Built Again

Pastor Dell confronts the Church’s growing despair and individualism in this Easter sermon. Anchored in Jeremiah 31:4 (“Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!”), he shows how the resurrection is not merely about personal salvation but about national restoration through the One Man to whom the Lord appeared from afar. Drawing from the prophetic “end from the beginning,” the shift from plural to singular, Mary Magdalene’s encounter at the empty tomb, and the lectionary readings, he names America’s deep apostasy, the spirit of despair, and the temptation to bemoan our lot as 21st-century exiles. As long as the risen Christ has defeated death and dealt with sin definitively on the cross, there is still mercy, time, and a glorious inheritance for both individuals and nations. Believers are urged to reject fear and complaint, live as citizens of virgin Israel, proclaim “I have seen the Lord,” and get to work rebuilding—because the dark night is over and the eternal day has dawned.Stay Connected:Follow Pastor Dell on X at https://x.com/jakedell73.Subscribe to Experimental Sermons at https://jwdell.substack.com/.Join us for Sunday worship at https://firstchurchwoodbury.org/. Get full access to Experimental Sermons at jwdell.substack.com/subscribe