Discover the true power of the Resurrection in this Easter sermon. We often know the story, but does it change how we live day-to-day? Drawing on Paul's teachings in Romans 10, we explore how the profound truth of Jesus's resurrection can move beyond being a known fact to become a life-altering reality.

On a Sunday, the disciples watched Jesus enter Jerusalem. He was mounted on a donkey, and a crowd that lined the streets threw their clothes before him. As he traveled along the route, people had ripped up branches from palm trees, and they were waving and while crying out, Hosanna,

a massive celebration breaking out in the streets of Jerusalem to welcome the Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth, son of David, rightful king of Israel, coming to reclaim his throne. Imagine what his followers felt, the excitement they had, the joy. And then, within the week, that joyful spirit was crushed. They saw Judas, one of their own, betraying Jesus.

Judas, Judas of Nazareth. The disciples are arrested. He is put on trial. The disciples, they flee and go into hiding. Peter is overcome with fear. He denies knowing Jesus not once, but three different times in a single night. Jesus, their lily king, is mocked, tortured, and dies hanging from a cross. Thank you very much.

16th when the salad was over, Mary Ly Mary, the mother of James, and so lost prices so that they could go and anointing. Very early in the morning on the Forestdale week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. Is sunrise the new day. And these women, these painful women are on. Their hearts are heavy with sorrow, their minds are filled with loss and grief.

They're going to anoint the body of their beloved friend, Jesus. their

conversation takes a turn. Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us? They wonder. The stone is a symbol of the functionality of Jesus's death. It's a barrier between them and their task. Yet as they look up, they see that this massive stone has been rolled away. Despite its size and being sealed and guarded by Roman security guards, the stone has been rolled away.

Now, here's where things get really interesting. Verse 5. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side. And they were alarmed. The women are understandably upset. Their hearts pounding, their lives racing. It was bad enough that Jesus was mocked, abused, and killed.

Now, they have taken and desecrated his body. Don't be alarmed. The man told them. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they hung him. That's it. That's the most incredible news ever delivered. Jesus, the one they thought was dead, is alive.

He has risen, triumphing over death, throwing the power of darkness into chaos, and rewriting history. The areas of human history that is filled with death is empty. And a heart that should be filled with despair, are filled with hope. This, this resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith. It is a game changer, the axis on which all Christianity pivots.

This is not just a nice story. This is the power of God, the cause of new life and a dawn of a new day, and this is the reality that we can live in, a reality where death has been defeated, where love has triumphed, where hope is alive, because of God. Jesus is alive, amen. He has risen, he is not in a tomb, and that changes everything.

Many of us know this story. We've heard it, we've studied it, we've even celebrated it. Jesus is, or Jesus, God's own son, came down to earth, lived among us, died for us, and then the most divine act ever witnessed, he rose again. We can nod along when it's preached. We can agree wholeheartedly. But here's the rub.

How often do we really let this profound truth infiltrate the everyday moments of our lives?

You see, there's a vast divide between knowing the gospel and allowing it to transform you. Many of us know that Jesus died for us again. We understand just how important that is. Life changing, they should be. But then we step into our daily routines and somehow the world shaking importance of this reality seems to fade.

We find ourselves stuck in traffic, stressed at work, dealing with difficult relationships. It suddenly that monumental truth seems distant, even disconnected. We know it in our head, but it doesn't pulse in our. It doesn't guide our actions. It doesn't color our perspectives. This is our struggle. Knowing something so deeply transformative, and yet living as if it were a mere fact, rather than a life altering truth.

We may not say it out loud, but our lives often echo the question, How does the resurrection of Jesus affect my life here and now? And this, my friends, is the answer. It is the tension that we have to confront.

In 1 Corinthians 15, 3 6, Paul speaks of a multitude of witnesses to the resurrection. He writes, For I cannot argue as most important what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to over five hundred people.

Grandfathers and sisters at one time. Sometimes I think that we begin to doubt this story. It's just too big, too amazing. But the truth is, this story is our story. It happened and it was witnessed by over 500 people and not just a handful of individuals who claimed to see the rise. Christ. This was a collective experience shared by over 500.

It was a fleeting vision or brief communal hallucination. These people encountered Jesus alive and well after his crucifixion and death. In a time when news traveled by word of mouth, 500 people claimed to have seen a man rise from the dead. And not just any man, but Jesus of Nazareth, a man whose teachings had already begun to revolutionize their world.

And it wasn't a claim that anyone would make lightly because they knew the potential consequence. The potential consequence was to end up on a cross like he did.

But they stood firm. They stood firm. They risked their credibility, they risked their safety, and even risked their lives to proclaim this truth. Not just with words, but with their lives. And why? They did it because they had seen the impossible, because they had witnessed a miracle, because the resurrection is real.

The apostles who walked and talked with Jesus, who shared in his ministry, who witnessed his crucifixion, they too are a testament to the power of the resurrection. When we look in the Gospels, they are bumbling fools. And then the resurrection happens. And the Holy Spirit fills them and they suddenly are people transformed by the power of the resurrection.

These men who had scattered in fear at Jesus's arrest were transformed by their encounters with the risen Christ. They spoke with renewed vigor. They preached with unflinching courage. Acts 2 is amazing. Peter, who denied Jesus three times, is now speaking in front of thousands. The truth of Jesus. They lived lives that radiated the transformative power of the resurrection.

These weren't the actions of men clinging to a fairy tale or spreading a grand deception, playing an April Fool's joke. These were the actions of men who had seen the face of the resurrected Lord, they had touched his wounds, eaten with him, and listened to his teachings. They knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus had defeated death and their lives echoed this reality.

Friends, sometimes we fail to live into the reality of the resurrection because we struggle to believe. But the resurrection is not just a historical footnote or a theological concept. It's a reality. It's a reality that should shake us to our very core.

The resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith, the bedrock of our hope. And the promise of our own victory over death. So first this morning, I want to challenge you today to reject any lingering skepticism and to embrace in truth that the resurrection not only happened, but that it can happen to you.

You see, I want you to experience the new life that Jesus offers

in John 10. It says that Jesus came, that we might have life and have it abundantly.

Let's look at Romans 4 25. Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses, and he was raised for our justification. What does that mean?

Jesus, the Son of God, was delivered up. He was handed over. And when we look at the gospel accounts, it's clear that this was done willingly by Jesus. He willingly walked in to the suffering, to the death. He was beaten, betrayed, spat upon, crucified. bore a crown of thorns as he hung on the cross, willingly.

But why? The verse here says that it was for our trespasses, for our mistakes, for our sins, our wrongdoings. He took our place, our punishment, our shame.

The cross was ours, not his. But Jesus took it upon himself.

The story doesn't end there. Christ was raised. He didn't just swoon or faint. Let's be clear on that. He died. And then in a display of divine power and glory, he rose from the dead. Death could not hold him. The grave could not keep him. He shattered the chains of death, not just for himself, but for all of us.

This is the power of the resurrection. He was raised for our justification. Justification, it's a church word, but it's also a legal term. It means to declare not guilty. But we are guilty. Every single one of us have done something wrong.

But because of Jesus, it's as if we have never sinned. We stand justified, declared not guilty. Not because we've earned it, but because Jesus paid the price for us.

This is the scandal of grace. That Jesus would take our place, pay our debt, and offer us his righteousness while he takes our cross. This is the gospel. This is the hope of resurrection. And this is the reason that we have hope. A hope that is alive and unshakable because our Savior lives. Let me 10, where we really learn what this transformation looks like.

It says, If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. When Paul penned these words in Romans, he was laying out simply the radical groundbreaking shift that occurs when we truly embrace the resurrection. This is more than just an intellectual nod to a historic event.

What Paul is describing here is a deep rooted, soul level conviction that changes the way we see everything. First, we have to ask, Uh, or first we're asked to confess that Jesus is Lord. To confess in this context isn't just to mutter a few words under your breath. It's to boldly, unashamedly declare that Jesus is your master, your king, your ultimate authority.

This is not a half hearted, lukewarm admission. It's a passionate, all in one proclamation. Then, we're asked to believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead. Notice how Paul doesn't say believe in your mind or believe in your thoughts. He says believe in your heart. This is about more than just mere mental assent.

It's about a deep, personal, heartfelt conviction. It's about having a faith so real, so alive, that it pulsates in every beat of your heart. And what's the result? And this isn't just a ticket to heaven. It's not

a get out of hell free card. This is salvation in its fullest sense. It's liberation from the power of sin. It's deliverance from the tyranny of self. It's the restoration of relationship with the God of the universe. You see, when Jesus went to the cross in your place, He didn't just give his life, he gave himself.

He went to that cross so that he could have a relationship with you.

When we're saved, we have the opportunity to step into the fullness of life that Jesus promised. A life of abundance and fullness. A life in relationship with him.

Now don't miss the wonder of this. The God who spun the galaxies into existence. The God who paints sunsets and carves mountains. This God invites us into a relationship with Him. He invites us to call Him Lord. He invites us to believe in His power over death. He invites us to experience the liberating, life giving reality of salvation.

So what does the resurrection of Jesus signify to us as believers? In 2 Corinthians 4, we read, For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present Him.

The resurrection is a beacon of hope. It's a living, breathing promise of what's to come. You see, when Jesus himself walked out of that tomb, he didn't just defeat death for himself, he overcame death for all of us. He made a way where there was no way. He trod a path that we are to follow, a path that leads us from death to life, from despair to hope, from darkness to glorious light.

This is the transformative power of the resurrection. It's not just about acknowledging that Jesus rose from the dead. It's about understanding that because he rose, we will rise. If

this hope, this assurance, is a hope that should infuse our lives here and now. It's a hope that brings comfort and joy. Amid sorrow, peace amidst turmoil, joy amidst despair, is a hope that gives us the courage to face each new day, to weather the storms of life, to fight the good fight of faith, because the resurrection starts now.

Our resurrection starts now. And this is beautifully encapsulated in Colossians 3, where Paul writes, so if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above where Christ is. Seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is in your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. You see, in these verses, Paul is not merely talking about a future event when we'll be resurrected in body. He's not only referring to the moment when we will join Jesus in heavenly glory. No. Paul is talking about right here, right now.

He's saying that because we've been raised with Christ, we should seek the things above today. We should set our minds on heavenly things today. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God today. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. The same power that defeated death, that overcame the grave, that validated Jesus's divine authority and identity, it resides in us.

It's not just for a future resurrection, it's for a present transformation. So many of us came into this room this morning discouraged and frustrated about things in our life.

So many of us can feel defeated.

We can feel like it's finished for us. But the truth is

the resurrection is at work in our lives.

You see. The resurrection, it empowers us to live the life that Jesus calls us to.

When we accept Christ as our Lord, when the Holy Spirit enters our life and fills us with resurrection power, we can live victoriously. We can defeat the death in our life. We can defeat the power of sin.

We can face discouragement and despair with hope. Because the resurrection is at work. Now, this resurrection isn't something that we're just supposed to celebrate once a year. Like, we do this every week. And as Christians, we're called to do this every day. The Apostle Paul in Acts 17 writes this, he says, Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent.

Because he has set a day where he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by rising, uh, raising him from the dead.

This isn't just a casual suggestion of God for us to repent.

It's a command, but it's also an invitation. It's an invitation from the God who loves you. The God of the universe. So how do we respond to Jesus in faith? We respond through repentance. Repentance is not just about feeling sorry for our sins. It's a change of mind. It's a change of direction. It's turning away from our self centered lives and turning towards a Christ centered life.

It's turning away from love of self. It's the love of God and love of others.

Recognizing God's great love for us.

We're to do this in faith. It isn't about knowing. It's about believing. Personal trust. It's not merely believing that Jesus rose from the dead. It's trusting in the risen Jesus for our salvation. Trusting that as He rose from the dead, In him, we too can rise. So as we contemplate the reality and implications of the resurrection, I want to ask each one of you, have you responded to the resurrection?

If not, the time is now. The resurrection is a call to action. It's a call to make a personal commitment to follow Jesus. And so I want to extend an invitation. Thank you If you sense the Spirit's prompting, if you're ready to respond to the resurrection through repentance and faith,

in just a moment I'm gonna invite you to come forward.

The elders, the pastors, we would love to pray with you, to share in this momentous decision, to walk with you as you embark on this transformative journey. I don't know what you came in with, but I know Jesus wants to take it. Jesus wants to take it and to give you the greatest gift. The gift of himself, of his resurrection power.

He wants to make all things new. He wants to fill you with an abundant life.

If you come forward, know this, you're not just making a decision. You're starting a relationship. You're encountering a person, the risen Jesus. And this encounter will change everything. It will turn your world upside down. It will turn death into life, despair into hope, and sorrow into joy.

This invitation is not just for those who have not professed belief before, who have not asked to start a relationship with Christ. The invitation to come down and receive prayer is for all who desire a greater understanding, a greater experience of the Lord's resurrection power in their life. If there is something in your life that feels dead.

If there's a sin that you're struggling with and you want freedom, if there is an illness that you want healing from, I invite you to come forward. Let us pray over you in the power and the name of Jesus Christ, our risen King.

Because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us today. The resurrection invites us, even compels us to live. transformed lives. Not lives transformed by us, but lives transformed by him and his resurrection power.