✝ Daily Encouragement (4/1/24) "It's Not Nonsense!"
Published: Mon, 04/01/24
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"It's
Not Nonsense!"
Message
summary:
What is your view of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? How does it impact you? Do you believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ is nonsense or historical fact?
Listen to our message on your audio player.
"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but
He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as
nonsense, and they would not believe them" (Luke 24:5-11).
Have you ever been to a "bad" Easter service? In all the churches
we have attended throughout our lifetime, both large and small, a service focused on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ will be edifying. Yesterday was no exception for us and we hope all of you were able to rejoice with others at the declaration that Christ has risen indeed.
We proclaimed our faith in songs both older and newer. We sang the classic
"Christ The Lord Is Risen Today" written by Charles Wesley which first appeared with the title "Hymn For Easter Day" in 1739 and we sang "Living Hope" by Phil Wickham which was introduced in 2018. What a blessing these stirring words are:
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion Declared the grave has no claim on me Jesus, Yours is the
victory!
Yesterday many worship leaders and pastors joyfully proclaimed with their
congregations, "The Lord is risen!" with the congregation responding, "He is risen indeed!"
This is an ancient declaration of faith that can too easily become a mere cliché on Easter. However these four words express the very bedrock of Christian faith; "He is risen indeed". Billy Graham contends that the announcement, "He is not here; He has risen!" is the greatest announcement the world has ever heard. The literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is a genuine, historical event validated by many eyewitnesses. It is the core doctrine of the Christian faith once for all entrusted to the church of Jesus Christ for all time. Today there are many who consider the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ nonsense. But have you considered that this was the initial reaction of the disciples! Very early on Resurrection morning some of the women had gone to the tomb. They were planning to anoint a dead body with spices but had a glorious encounter instead! Two men (angels) dressed in white first proclaimed the glorious resurrection message to these devoted women when they asked, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again" (Luke 24:5-8). "When they (the women) came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven (disciples) and to all the others" (Luke 24:9). The disciples were together early that morning. Though it is not written in Scripture they were surely discussing recent events and considering what the future held for them without their leader. Upon the arrival of Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary (mother of James), we would surely expect the disciples to receive their wonderful news with great joy and ready belief. After all, they had heard the phrase "and on the third day be raised again" more than once and even by Jesus Himself.
We would expect at the news they would be jumping up and down, shouting,
singing praises, doing high-fives, and waking up the neighborhood with the triumphant message, "Jesus is risen from the dead! He's alive!".
Luke records the disciples stunning reaction: "But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (Luke 24:11). These disciples, who had worked so closely with Jesus during His earthly ministry, did not believe and considered the message of the women "nonsense". One version renders it, "their words sounded like foolish talk". Amazingly upon hearing the message for the first time the disciples did not believe and considered the words nonsense. At least this dispels the notion that it was merely a made-up story they wanted to believe.
Why did these disciples fail to initially believe the resurrection message?
After all, they had seen His great miracles; healing the sick, opening the deaf ears and blind eyes, making the lame walk again, and even raising people from the dead. They had certainly grown in their relationship with Jesus during those years. During His ministry they had heard Him share repeatedly about His forthcoming death and resurrection. This teaching intensified as Jesus' ministry progressed and is especially prominent during His final time with them prior to His arrest and
trial.
So why the unbelief and initial reaction of considering the message
nonsense? I suppose we will have to wait till heaven to get that answer but before judging them we must confront our own predisposition to unbelief.
Of course each one of these disciples quickly came to believe and went on to serve and die for the risen Lord. Peter later wrote, "For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Peter 1:16). What is your belief concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ? How does it impact you? Do you believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ is nonsense or historical fact?
Today we proclaim our fixed belief: it's
not nonsense, He is risen indeed!!!
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me
free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in Your name Jesus Christ, my living hope
Be encouraged
today,
Hebrews
3:13
Stephen & Brooksyne
Weber
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Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
![]() "Living Hope"
Watch on YouTube Calvary Church from our service yesterday. Brooksyne's note:
From the first words of our first song during sound-check at 7 am Easter morning we joyfully proclaimed in song that Jesus is risen from the dead in all three services. The adult choir, the worship choir, and girls' ensemble joined to make one big choir making it extra special since it involved so
many families. All three services were full.
Our service began yesterday in a very moving way Video cued to that point in service (unless they trim the video)
Brooksyne joined the choir sing for all 3 services yesterday morning. I
attended the 8:00 AM service and following a time of fellowship with others at church I came home and loaded the bike for a trail ride on the Conewago recreational trail which is essentially the Lancaster County portion of the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail. We are so blessed to have a number of these rail trails near
us.
Daffodils in bloom along the
trail
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
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Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
717-823-0592
Daily Encouragement Net
https://www.dailyencouragement.net
Mail service provider is aweber.com
495 Kraybill Church Rd
Mount Joy PA 17552
USA
Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options