Category: Message of the Day

THE SPIRIT OF EASTER

“Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke up.” —Acts 4:8 On the day of Jesus’ death, Peter denied Him three times. After receiving the Holy Spirit, however, Peter became a new person. He fearlessly obeyed the Lord even to being thrown into prison. At his trial before “Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly class” (Acts 4:6), Peter defied the religious leaders. He proclaimed that “Jesus is ‘the Stone rejected by you the builders Which has become the Cornerstone’ ” (Acts 4:11). The Holy Spirit transformed Peter into a powerful evangelist and the...

A LOVE STORY OR A GHOST STORY?

“It is really I. Touch Me, and see that a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I do.” —Luke 24:39 Unlike all other religions, Christianity believes that God became man. We believe that God was actually a baby, physically died on a cross, and was buried in a tomb. We also believe that Jesus rose from the dead — not just spiritually but bodily. Jesus is not a ghost (see Lk 24:37). He can be seen and touched (Lk 24:39). He ate food (Lk 24:41-43). He is fully human. Jesus even let Thomas put his hand into His...

HEART-BURN

“Were not our hearts burning inside us?” —Luke 24:32 Jesus spent the afternoon of the day of His Resurrection walking and talking with two of His disciples. “He interpreted for them every passage of Scripture which referred to Him” (Lk 24:27). As Jesus taught His disciples the Scriptures, their hearts began to burn within them (Lk 24:32). This sensation indicated that their hearts were being purified. Thus, Jesus spent the afternoon of His resurrection day purifying hearts through teaching the Bible (see Eph 5:26). If we let Jesus purify our hearts, our words become powerful, healing, and life-changing, for we...

ROOTS

“It was to you and your children that the promise was made, and to all those still far off whom the Lord our God calls.” —Acts 2:39 On the third day of Easter, the Lord brings to our attention the birthday of the Church. At the first Christian Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out, three thousand people were baptized, and the Church was born (see Acts 2:41). Peter mentions at the beginning of his discourse that “it is only nine in the morning.” After one-hundred and twenty people received the Holy Spirit, Peter preached the Good News of Jesus’...

ROAD WARRIOR

The women “hurried away from the tomb half-overjoyed, half-fearful, and ran to carry the good news to His disciples. Suddenly, without warning, Jesus stood before them and said, ‘Peace!’ ” —Matthew 28:8-9 The women who came to Jesus’ tomb on the first day of the week did not meet Jesus at the tomb but on the road. He told them to tell His brothers to travel the road to meet Him in Galilee (Mt 28:10). That first afternoon after His Resurrection Jesus Himself met two disciples on the road and journeyed with them for about seven miles (Lk 24:13ff). The...