SUNDAY, ATIME OF WORSHIP Matthew 28:1

 SUNDAY, A TIME OF WORSHIP

Matthew 28:1

Matt 28:1

28 Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first (day) of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. (Mary the mother of James and Joses, Joanna and  Salome)

The women, despite the danger of being killed, came to pay respect to a dead Jesus, but found Him alive and worshiped Him with love and gratitude. The first day of Christian worship. The first missionaries of the church. 

HOW THE WORD SUNDAY BECAME OUR WORSHIP DAY

The word Sunday is not in the Bible. It is referred to as the first day of the week. Jesus was crucified on Friday, and on the third day He arose. By Jewish time this was the first day of the week we call Sunday.

The word Sunday is a Latin word, des solis, day of the Sun.  The Jewish 

Holy day is the Sabbath. Jesus' resurrection was on the first day of the week which became the Christian day of worship. 

In 312 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine  had a dream the night before a battle in which he saw a cross overlaying his sun god. He won the battle and gave credit to the Christian God. In 321 AD he made Sunday the official day of Christian worship.  

The Lord created the world and man is six time(days) periods and on the seventh day He rested, which was the Sabbath.  The modern Greek word for Sunday is derived from Kyrios (Lord) commemorating the resurrection of Jesus  which became the Lord’s Day.  Our day of worship became Sunday.     

Think about it. God used a Roman emperor who worshipped idol gods

To show His power and authority over man. God can use evil to glorify Himself     

The word Sunday has two syllables, sun and day.  The sun is the center of our solar system, which provides light and heat for man. Without the two we would not exist,  Day is a unit of time that God designed for man. Put the two together, God’s time and God’s work and we have Sunday, the day set aside for you and me to worship God.

SCRIPTURE RELATING TO EACH LETTER OF SUNDAY

We can find scripture associated with each letter of word SUNDAY

By looking at scripture for  each letter, we can learn much about our Savior, the object of our worship.

S     SON     JESUS OUR  LORD AND SAVIOR     1 Cor 1:9

                     Son of GOD  Matthew 17:5         His divine nature

                     Son of MAN  Matthew 11:19     His human nature

                     Son of David   Matt 1: 1, 11      His position as King 

        Son of the sabbath Mat  12:8                 His authority over the church

  S     Shepherd              John 10:11               He is shepherd and we His  

                                                                       Sheep     

S    Sacrifice for our sins   Heb 10:12            One sacrifice for all sins

                                                                       He sat down, its done

 Jesus is King. Lord and Savior with all power over heaven and earth 

U     UNNATURAL     ONLY ONE BORN OF A WOMAN WHO WAS GOD   

                                   AND MAN

        Unity of the spirit  Ephesian 4:3           Unitifies the spirit of all believers

        Unity of faith        Ephesian 4: 13         Unitifies the faith of all believers

        Unmovable       1 Corinthians 15:58     He does not change

Jesus unifies all believers  in spirit and in faith as one body forever

N     NEW                  NEW LIFE AS A NEW CREATION  2 Cor 5:17

                                  New Heart    Eze 36:26

                                  New Song    Psalms 40:3

Everyday is new in Jesus. Everyday is a fresh start.  Yesterday is gone, don’t look back.

D     DIVINITY            Strength and dignity   Proverbs  31:25

        Divine                 Divine Power   2 Peter 1:3

                                   Divine Nature  2 Peter 1:4                       

The divine attributes of God are holiness, love, grace, mercy, power, forgiveness

A     ABBA                 FATHER  Mark 14:36

        ASSURANCE     Assurance of a heavenly home  Act 17:31

        ADOPTION        Spirit of adoption   Romans 8:15

        Almighty              give life    Job  33:4

                                   Scatters kings       Psalms 68:14

                                   Call us sons and daughters 

      Alpha and Omega    First and the last                 Revelation 1:8

      All Authority         Authority to forgive sin   Mark 2:10

                             

Y     YIELD                  yield to Jehovah    2 Chronicles  30:8

        Yielded                yielded up his spirit   Mat  27: 50 

                                    Root of righteous 

                                    Fruit of righteous    Proverbs   12:1    

To live a joyful prosperous life we must yield ourselves to the commands of Christ in love and obedience. 

What is the purpose of this exercise ?

1. To encourage you to have faith in Jesus and trust Him for your every need

2. To encourage you to seek the guidance and directions of the Lord in all your decisions

3. To recognize the God has a purpose for each of us which He will reveal by His grace

4. To recognize that the hardships we face are designed to perfect us

5. To  keep in mind that Jesus is our redeemer has paid the price for our arrival in Heaven

6. You are God child and nothing can change this truth

7. You are loved by the Father and your elder brother, Jesus seated at His right hand makes continuous intercessions for you

THE NEED FOR A SUNDAY. A FIRST DAY

God the Father set the example

1. He rested from His creative work

We need a day of rest and relaxation 

2. It is a day of reflection

God look at what He had done and said it is Good

His work of creation was complete 

We need a day when we reflect on the goodness of the Lord

3. It is a Holy day, a day God set aside for Himself

It is day we must set aside for God

4. It is a day to cease working, cease planning, let the mind rest

IT IS A DAY TO GET RECHARGED

1. Act 2:1  120 believers gathered in the upper room

2. The were powered up by the giving of the Holy Spirit

3. It is a day to hear a message from the Lord

Peter gave the first sermon 

4. It is a day to turn to the Lord, 3000 was saved

IT IS A DAY OF NEW EXPECTIONS

1. The Church (called the way) was lunched 

Devoted people from every nation under the sun came to worship.   Acts 2:5

2. It is the start of something new.  Pentecost had fully come

Acts 2:1.   

3. God has something new for you to start

He will take you to new spiritual Heights

I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU Jeremiah 29:11

 FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU         

                                            Jeremiah 29;11

Jer 29:11-13

 11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen.

BACKGROUND

In the midst of our most troubling time God gives us hope.  After 100s of years of disobedience , God commission Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian

 King in 586 BC to burn down the temple in Jerusalem, destroy the city and

Take Israel captive. From the surface, you would think, God had given up

On His chosen people. He had not. It was just a punishment for their worship of idol gods and the 70 years of sabbath jubilees years they had ignored.

Jer 29:10-11

Lord says: "You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.

GOD KNOWS HIS PLAN FOR YOU

In the midst  of their Babylonian captivity God gave the prophet Jeremiah a

Encouraging  message for them.   

Jer 29:11-12

 For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. NLT

The KIng James version use the word thoughts for plans

This is the same encouragement God gives us today. He change not. The Word of God is for all believers for all times. 

God's eye, hand, thoughts (plan) are toward His people all the time. We don’t know God’s plan until He reveals them to us. He knows the end from the beginning. Nothing you do and nothing that happens to you are a surprise to Him. God has intimate knowledge of each believer. He numbers the hairs on your head Matt 10:30      , He knows our path Job 41:33,   our sorrows and our joys Ex 3:7.   He knows our mistakes and our disobedience before they happen Rom 5:19.  God has plans for your recovery Isa 11:11. God knows the grand plan and all the details of our lives Matthew 10:29-31

GOD’S PLAN IS ONLY KNOWN BY HIM

The plans of God are only perfectly known to Him. His thoughts are not

Our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. We are finite in our thoughts,

God’s thoughts are infinite. Most of the time we are sure of our own thoughts. We are limited by our experience and knowledge. God’s knowledge is complete, He can learn nothing knew,

God’s thoughts toward us are settled and definite, His mind is made up.

There is neither question nor debate. His plans and purpose for us are good. He makes all things work for the good of those who love Him and are called According to His purposes. 

The question is how much do we love Him? Are we willing to pursue His purpose for your lives. God’s purpose for Israel was to be a role model for

The world. The nation of Israel decided to be like the world and follow the ways of the world. Because of their disobedience they were forced into  a world of idol gods, limited by the thoughts of and evil of the world.

GODS PLAN IS FOR YOUR GOOD

How does God define good? 

Matt 19:17 "Why ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments."

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

Good is defined as obedience to God’s commandments and a character pleasing to Him. Your goodness is related to reverence to God and 

Gentleness to all men.

The Prodigal son had to learn the important of obedience to his father and the value of good character. Hardships in life is a a good teacher.

The Prodigal son left the security of the his father thinking he could live a better life without his wisdom and guidance. He soon learn that money and good time didn’t last long and you can’t by friends and happiness. 

When his money ran out, his so called friends ran too, God designed a famine to put in a situation where he needed help and there was none to be founded.  His only place to to get food was a pen with pigs fighting for 

Survival. 

He  came to his senses and realized he would be off being a servant in his fathers house.  He   humbled himself and came back to the father. His father was watching and waiting for him to return and restored him to his rightful position as son.  

Think of the role model he could have become to those still in the pig’s pen, and  also to those who were thinking about leaving the instructions of the father.

All the experiences in your life are allowed by God for your growth and development.  God’s plans for us are good even those that appear bad.

God allows us to make foolish decisions to make us search for wise

Decisions.

God’s knows that we are work in progress and from time to time make

Foolish decisions. His love for makes allowances for the future

Jer 29:12-14

 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. 

GOD’S PLAN IS NOT FOR EVIL

In the midst of evil God’s plan for us is not evil. In the midst of deep trouble

God’s plan for us is not trouble but peace. God allows us to be in trouble so

We can seek the peace of God. The first step is turn from your wicked ways. Man chooses lemons of life, the bitterness of life, but we don’t have stay in  that position. We got access to the living water of life, to wash us clean. We have access to the sweetness of life which is the holy spirit, Mixed together, We get lemonade which draws people to you. As a role model  for Christ

Ps 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! (Yea, sweeter) than honey to my mouth!  

You catch more flies with honey than a fly swatter 

GOD’S PLAN FOR YOU IS ONE OF PEACE

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

ASV

Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

When we get caught up in the things of the world, our hearts are not guarded by thoughts of Christ. 

GOD’S PLAN IS FOR YOUR FUTURE

God’s plan gives us a future. The future is living on this earth but more importantly life eternal with Him. God’s thoughts for us are thoughts of peace through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. God reconciled us back to Himself sacrificing His Son. To get to peace Jesus had to go through the horrible tragedy of the cross, which turned  out to be no tragedy at all. 

You and I have no idea what the future holds for us. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We can make plans for ourselves. They may workout, they may not work out, or they maybe greater than we could expect. The truth is only God knows what tomorrow will bring

Prov 16:9 A man's heart deviseth his way; But Jehovah directeth his steps.

When we decide what we want out of life, we don’t know the heights of the mountains we have to climb or how deep the valleys are we have to travel.

We don’t know the detours we will have to make. If we trust the Lord, our way will be secure, because He will direct our steps

Luke 12:28 But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more (shall he clothe) you, O ye of little faith?

The God we serve colors the grass in colors we can only paint. The grass is here today and gone tomorrow. You and I are eternal being made in His

Image. He surely cares for us more than grass.

God orders our steps, not for us, but for the good of others according to His 

will. 

GOD’S PLAN GIVES US HOPE

 It is easy to lose hope when we are in the valley of life and can’t see the light. Can’t see any way out. Knowing the guilt that we are where we are because of bad decisions.  Some may feel they don’t deserve God’s grace.

Notice in the text God responds to our sinful behavior with a favorable future that implies hope is never lost. It in the midst of our badness that God sends a message of hope. Hope does not eliminate the time of

Punishment. According to James 1 it is a time of perfection.

James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations; 3 Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. 4 And let patience have (its) perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

How do you get into a joyful mode when everything is going wrong? What steps must we pursue?  Trust the Lord first.

The hope that God gives is not a guess, not a maybe, it is without doubt

In the surety of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God has already worked

Out your future. You are along for the journey.

GOD’S PLAN FOR YOU IS COMPLETE

There are no gaps in God’s plan or thoughts for you. There no OPS

In God’s plan. 

    OPS I should not have let Satan in the Garden of Eden

    OPS I should not have put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and evil in the 

    Garden

    OPS I should not have given man the will to make decisions

There are no wrong turns in God’s plan. There are no unexpected relationships in God’s plan. 

I hear people saying, If I had a do over?   NO, that would change God’s plan. God said I know the plan I have for you. 

At the time of this verse, Israel was in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. God

Brought them out of captivity, rebuilt the temple and the city of Jerusalem. 

400 years later, Israel was controlled by the Roman government. The damage was done. Israel had to live with damage until Jesus came. Alone 

Came the Messiah, who set all who believe in Him free in the spirit. Every believer Is now the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

Were there any mistakes between the Garden of Eden and now? None. Were there good and evil. Good times and bad times? YES. But is all

Part of God’s plan for you. 

God has a way of getting you to this point in your life which makes everything you have gone through purposefully, prosperous and complete.

Jer 29:12-14

 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. 

Will there be loses in your life? Yes, maybe more than you like when you least expect it. But keep trusting the Lord, He will restore all you lost.

 

A NEW YEAR WITH JESUS 2 Chronicles 7:14

 A NEW YEAR WITH JESUS

2 CHRONICLES 7:14

14 if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

BACKGROUND

In 800  BC  God commissioned King Solomon to build a temple in Jerusalem

The temple was designed by God. All the material to build the temple was

Provided by Him. It took 7  years to build the temple. Solomon dedicated the completion of the temple for  7 days. 

In response to Solomon's faithfulness and prayer of dedication, God appeared to him  at night and confirmed His covenant to Israel stated in

2 Chronicles 7:14.  

All believers are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a covenant that applies to church today. Each part of the verse speaks to us today. 

God’s response to Solomon’s prayer begins with this: 2 Chron 7:13

 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

This indicates to me that God knew Israel would sin again, be judged and punished by Him. But God gave them the way back to Him in the next verse:   2 Chron 7:14  if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

REVIEW OF THE TEXT

The verse starts with “If”. We have a choice to make every day in our lives. What we do after the if determines the direction we take. The first six statements in the verse are His mercy on us for our sins. Followed by

His grace or favor to us.

GOD’S MERCY

“If my people”  God has chosen you as His people (Ephesians 1:4). We had nothing to do with His choice. We don’t deserve it, can’t earn His choice. God sees in us what He created us to be. He is the God of many chances.  He does not give up on us 

“ who are called by my name”  Not only did God choose but He set us aside for Himself. We have a special relationship with Father. 

•  Yahweh    The Self-Existent One

• Elohim       The mighty Creator

• El Shaddai  Lord God Almighty

• El Elyon     The Most High God

• Jehovah Jireh  The Lord Will Provide 

He is Omnipotent   All powerful

He is Omnipresent   Everywhere all the time

He is Omniscient    Knows everything There is nothing For God to learn 

The special relationship comes with responsibility. It comes with privilege and obligation.  We are called by God’s name. That name has power, it has worth, it has purpose. Our job is to be the light to the world.

“Shall humble themselves”  God hates the proud. We  cannot communicate with God with a proud heart.  We must be submissive to God with total reliance on Him. Jesus in the flesh on earth said I can do nothing without the Father (John 5:30). 

Humbleness pleases the Father. Matt 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It is an attitude born in heaven.

Humbleness sees ourselves at the feet of Jesus in need of His mercy.

It is a state of gratefulness for what God has done in our lives

“And pray”  Prayer is time well spent. It is our way of communicating with God. Prayers of a humble spirit gets God’s attention. 

James 5:16-17

 The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. 17 Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.

Don’t ever think your prayers are not important to God. He sometimes answers yes, sometimes wait, sometimes no, sometimes better and

More powerful than you can imagine. When Peter was jailed by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12), the whole church prayed and chains fell off and jail doors were opened and angel led him out set him free,

“Seek My face”  This goes beyond prayer. It is a desire to be in the presence of God at all times. It is the pursuit of God in praise, worship and devotion. It is to prioritize God above all others and align yourself with the teaching of Jesus. It is stepping out on faith to serve God.

Matt 6:33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

God gives us the way to His blessing. Don’t worry about what you don’t have. Give all you got to God and watch Him multiply it.

Each of us has a history with God. He chose us, set us apart

Ps 27:9  Thou hast been my help; cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

How did you get here today?  What doors did God open for you?

“Turn from their wicked ways”  All of us at some point in time, in some way have turned from God. It's not a big sin, it's all sin. God does not have a sliding scale on sin. All sin big or small carry the same punishment, death.  Repentance is turning away from sin and not looking back.

I used this example with my own 11 year old grandson of my own wickedness. He went out trick or treating on halloween and came back with a big bag of candy which he left at our house. It had been several months and he had not been back to the house or asked for the candy. So I found the bag and started eating it thinking he had forgotten about it.  

He came back to the house several months later looking for his candy.

I had to confess to my 11 year old grandson my sin. Of course he forgave me, but it was my sin.  

The first six statements in 2 Chronclies 7:14 is God’s mercy. The following three are God’s grace toward us. Six is the number of time frames God used to complete His created work. God gives us six steps to bring back in fellowship with Him.

GOD’S GRACE

“ then will I hear from heaven,”God transcends time and space to engage with us in our human failures. He brought Jesus to our level to

In a show of compassion for us. In the Old Testament atonement for sin was made by bringing an acceptable sacrifice to the altar. Upon repentance

Jesus is our acceptable sacrifice.

The moment we turn from our wicked ways we hear from heaven. Jesus our Savior intercedes for us. 

Ps 34:15

 The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, and his ears are (open) unto their cry.

Ps 34:17

 (The righteous) cried, and Jehovah heard, and delivered them out of all their troubles.

“and will forgive their sin”

Forgiveness is an aspect of God’s love attributed only to man. Sin began in the angelic realm when Satan in pride decided to lift himself above God.

Satan and his demons will not be forgiven. When Adam sinned, God immediately put Jesus to work as our savior. In Genesis God set in place

The consequences of sin and the redemption from sin. 

Ps 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear him.

 God never called angels his children, but His messengers. Plants, animals and angels were spoken into existence. God took to make man in his own image and likeness.

Heb 9:22 And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood. 

28 so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many,

“and will heal their land.”

God restores us physically, psychologically and spiritually to make us whole again. We are placed back in the right fellowship with Him. The plan of salvation Restores back to the image and likeness of Him that made us.

In summary, you God’s children. Because of His love for you, set in place

A way back to Him when you sin. The six steps are training ground in righteousness.

The three promises of grace are God’s reward for you faithfulness