“The Resurrection Declares Victory”Main point: The resurrection of Jesus secures victory over sin, death, and the devil.BLESSING THE CHILDREN  Holy HilarityWhy did the kid bring a ladder to school? Because she wanted to go to high school.Why did the cookie go to the hospital? Because he felt crummy.Why did the dinosaur cross the road? Because the chicken wasn't born yet.How does a scientist freshen her breath? With experi-mints.Putting On ChristWelcomed: Jesus invites us in - just like being welcomed into a party or home from school with a smile and a hug.New Clothes: Through Holy Week we have been talking about getting into Christ. Today we talk about getting into Jesus’ new life is like putting on new clothes.Jesus died on the cross and was put in a grave, but he came back to life and now Jesus is alive!SERMONIntroductionWe gather together this morning for one purpose: To declare and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead. When we talk about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead - whether you are a life-long Christian of 80 or more years or an atheist who tagged along with a family member to make mom or grandma happy - this declaration and all of the ensuing celebration may spark in you a series of intellectual and emotional responses.How is it possible that a person who was dead for three days would come back to life? It just seems too wild to be true!Even if it is true, so what? What does it mean? It seems old. It’s seems abstract. Even the most experienced Christian in the room probably still wonders - what exactly are the implications of the resurrection for my faith? How does that thing that happened 2000 years ago matter for Christian faith?So what? Does it make any difference for me today? Even if it did happen and I consent to its plausibility, so what? I live my life. I get by. What does something like that even matter?To both the skeptic and the faithfulI present in the room today, I have a query for you to consider today. Imagine you received a letter in the mail and it told you a distant relative died and you inherited a large sum of money, what would you do? I’m not talking about an email or text message or even a phone call that is obviously spam. We get enough of those. I’m talking about a real paper letter in your mailbox that is written legibly and without spelling errors. You would likely be skeptical, as you very well should be, but you would at least look into it, because the potential implications are just too great to ignore it.If you are here this morning and you are on the fence about the resurrection, you may at least want to consider it.Objections to the resurrection.Those who take issue with the resurrection usually do so for two reasons: it's materially impossible and/or it's historically unverifiable.The skeptic says: We understand the nature of reality better now. We know reality is material, not spiritual. Those ancient people were primitive, ignorant, and superstitious. Nevermind the integrity of the historical accounts of the events around the resurrection. Nevermind, more generally, the inexhaustible catalogues of phenomena that happened and still happen in the world that equally cannot be materially verified. For me to believe in something like the resurrection, you, Christian, must demonstrate to me beyond my unique, subjective threshold of proof that this miracle really did happen. The burden is on you, Christian, to make me believe.Well, if those are the rules of engagement, or a variation on that theme, we'll have to take our conversation off-line. We simply don’t have time and this isn’t the setting to give a full defense of the resurrection. Our setting today is Christian worship. But if you want to engage in a more detailed conversation, I welcome the opportunity. Give me a call and we’ll talk.

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