Archives For Forgiveness

Easter Sermon: Running on Empty (John 20:1-31)

April 1, 2013 — Leave a comment

Running on Empty 2_t

Jesus’ empty tomb sends people running on that first Easter Sunday. Everyone is dashing through the cemetery, but why? They’re running to find answers to their questions and help with their confusion. They don’t know why Jesus’ body is not where they had put it the day before.

If I were to go to the gravesite of my parents at the Berks County Memorial Gardens in Reading, Pennsylvania, and I saw nothing but a big hole in the ground with no vaults or caskets, I’d be asking questions, too.

So the disciples are running around confused. And most of them are slow to believe in the resurrection—despite the fact that Jesus had said repeatedly it would happen. But here’s the good news: every time the risen Christ meets people after the resurrection, he helps them to believe in him.

Continue Reading…

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Easter Sermon: A Resurrection of Hope (1 Peter 1:3-7)

April 8, 2012 — 1 Comment

There’s a multi-million dollar industry in this country that thrives on the sale of motivational posters. They seem to be everywhere—the gym, the doctor’s office, the lunchroom at work, the board rooms of large and small businesses, and the locker rooms of amateur and professional sports teams. Poster topics include vision, commitment, attitude, perseverance, dedication, etc. They seem to be everywhere because everyone needs a little motivation now and then.

But did you realize there’s been a backlash against the idea that people can be genuinely inspired by a nice picture and a clever phrase hanging on the wall? Continue Reading…

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Shadows of the Cross, Part 6: The Final Substitute (Select Scriptures)

March 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

Throughout our series we have seen the language of substitution. From the ram caught in the thicket in Genesis 22 to the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, one creature routinely takes the place of another. A firstborn Jewish son could say, for example, on the morning after the first Passover: “That lamb died for me. In every Egyptian home today, there is a dead son, but in our house, there is a dead lamb. When the angel of death came to our house last night, he saw blood on our doorposts—indicating that a death had already occurred. So he passed over us, and I was spared.” Substitution is the language and the rhythm of Scripture.  Continue Reading…

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Shadows of the Cross, Part 5: The Crushed Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

March 18, 2012 — Leave a comment

In the 8th century B.C., the prophet Isaiah issued a series of visions about an extraordinary man he called “the Servant of the Lord”—a mysterious figure who would come in the future and bring the salvation of God. The last of these four visions is the most famous, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a passage that has captured the hearts and minds of Bible students like few other texts in Scripture.

Kyle Yates, an Old Testament professor, called it, “the Mount Everest of Old Testament prophecy.” Polycarp, a 2nd-century bishop and martyr, called it, “the golden passional of the Old Testament evangelist.” Charles Spurgeon, a 19th-century Baptist preacher, called it, “a Bible in miniature, the gospel in its essence.”  Continue Reading…

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Shadows of the Cross, Part 3: The Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:1-13)

March 4, 2012 — 2 Comments

“Why is this night different from all other nights?” Because even God counts to ten when he gets angry! After nine plagues of warning upon Egypt and its hard-hearted Pharaoh—whose ruling class has kept Israel in enslaved for more than 400 years—God finally puts an end to the oppression. He was reluctant to get to this point of judgment because he is “slow to anger, abounding in love,” not wanting any to perish. But after four centuries of bondage, things needed to change in a dramatic way.  Continue Reading…

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