Resurrection Power For Day To Day Living

Intro: It is so great to be able to gather together this Easter. It was only a year ago that we had to celebrate Resurrection Sunday on our couches in our homes. And while many are still choosing to worship online for any variety of reasons, it is so wonderful to be back together with those of you who feel safe to come and worship together.

A lot has happened over the last 12 months! From political upheaval, riots in the streets, schools and pretty much everything else being closed, to even churches shutting their doors. It has taken a toll on us as people in general and even as those who believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

So, this is exactly what we need! To stop and take some time to celebrate the resurrection. To be reminded of the power of God to raise His Son from the tomb! And to recognize that the same power is available to us through Jesus! The Bible tells us clearly that just as Jesus was raised from the dead. We too, who believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord will also one day be raised.

1Cor. 15:52 (NLT) - It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.

And that is our hope for eternity and we hold to this promise with all our hearts. But, I think it is also important that we recognize the significance of the resurrection in our lives today. Most of us aren’t facing death and the hope of the resurrection. That is a ways off, at least we believe and hope it is. So, what difference does it make that Jesus was raised from the dead? After all, all kinds of strange and amazing things have happened in history, but they don’t really matter if they don’t affect our everyday life. For instance, it is interesting that a man landed on the moon in 1969, but it really isn’t a big deal that affects my life now. Whether a man walked on the moon or not doesn’t make much of a difference to how I live today. The same could be said about is true of the resurrection.

But Romans 8:5-11 teaches us that the death and resurrection of Jesus do affect our everyday life. In fact, they are the most important events that ever happened in all of history.

So, let’s take a few moments this morning, on Resurrection Sunday, to remember the power of the cross and the resurrection and how it should impact our daily lives.

PRAY

I. The Resurrection Determines How We Think. (Rom. 8:5-6) (Jessie)

5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature THINK about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit THINK about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your MIND leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your MIND leads to life and peace.

I couldn’t think of something better today for us to talk about than to talk about how the resurrection affects our daily life. We are going to start with how the resurrection affects our minds and thoughts on a daily basis. If you have your Bible go ahead and open it to Romans 8:5-6.

When reading these two verses the first thing that jumps out to me is that there is a vital way that our minds should be thinking. One mindset is going to bring us death while the other mindset and thoughts bring about peace and life. I don’t know about you, but I want life and I definitely want peace. We also see that there are two different things that are controlling our minds and thoughts. We see in the group that leads to death, that mind is controlled by sin. Whereas the mind that leads to peace and life is controlled by the Holy Spirit. What we are seeing here is one mind has allowed the resurrection of Jesus Christ to dominate everything that they think about and ultimately dominate their life and for this person life and peace will abound in their life. The other group of people are the ones who don’t believe in the resurrection or even Jesus and we see that this brings a life of misery that will inevitably end in death for them. Now let's take a closer look at the two and what the Bible has to teach us about the differences between them.

A. Sinful thinking leads to spiritual death. (5)

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature THINK about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit THINK about things that please the Spirit.