Sermon Summary
“A CHANGE AFTER EASTER: THE RESURRECTION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE” (Colossians 3:1-4; 12-17) by ELDER MRS. JEANETTE WORTZ:
Today we focus on the events after the resurrection; when sadness turned to great joy. And since Jesus was raised to life, our sadness can turn to joy because through him, we too are raised to life.
When Jesus announced to his disciples that he would be tortured and killed Peter was pretty upset. Even though Jesus said he would be raised to life Peter didn't want to see him go through that. But Jesus knew that doing God's will involved sacrificing our will for his so he used the opportunity to teach his disciples this valuable lesson.
We who believe are not mistaken, we're not naive; we're blessed. Blessed because we too, are raised from the dead; we go through our own resurrection. It happens two ways and at two separate times in our lives. The first time it's spiritual and it happens when we're baptized; the second time it's a literal resurrection, when the dead in Christ are raised at the end of time (Romans 6:1-4).
When we are baptized, we officially commit ourselves to live for Jesus. That's why Paul says we died to sin, how can we choose to live in it any longer; for we were made new. We are no longer dead in our sins so we choose to no longer live how we once did. We have a new nature, a new spirit—the Holy Spirit—living in us. He enables us to live a righteous life and please God. When we were born again we were raised in Christ.
We have been saved by God's grace through our faith in Christ. God's gift of salvation has been bestowed upon us and we now are in the process of being made into the image of Jesus by the master craftsman. And so we respond to that indescribable gift by committing ourselves to do the good works that God has prepared for us to do. Now our focus is on serving God's agenda instead of our own. We now set our hearts on things above. It’s the resurrection that made the difference!—USK
