HE IS RISEN!

Easter 2023
April 9,2022

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1. We all LOVE the benefits of believing in Jesus.

A. Meets us where we are (John 20:19).

B. Gives us encouragement (John 20:19).

C. Shows us his love (John 20:20).

D. Fills us with his presence (John 20:22).

E. Offers us forgiveness from all of our mistakes (John 20:23).

F. Gives us strength for daily living (Isaiah 40:29).

E. Gives us a purpose to live for (Colossians 1:16).

G. Gives us eternal life (John 11:25-26).

2. WHY should we believe in Jesus’ resurrection?

A. Matthew, a first century tax collector who became a Jesus follower and saw him die, wrote about it after the resurrection.

B. MARK who hung around with the followers of Jesus and traveled with Peter, wrote about it and believed it.

C. Luke, a doctor, interviewed eyewitnesses and said, “I have interviewed and I have thoroughly investigated and believe it.”

D. JOHN was one of the first people to the empty tomb. He was there when Jesus asked him to care for His mother.

E. Peter, a fisherman, believed Jesus rose from the dead.

F. JAMES the brother of Jesus, believed it.

G. PAUL who wrote about half of the New Testament, believed it.

• The Foundations are: His birth, His death, and the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:14-17 - And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:18-19 - Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

1 Corinthians 15:32 - …If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

1 Corinthians 15:20 - But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:3-7 - For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

There’s one question that we have to wrestle with today:

Do I BELIEVE Jesus was raised from the dead?

3. But if he did, and you BELIEVE in the RESURRECTION of Jesus, it changes everything for you.

• I can call God my Heavenly Father.

• There’s more to life than just this life.

• My prayers are being heard.

• I do have the power to break bad habits.

• There is forgiveness in Christ.

• I can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

John 11:25 -26 - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

So what does it mean to BELIEVE in Jesus?

James 2:19 - You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

Believe means: Pisteuo, to believe, to trust in, to cling to, to rely on, to adhere to, or to commit to.

Next Steps: 1. Commit to Christ. 2. Commit to come back next week.

New series starts next week “Building a Life of Faith.”