From Darkness to Charcoal to Life

Video Sermon Here: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/KeithAxberg/1#video=xz0eea

Sermon Outline Below:

Alleluia, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Have you ever been lost? I mean REALLY lost?

I like the shirt Jim Singer wears ever now and then:

                Support your local Search and Rescue; Get Lost!

I think Peter and the Apostles must have really felt lost.

                Life must have felt very UNREAL to them.

For three years: Walking Daily with the Prince of Peace.

                Listening to his stories.

                Wrestling with the nature of God.

                Looking at the Kingdom of God in new ways.

It all came crashing down in Holy Week.

                The big parade into Jerusalem led to the cleansing of the temple, and then – Catastrophe. Not a little set-back, but complete, total annihilation.

Oh sure, there was Easter Sunday.

                There was the empty tomb, the women prattling on about how they confused the gardener with the risen Lord, and visions of angels, and other such nonsense. Peter and John had gone to investigate, but that confused them more than anything.

                True: Jesus did come to visit them in the upper room on two occasions, but it was evening; they were tired; they’d been hitting the wine a little heavy. The vision told them to be at peace, to “calm down” and assured them that everything would be OK.

                But that was just the grief talking, wasn’t it?

What happens when you are alone with your thoughts?

                You go crazy, don’t you?

                You start thinking about what coulda, shoulda, woulda been.

What’s worse, you’re left alone with your own thoughts; your own demons; your own failings and failures.

There are neighborhoods in most big cities you don’t want to be in at night; parts of Detroit, or Seattle, or Chicago. They’re scary, and they’re dangerous, and they’re filled with strange people for whom life doesn’t seem all that sacred.

That’s the neighborhood I live in when I am alone with my thoughts. I go deep, and I go dark, and I start to lose my footing with great ease.

That’s where Peter, John, and the other apostles were. They had already left Jerusalem. They’d gone 80 miles north, back home to where it all began for most of them, back home to Galilee; to family, friends, and neighbors; back to their old jobs.

But they can’t escape their neighborhood. They can’t escape the muggings going on in here (head). They can’t mend their broken hearts or shattered dreams. So they go back to their dreary lives. Into the darkness; that’s where they went.

Have you ever tried to “go back”? Have you ever tried to recapture your youth? Addicts tell me they’re always “chasing the buzz”. Nothing ever feels as good as the first hit, or the first high. They chase after that which will never deliver. That’s what Peter, James, John, and the rest are doing. Maybe we can find the magic once again – out there on the water; out there amongst the fish.

They tried, but they came back empty. Empty! That’s worse than a slight buzz, or a fuzzy high. That stinks!

But as dawn begins to break, they see a figure a hundred yards away. He’s got a fire going, and … what’s that? He’s got fish! He calls out: Try the other side. Send your nets out there! BAM!!! More than enough!

Do you love me? Take care of one another. Take care of friend and stranger alike. Bring everyone in. If you can’t find them here, cast your nets there. Love means bringing them in; feeding them; clothing them; tending to their needs. Bring them in, and you will see Me in the process.

Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!