Berean Community Church Easter Service 4/17/2022

- Good morning, church family. Happy Lord's Day. Happy Easter. We're gonna go ahead and start our service, and it's truly a joy to gather together as we celebrate. We're gonna go ahead and sing this first song, "Christ, Our Hope in Life and Death." And we do have hope because he has risen from the grave.

Sing it out.

One more time.

Now.

- All right, good morning. Welcome to Breen Community Church. As we continue to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, as you guys know, we had a very busy week this week. But along with that, we initially intended to celebrate our 25th, church's 25th anniversary today. And that's why we have all the food outside. So it is Resurrection Sunday, and along with that, it is our 25th church anniversary. So we had various things planned, but we're gonna postpone it because we don't want our birthday to overshadow the Resurrection Sunday. And so the only reason, again, why we are here celebrating and having our 25th anniversary is because of what Christ has done. So we wanna make sure that we give proper recognition to that first.

So again, after the service, we will have food ready outside. So you can grab it and the tables and chairs are set up just all throughout the church parking lot and side area. So you guys can stick around and make sure you enjoy that. Again, but just a brief mention, our church was inaugurated April 12th, 1997. It was the day that the church was inaugurated. And actually, that day, I was supposed to come and celebrate together, but we ended up having our first child, Jeremy, on the same day. And so I wasn't able to come. So every year we celebrate the church's birthday, it is also my son's birthday. So April 12th, 1997. Our church really was not a typical church plant because typically when you plant the church, you're prepared, you have finance ready, you have core group and vision statement, doctrinal statement.

That's not the way our church got planted. Our church got planted basically out of necessity. We were kind of forced to just survive. And at that time, we had basically children at the church. We had 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds, 18-year-olds, and a few college students spread out. And so the only reason why we didn't fold is because we were concerned that if we folded, that these children were not going to be able to continue in their faith. And out of concern for them, we just kept meeting, not thinking that this is a church, not thinking that we're going to do something with this just to keep them going. And by the grace of God, 25 years later, we're here. And so those kids who were 16, 18, 19 at that time, they're in their 40s now.

And so we're able to celebrate that. And again, all of that is because of the grace of God and because of what we're celebrating today. And so again, please stick around and enjoy the lunch with us and just a couple of announcements before we get going. Next week, we have a members meeting at 2.30. And so there is going to be a service fair, meaning that there's going to be different service teams that are going to be spread out, and they're going to just basically show you what's going on at church. So if you're a member of the church, please plan to show up to that. After you grab lunch, just come back to church at 2.30, and we'll get that started. There are other announcements, but I'm going to just ask you guys to look it up at the church website and our church app.

And all that information will be there. Before I pray for our offering, right after-- Did I miss something? Yeah, so I'm going to pray for our offering. Right after, we have a special presentation from our sisters, knowing that this is Easter Sunday that we're celebrating. And so if you are new to the church and you have a physical offering you want to give, we have offering basket back over there. Otherwise, we'll give you a minute to give your offering. Meanwhile, we have a special presentation from our sisters. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for what this day means to all of us. We thank you for your sacrifice. We thank you for suffering on our behalf. We thank you for imputing your righteousness upon us because of what Christ has done.

Lord, as we have come before you to celebrate, to remember, to be convicted, to be renewed, and strengthened, I pray that you would anoint this time, Lord God, to help us to gather together to worship in spirit and in truth. May our offering be multiplied for your use 30, 60, 100-fold. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Your feet with nails and thorns, the veil was torn to make a way for me. You made a way for me. Jesus, Savior, my God, my King, my Lord. Jesus, Savior, the victory is yours. Wrapped and bound, they laid you down, a perfect sacrifice.

But in three days, the stone was rolled away. Forever you're alive. Forever you're alive. Jesus, Savior, my God, my King, my Lord. Jesus, Savior, the victory is yours. The victory is yours.

Death has been beaten. The grave has been conquered. Jesus is risen. Life ever has been. Death has been beaten. The grave has been conquered. Jesus is risen. Life ever after. Jesus, Savior, my God, my King, my Lord. Jesus, Savior, the victory is yours.

The victory is yours.

>> Again, church family, good morning. We're here to celebrate. He is risen. Let's try that again. He is risen. Let's all stand together.

>> If you can turn your Bibles with me to John chapter 11. >> We are going to be talking about the second coming. We were walking through the last day of Jesus' life on earth before he goes to the cross. We were talking about the preparation of the leaders of Israel and a warning and giving hope to the disciples about his second coming. Thursday, Wednesday, we talked about the betrayal and the preparation for Judas to betray Christ. We were talking about the resurrection and the resurrection of Jesus. We were talking about the resurrection and the resurrection of Jesus.

In the time zones, all the believers in Christ have gathered together to celebrate this special day. We were talking about the resurrection and the resurrection of Jesus. The Bible says that if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. If you are not able to prove that the resurrection did not take place, we are to be pitied. Our faith is completely worthless. If the resurrection did not take place, we are nothing but a cult. We are making these requirements on their life and we would do everything in our power to thwart them from that.

What does that mean? This morning, my goal is not to exposit and to give you apologetics information about the proof of the resurrection historically. I want to give you a journalistic perspective of digging through the proof of the resurrection. Why it is reasonable to believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Let's see who is really hungry for God. After the service, there is a table set up from the outreach team. We have a limited copy.

Pastor Mark and our outreach team will be out there and they will be explaining. We will be able to give you a brief presentation and answer any questions you have. This morning, my goal is not to get into the information in this book, but to take some time to walk through John 11. The foreshadowing of why Jesus had to die and be resurrected is stated clearly in this text. He was raised in Jerusalem. Let me pray for us and we will jump into the text afterwards. Let us pray.

Let us pray. Let's begin in John 11 verse one. This is a passage from the book of Mark. It says Lazarus was sick. The background is that this is not just any family. This is a family of people who are sick.

This is a family of people who are sick.

Let's take some time to pray as we invite our worship team to come. Let's pray. Lord, I want to worship you in spirit and truth. I want to worship you in spirit and truth. I want to worship you in spirit and truth.

Stand up for the closing praise.

I love the voice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. He declares his work is finished. He has spoken this hope to me. Though the sun has ceased its shining, Though the war appeared at last, Christ had triumphed over evil. It was finished upon that cross.

Now the curse has been broken. Jesus paid the price for me. All the pardon he has offered Paid the welcome that I received. Holy I approached my Father Clothed in Jesus' righteousness. There is no more guilt to carry. It was finished upon that cross.

Death was once my great opponent. Fear once had a hold on me. But the Son who died to save us Rose that we would be free.

One more time, death was once. Death was once my great opponent. Fear once had a hold on me. But the Son who died to save us Rose that we would be free. Yes he rose that we would be free. Free from every man of darkness. Free to live and free to die. Death is dead and Christ is risen. It was finished upon that cross. Onward to eternal life. To my Savior and my God. I rejoice in Jesus' name. It was finished upon that cross. It was finished upon that cross.

Let's pray. 1 Corinthians 15, 20-23. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits. After that, those who are Christ's at his coming. Help us, Lord God, to cling to this promise. To know, Father, that no matter what storm that we are in, no matter what storm may come, that you are our hope, that you are the resurrection, that you are the life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

>> Again, as a reminder, there's 15.