The Resurrection

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 5th of April, 2026 - Easter Sunday.  This service included Holy Communion with our Lord.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Our bible has many passages that hinge on something happening in three days.  One of the more familiar references is Jonah in the belly of the great fish for three days.  Jesus mentioned this one time when the people asked for a sign.  He responded, “The only sign will be the miracle that happened to the prophet Jonah.  Jonah was in the stomach of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights.”  There were quite a few times when Jesus spoke of His impending death and resurrection, such as when He said, “Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days.”

Three days.  Three is the number of God – the Triune God, God in Three Persons, the Holy Trinity.  And in three days the Temple was indeed rebuilt.  Today we celebrate that third day, and Jesus’ victory over the grave.

We celebrate Christmas because it commemorates the birth of Jesus into this world on His mission to bring us forgiveness and offer us eternal life.  And while that is extremely important, the foundation of our faith comes now, today, on Easter Sunday.  For it is the resurrection of the body that we are promised, and that promise is proven by the resurrection of Jesus.  Had Jesus not been raised from the dead, Christianity very likely would have faded and died as an ideology.

The resurrection is so important to us, that all four Gospel writers recorded it.  And the Apostle Luke’s Book of Acts mentions it often as a main theme of the Apostles’ preachings.  One of those mentioned was the Apostle Paul and the messages he delivered during his missionary journeys.  And of course Paul included this topic in some of his letters, including one to the church family in Corinth.

Please listen and follow along as the Apostle Paul gives us better insight into what the resurrection means to us, as he wrote in the 15th chapter of his 1st Letter to the Corinthians, verses 1 through 8 and 12 through 26, and I’ll be reading from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I told you. You received that Good News message, and you continue to base your life on it. 2 That Good News, the message you heard from me, is God’s way to save you. But you must continue believing it. If you don’t, you believed for nothing.

3 I gave you the message that I received. I told you the most important truths: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; 4 that He was buried and was raised to life on the third day, as the Scriptures say; 5 and that He appeared to Peter and then to the twelve apostles. 6 After that Christ appeared to more than 500 other believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died. 7 Then He appeared to James and later to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, He appeared to me. I was different, like a baby born before the normal time.

12 We tell everyone that Christ was raised from death. So why do some of you say that people will not be raised from death? 13 If no one will ever be raised from death, then Christ has never been raised. 14 And if Christ has never been raised, then the message we tell is worth nothing. And your faith is worth nothing. 15 And we will also be guilty of lying about God, because we have told people about Him, saying that He raised Christ from death. And if no one is raised from death, then God never raised Christ from death. 16 If those who have died are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised from death, then your faith is for nothing; you are still guilty of your sins. 18 And those in Christ who have already died are lost. 19 If our hope in Christ is only for this life here on earth, then people should feel more sorry for us than for anyone else.

20 But Christ really has been raised from death — the first one of all those who will be raised. 21 Death comes to people because of what one man did. But now there is resurrection from death because of another man. 22 I mean that in Adam all of us die. And in the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again. 23 But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. Then, when Christ comes again, those who belong to Him will be raised to life. 24 Then the end will come. Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers. Then He will give the kingdom to God the Father.

25 Christ must rule until God puts all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.

--1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 12-26 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Christ to free us from the bonds of sin!  Jesus came to offer salvation to all the world because You love us all.  And He commands us to go and make disciples of all the world.  Sadly, Father, not everyone believes in Jesus as Your Son, they refuse to accept Him as their Lord.  There are many who don’t even know about Jesus, about what He taught and did.  Please help us reach out to the non-believers of the world, Father, sharing the Good News and showing Your love.  Help us spread the message that Jesus has risen from the dead and lives again, the first of many.  And please forgive us when we hesitate to do Your will and as our Lord Jesus commands us.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Thank You for raising Jesus from the dead to show that we too will be raised to eternal life if we just follow Him.  Help us keep the joy of His resurrection in our heart and our actions as we go about each day doing Your will.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

A person reported waking up from a code only to find themselves speaking Italian - a language they did not know - and then immediately flatlined again.  After being revived, they later joked, “I’d come back to the wrong body.”

A 72-year-old Indian man named Deepak Singh suddenly awoke atop a funeral pyre just before his cremation.  Declared dead after collapsing, he came to, thoroughly shocking his gathered family.  He later joked that he hoped they would wait until he was actually dead next time. 

There have been many, many instances of people being brought back to life, especially in hospital environments or under emergency medical conditions.  We even have AEDs here in the church that can help restore a person’s pulse, and anyone trained in CPR can help revive someone.  But I've only heard of two instances where a person had been dead and buried for three days and then brought back to life.  The first was Lazarus, raised from the grave by Jesus.  And the second was Jesus, raised back first to physical life and then eternal life by God.

Every Easter we celebrate that Jesus was raised from the dead.  Easter and Christmas are the most joyous days for Christians.  Jesus died for our sins, and then defeated death.  The resurrection story, the empty tomb, was looked at this morning during our Sunrise Service.  Now, in Paul’s letter, we look at what the resurrection means to us, to mankind.

Paul begins this passage by reminding us of the Good News, of how important it is for us to remember the Gospel message because it is God’s way to save us.  And he encourages us to keep holding on to this message, to keep believing, or our faith would be for naught.  Then Paul boils that message down to the most important truths: that the Christ died for our sins; that He was buried but was then raised to life on the third day; and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve, and then to over 500 other believers, then to James and the other apostles, and finally to Paul himself.  That last occurred when Jesus struck him blind on the road to Damascus.

Paul then goes on to defend the resurrection of the dead, something the Sadducees did not accept or believe in.  And he was very direct in his statement to us Christians.  If there was no resurrection, if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then our faith is worthless, pointless.  Not only that, but we are still guilty of our sins and will have to answer to them before God.

If our hope, our faith in Christ, is only good for this earthly life, then there really is no reason to go on living.  But Jesus was raised from the dead, and we will be, too.

A little earlier, I mentioned that something happening in three days is a recurrent theme in our bible.  The two examples I gave were both from the New Testament, although the incident of Jonah that Jesus spoke of actually occurred in Old Testament times.

There’s another Old Testament reference I’d like to look at, where the prophet Hosea claims that resurrection will occur for all who walk with the Lord.  By the way, Hosea wrote this over 700 years before Jesus was born into this world.  Oh, and this resurrection will come on the third day, too.

Please hear the words of the prophet Hosea, from the first two verses of the 6th chapter of the book bearing his name…

1 Come, let’s go back to the Lord.

He hurt us, but He will heal us.

He wounded us, but He will put bandages on us.

2 After two days He will bring us back to life.

He will raise us up on the third day.

Then we can live near Him.

--Hosea 6:1-2 (ERV)

The prophets spoke for God.  Their words came from God.  He used them to speak to mankind.  And He promises to bring us back to life and raise us up on the third day.  Jesus was just the first.  In verse 20 of our scripture reading, Paul proclaims that Jesus is “the first one of all those who will be raised”.

Paul goes on to say that death entered this world due to the sin of Adam, but then salvation came to the world because of the righteous act of Jesus.  Paul specifically says, “in Christ all of us will be made alive again”.  The key is “in Christ”.  By our belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and by following Him as our Lord, we remain in Him, and we will be raised to new life, eternal life with Him.

This is the promise of the resurrection.  This is the foundation of our faith.  This is our hope.

In just a few moments we will come to the table of our Lord to share His last meal with Him.  The Apostle Paul warns that we must be right with God before doing so.  Otherwise, we share the guilt of His execution, of His death, with those who committed the act.

Now is the time to get right with God.  If you are feeling convicted by the Holy Spirit, if you are weighed down by the guilt of disobedience, if you are holding a grudge against a fellow believer, if there is anything in your life that God would see as sinful, lay it all at the foot of our Lord’s cross, repent, and seek forgiveness.  Get right with God.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came in the flesh to redeem us, who was raised from the dead into flesh and returned to heaven, and who is coming again to judge us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for raising Your Son Jesus from the dead!  He gave up His mortal life to atone us of our sin so that we could always be with You, and then You resurrected Him in the body to show that we too will be resurrected in the body when our mortal life is finished.  You will give us a new, incorruptible body that will last for all eternity.  Thank You, Father, for such wonderful gifts, for having mercy on us.  Sometimes, Father, we don’t understand everything that has been saved for us in our Bible.  Sometimes we don’t understand because we don’t spend enough time in study and reflection.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Help us better grasp all that Jesus taught us, and all that the prophets wrote about Him.  Give us greater insight and visibility into all You have promised.  And Father, guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, on this day – the third day - so long ago You left an empty tomb behind as You were raised to renewed life by our Father God, just as You said You would be.  So many had trouble believing this, even those who walked with You.  So You showed Yourself to them, in the flesh, and we have their reports and witnessing so that we can believe.  Thank You, Jesus, for taking our sin upon Yourself, leaving our sin in the grave, and walking forth into a new day.  Please help us follow Your example and pattern our life after Yours.  Help us see through Your eyes.  Help us be more understanding, more merciful, more forgiving, remembering that we are all created in our Triune God’s image and that You came to save us all.  And Lord, please help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Already Alive and Afoot

 

[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 5th of April, 2026 - Easter Sunday - at our Easter Sunrise Service.  This service will not be available on our YouTube streaming channel, as it was conducted outside of our Fellowship Hall.]

Some of the women who had followed Jesus and His disciples from Galilee watched as He was crucified and died on the cross.  These included Mary, His mother, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James the younger and Joseph, and Salome, the mother of James and John.  Joseph of Arimathea secured Jesus' body from Pilate, wrapped it in linen cloths, and laid it in a new hewn tomb just before sunset, Friday afternoon.  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary followed Joseph to see where Jesus was laid and saw the huge stone rolled in place to seal the tomb.  Then came the Sabbath, when no labor is allowed and no work can be done.

Saturday evening saw the end of the Sabbath, when labor could be resumed.  And then came Sunday, the first day of the new week, and the first opportunity for anyone to visit the tomb.  Sunday was also the third day of the crucifixion, counting Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Did anyone remember what Jesus had told them about that third day?

Please listen to the report the Apostle Matthew recorded for us describing what happened on that Sunday long ago.  I’ll be reading the 1st 10 verses of the 28th chapter of the Matthew’s Gospel account, from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible…

1 The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. That day at dawn Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 Suddenly an angel of the Lord came from the sky, and there was a huge earthquake. The angel went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on top of the stone. 3 The angel was shining as bright as lightning. His clothes were as white as snow. 4 The soldiers guarding the tomb were very afraid of the angel. They shook with fear and then became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, the one who was killed on the cross. 6 But He is not here. He has risen from death, as He said He would. Come and see the place where His body was. 7 And go quickly and tell His followers, ‘Jesus has risen from death. He is going into Galilee and will be there before you. You will see Him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”

8 So the women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell His followers what happened. 9 Suddenly, Jesus was there in front of them. He said, “Hello!” The women went to Him and, holding on to His feet, worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell My followers to go to Galilee. They will see Me there.”

--Matthew 28:1-10 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Thursday night we stood by and helplessly watched as Your Son was arrested.  We were scared that they might take us into custody, too, so we fled, leaving Jesus on His own, denying that we even knew Him.  Friday we were horrified to see Him being crucified.  Many of us hid in rooms in the city, still afraid of what the Romans and temple guards might do to us if they caught us.  And then Jesus took His last breath on the cross, and was buried.  But this morning, this beautiful morning, Father, we can rejoice, for You have resurrected our Lord Jesus!  You raised Him bodily from the grave so that He could defeat death.  And You and Jesus did it all just for us!  Your Son suffered, and You had to stand by and watch, just so we might enjoy everlasting life in paradise with You both… if we only believe in Him and follow His voice.  We believe, Lord Jesus.  We believe that You are the one true Son of God, and we believe that You rose bodily from the grave.  This morning we celebrate that glorious day.  Bless us Lord, and help us prepare ourselves for Your return.  Help us to better serve You and to never falter in our belief and faith.  In Your sweet name, Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

It’s Sunday morning, the day following the Sabbath.  Just two days ago, in our way of reckoning, Jesus died on the cross.  His body was wrapped in linen cloths and placed in a freshly hewn tomb.  And then everything stopped in observance of the Sabbath.

But now the Sabbath is past, the dew is fresh on the grass, the sun is slowing rising in the east.  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses went to look at the tomb of our Lord.  The Mary’s were among those who had traveled with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover.  Another Mary, the mother of Jesus, also came and they all watched Him take His last breath and die on the cross.  What a horrible thing for a mother to see!

So now these women are walking to the tomb just as the sun peeks above the eastern horizon.  Friday afternoon they watched as the tomb was sealed by having a huge stone placed across the entrance.  But as they stood there at the tomb, an angel of the Lord came down from out of the sky, and a huge earthquake shook the very ground under them.  The angel went over to the tomb entrance and rolled that massive stone away.  And as if all of this was a commonplace occurrence, the angel sat himself down upon the stone.

And then Jesus walked out, right?  Well, no.  Jesus didn’t walk right out because He was no longer in there.  The angel rolled the stone away not so that Jesus could get out, but so that we could see in, and see that the tomb was empty.  Nobody – no body – was inside.  By the time the women got to the tomb, before the stone was rolled away, Jesus was already alive and afoot.

Meanwhile, the guards, who had been posted to prevent the disciples from coming in the night to take the body of Jesus, were shaking in fear.  They were so afraid they couldn’t react, couldn’t move, because of what just happened, and what they were seeing.  For the angel nonchalantly sitting on the stone in front of them shone like lightning, his snow-white robe glowing.

Ignoring the guards entirely, the angel spoke instead to the women, telling them not to be afraid.  He knew why they were they, what they were looking for, so he reminded them of what Jesus had said earlier.  Their Lord wasn’t there, because He had risen from death just as He said He would.  He instructed them to go tell the disciples and the rest the good news, and that Jesus would meet them along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

So the women rushed off to do as the angel commanded.  As they were running, Jesus suddenly appeared in front of them!  He greeted them and they ran to Him and worshiped Him at His feet.  He repeated the angel’s instructions for them and His followers, so that they could all see Him, alive and afoot again.

There are two very important and meaningful points in this short passage because they relate to promises that Jesus and our Father God made to us.  The first I already mentioned.  The huge stone blocking the entrance of the tomb was rolled away not so that Jesus could get out, but so that witnesses could see in and testify that the tomb was empty.

Jesus had publicly stated that He would rise from the grave, defeating death.  The Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t believe this, of course, not only of Jesus but of anybody, because it was impossible, it couldn’t happen.  But what they did believe was possible was that some of Jesus’ followers could come in the night and take His body, and then tell everyone He had risen from death.  So they talked Pilate into posting a guard at the tomb, to prevent the body being taken.  The now empty tomb, though guarded all night, shows the truth of Jesus’ words.

And the second point is that Jesus appeared to the women and then to the rest of His followers up in Galilee.  This is important for two reasons.  First, even if the followers had taken Jesus’ body, He would still be dead!  He wouldn’t be walking around in broad daylight for anyone to see!

But more meaningfully for us, His physical appearance, after His death and burial, witnessed by hundreds of people, proves His resurrection.  And it adds validity to the promise of our own resurrection and new life after life on this earth has ended for us.

Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead by God, but many more will follow.  When Jesus spoke with the Pharisee Nicodemus, He said that God loves the world so much that He gave it His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  This promise is authenticated by the resurrection of Jesus.  This is our Easter promise.

Family, Jesus is still alive and afoot today.  We may not see Him walking among us, but He is here, and He is right by our side when we do His bidding.  We are His feet, we are His hands, and ours is His voice as we go out into the world sharing the Gospel.

But what heavy stone is blocking us?  What huge impediment is keeping us from carrying out our mission, the task Jesus gave us?  Are we afraid – afraid of what others may think or say when we express our faith, afraid of how they might react?  Is fear or embarrassment our boulder?  Or is it we’re just too timid, too shy, especially when it comes to approaching a stranger?  Or maybe we think we just won’t know what to say or do to try and preach the Good News, the Gospel?  What is the huge, heavy stone that we can’t seem to roll away from blocking our path?

Just as those women saw, God can and will roll that stone away for us.  All we have to do is ask.  Just pray and ask for strength, for courage, for the will to do our Lord’s will, and let God do the rest.  Remember: we have the greatest power in the universe right here inside us.  We have God’s own Holy Spirit within us.  He will move any stone that gets in our way.  Just trust in God, in His Son Jesus, and in His Holy Spirit and our way will be open and clear.

So let’s get out there and tell others the wonderful news that Jesus the Christ has risen from the dead and lives again!  Hallelujah!  He is risen!  Christ has risen!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer, Master…  You came as our Messiah, our Savior.  But You died on the cross, and for a moment the world lost hope.  Then You rose from the grave, just as You said You would, once again alive and full of life!  You conquered death and promised we would share in that victory if we would only believe in You and accept You as Lord.  As the sun rises on us this morning, just as it did on You so long ago, that promise remains our expected and anticipated hope.

Dear Lord, may our faith remain strong and not waiver during our struggles and trials in this present age.  May we continue to see You, our living Lord, always at our side.  And may we be completely prepared for Your return, which You also promised.  May we fully grasp what You told us before, and what You are whispering now in our hearts.  May we serve You, with all that is in us.  This we pray, in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and Savior.

And now, Father God, hear us as we pray to You as Your Son Jesus taught us…  Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Friday afternoon, the 3rd of April, 2026 - Good Friday.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Yesterday afternoon, we shared the Passover meal with Jesus and His dearest friends, His chosen disciples.  Jesus, their Lord and Master, took advantage of their time together to give them one last lesson, one final example of humility and servitude.  And then, one of those seated at His table with Him, one of His friends, one He chose, betrayed Him.

What followed are the darkest hours in the history of mankind.  During the night and into the day, Jesus was not only betrayed, denied, and forsaken by His own followers, He was also humiliated, ridiculed, tortured, beaten, and whipped, first by His fellow Jews and then again, more severely, by the Romans.  Throughout all this, He remained mostly silent, answering false accusations with the truth.  Today, at about this time, He will be nailed to a cross, where He will take His last breath around three this afternoon.  All of this leads to the question that has been asked ever since that day:  Why did Jesus have to die?

Of course, the best place to turn when we have a question like this is our bible.  For this one, I was drawn to a letter written to the Jewish converts - those Jews who believed in and accepted Jesus as the Christ.  Like a few other books and psalms of our bible, we’re not exactly sure who wrote this letter.  For the longest time, people thought it was authored by the Apostle Paul, but more intense scrutiny in the last few decades leads scholars to believe it was not Paul, but maybe one of his scribes or students, or even someone else entirely.  It just doesn’t sound like Paul – it doesn’t match his other writings.  But no matter the author, the words are clearly God-inspired and extremely insightful and important to us.  Please listen and follow along to all of chapter 9 from the Letter to the Hebrews, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible...

1 The first covenant between God and Israel had regulations for worship and a place of worship here on earth. 2 There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. 3 Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. 4 In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement. But we cannot explain these things in detail now.

6 When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties. 7 But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

9 This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. 10 For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies — physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With His own blood — not the blood of goats and calves — He entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 That is why He is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

16 Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead. 17 The will goes into effect only after the person’s death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.

18 That is why even the first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal. 19 For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. 20 Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.” 21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. 22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.

24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. 25 And He did not enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. 26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, He has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by His own death as a sacrifice.

27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him.

--Hebrews 9 (NLT)

Let us pray… Father God, this afternoon we remember the darkest day in all of Your creation – the day we tortured and executed Your Son, nailing Him to a cruel cross.  Jesus came to offer us salvation, but the world refused Him.  We drove nails into the hands He stretched out to save us.  We cursed Him, spat on Him, beat Him, killed Him.  But You knew all this had to happen.  You knew that only the blood of the one true Spotless Lamb could wash us clean and atone for our sin.  Thank You, Father, for Your great love and mercy.  Thank You, Jesus, for Your sacrifice.  Burn this day into our hearts so that we might understand just how important this is to us and to others, how critical it is for our eternal life.  This we pray in the name of the Lamb, Your Son Jesus.  Amen.

To have some idea of what Jesus went through for us, I believe we need to better grasp what was done to Him.  We know He took our punishment, bore our stripes, as the prophet Isaiah put it, but do we understand to what degree this poor Lamb of God suffered?

First the scourging.  This involves whipping the subject with a cat-o’-nine-tails, a short whip of leather straps that have bits of broken pottery and iron tied in to the ends of the straps.  The effect is brutal, with the pottery shards and iron bits cutting into the flesh with each blow.  The blood loss is immediate and heavy.  This is why Jesus was too weak to bear His own cross.

Then the crucifixion itself, an absolutely horrible method of execution.  It wasn’t the blood loss from the beatings or from being nailed to the cross that killed the person.  They didn’t die from starvation or dehydration.  They died, very slowly, from suffocation.

In crucifixion, nails are driven through the subject’s wrists just below the palms, one through each hand as their arms are held outstretched.  And then their feet are brought together and one nail is pounded through both of their ankles.  When the cross is stood up on end, they are not holding on to anything or standing on a little ledge.  Those three nails are holding them in place.  It hurts, a lot, but if they let their body slump, giving in to the pain in their ankles and legs, then their lungs can’t fully expand because of their outstretched arms.  So after a while of struggling just to catch a breath, they force their weight back on to the nail through their ankles.  Eventually they tire of this and slump down again, restricting their lungs once more.  This repeats, over and over, often for days until they finally can’t stand any more and they slowly suffocate.  If they take too long to die, the Roman guard will take a heavy hammer and break their legs so they can no longer stand, speeding up the suffocation.  I guess we could say it’s fortunate that Jesus suffered like this for only a few hours before giving up His spirit.

But this was the pain He endured for us.  This was our punishment He took so we wouldn’t have to.  I wonder, though, if the greatest pain might have been emotional rather than physical.  I mean, Jesus was fully human while fully God.  He had emotions, could feel emotionally as you and I feel.  He knew sorrow and He knew happiness.  Couldn’t rejection by the very people He came to save have caused Him intense suffering?  Would not taking all our sin upon Himself, He who had no sin of His own, bring great emotional pain?  For any of us, under those circumstances, with all the physical and emotional pain, death might actually be a blessing.

The author of our letter starts out with an explanation of the early Tabernacle and the ritual practices carried out there.  And since the Temple was a more permanent representation of the Tabernacle, this also applies there in the author’s time.

The author goes into great detail about the physical nature of the place of worship, what artifacts were found where, and the duty of the high priest.  But the two main points that are of significance to us are, first, that the high priest had to perform the ritual offering of an animals blood in the Most Holy Place once a year, every year.  The second point is that it was necessary to offer blood for his own sins and for the sins the people committed in ignorance.  But even this annual ritual was not sufficient to cleanse the consciences of the people.

So then came Jesus, sent from God, who returned to heaven and entered the true, perfect Tarbernacle there as our great High Priest.  He entered the authentic Most Holy Place once, for all time, and with His own blood washed us clean of our sin.  With His own precious blood, not the blood of calves or lambs, He cleansed our consciences from our sinful ways and deeds so that we can stand before God and worship Him with pure hearts.  Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, to reconcile us with God.

Each one of us will someday die, and, after that, stand in judgment.  Jesus also had to die, in human form.  But He was offered once, and only once for all time, as the perfect sacrifice to take away our sin, the sins of many.  And though He died, He was given new life by God, whom He rejoined in heaven.  One day, though, He will come again, not to deal with our sin, but to bring salvation to all believers, to all who eagerly await His return.

Does this answer that pesky question: Why did Jesus have to die?  Put simply: because He had to!  He had to in order to carry out God’s plan.  He had to because only the blood of the Spotless Lamb could wash us clean of our sin.  He had to die!

But as a bonus, we know what followed after Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried.  We know the rest of the story.  We know that in just a couple of days, Jesus will conquer death, rise from the grave, and walk among us again.  Hundreds of people will see Him alive and in the flesh again, and not one will ever refute it.

Our Lord’s life did not really end there on the cross.  No, it was on that cruel cross that Jesus completed His part in God’s plan for mankind’s redemption.  By His selfless sacrifice upon the cross, by His precious blood shed, we are washed clean of our sin in the sight of God.  And Jesus let Himself be seen and witnessed after His resurrection so we can believe in the promise of our own resurrection and new life.

Now, we know that we’re all sinners, all have fallen, all come short of God’s glory.  So God gave us a wonderful gift.  If we will believe that Jesus is the Christ, the one true Son of God, and if we follow His commands, accepting Him as our Lord and Master, then we will stay clean, and our sins will be forgiven and forgotten when we stand before God.  All we have to do is believe, truly believe, and in our belief, live as Jesus would have us live.

Before going back to heaven to be with God, Jesus gave us a new commandment and a mission.  We are to love one another just as much as we love ourselves, just as much as Jesus loves us.  And we are to go into the world making disciples, telling people all about Jesus, about what He has done and everything He said.

God set His plan in motion to reconcile mankind to Himself.  He wants us all to be with Him again, like we were in the very beginning before we sinned.  Jesus did His part to make that happen.  He gave up His own life one Friday long ago, and we who believe are the beneficiaries; we are saved.  But there are way too many out there who have not accepted Jesus as Lord.  And this is where we come in.  It’s our job to help the lost come to salvation.  Jesus completed His part.  Now let’s get out there and do ours.

On Sunday we will celebrate our Lord’s resurrection and the promise of our own new life.  But today, let us remember all that Jesus went through just for us.  Remember that He took the punishment we deserve.  Remember that He suffered at the hands of those He came to save.  Remember how the Spotless Lamb was sacrificed so that our sin would be forgiven and we would be spared eternal death.

Sunday we can rejoice, but today let us weep and reflect on what happened that Friday many years ago.  In the blessed name of Him who died so that we might live, in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Lord Jesus, You came to us holding out the arms of God’s love.  You came to us when we were lost in our sin, reaching out Your hand to us, offering to redeem us.  You came to break the chains of sin that hold us captive to this world.  You came to save us from ourselves.  And how did we react to all this mercy and grace?  We refused to accept You.  We tortured You and nailed You to a cruel cross.  You forgave Your followers who fled for their lives in fear when You were arrested and executed.  You came to them after Your resurrection and brought them back to You.  Yet still, to this very day, even we who are called by Your name, we also abandon You from time to time.  We fail to witness for You, we fear speaking out for You, we hesitate to go out helping the lost find their way.  We believe in You and Your goodness, but the world has too strong a grasp on us, and we are afraid to let it go.  We judge others based on their looks or their background or the color of their skin, without taking the time to see what is in their hearts.  Forgive us, Lord, because sometimes we just can’t force ourselves to do what is right.

Lord Jesus, every step of the way, You knew what was coming.  You knew how the events of each day would play out, including that one Friday when You lived Your last day as a mortal man.  You knew exactly how God’s plan would be accomplished, and when Your part would be completed.  You knew why it was necessary for You, the Spotless Lamb, to be sacrificed for the atonement of our sin.  You knew the truth.  Help us, please Lord, to fully grasp the importance of Your sacrifice.  Help us realize that Your greatest suffering might have come not from any physical pain, but from having to take all our sin upon Yourself.  Forgive us when we fail You.  Forgive us when we won’t listen to Your voice, when we don’t live as You would have us live, when we hesitate to speak out in Your defense, when we deny You by our actions and our inactions.  Forgive us when we fail to love selflessly, sacrificially, unconditionally, as You love us.  Help us be worthy of Your great sacrifice.  Help us to always be humble in our service to You and others.  In Your precious name, Lord Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

Master and Servant

 

[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Thursday afternoon, the 2nd of April, 2026 - Maundy Thursday.  This service included observance of Holy Communion with our Lord.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

This afternoon I’d like us to travel back in time to the first century, to early April in 33 AD.  We’re in the great Jewish city of Jerusalem, the Holy City, where the permanent population has more than tripled as devout Jews from all over the known world come together to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Passover Observance.  Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived in the same age as the Gospel writers, put the Passover population at over 2,000,000!  The streets and the marketplace are filled with pilgrims and the air is electric with excitement.  Especially today, now that the One some are calling the King, the Son of David, has come to town.

All manner of domestic and exotic goods are being sold in the marketplace and in stalls and from carts dotting the streets.  Up until this past Sunday, you could have purchased doves and grain and incense and other things used for sacrifices right there on the Temple grounds.  You could, until Jesus rode in.

You’ve heard of Jesus, haven’t you – the great Healer and Teacher, Jesus of Nazareth?  He calls Himself “the Son of Man”.  He rode in with a whole crowd of followers, and all the people came out shouting “Hosanna” and throwing their cloaks and some palm branches onto the street for them all to walk on.  And get this – He came riding in on a donkey!  A little, lowly donkey!  What kind of king rides into Jerusalem on a donkey?!?  Anyway, He went right into the Temple and drove off everyone who was trying to profit off the pilgrims who’d come here to worship, turning over their tables and kicking their chairs.

Well, that was Sunday and now it’s Thursday, the day of preparation for the Feast of Passover, which begins tomorrow evening at sunset.  Come with me and let’s join this Jesus and His followers for supper.

Please listen and follow along to how the Apostle John described some of what happened this evening, in chapter 13 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 17 and verses 31 through 35, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to His Father. He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He showed them the full extent of His love. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. 4 So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him.

6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

8 “No,” Peter protested, “You will never ever wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to Me.”

9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

10 Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For Jesus knew who would betray Him. That is what He meant when He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12 After washing their feet, He put on His robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

31 As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory, and God will be glorified because of Him. 32 And since God receives glory because of the Son, He will give His own glory to the Son, and He will do so at once. 33 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for Me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.”

--John 13:1-17, 31-35 (NLT)

Let us pray… Father God, this afternoon we step back in time to one day nearly 2000 years ago, a day that only holds meaning for believers.  This day and the next were long and painful for Your Son Jesus, and now painful emotionally, spiritually, for us as well.  So much happened those two days, and it was all for our benefit, we poor sinners.  Speak to us, Father, speak into our hearts, that we might relive that dark time and understand its true meaning and full impact on us, both in this life and especially for the next.  Speak to us that we might know the truth of our ways.  Convict us of our sin and forgive us of our disobedience.  This we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen

Today is Maundy Thursday.  The word, “Maundy”, comes from the Latin word meaning command or commandment.  At His last supper with His disciples, Jesus commanded us to “Do this in remembrance of Me”.  He also gave us the commandment to love each other, just as much as He loves us.

In a few minutes we will share the elements of our Lord’s body and blood, just as He shared the bread and the wine with His disciples that night.  We will renew the covenant God made with us, sealed by the precious blood of Jesus.  But first, let’s look a little more closely at what took place that Thursday so long ago.

At the start of this passage, John notes that Jesus knew that His time was at hand even before the Passover celebration began.  He knew that this was it, that He would soon be leaving this mortal plane and returning to His Father in heaven.  He knew what the next few days held for Him.  And He knew that He was about to be betrayed, that very night.  But He loved His disciples and I bet He experienced just a twinge of regret that He would soon be leaving them behind.

Did they truly understand what was about to happen, and why?  Were they ready to carry on without Him?  These concerns had to have weighed heavily on His heart.  So He decided to give them one final lesson, show them one last example of how they should live.  He took on what we might consider the lowest form of servitude and washed His friends feet.

When it became Simon Peter’s turn, the usually emotionally charged disciple almost indignantly asked, “You’re going to wash my feet?”  In my head, I can hear his next remark: “I should be washing Yours!”  And if you think about it, this scene is somewhat reminiscent of the moment when Jesus came to His kinsman John to be baptized in the Jordan.

Jesus replied that, while this might not make any sense now, it will later.  Let it sink in awhile.  Soon, you’ll understand, after the upcoming events unfold and you get a little more experience leading the church.

And of course Peter, ever the hot-head, protested, “You will never wash my feet!”  Now, on the face of it, Peter’s reaction was in direct disregard to what Jesus was trying to show.  It bordered on insubordination.  Peter openly called Jesus “Lord” and “Master”, yet here he was questioning his Master and denying what He was doing.  But Jesus took it in stride and simply said, “OK, if that’s how you want it; but you will not belong to me unless you let Me do this for you.”  And Peter immediately relented.

In the ensuing exchange, Jesus acknowledges that not all of His disciples are “clean”, knowing who will soon betray Him.  But then He explains to Peter and the rest that He had just given them an example to follow.  Since He, as their Master and Teacher has stooped into the lowly role of servant to wash their feet, they ought to do likewise.  And it’s not about washing feet.  It’s about serving others, humbling serving others, not looking for recognition or reward.

After Judas left the group to go prepare his betrayal, Jesus let His followers, His friends, know that the time had come when He would be leaving them.  So He gave them, and us, a new command, to love one another.  Just as He loves us, we are to love one another.  In this way, the world will know we are Christians, by our love.  And we can show our love by following Jesus’ example of humbly serving others.

We know that tomorrow, Friday, after being betrayed, denied, and abandoned, Jesus will be nailed to a rough-hewn cross, there to yield up His mortal life.  But tonight we dine, we fellowship, and we share.  “Do this in remembrance of Me”, Jesus said.  It was as much a plea as a command.

“Don’t forget Me.  Let the bread and the wine remind you of the sacrifice I made on your behalf, the offering I made for your sin, the covenant established between you and God confirmed and sealed by My blood.  Remember Me.”

In just a few moments we will come to the table of our Lord, to do just as He commanded.  We will share His last meal with Him at our side.  We will eat the bread and drink of the cup, in remembrance of Him.  The Apostle Paul warns that we must be right with God before doing so.  Otherwise, we share the guilt of His execution, of His death, with those who committed the act.

Now is the time to get right with God.  If you are feeling convicted by the Holy Spirit, if you are weighed down by the guilt of your disobedience, if you are holding a grudge against a fellow believer, if there is anything in your life that God would see as sinful, lay it all at the foot of our Lord’s cross, repent, and seek forgiveness.  Get right with God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, this afternoon we reflect back on a time when Your Son showed He was not only our Master, but also Your Servant.  On that day so long ago Your only Son, whom You sent to offer us salvation, was betrayed and led off to be tried and then crucified.  Instead of being received as Lord, Jesus was rejected and scorned.  And even today, Father, we often betray and deny Him because we are too timid to testify for Him, too fearful of what others may think or say.  Forgive us, Father, when we let our fear and hesitation keep us from doing what we know is right.

Father, we pray that You show us not only the error of our ways, but also how to do what is right in Your eyes.  You gave us the faith to believe in Your Son Jesus, and then He gave of Himself to wash us clean of our sin.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much!  Please help us understand how everything we do while bearing the name of Jesus, reflects back on Your Son.  Please let others know Your love through our love, through our words and deeds.

Lord Jesus, You gave so much of Yourself on our behalf.  You took our punishment, You bore our stripes, You died so we could avoid the final and permanent death just by believing in You and accepting You as Lord.  You loved us to the very end.  

Forgive us, Lord, when we deny You by our inaction.  Forgive us our times of doubt and confusion.  Forgive those who refuse to believe, who reject Your authority.  Forgive us when we could stand up for You against the doubters and disbelievers, but we are just too timid, too afraid, to do so.  Forgive us when we can’t let go of the world, refusing to put all our faith and trust in You and our Father God.  Help us, please Jesus, to not be so concerned with what others may think about us, or with anything this world might offer.  Give us the strength of our convictions, the fullness of our faith, so that we can serve You by serving others.  Help us be good and faithful servants.

This we pray in Your sweet name, Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

The King's Entrance

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 29th of March, 2026 - Palm Sunday.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

On what would be His last visit to Jerusalem, Jesus was greeted by a cheering throng.  We call this His Triumphal Entry, and at first it indeed seemed to be a celebration of triumph.  Of course, we know how events played out that week - and the weeks that followed - and we can see that the true triumph was not even close to what the people thought they were celebrating.  They came out and lined the street that Jesus was entering on, waving palm branches and laying their cloaks on the roadway so that the marchers wouldn’t kick up too much dust.  And they shouted, “Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest”.

"Hosanna" is a Hebrew exclamation meaning "save us" or "please deliver us," acting as both a desperate plea for help and a shout of joyous praise.  The expression is derived from Psalm 118:25, which includes "Save us, we pray", and symbolizes recognition of the Messiah.  It is not simply a joyous cheer like "hooray," but rather a cry to God for salvation, particularly in the context of the Messiah.  Often used in Christian worship, this phrase means calling for salvation from the highest heaven and praising God with the highest praise.  When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds shouted "Hosanna!", believing he was the promised King who would free them from tyranny and oppression.  And indeed, Jesus did free us – not from the Roman occupation, but from the tyranny of death and the oppression of sin.

This Triumphal Entry was such an important event, then and now, that all four Gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – all included it in their accounts.  The Apostles Matthew and John both entered the city along with Jesus and His other disciples and followers.  Please listen and follow along to how Matthew recorded the events of that day in the 21st chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 17, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go over into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them.’ And he will send them immediately.”

4 All this was done to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying:

5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,

‘Look, your King is coming to you,

humble, and sitting on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their garments on them, and He sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their garments on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went before Him and that followed Him cried out:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Hosanna in the highest!”

10 When He entered Jerusalem, the entire city was moved, saying, “Who is He?”

11 The crowds said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

12 Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who sold and bought in the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it ‘a den of thieves.’”

14 The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were extremely displeased 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

‘Out of the mouth of children and infants

You have perfected praise’?”

17 And He left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and He lodged there.

--Matthew 21:1-17 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, Your Son Jesus came to earth at Your bidding, to carry out Your plan for the salvation of mankind.  Even while knowing exactly what lay ahead, how He would suffer and die, Jesus entered Jerusalem that last time, to the cheers of the crowd that would soon turn on Him.  Thank You for sending Your Messiah not as a conquering hero, but as a humble servant.  Thank You for caring so much about Your fallen creation that You would shower us with Your mercy and grace.  Father, sometimes we forget just what all this means to us, what Jesus did for us.  We admit that we are not very obedient servants ourselves, failing to follow the example Jesus set.  Please forgive us our failures, Father.  Please help us be more righteous and obedient in our daily walk.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

A cute cartoon shows a fourth-grade boy standing toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with his teacher. Behind them we see a blackboard covered with math problems the boy hasn't finished. With rare perception the boy says, "I'm not an underachiever - you're an overexpecter!"

In Jesus' day, the Jewish people had been wrongly led to believe that the Messiah would come as a great military leader who would defeat the Romans and free them from taxes and tyranny.  Jesus was nothing like what they expected.  Even His grand entrance into Jerusalem was on the back of a donkey, not a prancing white charger.

But Jesus was certainly not an underachiever.  The people were overexpecters.  They just had their expectations confused, with the wrong priorities.  They read what they wanted to see from the words of the old prophets, not what God intended for them to learn and understand.  And because Jesus did not meet their expectations, they refused to believe in Him, to accept Him as the Christ.  But you know, in the end, they did exactly as God planned, so that Jesus could defeat death and that our sin could be forgiven.

Looking back at our scripture reading, in verse 16, in response to the Pharisees’ indignant question, Jesus responded with a line of their scripture, “Out of the mouth of children and infants You have perfected praise.”  This is based on the 2nd verse of the 8th Psalm of David.  One translation I found puts it like this: “Even little babies shall praise Him!”

The Pharisees were complaining that the people were praising Jesus, even noting His lineage to the house of King David.  And He replied, “Yes, they are, and even the little babies lift their praise.”  This fits very nicely to a comment Jesus made a little earlier to this that the Apostle Luke captured.  Please listen to Luke’s telling of the event as Jesus and the gang approach Jerusalem, from the 19th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 37 through 40…

37 When He was coming near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with loud voices for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying:

‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 He answered them, “I tell you, if these should be silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

--Luke 19:37-40 (MEV)

Even the little babies will praise Him, and the stones will cry out their praise.  It wouldn’t matter what the Pharisees might do.  Not even the Romans in all their military might could stop them. If the people were silenced and the children made quiet, still the very stones would cry out “Hosanna”!  For the King has come!

Some people just have to make an entrance.  You’ve seen it.  Especially among some celebrities and politicians.  They have to make a big, splashy entrance so that everyone will notice.  They want to be seen.  They crave the spotlight.  When foreign rulers come to visit, the media all make a big show of it.

Now when Jesus entered Jerusalem that day, His followers and the people certainly made a huge spectacle of it.  But not Jesus.  He could have proudly rode in, sitting on a fine horse, surrounded by the faithful, leading an army of followers, smiling and waving to the crowds.  But no - here came the King, riding on a lowly donkey.  And this was not just a king, but the King – the King that Isaiah prophesied, the King of kings!

Even though knowing His fate, our King chose to enter the Holy City in the same manner that He lived: humbly.  While the people around Him all made a big show of it, to the displeasure of the Pharisees, Jesus remained humble.  Yes, He went into the Temple and drove out the sellers and moneychangers.  And Yes, He stood up to the Pharisees.  But to the people, to us, He showed humility.  He showed us how to live by how He lived.

Let us be more humble in our day-to-day activities, remembering that the meek shall inherit the earth.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who set the example for us to follow.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for allowing Your Son to be praised and cheered as He entered Jerusalem.  He and You both knew how the people’s attitude would drastically change in just a few days, but at least for now they welcomed Him.  Thank You for letting us understand the true nature of our Lord’s triumphal entry.  Jesus did not come as some powerful military leader, yet He triumphed over sin and conquered death, our greatest enemies.  Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son for our sake.  Father, we know that too often we act and react without giving thought to how You would view it.  Sometimes we know we’re doing wrong in Your sight but we continue anyway.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  And forgive us when we hesitate to forgive others and show mercy.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You knew exactly where Your disciples should look to find Your ride into Jerusalem, and You knew the owner would allow them to take the donkey and her colt for Your use.  And You knew what the next seven days held for You, Your disciples, and all believers even today.  Humiliation, pain, death, and resurrection awaited You.  Yet You went through it all for us, so that our sin could be forgiven and that we might receive everlasting life.  But Lord, we don’t always think about what we can do to show how much we understand and appreciate Your sacrifice.  You left us as Your church, Your body here on earth to continue what You started, but we struggle to do as You commanded.  Please forgive us our weaknesses and failures, Lord.  Please strengthen us to carry out the mission You gave us.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Children of Light

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 22nd of March, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Have you ever gotten up in the middle of the night, maybe to get a drink of water or sneak a bite out of the fridge, or more likely, to use the bathroom?  And you didn’t turn on a light because you didn’t want to wake your spouse and after all, you know your house and could walk around blindfolded, right?  But then you stub your toe or hit your shin on something, or a door jam suddenly jumps out and smacks you in the face.  While none of you may have experienced this, I sure have.  If we’d only turned on a light, we could have seen that Lego block, or the dog’s tail, before we stepped on it, barefooted.

To put it simply, light lights our way.  Light makes our path clearer to follow, illuminates any little snags and stumbling blocks that might trip us up.  Light is good.  But not everyone loves the light.  They’d rather do their work in darkness so no one can see what they’re up to.  Our bible talks about folks like that.  In fact, our bible has many passages centered on light and darkness.  Jesus is the one who discussed what I just said about the folks who love the darkness.  And the Gospel writers, especially John, talk about walking in the light and the many benefits the light brings us.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Apostle Paul also wrote about the light in his letters.  One in particular, Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, encourages us to be more Christ-like and to walk in the light.  Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians from chapter 4, verses 31 and 32, then on to chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 and 8 through 14, and I’ll be reading from the Revised Standard Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

8 for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; 13 but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. 14 Therefore it is said,

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,

and Christ shall give you light.”

--Ephesians 4:31-32; 5:1-2,8-14 (RSV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You sent Your Son Jesus to shine the light of truth, to guide us out of the darkness caused by our disobedience.  Thank You for caring so much about Your fallen creation that You would grant us Your mercy and grace.  Father, we admit that we are not as obedient to Your word as we could be, as we should be.  Sometimes we fail in even the simplest command, to love one another.  Too often we let fear or pride get in our way.  Please forgive us, those times, Father.  Please help us be more righteous and obedient in our daily walk.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Some now unknown wag once noted that, “Some people change their ways when they see the light, others only when they feel the heat.”  I would add that some people don't change their ways no matter what happens.

Have you ever watched as someone grabbed something that was really hot, even after you warned them that it was really hot?  That just seems to be human nature.  It’s not so much that we don’t believe the warning, it’s just that we have to see for ourselves.  The hot tub water is too hot, you say?  I’ll just step right in to see for myself.  So it’s no surprise that some people ignore the light until they feel the heat.

There’s one thing I’d like to point out in chapter 5 verse 8 that I think we ought to note.  Paul says that once, we were darkness.  He didn’t say that we were in darkness, but that we were darkness.  That means we were part of the problem, part of the darkness hiding the truth.

Paul goes on to say that now we are light.  Again, not that now we are in the light, but that we are light.  The light shines into the darkness, revealing the truth, showing the lost the way to salvation.  The light is the solution.  We need to look deep within and ask ourselves if we are truly acting as the light in our daily life.

Paul encourages us to be kind to one another, to be tenderhearted and forgiving, remembering that God, in Christ Jesus, forgave us.  For that reason we should imitate God as His children, the way children like to imitate their parents.  And we should walk in love, just as Jesus loves us.  Walk in love, and walk in the light, avoiding the darkness, for now we are the light.  Some people will only know Jesus through us, through what we share with them, what we show them.  They will only see the light if it shines from us.

Paul closes this passage with words of encouragement from the great prophet Isaiah.  Awake and rise from the dead, from the death of sin, and our Christ will give us light.  When we repent of our sin and turn to Jesus, He lights our way to righteousness.

You’ve likely heard the expression, “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”  Some folks attribute that to the bible, but it only alludes to a passage in Jeremiah where the prophet speaks of foolish people who have eyes but do not see and have ears but do not hear.  That doesn’t mean that the saying isn’t true, though.  Too many people simply refuse to believe the truth.  For some, it’s a matter of emotion versus reality – how they feel things are rather than how things truly are.  I remember once hearing someone say, “Don’t confuse me with the facts.”

Jesus is known to have given sight to the blind, but His intent was to show people the truth, even those who refused to see it.  Listen to one passage that the Apostle John saved for us, where Jesus performed a healing act and taught a lesson at the same time.  This comes from John’s Gospel account, chapter 9 verses 1 through 7 and verse 39…

1 As Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind from his birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him,  “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  3 Jesus answered,  “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. 4 We must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  6 As He said this, He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, 7 saying to him,  “Go, wash in the pool of Silo’am”  (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

39 Jesus said,  “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

--John 9:1-7,39 (RSV)

Jesus says we must work the works of God while it is still day, or in other words, while we are still in the light.  And He warns that night comes, darkness is coming, when we can’t work.  Is this perhaps foretelling the end of the age and the Great Tribulation?

But then He delivers a somewhat confusing message: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”  Now a little later on in this account, John recorded Jesus saying, “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.”  (John 12:47c (RSV))  So I looked at how a couple other versions translated this verse and found this from the New Life Version:  “I came into this world to say what is right from wrong. I came so those who do not see might see, and those who do see might be made blind.”

So yes, to judge the world could indeed be to say what is right from wrong.  That is something Jesus did often, especially when confronted by the Pharisees.  And when He says so that those who do not see may see, He is talking about spiritual sight, about helping us see spiritual truth.  The flip side of that is to blind those who only think they know what God wants, like the Jewish leaders of that age, so that maybe He can then open their eyes to the truth.  He put this into practice, though only after His resurrection and ascension, when He physically blinded the young Pharisee named Saul on the road to Damascus, just so He could open his eyes to the truth.

I bet somewhere along the line you heard someone say, “Walk a mile in my shoes”, or words to that effect.  The phrase, "Walk a mile in his moccasins", is actually from a poem written by Mary T. Lathrap in 1895.  The gist is, you can’t really understand someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes, gone through what they’ve been through, what they're going through.

We could not walk even a handful of steps in Jesus' sandals, but we have to try.  We are called to love as He loved, give as He gave, live as He lived.  Jesus is the Light, and He calls us to be the light, to show others the way.  Let us walk in the light, and share that light with others so that maybe they can see their way out of the darkness… while it is still day.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who gave His all for us.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Light to cast out the darkness of sin and despair.  Thank You for providing us a way to salvation by belief in and acceptance of Your Son as Your Christ, our Redeemer.  And thank You for the mercy and grace You show us.  There is so much we can thank You for.  But Father, we know that too often we fail to obey Your commands, or even to follow the guidance of Your Holy Spirit within us.  Our pride, and sometimes our fear, gets the better of us and we react badly to whatever situation we find ourselves in.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  And forgive us when we forget that You love all of Your creation, not just the believers.  Forgive us when we hesitate to shine our light so that others might see their way to righteousness.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You are our light.  You gave sight to us when we were blind, lost in the darkness, dead in our sin.  But Lord, we don’t always share Your light with others.  We struggle to reach out to people we don’t know all that well, hesitating to even approach them out of fear of how they might react.  Please forgive us our weaknesses and failures, Lord.  Please strengthen us to carry out the mission You gave us.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

A Call to Christ

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 15th of March, 2026, and our 4th blended service.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Family, do you understand what a “call” is?  That word call – C-A-L-L – has many meanings, both as a verb and a noun.  As a noun, a call is a summons, invitation, or bidding.  It can even be a demand or a claim.  A common usage of the word is in a request or invitation to a minister to become the pastor of a church, like when you called me to Pilgrim.

So a “calling” is just such a call or summons, or even a strong impulse or inclination, like an inner calling.  You’ve heard me say before that being a Deacon or an Elder is not just an elective position within the church, it is a calling to serve Jesus and His church with the special gifts given the called ones.

And family, we Christians are all called.  Called by Jesus to go into the world sharing the Gospel message and making disciples.  This is our calling, yours and mine, to call others to Christ.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome lately.  It’s not been by design so much, but more by interest.  I guess you could say I’ve been called to the letter, to Paul’s insights and thoughts expressed in it.  There is one passage where he writes about calling people to Jesus.  He helps us understand our calling and even provides some useful points we can share with others as we issue the call to them.

Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in the 10th chapter of his letter to the Romans, the Roman epistle, verses 8 through 17, as read by Myrna Davis from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible…

8 This is what the Scripture says: “God’s teaching is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.” It is the teaching of faith that we tell people. 9 If you openly say, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. 10 Yes, we believe in Jesus deep in our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we openly say that we believe in Him, and so we are saved.

11 Yes, the Scriptures say, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disappointed.” 12 It says this because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all people. And He richly blesses everyone who looks to Him for help. 13 Yes, “everyone who trusts in the Lord will be saved.”

14 But before people can pray to the Lord for help, they must believe in Him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about Him. And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them. 15 And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent. As the Scriptures say, “How wonderful it is to see someone coming to tell good news!”

16 But not all the people accepted that good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?” 17 So faith comes from hearing the Good News. And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.

--Romans 10:8-17 (ERV)

Before going further, I’d like to clarify that in verses 11 and 13, when Paul writes “Anyone who trusts in Him” and “Anyone who trusts in the Lord”, he is literally saying anyone who calls on the name of the Lord.  We show our faith and trust in our Lord when we call on His name, when we worship Him and pray to Him for help.

Let us call on Jesus now as we pray…  Lord Jesus, our Father God has given each of us a measure of faith to believe that You are the Son of God and our Redeemer.  And we are exercising and showing our faith when we come together in Your name, when we pray to You, when we call on You for help when all seems hopeless.  This is the full measure of our faith, that we put all our trust in You, lay our troubles at Your feet, place our lives in Your hands.  Jesus, we accept You as our Lord and do our best to carry out Your commands, but sometimes, maybe too often, we fail miserably.  We tend to forget that all of mankind was created in the image of God, not just we believers.  When we fail to show love or act in a loving way, we are disrespecting our heavenly Father and His creation.  Please help us put aside all bitterness, all pettiness, and all the ways of the world so that we can be better disciples.  Help us return hatred with love, violence with prayer and forgiveness.  Help us be more like You, Lord Jesus, as we walk through this life.  In Your beautiful name, Jesus, we pray.   Amen.

Christian apologist and author G. K. Chesterton once said:  "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it's been found difficult and not tried."

I wish I knew who penned this equally pithy statement, but the source is unknown:  "It is not what men eat but what they digest that makes them strong; Not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; not what we preach but what we practice that makes us Christians."

Being a Christian, a true follower of Christ Jesus, is not easy.  It requires work and sacrifice, and sometimes forcing ourselves to do something we don't really want to do.  So we just have to keep practicing and exercising our faith.  And calling out to Jesus when we need Him the most.

Paul opens our morning passage saying that God’s teaching is in our mouths and in our hearts.  Let that sink in a bit.  God’s teaching is in our mouths and in our hearts.

We have been given the great gift of God’s own Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, in our hearts.  He guides us, directs our path, prays for us, gives us the words to say when we can’t come up with any, and He gives us further insight into God’s holy word.  Through His Holy Spirit, God has given us everything we need to carry out Jesus’ command to go and make more disciples.

And Paul follows this up with further assurance for us and the first assurance we can share with others.  Just confess Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved and made right with God.

The advice continues.  Anyone who trusts in Jesus, anyone who calls on His name, will never be disappointed.  The Lord is the Lord of all people – ALL people.

And then Paul reminds us of our calling.  I think I mentioned this years ago, but there was a point when I was dithering as to going into the ministry or not.  After wandering over 40 years in a wilderness of my own making, I finally realized that God had been calling me all that time.  But I just never thought of myself as a minister, or a preacher, or a pastor.  And then one day I picked up a book in our church library and opened it to a random page and began to read right where the author began quoting Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 10, verses 14 and 15.  It was a different version, but the message was the same.

“Before people can pray to the Lord for help, they must believe in Him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about Him. And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.  And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent.”

God finally got through to me, leading me to that book, guiding my hands to that page, forcing my eyes to that passage, writing His words on my heart.  Family, before anyone can come to know Jesus, they must be told about Him, and told in a believable, loving way.  It truly is Good News we share.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul reminds us that no one is perfect.  This is important because we must be careful how we present ourselves to others when we are out sharing the Gospel.  Some non-believers disparage Christians by saying we think we’re better than anyone else.  Well, we’re not, and Paul makes that clear, while also giving us more insight into how to approach others.

In the next two passages I want to share, Paul is speaking to converted Jews for the most part, but everything he writes applies to us as well.  And after all, through our adoption by God, we can say we’re children of Abraham, too.

Please hear what Paul writes in the 2nd chapter of his letter to the Galatians, verses 17 through 21…

17 We Jews came to Christ to be made right with God, so it is clear that we were sinners too. Does this mean that Christ makes us sinners? Of course not. 18 But I would be wrong to begin teaching again those things that I gave up. 19 It was the law itself that caused me to end my life under the law. I died to the law so that I could live for God. I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. 20 So I am not the one living now — it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave Himself to save me. 21 I am not the one destroying the meaning of God’s grace. If following the law is how people are made right with God, then Christ did not have to die.

--Galatians 2:17-21 (ERV)

We are all sinners, even we Christians.  But Christ washed us clean of our sin in God’s eyes.  He died to this life for that very reason.  He died, because we are incapable of obeying God’s Laws.

If we could be made right in God’s eyes simply by following His law, then Jesus did not have to die.  But we can’t, and we never will be able to.  Believers and non-believers alike – we are all sinners.  Christ died so that we all might be saved.

One last point about calling to Christ, and being called by Christ.  For this I’m going back to Paul’s letter to the Romans, to verses 28 and 29 in chapter 2…

28 You are not a true Jew if you are only a Jew in your physical body. True circumcision is not only on the outside of the body. 29 A true Jew is one who is a Jew inside. True circumcision is done in the heart. It is done by the Spirit, not by the written law. And anyone who is circumcised in the heart by the Spirit gets praise from God, not from people.

--Romans 2:28-29 (ERV)

Putting this more into perspective for us Gentile Christians...  You are not a true Christian if you are only a Christian in your physical body.  True baptism - our outward sign of our inward faith - is not only on the outside of the body.  A true Christian is one who is a Christian inside.  True baptism is done in the heart.  It is done by the Spirit, not by religious procedure.  And anyone who is baptized in the heart by the Spirit gets praise from God, not from people.

Sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning does not make anyone a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes them a car.  Being a Christian involves transformation, a shift from sinful living to be sanctified, set aside and made holy, and living for God.  It involves purpose, living a life that reflects the character and values of Christ.  And it involves building a relationship, not merely following the rules but a personal, abiding relationship with Jesus.

So yes, being a Christian is tough.  But the rewards make it all worth the efforts.  This is the message we must share.  This is our calling, to call others to Christ.  Call on the name of the Lord!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, You give us faith to believe in Jesus, and when we do, You give us Your Holy Spirit to help us carry out our mission of calling others to Christ.  But sometimes, Father, we don’t follow Your Spirit’s guidance.  We struggle with our calling, hesitating to approach others and give witness for Jesus.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  We thank You for the faith You’ve given us.  Please strengthen us to put that faith into action and carry out our call.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving of Yourself to make us right in God’s eyes.  In return, You ask only that we love others and go out making more followers.  For us poor humans, this isn’t as easy as it sounds.  We’re afraid, we hesitate, we struggle, and too often we don’t even try anymore.  Please help us do as You command us, Lord.  Help us reach out to others and be more open in showing our faith, in sharing Your mighty works, in repeating Your beautiful promise of life everlasting.  Help us in our calling to call others to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.