Easter Sunday 2025
Notes
Transcript
Intro - Lost Story
Intro - Lost Story
Looking for my conditioner couldn’t find it in the bathroom - so i went to look in the luggage
Have you ever been searching for something, only to feel dissatisfied, like the thing you’re longing to find you can’t and so you go and look in unconventional places turning your life upside down in the hopes of finding that which your looking for?
Mary magdaline, Mary the mother of James and Salome
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”
3 Clues this actually happened and is a historical event.
3 Clues this actually happened and is a historical event.
The date, “On the first day of the week” - Sunday
Spices - brought for the dead
Women were the first to hear about the resurrection
Which means, this happened. You can trust what you are reading is factual, historical and it actually happened. But why did it happen?
6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:
HE IS RISEN
“Remember how he told you; while in Galilee” - another clue this really happened & could have been verified at the time
Well what are they to remember?
7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”
Jesus predicted His own Death & Resurrection!
3 Aspects to Jesus’ explanation as to why this had to occur:
3 Aspects to Jesus’ explanation as to why this had to occur:
1. Delivered over to the hands of sinners
1. Delivered over to the hands of sinners
Knock on Roman officers
Sinless took on sin on our behalf
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
What is sin?
Sin is anything we do or fail to do that is aligned with God’s will and purpose.
Problem of sin: leads to separation from God
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
Penalty of sin: death
“sin causes things to die”
animal sacrifice,
sin kills marriages, it kills relationships,
Payment was always made as a sacrifice in the hands of sinners - the sacrifice is to cover over (atone) for their sins
7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”
2. Jesus had to be crucified
2. Jesus had to be crucified
It was on the cross that Jesus took the punishment for our sins. Unlike all the animal sacrifices which came before Jesus, none of those was able to take the punishment for our sins, but Jesus took that upon Himself. He substituted Himself for us. The punishment that was to be due to us what taken by Him. Instead of us being punished for our sins, we are now forgiven. If we accept Jesus, say yes to Him and receive His forgiveness. If we do, we experience New Life, spiritually. Which is the third thing Jesus says. He would rise again. His resurrection helps us understand how Easter can happen in our own life.
3. Resurrection —> How Easter Happens
3. Resurrection —> How Easter Happens
When Jesus rose from the grave He defeated the hold sin and death have over our lives. The promise Jesus gives us is if we say yes to Him and accept the gift of salvation He offers to us we will be forgiven of our sins and we will have the promise of living with Him forever. That means while we might still physically die, we will be with Jesus after our death, and that there will be a literal day in the future when we will physically rise from the dead and have a new heavenly body and live forever. This is true life. A life free from the stranglehold sin had over us.
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
The freedom and choice Easter gives to us is found in verse 5 from Luke.
5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
Why do you look for the living among the dead?
Why do you look for the living among the dead?
What a profound question. It is a question for all of us. If sin causes things to die then sin will never bring the life it promises.
OUTRO STORY
Some of you know exactly what that is like. In your spiritual journey maybe you finally gathered the courage to walk into a church for help and direction, but how you were received, or how you perceived you were received, caused you to walk out. Others of you, after years of looking for life, have given up.
The thing you’ve been searching for is what we are all searching for, true life. But the reason we haven’t found it is because we’ve been looking for it on our own and our own search for life just brings sin. Sin promises to bring us life, but it fails every time. You never sought out death, you were looking for life, but because you didn’t realize how far from God you were, you were looking in all the wrong places. Why do you look for life among the dead?
But this Easter, you don’t have to keep looking for life among the dead. Jesus is here and He brings you true life. He has been looking for you this whole time and He has come to give you life. All you need to say to Him is yes.
Transition into Kali’s FaithStory
Transition into Kali’s FaithStory
Give I Said Yes Moment
Give I Said Yes Moment
Que up Spiritual but Not Religious series
Que up Spiritual but Not Religious series
Kyle’s Version
Kyle’s Version
Easter 2025: Looking for Life
Luke 24:1-8
Welcome to Wooddale Church! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Kyle, I’m the Senior Pastor here at Wooddale and I believe there is no mistake you are here today. Whether you woke up this morning excited to come celebrate Easter or you were lured here with the promise of brunch afterwards, even if it took a lot of courage to walk into a church building, you are here on purpose and for a purpose. I am so confident in that because here is what I know: The thing you are looking for is looking for you.
Before this device came out (hold up my iPhone), I got lost lot. Sometimes it was because I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, occasionally it was because I was confused, but most of the time it was because I thought I knew where I was going, even when I didn’t.
Almost 20 years ago, in the fall of 2006, my wife and I were invited to go to a weekend marriage retreat with some friends at a camp up north. This was about a year before the first iPhone came out so when we wanted to go someplace we had to print out driving directions. Remember MapQuest? If you never used MapQuest, think an older version of Google Maps that is less accurate and worse graphics. The retreat started on a Friday evening. This is before we had kids and we were early on in our careers, I actually wasn’t working for the church yet but was working in business, and I wanted to get just a few more things done before I left for the weekend, so we got a late start. If you’ve tried to head up north on a Friday evening you know rush hour is a real thing and we get stuck in traffic. In my wisdom and overconfidence, and to try and make up for lost time, I take a different route out of the Cities. I figured I would just cut over to our route once we got out of traffic.
It didn’t work. We got lost. Like lost, lost.
Here is the thing that happens to us when we get lost. Not only are we not sure how to get to where we want to go, we aren’t even sure where we are. Being lost is a disorienting experience and it causes us to miss the signs or not understand the signs which are there to guide us where we need to go.
That feeling of being lost is exactly how the first followers of Jesus felt 2,000 years ago. For the better part of three years they had followed Jesus. The listened to Him teach, watched the miracles He performed, believed He was the long awaited savior. But then, the unthinkable happened. He was killed. Not in a freak accident or a sickness, but He allowed Himself to be killed. He was falsely accused, had a sham trial, and never fought back. As if He knew He was supposed to be killed. Then Jesus was hung on a Roman cross and brutally tortured to death in public mockery. That was on Friday afternoon. The disciples were confused, alone, impossibly discouraged and hopelessly lost.
Then, suddenly, everything changed. The events of the first Easter are recorded for us in Scripture. Please open a Bible to Luke 24, this is on page 1610 of the Bibles we have in the pew back in front of you.
Luke 24:1-7
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”
In this story recording the events of the first Easter, we see the thing we are all looking for is actually looking us. Before we can see the thing that we are all looking for, we first must realize, these events actually happened.
Easter Actually Happened
What we just read was written by a man named Luke. He was a doctor and a historian. In the opening sentence of Luke’s document about Jesus he says that he carefully investigated everything he had heard about Jesus, confirming with eyewitnesses if what had been taught about Jesus was true. This document are his findings. When Luke writes this, he loads it with clues and evidence that help to give us tremendous confidence that what we are reading is historically accurate.
Right away in verse one of 24th chapter, Luke says, “On the first day of the week,” this meant Sunday. Here is why this is significant, if this were a myth or a story where you were a little fuzzy on the details, you wouldn’t write this. Instead, you would say things like, “A few days later…” or “Later on…” or “After sometime…” but Luke says, this is exactly when this happened. Check the date.
He goes on to tell us it was the women followers of Jesus who went to the tomb with spices. This was a common occurrence in the day, after someone died they put spices on the wrapped body in the tomb to help mask the smell of the decaying body. This detail lets us know, Jesus was dead. Not almost dead, not kind of dead, not mostly dead, He was dead, dead.
Another major clue this is true is the fact that Luke points out the women were the first ones who heard about Jesus rising from the dead. For us today, that might not seem noteworthy, but 2,000 years ago in the Roman Empire and in Israel, women where not valued or seen as having equal rights. They were not able to give valid testimony in a court as an eyewitness. Yet, that is who Luke cites as the first person who were there, the first ones who learned Jesus rose from the dead, and the first ones who shared that message with others. Which was a hang-up 2,000 years ago. It was something that made this message more challenging to believe. If Luke made this up, or if this was a rumor that got out of hand, no one would have had the key witnesses be these Hebrew women. Yet, that is exactly whom God chose to tell first and Luke being so honest about it, despite the cultural barriers this created, reported the facts honestly.
Which means, this happened. You can trust what you are reading is factual, historical and it actually happened. But why did it happen?
Why Easter Happened
In verse 6, the angels say to the women: He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: Which, here is another clue Luke drops, he references where Jesus was when He said this, it was in Galilee, which means the people who first read this could have gone to Galilee and talked to the people who were there and ask, “Did Jesus really say this?” and confirm it for themselves. Again, a detail you don’t bother to mention if you are making this all up.
Then in verse 7 we have the words of Jesus explaining, ahead of time, why He was going to have to die and then rise again. Which is astonishing. It is one thing to predict your own death. That, in and of itself, is noteworthy, but not miraculous. It is also possible to predict your death and then your own resurrection. Several cult leaders have done that. But what no one else in the history of the world has been able to do is to predict and accomplish your own resurrection. This sets Jesus alone from any other teacher, prophet, or religious figure. Here is what Jesus said about this:
‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”
His explanation has three parts. First, He had to be delivered over to the hands of sinners. This is as much a knock on the Romans who crucified Jesus as it is a theological statement that explains why Jesus had to die. Jesus was God in the flesh, in Jesus we have someone who is both, at the same time, fully God and yet also fully human. This means Jesus led a human life, but He had no sin and never sinned. Sin is anything we do or fail to do that is aligned with God’s will and purpose. Jesus didn’t have sin because He is God Himself, what He did was fully aligned with His own purpose and will. Unlike Jesus, all of us have sinned. We have all done things we knew were wrong, yet we did it anyway. Or we have failed to do good things we knew we should have done or could have done. That is also sin.
Our sin has separated us from God. Sin isn’t just making a mistake, it is an intentional way of being that, at the heart, says we trust ourselves more than we trust God. It is a rejection of God’s control of our lives and a desire for us to be the god over our own life. The sinfulness of humans goes all the way back to the beginning. God didn’t create us with sin, we chose to walk away from our relationship with God. We’ve done that cosmically as humanity, but we have also done this personally in each of our own stories. God has responded to our sin by making a way for us to still be in relationship with Him. Before Jesus came, the way humans related to God was they would make a sacrifice, often an animal, to be reminded of what sin does. Sin causes things to die. This is true literally, the reason we experience human death is one of the consequences of sin. But this is also true relationally and spiritually. When we do things we know are wrong, our sleep dies, because we experience guilt. Sin kills relationships. It was sinful actions which is why your marriage fell apart or why you and your roommate don’t talk anyone. Sin even causes our own self-respect and sense of self-worth to die. Sin causes things to die.
So before Jesus, people would travel from all over Israel to come to the Temple in Jerusalem with a sacrifice and they would place their hands on the animal and kill it. It was a vivid reminder to them what sin was doing to them and it reminded them of God’s graciousness. Which means this, a sacrifice is always in the hands of sinners. The sinner is in need of a sacrifice to cover over their sin. Jesus being delivered into the hands of sinners was needed so their sins could be forgiven.
This is what the second part of what Jesus said. He had to be crucified. It was on the cross that Jesus took the punishment for our sins. Unlike all the animal sacrifices which came before Jesus, none of those was able to take the punishment for our sins, but Jesus took that upon Himself. He substituted Himself for us. The punishment that was to be due to us what taken by Him. Instead of us being punished for our sins, we are now forgiven. If we accept Jesus, say yes to Him and receive His forgiveness. If we do, we experience New Life, spiritually. Which is the third thing Jesus says. He would rise again. His resurrection helps us understand how Easter can happen in our own life.
How Easter Happens
When Jesus rose from the grave He defeated the hold sin and death have over our lives. The promise Jesus gives us is if we say yes to Him and accept the gift of salvation He offers to us we will be forgiven of our sins and we will have the promise of living with Him forever. That means while we might still physically die, we will be with Jesus after our death, and that there will be a literal day in the future when we will physically rise from the dead and have a new heavenly body and live forever. This is true life. A life free from the stranglehold sin had over us.
The freedom and choice Easter gives to us is found in verse 5 from Luke. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
Why do you look for the living among the dead?
What a profound question. It is a question for all of us. If sin causes things to die then sin will never bring the life it promises.
It was like that drive up north my wife and I took. We were looking for way to this weekend retreat, but I lost my way. Once I got lost, I thought I knew the way back to where I wanted to go, but because I didn’t know where I was, I just made the situation worse. I kept looking for the right way, but I could never find it because I wasn’t anywhere close to where I thought I was. After hours of driving, I decided to stop and ask directions, which was an embarrassing admission that I was lost. There was this small town bar still open, so I pull in the parking lot, Steph stayed in the car and I walked in. As soon as I did, the five people in the bar all stopped talking and turned and stared at me. Instantly insecure, I actually apologized for walking in and went back to the car!
An hour later we came up to a sign for I-35, a painful realization of how far away we were. In that moment, we gave up. We got a hotel and went home in the morning.
Some of you know exactly what that is like. In your spiritual journey maybe you finally gathered the courage to walk into a church for help and direction, but how you were received, or how you perceived you were received, caused you to walk out. Others of you, after years of looking for life, have given up.
The thing you’ve been searching for is what we are all searching for, true life. But the reason we haven’t found it is because we’ve been looking for it on our own and our own search for life just brings sin. Sin promises to bring us life, but it fails every time. You never sought out death, you were looking for life, but because you didn’t realize how far from God you were, you were looking in all the wrong places. Why do you look for life among the dead?
But this Easter, you don’t have to keep looking for life among the dead. Jesus is here and He brings you true life. He has been looking for you this whole time and He has come to give you life. All you need to say to Him is yes.
That is what Katy did, and for her, that is what brought her true life. Please watch her story now.
If you are looking for true life this Easter, how you find it is by doing what Katy did and say yes to Jesus.
Say Yes to Jesus.
When you say yes to Jesus, you say yes to two things. One you say yes to the forgiveness for your sin. You agree with God that you have sinned and that sin has kept you from Him, but you also acknowledge Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins. You are saying yes to God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness.
You are also saying yes to follow Jesus completely for the rest of your life. That means you will live your life how Jesus commands us to live. This doesn’t mean living religiously, but living in a personal relationship with Him.
Some of you here would even say, “I’m a spiritual person, but not religious.” If you have ever said that or thought that, I want you to know that Jesus agrees with you, just not in the way you think.
This is why, starting next week, we are going through a series called, Spiritual, Not Religious. If you are saying yes to Jesus today, or if you are wanting to understand more of what it means to say yes to Jesus, join us next Sunday to understand what Jesus means by being spiritual but not religious.
If you are ready to say yes to Jesus, please pray with me.
Thoughts:
Thoughts:
You don’t go to a funeral looking for birth
You don’t go to a hospital looking for injury
You don’t go to a desert looking for a feast.
You don’t go to a graveyard looking for life
The problem is we go to graveyards looking for life.
Here’s the problem: we know this and do it anyways.
JO’s Graveyards:
dating relationships
D1 football
porn
Medical degrees
Jesus will not be found in places of death - because He is alive!
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Broad is the way of sin and death - many are those looking for life in a graveyard
But it only leads to the grave
And all of us must die! There is no way around it sin = death
The question is will we die with Christ?
Will we put to death what he put to death
that we can be raised to life with him
How do we walk not toward a tomb but a womb? How do we walk out of the grave and into the kinf
Prompt:
Prompt:
Easter - Stand Alone Message
Looking for Life
Speaker: Kyle
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
Often we look for the living among the dead. We expect to find life, things that satisfy and fulfill us among
things which are actually spiritually dead. We look for life in these dead places because we act as if Jesus
is still dead; that He has nothing to offer us in this life. But He has risen, He gives an offer to join Him in
the New Life He alone offers to us. This is not merely a spiritual type of New Life, it is a truth that
transforms our real life here and now and will extend into eternity.
FaithStory
I Said Yes
