Easter 2021

There is fear that is rampant in the world today. People do not trust the government. All branches of our government have historically low approval ratings. Protests, here and abroad, are becoming so common that it feels like radio static. Meanwhile, social media has become the public forum of all that is ugly.

Let’s look at the top fears of Americans: people we love dying or becoming seriously ill, not enough money to pay the bills, government corruption, environmental degradation. Pretty bleak picture, isn’t it? This is the climate we are living in. So what does the Easter Sunday have to do with all of this? Everything.

PRAYER

God our Father in Heaven… We thank you for Easter, we thank you for the resurrection! God we ask that you would be with us now today.

MESSAGE

In many ways, the way it is today isn’t much different from the climate that the apostles were living in during the time of Jesus. They were living in a land occupied by a foreign army. The military occupation by Rome taxed the people and brutally suppressed any and all dissent. And in the midst of that, an incredible thing happened: a man whom the authorities thought was crucified rose from the dead! Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead! That’s why we are here today!

And that should give us confidence in the face of all of these uncertainties and fears we are faced with today. In the face of social turmoil, political unrest, illness and even death, we can live with confidence because Jesus rose from the dead.

Before you can be confident that Jesus rose from the dead, you have to have confidence that Jesus really died. That is what Paul addresses first in the fifteenth chapter of his letter to the church in Corinth.

I would remind you...

About the gospel

1 Cor 15:1-4

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Remind you of…

Gospel - preached

Gospel - recieved

Gospel - stand

Gospel - saved

Believed in vain…?

Gospel = Good News

First Importance...

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures

About the Resurrection…

What If Christ Has Not Been Raised?

1 Cor 15:12-19

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Christ’s own testimony was untrue

John 2:19 ESV

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

John 11:25 ESV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

The disciples were completely deceived

The church is a gigantic fraud

The christian experience is a grand delusion

We who believe are fools

We above all are most miserable

We are still in our sins

No Resurrection = Christ not raised

No Resurrection = Preaching in vain

No Resurrection = Faith in vain

No Resurrection = Still in our sin

No Resurrection = Dead have perished

No Resurrection = Most miserable

So you have hope!

But In Fact

1 Cor 15:20-23

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Our preaching is not in vain

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our faith is not in vain

John 11:25 ESV

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

We are no longer in Sin

Romans 4:25 ESV

25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Those who have “fallen asleep” in christ are not lost

1 Thessalonians 4:14–15 ESV

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

We above all are most blessed

Revelation 20:6 ESV

6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

CLOSE

1 Cor 15:1

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

1 Cor 15:3-4

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

I would remind you about the resurrection so you have hope

Christ did come

Christ did live

Christ did die

Christ was raised

Christ did it all, it is finished,

PRAYER

God our Father in heaven we praise you for this truth, this fact of the resurrection of Jesus. We thank you that in your wisdom you have recorded it here for us in 1 Cor 15:1-20… God I would pray now specifically for

Salvation for those who need it

Joy for those who recieved it

Hope for all who believe it

God our Father thank you for the reminder of this resurrection so that we may have hope!!