title: Resurrection
date: April 1, 2018 (Easter Sunday)
teacher: Jacob Bender
scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:3-11, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Acts 8:1, Acts 9, Luke 23:46-47
After the Resurrection in Luke, Jesus says something so significant:
And this is one of the most significant things that he could say… Because he says REPENT. Repent, because your life IS NOT THE WAY THAT IT SHOULD BE! the world is not the way that it should be! NONE OF US ARE AS WE SHOULD BE!
Jesus says “PROCLAIM TO THE WORLD… because the WHOLE WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR…
repent!”
and we read it as GUILT… but we SHOULD READ IT AS HOPE!
Because to repent means “to change your mind” or “to turn around” - and the reason that this is so incredibly significant is because the Resurrection tells us that LIFE DOESN’T HAVE TO STAY THE WAY THAT IT IS RIGHT NOW! You and me, and our friends and our children, we can come to terms with the fact THAT LIFE IS NOT AS IT SHOULD BE, and we can TURN AND MOVE IN A BETTER DIRECTION.
The church as a body, who has for so long been the REASON that so many others DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS STORY, BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT WE MISREPRESENTED IT…
WE CAN TURN! We can acknowledge, WE WERE DOING IT WRONG, and we can change our minds, and begin working to make our communities better… we can work to help our neighbors achieve their dreams…
That is HOPE.
You can acknowledge: THE WAY THAT I AM LIVING, not only do I know that it is not right in my heart… BUT IT IS OBVIOUSLY DESTROYING ME IN MY LIFE… it is obviously having a HORRIBLE affect on my family. You, RIGHT NOW, IN THIS MOMENT can change your mind about the way that you live.
That is what it means to repent! it means that you turn and move in a different, more healthy direction, BECAUSE OF RESURRECTION.
Hope is forever… AND HOPE STARTS NOW.
