Three-minute sermons for Lent. One a day. Rev. J. R. Caines
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Matthew 26:37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.There are glimpses of Jesus’ heart, his human emotional life in the gospels.Here we see the human heart of Jesus.We see the reality of his true human nature, that he was one of us. We see the depths of his grief.v 38 Then he said to them, “My …
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Luke 23:32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him,[d] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But…
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John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was …
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Isaiah 50:5-6 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.Jesus listened to the word of the Father and obeyed him and did not turn backward. He obeyed even when he was struck and abused…
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John 13: 36-38 Simon Peter said to [Jesus], “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooste…
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Isaiah 42:1“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.The first few verses of Isaiah 42 is a servant song. Isaiah prophecies the coming of Jesus, the Servant of God. “Behold My Servant” is God speaking.Jesus pleases God. God delights in him.He …
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1 Kings 1:1Now King David was old and advanced in years…24 And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? 25 For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar…
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Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.The number one thing you can do for your family, friends, church, neighbors, coworkers is go in a room alone and shut the door and pray and worship God. Go to your desolate place alone.Every day Leave everyone t…
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Luke 15:8-10 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the ang…
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Hebrews 10:24-25And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another… A church is a kind of team. The Bible is full of sports metaphors. We are partnering together, pursuing victory. Victory over who? The devil.What is victory? V…
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Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.We were created in the image of God, but by our sin that image of God was marred and disfigured in us.Vandalized. Defaced. Mutilated.But we need Christ in order to be human.We are recreated in Jesus.Jesus who is the new perfect…
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John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.Eternal life is knowing Jesus.Do you know Jesus Christ?Do you want to know him better?Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. “ We see God the Father in Jesus.When Paul prayed for other Christians he prayed “that you may …
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Luke 10: 8-9 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’“the kingdom of God” is a future event, an action of God not man, when Christ will conquer and rule everything at his return.BUT Jesus tells them to proclaim “the kingdom of God has …
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Matthew 23:4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.Beware of proud Bible teachers.Beware of proud pastors and speakers and authors. Beware of proud saints and their words and example. Arrogant elites, the pure ones.In their teaching they pile o…
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Nehemiah 8: 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard… 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive t…
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Luke 8:22 One day [Jesus] got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.v 24a And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are dying…
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Luke 12:15 Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. In the USA we have lost our minds. We think we need all this stuff. We think we are suffering when we don’t have all this stuff. We expect luxury or we are bitter.We expect entertainment or we are bored. We expec…
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Leviticus 1:3 ”He shall bring [the burnt offering] to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord."Daily we come to God in prayer in Jesus name. Only by Jesus sacrifice may we be accepted before God and live in daily communion with him.Jesus offered up himself that we may be accepted before the Father.v 4 "He shall …
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Luke 14:28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it ?29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Are you going to be able to finish what yo…
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1 Thessalonians 1:5 "Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction."I hear people say: Sermons are boring. Reading the Bible is dull. I don’t like books and school. There is too much talk and not enough power. Where is the power of God like in ancient times? Where is the power of God in t…
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Luke 14: 25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.Jesus is followed by great crowds of people but he is not impressed by there coming out to hear him.H…
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Romans 3:25 Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.Propitiation means Christ spilled his blood to placate or satisfy the wrath of God. Most people don’t like this idea. Many churches have cut it right out of their doctrine and thrown it away. Though it is the teaching of the Apostles. “For the time is coming when people wi…
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Luke 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”Jesus looks at his disciples. He is speaking to disciples. Those who believe in and obey Jesus.Not speaking to outsiders. Blessed are you who are poor.They are poor because they left so much to follow Jesus. Some were poor…
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Luke 10:30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on …
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Luke 5:4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”They had toiled all night and caught nothing.at dawn they beach their boats and begin to wash, mend and dry their ne…
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Luke 14:12-14[Jesus] said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because t…
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Luke 14:7-11 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place…
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Luke 4[1] And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, …
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Isaiah 2:17 The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.American culture admires pride. Most of our famous and admired people are proud. We have received the message: pride is good. Lift yourself up. Put yourself forward. admire yourself.Follow your own heart. Practice self-esteem. Co…
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Matthew 5:44 I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…Jesus commands that we love our enemies.This means love the people that are the hardest to love. The people you hate to love.Love the one you do not like, you find unlovable.Love those who never love you, but only hurt you.Love those on the other side of every differe…
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Matthew 6Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name.”Hallowed be your name. What does that mean?The thought is this: May your name be treated as holy. May your name be treated with reverence and honor. By me today. and others today.Many Christians are not reverent. Think little of God. By this prayer God will become greater an…
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Luke 14One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him aw…
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Luke 11And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.In prayer you ask for what you already have.Prayer is something like eating.As long as food is outside your body it does you n…
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2 Chronicles 20After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea… Then Jehoshaphat was afraid. Are you afraid today? There may be something that overwhelms you. Something that is c…
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Luke 13:12-13And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And Jesus laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. This…
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Matthew 25:31-32When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.Are you ready for that day?The day when Jesus looks at each one of us and separates u…
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Luke 5:27-28After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, Levi rose and followed him.Jesus calls a tax collector to be his disciple.Not because he is worthy.Jesus calls him because he is unworthy.Jesus calls those who are unqualified to be his discipl…
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Isaiah 58:7“Is not this the fast that I choose… Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him…”Fasting is about repentance. Repentance from sin.Repentance is turning away from sin, leaving sin behind, to live a new way. To fast is to begin a new way of life, to enter …
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Luke 9“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”Every time that Jesus predicts his own death on the cross he follows that with another teaching.Ever…
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Joel 2:12“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.”Do you ever weep for your sins?The reason we have so little joy in God and so little joy in obedience to God is that we have so few tears.The more we weep and mourn over our rebell…
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