Consider Jesus

Introduction

Introduce Self

Dismiss children

There is never a bad day to be a follower of Jesus. but today is a great day. It’s a day where we come together here, where we know that followers of Jesus are gathering everywhere to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior and I’m excited about it!

If you are here today and you are not a follower of Jesus or if you are here and you think your a follower of Jesus but aren’t sure, you are exactly where you belong.

One of the worst misconceptions about a church community is that you have to look like, act like, and believe 100% like followers of Jesus to belong.

We acknowledge all people as created by God with equal value and desire to love you as He does. So, welcome home.

The title of the message today is Consider Jesus

For those that don’t know Jesus, I invite you to consider Him as your savior. For those of you that know Jesus, let today be a reminder to you of your savior that gave his life for you and three days later rose from the great claiming victory over hell and the grave.

Character- Someone who is contemplating religion

How many of you love to ask questions about things?

I’ve always been inquisitive. My wife on the other hand believed in Jesus with that child like faith since she as a child.

I would ask questions about various things too incliude other religions. I wanted to know what they were about.

I grew up in the south where there is a baptist church on every corner and honestly all I knew about faith was Christianity.

I’d never looked into budhism, hinduism, and other slike it. So I was asking quetions and trying to figure things out.

I learned a few things. I learned that I could talk about any of those religions and not get much of a reaction from people. We could have discussions we could talk new age ideas with people, and relaly talk about religion in generla with no ramifications.

But you know what changes a conversation? Do you know what you can say and get a reaction, positive or negative, from anyone?

Mention the name of Jesus. His name gets a reaction every time. Honestly, it’s one way to end a conversation with a stranger. Or even better ,start a gospel centered conversation with a stranger.

None the less, what we find in our inclusive and tolerant culture is that all thinggs are tolerated except Jesus.

Problem- Many religions with good principles

This is because many believe all roads lead to God and Heaven.

That’s not what Jesus said though.

He didn’t say “well if your a good person, you’ll be in a better place.”

Jesus said

John 14:6 “6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Everyone loves the tennants Jesus taught about caring for the poor, the needy, the hungry, etc. But the call to salvation being only by faith in Him is contentious

Other relgions have good teachings like Christianity:

Buddhism-eliminate hate, greed, and ignorance within a person to reach nirvana.

(on a separate slide) no god, not type, final exist, countless rebirth, end cycle.

Hinduism- similiar to budhism, end suffering, achieve enlightenment, karma

(on a separate slide) impersonal god —approached thru deities/statues/idols

Buddhism and Hinduism - no forgiveness of sins or supernatural help

Muslim—worship Allah—personal god—no secondary gods, total ban on idols. Your standing depends on religious devotion and works.

New Age—no personal god, higher consciousness, universe/cosmos, nothing after death

Christianity- personal God—sent Jesus—show us love—forgiveness

There may be some great stories in other religions, there may be some good tenents, but they are not the same.

Today, I want to ask you to consider Jesus. I’m not asking anyone to consider our church, consider a denomination, or consider Christians. I mean let’s be honest, some of them are a little wonky.

You can have one that’s normal and you want to hang out with and another that bigoted ,judgement, and loves to tell you all you do wrong.

I’m asking you to consider Jesus.

Agitated- Personal belief system wtih no foundation

You see, some of the major differences between being a follower of Jesus and other religions is that we have a foundation for our faith that others do not.

The validity of the bible has been proven every time it has been tested. There is no arguments from experts in their fields about the validity of Jesus’ existence.

Archeology continues to prove the claims of scripture.

However, many of the other world relgiions are based on spirituality, mysticism, blind faith, and even lies.

What we find any people doing is taking these religions and forming their own belief system based on their thoughts and feelings.

have your thoughts and feelings ever been wrong?

and this lack of foundation leads to uncertanity, relative truth, and a self made god that fits your version of reality.

Do you like being uncertain? Do you like not knowing?

Solution- Consider Jesus

What if you consider Jesus? What if you considered his claims and challenged what you currently believe? What if as a follower of Jesus you let Jesus and his claims speak for themselves in your life and through your life?

Guide- Bible, History, Truth

What do you need to do that? you need a willingness to explore the scriptures. You need a willingness to read into history. And you need a willingness to accept facts over how you feel about it.

There some men I want ot introduce you to that have done that.

This is Leee Strobel

Lee Strobel, once a staunch atheist and seasoned investigative journalist, embarked on a transformative journey that led him from skepticism to faith. His story begins with a personal challenge: to apply his journalistic and legal skills to scrutinize the claims of Christianity, aiming to debunk the faith he saw as based on mere myth. Strobel's quest for truth was ignited by his wife's conversion to Christianity, a change that brought visible positive transformations in her life and their relationship, leaving him both puzzled and intrigued.

After nearly two years of intense investigation, Strobel found himself faced with an unexpected verdict: the evidence he sought to discredit Christianity instead led him to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

This is J. Warner Wallace

If there is anyone you want on a cold case that is important to you, it’s this guy.

J. Warner Wallace embarked on a remarkable journey from committed atheism to becoming a devout follower of Jesus Christ, uniquely influenced by his career as a cold-case homicide detective. Wallace was well-versed in gathering hard evidence and constructing undeniable arguments to solve cases that had been left unresolved for years. Skeptical of Christianity, he decided to apply his investigative skills to examine the claims of the New Testament, expecting to uncover inconsistencies that would further justify his disbelief.

As Wallace dug into the historical underpinnings of the Gospels, he approached the Bible not as a source of spiritual truth but as a collection of eyewitness accounts that could be forensically analyzed. He scrutinized the apostles' testimonies with the same rigor he would apply to witnesses in a criminal case, evaluating their reliability, consistency, and corroboration with external evidence. Wallace also delved into the resurrection of Jesus, deeming it the linchpin of Christian claims, expecting to debunk it as myth.

However, the more Wallace investigated, the more he found the Gospel accounts to bear the hallmarks of genuine eyewitness testimony. Contrary to his expectations, the evidence of history, archaeology, and textual analysis did not dismantle the claims of Christianity but instead supported them. Wallace was particularly struck by the apostles' willingness to suffer and die for their claims, realizing that while people might lie for personal gain, they do not willingly go to their deaths for something they know to be false.

Ultimately, Wallace reached a conclusion he never anticipated: the evidence pointed compellingly toward the truth of Christianity and the historical reality of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. This realization led Wallace to embrace faith in Jesus, transforming him from a skeptic into a passionate defender of Christianity. Today, J. Warner Wallace uses his investigative background to articulate the case for Christianity to skeptics and believers alike, sharing his journey and the evidence that convinced him in his book, "Cold-Case Christianity."

It’s been done. The proof is in the puddin.

“Pastor, that’s all history. What proof is there today?” Great question.

Journey-

let’s consider three things about Jesus today that will help us look around even now and allow us to consider Jesus as the way the truth and the life.

The Ministry of Jesus

Mark 2:16–17 “16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus is the guy who ministered not to the religious but to the ones the religious rejected.

He stood with the woman caught in adultery and told the elites that if they had no sin they could throw the first stone

he opened the eyes fo the blind, he healed those who couldn’t walk, he raised people from the dead, he was known to do miracles and we never find his critics questioning whether or not he actually did the miracles, they wanted him to stop doing them.

God hasn’t stopped loving the unlovable. He hasn’t stopped seeking to save those the religious write off. And God hasn’t stopped doing those miracles. They still happen today.

I want to share story with you about a man named Bryan Falenery that I’m connecting with a little deeper in the coming weeks. Bryan has an amazing story. Bryan wasn’t a follower of Jesus when he got married. His wife was. God showed himself to Bryan in a great way with the birth of their first child.

While pregnant Bryans wife found out that the baby she was carrying woudl be born with spinabifida. There was a spot on her back and upon her birth she would be rushed to surgery.

The short story here is this: After finding this out his wife went to the church and was prayed over, had her church and her family praying for her for months. The day before her birth, they got images done and the spot was there and the doctors confirmed what they woudl be doing with the baby who woudl most certianly be born with spinabifida. When the baby was born the parents didn’t even hold her. She cried, was determined ot be healthy enough for surgery and rushed off. Some time later the doctor calls them to his office and sits down. Puts his hands over his face and says “In all of my years I’ve never seen anything like this.” Bryan was expecting the worst. The doctor continued “She doesn’t have spinabifida. We opened the sack on her back and it was just fluid. Your daughter is fine.”

Some time later life ogt rough for Bryan who was in the army and stationed in ggermany. He got to the place where he swallowed a handful of pills and laid back on a rack. He says that was the frist time he had laughed or smiled in two years. Laying there, waiting to die. But God. Another soldier came in and asked if we wanted to play video games. This kept him awake and alive. That soldier then invited him at a later date to a bible study and the only reason Bryan said yes…free food. This led to Bryan trusting in Jesus and this photo here is of his family at easter a few yeras ago.

This next photo is of Casey Diaz. He is a pastor in Burbank California. But that was not what you would have expected of him as a young man. Casey came to America at 2 and had a normal life for awhile. Then at 11 years old he was introduced to the gang culture of southern california. His initiation into a gang was at that same age where he was beat in and then had to commit his first act for the gang. He was with a gang leader and they picked up a guy in a van from a rival gang and he was handed a screw driver that he used for his first stabbing. At 16 years old he committed his first murder. He was imprisoned and during this time a baptist church was doing ministry in there a women told him “I’m going to put you on my hit list” menaing she would be praying for him.

After her departure and before he got out, he says he encountered Jesus in his cell in way that didn’t let him know he did wrong…it let him know He was sinned before God.

He is now married with three kids, pastoring, and living for Jesus.

Don’t tell me Jesus doesn’t have a ministry today.

I grew up in the trailerhood of Tennessee, spent my high school days skipping school, weekends partying, and experimenting with drugs. Thank God He sent me Sarah, a drill instructor, and a deployment ot Afghanistan.

If you are someone that has been far from God you know what it is like for Him to work in your life. If you are someone who doesn’t know god now, who hasn’t experienced the transformational love of God, you can. Consider Jesus and His ministry. Consider Jesus and His resurrection.

The Resurrection of Jesus

The death of Jesus is proof of His love for us.

It was a terrible death. It was not just him being hung on a tree by three nails. It was boeing whipped, it was having his beard plucked, it was having a crown of throns placed on his head.

hanging on the cross he called out to the father and said “Forgive them they know not what they do.” Forgive the men who have whipped me, forgive the men who have nailed my body to this tree. Forgive the people who turned on me in less than 7 days.

Following His death we have the thing we celebrate today, his resurrection.

Peter said in Acts 3.

Acts 3:15 “15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

The resurrection of Jesus was witnessed by more than 500 according to Paul. Peter gives eye witness testimony here in this passage.

The two authors mentioned before did extensive study into the validity of the claims of the resurrection. Both turned from atheism to Chrsitianity.

The apostles were all martyrd for their faith .the men who started it all, who could have easily said “you know what? I’m out. I’m not dieing for a lie.”

I heard a quote recently by a man named Charles Colson. Charles Colson was the special counsel to richard nixon and converted to Chrsitianity later in life.

He said this

I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.

Have you asked yourself…what if it’s real? What if this thing that so many have chosen to believe in and dedicate their lfie to. What if it’s real? What if the resurrection of Jesus is a real thing?

If it is, and if it is real to you then I invite you to consider and remember the Message of Jesus

The Message of Jesus

Romans 3:22 “22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. Rom3:22.

Salvation and eternal life with God isn’t about anything you can do, it’s about what Jesus has done.

It is faith plus nothing.

Religion says makes your relationship with God all about you.

Your relationship with Jesus is all about Him.

Religion says if you obey God, then He will love you.

Your relationship with Jesus is becuase God loved you while you were and are a sinner

Reliion sais you have to do

Jesus said it is DONE!

Time of Response