Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2, verse 8 remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's why Christians have gathered for over 2,000 years to celebrate on Easter morning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Today, that's why Christians all over the world are coming together to worship Jesus Christ risen from the dead, a hope that is offered to all believers.
Pastor Bob Erbig: On Good Friday, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins and make us right with God the Father.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But death is not the end because on Easter Sunday, Jesus arose from the grave, the first fruit of the coming resurrection.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, I suspect all in this room have experienced the death of a loved one.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Perhaps for some, this is the first Easter after that loss.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let me ask you something personal before I continue.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Does anybody have a voicemail saved on their phone from somebody who's gone?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Yeah, I see I see a few of you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you do, you know exactly what I mean.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, there's a phenomenon that grief counselors began documenting after the smartphone became ubiquitous when somebody dies.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Loved ones cannot bring themselves to delete this voicemail greeting because it's the sound of the voice that's still there, that's still present in that small rectangle of glass.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It becomes one of the most painful and precious things the grieving person owns.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Some call the number just to hear it, some keep the account active for years because the voice remains even when the person is gone.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, this week is the anniversary of my father's passing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He died before the smartphone existed, and so there's no voicemail to save.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But for years, our family would pull out this.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you know what this is?
Pastor Bob Erbig: VHS tape.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We would watch him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We would just remember.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Different technology, but a same desperate need.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then in recent years, AI companies have offered a service that goes even further where they'll reconstruct the voice of a deceased person so families can have simulated conversations with them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Tens of thousands of people have used it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's simultaneously the most understandable and most haunting thing that our technology has produced.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We are desperate to keep the dead present.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We'll do almost anything to avoid losing the voice.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But Paul does not say remember the voice of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not a recording, not a simulation, a body, a tomb, and a mourning that changed everything.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you've lost somebody recently, I think you understand the appeal of these technologies.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is where Easter confronts us in our pain, in our questions.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But the question that Easter puts on the table is not, do we need our dead, do we want our deceased loved ones to return?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I suspect many do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The question is actually, can somebody rise from the dead?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not an AI simulation, not a voicemail, but the actual body of the person who died.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, what Paul tells us, when he tells us to remember, remember Jesus Christ, he is telling us that the resurrection is possible.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you believe that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can dead things be made alive?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now let me speak to the kids for just a moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I want you to raise your hands.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when you walked in today, you should have received a seed packet that looked like this.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How about you just shake it around and let us know you're there?
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lot of representation over here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We had some good shakers in the earlier services.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can you hear the seeds inside?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Okay, good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We got seeds inside.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, throughout the message, we're gonna come back to the seed packet.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So let me just give you a piece of trivia as we begin here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In 2022, scientists successfully germinated seeds recovered from the tombs of ancient Judean date palms.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They look like this seeds that had been dormant for 2,000 years.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And what they did was they found them near the Dead Sea in the same region where Jesus walked.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They were stored, they were buried, they were seemingly finished, and then someone planted them and they grew.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Imagine that, a 2,000-year-old seed, which we thought was dead, produced new life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The oldest successfully germinated seed in recorded history came from the soil where the resurrection of Jesus happened.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's pretty cool.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There's something in the created order that refused to cooperate with death.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, passing away results from the fall, but that's not how it's supposed to be.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so these seeds don't follow the rules, they just grow.
Pastor Bob Erbig: A seemingly dead seed came to life and it points to something, to someone greater than biology.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's the central theme of 2 Timothy 2, verses 8 to 13.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's where we'll be this morning, and I invite you to join me there.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is the unstoppable message of Easter.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So here's my question as we begin.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What if the resurrection is actually true?
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're skeptical out there today, the answer to that question can change your life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're a Christian out there, it is the foundation of gospel courage.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In 2 Timothy 2, 8 to 13, Paul outlines three implications of the resurrection.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, there's a person worth remembering.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Number two, there's preaching that cannot be chained.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then finally, there's a promise that cannot be broken.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So let's let's pray and then we'll look at each of those this morning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Heavenly Father, I thank you for each person who's here today.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, I ask that you would come and meet us where we are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, if if there's somebody here today that is without hope, I pray that you would infuse them with the hope that comes from the resurrection.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If there's somebody who's questioning, Lord, I pray that you would meet them, that you would open their eyes, that you would give them ears to hear.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, if there's somebody here today that needs to be more bold, I pray that you would encourage them, Lord God, to share about what Jesus has done, our Savior who has changed the world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We give this time to you in his name.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, kids, you still got those seed packets?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Here they are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Again, don't lose them because when you get home, I'm gonna give you some homework.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So keep shaking them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, shake them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let your parents know you got them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can you hear the seeds inside still?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We'll come back to those in just a second.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, let's look at verse 8 and see if there's anything about seeds.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, let's read it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Verse 8 says, Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So Jesus Christ, yes, is the person worth remembering because he's raised from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But if you look at that third clause, what does it say?
Pastor Bob Erbig: It says Jesus was the offspring of David.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is there anything about a seed there?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, that word offspring can be translated seed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now remember, what does a seed do?
Pastor Bob Erbig: It brings new life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What Paul is saying is that Jesus Christ is a descendant of the family line of King David.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you remember who King David is, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Anyone seen the House of David on Amazon?
Pastor Bob Erbig: He was the greatest king in the history of Israel, a man, we're told, after God's own heart, the one whom God promised would always have a descendant on his throne.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And Jesus Christ is that true Savior King.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now this verse is pretty action-packed, so let's let's break it down.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Remember Jesus Christ is an imperative, it is a command.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul's not giving us a suggestion here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He is commanding his readers to remember Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Notice he does not say remember the message of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says remember the person of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because he knows how easily we forget.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, this was a common refrain in the Old Testament when God or his prophets spoke to the nation of Israel, his people, he would often tell them to remember.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Exodus 13, 3, Moses tells the people, Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The psalmist in Psalm 77, 11 says, I will remember the deeds of the Lord.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, why do we need to remember?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because we're a people who often forget.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do I have some forgetful people out there?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Say amen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: A lot of forgetful people in here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So you listen, in our distracted, busy, fast-paced world, we forget many things.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, what are the symptoms of forgetfulness?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe sometimes you get frazzled, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You got you get that brain fog, you're tired, you're overwhelmed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And while it can feel good to be busy, there's a consequence to forgetfulness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We never stop to remember the important things.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, we get so distracted, it's very easy to forget Jesus Christ, the reason for living.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How often do you think about Jesus in between Sunday and Sunday, in between Easter and Easter?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul says you gotta remember.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, why should we remember Jesus?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, he says he rose from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, the resurrection is the single most important event in the history of the world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And many of us think about it maybe once a year at most.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, the resurrection changes everything.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The resurrection takes the world, it turns it upside down, inside out, it reverses death itself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But how often do we think about it?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you're a skeptic out there, maybe you're saying, oh, the resurrection, that's such a nice story.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But it's certainly not true.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, let me remind you that the resurrection rests on a mountain of historical evidence, and you can go and study and see all the arguments.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let me just give you a couple.
Pastor Bob Erbig: For example, it was not the powerful people of the day who reported the resurrection, but the powerless, the women and the poor disciples.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if the early church was manufacturing a legend, it certainly would not have made women the messengers because of the culture of the time.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They would not have reported embarrassing details like doubting Thomas.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They would have made themselves look good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And why would Peter stand before thousands of people in the same city where Jesus was crucified and preached that he is God in the flesh?
Pastor Bob Erbig: This could have gotten him killed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And because of this truth, people had gospel courage.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The resurrection is not merely a historical event to remember, but a continuing reality to live by.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Remember it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because of who rose.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Courage has a face, and his name is Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And his message is also worth remembering.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's worth passing down, it's worth planting in the hearts of every successive generation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you've been with us this year, NBC has been celebrating, or if you've not been with us, NBC has been celebrating 175 years of remembering Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is our 175th Easter as a congregation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's a big deal.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now the word remember is not a one-time action.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It is an ongoing command to keep remembering Jesus day after day, year after year.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a message for everybody.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, Paul names David because he's appealing to the Jews, but he's also a messenger to the Gentiles.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's everybody.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Easter is not the conclusion of the story.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's the starting point for the Christian courage.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And we can have courage because this world is not our home.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We have the eternal hope of the resurrection.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We can face anything because it's not the end.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So let's think about those seeds again.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Kids, again, show us the seeds.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Shake them up, shake them up, shake them up.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That seed represents the message of the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Say it's the message of the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It can be planted in dead hearts and made alive.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Some of you today, the seed has been planted in your hearts.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It needs to come alive so that true eternal life begins.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now there's one final clause in this verse I want to draw your attention to, and that is the phrase, my gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul loves to use this phrase.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And people criticize him for it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They say, Is Paul arrogant?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is he pompous?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does he mean by my gospel?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, in the original language, it's not possessive, it's actually about accountability.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Apostle Paul is sitting, remember, in prison awaiting his death as he writes this letter, and he's saying, This is the gospel that I have staked my life on.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is the gospel that I am now dying for.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So here is the question: Is this gospel yours?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are you staking your life on Jesus or have you been distracted by the commercialized noise of the world?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let me give you an example.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How many of you out there like Costco?
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, some of you, all right.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Listen, Costco, in my mind, is a little slice of heaven, okay?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You get your cart, you walk around, sometimes they feed you for free, amen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Everything's on sale.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They greet you when you walk in, they greet you when you walk out, a big smile, hopefully, except on Saturdays when the store turns into a cage match to get out.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Did you know that Costco decided this year to sell a large chocolate bunny for Easter that was advertised as 22,650 calories?
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're on a diet, this is not what you want.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But they even gave this thing a name.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's Pete the Bunny, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Pete is two feet tall, he weighs 10 pounds, and Pete can be yours for $140.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Costco, come on, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, as I was meditating on the message this week, songs from Veggie Tales started coming into my mind.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I thought about the bunny, the bunny.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Oh, I ate the bunny.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Listen, if you know, you know.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But the bunny is a distraction.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If I stuff myself with that bunny on Easter, I'm not thinking about Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I got a big old tummy ache.
Pastor Bob Erbig: My goodness, who thought this was a good idea?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Anyone out there buy Pete?
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, sorry, sorry if I'm shaming you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: God bless you if you did.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You get about a hundred people and try to eat them today.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that's a humorous illustration, but but what I'm trying to point out point out is if we're not careful, Pete the bunny and others like him can distract us from the real message of Easter, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We have too many things like Pete in our lives, and the things of this world so quickly make us forget Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Remembering Jesus requires constant spiritual warfare because Pete the bunny is right around the corner.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if the resurrection is true, then Jesus is the person worth remembering because it's all about Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when Jesus has your heart, when you stake your life on the gospel, your message changes.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's point number two.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That we have now a preaching that cannot be chained.
Pastor Bob Erbig: A preaching that cannot be chained.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, all right, let's let's get those seed packets out again.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I told you we're coming back to it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I want kids, good, good job.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You're catching on.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Good job.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I want you to imagine if you rip this open, don't do it though, don't do it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're if you ripped it open and if you put it into an airtight container, kind of like a Tupperware container, imagine you you took those seeds, you put it in there, you sealed them up, you locked them, you put a chain around the Tupperware container.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe you can try that this week.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Ask your parents.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That'd be pretty fun, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I want you to notice that wherever you put the seeds, the seeds don't care.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Life still exists in whatever container you have the seeds in.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you're as you read verses nine and ten, Paul is sealed in prison.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The word of God is the seed, but it's planted in his heart.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's alive, it needs to get out.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You can imprison the messenger, but not the message.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Look at verse 9.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, I got this gospel for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal, but the word of God is not bound.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, what's he suffering for?
Pastor Bob Erbig: The gospel which has gripped his heart.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And notice the brilliant wordplay Paul does here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Those words bound and unbound come from the same root.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is bound, but the word of God is unbound.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, it cannot be bound.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's this unstoppable message.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then he continues with the implications of the message in verse 10.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So that's a missional statement.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What is the mission?
Pastor Bob Erbig: To save lives.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that term elect refers to those people whom God knows will come to salvation in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a biblical category that's all over the New Testament.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, some of you out there might say, Well, what is this election?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Am I campaigning to get voted into heaven?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, see, in the human mind, election is a mystery, but God knows.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he uses human vessels like Paul to bring people to saving faith out of love, Paul obeys.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why is Paul suffering for the gospel?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why is he imprisoned like a criminal?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because God's word cannot be stopped, and the eternal destiny of people is at stake.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that word endure carries the sense of holding one's ground in the midst of suffering.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is on this mission from God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's enduring prison so the word of God, the gospel, can advance.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's the same picture that's used of Jesus in the book of Hebrews.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The author there challenges believers to endure amidst persecution, and then he points to the example of Jesus himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Look at Hebrews 12, 2.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It says, You gotta look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that verse refers to Jesus' work on the cross and his resurrection.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But if you notice, there's that word endure.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's the same word that's used in 2 Timothy 2, verse 10.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the force in that text in 2 Timothy 2 is not referring to current Christians, but to the future salvation of non-believing people.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So if you're not a Christian here today, there may be somebody in your life who is enduring for you in prayer, waiting for you, hoping that you will give your life to Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because Jesus is the key to abundant and eternal life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not only did Paul endure for the sake of people who need to know Jesus, but Jesus also endured on the cross.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He didn't get down, he didn't leave.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because he loved you, Christian, he stayed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Where would you be if he had not?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You know, during the peak of COVID-19 in New York City, some healthcare workers left high-risk environments, but others stayed in unimaginably difficult situations.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, one New York City emergency medical resident, Fred Milgram, described working at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, where a hastily assembled COVID-19 unit ran nonstop, and the virus's reality was frighteningly visible in the faces of the patients they saw every day.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He kept suiting up for 12-hour shifts in that unit, not for abstractions or statistics, but for those specific patients in front of him, people with names and families and stories.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And his account in the Atlantic parallels Paul's logic in verse 10.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul endured for the sake of the elect, concrete people God had given him to serve.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This New York City doctor endured for the concrete patients entrusted to his care.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Gospel courage has the same specificity.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Who are the particular people by name and face for whom you are willing to endure?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why did Paul and Jesus and this doctor endure?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because they had something to give to dying people.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does Paul say?
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, I do this, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, how do you obtain salvation?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You confess that you're a sinner, that you believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and you place your entire trust in his saving work on the cross.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You stake your life on Jesus, and the gospel becomes yours.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You repent and you believe.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when you do, your relationship with God is restored.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You're welcomed into the family of God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are free.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And what is eternal glory?
Pastor Bob Erbig: It is the completion of salvation that awaits you in the new heavens and the new earth, the resurrected life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You live forever with Christ and his people in a perfect, unblemished world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: No more sin or sickness or dying or pain.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you want that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you believe that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because of what the resurrection unleashed, the gospel has a guarantee.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You know, this past week I was listening to a podcast interviewing Chris Pratt of Hollywood Fame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You know, Parks and Wreck and Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And uh Pratt, if you don't know, has become known for his Christian faith, which in Hollywood can be a career death sentence.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But he's induced.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, he shared a few stories I thought were pretty insightful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He came to faith out of a life of drugs and drinking because someone saw him outside a liquor store waiting for beer and told him about Jesus and invited him to church.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He also described his struggles in his Christian life, his failures and trying to live out his faith in Hollywood.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then finally he told the story about this viral moment he had on the MTV Movie Awards a few years ago.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe you remember this.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You may remember they give they gave him a lifetime achievement award and he took the moment to share about his faith.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And here's what he said: he said, You have a soul.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Be careful with it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: God is real, God loves you, God wants what's best for you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Nobody's perfect.
Pastor Bob Erbig: People will tell you that you are perfect just the way you are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You're not.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You're imperfect, you always will be, but there's a powerful force that designed you that way.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you're willing to accept that, you will have grace.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And grace is a gift.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else's blood.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do not forget it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, when Pratt shared why he said that, he said he felt like it was time to let people know what mattered in life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It was time to stand for what he believed in, because for too long he had been silent because he wanted people to like him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And everybody loved Chris Pratt.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Nobody hated him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, people would tell him that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when he said this, people started to criticize him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that story is a challenge for us because if you're a Christian, is God calling you to be bolder about your faith?
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you stop and you tell people about Jesus, who's to say you're not witnessing to the next Chris Pratt?
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're not a Christian, perhaps you're standing outside the proverbial liquor store right now and it's time to believe.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Would you give your life to Jesus today?
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, the word of God, the message of the gospel is unstoppable.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The question is whether we will preach it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Will we tell people about the resurrection life?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because when we do, we offer people this third point, the promise that cannot be broken.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, in the last section, Paul concludes with what most scholars think is a hymn, a creed of the early church.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When we remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, when we preach Jesus Christ risen from the dead, our life becomes this song.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The saying is trustworthy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: For if we died with him, we also live with him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we endure, we also reign with him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we deny him, he also will deny us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we are faithless, he remains faithful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I want you to picture your favorite Easter hymn or song.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What is it?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can you recite it by heart?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe we sang it today.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Christ the Lord is risen today.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because he lives in Christ alone.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Jesus paid it all.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Others.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, these verses penned by Paul are like those songs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Something believers sang and recited together.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, why don't we recite these verses together right now?
Pastor Bob Erbig: As a memory of it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let's do it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: One, two, three.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The saying is trustworthy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: For if we died with him, we will also live with him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we endure, we will also reign with him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we deny him, if we are faithless, we may be faithful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: See, the trustworthy saying in verse 11 sets these verses off as important.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, this is a formula that Paul uses many times in the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, we should pay attention to what comes next.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So now you notice the juxtapositions.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, he says, if we die, we live.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You say, how?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does that mean?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Isn't death the opposite of life?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, this phrase has two meanings.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, it points to our union with Christ in his death.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That when we give our life to Jesus, we are dying to our sin and ourselves, and we're covered by his blood.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is what's pictured in the waters of baptism.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And in this context, it also points to the possibility of martyrdom.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In both cases, death is required for new life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says, if we endure, we will reign.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There's again that word endure.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It shows us there's a crown at the end of the fight.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And this word refers to courageous steadfastness, that in the end there will be a crown of glory for all who endure this resurrected life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we deny, he will deny.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's a warning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That the word for deny is the same word used to describe Peter's denial in the Gospels, the three times he denied Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It carries a series of warnings.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we deliberately and repeatedly deny Christ, he will disown us at the future final judgment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then finally, if we're faithless, he will remain faithful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So Paul ends with a word of hope that points to the character of God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He is showing us that our salvation is not conditional on our faithfulness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It is grounded in the faithfulness of God Himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That even if we are faithless, God will be faithful and will bring us toward Him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why will He be faithful?
Pastor Bob Erbig: How can He be faithful?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And Paul concludes with a surprising ending.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says this, for he cannot deny himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He cannot deny himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's the promise to the believer, an unbreakable promise, that when you give your life to Jesus, you are united to him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are his, and he cannot deny himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I want you to hear this very clearly.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Your salvation is not based on your good works.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's not based on how rich you are in this life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's not based on how many service projects you've done, how many Sunday school classes you've led, how many Bible verses you've memorized, although those things are good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's not based on how well your family is put together or how smart you are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He says salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone and his faithfulness on the cross.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so you repent of your sins, you place your faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, the gospel cannot be silenced, the mission cannot be stopped, and God's promises cannot be broken.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, kids, one last time.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Pull out the seeds.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Give them a shake.
Pastor Bob Erbig: One last shake.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There we go.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Good.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now here's your Easter homework, okay?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Ready?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now you say, I didn't come to Easter service for homework.
Pastor Bob Erbig: All right, it's gonna be a fun, fun homework.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You gotta take those seeds home with you, talk to your parents.
Pastor Bob Erbig: At the right time, you gotta open up that packet and you gotta plant them in the ground or it or in a pot or wherever you want to do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I want you to wait and watch for as long as it takes until something comes up.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Plant those seeds, water them, wait for something to come up.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because you see, the seeds go in the ground and they seemingly die.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You don't know what's happening underground.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It looks like nothing, it looks like death.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The seeds went in, they died.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But life is working, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul says, if we died with him, we also shall live with him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's not poetry.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's what seeds do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's what Easter proved.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That dying and rising pattern is not the exception in God's economy, it is the rule.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So use the seeds to help you remember the resurrection.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, for some of us in the audience, today is the day maybe you need to die.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not a physical death, but we need to die finally to ourselves so we can be raised to new life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There may have been multiple seeds planted in your heart, and today might be the day that new life blossoms.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe today is the day the gospel becomes yours.
Pastor Bob Erbig: As the worship team comes on stage for one final song, let me speak to two groups of people briefly.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're a Christian today, praise God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You know Jesus, He saved you, you've walked with Him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But let me ask you very directly: would you stake your life on the gospel?
Pastor Bob Erbig: The resurrection is not a doctrine to be admired, it is a fire to live by.
Pastor Bob Erbig: 175 years ago, a group of believers planted Millington Baptist Church and preached the gospel of a man raised from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They staked everything on it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And this church is the answer.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The question is, what will we, what answer will we be for the next generation?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What we tell them to remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you're here this morning and you're walking through grief today, what you need to do is remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That death doesn't have the final word.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're ashamed of the gospel and you've gone quiet, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The word is not chained, and neither are you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're enduring something that feels like it's gonna break you, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That dying and rising pattern is not the exception, it's the rule.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you've been faithless, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He remains faithful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He cannot deny himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Come back.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you're here today and you're not a Christian, let me speak to you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe a seed was planted in your heart many years ago and you keep resisting its growth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Today I want you to know I think that deep down you already know that you're a sinner in need of a savior.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that savior is Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if anything in this message this morning or this service tugged on your heart and you'd like to give your life to him today, let me give you an opportunity.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Would you just pray these words after me?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let's pray together.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Say, Heavenly Father, I come before you, and I confess that I am a sinner.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I believe that Jesus Christ was risen from the dead, that he died in my place for my sins, he paid the penalty for my transgressions, and today I want to give my life to him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I want to surrender all that I am.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I believe he is who he said he is, and I receive him in my heart and receive eternal life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you prayed that prayer this morning or you want to know more about Jesus, you want to have a further conversation, we have a pamphlet out in the back that we'd like to give you for free as our gift.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's called Who is Jesus?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Stop by the Welcome Center, pick that up, take that home.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you would like to continue the conversation, I would love to talk with you further about that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, the gospel cannot be silenced, the mission cannot be stopped, and God's promises cannot be broken, because dead seeds don't stay dead, and neither did he.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Can you pray for us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for your goodness, for your grace, for your love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, thank you for Jesus, for his resurrection, and for the future resurrection that you promised to us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Father, I pray that you would work on hearts today, and as we leave, we would be bolder about sharing who you are.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if we're still on the fence today, Lord, I pray that you, Holy Spirit, would be chasing down the hearts of those who are resisting you and bring them to faith in you, Lord Jesus, in whom salvation is found.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's in your name we pray.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.