Red Letter Life: All Fear is Gone

Jonathan Haidt wrote the Anxious Generation to describe the reality of anxiety in our world. What frightens us most these days? How do we overcome our fears? After Jesus rose from death, his words empowered his disciples to live fearlessly. What if we lived by the red letters? Message based on Matthew 28:1-10 and Revelation 1:17-18.Quotes:John Updike: Seven Stanzas at EasterMake no mistake: if he rose at all It was as His body; If the cell’s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit, The amino acids rekindle, The Church will fall.It was not as the flowers, Each soft spring recurrent; It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the Eleven apostles; It was as His flesh; ours.The same hinged thumbs and toes The same valved heart That—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then regathered Out of enduring Might New strength to enclose.Let us not mock God with metaphor, Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence, Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded Credulity of earlier ages: Let us walk through the door.The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache, Not a stone in a story, But the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of Time will eclipse for each of us The wide light of day.And if we have an angel at the tomb, Make it a real angel, Weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in The dawn light, robed in real linen Spun on a definite loom.Duane Brooks: This is what's happening in heaven, and it happens every time the people of God come together and worship him, heaven is coming to earth. And the hope is that maybe in our midst is somebody who doesn't yet know Jesus, but by the way we worship says that must be real. That must be true because we give God his worth.Japanese proverb: There are four things to be afraid of—fire, storm, earthquake, and one’s father.Robert Murray McCheyne: If I knew Jesus was in the next room praying for me, I would not fear anything in the world. The distance makes no difference.  He is praying for me . Eugene Peterson: The most important question we may ask of the Bible is not:  what does this mean, but what can I obey.Thomas a Kempis: Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience.Duane Brooks: There are three words that could change the lives of every person we meet, every person we encounter. The words, he is risen. That changes everything. How do I know? Because it changed my life. Duane Brooks: "He is risen" changed your lives and it will change the life of every person who comes to believe it. We worship fearlessly. And the good news is because Christ is risen, we don't have to be afraid of dying, nor do we have to be afraid of speaking publicly about what Jesus has done in our lives. And this is the way the church has transformed culture for two thousand years.#worship #witness #faith #hope #courage To discover more messages of hope, go to tallowood.org/sermons/.Follow us on X and YouTube @tallowoodbcFollow us on Instagram @tallowood.baptistFollow us on FaceBook @tallowoodbaptist