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God is Love- 1 John 4

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  1 John 4: 7-21; John 15: 1-8 You might have heard that there are different words used for “love” in Greek- eros, stergo, phileo, and agape . Eros is sexual love, as you can probably guess from the word “erotic”. It is an asking, begging, demanding kind of love. It seeks its own fulfillment. Stergo is the love that exists between parents and children, or between members of a family. This carries a sense of devotion to the family group. Phileo is love between close friends. This is the love between two people who are well-matched. Agape is the word that is mainly used in the New Testament to talk about the love of God. This is high-level love. It is a word that translators have often struggled to translate. It almost needs to be capitalized. It comes with deep emotion. It deeply values the person. Agape holds the beloved in great awe, respect, and admiration. The beloved is precious. Agape is a giving love. It drives the lover to action- even self-sacrificial action. Eros is
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What we will become hasn’t been revealed to us- 1 John 3

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Acts 3: 12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3: 1-7; Luke 24: 36-48 In our reading from John’s letter today we are told that, out of God the Father’s great love for us, that we are now children of God. But God isn’t stopping here. What we will become hasn’t been revealed to us, yet. John says that when he is revealed, we will be like him. We hear a similar message elsewhere in the New Testament. Paul says in 2 Corinthians,  “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18). Think about what is being said here. We behold the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image. Peter’s letter tells us that through God’s promises  “you may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4).  And the letter to the Colossians says,  “… your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).  We are becoming partakers of the divine nature- wrapped in Christ, and because we are wr
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Easter Sunday- How does Jesus save us?

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1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 ; John 20: 1-18 During Holy Week we focus on Christ’s journey to the cross, and then on Easter morning we celebrate his resurrection. It is a profound thing to take time to meditate on the events that lead up to his death and resurrection- The Triumphal Entry, the betrayal, Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, the gift of the Lord’s Supper, the agonizing trial, torture, and crucifixion. We follow as his body is lovingly prepared for burial and placed in the tomb, and then we wait… and on Easter morning we celebrate the shocking and earth shattering reality that Christ has risen from the dead. One of the obvious themes for Holy Week and Easter is salvation. Jesus has done something for us that we could not do for ourselves. He has saved us. So, this morning I want to look at what we mean when we talk about Jesus saving us. Metropolitan Kallistos Ware was a monk, bishop, and theologian who just died in 2022. And he describes the work of Christ fo
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Eater Vigil- The Gospel of Nicodemus

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Sometimes our Christian ancestors would do theology by telling a story. C.S. Lewis did this through his book “The Screwtape Letters”. Tonight, I would like to share one of those stories with you tonight. Its present form dates back to the 300’s or 400’s, but parts of it are probably older. It is often called the “Gospel of Nicodemus”. https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelnicodemus.html https://sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob10.htm If you want a contemporary English version you can find a pretty good one for sale here, which is the one I drew this from.  https://a.co/d/5v5ACtQ I want to share a part of this document, but I’ve edited a lot to make it shorter. The part of the document I’m going to read is about Jesus after he is killed on the cross and descends into Sheol, the place of the dead. The is where the prophet Samuel is when King Saul and the Witch of Endor summon him back from the dead to seek his advice. ... We meet the the Devil after he has conspi
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Palm-Passion Sunday

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  Mark 11:1-11; Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47 Palm Sunday is kind of like Holy week packed into one day. Palm Sunday is when we begin the slow journey towards the cross that makes up the last week before Jesus is killed. We inch along with him. … It requires a certain kind of emotional strength to walk through these days. … It’s doesn’t begin with sadness, though. It begins with celebration as Jesus enters Jerusalem. … Jesus had quieted voices that revealed him to be the Messiah, but now the secret was out, and through his actions on Palm Sunday, he is publicly declaring that he is the awaited Messiah. The people of Israel were expecting a Messiah who would come to save them- a great and faithful warrior king, who reflected the national memory of King David, who lived 1000 years earlier. David had united the people into the nation of Israel, and defeated their enemies. This Messiah would be a “son” of David. He would evoke that memory and fulfil
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Lent 5- I will put my Law within them

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  Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 119:9-16; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33 I suspect all of us have the experience of knowing that we should do something, but for some reason just couldn’t seem to do it. Maybe you know you should exercise, or eat better, or dedicate more time to prayer or Bible study, but you just don't seem to be able to make yourself do it? I suspect we also have the experience of doing something we know we shouldn’t do. For some reason we just can't seem to stop ourselves. Maybe you smoke and you know that it’s bad for you, but you just aren't able to stop. No matter how many times you plan to do it you just don't seem to be able to do it. Many of us have experiences with different kinds of addictions. Maybe it isn’t food, maybe it’s watching too much TV, or maybe we are too attached to our phones and social media. It's as if our will is broken. Our ability to make choices, and follow through, is broken. Or, that
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Turn your vision to Christ and be healed- Numbers 21 and John 3

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Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; John 3:14-21 The Hebrew people in the book of Numbers seem to constantly get stuck in a pattern of ingratitude as they wandered in the wilderness. We can’t really judge them for that. We live with technology, medication, and access to information and food that most of humanity could have only dreamed about, … and yet we never seem to lack a reason to complain. So maybe we can identify with the Hebrew people as they wander the wilderness and grumble. When we meet the Hebrews in our reading from the book of Numbers (chapter 21), they are in the middle of complaining. Despite the miraculous way God has rescued them from slavery in Egypt, they complain that they were better off as slaves. They complain that they will starve, and God provides them with manna for food (Ex 16). They complain that they are thirsty, and Moses strikes a rock and God provides water (Ex 17). They complain that they are tired of manna and want meat, and God gives them quail (
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