Easter is a time of celebration for Christians. I hope, like me, you are celebrating. So, why is Easter relevant today? Why do we still celebrate? Because, the message of Easter is that God loves us…you and me…all of us. But, the truth is that everyone is not celebrating today. Many have turned away from Jesus because of a bad experience with religious people. If this is you, let me remind you that Jesus had a bad experience with religious people; he was crucified by them. Today, I have some encouraging news. Let me start by introducing you to someone.
Noble Doss was a successful football player, both college and professional. In his college career, he dropped a pass in 1941 that cost his team, the Texas Longhorns, a trip to the Rose Bowl, and although he had made the “impossible catch” the year before and accomplished great things in his professional career… the one that he missed was something…he thought about with deep regret. In his words, “not a day goes by that I don’t think about that.”
Do you have a mistake or an embarrassment that you think of often? You may think you have no access to God, because you have disappointed him beyond repair. Today, we will have the opportunity to hand our embarrassments, failures, and regrets to God so we can start again with a clean slate.
Embracing the perfect forgiveness that is ours through Jesus can be a struggle and something people in our day and time have pushed to the back of their minds. However, when Jesus healed the paralytic man in Matthew 9, he didn’t simply heal him but gave him hope with these words, “Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:1-8). Do you hope for your sins to be forgiven…or are you looking for something more temporary to be healed (e.g. legs that won’t walk)? If like me, your answer is “No, I don’t worry about the forgiveness of my sins,” we are going to look a little deeper. Is it possible that sin is at the root of our problems?
What have you done to overcome dwelling on past failures? One technique is to fill our minds with good things (Philippians 4:8). This happened just the other night. When a subject came up that reminded me of one of my past failures, I said, “Let’s change the subject.” Many of us fear we have “out sinned” God’s patience. “A person can only ask for forgiveness so many times,” we think. We feel, “We have cashed in too many mercy checks and sooner or later one is going to bounce.” The devil wants us to doubt God’s unconditional love for us. God’s love will outlast the mistakes that we make. This is why I love the song, Voice of Truth, by Casting Crowns. The lyrics are so powerful.
“Boy, you’ll never win! You’ll Never win!
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, ‘Do not be afraid!’
And the voice of truth says, ‘This is for my glory!’
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe
The voice of truth.”
Maybe, like Noble Doss, you have a mistake or an embarrassment that you think about often. Maybe you think you have disappointed God beyond repair. Don’t worry; even if you fear you have blown it, take heart. We all have and Jesus came for people just like us.
Also, you can purchase the cooresponding Easter sermon
Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear