2. Endings Easter 2013

3. Church as a kid…

4. God is: Old Irrelevant A pain in the…

5. "New" is often Under suspicion

6. God's character doesn't change But he's not stuck 1600's

7. God's mercy is "new every morning" - Lam. 3:23

8. Sing to him a new song… - Psalm 33:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God - Psalm 40:3

9. I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. - Ezekiel 36:26

10. But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells - 2 Peter 3:13

11. God's not dusty, old and Irrelevant Even if religion is…

12. The problem is… Endings are hard Judaizers…?

13. Endings are hard

14. Relationship…

15. Around a Hospital Bed…

16. School's Out Forever!

17. Endings are hard…

18. You gotta have an ending If you're gonna have a New Beginning

19. After 7 years…

20. Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for an ending

21. Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

23. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you” - Matt. 16:21-22

24. …because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away- Jesus (John 16:6-7)

25. You gotta have an ending If you're gonna have a New Beginning

26. You'll never see And understand the fullness of the New Beginning Unless you're willing to first Have an ending

28. Jesus cries out, "Tetelestai!" and dies

29. To understand this ending 1470 years prior Another ending…

30. Israelites in Egypt:

31. Israelites in Egypt: Slavery and Hard labor Property Babies killed

32. God's had enough!

33. Unblemished lamb: …take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

34. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast…

35. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt - Exodus 12:7, 12-13

36. Covenant= Blood

37. The Passover Message: Blood protects from death God uses it to set his people free

38. Freedom! (Bad GPS)

39. Are you kidding me?

40. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

41. Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” - Exodus 14:12-13

42. Endings are hard Beginnings are scary "We're not sure we can Trust God…"

43. They're scared And looking back At what they had Instead of what God has for them

44. The end to slavery: Forced hard labor Being "property" The beginning of God's promise!

45. New land Real Freedom Life Blessings!

46. You gotta have an ending If you're gonna have a New Beginning

47. Passover Celebrated Unleavened Bread and Lamb Forward 1470 years…

48. Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body” - Lamb

49. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you…

50. …for this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins - Matt. 26:26-28

51. God is doing something… New

52. You gotta have an ending If you're gonna have a New Beginning

53. Arrest Illegal Trials Scourging Beating Crucifixion

54. Jesus cries out, "Tetelestai!" and dies

55. Tetelestai is an ending Done, Finished, Complete. Nothing more can be added.

56. Jesus said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit - John 19:30

57. Done, Finished, Complete Nothing more can be added Done, Finished, Complete Nothing more can be added

58. Religion Dies On the cross The Rules of Men Die on the Cross

59. "Blood of the New Covenant"- Jesus By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear - Hebrews 8:13

60. Christ's death is an ending…

61. “Christ is the end of the law So that there may be righteousness For all who believe” - Romans 10:4

62. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code - Romans 7:6

63. “It is finished” OT Priests and Sacrifices

64. “It is finished” Holy of Holies (Separation)

65. You gotta have an ending If you're gonna have a New Beginning

66. Grave Time of Disillusionment and Shock Numbness

67. Honoring the Body

68. Honoring the Body "Stolen?"

69. Honoring the Body "Stolen?" He's Alive! "Go tell the disciples…and Peter…"

70. New Beginning…

71. Disciples: - Power to live what Christ taught - Purpose behind discipleship - Something worth giving their lives to

73. Tetelestai! What's new?

74. New Covenant of Grace: Nothing more can be added

75. “To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” - Romans 4:5

76. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ - Romans 5:1

77. New Heart and Power This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts - Heb. 8:10

78. New People and Community There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus - Gal. 3:28

79. Fresh Start, New Life "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is passing away. Behold, the new has come!" - 2 Cor. 5:17

80. Something had to end so that something greater could begin

81. Something had to end so that something greater could begin Religion had to die on the cross so that Christ's righteousness could live in you and me

82. Endings aren't easy

83. New beginnings Start with endings

84. New beginnings Start with endings What's ending in your life Right now?

85. What might God be doing Or preparing you for Right now? What's ending in your life Right now?

86. You gotta have an ending If you're gonna have a New Beginning

87. You'll never see And understand the fullness of the New Beginning Unless you're willing to first Have an ending

88. Your response Determines your path

89. You can keep looking back At what you lost Or look up in faith And receive what God wants to do In you and- through you- In your world

90. What needs to end So that God's new beginning Can start?

91. What's worth hanging on to If it keeps you from God's best In your life?

92. Jesus, not religion Is the basis Of your New Beginning

93. If anyone is in Christ… New creation!