PSALM 40:1-5, 9-17 (NLT)
(1) I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. (2) He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. (3) He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. (4) Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols. (5) O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them…9I have told all your people about your justice. I have not been afraid to speak out, as you, O Lord, well know. (10) I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness. (11) Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me. (12) For troubles surround me— too many to count! My sins pile up so high I can’t see my way out. They outnumber the hairs on my head. I have lost all courage. (13) Please, Lord, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me. (14) May those who try to destroy me be humiliated and put to shame. May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace. (15) Let them be horrified by their shame, for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!” (16) But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!” (17) As for me, since I am poor and needy, let the Lord keep me in his thoughts. You are my helper and my savior. O my God, do not delay.
GOD IS GOOD AND HE HELPS ME
I HAVE TOLD OF GOD’S GOODNESS
GOD IS GOOD AND I STILL NEED HELP
LUKE 24:44-49 (NLT)
(44) Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (45) Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. (46) And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. (47) It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ (48) You are witnesses of all these things. (49) “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
ACTS 1:1-3,8 (NLT)
(1) In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach (2) until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. (3) During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God…(8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
BE A WITNESS
WITNESS TO WHAT YOU’VE WITNESSED
WITNESS WITH HIS POWER
WITNESS EVERYWHERE
Trusting in the resurrection of Christ gives you hope for the future & purpose for today.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-9 (NLT)
(1) Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. (2) It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. (3) I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. (4) He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. (5) He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. (6) After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. (7) Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. (8) Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. (9) For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.
TRUST THE RESURRECTION
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
PURPOSE FOR TODAY
LUKE 23:34 (NLT)
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
LUKE 23:43 (NLT)
And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
JOHN 19:26-27 (NLT)
(26) When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” (27) And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
MATTHEW 27:46 (NLT)
At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
JOHN 19:28 (NLT)
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”
JOHN 19:30 (NLT)
When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
LUKE 23:46 (NLT)
Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
“No tongue may tell nor heart fully think of the pains that our Savior suffered for us, considering the worth of the highest, most glorious king and the shameful, humiliating, painful death; for He who was highest and noblest was brought most low and utterly despised.”
MARY - THE MOTHER OF JESUS
JOHN - THE DISCIPLE JESUS LOVED
THE THIEF ON THE CROSS
MARK 15:16-25 (NLT)
(16) The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. (17) They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. (18) Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” (19) And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. (20) When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. (21) A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) (22) And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). (23) They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it. (24) Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. (25) It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
"Sometimes we may wish that God would send us… a full explanation! But even though we cannot know all the particular reasons for our crosses, we can look at the cross and know God is working things out." – Timothy Keller
WHEN YOUR LIFE GETS CONSCRIPTED, JESUS REWRITES YOUR SONG
1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-2 (NLT)
(1) When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. (2) For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT POINTED TO JESUS
ARE YOU LIVING LIKE AN OLD TESTAMENT BELIEVER?
1 Corinthians 2:1
When I first came to you, dear brothers & sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. (2) For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.
The Foolishness of The Cross
1 Corinthians 1:18
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God… 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
PSALM 42 (NIV)
(1) As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. (2) My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (3) My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (4) These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. (5) Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (6) My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. (7) Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. (8) By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. (9) I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” (10) My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (11) Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
