Easter 2023 – Hope has a heart beat

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Easter 2023 – Hope has a heart beat

Good morning and welcome to Jesus Church – Happy Easter!

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus because HE IS RISEN

• And whether this is your first time – here every week
  • We are so glad you are with us
• And maybe you are hear… wouldn’t call yourself Religious/Christian
  • Maybe someone invited you
  • Maybe someone threatened you
  • Maybe you just saw all the Easter candy at Fry’s
    • Thought you would check it out

But for some of you this morning… reminder for all of us

• When it comes to the story of the Resurrection of Jesus
  • I think a lot of time we wonder in the back of our mind…
    • Is this really relevant to me
    • 2000 years ago they claim a man died and rose again
    • How does that affect my life today
• Because honestly we only buy into things that are relevant 2 our lives
  • Take when you are a kids for example
    • I remember living in Seattle & there’s a big golf tournament
    • I went with a friend who’s dad was a well known banker
    • Got to meet Arnold Palmer… Phil Michelson… Chi Chi
  • And so now golf was relevant… I started watching it on TV
    • And if you ever watch golf on TV (now on the golf channel)
    • 80% of the commercials are for some type of pain
  • Like Icy Hot with Shaqelle O Neil rubbing on his back… feel better
    • And I didn’t care about that
    • I don’t have joint pain… I’m young/healthy
    • Why – It wasn’t relevant to me
    • I had absolutely no need for what I was being shown
• But true story ever since 40… started seeing commercial for biofreeze
  • Now I pay attention… Now get why commercial guy makes a face
    • Ever see as a kid – parents get up and straighten back
    • Not only that… I pop my back 5 times before I get out of bed
  • Other day we went put-put golfing with some friends (PUT PUT)
    • Michelle & I get home to go on our nightly walk
    • We’re talking about our hips hurt… back sore… feet swollen
    • For a round of PUT PUT golf!!!
  • Icy hot/Bio Freeze… is now very relevant to my life
    • So I pay attention to the good news about Icy hot
    • I don’t make jokes about Dr. Scholl’s anymore
    • In fact b4 I know it rewinding commercials something else

Question: How is sitting here today relevant to my life

What does resurrection have to do w/ me (or is this a icy hot commercial)

• But I say that resurrection has potential to effect your everyday life
  • In fact I believe that today I can prove to you…
  • A man dying on a cross 2000 years ago at a place called Galgatha
  • Can DRAMATICALLY effect you every single day of your life
• So what does rez have to do with me… how does this effect my life
  • Which brings us to one very special verse this morning

1 Pt 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

• I want to draw your attention to 2 words… LIVING HOPE
  • Wanna to talk to you for next 15min about a hope that is alive
  • A hope with a heartbeat
  • And a hope that you need

I think we would all agree that in 2023 we need hope like never before

• In fact I think we all agree however we can get hope – we take it
  • Just give me something to hope in… to hope for
  • Most people right now don’t care where it comes from
    • If I need to buy a super venti carmel frappachio with Whip!!!
    • Just give me something to look forward to… then so be it
• For some of us… we just need something to get out of bed for
  • Because if you watch the news – twitter feed – facebook
  • You’ll never want to get out of bed again
  • You find the opposite of hope

Today I want to share or remind you – There is a hope… not man made

• Ready and available to every one of us – Bible calls it a living hope
  • Which means its more than an IDEA/CONCEPT/TEACHING
    • Maybe you heard someone say: lets be “Hope filled people”
    • Maybe you heard lets find “Hope in the hard times”
• But what happens if you lost ur job last year/friends/loved ones
  • And your question is why should I have hope
  • I had hope in this thing… and now that hope is gone
• What we need: Is a true and everlasting hope
  • I’m not hear to just tell you to expect something good today
  • I’m not hear to tell you lets just be positive

TAG: There has to be more substance than just an idea or pep talk

So what does the Bible mean by a LIVING hope

What does it mean to say HOPE has a heart beat

• And you might be wondering… how can hope be alive
  • Here is the key: Hope we talk about – Person not a Principle
  • When we say Jesus rose from the grave 2000 years ago
  • What we are saying is HOPE DIED… and the UNDIED
• When Jesus died – Everything was lost
  • Because Jesus said he was God and God doesn’t die
  • When disciples saw Jesus dead and walked away from the tomb
• It mean that Jesus must have been the biggest fraud of all time
  • Because if someone says “I’m God”… and then dies
    • We don’t call them a good person or great teacher
    • No that would be a CONMAN and a LIAR
  • Once Jesus died… hope in Jesus died with him
    • And Jesus had told them he was gonna die – but not for long
    • That makes no sense to us… you don’t die and come back
    • When you die you die – You don’t say I’ll be right back
      • You aren’t going to chick-fil-a… you’re going to the grave

So Jesus dies – But then gets back up from the grave (Hope is alive)

• If there is someone who looks like us, grows like us, talks like us
  • But does not sin like us…
  • Is not selfish like us
• He says: I’ll live a sinless life so I can pay penalty for your sin filled life
  • Bible says we all hurt each other at times
  • Bible says that all of us look out for ourselves
  • Bible says that all of us are selfish & self-centered
    • Want proof… when someone takes a group picture you’re in
    • Who is the first person you look for in the picture (YOU)
    • And what happens if your eyes closed… mouth open…
    • Oh that’s a terrible picture – Delete it right now

Jesus – Lived a perfect life – So he could take on our sin

• I can’t pay for your sin – WHY – Because I have to pay for my own
  • Jesus pays for my sin so I can be seen as sinless before God
  • If someone pays it forward at the Wendy’s drive thru
  • I no longer owe anything for my food… Jesus paid it forward

TAG: What we need is a living hope

Today I want to give 3 things Jesus as a

LIVING HOPE allows us to have

First – Living hope brings expectation

Hope gives us an expectation of good… and boy can we use it

• B/C you get hit enough times – you put expectations in the drawer
  • Have you left your expectations in the garage
  • Have you thrown them in your closet
  • Given up on believing something good can happen
• And maybe you’ve always been an optimist – World we live in
  • It just knocked it right out of you
  • You hear positive people say its gonna be a great day
  • All you can think of is “HOW”…
    • I can’t even put my hope in my bank anymore
    • There are wars breaking out all around us
    • There’s a meditated attack on the US Dollar
• And honestly NOTHING seems sure or secure
  • So we take our expectations & think I’ll get back to this someday
  • And we close the door to hope

Here’s a very human way we look at expectations

• We think we can expect something IF there’s a reason to expect it
  • So we believe my expectation of good is tied to my own goodness
  • Ever heard term “You made your bed… now lie in it”
  • That teaches: If you haven’t been good – Shouldn’t expect good
• So when someone gets on a stage and says “Lets expect good things”
  • We hear – I have to do better… so God can give me good
    • The message of Jesus isn’t DO GO > GET GOOD
    • The message is do bad/be bad/sin bad because you are bad
      • And if you would believe in Jesus… you GET GOD (good)

Matt 7:11

If you then, who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

• You know why we don’t ask for good things
  • We don’t think we are good enough
  • But that isn’t how this works at all
• But the reason I can say that you can expect good things
  • Even though I don’t know ur situation… or maybe even your name
  • Is because your expectations are tied to me or even you…
  • They are tied to a Good God

Second – A living hope brings energy

One translation says instead of living hope – energetic hope

• Which means a hope that gives you energy… strength… perseverance
  • I drove downtown this week to pay for new commons flooring
  • There was the side of a building – Spray paint “Never give up”
  • And all I could think of was YES… THANK YOU!
    • I think we need that spraypainted in more places
• Why are you never gonna give up… why am I never gonna give up
  • Reason is because Jesus GOT UP from the grave
  • And if God is alive and put me here… I didn’t chose this – God did
  • If God has me here – Then he will sustain me here
• And each morning I get out of bed because I have mercy for today

Lam 3:22-23

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.

• • You might be convinced that you have nothing left in the tank
    • And no one cares that you’re running on empty
    • But Jesus is a relevant hope b/c mercy is new every morning
  • So if no one else cares about you running on empty
    • God does! And he has the means to refill your strength
    • What am I saying??? GOD CARES
  • And that might be the most important thing you hear this Easter
    • God cares about everything in your life

Third – It means experience

You are meant to experience this hope who is alive and available

• Because Jesus is a human being – Fully God / Full Man
  • And because hope is a human… hope is relational
  • Which means he is with you wherever you are
    • He was in the car with this morning when you drove here
    • He was on the couch with you when you were stressing out
    • He’s here right now “I will never leave you or forsake you”

Ps. 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will not fear for YOU are with me.

• That means HE is with you… in the room… at your side… always there
  • Have you lost a loved job… loved one… dream
  • B/C for this 2b relevant in ur life – That’s what I need to speak to
• Its great we can talk of a man who got out of a tomb 2k years ago
  • Maybe how you feel right now –
    • I feel like my health is a tomb
    • I feel like my marriage is a tomb
    • I feel like my business is a tomb
  • So how in the world can I tell you there’s hope when this is ur life
• And the only way I can speak hope with confidence this morning
  • Isn’t because of principles or keys to success
  • Its because our hope has a heart beat
  • Our hope is human – And Our hope is personal… relational…

You see – Jesus is here & in him is everything you need to hold on to hope

• And maybe this morning u think that’s great… for those good people
  • Its great if you are at church 2.7 times on average per month
  • Its great if you work in kids ministry and know the worship songs
• But what I know about Jesus (who is our hope) is that he pursues
  • And he pursues those who don’t follow him/believe him/like him
  • Which means hope is not something that’s there for you to find
  • Hope is there to find you

[PRAY]