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[keeperofthehearth]

I see so many good answers, but I was hoping for one thing which is missing. The Bible. Lets look at the Bible's definition of faith, Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. How do we get faith? Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When I teach about faith I ask my students to open the bible and find the verse that proves each statement of faith they believe they have. If there is no verse then God is being taken for granted.

For instance, How are we saved? Ephesians 2: 8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Notice we are saved through faith. Faith in what? Faith in what the bible says about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Faith is not believing in the act alone. It is believing that God wrote the words and trusting the words that tell us about what happened. Faith always has to have an anchor, it can not be floating around. The anchor of faith is the word of God. If the word is not the foundation of faith then it is not faith.

Amen!​

 

[texasgal]

Robin'sBrood :

Yep, it's a live concert video of Toby Mac and Diverse City (not DC Talk) doing Jesus Freak. At the beginning of the video Toby says a prayer for the city of Houston and the people at the concert, and at the end he exclaims... "Jesus is the Way, Jesus is Truth, and Jesus is the Life! God bless you Jesus Freaks" I was fortunate enough to see a concert of this tour when they were in Charlotte, NC.

Texasgal, don't forget these lyrics...

I saw a man with tat on his big fat belly
It wiggled around like marmalade jelly
It took me a while to catch what it said
Cause I had to match the rhythm
Of his belly with my head
'Jesus Saves' is what it raved in a typical tattoo green
He stood on a box in the middle of the city
And claimed he had a dream

LOL .. I toyed with this .. and decided to delete for those "sensitive types" .. I think that is a crazy song! LOL​

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

Thanks Speckledroo..I knew there was more than what I was saying, or a foundation to what I wanted to say and that is it..another example that: If I had turned to my Bible for the answer I would have found it..rather than the thoughts of my mind!!!

 

[gckiddhouse]

ChickeeMomma - Ooh! DD and I just listened. She knew all the words. I guess that is the album she has.

I haven't heard the whole thing. She has it in her room.

The concert was really sweet. It was a free concert in beautiful Fountain Hills. It was a really small venue. She used to go to our church from what I hear. Her family still does and has a great family and marriage ministry here in the Phx area. She and her husband were hilariously adorable together. If you can get to her concert, your DD will love love love it!!

Blessings!!

 

[Mahonri]

I'm giving a sermon tomorrow for Palm Sunday. I was only given 20 minutes so I had to cut about half of it out.

I hope you like it.

My faith is in Jesus Christ my Lord and my God!

My sermon: HOLY WEEK!

The last week of Jesus mortal life began on Friday, March 25th, AD 33. He chose to spend his last Sabbath on earth, in a quiet setting, in his beloved Bethany. There he would spend quality time with those of his intimate circle; with Mary, Martha, Lazarus and others that he loved. There he would receive the holy anointing in preparation for his kingly burial; there he would take into his lungs the last peaceful breaths of Judean air before the chaotic hours and days that would follow.

That Friday, the Sabbath would begin with the setting of the sun, and as a Rabbi, we can assume that on that Saturday, March 26th, Jesus preached in the local synagogue or counseled in quiet seclusion with the Twelve. When the hour came for the festive Sabbath meal, the Apostle John tells us, it was held in his honor. There we read that Martha served the dinner. Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus; the Twelve and others of the disciples partook of the feast.

We know that many followed after Our Lord in those times and many came that they might see Lazarus, the man who had been raised from the dead. John tells us that some of the chief priests came from Jerusalem & consulted about how “they might put Jesus & Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of Lazarus, many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.”

As Jesus taught in Simon’s house, Mary whom he loved, sat at his feet to listen and learn and then came the Holy anointing. With profound love, Mary brought forth an alabaster box containing "a pound of ointment, very costly." She then poured it on his head, and anointed his feet, and wiped them with her hair, "and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment."

Judas, would then berate Mary for wasting such an expensive ointment, saying that it could have been sold to help the poor. Interestingly, Judas would later contract with evil ones to murder Our Lord for a third of that oil’s price. But Jesus then said, “Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me, Ye have the poor with you always, and when so ever ye will, ye may do them good; but me ye have not always. Let her alone; for she hath preserved this ointment until now, that she might anoint me in token of my burial.”

The following Sabbath would be a special Sabbath. Judeans from all over Palestine would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. At that ancient date, they prepared to celebrate Passover much like true Christians celebrate Christmas or Easter. And so on Sunday, March 27th, they would travel south and arriving at the Mount of Olives, Jesus would send Peter and John ahead to Jerusalem to find a white colt for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem. In that day, mule colts were the means of carrying the everyday burdens of the people. That Sunday as he entered the holy city, a colt would be bearing Our Savior, He who would bear the burden of the sins of all mankind.

Followers of Jesus from both Bethany and Jerusalem would follow the Savior as he sat upon that colt. They would line the streets as he entered the city waving palm fronds and praising him saying, “Hosanna: Blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!” That Sunday Christ would enter the city triumphantly and he would end the week triumphant over the grave!

Here those who knew him not would ask, “Who is he?” To which came the reply, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet of Galilee”, Jesus would then go forth to the court of the Temple there to teach and bless his Apostles and disciples in preparation for the work that lay ahead.

And Jesus, when "the eventide was come," the work of this day being accomplished, "went out unto Bethany with the twelve."
On the morning of Monday, March 28th, Jesus and the Twelve once again leave Bethany for Jerusalem. Enroute to the city we can imagine that he and his company are hungry and they spot a fig tree in the distance which may have some ripened fruit still clinging from the previous fall. And when He saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee hence forward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How soon is the fig tree withered away!”

The Savior taught his friends the parable of the fig tree and then prophesied of his second coming. He taught them that if he could wither a fig tree, that through faith on His name, they also might move mountains!

They leave this teaching spot and move forward to the Temple. Prior to Passover, merchants thronged the courtyard, selling animals for sacrifice and buying and selling goods for the celebration of the Passover feast. As he had done previously, the Lord began again to cleanse the temple and to cast out those who would buy and sell in the Lord’s house. This time he said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves”.

Once the courtyard had been cleared he began to teach the people again in His Holy temple. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. The chief priests upon seeing the miracles he wrought, sought how they might take him and slay him. That Monday evening, Jesus and his disciples returned once again to Bethany to spend the night.

Tuesday, March 29th found Jesus and his disciples walking past the withered fig tree once again en route to the Temple where he would preach yet again. There the chief priests of the day that sought his death would confront him and ask, “By what kind of authority doest thou these things, and who gave thee this authority?” Then Jesus said, "I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things." This, then, was his question: "The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?" If they believed in John, then they must believe in Him, for it was with John’s baptizing him that Jesus began his ministry.

They knew that John had testified of our Savior, “Behold, the Lamb of God”. How then could they respond? "If we shall say, From heaven," they reasoned, "he will say, Why then believed ye him not?" "But and if we say, Of men," they continued, "all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet." How then could they answer? And so they said, "We cannot tell."
"Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things," Jesus said. You have your answer; John gave it to you at Bethabara, and my Father confirmed it by his own voice out of heaven when he said at my baptism: "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him."

Jesus then taught with power and authority, the multitude three parables that testified to them that he was indeed the Son of God, the Promised Messiah, sent to redeem God’s children.

He taught them the role of government, when he said, “render unto Ceasar that which is his and unto God, that which is His.”
He then taught them of the importance of eternal marriage, and Christ then taught them the two great commandments upon which all the law of God was based. Love of God, and to love your neighbor.

As Our Lord stood upon the Mount of Olives that week and gazed upon the city, can we imagine the sorrow that filled the Divine Being as he "began to weep over Jerusalem." saying: “O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Ye who will kill the prophets, and will stone them who are sent unto you; how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and ye would not”. As he taught in Jerusalem, he noted the widow, giving the two mites, EVERYTHING that she possessed, and taught us the importance of doing good in secret, & not to be seen of men.

Jesus then finished preaching his last public sermon in the Temple.

Upon leaving the city and looking back from Olivet, the Savior prophesied of the coming destruction of the Temple, of his impending death and of his eventual return. He spoke of the latter days, of our current day when he said, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, then ye shall stand in the holy place.” Currently we see nations, including our own, lining up against Israel. We are given the admonition by our Savior that when this day arrives, we are to spend time “in the holy place” which we all understand to be the holy latter-day temples found scattered around the earth. For it is there that we shall truly come to KNOW Him. He then spoke of those who would come to KNOW him in his Holy Temples by saying, “And now I show unto you a parable. Behold, wheresoever the carcass is (Jesus), there will the eagles be gathered together (those who follow Him); so likewise shall mine elect be gathered from the four quarters of the earth. . . .”

To finish this private sermon on Olivet to his Apostles he teaches them of the glories that will attend his return, of the signs that will precede his coming, of those who will be allowed to abide the day of his return and that we must “Watch, Pray, Take Heed and Be Ready!”

He and his disciples spent that Tuesday evening back at home in Bethany, but Wednesday, March 30th was spent with his family and close friends. He wanted them to know of his love. He wanted to prepare them for what would happen in the next few days; and before the end of the day he would send Peter and John before him to prepare for the Paschal feast that would be held the next evening in an upper room in Jerusalem.

And so Peter and John went forth to the inn, where an inn keeper had prepared a hall. There the disciples prepared for the Paschal feast or what would be known as the Last Supper on Thursday afternoon, March 31st. The unleavened bread, the wine and the sacrificial lamb were obtained and the room was made ready.

Two of the saving ordinances without which we cannot be saved, are that of baptism and the sacrament. The Lord began his ministry with his baptism and he concluded it with the sacrament, or The Lord's Supper.

Once all were in position, Christ laid aside his garments, girded his loins, poured water into a basin and then proceeded to wash the feet of his friends and to wipe them with the towel that girded his loins.

Washing Peter’s feet first, Peter protested, this was something a servant should do, but here was His Savior washing his feet! Jesus then said: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." And then, perhaps catching a partial glimpse of the cleansing power of this new ordinance, Peter, ever desiring to do all and more than need be, exclaimed "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head."

All but one present had then been cleansed. All but one had repented of their sins and misdeeds and then the Savior told them, that one present would betray him. First one, then another would ask the Lord, “Is it I?” The Lord then told them that the betrayer was he with whom he dipped the sop. But, all had dipped the sop with Him. Then, when Judas asked, “Is it I?” the Lord said, “Thou sayest” and then whispering to Judas said, “What thou doest, do it quickly”. Judas then arose and left. The other Apostles assuming that their Lord had given him an important assignment.

And then with the clean and worthy Apostles still present, Our Lord continued to demonstrate his love. He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.”

Towards the end of the ceremonies that commonly took place during the Paschal feast, the Lord in love then took the brown bread and brake it, and blessed it, and gave to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body which I give as a ransom for you. Behold, this is for you to do in remembrance of me.” “And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them; and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, “For this is in remembrance of my blood, which is shed for as many as shall believe on my name, for the remission of their sins.”

Each week as we come to Sacrament meeting, we partake of the emblems of his flesh and blood, renewing the covenants that we have made to be his followers, to walk in his paths, to do that which Jesus did to partake of our Savior who is the Paschal Lamb!

As we worthily partake of those emblems we can be cleansed by the Holy Spirit. Christ then spoke words of solace and told his Apostles that he would send another Comforter to bless their lives and that he was going to the other side. He said, “In my Father's house are many kingdoms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” After being asked by Thomas how he could go where Christ was, the Lord responded, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come unto you.” “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

After these words of comfort and solace, the Lord taught them, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

“A little while, and ye shall not see me, because I go to the Father, And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
And now we leave the upper room and walk down into the Kidron valley, the early hours of Friday, April 1st are approaching.

Almost two thousand years ago, outside Jerusalem's walls, there was a pleasant garden spot, named Gethsemane where Jesus and his close friends went to retire for pondering and prayer.

There upon that now Hallowed spot of earth, Jesus taught his disciples the doctrines of the kingdom. In that consecrated garden, the Son of God gave his life as a ransom for all of us. Upon that holy ground is where the Sinless Son of the Everlasting Father took upon himself the sins of all mankind on conditions of repentance.

“We do not know, we cannot tell, our mortal minds cannot conceive, the full import of what Christ did in Gethsemane.

“ We know that He sweat great drops of blood from every pore as he drained the bitter cup that his Father had given him.
We know he suffered, in body, but even more so in spirit, more than it is possible for a man to suffer, except it be unto death.
We know that in some way, without understanding to us, his suffering satisfied the demands of justice, ransomed repentant souls from the pains and penalties of sin, and made mercy available to those who believe in His holy name.

We know that he lay prostrate upon the ground as the pains and agonies of an infinite burden caused him to tremble and would that he might not drink the bitter cup.

We know that an angel came from the courts of glory to strengthen him in his ordeal, and we suppose it was mighty Michael, who foremost fell that mortal man might be.

As near as we can judge, these infinite agonies--this suffering beyond compare--continued for some three or four hours.
After this--his body then wrenched and drained of strength--he confronted Judas and the other incarnate devils, some from the very Sanhedrin itself; and he was led away with a rope around his neck, as a common criminal, to be judged by the arch-criminals, who as Jews sat in Aaron's seat and who as Romans wielded Caesar's power.

Very early that Friday morning, they took him to Annas, to Caiaphas, to Pilate, to Herod, and back to Pilate. He was accused, cursed, and smitten. Their foul saliva ran down his face as vicious blows further weakened his pain-engulfed body.

With reeds of wrath they rained blows upon his back. Blood ran down his face as a crown of thorns pierced his trembling brow.
But above it all he was scourged, scourged with forty stripes save one, scourged with a multi-thonged whip into whose leather strands sharp bones and cutting metals were woven.

(At that period of time), many died from scourging alone, but he rose from the sufferings of the scourge that he might die an inglorious death upon the cruel cross of Calvary.

Then he carried his own cross until he collapsed from the weight and pain and mounting agony of it all.

Finally, on a hill called Calvary, while helpless disciples looked on and felt the agonies of near death in their own bodies, the Roman soldiers laid him upon the cross.

With great mallets they drove spikes of iron through his feet and his hands and his wrists. Truly he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

Then the cross was raised that all might see and gape and curse and deride. This they did, with evil venom, for three hours from 9 A.M. to noon.

Then the heavens grew black. Darkness covered the land for the space of three hours. There was a mighty storm, as though the very God of Nature was in agony.

And truly He was, for while he was hanging on the cross for another three hours, from noon to 3 P.M., all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred.

And, finally, when the atoning agonies had taken their toll--when the victory had been won, when the Son of God had fulfilled the will of his Father in all things--then he said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), and he voluntarily gave up the ghost.

As the peace and comfort of a merciful death freed him from the pains and sorrows of mortality, he entered the paradise of God.
After some thirty-eight or forty hours--three days as the Jews measured time--our Blessed Lord came to the Arimathaean's tomb, where his partially-embalmed body had been placed by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea.

Then, in a way incomprehensible to us, He took up that body which had not yet seen corruption and arose in that glorious immortality which made him like our resurrected Celestial Father."

On Sunday, April 3rd, 33AD, Christ won the victory over death. We will no longer be bound! Because of our Saviour Jesus Christ we will all live again. After Christ’s resurrection, the graves were opened, and all of the faithful saints who had passed to the other side from Adam’s time to Christ’s, took up their bodies and lived again.

JESUS CHRIST is the only name under heaven whereby we can be saved. I bear my own witness that: It was He who suffered pain beyond description at Gesthemane, who sweat great drops of blood at every pore because of our sins. It was Our Saviour Jesus Christ who was spit upon, betrayed and reviled: upon whose Head was placed a crown of sharp thorns. It was Our Saviour who stumbling under its weight, carried His cross up Golgotha, there to be nailed to a tree, where large nails pierced His hands and His feet and then His wrists.

There, a sword pierced his quivering side. On Calvary He finished his mortal work and now continues with His Eternal work on the other side of the veil. It was He who took up his body once again from the Aramathean’s tomb. The stone was rolled away by angels and He rose from the dead on the third day, that first Holy Sabbath we now call the Lord’s Day.

During this Easter Season might all of us always remember with reverence and gratitude God’s greatest gift, Him whose name we honor, cherish and bear. In His holy name even the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

 

[destinduck]

I love Easter

first for Jesus

then for eggs

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
He is Risen! He Lives!!

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
He is Risen! He Lives!!

He is risen indeed; peace be with you

 

[Short Rooster]

Praise The LORD! He is worthy of all praises honor and glory!

 

[Gonzo]

Irish Catholic! Don't go to church though... Catholic mass always makes me feel unworthy, like I'm going to go downstairs.... But I do try to live right, and obey the faith..