If you prefer to worship at home at this time or simply wish to listen to the service or sermon again, please click on the link below to watch the entire worship service as a video on your home computer, tablet or smartphone:
Link to Video:
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/820165547?share=copy
Screencast-o-matic: https://screenpal.com/watch/c0f33kVzbIj
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If you would prefer not to view the video, you’re welcome to use the links below to have a time of worship at home. (Just right click on the link to “open link in a new tab” to play each hymn or the sermon in a separate tab, and close that tab when finished.)
CALL TO WORSHIP: (St. Teresa of Avila:)
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world…
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
HYMN Standing On The Promises
Standing On The Promises – led by Greater Vision
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLlJR61wKW0
A TIME OF PRAYER (Testimonies, Joys & Concerns)
Congregational Prayer − Almighty God, through Jesus Christ you overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life. Grant that we, who celebrate the day of our Lord’s resurrection, may, by the renewing of your Spirit arise from the death of sin to the life of righteousness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Please pray for yourself and your neighbors, lifting up your needs to God while giving thanks for answered prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
HYMN Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet
Amy Grant – Thy Word
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6LC8cu03Ig
MOMENTS WITH THE CHILDREN – If you are blessed to have children with you, ask them what they are thankful for, and then thank God together!
GIVING OF OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS – these can be mailed to the church office.
MESSAGE: “Did Not Our Hearts Burn Within Us … While He Opened To Us the Scriptures?”
Text: Luke 24:13-35
Series: Instructions for Resurrection
Right-click, open in new tab to play … Sermon audio … Sermon slides as a PDF file.
Wesley Sermon Audio
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SERMON NOTES
Luke 24:13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cle’opas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.”
25 And he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, 29 but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, 34 who said, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
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HYMN In The Garden
Alan Jackson – In The Garden (Live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhIGIfsLxVk
BENEDICTION The Prayer of St Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console
To be understood, as to understand
To be loved, as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
And it’s in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it’s in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
All Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
If you worship at home, please let us know so we can pray for you!
TRANSCRIPT
“Did not our hearts burn within us … while he opened to us the scriptures?”
We are talking in this season about the change from the way things were before Jesus was crucified to the way things become after Jesus rose from the dead.
On Thursday night, so many things happened at the Last Supper. Jesus washes the feet of the disciples; he talks about sending them the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. He says many things and prays the high priestly prayer for them. But the disciples were human beings. They had their own opinions and their own worldview. Sometimes, we put them on a pedestal, and when we do that, sometimes we miss the struggles that they are dealing with. Because they were people just like this. So in the midst of all these high and beautiful holy things, we find this verse in Luke Chapter 22: They took time to have an argument with each other about which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
You see, the disciples had their own worldview. They had their own understanding of what was true. They had their own understanding of what was going to happen. And I want you to understand; you know what they thought was going to happen? Jesus was going to be the Messiah, who was the king of kings, who would take over Israel, who would drive the Romans out through God’s miraculous power, as is predicted in the Old Testament. And as his closest friends, whatever happened, they would be there to be powerful, to be leaders, to be wealthy. They had followed him for three years. They had left behind businesses, and children, and families. This is how they thought it would all work.
But of course, even though he warned them, even though he told them, when the turning point came, you have to understand, it came as a great surprise. Because Jesus died on the cross, what now? And, of course, the Bible says they went into hiding because they were convinced that, if the Jewish leaders killed Jesus, they would kill the disciples next. All their dreams, and hopes, and ambitions were shattered. That’s what happens at a turning point: the whole world turns upside down. And what you thought was going to happen evaporates; all of a sudden, you realize the world is completely different.
Now, if that was not enough, on the third day, the world turned upside down again. Jesus came back to life. What’s going to happen now? Most of us, we just gloss over that because we assume, “Well, they’ll just go back to the way things were on Thursday.” But it wasn’t like that at all. These were shattering experiences. They did not know how to live in this different world. How will they adjust to this new reality?
I tried to think of a point in history that would remind us of the world turning itself upside down like that. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, 9/11, 21 years ago, seems about as close as we can get. I actually had the television on watching the news when the second plane hit the building. And the world changed. Our whole nation went into shock.
We had a shock with the pandemic a few years ago. Every now and then, I’m reminded of that. I sat on a park bench at the Missouri Botanical Gardens on Thursday morning. And I sat there and rested – I’ll be honest with you – while other people walked by. And I saw a young family, mom, dad, son, daughter, elementary school kids. They were outside on a windy day; they were all wearing masks. You know why they were wearing masks outside? They did not trust the other people that were in the garden that day. How do we adjust to a new reality?
Because these are the kinds of things, like 9/11, that happen on a Tuesday. These are the kind of things that can happen on any day. Our life can be turned upside down in a moment when the doctor gives us news that we don’t want to hear When someone we love is gone and no longer with us; when a marriage breaks apart and fails; when a child dies. Those things have happened to me. It’s hard to live in that turning point. How will we learn what we can trust as we adjust to a new reality?
Well, I think there’s a reason why this scripture is the first resurrection appearance of Jesus, apart from the empty tomb. Jesus appears because he has a lesson to teach. And in fact, I think to some degree, we can call this the first Sunday school class. Luke 24:13. That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. Now, you know why they were going? Once again, they were convinced they were the next on the list to be killed. And these two men were getting out of town before it happened. They were running away out of fear.
And while they were talking and discussing together on path, Jesus himself threw near and went with them. When we’re troubled, when we’re dealing with hard times, Jesus joins us, but sometimes unknown to us. Look at verse 16, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Jesus was there. But they didn’t know it. And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” Jesus is interested in how they feel.
And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named Cleopas answered him. “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” Now you know how you can tell that someone’s really interested in you? They’re curious about your opinion. They ask you questions like this. What things? How does it look to you? What do you think happened? Certainly, Jesus does not need to listen to their point of view, but Jesus wants to listen to their point of view.
And he said to them, “What things?” Now listen to this confused list of ideas. And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty, indeed, in word before God, and all the people. And how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified them.
And here is the mistaken understanding, but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. This hope is for a political redemption. And besides all of this, it’s now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us, they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body and they came back saying they’d even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and they found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. Now, notice these two men did not indicate that they believed that Jesus was alive. Just that confusing things were happening. In a turning point, there is a lot of confusion.
And now Jesus is ready to make an explanation. And he said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary …” I find those words very deep and full of meaning. “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he, Jesus, interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. Jesus went through the scriptures and made his explanation with scripture. And so they walked on learning what the Bible said was necessary.
The sun is going down. They drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him saying, “Stay with us for it’s toward evening and the day is now far spent.” The reason you did not want to be out after dark is that’s when the robbers and the murderers would come out and attack travelers. You were risking your life to be out in the dark.
So he, Jesus, went in to stay with them, and when He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him and He vanished out of their sight. Now, all of a sudden, Jesus reveals himself. And now everything is different. Now they have a purpose. They’re tired from the long walk, but now they have energy. Now they have something to tell. Verse 32, they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the scriptures.” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. “Who cares how dangerous it is. It’s time to go!” And they found the 11 gathered together and those who were with them who said, “The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon!” And they shared what had happened to them on the road. And what Jesus had said to them.
Friends from time to time, our life just turns upside down. The whole bottom just falls out. From time to time, things worse than anything we could imagine, just happen. Sometimes to us, sometimes to somebody we know, sometimes to someone on the news and our heart goes out to them and we care. But we also wonder, why? Each one of you probably has your own personal experience of this.
So on this very first Easter, Jesus comes to these two men. Just like He comes to us, I feel. To remind them that God has a purpose. But in a time of transition, in a time of turnover, like what we’re talking about, you and I are not able to understand.
That actually was the answer that God gave to Job: If I tried to explain this to you, you could not understand it. But that day, on the walk to Emmaus, Jesus did explain it to them. God has a purpose, and we hear that in those very simple words: Was it not necessary? Was it not necessary? For the things that happened to Jesus to happen? And He takes them through the Old Testament and He shows this scripture and this scripture and this scripture. And he adjusts their understanding to a new reality that gives them a completely different way of looking at their world, but also a completely different way of looking at this experience.
Now, some of the things that you and I experience are not because God thought they were necessary, but God does have a purpose so often, and it helps us to know it. But it helps us to believe that while we’re waiting for a new understanding, it helps us to believe this, that Jesus can and will explain the meaning of our lives to us. What we need to do is listen. He interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And Friends, when Jesus stops by and explains the scriptures to you, we need to listen.
Now, something else, please remember they did not know it was Jesus. So if you’re walking down the sidewalk and somebody comes up to you and begins to explain the scripture to you, you might as well listen anyway – even if they’re not Jesus – because there might be something wise. There might be something from God. There might be a gift for your understanding in what they’re being told.
And sometimes you and I might be the person who’s explaining the scripture to someone. How can we do that if we don’t read it? How can we do that if we don’t think about it? I think it’s always wise for us to be like Jesus. One of the best ways to be like Jesus is to explain the truth about God when people are confused and bewildered and hurt and suffering, and they need to hear some good news.
But after Jesus explains these things, understanding comes. So when we hit a turning point, when terrible things happen, when we don’t understand why, when we have no explanations, when everything that we had hoped and imagined turns out to be imaginary, when everything we assumed turns out to be a wrong assumption, sometimes all we have left is to believe in God and that God has our back. And after spending time with Jesus and spending time listening to explanations from the word of God, these two men are able to adjust to the worst three days of their lives. We can, too!
There’s a phrase I’d like to recommend to you when things are going wrong, but it’s a good phrase even when everything’s going right. And here’s that phrase: what did Jesus say about this? What did Jesus say about this? Because I guarantee you, as you’re struggling with overwhelming confusion and emotions, sometimes there will be a little voice that pops up in the back of your head that reminds you of something Jesus said. It might be from the other room, something you overhear. It might be that you just opened your Bible because you had nothing else to do and were reading it and just suddenly remembered that. My greatest wish is that sometimes, it might be from the sermon the previous Sunday! But something Jesus said or did will rise up in your mind and remind you even on the worst of days that God loves you, God cares for you, and God is there for you, and that other people are also there for you.
Please pray with me. Lord Jesus, the disciples did not have an easy time on Good Friday. They did not have an easy time on Saturday when they were afraid for their lives. And Lord, when they heard that you had risen from the dead and found great trouble believing that, but even more, Lord, when they could not even imagine what it meant, they could not predict the future, they could not think about what would happen next, Lord, they had to trust in you. They had to rely upon you. They had to wait upon your answer. They had to listen to you. Lord, help us when we have difficult days, whether these are days of small difficulties or the days where life completely turns upside down. Help us, Lord, also to listen for you, and may you minister to our hearts, even if they’re broken in those days. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: Let’s have a conversation! Please reflect upon the questions below as you consider the material presented above. In a comment, share your thoughts and additional questions. What would you like to know?
What grabbed your attention?
What is the human need or problem?
What questions do you have about any quotes provided?
Does the Bible say anything about this?
What solutions do you see for the problem?
What specifically could we begin to do to make a change?
Additional Resources
Kinmundy United Methodist Church is located at 308 E. Third Street, Kinmundy, IL 62854. Worship begins at 9 am Sundays. The building is handicap accessible.
Wesley United Methodist Church is located at 3381 Kinoka Road, Patoka, IL 62875 in the country between Kinmundy and Patoka. Worship begins at 10.45 am Sundays.
VISION: We are a functional family of God, where Jesus is Lord and people grow.
MISSION: Every layperson is called to carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20); every layperson is called to be missional. (¶126 of the 2016 Book of Discipline)
Paradigm: There are two kinds of people in this world: people who need to become disciples and disciples who need to become disciple makers.
(If you wish, you can listen to the Prayer of St. Francis being sung:
Sarah McLachlan – Prayer of St. Francis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agPnMxp5Occ )