Please Note That Most Messages Follow
The Revised Common Lectionary

The Easter Liturgy

Minister:Why do you look for the Living among the dead?
He is not here; the Lord has Risen!
People: He has Risen indeed!

Minister:The Lord is Risen!
People: He has Risen indeed!

Minister:The Lord is Risen!
People: He has Risen indeed!

Minister:Where, O death is your victory?
Where, O death is your sting?
Death has been swallowed up in Victory!
People: Christ has risen indeed!

Minister:Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies;
and whosoever lives and believes in Me will never die."
People: Thanks Be To God! He gives us the victory
Through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Minister:The Lord has Risen!
Everyone: He has Risen indeed! Alleluia!

This morning we gather for a second time to continue our Easter celebration. Easter means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. While some do not celebrate this day, millions of others do. For some it's about a new Spring Wardrobe. For others it's about family getting together. For yet others there is the Easter Bunny and all those great baskets filled with candy! For some it's about seeing little girls adorning Easter Bonnets to church. Sadly however for some it's nothing more than a day off work. And yet still for others it's one of two days, Christmas being the other, that they pay homage to the church in order to wear what they think is an authentic "Christian" label.

The message of Easter holds many wonderful implications for our lives. But basically speaking Easter is about a progressive journey of Jesus, you and I.

First of all we need to understand that because of Easter - Because of Christ's resurrection from the tomb - the deepest needs in our lives can be met.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary moved tiredly through the receding darkness toward the tomb. It had been one of those long and sleepless nights. They needed no morning rooster cry nor an alarm clock to awaken them. Burned deep into the corridors of their minds for all eternity was the horror of the crucifixion. I mean who could sleep after that? No matter how hard they tried they simply could not get any sleep.

Now the night was over. They needed something to do--something to keep them busy--something to replace the terrible image of the cross that filled their minds.

There was only one thing in their minds that might help this tenacious feeling of gloom. To get dressed and go to the tomb where Jesus was buried. In their hearts and minds they just wanted to be near Jesus. The one they loved. The one who loved them. The one they watched die. There was no peace at home. "Maybe - just maybe" they thought, "we will have peace if we can be near Jesus once again."

As they headed to the tomb something began to happen! "Mary! Mary! Run for a trench - the earth!! It’s shaking!! Surely we shall perish!" Just then "Mary? Do you see wh-what I see?" "No I can’t see anything but a bright - bright light!"

Then a voice spoke out of that light and said: "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples…."

'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.'

Now remember when this day began for these two women it was a day of dispair and a great feeling of no hope. What does the text say happened next?

"So they left the tomb quickly with fear and (and get this) great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."

All at once their gloom and dispair turned into great joy! Jesus had met THAT need in their Life - He sent an angel with a glorious message! He told them to go look in the tomb. What did they see in the tomb? NOTHING! The angelic message had been delivered! "Christ the Lord is Risen Today Alleluia!" Death is defeated! The Grave was Defeated. The tomb could not hold Him for He is the Son of God and God caused Him to Rise up out of that tomb! He is Alive! He is Alive! Sound the horns!! Start the REAL Parade!! Christ is Risen! And because the tomb could not hold Him it CANNOT hold us either! Alleluia Christ is Alive and because He is Alive- Because He Rose From the Grave We TOO shall rise from the grave! "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Ladies and Gentlemen if that don’t light your fire your wood’s all wet!!

As they were on their way to tell the disciples what they had seen and heard they didn’t realize it but the best was yet to come! Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him." Isn’t that just like Jesus though? When you think it can’t get any better than this - HE makes it better.

That's the way Jesus is. The women had a deep need in their life that they thought would be gratified if they could only get to the tomb where their Lord was laid. But Jesus gave them exactly what they needed - He provided a face-to-face encounter with the Risen Lord!

That's the most basic need of every human life. Every man, woman, and child today desperately needs a face-to-face encounter with the Risen Lord. But why? You may ask.

Because it is that encounter with Jesus that transforms our lives into becoming what God intends for us to be. Because it's through an encounter with the Risen Lord that allows you and I to legitimately wear the label of "Christian." Because it is through such an encounter that we are reminded of the love of God for our lives. Because it is that personal touch from the Savior that forgives us of any and all of our sin and provides for you and I communion and fellowship with our Heavenly Father. Because it is that encounter that allows us to know God and initiates for us an intimate relationship with God.

So this morning the Easter message ought to bring comfort to our hearts! Through Christ, the Risen Lord, the deepest needs of our lives can be met. Easter is God's promise that we serve a living Lord who loves us--a living Lord who is always there for us--a living Lord who brings us forgiveness--a living Lord who calls us brothers and sisters--A living Lord who gave His very life and who experienced the shame and the pain of the cross that we might be brought to God.

Christ's resurrection changed the lives of those first disciples. And His resurrection can transform our lives as well. Prior to seeing the risen Christ, the disciples were defeated and hopeless. But seeing the risen Christ changed all that. Andrew Blackwood, the great teacher of preachers in the early part of this century, put it this way: "There is not a single pessimistic note anywhere in the New Testament after the resurrection." Read the New Testament yourself, and you will see that he was telling the truth. Christians were thrown in jail and Christians were martyred, but they were never again defeated or hopeless.

Hope is needed today like never before! Our lives are filled with pain and hurt. Our world is filled with violence and war, pestilence and famine, abuse and neglect. Life isn't easy and there is no way to make it through this world on a do-it-yourself mode. The only way we will make it through is with Christ in our hearts, our lives, and our homes. We must come to Him accepting all that He has to give us. Will that make life any easier? No. But it WILL provide for us that which we ourselves cannot do. It will provide forgiveness, salvation, direction, comfort, supplication, and strength for our journey through this life.

Once we have allowed the Risen Lord to come out of the tomb and into our hearts the next thing we need to do is "go to Galilee".

"Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Galilee was also known as "Galilee of the Gentiles" because of its large Gentile population. Gentiles were those people other than Jews who the Jewish population excluded from the promises of Jahweh. Christ's resurrection changed the lives of those first disciples and the Gentile population.

Galilee was a place for the disciples to begin to serve people outside the narrow circle of the Jewish nation. It was a place for them to offer hope to people living without hope. It was a place to bring a feeling of inclusiveness to those who were for ages excluded. It was a place for them to begin proclaiming the love of God to the whole wide world. It was in Galilee--the place of service and outreach--that Jesus said, "There they will see me!"

We ought to be challenged through the message of the Risen Lord to look around us at our present day Galilee. I like to refer "First Baptist Church: Where every member is a Minister. Present day Galilee for us means a place of service and outreach--where people can see Jesus through the Ministry we provide. In our towns, our communities, our counties. We ought to carry on that which was begun by the disciples following the resurrection and take Christ to those who need to feel that somebody cares. To those who need to know that they are loved. To those who seek peace and find none. To those who seek comfort and find none. Allowing the risen Lord to touch and transform lives through our ministry.

That is our Great Commission given to us by our Risen Lord:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

In that great commission I don’t hear the Risen Lord saying go to only the clean people. I don’t hear Him saying "go to only the white people." I don’t hear Him saying "Go to only the married people - or the never divorced people." I can’t hear Him saying anything but "Go! Go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations." I don't hear Him saying "Go only to those who can repay your good deeds." No in fact I read in the Bible that we will be blessed even more if we carry the Good News of Easter to those who CANNOT pay us back! The message of Easter is a Universal message for all of man and womankind and that message is that God loves us - Jesus died for us - and Jesus Lives for us! This morning you have heard the true message of Easter. It's a progressive message. One that begins with a virgin giving birth in a barn in Bethlehem. Then on to a Hill Called Calvary, then on into the hearts of men, women, and children, and even now into "Galilee."

What about you and I this morning? Are we willing to have that face-to-face life transforming encounter with the Risen Lord? Are we willing to share Him with our "Galilee?" When the final hymn is sung this morning I invite you to come and experience the joy of Easter!
Christ the Lord is Risen today! Alleluia Amen!