive.  If these two had believed that message they would not have chosen to leave Jerusalem.  They would have stayed with the other disciples to see what was going to happen next, but they didn’t stay.  They were on their way home, disappointed that Jesus hadn’t been the Messiah, disillusioned that the kingdom he talked about hadn’t come and filled with doubt about him being alive.  They were defeated and in despair and that is what kept them from seeing Jesus.

What often keeps us from seeing Jesus at work in our lives and present in our world is our own sense of disappointment, doubt and defeat.  When our own lives don’t turn out the way we hoped they would, our disappointment leads us to ask, where is Jesus?  When we see violence, injustice and persecution of Christians in the world we become disillusioned and wonder if the power of Christ is at work in the world today?  Maybe we have been disappointed and disillusioned by the church and have come up feeling empty in the one place we thought we would feel fulfilled.  Maybe we simply doubt that a man named Jesus every lived, died and rose again or doubt that a God who could bring Jesus back from the dead could really love me.  Maybe it is all of these things combined that has filled our hearts and minds with despair so that even if Jesus was standing in front us in bodily form we would not recognize him.

What keeps us from seeing Jesus today are the very same things that kept Mary and these two disciples from seeing Jesus, a combination of doubt, disillusionment and defeat but notice that Jesus doesn’t leave them in their despair, he walked and talked with them until their eyes were opened.  God didn’t leave them in their despair and God doesn’t leave us in ours either.  Jesus keeps walking and talking with us to open our eyes and the eyes of our heart and this story shows us what we can do to help open our eyes.

The first thing we can do is turn to scripture, look at Luke 24:27.  Jesus began to open their eyes by helping them see what the Messiah was all about from the scriptures.  He went back to Moses and walked them through all the Old Testament and showed them what was said about the Messiah and how everything God said about the Messiah happened in Jesus.  Jesus used the word of God to open their eyes and their hearts and God still uses his word to help us see Jesus and the presence and power of God in the world today.

I cannot emphasize enough how important the study of scripture is to our ability to see Jesus in our lives and in our world.  Studies continue to show that the reading and reflection of Scripture is the most vital tool in faith development and that is exactly what we see here.  Jesus didn’t jump up and down saying here I am, he took these disciples back to God’s word and through the scriptures helped them see that God was with them – literally.  The Bible itself says that God’s word is living and active which means that when we read it, it does something in us.  God’s word helps us see God at work throughout history and God at work today.  So if we want to see Jesus in our lives or in our world, the place to start is in a Bible Study, Small Group or Sunday School Class.

The second thing these disciples did that helped them see Jesus was they invited Jesus to stay.  When they did this, the first thing they were doing was being obedient to God’s word because God told his people to welcome the stranger.  Leviticus 19:34.  This was a call to treat the stranger as you would your own family.  You were to care for them and offer them food and lodging.  God told his people to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter. (Isaiah 58:17)

When the disciples invitee this man to stay with them for the evening they were faithfully living out God’s word and the more we live out the word of God, the more our eyes and hearts are opened to see Jesus and the power of God in the world, but that’s not all that happened.  When they invited this man to stay with them, they were inviting God in the flesh, the Messiah, to be with them and he stayed.  Any invitation we make to Jesus to be part of our lives is an invitation he will take us up on.  When we invite Jesus into our lives – he enters.  When we invite him into our hearts – he enters.  When we invite him into our homes and families – he enters.  Jesus said that whenever we open the door to him or invite him in that he will come in and eat with us.  Revelation 3:20.  If we invite Jesus into our lives – he will come and stay and when he does he overcomes our doubt, disappointment and despair so that we can see him.

While hearing the scriptures, faithfully living them out and inviting Jesus to stay all helped these disciples see Jesus, what finally opened their eyes was Jesus taking bread, blessing it, breaking it and giving it to them to eat.  Now, these two disciples were not at Jesus’ last supper so we can’t assume that these actions of Jesus reminded them of that event, but they were familiar.  Jesus had blessed and given people bread enough times that these actions were familiar.  He fed crowds, he was invited to dinners, he ate with his followers and as the leader it was most likely Jesus who gave thanks and broke and gave out the bread.  This was a familiar act that included familiar words.  These were moments of worship and family and faith and in these simple moments they saw Jesus.

It is often in simple moments of worship, family and faith that we see Jesus.  For us as a church, it is in the breaking of bread, in times of communion, that we can see Jesus.  But it might also be times of prayer or singing.  It might be saying grace as a family before you eat or just walking into church on a Sunday morning that we see Jesus and feel the power of God’s presence.  Simple moments of worship, family and faith open our hearts to the presence of God and so we need to attend to these moments and make them an ongoing part of our lives.  It is regular worship that opens our eyes.  It is the habit of prayer and family traditions that open our hearts to the presence of God and so we need to commit ourselves to these moments and this way of life.  The disciples were able to see Jesus because they had put themselves in similar places with him many times before and we will see Jesus if we will put ourselves in simple places where we can see him.

What overcomes our doubt, disappointment and despair is Scripture, inviting Jesus stay with us and simple moments of worship, faith and family.  Giving ourselves to this way of life will open our eyes and the eyes of our heart so that we can see Jesus.  It may not come instantly – these disciples show us it might be a journey, a process – but if we commit ourselves to these things, we will see him.

But it wasn’t just a familiar act that opened their eyes, it was also an act of service.   They finally saw Jesus as he was serving them, literally breaking and giving them the bread.  What helped them see Jesus was Jesus serving them and what helps us see Jesus is when the body of Christ serves which means one way we can help others see Jesus is by serving them.  We are the hands and feet and voice of Jesus and when we serve someone we are giving them the opportunity to see Jesus.  When we feed the hungry, clothe the naked or invite the stranger in, we not only see Jesus but we are helping others see him.  Serving others is one way we reveal the living Jesus to the world.

A few years ago when we set up serving our seniors, the goal wasn’t just to help those in need in our community – that is important, but it wasn’t our goal.  The goal was to get the entire Church serving in one event because we believe that by serving together will reveal to the community the living presence of Jesus Christ.  When we help our neighbors their eyes are opened.  Their neighbors’ eyes are opened, the hearts of their families are opened and people see Jesus.  So while the service and help we provide to our seniors is important and is one way we faithfully live out scripture, serving together as the body of Christ in the community also helps all those who live in Bellefonte see Jesus.

I want to invite you today to not only live a life where God can open your eyes, but live in a way to help open the eyes and hearts of others.  We have included a response sheet in the bulletin to make it easy for you to sign up for this event.  If we can come together as the body of Christ to serve, not only will our eyes and hearts be opened to see Jesus, but we will help open the eyes and hearts of others.


Next Steps
Their Eyes Were Opened


1.  What is keeping you from seeing Jesus?  Can you be specific and name it?

• Doubt:_________________________________
• Disappointment:__________________________
• Despair:________________________________
• Other:__________________________________


2.  What can you do in each of these areas to help you see Jesus?
• Scripture: reading and reflection
• Invitation to Jesus to stay in your life
• Commitment to worship
• Living out of faith in simple and obedient ways


3. How can you help others see Jesus?


Serving our Seniors is one way that Faith Church has made a commitment to showing Jesus Christ to our community.  As we come together as the body of Christ on April 25 to serve others, we are giving everyone an opportunity to see Jesus.  Please join us in this important work of the church by filling out the commitment sheet found in the bulletin.  

He Is Not Here

It is hard for us on Easter when we come together saying, Christ is Risen (Christ is Risen Indeed) to think about what it must have been like for Mary, Peter, John and the rest of Jesus’ disciples.  They didn’t know the end of the story – they only knew what had happened in the past 72 hours.  Jesus had been arrested and condemned to die by both the religious leaders and the Roman government.  He was led out of the city carrying a cross and on a hill just outside Jerusalem Jesus was nailed to that cross and died.

His disciples had all failed him.  Each one ran away when Jesus needed him the most.  Personally, and as a band of followers, they had let Jesus down and they were all feeling defeated and demoralized and so when the sun rose on the first day of the week there wasn’t any hope or possibility.  The sunrise wasn’t a sign of hope was the reminder that the disciples faced another day of defeat.  When the women went to the tomb with spices it was to prepare the body of Jesus for its final burial.  No one was feeling good that day.  No one was celebrating and so it’s hard for us to imagine what it must have been like for them to see the tomb and realize that He was not there.  

The truth is that many people that day had to wrestle with the reality of the message – He is not here – and think through what was going on.  If Jesus wasn’t here –where is he?  What happened to him?  Before Jesus appeared to his disciples later in the day, the minds and imaginations of the disciples must have been spinning trying to make sense out of an empty tomb.  Even after Mary said she had seen Jesus, they must have wondered if the impossible could be true and Jesus was alive, or was Mary just seeing things because she was in so much grief and pain.  I can picture the disciples gathered together saying to themselves if he is not here, then where is he?

I can imagine the roman soldiers who were supposed to watch the tomb saying, he is not here.  Then asking, where is he?  I can imagine the religious leaders hearing the news of an empty tomb and asking one another –where is he?  I can hear Pontius Pilate and Herod asking their attendants who brought them the news of an empty tomb - where is he?  Throughout history people have been asking that very same question.  If the tomb was empty and Jesus was not there, then where is he?

Maybe you have asked yourself that same question.  If the tomb were Jesus was laid after he died was empty, did he really rise from the dead?  Can we place our faith and trust in a Savior who died and then rose again?  The truth is we can, and while faith and trust will always be a part of our believing in the resurrection of Jesus, there is a lot of evidence and sound reasoning that can undergird this faith.  The year I graduated from HS, a great book was first published by Josh McDowell called The Resurrection Factor, and while the book might be a few years old (OK 34 years old!), the facts don’t change and the historical evidence still supports the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I want to share with you some of the ideas Josh lays out because it is important for us to understand what we believe about Jesus and to know that our faith rests on sound evidence.  The first thing we know beyond any doubt is that there was a man named Jesus who lived in Palestine about 2000 years ago and he died on a cross outside of Jerusalem.  We know this because it is recorded in the historical records kept by Josephus who was not a Christian but a Roman-Jewish historian.  Most scholars accept as historical fact his statements about Jesus the Messiah being a wise teacher who was crucified by Pilate.  Josephus would have interviewed and spoken to eyewitnesses and so his information is reliable.

So we know there was a man named Jesus who was crucified by Pilate and we know from the records of his followers (which we call the New Testament) that the tomb Jesus was placed in after he died was found empty three days later, but what evidence do we have that Jesus rose from the dead?  To answer that, let’s ask another question.  If Jesus died and the tomb was empty, then where was Jesus?  What happened to his body?  The first theory that surfaced we actually find in the Bible.  Look at Matthew 28:11-15.
From the very beginning there were those who believed Jesus had not risen from the dead and so explained the empty tomb in other ways, like the disciples stole Jesus’ body.  Now if that were true, then everything the disciples said about Jesus rising from the dead and appearing to them several times and giving them his spirit and power was a lie.  But why would the disciples lie if they knew their story could get them killed.  If the Roman officials had crucified Jesus they could just as easily crucify his followers for proclaiming Jesus was alive and stirring up the crowds.  The disciples put themselves in a very dangerous position and it doesn’t make any sense for them to take that chance and risk their lives for something they knew was a lie.

There is also no way the disciples could have stolen the body without the guards who were posted at the tomb knowing about it.  The stones in front of the tombs don’t roll away easily, quickly or silently so even if the guard had fallen asleep or taken a break, there is no way they could have gotten into the tomb and taken the body without the guards noticing.  So this theory just doesn’t hold up.

So the disciples stealing Jesus’ body doesn’t make sense, but what if the Roman authorities moved Jesus’ body.   Perhaps Pilate was concerned about the followers of Jesus taking his body for some purpose so he had the body moved during the night.  If that were true, it would have been easy for the Roman officials to produce the body of Jesus and stop the story of Jesus’ resurrection.  Nothing would have stopped the news of his resurrection more powerfully than the body of Jesus wrapped in grave clothes.  But the Roman officials never did that.  For all the early years that the Christian church grew on the basis of Jesus’ resurrection and challenged Rome’s authority, the Roman officials never produced a body which tells us they didn’t have the body.  They never moved it.

Another theory that surfaced was that the women went to the wrong tomb.  Through all their grief and sorrow, maybe they had just made a mistake.  While I always found this hard to believe, after being in Israel, I really find it hard to believe.  While Jerusalem was a large city and it was filled with many people because of the Passover, it was not so large or congested that the women didn’t know which tomb Jesus was laid in.  The women loved Jesus and they waited at the cross until he died and they watched Joseph of Arimathea take the body down and they followed to see where he was laid.  There is no conceivable way that all the disciples went to the wrong tomb and even if they had, Joseph who owned the tomb or the Roman’s who were watching the tomb would have quickly sent them to the right tomb.  But they never did.  They all went to the right tomb and the stone had been rolled away and the body was not there.

Some people have also put forth the idea that Jesus wasn’t there because Jesus never really died.  This theory says that Jesus was close to death when they took him off the cross but not really dead so after three days of cool temperatures and rest he was revived and from the inside of the tomb, rolled the stone away and walked away to live a quiet solitary life.  You might already begin to see the problems with this theory.  When we think of all Jesus suffered before his crucifixion and the weakened state of his body when taken off the cross, it is not possible to think that Jesus could have just gotten stronger on his own and then rolled a huge stone away from the opening of the grave from the inside.

Think of all Jesus had experienced leading up to his crucifixion.  He had been flogged and beaten causing significant loss of blood and fluid.  Nails had been driven into his hands and feet and his side had been pierced and when the water and blood out it tells us that they had pierced Jesus’ lungs.  Experts on Roman crucifixion say there is no way Jesus could have simply passed out on the cross and then woken up in the tomb three days later and rolled the stone away.  The Romans were too good at executions to allow this to happen.

So Jesus body wasn’t stolen or moved and he didn’t pass out on the cross and then wake up later 3 days later and walk away.  Those theories just don’t hold up, but they also don’t give us any positive evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and is alive.  Beyond the testimony of the eyewitnesses who shared what they saw with others, even under the threat of death, there is compelling evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead and is alive.  

Let’s go back to the disciples.  After Jesus died and was laid in the tomb they were humiliated and defeated.  They not only lost their leader, they had failed him completely and were dealing with a lot of guilt and shame.  After Jesus dead, the disciples were literally hiding from the Roman officials and religious leaders behind locked doors.  They were terrified.  To be known as a follower of Jesus in the religious and political climate of Jerusalem was suicide and so they hid, until they saw Jesus.  The risen and living Jesus changed the disciples almost instantly and Jesus changed them forever.

The night Jesus was arrested, Peter had been so afraid of a servant girl that he lied to her and those around her and said he didn’t even know who Jesus was and then a few weeks later Peter was standing in the streets of Jerusalem preaching that Jesus had risen from the dead and was the Messiah.  Ordinary fishermen were willing to sacrifice their lives and commit themselves to hardship and persecution to proclaim that Jesus had not only risen from dead but that they had seen him, eaten with him and felt his physical touch and presence after the resurrection.  The evidence we have that Jesus is alive is that lives were changed by the risen and living Jesus.

But it wasn’t just lives in Jerusalem 2000 years ago that were changed, lives have been changing for 2000 years which tells us that Jesus has been alive and present in our world since that first Easter and lives today are still being changed by the risen Jesus which means that Jesus is still alive today.  Now the reason I can say that lives today are still being changed is because my life was changed by the risen Jesus.

While I grew up in the church and always believed in God, when I was in college I began to think a lot more about Jesus and who he was and what he did and if he was alive and real and present in my life.  Some doubts and struggles I had caused me to dig deeper and what I can say with certainty is that the risen Jesus made a difference in my life.  Jesus changed me.  Before Jesus I had no real direction and bounced around from major to another, one life path to another and then after the living Jesus entered my life I had a clearer sense of direction and purpose and it wasn’t to a major or career but to a calling to serve the risen Christ.  I was changed.

After 20+ years of being impatient and throwing temper tantrums, Jesus gave me a sense of patience that to this day still doesn’t seem possible for me.  Before Jesus I was timid and shy and would have never stood up in front of anyone to speak.  In fact, in 5th grade I was too scared to stand up and say my line in the Christmas pageant at church and it was just two words – no room.  Today you can’t get me to stop talking in church.  Something changed me and as I look at my life I can say the change has been because of a living Jesus.

I have also seen Jesus change people and bring healing and hope to those who had been living in despair.  I have seen people give up everything to follow a new path in life after coming to Jesus, I have seen people forgive and give in unbelievable ways after accepting Jesus.  Jesus is making a difference in people’s lives today and that’s because he is alive.  He was not there in the tomb because he is here today and Jesus is here do the very same thing he did on that first resurrection day.  Jesus is here to offer forgiveness for our failures and give us a second or third or fourth chance.  Jesus is here to heal our hearts and lives, restore relationships and give us hope for the future.  Jesus is here to give us courage to live a new life He has for us and to help us embark on a new mission to change the world.

2000+ years ago the disciples stood in an empty tomb and said, He is not here so that today in a church in Bellefonte we could say, He IS here.  And we know he is here because he has changed our lives and we are looking for him to change more lives.  The evidence we have of the resurrection is not just the eyewitness testimonies that have stood up to scrutiny through the centuries, but the real change that can be found in our lives when we allow the living Christ to enter our hearts and our lives.

I want to invite you today to allow God to give you all the evidence you need to believe that Jesus is alive and that evidence is your changed life.  Jesus is alive and here today with the same power that overcame sin, death and the grave and it is that power that can overcome doubt, fear and any hold that sin has upon us.  Jesus is here to take the darkness of the cross and our graves and turn it into the beautiful color of life and hope and possibility. We can experience the power of the resurrection by asking Jesus to not just be here with us but to be here in us.  Today let us ask the risen Jesus who is with us to change us and heal us and fill us with new life.

Today we want to give you a gift to remind you that the Jesus is alive and with you.  It is a simple bookmark or ribbon full of color and life that reminds us that God transformed the dark and gloom of death on a cross into the color of resurrected life and eternal love.  It’s our prayer that this gift will remind you to ask God each day to do a work of transformation in our own hearts and lives and that through you and through the church God will change, heal and transform our world into His Kingdom.


Next Steps
He Is Not Here

1. Read and compare the different stories of the Jesus’ resurrection found in the four gospels:
• Matthew 28:1-29
• Mark 16:1-20
• Luke 24:1-53
• John 20 and 21
What does each story reveal to us about the resurrection of Jesus?  How are the similar and how are the different?

2. Think through for yourself how these theories of an empty tomb don’t make sense:
• The disciples stole Jesus’ body
• The Roman or religious authorizes move His body
• Jesus never died so after 3 days He just walked away
• The disciples went to the wrong tomb

3. The real evidence of the resurrection is a changed life.  How has the risen Jesus changed your life?  What changed lives have you seen that help you believe in the resurrection of Jesus?

4. How do you want the living Jesus to change your life?  What change can Jesus bring to your family?  Place of work?  Our community and world?

5.  Jesus is alive and with us.  Ask Jesus into your heart and life this day and every day with a simple prayer like this:
Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me enough to defeat my sin and death by rising from the dead.  I believe the empty tomb means that You are with me today to bring forgiveness and new life.  May the power of Your resurrection change my life so that I might experience the peace, power and purpose that comes when You are with me.  Step into my heart and life this day so I may live for You.  AMEN

From Prayer to Action

Through this season of Lent we have been talking about the prayer life of Jesus and we have learned about prayer by looking at when Jesus prayed, what he prayed and what he taught about prayer.  So it’s interesting to think about how much prayer was a part of this particular night of Jesus; life.  The Passover meal included several prayers of thanksgiving.  There was a Kadesh or a blessing which was recited at the beginning of the meal and then there were blessings said over the vegetables and the bread and as hands are washed. There were also prayers that went along with the different cups of wine that were part of the meal.  There were also prayers of praise said and sung throughout the meal and a prayer at the end.  The Passover meal was filled with prayers that thanked God for delivering the people from slavery in Egypt and celebrated the freedom God had given them and the greater freedom and deliverance that was to come.

So the Passover meal was filled with prayers and then as Jesus and his disciples left the upper room and made their way to the Garden of Gethsemane there were more prayers.  We heard on Sunday how Jesus prayed for strength to fulfill His purpose as the spotless lamb of God in the place where lambs had just been sacrificed, the Temple.  Jesus not only prayed for himself but he also prayed for his disciples and the church to come.  And then when they all arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed again.

In the garden Jesus poured out his heart and asked if there could be another way to accomplish God’s purpose.  Jesus knew the suffering and pain that came with the cross and so he prayed that there might be another way to do things, and yet in the end he yielded himself to God with the prayer, not my will but thy will be done.  Jesus not only prayed in the garden but he encouraged his disciples to watch and pray because the he knew the days to come were going to be difficult and they were going to need God’s strength and power.

So this final night of Jesus life was filled with prayer.  There were prayers of thanks and praise, prayers for strength and power, even prayers of anguish and pain.  There were lots of prayers but it wasn’t just prayer – all those prayers turned into action.  For Jesus, prayer was never just about words, feelings or emotions; it was about the living of life.  Prayer was about getting strength from God and putting that power into action and living a holy and faithful life and that is exactly what Jesus did.

While it wasn’t as spectacular as healing the sick, raising the dead  or walking on water, there was a lot of action in this final night of Jesus’ life.  Jesus served the Passover.  While he didn’t actually prepare the meal – he did work to get it organized and he was the one who led the disciples in the meal.  The Passover isn’t just about eating, it’s also about worship and helping people remember all God did to deliver his people.  

Jesus also continued to teach his disciples that night, in fact, the meal itself was a teachable moment.  In the Passover meal there are 4 cups of wine that are poured and each cup symbolizes something different.  The fist cup is known as the cup of sanctification and remembers God’s statement that He would bring his people out from under the burden of the Egyptians.

The second cup was known as a cup of judgment or deliverance and is based on God’s statement, “I will deliver you from slavery.”  As they drank from this cup the people would have remembered the plagues that God sent on the Egyptians as judgment for not letting God’s people go.  Even the red of the wine would have reminded them of the rivers that turned to blood and the death that came with the plagues.

The third cup was known as the cup of redemption and it was based on God’s statement, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”  It was when Jesus lifted up this cup that he added new words and meaning to what his disciples would have known.  It was here Jesus said, “This is my blood, the blood of a new covenant that has poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.  As often as you drink this, remember me.”  Jesus was teaching his disciples that it would be his blood that would redeem them.  It would be his outstretched arm that would save them.  He was the new Passover lamb.  The disciples didn’t understand it all because they don’t know that in a few hours it would be Jesus’ hand will be stretched out and nailed to a cross that would redeem them, but Jesus is telling them of actions to come.  So this prayer and teaching will soon become action.

The fourth cup in the meal is known as the cup of praise or restoration and is based on God’s statement, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.”  Some people believe it was this cup that Jesus didn’t drink from that night and wouldn’t drink from until God’s restoration of his people became a reality after the resurrection.  Jesus was looking ahead to his death and resurrection and he knew that it would be his actions that would restore people and so Jesus waits to drink from this cup until his words and prayers become reality.

So the meal was a not only a prayer but a teachable moment for Jesus where he talked about his actions to come.  These were not words for Jesus, he was telling them what was going to take place.  The Garden of Gethsemane was also a place where the prayers of Jesus become action because it was in the Garden that Jesus not only forgave his disciples but took the first step toward the cross.

Throughout his life Jesus taught about forgiveness and prayed for the power to forgive.  In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus said that we need to ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us.  These were not words for Jesus, this was action, in the garden Jesus was forgiving his disciples.  Jesus had asked his disciples to stay awake and watch with him, and yet three times they had failed him and each time Jesus finds them sleeping, he forgives them and gives them another chance.  Instead of condemning them and walking away, Jesus has compassion.  He shows his understanding by saying, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  Jesus knows their human limitations and so forgives their failure and gives them another chance, and another and even a third and every time they fail – Jesus forgives.  Jesus turned his prayer into action.

And then the final action of the night comes when Jesus stands firm in the face of Judas and the guards.  While he could have run or fought back, Jesus knew God’s purpose and plan was to go to the cross and so Jesus was willing to allow Judas to betray him with a kiss and be led away by the guards.  The prayers of Jesus to stand firm, to dink the cup of suffering that God had for him, to be glorified through the cross, were all turned to action when Jesus simply stood in place.  Sometimes our action is standing firm in our faith no matter what is going on around us.

So the prayers of Jesus throughout his life and through this final night were all turned into action, and all the action pointed to one thing – the cross.  The Passover lamb, the cup of redemption, the outstretched arm, the prayers for deliverance, the prayers for God to be glorified and for the strength to be faithful were all answered as Jesus stood still as Judas kissed him and the guards arrested him and led him on a path that led to the cross.  In all things turned prayer into action.

Can our prayers be turned into action?  Prayers that are just well intended words with no plans of following through on are empty and meaningless.  Each time we pray we have to be willing and ready to put our prayers into action and a great symbol of what this means for us is again found in the actions of Jesus on this holy night.  They are found right here in a simple basin and towel.  Whenever we pray we have to be willing to be part of the answer to that prayer.  When we pray for others we have to be willing to humble ourselves, place others first and find ways to reach out and help.

When we pray for healing, are we willing to offer healing and help to those in need?  It might be a visit or a call or a note of encouragement, but when we ask God to heal we have to be willing to be part of that healing process.  When we ask God to forgive us we have to be willing to forgive others.  Is there someone we need to forgive?  Is there someone we need to go to and ask them to forgive us?  Our prayers of forgiveness need to be turned into action.

When we pray for those who are in need among us, are we willing to give what we can and what we have to try and meet that need and be part of the solution?  When we pray for the strength and ministry of the church are we willing to step out and serve in the church in some capacity and help strength the life of the church?  When we pray for the problems we see in the world are we willing to step out and help solve some of the problems we see in our own corner of the world.  Prayer without a willingness to act is just a string of empty words.

Before we enter into a time of communion where we will once again enter into many different prayers, we want to provide some time for personal reflection.  The Bell Choir is going to play a song called Reflection on Holy Manna and it not only reminds us that there was a prayer said over the bread in the Passover meal but that the Passover bread reminded the people of the unleavened bread they took with them the night God delivered them from Egypt and it was a symbol of the daily bread, or manna, God provided his people on their journey through the wilderness.  Bread was very symbolic and important to God’s people and Jesus said, I am the bread of life and that is what we remember this night.  Jesus is the holy manna and he turned the prayer over the bread in the Passover meal into action when he allowed himself to be broken and given to the world.

As the bells play, we invite you to spend some time in reflection and prayer asking God what prayers in your life can and need to be turned into action.



Next Steps
From Prayer to Action

1.  What is the prayer that most burdens your heart today?

2.  How is God calling you to turn that prayer into action?

3.  Is there a prayer you are afraid to pray because you know God will call you to step out in some way to be part of the answer?

4.  What one way can you follow the example of Jesus in the foot-washing and
• place the needs of others before your own
• humble yourself to a job that might be beneath you
• serve and meet a need in some tangible way