Published: April 8, 2015, 2:43 a.m.

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Today we are starting a brand new series called \\u201cJESUS IS______\\u201d.

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(Series explanation \\u2013 We teach the principals found in the bible, in creative forms\\u2026.)

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Jesus is______? (How would you finish that thought?)

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(Good man\\u2026 Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr, etc\\u2026 teacher, a fable, mad at me, etc)

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(Jesus Video)

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No doubt that all of us have some concept of Jesus\\u2026

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BUT DOES HIS EXISTENCE HAVE ANY EFFECT ON OUR LIVES?!

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Transition: No matter how you would finish that statement\\u2026 we want to invite you on a journey this month as we discover who JESUS IS!\\xa0 It\\u2019s so much more than knowing about HIM\\u2026

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This message won\\u2019t change your life.\\xa0 Church won\\u2019t put your life in a new direction.\\xa0 BUT experiencing who JESUS really is\\u2026 and HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU\\u2026 will change you forever!

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Transition: Today we celebrate the greatest truth about Jesus\\u2026 He didn\\u2019t just die for us\\u2026 He defeated death for us!

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Message Title:\\xa0 Jesus is _____ ALIVE!

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On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared\\xa0and went to the tomb.\\xa0^2\\xa0They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,\\xa0^3\\xa0but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.\\xa0^4\\xa0While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning\\xa0stood beside them.\\xa0^5\\xa0In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, \\u201cWhy do you look for the living among the dead?\\xa0

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If we are honest\\u2026 that\\u2019s a lot of us.\\xa0 We are looking for life in all the wrong things!

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^6\\xa0He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:\\xa0^7\\xa0\\u2018The Son of Man\\xa0must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.\\u2019\\xa0\\u201d\\xa0^8\\xa0Then they remembered his words.

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^9\\xa0When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others\\u2026\\xa0^11\\xa0But they did not believe\\xa0the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.\\xa0^12\\xa0Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves,\\xa0and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Luke 24:1-12 (NIV)

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Maybe that\\u2019s you today\\u2026 \\xa0You\\u2019re wondering\\u2026 \\u201cWhat does this all mean?\\u201d

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We know there HAS to be more to life than we are experiencing\\u2026 THERE IS!!

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The thief\\u2019s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT)

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If you want all your questions answered\\u2026 I can\\u2019t help you.\\xa0

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If you want an easy life\\u2026 you won\\u2019t find it.

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But if you want a NEW LIFE\\u2026 A life of Freedom\\u2026 JOY\\u2026 HOPE\\u2026 it\\u2019s found when you DISCOVER JESUS!

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Transition: The fact that Jesus is alive is the greatest truth in history\\u2026 Because anyone can die for you.\\xa0 His death expressed how much he loved us\\u2026 \\u201cwhile we were still sinners\\u2026\\u201d

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The fact that He is alive proved that He was God\\u2026 and that for Him NOTHING is impossible!

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Transition:\\xa0 SO today I want to walk you through 3 things that His death AND resurrection mean for us!

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1.\\xa0 We have PEACE

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He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 4:25 (NLT)

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Therefore, since we have been made right in God\\u2019s sight by faith, we have peace\\xa0with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.\\xa0^2\\xa0Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand\\u2026 Romans 5:1-2\\xa0(NLT)

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You see, because of our SIN (rebellion against His standard) we were enemies of God.

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(Not enemies because HE wanted nothing to do with us\\u2026 BUT because we wanted nothing to do with him!)

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Whether you believe in God our not\\u2026 there is no denying EVIL in this world\\u2026 in all of us.

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(Babies \\u2013 Bent toward sin (sinful nature) \\u2013 Pictures of Eleanor

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There is a mark\\u2026 a standard\\u2026 and we constantly fall short of it.

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For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God\\u2019s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 (NLT)

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We can strive all we want\\u2026 and a lot of us are!\\xa0 It\\u2019s exhausting\\u2026 (Debt)

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But WE HAVE PEACE\\u2026 because of debt has been paid\\u2026 our relationship reconciled!

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For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.\\xa0^11\\xa0So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:10-11 (NLT)

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God isn\\u2019t just willing to forgive us\\u2026 He is passionate about it!

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The Cross / \\u201cIT IS FINISHED!\\u201d There is more to that statement than we realize\\u2026

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We need a greater view of God and a smaller view of sin.\\xa0

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Jesus came to break the cycle of sin and condemnation and give us our future back.

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2.\\xa0 We have a new INDENTITY

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The problem with being separation from God\\u2026 is that our identity is only understood in the context of a relationship with our creator.\\xa0

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Without Him\\u2026we\\u2019re orphans\\u2026 We\\u2019re lost\\u2026 We don\\u2019t know who we are!

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Jesus going to the cross was God screaming, \\u201cI LOVE you and will do ANYTHING to reach you!\\u201d

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(I left my kid at church once\\u2026 the feeling of losing your kid!)

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This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It\\u2019s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike \\u201cWhat\\u2019s next, Papa?\\u201d God\\u2019s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.

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And we know we are going to get what\\u2019s coming to us\\u2014an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we\\u2019re certainly going to go through the good times with him! Romans 8:15 (MSG)

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Your father\\u2026 is searching for you.\\xa0 Calling you to come home.\\xa0 To the life He has always planned for you.\\xa0

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You won\\u2019t discover your identity in anything this world can offer\\u2026 or anything you can achieve.

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3.\\xa0 We have new LIFE

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(The video\\u2026 \\u201cWhy do you seek the LIVING among the DEAD?\\u201d)

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To be honest\\u2026 this is what we are all after.\\xa0\\xa0

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(Always searching for \\u201cThe Life\\u201d\\u2026but always coming up short.)

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Some of us today\\u2026 the search is ending\\u2026 We\\u2019ve found what we\\u2019ve been looking for!

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Jesus died for YOUR SINS\\u2026 but He rose for YOUR LIFE

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You see, the culmination of the story is not the Crucifixion\\u2026 It was the resurrection!!\\xa0

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AND THE STORY ISN\\u2019T OVER\\u2026 we are still living in the aftermath of it!

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Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.\\xa0^2\\xa0You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil\\u2014the commander of the powers in the unseen world.\\xa0He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.\\xa0^3\\xa0All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God\\u2019s anger, just like everyone else.

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Very bleak\\u2026 but look at the next verse.\\xa0 BUT GOD\\u2026

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God intervenes\\u2026 butts in\\u2026 not because of our efforts\\u2026 or because we bugged Him enough, but because HE LOVED US SO MUCH!!

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^4\\xa0But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,\\xa0^5\\xa0that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God\\u2019s grace that you have been saved!)\\xa0^6\\xa0For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.^7\\xa0So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

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^8\\xa0God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can\\u2019t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.\\xa0^9\\xa0Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.\\xa0^10\\xa0For we are God\\u2019s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:1-10 (NLT)

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His love is SO deep and wide that in one moment of faith he can forgive a lifetime of sins\\u2026 past, present and future.

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Jesus didn\\u2019t die to establish a moral code of conduct\\u2026 world peace\\u2026 so we would go to church and read our bibles\\u2026so that we would behave\\u2026 (And these are all good things!)

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Jesus didn\\u2019t die to take you from BAD to GOOD, but to take you from DEATH to LIFE!

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This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

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Big Idea: Jesus died for us\\u2026 to take our place\\u2026 our punishment.

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He was buried to signify the death and burial of our sin\\u2026 AND THEN he destroyed the power of death and sin\\u2026 when HE rose to life!

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This is what Easter is all about.\\xa0

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Challenge:\\xa0 Some of us today\\u2026 if we are honest\\u2026 are trying to find LIFE on our own.\\xa0 In our success\\u2026 our ability\\u2026 our addictions\\u2026 And it\\u2019s not working\\u2026 we\\u2019re lost.

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THAT is why Jesus did what He did\\u2026 to show that WE can\\u2019t\\u2026 and that it\\u2019s time to stop trying.\\xa0

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HE DID IT!

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Only Jesus can rescue you.\\xa0 Only Jesus can bring you peace.\\xa0 Only Jesus can bring you to life.

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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT)

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All of this\\u2026 is free gift from God.\\xa0 Free.\\xa0 Grace.

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Salvation:\\xa0 God take control of my life\\u2026 It\\u2019s the easiest thing you will ever do, but I will cost you everything.\\xa0

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