From Grave to Glory: Living in Christ's Resurrection

Where did that dying and being hidden with Christ happen for you? It happened in the assurance of the water and the word of your baptism as you were baptized in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Through baptism, God has already joined you to Jesus. His death became your death. His resurrection became your life. And that means that means that even when we stand at the grave, even when we feel lost deeply as we may this year, Easter's not just about what happened to Jesus. It's about what happened to you. Through faith, through baptism, you're united with him. His death becomes your death to sin. His life becomes your new life. [00:05:33] (50 seconds)  #BaptizedInChrist

The grave is no longer your end. Your life has meaning now. You're not just surviving, friends. You are living in Christ because your future is secure. Resurrection is not just a possibility, friends. It is a promise that Jesus makes. When Jesus meets the women, he says, don't be afraid. That's Easter's message for you this day as well. Not not not you gotta fix yourself, not you gotta be better or try harder or earn it, but to simply don't be afraid. Jesus is alive, and Jesus is for you. [00:08:22] (43 seconds)  #JesusIsForYou

This risen Jesus doesn't stay distant. He comes to you this day. He comes to you in his word where he's spoken forgiveness and life with words of olution over you today. In a moment, he will come to you at his table in holy communion where he's gonna give you his very body and blood. Just think about that. The same Jesus who walks out of the tomb, the same Jesus the disciples touched and ate with, now feeds you. Not as a symbol, but as a promise. Your sins are forgiven. Death does not win. You belong to him. And one day, one day, you too will rise. [00:09:05] (48 seconds)  #FedByTheRisen

Hidden, but real. See friends, I know right now your life may not look glorious. You're struggling, you're suffering, And you still will face death. But Easter tells you what you see. Yes. What you see is not the full story or the end of the story. Because Colossians three four, when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. For those who are in Christ, death is not final. It's a doorway. And so we grieve, but not without hope. Your future is not uncertain. It is anchored in the resurrected Christ. [00:06:29] (53 seconds)  #GrieveWithHope

Friends, this is not wishful thinking. This is not a dream. This is history breaking open the grave, the women invited to be eyewitnesses of a body that is not there, but a grave that is empty. And then notice what happens next. The angel tells them, go quickly. Tell the disciples he has risen from the dead. Indeed, he's going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Listen, I have told you. [00:01:15] (35 seconds)  #HeIsRisenGoTell

A real resurrected lord and savior who still's body would eat food. And why this matters is because Christianity is not built an eye on an idea. We are not built on a philosophy. We are built on verifiable historical events. And what does this event mean? Well, Luke, the writer of Acts, tells us something that at first sounds pretty scary. Acts ten forty two, he says, he, Jesus, is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and dead. And that could sound pretty terrifying. Pretty terrifying because the one who is perfect, the one who is without sin, the one who is judge of the living and the dead is none other than Jesus Christ himself. [00:03:55] (51 seconds)  #RisenLordIsJudge

I know how that feels this year, if that's where you are. Our family this year, Easter carries both joy and grief. Many of you know my wife's mother Shirley passed away just before Christmas this year. First Easter without her. We feel it. We'll feel it at the meal this afternoon, the empty chair, the one who always made the strawberry pretzel salad for every family gathering, memories of Easter's past, pictures with one less person in them. And that quiet day doesn't disappear because it's Easter. And maybe you know that too this year. Yet this is exactly where Easter meets us. Because Jesus is risen, your sins are forgiven. Not because you feel it, but because he died and rose. [00:07:21] (59 seconds)  #EasterMeetsGrief

But Peter doesn't leave it there. He gives us some good news. The very next verse, verse 43, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. The judge is the same one who dies for you. The risen Christ still carrying the wound of the cross because those wounds are your salvation. It causes Paul to say something as we heard Daniel read from Colossians this morning that that changes how we see everything. [00:04:46] (34 seconds)  #JudgeWhoSaves