Sunrise Service April 5, 2026 - He Is Not Here, He Is Risen!

Nichole Bache: I have scriptures up there for you to take a look at.

Nichole Bache: Our main scripture this morning

Nichole Bache: is going to be Luke twenty four

Nichole Bache: one through eight, and we'll

Nichole Bache: have just a sprinkling of others

Nichole Bache: throughout the sermon here this

Nichole Bache: morning.

Nichole Bache: Today we gather not to mourn, but to celebrate the living

Nichole Bache: King, Jesus Christ, who conquered the grave.

Nichole Bache: The tomb is empty.

Nichole Bache: Death has been defeated.

Nichole Bache: Hope has dawned, and the

Nichole Bache: heartbeat of this good news is

Nichole Bache: captured in one powerful

Nichole Bache: declaration in Luke twenty four

Nichole Bache: six.

Nichole Bache: He is not here.

Nichole Bache: He is risen.

Nichole Bache: Let those words sink in this morning.

Nichole Bache: He is not here.

Nichole Bache: He is risen!

Nichole Bache: This is not a wishful slogan or a comforting myth.

Nichole Bache: This is a reality that changes everything.

Nichole Bache: Your past, your present, and your eternal future.

Nichole Bache: Let's open the word this morning

Nichole Bache: and take a look at the full

Nichole Bache: context in Luke twenty four one

Nichole Bache: through eight.

Nichole Bache: On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the

Nichole Bache: women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

Nichole Bache: They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

Nichole Bache: But when they entered, they did

Nichole Bache: not find the body of the Lord

Nichole Bache: Jesus.

Nichole Bache: While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in white

Nichole Bache: stood with them in their fright.

Nichole Bache: The women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men

Nichole Bache: said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead?

Nichole Bache: He is not here.

Nichole Bache: He is risen.

Nichole Bache: Remember when he told you while he was still in Galilee, the Son

Nichole Bache: of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be

Nichole Bache: crucified on the third day and be raised again.

Nichole Bache: Then they remembered his words.

Nichole Bache: What a scene!

Nichole Bache: Picture it with me.

Nichole Bache: It is early Sunday morning, much

Nichole Bache: like today, the first day of the

Nichole Bache: week after the darkest Friday in

Nichole Bache: history.

Nichole Bache: The women, Mary Magdalene,

Nichole Bache: Joanna, Mary, the mother of

Nichole Bache: James and the others make their

Nichole Bache: way to the tomb while it's still

Nichole Bache: dark.

Nichole Bache: They walk slowly, their bodies aching with grief and their

Nichole Bache: hearts heavy with sorrow.

Nichole Bache: They carry with them spices to finish anointing the body of

Nichole Bache: their beloved Lord, the one they thought would redeem them and

Nichole Bache: all of Israel.

Nichole Bache: But alas, this wasn't to be.

Nichole Bache: They expect to find a sealed tomb and a lifeless corpse, but

Nichole Bache: instead they find an empty grave and angels in dazzling clothing.

Nichole Bache: The angels question cuts through their sorrow like lightning.

Nichole Bache: Why do you seek the living among the dead?

Nichole Bache: And then comes the triumphant announcement.

Nichole Bache: He is not here.

Nichole Bache: He is risen.

Nichole Bache: This verse is the cornerstone of our faith.

Nichole Bache: We are going to talk it through in three movements this morning.

Nichole Bache: First, the shock of the empty tomb.

Nichole Bache: Second, the faithfulness of God's promise.

Nichole Bache: And finally, the transforming

Nichole Bache: hope this has on our lives

Nichole Bache: today.

Nichole Bache: So let's begin with the shock of finding that empty tomb.

Nichole Bache: These faithful women came expecting death.

Nichole Bache: They had watched Jesus breathe his last breath on the cross.

Nichole Bache: They had seen Joseph of

Nichole Bache: Arimathea lay his body in the

Nichole Bache: tomb.

Nichole Bache: They had seen the stone rolled into place and a Roman seal set.

Nichole Bache: As far as they knew, it was over.

Nichole Bache: Their hopes were buried with him.

Nichole Bache: How often do we do the same?

Nichole Bache: We approach the hard places in

Nichole Bache: life, like grief and failure or

Nichole Bache: doubt.

Nichole Bache: Expecting the worst, only death.

Nichole Bache: We look for life in all the wrong places, in our own

Nichole Bache: strength, in fleeting pleasures, or in worldly success.

Nichole Bache: In other words, we seek the living among the dead.

Nichole Bache: But the angels redirected the

Nichole Bache: women and us as well today with

Nichole Bache: a question that still echoes why

Nichole Bache: are you seeking the living among

Nichole Bache: the dead?

Nichole Bache: Jesus is not a dead martyr or a hero to be memorialized.

Nichole Bache: He is the living Savior, to be worshiped and followed.

Nichole Bache: The empty tomb shouts that death has been defeated!

Nichole Bache: The stone was rolled away, not so that Jesus could escape, but

Nichole Bache: so that the world could see that he was already risen.

Nichole Bache: The grave clothes were left behind like a discarded cocoon.

Nichole Bache: The body was gone.

Nichole Bache: Not misplaced.

Nichole Bache: Not stolen, but raised by the miraculous power of God.

Nichole Bache: Think about what this means.

Nichole Bache: If Jesus was still in the tomb that morning, then Satan wins.

Nichole Bache: Hopelessness wins.

Nichole Bache: Sin wins.

Nichole Bache: But because Jesus was not in the

Nichole Bache: tomb and it was empty, the cross

Nichole Bache: is triumphant.

Nichole Bache: Jesus did not just die for our sins, he rose to prove that

Nichole Bache: payment was accepted.

Nichole Bache: The debt was paid in full.

Nichole Bache: The apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians fifteen seventeen,

Nichole Bache: and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.

Nichole Bache: You are still in your sins, but Christ has been raised.

Nichole Bache: Therefore, your sins can be forgiven.

Nichole Bache: Your guilt can be washed away.

Nichole Bache: Your shame does not have the final word.

Nichole Bache: The resurrection is not a footnote in the gospel.

Nichole Bache: It is the gospel.

Nichole Bache: It validates everything that Jesus claimed.

Nichole Bache: He said he would rise on the third day.

Nichole Bache: And he did.

Nichole Bache: This leads us to the second point for today God's

Nichole Bache: faithfulness in his promise.

Nichole Bache: Notice the angels did not stop with the announcement.

Nichole Bache: The story doesn't end with them

Nichole Bache: telling the women, he's not

Nichole Bache: here.

Nichole Bache: He is risen.

Nichole Bache: The angels immediately point back to Jesus own words.

Nichole Bache: Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee?

Nichole Bache: Jesus had predicted everything to come multiple times.

Nichole Bache: In fact, in Luke nine twenty two, he said, The Son of Man

Nichole Bache: must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the

Nichole Bache: chief priests and the teachers of the law.

Nichole Bache: And he must be killed.

Nichole Bache: And on the third day raised to life.

Nichole Bache: He repeated it over and over again throughout the gospel.

Nichole Bache: Yet the.

Nichole Bache: The disciples forgot.

Nichole Bache: The women came that Sunday

Nichole Bache: morning with spices because they

Nichole Bache: had not fully believed his

Nichole Bache: promise again.

Nichole Bache: Sounds a lot like us, doesn't it?

Nichole Bache: God speaks clearly in His word promises of forgiveness,

Nichole Bache: presence, power and provision.

Nichole Bache: Yet we forget.

Nichole Bache: We go about our lives living as if the tomb is still sealed.

Nichole Bache: We carry our burdens as if Jesus is still dead.

Nichole Bache: But the angels say, remember.

Nichole Bache: And when they remembered, his words changed everything.

Nichole Bache: The fear turned to wonder.

Nichole Bache: The sorrow turned to joy.

Nichole Bache: The confusion turned to a

Nichole Bache: mission as they ran to tell

Nichole Bache: others.

Nichole Bache: Easter calls us to remember.

Nichole Bache: Remember that Jesus laid down his life for you.

Nichole Bache: Remember that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Nichole Bache: Remember that God keeps his promises.

Nichole Bache: The final point today is the

Nichole Bache: transformation of hope in our

Nichole Bache: lives that happens through the

Nichole Bache: resurrection.

Nichole Bache: The resurrection does not leave us unchanged.

Nichole Bache: Look at the ripple effects that take place in Luke twenty four.

Nichole Bache: The women are perplexed, then terrified, then remembering, and

Nichole Bache: finally with joy, they're running to tell the disciples.

Nichole Bache: The disciples initially dismiss the women's story.

Nichole Bache: Peter runs to the tomb and he marvels at what he sees.

Nichole Bache: Later on the road to Emmaus,

Nichole Bache: hearts burn as the risen Jesus

Nichole Bache: appears to those there and talks

Nichole Bache: to them.

Nichole Bache: By evening, Jesus appears to his

Nichole Bache: disciples, eats with them, and

Nichole Bache: commissions them.

Nichole Bache: The resurrection turns mourners into messengers, doubters into

Nichole Bache: declarers and fearful followers into bold witnesses.

Nichole Bache: Once they experience the resurrection, no one leaves the

Nichole Bache: way that they came.

Nichole Bache: And the beauty of this story is

Nichole Bache: the same life changing power

Nichole Bache: that we read about in this very

Nichole Bache: first resurrection Sunday so

Nichole Bache: long ago, is still available

Nichole Bache: today.

Nichole Bache: Through Jesus Christ, our risen Savior.

Nichole Bache: Now, maybe you're sitting here today thinking, all of this

Nichole Bache: sounds so great, but what does it mean for me?

Nichole Bache: Well, I'm glad you asked.

Nichole Bache: We're going to hit that, too.

Nichole Bache: First, it means your past is forgiven.

Nichole Bache: The cross took your sin.

Nichole Bache: The resurrection proves it.

Nichole Bache: No matter how dark your Friday has been, no matter what you've

Nichole Bache: done, it no longer matters.

Nichole Bache: Jesus offers new life.

Nichole Bache: Come to the empty tomb and leave your burdens there.

Nichole Bache: Second, it means that the

Nichole Bache: present you sitting here today

Nichole Bache: has power.

Nichole Bache: The same spirit that raised

Nichole Bache: Jesus from the dead lives in

Nichole Bache: every believer.

Nichole Bache: You are not powerless against sin, temptation, or despair.

Nichole Bache: The risen Christ empowers you to live differently, to love your

Nichole Bache: enemies, to forgive those who have hurt you, and to serve with

Nichole Bache: joy and walk in holiness.

Nichole Bache: And third, it means your future is secure.

Nichole Bache: Death is not the end.

Nichole Bache: The grave is not your final home.

Nichole Bache: Because he lives.

Nichole Bache: You will also.

Nichole Bache: One day that trumpet will sound

Nichole Bache: and the dead in Christ will

Nichole Bache: rise.

Nichole Bache: You will receive a glorified body.

Nichole Bache: No more pain, no more death.

Nichole Bache: But until that day, you have a mission.

Nichole Bache: The women were told to remember and then to go tell.

Nichole Bache: The same is true for us.

Nichole Bache: The resurrection is not a private comfort.

Nichole Bache: It is a truth to be proclaimed in all that you do.

Nichole Bache: Declare that Jesus is alive.

Nichole Bache: As we close out today's message,

Nichole Bache: I want you to take inventory of

Nichole Bache: yourself.

Nichole Bache: Some of you sitting here today,

Nichole Bache: maybe like those first

Nichole Bache: disciples, perplexed, doubting,

Nichole Bache: or grieving.

Nichole Bache: Maybe life has beaten you down.

Nichole Bache: Maybe faith feels distant.

Nichole Bache: Hear the angel's words again.

Nichole Bache: Why do you seek the living among the dead?

Nichole Bache: He is not here.

Nichole Bache: He is risen!

Nichole Bache: Stop looking for dead things.

Nichole Bache: Turn to Christ, the living Savior.

Nichole Bache: He invites you to believe,

Nichole Bache: repent and receive everlasting

Nichole Bache: life.

Nichole Bache: If you have never trusted him as

Nichole Bache: Lord and Savior, today is the

Nichole Bache: day.

Nichole Bache: The tomb is empty because he paid it all and rose victorious.

Nichole Bache: And for those that know him, let this Easter renew your joy.

Nichole Bache: Let it stir your witness.

Nichole Bache: Let it deepen your worship.

Nichole Bache: May you sing louder, pray harder

Nichole Bache: and love deeper, because your

Nichole Bache: Savior lives.

Nichole Bache: Amen.