From the Tomb to the Table

White Stone Church

From the Tomb to the Table

March 31, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • Luke 24:13–35

One of the most beautiful stories that we have in the Bible of the day Jesus was raised is the story of the two followers on the road to Emmaus.

In the story, the two friends were returning home from Jerusalem after witnessing all that had happened to Jesus on Good Friday. While they were walking, the resurrected Jesus met them on the road, but his identity was hidden from them. It was over the course of their journey that they aired their disappointments and grievances with how the story had unfolded up thus far. They had thought Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel. They thought he would be the one to liberate their people from Rome. They had thought he was God's anointed. Apparently, he wasn't.

The stranger on the road challenged their perspective on some things, but it was not until they invited him to eat with them and saw him break the bread that everything became completely clear.

In this Easter message, Brock uses this familiar story to illustrate how we all are so often uncomfortable with how God brings His plans to completion. The fact is, most of us want to maintain some semblance of control. We want things to be done our way. But when we remember the reality that the tomb is empty, and that the Savior is no longer there but is inviting us to a table instead; we remember that the impossible is possible, and that even out of death, new life can spring forth.

Be More Like Your Mom and Less Like the Antichrist

May 12, 2024 • Cody Zimmerman • 1 John 2:18–22, Colossians 3:12–13, 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, Matthew 24:12, Romans 15:1–5

Entitlement, bitterness, cynicism, and resentment threaten every relationship we have. We have all been placed among people who we are called to love sacrificially, but the reality is that there are times when we feel like we are pouring out more of ourselves than we are getting back from others, and that can lead us to become bitter. It can tempt us to draw back from those God has placed in our lives for a reason. We could all stand to learn a little from the great mothers of the world in that way, because while every other relationship seems to be threatened by one party sacrificing more than their fair share, the constant sacrifices that mothers make for their kids actually cause them to love their kids more; not less. As we pick up our series through 1 John on this Mothers' Day, Cody reminds us that the danger of going from being part of Christ's Kingdom, to being anti-Christ, begins with the urge to grow bitter and pull away from the people God has called you to love when things get hard. The mark of a true citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, however, is steadfastness, consistency, and the ability to bear with our brothers and sisters in love.

At the King's Table

May 5, 2024 • Brock Tharpe • 1 John 2:15–17

Sometimes even good things can become bad things if they are keeping us from Christ the King. Each and every one of us have received an invitation to sit at the King's table— an invitation to be with our Father. The problem is that there are all sorts of other things vying for our attention, trying to keep us from accepting that invitation. At the midpoint of 1 John chapter 2, the author reminds us that if we love the world and the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in us. This simple truth isn't designed to offend us; it's designed to remind us that a relationship with our Father and creator is so much better than any of the temporary pleasures the world can provide. In this message, Brock reminds us that true Christianity runs much deeper than simply abstaining from sin and worldly pleasure. It is also about laying aside those weights so that we may taste the supreme goodness that can only be found in God alone.

Love One Another

April 28, 2024 • Colby Dorcely • 1 John 4:7–12

What is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God? Although it is a small letter, 1 John is packed full of ideas that have incredibly vast implications for what we believe and how we live. Three of the main themes covered in the letter are: sound doctrine about who Jesus is, obedience to his commands, and love. All three of these themes work together to give a full picture of what it looks like to genuinely know God through Jesus. As we have gone through the first two chapters verse-by-verse, we have seen much of John's writing about the first two of these themes: sound doctrine and obedience. In Colby's message this week, we take a short detour from where we left off in 1 John and skip to chapter four, to touch on the last of the three major themes of the letter: love. In 1 John 4 we receive the command to love one another, and the author elaborates that anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. But what exactly does it mean that God is love? And how does that inform the way that we love our brothers and sisters?