Apr. 05, 2026

Before we jump into today's talk, I want to ask you something.  If you are a Christian, meaning you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and know that our sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven and forgotten, when was the last time you really thought about what Jesus has done for you?  When was the last time you slowed down and reflected on where your life was before you met Jesus, and where it is today because of Jesus?  When was the last time you truly remembered what it felt like to be saved and have God’s love and grace flood into your heart, mind, and soul?  When was the last time you took the time to slow down and enjoy that?

Here we are on Easter Sunday, celebrating the greatest thing that has ever happened to humanity.  Jesus laid down his life, defeating sin and death for all of us.  This is the ultimate act of love, forgiveness, grace, and victory for us, making it profoundly personal.  It’s such a great gift that once you experience it, you want everyone around you to experience it, too.  You just have to share this incredible good news.  This is the thing that a Christian never gets tired of hearing about, talking about, singing about, and telling others about: what Jesus did for us, through God’s great love for us, is everything.  But let’s be honest, for so many people, even Christians, it does seem to be something we forget, or drift away from, and without thinking much about it, Jesus, and what we celebrate at Easter, can feel a little distant.  It isn’t on purpose, but it seems to just happen over time, doesn’t it?   I mean, for most of us, this isn’t our first Easter service, and the Gospel is something we hear about a lot, and it can feel, well, a little boring.  And if we aren’t careful, this service can turn into just another thing we do before the family gathers, the Easter Egg hunts, the bunnies, and baskets later today.  Easter can turn into this thing where churches seem excited, but outside of that, what does it really mean to us?  I think we can say it, for many reasons, and for many people, Easter can feel distant and fuzzy, like just another busy holiday where we gather, sing, hear the story again, but deep down we can walk through this beautiful celebration, and just not feel the impact, and think, and quietly think, what does this really have to do with my life today?

I was thinking about that a lot this year and praying through where we would go for this Easter talk, and I landed on Peter’s words in 1 Peter 1 because they don’t just tell us what happened; if you pay attention, Peter explains why it matters.  This letter starts with a short greeting from Peter and, in just the second verse, he says this…

1 Peter 1:2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy.  As a result, you have obeyed Him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace. NLT

So awesome, and that alone could be our Easter conversation, but over the next 6 verses, Peter is going to help us truly grasp some things about what we celebrate today...

1 Peter 1:3-9 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. NLT

So, here’s what we are going to do today.  We are going to allow Peter’s words to answer three important questions.  What are we celebrating at Easter?  What is it that Easter gives us? And why does it matter to us today?  If you notice, Peter is answering all three in these 6 verses. 

First question: What are we celebrating at Easter?  

At Easter, we celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead.  It’s awesome to be studying Peter’s words on this because remember, he was there.  This is the guy Jesus named “The Rock” He would build his church on.  This is the same Peter, who took a few steps on water, who cut a guy's ear off in the Garden to protect Jesus, who at one point Jesus cause the devil, who had big feelings, and a big heart, and made countless mistakes as he learned and grew under Jesus’ leadership, this is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times, and felt the pain of hearing the rooster crow while he and Jesus’ eyes met across the courtyard, he watched Jesus be crucified and die that horrible death, and while he according to John, he couldn’t run as fast as John, he saw the stone rolled away, and stood in the empty tomb, and was with Jesus after the Resurrection and was there for the Great Commission and his ascension into heaven.  He was there for all of it, which gives his words so much depth.

1 Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead…NLT

Statements like this hit differently when they come from Peter, because he was there.  And because Jesus rose from the dead, everything changes for us.  Death isn’t the end for us because sin has been defeated for us once and for all.  As sad and defeating as Friday looked and felt, Easter Sunday is all about victory!  That is what we are celebrating.  Through Jesus, our sin has been paid for, death has been defeated, and Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is alive. 

Second question: So, what does Easter really give us?  

Peter doesn’t just say that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead; he tells us what it means to us.  Let’s read verse three again, this time in the NIV…

1 Peter 1:3 “…In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” NIV

Peter explains that what we are given here at Easter is amazing.  We now have living hope.  This is a bigger deal than we may think at first glance.  In God’s great mercy, we are given a new birth into a living hope.  Without Jesus doing what he did, we have no hope; and hope is an incredible thing. Without it, life loses its meaning, and we lose joy, purpose, and motivation.  Life is empty, depressing, and there is nothing to look forward to without hope.  In fact, scripture calls hope the anchor to the soul, and without it, we struggle.

Hebrews 6:19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls… NLT

This is bigger than a wish, or a positive thought; this living hope gives us certainty of the future God has made for us, and it’s all found in Jesus.  Hope is a powerful force and a necessity in our lives; it is the strong, trustworthy anchor for our souls. 

“Our world today so desperately hungers for hope, yet uncounted people have almost given up.  There is despair and hopelessness on every hand. Let us be faithful in proclaiming the hope that is in Jesus.” Billy Graham 

The other day, Ken and I were talking, and he asked me an interesting question.  He said, “Sam, where do you think you would be today if you weren’t a Christian?”  I thought about that, and to be very honest, I don’t believe I would be alive today.  I really struggled growing up with people, hurts, and my faith.  Most of my life, I have battled loneliness, depression, and despair.  I made a lot of bad choices at a time when most people do, but to me, I felt like I should have known better.  And it didn’t take long for poor decisions, and my hurts and wounds, to spiral into depression and self-hatred.  I messed up a lot, and at my lowest point, really had no hope at all, and didn’t see any reason to be on this planet.  Without Jesus and what we celebrate today, I don’t believe I would be here today to share Christ with you.  This living hope is a big deal.

So, let’s talk about this idea of being born again and having new life in this living hope.  That phrase seems specific, so what does it mean?  Living hope isn’t just thinking positively; it isn’t just hoping things will get better in our lives. What Peter is talking about is deeper than that. Because Jesus is alive, our hope is alive, and this hope isn’t just about Heaven someday.  It means that our pasts, our sins, and our mistakes do not define who we are as people.  Our stories are not over because of Jesus; our slate is wiped clean, and we get new life.  That is what this new birth, born again stuff, is all about.  Peter says, “We are given a new birth into living hope.” This means you get a new life, a new identity, and a fresh start.  You are forgiven, washed clean, and given new life in living hope.  This is important because we all sin and fall short of what God desires, so without Jesus, we have no hope at all, and we see so many people today who don’t know Christ, who live in the despair of hopelessness, and give up on life.  Without Jesus, there is no hope, but through Jesus, we are alive, born again, and given new life in a living hope, which becomes the anchor for our heart, mind, and soul.  But Peter doesn’t stop there; he says we are also given a priceless, eternal inheritance. 

1 Peter 1:4 And we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.  NLT

We not only have living hope, but also a priceless inheritance kept for us in heaven.  What God gives us through Jesus is so different than gifts from this world that can break, get lost, or fall apart over time; what God gives us can’t be destroyed or taken because it is being kept for us by God, and that means it isn’t something we have to worry about or question. This inheritance is guaranteed.

Now this all seems wonderful.  We are talking about new life, being born again, living hope, and a priceless inheritance waiting for us in heaven. Okay, this sounds like a great Easter talk, but let’s be honest.   These things sound great on Sunday mornings at church, but then we walk out into a life that is hard, where there is pain, and challenges, and people stuff, it is different, right?  I mean, as nice as it can feel to think about hope and heaven to look forward to someday, whew, it’s easy to lose sight of this hope, and it’s easy to doubt and question how secure this future is because life is hard, confusing, stressful, intense, and painful.  Well, this is where things get very real for us, and I’m thankful that Peter leans into the reality of the lives we are up against. 

1 Peter 1:6-7 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. NLT

Ok, this is so big.  While we do have wonderful joy ahead, we still have some stuff to walk through in life, don’t we?  Life is not easy, and we need to understand that what Jesus did for us doesn’t mean life will suddenly let up on you.  As a Christian, you will still face loss, pain, disappointments, and adversity.  What it means is that, because of Jesus, we view and walk through all the trials we face differently than we would without Him.  We aren’t alone anymore, because we know God loves us and is with us.  And Peter gives us two important things to remember about the difficulties we face in life.  First, I love the wording in the NLT in verse 6…

Vs 6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.

Notice Peter saying, "We have to endure many trials for… a little while."  We look at these difficult days we are in as temporary, small moments compared to all of eternity.  This is an eternal mindset, and makes things in the now seem small, way easier said than done, but huge if we can get this down!  Peter then goes on to say these trials are doing something for us in verse 7…

Vs 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold... NLT

So, Peter says that the trials we face are actually shaping us into the very people God created us to be.  It’s through these tests and trials that we grow and mature, becoming complete and lacking nothing.  We gain depth and strength and become more real and authentic through the fires we face in life.  So, Easter gives us new life, living hope, a priceless inheritance, and we can also say that because of Jesus, our suffering and trials in life are not meaningless.  It’s building into us, training us, and Peter says something amazing happens through this testing…

Vs 7-8…So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. NLT

Peter says that when our faith remains strong and we endure the adversity of our lives, believing and trusting in God, we will be filled with inexpressible joy.  He doesn’t say you will be happy when everything goes well; this inexpressible joy is not based on your circumstances but on Jesus.  This means that as we celebrate the gift of Easter, we are celebrating not only living hope and this priceless inheritance, but also a joy that cannot be taken from us, regardless of what life throws at us.  So, Easter gives us new life, living hope, a priceless inheritance, and unstoppable, inexpressible joy.   

Third Question: Why does Easter, or any of this matter to me today?  

First, this matters to you today because it means that your past can be forgiven.  So many of us carry the weight of our past with us every day.  We feel regret, guilt, and shame for our mistakes and dumb choices over the years, but because of Jesus, you don’t have to carry that weight anymore.  Jesus has taken all that from you, and listen, it is gone.   Many of us believe that statement but still feel guilt and shame for our pasts, but it is all gone, Jesus took care of it for you, and no matter how much you are arguing that fact, right now, in your mind, thinking that you sinned or screwed up too much, it isn’t true, Jesus won, it’s done, it is all handled.  This is that born-again, new life thing that Peter is telling you about. This is amazing. Jesus on the Cross paid for your sins.  The resurrection proves that it all worked.  Because of Jesus, we don’t live defined by what we have done; we are made new and are now defined by God’s love for us.

Second, Easter matters to you today because it means you were created on purpose, with a purpose.  There is a reason you are here.  So many of us feel so ordinary and struggle to see what our lives are for. Ever ask yourself: Why am I even here?  Well, because of what Jesus did for us, we are not only known personally by God and dearly loved by Him, but we are also called by Him!  Because of Jesus, we can walk in a relationship with God, and as we do that, God is shaping us, training us, and drawing us closer to Him.  As this happens, we begin to understand that our lives have meaning!  We matter! 

We can be honest, if you have been around church life for any length of time, Easter and the Gospel message can feel a bit boring, like “Yeah, we get it, been there and done that.”  We know Easter Sunday is a good thing, but over time, it can all just feel distant or less amazing than it once did.  It’s not intentional, and it doesn’t happen all at once, but our lives are tough, they are busy, stressful, painful, and distracting, and it can be easy to lose sight of this incredible gift and all that it means to us today…and just how personal and incredible it is to every moment of every day of our lives.

I don’t know where you are at today.  Maybe today you need a fresh start.  Maybe life has been beating you down for a while now, and you have lost hope, and don’t see anything to look forward to.  Maybe life has been so hard and chaotic that you are living in a state of total overload, struggling to find peace.  I want you to understand that that is exactly why we celebrate Easter and worship God with inexpressible joy and a living hope.  Through Jesus, you can have that fresh start, a new life; you can have that living hope, that inexpressible joy that goes beyond anything life throws at us today.  That is what we celebrate today.  Peter ends this section of Scripture by pointing to our salvation, which is the promise of Easter.  

Vs 9 For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. NIV

So, as we close out this service and you step into your day, let's personalize all this with some questions.  Think honestly about your life, and that concept of living hope.  

What do you rely on for peace and security in your life? Where do you find hope?  Is it found in your family, in success, in people, in your finances, or in your work, and try to compare that to this living hope that Peter says we have through Jesus.  

Here’s another important question.  How do you respond to adversity and challenges in your life?  Do you see them as obstacles, as huge things that will never go away, or could God be using these temporary moments of today to refine and strengthen us, training us to be the very people he called us to be?  As Peter says, for a little while.  What would it look like to trust Him in the tests and trials you face in life?  

Lastly, please challenge yourself to think through this today.  If Jesus is truly alive, and what we celebrate as Christians is true.  What would it look like for us to live that out in our lives?  If all this Easter Good News stuff is true, how does it or how should it shape my choices, priorities, relationships, and even my attitude in life? 

Our faith is all about life change, made possible by God’s love for us and the incredible victory we celebrate on this day: Jesus' victory over sin and death.  And whether this is your 80 years into Easter celebrations or this is your first, that is the good news that should never get old; this is the greatest news, and greatest gift of all time…so if Easter feels like anything other than that, I want you to really slow down today, and reflect on the day you first understood, that you were saved by God’s amazing grace through Jesus…and if you are in here today and have never experienced that, and haven’t asked Jesus into your life, and would like to do that, today can be your day to experience a fresh start, this new birth into a living hope, this priceless inheritance, and unstoppable, inexpressible joy, that can all be yours today too.  It’s as easy as believing in Jesus and inviting Him into your life, and it’s all made possible by what we celebrate today, and hopefully every day of our lives.

Easter is everything.