Where Is God This Easter?

Easter Sunday Service

“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.  3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."  4 But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was… 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.  20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.  21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."  23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."  25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"  27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."  29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.  30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.  31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.  32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."  33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.  34 And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."  35 Jesus wept.  36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"  37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"  38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."  40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"  41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me."  43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out."  44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."  45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, "

- John 11:1-6, 17-45

Jesus' Suffering & Our Suffering

Good Friday Service

“For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.  20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.  24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.  25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

- 1 Peter 2:19-25

Ordering Your Loves to Love Others

“Responding to Crisis” Series - Part 2

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  19 We love because he first loved us.  20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

- 1 John 4:18-21

Love That Casts Out Fear

“Responding to Crisis” Series - Part 1


“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

- 1 John 4:18-19

The Church's Worship

Be The Church Series - Part 3

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? “Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

- Isaiah 6:1-8

The Church's Three Priorities

Be The Church Series - Part 2

“5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…. 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you…. 26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.  27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

- John 15:5,12,26-27

The Church, Like Nothing Else

Be The Church Series - Part 1

”For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

- 1 Corinthians 12:12-13