John 21:15-19
It was an intimate moment with HIS disciples – early morning – sitting on the shore – had a nice breakfast together – huddled together – looking at each other.
Lord Jesus raises that question of great importance in Peter’s life.
The Lord was asking a very personal question – do you love ME.
The interaction between Lord Jesus and Peter helps the present day Christian also.
Simply to put it, Lord reinstates Peter to his job as a leader of the disciples.
Verses 15-17, Lord Jesus asks Peter the same question thrice with slight variations.
Verse 15 Lord Jesus asks Peter that he loves HIM more than ‘these’.
The word these can be Lord’s other disciples or Peter’s fishing boat and net.
Lord Jesus raises that question of great importance in Peter’s life.
As a matter of fact it is the greatest question the Lord puts to us today.
It is the unselfish love ready to serve the Lord – Love that values and esteems more than anything in life.
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Peter’s response was quick and short – Peter’s love was affectionate and intimate.
Peter's reply was an honest expression of a humbled soul that was fully aware of its weakness and human frailties.
Lord Jesus lovingly begins the process of restoration of Peter to full relationship with HIM.
This was the vital question Peter must resolve and overcome his failure so that the Lord is able to use him again.
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
The term used means to be a shepherd who feeds and protects the young who cannot protect and care for themselves. 
Verse 16 the same question but drops the word ‘these’ – mean others
Same expression of sacrificial love the Lord was demanding from Peter.
Peter did not change his answer and he responded the same way for the second time.
This time the Lord commands “take care of MY sheep”.
Lord was entrusting His work and His sheep to Peter who was to carry on His work. 
In verse 17, the Lord repeats for the third time the same question – Peter denied HIM thrice – the Lord repeats the dosage to restore Peter completely.
Peter was weak and he needed to be confronted with his weakness.
He needs to overcome his lack of commitment in order to become a blessing.
Peter was hurt that the Lord had asked him thrice.
Peter humbly submits that the Lord knows everything and he cannot hide anything from HIM.
Peter admits that the Lord knows the inner core of his heart – He cannot simply say anything false before the Lord – with confidence Peter says Lord You know that I love You.
The Lord says feed MY sheep.
Verse 18 & 19 talk about the kind of death Peter is going to experience at his old age.
Understanding the method of execution, it was clear to him that he would be put on a cross and be crucified.
Peter, from that wonderful day forward, became one of the most firm and unwavering of all the apostles and fully lived up to his name "Petros" rock. 
The Lord Jesus is repeating the same question to us today.
“Do you love ME?”
Our Christian faith and walk with the Lord entirely depends upon the response we give HIM.
Peter succumbed to the pressures of the moment and denied the Lord thrice.
We too can find ourselves in the same situation many times and backslidden in our faith journey.
As Lord came to HIS disciples in the cool of the morning, HE is visiting us today.
Checking on us and compelling us to re-evaluate our relationship with the Lord.
In an intimate huddle, HE is asking each of us the same question.
Do you love ME?
We cannot say I love you with our mouth and don’t mean it from our heart.
What kind of an honest and truthful answer we can give to the Lord today?

1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Every Christian celebrates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.
Can anyone who is a follower of Lord Jesus ever doubt the resurrection? 
Yes, there was a guy who doubted first and believed later.
Thomas believed and bowed to Lord Jesus and said, "My Lord and my God." 
Today many still doubt the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Apostle Paul was confronting an issue with the Church at Corinth which he himself established in AD 55.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 
This question was raised in the church at Corinth about the resurrection of the dead believer.
The base for the resurrection of dead believer is solely upon the resurrection of Lord Jesus.
Both are tied together – today every believer has the assurance that he/she will be raised from the dead at the time of rapture to be with Lord Jesus forever.
On Easter Sunday morning we will briefly meditate on this issue.
Verses 14-19 are crucial for the entire Christian faith.
The Apostle Paul argument hinges upon one question.
 “What if Christ has not been raised?”
This morning let us see the impact of this question on our faith and Christian walk.
Since the moment Apostle Peter stood up & preached the message of the resurrection of Lord Jesus, to this day billions of people put their faith in the risen Lord Jesus.
Millions of believers became martyrs, suffered persecution, even separated from their families.
That preaching and sacrifices is absolutely useless if our Lord is not raised from the dead.
If Christ is not raised from the dead, our faith is a false faith based on lies.
Everything everyone preached from Peter to this day is centered on the resurrection.
If there was no resurrection there is no salvation.
If there was no resurrection it is useless talk about eternal life.
If there was no resurrection there is no reason to be a Christian.
If the resurrection of our Lord never happened, Christian faith is foolish.
If there is no Easter, our Christian faith is foundationless and false.
Paul draws his authority from the encounter with Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.
Lord’s resurrection is intricately linked with believer’s resurrection from the dead.
If the dead in Christ are not raised, Christ also did not raise from the dead.
Christ was raised from the dead so also dead in Christ will be raised one day.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 
Paul says that not only our faith is useless but also we are still living in sin.
If Christ is not raised from the dead, our salvation has no foundation and is meaningless.
If no resurrection there is no Living Savior
No Living Savior there is any forgiveness of sins
No forgiveness there is no justification and no cleansing.
We are still living in sin and pay the penalty for our sins. 
No other religion explains how God is involved in the life of this planet earth.
Only in Christianity we have the evidence and proof of God Almighty orchestrating the life of every human being.
The Bible does not say that human existence is meaningless and futile.
God of the Bible never created this universe and the people to live and die and be forgotten.
The Bible clearly speaks of a plan and purpose for every human life.
Every human life is precious and valuable in the sight of God.
Apostle Paul declares that when a person who believes in the living Lord Jesus and accepts the gift of salvation by faith is saved and begins a life after death.
If the Lord Jesus is not raised from the dead all believers were lost hopelessly.
Without resurrection of Jesus Christ the people of the world live in an illusion of useless existence and hopelessness.
If the Lord is not raised, death will be the final chapter of human life.
We the believers will be the most pitied people on the face of the earth for believing in such a terrible lie.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.
This verse is the foundation to our Christian faith, our salvation, and our hope of eternity.
Today Jesus Christ is living because we are the living proof of HIS resurrection.
Today HE lives in every believer’s heart worldwide.
HE IS RISEN HE IS RISEN INDEED

Matthew 21:1-11
Today is Palm Sunday
Our Lord’s triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey’s back.
This was to fulfill a prophecy of the prophet Zechariah foretold around 530 BC.
Luke’s Gospel tells us that the Lord had come to Mount of Olives and sent two disciples to fetch the colt to ride on it to fulfil a prophecy of Zech 9:9
It was the beginning of the Lord’s last week on earth among His disciples. 
The plan of God for the salvation of humankind was being fulfilled and completed.
This event is recorded in all the 4 Gospel accounts.
If we captured all the events that lead to this Triumphal Entry, we can summarize this way:
The Lord came to Lazarus house at Bethany 6 days before the Passover Festival.
Bethany is 2 miles from Jerusalem and it is between Jericho and Jerusalem.
Until this moment the Lord was performing miracles at every place. 
The day before HIS departure to Jerusalem, the Lord was anointed by Mary at Lazarus house in Bethany.
Great crowds were following the Lord all the way from Jericho through Bethany – theses people witnessed some amazing miracles performed by Lord Jesus.
They saw Blind beggar being healed and calling the Lord, ‘Son of David’.
They saw dead man Lazarus was brought to life and was walking in the crowd.
A huge crowd welcomed HIM by spreading their own clothes on the road - some cut fresh branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Jerusalem city was buzzing with tourists from all over the world for the Passover festival.
On this day the Jews remember their freedom from 400 years of Egyptian bondage.
More than 2 million people came to worship at the Temple for the Passover Festival.
2-3 hundred thousand animals like sheep, goats, and doves were also there for sacrifice.
Tensions were very high on that day in Jerusalem city
9 The crowds that went ahead of HIM and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is HE who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Hosanna means ‘Praise’ and ‘save now’.
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
Probably they had no knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ – never heard HIS name – never heard about the miracles HE performed – never heard of HIS teaching.
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
That was an interesting answer from the crowds.
The crowds know HIS Name and where HE comes from – and also consider HIM to be a prophet 
Prophet always had a special place in Jewish history
Especially at the time of Passover Festival, it would be a great honor to meet a prophet.
But some in the crowd know HIM more than prophet.
Peter one in that crowd confessed that HE is the Christ, the son of Living God.
Many today ask us the same question “who is this?”
Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ knows HIM to be more than prophet.
We have an intimate knowledge and relationship with LORD JESUS because HE is my Savior and your Savior.
HE died for our sins, rose again on the 3rd day, and HE is alive today in every heart of a believer.
But many do not know Jesus because some still think HE was a good man or a prophet.
HE is the living Savior –HE saves people from their sins – HE gave HIS life and shed HIS blood as a onetime payment for all of our sins – HE is the only way to know God.
Whoever accepts the free gift of salvation by faith will be saved from their sins.
Is Jesus just a prophet or more than prophet?  Who is HE?
What is your answer, my friend?

Luke 12:13-21
We are in the age of billionaires especially if you live in California.
Recently a list was published of famous people who are atheist or agnostics. 
Surprisingly, most of the famous figures like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg are mentioned in that list.
21st century insists that good life consists of wealth, fame and luxuries.
In order to pursue such life often the world pressures one to accumulate wealth for self.
In verse 15, Lord Jesus says the opposite of such belief.
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
How we live, expresses our Christian faith made up of attitudes and values. 
Christian faith consists of compassion, love, kindness and faith in God.
Our faith also requires careful use of our material blessings.
Lord is just saying that money and possessions are to be used in spiritual serving – not to keep it for our own selfish motives.
Verses 16-19 Lord Jesus is very clearly talking about wrong intentions with our material blessings which God gives us.
Here a rich man blessed with wonderful crop that year – He made all out preparations to accommodate such huge harvest by building bigger barns/storage places.
We clearly see this rich man was not going to share his abundance with others.
We see many doing the same thing – keeping their wealth for themselves – not sharing with others – not contributing to the Lord’s service generously.
The Lord blesses us with material blessings but it is not right to keep it all for ourselves.
It is good and reasonable to have future plans for a rainy day and for our retirement.
Include a certain portion of our material blessings for the Lord’s service.
Verse 21 teaches two important spiritual lessons:
1. Life is uncertain
Never to take for granted the days we live on earth.
It is the fact of life – a person born into this world – surely going to die one day
We are accountable to the Lord not only with our spiritual disciplines but also with our material blessings
Job 1:21 “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart”
All our riches and wealth, material blessings definitely stay here – they are not going with us.
2. No knowledge of our riches
We don’t know who gets our wealth, our possessions.
We will have no clue what happens to all of that we toiled for all of our life.
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
This is where the rich man gets the title ‘the rich fool’
If we are planning only for this life we are definitely fall into this category.
If we are living only for this moment we are definitely belong to this category.
If we are not considering contributing to the Lord’s service we are absolutely in this category.
The more we keep our blessings, the poorer we become in God’s sight.
Our attitudes and intentions with our material blessings decide the outcome.
We always have that option with what God has blessed us.
Rich in world and poor toward God
Which one is yours?