Mark 16:1-8 - 3 Circles - EASTER

When we started telling people that Hilary was pregnant with Silas, we wanted to get creative with all the personal announcements before we went public.

When my grandpa passed away, I got his big shirt that said, “Number 1 Grandpa”

I put it in a frame and hung it on my wall for years.

When we went to tell my dad about Silas, I took the framed shirt, put the ultrasound on it, said, “I think this fits you now.”

Obviously, the moment was filled with emotions.

The issue was, he didn’t get it.

He thought it was the ultrasound of me.

We try to figure out how to share good news in memorable ways.

We have joined together to celebrate Easter together.

Let’s talk about why today is significant.

I want you to walk away from today, knowing the greatest news in history.

We’re going to talk through the 3 circles.

Context:

Three days ago, Jesus was killed on the cross.

Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked to bury Him.

Pilate confirms Jesus was dead and gives Joseph permission to bury Jesus’s body in his own tomb

Stand to read

Mark 16:1–2 ESV

1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

Leader: This is God’s Word

Everyone: Thanks be to God.

Nicodemus had already brought about 75 pounds of dry spices, myrrh, and aloes to dry up the blood and Jesus’s wounds.

The women didn’t think this was enough, so they were bringing more because Jesus deserved the best burial.

Where are the disciples?

They were hiding in hopelessness.

They had pledged their allegiance and devotion to Jesus, but when it came down to it, they all ran and hid.

They watched passively as their friend and Lord was tortured and murdered.

Their Lord, their Teacher, the One they had hoped to redeem them from their sins was dead, and they watched Him die.

And they abandoned Him.

There was no hope.

Now who could save us from our sins?

We all have found ourselves in this spot.

Hopeless, wondering “where can I turn now?”

You may be here, completely beaten down.

You’re in our first circle.

Brokenness

We have all lost our focus on Jesus and ran from Him and hid.

We live in a broken world as broken people.

We experience the effects our sin has on our world and in our lives.

We have all sinned against God in various ways.

Romans 1 would tells us that we are “inventors of evil.”

Everyone of us have asked the question, “What is wrong with people?”/”What is wrong with this world?”/ “What is wrong with me?”

That problem is sin.

It’s because we are sinners, who live in a broken world.

If sin were the color blue, everything would have a tint of blue.

We live in a sea of brokenness and we don’t know how to escape.

A few friends and I were playing hide/seek

One friend hid in the craw space in the utility area above the water heater.

Hunter’s foot came down on the water heater and water started flooding everywhere.

It flooded the living room and kitchen.

The water pipe was shattered.

Where do you even begin to clean that up?

All of us have tried to clean ourselves up from our brokenness.

We’ve flooded our lives with this brokenness, and we try to fix it with more brokenness.

Attempts at pleasure

Drugs, food, pornography

Attempts to be recognized

Work, success, status

Attempts to fit in

Hobbies, toxic relationships

Attempts with religion

Niceness, churchy, and better-than-that-guy ideology.

All of these is an attempts to clean up the flood of sin brokenness in our lives.

What we learn is that all of these things snap us back in like a rubber band.

Trying to feel whole, we’ve given ourselves over in attempts to make ourselves happy, but we’re still unsatisfied and broken.

There is no righteousness within ourselves to fix our brokenness.

But this wasn’t how God created us.

God’s design

You and I were created for perfect unity with God.

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God, talked with God, and didn’t know of death.

There was no brokenness when mankind walked with The Lord.

There was no death, pain.

Trees and dogs didn’t die.

Humanity didn’t know what animosity or distrust was.

It was literally perfect!

Our imaginations can’t fathom this!

But we know we want it.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Right now, you and I have this dim sense of eternity.

We all have this sense of what we think heaven is like.

Hilary and I went to Texas Roadhouse, and obviously there was music playing, but I couldn’t make out what it was.

Maybe you’ve been in a loud environment like this, and you can’t quite make out the music.

I could hear the base and the beat, but I couldn’t hear anything else.

I so badly wanted to know the song.

That’s how we understand how God created the universe.

We all hear music that’s being played far away.

We hear sound, but we can’t make out the words, we can’t make out the instruments, or the beat.

But we all hear this, and we all want to hear it.

We know how the world should be but it’s not—And we can’t fix it.

My sin has plunged me into brokenness and I can’t get myself out.

Who is going to fix this mess?

The women came to the tomb, and notice that there was a problem.

Mark 16:3–4 ESV

3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.

They get there, and Jesus wasn’t there.

Someone had rolled back the stone.

John’s gospel tells us that Mary thought someone had taken Jesus’s body.

Not only was the One whom she thought would save her dead, but now His body was stolen.

But wait, there’s some good news. There’s a third circle.

Gospel

Gospel presentation

God was committed to His plan was to redeem us from our sin, so He sent His Son to pay for our sins!

Jesus who was crucified, was God in flesh.

Jesus was truly God, and truly man.

He was the Son of God lived perfectly to the will of God, and was the perfect and ultimate sacrifice who could forgive us of our sins by dying on the cross!

What makes this good news?!

Jesus didn’t stay dead!

It was impossible for death to hold the Son of God, the author of Life!

Mark 16:5–6 ESV

5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Jesus went to the cross and died, but then He rose from the dead, defeating death!

Now, through believing in the crucified and risen Jesus, you can have a right relationship with God through faith!

The only way we can get out of brokenness is through

Repenting of sin

Believing the gospel

If you’re not a Christian, this good news is for you!

You can be saved through faith in the Son of God, who died for your sins.

This isn’t good news for achievers, the morally excellent, or for people who have their act together.

Religion tells us that we have to be enough, do enough, say enough, be nice enough, have ourselves together.

The gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t do that!

This isn’t a set of rules you agree to follow

This is a person who can redeem you from your sin and lead you toward life with God again!

The good news is for those who are tired, struggling sinners who cannot save themselves from their own brokenness.

When we give acknowledge Jesus as Lord over all of our lives, and believe in His death and resurrection, He gives us faith and life to recover from sin and pursue His good, and beautiful design!

We’ve sinned against God and have no hope in ourselves, but in Jesus alone we can have eternal life with God again!

Perhaps you’d say, “I don’t know that I’ve ever believed this before. I’ve got questions. Will someone meet with me? Can someone pray with me.”

I want to acknowledge, it can be a little intimidating to come forward and pray.

If you’re a believer, I want to invite you to come pray for someone who doesn’t know Jesus.

“I don’t know if I’m a Christian!”

You can become a Christian right now.

Understand you’re a sinner, and that you’re broken

Repent and believe in the gospel.

Recover and pursue God’s design for your life.

Text 812-432-2234 with your NAME and DEARBORN

Someone will contact you and walk with you through that.

If you want to leave the “Broken” circle, repent and believe the gospel, and together we can recover and pursue God’s design for our lives together.

I would love to have that conversation with you.