Sermon Tone Analysis

introduction

Good morning, everyone, and happy Easter.

The thought and concept of Easter are critical to our faith as Christians but has anyone ever noticed that it has begun to become another holiday like arbor day or Peanut butter celebration day (Jan 24).

We celebrate and wear our best clothes on Easter, not for the Easter bunny or our family.

We do not come here out of obligation for some just because it is the right thing to do, but there is a reason.

What is the big deal?

We know the premise, and we know that Jesus died on a Roman cross and rose from the dead, but that was 2000 years ago?

In 2022 we focus on the present and what will happen in the next hour.

The next video, TikTok or a political news event, will shape how we live our lives.

We do not think that everything has a price or a consequence in our world.

It is not a big deal if no one gets hurt if you run a red light.

We know that it is illegal, but why is it not legal?

Is it because the government wants to control us, or are we trying to get everyone safe that is driving on our roads?

Yes, I know that annoying red light is annoying, but if everyone ran red lights, then a great deal more people would be hurt.

Everything in our life requires payment or a consequence.

You stay up late Saturday night, then Sunday morning, you will be dragging and hit snooze a few hundred times.

If you steal food from your grand kids or daughter and they get upset for you stealing their breakfast, and the father get a time out.

Life has consequences and requires payment.

This morning, I will be diving deep into the consequences and the payment of our transgressions to our Heavenly Father.

All wrongdoing requires payment no matter the severity of the type of sin or transgression that we have against our Heavenly Father.

We live in a world where it is not a big deal if we tell a white lie to our spouse or look at a person of the opposite gender with lustful eyes.

Do you want to make God Sad?

This is what we tell our Children but are we living what we are teaching to the next generation?

Are we showing them that this is correct, but are we living it?

Clearly Speaking are we as Christians practicing what we are preaching to each other and the world or are we showing two different versions of ourselves.

One of the most vital pieces of information that any Christ-follower knows is that they are a sinner and sinning is terrible.

However, we also know that all sin must be paid for either by us or by the death of Jesus on the Cross.

However, where do we see this in Scripture?

We cannot just say what we think God wants us to do unless we see it in his word.

God's word shows one continuous story, and we see this from the very few books of the Bible.

Let us start in the book of Hebrews, where we are told that all sin and transgressions require payment.

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We see in Scripture in black and white or whatever color your device screen shows that under the law that God has set worth, Blood is what wipes the sins and transgressions away.

Without the shedding of Blood, then there is no forgiveness of sins.

There was a system of sacrifices required for everyone's sins and to cover their transgressions for a certain period in the Old Testament.

This system was not meant to be a get out of jail free card but a way for the sins of their day to be washed away.

For example, everyone washes their car at least once every six months.

Your car is dirty, and you want to make sure that it is clean and looking good—the same concept as to how your soul in the Old Testament required a washing or covering of Blood.

But do not take my word for it.

Let us look at Leviticus in the Old Testament.

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God tells them that they have sinned and must cleanse themselves from the sin and filth in the world.

Sin is not something new and has been around for thousands of years.

It started in the beginning with A tempting serpent, eve, and having the commandment here challenged God and his commandment to not eat from the tree of knowledge of Good and evil.

Again, do not take my word for it.

We at Friendship agree with challenging anyone that speaks at this pulpit.

We challenge people and if they get it wrong, we let them know that Scripture does not tell them this.

Sometimes it involves a stuffed tomato but at least it is soft.

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After the fruit was eaten, their eyes were opened, and they knew that they had sinned and had been separated from the love of God.

This all started with the serpent stating, "God says that you cannot eat from that tree."

We sent ourselves on this leapfrog trip to show that the concept of falling away and doing our own thing away from God is sprinkled all over the pages of Scripture.

We thought that we were God and that we did not need him.

We see it in the beginning with a bit of doubt from Satan.

We decide that we do not have to trust our Creator and sustainer of Earth.

So, Eve eats from the tree and gives it to Adam.

Now do not be too hard on Adam and eve because we do this daily when we do what we want instead of what God has commanded us to do.

We go off on a coworker; we hold anger, look at someone of the opposite gender with lustful thoughts, and become jealous of someone else house or new boom box.

The commandments that God gave us from Moses were not meant to be restrictive but to provide us a way for all of us to live together, love each other, and, most importantly, love our Heavenly Father.

There are many false Gods, but he is the greatest God and the most loving because he could have easily said after the Noah flood that these people are crazy, and I should say end game.

He could have easily turned off the gaming system of the world because we decided to do what we wanted instead of what was right and what was just.

We have two options to pay for our transgressions towards our Heavenly Father.

We know that all sin requires payment, but we do not just go down to the local farmer and start sacrificing the life or the Blood to God.

We go two places.

We deny the love and the gift of Salvation from our Heavenly Father by sending his Son Jesus to die on a Roman cross where he was beaten to a pulp, humiliated, and his relationship with his father was fractured, or we go to Hell.

Jesus endured a physical and spiritual torment of pain and agony that we cannot comprehend or understand on so many levels.

Of course, anyone with theology training knows this is very generalized, but this is as simple as we need to know about it.

Either we go with God, or we go to Hell? Do you want to party in Heaven with Jesus beyond the time constraints that we as humans place on things, or do you want to continue to do your own thing on Earth?

The Ten Commandments are not meant to be restrictive but to make you a better person and build your Creator's relationship.

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I have talked a great deal about payment for sins, but how does Jesus come into this account, and what is the big deal of Easter.

Why do we continue studying and going over these details until some of us know the story down to a T?

God sent his Son to die on a cross with giant stake pounded into his hands, then he was hung on Roman Cross with the effect on his body that he was struggling with every breath to fill his lungs.

Imagine how you feel when you are sick, and breathing is like working a 12-hour day.

Jesus endured this and even more.

The Romans were experts in torture, and even before the first stake was placed into his wrists, he was humiliated through the streets of Jerusalem.

The very streets that this happened at the end of the week Jesus was praised and had palm branches thrown on the ground with the crowd shouting hosanna.

We have mental punishment, physical punishment, and emotional punishment.

I know you wonder why he was emotional, but he knew what would happen before it happened.

He knew that he had to endure all of this to save us from ourselves and our sins.

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Not my will but yours.

He was sweating Blood from the sheer amount of agony that he would face by being fractured from his father.

We think that the bond and relationship between Mother and child is vital.

Jesus is God.

He was being sent to die and be separated from his father in a way that no one can grasp so that we did not have to endure the eternal punishment in Hell.

God did not have to send His Son to Earth, and more importantly, Jesus did not have to take our place to shed his Blood and die on a Roman cross for us.

He did not have to die for Brian or anyone in the corner of this world.

We are nothing special and do not deserve his treatment.

We are filthy, nasty sinners, but we were given a Get out Hell card by our Creator and Sustainer on Earth.

Will we take it?

However, there is one final part of the story of Jesus that we forgot about.

What about the tomb?

Does Jesus spend time together in Israel's version of a graveyard?

mark 16.6

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Jesus' Mother and some other ladies go to the tomb to prepare his body, and he is not there.

Had he risen from the dead?

On the third days, he rose from the dead and conquered death just like a game of tik-tack toe.

This was nothing for him, and more importantly, it was not a big deal for God to do.

If God can ensure that Jesus conquered death, why do we think that God cannot take care of his children?

He has done the most critical thing in history.

He paid for all our past, present, and future sins that we have done.

That time that you swore at a person on Colonial Blvd.

for cutting you off - God Covered it.

That time you lied to your boss or spouse - God Covered it.