Highlands Fellowship Easter at Highlands: The Resurrection of Jesus Transcript
Well, happy Easter everybody and welcome to Highlands Fellowship. Whether you're joining us in Bristol, Marian, in our country tent, in the chapel, in one of our cafes, online or on TV, I am so thankful that you're here. You know, it's amazing that this weekend we gathered together to celebrate the greatest event in the history of the world with literally millions and millions of other followers of Jesus Christ and different languages and cultures and hundreds of thousands of churches all over the world. We're here because something happened that changed everything. We celebrate that 3 days after the death of Jesus Christ, the stone was rolled away. The tomb is empty.
Jesus Christ was not there, but he has risen from the dead. And can you just celebrate that with me today? What an exciting time it is. And because he lives, we're not just remembering a moment in history, but we're celebrating a living savior. Because he lives, there is hope. Because he lives, there is forgiveness. Because he lives, there is new life available to every single one of us. And that's why we gather today with joy, with gratitude, and with hearts full of worship for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It really is so good to have you here, and I'm excited to be able to share with you today.
But I do want to take just a moment to say that next week we're starting something new as a church. We're launching a new series where we're going to teach through the book of James. And so it's going to be all about what it looks like to live out a real authentic faith. Not just something that we believe on Sundays, but something that shapes how we live each and every day of our lives. In fact, if you've ever thought about inviting someone to church, next week is the perfect time to do it. There's just something so powerful about starting on the ground floor of a new series where you can grow and you can learn together from the very beginning.
But today on Easter, uh what I want to do is I want to talk about one of the big questions in life. In fact, at the end of our life, there's really no bigger question than this. What does it take to be made right with God? What does it take to be made right with God? And if you ask that question today, you're going to get all sorts of different answers. You have to admit that no matter what you believe, whatever your spiritual background is, maybe maybe you don't have much of a spiritual background, but we live in a time where there's a lot of different perspectives about God and about spirituality. In other words, tolerance is really high value in our culture today.
And it's very, very common for many people to believe things like all roads lead to heaven or all roads lead to God. It doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you're sincere. All world religions are essentially the same anyway. They're they're just all different beliefs about God. The interesting thing to me is this. Until someone dies, a lot of people don't think about God or even eternal life. But as soon as someone dies, everyone starts thinking about it, right? Like we tend to think about being indestructible. We think we are. And then one day we recognize that we're not.
And as soon as someone dies, no matter what, almost everyone starts to have what we could call a feel-good theology. You know, it doesn't matter how you were raised. Doesn't matter what you believe. They start to say some things like, "Thankfully, she's not suffering anymore or he's gone to a better place. Now he's an angel in heaven." Or or something like that. Then they say something that feels good. You know, now grandma's in a better place looking down on us. Now, I don't know about you, just to be honest, there are three or four times a day that I don't really want grandma looking down on me from anywhere. I'm just saying, right?
But underneath statements like like that is this is this deeper question that we don't always stop to ask. How is it that we're made right with God? Because at the end of the day, that's really what all of this comes down to. Not just what we hope is true, not just what sounds comforting in the moment, but what is actually true when it comes to us and God. And that's where things begin to shift a little bit. It's probably no secret that I am a follower of Jesus Christ.
And what's really interesting to me is that in the world today, you can talk about faith in general. You can talk about spiritual things all day long and it's really not controversial. Like you can say you have a higher power, a higher being, God, spirituality, and it usually doesn't create much tension at all. In fact, a lot of people are comfortable with keeping the conversation right there. But the moment the moment you move from general ideas to a specific person, the moment you begin to talk about Jesus, you bring up the name of Jesus and all of a sudden the conversation starts to feel a bit different. It gets controversial.
And what's interesting is it's not because people don't believe Jesus existed. Did you know that? Like there's almost nobody, no rational thinking person is going to say there was no historical figure named Jesus. People generally accept that yes, someone named Jesus lived. What's also interesting to me is that people don't really dislike his teaching. Like it's hard if if you're any kind of normal moral person to dislike when Jesus taught help the poor, love those that others overlooked, forgive people. They they don't debate the teachings of Jesus. They don't debate that Jesus even existed. So why is it that Jesus becomes like this dividing line for so many people?
I think it's probably because of the exclusive claim of Jesus because we live in a world that values inclusion. And in some ways that's that's not so bad, right? You know, we want people to feel seen. We want people to feel valued, not left out. But that mindset often carries over into how we think about faith. So it's common to hear things like all roads lead to heaven or all roads lead to God or all world religions are basically the same. But then you come to Jesus and he completely opposes that mindset when he says that he is the only way.
It's the exclusive claim of Jesus. In fact in John 14 6 this is exactly what Jesus said. Thomas says he says where are you going? I don't know where you were going. And Jesus answered, he said, "I am the what?" Let's all say this out loud together. I am the way and the truth and the life. And then Jesus says, "No one comes to the father except through me." In this very inclusive world of religious options and paths, Jesus makes an exclusive claim that he is the only way.
A lot of people still want to say though, all roads lead to God. All religions are the same. And that's why people wrestle with Jesus. Because while while we might prefer the idea that every path leads to God, Jesus lovingly but very clearly says there is only one way. And so what I want to do today is let's just let's just think together for a moment and recognize that there may be some good things in a lot of different world religions, but we have to acknowledge that they are nowhere close to the same. All right? Uh they're nowhere close to being the same thing.
In fact, I'm going to give you just a really quick overview. simple, very simple, not I'm not going to go into depth on this, but a very simple and quick overview of the world religions and and two minutes or less. All right? And then we'll talk a little bit more about Jesus. So, let's look briefly and recognize that all world religions are not the same. Okay? We'll start with Buddhism. Buddhists will believe that there is no God, no type of final existence. A Buddhist is going to believe in countless rebirths and eventually your hope is to end the cycle.
You contrast that with Hinduism and and a Hindu is going to believe in a god, an impersonal god that is uh approached through deities or statues or idols. And you take these first two, Buddhism and Hinduism, and they offer no forgiveness of sin, no supernatural help, no personal savior, only karma. In other words, if you cut somebody off on the road, someone else is going to cut you off because you deserve it. All right? Your progress is tied to your own actions over time. That's what these would believe.
You contrast that with with a Muslim who is going to worship a personal god named Allah and and a Muslim has no secondary gods. Uh there's a total ban on idols and your standing with God is based on your religious good works and your efforts alone. You contrast that with new age where there's no type of God and your goal is to be one with the cosmos or one with the universe and you find truth within yourself. And then you have the message of Jesus. A Jesus follower believes in a personal God who loves his people so much that he became like them in the person of Jesus.
lived without sin, died for the sins of the world on the cross and rose again. And because of that, people are made right with God not by going through deities or idols or religious performance or by effort or good works, but by faith in God's son, Jesus alone. We can acknowledge that there may be some good and maybe some positive things in many different religions, but they're absolutely and completely not the same. I think that's fair to say, right?
So, here's what I want to do today. It's really simple. No matter your background, no matter what you've believed, no matter where you find yourself right now, I'm going to ask you to simply consider Jesus with me. Just consider Jesus. And let me be really clear. I'm not asking you to consider a church. I'm not asking you to consider a denomination. I I'm not even asking you to consider Christians because can we be honest, Christians don't always get it right. I'm not even asking you to consider me because tragically, I'd let you down, too. I I'd love to be the perfect example for you, but I'm not. I'm still growing and I still need grace every single day.
All I'm asking you to do is to consider Jesus. Now, when I say consider, I don't mean just glance at him or or think about him for just a second and then move on. To consider something means to look carefully, to think deeply, to weigh it in your mind, to weigh it in your heart. It's about reflection, attention, and intentional thought. That's what consider means. So, I'm asking you to consider Jesus, what he claims, what other people said that he did, what he actually did, and just look at him and see what happens.
Consider Jesus, three aspects of his life. The first one is this. Consider the ministry of Jesus. Consider who he came for and how he treated them. the ministry of Jesus. So I want us to look for just a moment at Mark's gospel. Mark chapter 2 16 and 17 which essentially tells us why Jesus came. I absolutely love this says this. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the sinners and tax collectors. So Jesus was hanging out with those people that religion rejected with the sinners and the tax collectors.
They asked his disciples,"Wh does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" In other words, someone who is religious shouldn't eat with that type of person. The religious elite thought that some people were off limits and you shouldn't hang around them. But Jesus said something amazing in verse 17. On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It's not the healthy who needs a doctor, but who needs a doctor?" He said the sick. Jesus said, Jesus said this, I have not come to call the righteous. But who does he just who did Jesus come to call? He came to call the sinners.
So, I want you to stop and think about that. And I I love this with all my heart. I'm telling you, Jesus did not come for those who have it all together, right? He came for people who need help, people who need grace, people who need mercy. And let me just be honest with you, that's me and that's you, too. There are things that I've struggled with, things that I've said or done, moments I've messed up so badly. And and maybe you're sitting here today and you're thinking, "There's no way God could ever love me after this. There's no way that God could forgive what I've done and the mess I've made of my life." And yet Jesus came for exactly that. That's why he came.
Jesus loves the ones that everybody else turned away from. He welcomed the ones that everyone else rejected. He didn't come for the perfect people. You know, even if you're here and you're thinking, you know what, I've got all my act together. That's great. You know, keep keep trying to do better. Keep trying to live like Jesus. But remember this, you still aren't perfect. And Jesus came for you, too.
And not only did he come for sinners, but when you look at the ministry of Jesus, you will be blown away by the miracles of Jesus. What did this guy do? Well, by the power of God, Jesus opened blind eyes. He healed deaf ears. He caused the mute to speak. Jesus multiplied a few loaves and a few fish to feed thousands and thousands of people. Jesus would cast demons out of people. Jesus even brought the dead back to life.
And what's so funny to me about the miracles that Jesus did is that his detractors, they did not debate the validity of his miracles. They just wanted him to stop. They said, "By by what power is he doing this?" No one said he didn't really raise the dead. I mean, they saw it. Consider the ministry of Jesus. And what's so crazy uh is that for many of you, you are a direct result of the ministry of Jesus Christ. You are a miracle because of the ministry of Jesus.
Like if we had time today, there are so many of you who could say, "This is who I was and this is who I am now. This is the way I was and I'm not that way anymore. I was a mess, but I've been transformed. I was addicted and now I'm free. I was full of hatred and now my heart is full of love and grace. Like you are different because of the perfect work of God's son Jesus Christ. Consider the ministry of Jesus.
The second thing that I want you to consider is this. Consider the resurrection of Jesus. Now this is the most important event in the history of the world. This is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday. And I want you to I want you to feel that celebration, not just as something that happened 2,000 years ago, but as something that touches your life today. Because without the resurrection, everything stops at the cross. We'd have a savior who died, but no victory, no hope, no promise that life could even be new.
But the resurrection changes everything. It proves that Jesus really is who he said he was. That that he has power over sin and over death and over everything that holds us back. And here's why that matters for you and for me. Because he is alive. We don't have to be trapped in guilt and shame and failure. every mistake, every regret, every time we feel like we've blown it. Jesus's resurrection says there is hope. You can start again and you can be made new. That's what it says.
You see, Jesus was miraculously conceived. He was born of a virgin. He did not inherit the sin nature of an earthly father. He was completely without sin. Jesus lived the perfect life for us. And on the cross, he became sin for us. He suffered horribly. And while the creation was mocking the creator as they spit on him and hurled insults at him and beat him beyond recognition on the cross, Jesus looked up to heaven and he cried out, "Father, please forgive them because they don't even know what they're doing." Like, what kind of grace is that? What kind of love is that from the cross?
And then Jesus cries out with the victorious cry. It is finished. Into your hands I commit my spirit. And he breathes his last and he gives his life. The moment he did, the earth went dark. The ground trembled. The Roman centurion who was not a follower of Jesus but saw his love and saw his heart and saw his mercy, saw who he was. He looked on and he said, "I didn't believe before, but I believe now." Surely that man was no ordinary man. Surely that man was the son of God.
Just as Jesus had predicted, I will give my life and three days later I will rise from the dead. Three days later, the women went to the tomb where he was buried. The stone was rolled away and he was not there. Peter who had denied Jesus, you know, do you know him? No. Were Were you one of his disciples? Well, no. Weren't you hanging out with him? Not me. Peter, who had denied Jesus, was completely transformed because the tomb was empty. And he preached on the resurrection.
In Acts 3:15, he said this to the religious leaders. He said, "You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead." Like, you killed the author of life, but he's not dead anymore. God raised him from the dead. And then he said this, and this is the key. All right? He said, "We are witnesses of this. We are witnesses of this. We saw him." That's why these men were willing to give their lives for Jesus, the man that they were denying earlier, because they saw the power of the resurrection. Like the resurrection, it all hinges on the resurrection.
And what's so funny to me is that some people try to say things like, "Well, you know, the Roman soldiers, they stole the body." No, no, no, no. The Roman soldiers would have loved nothing more than to have produced a dead body. I promise you that. Some people say the disciples stole the body of Jesus. Okay. Well, these unarmed men overpowered the trained armed Roman soldiers. Yeah. And you still have the testimony of the Roman guards who would have sworn that that's what's happened.
Do you really expect any rational person to believe that 11 average uneducated men devised the greatest scheme in the history of mankind? Pulled it off. kept it all a secret at tremendous personal loss to themselves. And by the way, they cheated the world into becoming a better place all at the same time. No, we're witnesses of this. That's what they said. We're witnesses of this. 10 of the 11 remaining disciples, G Judas, who betrayed Jesus, took his own life. And so there were 11 left. 10 of them died the death of a martyr. Why? Why were they willing to die? And who would die for a lie? They died because they saw it.
The only one remaining living was was John. And he was exiled to the aisle of Patmos. And he died of old age alone. And of course, there's Thomas. So many of us can relate to Thomas. Thomas was the doubter. Thomas is a lot like some of you. I mean, you you want to believe, but you're not sure and you need just a little bit more. Thomas needed a little bit more. He said, "I want to see. Can I see? Can I touch?" And Jesus said, "Here, you can touch. You can see." He needed more. And some of you are like that. You need a little bit more. And today, you're going to get what you need just like Thomas got what he needed.
You know what Thomas the Doubter ended up doing? Thomas the Doubter took the gospel to India and he became the first evangelist to India. That's how much the doubter believed. And when they said, "Thomas, deny your faith and we'll let you live. But if you stand by Jesus and you stand on your claims, we are going to kill you." And you know what Thomas the doubter said? He said, 'I will never deny my faith in the one who died and rose again for me. I will stand by him for the rest of my life. And you know what they did to Thomas? They drove a stake through his body. They impaled him. Why? Because he was an eyewitness that the tomb was empty and that Jesus had risen from the dead.
The early church was born. 3,000 people saved. 2,000 years later, there are millions and millions of people, hundreds of thousands of churches that place their faith in Jesus because of the empty tomb. He's not there. He has risen from the dead. Consider Jesus like truly consider his ministry. Truly consider the resurrection.
And the third thing is this. Consider the eternal message of Jesus. the eternal message of Jesus. How are we made right with God? Well, Romans chapter 3 22 tells us we are made right with God by doing what? Let's all say this out loud together. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. Let's say it again. We're made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
Notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that we're made right with God by being good enough, by not being bad, by not saying bad words on the golf course, by not yelling at our kids in the car, by not getting getting into a fight with our wife on the way to Easter church service, right? Why does that always happen? We we just take separate cars, right? Here's what Paul said. We're made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
So don't miss this. This is true for everyone who believes. This is true for you. If you believe, it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how bad you've been. It doesn't matter how bad you've messed up your life or how messed up it is right right now. It doesn't matter how many people you've hurt. It doesn't matter how many times you've sinned. You are not made right with God by you being good enough. You're made right with God because Jesus was perfect and he took the penalty and he paid the price for your sin.
It's the difference between religion and relationship. And I don't want you to miss this, okay? Jesus did not come to start a religion. Jesus came to offer us eternal life. He did not come to start a religion. He came to show us the love of God. Religion is all about how you perform. Relationship is all about how Jesus performed. Religion says that if you work hard enough, maybe, just maybe, God will love you. Relationship says because God loves me, I want to obey him. Religion is all about what you do. Relationship tells you Jesus already did it all for you.
Consider the eternal message that Jesus gives to us today. that you're not made right with God by your own good works, but by the grace and the love of God through Jesus Christ, his son. So, here's where I stand. Are you ready for this? Here's where I stand. If there is a God who claims to be the son of God and says that he is the only way to the father and he predicts his death and he predicts his resurrection and he dies and he rises again. I'm going with that God. Right? I'm going with that God.
I'm going with that God because he came for somebody like me. A sinner who is lost and in need of salvation. That's who Jesus is. And he shows us the heart of God who sends his son not for the healthy but for the sick, not for the righteous but for the sinner. Because of what he did for me, my only reasonable responses, Jesus, take my whole life. Take all of me. I belong to you. And some of you, that's where you are today.
And maybe this is the moment that you've been thinking about. Maybe this is the moment that you would say, "Jesus, I see who you are. I see what you've done. I want you in my life. I want to give you my life today." If that's you, don't wait. You can do it right now in your own words. God is ready to forgive, to heal, and to make you new, and to walk with you forever. Would you pray with me today?
God, thank you so much for sending Jesus, for his life, for his ministry, for his sacrifice on the cross, and his victory through the resurrection. And today, we've been reminded that this isn't just a story from the past, but this is an invitation for us right now. And so if there's anyone who has never trusted in you, never surrendered their life to you, Jesus, I pray that this would be the moment.
So if that's you, you can pray something like this in your heart. Jesus, I believe you are the son of God. I believe you died for my sin and rose again. Today, I turn from my sin and I put my trust in you. Forgive me. Change me. Give me new life. I choose to follow after you, Lord. Thank you that anyone who calls on your name will be saved. Thank you for new life and for forgiveness and for the hope of eternity. Today, God, we celebrate the resurrection of your son, Jesus Christ, and we worship you. We love you and it's in the name of Jesus we pray and everybody said amen.