
Easter Holy Week; Resurrection (Easter) Sunday
He Is Risen!!
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We celebrate the cross, the very instrument Jesus’ enemies used to try and defeat Him, because the story of Easter did not end on Friday. Had it ended on Friday the world would be focusing on the betrayal, denial, cowardice, envy, hate, brutality, suffering, despair, defeat and death of Friday rather than the victory of salvation that we celebrate today, Jesus’ resurrection.
Now, for the scriptures-for it is written (as follows):

Resurrection Sunday; He Is Risen!!
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Matthew 28:1-7 (NLT)
The Resurrection
1Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. 2Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. 3His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
5Then the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. 7And now, go quickly and tell his disciples he has been raised from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember, I have told you."
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Luke 24:1-12 (NLT)
The Resurrection
1But very early on Sunday morning the women came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2They found that the stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. 3So they went in, but they couldn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4They were puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Suddenly, two men appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. 5The women were terrified and bowed low before them. Then the men asked, "Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? 6He isn't here! He has risen from the dead! Don't you remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again the third day?"
8Then they remembered that he had said this. 9So they rushed back to tell his eleven disciples--and everyone else--what had happened. 10The women who went to the tomb were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several others. They told the apostles what had happened, 11but the story sounded like nonsense, so they didn't believe it. 12However, Peter ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.
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John 20:19-23 (NIV)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
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1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (NLT)
The Resurrection of Christ
1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 (emphasis added) of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.
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And written hundreds of years earlier:
Psalm 16:10 (NIV)
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
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Hosea 6:2 (NIV)
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
It is fulfilled-He Is Risen; He Lives!
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Psalm 22:27 (NIV)
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,