Easter Sunday Message - Easter Is for Everyone: A Timeless Message of Hope

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Check out Virtue, our website for Christian women.

Go to harvest.org forward slash virtue. Some think Easter is just for church folks dressed in their Sunday best. Pastor Greg Laurie says Easter is for everyone. Easter is for the person who feels as though God has let them down. Maybe I'm talking to somebody right now that is disappointed with God. You feel as though God has let you down. God has failed you.

But listen to this. Disappointment is His appointment. God wants to restore your faith today. Many people think Easter is the most important holiday on the calendar.

Christmas certainly gets more attention with all the shopping and gift giving. But Easter celebrates the day Jesus paid a debt He didn't owe for people who owed a debt they couldn't pay. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us see Easter is a message for everyone. Because quite simply, we all need the redemption celebrated on this special day. It's a timely message about a timeless gift. Turn to Mark chapter 16 and the title of my message is Easter is for Everyone. I love to tell Bible stories.

I've been doing it now for over 45 years. I love to tell Bible stories to my grandkids. And I love to just make up stories. I'll always say, Papa, make up a story.

And they especially like it when they're in the story. So my grandchildren are Riley, age 14, Stella, age 13, and then there's Lucy and there's Allie and finally Christopher, our grandson. So I'll make up a story but I'll change the names a little bit.

Once upon a time there were five squirrels. There was Smiley instead of Riley. There was Bella instead of Stella. There was Goosey instead of Lucy. And Sally instead of Allie.

And Keith, I just leave his name the same. And they got into these adventures. They love to be in the story. I want to tell you something that might surprise you. You are in the Easter story. You say, what do you mean by that? What I mean is we're going to look at the stories of a number of people that were impacted by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And I think that you might find you really relate to one of these people. That's why I've titled this message Easter is for Everyone. Okay so let's set the scene. Jesus Christ the son of God has been crucified on the cross. His beaten and bloodied body has been so traumatized no one ever expected to see him alive again. But Jesus promised that he would rise from the dead three days after his crucifixion. He said it again and again and again but somehow it went over the heads of all of his followers. So one morning Mary Magdalene and a woman named Salome and another went to anoint the dead body of Jesus.

As they come to the tomb the stone is rolled away. And there's an angel who says to them don't be alarmed. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He's risen from the dead. Listen to this. And then the angel says go tell the disciples and Peter he'll meet you in Galilee.

Okay let's read about it. Mark chapter 16 verse 9. Here's what happened next. After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went to the disciples who were grieving and weeping and told them what had happened.

But when she told them that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him they did not believe her. So who is Easter for? Easter is for the person who has been devastated by death. Have you lost a loved one? We're living in such a hard time in America where we're hearing these tragic stories of people who are dying from the coronavirus. And to lose a loved one is so hard to deal with I know from experience because 13 years ago our oldest son Christopher died in an automobile accident.

When I heard that news to say I was devastated is an understatement. My life was altered and that's what happens when a loved one leaves you. And the question that comes to your mind is why did God allow this to happen to me? And I'm going to give you an answer. Why is this tragedy happening? Why are people dying? Are you ready for the answer? Get ready to write it down. I don't know. I don't know.

Nobody does. A great tragedy. But I want to tell you something that it was never God's plan for us to die. It was God's plan for us to live forever.

It was not even God's plan for us to age. You see if our first parents had not eaten of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden sin would have not have entered the world. And by the way the Bible never says they ate an apple. People always say when Adam and Eve ate the apple there's no apple in the garden. It just said it was forbidden fruit. I think it probably was a piece of fruit like you've never seen before. It probably pulsated with light and had its own theme song maybe.

I don't know. But they eat of that forbidden fruit and sin entered the world. If they had not eaten of that fruit in the garden that God told them not to eat of we would have never died. If they had not eaten of that fruit that God told them not to eat of we would not age.

If they had not eaten of that fruit God told them not to eat of I would have hair right now. Okay so we all face the repercussions of it but here's the message of Easter. Jesus died on the cross and he rose again from the dead. So here's the bottom line. Death died when Christ rose. You say Greg you're delusional. People are still dying.

I know. Physically they are dying and they always will. The statistics on death are quite impressive.

One out of every one person will die. It's going to happen to all of us in time but the resurrection of Jesus says we can live beyond the grave. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 Christ has been raised from the dead and he's the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. The resurrection of Jesus was the death of death and here's what we know. Our resurrection bodies that God will give to us will be similar to the resurrection body of Jesus. So when Christ rose was he a different person? No he was the same Jesus. He still bore in his hands the marks of the crucifixion. He still ate food. I don't think his body was translucent and you saw the food going down. No he was still flesh and blood but yet at the same time he did things he had not done previously.

Like enter a room without using the door. So the Bible says this to us. We're the children of God. It's not been revealed what we will be but we know when the Christ who is our life is revealed we will be like him. So our bodies will be similar to his bodies and listen to this.

This is the best news of all. If you've lost a loved one who died in faith you're going to see them again. Your loved ones who've gone to heaven are not just a part of your past they're also a part of your future. When Jesus came back from the dead he basically picked up where he last left off.

One occasion we see him greeting two disciples and the King James says he said hail which is just another word for hello or greeting. So it's almost as though they see the risen Lord and he says hey how's it going? You know pick up where we last left off. Conversations that were cut off can be restored again.

It's so amazing. Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Again death died when Christ rose.

Easter is also for the person who has failed spiritually. Remember the message of the angels that was delivered to Mary Magdalene? It was go tell the disciples and Peter.

Why not go tell the disciples and Peter James and John or go tell the disciples and in Matthew? Well because Peter had messed up. Peter had sinned.

You remember what he did? He denied knowing the Lord three times there by the glow of the fire and then the rooster crowed. Jesus said this would happen and we read that Peter went out and wept bitterly. He was heartbroken.

He was devastated. And I wonder if I'm talking to somebody right now who's had a spiritual breakdown. Somebody who's messed up.

Somebody who's sinned. Well listen Easter is all about second chances. That's why the message was go tell the disciples and Peter he's risen again. Easter is also for the person who feels as though God has let them down. I mentioned the death of a loved one.

Maybe that's happened to you. Maybe I'm talking to somebody right now that is disappointed with God. You feel as though God has let you down. God has failed you.

But listen to this. Disappointment is his appointment. God wants to restore your faith today. There's a story in the Gospel of Luke about two disciples who were leaving Jerusalem. They were devastated because their Lord had been crucified and in their minds that was the end of the story.

And who joins them on the road to Emmaus? But Jesus. But they didn't know it was Jesus. He did something where they were not able to recognize him. Not a Jedi mind trick.

These are not the droids you're looking for. No they just didn't know it was him. If you didn't understand that cultural reference it takes too long to explain it. But they're walking along and Jesus is with them. He basically turns to them and says hey guys why the long faces?

What's going on? Oh haven't you heard about Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified? And then he says no tell me about it. They're telling Jesus now about Jesus. But they don't know it's Jesus. As they're walking along he stops them and the Bible says he rebukes them and says you're so hard hearted. Don't you know all the things that the prophets have said about Messiah? And then he pointed them to all those Old Testament passages that pointed to the death of Jesus. Man they're thinking this guy knows the Bible really well.

You think he wrote it or something. Yeah you're getting close. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation. And then as they come to the end of their journey they're going to have a meal. And Jesus acts as though he would keep going.

So basically saying hey guys nice to see you. I gotta go. Whoa whoa hey. Guy who knows the Bible so well. Have a meal with us.

Okay. And he broke bread and then it was revealed to them that it was Jesus. And they made this statement. Did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to us the scripture walking along the way. God can use his word to bring you back to spiritual life again. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Hey everybody Greg Laurie here. Personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study. It's a worship service. It's church in your home. Maybe you're not able to get out to your church right now. If so join us for Harvest at Home.

People are listening in from around the world. And listen to this. We have seen thousands of people make a commitment to follow Christ. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. The title of today's message is Easter is for Everyone. Pastor Greg is helping prepare our hearts for Resurrection Sunday.

Let's continue. Listen to this. Easter is for skeptics too. That's right skeptics. Maybe you're skeptical. Maybe you have a hard time believing that there's a God in heaven who loves you. It's difficult for you to wrap your mind around the fact that God could have a plan for your life. Well Easter is for you too.

Back to Mark 16. We read later he appeared to the 11 disciples as they were eating. And he rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe him even though they had seen him after he rose from the dead. Listen to this. Everybody struggles with doubts every now and then. Oswald Chambers the author of the well-known Christian devotional My Utmost for His Highest made this statement quote, Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong.

It may be a sign that he's thinking. So maybe you're struggling with doubts right now and you don't know if you can believe all of these things. But listen this message is true. And you can come to Jesus with your skepticism. You can come to Jesus with your doubt. Hey you can come to Jesus even if you're an outright atheist. Last Sunday Palm Sunday when I spoke we had a person who watched us and then they commented on my Instagram page and here's what they wrote.

And I'm quoting from it. Hey Pastor Greg I've been an atheist for 15 years and lately I've been questioning everything. So I decided to tune in and right when Greg said someone is watching who is scared of death and doesn't know if they're right with God. I started to cry and I accepted Jesus into my heart.

Thank you. See a person was reached by God and you can be reached as well. There's another guy we call him doubting Thomas.

He was super skeptical. Jesus appeared to the disciples and they told Thomas. Hey man you should have been with us last night. Guess who showed up? Yahoo. Jesus.

No way. I'll believe it when I can put my finger in the wounds in his hands and put my hand in the wound in his side. But the next time they met together Thomas was there. And guess who appeared again?

Yes. Jesus. And what does he say to Thomas? Hey Thomas go ahead put your finger in the wound of my hand.

Go ahead and place your hand in the wound of my side. And Thomas just said my Lord and my God. He didn't want to know anything more than what the others knew.

He just needed to know for himself. You can't live off the faith of someone else. You need to come to the Lord and say I have these questions and then put your faith in him. You know you might say show me and I'll believe and God effectively says believe and I'll show you. In just a few moments I'm going to give you an opportunity to put your faith in Jesus and be forgiven of all of your sin. And you can turn your skepticism into faith. And you can turn your doubt into belief.

This can happen for you. One final part I want to bring out to you about the Easter story. I talked about how you're in the story in the beginning. Well you are in the story.

Here's your part. John 20 29. After Thomas said my Lord and my God Jesus said Thomas because you've seen me you've believed. Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed. That's you and that's me. We've not seen the risen Lord physically stand before us.

But we put our faith in him and Jesus says these people are blessed. Yes you can have this encounter with God yourself. So let me conclude this message. Where are you at today? What's your personal situation this Easter? Are you mourning the loss of a loved one? Again Jesus says I'm the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me though he were dead he'll live. Listen death is not the end. We live on in the afterlife and if we put our faith in Christ we'll live on in heaven in his presence.

Reunited with our loved ones who have died in faith before us. Have you fallen away from the Lord? Are you a prodigal son or daughter? God gives second chances and third chances and fourth chances.

You know give one to you right here right now. Maybe you feel as though God has let you down. But the fact is God has not let you down.

God is here for you right now. See here was the problem with those two guys in the Emmaus road. They were trying to get away from the cross. And Jesus died on that cross and it was not a beautiful sight. It was a horrific sight. His body was so traumatized Isaiah says you couldn't even tell he was a man.

In other words he was unrecognizable. And so they never thought they would see Jesus alive again. So they wanted to get away from that bloody cross. But listen to this every step away from the cross was a step in the wrong direction. You don't want to run from the cross you need to come to it. You go well I don't even know what that means come to the cross. What cross?

It means come to God. Realize Jesus died on that cross for a reason. He died there on the cross for your sin. And as I have often said it wasn't nails that held him to the cross.

It was love for you. Because there was no other way to satisfy the righteous demands of a holy God that we have all offended. But Jesus was uniquely qualified to bridge his gap. And with one hand he took hold of sinful humanity. And with the other hand he took hold of a holy God.

And nails were driven through those hands and he died in our place. The apostle Paul said he loved me and gave himself for me. Jesus said for God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son. And whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The father not only sent the son to the cross but listen the son willingly went. He went because he knew this was the only way for you to be forgiven of your sin. For us to know that we'll go to heaven when we die. That's why he made such a great sacrifice.

Maybe you're watching this full of skepticism. And here's what God says to you in Jeremiah 33. Call on me and I'll answer you. And I'll show you great and mighty things which you do not know. Your life can change. I mentioned that letter from the atheist or that post on my Instagram page. This can happen for you right now. You can have your life changed by God.

You say well how? Number one you have to admit you're a sinner. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God has set absolute boundaries that we are to live by.

You find him in the Ten Commandments. You shall not lie. You shall not steal. You shall not take the Lord's name in vain. You shall not have other gods before him.

Who has not broken one of those or many of those? The Bible says if you offend him one point of the law you're guilty of all of it. You're a sinner. I'm a sinner.

We're all sinners. But number two recognize Christ died on the cross for you. That's why he went to the cross. So you could be forgiven of that sin. So realize that's what happened.

He did that with you in mind. The Bible says for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross despising the shame. And now it's set down on the right hand of God. You know what kept Jesus going to that cross?

It was knowing what it would accomplish. Because listen he didn't have a lot of support in that day. His own disciples basically forsook him. The crowds are saying crucify him. And when the sin of the world was placed upon Jesus as he hung there even the Father momentarily turned his face away causing Jesus to cry out the words my God my God why have you forsaken me?

Yes he did all of that because of his love for you. So then you must repent of your sin. What does that mean? It means to change your direction. The Bible says God has commanded people everywhere to repent. And so you say I'm not going to live this old sinful way.

I'm going to start following the Lord and here's the most important thing. To be forgiven of your sin you must receive Jesus Christ into your life. It's a gift. It's the gift of God. Sometimes people say well if I believe if I live a good life and do these good works I'll get to heaven one day.

No listen I know I'm going to heaven. Not because of what I've done but because of what God has done. What Christ has done in purchasing this gift. And yes it's a gift. Think of it as a simple gift.

The gift of God the Bible says which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now it's interesting when you give a gift to a girl they sometimes react differently than a guy. Give a gift to a girl that's wrapped and she'll say oh thank you. I love this wrapping paper that you carefully unwrap it and say I'm going to save this ribbon and paper for later.

And then she'll read the card and be touched maybe by what you wrote. That's not the way men open gifts. A man will open a card but he's not even reading it.

He acts like he is he isn't. The only reason he opened it was to see if there was money in it. Wrapping paper a mere obstacle for a man. He wants a gift what's in the gift. Listen I don't care if you open this gift like a lady or like some guy.

Just open the gift. The gift of eternal life is offered to you this Easter. Jesus died for you.

He rose again from the dead. Now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks. And he says if you'll hear his voice and open the door he'll come in. It's time for you to receive the gift now. It's time for you to change your eternal address from hell to heaven.

It's time for you to fill that big hole in your heart you've tried to fill with so many other things. It's time for you to meet Jesus Christ personally. And in a moment I'm going to lead you in a simple prayer. And I'm going to ask you if you want your sin forgiven. If you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die. If you want this relationship with God. If you want your guilt taken away. I want you to pray with me. It's a simple prayer where you're asking God to forgive you. And you're asking Jesus to come into your life.

Just pray these words. Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for me. And rose again from the dead. Now Jesus come into my life.

I choose to follow you. From this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer. And answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. We call it our New Believers Growth Packet. And we'll send it free of charge upon request.

Just write us at a new beginning. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or you can call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here to take your call anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. And then it's such a joy to announce Pastor Greg's new book called Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. It's an evangelist's look at the life of the greatest evangelist of all time. And Pastor Greg you wrote in the book, the two most important moments in a person's life are when they're born and when they realize what they are born for. Yes. Over and over we see evidence of what Billy was born for. In the book, do you help us sort of discover what we are born for? Right.

Yes, of course. Because, you know, God has a plan for each of our lives. Now Billy wanted to be a professional baseball player. That's what he aspired to. But after he accepted Christ at the revival meetings of evangelist Mordecai Hymn, a calling came on Billy's life and he was resistant to it at first. He didn't aspire to be a preacher.

He was a fun-loving, normal young man who, as I said, wanted to go play baseball. But God put a call in his life. And God puts a call in everybody's life. We're not all called to be preachers. Certainly we're not all called to impact the world like Billy Graham did. But we are all called to preach the gospel.

And we are all called to impact our world. So in this book that I've written on the life of Billy called Billy Graham, The Man I Knew, I show how the Lord directed him, how the Lord called him. And I describe in detail the amazing changes that happened in his life. And he wanted to go one way and the Lord led him another way. And how God was in control of his life from beginning to end.

And how the Lord will do that for you as well. I'm hoping that this book will introduce Billy to a whole new generation, especially of young people that don't really know Billy. They weren't raising Billy on television all the time.

They never went in person to a Billy Graham crusade. So I'm doing my best to bring this story in an understandable, relatable way to you. I show his humor. I show his humanness. I show some of his vulnerabilities.

And you'll only love and appreciate him more after you've read it. Because he was the same guy in private that he was in public. There were not two Billy Grahams. He was the real deal. And that's why I decided to write a book about Billy Graham, because people need to know about this man who was called by God to be the greatest evangelist in history. Yeah, his life is worth studying. He's such a great example for all of us. And Pastor Greg and his co-author Marshall Terrell have done exhaustive research into Billy's life.

In fact, research that took them all the way back to the Civil War. So don't miss this opportunity to read this evangelist's look at the life of history's greatest evangelist. And we'll send you a copy, hot off the press, to thank you for your investment in making these daily studies possible.

It's only through listener support that we can feature Pastor Greg's teachings each day. So send your gift today to A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300.

We can take your call anytime, again at 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and look for Billy Graham, the man I knew. Are people watching us from heaven? Our friends and loved ones were there.

Do they know what's happening in our everyday lives? Pastor Greg addresses that question next time as he returns to his series, The Afterlife and the Eternal. But before we close for today, Pastor Greg has a final comment. I say these stories about second chances. I think there might be a prodigal son or daughter listening to me right now. You don't need to say, Jesus, come into my life.

You've already done that. But you've wandered away from the Lord. You've run away, in some cases, from the Lord.

You've been rebelling against him. This is your moment to return to him. The Bible says, return you back-siding children and I will heal you, says the Lord. Listen to me, prodigal sons and daughters. I'm going to lead you in a prayer because some of you need to make that recommitment to Jesus right now.

You know who you are because God's Holy Spirit is convicting and convincing you of this right now in your heart. If you need to come back to the Lord, would you pray this prayer? Lord Jesus, I'm a prodigal. I want to come home again.

I want this relationship with you like I used to have. I'm sorry for my sin. Thank you for paying for it on the cross. I return to you now, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.