WEBVTT

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Luke chapter 24, verse one. Let's pray and then

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we'll get into the word. God, we thank you for

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being good to us. I thank you for all the folks

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that are here this morning. We thank you for

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Jesus. We thank you that we have a reason to

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rejoice, a reason for hope, dear Lord. And maybe

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if there are some this morning that They don't

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they don't feel like they have any hope They

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don't feel like there's there's any light at

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the end of the tunnel dear Lord. I pray today

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this morning. I pray This empty tomb that we're

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going to talk about would be a hope for them.

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I Pray that your Holy Spirit will be among us.

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I pray that you'd be glorified with every word

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that is said today And I ask these things in

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Jesus name Amen By the time we get to Luke 24,

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it had been a rough few days for the followers

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of Jesus. Jesus had been brought into town. He

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had faced a mock trial. There was no real fairness

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in it. There were a lot of accusers that came

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against Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus was mocked and

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he was beaten and he was nailed to a cross. And

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for those who hated Jesus, they rejoiced. But

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there were certainly many who loved Jesus. There

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were many there at the cross that we see. There

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are those that we see that get his body down.

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There are the ladies that we see that go to the

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tomb. And while there were certainly many in

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the crowd who yelled, crucify him, there were

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many in the crowd who loved Jesus as well. And

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Jesus had spent three years plus. Really pouring

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into people and and loving old people and being

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compassionate to people But also teaching his

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apostles and and preparing his followers for

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the day that that he was gonna leave but that

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he was gonna rise on the third day and and Jesus

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had had made that point to him, but His disciples

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were they were a little slow. They're they're

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not so unlike you and I always appreciate or

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at least it makes me feel better let me say when

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I read about the Apostles that that these were

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men who walked with Jesus and they didn't always

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get it. And these women who went to the tomb,

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they didn't remember the words that Jesus has

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said. And you may say, why do we do this every

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year at Easter? We get together and we go over

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the same scriptures. We go over the same story.

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But this is what gives us our hope. This is what

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gives us reason to rejoice. This is why we're

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here. This story. that the Son of God died so

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our sins could be forgiven, that He was placed

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in a tomb, and that death did not have victory

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over Him. That is why we have reason to get up

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every day. That is why we have reason for hope

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every day. And so even though we've heard the

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words of Jesus and the words of Scripture, perhaps

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many times, for some of you, I suspect you've

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been to dozens of sunrise services. 30, 40, 50,

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60, 70 sunrise services for some of you, maybe

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more. And we continue year after year to look

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at the same story. And what other story in our

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life do we continue to come back to year after

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year? What other story like this in our life

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has an impact on our life? Do we continue to

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read the words of the man that this story is

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about thousands of years later? Now, there are

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plenty of good stories in the world. There's

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no question about that. But this is a true story.

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This is not fictional. This is a true story about

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the Son of God whose words are so powerful, whose

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example is so powerful, whose victory over death

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is so powerful that 2 ,000 years later, the gospel

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has gone strong. And there's men and women of

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Jesus Christ, just like you and I, that are gathered

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all around. the world. Some of them this morning

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are watching the sunrise. Some of them are like

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us and there's clouds in the sky and there's

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rain that's falling. But God is still good. The

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sun still rises whether we see it or not. For

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some there's bright days for others there's gloomy

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days and isn't that so true of life? Some days

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are good and some days are just just don't feel

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so good but But on the good and the bad, God

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is still the God of them all. And we can rejoice

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even on the gloomiest of days, because Jesus

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Christ rose from the grave. Luke chapter 24 verse

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one, on the first day of the week, very early

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in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing

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the spices they had prepared. They found the

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stone rolled away from the tomb. They went in

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but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

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While they were perplexed about this, suddenly

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two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. So

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the women were terrified and bowed down to the

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ground. Why are you looking for the living among

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the dead? Asked the men. He is not here, but

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he has been resurrected. Remember how he spoke?

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to you and while he was still in Galilee saying

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the son of man must be betrayed into the hands

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of sinful men be crucified and rise on the third

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day and they remembered his words isn't that

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interesting and they remembered his words now

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you would think that people who believed that

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Jesus was the Messiah who trusted him and who

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followed him That they would have just been sitting

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there after he was crucified and they would have

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all just said we're just gonna hang out because

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in three days we know he's gonna rise again because

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he told us you would have thought there wouldn't

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have been a worry in the world or a fear in the

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world and Yet it seems as though these women

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had forgotten the words of Jesus and Maybe the

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trauma of the whole experience I mean, things

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have been pretty bad. I mean, you get it. Everybody

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in here gets it because you know what it's like

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to lose somebody that is close to you. And they

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didn't just lose somebody. They lost somebody

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who was close to them in the most excruciating

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and painful way. That they had to experience

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this and see the death of Jesus and the way that

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it was. It was not an easy death. He was beaten.

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He was nailed to a cross Nails through his hands

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and nails through his feet and his friends had

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to see that And maybe just in the trauma of loss

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and in the trauma of life For whatever reason

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they forgot God's words They forgot the words

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of Jesus And what about you and I? Perhaps that's

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true of us, too Maybe we've read the words of

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Jesus. Maybe we trust him and we follow him,

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and we believe every word he says, but sometimes

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maybe life gets in the way. Maybe for us it's

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loss, maybe it's stress, maybe it's work, maybe

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it's who knows what, sickness, there's all kind

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of things. But perhaps this is a good reminder

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for us today, that as we reflect on the fact

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that Jesus Christ has been resurrected, That

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as we look at this story, that it's a reminder

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to us of his words, of his example, of his life,

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of what he gave for us and what he taught us.

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And these ladies had to be reminded. Don't you

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remember what Jesus said? Maybe that's a good

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question for us to consider today. Do you remember

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the words of Jesus? Do you remember the love

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of Jesus, praise the Lord? Do you remember that

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that He says He's gonna be with you, He's gonna

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take care of you, He's gonna forgive you of your

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sins, that He cares about you, that He's prepared

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a place for you, that He's gonna come back for

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you. Like these are the promises of Jesus. These

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are the promises that we see in God's Word that

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God will never leave us or forsake us. The words

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of Jesus that Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow.

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Just simple little words that Jesus said. that

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sometimes we just forget and maybe when we read

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this passage maybe the light bulb will go off

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for us like it did those ladies who went to the

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tomb that morning and the scripture says and

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they remembered his words for a moment they had

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forgotten for a moment they were they were overwhelmed

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by what was before them but then in a minute

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a moment they remembered what Jesus said Maybe

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today you need to remember what Jesus said. Maybe

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today in this moment you need to remember that

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Jesus loves you. Maybe today you need to remember

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that Jesus has got you. He's taking care of you.

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Maybe today you need to remember, don't worry

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about the things of this world, but trust in

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the Son of God. Verse nine. Returning from the

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tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven

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and to all the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna,

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Mary the mother of James, and the other women

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with them were telling the apostles these things.

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Okay, let's pause there for a second. Now, I

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would venture to say that there were probably

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no people who spent more time with Jesus, at

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least in these last three years, than the 12

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apostles that he had chosen. They were with him

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a lot. They traveled all over the place. and

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they had seen so much stuff. I mean, I cannot

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even imagine. The scripture says that if all

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the works of Jesus had been written, that the

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books of the world wouldn't contain them. Jesus

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did so much stuff. We have a smidgen of it. But

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Jesus did so many things that we'll never know

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about. But I suspect that the twelve who were

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with him, that they saw a lot of those things.

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I mean, they saw Jesus raise a man from the dead.

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They saw Jesus heal people that couldn't see,

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to take deaf people and let them hear, to take

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lame people so that they could walk. They saw

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things that you and I could only imagine what

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that would look like. And they heard the teachings

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of Jesus. Could you imagine? Could you imagine

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how beautiful of a teacher that Jesus was? I

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mean, everything that Jesus said had to have

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been... So beautiful. And they didn't always

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understand it. Sometimes they had to ask him,

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hey, what's going on here? Explain this to us.

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But can you imagine these men had been with Jesus

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for three plus years? If anybody had known Jesus

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and remembered his words and had trusted in him

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and was looking forward to his resurrection,

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it would be these 11. So that when these women

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came to them and said, wait, let me tell you

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what happened. The tomb is empty. Jesus is gone.

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You would have thought they would have said,

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we knew that. Where's he at? Let's go see him.

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But they got this news and listen to what the

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scripture says in verse 11. When they heard these

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words, it says, but these words seem like nonsense

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to them and they did not believe the women. What

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in the world? Of all the people in all of the

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world that should have known and been ready for

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Jesus, they heard these words and it seemed like

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nonsense to them. They had to be reminded. They

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had to be reminded that what Jesus said had come

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true. That all the words he had spoken had come

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true. And maybe for us today we are not so unlike

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these women that went to the tomb and these apostles.

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that we need to be reminded that everything in

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this world hinges on whether the fact Jesus was

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going to be in that tomb or out of that tomb.

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Everything in the world hinges on that because

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if Jesus' body was in that tomb then all of his

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followers probably would have gone on their way

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and over time he would have probably been forgotten

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and you and I would not know each other. Many

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of us would not even know each other. We wouldn't

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be here this morning if Jesus would have been

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in the tomb. Because if Jesus would have been

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in the tomb, he would have been a liar or lunatic.

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Because Jesus said he was the son of God. Jesus

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said he was going to raise again after three

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days that death was not going to have the final

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say. And if Jesus would have been in that tomb,

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there'd be no hope for us today. But praise the

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Lord, he was not in that tomb. Those women got

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there and the body was gone. And it even caught

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him by surprise. and his apostles who should

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have known and been looking forward to him. When

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they heard the news, it sounded like nonsense.

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They needed to be reminded that Jesus was not

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in that tomb, that he said he wasn't gonna be

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in that tomb. And because of that, he was just

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who he said he was. He was the Son of God. And

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he gave his life on the cross so that your sins

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and my sins could be forgiven. And he was raised

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from that grave by the Lord. so that death would

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not have the final say. So for us today, we have

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reason to rejoice. We have reason to rejoice

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because when Jesus died on that cross, our sins

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were nailed to that cross. And when Jesus overcame

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death, for those who trust in Him, we shall overcome

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death. The apostles did not believe, but one

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did. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.

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When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen

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cloths. So he went home amazed at what had happened.

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Now why do you think Peter was different? I say

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Peter believed. Maybe he was just as much in

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shock as the rest of them. But I suspect maybe

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Peter wanted to believe more than any of the

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rest of them. And I believe that's probably because

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Peter had just denied Jesus. Peter was pretty

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bold. Peter was pretty bold throughout his time

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with Jesus to speak up, and he had already said,

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Jesus, I'll die with you. Well, that didn't come

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to be true. As soon as the water got hot, Peter,

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he took out, he denied Jesus three times, adamantly

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denied. I don't know the man. And so you know

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that had to just be eaten away at him. You know

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how it is when you feel like you've hurt somebody

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that you love. Man, you just... When you know

00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:43.860
that they love you and they hug you and you say

00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:46.799
you're sorry and they say it's okay and you make

00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:49.539
up, man, that's a good feeling. That's a bad

00:15:49.539 --> 00:15:51.700
feeling when you hurt somebody and you know you've

00:15:51.700 --> 00:15:55.399
hurt somebody, but it's a good feeling when you

00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:58.000
know that they still love you. And I suspect

00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:59.840
that Peter was feeling some of that hurt because

00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:02.600
he had betrayed Jesus and now Jesus was dead.

00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:05.960
And there was no opportunity for him to say,

00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:09.559
Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, do you still love me?

00:16:10.409 --> 00:16:13.129
And I think Jesus knew that because when we look

00:16:13.129 --> 00:16:15.269
at the end of the Gospel of John, we see just

00:16:15.269 --> 00:16:21.009
that, we see that situation take place. That

00:16:21.009 --> 00:16:24.649
Peter there is before Jesus and three times Jesus

00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:27.570
asked him, do you love me? And every time Peter

00:16:27.570 --> 00:16:30.549
says, yes, Lord, I love you. There's that moment

00:16:30.549 --> 00:16:33.529
of restoration where Peter knew that he had sinned

00:16:33.529 --> 00:16:38.799
so greatly, but a moment of, I'm sure, Joy that

00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.559
is almost unexplainable to know that he was forgiven

00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:46.440
I Say almost unexplainable, but but really I

00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:50.159
guess it's not Because for those of you who followed

00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:54.659
in Jesus Christ you felt that joy You know that

00:16:54.659 --> 00:16:58.299
joy of what it means that your sins Have been

00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:02.299
forgiven Maybe you've never heard the words of

00:17:02.299 --> 00:17:04.859
Jesus Christ and the gospel of Jesus Christ,

00:17:04.859 --> 00:17:09.160
but today you heard just for a moment the truth

00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:12.519
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus came

00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:16.559
to die on a cross to forgive your sins, and He

00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:20.420
has been resurrected from the dead. Maybe today

00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:23.339
you know those words and you know that truth

00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:25.900
and you know the teachings of Jesus, but maybe

00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:29.940
today you just need to be reminded of the truth

00:17:29.940 --> 00:17:34.119
of the gospel. Maybe today you're not so unlike

00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:36.609
Peter. Maybe... You feel like you've sinned in

00:17:36.609 --> 00:17:39.450
such a horrible way and you feel the burden and

00:17:39.450 --> 00:17:43.089
the shame of that. And maybe today you need to

00:17:43.089 --> 00:17:46.670
respond like Peter did. And on hearing this news,

00:17:46.710 --> 00:17:52.049
you need to run. You need to run to Jesus. And

00:17:52.049 --> 00:17:56.990
when Peter saw the tomb was empty, he left in

00:17:56.990 --> 00:18:00.650
amazement. He left in amazement because he knew

00:18:00.650 --> 00:18:05.559
that Jesus had been raised. He knew that there

00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:08.859
was hope, and the same is true for you and I

00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:13.079
this morning. When you hear these words of the

00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:17.339
scripture, will you go and eat a pancake and

00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:21.059
forget about them? Or will we rejoice in these

00:18:21.059 --> 00:18:26.200
words and be amazed that Jesus Christ has risen?

00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:29.059
Let's pray. God, we thank you for the truth of

00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:32.039
these words. We thank you for Jesus. God, we

00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:35.420
are so... We are so rotten and we do and we say

00:18:35.420 --> 00:18:38.240
so many things that we are ashamed of and we

00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:41.079
are not worthy of your love and of your grace

00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:44.440
dear Lord But we thank you for Jesus that he

00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:46.740
gave his life on the cross that we could be forgiven

00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:49.880
and God maybe For some of us in here. We know

00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:53.059
your words and we trust in Jesus and we just

00:18:53.059 --> 00:18:57.180
need to be reminded We just need to remember

00:18:57.180 --> 00:19:01.119
What Jesus said so I pray God that you would

00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:04.349
just Help us to do that today and in the days

00:19:04.349 --> 00:19:08.609
moving forward. I pray God that For those who

00:19:08.609 --> 00:19:12.230
who think these words seem like nonsense That

00:19:12.230 --> 00:19:14.490
they would go back and read and study who Jesus

00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:16.950
is dear Lord that they would know this truth

00:19:16.950 --> 00:19:20.089
God for those who hear these words that that

00:19:20.089 --> 00:19:22.730
believe that Jesus is the Messiah that that we

00:19:22.730 --> 00:19:25.210
would be like Peter That maybe there are things

00:19:25.210 --> 00:19:27.170
in our life that we're ashamed of we can know

00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:29.950
that we can go to you dear Lord and just as you

00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:33.880
restored Peter You can restore us so God I pray

00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:37.359
dear Lord that we would know that Jesus Loves

00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:39.740
us this morning that every person will know that

00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:41.920
then we would seek him and we would stand in

00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.480
the presence and be amazed At the risen Savior

00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:47.940
today. I pray that you bless this food I thank

00:19:47.940 --> 00:19:49.880
you for all the ones who have prepared and worked

00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:52.319
so hard to make all this I pray that you bless

00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:54.440
our time of fellowship bless all the folks that

00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:57.779
are here today, and we thank you For all you

00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:00.759
do for us in Jesus name. I pray it amen