The Rock ‘n Roll Resurrection
VISITOR – TEACHER - RESURECTION
If Jesus had only come to earth, He would merely have been a visitor - God on a holiday. If He had only died, He would merely have been a religious teacher - another Buddha or Mohammed. But He didn’t just come to earth, and He didn’t just die on a cross. He gave us hope. He rose from the dead!
CHRIST HAS RISEN
Say it with me congregation – “Christ has risen.”
Say it again “Christ has risen”
Say it now like you telling the disciples after finding an empty tomb – “Christ has risen”
Say it now like it means the eternal life that you know it does. – “Christ has risen.”
Say it now like your very life depends on that empty tomb. – “Christ has risen”
Say it now – say it now! – “Christ has risen.” Build – Crash
CRASH
What does that mean?
What does it mean that Christ has risen?
What does this resurrection mean for us?
CROSS WOULD MEAN NOTHING
We diligently come here to the foot of the cross every week.
We come here every week to leave things at the cross.
That piece wood would mean nothing to us; it would mean nothing to bring things the cross.
CROSS A SYMBOL
You see this cross has become our symbol of hope, our faith thought process, not because of the man that was on it, but because of the God that conquered it!
CROSS MEAN NOTHING CTD
This hunk of wood would mean absolutely nothing.
It would mean the end, it mean God defeated, it would mean death.
Death, because the results of sin is death. And had this cross and its death not been conquered it would mean that sin had not been conquered and thus death would be everywhere!
THE RESURECTION MADE THE CROSS MORE
I Corinthians 15:14, 17 "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins."
What Jesus Christ did on the cross only has significance because He did not stay in the tomb!
The resurrection set the Christ apart.
The resurrection ensured that the Christ did not end but went on.
It meant that Gods plan did not die, but continued.
That plan involves you. So sit up, sit on the edge of your seats this morning. Because one thing you will leave with today is the understanding of what this resurrection means for you.
LINK
This mornings message entitled, rock ’n roll resurrection is a challenge to do something different in church today.
This morning we are simply going to identify our rock, roll it away with absolutely no logical explanation and we are going to receive a new life.
A totally new outlook and a wonderful future.
And that all through the resurrection of the Christ.
MARY’S ROCK
Mary had been at the tomb earlier that morning. She was in deep distress.
Oh how she must have hated the rock that sealed that tomb. It stood between her and her Lord. She would have perhaps even wept against that rock crying out hoping the Christ would hear her.
That rock meant the end of the Christ that had changed her life. Now she doubted if she could go on without him. Despite the new life he had given her while he lived, if that rock meant the end of it, her life could not continue.
WHO WILL MOVE THE ROCK?
Then she left the tomb and hurried back to find Jesus’ mother and Salome. They had waited for the Sabbath to end so that they could go and anoint Jesus’ body.
As they were making their way there, according to Mark 16:2,3, the women were worried as to how and who would move the rock allowing them access to go in and do what was the custom for families to do for their dead.
GOD HELPS MOVE THE ROCK
Reading their thoughts God intervened.
Matthew 28:2- 4
"AND SUDDENLY THERE 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. HIS APPEARANCE WAS LIKE LIGHTENING, AND HIS CLOTHES WERE WHITE AS SNOW. THE GUARDS WERE SO AFRAID OF HIM THAT THEY SHOOK LIKE DEAD MEN.
WHY AND FOR WHO WAS THE STONED ROLLED AWAY?
Was it rolled away for Jesus? No, he was already gone.
And besides the risen Son of God doesn’t need anyone to do anything for Him.
So who was the stoned rolled away for?
That tomb could have remained closed with that Rock. Jesus did not need a rock to moved for him to come out of that tomb. You don’t seriously think that Jesus, the Son of God could be encased in a rock tomb?
It was rolled away for the women, so they could see that the tomb was empty.
WHAT WS GODS PURPOSE IN ROLLING THE ROCK
God wanted everyone to understand clearly the impact of the resurrection.
Leave the tomb sealed and there would be now hope but roll away the rock, show and empty tomb, a missing body and some stunned guards, and now everyone had to have a glimmer of hope that he had been resurrected.
All it took to evidence the possibility of a new resurrected life of Christ was a stone to be rolled out the way.
TWO MARYS LIVES CHANGED – JOY
POSSIBILITY OF CHRIST BEING ALIVE
For the two Mary’s the fact that the rock had rolled, meant that their lives from that moment on changed forever.
They never did understand how the rock had rolled away; all they knew now was a joy.
A joy because their rock of despair had been rolled away and there was a chance they would see Jesus again.
What started out as a terrible day had suddenly been changed into a day filled with inexpressible joy.
The contrast between the journey to and from the tomb is overwhelming.... the steps the two Mary’s would now take would be full of hope, something they didn’t have when she had gotten up that morning.
Matthew 28:8 tells us that they were filled with joy and hope.
For them they must have deep down hoped that the THE ROCK ROLLING MEANT THAT THEIR CHRIST WAS ALIVE.
PETER NEEDED SOME HOPE TOO
There was someone else though who needed a similar dose of hope.
Someone else who must have hated that rock almost as much as Mary, That was a tired, depressed, angry fisherman - Peter.
WHAT THE ROCK MEANT TO PETER
That rock stood outside that tomb as a testimony to the fact that Peter had failed. In his mind it was a monument to his betrayal of Christ.
It must have shouted at him of his inadequacies and his failure. In his mind he probably even had blamed himself for Christ’s death.
PETER POSSIBLE NEW LIFE
And then he heard the news. The news made possible by a rock being rolled away.
If that rock had never moved, Peter would have never had a chance of a new lease on life.
He would have carried that heartache and “what could have beens” for the rest of his life.
The other person to have betrayed the Christ was so broken he took his own life. You could imagine the depression of Peter.
But when that rock rolled, Peter was in with a chance.
WHAT THE ROLLED ROCK MEANT FOR PETER
That rolled rock now meant that maybe just maybe he too would see the Christ again.
For Peter, that rolled rock meant that maybe he could be forgiven. Maybe after all bhe had done Christ would still want to be in his life again.
That rolled away stone and empty tomb gave these two people hope.
RESULTED IN HOPE – HOPE NOT EVERYTHING
Hope is what our belief is all about. God made that hope possible by rolling away that stone.
But hope is not necessarily the objective.
The open and empty tomb gave them hope. But did it truly give them a new life? Did it give them joy and completeness?
If you were critical, you could say that the rolled stone simply gave them a false expectation. More was required for the hope to turn to joy.
GAVE THEM A LONGING – OPENED THEM UP TO AN IDEA
JESUS DID NOT LEAVE THEM HANGING
Because of their hope, because of the faith that the rolling away of that stone gave them, they were as open as that tomb to the possibility of an encounter with the risen Christ.
And Jesus did not disappoint that hope and that faith.
MARY’S NEED TO SEE HIM (ALIVE)
As He appears to Mary, she was still weeping. (John 20:15a) Woman why are you crying he asks.
Her hope had made it possible, but that hope had not made her complete. It did not take away the despair that only seeing him again could fill.
CHRIST FULFILLS HER HOPE
And so, knowing her hope and her faith, he appeared to her.
And that was what she needed.
Any doubt now would have been gone.
And questions would not even have to be asked.
Once Mary had encountered Christ after his resurrection, a new life was given her.
The rock rolled away was evidence that Christ had risen. An encounter with him after that resurrection was what sealed it for Mary.
IMPACT SUMMARY OF MARY”S ENCOUNTER
To Mary in despair, the simple answer to their grief would have been to find Jesus alive.
For her the empty tomb revealed that there was a chance he was alive.
The encounter afterwards gave her a new life.
She was resurrected that morning almost as much as Christ himself.
PETER’S NEED TO SEE HIM (FORGIVENESS)
The same would have been true for Peter, but for different reasons,
The rolled away stone gave him a hope of forgiveness. It did not answer the question.
HE APPEARS TO PETER
The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:5 tells us specifically that Christ appeared to Peter first and then to the others.
While you were being beaten, crucified I denied I ever knew you.... I was only thinking of myself and not you..." You could almost hear those thoughts.
And then Peter felt a hand on his shoulder-- and he looked at the hand and he saw that it had been pierced....
His heart stopped beating and as he turned to fall to his feet, He heard the voice of the one he loved more than life itself say , "PETER"
PAINT PICTURE OF APPEARANCE
If you have ever been so overcome with emotion that you can’t talk... the tears just won’t stop, and the sobbing chokes off all words, that’s how I picture this meeting of Jesus with Peter.
The big strong fishermen -- kneeling before Jesus AS HE weeps intensely....
And I picture Jesus his hand on Peter’s shoulder saying "IT’S ALL RIGHT PETER, I KNOW, IT’S ALRIGHT I FORGIVE YOU PETER..."
IMPACT SUMMARY OF PETERS ENCOUNTER
True life could now start. AN open empty tomb gave him hope of forgiveness; an encounter with the resurrected Christ gave him life.
INTRO TO SONG
The resurrection of Jesus means that you too can have a resurrection.
It means you can you desperately long and hope for something, but it also means that you can encounter Christ and see it happen.
It means that you can start over.
It means that you can begin again.
It means you can be born again.
GO SONG
MINISTRY BEGINS – LINK QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS
You may have come here today because you have a rock in your way.
You don’t have any hope!
You cant even get to see an empty tomb, let alone a personal encounter.
What Rock stops you from that same hope?
What rock do you need to roll before you will grasp that Jesus’ new life means a new life for you too?
What rock is keeping you from the hope?
What rock are you desperate to roll out of the way to make things better?
GOD WANTS DOES NOT NEED
Christ does not need the rock in your life to be moved. He exists, he carries on. He is not encased in the rock of your tomblike despair.
In fact Jesus does not need you to have hope and then through his resurrection life.
But here is the awesome thing. God did not need to roll back the stone, but in your case he wants to.
YOU CANT ROLL THE ROCK TO GET HOPE
I want you this morning, check out the rock. Size it up. Know that you will never be able to remove that rock, but all you have to do, like the 2 Mary’s and Peter, is ask for that rock to be rolled out of the way.
And stand ready to see that rock rolling. Revealing that the resurrection in your life is possible. God does actually love you.
YOU CANT GET LIFE SIMPLY THROUGH HOPE
Desire the resurrection on the other side of your rock.
Hope for the joy with everything you can find in yourself.
Believe in the better life on the other side of that rock.
Believe not only that your life can be resurrected but that the resurrection of your joyless, hopeless life, can be because of the resurrection that was revealed by the removal of the rock on the day of the resurrection of Christ.
Hope and long for the encounter with the Christ.
INTRO TO VIDEO CLIP
It is easy to become disillusioned in this life. Heartaches come. Dreams remain unrealized. Hopes, sometimes, are dashed.
But because of the resurrection on the other side of that rock, In the midst of adversity, in the face of difficulty, and in the weight of challenge, there will be dancing.
Listen to the words of our God, Hear his promises of joy!
GO VIDEO CLIP
MINISTRY END
I don’t know what you brought with you into this room today. I don’t know the pain or the hurt or the circumstances that you find yourself in but I do know that the Christ we remember at Easter is able to transform your life from death to life.
