Sermon Central
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The Empty Chair And The Full Table
Contributed by Austin W. Duncan on Apr 17, 2026 (message contributor)
Thanksgiving can be really sweet. Good food. Laughter. Familiar traditions. A little more time with people you care about.
But it can also expose what’s missing.
Sometimes the empty chair hits harder than the full table. Sometimes the family tension stays quiet until someone says one sentence, and suddenly everybody’s “fine” in that way that means nobody’s fine. Sometimes you leave the holiday thinking, “I should feel happier than this,” but what you really feel is stress, grief, conflict, fatigue, regret, loneliness, pressure, or just a low-grade heaviness you can’t quite explain.
And then Sunday comes. The holiday is over. The dishes are done. People are traveling back. The calendar is still full. Your problems didn’t take the week off. Your thoughts didn’t take the week off.
And you show up.
That’s exactly what the women in Mark 16 do. They show up early, before sunrise, carrying spices and grief and questions about how they’re even going to move the stone. They’re not coming with answers. They’re not coming with a plan. They’re coming because love showed up even when hope felt like it had already run out.
And here’s what I want you to see: God isn’t offended by that. He doesn’t scold them for their questions. He doesn’t disqualify them for their grief. He meets them right there, at the tomb, before they’ve figured anything out.
If you came today carrying more weight than celebration, you’re not behind. You’re not disqualified. You’re just like the women at the tomb. And Jesus meets people there too.????????????????
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