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Come Alive | Easter 2022
False Truths: Information that is presented as fact, but is instead an opinion
- “Pizza is the best food in the world” – Option
- “The sun will rise again tomorrow” – Fact
A lot of truth is presented to our life a HOUSE OF MIRRORS at the fair
- Presented as truth, but distorted and misshaped
- If That was the only mirror you had ever seen, then you would believe it to be true
That the truth that we believe may not actually be the truth but could be a distortion of the truth
- Based on opinion
- Based on an agenda
Why am I talking about truth on Easter Sunday?
- As Christians, we have a unique perspective on the truth
- We don’t believe that truth is a concept, but a person
John 14
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way,… the truth,… and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
I’m here to tell you a truth:
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Without the resurrection of Jesus, that claim would be a lie
1 Corinthians 15
14 …if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.
Jesus’ Resurrection is the single MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN HISTORY
Here’s the problem for many of us…
We view the Resurrection of Jesus as a “TRUTH” for ETERNITY
- Meaning, We believe that we will got heaven one day
But we don’t view it as the “TRUTH” for our everyday lives
- It doesn’t really have any effect on our lives now
That Easter is a day where we CELEBRATE SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST THAT WILL EVENTUALLY AFFECT THE FUTURE
- Sometime in the future
But remember what we just said…
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING
- That means the future
- And our life now
I’ve said all this, to get us to what I really want to talk about
There is a HUGE gap between what CULTURE’S OPINION of Christianity vs The FACTS about Christianity
Let’s read some that I have picked out for us this morning…
Culture’s Opinion: “Church is a waste of time!”
- DATA (Facts): REGULAR church attendance literally gives you more time, increasing life expectancy by up to 7 years.
https://pik.fas.harvard.edu/files/pik/files/chapter.pdf
Culture’s Opinion: “The church is morally backward and bad for society!”
- DATA (Facts): The church is GREAT for society, and the higher the church attendance in a community, the lower the…
- Burglary
- Larceny
- Robbery
- Assault
- Homicide
- Etc
https://outreachmagazine.com/features/discipleship/67339-is-religious-faith-really-good-for-us.html
Culture’s Opinion: “The church is emotionally repressive and destructive to your mental health!”
- DATA (Facts): Regular church attendance DRAMATICALLY improves your mental health. The ONLY people in the US whose mental health improved in 2020 was regular church attenders.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/dec/6/regular-churchgoers-top-gallups-mental-health-poll/
Culture’s Opinion: “Christians don’t care about the poor, they just care about political power.”
- DATA (Facts): Church-going Christians are exponentially more generous to the poor with both time and money than the rest of the population.
https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/resource/statistics-on-u-s-generosity/
Culture’s Opinion: “The church is oppressive to women and a tool of abusive patriarchy, and creates toxic relationships for women!”
- DATA (Facts): Christian gender-traditional church-going women are in the happiest relationships in America and abuse decreases ~50% in this category. Church attendance significantly decreases the abuse of women.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1387950
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5330&context=facpub
Culture’s Opinion: The church doesn’t help your marriage, the divorce rates are the same!
- DATA (Facts): ACTIVELY PRACTICING Christians who attend church regularly are 35% less likely to divorce.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-divorce-rate.html
Culture’s Opinion: “Christians aren’t really pro-life, they’re just pro-birth. They don’t care about babies after they’re born!”
- DATA (Facts): Christians adopt more children than any other population segment, more than doubling the norm.
https://www.barna.com/research/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-adoption/
Culture’s Opinion: “The church is sexually repressive and anti-sex! PURITY CULTURE!”
- DATA (Facts): Church-going Christians are in a category with the MOST FULFILLING sex lives.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5330&context=facpub
Culture’s Opinion: “Church is irrelevant or ideologically and emotionally harmful to children!”
- DATA (Facts): Regular church attendance significantly decreases all three of the “big 3” dangers of adolescence: Depression, Substance Abuse, and Sexual Promiscuity.
None of this is to say that the church is perfect, there are never problems, etc.
- The church is full of imperfect people
But it is correct to say that there is often a MASSIVE gap between the cultural narrative and reality.
The TRUTH is: Following Jesus and being a part of his church dramatically changes your life
Or to say it another way…
Following Jesus makes like better and makes you better at life.
But why is this true?
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Let’s look at a story that will help us understand this concept a little better…
Ezekiel 37
1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by his Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. 3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I replied, “Lord God, only you know.”
4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord(or hear the TRUTH of the Lord)! 5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I Am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, my people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it. This is the declaration of the Lord.’”
Here’s a little background for understanding what is going on…
- Israel is in Exile
- They have been driven out of the promised Land
Their Spiritual condition is like the dry bones Ezekiel sees in the valley
God shows Ezekiel through this vision that EVEN THOUGH the people of Israel may seem like dry bones, God gives a promise that he will bring his breath of life over them once again
I specifically want to look at verse 4 again…
Ezekiel 37
4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
The word of WHO?!
- Of the Lord
- Hear the TRUTH OF THE LORD
The power of God is realized through the WORD OF THE LORD
- Life is found in the word of the LORD
What is the WORD OF THE LORD?
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life,[a] and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
Jesus is THE WORD
Jesus is the power of God for salvation, renewal, and resurrection
I share all of this to say…
The Resurrection of Jesus has the power to change your life
- Disciples running scared, then bold in the face of danger
Changed cities, countries, the world
- It is still doing that
I think some of you, maybe many of you have been living with a distorted version of the Truth about Jesus and what His resurrection means..
- Maybe you don’t fully understand why Jesus even needed to die
- Maybe you don’t fully believe in this much at all because we all know that dead people stay dead
- Maybe you believe, but don’t understand how it really applies to your daily life
But I want to tell you THE TRUTH
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING
If you are not living in THAT TRUTH, then your HEART and you LIFE are like DRY BONES in a dessert
- No hope for life
- No hope of Thriving
- No hope for healing
BUT THERE IS HOPE!
- Just like Ezekiel speaking to the dry bones THE WORD — THE TRUTH of the LORD, So I speak it to you!
The Truth that…
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING
You want to have Hope in this life?
- Look to the Resurrection!
You want to have healing of your mind or body?
- Look to the Resurrection!
You want to have your marriage restored?
- Look to the Resurrection!
You want to give your kids their best shot for their future?
- Look to the Resurrection!
You want to overcome your past, no matter how dark?
- Look to the Resurrection!
This is not just a hope for our ETERNAL FUTURE, it is HOPE FOR NOW!
I gave you those facts because OF COURSE, THEY ARE TRUE
- That Following Jesus isn’t’ just a good idea, It’s the purpose of your LIFE!
Because of the Resurrection of Jesus, even the most broken, dry, dead parts of our life can COME ALIVE!
Earlier I shared those data points
- Maybe you were surprised by some of them…
But we shouldn’t be surprised!
The Resurrection of Jesus is life-changing for us NOW and for our eternal future
I think that many of you have something in your life that is like those dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision
- Something that has died or been dead a long time
Some things that may be dry bones:
- Your Faith
- Your Hope
- Your Trust in God
- Your Marriage/Important relationships
- Your purpose
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING
When you allow the truth and power of this event to work in you, It will change you too
- It will change those broken parts of your life
The resurrection allows the dead parts of your life to COME ALIVE
- To have faith as you’ve never had
- To hope as you’ve never hoped before
- To have a purpose that can weather ANY storm
- To have life-giving relationships
So as Ezekiel called out to the dry bones in the valley, I call out to the dry bones in your life!
HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD AND LIVE!!