Easter Sunday Night 2025

Speaking of stories, who loves a good story?

We got some story fans.

Let me tell you a story.

It's not a good story, but it's a story.

I am quite a reader.

I enjoy reading, and I read quite a few books a year.

And then about halfway through last year, I had this realization as I was looking through the list of books that I had read.

I haven't read a fictional book since I was a teenager.

I do not read fiction.

Now, apologies to my fictional reading friends, but I, no offense, I kind of look down on people who exclusively read fiction, because for me, and watch, this story will come full circle, for me, I want to learn something when I read a book.

I want my mind to be stretched.

I want to learn something that would actually change the way that I live my life.

So halfway through last year, I had this realization that I haven't read a fictional book in ages, and I was getting hassled from different people, notably Lachlan Shanks, that I should read a fictional book.

So I went to my bookshelf in the second bedroom, and I found this book called The Pearl by John Steinbeck.

Any people read The Pearl?

The Pearl by John Steinbeck.

Brief synopsis, this, I think they're in the Caribbean, this family of pearl farmers finds this immense, this massive pearl.

And the story of The Pearl by John Steinbeck is what the discovery of this pearl does to the family and the community.

Now, as I finished the book in two days, it was an enthralling, incredible book.

I learned something from the book.

The book, even though it was fictional, it had truth in it.

And I had this realisation that you guys obviously have already had, that fictional books, good stories, have truth in them.

From reading The Pearl, I learnt about greed and the way that greed pulls apart communities.

Good stories have truth in them.

You remember Hamish and Edie's show True Story?

Remember they had true stories and then they would act them out.

I think they're on to something.

Because we all love stories, and we love good stories and true stories.

Well, in the Easter Story, I want to put it to you tonight that we find the best story of all time.

The Easter Story is a good story and it is a true story.

The Easter Story is the best story in the world because it has a badder enemy.

Forgive the grammar, I had to make it.

A badder enemy.

Obviously, I don't read much.

A braver hero and a better victory.

The Easter Story is the best story in the world because it has a badder enemy, a braver hero and a better victory.

Firstly, a badder enemy.

Now, every good story has an enemy, right?

What are some enemies of good stories?

Darth Vader, Voldemort.

Lord Farquaad, love it.

Darth Sidious, Sauron, the Joker, Bowser, Thanos.

Every good story has a villain, has an enemy.

So what's the enemy in the Christian story, the Easter story?

Colossians 2 verse 13 says, When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ.

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us.

He's taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

So is the enemy of the Easter story legal indebtedness, as Colossians says?

Kind of.

Certainly Colossians is true when Paul says that we have a legal indebtedness to God, that we have fallen short of God's perfect standard, and that debt has to be repaid.

So yes, legal indebtedness is one of the enemies of the Easter story, but the Easter story that we're talking about tonight didn't take place in a courtroom.

It's not a legal story.

Our passage continues in verse 15.

Having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

So the powers and authorities, is that the great enemy of the Easter story?

The spiritual being, Satan and his friends.

Sort of, yes.

The enemy is real and there are powers and authorities which were defeated in the Easter story.

But the Easter story is not primarily about the defeat of the powers.

The Easter story doesn't take place in a throne room.

It's not primarily a battle of powers.

I want to put it to you, the badder enemy of the Easter story is the enemy we've had from the beginning.

So, go with me to Genesis 5.

Genesis is the first book of the Bible.

Right back to the start, verse 1 of chapter 5.

And as I read, keep your eye out, trying to find the enemy.

Because we're going to come back to that.

Genesis 5.

This is the written account of Adam's family line.

That's Adam and Eve, the first human.

When God created mankind, He made them in the likeness of God, the image of God.

He created the male and female and blessed them.

And He named them mankind when they were created.

When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image, and he named him Seth.

After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh.

After he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.

Pause there, and I'm going to summarize chapter 5 of Genesis for you.

Adam died.

Seth died.

Enosh died.

Kenan died.

Mahalalel died.

Jared died.

Enoch died.

Methuselah died.

Lamech died.

Noah died.

Are you seeing who the enemy of the story is?

It's death.

From the very beginning of Genesis, death is the big bad enemy of the world, of the Easter Story.

Zach read out for us Hebrews 2.

You might have it open in front of you.

Since the children have flesh and blood, Jesus shared in their humanity so that by his death, he might break the power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

So yes, sin is a villain of the Easter Story.

Legal indebtedness is one of the villains of the story.

Yes, Satan is one of the villains of the Easter Story.

But in Hebrews, Chapter 2, it says that the power of the evil one is the power of death.

Death is the baddest enemy of all time.

Worse than Voldemort, worse than Sauron, worse than Darth Vader, death is the baddest enemy of the Easter Story.

So, what does that mean for you and I?

I'm looking at a mixed age room, lots of young people and more wise people, shall we say.

And if you're like me, mid-20s, you're probably thinking of death as that thing which happens, Lord willing, in 60, 70, 80 years.

That thing, that villain at the end of the story.

Well, I don't think that's the way the Bible talks about death.

Yes, death is that thing which happens in Lord willing, 70 years for most of us, far down the line.

But death is also spoken of in the Bible as an infection that infects every part of life.

In the Bible, death is the natural consequence of separation of relationship from the God who is life.

And that means that death is not just a one-time event when you've lived your years, but it is infused and infected in every part of our life.

When relationships break down, it is death at work.

When cancer takes over our bodies, it is death at work.

Paul says in Romans 8, creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay.

In other words, its infection of death.

Creation is infected with death.

It is bonded to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation, the world, the entire world, rocks and trees and birds and bees, everything has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

And not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

Paul is saying that creation is infected with death.

Bondage to decay and creation groans.

This world is groaning under its suffering from sin and death.

And you and I groan as well.

When relationships fall apart, when cancer takes over, when bad stuff happens, when life is not as it should be, we feel the effect of death.

The Easter Story has a badder enemy, and that is death.

Secondly, the Easter Story has a braver hero.

Every good story has a hero or a heroine.

Who are some good heroes or heroines?

Come on, we were quick with the villains.

The heroes, come on.

Harry Potter.

Okay, Shrek.

Yep.

Milan.

Yep.

Frodo.

What's that?

Abraham Lincoln.

Yeah, a hero, a real life hero.

Every good story has a hero or a heroine, just to balance out the male, female thing.

Wonder Woman, Black Widow, lots of good.

Katniss Everdeen, lots of good female heroines as well.

Who's the hero of the Easter Story?

Sunday School moment.

Shout it out.

Jesus.

We won't do that one for suspense.

The Easter Story is the story of Jesus.

The hero of the Easter Story is Jesus.

On Palm Sunday, which we celebrated last week, it was Jesus who entered Jerusalem on a donkey while the crowd shouted, Hosanna to the son of David.

On Thursday night, it was Jesus at the last supper who broke the bread and poured the cup.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, it was Jesus who prayed with sweat like drops of blood.

Father, take this cup from me, yet not as I will, but as you will.

In the courtroom, before the chief priests and the teachers of the law, it was Jesus who was found guilty, though he was innocent.

In the courtroom, before the Roman governor pilot, it was Jesus who was mocked and flogged and spat on and crowned with thorns.

Walking out of the city gates of Jerusalem, carrying a heavy cross on his back and on a back that was whipped skinless, it was Jesus.

On that cross on a hill outside Jerusalem, it was Jesus who stretched wide his hands to receive those Roman nails on the cross.

And when darkness fell over the land from noon till 3 p.m.

in the afternoon, it was Jesus who broke the silence by saying, It is finished.

It was Jesus who took death itself on him on the cross.

The hero of the Easter story is Jesus.

He's the hero of the story, and he is a braver hero.

There are some good heroes, although we don't seem to be able to get the heroes as quickly as the villains.

But there are some good heroes out there.

Frodo and Sam, enduring, suffering to throw the ring into Mount Doom.

Jesus is the braver hero because he went through all of that.

He, what's the Hebrews passage?

For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame.

No other human being in the entire world could have done what Jesus did.

Did you know that there have been thousands upon thousands of crucifixions that have happened in human history?

In fact, the Romans really liked to crucify people.

When they, across their vast empire, whenever there was a little uprising, they would crucify all of the rebels along the main road into the city.

As a sign to anyone who entered, Rome is in charge.

There have been thousands of crucifixions in the world, and yet we don't remember almost any of them.

No other crucifixion has affected the world the way Jesus' crucifixion had.

And that's because there's nothing inherently magic about crucifixion.

What I mean is every single person who has been crucified has died their own death.

They have taken their own infection of death that is pulling their life apart, and they have been killed by it.

But when Jesus was on the cross, He is the only person in the history of the human race who did not deserve to die.

The one person who should not have died because he never did any sin, never commit sin, never did anything wrong.

That person is on the Roman cross, dying.

And in the Easter Story, we believe that when Jesus gave his life, though he should not have died, when he gave his life unto death, he was taking our death on himself.

He was fighting our battle because he's a braver hero.

He's the best hero of any story.

The Easter Story has a badder enemy, death, and it has a braver hero, Jesus.

Finally, the Easter Story has a better victory.

Every good story has a victory, a conclusion, a resolution, the third act of every good plot.

What are some victories?

Let's do really well on this one.

We'll come to that one.

That's the best victory.

Throwing the ring into Mount Doom, destroying Sauron.

What are the great victories?

Someone say something about Shrek, because we keep coming back to Shrek.

Delivering Fiona to Lord Farquhar, and then marrying her.

Great victory.

Every good story has a good victory.

Luke overthrows Palpatine and converts his father.

Aslan defeats the White Witch and frees Narnia.

So what is the victory of the Easter Story?

See for yourselves, Matthew 28.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, that would be Sunday, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven.

In going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance, the appearance of the angel, was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, do not be afraid.

Remember, angels always say that first, because angels are so terrifying.

Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

He is not here.

He has risen, just as he said.

Come and see the place where he lay.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples, he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.

There you will see him.

Now I have told you.

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly Jesus himself met them.

Greetings, he said.

Now that must be the most underrated greetings in the history of the world.

Greetings, says the man who just rose again from the dead.

They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee.

There they will see me.

The victory of the Easter Story is resurrection.

The heart of the Easter Story that we celebrate on this day, Resurrection Sunday is the resurrection.

Jesus is fully God, fully man, fully dead, fully alive.

That's what the Easter Story says.

And for 2,000 years, skeptics have said, so what?

People who doubt the historicity of the resurrection have asked, did he really rise again, or did the disciples concoct some kind of secret plan?

And without, I mean, that's a fascinating conversation, the historicity of the resurrection, but that's not what we're talking about tonight.

For 2,000 years, skeptics have asked, who cares?

So what?

And even some of them have pointed to the fact that in the Bible, there's something like 10 people who come back to life.

So they'd say, well, why is Jesus' resurrection any better than the other 10 people who come back to life?

Remember, I think it's Elijah lies on a dead boy who comes back to life.

Jesus says to the little girl, Talitha Coom, and she comes back to life.

Remember Lazarus.

He says, come out, Lazarus.

And Lazarus comes back alive again.

So what is it about the resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate today on Resurrection Sunday that is the better victory?

What makes Jesus' resurrection different from anyone else's?

And if you've heard me preach at all, you'll know what I'm about to say.

The difference is every other person who's ever come alive again, even think of those who were pronounced medically dead and then somehow alive.

That happens today in different times and ways.

Every single person in the Bible who died and came back to life again, died again.

Lazarus, he rose again from the dead only to die when his days were done.

The resurrection of Jesus is unique in that he never died again because he defeated death.

My favorite metaphor for this is imagine death as a cave, the cave of death that every single human being in all of history has to walk through.

When you see someone rise again from the dead apart from Jesus, they go into the cave of death, and then God pulls them backwards, back out of the cave again.

The difference with Jesus is he went into the cave of death, and he kicked out the back wall and went through death, back into resurrection life, defeating death.

That's why the resurrection of Jesus is unique.

Every other resurrection in the Bible is resuscitation, coming back alive again only to die, but Jesus defeated death.

And that means he has a better victory.

The badder enemy, death, has been defeated by the braver hero, Jesus, resulting in a better victory, resurrection.

The Easter Story is the best story in all the world, and it's true, and it's good, and it's beautiful.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians, when the perishable, that's, he's talking about this stuff that is in bondage to decay.

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true, that death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's a better victory in the Easter Story.

The Easter Story is the best story in the world.

Better than the best fiction that could ever be written.

Better than any other real life story in the whole world.

The Easter Story is the best story in the world because it has a badder enemy, death.

It has a braver hero, Jesus, and it has a better victory, resurrection.

So as we finish, reflecting on the Easter Story, I want to invite you to think about your story your life story, the place that you're at right now.

And I want to invite you to reflect on the way that your life runs into the Easter Story.

The story of your life intersects with the Easter Story.

And I've asked for permission to tell this story, but I want to tell you briefly part of Kai's story.

So Kai is going to get baptized in a couple of minutes, but briefly let me tell you this story of the way that the Easter Story intersected with a real life story.

So I'm a youth pastor running a Friday night youth group with a bunch of leaders who are around here.

And late last year, Term 4, we had this water games night at Ready Park, 400 meters down the road.

And it was not going to lie, a bit of a nightmare trying to shepherd 25 teenagers in the pitch black throwing balloons at each other.

And so stress is high, we're packing up and walking back.

And as I was doing a sweep of the floor, I found a phone.

It looks like a teenage girl's phone.

It's like, oh, one of the youth people has dropped a phone.

So I took the phone and we went back to church.

And I stood at the gate and I asked every single one of our teenagers, is this your phone?

Is this your phone?

Is this your phone?

Until I realized I have stolen someone's phone from the park.

This is no one's phone.

So I'm thinking, do I go and put it back on the ground in the pitch black where I found it?

And then I had a light bulb.

I did this.

It goes, hey, Siri, call mom.

Don't actually...

She's right there.

Don't call mom.

And it rang.

It said, mom.

And I said, hi, I'm Ben.

I was at the park and I have your daughter's phone.

I thought it was one of my youth teenager's phone.

And anyway, short story, even shorter, we arranged a pick up at the road opposite youth group over here.

And then a few minutes later, this mother and her daughter show up.

And I gave them the phone and we're just standing there looking across the road and we can see all the teenagers playing.

And we just have this really brief conversation about what is happening over there.

And I said, oh, you know, just like a youth group hanging out on Friday night with teenagers.

And that was pretty much the end of the story.

That was late last year.

And then at the start of this year, this girl, Kai, shows up to youth group.

And it's the girl whose phone that I found.

And we've been so blessed in term one this year to get to know Kai.

She came every single week to youth, which you get a prize if you do that.

So well done.

And we've just been building relationship with her and she's getting baptized tonight.

So.

The reason I tell that story is the Easter story of what Jesus has done for her has intersected with Kai's story.

God had a plan in you dropping your phone and in me finding the phone and that conversation.

And now we get to do life together at youth group.

God had a plan.

If I was to tell Ryan's story, he was telling me briefly the story was he knew Pat from school and got involved in playing soccer with some other people and got to know people, came to church, has been at church for six months.

And God has done something in his life.

And Ryan is getting baptized tonight.

Jesse.

I've known Jesse for a few months.

She's been in our life.

We've had dinner around the table.

She's getting baptized tonight because God is doing something in her life.

And so, I want to ask you, what is God...

Yeah, sorry, Jesse.

Sorry.

What is God doing in your life tonight?

The Easter story is the best story in the world.

And it is intersecting with your life tonight, and you get to make a decision.

And the decision that I want to invite you to is baptism.

So, baptism is...

What's this on my finger?

My wedding ring.

If I take it off...

Am I still married?

Yes.

But it is...

It is a symbol of the invisible truth that I am married to Courtney.

Baptism, likewise, is a symbol of the truth that someone has decided to follow Jesus.

Paul says this in Romans chapter 6.

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.

That's what baptism is.

It is a mime, a symbol of just as Jesus went into the grave and came back to life, so in five, 10 minutes, we're gonna stand, I'm gonna have a really good support my back, wide posture, baptized go under the water, symbolizing death and then coming back out.

So we have three baptisms happening, but we have room for more.

So you guys know the drill, we've done this before.

If you would like to get baptized tonight, if you would like to say, this is the moment that the Easter story becomes my story, we have all the clothes you need and all the towels you need out the back.

We're gonna sing a song in a second, I'm gonna pray and then head out and we're all gonna get changed and do this baptism thing, and then we'll sing some songs together.

If you want to be baptized tonight, please follow us out, we'll give you all the clothes you need, and we'll dunk you.

Let me read this passage as a blessing.

This is the second part of what Zach read for us.

Hebrews 13, May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant, brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep.

May he equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

How is the Easter Story intersecting with your life tonight?

And do you want to respond?

I'd love to pray for us, then we're going to go get changed, sing a song, and do these baptisms.

So let's pray.

Lord Jesus, on this Resurrection Sunday, we think of the fact that you rose again from the grave, and we thank you that you will never die again, but you have defeated death.

We thank you that the Easter Story is the best story in the whole world.

And for many of us in this room, we have accepted your free invitation that you would write our story in the Easter Story.

We have accepted the invitation, but I pray for those here tonight who haven't accepted the free gift that you offer.

Would you compel them tonight by your spirit, prompt them, invite them, God, show them your great love.

Let all of us respond again tonight to the Easter Story with gratitude.

We thank you that you're so gracious and you're so kind that after you draw us, when we come to you, you write us into your story.

We thank you, God, that you're doing incredible things.

We celebrate the life change that's happened in the people getting baptized tonight.

We ask for more God stories.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Well, if you want to be baptized, follow me out there and we'll sing some songs.

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