JEREMY was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became impatient with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool and make grunting noises. At other times he spoke clearly and distinctly as if he were learning. Most of the time though, Jeremy irritated his teacher.

ONE day Miss Miller asked Jeremy’s parents to come in for a consultation. As they talked, the teacher said, “Jeremy belongs in a special school. There is five years difference in age between Jeremy and the other kids and he is not learning and keeping up. Plus the fact, he is causing problems in the class with his physical impairments.”

JEREMY’S father responded as his mother cried. “It would crush Jeremy if he were taken out of the school. He really loves going to school with the other kids, even if he is five years older.  Besides, there is no special school close by for him to go to.” Miss Miller sympathized with their dilemma and Jeremy was allowed to stay in the class.

SHE quietly prayed for patience with Jeremy, and from that day on, tried to ignore Jeremy’s noises and blank stares out the window. Then one day, Jeremy limped to her desk dragging his bad leg and said in a loud enough voice for the whole class to hear, “I love you Miss Miller.” The whole class snickered and she turned red. “That’s very nice Jeremy, now please return to your seat.”

SPRING arrived and the kids were excited for the coming Easter break.  Miss Miller told the Easter story and then, to emphasize the story of new life, gave each of the kids a large plastic egg. “Now, I want you to take this egg home and bring it back with something in it that shows new life.”  “Yes Miss Miller”, they all replied. All except Jeremy. He just listened intently; his eyes never left her face.  He didn’t even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus’ death and resurrection? Had he understood the assignment she had given. She decided she would call Jeremy’s parents to make sure he understood what she had asked.

HER night was busy and she completely forgot about calling Jeremy’s folks.

THE next morning, 19 children excitedly paraded into class and placed their eggs in a basket on Miss Miller’s desk. First egg, a flower.  “That’s my egg!”, called out a little girl. Next egg, a butterfly. Next egg, a rock with moss on it. Then she opened the fourth egg. She gasped… The egg was empty. Surely it was Jeremy’s and he didn’t understand the assignment. She scolded herself for not remembering to call his parents.

NOT wanting to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another.

SUDDENLY Jeremy spoke up, “Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?” Flustered, Miss Miller replied, “But Jeremy, your egg is empty!” He looked into her eyes and said softly, “Yes, but Jesus’ tomb was empty too!” Time stopped! When she could speak again she asked, “Do you know why the tomb was empty?” “Oh yes!” Jeremy replied. “Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up.”

THREE months later, Jeremy died.  Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket…

ALL OF THEM EMPTY!

WHAT a lesson for us this Easter. We try so hard to place meaning into something that already has meaning in itself. There is nothing so meaningful as the empty tomb. It stands alone. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” I Corinthians 15:3-4. Jeremy seemed to understand nothing needs to be added.

I’M looking forward to seeing you Easter Sunday, but, I’m mostly looking forward to seeing our Risen Savior!

The Tomb’s Empty,

He Is Risen Indeed!

The Foothills Annual Easter Picnic is coming April 3rd at Las Animas Park. The picnic starts at 11am and goes until 2pm, there will be food, an egg hunt our annual cook off (salsa and cookies), and alot of family fun ! If you want to help out this year please email Lori or sign up in the foyer. If you want to enter either salsa or cookies in the bake-off please sign up in the foyer. See you there !

What: The Annual Foothills Open Golf Tournament
When: March 26th 7AM
Cost: $85
Why: Fun and fellowship
Where: Eagle Ridge
How: Sign up with Josh Buzzetta on Sunday Morning in the foyer.

We are looking for people that would love to serve The Gathering @ The Foothills. We meet on the first Friday of every month and there are ample serving opportunities. If you have a passion for the 18 -30 somethings crown please let Pastor Kevin, Pastor Eric or Pastor Craig know and we will get you connected. We are currently looking for help with cooking, serving, cleaning, set up- tear down, media and welcoming crew.

“The Gathering” is focused on gathering young adults together and connecting them to God and each other. If you are a young adult and have been looking for a way to connect with other young adults around you, please come and check it out ! See Kevin, Eric or Craig for more info.

THERE are probably more songs, poems and books written about love than any other subject in the history of mankind. Love dominates the air waves and bookshelves. Why? Because everybody needs love; because “All you need is love”; because “Love is the answer”. “You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs, I look around me and I see it isn’t so, oh no.”

BUT love, with all there is to read and know about it, is very misunderstood.  People believe they fall in or out of love, like love is some kind of pit they need to avoid.  Many think that love is an emotion or feeling that you get, or hope to get soon.

NOT only are the air waves and bookshelves filled with love, but God’s Word is jam packed with His love for us.  Just this morning I read in Psalm 108:3-4, “I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” Just about every morning in my reading, I see God’s love for His people… You and Me.  And then you have the greatest account of love ever recorded in the detailed description of Jesus dying on the cross for mankind.

JOHN 3:16, probably the most quoted verse in the Bible, sums up God’s thoughts and decisions about people, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loves us so much and He wants to daily bless our lives with His great love. The question is will we let God love us? Will we open up our hearts to receive His love as He wants us to.

GOD blesses our lives with a love that is free. In Jeremiah 29:11, we are told by God, “I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I never really thought of this verse as a verse about God’s love, but when you look at it, God’s love just pours out of this verse. First of all, God has a plan for you and me. My uncle Don, who lives in the high country of Colorado owns many cows. One of his cows gave birth to two calves. Because of their instincts to make sure one calf makes it, cows will often abandon the weaker calf so the stronger one has a better chance of survival. The mama cow had no plans for the second calf. But my uncle Don had a plan for “Sadie”. He nursed this little calf to maturity. Anytime Don went outside his house, Sadie would come running and bawling after her mama, uncle Don. My uncle just couldn’t bear seeing a calf abandoned. In Isaiah 49:15-16, God says, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…” These are the plans God has for us. To never abandon us because He has plans for us, to prosper us, to give us hope and a future. Now if this doesn’t speak love to us I don’t know what will.

DO you know that there is nothing you can do to make God love you less? Along with that, there is nothing you can do to make God love you more.  Why, because God’s love is without conditions. Because of this, God’s love is not only free, but His love for us is full. So full that there is no possible force that could stop His love.

JOHN writes in his epistle, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” I John 3:1 There are two words to note here. First, God’s love for us is great and secondly, God’s love is lavish. The word lavish means plentiful, generous or abundant. His love is that great and full for you and me.

SPEAKING of God’s love, Paul asks us in Romans 8:35; 38-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The answer to Paul’s question is nothing, absolutely nothing. There is not a single thing that can interrupt or interfere with God’s love for you. Why, because God’s love for you and me is without compromise.

GOD loves us with a love that is Free, a love that is Full, and finally, a love that is Forever. It is a love without Conditions, a love without Compromise, and a love without Ceasing.

IN Jeremiah 31:3 we are told, “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” No matter what we do, where we go, or how long we go away from Him, God will not stop loving us. He has determined to love us and that is final. God’s love for us is Free, Full and Forever and there is nothing we can do about that!

Pastor Mark