Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. May 12, 2019 Text: Revelation 7:15, Acts: 9:36-43, Revelation 7:9-17 We awakened this morning to a beautiful world. Spring is in the air. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. Our world is a gift. God made it, and it is good. God crowned His creation with humanity. He made humanity in His image and it was good – like the rest of creation. But human goodness leaves much…
Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. May 5, 2019 Text: Act 2:32, New Testament: I Peter 1:3-9, Acts of the Apostles: 2:14a, 36-41 How many of us have been in a courtroom to watch a trial? How many of us have watched a courtroom on television? There’s a great difference between watching a courtroom on television and being in a courtroom. Television courtrooms lack the intimacy of experiencing a courtroom. There is nothing like…
Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. April 28, 2019 Text: Revelation 1:8, Gospel: Acts 5:27-32, New Testament: Revelation 1:4-8 We’re aware of our human predicament. We love life. Yet we’re aware it will not last. There’s an ending date ahead for all of us. We don’t know when or where that Omega moment will come. But it will come. Will our Omega moment come in an instant, in a flash without our awareness of…
Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. April 21, 2019 Text: Luke 24:13-14, O.T.: Isaiah 65:17-25, N.T.: Luke 24:1-12 That first Easter morning, the 11 Apostles’ reaction to Mary Magedelene, Joanna, Jesus’ mother Mary’s was disbelief. The women reported Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus’ Apostles said they were fabricating a tale. Later that day, on the Emmaus Road, two disciples were discussing the women’s report about Jesus rising from the dead. Luke’s Gospel gives us little description…
Rev. John J. Lolla, Jr. April 18, 2019 Text: Luke 22:3, N.T.: Luke 22:28-34 Maundy Thursday Jesus’ chosen twelve faced the darkest hour of their lives this night. Years beyond this evening, long after Easter, they would face their private Gethsemanes, and suffer their personal Calvary’s. But in those future challenging times they would know better the outcome of God’s righteousness. They would not be terrified like they were this night. By the end…