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Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015 - Senior Pastor Scott Christenson

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St. Paul's Lutheran Church

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chapter 16 when the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and salami bought spices that they might go to anoint Jesus body very early on the first day of the week just after Sunrise they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tune but when they looked up they saw that the stone which was very large had been rolled away  as they entered the tomb they saw a young man what's in a white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed don't be alarmed he said you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified he has risen he is not here see the place where they laid him but go tell his disciples and Peter he is coin ahead of you into Galilee there you will see him just as he told you trembling and bewilder the women went out and fled from the tomb they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid this is God's word for us today I saw it fascinating the other day apparently a few years ago George Gallup the famous American pollsters surveyed people who never go to church people who never go to church and he asked them this question do you believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead  mileiq turn your neighbor right now and tell them you're guess what percentage of people who never go to church in America do you think said yes I do believe in the resurrection go ahead take a guess alright you ready for the answer you can write it down in your bulletin by the way you'll see there's some the answer is 84%  84% of people in America when is Paul who never go to church said yes they do believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead  no I don't know about you but I stunned when I heard that number because I realized that us preacher types tend to spend a lot of our sermon time on Easter Sunday telling why you should believe that this outrageous story is actually true so we talked about how the disciples couldn't have been a lie about Jesus resurrection because they suffered so greatly for that belief in the years to come  we talked about how they couldn't have been deceived into leaving it because they just weren't gullible people they didn't want to believe it in jet Jesus even chastise them at one point for their stubborn refusal to do you even after it happened we talked about how the first witnesses to the empty tomb were women and how no one trying to betrayed a fraud in the first century would have done that they would not have written the story like that because in that time and culture women were not considered to be real I Witnesses women were not allowed to give testimony in court rooms  we go on and on on Easter Sunday and we give you all kinds of Reese why you should believe in the resurrection of Jesus and after all of that now we find out 84% of people who never even go to church already believe it's true it seems to me we need a very different kind of message this Easter because apparently our problem is not believing in the veracity of the Resurrection story  our problem is that we have failed to what the resurrection of Jesus means for our lives today  and so this Easter I want to help you think through what the rest action of Jesus Christ means I'm going to give you three things that it means about Jesus past present and future and three change that it means for you past present and future you got three things the resurrection teach about Jesus three things that it teaches about you and there's a place there for you to fill in some blanks in your bulletin as we go along  first what is the teachers about Jesus  number one the how's the resurrection teaches us that what Jesus said in the past is true don't like you to say that what you say that say what cheese said in the past is true what Jesus said in the past is one of the most astounding things about the rez direction is that Jesus actually predicted it  you see there in Mark 10:30 for long before his death on the cross Jesus said who is disciples we're going to Jerusalem and I'm going to be killed and I'm going to rise again no how could he possibly all that  well there's obviously only one way that he really was the son of God and that's exactly what she playing din John 6 Jesus says I have come down from heaven in other words I'm not just another human being like you I'm not just another inspiring teacher I'm God's son come to save you  know any of these statements would make most people think that Jesus was a whack job  and for good reason  but when Jesus rose from the dead he proved that what in the past was true and if what he said about his own Resurrection was true then don't we have to at least consider that all of the other seemingly crazy things that he said might also be true  if Jesus really did rise from the when it is not absurd to say things like I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me that may not sound very politically correct in our day because everyone likes to think today you know that all religions are kind of equal andovi will value but if Jesus really did rise from the dead  then there is something fundamentally different about Christianity go to every other religion in the world because no other religion claims something like that  number to the present if Jesus really did from the dead at means Jesus can be known in the present and again I'd like you to say that with me say Jesus can be known in the presence that's right  what you said in the past is true but also Jesus can be known in the present lot of people don't think about this but if Jesus really did rise from the dead then that means that he's alive and well today John 17 Jesus is praying to God the father and he says now this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus placed whom you have sent I love those words God wants us to know him not just know about Kim  but again this is one of the things that makes Christianity fundamentally different from every other religion in the world technically speaking Christianity really isn't a religion at all it's a relationship that we can now have with God because Jesus rose from the dead and is alive and well and making that relationship happen today  so what Jesus said in the past is true Jesus can't be known in the present finally number 3 the future if Jesus really did rise from the dead then Jesus deserves our commitment in the future can I like you to say that Jesus deserves our commitment in the future Jesus deserves our commitment in the future Play Jesus didn't just say hey believe that I rose from the dead  no over and over he said follow me UC enrollment six it says just as Christ was raised from the dead we too may live a new life that's exactly the problem for so many people they believe in Jesus New Life  but they've never discovered the new life that God what's to give them through Jesus which leads me to the other three implications of the Resurrection the implications for all of us past present and future first the past if Jesus really did rise from the dead then your past can be forgiven you say that with me say my past can be forgiven  I've been a pastor now for pause 20 years and one of the things that I've learned from being a pastor  is that almost everybody struggles to some degree with guilt over there past the truth is all of us are just a bunch of failures some of us can hide our failures better than others but the bottom line is all of us mess up we all live with regrets we all look back on our lives and wish that there are some things we could have done differently  and sometimes those feelings of guilt and game and regret can be absolutely paralyzing  but if Jesus really did rise from the debt but it means that God accepted his payment for your sins and your debt has been paid in full  so you see Jah God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him and if God himself doesn't condemn us any more for our failures than that means we don't need to live in guilt and shame either our past can be free second the present if Jesus really did rise from the dead then your present struggles can be managed say that where you're my present struggles can be managed  and that's good news whose life is full of struggles isn't it  and as you get older you find their increasingly harder to manage author named Charlie Shedd who talks about this I love this he wrote once that before he had children before he had children he used to travel the country teaching a lecture called The Ten Commandments for raising perfect kids  that was before he had children after his wife had their first child he changed the title of the lecture 210 hints for parents after their second child can you change the title again to a few tentative suggestions for fellow strugglers  and after their third child came he give me the Luxor all together call Charlie sheds take on life is pretty humorous but let's be honest for east of us  the struggles of our lives are not laughing matters  we don't just struggle to raise our children some of struggle with very serious addictions some of a struggle just to find a job and make a basic living are struggling financially in just when it seems like we're making progress to finally get out of debt something else breaks in our home that cost 1000 bucks to fix some of us here today are struggling with deteriorating health some of us are struggling with troubled families and many of these struggles are way beyond our ability to manage  see the good news of Easter is we were  to manage our struggles under our own power the Bible says any fusions one that the same power that raised is Christ from the dead is now available to all of us in the struggles of Our Lives  now that doesn't mean that all of our struggles go away but it does mean that are present struggles can be managed no matter what they are  finally the Jesus really did rise from the dead then your future is secure and again one last time say that with me say my future is secure 1st Peter 1 the Bible says we've been given a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead it says we've got an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade  that means that no matter what we can live with confidence and security if we trust in Jesus  and it also means that when death and it will come sooner or later for all of us  even then we don't need to be afraid because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus not death not life not things present not things to come not winch this has been raised from the dead  she believing in the miracle of Easter  means a lot more than simply believe name that the resurrection really happened  Easter is a past present and future hope Jesus said in the past is true and therefore your past can be forgiven  Jesus can be known in the president there for you present struggles can be managed and Jesus deserves your commitment in the future because his resurrection has made future absolutely secure  My Hope and prayer for all of you this Easter Sunday is not simply that you would believe give in the resurrection  but that you would understand and take to heart and really live in the reality of what you're really means for you past present and future because Christ is risen he is risen indeed Hallelujah

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Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015 - Senior Pastor Scott Christenson

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