There seems to be today a overburden of anxiety. People are anxious for personal things like finance or health or family situations. Other people are anxious because of climate change or overpopulation or whatever the worldwide problem might be. There seems to be a lot of self-help books on how to deal with anxiety, but they don't seem to help. I encourage you as we take a look today at what the Bible says about being anxious and how to deal with it.

Sermon Notes

Philippians 4:6 – 8 Don’t be anxious and how to avoid it

Matthew 6:24 – 34 Don’t worry, it does not help

Knowledge is a wonderful thing. We know what we know. There are times that we know what we don't know. And unfortunately, there are times when we don't know what we don't know. John is going to write a letter to believers about eternal life. He's going to tell us something that we can know, but unfortunately, many believers don't know that they know this. So come and listen to what John writes, that we believers can have in Jesus.

Sermon Notes

1 John 5:13 Knowing you have eternal life

Matthew 7:21 – 23 He never knew them

Romans 8:16 & 17 The Spirit bears witness with our spirit

Psalm 51:10 – 13 Restore the joy of salvation

You've probably heard it said, or maybe you've even said it yourself, "Don't judge me." Someone says that usually because they're pretty sure that the outcome of that judgment is negative, that for some reason that they didn't act or say the right things and don't want to hear that condemnation. The Scripture is going to talk about two different types of people, those who are judged and those who aren't. Let me listen to how to be on one group or the other. Is one in which I try to take scriptures that are bite-sized, something that you can easily memorize, so that when you are dealing with life, that these scriptures will come to memory and you will defeat the liar.

Sermon Notes

Romans 8:1 Now those in Jesus are not condemned

John 3:14 – 18 Those who do not believe in Jesus are condemned already, it is not the rejection of Jesus

Some of those popular books and bookshops are self-help books. People are always trying to improve their lives, whether it's to become rich, to influence friends, become, make friends. There's always people seeming to want to better their lives. However, they rarely talk about and look at how to live and be righteous. There is a book that talks about that and how to live that way and I'll become that way. Let's see what a righteous person lives.

Sermon Notes

Romans 1:17 Quoting Habakkuk 2:4

Genesis 15:1 – 5 God’s promise to Abram

Genesis 15:6 Abram’s response and God’s response to Abram’s response

Hebrews 11:1 & 2 Approval by God is faith

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please God

There are a couple of common expressions about circumstances. One is keeping up with the Joneses. There's a sense of our circumstances being at least the same as someone else. The other common expression is, "I complained that I had no shoes until I saw a person with no feet." That's an attempt to say that we feel bitter about ourselves because our circumstances isn't as bad as others. Jesus is going to tell Peter about his destiny.

Sermon Notes

Romans 1:17 Quoting Habakkuk 2:4

Genesis 15:1 – 5 God’s promise to Abram

Genesis 15:6 Abram’s response and God’s response to Abram’s response

Hebrews 11:1 & 2 Approval by God is faith

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please God

Jesus is going to ask Peter the same question three times. We're going to see that there's a lot of discussion about why Jesus did that, but very little discussion on why it was important for you and me. So let us see what Jesus asked Peter and the question we should ask ourselves.

John 21:15 Jesus asks Peter do you love Me and Peter answers Yes. Jesus tells him to “Tend MY lambs”

John 21:16 Jesus asks Peter a second time “Do you love Me”. Peter again responds Yes. Jesus tells him to “Shepherd My sheep”

John 21:17 Jesus aks Peter a third time, Peter is grieved and responds the same and Jesus tells him to “Tend My sheep”

1 John 3:13 - 18 Love is not words it is deeds

1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us

The Gospel of John records four different occasions when Jesus appears as the resurrected one. Three times he appears with his disciples. This time it's substantially different from the other times that John records. Come see what the difference is when the disciples have breakfast with the risen one.

Sermon Notes

John 21:1 Jesus appears to His disciples again

John 21:2 & 3 Peter with 6 other disciples agree to go fishing, but catch nothing

John 21:4 & 5 Jesus on the beach asked knowing they had caught nothing said to them “.. you do not have any fish do you?” and they answer no

John 21:6 Jesus tells them to cast their net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch. They did so and caught so many they could not bring the net into the boat

John 21:7 John recognized Jesus, told Peter and Peter put his outer garment back on and jumped into the sea

John 21:8 The rest of the disciples brought the boat and the fish back to land

John 21:9 Jesus already had a charcoal fire with fish

and bread and ask them to bring some of

the fish they had caught

John 21:11 Peter went to help draw up the net and there were 153 fish, but the net had not torn

John 21:12 Jesus feeds them breakfast. This is the third time Jesus had appeared to them

There is a common expression, "seeing is believing," but when Thomas was told by his fellow disciples that they had seen the Lord, he refused to believe but said, "Not only must I see, but I must touch the wounds that he had." Jesus will later tell Thomas that there are certain benefits by believing but not seeing. Let's see what Jesus talks about in this situation.

John 20:19 & 20 Jesus appears in the room where the disciples are even though the doors were shut, shows His wounds and they rejoice

John 20:21 Jesus tells them as the Father sent Him, He is sending them

John 20:22 Ahe breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit

John 20:23 Forgiving and retaining sins

John 20:24 & 25 Thomas was not with the other disciples and even though they tell him they have seen the Lord, he refuses to believe unless he sees the wounded hands and put his finger in Jesus’ side

John 20:26 & 27 8 days later Jesus gives Thomas the opportunity to do as Thomas demanded

John 20:28 Thomas responds “My Lord and my God”

John 20:29 Jesus tells him “Blessed are those who believe but have not seen”

Scriptures tell us that he rises from the dead and there are other scriptures so we have reasons. So no I was not there to see the empty tomb myself and I have yet to see it but I believe those who have seen it and I believe those who have written of it and I believe that the word of God has demonstrated he has risen from the dead and that his spirit testifies to my spirit that he is God and they raised him from the dead. When I take all of those combined I can firmly say I walk by faith not by sight but I walk by faith with reason not with just superstition. So if he rose from the dead and he did what does that mean for you and me?

Sermon Notes

John 20:1 & 2 Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark, saw the stone rolled away and assumed someone took Jesus’ body

John 20:3 – 8 Peter and John run to the tomb after being told that Jesus’ body was missing, entered into the tomb, did not find the body, but found the linen wrappings

John 20:9 They didn’t understand the Scriptures about Jesus rising from the dead

John 20:10 Peter and John went home

John 20:11 – 14 Mary while weeping looked into the tomb and saw two angels, who ask her why she is weeping

John 20:15 Jesus asks her why she is weeping and she turns around, thinking that Jesus is the gardener asks where the body was taken

John 20:16 When Jesus says her name she recognizes Him

John 20:17 Jesus tells her to stop clinging to Him and tells her and go to His brethren and tell them that “I ascend to the Father”

John 20:18 Mary does as instructed

1 Corinthians 15:3 - 8 Jesus’ resurrection according to the Scriptures

Why do Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah? Many people who aren't followers think, "Well, it's just blind faith." We disagree. Our faith is based on the scriptures and historic events. In a couple weeks, we'll be talking about the major event that happened that causes most people to say that's why they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. However, the scriptures told us ahead of time when Jesus would appear. They told us how we would teach and how we would be rejected by His people. It also foretold that He would be crucified in the manner of that death. It also talked about His burial. Most times people don't look at that. But the scriptures foretold the way that Jesus' body would be handled and the condition of that body and how He would be buried. They were done according to the scriptures. So we have faith based upon events that happened according to the scriptures. See how His condition of the body and His burial comported with the scriptures.

Sermon Notes

John 19:31 & 32 The Jews want the crucifixion over to avoid being on Passover

John 19:33 & 34 Since Jesus was already dead His bones were not broken, but the soldier pierced Jesus’ side and blood and water poured out

John 19:35 John witnessed these things, they are true so that we might believe

John 19:36 & 37 No bones broken and Jesus was pierced in the side, which confirmed the Scriptures

John 19:38 – 40 Joseph and Nicodemus take Jesus’ body and care for it

John 19:41 & 42 They lay Jesus’s body in an unused tomb confirming the Scriptures

Isaiah 53:9 Messiah’s grave predicted