Jesus is risen, go tell

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Before we open God's Word, another joyous celebration to take place is that we've got three people who are coming into membership today, which is pretty exciting. And it's three people who they've become part of the church when they become believers in Jesus Christ. But as they looked at the mission of the church, they said, we will be part of the solution of taking the Word of God. We want to be part of the body more formally so that we can pray into decisions and contribute to the kingdom in a more special way. Also, it's about accountability, I suppose. If you join a club in other aspects of society, you join it to say, hey, I'm part of this club. The church is a bit different to that, so I'm part of the body of Christ and I want people to know about it. So folks, I'm just going to ask Tanya to come up, please. First, Tanya Russell. She sees that we are. Thank you, Tanya. We've got people everywhere here. I'll give you a bit of a certificate, but it's just so everyone can see who you are. Yeah, so have a look. You contribute to the church already by being in the worship team, and we appreciate your prayer. When we did our season of prayer, I've always appreciated your prayerful insights you've been sharing. So I don't think that's tremendous, so I want to encourage you and welcome to the church family. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you, dear. I don't know if you noticed, but Angela glanced down at the pulpit here, the podium to see if there was a microphone. It's not here, so you don't have to say anything. Patricia Carlson. It feels like I'm giving an award ceremony. It wasn't back in being a teacher. Patricia, there you are, Patricia. I appreciate, Patricia, what you do, too, to contribute to the life of the church and being part of the church family already, and just thank you for that, and just welcome. It's awesome. Thank you, Candice. Thank you, dear. Now I've got a special on from IGA 2 for one offer, and so I have Stuart and Angela, please come up with the boys. I'm going to pray for all you guys all at once in a moment. Sorry about that. That was graceful, wasn't it? We do thank you, too, for your contribution. You're doing kids' church, looking forward to the kids' church, Stuart, you're hanging in there looking for something. Doing sound. That's right, you're doing sound, training for sound. So if my mic goes mute during a sermon, it's you. Yeah, so that's enough past the dug time to finish. I'll remember that. How are you going, boys? Going well. Excellent. Well, I just want to say welcome to the church family. Here's your official certificate. Get a free coffee at the coffee can bar. And just thank you so much for being part of it. And letting you know, now again, I say church is a community, and so you know who these guys are, they need to know who you are. So please say g'day to them and encourage them. Thank you very much. Let's just pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the way you've moved in people's lives. Well, we've witnessed that today through baptisms. Father, it's just been awesome to see that. And Lord, now as we come to this time, our discontemplating church membership, and Father, we just thank you that you draw your people together to serve. You bring gifts and talents. And Father, we thank you for Tanya and her contribution to the church family. Pray, Lord, continue to bless her. Thank you, Lord. We pray, Lord, you might continue to grow her gifts as well. We thank you for Trish, Lord, and pray, Lord, you continue to bless her. Thank you for, Lord, wanting to be part of the church family in a more formal way. And pray, Lord, again, you guide her footsteps and open her eyes to see, Father, how she can contribute to your kingdom more meaningfully as well. And Father, we thank you for Stuart and Angela. Well, we thank you, Stewie's testimony, Father, and going through the waters today of baptism. But also, we thank you for this family as well. Thank you, Lord, that you have put in them, Lord, a desire to serve you and, Father, to contribute to your kingdom. And, Lord, we pray a blessing on them as well. Oh, Lord, it just gives us great joy to bring these celebrations before you in your name, amen. As we open God's Word, and today, I just want to just make a formal mention. It's going in the new constitution, I believe, that Hawaiian shirts or party shirts have been worn at every festival of Christian. So you'll notice there's quite a few around. There's a few of the kids wearing their Hawaiian party shirts. All done for mingos and cherry blossoms down there, that's awesome. And some of the folk in the church, and why it's a bit different, I suppose, is that it's not biblical and it's not really trying to make society part of the church. It's about us saying, today, we celebrate the risen Savior. We wear them at Christmas time because that's Jesus' birthday. And so today, I just want to say, you ready, kids? He is risen. Yeah, kids are getting it. That's the idea. If you open your Word up, we're going to have a look today at Scripture, five things about why being risen is important to us today. So in Matthew 28 we read, after the Sabbath at dawn, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, and for an angel of the Lord, it came down from heaven, and go into the tomb, roll back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, he is risen. We'll get there one day. Just as he had said, come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, now I have told you so. One of the things that really compels us so much about the Christmas story, but even more importantly the Easter story. Not until we understand it, Christmas, that Jesus came as a manuel, that Christ is amongst us. We understand now that Jesus is Lord and he is risen again. For us it has so many connotations. Some people come to church because they feel they must, some people come because they want to glorify God, and every step in between. My encouragement for you today is that if God is speaking to your heart about how you engage with him, about how you relate to him, can I ask you, talk to somebody about it. Talk to God first, but also talk to somebody about it and say, can you help me get my head around this? The pastor has been talking about all sorts of things and I just want to see what God is saying to me. You've heard testimonies today, wonderful testimonies of six people from different understandings and walks of life that God has individually put his hand upon their heart and said, I love you so much that I sent my son to die for you. And that's what we see today. The first of the five is that God's, God loved is revealed fully through the resurrection. You might say, well, isn't it revealed through the death on the cross? It is, but also if we understand it more deeply, after we have a read of John 3.16, this is the words, for God so loved the world that gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life, eternal life. It's about the personal sacrifice from a personal God. God loves you so much that not only did Jesus die for your sin, that he actually rose him from the dead. And when through his ascension and through his resurrection, he's saying now things can be done. A lot of people say, look at the cross and Jesus said, when we look at the passion narrative, he was hanging on the cross and he yelled out, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. He meant that, you know, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then he says in Mark, it is finished and we think, well, that's it's over. But the resurrection teaches us that God has a mission and his mission doesn't stop with death. It is through eternal life. That's how much he loves you. He sent his son to die for you that you might know that in the deepest possible way. We also know that hope is displaced by despair. In 1 Peter 1.3, the Scriptures teach us praise to God, our Heavenly Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In his mercy, not only does he love you so much as he reflected, but it's in his mercy as well because he could hold sin against us. It says in Scripture that we're all appointed to die and give account before the Lord. But in our understanding and the Bible's understanding in Jesus' heart and God's heart, it's about bringing that hope into the place of despair. Hope is more than a wish, it's a promise. That is the promise of the resurrection. Hope is more than a wish, sometimes I hope I get this right, I hope I get that right, but this hope that we speak about in the Bible is about the hope that is a promise from God. You will get things right. It's also about assurance and faithfulness. If you're walking with God and you know God and you are obedient to God and you're doing your best and you still have times and heard through our testimonies that people do have, we all have times of struggle, God is not going to forsaken you, he's given you the assurance of the resurrection that that is his promise, not only does he love you, but also there's hope beyond that despair. And the world is full of despair, isn't it? If nothing we can do as a church, we can pray for the world. If nothing we can do as a person before God is pray for those who are struggling around us and let them know that God loves us and he loves them as well. The third one is death is conquered and we sung about that just before, a great chorus to sing. Corinthians tells us when the perishable has clothed with imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then saying what is written has come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Whereo death is your victory, whereo death is your sting. The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. Paul wrote those words to the Corinthian church to encourage them that when Christ died and rose again that they couldn't be held by man-made laws, that they were held under the law of the kingdom of heaven and the big law that was existing in the world is the law of sin and sin separates us eternally from God and be as short and incompetent that in the resurrection that is being done away with that we have the victory in Christ. One of the things that about the baptism for me is that it just helps to bring that into focus and if you want to read not just about being baptized but just read about God's promise to people, have a read of Romans 6, 3 and 4. I'll read it for you today and I haven't got it up on the screen but I'll read it here. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father we too may have new life. Folks, there's going to be a time, there's going to be a time when the world is going to come to an end. If you're in blessed hope, blessed assurance, you want that understanding that death is conquered, that you won't go to the eternal place near to engage with Jesus, you need to step into him and say okay and we've heard these wonderful words of testimony today, I had to pray and say Lord I can't do this on my own and I thank you for those words, I can't do this on my own, I need you. That is the wonderful promise that comes through the resurrection, that Jesus has risen again and death has been defeated, sin has been dealt with. The next one is that God's reconciliation with humanity. So the resurrection is God's reconciliation with humanity. It says in Romans 5, 10, for if while we were God's enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more have him been reconciled should we be saved through his life? How much more can we reconcile through his life? We're all God's enemies once, but thank you that he is risen, he is risen. Okay thank you. I feel like if Mike was a little bit sensitive we would have competitions down here but that's cool, it's awesome having the kids in church. So when we're reconciled with God through humanity, Timothy has these words to say, it's written by Paul to Timothy, a young pastor of a church and he said, for there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind and that is Jesus Christ. A mediator steps between you or helps you to understand what's going on. I've been asked to mediate in a few things that have happened in sometimes in couples therapy, sometimes in relationships like that. Once I had to reconcile between a football coach and his whole team because they disagreed with how he was doing things. And so the mediation, I was praying like anything going into that knowing that okay this person has got what he wants to do and he thinks this is the best way to approach it and we've got 18 teenage boys under 17s who don't agree, a bit like the world today. And really hammered to me the fact that when Jesus is my mediator he stands between God and all the world that is trying to convince me otherwise. That he is not worthy, that he is a liar, that he lets us down, he lets people die of things. That is not what he does. Jesus is our mediator, he gets between us and God, he goes into batting our behalf, he goes into batting your behalf. But you've got to acknowledge who he is as Lord and Savior. The next one is that the resurrection is a promise of eternal life for believers. This is the cool part, without the resurrection we wouldn't have eternal life. We'd just be worshiping a dead God. Just like all the other religions in the world. But we have this understanding now that this is a special mission from God. In Romans 640 Jesus was praying and he said this, for my father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life and will raise them up on the last day. Everyone who looks to the Son and acknowledges who he is in their life I will lift them up on the last day. Could you say that in your life? Do you know that you're going to heaven? Do you know that when Jesus comes again that you'll be part of that number? That's the truth that comes from Scripture. Sometimes it's a truth that's uncomfortable. Sometimes it's the truth that's inconvenient. That we get our lives sorted with God and we work and we walk with God. And we understand that Jesus is there, is that not only a mediator but also he has gone on behalf of us. Without him we wouldn't have eternal life. That's my heart for today is that to share that with you. In John 10 Jesus said, I give them eternal life that they shall never perish and no one can snatch them out of my hand. I'll give them eternal life that none will perish and no one can snatch them out of my hand. I wonder who was trying snatches from God's hand. The evil one. He would try and convince us that Jesus is dead. He'll try and convince us that God is outdated. He'll try and convince us that religion and faith are old hat. The Bible has a different promise. Jesus has a different promise. That nothing can snatch you from God's hand once you commit to him. That is why the resurrection is so important. It completes the full circle for God so to speak. It's probably not quite the full circle. It's probably a little bit left when he comes again. So please forgive me for being a bit too assumptions. I just want to encourage you with that. Is that because you are walking with God and we're going to know it too because I know when I was baptized guys it was great. I come up and feel like a million dollars and then as time went on the week when I worked in a tie shop and the tie shop guys found out I was baptized. You might have heard this story if you have. Please forgive me. Some people haven't and they found out I was baptized through Kabbaltia was a small town in those days. Very very small. No traffic lights. Lots of pubs and so they decided that they would baptize gopher in the tube testing tank and so four of them grabbed hold of me and I was a pretty strong young bull where they overpowered me and they dunked me in the tube testing tank and that response was be how dare you do this to me. I think they call it bullying now but anyway but I thought how could you but my mentor said to me just endure it because you are being God's light in that tie shop and that was hard for me but I was determined when I read that scripture that God will not snatch me. Sorry that people will nothing will snatch me from God's hand that He is in. He has got hold of me. That is what the resurrection promises for us. It promises eternal life for believers and the fifth one and of course we get to this wonderful thing. Jesus is alive. Hallelujah. Thanks kids. Lily's doing a great job. Her eyes are about this far apart. Mum and dad but she wakes up every now and then to sort of do that for me. I thank you Lily. I appreciate it. Jesus will return one day. My father's house it says in John has many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you that I am not I am going there to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back and take you with me that you may also be where I am. John 14 verses 2 and 3. John 14 verses 2 and 3. If there was no resurrection there'd be no place for Jesus to go and prepare a place for us. Lots of different interpretations of scripture have mansions. I think that appeals to certain people in a sort of high demographic. Some people it's a camper van. I mean you know all sorts of things but the truth is in the scripture. The truth is right there in the scripture that God loves us so much. He cares for us so much. He's preparing a future in heaven for us for the time when we pass away. We die from this earth. We lose as someone said in their in their testimony the oldest gone the newest come. The new life in Christ. If he ascends he will return he promises that. So I'm just going to wrap it up because it's been a big morning. I just love what's happening and I'm excited what God's going to continue to do in the life of the church and see how how we can help the kingdom grow. How people can come to faith and know Jesus personally. But until he returns I have some scriptures to share with you. First of all until he returns we are commissioned to pass this along. It's great to come to church and hear about Jesus and come to sing these wonderful songs and thank you Pastor Dylan the team to someone awesome songs. It's great to do that but if you keep that a secret to yourself you're not being faithful to God. Pass it along. The Great Commission says that in Matthew 28 18 and 20 Jesus said all authority in heaven in heaven and earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples in all nations baptising them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I'm with you always to the end of the age. A risen Savior could not be with you to the end of the age. He's risen. He's going to be there for the end of the age. He's going to walk with you in those conversations you have. If people find out you're a Christian do you sort of recoil and think oh man this is uncomfortable. You say yes I am. We had this situation out at Gatton where I was meeting with the young adults when we first got there. It was quite a few of them. A lot of university kids from the UQ Gatton campus doing vets and and ag business and things and I said to them when would you like to do your you know when you want to do a Bible study. And they said can we do it Wednesday night Pastor Doug and I said Wednesday night yeah sure. Any reason why Wednesday night and they said yeah because Wednesday night is club night at the uni where everyone goes and gets drunk off their face on cheap alcohol and things happen that we don't like. People pray on each other there's a whole subculture in that uni. I said wow and they said yeah but if we come here on Wednesday night we can say when they say you come into to the club night we say no we're going to Bible study. So not only to get them out of out of the awkward conversation but also help them to be have a testimony that say yeah no I'm doing something that's about my spiritual welfare. And so when we understand that when he returns he's asking us to pass it on he wants us to be an active in our community. All believers have a mandate in 1 Peter 3 15 but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord and always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that you have but do this with gentleness and respect. Not only is he giving us a command to go make the disciples he even tells us how to do it. What sort of loving God is that? That's a God that loves us dearly. It's like saying well you know men when it's like when you open up a packet or a key of furniture what's the first thing in blokes do? With the instructions? Throw them to the side I got this rolls up the sleeve and they dive in two and a half hours later there's divorce on the cards there's all sorts of things happening and then they humbly say have you ever seen those directions? Well I think I'll have a look and then you got to go through 15 different languages but God gives us the purpose, he gives us the direction, he gives us the words, he gives us the attitude and all that is because of the resurrection. It comes out of that God's love for us. We are called to be a witness and a hope in in Hebrews 10 25. Not giving up meeting together as some in the habit of doing but encourage one another and all the more to see the day is approaching. Wow so coming together as church having the kids sitting out the front going here's Risen come on kids and see participation is dropping off. Meeting together is important, meeting together, coming together as a group and encouraging one another. Sometimes if you did a survey of church life you'd probably thought why do you come to church and a lot of people say to catch up with such and such but I've watched this church over the period of 12 13 months people come here to worship God, glorify God and then catch up with each other. There's a great spirit of fellowship here which is one of our values but there's also the spirit of transformation, the value of transformation here and I encourage you to keep doing that to try and overcome those difficulties you have because we call to do that until he returns his disciples have a calling John 15 8 you want to be a disciple that has an input for the kingdom of heaven this is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples everyone who professes to be a follower Jesus Christ is his disciple everyone who says he is my Lord and Savior is his disciple and we're called to bear much fruit and sometimes we can get into the work side of things and try and struggle and try and make things happen but I want to encourage you that when we do it for the glory of God things happen in his time and purpose one of the great opportunities we have as a church who comes together as a church who acknowledges Jesus Lord and Savior is to do the other command he does so the two ordinance we have in the Baptist understanding is to be baptized believers baptism or people who believe in Jesus get baptized we've seen today the other one is communion is gathering at the Lord's table he says that to do this until he comes again so when we come into communion now I'm going to ask you if you could just take out your communion cups because I'm going to do that too and get all the stuff out there and if you haven't got one please put your hand up because a steward will come around one down here Tony got a couple down here bring the box now there's a bit of an art to these and I'm just going to be a bit flippin for a moment there's two pieces to open the first is the little tiny thin part that takes off the purple bit and leaves the silver bit so you've got to try and work out how to get into that so it looks a bit like that once you get that open you'll see a little piece of wafer in there and we're going to use that as the bread this morning and then we'll open the bigger one at the bottom and that'll be the wine you We have Easter time, we have the Passover feast which is prepared for, and that was about remembering back to the Old Testament of the angel of death that passed over those who believe with the blood on the doorway of the Lamb that was sacrificed. We have the Lamb that was sacrificed in the New Testament understanding. That Jesus died for us as the Lamb who took our sin and He rose again. Because of His ascension, because He's rising again, because His resurrection, we have those five things that I've mentioned. I pray if you want to look at them more deeply, just go online and find those. But now as we draw around the table, so to speak, metaphorically, Jesus said in verse Corinthians 1126, whenever you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim His death until He comes. Paul was repeating Jesus until He comes because He is resurrected, He is alive. Let me pray and then we'll take the bread together. Father we thank you Lord that in amongst the business of our world Lord you speak quietly and silently to each person. Father you desire that none would perish but all would come to know you. Father we know that your timing is not our timing but your timing and that's perfect. Father we thank you for the opportunity we have to reflect this Easter. Father not only on the death that you died in our place but also on the resurrection, the hope for the future we have in that Lord, the hope for mankind that has. Lord I pray that you might continue to speak to us. Father as we gather around the table today Lord, we acknowledge your death. Lord you said that this is the bread of my body, broken for you. Take this in my name. Let's eat together. It says in Scriptures in the same way He took the cup and He said this is the cup of the new covered in my blood. Do this whenever you drink in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Let's drink together. Heavenly Father we thank you Lord that your mission was amplified through your son Jesus so that your love for us was so great you said him to die for us although we may have eternal life. We thank you Lord that in the truth the Scripture and prophecy fulfilled that he was raised on the third day and Lord because he has risen Father we can reflect upon that in our own lives. Lord help us to understand that more deeply and Father if we've just taken this cup and this bread Lord the words that Paul spoke of remember this until he comes. Father we look forward to his return. Father in the meantime help us not to be negative and Lord help us not to be static but Lord help us to be dynamic for you. Lord the people will know who you are through our lives. Lord could be humbly walk with you. Lord empower the believers. Lord pray over we pray over each person who loves you Lord those who are seeking you Lord we pray bring them to you. The Father you might speak to their hearts personally. Father we thank you for the words of testimony today that Lord brought that through in a loud way Lord a clear way that you are a God who declares that you love us and Lord you want us to repent and be baptized. Father thank you for the opportunity to be Lord be members of a church Father to contribute to your kingdom or meaningful way and Lord that's not lost on us that even though that's something that we've Lord feel that we can contribute but Father it's only done through the power of your spirit the compelling of your spirit and Father as we sing our last song this morning Waymaker Father help us to really Lord engage in that song to the point it becomes a part of worship Lord acknowledging that you are our waymaker you go before us Lord that you have relationship with us. Will we give you thanks and praise for who you are and