Sermon

The Dawn Life in the Risen Christ

Mark 16:1-8

In the risen Christ, we see the death of death and the dawn of life

1.     Living in the shadow of death

Good Friday and the Cross — Love Shining in the Darkness

(Mark 15:33-34)

A few days ago, I read an essay by a Japanese author titled The Way to the End of Life. The article says: "The way some people end their lives is like gently closing a drawer; others are like pulling an already open drawer even harder, until the whole drawer falls to the ground; and some even forget that they have opened the drawer, leaving it unclosed as they embark on a new journey." The author observed that even though many people might imagine an ideal way to die, when death actually comes, it still arrives so suddenly, catching people entirely off guard.

I think we all know that we must inevitably face death, yet no one knows exactly when their time will come. Facing this final stretch of our journey in this world, some may experience a…

God’s Plan in God’s Time Genesis 40:1-23

Have you ever had a time when everything was going so well, and then all of a sudden it all fell apart? One time, a young professional shared his story. He worked hard for years and finally got the chance of a lifetime: a position in a company he had always wanted to work for. The interview went incredibly well. The manager even gave him hints that he was the best candidate. As he left that building, he was sure: “This is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for. God has opened the door for me.” Many days passed, then weeks. Silence. Finally, he got a short email that said, "Thank you for your application." We're sorry to tell you... He was shocked. Feeling confused and very disappointed. What made it even harder was not just the rejection, but the feeling that everything…

Each of us wants to succeed in life. But if we want true success, it’s crucial to work out a biblical definition of the term. Otherwise, you’ll be like the guy who climbed the ladder of success only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall. You’ll waste your life pursuing the wrong goals and making wrong decisions. If our target is wrong, we will fail even if we hit it.

Today’s culture defines success primarily in financial terms, throwing in lots of ideas of power, fame, and money. As Christians, we can easily see the fallacy in defining success in those terms, but often we are influenced by our culture more than we like to admit. As Christians, we show our skewed definition of success when we rush out to buy the latest story of some celebrity who has made a profession of faith, or when we…