2. The Stone is Rolled Away
A message for the ages

3. A long week to remember Riding into Jerusalem on a colt, praised
Cleansing the temple a second time
Staying outside the city with friends
Parable of vine grower, cursing the fig tree
Mary anoints His feet, Last Supper eaten
Prayer, betrayal, 6 kangaroo courts
Whipped, beaten, mocked, spat on, stripped
Exhausted, hung on cross to die…

4. Matthew 28:2-4
 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 
WHY?

5. What did the empty tomb mean??
It meant Jesus was alive

6. A LIVE Savior is the backbone of Christianity
1 Corinthians 15:7 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

7. A LIVE Savior is the backbone of Christianity
This fact has been under attack since resurrection morning

8. A LIVE Savior is the backbone of Christianity
This fact has been under attack since resurrection morning
World tries to ignore the “Jesus effect”

9. What is the “Jesus effect”?
1/3 world claims the Nazarene
Over 1k years of Sabbath worship changed
Calendar dates from HIS birth
500 + eye witnesses
No corpse ever produced to shut those pesky disciples up
Original witnesses were all martyrs

10. A LIVE Savior is the backbone of Christianity
This fact has been under attack since resurrection morning
World tries to ignore the “Jesus effect”
Evidence has been examined by the very BEST…

11. What did the empty tomb mean??
It meant Jesus was alive
It meant there was/is forgiveness

12. John 20:2-9
So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus‘ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

13. 1 Corinthians 15:5
…and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  

14. Peter got the hope of forgiveness when he looked in the tomb
Empty tomb said the sacrifice was made
Empty tomb said Jesus won victory over sin

15. Isaiah 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

16. 1 John 1:7-9
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
Confess: lit. to say the same thing, to agree with

17. What did the empty tomb mean??
It meant Jesus was alive
It meant there was/is forgiveness
It meant there was a new life
Acts 5:20
“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

18. 1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 
A living hope
A life with inheritance
A life protected by the power of God

19. Have you been walking in darkness and gloom
The stone has been rolled back and the empty tomb speaks…
Jesus is ALIVE, with forgiveness
He has hope, 2nd chances and a new life