Sermon Notes | Easter Sunday, April 9th, 2023
Sermon Notes | Easter Sunday, April 9th, 2023
The Fruit of the Gospel: LIVING HOPE
Pastor Chris Pletcher
"Whatever HOLDS your future has your HOPE."
1 Peter 1:3-7, 13
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is
imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being
guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so
that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that
will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
HOPE ALWAYS LOOKS AHEAD. It is future-oriented by nature.
A "Lively" Hope
- To live, to breathe, to be among the living
- Not lifeless, not dead
- To enjoy real life
- To be full in vigor
- To be fresh, strong, efficient, active and powerful
John 11:17-27
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
John 11:32-37
Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her
also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of
them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
YOU CANNOT HAVE A "LIVELY HOPE" WITHOUT A RESURRECTION REVELATION.
4 Promises of Living Hope
1. Future Inheritance (v. 4)
1. The New Heavens and the New Earth
2. The Kingdom of Your Father
2. Future Salvation (v. 5)
1. Deliverance from the oppression of the World
2. Deliverance from the coming Judgement of God
3. Future Reward (v. 6-7)
1. Faithfulness recognized (Crowns of Reward)
2. Suffering honored and healed (Medals of Honor)
4. Future Grace (v. 13)
1. His grace is not just something in your past
2. He is coming again with grace for His children
"Christ came once as the suffering servant to become the AUTHOR of our salvation;
He will come again as the conquering King and will become the FINISHER of what He
started. We live in the tension of the middle, and a LIVING HOPE is required."
1 Corinthians 15:42-54
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown
in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised
a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam
became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the
natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from
heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are
those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image
of the man of heaven.
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit
the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal
body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on
immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
What are you tethered to?
What is holding your future?