4\/24\/11
\nEaster Sunday<\/p>\n
Live Fully Alive!
\nVarious Texts<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/p>\n
The night before Jesus Christ was crucified He made a very strange statement that nobody who heard it understood.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201d\u02dcIn a little while the world will no longer see Me. But you\u201d\u2122re going to see Me because I am alive and you\u201d\u2122re about to come alive\u201d\u2122 (John 14:19, The Message). What in the world did He mean? They\u201d\u2122re thinking, \u201d\u02dcWe\u201d\u2122re already alive.\u201d\u2122
\n\u201cEaster is about coming alive. Jesus Christ proved He was who He said He was. He said, \u201d\u02dcI\u201d\u2122m God. I\u201d\u2122m going to let them kill Me on a cross. I\u201d\u2122m going to be buried in a tomb for three days then I\u201d\u2122m going to bring Myself back to life to prove that I am Who I say I am.\u201d\u2122\u201d<\/p>\n
But the rest of the verse we read earlier is the part of the Easter story many don\u201d\u2122t know\u201d\u201dJesus said, \u201cand you\u201d\u2122re about to come alive\u201d. Jesus\u201d\u2122 resurrection was intended to radically change YOUR life! In fact, I believe the reason you are here on this Easter Sunday 2011 is so that you can hear and understand these words of Jesus:<\/p>\n
John 10:10
\n\u201cMy purpose is to give life in all its fullness.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n
Jesus\u201d\u2122 resurrection means you can live your life fully alive!<\/p>\n
Can you honestly say that you feel like you\u201d\u2122re living \u201cfully alive\u201d, living life in all its fullness?<\/p>\n
What does it mean to live fully alive?<\/p>\n
Many confuse living life in all its fullness, or living fully alive, with living \u201cthe good life\u201d or having \u201ca full life\u201d. I know many people who are living \u201cthe good life\u201d\u201d\u201dthey have all the stuff and do all the right things and live in the right houses in the right places and enjoy the right jobs\u201d\u201dbut they are miserable inside and unhappy and exhausted and empty, even enslaved to it all.
\nA couple of years ago, Robin and I had the opportunity to enjoy the day at The Masters at Augusta National. What a beautiful place! We were amazed at God\u201d\u2122s creation taken and manicured by men. We enjoyed the azaleas and the dogwoods and the green fairways. And we were surrounded by hundreds of people. Some were like us, riding on the privilege of someone else. Others were truly wealthy and living \u201cthe good life\u201d. But it would, no doubt, stun us all to be able to see inside of many of them and discover addictions to alcohol and drugs, broken families, abusive relationships, lives eaten up by greed and covetousness, etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good life\u201d is NOT living life in all its fullness, is NOT living fully alive.<\/p>\n
What does it mean to live fully alive?
\nNotice 3 aspects of living fully alive that Jesus offers:
\n1.\tJesus offers me a life FREED BY GRACE.<\/p>\n
Galatians 5:1\u201d\u201d \u201cChrist has set us free to live a free life.\u201d (The Message)<\/p>\n
What does that mean?<\/p>\n
Every person here needs grace!<\/p>\n
By His grace, God sets us free in Christ. \u201cGrace is when God gives you what you need, not what you deserve . . . Grace is saying, I love you. I forgive you even though you can\u201d\u2122t earn it. Grace is saying, I\u201d\u2122m not mad at you. I\u201d\u2122m not holding a grudge because Jesus Christ has suffered for you sin on the cross. Grace is God saying, I\u201d\u2122m going to give you a second chance and a third chance and a fifth and a twenty-fifth and a hundred and twenty-fifth, etc.\u201d\u201dall because of Jesus\u201d\u2122 death and resurrection. Grace is the road to freedom.\u201d (Warren)<\/p>\n
If you trust Him\/depend on Him today, then Jesus has set you free from . . .
\na)\tGuilt
\nb)\tFear of Death
\nc)\tHurts that others cause you, bitterness, anger
\nd)\tExpectations of other people
\ne)\tWorry, anxiety, fear, boredom, meaninglessness<\/p>\n
Does God like you?<\/p>\n
If you don\u201d\u2122t understand grace, then you may not really think so. Every religion in the world can be summarized in one of two words\u201d\u201d\u201cdo\u201d or \u201cdone\u201d. All religions except Christianity basically say, \u201cHere\u201d\u2122s what you must do in order to get God to like you\u201d. And then they give you their religious list.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus Christ came to redeem you, to set you free from all the things that keep you hung up, all the things that entrap you. Habits, hurts, hangups, all the things that mess up your life. He says, \u201d\u02dcI want to set you free from it and I want to give you a new life of real freedom.\u201d\u2122\u201d (Warren)<\/p>\n
Do you want this freedom? Do you long to be bought back from slavery and set free?<\/p>\n
Jesus offers me a life freed by grace.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u201d\u2122 resurrection means you can live your life fully alive!<\/p>\n
2.\tJesus offers me a life full of MEANING.<\/p>\n
The greatest tragedy in life is not death. It\u201d\u2122s to go through your entire life without knowing why you\u201d\u2122re living, without meaning and purpose\u201d\u201dwithout knowing why God put you here on earth!<\/p>\n
1 Peter 1:3-4<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Jesus was raised from the dead, we\u201d\u2122ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven\u201d\u201dand the future starts now!\u201d (The Message)<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u201d\u2122t made to live for yourself. In fact . . . the more self-centered you are the more miserable you are . . . You were made to live for God. When you start living for God, that\u201d\u2122s when you discover real happiness, real meaning, real significance, real purpose, real value to your life. Because you\u201d\u2122re not just living for petty little you. You\u201d\u2122re living for big ole God! The beginning of living fully alive is when you stop living for you and start living for God!\u201d (Warren).<\/p>\n
2 Corinthians 5:15<\/p>\n
\u201cHe died for everyone so that those who receive his \tnew life will no longer live to please themselves. \tInstead, they will live to please Christ, who died and \twas raised for them\u201d (NLT).<\/p>\n
Our own sin and selfishness keep us enslaved to purposes and goals that are short-sighted and last for only our short lifetimes, if that long. We were created to live for something that is eternal, for something that will long outlive us, for something that will continue to matter forever. That something is the glory of the God who made it all. Our lives are to be lived fully alive with real meaning\/purpose that comes from living for God\u201d\u2122s glory!<\/p>\n
Jesus offers me a life full of meaning!<\/p>\n
Jesus\u201d\u2122 resurrection means you can live your life fully alive!<\/p>\n
3. Jesus offers me a life full of HOPE.<\/p>\n
Every person on the planet needs hope!<\/p>\n
We all need to know that our lives are going somewhere, that this isn\u201d\u2122t all there is.
\n1 Peter 1:3-5 (NLT)
\n\u201cAll praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance\u201d\u201dan inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.\u201d
\nYou can be filled with hope!
\nJesus\u201d\u2122 resurrection means you can live your life fully alive!
\nJohn 14:1-3 (NLT)
\n\u201c\u201d\u2122Don\u201d\u2122t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father\u201d\u2122s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.\u201d\u2122\u201d<\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (NLT)
\n\u201cBut let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 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. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
\n\u201cDeath is swallowed up in victory.
\nO death, where is your victory?
\nO death, where is your sting?\u201d
\nFor sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
\n1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NIV)
\nBrothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
\nRenee Schlaepfer
\nI had just finished speaking at the funeral of a young woman when one of her male friends strode up to me and, in front of the other mourners, said, \u201cThat\u201d\u2122s all B.S.! Everything you said about heaven and Jesus \u201d\u201d all B.S.! Whether you believe or not, it all ends the same, doesn\u201d\u2122t it? Doesn\u201d\u2122t it?!\u201d
\nI waited until he had blown off a little more steam, and then asked, \u201cDo you really want an answer?\u201d He was surprised, but nodded yes.
\n\u201cThen,\u201d I said, \u201cCome with me right now, because I\u201d\u2122m going directly from this funeral service to visit two people in the cancer wing at the hospital. One is the father of a friend. He never made room for God, and is now an old man petrified of dying. He\u201d\u2122s literally white-knuckling his ride into eternity, gripping the side rails of his bed, staring ahead with panicked eyes. I try to speak words of comfort, but I don\u201d\u2122t know if he even hears me.
\n\u201cAfter that, walk with me down the hall to see my friend Meryl. She\u201d\u2122s dying, too, in the last stages of cancer. But when you enter her room it\u201d\u2122s like you\u201d\u2122ve walked into some kind of a special serenity zone, peace perfuming the place like incense. She radiates calm confidence as she welcomes her visitors and speaks of soon seeing her Savior. Then \u201d\u201d only after you have seen the difference between them \u201d\u201d only then, tell me that it\u201d\u2122s all B.S.\u201d
\nMost of you know that my wife died on December 6 of last year, after a 7 year battle with cancer. This last week, I got the following text message from one of my kids:
\nHebrews 11:13
\nAll these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth
\n\u201cDad, Momma died and she knew 110% that she knew that she knew that she knew Heaven was home and Earth wasn\u201d\u2122t home. \u00e2\u02dc\u00ba\u201d
\nYou can be filled with hope!
\nJesus\u201d\u2122 resurrection means you can live your life fully alive!
\nConclusion\u201d\u201d
\nYou\u201d\u2122re not here by accident this morning. And if God\u201d\u2122s got your attention about your life and living it fully alive, then pray to God with me, something like this:
\nDear God, I want to start living live fully alive with you. I want to start living for You, as best as I can. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for Your grace and for sending Jesus to die for my sins. I don\u201d\u2122t understand it all but I want to open up my life to You, Jesus, and make you the boss. I want to learn to trust You and live with Your meaning, freedom and energy. Thank You. Amen.<\/p>\n
Communion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
4\/24\/11 Easter Sunday Live Fully Alive! Various Texts Introduction The night before Jesus Christ was crucified He made a very strange statement that nobody who heard it understood. He said, \u201d\u02dcIn a little while the world will no longer see … Continue reading