Bible Verse for Sunday Service April 13, 2025
Mark 11:9
And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Announcements:
Easter Breakfast, Sunday, 9 AM. Celebrate the resurrection with us on Easter Sunday and join us for breakfast at 9 AM. We will have a short time of worship along with the breakfast. Be sure to sign up to let us know if you are coming, and if you can help with the food items.
Easter Booklets on the foyer table. Our Daily Bread Ministries has sent us a number of copies of “The Hope of Easter. This is a booklet of 10 daily devotionals that lead up to the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. Feel free to take one for yourself or to hand out to someone else.
Program for Mother’s Day Sunday. Brianne Hofer is planning on having a short program with the children on Mother’s Day. She wants to have the children meet with her during the morning services leading up to Mother’s Day.
Vacation Bible school, June 16 through the 20th, 9 AM to 11:45 AM. For the VBS theme this year we have chosen Wonder Junction. This will feature old West decorations, and a focus on the person in Jesus Christ. The children will learn who Jesus is and what he has done for us. We look forward to an exciting week, and ask you for your prayers as we prepare. We will also ask that you consider helping in the simple ad ministry. Please let Natasha know if you can give any time that week.
Sermon:
Today, Pastor Jim closed out his series on Titus, and preparing for a new pastor by switching to preparing us for Easter with a sermon on John 13:18-32 titled “A Revelation in the Upper Room.” He chose to frame this in terms of a glimpse into the future. Most of us don’t want to know the future if it involves hardship because we would live in fear. But, Jesus with a perfect knowledge of everything chose some of the future with His disciples to help them prepare. Pastor Jim covered this in three points.
To begin, Pastor share the idea that the glimpse was a prophecy about treachery. Jesus had followers, but not all would follow. He chose to use the Biblical verse from the Psalms to frame the betrayal. Now, that might scare the disciples, but it is clear the way Jesus talked about this prediction that His intent was to strengthen them, so the wouldn’t be surprised that the treachery comes from within.
Additionally, in that upper room, Pastor discussed the people present who were troubled. He framed this in terms of sin. Jesus was clearly troubled at the presence of sin that room, the betrayal by a trusted associate. But, commendably the disciples were troubled too. But, they were more troubled, not knowing who would betray Jesus, if it could be them. In other words each disciple worried he was the sinner. Judas also appears to have been worried about the absence of trouble generally. How was Jesus going to become the leader when nothing was happening.
For his last point, Pastor saw in that upper room a proclamation of triumph. Jesus with His knowledge could see the future and his success in His sacrifice on the cross. Others could benefit by believing and accepting. So Jesus looked ahead in anticipation. His coming success perhaps helped Him with the coming trial. We in considering these events in that room can look back to that time with acceptance. By making this sacrifice we are saved. So this Easter, and every day, we can reflect on what we have in Christ.
In conclusion, and preparation for Easter, Pastor encouraged us to consider that we don’t know tomorrow, but we know that long term we have security in Him. That should encourage us and strengthen us too.
Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:
Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:
If you would like to have the sermon outline, you can download it here, a pdf file.
If you would like a link to this service you can find it here. Perhaps you would like to share it with your friends. You could also share that link on social media, if you use any of the providers. We use Rumble, a safe alternative to Google’s YouTube.