Remember a time where you experienced heightened joy and happiness.  I’m talking about a memory where you spent hours talking, laughing, enjoying the company of loved ones and the experiences you had with them.  How do you feel now as you think on this moment?  Now remember a time where you experienced the depth of sadness and despair.  A time where you felt there was no possibly reason to rejoice and no hope for the future, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.  How did you feel now as you think on this moment?
Memories invoke the heights and the depths of the range of emotions that make the situations and circumstances you remember a part of who you are and how you became that person.  The idea of remembering is the foundation for the season of Lent, Passion Week, Good Friday, and Easter – and this is not a new idea, especially for God.  During this time, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, as the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, who died to reconcile man to God and to proclaim freedom for the broken.  We remember with contrite hearts the pain and suffering He had to endure for our sake.  But we also remember the glory of the resurrection, that though death seemed to have had a moment of victory, Christ in His power resurrected from death to life, giving us hope and freedom from sin.  He was victorious over death and gave us that victory.  We have hope because there was resurrection!  Thousands of years later, we remember this time, but the beauty of remembering did not begin post resurrection.  It began with God long ago.
When the Israelites were in captivity in Egypt, we are told in scriptures that God heard the groans of His people and He “remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob” (Exodus 2:24).  This memory, which was never a distant memory but one that He kept near and dear to His heart, was the first step to the great “exodus”, or the deliverance of His people, and the establishment of relationship between God and a group of people.  God remembered His promise to Abraham that his people would be a great nation and a blessing to all peoples.  God establishes the Law through Moses, laws specifically tailored to keep righteousness or relationship between God and the Israelites.  History shows that the laws were broken time and time again and consequently a broken relationship between God and man.  The future of the relationship seems pretty hopeless, other than a few glimmers of prophetic words, but enter Jesus into the story.
Why did Jesus have to come?  The simple answer is to atone our sins.  But that points the subject of the story to humans, and we know in scripture the subject is the glory of God (which we get to be a part of!).  Jesus came because God remembered.  God remembered His promise to Abraham that His people would be a great nation and for that to happen, because of the sin of man, an ultimate price had to be paid.  For God so loved the world (blessing to the nations, promise of Abraham!) He gave His Son. 
As God remembered His people in the book of Exodus, He had the world in mind.  He remembered His promise, saw the sin of man, and for Him to keep this promise Jesus had to come.  This season we remember with heavy hearts the sacrifice of Jesus.  But mourning turns to joy!  We remember and celebrate today, Easter Sunday, that we have life!  We have joy!  We have victory because Jesus is risen!
I pray that today, and everyday of our lives, the joy of Easter would resonate in our lives and we would never be the same.
 
From Pastor Keeyoung’s Heart
April 5, 2015

This past week I attended a fundraiser banquet sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF) of Northern Virginia.  Under the theme of “Send the Light,” the banquet sought to raise awareness of the awesome opportunity to minister to the children of Northern Virginia and raise the funds necessary to expand the work of CEF NOVA through Good News Clubs® (GNC). Good News Clubs provide children in public schools (yes, public schools!) an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and learn how much God loves them.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2001 (in Good News Clubs v. Milford Central School District) that Good News Clubs can meet in public schools after school hours on the same terms as other community groups with parental permission.  
Studies have shown that from 60 to 85 percent of all Christians make the decision to follow Jesus Christ before reaching the age of 12.  The 2001 Supreme Court decision helped open the doors to teach God’s Word to tens of thousands of children in this age group.  And in Northern Virginia alone, children from more than 80 different ethnic backgrounds attend public schools, effectively turning public schools into a mission field ready for harvest.  Good News Clubs indeed provide an awesome opportunity to get involved in “overseas” missions without having to travel overseas!  
Good News Clubs meet once a week in the public schools during the school year for about 90 minutes. They are led by a team of three to four volunteers who love children and desire that they come to know Jesus Christ personally and grow in Him.   Over 5,000 Good News Clubs are being held in public elementary schools across the USA.  In Northern Virginia, 28 schools (out of about 330 public elementary schools) have Good News Clubs, reaching close to 900 children each week. In Maryland, Good News Clubs are in over 70 schools (out of 900 elementary schools). This means there still remain over 1000 public elementary schools in Northern Virginia and Maryland without Good News Clubs, having forfeited the opportunity to reach children who may never hear the Gospel otherwise.
To get a GNC in every public school may seem like an impossible task, but it can happen if more volunteers and churches are involved.  I don’t have the exact numbers, but I believe if every church adopted one nearby elementary school, all the remaining schools will be covered.  We at NCFC spend thousands of dollars take the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” through overseas short-term missions, and we should.  But how about ministering to the children from the ends of the earth and are living right in our own backyards as well?  If you cannot volunteer your time, you can help other volunteers through your tax-deductible donations so necessary supplies and snacks can be purchased.  Do you know if your child’s school already has a GNC? If so, would you be willing to volunteer your time?  If not, would you be willing to prayerfully consider starting one?
Several members of NCFC Virginia Campus have also attended the CEF banquet, and I am super excited that a few of them are prayerfully considering adopting an elementary school in the Ashburn area.  Jesus has said, “It is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish.”  I pray that NCFC members become more active in preaching the Gospel to the children in our “Jerusalem” first, and then be His “witnesses in all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
March 29, 2015