Updated: 5/8/2026
Sermon Prep
This was the third sermon in a row and I was feeling a bit exhausted from being so short-staffed while our team was out on the Taiwan mission trip. The tech once again wasting working and so only 18 minutes was recorded. I was just gassed from the month of July overall.
Work was going great, but overwhelming too as I was preparing to go on short-term medical leave for my upcoming hernia surgery in August. It was a lot and this flurry of things caught up to me on this message. On that note, here’s the YouTube recording warts and all, along with my message notes below:
Sermon Notes
Opening Prayer
- Father God, lead us this morning as we search the scriptures. Thank you for your Son whose sacrifice is our salvation. Would you speak through me, in spite of me, and beyond me. May you, Holy Spirit, dwell within us as you teach us today. Amen.
Intro
- Why I hate Subaru’s. When the coolant system set my car on fire and almost killed me.
“Grace is the free, unearned and undeserved favor of God given through Jesus Christ that pardons sin, empowers righteousness, restores relationships, and transforms the entire person. A divine gift and an active presence that renews the soul.” – Andrew Morrison, Reunion Church
Main Point
- Lately we’ve talked about the spiritual journey (justification, sanctification; glorification).
- Today we’ll learn how grace is fueled by the power found in Jesus’ resurrection.
- God’s grace doesn’t just save you from sin, but resurrects you into a new life with him.
Grace and Resurrection | 1 Corinthians 15:10-14, 17-23, 42-49, 57-58 (NRSVue)
“[10] But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. [11] Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed. [12] Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, [14] and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain…”
- The Corinthians viewed their bodies and the physical at large as less than the spiritual.
- Grace is the source of power for our good works and compels us to live like Christ.
“[17] If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. [19] If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. [20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. [21] For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human, [22] for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. [23] But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ…”
- No resurrection means no good news. Grace isn’t a vague comfort, but a cornerstone.
- As Christians we believe in the bodily death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
“[42] So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. [43] It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. [44] It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. [45] Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [46] But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. [47] The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. [48] As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. [49] Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will also bear the image of the one of heaven…”
- Grace empowers us as we’re made new now and anticipate what’s not yet in eternity.
- In the same way, the Kingdom of God is both here now and not yet.
“[57] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
- Grace emboldens us to persevere knowing that our good works are never in vain.
- We’re no longer victims to sin, but victors through Jesus’ resurrection power.
- Saved from sin, but still dealing with the damage of our sinful decisions.
- We’re no longer victims to sin, but victors through Jesus’ resurrection power.
Why It Matters
“[7] But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. [8] We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, [9] persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, [10] always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. [11] For we who are living are always being handed over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal flesh. [12] So death is at work in us but life in you. [13] But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and therefore we also speak, [14] because we know that the one who raised Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present us with you in his presence. [15] Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that grace, when it has extended to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. [16] So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. [17] For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, [18] because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 (NRSVue)
- Without the physical resurrection of Jesus, the Christian faith is pointless and powerless.
- Grace is a present power in weakness because the resurrection is active in us.
“[14] For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. [15] And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for the one who for their sake died and was raised. [16] From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way. [17] So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!” – 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 (NRSVue)
- The resurrection doesn’t just change our destiny, but rather it re-creates our identity.
Power Text
“[1] What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase? [2] By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? [3] Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. [5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” – Romans 6:1-5 (NRSVue)
Outro
- We were blind, but now we see. Lost, then found. Dead to sin, yet now alive in Christ.
Final Thoughts
I don’t look back at this message fondly. I just remember the end of a long month covering for people and working extra hard, which impacted the quality of this message. It wasn’t a prep problem, but a performance problem in that I just didn’t preach all that good in my opinion. To me, it felt like quoting big blocks of text with little to no explanation and none of it flowed very well.
After this crazy month, I took a well-earned break to write more of my book and didn’t preach again for about 2 months. I also stepped back from serving altogether since I had to be bed-ridden for the first part of my hernia surgery recovery. The picture for this one came from a family fishing day in late August and that day I was a lot more relaxed. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.
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