WEBVTT

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you everybody for coming this morning. What a

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beautiful day and what a beautiful crowd and

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I always enjoy these sunrise services. It's a

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beautiful thing what Jesus has done for us and

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it's a beautiful thing that as followers of Jesus

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that we come here today 2 ,000 plus years later

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and the gospel of Jesus Christ is still going

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strong. It will never be stopped. It will never

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be stomped out. So long as there are people on

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this earth, there will be followers of Jesus

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Christ and the gospel will continue. And it will

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continue because Jesus Christ has arisen. Let's

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pray. God, we thank you this morning for just

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these few moments to come and to gather together

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today. We thank you for Jesus. And I pray, dear

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Lord. that all honor and glory and praise this

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morning, both here and worldwide, will be to

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Jesus and to nothing else today, dear Lord. We

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come here today to praise you, but we also come

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here today with our worries and our pains and

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our stresses and our heartaches and our sin,

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dear Lord. But Jesus went to the cross to take

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care of those things, and God, you raised him

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victorious. So, God, we know that you can give

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us victory today, and we come because we desperately

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need your victory. We desperately need Jesus

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Christ, both today and every day. So I pray that

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in these few minutes today, dear Lord, that we

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would remember the words of Jesus, that we would

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remember the life of Jesus, that we would remember

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the sacrifice of Jesus. And I ask these things

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in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to be in Luke

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24 for just a few moments this morning. Luke

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chapter 24. Jesus had just been brought in and

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faced a mock trial. It wasn't a real trial. They

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had already determined that he was guilty, those

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who were passing judgment on him. He was beaten

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and he was mocked and he was nailed to the cross.

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His disciples who he had been with for... three

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years or so teaching them and leading them and

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instructing them as soon as trouble had arose

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they took off and jesus was there alone to face

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this most difficult moment of his life of course

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jesus was prepared for this moment jesus had

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had spent the night before in prayer seeking

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god asking god that if there was any way that

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there would be deliverance but It was not the

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will of God for Jesus Christ to be delivered.

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It was the will of God for Jesus Christ to give

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his life on a cross so that every one of us this

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morning can sit here with some hope to know that

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our sins are forgiven. And after Jesus had suffered

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and bled and died, he was placed in a tomb. Of

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course, the Sabbath was approaching, so... They

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didn't have time to do the things that they normally

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would do as far as preparing a body for burial.

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And Jesus was placed in a tomb, but his body

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wasn't prepared. And there was a group of ladies

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who had been there at the cross with him and

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who were ready for the morning to come, that

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they could gather up all the spices that were

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needed, that they could go to the tomb and they

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could wrap Jesus' body and wipe it down and make

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it ready. for a proper burial. Now, Jesus had

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been preaching and he had been teaching and he

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had even said that this was going to take place.

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He had even said that he was going to give his

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life for everybody so that sins could be forgiven.

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But in the moment, his disciples and these ladies,

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perhaps they weren't thinking straight because

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of the trauma and the loss that they had just

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experienced. For whatever reason, it seems as

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though that in the moment that all of those closest

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to Jesus, had forgotten everything that he had

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said. And the women that morning got up early,

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like many of you, while it was still dark outside,

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and they began to make their way to the tomb.

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They thought they were going to find Jesus there,

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but they were mistaken. And that's what we see

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in this passage here. Luke chapter 24, verse

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1. On the first day of the week, very early in

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the morning, they came to the tomb bringing the

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spices they had prepared. They found the stone

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rolled away from the tomb. They went in but did

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not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they

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were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood

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by them in dazzling clothes. So the women were

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terrified and bowed down to the ground. Why are

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you looking for the living among the dead, asked

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the man. He is not here, but he has been resurrected.

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Remember how he spoke to you when he was still

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in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be betrayed

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into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and

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rise on the third day. And they remembered his

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words. Isn't that interesting? And they remembered

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his words. It's not that they didn't know his

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words and they were probably still in their mind,

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but for a moment in that time, in all that Jesus

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had taught them, in all that they knew, in every

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way that he had ministered to them, they'd kind

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of forgot about Jesus' words. Perhaps it was

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the sorrow that they were experiencing. Perhaps

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it was the grief. And they were not alone. Because

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when you read down a few verses further, the

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apostles... really had the same response. When

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word got back to them, you know what the apostles

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said? They said, this is nonsense. Now think

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about this for a moment. This group of women

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that are in this story, these apostles that are

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here hearing this news, these are the people

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who were probably some of the closest people

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to Jesus. They heard his teachings. They walked

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with him. They saw his miracles. And even they

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needed to be reminded of the truth of the gospel

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and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in

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that moment, even though they knew who Jesus

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was, They needed to be reminded of who Jesus

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was and what Jesus said and what had occurred.

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And the angels told them, and it says, and they

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remembered his words. And perhaps some of us

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today are in that same boat. Maybe there are

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some of us today and we know the words of Scripture

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and we know the words of Jesus and we have walked

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with Jesus and we have experienced His miracles.

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And maybe today, this morning, as we sit here

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and wait to see that sun peek over those trees,

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we need to be reminded of truths we already know.

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Maybe today we need to take a few moments and

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we need to not worry about the things of the

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world. and the stresses and the pains and the

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sickness and the sorrow and the heartache and

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the sin that so easily ensnares. But we need

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to give those things to Jesus Christ. And we

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need to be reminded that Jesus Christ, the Son

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of God, gave his life on a cross so that we could

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have hope today. You have hope today. I don't

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know if you know that. Maybe you know it. Maybe

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you just need to be reminded of it. Maybe you

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know the power of Jesus today, and you just need

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to be reminded. I want to remind you today so

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that when you hear the words, when you think

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about Jesus Christ, that you remember what he

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has done for you, that you remember that he suffered

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and bled and died for you, for me, not because

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we deserve it. Jesus didn't look down here and

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say, boy, those people that's going to be an

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enterprise in 2025, they're pretty good. Now,

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we might think that. But we're really not that

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good. We're wicked and rotten and sinful people.

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And we'd be appalled at each other if we knew

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the things that we think and the things that

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we do. And yet Jesus Christ, knowing every one

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of those things, said, I will suffer and bleed

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and die for you. And so today I tell you that

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Jesus loves you. Nobody else in the world may

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love you. It may not feel like anybody else in

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the world loves you. It may not even feel like

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God loves you. But if you ever question the love

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of God, you just need to turn to the Scriptures

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and read of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ because

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there is no greater love than this, that a man

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would lay down his life for his friends. Today

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we can be friends of God. Today we can be children

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of God. Today we can be brothers and sisters

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in Christ. If we would just accept him and reach

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out like the woman who had faith to touch the

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hem of his garment to say, Lord Jesus, I'm reaching

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out with all that I have so that I can touch

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you, so that I can experience you, so that I

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can be healed by you. And Jesus said to her,

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your faith has made you well. And so it is for

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us today. It is our faith that will save us.

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Hopefully it is our faith in Jesus Christ that

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has brought each one of us here this morning.

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So we come here today to rejoice. We come here

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today to celebrate, to know that death doesn't

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have the final say, to know that there is hope

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for us, to know that we are loved, to know that

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God cares for us. The women had to be reminded

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in the moment they had forgotten about Jesus.

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And maybe in this moment in your life, there's

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a part of you that has forgotten about Jesus.

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But today, let us be reminded and let us remember.

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Perhaps there are some today who have the same

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response as the disciples. Maybe you don't know

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who Jesus is. Maybe you've heard about him. Maybe

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you know about him, but maybe you don't know

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him. Maybe you say when you hear these words,

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it's nonsense. The disciples didn't say that

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in the sense that they didn't believe or didn't

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trust Jesus. It's a lot to wrap your head around

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when you hear that someone has been raised from

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the dead. But perhaps there are some here today

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and you hear these words and you hear the story

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of Jesus and maybe you say that they're nonsense.

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Well, today I would encourage you to have the

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response of Peter because when all of the rest

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of the disciples said it was nonsense, Peter...

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got up and ran to the tomb the scripture says

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peter wanted to see for himself he wanted to

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see that jesus was risen and i encourage you

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today to run to jesus maybe you don't know jesus

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but maybe you question jesus maybe you wonder

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about jesus run to the words of scripture run

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to jesus christ seek him look for him and look

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for the evidence and the proof that is so clearly

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before us throughout history and the words of

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scripture that tell us when jesus Christ was

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placed in that tomb. He did not remain in that

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tomb. And the Word of God is true. And this is

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the only truth we can depend on in this world,

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is the Word of God. So today, let us have the

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response of Peter. Let us be reminded about Jesus.

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And even in our doubt, even in our excitement,

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even in our worries, let us seek Jesus and let

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us come to the same realization and the same

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truth that this group came to that morning. And

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Jesus Christ is alive. And because he is alive,

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we sit here today and we rejoice. Let's pray.

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God, we come to you. We just thank you. We thank

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you for the freedom that we have in this country

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to just gather here freely on this beautiful

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morning with the breeze blowing, dear Lord. We

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just thank you for your love and your grace and

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your mercy. We thank you for Jesus Christ. And

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I pray, dear Lord, this morning that we remember

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the words of Jesus, that we remember the sacrifice

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of Jesus. God, I pray that you would help us

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to just call out to you today, to seek you, to

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praise you. Dear Lord, maybe there are some here

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that they don't know you. They know about Jesus,

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but maybe they've never trusted him. I pray this

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morning, dear Lord, that they would confess their

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sins, that they would repent. that they would

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ask for forgiveness and that they would put their

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faith in Jesus Christ. God, I pray that if there

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are some here today that are yours, that you

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help us to remember your love, that you help

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us to remember your words, dear Lord. Sometimes

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we get so busy and so caught up in the things

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of the world and our worries and our sin, dear

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Lord, that we just lose sight of you. But I pray

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today. that you would help us to refocus. I pray

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today that we give our sins to you, that we give

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our worries to you. I pray today that we remember

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you, dear Lord, that we remember the power of

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your words and that we remember that Jesus Christ

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arose, no matter how bad our life may be. It

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may not get better tomorrow or the next day,

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but God, no matter how bad it may be, We have

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Jesus Christ to walk beside us. We have Jesus

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Christ to be our strength. And we have Jesus

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Christ to be our hope. And God, we praise you

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for that today. And I ask these things in Jesus'

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name. Amen.