5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Pastors, this is becoming the norm, but this is likely a unique Easter Sunday. Whatever your best is, give it today.
Went with the King James scripture today. Today is Easter which means it is the day Jesus rose from the dead. Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of those who discovered that he wasn’t there?
Imagine it for a minute. What would your feelings and emotions be? It would probably be a mixture of many emotions, especially when it was discovered that He had risen and was with them once again. From fright, to anger, to confusion, to a minimum of relief, I bet they went through it all.
What brought on the relief? It was knowing Jesus was there.
Today is the day Christ defeated death. Feel comfort in that as you enjoy your day.
Make it a great week in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Flogging is defined as a punishment in which the victim is hit repeatedly with a whip or stick. In Jesus case they used a scourge which is defined as a Roman implement for severe bodily punishment. It consisted of a handle, to which several cords or leather thongs were affixed, which were weighted with jagged pieces of bone or metal, to make the blow more painful and effective.
Andy asked me to write something about Good Friday today because of the urgent pray request from yesterday’s message. I ask that you stop for a moment and pray for Dakota Weatherly and his family …
This passage brings to mind a song we likely sang as little kids. It went like this, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” This is how the Bible tells us so. Jesus went through excruciating pain that I described above and he did so willingly. He did it for you, He did it for me, He did it for all of us.
Be thankful today men. Our debt has been paid.
Make it a great day in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.
I am writing with a heavy heart and asking for your prayers this morning. A friend of mine, who coaches baseball for one of the high schools in my home town, was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
His name is Dakota Weatherly, and is pictured above…volunteering his time on a Saturday, working our Locker 10:34 Kids Camp in February. Dakota and his wife are expecting their first child in June.
After losing my father to cancer in 2017, receiving this news last night tore my heart out of my chest. I sat on my back porch and wept and asked God for healing and understanding. I know God has a plan for the Weatherly family just like he did for my family and the rest of us….but I am at a total loss at this moment.
Please pray for healing and comfort for Dakota, his family, and his players. Our Locker 10:34 group will be making a donation to his family. If you have lost someone to cancer, or are in a position to help, contact me via email and I will get you the information.
Have a blessed day men, and hug your loved ones tight this Easter weekend.
On this day in Christian history, Jesus and His disciples ate “the last supper”. There are many great points to take away from this occasion. Jesus, broke bread (symbolizing the body) and they drank the wine (symbolising the blood); Jesus, in pure humility washed the feet of His disciples; and Jesus, gave a command (the word Maundy means command)….
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35 NIV
We are commanded as Christ followers to love one another the same way Jesus loves us. At the last supper He is fully aware of what will happen over the next 24 hours. But, He still loved us so much that He was willing to take on the burden of our sins!
Be grateful today for Jesus, and take this “new command” to heart. Show eachother that Love is an action, and make sure others know you are His disciples!
Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
How many times do were see a quote from the Bible used for good or bad and think “is that really in there”? Men be like those of Thessalonica receive the message, but get in the Scriptures ever day to see if what you are hearing is true. I love the old saying Trust but Verify.
John 15:1-5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Good morning men. I pray this message finds you all well. What a great week that we have to celebrate coming up. It will be a little different this year but the message will be the same. Praise Jesus! I was looking for a message this morning and I came across this one above from John. I like it because it talks about our ability to spread the word and produce the fruit of His word. We cannot spread it if we are not in him. But when we are in Him and He in us, man the possibilities are endless. What a great time to be able to spread the fruit at home with our families and really grow spiritually together.
1Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,a but is completely clean. And youb are clean, but not every one of you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16Truly, truly, I say to you, a servantc is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
In trying to lead my family during this quarantine time period, I find myself fighting the temptation to try and take more and more control and establishing more structure in our daily lives. While those things aren’t bad or wrong in and of themselves, it is the realization of this passage and this week that hit me right between the eyes. The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated true leadership by yielding his rights, humbly serving his disciples through the washing of their feet, calling them friends and sharing His last supper with them as a picture of what was to come where He would lay his life down for all of us. May our families see us as servant leaders during this pandemic and may they see & experience Jesus in everything we do.
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
Pastors, today is probably your most unique Palm Sunday to date. It is still a great opportunity to enhance your congregation.
Do we ever get to feeling too entitled or important? I know that I can be guilty of that from time to time. This scripture is the perfect lesson for us. Jesus is our savior and he rode into town on a donkey.
No one carried Him, He didn’t ride in on a litter, one of those carts that royalty sat on while servants carried them, He rode in humbly on a donkey.
It is Palm Sunday, be a good example of humbleness to those around you. Make it a great week in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.
20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
For the time being, I feel that this should we should be walking six feet way from the wise men. However, I do feel that we need to surround ourselves with those we consider to be wise.
As an example, we have several coaches on this message and those coaches should look to surround themselves with people who push them, who stretch their boundaries and comfort zones. We shouldn’t look to be the smartest person in the room, but we need to bring value to the room.
Push yourselves men and be ready to push others in their faith, in their job, in whatever endeavor it seems necessary. By the same token don’t balk when others push you in a positive manner. We can’t be surrounded by too many good people.
Make it a great day in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.
The Manly Message 
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