Reading — Mark 16:1-11 ESV
-
- Jesus is the Anointed King
- Jesus is the Unexpected King
- Jesus is the Crucified King
- Jesus is the Risen King
The first to receive the news:
-
- The Women: Disappointment
- Peter: Failure
- The Disciples: Doubt
Who will roll away this stone?
What stone is standing in the way between you and God?
Two Common Stones People Encounter
-
- Stone Tablets
- Stone Hearts
1.Stone Tablet
Legalism is the idea that God’s love for us is based on our
performance.
For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. – Romans 3:20 NLT
2.Stone Heart
…you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. – Ephesians 4:17-18 ESV
And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. – Mark 3:5-6 ESV
He is not here. He is risen.
Easter morning isn’t about how we get to Him. It’s a look
into the empty grave to discover that He has come to you.
What stone is standing in the way between you and God?
If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us,
embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by
sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly
and freely do for us… The One who died for us—who was
raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very
moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be
able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us?
There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not
hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not
backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture… I’m
absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead,
angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable
or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and
God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has
embraced us.“ – Romans 8:31-39 MSG [abridged]
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;[a] repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:15 ESV