Worth It.
I love a good story. I love great film and television. I’m a terrible reader when it comes to fiction, but I love the beautiful narrative of biographies and non-fiction. Try to imagine something…and I struggle, but real people in real history, I’m hooked.
Most of us find that we love a good story. We always have. This is why people sat around fires sharing stories of the past, why we love when older family members tell the tales of when they were young, why we are often drawn to incredible stories based on actual events, why we love to get together with old friends and retell that time that one thing happened.
We love a good story.
This past week, we celebrated the greatest story of all time.
The story of God choosing to walk among us, to show us how to live and how to love, and it turns out…that way of living, was caught in a perfect storm between the powerful Empire, the corrupt religious elite, and the longing for him to be the long awaited Messiah…you can’t stand for what Jesus stood for and live the way Jesus lived without experiencing pushback.
That pushback got Jesus killed.
But that was not the end.
This past Sunday we celebrated Jesus defeating sin and death.
So after we’ve come down from our sugar high from Sunday’s celebration…it is back to “reality”…right?
When Sarah and I had our first son. We tried for 5 and a half years. We hoped and prayed and miraculously, she was pregnant with Foster. After 9 months, he was born. What we had waited for was finally here. Then he didn’t sleep through the night. Night after night. We asked our pediatrician and he said he will. He’ll get there.
Next thing we know, Sarah was miraculously pregnant again, with our second son, Keating. We were ready to expect the same thing. Sleepless nights…but about 5 weeks in, Keating was sleeping through the night.
Foster still wasn’t.
5 and a half years in, Foster started to sleep through the night.
I’m not kidding. Either Sarah or I was up at some point with Foster every single night for 5 and a half years.
I should also note, we lived in a one-bedroom apartment…so let’s be honest…we were all up every night…except Keating. That kid could sleep through anything.
We finally had this child…but then reality set in.
As long as we waited and tried and hoped and prayed for a child, it was as long as it took for him to start sleeping through the night.
Nobody told me I would have sleepless nights for years.
Nobody said that yes, this is great, but there are lots of other challenges that are inevitable in this incredible blessing.
I say that to say, the week after Easter, we can have all this excitement, this momentum to keep charging onward, following after the ways of Jesus! He is risen…prayers were answered. Hope was fulfilled…but then reality might set in…that there are a lot of sleepless nights with this whole prayers being answered thing.
With faith in Jesus, we experience more than we could ever ask or imagine. I truly believe it is an unbelievable way to live, it doesn’t just change some future reality, it impacts my life now. I think following Jesus is worth everything we have, which is why I dedicate my life to it and hope that others choose to follow after him as well…but when you follow him, there are a lot of sleepless nights.
Nobody told you that, right? That after all the celebration, after the answered prayers, there would still be doubts. Grief. Shame. Conflict. Questions.
Likely nobody told you that you would still have lots of questions for years into following Jesus.
Likely nobody said, yes, following Jesus is great, but there are lots of other challenges that are inevitable in following after him.
So, that’s what we are going to do. Over the next few weeks, we are going to continue to follow the Jesus story. We will try to put ourselves in their place, see what they saw, try to imagine what they experienced, and see that it wasn’t all sunshine and roses from that first Easter onward.
We’ll see what we can learn from those who have gone before us.
J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings, was a faithful follower of Jesus and loved to wrestle with the “greatest story ever told.” He was once reflecting on the Easter story and writing to his son, he described, “the Resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible.”
Now, in case you don’t know what the word “eucatastrophe” means…that is because Tolkien coined it himself. Where a catastrophe means an event or disaster where things cause damage, suffering, or pain…a eucatastrophe adds the Latin prefix “eu” which means good or well. It is the inverse of a catastrophe. It’s when suddenly and favorably things cause healing, blessings, or life.
Easter is the greatest “eucatastrophe” possible.
Tolkien said it brings “Christian joy, which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow… it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one… lost in Love.”
As we are living in the shadow of the greatest eucatastrophe, we would be foolish not to think we wouldn’t have problems and challenges. It is a mix of joy and sorrow, blessing and curses, hope and despair, but we are lost in love. The book didn’t end on Sunday, the screen didn’t fade to black and let the credits roll…we’re just in the next part of this beautiful narrative.
My hope is you will continue to join us in this journey.
This Sunday, I am excited to have Branden Campbell back to preach. Branden is a regular part of the Chapel community, filling in for me in the past. His wife, Katie, leads the 30A Prays prayer ministry. They are a great family, and it is a joy to have them be a part of this community.
Many nights, Sarah and I will still read to our boys as they are going to bed. We’ve transitioned from little kid stories to epic narratives. One of the things that both Sarah and I do is when we are reading and we start to doze off, we stop reading what’s on the page and we start stringing together gibberish, and the boys think it’s hilarious.
Those stories don’t make sense when we are falling asleep.
We are just going through the motions, but we aren’t in it anymore.
After Easter, after we’ve committed to trying to follow after Jesus, it is easy to go through the motions, to start to doze off, to start to string together gibberish, and not really be in it.
My hope is that this journey awakens you to all that God has for you.
When Paul wrote a letter to the early church in Ephesus, he was encouraging them to experience the same thing. He said…riffing on a quote from the Hebrew Prophets…
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
When you wake up to what God has for you, you often realize all the good and all the challenges, all the hope, but also all the struggle. Sometimes it could seem easier just to go back to sleep…
I get it…I love a good night’s sleep…but I wouldn’t trade any of those sleepless nights for my son.
He’s worth it.
I love a life of ease, no obstacles and challenges…and if we’re honest, those are all inevitable…in fact, likely even in greater quantity following after Jesus…but I wouldn’t trade any of those inevitable difficulties for life found in the Son of God.
He’s worth it.
This week is a quiet week around here, but everything will be back up and going next week.
Prayer
This coming Tuesday, April 29th we will NOT meet for our normal prayer hour. Instead on, Thursday, May 1st it is the National Day of Prayer. We are working with 30A Prays and will have some prayer time at 7am and 12 noon in The Chapel like our normal prayer hour. Then outside and around The Chapel we will prayer stations from 8am-noon. Join us for any of those prayer times.
As well, if you would like anything added to our prayer list, email [email protected].
Bible Studies
We’re in the book of Numbers, continuing through the Torah. Just a few more weeks and we will complete Numbers and Deuteronomy.
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Men’s Study: Wednesday, April 30th at 8am
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Women’s Study: Wednesday, April 30th at 9:30am
Our Young Adult Bible Study is currently on pause.
Catch up via our podcast:
Chapel Study Notes (available wherever you stream).
Egypt 2026
We’re planning a trip to Egypt in 2026!
We’ll explore classic sites, with optional visits to Jordan, the Dead Sea, and Petra. We will have the official link to sign up very soon.
Until then, if you’re interested, email:
[email protected]
If you’re out of town, under the weather, or just need to worship from home, join us online:
thechapelatseaside.com
facebook.com/TheChapelAtSeaside
vimeo.com/thechapelatseaside
Let us know if you need anything.
We’re on the journey together.
Blessings,
Andrew