Notes 📓✏️:
“I’ve got you covered.”
Easter means, “He’s got you covered.”
“…why do you call it blasphemy [sacrilegious] when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After all, the Father set Me apart and sent Me into the world.”
Luke 19:10 (NCV): “…came to find lost people and save them.”
Matthew 1:21 (NASB): “He will save His people from their sins.”
Pope Francis, The Guardian, September 19, 2013
“I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”
James 2:10 (NLT): “For the person who keeps all of the laws [of God] except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.”
Yes, there is a God.
Yes, God loves you.
Easter means, “He’s got you covered!”
Colossians 2:13-14 (NCV): “When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God made you alive with Christ, and He forgave all our sins. He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross.”
The sinless Savior died to make you right in God’s eyes.
Jesus covered a debt we could not pay because of a love we can barely comprehend.
Luke 24:1 (Msg): “At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.
They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.
They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.”
“A person with a testimony is never at the mercy of a person with an argument.”
A – Admit you are a sinner and need God’s forgiveness and grace.
B – Believe that Jesus died on a cross for your sin and rose again to give you new life.
C – Confess that Jesus is Lord (in charge) of your life.
Romans 10:9 (NASB): “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
1 Peter 4:8b (NLV): “Love covers many sins.”
Discussion Questions 📝❓:
- What does the idea of Jesus covering our sins and offering us forgiveness mean to you?
- Why do you think Easter is considered the cornerstone of the Christian faith?
- How does the story of hitting the mailbox illustrate the theme of love and forgiveness in our relationship?
- As Pastor Jeremy mentioned, everyone has sinned and missed the mark. Why do you think so many people struggle with acknowledging their imperfections?