BEYOND RESILIENT

“Encounters With the Risen Jesus”
Pastor Dan Levy – March 31, 2024

The risen Jesus shows us that He has SUPERNATURAL PEACE for our LIVES.

John 20:19-22 (NLT) – That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 1:2 (NIV) – Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:6-7 (BSB) – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The risen Jesus REVEALS Himself in the midst of QUESTIONS and DOUBTS.

John 20:24-29  (NIV) – “Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

“These three great facts–the resurrection appearances, the empty tomb, and the origin of the Christian faith–all point unavoidably to one conclusion: The resurrection of Jesus….As a historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.”
                           – N.T. Wright (Oxford Professor and Historian)

The risen Jesus shows us that our FAILURES don’t have the final word. GRACE does!

Mark 16:6-7  (NIV) – “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

John 21:19 (NLT) – …Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”

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Join us next Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

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