Category: Sermons (Page 1 of 12)

Scripture Reading: Micah 4 (ESV)

The Mountain of the Lord

1: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it,

2: and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3: He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore;

Peace and Prosperity

4: but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

5: For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

Restoration of Zion

6: In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted;

7: and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.

8: And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

9: Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pain seized you like a woman in labor?

10: Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

11: Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”

12: But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

13: Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

John 21:20-25 (ESV)

Gifts, and Individual Purpose

20: Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”

21: When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

22: Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

Truth, and Personal Devotion

23: So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

24: This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

25: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

John 21:15-19 (ESV)

The Love Language of Christ

15: When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

16: He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

17: He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

The Love Language of the Church

18: Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”

19: (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

John 21:1-14 (ESV)

A Familiar Sign (1-8)

1: After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.
2: Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
3: Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4: Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
5: Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”
6: He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.
7: That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
8: The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

A Familiar Lesson (9-14)

9: When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.
10: Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”
11: So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.
12: Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
13: Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.
14: This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

John 20:24-31 (ESV)

Doubt’s Distrust

24: Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
25: So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Doubt’s Defeat

26: Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
27: Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
28: Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Faith’s Triumph

29: Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31: but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:11-18 (ESV)

The Joy of Anticipation

11: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.
12: And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
13: They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

The Timing of Recognition

14: Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
15: Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
16: Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

The Glory of Exaltation

17: Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18: Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

November 20, 2024

John 20:1-10 (ESV)

The Word We Forget

1: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
2: So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

The Evidence We See

3: So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.
4: Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5: And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
6: Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there,
7: and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.

The Faith We Express

8: Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;
9: for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
10: Then the disciples went back to their homes.

John 19:23-27 (ESV)

The Grace of Prophecy

23: When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,

24: so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,

The Grace of Provision

25: but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26: When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

27: Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John 19:16-22 (ESV)

A Place and a Sign

16: So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,

17: and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

18: There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

A King and His Kingdom

19: Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

20: Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.

A Claim and a Confirmation

21: So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”

22: Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

Rev. Flavien Pardigon