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EXPERIENCING EASTER
EVERYDAY
A. The First Easter
Sermon.
"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man
attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God
performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this
Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God,
you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since
it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. For David says of
Him, 'I saw the Lord always in my presence; for He is at my right hand,
so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue
exulted; moreover my flesh also will live in hope; because You will not
abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You
have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of
gladness with Your presence.'
"Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David
that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with
an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead
and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither
abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God
raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been
exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father
the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both
see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he
himself says:
'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your
enemies a footstool for Your feet." ' Therefore let all the house of
Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this
Jesus whom you crucified."
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter
said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for
all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting
them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" Acts 2:22-40
B. How Easter Can Impact Our Life Everyday.
“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so
that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united
with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the
likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was
crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away
with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died
is freed from sin.“ Romans 6:4-7
“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through
the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who
was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. “
Romans 7:4
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11
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