Monday, April 13, 2009

Resurrection Weekend Stuff

Resurrection Weekend, to this Pastor, is the greatest moment in the history of the church and in the life of every child of God.  For this is the day where we all gather to celebrate the very reason why we are able to be alive and in church in the first place.  On Friday He died, but early Sunday Morning He got up (I am shouting all over again as I am typing this).  Thank God for a dying and a resurrecting Savior.

This weekend was an especially draining yet extremely enriching one for me.  I returned on Thursday from an awesome time in Corpus Christi, TX, and had to preach the last word from Jesus on the Cross at a Good Friday service given by the Minister's Clergy Council of Englewood, Teaneck & Vicinity in Northern New Jersey under the leadership of my friend and brother, Dr. William Marcus Small, Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Englewood.  Let me tell you, that was one of the best Good Friday services that I have ever been apart of.  There was not one iota of a spirit of competition and every preacher stuck to their assignments and really did a great job.

On yesterday, I had the pleasure of preaching for my sister in the ministry Pastor Tracey Brown who pastors the Ruth Fellowship Ministries in Plainfield, NJ for their Sunrise service.  I am still struggling with my allergies and it became apparent early Sunday morning, that I really had to focus more intently than I normally do on making sure that I am not distracted by my own coughing.  Needless to say, the Lord showed up and blessed the presentation of His Word.  I preached a passage out of Mark 16:1-8 in which I labeled the message simply An Empty Tomb.  I argued that we can receive the newness of life only through our ability to embrace the truth of an empty tomb.

1.  Access to the Tomb

2.  Assurance in the Tomb

3.  Account of the Tomb

I continued our series at the First Mount Zion Church on the Beatitudes with an exposition on Matthew 5:5 entitled There's Power in A Surrendered Will.  Jesus teaches that if we are going to stand tall in this world, we must all possess a spirit of meekness.  The world views meekness to mean weakness, timidity, or lack of self-assurance.  But meekness does not mean weakness, but rather it means power under control, and we only are able to gain this type of control when we are able to look at ourselves with a spirit of poverty that says we are not who we think we are, and a mournful heart that cries tears of sorrow over the sinful actions that we have committed in our lives.  And this will cause us to surrender our will to the will of God to be the servant that he desires from us.  

4 comments:

Keith D. Witherspoon said...

Great Post,

As I have been telling you, you are a superstar preacher!

Vietta P's two cents worth said...

Pastor Mann, I prayed your strength in the Lord as well as for physical healing, after your departure back to New Jersey. After the completion of your strenuous assignment here in Corpus, and my assumption of your Pastoral duties and preaching in your pulpit on Sunday morning, that I learned just how MUCH preaching you actually had before you on Easter Sunday. As your Momma, I began to become a little concerned, knowing you just got over a bad cold, and you were suffering with allergies and a cough while in Texas. By the looks of it (via your blog post) God brought you through medically and he blessed the preached word. God be praised!!

I agree, that the resurrection season is a cause for GREAT celebration in the life of a child of God. Thank you Jesus!! Take care of yourself so you won't have a relapse of that cold. Don't forget the advice Pops gave you after you preached the other night. Love you.

Mother

Pastor Rev. Ray E. Owens said...

I have had all I can stand and I can't stand no more, you are coming to the Bend and maybe we can get it broke for Jesus. Macedonia must hear Mann, let me scrape my pennies together until they become what your caliber of preaching is worth, great preaching as usual.

Owens

Anonymous said...

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