REACH OUT AND TOUCH HIM

REACH OUT AND TOUCH HIM

 

Easter season is now past for another year.  I see the discount bunnies and eggs in the store aisles.  We have put away the Easter baskets and decorations.  But I think many people also put away the cross of Christ in their hearts.  Oh, they heard a good sermon last Sunday and the music was inspiring, but have they thought of the cross this week?  It is because of the cross that we have our salvation, our sins forgiven, and life forever with Jesus.

 

And Jesus, by the precious Holy Spirit continues today to reach out and touch our lives.  He is waiting for us to just reach out by faith and touch Him.  I know of so many who need a touch of the Master.  My heart breaks for those who are facing tough situations and there is seems to be no answer to their problems and their suffering.  Oh, my friends, even though the way is rough, the winds are tossing your ship, Jesus is passing by, and He is never too busy to hear your cries.  He controls this great universe, but He still loves and reaches out to each and every one of us.

 

I remember this chorus when I was a child at summer camp, but I didn’t know it had all these wonderful verses.  Some of you may remember this hymn also and have fond memories as I have of those experiences around a campfire or in your home church as we worshiped our Lord.

 

REACH OUT AND TOUCH THE LORD

 

If your heart is sad and lonely, there’s no joy anywhere.

If there’s no one left to comfort, and there’s no one left to care.

Just cast your cares on Jesus and upon His arms rely,

And reach out and touch the Lord as He walks by.

 

CHORUS:

Reach out and touch the Lord as He goes by.

You will find He’s not too busy to hear your heart’s cry.

He’s passing by this moment, your needs He’ll supply.

Just reach out and touch the Lord as He walks by.

 

Though a stranger to the Master and His wonderful grace,

If you’ve never had the pleasure of beholding His face.

Would you lay aside earth’s treasures for a home in the sky,

Then, reach out and touch the Lord as He walks by.

 

All along a dusty roadside, on His way to raise the dead,

Mighty was the crowd that followed, hungry for that Living Bread.

“I must touch Him”, cried a woman, “I must touch Him or I’ll die.”

So, she reached and touched His garment as He passed by.

 

Words and Music by Bill Harmon

 

There are many sad and lonely people out there who have lost their joy.  Maybe elderly, friends and family are all gone.  Or perhaps you have lost a dear loved one, and you feel like there is no one else left in this world to comfort you.  Jesus is passing by, just reach out and touch Him, His arms are extended waiting to enfold you in His arms.

 

And if you don’t know Jesus as your own personal Savior, and you have never know the wonderful love that only He can bring.  By faith, behold His face as He passes by.  Just reach out and claim Him as your Lord and Savior right now.  He is there to forgive your sins, and bring new peace and joy.  All the treasures in this earth do not compare to eternity and life everlasting with Jesus.

 

“Now a woman, having  a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped” Luke 8:43-44.

 

Here is the scene:  Jesus is in the middle of a massive throng of people, and He is headed toward the home of Jairus, who is the Synagogue Ruler, who only daughter, twelve years old, has died.  And in that crowd is a lady, who has suffered much with this condition for twelve years, and has lost hope, but Jesus is passing by!  In the culture of that time, she would have been an outcast of society.  But there in the crowd is her only hope, Jesus!  And she thinks if she could only reach out and touch the tassels on His garment she would be healed.  Maybe she had stood at a distance and saw Him heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind and the wonderful miracles that He did.  And in faith, she touched Him and was instantly healed!  And we notice in verse 43 that she is called “a woman.”  But in verse 48, Jesus calls her “daughter.”  She goes from hopelessness to salvation and healing.

 

So where are you this evening on your journey?  Are you sad and lonely?  Are you wondering where the next paycheck is coming from?  Have you lost a precious loved one?  Are you facing medical tests that have you in much fear of the outcome?  Jesus is passing by, reaching out to you right there wherever you are.  And He is not too busy.  He sees your tears, feels your frustration and your hopelessness.

 

Precious Lord, there are so many out there right now who feel they are in hopeless situations, maybe financially, physically, or spiritually or some other needs.  Let them catch a glimpse of You as You pass by.  You are waiting to gather them into Your arms, to bring healing and hope and salvation and eternal life with You.  Thank You, Jesus, for the many who will reach out just now and be healed in Jesus’ Name.

 

Pastor Sharon

 

 

 

REMEMBER ME!

REMEMBER ME!

 

As I sit here at my computer this evening, I look out at the sky, grey with clouds and rain showers, I am thinking of my Lord as He came to this night in which we call “Maundy Thursday.”  It is the night in which we remember the Last Supper as He shared the Passover feast with His disciples gathered there in the upper room.

 

It was a time when Jesus knew that His time had come.  He was facing the agony in Gethsemane, betrayal and arrest in the Garden.  But He had many things to share with His followers gathered around Him there.  My heart is heavy also as I think of the sacrifice that He was going to make in the hours ahead for you and for me.

 

I pray that in the next few days you will put aside, even to have some private time with your Lord, the bunnies, the egg hunts and all those lovey things that come with the season and feast your eyes on the cross.  Remember His suffering this night, the agony of “Good Friday.” And remember that “Sunday is coming, the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Savior!

 

I found the words to this song in an old song book that belonged to my daughter, and I remember her singing this as we were served communion.  It even has some of her notes written in it.  The book is simply called “Communion,” and is a compilation of many of our favorite choruses.  It was compiled in 1978, and this song was written by Barry McGuire. 

 

I want you to think of Jesus as He sat there with His disciples, offering the bread and the cup as they celebrated the Passover meal with the four cups of wine, and the lamb and the bitter herbs and the other elements of the Passover.  And remember as Jesus celebrated His last Passover with His disciples, that He was the Passover Lamb and would take away the sins of the world on the cross in the coming hours.  And that Lamb would be sacrificed at the same time that the evening sacrifice would be performed in the temple.  This song is called “Communion Song.”      

 

As you read the words to this song picture our Lord as He passed out the bread and the cup to those around Him, and then close your eyes if you wish and hear your Savior reminding you of the bread which was broken for you and the cup of the New Covenant that He was making for you by the shedding of His blood on Calvary.  The veil would be rent in the temple, and no longer would a lamb be required for sacrifice, as the sacrifice would have been made once and for all at Calvary.  This is the New Covenant in His blood, Praise the Lord!  Listen to your Lord as He talks to you in this lovely song.

 

COMMUNION SONG

 

“Take this bread I give to you, and as you do, remember me.  This bread is my body, broken just for you.  Take it (take it) eat it (eat it) each time you do, remember me, remember me, remember me, remember me.

 

Take this cup I fill for you, and as you do, remember me.  This cup is the New Covenant I’m makin’ with you.  Take it, (take it) drink it (drink it) each time you do, remember me, remember me, remember me, remember me.

 

 Take this love I’ve given you, and as you do, remember me, remember me, remember me, remember me.”

 

He calls us to “remember Him when we take communion and share the cup and bread together around His table.  He calls us to remember His sacrifice, and not just at our time of communion at our church, but every day, remember how much He loved us, loved us to go to the cross and suffer agony that we will have our sins forgiven and eternal life with Him.

 

“For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat: this is My body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.  This do, as often as you drink it, it remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” I Corinthians `11:23-26.

 

And He calls us to take the cup and the bread and remember Him “till He comes.”  And we are looking for that day when He comes back.  We long for His appearing.  “Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20b).

 

And there is one final promise from our Lord on that night, and I love to hear these words:

 

“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” Matthew 26:29.

 

Someday, my friends, we will all sit down together with our Lord in His kingdom, with all the saints from all ages and angels attending, and we will share the cup together.  What a day that will be!  I can hardly wait, how about you?  Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!  And remember, you may feel like it is “Friday” in your life right now, but “Sunday is coming!

 

In Jesus’ Name,

Pastor Sharon