[0:00] Awesome is He and He reigns with power and authority.! In heaven, on earth, His praise will be heard.
[0:13] Lift Him up, lift Him up, lift Him up. Lift Him up in your hearts.
[0:33] Let the King of my heart be the mountain where I run.
[0:44] The fountain I drink from, oh, He is my song. Let the King of my heart be the shadow where I hide.
[0:57] The ransom for my life, oh, He is my song. You are good, good, oh.
[1:10] You are good, good, oh. You are good, good, oh.
[1:23] You are good, good, oh. Let the King of my heart be the wind inside my sails.
[1:39] The anchor in the waves, oh, He is my song. Let the King of my heart be the fire inside my face.
[1:52] The anchor of my days, oh, He is my song. Oh, you are good, you are good, oh.
[2:10] You are good, so good, oh. You are good, oh. You are good, oh. You are good, good, oh.
[2:22] You're never gonna let, you're never gonna let me down. You're never gonna let, you're never gonna let me down.
[2:47] Jesus. You're never gonna let, you're never gonna let me down. You are good, you're good.
[3:21] You are good. You're good. Oh, you are so good. Oh, you are so good.
[3:38] Oh, you are so good. You're so good. Oh. Your goodness never ends Oh, you are good, you are good And your love endures You are good, you are good And your love endures You are good, you are good And your love endures Today Lord, you are good You are good And your love endures You are good, you are good And your love endures
[4:40] You are good, you are good And your love endures today A love unlike the world has known A love that left no stone untouched A love that fought for unforgiven The love that bridges the gap between us The love that chases me down The love that waits for my reason The love that shows me from the very start The love that heals the wounds from my past
[5:45] Oh, what can be more beautiful Than a life laid down for me And to this love I give my all Jesus, take my everything The love that never keeps going The love where there is always more The love that wipes away my every tear The love that I've lost on my deepest feet Oh, what can be more beautiful Than a life laid down for me
[6:48] And to this love I give my all Jesus, take my everything Say my everything You can have it all At the cross, you poured our perfect love for us You came to save, that we might know you face to face At the cross, you poured our perfect love for us You came to save, that we might know you face to face So I will give my every breath, my every moment I will live for you all
[7:50] Oh, what can be more beautiful than a life laid down for me? Oh, and to this love I give my all Jesus, take my everything Oh, what could be more beautiful than a life laid down for me?
[8:24] Oh, what can be more beautiful than a life laid down for you?
[8:54] Oh, what can be better than a life laid down for you? We'll be right back.
[9:25] We'll be right back.
[9:55] Welcome to our Easter morning service at Union Baptist Church. My name is Andy and it's fantastic to celebrate that he is risen.
[10:06] We had a wonderful time down on the rye this morning, having that opportunity to share and to worship together in the garden there. And today, this morning, we continue that praise and that worship and that thanks for the fact that he is risen.
[10:24] So welcome to our service. A big welcome as well to those who are watching online. I'm told that in particular because of our baptisms this morning, there are a number of additional people who are watching online.
[10:37] So I think we should just turn and just give him a quick wave. Say hi. So it's wonderful to be joined by extra people. A big welcome to our Romanian church family as well.
[10:50] Fantastic for you that you're a part of our service here. And one of your congregation is being baptized this morning, Christy. So a big welcome to Christy and his family as well.
[11:03] And also a huge welcome as well to our Georgina from our English congregation here, who is also getting baptized this morning. And a big welcome to your support crew as well.
[11:15] So fantastic to be here together and to share. We're going to kick off today with an opportunity to say hi, to greet each other and to welcome each other into the space.
[11:28] So I'm going to encourage you, if you feel comfortable to, and if you can stand, stand. If not, turn. But greet each other. Let's say hello, good morning, and particularly to people you've not said hello to already today.
[11:41] Saying hello to them for the 15th time is probably unnecessary. But yeah, let's greet each other and welcome each other to this space this morning. Thank you. Thank you.
[12:28] Okay. Rightio. Let's come back to our seats. we're gonna begin our time together this morning with a number of songs of worship um so i will invite you i've set it off now haven't i it's all fallen apart it's fell apart already let's let's return to our seats and let's stand together our musicians are going to lead us in some songs of worship before i do that let me pray as we begin our time together father again we are so thankful for uh the incredible hope that today yet again reminds us of and brings us father in your love you sent your son and father as we are reminded that today you defeated death and so from now on we get that connection we get that that restoration that repairing of relationship and we get that life eternal and father with that hope with that love with that incredible promise of today of resurrection morning father i pray that you will meet us where we are that you will show us the amazing love and hope that you have for each and every one of us and that this morning as we celebrate new life as we celebrate baptism new life father i pray that that new life will be in each and every one of us as well holy spirit come in this place now speak afresh to us father we worship you in your name we pray amen thanks musicians god so god so
[14:51] Thank you.
[15:21] Thank you.
[15:51] Thank you. Thank you.
[16:51] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. For thou art right for thee.
[17:03] My grace shall ever, never, and to help thee, my queen. Yeah, God, we just want to thank you so much that you rose from bed.
[17:18] Yeah, we really want to apologise though for when we've not, yeah, when that's not given us, yeah, we've not been excited by that, when that's not actually given us joy, but God, thank you so much for what you did.
[17:29] I pray that you'd really remind us of that this morning, of what the incredible victory that is over death, what that means for us, what that means for our world. Yeah, I pray that that would fill us with praise.
[17:40] In your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. I touch my mind to Calvary, where Jesus fled and died for me.
[18:00] I touch my mind to Calvary, where Jesus fled and died for me.
[18:14] I see His wounds, His hands, His feet, my Savior on that cursed tree.
[18:41] My god that fades from tears My god that fades from tears My god that fades from tears That you're alone So praise the name Of the Lord our God Oh praise his name Forevermore For endless days We will see your slaves Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
[19:43] There's all the blood That rain on the dark The sun of heaven But rose again Oh time for death Where is your name And the Lord For God's grace So praise the name Of the Lord our God Oh praise his name Forevermore For endless days We will sing your praise We will sing your praise Oh Lord, oh Lord our God He shall be
[20:48] In robes of white The lazy sun Shall be For fades Thank you.
[21:28] Forevermore, for endless days, we will sing your praise. Oh Lord, oh Lord our God.
[21:45] Oh Lord, oh Lord our God. Oh Lord, oh Lord our God.
[21:58] Oh Lord, oh Lord our God.
[22:28] Evelyn went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one that Jesus loved, and said, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have put him.
[22:48] So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
[23:00] He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb.
[23:14] He saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place separate from the linen.
[23:28] Finally, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first, he also went inside. He saw and believed. They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
[23:42] Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
[24:05] They asked her, Woman, why are you crying? They have taken my Lord away, she said, and I don't know where they have put him. At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
[24:24] He asked her, Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for? Thinking he was the gardener, she said, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.
[24:39] Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher.
[24:52] Jesus said, Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
[25:06] Mary Magdalene went to the other disciples with the news. I have seen the Lord. And she told them that he had said these things to her.
[25:17] Thanks be to God. Good morning, everybody.
[25:42] And a very, very happy Easter to you all. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Andrew. And together with Andy, who is leading our service today, one of the pastors here at Union Baptist Church, my pleasure to welcome you today.
[25:58] Lovely to see so many of you. Welcome, especially if you are a visitor. It is great to have you with us. Now, have a look at the picture behind me. Anyone had any of these things this morning?
[26:10] Hands up if you have had any Easter eggs already. Don't be shy. A number of you. Okay. Great. Keep your hands up. Anyone eaten any Easter eggs this morning?
[26:21] Oh, lucky you. I have not made it to mine yet. But I am looking forward to hopefully some chocolate later on. Now, a question for you. The Easter eggs that you have had this morning, or that you are going to have today, where do they come from?
[26:35] Can anyone tell me where do the Easter eggs come from? Easter Bunny. Could be. Could be. If someone bought the Easter eggs for you, where do you think they bought them from?
[26:48] It's not a trick question. A shop. Yeah. Probably one of these. One of the supermarkets. Aren't we blessed in High Wycombe? We've got at least one of all the major supermarket brands.
[26:59] What a fantastic thing. Now, this morning, I want to talk about four words that we often hear in and around supermarkets and explain how these four words relate to the Easter message that we as Christians celebrate today.
[27:17] And so we're going to play a little game, because I love to play games. Let me just get this in a better position. Okay. The game is a variation of the game Hangman, although there'll be no hanging.
[27:34] I've got a word here. This is the first word. And it's got six lines. There's six letters in this word. And your task is to guess the letters of the word. Now, if you guess right, I write them on here.
[27:45] If you guess them wrong, then I start drawing. I'm going to draw a man, a stick man. And if I finish drawing the man, then I won. If you get the word, then you've won. So, can anyone give me a guess of what letters might be in the first word?
[28:01] Okay. Nick, give me a letter. E. E. Do you know what? That is such a good guess. Because this word has got, oh gosh, one, two, it's actually got three E's in it.
[28:13] So, that was an amazing guess. So, we're going to put an E there. Now, let me check I get this in the right place. Otherwise, it would be disastrous. Okay.
[28:25] There we go. So, those are the E's. Can I have another guess of another letter? Anyone else want to? There's a hand up over there. Yeah. Give me a letter. D. Sorry? D.
[28:36] A. Okay. Unfortunately, there's not an A in this one. So, I'm going to put A there. I'm going to start drawing the man. Yeah. Right. Another one. Lizzie.
[28:47] R. R. R. That's a great guess. There is an R there. Okay. Who said D? Well done.
[28:58] Okay. There is a D. Okay. We're getting close now. Daniel. It's M. And so, the word is, let's say it together. Redeem.
[29:09] Okay. Now, if you have a Tesco Club card or other similar loyalty card, other supermarkets are available, then what you can do is you can save up points as you do your shopping in the supermarket.
[29:25] And you can save up a point for every pound or every bit of money that you spend at the supermarket. And the great thing about these points is that when you've saved up enough points, Tesco points or Liddle points, whatever they are, they send you a message that you can redeem your points.
[29:40] You can redeem your points. But what does that mean to redeem your points? It means that you get to cash them in. It means that you get something back in return for earning those points.
[29:50] It might be money off your next shop. It might be a free gift. It might even be that you can get tickets to an attraction if you've earned lots of points. Now, the word redeem appears in the Bible a few times.
[30:05] Around the time that the Bible was written, slavery was a common thing. And people would be bought and sold as slaves. It's not a very nice thing for us to think about, but that was what was happening at the time.
[30:16] Now, if you were a slave, you would be the property of somebody else unless somebody was able to come to redeem you. This is where the word redeem appears in the Bible.
[30:28] That meant that they would pay the slave owner a price in order to set you free. Now, the Bible says that we've been created by God to live in a relationship with him.
[30:41] But the wrong things that we do and the way that we rebel against God and turn our back on God, that's what the Bible calls sin. That causes us to be cut off from him, cut off from God.
[30:54] And the Bible says that instead of living in relationship with God, we end up being a slave to sin. In other words, we're trapped in a situation that we can't get out of ourselves.
[31:05] Now, Paul, who wrote some of the New Testament of the Bible, explained in the book of Galatians that God's law, which he gave people in the Old Testament, shows us that we always fall short of God's standards.
[31:19] We can never be put right with God by what we do ourselves. It's not like we can earn points to put ourselves right with God. We're stuck like being slaves or like being prisoners.
[31:30] But Paul writes in Galatians 4, verse 4, Now, we've been redeemed by God so we can call him Abba.
[31:58] And do you know what? That means Daddy. That's the kind of relationship that we can have with God because Jesus has redeemed us. Jesus redeemed us by taking the punishment, paying the price that we should have paid when he died on a cross.
[32:15] And that leads us to the next word. So, the next word is a little bit longer, so it might be a little bit harder. It's got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
[32:26] It's got 10 letters, so a bit more challenging. So, can anyone guess what letter might be in our second word? Put your hand up if you want to guess a word. Yeah? Guess a letter? I.
[32:38] That's a very good guess. I'm going to have to look at my crib sheet here and make sure I get this right. 1, 2, 3. Okay, it's got an I there.
[32:51] Six letter in. Okay. Anyone else got a guess of a letter? Yeah? You got a guess? A. Oh, do you know what? That's a really good guess.
[33:02] That is maybe in some of the other words. It's not in this one, but it's a great word. It's a great guess. We'll write that down there. Well done. Another guess, please. Hands up. T. Catherine.
[33:14] T. That is a great guess. There are actually two T's in this word. So, there's one there. And before the I here.
[33:27] Okay. I'm going to stand on this side so you can see it. Another guess. Up there. Yes. Tamika. L. That's a great guess. Unfortunately, it's not in this word.
[33:39] So, I'll write it down there. I've got two bits of my man there. Okay. Another guess, please. Yes. Yes. Jerome. E.
[33:49] That's a great guess. There is an E. It's right at the end. Okay. You stand here. Another guess. Okay.
[34:00] There's a hand up there. Yes. Nice and loudly, please. J. J. Oh, that's a great guess.
[34:10] Unfortunately, it's not in this word. But well done. Good guess. Okay. Okay. Someone said S. There are two S's. So, that's a great guess. There's one there. And there's one there.
[34:24] Okay. Anyone got another guess? U. Okay, U, well done. There's a U there. And there's another one there.
[34:37] Okay, someone said B. There's a B there. I missed the T. Yeah, I knew that would happen. Okay, well done.
[34:48] You guessed it. It's substitute. We got there at the end. Sorry for my mistake there. Spelling was never my forte. Now, sometimes, anyone here order shopping online?
[35:01] Hands up, order shopping online? Sometimes, if you order shopping online, if the supermarket doesn't have the exact thing that you ordered, they put something else in its place, which is a substitute.
[35:13] Now, sometimes this can end up being quite amusing. So one customer recently ordered facial cleansing wipes. This is what they should have got. What they actually got was this, Brillo pads.
[35:26] Not exactly an ideal substitute, but that actually happened. Now, one customer ordered this, fish steaks. What they actually got was this, lemon cupcakes.
[35:38] Now, at least it rhymes, but very different to what they're expecting. Another online shopper ordered this, beef steaks. And what they actually got was dog treats.
[35:50] Probably disappointed with that. Now, these are substitutes which have gone wrong. But the Bible tells us about a substitute to save us. The idea of a substitute actually goes right through the Bible.
[36:03] When God rescued his people out of Egypt, we can read about it in the book of Exodus, in the Old Testament of the Bible, they were told to slaughter a lamb and paint the blood on their doorways.
[36:16] Now, in any home where a lamb hadn't been slaughtered, people in that home died. So the lambs protected the people because in those homes where the blood was painted on the doorways, nobody died.
[36:29] So the lambs died in place of God's people as a substitute. Now, when John the Baptist met Jesus, he said, look, the lamb of God.
[36:39] He was making a connection, very important connection. You see, for the people in Egypt, a lamb died in their place. The Bible explains that Jesus became our substitute when he died on the cross like that lamb.
[36:54] He took our place and he took the punishment that we deserve so that we don't have to. He did that for us. Even though he was the only man who was perfect, he never sinned.
[37:06] Now, we're very excited today because you may have heard it announced that we're doing two baptisms. We're actually doing three baptisms. I'm delighted to report. And later in the service, we're going to be baptizing Christy and Georgina and Irini as well.
[37:21] And one of the things that those three will be acknowledging today in their baptism is that Jesus died in their place. Now, we're going to go on to our third word now for you to guess.
[37:33] So, and this is actually two words. Okay, we've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and we've got one, two, three, four, five. So, two words that go together.
[37:44] It's a phrase. Can anyone give me a guess of a letter that might be in this word? Okay, yes, Jerome. A.
[37:55] A. A. That is a great guess. There is an A, and it's there. We'll draw that one there. Okay, another guess. Eve, is that your hand up? Have you got a guess for me?
[38:06] Yeah? M. M. That is a great guess. It's not actually in this one, but well done. Okay, we'll draw part of the man. Okay, another guess.
[38:17] Tamika. Sorry, was that C? There is a C. Well done. There's a C there.
[38:30] Just check there isn't any others. No? Okay, another guess. We've got one up there. Nick. A. A. A. E. That is a great guess, Nick. Well done.
[38:41] There's more than one E. Let me get it in the right place. There's one there. And there's one there. Okay, another guess.
[38:54] Okay. Evelyn. A. That is a great guess. There is an A. We've got A. Do you want to guess? Sorry? H. There isn't an H, but well done.
[39:07] It's a good guess. We'll draw another part of the man. Okay. S. There is an S. Starts with an S. Okay. Anyone got any guess?
[39:18] Daniel. I. There is an I. It goes there. Okay. Another guess. P. There is a P. There is a P.
[39:31] Well done. Okay. We must be getting close now. Miriam. F. F. Oh, well done. There's two of them. Okay.
[39:44] We must be getting close now. L. L. L. L. Yeah. L. Well done. It's special offer. Hooray. Well done.
[39:57] So, special offer. you know sometimes there'll be a special offer at the supermarket where you can buy something for much less than the usual price so the other week these were on special offer cheerios it was a really good buy really good buy cheerios i'm sorry i'm sorry we'll move on you deserve better than that you deserve better than that a special offer is where you pay less for something the message of easter is a special offer but the amazing thing is in this offer we don't have to pay anything to receive it we just have to turn to jesus say sorry to him accept what he's done for us and he will come into our life and he will give us peace and joy and give us a true sense of purpose and a direction to go in now sometimes when supermarkets do really cheap offers they actually lose money on those products that they're selling off very cheap it's called a loss leader now they figure that they can still make money from customers coming into the shop and buying other things but there's a point behind that because jesus lost something to give us the special offer of eternal life and relationship with him he had to pay the price to give us this special offer in 1 corinthians 6 verse 20 it says that we were bought at a price jesus paid the price for us to be able to be put right with him when he died on the cross that's the special offer that the price has been paid already we just have to make a decision to believe and trust that jesus has done it for us and that's what we act out in baptism that decision that we've made to follow jesus and put our trust in him and just like the people who've been baptized today can't baptize themselves we can't save ourselves we need to acknowledge that jesus has done it for us now we've got one more word to play in our little word game okay and here it is it's got six letters this one two three four five six no it hasn't got seven letters um can anyone give me a guess of a of a letter that might be in here yes sorry i it has got an i now i have to remember to get this around the right way the i goes here okay another guess of another letter uh yes noah s oh it's a good guess unfortunately there's not an s in this one okay another guess uh yes jerome l it hasn't got an l i'm afraid okay um fear was that a um unfortunately it hasn't got an a but good guess okay another one tamika q wouldn't it be great if there was a q in this word i'm sorry there isn't um nick you got another one oh hasn't got an o sorry uh right up at the top there m it's not m i'm sorry another guess nick e good guess nick it's actually got two one there and one there okay you got another guess but it hasn't got a but i'm afraid okay okay we're keeping going yes is there an r it actually starts with an r that might help some people okay someone said c daniel sorry v hasn't got a v
[44:02] okay uh yes jessica well done it has got a p okay and another one right the back there pardon t i heard t it is t so the word is receipts okay when you go to get your shopping in a supermarket you get a receipt at the end so the other day i was in the self-service checkout at lidl other supermarkets are available i got my shopping i paid i got the receipt i put the receipt in the bag i put the shopping in the bag i went to leave and now i discover there's a barrier i can't get through the barrier without the receipt have you seen this you have to scan your receipt to open the barrier and where's my receipt it's right at the bottom of the bag so i have to stop there get out all the shopping get the receipts and then scan it so the barrier would open and let me out why is that because you have to prove that you paid for the shopping to get out of the shop to go free today on this easter sunday we celebrate the resurrection that jesus on the sunday after good friday rose from the tomb and the resurrection is like a receipt tim keller once said it's god's way of stamping paid in full across history that's what we celebrate in baptism with the person going briefly underwater and then up again it's jesus resurrection we join in jesus risen life because he rose to prove that he has paid the price for our sin now the passage that mark read to us from john's gospel is an eyewitness account from the first witnesses of the resurrection there is very strong evidence here and elsewhere in the new testament and in other historical sources that jesus rose from the dead there's lots of eyewitness details you might have heard in that reading in john's gospel like the fact that of the two disciples john got to the tomb first why is that written there because it's an eyewitness detail like the fact that they saw the grave clothes lying in the tomb and it's very interesting that the first eyewitness was a woman it was mary magdalene now at the time the gospel was written in that time that was written women had a lower status in society sadly it's not the case anymore we're grateful for that but at the time the testimony of a woman was actually not considered reliable so if you were making it up you wouldn't include the eyewitness testimony of a woman the only reason it would be there is if it's true now this is among the important reasons to believe the resurrection happened why is this important well if somebody goes to jail after 10 years as a punishment for a crime the day he comes out of jail he has paid for the crime he is free jesus rising from the dead shows that he has completed the sentence he's gone through death and he's done that for us and he's alive today and his presence and power is available to us through his holy spirit and that's what easter is all about and it prompts us to make a decision today will you accept the special offer accept that you've been redeemed that jesus died as a substitute in your place but rose from the dead to prove that he has paid the price in full and to welcome you into relationship with him and eternal life i'm going to ask the musicians to come up and i'm going to pray let's pray dear god we thank you for the amazing good news that we celebrate today on this easter sunday we thank you that we have been redeemed by your blood which you shed on the cross when you died for us so that we can
[48:05] go free even though we deserve to be punished we thank you that jesus died as a substitute in our place but we thank you that he is alive thank you that he rose from the dead as a receipt as a proof that the price has been paid that we can have a relationship with him now that we can receive his holy spirit and that we can look forward to an eternity with you we pray that through the service as we watch the baptisms as we sing as we listen that you will speak to us by your holy spirit that you will prompt us to respond to you today we pray that in jesus name amen amen now invite you to stand as the musicians lead us in our next song so so so so
[49:07] How high a mountain I could not climb In desperation I turned to heaven And spoke your name into the night And through your darkness, your loving kindness So through the shadows of my soul It's finished, the end is written Jesus Christ, my living hope Who could be mad in so great a mercy
[50:10] What heart could fathom such countless ways The God of ages stepped down from glory To wear my sin and wear my shame The cross has broken, I am forgiven The King of kings calls me in His arms You become Savior, I'm yours forever Jesus Christ, my living hope Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
[51:14] You have broken every chain Jesus Christ, my living hope You have broken every chain That sealed the promise Your very body Your hands will be free Our hopeless riders The roaring lion My God ofchts Deep where the grave was not laid on me Then in the morning, that sin of God is Your very glory, He has been free I want the silence, the pouring lion
[52:17] Deep where the grave was not laid on me Jesus, yours is the victory Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free Hallelujah, that my God is good for me You have broken every day There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living hope Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free Hallelujah, that my God is good for me You have broken every day There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living hope
[53:23] Jesus Christ, my living hope Oh God, you are my living hope Amen Please do take a seat As Andrew has just mentioned Today couldn't get any better We have an additional person joining us In the waters of baptism this morning So we're so excited to not just baptize two people But three people this morning But before we do go into that process of baptism I guess we need to ask the question Why?
[54:12] What is baptism after all? So we're going to be thinking a little bit And I've got a number of pictures that are going to appear on the screen They're going to help us think about why and what baptism is So the first one is our go sign And this go sign tells us to do something It kind of commands us It's one of the main reasons we do baptism Is because Jesus commands us to do that And we read that in Matthew 28 Jesus says, go and make disciples of all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit So by baptizing people who've decided to follow Jesus Jesus were following that command to go Now the next one to help us Or the next image to help us Before yesterday This was a good choice Unfortunately, probably not quite as good a choice after yesterday But moving past What is on there?
[55:15] If you are a supporter obviously of a football team Like I am And I proudly was wearing that yesterday Well I wasn't wearing it yesterday But proudly supporting Doesn't matter whether they win or lose But it identifies you, doesn't it?
[55:27] When you wear the shirt It identifies you to that particular team And baptism identifies us effectively with Jesus And you can say that in some respects It shows that we're part of team, Jesus It identifies us with his death and his resurrection When the person goes under the waters Briefly in baptism They are identifying with his death And then as they come out again They can identify then with his resurrection And when a person is baptized As they go under They are declaring a decision To accept Jesus And to turn away from what doesn't please God And make a decision to follow him first And try to do the things his way Our next one is detergent Now, don't panic There's none in there However, that could be a good shout for next time Yeah, maybe
[56:30] No, maybe not But when we actually think about it What is happening in the waters of baptism There's effectively a cleansing It's a picture of cleansing It's a picture of cleansing that Jesus does But not on the outside On the inside And it's a picture of the way That through Jesus' death Because he died in our place Our sins are washed away As we've just been hearing And we are made right with God It's an outward sign of what's happening on the inside And the final one is a new shoot This is about new life Today is about new life Coming up out of the waters Is a picture of that new life That resurrection life That we have with Jesus As we ask him to strengthen us And to guide us And just as we can't baptize ourselves We can't live the life that God wants us to do By ourselves either We need that power inside of us
[57:32] Given by his Holy Spirit So we come to the waters of baptism We have an opportunity to see a number of people Give their lives afresh Declare who they belong to Through the waters of baptism And we've got that privilege for three people this morning To go through those waters But before we do that One of the things that we want to do Is hear from them As to why they want to take this step And to be baptized this morning And also have the opportunity for them To declare and respond to a number of questions In relation to their faith as well Before they go get wet So what we're going to do I'm going to invite Pastor Gratian To come forward And we're going to hear from Christy and Arini About why they want to take this step today
[58:35] And also have that opportunity To have a number of questions to respond to as well So I think there's going to be some Translating happen So I will leave you to it There's a microphone there and another one there Thanks Gratian, thank you Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello His name is Christian Danayla And he's 31 years old Hello.
[59:07] Hello. His name is Christian Deneila, and he's 31 years old.
[59:23] He comes from a large family, a family where the mother knew the Lord, and he was born and was following his will.
[59:37] But his dad was the opposite. He was neither following God's will nor doing what a father should do.
[59:53] I was always on the streets and violence on his side, as I and my brothers and sisters. There was often fighting and violence from his end, and Christian and his siblings were witnesses to that.
[60:09] And they were very glad when a day would pass without him coming home drunk and violent.
[60:22] So for a long time, he used to hate his dad, and he wouldn't consider him his father.
[60:33] He was saying to himself that he would never turn out like him, and he would love his family instead.
[60:47] His mother was doing everything she could in order to offer them a good life and to keep them close to God.
[61:00] And although they didn't have a lot growing up, he thinks they had just as much as they needed.
[61:12] And their mother would teach them about God, and also teach them how to pray.
[61:27] And there was a time in his childhood when he was delighted in the word of God. But afterwards, as a teenager, he kind of lost sight of God and of his care for him.
[61:46] And he forgot about all the help that God had given him in his childhood when God gave him all that he needed.
[62:01] And so he forgot about God and went after the pleasures of this world. But God did not forget about him.
[62:13] God had patience for him until this age of 31. And that's why he's here today, ready to turn into a covenant with God.
[62:31] God be praised. He met his wife when he was 21, and they lived together for a while without getting married.
[62:48] Until his mother suggested that they should get married instead.
[63:01] And he went along with this, but his life continued just as before. He knew about God, he knew about the Bible.
[63:17] And he believed what the Bible said, but he did nothing to get closer to God. He was enjoying his life at the time, and he didn't want to give up any part of it.
[63:37] And he also was, he had a good opinion of himself. He thought he was, I thought I was better than a lot of other people who call themselves Christians.
[63:52] And he was telling himself that rather than, you know, making a commitment and turning out to be a hypocrite like them, it's better to just wait.
[64:09] And he thought he would be able to give up on his own to any vices and things before he turned to God.
[64:24] My mom would pray daily for us that we would turn to God. And he would speak to us about God every time she had the opportunity.
[64:40] She didn't necessarily have the best words to express it, but she was trying her best to get us to know God.
[64:58] And after a long time of perseverance in prayer, she started to see the results. God started working in the family and a number of his sisters and brothers have turned to Christ and have been baptized now.
[65:25] I was trying to see the results. So he started, Christi started to look for God when after a period of disagreements, him and his wife decided to separate.
[65:44] It was a very difficult time and he was feeling very alone, but it was because of that that he started searching for God.
[65:59] My brother Daniel came here to the church and I asked him to come to the church and see how it is. His brother Daniel, he's a member of our church and he would come to our church.
[66:13] And after a very long time of never being into a church again, he decided it was time to come and see what it was like. And when he came to church, inexplicably, he started having this feeling of guilt and started crying.
[66:39] And he realized that it was time to turn to God and start to search for his will. And gradually he realized how much sin there was in his life.
[66:56] And how much need he had for God and how much he had been deluding himself. When he was thinking that he was better than other people.
[67:11] And God enabled him to forgive the people that he used to hate. He was able to forgive his father for what he had done to them.
[67:25] He's given up smoking and lots of other vices that he was addicted to.
[67:39] And God also heard his prayers and recently he was reconciled with his wife. And he's very grateful to God for his patience with him and for his work in his life.
[68:02] And he thanks God for freeing him and forgiving him. And he also wants to thank his mother for her prayers and everyone who's prayed for him.
[68:21] And also to the church for receiving him in a friendly way from the first time.
[68:36] God will forgive him and his peace and love will be with you all. Amen. May God's peace and love be with all of you. Amen. So now I'm going to ask Christi some questions.
[68:57] I'm going to ask them in Romanian, but I believe the translation is behind us. Yes. Christi, do you believe in God, Father, Father, Father and Holy Spirit? Yes. Do you believe in God?
[69:08] Do you pray for Jesus Christ as a Savior? Yes. Do you believe in sin, do you want to be with Christ? Yes. Do you want to live in the church and do you want to live in the church?
[69:21] Yes. Do you want to live in the church? Yes. My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name We only found out that Irini had made a decision to get baptized this morning, so I don't think she has prepared a written testimony.
[70:04] But if you want to say a few words, if you were... So she does have a testimony.
[70:17] Okay. Okay, buona ziua. My name is Irini Maria. So her name is Irini Maria. She is not here today because she is perfect, but because she has realized how imperfect she is without God.
[70:44] She's been through a lot of moments where she felt very lost and confused and hurt. And she was looking for fulfillment in things that turned out not to be fulfilling.
[71:00] But she has realized that how much she was trying to fix her problems on her own.
[71:18] Her soul had a thirst for God and it was God that she needed. And she has turned to God because she has realized that she needs God for every area of her life where she is lacking, where she is imperfect.
[71:41] And she is ready today to start a new life without her fears and without her old desires and start a new life with God.
[71:59] And she wants to thank everyone who has paid for her, especially her mother.
[72:13] And she wants to thank you for her.
[72:44] Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
[72:54] Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. My so much. My so much. My so much.
[73:06] Do you want to go to hell and do you want to go to Christ? Yes, in the world. You will live in the church and serve Jesus Christ in the world.
[73:17] Yes. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[73:29] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So we'll have a song from the Romanian worship team.
[73:45] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[73:58] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[74:08] Thank you.
[74:38] Thank you.
[75:08] Thank you.
[75:38] Thank you. Thank you.
[76:10] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[76:22] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[77:02] Thank you.
[77:32] Thank you. Thank you.
[78:04] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[78:16] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[78:28] Thank you. Thank you.
[79:00] Thank you so much.
[79:12] It's such a joy to be able to share this baptism service with our Romanian brothers and sisters family here at UBC.
[79:23] Now, Gina, Georgina, come on down. I'd like to invite Georgina and Marianne as well forward. She's going to share a little bit of her journey.
[79:35] Marianne is going to read Georgina's testimony and then has a prayer for her. So thank you. I'm very privileged to do this this morning.
[79:56] At around 10 years old, I experienced my first calling from God. I wanted to become a nun, but my parents would not allow me to. However, I went to the Salvation Army Church every Sunday, and later, when we moved, I went to many different churches.
[80:17] I even went to see Billy Graham. I loved God. But sadly, as I grew up and had a family, children, and work, I drew away from God.
[80:29] However, God never forgot me. It was at dark times in my life that God was always there for me and with me, saving me on many occasions.
[80:45] When I moved to High Wycombe, I met Pat Randall, and I knew she would become my friend. I asked if she would mind if I went to church with her, and she led me to Union Baptist Church.
[81:00] From the first time I came here, I knew I was home. And the people were so wonderful, friendly, and warm.
[81:12] I also knew this, where I wanted to be, so I could praise my Lord Jesus with fellow believers who also felt the same way as I do, and as I truly love God.
[81:24] Thank you all for accepting me into your church family and sharing the love of God with me. Thank you. Lord, we praise you for Georgina's decision to be baptized, and we ask for your goodness and blessings to be poured out on her.
[81:49] We pray that you would continue to work deeply within her heart and soul to renew and refresh her each day. Please cover and protect her, surround her with your promises, and fill her heart with joy.
[82:07] Lord, as you lead her into this new path of life in abundance with you, we ask that you will fill her with your holy and life-giving spirit, and keep Georgina in the faith and communion of your holy church.
[82:24] And the verse I have is Jeremiah 29, 11. I know I have plans for you, declared the Lord, plans for you to prosper, you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
[82:37] And we all ask this in the precious name of Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. Thanks so much, Marianne. So, Georgina, we have some questions.
[82:51] Can I use that one or you can use this one? I'll use that one. Okay. Okay. So, Georgina, do you believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
[83:02] I do. Do you confess the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? Most definitely I do. Do you turn from sin, renounce evil, and intend to follow Christ?
[83:14] I do. Will you live within the fellowship of the church, and will you serve Jesus Christ in the world? Absolutely I will. Fantastic.
[83:27] Wonderful. Thank you so much. Brilliant. Okay. We're going to, before we move into our time to go and get wet, we will have a song.
[83:40] This is Gina's chosen song, particularly with the words in it of that reminder of, oh, happy day, how my sins have been washed away.
[83:51] So, let's stand, and let's sing together. who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away from the earth who have been washed away Thank you.
[85:02] Thank you.
[85:32] Thank you. Thank you.
[86:32] Thank you. Thank you.
[87:04] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[87:44] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[87:58] It's alright. Oh, it's... Okay, Georgina, on hearing of your repentance towards God, the Father, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we now baptize you in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
[89:02] Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God, oh, praise His name forevermore, for endless days we will sing Your praise, oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God.
[89:28] Amen. Okay, Lord Jesus, Father, we are so thankful for Georgina, so thankful for our love for you, and her willingness to begin this journey of following you day by day by day, and surrendering to you as her Lord and Savior.
[89:49] So now, Father, we pray, Holy Spirit, come. Holy Spirit, come now and fill her afresh in these waters of baptism. Fill her from head to toe to overflowing so that she will live a life empowered by you, surrendered to you, and following you wherever you lead her to go.
[90:11] Holy Spirit, come. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. And now Pat is going to say a prayer for Georgina.
[90:23] Thank you, Pat. Georgina. Jesus died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ who died and was raised for them.
[90:37] This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old has gone and the new life has begun. And Lord Jesus, we just thank you for what we've seen happen in these last months, how Georgina has actually blossomed so much in you.
[90:54] Thank you so much, Lord Jesus, that you love her, that you share this day with her. You share our joy. And we get the privilege of sharing the joy, not just only with Georgina, but with you, Lord.
[91:06] You, Lord, who died and rose again. This perfect picture, this perfect picture of what you have done, Lord. And I'm reminded that old hymn that says, Up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph.
[91:21] Oh, he's froze. Lord, you did that. You did that. And you'd have done it just for Georgina. Just may she remember. Will you give her a special blessing in her heart this very moment, Lord, knowing that you come to live in her life, you bless her, you encourage her, and something that she will be able to carry forth in the days to come.
[91:44] Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, let's invite Pastor Gratian to join me.
[92:01] And Christy, if you'd like to... Thank you. I forgot to mention, if any of the kids, if you want a better view, you feel free to come and stand around the balcony area.
[92:41] You're more than welcome to. Thank you.
[93:11] Thank you.
[93:41] Jesus, the Lord of the Lord. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
[93:57] Amen. Thank you.
[94:27] His focus be every step that he takes. And Father, as he commits the day in his brewers of baptism to following you day by day, Lord, I pray that you will continue to sustain him, you will continue to empower him, and you will continue to work through him every single day, I pray.
[94:44] Holy Spirit come! Amen! Doamne, în continuare, Tu să, așa cum a fost botezat în apă, Doamne, Te rugăm, Doamne, să-L umpli cu Duhul Tău cel Sfânt.
[95:21] Viața Lui, Doamne, să fie o mărturie a Harului Tău, a puterii Tale. Îți mulțum, Doamne, pentru vindecarea pe care a început-o în El. Te rugăm, Doamne, să o continui. Te rugăm, Doamne, în continuare, Tu să-L dai puterea învierii Domnului Iisus Hristos la lucru în viața Lui ca să-L ferească de rău, să-L ferească de păcat.
[95:38] Doamne, să-L păstreze până la sfârșit biruitor în lumea aceasta. Te rugăm, Doamne, Domnul Iisus Hristos. Amin. Amin. Amin.
[96:39] Okay, Irene, I'm hearing of your repentance towards God the Father and your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[96:51] We now baptize you in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Father, again we are thankful for reading.
[97:39] In his decision today to commit sort of orders of baptism and to commit her life fully to you. God, I pray that as she moves into this next phase of her life, God, I pray that you will empower her by your spirit.
[97:55] That you will be her hands and feet, that you will be the words that she speaks. That Father, you will remind her day by day by day that you are the one that makes her enough in this life.
[98:09] And Father, that you will sustain her when all else is gone. Father, I pray that you will come now by your spirit. Fill her now, I pray.
[98:20] Fill her to overflow you. Be her source, be her life in your name, I pray. Amen. My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name is My name that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that
[99:27] And to be appreciated, God, for you, more than any other, God. God, we pray for you, God, that you will be able to sustain it. And to put in life, God, and family, God, and friends, and more like the Holy Spirit, God, who will be able to sustain it.
[99:42] God, we pray for you, God, in the name of Jesus Christ, and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[100:16] Amen. Amen. Wow, praise God.
[100:38] What a great way to celebrate Easter. Let's give a round of applause for God's goodness today. And for the way that he works in people's lives, and for the way that he transforms lives.
[100:50] We celebrate that today. I'm just going to ask Ben just to start playing quietly. And I just feel that it's good for us just to have a bit of a time to respond in these moments to what we've seen and heard this morning.
[101:04] We've heard from the testimony of three people who've made that decision to follow Jesus.
[101:17] And I just feel it would be such a shame if we left today without giving other people the opportunity to make that decision to follow Jesus.
[101:27] Because it is the best decision that you'll ever make. And I sense that for some people, God has been working in your heart in the past weeks and in the past days, and today especially.
[101:42] And he may be prompting you to make that decision to follow Jesus. And we're going to create a bit of space for you to respond to that now.
[101:53] And I'm just going to pray a prayer that you might like to echo in your own heart. If you want to make that decision today to follow Jesus, it's a very simple prayer. It's a prayer that says, sorry.
[102:05] Sorry for the wrong things I've done. Sorry for turning my back on you, God. It's a prayer that says, thank you. Thank you for sending Jesus, your precious son, to die in my place. And it's a song that says, please, please fill me with your Holy Spirit and lead me according to your ways so I can live the life that you want me to live.
[102:24] Recognizing that I can't do that myself and that I need you, God. So just encourage you to close your eyes. And if this is a prayer that you want to join, just echo these words just in your own heart as I pray this prayer.
[102:37] Father God, we thank you for what we celebrate today. We thank you for the most amazing news of Easter. Lord, that your precious son came to live as one of us.
[102:51] To show us the way to you and that he died. And that he acted in obedience. To follow your will to die in our place so that he could be our substitute, so that he could redeem us.
[103:06] And we recognize, Lord, that we don't deserve what you've done for us. And we say, sorry, Lord, for the way that we've put ourselves first. We've gone our own way.
[103:18] But, Lord, we want to turn back to you. Thank you that you forgive us. Thank you that you have paid the price for our sin so that we don't have to.
[103:28] Thank you for pouring out your love for us. And I pray that you would help us to live according to your ways.
[103:38] To show us your ways and to help us to live in obedience to you by your Holy Spirit. Amen. I'm just going to ask Miriam and Sam, who's one of our elders, just to come down and sit on the front here.
[103:54] And I would just like to encourage you as we sing this final song. If you joined in that prayer, it would just be so good for you to be able to sing that in and to pray with someone today. And Miriam's going to be on the front here.
[104:05] Sam's going to be on the front. And as we sing this next song, I just encourage you, if God put that on your heart, just come down to the front. And Miriam or Sam will pray for you. And we'd love just to ink that in and pray for you as you take those next steps on that journey with Jesus.
[104:20] Maybe you've made a decision to follow him today. Maybe you'd already made that decision to follow Jesus, but you've not yet been baptized. And you've heard today that this is a command from Jesus. It's not an option.
[104:31] If you've decided to follow Jesus, then I encourage you to think about taking that step. And we can arrange for you to be baptized very soon. We're going to have another baptism service next month.
[104:42] And we would love to be able to enable you to ink in that faith, that decision that you've made to follow Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And we support you and love you as a church.
[104:53] And we're here to support you on the next steps of your journey with Jesus. So I do invite you to come down if you've made that kind of decision today. And we'd love to pray for you. Please stand and we're going to sing. In the darkness we were waiting.
[105:06] Let's sing together. Let's sing together. In the darkness we were waiting Without hope, without light Till the man when you came wrong There was mercy in your eyes To fulfill the Lord and promise To a virgin, a girl of one From the throne of endless glory To a maid of winter love Praise the Father Praise the Son
[106:07] Praise the Spirit Be in one God of glory Love can see Praise forever to the King of kings To heal the King of kings As to wreck the child of the lost To heal the whole creation To give up the size of the cross For evil be your suffering You talk to the other side You know this will come to salvation Jesus for our saving God Praise the Father
[107:09] Praise the Son Praise the Spirit Praise the Son of glory My glory My birth seems My birth seems Praise forever to the King of kings My birth seems I've been born in the last few cross All of heaven held his breath Till my son was moved for good For the land of God's land I've been raised on their toes And the angels of the Lord For the souls of all who come To the Father's love's soul And the angels of the Lord And the spirit of the flame
[108:11] And the angels of the Lord Shall not fail, shall not wait My God in His name He is complete and I am free For the love of Jesus Christ Who has resurrected me Praise the Father Praise the Son Praise the Spirit Be in white God of glory Majesty Praise forever Praise the Father Praise the Father Praise the Son
[109:13] Praise the Spirit Spirit Three in one God of glory Majesty Praise forever To the King of kings Praise forever To the King of kings Father God we thank you That Jesus has won the victory And that he is seated on the throne As King of kings We pray that you would help us To honour him in our lives To honour him as King of kings And to share the love that you've poured out into us And the grace that you've poured out into us Amen
[110:14] Amen Do please sit down Before we send you off to go and get some tea And coffee And Easter eggs And chat some more Just a few notices about things which are coming up And we've got a really big thing And a really exciting thing coming up this week Because this week It's our Easter holiday club Can I get a whoop?
[110:38] It's starting on Wednesday Running till Friday We'll be here celebrating With everyone who's in the holiday club On the Sunday And what I'd like to do just briefly Because we've got a bunch of people Who are here Who are going to be part of Volunteering at that holiday club As leaders As helpers And I just want to say A very brief prayer for them So if you're going to be serving In any way at the holiday club Next week Can you please stand?
[111:02] That includes young helpers And the adult volunteers we've got If you can just stand where you are That would be amazing And those around them You might just like to If you can reach Put an arm on their shoulder or elbow And we'd just like to pray For God's equipping For our amazing team of holiday club helpers So let's pray Father God We thank you for the opportunity we have Next week To welcome 95 children To our secret agent's holiday club And share with them the good news That we've been celebrating today And I pray for every one of our team In the role that you've called them to I pray that you'll give them great joy As they serve our kids And we pray that you'll equip them Give them energy Give them love Give them wisdom And we pray that we'll have an amazing time And we'll see you at work in amazing ways Through our holiday club this week In Jesus' name Amen Amen Amen Do please sit down A few things to mention This evening We've got a service A communion service Slightly more reflective service than this
[112:03] We do welcome you to come along to that And continue our time Worshipping God Hearing from God's word And celebrating around the communion table That's at 6.30pm So do hope you can join us for that If you're visiting with us today We just want to let you know That we're here every Sunday morning At 10.15 So do please join us every Sunday And we have activities for children Of all ages I think there is a slide for this one Andy We have activities for children of all ages And you'll be very, very welcome We normally meet together at 10.15 Next week we're going to be all together The following week we'll meet together And then the kids will go out to their groups We have some gifts for you And I'm just going to grab these And hope I don't fall into the baptistry Because I'm not getting wet today Gifts for you A book called Why Easter Which is yours to take If you'd like one explaining more about what we've said About what we're celebrating today A book about why Jesus Which talks more about the story of Jesus And this is a gospel of Mark
[113:05] It tells the account of Jesus' life And his death and his resurrection It's one of the books of the New Testament It's the shortest gospel And you can read it in about an hour and a half Probably depending how quickly you read We commend those to you They're on the front here Please grab one and take one away And I'd just like to encourage you Myself, anyone with a lanyard like this Andy, any of our leadership team Or anyone with a praying hands badge We'd love to pray with you after the service Now particularly if you joined in praying that prayer With me We'd just love to have a chat with you And see how we can support you on the journey And say a prayer for you today So do please come and find one of us And we'd love to pray for you We've got tea and coffee And there is even some Easter eggs Either at that exit Or through in the welcome area I do hope you can join us Stick around Have some tea and coffee And our remaining congregation Viata Noah Viata Noah meets every Sunday at 2pm You'd be very welcome to come Any other Sunday Now we've got a final greeting
[114:06] The one that we started with So I'll say the words at the top If you can join in with the words in bold Hope awakens He has risen He has risen indeed Hallelujah God bless you Enjoy the tea and coffee And Easter eggs Thank you My name is Joseph Thank you.