One of my favorite magazines is U.S. News & World Report. I like it because there's a section called "News You Can Use" which implies that there is a lot of news you can't use. That's true. We live in an information society. There's an information glut. But a lot of what's out I really don't need to know.

I don't want to waste my time today and I don't want to waste your time so we're going to talk about News That You Can Use. A lot of time you can go to a church and you hear news you can't use.

Today I don't want to waste any time; I want to get right to the point. I feel like the chicken that decided to lay an egg on the California freeway. The rooster said, "Here's how you do it. You lay it on the line and you do it in a hurry!" That's what I want to do. I want to lay it on the line and do it in a hurry.

Two questions: Easter, the resurrection. What does it mean and why does it matter? There are a lot of things you could have done tonight rather than come sit in a gymnasium. In the next 24 hours over a billion people will celebrate Easter all around the world. How is it something could happen 2000 years ago, approximately, and still cause traffic jams today? What does it mean?

A lot of people say, "I believe in the resurrection. I just don't understand it." George Gallup did a poll this last year and said that even 84% of the people who never go to church, believe that Jesus rose from the dead. It's an historical fact. It wasn't done in secret. The whole city of Jerusalem knew about it and eventually the whole Roman Empire. It was news. If CNN had been there, they would have had it live. There are at least 15 historical references to Jesus meeting people, touching people, talking with people. One time He cooked breakfast for some people. One time He talked to about 500 people after He had risen from the dead. A lot of people saw Him.

What does it mean? Three things.

1. Jesus is who He claimed to be.

2. Jesus has the power He claimed to have

3. Jesus does what He promised to do.

That's what it means.

Jesus Is Who He Claimed to Be

John 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though He dies."

Jesus made some outrageous claims when He was here on earth. He said things like, "I'm God.... I'm perfect ... I'm the only way to heaven ... I'm the Savior of the world..." A lot of people try to make Jesus a good teacher. A good teacher would never say that. I could go out and teach people in the Valley all kinds of good moral truths and they'd say, "Rick's a good teacher." But if I started calling myself God you wouldn't think I was a good teacher any more.

Jesus was either who He said He was or He was the biggest liar who ever lived. He said, "I am God." He made some claims and He said, "What I'm going to do is going to validate who I am."

One day Jesus cleared the money changers out of the temple. They had turned the temple into a kind of Orange County flea market. He went in and drove them all out. They said, "What right do you have to do this?" He said, "Because I'm God." They said, "Prove it!" He said, "I will. After you kill me, I'm going to come back to life three days later." He claimed to be God and His resurrection backs up what He claimed to be.