But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body. —Luke 24:1-3

Introduction

The grave is empty,

has won, Christ is risen! (Luke 24:4-12)

There has been a

that has proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus every day since A.D. 32.

“God cannot and will not break a promise. That is the message of Easter. You can trust the promises of God.” —Rev. Paul Rasmussen, Highland Park United Methodist Church

Everyone who’s in

is there because Jesus wants us to be with him. (John 15:16)

Everyone who’s in

is there because they choose to be. (2 Peter 3:9)

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘THY will be done.’ All that are in Hell choose it. The gates of hell are locked on the inside.” —C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce

Heaven and hell are by

.

“Do we want to be a part of the wedding feast to which all are invited? The only people who don’t get in on the party are those who don’t want to come – so I guess we have to ask ourselves, ‘Do we want to come?’” —Father Richard Rohr

With God, there are no nobodies and

can be somebody in Jesus’ name! (Luke 19:10)

Saving the

is what drove Jesus, what drove the start of this church, and what drives us now.

We are planted here to be used by God to

the lost, the hurt, the hungry, the lonely, and the hopeless.

“We can’t be good enough, smart enough, or nice enough to be loved by God – we just are. Let that settle in over you for a minute, okay?” —Bob Goff

So, we welcome all, love others authentically, and let our light shine

we go.

The Problem:

Life still has crucifixion moments of senseless

, suffering, and death.

Suffering is a part of

.

You can go through it

and angry or you can go through it with Jesus and his people.

Jesus is the answer. Heaven is a

we make, not a place we find.

“Heaven is where what God wants done is done.” —Dallas Willard

Heaven is for

! (John 3:16-17)

God is a God of

.

God sees hard places and broken people and moves

us, not away.

When all else fails, God

.

Jesus is the

, not the victim.

Why does this matter?

Friday, March 24, 10:20pm

Wednesday, March 29, 9am:

“They cannot

anymore… being children of the resurrection.”

9:18am: You can have peace in the

.

9:20am: I went from grieving to

. (Luke 20:37-38)

Our Lord is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and the God of

.

9:46am: Loss, yes.

, no. (John 11:25)

Action Step

Ask Jesus to be the answer to your

.

My additional notes:

.