Understand-Witness-Worship
Sermon
From Dusk To Dawn
Sermons For Lent And Easter
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. Jesus is the first and the last.
Jesus is alive today and calls us to worship him in a special
way. Jesus walks with us along life's busy way and shares the
truth of the scriptures with us. Jesus challenges us to be his
witnesses east, west, north, south, suburb and city. Jesus is the
God whom we worship and adore. Jesus is the reason for gathering
together to ask the Lord's blessings. We who claim Christ as Lord
are given our marching orders from the risen Lord. We are
commanded to understand the Word, witness to the risen Savior and
worship the living Christ.
Luke was, according to legend, an amateur painter. The dear
and glorious physician was also a skilled painter of word images.
Among the gospel writers he gave us the most detailed account of
our Lord's appearances following his Easter resurrection.
According to Luke, Jesus had shared his knowledge of scripture
with the down-cast duo of disciples heading home toward Emmaus.
Carefully Jesus had shown how he had fulfilled the hopes and
dreams of the prophecy that someday a Savior would come and
rescue captive Israel from sin's strong sway. Jesus opened their
eyes. Later he appeared to the disciples in the upper room and
told them he was the Messiah. No longer need they doubt death was
stronger than life. No longer
need they wonder if love could conquer hate. Jesus revealed
himself as the real McCoy, their Master standing in their midst.
Michaelangelo once noticed a discolored, misshapen, discarded
lump of marble in a builder's back lot. "That is just the marble
I need," said the artist. "Imprisoned within the marble is an
angel yearning to be free."
When we understand the good news of the resurrection, we know
that Jesus will never leave us. A bumper sticker reads, "Don't
give up on me -- God doesn't make junk." We are so important to
Christ that he died on Calvary's cross so we might be freed from
sin and death. That's how important we are to God.
Cecil B. DeMille, the film director, was on vacation in Maine.
A water beetle crawled into the boat where the director was
seated. The beetle stuck his talons into the wooden seat and
died. Hours passed. The sun beat down a steady tattoo of heat
rays. DeMille noticed the dead beetle. It was parched. Its back
was cracking open. Out of the back of the beetle crawled a new
form -- a head, new wings, a dragonfly emerged!
On the night he was betrayed it is doubtful if many or even
any of the disciples believed Jesus when he said he would see
them again. Only when he met them in the upper room did they
remember Jesus' promise to never leave them.
When we understand that Jesus is alive we can go out into our
community with courage and compassion. The church isn't a country
club chapel. The church is a mission station, a lighthouse
calling people to come to him who is the light of the world.
A friend told me she was in a neighborhood in Cleveland
looking for the Presbyterian Church where a wedding to which she
had been invited was to be held. She asked a waitress if she
could help her with directions. The waitress didn't know where
the church was, so she called for the manager. He scratched his
head, thought a moment and then said, "Sure, I know where it is --
that's the church that helps people."
When we witness to Christ we help people. When we reach out to
a child in learning a Sunday school lesson; when we feed a hungry
person; when we comfort a grieving family with a kind word, we
are fulfilling the great commission to go into the world with the
good news.
Above the entrance to the French College of Physicians is
inscribed in stone this motto: "I bind wounds but Christ heals."
The first scene in the word painting Luke called a gospel
opens with a worship service in the temple. In the closing words
of the gospel we are told to worship God with great joy. When we
understand God's Word and seek to be his witnesses we need to
keep our spiritual arteries clear by regular worship.
Worship comes from an old word meaning "worth." Worship is
worthy of our attention and attendance. Worship is humdrum and
boring when it becomes routine and ritualistic. Worship is alive,
warm and vibrant when we use our worship time together to commune
with our Lord, break bread with our church family and energize
ourselves for the mission field of life.
A poem speaks to all who are discouraged with themselves and
their lives:
And when the flight is fierce, the warfare long
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song
And hearts are brave again,
and arms are strong.1
We have reached the last chapter of this short book by
commenting on Luke's last chapter. Luke believed that "the best
is yet to come." Luke believed in the infinite possibilities of
tomorrow. Luke believed in a God who cares about us so much he
would die on Calvary's cross, rise from the grave and minister
unto us today.
What a gospel! What a Savior! May we understand that he is the
Christ of the Bible. Witness to his love. Worship with his
pilgrim people. With him we will journey from the dusk of sin to
the dawn of resurrection.
1-Chinn, Edward, The Wonder Of Words, CSS Publishing Co., Lima,
Ohio, p. 39.
Jesus is alive today and calls us to worship him in a special
way. Jesus walks with us along life's busy way and shares the
truth of the scriptures with us. Jesus challenges us to be his
witnesses east, west, north, south, suburb and city. Jesus is the
God whom we worship and adore. Jesus is the reason for gathering
together to ask the Lord's blessings. We who claim Christ as Lord
are given our marching orders from the risen Lord. We are
commanded to understand the Word, witness to the risen Savior and
worship the living Christ.
Luke was, according to legend, an amateur painter. The dear
and glorious physician was also a skilled painter of word images.
Among the gospel writers he gave us the most detailed account of
our Lord's appearances following his Easter resurrection.
According to Luke, Jesus had shared his knowledge of scripture
with the down-cast duo of disciples heading home toward Emmaus.
Carefully Jesus had shown how he had fulfilled the hopes and
dreams of the prophecy that someday a Savior would come and
rescue captive Israel from sin's strong sway. Jesus opened their
eyes. Later he appeared to the disciples in the upper room and
told them he was the Messiah. No longer need they doubt death was
stronger than life. No longer
need they wonder if love could conquer hate. Jesus revealed
himself as the real McCoy, their Master standing in their midst.
Michaelangelo once noticed a discolored, misshapen, discarded
lump of marble in a builder's back lot. "That is just the marble
I need," said the artist. "Imprisoned within the marble is an
angel yearning to be free."
When we understand the good news of the resurrection, we know
that Jesus will never leave us. A bumper sticker reads, "Don't
give up on me -- God doesn't make junk." We are so important to
Christ that he died on Calvary's cross so we might be freed from
sin and death. That's how important we are to God.
Cecil B. DeMille, the film director, was on vacation in Maine.
A water beetle crawled into the boat where the director was
seated. The beetle stuck his talons into the wooden seat and
died. Hours passed. The sun beat down a steady tattoo of heat
rays. DeMille noticed the dead beetle. It was parched. Its back
was cracking open. Out of the back of the beetle crawled a new
form -- a head, new wings, a dragonfly emerged!
On the night he was betrayed it is doubtful if many or even
any of the disciples believed Jesus when he said he would see
them again. Only when he met them in the upper room did they
remember Jesus' promise to never leave them.
When we understand that Jesus is alive we can go out into our
community with courage and compassion. The church isn't a country
club chapel. The church is a mission station, a lighthouse
calling people to come to him who is the light of the world.
A friend told me she was in a neighborhood in Cleveland
looking for the Presbyterian Church where a wedding to which she
had been invited was to be held. She asked a waitress if she
could help her with directions. The waitress didn't know where
the church was, so she called for the manager. He scratched his
head, thought a moment and then said, "Sure, I know where it is --
that's the church that helps people."
When we witness to Christ we help people. When we reach out to
a child in learning a Sunday school lesson; when we feed a hungry
person; when we comfort a grieving family with a kind word, we
are fulfilling the great commission to go into the world with the
good news.
Above the entrance to the French College of Physicians is
inscribed in stone this motto: "I bind wounds but Christ heals."
The first scene in the word painting Luke called a gospel
opens with a worship service in the temple. In the closing words
of the gospel we are told to worship God with great joy. When we
understand God's Word and seek to be his witnesses we need to
keep our spiritual arteries clear by regular worship.
Worship comes from an old word meaning "worth." Worship is
worthy of our attention and attendance. Worship is humdrum and
boring when it becomes routine and ritualistic. Worship is alive,
warm and vibrant when we use our worship time together to commune
with our Lord, break bread with our church family and energize
ourselves for the mission field of life.
A poem speaks to all who are discouraged with themselves and
their lives:
And when the flight is fierce, the warfare long
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song
And hearts are brave again,
and arms are strong.1
We have reached the last chapter of this short book by
commenting on Luke's last chapter. Luke believed that "the best
is yet to come." Luke believed in the infinite possibilities of
tomorrow. Luke believed in a God who cares about us so much he
would die on Calvary's cross, rise from the grave and minister
unto us today.
What a gospel! What a Savior! May we understand that he is the
Christ of the Bible. Witness to his love. Worship with his
pilgrim people. With him we will journey from the dusk of sin to
the dawn of resurrection.
1-Chinn, Edward, The Wonder Of Words, CSS Publishing Co., Lima,
Ohio, p. 39.
