Acts 4:20 WE cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.

In the book of Acts, we hear about the miracles and amazing preaching of Peter, James, and John. And others. In this episode, they were called before the authorities and told to stop--stop talking about Jesus and all that he had done for them. They couldn’t stop. The words and actions of the Lord has so filled them that there was no turning back. Is there any turning back for us? Pray for those believers in places where the authorities pose a threat to their witness.

John 21:4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciple did not know that it was Jesus.

They came to know that it was him pretty quickly! The disciples were out fishing, maybe in a time of discouragement or lack of understanding. The risen Lord sorted them out there on the shore, as they shared breakfast over a charcoal fire. Back they went, to their life’s work and ministry of fishing for people

Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

This is a very ancient hymn of praise and of procession. From the days of King David—around 1,000 B.C.—to now, it has been ringing forth set to every kind of music possible. My personal favorite is Amy Grant’s very contemporary setting. Singing these words ties us together with century’s worth of worshipers. We all sing praise of the one true God, our majestic sovereign.

Luke 24:30 When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

This bread-braking was at the end of a long walk, in which the risen Lord had been speaking with two disciples along the way, but they hadn’t known it was him. The two had listened carefully to all “the stranger” had told them. Then when he broke the bread, they realized who it was. Their eyes were opened to recognize the Lord. Can we see him in the breaking of the bread?

Acts 2:41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Well, here’s a challenge to all preachers everywhere! Before we think it can’t happen in our own day, remember the crusades of Billy Graham into Russia, and an entire stadium full of people coming down to dedicate their lives to Christ at the end of the evening. May we support those few who have that kind of preaching gift, and may all preachers everywhere strive to take their responsibilities seriously!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118 was well known to the Lord Jesus and his disciples—they quote it often in their preaching and writing. Even in our own day, I wonder how many preschool children sing loudly: “This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made…” We would do well to remember at the beginning of every single day who it is who made that day and has graciously allowed us to see it and take part in it!

John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

!” On that first holy and joyous and truly unbelievable Easter morning, the first witness to the Lord’s resurrection didn’t have to give a lot of details or theological background for what she had seen. She didn’t even need to understand it herself. She had seen the Lord Jesus alive, and her eyewitness testimony would rock the world. It’s still rocking!

1Peter 4:6 For this is the reason the Gospel was proclaimed even to the dead.

In the ancient words of Christian creeds, we remember that on this day—Holy Saturday—Jesus descended to the dead and preached to them. The body of Jesus lay resting in the grave, but there was still work to do! Thanks go to the Apostle Peter, who gives us this Word and this understanding in his first letter to all the Christians.

John 19:30 Jesus said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Even in this awesome and terrible moment Jesus was in charge of his own destiny—his spirit was not taken from him, he willingly gave it up. He somehow knew that his hour had finally come, the work on earth was done, it was finished. Those who stood with him in this hour were drawn to him in whole new way, as he was lifted up. He had told them what would happen. He had told them about his gift to them—eternal life.

Exodus 12:14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you ...

... shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Maybe “perpetual” is a pretty far-reaching term for any human event, but even now in 2011 the Jews are remembering and celebrating the day of the Passover as a festival to the Lord. We remember that the Lord Jesus celebrated this Holy event with his disciples on the night before he died for us. It was the Passover of the Lord, and it would be the beginning of his own Passover from death into life. And our own.

Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

Consider Jesus, in other words. If it seems that you might be about to grow weary or lose heart, consider Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on him, and on what he endured for your sake, and you will find your burdens lifted.

John 12:21 “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Some Greeks were in Jerusalem at the time of the big Passover festival. The scripture doesn’t tell us what they had heard about Jesus, only that they wanted to see him for themselves. They were in for a surprise: They learned that day about dying in order to yield a harvest for the kingdom of God. Maybe not what they were expecting?

Isaiah 42:1 Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.

On this Monday in Holy Week we remember the images of the servant in Isaiah—one who will suffer for us in extraordinary ways: silently, without doing injury or harm to anyone. As we walk the long pathway of Jesus in the final days of his life, I have to wonder: As he grew up reading and hearing those passages in Isaiah read in the synagogue, did he know?

Philippians 2:5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

In these very famous verses, Paul goes on to talk about what kind of mind it is that Jesus and us should share in common. He was in the form of God and lowered himself to be a servant, a slave, even a slave in the grave. God highly exalted him, but first he emptied himself entirely. Can this mind be in us?

Jeremiah 31:33 I will be their God and they shall be my people.

The prophet is talking about a whole new arrangement, a whole new covenant between God and the people. Instead of the old covenant, where leaders and teachers had a lot of control over the people, Jeremiah envisions a way of life where all the people know God and love him, from the greatest to the least. His name is written on their heart, and they are his. We see here a very early glimpse of the life and ministry of Jesus.

Romans 11:13 Inasmuch as I am an apostle to the gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous—and thus save some of them.

Paul was a Jew himself, and always trying to figure out ways to bring his own Jewish brothers and sisters to Christ. This was just one of his many attempts: show them the wonders of GENTILES who had come to believe. What would make US jealous enough to get us serving and believing?

John 10:30 Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.”

The Lord Jesus has just finished a long teaching about the good shepherd—himself, and the sheep gate which is also himself. He will live out the will of his father in many ways, not the least as the shepherd of all the whole flock of the living God. Then he wants us to be sure about one thing: he and the father are one. There is no cross purpose or confusion in the meeting of their wills: they share one will.

Romans 10:14 And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?

It is the job of every believer to be proclaiming him—proclaiming Jesus. Whether we use words or actions or prayers, we have been sent to make that proclamation. How else will a non-believer come to know him?

Psalm 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Some things really do make us glad, some make us sad. Some things are difficult, some easy, some fun, some a lot of work. I love to hear the Psalmist (and anybody else) jump up and yell: “Yeah!!! Time to go to God’s house…”

John 9:11 The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.

This guy had to explain over and over how his blindness had been healed because nobody believed him the first time. With each telling, he got more confident and came to understand Jesus more clearly. As the day ends, he says: “I believe.” And he worships Jesus. His eyes were really open.

Mark 8:34 Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and ...

... take up their cross, and follow me.”

What is your cross to take up? Jesus knew that an actual wooden cross was his destiny, and he knows that some kind of loss/giving over/suffering is ours. I think we should be careful when we call something like car trouble or a cranky kid “our cross.” But we do have one. Pick it up, and follow.

Psalm 108:5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; and let your glory be over all the earth.

All the whole created world exalts God in one way or the other. The skies, the seas, the birds, the people--we did not make ourselves, not at all. Our breath and light and warmth and waves exalt him, over all the earth.

Romans 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Well, it turns out that none of these can separate us from Christ. The Apostle Paul had experienced them all in his ministry, by the end. They made things harder, Yes. But did they separate him in any way from Christ? NO.

Jeremiah 22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is this not to know me? Says the Lord.

Jeremiah was talking here to a guy named Jehoiakim. He was a king, like his Dad, Josiah. His Dad was famous for worshiping the one true God and caring for the poor. Not so the son. God calls to Jehoiakim: Please know me like your father knew me.

Romans 8:11 He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his spirit that dwells in you.

You are the actual dwelling place of Christ’s powerful spirit of life. So am I. Wow. We still have a mortal body, thank God, but we are enlivened, enriched, empowered in that body to do amazing things in God’s name.

John 6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake, and they were terrified.

Why did Jesus walk on the water, I wonder/ That walking is one of the few miracles that shows up in all four Gospel accounts, exactly the same. It didn’t heal or revive or feed anyone, but it definitely got their attention. Maybe that was the reason/

Jeremiah 16:20 Can mortals make for themselves gods? Such are no gods!

Worshiping hand-made statues was a big issue for the prophet Jeremiah and his people. “Don’t Do It!” he says, a million different ways. What are the man made idols in our own homes that would get the prophet’s attention? Whatever they are, they certainly are not gods!

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore ,and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Paul was concerned for the Galatians: that somehow they had come to prefer the old legal requirements over the new life in Christ. It may be that hundreds of picky, small laws are actually easier than the one law of LOVE. “NO,” says Paul. Those many laws are chains holding you down.

Psalm 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.

WE do love to sing the praises of Zion, the city chosen by God himself out of all the cities in the world. He is in the midst of her forever. WE pray today for the peace of the earthly Zion, Jerusalem. May all who love her rest safely within her boundaries.

John 8:36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

The Son, Jesus of Nazareth, offers freedom to all those who believe in him. It is the freedom of joy, power, and peace. Some believers have been held captive or prisoner for many years, but knew themselves to be free the whole time.