Please stand as we recite the Shema and read our morning’s text 
The Shema
Hear O Israel!
The Lord is our God – the Lord Alone.
Love the Lord your God
With all your heart,
With all your soul,
And with all your might,
And love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.
	Our text this Easter morning is a familiar one found in Luke 24:1-9.  Luke 24:1-9, But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? "He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 
	Thus reads the Word of the Lord. You may be seated.

In this passage, we have the account of the followers of Christ coming to anoint the slain body of their beloved teacher. They had diligently prepared the spices with which to give the final touch of earthly care upon the body which they believed would soon return to the dust from which it had been raised. They were fully expecting to find the remains of Jesus of Nazareth. 
When they realized that the Lord’s body was not in the sepulcher, they were afraid. They needed to be reminded of the words of Christ, with which He had taught them long before the day of His crucifixion. The angels, there to minister unto them, asked a very poignant question, which we, even today, must ask ourselves.
	…"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? Oh what a question to ask these faithful followers of the Lord. They knew that He was dead, didn’t they? They had watched as He was tried, scourged and then crucified as a common criminal, hadn’t they? They were filled with all the sorrow of the ages as their leader, their teacher, their brother, their friend’s life was ended in such a despicable manner. They had every expectation of finding His lifeless body wrapped for burial in that sepulcher, didn’t they? 
Of course they were seeking their Lord among the dead. He had died before their eyes, and with Him, so also died all of their hopes and dreams and visions of God. They were now adrift in a lifelessness of despair and anguish, because everything they knew and had been taught was as dead as Jesus was dead. With Him, their everything had perished, and they were merely filling the time until their own departure from this realm.
	…"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? Just as the followers of Christ, on that resurrection morning had to be awakened to the reality of Christ’s victory over death, and the reality of what He had been teaching them, so it is in our lives! We need to have our hearts enlivened to this same truth, no matter what our relationship with the Lord. 
If we have not accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we need to ask ourselves why we are seeking any life in this world, which is dead in sin and trespass. What is it that we desire? Are we looking for love or wealth or power or position or relief from our pain or disease? Whatever we are seeking, we will find only death in this present realm. 
If we truly are desirous after life, we must come face-to-face with the living Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified for our transgressions. He was then victoriously raised on that third day by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is our Living Lord Jesus Christ Who now reigns on high, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Only He has the power of life and death! Only in Him will we find that death has no more reign in our lives. If we would have life, abundant and eternal life, we must seek after the Living Christ and not waste our time fumbling about in the cemeteries of this realm.
	If we have believed upon Jesus Christ as Our Savvior, we still must ask ourselves this question. Too often, we find ourselves perversely drawn to the things of this realm, which have no more life than is found in the graves of hundreds of thousands of cemeteries. It is all dead, and nothing but death. Just as in seeking after Christ for our eternal life, so must we always seek after Christ for our continued life in this realm.
	…"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? This is as true of being in the church as it is in being in the world. There are many church goers who are seeking life in a building or in a ritual or in a doctrine which has no more life than a cold stone. Life is found where the Living Christ is exalted, where the Living Christ reigns, where the Living Christ abounds, not in a religious experience or center. 
If the Living Christ is the focus, if the Living Christ is Lord, if the Living Christ is the source of the gathered believers, then He is the life and the life-functioning reality of that assemblage. If not, it is merely a ritualistic gathering, void of life and void of any eternal value. 
We need to persistently ask ourselves this question. Whether it is in our personal relationships, in our familial relationships, or in our fellowship relationships, are we seeking the living One among the dead? 
	We must be constantly reminded of the reality of what occurred over two thousand years ago, in order to remember what the Lord taught each of His own. If we have no such relationship yet, we must stand together, one with another, earnestly seeking for the life of Jesus Christ to manifest Himself into each and every heart here this morning, for the sake of all!
Jesus Christ is alive! The Living, Only Begotten Son of God is  true life! Seek and ye shall find! We will not find Him in a structure. We will not find Him in any of the elements of this world, whether they be positive or negative. We will only find Him as we seek after Him by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in opening our hearts to Him to receive and live in His eternal life.
	As Christians, as believers, as the Body of Christ, let us always encourage one another to seek after life only where life abounds. It can not and will not be found in any element of this realm, no matter how philanthropic that endeavor may seem. 
Life is found only as we are seeking after the Living Christ, after His life to be made manifest in us to the glory of God! Let us remember His words, and His ways, and His Lordship unto the edification of each one, of each family, of all as the living Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. May His life richly and eternally bless each one gathered here this morning with the reality that He is risen, that He is Lord and that He is Life, and Life eternal! Seek Him and live in Him! So be it!
	…"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? "He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." Amen!

We pray that each celebration of the resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ that takes place this day will keep the Omnipotence and the Omniscience and the Omnipresence of God at the forefront. This so great salvation is all the work of God, Alone! There is nothing that we can add to this act of Almighty God in this perfect expression of His so wondrous and miraculous love. May He be eternally blessed! Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Rom 1:16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Amen.