The Great Shepherd

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Introduction - The Great Shepherd

Happy Resurrection Day
Last Sunday we celebrated the Triumphant Return - the people welcomed a Earthly Savior for there woes - believing that He is a earthly King
Monday- Holy Monday - Jesus removes the thieves with a whip from the Temple
Jesus confronts the religious leaders and their mockery of God’s Word
Tuesday - Jesus curses the fig tree - the Jewish faith was a dead faith, and up close their faith appeared to be healthy but the heart the inside was diseased.
Wednesday — Mary pours the expensive perfume over Jesus’s feet and Judas protests to the waste — the self righteous attitude
Thursday — Jesus has the Last Supper — The new covenant presented
Friday —Jesus is condemned by Pilate and the Jewish Elite. Jesus is tortured, mocked with a purple robe and a crown of thorns Jesus hangs on that Cross
Jesus ask for His Father to Forgive those who did this to Him.
Jesus forgives the thieve on the cross and promises to see Him in Paradise.
Isaiah 53:5 ESV
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Good Friday - Jesus cries out Tellesti ---IT IS FINISHED. PRICE PAID
We celebrate the work of Jesus
BUT THE JOY is in the next days
Saturday - we don’t know much - Jesus’s body was in the tomb - but He was at rest --- it is finished, completed
Maybe it was simply that the work was done it was the sabbath and Jesus chose to obey God --- as in the beginning
Jesus saw that it was good and rested
Genesis 2:1–3 (ESV)
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Jesus is in the tomb, the work and the price paid ---
it is finished
Law is FULFILLED, Sin ATONED for, Death is Defeated.
Saturday was a day of mourning BUT for those who Believed
it is a DAY OF HOPE
TO SEE THE PROMISE LITERALLY COME TO LIFE
Friday the world saw Jesus defeated, Saturday they likely thought it was settled.
and it was SETTLED ---
SO Today we celebrate the RESURRECTION
We celebrate that Jesus DIED for you and DIED for ME.
our culture may think we celebrate ‘death’
yet we as Christians don’t view it this way.
Jesus is Living and active
We celebrate as MARY DID
we can run to our loved ones and CRY OUT
I HAVE SEEN HIM, and HE LIVES
____________________________
Last week we learned about our need to Shepherd the flock
and today
this Easter Sunday
we celebrate the GREAT SHEPHERD.
Good Shepherds learn from the GREAT SHEPHERD
so lets talk about Easter

Easter

The word “Easter” does not appear in the Bible and an Easter celebration is not mentioned, though in Acts 12:4 KJV it is used in place of “Passover.”
As the Lord passed the ANGEL of Death over the Houses of Israel because of the Blood covering their home
The Lord will pass Death over you because of the Shed Blood for Christ.
Easter is our Special Day to say THANK YOU JESUS
I spent a morning, just perusing the internet for EASTER
IT is a WISE reminder today to understand
that it is the Intent of Our Heart that matters.
We are here to celebrate the GLORY of God == Through the VICTORY of Jesus’s Resurrection ---
Here are some of the Results:
originated as an ancient pagan celebration of the spring equinox
This is exactly why the date varies and changes
Eggs represent new life and rebirth, and it's thought that this ancient custom became a part of Easter celebrations.
In the medieval period, eating eggs was forbidden during Lent (the 40 days before Easter) so on Easter Sunday, tucking into an egg was a real treat
Easter is a later development of church tradition. Though we believe that the early Church celebrated the Resurrection The devotional i read during Easter week, would say for the last 1600 years
It was established as a way to honor the Lord
Early Church remembered the Resurrection but do to persecution it would have been nearly impossible to celebrate it as a large group of believers
Council of Nicea - it was discussed
to not be on same day as passover
to fall on the first Sunday following the spring equinox
the day that dark and light are balanced --- kinda cool when you think that evil and good are dark and light
This year the Jewish Passover started Apr 5 and will run through April 12 or apr 13 depending on tradition.
every year i see many articles that express the Reason that we shouldn’t celebrate Easter
I always respond I DON’T celebrate EASTER, i celebrate the RESURRECTION of Jesus.
Honestly, i believe that Communion
is a time to remember the same thing
we put so much emphasis on Easter
YET the Resurrection is the KEY every day for a Christian.
Easter Sunday is a time to gather together to
FOCUS on the RESURRECTION
and as often as we take communion we remember the BODY and the BLOOD
The Jewish people - completed or not - believers or not --
are our brothers and sisters
The Jews did not “kill” Jesus,
The Romans did not “kill” Jesus
the Sin in our Hearts since the Fall of Man killed Jesus
Our Father, who art in heaven, So loved the world that He sent His Son to pay the price and settle the score.
A price we couldn’t pay, and cannot pay on our Own today.
_________________
May we focus on our commonality rather than our differences
May be joined with Jesus, with God, through the Holy Spirit today
and i would like to read you the traditional Jewish prayer of passover

Great Shepherd

Jewish tradition prayer the Kiddish:
May the great Name of God be exalted and sanctified, throughout the world, which he has created according to his will.
May his Kingship be established in your lifetime and in your days, and in the lifetime of the entire household of Israel, swiftly and in the near future;
and say, Amen.
May his great name be blessed, forever and ever.
Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, honored, elevated and lauded be the Name of the holy one, Blessed is he – above and beyond any blessings and hymns,
Praises and consolations which are uttered in the world; and say Amen.
May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and life, upon us and upon all Israel; and say, Amen.
He who makes peace in his high holy places, may he bring peace upon us, and upon all Israel; and say Amen.
Mark 16:2–6 (ESV)
2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
Most of us know the story of Jesus
God so loved the world that He sent His Only Son to earth
to become man
to live a sinless life, tempted yes, but never sinned
Jesus walked, breathed, eat, slept
Jesus interacted with others as a man
Jesus was accepted by many
Jesus had a close group of brothers and sisters - Friends
Jesus knows the trials of life with others
THEN Jesus was rejected, ridiculed and reviled
Jesus was Tortured, mocked and hung on a cross to die
You see the timing of Jesus on the cross was interesting
Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebrations, and it was forbidden in the law to have the bodies up during the special sabbath
(this is why the thieves had their legs broken to insure they’d die before sundown- oddly, Jesus died incredibly quickly for a crucifixion).
Two, Joseph of Arimathea personally asked Pilate for Jesus’ body- Joseph was a wealthy and influential man, so he had the clout to ask such a favor.
Pilate was more than happy to oblige- people often forget that he was reluctant to crucify Jesus in the first place.
He had no issue with giving Joseph the body, and if anything, he wanted a quick resolution to it all.

Resurrection

We are here today to celebrate not HIS death
This is NOT memorial Sunday
BUT RESURRECTION SUNDAY
OUR GREAT SHEPHERD LIVES!!!
Isaiah 53:6 ESV
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
1 Peter 2:25 ESV
25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Our Great Shepherd cares for HIS Flock

Promises of the Shepherd

The living Saviour has a three-fold message:
(1) He died,
(2) He arose,
(3) He ascended into heaven.
He overcame death!
Because He overcame death,
He gives to us life
Notice what the LIVING SAVIOR offers us
We celebrate and Glorify Him by focusing on Three Things
Enjoyable Life
Exciting life
Eternal Life

Enjoyable Life

We have through the Great Shepherd
Peace of mind
Philippians 4:7 ESV
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Peace in our heart
Isaiah 26:3 ESV
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Peace in life
John 14:27 ESV
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Peace because of Trust
Matthew 6:25 ESV
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Matthew 6:32 ESV
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Matthew 6:33 ESV
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Exciting Life

Joy in the Lord
Psalm 16:11 ESV
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Forgiveness
1 John 1:7 ESV
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:9 ESV
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Assurance
John 6:37 ESV
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Eternal Life

Promise of life
John 3:16 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Plan of life
John 5:24 ESV
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Power of life
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Christ is alive!
He arose and is alive forevermore.
He wants to give you and me this life.
Its very simple,
just accept His as Saviour,
then we are born into the family of God,
and have this life
If you don’t know Jesus today as your Lord and Saviour please let us know we would love to connect you with our LORD
the bringer of Peace, The conquer of death, the Judge of All
Let us celebrate Communion with our Savior
Amen ( so be it)
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