Sermon Tone Analysis
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Big Idea:
Jesus gives us hope in the darkness.
Intro:
Hey Church Online, thanks for joining us today.
Couple weeks ago, I looked out our front door and saw one of my sons, holding a trash bag, paralyzed with fear.
…No, we didn’t kick him out.
Minutes earlier, Janelle had told him to take out the trash.
But it was night time.
It was dark.
Maybe only those who have lived in other places will relate to this, but Connecticut gets dark at night.
That seems obvious, but here’s what I mean.
I grew up in the city - a big city.
At night, there are street lights everywhere.
But not here.
I remember when we first moved to Glastonbury.
We used to drive around saying, “It’s really dark here.”
And it’s really dark in my neighborhood, especially near the woods, where the trash cans are.
And that’s why my son was paralyzed with fear.
He’s scared of the dark.
I looked at him and said, “You are just like your father.”
… I’m his father.
Which means, yes, I’m scared of the dark too.
Some of you remember the very first building we used when we started The River Church off of Hebron Ave.
And you remember that we used to have church on Saturday night, when it was dark.
After breakdown, we’d have to turn off the lights in that place.
Here’s the thing: The light switches were on the opposite side of the sanctuary from where the door was.
When you turned off the lights, it was pitch black inside.
It was super creepy, even though it was a church!
And I’m scared of the dark.
Which means, every Saturday night, I used to do the “I’m scared of the dark run” after church.
You guys know what that looks like.
The dark is scary.
Darkness creates fear.
Let’s expand the application a little bit...
There’s a lot of darkness in our world right now.
Not just physical darkness, but mental, emotional, and spiritual darkness too.
Which likely explains all the fear in our communities today.
I think the mental health crisis is very much connected to this overwhelming presence of fear in our lives.
And the church isn’t immune to this.
Many of us live in fear.
How do I know this?
Because many of us aren’t living the lives God has created us for.
Please hear me when I say this.
I’m not pointing a finger in condemnation.
I’m not judging you.
I’m not trying to make you feel bad.
I’m just stating something I’ve observed in our church and in my own life.
I heard JD Greear (a pastor in North Carolina) say, “Fear keeps you out of God’s promised land.”
Obviously, he speaking about when the Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land after the Exodus, but the application is greater.
Fear keeps us from walking in the places God created us for.
Some of us are still afraid to fully surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior and become who we were created to be because we fear our friends mocking our faith.
Some of us are afraid to obey God’s word because we don’t know how that will change us.
We’re too afraid to take a day off even though God told us we need the rest to flourish in His promises!
Some of us are afraid to forgive and walk by faith because we might get hurt again.
Some of us are afraid to financially give because we don’t truly believe God is our provider… or the His promise that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive.
Fear keeps us from experiencing eternal life - experiencing life the way God designed it to be.
And I believe much of this fear finds its source in darkness.
But can I encourage you with this? “Even when the darkness is overwhelming, you don’t need to be afraid.”
And today in Mark 16, we get the greatest proof of that.
At this point of the Book of Mark, darkness seems to be winning.
Remember Jesus (the Light of the world) has been crucified.
He’s died and been buried.
And all His promises follow Him to the grave.
Hope seems to disappear.
And you can feel this hopelessness in the next few verses...
Exegesis:
Officially the Sabbath (the day when Jewish people rest according to God’s command) ends on Saturday evening at 6pm.
It’s at this time that the ladies go and buy fragrant spices for Jesus’ tomb.
When Jesus died (the previous day on Friday afternoon), they didn’t have time to anoint His body the way they wanted to.
These ladies loved Jesus.
They were devoted to Him.
They wanted to give him a proper burial plus extra.
And they weren’t going to let His body just sit in a tomb as if no one cared about Him.
However, by the time He was buried, it was 6pm Friday and the Sabbath had begun.
So, the ladies rested as God commanded; and then, as soon as they were able to, resumed their devotion to Jesus.
There’s a lesson here for us: Are you in darkness today?
If so, here are two excellent steps for your season of darkness...
Remain devoted to Jesus.
Don’t run away and give up like the disciples.
Keep showing up to be near Jesus.
As we’ll see, devotion often leads you be in the right place at the right time.
Keep obeying God as best as you can.
When I read this story, I get the sense that the ladies - because of their devotion - felt an urgency to properly anoint the body of Jesus.
Yet, when the Sabbath came, they stopped.
They rested.
Why?
Because that’s what God said to do.
They didn’t let the darkness dictate their decisions.
They obeyed God even in the dark.
How often do we let our circumstances override our obedience to Christ, especially in the darkness?
Is the darkness overwhelming you today?
Learn from these godly women:
Remain devoted to Jesus.
And keep obeying God.
And watch what God does...
So, they rested on the Sabbath; then, on Saturday night they bought spices.
Went to bed.
Woke up extremely early on Sunday and headed towards the tomb.
It’s here we see the reality of overwhelming darkness.
These words don’t simply reveal their need for help with a heavy stone... it’s a cry for help from their heart.
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