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He Is Risen. These momentous words spoken by an angel on Easter morning are some of the most significant ever spoken. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, had indeed died, but had conquered death! An eternal, shining, new day of hope had dawned for all those who believe in Him. HE IS RISEN.
Let us raise our voices as we sing: Thine Be The Glory
Scripture Reading: Matthew 28 New Life Version
Jesus Is Raised from the Dead
28 The Day of Rest was over. The sun was coming up on the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the grave. 2 At once the earth shook and an angel of the Lord came down from heaven. He came and pushed back the stone from the door and sat on it. 3 His face was bright like lightning. His clothes were white as snow. 4 The soldiers were shaking with fear and became as dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus Who was nailed to the cross. 6 He is not here! He has risen from the dead as He said He would. Come and see the place where the Lord lay. 7 Run fast and tell His followers that He is risen from the dead. He is going before you to the country of Galilee. You will see Him there as I have told you.” 8 They went away from the grave in a hurry. They were afraid and yet had much joy. They ran to tell the news to His followers. 9 As they went to tell the followers, Jesus met them and said hello to them. They came and held His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My followers to go to Galilee. They will see Me there.” 11 While they were on their way, some of the soldiers who were to watch the grave came into the city. They told the head religious leaders everything that had happened. 12 The soldiers gathered together with the other leaders and talked about what to do. The leaders gave much money to the soldiers. 13 They said, “Tell the people, ‘His followers came at night and took His body while we were sleeping.’ 14 We will see that you do not get into trouble over this if Pilate hears about it.” 15 They took the money and did as they were told. This story was told among the Jews and is still told today.
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Up from the grave He Arose
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As we go into a time of prayer, lets worship our Risen King in song: When I Look Into Your Holiness.
Let Us Pray
Dear God, thank you that you make all things new. Thank you for the victory and power in your Name. Thank you that you hold the keys over death, that by your might, Jesus was raised from the grave, paving the way for us to have new life with you. Thank you that you had a plan, that you made a way. We confess our need for you. We ask that you renew our hearts, minds, and lives, for the days ahead. We pray for your refreshing over us. Keep your words of truth planted firm within us, help us to keep focused on what is pure and right, give us the power to be obedient to your word. And when the enemy reminds us where we have been, hissing his lies and attacks our way of life, we trust that your voice speaks louder and stronger, reminding us we are safe with you and that your purposes and plans will not fail. We ask that you will be our defence and rear guard, keeping our way clear, removing the obstacles, and covering the pitfalls. Lord, lead us on your level ground. Shine your light in us, through us, over us. May we make a difference in this world, for your glory and purposes. Set your way before us. May we reflect your peace and hope to a world that so desperately needs your presence and healing. I pray for each of us here this morning protect us O God. And we ask Lord make a way. Thanks be to you God, for your indescribable gift! To you be glory and honour, on this Resurrection Day, and forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Please share with me in the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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The Band
Lets rejoice with the band as they bring to us an Easter singalong arrangement by Ray Steadman-Allan
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Before we go to the address, raise your voices as we sing: king Of kings, Majesty
Address: Hope; Because Of the Resurrection
Read with me: First Peter chapter 1 and verse 3 onwards.
Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ because by His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us who have been protected by the power of God through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in that last time. In this we rejoice even though for now, for a little while, we have had to suffer various trials.
Life without hope in tomorrow is sad, dark and lonely. If God is God, if He really loves us, then surely, He’d want us to have hope for the future, wouldn’t He? Hope, is a precious, precious commodity. We all need things in our lives to look forward to; to hope in – the deep sense within, that we have a future. When there’s no future hope, it’s tragic. Its disheartening. And that’s the problem with death, we all die at some point. Some die young, others watch their bodies progressively get older. But if God’s God; if He really loves us the way the Bible says He does, then hope would have to be very high on His list. Because the last thing He’d want for us, is to experience hopelessness. Hope is very high on God’s agenda. That’s what this whole “resurrection of Jesus Christ” thing is all about. Hope Eternal.
It’s a funny thing, when things are going really bad in our lives, hope evaporates very quickly. look at the twelve disciples. Over and over again Jesus told them that He would be crucified and rise again. Yet, when it happened, they scattered all over the place to hide.
They deserted Him and they completely lost sight of His promise – the promise of the resurrection. In fact, most of them needed convincing, even when they knew, that the resurrection had taken place. On that Easter morning, a lot of them went, “Really?” You can’t be serious. and it’s not surprising, I mean, it’s a pretty hard thing to come to grips with, isn’t it? In a sense we are just the same. Life takes a turn for the worse and the first thing to go out the window is hope. It’s kind of natural I think. In the Old Testament, in the Book of First Chronicles chapter 29 verse 15, it says:
Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
But we need to hope. Hope is what we cling to through this life. And when we have hope, it responds with love for Him. We worship and adore Him. We follow Him with all that we are. And rightly so. And when the bad times do come. If we have this hope. If we, rest in this hope. The light of hope in Jesus Christ shines. And it won’t go out.
Read with me: First Peter chapter 1 and verse 3 onwards.
Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ because by His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us who have been protected by the power of God through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in that last time. In this we rejoice even though for now, for a little while, we have had to suffer various trials. Amen.
Now, the people that Peter was writing to here, let me tell you about them, what they were suffering. They were being killed, on a daily basis. They were being tarred and feathered. They were being set alight and displayed as torches. They were being tortured, thrown to the lions. These people were going through serious stuff and Peter writes, “It doesn’t matter what you are going through – it doesn’t matter – because you have a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This doesn’t make light of what was happening to them. There are terrible things happening to Christians in our world today. People are being tortured. Massacred. Families torn apart. Churches burned. And we need to pray for them. We do need to pray to God, asking God to shower upon those who are suffering, his Eternal hope. That’s what peter was saying in this portion of scripture. Through your trials, you have a living hope. And that must resound with us today, as we battle so many different things in this life. WE HAVE THE HOPE OF CHRIST IN US.
Over and over again, the New Testament talks about Jesus being the first born from among the dead, in other words it points back to His resurrection. The death of Jesus is a historical fact, but so is His resurrection. Death couldn’t hold Him down. And when we put our trust in Him, that’s what we put our hope in – it’s a certain hope. A steadfast hope. Jesus was raised from the dead by God and one day when you and I breathe our last breath, we will stand before Him and we will have that same resurrection – an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading.
You know what our problem is? Its this, sometimes we know that the resurrection is an historical fact. We know that, in our heads, but we spend so much time hoping in something else. Something temporal. And because of that, we lose sight of the living hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was raised from the dead. And that promise, is also for you and me. Make sure you don’t lose that living hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus. One day when I cast off this mortal body, I will stand for ever and ever in His presence and have eternal life. That is my rock. My solid rock. That is my foundation. That is what gives me the strength the power to carry on, even when all around me is falling apart. And do you know where the basis of that promise comes from? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at your life at the moment. The things that are going well for you and the things that aren’t. The things that you would want to change. Look at the tings that concern you, worry you, upset you. Leave it all with God. God who is our hope eternal. He wants us to live a life of certain hope. And what God has for us, for all eternity, just doesn’t compare with anything we can have here on earth. It doesn’t compare with a certain hope of eternal life in Jesus.
The Apostle John gives us a revelation of this in his book, Revelation, where we get a glimpse of this. He writes this:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first had passed away and there was no longer any sea. I saw a holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men and He will live with them and they will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And He will wipe every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old things have passed away.
Nothing else comes anywhere close to that. And we spend life wandering around in the weeds, down in the murky mire and God says, “Look to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” This is God’s call. A call, to the heavenly promise of eternal hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the book of Colossians chapter 3 verse 1, Paul writes this:
So, if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are here on earth because you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life, is revealed then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
If you believe in the resurrection, seek the things that are above, set your mind and your eyes and your heart and your hopes and everything on heavenly things – on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Start living life from a different perspective, from an eternal perspective. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is something that gives us a certain hope. A certain hope in eternal life.
Until that day of glory arrives. God is always seeking us out, to love us, comfort us and protect us. And to even challenge us. Chastise us. When we go astray. When we are lost. Running dry on hope. He comes searching for us.
He Is Risen and we have eternal hope.
Amen. Glory be to God
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Let’s listen to the ISS and Auckland songsters sing: He Sought Me.
He lifted sin’s great burden, He saw my deep dismay
And graciously he pardoned me. On that wonderful, wonderful day. Amen.
As we listen come to him. Thank Him. Praise Him. Glorify Him. Because we are redeemed. We have this hope. The hope that comes with the Resurrection Of Jesus Christ.
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Because The Sone Rolled Away
Happy Easter To You All
The Lord bless thee and keep thee
The Lord make his face shine upon thee
And be gracious unto thee
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee
And give thee peace.
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