Easter 2022
Scripture: John 8:12; Mark 10:32-34; 16:9-11; James 1:2-3
I want to thank Pastor Cynthia for her continuing to cover for me as I travel back and forth to Tennessee for the next several months. It is a blessing to have someone that you can depend on when you need them most. Thank you Pastor Cynthia!!! I also want to wish each of you a happy Easter. This is surely the day the Lord has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it! We are here today because Jesus died for our sins and rose on that Sunday morning. If He had not rose from the dead we would not have had an opportunity to change where we will spend eternity. Hell and the lake of fire would have been our only option. But let’s praise God and remember why we chose Him as our Lord and Savior as He truly is the only way to the Father. Before I go into the message this morning, I want to share a story with you to set the stage for this message. The story is called “Carrots, Eggs and Coffee.”
“A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up as she was tired of fighting and struggling. Her mother, after listening to her, rose and took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots of water and placed each on the stove on high heat. Soon the the water in each pot came to a boil. In the first pot she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last pot she placed ground coffee beans. She let them boil without saying a word.
After about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots and eggs out and placed them in separate bowls. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’ ‘Carrots, eggs and coffee,’ she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother asked her daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, the inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they changed the water. ‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?” I want you to keep this story in mind as I go through the message this morning.
Every person that has ever lived on this earth and will ever live on the earth will face adversity at some point in their life. They will experience difficult situations that, depending on the individual’s response to it, will change the person forever. It has been said that we are all the sum of our experiences and in some ways that is a true statement. Our experiences have shaped how we see the world. Although we cannot change past experiences, we can change their lasting impact on our lives and, this is important, how future experiences impact our lives. Jesus died on the cross so that our experiences do not define us. He died on the cross so that we could live victoriously in a world that desires to destroy us spiritually.
If you write down no other notes from this message, I am asking that you write this sentence down. “What God has shared with you in the Light, do not forget in the darkness.” Let that sink in for a moment. When things are going right in our lives, it is easier for us to remember the words of Jesus (the Light) as we walk in our perceived blessings. Jesus said, “……I am the light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12b) Jesus is our Light and our adversity can at times represent darkness. It is during these times of adversity that we can, and often, struggle to remember the encouraging words of our Lord and Savior. We are not alone as the disciples also struggled with this.
When Jesus was making His final entrance into Jerusalem, I want to read a few verses from the tenth chapter of Gospel of Mark beginning at verse thirty-two. “They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, 33. saying, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. 34. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.’” (Mark 10:32-34) As they were walking towards Jerusalem for the last time, Jesus told His disciples exactly what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. He told them that He would be taken, given to the Gentiles (Romans soldiers), mocked, spit on, beaten and finally killed. Had He stopped there that would have been enough for anyone to be depressed, sad and concerned for His life – but He didn’t. Then He told them after all that happened, “….three days later He will rise again.” He told them what would happen and that in three days it would all be over because He would rise again in total victory.
So what happened when they got to Jerusalem? Exactly what Jesus said would happen. Jesus was arrested, mocked, spit on, scourged (beaten) and finally killed. Everything up to and including the moment He was killed was just as He said it would be. You would think that His followers, especially His disciples, would have been encouraged and looking forward to Sunday – but they were not. You see, what Jesus had shared with them in the light was forgotten in their dark moment – the days following His death. When Christ died on the cross everyone thought that His life was over. They believed in their hearts that what they had witnessed and experienced for those three years was over and there was nothing else for them to do. They did not understand that their lives was about to change drastically forever. Let me read a few verses so you see can see what I am talking about. Mark 16:9-11 says, “Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. 10. She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.” Jesus’ disciples, who had been told by Him personally that He would rise on the third day, did not believe it when they were informed that it had happened. When they heard that Jesus had risen from the dead, they did not accept it as truth. As a matter of fact, they were mourning and weeping His death when they were told He had risen and instead of rejoicing at the news, they refused to believe and chose to keep mourning and weeping.
The same happened with Thomas. We always refer to Thomas as “doubting Thomas” but in reality, all of the disciples had doubted. What makes Thomas’ situation so unique is that he outright refused to believe. Remember, He first heard it from Mary when the other disciples heard it and did not believe. Then he heard it from the same disciples who had not believed earlier and He responded by saying, “……unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25b) Thomas came face to face with Jesus eight days later and believed. He finally remembered what he had been told in the light which he had forgotten in the darkness.
As I said at the beginning, God told me what He has shared with us in the Light not to forget in the darkness. God sent His Son to die for us on a cross and this morning we are here to celebrate His resurrection. When Jesus rose from the dead He provided for everyone who would call on His name the opportunity to become sons and daughters of God. He gave us the opportunity to turn time back; from being born into sin to being reborn in Him. That means something people! We should not be celebrating Jesus death and resurrection one day a year, it should be our lifestyle. So I want to ask you this morning, if you are facing any darkness in your life today, are you remembering what was shared with you in the Light?
Jesus said, “….I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) I do not know what darkness you may be facing, but I do know that Jesus said He was “the way, the truth and the life.” When you are going through your dark times, remember what the Light said – He is the way! No person can come out of spiritual darkness except through Him. He is the only way that leads to salvation. But what about our other problems? What about the things we must deal with that come upon us after we are saved? Because He is the way, the truth and the life, don’t forget what He has said and what has been said about Him as it relates to those who believe on Him. If you are dealing with some situations right now and it seems like it too much to bear, REMEMBER! If you are sick, and you are not sure of your prognosis, REMEMBER! If you are dealing with problems on the job, REMEMBER! Remember what?
James 1:2-3 says “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.” The word “temptations” in this verse means “tests or trials.” We know that Satan will use any and every situation to test our faith as he tries to get us to abandon the promises of God. Now I didn’t say that Satan causes the test; I said he will use the test in every way imaginable to get us to doubt God’s love and His faithfulness towards us. But REMEMBER! We know that some seasons in our lives will be more trying than others and it will be hard to find joy in those seasons but James tells us that it is possible to have that joy. So if James said we could have joy in the midst of our trials (tribulations) it had to have been for a reason. It had to be because it was in fact the truth. So if it is true that we can have joy in the midst of our trying, hard times and we are currently struggling to find that joy, then we have to ask ourselves this question: “Do I remember what was shared with me in the Light now that I seem to be in darkness?” If you have forgotten, let me remind you of a few things that the Light has said.
One of my favorite Scripture references when I need to be reminded that God is working in my life is Jeremiah 29:11. It says “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope.” God knows each of us personally – our strengths and our weaknesses. He knows what we need and when we need it, even before we know it ourselves. And this is really important; He has made plans for each of us. Not plans for our destruction but plans to take care of us. If we remember and believe Jeremiah 29:11, then we cannot believe that God is behind the darkness that seems to surround us. He has a solution; a plan for our situation.
Now turn to Isaiah 49 and we’re going to read verses 15-16. “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.” (Isaiah 49:15-16) I have shared with you in previous messages that God will never forget us. When God’s people were dealing with a tough situation (a period of darkness) they began to believe and accuse God of forgetting about them. When dealing with your dark moments, have you ever felt like God had forgotten you? God told them He had not forgotten them as He has not forgotten any of us. God said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget you.” (Vs. 15) God used the example of a mother caring for her child and says that His love for us is greater than a mother who is nursing a child. We all know that there is a special bond that is created between a mother and a nursing infant but God says it’s still possible for that mother to forget her nursing child. However, it is not possible for Him to forget us! And He didn’t stop there.
In verse sixteen He says “Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.” God says that He engraved us upon the palms of His hands. As I have shared with you before, most of us have needed to write down a phone number or a note on the palms of our hands at one time or another because we did not have paper. The information was so important to us that we wanted to ensure that we didn’t forget or lose it so we wrote it in our palm. Once we did that we did not wash our hands until we got some paper where you could transfer the information from our hand to the paper. Now imagine, if you will, that it would be a month before you got to some paper. How could you guarantee that the information would still be on your palm? Well, you could do it by “engraving” or tattooing the information on your palm. Then it would be permanent. This is the image that God gives us in these verses. God figuratively says He has inscribed or tattooed a picture of us on the palm of His hands. We are so important to Him that He has engraved our image in the palm of His hands. Our Father has made it so He can always hold up His hands to see and remember us! WOW! This is what we need to remember when we are facing dark times! God see us. He sees our situation and He is actively bringing us through them – one by one.
I want to close this morning with what was recorded in Isaiah 41. We’re going to read verses 10 through 13. “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent. For I am the LORD your God, Who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.”’ (Isaiah 41:10-13) The Lord says “Do not fear, for I am with you.” God does not change. God is telling us not to live in fear of our situation. We may not have all of the answers, but we do not have to live in fear.
I started this message with a story, so I think it’s appropriate that I end it with that story. All of us face adversity – dark days, and sometimes that darkness causes us to forget what the Word has told us about our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Because we forget, sometimes that adversity (darkness) causes us to become weak and sickly. The strain of always having something thrown at you; of always having to fight to get ahead can take its toll. In the story, consider the carrots. If you take a carrot out of the refrigerator and bite into it, it is hard, solid and crunchy. It takes some strength to cut it with a knife. But when that strong, solid carrot was placed in the boiling water, the boiling water made it soft. The boiling water kept attacking it until the carrot finally gave in. But there is another side to this carrot story. You see, there are many people who are so strong and hard that God cannot use them. They are so powerful that they believe that they do not need God. Yet when they are faced with such adversity that they are forced to call on Him, it is only then that they realize that they do need God. It is at that time that they become soft, more humble and more willing to allow God to use them. Paul records what Jesus said to him when he was complaining about his adversity in Second Corinthians 12:9. It says “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” If our adversity beats us down to the point where we turn to God and rely on His strength versus our own, then it is okay to become like the carrot.
Now when the egg went into the boiling water, its shell protected it against the water, so the water could not seep in. However its shell could not protect it again the heat. There are many people who experience adversities and become hardened by them on the inside. Where before they were loving, kind and willing to help others, after experiencing some adversity, they become hard, bitter and unrelenting. This is not what Christ would have us to become when we face adversity. If you have changed your outlook on life based on the hard times you have experienced and you are not allowing the love of God to flow through you to others, it is not too late. Accept the love that Christ has made available to you; allow Him to provide the healing you need from your past experiences.
Finally we return to the coffee bean. The coffee bean when it went into the boiling water, it embraced it. Its embrace was similar to what we read in James earlier, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.” The coffee bean embrace of the boiling water was also like Paul saying, “I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” after Jesus told him that His power was perfected in weakness. The coffee bean did not fight against the boiling water; it did not fight against the adversity. The coffee bean embraced it and not only was it changed, but it changed the adversity also. Remember, not only did the boiling water cease to be boiling water, the coffee bean ceased to be a coffee bean. The coffee bean allowed itself to be changed in order to change the adversity (its response to the darkness.) The coffee bean knew that by embracing the boiling water, it would achieve its purpose. Sometimes when adversity comes God can use it to work out something with us. The adversity can change us for the better. When we recognize that through our weakness Christ’s power is perfected, it changes how we see our weaknesses.
As I close this morning, remember, what God has shared with you in the Light do not forget in the darkness. Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We remember why He chose to die and the fact that He did rise up on the third day. We celebrate Jesus. Easter is not about the baskets, the eggs hunts, or new clothes. Easter is about remembrance. We remember and celebrate what Christ did for us at Calvary, but more importantly that it did not stop there. We celebrate what He is doing for us right now. We remember the Light! Happy Easter!
May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(We are once again conducting live services on Sunday morning beginning at 9:15 a.m. We will continue to broadcast live on Facebook Live at 10:00 a.m.. Please tune in to "New Light Christian Fellowship Church" and like our page if you wish to watch our broadcast and be notified when we go live. If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. We also have Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. via Zoom that you are also welcome to attend – please email me for the link. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. If you would like to donate to our ministry you may do so through our website: newlightchristianfellowship.org by clicking on the PayPal or Cash App buttons. May God bless and keep you.)
