Easter: He Has Been Raised (Matthew 28:1-3)

If there be hope for us, declares this sermon - hope which is not a lie - then it must be hope not of our own creation, mortal as we are, not the result of wishful thinking or human potential. It must be something outside of us and our finitude, some stunning intrusion, some act of God reversing our shuffle toward the grave, overcoming the final enemy. That's Easter!

Water

When we read that Jesus is the Water of Life we think of all the usual things that water does: quenches thirst, cleanses, refreshes, makes life possible. We draw a parallel between those functions and what Jesus can do in our lives. There is one function of water we may miss. You can cut steel with water! It's true. We have...

Value

If I were to ask you to name the most valuable thing in the world, ounce for ounce, you would probably say that it was gold, or platinum or perhaps diamonds or emeralds. In fact the most valuable thing in the world measured by its weight is a piece of paper. It's not just any piece of paper, it's a stamp printed in Sweden in...

Quitting

Everybody hails the runner who finishes first. Who pays any attention to the runner who finishes last? One reporter did at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. The runner was John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania. His right leg was bandaged, he was bleeding, and obviously in great pain. By the time he reached the stadium...

Luck

In 1936 an advertising executive in Philadelphia, Philip Klein, founded the Friday the 13th Club. Its members are committed to defying old superstitions. They walk under ladders. They break mirrors. The sit at a table set for thirteen. Two American Presidents, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, wouldn't sit a table set for...

Life

Joe Piscatella is the author of several widely-read books on health including Don't Eat Your Heart Out and Controlling Your Fat Tooth. He often gives lectures around the country encouraging people to live healthier lives. One of his lectures is entitled: "Life Is Not a Dress Rehearsal" In one sense, we would agree with that. We need to...

King

One of the loveliest structures in Constantinople was the throne room of Constantine. It was called the Hall of Gold. Even the banquet table was of gold and silver. A curtain hung on the wall woven with gold and precious stones. But above the throne where Constantine sat was a picture of Christ on his throne. And on their...

Happiness

Bertrand Russell once said, "I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I become certain that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk to my gardener, I'm convinced of exactly the opposite." We can only guess what had affected the gardener. Perhaps it was working in the earth, in close harmony with...

Freedom

This is the actual text of a court order in a Kentucky county in 1858. "MANU-MISSION: It is ordered that Sam, a man of color, who was manumitted under the will of Joshua Childers, dec'd, be summoned to court to say whether or not he accepts his freedom." Isn't that remarkable. We can hardly imagine that Sam did not...