Easter 2009 April 12 What Happened? ttt
Scripture Luke 24:1-12
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
What happened? Jesus rose from the grave.
let me begin and say a word to those of you who are not sure if you believe this
• god welcomes questions........
• the search for understanding our spiritual life is a wonderful opportunity-people need time and space to make their way
• everyone is welcome at WCC
• you don’t have to agree with me to attend church here
i want to lay out one thought for those of you who are not sure if you believe
• the early disciples 11 remaining, plus many others gave their lives for this belief
• would you give your life for something that was a lie?
Hey, lets make up a preposterous story, that no one will believe and then die for it
• did mass hysteria hit these early Christians?
• I suggest to you today that they gave their lives for something real.
today we celebrate that Jesus is alive...........
his suffering and death paid the price for our sins
Peter wondered what happened. I think sometimes we wonder too.
Ok, jesus rose from the dead. What does this mean?
First, if you accept this,
it means that you are no longer in your sins
don’t have to think about how bad you are
don’t have to think about everything you are doing wrong
sin is separated from you as far as the east is from the west.
we do god no favors when we keep brining it back up
it is insulting to him
there is an alternative
its like wanting to go back to prison
it is like being married to someone who just cant believe that you love them
what is the alternative?
what if you were sentenced to death and I had the power to free you
would you keep wanting to go back to jail
would you spend the rest of your life kicking yourself
i hope that you would dance. celebrate.
i am forgiven. i am free.
forgiven
recently a friend was worried that they had offended me. for what? I heard the concern and it was so small.
we are in constant worry that we are not going to be accepted. that someone is going to throw us away
the cross sends a message....you have a home.
Demello in walking on water…….tell the pastor I have forgiven his sins
Second it means that you can, we can, all of us can stop pretending
you don’t have to pretend to be good
no masks
god loves you and accepts you just the way you are
and so do we.
someone asked me what the Methodist church stands for
gospel, grace, love, welcome and acceptance
I am not going to try and turn you into something else
that is not my job. my job is to point people to Jesus Christ
if he wants to change you, that is up to him. not me
you can relax
aren’t those the best kind of relationships in the world, we enjoy our friends because we can just be ourselves.
no pretending
you can come to church in jeans.
you can drive an old car.
when I was a kid we used to say, boss. cool, hanging
the kids talk about posers
Words act, impersonate, masquerade, play, pose; affect, assume, counterfeit, fake, feign, profess, put on, simulate; camouflage, conceal, disguise, mask; bluff, feint
Finally, it means that you can life a life of joy
you are free
you can celebrate life
life is not a drudgery
even if difficult things are happening.
we have hope. God loves us. we are forgiven. I can be myself.
joy
the church I grew up in, we clapped for the kids on Christmas program practice
the adults ran to stop us
Christians should never put a lid on joy
find someone today and just tell them "we are so thankful, we are so blessed."
not financially, but the blessings of having a freidn in God. Of knowing
the stiffness, the worry of this day is gone. Let it go
the Easter hat is a party hat
the Easter dress is a party dress
he is fully alive, you can be fully alive too.
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