So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. –Matthew 28:8 NKJV
They were filled with fear and great joy. Being afraid did not cancel out the joy of hearing that Jesus had risen as he said. We can have peace in a world that does not know peace. We can rejoice in tribulation, we can praise him in the storm. That has always been the message of Easter morning. The tomb is empty. Death, hell and the grave have been defeated.
Palm Sunday, one week before Easter, is when we remember Jesus entering Jerusalem as crowds of people waved palm branches and shouted Hosanna! During Holy Week, or Passion Week, Jesus divided his time between public appearances and time alone teaching his disciples. The parable of the wicked tenants is one of his public sermons in which he address the leaders of Israel and spoke to his followers about what was about to happen; not directly but in the language of analogy.
Palm Sunday is coming up on April 5th, Easter is April 12th. If we are not able to meet together by that time I hope to do something more than just post sermon audio. This short announcement via YouTube is as much of a test as anything. Nothing is certain, pray for us and bear with us. Trying to be the church.
Jesus led by example. He never asks us to do anything he was not first willing to do himself. He instructs his followers to continue doing the things he did. In the final days of his earthly ministry, he got down on the floor and washed the disciples feet. Let’s examine this text from John 13 and ask God to teach us from it.
I don’t know if it’s a brave new world but the world certainly has changed in just the past week or two. I preached this sermon to an empty house and was successful in making not only this digital recording WAV file but also making an old fashioned cassette tape that our seniors without internet access can listen to.
Here is the essay I referred to, We Need Something to Push Against, on my blog. Click below to hear The Transfiguration of Jesus, today’s sermon as we continue our series on the ministry of Jesus in preparation for Easter. The text is from Luke 9. Peace to you and God bless.
Unity Baptist meets for worship on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. We worship through music, prayer, giving, preaching and the response to preaching. You are welcome to join us. See our about page for more, read our history, listen to sermons going back to 2015.
What would you like to do?
Learn About who we are and what we believe.
Read about our church’s History.
Bulletin is now Announcements.
Listen to Sermons.
Get directions to Find Us.
God has a plan, he knows what’s doing, his plans always work out. His Word given through Isaiah was encouraging to his people at that time. By studying it now, we better understand that God is always at work accomplishing his will. As we work our way toward Easter, Isaiah 52 and 53 give us a clear picture of the crucifixion and hint at something even greater.
This will be the first sermon in a series of Christ’s ministry leading up to Easter.
We use passages from Isaiah during Advent that describe the birth of the Messiah. We sometimes to to Isaiah 53 during the week of Christ’s Passion. But Isaiah (as well as other Old Testaments prophets) describes more than these events at the beginning and end of the Messiah’s life. We are given details of his character and nature of his ministry.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians that he had become all things to all people. He was limited in the scope of his ability to really become all things. All of us fall short in being perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. Jesus, however, can be all things to all people. He is a friend that stays closer than a brother, a comforter, friend, savior, provider, protector; the Lord is a strong and mighty tower we run into. He is the Rock of Ages, the Lily of the Valley, and we could go on and on. Paul’s desire was to share this good news with people that need to hear it.
Adam may have been dust but sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Adam was made by God in his own image, then God breathed into him the breath of life. In the New Covenant we posses a great treasure (the indwelling Holy Spirit) in jars of clay. I wish had explained the sermon title this well on Sunday morning.
Unity Baptist Church 