We see an instruction that family life and the teaching of faith begins in the family home.  When they sit at the meal table, when they sit and discuss the activities, before they go to sleep, when they wake in the morning: all of these things should be embodied within the prayers that we should have at all of those times, and we should then sit and listen to what the children are saying. We should advise them of the dangers that are coming into the world. We should try and increase their faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We should not make excuses and say – It is not possible. We have to make it possible within our family homes.

The greatest gift or the greatest teaching we have to give is faith: Faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and this faith comes about through understanding the Scriptures. If we do not understand and do not fully embrace the total Scriptures, our Lord Himself said then His words would come to naught. A great warning especially to family homes today in the world. There is a movement within the world, and it is not only outside of Christian Churches, it is infiltrating within Christian Churches. The great warning is that the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible is being taken out of the Bible or not read because it has no relevance, it is just a story. They ask, “who knew what happened in those early days?” There was no one left after the flood of Noah. It was all just here-say coming down through the ages and being changed to suit mankind.

This is why family homes have to now be very careful and listen to their children, to counteract any suggestion that this Book of Genesis should be taken out.  Wouldn’t it be good for the world if they could take it out.  Creation would disappear. There would be all these other ways, how the world came into existence would take precedence over creation. Marriage between man and woman would disappear.  The faith of Abraham, Jacob’s ladder that showed a connection between heaven and earth would be taken away. All of the things right up to the flood of Noah, it would be taken away and Noah’s flood would be treated as a fable. The Tower of Babel would be treated as a fable. Sodom and Gomorrah. All of these things that play on people’s consciences today would disappear and there would be an open go, but the other thing that would disappear will be – to be able to believe Christ words. He Himself warned us.

He gave this teaching to the people already in His day in John Chapter 5 verse 45-46 as follows: “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”  We see therein that our Lord was explaining how the Book of Genesis came into being. It was by Moses. When he was taken up into the mountain for forty days and forty nights he did not only receive the ten Commandments. God told him what had happened from the beginning of the world, and he wrote that down. He wrote of me, because Christ is prefigured in all of that creation and all of that period of time up till then. Our Lord said – He would not accuse the people, they would be accused by Moses who wrote them. The Book of Genesis was divinely given unto Moses to write down for us. If we cannot believe it, our Lord said, then we cannot believe and will not believe His words.

If there is no foundation holding up the Words of Christ and that foundation is taken away then doubt will come into everyone’s hearts, especially the children of the future.  We see it is so important for us to revisit family life within our homes and revisit the need to introduce the teaching of faith into the world, into the hearts of our children.

The writers of the Book of Hebrews made it very clear what faith is and where it begins, and we find written in Hebrews Chapter 11: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” If we take the creation away then faith will collapse.

The writers were telling us, that each and everyone makes a ‘last will and testament’ that cannot be enforced while the
testator is alive, so it was with our lord, His last will and New Testament could not become valid while He was alive. He
had to die for it to be valid. The prophets foretold that a new covenant would come to replace the old – Jerimiah 31:31-34
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of
Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no
more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the
least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more.” Our Lord confirmed that as all covenants under the Jewish law, had to be sprinkled with blood to be binding so
would the new – Matthew 26:28. “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins.” Apostle Paul taught in Romans 11:27 “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins,” of
the important part of the covenant. Let us examine the clauses that our Lord included in His last will, which were His last
words. Remember a will is the distribution of one’s wealth to others, who played no part in those gifts.
1. Luke 23:34 “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He was now asking His Father to forgive all
the Gentile Nations as He was now claiming them to be His bride. Read Psalm 2 – What a gift!
2. Luke 23:43 “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” Hell would now not be the destiny
for Christians under the New Testament. Paradise was to begin – 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7 – What a gift!

3. John 19:26-27 “Women, behold thy Son” and “Behold thy Mother”. Introducing that the church world-wide were
to become one in Christ, all one Family of God. Read Matthew 12:46-50 – What a gift!
4. John 19:28 “I thirst”. Our Lord was saying for the future, that He would thirst for Righteousness from the church,
but He would add His righteousness to it and distribute it freely to all. Psalm 85:10; Matthew 3:15; Romans 5:21-
What a gift!
5. John 19:30 It is finished”. Our Lord has brought an end to all the penalties of the law, all the ordinances were now
null and void and the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom so all could look in. The old was finished and
the new was to begin. An innocent person had suffered and God could now close the old and begin the new.
“Grace would now be the way” Zechariah 4:6-7; John 1:16-17 – What a gift!
6. Mark 15:34 “Eloi, Eloi, lame sabachthani” (My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?”) Under the law God
could not stand with one that had sinned. Our Lord took the sins of the world on Himself and for the first time in
His life, His Father had to leave Him. Psalm 31:22; Luke 22:42 (This was the cup He prayed for) Isaiah 54:7-8.
Because our Lord understood the pain in having God leave Him, if only for a moment, He set in place that this
need not happen in the future – Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 18:20; Matthew 11:28; John 14:18 – What a gift!
7. Luke 23:46 “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Our Lords last act is what allows the church with
confidence to proclaim, life with God does not end with the death of the body, but we can commit the soul into
God’s hands. – John 11:25-26; 2 Corinthians 13:4; John 11:11-14; Revelation 1:7 (clouds of souls) – What a gift!
With His death and the sealing of the new covenant finished – John 19:34-35- Our Lord had to now appoint
trustees to administer His last will and testament. This was done when He rose from the grave and He appointed
His apostles – John 20:21.
“Then said Jesus to them again. Peace be unto you: As My Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
These blessings are all still valid for every new believer to-day.

The Jewish nation, under their law, had to send a representative from their family on a journey each year to travel to the temple at Jerusalem to make a special offering for that family.  Many had long journeys through unknown territory.  We see listed in Acts 2 some of the countries they had travelled from Parthians, Medes, Emalites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia,  Pamphylia, Egypt, Cyrene, Rome, Cretes and Arabians.  It would have been a huge under-taking.  In many ways it points to our journey through life for we know that life is not a straight line, leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven.  Life is a winding and troubled road where God does not just show up after troubles but He is plotting our course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes, for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.
The Psalm in our text was inspired to be read every day that Jews were on their journey as a strength.  Its belief affirmed in verse 1 that the Lord rules supreme.  Verse 3-4 confirmed the belief that He was ever present unlike the God of Baal who had to be woken up when Elijah proved who was the true God.  Verse 5 confirmed whether day or night the guidance will be there.  Verse 7 extended that help to the eternal soul.  Verse 8 confirmed that whether going or coming, because of the new way won for the world by our Lords’ mission He will preserve us for evermore.
This prompted a saying that all on that journey would recite each day, which is also very appropriate for us.
Troubles are unknown, God’s providence is certain.  It is the same today.

This text relates in terms that a Horticulturist or farmer would find easy to understand. All the good textbooks on tree planting, show that when young trees are planted and they get ideal growing season and too much rain, even a short drought can kill them. Why? Because it was too easy! During frequent rain they did not have to push their roots deeper into the soil in search of water. They did not develop any real strength, so they developed a weak, shallow, root system and then they die very easily when it is dry.

When on Mission in the Philippines we observed thousands of young mango trees fell over from winds experienced after heavy typhoon rains. It was noticeable that the roots had not gone deep and were only in a small radius from the tree. The reason was that the soil was good near the top and the water table very near the surface. We can see that our text likens these trees to our faith in Jesus Christ.

If we want our faith to grow, we must be prepared to let the roots of that faith go down deep, take a firm hold, have it strengthened through adversity and allow ourselves to draw our nourishment from the Lord, so we can grow and always remembering to give thanksgiving for this blessing so that our faith will withstand drought and storm.

An early Apostle wrote the proverb “In the school of suffering one learns the will of God”. We see that faith can grow and is strengthened when trials and tribulations come our way in life. We need this strength for we can read of Apostle Peter’s warning. 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”. The Apostle Paul asks the question in Romans 8:35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword?”

Let us be able to boldly answer ‘Nay’ to this question, remembering that they all are tools to make the roots of our faith go deeper and broader, so we can withstand all the storms that come our way.

We recognise this as part of Apostle Paul’s teachings on his first visit to Athens, at that time regarded as the capital of the world for arts and knowledge. We see this teaching can be seen to highlight ‘values’ in our life. Already back then, the Apostle said the poets had recognised this in their writings. On a recent visit to a community a brother also gifted in poetry gave me some of his words and said they could be used if thought to be an uplift to others. One was on Values and is shared below

VALUES

THE VALUE OF OUR LIFE

THE VALUE OF OUR SOUL

THE VALUE OF A PRIVILEGE

IN LIFE TO GAIN A GOAL

THE VALUE OF A MOTHER’S LOVE

A FATHER’S GUIDING HAND

THE VALUE OF CONTENTMENT

OF A HAPPY FAMILY BAND

THE VALUE OF CREATION

ALL THINGS THAT WE DO SEE

GIVEN FOR OUR GOOD PLEASURE

IN SKY, ON LAND AND SEA

THE VALUE OF OUR TALENTS

WHETHER GREAT OR SMALL

BE OUR WORK, OR BE OUR PLAY

GREAT VALUE ARE THEY ALL

THE VALUE OF GOOD HEALTH

THE VALUE OF OUR FOOD

THE VALUE OF ALL PEOPLE

WHO WORK FOR COMMON GOOD

THE VALUE OF A FRIEND

SOMEONE NEAR TO OUR SIDE

TO LAUGH OR CRY TOGETHER

IN WHOM WE CAN CONFIDE

THE VALUE OF GOOD DISCIPLINE

AND OF HIGH MORALS TOO

THE VALUE OF A STRAIGHT LINE

IN ALL WE SAY OR DO

THE VALUE OF A GREETING

THE VALUE OF A SMILE

THE VALUE OF A THANK-YOU

MAKES OUR LIFE WORTHWHILE

THE VALUE OF FREEDOM

OF PEACE AND LOVE

THE VALUE OF FAITH

IN GOD ABOVE

GOD BLESS US WITH GOOD VALUES

GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO TRY

TO ALWAYS KEEP THESE VALUES

UNTIL THE DAY WE DIE

As we ponder on these words, let us also remember the words in Psalm 139:17-18.

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”

The text word for today reads conspicuously foreign.  The repetitions are unusual.  Other time Christ had often made very clear statements. The frequent use of not seeing and seeing seem almost puzzling, which is reinforced by the connecting, temporary paraphrase “and again for a little while”. The legible repetitions in the course of the text are, first of all, a very typical example of the methodology used by the rabbinical students. They conduct their discussions by repeating what they have heard in order to memorize Master’s words. Was what Jesus said to the disciples in this way enough for them to understand? Is it enough for us to understand?

“Just a little while longer…”. It will not be long before His execution. Jesus knows that those who believe in Him will fall into great distress, sadness and uncertainty. He does not omit that the world will celebrate His humiliation and mockery with joy and satisfaction. But His successors will be all the more oppressed and will suffer. He’s clearly preparing them for it. According to the Jewish understanding, the words “weep” and “lament” are closely related to lamentation, which underlines the seriousness and consequence of this announcement of farewell.

After this, Jesus speaks again of “a while…”, this time in reference to the disciples seeing him again. The meaning of the choice of word “while” has since been interpreted in many ways. With the different interpretations of this fact, I agree that Christ speaks of meeting the disciples after his resurrection. The Easter experience, also the statement “… I am going to the Father” and the Ascension, as well as the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, lead the disciples into different forms of perception and presence of Christ. Through all images and events He promises His divine but: “I will see you again!” (Verse 22). After Easter in the flesh, at Pentecost in the form of the spirit – but always the same Jesus.

We are used to saying: we do not see Jesus Christ in person like the disciples, but we see Him because and as the Holy Scriptures testify to Him. Is that enough for us to understand?  “I will see you again” is His promise, which gives us joyful expectation and a living relationship with Him. How we see Jesus, what relationship we have to Him is individual, shaped by upbringing, knowledge gained and certainly also by our church attendance. We have very different experiences in which, for example, demands and suffering, but also joy and happiness shape our bond with Jesus and our view of Him. Our experiences sometimes lead us to doubt, lack of understanding, impatience and powerlessness. This should not give rise to false self-doubt, exclusionary theories of sin or mechanisms of repression that go as far as questioning the faithfulness and presence of our Lord. Need and sadness, fate of life and even threatened faith are the divine “but“, the promise of reunion, subordinate. “You too have sadness now; but I want to see you again, and your hearts shall rejoice, and no one shall take your joy from you. (Verse 22)

So we stand with the disciples, should always remain questioners in our discipleship and can rejoice in His promise from the refrain “I am with you every day”, also quietly in the questioning, listening and threefold repetition according to rabbinic care. The divine “but“: Jesus wants to see us again and is waiting for us until eternity. From belief in the resurrection to belief in the present – not only because belief in the present is placed in all time through the words and deeds of God and their acceptance, but because the living presence of our Lord characterizes Him in our time. “Jubilate” – Rejoice!

Let us always hold fast to His words “I will see you again”.

The work of redemption which God started by sending His beloved Son down to earth, is a work of love and grace, making possible for all mankind the salvation of their souls. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3: 16-17.

Jesus Himself said that God’s grace is worth far more than all the riches and treasures of this world Matthew16:26. This healing grace is there for all, but it is up to us to acknowledge and accept it. The Apostle John testified to this: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. When this grace is properly acknowledged and accepted with a repentant heart, its wonderful effects can be seen in words and deeds. There is only one way to recognize the truth, free ourselves from sin and accept salvation through God’s beloved Son. This is why Jesus said: “For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins:” John 8:24. The Apostle Peter also said: “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. When the spirit of love and mercy corrects, it is not because He wants to cause fear and terror, but because He wants to help us. Correction leads us to peace, not suffering. He wants us to be happy.

Blessed are those who acknowledge and accept the grace God is offering. “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:19-21. Such an experience makes us happy and grateful, because it gives us the strength to give up that which is bad for us, making us just and kind.

Bad company and conduct tend to degrade us. Alone it is difficult to rid ourselves of bad habits.

May all those who have been led by God’s love to the house of His Son, accept God’s healing grace. Blessed are those, who can truly say: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.” Psalm 26:8.

This Easter weekend we are celebrating the renewal and realization of our long-held promise. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, absolute salvation is extended to those who choose to accept it.

Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are reminded of a timeless truth, that God is a keeper of promise.

This year we find ourselves once again, commemorating Easter weekend in a muted manner. Despite the setback, we remain comforted by the fact that God is a keeper of promises. He promised that the frustration and weeping we experience is temporary, and that joy will surely come.

Psalm 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

In the true spirit of Easter each one of us is called upon to make sacrifices for the collective good. We can find strength and joy in recalling that, by keeping ourselves and each other safe from the raging various difficulties, we emulate the loving heart, compassion and deep sense of duty that Jesus Christ gave the world.

We in Kenya wish you all a happy and blessed Easter full of joy and the promise of better days ahead.