Tag: Gospel of Luke

Morning Reading: Luke 24. 1-12 NLT – risen

Reading: Luke 24:1-12 NLT

But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.

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Women Arriving at the Tomb by He Qi

As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground.

Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.

However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – You’re alive… and your Spirit has been poured out on all of us. Give us the courage and boldness to tell everyone what we have seen and heard – whether people believe it or not. And may you receive all the glory. Amen.

Hymn: “Easter Song” – Annie Herring

Pentecost Sunday: 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 NLT – same Spirit, Lord, God

Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 NLT

Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this….

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I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice ; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.  The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

Prayer: Come Holy Spirit!

Spiritual Song: “Veni Sancte Spiritus” – Taize

Come holy Spirit, from heaven shine forth with your glorious light – Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come from the four winds, O Spirit, come breath of God; disperse the shadows over us renew and strengthen your people.

You are our only comforter, Peace of the soul. In the heat you shade us; in our labor you refresh us, and in trouble you are our strength.

Kindle in our hearts the flame of your love that in the darkness of the world it may glow and reach to all forever.

Morning Reading : Luke 23: 50-56 NLT – buried

Reading: Luke 23:50-56 NLT

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

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The Entombment of Christ by Carravagio, 1602-1603

Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin.

As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.

Creed: I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

Spiritual Song: “Creed” – Third Day

Morning Reading: Luke 23. 44-49 NLT – last breathe

Reading: Luke 23:44-49 NLT

By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.

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Crucifixion, seen from the Cross by James Tissot, c. 1890

Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent. ” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. 

But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – It’s never too late to confess you as the Messiah, the Son of the living God… not for the thief, not for the soldier, and not for us. You alone are our Savior and Lord. You alone hold the keys to eternal life. Fill me with a deep sorrow that leads to worship… not from a distance, but at the foot of the Cross. Amen!

Hymn: “Beneath the cross of Jesus” – Elizabeth C. Clephane (1868)

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand. The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land. A home within the wilderness,a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus, mine eye at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me. And from my smitten heart, with tears, two wonders I confess: the wonders of His glorious love, and my unworthiness.

I take, O Cross, thy shadow for my abiding place. I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face Content to let the world go by, to know no gain or loss. My sinful self– my only shame, my glory– all the cross.

Morning Reading: Luke 23.26-43 NLT – remember me

Reading: Luke 23:26-43 NLT

As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’  People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’  For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? ”

St Dismas, the penitent thief
St Dismas – the penitent thief
Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Prayer: Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom