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DO NOT BE AFRAID ! · Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright

• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, sisters and brothers, and peace be with you.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: May the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Christ is risen.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: He is risen indeed.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Travelling through Southeast Asia and Japan this past month, I have listened to many stories.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: One was about a group of rescue workers responding to an earthquake.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: For days they searched through collapsed buildings with little hope.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: The official reports had already declared many areas beyond survival.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: But one rescuer refused to give up on a particular site, a completely flattened school.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Others had moved on, but he kept listening, and then faintly he heard a tapping sound.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hours later they pulled out a young girl alive.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: When asked why he kept searching when others had stopped, he said as long as there was even the smallest chance of life, I couldn't walk away.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: That moment when hope breaks through despair, when life emerges where death seemed certain.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: That is the heartbeat of Easter morning.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: In Matthew chapter twenty eight, verses one to ten, we meet two women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary walking towards a tomb.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Let's be clear.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: They were going there expecting a miracle.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: They were not going there full of hope.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: They were going with grief, with heartbreak and finality.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus, the one they loved, had been crucified.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: The tomb was sealed.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: The story as far as they knew was over.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: But then everything changes.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: There is a violent earthquake, an angel descends, the stone is rolled away.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Not to let Jesus out, but to let the women in.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the angel says words that echo across history.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Do not be afraid.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: He is not here.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: He has risen.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: That tomb represents all of the places in our lives where hope feels buried.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: A prayer that seems unanswered.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: A relationship that feels beyond repair.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: A future that looks uncertain.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: A world filled with bullying, bluster, conflict and suffering.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like the sealed tomb.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: These moments can feel final, closed, unmovable.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: The two women knew that feeling.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: The stone wasn't just physical, it was emotional, spiritual, final.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: And yet God was already working behind that stone.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: The lesson for us Resurrection does not wait for perfect conditions.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: It happens right in the middle of despair.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let us also ponder something else of great importance.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: The women did not roll the stone away.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: God did.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Before they arrived, before they understood, before they believed God had already acted.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's how grace works.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: We often think that everything depends on us, our faith, our strength, our understanding.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: But Easter tells a different story.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Easter tells us that God is already moving.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: God is already working, and God is already bringing life out of death, even when we don't yet see it.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: The lesson for us is Resurrection is not human achievement.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: It is divine intervention.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Matthew then tells us something beautiful and honest.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: The women left the tomb afraid yet filled with joy.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: This is such a real picture of faith.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: They were afraid because well resurrection is overwhelming.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: It disrupts everything that we thought we knew.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: But they were also filled with joy because hope had returned.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: In our lives we often think we have to choose either fear or faith, either doubt or joy.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: But Easter shows us that sometimes they come together.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: You can be unsure and still follow Jesus.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: You can be afraid and still carry good news.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: The lesson for us Faith is not the absence of fear or uncertainty.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: It is moving forward in spite of it.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: As the women run to tell the disciples that something extraordinary happens, Jesus meets them.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Not in the tomb, not in a temple, but on the road, on their journey.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus speaks.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Greetings.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: And do not be afraid.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And go and tell my brothers.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: The women came as mourners.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: They left as messengers.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Christ reveals here the pattern of Easter Encounter Transformation Mission.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: The resurrection is not just something to believe, it is something to share.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: In a world that often feels like that earthquake scene full of brokenness, loss and despair, we are called to be the ones who keep listening for signs of life.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: A lesson for us to say even when others have given up, there is still hope.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: There is still life.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Christ is risen.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: The tomb is empty.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Death is defeated.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Hope is alive.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: So whatever stone stands in front of you today, whatever feels sealed, final or hopeless, hear the angelic words spoken on that first Easter morning.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Do not be afraid.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: He is risen.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then go.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Go with fear if you must.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Go with questions if you have them.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: But go with this unspeakable, unshakable truth.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Christ is risen.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Christ is alive.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Ironga Itengoa Uteatu tematua Tetama Metewaru Amine.