Celebration Podcast Celebration Church in Shreveport

We're excited to have Pastor Brian Opbroek joining us on April 13 at our Uncommon Parenting Conference! He is the author of the book I'm Her Dad; check it out through the link below!



Register for Parenting Conference: ⁠https://ccpeople.cls.co/pwgt⁠

Book "I'm Her Dad": https://clr.cm/z9ce

The men and women who saw Jesus after the resurrection couldn’t go back to the way things were. They wrote the gospels we’re reading 2,000 years later (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They started the global church, spending their lives spreading the message that Jesus is alive. Their belief that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the grave changed them forever.

So what do we do with our disappointment? We do what Jesus’ friends and family were forced to do. We rest. Rest in the promise that God is working behind the scenes, in ways we cannot see or even comprehend yet. Rest in the fact that while darkness leaves us waiting and feeling lost, light always follows (Psalm 30:5).

Jesus’ overcoming is also how we celebrate through suffering in our lives. Jesus overcame spiritual and physical death, and He has a plan for our suffering as well. There is glory on the other side. Through our pain, God ministers to others, teaches us to trust Him, reveals Himself to us, and reminds us this world is coming to a close. 

When you get overwhelmed, remember Jesus can relate

Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, Hebrews 4:14-16

Teachers will tell you most students thrive under clear instruction. Even if a topic is difficult, if a teacher models how to do it first, students are far more likely to understand and be successful when they get home and have to do it themselves. 

Jesus, being a teacher, knew this. And right up to His death, He was giving His followers an example they could follow. When life gets hard, and we don’t know what to do next, we can look to what Jesus did in the hours leading to His arrest.

Is your life as fruitful as it seems?

Matthew 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-14

Imitations have gotten better and better over time. It’s nearly impossible to tell the difference between the artificial succulents and live plants. We need to be cautious in a friend’s kitchen because those beautiful apples on the counter may be for decor purposes only. 

We’ve all experienced a moment when we realized things are not as they seem. In Matthew 21, Jesus sees a fig tree full of beautiful leaves, a sign that it should be bearing fruit. But when He gets closer there’s no fruit. The tree had all the outward signs of fruitfulness, but nothing below the foliage. Jesus cursed the tree, and it withered.