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Well. Good morning. Good morning. Glad to see a full house today. People who love Jesus. That’s nice to be around, right? Easter is a wonderful day of celebration for us, but I’ve wondered if we’ve often considered how the Easter celebration came about to where we are gathered here today to honor the name of Christ with our lives. You know, I find, as I read in the New Testament, Paul sometimes reflects on the word of faith, hope, and love. And as I’ve come to know Jesus my personal life, and begin to walk with him and and understand what a relationship with, with him is all about, I find faith, hope, and love significant to the way I live my day to day life. It does a lot for the human soul to have hope, doesn’t it? Hope for tomorrow. Love for today and faith to get you through anything. When I think about the Easter celebration. Much of what Easter rides on rests on those three simple principles of faith, hope, and love. This morning, as we think about and reflect on the history of what Easter has meant throughout time, it wasn’t always a celebration that brought great smiles to your life, because it dealt very much so with death and sacrifice and the Genesis chapter three and verse 15. If you read the story of Genesis and the creation of this world, and Adam and Eve, who were created, being our first parents, came to this earth, and it tells us in the very beginning that they ate of the fruit of of good and evil, and thus sinned against God.
In their sin they were in a place of which was total despair to the relationship with the Lord. They needed faith, hope, and love. They needed rescued They needed a Savior. Because when sin entered into that world, the relationship with with God was marred through sin and they could no longer experience it. If you read Ephesians chapter two and verse one, it literally says, your relationship with God is dead. When it comes to standing before a perfect, holy, Almighty God in his heavenly kingdom. We as people with sin have no merit to stand on, and you can do anything in the world to try to earn that favor back with God. But nothing can undo the sin in which you have conducted against him that sin resides for eternity. Matter of fact, the book of Ephesians and Titus remind us it’s not by works of righteousness which we do that earns favor to God. Titus chapter three and verse five. But God being a God of love and creating Adam and Eve and loving them, also created for them hope. In Genesis chapter three and verse 15, it gives the first promise to Adam and Eve, or the future Messiah who would come and die for their sins. And if you think about when someone has wronged you in your own relationships and experience in this world, in order for that relationship to be mended, either that person must be given forgiveness by you, or there’s no meaning of that relationship.
There’s nothing that they can do. Someone has to pay that debt. If they’ve offended you, you can continue to make them pay that debt for the rest of their life, owing it back to you for the offense that they’ve done. Or you can forgive them, taking that offense upon yourself and that pain and that heartache for the wrong that that person has done against you. Jesus solution was the latter. He could have looked at Adam and Eve in the midst of their sin and caused them to pay for their sin debt, which would have been against an eternal God which could have lasted or would have lasted for eternity according to that current relationship. But Jesus offered a way out through a messiah who would come and die for their sins. He took on that debt, that sin debt that we own. As Jesus gave that promise to us in Genesis chapter three, the Bible goes on and begins to share with the life of a man named Abraham and the life of Abraham, literally by Abraham and the promise given to him in Genesis chapter 12. God came to Abraham and said, through you, Abraham, all nations will be blessed. Abraham’s lineage would lead to the future Messiah who would die for all sins.
Genesis chapter 22. It tells us, as Abraham was one day journeying with his son Isaac, the only rightful son that he had who would be heir to the Jewish throne, and from him the seed would be multiplied of all the Jewish people, and from Isaac all nations would be blessed as well. It tells us in Genesis chapter 22 that Abraham took his son up onto a mountain because God said he needed to make a sacrifice with his life. And God was teaching Abraham something about himself. See, Abraham grew up in a time where people followed all sorts of different gods, and these different gods needed to be pleased, and no one really knew whether or not based on what they had done in their life. If God was or their gods that they worshipped were ever satisfied. Even to the point that the people began to sacrifice their own loved ones upon altars in order to please these gods that they think may or may not love them, to satisfy their righteous demands on their life. And Abraham was asked by God to go up on a mountain and to make a sacrifice. And God was teaching something about his love to Abraham. God was never going to ask Abraham to offer Isaac. God, and his love was going to provide that sacrifice for him. And you see in Genesis chapter two and verse eight, as Abraham goes up to this mountain thinking he may have to offer a son, he reminds his son, what we know about this God that we are following is that he loves us, and that he will offer a sacrifice for us.
A lamb will be provided. 3500 years ago, 500 years after the life of Abraham, we find the nation of Israel in the land of Egypt. They’ve grown to a group of over 2 million people there in Egypt. And God wants to bring this nation out of the land of Egypt to establish themselves as their own people group, their own nation, ruling and governed by him. And you’ve probably heard the story at some point in your life. Moses comes before Pharaoh, and Moses says to Pharaoh, let my people go. And Pharaoh refused. And so God brought a plague. Moses comes again before Pharaoh and says, let my people go. And Pharaoh refuses. And God brought a plague. And ten plagues took place in succinct order from one another. As as Pharaoh continued to come before, before Moses continued to come before Pharaoh and say, let my people go And Pharaoh’s heart continued to harden against the desire of God and what Moses was commanding. Until you get to the book of Exodus in chapter 12, God brings his final plague on the nation of Egypt. God tells the people of Israel that the death angel is about to come through the land.
It would be the final plague that they experienced in which the people of Israel would be set free. And once again, God reminds Moses and the nation of Israel and all of us, that he will provide a way of escape, a way of hope. He begins to share with Moses in chapter 12 and verse three he says, speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, on the 10th of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their father’s household, a lamb for each household. Moreover they shall. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts, and on the lintel of the house in which they eat the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you. When I strike the land of Egypt. And hence we get the name the Passover. The nation of Israel was required by God to take an innocent lamb of no spot or blemish, much like Jesus, and to slay this lamb. You can imagine if there’s over 2 million people in the nation of Israel at this point, and every family is responsible for the sacrificing of their own lamb, their own perfect lamb. How much blood would be spilled on this day? And he says to the nation of Israel, if you apply this blood to your life, if you believe that this blood will save you and and apply it to your life, when the death angel comes, he’s literally going to just pass over you.
A sign of the hope to the people in the moment, a sign of hope to the reflection of what Jesus would bring to the future. 1500 years before the time of Christ. They celebrated Easter, but they didn’t call it Easter. They called it the Passover. As the story goes on, the nation of Israel escapes out of the bondage in Egypt. God instructs the nation of Israel to build what they called the temple. They built one temple for the entire nation. It was a place in which they they came to worship the God. And and and everything within the temple symbolized and reflected a ministry in which Jesus would fulfill. One day a priest was responsible for carrying out the duties in the temple. Jesus is referred to in the book of Hebrews as our High Priest. As you journeyed into the temple, you would come to the very first inner rooms. What you would see is the the basin of water for the purification and cleansing of your hands, to remind you of the washing of sin that needs to take place in your life. And you would see next to the basin of water, the altar of sacrifice, in which innocent lambs or animals were sacrificed upon the altar for the remission of sins.
As you journeyed into the building in the back with the gold plate along the top, you would find the. The bread of showplace is a table in which fresh bread was portrayed upon. It was. It was a reminder to us as Jesus came in the book of John, he referred to himself as the bread of life. Jesus would give life to us as people. Opposite side of the bread table you would find the candlesticks. Jesus referred to himself in the book of John as the light of this world. As you went to the very back of the room, there was a a 15 by 15 room that was closed off to everyone else in the world. No one in Israel could go into this room except for the high priest, and he could only go into this room one time of year. It was referred to as the Holy Place, the Holy of Holies. The glory of God was said to have dwelled there once a year. A high priest would make a sacrifice and he would. He would wear this long robe and attach this long robe would literally be tassels and bells. And when he would go into the building, everyone would listen on the outside as he entered behind that curtain to make sure he was still alive. Because if the high priest entered into that room with any sin in his life, he would be struck dead on the spot.
And once a year he would apply the blood of an innocent goat upon the mercy seat, the Ark of the covenant, a sacrifice on behalf of the nation of Israel for their sins. Everything dealing with this temple pointed to Jesus tells us in Second Chronicles chapter 35 and verse seven that on the Passover day, when the nation of Israel gathered to worship, over 30,000 lambs were sacrificed on the altar in front of that temple. In addition to that, there were other sacrifices that went along. And on that day when you entered into the temple. Blood literally flowed from this building. It was a sobering moment to the people as they worshiped God on the Passover, a reality of what their sin brings. But as they looked at the innocence of the lamb who was sacrificed, it was a reminder to them that all those sin brings death. There is hope to come as Jesus will be provided for that sacrifice for them. Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter ten everything that took place in the temple. He says, law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise would they not have stopped being offered, for the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilt for their sins.
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sin. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, nor the ministry that took place within the temple was a reminder to the people that ultimately there was a better sacrifice to come. It was merely a shadow that represented all the things in which Jesus was to fulfill when he was on the earth. In fact, as the people of Israel went and they began to worship in the temple, and they began to honor God through the rituals in which God had instilled in their hearts, he continued to remind them throughout Scripture and all sorts of wonderful places of the opportunity of a messiah who would come, who would give his life for their sins if they would simply apply the blood to their lives. It says in Isaiah 53, but he was pierced for our transgressions, talking about Jesus. This was recorded hundreds of years before Christ came. It says he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has turned our own way. And the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted. He did not open his mouth, and he was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent. So he did not open his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. And though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, the Bible gives this picture. It’s as if this innocent lamb is just walking around and God looks at that innocent lamb as if it contains every sin that we carry in this world. And God literally crushes under a fatal blow the sin of our lives, the life of Jesus. As we look in further in Scripture, we’re reminded about the sacrifices that took place in the temple. One day Jesus came on the scene. It tells us in John chapter one, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And the same was in the beginning with God. It says in verse 14, and we beheld his glory full of grace and truth, and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us. Grace had arrived. Hope had come, and the opportunity of your relationship with Jesus had been restored, though sin had marred it. And John the Baptist laid on the side of the Jordan River. And he began to to preach to the people who would come, listen to him, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Be baptized, for the kingdom of God is at hand.
It was an unfamiliar message to the people at the time. Jewish people didn’t get baptized. Gentile people got baptized as they came to embrace Judaism, to accept Judaism and walk in the newness of and belief in which they carried. They had to be baptized in order to recognize themselves as being Jews, among some other things. And yet John shows up on the shore in John in chapter one, John the Baptist, and he says to the people, repent and be baptized. There is a better way coming. And as John stands on the side of the Jordan River, one day, Jesus comes near and John makes this remark about Jesus. He says, the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. 4000 years since the time of Abraham, people have known that an innocent lamb would make a sacrifice for our sins. Since Genesis chapter three, Adam and Eve knew that God was going to bring to this world someone to die for you. In John chapter one, John identifies him as the Christ. For the rest of Jesus’s ministry that’s conducted for the next three and a half years. It tells us throughout Scripture that he he works to build his kingdom. He makes converts, he gets followers, he gets his 12 disciples, and he continues to minister to them.
Until we get to the culmination of what we refer to as the Passion Week, the week of the Passover. It tells us in that final week, the very first day leading into that final week, Jesus rides into the Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and all the people begin to shout, Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. There is hope for us. God has brought it to our lives. The lamb who takes away the sins of the world is coming for us. Those very same people who lined the streets shouting praise to their king would later deny him as he went to the cross. The Bible tells us in the final night leading up to the Passover, that Jesus went into the upper room with his disciples, he began to celebrate a feast with them. He began to share all sorts of things. As they began to eat their meals together. How to serve one another. How to live for one another. In this church here is built on relationships. Understand? There’s two relationships God wants us to function with in this world. One is to love the Lord your God with all your heart. That is the most significant thing you could ever choose to believe in this world. And the second is to love one another. Whether or not you choose to believe in Christ is denied by the way you choose to live your life.
If you love Jesus, you will love one another. And he began to wash the feet of his disciples. As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he taught them something significant about the position that we should take in this world that if you trust in him, the way you should seek to live your life is to serve. And very interesting in what Jesus did. After he began to share this with his disciples, he partook of something that we refer to today as communion Going into this upper room with his disciples. They could have shared and listened to Jesus as he began to share about all the things that were going to take place at the temple that day, and the sacrifice of the lamb. Jesus, this is going to be a wonderful celebration. Jerusalem is packed this week. Did you see the way that they were treating you when you walked in? I mean, they were calling you King. As Jesus begins to share with his disciples that night, rather than talk about the sacrifice of the lamb and the temple, Jesus began to talk about himself. He passed out communion to his followers. His reminder to his followers is that what was about to take place, and what had taken place throughout the history of Israel, was the sacrifice of this precious lamb for the sins of the world. But now, ultimately, one sacrifice was going to come for all mankind at one time to die for all the sins.
And rather than talk about the lamb, he talked about Himself. How strange in that moment to sit in that room and rather than converse about this unblemished lamb, you begin to talk about yourself. Could you imagine in those moments what must have been going on in the lives and the minds of the disciples as they sat there and listened to Jesus share about the sacrifice that he was about to make for them? And could you imagine, just as we’re doing now, he began to pass out this bread and this drink before the people who were gathered in that upper room, listening to his teaching and following after him. And he says to them, this is a reflection of what’s about to take place to me. He reminds them that they continue to do this until his return. And his promise to you is that if you trust in Jesus, one day you will drink this wine and eat this bread new with Him and His Father’s kingdom Tells us in John chapter 14. Behold, I go to prepare a place for you. As we as a church gather together to worship the name of Jesus this morning, we’re reminded as we’re here, thinking about him, reflecting on what he’s done for him, making him infinitely valuable in our lives. Because all purpose, all hope, all love, all joy comes through him.
Jesus is waiting for his church to join him in heaven and just worship with him because of the sacrifice he’s made for you. The communion’s disappeared and I didn’t grab one. So we’re going to take this together without me this morning? Yeah. And I that’s good. Says in verse 22, and as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it, and gave it unto them, and said, take this is my body. I want to take it twice. Thank you And he took the cup when he had given thanks. They drank it and he said to them, this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. He gives you the promise. In verse 25 it says, truly I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom. And it tells us in verse 26, they they began to sing a hymn together. It was a tradition for the nation of Israel to sing from Psalm 113 to 118 together, as they celebrated the name of Jesus. And as Jesus shared everything that he was about to do, the Bible tells us that Jesus then within just a few hours, went to the cross. Have you ever studied the crucifixion? It was the worst way to go. Genesis 313. It tells us literally, whoever hung upon the cross was someone who was cursed it was intentionally designed to torture someone through the delaying of their death.
And we know Jesus leading up to the crucifixion. He was beaten so bad with the Cat of Nine tails that literally his back would have hung like ribbons from his body as his flesh just dangled there, his eternal organs would have been exposed, ribs would have been seen, thorns pressed into his head, poisonous thorns that would have been throbbing as it was pounded into the side of his face. He was literally beaten beyond recognition, hair pulled from his face, nails driven through the main main veins that run through your wrists, one of the major veins of pain. He was dropped into a cross, tells us in Psalm 22 that his joints would have been out of place. The jolting of dropping into the hole would have caused such pressure on his body that that he would have lost control of his of his joints. They would have popped out of place and was often talked about upon the cross, is that they were low enough to the ground that when bystanders walked by through throughout the city, they could spit on the face of the individual who hung there. Many times the pressure as they hung up on the cross was so bad that a person would lose control of his bowels. You can imagine the humiliation that would have occurred in those moments, because many a times as they hung on the cross, they are often exposed completely to the elements.
Most of the time nude, whatever the weather brought that day. That’s what the individual endured in order to prolong death. The soldiers would oftentimes tak a seat just below the the bottom of the individual so he could sit there and catch his breath. Because when you died on the cross, what killed you was literally the asphyxiation of your body as it compressed upon itself, as you hung on the cross until you couldn’t breathe anymore. And so, to prolong the death, they would provide a seat for the individual to sit on. And as he sat there, he would then have to push up on his feet as he hung on the cross, as the nail pierced through his leg. If your death took too long and they decided that you needed to go, they would break your legs with a hammer. Either way, it was a horrific way to go. But in the case of Jesus, Jesus never suffocated. A lot of the doctors believe that when Jesus died, what killed Christ was literally a broken heart. So your heart has a wonderful tendency when it begins to go through a tremendous amount of pressure, that it’s got a a clear sack of fluid that develops around it to protect it. It provides a cavity of protection against any blow that your heart might receive. And Jesus, carrying the weight of sin upon his shoulders, had a tense amount of pressure placed upon his body, and that sack began to fill around his heart.
Leading up to the cross, Jesus had lost such a tremendous amount of blood that that as that sack began to fill up, his heart couldn’t pump past the pressure that was created from that sack until that sack became so enormous and powerful against the pressure of his heart that it literally stopped it from beating. And Jesus’s heart was crushed. He died of a broken heart for you and for me. As you read in Scripture, as Jesus hung upon the cross, it tells us that the soldiers went beside Christ. They were wanting to take the the people down from the cross before the Passover celebration really got going. And they came to Jesus and noticed he was dead. But to make sure he was dead, a professional executioner walked up to Christ and took a spear and rammed it under his ribs and into his heart. And it tells us in that passage of Scripture that literally blood and water from the sack flowed. Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. God is a God of hope, and God is a God of love. And there is a price to pay for any sin, regardless if it’s the one who is offended or the one who does the offending. And those who trust in Jesus find freedom.
It tells us in John 1930, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head, and he gave up the ghost. It is finished. Literally. It is a slave term that means paid in full. When God looks at your life, he’s saying, we are slaves to sin. What we need is freedom. Jesus came to the cross. He died for your sins and thinking about you as a slave to sin, wanting you to be free. Jesus says, I have bought you. Your price has been paid in full. Not question. As I examine the Passover celebration is why so bloody? Why is this event so bloody? I think first of all, it reminds us of how God views sin. Just as blood is repulsive to people, so sin is repulsive to God. I think second, it reminds us of death. If we walked into a room and there was blood everywhere, the next question we would ask is what died here? And we go into the temple and we see the blood that’s offered in the temple. We see the blood that takes place on the cross. We wonder what in the world died here. Why did something have to die in this position? And third, the thing that the the blood does for us is it causes us in a very sober reality to make a decision. Don’t bring up the history of sacrifice for entertainment.
We don’t bring up the the sacrifice that Jesus made in our lives just to sound gory and cool. We bring it up because it’s a sobering reality of the sacrifice that had to be taken place for for our sins, and to look into this moment and say, what kind of decision am I going to make for someone who loved me so much that God came to this world and died for my sins? There is a choice to be made. See, my job this morning is just to share the truth. Your job this morning is to make a decision. Hope comes from this message. We ask this morning what? What’s the point of Easter? What’s the point of all this blood? What is the point? Well, the point for us this morning is we celebrate together. Is that the tomb was empty. You think about the miracle in which Christ performed. You’ve heard people make all kinds of accusations against Jesus of things that could be taken place. He was never really dead, really beaten to the point where he’s unrecognizable, hung up on a cross, pierced by a professional executioner. If they came off the cross and they were still alive, it was punishable to those soldiers by death. They killed him. When they went into the tomb. He was wrapped in so much clothing, so many spices, that there was no way any human being could breathe through the amount of material that was wrapped around his body, sealed behind the tomb for three days with no medical attention, Jesus died.
Bible tells us throughout multiple portions of Scripture, it prophetically said Jesus would be born of a virgin, and he was. Jesus would come to this earth, perform certain miracles, and he did. He would heal in certain particular ways, and he and he did. Jesus would die on a cross. Not one bone would be broken. People would break up his garments below him, and he did. Jesus would take upon the sins of the world, and he did prophetically fulfilled. Jesus would come back from the grave, and he did. Hundreds of years before Christ came to this earth, it was prophesied, and he fulfilled every single one. Jesus came back from the grave. Amen. Amen. It tells us in Scripture, first Corinthians that even at one point by 500 people, Jesus was seen at one time. You think about the testimony of the disciples who saw the resurrected Christ. What they shared in this world They had nothing to gain. They were beaten, bruised and thrown into prison and killed for what they believed. Their testimony was that they saw a dead man walking, and if it was for a lie, there was no reason to proclaim it. But they knew they had seen Jesus and couldn’t deny Jesus. And coming back from the grave proves to us that he has the power over Satan, sin, and death, and those who trust in him.
Those who apply the blood of Christ to their lives have a hopeful future. Thomas was one of those doubters we see in Scripture. He said in verse 26, after the death of Jesus, after eight days, again his disciples were within, were within, and Thomas was with them. And Jesus came, and the doors being shut stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then said Thomas, reach hither thy finger. This is Jesus saying to Thomas, and behold my hands. And he reached into to Jesus’s hands, and he thrust into Jesus’s side. He told Thomas to believe. And Thomas answered Jesus and said to him, you are my Lord and my God. To those who trust in Jesus, they find a hope. The second thing that I would share with us this morning is no longer a need to go to any temple. As we go into the Holy of Holies, if you are entering to the most sacred room of the Jewish worship ceremony that took place in the temple, you would find a curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from everything else. That behind that curtain where those lions are with wings, is the room that only the high priest could enter into once and only one time a year was he allowed to go in there, and he had to go with no sin upon his life.
It tells us in the Bible, Mark chapter 15 and verse 37, as Jesus hung on the cross, and as he prepared to die, and as he gave his last breath, it says, And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. Saying this to us, God from heaven tore a curtain four inches thick from the very top to the bottom, declaring to people that God’s presence no longer dwelled in this temple. And if you were to read First Corinthians chapter three, verse 16, and first Corinthians chapter six, verse 19, the Bible tells us that no longer does the presence of God dwell within the temple, that the people of God have become that holy temple. And this morning we get to jam, pack ourselves in a smaller facility and not go to any temple to worship God, because the Spirit of God, if you’ve trusted in him, dwells within you. And that relationship that we lost thousands of years ago in the life of Adam and Eve, was made whole through Jesus. And we can experience the joy, love and hope that comes to relationship with him. But the point of the story is, do you apply the blood to your life? What kind of decision will you make? It doesn’t matter what your parents believe. It doesn’t matter if you’ve grown up in church your whole life.
The Bible says unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. In Matthew chapter seven, it says, many in that day will say, Lord, Lord. And they will come to me. But I will say to them, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. It’s not about attending church. It’s not about doing good. It’s about who you trust in. Do you trust in Jesus? The Bible gives us a wonderful promise in Romans chapter ten and verse 13. As you think about applying the blood of this lamb to your life, it says, for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. To you this morning who has trusted in Jesus, who are here to celebrate the presence of God. You have found in Christ a love that is unmatchable, a grace that you’ve never experienced, a hope that is Unescapable you found purpose in Christ, you have found joy in God. You have found favor with him, and it is matchless beyond all others. Because Jesus has brought into your life forgiveness. He is your rescuer. He is your Savior. He is your God. As Thomas says to those here this morning who haven’t trusted in Jesus, remember this morning my job is to simply share with you the truth, and your job is to make a decision. This morning, the simple question is to you what kind of decision do you want to make? Jesus has done everything in this world that he needs to do to prove to you his love, to demonstrate and give to you everything that you need to be rescued in the state of sin that you’re in.
Listen to these scriptures Isaiah 53 and five. He was wounded in our transgressions. Romans 423 he was delivered up for our trespasses in first Corinthians 15 three Christ died for our sins, and one Peter 318 Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that we might come to God. Jesus literally loved you to death, and he loves you right now. I ask everyone, just go ahead and bow your heads this morning. Let me give you the opportunity in your own life just to talk to the Lord where you are. Listen, if you’re a believer and you’ve trusted in Christ and you just haven’t been following after him, right now is the time just to talk to your Savior and just let him know God. I’m sorry. Ask him to forgive you. If you are an person who has not ever trusted in Jesus, you’ve been depending on good works to get to heaven. You’ve been depending on the faith of other people or just your church attendance. Now is the day of your salvation. Jesus has sacrificed himself for you to look at the sins that he has paid for in that sobering moment, to come to terms with reality and realizing you have no power over where you spend eternity.
It all rests upon Christ and what you choose to trust in this moment. If you’re here this morning and you would say, I don’t know if I’m going to heaven, I don’t know if Jesus is my Savior, I don’t know. I don’t feel secure in where I’m at in my relationship with God. I want to give you a chance this morning just to talk to Jesus. It’s very simple. I just want to give you a prayer and it’s your job just to share it with God. Just talk to God about it. Talk to Christ about it. Let him know what your need is. You can say to him this morning, God I know that I’m a sinner. God, I need you to save me. And the blood that you shed. I want to apply it to my life. Thank you for dying for me. God, take me to heaven to be with you when I die. God, help me to be faithful to you now. I trust in you. It’s in Jesus name. Amen. This morning church is a day of celebration. It’s a day that matters more than just beyond today. It’s a day that each and every day, as we trust in Jesus, gives us a new hope and a purpose and love that we can experience as we draw near to him. Because you don’t have to go to any temple. You are the temple of God. God’s presence, purpose, and plan dwells with you