What does Easter mean to us!

REDEMPTION…REAL FREEDOM

Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008

 

John 8:32 (NIV)
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8:36 (NIV)
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

 

 

WHAT CAN Jesus SET ME FREE FROM?

 

1.      He wants to set you free from the pain of your past.

 

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

 

Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

 

*    Jesus Christ wants to set you free from the pain of resentment so you can get on with your life.  So you can get unstuck and get going forward. 

 

 

*    He also wants to help you get over the pain of regret. 

 

 

2.      Jesus Christ wants to set you free from the pain of your past but He also wants to set you free from the pressures of today. 

 

Isaiah 40:28-29 (NIV)
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

 

Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

3.  He wants to set you free from being pessimistic about tomorrow.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Psalms 125:1 (NIV)
1 Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

Why is it that we lose hope so quickly?  When you boil it all down there are two reasons why people lose hope. 

 

1.  When you’re facing a situation that needs to be changed and you can’t change it. 

 

2.    There’s another reason we lose hope and become pessimistic and that’s when you don’t know the purpose that God made you for.

 

 WOULDN’T YOU LIKE A FRESH START WITH GOD?

 

Jesus said:  Revelation 3:20 (NIV) “I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”