Easter 2026

Has anyone here ever looked at Easter and went this is an interesting holiday.

I found an article awhile back and it and I can’t remember if I have mentioned it or not, but it said we eat 1.5 billion peeps a year

Not only that but on top of that Americans spend 3.5 Billion dollars on just Easter candy

We consume 16 billion jelly beans

And altogether we spend 24 Billion dollars on Easter each year.

Its kind of amazing right?

But whats amazing and actually kind of weird about this holiday is that Easter is this celebration that centers on an empty tomb.

Because the truth is we usually do not celebrate things that are empty.

If your bank account is empty you are probably not celebrating,

If your gas tank is empty you are not rejoicing

Kids or teens if you found out your parents ate all your Easter candy you are not happy because your candy stash is empty

And we know that Easter celebrates a risen savior not an empty tomb, but what I love about the Easter story is it starts in a place of emptiness.

And here is the thing because if I had to guess this morning while most of us are happy to be hear, we have dressed maybe a little nicer than usual, we have put on smile, but if we are honest a lot of us might be coming from a place where there is an emptiness and maybe even some of us would say a brokenness in our lives.

And if we are honest we have been stuck in this place for so long we are not sure what to do.

But heres the thing, because I mentioned this a second ago but the Easter story actually starts in this place,

Because look at the first verse, in the Easter story Matthew 28:1

Matthew 28:1 (NIV)

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

So we are given these two woman named Mary, and these were woman that were extreamly close to Jesus,

And over the past few days they have witnessed this man that they have loved, that they have followed, this man that they put all of their hope into, and they have seen Him tortured, crucified and killed.

And now its Sunday morning, the sun has just started to rise, but there world is darker than ever, and they are walking with this darkness and weight on them.

And you can picture how they are feeling and what they have built in their mind.

Because if you have ever been in a dark place in life there is almost this thing we build,

Because they were probably feeling broken- they felt shattered from everything that has happened.

they may have had shame, they feel like they have made a mistake, maybe we shouldn’t have been following this guy

You can picture the hopelessness they felt, where do we go from here?

And youll notice as these feeling come what happens? It starts to build a wall or a fence and it slowly gets harder to see doesn’t it?

And I am conviced that each of us have are own wall or fence that we have built.

And maybe you have built something like this in your life…

Maybe you have felt unloved and you wonder does anyone even care about me? And it added another post

Maybe you have been wrestling with an addiction and you have tired breaking free, but instead you have found your self feeling stuck, and it add another post

Maybe you have felt alone, your Isolated from others

Maybe you look at your life and there is so much wrong your mental state is just in distress, and you are constantly on edge, your stressed, your anxous, you have noticed you have an anger issue from it or its starting to impact you r health

You catch your self chasing the wrong things and you have started to build idols in your life and you are far from God

And before you know it you have built this wall or fence

and when you are stuck in a place like this its really hard to see God and not just that but it starts to make it hard to connect with other people,

I mean can I ask you have you ever been walking through life and this is how it feels? and if you are honest you are asking how will this ever change?

Because the woman in this story are here and really they are walking towrds “this”

Because they are walking towards this fence or tomb which is a place of death, this place that is the oppisite of where you want life to go.

And you can imagine what their hearts are feeling, but something begins to happen in this story, where they are in this place, but something begins to change look the rest of this story:

Matthew 28:2–10 (NIV)

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

So a violent earthquake happens and and they get to the tomb and the stone that covered the tomb was rolled away and not just that but it says and angel is was sitting on it.

And listen I have 2 boys (ages 4 and 6) that currently love climbing everything and anything… Whether it is things they should be climbing or not

And whenever one of my boys climbs on something whether its a big rock at the park, or a fence there is almost this spirit that they have where they have conquered that thing.

And here is this angel sitting on this thing that represented the ultimate effects of sin and brokenness in the world.

And these woman are going okay something is happening…

because the angel is sitting on this stone and telling the woman do not be afraid, and they saying something that would have been mind blowing in verse 6: and can you read this outloud with me:

“He is not Here, He is Risen”

That right there is the message that changes everything.

Because this means that the thing that sealed us in this place of brokeness has been destroyed. It has been knocked down

And not just that but God has begun to rebuild it into something new in our lives.

Where now instead of us feeling broken, we are made new, where our lives are changed

instead of feeling shame from our past mistakes, we are embraced

Instead of feeling hopeless we are filled with hope

Instead of us feeling unloved, we are now beloved- where we have a God that loves us more than we ever know

Instead of us feeling Stuck or captive, we are made free

Instead of us being isolated where our relationship with God and others has been seperated, we are in relationship with God and others

Instead of us being in a distressed state, we are given peace, not where life is perfect, but we have a God that walks through the hardest parts with us

Instead of us finding our identity in these idols we chase and chooseing the wrong thing, God chooses us where we are chosen

And what God begins to do is he tears down the old things in our lives and He uses the old to build something new.

And you might look at this and think okay Brendan… So what did you build here?

I don’t know yet… because its not finished

And I want you to understand you can be in a rough place, but your story is not finished.

You can be stuck behind this fence or this tomb and your story is not over

In fact God will meet you where you are and He can use the broken things of the past, and use them for something better.

And the invitation here is beautiful, because the angel tells them come and see the place where Her lays.

I am going to ask the worship team to come forward

This morning can I ask maybe you have been stuck walking in a dark place, maybe this morning you look at the wall that you have built, and it is a tall one,

Maybe you have tried to fill the emptiness that you have inside with other things,

And just nothing has been able to knock down this wall that you have built.

The invitation here is come and see what Christ has done.

Because He has defeated the tomb, He has deafted death, and the ultimate effect of us straying away in our walk with God.

And while we can stray further and further, and we have a God Who chases us more and more,

And this morning we have a loving father ready to embrace you, and He is ready to tear down the old and build something new in us,

This morning as we get ready to close, can I just ask you to reflect.

What if the way you are walking could change today?

What if something can change in your life like this story 2000 years ago?

What is God wanting to tear down, and begin to build up?

Will you pray with me?