Easter Resurrection Joy
Welcome! A blessed and joyful Easter to all of you! It is resurrection Sunday, the stone has been rolled away, and our Savior not only is alive- He reigns in glory forevermore! This is the day we rejoice, for death could not hold our Savior! He has conquered the grave, and as we believe in Him, we share in His victory over death! Thank You Jesus for Your indescribable gift!
Call to Worship:
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
All: We come to worship our Risen Lord!
3 For the Lord is the great and mighty God, the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
All: We come to worship our Creator.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
All: Lord our Creator and Shepherd. We belong to You and we worship You.
Psalm 89: 15 “Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.”
Pray: Loving, Powerful God, joy floods over our souls on this day! Christ is risen! Fear is conquered!
Open our hearts and our spirits to receive fully the joy You give us! Let us celebrate the victory of Christ and hope for the future! Amen.
Praise Songs
Scripture Reading-Karen
Matthew 28:1-10 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his
disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and
worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Amen.
Jesus has risen! The grave could not hold Him. Three days later, just as He said, He was raised up
to the glory of God!
Let’s take a closer look at what is happening in this scene because it is really quite remarkable for many factors: Jesus isn’t at the tomb, leaving those who come to search for him to wonder where He was. Instead, angels were there; in the Gospel of John we see two angels were there at the place of the head where Jesus was laid and one at the foot of where his body would have been. Just like the announcement of Jesus’ birth came through angels rejoicing in the sky to the shepherds in the field, so God call forth angels to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection and victory over death! How amazing that must have been to experience!
Second, we see the angels first revealed Jesus’ resurrection news to women who came to the tomb. This is very significant and something to take note of for how Jesus sees all, and each of our places in His kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection was the most significant news in all of human history, and God chose to reveal it to these women first. In that time, a woman’s witness was generally not accepted as evidence in the Jewish courts, and in Roman law, women were not allowed to serve as witnesses to formal and public legal acts. Yet, God chose these women to be the ones to first hear, see, and receive the Good News-
Jesus is Risen!
Then, the angels instructed these women to GO and tell the others! It wasn’t the disciples Peter or John Jesus first revealed Himself to, it was Mary. So in fact, God was commissioning these women to do the very thing their culture would not let them do- be witnesses to the greatest miracle in history- His resurrection!
In the Gospel of John, chapter 20, we read from a different perspective of this encounter. It may sound contradictory at first, but consider the times of these moments are likely spread apart of all that unfolded at the tomb that morning, and each author is focusing on different experiences to record.
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.” 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.’” 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.
Why these women? Why let them be the first messengers? I believe Jesus has a great heart for those considered less than, those without a voice, those who are marginalized or outcast- just look at who He took time to be with during His ministry on earth? He was sending a message, my kingdom is here, and it will be very different than anything you have known. There is no hierarchy other than Jesus is the head of the Church, no power plays, no social status or gender privilege, for you will all be joined to Me through
My Spirit and you will be living through Me and living for Me as you seek to do My will. My will is to
love God with all your heart and to love one another as yourself. All that you have learned culturally will be set aside. In My Kingdom, you are now one. This is the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ! If you can relate to some of what I have mentioned, rejoice, because Christ loves you and He is calling you into His kingdom.
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
What better way to demonstrate this truth than to go to these women first and let them be the messengers to the others closest to Jesus. Incredible and brilliant! God never does the expected.
Now let’s look at these women’s response to hearing Jesus is alive. JOY and fear. All in the same
moment, they were afraid because they just interacted with angelic beings, and I’m guessing that might be quite unsettling because every time an angel has appeared, the first thing they say is, “Do not be afraid.”
So naturally, what is going to happen? They are going to be afraid-that’s what we humans do! You tell us not to be afraid, and sure enough, our fight or flight kicks in and says Yep, I better be afraid! BUT the incredible thing about this moment and all those other encounters with angels, no doubt, is that they experienced an unspeakable joy washing over them at the same time!
THIS is what I want to focus on today, on this resurrection Sunday, as we gather to share in the most
amazing news, that we are invited to worship a living God, who loved us enough to lay His own life
down, shedding His blood to atone for our sin, and powerful enough to resurrect from the dead, who offers us eternal salvation that we receive only by faith. Not by our works so we can never take His glory, but solely by our faith in Jesus-believing He is the Son of God who died and was raised again, for my sins, and your sins.
We don’t deserve His mercy. We don’t deserve His gift of redemption. We don’t deserve His unfailing love, and yet this is who our God is, and this is what He gives. What does He ask of us? To be faithful to Him and to His ways. To live as He calls us to live- why? Because He knows what is good for us and to show the world who Jesus is in how we love one another. And yet as we do this, open our heart and invite Jesus in, saying You lead me, Lord. I want to trust you, for I know you are good -that initial decision to do so can leave us feeling like the women felt- afraid, yet
filled with joy! Have you been there? Do you remember that moment? Maybe you are feeling the tension of both right now, as you are here on this Easter Sunday- not sure of who this Jesus is, not sure if you want to truly surrender and offer your heart, and yet something keeps drawing you, nudging you and even though there is some fear in letting go, there is also this undeniable joy that is bubbling up that you can’t fully describe and you can’t explain it.
It can be scary for us at first to encounter our spiritual God whom we can’t see-we are exactly like those in the Bible-their initial reaction every time they encountered angels, heard the booming voice of God that sounded like thunder, saw fire blazing, or saw Jesus walking on water or appearing out of nowhere was one of fear. This is all outside of what our human brains can process because none of it comes from the natural world we exist in. We might feel something happening inside us, and we don’t know what it is, we know it’s different, we know it wasn’t something we felt before, and we likely don’t like feeling out of control so at first we might try to squash it-to gain control and composure again so we feel safe.
I have been there. When I first encountered Jesus-really experienced Him, I had tears streaming down my face-but I wasn’t sad- in fact, I didn’t know what I was. I just knew I was a ball of emotion that had been let loose and it was in front of people I didn’t know in a church- and part of me did not like that at all, part of me was wondering what was happening to me, and part of me was feeling so alive and joyful! I felt exactly like those women did that morning at the tomb- balancing this tension of fear and joy. It was incredible! I didn’t know what to make of what happened that day, but I knew, as weird as it may sound to some, I wanted more. I knew I had to get to know Jesus more because He unlocked something in me I didn’t even know was there.
Have you been there? Do you remember? Maybe He is calling your heart today and tugging at you to let Him in. Maybe you are feeling that wave of emotion rising up, and you can’t explain what is happening. Maybe you are feeling a bit afraid because you worry if you say yes, He is going to open a floodgate you have safely locked away and don’t want to let loose. Maybe you are afraid, if you say yes to Jesus, He is going to come and change up your whole world as you know it, and you’re pretty comfortable with your world the way it is. Maybe He is going to ask you to do things that are outside your comfort zone, and that makes you uneasy.
Here is the good news to all that you might be feeling- YES, Jesus is going to do all these things, and
MORE! He will expose your heart; He will shine light into the darkness you have kept on lockdown; He will shake up your whole world and how you view it; He will call you to do many things you would have never done on your own for His name’s sake and all the while you too will likely be balancing this tension of being a bit afraid and yet filled with this overwhelming joy as you come to know Him more and more! And that is all OK. This is who we are, human, with a rebellious, fearful, resistant heart towards our God and creator, and yet also the spirit that longs to be joined with our spiritual Father rejoices in knowing Him more and serving Him! We are all these things at once.
This is how we live in this world. There are things that cause us to be fearful in the potential danger
in doing some things, and even more so in relinquishing control to another over our lives. That can be scary. But I urge you-don’t let the fear you will likely feel in some situations ever keep you from
experiencing the joy that comes with knowing and walking with Jesus! This is a certainty. If you
know Him, you WILL certainly know His joy. You can’t know Jesus without encountering His joy
because He is JOY! I have had countless moments since my choosing to follow Christ where I have been in this tension of fear in my flesh and joy in my spirit. So will you. But we have a choice every time-to which we allow to have greater pull and influence. I have learned and will continue to practice to choose His joy every time, for as He told the women, and the disciples as He appeared to them, “do not be afraid” and “Peace be with you” we can trust whatever He is asking of us and wherever He is leading us, He will be there with us, He will equip us to carry out that assignment for
His glory, and He will not abandon us. I have proven this true over and over again as I follow where He leads me.
He told his disciples, in John 14:12 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I
have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
He said this knowing as He ascended to the Father after His resurrection, He would send our Helper and Teacher, the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts as we believe, to reveal to us the ways of God-granting us understanding, guiding us on the path God has for us, and giving us the grace of God and the will of God to carry out that which He is calling us to do. We do greater things because while Jesus was here on earth, he was living in a fleshy body like you and me. Now His spirit is in all who believe all around the world.
We are His ambassadors who carry His message of salvation and the Gospel of love to the lost and broken in this world.
Consider the words of Mary with absolute joy bursting forth, “I have seen the Lord!” To love, is to see the Lord, truly as He is, King of kings, Lord of lords, Son of God, Your Savior who gave His very life for you to live as one redeemed and offered a place in God’s family for all eternity, Wonderful Counselor to guide you through all of life’s decisions, Prince of Peace to calm and quiet you in the storms, Brother who stands up for you and by your side when the enemy comes against you, Friend, is ever listening and present to all that weighs on you and rejoices with you for every milestone in this life. This is who Jesus is, do you SEE Him today?
Conclusion: On this Easter Sunday, encounter Jesus Christ in all His mystery and wonder. Open your heart to His amazing love-for you have everything to gain as you do- and find acceptance living in the tension of fear and resurrection joy! Then let us choose to follow Joy!
Let’s pray. Father God, grant us the will and ability to die daily to sin that we may evermore live with
Jesus in the joy of His resurrection through Him who reigns supreme and the Holy Spirit. Help us, Holy Spirit to truly see Jesus as Mary did and know it is Him! Help us find acceptance and willingness to live in this tension of fear and overwhelming joy as we choose to walk with Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for being our sacrifice, for Your faithful obedience to the cross, for trusting the Father’s plan, and for seeing all of us when You carried Your cross. You left glory to die. You returned to glory so we might live in You through Your Spirit, gifted to us. You are truly mysterious and wonderful! Help us cling to You until the day You return again to call us all to be with You. Help us to live this life well, to honor Your great sacrifice and to experience this joy fully, You gift to us. We worship You our one triune God now and forever. Amen.
On this Easter Sunday, there might be some here today who have never received Jesus in their heart, who never had the opportunity, or just haven’t responded, but your heart is calling you to now. If this is you, please just extend that bit of trust-acknowledge the tension you are feeling of multiple emotions, and know that is OK-but do let Him in. Pray this with me.
Sinner’s prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe
You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for the promise in
Romans
10:13 that says, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Thank you for the price you paid on the cross. Thank you for eternal life we have through You. In Your Name I pray and trust. Amen.
Praise Song
Final Blessing: May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Go in the joy of the Lord!
