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Jesus, The Resurrection and the Life

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Easter Service

John 11:1-6, 21-27, 38-47

"Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.  3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."  4 But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.... 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."  23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  24Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."  25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"  27She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world…. 38Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."  40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"  41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me."  43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out."  44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."  45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,  46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.”  

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Let Us Run With Endurance

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Good Friday Service

Hebrews 12:1-3

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. “

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The God Who Raises the Dead

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Easter Service

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.  7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.'  12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.  13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."

- Ezekiel 37:1-14

O Death, Where is Your Victory, Where is Your Sting?

Easter Sunday Service

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."  55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"  56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

- 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Do You See the Glory of the Cross?

Good Friday Service

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.  3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.  4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.  5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

- John 17:1-5