A:Risen, Rising, Rejoicing Life, Leonard Sweet, EASTER Vlog #55 Premiered 04April2021

About this sermon

The essence of the gospel is not a set of teachings but the good news of The One Who Rose From The Dead. Our rejoicing is based on a facticity of faith: Jesus is our Risen, Rising, Regnant Lord. The "good news" that leads to a life of joy and service is that "Christ is Risen" and wants to "rise" in each one of us. Jesus is the Incarnate Torah, the Living Torah, the Embodied Torah whose life, death and resurrection become The Way, The Truth, The Life. The Bible in heaven is Jesus. Heaven is where Jesus is. Jesus is The Truth. Some want to get Jesus off-stage so we don’t have to deal with him as a person, only his pronouncements and principles. The person becomes irrelevant, subsumed under his teachings, and the resurrection but an afterglow of pleasant memories from someone who is no longer with us. So we rush him away to heaven and spend all the time with his teachings. But you have his teachings without the Teacher. Resurrection life is not about living a moral life, or a successful life, or a happy life. Resurrection life is about receiving a gift that changes all of life–-the gift of life overcoming death, the gift of grace greater than any evil. What happened at the tomb that Easter morning was a revelation and exploration, not a seminar. We have made the Christian life more a DIY (Do It Yourself) seminar than a E&D (Exploration & Discovery) experience and revelation. Lectionary Passages: Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43 John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8 ‘“If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to me”’ (Jn12:32) The Ultimate Powerlifting is not done with barbells but with crosses. “Take up your cross” (Mt.16:24)–squat, bench press or deadlift—and the powers of sin & death are defeated. “Our Easter faith is that we really do encounter Jesus himself: not a message from him, or a doctrine inspired by him, or an ethics of love, or a new idea of human destiny, or a picture of him, but Jesus himself. It is in this that we rejoice.” Herbert McCabe, God Still Matters (2002), 227. "If God raised Jesus from the dead, then everything else is window dressing." Justin Brierley, Unbelievable? Why, After 10 Years of Talking With Atheists, I'm Still a Christian (2017). Subscribe to the Leonard Sweet YouTube Channel by hitting the red subscribe button. Thank you. All Len's resources now (except books) are donation not subscription based. So please help us with as little or as much as you can. There are multiple ways to do it. Support Len’s Ministry through his 501-c-3 “SpiritVenture Ministries” (SVM) https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... Become a SpiritVenture Ministries (SVM) Supporter at $9/month https://preachthestory.com/cart/ Become a Tribe of Issachar Member at $49/month https://preachthestory.com/cart/ Follow Leonard Sweet on Social Media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leonard.sweet Twitter: https://twitter.com/lensweet (Sweet’s daily micro-blogs) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lensweet (Sweet’s daily blogs) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/preachthestory Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/preac... (Specifically for preachers and others who love and pray for those who preach) Access sermons, conferences, and more Leonard Sweet activities: https://preachthestory.com/ (hundreds of written sermons) https://www.facebook.com/thesalishsea... (Sweet’s newest publications) https://salishsea.press/ https://the-salish.com (Orcas Island getaway cottages for board, staff and church advances [aka “retreats”]) #LeonardSweet #UltimatePowerLift #RisenRisingLife

Topics

• Joy
• Resurrection
• Easter