The Complete Easter Story | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

if you're not already standing would you stand with me this morning as we read from the word of the lord thank you for joining us in celebration thank you for joining us in a celebration this morning and our god is worthy of every handclap offering our god is worthy of every shout a praise our god is worthy of every dance that we have given him this morning our god is worthy he is worthy of all the praise could we just love him one more time before we read the word just love him in your own way the way that you love god would you if it's uplifted hands if it's open voice would you just give him praise lord i love you lord you are unbelievable lord jesus you are incredible lord you far exceed my expectation god i'm so glad i'm so glad of your mercy and i'm so glad of your grace oh god show yourself strong to someone in this room today god the book of acts chapter number one and verse number nine as you're looking for that today i want you to know that if you're a first time guest or maybe you've been here before but you're feeling something on your heart i'm just gonna go ahead and be very transparent with you this has been a divine setup you've been set up that invitation you got to be here it wasn't about easter eggs or a beautiful display to get a family picture out in the lobby i confess it's a divine setup for weeks now we've been praying for you for weeks now we've walked a dark auditorium throughout the weekdays we laid our hands on the end of the pew that you're on right now and we ask god we ask god to touch your heart so for the next few moments would you put your guard down and would you just let your creator walk into your life and talk to you this morning oh how he loves you oh how he cares about you you how he cares about you how he loves you this morning book of acts chapter 1 verse number 9 and when jesus had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel which also said you men of galilee why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven for just a few moments today i want to minister on this subject the complete easter story the complete easter story father i love you this morning i thank you god for the people that have come to worship on this day lord i ask that you would walk the aisles of this church today that you would stop at every pew for you came to seek and to save that which is lost those that have lost their way lord i ask you this morning to minister use me lord use my mind god use me as i minister your word today and we'll give you praise and honor and glory for what you're going to do in lives this morning in jesus name we pray would you give the lord another hand clap offering for what he is going to do you may be seated if there is a medical doctor in the house your language your field of expertise would be to talk about medicine if you're here today and you are a commercial airline pilot your field your expertise would be in telling us about the plane and about the art of flying you're a commercial contractor or contractor today your best conversation is when you're talking about building footers brick mortar i'm a preacher this morning i'm a preacher a preacher of the gospel of jesus christ my conversation this morning is about the lord it's about the lord you say brother carpenter that should be an obvious thing well it should be but sometimes it's not always it's not always the case there's probably not been an easter that i have struggled through the week with a message preachers will say it this way what's worse than not having a message it's having two of them it's having two and uh this week i have struggled with two messages i have struggled to preach to you the traditional easter sermon that you would want to hear about the stone rolled away and the empty tomb and all of that and i do pride myself in having an even having an even emotional level i call myself at times i'm a realist i'm a realist i don't like to hype people up with preaching i don't believe in hype because if you can hype them up the devil can hype them down i consider myself a realist i look at situations as they appear and i look at situations as god has his hand upon them you know as well as i know that we are on the verge of world war iii and i know that's something that you probably didn't think you're going to hear on easter sunday morning but it's an absolute crime on humanity what's going on in ukraine as we speak finding mass graves recently this past week they uncovered a mass grave in a little village in ukraine with over 900 bodies when i begin to survey the landscape of all the major players and how the world and nations are choosing sides i don't know if we'll be here next easter or not i don't know what this world may look like next easter so in prayer having that traditional easter sermon or having what i feel that needs to be said here this morning it said from the urgency of a pastor little did we think you know we did miss one easter service due to a global pandemic we don't know what the world will look like a year from now i don't know if i'll have another easter to talk to some of you so i'd like to take the next few moments and just give you the complete easter story because quite honestly the easter sermons that we're going to hear are going to basically cover three days three days his death his burial his resurrection his empty tomb and it'll stop there and there is life because of an empty tomb is spiritual life because there is an empty tomb just like the forefathers of our country that many of them did pay the ultimate price of death so that we could have the freedom of democracy and we stand here hundreds of years later and we enjoy the freedom that we have in our government two thousand years ago god robed himself in flesh and became one of us fully one of us he suffered bled and died and was buried in a tomb and three days later the same power of god that caused his to conception re-entered that corpse and raised it incorruptible but that's only three days of the story you see a lot of people don't understand that jesus actually stayed on this earth for 41 to 44 days he remained on this earth teaching the things concerning the kingdom of god he stayed on this earth after his resurrection for 41 to 43 to 44 days and then where my text begins as he spoke to them as he spoke to them a cloud received him out of their sight they literally watched as a smoky white puffy cloud engulfed him and lifted him up and they stood there with mouths a gape and they watched him ascend into heaven as they had fixed their gaze upon him two angels appeared to them and with the question why stand ye gazing up into heaven and the end of the complete easter story is that we are given a promise of the return of jesus christ by two angels this same jesus whom you have seen go away shall so come in like manner now i know when you begin to talk about the rapture of the church the coming of the lord that it can cause eyebrows to arch as if you believe that well your eyebrows ought to arch also when you believe that a virgin girl conceived your eyebrows ought to arch also over any miracle of the bible and so yes today as out dated and not in step with political correctness here this preacher today jesus christ will return to this earth he will return to this earth for his church i'd like to tell you a little bit about it and give you the complete easter story in first corinthians chapter 16 the first century church definitely believed in the soon return of jesus christ in first corinthians 16 22 if any man love not the lord jesus christ let him be anathema in other words if any man does not love the lord let him be a curse this word anathema it means a sacrifice that god has refused it means something that god has rejected well i don't know i don't i believe i could answer for all of you today none of us want to fall into the category of anathema i don't want to fall into that category but then after he said anathema he said the words maranatha he didn't spend much time on what god had cursed he didn't spend much time on those who do not love the lord jesus he changed quickly and said maranatha and the word miranatha simply means the lord is coming first thessalonians chapter five and verse number two the book the the church at thessalonica had received and believed a false rumor that caused them terrible anguish and depression someone had peddled a lie to the church at thessalonica that jesus christ had already come and that they had been left out paul addresses this in first thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2 and he says for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord so cometh as a thief in the night and he went in to a discourse about what the coming of the lord would look like he talked about that there would be a falling away first and he talked about a man of sin antichrist which would be revealed but i would like to give you so you can take home in your proverbial easter basket this morning you can take home some facts about the coming of the lord fact number one the coming of the lord will be suddenly quickly and instantly the coming of the lord it's not going to be like high school you're not going to get a bail and five minutes later another baal it's going to come suddenly would you say that word with me the coming of the lord is going to be suddenly quickly and instantly proof in luke 17 verse number 24 in reference to the coming of the lord jesus says this in luke 17 and verse 24 for as the lightning that shineth out of the one part under heaven shineth unto the other part under heaven so shall also the son of man be in his day he said if you want to know what the rapture is going to look like it is going to it is going to be as quick as lightning as quick as light now this is an interesting thing light travels 186 000 miles light travels 186 000 miles per second now i know that's that is absolutely mind-blowing that light travels 186 000 miles per second let me see if i can bring something home to help us comprehend this if you travel the equator of the earth if you travel the equator of the earth it is 24 901 miles around the cree equator of the earth which simply means that in one second light travels around the world a little less than seven and a half times in a second the rapture of the church will be suddenly quickly like lightning first corinthians chapter 15 and verse 52 paul makes reference in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed another fact about the rapture quickly instantly suddenly another fact about the rapture there is what is heard of a sound of a trumpet the sound of a trumpet but can i tell you that it will be a sound that only those that have pre-programmed their heart to hear it's a sound that only if you have pre-programmed your heart to hear the sound of the word of god because today what determines whether we're saved or lost has to do with one thing how do you receive the word there's no way to be changed outside of the word there's no way there's no way for god to lead you outside of the word but there are some that have scoffed at the bible there have some that have dismissed the bible believe that they have it's an outdated it's an outdated word it's an outdated thing and they've dismissed it therefore their hearts are not pre-programmed to receive the word of god but there are some here today that hold this book very precious to their life they govern they allow it to govern their life they look for they look to it for counsel they look to it about the behavior of their life when they come to when it comes time to determine whether this behavior is acceptable or not they don't go out in today's culture and see how many people are doing this to decide whether it's right if it says it in the word of god they they turn their lives away because the word of god has value so have you pre-programmed your heart to god's word this trumpet well we go on in first thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 13. paul says but i would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that's saints that have died that you sorrow not even as others which have look at that no hope for if we believe that jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him for this we say unto you by the word of the lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord shall not prevent them which are sleep follow this closely for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout that's interesting because captains and he is the captain of our salvation the captain always roars into victory with a shout for the lord shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of god for the dead in christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the lord wherefore comfort one another with these words congregation today is it thessalonians tying in to what the angels told to be gathered with him in the clouds with the trump or trumpet of god it says in verse 17 then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up caught up that's where we get the term rapture caulked up this word caught up means to catch up away to pluck to pull to take by forth or to snatch it comes instantly quickly suddenly as the light travels are we going to be snatched from this earth and oh i want to do everything i can to make sure that this five foot seven inch green eyed preacher is one of those that are snatched up and i want to do everything that i can and if i can get everybody anytime i can get a crowd together or an individual i want to let you know the lord is coming back again are you ready for him are you are you ready for him do you even believe it i did a little research on this brother erickson because there is some confusion there's some confusion because in the book of revelation in the book of revelation chapter 8 and verse number 2. as the end of the world plays out and i need to tell you so you don't have confusion the rapture is not the end of the world the rapture is the end of the gentile church age as we know it but it's not the end of the world and this is where a lot of people have some confusion about the end of time is because they they they go to the book of revelation and they start talking about they start they start talking about uh things that fit in the tribulation and things that fit after the gentile church age and it just seems to be a confused bundle of spaghetti but in revelation chapter eight verse two it says and i saw and i saw the seven angels which stood before god and to them were given seven trumpets now these seven trumpets are announcements during the tribulation each trumpet sounds and there's a particular phase of tribulation but you got to understand when it says in corinthians and when it says in first corinthians 15 52 the trumpet shall sound first thessalonians 4 with the trump of god it's not one of those seven trumpets it's matter of fact if you notice something it says it's with the trump of god it's god's trumpet well let's tie something together john was on the aisle that is called patmos and uh i've heard so many sermons about you don't want to go to patmos you don't want to go to patmos until last sunday night when pastor erickson spoke about patmos sign me up all right you had to be here to understand why we're chuckling a little bit revelation chapter 1 verse number 10 john begins to speak revelation 1 and 10 and he says this i was in the spirit on the lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a what trumpet this voice as a trumpet saying i'm alpha and omega the first and the last what thou seest write in the book and send it unto the seven churches which are in which are in asia so now we understand something about revelation chapter one two and three he is giving rebuke and little praise to the church he mentions the churches the churches revelation one two and three the churches but after revelation chapter 3 you don't hear of the church again till the latter part of the book where the bible refers to the church now as the bride of christ but i want you to follow something chapter 3 he comes to the end of addressing the church he comes to the end of dressing the church notice john said his voice was as the sound of a what a trumpet god's voice was as the sound of a trumpet chapter three the churches have been addressed we turn the page come to the chapter 4 of revelation we come to chapter 4 verse number 1 and he says after this i looked after what after the churches have been addressed i looked and behold a door was open in heaven what is the purpose for a door the purpose of a door is for you to go from one room to another that's the purpose of a door to go from one room to another where is john at as he writes he's on earth he says after this i looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which i heard what was as it were a trumpet talking with me so now he's standing on earth the churches have been addressed he looks up and there's a door in heaven and now he hears a voice which was the as of the first voice which was as a trumpet what does it say verse 11 what it says excuse me verse number verse number two or one a trumpet talking with me which said what did the trumpet say come up hither and i will show you things which must be hereafter and immediately i was in the spirit and behold a throne was set up in heaven and one set on the throne and he that set was to look upon like a jasper in a sergeant's stone and there was a rainbow round about the throne in the sight like an emerald follow this revelation is a symbolic book it is a book filled with symbolisms they communicated it was symbolism as a matter of fact as a matter of fact no book the reason john was exiled he was exiled as a political prisoner of rome and so any writings that john would have written that would have had any kind of inclination that was talking about you you know uh jesus christ or the church or whatever would have been tore up but god used symbols and signs can you imagine when they searched john's sale to look for any books and these educated romans found this book of revelation and should we burn this no the man the man is crazy the man has went insane he's absolutely out of his mind what what is this here he talks about beasts coming up out of the sea he talks about storms blowing in all four directions and animals walking up the man has lost his mind leave the book alone that was a god thing because god knew how to communicate with his church and he communicated with his church through the symbols of the book of revelation and so now we have the symbol what is it it is a trumpet it is a trumpet we're told that the rapture that there will be a sound of the trumpet that only the church will be able to hear john heard the sound of the trumpet which connected him to the voice of jesus christ what did the trumpet say come up hither what will the rapture do to us it will snatch us off this earth into the heavenly realm the door the door into heaven is the rapture how quick did john get from the earth to heaven immediately so this is a beautiful typology of the rapture of the church oh i want to start cutting down the static in my life that's one of the reasons people cannot receive the word of god like they should they've got too much static going on in their life they've got too many they're trying to get out of their situation on their own strength their own mentality their own money their own friends but they'll never get out of that situation because there's too much static oh on this easter sunday morning if we could just reach up and start turning down the static and say it's god's word that's going to help us it's god's word that's going to change us it's god's word that's going to give us could you give him a praise right now so don't get the trumpet in revelation the trump of god and both thessalonians and corinthians don't get it mixed up with the angels of the trumpets of tribulation it's an important it's a very interesting thing i'd like to present to you a bible scholar who did immense research he says that the last trumpet was a figure of speech that the roman fro which he came from the roman military he says when they broke camp you would hear the first trumpet the first trumpet sound meant to strike the tents and prepare to leave roll up the tents and prepare to leave shortly thereafter they received a second trumpet which meant fall in line and the third which was referred to as the last trumpet it meant march away do you know that god has sounded some trumpets in our lives to tear our tents down and i'm glad that the gospel of the empty tomb gives us the ability to tear our old lives down it's called repentance we're able to tear our lives down it's called repentance in baptism in spirit baptism we heard the word of god did we not we heard the trumpet sound the word of god and the word of god said tear your tents down tear your lifestyle down bring it to the altar put it under the blood bring it to the altar obey the word be baptized in my name for the removal of those sins receive the gift of the holy ghost tear those tents down then we heard the second trumpet and that second trumpet said fall in line because can i tell you that we're here today not because of conversion only but we're here today because we submitted our lives to god's word we begin to fall in line with god's word if god's word said it i want to do it if god's word said don't do that i don't want to do that you know why he would not withhold anything good from you if it's good god wants you to have it he loves you that much god wants you to have it you don't love you listen you don't love greater than god you wouldn't let your child play with a medicine bottle you wouldn't let your child play you wouldn't let a child play with a little bottle of pills no no you wouldn't why because it's dangerous you wouldn't you wouldn't let them do that you wouldn't let your child play with a loaded gun why you love them right i know that's kind of obvious but you love them do you know that if our god who loves us far greater than what we love our own children if our god says don't do that it's not because he's got too old to enjoy life it's because he knows that's not good for you that's how much he loved so that second trumpet sounds and it says line up but that last trumpet when it sounds it means just march away and i'm gonna tell you we've heard the first trumpet we've heard the suck at trumpet and we're going to hear that third trumpet are you ready for that sound today are you ready for the sound of the third trumpet i could spend some time and tell you that trumpets were used all through the bible from exodus to leviticus to numbers to joshua to judges to psalms the trumpets were a mode of communication they would blow trumpets they had one trumpet meant war they had one trumpet that meant retreat they had one trumpet that meant a symbol and all in all but can i ask you something today i know we can praise the lord but can we praise the lord to psalms 150 and verse 3 i know we can praise the lord we're good at praising the lord oh we're good at hand clapping if you walk out of that grave i'm walking too oh we're good at that yeah we're good if you're looking for me i've been set free my life is under the blood i understand all that but can you worship the psalms 150 and verse 3 praise him with the sound of the trumpet you see our praise of our redemption is secondary to our first praise of the word of god can you praise when the word of god is going forth church the lord is coming back i don't know what this world is going to look like in a year from now and i i really i really struggled i really struggled with which sermon to go to the traditional or this one and i just tell you i laid it down found me a place of prayer yesterday evening and i thought to myself if we have another easter i can i can do that sermon but if we don't have another easter it won't matter at all i want to tell you the lord is coming the complete easter story isn't the third day the tomb is empty the complete easter story is come on now the complete easter story is he is coming again put that in your basket and take it home with you today are you ready he is coming can you praise him with the sound of the trumpet can you praise him with the sound of that trumpet today he is coming something else to get ready for the atmosphere of the culture i've told you that it's going to happen suddenly i've told you that you need to tune your heart to the sound of the trumpet and now i'm telling you that you ought to keep an eye on culture the stage is being set currently for global change i could have listed a long thing a long list of things that's unbelievable that we're hearing on the news today things i mean it's just like each week it just tops the week before you know it came out last week you know we got the uh gender confusion going on and you know switching back and forth and uh a boy one day a girl then and when we got out we got all that going on but now it's went to a higher lower level in that there's actually people that are believing they're animals i know they're acting like it but they're believing that they're they're believing they're animals a little boy believes he's a cat and parents have requested that a litter box be put on a playground now i wish i was joe i wish i could just tell you that that was a tabloid something you know like car found on the moon or whatever you know i wish i could i wish i could tell you that but but it's not it's it's it's just going to a lower level as we speak keep your eye on culture second timothy chapter three and verse number one this know also that in the which days are we talking about now this know also that in what can you help me last days perilous times shall come that's dangerous times for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of them that are good traitors heady high-minded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of god having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away look at our culture let me give this to you in another version it simply says but you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce and difficult for the people of god people will be self-centered lovers of themselves obsessed with money they will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mark all that is right they will ignore their own families they will be ungrateful and ungodly they will become addicted to hateful and malicious slander slaves to their desire they will be haters of what is good and right treachery they will act without restraint bigoted wrapped up in clouds of their own deceit they will find their delight and pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of loving god they may pretend to have a respect for god but in reality they want nothing to do with god's power stay away from people like this am i not telling you the culture that we're living in today as long as you agree with whatever they're your friend but stand up for an absolute and you become their enemy as a matter of fact right here in good old east tennessee the bible belt buckle up somebody said we're the bible belt no we're not the bible belt here in maribel we're the belt buckle of the bible belt that's where we're at here in marybel but right here in our good old belt buckle men and women that work these factory jobs are being asked is suggested to them that they don't bring their bible now they're not they're not reading their bible when they should be working they just got their bible out or they got it on an app on their phone when they go to the lunchroom to sit down and they get called in by human services and told we would just really rather you not do this because it's making other people feel uncomfortable we're living in that culture our culture's not going to get better i don't care who gets elected and you write any name in that blank who i don't care who gets elected next go around it's not getting better i don't care who's got the house i don't care who's got control of our government get this in our heads church listen to the sound of the trumpet it's not going to get any better this world is going to wax that means grow worse and worse as a matter of fact this is the reason jesus came malachi chapter four and verse number six is the reason that jesus came malaca chapter 4 verse number 6 sums up the reason he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers lest i come and smite the earth with a curse do you know that you know what the gospel will do today first the gospel wants to save you first the gospel wants to save you dad the gospel of jesus christ the good news dad is that jesus christ wants to save you save you from what save you from yourself and save you from this culture did we not hear the apostle peter when the church was birthed on the day of pentecost and the church came into being he preached that plan of salvation to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost did we not also hear him say these words save yourselves from this untoward generation he's talking about a culture dad mom god wants to save you god wants to save you from yourself save you from your sins but god wants to do a work in your entire family god wants to do a work in your marriage now you shouldn't give your life to god so that your marriage gets back together but can i tell you you have more of a chance and an opportunity to get your marriage back together if you will submit your life to jesus christ i know this is not the normal easter roll the stone away miracles are coming but i'm telling you i don't know it will be here next year so i got to tell you the rest of the easter story and that is the lord is coming but in between the lord's coming we've got to herald the news the we got to hear all the news he will forgive you he loves you he will give you an opportunity to serve him if you will believe he'll put your marriage back together your children have more of an opportunity to be saved if you're saved dad your children have more of an opportunity to come out of the life situation they're in if you'll dedicate your life to god your children have more of a chance i close i close with this musicians would come jesus spoke a parable in the 25th chapter of matthew this parable has to do with a wedding symbolic of the rapture this parable has to do with a wedding and at this wedding there are two categories of virgins there are those that are called wise five and there are those that are called foolish virgins now all ten of these virgins had a lamp a light the reason being the custom of the day was that it didn't look like the ceremonies that we have but the virgins would go out into the field at night and they would wait because it would be at night that the bridegroom would cry with his voice there would be a trumpet that would sound behold the bridegroom cometh go you to meet him and so these virgins all ten of them knew that they needed lamps and thus all ten of them took lamps but there were five of them that also carried an extra container of oil oh it was cumbersome you not only had to have your lamp in one hand but you had to have the container of oil in the next oh you wasn't as free you had both your hands occupied but the foolish virgins looked at them and said you know i just like being freer i just don't like the weight of that extra oil i i just don't like that weight of that extra oil so they're referred to as foolish virgins because they just believed that they they had enough oil in their lamp they just believed they had enough oil but the bible goes down through 13 verses and it tells that all of them slumbered and slept and i want to tell the church this morning be honest with yourself all of us at times have not been as close to the lord as we should be all of us at times have allowed church to become a routine or we've allowed we've allowed just the routine to kind of knock the edge off of our living for god and so there they all slumbered they all slept but the bible specifies that at midnight at midnight do you realize that midnight if you look at it truly that midnight is a period of time that belongs to neither today nor tomorrow some have just simply said that midnight is god's hour that might really answer a lot of things throughout the bible that god did certain things at midnight but at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom cometh go you out to meet him the five wise virgins got up and trimmed the wicks and took that cumbersome can of fuel and refueled their lamps the foolish said give us of your oil give us of your oil for our lamps have gone out and they said not so lest there not be enough for us but go buy for yourself they went to buy and while they went to buy the bridegroom came the bible says they went in with him and the door was shut later on the foolish virgins came open up to us he came to the door and he said depart i never knew you you see there's a door here this morning there's a door here this morning it's a door of opportunity it's a door that's going to tell some of the sleeping saints hey you're going to be given an opportunity to step out of your pew and come up around the altar because yes even the wise virgins slumbered and slept but it's going to be an opportunity for some of you today that have realized i'm wasting my life it's not getting any better i'm going to surrender my life to god on this easter sunday morning of 2022. i'm going to surrender my life to him would you stand with me right now would you bow your head would you close your eyes and those of you would you help me pray lord jesus i have ministered your word today god i have told them lord i have told them that you are soon to come suddenly quickly you're to come that lord the culture is telling us that you're coming on the verge of a third world war god you're coming lord in the name of jesus christ today i pray i pray for every man woman boy and girl in this room right now i pray for you right now if you want to come this morning i'm going to open up this altar i'm going to open up the altar area for you right now if you want to come and commit or recommit your life back to god step out of that aisle right now step out of the aisle right now start your journey today jesus is here jesus is waiting jesus loves you jesus cares jesus has open arms jesus is waiting for you this morning would you come this morning oh i want to rededicate i want to recommit my life that's right that's right that's right that's right i want to recommit my life to god this morning oh i want you to shake me god i want you to wake me lord lord you are coming again this same jesus whom we've seen go away will so come in like manner of the complete easter story this morning oh the complete easter story this morning church family let's gather in this altar right now let's gather for a time of recommitment let's gather for a time of recommitment if you didn't want to walk the aisle by yourself why don't you come as the church comes this morning why don't you come as the church comes this morning that's right that's why come as the church comes today oh god i love you lord it's ever been i can almost and at the midnight when jesus steps out on a cloud to call his children the dead in christ shall rise and then those that remain they shall be quickly changed in a moment so we'll be going home i look around me oh yeah i see prophecy i could almost hear our father as he says and at the midnight cry the teddy christ shall rise children we shall be quickly changed we'll be going home would you today they're going to come in just a moment they're going to come in just a moment give us some directions of how to end the service but would you be so kind to lay your hand over on somebody and pray with them right now the name of the lord jesus the name of the lord jesus god lord you know the burdens that are presently in this building right now oh god you know the people here that are tormented in their life god lord mothers that have cried themselves to sleep because of a child oh god in the name of jesus sweet jesus come walking through this building today oh sweet lamb of god come walking through this building this morning lord you know what we need today you know what we need today come on let's pray for healing right now physical healing in the body oh god show yourself god to them right now lord show yourself god to them right now let there be a healing lord lord jesus move god with salvation lord that man that woman that's under conviction this very morning god let that conviction begin to intensify as you as you draw them with a rope to you you you draw them to you right now lord oh lord bless oh blessed be the name blessed be the name blessed be the name if you believe the lord's coming give him a hand to praise will you start a journey with me today would you start a journey with me today and uh i just want one more minute of your time if i could have it you know i some of the strongest christians i know are not those that just gullible just believe everything that's said but there's those that study their bible they study their bible and first apostolic church is a bible-believing church it's a bible-believing church and we want you to have all that god has for you we want you to have all that god has for you we understand the only way you can have all that god has for you is to study your bible so we have a wonderful bible study here it's absolutely free it's called search for truth search for truth it is a systematic bible study i like the theme of it open your heart when you open your bible it's a systematic bible study consists of about 10 lessons about 45 minutes per lesson and what i love about this it's one on one you're not in a classroom you're not in a classroom a bunch of people that you might be intimidated to ask a question it's one-on-one can be taught it can be taught here at one of the church offices by an instructor it could be taught if so will in your home um starbucks i've seen these taught all over the place all right and it's just a systematic study it starts in genesis and goes all the way through to the book of revelation and it just opens up to you the word of god it's absolutely free it's absolutely free if you would be interested in starting your journey so i'd kind of like to have one of those i'd like to have one of those just a moment we're going to dismiss i'm going to linger around the front um if you'd like to come and say hey how can i get enrolled in this or if you see one of our greeters give them your name and contact we would love remember again remember again absolutely free it's a one on one it's not a classroom you're not in there with 30 other people 10 other people five other people it's just you the instructor and a bible and god can change your life on the journey thank you all for coming out this morning god bless you in jesus thank name you