Easter 2026 - Week 7 - Day 1

Weekly Introduction

On Monday the 18th, we begin our final week of this Easter journey.
Seven weeks ago we stood at an empty tomb.

We didn’t rush past it. We didn’t reduce it to a slogan. We stayed there long enough to feel how disorienting resurrection really is. Jesus wasn’t resuscitated. He wasn’t a metaphor. He was alive. And that meant history had shifted.

From there we moved carefully.

We talked about reconciliation — not as a pleasant church word, but as something that cost blood. We admitted that hostility is real. Division is real. And the cross didn’t manage hostility — it killed it.

We stretched our understanding of the kingdom. The disciples wanted national restoration. We often want cultural comfort. Jesus kept pointing beyond both. The kingdom is not about dominance. It is about God’s reign restoring what sin fractured.

We stood at the ascension and reminded ourselves that Jesus didn’t vanish. He was enthroned. That matters. The throne of the universe is not empty. History is not spiraling. Christ reigns.  Then we waited.

Before wind and fire, there was obedience and prayer. Before boldness, there was dependence. That waiting was not wasted time. It was formation.

Last week we stood in Acts 2 and watched heaven move into ordinary people. Not professionals. Not elites. Ordinary men and women. The Spirit filled them. And everything changed.

So here we are.
Pentecost Sunday is in front of us.
And now the question is not, “What happened then?” We’ve covered that.
The question is, “What does that mean for us?”
If the Spirit has been given — what kind of people are we supposed to be?
This week is about that.

The reading plan in the App will continue through the events of pentecost - the blog this week will provide some parallel thoughts.

Monday — Resurrection Is Not Behind Us

New Testament Scripture: Romans 8:11
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…”

Let’s start here.
If resurrection is only something that happened to Jesus two thousand years ago, then it is inspiring but distant. But Paul says the Spirit who raised Jesus now dwells in you. That changes things.

Resurrection is not just proof that Jesus is who He said He was. It is the beginning of new creation — and that new creation has already begun in those who belong to Him.
So living filled with the Spirit means we stop assuming that certain things in us are permanent.

Bitterness is not permanent. Fear is not permanent. Patterns of sin are not permanent. Spiritual apathy should not permanent.

We often talk as if these things are just “how I am.” Pentecost says otherwise.
If the Spirit who defeated death lives in us, then we are not stuck.

That doesn’t mean instant transformation. It does mean real transformation.
Resurrection life is not hype. It is slow, steady reordering.

Pentecost stands on Easter. If we forget that, we turn the Spirit into emotion instead of power.

Prayer
Risen Lord,
Do not let us treat resurrection as distant history.
Breathe life into places where we have settled for less.
Remind us that death does not get the final word in us.
Amen.