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No Foolin' Jesus Rose From the Dead, Initial Sermon (Pastoral Emphasis for 4/1)

Happy Resurrection Day!

We had our Sunrise Easter Service at 6am to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My text was Matthew 28:1-15 with the subject "No Foolin', Jesus Rose From The Dead". The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is often attacked and denied. Many people over the years have tried their best to discredit it. And this is not something new.

Immediately after the resurrection, we see that the Jewish leaders tried to discredit it by bribing the soldiers with money to tell the people that the disciples came by night and stole the body while they slept.

Some critics say that Jesus didn't die but was only nearly dead when placed in the tomb. We call this the swoon theory. It says that Jesus merely swooned like He was dead but later resuscitated.

Some critics say that the disciples did not see a risen Jesus but what they saw was a hallucination.

Many theories have been proposed to explain away the resurrection but they do not harmonize with the historical data. No foolin', Jesus rose from the dead. This is no April's Fool joke. There is an empty tomb in the Middle East! It is just as the angel said, "He is not here, for He has risen just as He said".


Because Jesus rose from the dead, we can have hope. There is hope beyond the grave. There is hope beyond this present fallen world. There is hope beyond our suffering.

I'm excited to announce that Bro. Ulysses Toche will be giving his Initial Sermon on next Sunday, April 8th, at 4:00pm.

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