Raised to Life: A Resurrection Celebration

We showed up expecting a message, but what we got was an experience.

This wasn’t your typical Easter. No polished three-point sermon. No spotlighted lilies or colored eggs. Instead, the message and the music intertwined together—reminding us, not just of a risen Savior, but of a risen people.

And maybe that’s what we forget too often: Resurrection isn’t just something Jesus did. It’s something He gives.

Hope for the Forgotten

Have you ever felt abandoned? Forgotten by people, maybe even by God?

Jesus has been there. On the cross, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). He knows what it feels like to be left in the dark, unheard and unseen. But because He was not forgotten—because God raised Him—you are not forgotten either.

We celebrate today because hope walked out of the tomb, and it’s still walking toward you.

Healing from the Heavy

You might be carrying something heavy. A chain of shame. A weight of anxiety. A tomb full of dreams you once had, now sealed up because life didn’t go the way you thought.

But Colossians 2 says Jesus nailed your record of wrongs to the cross and publicly disarmed the spiritual oppressors trying to hold you down. You may still be attacked, but the enemy has been disarmed. So what do you do in those moments?

You speak His name.

“I just want to speak the name of Jesus…” — over every fear, over every wound, over every lie you’ve believed.

Purpose for the People Still in the Tomb

Matthew 27 says that when Jesus released His Spirit, godly men and women who had died were raised to life. But they stayed in the tomb… until Jesus was resurrected. It wasn’t that they weren’t alive—it was that they hadn’t yet stepped out.

Can we be honest? That’s a lot of us.

We know Jesus. We believe in the cross. But we’re still sitting in the tomb. Entombed by fear, shame, comparison, or the belief that we’re too old or too tired or too late to matter.

But the same power that raised Christ from the dead raised you for a reason.

You are not made to tend the grave. You are not made to sleep in shame. You are made for more.

So what now?

Maybe today is your “walk out of the tomb” moment.

• Maybe you need to lay down shame and pick up healing.
• Maybe you need to silence the voice that says you’re too old, too used up, or too broken.
• Maybe you need to pour out what God has put in you—so He can pour in even more.

Let’s not gather to celebrate the empty tomb and then go back to live inside one.

Questions for Reflection:

1. What “tombs” have I been living in, even though Jesus rolled the stone away?
2. In what area of my life do I need to speak the name of Jesus for healing or breakthrough?
3. Who can I begin to pour into this week, knowing that I still have a purpose?

Prayer

Jesus, thank You for not just walking out of the tomb—but calling me out, too. Thank You for hope, for healing, for purpose. Help me walk in the life You’ve given me, not just survive it. Remind me that I’m made for more—today and every day. Amen.