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Before I begin let me say what a privilege it is to be leading worship and preaching on the
first Easter worship in the history of Chain of Lakes Church! Wow! This is a year of firsts and
today is another one. I anticipate that the people at Chain of Lakes will be worshipping on
Easter until Jesus returns—and who knows when that will be. What we do know is there is only
one first-time. Today is the first time we’ve gathered for Easter worship. That is special.
Second I’d like to ask you to get out the sermon notes and devotional that is in the
bulletin. Each Sunday I encourage you to take notes during the sermon. I anticipate that you
might want to write something down to remember. I also share devotional readings that are
intended to be read each day of the week. In this week’s devotion I shared a Bible study on the
resurrection.
I was inspired to write this Bible Study after I saw a piece of information on the Internet
this week. This piece of information prompted me to drive to Barnes and Noble on Thursday to
buy the latest issue of Newsweek magazine. I don’t’ know if you saw it. There’s was an article
called, “Body and Soul Far From Heaven.” The article said that according to the Harris Poll 70
percent of Americans believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What prompted me to drive to
Barnes and Noble to get this article was when I heard that since 2003 the number of Americans
who believe in the resurrection of Jesus has decreased by 10 percentage points. I want to
understand how this can be.
This is just one poll. It’s hard to know if this poll correctly captures the belief about the
resurrection in our country? I believe in the resurrection of Jesus—his actual physical
resurrection. I believe that Jesus’ body was dead—there was no life in it after 3:00 p.m. on the
day we call Good Friday. God resurrected Jesus back to life.
In this sermon I’m not making the case for Jesus’ actual resurrection. Instead I shared
this devotion. I encourage you to use it this week. I want you to believe in the physical
resurrection of Jesus. I also believe in persuasion and not coercion. This Bible Study is my
attempt to persuade. If you have some comments while you are using it, I encourage you to E-
mail me or call me.
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As I just said when it comes to the resurrection some questions start with the word, “if,”

as in “if the resurrection happened.” Some questions start with the word “who,” as in “who goes

to heaven.” The question that has always attracted my attention starts with the word “how,” as

in “How does the resurrection make a difference in my life.” Today I want to show you how 17

words can make a difference in our lives. If we understand the power of these 17 words we will

develop a resurrection orientation that will help us discover Jesus again and will impact the

world

What are the 17 words.

Here they are on the screen.

SLIDE:
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.”

Say them with me

I’d like us to memorize them. Do you want to try it?

Do you remember who said these 17 words? The angels in the empty tomb.

Do you remember what led the angels to say these words? This gets us into the story. I

want to tell you a story about a woman named Mary Magdalene. She was one of the women

who heard these 17 words from the angels.

Many of us probably read Dan Brown’s Da Vinci code a few years ago? That book led to

all sorts of controversy about Mary Magdalene. Remember the controversy? Mary Magdalene

was secretly married to Jesus and the church covered it up.

I hate to ruin a good conspiracy theory, but this wasn’t the case. Mary came from a small

village on the Sea of Galilee called Magdala. Her last name came from her own village—

Magdala—Magdalene. Luke first mentioned Mary Magdalene in Luke 8 when we read these

words:

SLIDE:
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Soon afterwards he [Jesus] went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the
good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had
been cured of evil spirits and infirmities; Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons
had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others,
who provided for them out of their resources.” Luke 8:1-3

From this Scripture we deduce that Jesus cured Mary Magdalene of evil spirits. Today

we would probably say that Mary Magdalene suffered from a mental illness. Mary Magdalene

and these other women accompanied Jesus and the 12 apostles as they traveled through Galilee.

They were part of the entourage that accompanied Jesus.

Mary Magdalene was a disciple—a follower of Jesus. As a disciple it wouldn’t be

surprising if she was with Jesus when he celebrated the Passover meal on the day we call

Maundy or Holy Thursday.

Mary Magdalene witnessed the horror of what happened to Jesus on the day Jesus died.

She was with Mary, Jesus mother, and the other women. She most likely saw Jesus and then

Simon of Cyrene carry Jesus’ cross. She watched the Roman soldiers pound the nails into Jesus’

body. She watched Jesus die. She saw Joseph of Arimathea take Jesus’ body down from the

cross after Jesus died. She saw where Joseph put Jesus’ body in a small cave. She was there

On Friday night Mary Magdalene and some other women prepared spices and ointments

for Jesus. Spices were used to prevent the body from decaying. The next day, Saturday, the

women didn’t do anything because it was the Sabbath day.

Early on Sunday morning the women walked to the tomb. They went to the tomb to

perform the duties that a 21st century funeral director would perform

I have a question for you. I’m interested in your response. It’s not a hard question.

SLIDE:
How do you think the women felt when they walked in the early morning to the tomb?

In this state of (………….) the women walked to the tomb. When they got to the tomb

there were hints that something extraordinary had happened. First hint—the stone had been
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rolled away. Second hint—the body wasn’t there. Luke shared that the women were perplexed

by this. They probably talked about whether someone had stolen Jesus’ body or maybe another

disciple had moved the body. Then the two angels stood beside them. The bright clothes of the

angels were a give-away that these two beings were from heaven. The women were rightly

terrified and bowed down to worship the heavenly beings.

As the women were terrified and had their faces prostate to the ground the angels said the

17 words. If you want say them with me.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

Then Mary Magdalene remembered. Something clicked in her. The feelings she had as

she came to the tomb as a funeral director was gone; the fear she felt as she lay prostate to the

ground in front of the heavenly beings was gone. The story doesn’t say this, but I imagine that

she ran from the tomb to tell the other disciples what she had seen and heard. Imagine the

energy and the enthusiasm and the excitement that captured her spirit. The orientation of Mary

was completely different as she left the tomb compared to when she walked to the tomb. The

change is what is important. The women were filled with hope.

The aim of this sermon is to show how the resurrection makes a difference in our lives. I

have a one word response—hope. The resurrection gives us hope.

You and I have hope because the worst event in the history world has been transformed

into being the best event in the world. Think about this. What’s the worst event that has ever

happened in the world. I think it was the murder of Jesus. Nothing compares to the willful,

intentional, and brutal killing of God. In the church we call this the crucifixion. It was very bad.

But we don’t call the crucifixion bad. What do we call it? Good Friday. Why? Because

the event was transformed into a celebration. Even though Jesus was intentionally murdered, he

forgave the people who killed him. Even though God the Father or Creator had every right to

annihilate the human race for the murder of God’s son, we were forgiven. Because of the cross
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we know that nothing we do can separate us from the love of God. The cross is now a symbol of

goodness.

This has profound implications for us. If God can transform the worst event in human

history into something good, then God can do the same in our lives. Because Friday is good you

and I really have nothing to fear in our own lives. Bad things can happen, but they don’t have

the last word. If the cross can be called good, then anything is possible for us, for you and me.

MM had a completely different orientation. This change of orientation happens all the

time. It’s happened often since we started Chain of Lakes Church.

A story. At the end of September we at Chain of Lakes put on an event we called the

Alpha Celebration Dinner. We held it over at the Hampton Inn in Lino Lakes. It was a big event

for us and we poured ourselves into it. We encouraged everyone in our community to invite

their friends. Many of you did. We had over 40 people attend. That event started the Alpha

course.

I remember that night there was a man who attended the event. While I was speaking he

was very interested in what I had to say. When I spoke his eyes bugged out. He turned his

head while he looked at me and stared at me with a deep intensity.

He came as a guest of John & Gloria Ivers. He came the next week when we started

Alpha. He started coming to our events every week. A couple weeks after the Alpha

Celebration dinner I visited him at his home in Fridley. He shared some of his story with me. It

was quite a story. He shared how he had been married a couple times, had lived in Arizona, he

shared some of the struggles he’s experienced. He talked about his kids. After the visit I wrote

down some notes. In my notes I wrote that the two of us didn’t talk too much about God. Bill

had so many stories to share that we didn’t have time.

When we started worship, Bill got interested in being part of the team that runs the sound

system. He started bringing his son, Billy to worship and Sunday School. Sometimes he
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brought his daughter too. At a meeting Bill mentioned that he had never been baptized before. I

shared with him that I’d like to celebrate his baptism on Easter Sunday. He thought that would

be nice.

So today this man—who six months ago was really a stranger to God and most definitely

a stranger to most of us is our friend. In baptism we acknowledged that he is a friend to God and

to us. Now he is our friend in Christ.

Could any of us have imagined six months ago that Bill would be baptized on Easter

Sunday?

Bill’s son, Billy, has noticed a difference in his dad’s life. Billy shared that his dad was

always hanging out with bikers. (There’s nothing wrong, of course, with hanging out with

bikers.) But Billy realized that his Dad would sometimes get into situations that weren’t the best.

But now, Billy said, his Dad is going to church and is living a better life. Billy can see a

difference in his dad.

Bill would say himself that there is a lot about the Christian faith that he doesn’t

understand. He’s been in one of our small groups on Wednesday nights. Sometimes Bill gets

that look in his eyes and I know as a teacher that whatever I have planned is going to be tossed

out the window. Bill starts asking questions—basic questions about the faith. One question

leads to another to another to another—these questions do not stop. It’s wonderful for all of us.

Suddenly our group is talking about the basics of faith. All of us can just feel Bill’s thirst for

knowledge of God; we can sense that our time together has satisfied this thirst.

Bill has experienced resurrection. The resurrection has given him a new orientation on

life. It’s the same orientation that Mary Magdalene experienced as she ran away from the tomb.

This orientation is available to every one of us here.

We’re starting this church not to make new Presbyterians. We’re starting this church so

that we can share this orientation of the resurrection with the north metro. Sure there are many
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good churches who already do this, but even those good churches would say there is room for

more churches. There is always room for the resurrection.

It’s this orientation about life that I so want every person at Chain of Lakes to discover

and possess. I want us to identify ourselves as people of the resurrection. We’ve shared this

identity already in our Purpose Statement and our Core Values. The fragrance of the resurrection

just exudes from these two statements. Check it out on the back of our bulletin.

In our Purpose Statement we say we want to impact the world. We impact the world

when you and I grab hold of this resurrection orientation for ourselves. With a resurrection

orientation a person doesn’t look at the bad events in the world and only ask “why,” as in why

did this thing happen? With a resurrection orientation a person knows with confidence that the

bad will not have the final say. And a person with a resurrection orientation will want to help

transform the bad into something good.

Take the earthquake in Haiti for example. A person with a resurrection orientation

doesn’t wonder who is to blame for the situation. They don’t give in to the inevitability of

suffering. They don’t forget what happened. A person of the resurrection says, “I believe that I

can make a difference.” That person says, “even though the country has suffered from centuries

of poor leadership, I’m going to believe that this earthquake can unleash changes for good.” I’m

even going to look for an opportunity to help.

A person with a resurrection orientation is going to push and plead with his or her church

to get a team down to Haiti as soon as possible. This team isn’t going to go just one time. The

team is going to make a long-term commitment to the area.

When people inevitably ask why focus on Haiti when so many poor live in the north

metro, a person with a resurrection orientation will say, we will focus on the poor in the north

metro. Just because there are poor people in the north metro doesn’t mean we don’t help the

poor in Haiti.
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Do you see how this resurrection orientation can impact the world?

Take the issue of divorce for example. When divorce happens people with a resurrection

orientation don’t judge couples for getting divorced. We don’t take the words of Jesus and apply

them literally. We know that some marriages don’t last. With a resurrection orientation people

will want to help the parties who are divorcing. People will share compassion and not take sides.

If the couple has children people will commit themselves to loving those children to the best of

their ability. They’ll always encourage couples to take the high road as they relate to each other

—and to forgive each other.

People with a resurrection orientation will push and plead with their church to do

everything possible to support marriages. Because of this pushing and pleading we’ll provide

quality counseling to couples getting married; we’ll frequently provide resources for couples to

give marriages a tune-up; when marriages start to struggle, we’ll instantly provide counseling

services and provide mentor couples to help. Over time we’ll watch and see that couples who

practice their faith in the church have a greater possibility to stay together.

Do you see how a resurrection orientation can impact the world?

The final question for today is, “do we want this orientation for ourselves?”

Having a resurrection orientation involves a choice. It’s a choice that we make every

day. It’s not like we become a person of the resurrection once and then that’s it. Having this

orientation involves effort.

We know that the world bombards us with messages that pull us away from the

orientation of the resurrection. Some of the time we find ourselves too busy to give ourselves to

this orientation. The best way to keep this resurrection orientation is to come to worship every

Sunday. That might make sense on Easter Sunday, but what will happen when our kids come

home and say they have an event on a Sunday morning. So we miss a Sunday, and then we miss

another.
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After we’re for a while we start looking at church like we look at brussel sprouts. You

know what I mean. We know that brussel sprouts are good for us, but how many of us look

forward to eating brussel sprouts? Well, maybe a few of you do, but most of us? Just as we

know that God and church are good for us, but it just doesn’t fit into our life. We’re too busy.

We have to make a choice

Don’t let church become like brussel sprouts. A resurrection orientation can impact the

world.

Do you want this? To want it, means we have to choose it.

17 words. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen.”

I hope you’ll join me in joining Mary Magdalene has she ran from the tomb because she heard

these 17 words. I hope you’ll join me in this wild adventure that we’re calling Chain of Lakes

Church. I hope you’ll join me in creating a community who has a resurrection orientation; I

hope you’ll join me in creating a place where biker guys are baptized; I hope you’ll join me in

being a place where marriages are saved and families who divorce are treated with compassion; I

hope you’ll join me in creating a community where children are our priority; I hope you’ll join

me in being a place where joyful love is experienced;

I want to wrap up with a prayer. I’m going to encourage you to pray it with me. As you
leave worship today we’re going to give everyone a card that has this prayer on it.
SLIDE
I choose to be a person of resurrection orientation
Because of the resurrection I will look for hope in all situations.
I will ignore the messages of despair that I hear so much in the world.
I will intentionally nurture this resurrection orientation in me.
I will go out of the way to help others experience this resurrection orientation.
I acknowledge that the 17 words from the angel can change the world.
I pray this change begins with me.