Easter 2015 Risen King, by Pastor Rob Ketterling
We are here at River Valley and at all of our campuses, seven campuses, and I'm very excited to say the number seven, as we have our new Woodbury campus launching this weekend.
And we are here to remember what Jesus did over two thousand years ago. He died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. He rose from the dead to prove his promises are true, and we are celebrating that. It is an amazing, amazing day that we get to celebrate a risen king. Today is a shared sermon between myself and the campus pastors at your location, so we are going to share back and forth with this. And we are very excited that we can preach the same sermon on Easter weekend and celebrate together. We are going to look at several scriptures, and we are going to look at the song we wrote that was sung during worship, Risen King.
And I've got to tell you this, when our worship team came to me and said we are writing this song, Risen King, and they read the words and started to let me in on the process of the song, I just got excited, because any song that proclaims Jesus as our risen king is just a victorious song that I love singing. And the song is amazing. I absolutely love it. It is quickly becoming one of my favorites, and I'm so glad it is part of our CD that we are handing out. I just love that part of the song that says, Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. And every time we sing that, I get excited about it.
And if you ever watch don't watch me during worship. But if you ever do during that song, you might see, like, roll [demonstrating]. It's like I'm, like, roll! Roll that stone! I get excited about it! It's, like, get that stone out of the way! I mean, I kind of like that Extreme Makeover show, like, move that bus! I mean that's how I get. Because it is so exciting. What is behind the stone is so exciting. So to me, every time I sing that song, I just get excited. Now, please, don't watch me during worship. Don't do that, okay? But it's just good. Roll the stone away. There is something about that, and we are celebrating what the Word of God says and what that song says today.
And the song starts out, it says, you know, You chose the nails. And, of course, we know this weekend we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross. And we also know he is risen from the dead. But it started on the weekend with him dying on the cross. And I just love the fact that they didn't have to force Jesus to die on the cross. That's a painful death. It was a horrible death. And the Bible tells us that he laid down his life willingly. In John 10:18 it says, "No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my father has commanded."
He's saying, "You know what? I'm going to lay down my life. I'm going to willingly go to the cross. There is no objection here. There is a desire to obey what my Heavenly Father says, and I'm going to do it. I know that this is the mission that I'm on, and I'm laying down my life." When they crucified him on the cross, he went willingly.
And the Bible tells us that all of our sins were placed upon him. I love that. It says all of our sins. Everything that we've done wrong. If you are not familiar with what sin is, sin is what corrupts us. Sin is that moral weakness within us. Sin is that failure to live up to God's standard. And all of that was placed on Jesus, and the Bible says he who knew no sin became sin for us. Everything was placed on him. 1 Peter 2:24 says, He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.
He died so we could be forgiven, and every one of our sins were placed on him. And the Bible tells us that if we will ask for forgiveness of those sins, we can be forgiven. And at the end of this service, here and at all of our campuses, we are going to give people an opportunity to do that. To say, "I'm ready for my moral weakness, I'm ready for not living up to the standard, I'm willing to have all these things that I've done wrong, the things that have corrupted me and stood in the way of God to be forgiven, and I'm going to ask for that forgiveness."
Now, if you're unfamiliar with the story, Jesus died on the cross, and then he rose again from the dead. And it seems so familiar to those of us that know the story. But in between dying on the cross and coming back from the dead, before the stone was rolled away, there is a lot to the story there that I want to talk to you about. The Bible tells us they placed him in a rich man's grave, because Jesus did not have a grave. And so a rich man came along and said, "I would like to take his body," and placed it in a grave.
And the Bible tells us that they placed a stone in front of the grave. Now, again, as I'm like, Roll the stone away, just to put it in perspective, it would take about 12 to 20 men to really roll the stone in place, okay? It was a very large stone that was put in place there. And I want you to understand what was going on here. Let's read in Matthew chapter 27. The gospels give us all sorts of the account. And in Matthew chapter 27, starting in verse 57, it says, As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
62 The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”
65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.
So you've got to track along with the story here. The rich man has put Jesus in there. They rolled this very large stone in front of the entrance. And the religious people remember what Jesus said. Now, I think it is interesting, if you know the story, the religious people remembered what Jesus said, but the disciples forgot it, the ladies forgot. Everybody else forgot it, but the religious people remember what he said. And how many know your friends may forget what you say, but your enemies won't. And the enemies of Jesus did not forget what he said.
And it's interesting, they said, "We've got the stone there. We want to have it sealed and we want guards there. We don't want anyone getting in." Now, if you know the story, again, Jesus comes back from the dead. But they were not worried about Jesus coming back from the dead. They were worried about people getting into the tomb, not Jesus coming out. I mean, we would think, like, put the rock there and keep him if in there. But that's like a horror movie in their mind, and those hadn't been invented yet. So they weren't thinking of dead people coming back from the grave. They were thinking don't let living people get to Jesus. Don't let living people get to Jesus. So, if you're tracking along, big stone, seal, guards with spears and, they are there, and they are saying this stone, this seal, these guards are giant obstacles that are going to keep people from Jesus.
I don't know where you're at right now, but there is not a literal stone in your way, but for a lot of people there is a large stone in the way. And it could be your family that says stay away from religion, or religion might just be a phase that you go through. It's a giant stone. It could be critics saying this isn't real. It could be the cares of this world, money and success and fame being a giant stone in the way, and it's sealed and it's guarded and there is no way through. I know one lady, Joan, she was an, atheist, and the giant stone that was in the way of her coming to church were her friends. She told me she literally had to lie to her friends to come to church because they were guarding her from going to church. Eventually she found Jesus, but it was a giant stone in the way that was keeping her away. For some it is just ignorance, they don't know the truth. And whatever it is, the stones are very, very real.
And here and at all of our campus our pastors are going to share different stories and different things about their life or pastors on the team there of the stone that stood in their way of finding Jesus.
Now for me the stone was ignorance. Okay, the stone for me was just ignorance. I just didn't know. When I heard the truth, it was all of a sudden the stone of not knowing, of it being private, of it being away from me was being rolled away, and I ran towards Jesus. I'm just telling you, when I heard the message at the age of seven, I was like, "I didn't know this before." And I ran to Jesus.
I can tell you this, that for one of our pastors, he said, "I was raised in a religious home." And he said, "I was religious. I checked the box. I made sure I was faithful on the faithful days that you're supposed to go to church." And he said, "But then I went to a retreat, and when I went to this retreat, they told me about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." And he said, "That religious stone was rolled away."
For another one, they said, "I was chasing after success and money and things, and I thought that if I gave my life to Jesus, everything in my life would be taken away." So he said basically this pile of stones, this giant stone in front of him was success and the home and the car and the things that he had attained, and said, "If I follow Jesus, I'm going to lose it all." So that stone was right in the way between him and Jesus. And then somebody explained to him that he could give his life to Jesus. It was worth anything he'd trade, and the stone was rolled away.
But I don't know what your stone is. For some it might be alcohol. It might be drugs, and it's promising something and it is a giant stone that says this is enough, stay away from Jesus. But I believe that God can roll away your stone at the end of service. We can pray that stone will be rolled away and you can give your life to Jesus Christ, all right? Now, let's pick up the story. Mark again, the gospels, all of them, talk about Jesus' death and his resurrection. It says this in Mark chapter 16. It says, Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
Now, it's interesting. They were doing as the Bible customs of the day; they were buying spices and they were going to anoint Jesus' body because it hadn't been anointed. And it's interesting, remember the religious people are, like, "We remember what he said. Keep him in there." The women don't remember what he said. And the reason that we know that for sure is they bought spices for a dead guy, not a change of clothes. How many know what I'm talking about?
If they'd have thought he was risen, they'd be like, "Do you think this fits? It's a medium. Was he a medium?" Yeah, like how many know? That would have shown some faith. But instead they are like, "Okay, spices. Which did you bring? Did you bring all the spices?" And they get all the spices together. And then they are thinking about, "Well, who is going to roll away the stone for us?" They are not thinking, like, maybe the stone is rolled away, maybe Jesus is out, all these things.
So they are wondering, and, you know, they knew how big the stone was because the Bible tells us that they were there watching. I'm sure they were thinking, "How can we take it in? What are the three of us going to I mean, how are we going to move the stone? Maybe there will be somebody there working that can roll away the stone." Put some humanity on the scene here, okay? In their grief they are trying to figure out who's going to do this. And they come along, and then the Bible tells us that they see someone there that we now know is an angel, but they think it's the gardener.
And, again, maybe my imagination is a little too active. But all of a sudden I saw them going, "Oh, he can help. He can roll away the stone." Well, is he like a superhero gardener, you know. And then I thought he was an angel so he kind of sort of was. All right.
So, but they see him, and he's there, and the Bible tells us in the account they see what they think is a gardener, but it's an angel. And the angel is there, and he is telling them that the stone has been rolled away. And if you'll just indulge me, again, with my imagination. In my mind, the way I see this scene is the angel is sitting there, and I see him eating an apple. I just see him eating an apple, kind of as a play on the original sin all the way back in Genesis. And he's kind of eating the apple, he's got his knife in his hand, and he is kind of cutting up the apple. Because that's how my dad did it, you know what I mean? So how many know that you can just eat an apple and it's kind of humble, but if you do it with a knife there is a whole nother level of like, yeah. That's how I see him, that's how I see him. And I see him, like, "He isn't here, guys. He isn't here. Go check. Go check."
Let's read what the gospel tells us. It says, But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.
5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.
I mean, it's an amazing thing. They were looking, wondering who is going to roll the stone away, and the stone had been rolled away. And if I could say this, that's grace. That's grace in your life. You are wondering who will overcome my friends, my critics, my doubts, my addictions, my treasures of this earth? And God says, "By grace I'm going to roll that stone away. I'm going to roll it away for you and give you access to Jesus."
Then I love what he says, like, "He's not here. He is not where dead things are." And if you could just give me just a moment, I believe that a lot of people look for Jesus or look for hope, if you will, in dead things. They look for dead things. They think that religiously checking the box will answer their questions. But it doesn't. They think that chasing after dead things, again, like alcohol and adultery and addictions, they think fame and success, chasing after dead things will help give them life, but it doesn't. And I love what the angel said, "Don't look for Jesus among the dead things."
And I'll tell you this, you don't need to look for hope amongst the dead things. Jesus is no longer with the dead things. Okay? He paid the price, and he's a living savior.
We sang the song, Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. You're the risen king. It has been rolled away, and it has been rolled away for others, and God will roll away your stone.
I want to continue the story. The Bible tells us, The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel's message. 9 And as they went, Jesus met them and grated them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there."
After they had an encounter with Jesus, after you have an encounter with the risen king, the Bible tells us that they worshipped. They worshipped, the disciples worshipped, Thomas worshipped. People, when they have an encounter with Jesus, worship. If you wonder why our church has expressive, responsive worship, it's because people have had an encounter with Jesus, and they know the stone that was rolled away and they get excited about their relationship with God. And they are like, "I want to worship him. I want to lift up my hands and sing hallelujah. And that song that we wrote says that and the way we live says that. I'm going to raise my hands and sing hallelujah.
If Jesus is risen from the dead, his promises are true. That's the thing. If he's risen from the dead, his promises are true and he is risen from the dead. So if his promises are true, and we know they are, because if you can defeat death, anything else you said you're going to defeat, your word is good. I mean, that's the ultimate defeating. If he defeats death, everything else.
So think about it. Jesus said this in John 11:25, he says, "I'm the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying." Okay, so he's saying if you believe in me, you will live even after dying. People call that eternal life. And Jesus promised that, and if he can conquer the grave and he's a risen king, then that is true. Jesus says, "If you believe on me, your sins will be forgiven." That's got to be true. He says, "You will live forevermore in me." That's got to be true. He says, "You can live life more abundantly." Got to be true. It's got to be true, because his promises are true. If he can defeat the grave, he defeats everything, and his promises are true. If he says you'll have eternal life, it's true. If he says you will be saved, true, true, true. You can bank on it. And people here are banking on it. They are saying, "I believe this. This is true."
And we know the stone is rolled away. We know that Jesus appeared to people. We know that there is accounts of him appearing to twelve different groups, over five hundred people saying we serve a risen king. The stone was rolled away. The guards fell down like dead men. The seal was broken. Jesus came out. People don't have to go into death anymore. They can run to Jesus, and it's true. His promises are true.
It also means today that he can roll away your stone. That's what it means. It means he can roll away your stone. And I know that sometimes we wonder can he do it, can he do it. How many know the power of an addiction can be so strong. How many know the power of a critic laughing at you can be so strong. How many know that even your own doubt can be so strong. And God is like, "I want to roll away the stone of your doubt and set you free."
And I don't know what stands between you and Jesus, what keeps you out, but nothing kept Jesus in the tomb. And he is here today, and he is saying, "I'm a risen king. I'm a risen king." The Bible says he ascended into heaven, and the Bible says he's preparing a place for us, and those that call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And we have an opportunity now to respond to the love of Jesus, respond to the risen king and say, Lord, roll away my stone.
So here and at all of our campuses, can we bow our heads for just a moment, and let's take a moment to think about that. He's the risen king. He's the risen king. The stone was rolled away. The stone was rolled away. Why? Because he came back from the dead. He came back from the dead and his promises you true. And the Bible says that if we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, we will be saved. Some people wonder, "How do I get to Jesus? How do I find hope?" Can I tell you this? Jesus is walking to you.
The women were wondering, "How will we get to Jesus?"
And Jesus is saying, "I'm coming to you."
You're here today, you might be watching online, you might be at one of our other campuses, and the Bible is saying that Jesus is reaching out to you. He's saying, "I'm the risen king and I want to roll away your stone, whatever it is. Will you allow me to do that? "
We have been praying for you that you would respond today. We have been praying you would call upon his name to be forgiven. We've been praying that you would ask for forgiveness, and we want to give you this opportunity to respond.
With everyone's head bowed and their eyes closed, I just want to say this: If you have not responded to the living king, if you've let a stone stand in your way of religion or tradition, if you've let a stone stand in your way of doubt, or critics or friends or family or success or fame or money, God is saying, "Roll away that stone. I want to roll away that stone for you and help you to know me as Lord and Savior."
And if you're saying, "I need to do it. I need to get past those things that have kept me away from Jesus, and I want to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I want to be forgiven of my sins, these things that I have done wrong, those moral shortcomings not living up to God's standard. The things that have corrupted me in my life. I didn't even try, but those things that catch themselves in my life, and I feel guilty for them." The Bible says he can wash away that guilt. He can wash away that sin, and he can forgive you of all that and make you new. So the Bible says if you believe that he died on the cross and he rose from the dead and you ask him for forgiveness, you will be forgiven. And in just a moment I'm going to ask you to raise your hand to be included in that closing prayer.
Everyone's heads are bowed. Their heads are bowed, their eyes are closed. This is your moment. This is your moment. Are you ready to call on the name of the Lord and say, "I'm in. I lift my hand and say I'm in. I'm in. I want to worship God. I want to live for God. I want to be forgiven. I raise my hand and I want to be included in the closing prayer of this service." And if that's you, with everyone's head bowed and their eyes closed, if you want to be included in that prayer, I'm going to ask you to look up at me, raise your hand, I'll acknowledge it, and then you can put it down. And I'll include you in this closing prayer. But if that's you and you're in, you say, "I want this moment," would you do that right now. Raise your hand, look up at me, and I'll acknowledge it.
Yes, I see your hand. Yes, I see your hand. Yours, yours, yours, yours, yours. Boy, there is so many in the middle here. There has got to be 15 hands that just went up. I'm looking to my right. Yes, up here, I see yours. And in the back, and in the back middle, and right here in the front. Yes, yes, I come into agreement. Yes, in the back I see yours as well. I'm scanning across this way. Yes, I see the two right there and right there. Yes, I see you. Two in the back right there, I see you. One right up here. Yes, I see yours. Hands everywhere going up. And I thank God for this.
If you don't think I saw you, and you don't think I pointed at you, give me one last wave and say, "Hey, hey, hey, include me in the closing prayer. My stone needs to be rolled away. I need access to Jesus. If he's coming to me, I'm going to him. I want my life to change." Yes, yes, I see your hand. Yes. Yes, I see you. I see you. Amen. All across this place. You can put your hands down.
We saw those hands and God saw those hands, and he says, "Right now I'm going to roll away the stone that is there. I'm going to roll it away, and we are going to come into a relationship. We are going to come into this relationship."
You are going to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and live for him for the rest of your life and say, "God, I want to do this. Give me strength to do this."
I'm going to pray this prayer for you, this closing prayer. And I'm going to pray a line, and then I want to ask that you would pray the line in this closing prayer. And I'm going to ask you to pray it out loud. But the other people around you will pray it out loud with you. Nobody prays alone at River Valley. We will pray with you. I'm going to pray a line and then you pray a line, and we are going to pray this prayer and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins.
Let's pray this. Dear Lord Jesus, I'm sorry for my sins and all that I have done wrong, and I ask for your forgiveness. Please forgive me, I know you will. And now I pledge to live for you the rest of my life. You are the risen king. You died and rose again so I can be forgiven. And I believe that. I turn from my sins and turn to you and ask you to forgive me. I will live for you.
Lord, I thank you for those people that made that prayer; so simple, so profound and so real. They turned from their sins. They asked for forgiveness. Whatever it was that stood in there way, I pray that they would realize it has been rolled away, it has been forgiven, and you now have come into a relationship with them. They are your children, they are forgiven, and they can now live for you for the rest of their life. We thank you, God, for this, and we celebrate this, Lord. You are the risen king. You are the risen king, and we celebrate that today. In Jesus' name we pray.
We had about 33 people that raised their hand to do that. Can we say thank God for those people. [Clapping] Thank God for those people that did that. Amen.
I want us to stand all across this place and sing this song, just the chorus of it, Roll the stone away. We won't mind if you do a little roll. But the stone was rolled away for 33 people, and I think we should sing this song with some joy. Come on, sing it.
Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing hallelujah. Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing hallelujah. We rise as you are risen. Jesus, you are the risen king. You are alive. In you we are forgiven. Jesus, you are the risen king. You are alive. Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing hallelujah. Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing hallelujah.
All right, I want to talk to those people. Yes, that's amazing. We are going to sing it one more time. It's a great song. It's a great, great song, and it proclaims the truth of what has happened in people's lives and what Jesus did two thousand years ago. But to those people that made that decision, can I just do something real quick with you? I would like you to tell someone before you go to bed tonight that you gave your life to Jesus. You can say, "I don't have it all figured out, but I gave my life to Jesus. I made him my Lord and Savior and I'm starting a new walk and a new relationship with Jesus Christ." So tell someone. Tell a friend. Tell a neighbor. Tell somebody at church. But out of your mouth verbally tell someone, "I did it. I did it." I'm excited for those.
And the other thing I'd tell you, on your way out our ushers will have this book, Now What. They would love to get this to you. They will just be standing there, and if you want one, just ask them for it. They will give it to you. As a matter of fact, I think the prayer teams will have it, too.
So, prayer teams, you can make your way on up here in the front. They will have it, too.
If you want to come up and get prayer or talk to somebody, like, "What do I do," this can just give you that next step. "What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Now that I rolled the stone away, what do I do?" They will have the books. The ushers will have it on the way out. And, of course, those CDs are out on the table in the lobby. You can grab one of those. Everybody can get one.
But I just want you to do two things; tell somebody you gave your life to Jesus and get this and go through it. I helped to write this just so you can know now how do I live. You know, because it says, Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing. That's really saying we've got a life that's different now. Now what? Now what do we do? We sing hallelujah. Well, we live differently because of Jesus. So now what do we do?
One more time I want us to sing it. Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. And we'll celebrate.
Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing hallelujah. Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing hallelujah. Roll the stone away. See the empty grave. We lift our hands and sing hallelujah.
He's risen. He's risen indeed! Let's have an amazing weekend celebrating our risen king and celebrating all the lives that will have the stone rolled away in their life. Have an amazing week serving the Lord. If you made that decision, be sure to get that book. And the EP is for everyone. God bless you. Have a great week.
