Message by Chad Kelly
Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it. – C.S. Lewis
VIDEO””“New Again”
Saturday, the day between the great sacrifice and the glorious resurrection. A day that reminds me that at the lowest points in our lives, God is often preparing us for the most unbelievable, redemptive and hopeful moments.
John 20 (NLT)
20 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord”™s body out of the tomb, and we don”™t know where they have put him!”
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn”™t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus”™ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed”” 9 for until then they still hadn”™t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don”™t know where they have put him.”
14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn”™t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don”™t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven”™t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ”˜I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”™”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone”™s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won”™t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don”™t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
VIDEO””“Arise, My Love”
Introduction
Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
What did John mean “have life”?
There are plenty of folks who are alive that don”™t trust in Jesus.
John 10:10
“My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” (NLT)
What Difference does Easter make to YOU?
Jesus”™ resurrection enables you to live a radically different life!
Is YOUR life radically different?
Jesus”™ resurrection gives us the opportunity to have a life that is radically different in at least 3 ways:
1. Jesus offers me a life full of HOPE.
Every person on the planet needs hope!
We all need to know that our lives are going somewhere, that this isn”™t all there is.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NLT)
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance””an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.”
You can be filled with hope!
Jesus”™ resurrection enables you to live a radically different life!
John 14:1-3 (NLT)
“”™Don”™t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father”™s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”™”
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (NLT)
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This morning, our family made a trip to the cemetery where Robin is buried.
Why? Why go there on Easter?
Text from one of the kids during Passion Week right after Robin died:
Hebrews 11:13
All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.
“Dad, Momma died and she knew 110% that she knew that she knew that she knew Heaven was home and Earth wasn”™t home. J”
Do you know what that trip to the cemetery was all about?
It”™s about being reminded of that very truth””that Earth isn”™t home and we have hope beyond this life that is real and certain! And that hope changes our lives””how we think and speak and act, what we do and don”™t do, how we deal with trials and pain”¦even how we grieve!
1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NIV)
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
You can be filled with hope!
Jesus”™ resurrection enables you to live a radically different life!
2. Jesus offers me a life FREED BY GRACE.
Galatians 5:1 (MSG)
Christ has set us free to live a free life.
What does that mean?
Every person here needs grace!
By His grace, God sets us free in Christ.
“Grace is when God gives you what you need, not what you deserve . . . Grace is God saying, I love you. I forgive you even though you can”™t earn it. Grace is God saying, I”™m not mad at you. I”™m not holding a grudge because Jesus Christ has suffered for your sin on the cross. Grace is God saying, I”™m going to give you a second chance and a third chance and a fifth and a twenty-fifth and a hundred and twenty-fifth, etc.””all because of Jesus”™ death and resurrection. Grace is the road to freedom.” (Warren)
Does God like you?
Every religion in the world can be summarized in one of two words””“do” or “done”. All religions except Christianity basically say, “Here”™s what you must do in order to get God to like you”. And then they give you their religious list.
“Jesus Christ came to redeem you, to set you free from all the things that keep you hung up, all the things that entrap you. Habits, hurts, hangups, all the things that mess up your life. He says, ”˜I want to set you free from it and I want to give you a new life of real freedom.”™” (Warren)
Romans 6:7, 11-14 (MSG)
What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection”¦From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.
12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time””remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!””into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.
Do you want this freedom? Do you long to be bought back from slavery and set free?
Jesus offers me a life freed by grace.
Jesus”™ resurrection enables you to live a radically different life!
3. Jesus offers me a life full of MEANING.
The greatest tragedy in life is not death. It”™s to go through your entire life without knowing why you”™re living, without meaning and purpose””without knowing why God put you here on earth!
1 Peter 1:3-4 (MSG)
Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we”™ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven””and the future starts now!
“You weren”™t made to live for yourself. In fact . . . the more self-centered you are the more miserable you are . . . You were made to live for God. When you start living for God, that”™s when you discover real happiness, real meaning, real significance, real purpose, real value to your life.” (Warren).
2 Corinthians 5:15 (NLT)
He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them.
Our own sin and selfishness keep us enslaved to purposes and goals that are short-sighted and last for only our short lifetimes, if that long.
We were created to live for something that is eternal, for something that will long outlive us, for something that will continue to matter forever. That something is the glory of the God who made it all.
Jesus”™ resurrection enables you to live a radically different life!
Ronnie McBrayer
”¦we must do more than explain Easter. We must live it and “get in” on it today. We must do more than use the resurrection as a hope for heaven. We must use it to instigate heaven on earth. We must do more than say “He is Risen,” we must become proof of Christ”™s resurrection power.
Jesus”™ resurrection enables you to live a radically different life!
1 John 3:16 (MSG)
This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.
Let”™s end on a practical note.
Let”™s commit to take one specific action this week.
“Because Jesus is risen and I want the world to know, I commit to lay down my life by serving someone in the following way this week:”
Now”¦you fill in the blank. Because Jesus died for you and rose again, make a personal commitment to somehow lay down your life, sacrifice your time/energy to help/love/serve someone else.
These kind of everyday sacrifices should fill our lives as we love others.
And it is such sacrifices, in imitation of Jesus, that give real meaning and purpose to our lives AND give proof of Christ”™s resurrection power!
Because we cannot live sacrificially without the power of the Resurrection!
Our lives are to be radically different with real meaning/purpose that comes from living for God”™s glory!
Jesus offers me a life full of meaning!
Jesus”™ resurrection enables you to live a radically different life!
Communion