The Sun Has Risen: Hope, Power, and Life

The power behind the resurrection of Jesus, the son of God, our savior, is the same power available to you. If that doesn't light your fire, as they say, your wood is wet. That same power lives in you. The norm for the Christian now is that because of because the sun has risen, we have that same power animating our life, giving us the the power and the ability to live the life that God wants us to live. Again, not just power to do what we want or get what we want, but power to live how he wants. [00:13:55] (50 seconds)  #ResurrectionPowerInYou

We need powerful Christians today, but not in the way that the world thinks of power. We don't mean, like, just simply power to get what we want or power to make other people do what we want. We don't mean that. We don't mean power as in, you know, that's a powerful Christian. They can get on Facebook and and yell about all the people that are wrong or yell about the Republicans or the Democrats. Like, we don't mean that. We need powerful Christians today who can bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus anytime, any place, under any circumstances. That is power. [00:09:52] (48 seconds)  #WitnessToResurrection

This morning, we bear witness to probably the most powerful event in all history, and it's written all over the the verses that that tell us what happened. There's power in the angel's appearance in verses three through four. The angel powerfully appears, and he rolls away the stone. His appearance is such, later that, the guards, they become like dead men. Such was the power of this experience. Such was the power of this moment that Jesus would not stay dead. He would rise alive. That's power. Sheer power from God. [00:08:34] (48 seconds)  #SheerDivinePower

Jesus is not there because he's risen, living, very much our alive savior. We should be the most alive people there are. Think about that. How often do people say that about us as as Christians? But it's true. We ought to be the most alive people around. There's no one whose belief system has been following anyone or anything more alive than Jesus. Think about that. No one, anyone who follows any other kind of belief system follows anyone or anything more alive than Jesus. He is the author of life. He is full of life. [00:15:55] (49 seconds)  #AliveInChrist

For the Christian, the son has risen. Forever and for all time, Jesus is with us if we choose to believe and and follow him in faith. Again, you may feel like, I've not been a very good Christian lately. I've not been to church enough. I've prayed enough. I've read my Bible enough. You worry that you haven't paid enough attention to him. And yet, as Jesus says to his disciples, my brothers, tell them they will see me. Tell them I will be with them. I think Jesus would say the the same to us, that we can experience him. We can have the joy of his presence if we would simply believe it in faith. [00:22:26] (48 seconds)  #ExperienceHisPresence

Not as bad as I could have been, but even still, I've sinned plenty enough for a holy and and righteous God to to block me out. Yet here I stand, and here you stand, a testimony to the fact that the sun has risen. And that is my hope, And that can be your hope. Not that we can be good, but that the son, the son, the only savior, Jesus Christ, has indeed risen. [00:24:15] (38 seconds)  #RisenSonOurHope

That just as it went with Jesus, just as his tomb is empty, just as the grave could not hold him, for those of us who put our faith in Jesus, the same will be true for us. Someday, our grave will be empty. We won't be there. We will be with the Lord. That is our hope. If death can't even keep hold of us, if death can't even erase our hope, then ought we to be filled with more hope than than anyone? That's what the sun rising means for us. It's time to hope. [00:07:44] (42 seconds)  #FutureResurrectionHope

But unexpectedly for them, they come and the stone has been rolled away from the tomb. Importantly, not to let Jesus out, but to show them that it was empty, that there is nothing, that there is no one inside. And so the women, they're still clearly confused about what is happening and and why this is happening, but there ought to still be, especially for us as we look backwards at these events, a sense of hope. The tomb is empty. Jesus is not there. He has risen. [00:04:24] (43 seconds)  #TombIsEmpty