Easter Service
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Welcome everyone to Easter Sunday
I am so happy that you’re here
Guys what a glorious day to be in church
Can you just recognize that you are in church
That we are here because of our savior
Can you all say it with me
He is risen
He is alive
Amen!
I’m sorry, I think of today
I get excited
So anyways,
To most Christians this is
The Sunday
This is the day
we celebrate
This is the day
we waited for
And yet so many don’t understand
What this days means truly means
So I decided to hit you with a little bit of truth today
Something that will help you
Validate what you believe in
Help you rationalize what you believe
And something that will give you
That hope
That hope so many in faith have
That hope that brings with it
Joy and devotion
And a desire to worship Christ
And a desire to make Him proud
Because my goal is
As some of you soldiers know
Is that I want you to KNOW what you believe in
I want you to fully grasp and understand
Exactly what it means to be Christians
I like to use the analogy
Of a soldier that never went to basic
An officer that never went to OCS
Can they really call themselves a Soldier?
If they’ve never fully embraced
What it is to be a soldier
Can you really call yourself
A member of our Army
If you haven’t met the basic qualifications
Same goes with Christianity
If you don’t truly understand
The depths of what you believe
And if you don’t embrace
What it is that you claim to believe
Then are you really what you claim to be?
And so today as we walk through
The final chapter of Matthew
I want you to really embrace
What is being explained
Start to absorb the truth of who Jesus is
Start to understand the significance
Of this ONE moment in history
which is Perhaps the most significant
The most important moment in history
Because without this we are nothing
Without this, our faith doesn’t hold water
But today as we dive into the text
I really want you to begin to digest what it is we believe
What it is we claim
Because the reality is....
And lets just admit the obvious
We believe something crazy,
something supernatural,
something that defies what many of us consider rational thinking.
And at the same time
We are also going to validate the truth of what we believe
With facts
With an objective look at what we believe
So today
We are going to explain why the resurrection is so important
Why most theologians call this
The Cardinal doctrine of the faith
Second I want to quickly
Take a look at the details
Of the text
Maybe pull out a few points
You may not have seen
Third, I want to help us understand what this means for us
Why is this THE holiday in Christianity
And why today is so absolutely important.
You know and as a side note
When you become parents
Or maybe you’re already a parent
Please make sure you explain
In detail, the importance of today
Bunny rabbits and Easter eggs and presents
Are all good
But please make sure they understand
We are losing the next generation of Christians
Because they don’t understand
What they believe
Anyways if you could take out your Bibles
Open your phones
Your iPad
You tablets
Etc.
And we are going to be in Matthew 28:1-8
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message.
Lets open up in prayer
So the first thing I wanna go over this morning is
The importance of the doctrine of the resurrection
Because like I just said,
This is the event
That defines everything that you believe in
This is the event that if taken out
Literally destroys the foundations of Christianity
And what many of you
May not actually realize
Is that it is this one event
It is this moment in history
In which all of Christianity hangs on
In fact the entire validity of the faith
Hangs on this one particular doctrine
On this one particular truth
And you know as I was studying for this sermon
I ran across a commentary Who laid out the particular points
That this doctrine holds
The points that bring about
The reasons why
It is paramount that we understand
Why his resurrection is so important
And it’s incredible when you really look at it
And I wanna go over this list here in just a moment
But I mean really think on this
And we talked about this last week
As we were studying
The book of 1 John
And thats that the entire belief system of Christianity
The entire understanding of Jesus as the Messiah
Relies on the fact that Jesus is God
That Jesus is divine
And what’s incredible about this reality
Is that every other religious system
That has a different view on Christ
Completely and totally understands this!
Completely and totally understands this!
In fact one belief system claims
That Christ never even died on the cross
They say he wounded to the point of near death
But he survived the event
Another takes away the divinity of Christ
While he is on the cross
Another makes him a created being
Again taking away the qualifications
For him to pay for our sin
While he is on the cross
And the reality is
That when you take away the divinity of Christ
You take away the atonement
You take away the sacrifice
For our sins
In other words you are still in your sin
And we are all doomed go to hell
And what I find incredible about this
Is the number of believers that don’t believe in the resurrection
The virgin birth
Even the divinity of Christ
According to one study only 46% of Christians
46% of born-again evangelical, Catholic, or protestant Christians
Actually believe the Jesus rose from the dead
Another study put it at 31%
Guys that nearing three quarters of believers
That do not believe in the resurrection of Christ
That do not believe the main story line
The main lesson
The main point of all of Scripture
Christians today are denying the truth of everything we believe in
And not based off of facts
Or evidence
But because in their mind
It doesn’t make sense
Because in their mind
Religion is irrelevant
And like I said
When you take away the cardinal doctrine of our faith
The one doctrine of our faith
That validates who Jesus truly is
You are literally left
With just a system of rules
And no hope whatsoever
You know who understood this best
It was the apostle Paul
In first Corinthians chapter 15
Where he says
But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
In other words,
If Christ did not raise from the dead,
If easter Sunday
Is a lie
Then everything you and I believe in
Is pointless
Worthless
You’re wasting your time
You know, I find that incredible
I find the negotiation on truth incredible
Because it was only until modern times
That we started to get away from
The reality and the importance of this doctrine
And let me go over this list with you that I found
Because the depth at which this doctrines goes
Is incredible
You know and not harp on this
And I know I am
But the importance of knowing
Exactly what it means
When Christ rose from the dead
Its paramount to our faith
It proves that Jesus is God’s son
“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
It verifies the truth of Scripture
Both in the OT and in the words of Jesus His resurrection is clearly taught and prophesied
It assures our own future resurrection
Because Jesus died and rose again, we shall one day be raised to be like Him
And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
It is the proof of a future judgment (Acts 17:31)
It is the basis for Christ’s heavenly priesthood (Heb 7:23-28)
It gives power for Christian living
For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
It assures our future inheritance
Ladies and gentlemen
When you truly break this down
You cant get away from the importance
Of this doctrine
You cant get away
From the truth of this doctrine
And you know I remember
When I was in seminary
And we were studying this particular doctrine
I remember specifically
Going over the evidence
Going over every detail of his resurrection
And i wanted to help you rationalize just a bit
Of why this doctrine
Can be seen as objective truth
Can be seen as actual history
And I remember
We spent a good deal of time
Going over the testimony of the women
In this particular passage
Because once you truly understand how profound
Each word is in the Gospel is
I’m telling you
It opens up a whole new meaning
And Before you prejudge what I’m about to say
You really have to understand
the mind set
and the culture of the people in this book
of a people group
that lived nearly 2000 years ago
First and foremost
If you wanted your testimony
If you wanted you story to be counted as valid
You would never
ever
ever
Put two women as the core
Testimony as the point of truth
You would never do that
Why?
Because the fact that they were women
Literally invalidated the story right off the bat
one commentator stated
Matthew (2. Resurrection! (28:1–20))
Were the story fabricated, only male witnesses would have appeared. In other-words, the two women would have invalidated the entire story. So if you were lying, this would be the last thing you would do.
The reality is women were never thought of
or even respected in a manner that would put them in this position.
So if your point
Is to sell a lie
Then Scripture fails in historical context
You see where I’m going with this
But then what I really draw your attention to
Is the behavior
Or the reaction of the women
That truly help you understand whats going on here
I want you to really try to dive into the mindset
Of those individuals who just witnessed
Something incredible
And really think on this
Because it was the women
Who stuck around
Watched him get abused
Watched him get whipped until his flesh was being torn
Off of his body
In fact the greek tell us the soldiers were so violent
They lost control
It describes a person who has gone crazy
In other words they watched Jesus get torn to pieces
Then they watched as he carried his cross up that hill
They watched as he was nailed to the cross
They watched as people cheered and laughed at him
They watched as he hung there and took his last breath
And yet on Sunday when they came to give him
A proper burial
To give him the respect he was owed
What does the text say?
John 20 verse 2
Ran to tell the others
They were excited
Scared
I can even imagine confused
And really start to break this down in your minds
All of their fears
All of their concerns
All of their worries
Gone
In a moment
Can you imagine
Following a man
Who seemingly had the very power of God
At his finger tips
Watching him heal people
Watching him raise people from the dead
Watching him defy the very laws of nature
And the suddenly watching him die
And then questioning everything you just witnessed
Over the last three years
To suddenly realizing everything he said
Everything that was foretold in the Scriptures
The promises of eternal life
The promises of the kingdom of God
The fulfillment of everything you’ve been told
Since you were a child
The very hope you had banked on
Hoped for
Desired
Lived for
It’s here
It’s all true
Validated in his life
Sealed and completed at the cross
And confirmed as objective truth at His resurrection
Can you imagine
The joy these women must have felt?
I love how John puts it
Because you can see the excitement
The absolute joy
And even the disbelief
As John says that they ran from the tomb
To tell the others
Can you imagine the mix of emotions
That must have been rushing through their minds
Let me ask you,
Have you ever wondered why the apostles were willing to risk it all
Why the apostles were willing to die for the Gospel
Because after the resurrection
What do you have to fear
What do you possibly have to worry about
Which leads me to my final point
Which is actually the final point of our list
His resurrection give me assurance of our eternal state
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
Do you all recall the song we played at the beginning?
Because he lives
I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
and Life is worth a living just because he lives
Jesus Christ is our hope
He is our everything
He is our king
He is our high priest
He is best friend
He is the son of God
Sent by the Father
To die for you sin
So that you could spend eternity
With Him in paradise
And his proof solid evidence
That he is who he says he is
Is through his resurrected body.
Which has been historically
Confirmed
And proven as objective truth
So that we can have confidence
That our salvation is guaranteed
So before we dismiss,
I wanted to try something new today
I want to transition into
Communion.
And I understand we have multiple traditions
So I would like to keep this very simple
If you haven’t gotten already
Please get one
But I really want you to spend a few moments with the Lord
I want you to sit here and pray for just a minute
Gain that personal relationship with God today
So for just a few moments lets get a lone with God
For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
A few more moments of silence please
Lets close in prayer
‘May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.’