Welcome to a new edition of the Weekend Sermon. Thank you for reading today's sermon. I hope and pray that everyone is doing well and enjoying the day.
I want to begin by thanking those who prayed about the storms in my area. Where I live, we missed the bad weather. Unfortunately, those about 150 miles south of me had terrible weather. I know that they had at least three tornadoes. Please pray that those who were harmed by these storms will be able to recover. I am glad we didn't get the storms, I just wish no one got the severe weather. It's hard enough to make it each day without storms coming along and causing more problems.
As we go to prayer this week, please remember to pray for an end to the Zika virus. I heard a report on NPR this week that in some places, the virus is spreading widely. Let us pray that the virus will end and a vaccine can be found. Let us also pray that Ebola does not pick back up again.
Let us continue to pray that the message of forgiveness through Jesus will spread around the world. Please pray for the country in which you live and pray for Mongolia, Brunei, Indonesia and Kuwait. Let us continue to pray for peace in the world as well.
Last week, we continued with our series of messages in the Apostles' Creed. We were on the section about the resurrection of Jesus on Easter weekend which worked out just right. I didn't plan it that way, but it worked out nicely.
Today, we will continue our series in the Creed looking at the statement, "He ascended into Heaven." The resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning was a tremendous event. Jesus was alive again. What a great day! But. the resurrection of Jesus does not mark the end of Jesus' ministry here on the earth.
The Bible states in Acts 1:3 that Jesus was on the earth for forty days after His resurrection. He provided convincing proofs, the Bible says, that He was alive again. What are some of these convincing proofs? Well, Jesus appeared several times to His disciples. Initially, He appeared to ten of the disciples in a locked room. Jesus came right through the door.
At this appearance, Thomas was not with the others. Thomas said that he would not believe that Jesus was alive unless he saw Jesus' wounds of crucifixion. Jesus did appear again when Thomas was present with the others. Jesus showed Thomas His hands and side. Thomas believed and worshiped Jesus calling Jesus his Lord and his God. Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet believed."
In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes another post resurrection appearance when some of the disciples were out fishing. Jesus also appeared to the two men who were on the road to Emmaus.
In I Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul states that Jesus appeared to His disciples, to His brother James, and to over 500 other people. Paul said that some of those people were still alive in his day and could testify to the fact that Jesus was alive. The risen Lord also appeared to Paul on the Damascus road.
Eventually, it was time for Jesus to leave this earth. As recorded in Acts 1, Jesus was outside the city with His disciples. At this time, Jesus gave two instructions to His followers. He told them to stay in Jerusalem for a few days until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. This would happen on Pentecost. Jesus also gave the Great Commission to His followers. He told them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
At that point, Jesus began to rise up into the clouds into He was completely out of sight. Jesus' followers were quite surprised and were just standing around looking up. Then angels came and said to the disciples, "Men of Galilee, Why stand ye gazing into Heaven?" The angels told the disciples that just as Jesus had ascended up into Heaven, Jesus would one day return to earth in His glorious Second Coming.
The ascension is an important Christian doctrine for two reasons at least. First of all, it demonstrates that Jesus truly was risen and had completed the work that was set before Him by the Father. By ascending into Heaven, it was a sign that God the Father had accepted the work of Jesus on earth and was welcoming Him back into Heaven.
The ascension is also important, because it sets the stage for the continuing work of Christ on our behalf in Heaven. When we look at the next section of the Creed next week, we will study much more about this.
I just want to focus on the two commandments that Jesus gave before He ascended up to Heaven. First of all, we have the Great Commission. All followers of Jesus Christ have been given the task of spreading His message of love and forgiveness to this world. We are to take the message of Jesus all across the globe.
I realize that not all of us can be missionaries to a country that is not our own. However, each and every one of us can be a witness right where God has placed us. We can tell people about Jesus at our place of employment and in our neighborhoods. We can share the message of Christ with our family and with our friends. We can also give to missions so that those who have been called by Jesus can take His message to those who have not heard. We can also pray as I call you to do each week in the messages for those nations where there aren't that many Christians.
Only 30 percent of the world's population claims to be any form of Christian. This means that 70 percent of this world is the mission field. Let us all work to bring others to Christ.
We can only be effective witnesses for Jesus when we have received the power of the Holy Spirit. Always pray for the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit when you seek to minister for the Lord. When we pray for the the power of the Spirit, the Spirit will give us the wisdom and the strength to serve the Lord. Pray each day that the Holy Spirit will empower you for service for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Next week, we will continue with our series in the Apostles' Creed. The verses will be posted on Tuesday this week as I will not be able to post them on Monday. There will be a review on Wednesday and the sermon will appear on Friday. May God bless you all . Amen.
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