Easter Sunday 2025
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
Happy Easter. He is Risen!
Today we celebrate the single most important doctrine in the Christian faith. That Jesus came back to life.
READ
On February 27, 1991, during the Desert Storm War, a woman by the name of Ruth Dillow received the worst call of her life. Her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private First Class, had stepped on a land mine and was dead. For the next three days she grieved. No one could comfort her. On the third day after receiving the terrible news, the phone rang. On the other end of the phone there was a voice that said, “Mom, it’s me. I’m alive.” At first she thought it was a cruel joke, but as the conversation continued, she realized it was her son. Later she said she laughed and cried and rejoiced because what seemed to be a hopeless situation turned out to be the greatest day of her life. That’s what news from a graveyard can do for you when your faith is in Jesus Christ.
But to talk about someone coming back to life in their own power, after 3 days…is that even possible?
It can sound crazy, in fact the Apostle Paul writes in
18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
This morning we are going to be starting in Acts 25
Paul has been imprisoned for the past 2 years under the governor Felix, who didn’t know how to handle his case.
He couldn’t find fault in Paul, yet didn’t want to upset the Jews, so he kept Paul in prison, under Roman guard, yet he was able to be visited by friends.
It was during this time, when Paul wrote many of this letters to the churches.
But after a long 2 years imprisonment, Paul finally gets another trial. And it is only because there is a new governor in town.
The new governor, Festus was an ambitious fellow. He decided to get to work right away and met with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem who presented their case against Paul.
When he got back to Caesarea, he brought Paul before him in Court, and was somewhat baffled by his case. He asked Paul to accompany him back to Jerusalem to hear his trial there…but Paul
Paul, whether it was divine inspiration, or pure frustration appealed to have his case taken before Caesar himself. In the days of the Roman Empire, every Roman citizen had the right to make that appeal. If a Roman citizen felt he wasn’t getting a fair hearing, he could appeal to Caesar and skip all the lower courts. Such a person would be sent directly to Rome along with a statement of the facts in the case. It was like appealing to the Supreme Court. There was only one catch. Once you made such an appeal, you couldn’t change your mind later. and that is where we will pick up the story.
13 A few days later King Agrippa arrived with his sister, Bernice, to pay their respects to Festus. 14 During their stay of several days, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. “There is a prisoner here,” he told him, “whose case was left for me by Felix. 15 When I was in Jerusalem, the leading priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against him and asked me to condemn him. 16 I pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict people without a trial. They must be given an opportunity to confront their accusers and defend themselves. 17 “When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn’t delay. I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in. 18 But the accusations made against him weren’t any of the crimes I expected. 19 Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive.
Acts 25:19- The heart of the argument.
Acts 25:19- The heart of the argument.
19 Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive.
The Roman government rarely took to court arguments of religion.
And here Festus brings to front the main argument that people still struggle with today.
People say they have encountered a man named Jesus who was dead but now is alive.
Acts 25:20- “I was at a loss how to investigate such matters”
Acts 25:20- “I was at a loss how to investigate such matters”
20 I was at a loss to know how to investigate these things, so I asked him whether he would be willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem.
And for 2,000 years, people who do not follow Christ have been baffled as well. Because the Resurrection, the Easter Story does not make sense.
To Festus, it just doesn’t make sense. How can you possibly investigate someone’s claims that a person who was alive 30 years prior who was crucified, is now being claimed that he rose from the dead. He’s never heard anything like this before. He doesn’t know what to say or even where to begin.
According to Roman law, Paul isn’t guilty of anything…except being a little crazy.
See I believe Festus truly represents us all at one time, before we come to believe in the Resurrection. Before we begin to believe that Jesus is
“the way, the truth, and the life”
He himself doesn’t believe in the Resurrection but it’s okay with him if someone else does.
And the same goes for us today…when a person who doesn’t know Jesus comes face to face with a true believer, they don’t know what to say. They might not even know where to begin.
And for 2,000 years people have looked at Easter and shaken their heads.
They hear the words, they know what we believe, but they don’t know what to do with it all. It’s just too much to comprehend. The words of Festus ring across the centuries—"I was at a loss how to investigate such matters.” Of course he was. And every modern-day Festus stumbles over Easter and walks away scratching his head.
Paul writes to the Corinthians that “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”
So King Agrippa asks to hear Paul’s testimony himself, so the next day, Aggrippa, his wife Bernice and Festus brought Paul before the court to testify about his case.
Acts 26:1-18- Paul testifies of Jesus.
Acts 26:1-18- Paul testifies of Jesus.
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.” So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: 2 “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, 3 for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently! 4 “As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5 If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. 6 Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. 7 In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope! 8 Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead? 9 “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10 Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. 11 Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities. 12 “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. 13 About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. 14 We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’ 15 “ ‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16 Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. 17 And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles 18 to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
Paul talks about a personal encounter with the living, resurrected Christ.
See before Paul encountered Christ, he was a wretched man, who was obsessed with bringing destruction to the Jews who followed Jesus, which at this time they were not known as Christians…just followers of the Way.
Because they taught that Jesus is the only Way to God the Father
John 14:6- I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
And that way was through death on a cross and then coming back to life. And then Jesus, his personally resurrected body visited his disciples and took a bunch of men and women who were locked in the upper room for fear of the Jews and what they did to Jesus and filled them with the Spirit of God to transform the entire world. They encountered something that changed them. Transformed them.
Paul encountered that same resurrected Christ some time later. Jesus spoke to Him and transformed him from the greatest enemy of the Church to the greatest asset.
Something happened to this man that changed his path, changed his directory. And Paul says that what happened to him is that he encountered a dead man that came back to life, who gave him a new life, forgiveness and a renewed purpose in life…
Acts 26:19-24- Not everyone is able to believe the message.
Acts 26:19-24- Not everyone is able to believe the message.
19 “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven. 20 I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do. 21 Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. 22 But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—23 that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.” 24 Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”
Because again it doesn’t make sense.
Acts 26:25-27- The Call to Believe
Acts 26:25-27- The Call to Believe
Once you have a true encounter with Christ…it may not be as crazy as Paul’s damascus Road encounter, but it does and will happen…this is the boldness.
25 But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth. 26 And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—”
He calls them out to make a decision.
Acts 26:28- But some people may not be ready.
Acts 26:28- But some people may not be ready.
28 Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”
29 Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”
That’s where faith comes in…
God’s grace- Paul was confident that they would believe. If not today, someday.
Acts 26:30-32 - Paul could have went away free had he not appealed to Caesar, but the Lord did want him to go to Rome so he could be a witness there as well.
But for you today…
Are you ready to take a step of faith towards believing in the Resurrected Christ.
He said that the is the way.
That he paid for our sin on that Cross. The punishment that was due to us was laid on him. He is the only way, that no one can have eternal life except through Him.
He said that he is the truth.
That in Him we find truth and that He is the truth.
He said that he is the life.
That He is alive. Yes he died on that Cross
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Hebrews 11:6
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”
There’s a famous story about Charles Blondin, a world-renowned tightrope walker in the 19th century. One day, he stretched a tightrope across Niagara Falls and walked across it—back and forth—performing daring feats. The crowd was amazed.
Then Blondin brought out a wheelbarrow and asked, “Do you believe I can push this wheelbarrow across the tightrope with someone inside?”
The crowd shouted, “Yes! We believe!”
Blondin smiled and said, “Great. Who will volunteer to get in the wheelbarrow?”
Silence.
Everyone believed with their mouths—but no one surrendered with their lives.
Application: Surrender isn’t just about agreeing with God in theory—it’s about getting in the wheelbarrow. It’s trusting Him enough to give up control and let Him carry you across the tightrope of life. Faith becomes real when surrender becomes action.
So what must you do?
Romans 10:9-10
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
