You can watch the full service on Facebook or on Youtube.

Thought we don’t have sermon notes for the Sunrise service, you are still able to watch it on Facebook and Youtube as well.

Please remember that sermon notes are meant to act as a guide and may not be exactly what was preached.

Luke 24:1-12, John 3:16-18, 1 John 4:7-5:4

He is Risen! The cross of Christ represents two things: God’s love of mankind and His hatred of Sin. Jesus was sent to rescue us from sin (Matthew 1:21) to restore the relationship that was lost at the fall (2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2), and to bring us back into community with God.

Today we celebrate the resurrection, new life, and eternal life that is found in Jesus Christ. It is the resurrection that proves the truth of all that Jesus said. It proves God’s love for the World, that as believers our sin is forgiven, that we are set free from slavery to sin and darkness, and that by faith we are given new life in Christ, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:17-22)!

Jesus came to save His people from their sins. Two things we need to understand before we go on: Sin and God’s love, both are what sent Jesus Christ into this world. What is Sin? For you, it is a willful act on your part against the known will of God. Or, as John Wesley put it, “A willful transgression against the known will of God.” Sin is a rejection of the direction and guidance of God. Sin is Rebellion.  Not simply a list of things that we are to not do or to do…

Love is an action.  But do we comprehend the love of God? The whole tenor of this book is love. It is God’s love for us that led Jesus to the Cross because of our sin. At any given time, Jesus, as the Son of God, could have left that cross, but it was His love for us that kept Him there as the son of Man so that He could pay the penalty of sin for all who would choose to believe.

Jesus Christ suffered and died for the sin of the world, “He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is an act of love so that we could be brought back into relationship and community with God!

God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

…you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses…  – Ephesians 2:1-5

We are also told in Ephesians 2 that it is by grace through faith that we are saved. But how do we get that kind of faith? Faith only grows as your security in God’s love for you grows.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children–and we are! – 1 John 3:1

1 John 4:18 tells us that there is no fear in God’s love for us, that His love, His perfect love drives out fear. The very last part of that verse is very important to us today. “So the one who fears is not complete in love,” those who fear are lacking in God’s love, they don’t know it.

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? “Well because someone bumped into me, of course!”
NOPE!  You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. Whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled. So we have to ask ourselves… “what’s in my cup?” When life gets tough, what spills over? Is it love, is it God’s love that has been poured into you, is it the Joy, gratefulness, peace, and humility found in God’s Love? Or is what is inside of you something not of God: anger, bitterness, or fear that spills out?

We must be filled with God’s love. As a Christian God’s love has been poured into your heart…  

Another definition of Sin is the failure to love. Is love not the standard of our interaction, our relationships with God and one another? Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

In 1 John 4 we are told that, “God’s love was reveled among us in this way: God sent His one and only Son into this world.” In John 20:21 Jesus said, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”  The proof of God’s love, the proof of all that Jesus said and commanded, is the Resurrection!

Digging Deeper

• Do you know the love of God?
• What are you doing to build your relationship with God and His Church?
• What are you doing to fulfill the Great Commandment?

 

Further Reading:

• Resurrection: John 11:21-27, Romans 6:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:12-22, Galatians 2:20, 1 Peter 1:3-9
• God’s Love: John 3:16-18, Romans 5:1-5, Romans 8:31-39, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Galatians 5:6, Ephesians 2:1-5, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 4:7-5:4
• Our Love: Matthew 22:34-38, John 15:9-10, John 17:1-26, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Ephesians 4:2, 1 Peter 4:7-11, 1 John 3:11-24
• Bonus Reading: Romans 12, Colossians 3
• What is Sin?