Dear Fellow Children of God,
Do you know the TV show, “The Price is Right?” I
did some research. This game show first aired from 1956 to 1965, and was
then brought back again in 1972. It is still running today, over 50 years
later. The Price is Right is one of the longest running shows on
television. That may be a surprising way to start a devotion. However,
please consider how the contest works. Contestants have to figure out the
retail price of an item and compete against other contestants to see whose
guess is the closest. Or in other words, “What is that item worth?”
So, . . . I have a question for you, “What is our forgiveness, our salvation
worth?”
We are in the midst of Holy Week for 2025. It began with
Palm Sunday on April 13. During Holy Week the Christian Church will observe
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and then Easter Sunday this coming Sunday, April
20. If you participate in Holy Week
worship services, and I encourage you to do so for the benefit of
your faith, you will walk with Jesus through His Palm Sunday entry into
Jerusalem, and through His disputations in the temple with the religious
leaders. If you participate in Holy Week
worship, you will watch Jesus as He celebrates Passover and institutes the
Lord’s Supper. You will again observe as
Jesus prays in agony in the garden of Gethsemane, as Judas betrays Him, as
Jesus is arrested, and as His disciples dessert Him and run away. Perhaps you will again be shocked as Jesus is
put through a sham trial, as He is beaten and whipped, as He is nailed to the
cross and dies in agony.
In the game show, The Price is Right, contestants try to
figure out the value of an item. But,
how much are you worth? What is
the cost of our forgiveness? What Jesus endured during Holy Week shows us how
much God values each of us. Jesus
willingly accepted this Holy Week gauntlet of suffering in order to pay the
debt and the punishment for the sin of the world, and to pay for our sin. That is how much God values us!
Scripture also gives us more insight concerning the price
God paid to save us. Consider the words
of St. Peter. “ . . . you were
ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with
perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious
blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter
1:18-19) The price which God paid for
the debt of our sin is the blood of Christ, is the suffering and death of the
promised Messiah!
God moved St. Paul to write in Romans 5, “6
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly. 7 For one will
scarcely die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person one
would dare even to die-- 8 but God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8) The death of Jesus reveals the depths of
God’s love, even for sinners who actually deserve punishment and death. Yet, “God
shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
John 3:16 also teaches the price our Heavenly Father paid
for our forgiveness and salvation. "For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life.” The Father gave HIS
SON! That is the price our Father paid to save us!
I am praying that the depth of God’s love, the love we
see especially during Holy Week, travels from your head into your hearts. In
Ephesians 3 Paul prays “14
. . . I bow my knees before the Father, . . . that you, being
rooted and grounded in love, 18
may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and
length and height and depth, 19
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God.”
(Ephesians. 3:14, 17-19) Paul’s
prayer moves me. I also pray that my
family, my friends, and the members of churches I have served, know the
“breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ.
How much does God love you? What are you worth to our Heavenly Father? I
encourage you to participate in worship this Holy Week. You will be amazed at the depth of God’s love
for you, at what you are worth to our Creator, and Lord, and Savior.
A Child of God, Amazed at the Price Jesus Paid to Save a
Sinner Like Me!
Pastor Rockey
P.S. I continue
to serve as part-time assistant pastor at First Lutheran Church in
Gainesville, Florida, with Pastor Chris Kollmann.
Kathy and I will return home to
Alaska on May 5.
· HOLY
WEEK SCHEDULE
Palm Sunday
10:00am with
Communion
(Gather in the courtyard at 9:45am with your
Palms.
Palms will be available at the Welcome Table
located by the main door under the breezeway)
Open Arms
Children will have a special message during the Children’s Message
Maundy
Thursday
Noon and 7:30pm
Worship (both services with Communion)
Passover Dinner
at 6:00pm in the Fellowship Hall
Good Friday
Noon and 6:30pm
Worship (no Communion either service)
(No dinner this evening.)
Easter
Morning Worship
8:30am Worship
with Holy Communion
9:30am Easter
Morning Breakfast
10:00am Easter
Egg Hunt
11:00am Worship
with Holy Communion
·
Our the Adult Membership Class on the Basic
Teachings of the Bible concluded this past Saturday, April 12. Four people from this class will join First
Lutheran on Easter Sunday, April 20.
They are Merlyn Dungey, Madeline Franklin, Yusheng He, and Susan Lucas. Here is a picture of all who attended the
class. https://photos.app.goo.gl/H3NzNdhB9QdLTmoZ8
In addition, we
will be receiving Sunny Vickers, her daughters Lynley and Emma, and her dad,
Cecil Anderson on Easter Sunday as well.
😊
·
Jonathan Albertin, Patrick Bier, and Will Starr
left on April 5 to drive to St. Louis, MO, to attend the “Vocatio” Retreat for
prospective seminarians at Concordia Seminary.
They arrived home on Tuesday, April 8.
Here are a couple of pictures of these young men at the seminary. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ixB78PAEiZ4qm7qa7
·
SUNDAY SCHOOL IS IN FULL SWING until
May, and it is GROWING! Children begin in worship at 10:00 a.m.. Early in
the service, after the Children’s Message, children leave for a Sunday School lesson,
for a craft, and a snack.
Parents,
Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, Neighbors, PLEASE bring your children to
Sunday School.
THANK YOU
Sunday School Teachers and staff!
·
COLLEGE STUDENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS meet on
Tuesday nights in the student house at 7:00 p.m. We are studying “The
Case for Christ” and discussing defending our Christian faith in a world of
doubt. On Tuesday, April 22, we will
watch a movie based on this book. Come
and join us!
ALSO,
there will be College Lunch for students in the Fellowship Hall after
worship.
·
WE CONTINUE TO READ THROUGH THE SCRIPTURE IN
2024 and 2025 using the “Today’s Light Devotional Bible.” On Wednesday,
April 16, we read through Hosea 12.
Feel free to
contact Pastor Rockey at 907-841-4066 if you have any questions about these
readings. Or send an e-mail question to jonrock53@mtaonline.net I have
recently received questions and comments. It is always good to consider
our Lord’s love and guidance. I will TRY to answer, but some things only God
knows!
P.P.P.S. Fishing and Family Fun:
·
Fishing –
o Because
of my auto accident, I had to use my rental truck to tow my boat for
fishing. However, my trailer ball bar
was too small for the receiver on the truck.
Here are pictures of the insert which allowed me to tow my boat. 😊 https://photos.app.goo.gl/949qkYpXBLEZEHPM6
o I
went fishing on Thursday, April 10, at George’s Lake, and I caught 7 fish, and
kept a limit of small fish. Here are
some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/BUxUkdQ91bTSFbZAA
o On
Sunday, April 13, I went fishing at Orange Lake after worship. It was a beautiful day and I caught 2 nice
fish. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Nu79Mbd5QYqEFUAA
o On
Monday, April 14, after a game of golf, I went fishing for the first time on
Lake Wauburg. Here is the only
picture. https://photos.app.goo.gl/pubZ9Fm78ijgjQdj9
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I
retired at the end of August 2019 from serving as full-time senior pastor of
St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion
previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired
many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued
writing. However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion
"Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer
senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those
who asked to receive it. (However, I am currently as Vacancy Pastor for
First Lutheran Church in Gainesville, FL.)
So, if you stopped receiving
these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now
receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive them, please let me know,
and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution list. My e-mail
address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these
devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Vacancy Pastor, First Lutheran
Church, Gainesville, FL
Pastor Emeritus, St. John
Lutheran Church, Palmer, AK
How great is the love the Father has
lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we
are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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