Resurrection Truth // Roll Down Justice // Apr 5 2026 Easter Sunday

So many champions crash and burn once they've reached that pinnacle. What comes next? What are we going to do with this gift that we have been given? Do we face the same uncertainty that we see at the end of Mark's gospel? Where does this story end? What happens next? The gospels don't really have an end because God is still writing the story. God is still writing the story through each one of us. We know that Jesus not only rose from the dead, but he also rose into heaven at the ascension. Through Christ, we have a promise of forgiveness and salvation and eternal life. We know that our victory is eternal. It's not just one moment. It's not going to be erased by next year's tournament winners or next season's gold medal winners. [00:14:57] (67 seconds)  #EternalVictory

And we've often used our fear now to separate people. Maybe it's not kids, but there's all sorts of people saying, well, you should be afraid of this person or that person, you should stay away from certain people. That is not the message of Jesus. Jesus adopted everyone into the body of Christ to continue Jesus work on in the world until we join Jesus in heaven. We are the children of God and we have been given a place on God's team. And for the moment, we are the team that's on the field. We have been passed the baton, and it is our job to play the game right now. Now, there may be a day when we're passing that baton on to the next person, but for the moment, we are the team that God has put out there to win the championship. [00:17:09] (64 seconds)  #GodsTeamNow

But team Jesus managed step by step to win the championship, to take down the worldly teams and powers that afflict us all, the teams of temptation and suffering, the teams of false expectations and condemnation. When you're watching a basketball game, there's no more agonizing and tantalizing moment when the than when the ball is just hanging right there on the rim and you're not sure which way it's gonna go as you're waiting for the buzzer. If it goes in, there's so much joy. And if it just barely rolls out, so much devastation. Now in our championship game of faith, that eternal moment came on Good Friday afternoon. [00:06:21] (57 seconds)  #FaithBuzzerBeater

We get to remember that we are not playing alone. We have the best head coach in the world, who tells us exactly what we need to do. He's got the best playbook. We just need to do it. We are the children of God. We are playing on the heavenly team. Jesus is our friend, our player, our coach. Jesus is with us wherever we are. Now and forever, Jesus wins. Now and forever, Jesus wins. Amen. [00:19:01] (39 seconds)  #JesusOurCoach

Jesus was double teamed by the most ancient and relentless of human foes. Jesus hung on the cross nailed there by our human sin and he fought with death with each ragged breath. But for him, it wasn't just one moment on the rim, it was couple hours. And then they took his lifeless body down, they laid it out in the tomb, and the moment for his beloved followers stretched to days and victory just seemed lost. Our reading today from Jeremiah, we are reminded of how God's prophets laid the groundwork throughout the old testament with a message of hope and salvation through God's gift of rebuilding and restoration and regeneration. [00:07:18] (61 seconds)  #CrossToRestoration

We know what happened to Jesus' body. The angels told us that Jesus won. Now the gospel show us how this shining moment of eternal victory plays out. The gospel of John tells us that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden shining and changed. Let's see it again. Jesus wins. Luke tells us that Jesus appeared to two disciples who were walking out of town, they'd given up. Jesus was dead, they were walking back home to Emmaus, Jesus shows up, he has a meal with them and they recognize him. Wins. Matthew describes Jesus appearance to the disciples in Galilee where he commands them to go and tell the whole world of the good news of victory, baptizing and making disciples, [00:12:20] (58 seconds)  #ResurrectionRevealed

We may not feel like we're the best, but somehow God does the most with the people who feel the weakest. Amos, the prophet Amos, he argued with God, don't make me a prophet, I'm a farmer. Let me stay here with my grapevines and my olive trees. And God's like, no. You're exactly who I need. And God is saying to every one of us, you are exactly the team player I need right here, right now. So what are we gonna do with this? This is beautiful and I hope some of you come take pictures with it after church, but what are we gonna do with this joy? What are we gonna do with the celebration? What do we do when we walk out that door into God's mission field? [00:18:13] (48 seconds)  #GodUsesTheHumble

But for the people listening in Israel, that nail biting moment, that cliffhanger, it just seemed to drag on and on for generations and even centuries. It sure felt like that ball was glued to the rim and it wasn't going anywhere. We heard Amos and Micah, so many of the prophets saying a Messiah will come, a savior is going to bring justice and peace to your life. And here as a congregation, we have been collecting prayers of justice and tying them on the cross as we have prayed for justice to come to our world today as well. [00:08:19] (51 seconds)  #CenturiesOfHope