After 10 years, I have a job, I have a house, I have a bank account – is that what I have to show for 10 years? That’s what I talked about at least. The sad thing is, I could lose all that over night – every thing I’ve built in 10 years, gone overnight. In fact, everything on earth can vanish; ashes to ashes, dust to dust. There are three things that are eternal though. Three things that will carry over once this world is done – God, God’s Word, and people’s souls. I think about these three things. I have grown much closer to God over these ten years. I’m MUCH different than when I walked onto this campus my freshmen year. I think about souls, about the people I’ve affected. 10 years – 10 small groups, maybe about 150 people. 150 lives that I’ve touched – for better or worse – hopefully for the better.

One thing remains – God’s Word. I’ve read it more, cover to cover a couple of times. I’ve memorized verses here and there. There’s one thing that has been running through my mind – a sermon that lingers.

Did you know that if you memorize just two verses a day you’ll have the whole new testament memorized in ten years. [Crowd laughs] You can do that. I encourage you. 10 years is a very very short time.

- Pastor Michael Shea – OIL 2005 – First Morning Exposition “The Road to Wisdom”

10 years … I could have memorized the New Testament by now. Looking back, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I’ve graduated high school. How the time has gone by and yet, so much has happened in those 10 years. A lot will happen in the next 10 years. Life will change, things will go on. We’ll get a little older. One thing I don’t want to pass me by – I don’t want my mark to be the job I have, the dollars and things I’ve accumulated but that I would invest in that which is eternal, that which will last not just for another 10 years but for an eternity.

This wasn’t the first time he’s predicted the world’s end. He also predicted the world’s end in 1994. At the time I was eleven. Though I had grown up in the church, I was never sure of my salvation. I had probably “accepted” Jesus Christ like 3 times before I was eleven. I was just never really sure it would work. But then I heard the world was going to end. If it ended in September like this guy said and I wasn’t really saved, I was going to hell. That I was sure about. I still remember exactly where I was. I was at the bottom of the main stairs in my church. I think it was before a Friday Night and I had just talked to my dad about it. I was really scared and wanted to make for sure that if the world did end, that I would go to heaven. If it wasn’t for Harold’s crazy predictions, I may have never been forced to make the decision and know for certain.

While the world didn’t end in 1994 and it didn’t end in 2011, that’s alright. God gives us grace for another day but yet reminds us of the uncertainty of our lives. We could die at anytime. Though the world may not end tomorrow, it could be my last day. It’s never too late to start thinking about eternity.

1. The Outsiders by S.E Hinton
2. Adventures of Huck Finn by Mark Twain
3. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
4. 1984 by George Orwell
5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
6. Withering Heights by Emily Bronte
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
8. Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud by Jonathan Safran Foe
9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
11. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

If you know me, I’m not really into reading. I like reading and acquiring knowledge but I’m just so slow. My mom taught me to read fast but I just can’t. I’ve been reading more Christian Books lately but maybe switching genres up will help. I just got bogged down in my Bonhoeffer biography that I couldn’t finish it. I’m like 1/2 way through? I told her to recommend good books so hopefully they are and I can finish them.

Today is Resurrection Sunday!

Events with Respective References

Jesus is Resurrected!
Matthew 28:1-10
Mark 16:1-11
*Luke 24:1-12
John 20:1-9

Selected Passages(s)

The Resurrection.

Luke 24:1-12

     On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away form the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Then they remembered his words.

     When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Glory to the Risen King!

Events with Respective References

Jesus is tried by Jewish and Roman authorities and disowned by Peter
Matthew 26:57 – 27:2,11-31
Mark 14:53-15:20
Luke 22:54-23:25
*John 18:13-19:16

Jesus is crucified
*Matthew 27:31-56
Mark 15:20-41
Luke 23:26-49
John 19:17-30

Selected Passages(s)

Jesus is tried by Jewish and Roman authorities and disowned by Peter:

John 18:13-19:16
They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Peter’s First Denial
Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus.Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door.The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
“You are not one of the disciples, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”
It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus
Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied.“I have always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me.Surely they know what I said.”
When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter’s Second and Third Denials
As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it saying, “I am not.”
One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the olive grove?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Jesus Before Pilate
Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews’?”
They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And struck him in the face.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You tke him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to the law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be king opposes Caesar.”
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

Jesus is crucified:

Matthew 27:31-56
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone, Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Luke 23:39-46
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him.“Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
It was now about the sixth hour, and darknewss came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining.And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

John 19:28-30
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

Event:

The Bible does not say what Jesus did on this day.  He probably remained in Bethany with his disciples.

Events with Respective References

Jesus’ Authority Challenged in the Temple
*Matthew 21:23-27
Mark 11:27-33
Luke 20:1-8

Jesus teaches in stories and confronts the Jewish Leaders
Matthew 21:28-23:36
Mark 12:1-40
Luke 20:9-47

Greeks ask to see Jesus
*John 12:20-26

The Olivet Discourse
Matthew 24
Mark 13
Luke 21:5-38

Judas agrees to betray Jesus
*Matthew 26:14-16
Mark 14:10,11
Luke 22:3-6

Selected Passages(s)

Jesus’ authority Challenged:

Matthew 21:23-27
    Jesus entered the temple courts, and while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him.  “By what authority are you doing these things?”  they asked.  “”And who gave you this authority?”
    Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question.  If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  John’s baptism–where did it come from?  Was it from heaven, or from men?“ 
    They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’  But if we say, ‘From men’–we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 
    So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
    Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Greeks ask to see Jesus:

John 12:20-26
    Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.  They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.  “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”  Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 
    Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  I tell you the truth, unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.  My Father will honor the one who serves me.  

Judas agrees to betray Jesus:

Matthew 26:14-16
    Then one of the Twelve–the one called Judas Iscariot–went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”  So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.  From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.