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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><b>Sermons for Good Friday and Easter</b></span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>John 18 : 1-19:42 - <strong>"Good Friday: The Three Crosses"</strong></span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>John 20:1-9 - <strong>"Why I Believe in The Resurrection"</strong></span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Mark 16:1-8 - <strong>"Be Hatched or Go Bad"</strong> by Leonard Sweet </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">John 18, the sermon entitled 'Good Friday: The Three Crosses'<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <br>
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Cross. It struck fear in the hearts of the world. It was Rome's means
of controlling the people. According to Roman custom, the penalty of
crucifixion was always preceded by scourging; after this preliminary
punishment, the condemned person had to carry the cross, or at least the
transverse beam of it, to the place of execution, exposed to the jibes
and insults of the people. On arrival at the place of execution the
cross was uplifted. Soon the sufferer, entirely naked, was bound to it
with cords. He was then, fastened with four nails to the wood of the
cross. Finally, a placard called the titulus bearing the name of the
condemned man and his sentence, was placed at the top of the cross.
Slaves were crucified outside of Rome in a place called Sessorium,
beyond the Esquiline Gate; their execution was entrusted to the carnifex
servorum (the place of the hangman). Eventually this wretched locality
became a forest of crosses, while the bodies of the victims were the
pray of vultures and other rapacious birds. It often happened that the
condemned man did not die of hunger or thirst, but lingered on the cross
for several days. To shorten his punishment therefore, and lessen his
terrible sufferings, his legs were sometimes broken. This custom,
exceptional among the Romans, was common with the Jews. In this way it
was possible to take down the corpse on the very evening of the
execution. Among the Romans, though, the corpse could not be taken down,
unless such removal had been specially authorized in the sentence of
death. The corpse might also be buried if the sentence permitted. It is
remarkable that all of this the Bible records with the simple words,
"And they crucified Him." (Mark 15:24).<br>
<br>
It is interesting that
Jesus is responsible for the abolishment of the cross as a means of
capital punishment. In the early part of the fourth century Constantine
continued to inflict the penalty of the cross on slaves guilty of, in
the old Latin, delatio domini, i.e. of denouncing their masters. But
later on he abolished this infamous punishment, in memory and in honor
of the Passion of the Christ. From then on, this punishment was very
rarely inflicted and finally the practice faded into history. But, oh,
how history has remembered.<br>
<br>
As the week of Jesus' Passion now
closes, it is well for us to reflect upon the cross. Martin Luther said,
"Man must always have a cross." Jesus said: Whoever does not bear his
own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Every one of us does
have a cross to bear, but which one? Is ours the cross on the right,
the left, or the center? Let us review for a moment this scene on
Calvary.</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">1. The Cross of Rebellion</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">2. The Cross of Repentance </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">3. The Cross of Redemption</span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">J</font></font>ohn 20 the sermon titled "Why I Believe in the Resurrection" </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">You
probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. During
his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian
Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was
editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth),
and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and
political science are still read today. There is a story told about a
journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly
on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy
artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against
it.<br>
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An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed
to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?"
Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one
man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the
communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the
right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian
Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man
and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder: "HE IS RISEN
INDEED!"<br>
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I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN!
(congregational response should be: HE IS RISEN INDEED!). I am
convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I
believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will
come again in glory.<br>
<br>
This is Easter. And to stand here on this
day in this pulpit and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell
you how this defines all that I am.<br>
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But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">1. Because someone told me about the Resurrection</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">2. Because the Resurrection as stood the test of time</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">3. Because I have experienced the Resurrection</span></div>
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<span style="COLOR: black">Mark 16<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">,</font></font> the sermon titled "Be Hatched or Go Bad" by Leonard Sweet </span>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Christ is Risen!</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">[The people respond:] He is risen indeed!</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Happy Easter, everyone! </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span> </span>"Because I live," Jesus said in John 14:19, "you also will live."</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I
wonder: how many of you are sitting out there, festooned in your Easter
Sunday best, but your fingers are slightly stained? How many of you
colored Easter eggs this weekend? I do think I can see some pinks,
blues, greens, and purples shining on your fingers from all the Easter
eggs you colored, hid, found, cracked, or consumed.</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Take
comfort in this: you are not alone. Just over one billion real eggs are
dipped and dyed every Easter in America. The Dudley egg dye company
sells over 10 million egg dying kits every year. No wonder we are such a
colorful bunch!</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Yet
eggs sometimes get a bad rap at Easter. Eggs are such a widely used
symbolic food. Everyone from dancing druids and pagan fertility gods to -
worst of all - bored kids on Halloween, have all claimed eggs as some
sort of special specimen for themselves. </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The
Christian use of eggs at Easter probably has roots in a host of
different cultures and traditions. But there are two connections that
make the "Easter egg" a powerful symbol for this miraculous morning.
Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem brought him there to celebrate Pesach,
Passover, in that holy city. The Last Supper was a Passover Seder. One
of the ritual foods arranged on everyone's Passover plate was a
hard-boiled egg, the "beitzah." </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
egg symbolized the "chagigah," a ritual sacrifice made in the Temple.
After the Temple was destroyed this egg also became a "mourner's"
reminder. The Temple sacrifice could no longer be made, because the
Temple no longer existed. In Orthodox Judaism hard boiled eggs are still
offered to mourners as their first food after a funeral.</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">For
Christians on Easter Sunday - as Mark and all the gospels tell us -
funeral rites were transformed. The women who came to the tomb early
Sunday morning were focused on mourning...</span></div>
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