Resurrection: Our Hope, Christ as the Priority

I'm going to do two funerals this week, and there is no hope if there is no resurrection. With it, there's no point for us to even meet. There's no point for us to even talk about anything good. The resurrection is everything to a follower of Christ. It is the picture it is the the bigger picture of what baptism is for the believer as we take you under the water and and you are dead and now you are are raised to new life. If the resurrection is not real, then we might as well just leave you down there. [00:34:10] (36 seconds)  #ResurrectionHope

Where we work on our music, we work on our programs, we do our small groups, we we we change the days, we change the times, we we we do all these things in staff to try to accommodate everybody. Here's the problem. We've made you guys a priority and we've and we have not made Jesus Christ the priority. And what what needs to happen is the church needs to make Jesus the priority. I'm not talking just only on our church, all churches, right? Seeker friendly churches like we do all these things. Hey, man. Come here. Oh, we got a guy that plays these drums like you've never seen before, and and and we've got people who play the makes their own songs every day, like making a song. And so, and and then we got like all these programs on on Wednesday night that you can come in, and if you come, like you can get run over by a kid because there's so many kids here and and if you want to do foster this or foster that, like all these things, when do we, and don't let me talk about missions. All these things we got going. Hear me, none of that matters if the gospel's not front and center of everything that we do. Amen. Because he's the priority. You're not. [00:44:48] (66 seconds)  #JesusFirstChurch

But he says, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. If you can't, you don't believe in this, that it can happen, then not even Christ has been raised. In verse 14, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. So what I'm saying this morning does not matter. You What you believe and you walk in in in the truth of the gospel does not matter. It is in vain. [00:35:37] (25 seconds)  #FaithDependsOnResurrection

I want you to see this morning this idea that we can come to where we try to discount on the front end the resurrection, on the front end, Jesus' power. We'll see in a second. God's overarching power but but but you must see here that everything in Christianity rests on the resurrection of Jesus and so, I may not can answer you everything about creation. I know I can't. I can't answer you everything about the dinosaurs. I can't answer you everything about some old testament thing you try to pull to me but let me tell you what, I know without a shadow of a doubt that there was a Jesus who lived a perfect life and then he died and then he rose from the day dead three days later and that there are multiple accounts to this and there are multiple theories of trying to answer an empty tomb but I'm telling you, the only one that makes any sense, 99% sense, right? Is that god rose him from the dead and so you gotta stand somewhere, you gotta be there and this is not an Easter service and so, I'm not going to make it there this morning but let me tell you what, everything in here today rests on the resurrection. [00:37:50] (79 seconds)  #EverythingRestsOnResurrection

If if you don't on the front end, if you don't have some desire this morning for this idea of the resurrection, then whatever I give you today is not going to satisfy you. It's all about that. If I try to give you something else, it like like you're not going to be satisfied. If we talk about the morality in Christianity. Right? And and the services that you can come be a part of here or the activities that are going on. But we never talk about the beauty of a supernatural thing that occurred where Jesus who died and was rose three days later. That I'm not gonna give you anything that's gonna satisfy you. [00:33:24] (46 seconds)  #ResurrectionOffersSatisfaction

Now, major problems here. They didn't know the scriptures or power god's power. Their their lack of scriptural knowledge thinking you've got it all figured out. Like I've told you, I I have to read over and over and over and over but hear me, I'm so terrified of pulling something on my own that that we have to do something and and it's called keeping it in the context. So, we don't pull one thing off on an offshoot and just make it our own and so so remember this, Hallmark doesn't have the power that the word of god does. So, if you're looking for for nice, sweet, good sounding things, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a godly thing or really a biblical thing. [00:50:48] (48 seconds)  #KnowScripture

See, we come with all our questions. We come with, if you do this, if I'll I'll do that. If if you sing my music, if you decorate like this, if you prioritize my desires, if you work around my schedule, I'll I'll do all this stuff. But here's the problem. You look for those things that we we come to the table with and and you're and if you don't get it, you're out. You don't play my music, I'm out. You don't do my program, I'm out. You don't you you don't talk about the things I I I like for you to talk about and preach about. I'm out. And and we're looking for some way to be out of following through the church. The force, don't forsake the church, it's the bride. Somewhere down the road and we we all do it. [00:43:50] (59 seconds)  #GospelFrontAndCenter

we in our marriages, you know, and then this is the first thing I I talk through. If you've done marriage counseling with me, I'll I'll say this, your husband's not your your hero and your wife's not your hero. Jesus is. But we spend all of our time making each other the priority when Jesus is. And we'll do everything in our lives to try to accommodate that priority and yet we have forsaken our first love. We try to get thee out from following Jesus. I told you the church needs to make Jesus their priority. Like we could eliminate all the excuses. At the end of the day, what's your priority? [00:46:08] (50 seconds)  #JesusIsOurHero