Please bow our heads. Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find wisdom, and in your will, discover your peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Christ is Risen, (He is risen indeed)
Good morning,
Welcome to the Blue Lake Presbyterian Church on this Easter Sunday, and thank you all for coming.
The title to today’s message is “Risen for You”
The other day I heard a story of this lady, who surprised a burglar that had broken into her house one night. She was standing in the kitchen, she was home alone, didn’t have a weapon, she didn’t know what she should do.
So at one point she thought, I will say a scripture verse. She shouted Acts 2:38. At that point the burglar suddenly froze in his tracks, and he wouldn’t move. Pretty soon the police arrived.
They were amazed that a woman with no weapon was able to stop the burglar. So they asked the burglar: what was it about that scripture that had such a profound effect on you. He said scripture, what scripture? I thought she said, she had an axe and 2 38’s.
Speaking of Acts, the message this morning, is based on Acts 10: 34-43.
You may ask, why a message on Acts? Why not one of the Gospels on the Easter morning? The answer is simple, the Lord put in on my heart to give a message on Acts.
But let’s start with a question: What do “The Empire Strikes Back”, Home Alone, lost in New York, The Pink Panther Returns, The lost World, Jurassic Park and Star Trek Beyond, have in common??
You guess it; these familiar movies are all sequels to original movies that were very popular in their own right.
There are sequels in the bible as well. As a matter of fact the Old Testament is essentially a history book with a series of sequels. For instance the Book of Joshua is a sequel to Deuteronomy, the story of Israelites spending 40 years in the wilderness.
In the New Testament the ultimate sequel is the book of Acts. It is written by Luke following the Gospel of Luke, and it describes the development of the early church.
Author Malcolm Gladwell after his bestseller “The Tipping Point “wrote a sequel titled “Blink”. It is a fascinating book redefining the way we think.
Likewise the book of Acts, redefined the premise that the God of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is also God of the whole world , through his son Jesus Christ. It is the heavenly blessing available to YOU, to all, who believe.
Today’s scripture reading had a profound effect on history, it ultimately became the impetus that brought us here on this Easter morning.
On this beautiful Easter Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Earlier, Milt read the “Resurrection” narrative from the 24th chapter of Luke:
The first 3 verses set the stage: But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they went in, they did not find the body.
All four gospels describe the resurrection. John’s Gospel is the most detailed in recounting the turn of events that morning.
On the other end Luke who wrote the longest Gospel including parables and miracles, counting over 19,000 words, was relative brief and concise in his Easter narrative using only 242 words, shorter than the other 3 Gospels.
But it is in his sequel, the book of Acts, the resurrection story continues.
In Acts 1, Luke provides and extended version of the ascension which becomes the framework of the book describing a ministry that started in Jerusalem spread through Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth.
In Acts 10, Luke touches on the “Resurrection” in a profound way which provides relevance to each and every one of us as we sit here today. This is where Risen for you, and for me, for all of us, comes into the picture
Earlier God had prompted Cornelius in a vision to reach out to Peter who at the time was living in Joppa, just north of present day Tel Aviv.
Cornelius sent a few of his men to Peter with a message that he wanted to meet him, at his house in Caesarea 50 miles up the coast.
When Peter arrived, Cornelius gathers a group of friends and family to hear what Peter had to say.
In the passage Peter gives a speech to this group of Gentiles, non-Jews, and this speech is what ultimately took the Easter story to the whole world.
This speech can be found in Acts 10 verse 34 – 43 on page …129……….your pew bible
34Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand, that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him, and does what is right, is acceptable to him. 36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39We are witnesses to all that he did, both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us, to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God, as judge of the living and the dead.
43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
In the first chapter of Acts, Luke writes that after the crucifixion, Jesus showed that he was alive again, using many indisputable proofs.
He showed himself to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, and shortly thereafter to the other women who were returning from the tomb, he showed himself to Peter, to John, to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to the other disciples.
Several days later he appeared to Thomas, and he even allowed Thomas to touch his wounds. The bible tells us in John 21:1-2 that he appeared to 7 disciples at the Sea of Galilea.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:6 about eyewitness reports of an appearance of Jesus to over 500 people at one time. All of his disciples were present when he ascended, on the Mt of Olives.
But Peter’s speech in Acts 10, has significance of unlimited proportions, it took the message of the “Good News” of Jesus Christ to the whole world it was a message for all, for you and me.
In verse 41 Peter says: 41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
Jesus had predicted this in John 14:19, in a little while the world will see me, no more, but you will see me. In John 14:21 Jesus had foretold he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
After his resurrection Jesus DID manifest himself to those who believed. To the disciples he had chosen, he showed himself openly, and he does to us as well as long as we believe.
Peter in his speech provided a culmination of 1000 years of predictions by the prophets that salvation is found in the name of Jesus. In verse 43 he said: All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him, receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
In this passage Peter underscores that Jesus was risen for all people “Risen for You” no matter where you are, no matter what you have done in the past.
Last month, I gave a message titled “Letting Go”, we played the song of Louis Armstrong, “Let My people Go”.
For days afterwards, this song kept playing in my head.
Then I took my daughter Sarah on a trip to Israel, visiting flower farms and seeing some historic sights.
After arriving at the Ben Gurion airport after a14 hour flight we took an Uber to the hotel in Tel Aviv, the driver had his radio dial, playing 50’s and 60’s songs.
Low and behold, 10 minutes into the ride, Louis Armstrong comes on singing “Let my People Go”. Coincidence??.
Then the next morning, we went on a tour to Northern Israel to Nazareth and Sea of Galilea and Capernaum. The tour guide introduces himself as Ami.
He explained, my parents gave my name based on the Jewish saying “Shalach na et Ami”, Hebrew for the words Moses spoke, meaning: “Let my people go”.
At this point I was starting to get goose bumps, wondering what are we going to run into next, in this amazing Country.
The highlight came a few days later in Jerusalem at the tomb, which I will touch on in a moment.
Ami was a wonderful tour guide, the trip was filled with references about the life of Jesus, the hometown of Mary and Joseph, the church of the Immaculate Conception.
The town of Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle turning water into wine.
Then down to the shores of the Sea of Galilea.
We stopped in Capernaum. As a result of excavations many of the walls of houses that were there at the time have been uncovered, including the house of Peter and the synagogue where Jesus taught and preached.as described in Luke 4:31.
Ami said a few things, that provoked my curiosity. In Nazareth at a statue of Joseph he said, Joseph is most important person, because he is the one, who incited the principles of life and good living to his son Jesus.
On one occasion while our tour group was in Capernaum, at the statue of Peter, Ami said Peter took over after Jesus was killed.
Then I remembered that in Judaism, Jesus was considered a teacher and prophet and he died on a cross, but the Jewish people consider that the end of the story, as recorded Matthew 28:15
As we stood inside the ruins of that synagogue in Capernaum, our tour guide said: this right here, is the most important historical site in the life of Jesus.
This is where he shared his principles and way of living with the people in Capernaum.
The group of about 19 people all stood around our tour guide as he was making this proclamation.
At this point I could no longer bite my lip, so I asked: but how can this be the most important historical site? Isn’t the tomb in Jerusalem where the resurrection took place, the most important historical site?
I said, if it wasn’t for the resurrection we wouldn’t be standing here right now, there wouldn’t be 50 busloads of tourists here, if it wasn’t for the resurrection.
Then it got quiet for a moment, as some in the tour group were nodding.
A few days later on Sunday, March 31 we went to Jerusalem. We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, originally constructed in 326AD. It was built over the tomb where Jesus was buried for 3 days, therefore the location of the resurrection.
This church is shared by different denominations including Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church and others.
We happened to be there at 11.00 am, at the exact time, a Greek Orthodox procession circled the site of the tomb, and a Roman Catholic mass was held only yards away.
It was a unbelievably moving experience, standing there with 1000’s of believers of all different denominations in the same location where it all happened on that Sunday morning, less than 2000 years ago………….
Peter had said in his speech in verse 43:everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
On August 16 1987 North West flight 255 crashed after taking off from the Detroit airport. 154 people died, but there was only one survivor, a 4 year old little girl named Cecelia from Tempe Arizona.
Rescuers found her in in the wreckage, it is believed that her Mother unbuckled her own seatbelt, got down on her knees and wrapped herself around the little girl. She had separated her, from the impact of the crash, and her daughter survived.
God did the same for us, he wrapped himself around us, as Jesus, took the full force of our fall, Jesus took the punishment of our sins at the cross.
The cross became the bridge though Jesus Christ over which we can walk to God, to the Kingdom of Heaven.
When a fire swept through Laguna Canyon in 1993, one of the properties destroyed was the Hortense Miller botanical garden containing more than 2000 varieties of plants and flowers.
The place had been like a paradise of beautiful flowers and greenery.
The fire had blackened the hillside as it left its ugly scars. People called it a total loss, a complete disaster, and it was.
But just 5 months later, the hills were alive with the beauty of wild flowers which had not been seen in the area for 30 to 100 years.
These wildflower seeds, had laid there dormant, and not being able to flourish because of all the other vegetation.
Sometimes a seemingly disastrous situation, could create the right opportunities for great things to develop.
So it is with our faith, the seeds may lay dormant in our hearts for years, until the opportunity for the Gospel to take a hold of our heart, arises.
That opportunity may be here today.
Jesus said in John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life”: He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives by believing in me, will never die.
Jesus offered to everyone, to you and to me, the possibility of eternal life, a free gift to all.
Will we let those seeds of faith, that may have been dormant for a while, germinate in our hearts.
Friends, let the good news of the Easter story fill our hearts, enrich our souls.
Let our cups be filled with the Grace and Glory of God.
Thine is the Glory, Risen conquering Son
Believe and the light will shine.
Happy Easter to all,
God Bless you,
Amen
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