[0:00] Well, good morning. Happy Easter. Christ is risen. And welcome to Bethel Christian Church.! And before I forget, we do really appreciate if it's your first time or never filled out one of those Manila visitor cards.
[0:19] Just to get us a count of your visit, we would really appreciate it. Yeah, that's how it looks like right there. Okay, for announcements this morning, if you didn't make it to the Sunrise Service, we do have a CD and a copy of the service.
[0:36] And it's going to be back on the little table by the door if you'd like to pick it up. And also, Friday, 10 o'clock, there's going to be a group of people that are going to go to the Bailey's house, Marv and Donna, and just do some spring cleanup for them before they get home.
[0:54] If you are interested and would like to volunteer, talk to Lisa Andrews about that. She's right over here. Usually she's over there. That's why I was looking over there.
[1:06] And so, I know they would greatly appreciate that. Also, on the 26th and the 27th, we are having a garage sale here at church. So, any items that you could donate would be wonderful.
[1:20] If you need help getting them here to the church, just let me know. My phone number is in the bulletin and give me a call and I'll bring my old beat-up truck and load it up.
[1:31] And also, we do have a sign-up for if you can help man the garage sale. We just need two or three people every hour. It would be wonderful if you could sign up for that.
[1:43] Again, that is back there on the table by the exit. As a reminder, VBS is coming. We do need people to help work that.
[1:54] There's a sign-up there also. And don't have the attitude or somebody else can do it. Stand up and use a gift that God has given you to help minister to the youth and young people.
[2:12] All right. Max has got an announcement also. But while he's coming up, I've got one more thing. It's kind of tied into the garage sale. If you've got old ties, ties period, that you don't use, we're going to collect those ties and we're going to send them to this group of people that work in Africa that says the ties that bind.
[2:39] And these African students that graduate, they're given ties. I mean, used ties. They just go nuts over them. They love the ties. So we'd really like to push that.
[2:51] If you have ties, bring them and we'll donate them to those ties that bind. Saturday, April 13th, there's a food packaging event in New Haven, Indiana.
[3:08] And we would like to take the youth group. We would like to meet here at the church 8 a.m. That's two weeks from yesterday. And they would like, the event host would like to know, like, a count of how many people we're bringing.
[3:23] So if you're interested in going, let me know by next Sunday. So that way we can give them a count of who would be going. It would be a good opportunity to serve and it would be a lot of fun to hang out and stuff.
[3:40] All right. Anyone have an announcement they want to share that I didn't share about? All right. Let's have a word of prayer and then we can greet and meet each other.
[3:54] Father, it's a special day. It's a special day because there's no other religion that can boast about what their leader did. Conquer death.
[4:06] They did it. You did it. Because of your love. Your great love for us. Let us never forget that.
[4:17] And Father, let us worship you in the way we live. Not just this day, but each and every day. May that reflect your love to the world.
[4:31] We thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. So take a few minutes to greet each other. To come to church and have to have trouble finding a seat.
[4:44] Christ arose. 3.57. Great thing we celebrate. Thank you. Love.
[4:55] In the grave he laid. Jesus, my Savior. Waiting the coming day.
[5:07] Jesus, my Lord. Up from the grave he arose. With the mighty triumph o'er his foes.
[5:19] He arose a victor from the dark domain. And he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose.
[5:31] He arose. He arose. He arose. Hallelujah. Christ arose. Vainly they watch his bed.
[5:46] Jesus, my Savior. Vainly they seal the dead. Jesus, my Lord.
[5:59] Up from the grave he arose. Up from the grave he arose. Up from the grave he arose. With the mighty triumph o'er his foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain.
[6:11] And it is forever with his saints to reign. He arose. He arose. He arose. He arose.
[6:22] He arose. Hallelujah. Christ arose. Death cannot keep his prey.
[6:34] Jesus, my Savior. Jesus, my Savior. Jesus, my Savior. He tore the bars away. Jesus, my Lord.
[6:49] Up from the grave he arose. With the mighty triumph o'er his foes. He arose. He arose. He arose. A victor from the dark domain.
[7:01] And he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose. He arose. He arose.
[7:12] Hallelujah. Christ arose. Happy Easter. Happy Easter.
[7:23] And it is wonderful to see all your faces this morning. And I hope the song we just sang reminds us. You know, as believers, as Christians, if you have Christ in your heart this morning, it says, I live, I live because he has risen.
[7:34] You know, we can really have life. And the Bible talks about life more abundantly. Because of Jesus Christ and because of what he has done for us. Not just his death on the cross, but the fact that he rose again.
[7:45] That he overcame death. We can have new life. And that can give us the real life that the Bible talks about. So I hope each one of us know that and understand that this morning. And as we come together as Christians, one of the other wonderful things is, you know, Jesus Christ, he is the way that we can go to the Father.
[8:00] That's what the Bible shares with us. Because of him, we can talk directly to God through Jesus Christ. So this morning as we go to him in prayer, what requests do you have? What concerns are on your hearts and things you'd like for us to lift up in prayer?
[8:12] Please. Okay, I want to pray for little Leah. And I want to pray for her. She does have celiac disease.
[8:23] And she's going to have a GI scope done. And also has a heart murmur. So we just need to pray for her and for her health. And for those things coming up. I want to keep her in prayer.
[8:34] What else this morning? Tammy? So an unspoken prayer request this morning. And I also want to continue to pray for Tom. He hasn't heard back yet from the job interview he had in Maryland. And also just for job situations.
[8:46] And just so God would put him where he wants him. So lifting up Tom this morning. Lisa? Another couple unspokens. And I want to pray for Will, Lisa's brother, just for some health concerns that he's having and possible surgery coming up.
[9:01] I want to keep him in prayer. Tony? I want to pray for Bud March, just for his health and healing to take place there. Yes, Lois? So praise God for that good news with his health. I want to pray for Dan.
[9:12] Is he still in critical? So praise God for the improvements there. But I want to continue to pray for Dan this morning. Chloe?
[9:25] I want to pray for a couple more unspoken, Mary's co-worker who has cancer. I also want to pray for Marjorie Treese and just for her health and for her family and just for the Lord to provide there.
[9:36] Connie? Okay, I want to continue to pray for Jim Estep. And for his health. They did have to do an amputation on his leg, but I want to just continue to pray for him. April? April's dad, Stan Skiver.
[9:48] They found some more cancer in his liver now, and so we just need to pray for him as he goes in to have some more, another appointment with the doctors this week.
[10:00] Yes, I want to pray for Becky in the loss of her mother and you said husband as well. Okay, I want to pray for her this morning. Jim?
[10:12] I want to continue to pray for Jim's father, for health concerns there and the Lord would work in his life. Hope? Mary Lou and Don Alexander for health.
[10:28] I'm going to lift them up this morning. Jeremiah? I want to pray for Jeremiah for job situations and also wisdom for some decision making.
[10:42] Max? A co-worker of yours? Okay, I want to pray for a co-worker of Max's who lost their house in the fire. Just pray that their needs would be met. I see another hand?
[10:53] Darian? Okay, I want to pray for Darian's Uncle Roger, for his health. Oh, this one's Chloe.
[11:08] Okay, I want to pray for Chloe and for her cold that she has. All right, let's bow our heads then as we go to the Lord and take these to him in prayer as a family together.
[11:19] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning and Lord, we just thank you for this morning that you've given us. And help us to recognize that this is a special morning.
[11:30] But Lord, each time we come into your presence is special. But this morning as we celebrate, not Christ's death on the cross, but his resurrection. The fact that he overcame death for each one of us.
[11:42] And Lord, we thank you that we have, that we can be joyful about that this morning. That we have something to celebrate. I thank you for each one that's coming to this place. And Lord, as we share this time together, I pray that you'd keep our hearts focused on you.
[11:56] Help us to set aside the activities of the day, of last week, of the week to come. Help us to set all those things aside and just to focus on your message this morning. But Lord, we also thank you that you're a God that we can come to in prayer through Jesus Christ.
[12:10] That we can lift these requests up to you and your God that will hear them. And Lord, this morning I think of all the unspoken prayer requests that were mentioned. And Lord, you know what each need is. You know not just the need, but you know every person and heart that's involved.
[12:23] You know all there is to know about each circumstance. And I just pray, Lord, that you would provide. That you would provide healing where it's needed. Just restore relationships where that's needed.
[12:34] Lord, that you just grant health where it's needed. And all these things, Lord, we know that you can do. So we just put them in your hands. Lord, this morning we pray for little Leah. Lord, with the celiac disease and with the heart murmur and the GI scope that she has to be done.
[12:48] We just put all these things in your hand, Lord. And just pray that you just put her in your hand and take care of her. Lord, just give her the health that she needs. Lord, this morning we pray for Tom and for Jeremiah and just for job situations.
[13:00] Lord, just put them in the place that you want them to be. Just give them wisdom as they make decisions with jobs. And Lord, we just pray that your will would come to pass. Lord, we pray that you'd be with Will Finnegan as the health problems that he's having and possible surgery.
[13:15] And Lord, we just put that in your hands. We pray that you'd give him strength. And just be with the doctors. Give them wisdom as well. Lord, we pray that you'd be with Bud March and Dan that was mentioned that was in Critical.
[13:26] And we thank you for the improvement that's taken place there. But for Dan and Bud both, just give them the health that they need. Be with Mary's co-worker that was mentioned that has cancer and with Marjorie Treese. Lord, we just pray you'd give strength where it's needed and healing where it's needed.
[13:40] Lord, with Jim Estep as he had the amputation on his leg, Lord, I just pray you'd continue just to give him hope and to give him strength and encouragement. Lord, with Stan Skiver and Lord, as they found more cancer in the liver, I just pray you'd take away any discouragement that's there and just fill him with a piece.
[13:58] And Lord, just give his body health and as they go to meet with more doctors, I just pray you'd give wisdom there. I pray that you'd be with Becky that was mentioned that lost her mother and her husband.
[14:10] Just give comfort in a way that only you can. Be with Jim's father and just meet each and every need he has, whether it be physical or spiritual. Just work in his life. Lord, be with Mary Lou and Don Alexander that was mentioned with health concerns.
[14:25] Lord, we pray that you'd be with Max's co-worker who lost their home in a fire. Just meet their physical needs. Lord, we pray that you'd be with Darian's uncle Roger and just as he has health concerns, we just pray that you'd touch him.
[14:38] And Lord, we know that in your word we can read about how Christ just reached out and touched people and they were made whole. We know that you still have that power, Lord, to just give health. Lord, we also pray that you'd be with Chloe and with her cold and just help it to go away soon and quickly.
[14:54] And again, Lord, with the prayer requests that are in our bulletin, the continuing prayer requests, we just turn them over to you. And again, we thank you that we have a God that we can go to in prayer. Thank you for the way that you answered and for your presence in this place.
[15:08] And we ask and pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, Amen. You know, I know many of you write these down and I just want to encourage you to just keep praying for them.
[15:19] We need to pray for one another daily, the Bible says. So keep praying for each other. Thank you. The time of the service that we get an opportunity to just to give our praises.
[15:39] And that's several fold. God is always pleased with that. And then also it blesses others around you. So who all who all has a praise that I'd like to share?
[15:51] Yes, Elijah. Tomorrow is Max's birthday. And that he loves Jesus. Yes. Happy birthday, Max.
[16:02] Other praises. Yes, Mary. How old? Just young.
[16:15] I thought he was pretty young. Yes, Tammy. Amen. Especially running into some weather, some snow and stuff. We praise God for that.
[16:26] For their safe journey home. Steven? He's on the way. It's getting close. Two more weeks? Three? Two, three weeks? All right.
[16:37] We're excited. Yes, Estelle. It's wonderful to be with him. Yes, Fred. We had two grandsons that both had surgery and it went well and they're all doing quite fine.
[16:52] So we praise God for that. Praise God for doctors that can do stuff like that. Yes, April. Yes, April. Yes, we are grateful and glad you're back.
[17:04] Yes, Lisa. Well, Lisa's praising for Leah's progress and Patrick get to come home a month early and that they're all feeling better now.
[17:16] Yes. Yes. Any others? Yes, Katie. All right. Praise God that Austin was able to get home. I pray that it lasts a long time.
[17:29] Any others? Great. Wonderful. Don't want to miss anybody. All right. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we do have so much to be thankful for.
[17:42] And first and foremost for your blood because without it, there's no forgiveness of sin.
[17:53] And without the forgiveness, we wouldn't be able to have this relationship with you. And without that, we wouldn't be able to meet together and gather together as a family to worship you.
[18:05] So just pray as we give back that we can do it with a cheerful heart. And give us the wisdom as leaders to be able to spend the money according to your will.
[18:16] In Jesus' name. Amen. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below.
[18:32] Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
[18:46] Amen. Amen. Amen.
[18:59] Day one they found him guilty and sentenced him to die.
[19:33] When the crowd had heard the news, they shouted, Crucify! Crowns with thorns, they mocked his name and nailed him to a cross.
[19:47] He hung there till his dying breath. Day one all hope was lost. Day two it's still and quiet.
[20:01] The crowd had all gone home. His broken body in the tomb, sealed with the soldier's stone. Believers who had followed him, weep and question why.
[20:18] Seeds of fear and doubt take hold. Day two disciples hide.
[20:30] Oh, they hide. Day three his body's missing.
[20:44] The stone was rolled away. An angel of the Lord appeared when the women came.
[20:54] Trembling out of fear and joy, amazed at what they'd find. They quickly run to spread the word.
[21:06] Day three, he is alive. Day one the hill ran crimson red with blood to cleanse all sin.
[21:21] Day two reminds us, keep the faith when the doubt set in. What a difference one day makes. What a difference one day makes from death to victory.
[21:37] The cross became an empty grave on day three. Day three. Day one the hill ran crimson red with blood to cleanse all sin.
[21:51] Day two reminds us, keep the faith when the doubt set in. Oh, what a difference one day makes from death to victory.
[22:04] The cross became an empty grave on day three. The cross became an empty grave on day three.
[22:26] On day three Us That includes who?
[23:00] All of us All of us This morning if you have your Bibles I'd encourage you to take them and turn to Matthew If you didn't bring your Bible There should be some nearby in a chair Underneath in front of you Or sitting around on a chair nearby Grab one If you don't have a Bible at home Please take it with you Put your name in it And now you've got one We need to have God's Word And we need to use it So if you don't have one I'm not kidding Take it with you Matthew is where we're going to be at this morning Matthew chapter 27 Matthew 27 Beginning in verse 57 I hear pages turning and that's good Please follow along Matthew chapter 27 Beginning in verse 57 And we're going to be reading through chapter 28 verse 4 And this is what God's Word shares with us this morning When the evening was come There came a rich man of Arimathea Named Joseph Who also himself was Jesus' disciple He went to Pilate And begged the body of Jesus
[24:00] Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered And when Joseph had taken the body He wrapped it in a clean linen cloth And laid it in his own new tomb Which he had hewn out in the rock And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher And departed And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary Sitting over against the sepulcher Now the next day That followed the day of preparation The chief priests and Pharisees Came together unto Pilate Saying, Sir, we remember That that deceiver said While he was yet alive After three days I will rise again Command therefore That the sepulcher be made sure Until the third day Lest his disciples come by night And steal him away And say unto the people He is risen from the dead So the last error Shall be worse than the first Pilate said unto them You have a watch Go your way Make it as sure as ye can So they went and made the sepulcher sure Sealing the stone And setting a watch
[25:01] In the end of the Sabbath As it began to dawn Toward the first day of the week Came Mary Magdalene And the other Mary To see the sepulcher And behold There was a great earthquake For the angel of the Lord Descended from heaven And came and rolled back The stone from the door And set upon it His countenance was like lightning And his raiment White as snow And for fear of him The keepers did shake And became as dead men Let's bow our heads For prayer this morning Heavenly Father We thank you again That we can come together In your house Thank you for your word That we can read from And learn from And Lord this morning I just pray that you'd Open it up to us That we would understand The things that you want us To understand That we would take with us From here the things That you want us To take with us And Lord I just pray That our minds And our hearts Would be able to focus On you and on your word I know there are So many things So many different thoughts Our minds want to go to But help keep us focused On you this morning Lord And Lord I pray That the words That come out of my mouth Wouldn't be mine But they'd be the words You want me to share
[26:02] So Lord just bless Your word this morning As it enters into our hearts Help it to accomplish What you want And we ask and pray These things In Christ's name Amen Where we pick up Here in Matthew Is after Christ Has already been crucified On the cross And taken down And his physical body Was done He was dead He had died And it shares That there was A certain rich man Named Joseph Of Arimathea And he had a tomb And he had been One of Christ's disciples And he was willing To give up His own grave tomb His own grave site For Jesus And it said That he asked For the body So that he could Place it in the tomb And he was granted that And he got to put it In the tomb And I want to talk A little bit about What this tomb was If you look in verse 60 It says And he laid it In his own new tomb Which he had hewn out In the rock We need to understand That the tombs In this part of the country And in this time Were far different Than what we think of You know We think of cemeteries
[27:03] And gravesides And we can dig holes In the ground And that's how We bury people In this day In this time In this region It was much different They usually Place them in caves Or places that were Cut out of the rock To put them in And then some type Of a stone Was put there To seal it up This was usually Done outside the city For the Jewish people Dead bodies Were considered unclean And weren't to be buried Within the city So they took them Somewhere outside the city And that's what We're looking at This morning So he took the body Of Jesus He put the body Of Jesus In his own New tomb It said Wasn't a used one I don't know how You'd have a used tomb But he put it In his own New tomb It says And then what Did he do What did he do You were listening Were you He sealed it With what A rock A great rock I need a volunteer Young man Who wants to volunteer To help me out For a minute Where's Aidan Baker
[28:03] Come here Aidan You don't mind Do you I suppose you could Say no But Alright I just want you To come over here And hold this So everybody can see Alright Got it What's he holding A rock There's a reason That a rock Was put in front Of the tomb What do we know About rocks Fact number one Rocks are Heavy They're not light They consist Of something They're solid That's what They're intended to What else do we Know about rocks They're long lasting I mean if you Set this rock This is one that Sits out in front Of our house Doing alright Okay It's alright It's one that Sits out in front Of our house Which do you think Is going to be There longer That rock Or our house That rock How long
[29:04] Do you think It will take For the weather To wear that rock Away until it's Nothing but a little Pebble My lifetime Your lifetime Not going to Happen is it I mean that rock Is solid They're lasting There's something That stay And something That remain What else do you Know about a rock What if I dropped It on your foot Are they soft Or are they hard Or what if you Hit it with your toe Don't drop it It'll hurt What if you Hit it with your toe What does that Tell you about a rock It's hard It's hard It's not soft It's something That it can stop you That quickly Can it They're hard They're heavy They're firm They last a long time That's why You doing alright Okay That's why it was put In front of the tomb And what I want us To understand When these rocks Were put in front of Tombs in that day and age It wasn't just a little rock That was put in front Of the tomb I mean here in the word It says it was What kind of a stone
[30:04] The king of James says Great stone Now this stone That I have here I didn't weigh it I meant to weigh it And I forgot What do you think it weighs Heavy That's I think All we're going to get Out of you right Heavy It probably weighs 30 pounds Somewhere right in there The rocks And typically The openings To these tombs They weren't huge openings They were fairly small But the rock It was a great stone That would be placed In front of it And it wasn't Just like a big rock You sure you're doing alright Okay It wasn't just like A huge rock Typically it was One that was hewn out It was narrower And round More like a wheel That could be rolled Into place And also In front of the tomb Usually there was A kind of a groove That was put there For that rock To settle into And there was a slope That it would roll down Into place So it could be Gotten there A little bit easier Than it could be Moved out of place We have to understand that
[31:05] And most of the stones Typically for the tombs At this time They project That most of them Weighed usually Between one and a half And two tons Often they had to Actually move them In place with levers Instead of by hand Because they were so heavy This rock weighs Thirty pounds or so Picture one weighing A ton and a half Will go on the low end If I brought Aidan up here And said alright Pick it up I wouldn't hand it to him But if I told him Pick it up What would the result be?
[31:39] Do it yourself He said do it yourself And I have no doubt That's what he'd tell me Is it getting heavier? It's not getting lighter Alright Thank you You can see it Thank you for help But this rock is small And I just brought it Because I want you This is heavy I want You held it a long time I wanted to get in our minds That this was a physical stone I mean we hear these stories And sometimes we forget The realness of them The fact part of it This was a real stone It was a great stone That was put in place And why was it put there?
[32:20] To seal it And why would you want to seal it? The body would stink After some time Why else? So that nobody could get in And mess with the body Or bother the body I mean was the stone Intended to be moved?
[32:39] No That's why a great stone Was placed there So first of all There was a great stone Placed there So that nothing would get in Or out of that tomb Second of all We find as we look on down Look in verses 65 and 66 It says Pilate said unto them Because they came and said You know We don't want any of the disciples Coming and stealing the body And say oh look He raised from the dead They didn't want that So they came to Pilate And said you know We want to put a watch there We want to make sure That that doesn't happen Pilate said unto them In verse 65 You have a watch Go your way Make it as sure as you can When he says You have a watch He's talking about I'm going to sign Or give you Or give you permission To get a Roman watch I'm not talking about A watch like you wear It's talking about A group of soldiers We call them squadrons And other things But this was a Roman watch Which typically consisted Of four Roman soldiers She's coming up to help this morning
[33:39] Four Roman soldiers That were to watch the tomb To make sure that There were no problems with it And these were not Just temple guards There were some temple guards That were associated with the temple These were not them These were Roman centurions These were Roman soldiers Highly trained In combat In all kinds of things And they were to take Their job seriously If they were assigned To watch this tomb And they left Or something happened While they were there Do you know what would happen To them?
[34:14] They'd be killed I mean that's different Than we think of today I mean today In the military You don't do what you're supposed to do You might get court-martialed You might get something You're not going to be executed In this day and age If they didn't do What they were supposed to do If they failed They would be executed Period Do you think they took that seriously?
[34:32] And typically for a Roman watch It was typically four soldiers That would change They would take a different shift Every four hours So they would be alert And ready And watching So he said You have a watch So we have the great stone In front of the tomb Now we have soldiers Watching the tomb And one more thing That he said Look in verse 66 It says they went And they made the sepulcher sure Sealing the stone The stone it says Had already sealed the tomb Right?
[35:01] This is a different sealing That it's talking about When it says That these Roman soldiers went And they were guarding the tomb And they sealed it That means a Roman seal Was put on the tomb Do you know what that meant?
[35:14] It meant Don't mess with it It meant If you mess with it Guess what? You'll be executed Not just the soldiers That are supposed to be Watching it But you as well Would that make you think Twice about messing with it?
[35:28] All of this Was taken very Very seriously A great stone A Roman watch Sealed with all the authority Of the Roman Empire All for what purpose?
[35:41] To make sure That that body Stayed where it was Supposed to stay To make sure That the body of Jesus That was in the tomb Stayed in the tomb That's the reason For all of it Wasn't it?
[35:52] All these things That were done Were for that singular purpose So that's the way It turned out I mean you think About all the things That were put there By man To make sure It would happen The way they intended And that's not at all What happened I mean this stone That wasn't to be moved By anyone Look at what happens Down in chapter 28 Verse 2 Behold There was a great earthquake So first of all We have an earthquake Would that catch your attention?
[36:24] All this mighty power Of these four soldiers That were put there The Roman seal That was on it Does that compare in power To an earthquake? Not at all So there is an earthquake What comes right after that?
[36:38] It says For the angel of the Lord Descended from heaven And came And rolled back The stone from the door And sat upon it His countenance Was like lightning And his raiment White as snow So we have an earthquake We have an angel Of the Lord Shows up Does he have any problem With the stone?
[36:59] Does he stop and say Oh wait I was going to roll it back But there is a Roman seal on it I guess this is the end I can't do anymore When it comes to an angel Of the Lord When it comes to God Did it matter that man said This is supposed to stay closed?
[37:16] Made no difference at all Did it? Did it matter that there were Roman soldiers Guarding the tomb? Did it make any difference? These brave Roman soldiers That had probably been in combat And been in battle And had faced death before What does it say in verse 4 Happened to them?
[37:35] And for fear of him The keepers did shake And became as dead men What does that mean? They knew they were goners Fainted dead away These brave men Angel of the Lord comes Rolls back the stone The earthquake happens They just drop over All this power of man And man saying That stone is not moving Did any of that mean anything When God gets involved?
[38:00] So what do we learn from that? What is it that you and I Are supposed to understand from that? How many times do we look at situations And say Well that can't be overcome We look at situations And say Well that's just not going to turn out God you know I guess he's not He can't do it What is it that God can't do?
[38:21] The only thing it says in the Bible That God can't do is lie Besides that What can God do? Anything Everything And it shows that here No matter how much it appears otherwise No matter how impossible it seems God can do anything and everything And the stone was rolled away Period Didn't matter that it was sealed Didn't matter the size of the stone Didn't matter that there were guards there None of that made any difference The stone got rolled away And what was in there?
[38:55] What was in there? Grave clothes Was there a body in there? No Now the other thing I want you to think about Says the angel rolled away the stone Did Jesus then stand at the edge And say thank you for rolling that away And traipse out of the tomb?
[39:19] He was already gone That's exactly right Christ's body was already gone Before the stone was even rolled away He didn't even need that stone Rolled away to get out of the tomb Any more than later on It shares That the disciples were all Gathered together in a room Basically in hiding And you know what Christ did To get in there?
[39:40] Came right through The wall The door Whatever He just was there If he can do that You think he had any problem Getting out of that tomb When the stone was still there? So He was already out of the tomb The grave clothes were just laying there So why did the stone need rolled away?
[39:56] He was already out So that they could see That he was gone Folks I want us to understand that this morning The stone was not rolled away For Jesus to get out of the tomb The stone was rolled away For us to see in the tomb To see that Christ was no longer there To see that that stone To see that death itself Could not stop him That's why the stone was rolled away It wasn't rolled away for Christ It was rolled away for us It was rolled away So that we could have faith And understand That with God All things are possible That we could understand That when God is involved Nothing can stop him That God is stronger than man That God can do all things No matter how much man Wants to fight against him God is in control And God is in charge Man can put a stone there Man can set soldiers there Man can seal the tomb But when God's involved That doesn't matter Now I want us to understand What that means for you and I today It means that God is still in charge
[40:57] It means that God still has a plan It means that when God is involved In our lives What's possible? All right I need to ask that question again When God is involved in our lives What's possible?
[41:12] All things I know that some of you Were up for sunrise service This morning But you ought to be awake again By now God can do all things In our lives That's what we need to understand He overcame all that man Put against him Didn't he?
[41:32] He overcame the physical laws Of nature And left that tomb When the stone was still there Any of you can do that? Any of you? If I put you in a cave That was made out of rock Just like this And rolled a great stone in front of it And there were no exits from it Could you get out?
[41:48] You'd be stuck Wouldn't you? Because the physical laws Tell us None of us can walk through rock We can't even walk through drywall God Jesus Did Physical laws Make no difference to him He's the one that made them to begin with So he can transcend them He can go over them And not only that But what else did Jesus overcome?
[42:13] He overcame all man could do He overcame the physical laws of nature Most importantly You know what else he overcame? Death He overcame death itself That is why we can have new life Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins But he didn't stay dead I mean that sacrifice is what Washes our sins away But that resurrection Is what gives us hope That resurrection That new life that he had Is what gives us the offer of life We can It talks about the fact That we can rise up with him And folks I hope we understand that this morning That that's what we have to celebrate And I want you to think about your life for a minute What things in your life Keep you from serving God The way that he wants?
[43:03] What stones are in your way That you need God to roll out of the way? What things are there in your life? What do you deal with? What do you battle with? That keeps you from serving God?
[43:14] What sins are there in your life That you need God just to roll away? He can do that, can't he? When we have sin What does it say in the Bible That God can do?
[43:25] He can blot it out He can erase it It says he can separate it from us As far as the east is from the west Yeah, east and west He can separate us from our sin As far as the east is from the west How much distance is between the east and the west?
[43:44] There's really not any end to it, is there? That's how far he separates our sin from us, folks Think about your life this morning Do you have sin in your life?
[43:55] If you do You can get rid of it It's up to you Christ has provided the way You need to make the choice To say, Christ, I believe in what you did for me And I accept it Come into my heart Forgive my sin I want to live for you And when we do that That huge stone of sin that's there Gets rolled away And I want to tell you something, folks Sin and a stone is probably a good comparison You know, when I first handed this rock to Aidan I mean, it was heavy But it wasn't so bad at first, was it?
[44:29] What happened the longer you held on to this stone? It got heavier If I hadn't had you sit down And you were still up here holding it What do you think you'd be doing right now? He said handing it to me The longer he would hold it The heavier it would seem And even though I can toss this rock around And it doesn't feel too bad Even though to me It's not that heavy to start with It's just like holding a little kid A child Even if they're not heavy to start with After some time, what happens?
[45:08] The bottom line is I can't hold this rock forever It gets heavier and heavier and heavier The longer I carry it around Folks, sin is the same way It's a burden on us And the longer we carry it around The more of a burden it's going to become And it's silly It makes no sense I mean, if one of you was carrying this rock around Everywhere you went And every time I saw you You were carrying this rock And in the summer you were sweating And carrying it You know what I'd tell you to do?
[45:37] Set the rock down What are you thinking? Put it down Folks, it's the same thing with sin I mean, God looks at us And He says Why are you carrying it around?
[45:50] You don't have to Set it down I don't want you to carry that burden around That guilt around But again We have to make that choice Whether to set it down or not What's the stone in your life That you're carrying around?
[46:09] Maybe it's some sin That you haven't confessed Maybe it's anger That you know is in your heart And you haven't set it down And gotten rid of it yet Maybe it's a grudge Or some hate Or some ill feelings you have About someone that you know That you're carrying around And won't let go of Maybe it's a prejudice that you have Maybe it's just a hard heart that you have Towards someone or something What's the stone that you're carrying around?
[46:37] That you need God to roll away Out of your life This morning, folks It's as simple as this You have a choice to make I can't make the choice for you The person sitting beside you In the chair Can't make the choice for you It's up to you Carry it around Or let go of it You know, if Aiden was still up here Holding that rock And I finally said Alright, Aiden You can set it down How do you think it would feel When he finally got rid of it?
[47:07] Oh Feel good, wouldn't it? Folks God knows that That's what God wants us to do When we have that sin in our life That's why he sent his son to die for us He wants us to give it up to him To get rid of it And folks, there's no other feeling like it To know that your sins are gone To know that they're wiped out That you're forgiven That you have a place in heaven Prepared for you There's nothing that compares to that It's a choice What choice are you going to make?
[47:40] Christ overcame all these things He overcame man He overcame physical laws He overcame death itself So that we could overcome It tells us that in his word There are several scriptures in the New Testament We don't have time to look at them now But it says we can overcome Because he overcame We can overcome You can overcome But it's up to you Praise God We don't have to walk around Carrying sin We can let it go But it's your choice Know the joy that comes From having that load taken off Give it to God Give it to Jesus He will carry Let's bow our heads for prayer Heavenly Father I just thank you so very much For this morning that you've given us I thank you for this time We've had in your word And I thank you for what We can learn from it And Lord we see how With you all things are possible Even to overcome death And Lord we know that You can help us to overcome You can help us to get rid of the weight of sin in our lives
[48:43] To get rid of the weight of anger Of holding grudges Of a hard heart You can help us to get rid of any of those things If we just turn it over to you So I pray Lord this morning That you'd speak to our hearts If there are those here that know There are things that they need to give up to you I pray that they'd do it this morning There's no better time than now That they just say Lord I don't want to carry around this burden any longer I want to give it to you I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin I just want him in my heart And I want him to help me with this burden And when we pray that with sincerity Lord we know that you'll respond And that you'll do it So thank you for the hope and joy That we can find in that I pray that every person That's in this place right now Leaves with a heart that's light Knowing that it's been forgiven Work in our hearts And speak to us this morning Lord And we ask and pray these things in Christ's name Amen This morning as we close I don't know what we're singing But as we sing the altar's open If you want to come up and pray I encourage you to If you want me to pray with you Just look at me Raise your hand Whatever And I'll pray with you
[49:44] If you just want to come up and pray on your own You're welcome to do that as well But if God's speaking to your heart Come and pray Thank you Shall we stand and turn our hymnals to 358 358 Because He Lives God sent His Son They called Him Jesus He came to love He'll forgive He lived and died To burn my heart An empty grave is there to prove My Savior lives Because He lives
[50:46] I can face tomorrow Because He lives All fear is gone Because I know He owns the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives How sweet to hold A newborn baby And feel the pride And joy He gives But greater still The calm assurance This child can face
[51:46] On certain days Because He lives Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives All fear is gone All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives And then one day Across the river I'll find my spine Oh, go with me And then as then
[52:47] His way to victory I'll see the light I'll see the light So glory And I'll know He reigns Because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because He lives miracle on your hearts any burdens that you're carrying around spend a minute and talk with the father ask him to help you with that burden tell him you don't want to carry it anymore let's see that you believe jesus christ died and rose for you to help you with those burdens spend a moment before we close and talk with the father thank you lord for this wonderful morning that you've given us and help us to remember that not just today but each and every day we have a reason to celebrate because of what jesus christ has done for us go with us as we leave this place lord and help us to show you to the rest of the world and we ask and pray these things in christ's name amen god bless you have a wonderful easter and kids i believe they have something for you on your way out so make sure you get that god bless you