Living With Resurrection Power
March 31, 2001 Pastor Glenn Newton
John 3:16 says, "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.”
This morning I want you to know that there is something so Powerful, so Great
that your life, your Outlook, Your Future can all be totally Transformed, or changed.
This Transformation that is Available can move you from a place where you feel
trapped, without Hope, To a new place where you can feel true Freedom and Have a
Hope for the Future.
This Transformation is so powerful that it can help you overcome any
circumstance that you are faced with. Did you hear what I just said. REPEAT.
You Can’t Buy it. You don’t get it a box. Your Doctor can’t perscribe it for you.
This Transformation isn’t brought about at the gym, it’s not a makeover, it’s not a
self-help strategy.
This morning, This Easter Morning I want to share with you a simple message that
can Change your Life forever. I want to tell you about the Resurrection Power found in
Knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
I want you to realize that it is more than just Knowing about Jesus and what He
did on that first Easter when He rose from the dead. Do you realize that millions of
people will walk into churches all over the world today, right now, they will hear the
message, many of them Know about Jesus and what He did, and even believe that He is
truely the Son of God, but yet they will walk out of the church building and nothing will
be different.
What I want you to know this morning is that you can experience the Living,
Resurrected God in your life this morning, but only if you will humble yourself and invite
Jesus to come into your life and wash your sins away, and in doing so you will move from
Dead in your Transgressions, to being Alive In Christ. Only then will you know the
Transforming Power of Christ.
This morning I read to you from Scripture the account that has been read for
hundreds of years. There are so called scholars who would try to decieve you by telling
you that the Resurrection never happened. They have all kind of theories they have made
up out of thin air.
Let me tell you this morning that their is more scientific, historical, archeological
evidence that Jesus Christ lived, died on a Cross, and Rose again on the third day, that if
you were to stack up the evidence that we have on any other person in history that they
really lived, the evidence we have on Jesus is unmatched.
Let me say it this way. George Washington, how many of you saw him in person
this week? None of you? How many of you have ever seen George Washington in
person? None of you? Since none of us have ever seen him, how do we know that he
really lived?
We have written history. We have some physical evidence from over 200 years
ago. We have the eye witness accounts of his life recorded. We have oral traditions
passed down through our families.
None of us here this morning would dispute that George Washington lived would
we?
I can tell you with confidence that the evidence that we have that Jesus lived, died
and rose again from the Dead would dwarf the evidence that we have on George
Washington.
I don’t feel like your probably the kind of crowd that would debate these facts, but
I want you to know that our Christian Faith is not based on some fairy tale, it’s based on a
real person of history, who did exactly what’s in this Bible.
The Resurrection had a world changing effect on those first disciples. Remember
the ones who were locked in their homes, afraid of the Romans, afraid of the Jews,
basically scared out of their minds.
There is only one explaination for the difference we see in the lives of those first
disciples, where they went from hiding in their homes to being a group of men and women
who literally turned the Roman empire upside down because of their testimony and faith.
They didn’t hide anymore, in fact they all gave their lives, spilled their blood for the cause
of their risen Savior.
What was it that so transformed thier lives?
I don’t know about you, but If I saw my friend nailed to a Cross, dead, stabbed in the
heart with a spear, and then in three days I realize that He has risen from the dead, in fact
He comes to my house and shows me his nail scars, and He tells me that He loves me and
that He wants me to Live for Him, guess What? I’m going to be a changed person.
Can I tell you something this morning?
When you encounter the Living Jesus, and when you Give Your Life To Him, There’s
going to be a change. New Life will be poured into your soul. New Hope will be restored
in your heart.
Your priorities in life will get in order. When you encounter the Living Christ and
you realize that Your mission in Life is to Live for Him, that changes your perspective.
Your Family
Your Job
Your Hobbies
Your Money
Your Dreams
Everything comes underneath the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He becomes number one.
When you encounter the Living God in your Life, He’s going to make some wholesale
changes, but you don’t have to worry, He’s going to help you make those changes, and
better than that, He will even give you the desire to make those changes that He puts on
your heart.
Friend, don’t think you need to clean up your life before you make a decision for
Jesus. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners, and have fallen short of glory of God. In
other words, you can scrub all you want, you will never qualify on your own.
Only the Blood of Jesus can wash us and make us Holy before the Heavenly Father.
Glenn, you don’t understand. You don’t know the things that I have in my past..... you
don’t really know what I’ve done, what kind of person I’ve been.
Let me tell you what I love so much about God. He doesn’t Care where you’ve been, He
doesn’t care how bad you’ve been. His Love is reaching out to you this morning no
matter your circumstances, He has never stop loving you, even if you’ve ignored Him.
When Jesus was hanging there on that cross, He was there because He loved you, and He
was there Paying the Penalty for all the things you’ve ever done or ever could do. There’s
nothing in your life that surprizes Him.
John 3:16 says, "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.”
Whoever...... Whoever will believe in Jesus, Whoever is everybody who Will. You
have to Believe in Him. You have to put your Faith in Him, and enter into this coveneant
relationship with Him.
What can you look forward to when You Give your life to Christ, and you experience this
Resurrection Power in your own life?
1. This first thing you can look forward to is that you will have your name written down
in the Book of Life, and you will have a place in Heaven, you will have joined His family
and you will live for eternity with God. You gain heaven and you escaped Hell.
2. Living for Jesus will give you Hope and Purpose for this life. People who don’t have a
purpose in life will lose Hope quickly. As a Christian you will learn that God has a
specific plan for your life, and it doesn’t matter if you feel like you have wasted much of
your life, God will take you where you are, and use your gifts, and your talents to make a
difference right where your at. The Resurrection power, God’s Spirit living in you will be
something that people will not be able to explain in your life. You will be amazed at how
God will use you.
3. The Power of God in your life will turn you into a Overcomer. As a Christian you are
not promised to be free from problems in this life. Becoming a Christian doesn’t wipe
away your financial debt, it doesn’t keep you from being sick, it doesn’t insulate you from
life. But, when those trials and problems arise, God’s Spirit living in you will help you to
be an Overcomer in your spirit, God will help you to keep perspective. God will give you
the grace to handle anything that comes your way.
This Easter, what will you do with the Risen Savior? What will you do with this
message of Hope?
I want to tell you that what your looking for, can be found right here. If the Holy Spirit is
drawing you this morning, tugging at your heart, you will know it. You see, it’s that
Spirit that will live inside you and help you, and guide you and will empower you to live
for God. It’s that same spirit that transformed the lives of the early disciples and made
them into world changers.
Will you give your life to Jesus? He will transform you life and give you a peace and a
Hope that can’t be found anywhere else.
How we do this is very simple. We are going to sing a chorus as our invitation this
morning. We are going to stand together and as we sing, if you want to pray and ask
Jesus to Make this Transformation in your life, then I invite you to just slip out from
where you are and come and pray at our alters.
