Easter Sunday 3/27/16 The Big Trip (56)

He's Alive!!! Jesus is Alive!!!

Dear Father in Heaven: I love You. Please forgive me of my sins and please help me with the message and to get it dispatched. Please keep watch over Andrew Hall and bring him home. Please also watch over John Leib and heal his knee. Also be with Glenn and Marie. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Easter Sunday: March 23, 2016: The Big Trip (Day Fifty-six) Christ Arose

Low in the grave He lay:
Jesus, my Saviour!
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed.
Jesus, my Saviour!
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus,  my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Death cannot keep his pray,
Jesus, my Savior!
He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

The Resurrection taken from the book of Luke (NIV)

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 over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" 8 Then they remembered His words.

Brothers and sisters, please try and picture yourself as someone who watched as Jesus was crucified on the Cross. You saw Him die, you witnessed it. You saw Him placed in the borrowed tomb and you saw it sealed. You loved Him and your heart is broken. You go home. Two days later you come back and the tomb is broken open and He is gone. To top that off two men in clothes that gleamed so bright you bowed down. Then you are reminded of His words from before. Startled? Scared?

Now let me bring that to now. You go to the funeral of a loved one. You go to the gravesite, you watch as the casket is there. A couple of days later you go back to that gravesite to check on how it was finished off. AND THE GRAVE IS OPEN and the body is gone. You are standing there shaking your head. What happened? What happened was the one who was buried was saved and Jesus came back as promised and you are there because you are not saved!! THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!!! It is time to come to Christ Jesus.

Luke 24:9 - When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.

Only Eleven disciples! One less because he turned on Jesus. Now knowing Jesus as we know Him today, if Judas had not taken his own life and had then gone to Jesus and asked to be forgiven, you know what I am going to say. Yes, if he had asked Jesus to forgive him, Jesus would have done it. And this we do not know and will learn someday. Maybe Judas did pray to be forgiven after he did what he did and if that would be the case, Judas would be saved.

Luke 24:10 - It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

I am sure a lot of the people back then wondered what had happened. We have an advantage because we have The Word of God and we have faith. Still so many do not believe.

Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

John 20:1-18 (NIV)

Yes, I am showing two versions of the same scripture. Some folks question why they are somewhat different. I can only put it to you this way. Four people standing at the same corner and witness an accident. All will agree on the fact that there was an accident but each witness will tell it a little different as the remember it later. The main fact: there was an accident. As with Jesus, we know the events happened, all agree on that fact, He was crucified on the Cross, He was buried, and God The Father raised Him from the dead. Each reported it a little different. Bibles have been translated and worded differently. We just need to believe and have faith. Someone please say Amen.

The Empty Tomb

John 20:1 - Early on the first day of the week, while it was still  dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

The disciple Jesus loved. Jesus loved all of them, as He loves all of us. John was most likely the one referred to in the scripture. Also notice that Peter, even though he denied knowing Jesus, is still very, very concerned and even a leader. Although John could outrun him.

John 20:3 - 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 lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.

Peter wasted no time going into the tomb, the clothes laid neatly which would show people the grave was not robbed. You don't think of it much but I guess they had grave robbers back then. We hear about them once in awhile now.

John 20:8 - Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

We see here that the disciples still did not understand all of this. Again we have the advantage of knowing how it all turned out. Please take advantage of that by being "Born Again."

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

John 20:11 - Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put Him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking He was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him."
16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."

Now this would shake you up. You're looking in the grave and the one you are looking for is standing behind you. 

She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher").
17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

Jesus brings out really neat things right here. Jesus is telling us today that we are His brothers and sisters. He also said we have the same Father in Heaven. All this, brothers and sisters, is ours, yours and mine, if we are saved. Can it get any better than having Jesus for a Brother and God The Father as our Heavenly Father? NO!!!

John 20:18 - Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Dear Father in Heaven: It is plain to see that You love us as You gave us Your Son, and Jesus, it is plain to see that You love us because You gave Your life for us and then You gave us The Holy Ghost. I love You, Lord, and I give thanks in the name of Jesus. Amen.

So many things happened during these events, so much to cover in a short time. I will be talking to you more on this. I do want to close with this short story. A few years back, I was honored to preach at Bethel United Methodist Church at 6:00 AM Son Rise service. Now this is where Grant and Wanda attended and I filled in for Pastor Larry Hale who was under the weather. (Pastor Larry is pastor of Glenvale Church of God.)

Anyway, most who know me know I have a loud mouth (be nice). I never used a mike to preach at The Bridges. I was at the mike at Bethel and had asked Grant to put the volume up. And he put it up, way up. My first words that morning were "He's Alive." Well, that brought some folks to attention, all awake now. Right now I want to close and I must do this. I must. You know our religion is all about "The Cross of Jesus" and accepting Him as your Savior. Please, if you are not saved, pray this with me. If you are not sure, pray this with me. If you want to renew, please pray this with me. I cannot do this one for you. Please.

Dear Father in Heaven, I confess today that I am a sinner. I also confess that I believe in Jesus and I believe He did die on the cross for me. Today I invite You, Jesus, into my heart. Clean me, Lord, please, and save me, please. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Happy Easter, sisters and brothers. Please go forth and share Jesus with others, and remember Jesus will clear your sins. All of them. Love ya.

Pastor Dan

Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!