Easter Sunday 4/20/14 He's Alive!!

He's Alive:  He is Risen:  Hallelujah!  Jesus is Alive, ALIVE FOREVERMORE!!

Dear Father in Heaven:  I love You.  Please forgive me of my sins this day.  Lord Jesus, thanks for dying for us, and I m so glad that I serve a risen Savior.  Thanks for all You do for all of us, Lord, not just on Easter, but every day of our lives.  Lord, I just love You so much, I really do.  Thanks for this day and taking us through another night.  Thanks for watching over our family and friends.  Dear Father, please let us hear from Matthew, and Lord, please take care of those on this line, heal their hurts, body parts and most of all their souls.  Please, Lord, take care of our president and his family and all who service our country in the military.  Lord, it is great to see the flowers starting to bloom.  Now, Lord, please help me with my Easter message and help me to get it dispatched.  In the name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

My dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter to all of you.  I want to get right to the message today.  Yes, I am writing this on Saturday as I will need to get up early tomorrow and study my Easter message, He's Alive.

Ester Sunday:  April 20, 2014, He's Alive!!

Luke 24:1 - On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  6 He is not here; He has risen!  Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee; 7 "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again."  8 Then they remembered His words.  (NIV)

Once again, my dear brothers and sisters, I want to tell you that you just need to get that Bible out and read it.  It is so neat to see how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John write their opinions of what they saw and what they heard.  While there are differences in the story, again I point out that they might have heard it differently or even remembered it differently.  That does not make a difference, the fact is the events happened and today we serve a risen Savior.  Our Lord Jesus is alive and well and in Heaven.

I wrote from Luke and it talks about how the first day of the week.  On our present-day calendar that would be a Sunday, and we celebrate Easter on Sunday, the first day of the week.  Luke talks about the women and how they took spices to put on the body of Jesus.  And when they arrived they found the stone that was placed in front of the tomb had been rolled away.  It talks about how they found the tomb empty, and how two men in bright white clothing were suddenly standing there.  They bowed their faces toward the ground and were asked, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"  I will point this out in scripture at a later time, but we do know this was a borrowed tomb and it was never used before.  Once again we see Jesus using something that was never used before.  Okay, so the women found Jesus gone and we know that the stone was in place and the tomb sealed, and back then tombs were sealed so animals would not get in and disturb the body or bodies.  The men in white, or angels, asked the women if they remember when Jesus was still with them He told them this.  "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again."  Then they remembered.

Now in the Bible Luke goes on to tell us that the women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and they came back and told the "eleven" disciples and all the others.  Peter, when hearing the news:

Luke 24:12 - Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.  Bending over, he saw the strips of linen laying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.  (NIV)

In the book of John, he talks of two disciples running to the tomb, and one was Peter, the other was John himself.  Let me go to the scripture now and point out something.

John 2:3 - So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  4 Both were running but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen laying there but did not go in.  6 The Simon Peter, who was running behind him, arrived and went into the tomb.  He saw the strips lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head.  That cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.  8 Finally the second disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside.  He saw and believed.  (NIV)

While I could go on and on about Jesus being risen from the dead, I just want to point out this one last thing today.  In John it talked about different things, John outran Peter, but Peter went into the tomb first.  But the thing that stands out to me:  The cloth was folded.  If someone would have robbed the grave, they would not have taken time to fold the cloth, but more importantly than that, think about this.  If you are out to eat and for one reason or another, like going to the potty or going for more food, you get up from the table, you fold your napkin and lay it beside your plate because you are going to come back.  When finished with your meal you wipe your face (in my case, my long white beard) and you place the now well-used napkin on your plate.  That would mean you are finished and not coming back to the table.  So what does this mean?  JESUS IS COMING BACK.  DO YOU HER ME, I SAID JESUS IS COMING BACK.

One of these great days the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time will be no more.  The graves will be opened and Jesus will meet those who died in Christ in the air.  Those who have passed away the soul goes to the Lord right away, but those tired bodies will be replaced when Jesus returns with our new heavenly body.  After the dead in Christ are raised then those remaining who are "born again" will be taken.

We have had warnings, re you in Love with Jesus today?  Have you been washed in the Blood of Jesus?  Are you indeed "Born Again"?  Are you now a saint and ready to march forth to be with Jesus?  Please take time to read John 14:6 and Romans 10:9 and 10.  Let's now pray a sinners' prayer, just to renew or to get someone started who might not have come to Jesus.  Again, this will only get you started.  If you are just coming to Jesus, PLEASE CALL ME.  This is my cell phone, on day and night for new Christians or one's needing prayer.  It is off only when I am in church.  That number is 717 991 0754.  The phone number of our ministry and food pantry is 717 691 8200.  Now remember on this prayer, I cannot do this for you.  This is one-on-one with Jesus, I can only lead you.  This gets personal, it is between you and Him.

Dear Father in Heaven:  I love You, and I believe in You.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross and was risen from the dead, and I confess today that I am a sinner.  Please clean me of my sins and put my name in the Lamb's Book of Life.  I want to be with Jesus someday.  Please help me to get working for You also.  In Jesus' Name, I pray and confess.  Amen.

Now go forth sharing your blessings.  Please also pray for our president and our nation.  Happy Easter.  I love ya, and yes, please pass on my love to others.

Pastor Dan