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When Your Hope Has No Pulse (Study Guide)

“When Your Hope Has No Pulse” Sermon Study Guide for April 5, 2026 Downloadable Version Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10 1. Jesus Was Dead waiting through the night… 2. Signs of Resurrection a. ___________________________ Matthew 16:13-22 b. ___________________________ “come and see” c. ___________________________ 1 Corinthians 15:12-58 3. “Go and Tell.” 1 Corinthians 11:26 Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What are some of the emotions the disciples would have experienced in the wake of Jesus’ death? Why do you think the men disciples stayed home on Sunday morning? Recall a time when you have “waited through the night.” What happened? What helped you get through? Which one of the “signs” that God gave the women would have helped you the most? Why that one? Why do you think the disciples didn’t believe Jesus’ words about dying and rising again? Would you have believed them? Why or why not? What hope does Jesus’ resurrection give you in your current state of life? How is h...
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Finish Line

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John 19:28-37 April 3, 2026 (Good Friday) • Mount Pleasant UMC If you come with me to Israel sometime (I’m just getting the shameless plug out of the way early tonight), one of the places we will for sure visit is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The church itself dates back to the fourth century and is owned or supervised by six different Christian traditions: Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac and Ethiopian Orthodox. These six traditions, however don’t get along, so much so that the actual key to the building that unlocks and locks the huge front doors is held by a Muslim family who has had it for almost 1300 years. One physical proof of their refusal to cooperate is a ladder that was placed on a ledge outside a window sometime in the first part of the 18th century. Because of a “Status Quo” agreement that says all six have to agree before moving anything in or around the church, the ladder is still there today and has been given the name the “immovable l...
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The Agony of Spirit and Arrest

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Matthew 26:36-50 April 3, 2026 • Southside Good Friday Service How many times in one night can Jesus’ heart break? And which time broke his heart the most? The location he chose for his last free act was a place of crushing. Gethsemane means “oil press” and not far from the spot where Jesus fell on the ground in prayer is a place where olives were daily put under a heavy rock, crushed, pressed, broken so as to squeeze out the precious oil. And make no mistake—Jesus is being crushed this night by what is coming. He is “sorrowful and troubled” (26:37), and every moment of this night presents another heartbreak. First, Jesus makes what on the surface seems to be a simple request of his three closest friends: “Stay here and keep watch with me” (26:38). He’s going a bit further into the garden to talk to the Father but he needs to know that these friends, these disciples, are standing (or sitting) with him. Tonight of all nights, Jesus needs to know he is not alone. It’s to these ...
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Scared to Death

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Mark 14:17-26 ; Psalm 23 April 2, 2026 (Maundy Thursday) • Mount Pleasant UMC When evening came, he did not want to be in the valley. It was dark enough here during the day, but sometimes he had to lead the sheep through it. And at night, it was really dark. Nahal Faran it was named; most people just called it the “Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Jerusalem was one way; Jericho was the other, but because of the way the hills were situated around it, sunlight rarely if ever reached the depths of the valley. The gorge was too narrow and the surrounding rock faces were too steep. Walking through it, even with sheep in search of water, was usually a dark experience. And so it had happened that one day, sitting along the edge of the stream as the sheep drank, the shepherd boy David had been praying and thinking about the ways God was working in his life. He knew how many of his fellow shepherds avoided this valley, and that meant when he came here it was usually pretty quiet. He love...
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Welcoming the King

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Matthew 21:1-11 March 29, 2026 (Palm Sunday) • Mount Pleasant UMC He arrived in Bethlehem under the cover of night. Quietly, almost secretly, in a way no one expected. The only ones to know that night, besides his mother and earthly father, were some no-good lowlifes who job meant they were out in a field this time of year. After they knew, they went and told everyone around, but no one listened to them. Their testimony was useless, inadmissible in court and unlistenable in the streets (cf. Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement , pg. 48; Hamilton, The Journey , pg. 113). So, for a while, the news that the king of the world had arrived was kept quiet. Maybe there was a stir when some astrologers arrived in Bethlehem from a far-off land, but after that the family disappeared for years and no one thought much about them. There was no one there besides his parents and a few animals to welcome the king. Thirty years later, this baby moved from obscurity to prominence. He began teachin...
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