TODAY’S “GOOD NEWS” – April 11, 2004

 MESSAGE:  “THE PASSIONATE CHRIST:

…Alive And Well!”

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 28:1-10

KEY VERSE:  v. 5-6  “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.  He is not here, for He has risen.”

FOCUS:  Resurrection is never fully appreciated until that moment when it happens very personally to me.

INTRODUCTION:  “Easter morning had brought the triumphant good news of the resurrection.  But the disciples’ emotions were ragged.  They did not dare to believe it.  Even the witness of some of their members, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ did not heal them.  They had to be sure.  The reality of the resurrection was not yet the experience of their lives.  That’s how we are until the resurrection becomes the central fact of life for us.  We are afraid of life, what people say and do, and what the future will bring.”                      ~ Lloyd Ogilvie

I.         THE RESURRECTION IS A DIVINELY APPOINTED EVENT

II.    THE RESURRECTION IS THE FOUNDATION FOR FAITH

III.  THE RESURRECTION OPENS THE DOOR TO DIVINE FRIENDSHIP

CONCLUSION:   “From the empty tomb of Jesus the Gospel has radiated to the ends of the earth.”                              ~ Wm. McCumber