EASTER SUNDAY (LIVE) - April 5, 2026 | No Grave

Two thousand years ago, the big news was not that Jesus died. The ancients knew a statistic. Ten out of ten people die. They understood death probably better than we do. We can get stuck on that side. The cross matters. It's half the story, though. Because the other half of the story is he is alive, that Jesus Christ two thousand years ago killed death. [00:43:35] (34 seconds)  #ResurrectionOverDeath

It's the, if you would, the full gospel. Jesus is alive, and he has killed death. And with him comes forgiveness of sins, the power of God's spirit, a new community, and better mission. That's the gospel. And I've had the chance when I was an undergraduate at OSU to study all kinds of do the world religion class. And then at seminary, had the chance as well to study different religions, talk to people. [01:02:31] (30 seconds)  #FullGospelAlive

I've experimented around in my own life, not following Jesus, following other things. And I can tell you this. There's no better life than being a follower of Jesus Christ. There's no better life than loving God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength and loving your neighbor as yourself. There's just no better. This is the way to life. Forgiveness of sins, community, power of God's spirit, mission. It's how you're designed. [01:03:02] (30 seconds)  #BestLifeInChrist

And death is humanity's worst enemy. It is humanity's worst fear. You go to a funeral, and what do you do at a funeral? You cry. I did a graveside memorial service on Friday for a six week old baby, Tegan man, and I cried. Little caskets are the hardest ones. We cry. And here's why we cry, because we know death is unnatural. It's an invading enemy. [00:44:09] (43 seconds)  #DeathIsTheEnemy

And then what happened was his disciples kinda started making things up about him, started inventing. And over the course of a hundred or two hundred or three hundred years, he just kinda became a legend. He just got bigger and bigger. That that's what I believe. I don't believe all that stuff. Here's what you need to know. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the number one most attested ancient event in history. Nothing close to it. [00:47:54] (25 seconds)  #ResurrectionAttested

Explain to me the transformation that took place in his disciples. Read the gospels. They they don't show up too good in the gospels. Over and over, ye of little faith, you guys get I mean, you're blow cases. They go from cowards that run away at any sign of trouble to the most courageous, bold martyrs dying for their faith. [00:48:59] (23 seconds)  #DisciplesTransformed

He didn't believe in Jesus. Read John chapter seven. He's mocking his older brother. Mark says that his whole family thought Jesus was out of his mind. He's lost his mind. Mocking, believing he's insane. What changes James into a believer that Jesus, his older half brother, is God in the flesh, it's because he saw the resurrected Lord. That's what changed him. [00:49:48] (29 seconds)  #JamesConvertedByResurrection

Every person in here has hurt God's creation. God owns everything. He made it. Every one of us, by words, by deeds, by actions, have hurt other people. We've been cruel. We've bullied people. We've stole from them. We've been greedy. Just go down the list. Every one of us has hurt part of God's creation, healings it all. And Jesus Christ says, I will pay the debt. I will make it right. [00:58:41] (39 seconds)  #WeAllHaveSinned

What happens is when God's spirit comes inside of you, you stop being so meistic. You stop being so selfish. You stop being all about yourself because that is you the recipe for misery is trying to make everything about you. And that's the message of this world. What happens is you get a new kind of mission. It's not about me. [01:01:49] (22 seconds)  #SpiritTransformsMission

We know something. Humans know something. This is unnatural. I call it the echo of Eden that's in every single human heart. We know that we are designed to live in paradise with God's presence, married to our spouses, having beautiful babies. That's what we know deep in our heart, and something has interrupted this called death. And we do everything we can now to keep outrunning death. [00:46:18] (38 seconds)  #EchoOfEden

Why do we love seeing people, laughing and enjoying life? And why do we hate war? Because we are designed for that. Why do we hate it? Why do we love to see kids out here laughing like they are, and we hate seeing them hurt or abused anyway? Because we know how we were designed. We know it. It's the key for every human heart. [00:55:50] (25 seconds)  #DesignedForJoy

So much so that he is grabbed by the authorities there in Jerusalem that's per that are persecuting the church, and he is told to recant. He says, no. They take him up to the platform of the temple. They say, recant or we'll throw you off. He says, no. They throw him off. He shatters both of his legs. He's down there still alive. They come down. They say, recant. He says, no. And they bash his head in with a Fuller's club. [00:50:41] (24 seconds)  #MartyrdomForFaith

And when I shared the big story, you know what he said to me? He said, Matt, that's good news. I wish I could believe that could happen. So I told him this. I stole it from GK Chesterton. GK Chesterton says, if you're walking down a road and you find a key in the road and it fits a lock perfectly, what do you know? They were designed for each other. [00:54:54] (28 seconds)  #KeyFitsLock

It brings true happiness. I tell people, never give up on happiness, but go the right route. Because you can head for happiness in the wrong way. We have an enemy that wants to do this. He wants to steal and to kill and to destroy human flourishing. Joy. And he does it here's how he does it. He tempts us with cheap thrills, and we miss out on Jesus' deep joy. That's what happens. [01:03:32] (29 seconds)  #ChooseDeepJoyNotCheapThrills

Once you believe in Jesus Christ, you're adopted as a son or daughter. You become his family. I've been to 35 countries in my life. In almost every one of those countries, I've met family, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. It's like you almost know they're a believer. Remember, I was in South Korea working with some people when I was in business. And I remember, I'm just working with this guy, I knew this guy's a believer in Jesus Christ. [01:00:43] (27 seconds)  #AdoptedIntoFamily

You just know it. Man, you're a brother. You're a sister. We've got family that stretches back thousands of years. We've got family that stretches across the globe. You've got a family right here. You become part of a new community. And then you get mission. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. [01:01:19] (31 seconds)  #GlobalChristianFamily

Three first century authors, none of them believers, mentioned the resurrection, mentioned Jesus is God, mentioned these things, Pliny, Setunius, and Josephus. Not believers, but they all mentioned, hey, this is what people are saying within a generation of Jesus. Other authors outside of the gospel writers saying, yeah. They're saying he came back from the dead. In forty nine AD, in fact, within just years. [00:48:25] (34 seconds)  #EarlyNonChristianSources

I think often when we think of the good news, what comes to our mind is the cross, the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus died for our sins, and that's true. But that's only half the story. Because just as important, maybe more importantly is Jesus is alive. Jesus rose from the grave. Jesus is life now. [00:38:58] (32 seconds)  #JesusAliveNotJustDead

Sometimes with the gospel, I think it's presented with just half the story. That when maybe apart from this day, when we think about the gospel, very often, think what we think about, we think about the good news. Remember, it's news. Not good advice, not self help. News is a reporting of events that actually took place. [00:38:30] (28 seconds)  #GospelIsNews

So what Jesus says is this, I'll give you my power, that where you're weak, I'll be strong for you. That your good intentions now will be given power by my spirit. That I'll produce this fruit in you, love, joy, peace, long suffering, meekness, temperance. I'll give you the fruit of my spirit as well. God's spirit. And you'll get community. [01:00:04] (31 seconds)  #PowerOfTheSpirit