Curry's Chapel Church
20260405 Easter Sunday
  • Theme: Resurrection is not just an event —it’s the beginning of a new world.
    SLIDE: Scripture Isaiah 60:1
    Isaiah 60:1 NIV
    1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”
    SLIDE: Open your Bibles
    Open your Bible to Matthew 28:1–10
    SLIDE: Something About Dawn

    It’s Friday - It All Seemed to Fall Apart

    FRIDAY. It was the day everything seemed to fall apart. The day hope looked foolish. The day the One who healed the sick, opened blind eyes, and raised the dead… was Himself taken down from a cross, limp and lifeless.
    The sky went dark. The earth shook. And every dream His followers carried… collapsed into dust.
    They wrapped His body in linen. They laid Him in a borrowed tomb. And with a heavy, grinding thud, the stone was rolled into place. Final. Cold. Unmoving.
    And then came Saturday—the longest, quietest day in human history. A day with no miracles. No angels. No answers. Just silence. Just waiting. Just the ache of “What now?”
    The women rose before dawn on the third day, not expecting resurrection… but expecting to finish burial. They walked toward the tomb carrying spices, carrying grief, carrying questions. Everything in their world still looked like Friday.
    And sometimes… so does ours. We know what it feels like when the night is long, when the silence is heavy, when the stone seems too big to move.
    Now hold that feeling for a moment. Because this is where the story turns. This is where darkness meets its match. This is where Friday gives way to something it cannot stop.
    And I want you to hear it in the words of Pastor S. M. Lockridge…
    VIDEO: It’s Friday, but Sundays A Comin’

    Something About Dawn

    There’s something about dawn. It’s quiet. It’s gentle. It doesn’t force its way in — it simply arrives, and suddenly everything looks different.
    Easter is God’s dawn breaking into the world.
    Not with trumpets or fireworks or a cosmic drumroll. But with a rolled‑away stone, an empty tomb, and two women walking in the early morning light.
    Matthew 28 begins not with noise, but with dawn.
    And dawn is when everything changed.
    SLIDE: The Greatest Story Ever Told

    The Greatest Story Ever Told

    SLIDE: Walking Into the Story

    Walking Into the Story

    Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb. They’re not expecting resurrection. They’re expecting to grieve.
    They bring spices, not celebration. Tears, not triumph. Questions, not confidence.
    And then— the earth shakes. an angel appears. the stone rolls away.
    And the angel says the words that changed history:
    “He is not here; He has risen.”
    Not “He escaped.” Not “He revived.” Not “He slipped out the back.” Not “He was taken.”
    He has risen. Just as He said.
    Illustration: The Locked Door
    Have you ever locked your keys in your car? You stand there staring through the window at the keys sitting in the seat, mocking you.
    You try the handle again — as if it might magically open this time. You call someone. You wait.
    You’re stuck.
    Death was the locked door humanity couldn’t open. No amount of effort, goodness, or religion could unlock it.
    But Jesus didn’t pick the lock. He broke the door off its hinges.
    Resurrection isn’t a repair job. It’s a revolution.
    A Little Humor
    In my first church a kid once asked me, “Jesus came back from the dead… so does that mean He was like a zombie?”
    I said, “No, buddy. Zombies chase people. Jesus chases hearts.”
    SLIDE: The Easter Pattern

    The Easter Pattern

    The angel tells the women:
    “Do not be afraid.” “Come and see.” “Go and tell.”
    That’s the Easter pattern.
    1. Do not be afraid.
    Because fear loses its power when death loses its sting.
    2. Come and see.
    Faith isn’t blind — it’s invited to look into the empty tomb.
    3. Go and tell.
    Resurrection is too good to keep to yourself.
    The women run — filled with fear and joy.
    Now isn’t that honest? Faith often feels like both at the same time.
    Jesus Meets Them on the Way
    As they run, Jesus appears and says one word:
    “Greetings.”
    Not “Behold!” Not “Fear not!” Not “Ta‑da!”
    Just… “Good morning.”
    Because resurrection isn’t just cosmic — it’s personal.
    Jesus meets them on the road, in their fear, in their confusion, in their running.
    He meets us the same way.
    Illustration: The First Light
    Have you ever watched the sunrise after a long night? You don’t notice the exact moment the darkness loses (gives up). But slowly, steadily, the light takes over.
    That’s resurrection. Not just one moment 2,000 years ago — but the beginning of a new world where darkness doesn’t get the final say.
    SLIDE: Connecting the Dots - The Dust to Dawn Series

    Connecting to the Series Theme

    Week 1: Dust — God begins with honesty. Week 2: Wilderness — God forms us in hard places. Week 3: Promise — God calls us forward. Week 4: Thirst — God fills us with living water. Week 5: Sight — God opens our eyes. Week 6: Strength — God meets us in our weakness. Week 7: Branches — God rewrites our hopes. Week 8: Today Dawn — God begins a new world.
    This is the journey From Dust to Dawn: God takes what is broken, buried, and hopeless — and brings it into the light.
    SLIDE: Just the Beginning

    Just the Beginning

    Three Truths Easter Declares

    1. Death doesn’t win.
    Not in Jesus’ story. Not in yours.
    2. Hope is stronger than despair.
    The tomb was full of death on Friday. It was full of angels on Sunday.
    3. Jesus is alive — and that changes everything.
    Not just someday. Not just spiritually. Not just symbolically.
    But right now. Right here. And in you.
    Illustration: The Unfinished Story
    A teacher once asked her students to write a story. One boy turned in a paper with only one sentence:
    “And then everything got better.”
    The teacher said, “Where’s the rest?” He said, “That’s all I needed.”
    Easter is God writing that “sentence” over the world. Over your life. Over your grief. Over your fears.
    “And then everything got better.”
    Not instantly. Not easily. But inevitably.
    Because Jesus is alive!
    SLIDE: Your Resurrection Meaning

    What Does Resurrection Mean for You?

    1. Your past is not your prison.
    The stone is rolled away.
    2. Your present is not hopeless.
    Jesus meets you on the road.
    3. Your future is not uncertain.
    The dawn has already broken.
    4. Your calling is not small.
    “Go and tell” is still the mission.
    Easter isn’t just something we celebrate — it’s something we live.
    A Gentle Turn Toward Hope
    The women came to the tomb expecting death. They left carrying resurrection.
    You may have walked in today with grief, fear, or questions. But you can walk out with hope.
    Because the tomb is empty. Because Jesus is alive. Because dawn has come.
    SLIDE: Closing Prayer

    Closing Prayer

    Risen Lord, Thank You for breaking the darkness with Your dawn. Thank You for rolling away stones we could never move. Thank You for meeting us in our fear, our questions, our grief, and our running. Fill us with resurrection hope. Help us live as people of the dawn— people of courage, people of joy, people of new beginnings. Lead us from dust to wilderness, from wilderness to promise, from promise to living water, from living water to sight, from sight to life, from life to hope, and from hope into the full light of resurrection. In Your victorious name, Amen.

    🌅 Easter Communion Introduction

    This morning, we stand in the light of a miracle. The stone has been rolled away. The grave is empty. And the One who was dead now lives forevermore.
    At dawn on the first day of the week, everything changed. Death lost its grip. Hope rose with the sun. And the world was invited into a new beginning.
    Communion is our way of stepping into that story. It is the table where Friday’s sorrow meets Sunday’s joy. It is where the broken body and shed blood of Jesus become the doorway into resurrection life.
    Today, as we come to the table, we do not come as people defeated by darkness, but as people welcomed into the light of a risen Savior. We come with gratitude. We come with wonder. We come with hearts awakened by the dawn.
    So let us draw near with joy, for Christ is risen. Christ is present. And Christ invites us now to His table.

    🌅 Benediction for Sermon 8 — Dawn

    Go now as people who have seen the first light of a new world. Step out of the shadows you’ve carried, for Christ has already stepped out ahead of you. May the God who brings life out of dust, hope out of wilderness, and strength out of weakness now awaken in you a courage that refuses to bow to the night.
    May the risen Christ lift your face toward the morning, fill your lungs with resurrection breath, and send you into the world as bearers of His unstoppable light.
    Go in joy.
    Go in hope.
    Go in the power of the risen Lord.
    Amen.

      • Isaiah 60:1NKJV

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