Morning Message Text: Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”
14 The LORD is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”
17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
Morning Message:
Today we come to the end of Passion Week or as many Christians refer to it; THE WEEK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD !!!! In the first century all the smart money was bet on Rome. Most thought the followers of Jesus would soon be dead and gone. Two thousand years have come and gone. Today we name our kids James, John, Peter and Mary and our dogs Caesar and Nero. The Kingdom of God is unstoppable, and the Roman Empire is only ancient ruins. William Penn said, “No thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown”. Because Jesus wore the cross of death, you and I, in Christ, will wear the “crown of life.” There is a lot to be thankful for this Passion Week. He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
How we feel about this day and this past week depends on Our Response to God’s Grace. Easter day, the resurrection of Jesus, Is what we might call a good news, bad news situation, depending upon your response to God’s grace. Which would you like first, the good news or the bad news? Never mind, I already made my mind up to talk about the bad news first. I like to end with good news. You see, it’s easy to show up for church on Easter Sunday and say. “I love you, Jesus.” Jesus does not measure our response by mere words and repetitious actions. Words are easy to say, and making only what little effort that it takes to make us feel good about ourselves, is not a sign of true commitment. It’s more difficult to show our love for our Savior by obeying Him. Sometimes, God’s commands challenge us; they force us to go against what we would prefer to do. Remember Jonah? But we fully express our love by submission. Jesus wonders why people say they believe in him but do not obey him: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6: 46). If we say, “I believe in you Jesus,” but go on to do what we want to do, what do those words mean?
Faith, like love, requires submission. And without question, our salvation depends on our obedience. In other words, you can’t just say it; you have to mean it.
Toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’’’ (Matthew 7: 21-23). Why would Jesus condemn people who believe in Him and do good works? Because they failed to do “the will of my Father in heaven.” “They practiced lawlessness,” Jesus says – they were living a sinful lifestyle. They believed and did good works, but they never fully repented; they never fully turned from sin toward God. Like faith and love, repentance requires submission. Our response to God’s grace matters.
The good news is: all is correctable. Your repentance can be complete. All we have to do is fully commit ourselves and submit our lives to Jesus. How can we tell the difference? Everything that you do and say will feel different when you are fully committed to Jesus. When you read, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” You will feel that in your soul. You will experience true thankfulness for all that God has done in your life. “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” When we fully come to the Lord we learn to depend on him, not the things of this world. We draw our strength from Jesus, not what the world tells us we need to be strong. “Shouts of Joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous.” Here is the true test of how genuine our response to God’s grace is: Do you have the pure joy of salvation? I’m not saying that you will never be sad or that life will always be filled with joy, but when you truly know Jesus you will always feel the joy of your salvation.
Listen, because if you have truly and fully responded to God’s grace in Jesus this day, resurrection day will have wonderful meaning in your life. You should feel the joy that this Psalm expresses. “I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.” That’s what this day means, but we need to feel that. “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” This is a prophecy about what Jesus will do, and we are blessed with the realization that he has accomplished this. Jesus has become our salvation, and today, every day, that should produce joy in us. Listen, God is speaking to us. “The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.”
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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