Resurrection

Christ is not Dead!

Last week we look at the Son of God (Jesus) literally dying on a cross for us. We saw that our sin lead Jesus to the Cross. We saw that not just our bad sins but all of our sins from our simple white lies to us not doing what we are supposed to do led Jesus to the cross.

We left the story on a bad note without hope for salvation. We ended the service last week looking at a dead savior. The great news is that we do not serve a dead savior but one who has conquered death and sin. We serve a conquering God who is not still in the grave. Tonight we are going to be in John 20. This is the moment that we just celebrated Sunday but Easter Sunday is not the only day we need to celebrate this event. As Christians we need to celebrate the resurrection daily.

John 20:19–31 NLT

19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” 30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

We should be living with a hope and a love that is incomparable to any non Christian because the God that we serve is not a dead God but a living God who had conquered the grave. We are also sent out with a challenge to reach a lost world.

1. The Mission

John 20:20–21 NLT

20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

The challenge for us is to share the Gospel of Christ with all people regardless of their lifestyle. Could you imagine the excitement the disciples must of felt to see their best friend, their master, their savior, the messiah come back to life after watching him die.

We just read that the disciples were terrified but the moment they saw that the Lord was alive they instantly were filled with joy. The joy that they were filled with came at the fact that they had not been following a false god but rather the God who has created everything. Their joy turned into action that sent

They most definitely did not live their life as we are currently living. The disciples were not scared to share their faith with others and were not afraid to point people to Christ. They were unashamed of their faith to the point they all died while sharing the Gospel. They were sharing Christ with people that were not like them socially, economically, racially, or even religiously.

They would share the Gospel with people that hated them

Jesus commanded them to live their life sent for Christ.

We are called to live that same sort of lifestyle but we have drifted so far away from it.

We get so caught up in befriending sinners and encouraging their sin. We will use the excuse that Jesus hung out with sinners. The problem is that Jesus hung out with sinners but he did not allow for them to continue in their sins.

The other side of the coin is the issue in which people will not befriend sinners because that would hurt their reputation. If you are going to say that you are a Christian and not hang out with lost people who in the world are you going to witness too?

Christians should befriend worldly people but should do so to lovingly pointing them to Christ because we know that hope is only found in Christ.

If you look at the life of Christ he did not wait for the sinners to come to him but rather he purposely went to them. We are called to go out into the lost world and show them Christ. We are called to be active in our mission of sharing Christ with all people.

Christians should not ever encourage a person to continue in their sinful lifestyle.

We are called to live our lives pointing people towards Christ and allowing for Christ to radically change their lives.

We need to be living our lives sent for the mission of showing people the hope that we have.

2. The Hope

John 20:26–29 NLT

26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

We are sent with Hope. We are sent with the Power of Christ. We are sent to spread hope into a hopeless world.

The hope we have is that Jesus truly did face death but Jesus truly did raise from the dead. The hope that we have comes from the fact that our believing in Christ brings about salvation. We have hope because of the testimonies of his disciples.

We have hope because there is evidence of a life change in people around us.

We have hope because the grave is empty.

So many times we can doubt the goodness of God just like Thomas but we must hold onto our faith in which we believe. We must hold onto the fact that what God has prophesied has come to past and what hasn't happened yet will soon!

Salvation comes through us believing. Our hope rest in this belief that Jesus is who he said he is and he is the Son of God. Our salvation does not come from us saying the right words in a prayer or baptism. Our salvation comes from us making God the lord of our lives. We see here that Thomas proclaims that Jesus is his Lord and his God. That is salvation.

Salvation is us turning towards God and obey his commands for our lives. There may be some here tonight who have never made Jesus the Lord of their lives and if so today can be that day of salvation for you!

There are also some who are saved but are not sharing their faith with others because they do not know what they should share and I am glad you asked what do we share because John plainly states what we should share. That is our Message to the lost world.

3. The Message

John 20:30–31 NLT

30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

We are sent with a message. The message we proclaim to the lost world is the message that Jesus is the Messiah.

Jesus is the Son of God

Jesus is Risen

Jesus is our Savior

The message we proclaim is that apart from him we do not have life but in him will have everlasting life.

What is stopping us from living the life that God has called us to live in which we share with all people this awesome gift of salvation.

We are sent as a command from Jesus to share the gospel with all people. Why have we not done it?

What is that is preventing us from sharing with those closest to us?

What is it that is preventing us from sharing with our teammates?

What is it that is preventing us from sharing with you family?

Adults what is holding you back from sharing with your co-workers?

We always the students to share with others but are you sharing your faith with others?

We need to be a church of disciples who are seriously sharing the gospel with all people.

We celebrated the resurrection on Sunday but are you living living the resurrection this week?

Are you living with the same boldness that you believe that Jesus conquered death and the grave?

Have ever began a relationship with Christ? Have you ever made Jesus the Lord of your life?

If you have! Have you shared your faith with someone else?