Easter Sunday 2026: The Resurrection Changes Everything.

Written By Rachel Fish

Sermon Summary

In a world that defines people by their worst moments, the resurrection of Jesus Christ declares something radically different: your story does not define you, but what Jesus did for us on the cross does.

Using the story of David and Goliath, this sermon unpacked why the resurrection is the most powerful event in human history. Just as Goliath didn't merely threaten Israel but sought to define them, sin does the same to us by labeling us from our worst moments.

But David didn't come in military strength, but in the name of the Lord and covenant relationship with power. He went down into the valley, and with a single stone struck the head of the giant, shifting everything for Israel. Jesus, the Son of David, did the same on a cosmic scale, taking up the unlikely weapon of a cross, and crushing the head of sin, death and hell once and for all. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ has the final word for all of human history.

Key Scriptures

1 Samuel 17:45-47 (NIV) "David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands.'"

1 Samuel 17:48-50 (NIV) "As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him."

Genesis 3:15 (NASB1995) "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV) "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death -- that is, the devil -- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

Revelation 5:5 (NIV) "Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.'"

For Your Group

Choose a few questions from the various categories to go deeper in the sermon and put the truths of Scripture into practice. You don't need to answer every question. Select the ones that will best help your group engage with God's Word and apply it to your lives.

Discussion Questions

SCRIPTURE STUDY & DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

  1. In 1 Samuel 17, what is the significance of Goliath taunting Israel for 40 days? What does the text tell us about what that prolonged intimidation was designed to accomplish beyond simply starting a battle?

  2. When David asks, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?" he is making a claim rooted in covenant identity rather than military assessment. What did circumcision represent for Israel, and how does understanding that reframe the way David is reading the entire situation?

  3. Carl Gulley drew a line from Genesis 3:15, to David and Goliath, to Jesus on the cross. How do each of these moments echo the same pattern (an unlikely weapon, a strike to the head and a shift in power)? What does this repeated pattern tell us about how God tends to work throughout Scripture?

ENCOURAGEMENT, CHALLENGE & PERSONAL TESTIMONY

  1. The women in prison held up signs with two sides, who they were before Jesus and who they are now. What words would be on your board, from before Jesus to after?

  2. The sermon said: "Sin doesn't just fight you. It forms you." It tries to convince you that this is who you are, that you can never change. Where in your life have you heard that voice the loudest? What has it tried to make you believe is permanent and unchangeable?

  3. David removed Saul's armor, which was the best human protection available for the time, because it would have slowed him down from actually defeating the giant. Is there a "Saul's armor" in your own life (false sense of protection or self-sufficiency) that might be keeping you from running toward what God is calling you to face?

PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

  1. What giant has been standing over you, telling you that you can't win? Now consider: based on what the resurrection of Jesus has accomplished, what does it look like practically for you to run toward that giant this week instead of stepping back in fear?

  2. Margie Atwood faced death not with fear, but with a song because she knew the truth of the resurrection. What is one step you can take this week to live more rooted in the reality of the resurrection rather than in the fear of your giant?

PRAYER

  1. We are going to take focused time to listen to the Holy Spirit and what He wants to speak to us personally based on our time in Scripture and discussion tonight. Let's sit in silence for 60 seconds and ask the Spirit to speak to each one of us.

[After the minute of silence] What do you sense the Holy Spirit highlighting or speaking to you as we prayed?

  1. What prayer requests come up for you based on our Scripture study and discussion tonight? How can we pray for you as you seek to apply what God has shown you?

"The resurrection changes everything."

Rachel Fish
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Palm Sunday