Richvale Community Church
Easter Sunday 2026
- Good Morning — HE IS RISEN…For those who don’t know… Pam “loves April fools day.”And, unfortunately, I am an easy target …and every year she COMES UP WITH SOME elaborate prank.. and without fail —- I fall for it… ..From the fake pregnancy test…to a fake tattoo last year… (which by the way -she started quoting the scripture she wanted tattooed ….months in advance) —but this year, I was ready - I put “April 1” into my calendar… set the alarm… “highlighted the word APRIL FOOLS DAY.. !!So on Wednesday — Pam was at it again and she did her prank …she put tea in our coffee pot…(All I can say that is… That is a rough way to start the day..but this time..Emma had coffee first… I was proud of myself… prank adverted — well, that is what I thought….. …but this is what happened..later That day.. (family has recorded it for posterity)videoThis morning, I want talk about “Being Made New…”Easter is about becoming new creations in Christ.. the word resurrection literarily means to to stand up..It’s about dead things coming alive..—-This past week was Holy Week where we remember Jesus final week …Beginning with The Triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday… then on.Monday—Jesus entered the temple ..He confronts corruption found in the religious world…He overturns tables..and cleanses it.Tuesday—is a day of teachings.Jesus is in the temple again teaching and the religious leaders question His authority. later that day, Jesus gives his final sermon on the Mt.of Olives.Wednesday—often called Silent Wednesday — time of reflection and rest.Thursday—the Last Supper. Jesus breaks bread with the disciples …And identifies Judas as the disciple who will betray him.. Then they go to the garden of Gethsemane Where Jesus prays, he wrestles with his mission.., He prays to the Father… if the Father was willing to remote the cup of suffering..but not my will be done but yours.be done.Early Friday morning … Good Friday.Jesus is betrayed by Judas. Arrested in the night. Illegally tried. Mocked. Beaten. Flogged.Then handed over to the Romans— and sentenced to death.And nailed to a cross.For six long hours—from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.— Jesus endured the cross……During his suffering He is offers :Mercy to His persecutorsForgiveness and love..And then… He dies.Then comes Saturday—the Sabbath.The priests and Pharisees were terrified that Jesus was about to pull off one of the biggest scams in history.They go to Pilate ask for him .. — to secure the tomb… Little did they that there was no power on earth that could Hold Jesus in the grave..T/s because at Easter dead things come alive.. and God makes all things New…You see1. Easter gives Power for a New LifeHow many you have junk draw at home?I had a box full… of old cords For years……I had quite the collection.. old RCA cords … power blocks from old…tvs and vcrs’ — I kept them.. all.Just in case I might need them someday …but some day never cameAnd Over time Those cords became irrelevant…We do the same thing with our lives.. we hold on to the past..we hold on to failures and regrets.. topain and losses.But the thing the longer we Hold on to …the more irrelevant ..they become.Easter changes the narrative..Easter gives us Power for a new life ….power to let go of the old… and take hold of new life..In Matt 28 we have the account of the first witnesses of the resurrection... lets read..⸻
Matthew 28:1–5 ESV 1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.We told that this group of woman were the first witness..…to the resurrectionMatthew says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb…Marks adds Salome..… Luke says Joanne and the other woman —In other words There was an entourage of woman.These woman were all part of a group of who faithfully followed Jesus throughout his ministry……...When things became uncertain the disciples disbanded and scattered but it this group who stayed faithful ..Jesus had died on good Friday just before the Sabbath..(at Sun Down) —We told that this wealthy man Joseph of Arimathea had bought a grave for Jesus and placed him in the tomb…And because it’s was close to the Sabbath any sun down..There had not been enough time to prepare for proper burial..So…first thing Sunday morning . The woman go to the tomb .with herbs and spices to anoint Jesus body …— What is amazing is that they had no idea how they would get into the tomb..Because There was was a massive circular stone set in a front of the entrance.. it weighed several tons—(between 2000- 4000 pounds)— and wassealed with clay or wax —From a human standpoint, the tomb of Jesus was completely impenetrable..this was something the y knew.... Mark says as .Mark 16:2–3 ESV 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”These woman went to the tomb having no idea how they would get in..but They went anyway.Isn’t is that what faith does—-Faith isn’t having everything figured out…All the Facts and detailsWhen you think about it…They could have stayed home and said, —there is no use in trying ..But they didn’t They said, “Let’s go… and we’ll deal with the stone when we get there.”How many of us get stuck before we have even started?... we ask things like.“How is this going to work out?”“How will I get through this?”“How will this ever change?”What we learn from these woman… is that…“Faith walks toward the problem (regardless of how big or small)…Faith trusts that God goes before us… that he is already there.”And …that exactly what they discovered..Matthew tells us when they arrive at the tomb…There had been a tremendous earthquake… things were shaken up… there was the angel of the Lord had rolled away the stoneThere were the soldiers — who were paralyzed with fear.. “they looked dead men”This was no coincidence…— you see an same time that Jesus rose from the dead …this same earth quake struck Jerusalem..And it tore the curtain in the temple from the top to the bottom..The reason this is significant.For centuries, the curtain stood as barrier between God and man..Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place once yearly to offer sacrifice.. The earthquake was significant..it was the physical manifestation of God’s power breaking into history…No longer would the high priest have to enter the Most Holy Place to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people, because Jesus the final sacrifice for sin;…lifted the curtain..no other sacrifice would ever be necessary …When the woman arrive —WE see the beginnings of the impact of Resurrection…Power of God breaking into history to bring New Life… new creation. …Tim Keller says that Easter is a Divine force from the outside that has come in…“Because Jesus was bodily raised, something new has been introduced.”…The resurrection involves Power for a New life in Christ..This new life is not a mere resuscitation of the body (as in the case of Lazarus) but a transformation of the body to an eternal statePaul tells us that without resurrection…there is no hope in this world because there is no justification… there is no forgiveness of sins— and way to be made right with God..Paul says that in Romans 4.25 that Jesus …Romans 4:25 ESV 25 (who) was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.Here is the thing..The stone being rolled away is for-our benefit…Barnhouse said.The angel rolled away the stone from Jesus’ tomb, not to let the living Lord out but to let the unconvinced outsiders in.Donald Grey Barnhouse (American Minister)T/s Easter is about being made New… /at Easter dead things come alive..1. Easter gives Power for a New Life2. Easters give New Purpose for Every PainOne of the most asked questions about Christianity… is the question of suffering:“Why does God allow suffering and evil?”And the honest answer is this— .. “we don’t fully know.”This side of heaven we know in part …one day our Faith will be made whole ..But Scripture gives us some understanding.God created us with free will—real choice, real freedom— and with that comes the possibility of real evil.And here is the thing..… if God had chosen to eliminate all evil immediately after the fall… it would have meant the end of humanity itself.But instead… God chose mercy. He chose grace. He chose compassion.He chose to take suffering and use it for His purposes and His glory.And we see this most clearly… in Jesus.Christianity doesn’t give us a God who stands far off from suffering.It gives us a God who stepped into it.God Himself, in Christ, endured pain. He endured rejection. He endured the cross.We fin painin Easter..That first Easter morning…when the we woman walked ot the tomb..it was somber walk. Quiet. Full of grief.The last time these women had seen Jesus… was at the cross.They stood near Him.They saw His suffering. They watched Him entrust His spirit to the Father. They watched Him breathe His last breath.They carried that memory with them as they walked to the tomb.But here is the thing Easter Sunday…changes the narrative of pain.Because the resurrection tells us— suffering is real… but it is not the end.Pain has a place… but it does not have the final word.Matthew 28:5–8 ESV 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.The women come to the tomb expecting to find the body of Jesus… But Instead they find the Empty tomb…The angel invites the Woman to go into the tomb ‘and see the place where he lay’What they noticed is that the body of Jesus is missing…The closed tomb is opened..This is worthy of consideration..You see ..A closed tomb represents a reality where Jesus is still in the grave…A closed tomb…Is a life confined to what is known… it a life that is governed by time, space, and what we can control.It represents our mortality— it means a life without the resurrection,The theologian. Søren Kierkegaard once compared such a view to a smooth, flat stone that is thrown over the surface of a pond. The stone dances and skims over the surface of the water until that moment comes when, like life without hope beyond death, it runs out of momentum and sinks into nothingness.But the good news is the Tomb is Empty..and the empty tomb says something entirely different…It says death is not final.It says sin does not win. It says our failures are not Final.An empty tomb means Jesus is alive— and because He lives… there is hope there is power for today,Easter Gives Purpose for Our Pain..the womanwere looking for meaning in their Pain…Then Angel said..—“ButMatthew 28:5–8 ESV He is not here, for he has risen,Empty tomb dosn’t ignore our pain…Gives us purpose..in pain..Have we ever sat with someone who is hurting… someone walking through struggles we’ve faced ourselves… and thought, “I know how to help this person… I’ve been there”?This is what God often does with us. He shows us the “old grave clothes” of our lives—the pain, the mistakes, the scars— so that we can step into resurrection.God doesn’t just erase our painful history. He repurposes it.C.s Lewis had this wonderful qoute in h is book the problem of pain.God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. C. S. Lewis The Problem of Pain (1947)C. S. Lewis..We need to know that God delights changing the course of our lives. He delights in turning what once held us down into the very thing that lifts us up.Then woman left for the disciples with fear and great joy..T/s Easter is about being made New… /at Easter dead things come alive.. …1. Easter gives Power for a New Life2. Easters give New Purpose for Every Pain3. Easter gives New Passion for people..William E. Songster, was a gifted British Methodist preacher, suffered from muscular atrophy.One Easter day, in the grip of the disease, unable to walk or speak, he wrote his daughter.“It is terrible to wake up on Easter morning and have no voice with which to shout, He is risen—but it would be still more terrible to have a voice and not want to shout.”Easter gives New passion…to live of God..The very wordRESURECTION SPEAKS of NEWNESS…The resurrection is more than an event in History…The Resurrection is like that stone that is dropped to the middle of lake… It caused a Wave…of concentric circles that move outwards….. the wave of victory touches everything in its path path.Matthew tells the woman to no longer be afraid… but go and tell the brothers..that he will meet them in GalilieeMatthew 28:16–20 ESV 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”The disciples GOTO Galilee and wait for Jesus .. when he arrived they see him resurrected.Many of then worshiped Him…. This is the first times we see the disciples worshiping Jesus.. this is significant —There was no doubt now who he was…It’s was black and white..You either beilieved or doubted.. no thing in between..That is the proposition of the resurrection..— those who believed. Had a radical change..these same disciples who werefrightened and discouraged people huddling for safety, they became thoseWho lived boldly for Christ..and werewilling to give their lives for the Gospel —Why?? because they had seen the risen Christ…Im the book of acts.. we see how the the gospel’s expands outward in concentric circles to include from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, finally extending to the ends of the earth and encompassing both Jew and Gentile.Here is the thing … the waves— still continues…today …God still makes dead things come alive..He still removes stones and opens graves..He changes lives… , he reshapes communities, redirects history, and ultimately promises to renewal of all things. ….The Scholar NT wright said[The early Christians] believed that God was going to do for the whole cosmos what he had done for Jesus at Easter. N. T. Wright, Surprised by HopeN. T. WrightThe story of creation ends with resurrection..the whole earth being renewed… with new heavens and news earth..ConclusionLast night one of the astronauts on the Luna mission on Artemis 2 gave an Easter message.. a unique perspective.…Easter changes our perspective. There might be those perfectionist.. wondering about that box of cords..…I mentioned earlier..You’ll be happy to know— I finally got to them sortedaLl the old power Cords and connectors are now gone.. They’re all in one drawer now.Unless we go back using go HDMI cords I’m good.But here’s the truth… some of us are stillholding on to things we don’t need.Old, outdated, irrelevant things— attitudes, habits, ways of thinking— and they’re not serving us well.Some of us are carrying regrets. Shame.Old failures.We’ve been trying to fix things… organize our lives… clean it all up… and it’s still not working.But here’s the good news of Easter—Easter offers us a new start.Not a better version of the old life…but a brand new life.We don’t need a patch-up. We don’t need self-improvement.We need resurrection.And Jesus invites us—Gospel of Matthew“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”That’s the invitation.To lay it down. To let it go.Because the stone has been rolled away… the tomb is empty…and new life is available for us today. Because in Christ ..dead things come alive..Amen.. Matthew 28:1–5ESV
Mark 16:2–3ESV
Romans 4:25ESV
Matthew 28:5–8ESV
Matthew 28:16–20ESV
Richvale Community Church
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