LutheranLectionary.org

Series A – Easter Sunday – Sunday, April 09, 2023 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:27	The holy Gospel
0:29	According to Saint Matthew the 28th
0:31	chapter
0:33	good
0:34	foreign
0:36	[Music]
0:37	toward the dawn of the first day of the
0:39	week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
0:41	went to see the tomb and behold there
0:43	was a great earthquake for an angel the
0:45	Lord descended from heaven and came and
0:47	rolled back the stone and sat on it his
0:50	appearance was like lightening his
0:52	clothing white as snow and for fear of
0:54	him the guards trembled and became like
0:56	dead men but the angel said to the women
0:59	do not be afraid for I know that you
1:01	seek Jesus who was crucified he’s not
1:03	here for he has risen as he said come
1:07	and see the place where he lay then go
1:09	quickly and tell his disciples that he
1:11	has risen from the dead and behold he is
1:12	going before you to Galilee there you
1:15	will see him see I have told you so they
1:17	departed quickly from the tomb with fear
1:19	and great joy and ran to tell his
1:22	disciples and behold Jesus met them and
1:25	said greetings and they came up and took
1:28	hold of his feet and worshiped him then
1:30	Jesus said to them do not be afraid go
1:31	and tell my brothers to go to Galilee
1:33	and there they will see me this is the
1:36	gospel of the Lord hallelujah Christ is
1:39	risen
1:40	foreign
1:42	what a glorious day this is it’s warm
1:45	for a change can you believe that it’s
1:47	almost as if well the resurrection has
1:50	brought us new life but that’s really
1:52	not the whole point of it but I have to
1:53	make a comment about the weather because
1:55	it feels like jadis’s power has been
1:57	broken and the snow is about to melt and
2:00	as land will appear right that’s what it
2:02	feels like here it’s glorious and to
2:05	have it happen right Easter is just
2:07	doubly great so in Our Gospel text today
2:11	in Our Gospel text today we hear an
2:14	eyewitness account of what took place at
2:17	the tomb and you’ll note the tomb is
2:20	empty and why is the tomb empty because
2:23	Jesus rose bodily from the grave make no
2:28	mistake about it he actually Rose bodily
2:31	well what do you mean by bodily well
2:32	touch yourself you know pinch if
2:35	necessary that’s what I’m talking about
2:37	flesh bones stuff like this that’s what
2:40	we’re talking about and don’t let anyone
2:43	tell you otherwise if you hear some
2:45	nimkampoop who’s opposing the word of
2:47	God tell you that well what Christ
2:50	really was doing was Rising spiritually
2:52	within our hearts and that the
2:54	resurrection is merely a metaphor how
2:56	the flowers come back in the spring
2:59	don’t listen to that fellow you might
3:01	even consider if he’s your pastor toss
3:03	him out and get a pastor who’s faithful
3:05	who will preach the word to you here’s
3:07	what Our Gospel text says now after the
3:09	Sabbath that’s right there Christ was
3:12	crucified on the eve of the Sabbath he
3:14	had his Sabbath rest in the Tomb you’ll
3:16	know Jesus did zero work on the Sabbath
3:19	day after he was crucified he didn’t
3:21	even burn a single calorie all right
3:23	that’s how how restful he was
3:27	so the day after the Sabbath the women
3:29	who wanted to give their final respects
3:32	to Jesus and you’re going to note here
3:33	one of the things I love about the
3:35	gospels is they tell us the truth and
3:37	that is is that Mary Magdalene Mary
3:40	Peter John all the rest of the disciples
3:43	they were a little slow on the upload
3:46	when it comes to the words of Christ and
3:48	it helps me by what by the way it really
3:51	helps me it gives me some hope because
3:52	when it comes to things that my wife
3:54	notices needs to be fixed around the
3:56	house I’m a little slow on the upload
3:59	myself right I’ll I’ll find something
4:02	that’s wrong in the house and I’ll say
4:04	to my wife did you know that this was
4:06	broken and I think I better fix it and
4:08	she says I’ve been telling you that for
4:10	months right
4:12	um yeah that’s right I have some hope
4:14	here because you’ll note in Our Gospel
4:16	text in the scriptures it’s clear that
4:19	Jesus from the time that Peter confessed
4:21	that he was the Christ the son of the
4:23	Living God Jesus was openly very Frank
4:27	frankly simply explaining we’re going to
4:30	Jerusalem boys guess what’s going to
4:32	happen I’m going to be betrayed handed
4:34	into the Gentiles they’re going to
4:36	crucify me I’m gonna die and rise from
4:39	the dead
4:41	and they all went
4:43	right they had no clue what he was
4:45	talking about all right it was just a
4:48	little bit slow you’ll note that they
4:49	didn’t go to the tomb thinking oh man
4:51	it’s Easter Sunday it’s it’s it’s the
4:54	sun has risen Jesus has got to be up by
4:56	now no that’s not what was going on they
5:00	didn’t understand it so Mary Magdalene
5:03	and the other Mary went to see the tomb
5:05	and behold I love this account
5:08	there was a great earthquake right for
5:11	an angel of Yahweh the angel of the Lord
5:13	descended from heaven and came and
5:16	rolled back to Stone and he sat on it
5:18	his appearance was like lightning his
5:21	clothing white as snow and by the way
5:24	standard operational procedure if you’re
5:25	ever in the presence of a Holy Angel in
5:27	his glory uh you are going to become
5:29	like a dead person don’t talk to me
5:31	about having conversations with angels
5:33	and stuff like this I won’t believe you
5:35	so for fear of him the guards the guards
5:38	that were there to keep the disciples
5:40	from stealing the body the guards
5:43	trembled and became like dead men and
5:46	this has got to be a disconcerting thing
5:48	but there’s that angel sitting all proud
5:50	of himself at the top of the stone that
5:53	he just rolled away and he had words of
5:55	comfort to give to the women who came to
5:57	give their last regards their final
6:00	respects to Jesus and he said to them do
6:03	not be afraid for I know that you seek
6:05	Jesus who was crucified he’s not here he
6:09	has risen as he said now there’s a lot
6:12	to unpack here and I remember for years
6:14	when I was doing my podcast on a daily
6:16	basis and thankfully I don’t have to do
6:18	this anymore this one of the things I
6:20	kind of really kicked myself for like
6:23	putting into gear and having to do year
6:25	after year I did these things called
6:26	Worst Easter Sermon of the Year contest
6:28	and if you want to be suicidal after
6:31	just a week of listening to sermons just
6:33	listen to all the candidate submissions
6:35	for the Worst Easter Sermon of the Year
6:37	contest talk about adventures in missing
6:40	the point
6:42	but what I would do in the lead up to
6:44	give me enough time to listen to all
6:46	these terrible sermons the week after
6:48	Easter I would play nothing but good
6:49	sermons so people kind of knew what the
6:52	good sermons were like and I remember a
6:54	very good sermon on Easter Sermon preach
6:56	by Pastor Brian wolfmuller and he made a
6:59	very good comment regarding one of the
7:01	things that the angel said here he says
7:03	I know that you seek Jesus who was
7:06	crucified
7:08	and his point was this is that Jesus now
7:11	is forever the one who is crucified he
7:15	bears in his hands and his feet the
7:18	marks of his crucifixion these are the
7:20	tokens of the great victory that he won
7:22	over sin death and the devil for you and
7:24	for I and so for us Jesus is always our
7:28	Lord who was crucified so that we can be
7:31	forgiven and pardon of our sin and to
7:34	which all of this we say Amen Alleluia
7:37	but then he note he says these things he
7:39	says he’s not here he’s risen and these
7:42	are the words as he said as he said now
7:46	no what am I what book am I reading this
7:48	from by the way the Bible right he is
7:51	risen as he said now important to note
7:53	here Jesus in The Gospel of John chapter
7:56	10 I think verse 35 somewhere in that
7:59	neighborhood says these simple words the
8:02	scripture cannot be broken
8:06	the scripture cannot be broken there are
8:10	people today within the visible Church
8:12	who on Resurrection Sunday the day of
8:15	Easter do everything they can to oppose
8:18	what these words in Scripture say and
8:22	they attempt through their bizarre and
8:25	delusional machinations to somehow break
8:28	the scripture let me give you an example
8:31	right years ago I I had coffee with
8:34	Nadia Bulls Weber of the ELCA Nadia
8:38	Bulls Weber the woman who wrote
8:39	Patrick’s I was doing research on the
8:42	emergent Church movement she was still
8:43	kind of hanging out in that group she
8:45	had just recently come back from a
8:47	clandestine almost secret society kind
8:50	of meeting with Brian Mclaren and a few
8:53	other people and she was rattled by it
8:55	and she asked me part way through our
8:58	conversation together and she says so I
9:00	gotta ask you a question Chris yeah
9:02	what’s the question Nadia if if they
9:04	found the bones of Jesus would you still
9:07	be a Christian
9:09	absolutely not
9:10	if they found the bones of Jesus
9:12	Christianity is a sham it’s a flam it’s
9:15	a skim-scanned flam and you shouldn’t be
9:17	believing it I better things to do by
9:19	the way on a Sunday if they find the
9:21	bones of Jesus you know then coming to
9:23	Kong’s Vineyard and telling you that
9:25	he’s risen from the dead if he hasn’t
9:26	you get the point well now a little bit
9:29	of a note she thinks she’s a Christian
9:31	as she ate she’s as apostate as they get
9:34	and so I asked her I said well what you
9:36	know what would you do if they found the
9:38	bones of Jesus she says well I would
9:39	still uh you know be in the church Aha
9:43	and I said why would you do that it says
9:46	in the scripture he rose bodily from the
9:48	grave well I would just come to the
9:50	conclusion that the word bodily meant
9:52	something other than what I thought it
9:54	meant
9:56	aha we’re now playing word games at this
9:59	point right and the reality is this is
10:02	that if Christ has been raised has not
10:04	been raised we ought not to be
10:06	Christians the Apostle Paul of all
10:08	people says that very thing in the book
10:11	of First Corinthians chapter 15. listen
10:13	to these words from the Apostle Paul
10:16	if Christ is proclaimed as raised from
10:18	the dead how can some of you say there’s
10:21	no resurrection of the dead yet you’ll
10:23	note where those people were they were
10:25	in the church at Corinth I kept I make
10:27	this point I’ll continue to make it talk
10:29	about a messed up church I mean you had
10:31	a church where the rich people were
10:33	keeping the poor people from having the
10:35	Lord’s Supper by even getting drunk on
10:36	the communion wine you had a guy who was
10:39	sleeping with his stepmom ew then you
10:42	had all kinds of weird things going on
10:45	with a mismanagement and misuse of this
10:48	of the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit and
10:51	here you have people in the church at
10:53	Corinth who are Christians who are
10:55	baptized and saying there’s no
10:57	Resurrection from the dead
10:59	and you’re sitting there going uh ah
11:02	right now note who’s writing this again
11:05	the Apostle Paul and we know about his
11:09	beginning it wasn’t really a good start
11:11	was it when he first makes his
11:12	appearance in scripture he’s not the
11:14	Apostle Paul he’s Saul of Tarsus and he
11:17	hates absolutely hates loathes detested
11:20	detests and goes after to make suffer
11:23	those people who confess Jesus Christ as
11:26	Lord as Savior and as one who has risen
11:29	from the dead and he is persecuting them
11:32	all over the place rounding them up
11:34	having them arrested flogged and beaten
11:36	and things of this nature and it just so
11:39	happens that Jesus decided that he was
11:41	going to schedule a face-to-face
11:42	appointment with Saul of Tarsus while he
11:45	was traveling on his way to Damascus and
11:47	how did that go for him right not so
11:51	well he went from being a hater of
11:53	Christians to being not only a believer
11:56	in Christ but one who was appointed by
11:59	Jesus himself to be Jesus’s personal
12:01	Apostle sent to the Gentiles in order to
12:05	proclaim the good news of Christ and him
12:07	crucified for our sins and raised from
12:09	the dead because the Apostle Paul too is
12:12	an eyewitness
12:14	I think that’s pretty convincing stuff
12:16	if you think about it and so he says if
12:19	Christ is proclaimed as raised from the
12:21	dead how can some of you say there’s no
12:22	Resurrection from the dead but if
12:24	there’s no Resurrection from the dead
12:26	then not even Christ has been raised and
12:29	if Christ has not been raised then our
12:31	preaching is in vain and your faith is
12:35	in vain for we are found to be
12:37	misrepresenting God because we’ve
12:39	testified about God that God raised
12:42	Christ whom he did not raise if it is
12:44	true that the dead are not raised for if
12:47	the dead are not raised and not even
12:48	Christ has been raised and if Christ has
12:50	not been raised your faith is futile
12:53	you’re still in your sins and then those
12:56	who have fallen asleep in Christ they’ve
12:58	perished if in Christ we have hope in
13:00	this life only
13:02	we are of all people to be most pitied
13:07	I think that’s a pretty compelling case
13:09	right I think that makes a lot of sense
13:11	blue kind of put it another way when you
13:13	compare Christianity to all the
13:15	religions of the world and I can’t say
13:17	that I’ve studied every single religion
13:19	but I can say that I’ve spent time
13:21	studying all the major world religions
13:24	and the one thing I can tell you is that
13:26	none of them have a truth claim like we
13:28	have none of them do if we were to
13:30	travel to India today and maybe sit down
13:33	with some Hindus and ask him about Shiva
13:36	and Vishnu and the deities that are
13:38	discussed in The Vedas and basically ask
13:41	a Hindu today so these stories in The
13:43	Vedas did they actually take place is
13:45	this a historical narrative that we’re
13:47	reading here about these deities they’ll
13:49	say oh no no no no no no no this isn’t
13:51	history these are real stories these are
13:54	stories that are told in order to convey
13:57	a deeper a spiritual meaning
14:01	aha got it okay so you there is no
14:04	evidence for the existence of Shiva
14:06	Vishnu or any of the deities of Hinduism
14:09	correct now what about Siddhartha Buddha
14:12	did he exist the answer is yes he’s a
14:14	historical character he actually existed
14:16	but let me ask you this can we with
14:19	certainty say that Buddha achieved
14:22	Nirvana upon his death and that he was
14:24	released from the wheel of reincarnation
14:28	hmm no there’s no evidence to that
14:30	effect how about Muhammad of Islam how
14:33	what about that fellow I mean he claimed
14:35	to be a prophet of Allah is he now in
14:38	the presence of his 70 virgins and stuff
14:40	in in in the uh in the Muslim version of
14:43	Heaven
14:45	I I have no way of knowing
14:48	but what about Jesus Christ
14:50	crucified under Pontius Pilate he rose
14:54	again Victorious from the grave and as a
14:58	result of that we actually have
15:00	confidence we have proof that God exists
15:03	Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and the reason
15:05	for this is actually quite simple
15:06	because well Jesus claimed to be none
15:09	other than God in human flesh and proved
15:11	it by raising himself from the dead but
15:14	on top of all of that we also then know
15:18	that we who are in Christ have the very
15:21	things that Christ promises to give us
15:24	you’ll note that never in the history of
15:26	humanity has anyone ever raised
15:28	themselves from the dead after they’ve
15:30	been dead for three days that’s never
15:32	happened in fact Harry Houdini The Great
15:36	Escape Artist hasn’t figured out how to
15:38	unbind himself from Death although it is
15:42	believed by those who kind of follow in
15:43	his footsteps and who perform a
15:46	particular Seance every single Halloween
15:49	that someday day he’s going to reappear
15:52	having escaped death itself so far not
15:56	so good it’s not looking good for uh
15:58	Harry Houdini but Jesus did rise from
16:01	the dead and that means that we uh have
16:04	all the things that he has promised us
16:05	that his death truly was for the
16:08	Forgiveness of your sins and mine that
16:10	through Jesus we are reconciled to God
16:12	the father and that death itself has
16:15	been destroyed in the Life of Christ and
16:17	his resurrection and we who are in him
16:20	we will rise again from the dead into
16:24	eternal life in a World Without End in a
16:26	world without pain in a world without
16:29	suffering
16:31	all of this is promised to us and we can
16:33	have confidence because Jesus rose from
16:37	the grave just as he said
16:41	now we live in a day where I’ve already
16:44	noted that people within the visible
16:46	Church seem to be on a tear thinking
16:48	that somehow they have figured it out
16:51	the whole church has got it wrong for
16:53	two Millennia Jesus didn’t really rise
16:56	from the dead you can’t trust the
16:58	scriptures they say and you people who
17:01	believe in the inerrancy of the Bible
17:03	you have turned the Bible into an idol
17:06	they claim right I sit there and go if
17:09	you are thinking that I’ve somehow made
17:11	the Bible into an idol because I think
17:13	it’s the inerrant inspired infallible
17:16	trustworthy word of God if you don’t
17:19	know what idolatry is
17:21	because in the scriptures this is where
17:24	the voice of God itself is recorded and
17:26	these people they attack the word of God
17:29	constantly now let me give you an
17:31	example this is a very deadly game that
17:34	they are playing and so think of it like
17:36	the world of Chess we all have played
17:39	chess right now some people’s like
17:41	playing chess I’ve tried my hand at
17:44	chess a few times in my life and all I
17:48	can say is that because of the age of
17:50	the internet my chest skills never
17:52	really flourished and I did not enjoy
17:55	the smackdowns that I would get on a
17:57	regular basis with online chess this
17:59	this is just a terrible thing but in
18:01	applying myself to learn about Chess I
18:04	learned that there are standard openings
18:06	right you got your white pieces you got
18:08	your black pieces white always goes
18:10	first and then there are kind of like
18:12	standard openings if you’ve ever seen
18:14	the Netflix series called the Queen’s
18:16	Gambit do you remember that came out
18:18	while we were all in lockdown you know
18:20	we watched a lot lot of weird things
18:22	when there was lockdown you know that
18:24	that lockdown kind of messed with our
18:25	brains we actually thought that the
18:27	Tiger King was a was good entertainment
18:28	that was nothing but a slow motion train
18:31	wreck and we all just watched it and
18:33	gaping and eating lots of popcorn
18:34	because we weren’t allowed to go outside
18:36	of our houses right well the story of
18:38	the Queen’s gamut is about this female
18:40	chest Savant she starts playing chess as
18:43	a young girl but I quickly became
18:45	disillusioned with the Queen’s Gambit
18:48	for this very reason because it seemed
18:50	that her magical abilities at chess were
18:52	fueled through her drug addiction and I
18:55	had a hard time dealing with that so I
18:57	only made it through a few episodes of
18:59	the Queen’s Gambit but all that coming
19:01	back to it different chess players use
19:04	different openings in chess Kings Gambit
19:07	Queens Gambit defense is known as the
19:09	Sicilian Defense and other things like
19:11	this these are standard things but I
19:14	would note if you were to think of those
19:16	who were attacking scripture as those
19:18	who are playing a game of chess
19:21	I call what they do the apostates
19:24	opening okay or the apostates Gambit and
19:28	the apostates Gambit doesn’t begin with
19:31	an actual moving of any chess pieces the
19:34	apostates Gambit occurs the first move
19:36	is when somebody dares to sit opposite
19:41	of God and his word and decide that they
19:44	are going to wage war against God and
19:47	what is written in scripture just by
19:49	sitting down as God’s opponent that is
19:52	the first move of the apostates Gambit
19:55	and when you see them trying to take
19:57	God’s chess pieces off the boards to
20:00	undo what the scriptures say you know
20:02	you are dealing with an agent of Satan
20:04	who has not come to lead you to a proper
20:07	understanding of scripture but to lead
20:09	you away from Jesus Christ and what he
20:11	has done for you and Lead You and drag
20:14	you back into the Dominion of darkness
20:16	when you see somebody playing that game
20:19	the apostates game
20:21	don’t listen to them
20:25	the word the scripture cannot be broken
20:28	Christ Rose bodily from the grave isn’t
20:32	that really the whole subtext of our
20:34	first reading for today’s uh for today’s
20:37	celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection
20:40	here again the words of the Apostle
20:42	Peter Peter knows a thing or two about
20:44	whether or not cross Christ Rose bodily
20:47	from the grave in our text today we find
20:49	the Apostle Peter talking with Cornelius
20:53	a Roman Centurion and his family and
20:56	preaching the gospel to them and it’s
20:58	such a momentous occasion because Jews
21:01	and Gentiles don’t really get along and
21:04	Peter is not the Apostle to the Gentiles
21:08	Paul is but here’s the thing the very
21:11	first Gentile Believers hear the Gospel
21:14	of Jesus Christ from none other than
21:16	Peter himself he is an eyewitness to
21:19	Jesus’s resurrection let’s listen to the
21:22	details shall we so Peter opened his
21:24	mouth and says and he said to Cornelius
21:27	and his family
21:28	truly I understand that God shows no
21:31	partiality but in every nation anyone
21:35	who fears him and does what is right is
21:38	acceptable to him great words by the way
21:40	because you’ll note that not a lot of
21:43	Jews here today Genetically speaking
21:45	we’re quite the mix here right as a
21:48	result of that we know that God shows no
21:50	partial it doesn’t matter if you’re Jew
21:51	or Gentile doesn’t matter if you’re
21:53	German Chinese or Norwegian at all God
21:56	loves us all and anyone who fears him
21:59	and does what is right but what is right
22:01	for us to do
22:02	what is right for us to do is to believe
22:05	and trust in Christ are crucified and
22:08	bodily Risen Savior for the Forgiveness
22:11	of our sins as for the word that he sent
22:14	to Israel preaching good news of peace
22:16	through Jesus Christ he is Lord of all
22:18	you yourselves know what happened
22:20	throughout all Judea beginning From
22:22	Galilee after the baptism of John
22:25	proclaimed how God had anointed Jesus of
22:27	Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with
22:29	power he went about doing good and
22:32	healing all who were oppressed by the
22:33	devil for God was with him what a great
22:36	summary statement of Jesus’s Earthly
22:38	Ministry he did he went about doing good
22:41	and healing all who were oppressed by
22:43	the Devil by the way that’s you and I as
22:46	well God was with Christ because he is
22:48	God
22:49	and we Are Witnesses of all that he did
22:53	both in the country of the Jews and in
22:55	Jerusalem they put Jesus to death by
22:58	hanging him on a tree but God raised him
23:02	on the third day and made him to appear
23:05	not to all the people but to us who have
23:07	been chosen by God as Witnesses and
23:10	listen to the details who ate and drank
23:14	with him after he rose from the dead
23:18	you don’t eat and drink with Spirits
23:21	right of all the paranormal
23:24	investigation programs I’ve watched over
23:26	the years as I’ve had insomnia I’ve
23:29	never once seen a phantasma a ghost
23:32	eating hot dogs out of somebody’s
23:34	refrigerator now you’ll note that what
23:37	happens in Ghostbusters That’s Just Pure
23:39	Fantasy right right but all of that
23:42	being said we don’t see any hungry
23:44	ghosts out there gobbling up our
23:45	leftovers that just doesn’t happen you
23:48	know why because ghosts don’t eat
23:51	spiritual resurrections don’t have food
23:54	you can’t touch them and here the
23:57	Apostle Peter just very nonchalantly
24:00	says yeah we ate and we drank with him
24:03	after he rose from the dead
24:06	so what kind of bodily do you think he’s
24:08	talking about here
24:10	you know the bodily bodily kind right
24:13	because there is no other kind of bodily
24:15	right and so he commanded us to preach
24:18	to the people and to testify that he is
24:20	the one appointed by God to be the judge
24:23	of the living and the dead oh what an
24:26	amazing thing the judge of the living
24:28	and the dead also was the one who bled
24:30	and died for your sins I think he’s
24:32	going to cook the books in your favor
24:34	right to him all the prophets bear
24:37	witness that everyone who believes in
24:39	Him receives forgiveness of sins through
24:41	his name and if Christ hadn’t risen from
24:44	the dead would you have any confidence
24:46	at all that your sins are forgiven by
24:48	God because of what he did on the cross
24:50	Jesus’s death would be no different than
24:53	your death or mine when we Crump and we
24:55	die we have a funeral we put the body in
24:57	the ground and it stays there if Christ
25:01	had just stayed in the Tomb we would
25:03	have zero confidence of the Forgiveness
25:05	of our sins but because he has risen
25:08	from the grave bodily and the
25:09	eyewitnesses all bear witness to it we
25:12	know for sure that everything that
25:14	Christ said that he would do he has
25:17	accomplished he went to Jerusalem he was
25:19	betrayed he was crucified for your sins
25:22	and mine and just as he said he rose
25:26	bodily from the grave and as a result of
25:30	that we can have confidence that yes a
25:33	sinner as well
25:36	as sinful as you as sinful as me as well
25:41	once who’ve betrayed God and not kept
25:44	his Commandments as horribly as you and
25:46	I have that despite all of that we have
25:50	confidence because of Christ’s
25:51	resurrection that even we can be
25:54	forgiven and pardoned by God and have
25:56	eternal life given to us as a gift of
25:58	his grace through faith so having heard
26:02	what the angel said he has risen just as
26:05	he said come see the place where he lay
26:08	yes you can investigate then go quickly
26:11	and tell his disciples that he has risen
26:12	from the dead and behold he’s going
26:14	before you to Galilee there you will see
26:16	him see I’ve told you so they departed
26:19	quickly from the tomb with fear and with
26:22	great joy mixed emotions indeed right
26:25	and they ran to tell his disciples and
26:28	behold Jesus met them and said greetings
26:31	and they came up took hold of his feet
26:33	and they worshiped Christ indeed because
26:35	he is God and human flesh and then Jesus
26:38	said to them do not be afraid go and
26:40	tell my brothers to go to Galilee and
26:42	there they will see me beautiful text so
26:46	what does it mean for us well the
26:48	Apostle Paul puts a wonderful
26:50	punctuation mark right exclamation right
26:52	at the end of what that question when he
26:55	says these words in our epis in our
26:57	epistle text
26:58	if then you if y’all have been raised
27:01	with Christ and indeed every one of you
27:04	has and the Waters of baptism Christ has
27:07	buried you with himself raised you with
27:10	himself given you the Holy Spirit washed
27:13	away all of your sins regenerated you
27:15	you have already now been raised with
27:19	Christ therefore you already have one
27:21	foot out of the Grave therefore seek the
27:24	things that are above where Christ is
27:26	seated at the right hand of God set your
27:29	minds on the things that are above not
27:31	on the things that are on the earth I
27:34	understand that we still have to pay the
27:36	bills we still got to go to work we
27:39	still have to do all of the hard labor
27:41	and toil that goes along with the
27:43	sentence that we are under because of
27:46	our Rebellion against God but don’t fall
27:49	for the trickery of the world do not
27:51	follow the lust of your flesh and the
27:53	lust of your eyes and the pride of life
27:56	these will lead you astray set your mind
27:58	lines on the things that are above
28:00	everything you see outside this of us
28:03	from the things you can smell
28:05	taste touch everything everything this
28:09	is all going away
28:11	so don’t set your minds on it nothing
28:13	here on Earth lasts including you set
28:16	your minds on the things that are above
28:18	because you’re already raised with
28:20	Christ for you have died and your life
28:23	is now hidden with Christ in God but
28:26	know this then because Christ has risen
28:28	from the dead when Jesus appears on the
28:31	day of judgment Jesus who is your life
28:34	when he appears you also will appear
28:37	with him in glory in a World Without End
28:41	what an amazing day this is what an
28:45	amazing truth and all of this we can
28:47	have confidence and certainty because
28:49	Jesus did exactly what he said he was
28:52	going to do he rose bodily from the
28:55	grave Alleluia Christ is risen

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