April 12, 2020
SUNDAY SERMON: GOOD NEWS OF THE RESURRECTION
Matthew 28:1 – 8
Introduction: Today, we have exciting news to share! Today, we celebrate the glorious news that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ is not dead and lying in a grave. Today, we celebrate the fact that He is risen from the dead and that the tomb He occupied is empty!
This is a true story. Remember, THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR!
The scene of Jesus’ Resurrection did not appear as they thought.
The exciting news that Jesus is alive is news we need to hear and share again and again. It is news that should cause rejoicing. We are here today because somewhere along the way we heard the glorious news that Jesus is alive. That news gives us hope today. The hope of His resurrection should fill our hearts with joy! Our Jesus is alive! Hallelujah!
I would like for us to take some time this morning to return to Jerusalem and look in on the events that took place early that Sunday morning. I would like for us to hear the message of the resurrection as it was shared by the angel of the Lord that came to the tomb of Jesus.
At dawn on the first day of the week, three days following the crucifixion of the Lord, some of the women who had trusted Him, followed Him, supported Him, and had been faithful to Him all the way to the cross, approached His grave to finish preparing His body for burial.
They came there that morning with spices expecting to find the body of Christ still lying in a tomb with a stone rolled over its mouth, and being guarded by Roman soldiers! The women were in for the surprise and shock of their lives. Rather than finding the dead body of Jesus, they heard news that energized, and encouraged their hearts. They heard news that shock the earth to its very foundations. They heard news that still reverberates down the corridors of both time and eternity!
As that little band of women approached the tomb that day, the earth shook, and angel appeared, and he rolled away the stone from the mouth of the tomb. The angel did not roll the stone away to that Christ could come out; he did so that they could go in!
That gleaming angel who countenance was like lightening, and whose clothes were as white as snow then sat upon the stone which he had rolled away! The soldiers who were there to guard the tomb were so shaken by what had happened and by the appearance of the angel that they became as dead men!
The women approached, and the angel answered all the questions that filled their hearts before they had a chance to say anything. That angel preached a powerful message that morning. I want to share it with you today. He brought GOOD NEWS OF THE RESURRECTION. I have four movements about the facts of the resurrection the angel proclaimed.
I. THE COMFORT OF THIS GOOD NEWS v. 5
II. THE CHALLENGE OF THIS GOOD NEWS v. 6
III. THE COMMANDS OF THIS GOOD NEWS v. 7
IV. THE CONFIDENCE OF THIS GOOD NEWS v. 7,8,9
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