There are many examples of prayer in the OT, by people all across the social spectrum (think: Daniel was thrown in the den of lions because of his daily prayer discipline; Esther appeals to all the Jews in Persia to fast and—by implication—pray; Jonah, David, Hannah, etc...).

Sunday morning of the resurrection, a small group of women had been waiting until after the Sabbath to buy/prepare spices/ointments for Jesus’ body (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-2, Luke 23:56). Not having had a funeral, nor adequate time to mourn for Jesus—due to the abrupt and unexpected nature of His midnight capture, rapid “kangaroo court” and subsequent crucifixion (all during a holiday, no less)—they head to the tomb…

Philippians 2:5-11 says that Jesus, “…emptied himself…humbled himself…becoming obedient.” During His earthly ministry Jesus retained His full divine nature…but did not exercise the attributes unique to that nature in his humanity (ex. Jesus’ physical earthly body was not omnipresent)…

One of the things that we know is unique about the Mission Church amongst other Utah churches, is our decision to address Mormonism at our Sunday gatherings. I have often had people ask me why we approach our local cultural “by name” in a setting that is supposed to be open to all. I have at least four reasons for why we do this. This past Sunday, I shared one of these reasons with the congregation during the sermon. Here’s that point, with a few more thoughts: