Sermon Tone Analysis

Slide 1: Title

We wanted you to see the story of the Bible.

The timeless story recorded in scripture of God reaching down to us.

That’s what the Bible is, not a record of men creating a God or even seeking God, but a record of a God who loves us so much he couldn’t let us sit in the darkness and die, he had to reach down and to us and provide a way home.

Happy Easter.

On Friday we took time to remember Jesus on the cross, on Saturday we mourned as his body was in the tomb, and on Sunday we celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead in victory over sin and death, and through his victory, we can be saved and healed and set free and have victory ourselves in this life and the next.

Are you alive with Christ, sharing in his victory?

Church.

Bibles.

On Friday we took time to remember Jesus’ bloodshed on the cross, and now we celebrate that Jesus raises from the dead in victory over sin and death, and that

Let’s pray together - honey glazed ham and tie-dye hard boiled eggs.

If it’s your first time here, we’re glad you came.

If it’s your second time here, we’re glad you came back.

If you’re a regular - hello.

This is what church normally looks like for us.

Simple, low to no pressure.

We worship Jesus by delighting in him through song, and through prayer, and through fellowship, and through giving, and also through teaching the Bible, which is what we’re going to do now.

Last week we celebrated with heaven 18 people going public with their faith in baptism, and we pray they will mature in their faith and stay the course.

For those of you who were here and are seasoned Christians, you know the story isn’t over, right?

It’s just begun.

Last week was the beginning of a new life of growing closer to God day-by-day-by-day.

The best life imaginable, but a life with ups and downs and pains and sorrows nonetheless.

Do me a favor, seasoned Christian.

When you see one of these people, take them under your wing.

Build an intentional relationship with them.

The fancy word is discipleship, but basically it’s just sharing the journey and helping them seek God.

Randy Evans tells me in the 70s they called it ‘bringing ‘em along.’

I wasn’t around back then, but I believe him.

I may look green and I may be slower than you, but I try to pay attention.

Lots of people people get saved and baptized and then sit stagnant for 20 years and never grow.

It takes men and women who are mature in their faith to bring ‘em along.

Let’s be those kinds of Christians.

If you brought a Bible, great!

Pull it out.

If not, you can grab a free one from the tool crib up on the dock to take home.

And as always, most of the scriptures will be on the screen.

Basically, it’s important for me that you know I’m not making anything up, I’m simply doing my best with God’s help to teach you the Bible. .

Let’s pray together and get into the message.

On Friday we took time to remember Jesus’ bloodshed on the cross, and now we celebrate that Jesus raises from the dead in victory over sin and death, and that

Did you know Easter is the most important day on the Christian calendar?

It’s true.

The resurrection is paramount to our faith.

It’s the central and foundational truth the gospel stands on.

It’s not just important, though.

Not in the way other Christian holidays are important.

Jesus’ resurrection is the singular Christian doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions.

It is the very foundation the gospel stands on.

If Jesus does not rise from the dead, he’s nothing more than an ancient guru, and everything we do pointless.

The Bible actually says our preaching and our faith would be useless and if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are the be more pitied than anyone in the world.

All the baptisms would have been meaningless, all our singing would be in vain, all our reading of the Bible would be empty words and old outdated lies and philosophies.

Zero power over sin.

No victory over pain.

No life worth living.

Pointless.

All the baptisms would have been meaningless, all our singing would be in vain, all our reading of the Bible would be empty words and old outdated lies and philosophies.

Zero power over sin.

No victory over pain.

No life worth living.

Pointless.

Ever been to a church where the pastor admits it could all be pointless?

The resurrection is paramount to our faith, but I don’t believe because the resurrection has been proven.

I believe by faith and God opens my heart to more and more and more.

All the baptisms would have been meaningless, all our singing would be in vain, all our reading of the Bible would be empty words and old outdated lies and philosophies.

Zero power over sin.

No victory over pain.

No life worth living.

All the skeptics and nonbelievers and Chreasters in the room are thinking -yeah, preach it brother.

Now, if you’re in that camp this morning, to you I say, welcome.

Bring your questions, bring your doubts.

Bring your challenges.

Bring you conversations.

Seek God and let him show himself to you.

The resurrection is paramount to our faith.

It’s the central and foundational truth the gospel stands on.

I have no fear, because not only has the resurrection of Jesus Christ has been examined more carefully than the evidence for any other fact in history, and never disproven, but I don’t believe by facts, I believe by faith.

And I invite you to as well.

The good news of Easter is, “Jesus is alive!”

In Peter’s first sermon, the sermon on the day of Pentecost, when 3,000 men were saved and baptized, Peter proclaims it like this:

Slide 2:

Peter shows us the triumph of God, who raised Jesus from the dead.

When the Jewish mob intended evil, God used it for ultimate good.

As Jesus experienced the agony of death, by taking on the entire world’s sin, since he is life, and the only one righteous, perfect, spotless and sinless, and who did not deserve the wages of sin, Jesus could not be defeated by death.

It was impossible for death to hold him in it’s grip.

God raised him from the dead to victory over sin and death.

Today, we celebrate that truth and the life we live should be a life in response to his victory because if we are saved, we have victory too.

And the life we live should be a life in response to his victory over sin and death and pain and suffering.

Troubles come in life, and sharing in Christ’s victory and remembering that we were resurrected along with him is the antidote for the pain and suffering we face in this life.

Red Lobster - Tetley / Long Island Iced Tea Story

When we read the label or hear a title we think we know what to expect?

Don’t we?

Sometimes people carry titles and claim identities but you can’t see it in their life.

Have you ever met someone like this?

A person who had a title, but didn’t live up to it?

Say, “I’m a mechanic.”

But they don’t even understand righty-tighty lefty-loosy?

Or, “I’m a doctor.”

But they think cronic plaque psoriasis is a gum disease.

The resurrection is paramount to our faith, but I don’t believe because the resurrection has been proven.

I believe by faith and God opens my heart to more and more and more.

There are many Christians in this world who have identified with Jesus in salvation and baptism, but whose lives don’t resemble that at all.