Easter Echoes

An Easter Message by Pastor Mark Jordan

Opening – Making a Sound and Awaiting the Echo

Luke 24:1-10 (NIV) | ¹ On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” ⁸ Then they remembered his words. ⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.

Take-Away

• Luke 24:5b-6a (NIV) | “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee.”
• Jesus is alive and with us regardless what we face.

The Sound of Silence

• The tomb’s deafening silences.
• Psalm 62:1 (ESV) | For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

The Sound of a Beating Heart

• Jesus’ Resurrection proves your broken heart can be made new.
• Ezekiel 11:19 (ESV) | And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

The Sound of a Way Being Made

• Your new heart is property of God’s unshakable Kingdom.
• Hebrews 12:28 (NLT) | Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.

Echoes into Eternity

• We’re part of Christ’s echo when we live with an inside-out faith.
• Romans 10:9 (NIV) | 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.

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Reflection Questions

1. What sounds do you associate with Easter?
2. When has silence been deafening in your life?
3. When you consider the rolling rumbles of something like an earthquake, how might God be changing the horizon of your life so you can live anew with, for, and through Jesus?
4. When have you sought the living among the dead?
5. How does focusing on the sounds of Jesus’ Resurrection give you new insight as to how God wants us to live because Jesus lives?