Good morning, New City East Lake and other friends that may be watching from New York and other parts of this country. Just thank you for joining us this morning as we consider God's word. Last week we were able to look at the Book of Luke, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 19, and Pastor Gustavo led us in this wonderful devotion of the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ. And we minded us as Christ came into Jerusalem and all the crowds were shouting, Huzanna, Huzanna. Glory be to God and in a few days they would also be shouting shouts of crucify him. And so this morning I want us to consider the same gospel of Luke in chapter 24 and just look at the first 11, 12 verses. So to speak verses 1 through 12 and see what the Lord has in store for us. And before I forget, a very happy resurrection Sunday. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. So let us consider God's word as we read scripture from Luke the Gospel according to Luke chapter 24 verses 1 through 12. He are now the reading of God's holy word. But on the first day of the week at early dawn they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this behold two men stood by them in dazzling apparel and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground the man said to them. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you while he was in Galilee that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful man and be crucified on the third day rise. And they remembered his words and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed to them in idol tale and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb stooping and looking in he saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened. The word of the word. Thanks be to God. Would you pray with me heavenly Father we do come to you on this beautiful resurrection day that you have been you have given to us. We are grateful that though we are not together celebrating and rejoicing with each other that somehow we can still be blessed by your word. And so I ask you this morning that you would bless this word that is the bread of life that you have given to us. Would you use it to encourage us to build our faith and to remind us that indeed you are risen you are alive you are with us. Help us to hear your word clearly. Help us to believe it and help us to understand it and to be transformed by its power. We pray all this in your name. Amen. Emptiness. Emptiness fills the air all over the world today. And on this resurrection Sunday when we are supposed to be rejoicing together and celebrating with one another there is a sense of lament. Silence grieving. Emptiness fills the pews of every church you can think of all over the world. And you know in one way or another each one of us this morning is dealing with a sense of emptiness emptiness in our hearts. We are exhausted from dealing with the disruptions and challenges of this pandemic. And so when they feel this morning that there is really absolutely nothing left in the tank we are empty. We long for this apocalyptic nightmare to come to an end so that we can go back to our normal lives whatever that looks like. And so this morning we are lamenting this morning we are grieving over the uncertainties of life as we know it emptiness fills the air. And you know much of our emptiness that we experience this morning has a sense of hopelessness in it doesn't it? There is a way we are feeling that we are hopeless we are asking what hope can there be even on this resurrection Sunday what hope can there be as we deal with emptiness in our lives. But I want to remind this as we consider God's word this morning that there is an empty place that is filled with hope, great hope. There is an empty tomb and that is our hope today and every day of our life. And here is the message that Luke is reminding us today that those who come looking for Jesus will find hope in the empty tomb. Those who come looking for Jesus will find hope in an empty tomb. If you look at verses 1 through 6a you will see that the first thing that I want us to consider this morning is this because the tomb is empty we must not live in fear. Because the tomb is empty we must not live in fear. Do you know how Luke, the doctor, the physician begins his gospel? He begins his gospel by reminding us from the very beginning that he wants to present an orderly account of events of facts so that his readers may have certainty of what he has been teaching. Listen to what he says in chapter 1 verse 3 to 4 he says, it seemed good to me also having followed all these things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you most excellent theophilus that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Luke has been presenting facts, orderly account for us so that we may have certainty about the things that we have been taught. And so as we saw last week in chapters 19 again in chapter Gustavo preached to us and reminded us of the shouts of Uzana that would soon turn into shouts of crucify him, crucify him. Jesus has faced what he had been telling his followers all along. He had been telling them that he would be one they handed over to the authority is beaten and mocked and killed. And as his followers have been watching from a distance it appears that all of their hopes have been shattered. The king the Messiah that they had hoped for the one who would come to conquer all of their enemies. He's been killed his dads all their hopes and dreams have been dashed what now for this followers what are they going to do. And then we're told here but on the first day of the week which is really a new beginning right on the first day of the week really reminds us that the that the death of Jesus Christ was not the end it was in fact the beginning of all things. Early morning imagine the chill as the women Joanna and Mary Magdalene and all the other women are doing their customary practice which is taking spices to go and annoying to the body of Jesus Christ. No expectations whatsoever they had no idea that they would find an empty tomb. Their hopes have been dashed they have seen the gruesome death of Jesus on the cross one thing they know with certainty is that he's dead they saw him die they saw him breathe his last. Even if he said he was going to come to life not today not on the third day no no no that's not the expectation not after three days. Maybe Jesus was speaking metaphorically maybe this was a symbol maybe one day he will come but not today. He's dead they had no idea what awaited them in the tomb they are at a loss when they get there to find that the stone has been rolled away there's an empty tomb. What happened to Jesus what happened to his body that we came to anoints and then we hear the question from these angels that that capture their fearful hearts. And their hearts are being exposed why are you looking for the living among the dead he is not here but has risen. He doesn't respire the angels say it is the heart of the matter they know something has happened but they have no idea what it is until we hear the review from the angels the last thing that these women expected the last thing that they had in their mind was the resurrection. Anyway Jesus would be alive they were looking for life in the wrong places they were looking for Jesus in the wrong place isn't that so true of us that we look for Jesus in the wrong places as well. And our hopes are dashed because we're looking for Jesus in the wrong places you know so many people look for Jesus because they think Jesus is only a hero who comes to rescue them Jesus is more than a hero. For us look for Jesus because we think he's a nice guy a moral character that we can follow an example that we can follow he's more than that he is the savior the redeemer of the universe he's not dead he's alive because no bonds of grave could keep him but notice how they're perplexity and their confusion in fact brings a measure of clarity to them somehow in their confusion they are able to gain clarity as they remember. Angel tells them to remember you remember where Jesus told you when he was with you that he would die that he would rise again he is risen that this was all along God's plan for Jesus to be crucified to be handed over to the authority then to be raised to life and that their forgetfulness is no difference is no different from our own forgetfulness right that we easily forget the promises of God. And here we're reminded that the only cure for our forgetfulness is setting off actions on Christ remembering the promises that he gives to us and the things that he tells us and to let those things remind us of what he has said to us. Let me ask you a question as we consider these verses why is the resurrection such a central message theme. Well you know Christian faith you see like Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and all these other women the pain of death and they watch the Messiah they watch Jesus die is the same pain and grieving and mourning that we face in our lives today we face the same enemy. The death had robbed them of the Messiah Jesus of a man that they loved and respected and honored it had robbed them of his life and that the fear of death is so real to us it is so real to us especially today as we as we are faced with this mysterious virus that is no respect or fame and status. And we're living in fear fear of contracting the disease we live in fear fear of our of those among our family members that are vulnerable to this disease. We live in fear fear that we're going to lose our jobs tomorrow fear fearing that the economy is going to crumble and there will be no hope for us that there will be no food security and all these things that we put our hopes in. Ultimately our greatest fear is the same fear that these women and that every human being on the face of the earth faces it is the fear that we will one day die and this pandemic has exposed our hearts it has reminded us of our fragile and how finite and our brief this life that God has given to us can be. Friends we need to remember as we hear this words from Luke to remember that Jesus did not die for himself but he died for us that Jesus didn't was not raised for himself but he was raised for us for our hope that if Jesus had stayed dead he would have proven that death had a rightful claim over him. And since death has a rightful claim over sinners Jesus remaining dead would have meant that he was a sinner and not our redeeming not our savior. That would be true but Christ did indeed rise again from the grade he overcame death and because of that we can look at death. We can look at death without with unflinching eyes not to try to escape it knowing that it has no power over us this is not the circle of life as they talk about in Lion King movie. You remember when Mufasa is giving this this interaction the first lecture to to see by the says you know speaking of the power of the circle of life he says when we die our bodies become like grass and the antelope eat the grass and so we are all connected in the circle of life. This is not the circle of life no not for us we know that death has no sting death has no power death has been defeated take that COVID-19 death has no power. Listen to how the Apostle Paul captures this in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 a verse that we know very well in verse 54 and 57 he says when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory or death where is your victory or death where is your sting the sting of death is seen and the power of sin is allowed but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ as James Ward sings and reminds us death is ended. We no longer live in fear brothers and sisters because Jesus is alive Christ is risen he is risen and he is risen indeed so do not live in fear of death. Secondly verses 6 B through 12 because the tomb is empty one we do not live in fear but because the tomb is empty we must live by faith. The women had gone to the tomb knowing not what to expect now their hope has been rekindled and that the angels has assured them that their savior is alive he's alive and they believe imagine imagine the excitement in their hearts as they walk back or maybe run back we don't know to share the good news of the disciples but imagine how the excitement is dust and squashed by the disciples as their dismissters as the women come in and announce that Jesus is alive is risen we saw the angels they told us that he's alive and the disciples go nonsense. I don't talk you must be delirious we have no idea what you're talking about this is the most absurd story we've ever heard how cannot be. I mean imagine the disciples all their dreams and hopes of the kingdom of God at least in terms of how they thought about how the kingdom of God was supposed to be ushered in there were gone they saw Jesus died on the cross you did. This is an absurd story for you to come and tell us that he's alive and now imagine Peter let's imagine together Peter the captain the man himself in a classic Peter like we actually said. I don't know what you're talking about but I'm going to go see for myself and Peter runs to the team only to find the linen cross right then. I can almost imagine Peter going in there and touching them and holding them and trying to look for Jesus body where is he what did they do with his body he is not here. It's amazing how script it tells us right with old Peter return modeling at what had happened to you believe I have no idea I highly doubt he believed that Jesus was alive. Eventually he would and the rest of the disciples would believe but not this moment not this time they have no idea what to do with what's going on they have no clue what to do with the news and then what's what's happening right now. And why should we expect them to act in a different way anyways right think about the disciples he had left everything they had given up everything to follow Jesus. They had abandoned their fishing nets and their jobs and their families and their friends everything the whole day have left all those things to come and follow Jesus. You remember when Jesus was talking to them if they wanted to go and they said Lord where should we go you have the words of eternal life. They have no place to go if Jesus is dead if Jesus was not the Messiah that he claimed to be they have lost absolutely everything while their hopes are gone. Jesus was their only hope but if he's alive but if it's indeed true that he's alive maybe there's hope for Peter maybe there's hope for this disciples. Maybe there's hope for this fearful man that are hiding on this resurrection day yet for now they were not expecting him to rise from the dead yet for now they are dejected they are dispirited they are feeling powerless and hopeless. You see I really do believe that this is what makes the story of Easter so convincing that their response was honest and wrong and real and the account rings so true because no one no one would have expected for these men that would become the leaders of the Christian Church as we know it to be skeptics. Jesus is indeed alive because his first missionaries was skeptics. Yet this is when we find hope for us Church because the empty tomb changes everything it changed everything for Peter it changed everything for the disciples it changed everything for the women it changes everything for us today the cross the cross was not the end for Jesus story the resurrection was a new beginning and it's the new beginning for us as well because Jesus rose again there's hope. Hope for you and me who are sinners for those who are fallen deep who struggle with unbelief like Peter the rock the man who denied Jesus before he went to the cross while the disciples out of belief they befuddled us and and make us question what's going on here and it is hard for us to see it except but listen. We are the same way we have a hard time believing and accepting God's divine plans for us even now even as we lament the situation that we're in I tell you the truth because I know there's a truth in my own heart that I struggle with unbelief and I question God what are you really doing with this virus what are you really doing are you really good are you really there are you with us and the only thing I can cry out to is Lord please help my unbelief and friends he is the truth for us right we can lament we can grieve we can grieve the tragedy that we face today and the tragedy that many of us face but in the same breath as we lament and grieve we must also not forget the promises of God especially in the days of affliction the author of Hebrew reminds us he says in Hebrews to one therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard last we drift away this is the time for us to remember the promises of God to remember the Jesus is alive to remember the Jesus walks with us that he talks to us that he tells us we are his own we must listen to him not according to the categories that we've created in our minds but with hearts that recognize the one who is speaking it is Jesus who is alive who is speaking those promises and they are true and you can believe them here is our hope friend because the tomb is empty we are told in God's word that we've been raised to a new life you have been raised to a new life Paul reminds us that we are united with Christ that we died with him and that we already seated we are already seated with him listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 2 4 and 6 he said but God being rich and mercy because of the great love with who she loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised up with him and seated with us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus do you believe it it is hard to believe it right because you cannot see it how is it that I am united with Christ and I am seated with him now now not in the future but now it is something that we must receive by faith and live like it in the present something that we must believe and take and receive by faith and live like it in the present it means that we have heard of being raised again in glorious bodies which will know no death when Christ returns just like Jesus was raised again from the day the one day we will be raised with him I can think for a moment how these disciples who had walked with Jesus the type of that it heard Jesus talk about his death and resurrection they even saw Jesus bring Lazarus to life and others to life how could they not believe the women and they came telling him that Jesus was alive ignorance forgetfulness we remember our own hearts and how we deal with unbelief and how we are hard to hear because faith is a hard thing strong faith is a rare thing but notice the wisdom of God even in this moment in bringing good out of a seeming evil right the Jesus first skeptics will become the first missionary as I mentioned to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all over the world some of them would even die because of their faith how amazing that the first preachers of the gospel were men that were convinced in spite of themselves in spite of their willingness to believe their unbelief is intact and indirect evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ see our friends or faith is not dependent on merely a set of tax that we read and doctrines that we subscribe to but on a mighty fact that Jesus Christ the Spirit of Jesus Christ the Son of the living God is indeed alive he is risen he is risen indeed from the bed let that truth sink in into your heart that Jesus is alive and when that truth sinks in in your heart let that gives you assurance and certainty of your very own resurrection on the last day that your death there it will come does not mean the end but the beginning of your life with Jesus that Jesus went before us to prison so to speak and he came forth triumphantly that he paid for every sin and that the payments he made was accepted by God and that the work that he did he says it is finished it's been completed no more it's done as Paul captures this in first Peter one three blessed be the God and followable Jesus Christ according to his great mercy he has he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that's our hope friends we know for certain we have a savior you can know for certain that you have a savior who ever more learns to intercede for you you can know for certain that he watches over you that he governs you by his spirit and that one day he will return to take us to a eternal home the resurrection changes everything rather sister though you may grieve today you do not do so without hope Jesus is alive you can grieve with hope today you can know that he is present that he is real with you in your struggle whatever that may be and you can live with certainty that your body one day when you die you will rise again to with the glorious hope and a glorious body in a moment in the twinkling of an eye we'll remind it will be changed forever one William Hendrickson says only he only by God's grace who has learned to glory in Christ death can truly glory in Jesus resurrection I hope that's true for you I saw an article this week a few days ago that mentioned that during this pandemic it's not just the toilet paper that's been selling that hot that's been selling like hot cake something else is selling like hot cake it's not what you may think again it's hard for us to tell you know when we read anything online if it's true or not but I hope it's true but the article mentioned that one thing that's selling really fast is the Bible that people are buying you see friends everybody in this world and during this particular time is looking for help is looking for hope is looking for something to hold on during this really difficult time that we experience so let me tell you what I know for certain let me tell you what I know to be the truth the truth that you can take to back today the truth that you can hold on to the truth that is our hope I know this with certainty but all those who come to Jesus all those who come looking for Jesus can find hope this is what I know with certainty that Jesus is the Son of God the one who lived on this earth the one who went to the cross over 2,000 years ago and the one who rose again from the dead defeating sin and death and Satan this is what I know with certainty that he is alive and because he's alive I know that we can face tomorrow whatever tomorrow hopes because he lives I know that he is at work making all things new and restoring things to be the way they were supposed to be because he's alive I know that the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the grave is the same power that is at work in your life today because he looks I know that one day he is coming again for his people for those that believe in him because he lives I know that there will be a day where there will be no more lamenting there will be no more sorrow there will be no more tears there will be no more COVID-19 no more anxiety no more depression no more suffering no more aging no more sin no more death because Jesus is alive today death is ended and thanks be to God why we may experience emptiness and lament today we do so with hope a glorious hope that is true and we can believe that blessed resurrection Sunday Christ is risen he is risen indeed please pray with me heavenly Father thank you for the hope that you give to us in Christ Jesus what marvelous news what great news what truth what hope that we can have on this day that you are indeed alive alive in us and that you are with us indeed the empty tomb changes everything may we know that in our hearts today we pray in Christ name Amen