Easter 4-4-2010 Matthew 28:1-10 ggggg
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." 8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Christ is the victor.
But Did you ever meet a Christian that made you wonder if Christ is raised?
Did you ever find yourself acting like one?
1 cor 15
17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
If Christ is not risen, well, a lot of things are true
• We are playing a game
• We have no hope for eternity
• We live our lives in fear
• The predominant force in the world is evil
• We can treat each other anyway we want
• Selfishness, hatefulness, struggle and fear become all that the world knows if Christ is not risen
It is Easter…..
What does that mean?
Well, it is the day that Jesus rose from the dead.
Really.
Do Christians act like the resurrection means something?
A community-wide Easter pageant assigned various people in the town to play the different parts. The character of Jesus went to a most unlikely person - a big, burly, barroom brawler, an oilfield worker, the most unlikely person to be typecast as our Lord. After several weeks of rehearsals, the day of the Easter Pageant finally arrived.
When they came to the part of the play where Jesus was being led away to be crucified, one little man, filling in as a part of the crowd, got caught up in the emotion of the drama. He joined in the shouts of "Crucify him! Crucify him!" as Jesus was led away toward Calvary. Then, in the midst of shouting insults at the top of his lungs, he accidentally sprayed some spit in the face of the character playing Jesus as the actor walked by carrying the cross on his back. The oilfield worker stopped in his tracks, reached up and wiped his face dry. And then he looked at the little man and said: "I'll be back to take care of you after the resurrection."
Do Christians act like the resurrection means something?
What is Easter all about
Well, silly it’s the resurrection of Jesus.
What does it mean?
Our sins are forgiven.
Well, we can go to heaven……………..
Really? Then why do so many Christian people fear death?
Every time we fear death, we are acting as if Christ is not raised.
If Christ is risen, then you can face death without fear because you hold in your heart the hope of eternity.
What else does Easter mean?
Christ is the victor. God wins
Really, then why do so many Christians sound defeated or under attack?
Many Christians see the world like this-
Big devil, little them, Jesus not in the picture
Every time we act as if we are under attack we are declaring that
Christ is not the victor, the resurrection did not happen
7th grade-Kevin Brown- I’m calling you out
James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you
The resurrection means that the world looks like this
There is a big Jesus and the enemy has run away
You can live without fear- Christ is the victor
What else does Easter mean?
It means that God’s message of love is triumphant
God’s testimony to his own essence is found in the scripture 1 jn 4-god is love
Then why do so many Christians judge others?
why do we insist on holding to disagreements?
To the extent that we do this, we have let death have its sting
Let us apologize let us embrace. Love keeps no record of wrongs.
The resurrection of Jesus means that gods message of love is triumphant
What else does Easter mean?
It means that the earth is the Lords.
This place that you wake up into each day, if god gives you the daily breath
The battle is over- Life is good. – the earth is the lords
Then why are so many seeing the world as an evil thing to be escaped from
Why are we down, drab, gloomy
To the extent that we live this way, we declare that he is not risen
Each of us must choose each day, if the world is bad or good,
if the world about struggle or rest.
Friends, either god is the victor or he is not
Easter means that all of life is Gods
There was a battle…god won
That’s why we sing, this is my father’s world
And to my listening ears, all nature sings
and round me rings the music of the spheres.
That’s why john Wesley said, the world is my parish
Because Jesus is risen u wake up every day in world where u r loved
Where each day is filled with the joy of God’s loving presence.
But often we get stuck-we don’t get it
Christians who are supposed to be an Easter people
sometimes don’t always act like the resurrection is real.
But friends, I declare to you today that Christ is raised….
The resurrection is more than a point of doctrine to be believed
In the resurrection of Christ, God has made his point.
• The battle is over and we have won
• We are restored in our relation ship to him.
• We can life a life free of fear
• We can live a life that is filled with love
• We can live a life that is a life of joy and celebration
Christ is risen. - it means something
To those who understand that Christ is the victor
To live the resurrected life, we must recognize that something must die
Karl Barth wrote "Only where graves are, is there resurrection."
We must learn to die to a life that only gives lip service to faith
We must learn to die to our human worries and trust in God
We must learn to die to our selfishness and let love reign
We must learn to die to sorrow and gloom and let the celebration of life begin
Only then are we released to live the life that proclaims “Christ is the victor”
You know, people are looking for such a place….
A survey of 26 mainline congregations in the U.S. revealed that the #1 reason that people join a church is..."the congregation is filled with enthusiasm the congregation acts like it really believes Jesus is alive through a 'collective effervescence' that pervades everything that is done."
Conclusion
It is Easter – let every Christian say,
“Thank you God.” I trust you. It is good, because Christ is the victor
Let us pray
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