WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:01.040 Amen. 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:02.640 You guys can be seated. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:04.799 Well, good morning again. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:10.240 So this morning we find ourselves in the Gospel of Luke. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:29.039 And on Good Friday, uh we walked through Jesus' final hours as he uh made his way uh through uh the Garden of Gethsemane as he prayed before the Father to uh take this cup from him, but nonetheless let your will be done, not mine, and then he's uh paraded into town. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:39.280 He's put through these expedited mock trials uh to try and find him guilty, yet they found him uh not guilty, but yet the crowd still cried out, crucify him, right? 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:53.679 And so then he's carrying his cross, his his own execution device up the the Via de la Rosa, the way of suffering, uh outside of the city limits and to the precipice of Golgotha where he is crucified. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:01:00.719 He's executed with with precision because the Romans had known exactly how to do this with perfection. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:12.079 Uh it's told that at one point in time that the Romans crucified so many Christians that you could line them up from Cincinnati to Lexington side by side. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:14.239 That's how many they did at one time. 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.959 They they perfected this art of crucifixion. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:21.519 And what had happened at this point in time is that his followers began to run. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:24.719 They didn't want the same fate as their master, right? 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:25.359 As their teacher. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:28.640 They didn't want to experience the same tragic ending as them. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.159 So they fled for their lives. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:31.439 They ran into hiding. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:34.560 But there was a few who stood near. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:39.439 There was a few who stood near, and some of them were faithful women, right? 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:48.079 And we kind of introduced in this story that if we look just ahead, previously, after Jesus had died, it was Joseph of Arimathea. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.680 He was a rich man, and he was a Sanhedrin. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:02:03.760 So he was a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews who had who uh or Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea come to Pilate, and Joseph asked if he can have Jesus' body. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:10.400 Uh see what usually happened with criminals after you crucified them, you leave them for the animals to eat off the cross. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:14.000 Once their bones were collected, they would just toss them over the cliff. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:23.439 That's why they called this the place of the skull, because there was just bones and remnants of the ones who they had crucified, laid at the foot of this hill. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.680 But Joseph went to Pilate and he asked, Can I have Jesus' body? 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:36.719 Pilate grants Joseph this, and he's a rich man who has a tomb that he's already purchased for himself, but yet he allows for Jesus to be laid there. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:41.280 So he's laid in a tomb of which no one has yet been wrested. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:56.000 Nicodemus and Joseph carry Jesus' body and they wrap it in linen, and it says that Nicodemus brings about 75 pounds of ointment and myrrh to prepare Jesus' body for burial. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:11.360 And these women who were around Jesus at the foot of the cross and followed him into this uh this procession of burial, uh, they start preparing him and they start preparing spices and ointments to be able to prolong his decay. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:17.520 But but what's happening is that Jesus is crucified on Friday and Saturday's the Sabbath. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:23.680 And so what the women do is they get together, they start preparing all these things, but then on the Sabbath day, they rest. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:38.560 And so Jesus is laid in a tomb all the Sabbath, and then Sunday morning starts to come, and the women come to the tomb, we're told, with this mixture of spices and perfumes. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:49.039 These women are Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and they call them the other women, these faithful female followers of Jesus. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:56.240 They'd come early in the morning to minister to the dead body of Jesus with these ointments and spices and perfumes. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:57.120 And what was it doing? 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:06.879 It was custom to minister to the decaying body with these spices and perfumes just to delay the stench of death for visitation. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:11.919 Now, as they approach the tomb, they see that the stones rolled away. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.079 And as they went inside to have a good look at the situation, they noticed something, right? 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.560 The body of Jesus is missing. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:26.399 And the Bible says that as they notice that the body of Jesus is missing, that they stand there in the tomb perplexed. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.879 They're dumbfounded, they're at a loss for words. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:34.399 They were in doubt of what they saw. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.120 This state of perplexity shows us something. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:46.399 It shows us something about themselves that they still not believe or remember the promises of Jesus concerning his very death and resurrection. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.240 So at this point in time, they come expecting to see a dead body. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:51.199 He's not there. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:02.560 Now all they can do is speculate because they obviously didn't remember, they didn't have belief or faith in the promises of Jesus about his very death and resurrection, of which he foretold. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:07.680 And so they could only speculate on where is Jesus and what has happened to him. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.439 Their first thought had to have been that his body was taken. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:27.680 And if we remember that the they actually put Roman soldiers in front of the tomb because the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders were scared that his disciples would come and take him away because they had heard about the prophecy of resurrection, that he would come alive from the dead. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.360 And so they put Roman guards in front of the tomb to protect it. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:33.279 They must have thought he's gone. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:33.920 They took him. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:36.800 Someone has taken his body. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:48.000 As they stood there perplexed, though, they're met by two angels who posed to the girls, to the women there in the tomb, a very pointed question. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:54.240 And they asked them this why do you seek the living among the dead? 00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:02.639 Why have you come here into this tomb, this place where dead people reside, to seek one who's living? 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:09.279 You see, they came to mourn, they came to delay the rotting process. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.199 They came looking for the dead, assuming Jesus would be right where they had left him. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:22.399 The men's answer to their own question is he's not here, he's risen. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.879 Jesus wasn't where they had left him because he wasn't dead anymore. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:29.279 He was alive, risen from the dead. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:33.439 The men call the women to remember, he's risen, he's not here anymore. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:35.839 Do you not remember what he said to you? 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:38.879 Remember what Jesus had told you would happen. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.759 Remember the promises that he had made. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:50.800 And this is one thing that we have to draw our attention to here is that the women's doubt, their unbelief, was not determined by their circumstance. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:55.839 Their doubt was because they didn't believe the promises of Jesus. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:01.920 You see, their doubt was not due to the fact that they walked inside of an empty tomb. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:05.920 Their doubt was due to the fact that they forgot. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.600 Forgetfulness of Jesus' word of promise. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:15.360 Too often we ourselves experience fear and anxiety, stress and doubt. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:23.680 They fill our hearts because we allow the circumstances of our life to overshadow God's promises to us. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:41.120 If these women would have simply remembered and had faith in what Jesus had told them would happen, that he would be delivered over to the hands of men, that he would be put to death, but that on the third day he would rise, that he would give to them the sign of Jonah, that out of the belly of the earth, three days later, he would come back forth. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.480 They would have walked into the tomb celebrating and rejoicing. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:51.040 They would have approached the empty tomb with great uh uh rejoicing in their hearts, but they didn't. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:54.639 And their doubt wasn't based on the circumstance that they walked through. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.240 This is what Jesus told them would happen. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.759 Their doubt was based on their forgetfulness of his promises. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:06.079 But when they remembered, they ran to tell. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:07.519 They ran to tell. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:13.519 So they run out and they meet the apostles and these other followers of Jesus and they tell them what they've seen. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:16.079 They tell them the account of what they just experienced. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:25.600 And when the disciples and the rest of Jesus' followers heard the report of the woman, they settled in their hearts that it was just an idle tale. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:27.120 Absolute nonsense. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:30.959 In fact, the Bible's really gracious with us in this language that they use. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.000 They settled in their hearts that this was bull excrement. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.159 There's no way that this could have happened. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:43.600 Consider their posture toward the report of the women of what they were just told. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:48.159 There was no way in this world that what they were saying was true. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:49.759 They didn't believe them. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:51.200 This was impossible. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.679 This was just an idle tale. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.600 But these were the followers of Jesus. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.840 These were his closest disciples. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:09.279 These were ones who spent three and a half years with him, uh laboring beside him, journeying with him, uh suffering with him, teaching alongside of him. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:23.440 Ones who had not just heard his teachings about morality, his teachings about justice, his teachings about righteousness, but ones who had heard the prophecies and jarring statements of his coming death and resurrection. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.919 They were there when he said that if you destroy this temple, I'll build it up again in three days. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:32.799 They were there that when they said we seek a sign, he said the only sign I'm gonna give you is the sign of Jonah. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:37.440 They were there when he said, if you want to follow me, you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:43.440 They were there when he said that if you want to be a follower of me, you're gonna have to take up your cross and follow after me. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:44.879 They were there. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:49.200 But what does this tell us about them? 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:56.320 Maybe these followers of Jesus accepted his teachings but rejected his prophecies. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:02.320 Maybe they received what benefited them, but ultimately rejected who he was. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:11.200 Maybe they were willing to listen to what seemed right in their own understanding, but rejected what seemed completely irrational. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:19.039 Maybe at the end of the day they just resolved he was just simply a good teacher, but not the Messiah. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:26.720 Any way you look at it, there was a part of Jesus that these followers could not accept. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:35.759 But there was a bigger, infinitely more important part that they had to. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:45.440 To them, the thought of it, the thought of this dead man rising again and coming back to life, as I said before, was bull excrement to them. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.960 There is no possible way that this could have ever happened. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.200 But there was one of them, Peter. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:52.799 And you gotta love Peter. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:11:00.960 As you read through the gospels and the narrative of Jesus' life and ministry, Peter's the one that's always gonna be out in front, the one who's always gonna take the risk. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:05.679 And it says that Peter, hearing the report, got up and ran to the tomb. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:12.559 And when he got there, he stooped down and looked in and saw that the linen claws lay by themselves. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:19.919 And it was then, it was then at the sight of the linen cloths, he went away marveling. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:28.080 Our main idea this morning is that the tomb is empty because the living one has triumphed over death. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:35.519 The linen set aside and lying by themselves was a sign that Jesus had conquered death. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:48.080 Just as when Lazarus was called out from the tomb by Christ Himself, and as he approaches the entrance of the tomb, Christ says to unbind him, take off the linen cloths that held him together. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:52.399 Jesus himself was unbound by the bands of death. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:55.279 The tomb is empty. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:57.440 The grave has no hold on him. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:04.080 If we were to try and seek him there, we would find nothing, because he has risen just as he said. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:11.360 What happened to be a defeat, or what appeared to be defeat, is the Lord was struck by a death blow. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:14.960 The empty grave was the death blow to death itself. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:20.320 The stone was rolled away to make way for the procession of life that would come out of it. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:28.559 The women and the disciples stood in shock, disbelief, because they were gripped with the notion that death always had the final word. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:35.519 But the word of the Lord is where, O death, is your victory, and where, O death, is your sting. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:42.000 But many of us, if we're honest with ourselves, we're a lot like the women. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:48.720 And we seek the living among the dead. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.960 Many of us seek the living among dead religion. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:57.279 We look for life in dead rituals and ceremonies. 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:05.600 Religion that has been so perverted by our hands that it is nothing more than a superstition to sedate our conscience. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:15.120 We know intrinsically that there's a gap between our performance, the way that our behavior, and the holiness of our maker. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:22.559 But we try to appease it through ritual or ceremony, dead religion, rather than the living Christ. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:27.600 Ask yourself this question: why do you come here searching today? 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:34.720 Is it because we live in a culture, we live in a society where to some measure this is still just what you do? 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:36.399 This is just tradition? 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:42.559 Did you come here searching today for the living amongst the dead? 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:53.919 Hoping that your one time that you come and celebrate this religion will appease, or maybe just appease your own conscience? 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.399 Is it to find salvation and dead religion? 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:04.799 Well, then you won't find life because it walked, got up and walked up out of the grave. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.519 Some of us we seek the living among dead moralism. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:16.720 We search among the tomb, but we forget that we ourselves are whitewash tombs. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:24.879 We try to dress up the stench of our death with good works and self-righteousness rooted in greedy ambition. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:29.120 You can't make a dead corpse smell good for long. 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:31.919 We're dead in our sin, the Bible says. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:34.399 We can't bring life out of these bones. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:38.559 Only the resurrection power of God can do such a miracle. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:47.919 Go ahead and try to save yourself through moralism, but when death comes for you, you will be weighed in its balance and found wanting. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:54.639 Some of us this morning we seek the dead or we seek the living amongst dead revolution. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:04.720 We believe that somehow life will rise out of the ashes of a revolution, a revolution that turns over the grave to liberate those trapped underneath its oppression. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:09.679 But they're simply bones that will erode back into the earth over time. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:16.799 There's no real life there, just a buying of time before another oppressor comes to stake their claim. 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:23.519 The only liberation that can bring life is in the liberating power of the gospel of a risen Savior. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:32.480 An eternal revolution has already occurred when Jesus overthrew the governing power of sin and death on our behalf. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:37.600 Some of us we look for the living amongst the deadness of prosperity. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.519 Many of us look for life in our prosperity. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:48.720 We're convinced and we've convinced ourselves and we took the bait that more will save us. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:57.200 But we're simply dying alongside dying things, things that have no persuasion on the outcome of the grave. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:12.080 We may accumulate here and now, we may work tirelessly to heap up our treasures, but in the end, the tomb will hold you just like every person you've overlooked or stepped over to get what you have. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.200 It will hold you just the same. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:26.240 No matter your bank account, no matter your possessions, no matter your accomplishments, the grave has not been persuaded by your prosperity. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:32.399 Many of us this morning we've run like Peter to the tomb. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:44.480 But we've run there in skepticism, unconvinced of the report, unwilling to receive the testimony that Jesus has risen from the dead. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:52.240 We have run there in disbelief, desiring to prove the testimony is false, laboring to overturn what we've heard. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:57.840 We've run there in enmity, angry with God in the circumstances of our life. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:06.880 We hope to find a dead body still lying there so that we can see it for ourselves and affirm our indignation. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:14.880 Some of us we've run there in curiosity, wandering, seeking, hoping that it could possibly be true. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.680 We're too afraid of the cost of stepping inside to see it for ourselves. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:23.759 We've not run there because we believe the testimony. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:26.960 We've not run to the tomb because we believe the report. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:33.759 But my challenge this Easter is to walk in and see the linen cloths lying there. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.440 See that death's bounds have been released upon Jesus. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:42.079 See that he is not here because he is risen, just as he said. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:48.079 Stop stumbling around the darkened catacombs with your faint torches. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:52.640 Lift up your eyes to the blazing sun and find life. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:18:00.400 Our hope of the gospel this morning is that Jesus is not here, for he has risen. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:11.440 Jesus who got up out of the grave, who conquered death and sin and the grave itself, has now ascended to be seated at the right hand of the Father. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:16.559 He ascended to heaven to rule and reign as the conquering king he truly is. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:22.720 The earth has been made his footstool, and he has been given to him the name that is above every name. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:30.960 He is the lamb that was slain, but also the lion of Judah, whom in his return will crush his foes with righteous vengeance. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.920 He is the head crusher of Satan, the wicked dragon who sought to destroy him. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:38.559 He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:52.559 He is not here, but he is coming again in glory, riding on a horse with fire in his eyes, ascended into glory and waiting for the hour when he will come again to consummate his bride, the church. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:55.359 He is not here because he's risen. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.799 The Lord Jesus is risen. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:05.200 Church, why do we seek the living among the dead things of this world? 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:09.359 Why do we continue to stumble round in the darkness of our sin? 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:15.359 Why do we run to tombs of hopelessness and despair, convinced that we'll find life? 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:17.920 Let us run to Jesus. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:31.279 Let us seek the living one that we might rise with him out of the deadness of our sin and into the new everlasting life he has victoriously purchased and accomplished for us. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.079 Amen. 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:33.599 Amen. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.599 Jesus is not here, for he is risen. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:45.839 This morning we're going to be walking through communion together and celebrating baptisms. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:20:03.519 And I pray that our focus is on this truth, that the Holy Spirit will convict our hearts to show us where we've sought the living among the dead, how we haven't run to Christ, believed the report of his testimony, that surely he is alive. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:10.000 I pray that we come running to the opening of the tomb. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:16.799 And as we gaze inside, we find great marveling and rejoicing to see the linen claws lying there. 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:20.240 This world is nothing for us. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:32.559 Everything that the world can offer, everything that the world tries to convince us to put our hope in, we have to be honest and gripped with the reality that it's just another tomb. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:41.599 But Jesus, in Him alone, can we have life? 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:50.400 And so I pray if you're a skeptic that you become one fully convinced this morning by the power of the Spirit. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:56.160 If you came here this morning with unbelief, I pray belief would fill your heart this morning. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:03.759 If you came in here in curiosity, I pray that you would give get answers by the Holy Spirit. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:20.079 As we take communion this morning, we're gonna come forward and we ask that the head of household would come and take an element of communion and go back to your family, as many as you need for your family, and partake of communion together there. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:25.680 But as you come forward, we're gonna come celebrating the resurrection of Christ. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:31.839 And the band's gonna lead us in a time of singing through the gospel and response to what we've heard this morning. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.279 There's wine in the cup and bread in the element as well. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.640 You can take it back to your seat and partake of it that way. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:42.240 But as you come, think about this. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:44.960 That this morning, why were you here? 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:47.039 Why did you show up? 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.000 What are you putting your hope into? 00:21:52.160 --> 00:22:00.240 As we've seen that this this uh this culture that we find ourselves in keeps hope just outside of our grasp. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:14.079 And they keep pushing at us things that we're supposed to try and put our beliefs and hope into, but we forget so easily, as we're caught up by our circumstances, the promises that God has made for us in Jesus alone. 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:27.119 And so as you take the wine and as you eat the bread, remember that Christ's body was broken for you, that his blood was poured out for you, and that because he got up out of the grave, we can have new life in him. 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:28.079 Amen. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:29.519 Amen. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:35.839 Before we come forward to take communion, I want to lead us in a time of confession. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:46.400 For us to be honest about the ways that we've fallen short, that we've missed the mark, and we continually need the grace of Jesus ministered to our lives. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:53.440 If you open your app and you look under that lyrics and liturgy section, you'll see confession, corporate confession. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:56.319 You can read the bold portion with me. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:05.599 It says, Almighty God, in raising Jesus from the grave, you shattered the power of sin and death. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:14.400 We confess that we remain captive to doubt and fear, bound by the ways that lead to death. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:17.279 Forgive us, God of mercy. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:28.079 Help us to trust your power to change our lives and make us new, that we may know the joy of life abundant given in Jesus Christ the risen Lord. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:29.039 Amen. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.559 Take a moment and pray this morning, reflect. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:39.920 The band will give us instruction to come forward in just a moment as they lead us in singing through the gospel.