Speaker 1: 0:13

So I'll be going to the University of Michigan. It's going to be great. This is my daughter. Oh my gosh. All right, so how can we be praying for you?

Speaker 2: 0:22

I think just praying for community. You know it's far away, so praying that I find a good community over there as well.

Speaker 1: 0:28

Yeah, and pray for her mother and I. So we have a tradition here that we started, just as Madeline just read the scripture, for today, a young Mary Magdalene is the first one that gave the gospel, the good news that Jesus was no longer buried but has resurrected to new life and the impact that that makes. And then she delivered that news to the other disciples, and then that was delivered, and that was delivered and that was delivered, and ultimately you've experienced some of you, the same thing and some of you maybe today will experience it for the first time. And what we do is we then honor that and celebrate that by having the honor of listening to a woman give the gospel message on Easter, just as it happened back then. And so if you came here and you wanted to listen to me, so sorry. Next week you can come back as we wrap it up and celebrate, but for today, we have the honor of a woman. So, madeline, you're not that much younger than Mary Magdalene. What do you think?

Speaker 2: 1:28

Let's do it.

Speaker 1: 1:29

Sweet.

Speaker 2: 1:30

All right. So the crazy thing is that today we're joining several billion people on the planet and celebrating this good news, this great news that Jesus has risen. It's the best news and it's the best news because we have in him the one thing that this world most desperately needs, and that is hope. We have in him true hope. Jesus declared it this way in John 11, 25. He said I'm the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, they will live even though they die. That there is this eternal life that is promised in Christ and a life that we can experience in a new way amongst the living.

Speaker 2: 2:18

I know some of you here probably only come every once in a while and maybe this whole thing just feels a little bit overdone to you. You come in and maybe you haven't been here since last Easter and you're just like I get it. I mean it's a big deal, this whole resurrection thing, but it was a long time ago. But what we know is that we're not just celebrating some past event that happened in history. No, we're celebrating the power that it has over our lives today. It has changed who we are. It's given us a joy that isn't dependent upon circumstance. It's given us a hope that no darkness can take away from us. It's given us a purpose that gets us out of bed in the mornings, and so we want to celebrate that. But look, I mean, I know I get it.

Speaker 2: 3:04

You know, if you've heard this story enough, it can just kind of become too familiar. Even me, as a young person, I have heard it a lot. There's this thing called the law of familiarity. Maybe you've heard it before. It's familiarity breeds contempt, and maybe that's true sometimes. But I think perhaps a more accurate way to understand it is familiarity breeds indifference. The more familiar you are with something, the more common something becomes, the more it loses its awe, it loses its wonder, and so because of that, we can come in here and just be kind of meh about it. Instead of coming in here to celebrate, we come in here kind of sleepy. Instead of coming in here being excited about all these people who celebrate the resurrection, we come in here annoyed, trying to find parking, waiting in line for coffee, checking in the kids.

Speaker 2: 3:52

Why are so many people celebrating the Easter resurrection? Can't we just have the place to ourselves, and we find ourselves becoming a little bit hard-hearted or a little bit numb and different as to how good this news really is. You're just going through the motions. So it's the weekend and for me, weekends are for sleeping in. Actually, in all honesty, every day is for sleeping in. When I wake up, I need a lot of help. Sometimes you know a light, a noise, a person.

Speaker 2: 4:30

My hope today is to be a help to you. God's trying to get your attention. God's word is an alarm clock going off in your life. You need to rise up, you need to wake up. That is the hope, that's the prayer that, even as we gather here together, that there would be an alarm that would go off so that those who have been spiritually asleep would wake up and those who have become numb to the good news of the gospel would allow it to transform them. That we wouldn't just be celebrating Easter as an event that happened a long time ago, but that we would wake up to the reality of it and the power of it in our lives today.

Speaker 2: 5:14

So today's message is for those who have fallen asleep spiritually, for those of you who are sleeping through the days and the years of your life and never really thinking about your purpose. You know you spend hours scrolling through other people's lives but you're not really living your own with any real purpose. It's for those who become apathetic to the things of God and you've quit praying and you don't read the scriptures and you don't really come here very often and you've just kind of become cold to it. You don't care and you don't care that you don't care. And there needs to be an awakening, and that is my prayer that the resurrection would wake you up to the reality. Awakening, and that is my prayer. That the resurrection would wake you up to the reality, the reality of the power that is available to you within Jesus Christ and hope, not just of eternal life, but of a full, purposeful life now, today and years to come.

Speaker 2: 6:11

That was Paul's prayer in the church in Ephesus. The people there had started off super excited about the good news and the resurrection of Jesus, but over time they had been lulled to sleep by the distractions of the city, by the distractions of the world they lived in, and what Paul wanted to do was to reconnect them to the power of the resurrection that's available to them. So here's what he writes in Ephesians 1. I pray that you would understand the incredible greatness of God's power For us who believe in him. It is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead. So the resurrection story isn't just a story of what happened, but it's a story of what needs to happen. We're not just celebrating the resurrection story, but we're here to tell a story of resurrection in our own lives. We have been an eyewitness today for the people who have experienced that power through baptism Over 80 today and over 290 in the last two years. That is almost 300 people experiencing that. And it's clear from this passage that what is possible is to believe something and to even know that thing but not to fully experience it. And I think we here today run that risk. We believe, we know, but have we fully experienced the power and been transformed by it? Easter is for awakening. Easter is for resurrection, not just the resurrection of Jesus, but our own resurrection story.

Speaker 2: 7:45

And the fourth century before people could for the most part, read or write, the early church leaders got together and put up together this list of sins, so at least people would know what not to do. By the way, the point isn't really the list itself, but you've heard it before. It's called the seven deadly sins. But there's one list on this list of seven deadly sins. That doesn't really seem that deadly. It feels a little bit out of place from my perspective.

Speaker 2: 8:12

Sloth, not the animal, but slothfulness you know it doesn't sound that bad. I mean, we don't really use that word very often, so I think a synonym for us could be lethargic, fatigued, maybe lazy, sleepy. Sloth it's the person who sits on the couch eating Cheetos all day, or the person who just wastes time scrolling through social media or lays in the bathtub until their fingers get wrinkles. That's slothful. But if we're honest, that sounds kind of great Like, doesn't that sound like a nice way to spend the evening. You know, it doesn't seem that deadly, but what the early church fathers were identifying here was more of a spiritual sleepiness, spiritual slothfulness, a spiritual apathy, where we just let the days and the weeks and the months and the years go by and we don't ever really stop and think about who we're becoming. We don't really stop and pay attention to our purpose here on earth. We're not living with eternity in mind, we're just kind of apathetic. We just don't care that much. So they're wanting to identify the spiritual condition that sets in if we're not careful.

Speaker 2: 9:25

So today I want to ask a few questions to help you maybe identify if there needs to be a spiritual awakening in your life. There's a lot of questions that could be asked, but for today and time we'll just focus on two. Number one do you want to be here? Like, honestly, do you even want to be here? I mean, I get it obviously that you're here, but that doesn't mean you want to. I think we all know that. Do you want to be here? Do, or is it more of an annoyance? Is it more of your partner's ultimatum? Is it more to keep your mom happy? Is it more of just a routine? Do you want to be here? Because I know some of you don't. You know you're kind of counting down until we're finished, wondering what's going to be for the Easter lunch. So I encourage you, if you're thinking this way, to take a look at the condition of your heart, because there may be some spiritual sleepiness.

Speaker 2: 10:21

Another question is have you grown spiritually? The natural state of a follower of Jesus is growth. In Ephesians 4 and 5, it identifies these things to be true as we follow Jesus, that as we grow in him, we should change the way we talk, we should change our desires. Over time, we should change the way we live. But are you in the same place now that you were six months ago or a year ago? Last Easter, have you grown? Last Easter, I got to see my baby sister get baptized, and not only have I watched her grow here's a cool example but she was recently dealing with some stuff at school with people we all do, you know, deal with people and it was really hard for her and she could have gone hard with it.

Speaker 2: 11:10

You know, woe is me, but I watched how she prayed and forgave and reconciled and I'm like, dang, that's my baby sister, that's it. There should be this growth, and that is true for us as we follow Jesus, that we should be growing. If you're stepping back and if it's the same as it was six months or a year ago, there may be some sleepiness there Now. There are a lot of other symptoms that we could talk about, but here is what I'm convinced of is that what God wants to see happen on this Easter Sunday is for there to be some awakening, and so I want to talk through some different ways that God is trying to, I believe, wake you up, wake me up Some different alarms he uses.

Speaker 2: 11:57

If you will, I have here some with me. I'm a very visual learner, so this is helpful. But for most of us we probably use our phone as an alarm clock. So raise your hand if you used a phone to wake up today yeah, pretty much the entire room and raise your hand if you used, like, more than one alarm to get you up, like a backup. All right, yeah, a lot of us still.

Speaker 2: 12:22

So here's what I've learned about ringtones and alarms on your phone is that you have to choose one that will disrupt you enough to get your attention. You know it has to make you want to get out of bed and turn it off, because otherwise you'll just listen to it. So there are a lot of ringtones that you could choose from, and some of them I don't really understand. So here's an option. This one's a doorbell. Yeah, that's just a confusing way to wake up. I mean you hear it. You think it's a dream. You go right back to sleep knocked out, doesn't do anything. Another ringtone as an alarm here's this one. And now maybe some of you guys use this, but I mean it's a harp like. It's just like go back to sleep. Your boss will understand. You know it doesn't wake you up, you just want to go right back to sleep. Or this one I sometimes use oh my gosh, and it sets me right up and it's like because it's disruptive.

Speaker 2: 13:18

Now here's what I believe. I believe for some of you, there are some alarms going off in your life that God is trying to use those to get your attention and draw you to him. There's some struggles that you're going through, some suffering you're experiencing. You didn't expect it, you didn't anticipate it, but you're in the middle of it and maybe one of the reasons you're here today is because of it and your way hasn't been working. You know you need some help. You know you've tried everything, and so you're here because something has been going off in your life and you can't figure out how to turn it off. Now, what I would tell you is that God's not causing those things necessarily, but I will tell you that God is wanting to use those things, that he will use that to draw your attention towards what really matters, to open your eyes to purpose, to put your hope in him.

Speaker 2: 14:22

Another alarm up here. I kind of like this one, this one's clocky. So basically, what this one does is that you set your alarm and then when you put it on the ground, and then whenever it goes off, it starts rolling all around and you have to actually catch it in order for it to stop. So if you don't get out of bed, it's not going to turn off. So you don't just wake up, but you have to rise up, and that's what Paul says in Ephesians 5. He says wake up, rise up, wake up, o sleeper, rise up from the dead. He says wake up, rise up, wake up, o sleeper, rise up from the dead. Let Christ's light shine on you.

Speaker 2: 15:01

Because here's the thing and I think a lot of us have experienced this spiritually is that you can wake up, but if you don't get up, you're going to go right back to sleep. You didn't mean to, you were going to wake up, but you accidentally fell back asleep. I have thought to myself countless times, five more minutes, and then woken up 40 minutes later in a panic, trying to get somewhere. When you wake up, you need to rise up, because one of the things the resurrection does for us is that it gives us a reason to get up out of bed. It gives us this purpose, it gives us this power in our lives, so that we don't just wake up and lay in bed, but we get out from under the covers and we live our life differently. The resurrection did this for the disciples. When the disciples were waiting after the death of Jesus, they were hiding in this like upper room, but then, when Jesus appeared to them and they experienced the power of the resurrection, they went on and lived their life on a mission us. They were hiding in this upper room, but then, when Jesus appeared to them and they experienced the power of the resurrection, they went on and lived their life on a mission. They had this purpose, they had this meaning and significance that gets them up in the mornings. It doesn't just wake them up, but it helps them to rise up, and that's one of the ways that God wants us to wake up, to give us purpose in our lives and meaning.

Speaker 2: 16:20

Another alarm clock here this one's called the sonic boom. So basically, how this one works is you put this right here under your pillow and then, when the alarm goes off, let's see if we can get it. Yeah, not fun, very loud, very disruptive. I don't like that one. It feels like an earthquake. So nobody wants to be woken up that way, even though it is effective, like nobody wants to be shaken awake.

Speaker 2: 16:52

But picture this you have someone you care about and they're in a building and the building's on fire and you need them to wake up and get out. Well, what do you do? You don't pull out the harp alarm. No, you go in when they're sleeping and you grab them by the shoulders and say wake up, wake up, you got to get up and maybe that's what some of you need. Is it a kind of loving shake? Somebody to grab you at the shoulder and say, wake up.

Speaker 2: 17:20

Your relationship is in trouble.

Speaker 2: 17:22

You're acting like everything's okay. It's not okay. You're making destructive decisions in your life and if you don't do something, if you don't humble yourself before the Lord and cry out to help, you're not going to make it. Your struggle has become an addiction and you don't see it, but the people around you see it and you keep saying that you can stop when you want to, but you haven't and you need a power that is more than what you have. You need to wake up to God's power in your life. You need somebody to grab you by the shoulders and say wake up. You are missing out on time with your kids. You don't have that much time left. It's going by fast and they desperately need you to get up out of bed and follow Jesus so they have an example that they can chase after. You're not going to get this time back. Or you need somebody to grab you by the shoulders and say wake up. You're living this life like it's all there is and it's not. You're living like you're not going to go stand before God and you will. You're living like there's no heaven or no hell, and there is heaven and there is hell and, frankly, you decide now which one you're living in.

Speaker 2: 18:25

Now, I know you don't want to be woken up that way. Nobody wants to be shaken awake. You don't want to be woken up that way. Nobody wants to be shaken awake. But maybe that's what some of you need. It's Easter and maybe that needs to be your resurrection story. Well, my favorite favorite alarm up here, this one's the sunshine alarm, and it does pretty much exactly what it's called. So how it works is you turn it on and when the alarm goes off, it just gets brighter and brighter and brighter. Now, maybe to some of you that doesn't sound like a great way to wake up, but have you ever had a really good night's sleep, and then this light just starts streaming into your room and it just gets brighter and brighter and brighter.

Speaker 2: 19:08

That is the way that God wants you to wake up. He wants you to wake up to the light of his love. The best way for you to wake up is to the good news of the gospel. There are a lot of different alarms that he can use, but what he wants more than anything is for you to wake up to his grace and his hope. That is part of what the Bible means when it says that it's his kindness that leads us to repentance. It's his kindness that gets our attention and draws us in. Let me tell you, my favorite way to wake up is to good news or something fun is going to happen. It's wonderful to wake up to good news, to the light of God's love and his grace and his hope, and that's really what we have an opportunity to do on Easter is to celebrate God's love, his grace, his hope, and wake up to that. Let it change who we are. Let us celebrate that, because Jesus rose up so that we can rise up and so that things don't have to be the way they've been. And so I just wonder if there are some alarms going off in your life. If it's time for a spiritual awakening, it's time for a recommitment. I know perhaps you've been planning it, you've been thinking it, you've been saying I'm going to do it Now. This weekend would be a great time to let God wake you up.

Speaker 2: 20:33

Easter shows us how, when Jesus was asleep in death, god woke him up After the Sabbath. At dawn, on the first day of the week, mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the woman do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.

Speaker 2: 21:23

Now I have told you what you just heard is the Easter story of resurrection, and what you just watched earlier is the Easter story baptism. From death to life, from dark to light, from hopeless to hopeful. That is how we celebrate Easter. We don't just remember a resurrection story, but we tell a story of resurrection. If all you can do is look back and celebrate that something happened, as long as it's just an event, as long as it's just a resurrection story, it's not a personal story, you're missing the point and you're missing the power of Easter. It's not just a story of what happened. It's a story of what needs to happen, what is happening, that there is a resurrection that's taking place because Jesus rose from the dead and for some of you, that light that he talked about just needs to shine on you. Just let it wake you up. Jesus loves you, jesus values you. You're worth dying for, you're worth sticking around for. Wake up to that in your life, thank you.