Easter 2022

Easter 2022

Scripture: John 8:12; Mark 10:32-34; 16:9-11; James 1:2-3

I want to thank Pastor Cynthia for her continuing to cover for me as I travel back and forth to Tennessee for the next several months. It is a blessing to have someone that you can depend on when you need them most. Thank you Pastor Cynthia!!! I also want to wish each of you a happy Easter. This is surely the day the Lord has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it! We are here today because Jesus died for our sins and rose on that Sunday morning. If He had not rose from the dead we would not have had an opportunity to change where we will spend eternity. Hell and the lake of fire would have been our only option. But let’s praise God and remember why we chose Him as our Lord and Savior as He truly is the only way to the Father. Before I go into the message this morning, I want to share a story with you to set the stage for this message. The story is called “Carrots, Eggs and Coffee.”

“A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up as she was tired of fighting and struggling. Her mother, after listening to her, rose and took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots of water and placed each on the stove on high heat. Soon the the water in each pot came to a boil. In the first pot she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last pot she placed ground coffee beans. She let them boil without saying a word.

After about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots and eggs out and placed them in separate bowls. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’ ‘Carrots, eggs and coffee,’ she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother asked her daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, the inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they changed the water. ‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?” I want you to keep this story in mind as I go through the message this morning.

Every person that has ever lived on this earth and will ever live on the earth will face adversity at some point in their life. They will experience difficult situations that, depending on the individual’s response to it, will change the person forever. It has been said that we are all the sum of our experiences and in some ways that is a true statement. Our experiences have shaped how we see the world. Although we cannot change past experiences, we can change their lasting impact on our lives and, this is important, how future experiences impact our lives. Jesus died on the cross so that our experiences do not define us. He died on the cross so that we could live victoriously in a world that desires to destroy us spiritually.

If you write down no other notes from this message, I am asking that you write this sentence down. “What God has shared with you in the Light, do not forget in the darkness.” Let that sink in for a moment. When things are going right in our lives, it is easier for us to remember the words of Jesus (the Light) as we walk in our perceived blessings. Jesus said, “……I am the light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12b) Jesus is our Light and our adversity can at times represent darkness. It is during these times of adversity that we can, and often, struggle to remember the encouraging words of our Lord and Savior. We are not alone as the disciples also struggled with this.