Resurrection

By Pastor John Schmidt

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Welcome to Central Presbyterian Church on this Easter weekend! On this weekend, we celebrate the hinge-point of history: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If his resurrection is not true, then Christians are among the most grossly deceived people on earth. We are lying about God, our message of forgiveness and new life as we trust a living Jesus Christ is empty, and our whole understanding of the goal of life is false. If Jesus was not resurrected, we ought to just admit that, and go do something else.

We are not the first people to wonder about the reality of resurrection. Any thoughtful person has to wonder. In the First Letter to the Corinthians, which we are looking at today, the Apostle Paul says almost exactly what I just said. His assertion, though, based on eyewitness accounts, (including his own experience), was that we can be assured Jesus' resurrection did happen. People saw him, talked to him, ate with him and then believed in him. People who said they saw the resurrected Jesus died because of that belief. (They must have been deeply convinced!) Hostile people could not produce a body, despite having guarded the tomb in which he was buried. Hundreds of people had the experience of seeing Jesus, and many were still alive when the New Testament books were written and in circulation.

Christians have good reasons to believe that Jesus was actually resurrected. Because of that resurrection, nothing will ever be the same again. Jesus' resurrection is proof that not only is God real, but the astonishing declaration is also true that Jesus died for our selfishness, rebellion and alienation from God, and that through him we can know that we are forgiven! Resurrection proves that what he did was sufficient.

Easter begins a 5-week sermon series on the Resurrection. Across the next few weeks, we will look at how the reality of resurrection affects our approach to forgiveness, freedom, the power of sin, and even death. In the coming Sundays, during our regular 8:15 Contemporary, 10:00 Traditional, or 11:30 Contemporary services, we will continue to explore how a real resurrection from the dead impacts "normal" life.

Life-changing truth or just crazy talk? It all depends on Jesus. Whether you are a regular here, or just here for a visit, consider joining us for this series!

Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!