WHEN YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH HARD TIMES OR IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH HARD TIMES, IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE!
BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS MAKE IT HARD TO BELIEVE IN THE NEXT ONE
BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE AND IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE!
IF WE ARE HONEST WE ALL STRUGGLE WITH BELIEVING AT TIMES… UNLESS IT’S A CONSPIRACY THEORY!
SO WHY ALL THIS TALK ABOUT CONSPIRACIES AND BELIEVING? ONE OF THE EARLIEST CONSPIRACYS WE ARE HERE CELEBRATING TODAY: THE RESSURECTION OF JESUS!
WITHOUT THIS SINGLE EVENT THERE IS NO EASTER, NO BIBLE, AND NO CHRISTIANS!
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE RESSURECTION HAPPENED? MOST EASTER’S WE FOCUS ON THE CROSS, FOR GOOD REASON!
WHY DOES THE RESSURECTION MATTER? GREAT QUESTION!
- THE RESSURECTION VALIDATES JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD!
HE WOULD BE A CRAZY MAN WITHOUT IT, BUT HE SAID HE WOULD DO IT!
Matthew 16:21 LB From then on Jesus began to speak plainly to his disciples about what would happen to him… that he would be killed, and that three days later he would be raised to life again.
AND HE DID IT…IT HAPPENED…
Luke 24:1-3 LB Very early on Sunday morning they took the ointments to the tomb and found that the huge stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. So they went in but the Lord Jesus’ body was gone. They stood there puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it…
COULDN’T BELIEVE IT…CONSPIRACY?
Luke 24:5 LB “Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? He isn’t here!
He has come back to life again!
- THE RESSURECTION PROVES JESUS HAS POWER OVER DEATH!
IT MATTERS WHEN YOU SOMEONE YOU LOVE DIES!
John 11:25-26 LB Jesus told her, “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish. Do you believe this, Martha?”
NO JESUS, NO HOPE; EASTER IS HOPE!
Luke 24:8-11 LB Then they remembered and rushed back to Jerusalem to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else what had happened… But the story sounded like a fairy tale to the men—they didn’t believe it.
EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED WITH HIM STRUGGLED TO BELIEVE!
HARD TIMES MAKE IT HARD TO BELIEVE UNTIL GOD SHOWS UP!
John 20:25 LB Thomas replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands…
John 20:26-28 LB Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them…Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger into my hands. Put your hand into my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. “Believe!”
John 20:29 LB Then Jesus told Thomas, “You believe because you have seen me. But blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.”
I DARE YOU TO LOOK AT JESUS…AND YOU TELL ME WHO HE IS!
Mark 15:337-9 MSG When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw Jesus…
he said, “This has to be the Son of God!”
WILL YOU LOOK AT HIM…BELIEVE IN HIM? WHO IS THAT MAN TO YOU?