Christ Fellowship of Wise County

While nothing is specifically written in any of the Gospels about what happened on the Wednesday of Passion Week, there is a fascinating story that must have happened sometime in that timeline that is worth mentioning. Mark 14 and John 12 both mention Jesus having dinner at a table and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, poured some very expensive perfume on the head of Jesus.

Judas complained but Jesus said she did a good thing because she was preparing His body for burial. This just shows where the thoughts of Jesus were and, of course, He was thinking about the end. Of course He was thinking about what was about to happen to His physical body. He was all God but He was also all man and I can’t imagine having to deal with that kind of pressure while continuing in His ministry or even just sitting down to dinner.

Something else I have thought about with this story is how since Jesus probably did not wash this perfume off, it was probably still with Him even on the cross and what a small comfort it would have been to be able to have that physical reminder – that beautiful smell – in His last moments. No wonder the Lord blessed sweet Mary.

If you knew that in just a couple of days you would be brutally murdered by a group of people, what would be going through your mind? What would your attitude be, especially toward that group? How interested would you be in minor issues like where to eat or what to wear? Wouldn’t you want the truth about that group of people to be made known? I think you would and I think that was what was going through the mind of Jesus on Tuesday of Passion Week. He didn’t spend that day blaming the Romans for their treatment of the Jews. He didn’t lay guilt on unbelievers for their lack of faith. He poked a figurative finger in the eye of the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and double standards. He wasn’t calling them out for the coming murder they had planned for Him. He called them out for the lack of truth they lived and taught. Above all, we strive for truth.

Read about the last Tuesday of Jesus in these passages and meditate on what is truth.

Matthew 21:23—24:51; Mark 11:27—13:37; Luke 20:1—21:36

We don’t do much to celebrate most holidays on the calendar at Christ Fellowship. If you want to celebrate Valentine’s and Groundhog Day, that’s just fine. It’s just not something we pay much attention to around here. But Christmas and Easter are pretty important and I believe Easter should really get the priority. Without Easter, there is no Christmas. Without Easter, we don’t celebrate Jesus. Without His death, burial and resurrection, why celebrate His birth? 

So, this week I would like to prepare us for Easter by observing what is called “Passion Week.” Some people say it is called Passion Week because Jesus had such passion for us that He was willing to die on the cross in our place to pay the price for our sin that the Father said was due. I believe the real reason we use the word “passion” is after the Greek verb pascho, meaning “to suffer.”

It began with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday as found in Matthew 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–44; and John 12:12–19. We talked some about that yesterday morning. That triumphal entry fulfilled the prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9.

On Monday of that week, Jesus went into the temple. You can read about that in Matthew 21:12–17; Mark 11:15–18; and Luke 19:45–48. You might remember that story. Jesus found the temple to be filled with vendors making a lot of money selling things and He drove them out declaring that “My house will be a house of prayer but you have made it a den of robbers!” This fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi 3:1-3.

Tomorrow we will look at what Jesus did on the Tuesday of that week but for today I just ask you to read these passages and meditate on them for a while, thinking about what must have been going on in the mind of Jesus this most painful of all weeks.

Glory – praise, honor or distinction. Do you know of anybody that always wants the glory for everything? That person is probably pretty miserable to be around. But did you know that one day we will share with Jesus His glory? Can you even imagine that? Sharing glory with Jesus must surely be heretical, right? Surely that’s not something we should wish for. But did you know the Apostle Paul wished for it? And Jesus wants us to have it. But not in this world. 

Join us at Christ Fellowship this Sunday as we see more about what Heaven is like in Revelation 21 where it talks about how we will share glory with Jesus for eternity. It’s a fascinating passage! And I can’t wait to share it with you. I love you all! — Todd

Look at you. You are getting older, aren’t you? Getting a little grey. Getting slower. Can’t work as hard. Can’t play as hard. Things are starting to hurt that didn’t used to. Gravity is no longer the friend it used to be. I get it. I understand. And so does God. I believe God made us to grow older like He did so that we lose some of the love we have for this world and we start to long for the next world. But what does the next world look like? If it’s going to be sitting on a cloud strumming a harp, I’m going to hang on to this world as long as I can. 

This Sunday at Christ Fellowship we are going to look at Heaven through the pages of scripture. Our main text will be in Revelation 21 where John talks about seeing a new heaven and a new earth. Well, what does that mean? Let’s look at it closer Sunday morning and Sunday night. It makes me excited to see what our eternity is going to look like. I hope it will for you as well. 

I love you all! — Todd

Spring officially starts next Friday but we are already seeing it around here and I love it! The green grass, blooming trees, budding flowers and warmer weather – that’s for me! But there are some problems that come with it, right? Allergies, storms, mowing. Ugh! The mowing! 

But one of these days, my dear family…one of these days we will have springtime conditions without all the problems – and I’m not talking about Heaven. I’m talking about the Millennium. The 1,000 years after the Second Coming that we will spend on Earth before the New Heaven and New Earth. It’s a fascinating time and a fascinating story to study and it comes from several passages in scripture, namely Revelation 20:1-6.

Join us this Sunday at Christ Fellowship as we dive into this passage. It is exciting and motivating and I so hope that you can be with us. I can’t wait to see you! I love you all! — Todd

I don’t think I’ve ever met a person in my life who likes switching to and from Daylight Savings Time. Good grief, just pick one and stick with it! But, here we are and this weekend we spring forward an hour so don’t forget.

Also this weekend we are continuing our End Times sermon series here at Christ Fellowship and we are looking at the next prophetic event to happen after the Rapture and the Tribulation. Revelation 19 tells us about the Second Coming and it is a fascinating subject. And while there are qualities to the Second Coming that are like a Hollywood movie, I have to warn you this passage is not Rated G but you don’t want to miss it!

I can’t wait to see you, family! I love you all! — Todd

Do you ever read the news and think, “These people have lost their ever-loving minds”? Does it seem like people are much less moral these days? Does it seem like church attendance is down for most churches? Do you see Christians acting more like the world than they used to? Why don’t churches have good old-fashioned revivals like they used to?

Those are questions that can be summed up with one prophetic word: apostasy. “Apostasy” means to fall away and it will be more noticeable in the end times. And since we at Christ Fellowship are going through this sermon series on end times, we will look at it this Sunday as we study a fascinating passage in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 that talks about the tribulation, the antichrist and God’s response to the apostates.

Also, I am excited to announce we will be going through the book of Daniel on Wednesday nights at 7. Yes, there are some cool, old stories in there about the lion’s den and the fiery furnace but it also goes right along with our study of end times as well. I hope you can be there!

I love you all! — Todd

As a pastor, the most common questions I get are on end times. Will our pets be with us in Heaven? How old will we be there? When is Jesus coming again? Will vegetables actually taste good in Heaven? (Okay, that’s my question.) Well, we are starting a new sermon series this Sunday, the 15th, to study this important topic. We may or may not answer all of your questions but we will see what happens between now and eternity and I have found it fascinating so far. So, if you haven’t been to Christ Fellowship in a while, this Sunday is a good day to start back again. We will meet at 10 am and 6 pm to discuss what the Bible says about the end times and why it matters to us today. I can’t wait to see you there. I love you all! — Todd

Lots of exciting things are happening in and around Christ Fellowship these days! This coming Sunday, February 8th, will be our last Sunday in Ephesians learning how to be the church we are supposed to be. And so far, we know we are supposed to be holy and unified and those are difficult enough. But this last one from Ephesians 5 is impossible without being filled with the Spirit of God. (If you have paid any attention, you know none of it is possible without the Spirit living inside us but this last one is a doozy.) Anyway, it’s important that you not miss this.

After the service Sunday, we will have our Valentines excuse to have a meal. Everybody bring enough of your favorite dish for your family and a little more and we want everybody to stay and eat with us. There will be no evening service as usual after our family meal. And evidently the ladies want the men to provide the desserts. 🙂

Every so often, I like to take a look at what scripture tells us about what we call the End Times. So, starting on February 15 we will take a deep dive on Sundays into where the end starts and where the end ends. What are we supposed to do? Where should we be looking? What are the signs? What will happen on Earth? What will happen in Heaven? This is an important study for all believers to have a handle on and I can’t wait to dig into it with you! 

I love you all and will see you Sunday! — Todd