(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - Good morning, church family.

Happy Easter, happy Resurrection Day. Hallelujah that every year we are able to celebrate that our Lord has risen, that he has conquered death, and that he is alive, reigning today and forevermore. So as we begin our service this morning, let us sing "Come, Behold the Wondrous Mystery" as we rejoice in this great gospel by which we have been saved.

(gentle music) Sing "Come, Behold." ♪ Come, behold the wondrous mystery ♪ ♪ In the dawning of the King ♪ ♪ He, the theme of heaven's praises ♪ ♪ Robed in frail humanity ♪ ♪ In our longing, in our darkness ♪ ♪ Now the light of life has come ♪ ♪ Look to Christ, who condescended ♪ ♪ Took our flesh to ransom us ♪ ♪ Come, behold the wondrous mystery ♪ ♪ He, the perfect sacrifice ♪ ♪ In his living, in his suffering ♪ ♪ Ever traced our state of sin ♪ ♪ See the true and better Adam ♪ ♪ Born to save the health of man ♪ ♪ Cross the great and sure fulfillment ♪ ♪ And of all with him we stand ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Come, behold the wondrous mystery ♪ ♪ Christ, the Lord, upon the tree ♪ ♪ In the stead of ruined sinners ♪ ♪ Hangs the Lamb in victory ♪ ♪ See the Christ of our redemption ♪ ♪ See the Father's plan unfold ♪ ♪ Bringing many sons to go ♪ ♪ Whose son measure not on tear ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Come, behold the wondrous mystery ♪ ♪ Slain by death, the God of life ♪ ♪ In your grave, God, enslaved ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, he is alive ♪ ♪ What a foretaste of deliverance ♪ ♪ See our favor, be our hope ♪ ♪ Christ, in power resurrected ♪ ♪ As we will be when he comes to be ♪ ♪ Come, behold the wondrous mystery ♪ ♪ Slain by death, the God of life ♪ ♪ In your grave, God, enslaved ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, he is alive ♪ - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Broom Community Church. As you guys know, we had a very busy week this week, starting from Palm Sunday. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we had our Passover meal. This Friday, we had our Good Friday Communion service. We had our early rise service this morning, and then now we're gonna be celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

Again, it reminds me of Acts chapter two. It says that the church was filled with awe, and they were gathering together daily to celebrate, to fellowship, to break bread, to pray together. And so we kind of, the culture that we have created in the Western church where this is something that we do on Sunday, and then we kind of come, and then if it's inconvenient, we don't come.

But in the early church, part of the reason why the church exploded is because people were so consumed with the things of God, and they couldn't have enough. And so even though we do this once a year, to me, it's a week that I look forward to every year.

At the end of it, there's a lot of people tired. There's people who've been working all day yesterday just cooking and prepping. And so there will be lunch after service. But at the end of it, ultimately, it's not simply because it's a special week of us gathering together for the purpose of the church.

But at the end of the day, it's to remind us and refresh us that what we celebrated this week is at the center of our lives. It's not just something that's important, but it is everything. And so what we celebrate this morning, the resurrection of Christ, hopefully, again, if you've been walking with us through the whole week, that it will have a deeper impact on you than possibly it would have if you didn't.

So a few things that I want to mention before we start are Berean Service Auction for mission funding. Today is the last day to sign up. So if you're going to sign up to submit any kind of services, please sign up today. Cleaning Day is coming this Saturday. They are saying that they need about 35 or more people to show.

So if you are able to come and help us at 9 a.m. this Saturday, and they'll tell you what to do at that time. And then next session of membership class is going to be starting next Sunday at 9.30 a.m. It's an eight-week course. If you are interested in becoming a member, please sign up for that.

And then you can attend that, and you'll get more information on that. And that's starting next Saturday. Members Meeting is happening on May 4th at 2 p.m. in the main sanctuary. And so if you are a member, there is going to be a service fair afterwards. So if you're interested in, especially those of you who are newer, and you want to find out what's going on at church, that fair is going to be able to show you where you can get involved.

And there will be lunch, Korea Missions Lunch. I think it's Korea Mission. Yeah, Korea Missions Lunch is going to be provided right before the Members Meeting. If you're part of the Jubilee Fellowship, if you are 50 and over, and you're part of that fellowship, next Sunday there is a lunch happening at 1 p.m.

at the Youth Chapel. Again, the cost for adults is 10, and if you have children who are younger, it'll be 5. So please sign up for that. And then Easter Resource Booth. So if you came here as a guest to participate, or just you were invited here, and after the service, if you have other questions about your faith, about things that you've heard, there is a Resource Booth.

If you go outside, you probably saw it when you were coming in. There's a blue canopy, and underneath that, there's going to be our Outreach Team. Pastor Mark is going to be there. So if you have any questions about anything that you've heard, any questions about Christianity, that's the table you want to go to.

They have resources that they can give you that if you don't have time today, that you can read later. So please visit that table after the service. And then there are also lunch provided. So please stick around. You saw the chairs and tables that are set up. There's also extra chairs and tables in the youth room.

So you can go in there and eat as well. So after this service, you can visit that. If you're new, you can visit the welcome table. And for the rest of us, there will be lunch provided. And I think that's it for the announcements. Let me pray for us, and then if you have physical offering, there is a box in the back for the rest of us you can give online.

All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for today. We thank you for this whole week, Lord God, as we had an opportunity to walk through the last week of Christ and the suffering that he went through in order that we may have life and have this life abundantly.

Help us, Lord God, to be reminded of your grace and your love that our life may be a reasonable response to all that you've given us. Help us, Lord, that even in this giving, that it may be given with gratitude. It may be given in joy abundantly, Lord God.

It may be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Let us all rise and spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us before we continue.

(audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Greatest day in history ♪ ♪ Death is beaten, you have rescued me ♪ ♪ Sing it out, Jesus is alive ♪ ♪ Jesus is alive ♪ ♪ The empty cross, the empty grave ♪ ♪ Life eternal, you have won the day ♪ ♪ Shout it out, Jesus is alive ♪ ♪ He's alive ♪ ♪ Let us all happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ Be washed by sin away ♪ ♪ Let us all happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ We'll never be the same ♪ ♪ Forever are you changed ♪ ♪ When I stand in that place ♪ ♪ Free at last, meeting face to face ♪ ♪ I am yours, Jesus, you are mine ♪ ♪ Endless joy and perfect peace ♪ ♪ Earthly pain finally received ♪ ♪ Celebrate, Jesus is alive ♪ ♪ He's alive ♪ ♪ Let us all happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ Be washed by sin away ♪ ♪ Oh, happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ I'll never be the same ♪ ♪ Oh, happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ You wash my sin away ♪ ♪ Oh, happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ I'll never be the same ♪ ♪ Forever are you changed ♪ ♪ What a glorious day ♪ ♪ What a glorious way ♪ ♪ That you have saved me ♪ ♪ And oh, what a glorious day ♪ ♪ What a glorious day ♪ ♪ Let us all happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ You wash my sin away ♪ ♪ Oh, happy day, happy day ♪ ♪ I'll never be the same ♪ ♪ Forever are you changed ♪ ♪ Amazing grace, amazing grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound, saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ For I once was lost but now am found ♪ ♪ Was blind but now I see ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ The prodigal ♪ ♪ The prodigal is welcomed home ♪ ♪ The sinner never seen ♪ ♪ For our God who died gave life to life ♪ ♪ And everything is changed ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ Oh, death, where is your sting ♪ ♪ Oh, fear, where is your power ♪ ♪ The mighty king of kings has descended ♪ ♪ Together and redeemed ♪ ♪ Eternal life is ours ♪ ♪ Oh, praise his name forever ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ It's over, it's over ♪ ♪ The song will be the same ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ (gentle music) ♪ And on the day ♪ ♪ And on the day you call me in ♪ ♪ To heaven's sweet embrace ♪ ♪ I'll see your scars, your open arms ♪ ♪ The beauty of your face ♪ ♪ The tears that draw my love, my voice ♪ ♪ The everlasting praise ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ Oh, death ♪ ♪ Oh, death, where is your sting ♪ ♪ Oh, fear, where is your power ♪ ♪ The mighty king of kings has descended ♪ ♪ And on the day we pray ♪ ♪ Till ever that we meet ♪ ♪ Eternal life is ours ♪ ♪ Oh, praise his name forever ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ And all throughout eternity ♪ ♪ This song will be the same ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ And all throughout eternity ♪ ♪ This song will be the same ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ And all throughout eternity ♪ ♪ This song will be the same ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ And all throughout eternity ♪ ♪ This song will be the same ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ And all throughout eternity ♪ ♪ This song will be the same ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Christ is risen from the grave ♪ ♪ And all throughout eternity ♪ ♪ This song will be the same ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, to see the dawn ♪ ♪ Of the darkest day ♪ ♪ Christ on the road to Calvary ♪ ♪ Tried by sinful men ♪ ♪ Born and beaten then ♪ ♪ Nailed to a cross of wood ♪ ♪ Missed the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Christ became sin for us ♪ ♪ Took the blame ♪ ♪ For the wrath we stand forgiven ♪ ♪ At the cross, ooh ♪ ♪ Oh, to see the pain ♪ ♪ Written on your face ♪ ♪ Bearing the awesome weight of sin ♪ ♪ Every bitter thought ♪ ♪ Every evil deed ♪ ♪ Crowning your bloodstained brow ♪ ♪ Missed the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Christ became sin for us ♪ ♪ Took the blame ♪ ♪ For the wrath we stand forgiven ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ ♪ Now the daylight flees ♪ ♪ Now the ground beneath ♪ ♪ Quicks as its maker ♪ ♪ Bows his head ♪ ♪ Curtains torn in two ♪ ♪ Dead are raised to life ♪ ♪ Finish the victory pride ♪ ♪ Missed the power of the cross ♪ ♪ Son of God ♪ ♪ Slain for us ♪ ♪ What a love ♪ ♪ What a cost ♪ ♪ We stand forgiven ♪ ♪ At the cross ♪ - Thank you, Berean Choir.

We have so many gifted and talented people, not just the singers, but the choir director, Ohi, and then there's another brother who put the piece together, James Tang, and even though they're gifted, I know that they have been meeting together on-- I don't know how many times that they met to practice what they were practicing, but, you know, when we get to heaven, the scene of heaven is described as people who are in choir, basically singing and praising God, and that's the scene that the Bible describes for us, what heaven is going to be like.

So when we enter heaven, I feel like that's a taste of what you're going to see. And just--it's one thing. I mean, the praise is great with the music and, you know, different gifts, but, you know, what honors God is the voice of his people, singing praise, a genuine praise and worship that comes out of our hearts and through our mouths.

So, you know, I look forward to it every year. Long time ago, before all this, you know, praise team came in, the choir was kind of a regular staple at church, so almost every church you went to, they sang choirs, but, you know, for whatever reason, that kind of drifted out, so being able to see that even once in a while is a true blessing.

If you can turn your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians 15, I'm going to be in--starting from this text, but I'm going to be jumping around in various passages on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope that we have. 1 Corinthians 15, 13-19, reading out of the NASB.

"But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Your faith also is vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are all men most to be pitied." Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for this whole week. We thank you, Father God, that it is your mercy that carries us, that causes us to persevere, causes us to see your glory. We pray this morning as we meditate upon the resurrection of Christ and what it means for us.

I pray that that hope will become so clear that our hearts, our minds, our lives may be directed and empowered by it. May your name be magnified. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Just as a text that we read, it says, "If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile." Everything that you and I are doing every single week, every single Bible study, hinges upon the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If you are a guest here, or maybe even if you've been a Christian and you haven't really meditated on it for a while, and the resurrection doesn't seem real, because you've never seen it. You've heard it, and you believe it, but you've never personally seen it. As a result of that, maybe your faith is weak.

You just kind of assume it, and it doesn't make the impact that it should. Or maybe you're here as a guest, and you've never encountered this Christ, the resurrected Christ, and you have a hard time believing it. If that's you, you're not alone. Because the New Testament account tells us that even the disciples had a hard time believing this.

When Jesus told them that he was going to die and be resurrected, and then he was actually crucified, they never even went to check because they couldn't believe it. You have to remember, these are people who are witnesses of Jesus walking on water. He healed the sick. He raised Lazarus from the dead.

And yet, when Christ died, they thought it was over. You ever hear the term, you know, you're beating a dead horse? Beating a dead horse basically means his hope is gone. There's no point in waiting. There's no point in seeking. It's over. And so when Christ was crucified, it was done for them, and they were completely lost.

Even when Jesus shows up, they couldn't believe their eyes. Could that really be? How can this be you? So Thomas asked, "Let me see your scars. Let me see if this is really you." So he had to touch his scars, and Jesus had to show him that it was him.

And then they finally realized, "Oh my gosh, he was resurrected." And only in retrospect, they look back and say, "He's been telling us this, and it actually happened." Well, Jesus himself said, when people asked him, "You're claiming some crazy things. Prove yourself. What are the signs?" And Jesus says, "I will leave you a sign of Jonah, his death and resurrection." I want to give you two quotes from two non-Christians, because I don't want to quote Christians, in case you say, "Of course Christians are going to say that." The first one is from Paula Fredrickens, who is a Jewish scholar, a well-known Jewish scholar, and this is what she says, "I know in their own terms," the early church, "what they saw was the raised Jesus." That's what they say, and then all the historical evidence we have afterward attests to their conviction that that's what they saw.

Now obviously Paula was not there, but she's looking at all the evidence of the people that they studied in the early church, that whether you believe it or not, it is clear that they believed it. Gerd Ludmann, who's actually a known atheist, he doesn't even have faith, but he's a New Testament scholar, and after studying the historical evidence of Jesus' resurrection, this is what he says, "It may be taken as a historical certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus' death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ." There is no serious New Testament scholar who refutes that something happened, because when you look at it, so many people gave their lives.

A radical change of Jews and Gentiles who despised each other all of a sudden started calling each other brothers and sisters in Christ. That would be a crazier story than if you fell asleep for a few days and woke up and said that the Republicans and the Democrats became one party.

They reconciled, and now they're going to be one party. They're going to be united. That's much easier to grasp than the Jews and Gentiles, because Jews and Gentiles hated each other for thousands of years. It wasn't just political, it was spiritual. But that's what happened. You had runaway slaves and slave owners sit together and call each other brothers in Christ.

You had people who had PhD in religion sitting and listening to teachings from a tax collector, from someone who's never been educated. What happened? You notice here the text that we're looking at in 1 Corinthians 15, 13-19. He's not trying to argue the resurrection of Jesus. He's arguing the resurrection of people, of the followers of Jesus, because the resurrection of Jesus didn't need proof, because the people who saw the resurrected Christ existed when this letter was being written.

400 separate people, aside of the disciples, saw, physically, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So you notice here, he says, of course people are raised, if people are not raised, and even Jesus wasn't raised. Now, I don't need to convince you of that, because there's over 500 people who are eyewitnesses.

In fact, in the early church, so many of them gave their lives attesting to this truth, that many people ended up becoming Christians simply by their testimony. How many people go to the grave if this is all a lie? If this was just propaganda for their own benefit? Clearly, they're not benefiting.

You have people who are giving their lives, become poverty, who are being thrown out of synagogues, in their homes, they're losing their businesses, in the hundreds and in the thousands. How can they, if it is for their own benefit, be doing that? So that's why even the secular scholars, when they study the proof of the resurrection, they say, "Well, whether it happened or not, "we're not sure, but one thing we do know "is they believed it." Hundreds of people who are eyewitnesses, for sure they believed it.

So the people who are trying to refute this comes up with theories and say, "Well, they clearly saw something. "Something miraculous must have happened, "at least in their sight, so maybe it was "the twin brother of Jesus." As ridiculous as that sounds, that's one of the theories that they've been given.

Another theory they call the Swoon Theory, where Jesus just kind of fainted. He fainted, right? He survived the cross, and he fainted, and then he just got back up, and then he started going around and talking about who he is. They're all the ridiculous theories that came out because they don't understand how can somebody come back from the dead?

But that's exactly what we are here to celebrate, and that's exactly what happened 2,000 years ago, and that is the reason why the impact of the resurrection has impacted all of mankind since then, and even that is not refuted. Whether you love Christ or hate Christ, there is no argument that this single event has shifted the course of human history.

What did the resurrection prove? Well, number one, it tells us without a shadow of a doubt that what Jesus said about himself is true. Romans 1 through 4 says, "Concerning his son, who was born of a descendant of David, according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead." He made it very clear who he was.

In fact, when he asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." He wanted to make sure that they understood who he was, and then he confirmed it through his death and resurrection that he is the Son of the living God.

Now, why is that so important? Outside of the fact that God walked among us, the God of the universe emptied himself and walked among us, great! We can celebrate, we can sing about that, but what is the impact of that to you and I? The reason why the declaration of his deity, that he is the Son of God, he is who he says he was, is so important.

It's because Jesus claimed that he had the power of life and death. He had the power of life and death. Imagine today if somebody came up with a new invention, and if you swallow this pill, right, that you're going to be able to extend your life for another 50 years, right?

That man, my guess, is probably going to be the richest man on earth. People will pay whatever they have. They'll empty their bank accounts, they'll sell their homes, especially if they're at the tarot under their life, to just extend it for another 50 years. Because ever since we are born, ever since we were born into this world, our core value, our core motivation is to live.

Even an infant that is born, from the moment that it is born, is looking for milk. Who taught him that? They come and he's gasping for air and trying to survive. Who taught him that? It wasn't years of training. He's innately born to live. Everything that we do from that moment on is so that we can have a better life.

We go to school, we work hard, you get degrees, you make investments, you put money away, you buy houses. Everything that we do is so that we can have a better life. What Jesus says in John 10, 17-18, "For this reason the Father loves me, "because I lay down my life "so that I may take it again.

"No one has taken it away from me, "but I lay it down on my own initiative. "I have authority to lay it down "and I have authority to take it up again. "This commandment I receive from the Father." He says he is the author of life. Now anybody can put it down, but he says he has power to raise it up.

And then in John 5, 21, "For just as the Father raises the dead "and gives him life, "even so the Son also gives life "to whom he wishes." Not only can he lay his life down and raise it back up, but he says he has the power to give that life to anybody.

His resurrection, his declaration of him being the Son of God meant that what he said was true. Now why do we even need life? Aren't we living? Well, Romans 5, 12 says, "Therefore just as through the one man's sin "entered into the world, "the death came through sin, "and so death spread to all men, "because all sinned." All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Now we may be physically living. Whether you are young or whether you are old, we have biological life. But when the Bible talks about death, it's not just the physical. It's also the spiritual. Romans 5, 17 says, "For if by the transgression of one, "death reigned through the one." We didn't just experience death.

The Bible says that death reigns. So what does it mean to reign? Typically, we think of a king. We live in a democratic republic, so we hear stories or we watch movies about a king. But we can get the gist of what that means. For a king to reign is that every part of his kingdom, he's the final say.

He affects everything that happens in that kingdom. That's what it means for the king to reign. But the Scripture says, "Death reigns over all mankind." In other words, everything that you and I experience on this earth, this physical earth, it has something to do with death. It has an effect on everything that we do.

It affects our marriage. It affects our family. It affects our work. It affects our leisure. It affects our economy. It affects our politics. The central thing that affects everything that we do is not who's in the White House. It's not the economic trend. It's not what's going to happen with the tariff.

All of these things are minor in comparison to what the Scripture says. It is sin and death that reigns. All these other things are ramifications of that. Jesus Christ says He came to deal with that sin. I think the struggle is oftentimes in our day-to-day life, we don't feel the effect of sin.

Let me illustrate this point to you. We have five senses. We have hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and seeing. Out of the five senses, if I was to ask you to choose one sense that if you were to get rid of it, I can live without it, which one would you choose?

Anybody would choose sight? Yeah, that's typical. Of the five, which one would you choose? According to statisticians who went and actually asked people, 78% of the people asked said that they chose smell. I'm assuming that kind of represented of this group, about 70%, almost 80% smell. The reason why we choose smell is because if you lose smell, no one can tell but you.

You look the same. You sound the same. I don't know if it's going to change your vocal sounds, but it said no one's going to tell except you. But smell is directly related to appetite. So you say, "What's the big deal? "I can live bland. "I don't like spicy things anyway." They said that smell is also somehow related to understanding danger.

I don't know how that works. Those of you guys who are doctors and biologists and researchers, you can refute that, but that's what it said, the researcher said. Another thing that it does is because you lose the sense of smell, you lose the sense of hygiene because you can't smell yourself.

Now, all of these things seem minor, but is it? If you can't smell yourself, you're walking out of the house and you smell. You stink. What ramification does it have? You're going to lose some friends. You're going to sit in the church with nobody around you. It has social effects.

In fact, it says the sense of smell is directly related to how we relate to one another. A sense of connection, affection, is related to the sense of smell. So they say that whether by an accident or whether by genetic defect or whatever it may be, it said that 60% of people who lose their smell have a very difficult time connecting with people and it ultimately leads to depression and isolation.

Now, on the surface, we would have never known that. It's only through the studies that people found how important smell is to community and relating to one another. I say all of this because oftentimes we don't see the direct effect of sin. When we are filled with pride and anger and bitterness, how it affects the community, how it affects the people around us, how it affects the relationship that we have, we don't think that's what it is.

We typically think it must be you because we have a hard time smelling our own sins but we smell other people's sins very clearly. We become experts at what other people are doing. That's wrong. See, when we live under the reign of sin, it affects our marriages, it affects our relationship with our children, the very things that God has given to us as a gift.

Now, I've officiated over 100 weddings. I don't know exactly what the number is now but I've never officiated a single wedding where there was a single person that came to the altar kicking and screaming that despite the fact that I don't want to get married for the glory of God.

Right? No. They're the ones kicking and screaming to get to the altar. They're the ones fighting with their parents, fighting with everybody else. I'm going to get there no matter what. I've never officiated a wedding where either of the party came kicking and screaming because it was a gift, because it produces joy and yet years later, some of the greatest heartaches in life comes from this marriage.

Some of the greatest pain that you experience living in this earth is from that union. You have kids. As soon as a kid comes into the world, there's celebration. We celebrate their 100 days, you know, a one year, and the whole community celebrates but some of the greatest pain in life comes from raising children.

The rebellion, raising another sinner in the home and then adding another sinner in the home and some of the greatest heartaches as parents come from your own children. As much as we desire community, the scripture says when sin reigns, it affects everything. Every good thing that God has given us, it gets perverted because of sin.

Because all mankind live under the curse of this sin. Sin reigns. That's what this week represents. That Christ left his throne, humbled himself, walked as a humble servant and then he took upon that curse of man on himself on the cross and in his resurrection, he reverses this curse and then promises us that we will do the same.

The Bible tells us that his resurrection was just the first fruit. He didn't just resurrect so that we can celebrate his resurrection. He said he resurrected so that he can open the path and the door so that we would also follow in those steps and that's exactly what we want to get at this morning in 1 Corinthians 15, 42-44.

He describes what that resurrection one day is going to be like for us. He says, "So also the resurrection of the dead, it is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body, it is raised in spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." It is not by accident that Paul used the term "sown" because sowing typically refers to what? Planting, right? You plant. But what is the purpose of planting?

To get rid of the seed so we don't have to see it anymore? Bury it? Because typically when we think of if somebody passes away or dies, we bury them and we don't bury them thinking that something good is going to come out of it. We bury them so that the rotting of their flesh that we don't have to see.

It is deliberate that he uses the term "sow" because when you sow something, you sow it in the ground in order for something good, a fruit to come from it, a plant, a tree, something to come from that. So now he is basically sown. The word "sown" is being used to describe our death.

Now because of his resurrection, we will be sown, he says, perishable, but we'll be raised imperishable. If you go to the supermarket and it says perishable, it basically means you have to hurry up and eat it because it's going to rot if you don't. Imperishable means you can just leave it outside.

It's not going to disappear. So when he says perishable, imperishable, another way to say that is temporary and eternal. Temporary and eternal. What we have now is subject to decay. It's temporary. It's going to pass. And the moment that you are born, there's some level of decay that happens.

Some of us are further along in this decay. And we're very aware of it. I'm very aware of it. I remember in my mid-40s, I went to the doctor. Again, those of you who are older may relate. We didn't grow up with the Internet. TV turned off at 12 o'clock.

There's nothing to do. We didn't have cell phones. So if you don't go to sleep, you're going to be sitting in the dark. There's not much to do. So we played a lot of sports. Baseball, football, even hockey. Basketball was my favorite sport eventually. But I remember going to the doctor and the doctor looked at my knee and then he said, "You injured your right knee, "but you never took good care of it "because I kept on playing on it." He said, "Now all the cartilages are loose "and so we're going to have to shave that off." So there's parts of my knees that are bone to bone.

And then at the end of that he said, "Is there any treatment?" I said, "No, we can just soften the pain, "but you can't fix it. "Maybe one day they'll come out with technology "where that can be fixed, "but right now we don't have it." So I had surgery to shave it off.

And then the next thing he told me was, "You can't play basketball anymore." Now some of you don't understand the devastation of that. That was all we did with free time. I played probably three, four times a week at least. That's all we did. There's no video games, or at least I didn't enjoy playing video games.

I wasn't into watching K-drama. And I was a youth pastor and then became a college pastor, so I was always with young people, so I was constantly playing basketball or softball. And then him telling me, "You can't play basketball." Some of you guys love golf and say, "No, you can't play golf anymore." Some of you guys like running.

I don't understand you, but you can't run anymore. 'Cause that was my hobby. That's all I did. And then he'd say, "You can't play that anymore." I remember coming home. Some of you may understand. I just like, "Hmm, that's over then. "That part of my life is over." So I'm very aware.

Our bodies decay. Some of you guys who are younger may not know, but those of you in the Jubilee, we just need to make eye contact. I remember years ago, I went to a friend's church 'cause our church was so young, and my friend's church were a bit older, and there were people my age or older, and I remember after giving the sermon, we would sit and have lunch, and the topic of the conversation is what medication we were on.

I thought I was always the weird one at church because I have so many things that I need to take, but I was at that church thinking-- After two hours and over the weekend came back, it's like, "Huh, I fellowshiped at this church. "I connected." We're very aware that our body is decaying, but when he says it is perishable, he's not just simply talking about the body itself.

When he says decaying, he means it's temporary. What you and I experience, the good and the bad, is temporary. I remember the first time that this struck me was when my parents decided to move out to Korea because they were having such a hard time paying bills here, and my dad got some part-time job out in Korea, and at least they can survive over there, and this is when I think a year into my marriage, and my parents packed up their bags to go out to Korea, and I knew that our life was going to be different because no matter what happened, we were always together, but the fact that my dad and my mom was going to go out to Korea, and they were out there maybe about seven, eight years.

During that time, maybe we saw them maybe three or four times, but I remember taking my dad to the airport thinking, "This is it." Not that something tragic was happening, but our stage of life is changing. Even though I was already outside the house married, but this close contact with them, that stage of my life is over, and I remember feeling so sad.

That's something that was so precious to me when I was younger that we have to move on. Another time I remember when this is hitting, when my kids now, they're older, when Jeremy, my oldest son, was getting married, a lot of people cry at weddings. That's a strange place to cry.

It's a time to celebrate, and people are celebrating. They're dancing. Usually, the people who cry are the parents. From a parent's perspective, I can see why. I remember the Thursday before he got married, we're sitting there thinking, and we were all sharing with our family, and the brother and sister was sharing with him, and we're praying for him.

I remember sharing from this day on, even though he's going to be at the church, we're going to still see him, but we're headed into a different stage of life. From this point on, when he gets married on Saturday, when he says his family, he's going to be talking about him and Diamond.

We're going to be the extended family. We're the extended family. I see a lot of parents. They would buy grave sites, and they would buy for them, their wife, and then their children, not realizing when they get older, they're going to buy it for their wives and their children.

We live in this temporary body, and whether we are living with the sadness of just moving on, decaying, whether it is friends. I know that just in a recent period, there's a lot of you, for whatever the reason, suddenly lost your mom, your dad, and we had to go to more funerals in the last six months than I remember in the last five, six years.

But the sadness that comes from living in this perishable body, the scripture tells us that we will be buried. We will be sown perishable, but one day we will rise imperishable. The sadness of living in a decaying world will be gone when he comes. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16-18 says, "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God.

The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words." We will be with the Lord, and we will be with one another for eternity.

We will be sown perishable, but we will be raised imperishable. He said we will be sown in dishonor, but raised in glory. The word for dishonor is also translated shame. And I think if I mention shame, the first place where that is recorded is Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve was physically one person.

God saw Adam and said it was not good for him to be alone. He took the ribs from his side, his own bones and own flesh, and God created Eve. So you couldn't be closer to each other than Adam and Eve. But as soon as sin enters, you know what happens.

These two people, who were literally one person who became two, decided to hide. They made covering. Was it all of a sudden they were ashamed of their body parts? Clearly the shame was not physical, but it was spiritual. And that's exactly what sin does. When sin comes in, automatically there's guilt and shame.

And when guilt and shame comes in, we end up hiding. Every single one of us in this room, to some degree, to some level, we hide. And when we hide, we isolate. In isolation, we become lonely, and loneliness turns into despair. So many people are struggling with depression, and at the root cause of that is isolation.

And the Scripture says that we will be sown in dishonor, but we will be raised in glory. Colossians 3, 3-4 says, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." In glory.

That in His presence, all the shame, even as Christians, even as Christians, even between husband and wife, we are never fully open. We are more open because we can't hide from each other, and some of the marriage problems happen because we can't hide. We hid from everybody else, but all of a sudden, you have this relationship where they see everything.

And you're uncomfortable with the fact that they see everything. So even in a very good relationship, you're never fully, 100% open. And as a result of that, it causes all kinds of conflict, because everything that we communicate with each other comes through a sinful filter. "Why are you wearing that?" "Oh, you hate me?" "Why do you judge me?" I remember early on as a youth pastor, I was at church, and I'd say, "Oh, that's a nice dress." And the first thing that I heard was, "What about last week's dress?" "Do I dress like a bum every day?" "Why are you judging me?" I said, "I said it was a nice dress!" Everything that we say, everything we hear, comes through a sinful filter of some past sin, some hurt, some pain.

And as a result of that, it causes all kinds of isolation and difficulty. And he says, "But when He comes, we'll be delivered from shame, and we will be in glory." 2 Corinthians 3.18 says, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit." Can you imagine?

Imagine the most intimate period that you had with God. Every single one of us, God opened our eyes. I mean, those of you who are believers in Christ, it's because our eyes were open. Somebody preached the gospel, and we saw the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we wanted that.

And so we repented, we turned from this world to follow Christ. And so we come hoping that in some way, in some small way, in big way, that we would have a greater glimpse of that glory. And he says, "Everything that you and I experience is temporary, and it is like a child," the Bible says.

"But when He comes," he said, "we will see His glory as He is." He says, "We are veiled because we are still in this fleshly body, but when He comes and we have our resurrected body, that not only are we going to see His glory as He is, that glory is going to be part of us.

We're going to be glorified with Christ." That's mind-blowing to me. I still remember very vividly the first time I realized that God exists, and that that God loves me. Nothing else happened. It wasn't years of discipleship. It wasn't years of memorizing scripture, going to church. Instantaneously, the moment I saw a glimpse of His glory, I was changed.

To this day, 42 years have passed. To this day, that's the greatest event that I can possibly think of. I say, "Oh, what about having your kids?" Of course, of course that was huge. But compared to the day that I met Christ? And to think that that was just a glimpse.

That was just a glimpse. Heaven is not heaven because you're going to live in mansions, or you're going to have a better knee, or you're going to be taller, or you're going to be dunking the basketball, or whatever your wildest dreams may come true. Heaven is heaven because we get to see front row seats of the glory of Christ.

Heaven is not heaven. You can have all your wildest dreams come true and not have Christ. That's judgment. There's no life there. He says not only will we see God's glory as He is, He said we're going to participate in that glory. We're going to be sown. We're going to be sown in dishonor, but we will be raised in glory.

We're going to be sown in weakness, but raised in power. We're going to be sown in weakness. The arrogance of mankind. You go to the gym, and I've been trying to go back to the gym, and the gym is filled with two kinds of people. You have the young people who are working out in front of the mirror.

They want to see the results. Then you have the older people just trying to live a little longer, and we try to avoid the mirror. We don't want to see because we don't want to be discouraged. The arrogance of mankind, especially when we're young, we don't realize our frailty.

I think the pandemic, in some sense, was good for mankind because it reminded us of our frailty. That tiny little virus that you can't even see with your eyes, that you need to have it magnified a thousand times just to see what that was. That, we were afraid of that.

Everything shut down because of that. That's how fragile we are. The temperature's a little bit too hot, temperature's a little bit too cold. We don't have enough oxygen. You don't eat the right food. You don't move around. There's so many things that can kill us. We don't realize. Remember the first time when you started driving, how scared you were?

Every time you ran a green light, somebody's going to come and say, "Man, I can die, I can die." And now you're like, "Whatever." Because you got so comfortable. Yeah, but that machine that we ride, I mean, think about it. One accident, one drunk guy, one guy just forgetting, messing around on the phone, and just running the red light and T-boning us, and that's it.

That's how fragile our life is. A new term came about in our newer generation, snowflake. Snowflake basically means you melt easily. It's beautiful, but then a little bit of sunlight and it withers. That's a new generation term. Our generation, we call them pansies. It's beautiful, but then without the right sunlight and care and water, they said it dies easily.

Well, guess what? The Bible says we're all a bunch of snowflakes. We're all snowflakes. We're all a bunch of pansies. In Isaiah 46 to be, it says, "All flesh is like grass and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flowers fade. When the breath of the Lord blows upon it, surely the people are grass." The arrogance of mankind is somehow we can exist on our own.

If we just work harder, if we get sick, we get the right medicine. We go to the right doctor. If we just work out and take the right medication. I figured out how to live, not realizing how fragile we are. James 4.14, it says, "Our life is like a mist." A mist.

That's even weaker than a snowflake. That's even weaker than a pansy. We're just a mist. So, a mist that is proud? Think about the ridiculousness of that. A pansy, a snowflake, a mist, who somehow has confidence that I figured this out. He said, "We will be sown in weakness, but we're going to be raised one day in power." The power is not within us.

In Philippians 3.10-11, it says, "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." The power is a union with Christ in his resurrection. That even when we die, we live.

Everything else is human arrogance. We will be sown in weakness, but we will be raised in power. And finally, it says, "We will be sown in natural body, but raised in spiritual body." The Bible uses the term "natural body" often to refer to the fallen man and his flesh.

This is what it says in 1 Corinthians 2.14-15, the natural man and the spiritual man. "The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. He who is spiritually appraised appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one." In other words, it says the natural man has a hard time understanding God.

In his sin, because of his flesh, because of his weakness, even the Word of God comes through the filter of my sin and arrogance and pride. So even what we think clearly is blue, isn't blue. And he says the reason why that is is because our natural man is so strong, not realizing how weak we are.

1 Corinthians 13.12 says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known." We will be sown in our natural body, but we will be raised in our spiritual body, imperishable, in power, in glory, in our eternal state.

That's why the Scripture says do not invest in temporary things. Do not invest in temporary things. You work so hard so you can have a retirement. You work so hard so you can live in that house. You work so hard so you can have some security. All of that's not going to fade.

That's all pansy stuff. He said fix your eyes upon Christ, where the true reward is. Christ is the reward. Our union with Christ is the reward. He is not just source of salvation. He is our salvation. He is heaven. He is peace. He is life. And the resurrection guarantees that one day we will be united permanently with him in glory.

And we will be in that state for eternity. And all that we experience here is going to be a distant memory. A distant memory. Because that's where we're headed. I pray that this day of resurrection is not just something that we study. Okay, that's what the resurrection is. So what does the word "the" mean?

The resurrection mean? What does the burial mean? So what? So what you have knowledge. So what? What is your testimony? What is your testimony? How did the power of the resurrection change you? How did the power of the resurrection change the way you raise your kids? How did the power of the resurrection change the way you saw eternity?

How did the power of the resurrection change the way you saw your finance? We're just passing through. We're just passing through. And as we celebrate and remember the resurrection of Christ, I pray that we will be filled with hope that one day we will be there too. Let me conclude with reading Revelations 21 through to 4.

It says, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain.

The first things have passed away.'" Let's pray. Father, we pray for a greater vision of what we have in Christ as we remember and celebrate the resurrection that we would reorient our thoughts toward God to the day that we ourselves will be resurrected, that though we are sown with the things that are temporary, that we would be raised imperishable, though we will be sown in dishonor, that we will be raised in glory, though we will be sown in weakness, that we will be raised in power, and though we were sown the natural body, that we will be raised with our spiritual body.

Help us, Lord God, to eagerly wait for that resurrection, that all our values, all our hopes, all our dreams may be placed upon Christ and Christ alone. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. ♪♪♪ ♪ In Christ alone my hope is found ♪ ♪ In my life, my strength, my song ♪ ♪ This cornerstone, this solid ground ♪ ♪ Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ♪ ♪ What heights of love, what depths of peace ♪ ♪ When fears are stilled, when striving cease ♪ ♪ My comforter, my all in all ♪ ♪ Here in the love of Christ I stand ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ In Christ alone who took on flesh ♪ ♪ Boldness of God in helpless faith ♪ ♪ This gift of love and righteousness ♪ ♪ Scorned by the ones he came to sin ♪ ♪ Till on the cross, such Jesus died ♪ ♪ The wrath of God was satisfied ♪ ♪ For every sin on whom was laid ♪ ♪ Here in the death of Christ I lay ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ As in the ground his body laid ♪ ♪ Light of the world by darkness slain ♪ ♪ Then bursting forth in glorious day ♪ ♪ Up from the grave he rose again ♪ ♪ And as he stands in victory ♪ ♪ Since curse has cast its grip upon me ♪ ♪ For I am his and he is mine ♪ ♪ Clad with the precious blood of Christ ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ No guilt in mind, no fear in death ♪ ♪ This is the power of Christ in me ♪ ♪ From life's first cry to final breath ♪ ♪ Jesus commands my destiny ♪ ♪ No power of hell, no scheme of man ♪ ♪ Can ever take me from his hand ♪ ♪ Till he returns or calls me home ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I stand ♪ ♪ No power of hell, no scheme of man ♪ ♪ Can ever draw me from his hand ♪ ♪ Till he returns or calls me home ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I stand ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I stand ♪ Let's pray.

Romans 6, 5-7. "For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, "certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, "in order that our body of sin might be done away with, "so that we would no longer be slaves to sin, "for he who has died is freed from sin." Father, we pray that all that we have celebrated and remembered this week would have lasting effect, Father God, for the rest of this year, rest of our lives.

Help us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon Christ, to adore him, to love him, to follow him and obey him, and to worship him. May Christ and Christ alone be magnified in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. (soft music) (singing) ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to be loved ♪ ♪ He looked for a way ♪ ♪ He needed time ♪ ♪ To buy my body ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to fill ♪ ♪ My Señor lives ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ ♪ And stormy gale, my anchor holds with me ♪