The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers for Sunday, April 16, 2023 — Second Sunday of Easter

 

The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)

Opening Statement

To those who have not seen the risen Christ, the three New Testament readings repeat the bold good news of Easter—that death could not hold Jesus in its power. Like Thomas and the other disciples, and like the readers of 1 Peter, however, we live in the midst of trials and suffering, doubt and fear. Jesus’ resurrection invites us to a resilient, specially blessed faith (John 20:29b) that does not end with doubt or fear or suffering. Our readings proclaim that life is our ultimate end and God’s aim for us, and we may rejoice even now in this  “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3).

 

Post Easter Hangover

Opening Prayer
(adapted from Acts 2, 1 Peter 1, John 20)

Stand among us once again, risen Christ, and bless us with your greeting: “Peace be with you.” Stand among us once again, Exalted Brother, and breathe upon us your promised Spirit. Stand among us once again, You Who Have Escaped Death, and give us new birth into your living hope. Amen.

The Collect
(from the Book of Common Prayers)

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Call to Confession

Even though we have come through the joy of Easter and the triumphant Easter songs, yet we doubt, Lord. Like Thomas who walked the Judean countryside with Jesus, we still have trouble believing in the resurrection of Jesus. We easily slip back into the darkness of doubts. We move the joy of Easter into the past and continue in a downward path to confusion. Shine your bright light of joy upon us. Lighten our dark path. Help us to believe, even though we have not seen you, touched your hands and side. Help us to proclaim Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Do not fear, dear friends. Jesus is among us, offering us new life and hope. Nothing can prevent God’s love for us. Rejoice, for you have been made new in Christ. Amen.

Today’s Verse-of-the-Day:

Romans 13:8

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

As a nation, the United States has ignored these truths. It is not unusual to hear of people who are standing on the brink of bankruptcy. Many individuals feel as though they are no more than sixty days away from becoming homeless or in dire financial need. Sadly, our society has bought into a buy-now and pay-later philosophy.

We have believed a lie, and now we are choking on it. But God does not want His people to be in unnecessary financial debt. The only thing we are to owe others is our love, which we are to give freely and in tangible forms. Why is the Lord concerned about our debt? The price of indebtedness is steep. God knows that when we are in financial bondage, we are not completely free. We are bound to those who hold the deed to our debts.

God wants us to learn how to live free and not be enslaved to debt. You can do this when you apply His principles to your life. Begin by setting a goal to spend less, manage a budget—no matter how meager your income seems—and obey God by tithing your income. When you obey Him in these matters, you are saying, “Lord, I trust You. I want Your best. And I believe that You will show me how to live correctly.”

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
First Reading
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
God fulfills the promise to David

2:14a Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:

22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:

   “‘I saw the Lord always before me.
      Because he is at my right hand,
      I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
      my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
      you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
      you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.

A Psalm and A Prayer
Responsive Readings from the Psalms and Prayers
for Public Worship and Private Devotions
Psalm 16
Fullness of joy
Conserva me, Domine

1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; *
    I have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord,
      my good above all other.”

2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land, *
    upon those who are noble among the people.

3 But those who run after other gods *
    shall have their troubles multiplied.

4 Their libations of blood I will not offer, *
    nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.

5 O LORD, you are my portion and my cup; *
    it is you who uphold my lot.

6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *
    indeed, I have a goodly heritage.

7 I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; *
    my heart teaches me, night after night.

8 I have set the LORD always before me; *
    because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.

9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; *
    my body also shall rest in hope.

10 For you will not abandon me to the grave, *
     nor let your holy one see the Pit.

11 You will show me the path of life; *
     in your presence there is fullness of joy,
       and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Heavenly Father, because You have revealed Yourself truly to us in the Bible, we know that we can come to You for protection and refuge. We do look with favor, even as You do, upon those who strive to live holy in Your name. We pray that You would defend them and all who seek to live wholly for You, even at the risk of their lives or livelihood. Even as those who worship false gods come to sorrow, we pray that You would keep us from depending upon the things of this world instead of trusting completely in You. Amen.

Second Reading
From the Epistles
1 Peter 1:3-9
New birth to a living hope

1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Gospel Acclamation
(John 20:29)

Alleluia.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Alleluia.

Today’s Gospel Reading
John 20:19-31
Beholding the wounds of the risen Christ

20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Here end the Readings

Click HERE to read today’s Holy Gospel Lesson message

The Nicene Creed

 

The Nicene Creed

• We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried. The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.

• And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord's Prayer — Our Father Who Art in Heaven

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that 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, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Communion

 

Holy Communion
A nondenominational serving of bread and wine

Though no video can truly replace the experience of celebrating together in our places of worship, we know that where two or more are gathered, the Lord is present. This table is open to all who recognize Jesus Christ as healer and redeemer. This table is open to all who work to bring God’s Kingdom here on earth. No one is turned away because of life circumstances. No one is barred from this table. No one seeking God’s abundant grace and mercy is turned aside. We see before us the abundance that a life of faith offers as we respond to God’s everlasting mercy in prayer and deed.

Benediction
(adapted from Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1, John 20)

In great mercy, God has given us a new birth into a living hope, for it is the risen Christ who stands in our midst and says, “Peace be with you!” We go forth to walk the path of new life and living hope. And may the peace of the risen Christ be with us!

Change The World

Christ’s death and resurrection mean that we are invited to join God in his plan to redeem this broken world. It’s not just a wishful idea; it’s a call to every follower of Jesus to change the world.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets].

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Responsive Readings from the Common Book of Prayer (1789).

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2023, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2022 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Sunday Lectionary and Prayers for Sunday, April 16, 2023
Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
To those who have not seen the risen Christ, the three New Testament readings repeat the bold good news of Easter—that death could not hold Jesus in its power. Like Thomas and the other disciples, and like the readers of 1 Peter, however, we live in the midst of trials and suffering, doubt and fear. Jesus’ resurrection invites us to a resilient, specially blessed faith that does not end with doubt or fear or suffering. Our readings proclaim that life is our ultimate end and God’s aim for us, and we may rejoice even now in this  “living hope.”

“Easter - Fact Or Fiction? The Cure For Doubt” The Gospel Message for April 16, 2023 — Second Sunday of Easter

Our Gospel message comes to us today from the 20th chapter of John, beginning with the 19th verse.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

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.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, NIV)

Dear Heavenly Father, you have revealed yourself to us through your Word, recorded in the Scriptures, spoken by the prophets, but most clearly, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, your Word become flesh. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your Word so that we might perceive your presence among us, embrace your truth for our lives, and gain the courage to witness your redeeming grace to others. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.

“Easter - Fact Or Fiction?

The Cure For Doubt”

“The Easter story is nothing but a myth,” Tom’s high school teacher announced to his class a few days before Easter break. “Jesus not only didn’t rise from the grave,” he continued, “but there’s no God in heaven who would allow his son to be crucified in the first place.”

“Sir, I believe in God,” Tom protested. “And I believe in the resurrection.”

“Tom, you can believe what you wish to, of course,” the teacher said, “However, the real world excludes the possibility of miracles like the resurrection. The resurrection is a scientific impossibility. No one who believes in miracles can also respect science.”

Then the teacher proposed an experiment. Reaching into his refrigerator, he produced a raw egg and held it up. “I’m going to drop this egg on the floor,” he said. “Gravity will pull it toward the floor that the egg will most certainly break apart.” Looking at Tom with a challenge, he said, “Now, Tom, I want you to pray right now and ask your God to keep this egg from breaking when it hits the floor. If he can do that, then you’ll have proven your point, and I’ll have to admit that there is a God.”

After pondering the challenge momentarily, Tom slowly stood up to pray: “Dear Heavenly Father,” Tom prayed, “I pray that when my teacher drops the egg, it will break into a hundred pieces. And also, Lord, I pray that when the egg does break, my teacher will have a heart attack and die. Amen.”

After a unison gasp, the class sat in silent expectation. For a moment, the teacher did nothing. At last, he looked at Tom and then at the egg. Without a word, he carefully put the egg back into the refrigerator. “Class dismissed,” the teacher said, and then he sat down to clear his desk.

The teacher apparently did believe in God’s existence more than he thought. Many people, like that teacher, deny that God exists, yet run from him, question him, and attack him whenever they get the chance. That teacher wasn’t willing to bet his life that God didn’t exist.

Many people doubt the existence of God. Many people doubt the resurrection. On that first Easter many years ago, one of the disciples refused to believe in the resurrection. He had doubts. Today we are going to take a look at that man and see how his doubts are our doubts. We’ll also see how Jesus healed this man of the disease of doubt and how he heals us today.

On Easter night, the disciples were together in a house, hiding behind locked doors. Several of them had seen Jesus alive, and now they were scared. What were the Jewish leaders going to do? Would they be arrested now? Would they be accused of stealing the body? Would anyone believe them if they told people Jesus had risen from the dead? They were hiding from the Pharisees and Sadducees—hoping to avoid confrontation.

Suddenly, Jesus was standing in the middle of them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Jesus always says just the right thing at the right time, doesn’t he? He tells them that they can feel peace in their hearts. He was there, and they had nothing to worry about. He showed them his hands and side to prove to them that he wasn’t a ghost but that he was the same Jesus they had known, the same Jesus they had seen crucified just three days earlier.

The Apostle Thomas wasn’t there. When he returned, the disciples told him that Jesus had appeared to them. But Thomas didn’t believe: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” You can’t get much more skeptical than that, can you? I will not believe unless I see visible proof.

Why does Thomas refuse to believe? Because Thomas was a practical person, he lived in a practical world. He was shattered on Good Friday when Jesus died. But he wasn’t about to succumb to fantasy. Dead was dead, and that was it. No one in their right mind would doubt it when the Romans said a prisoner was dead. They were experts at killing! It’s not that Thomas didn’t want to believe that Jesus was still alive. But Thomas knew how the world worked. Dead was dead, and that was it.

That’s how our world sees Jesus’ resurrection today. Nice idea, but it didn’t really happen. Many people are set on proving that the resurrection of Jesus was a spiritual resurrection. Jesus arose only in the sense that his spirit goes marching on, sort of life the way the spirit of Abraham Lincoln continues to influence America.

But William Lane Craig, perhaps the world’s foremost authority on the resurrection, dismisses such a theory. Dr. Craig is an English scholar with two earned doctoral degrees. Currently, he teaches at the University of Louvain near Brussels. Dr. Craig points out that it would have been a contradiction in terms of an early Jew to say that someone was raised from the dead, but his body was left in the tomb. That’s not how people talked back then.

Furthermore, Dr. Craig points out numerous disciples were executed because they would not deny the resurrection. No sane person would die for something that didn’t happen. Of all the events that took place in the first century, no historical event has better or more widespread documentation than the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And yet, we Christian today live in a sea of doubt. And when you’re swimming in doubt, it’s hard not to get wet and have that doubt seep into your thinking. Have you ever doubted? Have you ever wondered about the whole business of Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection? Have you ever asked yourself if your faith is really only a superstition? Have you ever wondered, “Am I a Christian only because my parents were? Often we’re afraid to face our doubts because we’re afraid of what we might find. We’re fearful of what others might think. People might find out how weak our faith really is, so we keep our doubts to ourselves. And yet, our doubts don’t go away—they’re always there, and like a cancer, our doubt slowly eats away at our faith until we believe in Jesus less and less, and we become more and more skeptical, like Thomas, in our story for today.

What can you do to get rid of doubt? Nothing, really. There is no cure on this earth that will take away your doubts. If they find Noah’s ark up in the mountain, if they find the burial shroud of Christ, if all of your friends and family have the most amazing arguments in the world – none of those things can cure you of your doubt. Only one thing can.

That one thing happened to Thomas one week later. The disciples were together on the Sunday after Easter, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked again. Suddenly, Jesus was standing in the middle of them. “Peace be with you,” Jesus says again. And then, he focuses on Thomas. He invites Thomas to do what he said he wanted to do—to touch the wounds he had sustained on the cross. “Stop doubting and believe,” Jesus told Thomas.

This is what cured Thomas of his doubt. Thomas responded by saying, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas had become a man of faith, a man who believed in Jesus, even though everything he knew about the world would tell him otherwise.

The only solution, the only way, that you can get rid of the doubt in your heart is to have moments with Jesus Christ like Thomas had that Sunday after Easter. “Now, wait for a second,” you might say. “Jesus appeared to Thomas. How am I supposed to have a moment like that?” When does Jesus come to you and speak to you, as he spoke to Thomas? When does Jesus chase away your doubts? When does he transform you into someone who strongly believes in him, like Thomas did after it was all over?

Today, Jesus comes to you in an invisible way through his Word. Every time you hear the Word of God, Jesus steps into your life and says, “Peace be with you.” Every time you receive the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is right there, through his body and blood, and he chases away your doubts and fills you with faith, hope, and trust in him. Through the Word, through the Sacraments, that’s how Jesus appears to you and speaks to you, just as he spoke to Thomas.

I was reading an article from a student publication put out by the WELS called “Lightsource.” It’s written by college students about their experiences in college. The article on the front page is entitled “Faith vs. Reason,” and it’s about a student who was really wrestling with doubts about her faith in God. The classes she took had caused her to question the existence of God. She was losing her faith, swimming in a sea of doubt. Trying to rely on her reason to find proof that God exists, that Jesus rose from the dead.

But it doesn’t work that way. You don’t get rid of your doubts that way. And then, she turned to the only thing that could cure her of her doubt: “Finally, I turned to the Word of God to find a foothold,” she said. “I needed the Holy Spirit to change me and fan into flame once more the faith in my heart.” God is who changed her, and he did that through his Word.

That’s how Jesus changes you today. In verse 29, Jesus says to Thomas: “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.” Jesus is talking about you. You have not seen him with your own eyes like Thomas. But you have believed. You have believed by having Jesus come to you in an invisible way through his Word. The Apostle John tells us that Jesus did other miraculous signs that are not recorded in the Bible. “But these are written” (these stories, these accounts of Jesus and his disciples) “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Stay close to the Word of God. Take the Lord’s Supper regularly. Let Jesus speak to your heart, just as he spoke to Thomas. Let Jesus take away your doubts. Let Jesus change you into a Christian who strongly believes that Jesus is the Christ, even though you have never seen him. May God grant you the same heart he granted to Thomas, a heart that says, “My Lord and my God.” Amen.

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Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Today's sermon shared by Don Schultz on Mar 28, 2002.
“The Easter story is nothing but a myth,” Tom’s high school teacher announced to his class a few days before Easter break.

The Morning Prayer for Sunday, April 16, 2023

 

The Morning Prayer
Sunday, April 16, 2023

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:6-7, NIV

Lord our God, we come seeking to find community with you and ask you to keep us in your truth throughout all that occupies us in our daily lives. Keep us from growing confused about truths we have already found through the witness of your Spirit in our hearts. Keep us in your truth so that we can hold firmly to our course on earth under the many hardships and burdens that try to drag us down. Help us to remain steady and to find the path that goes straight ahead, leading us on and on to your final goal. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Sunday, April 16, 2023

 

Verse of the Day
Sunday, April 16, 2023

Romans 13:8

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

As a nation, the United States has ignored these truths. It is not unusual to hear of people who are standing on the brink of bankruptcy. Many individuals feel as though they are no more than sixty days away from becoming homeless or in dire financial need. Sadly, our society has bought into a buy-now and pay-later philosophy.

We have believed a lie, and now we are choking on it. But God does not want His people to be in unnecessary financial debt. The only thing we are to owe others is our love, which we are to give freely and in tangible forms. Why is the Lord concerned about our debt? The price of indebtedness is steep. God knows that when we are in financial bondage, we are not completely free. We are bound to those who hold the deed to our debts.

God wants us to learn how to live free and not be enslaved to debt. You can do this when you apply His principles to your life. Begin by setting a goal to spend less, manage a budget—no matter how meager your income seems—and obey God by tithing your income. When you obey Him in these matters, you are saying, “Lord, I trust You. I want Your best. And I believe that You will show me how to live correctly.”

Read all of Romans Chapter 13

Listen to Romans Chapter 13

Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Travel the World from Home — The Dead Sea: Hope in a Dead Place

 

The Holy Land:
Connecting the Land with Its Stories
The Dead Sea: Hope in a Dead Place
Season 3 — Episode 9

How does Jesus’ own baptism affect our own baptism into God’s family today?

“The Holy Land: Connecting the Land with Its Stories” Season 3 is a nine-episode series hosted by Dr. John (Jack) Beck that takes you to the Jordan River Valley systems to experience the land, the culture, and the customs that surround the sacred stories of the Bible.

In the ninth and final episode of “The Holy Land” Season 3, Dr. Jack Beck takes us to the Dead Sea to illustrate that although our lives may seem bitter and unchanging like its landscape, Jesus is in the business of making all things new.

Season 3 — Episode 9 | The Dead Sea: Hope in a Dead Place