What Has He Done?
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
IN CHRIST ALONE
I am so glad that you are worshipping with us for our special Easter Service, where we rejoice not only in what Christ has down for us through His death, but we also rejoice in what God has done for us by raising Him from the dead. He is alive! And we celebrate that today together. At your home, as awkward as it may be right now, nudge someone next to you and tell them that He ain’t in the ground no more. My Jesus is alive! Text someone right now, “They looked for His body and can’t find it. He’s alive!” This is a day of celebration! This is a day of thanksgiving! This is the day the Lord has made, and I will be glad and rejoice in it.
I am so glad that you are worshipping with us for our special Easter Service, where we rejoice not only in what Christ has down for us through His death, but we also rejoice in what God has done for us by raising Him from the dead. He is alive! And we celebrate that today together. At your home, as awkward as it may be right now, nudge someone next to you and tell them that He ain’t in the ground no more. My Jesus is alive! Text someone right now, “They looked for His body and can’t find it. He’s alive!” This is a day of celebration! This is a day of thanksgiving! This is the day the Lord has made, and I will be glad and rejoice in it.
Again, thank you for joining us for a special time of worship today. I am Michael Clark, Lead Pastor at Emmanuel. We miss seeing your face each Sunday, but I also am glad to be connected to so many new folks because we are online together. God has a strange way of getting His message where it needs to go. While God did not cause COVID-19, I believe He will bring good things out of it for those of us who love Him. That is what His Word tells us in . As we worship together this morning, let’s glorify His Name because He is worthy, He is Good, He is God. Join me as we worship.
Worship
Worship
Announcements
Announcements
Thank you for worshipping with us. Would you send me a picture of what church looks like for you right now? You can text it to me if you have my number or email it to us at mail@emmanuelag.com. We would love to see how you are worshipping with us during this time.
A few things I want to briefly share with you this morning.
If you are worshipping with us for the first or second time, meaning you have only connected with us since we have been online, we want to connect with you. Would you email us at mail@emmanuelag.com. We would like to send a note back to you along with a small gift to show how glad we are to have you joining us online. Be sure and email us. We would love to hear how we can be praying with and for you during this time.
Secondly, for our regular Emmanuel family, I want to communicate my gratitude for your faithfulness in giving. Many have gone to our website or continued using tith.ly to give faithfully during our time of physical distancing. Others of you have mailed in your gifts, and it is because of your gifts that we have not missed a beat in supporting our over 30 plus missionaries, local ministries, and church planters. You are kingdom people, kingdom minded, and continue to show your trust through faithful giving. Thank you!
Finally, I want you to be prepared to take communion at the end of our time together. Get a cracker and some juice, or a vanilla wafer and some coffee. Whatever you have to take as elements to represent the body and blood of Christ with us at the end of this service, I want to encourage you to gather those and have those ready for that time of reflection and thanksgiving.
Candi and I love you guys. Miss seeing you and will be excited when we can worship together again in person.
But today, we celebrate one of the greatest days in history. This day has been marked as the day to remember Christ rose from the dead. I like to call it Resurrection Sunday.
Sermon
Sermon
STORY:
Just last week, I did something that I had been putting off for a long time. When we first moved into our house in March of 2009, Candi and I planted two trees. When we bought our house, there was only one tree in the yard. It was a Bradford Pear smack dab in the middle of our front yard. So, we immediately went to the Home Depot and picked out two small trees that we could plant in our front and backyard. The Japanese Maple went out back by the deck, while the Weeping Cherry went in the front near the mailbox. The Weeping Cherry had issues with bugs, then decay, and honestly I held onto the hopes that it would turn around and revive itself. This was the first year it hasn’t leafed or budded since we bought it. I knew it was time for the investible. I went over to it and was able to snap it in half because of how dead it was on the inside as well.
How many times do I hold onto something with the hopes that it will revive itself. That something will change or auto-correct, but it doesn’t. This time it was just a tree, but we are guilty of holding onto decaying habits, dying relationships, and toxic mindsets that eat away at the life that God has for us.
TRANSITION:
And today, I want to talk about the life that Christ intended for us to live. Christ death over 2,000 years ago was a game-changer. Jesus voluntarily taking our place as a perfect, living sacrifice has made all the difference in my life. My sin has been forgiven. The price that was accredited to my wrong doing has been paid in full, and the beauty of His sacrifice is that it was once for all. I don’t have to return to the altar to make atonement for my sin.
10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
The death Christ died was once for all. It was a final payment removing our sins from us. There is no longer a reminder of shortcoming or of missing the mark with God. That slate has been wiped clean, and a brand new start has begun.
STORY:
I remember what it was like when I first began to understand God’s grace and that He wanted to have a relationship with me. As a teenager, the Spirit pierced these impressions upon my heart, and I couldn’t help but begin to weep as I laid there on my bed reading the Gospel of Matthew. The Words of Jesus were red letter words of My Savior, My Lord, My Friend. A revelation of who God is led to an understanding of who He created me to be, His son.
That is something each one of us need. We need a revelation of HIs amazing grace, His unfathomable love for us. We need more than a head knowledge of the historical facts of what this man Jesus did for us, though they are historical accurate with incredible proof. More than all that, we need a spiritual awakening within our hearts to how much He loves us, to how much He has done for us, to how much He still cares for us, will never leave or forsake us. We need a spiritual sensitivity to the realities of what He has done for us once and for all.
Yes! Our sins are forgiven, and they are forgiven once for all. But it is so much more than that.
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.
6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,
2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.
3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.
4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)
5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later,
6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?
17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Hebrews
I am so glad that we don’t have to pay the price for our sins each year, each day, each hour. I am grateful for what Christ has done for us, once and for all.
The problem is we still make sacrifices for our sin. We punish ourselves and others when we feel that we have missed God’s mark. I am guilty of this. I beat myself up, I get frustrated with myself (and then sometimes with others) when I have screwed up. There are times I can sense the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin so that repentance and transformation can occur.
But there are a lot of times when I self afflict a form of punishment until I feel like I deserve God’s good graces again. This makes light of the fact that Christ’s sacrifice was final for us. It minimizes what Christ has done that we never can. It perverts the Gospel, the Good News, and makes it more about what we can contribute to the process of His grace with our own twisted image of self-worth.
Accepting the fact that God loved us and still loves us even when we mess up can be difficult to accept, but when we do it will revolutionize our life. This one paradigm shift will bring the freedom that Christ purchased for us that many years ago.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebere
Christ has brought us forgiveness.
Christ has also brought us access.
At Emmanuel, we say ENCOUNTER | CONNECT | GROW
The access that Jesus has given us by His blood allows us VIP status to enter the holy places. The righteousness of Christ attributed to our account grants us the provision of encountering God in His holy presence. We would not have this otherwise. And notice how the access to encounter God leads to a few leaves of LET US.
vs. 22
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
We have confidence, in full assurance of faith, because our hearts have been cleansed, our evil conscience and bodies washed pure.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Heb 10:23
The second LET US, adds to the confidence of our faith the confession of our hope.
Right now, this is a critical LET US. We need to remind ourselves and others not to lose hope, not to give up or entertain thoughts of hopelessness. That is so natural for our flesh and society to gravitate to grave thoughts. But part of what Christ has given to us through His sacrifice is not only forgiveness, and overcoming the grave but these grave thoughts by the the hope that He has given us that is eternal. The hope that we are holding onto has nothing to do with what we can contribute, but thankfully has everything to do with the fact that “He who promised is faithful.” We need to remind ourselves of this fact until it get into our thoughts and emotions during this crisis.
The final LET US is in verses 24 and 25.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
We say CONNECTED and GROW. This LET US is admonishing us to stir each other up to do the works of Him who is in heaven, to be kingdom participants in seeing His Kingdom in Heaven come to earth right now, to see His will being done right now as it is in Heaven. We are to encourage one another towards this goal, not neglecting meeting together because staying connected to one another is how we encourage one another.
Let me say something about this especially during what we are going through in April of 2020. By meeting online, we are not forsaking or breaking this admonishment to gather together. Instead, we are recognizing the greater good right now is to...
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
We are still able to keep the spirit of the command to gather when we worship together online, over the phone, text each other, call each other, and look for ways to stay connected and encourage one another during this bizarre season.
Christ’s death has brought us forgiveness.
Christ’s death has brought us access.
Christ’s death has brought us family.
STORY:
This past week we had the privilege of adopting JoJo. It was a little unconventional, as the courts have been closed for a few weeks, but we were still able to go through with the adoption via FaceTime. I believe some of JoJo’s family are probably with us online right now, which is just a testimony to what God can do. Adoption is such a special thing. Adoption is what God has done for each one of us. He has adopted us into His Forever Family. He has given us a home; He has given us belonging. This is what Christ has done for us.
Christ’s death has brought us together with Him and one another. We need the Body of Christ, and we need one another now more than every before. It is so important that we don’t pull away during the mandated ‘social distancing’ and ‘stay at home’ orders. It is vital that we reach out, stay connected, and encourage one another.
This is what Christ has done for us: forgiveness, access, and belonging.
The forgiveness we experience now with have eternal implications. The access we are able to experience now in encountering and knowing God will only get greater on the other side of this life. The belonging we experience now we will know forever in that Forever Home of Heaven, with our Father and Family.
Maybe, you have joined us today, and you haven’t experienced these things yet. You have experienced forgiveness to the extent that Christ intended. Maybe you are still trying to figure out how to right all your wrongs and even up the scales on your own. It will never work, and I am thankful God doesn’t expect that of us. Instead, we have a free gift of forgiveness and salvation by placing our faith in the grace He extends to us through His Son, Jesus.
Jesus was buying back relationship. God is so bent on having a relationship with you and with me that He was willing to sacrifice His only for that relationship with us. He wants you to have that today.
God wants you to find the belonging we are all searching for but will only find it in its truest form in the family of God.
If you sense God speaking to your heart right now, I want you to join me in prayer with folks online. Pray right where you are with me.
Prayer
Prayer
Communion
Communion
As we rejoice in what Christ has done for us this glorious day, we remember what His death as well as His life has done for us.
We now not only have peace with God, access to relationship with Him, but also freedom from the sin and bondage that has haunted us.
I want to give you a minute to get a cracker and some juice, literally anything you have where you are to participate with us right now in remembering what Christ has done, is doing, and will continue to do for us. So, go ahead, get up if you don’t have anything already to partake of the Lord’s Supper with us. One of the most precious things we can do during times of need is remind ourselves of what God has already done for us in our past. Listen to these verse from :
11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
NIV31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Today, as we participate in the Eucharist, in a time of remembering and reflecting with thankfulness, I want to take this recognizing the Body of Christ around the world. We are a part of His Body, His Family. Today, we remember and reflect with gratitude on what Christ has done for us. He has brought us forgiveness, access, and belonging. Let me lead us now:
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
ESV23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Take what you have to represent Lord’s body, which is for you and for me. Let’s remember what He took upon Himself for our good.
ESV3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
EAT THE BREAD
Let’s remember what He took upon Himself for our good. EAT THE BREAD
27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
ESV25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Take what you have to represent Lord’s blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.
ESV5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Let’s remember the ultimate price He paid for provide us peace.
DRINK THE CUP
Join me in worshipping to this next song as we reflect on the Goodness of God. This song is titled, Resurrecting.
RESURRECTING
Jesus is alive! Would you stay on with us for a few minutes and chat with us on the side? Let us know how you are doing, something funny about this “stay at home” time for you, and how we can be praying for you. We love you guys and look forward to when we will gather again!