September 24th, 2006

Jesus is raised, appears and promises to come again.
Luke 24:1-32, 35-48; Acts 1:9-11

Intro…Had a great trip last weekend flying to Wa. Stuck in Seattle...about an hour, a long time with a 10 month old. Some minor mechanical issue, yet I was thankful they found it before we took off.
My life (and the boys lives) depended on the safety of that aircraft, the expertise of the pilots etc. That trip could’ve been pivotal in our lives…

When we think of key events in our lives, there is non bigger than the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was/is a life-altering event...

Big Picture: The resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of God’s plan for the salvation of the human race.

Text: Luke 24:1-7

Normally, this could be an Easter message. (Nice timing on the Easter Song, Mike.)
What a great thing to be able to talk about the resurrection of Jesus in September.
Let’s review the main points of the story from Luke 24:1-32

The women at the tomb. V. 1
It was the custom of the Jews to put fragrant spices on the bodies of the dead before they were buried.
Since Jesus was buried in a hurry, they didn’t get a chance to do that, so now they are catching up.
They came on the first day of the week, Sunday. (For them the Sabbath was Saturday on which they weren’t allowed to do any work.) Yet there was no body.
Yet God is all powerful. God sent an angel to roll the rock away. V. 2
There are tombs still visible today in Jerusalem which date back to the time of Jesus that are small caves cut into the rock with big circular rocks set in a groove.
My prayer for us today is that we too come to God early in the morning with a sense of wonder and discovery.

V. 4-8 The angels remind the women of what Jesus had previously promised.
Jesus’ resurrection means that his deliverance for us is complete. We are delivered from Satan, sin and death.
You can’t tell the story of Jesus’ death without telling the story of his resurrection.
It’s like I said earlier, it’s a story that is critical to our survival.
That’s why Easter is such a big deal and pretty much the most attended service of the year in Christian churches.
Psalm 16:10 and Acts 13:35

All of Jesus’ followers shouldn’t have been surprised at his resurrection, yet they still doubted. V. 9-11
A key point to remember (even in our lives today) God always does what he promises.
This is an important point though, and don’t get it confused with God always doing what we want.
God keeps his promise to be with us in every circumstance.
That should bring us comfort and peace.

The story of the resurrection shows us that Jesus truly is God.
Only God can be raised from the dead. The Jewish leaders crucified Jesus because of this very claim (that he was God).
That puts us all in a quandary. We call have to deal with who Jesus claimed to be…
Take for instance a criminal sentenced to jail by a judge.. .if he escapes, he’s always looking over his shoulder...if he does his time, when he is released, he’s got nothing to worry about. If the cops see him, no problem...He served his time, taken full punishment for his crime.
Jesus didn’t have any sin of his own, yet he accepted the full punishment for our sins. The complete price for sins had to be paid in order for us to be accepted by God. Jesus took our place before God the judge and God punished Jesus instead of us.

Therefore, we can walk in harmony with God today, not having to look over our shoulder...and that, my friends is the gospel message. invitation...

God showed that there was no more to pay by releasing Jesus from death and bringing him back to life. God, the ultimate judge was satisfied.

Proof of Jesus resurrection? (Luke 24:13-24)
Appearing to the two on the road to Emmaus. Some scholars believe these two could have been a man (Cleopas) and his wife.
A great symbol of what a relationship (particularly marriage) should look like…
V. 36-43 More tangible proof: his scars, the ability to touch him, he ate.
Or just look around at the changed lives in this church...

His ascension. Acts 1:6-9
Psalm 68:18, Eph. 4:8
Acts 1:10, two of God’s angels. Acts 1:11, Jesus will come back again in the same way
When Jesus comes again as the almighty judge all those who have not repented and trusted Jesus are doomed, doomed to Hell.

Conclusion:
Throughout the entire Bible, God’s message is very clear. Repent, turn from your sin, follow God through Jesus.
The OT points to the NT. Jesus quotes the OT to remind us that the Law is still important. He also came to give new meaning to the Law and to show us how to live according to the spirit of the Law and not always the letter of the Law.
Historical records show us that all of Jesus’ disciples died for their faith in Christ. Some were tortured, some crucified, one died in prison.
Would these men (and countless others throughout history, even today) have given their lives for a lie? No.
Yet, we see people of other faiths die in suicide bombings all the time. They believe they are dying for their faith also.
Hence the urgent need for the clear Biblical message of God’s salvation plan.
We’re all going to face critical life and death choices, sometimes daily. It could be trusting that the plane will fly properly. Dealing with cancer, death of a loved one...
We have no reason to fear if our hearts are right with God.

September 3rd, 2006

Jesus arrested by his enemies Mark 14:32-65, 15:1-19

Intro...Poor Mel Gibson….Passion of the Christ? ...either way, he accurately depicted the pain and suffering that Jesus went through on the way to the cross.
1 Peter 2:23-24
Who was this Jesus, and why did he suffer and die for us?
Most people will acknowledge that he lived, but was he actually God incarnate, our savior? What do we need to be saved from? What’s all the fuss? Why the big Hollywood movie, why the controversy?
It’s because of the claims that Jesus made. He claimed to be God, the Messiah, the deliverer, the one to save us from our sins, save us from ourselves.
Once you acknowledge there is something you need to be saved from, then the story of Jesus life, his death, suffering and resurrection will make much more sense.

Here we are enjoying Labor Day weekend, last blast of Summer.
Enjoying a long relaxing weekend (hopefully), no worries.
“You deserve it” could be the advertisers slogan…
Actually apart from God, we deserve death...separation from God...
Then along comes this sermon on Jesus. Do we really need to face up to the reality of Jesus, who he was. I’d like us to do just that for the next few minutes.

Jesus was sent by God to fulfill prophecy, to save us from our sins.
Mark 14 is the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion.
32-41 His prayer in the garden, sweating blood, “Father take this cup”.
43-51 His betrayal and arrest (read 48-50).
Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong.
In reality, those who crucified him didn’t have any reason to hate Jesus, except that they loved their own sinful ways and did not want to obey God.
That can certainly apply to many people today also. They’ve most likely heard of Jesus, probably even believe he lived.
Yet, there are to many things people want to keep doing that are sinful, things that don’t line up with the words of God. The things that seem so important, things we “just gotta have”.
That’s where we find ourselves as “enemies” of God, just like the enemies of Jesus who arrested, beat, tortured and killed him.
With God, it’s an all-or nothing deal. Either we’re fully committed to him or lukewarm, trying to walk that ridiculous balance of “being a Xian” yet not acting like one.
All of us, Christians and not need to daily evaluate our standing before God.
If you are a Christian do all your actions so that?
If you are searching for God are you willing to take the claims of Jesus seriously?

Psalm 27:12 David wrote this prophesy nearly 1000 years earlier.
Mark 14:60-62 Jesus was trusting God to carry out the “big plan.” Yes, there would be pain involved, but it was part of God’s grand plan. The plan to save human kind from sin.
Look at Jesus’ response in v. 62…”I am” (Ex. 3:14, God speaking to Moses and calling himself, ”I am”). John 18:4-6
The Jewish leaders were well aware of the weight of this response. This was God they were about to kill!
Isaiah 50:6 (700 years before)

Mark 15:6-11 It was a custom at Passover that the governor would release one prisoner. Yet Pilate knew Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong. He also knew the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus because they were jealous of his popularity.

What God Mel Gibson got in the most trouble for was not his drunk driving, but his anti-Semitic remarks, rightly so.
He has also been accused of being anti-Semitic with The Passion of the Christ...
However, in reality, no one was really “to blame” for the death of Jesus. It was going to happen no matter what any particular religious group or Governor said.
God had said through his prophet Isaiah that the Jews would hate Jesus. Isaiah 53:3
It’s important to remember that the entire Bible is the story of God’s grand plan.
There is nothing we humans can do to alter that plan...and that’s a good thing!
Without God’s master plan going into action, we’re SOL...

When we review the arrest, flogging and death of Jesus it is gruesome!
Especially with crucifixion. The person didn’t die immediately. They usually endured hours and sometimes days of physical agony before dying.
If you remember from the movie, the scourging was especially painful.
The whip consisted of strips of leather with pieces of sharp metal and bone tied on.
Usually the prisoner was tied down and stretched out so they couldn’t escape.
The repeated blows laid open the skin, cutting flesh, muscle and nerves often putting the victim into severe shock.
Some prisoners died from the scourging itself.

After this severe scourging, Jesus was mocked and spit upon by the soldiers.
They placed a purple robe on his shoulders (the color “kings” wore at the time.)
From there they jammed a “crown of thorns” on his head, further mocking him.
When I watched the movie, I wondered how any human could do this to another human being…

Conclusion: Death is sad. Kelley’s grandma, my neighbors dog, life is precious!
It’s easy to feel deep sadness and even indignation when we think of someone suffering for something we didn’t do.
What about Jesus though? He suffered for us, for the things we did do! We rebelled against God.
Jesus suffered all this abuse without complaining, it was all for our sins.
It’s because he knew God’s grand plan...do you?
GOSPEL invitation, baptism?