Wirksworth | 05/04/26 | Rolling The Stone | Steve Bagnall

Wirksworth 

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/354059/episodes/18964449-wirksworth-05-04-26-rolling-the-stone-steve-bagnall.mp3

Steve spoke in our Wirksworth Easter Sunday service. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

We have really missed it. We had such an amazing time. And I think one of the things that I'm always conscious of when we go on holiday, we have a we try meeting for money to know it didn't we didn't try that holiday. And it was in Japan. And um we have a bit of a God holiday. Something I'm always conscious of. And um I think when we came back on Friday, which went to the Good Friday to the visit to Mount Lock on Friday morning, and harmlots broke because you know I think we needed it after sort of three weeks away from Chilech. Not that we don't glorify God every day, but actually three weeks away from Chilech and community and um and then heart's broke, and the particularly poignant day Good Friday is to remember Jesus went to the cross. Um and yeah, we just I wept and wept and so it's quite embarrassing. Um it's not at all, is it? It's not, and that's the thing and heart should break for what he did, which he never takes for granted what he did for us for today. He's written. Today's celebration day, so I'll get the good bit, I'll get to bring the good bit, um, which is amazing. Ten years ago, ten years ago, Easter 2016, I was saved. Um, so it's ten years, which is ridiculous. Um ten years ago I was saved, and he saved a wretch like me. Um, and I thank him every single day for that. And yeah, it's such a privilege to be able to bring the Easter story and to try and bring it differently as well, I suppose. As Helen said earlier, the greatest moment in human history. Today remembers the greatest moment in human history. Jesus was no longer in the tomb, he is risen. And the resurrection is the key to Christianity. Um I've spoken about this before, but the the book and and decent film actually, some Christian films are a bit um that's where um not dodgy. Um cheesy. Some Christian films are a bit cheesy and rubbish. But thanks for Christ, it's it's really, really good. Is there worth taking it? It's definitely the game. But it genuinely is worth watching. Let's read the book. Fantastic. Yeah, you know, sorry. Um, an investigative investigative journalist in America work for the Chicago Tribune, and his wife got saved. Um, and for some reason it's greatly annoying him. Greatly annoying him, his wife got saved because all of a sudden he was always in general, always a Bible study, and always sort of talking about Jesus. Um and so he took it upon himself to find out how to disprove it. So he went to his colleagues in the Chicago Tribune and said, How do I disprove it? Imagine hitting your wife that much that you want to disprove what it is that you believe. Anyway, um he took it upon himself and and and and then he said, if you disprove the resurrection, Christianity doesn't exist. So if you can say that this day that we celebrate right now didn't happen, that's it. What we believe as Christians is null and void. None of it exists. So he took it upon himself to go around. Um, it was scientists, it was very professors in different different fields, doctors, theologians, theologians from different um religions as well. Not only did he not disprove it, he became a Christian himself. So from the research, it's a really good book, really good film, and it's got proper actors in it. It's not one of those that makes your eyes bleed like some Christian films. It's good. It's a really good story about how not only could he not disprove the resurrection, he became a Christian himself. There was no scholar, there was no historian alive who would ever deny the existence of Jesus, that he lived and that he died. The resurrection, what we celebrate today, is the pivotal moment in human history. That's what proves Jesus is God. Amazing. We're gonna read from Mark 16. That's it. Oh yeah. Amen. Gonna read from Mark 16. I hate doing this on the phone, sorry. Mark 16 1 to 8. The resurrection. Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salom went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint could anoint Jesus' body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb? But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, Don't be alarmed. You were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here. He's risen from the dead. Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there just as he told you before he died. The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened. Such a great story. The whole Easter story is such a great story. So that first Easter morning, when the women made their way to the tomb, they had one question on their mind. Who will roll the stone away for us? It was a very large stone. Given what we know about tombs at that time, it's probably between one and two tons. Probably the size of a car. First question on their minds. The only question that we know that was on their mind who will roll the stone away from us. It would have taken several men to roll the stone away. Thanks for the strong thing was. They wanted to annoy Jesus with their body. Their last act of love and respect to the one who showed them so much love. As they headed for the tomb that morning, that was foremost on their mind. They were not thinking about whether the guards would even let them approach the tomb. They weren't worried about being arrested as followers of Jesus. They weren't wondering why Peter and the others were not joining them. They weren't concerned with how they would react to seeing Jesus' dead body laying dead in a tomb. All they were thinking was who would roll the stone away for them. Another reason why this is real. It's written in this way that the women are the first people to witness. This was made up. Absolutely no way. Easter means many things to us as Christians. It's too big a miracle to mean just one thing. It needs to mean that Christ is risen, it means that Jesus has defeated death. Easter means that eternal life is real. It does not end our life with God. All who live and believe will never die. Don't be rolled away from the screen. A detail recording in all four gospels tells us something else about Easter that I think is quite being rolled away. Remove the obstacles in our life. The obstacles that tried to keep us from God. What Helen brought. What are the large things in your life? The obstacles that are keeping you from living the full abundant life with Christ here and now. Think about those challenges that are trying to keep you in your team. The battles that paralyzes with fear that happens that tries to stop us from living, really living our new life in Christ. And then think about what Easter teaches us about how God plans to remove those stones. They weren't in our gospel reading. They're not going into the tomb to help the women remove the stone. No, they are locked away in the upper room, afraid for their lives. No wonder the women were worried about who would roll the stone away for them. They couldn't get the men to go to the tomb for themselves. And they put the men who created the tomb for themselves and put a stone of their own making over it. They really didn't want the stone rolled away. And that even includes the leader of those disciples, Peter. Peter's the one who denied even knowing Jesus. It seems that he's still denying knowing Jesus. Peter is, if you know, is a nickname given to him by Jesus. It literally means rock or stone. Peter is supposed to be the stone, the rock on which Christ will build his church. But at first Easter morning, the leader of the disciples is locked away with the others, cowering in fear. You might say in Peter's case, that the stone Peter means rolled away is in the self. Sometimes that's true, but we get in our own way. We create our own tombs. And the stone covering the tomb is our very own self. Who will roll away that stone? Well, after Jesus was raised from the dead, he did as he promised. He showed himself to the disciples. Jesus entered the upper room, he rolled away their stone, he freed them of their fear, and he helped them to proclaim the good news to the world. That is part of the Easter miracle for us to Our risen Lord enters our lives, and even after he rolls away the stones that are keeping us from being all that God wants us to be. He frees us from fear and helps us proclaim his message to the world. The women, of course, didn't need Jesus to come to the upper room. They had the courage to go to the tomb themselves. Even though they didn't know what they would do when they got there. And that too teaches us something. Sometimes we need to leave our tombs. We need to trust that God will be there for us and help us in our need. The women knew they couldn't roll that stone away, but it did not stop them from going. If Easter means anything, it certainly means that God won't be with us always. And especially when we need him to be able to do that. We can't let the women off quite that easily. Go back to what happened that first Easter morning. When the women arrived at the tomb, the stone was already rolled away. They needn't have worried about that at all. But then they were told to go and tell Peter and the other disciples that Jesus was going ahead of them to Galilee. There they would see him just as he promised. So what do they do? They play from the tomb and said nothing to anyone. And that is how Mark Easter story ended. Even after we step out in faith, we can still stumble. There are lots of stones in our path. And it's easy to stumble. The women said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. So what were they afraid of? Perhaps being laughed at? How could Jesus go to Galilee if he was dead? Perhaps of what they just witnessed, a rolled away stone, a missing messiah, a mysterious message from a young man dressed in a white robe. That would make anyone afraid. Or perhaps they were afraid of what the disciples would think. Would they think the women were crazy or seeing things? Would they even believe that? The women were afraid and for good reason. And that fear became another stone that needed to be rolled away. The stone was indeed rolled up. It must have been. Because we know the story. The women did tell the disciples. And Jesus did appear to those disciples just as he promised. And he forgave Peter for denying him. And he promised to send the Holy Spirit to them. And he helped them understand what just happened. And how he fulfilled the promise of Scripture. And he ascended to heaven. And the Holy Spirit came. And every last stone of the lives of the disciples was rolled away. Because there was no stone too large for God. No obstacle that God cannot remove. I'm looking down a lot, I'm sorry. There is none that is more convincing than this. Peter and the disciples, who were cowering in fear in their locked upper room, became the most fearless witnesses to the resurrection that you could ever imagine. Most of them dying unafraid and unwilling to deny what had become the cornerstone of their faith. Christ died, rose again, and promised to one day return. No one was more fearless than those first disciples. That is an East America. What can I do? How did they go from carrying a fear in a locked room to boldly sharing the story of Jesus with all the world? Who rolled away the stone for them? Who else could it be? It was Jesus who was raised from the dead and appeared to them and rolled away all the stones that were stopping them from doing his work. And after he did, they fiercely fearlessly proclaimed the good news of the resurrection of our Lord. No stone could trap them anymore. And that's the miracle of Easter for them and for us. And so much more. It is about our risen Lord with us always, rolling away the stones and obstacles in our lives. It is about God helping us to live our lives without fear, following our risen Saviour wherever he leads us, and helping us to usher in God's reign. Easter means that there is no tomb that God cannot free us from. There is no stone that God cannot roll away, regardless of how we got there. God doesn't want us to stay there. God wants us to be free from whatever it is that is keeping us from the new life in Christ that the miracle of Easter offers to us all. Do not be afraid, trusting God, believing God's Son, rejoicing God's love for you. Do not worry about who will roll the stone away from you, whatever that stone may be, for Christ is risen. Sorry. That all kind of flooded with me yesterday, actually, about the stone and the passage and the the only thing that we see written, the main concern from the women going to the tomb was who will roll the stone away. God will. And today we remember that more than any other day. We remember that he is risen. He's risen and fulfilled prophecy. It came complete. The greatest moment in human history. And 2,000 years later, we and billions of people around the world still celebrate this day. This day is the cornerstone of our entire faith. He died, there was peace on the Saturday, and he was resurrected on the Sunday. Does anyone see getting a bit filmy? Has anyone seen Passion of Christ? Yeah. Anyone not seen it? It's a hard watch, isn't it? And we watched it, was it last year? Yeah. It's a really hard, um, it's a really hard watch. And the reason I kind of ball my eyes out when remembering his death is um, and that film probably doesn't do it justice at all, but the the shame and embarrassment and pain that he went through for us, for me, really comes to life. And it's worth a watch, actually. Not that we need to be sad about what happened, and heart should break for what happened, and and you know, we have this completely undeserved grace that he's given to us, but it is it's it's worth a watch, but it's a painful watch. And I don't want to ever forget what he did for us, for me. Ten years ago, I understood finally who he was, and my life has changed completely because of it. But it's completely undeserved grace. He went through the the most powering death you could ever think of. The Roman soldiers were professional killers. There was no one better at that time at doing what they did, keeping him alive long enough to suffer more and more and more. And he did that for me. And he did that for you and you and you and you. But today we celebrate. He is risen. The women went to the tomb, and there was no one there. And promise after promise that he delivered and delivered came true and true and true. And it's the same in our lives. We've seen him, right? We've seen his promises become true and true and true. Prayers answered, yes and amen, over and over again. I've got stones in my life. I know I have. And kind of know that we all have, right? We all have. We don't live these perfect lives. We don't live in the freedom of Christ every single day that He's given to us. But if we trust God, He will roll them away. We can live the opposite way and we're still saved. If we believe in God and believe what He did, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and He was raised from the dead, we're still saved. A pathway to heaven is paid for. Why is it a capital H in heaven?

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Because it's a real place and it's a real place.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

It's a real place. So it comes with a capital age. The divide between us and God that we didn't deserve, and he did it in a horrific way to his detriment. And then he was with and I love it. I love it. I just want to celebrate him every day. I don't want to come with a sad story, a morbid tale. What happened was awful, but he did it because he loves us. So the outcome is amazing. I want to glorify him and I want to worship him. And I cannot live for him truly if there are stones in front of my team. And then know that there are. And I know that you probably have your own stones and your own tombs as well. Helen brought hers this morning. We've all got stuff. And we don't have to do anything. You can lie on the sofa for the rest of your life and you'll still be saved. But I don't want that. I want to live a life that he wants me to live and a life to please him, to glorify him. If nothing else, I want to see other people come to know him. I want them to see the joy in my life, the peace in my life, the patience in my life, the kindness in my life, the goodness in my life. That shows someone that we know something different. We're not meant to be of this world, we're meant to be of his world. And we get trapped into his world, into this world every single day. Jealousy, anger, bitterness, whatever it might be. He wants so much more. So for the next week, month, year, whatever. Let's work on our stones. Let's work on the tombs that we've built for ourselves because he offers so much more. I love him. We love him. And we sing his name. Let's live a life for him. I'm just going to pray. Ah Lord, we just thank you. We thank you, thank you, thank you. You went to the cross for us to repair the divide between us and God. And the most simple, beautiful message that's ever been given to mankind. If you believe in Jesus and what he did, you will be saved. That's it. It's not simple what you went through, Lord. And we thank you. Our hearts break when we even have an inkling of an idea of the pain that was caused because of it. But we thank you that you fulfilled prophecy and you rose from the dead. You defeated death, Lord, so that we can defeat death when our time on earth comes. And we know we have an eternity in heaven with you. In the meantime, we have lives to live here on earth, Lord, and we want them to be as full as they possibly can because that's your promise. So, Lord, remove those stones. May we not ask the question who is Going to remove that stone, we know the answer. Maybe be aware of the stones in our lives. What's blocking us from living a full life for you, Lord? I don't want any more stones in mine. And I thank you that that's a promise that you offer to us all. Praise you, Son of God. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Thank you, Steve. I think it's such a great word this morning to um an invitation actually.