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Sword-Pierced

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Luke 2:25-35 March 30, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC The wind was oddly quiet, but it would get that way when the sky went dark. Still, with the scene before her, she expected a much more violent setting. It had certainly been a violent day, the ugliest day she could remember and hoped she would ever experience. It should be raining, lightning, thundering, something! It shouldn’t just be quiet enough that all you could hear is the moaning of the men dying on the crosses in front of her. Well, that and the laughter of the soldiers who were playing games at the foot of the crosses, waiting for the men to die so they could go home. But even their laughter was muted. The darkness had done that. Mary was tired. Bone-weary tired. It had been a long week. No, not just a long week. It had been a long three years, full of conflict and questions and misunderstandings. She loved that man in the middle. He was hers. He had always been hers. From the moment the angel appeared to her and told he...
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Sword-Pierced (Study Guide)

  “Sword-Pierced” Sermon Study Guide for March 30, 2025 Downloadable Version Scripture: Luke 2:25-35 1. Road to the Temple Luke 1:28 - “highly favored” Matthew 1:19 - “faithful to the law” Leviticus 12:1-8 Exodus 13:2-14 Simeon 2. Road to Calvary Egypt - Matthew 2:13 “Lost” in the Temple - Luke 2:41-50 Gethsemane Calvary Grief Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What does it mean to be “highly favored”? How does your understanding match up with Mary’s experience? How do parents demonstrate their “faithfulness” to God when children are born today? What rituals do you have in your family that helps the child see Jesus? In what way(s) do you think being a refugee in Egypt shaped Jesus? his family? Consider how Jesus’ words about “his father’s house” (Luke 2:49) must have affected both Joseph and Mary. Why would those words have pierced her soul? Assuming Judas was a friend of Mary’s, in what way would his betrayal have affected her? Have you ever had a similar situatio...
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The Power We Need

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Matthew 26:47-56 March 23, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC Power. It’s what we want. It’s what we need. It’s what we expect. Remember those weeks over the last two summers when the big storms came through—we learned a new word, “derecho”—and took out power for most of our area? We had to learn to live without power, and we even had worship without power out in the shelter house the one year. Whenever the power goes out, we become keenly aware of how dependent we are on electrical power. Generator sales soared after both of those storms because we just don’t like to go without power. But we not only want, need and expect electrical power. We also want, need and expect worldly power—in today’s world, specifically political power. Christians are vulnerable to the temptations of gaining influence by cozying up to those who are in charge—or think they are in charge. Many, many times throughout history, the church and the state have come together and it’s never gone well for the church. Ab...
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The Power We Need (Study Guide)

  “The Power We Need” Sermon Study Guide for March 23, 2025 Downloadable Version Scripture: Matthew 26:47-56 Power… 1. Gethsemane Judas and the crowd Peter and the sword 2. A Different Path a. The power of ______________________ transactional vs. grace b. The power of _____________________ Acts 1:8 Zechariah 4:6 c. The power of ____________________ Jesus Barabbas Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What kind(s) of power exist in our world today? Which kind(s) of power do people try the most to get ahold of? How do you imagine the moods of the disciples in Gethsemane? How would you have reacted when Judas shows up? Why does Jesus still call Judas “friend” in the garden? What kind of power does the sword represent? How do you see it displayed in our current world? How would you have reacted to Jesus allowing himself to be arrested? Why do you think you would have reacted that way? When have you experienced the power of forgiveness? What happened? How did it affe...
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