"He is not here. He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Then go and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead."

Do you believe in Easter?

Edith Burns had the habit of introducing herself that way: "I'm Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" And if they said yes, then she would reaffirm that Easter about Christ's resurrection from the dead. And if they said, "Easter is for kids, the eggs, the bunnies, the candy" then she would explain that Easter is more, much more. Christ is risen and we too shall live forever! And if they said, "no, I don’t believe, then she would tell them the good news."

Edith sat down in her doctor's office. "I'm afraid the news isn’t good, Edith." And she said, "Why Dr. Phillips, shame on you! Why are you so sad? Do you think God makes mistakes? You've just told me that I am going to see my precious Savior, my husband, and many of my friends! You've just told me that I'm going to celebrate Easter forever. And here you are, having trouble giving me my ticket to heaven!"

She was soon in the hospital, and ever roommate they brought in, she would say, "Hi, I'm Edith. Do you believe in Easter?" Everybody loved her, except for Phyllis Cross, the head nurse. "Edith is a religious nut." One day, they were understaffed, so Phyllis was forced to go in and give Edith a shot.

"God loves you Phyllis. I've been praying for you." For days, Edith would greet her that way. Finally, Phyllis asked her, "Everyone else, when they enter the room, you say 'Do you believe in Easter?' but you never asked me. Why?"

"I was waiting for you to ask. Would you like to learn more about Easter?" And Edith took the Bible and read the story, that Jesus died on the cross, paying for our sins, and was raised to life on Easter. Phyllis, Do you believe in Easter?" "I do. I believe I believe in the resurrected Lord Jesus!"

2 days later, Phyllis came to work, walked right into Phyllis's room, and found that Edith had been taken to heaven, very peacefully while reading the Bible. When Phyllis reached over to hold Edith's hand, she noticed…one hand was resting in John 14, "In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you." And her other hand was on Revelation 21, "And there shall be no more death, or mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Phyllis then looked toward heaven and said, "Happy Easter, Edith. Happy Easter." And she walked out of the room, saw 2 student nurses in the hall, and said, "Hi, My Name is Phyllis. Do YOU believe in Easter?"

How about you? Do YOU believe in Easter?

For some people, the answer is no, I don't believe in Easter. I don’t believe in Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, His resurrection 3 days later.

Today must be a very empty day for those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. Like this week, my wife's favorite Easter candy is Jelly Beans. Not fancy ones, not gourmet jelly beans, but good ol' Brachs. So we bought a bag and opened them for a pre-Easter treat. And that's when we noticed that almost all of the bag was filled with black jelly beans, licorice flavor jelly beans. No pink, 4 purple, 2 red, about 15 white, and about 100 black. The look was bad, the taste was bad, not a treat at all.

For those who don't believe in Easter, well… they have no peace in knowing their sins forgiven, they have no hope of eternal life in heaven, and no joy to share with those around them.

If you do, then you have forgiveness for all of your sins. When Jesus was placed on that cross on Good Friday, all of the sin of all of mankind for all of history was placed on Jesus that day. And Jesus paid the price for that sin. And all who believe in Jesus Christ are guaranteed their sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus shed that day on the cross.

Some of you realize that today is just about the earliest Easter we will ever experience. I was expecting snow today. God knew best! The next time Easter will be this early will be 220 years from now! I'm not sure I'll be here.

But with such an early Easter, his festival coincides with another event…March Madness college basketball tournament. They call it March Madness because it's one loss and you're out. Only the team that doesn't lose in this tournament will be called Champion.

What if God treated us this way? One sin, one mistake, one failure, and you have no hope of eternal life. But with God there is forgiveness. When you come to worship and see that cross, never forget that this is where Jesus paid for your sins. You don't even have to do a thing to earn it. Jesus did it all.

Do you believe in Easter? If you do, and I know you do, that means you believe in life everlasting. There is something more awaiting us! The tomb is all we deserved. But the stone has been rolled away. On Easter, God proves that He is more powerful than sin, than death and the grave!

Does the name Ponce de Leon ring a bell? In 1513 he began his search for the fountain of youth. So right when Martin Luther was nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg church proclaiming that eternal life is a free gift, Ponce de Leon was heading to Florida, searching for the water of life.

We understand that feeling, that desire to live forever. We have some modern day Ponce De Leons right here. But the only water of life you need is baptism. In baptism, the blessings of Easter are given to you: Your sins are washed away, you are assured of a place in heaven, you are God's child forever. That's the water of life

On that first Easter morning, the women came to the grave, thinking there was only death, nothing else. And Jesus appeared to them and convinced them that there is life after death, that God brings life and immortality to light through Jesus Christ our Savior! If you want to live forever, you need to know Jesus. Isn't that what Jesus promised? "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die!" Friends, that's victory. That's Christ's victory over sin, over death, over the devil!

Do you believe in Easter? If you do, and I know you do, that means that we have some work to do. Did you notice what the angels and Jesus Himself told those ladies at that tomb on the very first Easter? They said, "Come and see…then go and tell…" Come and see where they laid Him in the tomb. He's risen. Now go and tell, tell His disciples that Jesus kept His promises.

Now that you know and believe in the resurrected Lord, is there someone You should tell?

140 years ago, in the little town of Brannock, Montana, there were about 6 or 7 prospecters out looking for gold when they were attacked by Indians and lost all of their supplies. They started back home to Brannock. As they crossed a creek, they did what prospectors do, they reached down into the bed of the creek and picked up a few rocks.

But what they found were beautiful golden nuggets. They said, "Shhh, don't tell anybody, and we will go and stake our claim. We'll go get our picks and shovels and mules and come back on Monday." But they agreed, "Don't tell anyone!"

It came Monday morning at sunrise, and they were ready to leave Brannock , and there were 300 people who were ready to follow them. "Why? Who told you?" And the Brannock newspaper reported, "Their smiles betrayed them."

On Easter morning, our smiles betray us, for we have seen the gold, the golden streets of heaven, the golden glory of the living and resurrected Jesus!

Does your smile give you away? Is the Easter celebration filling your heart with joy? And is there someone who needs you to tell them what Easter is all about… forgiveness of sins, eternal life in heaven, perfect peace and joy! And you are the person God has chosen to share this good news. Why? Because…

YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS!

YOU BELIEVE IN THE EMPTY TOMB!

YOU BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS!

YOU BELIEVE IN ETERNAL LIFE!

YOU BELIEVE IN EASTER!