PSK 137. Sermon – BURNING HEARTS ON THE EMMAUS ROAD!
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PSK 137. Sermon – *BURNING HEARTS ON THE EMMAUS ROAD!*
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🕊️ CHRIST’S GOOD NEWS MISSION
Sabbath Worship Service — 19th April 2026.
📅 Liturgical Day: *_3rd Sunday of Resurrectiontide_* (Emmaus Sunday).
📖 Bible Lesson: Luke 24:13-35; 1 Peter 1:3-9.
✍️ *Text: _“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”_* — Luke 24:32 (NKJV).
💕🦅 Theme for the Week: *_“BURNING HEARTS ON THE EMMAUS ROAD!”_*
When the Risen Christ Walks With You, Every Journey Becomes a Revelation.
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🎵 *OPENING HYMN*
MHB. 204 – *_“Thine Be the Glory, Risen, Conquering Son”._*
1: THINE be the glory, risen, conquering Son;
Endless is the victory Thou o’er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay.
*_Refrain:_*
*_Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son;_*
*_Endless is the victory_*
*_Thou o’er death hast won._*
2: Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
Let the Church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
For her Lord now liveth; death hath lost its sting.
3: No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life;
Life is naught without Thee: aid us in our strife;
Make us more than conquerors, through Thy deathless love;
Bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.
(Edmond Budry, 1884; Translated by Richard Hoyle, 1923 — A triumphant Resurrectiontide anthem cherished across Methodist, Anglican, and Baptist traditions.)
🙏✝️❤️🔥 *SEVEN PROPHETIC PRAYERS.*
(Preparatory — Before the Exhortation)
*Prayer 1 — _The Risen Christ Walks With Us._*
Title: Companion on the Road.
*_“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”_* — Luke 24:27 (NKJV).
Risen Lord Jesus, Walk with us through every winding path of life, and let Your unseen presence become unmistakably real, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 2 — _Set Our Hearts Ablaze._*
Title: Burning Hearts Restored.
*_“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road…”_* — Luke 24:32 (NKJV).
Holy Spirit of God, rekindle every cold heart in this assembly! Let the fire of Your word consume every spiritual lethargy, every quenched zeal, and every dimmed passion. Set us ablaze afresh with resurrection fervour, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 3 — _Open Our Eyes to See Him.*
Title: Eyes Unveiled.
*_“Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”_* — Luke 24:31 (NKJV).
Father of glory, remove every spiritual cataract that has blinded us to Your daily presence! Open our eyes to recognise the Risen Christ in our circumstances, our companions, and our callings, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 4 — _Reverse Every Backward Journey._*
Title: Turning Around in Triumph.
*_“So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem…”_* — Luke 24:33 (NKJV).
My Father, my God, every retreating step in our lives — every backward slide in faith, finance, family, or fellowship — let it be reversed today by the power of the resurrection! Turn our Emmaus into Jerusalem, our defeat into testimony, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 5 — _Living Hope Restored._*
Title: Born Again to a Living Hope.
*_“…has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”_* — 1 Peter 1:3 (NKJV).
O Resurrection and the Life, infuse fresh hope into every despairing heart present! Let dead dreams revive, buried visions resurrect, and forgotten promises spring forth with new vigour, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 6 — _Faith Refined Like Gold._*
Title: Tested and Triumphant.
*_“…that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes… may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”_* — 1 Peter 1:7 (NKJV).
Almighty God, refine the faith of every member of this congregation through every trial they face! Let our faith emerge purer, stronger, and more radiant than the finest gold, to Your eternal glory, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 7 — _Hearts Prepared for Revelation._*
Title: Ready for the Word.
*_“And He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!'”_* — Luke 24:25 (NKJV).
Lord, deliver us from slowness of heart! As Your word goes forth, prepare every heart to receive, every mind to comprehend, and every spirit to obey. Let this exhortation produce burning hearts and bold testimonies, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
✝️❤️🔥🦅 *EXHORTATION* 👑❤️🔥
✝️❤️🔥🦅 Theme: *_“BURNING HEARTS ON THE EMMAUS ROAD –_* When the Risen Christ Walks With You, Every Journey Becomes a Revelation!” 👑❤️🔥
📖 *Bible Lesson: Luke 24:13-35; 1 Peter 1:3-9* (NKJV)
✍️ *Text: _“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”_* — Luke 24:32 (NKJV).
🍇👑❤️🔥
In December 1914, during the First World War, an extraordinary thing happened along the frozen trenches of the Western Front. On Christmas Eve, weary German soldiers began to sing *_“Stille Nacht” — “Silent Night.”_* Across the no-man’s-land, British soldiers responded with their own carols. Soon, men who had been killing one another laid down their weapons, climbed out of their trenches, exchanged gifts, shared photographs of loved ones, and even played football together in the snow. For one luminous night, the presence of Christ — invoked through ancient hymns — transformed a battlefield into a brotherhood. It was the Christmas Truce of 1914, and it has never been forgotten.
Beloved, that is what happens when the Risen Christ enters any journey. Hostile terrains become holy ground. Battlefields become banqueting halls. Strangers become brethren. And the most ordinary road — like the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus — becomes the very stage of divine revelation. Today’s exhortation declares with prophetic certainty: when the Risen Christ walks with you, every journey becomes a revelation, and every heart becomes a burning altar.
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*The Disappointed Walk: When Hope Seems Buried.*
Luke records that on that first Easter Sunday afternoon, two disciples were walking the seven-mile road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were not running with resurrection joy. They were trudging with crucifixion grief. Their words betrayed their broken expectation: *_“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”_* (Luke 24:21, NKJV).
Notice the past tense — *_“we were hoping.”_* Their hope had been buried in Joseph’s tomb. They had not yet received the news that the tomb was empty.
*_How many believers today walk their own Emmaus road, broken?_*
Disappointments at work. Delays in marriage. Diagnoses that defy medical explanation.
Disillusionments in ministry. Departures of loved ones. The road becomes long, the conversation heavy, and the heart heavier still. Yet here is the glorious mystery of Resurrectiontide — the Risen Christ specialises in joining disappointed travellers on disheartening journeys. He does not wait until you reach Jerusalem. He meets you on the way to Emmaus. He does not despise your confusion; He converses with it. He does not rebuke your tears; He transforms them.
*The Divine Companion: When Christ Joins the Journey.*
Luke writes with stunning simplicity: *_“Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him”_* (Luke 24:15-16, NKJV).
The Greek word for “drew near” — engizō — implies a deliberate, intentional approach. The Risen Christ did not stumble upon them by accident; He sought them out by design. And though their eyes were temporarily restrained, His presence was permanently transforming.
This is the great pastoral truth of our text: the Risen Christ is often nearest when we feel Him farthest. Job confessed in his anguish: *_“Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; when He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him… but He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold”_* (Job 23:8-10, NKJV).
The hidden Christ is still the helping Christ. The unseen Saviour is still the saving Saviour. And when He walks with you — even unrecognised — every step is being orchestrated for revelation, restoration, and reward.
*The Burning Heart: When the Word Sets You Aflame.*
The turning point of the Emmaus story came when Jesus *_“expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself”_* (Luke 24:27, NKJV).
He preached Christ from Moses to Malachi. He unveiled the redemptive thread woven through every prophet, psalm, and patriarch. And as He spoke, something began to happen within them — their hearts began to burn. Later they would testify: *_“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”_* (Luke 24:32, NKJV).
Beloved, this is the supreme need of the contemporary Church — *_burning hearts kindled by the opened Scriptures: Not entertained hearts._* Not merely instructed hearts. Burning hearts. The prophet Jeremiah testified: *_“His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not”_* (Jeremiah 20:9, NKJV).
When Christ Himself becomes your Scripture interpreter, the Bible ceases to be a textbook. It becomes a torch. Cold doctrines catch fire. Familiar verses release fresh revelation. And the believer rises from the page with a heart ablaze for kingdom impact.
*The Recognised Christ: When Eyes Are Opened.*
The climax of the Emmaus journey came at the supper table: *_“Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight”_* (Luke 24:30-31, NKJV).
The breaking of bread became the moment of recognition. What hours of conversation had veiled, one act of fellowship unveiled. The Risen Christ revealed Himself in the sacrament of shared communion.
And here is the apostolic application — the Risen Christ still reveals Himself in sacred fellowship, today. In the breaking of bread at His table. In the gathering of saints in His Name. In the prayerful communion of burdened hearts. In the worship of a congregation lifted by His Spirit. Wherever two or three gather in His Name, He is there. And often, in such hallowed moments, the eyes of the soul are suddenly opened to see what natural eyes have long missed — that He has been there all along!
*The Released Witness: From Emmaus Back to Jerusalem.*
Luke concludes with breath-taking momentum: *_“So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem… saying, ‘The Lord is risen indeed…'”_* (Luke 24:33-34, NKJV).
The same disciples who had been walking away from Jerusalem in disappointment were now running back to Jerusalem in declaration. The encounter with the Risen Christ reversed their direction, restored their hope, and released them as witnesses. Emmaus became their pulpit; Jerusalem became their platform.
This is the inevitable outcome of every authentic encounter with the Risen Saviour — you cannot keep it to yourself. Burning hearts produce bold testimonies. Opened eyes produce opened mouths. The same Peter who had wept bitterly in denial would soon preach so powerfully at Pentecost that three thousand souls were saved in a single sermon. Beloved, the resurrection is not merely a historical event to be remembered; it is a present reality to be proclaimed. *_“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”_* (1 Peter 1:3, NKJV).
*You are not walking your road alone.* The Risen Christ is your companion. He is opening the Scriptures to you. He is breaking bread with you. He is setting your heart ablaze. And He is sending you back — from your Emmaus of disappointment to your Jerusalem of destiny — as a flaming witness of His unconquerable life!
*_Glory Be To God Alone!_*
*SOLI DEO GLORIA!*
🚨 *ALTAR CALL*
If you have been walking a disappointing road — bowed down by ill-health, failure or grief, confused by delay, disheartened by loss — the Risen Christ is drawing near to you right now. Will you let Him join your journey? Will you let Him open the Scriptures to your heart? Will you let Him break bread with you at His table? Step forward in faith today. Receive Him afresh. Let your heart be set ablaze. And rise up that very hour to return to your Jerusalem with a living testimony — the Lord is risen indeed!
(SONG: JESUS IS HERE RIGHT NOW…)
🙏✝️❤️🔥 *SEVEN INTERCESSORY PRAYERS*
(After the Exhortation and Altar Call)
*Prayer 8 — _For Disappointed Disciples._*
Title: Hope Rekindled on the Road.
*_“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel…”_* — Luke 24:21 (NKJV).
Risen Lord, for every disheartened believer in this congregation — those whose hopes lie buried in disappointment — draw near to them today! Reignite their faith, restore their vision, and reveal Yourself afresh as their living hope, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 9 — _For Opened Scriptures._*
Title: The Word That Burns Within.
*_“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”_* — Luke 24:27 (NKJV).
Holy Spirit, be the divine interpreter of every Bible read in this house and beyond! Open the Scriptures to every reader, every preacher, every seeker — and let burning hearts arise across the nations, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 10 — _For the Bereaved and Broken._*
Title: Comfort on the Long Walk.
*_“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”_* — Matthew 5:4 (NKJV).
Father of all comfort, draw near to every grieving heart in this assembly! Walk with the widows, the orphans, the bereaved, and the broken. Let Your resurrection hope wipe away every tear and restore every shattered soul, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 11 — _For Nigeria and the Nations._*
Title: Truce on the Battlefields.
*_“He makes wars cease to the end of the earth…”_* — Psalm 46:9 (NKJV).
God of peace, intervene in every troubled nation — Nigeria, Africa, and beyond! Silence the guns of bandits, terrorists, and insurgents. Let the Christmas Truce of Calvary’s blood prevail over every battlefield, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 12 — _For Burning Hearts in Ministry._*
Title: Fire That Never Dies.
*_“His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones…”_* — Jeremiah 20:9 (NKJV).
Lord of the harvest, set every minister, missionary, and lay leader ablaze with fresh apostolic fire! Let no pulpit grow cold, no altar grow dim, and no shepherd grow weary, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 13 — _For Bold Witnesses._*
Title: Returning to Jerusalem with Testimony.
*_“So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem…”_* — Luke 24:33 (NKJV).
Risen Saviour, raise from this congregation an army of bold witnesses! Loose every tongue bound by fear, embolden every believer silenced by shame, and send us forth with living testimonies, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
*Prayer 14 — _For the Patriarch and CGNM._*
Title: Covering Over Christ’s Good News Mission.
*_“The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.”_* — Psalm 121:8 (NKJV).
Almighty God, cover our Patriarch, Rt. Rev. Dr Michael A. Fẹ́mi-Adébánjọ, with the wings of resurrection grace! Strengthen the entire CGNM family, expand our borders, and let burning hearts be multiplied across every parish, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!
🎵 *CLOSING HYMN MHB. 207 –*
*_“The Day of Resurrection!”_*
1: THE day of resurrection!
Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness,
The Passover of God!
From death to life eternal,
From earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over
With hymns of victory.
2: Our hearts be pure from evil,
That we may see aright
The Lord in rays eternal
Of resurrection light;
And, listening to His accents,
May hear, so calm and plain,
His own “All hail!” and, hearing,
May raise the victor strain.
3: Now let the heavens be joyful,
Let earth her song begin,
The round world keep high triumph,
And all that is therein;
Let all things seen and unseen
Their notes of gladness blend,
For Christ the Lord hath risen,
Our joy that hath no end.
(St John of Damascus, 8th century; Translated by John Mason Neale, 1862 — A timeless Resurrectiontide hymn cherished across the universal Church.)
🕊️ *BENEDICTION*
*_“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”_* — Hebrews 13:20-21 (NKJV).
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Go forth, beloved — burning hearts, bold witnesses, and victorious in the Risen Christ!
*Soli Deo Gloria!*
Glory to God Alone!
✝️❤️🔥🦅👑