Don't Miss It

Intro

happily ever after starting next week

Happy Easter, Resurrection Sunday.

Its the day that we celebrate that Jesus proved who he said he was, he wasn’t just a good man and a great teacher but the son of God.

He conquered the lifes greatest defeat, death itself.

This moment changes everything.

Let’s not miss it!

have you ever missed it before?

You know IT.

IT was that exit I meant to take but wasn’t paying great attention and drove right past!

Ever missed an opportunity?

An appointment, a birthday, an anniversary… you just forgot!

Missed it.

Easter is one of those things it’s easy to miss...

It happens every year and we already know the story right!

You may have come today just to be nice to someone today because they invited you, you're not sure the whole point of all of this.

Maybe you are fulfilling your obligatory new clothes, photo op and yearly church day.

You may have been in church your whole life and here every time the doors are open, but there is an egg hunt right after, family is coming over for an awesome lunch planned and food is in the crockpot, and it’s just so busy. and then theres the easter bunny of course.

It’s really easy to miss.

To miss the reason. Miss the opportunity.

Miss what Easter is really about in the midst of everything else.

Let’s not miss it. The point. the reason.

I’m going to read the end of the chapter, after all of the events unfold because it summarizes why it all happened.

John 20:31

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

HAVE LIFE.

That’s the point.

This was Jesus point all along,

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Not just breathing, heart beating life, but real new life.

A new way of living. New way of thinking. New way of being.

A changed life.

A set free life.

He didn’t come just so that we could have a church service or create a holiday.

He came to give new life!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

This is EASTER.

jesus has died buried in tomb

Early Sunday morning Mary Magdalene and some of the other womens who travelled with jesus went to the tomb with spices and ointments meant for the burial process. When they arrived at the tomb they found the stone that had been rolled in front of the entrance had been rolled away and it was empty inside where a body should be.

mary runs to get Peter and John, a couple of disciples of Jesus, and says someone has taken his body!

They come and it’s empty and he is gone.

John 20:11

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb

She stood there crying.

Not just because she lost a dear friend.

As she looks into the tomb she peers in to a life of lost hopes.

She had invested everything in believing this Jesus.

Bible says that when Jesus found her he cast 7 demons out of her.

She left everything to follow..

He said he was the Son of God.

But now, he’s gone.

We know the end of the story, Mary didn’t.

We’ve all encountered these moments.

Life feels bleak, even hopeless.

Looking at what life has left me with a list of what ifs, could’ve beens, should’ve beens...

Even when life looks good, people all around us, to ourselves we can say, does it really all matter, does anyone care, no one gets me, what’s the point...

we’ve all peers in the the tombs of things in life we thought are dead

John 20:12-15

(she looked in) and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

She’s missing it! (So consumed with what she thinks life is)

He’s standing right there.

missing the miracle in her midst

John 20:16-17

Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father...

He called her name, Mary.

He’s alive!!!

That’s what he said he would do, but come on, that doesn’t happen does it!?!?

Can you imagine this moment.

She turns and worships.

Shes about to walk away with joy and hope and excitement - from sad, confused, hopeless, discouraged and depressed.

In that moment, everything changed.

He was right.

Proving that he can conquer death also proves that everything else he said is true as well!

The Resurrection changes everything.

Because if that isn’t true, none of it is.

he would have just been a good man, great teacher.

But if this is possible, then anything with him has to be.

He really can change my life.

If that’s true, then it all is!

Even what he says about me...

I am loved.

I can be forgiven.

I am free.

A new life is for me.

We can get so preoccupied with the workings and the ways of our lives, that we can easily miss the one who wants to really give us life.

Jesus resurrection isn’t just about him not staying dead. It proves he conquers death.

But it about us not living dead.

Dead in our Sin. Our Junk, our mess ups.

Dead in our hurt and pain. Dead in our anxiety and depression.

There is life, don’t miss it.

Today he’s calling to us.

He call us in

Have you noticed that we respond differently when and how someone calls our name?

Stranger in the store calls your name, your turn around confused, and then it winds up being a different person.

Parents, the teacher...

Spouse.

Iowa husband calling.

(Show clip of winner)

Jesus calls your name too.

That’s what happened to Mary. she stopped!

This wasn’t a random gardener, He knows me.

He calls us In.

Into himself.

into relationship.

Your’e not alone.

I see you, I am with you, I am for you.

Mary.

Doesn’t matter your past or present.

Mary had 7 demons cast out of her. That’s a past!

I wish you’d hear his calling today.

“I just want you to know me and find life”

It’s not a bad or angry voice, upset or disappointed.

He calls us out

John 20:17-18

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus calls Mary out to do something for him.

Calls her to a greater purpose.

Mary, a broken, tattered past woman.

In this day a woman was seen almost as a second class citizen, If a woman saw a crime she couldn’t even be used as a trusted witness!

It’s also speculated that Mary’s past included prostitution.

Prostitutes weren’t even allowed in church because they were seen as unclean.

Mary I want you to be the one to go and tell the rest of the disciples I am alive.

There were so many people that saw the resurrected Jesus that it could’t be refuted.

it spread across the globe. There was too much evidence to say it was faked.

And now Billions of people around the glove have trusted in the resurrected Jesus.

And the first person he used to tell anyone, was Mary.

don’t you tell me God can’t use broken, overlooked people!

God has a purpose and calling for your life.

Jesus had a plan the whole time.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

He knew he’d be captured, murdered and buried.

He wasn’t dying because the religious people hated him, he was willing dying to take on and die for the sins, shame and past of every human on the planet.

But he also knew he’d be raised back from the dead.

God’s got a plan, and he’s calling you to be a part of it!

Because of Easter, everything has changed.

DON’T MISS IT!

what he wants to do in your life. miracle

CONCLUSION

We have 3 kids.

they will prob kill me for this.

Heres a pic.

then… We blinked.

And then this happened.

Then.. We blinked again.

How come days can feel so long sometimes but years seem so short.

It’s easy if we aren’t careful, to BLINK and miss what’s in front of us.

Today Jesus is calling your name

Bring it all to me, come to me, I got you, I want to be with you, I have real life for you.

Don’t settle for less, don’t do it alone.

He has risen that you may believe and HAVE LIFE!

RESPONSE