Signs of Hope

April 12, 2026 Acts 2:14, 22-32 Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Easter people, Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Christ is risen indeed! Yet we, like Thomas, may find questions bubbling up: How do we know? What’s the proof? Is Resurrection real? Within our questioning, Christ appears. We may find ourselves like the other disciples, witnesses of Christ’s resurrection who struggle to understand the doubt of others. Within our certainty, Christ appears. Whether you come to worship full of certainty or doubt, you are welcome here, for we are all participants in the story of God’s salvific work in the world, a story still unfolding all around us. We gather to worship, believing that in certainty and doubt, the resurrected Christ dwells among us! Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, September 2025. Invocation Gracious and Eternal God, you are the one who calls us together and the one who sends us out in the world. Remind us, as we gather, how good it is to dwell with you and one another. Stir our hearts to love boldly, freely, and joyfully. Let us praise you with our whole lives and magnify your name by our works. We bless and honor you, O Faithful One, from generation to generation and from community to community. Speak to our spirits and receive our worship. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl A. Lindsey) Song A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon: “Stand Up and Tell the Good News!” Acts 2:14, 22–32 Good morning, friends! I want to ask you a question—have you ever been afraid to stand up in front of people? Maybe at school… maybe to answer a question… or maybe to tell someone something important? (Wait for answers) Yeah, that can feel scary, right? Today I brought something simple with me. (Hold up a small toy or even just your hand.) I want to teach you a little sign. Take one hand like this (hold it flat), and then take two fingers on your other hand and stand them up on top. This means “stand.” Can you all try it with me? Good job! ________________________________________ In our Bible story today, there was a man named Peter the Apostle. Now Peter wasn’t always brave. In fact, when Jesus was in trouble, Peter got really scared. He didn’t stand up. He hid. He even said he didn’t know Jesus. But something amazing happened. Jesus came back to life—Easter! And God sent the Holy Spirit to be with Peter. And guess what Peter did? He stood up. Right in front of a big crowd, he told everyone: “Jesus is alive! God loves you!” That took courage! ________________________________________ So I want you to try something. Everyone sit down for a second. (Pause) Now… when I say “Jesus is alive!” I want you to stand up as fast as you can! Ready? “JESUS IS ALIVE!” (Watch them stand and smile) That’s what Peter did! He stood up to share good news. ________________________________________ Here’s the important part: You don’t have to be big or grown up to stand up for Jesus. You can stand up when: • You are kind to someone who feels left out • You tell the truth • You help a friend • You remind someone that God loves them Every time you do those things—you are standing up, just like Peter. ________________________________________ So remember: Even when you feel scared… Even when it’s hard… God helps you be brave. And you can stand up and share the good news: Jesus is alive! Let’s say it together one more time—and stand! “JESUS IS ALIVE!” ________________________________________ Let’s pray: Dear God, Thank you for loving us. Help us be brave like Peter. Help us stand up and share your love. Amen. (ChatGPT version 5.2) Prayer Scripture Acts 2:14, 22-32 Sermon Signs of the Future Sermon: “Standing in Hope” Acts 2:14, 22–32 Ben Franklin once said that the only things we can be sure of are death and taxes. And during the month of April—especially this year—it feels like he wasn’t wrong. This April, we have faced both. At the beginning of the month, during Holy Week, we came face to face with our sin, our humanity, and our part in the death of Jesus Christ. And now that Easter has passed—it is full-on tax season. But the truth is, death and taxes are two very different conversations. Taxes come every year. Death comes once in a lifetime. Yet both can feel heavy… even overwhelming. But there is a third conversation happening in April. A better one. A conversation filled with joy, hope, and life. Easter is not just a day— it is a transformation. Easter is not just a day - it is a season. Fifty days of resurrection life. And if we are paying attention, it is a season that can transform not only our personal lives, but the mission of the church itself. During Eastertide, we don’t just hear stories about Jesus rising from the dead—we hear stories about what happens after. We hear how the resurrection changes people. We hear how the Holy Spirit opens doors that were once shut. And we see how the church is born—a church where everyone is invited into the miracle of new life. And in a world that constantly reminds us of scarcity, division, and fear—it is refreshing to hear that hope still has the power to change everything. ________________________________________ Last week, I showed you the sign for Jesus—does anyone remember? Today, I want to show you another sign. The sign is stand. Take one hand, hold it steady. Then take two fingers like a peace sign, turn them upside down, and place them firmly on the other hand. Our scripture begins this way: “Peter stood with the eleven…” Peter stood. That may not sound like much—but it is everything. Because this is the same Peter who, just weeks earlier, was afraid. The same Peter who denied Jesus. The same Peter who ran away and hid. He did not stand at the cross. He did not stand in courage. He did not stand in faith. But now—he stands. What changed? The resurrection happened. The Holy Spirit came. And Peter was transformed. The opposite of standing firm is having your world turned upside down. So the sign is the exact opposite. And if we are honest, we know what Peter fear feels like. Fear, uncertainty, doubt—we have all been there. There is a little bit of Peter in each of us. Which is exactly why this story matters. ________________________________________ Now let me say something bold: It’s a miracle that you are here today. And I don’t just mean the “first Sunday after Easter” miracle—though that counts! I don’t mean the miracle of getting kids dressed and out the door. I don’t mean the miracle of choosing church over everything else you could be doing. Those are real miracles—but I mean something deeper. I mean the miracle that, somewhere along the way, your heart was opened. Opened to hear that God loves you. Opened to believe that Christ is alive. Opened to receive grace. That is the miracle of faith. And that miracle didn’t start with you. It started long ago—on another morning, in another crowded city, when Peter stood up and told the world: “We are not drunk… we are filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus was crucified—but he is alive!” And that message changed everything. ________________________________________ Acts chapter 2 is one of the most powerful moments in all of Scripture. It is Peter’s first sermon. Jesus had commanded the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations—and here they are, gathered in Jerusalem during Pentecost, surrounded by people from all over the world. This was their moment. Peter speaks—and 3,000 people respond. 3,000 lives changed. Why? Because they saw themselves in the story. They recognized God at work in their own lives. They encountered hope. And that same invitation is extended to us today. ________________________________________ So let me ask you: Where have you seen new life in your own story? Where have you experienced healing? Where have you found forgiveness? Where has something broken been made whole? That is resurrection. When a relationship is restored—that is resurrection. When grace replaces guilt—that is resurrection. When hope rises where despair once lived—that is resurrection. The empty tomb is not just something we remember. It is something we live. ________________________________________ Peter says in verse 26: “My heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope.” That phrase “rest in hope” can also be translated as “to dwell in hope”—to build your life there, like a bird building its nest. In other words: because of Jesus, we don’t just visit hope—we live in it. ________________________________________ There was a man named Terry Waite, an envoy of the Church of England. In 1987, while negotiating for hostages, he himself was captured and held in solitary confinement for nearly five years. Five years. Alone. Beaten. Barely fed. And yet, he said he survived by praying, by remembering Scripture, and by celebrating communion each day with a tiny piece of bread and water. After his release, he said something remarkable: “If you have faith, you will not be destroyed… you will find that you can live in hope.” Live in hope. That is what Peter discovered. That is what the disciples lived. And that is what we are invited into. ________________________________________ Because here is the truth: We still live in a world that talks about death and taxes. A world that knows fear and uncertainty. But we are people of a different conversation. Because he lives, we can face tomorrow. Because he lives, we can face hardship. Because he lives, we can even face death—not with fear, but with hope. ________________________________________ So now the question is not just: Do you believe in the resurrection? The question is: Will you stand in it? Will you stand like Peter? Will you stand in hope? Will you stand and be a witness? Because the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead… the same Spirit that transformed Peter… is alive in you. ________________________________________ Let us stand. Let us live in hope. Let us be witnesses to the resurrection. Amen. Song Pastoral Prayer How magnificent this place is today. The flowers that grace our worship area shout the good news of new life. Their colors and shapes dance with joy at the news of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we also rise in hope and celebration at this good news. The journey has been long, and it does not end here, but rather we are given new “marching orders” to go forth in confidence for God, to witness to the good news of the resurrection and the power of God’s love in Jesus Christ. We are called to be bearers of the light and hope to areas in which darkness still stands. Keep us open to the needs and hearts of other people. Help us not to be so quick to condemn as we are to love. Help us to reach out in kindness and compassion whenever and wherever we can for healing and hope. Remind us again of the many ways in which you have and continue to bless our lives. For we ask these things in the name of the Resurrected Christ. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship Margaret Renkl, a contemporary writer, wrote about being in worship following Easter. She affirmed, “I will … remember the ones I loved who sat beside me in the pew and whose participation in the eternal has found another form. I will lift my voice in song and give thanks for my life. I will pray for my church and my country, especially the people my church and my country are failing. And then I will walk into the world and do my best to practice resurrection.” (From “Easter Is Calling Me Back to the Church,” New York Times, March 25, 2018) I will walk into the world and do my best to practice resurrection. That’s our calling as Easter people! New life gives us new opportunities to practice resurrection. Like the first disciples, having received the resurrected Jesus’ gift (“receive the Holy Spirit!”), our best actions include using our time, our talents, and our treasure to offer LIFE to a world of need. Join me in sharing from our finances and in committing to sharing our time and our talents to plant this as a place where many are enabled to practice resurrection. With generous hearts, let’s act out our identity as resurrection people! Prayer of Thanksgiving God of abundant life, thank you for the Good News of resurrection! Thank you for the ways we’re inspired to live out that message through our daily lives. Accept these gifts and accept our intention not to hoard our time talents, and treasure, but to share them as “Alleluia!” signals of the life you desire for all your beloved children. AMEN Announcements Closing Prayer for YouTube Beloved, as you go know that you have been sent By a Creator who endowed you with every gift you need By a Loving God who stays with you on the journey By a Sovereign God who protects and provides By a Purposeful God who has a role for you in the kindom By a Merciful and Gracious God who understands and anticipates your mistakes By a Mighty God who offers refuge and hope in the raging storms By a Kind God who blesses us with community By a Challenging God who holds us accountable By a Risen God who laid the path that you might follow In love and hope, empowered and equipped, for honor and glory. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Philip Gladden) Additional resources The word for "stand" in the language of signing is to place your index and third fingers upright on your palm, held flat, as if standing. When I first learned some signing years ago, the father of a deaf boy in my parish was amused to point out that even signing has its slang. There's a proper sign for "understanding," which derives its origin from the learning process it describes. But he noted that there is also a slang equivalent. You take the sign for stand, and turn it upside down. How very appropriate that sign is for the Spirit's gift of understanding! This spiritual understanding defies gravity and reason; the conventional way of thinking is turned upside down. So Peter's words to the crowd, which he knows includes many who called for Jesus' crucifixion, are not words of revenge or anger or bitterness. He proclaims to them that God still holds out to them the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit -- "to you and to your children and to all that are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." The scripture tells that many were cut to the heart and wanted to know what they could do. "Repent," Peter replies, "turn your lives around." And thousands were baptized, and shared with the apostles in prayer and study and fellowship and communal meals. Our pews are full of such Peters, and Peters in progress. I’m glad to know the desire to not pass on bad news is universal. And that’s why I think Peter’s speech in Acts 2 took so much courage. A little over 40 days prior, Peter had denied he even knew Jesus. There is no evidence he was present at Jesus’ crucifixion. It appears he was more concerned with protecting his own life than following Jesus to the cross. Who can blame him? Yet on this day, the day of Pentecost, when Jerusalem was filled with Jewish believers from every nation, Peter stands up and makes this speech. And what a speech it was! There were no public relations agencies back then, but if there had been, the disciples’ PR rep never would have let Peter make this speech. “So you’re telling these guys that they killed the Messiah? Yeah, I’d scratch that entirely. No way they’re going to listen to you after that.” In 1852, six years before the Civil War, when slavery was entrenched in American society, abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke at a public meeting in Ohio. He wanted to provide words of hope, but he just couldn’t see any way to obtain freedom and justice for those who were forced into slavery. But there was a woman attending the meeting that day named Sojourner Truth. Sojourner had escaped slavery and become a powerful speaker and social activist. And as she listened to her friend Douglass struggling for hope, she stood up and asked one question, “Frederick, is God dead?” And that one question instantly changed the mood of the meeting and filled Frederick Douglass and his listeners with hope. In fact, this question was so powerful that it is inscribed on Sojourner Truth’s gravestone. Is God dead? We aren’t facing the enormous and painful struggles of slavery and systemic injustice that Douglass and Sojourner Truth and so many African Americans faced back then. But we face our own challenges and fears and an uncertain future. How do we live with unshakable hope? By remembering that we serve a living God, and that God has always had a plan to save us and ensure our eternal life with Him. This life is not the end. Rev. Kenneth Kovacs shares a story he heard about a woman from Indiana who was volunteering at a refugee camp in El Salvador. As this woman witnessed the suffering of the refugees, sadness covered her like a black cloud. She couldn’t see any hope for their future. Until a refugee woman asked her why she looked so troubled. She pointed to the challenges the refugees were facing. The woman said that every time the refugees had to move to a new camp, they created three committees: “a construction committee, an education committee, and a committee of joy.” This third committee had the job of celebrating what is good in the present moment and pointing the refugees toward a hopeful future. The refugees made a choice to trust God and to live in hope. (4) And the final insight we get from this passage is that the truth of the resurrection motivates us to live in hope. Think for a moment. Where in your day-to-day living has new life taken root? Where have you found healing? How have new beginnings come upon you? Are these not the resurrection? Have you experienced forgiveness? Have you tasted the joy of grace in a relationship? All of this is of God. All of it echoes the beauty of that empty tomb, and if we can embrace it, we are witnesses to it all. Each of us has FOUR choices in life. These are basically the only choices we have in life. And we're told to pick one. We can choose to DO MORE of certain things. We can choose to DO LESS of certain things. WE can choose to STOP doing old things. We can choose to start doing new things. (I adapt this from Brian Tracy's Focal Point (New York: AMACOM, 2002), 4-5.) We can do more: more good; more exercise; more for our family; more for our community; more for our schools, more for the environment. We can do less; less consuming; less complaining; less needing; less demanding. We can stop; stop hating; stop being afraid; stop focusing on ourselves; stop rejecting all who differ from ourselves; stop hiding. We can start; start to care; start to feel; start to empathize; start to open up; start to see our unity; start to love again. He Rose Again! A man stood in front of the window of an art store in which a picture of the crucifixion of our Lord was on display. He was gazing intently at the display; the bleeding, dying, suffering form of the man on the middle cross had captured all his thoughts, and he was barely conscious of another person who stood beside him. Finally, turning around, he noticed a little boy with his eyes, too, fixed upon the scene. He was just a ragged little mite of humanity, standing there in torn clothes. The man thought he would see if the boy knew what the picture was about, so he said, "Son, do you know who that is?" The child was quick to reply, "Yes, sir," pointing to the man on the middle cross, "That’s our Savior." He was so surprised that that the man seemed not to know about him, and with a bit of pity in his voice, the boy eagerly told him the story of Jesus. "So," he continued, "them’s the soldiers," pointing to the Romans who had nailed Christ to the cross. Then, pointing to a woman near the edge of the crowd, he said, "That’s his mother, see. The woman who is crying." He pushed his hands deep into his pockets, as if waiting to see if the man wanted another answer about the scene. After a long silence, the boy said, "Yes, sir, that’s Jesus, and they killed him." "Where did you learn all this?" the man asked. "At Sunday school, sir," the boy replied. The man, with mingled feelings, turned once again to the crucifixion scene in the window and after a moment slowly walked away. The little street urchin was left looking at the picture alone. The man had not walked more than two blocks when he heard the sound of small feet beating exultantly on the sidewalk and a childish voice crying, "Mister! say, Mister!" Turning around, the man saw the same little lad running toward him. He was nearly out of breath, but when he reached him, he cried out triumphantly and joyously, "I forgot to tell you, HE ROSE AGAIN! Yes, Mister, HE ROSE AGAIN! That’s the most important part!" It is the most important part. We have no need for "After-Easter-Letdown." We are now made not just spectators, but participants, joyful witnesses to a sick, doubting, sinful, dying world, that because he lives, we live - and they can live also! CSS Publishing Co,. Inc., Bitter-sweet Recollections, by Barbara Brokhoff Automobile genius Henry Ford once came up with a revolutionary plan for a new kind of engine which we know today as the V8. Ford was eager to get his great new idea into production. He had some men draw up the plans, and presented them to the engineers. As the engineers studied the drawings, one by one they came to the same conclusion. Their visionary boss just didn't know much about the fundamental principles of engineering. He'd have to be told gently his dream was impossible. Ford said, "Produce it anyway." They replied, "But it's impossible." "Go ahead," Ford commanded, "and stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required." For six months they struggled with drawing after drawing, design after design. Nothing. Another six months. Nothing. At the end of the year Ford checked with his engineers and they once again told him that what he wanted was impossible. Ford told them to keep going. They did. And they discovered how to build a V8 engine. (4) Motivation that lasts comes from having someone greater than ourselves instructing us, encouraging us, prodding us, exhorting us. The disciples were changed because now they had the inner witness of the living Christ. They had more than excitement. They were changed persons. The Spirit had come and now dwelt within them. They were excited. They were also forever changed. One thing more needs to be noted. Look what kind of change took place. It is the kind of change that takes place every time a person truly comes under the Lordship of Christ. THEY LOOKED UPWARD AND THEY LOOKED OUTWARD. They devoted themselves to Bible study, prayer and praise. They also devoted themselves to increased fellowship with one another. Even more important, they opened their fellowship to the world outside. They were so eager to share what they had received that new persons were added to the church daily. When Fanny Brice, the renowned comedienne, was first offered a job from the much-acclaimed Florenz Ziegfeld, she accepted the job very quietly without much show of emotion. She thanked his secretary and his doorman very politely. As soon as she was out of the building, though, she raced down to the theater where she would be performing. All afternoon, she stood in front of the Broadway theater and grabbed people off the sidewalk to tell them that she would soon be working there. Wouldn't it be great to leave church this morning with that kind of excitement, that kind of enthusiasm--so that no matter how calm and sophisticated we look while we are inside these walls, we couldn't wait to get outside to share Christ's love with somebody else? That happened to the church on the day of Pentecost. Let's pray that it happens again--to us--our church--here and now. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes." This week we would not question the validity of what he said. The difference, however, is that April 15 and the time for paying our income taxes comes around once a year. Death comes only once in a lifetime to each of us as human beings. So we look at them and we deal with them differently. WE NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THE EXCITEMENT. We all need excitement in our lives. We need it in our work. We need it in our marriages. We also need it in the church. I say that knowing that some people are scared to death of getting excited in church. It reminds me of a story David McCullough tells in his book MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK about young Teddy Roosevelt: Roosevelt's mother discovered one day that her son was so afraid of the Madison Square Church where their family attended that he refused to set foot inside if alone. He was terrified, she discovered, of something called the `zeal.' This zeal was crouched in the dark corners of the church ready to jump at him, he said. When she asked what a zeal might be, he said he was not sure, but thought it was probably a large animal like an alligator or a dragon. He had heard the minister read about it from the Bible. Using a concordance, she read him those passages containing the word zeal until suddenly, very excited, he told her to stop. The line was from John, 2:17, "And his disciples remembered that it was written, `The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.'" Young Teddy wanted nothing to do with this zeal that could eat people up. There are people today who are scared to death of the zeal of the Lord. They associate excitement or enthusiasm or zeal with emotionalism. They associate it with dancing in the aisles and jumping pews. Most of us would not be comfortable in such an atmosphere. Nevertheless, we do hunger for a little more excitement--a little more enthusiasm. The word `enthusiasm' comes from the Greek word ENTHOUSIASMOS which means `the God within you.' Is there anyone in this room who does not hunger for a greater sense of God's presence within? Maurice Boyd tells about a book called THE ENTHUSIASMS OF ROBERTSON DAVIES. Davies' enthusiasms described in the book range all the way from Mozart to figgy-pudding. "Do you have any enthusiasms?" Boyd asks. He tells about Eugene Ormandy who dislocated his shoulder while conducting the Philadelphia orchestra. Boyd speculates that Ormandy may have been conducting Brahms. In the margin of one of his symphonies Brahms wrote, "As loud as possible!" Only a few bars later, however, he wrote in, "Louder still!" Boyd concludes, "I know some people who have reached middle-age and have never had an enthusiasm great enough to dislodge a necktie let alone their shoulder." (1) That first Pentecost, there was a great enthusiasm. There was excitement. A.W. Tozer, that great preacher of a previous generation, was right. Perhaps we Christians can be seen as a bit odd: We love someone we have never seen; we daily speak aloud to someone we do not hear. We are strongest when we are weakest and richest when we are poorest. We die so that we might live and give away so that we can keep. We see the invisible, hear the inaudible, and know that which is beyond knowledge. Christian strange? Are we delusional? No. We just know the end of the story and that makes all of the difference.

The Magic of our Faith

Acts 2:14, 22-32 2nd Sunday of Easter April 16, 2023 The Magic of our Faith Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship (Acts 2, Psalm 16) My heart is glad! My soul rejoices, and my body rests secure! For you do not abandon me. You give me counsel. You are at my right hand. You show me the path of life. Your presence is sheer joy. You are my God; apart from you, I have no good. Blessed is your name! (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Opening Prayer (Acts 2, 1 Peter 1, John 20) Stand among us once again, risen Christ, and bless us with your greeting: "Peace be with you." Stand among us once again, Exalted Brother, and breathe upon us your promised Spirit. Stand among us once again, You Who Have Escaped Death, and give us new birth into your living hope. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Song He Lives UMH 310 Children’s Sermon Affirmation of Faith (based on 1 Peter 1:3-9) We believe in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose mercy we are given new birth into a living hope through Christ’s resurrection from the dead. We believe that through Christ we are born into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading; and into a present salvation that will be revealed in its fullness in the last time. We believe that until that time, the Spirit works in us to grow the genuineness of our faith, that we may give praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, whom we love but have not seen, is revealed. Amen. Adapted from 1 Peter 1:3-9 by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, October 2022. Scripture Acts 2:14, 22-32 Sermon The Magic of our Faith A.W. Tozer, that great preacher of a previous generation, was right. Perhaps we Christians can be seen as a bit odd: We love someone we have never seen; we daily speak aloud to someone we do not hear. We are strongest when we are weakest and richest when we are poorest. We die so that we might live and give away so that we can keep. We see the invisible, hear the inaudible, and know that which is beyond knowledge. Christian strange? Are we delusional? No. We just know the end of the story and that makes all of the difference. The resurrection helps us to see life from a different perspective. It teaches us to look for the presence of God in every situation. It is that different perspective that helps is to see things that others cannot see. But it would not be the first time. Seeing Beyond Our Reality It is difficult to see things that are beyond our reality. We live lives that are narrowly focused, conditioned by our environment, traditions and habits. The name Hans Lippershey is not a famous one, but he made a tremendous contribution to the world of vision. In l600, he created the first telescope. He was a Dutch spectacle maker. One day two children came into his shop and were playing with some of the lenses scattered around. They put two together which greatly magnified a weathervane across the street. Lippershey capitalized on the discovery and made a profit selling his new lenses to the military. This all happened in Middleburg, Netherlands. Several others claimed to invent the telescope about the same time. Galileo is the most famous but even he credits Lippershey for its creation. Most everyone doubted the creation at first. It was hard for them in that time to envision things could be magnified. It was beyond their reality. Even when our vision is enhanced by technology it is sometimes impaired by our lack of faith. Ironically, it took two small children at play to make it all happen. An unexplainable event shaped the beliefs of society and enabled them to see. Keith Wagner, Faith Without Facts, ChristianGlobe Networks Inc. The telescope is only one way to be able to see beyond our present reality. Easter is another one. Jesus not only opened up our hearts, but he also opened up our perspective. Easter is our invitation to have hope and a new vision. Every Easter season we get a chance to go back to the foundation of the Easter vision and the beginnings of the church. Instead of reading from the Hebrew Bible, we read from the book of Acts. The disciples were witness to a miracle during the resurrection. We are here today because they felt that they needed to share that story with the whole world. The doors of heaven are open for anyone. The real miracle of the story is how lives of those who heard were changed immediately. They were able to see life so much clearly than before. In our scripture in Acts two – Peter is preaching his first sermon and 3000 people are baptized and want to become a part of that church. This is just one of the first things that the Holy Spirit did for that community. Today – the average congregation has 65 people present. After the pandemic 65% of congregations in the US have fewer people than that. With numbers like that – it is easy to here this scripture and either think that no one is interested in the power of the resurrection, or we are doing something wrong. We are not – just as Jesus crucifixion and death was a part of God’s plan – so is the waning and testing of our church. What does it mean to be faithful in time like this? The story of the disciples spreading the gospel is not intended to be a comparison, but an example. The gospel is still alive and well. God is still working in our faithfulness. God still performs miracles. We are all modern day witnesses to the power of the gospel. The gospel works one person at a time, one situation at a time. If God can change just one life, that is all that matters. Jesus is that one person that was able to make all the difference in the world. In Peter’s sermon he says that there are a lot of people who God loved and took care of. We have a lot of heroes and legends in the bible. Peter names David as one of those legends and heroes. David is an important person in our faith, and yet he died. But God raised Jesus up and even today we are witnesses to that fact. Is Jesus dead or alive today? Our answer makes all of the difference in the world. Thomas Jefferson thought Jesus was an important person. Yet he was convinced that Jesus was not raised from the dead. As a matter of fact, he rewrote the whole bible, taking out all of the miracles. Here is how his bible ends: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed." It is very easy to rewrite history. To say, "that did not happen." But the story remains that the disciples were witnesses to these events. Thomas Jefferson is in essence calling the disciples liars and that they continued throughout the first century, for 70 years, to propagate those lies. Furthermore, Jefferson's Bible has been robbed of its power. I am convinced that the church does not accomplish 2000 years of life inside the walls of a closed dark sepulcher. There is no power in that dark place; rather, the Church is alive because He is alive forevermore. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com In your faith is Jesus dead or alive? In 1955, the Cambridge Humanist society was formed at Cambridge University in England. Sir julian Huxley explained that their purpose was to enable people to cope with their environment without resort to the idea that there is a God. He said that one hundred years hence people would find it hard to believe in God as they currently do to believe that the world is flat. A few years later, another distinguished man of science was asked to address the faculty of Cambridge. He opened his address with these words:”before my lecture, I want to tell you something. That I am a Christian. I was brought up in a Christian home with my brother, the two of us were the closest friends. We were both at the university together. My father and mother were deeply religious. My brother and I had no time for religion. We thought that religion was all right for old people, but we were scientist and we thought we had found our way through by what we were pleased to call scientific methods. Then my brother was killed. My parents had the resources to deal with that shattering loss. But I had no one. One night, brokenheaerted, and with all of my proud science in ruined uselessness at my feet, I knelt down. I did not know how to pray. I had scorned prayer. But I put out my hand – and found that it was grasped. I knew that someone was coming to my help and somehow I knew it was Christ. I have been Christian every since and no one, nothing, will take christ from me anymore. Belief in the resurrection gives us a perspective that other people do not have. The doors of heaven are open, and we get to see beyond the darkness of this world. The power to change the world is available to us as it was to the first disciples. How does Easter live in your life? We may never see 3000 people come to Christ in one day. If we witness just one that is all that matters. If we choose to live in the hope of the resurrection for all and not the death, destruction and bad news that we see everyday – then God’s spirit has made a difference. Rosie Lives! Once there was a man named George who was accustomed to driving his wife, Rosie, to church. They had a long and happy marriage; their love for each other was monumental. They did everything together; everything, that is, except one thing. When George drove Rosie to church each Sunday, she went in but he did not. He remained in the car, reading the newspaper. After 45 years of marriage, Rosie died. George was distraught with grief. On Sunday mornings George no longer made that drive to church, transporting Rosie. But several months after her death Easter Sunday rolled around. George drove to the church and he went in. The pastor delivered a stirring resurrection sermon and then closed with prayer. Then there were a few moments of silence as the pastor prepared to announce the final hymn. Suddenly George stood up and with deep emotion declared loudly, "Rosie lives!" Then he began to sing with a deep, rich baritone voice that song that he had always associated with Rosie--"My Wild Irish Rose, the Sweetest Flower That Grows..." The congregation was stunned at first. But several people in the congregation knew George and how he was grieving for Rosie. They stood up and joined in the song. Then more and more people joined into the song. Finally, the whole congregation was joyfully and tearfully singing a glorious, secular Easter hymn. Bill Bouknight, ChristianGlobe Networks If Rose lives on, then so does Jesus. I have really enjoyed having chapel with the preschool this year. They really seem to enjoy hearing the gospel story. I have been really surpised at how much they have gotten into jumping up at saying Halleleujah lately. This week, after hearing the Easter story – we were all looking for Jesus. And one little girl pipes up and shouts Jesus lives in my heart! Christ is alive today! Believe it, live it , witness it. God still has a few tricks up God’s sleeve. – we just have to be awake to see them………… Okay so that wasn’t God, that was magic. But it encourages us to see the little miracles that happen in our life every day – If God can do it for Jesus – God will do it for us – one person at a time. Amen. Song Easter People, Raise your Voices UMH 304 An Easter Prayer Good and gracious God, Our most glorious Creator, As we greet the signs in nature around us: Of Spring once again regaling us in bloom, In the songs of returning birds and fields soon to be planted, We give you praise for an even greater sign of new life: the resurrection of your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, that we especially celebrate at this time. The sadness and despair of his death has given way to the bright promise of immortality. For the Resurrection is our guarantee that justice will triumph over treason, Light will overcome darkness, and love will conquer death. As we celebrate, we also dare to ask for your grace that we may live the promise given to us, By imitating the life of Jesus in reaching out to the poor, the marginalized, the least among us as we strive to be neighbor to all those we meet. We praise you in this Easter season. Change our lives, change our hearts to be messengers of Easter joy and hope. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord forever. Amen. Adapted from “An Easter Prayer” written by Fr. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship In some congregations, this first Sunday after Easter is known as “holy humor” Sunday, celebrating with jokes, funny stories and gratitude for the biggest joke of all, played out in the face of those who sent Jesus to the cross, when God raised Jesus from the dead! So I want to share a story of how two mice played a joke on a cat. Two mice out for a stroll when they were surprised by a cat. Just as the cat prepared to pounce on his breakfast, one of the mice barked. The barking so startled the cat, he turned and fled. The mouse who barked turned to her companion and said, “In times like these, it is always nice to know a second language.” Now, I believe most of us know two languages. Yes, really! The first is the language of possessiveness, and the second is the language of generosity. Our first language emerges early, when we learn to say “MINE!” It may be at home, at Sunday School, or in kindergarten, but often by the time a child is 3,4, or 5, “MINE” is a favorite word. Our second language may also emerge in childhood. It often comes when we’re encouraged to share our toys, our books, our clothes or our food. Often, when we manage to share, we get LOTS of affirmation! In the church, we continue to delight in the times we hear others (or hear our own language) offer to share time, responsibility, and money. Recently, I heard _____________________ (describe a moment when you heard someone offer to share). Today, we’re ALL invited to practice our second language, sharing what God has graciously provided for us. Let us offer our morning tithes and gifts. Prayer of Thanksgiving Giver of Life, You’ve raised us up to new life through our baptisms into Christ. You’ve given us all that we have, and called us to be stewards of your many graces. So we ask you to accept these gifts offered today. Help us put to wise use all that has been given, seeking to transform this money into shared blessings for the least and the lost, both here and to the ends of the earth. AMEN ( Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Let us step out into the world Knowing that we are not alone when doubts and fears surround us The Risen Christ is with us Empowering and encouraging us To transform our wounds into sources of liberation May the power of resurrection, the divine peace, and the empowering grace of the Triune God Be with us now and forever more. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Vinod Wesley) Community Time Benediction We leave this sanctuary a blessed people. Let us go now and be a blessing to others. May the grace, hope, peace and love of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer be with us all, now and forever. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Teri McDowell Ott) Additional Illustrations It's Time to Get Up Winston Churchill had planned his funeral, which took place in Saint Paul's Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church, and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's, intoned, after the benediction, the sound of Taps, the universal signal that says the day is over. But then came the most dramatic turn: As Churchill instructed, as soon as Taps was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of Reveille - It's time to get up. It's time to get up. It's time to get up in the morning. That was Churchill's testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be Taps; it will be Reveille. The worst things are never the last things. John Claypool in Leadership, Vol. 12, No.1. God's Back It was Saturday, the day before Easter, and Joanne Hinch of Woodland Hills, California was sitting at the kitchen table coloring eggs with her three-year-old son Dan and her two-year-old daughter Debbie. She told her kids about the meaning of Easter and taught them the traditional Easter morning greeting and response, "He is risen...He is risen indeed!" The children planned to surprise their Dad, a Presbyterian minister, with that greeting as soon as he awoke the next morning. Easter arrived, little Danheard his father stirring about in his bedroom, so the boy got up quickly, dashed down the hall and shouted the good news: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, God's back!" David E. Leininger, "Laugh, Thomas, Laugh!" Professor Boltloose What follows is a factual story. There once was a seminary student who was having a hard time accepting this idea that the writers of the New Testament Gospels took poetic license with their accounts of the life of Jesus. He was particularly bothered by the extreme view of some scholars that Jesus might not have been an actual historical person at all! One day as a fellow student was playing around with his tape recorder, the two suddenly fell into a spontaneous mock interview with the troubled student pretending to be "professor Rudolf Boltloose" (a parody of the famous German biblical scholar, Rudolf Bultmann). Piously, professor "Boltloose" intoned - "I have come up with a new theory! There was no cross at Calvary. There were only nails. There was no body. There were only clothes. You see, they hung the clothes on the nails ... And this is important for us today!" Although totally spontaneous, this little episode of play-acting was a superb statement of the danger we face when we deal with the fact that the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus. Carl L. Jech, Channeling Grace, CSS Publishing What’s the Good Word? A student from Korea was complaining about how difficult it is to learn the English language. He felt that American idioms were particularly difficult to comprehend. He said that he had studied English for nine years in preparation for attending the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. On his first day at the school, as he was walking across the campus, an American student casually greeted him with, "Hi, What's the good word?" The Korean boy stopped dead in his tracks. He thought to himself: "I don't know the good word! You would have thought that after nine years of studying English, someone would have told me what "˜the good word' was!" Later, trying to solve this puzzle, he decided to turn the tables and ask an American, "What's the good word?" and listen to his reply. So, approaching a fellow student, he repeated, "Hi! What's the good word?" The quick response was, "Oh, not much. How about you?" It was obvious that neither of these students knew what the good word was. It's a rather plastic greeting. But I can tell you the good word for today: Christ the Lord is risen. That's the Good Word. And because it is; it says a great deal about our lives. Brett Blair and King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com he Secret of the Power Thomas Jefferson ranks as one of our nations greatest intellects but not many people know that he rejected the notion of miracles. When he approached the scriptures he could not tolerate those passages, which dealt with the supernatural. So what did he do? He wrote his own bible. In the Thomas Jefferson Bible you will find only the moral teachings and historical events of Jesus' life. No virgin birth. No healing of Jairus' daughter. No walking on water. And, no resurrection. Humor: “I’ll Be Right Back” Sometime back, former talk show host Johnny Carson visited Harvard University to receive an award. After the ceremony he agreed to answer some questions from members of the press. One reporter asked, "What would you like to have inscribed on your tombstone?" Carson thought for just a second, then answered with the words he used before every commercial break on his television show. He wanted his tombstone to say, "I'll be right back." King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Easter in Us The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote an ambitious poem entitled 'The Wreck of the Deutschland.' It commemorates the death of five Franciscan nuns drowned on the German ship Deutschland at the mouth of the Thames in the winter of 1875. One half-line especially intrigues me: 'Let him Easter in us.' Let Christ 'Easter' in us. A rare verb indeed, but it suits this sacred season, ... How does Christ Easter in us? In three wondrous ways: (1) By a faith that rises above doubt. (2) By a hope that conquers despair. (3) By a love that does justice. Walter J. Burghardt, Let Christ Easter in Us, Dare to Be Christ: Homilies for the Nineties (Mahwah, NJ.: Paulist Press, 1991), 51. Do we think he is dead or alive? In his book "Living Jesus" Luke Timothy Johnson declares: The most important question concerning Jesus, then, is simply this: Do we think he is dead or alive? If Jesus is simply dead, there are any number of ways we can relate ourselves to his life and his accomplishments. And we might even, if some obscure bit of data should turn up, hope to learn more about him. But we cannot reasonably expect to learn more from him. If he is alive, however, everything changes. It is no longer a matter of our questioning an historical record, but a matter of our being put in question by one who has broken every rule of ordinary human existence. If Jesus lives, then it must be as life-giver. Jesus is not simply a figure of the past in that case, but a person in the present; not merely a memory we can analyze and manipulate, but an agent who can confront and instruct us. What we can learn about him must therefore include what we continue to learn from him. Luke Timothy Johnson, Living Jesus. The Reality of the Resurrection Several hundred years before the birth of Jesus, a crucial battle occurred between the Greeks and the Persians upon the plains of Marathon. The battle raged for hours. In many respects it was a fight to the finish. Finally the numerically inferior Greeks, the underdogs, managed a tremendous tactical win, but there was a problem. Soon the Senate, many miles away in Athens, was to vote and would most certainly ratify a treaty of appeasement. In desperation they sent a runner in full battle gear to go the twenty-seven miles to tell of the news. By the time the young boy got to Athens he had run a Marathon. It is said he was totally spent, that he literally ran himself to death. In his exhaustion he was able to utter only one word to the Athenians: "Victory." Today we come to church with the sound of the Hallelujah Chorus still resonating in our ears. We have been to the empty tomb. We have heard the glad news of resurrection. And now it is time for the church to send a message back to the world. What should that message be? May I suggest that it could be a single word: Victory. Unfortunately, that single truth is not so self-evident to many people today even as it was not initially to the first century disciples. We fall short of victorious living. We must learn anew to live out the reality of the resurrection. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com A Church with Nothing to Offer Check out the church ads on the religion page of the Saturday edition of most big city newspapers and you find some impressive sounding places of worship. There, with sleek graphics and Madison Avenue phrases, a few select churches boast of their assets -- their choirs, their friendliness, their powerful preaching, their singles ministries, their ample parking, their family life centers, their sensitive child care, and their compassionate spirit. Some churches, it seems, have it all. Other churches, however, appear by contrast to have nothing, absolutely nothing. Take, for example, the church depicted in our text for today. Here, we get our first glimpse of the disciples gathered together after the resurrection, the first glimpse, in other words, of the church in its earliest days, and, all in all, it is not a very pretty picture. Near the end of his life, Jesus had carefully prepared his disciples to be a devoted and confident fellowship of faith. They were to be a community of profound love with the gates wide open and the welcome mat always out, but here we find them barricaded in a house with the doors bolted shut. They were to be the kind of people who stride boldly into the world to bear fruit in Jesus' name, a people full of the Holy Spirit performing even greater works than Jesus himself (John 14:12), but here we find them cowering in fear, hoping nobody will find out where they are before they get their alibis straight. In short, we see here the church at its worst -- scared, disheartened and defensive. If this little sealed-off group of Christians were to place one of those cheery church ads in the Saturday newspaper, what could it possibly say? "The friendly church where all are welcome"? Hardly, unless one counts locked doors as a sign of hospitality. "The church with a warm heart and a bold mission"? Actually more like the church with sweaty palms and a timid spirit. Indeed, John's gospel gives us a snapshot of a church with nothing – no plan, no promise, no program, no perky youth ministry, no powerful preaching, no parking lot, nothing. In fact, when all is said and done, this terrified little band huddled in the corner of a room with a chair braced against the door has only one thing going for it: the risen Christ. And that seems to be the main point of this story. In the final analysis, this is a story about how the risen Christ pushed open the bolted door of a church with nothing, how the risen Christ enters the fearful chambers of every church and fills the place with his own life. Thomas G. Long, Whispering The Lyrics, CSS Publishing. [Suggestion: Take actual church ads from the local newspaper from Saturday's paper into the pulpit and read the ads.] Devout of this World The devout of this world perform their rituals without guarantee that anything good will ever come of it. Of course there are plenty of scriptures and plenty of priests who make plenty of promises as to what your good works will yield (or threats as to the punishments awaiting you if you lapse), but to even believe all this is an act of faith, because nobody amongst us is shown the endgame. Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying, 'Yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding.' There's a reason we refer to 'leaps of faith' because the decision to consent to any notion of divinity is a mighty jump from the rational over to the unknowable, and I don't care how diligently scholars of every religion will try to sit you down with their stacks of books and prove to you through scripture that their faith is indeed rational; it isn't. If faith were rational, it wouldn't be by definition faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly know all the answers in advance to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be . . . a prudent insurance policy. Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love - Penguin ______________________________ ____________________________ A Backstage View Garrison Keillor said, "We always have a backstage view of ourselves." We let the audience see only the neatly arranged stage. But behind the curtain all kinds of things are lying around: old failures, hurts, guilt and shame. We hear that we are living in a shameless society, and that people are no longer bothered by shame. I don’t believe it. Shame plagues our souls. Psychologists tell us that shame sweeps over us when we overstep our abilities, or when our fantasy about who we would like to be encounters the backstage reality of who we really are. Nothing is more crippling to our souls than working at hiding shame. We lock up more and more doors, sealing off more and more rooms of the heart to prevent our true selves from being discovered. We think we are keeping the world out, but in fact we are keeping ourselves locked in. Craig Barnes, "Crying Shame," article in The Christian Century, April 6, 2004, pp. 19.

Time to Be Happy

April 27, 2014 Acts 2:14, 22-32 1 Peter 1:3-9 “Time to be Happy” Second Sunday after Easter Year A What are the things in life that make you happy? Bacon makes me happy. I hear all of the reports of how bacon is not good for you. But no matter what else I may have for breakfast, bacon makes me happy and starts my day off right. Warm weather makes me happy. Gym shoes makes me happy. Last week was Easter, and I had on a new pair of dress shoes with a heal – that didn’t make me happy. But a good pair of gym shoes that fit – works every time – I am happy today. What is it that makes you happy? THE IMPACT OF OPTIMISM Just a few years ago (2004), Fox News reported on a study that came from the Archives of General Psychiatry. Researchers studied 1,000 people aged 65-85 trying to determine the importance of a positive attitude in dealing with life. After almost 10 years of follow-up, these researchers found that people who described themselves as optimistic had a 55 percent lower risk of death from all causes and a 23 percent lower risk of heart-related death. The study found that optimistic people tend to be more physically active, drink less, and smoke less. They also cope with stress more effectively. (E. Giltay, Archives of General Psychiatry, November 2004, vol. 61, pp. 1126-1135; www. foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137312,00.html) Our attitude makes a crucial difference in dealing with life, and we as believers in Christ have every reason to be optimistic. Our future is guaranteed! We have an incorruptible inheritance and the power of God protecting us until we get to glory (1 Peter 1:4-5). (From a sermon by C. Philip Green, The Holiness of Grace, 4/29/2011) This is the season of being happy I have noticed that with Pharrell Williams new song happy out – everyone is obsessed with being happy. Happy times seems to be everywhere. Everyone is happy. But what is the real source of being happy? Easter makes me happy. Now I am not talking about the bunnies, and the easter eggs and the candy, and the easter lilies. But the true meaning of Easter makes me happy. The good news of the resurrection of Christ makes me happy. The thought of new life and new beginnings make me happy. The thought of a victory so powerful to overcome death makes me happy. The Sunday after Easter This is actually happy Sunday. The day that we celebrate being happy in Christ. For many this is low Sunday – those who think of Easter as just one day. For many, Easter is over – when the truth is that every Sunday is Easter, and everyday that we can come to celebrate the resurrection is a good day – a day to be …happy. Scripture tells us to be happy I choose both of our scriptures for today – because they both talk about being happy – in Christ. In Acts, Peter is preaching to the jews on the day of Pentecost. He is telling them all about the miracle of the resurrection. He is telling them how his life was changed from witnessing the miracle of God himself. He is telling of how God raised up Christ, and that God will raise us up too. But today I am going to focus on 1 Peter – which was written a generation later. Scholars don’t think it was Peter who wrote this. Acts is the story of those who witnessed the resurrection themselves, and are celebrating the difference it made in their lives. 1 Peter was written for those who had not witnessed for themselves, but were depending on what they had heard. 1 Peter was written to a group of people who were discouraged, and unhappy – and needed some words of encouragement. They needed to know how to be happy in unhappy times – like many of us. The first sentence of the verse says it all – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ By his given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, indefiled, and unfading,kept in heaven for you who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to revealed in the last time. Now I know that was a mouthful- and I could preach a sermon series in just that one topic. He had given us new birth in resurrection, we have a living hope, a hope that cannot be taken away from us, but is kept for us in heaven, protected by our faith, that we will finally understand when Christ returns. Today I want to focus on two parts of that sentence – a living hope and an imperishable inheritance. In "Man's Search for Meaning", Viktor Frankl recounts what happened to his friend, a fellow inmate in Auschwitz: "I would like to tell you something, Doctor. I have had a strange dream. A voice told me that I could wish for something, that I should only say what I wanted to know, and all my questions would be answered... I wanted to know when we, when our camp, would be liberated and our sufferings come to an end." "And when did you have this dream?" I asked. "In February, 1945," he answered. It was then the beginning of March. "What did your dream voice answer?" Furtively he whispered to me, "March 30." When my friend told me about this dream, he was still full of hope and convinced that the voice of his dream would be right. But as the promised day drew nearer, the war news which reached our camp made it appear very unlikely that we would be free on the promised date. • March 29, my friend suddenly became ill and ran a high temperature. • March 30, the day his prophecy had told him that the war and suffering would be over for him, he became delirious and lost consciousness. • March 31, he was dead. This shattered hope lowered his body's resistance against the latent typhus infection. His faith in the future and his will to live had become paralyzed and his body fell victim to illness - and thus the voice of his dream was right after all" (p. 97). This is a story of a man who had hope, but it was not a living hope and it was not a hope grounded in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus it was a hope that did not serve him. A living hope is a hope that makes us happy and makes a difference in our lives. If you have a living hope in the living Christ you can deal with your past failures and present difficulties because of your future blessings (CIT) When you understand who Christ is and what Christ has done for you, then you cant help but to be happy, because you cant help but to have an unfailing hope in today – because Christ has guaranteed your future. Whatever happens to you now, is not the final story. Through God’s grace – the battle has always been won. You don’t have to worry about what is going to happen or what God is going to do – because God has already done – through the resurrection. Peter is trying to tell us that is Jesus is alive and well after death, the our hope should alive and well in all circumstances. We as Christians go through the same struggles as anyone else. We ask the same questions, but we don’t have the same answers. Faith in Jesus Christ, means faith that all will work out for those who love the Lord. The Jews live in the promise of Abraham, the Easter people live in the promise of Jesus. Not a different promise, but a better understanding. Inheritance in the bible One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 16 verse 5 says you alone are my inheritance, you make my lot sescure. Lamentations 3:24 says you alone are my inheritance, my hope is in you. Inheriting Faith George and his wife were visiting his widowed sister Elaine in their hometown in Nebraska, Elaines and George’s mother had died two years ago and this was the first time George and his wife had been able to visit Elaine since the funeral. So there was a good deal of reminiscing about their mother and father and life in the farm that they grew up on. They talked about the years of the Great Depression, the dust storms, the drought, the joys of growing up in a large farm family. They always had enough to eat and often wore hand me down clothes, yet in spite of some hardships, they spoke warmly of those earlier years. As their conversation drifted back to their late parents, Elaine suddenly said with excitement in her voice, George, do you know what, when mother died I got that old trunk of hers, and I have never opened it. With a feeling of childlike excitement, the three of them hurried down the basement steps. Sure enough, in the corner of the basement was the familiar old trunk. After they removed numerous items from the top of the trunk, they gingerly opened it so see what treasures it might hold for them. As the trunk lid squeaked open, the three seekers were met with nothing but stale air. The things is empty, so much for our inheritance. After they had returned upstairs and were sipping coffee, the three of them laughed at their peek in the trunk. We all knew that there was nothing in that trunk. Elaine said, we knew good and well that the folks never did have much in terms of material goods, so there was not anything for us to inherit. Doug told her not to jump to conclusions. He said that they inherited things far more valuable then money. They inherited good values, honesty, integrity, hard work. That is far more valuable than money. They both agreed that the most important thing that they got was their faith in Jesus. 1 Peter takes it a step further in reminding us that Jesus , more importantly the resurrection is our inheritance. Kept safely for us in heaven. No matter what else we may have inherited, we have inherited happiness – through what Christ has done for us. he died for our sins, He gave us new life, he showed a better way to live, he assured our future in heaven. In spite of all that is going on in our lives, we have a lot to be happy about. Despondency Changed into Abounding Joy THERE came to me one night at the close of a meeting a man with as sad a face as I had ever seen. He asked me to pray for him. I tried to show him the way of life. He would listen intently but did not seem to be able to grasp it. Night after night he would come to me with the same look of hopeless gloom in his face. I was afraid the man would go insane. In fact, I afterwards learned that he had at one time been in an insane asylum. He would profess to accept Christ, but when I showed him the Word of God that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,” and tried to impress him with the fact that he had God’s own assurance for it that he had everlasting life, he seemed utterly unable to grasp it and would go away with a despairing look, asking me if I would still pray for him. This went on for weeks and I almost dreaded to see the man approaching me. But one night as I was about to strike a match to light the gas Peter N. came in through the front door as I struck the match and lighted the gas. I saw there was a still brighter light in his face. The gloom was all gone. He was radiant. The Spirit of God had shone into his heart. He had full assurance of sins forgiven. His gladness was not for a day, nor for a week, nor a month but continuous. He gave himself to God’s work with an earnestness that I have seldom seen equalled. He was a skillful workman, receiving large pay, but he gave almost his entire income to the Lord’s work, keeping scarcely anything for himself to live on. Indeed I sometimes felt he did not keep enough to live on. Out of working hours, he was always witnessing for Christ in public or in private. Hopeless gloom had been transformed by the power of the Spirit of God into triumphant joy. I will ask you again, what is it that makes you happy? What is the source of your happiness? The source is a living hope and an imperishable inheritance. The resurrection of Christ is the source of our happiness. May we live in the power of the resurrection and truly live a happy life! Amen. How To Find Inexpressible Joy by King Duncan Passage: 1 Peter 1:1-12 • Lectionary: Easter 2 Item 20 of 29 | Back to Results Lesson: Many of you may have tennis shoes or running shoes at home like these. Some of you might have some shoes that say "Nike" on them. It is not my purpose this morning to give a commercial for Nikes. It is the name that interests me. We are told that back before the time of Jesus there were terrible wars just as there are sometimes today. When an invading army approached a city, the defenders would go out to face the army. The fate of the city would be determined. If there was defeat, the men would be killed or enslaved, the women would be abused, families would be torn apart, and children would be sold as slaves. The people in the city had no way of knowing the news of the battle except by a message carried by a runner. If there was defeat, he tore his clothes, put on ashes and cried, "Woe, woe, defeat." People would try to get away but rarely could. When there was a victory, the runner would be stripped to the waist. He carried a palm branch in his hand. As he ran, perspiration would cover his body. He would be shining in the late afternoon sun. People knew the message even before he arrived. He would run through the city gates and cry, "Nike! Nike!" Nike means victory. The runner was shouting, "Victory! Victory!" This is the first Sunday after Easter. This is a time of putting on our running shoes and shouting, "victory, victory." In our lesson from Peter today, we read about "inexpressible joy." That is what Jesus' resurrection brings us--inexpressible joy. Nike. Victory.

Late for Easter

May 1, 2011
Year A
Late for Easter
Acts 2:14, 22-32
John 20:19-31
Second Sunday of Easter


Introduction – How reputations get started
I recall a story my grandmother told of a man in west Kentucky around 1900. He never touched a drop of "Demon Rum" except for one memorable occasion. He got roaring drunk, stole a horse and buggy, and raced down the main street of Arlington, Kentucky, all the while singing at the top of his lungs the song, "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!" For the rest of his life he was known as "Hot Time." One night and a reputation for a lifetime! It wasn't fair to call him "Hot Time". He never lived down that one night.

Thomas’ reputation
But you know, that is how we are about people. We love to associate people with our opinion of their reputation and not of who they really are. And have you noticed that we never ever think about whether that reputation is fair or not, we just keep on perpetuating it. We are quick to judge others.

That is how we know about the disciple Thomas – by his reputation. In one story in the whole bible, we heard that he doubted Jesus, and we have labeled him doubting Thomas.

That reputation is very prevalent; there are three stories in the bible that everyone knows about. People who have never picked up a bible in their lives, know three characters from the bible – the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son, and doubting Thomas.
Everyone thinks Thomas was from Missouri – the show me state, all because he asked the resurrected Jesus to show him the nails in his hands. How did his reputation get so famous? We who have read the bible went around spreading the reputation of a fellow disciple.
When the truth is, Thomas did not ask anything of Jesus that the rest of the disciples did not already ask. We would have done the same thing.
Thomas did not do anything wrong, he was just late, late for Easter. All of the other disciples have already got the proof they were looking for. They did not believe that Jesus was alive either, until he appeared to them and talked to them. Thomas was not there at the time.
We like to give Thomas a bad reputation, because Jesus says blessed are those who don’t see and yet believe. But was he really talking about us? Are we really that faithful. If we did not see Jesus for ourselves, how many of us would be here now? If we didn’t have proof that Jesus was alive, would we be here? Probably not.

The relationship of fear and doubt
The real danger of this story is the relationship we give to fear and doubt. The relationship we give to fear and doubt. In order to make sense of this story we like to make them opposites. If you doubt, then you can’t have faith, and if you have faith you can’t have doubt. I hope that you know that is not true. We’ve all doubted something in our lives. We have all needed proof of something in our lives. We have all doubted God in some way. We all wonder whether this Christian life is all that it is cracked up to be. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. And just as Jesus didn’t have a problem proving himself to Thomas, god shows god self time and time again.

The human need to doubt God
The humanist society was formed in 1955. It was designed for people who needed to deal with life, without having to resort to the idea that there was a God. They believed that science had an answer for everything in life. One year a distinguished scientist was asked to address the group. He explained that he was a Christian, and that he grew up in a Christian home. His parents were very religious. When he and his brother grew up, they went to college to become scientist. They became convinced that science was the answer to everything. To them religion was just some old folktale. That was until his brother died. His mother and father had the resources to deal with the unspeakable – the scientist didn’t. His mother and father had hope in the midst of pain, he didn’t. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believe.

It hurts to hope
We have all been in that situation where it just hurts too much to have hope. Hope just seems so far removed from our situation. The good news is that if you are ever in a situation where you can’t find God, just hold on and God will come and find you.
The disciples were upstairs locked in the upper room. Now there are not too many places in America where you can go, where you don’t lock the door. But in Jesus times, a locked door meant that you were doing something that you had no business doing. Not only did you not lock the door – you expected a spy to open your door and check on you at any time to make sure that you were doing the right thing.

God will come to you
It wasn’t privacy that caused the disciples to hide – it was fear, hopelessness, and defeat. Scripture says the doors were locked and Jesus came and stood amongst them. Here is what is so cool about that scripture. We don’t know how Jesus got in the door. Did he have the key, did he just walk through the door like a ghost. We don’t know. The point is that he got through the locked door. If you don’t know how to find god, god always knows how to find you. Just like faith and doubt are not opposites, neither are hope and fear. You can have hope in god, you can have fear – and either way God is still going to find a way to find you. Faith, doubt, hope, fear – all pathways to the same God.
Thomas was just asking for what all of the others already had. An encounter with Christ that would lead him to believe. He did say – my Lord and My God.
All Jesus was asking of Thomas was to believe in Jesus Christ are you savior. That is all Jesus asks of any of us. An experience that makes you believe….

Testimonies
Englewood will do testimonies……




Resurrection is the way we choose to live
Resurrection is not a story about Thomas being late for Easter, resurrection is a story about us, our lives, our faith, and the way we treat one another as people of faith.

3 gifts of Jesus
Jesus gave us three gifts in this story.
First he have peace, - the power to overcome doubt and fear
Second he have the Holy Spirit – the comforter that will teach you to love all
3 is the most important – the power to either forgive or hold onto the sins of others.



The power of forgiveness

Everyone has had an experience like this: You are walking through a shopping mall during a busy holiday season. People are everywhere. Shoppers are looking in stores, going into and out of shops, pushing baby buggies and carrying armloads of packages. Suddenly, and without warning, someone crashes into you. It might be just a bump, or full-on shoulder slam, but there it is. Your packages go flying; you may even lose your balance and stumble.
And then what happens?
The person who bumped you says, "I am so sorry I ran into you. I didn't even see you there. I guess I just wasn't paying attention. Please forgive me."
There it is, "Please forgive me." And of course, you do.
"Oh, it's okay. It was just an accident. Don't give it another thought."
That's the way it usually happens. But what would it be like if it happened differently? What would the reaction be if we did not forgive the accidental collision?
Imagine if the reply sounded like this: "No, I'm not going to forgive you. How could you be so careless? I could have been injured. You better hope none of my purchases are damaged because if they are, you are going to pay for them."
What would be the reaction of the person who bumped into you? Shame? Anger? Someone who already feels bad about an accident now feels even worse.
That is the deadly power of not letting something go.
And by the way, the biblical word for letting something go is "forgiveness."

Prescription or description
The key to understanding what Jesus means is to first determine if he is speaking prescriptively or descriptively.
If he is speaking prescriptively then, according to this text, Jesus has given us the power to forgive and retain sins. But if he is speaking descriptively, then the words actually serve as a warning.
It's as if Jesus said, "Be careful. You will collectively yield enormous power in the world as my followers. If you decide something is allowable, and you let it go, it will be let go. If you decide something is sinful and you condemn it, it will carry a condemnable weight. Be careful what you tell people. You may forgive something God doesn't, and you may retain something God forgives. But for the people you are forgiving or not forgiving, you may be their only access to God."

The power to let go
You can either hold on – or learn to let go. Forgive others, forgive yourself and live in the power of the resurrected Christ. But don’t be late for Easter.

Let us pray….