Speaker: Pastor Emeritus Peter Unruh

Psalm 23:1 – The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want.

V.2 – He makes me lie down in green pastures.

V.3 – He restores my soul.

Psalm 51:1,2 – Have mercy on me, oh God according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquities, and cleanse me from my sins.

Psalm 51:10,11 – Create in me a pure heart oh God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:12 – Restore to me the joy of your salvation.

1 John 1:3 – We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you may also have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

God’s forgiveness:
   
Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  

Romans 6:23- The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

I John 1:9- If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Reciprocal forgiveness:   

Matthew 6:12- Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
 
Ephesians 4:26- In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.       
                                                               
Personal forgiveness:    

Ephesians 6:1,2 -Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.   

Job 14:17- My offences will be sealed up in a bag.  

Isaiah 38:17 You have put all my sins behind your back.  

Jeremiah 31:34 -I will remember their sins no more.  

Micah 7:19- You will hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Philippians 3:13,14 -Forgetting the past and looking forward, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.

AUTHENTIC  DISCIPLES

Matthew 4:18,19 – “Come follow me…”

Matthew 28: 18,19 – “Jesus said, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations…”

2 Timothy 2:2 – “The things you have heard me say, entrust to reliable men and women who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Acts 1:4,5 – On one occasion, while He was eating with his disciples, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’”

Colossians 2:6 – “Just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live in him, built up in him, strengthened in your faith as you were taught.”

I Thessalonians 2:11 – “For you know that we dealt with you as a father with his own children; encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

Ephesians 3:19 – “Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more then all we ask or imagine, according to his power that works in us; to him be glory in the church.

 

“HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?”

Hebrews 11:6— Without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Colossians 2:6,7 – Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord (which was by faith), continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith.

James 1:2— Don’t think of trials as intruders, but welcome them as friends, because in the end the will grow your faith.

James 1:7— These things (that is: trials) These things have come so that your faith – ofgreater worth than gold, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed

I Samuel 17:8 – “Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks ofIsrael …choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but jfI overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. Verse 11 – On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

– Verses 32, 33 – David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go andfight him. “Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine andfight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth. “.

Verses 34, 35— But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from thefiockl went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned to me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

Verses 4, 5— He (Goliath) was over 9 feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of armor weighing 5,000 sheckles.

Verse 7 – His spear shaft was like a rod and its iron point weighed 600 scheckles. Verse 25— The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father ‘sfamilyfrom taxes in Israel.”

Verse 26— David asked the man standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills the Philistine and remover this disgrace from Israel?”

Verse 26 – Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he would defy the armies of the living God?

Verse 16 – For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and even and stood his stand

Verse 38— Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic, He put a coat of armor on him and bronze helmet on his head. Davidfastened on his sword over his tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these” he said to Saul, “because Jam not used to them.”

Verse 40— Then he took his staff in his hand, chose 5 smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag, with his sling in his hand, and approached the Philistine.

Verses 4 1-44 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy-ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David: “Am I a dog that you come tome with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come

here, “he said “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

Verse 45— David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear andjavelin but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Armies ofIsrael, whom you have defied”

Verses 48, 49- As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead The stone sunk into his forehead and he fell face downward on the ground

Easter Sunday Service

John 20: 11-20 (NKJV)

11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

The Apostles Commissioned

19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Application:

Stop looking for the Lord in all the wrong places

You Will Find The Lord When You Decide To Turn Around

SERMON TEXT

“WHO IS THIS?”

1. Palm Sunday has Scriptural Qualifications:

Matthew 21:2- Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with a colt.

Matthew 21:4 – This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to the daughter of Zion, see your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

2. Palm Sunday was our Lord’s final appeal to His people:

Matthew 21:10 – When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

Matthew 21:11 – “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth and Galilee”

Luke 19:41,42 – As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on the day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

John 1:11-Jesus came unto His own and His own did not receive Him.

John 1:12- But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God.

John 3:16 -For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that any Jew who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 1:16 – lam not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Matthew 16:15 – “But who do you say that lam?”

Matthew 16:16 – “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:18 – “On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it.”

THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS

1.  The PLACE where Christ was born

“Oh little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie. “

 

Micah 5:2 – “But you Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans

of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel. “

Luke 2:4 – “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to Bethlehem the town of David … “

 

0 little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep; the silent stars go by. Yet-in thy dark streets-shine-th the everlasting light.

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

 

2. The WAY in which Christ was born.

“For Christ was born of Mary”

-A sign for the shepherds: Luke 2: 12 – “This will be a sign to you: you will find  a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

-A sign for the Jews: Isaiah 7:14 – “The Lord Himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel.”

 

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above.

While mortals sleep the angels keep their watch; of wandering love. 0 morning stars together proclaim the Holy birth.

And praises sing to God the king and Peace to men on earth.

 

3.  The HEARTS into Which Christ is Born

“How silently the wonderous gift is given.”

There are three types of gifts:

• A response gift
• An appreciation gift
• A grace gift

Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you are saved through faith  ... it is the gift (the grace gift) of God.”

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given.

So God impart to human hearts the blessing of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming but in this world of sin,

where meek souls will receive him still the dear Christ enters in

 

4. The PRAYER for Christ’s abiding presence:

“O come to us abide with us our Lord Emmanuel.”

 

0 Holy Child of Bethlehem descend to us we pray,

Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell,

0 come to us; abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.

Romans 1: 14-17 (NIV)

14 – I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
 
15 -That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.

16 – I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

17 – For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith. “

Paul’s three testimonies:

1.     He is obligated to share the Gospel- verse 14
2.     He is eager to share the Gospel- verse 15
3.     He is not ashamed to share the Gospel- verse 16

I Timothy 2:1-4 – I urge first of all, that request, prayers, intersession and thanksgiving be made for everyone. For kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge
of truth.

How shall we pray for the president and his cabinet?
1. Pray for a heart for God like David
2. Pray for an inspired vision like Josiah
3. Pray for divine wisdom like Solomon

2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. “

2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith.