Millersport Covenant Church Sermon Podcasts

We might ask who put Jesus, born in a humble manger, on the cross? Was it the Jews? Was it the Romans? Was it Satan and his demons? Or was it sinners like us, around the globe and down through the ages? Certainly it was a collaborative effort, a collection of evil deviants--thieves, murderers, adulterers, pagans, idolators, and us who bear the blame. But WHO else was involved? In a prayer following arrest and detainment, we find a portion of the early believers' prayer in Acts 4:27-28: “For in this city there actually met and plotted together against Your holy Child and Servant Jesus, Whom You consecrated by anointing, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and peoples of Israel, to carry out all that Your hand and Your will and purpose had predestined (predetermined) should occur." (AMPC) It was God Himself Who ultimately laid His Son upon the altar we know as the cross! So as Christmas unfolds, don't look at a manger scene without seeing the crucifixion scene and the empty tomb scene! Because that is why Jesus came! That is why He was sent! Before time began, the cross was Christ's foreordained Father-Son mission and the empty tomb tells us He accomplished it perfectly! Let, therefore men and angels sing yet some more: "Gloria in excelsis Deo!"

As we contemplate Jesus' journeys, we can be sure of this: No matter where He went, from Galilee to Judea to Samaria, He was ultimately headed for Jerusalem. Even when He left one of the festivals held in the City of Peace, He was still headed back there, still on mission, still destined to carry out His redemptive plan on a hill called Golgotha. Our Lord's face was set like flint to die for our sins and He would not be deterred. As co-Creator of the universe, the Maker of all things seen and unseen, He could venture anywhere at anytime and get there at the speed of thought. But He chose to come here--God Incarnate--Emmanuel! He chose to make few His steps here on terra firma so we could walk with Him forevermore! And His lovely feet that brought the Good News were pierced along with His hands and side. As it says in Luke 18:31: "And taking the twelve, He said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished." And so it was! Jesus' journey to the cross made possible our journey to Heaven!

In Genesis 3:14-15, we hear God declare a curse upon the serpent (Satan) for his vile and crafty temptation in deceiving the first couple, Adam & Eve: "The LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the cattle, and more than any animal of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity (open hostility) between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, and you shall [only] bruise His heel.'” (AMP) This takes place right after the fall but despite the curse of death, God includes the promise of redemption that would come from the Seed of the woman. Known in theological terms as the protoevangelium, this is the first pronouncement of the Gospel in all of Scripture. And by WHOM will this redemption come? From none other than God the Son Himself, Jesus Christ! As was also foretold in Isaiah 53:5: "But He was wounded (pierced) for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." (NKJV) Jesus accomplished all this on the cross! Through Adam, man fell; through Christ Jesus, redemption has come! And the first prophetic declaration of all this came on the heels of the fall iteself. All glory to God for His steadfast love and faithfulness are from of old and they are also from everlasting to everlasting!

As the season of Advent unfolds, we remember Jesus' first Advent by recounting the stories of His humble birth, announced by angels and revealed to lowly shepherds and wealthy wisemen from the East. These stories are told and retold and celebrated in myriads of ways around the globe. What is less celebrated is Jesus' promised second Advent. And why is that? Because it will be in stark contrast to the first. First time, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; next time He'll be robed as a sword-bearing warrior. First time, He came to redeem; next time to He'll come to judge. To persecuted believers in Thessalonica, Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 1:5-8: "This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering-- since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." (ESV) A lot of songs fill the air as we celebrate Jesus' first coming; not so much the next one. But our reality is we find ourselves living between the two Advents of Christ, grateful for the first, while awaiting the next one with deep abiding love and hopeful anticipation...

Psalm 107:1, 8-9 says: "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! ...Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things." (ESV) Psalm 107 is a congregational call to worship and give thanks. It's addressed to those sorely impacted by the Babylonian invasion, i.e. exiles. Some were refugees who'd fled to desert places. Others were POW's hauled off by their captors. But now the exiles have been returned home. This psalm's rightfully a call to thanksgiving. Even in the midst of trials, thanksgiving is in order. That's because God is a good God, ever worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. Believers down through time have chosen to give thanks in times of hardship because they hold in their hearts the promise of better days to come. The famous hymn writer, Isaac Watts wrote of this glorious future: "How astonishing will be the glory and the joy of that day when all the saints shall join together in one common song of gratitude and love, and of everlasting thankfulness to this Redeemer! With that unknown delight, and inexpressible satisfaction, shall all that are saved from the ruins of sin and hell address the Lamb that was slain, and rejoice in His presence!" Amen and Amen!

In John 14:6, at the Last Supper, Jesus said this to Thomas, His disciples, and all His followers down through time: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (ESV) In David's prayer of repentance, Psalm 51:6 specifically, we hear this: "Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart." (ESV) And the late Billy Graham once said: "You can accept the truth, you can reject the truth, but you can't change the truth." Aesop's fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, is a good comparison to truth vs lies and falsehoods. Lies and falsehoods are spread, sprint forth and run rampant, brandished with pride, swagger and arrogance. But eventually the tortoise of truth comes along, overtakes the lies and falsehoods, and crosses the finish line victoriously. Truth may come from way behind but in the end it will always win. How much do you love the truth? How much do you love the truth of God's Word? How much do you love the truth of God's Word made flesh--Jesus? Our Lord said this in John 8:31-32: "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (ESV) Yay and Amen!

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Paul affirms: "Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." (NIV) It's one thing to give mental ascent to the notion that there was a good man named Jesus, that He was crucified to death, buried, and alleged by some to have risen from the dead. (An atheist could affirm that.) It's quite another thing to believe from your heart of hearts that Jesus was the one and only Son of God, Who was crucified to death on a cross, Who bore the punishment of we sinners, extinguishing God's wrath against our sin; Who was buried in a grave that could not hold Him; and, Who rose up from that grave victoriously demonstrating that our sins had indeed been atoned for, totally forgiven, with eternal life bestowed upon those for whom He died. Truth matters! And what we believe matters! So where do you stand on what truly matters?

Matthew 7:15-20 records Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." (ESV) False prophets are found throughout the OT. Jesus likewise confronted them in His day and the apostles and authors of the NT faced them also. Most of the creeds and confessions of the church down through the centuries are dealing with errant doctrines propagated by heretical teachers. False gospels are also aplenty. In Galatians 1:8-9 Paul cryptically writes: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." (ESV) The truth matters! And we're told to beware of those who speak otherwise! Falsehood is never good news!

In Luke 12:16-21 we hear from Jesus: "And He told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (ESV) In the verses that follow, Jesus describes what it means being rich toward God with the full weight of our souls resting upon Him for all things necessary in this life. What are the pivotal words in this discourse? TRUST and TREASURE. This world and its god offer many shiny things to entice our fleshly bent towards greed and pleasure. As temporal and fleeting as they are, they still ensnare many. Perhaps Jesus' rhetorical question in Mark 8:36 is one we should all consider: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (NKJV) The answer? Nothing!

In the ancient credo hymn displayed in Philippians 2:5-11, Paul writes: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (ESV) In our culture, people do all kinds of things to make a name for themselves. Some succeed famously, others infamously. But God the Son, from eternity past, took on flesh. Then He suffered the most humiliating of public executions--this to extinguish God's wrath while redeeming us from sin and death and hell. His exaltation to His rightful throne was perfectly deserved. And our bowing before Him, whose name is above all names, is totally the very best response we can offer...

Ephesians 1:3 says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places..." (ESV) And then the next eleven verses, a single sentence doxology in the original Greek, describe those rich, amazing, incomprehensible, blessings. Some of them include being sovereignly chosen by God before the foundation of the world; being ransomed from sin and death as enemies and not only made friends of God, but His very own children--children who will share in the inheritance of Christ Jesus our Lord; and, being filled with and sealed by the Holy Spirit, who ushers us to the fruition of all these wonderful blessings, both now and in eternity to come. Discovering who we are in Christ should change everything. The more we gain some comprehension of this on the inside, the more it should effect us on the outside. If we were once not IN HIM but have been made to be IN HIM--it changes everything! From spiritual orphans to God's beloved children--from what we once were to what we are now--in Christ. And with every spiritual blessings included! All glory to His name!

Hear the often quoted words of 1 Corinthians 15:3-4a: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." (NIV) But listen closely: It's one thing to say and believe Christ died, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures; it's quite another thing to say from your heart of hearts, He died for MY sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21 is also much declared: "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (NIV) Can we hear these words too much? Perish the thought! Of course Jesus warned about praying prayers of vain repetition. i.e. superstitious recitation. And He shared this at the Sermon on the Mount just as He was introducing the oft recited Lord's Prayer. But repetition isn't all that bad when we extract the vain part. How about, meaningful, profitable, fruitful repetition! Yes, that works! Like Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, "To keep writing to you [over and over] of the same things is not irksome to me, and it is [a precaution] for your safety." (Phil. 3:1b AMPC) So some things bear repeating, even over and over again--like the Good News of Jesus Christ!

After doing jail time in Philippi, the Apostle Paul eventually makes his way to Thessalonica and Berea. Chased out of those two cities, he finds himself waiting on his colleagues in idol-infested Athens. After sharing about Christ in the synagogue and marketplace, two groups of philosophers invite him to address them at the Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill. In Acts 17:21-23 Luke gives us this picture: "Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you." (ESV) Paul continues by tactfully presenting the Gospel. When he gets to the part about Jesus' resurrection from the dead, the philosophers balk, canceling the rest of Paul's message. Other than a handful of folks, Athens rejects the Gospel. The deities once worshiped on Mars Hill have all gone the way of the dinosaur but the Gospel continues to be preached worldwide. Many we know and love have pitched their tents on their own version of Mars Hill. But there's a better hill--it's called Mt. Calvary. There, Jesus bled and died for our sins to make us His own and this forevermore. Upon which hill have you pitched your tent? It truly does mater...

1 Thessalonians 4:13 says: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." (NIV) The next 5 verses give a vivid picture of Jesus' return and the resurrection that follows. The Anglican Preacher, R.C. Ryle (1816-1900) put it this way: "What will you see when the great event of Christ's return takes place? You will see the eternal Son of God return in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will come to raise the dead saints and to change the living ones, to punish the wicked and to reward the godly." John Calvin, three centuries earlier, said it even more succinctly: "Let us consider this settled, that no one has made progress in the school of Christ who does not joyfully await the day of death and final resurrection." So we grieve differently, that is with hope. And our hope is different than the world's hope. Our hope is not wishful thinking. Hebrews 6:19 says hope is the anchor of our souls. Wishful thinking is no anchor! Paul sums it up perfectly in 1 Corinthians 15:19: "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." (ESV) Because of our sure and certain hope, we grieve differently and pity is absolutely unnecessary...

Job 7:6-7 laments: "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is but wind (a puff, a breath, a sob); my eye shall see good no more." (AMPC) Job 9:25-26 echoes similarly: "My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy. They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey." (NIV) These and many other Scriptures affirm the brevity of all our lives. But Jesus came to win for us a better destiny, one that will last throughout all eternity. 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 tells it well: "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him." (ESV) The old Latin term, tempus fugit found on old time pieces translates: "time flies." And so it does. But Psalm 103:17-18 should encourage us all when it says to God's beloved: "But the love of the LORD remains forever with those who fear Him. His salvation extends to the children's children of those who are faithful to His covenant, of those who obey His commandments!" (NLT) And the people said: Amen!

Romans 5:6 says: "While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly." (AMP) Verse 8 of the same chapter echoes: "But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (AMP) And then we skip down to verse 10 which affirms: "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today]." (AMP) This is astounding! While we were STILL helpless; while we were STILL sinners; while we were STILL God's enemies--Christ died for us! So what does it say about being saved? Saved from God's wrath. Why? Because Jesus bore it! Saved from the consequences of sin. Why? Because Jesus was punished for the consequences of our sin! He was our substitute! Likewise, we were saved from eternal death and granted eternal life. Yes this is astoundingly Good News because of the astounding Love behind it! It changes everything--or at least it should...

With Israel's capital city of Samaria suffering a severe famine due to being under siege by their Syrian enemy, a starving people resort to desperate acts. Donkey heads sell for 80 shekels of silver and a pint of dove's dung for 5 shekels of the same. Mothers resort to cannibalism and Israel's evil king Joram finds himself helpless under the fierce judgment of Almighty God. Meanwhile the nation's elders gather about the prophet Elisha who declares that God will bring about their deliverance the next day. That evening 4 lepers facing certain death outside the city gates decide to risk everything by surrendering themselves to the Syrians. But when they arrive at their camp they find it deserted. Fleeing in fear, the Syrians left all their food and possessions behind. The lepers eat and loot and party on until they realize their discovery is such good news it must not be withheld. They go and share the good news with the king and Israel is delivered. The far greater reality of being brought to salvation in Jesus Christ comes with joy inexpressible. Our leprosy of sin is healed by our Lord's stripes and we are made clean! Eternal life is bestowed! The priceless treasure of being restored to God is beyond incredible! And then we realize withholding Good News like this just ain't right! Besides God's Word saying we must, love compels us to eagerly go and tell...

Someone once said that, if God became a man and lived and worked among us, the sayings in the Book of Proverbs would describe perfectly the way He would govern His life. Because these principles are from the mind of God, we would do well to incorporate the wisdom they contain into our daily lives. In this sermon, listeners are challenged to study these wise sayings and strive to make them part of their vernacular and their orthopraxy (behavior guided by wisdom).

Hebrews 9:11-12 says: "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With His own blood--not the blood of goats and calves--He entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. (NLT) In the original tabernacle, as well as the temple, there was a curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Once a year the High Priest would enter the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and he would sprinkle lamb's blood to atone for the sins of the people. All this pointed to Christ Jesus, who as our High Priest, offered His own blood as atonement for our sins and He did this once for all time. He was not only the High Priest, He Himself was the sacrifice! So what about that curtain that separated the two holy places? Mark 15:37-38 tells us: "And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." (ESV) That curtain might as well have had a sign posted on it: "Stay out! This place is Holy!" Now, ripped asunder from top to bottom by the fingers of Almighty God, shots aloud: "Come in!" "Welcome My children into My holy presence!" Yes indeed, the New Covenant is far better than the old one...

Hebrews 10:10-12 says: "For God's will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand." (NLT) Like floodlights shining down on a field of play, all 66 books of the Bible, OT & NT, are shining upon Christ. Hebrews 10 illuminates how the old covenant gives way to the new and better covenant. A covenant is a sacred agreement between those who love one another. In Galatians 3:19 the Apostle Paul asks and then answers a great question: "Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the Child who was promised. God gave His law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people." (NLT) Romans 8:3 is our exclamation mark: "The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins." (NLT) And praise God, Christ's sacrifice, is most certainly and unequivocally, good for all time!

Mark 13:1-2 says: "As Jesus was leaving the Temple that day, one of His disciples said, 'Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls.' Jesus replied, 'Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!'” (NLT) Jesus' words would come true when Jerusalem and it's Temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. King Solomon's first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians centuries before that. While some maintain expectations of yet another Jewish temple to be built in Jerusalem, the Scriptures tell us of another Temple. Where might that one be? 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 gives the answer: "Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." (NLT) Ephesians 2:19-22 puts it this way: "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit." (NIV) So God dwells in His people by His Holy Spirit and this is wherever His regenerated, born again, adopted children are found. Ye really are God's Temple!

In Exodus 35 and 36, we read how God commanded Moses and His people to build a Tabernacle for worship. Where? In the wilderness. In order to do this God's way, the people who were willing were asked to give what they had in order to build according to God's plan. This was to be a freewill offering that included everything from precious metals and gemstones to goat hair and yarn, not to mention their creative skills and abilities. So the people commenced to giving. And they kept on giving. In fact, they gave so much that Moses had to command them to stop! Now we might call this the greatest offering ever. Except it wasn't. That would come 1400 years later. Romans 8:3-4 tells us about an offering far far greater, and this one was made by God Himself: "The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." (NLT) This offering is indeed the greatest ever--eternally unsurpassed!

So what are we a part of here in this little church? Are we a part of something bigger than what we might imagine or are we aimlessly stumbling down a dead end road? Are we a self-help kinda church or a name-it-and-claim-it kinda church or a woe is me church full of victims or a strict legalistic body of believers that values law over grace or a free wheeling kinda church that winks at immorality and embraces whatever our shameless culture heartily approves? Hebrews 12:22-24 says otherwise: "No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God's firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God Himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the One who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel." (NLT) We ain't seen nothing yet! Yay and Amen!

Acts 14:3-7 tells of Barnabas and Paul's first missionary journey as they traversed through Asia Minor: "So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel." (ESV) Reading on through the chapter we learn that Jews turned the crowd in Lystra against the brothers, stoned Paul, and left him for dead. Except he wasn't. And he and Barnabas traveled on, preaching the Good News about Jesus wherever they went, and all this under the threat of death. We now, like Paul & Barnabas, have been given the task of bearing witness to this Word of His Grace, sharing the same Good News. And while we may not face stones (though no violent acts these days should ever be ruled out) we may face public ridicule and rejection in increasing measure. Jesus promised we'd face persecution. And when the disciples did, they endured it joyfully. Their bruises were badges. Their scars were like trophies. And may the same be said of us if the same lot falls to us...

"The Doe of the Dawn," Psalm 22, is the Song of the Cross. Written a thousand years before Christ, Jesus claims the song as His own as He suffers in our place. Psalm 22 is a lament that begins like a dirge but morphs into a victory song. Weeping indeed endured for that night when darkness fell on Golgotha, but joy came on Sunday morning. Demons choked on their laughter when the bruised heel of Jesus' atonement crushed the serpent's head. We must remember, with every ounce of our beings, with full conviction: our Lord's agony led to our victory; His forsaking led to our forgiveness and acceptance; His piercing and suffocating and blood-shedding extinguished the fire of God's wrath against our sin; His cruel and heinous death birthed our eternal life. The late Jerry Bridges said it so powerfully: “Christ exhausted the cup of God's wrath. For all who trust in Him there is nothing more in the cup. It is empty.” The stalwart reformer, Martin Luther, exhorts us all as follows: “Learn to know Christ and Him crucified. Learn to sing to Him, and say, ‘Lord Jesus, You are my righteousness, I am your sin. You have taken upon Yourself what is mine and given me what is Yours. You have become what You were not so that I might become what I was not.'” Amen and Amen...

The journey of a couple of Jesus' little-known disciples during the first Easter weekend holds several elements that the Church of today should keep in mind as we serve during "a time such as this". With an empty tomb behind them confirming all Jesus had taught about the resurrection, why would they walk away? As the noise and the anger of this world grows louder and more intense, Christians today need to be alert to what/who we are following.

The Apostle Paul encourages each of us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling..." (Philippians 2:12). But James, the brother of Jesus, sternly cautions believers to not make plans too hastily lest they walk outside the will of the Lord. (James 4:13-17) So, we make plans, trying to discern God's will but we invariably encounter interruptions to our plans. These interruptions cause us stress. What is the proper way, the God pleasing way, to handle interruptions and stress? The ideas presented in this sermon might surprise you.

In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it." (ESV) When Jesus taught in parables it had a twofold purpose--they brought both clarity and confounding. True seekers gained better understanding while religious leaders left scratching their heads. Volumes of books have been written about the Kingdom of God but here's a simple definition: The place where the Fatherly rule of God, the rulership realm of the King of kings, inhabited by the Spirit-born children of God, will live forevermore in the holy, blissful presence of our Almighty Triune God. With a taste of it now, in that ultimate place of splendor we will worship the One who made the way for us to live with Him forever via the sacrifice of Himself on the cross, achieving a crushing victory over sin and death, demonstratively displayed by His resurrection from the dead. This King and His Kingdom are liken to Treasure, now unearthed, and far far more precious than silver, gold, or diamonds. Indeed, all other treasures are pittance in comparison...

The renowned preacher John Wesley once said: “I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England.” John's brother Charles undoubtedly concurred. In 2 Timothy 1:5, the Apostle Paul exhorts his son in the faith: "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well." (ESV) Paul recognized the Godly influence of these two beautiful souls as they reared Timothy to become the man of God he was destined to become. Whether it be Moses' mother, Jochebed, Samuel's mother, Hannah, or Mary the mother of our Lord Jesus, the Scriptures give us many examples of mothers who revered God, loved their children beyond measure, and taught their sons and daughters to replicate their devotion. One famous preacher from the 1800s who revered his own mom was Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said this about all Godly mothers: "You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts."  Amen to that! The truth is obvious: Godly Mothers are a gracious gift from God!