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What Did You Expect? (Lent 2025)Expectations shape experience. The difference between "pleasantly surprised" and "kinda disappointed" is all in what we expected in the first place. So Jesus takes pains to set his disciples' expectations properly, according to his mission and what he knows about how his mission will be received. It turns out, these expectations wouldn't pass for very good marketing--they can be sobering, difficult, and cause us to rethink our commitment to be Jesus' follower. All of that is what the season of Lent is about. So join us in this journey to the Cross.
And you can also join us in our Lenten Devotional, Becoming (click to download). |
APril 13, 2025: "Expect Changes" (Palm Sunday, Luke 19:28-48)
"We can shout, “Hosanna! Save us!” and wave our palms, but the Jesus who enters into Jerusalem and who we’re asking to enter our hearts today and this week…is so different, so other, so confounding to human beings immersed in the currents of this world. And this is the crux of it: We want to fit Jesus into our expectations, our desires, our basic perceptions of how life works. But those things ARE the problem we need Jesus to save us from."
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APril 6, 2025: "Expect a Guide in the Wilderness" (John 16)
"Expect that there will be a wilderness path to discern and a transformation process to experience. It is the presence of God that meets you in the wilderness to guide you. It is the creative power of God that transforms sorrow into joy."
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March 30, 2025: "Expect Greater Things" (John 14:1-16)
"Jesus says: Expect to step in. Not to do it on your own. But to take up the great vocation of God’s children, of human priests imaging God in God’s world in cooperation with God’s Spirit. Expect to step in. Expect even greater things."
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March 23, 2025: "Expect Rejection and Division" (Matthew 10:34-39)
"Why was Jesus crucified? Because the jugglers of 'peace' have learned, in this upside-down world, to juggle peace by seeking safety through a hedge of wealth and power that shields us from death, building belonging through common enemies to be maligned and destroyed, and maintaining self-esteem by ignoring our sins and the sins of people on our side. Jesus says, 'All that effort you’ve put into to peace-juggling…that’s not the game, not the way to real peace.'”
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March 16, 2025: "Expect Chaos" (Matthew 24:1-29, 36-44)
"The suffering, corruption, and weight of the world can be a wet blanket on the fire of faith, the spark of hope, and the warmth of love.
But when our hearts close because of the chaos darkness, they are also closing to the voice of the Crucified Creator...who speaks to us right in the middle of the chaos: "Let there be light. He is Risen. I make all things new.""
But when our hearts close because of the chaos darkness, they are also closing to the voice of the Crucified Creator...who speaks to us right in the middle of the chaos: "Let there be light. He is Risen. I make all things new.""
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March 9, 2025: "Expect Cross-Carrying" (Mark 8:34-38)
"When people from the world think about us, they should be thinking, 'The Christians? They’re the ones out there bearing the burden of trying to be and remain and become human in an inhumane world.'"
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