Mark 16:1-8
Pastor Dave shared a moment from his own story to begin this week’s message—a moment when faith shifted from routine to something real. Growing up in church, he knew the Bible stories and the rhythms of faith, but it all felt like going through the motions. It wasn’t until college that he realized the faith he had couldn’t withstand real storms. When he truly heard the Gospel for the first time, everything changed. Faith finally made sense of suffering, pain, and purpose.
That turning point marked a fresh beginning. Pastor Dave talked about buying a new Bible—one he wasn’t even sure he’d stick with—and choosing to start in the Gospel of Mark, partly because it was the shortest, but mostly because he wanted to see Jesus with new eyes. And it was there, at the end of Mark’s Gospel, that something began to trouble him.
Mark doesn’t end the way we expect Easter to end. There’s no celebration, no triumphant conclusion. Instead, the Gospel closes with three faithful women standing in an empty tomb—trembling, silent, and afraid. And Pastor Dave explained that the longer he’s lived with that ending, the more honest it feels. Because when God moves in ways we didn’t plan or expect, the first response isn’t always joy—it’s often fear.
Those women weren’t weak in faith. They were Jesus’ most faithful followers—the ones who showed up when others disappeared. They came to the tomb not expecting a miracle, but simply to honor the One they loved. They came carrying grief, asking quiet, practical questions: How will we move the stone? What happens when we get there? And then everything changed. The stone was already rolled away. The body was gone. And they heard the words no one was prepared for: “He has risen.”
Pastor Dave pointed out that their fear wasn’t disbelief—it was disorientation. They expected closure, but Jesus gave them new creation. They expected a finished story, but He opened a future bigger than they were ready for. Their fear came from encountering a Savior who was more alive, more powerful, and more present than the version of Him they had learned to live with.
That same tension still exists today. Pastor Dave reminded us that you can be deeply faithful and still deeply shaken when Jesus begins working in ways you didn’t plan. Fear isn’t always a sign that something is wrong—it’s often a sign that God is inviting us beyond the place we’ve grown comfortable. Fear becomes dangerous only when it becomes the voice we follow.
Resurrection, he said, is not safe or predictable. It disrupts what’s familiar and stretches us into something new. But that disruption isn’t God pushing us away—it’s God pulling us deeper. Jesus doesn’t wait for us to stop being afraid before calling us forward. He meets us in our fear and leads us through it.
Pastor Dave drew our attention to the angel’s promise: “He is going before you.” Even in trembling, Jesus is already ahead of us. Even in uncertainty, He has gone where we are being called to follow. The Gospel of Mark ends where our story begins—with a choice. Will fear hold us still, or will we trust the risen Jesus enough to take the next step?
The message closed with this assurance: resurrection doesn’t mean we won’t feel fear—it means we won’t face it alone. You can be faithful and afraid. Overwhelmed and obedient. Trembling and still trusting. But fear cannot be the thing that writes your story—not when the risen Christ is standing in front of you saying, “Follow Me.”
