What If…
(an ancient solution)
Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb… Mark 16:2-8
THEY – were looking for Jesus who was crucified. Jesus who was:
• arrested
• bound
• beaten
• bruised
• battered
• mocked
• insulted
They were looking for Jesus who was…
• Stripped naked
• Nailed to a blood stained cross
• Crucified
• Suspended for 6 hours
• Who bowed his head at 3 pm and returned to the Father (It is finished, Father into your hands I commit my spirit)
They were looking for Jesus was who crucified…
NOW – the crucifixion that was Friday…
BUT LISTEN – from the moment the Roman soldier pounded the first nail into the flesh of God Sunday was coming.
AND - on Sunday morning Jesus with GREAT POWER burst forth from grave…
The tomb is empty. Jesus is Alive! The enemy has been defeated, death couldn’t hold Him down!
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here…”
NOW UNDERSTAND – Jesus said that this (that what happened on that first Easter weekend – the betrayal/the arrest/the denials/the crucifixion/His death/ and His resurrection) were going to happen.
WHEN – Jesus came into Jerusalem to begin his ministry (after over turning tables – and driving the money changers out of the Temple) He said, “Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it up in three days…” (John 2:19).
HE SAID – (in Matthew 12:40, to some religious leaders who were challenging him after He had cast out a demon) as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
AND JESUS – said to His guys as He prepared to go to Jerusalem for the last time in (Matthew 16:21), after He got that identity thing squared away, “You are The Christ, The Son of the Living God), Jesus said that - he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
UNDERSTAND – from the beginning to the end of His ministry Jesus said that He would – suffer, die and rise again … AND HE ALSO SAID – that His resurrection would be irrefutable proof that he was exactly who he said he was… God in the flesh. The bread of life. The light of the world. The Great I Am. The Savior King.
CHECK OUT – these words from the pen of Paul… He was declared to be God's Son with great power by rising from the dead. Romans 1:4
(Tim/Laurie) HIS RESURRECTION - is meant to remove any doubts whatsoever as to who Jesus is.
MAPLE GROVE…
THE JESUS - that we Love, Follow, Serve, Sing to and worship…
THE JESUS – we gathered in this place to honor this morning - is not just a prophet, a great teacher or a really nice guy – No, Jesus is God!
• HE IS - the Alpha and the Omega… the beginning and the end.
• He is Creator of all that we see
• JESUS - is before all things, over all things and He holds all things together… AND LISTEN - Jesus if holds all things together… that means HE can hold our lives together…
Jesus is huge… holy… mighty… is God
AND – because He is God this means…. that JESUS
• Has all the answers
• Can deliver what he promised
• Bring peace to any conflict
• Conquer any problem
• Calm any storm
• Defeat any enemy
• What He said is true
• What He said He would do… He will do, or HE has already done.
Jesus is God!
Jesus is Alive!
MAN – those truths NEVER get old do they?
AND LISTEN – JESUS wants you (He wants me) to be alive.
Fully alive.
IN FACT, Jesus said - I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)
THE ANGELS – who broke the apostles out of prison in Acts 5 told them… “Go stand in the Temple courts and tell the people the full message of this NEW life…” – Acts 5:20
PAUL SAID in Romans 6:4 - Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. – Romans 6:4 (NLT)
UNDERSTAND - God wants us (you) to live a new, abundant, passionate and purposeful life. One in which you’re fully alive.
BUT – a lot of people…
MAYBE - even a few in this room, aren’t fully alive.
I MEAN – truth be told they are just going through the motions of life - existing, not really living! THEY’RE - in the survival mode, barely hanging on. JUST – trying to get through the day. A DAY – that seems hauntingly like every other day.
I get up – Go to work – come home – eat – go to bed - wake up
and do it all over again…
WHY – is that?
WHY - are so many people not experiencing the full life that God wants for them and that Jesus bought for them on a blood stained cross 2000 years ago…?
WELL – to see why we settle for less than God’s best we have to go back to the first couple. Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world, a garden paradise. AND – not only that, they had an up close and personal relationship with God who would come and hang out with them in the garden.
AND - God said to them, “I’ve created all of this for you… you are free to enjoy it all…. IN FACT – there’s only one thing that is off-limits. There’s only one tree that you can’t eat fruit from.”
SO – what did they do? THEY - went straight to that door – ate the fruit, disobeyed and messed up EVERYTHING!
NOW GRANTED – they did have a little help in going through that door… AND - so do we…
YOU SEE – you & I have to do battle with the VERY same enemy that they faced…
AN ENEMY – that appeared to them in the form of serpent.
AN ENEMY – that Scripture describes as a roaring lion and an angry dragon…
AN ENEMY – who is determined to steal, kill and destroy the full and abundant life Jesus won for us on a blood stained cross 2000 years ago.
YES - Adam and Eve chose the ‘forbidden’ fruit…
AND WE - choose the forbidden fruit.
AND WHEN WE DO - it creates a wall between us and God; a wall between God’s perfection and our imperfection.
CHECKOUT - what God said about this wall through the prophet Isaiah 700 years before His Son put on flesh.
Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God.
– Isaiah 59:2 (CEV)
YEAH – you and I, we build walls…
BUT – 2000 years ago on Easter Sunday, Jesus built a bridge…
QUESTION…
WHAT IF – despite all of our knowledge, technological advances and sophistication… the answer to our: struggles, problems, emptiness
is still and ancient solution?
WHAT IF…
Forgiveness is available,
Restoration is possible,
Hope can be living, and
Salvation is really by Grace?
Forgiveness Is Available
Everyone needs compassion
A love that’s never ending
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of the Savior
The hope of nations
QUESTION – do you ever need forgiveness? Do you ever mess up?
NOW - if anyone ever needed to know that the door to forgiveness had been opened. IT WAS - a distraught, guilt ridden, sun weary fishermen named Peter...
Peter was standing with John when the 2 Mary’s came running into town... AND - when they came Peter and John ran to them... "Slow down, slow down -- we can’t understand you... what, the tomb is empty! Jesus, isn’t in the tomb! He’s alive!
AND THEN – Peter says, “hey stop a minute did I hear you right… Yes Peter I am sure, the angel said go tell the disciples and Peter?”
UNDERSTAND – those 2 words, ‘and Peter’ were like a cool flowing stream in a desert wasteland… I MEAN – it was as if all of heaven watched Peter fall… and all of heaven were waiting to see him get back up.
Go tell the disciples and be sure to tell Peter that he gets another chance… 3 strikes and you are not out!
AND - somewhere, we don’t know where, maybe on the shoreline overlooking the Jordan or on a dirt road outside of the city… BUT - the important thing is not where it happened, but that it did happen.... THE – apostle Paul even makes a point of telling us in I Corinthians 15:5, that Jesus appeared to Peter… and then to the 12."
NOW - the Bible doesn’t give us any details -- of that meeting. It doesn’t tell us what Peter said... I for one don’t think Peter said much of anything...
I PICTURE - Peter alone, sitting with his head down and his heart broken... HE - had set high standards for himself. Standards that he could never have live up to. After all he was just a man.... BUT - because he couldn’t forgive himself, Peter couldn’t believe that Jesus could forgive him either...
"No way. Not after what I have done... I went too far... I don’t deserve His forgiveness Jesus. While my Lord and my friend was being beaten, scourged, crucified - I denied I that I ever knew him.
IF ONLY - I could go back and undo it all, I would… but I can’t. There’s no way that I can ever make this right."
AND THEN - Peter felt a hand on his shoulder… HE TURNED – his head to see who it was… and his heart nearly stopped beating when he saw that the hand was pierced.
AND - I picture Jesus with his hand on Peter’s shoulder saying "It’s alright Peter. It’s alright. I know. I know. But it’s alright now. Peter look at me. Look at me. I forgive you my friend. Completely. Peter look at these wounds – look at them… they’re all for you. These wounds are why I came. They’re what I’m about. These wounds, these strips have healed you from your sin and guilt – from your shame and failure...”
NOW – I don’t know about you but I have been where Peter was. AND – truth be told I still find myself there at times, more times than I care to admit…
THAT’S WHY – Easter Sunday pumps me up! BECAUSE – it is a huge reminder that 2000 years ago forgiveness became available.
• My sins can be washed away
• 1,2,3 – even 7 x 70 falls does not make me a failure!
• It’s no longer about my denials – it’s about His death
• It’s no longer about what I did or do… but about what Jesus
already did!
YES – those wounds were for me and they were for you too.
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. – Acts 13:8
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 2:38
2 students got in on this forgiveness this past Wednesday night at Student Movement… Brianna & Matthew
3 people are going to get in on at the end of 3rd service
Christ’s death and resurrection signaled to the world that the Kingdom of God is not reserved for good people. It is reserved for forgiven people.
On Monday during our Spring snow day…
As I walked the dog this morning and saw white snow covering everything (green grass, black walkway, red clay, brown dirt...etc) -The LORD brought these words to my mind;
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.” – Is 1:18
Restoration Is Possible
What if God could…
• Fix what is broken
• Fill what is empty
• Free what is captive
•
•
What if…
• Restoration is possible
• We could become the person we long to be
• We could live the life we always wanted to live
• Rise above overcome the mistakes of our past
I’M – going to read 2 incredible passages of Scripture and then talk about our restoration.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Cor 5:17
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
– Ephesians 2:10
LISTEN – there is more to Christ’s Resurrection; Then fact that Jesus is alive (as awesome, necessary and glorious as that it is)… and that our sins can be forgiven (as amazing and as needed as that is)… and that we will spend eternity in a perfect forever (as sweet as that will be)…
UNDERSTAND – His Resurrection also means that we can be restored to who we were always meant to be…
NOW REMEMBER – in the beginning, in Genesis, we are told that man was made in the image of God. That man was created to be picture, a portrait, a reflection of what God is like…
BUT – as we said earlier, sin quickly came into the world (man walked ate the forbidden fruit) and that image got distorted…
BUT FRIENDS – this distortion is no longer the final word of our lives… Why? Because Jesus is alive and His Resurrection changes everything!
THE RESURRECTION – enables to become a new creation….
IT – creates us anew in Christ Jesus.
I’VE – always loved what God wrote through Paul in Romans 6
All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him… - Romans 6:3-6
BUT HEY… could I be honest with you for a minute…
SOMETIMES – this concept of restoration totally pumps be up…
AND SOMETIMES – it totally bums me out.
IT – pumps me up because there is nothing I want more than to become the person God created me to be and to live the life He created me to live…
AND – sometimes it bums me out because I got this gap.
I posted the following on my facebook wall on Friday (John 13-21 challenge)
LORD, I don't know how to become the person you want me to be. I mean, how do I really get there?
"I AM the way, and the truth and the life..." John 14:6
Great answer. Thanks Jesus!
One of the most important truths we will ever learn is that this restoration becomes a reality not by trying harder but by drawing closer.
God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him – Phil 2:13
‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. – Zechariah 4:6
Again it’s not about trying harder – it’s about drawing closer…
Let me show what this looks like…
(pour water in a glad full of junk)
At Maple Grove… we are ALL ABOUT
Restoration… connecting people to the life they were created to live.
What If…
Forgiveness is available
Restoration is possible… and
Hope Can Be Living
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… - 1 Peter 1:3
QUESTION…
SO – how are you doing today with the ‘hope’ thing?
I MEAN - when you woke up this morning were you more hopeful or hopeless about your life?
UNDERSTAND – many times we don’t do soo good on this hope thing…
AND – why is that….
BECAUSE - we place our hope in the wrong place…
WHAT ARE - some wrong places that people tend to put their hope in?
GO AHEAD – shout out a few if you can think of any…
• Money
• 401 K
• Career
• Stuff
• Relationships
• Good times
• success
CHECKOUT – this question the psalmist asked himself when he was extremely bummed out…
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?…”
- Ps 42:11
NOW – that’s a good question to asked ourselves whenever we find ourselves down, discouraged and losing hope…
Why are we so down? AND I LOVE – how the psalmist answers his own question with a statement/command/a re-focus …
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
We who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls… - Hebrews 6:18,19
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Salvation Really Is By Grace
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8,9
At some point, we must realize that salvation is absolutely, objectively, metaphysically, universally a FREE GIFT, and all we can do is RECEIVE IT. It's free for the taking, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with being worthy of it.
On Saturday morning I read these words from John 16:1
I have told you these things to keep you from giving up…
AND THEN - I reflected on…
• what Jesus had just told His guys on the night of His arrest
• what I felt He had recently been telling me
• on what we are talking about today (I’ve been immersed in these truths)
AND – these words came to my mind…
You may want to write this one down
Self improvement is no more God’s plan for us than self-salvation.
God’s plan is not just for us to be SAVED by grace, it to LIVE by grace.
Awesome
And here is what I wrote in my journal…
“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”
- Anne Lamott
Amazing Grace How Sweet The Sound…
Grace will lead me home…
