The Tomb is Empty!

The Tomb is Empty!

Call to Worship:  Psalm 22:22, 24, 27-28 (Adapted from the NLT)

22     I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
              I will praise you among your assembled people…

24     For you have not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.
              You have not turned your back on them,
              but have listened to their cries for help…

27     The whole earth will acknowledge the LORD and return to him.
              All the families of the nations will bow down before him.

28     For royal power belongs to the LORD.
              He rules all the nations.

Scripture Reading: Hebrews: 1b-2 (ESV)

1bLet us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Sermon TextJohn 20:1-10 (ESV)

I.  To the Tomb (v 1-2)

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 

II.  Inside the Tomb (v 3-7)

3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 

III.  Belief at the Tomb (v 8-10)

8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes