Tuesday, March 25, 2008

"Let Jesus Out Of The Tomb"

On Easter we go around and sing songs and read scriptures and buy cards, that say "HE’S ALIVE","HE IS RISEN","THE TOMB IS EMPTY","HE HAS CONQUERED DEATH","HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD", and all of that is great, and we should do and say, and sing those words. We should be excited about it.
But this morning, I hope to challenge you, shock you, and motivate you. It is not my intention to come off as disrespectful. I am not saying something just to sound controversial.
He’s alive! He is risen! The tomb is empty! He has conquered death, hell, and the grave! He has risen from the dead!
To all that I say,
SO WHAT! WHO REALLY CARES?
I mean really, when you think about it, DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
I know what’s probably going through your mind right now. "David , thats sacreligious, thats blasphemy, how can you say that?"
And to that I say this :
IT DOESN’T MATTER IF JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD OR NOT,......IF HE IS NOT ALIVE IN YOU !!
IF JESUS IS NOT VISIBLY ALIVE IN YOU, THEN HIS PURPOSE IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED, AND HE SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED IN THE GRAVE !
IF HE IS NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE, THEN WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE ?
99.9999 percent of Americans celebrate Easter. If you have a calender, Easter is marked on it. It’s a day we all remember. We go to easter egg hunts, we buy and eat and get and give lots of chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, even chocolate crosses. We get and give pretty easter baskets with lots of pastel colors. We buy and give and get and eat all kinds of jelly beans. And we cant wait till the day after easter to go to the store and get all that easter candy and chocolate for half price or less.
A lot of Americans, even go and buy beautiful outfits, to look their very best, getting all spiffed up for Jesus, because on Easter, even if you don’t go the rest of the year, you go to church. Because most of us know and have been taught that there is something special about Easter. How could we ever go back to work and say that we didn’t go to church on Easter? It’s a custom, a ritual, it’s almost expected. It’s a day to celebrate-"JESUS ROSE FROM THE GRAVE", and everyone comes out. But a week later, they are no where around. THEY PUT JESUS RIGHT BACK IN THE GRAVE ! He is again DEAD to them. THEY ROLL THE STONE RIGHT BACK IN FRONT OF THE TOMB, and tell Jesus to stay there, till they come back next year, to celebrate.
I TELL YOU IT’S WRONG! IF, and I say IF GOD IS ALIVE, IF GOD IS ALIVE, LET HIM LIVE !! If we go through our days and our lives without acknowledging GOD, then we put HIM right back in the tomb.
As I was working yesterday, and ringing up sales, and telling people to have a good day, thanks for coming in.......I was also saying,"Have a good Easter", "Have a nice Easter". Most of the people I said that to are probably in some church today. But do they really believe, that Jesus resurrected from the dead? I wonder, if we stopped people on the street today, and asked them that, what they would say? Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? I believe that if we truly believe that, like we say that we do, then we would all have to answer some serious questions about how we are living our lives.
Jesus was in the grave for 3 days, then he rose himself up, then He promised us that HIS SPIRIT would be IN US. And if the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, dwells in us , then it would quicken (make alive), our mortal (fleshly) bodies. We should be more alive than any other people on the planet!
When we go about our lives, as if Jesus isn’t there, as if He doesn’t have a say in what we do, how we act, what we say, how we dress, how we live, who we love.......we are in effect, not only denying what He did, but also telling the world who’s watching...HE’S DEAD.
On the other hand however, if we go around with a smile on our face, and a skip in our step,and a song in our mouth, and praises and kind words on our lips, if we go around loving our brothers and our sisters, and bringing hope and encouragement, and offering smiles to everyone we meet, if we can rejoice in the hard times, and sing praises in the prison, if we can be salt, and if we can be light, and if we can be witnesses of all that we have seen and heard......then people will take notice of us, and take notice of our GOD! We can tell them that we are ALIVE, because HE is ALIVE !
Let Jesus out of the tomb.....
LET HIM LIVE!
LET HIM LIVE!


David Munn

Monday, March 24, 2008

"He Is Not Here"

He is not here
Matt 28:6, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6

It is important to realize that there are some places that you won’t find God. I know God is omnipresent. He fills the universe. There is no where that He isn’t. BUT, as a child of God, if you are looking to find Jesus, if you are looking to feel Jesus, there are places that you will not find Him, there are places that you will not feel Him. You will not find Him among the tombs, you will not find Him among the dead. HE IS ALIVE!
If your relationship has grown stale, or boring, or ho-hum, God will not be hanging out in your tomb. God seeks the living. Your life with God should be exciting! Yes, you will have ups and downs, trials, tribulations, persecution, trouble and woe, but if you have Jesus, if you don’t lose faith, if you don’t lose hope, if you keep your relationship strong, even in the dark times, you and God can have an adventourous journey. Your walk with God should never be boring. Even when you can’t see Him, hear Him, or feel Him, if you know that you are living right, and have been faithful, and living in obedience, even then your resolve in the face of adversity can be uplifting and encouraging. There are places you should look for Jesus, and places you should not expect Him to be. Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not there.


David Munn