Pastor's Outlines

      Passion -5   TITLE: One Sacrificed for All TEXT: John 18:28-19:37 TONE: Somber TARGET: All TASK: To exhort my listeners to take up their cross and follow Christ because of His cross. TEACH: Years ago, I took a mission to a coastal city in Mexico. I could smell the salty sea breeze as the fisherman were unloading their catch from the boats. The sound of seagulls filled the air as they would swoop down, hoping for a stray fish or two. I saw groups of fishermen working together to mend their fishing nets, each person skillfully weaving and repairing the intricate mesh. Their weathered hands move with practiced precision, a testament to the years spent at sea braving the elements. As I walked by, I saw small fishing boats bobbing gently in the water, their patched-up hulls telling stories of countless voyages and adventures on the open sea. As I walked out on the dock, the wood beneath my feet began to creak. I looked down and saw the wood stained by

    Passion -4   TITLE: Jesus and His Dark Night! TEXT: Matthew 26:47-68; John 18:1-14, 19-24 TONE: Somber TARGET: Both TASK: To exhort my listeners toward justice, mercy, and forgiveness in the face human injustice. TEACH: Amber Guyger, a former police officer, mistakenly entered the apartment of Botham Jean, an unarmed Black man, in Dallas, Texas, in 2018 and fatally shot him, believing he was an intruder in her own apartment. During Guyger’s trial, Botham Jean’s brother, Brandy Jean, publicly forgave Guyger for killing his brother and even hugged her in the courtroom. Brandt Jean’s act of forgiveness and compassion towards his brother’s killer touched the hearts of many and demonstrated the transformative power of forgiveness and mercy. Despite the terrible tragedy, Brandt Jean chose to extend grace and forgiveness to Guyger. TRUTH: The arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane exemplifies that themes of betrayal, faithfulness, sacrifice and d

      Passion-3   TITLE: Jesus and His Dark Night! TEXT: Mark 14:32-42 TONE: Somber TARGET: Believers TASK: To highlight the significance of Christ suffering in the Garden to stir my listeners to abide in Him. TEACH: Personal testimony of my own recent dark night. TRUTH: Gethsemane, by the Mount of Olives, was a garden just outside the city of Jerusalem. Gethsemane is a compound word meaning ‘oil press’, or ‘pressing of oils.’ It is believed the place could have been, besides a garden where trees great, an old oil press where olives were crushed to produce the famous oil we all have heard of. Basically, people would bring ripe olives, crush them under a millstone. The oil was then gathered in jars.   Olives need to be crushed to get the precious oil. The more pressure is applied during the crushing of the olives, the more oil you get. This is why the symbolism of Gethsemane is so important. It is the place where Jesus had to do through the pre