Easter Sermon

Easter is a big deal around here and you may have noticed we're talking about something pretty big today. There’s a huge item that we want to talk about.

Yes, that is a wall. We built this wall for you. Actually, Gracie painted it and we suspended it. It is 24ft wide, 9ft high. You know what a wall is used for, right? It's meant to separate or divide people. It's a barrier between you and whatever is on the other side. Building a wall isn't a new idea. In fact, do you guys know what is the most famous wall in human history? Walmart :)

Of course, it’s The Great Wall of China (IMAGE). It is 4000 miles long. It took 1000 years to build. It actually didn't work. Imagine that. According to historians, China's enemies would wait for the guards to pass because they had about a mile-long century. Then, they would just put a ladder up and climb over it. So, it wasn't very effective.

I heard that there are new plans to upgrade the Great Wall of China. I don't know if you have seen this, but next year, they have plans to give the Great Wall a pretty sweet upgrade. Take a look at the prototype right now. (FAKE WATER SLIDE IMAGE.) That's American innovation right there.

(SHOW A PIECE OF THE BERLIN WALL)

Maybe the second most famous wall in the world is the Berlin Wall (IMAGE) in Germany, which was meant to separate East from West Germany. Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point between East and West Berlin. Hundreds of people were shot dead trying to get over that wall. This wall was the central symbol of the Cold War. This giant wall stood until American President Ronald Reagan uttered those now-famous words. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall?” And in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and freedom came to thousands of people. (IMAGE)

Now, the last wall I want to tell you about is in the Middle East right now. This wall is in the West Bank of Israel (IMAGE). It's a very unpopular wall that separates the Israelis from the Palestinians. It is about 400 miles long. It's a flashpoint right now, right in the Middle East.

I think you get the idea. Walls are meant to, by definition, divide or separate. They keep us apart. They're meant to create a barrier between you and whatever is behind it.

Have you ever hit a wall in life? Have you ever heard or said the phrase I’ve hit the wall? The project was going well, but we hit a wall. Or, I feel like my career has hit a wall or they seemed like they were in love, but then they hit a wall in their marriage. We tend to say this whenever a huge, unexpected obstacle pops up in life. It seems like that obstacle is too big to get over and you feel like there's no way that you will break through it. Sometimes, we hit the wall pretty hard.

Maybe you hit a wall in your career or a wall in your bank account. You've hit a financial wall. DOLLAR SIGN. We don't know if we'll ever dig out of debt. A lot of people hit walls with their jobs or their careers. (NEED TO EXPAND) I believe by the end of today's, service the risen Christ is going to have a word of hope for you.

Some of us make it past the job or the financial wall with little or no problem. We're kind of cruising through life. But, then we hit another wall. I would just call this kind of like the relationship wall. HEART

Maybe you're in a marriage that actually isn't going all that well. There's a lot of heartache in your family. This happens to married people all the time. Dad moved out. Mom is reeling. The kids are confused. They've hit a very painful relationship wall. If you're single, you may be like I wish I had those problems. I wish I was married.

There’s a story of a young woman who was doing online dating. She said that half the guys on there lie about themselves. Most of them are already married. It's like they're looking to upgrade or something. I can tell you that there are plenty of married people that are past eharmony. They want to put their spouse on eBay and auction that junk off.

There are a lot of heartaches right now in our world. Maybe you're going through that today. You may be here for Easter and you got your smile on or a new Easter outfit, but inside, your heart is breaking. BROKEN HEART. There’s pain between relatives, between moms and daughters, dads and sons. We carry grief and pain in our hearts.

There are people here with aching hearts and things that are going on in their relationships. Before the service ends, the risen Christ has a word of hope that I think actually will heal your heartache.

Believe it or not, there are some people that are sitting in here right now who can't identify with any of this. They're like we don't currently have any financial issues. There are not any relationship issues going on in our lives.

They actually think they're going to make it through life scot-free like there's nothing that's going to happen. Then, they get the call from the doctor and that little thing that they thought was nothing. Turns out it's something and they find themselves in the middle of a health crisis.

I'm actually going to spray paint an H here for health. The H is is for health/hospital, not for HMO. Has anyone hit a wall with their HMO? Am I the only guy? I think God has a special present for the people who run HMOs. They're allowed into heaven after they have a referral and meet their deductibles and coinsurance, but they only get to stay for three days. That's just my personal theology on that.

H FOR HEALTH/HOSPITAL

Anyone here with a loved one or someone in your life with health issues? They got a sudden diagnosis they didn't see coming. Maybe, it’s cancer or a chronic condition that just continues. It flares up and it just hits you out of nowhere. They hit a wall.

KASSIDY SECHLAR STORY. (IMAGE)

I think you get the idea. All three of these walls are huge in life, but did you notice something about all of them? They're all temporary. However, there's one wall that nobody's ever going to make it through or get around.

I'm going to take my black spray paint for this one. This wall is the one I call the MORTALITY wall. I'm going to draw a little tombstone, and I'm going to draw RIP. None of us are ever going to make it around this wall. I've got bad news for everyone here. We're not going to make it out of this world alive.

Happy Easter, everybody.

There's nobody under the sound of my voice who will not face this wall. It is the biggest, tallest wall of all.

You can say, you’re going to avoid it, but the mortality rate speaks for itself. I Googled it this morning and it’s still 100%. Everybody will hit this wall. You've probably had a moment where you said, when I hit that wall, I wonder what's on the other side? What's going to happen when I hit the mortality wall? The Bible is crystal clear about the wall of mortality.

Hebrews very plainly says in Hebrews 9:27 “It is appointed for men and women to die once, but after this is the judgment.

How many times? Once. And then comes what? The judgment. According to the Bible, it's appointed for us to die one time, and then we face what's on the other side of the wall. I'm going to hit it. You're going to hit it. The person next to you is going to hit it. Even Jesus himself hit it on Good Friday over 2000 years ago. You can't avoid it. However, you can prepare for it.

I would suggest you prepare for your date with the mortality wall by getting to personally know the only person in human history who broke through that wall, made it to the other side alive and lived to tell about it. Jesus Christ was resurrected and is reigning on high proving He is the Son of God.

Jesus himself made this promise to you in John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will what never, ever die.”

That's an amazing promise, isn't it? The mortality wall is imposing, but it's not as permanent as it seems. There's actually life on the other side. There's hope for this wall. Everyone's going to hit this wall, but let me strongly urge you to consider the words of the only person in history who made it through this wall and was raised to life.

I've always struggled with folks who believed in religions where the founder of the religion was a good person, a smart teacher, or an insightful thinker, but when they died and they stayed in the grave. You go to any cemetery in the world and you're going to see tons of tombs and every one of them is full. But, if you hopped on a plane right now and you flew to Israel, you would see the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. It's empty!

He broke through the wall. He conquered the grave, proving he's Creator and Lord. And, He says, I can do the same thing for anybody who trusts in him. I can give resurrection power and eternal life to all who believe in my death and resurrection. That's the promise of Easter. Jesus promises that everyone who lives in Him will never die. In other words, I can show you how to get through this life. Jesus is saying, if I can break through the mortality wall, I can help you with these temporary ones, but you first have to break through the biggest one of all.

The Bible says that there is a giant wall separating every single one of us from our Father in heaven. It’s called the wall of sin. Exodus 32:33 says “But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me.”

Let's be honest, sin is just falling short of God's ideal. Every one of us falls short of God's ideal. Any perfect people here? If so, get out. This Church isn't for you. We're not a perfect Church. I always tell people, if you find the perfect Church, whatever you do, don't join it because you'll wreck it. We're all imperfect.

The Bible says in Romans 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

The truth is, our sins separate us from our Father in heaven. He is our Father. He loves us. We were created by him and for him. Ephesians 2:12 says, “remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

Can you imagine going through life with no hope? Look at all the evil in our world and imagine living with no hope. We are a violence-soaked culture. What hope do you have if there's no hope in God?

Sin separates us from God. But, how do you break through the wall? Well, the reality is most people try to get through the wall with a little nasty thing. This is a dirty word, but I'm going to spray paint it anyway. It’s a little thing they call RELIGION. And you may be like, that's a dirty word in this church??? It is because we're a church that's all about grace. Grace is God doing for us what we can't do for ourselves.

I'm not beating up religions. Religion that I'm referring to is a man-made attempt to earn our way back to God. If I do just enough good things, if I give a little bit more to charity, or if I coach the Little League team I can prove to God that I'm worth saving and hopefully my good outweighs my bad. I was valedictorian. I tried my hardest with the gifts God gave me. I graduated college and I provided for my family, and I'm a pretty good husband. I was a Girl Scout mom, and I gave a little bit to the poor. That's what religious people think and say. “I hope I did enough.”

How's that going for you? Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Everything we do falls short. There is nothing that we can do to bridge the gap and get us over the sin wall. It doesn't matter how good of a person you are.

Isaiah 64:6 says “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind”.

Even our best deeds are like filthy rags in the sight of God because they've been polluted by pride, self-interest, and ego.

So, what do you do if you can't break through the sin wall with religion? The answer is you can't break through the wall. You have to have somebody else break through this wall for you. And, that's exactly what Jesus did.

SONG- MIGHTY TO SAVE

God isn't just Holy. God is perfectly loving, and he loves you. He said in 1 John 4:9 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”

He created you to be his son or daughter, but you're separated from the father by your sin. He sent his Son down to Earth to break through the wall and die in your place. God doesn’t want religion. He wants a relationship with you.

COMMUNION- BREAD

SONG- NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD MELODY

He wants us to truly know him. It’s clear that God knows us, I mean he knows everything so obviously he knows us. But, he wants us to also know Him. He’s constantly revealing himself to us. He uses nature, people, scripture, and really all kinds of things to show us who he is, but sometimes we miss that.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. One of my favorites is called The Bible for Normal People. Now, I will say, the title is pretty misleading. They make it sound very simple, but it’s really not. There’s some really nerdy, academic Bible stuff in there and not many people would find it interesting, but I do. In one of the episodes, they were talking about how bogged down we get when it comes to understanding God. We spend time asking, “How did God create the universe?” “Why do bad things happen to good people?” “What will heaven be like?” The podcast host, his name is Pete Enns, he made the point that all of these questions just aren’t that important. He said that if we were really paying attention, then the ONLY question we would be asking is “who are you?”

Who is this God that is all powerful and all consuming? What are you like? Why do you do what you do? Who are you? Well, Jesus shows us who God is. He is the perfect revelation of the Trinity, given to us so that we know who God is. Not only that, but he revealed how loved we are when He chose to be submitted to the evil of violence on the cross.

You want to know who God is? You want to know how desperately he desires you? All you’ve got to do is look in your hand and see the nature of God in the body and blood of Christ, which has been broken and shed for us.

COMMUNION- CUP

Ephesians 2:13-14 says “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” (READ ALTOGETHER) Because Jesus lived the only sinless, perfect life in human history. Only He has the power to climb up on the cross and die in our place and be raised to life.

The cross was God's way of saying, you know what? I'm done. Religion is over. I want a relationship with you that can never be taken away. I'm going to put my Son on the cross to break through the wall for you. He's going to be the one who breaks through. It's going to be the cross. That's the only way to the Father and you've got to understand this. God proved his love for you, his heart for you as a son or daughter of God over 2000 years ago. How do you know? His only Son hung on that cross for you, He bled for you, and He died for you.

Jesus Christ died in your place. This was God's way of showing you how much He loves you. The cross is God saying, I'd rather die myself than live without you for eternity.

The story doesn't end with Jesus dying on a cross. Easter points us to hope beyond the heartache to the empty tomb. It tells us there's now hope for eternal life with God because Christ conquered sin, death, and hell.

Have you ever stopped to really think about why Jesus had to die? I mean we know that He was the sacrifice, the atonement for our sins. But, couldn’t God have just forgiven us without someone dying? Think about it like this… Let’s say that one day your young child gets really upset and punches you as hard as they can. That’s a big problem, right? Well, you guys have some conversations about it and they realize that they’ve done something really wrong and ask you to forgive them. You agree to forgive them, but only if you’re allowed to punch them as hard as you can in return. That makes it even and then you can forgive them. Well, now that’s not really forgiveness, is it? That’s just vengeance.

I think sometimes, we accidentally put that mentality onto God. We don’t really think about it that way, but we assume that God couldn’t have forgiven us if someone hadn’t died for it. I don’t think that’s true. God was able to forgive people before Jesus was crucified. This then begs the question, why did Jesus have to die?

Theologians have debated that question for 2000 years now. There are lots of different ideas, all of which have some valuable truths. But, I think there’s an element of this that’s overlooked. By dying on the cross, Jesus was revealing to us the reality of all things. He submitted himself to the supposed power of empires. He gave in to the way of Rome. Rome maintained their power through militaristic might and harsh punishments. And Jesus said, “Go for it!” Use your “power” against me. Do your worst! Because this “power” that you’re so obsessed with… it’s actually meaningless and I’m gonna prove it.

In His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus redefined the order of the world. He turned the whole world order completely upside down. Up to that point, death was the final word. It was the most powerful thing. Then, all at once, Jesus made clear that death truly holds no power. There is no power in killing. There is no power in violence. Power comes from the love of Christ that brings life and resurrection to creation.

Because Jesus died, we’re able to live in that new economy of the world. The old way of doing things told us that life and death were the most valuable currency. According to Jesus’ way of living, the most valuable currency is love… forgiveness… peace… Now, Jesus constantly stands and beckons for us to join him in the new way of doing things. He invites us to live the “Easter” life all the time. That’s salvation. Jesus is inviting us into a life of salvation. Not just inviting us to live a new, perfect life after death, but to live according to those values here and now.

Easter says there's hope, Easter says there's Salvation, and Easter says there's a second chance. Easter invites us to live in a completely different way from the rest of the world because Jesus has changed how we see reality.

There's new life because Christ has broken through. This is not just a metaphor. Scripture says that when Jesus died on the cross, there was a giant earthquake that tore down the wall.

Look what Matthew writes in Matthew 27:51-52 “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.”

I want you to imagine this. The Jewish temple had a curtain that was 60ft tall. Roughly, 7 times the size of this wall. It separated the people from the Holy of Holies. No one except the high priest could go in and even he was able to go in once a year. On that day, the high priest would bathe, then put on the clean linen garments of the priest. His robe had solid gold bells hanging from the hem. The noise of the bells told the people he was making atonement for their sins. He entered the inner sanctuary with a censer of burning incense, which would produce thick smoke, hiding the mercy seat on the ark where God was. Anyone who saw God would die instantly.

The high priest would then sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed bull and a sacrificed goat on the atonement cover of the ark, to make amends for his and the people's sins.

The old covenant God made through Moses with the Israelites required regular animal sacrifices. God lived among his people in the Holy of Holies, first in the desert tabernacle, then in the stone temples in Jerusalem.

Everything changed with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. When Jesus died, the 60-foot curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom, signifying that the barrier between God and his people was taken away. Matthew says the earth shook, the rock split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many Holy people who had died were raised to life.

On Jesus' death, God's throne in heaven became accessible to every believer. Christians may approach God confidently, not on their own merit, but through the righteousness credited to them by the shed blood of Christ.

The cross was an act of explosive love from the Father. It was God's battering ram to break through to his children who were separated from him.

Now, I don't want you to just hear these words and miss their meaning. I want you to see them for yourself. Let's turn out the lights and revisit that dark day a little over 2000 years ago.

SHOW VIDEO (EDITED)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjll1-D0B9w&t=73s

OPEN THE WALL- LIGHTED CROSS WITH THE WORDS FROM FRIDAY NIGHT STILL ATTACHED

The cross is the power of God breaking through the darkness with the light and the hope of Salvation. The cross is God saying, it is finished. All of your guilt on that cross, all of your shame on that cross, all of your sin on that cross, and nothing will separate you from Him. That's what the cross is. It's the son of God doing what we could never do, breaking through that wall of sin and reuniting us with our Father in heaven.

SONG- IN CHRIST ALONE

He says now anybody can have the love and forgiveness of God. It doesn't matter what you've done or what your past is like. Nothing exists outside the forgiveness of God. Ephesians 2:13-14 says for Christ himself is our peace. He's destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility between you and God. Do you know what the cross is? The cross is God saying to you, you may be broken, but Jesus has broken through.

John 3:16 makes this promise… for God so loved the world. Why did the Father do it? Because he loved you. He loved you. He loved you so much that he gave his one and only Son, the only Son, Jesus Christ. He said I'd rather him die than lose you forever. And whoever believes in Jesus Christ shall not perish. But what do you receive? Eternal life.

What happens when you trust in the death of the Son of God and his resurrection? You get adopted into God's family. You become fully forgiven and set free. You're no longer lonely because Jesus said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. And in God's eyes, you pass from death over to life.

You don't have to worry. All of this was done for you. And when you get to heaven, you say, I did nothing except accepting the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the proof that I'm actually adopted into the family of God. You don't have to fear the future. You don't have to walk through life wondering if you’re good enough. You can have a guarantee of the hope of heaven, your future is secure, and you get new power to live in this life.

Romans 8:10-11 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. You can pick any of these smaller walls: your financial woes, your health crisis, your relationship stuff, and Jesus is saying through the cross, if I broke through that, then maybe I can help you get through this. This place is filled with people who have had their lives changed by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

When you trust Jesus Christ, you get a new power to deal with walls in your life. God can do what you could never do in a million years. God can heal broken bodies and God can heal broken hearts. You may be here today. Your heart is broken. (WORDS FROM THE CROSS/DEVO) Maybe there's unforgiveness, bitterness, envy, jealousy in your heart. There's been divorce and brokenness in your family. And God says, I could actually fill that in.

Can you imagine living wholeheartedly for the rest of your life? That's the power of Christ in you. It's the salvation power of God. Understand, the cross says, there is no wall too high, too wide, too deep that I can't get through.

So, who's ready to walk through a wall today? I don't know what wall you're facing here on Easter but before you ever try to break through any of these little walls, God says you need to break through this one.

Maybe you need to actually walk through that wall and receive the gift of salvation. It's Resurrection Sunday, and I can't think of a better moment for you to settle the issue of your eternity than by walking up to this cross to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. If you walked in here today and you're like, I hope I get to heaven because I'm a good person, you ain't going to get there. The only way is coming to the cross and saying, Jesus, I believe you paid for my sin. I believe, forgive me. I repent. Give me new life. How do you receive Salvation? It's very simple. Jesus broke down this wall to offer love and forgiveness to you. What do you have to do? You just have to come, be baptized for the remission of your sins, and receive God’s grace because it's a gift. That's what Grace is. It's a lavish gift that you don't earn and don't deserve. But He says, here it is. Just come and get it.

Maybe someone here wants to rededicate their life to Christ. Maybe you were once close to God, but you've fallen away. You’ve drifted away. The Father says, welcome home.

Let's tear down the walls.