I love Easter. And even though everybody knows, basically knows the story, I love creating Easter

messages. And a lot of pastors don't. Christmas and Easter is hard. It's like, everybody knows.

I'm like, yeah, but this is like the greatest story ever told. And we have so many different accounts

with so many, so many details. And in case you're new or maybe from a different faith tradition,

Easter is the celebration of one specific event, the event that really had ripple effects

throughout the world and throughout the generations.

We're celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

And if you're new to one of our churches, we say this every Easter.

We don't believe Jesus rose from the dead because the Bible tells us so.

Did you know it's the other way around?

There wouldn't be a Bible if it were not

for the resurrection of Jesus. No resurrection, no Bible, no church, and I would have no job. So this

is a really big deal to me personally, for lots of reasons, right? The reason we believe Jesus

rose from the dead is because Matthew, a former tax collector,

became a Jesus follower in the first century, surrounded by scribes, an educated guy, and he gives us an orderly account of the entire life of Jesus, including his resurrection.

Mark, who traveled with Peter, got Peter's account of the life of Jesus, including his crucifixion and resurrection.

Luke, who said he thoroughly investigated everything and put together an orderly account of the life of Jesus, including his crucifixion and resurrection. Luke, who said he thoroughly investigated

everything and put together an orderly account of the life of Jesus, which included his death and

resurrection. And John, who was an eyewitness for all of these events, also gives us his account

of the life and death of resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus. And then James, the brother of Jesus

emerges in the first century church, believing his brother was

his Lord, his brother is his savior, that his brother was Messiah. And again, as I always say,

...