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If you would like to read from Pastor Jason's Notes, you will find them below. Keep in mind, they are just a script that he uses to work from on Sundays. Sometimes, all or none of them make it into a sermon.
SERMON TRANSCRIPT NOTES:
You may be wondering why the name “The Assembly” It comes from the simple definition of the word. Assembly means a gathering of people for a common purpose. We believe that God has called our church to be for more than a common purpose and believe that we are a gathering of people for a greater purpose!
What is that greater purpose…it’s to Love God with all our heart, mind, body and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If you are a guest with us today, understand we exist for you and your family. If there is anything you need today or in the weeks going forward, let us know.
Today we celebrate the holiday we know as Easter. All throughout the world there are churches that will be telling the story of the risen savior Jesus Christ. We are no different in that respect.
I believe that this story is the difference between life and death. It’s the thing that sets Jesus apart from every other religious leader that has ever existed. Only Jesus conquered death. You can travel all over the world today to other religious burial sites and see where those men still lay. But today if you were to go to the tomb Jesus, you will find nothing. There’s no one there because HE IS ALIVE!
Mark 16:1-7 (ESV) When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
This is the Easter Story. At its very basic element, it’s the story of a man named Jesus, who was the Son of God, lived a sinless life and yet was crucified on a cross for our sins. He was placed in a tomb and on the third day arose.
But what does that mean to us today? That is the real question.
You see, the cross and empty tomb can become just another story we have heard but doesn’t really change who we are. But when we come to a place where we understand what his death and resurrection have done for us, it has the power to changes things in our lives.
Romans 6:4 (ESV) We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Too many times we have the mindset that everything has to be perfect in our lives in order for God to accept us. The truth is that God accepts us not because we are perfect but because He is perfect.
You and I can’t get our life together enough to understand the greatness of God, but when we have been exposed to Him and have encountered his grace in our lives, we will start to understand more what He has done for us and can do through us.
Easter isn’t a celebration of the cross. That’s hard for some people to understand, but today is not about the cross. It’s about an empty tomb. Because if there is no empty tomb, there is no power in the cross. The empty tomb and Easter is about celebrating LIFE! It’s about understand that Jesus rose from the grave to give you LIFE.
He went to cross for you and I to take on our sin.
2 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV) For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The cross was about the perfect lamb of God, the one that had the ability to take away the sins of the world. Good Friday is about remembering the death that took on for us. And what Romans 6 tells us is that we get to be a part of 2 events if we choose.
The First thing is we get to allow our sins to die with Him.
The cross was about destroying the power of sin in your life and mine. When Jesus proclaimed, “it is finished”, he was proclaiming the end of the power of sin and death over our lives. By dying on the cross he had triumphed over what seemed impossible at that moment.
If Palm Sunday was about the triumphant entrance to the city…then Easter is about the TRIUMPHANT EXIT from the tomb. When He came out of that tomb he declared victory over the enemy.
You and I have the choice. We can live in the defeat of our sin and shame or we can live in the newness of being alive with Christ and in Christ. Its about understanding that you can be dead IN sin or be dead TO sin.
We were created to be new in Christ. He has given access to grace, which is forgiveness that we don’t even deserve. You can’t do enough to earn grace. You can’t be good enough, give enough, be smart enough…
GRACE is a gift that is given to us by God. And this gift was bought and paid for through the blood of Jesus and His resurrection from the grave!
The good news is no matter who you are in here today, and no matter what you have done, Jesus offers you free grace over that issue. He has already forgiven you of all of it.
But when we accept His grace, things change.
Something can be offered to you that you don’t accept. We tell our kids not to take things from strangers, so most of the time they don’t. But just because grace readily available and free to all who would receive it, doesn’t mean you will.
But if you receive this grace that was purchased at the Cross, you will be changed. That is a guarantee. It doesn’t mean your problems disappear though. It means that the way you deal with them will change.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
It doesn’t matter what burdens, habits, mistakes, failures, or sin you walked in here with this morning, you can walk out of your situation just as Jesus walked out of the grave. You can become a new creation.
It comes from first allowing Jesus to take the sin to the grave.
The second truth we all need to understand is that we are alive because He is alive.
Just as his death became our death, his triumph became our triumph. Sin and death could not hold him in the grave and it can’t hold you down either. You and I were considered dead spiritually in our sin. But because raised through the power of God from the grave, he gives you the power to the same in your life. You don’t have to be held down anymore.
Some of you would say, “I’m too broken”, “Im too beyond repair” The truth is there is no one outside of his love.
The bible is full of broken people. I’m not sure where we got the idea in church that people had to be perfect or without flaws. We can’t fix our own problems. Usually when we try, we just make them worse.
There are people in this room that have discovered what happens when an inexperienced carpenter tries to fix a problem…they will make it worse.
When Jesus triumphantly exited the tomb on that early morning, he made a way for all of us to find restoration and victory! He provided a pathway to victory over your circumstances, even for those of us who are broken.
His grace would become available to all, not just the elite, not just those that had it all together, but to everyone who believes.
John 3:16 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Believe in what?
He was the Son of God
He walked this earth without sin
He went to the cross as payment for your sin
He rose from the grave to conquer all sin
He has forgiven you of your sin
That he wants to have a relationship with you
That he wants us to come to him for the answers
Some of us understand the idea of being in debt. It’s hard. Some have had the phone calls for collection or had to give up things that you loved because you couldn’t pay the bill.
Your life and mine has a bill that must be paid. It is a debt that sin requires. This debt has a price. The price is eternal death. It has to be paid with a life. The choice is yours as to how it gets paid.
When Jesus stepped out of the tomb, he marked your bill PAID IN FULL. Because sin has a price. It will come calling. You will pay the bill or Jesus can pick up the tab.
Roman 6:23 (ESV) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Wages are something that has to be paid…but a gift is given without expectation of repayment. Because the price has been paid.
You may say to yourself today, Jason, you don’t understand my life or understand all that I have done, how could Jesus forgive me…the truth is, you’re right, I don’t understand your particular situation. But I understand a God who is not motivated to condemn you or to beat you down.
Jesus didn’t go to the cross to create a guilt trip for your life. He went to the cross so that you might be saved.
We read John 3:16, we see it on sign at ballgames. But the next scripture is just as important for your life.
John 3:17 (ESV) “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.”
The Easter story is all about that. It’s about a God that sent His ONLY Son to the world, to die for your sins. But if He had only died and not rose from the ground, it would not be enough. But he rose from the grave to purchase your freedom without condemnation. Meaning he’s not here to beat you up for your mistakes but to offer you grace in the midst of your problems.
The Easter Story is given to be your story. He wants us to be dead to our sin once and for all, and become alive in Christ. Because He is alive, we can become alive!
The choice is yours today…