Luke 2:8-14 Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: ¹¹Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”

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How do you usually celebrate Easter?  Coloring eggs?  Opening baskets of candy?  Cooking marshmallow peeps in the microwave?  Maybe you have a big Easter dinner, or maybe you just sleep in and don’t do anything special.

Did you know that the Resurrection of Jesus has implications that affect everybody?  And it’s a lot bigger than bunnies and eggs and even chocolate.

Yes–even bigger than chocolate!

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What does it mean that Jesus died for you?  Why would somebody else dying a couple thousand years ago make any difference for your life–or your eternity?

Have a listen and find out.

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Hosea 4:1-6 Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel!  The LORD has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. ²You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery.  There is violence everywhere—one murder after another. ³That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away.  Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

⁴“Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame!  My complaint, you priests, is with you. ⁵So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.  And I will destroy Israel, your mother. ⁶My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.  Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests.  Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.

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What if you found out that there was going to be an attack against your town?  In one week, missiles and bombs would begin to fall.  And you were the only one in town who knew about it.  So the only way to save all those people would be to evacuate everybody to bomb shelters or get them out of town.  Would you bother trying to tell anybody?  How about family or friends?  Or would you leave all by yourself, and let everybody in town die?

What if you tried telling people, and nobody believed you?  Why should they believe you?  How hard would you try to convince them?  How easily would you give up?

This is the dilemma that faces every Christian.  All believers are commanded by their Lord and Savior to make disciples and to teach people to obey the commands of Jesus.  In other words, they are to save lives by making Christ followers out of sinners, who are otherwise doomed to Hell.  Missiles and bombs might kill people’s bodies, but people who die with their backs to God suffer an eternal death that is described as a lake of fire.  So, obviously that would be worse than any kind of death we could imagine on Earth–and since our soul is eternal the torment would never end.

So, knowing that, how hard do you try to tell the world what Jesus commanded?  Do you share the message of salvation with anybody–friends, family, neighbors?  What if they don’t believe you?  How hard to you try to convince them?  How easily would you give up?

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CHAPTER ONE – It’s Greek to Me

Have you ever noticed that most people who say they disagree with the Bible have never read the Bible?  Isn’t that funny?  Actually, it’s not funny…it’s sad.  You would think that people would want to read such an important book–whether or not they agree with it.  That way you could at least disagree from a position of knowledge rather than complete ignorance.

But what’s even more sad than that are all the people who claim to believe in the Bible who have never read it all the way through.  How could anybody be so irresponsible as to base their life on a book that they’ve never read.  That’s probably why there are so many little factions who each call themselves the “real” church.

If all those people (believers and unbelievers) would read the book, there would probably be a lot less arguments about religion.

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I always think it’s funny when grownups tell kids not to run and play in church because they’re in the “House of God!” As if God is getting upset that kids are playing. “Hey you kids! Stop having so much fun, or you’ll make God mad! He’s trying to take a nap like the rest of the people listening to the sermon, and if you wake him up he’ll be as grumpy as I am!” What a goofy thought, that God’s house is a church building–as if God was sitting all by himself during the week, and finally got to see everybody on Sunday morning. “So how was your week everybody? Did you do anything fun?” People come to church thinking they’ll get something from God there. They pray and sing, and sometimes they dance and talk like crazy people. Others just sit there and act like scarecrows in pews. But so many of them transform into completely different people as soon as they get back home. All the ‘God’ stuff seems to evaporate like drops of water on a hot skillet as soon as they leave the church building.

But everybody (even non-church people) know that Jesus is supposed to live in your heart. So shouldn’t the life of any Christian be consistent whether they are at home or church or work or school or wherever? If we have God in us at church, we ought to have the same God living in us when we walk out the door. Right? God’s house isn’t a church building. It’s the pure heart of a Christian. And if God is really living in somebody’s heart, it ought to show through–all the time. If you say you have God in your heart, but he doesn’t show through in how you live your life all the time, maybe it’s because you don’t have God in your heart. Maybe what you really have in your heart is your own made up god. So when you go to church and act like he’s in there on Sundays, is it just a show?

I know these are pretty harsh questions, but don’t you think they are important ones to ask? Do you really believe you can have God in your heart and live like the Devil? I would think this is one thing you’d want to make sure you had right. What else in life really matters compared to whether you’re really following God or just following your own evil desires? Jesus asked the same question…”And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16, Mark 8, & Luke 9

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