A New Easter Sermon

A New Easter Sermon is part of our Christian Sermon Series and our Easter Holiday Guide.

A New Easter Sermon

After Jesus died and was buried in the tomb, the chief priests and Pharisees met with Pilate and said to him, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’

Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, so that His disciples do not come at night, steal His body and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

So Pilate gave them permission to make the tomb secure and they did so by sealing the stone and setting a guard outside it. (Matthew 27:62-65)  

HOWEVER,

When His resurrection day came, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord had descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. As a result, the guards shook with fear and became like dead men.  (Matthew 28:2-4)

This shows us that when the time that God has set for your breakthrough comes, you will break through your problems because when the time came for Jesus to leave the tomb, He left it despite it being sealed and guarded.

Therefore, it does not matter if the people trying to seal your horrible fate in stone are as powerful as the Pharisees or as religious as the chief priests or as armed as the guards. 

What matters is knowing that when your God-set time for a breakthrough comes, no one and nothing can hinder the purposes of God because it is He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. (Revelations 3:7)

These events also show us that God will help you if you cannot help yourself and no other human being can help you. This is because the dead body of Jesus could not physically roll away the huge stone which had been sealed from the outside of the cave’s mouth. 

Most of Jesus' friends were too scared to venture near the tomb and those who ventured like Mary Magdalene, were physically too weak to roll the stone away and overpower the guards.

However, this did not stop Jesus from leaving the tombstone when His God-set time to leave arrived because God helped him by sending an Angel who rolled the stone and sat on it.

Therefore, know without a shadow of doubt that when the time that God has determined for your deliverance arrives, it does not matter if you and all your family and friends are unable to get you out of your tomb situation because God himself will get you out.

He can deliver you from your situation by causing earthquakes to destroy the obstacles hindering your progress or He can make your enemies to destroy each other. (2 Chronicles 20:23) 

God can also send His angels to roll away huge impediments or to kill 185,000 of your enemies in one night. (2 Kings 19:35)

God can even cause your Pharaoh to dream a dream like the one that got Joseph out of jail and promoted from a prisoner to a Prime Minister. 

Therefore if you are trapped in a humanly impossible situation this Easter, encourage yourself by reminding yourself of how God got Jesus out of His tomb.

To learn more read Easter Holiday Lessons from the Bible.

Your Life Is Your Ministry And Your Storm Is Your Message

Have you been asking God, “What is my ministry so that I can serve you?” or telling Him, “Please remove King Nebuchadnezzar and his anti-God rules and regulations so that I can serve you freely”?

If you have, understand that your life is really your ministry and your storm caused by Nebuchadnezzar is your message and you may have to preach it without a microphone.

Learn from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3 when King Nebuchadnezzar built the golden image and ordered everyone to worship it or be thrown into a hot furnace. They decided to remain faithful to God and said to the King, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

Therefore, when facing a fiery storm, you first have to have the firm conviction that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had that God can deliver you for The lord’s arm is not shortened that it cannot save. (Isaiah 59:1)

Then, sort out the issue with God such that you are sure in your mind what He would like you to do in that particular situation and you will not need to convince others for as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said, “O King, we have no need to answer you in this matter” (Daniel 3:16) because they knew they were ultimately only answerable to God in this and other matters.

After sorting things out with God, you now have to decide to remain faithful to Him whether it endangers you life, marriage, finances, ministry, career or business. In addition to this, you also have to leave the prerogative of taking away the storm in God’s hands. This means that you will remain faithful to Him whether or not He takes away the storm even though you know without a shadow of doubt that He can take it away.

Be certain like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who to paraphrase their words, said, “Our God can deliver us, no question about that, but even if He chooses for whatever reason not to deliver us, we are still okay with that and we will still remain faithful to Him for Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. (Job 13:15)

To have the conviction of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you have to really believe that your life is in really God’s hands. It is not in King Nebuchadnezzar’s hands even though he has the power to throw you into a fiery furnace. Therefore, if you have not yet done so, put your life in God’s hands so that you can have their level of confidence in God and then bite the bullet like they did for they were then thrown and Fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:23)

After falling while bound in the middle of the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar and his counselors continued to watch them and what they saw was the message that the ministry of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego delivered.

They saw four free and not bound men, men who were walking in the midst of the flames and lying on the floor of the furnace. This sight shocked the King for Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and said to his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered “Yes” and he said, “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:24-25)

This sight convinced King Nebuchadnezzar that the God of Israel, the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was the true God for he said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel, and delivered His servants who trusted in Him and refused to serve or worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, that any people, nation, and language who speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver like this. (Daniel 3:28-29)

Therefore, we can see that the ministry of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was actually how they lived their lives in the storm.

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Dealing with Depression Lesson 16 Biblical Therapy & Diet Therapy

Biblical Therapy for Dealing with Depression 

Eat

Eating is the 12^th principle of Christian Depression Treatment.

When Jezebel threatened to kill him, Elijah became depressed and prayed, “I have had enough, Lord, take my life”. (1 Kings 19:4) He then lay down and slept (probably hoping that God would take him in his sleep) but God sent an angel to him who came and woke him up and told him to eat. He woke up and found a coal baked cake bread which he ate and then drank some water and went back to sleep again. (1 Kings 19:4-6)

He was woken up a second time by the angel to eat and this shows us that eating carbohydrates and drinking water are important for managing depression. 

Diet Therapy for Dealing with Depression 

Eating Carbohydrates

Eating carbohydrates is an important principle of Holistic Depression Treatment from both Biblical and medical points of view.

This is because complex carbohydrates such as whole grain bread, pastry and cereals increase the levels of serotonin in the body which “soothes the mind” and imparts a feeling of calmness, relaxation and emotional well being.

This may explain why a lot of comfort foods that people reach for when they are feeling sad, lonely, stressed or depressed are carbohydrates. Perfect examples include chocolate cake, cookies, donuts and potato crisps.  

In addition, we can also see that after eating the first time, Elijah went back to sleep. Therefore, eat a whole grain sandwich before your bed time if you are having trouble falling asleep because of depression as it will result in an increase in serotonin levels which will also help you sleep better.

Action Plan

1. Identify and stock up on healthy carbohydrates you will include in your daily diet to keep your serotonin levels up. Perfect examples include whole grain breakfast cereals for breakfast, whole grain pastries for lunch and dark chocolate for dessert.

2. Identify and stock up on healthy carbohydrates you will eat to help you fall asleep such as whole grain sandwiches washed down with a glass of warm milk.

3. Click here for lesson 17

Christian Depression Stress Management

Seed Words of a Powerful Tongue

Did you know that your words are seeds that you plant into your situation?

Did you know that you can plant good seeds into your life by speaking good words?

Did you know that you can plan to reap good things in your life by planting good seed words into your life?

So what are seed words?

Seed words are words that you plant into your present life situation through your speech so that you can reap fruitful future outcomes.

How do seed words work?

Seed words work because of the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21)

What can this power of the tongue do?

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love the tongue will eat its fruit.  (Proverbs 18:21)

What does this Proverb really mean?

This Proverb means that there is power in the tongue and those who love talking with the tongue will eat the fruit that is produced by the power of their tongues. That is, they will have to live with the consequences of their words or what their words give birth to because each word you say is a powerful seed that you plant in your life.

Therefore, if you have nothing good to say, say nothing.

And, if something bad has happened in your life, don’t say anything bad and plant more bad seeds in your life.

The perfect example of this is Biblical principle from the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4.

This woman had given birth to a miracle child. We know it was a miracle child because she was described as she has no son, and her husband is old. (2 Kings 4:14) So her chances of getting a baby were very bleak because her husband was old.

But, the power of God is able to circumvent humanly impossible situations (even without Viagra) and Elisha the man of God prophesied that she would have a son with her old husband within a year (even modern day invitro fertilization specialist cannot give such guarantees).  

And she did conceive and deliver her miracle son within a year and then the unthinkable happened. He precious child complained of a headache while he was with his father in the field (2 Kings 4:19) and then he died in his mother’s arms at home on the same day. We don’t know if it was cerebral spinal meningitis or a ruptured aneurysm that killed him but the boy died.

After his death, his mother laid him in a bed and asked her husband to provide her with a donkey and a young man (a car and a driver) so that she could go and consult Elisha, the prophet who had prophesied that she would get a child. (2 Kings 4:22) 

When her husband asked her why she was going to see the prophet (chances are he was not aware that the boy had died since his mother had laid him in the prophet’s bed in their home), she replied IT IS WELL (2 Kings 4:23) 

The lesson here is that even if something bad has happened, you do not have to open your mouth and confess it if you have not yet accepted in your heart that there is no other way around the situation. 

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Dealing with Depression Lesson 15 Biblical Therapy & Social Therapy

Biblical Therapy for Dealing with Depression 

Go to Church

Going to Church is the 11^th principle of Christian Depression Treatment.

We can see that when Jezebel threatened to kill him, Elijah became depressed and prayed asking God to take his life. (1 Kings 19:4) He then lay down and slept but after eating and resting he set out on his journey to the mountain of God. (1 Kings 19:8) When he got there, God told him to stand before the Lord. (1 Kings 19:11) 

We can also see from 2 Kings 19 that when King Hezekiah received a depressing letter telling him that God would not save Jerusalem from the king of Assyria, Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. (2 Kings 19:14) This letter stated that the gods of many other nations such as Gozan, Haran, Reseph, Eden, Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivah had not been able to save them from the Assyrian king. (2 Kings 19:9-14)

Therefore, if you are struggling with depression and regardless of whether you are facing verbal threats like those of Elijah or written threats such as eviction notices or court summons, present yourself to the house of God and present your problems and petitions to Him in prayer.

Social Therapy for Dealing with Depression 

Go to Church

Going to Church is another important principle of Holistic Depression Treatment.

Studies have shown that people who practice religious faith are healthier than nonbelievers. When you go to Church you also reap other advantages such as receiving emotional support from your Church family. The preacher's sermon may also minister to your hurting heart and help you cope better with your depressing situation. You may also be encouraged by listening to testimonies from other Church members who overcame depression and depressing situations.

Therefore, find a Bible teaching Church that you feel comfortable in, attend services regularly and begin to incorporate the teachings into your life. Go to Church regularly and be sincere in your efforts to grow spiritually if you want to reap the benefits of going to Church, as just going through the motions will not help you. 

Action Plan

1. Identify a Bible teaching Church near where you live and begin attending services regularly. If you are unable to get to one, you can attend online services. Examples include http://www.web-church.com/ and http://www.alphachurch.org/

2. Read 1 chapter of the Bible everyday and  then talk to God about your depression and depressing situation. Show Him the medical reports or whatever is depressing you and ask Him to help you.  

3. Click here for Lesson 16

Christian Depression Stress Management