Thank God, Jesus Is Alive!

Today I am posting Sunday’s sermon for you.

Life is one of things that we cling to naturally. We are wired to live. God created us to fight for life. That is why we all have within us a knowledge of God, who is the author of life.

Romans 1:20—For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

So, according to Romans 1:20, I believe naturally we look to seek after life, when and if we fully understood that the One we really seek is God. It is in us to know God.

Life, when lived to fullest, is a continual flow toward a great God, who has an eternal purpose in store for us. He is life, and thank God, He is alive!

Jesus offers peace, he offers the Holy Spirit, he offers assurance, and He offers life! John 20:19-31

Jesus offers Peace

If there was one word that the world needs to hear from the church it is peace. Peace is that sense of knowing all is well with your soul.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
This imagery that Horatio Spafford penned to this song we just sang to God, is life. Peace is equated to a river flowing and running its course without many worries. Sorrows are compared to sea billows, which are waves that are constantly rolling, which seem to indicate the troubles of life.
But whatever my lot, or whatever life brings, You (Jesus) have taught me to say, it is well with my soul. My soul is intact.
You see, when you know the real peacemaker, Jesus, you have real joy in the midst of good times and bad times.
No amount of financial gain, possessions, or titles can give true inner peace. When you have the peace of Christ, you have joy as we see in the disciples.
In verse 19, we see the gathering of the saints. Translation, they were having church, it was Sunday.
Jesus enters and says to the disciples, “Peace be with you.” When you come to church or pray or read your Bible or go to a small group study, Jesus enters the room and says to you and to me, “Peace be with you.”
Our response should be that of the disciples, joy. When Jesus offers peace, we receive joy and our souls are well!
Jesus never says anywhere in the Scriptures, receive my peace, and keep it for yourselves. He always requires us to give it away.

Jesus offers the Holy Spirit

When a person has Jesus in their heart, they have the presence of the Holy Spirit. That what it says in verse 22.You can recognize a saved person by the forgiveness they offer others. Repeat-That is the sign of the Holy Spirit. It is not natural for us to forgive others. We must have the power of the Holy Spirit to offer forgiveness.
Some well meaning Christians have tried to confuse other Christians by saying that the sign by which you know a person has the Holy Spirit in them is the gift of speaking in tongues.
John 20:22-23—says when Jesus breathes life into our lives by way of the Holy Spirit, we are to forgive others. This is the sign that you have received the real Jesus.
If you are a Christian, then forgiveness has to be part of who you are. Jesus didn’t ask, He said Matthew 6:14-15—For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:22-25—Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
When the Word of God is preached, that is what prophesying means, real worship is happening.
Let us make sure we are sending the correct message as we proclaim God’s resurrection in our lives.
We obviously need forgiveness and God knows that, so He forgives us of the sins we have committed against Him and against others.

Jesus offers assurance

Jesus knows we need to assured of our commitment to Him. In our passage today, He assured the disciples that they are really looking at the resurrected Christ.
He shows them His hands and His side, so that they can be assured in verse 20, and then He comes back and shows them to Thomas in verse 27.
Thomas is given the label doubting Thomas even though Jesus showed His scars to the other 10 disciples as well.
In Thomas case, we see the need to personally connect to Jesus, which is normal. We need assurance as humans.
That is why it is so important to be the believable Christian so others can see and know that Jesus really does exist and that he has changed you from a doubter to a believer.
Stop doubting and start believing is what Jesus says to Thomas, but I think, Jesus is saying that to all of us today.
Thank God, Jesus is alive. We need believers, not doubters. People need to know that Jesus is for real!

Jesus offers Life

Life is fragile. Many of you know that. You have experienced things in your life that only you have gone through.
Jesus is the only one who has gone through what He has gone through as He has conquered death. Since He has won the victory over death, He offers life to you and to me.
No one else can make that claim. Jesus said to the disciples in verse 29—blessed are you because you have seen and believed, but others who have not seen yet will believe will be blessed as well!
How can others see Jesus? In you, so they can believe.
Verse 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
What kind of Jesus are they seeing in you?
A loving Jesus?
A forgiving Jesus?
A resurrected Jesus?
A real Jesus?