Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning we are picking back up in our study of the Gospel of Mark.

If you’re new to our church, it would be good for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.

What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then studying them from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand what they mean in our lives today.

With that said, for the last couple of years we have been walking through the Gospel of Mark.

A Gospel that was written to teach us who Jesus is, what He came to do, and what it means to follow Him.

And believe it or not, we are literally on the tail end of this study as we come to chapter 16 today, the final chapter of this amazing gospel.

I know some of you never thought you would see the end.

But here we are.

If you haven’t been with us, over the last few weeks we have been looking at the arrest, trial, and death of Jesus.

A series of events that Jesus predicted three times in this Gospel.

Events the followers of Jesus failed to either believe or didn’t want to believe would happen.

Events that have left his followers stunned, discouraged, and hopeless.

And now with Jesus dead and in the grave, his followers have scattered.

Some are in hiding, some mourn from a distance, and only a faithful few remain in this final hour.

As we said a couple weeks ago, this wasn’t how the story was supposed to end.

And the truth is, we’ve all been there.

We’ve all been in that place of hopelessness:

Wondering where God is.

Unsure on how to move forward.

Wondering what tomorrow will bring, or even if there will be a tomorrow.

And unfortunately that’s where a lot of Christians find themselves when life goes sideways.

All they can see is the tragedy.

All they can see is the marriage falling apart.

All they can see is the addiction getting the best of them, again.

All they can see is their loved one lying in that casket.

All they can see are the actions and consequences of a rebellious child.

All they can see is the diagnosis of cancer.

All they can see is their tragedy staring them in the face as hopelessness consumes them, fear overwhelms them, and uncertainty paralyzes them.

That’s where the majority of Jesus’s followers find themselves as we move into chapter 16 this morning.

And maybe that’s where you’ve found yourself at different points in your life, and maybe find yourself this morning.

But the good news of the Gospel is that there is a chapter 16.

Thankfully, chapter 15 wasn’t the end of the story.

We have one more chapter to go.

A chapter that is meant to give us hope in the midst of hopelessness.

So, in order to introduce this next chapter, and give us some framework to work with, I want to begin by asking you to consider a couple different scenarios.

Scenario #1: Imagine waking up this morning, turning on the news, and learning that an astroid the size of Texas is going to hit the earth today, and an estimated 1/3 of the world’s population is going to be wiped out along with most of the earths natural resources.

Let me ask you something, “Would news like that change the course of your life?

Would it change your priorities?

Maybe change your worldview?

Maybe change future decisions?”

Do you think news like that would change life on planet earth as we know it?

Illustration 2: Imagine as we’re sitting here in church today, we learn a nuclear missile has been launched at the US.

Do you think that news would have an affect on us?

Would the plans you had for today, this week, this month, and for the years to come drastically change.

Do you think life on planet earth would change as we know it.

The reason I ask you to consider these scenarios, is because as we come to chapter 16, we come to an event of the same magnitude.

Something is about to happen that is going to affect the entire world.

Something that will impact the very fabric of our being.

An event that will alter our worldviews, change our perspectives, and readjust our priorities.

An event that will forever change how we view this life and the life to come.

But unlike an astroid or nuclear war, this event isn’t meant to cause panic and bring destruction.

It’s not a cataclysmic event were talking about here.

Instead it’s an event that brings life.

An event that brings hope.

An event that has the ability to transform and renew our lives.

So, what is this event?

It’s and event known as “The Empty Tomb”.

So, before we get to far into what this represents, let’s begin by illustrating the magnitude of this event.

Let me explain it like this.

So, what is this event.

It’s an event called “The Empty Tomb”.

And to start with, let’s begin by illustrating the magnitude of this event.

Let me explain it like this.

Illustration 2: The same would be true if while we were in church today, we were told a nuclear missile had been launched at the US.

That would be a life changing event, right?

An event that changed everything.

News like that would cause you to leave here different than when you walked in.

The plans you had for today, this week, this month, and for the years to come might drastically change.

If a nuclear war took place today, life as we know it on planet earth would change forever.

It would be a life altering event.

In a sense, that’s how impactful the Empty Tomb is.

An event that affects of all mankind.

An event that should change the way we live our lives.

An event that should cause us to walk out of here different than we walked in.

An event so impactful that it should forever change us.

A miraculous event meant to restore hope in the midst of hopelessness.

A miraculous event meant to restore peace in the midst of chaos.

A miraculous event meant to ultimately restore man’s relationship with his creator.

So, what is this event?

Well, as I said, along with his death, Jesus predicted this event.

So, in case you missed it like his disciples did, let’s take a moment and go back to the three occassions where Jesus predicted not only his death, but this life altering event.

For example, if you’re not a follower of Jesus, you would refer to this event as the “Empty Tomb”.

Beginning back in Mark writes:

And not just once, but three times.

Listen to what Jesus says on each of these occasions.

Back in Mark writes:

And in he writes:

And again in Mark 10:

A few things I want you to notice about these three passages.

First, notice in each passage, Jesus predicts his death.

Now, when we read that, some might say, “So, what, big deal.

Not super impressive.

The truth is, we’re all going to die.

Any of us could make that prediction.”

And that’s true.

I could stand up here and say, “I predict that someday I’m going to die.”

And you’d all be like, “Tell us something we don’t know pastor.”

But notice as well, Jesus predicts how he will die.

Maybe a little more impressive.

None of us really know how we are going to die unless we’ve been forewarned.