New Arbor Sunday Messages

Colossians 3

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 

3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 

4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 

6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 

7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 

8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 

9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 

10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 

11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Luke 24:1-27

1 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. 

2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 

3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 

4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

5 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? 

6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 

7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 

8 Then they remembered his words.

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 

10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 

11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

12 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.

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 

14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 

15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 

16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 

18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.

20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 

21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 

22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 

23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 

24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

John 12:18-33 (A Good Friday Message)

18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 

21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 

22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 

25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 

26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 

28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 

29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 

31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 

33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Joshua 1

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 

3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 

4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 

5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 

6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 

8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 

11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 

13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this land.’ 

14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them 

15 until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 

17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 

18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

Ephesians 1:1-10

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 

5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 

8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 

9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 

10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Luke 13:1-9

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 

2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 

3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 

4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 

5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 

7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 

9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Romans 6:1-10

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 

2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 

3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 

4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 

6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 

7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 

9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 

10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 

10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 

11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 

13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”