Spent the week in Chicago

This past week I was in Chicago for a Conference. I have not been to one in years, and I indeed waited for the right one. It was incredible. So glad I went, it reignited my passion for biblical teaching and expository preaching.

If you missed it, some of the talks are on line. Check out the website for more information.

Guest Speaker: Per Almquist

This Sunday we have the privilege to hear Per Almquist preach the Word of God. Per is working in Maine and is church planting in Lewiston, ME.

Please plan to join us this Sunday as we worship together and hear about their ministry.

Sunday, April 19

Since we did not have a typical service on Sunday. So we will try again this coming Sunday. The sermon text and sermon are what was planned for Resurrection Sunday. Hope you join us.

Locked out on Easter Sunday

Today was an interesting day. As the title suggests. And to be clear, it was NOT the intent of our hosts, the SDA Church to lock us out. It was a honest mistake.

We arrived Easter Morning to discover our keys did not work. After several phone calls, it was evident we were not getting access to the building. The parking lot was full of church attenders, ready for worship. It was windy and cold, so doing an open air service was not an option. What to do?

After some discussion, we moved to our house (which was not prepared for this many visitors, note to self, make sure the house is clean before going to church!) It was cramped, as you can see from the picts, but it worked. We had a shorten service, and people stayed after to linger and chat. Lots of smiles, and no one seemed to mind.

What started off as bad circumstance, turned into a delightful adventure. This will be a Resurrection Sunday I will not soon forget.

Sermon Text: John 20:1-29

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.
John 20:2 So she *ran and *came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
John 20:3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.
John 20:4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first;
John 20:5 and stooping and looking in, he *saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.
John 20:6 And so Simon Peter also *came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he *saw the linen wrappings lying there,
John 20:7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
John 20:8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.
John 20:9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.
John 20:10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
John 20:11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;
John 20:12 and she *saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.
John 20:13 And they *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She *said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
John 20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and *saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
John 20:15 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
John 20:16 Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
John 20:17 Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
John 20:18 Mary Magdalene *came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
John 20:19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
John 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
John 20:25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
John 20:26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:27 Then He *said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Good Friday Service

This year we will be doing a joint service at First Congregational Church of Merrimack. The Service is at 7:00 pm with the Celebration of the Lord's Supper. The Sermon Text is John 19:28-30.

Hope to see you there.

Sermon Text: John 12:12-50

John 12:12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
John 12:13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.”
John 12:14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written,
John 12:15 “FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”
John 12:16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.
John 12:17 So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him.
John 12:18 For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign.
John 12:19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.”
John 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;
John 12:21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
John 12:22 Philip *came and *told Andrew; Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus.
John 12:23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12:25 “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
John 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
John 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
John 12:28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
John 12:29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
John 12:30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.
John 12:31 “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
John 12:33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
John 12:34 The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
John 12:35 So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.
John 12:36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
John 12:37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.
John 12:38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?”
John 12:39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
John 12:40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.”
John 12:41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
John 12:42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;
John 12:43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
John 12:44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.
John 12:45 “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.
John 12:46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
John 12:47 “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
John 12:48 “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
John 12:49 “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
John 12:50 “I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

de-baptism...is there such a thing?

I read this today on the web. Click here.

So someone has found a money maker opportunity. For 3 pounds you can renounce your baptism and get a certificate. What a racket.