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[0:00] Piano solo Thank you.

[1:00] Thank you.

[1:30] Thank you.

[2:00] Thank you.

[2:30] Thank you. Thank you.

[3:30] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[4:02] Thank you.

[4:34] Thank you.

[5:06] Christ is risen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you. Thank you. Christ is risen. Thank you.

[5:16] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[5:28] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There spot you.

[5:44] We're gonna bring offerings. Go to the Lord. Come to God. Thank you. CHOIR SINGS Christ is risen from the dead.

[6:35] Christ is risen from the dead. Well I think with such amazing singing I think that could have made the dead rise.

[6:47] That was great, isn't it? Wonderful. Hallelujah. Christ is risen and it's because he is alive that we can come to God, we can know God and we can talk with God in prayer.

[7:00] And that's what we're going to do now. We're going to pray together. So let us pray. Oh Lord our God we thank you and praise you again for your Son the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that this day of the year we celebrate something which we know all the year long.

[7:17] That Jesus is alive, risen from the dead. We thank you that his life means that we have life. His death means that our sins are forgiven.

[7:28] His ascension to your right hand where he sits in heaven with authority and power means, Oh Lord we know that we shall never be turned away from you.

[7:40] You will never say that you're too busy to hear us. You'll never put up a no entry sign. You'll always, always there ready to hear us when we pray.

[7:50] Thank you that this is because of Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. Thank you that we can never come to you, Oh Lord our God, by ourselves in our own goodness because we have none.

[8:02] Lord our sin has put up a great block between us but Jesus has smashed that away on that very first Easter and made the way into the very presence of the living and holy and wonderful God.

[8:14] So that now we come to you as our Father. We come to you as our friend. We come to you as the one who is more glad to hear us pray than we are even to pray. The God who delights in us.

[8:25] The God who loves us. The God who is for us and will never leave us nor forsake us. We come to you our God this morning. We come and ask that the power and the reality and the joy of that resurrection Sunday, of that Easter Sunday may be ours for each one of us.

[8:43] That Lord we may not just simply be keeping the feast in that sense or celebrating Easter. But Lord that we might know ourselves that Jesus' life is part of our life.

[8:55] And that his conquering of death means that we do not need to fear death. But that we have hope sure and certain and real. Oh Lord we pray that this morning by your Holy Spirit you would come to us.

[9:09] And just as on that Easter Sunday, Lord Jesus you stood amongst your disciples and spoke with them. So we long that you would by your Spirit speak with us and be present amongst us.

[9:20] That we might know and hear your voice speaking to us personally and individually and really. We praise you and thank you again that this is a day of rejoicing.

[9:32] In a day, in a world where there is such bad news it seems constantly. We thank you that in Jesus there is good news. Not just on Easter Sunday but every day. Because we know that he is the Lord of heaven and earth.

[9:46] He is the one in whom we can and must and should put our faith and trust. And he is the one who will never ever let us down. Lord be with us then and bless this time.

[9:58] For we ask it in and through the name of Jesus. Amen. Now this is a special service. Not only because it's Easter. But also because it's a service in which all the children are able to stay in the service.

[10:14] Now there is no Sunday school. But if you need to use the creche. There is a creche. Please at any time you need to or feel to. But don't worry about a bit of noise. Okay. We've got lots of noisy people here.

[10:25] Usually snoring is the main noise. But children laughing and giggling is not a problem too. But I want to start first of all with a memory verse.

[10:35] So a memory verse is a verse from the Bible. That's going to set the theme about what we're thinking about this Easter Sunday morning. But to get to the memory verse it's hidden behind these eggs.

[10:47] Now around the world Christians decorate ordinary eggs. Hard boiled eggs and paint them. Because an egg is a symbol of life. Like Jesus bursting out of the tomb.

[10:59] Life coming from the shell. But as you know unfortunately a lot of what really is true of Easter is hidden behind chocolate eggs. And bunnies and the chicks and all sorts of things.

[11:09] So to take away the eggs we'll find the memory verse. But to take away the eggs you're going to have to answer some questions for me boys and girls primarily if you're here. Okay. Some of them are pretty easy.

[11:21] Okay. But pop your hand up if you know the answer and then we'll take away an egg. What animal did Jesus ride on into Jerusalem at the start of Easter week? Are you a boy or a girl?

[11:33] Sorry. Not anymore. Not anymore. Boys and girls. Let's have a look. Let's have Emily. A donkey. That's right. A donkey. Let's take away an egg. Well we've got the word God.

[11:45] Okay. That's good. Okay. That's the next question. What do we call that day? What do we call that special day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey? Freddie.

[11:56] Palm Sunday. Why is that Freddie? They did. That's right. Because they took down palm leaves from the trees and made a carpet for Jesus. And they welcomed him in crying Hosanna Hosanna.

[12:08] So two. Okay. He's got a bit more to find. Yeah. Okay. Let's see if anybody else is awake here this morning. Where did Jesus and his disciples go to pray before he was arrested?

[12:23] I'll give you a clue. It was a garden. It was a garden. Josh. Hey. Oh Gethsemane.

[12:34] Who said that? Was that you? Theo. Said Gethsemane. Thank you. I didn't see your hand. Sorry. I didn't see your hand. It was hidden by your dad.

[12:45] Okay. Gethsemane. Well done. That's right. Josh as well. Let's take another one away. Okay. Okay. So we're getting more and more of the verse being revealed. Who was it who denied knowing Jesus three times on the night that Jesus was arrested?

[13:04] What? What? Thank you. Hand first. Then we have the answer. Right. Put your hand up.

[13:15] What's the answer? Cedric. Cedric? You just said the right answer. I said it. Oh he said it. Say it again for me Theo. Say it again for me.

[13:27] Peter. Well done. Okay. No more answers from you because you know it all. Obviously from your gran and granddad I think probably. Okay. It was Peter. That's right. He denied knowing Jesus three times.

[13:38] He lied when people asked him. Oh weren't you with Jesus? Didn't you know? No. No. He said he was afraid. So he was handed over to of our sins and he was. Let's see what else we got.

[13:49] A couple more left. After Peter had denied Jesus three times an animal made a noise. What was the animal that made the noise?

[14:01] Are you just really shy? Are you shy? Or do you not know the answers at all? Hey. It was a cockerel. Well done. It was a cockerel.

[14:11] Okay. I won't ask you to make a cockerel noise. Okay. It was a cockerel. Jesus had said. He said you're going to deny me three times Peter. And then a cockerel is going to crow. And it happened exactly as Jesus said.

[14:23] And Peter realized what a terrible thing he'd done. And he wept his heart out. Okay. One last one to find and make the whole of our verse complete.

[14:35] How many other men were crucified with Jesus? How many other men were crucified with Jesus? Go on then Poppy. Two. That's right. Two. Well done. Okay.

[14:46] So we can reveal our verse. So let's read it all together out loud. He was handed over to die because of our sins. And he was raised to life to make us right with God.

[15:00] Romans chapter 4 verse 25. We'll read it once more. He was handed over to die because of our sins. And he was raised to life to make us right with God.

[15:13] So we're going to... Sorry. Romans chapter 4 verse 25. Get carried away. So we're going to think about this. This is the theme of our day this morning. Jesus.

[15:24] And we're going to ask some questions about this verse. And unpick it and find out what it really means. But before that I'm going to ask Richard to come and bring the notices for this week. Thank you Richard. Thank you Richard. So we're thinking about this memory verse.

[15:48] He was handed over to die because of our sins. And he was raised to life to make us right with God. Well the question is who handed Jesus over?

[16:00] That's the big question isn't it? Who handed Jesus over to die upon the cross? Who's responsible we might say for his death? Who was it who gave him over to die?

[16:13] Well I wonder who we got some suspects. Who could they be? We have Judas. Was it Judas who handed Jesus over to death?

[16:24] We know that he betrayed Jesus for money. He had gone to the religious leaders and he said to them I'll lead you to him so you can arrest him. And if you pay me 30 silver coins.

[16:37] And so he did that. He went on the night before Jesus died. And he took the soldiers within the guards to the Garden of Gethsemane we thought about.

[16:49] And he said the man that I give a kiss to is the man that you must arrest. That's Jesus. And he did just that and arrested Jesus. So was it Judas who handed him over?

[17:00] Does he bear some responsibility? He bears some guilt for doing that. He'd been a friend of Jesus. But he stabbed him in the back literally and betrayed him. Well could be.

[17:10] What about the religious leaders themselves? The high priest Caiaphas, the nanas. Was it them? They were jealous of Jesus. See everybody was looking to Jesus to hear God's word.

[17:22] Everybody was coming to faith and trust in Jesus. And as we thought on Palm Sunday when he came into the city. They were all shouting and praising him. And the religious leaders were so jealous.

[17:33] They wanted people to look up to them. They wanted people to listen to them and to do what they said. They felt they were losing power. And so they plotted and hatched a plan to kill Jesus.

[17:46] And they handed him over. After they tried him in the middle of the night. Something illegal that they were not meant to do. They handed him over to be killed. And they called for the crowd.

[17:57] They crucified, crucified. They wanted the people to shout for them. So they bear responsibility. They bear guilt. They were wrong. But was it them?

[18:08] Well what about Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor? He was the one who had the power of life and death. The religious leaders couldn't put Jesus to death. It was against the law.

[18:20] But they were being ruled by the Roman at the time. But he was afraid of the crowd. He knew Jesus was innocent. He'd even said, I don't find anything wrong with this man. And he really felt bad about it.

[18:31] So much so he washed his hands in front of them. He said, you know, I wash my hands. The guilt of Jesus is on you, not on me. But even so, he had the power to let Jesus go.

[18:42] But he didn't. He actually was afraid of the crowd. And he went along with the crowd. And he had him crucified and handed over to the soldiers. So he bears guilt as well for doing that.

[18:55] But ultimately, who handed Jesus over to die? Well here's what Jesus himself has to say. I lay down my life. No one takes it from me.

[19:07] But I lay it down of my own accord. Jesus said this when he was teaching in John and chapter 10. I lay down my life. I hand over my life. Literally, no one takes it from me.

[19:20] So not Judas, nor Pontius Pilate, nor the religious leaders. I lay it down of my own accord. My own free will. How many of us would want to do that?

[19:30] To give ourselves to die because we wanted to. But Jesus says he does. Jesus said he did. He freely gave his life. So when he went into Jerusalem, he went there with a mission, with a purpose, with a plan.

[19:44] Knowing he would die, he said to his disciples on many occasions, the Son of Man, speaking of himself, must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the Gentiles and die.

[19:59] Why would anybody die? Unless it was they were giving their lives for somebody else. Unless it was laying down their lives as a sacrifice to save somebody else.

[20:11] Unless it was because of love. So Jesus gave himself his life out of love. Out of love for who? Out of love for us.

[20:23] Out of love for people. He gave himself. Though he was the Son of God, he gave himself to die. We're going to sing a song together. It's going to come up on the screen as well.

[20:34] And it's going to be, Lord, I lift your name on high. Lord, I love to sing your praises. I'm so glad you're in my life. I'm so glad you came to save us.

[20:44] Jesus came into this world. He was born when we celebrate Christmas with that one express purpose. To die for us. So we're going to sing this song through twice together.

[20:55] So let's stand and sing. Lord, I lift your name on high. Lord, I lift your name on high. In case we thought about the rest, why did he was handed over to die?

[21:13] But why? Why did he give himself to die? We know there was those people who played their part in that, but it ultimately was Jesus' plan, Jesus' purpose to die.

[21:23] But why? Why did he die? Yes, he died because he loved us. He gave his life for us. But why did he die? Why did he die? Did he die because he was a criminal?

[21:37] He committed a crime. Crucifixion, hammering nails into a person's feet and hands and hanging them on a cross, was something that the Romans only kept for the worst of criminals, the worst of crimes.

[21:50] You had to be somebody pretty bad to be crucified. There were those two men, remember, who were crucified, one on each side of Jesus. We know that they were basically robbers, but not just ordinary robbers.

[22:05] They were sort of robbers who mugged people and beat them up and perhaps even left them to die. They were pretty low-life scum, we might say. But Jesus was crucified with them. So surely he must have committed a crime.

[22:18] Or at least he must have been stitched up, falsely accused, which we know that he was. But no, Jesus had never done anything wrong. It's very clear.

[22:29] As I said, Pilate said, I find no charge in this man. He's innocent. Even when he was tried, they had no accusations. They could only bring lies against him. And he is the only person who ever lived and did not sin.

[22:43] He's the only person who ever lived who did not do anything wrong. And yet he dies. Well, did he die because he had no choice? The Romans were pretty fearsome people.

[22:55] They had control over the whole of the land. They occupied it. They had the power of life and death. A Roman soldier was not somebody who to be messed around with. So when they arrested him, that was it.

[23:06] He just couldn't escape. Perhaps he... Did he want to escape? No, we know he didn't. But did he have no choice? Was he sort of fixed up? Fitted up? No.

[23:20] He could have had a choice. He did have a choice. He laid down his own life. So the question is, why did Jesus die? If it wasn't just that he was a criminal, which he wasn't, it wasn't that he had no choice, but he had a choice and chose to go to Jerusalem to die.

[23:35] Why did he die? And then in our verse, he was handed over to die because of our sins. Why have I put a cock...

[23:48] Who does that remind you of? I've put a cockerel up there, boys and girls. Who does that remind you of? What does it remind us of? I think you all know the answer.

[24:00] Peter, doesn't it? Peter, remember? On that night before Jesus was crucified, Peter, we're told, followed Jesus after he'd been arrested and was hanging around outside the courts of the religious leaders.

[24:13] And a young girl came up to him and said, aren't you one of Jesus' disciples? He said, no, no, I'm not. A bit later, he went to warm himself by a fire. And again, somebody else came up to him and said, I'm sure I've seen you with Jesus.

[24:27] No, no, never. Don't know the man. Never met him. Finally, somebody came and said, yes, you've got to be one of Jesus' disciples. You've got a northern accent. People with northern accents are guilty, aren't they?

[24:39] Let's be honest. All of them must be. No, because he was from Galilee in the north. They had a strong northern accent. And he swore a curse. He said, I never, ever knew him.

[24:54] Lies. We might think that lying is probably the least of sins. Big sins, of course, are killing people and robbing people. Lies are just, they're not all that important, are they?

[25:07] They don't hurt anybody, but they do. We know that lies can create all sorts of rumour. They can bring all sorts of heartache and tragedy. Deception.

[25:18] That's what a lie is, isn't it? It's deceiving somebody. It's saying something is true when we know that it's not. But denying Jesus is really what sin is all about.

[25:30] You see, Jesus as God is the one who gave us life. He's the one who created us that we might know him. He's the one who gives us all that we need day by day.

[25:41] But denying him our love, our trust, our thanks, is really what sin is all about. But denying him his rightful place as the God of our lives, living our lives as if we are God.

[25:54] The one who makes all the rules. The one who makes the choices. The one who's in control is what sin is. And it has a terrible effect upon us. We see it in the world around about us.

[26:06] We see the awfulness of sin in Syria. We see the awfulness of sin in Afghanistan, where people decide that they know what's best and right, and they take other people's lives to assert their own will over them, to be God over them.

[26:24] These people do not know God, have no knowledge of him. But we see sins fall out in our own lives. We see it in our families. We see it in our relationships with our parents. We see it in our workplace.

[26:36] We see it on the sports field. Wherever we go, we see men and women, boys and girls, saying, I am in charge of my life, denying God his place. So we see what an awful effect sin has in the world and in our lives.

[26:51] But worse than that, the Bible makes it clear that our sin separates us from the God who made us. It cuts us off from his love. It cuts us off from his care and being part of our lives.

[27:02] It cuts us off from him, and it basically kills us. That's why we all are getting older. That's why we all will eventually die, because of sin's effect.

[27:13] It pollutes and corrupts our lives, and it separates us from the God who loves us. That's why Jesus came. And that's why Jesus died, because of our sins.

[27:24] To deal with the problem of sin in our lives. To make the way of forgiveness for us. To make the way of pardon, of peace. To set us free from the power of sin in our relationship with God and our relationship with others.

[27:42] Jesus died because of our sins. Let's sing again together, this time from our hymn books. 272.

[27:52] 272. 272. In the tomb so cold they laid him. Death its victim claimed. 272. And thatieß we sing.

[28:09] Thank you.

[28:39] Thank you.

[29:09] Thank you.

[29:39] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[29:51] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[30:03] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[30:15] Thank you. Thank you. Some people have speculated about the reasons for that. They've said something like this, perhaps he didn't really die. Jesus never rose from the dead, really, they say.

[30:30] Perhaps he was crucified on the cross, and they took him down while he was still alive, and they thought he was dead because he'd lost some blood, and he obviously looked pretty bad, and they put him in the tomb thinking he was dead, but he wasn't really dead, and while he was in the tomb, he sort of came around a bit and felt a bit better, and he got up, and he got out of the tomb and walked away, and they all said, oh, he's alive, but he'd never really died.

[30:57] Well, that really goes against the facts, because, first of all, the Romans were pretty good at killing people. They had a lot of practice over several hundred years before that time.

[31:07] Crucifixion was something that they specialized in. It was their particular niche way of executing people, and they were very careful that nobody lived after crucifixion. In fact, the two robbers with Jesus, to make sure that they died more speedily, and I'm sorry this is a bit gruesome, had their legs broken, so that they basically strangled.

[31:29] As they hung there, they were unable to lift themselves to breathe. They came to Jesus and were going to break his legs, but they saw that he was already dead, but to make sure still, one of the soldiers took a spear and stuck it into the side, right into the heart of Jesus, so that a mixture of water and blood flowed out.

[31:47] And also, when Nicodemus, one of the friends of Jesus, wanted Jesus' body to bury it, he went to Pilate and asked for the body. Pilate thought, this is a bit quick, that Jesus is dead, and he called for the centurion in charge, you can read all about this in the Gospels, to check that Jesus was really dead.

[32:06] And when he'd got the word from the centurion, who'd seen a lot of dead people and knew when people were dead, he said, yes, you can have the body and bury it. So, Jesus was definitely dead.

[32:17] Definitely dead. Well, there could be another reason, and other people have speculated another reason why Jesus' tomb was empty. It could be that perhaps his disciples took his body away.

[32:29] They had heard Jesus say he was going to rise again on the third day. They believed in him, and they were worried perhaps that people weren't going to believe in him if his body didn't disappear.

[32:40] And so, in the night, they overcame a company of armed soldiers, because they were on guard there, took his body away. Well, where was his body?

[32:51] That's the question. If they took his body away, where did it ever end up? Nobody ever found it. Nobody ever discovered it. It was never seen again as a dead body. But more importantly than that, these disciples were the same ones who, a few weeks later, started standing up in the middle of the city, saying, Jesus is alive, risen from the dead.

[33:11] And when people said to them, if you continue to say that Jesus is risen from the dead, you will die, they still said it. In fact, nearly all of those disciples of Jesus who were with him when he died, went around saying he's alive, and they died because they said he was alive, risen from the dead.

[33:32] Now think about it. Would you die for a lie? You might die for what you know to be true, but would you really die for a lie? Somebody says to you, here's a lie.

[33:43] Do you believe, you're saying this is true, but you know it's a lie. Would you live or die for that? Well, they died because they believed Jesus was alive because, actually, he was alive.

[33:57] He was raised from the dead. Here's what we read later on in one of the letters written by St. Paul. He tells us the facts. He tells us a bit of a history of what happened.

[34:08] He says Jesus, that's who he's speaking of, appeared to Peter, the disciple, then to the twelve, that's the other disciples, then after that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters, that's people, Christians, people in the church, most of whom are still alive, and he was writing this about 30 years after Jesus' death and resurrection.

[34:28] Now, if you've got one witness, you can be a bit sceptical, two witnesses, three or four, 500 people who all are willing to testify and say, I've seen Jesus alive from the dead and I've eaten a meal with him because that's what he did.

[34:43] He had breakfast with his disciples on the beach. He ate food with them. He talked to them over 40 days before he returned to heaven. That's a lot of witnesses and a lot of people that say, you're lying.

[34:56] What benefit is there to lie about something which you know isn't true? They knew it was true and they wrote about it and they gave their lives believing it and were willing to die for it.

[35:12] So the next question is, if Jesus is alive, why was he raised to life? Remember we had our memory verse, he was handed over to die because of our sins and was raised to life to make us right with God.

[35:30] To make us right with God. We've talked about sin and why sin separates us from God and causes us to have a wrong relationship with God but Jesus came and was raised to life to make us right with God.

[35:43] So what does it mean? Why was Jesus raised to life? Why was it necessary for him to come back from the dead? After all, plenty of religions are founded upon people who've died and are still buried.

[35:55] Islam, you can go to Mecca and there's a great ceremony around his tomb of the prophet. He's still there, his bones are there. He's not risen but there's a great religion formed around him and so it is with all religious leaders apart from Jesus, the only one who has no tomb, has no grave.

[36:13] So why was he raised to life? Here's one of the explanations. Here's what the Bible tells us why Jesus was raised to life. He, Jesus, was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[36:29] He is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Jesus was raised to life so that we might know that he is God. We might know that he is God who lived amongst us.

[36:42] That we might know that he is who he claimed to be. It's not the disciples who claim that Jesus was the Son of God. It was Jesus himself. In fact, it was Pilate who said to him, aren't you the Son of God?

[36:57] Yes, it's as you say, Jesus replied. And again and again throughout his life the whole purpose of the Gospels we have is to present to us one who is God living amongst us so that his words we know are true.

[37:10] In one sense the very proof that Jesus is the Son of God, the proof that his words can be trusted, the proof that God has come to us and is real is in the resurrection.

[37:24] Because everything he said would happen, happened. So he is God. He is Lord. These words are true. The resurrection proves that. The resurrection is the reality of that, the evidence of that.

[37:39] But it also, Jesus said this. This is at the graveside of a good friend of his called Lazarus who had died. He said to her, that's to Mary, the sister of the man who had died, I am the resurrection and the life.

[37:55] The one who believes in me will live even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? Jesus doesn't say, I'm going to be raised up to life.

[38:09] He says, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the very one who gives resurrection life. I'm the one who gives life which is stronger than death. That's why he says, the one who believes in me, whoever they are, will live even though they physically die and whoever lives believing in me will never truly die.

[38:29] By that, Jesus tells us there is a reality of heaven and hell. That this world in which we live in is not the end, is not the all. That when we finish this physical life, there is something beyond that.

[38:42] And for those who trust in Jesus, it is life and not death. It is forever life with God. I am the resurrection.

[38:54] I am the life. Jesus is the one who only can give us that life. We cannot earn it ourselves. We cannot, by being good people, make ourselves right with God.

[39:05] We cannot, by being religious, get ourselves to heaven or to eternal life. It's only through Jesus and, as Jesus says, believing in him.

[39:16] Not being the best person in the world, not by giving all your money to charity, not by going on pilgrimages, not by saying your prayers, not by reading your Bible, but faith.

[39:27] Faith in him, trust in him alone, assures us, guarantees us, that as he is alive, having defeated death, so we do not need to fear death.

[39:40] But death is life for the believer. And notice that final little question, that final little sentence that Jesus asks Mary, do you believe this?

[39:53] To prove the answer to that, Jesus then went to the tomb of his friend Lazarus, Mary's brother, and though Lazarus had been dead four days and in the tomb for those four days, Jesus spoke, Lazarus, come out, and the man was restored to life.

[40:16] But the big question is not to Mary, the big question is to you and me. Do you believe this? This morning, this Easter Sunday morning, this day, here's what Jesus said.

[40:30] I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

[40:44] That's Jesus' own words way before he died himself. Death is our greatest enemy. Death is the one thing that we all fear.

[40:55] Death is the one thing that we put off thinking about as long as possible. It's the one thing that we do not want in our lives. We can put up with most things, but death is the most awful, terrible, tragic thing.

[41:09] And you and I must die. And you and I will die. But the question is this. Do you believe this? Because Jesus makes a promise, a cast iron promise, a promise which he has backed up by his own resurrection from the dead that says if you believe, you have eternal life.

[41:29] Becoming a believer in Jesus is not simply about having eternal life when we die and go to heaven. That's wonderful and that's great that it means having life now, the fullness of life with God, enjoying a relationship with him, enjoying the certainty of his care, enjoying the nearness of his presence.

[41:50] And there's the promise. They will never be condemned for their sins. You see, the reality is the Bible teaches us that beyond this life there is another life. And as we pass from this life into the next, we pass into, first of all, judgment.

[42:05] We pass into the presence of God, the judge of all people. And the question is this. When we stand before God, will we be condemned or pardoned?

[42:17] Will we be condemned for our sins or will we be forgiven? Jesus says, those who believe in me will never be condemned because he has taken our punishment himself.

[42:28] He took the condemnation we deserve on the cross and died in our place so that he has paid our pardon, our ransom. And so when we trust in Jesus, even in this life, we pass from death to life, we pass from being under the curse and the fear and the power of death into newness of life with God.

[42:53] So the question is, do you believe this? Because if you do, if as I've put before you some of the facts of the case that Jesus really did die and that he really did rise again, the question is this, what are you going to do with it?

[43:08] You can walk out of here this morning and you can say, well that was all very interesting and I like the animation and the pictures and I enjoy the singing and do nothing more.

[43:19] And you can continue your life with the assurance that one day you will die and with the knowledge that you will face judgment before God. Or else you can do something about these facts, this truth, this reality.

[43:36] See, it's not just a passing fad. I'm not telling you something which is new and the latest idea. This is something that people have believed and known and had their lives changed for 2,000 years.

[43:48] It's proven the test of time. Do you believe this? You've got to do something. You can be like Peter and you can say, I'm going to deny it all.

[44:00] I'm just going to walk away. I'm going to deny this truth that I've been faced with. But then, one day the cock will crow for you and you will face God.

[44:11] Or else you can, like Mary and the others, examine the truth for yourself. Look into the truth for yourself. I want to encourage you, particularly if this is something new for you that you've really struggled with and you're not sure about, this very easy to read little book, Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb.

[44:32] Your Verdict. It's written by a lawyer. It's written in very easy read. I'm sorry there's no pictures. Please can I encourage you. There's plenty of copies in the back. Take one and read it for yourself.

[44:45] Don't dismiss it without thinking seriously. And if already you're convinced, if already in your heart you know this is true, then you've got to do something. You've got to respond.

[44:57] Jesus said believe. Come to him and say, Lord, I do believe that you died for my sins and I ask you to forgive me and I ask you to give me that newness of life that you purchased for me in your death and resurrection.

[45:14] Let me know you and have that life everlasting. Let me encourage you if you've come with friends or family who are Christians and you've got questions, ask those questions.

[45:26] Talk with them. Don't let it pass by. It's too important, too vital. We're going to sing a song together.

[45:37] It's a wonderful hymn. It's going to come up on the screen as well. See what a morning. Gloriously bright. The resurrection of Jesus is the key to everything in the Christian message.

[45:49] If he didn't rise, no point believing in him. If he has risen from the dead, you've got to take notice of that. So let's stand and rejoice as we sing this final hymn together. Amen.

[46:05] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[46:23] Amen. Amen.

[47:23] Amen. Amen.

[48:23] Amen. Amen.

[49:18] Let's pray together. Lord, our God, we thank you that we have a living and real certain hope that Jesus is alive from the dead. So we too have life beyond death.

[49:30] Life in the full now. Life with you. And life eternal. We ask again this Easter Sunday that we might remember these things. And when we face Monday and the coming weeks ahead, may we be those who live in the power and the reality and the joy of the resurrection of Jesus.

[49:49] Oh Lord, those of us who still do not know that life, make us alive from the dead too. That we may know that we have one in whom we can put our trust.

[50:00] Who keeps his word. Who never lets us down. Who is faithful to the end. So we say together, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.

[50:12]  Amen.