April 19-20, 2003        IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE!           Selected

CELEBRATING LOVE AND LIFE!

THE REASON WHY THIS CELEBRATION

OF LOVE AND LIFE IS SO IMPORTANT!

1. THERE ARE REASONS TO BELIEVE IT!

***Cor. 15:14,17,20“ Face it—if there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've told you…and everything you've staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up…!” [The Message]

A. BECAUSE OF THE EMPTY TOMB!

$ Dr. John Warwick Montgomery Dean of the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, "It passes the bounds of credibility that the early Christians could have manufactured such a tale as the empty tomb and then preached it among those who might easily have refuted it by simply producing the body of Jesus! It is unreasonable that one historian, one eyewitness, one antagonist would not record for all time that he had seen Christ's dead body. The silence of history is deafening when it comes to testimony against the resurrection!"

B. BECAUSE OF JESUS’ POST-RESURRECTION APPEARANCES!

*** 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “I passed on to you what was most important…that Christ died…was buried…and he was raised from the dead…. He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive…. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. I saw him, too….”

 [New Living Translation]

3. BECAUSE OF THE CHANGED LIVES OF THE APOSTLES!

$ WHAT COULD CAUSE SUCH A CHANGE? THE RESURRECTION!

$ Simon Greenleaf, Past Dean of Harvard School of Law and an expert on the reliability of a witnesses testimony wrote: “It was impossible that the Apostles could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact.”

*** 1 Cor. 15:1-4 “My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life….”

 [Contemporary English Version]

2. THERE ARE REWARDS BECAUSE OF IT!

A. MY GUILT CAN BE GONE!

*** Colossians 2:13-14 “Christ…forgave all our sins. He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross.”

 [New Century Version]

$ WHAT GOD HAS FORGIVEN, I CAN FORGET!

$BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION MY PAST IS PARDONED!

B. MY FUTURE CAN BE FEARLESS!

$ PEACE BE WITH YOU!

*** John 20:19 “On the evening of that first day of the week…Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" [New International Version]

*** John 20:21 “Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you….” [NIV]

*** John 20:26 “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

$BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION MY PANIC CAN BE REPLACED WITH PEACE!

C. MY PRESENCE CAN HAVE PURPOSE!

$ WHY ARE WE HERE?

*** 1 Peter 1:3 “Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for….” [The Message]

*** Acts 20:24 “But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus….” [NLT]

$BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION MY SELF CAN FIND SIGNIFICANCE!

D. MY HOME CAN BE HEAVEN!

$EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM IS GOING TO FACE A “WHAT THEN?”

*** 2 Cor. 4:14 “God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, and we know that God will also raise us with Jesus. God will bring us together with you, and we will stand before him.” [NCV]

*** 1 Thes. 4:14-18 “For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. I can tell you this directly from the Lord…the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout…and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. So comfort and encourage each other with these words.” [NLT]

$ Believe! Admit! Surrender! Express!

$ BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION MY SALVATION CAN BE SECURE!

“Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death,

he has given us new life and a hope that lives on.” 1 Peter 1:3 [CEV]