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00:00:01 today's scripture reading is from Matthew chapter 28 verse 1-15 after the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb there was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb rolled back the stone and sat on it his appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow the guts were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men the angel said to the woman do not be afraid for I know that you are
00:00:42 looking for Jesus who was crucified he is not here he has risen just as he said come and see the place where he lay then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee there you will see him now I have told you so the woman hurried away from the tomb afraid yet filled with joy and ran to tell his disciples suddenly Jesus met them greetings he said they came to him claped his feet and worshiped him then Jesus said to them do not be afraid go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee
00:01:30 that there they will see me while the woman were on their way some of the Gods went into the City and reported to the chief priest everything that had happened when the chief priest had met with the elders and devised the plan they gave the soldiers a large sum of money telling them you are to say his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep if this report gets to the governor we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble so the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed and this
00:02:07 story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day this is the word of God morning blessed Easter to all of you today let us start off this day with a prayer father Lord we come before you and so far this year this is the most important day for it brings with it a hope that will beat in our hearts every single one that our last day will not be the last day there will be a tomorrow father Lord as we hear your word we pray that your word will reignite a passion in our hearts to live
00:02:57 because of this day we ask for Jesus sake amen we just heard scripture and scripture describes what happened on Easter Friday then Sunday it's very important to understand that this is a historical event our faith is not a philosophy or an idea can the sound come down please it's too much Echo it always happens to me sorry always me it's a historical event and so therefore the Bible Matthew lays out the facts and the facts are the first people who have come to witness the fact that the tomb was empty and the occupant tomb
00:03:53 was gone was actually women it also documents that it was a day of the Sabbath after the Sabbath it was an angel some accounts say one Angel some accounts say two Angel but you know it depends on which eyewitness account you have the tomb is empty then there were the gods who witness why why does Matthew take the trouble to bring all this up because this is a historical account brothers and sisters what we're celebrating today is because of something that actually happened it wasn't an idea there are people today um like uh
00:04:36 Richard carrier who who put forward this idea that Jesus was a myth it was a story it was a legend brought up because they can't believe that somebody can rise from the dead there was no actual Jesus but you actually go and ask the top three new testament theologians who are not atheistic which means they don't believe in God bman crosson and Eisenman they all believe there is a historical Jesus that actually Liv they may disagree you know irman thinks is a prophet crosson thinks is a wise man isman thinks a revolutionary uh but they
00:05:14 all believe that Jesus was a historical figure not only that if you go back into time and you look at non-Christian historians Josephus Lucian tacitus they actually described Jesus in writings barely 100 years after the event if you look here the writings of Josephus at this time there lived Jesus this is a non-Christian writing a wise man if indeed one ought to call him a man for he wrought surprising Feats he was the Christ when pilate condemned him to be crucified those who had come to love him did not give up their affection
00:05:57 for him on the third year he appeared and restored to life and the tribe of Christians has not disappeared these are words barely a 100 years after the event now if you look at history if you talk about Socrates the people who write about Socrates Plato xenophone aristophanous they wrote about him with a 1,300 year Gap there are 5,000 New Testament documents that attest to this particular event and this morning Easter morning after the Sabbath toward the dawn of the first day women Mary Magdalene and other mared why is it
00:06:39 important to have women because if you were to conu the story the last people you will hire to to concoct the story would be women because women were not valid Witnesses You' have two men strapping big men who will swear and say something happened the fact that this is woman who actually were the first on to discover the empty tomb is a testament to the authenticity of this account and then the Angel and the empty tube and behold there was a great earthquake an angel of the Lord descended and rolled back the stone and
00:07:16 sat on it his appearance was a lightning and his clothed clothing white as snow and the gods well they had fear of him obviously and became like dead man but the angel said to women do not be be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified he is not here he has risen and he said come and see the place where he laid so therefore he's showing them the empty tomb the gods were there saw the angels and they were petrified to say the least the important thing is here you actually have the empty tomb
00:07:50 the tombs of Muhammad are there you can actually go to Medina actually see it the tomb of Buddha divided to eight portions because he was actually uh cremated you can find various parts of the world but if you go to Jerusalem you go to look there is no tomb no no nobody in the Tomb and that's the single most important fact if it if you go to Uganda there is a huge cult there it's called the unity of faith and it's led by a man called over Buu bzi Baka and he was supposed to be so gifted that he could
00:08:30 heal people this cult has is a cult that has got two million strong adherence and then one day covid came he was supposed to be God he was supposed to have powers of Resurrection in fact his son died and everybody expected him to resurrect his son and so therefore they laid him in this place and they waited for him in muor Town Council in the kagadi district and to this day you can go and see his body is embalmed it's there he never Rose he cannot rise the important thing is the empty tomb and then they
00:09:14 saw Jesus the womon behold Jesus met them greetings and they came up and took hold of his feet and they worshiped him Jesus said to them do not be afraid go and tell my brothers go to the to Galilee and there they will see me you see the response what is the response to Resurrection hi good to see you again what's a response worship why does Easter matter Easter matters because our response is worship not only the women Paul writes he was buried raised on third day in qu scripture and then he appeared to keas
00:09:52 in 12 and he appeared to B than 500 Brothers at one time most of them are still alive though some have fallen asleep 500 Witnesses at the same time which is more than the people in this church at the same time and lastly he appeared to James and to Apostles and lastly one to untimely born he appeared also to me for I am the least of the Apostles unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church very important he mentions James and himself you know why because James is the brother of Jesus if
00:10:28 I tell you y and your brother is a god you think you believe the last person to believe that your brother is God then what make what that what does that make you it's the last Mark describes the family of Jesus never believed he was anything other than a brother the fact that James is sp to James and James became a Believer is significant the fact that Paul became a Believer is even more important because Paul persecuted the church How could a guy like that turn 180° away and then this happens while they
00:11:07 were going behold some of the Gods went to the city and told the chief priests all that they had taken place and when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel they gave the sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said tell the people his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep and if this comes to the governor's ears we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble and the took the money and did as they were directed and this story has been spread among the
00:11:37 Jews to this day what do you call this we call this the big lie the big lie is something that's so clearly balace gradully false that is so hard to believe that anybody would fabricate it isn't it you tell a huge lie not a small one we we like to tell small lies hope we won't get caught the idea of the big lie is the tell so big that people would not believe that you would actually tell a lie this is so audacious and it's been practiced from the times of Hitler all the way down to modern times the whole
00:12:11 idea is to tell it as often as possible in different context so that eventually people will believe the big lie is the truth this is exactly what the world does isn't it you right hear something often enough get everybody to repeat it in various context and then they will believe it not only that the best thing get the church involved get the church involved in God we trust and the church was in the the Jew Jewish leaders were involved at that time they were the Pharisees they were the scribes they
00:12:44 were the authorities they were the religion and when they spread this lie it this lie then permeates throughout society and the original lies is Jesus said when he lies he speaks speaks out of his own character he's a liar and the father of liar and who is this father of liar it's Satan behind every lie and every fake news is Satan today what happened on Easter rests on four five things Jesus was crucified their tomb was empty the lives of the disciples and witness were completely trans transformed from a
00:13:32 demoralized shattered group of 12 they became the nucleus of growth to the largest faith in this world the conversion of Paul and the conversion of James now you take each one of this individually it may not stand on its own but take all five facts together you need to give a plausible explanation we've seen the atrocities committed in in Ukraine the town of bukah where they see bodies lying there you can see them on satellite images you can go there and see them and they spread a big lie Putin says it's
00:14:12 staged people are lying down there they actors they're not dead is this a plausible explanation can't be you know why if you go there you will actually see these bodies and they are not moving because they're dead in fact you can have witnesses lining up telling you exactly what happened on that day even leaders traveling all the way to bukah to witness with their own eyes what is the most plausible explanation who is telling the LIE the crucifixion the empty tomb the lives and witness of the disciples the
00:14:52 conversion of Paul and the conversion of James are five universally affected accepted facts by 75% of New Testament Scholars atheistic even there is no doubt but when you bring all five together there's only one plausible explanation you could say the disciples stole the body but if you stole the body which is rotting your life would not be transformed the disciples never got rich everyone to a man except John was mared for the faith what would they gain if they actually stole something a perpetrated lie some people say
00:15:38 Authority stole the body well very simple isn't it you talk about Jesus having risen the authorities would easily have produced the body and your faith would collapse and the Jews would have loved to do that not plausible if you some people say it's hallucinations but the problem is you hallucinations are possible in individuals scientists will tell you one by one or a couple of people who are extremely distraught and emotional Paul described at one time 500 people you can't beat that 500 people they can't all have mass
00:16:17 hallucinations wrong grave now who are the one who prepared the body Mary Magdalene the other Mary after one day they forgot is it and not only he wasn't buried on a common grave he was buried in the Tomb of Joseph of ARA you can't get that wrong what about the theory that he was resuscitated that somehow he was like dead and bleeding out left for three days and suddenly Somebody went and did cardiio version and he came up there and barely able to survive and they worship this sort of God it's it's it's a ludicrous
00:16:55 explanation what about Jesus T twin brother some people say Jesus must have had a tinr brother exactly like him why do you think James would have converted you think qur brother James would not have known you see every single explanation like Putin's explanation false flat because you cannot account the fact that he was crucified really dead Paul was converted James was converted the lives and witness of the disciples which change only one conclusion which is why we are all here every single one of us this morning it's
00:17:34 because we are transformed by historical [Music] [Music] event see what a morning gloriously bright with the dawning of Hope in Jerusalem F the the grave clo tomb fill with light as the Angels announce Christ is RIS seek God salvation PL Bri in love born in pain paain in sad sacrifice fulfilled in Christ of man for he lives Christ is risen from the [Music] dead see Mary weeping where is he laid as in sorrow she turns from from the empty tomb hears a voice speaking calling her name it's the master the
00:19:09 Lord raised to life again the voice that SP the years speaking life stirring hope bringing peace to us will sound till he appears for he lives Christ is risen from the [Music] dead one with the father Ancient of Days through the spirit who cloth fa with certainty horor and blessing glory and praise to the king crown with power and authority and we are raised with him death is dead love has one Christ has coner and we shall reain with him for he lives Christ is risen from the dead and we are raised with him death is dead
00:20:34 love has W Christ has called good and we shall reain with him for he lives Christ is risen from the dead [Music] [Applause] Matthew chapter 28 verse 16- 20 then the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted then Jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all Nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them
00:21:46 to obey everything I have commanded you and surely I Am With You Always to the very end of the age this is God's word so there we have it the historical event 2,000 years ago what happened but if we leave it there it becomes an archaeological curiosity controversial issue to discuss but we're here this morning to ask ourselves a very important question why does it matter why does it matter to you why why did it matter to the people at that time because Easter if it's such a groundbreaking Earth shattering event it
00:22:38 must leave its traces on us and when they saw him you know what happened they worshiped him just like the women when they saw him they worshiped they went and kissed his feet but some doubted so Easter actually has a dual response you can worship or you can doubt how do we worship how do we doubt well it'll depend on what you do worship I let's look at two people at that time from The Book of John Thomas the skeptic so the disciples had seen Jesus they told Thomas about the fact that they had encountered the Risen
00:23:19 Christ you know they told him we've seen the Lord but he said to them hey fake news big lie you see hard to imagine the guy who been with Jesus for three years he just told him how many times that he's going to rise again but the guy is dense doesn't get through his head isn't it and he says unless I see his hands the mark of the nails place my finger into the into the mark of the nails uh uh Mark of the nails and place my hand into his side right in I will never believe does this sound familiar I I became a Christian in my
00:23:59 school booki bintang boy school at the age of 17 and I remember one of the folk um I can't remember Su folk would know because suol was in my school one year above me was a chap there I think his name was B Kong who was like this and he says unless you move the science blocker 6 feet that direction then I will believe that's exactly what he said I was so impressed you know what the science block didn't move he moved that's the difference eight days later on Jesus said he appeared to Thomas Hey Thomas put your finger here see my hands
00:24:49 put out your hand put it into my side don't believe don't disbelieve but believe now if you were Thomas what do you you think oh my God he heard me how did he know I when I said this words he wasn't even there how did he hear me how you know there's a famous picture this is you know which one is Thomas right he's doing surgery this is actually painted by very famous painter called kajio 17 century he's actually a rascal arrested several times for fighting and and all that that's why he painted you know you think
00:25:30 this actually happened when Jesus appeared come put your hand into my side what does the verse say my Lord and my God he didn't have surgery and then come out and then say my Lord my God there's no record of that the moment he saw Jesus that was enough my Lord and my God and you must understand the significance of this statement because by Yahweh Jews never say the word Yahweh it is too holy and to call another man Yahweh is one of the most profound statements in the entire New Testament and it is uttered
00:26:12 by the biggest skeptic it has an effect this is worship when he saw the wounds when there were not just physical evidence of Resurrection it was an emotional evidence of the love of Jesus Christ for even this skeptic when you look at those wounds the wounds were there for you and me and that arises worship look at another person Peter this is the most controversial fellow isn't it hot-headed and he is the one who's always out in the front with his bravado I'm going to follow you to the ends of the world I'm going to do this I'm going
00:27:02 to do that and in fact when the soldiers came for Jesus who's the one with the sword Peter who's the one who chopped off the ear Peter he's the number one guy but when he came to a young lady talking to Peter around the fire hey do you know this Jesus hey that no please in fact the girl asked him three times and if you read scripture on the third time you know what four-letter word came up I wouldn't say what four-letter word he actually cursed some commentator say he cursed Jesus the guy whom he was he
00:27:40 had professed undying loyalty to whom he had trudged through the difficulties of life for the last three years he just betrayed him three times around that fire with the young lady and in John 21 Jesus comes comes to him after a good meal you always talk to someone after a good meal never talk to him before the meal and and sitting around the fire same fire and Jesus asked him three times do you love me because he's going to go back to where he actually failed and retrace those steps so that there will
00:28:20 be true repentance but I want you to note what Jesus said Jesus didn't say that do you love me he says do you love me more than these very important word Miroslav wolf is a Princeton Theologian who who actually wrote on this and said he believes that Peter has a problem of false identity the false identity is built on the fact that he's always comparing himself to everybody else compared to everybody else I'm am the Ying Hong I am the hero I'm better than everybody else when Jesus you were arrested who's the
00:29:02 one who had the sword me the rest ran away so he's always comparing himself he built his esteem upon the fact that he's better than somebody else go back to Genesis chapter 4 Cain and Abel two brothers Cain probably the Elder one Abel the younger one Cain the tiller of the land a lot of jagong he grows Abel looks after sheep and they both gave sacrifices to God and God had regard for the sacrifice of Abel but no regard for can and his sacrifice he gets upset you know why because he has built his
00:29:42 self-esteem on a false identity that he's always better than his brother his elder brother and the fact that God had regard for his younger brothers sacrifice and not his he's crushed when we build our identity on what we are compared to other people we Face two problems one our self-esteem is so fragile and we react with hostility that man must die and when he killed his brother nobody else to compare only him right that's how we all respond and that's why on that day Jesus understood exactly what
00:30:16 Peter was about and he understands exactly what we are about which is why he asked him do you love me more than these because you're always as Malaysia Tang kak trying to be better than everybody else and you know what Jes Peter said no more excuses no more defensiveness no more growling Lord you know that I love you and the response to Resurrection in worship for all of us is not to build our self-esteem and how we feel about ourselves or our spirituality based on the fact I'm better than the other guy
00:30:56 but the fact that I I love you Jesus Christ rose from the dead his wounds are shed for you do you love me and that's worship and the response to worship is what feed my sheep feed my sheep that's what it was there love gives what is best and the best thing in the world that this world needs is Christ so therefore the Great Commission comes out of this sense of worship ship go therefore and Make Disciples of all Nations and we live in a world that's torn apart by Strife every day we are faced with the threat
00:31:39 of a third world war how do we get across this Tim Keller writes the resurrection is not merely that Christians have a hope for the future but that they have hope that comes from the future it's not really here full but it's here substantially so it's like the future has come to the present and that future is the kingdom of God making disciples evangelism baptism teaching obedience what is this to really understand the Great Commission we have to understand the death and Resurrection Jesus in the light of
00:32:24 Christmas you cannot take them apart you have to take them together because when Jesus came there was a prophecy there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit and the spirit of the Lord shall rest on him and the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord so when Jesus comes he's going to inaugurate a new era where the lights go off my slid sorry sorry where he describes the
00:33:02 wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat and the calf and The Lion and the fatted C together and a little child will lead them if I were to paraphrase in today's language where Putin and zalinski will be best friends where Biden and Z will be bodes where mahat and Ana will finally make up for real and save this country they shall not hurt or destroy in all my Holy Mountain why because the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord and the waters cover the sea
00:33:55 there a reason and and and this is because of the knowledge the he wants the Earth to be filled with the knowledge God knowledge is not knowing about Jesus you know knowledge has three facets it's a relationship there's intimacy and there's transformation there's no relationship you can have to somebody else that doesn't transform you well right ask anybody who's married if you exactly the same as before you got married I think you got problems the marriage transforms you because relationship molds and
00:34:24 transforms you so if we actually have a knowledge of and relationship with God with intimacy we will be transformed and it brings us back to the the Great Commission actually brings us back to the first mandate God gave man and the God said let us make man in our image in our likeness let them have dominion over the fish and the Sea and over the birds of the rock heavens and cover and over the livestock and over the all the Earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth here is God creating all of us
00:34:55 for the express person purpose of expressing the image of God expressing the image of God is relating reflecting and representing that is our calling and the Great Commission is actually reflection of the first commission which God gives us which is and the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of God full of people who know God who relate intimately to him and who are transformed by him that's the vision of the Resurrection he just resurrect to bring you and me home to Heaven he resurrected because he
00:35:30 wanted the whole earth to be full of this knowledge it goes through all the nations if you look at Revelations chapter 7 after this I look and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation from all tribes and people and languages it's always inclusive why did Jesus take the trouble to cast out the money changes from the court of the Gentiles because he wanted the Gentiles to be in included that the whole earth be filled with the do why do we give funds for for farflung Missions
00:36:05 you know all the way across the world to Ukraine or Afghanistan why because we are people of this Vision that the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of God our discipleship is always expansive and inclusive and how do we do this we share the gospel we're baptizing them baptizing equals evangelism what is bapti in the earliest record the word baptism comes from the poet nikanda 200 BC and he describes a cooking process where you actually dip fruits called bapto into hot water and then you baptizo them in vinegar or some
00:36:46 other solution to pickle the fruit which is basically a permanent change New Testament time when around time of Jesus when they use the word it is used for people who High clothes white color you deep inside comes out red color it means when you are coming to Christ baptism represents that the fact that you change the color of your life you're immersed in the word of God you're immersed the holy spirit of God you immerse the culture of Jesus Christ and the trajectory of your life the Ambitions of
00:37:19 your life the nuts and bolts of your life are completely transformed when you enter the baptism Waters note the Great Commission the Great Commission doesn't tell you to go all over the world baptizing them and then you teach them Bible study doesn't do that it tells you to observe no point having all the theological knowledge there are new testament Scholars who don't even know God it is discipleship is learning to obey that is the Crux of what the church should be doing and we often have the wrong Focus
00:38:01 where the either in church where we worship that's you put that right you should worship we get caught up in an emotional high on a Sunday and on Monday oh share gospel I think cannot you I I look forward to the worship but I'm not going to do the evangelism oh or you're pressured on Monday to bring people to Jesus without grounding them in genuine worship you make convert but not disciples and then there only two topics that actually instill guilt pray talk about prayer talk about evangelism you're all guilty already
00:38:41 isn't it this is a one of my neighbors walking and I I noticed a T-shirt be an influenc a lot of young people want to be influencer right influencer not influencer right you do your makeup also put camera you go to bathroom also camera you cook something also camera so you Influence People by what you do and often we think being an evangelist fulfilling the Great Commission is like being an influencer all right but the motivation is wrong it's guilt because you have to do it I've got my quota to
00:39:13 share gospel three people the day or one person day I used to have a qu many years ago and that brought so much guilt because I failed the qu or Pride because you're an influencer your numbers are up and you have brought how many people to Christ wrong motivation this Nick vuch and I love his story because at 9 years old being born without any limbs he actually plunged his face into the bathtub water in order to rid himself of his life which he deemed as useless and a burden to his family to his father and
00:39:49 mother but you know what Nick vuch Found Jesus Christ he found the resurrection and his man managed to get out there without any arms and legs and share the gospel to more people than you and I yeah he preached in the presence of thousands of people why because of the transformation he does it because his life was worthless based on false identity now his life is filled with pride in who Jesus is you really worship someone you want to be like him right all the people love Elvis Presley dress up like
00:40:25 him what about the ladies you know she wears this dress you wear this dress she wears the other dress you wear this other dress you don't force people say oh you must you must buy Kate Middleton's brand you don't do that you naturally do that isn't it you're not motivated by guilt You're motivated because you're so L that person or admire the person that you want to be like that person and that is worship and evangelism together because you so are transformed by the love of Jesus Jesus Christ that you want
00:40:59 everybody to know about him and that's all you boast about Galatians 1 6:14 says far be from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world that means the most important thing when you look at me today is not because of who I am what I've done but what he has done and the gradual shift of our motivations our Ambitions and who we are our identity has to occur starting from baptism and onwards and how can we do this this is the last part of our sermon this morning
00:41:36 it's heavy duty how do we do this well Jesus said to them all authority has been given in Heaven and Earth has been given to me it means everything in the entire you know the Jew the the the Jewish language do you know has no word for Universe only heavens and earth that me entire High Universe all authority in heaven has been given and Earth been given to me why is it important because verse 20 says I am with you always to the ends of the age actual Greek is aoi which means I even I which is a double
00:42:15 intensification of I so most important thing about the Great Commission is not that oh my goodness we think I got to go and share the gospel I got to go and Influence People I going to go and sing the song No Jesus never said that oh I have the authority of God some people believe in the the authority of believer's authority you this subcontracted Authority and then you can heal people and all that Jesus never said that Jesus said all being given to him and he will be with you it's him he's going to make
00:42:51 the miracle happen he's going to Grant the power he's going to make it happen today he's on the stage today not me in the world we live have this idea in their brain if I earn enough money marry the right woman we will live happily ever after you got no choice this is what it's going to be about right we delude ourselves but in real life life isn't simple isn't it we all know that from the example of Diana and Charles I I I like this picture of my patients increasing number of patients come to see me and you know
00:43:33 what they're all wearing all this sort of thing you know why they believe these devices will emit some special aura or gas that will destroy every Corona virus ba2 bicron delron whatever what cron they all wear this and some pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for this they live in an illusion there was a interview on CNN of a British young lady who interviewed survivors of the Ukraine crisis and this Talia and she escaped from Ukraine and they asked her about her mother and father who are still left
00:44:13 in Ukraine you know what's happening to them oh they're there and are you worried for them you know what she said I'm not worried you know why the apartment block where they stay already hit by missile and tell you missiles don't hit the same place twice that's her logic missiles don't hit the same place twice like lightning we live in a world where we put all these things up as facades because we can't cope with the depravity of Life the the uncertainty of life so we got to put all these ideas
00:44:53 all these little things we wear around our neck but the real picture of power is that we live in a broken world and we navigate this broken world with this in mind in our hearts this morning the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that's the power we often misunderstand the power and and Keller writes very clearly what the power is Jesus apparent powerlessness is actually power to serve others rather than power to control other people I wish we tell this to Putin the power real power is the power
00:45:31 to serve others to sacrifice power in love is to exert the power of love to change this we we live in a broken World sin is going to be here until the end of the world the only way to navigate through the Brokenness of our lives our marriages our careers is to learn to die and resurrect and have the the the the hope of Resurrection if you if you think your power God gives you to control other people we've misunderstand it completely because lo I am with you who is going to be with you Christ isn't it
00:46:07 and his power come fact that he died and he resurrected that is the character of power no matter how difficult it gets Jeremy treat which a missionary I think it's IMF writes that kir slum Nairobi Kenya you know 1 million people live on 1% of the land in the capital Nairobi horrible situations and you know rent here is very high not cheap and in the midst of all this Min misery there is a church who and and people are joyously jumping and praising God and having their lives transformed the power of God isn't here
00:46:56 to control and change the slum but it change us from inside in the midst of the war in the middle in the in the subway downstairs people are praying people are worshiping in the snow and this an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network and you know when they ask you what pray do you need you need the price to defeat protein and provide us more tanks you know what he said he said we want you to pray for peace in our hearts and and and we could see the ways in which we could build the kingdom of
00:47:35 God in times of War so that we can be the light the warmth and the love and the hand of God in our nation that's what he's praying for amazing isn't it if I were there I'll be worried about my life and he is worried about the kingdom of God because he has a hope of Resurrection in his life and I want to end with a beautiful testimony of this Ukrainian I always wonder about the faith of young people not really like the young people of those days but then again I'm old this is the faith of young people in the
00:48:13 middle of the war and they're singing this [Music] song [Music] for for you [Music] is for [Music] you the for [Music] [Music] in the midst of a war where young people will fear for their very lives they sing this song My slide I will sing of the goodness of God the world is falling apart I will love your voice you have led me through the fire and the darkest night you are close like no other I know you as a father I know you as a friend I've lived in the goodness of God all my life you have been faithful and
00:50:37 this is a fulfillment of John of Matthew 28:20 and lo I am with you God is with them in the midst of terrible destruction and uncertainty God is with you where you are today whether in your difficulties which actually pale in comparison to what these young people are facing they're facing a ruined future no future whole country is devastated and they can stand up there and sing I will sing of the goodness of God because they feel they experience the actual very presence of God you know why because of the
00:51:20 Resurrection because of the Resurrection The Presence of Jesus in our lives is even greater than he was in the life of the 12 disciples because he's all over the world and that vision of bringing the whole world with the knowledge and relationship with God that must be our vision we can't just sing risen ah tomorrow I die I'm going to go to heaven I'm going to be great if that is real if the resurrection is real our lives like baptizo transform the color of our lives have changed the direction of our lives have changed the trajectory
00:51:53 of our lives have changed you can leave this room today you either worship or you doubt if you worship your life will change your trajectory will change you will go forth and make disciples if you doubt you won't so that's the challenge of Easter today let's pray father Lord we are humbled by your sacrifice reinvigorated by the hope you bring to us from the future we are challenged by your words in the Matthew 28 and we pray that we as a church will be faithful we will work together we will work tirelessly while there is
00:52:49 time so that this Earth will be filled with the knowledge of Jesus simply because we love you we worship you we honor you we glorify you and we're going to sing Hallelujah you are risen we ask for Jesus sake [Music] amen when darkness F the sky the day that Jesus died in agony upon the bitter cross they took his body down and laid it in a tomb his friends believed that everything was lost but when the third day came the darkness turned to light for Mary heard her name and saw the Risen chist to set the captives
00:54:12 [Music] free to ransome you and me to up every broken heart to conquer death and sin [Music] to bring us home again and in that bar place the world forever changed for Hope was born when Jesus Roose that day and still his Wonder revealed the love he has for every Fallen Soul he came to save and he will come again and one by one will rise to praise His holy name and see the living Christ to set the captives [Music] free to you and me to bind up every broken heart to conquer death and S to bring us
00:55:50 home again Hallelujah he Liv [Music] hallelu he to set the [Music] C toome you and me to bind up every broken heart to conquer death [Music] s BR us home again on Church what don't you stand and sing with us let's sing the chorus together to set the captives free he re to Ransom you and me to B up every broken heart to conquer death and S to bring us home again [Music] re to set the captives [Music] free to ransome you and me to find up every broken heart to conquer death and [Music] S to bring us
00:57:59 oh [Music] [Applause] again you may be seated how do we celebrate the resurrection well it's the Lord's supper and we go back to the time the Lord's Supper has two elements the bread and the grape juice wine they represent our hope no point wearing that device around your neck it won't save you this will the fact that Jesus died and Rose and we partake of this bread this morning we are expressing in a physical form that we accept his death for us on the cross and become part of him this is our sacrifice he's done for us as we take
00:59:34 this let's open up our packets on the night he wasay betrayed Jesus Took up the bread and said this is my body this is my body broken for whom for you and you and me this is the body when Jesus appeared before Thomas he saw that body I don't believe even dad put his finger into the side because he saw that body and more than that he saw that body he saw the love that oozes out from the wounds of Jesus Christ that is what what we must see as we take this body and say Jesus we worship you this is your body broken for us and
01:00:36 we take it because we believe that it was broken for us let's take this together the body looks back to Good Friday now we have the blood represented by the wine or grape juice and know when you go to wedding dinners what do you do you offer yam Singh you offer a toast and this morning when we celebrate the resurrection we toasting a great event we toasting an event that happened 20 th000 years ago in reality in history we're also toasting a victory because of this we will take this again one day brothers and sisters
01:01:40 you and I even those of this church who have gone beyond the river Jordan one day we will stand in heaven with a multitude of our brothers and sisters who are existing today we will be with them and we're going to raise this glass the next time we raise this glass we will raise it with them in heaven a multitude you know in war they don't leave an injured Soldier behind in our war we leave no one behind let us go forth when we sing to this Victory and make sure that this Victory goes to every corner of our family every
01:02:20 corner of our community because we have the answer they don't have it but we have the authority because Jesus said all authority has been given to me so you can take this word you can take this cup you can take this Victory to them in every corner of this land so that this land will be filled with the knowledge of Jesus Christ that must be our vision that must be our worship and if that is your vision let us take this together father Lord we have taken of your body and your blood we asked we exercise by faith that
01:03:05 you shall be with us in every corner of our lives and we will experience your power your presence we ask for Jesus sake amen
