The Power of the Resurrection

What If??

Thanks for choosing to be here with us this morning, no matter how you got here, if you come here every Sunday, if you visit from time to time, if you were invited by family or friends, if you came for the amazing worship team, or if you came because the Lord was tugging at your heart, we are all here together in this place, and we each get to celebrate today the Resurrection of our Saviour- KING JESUS! Many of us spent this past week reflecting on the Last Supper the Lord had with His disciples, and the betrayal that took place, we reflected on what Jesus went through, a sinless man, and the torture and beating He endured, being crucified on the cross. Having spent time remembering what took place over Holy Week, makes today, RESURRECTION SUNDAY, all the better!

Lets start this morning by reading the account of JESUS’S burial & resurrection-

John 19:28-30 Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

-Let’s stop- Why did Jesus say “It is finished!” What was finished? - Through His death our penalty was paid! In the old testament many sacrifices had to be made - Jesus was referred to as the Lamb of God. Spotless and without blemish, He himself was the sacrifice, for our sin. The judgement of sin had been laid upon our savior, and through the his death and his blood we can be forgiven. His death had to take place. Therefore, the penalty was paid and his life was given up so that we could be freed “IT IS FINISHED”-

The Burial of Jesus

Matthew 27:57-66 57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”

65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it. (INSERT PICTURE OF GUARDS)

I know today is about the Resurrection, but I wanted to make sure we all had an understanding of the accounts that took place prior to… Something I don’t want to leave out is in

Matthew 28:1-15 1Early on Sunday morning,a as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.

2Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. (INSERT PICTURE OF THE GUARDS AT DEAD FAINT)- I want to stop for one second- As we looked at a couple seconds ago, Roman guards weren’t push overs, and I certainly dont think they would have sent any soft guards over to protect Jesuss tomb since his death was central to all that was going on. The fear they had would have caused them to take this very seriously and sending some of their strongest guards, in my opinion. The fact that the “fell into a faint” would have meant they did not fulfill their duty which is VERY SERIOUS and they could have been stoned or beaten to death, or banished from Rome. but something very different took place… lets keep reading.

5Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. 7And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

8The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. 9And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

11As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. 12A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. 13They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ 14If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” 15So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.

Now that we can someone what have a mental picture of what took place and the accounts that happened and were recorded - I have a serious question to ask all of you! WHAT IF??????..…

What if what we celebrate on Easter were true? What if Jesus really did raise from the dead? what if the Resurrection of Jesus Christ truly happened as these accounts say they did? When praying about the message that I was to share - instantly I received- WHAT IF…

WHAT IF…

I want to be clear- this is a question for each and every one of us-

If you are not a believer- what if this were true? what if believing in the life the death and the resurrection of Jesus would free you from sin and shame and bondage? What if because you have been washed in the blood of Christ you can be forgiven and freed and have a relationship with you creator - theres also that one day- that we refer to as judgement day when we will all give an account for our lives- If this were true and you believed and follow Him, He will say welcome my good and faithful servant and you will be welcomed in to eternity w/ Christ no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering.

This question is for those of you that are on the fence- what if Jesus died on the cross for you so that you can be freed from the control of satan and the fear, anxiety, sin, shame, condemnation, hopelessness, what if he truly rose from the grave so that YOU could have eternal life with Him, and that His spirit would fill you from the moment you believe to walk with you here on this earth, so that he could be your strength, your counselor, your peace, your hope, so that you could be filled with love and joy. The devil owns the fence so if you’re there, its one of the HARDEST seats to sit in my friends. You know that God loves you and has a life of abundance for you to live in, but you want to live the way you want to live and whatever temptation comes your way, or whatever feels good or makes sense to you. You want control of your life instead of trusting and surrendering to the Lord. He did not create us to be robots the Lord gave us free will to choose Him and trust Him and His ways. If you believe that Jesus was crucified and resurrected and you realize that He did it for you, what will it take for you to know He did it so you can live a life together with Him here and now?

This question is also for every person that sits here and calls themselves a christian. A christian means- christlike one- A disciple means follower and learner of Christ. or maybe you call yourself a believer. So if all of these things that we spoke of were true what would that mean for you and your life? For those of you saying well yes its true of course it is, than to you I say this—

Jesus left the right hand of the Father to come to this earth to walk as a man, knowing He was going to have to give up His life to bare our sins so that we could be saved, He paid our penalty, so we can be forgiven. He rose from the grave defeating death, therefore death has no hold on us, therefore sin and the evil one has no authority or control in our lives other than what we allow. IF THESE THINGS TRULY TOOK PLACE and you say you know they are true, than how is your life different how are our lives evidence of this truth? Do we live as if it never happened. His WORD SAYS THIS:

Romans 5 :1-11 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Hope- peace- love-joy

So if it were TRUE- then our lives should look different, yes there will still be problems and trials- but instead of giving up hope because of these problems or allowing problems and trials to defeat us- we come out of these trials come out of these problems better people. Allowing the tough times to shape us and our character. IF THIS WERE TRUE- it means because of Jesus Christ we have been made friends of God and our relationship with Him has been restored. If we are friends of God then we most certainly can live a life with HOPE and with LOVE and with PEACE and JOY- if we are friends with God the creator than we wont be shaken by whats happening here. Yes we will experience pain and loss and disappointment at times, but we are not alone we are not without a creator that loves us. Our foundation is in the Lord not whats happening around us. Yes be aware of whats going on in the world, but it SHOULD NOT be able to cause fear or anger or separate us from each other. So WHAT I AM SAYING is THAT if you call yourself a christian and a follower of Christ our lives should differently than they did before. TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST!

Romans 5:20-21 20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Because these things are true sin no longer rules us for we are forgiven and free! The enemy wants you to believe you must live in sin and in shame resulting in death. Leaving you with no peace, with no joy, little love and no hope for the future.

ROMANS 6 :1-11 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

THESE ARE THE ANSWERS TO WHAT IF… If you are sitting there saying IT IS TRUE and you BELIEVE then friends our lives should reflect it! So that those that do not yet believe and those that are sitting on the fence can see the POWER OF CHRIST IN OUR LIVES!!! Our very lives and how we live is the evidence that Jesus rose again and His Spirit lives within us!

Romans 6:12-13 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is transformative power in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. CAN I HAVE ALL THE LEADERSHIP TEAM AND STAFF COME FORWARD AT THIS TIME PLEASE >This church isn’t filled with people that live WHAT IF lives- We are blessed enough to have many , including leaders of this church that have been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and willing and humble enough to share. THEIR lives have been transformed because of the truth of the resurrection!!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” - Colossians 3:10

“11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” — Romans 8:11

CARDBOARD TESTIMONIES AT THIS TIME:

-JEREMy

AFTER THE CARDBOARD TESTIMONIES- Jeremy will give a challenge.

So what now:

Mark 16:15-16  And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.

1 Peter 3:21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead saves us. It is this resurrection which Christians publicly express their faith in when being baptized. 

Believe- accept Christ into your life, believe in him in what He has done for you, ask for forgiveness and repent and be baptized. Baptism is a full submersion under water, not only symbolizing be washed clean by the blood of Christ and coming up a new creation. The Holy Spirit fell on JESUS like a dove when He was baptized, there is something very special about the obedience of baptism. If you were baptized as a child or infant and feel like the Lord is calling you to be baptized you are welcome to be rebaptized. If you are not physically able to go under the water, we can still baptize you.

If you want to recommit your lives to Christ now is the time to do so! These altars are open, when you come up here it is between you and God. We call it a place of exchange, where you lay something down and the Lord gives you peace or love or strength or forgiveness, whatever it is it is between you and the Lord.

If you want to be baptized come forward I will be up here as the worship team plays. If I’m standing come and get me. If you want to be prayed over than we have a prayer team here to pray with you that will be up front. Its time for us all to come up out of the grave and live like we know it’s true and that He did it for us!