Luke 24:36-43: Jesus the Firstborn from the Dead
We live in a world that is fixated on the here and now. We live in what Charles Taylor called an Immanent Frame, a view of existence that is cut off from any sense of transcendence. This is all there is. Because there is no certainty of hope there is an intense desperation that infects life in the West. If this is all there is, then this will deeply impact how you live. If this is the only life you have, why work at a marriage that is hard? If this is all there is why die a lingering...
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Luke 24:13-35: The Road to Emmaus
OUTLINE The loss of hope The return of hope The response of hope INTRODUCTION I have been thinking a lot about hope lately. In part because of the three funerals that we have recently had, and the wonderful way in which the hope of resurrection, of our loved ones being the presence of God, and a promised end to pain make our present sufferings more tolerable. But also because I get to see into a lot of people’s lives, and every one of us has a pool of tears, and my job is to point each one of us...
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Luke 24:1-12: The Resurrection of Christ
OUTLINE The witness of the tomb The witness of the angels The witness of the women INTRODUCTION On March 28th 1980 the so called family tomb of Jesus was found, also called the Talpiot Tomb. There were nine or ten ossuaries (bone boxes used for second burial). These had names written on them, Jesus son of Joseph; Miriam/Mary; Judah son of Jesus; Matthew and another Mary. The theory claims that Jesus married Mary, had children, and that this was his family tomb. A book was subsequently released with a foreword given by James Cameron the director of Titanic and...
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Luke 20:27-40: Jesus on the Resurrection
OUTLINE The cynic’s question The Savior’s answer INTRODUCTION Is there life after death? Many Post-Christian Western secular people say, No! But the majority of the world’s population, throughout history have said, Yes! The Vikings had a belief in Valhalla. The Egyptians practiced mummification because of their belief in the afterlife. You have probably all heard people tell stories about NDEs, near death experiences. Despite the best attempts by the new atheists there is a recalcitrant view of life going on after death. In the new religionless West we still hear this basic hope for life to mean something to...
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Luke 8:41-56: Weak Faith Meets a Strong Saviour
‘My cup runneth over;’ ‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think;’ these biblical phrases remind us that when we bring the thimble of our faith to God, He fills it with the flood of Himself and His gifts. Luke 8:41-56 records the narrative of two people who have faith in Christ, but it is a thimble sized faith and Christ exceeds their expectations. The woman with the issue of blood comes to Jesus believing that He has the power to heal, but she will leave knowing His kindness...
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Ephesians 2:1-10: ‘But for the Grace of God….’
‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ This is a well-known statement which recognises that apart from God’s gracious intervention left to ourselves we would be lost. This statement is credited to the martyr John Bradford, once while walking past a gallows and as criminal were being led to be hanged, he looked over at them as said, ‘there but for the grace of God go I.’ It is this grateful recognition that Paul is trying to prompt in the Ephesians in 2:1-10. The body of chapter 1 is only two sentences in the Greek, the first...
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Luke 7:11-17: The Lord of Life
Have you ever heard of the irresistible force paradox? Have you heard the phrase ‘the unstoppable force meets the immovable object?’ Maybe you have heard it in the context of sport where two powerful rugby teams are going to compete. Technically it is an impossibility for an unstoppable force to move an unmovable object, or vice versa because then the object would by definition no longer be immovable, or the force unstoppable. Nevertheless, ‘the unstoppable force meets the immovable object’ is a way in which several commentators have described the next section we are looking at. In this section...
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The Truth of the Resurrection
Introduction: The resurrection is the lynch pin of the Christian faith. If Jesus had died and not been raised we would be lost, 1 Cor. 15:17 (ESV) “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” There is much that we need to say about the significance of the resurrection but in this study we will be concerning ourselves with the fact of the resurrection. The resurrection has been denied from many sides. There are those who deny the resurrection on certain scientific assumptions. That because we don’t see dead people...
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Acts 1:3: The Proof of the Resurrection
Introduction: Acts 1:3, ‘He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.’ Luke the author of Acts wrote two books to a Christian named Theophilus, the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. In the opening of the book of Acts here Luke is reflecting on the gospel account of Christ’s resurrection and appearances to the disciples. I want to draw your attention to Luke’s language, ‘by many proofs.’ Luke is saying that Jesus presented Himself and proved the truth of...
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