Bounce Back
1 Corinthians 15:14, 42-43
14 If Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
42 So is it 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.
If there is no Resurrection... There is no Gospel – good news
The Gospel is not just that Jesus was Resurrected
The Gospel is that I will be Resurrected, too!
There is one catch though…
It’s what precedes a resurrection… Death
There is the natural death
For this death, we have blessed hope of the resurrection
When He comes back, mine will be empty
I’m Gonna get up!
There is the spiritual death
When I make the choice to follow Jesus
I must die to my old life and die to my sins
Going down in the waters of baptism represents my burial
Coming out of the water represents my spiritual resurrection
So,
Gonna get up!
Sometimes Life, itself, throws things at us
That can make us despair even of life, as Paul said in 2 Cor 1:8
Things can hit us so hard and knock us down
Make us uncertain as to whether we’ll ever get up
Or, if we do get up, will we ever be the same?
And as believers, it’s not just life that hits us
We also have an enemy, Satan, who comes to kill,
as well as steal & destroy
By faith we have assurances of “Getting Back Up”
With natural death & spiritual death
That same faith should give us an assurance of “Getting Back Up”
Behind the blows that life throws at us
and Satan’s strategies against us
Things happen that may affect us deeply
They may catch us off guard
They can knock us off our feet
But we “Bounce Back” because of our faith
Which comes from hearing the Word
And that faith should be a pillar in our thought life
4 Errors in our thought patterns
that make it difficult to “Bounce Back” when we’re knocked down
We think it’s PERSONAL – life has singled you out – “Victim”
“Life is not fair”
Difficult, confusing times
Baseball – getting hit
We think it’s Permanent – it will never get better
Egg – can’t get back together
We think it’s Preventable
All who live godly will suffer persecution – 2 Tim 3:12
We think we’re supposed to be Perfect
For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again – Prov 24:16
Mt 5:48 Jesus said, “Be perfect as my Father is perfect”
That does not mean “without flaws”
Mature, fully grown, complete
Heb 5:14 “fully age… eat meat”
You’re not perfect because you get saved
You perfect yourself by growing up and getting up
The gospel is not that I won’t fall
The gospel is that I won’t stay down
The Gospel is… I’m Gonna get up!
Being “In Christ” does not excuse me from being knocked down
It equips me to deal with difficulty and bounce back
3 things that I do “in Christ” to keep me “Bouncing Back”
1. In Christ I Renew my Mind
“Put in new information”
The Renewing of My Mind makes me mentally strong
I learn to regulate my thoughts & emotions
Recognize that getting knocked down is a part of life – failure & falling
It’s not permanent & it’s not personal
2. In Christ I Maintain my Hope
Keeps things in perspective
Hope reminds me that there is the other side of this – there is an after
I cannot always control what knocks me down
But hope & my renewed mind help me control how I respond to it
3. In Christ I Nurture my Identity through the Word
I know who I am
I am not a victim – I am an overcomer
I am who God says I am
I learn to strengthen myself
Recover & Bounce Back
That means I am not an egg, or a baseball or a football
I am like a Basketball – Bounce Back
I may go down
But I come back up
What make the Basketball come back up?
It’s shape and the air inside
I am being shaped in the image of Christ
I have His air inside of me – His breath, His Spirit
So, I may go down,
I’m Coming Back Up
I Bounce Back
Go down in dishonor, come up in glory
Go down in weakness, come up in power
I’m coming back up – Better!