Latest / Journey Elgin / Sunday Message- Resurrection Sunday, April 5, 2026
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: going to read a couple of different passages and I forgot to print out my notes so I'm using my phone and it ⁓ that could be interesting. Sometimes I sometimes I have notes sometimes I don't. It's funny in seminary they would you know talk about all the different ways that you do sermons and stuff like that and they used to say for every minute of sermon you should spend an hour of preparation. And and by the way that used to be that's how it was was done, right? And then most would encourage you to manuscript your sermon. So right right the whole thing out, right and And I've tried to do that like once or twice and I was like, nope, you know But yeah, but it does help to have a little bit of a guideline It's fascinating to kind of get into that and ⁓ look at how varied it is. But the thing that is constant or the thing that should be is what we're proclaiming. Is that we're trying to point people to Jesus Christ. The message of Christ ⁓ is what is most important. And so I'm going to read some passages that are not traditional Easter passages. But I want us to set the scene first. It is... vital and I think even more important now than maybe it's ever been that you really think about what the resurrection really is. ⁓ Because all of us know the talking points. That's one of the things of growing up in a Christian nation that kind of had at its roots a biblical foundation. Most people, even if they didn't go to church or weren't involved in church, They know the basic story. Jesus, God's son, sinless, died on a cross, rose again. You believe that, you are in heaven. That's the bumper sticker, bumper points. And most people ⁓ at least know that story. Now, sadly, that's getting less. It really is. People are becoming less literate on the Bible. literate in reading. But we are entering a time where I think it is vital that you don't just know the bumper points, that you actually think about it. This is a real event. Jesus Christ was crucified, died, and He rose again. fully alive, not partially alive, fully alive. It is vital, I believe, to understand that because it changes everything. The other can fit into a religion. It can fit into an ideology that you have. ⁓ yeah, Jesus died, he rose again. But whenever you truly know and believe that it actually happened. This isn't just a moral story. It's not just rhetorical flourish to start a new religion off with a bang. No, it actually happened. Because if we're not rooted in the truth of the resurrection, we will be deceived. We will be open to the attacks of the enemy. We have to hold on to that foundational truth. And what is amazing to me and what is so ironic, because I do believe we are reaching, ⁓ getting close to the end of history. and that God's going to do something new, right? This stage, I believe, is drawing close. That could be 10 years, it could be 100 years, it could be 500 years, but we are getting there. I fully believe that. And you just look at the signs of the times. For the first time, ⁓ this century is the first time since Jesus came out of that tomb that Christianity is not the ⁓ most growing faith in the world. It's the first time that just happened within the last 20 years or so. There's still more Christians than any other religions in the world, but that will not be the case within 15 to 20 years. We are living in a different time in history. For the first time, the gospel message is not the predominant life-changing faith that is going through this world. And so I believe that God is getting ready to do something. Maybe it's Him coming back like that last line of that song said, you're coming soon and we're watching and we're waiting and we're prepared. Maybe it's that. Maybe there's a massive revival that He has in store. Either one, I'm here for it. But there is so much confusion and doubt. out there. And there's so many false teachings that are trying to draw us away from the truth found in Scripture. And the irony of all of this is that now that we've gotten to the point that our technology is unsurpassed, we can find out and research things and archaeology is revealing things just constantly. There is now, in this year, more hard evidence of everything or not everything, the vast majority of what the Bible says. We know more of it is true today than we ever have in the history since Christ rose again, once we got past that initial faith. We have scientific evidence that there was a group of Semitic people in Egypt, in this weird place. and that they were growing and it's there. They find the pottery, the archaeology. And then it shows that something happened and all of sudden that group of people was no longer in Egypt. And through our science and through our archaeology, it also corresponds to a time where Egypt was plagued with all kinds of crazy weather, of crazy events. They have actually found mass graves, sadly. of many young boys with the tenth plague. Does all of this prove? No. But it's there. The evidence is there. The evidence of the resurrection, the fact that Jesus died on a cross, by the way. The current evidence points to the fact that he died on April 5th. ⁓ He died on April 3rd. He rose again on April 5th, 33 AD. There were only two possible dates during the time of Pontius Pilate. We know the specific time of Pontius Pilate. We have found for a while, all of the eggheads that think they're smarter than all of us, they were like, ah, we don't see evidence of Pontius Pilate. Now they found coins with Pontius Pilate. They have found all of this stuff. There were times that people said, no, Caiaphas, he wouldn't have been high priest there. Then they were digging and they found an ossuary. And what did it say? Caiaphas. When did it date? To the 30s AD. Right? We have more evidence that is pointing us to that point. There were only two possible dates within the time that it could have been where the Passover would have been on Thursday night and then Jesus would die on Friday and then Saturday would be the Sabbath and then Sunday would be the first of the week. There are only two possible dates that that could have happened under Pontius Pilate. And one of them was in 30 AD and the other was in 33 AD. If you then connect it with what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, and if you're looking back in Daniel and you do the time frame from when Daniel said that the Messiah would be anointed, which would have been at his baptism, that put it, that date led to 30 AD. Then 33 AD is when Jesus was crucified on this literal day. And I believe it's true. We have evidence, scientific. I'm not saying, now, by the way, this is the most accurate historical document known to man. If you're confident that Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, if you know that term, that's whenever Julius Caesar, he crosses over the river, brings the army into Rome. Does anyone question that that happened? No, you shouldn't, because it happened. There is more scientific evidence Evidence that Jesus Christ died on a cross then that Caesar crossed the Rubicon. There are more Documents that we have found all of this I And I was watching one last night the we talked about this last year. I'm gonna talk about it more There's this thing called the Shroud of Turin It is unbelievable. Okay, the Shroud of Turin, they believe, is what the body of Jesus would have been wrapped in. It fits everything historically. There is an image within the shroud. It is not painted. It is not an artistic rendering. It is there. It was literally caused by energy, by light. The light doesn't even go all the way through the fabric because it would have burned through the fabric. And there has been hundreds and thousands of scientific research done on this. And by the way, it was suppressed for a long time. And you can look at that. It dates to the time. It has blood that is AB blood. Only 6 % of the world population has AB blood. What type of blood is that? It is Semitic blood. There's pollen spores throughout the ⁓ shroud. ⁓ Over half of them are only bloom in Jerusalem in the spring. And then the other pollen spores, they can actually trace where the shroud went for the next 2,000 years. And those pollen spores come from those places that they know that the shroud was later on. It is incredible. It is unbelievable. And there is not one scientist that can explain how this thing exists. Not one. Scientists have come to the faith in Jesus Christ because of this. Because they can't figure it out. There is more scientific evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than there ever has been in the history of the world other than that first day when they went and they saw Him. And yet, how many are blinded? Because we're living in a Romans one time. We're going to talk about that next week. Where people exchange the truth of God for a lie. And they've allowed their faces to become veiled. That's the time we're in. So we have to be careful that we do not... We do not give in to the cultural attitude that treats the resurrection as just part of a religion. Well, that's that religion. Other religions don't believe that and that's okay. So you believe yours and all those religions have these hokey stories that go with them. No. The resurrection happened and it changed everything. And that is the only way that we are going to be able to navigate the world in front of us. Is by tapping in to the power of the resurrection. I want to read a few passages. Philippians. Chapter 3 verse 7. says this, says, whatever gain I had, I counted as lost for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Not having a righteousness not of my own. That's religion. Having a righteousness of your own is religion. not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteous from God that depends on faith. Now listen here, it says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in death, that by any means possible I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. So what is the core for Paul of living his life? It is understanding the power of the resurrection and then living in light of that, allowing that power, the same power that rose Jesus from the grave, the Shroud of Turin, it's incredible the amount of power. They can't replicate what happened. So they've been trying and it's a nuclear physicist guy. He was using lasers because again, the image on the Shroud, it's kind of like a shadow. but it actually doesn't even go through the full length of the fibers. Now think of how wide a fiber is. See? Like that. It doesn't even go through the full length. So there's no way to manufacture it. So they knew it had to be something with energy. So they've been using lasers to try to, and they created the same type of shroud and trying to basically shoot light through it to recreate. Well, if you do too much light, it burns it up. It's too hot. If you do too little, it doesn't leave a deal. They've gone and done and done and done. And they talk about the amount of energy is more than the nuclear bomb. It had to have happened in like one billionth of a second. Just a flash. And all of sudden, the body of Christ is reanimated because of the power of the resurrection, the power of Christ. I love that word, the word ⁓ power there that is used throughout scripture, it's dynamous. It means strength, ability, power. Specifically, it's talking about inherent power that resides in a person or thing by virtue of its nature. The power of Christ was inherent within him. Whenever he resurrected, he tapped into that godly creative power. It often carries the idea of force. is ⁓ literal or figurative force, the ability to perform. In many contexts, it refers to the miraculous power, to mighty works. Think of our word dynamite, dynamic, come from this root word. It's that type of power. What can dynamite do? It can be very destructive and it can be very bright, ⁓ but it is clearly power moving forward. ⁓ It's a power that changes everything. It also can be a moral power. So in this sense here in Philippians 3, 10, it's the transformative life-giving, sanctifying power of Jesus Christ that only comes through the resurrection. And what Paul is saying is, I need that power to move forward. And then we see him talking in Romans Romans 6, verse 4. We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now we have died with Christ. We believe that we also live with Him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him. The power of the resurrection, death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you must also consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. How do you do that? By understanding the power of the resurrection and allowing it to flow through you, to transform you, to change the way you think, to change the way you live, to change the perspective that you have. that you are no longer kept in bondage to your sin. You're no longer kept in bondage to your doubt. But that you give that over to the Lord and allow the power of the resurrection to bring new life into you. It changes and transforms us from the inside out. Last passage in Ephesians. I can find it. Ephesians chapter 1, starting in verse 16. I do not cease to give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the work of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. and He put all things under His feet and gave Him His head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. All three of those passages are connecting God's power to the resurrection. That is what gives us life. It frees us from sin. It gives us hope. It gives us an assurance that there's more than just this life. That there is more to come. And listen, we live in a world that is so dark and is just trying to press in on every side. this weekend, we have so many things that can start pulling us to that place of despair. and that place of frustration, that place of cynicism, right? That place of grieving and of sadness. And I mean, this morning out and watching the sunrise, all of a sudden it just hit me that the last time we had a sunrise service in that very place, my mom was sitting there and that was the last sunrise service that she was able to be at. And all of sudden this heaviness, but then I remember the power of the resurrection. And I remember that death is not the end, that it's actually the beginning and that she is more alive than we are and that she is experiencing the light, literal light that is radiating from the creator of the universe. And we will experience that too. The only way that I can have that hope is because of the power of the resurrection. There are many days that I look at the news and I look at the direction that we're going, where our leadership is taking us, where where there is just a blindness to the spiritual reality that is going on. And I feel like I'm looking into the abyss and it's like there's no bottom here. There's no way that we can make our way out of this. Our society is choosing to just run headlong off a cliff. And I feel sometimes like I'm standing at the cliff saying, stop, quit, just stop. We can just come back to common sense, what's happening? and it feels so overwhelming and that darkness can feel so, so paralyzing. But then I remember the power of the resurrection, that the light overcomes the darkness, that no matter what is coming our way, no matter what society chooses to do, that Christ empowers us, He encourages us, He strengthens us to continue to stand for what is true and what is ultimately true, what matters more than anything else. is the power of His resurrection. That is what matters. It doesn't matter what's going to happen in the years to come. And I think it's going to get dark. It's already there. And if you're not aware of it, praise God in some ways, I envy you. And there are nearly every day, I pray that I am wrong. I pray that I am wrong, but I am seeing us move away from the truth of the resurrection as a society and as a world. And the further you get away from the truth of the resurrection, the closer you get to the schemes of hell. And that only brings destruction and death and sadness and pain. But the power of the resurrection brings hope. The power of the resurrection brings light. The power of the resurrection brings courage. the power of the resurrection compels us to stand for truth. It compels us to speak truth when given the opportunity. It compels us to do that with compassion and that we see people as broken and that they have allowed themselves to be deceived and that they need the hope of the resurrection. So it compels us to take every opportunity that we can to stand for the power of the resurrection. to stand for Jesus Christ because He stood for us and He continues to stand for us. leave this place today knowing that that power that literally in a blink of an eye reanimated the body of Jesus Christ is the power within us and even in that moment whenever you find yourself at your last day and that casket is closed that very moment the power of the resurrection is going to reanimate you and you will be in the presence of the Lord and then he still has something for you. You're going to come back with him and he's going to put you to work. And it's awesome and it's true. And do not fall into the the deceptions that are out there. And we're going to talk about them here because we have to. But we are always focused on the power of the resurrection. Hey