4/5/2026 Easter Sunday service

Easter Sunday service Resurrection Day

Transcript

SPEAKER_07 1:02

Father, thank you so much for this beautiful Sunday morning. Lord, we thank you that you are holy, that you are good. And God, most of all today, we thank you that you are alive, that we don't serve a dead God, that you are not Buddha, Muhammad, or Krishna or or any other dead idol. You are alive. So Lord, we lift your name high today and we welcome you in this house. Lord, we surrender our need to control everything. We surrender our need to uh to worry, to doubt. Lord, we just thank you for your presence here. We thank you for your love and your victory over death. Your victory over us. Your victory over our problems, over our weakness, over our sin. And Lord, today we just declare your victory over all of this stuff. God, I thank you that we don't fight to victory, but we fight from it. We fight from victory, so we declare your victory in Jesus' mighty name. Alright. Amen. So let's let's all stand up.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Let's praise the Lord this morning. Alright? When you stand in Easter of 2026, whether you check the box that you came to church today.

SPEAKER_07 2:23

Right? But what you might be able to suggest is that Easter of 2026, I worshiped you with my whole heart. And I was there, and you were there, and I didn't see a stranger on Easter of 26, and I'm not seeing a stranger in judgment, amen. Right? That's the goal. Right? We're not going to, you know, whether this goes the way that it's supposed to go, whether the chords sound right, or everybody's on key, or we're off key, or or whatever, it doesn't matter. Right? What matters is that we do it in spirit and we do it in truth. Amen. Right? Let's do it.

SPEAKER_06 3:12

Let everything that has breath. That has breath.

SPEAKER_09 3:16

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_06 3:17

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_09 3:18

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let everything. That has breath.

SPEAKER_06 3:22

That has breath.

SPEAKER_09 3:24

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_06 3:24

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_09 3:25

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_06 3:27

Praise in the valley. Praise when I'm shores. Praise when I'm down in. Praise when I'm down burns. Praise what's around me. Praise is the water.

SPEAKER_03 3:53

I am going to be strong.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to pray the Lord. Oh my soul. Oh my soul.

SPEAKER_06 4:17

Please do the top. Please go to the show. It's all in the sound.

SPEAKER_04 4:50

I've got a reason to pray. Oh my soul. Oh my god! I won't be quiet, my God is a lot. I'll be back in sun.

SPEAKER_06 5:14

I won't be quiet, my god is a lot. I'll be back in stock.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

I won't be quiet, my god is a light. I could I keep it in stock! I won't be quiet, my god is alive! I could I keep it in stock! Oh my soul!

SPEAKER_06 5:55

Praise God you'll get to feed the pick! Praise God you're gonna be suffering, Praise God you wake! Praise God you'll get to be clear!

SPEAKER_04 6:25

Oh my soul! Oh my soul Praise the Lord!

SPEAKER_06 7:16

Oh my soul!

SPEAKER_09 7:19

Said everything, everything, that is breath, that is breath, praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord Said everything, that everything that is breath, that is breath, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Praise the Lord I'm gonna talk to you for just a second. Be the mountain wherever I run, the one I dream from all is mass, the key of my be the shadow where I hide the rest of my life, all he is massive, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:43

You are you are good, you good Is he good this morning? You're never gonna let you never gonna let me die You're never gonna let You're never gonna let me die You're never gonna laugh You're never gonna let me die You're never gonna laugh You're never gonna let me down You're good You could You are good You are good You are good You gun You're never gonna laugh You're never gonna let me die You're never gonna laugh You're never gonna let me die You're never gonna let You're never gonna let me die You're never gonna laugh You're never gonna let me down You are good You could You are good You gotta You good You are good You good In this obsession with the things this world says make us happy Can see the slaves we are in all the searching, all the grasping Like we deserve much more than all these blessings holding So now I'm running free into no genome mercy An empty So come and empty me So that is too afraid I want my life to me Only Christ in me Oh I will fix my eyes Just so I need the world to stay And it's Christ in me Christ in me with what holds me down the things I once was chased and after Throw off these tiny chains that I have let become a master So now I'm running free into a notion number to me So that it's too afraid I'll die to Christ in me So I'll fix my eyes first I need to That it's Christ in me That it's Christ in me in this obsession with the things that's supposed to make us happy Can't see the slaves we are in all the searching, all the grass fame, so I will fix my eyes cause you're my source of life, I need the world to see only Christ in me, only Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me, only Christ in me.

SPEAKER_08 18:18

Where we stream our services under Carla Brack. So today, first of all, happy resurrection day, everybody. Happy Easter, right? Right. All right, welcome to Lifeline Church. If you are a first-time visitor, uh there are connection cards in the view in front of you, in the chair in front of you. If you are new, make sure you fill out a connection card so that we know who you are and so we can get back in touch with you with events and stuff that we have going on here. Um today we are starting a brand new sermon series. And this series is called Empowered. Alright? So we're starting the Empowered Series. Um today we celebrate that Jesus is alive. Alright? I know that it's about his death and his burial, but we celebrate the fact that he had victory over death and that he rose again. And when he rose, that proved that everything that he had been saying all along was true. Alright? It made all kinds of prophecies come true, and it proved that what he was telling his disciples as he was walking here on the earth that he would that the temple would be destroyed, but in three days it would be rebuilt. It was true, and he proved that in the resurrection. But before Jesus returned to heaven, he made a promise that he was not going to leave us alone. All right, because they were worried when you leave, what do we have did? He wanted them to know that though he was going to rise back into heaven, he wasn't leaving them alone. So in John 14, 16 through 17. John 14, 16 through 17, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. So our hope throughout this sermon series is that you're going to be able to gain a deeper understanding of the person and the work of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives. So we're going to be looking in this series for empowerment. Just as it says, we're looking for empowerment. Now, we all have major points in our life that we remember. For me, uh some of my major points is the day that I got married to my husband. That's a major point in my life. Or the day that I had my kids, each of them. That that is a major point in my life. The day I graduated from graduate school. That's a major point in my life. All right. We all have major points. And if you be honest with yourself, if you can sit there and think of major points throughout your life, well, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the major point of being a Christian. That is the major point of being a Christian. So we're going to look at this most uh powerful and important event. Impacts every single person in this room, whether you know it or not, you are being impacted by the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. So what we're gonna look at today is Peter's sermon. All right. We're gonna look at Peter's sermon. And this is in Acts 2. If you want to turn there, that's where we're gonna be today. And when Peter started preaching the good news or the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is the same message that we speak today. It has lasted all these years, and it is the same message that we speak today. It took place about 2,000 years ago. So I'm gonna set the stage before I jump straight into the uh scriptures. I'm gonna set the stage 50 days before Peter preaches this sermon in the streets of Jerusalem. Jesus was whipped. He was beaten. He had to walk and carry his cross down these same streets where Peter ended up preaching this sermon. Jesus he paid he uh faced a storm uh uh of insults that people were hurling at him, but he also faced a trial that was a sham. It was all set up, the whole thing. They broke so many rules and so many laws when they had that trial that convicted Jesus. And his body was taken off the cross after he died, and it was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Aramethea. So three days later, however, he rose from the dead and he walked again among his followers. Now, when he rose from the dead and he walked among his followers, he didn't just pop in and out and say, Hey, and then he left. He hung around for 40 days. All right, after he uh raised from the dead, he hung around, kind of made a resurrection tour, if you will. You know how every all these groups they do their tours. He did a resurrection tour, okay? And he hung around and he appeared to many people during his resurrection tour. First, he appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb in John 20, 11 through 18, and Mark 16, 9. Next, he appeared to Mary, the mother of James. Joe, Joanna and Salome, that's my phone. In Matthew 28, 8 through 10. Then he appeared to Peter personally in Luke 24, 34, and 1 Corinthians 15 and 5. He appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, 13 through 32. He appeared suddenly in a locked room to ten of the apostles. This is when Thomas wasn't there. And uh it was in Luke 24, 36 through 43, and John 20, 19 through 25. One week later, he appeared to all eleven apostles, and this is the famous doubting Thomas encounter where Jesus offered his hands and his side uh as proof. That's in John 20, 26 through 29. He appeared to seven apostles by the Sea of Galilee, and this was the miraculous catch of fish that they had there. Um and uh the public restoration of Peter also happened at that point where he had denied Christ three times during the whole trial. And this was in John 21, 1 through 24. He also talked about his appearance to over 500 believers in 1 Corinthians 15 6. He made a pivotal appearance to his skeptic brother James and transformed him into a leader of the early church in 1 Corinthians 15 7. And he makes his final commission and promises the Holy Spirit as his ascension in Acts 1, 3 through 12 and Matthew 26, 8, uh 16 through 20. So that was Jesus' resurrection tour right there, okay? He appeared to 5 to 600 people after his resurrection. And these five to six hundred people wrote about this. All right? They were first hand witnesses and they saw him. So when people doubt and say he's not real, he did either he died and he stayed there or or he wasn't real at all. There were five to six hundred witnesses of his resurrection. That right there is what when you go to trial here in the in the in the uh today's court system, you have witnesses, all right? And lots of times it's first account witnesses, and that's the testimony that they go on. And usually if you have two that that are concurring with each other, then it's true. Five to six hundred people witnessed to Jesus after the resurrection, and that's proof to me. That's proof to me that Jesus Christ is real, and Jesus Christ rose from the dead. So Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 and 6 and then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. When Paul wrote that letter, and he wrote that letter in about 55 A.D., uh, he clearly noted there that most are still alive. Now, of course, they're not alive today, but to the people that Paul was writing to at that time, these people were still alive. So he's essentially daring those that were reading his his letter. If you don't believe me, go and talk to the witnesses, and they'll tell you Jesus Christ rose from the dead because we saw him. We saw him. So uh after his 40 days of appearance, Jesus ascended back into heaven, and he told his followers as he was getting ready to ascend into heaven that he was not going to leave them alone, that there was someone coming that would come after him and that would for the rest of their lives stay with these followers, okay? And he was talking about the Holy Spirit. He was talking about the Holy Spirit. So this once cowardly Peter stands up now and preaches, that in and of itself is a wonderful transformation. But he he taught the first gospel marriage, uh, gospel message in the history of the church. This morning that's what we're looking at is it is a gospel message, okay? So Acts 2, 14 and 15 is where we'll start. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only the third hour of the day. So it's about 9:30 in the morning-ish, or nine o'clock somewhere in that area in the morning. And all of these believers, they were so happy. Kind of like this morning, I was looking out while we were singing that first song, and y'all was getting it, and he was loving it. Okay. Well, you gotta remember the audience that Peter is writing to, and he said, guys, Christians are just a different breed of people. We are happy people. And he he was kind of giving a tongue-in-cheek uh little slur when he said, No, we're not drunk, because they were suspecting that why are they acting so happy, especially at nine o'clock in the morning. Why are they acting so different? Well, the only thing I can think of is they're probably drunk, and Peter was letting them know, no, it is not the fact that they're drunk, they are not drunk. That is not what is making them act this way. That this way, that's kind of Peter's hook to gain their attention, okay? The fact is, we as believers in Christ stand out. We stand out, okay? We stand out a little bit in all crowds, but our worship uh experience is expressive. All right? This church's worship experience is expressive. A lot of churches don't have expressive. But in my opinion, if you can get expressive at a football game, if you can get expressive at a birthday party, if you can get expressive about other good things that happen in your life, well then when it comes to Jesus Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection and the fact that you can have eternal life in him, what a better reason to get expressive. We should all be expressive when it comes to that. Every single one of us should want to express our feelings for Jesus Christ. Take your marriage partner if you're married, or your your boyfriend, or your girlfriend, and if you were never ever excited over them, would that not be a boring relationship? They would wonder what in the world am I doing? What in the world is happening here? You want to be happy with them, you want to have good times, you want to be expressive. Youth. You want to be expressive. Okay? But that's not what these people of this day and a lot of people in the world today, that's not what they do. They don't get expressive over Jesus Christ. And we have got to learn to be expressive over Jesus Christ. Outside the church walls, a Christian can go in peace. Have you ever been to a funeral of somebody that knows the Lord and the family knows the Lord? Of course they're sad, but there's a different kind of sadness in the room because they have hope and they know what is going to happen. They know where they are, they they have hope in eternal life with Jesus. But have you ever been to a funeral where the person's not saved and the family doesn't know Jesus? I have. And it's a totally different atmosphere because they have no hope. They have no hope in seeing their loved one again, they have no hope that that eternity exists and that they'll get to be together. So Peter goes on to explain why they were filled with joy after this. We're going on to Acts chapter 2. We're going 16 through 21 is where we are next. 16 through 21. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and female servants in those days. I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor and smoke, the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And watch this last one. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. All right. So this is how Peter goes on. After he tells them, No, we're not drunk. That's not what's happening. Here, let me tell you what's happening. We have the hope of a future. We have a hope of eternity. We're going to see our loved ones again. We're going to spend heaven, uh eternity in heaven where things are good, a paradise. That's why we act like we do. Because we have hope and because we have the Holy Spirit. Peter quotes from the prophet Joel when he did this. He he quoted from the prophet Joel. Because a lot of people in those times, they were Old Testament people. They knew these prophets, they studied the prophets. So Peter quotes one of the prophets in order to make a connection with the crowd so that they can understand and more fully believe what it was that he was saying. So he doesn't stop there though. He goes on to explain why Joel's prophecy was coming to fulfillment at that time. He goes on in 22 through 24. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, losing the pangs of death because that is insane that when Jesus died, and when Jesus rose again, this fulfilled Joseph's prophecy, and y'all saw it, y'all know it. So why don't you believe? That's where he was going with this. Why don't you believe? It's coming to pass right now. It gets to the real point. And the real point is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's important for us to remember the setting. Remember the setting in which this sermon took place. Peter is right in the middle of Jerusalem. In the middle of Jerusalem. This isn't a massive problem, okay? I'm gonna say, we're gonna play it to Peter's hand this morning. What's your business? Is everybody else's business too? Because the tablets is small, the table goes on to the next, the thing goes on to the next. You can't keep a secret small. You just can't do it. You can't keep a secret there either. Right? You can't keep a secret. Well, that's kind of true. It was not as huge but frogless. It was not huge but fruitful. It was uh city with the news break quickly. And just 50 days ago. Jesus, just fifty days ago. Just fifty days ago. Jesus watched you up to the same street. Jesus dead. They marched you right down the street. They whipped me if he was bleeding. They said that you couldn't even tell he was a human by the time they got done with him. That's how cruel his death was. They beat him to the point that you couldn't even tell he was a human. But these people, they loved him. They were screaming for it. They wanted Barabbas, if you remember. They asked for Barabbas to be free and to crucify, kill Jesus. And they were locking that route, and they were screaming and cheering. And then when they hug him up on that cross, remember they put the nails through his hands, through his feet, and they stabbed him in the sky. And the people were there cheering and mocking him. If you want to be saved, why don't you come down off that cross? Well, the day if somebody mocks me off the show. But Jesus, he just cut there. He could have come down off that cross and he could have said one word. But because he loves you and you and you and you, because he loves you so much, he chose to willingly hang there so that he would have the blood sacrifice needed to remove your sins and give you that hope of eternity.

unknown 39:13

Sacrifice.

SPEAKER_08 39:14

Give you that hope of eternity.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

But what do we do?

SPEAKER_08 39:18

We give him a little bit of time when we have time. We don't make extra effort to give him time. We give him what we have left. That's what a lot of people do. And we cannot honor him. Jesus Christ loved him so much that he endured pain, excruciated pain, like we have never failed, and yet we can stay behind and use cuss words instead of wonderful words that are Jesus. Can you imagine how he looks at us when we do things that are against his laws and his rules after he suffered so much? And we just it's like nature to us to just break those laws and rules every day. It has to break his heart. But anyway, it's just 50 days after Jesus endured this Peter's suffering is when Peter preached this sermon. They saw the burial of Jesus, they saw the body coming down that cross, they saw the preparation, they saw where he was placed. But most importantly, they offered the news of the empty tomb. All those 15 days that these people had to reflect on and think about what Jesus had gone through, they were reflecting on the fact that they saw that empty tomb. The resurrection, guys, is undeniable to this crowd that Peter was talking to. They witnessed it, they knew that it happened. Well, the empty tomb has become now a major landmark. It's a major landmark in the city of Jerusalem. But people wanted to go see it for themselves. After Jesus was resurrected, Christians would regularly go there and worship. They would just go there because that's the whole thing. That's the whole basis of the Christian religion, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So the Christians would regularly go there to worship at that point. You can still go there to that point. You can go inside the church of the Holy Second. And you can see the spot where the influence was. The point is, even hundreds of years after Jesus' resurrection, because it made such an incredible impact. It was such an incredible miracle that every person that was in the crowd that day knew exactly where it was when Peter started talking. Peter preached this sermon right in the middle of the eyewitness window. Now, what is the eyewitness window? Exactly what it says. It's that window of the happening. That the people that saw the resurrection happen, the people that saw the empty tomb, the people that were there when his body was taken down and knew that the tomb is empty, those eyewitnesses were still alive. So Peter got to preach the first sermon in the eyewitness window. And that is so impressive. So impressive. Today, it seems like preachers today were all trying to prove that the cross happened. Oh, how wonderful that would have been to be able to preach right there during the outwitness window. Because the resurrection is true. The resurrection is real. And even though we're not preaching in the outwitness window, we have the historical outwitnesses. They're all written later. That showed us that Jesus Christ was real, that Jesus Christ was buried, that Jesus Christ rose three days later. Jesus' resurrection was the culmination of God's plan to reunite with that. See, sin breaks your relationship with God. Sin breaks that relationship with God. I've had people tell me before, oh yes, I'm a Christian. I accepted Jesus Christ way back when I was a kid. I'm a Christian. But you look at them with their fruits. They don't have one fruit that proves that to me. Just because you say the prayer doesn't mean that you receive Jesus as your Savior. In an emotional moment, a lot of people have said the prayer. You have to search your lives this morning and you have to decide for yourself. When I said that prayer of salvation, was it real? Did I really mean it? And what do the fruits of my life look like today? Are you stuck in sin today? Are you being your true self? Or are you hiding behind a persona that you've invented in yourself that's not true? Are you hiding behind what you've built for other people to see? Let me tell you, Jesus Christ knows who you are. He knows you better than you know you. What are your freedoms saying about you today? Do you work? Do you give? Do you have compassion? Do you cuss? Because the Bible speaks about the tongue. You know, all of those are not godly things. Those are not godly things. And it goes on, there's other things. Do you have sex outside of marriage? Uh are you homosexual? Um, there's so many sins that people of today think that it's okay to do these things because the culture that we live in has said that it's okay. The culture that we live in says it's okay and that love is love. No, it's not. No, it's not. The Bible clearly tells us what love is. The Bible clearly tells us what sin is. And if you have sin in your life that you know it's a sin and that you're living in it day after day after day after day, it's time you hit the altar and it's time you repent for what is in your life. Because if you have sin in your life and you know it's a sin and you keep on living like you are, I wouldn't want to be even on judgment day. Because Jesus will point every bit of that out to you. I died for you. I walked down that road for you. I was beaten for you, I was spit upon for you, I hung on the cross and died for you while they insulted me. I didn't say a word, and I asked God that he would forgive them, for they know not what they do. And then you claim to be a Christian, but yet your fruits show none of it. Your fruits show nothing that you do is Christianly. That will be judged one day. That will be judged one day. So let's talk about the geography here for a second. Well, let me. Peter continues his message. He quoted King David at this point. He's already referred to Joel. Now he goes back and he quotes King David. And in 25 through 28 it says, For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your holy one see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Now, he was quoting Psalm 16, 8, and 11. David, uh, Peter was quoting Psalm 16, 8, and 11. And that's what David had written. So the geography. Peter isn't preaching in a vacuum. Many historians believe that just a few hundred yards, just a few hundred yards from where Peter stood and preached his sermon, maybe even in the same building, because you know how big their buildings and things were back then, maybe in the building that he was just in was the tomb of David. They believed the tomb of David was right there where this first sermon was preached. And this first sermon was preached where Jesus died. So can you see how God orchestrated the events to where all of the major things that make up this Christian faith was all right there in the same place on this day. That is very important. It was the natural monument. Everyone in the crowd had been there, they had seen the stones, they knew where David was because they went to his tomb, they knew where Jesus died because they went, the Christians went there and worshiped, and now Peter is preaching in that same spot. Let's look back to what Peter says. Verses 29 through 31. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. But therefore, but being therefore a prophet, knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne. He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. Basically, what he's telling us in this passage of scripture here is David died. And David was a great man. And David was after God's own heart. And you guys at this very place go and you memorialize David. But you have to go to where Jesus was. Because Jesus, his body didn't corrupt, his body didn't decay. Why? Because he isn't there. He's not there. Jesus is alive. In your prayer this morning, Ben, you were talking about other gods that people might have. I guarantee you, if you go to the tomb of Muhammad, he's still laying there. You go to any other tomb that people raised this person up as a God, they're still laying there. But you go to Jesus' tomb and it is empty. Because he defeated death, he defeated the grave so that we may have eternal life in heaven with him forever. That is the difference maker. Jesus is truly God, and he is alive today. And because he is alive today, you should want to worship him. You should want to be in church. You should want to do good deeds. When you do something that is a sin, when you do something that displeases God, it should eat away at your soul until you have to make it right. Serving Jesus is more important than being popular among your friends that. Serving Jesus is more important than making sure that your family doesn't get hurt because you're constantly talking about Jesus Christ. Guys, there is a future. There is an eternity, and it is either heaven or it is hell. And every person in this place this morning will spend eternity in one of two places. Which will it be for you? Which will it be for you? It's heaven or hell? And those are your only two choices. There's no limbo in between. How are you living your life during this day? And I don't mean during this day as here on Easter Sunday in 2026. I mean right now, this period, this season in your life. How are you living your life? If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven or would you go to hell? Because you'll go, one of those two places. And which will it be with you? Which will it be with you? Peter's argument was brilliant. He's saying that David was acting as a prophet. David knew that the Messiah would come from David's line, and he described Jesus' resurrection, not his own. Peter goes on, shifting our focus back to Jesus in verses 32 through 36. He says, This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make you enemies, your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. So Peter's kind of telling him, you know, this guy, this guy that you thought was so bad, this guy that you killed, this guy that you're responsible for hanging, you know what? He's your Lord. He's your Christ. He's going to decide what happens to you. And I say that to every person in this room today. If you're not taking Jesus Christ seriously, then you need to think about your life. If you're not taking Jesus Christ seriously, I worry that if you were to die tonight, you might end up being the one that goes to hell. Which is a real place. It is a real place. I was talking to someone not long ago. And when I mentioned hell and the possibility of them going there, they said, well, then I guess I'll burn. I guess I'll burn. I don't think burning is the least of your problem when you get to hell. There's going to be gnashing of teeth people like try to get out of their pain. It is a bottomless pit that you're calling. And you know the one thing that's going to be worse than anything else is all of a sudden. God is not with you anymore. You're going to feel what it's like to have a severed relationship. You can call on him and he's not going to hear you. You can call on him and he's not going to answer. You can beg throughout eternity, give me one more chance, but God's not going to be there. The separation will be real, it will be eternal, it will be permanent, and it will be too late. It will be too late at that point. Too late. So imagine the silence in that crowd when Peter pointed towards the tomb. Everyone knew David was in there. But Peter points to the empty tomb that they had all seen and heard about, that Jesus Christ went into, and he pointed at that empty tomb, and then he pointed up to the sky and he said, But it's Jesus. This Jesus. He's not in the grave. It's empty because God raised him up. So here's the truth for us today. That same spirit that refused to let Jesus' body see corruption is the same spirit that wants to live inside of you today. The very same spirit because he never dies. He's eternal. He's always here. He wants to take the dead area of your lives. And we all have dead areas in our lives. He wants to take those dead areas. He wants to take our broken marriages. He wants to take our addictions. He wants to take all of the things that we struggle with. If we're missing our hope, if we're missing our joy, everything that is wrong in our lives. He wants to do what he did 2,000 years ago and he wants to resurrect. That's what we're wanting to happen today. In Acts 2.37, it says, now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. And said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, they were cut to the heart because they saw Jesus Christ's tomb empty. Many, five to six hundred, saw him alive, and yet they were still living life just like they had been when he died. They were not taking advantage of the fact that Jesus had shed his blood and died on the cross for them. And when Peter pointed out, this man that you cheered for, that you killed, is now a ruler over you. Woe am I. And so now they're desperate. What should we do? What shall we do? Tell us. They're pleading with you. What do we do? This is the grace of God reaching out to you right now. The grace of God is reaching out to every person in this sanctuary today. If you're feeling something, you're saying, What should I do? What should I do? Come to Jesus. That's what you should do. Jesus is the only way that can save you. You can't go to Nepal. You can't go to heaven. You can't go to Buddha. Why? They're not real gods. But you can't call out on the name of Jesus. If you call the name of Jesus, he is faithful and just and will forgive you of all your sins. And he will help you. Will your life clean up like that? Probably not. Probably not. It's going to take time. It's called sanctification. As you go, he'll correct you. And he'll change you. He'll mold you and he'll shape you. But the important part is when you come to Jesus, you come as you are. You can't get those things out of your life first. What happens is you come to Jesus and then you let Him help you get those things that shouldn't be there out of your life. Peter, he told them to start the relationship with Jesus, you need to be baptized by the Spirit into the family of God. And you say, well, what does that mean? When you accept Jesus Christ into your heart, you automatically receive that comforter. You automatically receive the Holy Spirit. He lives and dwells inside of you. At the moment you accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord and as your Savior. Today, He wants to do that to you. Today He wants to save you. He wants to free you from all of your sins. 3,000 people got saved that day that Peter preached. Y'all, 3,000 people got saved that day. In Acts 2, 41, it says, so those who received his word were baptized and added that day about 3,000 souls. And this morning, that's the opportunity that I'm giving you today. I have three things that I'm going to do an altar call for today. Number one, if you've ever received Jesus Christ into your heart and into your life, and you say, Pastor, what do I do? Pastor, how do I receive this Jesus? How do I start walking? How is it so I can act on that Christians do happy and joyful with peace? You come to the altar and we pray. It's simple as that. So if you want to accept Jesus Christ into your heart today, I want you to come to this side. Then we've got the middle here. If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart before, but maybe your black back sliding and he's not there anymore. Maybe you turned your back on him. Or maybe you are still a Christian, but you have let things in your life overcome you. You've let doubt in, you've let worry in, you've let sin in, any kind of sin. Maybe you're still living the perfect life, according to yourself, but you just don't pray anymore. You don't have that zeal in your heart. I want you to come and stand in the middle. We're going to rededicate our lives to Jesus. Then I have this third section over here. Some of you are living your life for Jesus. You love Jesus, but you don't know what to do now. What is your next step? We're going to have baptism here at the church here in a couple weeks. And if that's you and you want baptized, I want you to come and stand over here. That's your three choices this morning. Now I'm going to pray. And as soon as I get done and I close out the prayer, I want you to get up. I want you to move quickly to one of these three sections if that fits you. Alright? Heavenly Father God, we come before you this morning. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of your son. For I can only imagine, God, what that felt like to give up your only son as a savior for the world, and to have to watch what you went through. I thank you, Jesus, that you suffered and died on that cross. A cross you could have come down from at any time, but you chose to stay there because you loved me and you love each and every person in this room today, Lord. Jesus Christ, thank you. If we've been not living for you as we should, though we have already confessed, God, I pray that you would bring that to our mind and give us the strength to come down and rededicate today. And God, I pray for those that need baptism. Whether they were baptized before but they feel like they fell into sin, so they want to do it again, or whether they've never been baptized and you're coming for the first time, give them the strength, God, to take that next step in you. In all of these things we pray. Amen. Now, if that's anybody in this room, I want you to come on down here. Whether you're accepting Jesus, whether you already know him, or whether you're making a commitment this morning that you want to be baptized into Jesus Christ. I want you to go to this side that's you.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:10

Don't pass it up this morning that you come down here.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:24

Come up front this morning.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:15

All right, we are good this morning. Brace your hands quickly. Worship Jesus. Brace your hands and surrender. Just like a top race of hair. Alright. All hearts clear this morning. Give me an Amen. Alright.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:22

Alright, so we're gonna go on. I'm gonna do a couple of announcements first of all. I want to talk about our Easter egg hunt yesterday. It was fantastic. We had over 200 people showed up yesterday. It was huge. And we love them and we blessed our community. Now here's the thing. I want you guys to pick up and pray. Because we planted seeds yesterday. They might not be here this morning. Many of them told me they were coming today. But you know what happens when you make a commitment to go to church? That's when the devil starts fighting even harder. He starts fighting it even harder. And then it comes to the rain and the bed felt so good this morning. It's hard to get up like that, right? Right? Thank you. First of all, everyone here, for your faithfulness to Jesus Christ that you got up. I also want you to pray for all the seeds that were planted yesterday. Pray for all the seeds that were planted yesterday, that they will grow and that they will get into church, whether it's here or somewhere else. My concern is that they find Jesus Christ and that they get in church with a good church that preaches the Bible. Pray for them.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:44

Are you going to Easter tonight?

unknown 1:08:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:51

Alright. I know lots of you like to have Easter with your families. I think that's awesome. Alright? Brian and I are going to go do something Eastery after we get out of here. Red's going to go ahead and have youth tonight at 6 o'clock. Y'all, a lot of youth showed up for the eighth night yesterday. And I think that's amazing. But youth, if you're not spending time with your family, he's having it at 6 o'clock tonight. If you are, don't worry about it, okay? He's going to be here just in case. Tuesday night is our outreach night. We had a lot of fun this past Tuesday night. Oh, I don't even see her. Heather's gone. Heather and Keelan came with us this past Tuesday night. And Travis came with us this past Tuesday night. And we went around knocking door to door and giving out flyers and inviting people to church. Let me tell you something. The work of the Lord is real. And I say it all the time. God didn't save you to sit, He saved you to serve. So if you're free on Tuesday nights and you want to make a difference in this community, come out Tuesday nights and let's love on this community. That's what we're doing. We're passing out prayer QR codes so that if they have any needs in their life, that they can send it to us and we can pray with them. We had one little lady, I have to tell you, we have one little lady that we went to her house and charity was the one that went in to this lady. And this lady looked at Charity and she just cried. She said, God sent you here to me tonight. This lady has no one. She lives by herself. And she's getting ready to have back surgery on April the 19th, I think, she said. And she's afraid. And she asked Charity if she'd pray with her. So Charity prayed with her right there. And then she also said, told Charity some of her needs that she had. And when Charity got back out to the car, Charity was explaining it to us. And it turns out that Heather was able to meet one of the needs that she had. So Heather got out of the car and went back into the lady's house and prayed with her and talked with her. We made a contact there. She doesn't have transportation. So we told her about the bus, but with her back surgery coming up, she's going to be out for a while. We need to love one of her. But not just her. You wouldn't believe the people that we talked to in the community that said, I didn't think anybody knew us here. Y'all, the community needs us. And I encourage everyone that can to come out on Tuesday nights and help this outreach team to get out there and to love on this community. Wednesday night we have Lifeline men's, lifeline women's, lifeline kids, and lifeline youth. All of those groups meet on Wednesday nights. This past Wednesday night we had 12 youth and kids show up, and I think that's great. Um, men, men. Mark is doing a wonderful job teaching men how to be men. Alright? He's teaching men how to be men. Because that line is kind of blurred in today's society, right? He's teaching real men how to be the men that they should be. That is an important study. I know that John comes to that, John Chandis comes to that, Justin comes to that, and of course Martin teaches that. Y'all, we need some men to come out and fellowship together. Women, Carson does the ladies, and Carson's doing a wonderful job. But ladies, if you're free on Wednesday nights, come join them because I know that I stand up here and I preach and I teach. I don't call myself a preacher, I call myself a teacher because I'm not a snorter and a snotter. I talk more than anything, but I want you guys, rather than to hear me holler at you, I want you to hear the truth of the Bible and the history and the geography and things like that. I want you to know who it is that you're serving. But on two, on Wednesday nights, Carson does a deep dive into the Bible with the ladies where you can interact and talk and ask questions and learn. So please come out for ladies and youth and kids. We just have a blast. So that's Wednesday nights. Friday nights is celebrate recovery. Please come out for that. Anybody with a hurt habit or hang up, they're doing wonderful. And I don't think we have anything for Saturday this week, do we? Don't think so. No. Alright, so those are your opportunities for the week. If you will stand with me. Oh no, sit. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Ben and Brian are going to pass out communion shows. We're doing communion. I forgot all that. I'm out here just talking. Communion is sacred, communion is holy. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior, Savior, do not take communion. Do not partake of this. But we also invite everyone, I don't care if you go here, if you go somewhere else and you're visiting here today, if you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, I invite you to accept a communion cup. They're going to be passing them out. We used to have, if you remember, we used to actually have wafers that you get, and then the little cup of grape juice. It's all in one thing now. On the very top is your wafer. If you get to the wafer on the top, you peel back that top plastic, and then we peel the rest of it for actual the juice that's in it. On the last night before Jesus would go to the cross, he gathered to eat the Passover meal with his disciples. He was about to reveal a plan that would change everything. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the fullness of God was going to be made available to everyone who would receive Jesus and this brand new contract written in heaven. It was a great price that was paid. I've kind of touched on it already. He was beaten. He was bruised. He was crucified just for you. He hung on that cross and he died for you. So today we're going to take communion. In Matthew chapter 26, verses 26 through 30. As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. And he broke it into pieces and he gave it to the disciples. Father, this morning we pray over this bread. Can you we up on your bread? Father, this morning we pray over this bread, God, as it represents the broken body of Jesus Christ. God, we pray that as we partake, we know this is assembly, Lord. And we pray that you would help us to reflect on what you did for us. God, help us to reflect on the pain and the suffering and your brokenness, God, as you died on the cross for us. In Jesus' name, amen. So they took the bread and they ate it. Jesus said, Okay, and eat it, for this is my life. The blood that sanctifies us all, the blood that frees us from our bondages of sin, God. I pray God that you would help every person that's taking this communion of the Lord of God to understand the significance of the blood of Christ who is Christ and that it gives us a new life. In Jesus' name, amen. At that point, they took the gave thanks to God for everyone. Are our hearts free this morning? Amen. As soon as Brian gets to the back and then gets to the back and they're gathering the cups back up, we will dismiss. How many have bigger dinner plans?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:26

Yeah, awesome. Which one's bringing me? Do you say sorry?

SPEAKER_08 1:19:35

Oh, okay. Well, I don't. I don't know what we're pulling something. I don't know what we're gonna need. Alright, Bradley, you just missed us this morning. Guys, know that I love you and let's get active. Let's not get saved and sick. Let's save and serve.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:52

Heavenly Father, Lord, we again just thank you for this great sacrifice, Lord, that just so that we can have an eternity, God, we thank you for the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, God, that through his blood, Lord, that we are saved. I pray, Lord, that you would just help us to remember and go through our days, Lord, that it was through this sacrifice, and Lord, we have the one commission, Lord, just to spread the gospel as we go out. Let us be a Christ-like person. Let our attitudes, our actions, everything that we are be Christ-like as we as we go through the week, God. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.