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Opportunity to Live Acts 10. Intro: This is the day of celebration. Out of the church year this is the one that is a must. Without it there would be no need for Christmas; without it there would be no need for the church; without it there would be no good news to proclaim from the housetops! He is risen, he is risen, hallelujah, hallelujah! Those words are Easter's vocabulary without which there would be no hymns, no theology, no church history, no prayers in which Jesus Christ is so important. The temptation to simply celebrate Easter is almost irresistible. "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead." St Paul says. We have seen the Lord! testify the early witnesses! It is the high point of the New Testament witness, He is risen indeed. There is nothing within our faith that is separable from this event. We must pull this event from simply celebration into our human understanding. Long before we read the NT affirming the Easter experience we must recognize that these records T33gzKZKKX±isKzs^^BX flow from an experience with the risen Lord. No experience— nothing to write about! Pulling this experience into our human understanding is not an easy one. Then it appeared as an "idle tale". No less is it the case now. It was the opinion of the ancient world that dead men remained dead. To accept Easter as a nice thought, the best in human tenderness is one thing. To make this affirmation the center of our living is quite another. Jesus, brutally slain upon a cross could not have been simply sleeping. His emaciated body died. We shal not be gullible, nor will we easily be taken in by enthusiasm. The first sermon in Acts 10. God-fearers in the house of Cornelius at Caesarea. They were Gentiles, members of a group Peter would not be caught dead talking to. But God had made it clear to him that ethnic distinctions are irrelevant. Paul's Jewishness had been redefined. Anyone who responds to God's good news is a Jew! What a mind bending experience for Peter. I. Immediately we see the proclamation A. Brief outline of the Good News— There is an absence of rhetoric. The story is not told in a moving or persuasive way. It is more like a news story that has in it the facts— nothing but the facts. 1. God shows no partiality; you know the word which he sent to Israel preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit ad with power; they put him to death on a cross but God raised him on the third day; and he commanded us to preach to the people; that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. 2. It is as if one were to be pulled into faith's orbit by this story alone. Here is the secret! Here is the story! Here is the difference between living and not living. 3. And the pivotal event is the third day God raised him from the dead B. But what difference does it really make? What has been accomplished for us hearers, sitting in our pews? 1. The resurrection defines for all who God is.
Object Description
Title of Sermon | Opportunity to Live |
Author | Landwehr, Arthur |
Subject | Resurrection, Facing Sin |
Date of sermon | n/a |
Type | Text |
Format | |
Number of Pages | 3 |
Language | English |
Biblical Book | Acts |
Verses | 10 |
Rights | For permission to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise use this image, please contact The Styberg Library by phone (847)866-3909 or email styberg.library@garrett.edu |
Collection | The Arthur Landwehr Sermon Collection (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) |
Identifier | 642 Opportunity to Live.pdf |
Description
Title of Sermon | Page 1 |
Biblical Book | Biblical Book |
Collection | The Arthur Landwehr Sermon Collection (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) |
Transcript | Opportunity to Live Acts 10. Intro: This is the day of celebration. Out of the church year this is the one that is a must. Without it there would be no need for Christmas; without it there would be no need for the church; without it there would be no good news to proclaim from the housetops! He is risen, he is risen, hallelujah, hallelujah! Those words are Easter's vocabulary without which there would be no hymns, no theology, no church history, no prayers in which Jesus Christ is so important. The temptation to simply celebrate Easter is almost irresistible. "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead." St Paul says. We have seen the Lord! testify the early witnesses! It is the high point of the New Testament witness, He is risen indeed. There is nothing within our faith that is separable from this event. We must pull this event from simply celebration into our human understanding. Long before we read the NT affirming the Easter experience we must recognize that these records T33gzKZKKX±isKzs^^BX flow from an experience with the risen Lord. No experience— nothing to write about! Pulling this experience into our human understanding is not an easy one. Then it appeared as an "idle tale". No less is it the case now. It was the opinion of the ancient world that dead men remained dead. To accept Easter as a nice thought, the best in human tenderness is one thing. To make this affirmation the center of our living is quite another. Jesus, brutally slain upon a cross could not have been simply sleeping. His emaciated body died. We shal not be gullible, nor will we easily be taken in by enthusiasm. The first sermon in Acts 10. God-fearers in the house of Cornelius at Caesarea. They were Gentiles, members of a group Peter would not be caught dead talking to. But God had made it clear to him that ethnic distinctions are irrelevant. Paul's Jewishness had been redefined. Anyone who responds to God's good news is a Jew! What a mind bending experience for Peter. I. Immediately we see the proclamation A. Brief outline of the Good News— There is an absence of rhetoric. The story is not told in a moving or persuasive way. It is more like a news story that has in it the facts— nothing but the facts. 1. God shows no partiality; you know the word which he sent to Israel preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit ad with power; they put him to death on a cross but God raised him on the third day; and he commanded us to preach to the people; that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. 2. It is as if one were to be pulled into faith's orbit by this story alone. Here is the secret! Here is the story! Here is the difference between living and not living. 3. And the pivotal event is the third day God raised him from the dead B. But what difference does it really make? What has been accomplished for us hearers, sitting in our pews? 1. The resurrection defines for all who God is. |