Easter 2024

Introduction

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to 1 Peter 1:3-9

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

Opening

I may be getting older but I am getting to the point where I dont understand some of the words and lingo of the new generation

And honestly I’m sometimes scared of saying their phrases or words because I do not know what they mean

mid - mediocre, low quality, its just ok

Bussin - Amazing, really good

stand on business - take care of your responsibilities, put your money where your mouth is

Rizz - Charisma or attractiveness

Sometiems we use different words and we use word that are interchangeable

But two words that are used often that have meaning are wish and hope

birthdays - Happy time, fun, focus on a person, cake, candles, make a wish

Wishful thinking

What does it mean to make a wish

Or what does it mean to wish someone well

But there is a difference between wishing and hope

Specifically, we are talking about the hope that is given in the Bible

Hope - a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

career advancement/salary, better golf player, live to tomorrow,

We hope for things to happen

But then we can often get our hopes let down

EX. U of H Cougars basketball, not get job/promotion/salary/etc.

And then we find ourselves not wanting to get disappointed

So we say things like, “Don’t get your hopes up”

And instead of expecting for things to happen, it only becomes a wish

Friends, I want to share with you the beauty of the Bible and the beauty of Jesus

Because the Bible brings hope, but its not the hope that we just talked about

Biblical Hope - a confident expectation of future blessing based on facts and promises.

Biblical Hope - is certain but not yet fully seen or experienced.

The certainty is based off of the facts and promises

And what we are going to read and talk about today is from the Apostle Peter who is writing a letter to a scattered and persecuted church

The church is dispersed and this letter from Peter is believed to have been sent acrross 6 Roman Provinces

The persecution in each area may have been different but what we know is that most of them were struggling in some way

It is noted in 1 Peter that the persecutions included insults, slanderous accusations of wrongdoing, beatings, social ostracism, and mob violence

Here is the thing, the church isnt suffering from the government, but from amongst the people and religious leaders opposing the church

The persecution was getting so bad that the church itself was starting to waiver and the people would cave in to social pressures

The church was becomming hostile towards their persecutors and in return would get hostile towards each other

They were losing hope

And so as Paul writes this letter, he begins by pointing them to and reminding them of the hope they have

The hope they are to cling to and not waiver from

And that hope is in Jesus Christ

They can and should have certainty in Jesus Christ

And this “certainty” they can have is not based off of wishing, rather it is based off of facts and promises

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at cthe revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

This is the Word of the Lord - You may now be seated

Hope

Praise God for his Plan of Mercy

Peter starts with praise

Peter notes that Jesus Christ is Lord

Lord - power, authority, or influence; a master or ruler.

Jesus is King

And this King is son to God the Father - who has had a plan for his people since the beginning of time

And his plan is merciful

His plan is to have great mercy upon his church

God knew that he would make man

God knew that they would sin

God knew that their sin would seperate themself from Him - fully deserving of his wrath

And so God knew that he would have to send his son Jesus to earth to live a perfect life

And because he was perfect, only he could die innocently for the sins of all his people

That by Jesus’ death and resurrection -

he would conquer sin and death -

and because of his victory - He is King

And has reconciled his people to God

That now the Holy Sirit can do a might y work to change hearts

And we can put our faith and trust in Jesus

And by that changed heart and profession of faith

We can now have hope, we can have certainty that we have mercy from God

Plan to be Born Again

This mercy we are given - gives us life

We have a new birth in the Spirit

Many of us are familiar and know John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

And if you look at the start of chapter 3

There is meeting that takes place between Jesus and Nicodemus

And Nicodemus asks how can a person be born again, am I to go back into my mothers womb?

Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 3:5–6.

There is a difference between having a physical birth and a spiritual birth

That there is a realm of spiritual life that we cannot see nor can we fully comprehend

But the Bible tells us exactly what we need to know about this realm

That there is a heaven and a hell

And when we are physically born

We are born in the flesh but our spiritual condition is fallen

Even as babies we sin and have to be taught right from wrong

And that sin (the acts that we do contrary to God’s word)

Maybe your here today and you are skeptical about the bible or your still trying to figure out what you believe

But can we all just acknowledge that no one in this room is perfect

No ones life is all put together

That we have each done wrong things

Because acknowledging that is the first step to understanding WHY we need to be born again

WHY we need Jesus

And that is exactly what Jesus is teaching Nicodemus

Nicodemus you are imperfect and God is perfect

And unless you are born into perfection spiritually, there is no way for you to get to Heaven

That we believe John 3:16 that Jesus came to give us eternal life

That Jesus came to make us born again by the spirit to have eternal life in heaven

Plan through Easter/Resurrection

Born again to a living Hope

There is a tie there

Being born again comes with a living hope

That we can have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

There is a living hope

There is a living certainty we have through Jesus

Because there is certainty that Jesus arose out of the grave on the third day

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 24:1–9.

We must believe this, We must be certain of this glorious act of power and authority by Jesus

This act is the basis of our hope in Jesus

It is the basis of our belief in who Jesus is

That in His perfection, he died and arose on the third day!

The ladies ran to tell the eleven, they told Peter who walked with Jesus

Peter sees the resurrected Jesus

And then Peter is restored as a leader and later comissioned as an apostle to the church

There was mercy for Peter and there can by mercy for you

If ypu give your life to Christ, the one who lived perfectly, and you trust in him as your Savior

You will recieve mercy, you will be born again, you will have a living Hope

That Jesus is alive right now and reigning

He has done the work necessary to save you and you can be certain that he is alive

And now, this is Peter encouraging the church, while you may not have seen the resurrected Jesus

Be convicted, conviced, and certain that this happened

That Jesus is a living Hope - and this Hope is certain

It is a fact that he is arose and he gives us a promise

Plan to give a Promise

That if we are born again and we do trust in Jesus for eternal life, then we have hope of an eternity

In our text today, Peter writes, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

This promise gives hope!

That there is a heaven that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and being guarded by God

That through our faith in Jesus, when we die, it will be revealed to us!

We will be there!

What a promise!

And please dont take this the wrong way - I want us to hope and to long to be with God in heaven

I want us to have our sights set in Heaven

But we also, while here on earth, we have hope for today!

We have a promise for today that as we walk here in life, God is with us!

In good times, in hard time, in times of sadness, suffering, persecution - God is with us and cares for us

We live in a fallen and evil word so bad things will happen - but that doesn’t minimize the power of God

It magnifies how faithful and loving he is to us!

And this is Peters encouragement to the church

That because Jesus is risen and alive we can rejoice

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at cthe revelation of Jesus Christ.

No matter what we go through in life even in trials, we can have joy because we know Jesus

We can know that we are being refined because we know Jesus

We can know that we still have a purpose because we know Jesus

And no matter what we go through, as we lean and trust in Jesus, it results in one crucial thing

Praise and glory and honor of Jesus who was, and is, and always will be

That as we live we praise him

And at our death or Jesus’ second coming, we will praise him

For he and he alone is worthy of it

Not seen but we believe

And here is a beautiful thing that we have

Faith

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and certain of things unseen

And just as Peter is writing to a church who did not witness the resurrection of Jesus

The church of today has not witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ yet we know and believe it to be true

And so this can be directly applied to the church, to those who have been born again

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

And church we dont just love blindly - we love because he first loved us

We believe because our hearts are changed into his ways

We know in our hearts that Jesus is Lord

We know in our hearts that Jesus has saved us

And we know in our hearts that God is with us

Application

If you haven’t trusted Jesus, dont delay, find hope in him

God’s plan is for you to have Hope

Whatever circumstance you are in, praise him

Love and Rejoice

Remember what he has done for you in your life

Believe there is no situation you can be in where God’s mercy isnt there for you

Where God isn’t present

Maybe the mercy isnt the way youd like,

Maybe you may feel like he is far away

Ragardless of your wants or your feelings - it is a promise that he is with you

And that should bring upon praise and hope

This builds faith

God’s plan is for you to grow closer to Him

How does he want you to live?

How have you been trusting him in your current circumstance?

Song

Prayer

Bible Reading

Community (Dont want to praise him alone)

Share him with others

Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory To wear my sin and bear my shame The cross has spoken, I am forgiven The king of kings calls me His own Beautiful savior, I'm yours forever Jesus Christ, my living hope

Then came the morning that sealed the promise Your buried body began to breathe Out of the silence, the roaring lion Declared the grave has no claim on me