Rev. David Holwick Easter sunrise
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 27, 2005
Luke 24:1-8
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I. Early, as it should be.
A. Conversation with Methodist pastor after Good Friday service.
They have their sunrise service at 7:00 a.m.
When I said, "We always have it at 6:00 a.m.," he replied,
"That's the way it should be."
A real sunrise service has to start when it is still dim
and cold.
Today qualifies!
B. Morning people.
1) I am not a morning person.
Somebody has well said that there are only two kinds
of people in the world.
There are those who wake up in the morning and say,
"Good morning, Lord!"
And there are those who wake up in the morning and say,
"Good Lord, it's morning!"
#25587
a) Three times this week I was up past 2:00 a.m.
b) 6:00 a.m. is definitely a time to still be in bed.
2) Big advantage of being a morning person.
a) You watch the day turn from dark to bright.
b) There is more light to get things done.
c) Women of the first century had to be morning people.
C. A grim task.
1) They came early to the tomb to prepare the bloody body.
a) Big problem - no body.
b) No stone, either, at least not in the entrance.
2) The only thing they found was two angels.
a) These brilliant beings had incredible news about Jesus.
II. The living don't belong among the dead.
A. Horror movies would love it to be otherwise.
1) In the 1970's I watched "Night of the Living Dead" while
on a campout.
Dead people roam around, trying to bite the living.
If they bite you, you die, then come back to bite others.
I didn't sleep all night.
2) It is just fiction - dead people stay dead.
a) Except on this special day.
b) Jesus had risen, and he would never die again.
B. Reminded of Jesus' words.
1) He predicted his betrayal, death and resurrection.
2) We can appreciate why that didn't sink in - until now.
III. From dark to dawn.
A. We have this service at sunrise to create an effect.
1) It reminds us of that first Easter.
2) It can also remind us what God can do for us.
B. We need to go from night to day in our own lives.
Most of you are not familiar with Brian "Head" Welch.
He played guitar in a band called Korn.
They sold literally millions of records and were considered
among the top ten bands in Europe and the U.S. in the 90's.
Both fans and critics adored this band - I guess you have
to be into heavy metal music to appreciate them.
But I can appreciate what happened to Brian.
Brian Welch lived the storybook life of a rock star.
"Everything that people think a rock band sees and goes
through, multiply that by 10," Welch said.
Lots of women. Lots of drugs, especially methamphetamine.
Brian became drug-addicted.
He tried treatment programs but they all failed.
He became more and more depressed and wanted to die.
He had a lot of anger too.
Brian said, "You know when you get angry and it builds up?
I felt like hurting someone."
Earlier this year, Brian Welch figured out what his problem
was.
He realized there was something wrong inside him spiritually.
He started going to church and studying the Bible.
His favorite Bible verse was Matthew 11:28 -
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest."
Brian liked that verse so much he tattooed the reference on
his neck.
And then he gave his life to Jesus Christ.
This month, Brian and 20 others from his California church
put on white robes and stepped into the Jordan River.
- The one in Israel.
He confessed his faith in Jesus and was baptized by immersion.
It is a great thing to leave the darkness and enter the
morning light.
Have you?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#25587 "How Do You Say Good Morning?" from email submitted by Jack Hammell,
member of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey, September 15, 2003.
#29213 "Ex-Heavy-Metal Guitarist Is Baptized," Lefteris Pitarakis and
Kristen Stevens, America Online - Associated Press, March 6, 2005.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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