John 11:25-27, John 14:6-7, Hebrews 7:15-17, Ephesians 5:14
April 20, 2025
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“Well I remember how they scorned the son of Mary.
He was gentle as a lamb, gentle as a lamb,
He was beaten, He was crucified, and buried,
And in the night, my hope was gone.

But the rulers of this earth could not control Him.
No, they did not take His life—He laid it down.
And all the chains of death could never hope to hold Him,
So in the night, my hope lives on.

And I can see the Son of Man descending,
And the sword He swings is brighter than the dawn,
And the gates of hell will never stand against Him,
So in the night, my hope lives on.”

~ Andrew Peterson, “In the Night”

“A marvellous and mighty paradox has thus occurred, for the death which they thought to inflict on Him as dishonour and disgrace has become the glorious monument to death’s defeat.”

~ Athanasius of Alexandria (298-373), theologian, church Father, and the 12th bishop of Alexandria

“Why would the apostles lie? Liars always lie for selfish reasons. If they lied, what was their motive, what did they get out of it? What they got out of it was misunderstanding, rejection, persecution, torture, and martyrdom. Hardly a list of perks!”

~ Peter Kreeft, author, theologian, apologist, and philosophy professor at Boston College

“Let us band together to invent all the miracles and resurrection appearances which we never saw and let us carry the sham even to death! Why not die for nothing? Why dislike torture and whipping inflicted for no good reason? Let us go out to all nations and overthrow their institutions and denounce their gods! And even if we don’t convince anybody, at least we’ll have the satisfaction of drawing down on ourselves the punishment for our own deceit.”

~ Eusebius Pamphili (260/265-339/340), Bishop, historian, theologian and writer

“Strange dim memories, which will not abide identification, often, through misty windows of the past, look out upon me in the bright daylight, but I never dream now. It may be, notwithstanding, that, when most awake, I am only dreaming the more. But when I wake at last into that life which, as a mother her child, carries this life in its bosom, I shall know that I wake, and shall doubt no more, I wait; asleep or awake, I wait. Novalis says, ‘Our life is no dream, but it should and will perhaps become one.’”

~ Lilith by George MacDonald, (1824-1905) Scottish author, poet and congregational minister

Sermon Passage

John 11:25-27, John 14:6-7, Hebrews 7:15-17, Ephesians 5:14 (ESV)

John 11

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

John 14

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Hebrews 7

¹⁵ This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, ¹⁶ who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is witnessed of him,
“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”

Ephesians 5

¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”