Sermon Part 3

And, there are some of us who have never come to Jesus. Never chosen the way of Christ. We may think it is a good thing, but we have never committed to it being a thing for us. We have been trying to do life our own way. Maybe we are here because we are trying to make the spouse happy, or to see friends, or because we are just a little curious about spiritual things. Or maybe because our parents make us come every Sunday. But we feel….we know…that God wants something more for our lives. Inside we know that life is about something more than going through the motions. Or maybe we are here and we feel we are a moral or spiritual failure, and that there is nothing that we can do to feel right about things…to reconcile ourselves to God. Let me assure you. God has a purpose for you. God can forgive you and transform you too! He has plans for you that you cannot see now. He has meaning for your life that you are only beginning to glimpse. I urge you today to come to Jesus. To give your life to him. To embrace the truth that GOD LOVES YOU AND GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET.
Where does that hope come from? The message of Ezekiel? Not completely. It starts in the book of Genesis and ends in the book of Revelation. And it has its center from another story in the Bible. Another event in history. A story of a perfect man who became a sacrifice for all. A man who allowed himself to be beaten, ridiculed, mocked, and spat upon. This Jesus was born in a barn, lived working a blue collar job for most of his life, and then for three years he wandered around like a homeless man teaching people and loving people. Giving himself completely to others. He was taken to a hill, and nailed on a cross. As a result, he died and they put him in the grave. Some thought his movement was dead. That the hope he shared was no hope at all. But, three days later, he rose again in victory. Later, he ascended to heaven. He now sits at the right hand of God the father, ushering in the reign of God, waiting to come again to redeem this world. Faith in this story calls us all to shout from the highest mountaintop and the lowest valley. We see the whole world anew. We realize that just like God was recreating then, God is recreating now. Making our world, our nation, our churches, our selves, new again. Giving us life when we were only feeling and experiencing death. It calls us to sing and shout hope and victory in the here and now. It calls us to proclaim to the world that GOD LOVES US, AND GOD AIN’T FINISHED WITH US YET.
Those who have ears, let them hear! Amen!