What Comes After Easter
Notes
Transcript
Opening
There are least three “musts” for us to fulfill or do after Easter.
1- Live passionately
2- Preach humbly
3- Love sincerely
LIVE PASSIONATELY
LIVE PASSIONATELY
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
That’s passion. The apostle Paul was willing to forget his great past in order to pursue and know Christ. He was willing to give up everything for the sake of Christ. If that isn’t passion, I don’t know what is!
ILL.- Mel Gibson has found some of that same passion in the making of his movie, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. Christ’s passion for mankind has become something of Mel’s passion.
In speaking of his movie, Mel said, “There is no greater hero story than this one – about the greatest love one can have, which is to lay down one’s life for someone. The Passion is the biggest adventure story of all time. I think it’s the biggest love-story of all time; God becoming man and men killing God – if that’s not action, nothing is.”
What’s your passion? What’s the thing that captures your heart and interest most of all? All of us have our passions in life whether we want to admit it or not. Sports, hobbies, cars, shopping, decorating, gardening, TV, eating (food), movies, hunting, fishing, gardening, golfing, baseball, etc.
Regardless of our passion, we all must have a passion for the Christ! And this passion must be evident in our lives in certain ways.
Edward Everett Hale, the distinguished poet and former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, eloquently captured the essence of every American’s duty: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, that I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I shall do."
Some people don’t want to get involved in any kind of Christian service and really, it’s just a lack of passion for Christ!
If we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and the only Savior of the world, how can we not get involved in serving in some form?
Not everyone can preach or teach, but everyone can do something to serve Christ in the church and outside the services of the church. If we are passionate for Christ we should always be looking for opportunities to serve, to bless, to help, etc.
Whatever you are interested in can be used for Christ.
An avid hunter, Ron Brent thought he knew what to expect when fellow outdoorsmen gathered to boast of their bounty.
He envisioned a rowdy crowd where the fish tales became more unrealistic with every beer gulped. What he found was a group of hunters more interested in being fishers of men.
"I saw men who weren’t drinking, and they weren’t cussing, and they were having a great time," Ron says. "I left knowing they had something I didn’t have. Three months later, I became a Christian."
Ron is now pastor of global evangelism at Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula, Georgia, an outlying suburb of Atlanta. The church sponsors an annual wild game dinner to appeal to people like Ron who was unchurched when co-workers invited him to the dinner.
Now the event is held at the county fairgrounds and draws about 3,500 people. In addition to a menu of deer, rattlesnake, elk, ostrich and alligator, the program features sports figures who share their faith. And each year about 200 people make professions of faith at the dinner.
Almost anything, any passion, any hobby, any talent, any interest can be used for Christ if we are passionate enough.
PREACH HUMBLY
PREACH HUMBLY
Brothers and sisters, most everybody is selling something. Maybe not everyone, but many people are selling something. You can’t go online, turn on the TV or pick up your phone without someboody trying to sell you something.
We, too, are supposed to be in the selling business. We need to be selling the Lord Jesus Christ to others any way we can. We need to preaching or presenting Christ to people, if we are sold on Him.
John Morely, the Englishman, who was not a Christian wrote, “If I believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and my Savior, I would never write or talk anything else.”
That’s a humbling thought. We DO believe that Jesus is the Christ and our Savior, but we talk about a lot of other things.
Robert Speer said, “Any man who has a religion is bound to do one of two things with it: change it or spread it. If it isn’t true, he must give it up. If it is true, he must give it away.”
We need to be selling Jesus Christ to people!
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
Preaching Christ is what the early church did very well. They went everywhere preaching the word. And most did it with the right attitude: humbly, gently, respectfully, lovingly.
People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care. The only way to preach Christ to people is by showing first of all that we truly care about them. We must befriend people, care for people, love people and then when the timing seems right, present Christ to them.
Easter is over, but it’s not over. It’s time to preach Christ in a loving and humble way. We need to get with God’s program. Some people must be doing something because their churches are growing.
We need to be preaching or presenting Christ in our community! Somehow. Anyhow.
LOVE SINCERELY
LOVE SINCERELY
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Getting out of debt is a great feeling, but you’ll never get there. All of us owe the debt of love to others every day of our lives. God put us here to love people. That obligation or debt will never be fulfilled.
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
ABOVE ALL, love people deeply. This is what all people need.
I found this ad on the internet while researching for this message.
Single Female Seeks Male companion. Age and ethnicity unimportant. I’m a young, good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods; riding in your pickup truck; hunting, camping, fishing trips. I love cozy winter nights spent lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. I’ll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me.Call 555-XXXX and ask for Daisy.
Turns out that the number provided was to the local humane society, and 643 inquired over the next 7 days after a 8 week old labrador retriever named Daisy.
Everyone is out there looking to be loved deeply.
God wants us to love all people the best we can: the attractive and unattractive, the compassionate and the uncompassionate, the sensitive and the insensitive, the spiritual and the non-spiritual.
Christ didn’t die on the cross for good people only, He died for everyone, the good, the bad and the ugly.
A lady by the name of Ann Weems wrote: "It was a family treasure. That golden vase, the priceless vase that had belonged to my great-grandmother and my grandmother and now to my mother. The vase sat on the mantle, out of reach of little fingers. However, I managed to reach it. I climbed to reach it and I broke it. I broke the family treasure.
"Then I began to cry in loud sobs that brought my mother running. I could hardly get it out. ’I broke the vase,’ I said. ’I broke the treasure.’
"A look of relief came over her face and she said, ’Oh, I thought that you had been hurt.’ She hugged me and made it very clear that I was her priceless treasure."
ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE GOD’S PRICELESS TREASURE. We must demonstrate love to all as best we can. Jesus did that very thing. He demonstrated love to the blind, the lame, the infirm, the dirty, the leprous, the outcast, the adulterous, the greedy, etc. WE NEED HIS HEART.
A young boy was overheard asking his playmate, "Wouldn’t you hate to wear glasses all the time?" "No," came the answer, "not if I had some like my grandma’s. She always sees when people are tired or sad, and she knows just what to do to make them feel better. One day I asked her how she could see that way all the time. She told me it was the way she learned to look at things as she grew older." After thinking for a minute, the first boy concluded, "Yeah, I guess you’re right; it must be her glasses."...
No, it wasn’t grandma’s glasses that made her love people, it was heart. A heart like Jesus’ heart. And we all need a heart like that. Above all, love people deeply.
CONCLUSION
Resurrection Sunday is past, but Christ lives on! Easter is over, but it’s not over! It’s not a done deal!