Luke 24:13-35 "Death Defeated"

Pastor Brian begins this Resurrection Sunday message by joining the conversation being held by two men on the road to Emmaus.

Key points about these two men:

1.    They are leaving Jerusalem.

2.    They are in deep conversation with one another.

3.    They are sad.

Jesus, resurrected, appears to them but the men’s eyes are restrained from recognizing Him. The men’s tone of conversation was lost hope and facing their perceived realty of a defeated Jesus as they speak in the past tense.

Take away truths:

1.    The circumstances that we face in life are not more important than the conclusions we arrive at.

2.    Wrong thinking leads to wrong living.

3.    What does the Bible say? We find Jesus in His word. Any time you want to find Him, He is there. This is the remedy for the troubled heart.

4.    A relationship with Jesus is by invitation only. Not His invitation, for God so loved, but our invitation to invite Him into our lives to abide in us.

5.    Hope gives you courage to face what you previously wanted to escape.

6.    Once you see Jesus, you can’t not see Jesus.

God is not finished so let us not get stuck in the past tense. Our God is faithful and will reveal to us that our best days are still ahead of us.

Let Jesus have the final say.

Scripture references:

Genesis 50:20, Exodus 12, Daniel 9, Isaiah 53, Romans 10:9

Matthew 12:1-21 "Finding Rest"

We live in a stressful world and lead stressful lives. So where do we find rest? Jesus sends a divine invitation to us in Matthew 11:28.

In the book of Genesis, man was created on the 6th day, so by design man’s next day was for him to rest in the presence of God.

Laws upon Gods laws were created by the Pharisees to condemn the guiltless. For the Son of Man is the Lord even of the Sabbath. Mark’s Gospel reads that Jesus has fire in his eyes as He addresses the Pharisees and their hypocrisies.

How do we find rest? The assurance that we are accepted before God? Come to Jesus. Prayer is simply coming to Jesus. Our soul needs to catch up with our body. We need to slow down and engage in the moment.

Bible References for context:

Matthew 11:28, Deuteronomy 23, Genesis 1 and 2, Mark 2:27, Isaiah 42, 1 Corinthians 10:13

Today is the day of salvation.

Matthew 11:20-30 "Grace Pierces Through"

Grace is a central theme from God.

Three parts to this study:

1.    Recognizing grace

2.    Revealing truth

3.    Rest for the weary

The people of the cities mentioned chose indifference instead of repentance. It’s not what they did, it is what they didn’t do. We all need something outside of ourselves to survive.

How do we respond when God moves and we see His miracles?  Indifference or humble amazement? When a warning is given, it is really a gift from God. An opportunity has been given to consider and repent. This is grace. Judgement does not happen when Jesus speaks. He warns, by grace, to give us an opportunity to repent and let Him change us.

Bible References:

Luke 10, John 20:29, Romans 1, Jonah 3, John 5:18, 1 Corinthians 3:19, Jeremiah 9:24, John 14:9,

Jesus will help you find rest for your soul.

Matthew 11:1-19 "Expectations"

Expectations – are things that we look forward to. Something is going to happen exactly the way we want it to. But when we experience expectations that don’t come to pass, how do we respond?

John the Baptist is a prophesy fulfilling forerunner for Jesus, currently in prison and wondering why he is still in prison. What is the disconnect? We pray, we believe, we have faith, we ask, we seek, we knock, yet, we experience unmet expectations which leads to doubt and questions. Find comfort knowing that our faith is big enough for our doubts because our God is big enough for our questions. What are your questions for Jesus?

3 Key points:

1.    Bring your questions to Jesus.

2.    We need to take our expectations back to the word to read what it says.

3.    God is not bound to our expectations He is bound to His word.

By our faith, we stand here today, forgiven, not because of what Jesus is going to do, but by what He has already done. Let God be God.

Bible Study References:

Mark 6, Isaiah 61, Romans 8:28, Matthew 11:6

‘Wisdom is known by her children.’

Matthew 9:35-10:4 "God of Compassion"

Jesus came to reveal God to us. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. “It has never been seen like this in all of Israel,” said the people as they observed Jesus doing Messiah like things, which made the multitudes ready to receive. But, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit by the Pharisees was unwavering to Jesus as He stayed the course of his mission, teaching, preaching and healing. Jesus is the first mover. Everything is in motion except the first mover because He does not have to be in motion, because He, is the first mover.

Moved to compassion, Jesus sees people who are weary, scattered and lost sheep without a shepherd. What do we see when we look into a crowd of faces? Do we sort them by hygiene, income, race, politics? Or do we sort them by Heaven or Hell? The destiny of their souls? Everyone we see has been fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Jesus came and did not send anyone else, because it was personal to Him. We all need the forgiveness and grace of God.

How do we get the compassion of Jesus? How do we keep it?

1. Stop listening to all the nay sayers, the critics of the Gospel.

2. See the harvest for what it really is, a decision for eternity.

3. We need to pray to the Lord of the Harvest.

It is time for the people of God to have the compassion of God. To be salt and light. Seeking and saving the lost.

Scripture References:

Matthew 13:30, Revelation 14:15, John 4:35