THE WALKING DEAD: ALIVE! (EXPERIENCING THE RESURRECTION)
OPENING: Declare: “Christ is risen!” Pray for all of the other churches in town.
INTRO TO TOPIC: Have you ever seen the TV show The Walking Dead, or any of the popular zombie movies? The basic idea behind them all is that during the apocalypse at the end of the world, there is some kind of virus that reanimates dead bodies – the living dead – and causes them to walk around looking for human brains to eat.
• That’s similar to the Bible’s description of our lives before Christ!
1. THE BAD NEWS – WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD:
“1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph. 2:1-3, NKJV).
• BRAVEHHEART QUOTE: “Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”
• What does it mean to be truly alive?
• Just because you’re breathing doesn’t mean you’re living life to the fullest!
• God’s original intent for us is to experience abundant life (John 10:10).
• But because of Adam and Eve’s sin, we are all born with a sin nature.
• This Scripture says we were dead in our sins, following the passions of our evil nature.
• QUESTION: Is living in sin, really living?
• “You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it.” (Genesis 4:7, NLT).
• Sin is bondage, being chained to something you don’t want to do.
STORY: The night of my 18th birthday – out drunk, blacked out, passed out in a ditch (photos – fortunately they didn’t have facebook back then), threw up in my best friend’s car, my friends had to shower me clean, woke up in a pile of my own vomit the next morning. This is living?
• “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, NKJV).
• “As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).
• “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24).
• Paul is saying here that before Christ, we are the walking dead – bodies of death!
• The Answer: Living in sin is not really living. It’s not being fully alive.
• I don’t know about you, but I want to live life, I want to be fully alive!
2. THE GOOD NEWS – GOD WANTS TO MAKE US FULLY ALIVE:
“4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…
• I like when God butts in. Not because we e-mailed him or tweeted him, we rejected Him!
• BUT GOD: in spite of our ignorance and rebellion, He is RICH in mercy, GREAT love!
• Quote John 3:16 and talk about Good Friday chapel at Stony Plain – “SO LOVED!”
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:4-9).
• Even though we were the walking dead, He made us alive in Christ.
• A dead man cannot make himself alive. If there’s a body floating in the water, you can throw a life preserver to him, but he can’t reach for it! Therefore, God makes us alive!
• NOTE: Just because you’re alive in Jesus doesn’t mean everything will go well with you!
• QUOTE John 16:33 – we will have TROUBLE, but in Christ, we can have PEACE!
• When we are alive in Christ, we can say, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
THE BIG IDEA: Apart from Jesus, we are all the Walking Dead. But because of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, we can become fully alive.
3. WHAT IS THE GOSPEL? (1 Cor. 15:1-6).
“1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.”
• Apart from the resurrection of Jesus there is no Christianity.
• Jesus was a great teacher, but Christianity is not based on his teachings.
• Jesus was a great miracle worker, and Christianity is not based upon his miracles.
• All of those are incredibly important and teach us a great deal about Jesus.
• The core of Christianity is the life, death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ.
THE STORY OF THE RESURRECTION:
“1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." 8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.” (Matthew 28:1-8).
• Through His resurrection from the dead, Jesus proved that He had power over death.
• His resurrection also proved that He is God, and that He is who He said He is.
• The Good News is that because of Christ’s resurrection, we too can become fully alive!
CLOSING: HOW DO WE COME ALIVE IN CHRIST?
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
• Do you believe this? Do you know Jesus in the power of His resurrection?
• The resurrection reminds us that no matter how dark the night, dawn always comes!
• It reminds us that no matter how cold or long the winter, spring always comes!
• It is the promise of new life, the hope of life everlasting!
• It’s a day to celebrate – though sorrow may last for the night, joy comes in the morning!
PREACH IT:
• Do YOU know Jesus today in the power of His resurrection?
• Too many people are stuck on Good Friday – in some churches, He’s still on the Cross!
• “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give LIFE to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11). This is resurrection power!
• Jesus is alive! God wants to take our old and broken lives and make us ALIVE!
• Are you a sinner? He died on the Cross to pay the price for your sins to be forgiven.
• Are you depressed? He wants to give you joy unspeakable and full of glory!
• Are you sick? He will heal your sicknesses and diseases!
• Jesus is the Saviour, Healer, Deliverer, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, etc!
• Come to Jesus all you weary and heavy burdened and find rest for your souls!
CLOSING SONG: Alive by Kim Walker-Smith (from the album Still Believe).
ALTAR CALL: For salvation and deliverance – to encounter RESURRECTION LIFE.
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com/
