Morning Message: April 27

In our third week of Easter rejoicing we’ll hear stories of the earliest Christians.  They were called “Followers of the Way,” and the “Way” was Jesus.  They were baptized, and they participated in the Breaking of the Bread, what we call Mass.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

But Peter, raised his voice and addressed them, “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs, this man, this Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.”  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”  Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 

Think about this silently in your heart.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to come to you.

We thank you, loving God, for the gift of Baptism.  In Baptism you call us to our Christian dignity; you call us to be your sons and daughters.  We pray that we may be faithful to this call.  We ask this in the name of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Boys and girls…I have a question for you…What do all of these things have in common? [Tsunami; Tornado; Volcano; Heatwave; Avalanche; Earthquake]

Do you give up?  All of these things are unstoppable.

They can’t be stopped.

And that’s the case with the message about Jesus.

Nothing can stop it from spreading around the world and people becoming followers of Jesus.

After the Holy Spirit came, giving the disciples the power and help they needed to begin telling people that Jesus was alive, that same day in Jerusalem, Peter got up and preached a sermon (a kind of talk) about Jesus to a large crowd that had gathered.

Peter told them about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, and that He was the Savior who they must trust in, and the King they must obey.

And lots of the people who were listening did just that.

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3000 people became followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. In fact every day the number of followers of Jesus went up and up.

Boys and girls, let us take care to live in ways that give glory to Jesus.  Today and every day, let’s decide to live with love and kindness, forgiveness and gratitude, prayer and rejoicing, so that we might draw others to Jesus.

Have a wonderful day!