Peniel Pentecostal Holiness Church

3239 Rosebud Road Walnut Cove NC 27052
Pastor: Dr. Tim Nelson -  Church Office 336-591-36112
A Place To Encounter God Face To Face. Gen. 32:3

A Word From The Pastor Archives 2024
March 2024
 

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples... baptizing...  Teaching... Matthew 28:18-20

This passage of Scripture we all know as "The Great Commission".  But what does it mean in our lives right now? This verse is our purpose and our calling as Christians.  It is a commandment from our Savior about how we should be living every day.

Within this one commandment there are three distinct points about the purpose we have been given, and how we are to grow God's kingdom.  We are to "Go and make disciples..." whether that may be in foreign countries or your neighbor next door.

We are to baptize as an outward witness and we share in this practice as a local body of believers;  and we are to teach the disciples to believe and behave according to all Jesus has commanded.  How are you living out God's purpose and call on your life to grow God's kingdom?

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

As you read this passage, allow the words of this verse to captivate your attention.  Paul was telling the believers in Rome, as he tells us today, God was and is the giver of hope!  God was and is the answer to hopelessness.  In the Greek, the meaning of hope is "expectation of what is sure."  This means that God is the God of what we can be sure of.  He is not peddling false hope and shallow words of encouragement.  Whereas life, people, and outcomes are all unpredictable, God can be trusted.  He offers words of life when we are in despair or find ourselves facing what appears to be a hopeless situation.

Paul prayed that the God of hope would fill us with joy and peace that would never cease.  This joy and peace flows in and through our lives, seeping into every area.

Paul also says that God is able to fill us with joy and peace as we trust in Him.  God has reserved this tangible evidence of His love for those who are trusting and believing in Him.  Those who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ can cling to Paul's prayer with anticipation.  What an encouragement!  By placing our trust in God we have the privilege of engaging in an uneven exchange.  We give Him our discouragement, and He offers us overflowing joy, peace and hope.

Adapted from:  https://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-daily-bible-verse/your-daily-bible-verse-june-9.html

"The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." - Luke24:7

Jesus' crucifixion, burial, and resurrection are inextricably tied together.  If Jesus had merely died and been buried, but hadn't risen from the dead, would His death save us?  Of course, this is only a hypothetical scenario because Jesus did in fact rise from the dead.  But if He hadn't, I believe this would have been insufficient, because it is by His resurrection that Jesus was vindicated by God, rose triumphantly from the grave, and opened for us the possibility of sharing in His new life.

As Paul affirms, Jesus was the firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18).  His resurrection is essential to our faith.  That's why the first Christians didn't stop proclaiming the resurrection.  All three events--cross, burial, and resurrection--are vital and belong together.

The cross is where Jesus died effectively for our redemption.  The burial proves that Jesus was truly dead--that His death was a real death for us rather than Jesus being merely a phantom or apparition.  And His resurrection is the final exclamation point in the story.  The resurrection is what John the evangelist presents as Jesus' "glorification"--His amazing victory over death, the greatest of all miracles which is utterly unique in human history.

Adapted from:  https://biblicalfoundatons.org/5-reasons-for-reflecting-on-the-final-days-of-jesus/

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died... was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

The very earliest summary we have of the Christian message contained an explicit reference to Jesus's burial.  The Apostle Paul, writing to Christians in Corinth about twenty years after Jesus's death, summarized the basic Christian good news in this way:  For I delivered to you... that he (Jesus) was buried... in accordance with the scriptures.  (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Why did the earliest Christians, and then why did the writers of the Gospels, consider it so important to mention the actual burial of Jesus? To put the question a different way, what does "and that he was buried" add to the essential Christian message?  For one thing, it prepares the way for the affirmation of the resurrection. To say that Jesus died and was raised without mentioning His burial could lead to a misunderstanding of the story.  One might think that Jesus was immediately brought back to life from the cross or that He was immediately jettisoned to heaven.  "And that he was buried" eliminates these options and explains the place from which Jesus was raised.  But, more important by far, the mention of the burial of Jesus makes it absolutely clear that Jesus really died on the cross - He died for whosoever will.

Adapted from:  https://depree.org/life-for-leaders/why-the-burial-of-jesus-matters

"Look at my hands and feet.  It is I myself!  Touch me and see... "- Luke 24:39

Resurrection Sunday is more than a day to remember, it's a day to celebrate our belief that anything is possible with God.  Once we see Jesus for who He is -- the Son of God who died for our  sin and rose from the grave -- we are never the same.

We witness this transforming power in those Jesus appeared to on the first Resurrection Sunday.  Jesus spent time with His followers, sharing meals with them and allowing them to touch the scars in His hands.  These men and women were not seeing "things" or having out of body experiences.  Jesus proved to them His resurrection was both literal and physical.  These men and women who saw Jesus after the resurrection were forever changed.

The same Jesus is still changing lives forever.  Look unto Jesus, the resurrected Savior and see Him, for He can graciously change your life for His glory and your eternal good.

Adapted from:  https://newspring.cc/devotionals/what-happened-during-holy-week-an-8-day-devotional/what-the-first-easter-changed-for-the-disciples-and-for-you