Easter: Finding Hope
Notes
Transcript
Me:
Me:
Happy Easter! I’m so glad that you are able to join us, both in person and online! Today is the day Christians set apart, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We celebrate Easter not because the church says so, or because the Bible says so. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead because history tells us so. History tells us that Jesus of Nazareth lived in the first century. It tells us that this Jesus was executed by Roman soldiers in Jerusalem by crucifying him on a cross. After his death, he was placed in a tomb. On Sunday morning the tomb was found to be empty…and in the days and weeks to follow, more than five hundred people were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus. It is this historical event that our faith is built upon…and it is still impacting our world even today. Here’s why: The resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives us hope, and hope…well that can change everything.
About two months ago, I had a physical because I was feeling off. Well, the doctor found out I had an infection…which then led me to meeting with another doctor. So last month I was meeting with this specialist and she told me that it looks like I’m going to need surgery. When she said those words I wasn’t happy at all. She could tell that I was upset by the news. Then she said this: “I know this isn’t the news that you wanted to hear, but if we do this surgery it will get you back to normal.”
Her words were full of hope for me. She was honest about what was going to happen, but it was those words of hope, the words telling me that things could change that gave me the confidence to push forward.
It was amazing how those simple words gave me hope that things could change. I needed that.
You:
You:
For over a year now, it has felt like all we were bombarded with bad news. When this Covid-19 pandemic settled in, there were so many unknown variables that for many folks all it felt like was bad news, uncertainty, anxiety and fear. We found ourselves asking this question: “Will things ever go back to normal?”
Think back to all of the struggles we had to deal with over the last year.
One of the first moments of anxiety that set in a year ago was the hoarding of toilet paper! You would go into the store looking, hoping for toilet paper only to be disappointed! This is why everyone needs a good church family to be a part of. My man, Steve Ralph heard about our family’s lack of toilet paper and he dropped off this little package of toilet paper. Here’s what it says: It’s not Charmin, but it is 2-ply! So it says… As you can tell we held on to it as our last resort option. But seeing this little package of two-ply toilet paper was a big deal…it gave hope!
Honestly, lack of toilet paper was the least of our concerns. Here are three big issues we all faced.
The Fear of Death - I know a big one for a lot of people, especially early on was death. Those were real thoughts that many people had, probably even you. You didn’t want to get the virus, get hooked up to a ventilator, not see your family and die alone in the hospital. Initially that is what we thought was going to happen. I even remember thinking about all the potential funerals I might have to perform. The fear of death is real.
Dealing with Loss - Loss of loved ones. Loss of work, jobs or careers. The loss of celebrating with family. The grief of loss was real. We wanted some kind of hope that things would change. The hurt of loss is real.
Coping with Our Hurts, Habits and Hang ups - There was also the fact that a dealing with lock downs, fear and loss caused all of us to medicate ourselves. Bad news, depression and fear have a way of doing that to us. People ate too much food, watched too many movies, drank too much or picked up some other form of addictive behavior. Being in lock down brought out our fears, brokenness. We suffered from depression and anxiety attacks. Relationships fell apart. Families were separated. Marriages found themselves on the brink. Parents realized they had some serious issue when it came to interacting with their kids. The hurts, habits and hang-ups of the last year are real…and many of them still haven’t been resolved. You left probably wondering if you can ever change, if you can turn your life around. Coping with our hurts is real.
Listen, after 12 months of bad news, we could all use some good news. That’s why I’m glad you are here today to celebrate Easter, because Easter is good news! You see, without the resurrection, the life we have place our hope is at worst a cruel joke and at best nothing more than a creative dream. However, if Jesus has been raised we can find meaning, purpose and hope...hope that things can change.
With the time we have left, I want to show you how the resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives us the hope we need to turn our lives around.
God:
God:
If you have a Bible or device, find 1 Corinthians 15. If you are using the YouVersion Bible app, go to the bottom right hand corner where it says More. In the new menu, choose Events and all the Scriptures and sermon notes will be available for you there. In this letter to the church in Corinth, Paul is trying to help the Christians there, turn things around. In chapter 15 he focuses in on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead as a game changer in helping the Corinthian Christians to find the hope they need to turn things around. There are three examples of hope that can help them and us turn things around.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The Resurrected Jesus Changes Lives ~ I want to point out three people specifically mentioned whose lives were completely turned around because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The first is Cephas, or as you know him, Peter. He was one of Jesus’ closest friends, and yet on the night of Jesus arrest, he denied even knowing Jesus. Not once or twice....but three times! Yet, the resurrected Jesus appeared to him personally. Why? Jesus wanted Peter to know that his life could change…that he could turn things around. The second person I want you to notice is James. This is the half brother of Jesus. If you were to read through the past history between James and Jesus, you will quickly find that James wasn’t very supportive of Jesus or his ministry. Yet Jesus goes out of his way to appear to James. Why? Jesus wanted to let James know that things were different, that he could turn his life around. And that is exactly what James did. He gave his life to Jesus…and even wrote a book in the NT. The last one is the apostle Paul himself. What’s crazy about Paul is that he was actually a Jesus hater. He was named Saul, and he felt like it was his righteous duty to destroy the movement of Jesus followers, that is until the resurrected Jesus appeared to Paul. In the moment Paul transforms from a Jesus persecutor to a Jesus preacher, it’s literally the most unlikely of transformations!
For some of you, you feel like there is no way things can turn around in your life. You have regrets over things that you have done. Shame, because of the hurtful words and actions you took. Or maybe it’s just the embarrassment over how broken and messy your life has become. Listen, there is nothing you have done that can keep you from the amazing grace of God…and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you…to help turn your life around. If it turned their life around, it can turn yours around as well. For some of you, that is the hope you are looking for!
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The Resurrected Jesus Proves That Our Sins Are Forgiven ~ The doubts are real. The trust that our mistakes, our sin, our guilt has been forgiven. That is what we want to know. Paul says that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves it. If there was no resurrection, the cross was just a sad, unfortunate event. But because Jesus was raised from the dead, it demonstrates that the death of Jesus on the cross was in fact an atoning death. Paying for the sins of humanity. His resurrection demonstrates his victory of sin and death.
I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but I know someone does. Put your faith in the resurrected Jesus and experience forgiveness. What you did is forgiven. What you said, it’s forgiven. Your past, forgiven. Give your loyalty over to Jesus and let go of the burdens of shame and guilty and live in the freedom of forgiveness. That is hope!
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
The Resurrected Jesus Gives Us Hope That Death Is Not The End ~ The apostle Paul’s point is simple and clear. Jesus died and was then raised for the dead. He is the first to do so. Those who are in Jesus will rise again just as he did. This is a significant statement of hope! Our curse as humans is death. It is inevitable. It’s final…and the truth is we have doubts. Uncertainty and doubts about what is on the other side. Is there really Heaven? Is there eternal life? Or is everything just over? Is death final? So because of this we find ourselves often times living in fear. Fear that can paralyze us, keep us from being bold or living life to the fullest. Think back to the last year and how the fear of death impacted your life. How it changed your actions and thoughts. If you are ready to live life differently, unafraid of death…look to the resurrection of Jesus…it gives us hope that death is not the end.
If I could sum up what Paul is driving at in one sentence, here is what it would be:
By putting your faith in the resurrected Jesus, your life can truly be changed…forever.
You:
You:
Here are a few steps you should consider to experience the hope of the resurrected Jesus.
You can’t turn things around by yourself. Hope by itself doesn’t turn things around. Hope pushes you to take the next step. The truth is you need a community of people just like you to find true life change. This is really hard in the church because everyone here in this room believes that the people around them have their lives perfect and all put together. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: We are all a mess. We may look nice today, but underneath we are a mess. The last 12 months has really exposed us. But the hope of the resurrected Jesus pushes us to lean into each other, to work through life together. If you are here today, know that you are in a place that wants to help you. Whether it’s prayer, counsel, friendship, Christian counseling, or just answering your tough questions.
What bold move does God want you to make? For some of you, it’s time to step out with courage and boldness. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us today. We live in a community that desperately needs the life that Jesus can give. That needs to healing that Jesus can provide. Where is God calling you to go? Who is God calling you to talk to? How is God challenging you to love? To whom is God urging you to be generous towards?
Put your faith in Jesus for the first time. If you’ve never declared your loyalty to Jesus, and experienced that hope that he can give, I would invite you to talk with me after the service or contact me if you are watching this service online. Let’s begin the conversation about what a life following Jesus is all about.
We:
We:
Last week after our worship service, we were able to celebrate two people going all in with Jesus and publically declaring their desire to follow him. Check out this baptism video.
I’m so proud of Carolyn and Cole! Their testimony reminds us that:
By putting your faith in the resurrected Jesus, your life can truly be changed…forever.
