1. Encounters along the Way
Christ’s Post-Resurrection Encounters
Mark 16

2. “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” (Mark 16:1-8)
A group of bewildered and terrified women standing outside an empty tomb seems like a strange place to conclude the story of Jesus, doesn’t it?

3. Verses 9 – 20 give us the “now what …” or the “and then …” of the resurrection of Jesus.
The “and then …” is immensely important because it informs us what we are to be doing as both individual followers of Jesus and as His church.

4. “[Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”

5. Jesus was raised from the dead so that, as His followers, we would go into all of the world, preaching the good news of Jesus, so that others may believe and be baptized. These are our marching orders as His church.

6. It is very important that we recognize that the “and then …” for the church begins with a resurrected, glorified and exalted Jesus.
Because we’ve learned so well the need for self-preservation in the face of misuse of authority, we are reluctant to ascribe all authority to Jesus. In many ways, we hold back from complete submission to Jesus because we are hardwired for self-preservation.

7. When Jesus strode back into the scene after his resurrection, a very specific posture is noted among His followers.
Matthew 28:17 tells us that “when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted”.
This is absolutely foundational for us to grasp as followers of Jesus; our “and then …” begins with the authentic and genuine worship of Jesus.
When we hold back on ascribing all authority to Jesus, as a result, our worship becomes truncated.

8. Through faith in Jesus, we see ourselves transitioned from being a person into being part of a people – the people of God, the body of Christ, the church.
By faith in Jesus, we become part of something infinitely larger than ourselves, because our mission is far more complex for any one of us to complete.

9. This encounter with the resurrected Jesus changed His followers; they went from “fearful” in Mark 16:8 to “fearless” in Mark 16:20. They moved from bewilderment to understanding, from silence to bold proclamation.
How has encountering Jesus changed you? Or perhaps even more sobering, how does encountering Jesus still change you?

10. Through baptism, we bear testimony to the fact that we are changed, somehow different because of Jesus. Though baptism, we prepare ourselves to meet more intimately with Jesus, and pledge to permit His ongoing power living within us to continually transform us.

11. Churches are meant to change, to grow, to develop over time
Churches are meant to change, to grow, to develop over time. As new people are added to the fold, we become different.
Sandwiched in between the record that the first Christians set about the Great Commission and saw miraculous signs accompany their proclamation, we see the short statement: “the Lord worked with them”.
Each time we welcome a new person into the family of faith, we add another person whom God can work with and through.

12. The only hiccup here is that we are often a people reluctant or slow to accept change.
Are we open to change and transformation?
We are sometimes reluctant to accept change because of some significant misunderstandings present within the Canadian church about what the church is and what we are to do.

13. May we begin by fully. exalting Jesus in our worship,
May we begin by fully exalting Jesus in our worship, holding nothing back.
May we recognize the corporate nature of our identity in Christ and be transformed by the power of God living in us.
May our transformation better enable us to fulfill the Great Commission, the preaching of the Good News of Jesus in all of the world and may we see innumerable disciples made as we work with the Lord.
May we be transformed individually and as a church, so that we can see the world around us transformed in Jesus’ name. WE