The Easter Experience
John 10:10
INTRODUCTION
Top Ten Reasons to Celebrate Easter
10. You absolutely love the movie, "The Ten Commandments".
9. Jelly Beans! (except for the icky white ones)
8. You look really, really good in pastel colors.
7. How can any holiday that starts with a "Good Friday" be all bad?
6. Did we mention Jelly Beans yet?
5. You're into "passion" and "play" so how can it be bad?
4. You have this bunny suit you love to wear, but are too insecure to wear it without a reason.
3. Dying eggs is a good way to lower cholesterol. (till you make egg salad)
2. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans!!!
1. You figured since Jesus went to all THAT trouble to make it to the first Easter, you'd give it a shot.
What is the Easter Experience?
Easter is the celebration that three great needs in our lives can be met in Jesus.
Jesus summed up what he would do in one sentence in John 10:10
John 10:10 NIV
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
I. The Easter Experience meets the need that screams Notice Me
John 10:10 NIV
. . . I have come . . . .
We all have a need to be noticed. That need begins in cradle and continues throughout our life. We are wired for a relationship that affirms who we are.
A baby cries, (what a polite way of saying he screams Hey I cold here, Hey I'm Hunger here, hey I poopy here, Hey notice me).
A toddler throws a tantrum
A child acts up, lies, bullies, whines,
Teens intentionally over achieve, under achieve, dress to noticed, dress to shock, dress for style, dress for allure.
Teens and adults will adopt addictive behaviors, Look at me I can smoke I can drink ,I can cuss, I can . . .
or self destructive behaviors, anorexia, bulimia, cutting hair pulling, self mutilation.
All of the bragging, all the comparing with others the judging of others, the over time, the defiance, the compulsive talking, the perfectionism it's all tied to this need we have for someone, to notice that we are and that we have worth.
Easter, is the reminder the declaration that GOD notices us.
John 3:16-17
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. NIV
The Easter Experience meets the need that screams Notice Me
And
II. The Easter Experience meets the need that screams Accept Me
John 10:10 NIV
. . . I have come that they may have life, . . ..
Coupled with the need that says notice me is a need that screams, once you notice me, accept me. But that runs directly into a problem we have.
Deep down each of us has a terrible secret. Deep down each of us knows, we're not always very nice, we're not always very good, we're not always as together as we may seem on the outside. Deep down each of knows that beneath the surface is lays an inner broken person, a version of ourselves that is less that flattering.
Bill Giovannetti calls that person your inner brat, your inner jerk, your inner thug, your inner dummy.
Most of us seek to live very controlled lives, because we don't want our inner jerk our inner, dummy our inner thug to come out and people to see inner us that is so less than flattering because we live in fear that if people really knew what we were like they'd reject us in an instant.
So we go to great lengths to become accepted.
* We'll don masks to please others.
* We'll try too hard to fit it
* We become phony, or eager to please.
* We'll judge others for being phony,
* We'll judge people for pushing us away, we'll fix them, and we plot there revenge their downfall.
* We'll manipulate other,
* we'll present ourselves as pathetic, overly needy
* We'll hide behind labels like bi-polar, depressed, ADHD
* Since any intolerance against a label or a handicap is wrong we demand accept me anyway.
John 6:35-37
35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. NIV
New Living Translation (©2007)
. . . and I will never reject them.
English Standard Version (©2001)
. . . and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
. . . and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
International Standard Version (©2008)
. . . and I'll never turn away the one who comes to me.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
. . . , and whoever will come to me I shall not cast out."
No matter how messy your inner life, what we celebrate at EASTER is that Jesus accepts us, he will never push away those who come to him. Perfect acceptance!
HOW!
Because the only thing that could cause God to reject us is Sin.
Isa 59:2 NIV
2 But your iniquities (inner Mess) have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Rom 5:6-8 NIV
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Easter Experience meets the need that screams Notice Me, Accept Me
AND
III. The Easter Experience meets the need that screams Satisfy Me
John 10:10 NIV
. . . I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
We have all been wired with a need that screams Satisfy me.
As a baby what did we do when we were hungry? What did we do when we felt afraid? Cold? Dirty? Wet?
We are wired for pleasure, for purpose, for enjoyment?
So as kids we long for the school to be out, and then within a week we moan, we're bored, there's nothing to do?
We're wired for sexual fulfillment and as we hit our teens years the hormones rage and scream Satisfy me. Do not now, do it.
Our bellies hunger as adults and we want satisfaction.
There's another dirty little secret about ourselves. We stink at meeting the Satisfy Me need.
* How many have ever overeaten at Thanksgiving, at a buffet, on the couch in front of a move a game.
* How many have spent more time than they would like to admit, playing a game, browsing online, chatting on Facebook?
* How many of us have entertained fantasies of sexual fulfillment other than our wives our husbands, how many of us have chased false dreams or images on the internet.
* How many of us in our desire for peace and safety shout out risk and purpose, how many have made getting ahead our passion even if we bend the rules, get paid under the table, sabotage a co worker, talk down another so we get ahead.
* How many of us have sacrifices family for extra hours, extra pay. How many have run up debt beyond reason so that we can have more.
* How many of us have made our elves, our desires our goals all important.
When you look at our lives each one reveals our pursuit of the need that screams SATISFY ME.
It did with a woman that Jesus met along the way to Jerusalem in John 4:7-14 NIV
7 When a woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?
13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.
John 10:10 NIV
. . . I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
As we journey with Jesus in his love and acceptance we learn the way secrets he has for us for satisfaction. He promises. Life to the full. Come with me and get it straight get it right.
He has answers, the secrets of life to full.
SUMMARY
What is the Easter Experience?
It is bonding our lives with Jesus, letting him meet the needs that scream Notice Me, Accept Me, Satisfy Me.
That Life may begin in a prayer, but it continues as journey within a community.
At Norwalk Alliance Church we're seeking to discover all that the Easter Experience means for each of us. We invite you to join us in the journey.
Whether you are just beginning, restarting after a lag, or pressing on toward lies ahead.
Beginning next week we are going to seek to discover more about the Journey by going to a book written by one of the early Jesus followers--James. We're going to look at how faith collides with all sorts of things in our lives and leads us toward a better tomorrow. I invite you to join us on that journey.
I'm going to Pray, then I dismiss you with this wish, Discover the Easter Experience. The worship is going to play a song as everyone leaves, elders are going to be in the back with little treats for our kids, but If you'd like to talk with me about discovering the Easter Experience. Come talk with me. Let's Pray.
