{"id":1579,"date":"2014-04-20T15:59:51","date_gmt":"2014-04-20T19:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=1579"},"modified":"2014-09-17T14:54:23","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T18:54:23","slug":"jesus-faced-down-death-42014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=1579","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Faced Down Death! (4\/20\/14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google can answer everything!\u00a0 Want to know how long a twinkie will last?\u00a0 Google it!\u00a0 Want to know whether it’s called Duct Tape or Duck Tape? Google it!\u00a0 But if you want to know anything about death and where someone goes when they die, you’ll get a 404 error- answer not found!<\/span><\/p>\n

But Google is actually trying to do something about that… what can we do to extend life and maybe even eliminate death itself? A 2013 article<\/span><\/a><\/span> in Time Magazine reports that Google is working on a project called Colico which seeks to “solve Death.”\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Really???\u00a0 Solve the Death Problem?!?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"PastorLarry-Easter2014_6D9A8740\"<\/a>Pastor Larry addressed this issue in his Easter sermon (entitled “Google It!”).\u00a0 Matthew 28 tells us that God has already solved the death problem!\u00a0 As Christians we\u00a0 know that Jesus has overcome death.\u00a0 Our fears, our worries about “the other side” have vanished; literally rolled away like the stone that sealed the tomb.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The text for the sermon was Matthew 28:1-10…<\/span><\/p>\n

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Read Matthew<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
Matt 28:1-10 <\/span><\/p>\n

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. <\/span><\/p>\n

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” <\/span><\/p>\n

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” <\/span><\/p>\n

NIV<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/span><\/p>\n

The angel stood before Mary, and he already knew her question.\u00a0 “What happened?\u00a0 Where is Jesus?”<\/span><\/p>\n

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We ask the same question…<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Where is my husband who suddenly died of a heart attack?<\/span><\/p>\n

Where is my wife who died after a long painful bout with cancer?<\/span><\/p>\n

Where are the children who were shot to death in Sandy Hook?<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n

The Death Question…<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

But the angel knew the questions and had the answer.\u00a0 “He is not here.\u00a0 He is Risen!”\u00a0 The angel had already rolled the stone away, knowing that the women would need to see the empty tomb.\u00a0 The solution to death is the empty tomb.\u00a0 Physical death does not end our relationship with God; our existence and value transcends the limitations of our frail human bodies.\u00a0 The angel was already prepared to meet the women’s fear and to show them God’s answer to their question.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Life Question…<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

But where is Jesus?\u00a0 The angels helped the women to see that not only was the body missing, but that Jesus was not there.\u00a0 Instead, He had “gone ahead of them” into Galilee.\u00a0 In Matthew 28:20 Jesus tells His disciples that “surely I will be with you until the end of the age.”\u00a0 At Christmas we keep hearing the word “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”\u00a0 You don’t have to wait for Christmas for God to be “with us.”\u00a0 Jesus is always Emmanuel!\u00a0 Jesus is with us through the Holy Spirit at all times.\u00a0 When we run into trouble, we find that Jesus is already there.\u00a0 He goes ahead of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

The question of death is solved: there’s an empty tomb.\u00a0 The question of life is engaged: Jesus goes ahead of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

God calls us to go to our “Galilees” to\u00a0 show His\u00a0 love and to speak His truth.\u00a0 He sends us on a mission to “show and\u00a0 tell” others.\u00a0 To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners.<\/span><\/p>\n

God calls us to lay down our regrets and to look to the future. Imagine… What can we do through God if we take on Kingdom Expectations instead of allowing ourselves to be wrapped up in our past?\u00a0 Imagine… What we can do by accepting His solution to the “Death Problem?”<\/span><\/p>\n

These are questions that you just can’t Google!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0============================================================<\/p>\n

Where is Death?\u00a0 Christ IS Risen!!!<\/span><\/h3>\n

Below are some pictures taken at a location in Jerusalem known as Gordon’s Calvary<\/span><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 This is a possible location of the crucifixion and burial place.\u00a0 The upper left shows the possible location of Golgotha (the “hill of the skull”).\u00a0 On the top of this hill is the Garden Tomb.\u00a0 The photos show the open tomb along with two views from the inside of the tomb.\u00a0 Yes- it IS empty!!!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Gordon's<\/a>

Gordon’s Calvary (The Garden Tomb) in Jerusalem<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Google can answer everything!\u00a0 Want to know how long a twinkie will last?\u00a0 Google it!\u00a0 Want to know whether it’s called Duct Tape or Duck Tape? Google it!\u00a0 But if you want to know anything about death and where someone goes when they die, you’ll get a 404 error- answer not found! But Google is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[94,71,65,63,86,87],"class_list":["post-1579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","tag-easterweek","tag-future","tag-hope","tag-newlife","tag-salvation","tag-victory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1579"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3753,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions\/3753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}