LIFEGATE DENVER SERMONS

<p>Thanks for joining us for our Holy Week Prayer Week! We hope you are encouraged and challenged as we cry out Maranatha this Holy Week! </p><p><br></p><p>Gloria Patri:</p><p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.</p>

<p>Join us as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday at LIFEGATE Church in Denver, CO. </p>

<p>Thanks for joining us for our Holy Week Prayer Week! We hope you are encouraged and challenged as we cry out Maranatha this Holy Week! </p><p><br></p><p>Gloria Patri:</p><p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.</p>

<p>On this Good Friday Gathering, we will move through the evening of the events that happened on the day of the Lord's crucifixion. Psalm 22 will be our guide.</p>

<p>Thanks for joining us for our Holy Week Prayer Week! We hope you are encouraged and challenged as we cry out Maranatha this Holy Week! </p><p><br></p><p>Gloria Patri:</p><p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.</p>

<p>Thanks for joining us for our Holy Week Prayer Week! We hope you are encouraged and challenged as we cry out Maranatha this Holy Week! </p><p><br></p><p>Gloria Patri:</p><p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.</p>

<p>Thanks for joining us for our Holy Week Prayer Week! We hope you are encouraged and challenged as we cry out Maranatha this Holy Week! </p><p><br></p><p>Gloria Patri:</p><p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.</p>

<p>Thanks for joining us for our Holy Week Prayer Week! We hope you are encouraged and challenged as we cry out Maranatha this Holy Week! </p><p><br></p><p>Gloria Patri:</p><p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.</p>

<p>Thanks for joining us for our Holy Week Prayer Week! We hope you are encouraged and challenged as we cry out Maranatha this Holy Week! </p><p><br></p><p>Gloria Patri:</p><p>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.</p>

<p>The people gathered around Jesus were hungry. The disciples couldn't see what was right in front of them - that Jesus came to satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts. In the demonstration of receiving and offering, Jesus shows us that rest is found when we come to God, and it is here that we are Blessed, Broken & Given. In this life, there is joy as we are RENEWED in the Lord.</p>

<p>The Prodigal son wants nothing to do with his father and thinks he can find rest in all the things of the world. When he finally comes to the end of himself, he remembers that he was once a son and returns home with the hopes of being a slave. Yet, he is surprised by grace and is brought into the rest and joy of his father. In the same way, in Christ, we are REVIVED in the Lord.</p>

<p>This feast is the second of the three harvest feasts. It occurs exactly seven weeks after the Feasts of First Fruits, so it's also called Pentecost, which means "50days." God's plan to save souls included more than the Jews. Through Jesus, this plan was revealed. In Matthew <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw-qGH_UPHU&t=577s" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">9:37</a>, Jesus tells His disciples that "the harvest is great, but the workers are few." Then he put the plan into place: In Acts 1:4 He tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit.</p><p><br></p><p>That arrival was the day the Church was born- Pentecost - and the harvest began with 3000 souls. The message spread to both Jews and Gentiles( the two leavened loaves of bread), extending the harvest to us.</p>

<p>The Feast of First fruits is one of the three Jewish harvest feasts to thank and honor God for all he provided. The priests sacrificed Passover lambs on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, and the first day of Passover was the 15th. The Feast of First Fruits on the third day, the 16th of Nisan. This "third-day" Celebration was the same day that Jesus resurrected from the dead.</p><p><br></p><p>In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul refers to Jesus as the first fruits of the dead. He represents the first of the great harvest of souls that will resurrect to eternal life because of the new Covenant in His blood.</p>

<p>This seven-day feast begins on the day following the start of Passover. In the haste of the Israelites to leave Egypt, there was no time to add leaven(yeast) to their bread. During this time, remembering the hardships in Egypt and how God freed them from captivity, the Jews ate nothing leavened. Leaven often represents sin and decay in the Bible. Once Incorporated, yeast becomes an inseparable part of the bread; the same is true for sin's effect on our lives.</p><p><br></p><p>In John 6:35, Jesus boldly states that he is bread of life. Not only does he remove our sins, he nourishes our souls.</p>

<p>This feast remembers the last plague in Egypt when the angel of death "passed over" the children of Israel who applied the blood of the lamb to their doors. The Israelites took a bundle of hyssop and dipped it into the blood in the basin at the threshold. When John the Baptist said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" he understood the Old Testament reference.</p><p>In the New Testament, we see that Jesus - born in a stable, visited by shepherds, and led to the slaughter - is that lamb sent for us. His death allows the judgement we deserve to pass over us.</p>

<p><br></p><p>At the center of the table are not our preferences but the risen and living Christ. From the center and in community, we experience the transforming power of Christ Jesus. We come to the table as we are and invite others as they are - but we invite the presence of Jesus to change us from the inside out.</p>

<p>In a world that is deeply divided, and the god of the age is the self, hospitality is an act of kindness and defiance. It is tethering ourselves to the nature and character of Christ, placing ourselves in the position of servants. It is at the table where we extend the tangible grace of Christ to the hurting, lost, broken, and marginalized. For the early church, this is how they changed the world.</p>

<p>The history of the church and the people of God live and move around a table. It is here that the world saw for the first time the beautiful mosaic that is the Kingdom dining around a table, breaking bread, and confessing the risen Christ. The table is where the mystery of the Gospel is made visible to the watching world.</p>

<p>The church is meant to be a "city on a hill....the light of the world." The church and followers of Jesus must exist for the good of the city. This begins with the gathering, but we must then scatter into the world and into the city to see the flourishing of all people.</p>

<p>The greatest threat to us growing in our faith (there is no threat to the Gospel- The Kingdom cannot be shaken) is the radical and idolatrous autonomy we hold on to. In a culture whose only commitment is to be committed to nothing, the people of Jesus must be radically committed to the church historically, globally, and locally.</p>

<p>The story of the Gospel is not about making bad people good, but moving those who are dead to life in Christ. This means that sin is not fundamentally about behavior a detachment from God and the things of God. The Gospel then awakens us to life and brings us back into communion with God.</p>

<p>The prayer of the church and Christians is “Maranatha” because we desire and believe in the Lord’s return. The Lord Jesus speaks, promising to come soon as the Divine Messiah. As Christians, we are not afraid but trust that God is both loving and just and ask Him to release His judgment over the world so that the world might be fully saved and consummated.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

<p>One of the most comforting realities is that Jesus Christ is still and always will be sovereign over all things. While “Maranatha” in this context is not a prayer for the immanent return of Christ, it is a prayer that reminds us that we must be active agents, living self-controlled and sober-minded. In this, we will be devoted to prayer and of use in the Kingdom. Our prayer is for God to make things right in the world.</p>

<p>As one of the prayers of early Christians, “Maranatha” simply meant, “Our Lord has come.” It was a reminder to the church that in a world where we often feel far from God or we sense God’s distance, we are anchored in the truth of His incarnation. This is important for us because we want to begin our year by being reminded that God in Christ Jesus has entered the human story.</p>