And Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mark 8:31
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! The first words you ever heard me say from this pulpit, ten years and one day ago. I came here and said that as an opening volley, knowing that nothing I could ever say after that would ever equal its power. That is, to set the bedrock theme; the foundation of everything... we are to be to one another.
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. If that's true - and it is - nothing should ever be the same again. The way you comb you hair, the way you brush your teeth, the way you work your job, love your next-door neighbor, or are married to someone - nothing is to be the same, if you believe the truth that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
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I wonder about your transformation and mine. Are you the same person you were ten years ago? If so, you've been phoning it in... We should all be different day by day. You should be different this week than you were last week. And that's not to give you a hard homework assignment. I'm not saying you need to go out and work harder; try harder... quite the opposite. Growing in your faith is not an act of achievement or accomplishment. It's an act of surrender and following.
It's so much easier than you think to transform, because it doesn't involve you grinding your teeth. It involves giving up who you are, and saying to God, "I surrender, have your way with me. Change me, transform me." And the Holy Spirit comes into your life, and suddenly you begin to look a little bit more like Jesus every day. That's how it happens.
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Patty and I came here to love you... We also came to be loved by you. You've been amazing, unbelievable, over the top... You are truly a kingdom church, a kingdom people...
