Sunday, May 3, 2009

Sermon title: Have you Anything Here to Eat?
Preacher: Rev. Dennie Carcelli
Scriptures: Acts 3:9-20; Luke 24:36-49

Luke 24
How would you react if Publishers Clearing House came to your door with a check for $10,000? This is how the friends of Jesus may have felt when they saw Jesus after His resurrection. They were fearful, but wanted to touch Him. They had joy, but were disbelieving. Then He asks, "Do you have anything to eat?"

They still had questions, so Jesus walks them through the scriptures, and "then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures". Then Jesus says "You are witnesses of these things" and that they should share God with others, and receive forgiveness and be restored to right-standing to the Father.

Today, God wants to transform your life, through the experience of Jesus Christ. The realization of the resurrection of Jesus is not an end in itself. The resurrection brings to fruition God's plan for the world.

Acts 3
A beggar was healed by the prayers of John and Peter. Peter said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." The disciples testified of the resurrection but didn't explain it. Peter said, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out."

Don't believe the resurrection with your head; experience Jesus in your life. Jesus is present in your community and global service, at work, at home, at the communion table. God wants to transform your life. Live in deeper understanding of the resurrection. Simply say, "Yes" to God. Listen and watch and respond to God.


Questions for discussion
1. What do we do when all the things we have thought and said and believed about God are contradicted by the things we actually experience in life? Could the disciples still be able to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah?

2. How do we live thinking of Jesus as a present reality instead of a historical figure?