Should Christians Focus on Worshiping Jesus Who Suffered or Jesus Who Rose from the Dead? As we moved through Lent to approach Holy Week we anticipate four significant days: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter (which some call Resurrection Sunday). The last two, Good Friday and Easter, stand as momentous occasions for all […]
Paul Talks to Felix The ninth sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 24:1-27 (specifically Acts 24:10-21). Paul gives his testimony and talks about his belief in the resurrection from the dead. Setting: A hearing before Felix in Caesarea Speaker: Paul Audience: Felix (the governor and judge), Jews, and Ananias and Tertullus, Paul’s accusers. Preceding […]
Discover What the Scripture Says About Overcoming Death Last week we talked about the ten times the Bible records people raised from the dead. Now we’ll expand that thought and explore more Biblical references about people rising from the dead. Valley of Bones Ezekiel records a vision in which he sees the bones of a […]
Resurrections Occur in Both the Old and New Testaments In the Bible, dead people return to life. This happens on ten occasions, with three resurrections occurring in the Old Testament and seven times in the New. Check out these stories of people supernaturally raised from the dead. 1. Son of a Widow in Zarephath The […]
Disunity Today Hurts the Cause of Jesus In our consideration of words that appear only in the New Testament, we come across Pharisees and Sadducees. Two related words are Zealot and Nazarene, along with Essene. Pharisees Appearing ninety-nine times in the New Testament, the Pharisees receive the most attention. They were a righteous group of […]
Jesus Rose from the Dead and So Did Many Others In Acts chapter 26, the prisoner Paul makes his defense before King Agrippa. Basically Paul recaps key moments of his life and turns his testimony into a sermon. This must make King Agrippa squirm, because he pushes back, asking if Paul expects him to become […]
Meditate on the True Meaning of Easter as a Christian Holy Day of Ultimate Importance Every Sunday morning for several years I have shared my thoughts about God, the Bible, and the church on this blog. Because Easter always falls on a Sunday, one post a year is usually about Jesus’s resurrection. This year’s reflection […]
We’ve Lost Christmas as a Spiritual Celebration. Let’s Not Lose Easter Too This spring some groups have banned Easter egg hunts—not the activity but the name. Concerned pundits decry this as political correctness gone awry or the timid majority kowtowing to the vocal minority. Although “spring egg hunt” sounds lame, this new label doesn’t dismay […]
In The Error of the Sadducees and Pharisees, it was noted that the Sadducees’s error was taking away from the Bible, dismissing or ignoring certain sections. Paul notes that the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, angels, and spirits, even though all are addressed in the Old Testament. In order to challenge or trick Jesus, […]