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RESURRECTION POWER - from Sunday, April 28, 2019

4/29/2019

The resurrection is a demonstration of sacred power, and sends the message of resurrection power to disciples in every age. But, as stated last week, is this the kind of power that people actually want?

What people want is an afterlife without any serious this-life commitment. What they want is something for them rather than something for others. If so, then what they are not seeking is resurrection power.

During the Easter season, readings from the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) are replaced by readings from Acts. Therefore, we consider Acts 5 and how the 'Jesus people' respond to the religious rulers of the Sanhedrin who desperately want them to shut up already! They're jailed (Acts 4).

Then in Acts 5, having been busted out of jail by an angel, they're preaching again in the Temple about Jesus and the new life of the Kingdom. Now the Sanhedrin is really ticked off, but the 'Jesus people' stubbornly won't back done. What does that tells us about resurrection power?

In John 20, the risen Jesus appears to the disciples, but misses Thomas. Thomas hears about it when he returns, but scoffs at the report, stating he will only believe it if he can touch Jesus' wounds.

A week later, the risen Jesus visits again, inviting Thomas to check out his wounds. Thomas declares his faith. But Jesus teaches about the need to believe, not doubt. Find out how that is connected to the exercise of resurrection power by downloading the sermon text below.

(Sorry, no video this week. One of the batteries must not have been charged, and the video camera quit early.)

(Also, I will be off for 2 weeks, so this page goes quiet until after May 19 when I return. Behave yourself while I'm gone!)

04-28-19-ff-answers.pdf
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04-28-19-resurrection_power.pdf
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REMEMBER HIS WORDS - from Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019

4/22/2019

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There is power in the resurrection! But the big question is, do you want it? Why should reckoning with Easter inspire awe and fear? Find out what Jesus' resurrection isn't and what it means for his disciples.

Following the Luke 24 text for Easter, we know the story. A group of women go to Jesus' tomb, the stone was rolled away, the women found no corpse. Two men in gleaming white clothes challenge them: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you ...?"

The women returned to the disciples and told them what they had seen and heard, but their account was dismissed as nonsense.

Yet Peter runs to the tomb, but it says: "He went away, wondering to himself what had happened."

This is a lousy way to tell the triumphant story of Jesus' resurrection, which by the way, is an amazing stew of inconclusiveness in all four gospels. Surely the story should have one of the male disciples claiming, "He is risen! It is the resurrection!" making the whole point of the account, but that never ever happens - four times! This story was clearly not designed to reach its conclusion, rather it never reaches the conclusion for which it was designed! This story clearly reflects the most original account because no one in their right mind would create these accounts to proclaim the resurrection!

But the resurrection is not about Jesus bringing an afterlife for all the good people. (I know that's the version you like; sorry.) Jesus never suggested any such thing; our traditions have corrupted the message and watered down/erased its power that should inspire both awe and fear for us all. Find out what that is all about in the sermon video below.

04-21-19-sermon.mp3
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04-21-19-ff-answers.pdf
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04-21-19-remember_his_words-easter.pdf
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HIDDEN FROM THEIR EYES - from Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019

4/15/2019

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The traditional Palm Sunday victory procession has a big flaw; Jesus weeping over the city in the middle of it. Looking to Zechariah 9 for the source, we find answers in Luke 19 to the question: What did they actually see? Was it, as Jesus said, 'hidden from their eyes'?

There are plenty of instances of things in plain sight that even observant eyes can easily miss. We might give ourselves a dope-slap when the thing we've been searching for is right in front of our eyes.

However, we can scale it much further. The victims of Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle are still awaiting federal disaster assistance six months after being devastated. They wonder if they've been forgotten, neglected, or ignored as a new season of storm activity is on the horizon and they have hardly begun to re-build from last season's tragedy.

God has had this problem with the human creation not seeing or perceiving God's will from the beginning. God continually seeks to address it as the scriptures reveal, but to little avail as message and messenger are always getting corrupted by the human agenda.

The vision of Zechariah 9 seems to have conflicting imagery, but in fact it announces God's Kingdom of peace as the King comes to them on a small donkey, not a heroic warrior on a war horse. But is that what the people see in this King, or do they have their own agenda that is totally different from God's?

That question of what did the people actually see and believe gets answered in Luke 19 as Jesus also comes into Jerusalem riding a small donkey, a direct illustration of Zechariah 9.

God's Kingdom remains hidden for most, but not due to God or Jesus making any secret of it. View the sermon video below and access the downloads below the video panel.

04-14-19-sermon.mp3
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04-14-19-ff-answers.pdf
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04-14-19-hidden_from_your_eyes.pdf
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AROMA OF GRATITUDE - from Sunday, April 7, 2019

4/8/2019

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Kitchen, bathroom, garage - the aroma can define the space. What does gratitude smell like? God isn't sniffing any gratitude in Isaiah 43. But Mary fills the room with the aroma of gratitude, as her perfume anoints Jesus' feet. And there is a reprimand.

Aroma can attract and repel. As a repellent, it deters us from doing something that threatens well-being, like the aroma of food gone bad. Yet it can attract, like a flower's scent for the pollen-collecting bee, or a kitchen bathed in the aroma of baked bread.

In Isaiah 43, God declares a new thing. God's works bring praise from the animals of the desert as streams break forth in the wasteland. But God's people, for whom such blessings were intended, there is no praise, only silence. God continues to call attention to the lack of offerings, the lack of aroma of any sacrifices. There is no gratitude from God's own people. Yet still God will forgive them, but for God's own sake.

John 12 tells the story of Mary breaking open an entire jar of expensive perfume to anoint Jesus' feet. a gift usually reserved for the dead. Here it is given to Jesus while he is still alive, but headed into Jerusalem for the events of Holy Week. The aroma of gratitude permeates the room.

But Judas is angered by the waste. Following the teachings of Jesus, Judas betrays a spirit that reveals his knowledge of Jesus' teachings, but also a spirit for their corruption.

Sort it all out by watching the sermon video below.