Journey to the Cross - Series
Why Does Easter Matter So Much?
Easter ________?
Easter!
Easter - A Little Help Please
- Shame
- Scared
- Sorrow
- Suicide
- Salvation
- Sin
1. The Easter Story Didn't Happen, It Was The Plan of God. (vs. 51 - Luke 9:22, 31)
Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Luke 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
Psalm 22:13–15 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
2. The Easter Story Demands a Response. (vs. 52-53)
Why Did Samaratins Reject Jesus?
3. The Easter Story Matters More Than We May Think. (vs. 54-56)
1. Christmas is Really About Easter.
2. You - messy, sinful you - Matter to God.
3. Sin is not a small flaw, it is what separates you from God.
4. Easter lets us know why “Good Works” Don't Work.
5. It Reveals the Heart and Plan of God.
The “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, said, “We need to be ashamed at the bare suspicion of unconcern.” A Christian cannot be apathetic about the salvation of the world. The love of God in him will motivate him to seek and save that which is lost. Remember that you have the sobering responsibility of speaking to other peoples’ loved ones. Perhaps another Christian has prayed earnestly that God would use a faithful witness to speak to his beloved mom or dad, and you are the answer to that prayer. You are the true and faithful witness God wants to use. Keep the fate of the ungodly before your eyes. Too many of us settle down on a padded pew and become introverted. Our world becomes a monastery without walls. Our friends are confined solely to those within the Church, when Jesus was the “friend of sinners.” So take the time to deliberately befriend the lost for the sake of their salvation. Remember that each and every person who dies in his sins has an appointment with the Judge of the Universe. Hell opens wide its terrible jaws. There is no more sobering task than to be entrusted with the gospel of salvation—working with God for the eternal well-being of dying humanity. Ray Comfort