DISCLAIMER: This text is not a verbatim transcript. Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. >> Thank you for joining us today. We are glad you're here. ? >> Grant: Well, good morning, and welcome to Easter Sunday at the First Colony Church of Christ, where it is our mission to honor God and to lead people into a growing relationship with Him. My name is Grant Bright, outreach and admissions minister here, Grant Wright and I'm honored all of you are joining us for this special day of worship. Because today, today is a new day! The old is gone, and the new is here as we celebrate our Risen King! Let's stand and enter into this time of worship today! >> Richard: Jesus is alive! ("From the Day" playing) >> Richard: Here we go! ? ? Oh ? ? Yes, from the day You saved my soul ? ? Oh, oh, oh ? >> Richard: Yes! I don't know how many of you remember, but last year this building was empty. This year the only thing that's empty is the tomb! ("Great Things" playing) >> Richard: Let's celebrate! >> Richard: Yes, our God does great things, amen? You may be see seated. >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone. Happy Resurrection Sunday. It's so exciting to see so many people here in the audience and those of you that are checking us out online, good to have you here as well. My name is Joel Smith. I'm the Children's Minister, and this is a spot where we just take in the message and create something visual for children or adults -- the young at heart, whatever it may be. All right, well, in order to get to Resurrection Sunday, you have to go through Good Friday; and in order to go through Good Friday, you have to understand something. And I have here a red feather. This represents Jesus. You all know that Jesus received all of our sin. So the verse I've chosen is Isaiah 1:18 that says, though your sins were as scarlet -- so this red represents Jesus. And we know that God placed all our sins on Jesus on the cross. And they were red, which was sad; but the second part of that verse is very cool. It says: "And they shall be white as snow." Pretty cool. So when Jesus died on the cross for our sins -- uh-oh. Hey, cool! Look at that? What do you know? (Applause) it makes things amazing! And if we start to dare, you would be like, "Man, that's really cool." So often we forget there were two other guys on the cross with Jesus, and the interesting thing is that Jesus was there for you and I; but Jesus was there for them as well, and they had a choice. At first they started off -- and were known to be thieves, very bad men who had done wrong things who were being punished for their crimes. They made fun of Jesus. But then one of them looked at Jesus, and he said, "This guy is different." He turned and responded to Jesus and said, "Will You remember me?" And we know from Luke 23:43 he said "Remember me." Jesus said, "Truly, you will be with Me in paradise today." Which is pretty cool. (Applause) way to go! Yea! Now, it wasn't because of anything he had done. Jesus could have said, "Dude, you waited too long. I'm sorry, man. You know the reason I'm up here is because of you." It was because of Jesus' completed work on the cross that He could respond. There were two thieves, one who said, "Help, I'm turning to You;" and one who said, "You know what? I don't need You. I got this." And he continued to make fun of Jesus. And guess what happened? Nothing happened. He continued to make fun of Jesus, and Jesus' completed work was done; and he did not respond to Jesus, which is very sad; and he died that day. So my challenge to you as you're here for this Easter service is what are you doing with Jesus? Are you turning to Him? Are you responding to Him? Or are you saying, you know what? I don't need that. I'm good enough. I'm good to go. I challenge you as you listen to today's message: what will you do with Jesus? Thank you very much. (Applause) >> Grant: Thank you, Joel. We're about to enter into our time of communion so if you're at home, go ahead and start gathering your supplies. If you're here, you can get out your back its. If you don't have one, there are some on the back tables or as you enter. This is a time where we remember the death, the burial, and today we celebrate the Resurrection so let's go into this and prepare our minds and hearts. Kevin and Le Hayes will lead us from video so let's turn our attention to the screen. >> Good morning! My name is Le, and this is Kevin. We are so thankful to lead you in celebrating the Lord's Supper together today on this bright Easter morning. Please, pray with me over the bread, which represents the body of Christ, given for us; and the cup representing the blood of Jesus poured out for us. Let us bow our heads. Lord, we come before You & in humble adoration, thanking You for Your mercy and grace. Today is a special time where we celebrate the Resurrection of the Risen Lord. Psalm 118:22-24 tells us the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank You for Jesus paying the ultimate price by laying down His life so that we could have ever lasting life. Praise You for giving Him the power to take His life back up again. Through His blood and sacrifice, we who believe that Jesus is the Son of God are cleansed, and we, too, are brought back from the dead. Thank You Mighty God for having a plan that saves all who place their faith in You. Please, bless this bread and cup as we partake in remembrance of our Savior and Risen King. Praise You, Lord. Praise You for Your ever lasting mercy. Amen. >> Kevin: Let us partake together. Today I will read from Matthew 28:5-10 from the NIV version. The Scripture will be on the screen for you to follow along. (reading) ("The Way" playing) >> Richard: Why don't we all stand? >> Grant: Amen, church! We're about to proposer our offering. You can go ahead and be seated. If you're giving online today, let me just let you know it's easy, secure, easy to set up. If you're here in the room, we've got giving boxes at all the exits. But church, you know, this is something that we partner in. This is something that we partner in with God to make a difference here in His community and to the ends of the earth. A couple weeks ago I got to tell you about because of your huge mission offering, we are being able to open up three new schools in Uganda. Last week we askedded you to bring shoe and clothes for people in here in Fort Bend County, and not only did you to that, but you did it huge. We filled up a huge truck floor to ceiling, front to back, full of shoes. I mean, look at this! It was overflowing with shoes. It's unbelievable! (Applause) Yeah, absolutely. This is making a huge difference right here in Fort Bend, and it starts with your heart, your heart for the Lord, and that giving heart He has given to us, overflows to make that difference in this church, to make a difference in this community, and to make a difference around the globe so thank you. Let's take that giving and joyous spirit into this prayer today. Father, You Are good. Your love endures forever, and we know the greatest Gift of all was Your Son; and He told usages just as He will take care of the birds of the air, the flowers, the field, how much more He will take care of us, His children. Not only does He give us the basics; but God, You have given us Your Son, and we find refuge in Him today as the Risen King. So Father, we give out of joy and excitement. We give out of love for You that we can make a difference for Your kingdom. We pray this in the Powerful Name of Jesus. In His Name we pray, let's turn our attention to the screen. >> This is a new day, a day of celebration, forGod has given us a new birth, a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus. He's rescued us from the darkness. He's brought us out of despair. In Him we have redemption. In Him we have mercy. In Him we have forgiveness. Today we stand in Christ a new creation. The old is gone; the new has come. Today we celebrate our Savior, our Deliverer, our Redeemer. Sin is conquered. Death is defeated. The grave is empty, and Jesus is alive. This is a new day. This is Easter. >> Grant: This is a new day, indeed! It's time for our fellowship greeting. Go ahead and stand, say hello to the folks around you, and tell them what is your favorite Easter candy. Cadbury eggs, anybody? Hey, if you're online with us, jump in the chat box. We'd love to hear from you. Say hello and tell us your favorite candy as well. ("Your Grace Is Enough" playing) ? For me ? >> Richard: Yes! Let's give God a praise offering today! Thank you for your worship! You may be seated. >> Ronnie: Fantastic, Richard and team! Thank you so VERY, very much. Good morning, everyone, and happy Easter. To those of you watching online, we welcome you. So glad to have you with us today. And to those of you in the room, a very special joy to see you and just so delighted to have you here with us today. It is Easter Sunday, and we need to do our Easter declaration. This is where I'm going to shout out to you that Christ is risen; and you're going to shout right back to me with a lot of energy -- "He is risen indeed!" Ready? Here we go. Christ is risen! >> He is risen indeed! >> Ronnie: Doesn't that just massage your spirit in such a beautiful way? (Applause) To declare that? That Jesus is Lord; that He is risen; He is risen indeed. I know you believe that, and come of you are coming to believe that. Easter is certainly a special day, but it's more than that. It's actually a way, a mind set that we can bring to living every single day. You know, the Resurrection of Jesus is so very, very important, a pivotal event of our faith, the most important event in history -- no exaggeration. A couple of reasons: number one, it completes the saving work of Christ. You do know without the Resurrection, the cross is meaningless? As the apostle Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 15, if He's not been raised, you're still in your sins. The Resurrection completes the work of Christ for us. Praise God the tomb is empty. Praise God the cross was occupied. But secondly, the Resurrection for us is so meaningful because it guarantees -- it paves the way for your own resurrection and for the resurrection of those who are so very, very precious to you. And this truth, this truth has sustained and blessed and nurtured and encouraged believers over the centuries in times of sickness, persecution, grief; despair; and even martyrdom. In fact, Christ is risen; He is raise reason indeed; and I'm so very, very thankful. Sometimes people will ask one another, why are you a Christian? People give all sort of reason. Sometimes secondary reasons. "Well, I'm a Christian because my parents were." "I'm a Christian because I have a lot of friends who go to church and I just sort of grew up that way." "I believe that there is really only one reason to be a Christian. It's a reason I am a Christian, anyway. I believe it's true. I believe the Christian message is absolutely true. Not the kind of modern day -- well, it's true for you and maybe not for me -- no. It's either true or not true, and I believe the Christian message is absolutely verifiedly, historically and in a very fresh way, so have true. You know, the opponents of Christianity at the very beginning could have just squelched the whole thing. How? You simply produce the body of Jesus. "Here you go." And everybody wanted to. The opponents wanted to. But Jesus lived, died, and lived again. Get this now: the very first followers of Jesus were Jews. Jewish men and women whose number one law is what? You shall have no other gods before Me. And they take that very, very seriously. And yet the very first worshipers and followers of Jesus are Jewish men and women who are saying, "This Man, Jesus of Nazareth, is God in the flesh." Something started that movement among Jewish men and women, for cryin' out loud! The only explanation is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm a follow of Jesus because I believe it's absolutely true -- not because my mom and dad said so; not because I got to play on the church softball team back in the day -- because I believe it's true. Here's a Scripture out of 1 Corinthians 15. Brother (reading) Listen carefully. (reading) In other words, the cross was occupped in a sacrificial way. (read) in other words, you put a time stamp on it. This actually happened in history. God supernaturally breaking through in history. And after that, there are witnesses, many cooperating witnesses. (reading) He appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters. (reading) some said if you put that number of people in an ongoing testimony you would have 128 hour of testimony. That's a long time. In other words, this Scripture is saying Christianity begins by saying, here's what Jesus did for you in history. We're presenting this as factual information; and now we're asking you to deal with it. You know, many times Jesus predicted that He would die in a sacrificial way and He would rise again. He pulled it off. There was once a baseball pitcher, Dizzy Dean was his name, a famous saying. "It ain't bragging if you can back it up." Jesus predicted He would rise, and it's not bragging if you can back it up. There's a man by the name of Adrian Warnock, a British doctor but also I think a very good theologian. He gives as good an elevator speech describing Christianity as I've read. Here's his elevator speech describing Christianity -- you know what an elevator speech is? Somebody says, "Hey, what do you do?" You can describe your company, your businesses from the time you get from the fifth floor to the ground floor, okay? (reading) not someone who just sort of believes, "Well, the Resurrection is sort of a metaphor for ongoing optimism." No. That God has supernaturally broken into the world. A Christian is someone who believes in the physical Resurrection of Jesus Christ and lives in light of the implications of that event. All right, my friends, what are some of those implications? I want to highlight four for your very quickly. Here's the first one: it is a new day. Because of the Resurrection, we have a new identity. How do you see yourself? How would you describe yourself? My friends, you're not what your friends or your enemies say you are; you're not what culture says you are. You are who God says you are. If you belong to Him, if you're a Christ follower, here's His description of you. 2 Corinthians 5. (reading) And then Romans 6. (reading) it's a new day. We have a new identity. You know, Tim Keller says, the only person who dares to wake up a king at 3:00 a.m. and asks for a glass of water is the child of that king. That's who you are in God's eyes. You may not always feel forgiven, feel blameless, feel like the child of the King. Sometimes you've got to talk to yourself more than you listen to yourself and remind yourself of these truths. Listen, they put Jesus in a tomb, and He came out; and He calls us to come out of the tomb of our past and false identities and step into the identity to which He is kawing us. How does God see me? How does God see you in Christ? Listen to this: I am accepted because Jesus Christ has made me acceptable. I am extremely valuable. Do you know the price paid for you and me? Jesus gave Himself for us. I am eternally loved by God, who is love. I am totally forgiven because Christ has paid for my sins, and I am capable of making a difference. You may be more capable than me; that's okay. I celebrate that. But we are temples of the Holy Spirit, and God has made us useful and capable in His eyes. It's a new day; we have a new identity as children of God. Secondly, because of the Resurrection of Christ, we have a new community as well, a new community based on not blood relationships -- you know, human-blood relationships -- and it's not based on just affinity groups. I'm going to read a Scripture and highlight the last part of it. Listen carefully to Romans 10. (reading) All right, now, listen up: as Scripture says, anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame, for there is no difference between Jew and Jean tile -- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. In other words, in this new community, every race, every nation, every economic status; and even and especially checkered backgrounds like mine and yours are welcomed as well. If you are repent Dan, baptized believer running to the grace of Jesus Christ, you are part of the new community. The ground around the cross is level, and it welcomes all. Now, that's not true with every group. Hey, I would love to be a member of Augusta National Golf Club. I can't get in, but I can be a part of THIS new community, which is even better. Jesus said He would build a new community. He call it the church. He says, where two or three gather together, there am I in the midst. This new community is not built on necessarily human kinship, and it's not built on affinity groups. It's built on our mutual faith in Jesus Christ. Now, listen, doesn't that sound romantic? You can't overly roe mannize this -- romantic size this because the church will bless and stress you, sometimes in the very same day; and what that means is you got to REACH up to Resurrection values like humility and mercy and fore bearance and love and patience because this new community -- it's not a consumer group. In other words, it doesn't exist just to please me. It's a co-op; and you know what happens in a co-op. There's give and take so in this new community, we are loved; but we also love. We're accepted but also need to do some accepting. We're forgiven, but we also are willing to forgive. We receive ministry. We also deliver and distribute ministry. We are sacrificed for, and we do some sacrificing. You teach my children, and I get to serve your children as well. THIS is the new community. And it serves a purpose beyond itself. What's the purpose of the new community? Sure; to love and care for one another; but to put Jesus on a platform and to shine a light on Him; to protect the truth and to proclaim the Truth of the Message of Jesus Christ. Now, let me remind you one of the reasons why this is important. Some critics of Christianity will say, "Oh, the Resurrection is simply a myth created by the church." They actually have it backwards. The church was created by the Truth of the Resurrection. The church didn't create the Resurrection; the Resurrection of Jesus Christ created the church. We're a part of this new community, and praise God for it. Now, listen, I'm so thankful you're here today in person. To those of you watching online, I'm not trying to project an attitude towards you; not at all. You come back when you're ready and you feel good about coming back. Here's what I want to encourage everyone in: when you do return in person, let me encourage you to return and engage in a robust way. Don't just dip your toe in the water. Come on back. Engage. Regularly worship, be a part of midsized groups, small groups; and for those of you who have the capacity to lead, laze up those leadership shoes and skills. Lace up those leadership shoes and skills. We need you. Let's not just return; let's all RETURN in all capital let hers when it's right for you and with that good, good energy. Very, very quickly, it's a new day, and we have a new identity and a new community. We also praise God have a new eternity. In Christ, we've gone from darkness to light. In Christ, we've gone from spiritual death to eternal life. In Christ, we've gone from no hope to hope. Come with me back to that strange old Grecian city of Athens. The apostle Paul is preaching in the midst of the Greek mythology and he says this in Acts 17:30. (reading) Such ignorance, idolatry and mythology. (reading) It's pretty clear. (reading) In other words, everybody in this room you will deal with Jesus. You said, "I don't really believe in Jesus." Jesus has been set up by God as the Judge in the last day, and He is qualified to do that, and He has been qualified to do that by nature of His Resurrection. By the way, how did those people respond to the preaching of the Resurrection? Verse 32. (reading) Some sneered; some same, "I'd like to hear again," but some of the people believed and became followers. Everybody in this room, almost intuitively, you know there's a coming judgment day. You know that there has to be an accounting down the line; and for some people that fills them with a sense of dread and apprehension; but for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ, actually it should fill us and can fill us with hope and joy and anticipation as we long for the day when the Lord sets things right. Now, I'm going to come back to that in a moment. Some of you last night were watching basketball. I watched just a little bit last night and unfortunately, our cougars had to lose. At least they lost to a good Texas team up the road, Baylor. Ten year ago, in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, the University of Miami was playing the University of North Carolina. Miami scored first in that game -- listen carefully -- Miami scored first in that game and led the entire way! At one point they had built a 19-point lead! But in the last few minutes of the game, North Carolina went on a 027-6 run so a college basketball game has 40 minutes. That's 2400 seconds. 2400 seconds. For 2399 seconds, Miami was winning. Miami was leading. But on a last-second play -- literally with less than one second -- North Carolina scored for the only time they were ahead, and they won the game. In other words, you don't call the game before it's over; and sometimes as believers you can look around in a world that is filled with fallenness and evil speech and evil actions and animosity and brokenness; and you see that and you think, "God, are You paying attention at all?" " and do Your people have any influence anymore?" God is paying attention; God does get the final word. We need to not give in to despair. We need to keep shining a spotlight on Jesus and being salt and light in the world and know that the Lord indeed wins; that He will see us through; that He will see you through; and that internty and even your eternity is in His hands. I want you to listen to these Scriptures. First of all from Hebrews 2. (reading) Hebrews 9. (reading) Romans 8. (reading) And Revelation 21. (reading) It's a new day. (reading) It is a new day because of the Resurrection of Christ. We have a new identity; a new community; a new eternity. We have gone from no hope to a Living Hope. We have gone from spiritual death to spiritual and eternal life, praise God; and there's one more thing -- very, very quickly. We also have a new ministry, a new ministry. You know, often you'll hear people say, "Whatever." And they often mean it, you know, like, "Eh, whatever; it doesn't really matter." So how -- Eh, whatever. Whatever. The Bible uses that very same word but in a different way to talk about your ministry and mine making such a HUGE difference. Here it is, Colossians 3. (reading) Whatever you do or say -- not "Whatever." (reading) In other words, whomever you're with and whatever setting -- doesn't have to be a church building. Whatever you do, whatever you say, you get to be a representative there. Sometimes people will say to me, "Oh, Ronnie, you lock for the Lord. You have a sacred job. I have a secular job." The Bible doesn't talk of a false dichotomy of sacred and secular. What you do in the home, work, business; in the community; coaching little league -- whatever it might be, it is such a beautiful, beautiful ministry, WHATEVER you do or say. You get to do it as a representative of Jesus Christ; and gang, it makes a difference. You're not an idiot for serving the Lord. The longest chapter of the Bible speaking about the Resurrection ends with these words: therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. In other words, you're not crazy. Every sacrifice dollar, every expenditure of energy, every expression of faithfulness; every act of service, whether it's public or hidden; it is worthwhile. It is noticed, and it will be rewarded. You are not crazy. You own an influence, your own 20 square feet. Because the grave has been conquered and Jesus lives and reigns forever more -- you know, people who believe in evolution, no wonder they kind of say, "Eh, whatever; nothing really matters." But because we know the God who Lives and Reigns and because the tomb is empty and because we are redeemed and forgiven and because we have a purpose, every -- even small things make a difference. Jesus said, even when you give a cup of cold water to somebody in My Name, that's a big deal. Atta boy. Atta girl. And I'll reward you for it. You know, I read an article a couple weeks ago that said the most often prayed prayer among believers -- and I don't know how they knew this -- but they said, the most often prayed prayer among believers is as follows: Lord, keep me safe. And there is nothing wrong with that prayer. I've prayed it many times. Lord, keep me safe. Keep my wife, child, grandchild -- keep us safe. It's a fine prayer. But I'd like to suggest that there is another prayer that let's pray right along with, Lord, keep us safe. Ready? Here it is. Lord, keep me bold. Keep me bold. Keep us bold. And clear. And passionate and abounding in the work of the Lord. My friends, some of you are here today, and it's -- you're in a season of heaviness. I do believe that for every cross there's a Resurrection. You be patient and see what the Lord will bring about; and let me just urge you again as resurrection people, lean in to your new identity the way God sees you; your new community. Cherish your new eternity. We are redeemed. Let the redeemed to the Lord say so and also lean into your new ministry. All right. Let me say it again -- and I will ask you -- Gordan, please make your way up with here, please. Gordan will lead us in prayer in a second. Let's do our Easter declaration again. I will say "Christ is risen" and you with a lot of volume will shout to the Lord Himself, "He is risen indeed." Christ is risen! >> He is risen indeed! >> Ronnie: God bless you, everyone. Happy Easter. Let's pray together. Gordan? >> Gordan: Thank you, Ronnie. Indeed it's a new day. For those online, for all of us here, it's good to be together. I'm thankful that we could all be together today to celebrate Christ's Resurrection. Would you join me in prayer? Father God, help us to use this time of reflection to revive our hearts for You. Search us to know which attitudes and behaviors to purge out in what attitude and behaviors to embrace in this, a new day. Words can't express our gratitude for the Sacrifice of Jesus on Good Friday and His bodily Resurrection on Easter Sunday. We praise You that through Jesus, our mercies are new every morning. Every new day brings fresh mercy, peace, and love from Your hand to our souls. All praise, honor, and glory to the Lord of Hosts. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen. >> Grant: Amen! Thank you, Gordon. Well, if you're a guest with us today, let me just say thank you for joining us on Easter Sunday. We would love to hear from you. We have what we call Connection cards, and you can fill those out so if you're online this morning, you can go and just click the "Connection Card." If you're in Facebook or YouTube, in the chippings of the chat there's a link. If you're with us, get out your phone and download the First Colony church of Christ App and click on "Connection Card." You can let us know what you're interested in and submit prayer requests. We would be honored to start praying with you today and in weeks upcoming. Also guests, we'd love to meet you after service and will have some staff and some volunteers at our New Here Start Here room across the hall so come visit us. We would love to get to know you a little better. Two great next steps for all of us in this room after today: the first one starts next Sunday. Ronnie is starting a new series called "When in Doubt." So everybody is invited to? Back for this new series. A second great opportunity reinvolves around this book right here, our First Conversations study guide. This is a fantastic study if you're looking for answers; purpose; truth about your life and Christianity. It's great if you need to resenter. This is great if you're looking for a great Gospel conversation tool to teach others. So Kyle Strickland is going to be teaching the class. This will start April 14 and will be on Wednesdays during lunch hour. We will have in-person option as well as Zoom option. You can go to the website to register so take advantage of this great course. We also have these book to give away so after service, you can go over to the Information Center and pick one of those up. Church, I got some really exciting news. You might have smelled it coming in today, the smell of fresh coffee beens? Ah, it's back. Coffee is back! So guests, feel free, go over to New Here Start Here, get coffee. If you get here, we will have coffee going forward on the way to the gym so pick you up some of that. Hey, but everybody, we've got a new thing today, a special deal. We have photo booths set up in the gathering hall in the rotunda in both courtyards so everybody is invited. Get your friend, your family. Take a bunch of fun picture. If you're online with us, look in the chat or the description and we're going to post a Facebook photo frame so you can grab your pictures and post those. Whether you're online or here in person, here's the ask this morning. You ready? Have some fun; take a bunch of pictures; put them all over your social media so that the world knows that this is a new day because He has risen! He is risen -- >> Indeed! >> Grant: He has risen -- >> Indeed! >> Grant: Amen! Let's close with one more song. Richard? >> Richard: All right, let's stand! (from the Day" playing) >> Richard: Thank you for coming today! You are dismissed! Have a happy Easter! Jesus is alive!