A Little bit of Heaven on Earth

Easter Worship Service for April 17, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS

He is risen!

I have a special announcement this morning. We are live-streaming this service to the entire world! Well, to anyone who wishes to watch on the YouTube platform. So welcome to those of you who have been listening and/or reading our worship services and who are now witnessing this even as we speak. We are thrilled to have you with us. If you folks have any comments, please let us know. I am especially excited to welcome Joan Long’s sister, Joyce Morrison, from down near Dayton, Ohio who has been listening since the beginning of the pandemic. And my brother Tom K’Meyer, who lives over in Ravenna, has been looking forward to this day. Thanks to those of you who contributed financially to this cause. And thanks to Jerry Barnes, Shane Haumesser, and Lindsay Brandenburg for working the hardware and technical ends of this endeavor.

I apologize if the odiferous smell of pancakes and sausage is wafting over your olfactory receptors this morning. That’s because 36 of us just enjoyed a delicious breakfast of the same. Thanks to Brad, Dave, and Jim for preparing the food.

Thanks to all of the people who were prepared to make yesterday’s Easter Egg Hunt meaningful. But alas, the weather put a damper on our effort and we had to settle with handing Easter Eggs to the kids as they drove up with their parents.

I love the cartoon that pictures the soldiers who were standing by the empty tomb. The stone had been rolled away and one of the soldiers was looking very worried because they had failed in their responsibility to guard the tomb. But the commander shrugged it off by saying, “I wouldn’t worry about it, 100 years from now no one will remember!”

As a matter of fact, 100 years later, a Greek historian, Aristides, wrote to a friend trying to explain the extraordinary success of the Christian faith. Among other things he wrote, “If any man or woman among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they accompany the body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.”

Why was that?

CALL TO WORSHIP

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.
Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and get Him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them His message.
John 20:1-18

What a magnificent morning for those first folks who made their way to the tomb of Jesus, only to discover it empty! Could it really be that Jesus is alive again, just as He had told them?! Do you understand what that meant for Peter and John and anyone else who ever felt like they failed Jesus just when He needed them the most? He’s alive!? They have the opportunity to be forgiven, to start over, to begin again. We too have experienced the blessing they received as a result of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That’s why we have gathered here this morning!

SPECIAL MUSIC

Glorious Day

Curran, Sean/Ingram, Jason/Smith, Jonathan/Stanfill, Kristian Paul

I was buried beneath my shame
Who could carry that kind of weight?
It was my tomb
‘Til I met You
I was breathing, but not alive
All my failures I tried to hide
It was my tomb
‘Til I met You
You called my name
Then I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
You called my name
And I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
Now Your mercy has saved my soul
Now Your freedom is all that I know
The old made new
Jesus, when I met You, whoa, what a day
When you called my name
And I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
You called my name
Then I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
I needed rescue
My sin was heavy
But chains break at the weight of Your glory
I needed shelter
I was an orphan
Now You call me a citizen of Heaven
When I was broken
You were my healing
Now Your love is the air that I’m breathing
I have a future
My eyes are open
‘Cause when you called my name
I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
You called my name
And I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day
©2017 sixsteps Music / worshiptogether.com Songs (ASCAP) / sixsteps Songs / Worship Together Music / Jericho Songs (BMI) (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Fellow Ships Music / Hickory Bill Doc / So Essential Tunes (SESAC) (Admin. at EssentialMusicPublishing.com)
CCLI License No. 1843349

OPENING PRAYER

Our Heavenly Father, You have not only called Mary and Peter and John to the empty tomb, You have also called us out of the darkness into this glorious Easter day! We rejoice with all Your people everywhere this day as we worship You through these songs which bespeak our faith and give glory to Your Holy Name, amen.

OPENING WORSHIP SONGS

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Wesley, Charles

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens and earth reply: Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Dying once He all doth save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened Paradise, Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
©Public Domain CCLI License No. 1843349

Shout Your Fame

Bedingfield, Natasha/Galanti, Jonas Myrin/Nevison, Paul

Some say You’re just a good man,
Some say You are kind.
Some say You are in the grave,
But I say You’re alive.
Some say You’re just a prophet,
Some say You were wise.
Some say You were just a man.
But I say You are God.
You are my God.
I will shout Your fame to all the earth,
I will lift Your name on high.
And the world will know
Your greatness,
You are my God,
I will shout Your fame.
I know You’re the Messiah,
You gave Your life for me.
And I know You’re the only way
Jesus You are God,
You are my God.
I will shout Your fame to all the earth,
I will lift Your name on high.
And the world will know Your greatness,
You are my God, Jesus I will
Shout Your fame to all the earth
I will lift Your name on high
I will show the world Your goodness
As I live a life that shouts Your fame
As I live a life that shouts Your fame
Jesus I decide to live, live a life that
Shouts Your fame…shout Your fame
Jesus I decide to live, live a life that
Shouts Your fame…shout Your fame
Jesus I decide to live, live a life that
Shouts Your fame…shout Your fame
Jesus I decide to live, live a life that
Shouts Your fame…shout Your fame
Shout Your fame. Shout Your fame.
Shout Your fame. Shout Your fame.
©2003 Hillsong Publishing (admin in the US and Canada by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music).
This arrangement ©2008 Hillsong Publishing (admin. in the US and Canada by
Integrity’s Hosanna! Music).
CCLI License No. 1843349

He is Lord

Fettke, Tom

He is Lord. He is Lord.
He is risen from the dead and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord.
©Arr. 1986 by Word Music (a div of Word Music).
CCLI License No. 1843349

PRAYER

O Risen Christ, You have heard the fruit of our lips as we have proclaimed You Lord. And how could we not, for this glorious day we celebrate that You were not only raised from the dead, but also promised that we would be too! So may it be that as we continue to worship this morning that we will bend the knee and confess You as Lord of our lives, through Christ, amen.

OFFERING

Certainly one way that we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is by emulating Him and sacrificing an offering so that His Word might continue to be proclaimed by us to a community in need of His grace.

If you would like to send your offering through the mail, our mailing address is:

CrossPointe Community Church
P O Box 126
Chippewa Lake, OH 44215

PRAYER SONG

He Lives

Ackley, Rev. Alfred H.

I serve a risen Savior;
He’s in the world today;
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy.
I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him,
He’s always near.
He lives. He lives.
Christ Jesus lives today.
He walks with me, and talks with me
Along life’s narrow way.
He lives. He lives.
Salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.
In all the world around me,
I see His loving care;
And tho’ my heart grows weary,
I never will despair.
I know that He is leading
Thro’ all the stormy blast;
The day of His appearing
Will come at last.
He lives. He lives.
Christ Jesus lives today.
He walks with me, and talks with me
Along life’s narrow way.
He lives. He lives.
Salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian.
Lift up your voice and sing.
Eternal hallelujahs
To Jesus Christ the King!
The Hope of all who seek Him.
The Help of all who find.
None other is so loving,
So good and kind.
He lives. He lives.
Christ Jesus lives today.
He walks with me, and talks with me
Along life’s narrow way.
He lives. He lives.
Salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.
©1933 Homer A. Rodeheaver. Renewed 1961. Word Music, Inc. (a div. of Word Music Group,Inc.)
CCLI License No. 1843349

MORNING PRAYER

Brad Winter

SCRIPTURE

Did you hear the story about a little boy who came home from school to find his pet German Shepard, Rex, with the neighbors dead pet rabbit in his mouth. Now this German Shepard already had a bad rep in the neighborhood. So the ingenious young man, not wanting anything bad to happen to his dog buried the rabbit in a nearby field, went to the local Pet Store and purchased a similar looking rabbit, and carefully placed it back in the neighbor’s rabbit cage. Later that evening as his family was eating dinner, there was a knock on the door. Guess what; it was the neighbor’s holding the alive and well rabbit exclaiming that it was miracle he died and we buried it the backyard three days ago!”

I have a better resurrection saga to tell than that.

Soon afterward Jesus went with His disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. A funeral procession was coming out as He approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” He said. Then He walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.
Luke 7:11-17

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw Him.
But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body He wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 15:1-8, 35-49, 54-57

MESSAGE

A Little bit of Heaven on Earth

Randy K’Meyer

Four golfers who like to gamble reach the 18th green, where Charlie has a chance to sink a 4-foot putt for $200. Charlie lines up his putt, but just as he’s about to take his stance, a funeral procession begins passing by on the road that runs alongside the 18th. Charlie steps away from his ball, sets down his putter, takes off his hat, places it over his heart, and waits for the funeral procession to completely pass. Once all the cars in the funeral procession have passed, Charlie picks up his putter and begins lining up the putt again. “Wow,” one of his buddies says. “That was the most touching thing I’ve ever seen. You’ve got a makeable putt for $200, yet you stopped and paid your respects as that funeral procession passed by.”
“Well,” Charlie says, “we were married for 25 years.”

Because Gail and I live within a half-mile of Waite’s Funeral Home, it’s not unusual for us to see a shiny black hearse slowly making its way to Spring Grove Cemetery.

Every time I encounter a funeral procession a series of thoughts begin to percolate. I wonder who died; an older person, a middle-aged person, perhaps a child. Then I often recall the strange sadness of riding behind a hearse with my mother and brothers and sister to Greenwood Cemetery in Mogadore to bury my father. And sometimes I will think about how someday I’ll be riding in the hearse to the cemetery; not in the front seat as I often do as a pastor, but in a coffin.

Have you ever thought about your last ride on earth? Not easy to think, much less talk about.

Joseph Bayly, in his book, The Last Thing We Talk About, writes, “The hearse began its grievous journey many thousands of years ago as a litter made of saplings. Litter, sled, wagon, Cadillac: the conveyance has changed but the corpse has not. Everything changes; death is changeless. We may postpone it, we may tame its violence, but the door of the hearse is never closed.” ¹

It’s a sobering fact that one day the door of a hearse will close on us.

Just as it did on the only son of a widow who lived in the little village of Nain who was being carried to his resting place.

Don’t miss the drama in the moods of these two processions on a head-on collision. Jesus and His followers were filled with joy and great expectation for their future as they were coming fresh from a miracle of healing grace. And the other, moving in the opposite direction filled with extreme sadness and grief, making their way to a cemetery.

Can there be a sadder picture than that of a funeral procession that is conveying the body of the only son of a woman who has already lost her husband? Last Monday we were able to give thanks for the 96 years that Duane Fulton lived. But when someone in the prime of his or her life dies, it just doesn’t seem right.

A little girl wrote a letter that was published in one of those Letters to God books. “Dear God, we are very sad in our house because my little brother Charlie went up to heaven last week. I heard my Daddy tell Mommy that only heaven would help him stop crying; so could you give my daddy ‘a little bit of heaven on earth?’

That’s what the widow of Nain needed; a little bit of heaven on earth! Little did she know that the person who would give her just that was headed in her direction.

Luke says the heart of Jesus was ‘overwhelmed with compassion.’ 35 years ago I still recall Dr. Fred Craddock preaching from this text saying, “Jesus was so sensitive He could hear the sound of a tear on the widow’s cheek from a mile away.” Without wasting any time, He comes to the bier and touches it. According to Jewish Law touching such would render Him unclean, and therefore not able to worship God for several days. But like so many other occasions, Jesus is not about to allow Jewish Law to keep Him from ministering His grace to people in need.

Then He simply tells the boy to rise up. If there were no authority behind the words, what a cruel hoax! But Jesus reveals the extent of His authority by confronting even death, and in short order, the tears of sadness become tears of wonder and joy!

It was a dramatic moment! Jesus claims for life a boy who had been marked for death. It is a miracle of the 1st degree that foretells not only the raising of His friend, Lazarus, but also His own resurrection.

And, by the way, it’s no coincidence that this is the first time in this gospel Luke calls Jesus “Lord” for here Jesus reveals Himself to be Lord, even over death.

A little bit of heaven on earth; isn’t that what we are all desire?

When we pass a funeral procession, we need a little bit of heaven on earth.

When we hear that someone we know has been in a terrible accident and is in the hospital in critical condition we need a little bit of heaven on earth.

When we go to see the doctor, who now has the test results, and he begins the conversation with, “I’m sorry” we need a little bit of heaven on earth.

At the nursing home sitting next to the bed of our father or mother or grandfather or grandmother, we need a little bit of heaven on earth.

As we stand before a coffin at a funeral home paying our final respects, we need a little bit of heaven on earth.

When we say a final goodbye to someone we dearly love as they are being lowered into the ground, we need a little bit of heaven on earth.

When we think about our own impending death, we need a little bit of heaven on earth.

So thanks be to God for the message of Easter yields that which we need. So although it is natural to grieve when death draws near, in any form, we need not fear.

Professor Gary Habermas is the author of several books on the resurrection of Jesus. In 1995, his wife, Debbie, was diagnosed with stomach cancer. “Little did I know that my belief in Jesus’ resurrection was about to be severely tested by the sting of pain and grief. Four months later, at the age of 43 years, she passed away just after we celebrated our twenty-third wedding anniversary. During Debbie’s suffering, I took refuge in the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. I knew that the resurrection had a historical, theoretical side, but I wasn’t fully aware of its practical power.

How did my belief in the resurrection help me while Debbie was dying? I imagined how God might answer my questions about Debbie. He would ask me, “Gary, did I raise my Son from the dead?”
“Of course you did, Lord,” I would respond, “But why is Debbie dying?” “Gary, did I raise my Son from the dead?” the question would come again. “Yes, Lord, but…”
“Gary, did I raise my Son from the dead?”
I imagined God repeating the same question until I got His point.
If Jesus has been raised, then I can trust that Debbie will be raised too. ²

Professor Habermas experienced the truth of what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: Although we will grieve, “we will not grieve as those who have no hope!” (I Thessalonians 4:13).

For the believer, death is not the end, but a new beginning of life eternal. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

Speaking of victory, there is a famous painting hanging in the Louvre Museum in Paris in which a young man is engaged in a competitive game of chess against the devil. It appears the devil is winning; he has captured many of the young man’s pieces, you can almost hear the devil thinking, “I’ve got you just where I want you.” However, the person with a keen eye who knows the game of chess well will discover upon studying the board that the match is not over at all. As you study the board you see that the man has one more move and one move only that will give him victory.

When we look at the cross on Good Friday it looks at first glance as if the devil has won; it looks as though Jesus has been silenced and conquered. But then Easter reveals that just when the devil thinks he’s won, God puts into play the greatest checkmate move of all time! ³

This is why the author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes: Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

In his commentary on Luke, Darrell Bock gives us his application to the story
of how Jesus raised the only son of this widow:

Death is not the end for those who know Him. It involves a transfer into a level of life not known on this earth. While this miracle reminds us of our human frailty and mortality, it also shouts to us about God’s power to raise and transform. No wonder the crowd who saw this miracle was filled with awe. We should be too as we contemplate God’s creative power and compassion.” ⁴

And the good news for us today is that anyone who has made a decision (whenever that was) to believe that Christ died for his or her sins, on that day, that person entered into a new relationship with God through Jesus, in which the sting of eternal death was removed and in its place, he was infused with the stuff of which eternity is made!

In his play Fences, August Wilson, has Troy, a baseball fanatic, say,

Death? That’s part of life; everybody gonna die, you gonna die, I’m gonna die, we all gonna die. Death ain’t nothing, I done see him, done wrassled with him. You can’t tell me nothing about death. Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner and you know what I’ll do to that. You know how you get one them fastballs about waist high, over the outside corner of the plate where you can get the meat of the bat on it and good God, you can kiss it goodbye! ⁵

In that same vein, my friends, the message of Easter is Jesus kissed death goodbye!

Don’t get me wrong; I am not running the race towards death with open arms. In fact, I’m dragging my feet. I fear a lingering illness, or worse, losing my mind. And yet, of one thing, I am sure of: when the death toll strikes for me Christ will be there! I may not know exactly what lies beyond the grave, but at least I know who is!

The truth of today’s story, if we let it sweep over us, is stunning. Death; that is eternal death, can be eliminated in our lives! It has been conquered in the person of Jesus. And as long as people want to live rather than die, they will come to Christ with open hearts!

Dr. David Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. Some of his friends asked him, “Why have you become a Christian?”
He replied, “Well, it’s like this; suppose you were going down a road and suddenly the road forked in two directions. And you weren’t sure which way to go. And there at the fork in the road stood two men, one dead and the other alive. Which one would you ask for directions?” ⁶

God promises to restore to life those who know His touch. Do you?

One way to think about your answer is to consider which procession you walk in: the procession of fear and sadness having no hope or the procession of confidence and joy in the Lord?

Nard Pugayo was born and raised on the Philippine Island of Luzon. When he was 6 years old, Richard Roe, an American missionary came to his village to learn to write their language so that they could read a book he called the Bible about who God is. “Who is your God? Is He more powerful than our spirits?” they asked.
“Yes, he’s more powerful than your spirits.”
So they started teaching this man, Dick Roe, how to write their language.

When Nard was 13, Dick Roe had to return to the United States to raise support but gave Nard a copy of the recently completed Gospel of Mark. The boy started reading that portion of the Bible for the first time. “I felt like I was actually there, seeing the characters; I imagined I was walking with Jesus watching all the wonderful things He did. But as I neared the end of the book, I began to stress out. A mob of people came to arrest Jesus who was praying in a garden. What did He do wrong? They accused him of all kinds of false things. They mocked him, spat on him, beat him. It was excruciating to read that they forced him to carry a wooden cross and then they nailed him to it.

Suddenly a hatred of God swelled in my heart. I hate you, God, for being so powerless! Why should I believe in a powerless God like you? I wanted a god who would protect me; this God didn’t even save his own Son. So I threw the Gospel of Mark into the garbage.

But the next day, God reached down into my heart: “Nard, don’t you understand? That’s how much I love you, I gave my Son to die for you.” So I retrieved the Gospel of Mark from the garbage, brushed it off, and began to read to see what happened next.

It was an incredible moment as I read that Jesus rose from the grave on the 3rd day! The resurrection story changed my life. ⁷

And it will change yours too!

PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO THE MESSAGE

[I encourage you to pray as you feel led by the Spirit of God].

CLOSING SONGS

Alive Forever, Amen!

Cottrell, Moffitt and Smith

Let the children sing…a song of celebration,
The God of our salvation set us free.
Death where is thy sting?
The curse of sin is broken.
The empty tomb stands open, come and see.
He’s alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive, praise and glory to the Lamb.
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive forever amen!
Let my heart sing out,
For Christ the One and Only,
So powerful and holy, rescued me.
Death won’t hurt me now,
Because He has redeemed me.
No grave will ever keep me from my King!
I’m alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive, praise and glory to the Lamb.
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive forever amen!
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive, praise and glory to the Lamb.
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive forever amen!
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy of our praise
Worthy is the One
Who has overcome the grave.
Let the people dance,
Let the people sing.
Worthy is the Mighty King.
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy of our praise
Worthy is the One
Who has overcome the grave.
Let the people dance,
Let the people sing.
Worthy is the Mighty King.
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy of our praise
Worthy is the One
Who has overcome the grave.
Let the people dance,
Let the people sing.
Worthy is the Mighty King.
Worthy is the Lamb,
Worthy of our praise
Worthy is the One
Who has overcome the grave.
Let the people dance,
Let the people sing.
Worthy is the Mighty King.
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive, praise and glory to the Lamb.
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive forever amen!
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive, praise and glory to the Lamb.
Alive, alive, alive! Hallelujah!
Alive forever amen!
Alive forever amen!
Alive forever amen!
Alive forever, amen!
©2003 New Spring Publishing, Inc. CCLI License No. 1843349

BENEDICTION

May the celebration of resurrected life bring new hope to your being.
May the victory over earthly death turn your eyes to the promises of heaven.
May the empty tomb help you to leave your sorrows at the foot of the cross.
So that God’s hope, promises and forgiveness reign in your life forever.
Amen.

3 https://bentalk123.blogspot.com/2010/09/bishop-kenneth-ulmer-king-still-has-one.html

5 August Wilson, Fences, 1987.
https://www.dailyactor.com/monologues/fences-troy-fights-death/

6 Family Ties Illustrations
https://www.family-times.net/illustration/Choice/200026/domdocument.load