First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ April 26, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
Isaiah 43:1-6
 
The Heidelberg Catechism is a well-known and widely respected Protestant confessional document.  Composed originally in German by two young German theologians (Zacharias Ursinus 1534-1583 and Caspar Olevianus 1536-1584) and first published in 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany, over the years, the catechism has been translated into many languages and, as I said, is regarded as one of the most influential Reformed catechisms.  
 
The catechism summarizes and captures the basic elements and the major doctrines of the Reformed theology, taking the form of questions and answers.  I think the first question of the catechism speaks in such a profound way to our needs and challenges today.  In fact, the answer given to the very first question of the catechism is refreshing, assuring, and uplifting.
 
This morning I would like to spend a few minutes looking at the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism.  I will first look at why the topic at hand was important back then as much as it is important to us today; then I will highlight a couple short implications.  Before we do that, let me real quick state the question and answer.
 
Question 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
Answer: That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation.  Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
 
First: Our Only Comfort
“What is your only comfort in life and in death?”  Remember that the catechism was originally written in German.  The word translated “comfort” here emphasizes a sense of security and safety.  A more accurate translation would be “fort” or “fortress.”  What is your only fortress in life and in death?  Where does your strength come from?  When you get to the point of quitting, what or who gives you the power to keep on going?  What or who do you rely on? 
 
You might wonder why does the Heidelberg Catechism begin with a question about humanity’s only comfort, only fortress and secure place?  Well, the authors of the Catechism were addressing the anxieties, fears, and uncertainties of the 16th century.  The 16th century was a very tough time in Europe.  Wars broke out everywhere.  War sent young men to battlefield where they faced death every day, invaders trampled crops, communities destroyed, and wives and daughters were raped. 
 
In addition to war, the 16th century was also an age of constant famine, disaster, and plague.  As a result, crops failed, the young and elderly alike faced starvation.  In the midst of this hurt and sorrow, agony and despair, where was comfort to be found?  Where did the 16th century believers find the strength to keep going?  What was their fortress?  So, questions about comfort, about strength, about security only made sense.  The circumstances of the 16th century Europe were very similar to ours right now.
 
Second: I Belong to Jesus
“What is your only comfort in life and in death?”  Here is the answer: “That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
 
Two profound observations here.  First, “I am not my own.”  The Prophet Isaiah says in 43:1, “Don’t fear for I’ve redeemed you!  I have summoned you by name.  You’re mine.”  In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul reminds us “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”  In other words, I don't have the final say about myself.  I am not a law to myself.  I am not answerable only to myself.  I am not self-sufficient, self-secure, self-reliant.  I am not in charge.  My God is.  I am precious in His eyes.  He loves me.  He cares for me and He is faithful.  The catechism reminds us that our comfort, our security, our strength does NOT lie in ourselves, but in our Almighty God.
 
So, if I am not my own, whose am I?  “I ... belong ... to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.”  I belong to Christ.  He is in charge.  He is in control.  He is sovereign and He is faithful.  He is the One who ordains all things.  He is the One who looks after me.  This is my comfort, and this is my hiding place that I belong to Jesus, that I am His.
 
How completely am I, as a believer, in the hands of my faithful Savior?  The catechism states totally.  Completely.  “Body and soul, in life and in death – I belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.”  All of me, all the time, I belong to Jesus, body, spirit, and soul, from the day we are born to the day we leave this earth.
 
 Friends, in a broken and an upside-down world, what is your only comfort?  What is your place of safety?  Your comfort, your strength, your security lies in Christ.  It is Christ – and Christ alone – who gives you the strength to keep on going, to endure, to persevere to the end.  In 1834, British Baptist Pastor, Edward Mote, wrote this beautiful hymn:
 
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
To God alone is the glory now and forever more.  Amen!

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ April 19, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor


John 20:19:23
You probably don’t disagree with me when I say that Easter was different this year.  For many of us, it was less hectic; less travel; less cooking; and less commercial.  Yes, we did miss, for sure, our family gatherings, our big Church services, and our usual Easter activities.  Yet, nothing can take away the joy of the Risen Christ. 
A friend of mine sent me an email this week that made me laugh from the bottom of my heart.  In his email, he attached a drawing of the tomb of Jesus in the background, and Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John standing just outside of the tomb on Easter morning with the caption: “He’s not in there! Oh, wait – He has changed His status to “Risen!”
I believe the resurrection of Christ is indeed “a change of status.”  It’s a change in our own status too.  It’s a constant change; a never-ending change as we experience every single day the life of the Risen Lord.  No wonder that the good news of Christ’s resurrection had such a great impact on the lives of Christ’s early disciples, and it should have as much influence on our lives today.  The resurrection of Christ was and will always be a turning point for Christ’s followers.
I truly believe that Easter this year carried a special significance to the Church around the world.  It speaks to our circumstances today and address them like no other.  For one reason, our circumstances today are similar to those of the early followers of Jesus.  They were fearful back then as much as we are today.  They were locked in their homes as we are.  They desperately needed a message of hope as much as we do today.  And it happened.  On Easter Sunday, Jesus is raised from the dead and the scene shifts. 
So as we hit the second half of John chapter 20, we get to the evening of the First Easter Sunday.  That morning Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene as John tells us in John 20:1-18.  But now Jesus appears to all the disciples (the eleven apostles) at once.  
John 20:19 states, “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Notice three important things here: the doors are locked; the disciples are frightened; and Jesus comes to them and stands in their midst. 
Those three facts John gives us in chapter 20 tell us three things we can know about how the risen Christ deals with us today.
First: We Can Experience God’s Presence Amidst Uncertainty
John 20:19 states, “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them.”  Yes, we can experience Christ’s very presence in the midst of our uncertain times.  The disciples did and we can do today.
 
Second: We Can Experience God’s Truth Amidst Doubt
“After He said this,” John 20:20 says, “He ‘Jesus’ showed them His hands and side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”  Too often we use our doubts as a barrier while God wants to use our doubts as a bridge.  Allow your doubt about God, to begin a discussion with God.
 
Third: We Can Experience God’s Peace Amidst Chaos
John 20:21-23 says, “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that, he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’”  We can experience God’s peace amidst chaos. 

The disciples are terrified.  They are hiding.  They are confused and exhausted.  It is into this context that the Risen Christ appears to the disciples.   

Did you notice the first thing Jesus say to the disciples?  Jesus didn’t say, “Where were you?’ or “Why did you abandon me?”  No.  He graciously says, “peace be with you.”  Then John gives us what I think one of the profound statements in scripture, he writes: “Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”  Of course there is absolute delight in seeing Jesus risen from the dead but I think the rejoicing happens partly because in saying “peace be with you” Jesus is saying “I forgive you, you thought you were no longer my friends but you are still my friends.  You’re forgiven.  Our fellowship is restored.”
 
Then Jesus does something else; something that is really astonishing.  John 20:22 tells us that “Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus breathes on His disciples.  This is a scene that takes us back to Genesis chapter two when God created the first man, Adam.  Do you remember how does God bring Adam to life when He is created from clay?  He breathes on him.  We read these words in Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed a man[ from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
 
Only the Creator God can give life to something that is dead.  The disciples in that locked room are dead and lifeless, and they are being given a new Spirit.  Jesus breathes on them and says, “receive the Holy Spirit.”  Christ gave new life to His disciples. 
 
As I said earlier, Easter was different this year.  It was less commercial and less materialistic.  I feel that God is calling us back to the true meaning of Easter.  We may be still locked in our homes, but filled with joy because we have seen the Lord.  Yes, amidst our uncertain times, we can experience the presence of the Lord.  Amidst our doubts, we can experience the faithfulness of God’s promises.  Amidst chaos, the peace of Christ is offered to us.  Hallelujah.  Amen!

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Meditation Notes (Easter Sunday ~ April 12, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
John 20:1-10

 
For us, followers of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most central and monumental event of history.  There is no doubt that the Easter message is the absolute center of our faith.  It was the same way for the early disciples of Jesus as it has always been to the Church through its long history.
 
In his defense of the Doctrine of the Resurrection, Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15:14 “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”  No wonder that the resurrection story is recorded in all the four Gospels.  John in particular notes that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, “while it was still dark.”
 
As you know, John’s Gospel is highly symbolic and multi-layered.  For example, when Matthew, Mark, or Luke say, “It is dark”, they mean you cannot see, but when John says the same thing, he means more than the physical inability to see.  For John, he means spiritual darkness.  Therefore, when John tells the story of Nicodemus, for example, coming to Jesus “at night”, he means more than the physical darkness.
 
One of the key themes that runs through the Gospel of John is the theme of light and dark.  It is introduced in the very first paragraph of the Gospel.  John 1:4-5 reads, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
 
I don’t think it’s any accident that we have the light and dark theme appears in the resurrection story in John’s account.  John tells us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark.  I don’t think that John wanted to give us a mere historical rendering of when May showed up at the tomb.  The timing was not the idea that had occupied John’s mind.  John was concerned about the reality of spiritual darkness.
 
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb of Jesus while it was still dark.  “While it was still dark!” I think the story of Mary Magdalene speaks in a profound way to us today.  As we think about this episode on this Easter Sunday morning, I would like to make two short observation:
 
First: When It Is Dark, It’s Time to Pursue Jesus
Like Mary, we all have had those very dark moments in our lives.  In fact, with the coronavirus pandemic, it seems like our world is in a nightmare right now.  And when it’s dark and we can’t see what’s going on around us because there’s too much grief, pain, loss, and doubt, that’s the time we’re tempted to give up on God and faith.  It’s easy to just pull the covers over our heads and give up.
 
But Mary Magdalene has something to teach us in those times.  She went to the tomb while it was still dark.  Despite her terrible grief and fear, Mary got up and did something.  She went to the last place she knew Jesus was at.  Even though it was His tomb and she knew darn well He was dead…she had watched it…she went.  As useless as it may seems to us today, she needed to be where Jesus was.  She knew her comfort during those dark moments is found in the Lord.
 
Mary shows us what faithfulness while it is still dark looks like.  When our prayers just seem to hit the ceiling and fall back down on our heads, we’ve got to pray more.  When reading the Bible is just so many words on a page, we’ve got to read it more.  When God seems silent, we’ve got to the wisdom behind His silence.  When we see our world turning upside down, we’ve got to trust the faithfulness of our heavenly Father.  When you feel the thickness of darkness around you, when it is still dark, go to the tomb to have your hope renewed. 
 
Second: Faithfulness is Always Rewarded
And then comes that time when we find out that God has been at work…even in the darkness.  It wasn’t in the papers or on the evening news.  Nobody saw it happen, but things are different.  The tomb that we expected to stink with rotting flesh has been swept clean.
 
Mary is not afraid of the dark.  She is determined that she will find Jesus in it.  And in her faithfulness, the scene shifts.  He is risen!  Her tears vanish.  Her prayers are answered, and she goes out in joy as the first evangelist to tell other disciples the good news of Christ’s Resurrection.  While it was still dark, Jesus shows up.
 
He is alive!  The stone is rolled away.  The dawn has come.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  It cannot overcome it.  It never has and never will.  That kind of Easter experience comes from being faithful while it is still dark.
 
Friends, it is still dark in our world.  It may be still dark in your own life.  Dark times come to everyone.  They even hit Jesus Himself.  I have been a pastor long enough to know that there is a heartache on every heart and that most of us suffer in silence.  No one is immune to heartache.  Whether rich or poor, we all carry our own bag of rocks.
 
Friends, darkness is not a sign that you have no faith.  Darkness is an opportunity to show your faith as Mary Magdalene did.  It is time to pursue Jesus even more.  It is time to hold onto Jesus.  It is time to remain faithful when you cannot see … when you cannot understand.  Easter happened in the dark.  When everybody was depressed and thought the work of God was a sham, God was doing the greatest work of all.  So get up…look at the tomb.  It’s empty!  He is risen!  He is alive.  The darkness has vanished.  The stone is rolled away.  Happy Easter, friends.  The Lord is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen. 

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Meditation Notes (Good Friday ~ April 10, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
Matthew 27:45-46 
“45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.  46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
 
It is Friday morning in Jerusalem.  Another hot April day.  A crowd gathers on the north end of town; just outside the Damascus Gate is a place called Golgotha or Skull Hill.  Yes, it is crucifixion day.  The word has spread to every corner of the city.  The Romans like the Skull Hill because the hill is beside a main road.  That way lots of people can watch the crucifixion. 
 
A man named Jesus of Nazareth is being crucified today.  The word spreads like wildfire.  The crowd is growing.  Jesus’ reputation has preceded Him.  No one is neutral about the man.  Some strongly believed His message; many doubted Him; a few hate the man for various reasons.  The crucifixion begins at nine o’clock sharp.
 
It appears that the man in the middle, Jesus of Nazareth, will not last long.  He has already been severely beaten.  In fact, it looks like four or five soldiers have taken turns working Him over.  His skin hangs from His back in tatters, His face is bruised and swollen, His eyes nearly shut.  Blood trickles from a dozen open wounds.  He is an awful sight to behold for sure.
 
There are voices from all three crosses, a kind of hoarse conversation shouted above the din.  Little pieces float through the air.  Something that sounds like “Father, forgive them” something else about “If you are the Son of God,” then a promise of paradise.  Finally, Jesus spots His mother and speaks to her. 

Then it happened.  “At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.”  It happened so suddenly that no one expected it.  One moment the sun was right overhead; the next moment it had disappeared.  And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The Fourth Word on the CrossIn his book, The Hard Sayings of Jesus, British Bible scholar, F.F. Bruce discusses 70 of the hard-to-understand sayings of our Lord.  The last one he discusses is this statement.  Of these words of Jesus, Bruce comments, “This is the hardest of all the hard statements” (p. 248).  All the commentators agree with him.  No statement of Jesus is more mysterious than this one.  The problem is not with the words.  The words (in Aramaic or Greek or English) are simple.  But what do they mean?
 
The story is told that the Reformer Martin Luther as he was studying this text one day.  For hours he sat and stared at the text.  He said nothing, he wrote nothing, but silently pondering these words of Jesus.  Suddenly, he stood up and exclaimed, “God forsaken by God.  How can it be?”  Indeed, how can it be?  How can God be forsaken by God?  How can the Father forsake His own Son? 

What Do These Words Mean?What do these words mean?  It has been suggested that this is a cry stemming from Jesus’ physical suffering. Without a doubt, those sufferings were enormous.  By the time Jesus uttered these words, He had hung on the cross for six hours—exposed to the hot Palestinian sun and exposed to the mocking of the crowd.  But the cry of Jesus was more than a physical suffering.
 
Others have suggested it was a cry of faith.  The words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is actually a quotation from Psalm 22:1.  Although Psalm 22 begins with a description of intense suffering, it ends on a note of confident trust in God.  So, the cry of Jesus is a cry of a confident heart.  Well, that could be the case. 
 
Others have seen the fourth Word of Jesus on the Cross as a cry of disillusionment.  Skeptics read this as a proof that Jesus ultimately failed in His mission.  He came to be the Messiah, but His mission is a failure.  They are words of a defeated man.
 
Friends, the words of Jesus were neither due to His physical suffering nor His disillusionment.  What, then, do these words mean?  It was the weight of the sins of the whole world that caused Jesus to cry.  It is the intensity of God’s wrath.  It was the Father’s judgment on the sins of the world being borne on Christ's shoulders as He hangs on the cross.  The Lamb of God was bearing in Himself the sins of the world!  How
 
Two Important ImplicationsI take from this solemn truth two short yet profound implications.  First: as followers of Jesus today, we must never minimize the horror of human sin.  It was our sin that Jesus bore that day.  It was our sin that caused the Father to turn away from the Son.  He became a curse and we were part of the reason.  We must never minimize the awful cost of our salvation.  
 
Second: we must never forget that even in the worst situations of life, we are to cling to God with both hands as Jesus did.  In 1872 the great British preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote “In Jesus’ darkest hour with darkness all around him and within him, Jesus still clung to God with both hands.  His left hand said, “My God.”  His right hand said, “My God.”  Eloi. Eloi. My God, my God, that’s how Jesus was clinging to God with both hands in the midst of this horrific situation.  Jesus clung to God with all His might during the darkest hour of His life. 
 
Friends, needless to say that these are difficult times faced by many right now.  May have lost jobs; many are feeling isolated; millions are fighting Covid-19; the future is uncertain for many.  These are incredibly hard times for sure.  Yet, we are to cling to God.  In the worst and darkest day of human history, Jesus still clung to God with both hands and held onto God.  Jesus was forsaken that you might never be forsaken.  He was abandoned that you might never be abandoned.  He was deserted that you might never be deserted.  He was forgotten that you might never be forgotten.  Amen!

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Meditation Notes (Maundy Thursday ~ April 9, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
Mark 14:32-42
 
        As we join Jesus and His Disciples in the passage we just read from the gospel of Mark chapter 14, they are already in the midst of an eventful night.  They have just finished the Passover celebration, left the room where they celebrated Passover and made their way from Jerusalem down through the Kidron Valley to A Place Called Gethsemane.  
 
        Our text tonight focuses on what happened when Jesus and His disciples arrived at Gethsemane.  I would like for us tonight to spend a few minutes together considering what took place in Gethsemane that night and how this speaks in a profound way to that our world has been going through.
 
In many ways, Gethsemane is harder for Jesus than Calvary – these will be the darkest hours of Jesus’ life.  It’s true that the decisive spiritual battle that Jesus came to fight will be fought on Calvary, but it’s Gethsemane where Jesus waits on the edge of a battle he can’t escape; a battle that will be most terrifying to His soul.  I believe that our world today is in Gethsemane.  These are very uncertain and troubling times.
 
But as it is so often the case in our lives, the darkest moments in Jesus’ life are also those times when the grace of God shines the brightest, and in the deep valley of Gethsemane we get one of the clearest views of the highest peaks of God’s love and presence.
 
Tonight, as we remember our Lord’s last hours in the Garden of Gethsemane, I want to point out two important facts about Jesus’ Gethsemane and ours.   First, let’s consider Gethsemane as a place of pressure.
 
First: Gethsemane as a Place of Pressure
Gethsemane is an Aramaic name.  The word Gethsemane means “Olive Press”.  Gethsemane was, and is, a place where olive trees grew and produced their fruit.  The olives were collected, placed in a press and the precious olive oil was extracted from the olives under very intense pressure.
 
        Gethsemane was a small garden, just outside the city of Jerusalem.  It probably belonged to a friend of the Lord.  In Luke 22:39, Luke tells us it was a place Jesus often visited with His disciples.  Gethsemane seems to have been a refuge for the Lord.  It was a place where He could find solitude from the crowds and ministry that occupied His life.  It was a place where He could go to find a private moment to commune with His Father.  It was a sanctuary from the attacks of His enemies.  It was a place of refreshment from the long days of ministry.  It was a special place for the Lord and His disciples.
 
Jesus and His disciples arrive at Gethsemane.  On this night, our Lord would enter the “Olive Press” and the sweet oil of grace and submission to the Father would be extracted from the Lord’s life.  For Jesus, the garden of Gethsemane would be a place of intense pressures.  In fact, our Scripture passage tonight tells us about some of the pressures Jesus faced that night.  Mark 14:33-34 states, “He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them.” 
 
The very language of these verses reveals the truth that Jesus Christ is in a time of intense
emotional and spiritual trial.  He knows He is about to suffer intense physical pain.  He knows that
He is about to become sin on a cross.  He knows that He is about to be judged by His Father.  He
knows that, for the first time in eternity, there will be a breech in the unbroken fellowship He has
enjoyed with His Father.  He knows that He will be abandoned by His followers.  He knows that
He is about to be tried, rejected and condemned to death by the very people He came to save.
Gethsemane was a place of pressure; but, second, Gethsemane was a place of prayer.
 
Second: Gethsemane as a Place of Prayer
When they got to Gethsemane, Jesus left eight of His disciples at the gate of the garden and took three, Peter, James and John, deeper with Him into the garden.  These three disciples were to keep their eyes open for trouble, and they were to pray with Him, and probably, for Him as He prayed.
 
Mark 14:35-36 tells us, “Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him.  “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
 
Jesus fell to the ground and began to call on His Father.  He addressed God as, “Abba” ... “Abba, Father,” Jesus said.  “Abba” is an Aramaic term that is equivalent to our word “daddy”.  It is a word of intense intimacy.  Jesus enjoyed such intimacy with His Father that He felt most comfortable calling Him “Daddy”.
 
Friends, in Christ, we have the same privilege to call God “Abba Father”, “Daddy.”  Through Jesus, we have the same privileges that Jesus enjoyed.  We are brought into a place of absolute intimacy with the Father!
 
In Gethsemane, Jesus renewed His trust in His Father’s power ““Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you”, but Jesus also prayed for God’s will to be done in His life “Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
 
Luke tells us in chapter 22:43 “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”  For every Gethsemane experience you and I have to face, there is an angel from heaven who will be ready to strengthen those who pray for God’s will to be done.  Gethsemane is a place of pressure, but it is also a place of prayer and a place of encountering God in a very special way.  If we are to follow the example of our Lord, this night should cause us to awake out of our sleep and get busy for the Lord.  This is an hour that calls for action.  It is NOT a time for God’s people to sleep.  It’s a time to fall on our knees and ask for God’s forgiveness, His presence, His strength, and His will.  A place called Gethsemane; yes, it is a place of pressure, but it is also a place of prayer.  Amen.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Palm Sunday ~ April 5, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
Luke 19:28-38
 
We have been looking at the Apostles’ Creed, one of the ancient affirmations of faith the Church universal has used over its long history.  The Creed has been instrumental in shaping the ministry and mission of the Church for almost two thousand years.  I truly believe that the Apostles’ Creed addresses in a profound way our fears today, our anxiety, and help us gain some clarity and direction in the chaos that surrounds us.  It brings us to the roots, to the foundations of our faith.  What we believe is important.  It is extremely important because it determines our set of actions. 
 
Last Sunday we looked at the Doctrine of Jesus Christ being truly human and fully divine.  We said that it is very refreshing and comforting to know that in His true humanity, Jesus knows what we are going through, He can relate to us because He has been there; and in His full divinity, Christ, God’s appointed Messiah, got everything under control.  He is sovereign.  This is very comforting and assuring.
 
“I believe in Jesus Christ,” but the statement doesn’t end there.  The Apostles’ Creed continues to state, “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.”  The Lordship of Christ is emphasized here.  I think this is a great topic to ponder today as we think about Palm Sunday.
 
Palm Sunday is one of the major events of our Lord’s life.  Two thousand years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, and He was received as a King.  Six hundred years before Christ, the Prophet Zechariah chapter 9:9 foretold Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as he said, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
 
I think the topic of the Lordship of Christ comes handy to us today.  In the midst of our fears and anxiety, in the face of the unknown, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords comes to us and walks alongside each one of us in the journey of suffering and pain.
 
The Lordship of Christ
Today we are invited to declare that “Jesus Christ is Lord!”  “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord”, stated the Apostles’ Creed.  “Kurios Iesous” ~ Jesus is Lord” is one of the most ancient Christian confessions of faith.  In 2 Corinthians 4:5 Paul declares, “For we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord.”
 
The Lordship of Jesus Christ, therefore, stands at the heart and core of Christianity. Everything in the Christian faith stands or falls on the lordship of Christ.  The term “lord” occurs over 600 times in the New Testament.  Nearly 250 times it is used to describe Jesus.  The early church expressed its whole faith with the single word “kurios” (Lord).  In fact, Paul’s most loved name of Jesus was not ‘Messiah’ but ‘Lord.’”
 
But what does it mean to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord?  What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is Lord?  Two implications:
 
First: It Means Total Surrender
For Jesus to be Lord of your life means that He is the ruler, the boss, the master of your whole life. He cannot be Lord of a part – He must be given control of the entire life - the whole life, spirit, soul, and body.
 
Samuel Zwemer (1867-1952) was an American missionary and scholar and often referred to as “The Apostle to Islam” because he spent most of his life reaching out to the Muslims in Egypt, Iraq, and Bahrain.  Zwemer made a sobering statement about the lordship of Jesus Christ.  He said, “Unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.”[1]  This is a challenge to all Christians to bring every area of our lives under the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ. In our lives there should be no rivalry for His throne.
 
Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer of the New York Pen League.  In one of his inspiring poems he says, “Do not love half lovers.  Do not entertain half friends.  Do not indulge in works of the half talented.  Do not live half a life and do not die a half death ….  Do not accept half a solution.  Do not believe half-truths.  Do not dream half a dream.  Do not fantasize about half hopes.  Half a drink will not quench your thirst.  Half a meal will not satisfy your hunger.  Half the way will get you nowhere.  Half an idea will bear you no results.”  Half is never really enough.  Friends, today I leave you with a challenge, to not settle for half on anything.  Remember that a life worth living is worth living all the way.  
 
Second: Total Protection
When total surrender is offered, total protection is guaranteed.  A King’s most important responsibility was to establish order and keep the peace and the wholeness of his subjects.  It’s the King’s duty to defend his people and to fight foreign invaders. No wonder that Jesus Christ, our Lord, said to His disciples and ours, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you” John 14:27.  “Do not be afraid, little flock,” Jesus said, “for your Father has pleased to give you the Kingdom” Luke 12:32.
 
Friends, I am comforted this morning.  My spirit is lifted up.  I fear nothing because my King and my Lord is with me.  Jesus is with us when we suffer and when we wrestle with doing God’s will in our lives.  As we enter our own Jerusalem to confront the unknown and carry on our cross, we know that Jesus will be leading us from the pain and agony of Calvary to the glory and victory of Easter.  Paul wrote to the Colossians 2:6-7 saying, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”  “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”   Amen!


[1] Samuel Zwemer, The Solitary Throne (London: Pickering and Inglis, c. 1937), 1.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Fifth Sunday in Lent ~ March 29, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor   
 
Matthew 16:13-30
 
The Apostles’ Creed continues to inspire and comfort me in the light of the rapid developments of Covid-19 both in our homeland and around the world.  This is week 2 of our sermon series through the Apostles’ Creed; a series we tiled, “I Believe!”  The Apostles’ Creed is the oldest of Christian creeds and I think it is a great document that is worth looking at during these uncertain times.
 
It is important to note that we’re not preaching the creed; we’re preaching the Bible.  The creed doesn’t have any authority unto itself except what it teaches us about what the Word of God says.  I find it both fascinating and challenging that God is calling His Church today to stand firm and to declare “I believe!”
 
Last Sunday we looked at the opening statement of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty.”  Of all the attributes or traits, the Church Fathers could have emphasized about the nature of God, they chose just two words – “Father” “Almighty.”  God is our Heavenly Father.  It’s very refreshing to know that our God is a loving, caring, relational, and compassionate Daddy.  More than any other time, I believe today we need to anchor our lives on who God is and to hold unto this truth.  Of an equal importance, this Daddy is Almighty.  He is “El Shaddai.”  He is all sufficient God.  He is the God who creates, nurtures, sustains, and protects us.  This is our hope, our confidence, and our peace in the midst of the storm. 
 
Today we will spend some time considering the fact that “Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.”  With this phrase we enter the second major section of the Creed.  The Creed itself is Trinitarian — with a section devoted to the Father, a section to the Son, and a final section to the Holy Spirit.
 
Who Is Jesus Christ?
“I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.”  Who is Jesus Christ?  Of all the questions that might be posed to people today, none is more important than this.  It is no exaggeration to say that this is the central question of history and the most important issue anyone will ever face.  Who is Jesus Christ?  Where did He come from?  Why did He come?  And what difference does His coming make in my life?  In the end, every person must deal with Jesus Christ.  No one can escape Him.  You can avoid the question, or delay it, or postpone it, or stonewall it, or pretend you didn’t hear it. But sooner or later you must answer it.
 
It’s certainly not a new question.  It’s as old as the coming of Christ to earth.  Across the centuries the discussion has continued to this very day.  Still some people today believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a good man, or a prophet, or just a teacher of God’s Law.  Some still believe that Jesus was just a man like any other man, or a misunderstood teacher, a deluded religious teacher, or a fabrication of the early church.  Two thousand years have passed and still people wonder about the man called Jesus.
 
It’s All about Jesus
Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder who Jesus is.  For 2,000 years Christians have affirmed their faith in Jesus with these words from the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe … in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.”  Of the 110 words in the Creed, 70 occur in the section relating to Jesus Christ.  That tells us something important.  The Christian faith is all about Jesus!  He is the heart and core of our faith.  He is the touchstone of all that we believe.  You can be mistaken on some secondary issues and still be a Christian, but if you are wrong about Jesus, you are wrong in the worst possible place.   “I believe … in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.”  Who is Jesus Christ and why this is so important for us today?  
 
First: Jesus is Truly Human
“I believe in Jesus …”  Jesus is our Lord’s proper name.  It identifies Him as a historical person, not a pious figment of imagination. Jesus is the Greek version of the Hebrew word, Yeshua, which means God saves.  It is true that the name “Jesus” speaks of Christ’s work, but it also reminds us of His full humanity.  Because He is truly human, “Jesus is able,” as the author of Hebrews 4:15 says, “to sympathize with our weakness.”  Jesus was truly human, yet, He never sinned.
 
As a truly human, Jesus experienced and expressed a range of human emotion.  When John writes of Jesus’ soul and spirit being “troubled” in John 12:27 and 13:21, he chooses a Greek word often used of people when they are anxious or surprised by danger.  Jesus “marveled” at the faith of the centurion in Matthew 8:10, and “wept” at the death of His friend Lazarus in John 11:35.  There is comfort for us today knowing that Jesus was truly human.  He knows what we are going through right now.  He knows our fears and our anxiety, and He is willing to grant us His peace and His hope.
 
Second: Christ is Fully Divine
“I believe … in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.”  While the name “Jesus” refers to Christ’s true humanity, the name “Christ” refers to Jesus’ full divinity.  Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word, Messiah.  Messiah means the anointed one.  He is God’s appointed and chosen Messiah.  He is not only true human, but He is also fully divine. 
 
There is also comfort and assurance in remembering that Jesus is fully divine.  “He is,” as the Nicene Creed stated, “God of God; Light of Light; Very God of Very God; begotten not made; being of one substance “homoosias” with the Father.  Psalm 33:9 says, “For He spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
 
Jesus took His disciples once on a retreat to a place called Caesarea Philippi.  In Caesarea Philippi, people worshipped many gods.  In Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  In Matthew 16, the disciples offered a few responses: “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  Jesus didn’t care much about what people thought of Him, so He asked His disciples, “But what about you?”  “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  And I hope you and I today can declare, “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.”  In His true humanity, He knows what we are going through, and in His full divinity, He got everything under control.  Be at peace, my friends.  Glory be to God.  Amen.