EASTER 2020

He is Risen: The Greatest Story Ever told

What do I want them to know? The greatness of the Easter Story

Why? It leads to life

What do I want them to do? Believe and Remember

Why? It leads to life

Good morning

Welcome…I am glad you are here

He is RISEN

He is RISEN

This is powerful to say in this moment of time….in the pandemic we are in…it feels good.

ME

One of the blessings God has given us is the power of story….No, matter who you are or what you believe we have all have been impacted by a good story whether that comes from A MOVIE OR BOOK

I like a good story….A good story that comes in the form of book, movie, or from a friend, a friends story…

I like a good story

What about you watching at home? If I was betting man I you would say all of us like a good story, maybe even LOVE a good story..…Some of you are the movie buffs, you love a good movie; it moves you, others of you say one of the things that GIVE YOU the most joy is sitting down in quite reading a good book…..this is pure heaven….me saying some of this right now maybe getting your mind wandering onto a YOUR FAVOIRTE MOVIES or BOOKS…you’re thinking that what I should do I should stop watching NETFLIX and pull out ____ moive or ____book….

What we are going to do for the next 15 seconds that serves a dual purpose is have your on Facebook let us know what 1-2 of your favorite books or movies are….this will also be good for you because you can come back later and look in the comments section to of the worship service and see what you wrote.

(15 seconds to share)

- Lord of the Rings

- Batman Triology of Dark Knight and Dark Knight Risings

- Shawshank Redemption fans (any Shawshank Redemption fans out there, give us a thumbs up, like)

- Hunger Games books

- Funny movies that have been done by Chris Farley or Jim Carey

WE

Why do we like these stories?

Why do you like what you wrote down?

- Is because we like the actor? No, the actor might have helped, but we have favorite actors who have done really bad movies….NO it is the story

NO IT IS THE STORY THAT MOVES US…THAT MAKES US TEAR UP….THAT CHANGES US….GOD HAS USED THAT TO CHANGE….LATER IN THE SERMON WE FIND OUT WHY, GOD USES THOSE

We have to go a little deeper, what type of stories are the ones that move us?….no ordinary story moves us…some mundane story does not move you

WHAT MAKES THIS STORIES SO GREAT

It is because they have themes that move us they touch our heart, make us dream, open our imagination.

What are some of those themes

- Love that is perfect (he is perfect, perfect job, smile, body) Hallmark and Rome and Juliet

- The enemy is defeated (Peter Pan, Lord of the Rings), good wins

- Hope in redemption (Shawshank Redemption) Andy Dufresne

- Unbelievable happens (such as the movie Rudy)

List goes on

TENSION

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE EASTER STORY….IT IS CALLED THEE GREATEST STORY….The STORY ABOVE ALL OTHER STORIES….WHAT MAKES IT SO GREAT?

But what makes the Easter Story so great?

What kind of story is the Easter Story?

This is where we are going today.

I am give us 5 reasons the Easter Story is so great….there are more reason because we serve a GREAT GOD

- I also think it behooves not just to go here today is Easter, but also because we forget the power of the Easter story, like how we forget the POWER OF THE GREAT MOVIES OR BOOKS….WHAT DO WE SAY AFTER WE WHAT ONE OF OUR FAVORITE MOVIES THAT WE HAVE PUT ON THE SHELF….I FORGOT HOW GREAT THAT STORY WAS

The same is the true with the Easter story, the Gosepl

- Martin Luther said I preach, I remember the Easter story every day because I forget…this great man of faith said I need to remember the Easter story every day….maybe that is one the reasons Martin Luther is considered one of the greatest theologians of all time.

1. Story of Amazing Love (John 3:16) Wonderful Cross

I am going to start with the most memorized as a young lad or lady, quoted, see it raised in the end zone at Browns games and famous verse we all know. Say it with me if you know it

John 3:16

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [1]

God so loved the world.

The Greek word for love is AGAPE…the highest form of love…it is not just friendship love.

He loved you so much that He sent His son into the world

For two main reasons

- SAVE US

- TO BE WITH US

- …at Christmas we say he is immanual God with us.

- As talked about last week God left his throne to be with us.

- He is not a God that stays up there….he is not a distant God…He is a God with you. With you now in your homes, at your workplaces…with you in your dreams and in your tears…

His love is not only AGAPE….can you say AGAPE WITH ME….it is not philo love, brotherly love…it is the love par exllance, the highest of all loves it is divinely perfect and never ending.

See here is the thing about God’s love is it PERFECT it never, never fails….nor does it end….

AND WHAT IS THE DEEPEST CRIES OF OUR HEART????

- To have endless supply of money?

- To have the Browns win the Super Bowl?

NO, the deepest cry of our hearts is to be fully know and fully loved…..AND IT HIS LOVE NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ENDS

- NOR DOES IT DEPART US IN DEATH, BUT IN DEATH IT IS FULLY REALIZED

- In death we get to fully see the fullness of God’s love

- In death we do not die we come fully alive

Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

Love so amazing, so divine

2. Story of Amazing Grace (Romans 5:8) Amazing Grace

But maybe you are thinking like me….HOW CAN GOD LOVE ME? LOVE ME THAT MUCH?

Do you know how jacked up I am? How I do stupid things? Doubt God?

How could God love me?

You are saying the same thing…maybe right now you are saying if God knew what I did last night, or what I have been doing….He would not love me….

Here’s the good and scary news….HE knows every detail about your life, more than you know, more than your spouse knows or friends know…the good and bad

THAT IS CALL AMAZING GRACE…EASTER IS A STORY OF AMAZING GRACE

Eph 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.[2]

NO ONE, NO ONE, NO ONE CAN SAY I earned my way to heaven….WE ALL FALL SHORT

- The ground is level at the foot of the cross…no one has a leg up on you

There is nothing you can do to EARN YOUR GRACE….It is a gift….IT IS UNMERITED

It is not based on what you do but on what He did on the cross

Even crazier is this GRACE WAS GIVEN TO YOU WHEN YOU WERE TRYING TO GET TO HEAVEN, WHICH WE CANNOT DO….BUT WHILE WE WERE STILL REBELS

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us[3]

God did not say oh they have been trying, let’s save them…no, no, no when we were lost in our sins when we were rebels against God….that’s when He died for us.

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch; like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.

THIS IS AMAZING GRACE

Not is the EASTER STORY A STORY OF AMAZING GRACE and AMAZING LOVE

The reason we have AMAZING GRACE AND AMAZING LOVE is because

3. IT is the story of UNBELIEVABLE SACRIFICE

If you think about some of your favorite movies almost all of them have unbelievable sacrifice in them.

This is also true of the EASTER STORY

The EASTER STORY IS ONE OF UNBELIEVAVLE SACRIFICE

Jesus ultimate mission in the world was, not just to be WITH US…IMMANUAL GOD WITH US>… RECONCILE us back to God…to bring victory over sin, death, and shame

JESUS CAME TO REDEEM, the ULIMATE PROBLEM……..we don’t like that WORD TODAY, BUT HAVE A PROBLEM, AN ISSUE, ME IGNORING THE TRUTH is not good for you, it is extremely unloving….He is the HERO

- Bigger than knowing what we Easter pajamas are the best to wear today

- Bigger than COVID-19

- OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM IS SIN THAT HAS LED TO DEATH

Romans 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God[4]

Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.[5]

OUR BIGGEST ISSUE, OUR BIGGEST DELIMA IS SIN WHICH BRINGS DEATH and SEPRATION

BUT PRAISE GOD HE SENDS HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO REDEMY OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM, OUR BIGGEST conundrum

THIS IS LOVE

How does God do this? THROUGH UNBELIEVABLE SACRFICE

It is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to make payment for our sins, make atonement for our sins.

Jesus the sacrificial lamb

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [6]

Praise God that through Jesus we have been redeemed we have been restored….death has been defeated…..our sin has been atoned for and death has been defeated.

That is the next two themes of the story

Through the unbelievable sacrifice we have REDEMPTOIN TO GOD

- It is a story of redemption

- A story that is based on Jesus’ work on the Cross not your work

- The impossible has become possible

2 Cor 5:21

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [7]

JESUS PAID IT ALL

'Cause Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow

JESUS HAS REDEEMED US! PRAISE GOD HALLIJUAH

- That this four story line in the Easter Story

JESUS HAS RECONCILED US TO GOD….THE PERFECT LOVE…NOT OF OUR DOING

- Here is the thing nothing can separate you from

- Nothing you do, once you are in Christ, once you believe in HIM

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. [8]

Not only has Jesus redeemed us He has given us ULIMATE VICTORY

Story of Victory (1 Cor 15:54-58; Shout unto God) (Heb 2:10)

1 cor 15:54-58

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. [9]

10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Heb 2:10 founder of our salvation

The word founder is ἀρχηγός ARXEGOS meaning champion

Jesus Christ is the ultimate warriorier

Jesus Christ is the ultimate hero

Jesus Christ has brought us victory

We live from victory not for victory

SHOUT UNTO GOD WITH A VOICE OF TRIUMPH

'Cause the enemy has been defeated Death couldn't hold You down Gonna lift our voice in victory Gonna make Your praises loud

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph Shout unto God with a voice of praise Shout unto God with a voice of triumph We lift Your name up, we lift Your name up

The best part of all these are TRUE, they are not some made up story.

- THIS IS PAUL’S POINT IN 1 COR

- 5 and that he appeared to Cephas (the hard headed), then to the twelve (who followed him). 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep (GO ASK THEM IF THEY HAVE SEEN ME). 7 Then he appeared to James (Jesus’ brother who did not believe Jesus was the MESSIAH), then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me (PAUL…THE ONE WHO PERSCUED CHRISTIANS) .[10]

Who did Jesus first appear to? WOMAN

- Luke 24 has first appearing to WOMAN, this is a big deal because in that day in age woman were not credible witnesses but Jesus first appears to WOMAN, this tells us something about Jesus.

10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.[11] 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. [12]

- See almost all other stories we like are fiction

- Lord of the Rings

- Batman

- Romeo and Juliet

- Hunger Games

Why should we watch them this is what C.S. Lewis who at the time with atheist concluded

BUT ALL IS NOT LOST, BEUCASE J.R.R. TOLKEIN (Lord of the Rings) shows C.S. Lewis who at the the time is an atheist (creator of Chrnoicles of Narnia and other famous Christian books) in a conversation they had on Addison’s Walk in Oxford who thought what’s the point of the fiction stories? He said, “ I love the old myths, legends, stories, but Tolkein they are lies though breathed through silver.

- THEY ARE LIES, THOUGH BREAHTED THROUGH SILVER

No, Tolkien these great stories though fiction have splinters of the Gospel….the reason we love these fiction stories is because they are pointing to the GREATEST STORY

Tolkien said, “No, they are all not. Think about this story. A man from an obscure village, a nobody, is found to have a power that no one has ever seen before to resist evil. He’s raising children from the dead, stilling the storm, feeding the multitude, casting out demons, and loving the poor and marginalized. He’s really making a difference, and then he’s betrayed. He’s put to death, and all hope is over. But wait! He’s miraculously raised from the dead! What does that sound like?”

“That sounds like another one of those great stories that isn’t factually true, but it’s so moving and so wonderful.” BUT MR. LEWIS IT IS TRUE. JESUS IS THE ULTIMATE REALITY STORY THAT ALL OTHER STORIES POINT TO.

In some ways, he’s the handsome prince who kisses you and wakes you up from the sleeping death. He’s the love who can get you out of your self-made prisons. He’s the knight who slays the dragon. He’s the one who does all these things, but it’s not a story of fiction. This is the claim of Christianity; this is not, “Once upon a time.”

This really happened, and if it did happen … (Please listen carefully). If he really was born in a real manger and raised from the dead (not a legend, but actually raised from the dead), and you believe in him, then all the things you have read in those stories over the years that you’ve longed for come true IN JESUS

You will step outside of time and escape death. Your love relationships will go on forever. You will even communicate with non-human personal beings, and good will triumph over evil. The claim is no less than that. It’s the stuff we’ve longed for in the stories. in Jesus Christ, that has become fact.

THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS OF EASTER IS the EASTER STORY IS TRUE

- IT IS NOT ONCE UPON A TIME.

US

What God is saying to us today is to believe in Him

Follow HIm

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 3:16. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 2:8–9. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 5:8. [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 3:23. [5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 6:23. [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 1:29. [7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Co 5:21. [8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 8:38–39. [9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 15:54–58. [10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 15:5–8. [11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 24:10–11. [12] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 24:12.