SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 4/5/26

REMEMBERING is a key part of the Christian life, and it is the point today—REMEMBER! Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

EASTER SUNDAY 2026
TEXT: Luke 24:1-9
TITLE: Remembering the Resurrection Every Day
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: REMEMBERING is a key part of the Christian life, and it is the point today—REMEMBER!

POINTS:
I. The Empty Tomb Demonstrates That God Is Always In Control
II. The Empty Tomb Proves That Jesus Can Always Be Trusted

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

“In Deuteronomy, and throughout the entire OT, God repeatedly commands His people to REMEMBER all He has done and provided. In Psalms, David is constantly REMEMBERING. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus established communion as a time to REMEMBER his death and resurrection. John 14 teaches that a primary role of the Spirit is helping us REMEMBER the truth. In a pivotal moment for the early church, Acts 11 says Peter gained clarity and faith as he REMEMBERED the word of the Lord. The Epistles repeatedly call us to remember aspects of God’s redemptive purposes for the sake of our sanctification. In Revelation 3:3, the entire church in Sardis was called to—Remember, what you received and heard… REMEMBERING is a key part of the Christian life, and it is the point today—REMEMBER!”

“Here’s the problem—our forgetfulness. We do remember information, but biblical REMEMBERING is active. It involves taking what we know to be true about God and Christ and trusting in it. More than a discipline, it’s a lifestyle fueled by God's greatness and Christ's glory revealed in the gospel.”

“Our challenge is that we often forget such high and lofty realities. Too frequently, we live based on our last thought, feeling, or experience. We live by sight instead of by faith. We are just trying to get by, move forward, and survive. But REMEMBERING is what makes the difference between surviving and thriving.”

“Easter calls us to REMEMBER. Today, there is one command in our passage, and it’s in 6—REMEMBER.”

“Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday. It’s Sunday now. Luke begins with a group of women identified in 10 as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some unnamed women. They were disciples of Jesus who came to care for his body. But what awaited them was not at all what they expected.”

“This was a shocking moment. The tomb had been sealed and heavily guarded to prevent any resurrection “shenanigans” according to Matthew 27. Now the tomb is empty? Here’s what we need to remember about these women:

23:49 says they watched Jesus die
23:55 says they witnessed his burial
With broken hearts and deep devotion, 23:56 says they went home and prepared spices and ointments in advance to care for Jesus’ dead body.
Now, in 1, we see them going to Jesus's tomb at sunrise to tend to his body.

The point is, they fully expected to find Jesus's lifeless body in the tomb. They forgot what Jesus had said until two angels reminded them.”

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! REMEMBER! Take everything you feel right now, everything you fear right now, all your reasoning and rationale, and REMEMBER what Jesus said.”

“The call remains the same for us today. As we stand at the empty tomb, two life-changing truths emerge that we must continually REMEMBER: No matter what is happening in my life—God is always in control, and Jesus is always Trustworthy.”

“I want to highlight a single word in 7—must. It’s intended to show that what follows is not arbitrary, but a necessary and crucial part of a plan. No matter how hopeless Christ's death on Friday seemed or how perplexing the empty tomb appeared on Sunday, it was all part of God’s plan. If you remember, Peter said this very thing in his powerful sermon at Pentecost: …this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up…—Acts 2:23-24”

“The Jews’ scheme to eliminate Jesus was God’s plan. Pilate’s cowardice before the Sanhedrin was God’s plan. Judas’s unthinkable betrayal of Jesus was God’s plan. The crushing of Christ on the cross was God’s plan—Isaiah 53:10 It was the will of the LORD to crush him.”

“…the empty tomb ensures our eternal home in heaven by vindicating Christ’s atoning death on the cross. It is God’s way of standing before the universe, applauding Jesus, and declaring—What has been finished by my Son’s death on the cross has been fully accepted by Me for the justification of sinners and the praise of My glory! At the heart of God’s salvation plan is the resurrection, demonstrating that God is always in control.”

“In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly told his disciples he would be handed over, crucified, and raised to life on the third day. It’s those words of Jesus that the angels commanded the confused women to REMEMBER.”

RUNNING APPLICATION: “When the angels had to make a case for Christ, they didn’t rely on fancy apologetics, physical evidence, or dismissing kidnapping conspiracies. They said—REMEMBER what Jesus said when he was with you: I must be crucified and raised on the third day. Think about what Jesus said.”

ILLUSTRATION: Abraham de Moivre was an 18th-century French mathematician who determined the date of his own death

“Jesus said—I will be killed and in three days I will be alive again. Not a sentimental resurrection in our hearts and memories. Not resuscitated only to die again. Jesus said he would be crucified to atone for our sins and raised eternally. And he was—Just as he said. No one else in the history of mankind has done this.”

“This is so important because the Christian faith is based on events that either happened or didn’t happen. That’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15—If Christ is not raised from the dead, our faith is futile, we are still in our sin, and we are to be pitied above all people. His very next words?—But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.”

“The resurrection isn’t like your buddies’ fishing stories—I was the only one on the river, but trust me, the fish was that big! Paul wrote those words to the church in Corinth 20-25 years after Jesus’ resurrection. A quarter of a century later, people are still talking about what they saw firsthand. Two thousand years later, people are still being transformed by it, living according to it, and sacrificing everything for it. Why? Because it’s real!”

“Historical FACT: Jesus predicted his death and resurrection multiple times.

Historical FACT: These women watched Jesus physically die on the cross

Historical FACT: These women witnessed the burial of Jesus.

Historical FACT: The religious leaders REMEMBERED Jesus’ predictions about his resurrection and asked Pilate to seal the tomb and guard it so the body wouldn't be stolen.

Historical FACT: When these women visited the tomb on the third day, it was empty.

Historical FACT: Religious leaders bribed the guards to say the body was stolen, which many Jewish people still believe today.

Historical FACT: Over the next 40 days, more than 500 people witnessed the physical presence of Jesus.

Historical FACT: The search for Jesus’ body remains unsuccessful to this day.”

“Jesus is alive! He is in heaven now, interceding for you and me. Because Jesus is alive, we can trust him—trust every word he said, every promise he made, and every warning he gave—because a risen Jesus is a trustworthy Jesus.”

“This gospel message is the same message Jesus spent the next 40 days before his ascension in Acts 1, reminding them of.”

“Here is what Jesus said in his ministry 2000 years ago and still says today as the risen Savior of sinners: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst….everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day—John 6:35,40”

RUNNING APPLICATION: “The gospel—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—is God’s plan for your salvation. The empty tomb is evidence that demands a verdict. What’s yours? Will you deny the crucified and risen Christ or trust in him for your salvation today?”

RUNNING APPLICATION: Finally, notice the effect on the women…read 8-9. They REMEMBERED the words of Jesus—and that changed everything. No longer paralyzed in confusion and fear, they ran to tell the others. As Christians, we know our sins are forgiven. We know our Father in heaven loves us unfailingly. STILL, we get anxious about money. We grow weary in faith for our children. We become bitter toward God for life’s ups and downs. We get distracted from God’s purposes by our own goals. We doubt God’s presence with us and His love for us. Mostly, it’s because we forget that God is in control and Jesus can be trusted with our lives. The resurrection reminds us that the Lord is on our side. This is ultimately the only thing you need to know for joy, life, and eternity!”

“The steady truth that God is always in control and Jesus can always be trusted means we can sing in our hearts and with our lives: Because he lives, I can face tomorrow! Because he lives, all fear is gone! Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth living, just because he lives!”

“Lord, we remember your words: Matthew 11:28-30. Come to me and REMEMBER that I lived for you. I suffered for you. I bled for you. I died for you. I was raised to live for you. I did all of this for you—just as I said I would. Help us to REMEMBER every moment of every day that we can come to you and you will give us rest—your empty tomb guarantees it!”

QUOTES:
Scott Redd - “In the Bible, memory is an act of faithfulness to God. It is an appraisal of the past that understands history as the outworking of God’s providence in the world. Such a stance has a way of transforming how we understand the rest of our lives. If history is the outworking of God’s providence in our lives, we cannot help but begin to see our present and future in the same way.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones - “The death of Christ on the cross was not an accident, ultimately it was not even something achieved by men; it was part of the plan and purpose of God…It was God who contrived the cross. The cruel hands of men actually knocked in the nails, but it was by the predetermined counsel and foreknowledge of God.”

C.S. Lewis - “Jesus would have been deceived or a deceiver. But His most amazing promise has come true, so how can we not depend on and live by all the rest of His promises?”

Phillip Ryken - “We are to believe in the resurrection on the basis of what Jesus said. The empty tomb is not self-explanatory. There is a word that explains the deed, and this word is the gospel message that Jesus not only died, but also rose again with a glorious and everlasting body that would never die again.”

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:
Romans 3:20-26

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Christ Is Risen
Christ Is Risen He Is Risen Indeed
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 7:25
Before The Throne Of God Above
Rise My Soul The Lord Is Risen
Because He Lives

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Romans 4:13-25

THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER: