Chandler Heights Community Church
Easter Sunday, 5 April 2026

      • Mark 10:45ESV

  • Christ The Lord Is Risen Today (Easter Hymn)
  • Living Hope
  • Son Of Suffering
  • Introduction
    Good Morning Church family and guests.  Today is a very special day.  Today celebrate the most important day in human history.
    It’s not just a holiday. It’s not just a tradition. It’s not even just a religious celebration.
    It is the day that changed everything.  Easter is the bold claim that the man Jesus of Nazareth, crucified on a Roman cross, walked out of His grave alive on the third day. As followers of Jesus, everything we believe, everything we hope for, and everything we are called to become hangs on that single historical event.
    I want to speak to two groups of people today.
    To those who are skeptical and doubt the truth of the resurrection, I’m not here to shame you; I’m here to invite you to examine the evidence and consider what it would mean if it’s true.
    To those who already follow Jesus: I want to lift your eyes again to the breathtaking victory your Savior has already won, so that you leave here encouraged, strengthened, and ready to live the new life He purchased for you.
    Let’s begin with the most important question: Did it actually happen?
    Point 1: The Resurrection Is a Fact of History
    Nothing but an empty tomb explains what has happened in the world since that first Easter.
    Any serious historian—believer or not—acknowledges that on Sunday morning after Passover, the tomb was empty. The enemies of Jesus never produced a body. The disciples didn’t quietly fade away; they went to their deaths proclaiming they had seen the risen Christ.
    Listen to the earliest Christian creed, written within a few years of the events themselves:
    “Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time… Then he was seen by James… Last of all… I also saw him.” (1 Corinthians 15:3–8 NLT)
    Five hundred people at once. Most of them still alive when Paul wrote that. This was not a private hallucination. This was public, verifiable testimony.
    Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah described exactly what would happen:
    Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah painted a portrait of the coming Messiah so precise that it reads like a first-hand eyewitness account of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This is not vague poetry. This is surgical prophecy—written so that when the events unfolded, we would recognize the hand of God at work and believe.
    I want you to see this for yourself.  Let’s walk through Isaiah 53 verse by verse (NLT):
    Verses 1–2 “Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.”
    Seven centuries ahead of time, God tells us the Messiah would not arrive as a conquering king on a warhorse or a celebrity with Instagram appeal. He would grow up ordinary—like a little green sprout pushing through cracked desert soil in Bethlehem and Nazareth. Of average height and average looks, He was the kind of man you might pass on the street and never notice. Jesus fulfilled this perfectly: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him” (Isaiah 53:2 NIV). He was fully human, fully approachable—and yet fully divine.
    Verses 3–4 “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!”
    Here is the emotional heart of the prophecy. The Servant would be hated, mocked, and rejected—not because He was a failure, but because He carried our pain. Every tear you’ve ever cried, every anxiety attack, every grief that keeps you up at night—Jesus felt the full weight of what it means to live in a broken world.  As he hung on the cross, the crowds shouted, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” They thought God was punishing Him for blasphemy. But Isaiah says, “No—it was ourweaknesses He carried.”
    Verse 5 “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”
    This is the verse that should take your breath away.
    “Pierced”—the nails through His hands and feet, the spear in His side.
    “Crushed”—the full wrath of God for every sin ever committed.
    “Beaten… whipped”—the Roman scourge with its metal and bone fragments that tore His back to shreds.
    Why? So youcould be made whole. So you could be healed from the disease of sin and the curse of death. Every stripe on His back was a payment for every wound in your soul.
    Verse 6 “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”
    You and I are the wandering sheep. We chose our own way. But on the cross, God didn’t just overlook our sin—He transferred it. He laid every selfish choice, every dark thought, every hidden failure squarely on the shoulders of His innocent Son.
    Verses 7–9 “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter… Unjustly condemned… No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”
    Isaiah even predicts the silence of Jesus before His accusers (fulfilled in Matthew 27:12-14), the unjust trial, the criminal’s death sentence, and the exact detail of His burial. Jesus was crucified between two thieves (a criminal’s death), yet laid in the brand-new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea—a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin (a rich man’s grave). How could Isaiah know that specific detail 700 years earlier unless God Himself wrote the script?
    Verses 10–12 “But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins… He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”
    Here is the resurrection written in advance! The Servant would be crushed… yetHe would see His offspring (that’s you and me—spiritual children of God), enjoy a long life (never to die again—Romans 6:9), and be satisfied because His sacrifice worked. The cross was not a tragedy that God had to fix later. It was the Lord’s good plan all along. And because the Servant rose, millions upon millions have been made righteous.
    Friends, this is why the empty tomb matters so much. Isaiah 53 is not a lucky guess. It is God’s love letter written across seven centuries so that when Jesus hung on that cross and walked out of that tomb, we would have zero doubt: This was the plan. This was the payment. This was the proof.
    If you are here today and you’ve never placed your trust in Jesus, look at this ancient prophecy. God told us exactly what He was going to do—and then He did it. The evidence is overwhelming. The invitation is simple: believe in the One who was pierced for your rebellion, crushed for your sins, and raised so that you could be made right with God.
    And for those of us who already believe—let this prophecy flood your heart with fresh wonder. The same God who planned every detail of Jesus’ suffering and victory has planned every detail of your life too. He is still in control. He is still bringing beauty out of brokenness. He is still satisfying His own heart by saving rebels like us.
    That is why we can stand here on Easter Sunday and declare with unshakable confidence: He is risen! He is risen indeed!
    Point 2: No Resurrection = No Salvation
    This is not optional doctrine. The Apostle Paul says it plainly:
    “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
    And again:
    “If Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)
    If Jesus is still dead, then death still wins. Sin still has the last word. Your guilt remains. There is no hope beyond the grave.
    But if He rose—then forgiveness is real. Death is defeated. Eternal life is offered to anyone who will receive it.
    Point 3: The Resurrection Means God’s Forgiveness Is Unambiguous and Complete
    Because Christ died and rose, we don’t have to wonder whether God accepted the payment for our sins. Romans 4:25 says Jesus “was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”
    Look at this glorious passage:
    “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” (Romans 8:33–34 NLT)
    The resurrection is God’s loud “Yes!” over the sacrifice of His Son. The debt is paid. The record is clean. You can come home.  No sin is to big, no pit you may have fallen into is deeper than the reach of God’s love for you and the depth of His mercy and grace.
    Point 4: The Resurrection Means New Life Is Possible—Right Now
    This is where Easter gets personal for every believer.
    Because Jesus rose, the same power that brought Him back from the dead now lives inside everyone who belongs to Him.
    “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead… we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)
    You do not have to stay the same person you’ve always been. The old you—marked by shame, addiction, anger, pride, fear—is dead. The new you is rising.
    Jesus told His disciples it was to their advantage that He go away, because then He would send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). That same Spirit lives in you, giving you power to love when it’s hard, to forgive when you’ve been hurt, to live with hope when circumstances scream otherwise.
    Paul prays that we would know “the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe… the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19–20).
    Because of the resurrection you can:
    Love people who don’t deserve it
    Forgive people who have wounded you deeply
    Say no to sin that once controlled you
    Live with joy even when life is painful
    Look forward to a future where every tear is wiped away
    As 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!”
    Conclusion and Invitation
    Beloved, this is why we celebrate.
    Jesus, the suffering Servant, became the victorious King. He bore your sins so you could receive His righteousness. He died so you could live. He rose so you could rise with Him—both now and forever.
    If you have never asked Jesus to save you, today is the perfect day. You don’t have to clean up your life first. You simply confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead—and you will be saved.
    For those who already believe: lift your head. The tomb is empty. Your sins are forgiven. Your future is with Him. The power that raised Jesus is at work in you right now. Walk in newness of life. Set your mind on things above. Love boldly. Forgive freely. Live expectantly.
    Let’s pray.
    Heavenly Father, thank You for the cross and for the empty tomb. For those who are far from You, draw them near today. For those who are weary, renew their hope. For all of us, fill us again with resurrection power. In the name of the risen Jesus we pray, Amen.
    May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
    He is risen! He is risen indeed!

      • 1 Corinthians 15:3–8ESV

      • Isaiah 53ESV

  • Jesus Paid It All
Chandler Heights Community Church
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