Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and wherever you're listening or watching, please be sure to subscribe if this podcast has been a blessing to you. And if you would be willing, leave a review on Apple Podcasts so that others can be encouraged to listen or watch. If you haven't already taken advantage of this podcast in video format, go to our YouTube channel. And for loads of free content or to support our ministry, you can go to forthegospel.org. Now, today I want to continue our mini-series looking at Easter in order to help you prepare your heart and your home for one of the most important moments on the Christian calendar. Last episode was How the World Hijacks Our Easter, and this episode is titled How to Maximize Your Easter. For the Christian, Easter is anchored to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is our focus. Now you may get the Easter dress, you might wear a new Easter tie, you might have some Cadbury eggs, or you might put out your annual pastel-colored decor in the kitchen and the living room. But you know and I know there is a river of life flowing through our veins because of the resurrection. You and I both know as believers that we've been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light because of the resurrection, and that no power in all of hell has power over the grave. We all live twice. We live once on earth, and then we all live eternally. Whether you live eternally in heaven or hell depends on whether or not you trust in Christ for salvation. And if you trust in Christ by faith for your salvation, because of the resurrection, your faith is not a dead faith, it is a living faith. Your faith in Jesus Christ means that you will live for all of eternity in the presence of our Lord and in heaven in his glory. So if you want to maximize your Easter this year, it starts by centering your heart and your mind on the purpose of Easter and the importance of the gospel, which all begins with a burning, deep affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I want to ask you: do you love him? Are you thankful for his death and resurrection? Do you believe in him by faith? Are you living as a genuine disciple of Christ? And if your answer is yes to those questions, then Easter can only be about one thing for you. Not because of legalistic tradition or rules, do we focus on Easter being about one thing, but because your heart and my heart have been set ablaze by a supernatural reality. And that reality is this Christ was and is the Messiah. He was born to die and he was raised to life for our salvation. That is what Easter is all about. Sinclair Ferguson, in one of my favorite Easter quotes, writes this Imagine for a moment the reaction of hell to the death of Christ. Jesus was bound with the bands of death. What celebration and joy. God was defeated. Vengeance was the devil's, but they reckoned without the wisdom of God. For Christ could not be held down by the bands of death. In fact, through death he was paralyzing the one who had the power of death and he was setting his people free. What seemed to be defeat was actually victory. The resurrection morning was Hell's gloomiest day. Satan saw the wisdom of God and tasted defeat. Isn't that a powerful reminder? Satan saw the wisdom of God and tasted defeat. So to maximize your Easter this year, I want to give you some steps that you can take. And you can take these steps starting today. The first one is dinner time discussion. Dinner time discussion. If you're married or you have a family, use dinner time during this season for discussions about Easter and for special reading. Now, this doesn't have to be a 20-minute exposition and four hymns, including every verse of all glory be to Christ. I say that in jest. That is great if you want to do that and you don't mind eating cold food. But oftentimes, devotions or dinner time reading and discussion are simple times of short, clear reading, praying, discussing, asking, and teaching with parents and their children. Consider reading a book like R. C. Sprohl's The Donkey Who Carried a King, or taking a shorter passage that represents significant events and then reading and explaining those passages to the family and asking your kids questions along the way that engage their mind and help them learn. All of these ways can be excellent avenues to creating emphasis around Easter at the dinner table. A sample breakdown. If you think, all right, I like that idea, Costi. What would you do though? Well, here's a simple breakdown. Let me give you nine options. Number one, you go John 12, 12 to 19, and you break down the triumphal entry. Pretty short, pretty easy, just several verses. And the kids now understand what happened when Jesus entered Jerusalem. Two, John 13, 1 to 20, and break down the Last Supper. 3, John 13, 21 to 38, the betrayal of Jesus. That's actually the moment where Jesus predicts his betrayal. And then number four, John 18, 1 to 11, and do the ad do the arrest of Jesus, and that's actually the fulfillment of what he predicted would happen. Fifth, John 18, 12 to 27. We've got the denial of Jesus. Sixth, John 18, 28 to 40. You've got the trials of Jesus. Explain to your family the injustice of it all. How it seemed as though man was having his way. And how it seemed as though this injustice would kind of get past God and he was really missing it on saving his son here. Jesus was just going to go to the cross for no reason. He was being accused falsely. It was a mistrial, and all the while, then explain to your family. That's the sovereignty of God, fulfilling his prophetic purposes. Jesus was going to go to the cross. Seventh, John 19, 1 to 15, do the whipping or the flogging of Christ. Eight, John nineteen, sixteen to forty-two, break down the crucifixion of Christ. And ninth, John 20, the resurrection of Jesus. What I've given you just now took me about five minutes looking at my Bible, looking at the headers, looking at the verses and the sections, and I just found nine sections that were short and easy and engaging. And what we could do is take those, and whether it's nine different days in a row or nine different moments with our families, we can walk them through what leads to the cross and the resurrection. Is it crazy for me to imagine that Christian fathers and mothers would guide their homes through nine days or nine different moments, 10 to 15 minutes in their daytime rhythm with their children to lay a foundation for eternal life? Perhaps you don't have a spouse or a family. Well, redeem the time. You actually are someone who enjoys less mess, less interruptions, and at least in our home, no spaghetti sauce stains on your Bible during the nine days of Easter devotions. But friends, we put so much energy into sports and extracurriculars and our own little Netflix TV binge sessions. And I'm not down on you having set times for sports and for entertainment. We have our rhythms as well. But how vital that we as believers fight for the priorities that plant seeds for eternity in the hearts of our loved ones. How often do families discuss Christ during dinner? We don't lack for conversations, that's for sure. We may talk about sports, our day, our boss, our schoolwork, our school friends. And unfortunately, in a lot of American homes, we'll just sit and scroll our phones like robots going through the motions. But all of that only assumes we actually sit down at real dinner tables together at some point during the evening. Redeem the dinner table and discuss what matters most this Easter. And if you can't do dinner, do breakfast, do lunch, or bedtime. But find a way, make the time to have those Easter discussions and special times in the Word with your family. Second, a Christ-centered calendar. If you want to maximize Easter, a Christ-centered calendar. By now it's more than likely that your church has announced its Good Friday services and its Easter services. And I want to question you for a moment. Are you up in the air on those? Or is it an inconvenient kind of either or for you? As you think, well, if we go to Friday, then let's kind of skip Sunday because we've got a lot planned. Or, well, we have such a big Sunday plan. Let's just chill on Friday. If so, friend, you could be viewing Holy Week like a consumer and not a worshiper. Can I encourage you for a second? Go all in, rally the family, revolve around worship and focusing on the death and resurrection of Christ this Easter. Like the orbit of a solar system. Make your calendar orbit around Christ, not the other way around. Do you have a Christ-centered calendar this season? Third, maximize your Easter by sharing the gospel. Seems pretty obvious, but I think we need the reminder. Easter is going to provide numerous opportunities for you and I to share the gospel this year. From eating out at restaurants and sharing the gospel with your server to work conversations, neighborhood chats, plenty of text messages and social media interactions. How can you weave in the gospel to all of those conversations? I would hope and imagine that your pastor is committed to preaching the cross during all church services this Easter. So in addition to you sharing the gospel, don't overlook the importance of invitations to church as well. And again, I'm not excusing you from sharing the gospel yourself, but I am reminding you that your pastor is here to partner with you in faithful gospel work. Expect us as pastors to do our job. Church is a family gathering, and it is for believers, but we are a family gathering expecting guests. And Easter is a moment when thousands upon thousands of churches will preach the message of the gospel. And Romans 10:17 says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. And so step out in obedience, get people in a place where they'll hear the gospel, both from you and from your church leaders, and trust God with the results this Easter. Fourth, renew your convictions. Renew your convictions. It's one of the ways to maximize your Easter. You say, well, what do you mean? Well, if you're like me, you see the glorious joy of Easter, but you might also think, you know, shouldn't we be living and prioritizing and worshiping and sharing and preaching and devoting like this all the time? Why do I need a season or a theme to be living all of life for the glory of God? And it's true. I think the cynic in all of us wants to eye roll at the hype of seasonal ebb and flow in the church calendar, but slow down a minute and think about this. What if we reflected on the cross and we let the weight of Easter press in on our souls? What if we let Easter's purpose wash over our souls? And what if we thought deeply about Christ and about the cross and about why we are on planet Earth and that helped us to renew our priorities? What if for some of you, Easter could be a moment where you renew your convictions? And in all the reminders of what Christ has done and accomplished, you are reminded of why you're even alive. And you know forgetfulness is common, right? It's human to forget. Why do you think Israel needed to be reminded all the time? Why do you think the New Testament authors reminded their readers of the same truths again and again? We need the reminders. 2 Peter 2.12 says this. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present in you. We need the reminder, and Easter serves that great purpose. So maximize Easter by letting the Word of God renew your convictions to live for his glory. He died that you might live, and he rose again in power, that you would live eternally in glory with him. So maximize your Easter by renewing your convictions. And lastly, maximize your Easter by keeping a balanced perspective. As a pastor, I'm all too familiar with the Easter crash, which occurs because we get hyped up on everything and then we hit a wall when it's over. And often churches contribute to this by having the fullest and biggest band, the best music, the most robust programming, a ton of action all over the campus. And pastors come out with their most enthusiastic sermon. Everybody wears their best outfits. Most people think, man, my pastor never dresses like that. It's Easter. And then the week after, it's like we all start acting like the B team with a draggy sermon, uh, a wrinkled shirt, half-asleep music teams, 60% drop in attendance, and the children's ministry says, ah, just stick some veggie tails on for the kids. Now, obviously, I'm exaggerating with some hyperbole and a caricature there, but I think you get the point. Church, after Easter, better not be like the parking lot on Monday morning after the Super Bowl. Don't lose perspective. Where basically the church, in a sense, just visually, is like a candy wrapper laden, desolate wasteland where something fun and hype-filled happened on Sunday, but well, we're not really looking forward to the next one because well, the Super Bowl's over. Look, don't lose perspective for all the mountain peak moments of Easter, it's another Lord's Day. Biblically speaking, every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday because that's why the church gathers on Sundays. Yes, make it special on Easter. And Monday might be a little bit of a crash as you rest from a long weekend of gospel labors, but let these words echo in your heart. Sunday is coming. And may it not be dread and drag that fills your mind when you hear those words after Easter, but a joyous spirit that thinks I get to gather and worship Christ again and again and again with my brothers and my sisters. This Easter. Keep your perspective intact. Every Sunday is, in a sense, Super Bowl Sunday, spiritually speaking. Every Sunday is what we really should call it Resurrection Sunday. Because of what Christ has done, make him all of your Easter this year. Make everything about him this year. I hope this episode has encouraged you with some practical wisdom and offered you some exhortation for how to maximize your Easter this season while maintaining a long game approach to your Christian life and certainly to your leadership if you're a pastor. For free resources or to partner with us as a gospel patron, go to www.forthegospel.org and be sure to take a tour of our YouTube channel when you get a chance. We have numerous videos on numerous topics. You can use those for yourself, your church, your small group, or with your family. I'll be back, Lord willing, next Monday with another episode. For now, keep on living for the gospel.