SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, my friends, to the Spray United Methodist Church podcast.
SPEAKER_00: This is Hoyt, and today we reach the heart of the Apostles' Creed, the section that proclaims the saving work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: In Episodes one through three, we explored God the Father Almighty, Jesus Christ our Lord, and his incarnation and suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Today we arrive at the center of the Christian faith, his death and his resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: If these events are not true, Christianity has no foundation.
SPEAKER_00: But because they are true, we have forgiveness, hope, and eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Today we focus on two great movements of the creed was crucified, dead, and buried the third day he rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: These are not merely historical statements.
SPEAKER_00: They are God's declaration of his love for the world.
SPEAKER_00: Let us walk through them together.
SPEAKER_00: One crucified, dead and buried.
SPEAKER_00: The Creed deliberately slows our pace.
SPEAKER_00: It does not hurry to Easter morning.
SPEAKER_00: It first asks us to stand at the foot of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: It simply says He was crucified.
SPEAKER_00: He died.
SPEAKER_00: He was buried.
SPEAKER_00: Those words are brief, but they carry the weight of our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Crucifixion was the most shameful punishment the Roman Empire could devise.
SPEAKER_00: It was intended to humiliate, intimidate, and erase hope.
SPEAKER_00: Yet in God's hands the cross became the greatest symbol of love the world has ever known.
SPEAKER_00: Pause for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: The hands that touched lepers were pierced.
SPEAKER_00: The feet that walked the road of Galilee were nailed to wood.
SPEAKER_00: The voice that calmed the storm cried, It is finished.
SPEAKER_00: This was not an accident of history.
SPEAKER_00: It was God's plan of redemption unfolding before the eyes of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Why did Jesus have to die?
SPEAKER_00: Because sin is not merely a list of mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: Sin separates us from God who created us.
SPEAKER_00: Justice demands that sin be dealt with.
SPEAKER_00: Love desired that sinners be saved.
SPEAKER_00: At the cross, justice and mercy met.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus willingly took upon himself the judgment that belonged to us so that we might receive the grace that belongs only to him.
SPEAKER_00: The creed reminds us that he truly died, not symbolically, not apparently, not partially.
SPEAKER_00: He truly entered death.
SPEAKER_00: His body was placed in a borrowed tomb.
SPEAKER_00: The stone was rolled into place.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples believed the story had ended.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine the silence of that Sabbath?
SPEAKER_00: No miracles, no sermons, no crowds, only grief, only questions, only waiting.
SPEAKER_00: Many of us know what that kind of waiting feels like.
SPEAKER_00: We pray, we hope, we wonder why God seems silent.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the silence of God never means the absence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Even while the tomb was sealed, God was accomplishing what no one else could see.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus entered the grave so that no believer would ever enter it alone.
SPEAKER_00: He has walked that valley.
SPEAKER_00: He knows the way home.
SPEAKER_00: This is not tragedy.
SPEAKER_00: It is triumph in disguise.
SPEAKER_00: two.
SPEAKER_00: Then the creed moves from silence to victory.
SPEAKER_00: The third day he rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity rises or falls on these words.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus remained in the grave, then death won.
SPEAKER_00: If he remained in the grave, our faith would be empty.
SPEAKER_00: But the tomb was empty because Christ was alive.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection is God's declaration that sin has been defeated, death has been conquered, and Christ's sacrifice has been accepted.
SPEAKER_00: Because He lives, hope is stronger than despair.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is stronger than guilt.
SPEAKER_00: Life is stronger than death.
SPEAKER_00: Think about what that means.
SPEAKER_00: Every Christian funeral is different because of Easter.
SPEAKER_00: We grieve because love grieves, but we do not grieve without hope.
SPEAKER_00: The cemetery is no longer the end of the story.
SPEAKER_00: Death no longer has the final word.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection also changed how we live today.
SPEAKER_00: We can forgive because we have been forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: We can endure suffering because suffering is never the end.
SPEAKER_00: We can face tomorrow with confidence because our Savior is alive today, not simply remembered, but reigning.
SPEAKER_00: Why this matters?
SPEAKER_00: The Creed is not only telling us what happened to Jesus, it is telling us what God has done for us.
SPEAKER_00: Because he died, your sins can be forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Because he was buried, your whole life does not have to define your future.
SPEAKER_00: Because he rose, your future is secure in him.
SPEAKER_00: Every celebration of holy communion, every Easter sunrise, every baptism, every Christian funeral quietly proclaims the same truth.
SPEAKER_00: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
SPEAKER_00: The worst thing is never the last thing.
SPEAKER_00: God always has the final word, and his word is life.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, thank you for loving us enough to go to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for entering death so that death would never have the final word over those who trust in you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the empty tomb that fills our hearts with hope.
SPEAKER_00: Help us not only to believe in the resurrection, but to live each day as resurrection people with courage, compassion, steadfast faith, and unwavering hope.
SPEAKER_00: In your holy name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me today.
SPEAKER_00: If you do not have a church home, we would love to have you worship with us at Spray United Methodist Church, located at 803 Morgan Road in Eden, North Carolina.
SPEAKER_00: We are a loving church where we love God and love people.
SPEAKER_00: All people.
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, may the grace of God rise before you and keep you safe.
SPEAKER_00: Goodbye.