Easter Morning Service

Title: “The Stone Wasn't Rolled Away for Jesus—It Was Rolled Away for Us”

== Let’s just be honest for a second: if you or I were writing the most important moment in human history

== the defeat of death, the resurrection of the Son of God—we’d script it with thunder, angels descending like Marvel superheroes, and a crowd watching in awe.

== But God didn’t do it that way.

== He wrote resurrection into the quiet of a garden, with women arriving at dawn, tears in their eyes, spices in their hands, and no expectation that Jesus was alive.

== Why? Because God doesn’t do big just to impress. He does true to transform.

== Let’s walk through what really happened on that first Easter morning.

#1 The Gospels Tell a Unified Story

== When we harmonize the four Gospel accounts, we don’t get contradiction—we get a chorus of truth.

== Each writer brings a different camera angle to the same scene. When we put it together, here’s what we see:

==Before sunrise, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome head to the tomb with burial spices (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1).

== They worry about the stone, but when they arrive.

==the stone is already rolled away (Matthew 28:2; Mark 16:4).

== There’s an angel—or two—depending on when you arrive (Matthew says one outside, Luke says two inside. Both agree: “He is not here. He is risen!”).

== Mary Magdalene runs to Peter and John, who come sprinting to the tomb. John gets there first (humblebrag in John 20:4), but Peter goes in first.

== The tomb is empty. The grave clothes are folded.

==Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene.

==Not to the disciples. Not to Pilate. But to a woman who had once been possessed by seven demons.

== Why? Because resurrection power doesn’t follow our expectations—it follows grace.

#2 The Evidence Is Overwhelming

==Let’s be clear—the resurrection isn’t just a spiritual metaphor.

== It’s a bodily, physical, historical event with real-world consequences. Here’s why we believe it with confidence:

✝️ 1. The Empty Tomb

==If Jesus didn’t rise, someone would’ve produced a body. But no one ever did—not then, not now.

==The tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers. You don’t just sneak past them with a 2-ton stone and a corpse.

👩‍🦱 2. The Eyewitnesses

== Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, then the women, then to Peter, then to the Twelve, and then to over 500 people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6).

== That’s not a hallucination—that’s a revival.

💀 3. The Changed Lives

==These disciples, who once ran for their lives, became bold proclaimers of the risen Christ.

== Ten of the original disciples were martyred. You don’t die for a lie you made up. They saw Him. They touched Him. They ate with Him.

🕊️ 4. The Birth of the Church

==What explains the explosion of the early church?

== These weren’t PR-trained professionals. They were fishermen, tax collectors, and ordinary people who had encountered a living Savior.

#3 The Resurrection Still Rolls Stones Away

== The angel didn’t roll the stone away to let Jesus out—

== He was already risen. He rolled the stone away to let us in. To see the empty tomb. To believe.

Jesus' resurrection means:

== Your past can be forgiven (Romans 4:25 – "He was raised for our justification").

==Your present can have purpose (1 Corinthians 15:58 – "Your labor in the Lord is not in vain").

== Your future is secure (1 Peter 1:3 – "He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ").

== Whatever "stone" you walked in here carrying—guilt, grief, fear, failure—it can be rolled away by resurrection power.

Closing: Resurrection Invitation

== The message of Easter is not "try harder"—it’s "trust Jesus." == He’s alive. He’s calling your name like He called Mary’s. ==He’s still showing up in gardens, through tears, past locked doors, into broken hearts.

And the tomb? Still empty.

“Death is dead. Love has won. Christ has conquered. The tomb is empty. The throne is occupied. And Jesus is alive… forever.”

✅ Application Point 1: Let the Resurrection Redefine Your Reality

“If the tomb is empty, anything is possible.”

Scripture: Romans 8:11 – "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he... will also give life to your mortal bodies."

What it means: Stop living like death still has the last word. If Christ walked out of the grave, your past, your failures, and your fears don’t get to define you anymore.

Challenge: Ask yourself: What "dead" area of my life needs resurrection? A relationship? A dream? Your joy? Bring it to Jesus. If He can rise from the dead, He can raise you, too.

✅ Application Point 2: Live as a Witness, Not Just a Believer

“The resurrection wasn’t meant to be kept—it was meant to be shared.”

Scripture: Acts 1:8 – "You will be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth."

What it means: The same power that raised Jesus is the power that now sends you. Like Mary, like Peter, like those 500 others—you’ve seen the empty tomb, now go tell somebody.

Challenge: This week, tell someone your resurrection story—how Jesus changed you. Invite them to see the stone rolled away for themselves.

✅ Application Point 3: Rest in the Living Hope of Jesus

“Because He lives, we face tomorrow with confidence—not anxiety.”

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3 – "He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

What it means: Hope isn’t wishful thinking—it’s resurrection assurance. You don’t have to fear death, defeat, or the unknown. Jesus already walked into the grave and walked out.

Comfort: Whatever comes next in your life, it’s not the end. The worst thing is never the last thing. Why? Because Jesus lives—and so will you.

Let me leave you with this:

“Death is dead. Love has won. Christ has conquered. The tomb is empty. The throne is occupied. And Jesus is alive… forever.”You can close the message with a question like: “The tomb is empty. Is your heart still full of fear—or full of faith?”