“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
Matthew 20:13-15
Have you ever gotten frustrated by God’s goodness? In the parable of the “Workers in the Vineyard” a landowner goes out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He finds some men in the marketplace and agrees to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them to his vineyard. A few hours later he went back out to the marketplace and found some more men standing around doing nothing. He offered to pay them “whatever is right” to work in his vineyard. So they went. This happened again around noon and again around three o’clock. Finally, around five o’clock, the land owner went out to the marketplace and found a few more men, who had not been hired, and he sent them as well to work in his vineyard.
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard called in the workers to pay them their wages. Beginning with those he hired last he began to distribute the pay. Those hired around five o’clock were each given one denarius. When the men who were hired first saw this, they expected that they would receive more. But each one of them also received one denarius:
“When they received it , they began to grumble against the landowner. These men who were hired last only worked one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and heat of the day.”
Matthew 20:11-12
Although they had received what was right and fair, not to mention what they agreed upon, they protested against the landowners generosity! Have you ever caught yourself grumbling and complaining when God has chosen to demonstrate His goodness towards someone you believed had not earned it? I am reminded of the story of Jonah. God asked the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach the gospel to them. Nineveh was an enemy of Israel. Instead of obeying God, Jonah ran. Later, after spending three days and three nights in the belly of a fish, Jonah relented and went to Nineveh. He did precisely what God had asked him to do and the people of Nineveh repented. So God did not bring upon them the destruction He had planned. This, however, made Jonah furious:
“He prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”
Jonah 4:2
Why is it so hard for us to rejoice with those who are on “the receiving end” of God’s goodness? I believe, it is because, we have adopted an unhealthy attitude of entitlement rather than an attitude of “gratefulness.” We have become sorely selfish, in that we often do not recognize the goodness of God unless it is happening to us. Take the time to rejoice with someone today that God is showing His goodness towards and let’s learn to rejoice over God’s goodness with one another!
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Perfect Sacrifice- Accepted by God
(part 2)
“If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord.”
Leviticus 1:3
Anytime one of the children of Israel brought an offering before the Lord, they were required to bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to be inspected by one of the priests. If the offering was acceptable, then it could be sacrificed to the Lord.
Today I want to encourage those of you reading this article who are NOT living a life that is pleasing to God. You have always felt disconnected from God and have grown to believe that He would not accept you even if you did call out to Him. Can I ask you this question based upon what we have learned from God’s Word: “When the person who sinned brought in their sacrifice, did the priest scrutinize the sinner or the sacrifice?”
In all the passages I have studied, I never read where the priest ever took a sinner off to the side and interrogated him about his level of sinfulness. No, rather he took the lamb and scrutinized “it” to make certain that “it” was acceptable. By coming to the priest with a perfect lamb, the man was declaring to everyone that he was a sinner. He needed to make atonement for his sins and brought what was required to satisfy the law’s demand.
Like the man who brought his offering to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, we too are sinners! Romans 3:23 declares:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Let me share with you what happened to me the day I called out to God. It happened at the First Baptist Church in Princeton, IN. back in December of 1991. Rev. Joe Wilson gave the invitation to those who wanted to receive Christ as the Lord and Savior of their life. I had nothing to bring to God, aside from a sinful life, but I came to the altar anyway. Little did I know, God had already provided a sacrifice for me. As I stood there, I wondered how God, after examining my heart, would ever accept me. Nevertheless, I confessed my sins to God and put my trust in Jesus Christ. At that moment, God peered down from Heaven and rather than scrutinize me, He scrutinized the Perfect Lamb of God (Jesus) and found Him to be perfect!
God found Jesus to be perfect and because “I” had identified myself with “Him“, God accepted me too. I received forgiveness and eternal life with God! I still look back in utter amazement and ponder upon just how much God loves me! God knew that there was nothing I could bring that would make me “acceptable”! In His love, God provided an acceptable sacrifice for me:
“God demonstrates His own love for us in this, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
We all come to the altar of God as sinners, but God made a way for us through the perfect Lamb of God to be accepted…
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
You too can put your trust in Him and be accepted into God’s family! Romans 10:9 declares:
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Go to God! Confess your sins! Put your trust in Christ! Live an “accepted” life!
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
“If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord.”
Leviticus 1:3
Anytime one of the children of Israel brought an offering before the Lord, they were required to bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to be inspected by one of the priests. If the offering was acceptable, then it could be sacrificed to the Lord.
Today I want to encourage those of you reading this article who are NOT living a life that is pleasing to God. You have always felt disconnected from God and have grown to believe that He would not accept you even if you did call out to Him. Can I ask you this question based upon what we have learned from God’s Word: “When the person who sinned brought in their sacrifice, did the priest scrutinize the sinner or the sacrifice?”
In all the passages I have studied, I never read where the priest ever took a sinner off to the side and interrogated him about his level of sinfulness. No, rather he took the lamb and scrutinized “it” to make certain that “it” was acceptable. By coming to the priest with a perfect lamb, the man was declaring to everyone that he was a sinner. He needed to make atonement for his sins and brought what was required to satisfy the law’s demand.
Like the man who brought his offering to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, we too are sinners! Romans 3:23 declares:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Let me share with you what happened to me the day I called out to God. It happened at the First Baptist Church in Princeton, IN. back in December of 1991. Rev. Joe Wilson gave the invitation to those who wanted to receive Christ as the Lord and Savior of their life. I had nothing to bring to God, aside from a sinful life, but I came to the altar anyway. Little did I know, God had already provided a sacrifice for me. As I stood there, I wondered how God, after examining my heart, would ever accept me. Nevertheless, I confessed my sins to God and put my trust in Jesus Christ. At that moment, God peered down from Heaven and rather than scrutinize me, He scrutinized the Perfect Lamb of God (Jesus) and found Him to be perfect!
God found Jesus to be perfect and because “I” had identified myself with “Him“, God accepted me too. I received forgiveness and eternal life with God! I still look back in utter amazement and ponder upon just how much God loves me! God knew that there was nothing I could bring that would make me “acceptable”! In His love, God provided an acceptable sacrifice for me:
“God demonstrates His own love for us in this, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
We all come to the altar of God as sinners, but God made a way for us through the perfect Lamb of God to be accepted…
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
You too can put your trust in Him and be accepted into God’s family! Romans 10:9 declares:
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Go to God! Confess your sins! Put your trust in Christ! Live an “accepted” life!
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Acceptable Sacrifice
(part 1)
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
John 1:29
Have you ever stopped to consider just how radical a statement that John the Baptist was making when he made this declaration about Jesus? It was such a magnificent statement that it would have stopped people in their tracks. If John was correct, they were gazing upon a man who was going to do the utterly impossible.
For generations, the Israelites only had one way of dealing with sin. According to Leviticus 4:27-28:
“If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed, a female goat without defect.”
Leviticus 4 goes on to tells us that the man was to lay his hands on the lamb’s head and slaughter it. The “laying on of hands” was seen as a symbolic transferring of sin to the lamb. Thus the man identified himself with it, and then sacrificed it. The priest then would take the blood of the lamb and put it on the horns of the altar and pour the rest on the base.
“In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.”
Leviticus 35b
This process would be a mammoth daily undertaking. It would take an entire priesthood to pull it off. Daily the people would make their way to the tabernacle with their lambs. The priest would examine each one thoroughly to make certain they were “acceptable” and then receive them to make atonement. For John the Baptist to point to Jesus and say “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” would have sounded too good to be true. The Israelites knew of no lamb that was capable of doing that! They were unaware that their endless sacrifices were but a shadow of things to come:
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming- not the realities themselves. For this reason in can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who drew near to worship.”
Hebrews 10:1
That is why Christ had to come into the world. So that by one sacrifice He could make perfect forever those who are being made holy. When Christ came to Calvary, the ultimate brazen altar, it is here that the “Priest of Heaven” examined the sacrifice to make certain it was acceptable. He must be perfect, pure and holy:
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
1 Peter 1:19
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
John 1:29
Have you ever stopped to consider just how radical a statement that John the Baptist was making when he made this declaration about Jesus? It was such a magnificent statement that it would have stopped people in their tracks. If John was correct, they were gazing upon a man who was going to do the utterly impossible.
For generations, the Israelites only had one way of dealing with sin. According to Leviticus 4:27-28:
“If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed, a female goat without defect.”
Leviticus 4 goes on to tells us that the man was to lay his hands on the lamb’s head and slaughter it. The “laying on of hands” was seen as a symbolic transferring of sin to the lamb. Thus the man identified himself with it, and then sacrificed it. The priest then would take the blood of the lamb and put it on the horns of the altar and pour the rest on the base.
“In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.”
Leviticus 35b
This process would be a mammoth daily undertaking. It would take an entire priesthood to pull it off. Daily the people would make their way to the tabernacle with their lambs. The priest would examine each one thoroughly to make certain they were “acceptable” and then receive them to make atonement. For John the Baptist to point to Jesus and say “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” would have sounded too good to be true. The Israelites knew of no lamb that was capable of doing that! They were unaware that their endless sacrifices were but a shadow of things to come:
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming- not the realities themselves. For this reason in can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who drew near to worship.”
Hebrews 10:1
That is why Christ had to come into the world. So that by one sacrifice He could make perfect forever those who are being made holy. When Christ came to Calvary, the ultimate brazen altar, it is here that the “Priest of Heaven” examined the sacrifice to make certain it was acceptable. He must be perfect, pure and holy:
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
1 Peter 1:19
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Testing of Our Faith
(part 2)
“Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parable.”
Mark 4:1-2
It is hard to miss the sound of dissatisfaction in Jesus’ voice as He turned to His disciples in Mark 4:40 and declared, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” To better understand His displeasure, we must go back to earlier in the day when He sat with the crowds along the Sea of Galilee.
It must have been a relatively mild day in order for Jesus to have been able to teach from a boat to the eager crowd on shore. He began to teach them, through parables, a Kingdom message regarding the magnitude and importance of the “seed”. The seed in these parables represents God’s Word! He taught them the “parable of the sower” and how important it is that we receive the Word of God in it’s fullness. He shared with them the “parable of the growing seed” and how God’s Word brings us to spiritual maturity. He also explained to them the “parable of the mustard seed” and the extraordinary power that is housed in such a tiny vessel; further demonstrating the power of life that is carried in God‘s Word.
Once He had finished addressing the crowd Jesus turned to His disciples and said: “Let us go over to the other side.” Mark 4:36 tells us:
“Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.”
After a long day, Jesus made His way to the stern of the ship and went to sleep. Did Jesus know the storm was approaching? I personally believe so! Jesus had spent the entire day sowing God’s Word into their hearts. He had equipped them with all the faith they needed to face the coming storm. Romans 10:17 tells us:
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
Jesus believed enough in the “Word” that He had sowed into them that He was able to rest knowing that the storm was approaching. He was fully confident that His Word could produce the faith needed to meet any situation!
Can I challenge you today with something? Maybe YOU are in a storm! Perhaps you are facing sickness, divorce, or a loss of income! Maybe you have been feeling like God doesn’t care! You keep waiting on Him to see you in your misery and come and “rebuke” the bad things that are happening in your life. You think to yourself, “I am just going to bail water until it gets bad enough for Jesus to help me.” Or perchance, you are waiting on a special word from heaven, a “revelation” from the Lord, that will help you to make it through.
Is it possible that Jesus has already equipped you? His disciples were equipped with everything they needed to make it through the storm. In fact, they had it with them from the moment they left the shoreline. I think that for many, the answers we are looking for are already within us. We must stop waiting on Him to rebuke the wind and the waves and start believing the Word that has been sown inside of us!
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
“Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parable.”
Mark 4:1-2
It is hard to miss the sound of dissatisfaction in Jesus’ voice as He turned to His disciples in Mark 4:40 and declared, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” To better understand His displeasure, we must go back to earlier in the day when He sat with the crowds along the Sea of Galilee.
It must have been a relatively mild day in order for Jesus to have been able to teach from a boat to the eager crowd on shore. He began to teach them, through parables, a Kingdom message regarding the magnitude and importance of the “seed”. The seed in these parables represents God’s Word! He taught them the “parable of the sower” and how important it is that we receive the Word of God in it’s fullness. He shared with them the “parable of the growing seed” and how God’s Word brings us to spiritual maturity. He also explained to them the “parable of the mustard seed” and the extraordinary power that is housed in such a tiny vessel; further demonstrating the power of life that is carried in God‘s Word.
Once He had finished addressing the crowd Jesus turned to His disciples and said: “Let us go over to the other side.” Mark 4:36 tells us:
“Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.”
After a long day, Jesus made His way to the stern of the ship and went to sleep. Did Jesus know the storm was approaching? I personally believe so! Jesus had spent the entire day sowing God’s Word into their hearts. He had equipped them with all the faith they needed to face the coming storm. Romans 10:17 tells us:
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
Jesus believed enough in the “Word” that He had sowed into them that He was able to rest knowing that the storm was approaching. He was fully confident that His Word could produce the faith needed to meet any situation!
Can I challenge you today with something? Maybe YOU are in a storm! Perhaps you are facing sickness, divorce, or a loss of income! Maybe you have been feeling like God doesn’t care! You keep waiting on Him to see you in your misery and come and “rebuke” the bad things that are happening in your life. You think to yourself, “I am just going to bail water until it gets bad enough for Jesus to help me.” Or perchance, you are waiting on a special word from heaven, a “revelation” from the Lord, that will help you to make it through.
Is it possible that Jesus has already equipped you? His disciples were equipped with everything they needed to make it through the storm. In fact, they had it with them from the moment they left the shoreline. I think that for many, the answers we are looking for are already within us. We must stop waiting on Him to rebuke the wind and the waves and start believing the Word that has been sown inside of us!
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Testing of Our Faith
(part 1)
“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be Still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 4:39-40
Most of us are familiar with this story found in the book of Mark. Jesus and his disciples are crossing the sea of Galilee when a strong storm comes upon them. Jesus is sleeping in the stern of the boat as his disciples are franticly bailing water to stay afloat. In desperation one of the disciples wakes Jesus to ask him, “Don’t you care if we drown?” Immediately Jesus gets up and rebukes the wind and the waves. As the boat slowly settles from being tossed about, Jesus turns his attention to his exhausted disciples whose lack of strength is only matched by their absolute lack of faith.
Most of us have a picture in our minds of what this scene must have looked like. Twelve anxious, freezing, drenching wet disciples bailing water furiously out of the boat as wave after wave relentlessly pounds against them. In the midst of certain chaos, Jesus lay sleeping in the boat’s stern. For a while, I imagine, the disciples were not overly concerned. Some of them were avid fishermen. They knew how to command a vessel in stormy conditions. I am sure they were confident in their own ability to reach the shore. At some point in the night, however, the situation got away from them:
“A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.”
Mark 4:37
Nearly swamped! Anybody out there ever feel like that sometimes? The feeling that you couldn’t take on another ounce of water without drowning. I believe that being “nearly swamped” is a serious spiritual condition. It is the condition we find ourselves in when we fail the testing of our faith.
Upon calming the wind and the waves, Jesus turned to His weary disciples and asked:
“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 4:40
Most likely, that was not the response they were hoping for! Let’s be honest, after going through an ordeal that almost “drowned” them they were probably expecting more compassion. However, I am going to let you in on a little secret…God does not always respond because He is moved with compassion, sometimes He simply shows mercy on our ignorance. Jesus’ response to the wind and the waves was not motivated by compassion.
In fact, His disciples thought that He was being very uncompassionate because He lay sleeping in the boat beside them. However, Jesus laid quietly in the boat that night, not because He didn’t care about the plight of His disciples. Rather, He lay there resting because He had already equipped them to face the storm.. “earlier that day!”
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be Still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 4:39-40
Most of us are familiar with this story found in the book of Mark. Jesus and his disciples are crossing the sea of Galilee when a strong storm comes upon them. Jesus is sleeping in the stern of the boat as his disciples are franticly bailing water to stay afloat. In desperation one of the disciples wakes Jesus to ask him, “Don’t you care if we drown?” Immediately Jesus gets up and rebukes the wind and the waves. As the boat slowly settles from being tossed about, Jesus turns his attention to his exhausted disciples whose lack of strength is only matched by their absolute lack of faith.
Most of us have a picture in our minds of what this scene must have looked like. Twelve anxious, freezing, drenching wet disciples bailing water furiously out of the boat as wave after wave relentlessly pounds against them. In the midst of certain chaos, Jesus lay sleeping in the boat’s stern. For a while, I imagine, the disciples were not overly concerned. Some of them were avid fishermen. They knew how to command a vessel in stormy conditions. I am sure they were confident in their own ability to reach the shore. At some point in the night, however, the situation got away from them:
“A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.”
Mark 4:37
Nearly swamped! Anybody out there ever feel like that sometimes? The feeling that you couldn’t take on another ounce of water without drowning. I believe that being “nearly swamped” is a serious spiritual condition. It is the condition we find ourselves in when we fail the testing of our faith.
Upon calming the wind and the waves, Jesus turned to His weary disciples and asked:
“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 4:40
Most likely, that was not the response they were hoping for! Let’s be honest, after going through an ordeal that almost “drowned” them they were probably expecting more compassion. However, I am going to let you in on a little secret…God does not always respond because He is moved with compassion, sometimes He simply shows mercy on our ignorance. Jesus’ response to the wind and the waves was not motivated by compassion.
In fact, His disciples thought that He was being very uncompassionate because He lay sleeping in the boat beside them. However, Jesus laid quietly in the boat that night, not because He didn’t care about the plight of His disciples. Rather, He lay there resting because He had already equipped them to face the storm.. “earlier that day!”
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Are You Looking For A Risen Savior?
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.”
John 20:1-3
Upon hearing the news, Peter and John raced for the tomb. John arrived first, but did not go in. Rather he stooped and looked inside to see the strips of linen lying near the place Jesus had been laid. Arriving shortly after, Peter entered the tomb and found it to be just as Mary Magdalene had told them. The tomb was empty! As I read the story again on resurrection morning, I was struck by this statement found in John 20:9 concerning Peter and John:
“They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
After witnessing His death and seeing the empty tomb, they still did not grasp that Jesus was risen! When Mary Magdalene informed them that He was not there, they did not respond as men who were running to meet Jesus! In a parallel passage found in Mark 16, Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome encountered a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting inside the tomb. The young man said to them:
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Mark 16:6-7
It is evident that Peter and John’s faith had stopped at the tomb, because if they had been looking for a risen savior they would have ran all the way to Galilee. That is where Jesus told them He would see them. Many of you, today, have a very similar ‘resurrection morning’ type of faith. You believe that He died! You believe that the tomb is empty, but you are not seeking the risen savior.
You see, it is not enough to have faith in His birth, His miracles, His death on the cross, or an empty tomb. It is “eternally significant”, however, that you embrace His resurrection:
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
If our faith stops at an empty tomb, then we are to be pitied as men who have no hope! Peter, one of the men who went looking for an empty tomb later wrote:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..”
1 Peter 1:3
It is clear from this passage that Peter realized that there was no hope in an empty tomb. He traveled to Galilee and had an encounter with the Risen Lord that forever changed his life. How about you? Have you allowed your faith to bring you to the Risen Lord? Or are you still stuck at the door of an empty tomb?
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
John 20:1-3
Upon hearing the news, Peter and John raced for the tomb. John arrived first, but did not go in. Rather he stooped and looked inside to see the strips of linen lying near the place Jesus had been laid. Arriving shortly after, Peter entered the tomb and found it to be just as Mary Magdalene had told them. The tomb was empty! As I read the story again on resurrection morning, I was struck by this statement found in John 20:9 concerning Peter and John:
“They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
After witnessing His death and seeing the empty tomb, they still did not grasp that Jesus was risen! When Mary Magdalene informed them that He was not there, they did not respond as men who were running to meet Jesus! In a parallel passage found in Mark 16, Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome encountered a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting inside the tomb. The young man said to them:
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Mark 16:6-7
It is evident that Peter and John’s faith had stopped at the tomb, because if they had been looking for a risen savior they would have ran all the way to Galilee. That is where Jesus told them He would see them. Many of you, today, have a very similar ‘resurrection morning’ type of faith. You believe that He died! You believe that the tomb is empty, but you are not seeking the risen savior.
You see, it is not enough to have faith in His birth, His miracles, His death on the cross, or an empty tomb. It is “eternally significant”, however, that you embrace His resurrection:
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
If our faith stops at an empty tomb, then we are to be pitied as men who have no hope! Peter, one of the men who went looking for an empty tomb later wrote:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..”
1 Peter 1:3
It is clear from this passage that Peter realized that there was no hope in an empty tomb. He traveled to Galilee and had an encounter with the Risen Lord that forever changed his life. How about you? Have you allowed your faith to bring you to the Risen Lord? Or are you still stuck at the door of an empty tomb?
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
Are You Looking For A Risen Savior?
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.”
John 20:1-3
Upon hearing the news, Peter and John raced for the tomb. John arrived first, but did not go in. Rather he stooped and looked inside to see the strips of linen lying near the place Jesus had been laid. Arriving shortly after, Peter entered the tomb and found it to be just as Mary Magdalene had told them. The tomb was empty! As I read the story again on resurrection morning, I was struck by this statement found in John 20:9 concerning Peter and John:
“They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
After witnessing His death and seeing the empty tomb, they still did not grasp that Jesus was risen! When Mary Magdalene informed them that He was not there, they did not respond as men who were running to meet Jesus! In a parallel passage found in Mark 16, Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome encountered a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting inside the tomb. The young man said to them:
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Mark 16:6-7
It is evident that Peter and John’s faith had stopped at the tomb, because if they had been looking for a risen savior they would have ran all the way to Galilee. That is where Jesus told them He would see them. Many of you, today, have a very similar ‘resurrection morning’ type of faith. You believe that He died! You believe that the tomb is empty, but you are not seeking the risen savior.
You see, it is not enough to have faith in His birth, His miracles, His death on the cross, or an empty tomb. It is “eternally significant”, however, that you embrace His resurrection:
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
If our faith stops at an empty tomb, then we are to be pitied as men who have no hope! Peter, one of the men who went looking for an empty tomb later wrote:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..”
1 Peter 1:3
It is clear from this passage that Peter realized that there was no hope in an empty tomb. He traveled to Galilee and had an encounter with the Risen Lord that forever changed his life. How about you? Have you allowed your faith to bring you to the Risen Lord? Or are you still stuck at the door of an empty tomb?
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
John 20:1-3
Upon hearing the news, Peter and John raced for the tomb. John arrived first, but did not go in. Rather he stooped and looked inside to see the strips of linen lying near the place Jesus had been laid. Arriving shortly after, Peter entered the tomb and found it to be just as Mary Magdalene had told them. The tomb was empty! As I read the story again on resurrection morning, I was struck by this statement found in John 20:9 concerning Peter and John:
“They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
After witnessing His death and seeing the empty tomb, they still did not grasp that Jesus was risen! When Mary Magdalene informed them that He was not there, they did not respond as men who were running to meet Jesus! In a parallel passage found in Mark 16, Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome encountered a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting inside the tomb. The young man said to them:
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Mark 16:6-7
It is evident that Peter and John’s faith had stopped at the tomb, because if they had been looking for a risen savior they would have ran all the way to Galilee. That is where Jesus told them He would see them. Many of you, today, have a very similar ‘resurrection morning’ type of faith. You believe that He died! You believe that the tomb is empty, but you are not seeking the risen savior.
You see, it is not enough to have faith in His birth, His miracles, His death on the cross, or an empty tomb. It is “eternally significant”, however, that you embrace His resurrection:
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
If our faith stops at an empty tomb, then we are to be pitied as men who have no hope! Peter, one of the men who went looking for an empty tomb later wrote:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..”
1 Peter 1:3
It is clear from this passage that Peter realized that there was no hope in an empty tomb. He traveled to Galilee and had an encounter with the Risen Lord that forever changed his life. How about you? Have you allowed your faith to bring you to the Risen Lord? Or are you still stuck at the door of an empty tomb?
Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com
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