Easter Sunrise Service (March 31, 2013)
Chapel of Redemption
Acts 1:1-11
“Time Is Of The Essence, And Here We Stand Wasting Time”
John Teem Jr.
INTRODUCTION:
Good Morning everyone.
Is this not a Great Day to be Alive?
Are we not Blessed to be Living in America?
Do we not enjoy the Blessings of Freedom?
Well let us Praise the LORD today and every day.
FOR THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
We come together this morning in celebration of something that happened more than 2000 years ago.
A man named Christ Jesus was Crucified and buried thought to be rid of by those who rejected Him….
But on that first Easter morning more than 2000 years ago He rose from the dead never to die again.
We have written testimony today to confirm all this, there have been many eyewitnesses to this fact.
And now after all this time there are still millions upon millions all over this world who Worship and serve this Resurrected Christ.
On the other hand there are more than 5 billion people worldwide who are still lost in their sin:
They have either not yet heard the Word Preached to them or have not yet accepted His Word.
The Bible says that Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
But how shall they hear unless someone is sent to tell them?
I want to Thank God in Heaven today for His Written Word
As well as the Freedom to Read it, obey it and Preach it.
Now let us take our Bibles and Stand for the Reading of His Word.
Turn with me to ACTS 1:1-11
I – THE MISTAKE
A - Concern about Political matters (Acts 1:6-7)
B – Complacency (Acts 1:10-11)
Self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies
*So the MISTAKE is not being focused on the MISSION.
II – THE MISSION
A – To be Obedient to the Command of Christ (Acts 1:2, 4)
In Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus Said:
“All Authority is given to Me in Heaven and on Earth, Therefore Go…
B - To be Empowered by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8)
Through Prayer, The Word, and Fellowship with one another (Acts 1:13-14; Acts 2:42, 46)
C – To Announce the Good News (Acts 1:8) To Preach/Proclaim the Gospel
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Mark 16:15-16;
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Luke 24:46-49
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
*So the MISTAKE is not being focused on the MISSION
And the MISSION is to Proclaim the MESSAGE.
III – THE MESSAGE
A – The Message of Redemption
1 - We should give Witness to our Redemption
I Timothy 1:15
Christ came to redeem sinners of whom I am chief
Psalm 107:1-2
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
2 - We should show others the Way to Redemption
Proverbs 11:30
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”
B – The Message of Reconciliation (To Restore a Relationship)
1 – Christ came to Reconcile man’s Relationship with God.
2 – We have been given the Ministry of Reconciliation.
II Corinthians 5:17-21
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ Reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the Word of Reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are Ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we Implore you on Christ’s behalf, be Reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him.
C – The Message of the Resurrection
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “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?”
1 - The Resurrection of Christ
To be Witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:3, 9)
2 – The Resurrection of the Redeemed
I Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
CONCLUSION –
Are we all ready for the return of Christ?
Christ Jesus came once to offer salvation from our sins.
He did not come the first time to judge the world but to save the world.
John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world, that he hath given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world, that he should condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth in him, is not condemned: but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of that only begotten Son of God.
Christ is coming back and it will be soon. Very soon.
When He returns He will come to collect.
When He returns again it will be to judge.
Acts 17:31
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
II Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
So the choice is ours….
To those of us who have been redeemed we have our duty to do.
Obey the command of Christ. The world is lost and going to hell.
I do not want that blood upon my hands…do you?
Ezekiel 3:17-21
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me
When I shall say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, and thou givest not him warning, nor speakest to admonish the wicked of his wicked way, that he may live, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity: but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Yet, if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Likewise if a righteous man turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, I will lay a stumbling block before him and he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds, which he hath done, shall not be remembered: but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless, if thou admonish that righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and that he doth not sin, he shall live because he is admonished: also thou hast delivered thy soul.
God gave me this command 10 years ago and I have been negligent in my duty
Many of us have been
I want to submit to you today that we have been given much and we have wasted much…
You see time is of the essence and we are all wasting time.
So today I call all Christians to return to the cause of Christ.
Return to your First Love.
And to all those who have yet to receive Christ and His Mercy
I implore you today
Be Reconciled to Christ - Repent and be Born Again –
Today is the Day of Salvation - Now is the Acceptable time - Tomorrow may be too late.
If Christ returns today - When He splits the Clouds and Returns Just as He Left
Will You Be Ready? Come now and make yourself ready.
