mySundaySermons

Look! He is coming with the clouds;

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. [NRSV]

Revelation 1:4-8

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. [NRSV]

Acts 5:27-32

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” [NRSV]

Psalm 118:14-29

The LORD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly; the right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.” I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. [NRSV]

Today we look at the introduction to John’s Revelation to be reminded of Easter. Reminders?

We have not forgotten Easter, it was last week silly. Then why do we have half the number of people here this week?Someone for got to expect Jesus or we were celebrating something else or we ended up letting folks off the hook in a weeks time:

Look! He is coming with the clouds

The Book of John’s Revelation is

a letter of

• proclaiming,

• warning and

• worship.

It is book of

• promises,

• signs and

• portents

It is message of

• challenge,

• instruction and

• remembering

• It is also an apocalyptic exclamations the end of the paragraph of scripture

! BAM !

John

to the seven churches that are in Asia: [All churches listen up]

Grace to you and peace

from him [Father]

• who is and

• who was and

• who is to come, and

from the seven spirits [HOLY SPIRIT]

• who are before his throne, and

from Jesus Christ, [Son]

• the faithful witness,

• the firstborn of the dead, and

• the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him [Who we are in relation to God the Father, son, HS]

• who loves us and

• freed us from our sins

• by his blood, and

• made us to be a kingdom,

• priests serving his God and Father,

to him [Our motivation, reason, purpose and time line to act]

• be glory and

• dominion

• forever

• and ever. Amen.

Look!

He is coming

with the clouds;

every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him;

and on his account

all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be.

Amen.

“I am

the Alpha and the Omega,”

says the Lord God,

who is and

who was and

who is to come,

the Almighty. [NRSV]

We have been looking for Jesus for months in preparation for Easter and we still

live in a world filled with evil and we

Don’t have every thing covered and figured out

We are still living in the waiting

Are we living expecting to fight evil today?

Are we living allowing our emotions guide us

Are we living allowing our logic and rules to give us meaning

Are we living allowing the God of all be God of all of our living ?

“Well no”

Them then it is still time to be looking upward.

Living as Easter people means that we look to God in the face of evil in this world.

Evil in our hearts. Evil in our minds. Evil in our excuses

Our call to be all in…. no more holding our cards, but living in God’s hand.