Easter Sunday: Can I Get A Witness? - Pastor Josiah Elias

“Let the Light in of my lover, Jesus my Savior.

Receive Him now in Spirit and truth. Amen”

That was the Spoken Word.

Pastor Josiah reminded us that FC’s mission is to culture like Christ, and the vision is Jesus. He

declared,”I am not here for you. I am here for Him. As we honor Him, we receive the overflow.”

Because Jesus rose from the dead and defeated death, everything changed. In contrast if the

resurrection didn’t happen, the whole Christian faith crumbles.

A decision to make Jesus your Lord and then journey with Him as your Master and Savior

reveal a “substantial yes to Jesus.” Proof of God’s existence is the transformed life from being:

trapped in depression to a joy-filled life in Jesus; trapped in addiction of destructive habits to

being addicted to Jesus as your Lord and Savior; trapped in adultery to loving your family;

trapped in suicidal thoughts to discovering why “I am alive” and that you are His beloved. These

transformations are 10,000 times more convincing abut the reality of Jesus.

In Acts 2:22 Peter stated, “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the

Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders and signs through him, as you well

know.” (NLT) In other words, miracles grab the attention of the onlooker. Peter continued,

”But God knew that would happen, and his prearranged

plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the

help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and

killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death

and raised him back to life, for death could not keep

him in its grip.” Acts 2:23-24 (NLT)

God was grabbing more than attention. He was giving His only Son in order for us to have

eternal life with Him. At the Last Supper, Jesus explained, ”This cup is the new covenant

between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood which is poured

out as a sacrifice for you.” Luke 22:20 (NLT) Man’s betrayal carried out the ultimate plan, and

God raised Jesus from the dead. That is more than attention getting. That is life changing!!

“For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow

your Holy One to rot in the grave. You have shown me the

way of life and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.”

Acts 2:27-28 (NLT)

Even King David prophesied of the Messiah’s resurrection, and Peter referred to his prophetic

word.

“David was looking into the future and speaking of

the Messiah’s resurrection…

‘God raises Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses

of this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor

in heaven, at God’s right hand.’” Acts 2:31-33 (NLT)

One thousand years after David’s prophetic words, Peter confirmed what happened. This ever

present reality is ours. These witnesses proclaimed the life, death and resurrection of Jesus!

Hallelujah.”Information is one thing, but being a witness to something that is true is quite

another,” exclaimed Pastor Josiah.

After Jesus’ resurrection and their infilling of the Holy Spirit, Peter and John were going to the

temple, and a blind man begged them for money. Instead Peter who denied Jesus three times

the night of His crucifixion said,”Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Acts 3:6 (NIV) Peter took the beggar’s hand,

pulled him up, and the man walked.

How did the Pharisees deal with the miracles performed in the name of the risen Lord Jesus

Christ? They were fine as long as religious protocol was followed, but when the empowered

disciples performed miracles in the name of the risen Lord, they were shaken. Religion doesn’t

seem to know what to do when the power of God shows up.

Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, and He changed lives as He performed miracles. It

was a proclamation of the Gospel and the demonstration of the Kingdom. Jesus taught and cast

out demons. He taught and healed the sick. He taught and laid down His life . The devil is

terrified of a church who wakes up to the power it already has!

“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead

is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will

also face life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit

who lives in you.” Romans 8:11 (NIV)

We have the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. Amazing!

What were the disciples to do with the Spirit? Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would come

upon them. “…and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and

Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (NKJV) The disciples traveled all over and

spread the news of the resurrected Savior because they witnessed His life, death and

resurrection. As Peter stated in Acts 3:15 “You killed the author of life, but God raised him

from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!” (NLT) The word of the witnesses really

carried weight in those days even more than today. They boldly testified to what they saw and

experienced. Paul said that “we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” Hebrews

12:1 (NKJV)

Paul instructed the believers to

“lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares

us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before

us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the

throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

What about the cross is joyful? For us it is like looking at the electric chair and wondering what

joy you can find in it. For Jesus, the joy of the cross was the narrow road built on the other side

of agony. What is on the other side of the cross? You and I are. We are the joy set before

Jesus. Pastor Josiah emphasized,”It is as if Jesus was on the cross, and He was looking at you

and me and saying,’You are my joy. Everything I have endured was for you!’”

He went to the cross so we would not have to and to show us how to die and sacrifice for

others. Also He rose from the dead to show us how to live life. We do not need to fear death or

sin. We have no more broken destiny. He is alive to show each of us why there is still breath in

our lungs.

Then Pastor Josiah shared the video of his cousin Danny. On November 11th Danny drove

himself to the ER and then collapsed. He was in a coma for forty-four days, and the prognosis

was not good. His family turned to God and prayed, prayed, prayed. The church prayed. Danny

is alive after having his heart shocked seventy times. He is a walking miracle and testified that

he was alive because of God’s mercy. Pastor Josiah called Danny up to the front and Danny

simply said,”The gospel is true. Jesus is alive.”

Faith knows something is happening even when you can’t see it. Something is shifting in the

spiritual realm. Just like after the crucifixion, Friday night and Saturday all looked like it was

over. But Jesus was getting ready for the resurrection The spiritual eyes saw what the natural

eyes did not.

Pastor Josiah told of his conversation with the pastor of All People’s Church. He described FC’s

70th anniversary celebration and Danny’s returning to life. The pastor told Pastor Josiah that

Danny is a sign to the church. FC has had seventy years of overcoming. Danny had his heart

shocked back to life seventy times. Revival is what once was dead coming back to life again.

Jesus was dead on Friday, but on Sunday things changed.

“When they had done all that the prophecies said about him,

they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead! And over a period of many

days he appeared to those who had gone with him from

Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the

people of Israel.” Acts 13:29-31 (NLT)

Paul said,”I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed

on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.” 1 Corinthians 15:3 (NLT)

The proof is in the transformed lives.

May an encounter with the living Jesus change our lives and as we walk the journey with Him as

our Master, may we align our hearts, souls, minds, and spirits to His so that we may be salt and

light in this troubled world.

4/17-LB potluck, worship and Bo Quillar’s testimony in the Activity Center at 6:00

5/15-LB potluck and celebration of life for Patti Garfield.

Blessings,

Larry and Annette