The Witness

Good Morning. We have gathered together to witness today to the fact that Jesus has risen from the Grave. This is the moment that we get to celebrate that Jesus is Lord and we celebrate our salvation through him.

WE are to be a witness to this.

Have you ever had to be a witness to an accident, or a crime.

Being a witness is not an easy thing it is actually quite difficult. You have to make sure you can provide as much detail as possible and accurate information. It is amazing though how often we fill our minds and remember things differently than others.

I experienced this a lot when I was working in retail. People would have accidents in the store, or people might try to steal from the store and no matter what the situation we had to do our best to be a witness to everything that was happening.

Stories would be remembered one way and then something would always happen to help change the story.

We would go to the cameras. The evidence of what really happened. In every situation one thing was constant. You would find out who was a good witness and who was a bad witness.

The Bad Witness

The bad witness would inevitably never line up with the story that was being told. In an accident they would exaggerate or be trying to commit fraud in some way. It is always clear because the story doesn’t match the video. This unfortunately would happen more often than i wish it would. These people then would not be trusted from then on or not be welcomed. The thing about being a bad witness is that it destroys trust and that is a difficult thing to get back.

The Good Witness

Then there are the good witnesses. The story matches the video or closely that only minor details might be off. Their word is trusted. They are valued and they are someone that we look to and know that they can be trusted with what they say.

No matter a bad or good witness the truth is that it reveals something about who we are when we have to bear witness to something.

This is no different for the disciples.

I was getting ready for today and i was trying to figure out how I wanted to sum up the gospel message and how I could bear good witness today to what Jesus did for us. It was here that I looked to Acts 10 and the words of Peter as he is being a witness to the work of the Gospel. Let’s look at it together

Acts 10:34–44 NIV

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. 39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.

Peter’s Witness

Peter is summarizing the hope and the message of the Gospel for us.

To help better set the stage on what is happening here. Peter had been called to a man named Cornelius who was a Gentile. Peter had not been overly preaching to the Gentiles. He preferred to preach to the Jewish people. Yet, he was called by God to go and preach to this Gentile man. In fact God reminds Peter that he should not call anything impure that God has made clean.

Peter was reminded that he was called to preach to all. He shared the message and saw what God can do. That Amazing things can happen when we bear witness and he does just that. He bears witness to the work of Christ in our lives.

The Life of Jesus

Jesus ministry was such that we look to the whole of his ministry. We look to the words of his gospels and the words he preached to help us to come to God. Jesus came to to point us to God. To direct us to our heavenly Father.

He was willing to accept any who would believe in him. He was also quick to call us from Sin. To have us turn from the ways of life that we may have been living.

He also knew that the only way that we could be fully redeemed in the eyes of God was through hs death on the cross. It was in the cross that brought us our salvation.

God raised him from the dead and he was seen to testify to the work of God and that the price had been paid and that he is the one that is appointed Judge of the living and the dead.

This is the power of what Jesus did. He did this so that we may have life.

The Witness

Those of you who may be in this room and needing to hear or be reminded of the message of the Gospel.

The truth that we were born as a broken creation. That Sin is a part of who we are. That God sent us a savior in Jesus so that we could be free of the bonds of sin. That we might return to a right relationship with God. This was done for you in Jesus.

He died the death on the cross becasue he loves you and he wants you to believe in Him.

This is more than just saying some special words but it is a call to a radical change in who we are. He calls us to leave our old life and to live a life that is in honor of him. We do so because we love him because he first loved us.

If you already know these words to be true in your heart this message is also for you. This is to be our witness to the world. In a world and time where many of us want to be lawyers defending our faith we need to remember that we are called to be witness to our faith. That our actions and our words are suppose to bear out the witness of the love of God.

We are to be loving and compassionate to others, and we are to speak truth about the word of God. This is done through the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must be better about bearing witness and not holding on to the truth for only the people we want to and remember it is a message for all.

Christ is Risen

Christ is Risen for you today. He died on the cross for you and he is calling us to a life in service to Him. This is all for the Glory of God. Let’s praise him this morning. Let us thank him this morning becuase he is risen.