The Resurrection Code Easter

6,000 people shared that experience with us Wednesday, Thursday, and Good Friday. And as I was putting my thoughts together this week for this message, it occurred to me that this is our 20th Easter here at Northwest. This is our 20th Easter. We've been together 19 years, but our third Sunday together when we started was Easter Sunday. I just couldn't have imagined 20 years later that 9 or 10,000 people would be here on a weekend to celebrate Easter. God's done some amazing things. And all that reflection has caused me to think about what I was going to say today in a little bit different light. Because, you see, what you believe about Easter, what you believe about God, what you believe about Jesus is the most important thing about you, isn't it? It affects your past, and how you view that. It certainly affects your future, and especially how you live today. And if you have a distorted view of God, and I'm sure that today there are some of us who are struggling with God, and we came because it's Easter Sunday, but because of our background, whether that was what our parents felt about God, or maybe the media, and their rather normally twisted view of God, although I understand this little climation kind of presentation that ABC is doing tonight about the Miracle Maker, supposed to be very good, there's been a lot of things that the media has done that's not been very good about God. The last temptation of Christ, weird things even more recently than that. Some of you had very painful experiences from religious authority figures, and that's distorted your view of God. Others of you have never really fashioned your own idea, but you've adopted other people's view, and that's been kind of skewed as well. Maybe it's your own sin. But for whatever reason, you don't know what you believe about God. You don't have a clear understanding of who He is, and when you do, you fall into one of two mistakes. I've heard people say both of these things, even recently. They say, number one, something like, I just don't believe in God. Now, I would expect most of you here in this service today do believe in God, but when someone presents you with that particular response, can I suggest that you respond back this way? Well, tell me the kind of God you don't believe in. And they normally will say, well, I don't believe in a God who causes babies to die or sends cancer to people or who's far off and never hears your prayers. And you know what? I say back to them, I don't believe in that God either. That's not the God I know. Or they say something like this, they say, I think God is like, and then they describe some heavenly Santa Claus or some angry parent, father figure type thing or whatever it is that they kind of, and I say to them, well, wait. You know, respectfully speaking, what you think about God or even what I think about God doesn't really matter. It's the truth about God. Where do you get what you believe? And then I point them to this book. And anyone who's done any careful reflection on the genesis of this book or the origins of this book, where it comes from, will tell you this is what God says about himself. And this is what you need to base your decision about God on. And if you can figure out what's in here, you'll discover a God who's not angry, not vengeful, but a God of love, a God that you can trust, a God that you can serve and delight in, a God that's full of grace and truth and love. I want to read this morning a portion of the Easter story as found in the book of Luke. And we're going to put it up on the screen because a lot of you maybe don't have Bibles this morning, but read along with me if you would. I'm going to read from the NIV. This is Luke 24. This is the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. And as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him. Now he asked them, What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things, he asked. Well, about Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. And they came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. And then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. He said to them, How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. I love that story because it's so real. I mean, can't you picture two guys just kind of walking, wondering, asking questions, full of doubts? It describes really some of us, you know? And Jesus comes alongside of them and just begins to probe a little bit. And they get so excited as the story unfolds. They read the rest of the chapter. They discover that it's really Jesus. Their eyes are open. They see who it is and they're just thrilled. And they run to Jerusalem and tell the disciples and then everything begins to happen. How about you? What really excites you this Easter Sunday? Did you run and tell anybody that Jesus was risen? Some of you are more excited about candle parties. What's up with these candle parties, by the way? What is it about candles? I've always thought they were pretty simple to understand, but maybe it's the, oh, look, they float. These disciples were so excited they couldn't wait to tell somebody. How about you? What excites you today? Well, I want you to look at three things about the resurrection. First of all, the facts, the guess what of the resurrection. Look at it with me, would you? Jesus appears and says, what are you discussing? In verse 17. May I give you a little clue here? When the Lord asks you in your head and your heart, when he asks you a question, can I tell you it's not because he needs to know the answer? Hello? When he says a couple of verses later, what things are you talking about? It's not because he's struggling to know. God already knows the answers to the questions that he asks. Otherwise he wouldn't be God. He's asking you those questions so you'll process what's really going on inside. I hope today that you get some questions going inside of your heart from God. And then it says that he did this. Look at the next verse. Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. How would you like to have Jesus give you a walk through the Bible lesson? Wouldn't that be great? And he would highlight the things that prefigured him in the Old Testament and how Moses was the deliverer and he prefigured me and so on and so on. And he would go all through the Old Testament and highlight these different things. And maybe along the way as the sun was setting, he'd say, by the way, I created that sunset. Just thought you might want to know that. And your eye that you're looking at, I designed the eye and created a nerve, a million nerve endings in there. Oh, and the food that you're about to have, I thought about all those different kinds. How many of you are kind of hungry for Easter dinner right now? Well, God designed all that stuff, you see. And so he's revealing himself. Now, he doesn't talk about the New Testament because it hasn't been written yet. But had the New Testament been written, he would have said, oh, by the way, it says in John 14, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I had a man ask me about three weeks ago, a man who doesn't know the Lord. He said, well, what is Jesus supposed to reveal to me? Colossians 115 says he is the visible image of the invisible God. How huge is that? If you see Jesus, in other words, if you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and you understand who Jesus was, then you'll know what God is like. And when I read this, I see a joyful, loving, kind, gentle, caring, wonderful God who can be powerful and strong and sheltering and holy and righteous. Now, at some moment, these two walking along the road had to make a decision. Is this Jesus that we're seeing, is he God or is he fraud? Is he God or is he a fraud? I mean, what did he do to prove that he was God? Well, look at the verse right above it, would you, on your outline? Look at the next verse. By being raised from the dead, he proved he was the mighty son of God with the holy nature of God himself. May I just direct you to that verse once again? When you get into discussions with people who say, well, what about the other religions of the world? Ask them who was raised from the dead in their religion to prove that they were God. And I don't say this with arrogance. I say it because God knew that we needed convincing evidence. And so there it is, Romans 1.4. That's what proved that Jesus was who he said he was, the son of God, the Messiah, who died for our sins. And that Easter truth is now being celebrated by millions around the world, even today. And now Jesus comes and says, because I've been raised from the dead, I want to have a relationship with you. I want to walk with you. And he's kind of even prefiguring what he wants to do, walking alongside these two men. I just want to interact with you. I have a plan for your life, a plan to rescue you from your past hurts and a meaningless present and a desperate future. May I ask how many of you were here last week and heard the testimony of Nancy Schmidt? Can I see your hands? Many of you missed that. Nancy was a 44-year-old woman who shared, and here's a couple of photographs from last week. Nancy shared the most amazing testimony of someone who was caught in a horrible bondage to alcohol and prescription drugs. And she was sharing her story of how she had chosen to take her life. And the doctors had found her after drinking nearly a gallon of vodka and taking 50 Valium, her blood alcohol level was 0.57, according to the medical report. And she told the story of how God touched her as she was coming out of recovery and healed her, and how she's been drug and alcohol free for 18 months. And then she came to this part of her testimony, and I have the transcripts where she said, Now today I have a personal relationship with Jesus. He's my best friend. When I wake up in the morning, I greet that day with great anticipation because I know that I'm not alone. Jesus is in my heart and my mind and my soul. You see, that's what he came to do. He came to give us new life. I want to give you this relationship with purpose and meaning. More than that, the Lord says, I have plans for you. Look at the next verse. I have plans, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Some people don't know that. They don't know that God has a plan for them. Plans to give you hope and a future. I feel so strongly about that verse that I've asked Pastor Dave to join me. And beginning next week, we're going to teach a 10-week series on the plans of God. We're calling this series Sounds Like a Plan. We're going to talk about God's plan for our spiritual growth and our relationships and our family and our finances and our decision making. He has plans for us. But maybe the most important thing of all, Jesus said this, look at the next verse. He said, I'm the resurrection and the life. And he who believes in me will live. And even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Friends, is there anything more important than that? What does that mean? I mean, don't Christians still die? What Jesus is saying is that life, when you open your heart to him, that life that you receive in you is eternal life. It's the life of God. And then even though this outer body goes through a transformation where it basically burns out or rusts out or whatever it does, the inner man never dies. This is something that's very real to us right now. In our family, we're going through the loss of someone that we love very much. My son-in-law, Jay, J.D., his mom has cancer and my daughter Amy's caring for her now and she's in the final stages. She's been sent home by her oncologist and maybe just has a few months left to live. And her outer body, day by day, is sort of decaying as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians. But the inner man, the inner spirit is alive and there's hope and there's a peace that's in her life because she knows that she'll live forever. You see, Jesus is the source of life. To know him, this is love. To know him, this is life. Our people are going to come right now and they're going to present a song to you just to remind you of the power that in Christ there's life. There's resurrection life and there's power. Power to love. And so as we celebrate this together, listen to the words of this song and let yourself be encouraged by the fact that to know him is to have life. To know him is to know love. This is love. This is life. I want to thank our student ministry dancers. You know, every Sunday I watched them after the second service around 1 or 1.15. They were rehearsing and practicing just to share their gifts with us to celebrate the fact of his love and his life. So that leads us to the second big question about the resurrection. If the facts are the guess what, then the really big question is next, so what? So what? And I pray that every one of you will tune in for the next few moments because this is the critical question that every one of us must answer. As wonderful as all of what I just said in point number one may be, that Jesus wants to give us life, that he wants to be a companion with us, that he wants to carry us from this life to eternity, that he has a plan for us, as wonderful and as supportable as that all is in Scripture and verifiable in history, the truth of the matter is that this weekend, as always every Easter, millions of people around the world will acknowledge that, thousands even here in the North Hills will hear it all and just walk away. They'll smile, they'll say something like, that was a great service, nice message, pastor, beautiful music, and just walk away. And I've discovered a very troubling conviction that I have, that when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, some people get it and some people don't. Some people get it, I mean they understand it, they know what it means to them, and some people don't. Like the two men on the road to Emmaus, some seem to have their eyes blinded and they'll hear it all and go through it all, but they don't get it and they're not changed. Now I know some people are very honestly searching today, but you can't seem to get it either. Some of you are trying to crack the resurrection code and you can't seem to do it no matter what goes on in your life. Some are trying rather half-heartedly, it's Easter and you come to church and it doesn't make any more sense this year than last year, so you'll try again next year maybe. And some of you aren't even trying, you're just here because if you don't come, you don't get any Easter dinner. Some people literally are so frustrated because they have been trying so hard to get it, they're really wondering does it really exist. Or some people just sort of on some inside joke together who seem to get it, but really there's nothing there. I mean it's sort of a goofy story, but maybe it illustrates the point. A guy's unemployed for quite a while and he becomes desperate and he's not got to work. He sees an ad in the paper for an opening at the local zoo. So he goes down to apply with the zookeeper and the zookeeper says, well you know I'm somewhat embarrassed to tell you this, but it's not a regular job that we have. You see we had a gorilla that died a few days ago and we don't have enough money to replace him, so we need somebody who's willing to get in a gorilla suit and just kind of play the part a little bit and just pretend to be a gorilla for a while. I know it's a strange job, the zookeeper said, but we're willing to pay. He went to the job and he said he was offended. He said that's just beneath me, so he left. But a few days later he couldn't find a job anywhere else, so he came back and he took the job. And in the anonymity that he had of the gorilla suit, he kind of got into the work a little bit and started pounding on his chest like a gorilla does, started whooping down some bananas and he even found a vine in his big area that he could sort of swing on like he'd seen in the Tarzan movies, you know. And he got a little aggressive on that and the last time he went swinging across and he hit the wall and fell over into the lion's cage. So there he is laying on the ground and the lion comes over, leans right over top of him and his hot breath's breathing down upon him and he screams, you know. I mean, he forgets he's got this cosmic, he says, get me out of here, get me out of here. And then he hears the lion whisper softly, shut up, you idiot, or we'll both lose our jobs. See, some of you think really that this is all just sort of made up. I'm serious, I mean, I know that's true. Some people say, well, you know, they're just kind of blinded and they're all pretending together. I have a prop here that the gentleman or helping bring up on the platform that I think maybe will enable us to focus in on what I think the resurrection code is. You see, loved ones, every one of us has a center of our heart, a core of our being, a part of who we are that is the mainspring of our life. You may not really be aware of what it is, but it is there. Every one of you has something that kind of drives you and there's some clues in all of our lives to kind of reveal that. Let me just show you a few of them. I know you can't see this way in the back, so they'll be projected up on the screen. But for some of us, well, what really drives us is status. You know, we want to be on the top. And so we seek to be known and to be well recognized for what we do and we get the accoutrements of those kinds of things. And for others of us, you know, it's not so much the status, we just want the cash, you know. Show me the money. And I know lots of people that live just to acquire more and more and more money. I mean, that's what life's about for them. And then there's some others out there that, well, a little more honorable motivations, it's family. You know what stands for family more than a happy meal, right? You know, every Saturday we go and we have our little teletubby happy meal at McDonald's and we just have a wonderful little family time and we did this. Remember, guys? Happy meal time. Others, well, you know, they're maybe through that stage or that stage is not that important. What they're really into is just, I mean, you know, they're out just having a good recreational time. Just get down and just have fun out on the old golf course or tennis or boating or whatever it might be for them. It's all those kinds of things, you know, that give them a good time. And others are a little less active, but they just have a nice little hobby. Maybe it's gardening or maybe it's, you know, music or playing the piano, but that's some particular little hobby that they have. And you see, all these things are going around in their heart. They're all inside of them. Some people, I skipped over this one. This is a big one. It's work. Work is what drives you. I mean, every morning, man, I'm going to be the best and you subconsciously are driven by work. You're defined by your work. There's some of you as well that, you know, along with all this, you've decided that, oh, that's just a waste of time. You're really into pleasure. A bottle of champagne here that symbolizes pleasure. Whatever kind of definition you want to give it, sensuality, whatever, but that's what's important for you. You see, all these things are inside of you. And I know there's at least a couple of people thinking, well, gee, I mean, what's wrong with all that stuff? And, you know, the answer is that nothing's wrong with it unless they are what defines you. And really, I expect if I sat down with some of you, you'd say, well, you know, honestly, Jay, not any one of those things define me. It's sort of like all of them define me. All of them are sort of important to me. And that's part of the issue, friends. Listen, it's that we don't really know what defines us. And as life builds momentum, we give less and less reflection to what defines us and we just respond to whatever's coming along. Some folks about midlife get so desperate to know what's really here at the core of their being that they do something really wild. They go to church. And there are a lot of folks in their baby boomer years who go to church and they give that a try. And maybe there's some answers there with God, but they bring their old grids and their old church experiences with them. And, you know, it's the same dance, different partner. And after a while, they give up on church. Now, there are a few who come to church and they make a decision. And they say, you know what, it makes sense. I need to try God. And so they receive Christ. They pray a prayer or they ask Christ to come into their life and they put Him into their heart, just like that. But interestingly, they add Him to the mix of everything else. So now in their hearts, they have status and money and family and work and recreation and hobbies and pleasure. And now they have God. But they still don't have a center. And they still don't know the code. And they still don't get it. And these are the people, loved ones, that really scare me. And these are the people that are everywhere. And these are many of you that are listening to me today. You've added God to your mix. He's in the box. He's part of your life. But He's not the mainspring. And I'm talking about good people here. Lovely people, honest people, hardworking people. Even on the outside, you may have a pretty wonderful looking life. But on the inside, in the quiet moments when you're alone, you don't know what the most important thing in your life is. Some of these people go to church on Sunday and they drink in all the good stuff. And they love the music and the sermon. And they rate the pastor every week. That was an eight and a half today. Pastor Jay was really good. But Monday they go back to that old way of life. The old ethics, the old values. Nothing's really changed because they've not defined themselves according to God's definition. They've defined themselves as Jesus plus everything else in the box. One, dear ones, the only way to know the truth about the resurrection is to have Jesus as the core value. To put Him first in your life. Turn your outline over. The resurrection code is open to those who put Christ at the center of their life and Christ alone at the center. Now, paradoxically, when you do that, all these other things, achievement, money, work, family, I mean, even recreation begins to be blessed by God. He begins to put His hand on all of that as long as He is at the center. You see, it was not by accident that the first commandment of Scripture, what's the first of the Ten Commandments? Oh, God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, and thou shalt have no other gods before Him. It's a 4,000-year-old way of saying, what's at the center? What's at the center of your life? And then for the balance of your life, you will have to continually examine. Now, listen, this is where a lot of you need to tune in. What happens is, some years ago, you prayed a prayer and you put Jesus in there, and maybe for a while, He was it. And then things happen, don't they? Work gets really demanding, and pretty soon, I'm not spending much time with Him, and so work slips its way back into the center. And then now, I just had my fourth kid. I mean, it's really maybe fifth kid, see? I mean, whatever. And I mean, I got a moment. And pretty soon, all these things get in there with the Lord, and it isn't long before you lose your center. This is why Paul admonishes us in the book of Galatians. He says, I die daily. He's saying, every day I make a decision of what my center is going to be. And when you surrender daily to Jesus as the core value, amazing things begin to happen. When you make it, I'm going to do this every day, His love begins to overflow in your life, and He fills this love need that we all have. I'm astonished at the number of people that I'm encountering, particularly younger people looking for relationships, you know, going out to clubs and bars and all. You know, today on Easter Sunday, millions of people are going to log onto the Internet into little chat rooms and try to make a connection to feed the love need that they have with a person they don't even know. When you put Jesus in the center of your life, His love satisfies that. And some of the marriages that are so stressed, even here in our community, would be so much better if some people would just let Christ be the center and not expect a spouse to love them perfectly. His strength becomes real to you. Nancy Smith, that we saw a moment ago, for 25 years tried detox, tried rehab centers and all the things that are very valuable, and I commend those things, but they weren't enough until she found Christ. Now, I know some of you here today wish that you could pray a prayer like she did and be freed from addictions. You know, I am not oblivious to the fact that there are many addictive things going on in our society. From caffeine to crack cocaine, from pornography to potato chips, from M&Ms to Marlboros, there are people addicted to all kinds of things. And they would say this morning, I want to be set free, but I don't know how to get free. And I want to say to you, the only way I know is to put Christ at the center. And then I can tell you that it may take a while, but you will be set free. How do I know? Because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Count on His word. But He's got to be at the center. Look at the next verse. He meets all your needs. Why? Because my God will supply them all according to His glorious resources in Christ Jesus. Needs for forgiveness of failures and lifting of shame and guilt. You know, when you put Christ in the center of your home, I mean a family where Christ is at the center of a home. Not in the closet marked religion that we pull out on Sunday morning, but where grace is in place is an amazing thing. Some months ago I was at a restaurant and I didn't mean to overhear this conversation, but it was loud enough that I couldn't avoid it. And this young couple, relatively young couple, they were intensely exchanging words. Barbs might be a better word to describe it, about whose fault it was that their marriage wasn't going to make it, who was really the cause of the divorce that was impending. And finally the guy got just tired of it all and he stood up and said something unkind about her mother and how much she was like her. And then he says, and you're going to tell the kids what's going to happen. And walked out. And I thought, you know, how much pain there's going to be there. That's not what God wants for that family. Having Jesus at the center doesn't guarantee a perfect picture book marriage, does it? No, it doesn't. It doesn't guarantee a perfect picture book marriage for kids. But it does release grace to handle conflict and difficulties and stress and change and to navigate the turbulent times of life. And it makes a home a happy place when Christ is at the center. This coming summer, Carol and I will be married 30 years. And we have found that because Christ is the center of our relationship, we've been able to make it by His grace. This Friday evening, it was my birthday on Good Friday, and I was really blessed. All my kids were home. And after our second presentation, you guys were all collapsing, I went home and they had to party. And, you know, the kids were there and were kind of making jokes about inherited traits and aging patterns and receding hairlines and stuff. And we pulled out old movies and, you know, we just kind of laughed together and had a good time. And I shared the greatest joy that any parent longs to know, and that's to see your kids do what you can't do for them, and that is to discover their wings and to take flight in life. People with Jesus at the center find a new set of priorities. They give themselves to learn to be a servant of others. They move in the marketplace of the world with a sense of confident moral integrity, which seems to be so lacking in so many business places these days. They give their talents to the mission of their local church. This church has all kinds of ways for you to plug in to give of your giftedness. The wood-stained red was one expression, a powerful one, but one of many, where you can make a difference. And things like the wood-stained red touch people beyond ways you ever can imagine. There are hundreds of people touched that we won't hear about for weeks and months to come. How do I know? Because you're going to hear one today. You're going to hear from one today that was touched at Christmas time when we presented the Midnight Cry. A homeless person came to our Christmas Eve service. You wouldn't have known it to look at her. Homeless with two kids. Homeless and, might I add, hopeless by the world's standards, but Christ met her. Would you like to hear her story? Give her a warm welcome. Gwen Bartz is going to come and share. Come on, Gwen. Thanks for giving her a nice hand. Bless you, dear. Hey, Marge. Thank you for staying for three services. Thank you for this privilege. Good morning and Happy Easter. I consider myself a baby Christian. I'm a single mom of two incredible children. About three and a half years ago, I found that my health was failing, my marriage was falling apart, and my children were suffering. I was becoming numb to the world around me. In March of 1998, my husband left while we were attempting marriage counseling. I was working over 40 hours. I was paying a first and second mortgage. My health was shutting down. I lost work without pay. Meanwhile, medical expenses climbed. My 10-year-old car was in the shop needing $1,000 in repairs. In July of 1998, the utilities were turned off, and we had to leave our home. We made it until May of 1999. In May of 1999, my two children and myself were added to the invisible homeless population of the North Hills. I entered a program designed for homeless single moms that provided a safe living space and a decent school district for my kids. My oldest daughter will be enrolled in her fourth elementary school this coming fall, and she's only eight years old. In June of 1999, my youngest daughter and I were in a car accident. A Lincoln crossed in front of us. I couldn't even get my foot to the brake. I heard the explosive sounds of the airbags and glass shattering. I then heard the horrific screams of my daughter. My door was jammed, and I was smelling smoke. I desperately searched for my phone, but I was no longer familiar with the interior of my car. I forced my door open and gathered her in my arms. When we were released from the hospital, I went to where my car had been towed. I saw the incredible impact that we had survived. The dashboard had been in the backseat. I felt completely overwhelmed and so thankful that we survived with so few injuries. During this time, I was also living in a state of fear. I went to the authorities, agencies, and the courts for our health, our protection, and our shelter. They failed my children, and they failed me. I was so angry and terrified. But then I started looking inward. What I saw, I didn't like. I had been worshiping and fearing my husband. I had allowed, tolerated, and at times even encouraged the addictions, the terrorism, a