The Dirt Path Sermon Podcast
The Dirt Path Sermon Podcast is where faith meets real life, offering down-to-earth sermons that dig deep into the Scriptures while connecting timeless biblical truths with the challenges of everyday living. Each episode invites you to walk the dirt paths of the Bible, discovering how ancient wisdom speaks to modern hearts. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, guidance, or a deeper understanding of God’s word, this podcast is your companion on the journey of faith. Tune in for honest, relatable messages that encourage you to grow in your walk with God.
The Dirt Path Sermon Podcast
The Believing and the Unbelievable
In the final message of our Hearing Voices series, we arrive at the empty tomb—and discover that the first voices to proclaim the resurrection weren’t apostles or angels, but women. In a culture that didn’t recognize their testimony, God entrusted them with the greatest news in history: He is not here. He has risen.
This Easter message challenges us to reconsider who we listen to—and who we may be ignoring. Could it be that God is still speaking through the overlooked, the dismissed, and the unexpected? And if so… are we willing to hear and believe?
Join us as we explore Luke 24:1–12 and uncover why the resurrection is not just good news—it’s a call to listen, believe, and live differently.
Linkoln shares his story on why he started coming to Ravenna Church of the Nazarene and shares why you should consider doing the same.
Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
530 Main Street, Ravenna, KY 40472
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HEARING VOICES
#7 THE BELIEVING AND THE UNBELIVABLE
Over the last six weeks, we have been talking about hearing voices. Not the voices in our head, but the voices that Jesus encountered on His journey to the Cross. We have studied the prophets, outsiders, children, the sick, and even the Pharisees. Each time, we have seen how God speaks through unexpected people.
But now, we are at the most pivotal moment in the theology of Christianity--the Resurrection. Who does God select to be the first witnesses of the event? It is the least likely people expected. The people who are considered property, whose witness does not count in the eyes of society.
In the early morning on the third day, the women go to the tomb first, not because they expect life—but because they are faithful to death. They become the first to hear—and share—the best news in history.
Luke 24:1-12(CEB):
1 Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 They didn’t know what to make of this. Suddenly, two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing. 5 The women were frightened and bowed their faces toward the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He isn’t here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Human One must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they returned form the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. 11 Their words struck the apostles as nonsense, and they didn’t believe the women. 12 But Peter ran to the tomb. When he bent over to look inside, he saw only the linen cloth. Then he returned home, wondering what had happened.
This is the word of God
For the people of God
Thanks be to God
After Jesus had died, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea had prepared the Lord’s body and placed in in the tomb. But it was rushed, on the eve of the Sabbath. So, the women had gotten up early, coming in sorrow, not faith, to lovingly anoint Christ’s body with the burial fragrances. Verse 2 says, “They found the stone rolled away.” The women had come in grief, and God met them there.
I am sure a million different thoughts raced through their minds. Bodies do not get up and walk away. As they wrestled with what they were seeing, two angels appeared them. In verse 5, we read one angel saying, “Why do you search for the living among the dead?” The angels do not share anything new with these ladies, just a reminder. Jesus had already told the women everything, but grief has a way of making us forget. And what Jesus had said at the time seemed unbelievable, but now the women were the first ones to experience and remember the truth Jesus had shared.
Verse 8 says, “Then they remembered His words.” It all clicked as the memories of what Jesus had said flooded back. And this memory turned them into God’s messengers. The women were people considered to have no accreditable testimony by society, but God gave them a message to share. One to share with the apostles.
How do the apostles, God’s sent ones, respond? Do they have faith? Do they rejoice? No. Verse 11 says, “Their words struck the apostles as nonsense, and they didn’t believe the women.” The women were trusted and faithful followers of Jesus. Most of them following Jesus as long as the apostles had been. Not only that, the law required at least two witness as testimony, and God had a host of these women. But the apostles dismiss them. In their minds, the women’s words were “idle tales,” nonsense. The societal structure was too much for the apostles to get passed.
Verse 12 shares that Peter goes into investigate the claims. Why does Peter go? Even though Peter did not believe the women’s words, it stirred something inside of him. He had to see for himself. But even knowing their testimony and seeing the empty tomb, Peter still only wonders what has happened.
The truth had already been shared with Peter. Eye witnesses, the women, knew all the details about the report. But because society did not value the testimony of women, Peter could not accept their words.
What does this teach us? Like I said, in Jesus’s time, a woman’s testimony had no legal value. But God gave them the first word on the resurrection. The world said, “They do not count.” God said, “I choose them.”
We tend to ignore voices that challenge our assumptions. The apostles were grieving. They were not expecting resurrection. So when the women spoke, it clashed with their expectations—and they could not receive it. We do the same, reject truth because it is coming from someone we did not expect to be right.
God speaks through voices we might overlook. Children, elders, the quiet, the broken, the outsider, and the forgotten are all voices God has used and will use. This entire series has shown us that God does not speak only through power, position, or popularity.
How do we apply this? We have to ask ourselves, “Who have I stopped listening to? Is there someone whose voice we have dismissed because of their age, gender, past, race, political affiliation, or status? Could it be that God is speaking to us through them? For us to receive what God is speaking, we must learn to listen with humility. Sometimes truth comes in a form that offends our pride. But if it is truth, we must hear it and accept it.
Instead of seeing a women in the pulpit and spouting what you think the Bible says about it, stop and consider the resurrection story. It was not men God used to communicate the glorious testimony of the resurrection, but the women! This truth will all you to see that while society has devalued the voice of women, God never has! He has always elevated their voice, not just in the New Testament but in the Old Testament as well. And if God does that with women, we can see God often elevates the voices of those who communicate His truth from other races, backgrounds, and political affiliations we would never consider.
And we cannot be content to hear their words. We must accept them as truth. Beyond accepting them as truth, we must allow the truth they share to move us. Like Peter, do not stop at skepticism. Go to the tomb. Investiagte the claim. Let the resurrection draw you forward—even if your faith is not fully formed yet.
As we end the “Hearing Voices series, this is the final question: “Whose voice are you listening to?” God’s greatest truth was not announced by angels to the world, but by faithful women to a group of discouraged disciples—and they were ignored. Will you ignore the voices of truth today? Or will you listen to the voict that says: “He is not here. He has risen.”
If you have ignored the voice of Jesus—whether through doubt, pride, or hurt—now is the time to listen. If you have felt like your voice does not matter, be encouraged. God still chooses the overlooked.
The tomb is still empty. The message is still true. Come and believe. Come and follow. Let your life be the next voice that proclaims: Jesus is alive.
