EASTER 2025

THE CROSS, THE TOMB THE CALLING:

DISCIPLESHIP IN LIGHT OF EASTER

 Good morning – He Is Risen!

God Is Good!

All the Time!

This is what we are here celebrating –

The Cross is not the ending of our journey –

The empty tomb is not what we strive for –

They are our starting point

So as we begin let us pray!

Sermon Title:  "The Cross, the Tomb, and the Call: Discipleship in Light of Easter" Key Texts: Luke 9:23–24, Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 6:4

One Big Idea:

Easter invites us not only to believe in the risen Christ but to follow Him with resurrected lives—daily choosing the path of discipleship marked by surrender, sacrifice, and resurrection hope.

Point 1: The Cross — Discipleship Begins with Surrender

Illustration: A man once carried a backpack full of rocks wherever he went. He didn’t realize how heavy it had become until someone asked, “Why don’t you take it off?” Like that man, we often carry self-will, pride, or comfort that weighs down our discipleship. The cross is not just a symbol of suffering—it's the gateway to freedom through surrender.

Key Point –

True discipleship starts when we lay down our will and pick up the cross daily.

Supporting Scripture:

Luke 9:23-24 – “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

- Deny

- Take up

- Follow

- Lose

Philippians 2:8 – “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

- Humble

- Complete humbleness (dying to self)

Application Questions:

1. What “weight” do you need to lay down to fully follow Jesus?

2. What might it look like for you to take up your cross this week?

Point 2: The Tomb — Discipleship Requires Dying to Self

Illustration: Gardeners know that a seed has to go underground and “die” before it grows. If it tries to stay safe above the soil, it never becomes what it was meant to be. Our old selves—our selfishness, pride, and sin—must be buried with Christ so something new can grow.

Key Point –

You cannot walk in new life until you’ve let your old life be buried with Christs

Supporting Scripture:

Romans 6:6–7 – “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

- Old crucified with Him

- No longer slave to sin

John 12:24 – “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

- Required to die to selfish desires and things have to be our way

- To serve is to follow

- To follow is to mimic – replicate

- Serve only 1 of 2 masters – God or the World – cannot be both

Application Questions:

3. What part of your old self is Jesus calling you to leave in the tomb?

4. How do you resist “dying to self” in your daily walk with Christ?

Point 3: The Resurrection — Discipleship Lives with Hope and Purpose

Illustration: Think of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly—it doesn’t return to crawling once it’s been transformed. The resurrection gives us a brand new life, and discipleship means learning to walk in that newness daily. Easter isn’t just a day to celebrate—it’s a lifestyle of hope, mission, and resurrection power.

Key Point –

The empty tomb empowers us to live boldly, walk in purpose, and share the hope of Jesus with others.

Supporting Scripture:

Romans 6:4 – “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

- New life – new identity -

Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

- Go

- Make Disciples

- Teach

Application Questions:

5. How are you living out the power of the resurrection today?

6. In what ways is Jesus calling you to share the hope of new life with others?

Closing Thought:

Easter is not the finish line—it’s the starting point for a life fully surrendered, continually transformed, and powerfully lived in the hope of the resurrection. The empty tomb fuels our everyday life and our everyday decisions and our everyday discipleship.

Easter Challenge:  This week how can you apply God’s message to your life and this week –

- Lay down whatever is holding you back – what do you need to surrender to Jesus?  Take time to identify whatever it is from going deeper – feeling comfortable, fear, habits?  Write them down, pray over them, nail them to the cross and be open to where God is calling you.  Discipleship begins with surrender—release what weighs you down so you can fully follow Jesus.

- Bury the Old You – what areas of your life is Christ not impacting, does not have an influence on – pride, bitterness, sin, tradition – identify it and ask for God’s help to keep it in the tomb so you can walk in your identity in Christ!  Let go of your old patterns and allow Christ to transform you from the inside out.

- Live With the Resurrection Hope – share Jesus with someone who doesn’t know or walked away, remind them they can always come back, be generous with them, encourage them.  Walk boldly in the power and purpose of the resurrection, sharing hope with a world that needs it.

This week more than any other we are called to Surrender – Die and Rise to do God’s Purpose

Romans 12:1-2 best summarizes this in –

““Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Surrender – offer your body as a living sacrifice

Die to Self – Do not be conformed

Resurrected Life – Be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Optional Benediction:

May the risen Lord go before you to lead you, behind you to guard you, beneath you to sustain you, and within you to strengthen you— as you carry your cross, leave your old self behind, and walk in the power of the resurrection. Go and make disciples, just as He called you. Amen.