Sunrise Service – April 9, 2023

Message: “We Believe”.

(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.

(9) When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. (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.

There’s an old Peanuts cartoon in which Charlie Brown tells Lucy they have to stop fighting and find a kinder way to resolve their conflicts. He tells her that the planet is filled with people hurting each other, that it’s possible that they, as children, can make a new world order.

Lucy listens for a minute and the POW! She slams him to the ground and walks away saying, “I had to hit him quick, he was beginning to make sense.”

Apart from God’s purpose in and through the Cross, I’ve often wondered if that wasn’t part of the reason the Sadducees and Pharisees reacted like they did to Jesus’ teaching. It was beginning to make sense. And if it made sense, then it meant their faith was inconsequential, their lifestyle without purpose and their whole life had been without meaning.

Rather than repenting, renewing their faith and embracing God’s purpose for their lives, they protected their life and lifestyle by eradicating the one whom they thought was the threat. And that still goes on, even today. Whatever their motive, through their manipulations, Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned to death and crucified. With his death, darkness descended on Israel and in the hearts of followers of Jesus. Their hope, their dreams, their vision of the future died with him. And like Jesus, their hopes, dreams and vision were sealed away in a tomb forever.

The disciples and all the other followers found themselves hiding and cowering in fear for their own lives. Their spirits were crushed. Their faith was dead and buried. The only thing they could cling to was each other. But that was Friday.

In our scripture reading this morning, Luke describes what happened two days later. The women discovered the empty tomb. The angels proclaimed the Good News of the Resurrection. “When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.”(Luke 24:9-10). They Believed!

The disciples were hard pressed to believe so Peter; that same Peter, who took three steps on the water, lost his courage and sank like the rock. That same Peter that three time denier ran to the tomb. He saw the cloths lying there and still; “he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” Desperately wanting to believe.

While the disciples had a hard time believing until Peter told them what he had seen and Jesus stood in their midst did they believe. And for those same reasons we gather here this morning because; “We Believe”.

We believe because, we believe in the word of God, the Bible, and we have seen God’s grace at work in our lives.

Despite the church’s failures and misguided practices we still believe. After all the attacks on Christianity and all the attempts to debunk and ridicule the truth of the Bible, we still believe. Why is that?

Well, first of all, truth will always win out. The Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead cannot die because He Is Alive!

He is alive and that makes all the difference in the world. The Good News of the Resurrection gives us Hope For Today and Hope For The Future.

The truth is that Jesus died on that cross. He was as dead as the two thieves who died with Him. They buried Him in a borrowed tomb and sealed Him away, forever. Or so they thought. You see, while Sin and Death were clapping their hands in glee, singing “Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more.” God began singing, “Up From The Grave He Arose.” And God breathed life into Jesus once again. And “We Believe” having Faith in the Grace of God, Life Eternal was given in that Resurrection. “We Believe”, because of that Resurrection. Because of that Resurrection it gives us Hope For Today.

The Resurrection also gives us Hope For The Future. We are the children of God, that’s what God promised. And because of those promises, sometimes God gives us glimpses of the Resurrection, glimpses of the future and reminds us that one day there will be no more tears and no more mourning for those who follow Jesus.

The Resurrection gives us Hope For Today and Hope For The Future. It also reminds us that Resurrection to Life Eternal, is meant for each of us. If only “We Believe”. It’s personal, it’s not for somebody else. It is for us. The Resurrection and the Hope it brings is for us.

“We Believe”, and our faith is not inconsequential, our lifestyle has purpose and our whole life has meaning. Only if; “We Believe”.

In His Service,

Pastor Joe