So as part of the race we often get called to preach a sermon or lead a bible study before the sermon at church on Sunday. For Easter Sunday we needed three people to get up and talk at three different churches. I volunteered to be one. (Of course I volunteered before it dawned on me it was Easter). Most people who know me really well, know I would prefer not to public speak or be the center of attention, but here I am getting ready to speak. But another big part of the race is to expect the unexpected, so while of course I was ready to preach when the time came the church I was at ended up not having me speak. So Instead of me speaking, we had one of the two teams at my church get up and lead song service, then their choir got up and sang, and then the preacher preached and at that point my squad mate Spencer looked over at me and we just started laughing, like we were saying oh well this is Africa guess you (me) aren’t going to be preaching today; afterwards we had communion and then church continued.
I could look at this in one of two ways…first I could look at is as I prepared a sermon that I was ready to preach and I could be frustrated that I spent my last adventure day at a café working on this (well mostly working on this), trying to figure out what I wanted to say, how to say and what verses to use…or I could look at it as I got to spend Easter in Africa…I spent Easter in Zambia, and I got to have communion with some amazing people. God is so Good.
That being said, I did spend time on the sermon, and while I will keep it in my back to use later on the race if I need it, I also thought I’d share with you what I had planned, and the basics to what my sermon was going to be.
So here you go…. the sermon that was never preached…
The Road to A New Life
Easter Sunday Sermon
Written: 3/25/2016-3/26/2016
Intro:
Hello Everyone. Happy Easter. My name is Dee Dee and before I begin today I would like to open us with a word of prayer.
-Insert Prayer Here-
Sermon:
As we all know this weekend is Easter. Before I talk about the resurrection and the new life that comes with it; I want to take a second to back track to why there needed to be a resurrection to begin with.
In John 3:16-18 it says, “For God so loved that world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.” So God sent His son, his only son to save and not condemn us. Christ did this by dying on the cross through the crucifixion. The cross fulfilled the promise that he would pay the price of our sins and save us.
Now let’s take a look at Luke 24 where it talks about Christ resurrection from the grave. Instead of reading the entire chapter of Luke 24, I am only going to read verses 1-12, 44-47, and 50-53.
Luke 24: 1-12 says, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in he saw the linen clothes by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.”
Luke 24: 44-47 says, “Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Luke 24: 50-53 says, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.”
When Christ rose from the grave he began a new life. When he joined his father in heaven he started something new. By accepting Christ and his crucifixion on the cross we accept the new life that come with it. But this new life we accept isn’t just as simple as saying that I know Christ died on the cross for me and automatically jumping into it. In order to really live out the new life, in order to really accept it and to accept what Christ was doing on the cross for us we must lose ourselves and accept him, we must die to the world but live in Christ.
In Galatians 2:19-20 it says, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Romans 6:7-8 says, “For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
When we decided it is time to move on from a sin in our life, when we decide to take victory over it, we move into a life of freedom. Just like Christ chose to die on the cross for us; we must choose to die to our sins, die to ourselves and choose to live in Him in order to live in that freedom, that we can receive because he paid the ultimate price for us on the cross.
For me, one example of dying to myself and choosing to live a new life in Him instead of an old one in myself is when I chose to let go of the anger in my life. Most people now days know me as a pretty patient person, but that wasn’t always the case. For many years, I lived in a perpetual state of anger. I was angry at myself, the world and God. But about 5 years ago, I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore, I decided that life wasn’t worth living if I was going to be angry all the time. So I chose to let that part of me die, to leave that part of my life behind, and fill myself with something new, to fill myself with something better. In letting the anger go, I was able to let God in and let him fill me with something new, and in this case he filled me with gift of patience. When we accept Christ and we decide we want to live in Him and with him; When we choose to die to our self, we are choosing to live. “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21
Christ died on the cross to fulfill the promise that he came to save us and not to condemn us if we choose to believe in him. He rose again three days later in order to create a new life, not just for himself but for us as well. When we choose to follow and believe in Christ we are choosing to accept that promise that he fulfilled and we are choosing to accept the new life that he has given us the opportunity to live. So on this Easter day, I ask you to just take a look at your life and see what you’ve stepped out in to live a new life in, and see what you still need to step out in. Today is a reminder for all of us to take a look at our lives and see how we’re living, and whether or not we are living in the new life that God has given us the opportunity to live in through the death and resurrection of his son or are we just living in our old lives still…have we died to our self yet to live in Christ, or are we still living in ourselves?
As you go on with your day today, spending time with your friends and family don’t forget to take a moment to say thank-you to God for all that he has done; for sending his only son to die n the cross and rise again, and for giving us the opportunity to die to ourselves and to live in him, and to live a new life because of it.
-Thanks-
Thanks for reading guys. I’ll admit I was stressed when I started to write it, but by the time I realized I wasn’t going to get to preach it I was kind of bummed because I realized I was looking forward to actually sharing it.
God calls each of us to do something, sometimes its playing with kids, sometimes its picking up garbage on the street, sometimes its preaching, and sometimes he just asks you to write a sermon that he knows you will never preach just to see if you will obey him. So what is God calling you to do today?
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