35 min
Easter: Did the Resurrection Really Happen? The Abundant Life with Brandon Kelley
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- Christianity
On Easter, we looked at the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Because our faith hinges on it being true. So is there evidence for Jesus really rising from the dead thousands of years ago? I believe there is.
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Have you ever laid awake at night pondering your existence?
I did this nearly ever day of my high school years, at least it seemed that way. I would think about time and how it’s so big. I would think about the decades that I would get to, maybe, exist on this colorful ball, spinning on an axis, and whirling around the sun over and over and over again.
I would zoom out even more. I would start to think about the past. The past that happened, that came and went, that I didn’t get to witness, but I heard about it happening. The pain, the sorrow, the joy, the struggle of human existence.
I would zoom out again and go further back in time. I would think about how this all started. And then I’d ask the question: what about before all this?
Then I would turn my attention to the future. What about when I’m dead and gone? What then? Is that it? Just nothingness?
And then I would get frustrated and think: well if it’s just nothing after this then what the heck was the point? WHY?
And then I would do something that seemed intuitive to me. It was something I never talked about with other people. I never had a conversation about it.
I would “pray.”
Did I know who I was praying to? Nope. No clue.
Maybe You’ve Wondered…
Maybe you’ve been there too. Maybe you’ve wondered why you’re here, how you got here, what’s the point?
Maybe you’ve questioned the existence of God.
Maybe you grew up in church and you’re just not sure if everything you were taught is really that relevant to life.
Regardless of your starting point today, I want you to consider something.
There are many religions in the world. Ever since the beginning of our existence as human beings, we have gazed at the sky and have tried to understand and explain our own existence.
People have worshiped just about anything and everything. It seems like we were made to worship something.
And today, we’re going to consider someone. Because the Christian faith is built upon a person. A person who walked on this earth. A person who taught people. A person who performed miracles. A person who claimed to be God. Yes. That is what He claimed. And that same person? He was crucified on a Roman cross.
But the interesting thing is that He didn’t just claim to be God. He told His followers that He would die and then rise again. They didn’t understand it at the time.
But here’s the thing: if He did, in fact, rise from the dead then that puts an exclamation point on everything else He claimed about Himself.
No other religious figure in human history ever gave their followers such an objective truth claim for proof of their wisdom or, in Jesus’ case, their divinity.
So the question is, why Jesus?
On Easter, we looked at the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Because our faith hinges on it being true. So is there evidence for Jesus really rising from the dead thousands of years ago? I believe there is.
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe on Stitcher
Have you ever laid awake at night pondering your existence?
I did this nearly ever day of my high school years, at least it seemed that way. I would think about time and how it’s so big. I would think about the decades that I would get to, maybe, exist on this colorful ball, spinning on an axis, and whirling around the sun over and over and over again.
I would zoom out even more. I would start to think about the past. The past that happened, that came and went, that I didn’t get to witness, but I heard about it happening. The pain, the sorrow, the joy, the struggle of human existence.
I would zoom out again and go further back in time. I would think about how this all started. And then I’d ask the question: what about before all this?
Then I would turn my attention to the future. What about when I’m dead and gone? What then? Is that it? Just nothingness?
And then I would get frustrated and think: well if it’s just nothing after this then what the heck was the point? WHY?
And then I would do something that seemed intuitive to me. It was something I never talked about with other people. I never had a conversation about it.
I would “pray.”
Did I know who I was praying to? Nope. No clue.
Maybe You’ve Wondered…
Maybe you’ve been there too. Maybe you’ve wondered why you’re here, how you got here, what’s the point?
Maybe you’ve questioned the existence of God.
Maybe you grew up in church and you’re just not sure if everything you were taught is really that relevant to life.
Regardless of your starting point today, I want you to consider something.
There are many religions in the world. Ever since the beginning of our existence as human beings, we have gazed at the sky and have tried to understand and explain our own existence.
People have worshiped just about anything and everything. It seems like we were made to worship something.
And today, we’re going to consider someone. Because the Christian faith is built upon a person. A person who walked on this earth. A person who taught people. A person who performed miracles. A person who claimed to be God. Yes. That is what He claimed. And that same person? He was crucified on a Roman cross.
But the interesting thing is that He didn’t just claim to be God. He told His followers that He would die and then rise again. They didn’t understand it at the time.
But here’s the thing: if He did, in fact, rise from the dead then that puts an exclamation point on everything else He claimed about Himself.
No other religious figure in human history ever gave their followers such an objective truth claim for proof of their wisdom or, in Jesus’ case, their divinity.
So the question is, why Jesus?
35 min