We’ve spent the past few weeks looking at the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. This is the last one, from Acts chapter 1. He tells his disciples to remain in Jerusalem, wait for the promise, then when they receive power from the Holy Spirit they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. As he ascending into heaven two men in white robes said he would come back the same way. That is the promise we are waiting for.
If you lived on a fishing boat it’s probably not that weird. Jesus continued doing post-resurrection what Jesus always did, providing for people’s physical as well as spiritual needs.
To put it simply, everything is functioning now the way it should. The website is up and running, the email address pastor@unitybaptist.church can send and receive email, if you had problems over the weekend those should be resolved.
The full story is more involved but for anyone interested: the website we share on our promotional products, business cards and so forth is http://www.unitybaptist.church (or just unitybaptist.church). We renew a contract annually for that URL. The actual website is hosted by WordPress. I found plainvilleunitybaptistchurch.wordpress.com to be rather long and complicated. It wouldn’t look good on a bumper sticker. So the simple to use and remember domain does a redirect to the actual website location.
Last summer I lost my wallet. That was the cause of many headaches, I don’t recommend it. I was carrying the church debit card at the time and that had to be replaced in addition to all my personal cards and documents. When it came time for 1&1 Ionos to renew our contract, the old debit card had been cancelled and the transaction did not go through. I didn’t know anything was wrong until Saturday morning when a friend IRL asked about the website.
In the past, the unitybaptist.church domain did a frame redirect. No matter which post or page you went to on the site, the URL address did not change because you were looking at a frame. Since I had to set that up again we went with an http redirect. Now when you type unitybaptist.church you can tell that’s a shortcut to a longer web address. If you want to share the link to a particular sermon, article or page on the website that will work. It is also better for SEO or Search Engine Optimization (which is not a major concern for a non-profit but improving our web presence may help people find us and there is no reason to hide).
If you noticed a problem, it has been corrected. If you used the Facebook page or the RSS feed on The Master’s Table to get here then you probably never notice a problem at all. If you are reading this we’re glad you found us.
1 Timothy 3:16 is another text that provides a succinct description of who Jesus is. The mystery aspect will be explained at the end.
Note: Somewhere in the middle of this sermon I get confused by my own notes. I wrote down Romans 6:10-11 and it should have been Romans 8:10-11. I knew what it said but had planned to read a couple of verses to provide context. I resorted to “the Bible says” and that’s not the kind of reference I like to give.
Jochebed was the mother of Moses. He had an older brother and sister but Exodus 2 details the events of his birth and his mother’s love. She loved her son and chose to fear and obey God rather than Pharaoh.
In the early hours of the morning, after the Sabbath had ended, a few women walked toward his grave to finish matters left unattended.
They carried spices for anointing, to honor custom and tradition. For he had been quickly laid in the grave on the day of Preparation.
So early on Sunday morning, even before it was light, they approached the tomb of Jesus to set things back to right.
The stone, however, was rolled away and no body lay behind it. Was he taken by believers or hid by guards? Their concern was how to find him.
They were startled by an angel, dressed in white, a splendid vision. “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” he asked. “He is not here, he is risen.”
Filled with fear and excitement at what the angel said, they ran to tell the disciples that Jesus was not still dead.
The eleven found the women’s story understandably hard to believe. But Simon Peter ran to the tomb, for himself he just had to see.
The stone was moved, as they said, and the sheet lay in its place. But the napkin was to the side neatly folded, that had covered Jesus’ face.
Peter saw the empty tomb, Jesus’ body was gone for sure. That didn’t mean he was alive. Seeing is one thing; faith required more.
Mary Magdalene met Jesus, and two believers on the road spoke with him. Finally the eleven were in a closed room, When Jesus did not enter but appeared to them.
It would take time for them to understand all that Jesus had taught them. His most important work was on the cross, and by his blood he bought them.
The crucifixion, resurrection, Great commission and ascension; it seems like an awful lot for a few lines of poetry to mention.
So here’s a thought, perhaps a challenge, instead of letting your mind sit idle: this story of Jesus and many others are all right there inside your Bible.
There were other people, from the Old and New Testaments, that were dead and restored to life. Jesus is the firstborn of the resurrection. Colossians 1 describes the incarnation and how we are redeemed and reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus.
Many events during Jesus’ earthly ministry had been recorded prophetically hundreds of years earlier. As Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, let’s connect some of those dots to see the whole picture. Or at least more of it.
Unity Baptist Church 