A TRUST RELATIONSHIP

Sermon Summary (4/23/17) “A Trust Relationship” (Luke 24:13-35 and 1 Cor 15 excerpts)

I bet you thought Easter was over.  Over.  Actually, the Church’s Easter Season runs all the way to Pentecost, this year June 4th, so we ought to spend at least two weeks on the resurrection!  So, God raised Jesus from the dead. You can take that to the bank.  You can count on it.  Paul, the Apostle Paul, bet his life on it!  As did all the Apostles.  And hear this, you don’t die for what you know to be a lie.  You don’t die for a lie!

The resurrection is central to our faith.  Here’s what I want you to take away: You can trust God.  God raised Jesus from the dead and he will raise you.  You can trust God.

Sometimes we lose hope.  The disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13 and following) had expected Jesus to redeem his nation Israel and their hopes were dashed at the crucifixion.  Jesus (unbeknownst to them) came along side and explained how the Son of Man must suffer, die, and on the third day be raised so that repentance and forgiveness could be proclaimed to all nations.  And at the meal that evening, he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.  A community that had lost hope, was a community of restored hope!

You can trust God.  How is your trust factor?  Paul’s fledgling church in Corinth had lost hope.  Someone had told them that Christ had not been raised.  They had lost hope.  Paul was writing (1 Cor 15) to restore their hope and he employed one of the oldest Creeds of the early church, circa 40 ad, to tell them: “³ For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴ and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to [Peter], then to the twelve.” (1 Cor 15:3-5)

Event: Jesus died.  Theological interpretation: for our sins according to the scriptures.  Proof: He was buried.

Event: He was raised.  Theological interpretation: on the third day according to the scriptures.  Proof: He appeared to the apostles and then to more than 500 at one time.

You can trust God. 

Paul close his words to Corinth with ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

What does a person in a trust relationship with God do?  Be steadfast, excel in the work of the Lord.  Amen.