A Fresh Start.
Every now and then in life we have to make a fresh start>
Sometimes we choose a fresh start.
It might be a new financial plan
A new fitness regeme
A new job
A new family member –
Sometimes the fresh start chooses us.
I might get fired from my job.
I might be left a fortune in someones will.
My wife may leave a note on the bench – your dinners in the oven and I am in Florida!
A serious illness might be diagnosed
I might have a car crash.
When the fresh start chooses us it is far harder to adapt than when we choose the fresh start.
With Jesus disciples the fresh start they face on Easter Sunday is not something they had chosen.
Just a few weeks before life had been good. They had been moving forward with Jesus, hanging on his every word – gasping at the miraculous and perhaps a little blind to the gathering storm clouds over them.
Then as we saw on Good Friday – Jesus died and his followers were scatterred.
Three days passed and now
JN 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!"
JN 20:3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
On the Friday the disciples faced an absolute ending – Jesus their leader was dead. Now three days later the apparantly impossible had happenned.
They had seen Lazarus rise from the dead but now on Easter Sunday Jesus himself was risen from the dead.
What did it mean??
The disciples took a long time to fathom that but slowly it dawned on them that God was giving them a fresh start.
As Jesus made various resurrection apparances – talked with his disciples – ate with them – instructed them and ascended to heaven – the incredible importance of what had happenned became clear.
God was giving not just his disciples – not just the Jews – but all of humanity the opportunity for a fresh start.
In one of his last appearances in Matthew chapter 28 Jesus had said:-
MT 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
When Jesus was on earth he had twelve key disciples around him and then a much wider circle but now that he has carried the sin of the world on the cross and rose in victory three days later Jesus instructs his disciples to :-
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations..”
Now, on the threshold of returning to heaven Jesus backs up his words utterred and recorded in John chapter 3 and verse 16.
JN 3:16 "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. The key to this is whoever believes –
Whoever believes in Jesus Christ is now offered a fresh start.
When people get to understand what is being offered then there is present in their lives a new enthusiasm a new joy and hope. Many people have a tardy approach to Christianity but Jesus gives a fresh start.
You can see the signs in a life when someone fully understands the gift of grace that God has offerred them.
.- A man by the name of George Hatch raised a large family of seven boys and five girls in the sand hills of northwestern Nebraska. One Sunday morning a neighbor rushed over to help the Hatches get the new-mown hay into the barn; clouds were rolling up in the West, and it was quite apparent that a rainstorm was coming.
"Let’s get your hay up before the storm hits!" exclaimed the neighbor. "Thank you for your kind offer," said Mr. Hatch, "but this is Sunday, and I am going to take my family to church." "But you’ll lose your hay," pleaded the neighbor.
But the Hatch family went to church, and the rainstorm did spoil the hay. "See, I told you that you would lose your hay," said the neighbor. "Yes," replied Mr. Hatch, "I lost my hay, but I saved my family."
This morning as we gaze into the readings about the empty tomb let us reflect on what is necessary for a fresh start in the Christian life.
JN 20:24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
JN 20:26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
JN 20:28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
JN 20:29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
The first thing is to believe in a way that is far deeper than mere mental assent.
James Boice offers the following comments:-
People have been saved with very limited knowledge of Christian truth. That’s because salvation dep0ends on a person’s being born again. If God has done a work of grace in the heart even in the heart of a young child or in the heart of someone who is mentally retarded, the person is still saved.
I heard a story that illustrates this, Years ago an orphanage in Scotland catered for mentally retarded children. Along with the Bible stories, the children were taught a little nursery rhyme with hand motions. It went like this. “Three in one and one in three, the one in the middle he died for me.” To signify the three persons of God in one, the children held up one finger followed by three fingers. Then the children would put their finger around the middle finger for “the one in the middle he died for me.”
One youngster couldn’t even talk. He would listen to the Bible stories and these rhymes, but noone knew if he understood.
Then one night, the orphanage caught on fire. After the fire had been put out, this child was found dead, asphyxiated by smoke. But the child was found clutching his middle finger.l So how little does a person have to understand to be saved? Perhaps it is minimal as that – to know you are a sinner and that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God died for you.
But Boice goes on:-
That is a perfectly valid answer. Millions of people have been saved by understanding precisely that. But although Jesus begins where we are, he’s never satisfied with the minimum. If we are to be real followers of Christ, we must give up everything. We must follow him wholeheartedly. We cannot hold back a single portion of ourselves.
To add to this Jesus once said:-
To those whom much is given much is expected.
The second thing that is necessary for a fresh start is hope.
When Jesus died – hope seemed to die with him but when he rose then hope rose in the disciples hearts.
As Christians we need to grasp the fact that Christ gives us great hope.
The hope of New Zealand will be what our young people do.
But they will need to hear the gospel from this generation.
William Gladstone who was Britain’s Prime Minister four times said, "Tell me what the young men of England are doing on Sunday, and I will tell you what the future of England will be."Someone said recently that there is a sense of movement towards God – I agree – I note in my sharing about Christ that there is growing interest in Christ and the work of the cross.
There is hope here in our own parish as we move into 40 days of purpose – hope that people will be revisioned and re inspired in the things of God.
But our hope is in God.
1 Peter chapter 1 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
: A buddhist in Africa was converted to
Christianity. They asked this buddhist why did you
change your faith? Here’s what he said: “It’s like
this: If you are walking along and came to a fork in
the road and two men were there, and one was dead and
the other was alive, which man’s directions would you
follow?”
Why did the women of the resurrection run? THEY RAN TO TELL THE GOOD NEWS THAT CHRIST HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD! We all need to be runners with the good news about Christ. If Christ has indeed risen from the dead then He is who He claimed to be and is the only Savior of the world!
Their hearts were full of hope.
The third thing you need for a fresh start is power to do what you hope for.
Jesus makes it clear that power is available.
We may face all kind of challenges as individual Christians and as a church but Jesus reassures us that we have the power to fulfill His dreaqms for this place.
Looking out of season and forward to Jesus’ ascension Jesus makes it plain that we can’t do it all on our own strength
AC 1:7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
We do not witness with our own power but with the power of God’s Spirit.
FOR ALL OF YOU WHO ARE INTERESTED IN SPORTS, AND ESPECIALLY RUGBY . . .
We have received this wonderful news from Pastor Atu Vulaono, General Superintendent of "New-Methodist Christian Fellowship," (Nadi, Fiji Islands). May we all be encouraged to pray for those serving Jesus Christ in the sports arenas of the world.
"He is more than Gold" (I Peter 1:18-19).
I was invited last night to speak to the National 7s Fiji Rugby team this morning (Wednesday March 2nd, 2005). They are preparing for the World Rugby 7s tournament in Hong Kong this month.
It was their morning devotion time at 6:00 a.m.
I arrived at the camp site at five minutes to 6:00 o’clock and the boys were ready. Wai Severi (Waiseli Serevi) prepared the seating arrangement and led the service. When it came to the time of sharing the WORD, I felt the Lord wanted to deal with their lives.
The message was direct and to the point......... "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
Tears rolled down the cheeks of those young men as the Holy Spirit dealt with each one of us. At the time of the altar call 10 new souls gave their life to Jesus.
"It is not by might and not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord" (Zechariah 4:6).
I was blessed to be used as a vessel for the Holy Spirit.
This is the greatest Miracle - When a person completely surrenders to Jesus.
It was awesome......it was powerful.
May the Glory , Honour and Praise be directed to Him and Him alone.
Today (Thursday 3rd March) they started with a Bible Study. They requested a Bible Study from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. every morning. These brothers are hungry for God!
