SUNRISE SERVICE
For a sunrise service we need the sun. The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system.
It is often said that the Sun is no "ordinary" star.
The Sun is personified in many mythologies.
The Sun’s energy output is greater than any other known body
In addition to heat and light, the Sun also emits a high concentration of other super natural forces.
And today the Son has risen. I have been referring to the Son of the most high God.
READ JOHN 20:1-2
He has risen, he has risen indeed.
CHRIST HAS RISEN
THIS DAY IS THE MOST GLORIOUS OF ALL DAYS. OUR DEAD AND TORTURED KING HAS CONQUERED EVERYTHING WE ARE MOST SCARED OFF.
EVEN DEATH.
TODAY IS A GLORIOUS DAY BECAUSE TODAY CHRIST HAS CONQUERED THE ONE THING THAT CAN TAKE AWAY ETERNITY, AND AS A RESULT WE HAVE ETERNITY FOR THE TAKING.
STAND AND TAKE YOUR ETERNITY.
OUR ASSIGNMENT
Jesus today has asked us to begin an adventure. He has asked us to take up on a precise assignment. He has asked us to be hero’s. He has asked us to be incredible.
Indiana Jones will have nothing on this one.
Mac Guyver eat your heart out, A Team we don’t need you on this one. We are Christian men and woman and we accept this assignment.
So this morning I wish to ask you are you man enough? Are you woman enough to stand up this morning and embark on your special assignment.
Are you ready to be an incredible? (SLIDE 1)
The only requirement for this assignment is action.
Read John 20:3-10
They went home….
Can you imagine. Jesus seals it. He dies he is risen. He has given all who believe in him the assignment of readying themselves for eternity…and they went home.
I believe many of us are there with those who first discovered the empty tomb, we see the evidence of the empty tomb, we know the facts. We agree that Jesus is raised from the dead. Like v.10 says “then they went home”.
Went home.
One disciple saw and believed and yet their reaction was just to go home.
Another, by the name of Mary Magdalene said: “I don’t know where they have put him.” For her it was a matter of somebody stealing the body, Jesus can’t be risen.
Apparently, the information regarding the empty tomb did not really affect them too greatly.
I wonder if that is where some of us are at. We see the evidence, go to church, we believe, we go home! Like Mary, some of us are prejudiced with the idea someone rising from the dead is just too fantastic, someone must have moved the body. Well, that’s all then, time to check out, go home.
Well then you aren’t ever going to be a Christian Super Hero.
We decline the magnitude of our assignment. We would rather be Bob than Mr Incredible. Rather be Helen rather than Elastica.
Rather be at home than sealing our eternity.
The story of the Incredibles is a simple one. A family of super hero’s trying to stay at home, trying to be normal, but actually each of them are super hero’s.
Just like them, how can we sit around at home when we hold eternity. We are invincible because of the fact that on this day Christ proved that he and all who are his can conquer death.
Our quest takes courage. (SLIDE 2)
We need to understand exactly where and why we can have this courage.
John 20:11-18
Let’s look at Mary’s reaction closely.
She was crying outside the tomb where Jesus’ body laid. Here is Jesus risen, but she was crying.
Why? Verse 13 says clearly, she believed someone has taken the body of Jesus away. In her grief she couldn’t recognize Jesus even if He was standing right in front of her, and He was.
I wonder if we are there too, some of us, that is? I wonder if we are crying in tombs of dead ambitions, crushed hopes, disappointment, how can things go so wrong, everything just went up in smoke it seems. Everything was so nice before. Jesus was around, it was great but then the came the cruxifixion of Jesus. Her world fell apart!
Are you there - has your world fallen apart? Perhaps the regrets of this world have overtaken us. Perhaps the pain is so overwhelming we can’t see straight anymore. Some of us are taken by surprise by the events in our world, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happen to me. We want to so much believe in Jesus, just as Mary did, but we can’t get over the hump it seems, grief, sorrow, pain has blocked our vision of the resurrected and living God.
Then Jesus said: “Mary”. At once she recognized Jesus and her grief is over and she replied “Teacher!” It must be the way Jesus said her name, her personal name.
Ah, the power of that moment, she must have embraced him, reunited! That’s more than a hallmark moment, it’s a moment where something deeply personal occurred in Mary, and she could see Jesus, risen, alive and well. It’s the moment that Mary realised she was due to be incredible.
I wonder if we can hear today, Jesus calling your name. My friends, do you hear Jesus is calling out your name? Recognize his voice? Deep in your heart?
We are going to be incredible because of Jesus. We are going to be eternal. You tell me something else you could have been doing this morning that would give you eternity. How come I am so sure?
John 10:27-29
He asks us to not simply go home. He died and was raised to make sure that we can be invincible. Do you feel invincible? Do you feel eternal? Do you feel incredible?
He gives us those feelings. Today, this morning he was raised from the dead to give you eternity. Don’t just be bob. Be Mr Incredible. Don’t just be Helen, be Elastica. You have a God who died to make you incredible. Don’t let things as simple as the things of daily life get in the way of who you are, A super hero for Christ.
Conclusion
Please respond he is risen indeed each time I say Chirst is risen!
What is stopping you from being incredible, eternal?
What brokenness do you bring to church today? What tombs are closing in around you? What echoes of darkness are threatening to overtake you? What fears bind you? What rock is rolled in your way that seems unmovable? What habits or relationships hinder you from being the person you know that you really can be? The resurrection gives our life new meaning now - not just after our death. God has already released us from the bonds of death. The grave could not hold Jesus, and it will not hold us either. We can live boldly… because Christ is risen (he is risen indeed). We can live fearlessly… because Christ is risen (he is risen indeed). We can live graciously… because Christ is risen (he is risen indeed). Set us free, O Lord, so that we can serve our risen Savior with joy!
And so this morning as we take communion we are not taking communion because he died for us, we take it because of the life, the resurrection, the incredibleness he gave us. For Christ has risen, (he has risen indeed).
