Return With Joy

Each year, my mom and dad would tell me and my sister where we were going for our summer vacation. My sister and I learned to tell how the summer was going to go by the way my parents looked when they came into the room after making their decision. If they were all smiles - we're headed to the beach! If they were looking somber, it would be another year of roasting marshmallows in the backyard.

Anyone who saw the disciples after the ascension of Christ would know what it meant. This week's message looks at Luke 24:50-53 where we will see the joy of the disciples as they come to a recognition of the meaning of the Resurrection.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Vaughn

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Now I Get It

I once heard an important rule of teaching: About the time you are sick of repeating something is the same time your students finally understand it. I think these words were spoken by my eighth grade algebra teacher somewhere around the four hundredth time she tried to explain the quadratic formula. For me, it took four hundred and one.

Reading the New Testament, we might wonder why it took the disciples so long to understand who Jesus is, but with the Resurrection, everything came into focus. The Resurrection does the same for us, and like the disciples, we are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:45-48).

Wondering who Jesus really is? Join us this Sunday and find out.

Hope to see you there!

Vaughn

If Only Jesus Could Be Here

The Bible does not record the conversation of the disciples between the time of the crucifixion and the resurrection. It's not too hard to imagine, though.

"What do we do now?"

"Where should we go?"

"How are we going to get through this?"

"If only Jesus was here, he would tell us what to do!"

And then He was! This week's message from Luke 24:36 describes that extraordinary day when the disciples saw and heard the Risen Christ. What Jesus said to them holds tremendous hope for us all.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Vaughn


Listen to this message at http://www.nationalheights.org/messages.html

So thankful to be adopted

As we watch the babies around us growing, we take delight in every milestone....the first tooth, first word, beginning to crawl, and so on. However, we know as exciting as those milestones are, they are just stepping stones to the next marker...walking, new words, and on to school days, graduations and perhaps marriage. If growth doesn't continue, there is cause for concern.

How our Father must delight as His children begin to grow, as well. However, that growth process is supposed to continue as well. We are commanded to mature in our faith, to cry out for spiritual nourishment, and to grow in our knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Just as our earthly children are still our children, no matter how old they get...nothing will cut the bond we have with our Heavenly Father, either. John 10:28b tells us that no one will snatch us out of His hand. He loves us with an eternal love--so strong that He died so that relationship could happen. We can be adopted, we are chosen. And all we have to do is believe and say yes. Wow.

The One Place You Won't Find Jesus

I was looking for my dog. Apparently, she decided our yard was not exciting enough for her, so she wiggled her way under the gate and went exploring. As it turns out, she was fast asleep on our neighbor's porch. At her age, that was an adventure. Unfortunately, she did not leave a forwarding address, so I spent the afternoon searching for her. Had it not been for my neighbor calling me, I never would have found her. All I found were places she was not.

On the first Easter Sunday morning, women went to find Jesus, but they went to the one place he was not. Angels told them why:

Luke 24:5a–6a

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!

Join us this Easter as we explore the meaning behind these extraordinary words.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Vaughn

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Squirrel Hunting

My grandfather took me squirrel hunting. He told me to listen, and the squirrels would tell us what they were doing. I thought he was just trying to keep me quiet, but then he said, "Listen - those squirrels are getting ready to jump." And sure enough, two squirrels jumped from one branch to another. All morning long, my grandfather accurately predicted what squirrels were about to do, based on the sounds he heard.

I never heard them. Try as I might, all I could hear was the wind. My grandfather, on the other hand, knew what to listen for, something he had learned from years of listening. The sound was there, I just didn't know what I was hearing.

Many have heard the story of the cross, but don't yet know what they are hearing. This week, we will look at Luke 23:46-47, where we hear Jesus final words on the cross, and the words of a Roman soldier who witnessed the events of the day, words that tell a story every person needs to hear.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Vaughn

Listen to this message at http://www.nationalheights.org/messages.html

Backyard Sermon

I remember the first time I saw Saturn. My dad bought me a telescope for Christmas, and we eventually made it out in the yard to take a look at the skies. Aiming the telescope took a bit of a learning curve, so I remember a lot of "be patient son - this may take awhile." Finally, just before I was about to go inside and see what was on TV, my dad said, "Take a look at this." I squinted through the eyepiece of the telescope, and there it was - the planet Saturn, complete with rings and at least one moon. I had seen photos of Saturn in books, but never from my backyard. I'm not sure all the reasons why God put rings around that planet, but I know at least one was to give me and my dad an experience neither of us would ever forget.

Psalm 19:1 tells us "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands." Creation reveals the Creator. That prophecy comes full circle in the experience at Calvary described in Luke 23:44-45. Join us this Sunday as we learn how creation itself revealed the gravity of what happened at the cross.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Vaughn


Listen to this message at http://www.nationalheights.org/messages.html