Not Cancelled
11 APRIL 2021 | PRAYER & PRAISE SERVICE
Mr Charis Lim
Scripture Passage: John 20:11-18 (NIV)
WATCH | SERMON (VIDEO)
READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary | Life is not cancelled and Easter is not cancelled because of what Christ has done for us through His resurrection power! All we need to do is come to Him just as we are and place our hands in His hands.
Grace: Mary Magdalene, a devoted disciple with a shrouded past, was cancelled by the people and culture of her time, akin to today’s cancel culture of social ostracism. Yet, she was the one privileged to first see Jesus resurrected. Grace is shown to the most needy, the ones most aware of what Jesus has done for them. Grace is never about our past record, but about Jesus’ mercy to the broken.
Garments: Inexplicably, the sight of the open tomb causes Mary to run to inform the others, and Peter and John race to the tomb. The evidence of the linen cloths bound in a cocoon-like manner causes John to see and believe. Hearts and minds are now engaged.
Grief: Unwilling to leave, Mary remains weeping. Grief is real, its power so strong we are often blinded to the greatest miracle before our eyes. It must be addressed, not swept aside. The devil knows our names but calls us by our sins. Jesus knows our sins but lovingly calls us by our names. Mary’s grief turns to joy upon Jesus’ calling her by her name, “Mary”.
Gift: Mary is gently told not to cling on to Jesus but to go and be a testimony of what she has seen. We are exhorted not to bury God’s gifts to us in the grave. Stir up the gift of God in you - share the testimony of our Lord - according to the power of God (2 Tim 1:6-8).
Gospel: Tied to this is Thomas’ putting his hands into Jesus’ nail-scarred ones and his declaration of “My Lord and my God!” The good news of the gospel must be declared without shame.
Life is about whose hands you put something in. Put a golf club in my hands and you will get a horrible game of kids golf; in the hands of Tiger Woods it wins the Masters Tournament. In whose hands are you putting your child, marriage, life? Has the past year been challenging your sense of purpose, destiny? Place your hands in His hands, invite the Lord Jesus to take the wheel of your life – it will change your position, perspective and person. You are not a cancelled person; Jesus has cancelled death. He lives today, and gives life to the air you breathe.
(Sermon Notes by Kwun Pillai)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Consider how God has spoken to you through this sermon What are 3 points that stood out for me in this sermon?
2. What are 2 questions (or things) that I struggled with?
3. What is the 1 promise that I may rest on, or 1 thing that I may do?