Month: April 2020

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Because He is Risen : 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15

Good morning everyone!

My name is Saju Joseph and I am one of the Pastors at the Gathering Community Church.

This morning I’m extremely happy and humbled to share with you the Easter message. If you’ve visited us for the first time, or hearing the name Easter, or heard this word before but don’t really know what that means, it is the day when all the followers of Jesus around the world celebrate his Resurrection – The rising up of Jesus from the dead.

You see, 2020 years back Jesus, an innocent man was brutally killed and hanged on the cross because he was exposing the sinful hearts of men and women at that time and publicly calling out their sins, asking them to repent and believe in the Kingdom of God.  He questioned the authority of the so-called leaders, teachers & kings. He even claimed He was the Son of God, he displayed a power that no one could understand. And therefore he was put to death out of anger and jealousy, but what we know from the Scripture is in fact that Jesus willingly gave himself to die on the cross.

What happened to Jesus was the fulfilment of a prophecy that was made thousands of years back, that the Son of God will come down to earth as a pure and holy lamp, offering himself as a permanent sacrifice for all our sins so that we can be forgiven and united back into the loving relationship with the Heavenly Father who created us and loves us.

Brothers & sisters, the Resurrection of Jesus is the proof, the evidence that he was who he claimed to be, the Son of God who came to die and restore us.

This morning as we all are experiencing this threat of a plague called COVID-19, the Resurrection message of Jesus should fill our hearts with Joy.

Let me give two reasons from our passage today why the Resurrection message of Jesus should make you happy and joyful.

1. The Resurrection of Jesus gives us HOPE.

The passage that was read this morning is a small portion of a letter written by one of Jesus disciples Paul writing to a church in a place called Thessalonica. And as he is reminding the church of the Resurrection of Jesus he is urging them to live as people filled with hope and not sorrow.

Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15, he writes “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no HOPE. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this, we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep”

It was a time when people were thinking deeply about death, the death of their loved ones, maybe their friends, maybe their family members, maybe a friends and was wondering what must have happened to the souls who already died and what will happen to them when they die.

What Paul is telling them is that since we know and believe Jesus not only died but also rose again from the dead, we have a Hope that one day we will get to meet all those who have fallen asleep. What he also meaning to say, is that there is life after death, now whether you will be with God in heaven or whether you be with the Devil in Hell is decided while you are alive on this earth.

God has done and is doing everything today to draw our attention to Him so that we can know the truth, this morning if you are listening to me it is no coincidence but God has orchestrated this moment for you to hear this good news of Jesus. We are all sinners in our flesh, enemies of God, unholy people who’ve sinned against Him and have no hope in ourselves to make it right on our own. The condition of the world today is not because God has inflicted it upon us, but it is because of our own sinful choices we’ve made to harm ourselves.

God the righteous judge who proclaims death penalty over you and me for our sin and rebellion, which is what we deserve, he also loves us dearly and because he loves us he sent his only son Jesus to die in our place, giving us an opportunity to simply humble ourselves…

Brothers & sisters, God is asking you and me to humble ourselves before him, he is not asking us to do a task we are not capable of doing, he is not asking us to climb a high mountain to feel closer to him, in fact, he came down from his highest position to us so that he can be saved.

God is calling us to simply humble ourselves, repent of our sins and fall at the feet of Jesus in worship. And today, he gives you and me the opportunity to decide whether after a death we want to be on God’s side or on the Devil’s side.

Brothers & sisters, if you have never heard this message before, I believe its not a coincidence that you are hearing it, I believe he is calling us and giving us an opportunity once again to make it right while we are on this earth. Will you respond to God’s loving grace in faith. Will you.

It is only to those who’ve responded to Jesus in faith, Paul is writing “do not grieve and feel sorrowful, for yourself and for those who’ve been taken away, because we know Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep”.

You know what this truth should do in your heart right. It should wipe out all the fear and anxiety you are feeling because of what is happening all around the world. 

Even if this world has to end with this pandemic, we have a hope that we will be with Jesus and come back to a new earth and rule the earth with Him. That’s a promise from heaven.

2. Because Jesus rose from the dead we will get to witness and participate in one of the greatest events in history.

In verse 16-17 Pauls writes “16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

I want you to think of the excitement you experienced as a child when your parents told you that they are planning to take you an Amusement Park like Esselworld, Imagica or Disney.  For some us, even now as an adult this news will bring a huge amount of joy and excitement.

This event mentioned by Paul here, even though it is written in a very sober language if we could close our eyes and visualise it for a moment.

By the way, can I ask you to close your eye right now and just listen to me? I believe you’ve closed your eyes. –  “Now imagine our Lord Jesus descending from heaven, through the clouds, with the voice of an archangel (I’m sure it’s gonna be the most beautiful voice ever), with the sound of the trumpet of God” … keep your eyes closed, take a moment and let that thought capture you.

You may open your eyes now.

Do you remember the other day when the whole of India came out on their balcony and Terrace and on the roads with all their dubba, batli, tumbler, plates and spoons and made that horrible noise, for some it may have sounded like music but not for me.

Now can you imagine hearing the sound of the trumpet of God on the arrival of His Son Jesus on earth? – Wouldn’t that drive us crazy?

And even though the Amusement park has many rides, this ride to heaven in the clouds I believe will be the most thrilling ride of all. Wouldn’t that take our breath away to see this beautiful earth as we are flying towards heaven without any thread attached on us – Just like superman. Taken away forever to be with our Lord Jesus.

Brothers & sisters, this privilege is again only for those who have truly repented of their sins, any fake repentance said or made just to please men will not help you make it to heaven in this manner. Only repentance that evokes an undying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Will you once again take some moments today and search your heart and be assured that you have truly repented and put your faith in Jesus.

All this made possible because Jesus didn’t just die a horrible death like humans do, but he rose again from the death and the scripture tells us that he is now sitting at the right hand of God the Father praying for our souls, to justify us and to sanctify us.

Meanwhile, for us to stay strong and know his will for our lives while we are on earth he gave us a gift, the gift of His presence, the Holy Spirit, who takes responsibility to lead us into all godliness and to transform us into the image of Son Jesus.

So, brothers & sisters, in the meantime here’s what we are asked to do.

Verse 18, Paul writes “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

We are called to encourage one another, since we have found comfort from the Lord and from each other, now to bring comfort to others. Since we have found joy, now to bring joy to others. Since we have found hope, to bring hope to others.

And how do we do that? By pointing them to Jesus – our friends, our relatives, our neighbours, our loved ones – point them to Jesus in this tough times, tell them the good news of Jesus, tell them because,

Jesus is risen from the dead that they can have hope, they can live, there is no fear of death, only joy for eternity.

Let’s bow our heads and pray.

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Good Friday Luke Sermon

What makes Good Friday good for us? – Luke 23:32-49

https://www.facebook.com/thegatheringcommunity/videos/541409313182647/

Good evening everyone!

My name is Jinson Thomas and I am one of the pastors at the Gathering Community Church. I’m humbled at the opportunity to share God’s Word with you all on this Good Friday.

One of the questions that many people including Christians are quite perplexed with is the question

“Why is it called Good Friday?”

How can it possibly be good if Jesus was murdered on this day? “It’s not good but bad Friday” some would say.

On top of that, some of you would say – how can this be Good Friday with all that is happening around the globe due to COVID-19?

How can it be Good Friday when I’m locked up at home? So this evening I’d like to give us 3 reasons for why Good Friday can be good for us!!

1. God’s forgiveness is available for all sins (v34)

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

What is astonishing is that Jesus is pleading before the Father for people who were responsible for putting Him on a cross!! And I think sometimes we are so used to seeing a cross on a church building or sporting it as a fashion accessory, that we forget what it meant in Jesus’ time to be crucified.

The cross wasn’t used to symbolize a religion or a fashion statement but instead, the cross symbolized condemnation and humiliation! It was a death row for the worst criminals who committed the most heinous crimes in the Roman world.

It was also done publicly to make an example of the criminal so that no one would even think of following the footsteps of the one who was killed. In fact it was so cruel and inhumane that even Roman speakers of the time would criticize it by calling it “the most cruel and disgusting punishment”.

The Son of God (Jesus) who committed no sin faced the horror of “the most cruel and disgusting punishment”.

Forgiveness isn’t cheap. It comes at a high cost.

Just to give you a picture of the pain that Jesus endured:

i) It involved immense Physical Pain: The pain was so unbearable, intense and agonizing that they made a word to describe it – “excruciating”. It wasn’t instant death but slow & painful death!

Victims would have to endure extreme pain for long periods of time before they eventually suffocated and died. We can never downplay or minimize the physical pain that Jesus experienced on the cross.

ii) Not only did it involve Physical pain but also Psychological Pain: That’s the last thing that you would want to face while already dealing with the immense physical pain.

The only voice that Jesus heard all around him were insults from the very people He came to save. V34 says that they cast lots to divide his garments which tells us how his garments were stripped off him making him vulnerable & adding to his humiliation.

iii) However, more than the Physical & Psychological Pain – what affected Jesus the most was the Spiritual Pain: AlthoughJesus was like us in every way, yet He was unlike us because he was without sin.

He was the only person to live a life of perfect purity and sinlessness. But on the cross for the first time, he experienced the massive weight & guilt of sin. “He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor 5:21)”.

Not only did He experience the massive weight of sin but He was also being punished for our sins. No one like to be a scape goat for anyone and here we see Jesus becoming the scape goat for the entire world.

The passage from Isaiah that we just read earlier today is a reminder of the same thing:

Isa 53:5,6 – But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

I want us to understand that Jesus wasn’t treated as a criminal merely due to wicked Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers of that time. He was treated as a criminal because you and I have committed numerous crimes against the One True God.

We are the very ones responsible for putting Jesus on the cross. Brothers and sisters, my intention is not to guilt us or over-emphasize on the gory details of Jesus’ agony and suffering but I want us to realize this truth that

Forgiveness isn’t cheap. It comes at a high cost.

God absolutely has the authority to forgive sins but because He is also a just judge, a payment has to be made. Someone has to pay.

I came across a beautiful story that spoke about forgiveness and justice being displayed in the courtrooms in UAE a few months back. An Asian couple found themselves in the middle of a huge legal problem because they overstayed their visa for a number of years.

They were asked to pay an enormous amount as a fine (around 12 Lakh rupees). When the judge asked them to pay the fine, they weren’t able to pay it. Now even though the judge had compassion on the family, he couldn’t write off the fine because it would cause an uproar and protest against the whole justice system of the UAE.

For some reason, the judge asked them the name of their son. The parents replied that they’ve named him “Zayed”. Now Zayed also happened to be the name of the founder of the country. On learning this, the judge said Zayed shouldn’t have to pay the fine. But justice requires someone to pay. To everyone’s amazement the judge himself paid off the entire amount (12 Lakh rupees) to close their case.  Forgiveness isn’t cheap. It comes at a high cost.   

When God saw that we weren’t able to pay the enormous mountain of a debt due to our sins, He provided a way for us to be forgiven through the perfect sacrifice of His Son Jesus so that the payment is made for people who cannot pay for themselves.

Maybe some of us as we are hearing this are finding it hard to believe. You’ll say “brother, I know what you’re saying but you have no idea what I’ve said and done in the past few weeks. You have no idea how ugly my past is. I’ve done so many things that I’m ashamed to even talk about”.

The amazing truth is that because of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross, if you come to Him and surrender yourself to Him because of His perfect sacrifice, forgiveness is available for all your sins no matter how many they are & how worse they are.

That’s amazing news for us even in a time of lockdown and uncertainty – to know that irrespective of what happens tomorrow that God can forgive all my sins. He can look at me and say “You are not guilty”. That’s great news.

But not only is Good Friday good because God’s is able to forgive all my sins but also that :

2. God’s grace is extended to the lost, the last and the least (v43)

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Within the event of Jesus suffering on the cross, there is a mention of a small incident of two criminals who are hung on either side of Jesus. One of them dishonours Jesus just like the crowd beneath, but the other one honours Jesus as King.

The first one doesn’t even acknowledge his sin while the other one confesses his sin – he acknowledges “we are receiving the due reward of our deeds”. The first one didn’t have any hope of being saved, while the other one even at the last moments of his life trusted that Jesus could save Him.

And Jesus does save him in v43 – “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Wait a minute! First of all, this is a guilty criminal out here. He’s done some really bad things and messed up his life. Upon his own admission, he knows that he deserves the punishment he is receiving.

And plus he lived his whole life in wickedness and now at the final moments of life, he is asking Jesus to save him? I mean there are the other “not so bad” people that need to be saved first, right? This guy is the least likeable guy. He is the back-bencher in morality.

No one expects him to be saved. Why fill up God’s kingdom with people who don’t appear to be cut out for it? Why should Jesus even bother?

In our judgmental hearts, this is a crazy thing to digest mainly because we don’t understand God’s passion for those that are the lost, the last and the least. In Luke 15, Jesus talks about the parable of the Lost Son.

God is pictured as the loving Father who when he sees his lost son returning from a distance, runs and embraces him who wasted all of his father’s inheritance on his selfish pleasures.

Time and time again throughout Scripture we are told of this storyline – it’s not the powerful, the rich, the super talented, the influential that God choses and saves. It’s none of those but the total opposite.

Why? Because people who understand their sickness and infection are the ones who will go to a doctor and ask for help. People who understand their weakness and brokenness in sin are the one who will turn to Jesus desperately for help.

Sometimes people who have known me for just a few years presume that I’ve been a religious, pious, nice guy all my life. But the truth is quite far from that. In my teenage years I remember thinking that God & religion wasn’t something I was cut out for mainly due my increasing sin patterns. Even when I did go to church, I went for all the wrong reasons.

I was that guy sitting at the last bench because I didn’t think I was worthy of sitting right in front. For a person like me who had continuous evil thoughts running through my mind, I had mouth filled with cuss words and lifestyle of being an enemy of God, I knew I couldn’t reach God so I stopped trying.

I was so lost in my sin that I thought I was beyond help. But I thank God that He didn’t give up on me but rather pulled me out a deep pit through Jesus’s sacrifice. The amazing truth is that Jesus came looking for me even when I wasn’t thinking about being found.

I was lost, the last and the least among those that people expected to be saved and yet that happened by God’s grace.

And so I share my story to let you know that if you feel like you’re far away from God, if you don’t see yourself as a typical religious churchgoer, maybe you look at yourself and think you’re the last person that God would think of…let me encourage you to know that Jesus is nearer to you than you think. The scope of God’s grace isn’t limited to people who are at a certain level of good. God’s grace extends to those that are lost, the last ones and the least ones.   

But not only is God’s forgiveness available for all, not only is God’s grace extended to the lost, the last and least but also

3. God’s presence is accessible by all who believe (v44-46)

It was now about the sixth hour,[d] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Jesus’ commitment to complete His work on the cross has ensured that we now have full access to God as our Father. And this was highlighted by the curtain or the veil of the temple tearing in two.

The curtain in the temple separated the Most Holy Place from every other place in the temple. The Most Holy Place is where God would dwell in. No one was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place except for the High Priest and that also once a year on the Day of Atonement.

On the Day of Atonement he couldn’t enter it in any manner he wanted. He needed to wear special priestly garments, offer a sacrifice for his own sins and then burn an incense to cover the whole room – and only then would his life be spared! That’s a big deal! God’s presence is a serious thing.

By ourselves if we went into the presence of God, we would be totally consumed. We would die. And now the amazing news is that Jesus has opened the way for us to freely and directly access God’s presence! It’s not limited to one day a year. It’s not limited to only the High Priest.

It’s not limited to going to a single location. God can reveal His presence to us no matter where we are.

Even in a season like COVID-19 where we are locked up at home & quarantined– the amazing truth for believers in Jesus is that we can experience God’s presence in a very scriptural and personal way.

I was encouraged by the interview of a woman who recently recovered from COVID-19 where she testified to being all alone in a hospital room.

Even the medical professionals had kept their distance to avoid receiving the infection. In a room which no one could enter, Jesus was there with her. While she was reading Scripture on her bed, in a very personal way Jesus reminded her of His presence – “Never will I leave you.

Never will I forsake you (Heb 13:5)”. Wait a minute! But I thought Jesus died and was buried? How can Jesus still be with her 2000 years later? If Jesus’ story ended with him being buried in a tomb, it wouldn’t give us any assurance of His everlasting presence.

Instead we know that Sunday is coming. Sunday is coming when Jesus would rise victoriously from the dead & that’s why He can make the most audacious promise to never leave us nor forsake us and still keep it!

Brothers and sisters, let me encourage you to know that Jesus Christ can be present with you right now through His Spirit. Jesus Christ cannot be locked up. No lockdown can stop Jesus from meeting you in your loneliest of times.

Would you come to Him and cry out to Him today? 

That’s what makes this and every Good Friday good! Because of Jesus, God’s forgiveness is available for all sins (every bit of them), God’s grace is extended to the lost, the last and the least. God’s presence is accessible to all who believe.

Would you join me to respond to God in prayer?

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Matthew Palm Sunday Sermon

Palm Sunday – Matthew 21:1-13

https://www.facebook.com/thegatheringcommunity/videos/1021820548281268/

Good morning Church, It’s a beautiful Sunday and I am super excited to connect you through Facebook, I believe you all are spending quality time with your family and friends and I hope you all are doing great and I am sure you all are taking good care of yourself.

As we know, the world is going through excruciate pain and suffering because of Covid-19 Pandemic, people are living in fear, anxiety and uncertainty,

This pandemic disease is out of control, many people are dead and many people are fighting for life in a sickbed, many people are jobless, many people are living in hunger and thirst.

In these chaotic circumstances, the church can play a vital role by showing Christ love to the people around us, by showing Christ care and kindness to all the people and most importantly let us point the people around us to Christ, showing them that Christ is the saviour of the world and He is the answer for all our life problems.

Last week I came across an encouraging quote from the scripture,

I want to read out for all of us.

“If God could Close the lion’s mouth for Daniel,

Part the Red seas for Moses

Make the sun stand still for Joshua

Open the prison for Peter

Put a Baby in the arm of Sarah

And Raise Lazarus from the dead

Then, He can certainly take care of you

Nothing you are facing today is too hard for Him to Handle.”

Shall we look to God in prayer: pray….. Amen

As we enter passion week, we shall look to the passage related to each occasion, since today is Palm Sunday we shall meditate from Palm Sunday passage`

Our book study from Thessalonian will continue in the following week.

Would you open your bible with me to Matthew 21:1-13?

1. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,

2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.

3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

4 This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet:

5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.

7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.

8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna  to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves.

13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.

Before we see the main 3 points let’s see

What is Palm Sunday?

Palm Sunday marked the start of what is called “passion week” the final days of Jesus earthly ministry, it is the day we remember and celebrate the triumph entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem as Saviour and king.

Palm leaves: Signifies victory / Triumph

Jesus riding on a donkey: When a king rides on a Donkey it symbolises peace. And we know from the scripture that Christ is the prince of peace.

Hosanna: Save us now/ Deliver/ Rescue us.

Crowd: The crowd shout hosanna because they saw Jesus performing lots of miracles, heal the lame and blind, turn the water into wine, feeding 5000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves, raise Lazarus from the dead and because of this great

They expect that He can rescue them politically and free them from Roman rule.

But Jesus mission was to save mankind from the slavery of sin and gave mankind eternal life. When the crowd expectation was not met, it was the same crowd who shout crucify Him on Good Friday.

These are a few things I would like to remind before we enter our main points.

I would like to entitle my sermon as

       “Your King is coming”

I would like to bring 3 very important points from the above passage.

1. Jesus Enter Jerusalem as a king, who will save mankind from the bondage of sin.

Matthew 21:5. “Say to Daughter of Zion,

 ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matthew quote this verse from Old testament Zacharias 9:9.

Prophet Zacharias prophesy 500 years prior to the Jesus arrival in Jerusalem.

As Jesus enter Jerusalem the crowd threw their cloaks on the road, they took the palm leaves and began joyfully praising God in the Loud voices for all the miracles they have seen.

And they were shouting

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the LORD,

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

Purpose of Christ coming to this world: before that let’s see the condition of mankind.

1. Christ our king came to this world as a Passover lamb. (Exodus 16).

(Moses told Israelites to pain their door with the blood of a lamb so that the spirit will Passover your house and your family,

In the same way if we wash our heart with the blood of Jesus, His blood will cleanse us from all sins.)  he came as a Passover lamb.

2. Christ our king came to this world to give us Eternal life. (John 3:16)

3. Christ our king came to reconcile our broken relationship with the Father. (Rom.5:1}

(Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.)

4. Christ our king came to show us the Way, the Truth and the Life. (John 14:6).

5. Christ our king came to this world to free us from condemnation of sins. (Rom.8:1).

(There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.)

5. Christ our king came to take us to heaven. (John 14:1-3.)

(1.Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God,  believe in me also.

2. In my fathers house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you,  I will go and prepare a place for you.

3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and recieve you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.)

Application:

Beloved church

Christ has redempt us, His love has captured us,

Even though if we go through this corona virus pandemic, facing all kinds of life difficulties and challenges, He promised us He will never leave us nor forsake us,

His everlasting love is with us.

Roman’s 8: 35.

35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or perils,  or sword.

38. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,  nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

39. Nor height nor depth,  nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is our bless hope and our Assurance in Christ Jesus.

He is our beautiful saviour our Lord and our King.

2. Jesus enter and cleanse the Jerusalem temple.

 Matthew 21: 12-13.

12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers

Jerusalem temple was like thieves’ market, all kinds of cheating and lying and betraying business was going on in the house of the LORD.

Jesus enter and chase them out and remind them that this house is the house of prayer.

Paul also Remind us in 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies.

The scripture clearly taught us that our Heart is a Temple of Holy Spirit.

But sadly, many people entertain their heart with sin like those people in Jerusalem temple.

From this passage we know that God and sin can’t dwell together.

God hate sin but He loves sinners, he like to clean all our sins as He clean up the Jerusalem temple.

Beloved church how are you all maintaining your heart?

Illustration: Garbage story

You know there are times I forgot to dispose kitchen garbage, when the garbage keeps for so long it smells horrible and the garbage smell the whole room.

In the same way, if we didn’t confess our sin and didn’t dispose them, this stinking sin will poison your whole life and even killed you.

The garbage we store in our heart can be.

(Laziness, cheating, lying, selfishness, bribing, sexual immorality, drunkenness, pornography,

Lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and the pride of life)

We should not let these things rule and control our heart.

Romans 6:23 says. For the wages of sin is Dead but the gift of God is eternal life.

Application:

How are you maintaining your heart and your life?

Is it God please with the lifestyle you are living today?

Beloved Let us examine ourselves right now and if there is any sin in our life and if there is anything hindering us to love Jesus. Let us confess our sin and make right with Him.

 1 John 1: 9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I strongly believe that the solution for this corona pandemic is in the hand of God,

The world need to turn to God and repent for the forgiveness of sins.

May God have mercy on us.

2 Chronicle 7:14.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

3. Jesus enter and wept for Jerusalem. Luke 19: 41-44.

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it

42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.

43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

Jesus foresee the heart of the people; he sees their miserable future;

He knows their hopelessness; He know that these people will never make it to His kingdom. Knowing all these Jesus cry for them.

In Noah days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, they all miss the  opportunity to be to be in the ark. Everyone perish in their sin.

In the same way people of Jerusalem lose the golden opportunity.

Jesus was weeping over the tragedy of lost opportunity,

the Israelites that assembled in Jerusalem for Passover miss the opportunity to be saved from both earthly and eternal destruction.

They were visited by their saviour but they didn’t know it,

instead of receiving Him they killed Him.

Illustration:

I would like remind with the familiar story from the bible, the rich man and Lazarus

 (Luke 16:19-31).

Rich man.

God bless him with riches: He misuse his wealth in a wrong way. (partying)

God gave him beautiful life: He waste his beautiful life.

God gave him enough time to live on earth: He misuse his opportunity

He never remembers God in his entire life but he remembers God in hell fire

but it was too late for him.

Whereas

Poor Lazarus Know the true living God, he makes use of every opportunity and he ends up his life in eternal heaven.

 God gave time to all of us to come to him before iti is too late.

Application

How Jesus may be thinking of you right now?

Is he weeping of you? Like He weep for Jerusalem?

Or Is he celebrating because you are his child?

  • Our life on earth is short let us make use of every opportunity.
  • God is an omniscience God He know the pain and suffering we are going through right now.
  • He know our financial struggles, he knows our life challenges and life struggles.
  • The cool part is we are not facing all these complications alone. He promised he will take care of us. If He takes care of the birds in the air and Lily in the field, he will surely take care of us.

Matthew 11:28-30.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Finally I wanna close with this beautiful song lyrics.

“In Christ alone”