Sermon

In With the New

Jump to Scripture and Sermon: https://youtu.be/Zl4HrVVChyw?t=685

Cemeteries are often the best place to make big decisions. They remind us that our bodies have an expiration date. As the saying goes, “no one on their death bed wishes they spent more time at the office." Many of the things that felt so important are exposed as worthless and many of the things that seemed undesirable as invaluable.

Today's passage urges, "Do not be conformed to the desires that you formally had in ignorance." We live in a world where many worthless things captivate our attention, and we seek to avoid some of the most valuable.

In Jesus we find the example and grace we need in order that we might release the things that hold us captive so that we might be freed to receive the abundant life Jesus came to bring.

Sprinkled with His Blood

People in the 21st century are squeamish when it comes to blood, and yet it is vital for us to understand the place of blood in scripture, both the blood of animal sacrifices and that of Jesus.

Fast Forward to Scripture and Sermon: https://youtu.be/MxG25A2dV8U?t=449

Faith is a Fork in the Road

Life is full of forks in the road, the choice to go one way or another. Some may not make much of a difference in life and eternity, and others will.

Jesus is a fork in the road that affects everything – a beginning in a new direction. To be a Christian is not a one-time event, but life itself. To be a Christian opens amazing opportunities, but it results in a different path than we were on previously. Jesus said, “If we want to be his followers, we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily to follow him.”  Faith in Jesus is far more than knowing about Jesus, it is having enough faith in him to dare to live what he taught and how he lived.

Not Our Home

Do you ever feel out of place?

In 1st Peter 1:1-9 scripture speaks of the Christians living in what is now Turkey as exiles - they are away from their homeland. The Jews knew something of exile. Scripture tells the story of their exile in Babylon. Scripture, including later in this chapter, also uses exile to speak of Christians now living on the earth - this is not our home.

Over history, Christians have sometimes removed themselves from the world around them, cloistering with other Christians and pursuing their faith in isolation. This is not the example Jesus gives us.

Jesus is our great example of living in exile, and the Apostle Paul urges us to think and live in exile as Jesus did.

Christ is Risen!

He is risen indeed!

How is your life be any different because of Easter? Is Easter a day on the calendar or the unveiling of great hope?

The resurrection of Jesus, breaking the power of sin and death, reveals that God's power and purposes far surpass human expectations.

The women who went to the tomb that morning were prepared to anoint Jesus' cold, dead body. They were confounded and confused to not find Jesus' body where it had been laid.

It wasn't until the two men (angels) asked them a key question, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."

The women then remembered all that Jesus had told them, about how the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.

Their mourning was turned into dancing as they raced to tell the others that Jesus had risen from the dead.

Approaching the Cross

Walk with Jesus from his time of prayer and betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, through his trials, suffering, death on the cross, and burial in the tomb, using the words of the Gospel of John.

You are invited to listen to the words of Scripture, not just with your ears and mind, but especially with your heart and imagination as we walk alongside Jesus.

The word Tenebrae means darkening or shadows. In a Tenebrae service, as the scripture approaches Jesus' death, candles are extinguished and the darkness grows. People traditionally celebrate this type of service on the Thursday or Friday preceding Easter.

We encourage participants to designate four lights (or sets of lights) to extinguish at times designated on the screen -- moving your room into deeper darkness. Ideally when you extinguish the fourth light, your room will be mostly dark apart from the dim light of the screen for the final readings and musical piece.

Exceeding Expectations

Jesus, Son of God and the Messiah, taught, healed, lived, suffered, died, and was raised, not so things would improve, but so that all creation would forever be different.

Many in the crowds shouting, "Hosanna!" welcomed Jesus as God's means of removing Roman rule and restoring Israel to its glory. Instead, Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, on the way to the cross and resurrection, is a work of God's great love and grace, offering new and eternal life and revealing the kingdom of God.

It isn't that we expect too much from Jesus, but that we expect too little.

Unless You Become

If Jesus taught and did so many things the religious elite didn't expect, why are we surprised when he invites us to do what we may have never expected?

Rather than being a hindrance to Jesus' work, Jesus elevates the heart of a child as essential to entering the kingdom of God. 

Jesus took the children up in his arms, laid his hand upon them, and blessed them, and he longs to do the same for us.

Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of Life

I would rather know the ways of life than avoiding death, the ways of heaven than the way away from hell.

I would rather live entranced by God’s love drawing me toward him than to spend my life running from evil.

I would rather live each day following Jesus than hiding from the sins of my past.

The good news is that this is the life to which Jesus calls us, a life paid for on the cross, a life we are to share with others

By declaring himself as the lord of the Sabbath, Jesus offers an invitation to life, rather than a burden to bear.

New Life

God’s grace leads us to new life, not just a better life. Rather than recreating the past, Jesus calls for us to live fully in the present, looking forward to God's future.

May we be like new wineskins, receiving God’s mercies that are fresh every morning.