We take our celebration of Jesus' resurrection seriously. Part of that is a sermon on the importance of his resurrection. Here are those sermons through the years.
John ran, Mary cried, Peter swam, Thomas worshiped, and the disciples rejoiced. The resurrection of Jesus changed history, but it also changes people. This is a series of sermons on the resurrection appearances of Jesus. Those appearances changed those who encountered him and they can change you too.
This is an Easter sermon on Romans 11:33-36.
Peter promised he’d never forsake Jesus—he’d even die for him. But moments later, when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied even knowing him…three times. Then, he watched as Jesus was unfairly tried, mocked, beaten, whipped, tortured, and crucified. Peter wept bitterly, but no amount of tears could erase the guilt and shame. Three days later Jesus’ resurrection sent Peter running and swimming.
The notion that Jesus rose from the dead should give us pause. If he died and came back to life, there must be incredible implications. When we consider Jesus’ resurrection we should respond like those who first saw it—they were afraid yet filled with joy.
When Jesus died, the tomb was closed, and the day was gone, so too was forgiveness, peace, hope, joy and love. Three days later Jesus came back to life. This marked a new day, the first day when the darkness of consequence, turmoil, fear, sadness. and loneliness could truly be overcome. This sermon declares that no matter how bad things are, Jesus’ resurrection lets you start anew.
Our lives are filled with emptiness. The complexity of life clouds our experiences. The things we hope to find fulfillment in, don’t fill us at all. 2,000 years ago two men walked a country road feeling just like we do. Then, they had an encounter with someone unexpected and for perhaps the first time, they experienced clear eyes and full hearts.
This is the Holy Week sermons (Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter) from 2016.
Life is full of hurt. We feel pain, struggle, fear, and failure. Despite it all, most of us hope. We hope for a better tomorrow. We hope for future success. We hope to be forgiven. We hope our lives will matter. And, we hope that death will not come too soon. But, false hope is no hope at all. The Bible declares that our greatest hopes hang on if Jesus rose.
In this first person narrative sermon “Thomas” tells of meeting Jesus, witnessing his miracles, seeing him crucified, and overcoming doubt in his resurrection. Through the course of the monologue several themes emerge including religion that is unfulfilling and hurtful, disappointment with God, doubt, and the importance of belief.
When sin entered into the world, death came with it. When death entered into the world people started focusing on making their lives on earth as good as possible. This continues in the world today. People make their decisions based on few years of life they have been given. In this sermon we see that Jesus’ resurrection conquered death and made eternal life possible. This should change people’s perspective on time and altar the decisions people make in the present.