Good Morning!  I hope you are still as pumped up from Sunday’s service as I am.  I can’t get that one song about “The Power of the Cross” out of my head.  I’ve been singing it all week.  Didn’t our choir do a great job?  In fact, I have heard many favorable comments about how well the service blended together: from the Bell Choir to Communion to the closing song.  God truly met with us.  It was great to see so many guests (attendance was 135).  You did a wonderful job inviting.  I am looking forward to this coming Easter Sunday.  We are expecting it to be a great day of celebration.

             During this Holy Week I would encourage you to reread the gospel accounts of the crucifixion.  Think about what Jesus had to suffer.  Remember that He did that just for you.  For instance, I was reading yesterday in John’s gospel, chapter 19 and verses 23-24, where the soldiers cast lots for Christ’s robe.  I was reminded that Jesus suffered the indignity and the shame of hanging naked upon the cross.  He gave up His robe so that I might wear a robe of righteousness.

             Once when I was in college a group of us went to Fort Lauderdale over our Spring break.  One night we decided we were going out for the best steak we could find.  We asked around and everyone told us this certain restaurant was the best.  It was expensive, but we didn’t care.  We were on vacation.  We even called ahead and made a reservation.

             But when we arrived, they wouldn’t let us in.  The maître de pointed to a sign on the door that said COAT AND TIE REQUIRED.  We explained that we were college students on vacation and we didn’t bring a coat or tie.  (I seriously doubt if a couple of my friends even owned one)  We explained that we were a bunch of rednecks from Virginia…but it still didn’t get us anywhere.  The rules were the rules and they were unbendable.  You couldn’t enter without being properly attired.

             We were just about to leave and go get a pizza or something when evidently this maître de had an attack of conscience.  He said, “Well, I guess there is one thing I can do.  Wait here.”  He disappeared for a few minutes and came back with four of the ugliest clip on ties and sport coats you’ve ever seen.  The one I got was lime green and about three sizes too big.  So we clipped our ties on to our T-shirts and put on our coats and went in.  I’m sure we looked quite unusual, but we were given seats.  And the steaks were great!

             Now in some ways that story was repeated at the cross.  You and I were not properly attired for heaven.  Without a robe of righteousness we could not enter into eternal life.   Our tattered garments were stained with sin.  We had no way of getting new ones.   So the one who made the requirement also provided the garment.  God couldn’t lower the standard…a rule is a rule.  Yet, he was too kind to send us away.  He did for us what we could never have done for ourselves…he provided us with a robe or righteousness and invited us to sit down at His table.  As you enjoy the blessings of being a child of the King.  As you think about how great it is to know that your sins are forgiven.  As you think about the freedom from bondage and the peace in your heart...remember, that those blessings came at a price.  That price was paid on an Old Rugged Cross.  Throughout this week I’d encourage you to remember the cross and be thankful!

 Have a great week!
Pastor Barry

 Holy Week and Easter Events
Good Friday Service    7:00 PM
Sunrise Service            7:30 AM
Easter Breakfast          8:15 AM
Sunday School             9:30 AM
Easter Egg Hunt          (during the last 10 minutes of Sunday School)
Morning  Worship         10:45 AM    

 I watched the sun rise this AM as I looked out my living room window.  With the time change, it’s still dark when we get up, but I’m loving the extra daylight in the evenings.  I noticed on my calendar that Spring officially arrives this coming Saturday.  Never have I looked so forward to the arrival of warmer weather.  I’m almost looking forward to mowing grass, but I’m sure that will quickly pass.

It’s hard to believe, but Easter is just three Sunday’s away.  To me, this is the highlight of the church year.  Easter has a way of reminding us of the glorious, amazing truths of the gospel.  To think that God would send His Son to die in my place on a Roman cross is simply mind-boggling.  Yet, even more amazing is the fact that three days later He broke the chains of death and came forth victorious.

I hope in these next few weeks you will take the time to contemplate the wonder of the cross and the empty tomb.  Plan on a trip to Calvary (through the pages of the gospel).  Think about the nails, the crown of thorns, the spear, and the garden tomb.  Remember the courageous women who stood by, the broken-hearted disciples who fled, a thief, who found his way to paradise and a Roman Centurion who came to believe that Jesus was truly the Son of God.  Most of all, be reminded that Jesus did this for you.  Give thanks for God’s wonderful gift of love.

I would also encourage you to avail yourself of the many opportunities to worship during this season.  On Palm Sunday, March 28th, our Bell Choir will be performing and our choir will be presenting the Easter musical, “Amazing Grace My  Chains are Gone”.

A special “Good Friday” service is being scheduled for April 2nd.  Then, on Easter Sunday we will have a full day of activities beginning with a Sunrise Service at 7:30 AM, followed by a delicious breakfast.  Sunday School begins at 9:30 AM and our Easter Worship Service begins at 10:45 AM.  The reason I mention all of this now is to remind you that these special services provide a great opportunity for you to invite someone to come with you.  This is a wonderful way to introduce your friends, neighbors or coworkers to Parkway.

Let me close with a poem written by Max Lucado that asks a very important question.

                                                    The diadem of pain
                                                    which sliced your gentle face,
                                                    three spikes piercing flesh and wood
                                                    to hold you in your place.

                                                    The need for blood I understand.
                                                    Your sacrifice I embrace.
                                                    But the bitter sponge, the cutting spear,
                                                    the spit upon your face?

                                                    Did it have to be a cross?
                                                    Did not a kinder death exist
                                                    than six hours hanging between life and death,
                                                    all spurred by a betrayer’s kiss?

                                                    “Oh, Father,” you pose,
                                                    heart-stilled at what could be,
                                                    “I’m sorry to ask, but I long to know,
                                                    did you do this for me?”

My prayer is that you will be reminded anew, and hear the Master’s voice say “Yes, I did this just for you.”

 Hope you have a great week!

Pastor Barry

Ah! Isn’t it great to see the sun shining and feel temperatures in the 50’s again.  We’re just  weeks away from mowing grass (as if you needed that reminder)!  It’s good to have our ladies back from what I hear was a wonderful retreat in Williamsburg.  It seems to me they had way too much fun for a “religious” gathering.  And what’s with all this shopping?  Anyway, we’re glad they’re home.

Over the weekend I was flipping through the channels on my car radio and I came upon a catchy Randy Travis song that has been stuck in my  head ever since.  It was about a baptism service, in a creek on a hot July day.  The part that caught my attention was the chorus that said, “Down with the old man, up with the new.  Raised to walk in the ways of light and truth.”  Randy Travis sounds an awful  lot like the apostle Paul, who says in Romans 6: vs. 4; “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.  And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” and vs. 6 “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.  We are no longer slaves to sin.”

Remarkably, once we come to Christ the result is change.  Old habits fall off and we begin to establish new ones.  This is one of the things we’ve been discussing in our “Growing Closer to God” series.  We need to “train ourselves to be godly”.  We do that by practicing these spiritual disciplines.  Sometimes the changes are dramatic, sometimes they are gradual, but hopefully we are all growing more like Christ.


Let me share a personal experience of how this change takes place.  No one has ever accused me of being a neat freak.  Just take a look at my office some Sunday.  My Mom tried to get me to pick up my clothes and clean up my room, but I could never see the point.  Why hang up a shirt if you’re going to wear it again the next day (or sometime in the foreseeable future)?  And why make up your bed if you’ve going to get right back in it the next evening?  And why put up the toothpaste back in the drawer if you’re going to use it again?

When Rosemary married me she knew she had a job on her hands.  She began her re-education program almost immediately.  She quickly introduced me to the smell of pine-sol and lemon pledge.  I developed the needed muscles to run a vacuum cleaner.  I have even received a certificate stating that I am qualified to clean toilets.  After nearly 35 years of marriage I have been thoroughly domesticated.  

But what happens when Rosemary goes away, as she did this past weekend?  Typically I revert back to my pre-Rosemary slovenly life-style.  I let the dishes pile up, I throw the dirty clothes in the corner and I leave the newspaper scattered all over the family room.  Then, on Sunday afternoon I straighten up just before she gets home.

But this weekend something strange happened.  I looked at those dishes stacked in the sink on Saturday and felt uncomfortable.  The clothes piled in the corner pricked my conscience. ( I actually washed a load)  And after I spent 10 minutes hunting for the remote control, I decided enough is enough.  I cleaned the place up—a day early!

As I reflected on this obvious behavioral change, my only explanation is that I’ve been exposed to a higher standard.  Isn’t that what happened to us as believers?  Isn’t that what Paul is saying in Romans?  Now that we know what real freedom is like, why go back to prison.  Now that we’ve tasted the good life, smelled that lemon fresh aroma of a clean heart and felt the joy of sins forgiven, we can’t go back to our old ways!  “In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you.  But thank God, you fully changed the things you were taught.  You were made free from sin and now you are slaves to goodness.” (Romans 6: 17-18 NCV)

Suddenly we find ourselves wanting to do good… wanting to serve others … wanting to please our Master.   That’s the miracle of a grace-transformed heart.

Have a great week and keep on changing!
Pastor Barry

P. S.  Remember to set your clocks forward one hour this coming Saturday night!

Good morning!  I hope you are having a great day!  Hopefully you have recovered by now from our wonderful Chili Cook-off on Sunday evening.  What a great time of fellowship.  In fact, Sunday was a great day.  I sensed God’s presence in a powerful way in our morning service (in spite of our projector problems)!  I believe God is doing an Extreme Makeover in many of our hearts.

We are now beginning the 2nd week of our 40 day emphasis on Holiness leading up to Easter.  I hope you are using the Extreme Makeover: Holiness Edition Devotional Guides.

In our “Growing Closer to God” class this week I was encouraging my class members to try reading scriptures from different translation to perhaps gain a new perspective on a familiar passage.  That very thing happened to me in my reading this past week as I read I Corinthians 14 from the New Living Translation.  Especially notice the last verse which talks about unbelievers (guests) who came into our worship services.  Paul says, (As they listen, their secret thoughts will be laid bare, and they will fall down on their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is really here among you.” (verse 25)].

David cites the evangelistic power of heartfelt worship in Psalm 40: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Many people will see this and worship Him.  Then they will trust the Lord.”  (Psalm 40:3 New Century Version)

Those two verses got me to thinking.  Do outsiders sense the presence of God when they watch us worship?  Do they see joy in our faces?  Do they hear passion in our voices as we sing praises to our King?  Do they see us close our eyes and lift our hands in reverent worship of the One who gave His life to redeem us?  Or do they see us standing arms folded, with a scowl on our face, looking bored?  Do they observe our non-participation and our glances at our wrist watch every two or three minutes?  As long as I’m getting personal, parents what are your children learning from your worship?  Do they see the same excitement as when you go to a basketball game?  Do they ever observe tears of joy streaming down your face or notice you going to the altar to pray?  Believe me, they are watching!

My point is we need to come to church with a worship-hungry heart.  We need to come expecting to meet with God.  We need to come anticipating that God will speak to us through the Holy Spirit and that we will leave different than we came.  Let’s come to church expecting to be changed as we give ourselves to worship.

I would remind all the guys that we will be on our own this weekend with so many of our ladies at the retreat.  (Let’s plan on doing lunch on Sunday … I may be tired of left-overs and hot dogs by then).  Hope you have a great week!

In Christ,
Pastor Barry