Risen

(Begin with 1-2 minutes of silence)

Matthew 28:5-6 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

We live in a society that thrives on evidence. We want to see the fingerprints, analyze the DNA, and have photographic evidence in order to make a sound decision about what happened. We tell ourselves that without evidence, we can only guess. 

This may lead some to dismiss Jesus’ death and resurrection. “People don’t just rise from their tombs”, some may argue. “I’ve never seen it happen, so it just isn’t possible.” 

While we cannot fully examine all of the evidence of Jesus’ death and resurrection here, history confirms that something of extraordinary importance occurred on this day. It wasn’t just Jesus, but many others came back to life (Matthew 27:52).

As word continued to spread, even the religious leaders struggled with how to respond. Finally, one said, “If this message is from God, we cannot stop it.” He was correct. The message continues to spread throughout the world today. 

READING & PRAYERS:

     MATTHEW 28:1-19, ACTS 5:17-39 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: What are at least three ways you have personally experienced the work of God in your life? 

REAL LIFE PRACTICE: Are you overcommitting?Practice slowing down and living life at the pace of your soul by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice daily. The app is free, and is available on iPhone and Android devices.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I confess there are times when I’m more interested in the story of a movie or television show than I am interested in thinking about my own life story and the ways You have worked in and through my life. Today, I humbly request that You will continue to bring to mind the countless ways You have worked in and through my life. May these memories increase my hope, passion, and overall love for You. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

(End with 1-2 minutes of silence)

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: