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Easter
Sunday (cycle b) 

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Texts & Discussion:

Acts 10:34-43 or
Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
John 20:1-18 or
Mark 16:1-8

Other Resources:

Commentary:

Matthew Henry,    Wesley

Word Study:
Robertson

This Week's Themes:

God's Victory Over Evil
Witness of our Lord's Resurrection
Redemption & Salvation


 

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Sermons:

Skits/Readings:

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Where will YOU Run?
Easter sermon based on Mark 16:1-8
by Rev. Randy Quinn

They closed the store a couple of years ago.  It was a small town general store that had been in business for over a hundred years, first as a “dry goods” store then as a “drug store.”  It had been in the same family since 1926, when Grandpa bought it from its founder.

When Dad died unexpectedly, none of the children were interested in keeping it going – nor were any of their children.  So they closed the store.  There was a “going out of business” sale that really was a “going out of business” sale since the building was sold separate from the business.  (The store building on the main street of Colfax is currently divided up into smaller professional offices.)

One of the daughters told me that before the sale she spent eight straight days during Spring Break cleaning out the basement of the store[1].  It was funny, because even as an adult she had some fears about one of the corner rooms in the basement.

As a child, she used to play in the basement with her cousins.  When she cleaned it, it still had the wooden floor she remembered as a child – which really makes it sound better than it was.  The flooring was rough 2 x 8’s laid down across the dirt.  In places it was so uneven that even as a child she remembered seeing the boards go up and down as she walked along them.

But in the corner room, there were no lights.  And the boards were particularly squeaky.  Once in a while the children would venture inside, but they rarely got past the doorway before running out in terror.

During Spring Break she went in with a flashlight.  She knew there were some boards stacked up in the corner and she knew there was something behind them.  But she wasn’t sure what she’d find until she faced her own fears.

Even as she got close to the door, her heart began to beat rapidly. Old fears are hard to conquer.  Childhood fears live with us for most of our adult lives in one form or another.  But in this case, she knew she had to face her fears and find what was in the corner.

I suspect Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had similar fears.  They didn’t like the idea of going into the tomb.  That may explain why they hadn’t consciously thought about it until they were nearing the garden, but they had no plans for moving the stone from its entrance (Mk 16:3).

Maybe their subconscious fears kept them from making a workable plan so they would only approach the tomb and not actually go inside.  They would weep at the stone and not actually touch the dead body of the man they had grown to love.

Instead, they were forced to face their fears.

And just what are those fears?  The same fears we all face, the fear of the unknown.  It’s the fear of change expressed at its most basic level.

You see, we like to know what to expect.  We like to be in control.  And if there is change, we like to be the ones directing the change, not responding to it.

Small children love to play with a “Jack-in-the-Box.”  They enjoy the element of surprise when the clown pops out of the box.  Even adults enjoy turning the cranks and watching the head pop up.  But I never did enjoy playing with one of the “Jacks-in-the-Box” we bought for Melissa a few years ago.  I didn’t like it because the clown doesn’t pop up at the expected moments.  Unlike most “Jacks-in-the-Box,” the mechanism that releases the clown isn’t connected to the music, so you can’t predict when the clown will pop up. [continue]