Easter 2023 Church Service

Welcome to our Easter message.

Easter transforms people's lives.

Today we celebrate Easter Sunday or resurrection Sunday.

Easter Sunday is too important for us to skim over.

It's not about Easter eggs or Bunny Rabbits, et cetera.

As Christians, we can be confident of the Easter accounts given in the Bible.

As we look at this text, I wanna take a few moments to present

some brief thoughts to us.

The Easter message is the most important message you will ever hear.

The Easter story is not a story of fiction.

It's a story that will stand up to scrutiny, investigation.

I want to show us how the Easter story transformed people's lives forever.

These people, I would describe as unlikely, unusual, quirky

people who don't usually get it.

Yet they encounter the Easter message and their lives are changed.

Their lives are transformed forevermore.

Let me try and explain this to you.

Our reading is taken from John's Gospel, chapter 20, verses 1 to 10.

Now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while

it was still dark, and she saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.

And said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do

not know where they have laid him.

So Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going towards the tomb.

Both of them were running together, but the other disciple

outran Peter and reached the tomb first and stopping to look in.

He saw the linen clothes lying there, but he did not go in.

Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb.

He saw that the linen clothes lying there and the face cloth,

which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen clothes, but

folded up in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also

went in and he saw and believed.

As for yet they did not understand the scripture that he was rise from the dead.

Then the disciples went back to their homes.

In this passage, we have three main characters.

What I love about these characters is that they are really

unlikely, unusual characters.

They're, they're not heroic figures.

These people are about as real as they get.

First, we have Mary Magdalene.

She is the first person to see the empty tomb.

This makes her the first witness of what happened on that Easter morning.

She's the most unlikely person for a couple of reasons.

For one thing, she's female.

And at this time when, um, people didn't accept the testimony of

women in Israel, no woman could be a witness in a court of law.

A woman's testimony was inadmissible.

Uh, evidence was worthless.

And yet in June 20, it is a woman who is entrusted with the most crucial

testimony the world can ever hear.

But there's something else that makes Mary Magdalene the most unlikely person

to be a witness to what happened.

We read in Luke chapter 8 and in Mark Chapter 16, a little

Luke 8 · chapter mention Mark 16 · chapter mention

bit more about who Mary was.

In Luke chapter eight, verse two.

It identifies her as Mary Magdalene, from whom seven demons had been cast out.

We don't know much more about her, but this is enough to

tell us that she had a past.

The author Philip Yancey comments on the sharp contrast between how

Jesus treated moral failures and how we his followers often do.

Jesus appointed the Samaritan woman as his first missionary.

He defended the woman who anointed him with the expensive perfume.

It says, um, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she

has done will also be told in memory of her and Mary Magdalene, who had

seven demons, he honored as the very first witness of the resurrection.

A testimony at first discounted by his more prestigious followers.

Where we shame Jesus elevates.

So Mary the unlikely one, but then we read of two other characters in verses 4 to 10.

You have the somewhat comical picture of the two disciples who hear the report

of the empty tomb and go to investigate.

One's Peter.

And if you read the Gospels, you understand a little bit

about Peter's character.

He's the one who would do something quickly and without thought.

He's often the first to open his mouth even when he shouldn't.

In this passage, you have him rushing to the tomb.

He's not as fast as the other one.

He's not as fast as that other disciple, but when he catches up, he doesn't

hesitate to go in and investigate.

Then there's the other disciple, probably John who wrote the book,

who gets there first, but he hesitates to go in, as you probably

do before you come to an open grave.

Here's the picture I get.

These are people who are completely unexpected and somewhat unusual.

The good news of Easter is that it's for ordinary people

with all our peculiar ways.

It's not for airbrushed anaerobic people.

It's for people like Mary Magdalene, people like John, and Peter.

People like you and me.

Easter is about unlikely people.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 27 says this, but God chose what is foolish

1 Corinthians 1:27

in the world to shame the wise.

But that's not all.

They're not just unlikely and unusual people.

They just didn't get it.

This is great news for those of us who have struggled getting it or maybe

even still don't get the Easter story.

All through his ministry, Jesus had predicted that he would die.

He also predicted what would take place afterwards.

He predicted that he would rise again from the dead.

In John chapter two, Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and

in three days I'll raise it up.

Then the Jews said, it's taken 46 years to build this temple, and

will you raise it up in three days?

But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.

When he had raised from the dead, his disciples remembered this.

They remembered what he had said and they believed the scripture and the

word that Jesus had spoken to them in John chapter two verses 19 to 22.

If the disciples had understood, they would have been there waiting.

But they didn't understand, they just did not get it.

I think John is making this point even in how he introduces this chapter.

Now on the first day of the week, notice it doesn't say on the third day

that would assume that we were keeping track, that we were counting down

in anticipation of his resurrection.

No, it's the first day of the week.

They show up not expecting anything but a dead body.

They simply did not get it.

You see, you see this by the confusion that takes place.

They seem at first to think that maybe a grave robber had been there.

This wouldn't have been completely surprising.

Grave robbery was so common that Emperor Claudius eventually ordered capital

punishment for those convicted of destroying tombs, removing bodies, or

even displacing the seals on the stones.

If we want proof that they didn't get it, then you just have to look at verse nine.

For as yet, they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.

In Luke, in Luke chapter 24, Jesus said this to a couple of people who should

Luke 24 · chapter mention

have understood Easter but didn't get it.

In verse 25, he says, how foolish you are and how slow to believe

all that the prophets have spoken.

Easter is not for those who are spiritually advanced.

The gospel of John is telling us that it's for people who don't get it.

Maybe people just like you and me, remember that I only want us to

remember one thing this morning.

Could we take a few minutes now just to look at what happens when

ordinary people encounter Easter and are transformed forever?

It's here that we see something that you have to face as you look at the biblical

account of Easter, there's a pattern that takes place in all the resurrection story.

The beneficiaries of the appearance are engulfed in a human emotion.

Mary, grief.

The disciples, fear.

Thomas, Doubt.

The risen Christ appears to them in the midst of their condition.

As a result, their condition is transformed.

We don't have time to look at the whole of Chapter 20 today, but

that's exactly what happens here.

These witnesses encounter an empty tomb.

They're confused or perplexed.

They don't know how to account for what they discover.

They cannot account for something that they can't explain.

In verse six and seven, it says, then Simon Peter came following

him and he went into the tomb.

He saw the linen clothes lying there.

And the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying

with the linen clothes, but folded up in a place by itself.

Some say it's easy to explain an empty tomb.

It was grave robbers.

If that's all that happened, then we would not be celebrating Easter.

But Mary Magdalene, Peter and John did not just discover an empty tomb.

They discovered the linen clothes that had been used to wrap

Jesus' body as they buried him.

In John chapter 11, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, we

John 11 · chapter mention

read the man who had died came out.

His hands and his feet bound with linen strips.

And his face wrapped with a cloth.

Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go.

That's not what happened with Jesus.

Nobody had to unbind his burial clothes.

It appears that he was able to pass through them with his resurrection

body just as he was able to later appear in a locked room in verse 19.

Not only that but the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'

head was folded up by itself.

Jesus had taken it off and folded it neatly as if to say,

I won't be needing this anymore.

You can account for an empty tomb.

It's very hard to account for grave clothes that have been left behind

as if they are not needed anymore.

It's even harder to account for Jesus appearing to the other disciples

in the rest of this chapter.

But even here in verse eight, you have to begin to sense the beginning

of the change that is taking place.

Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in and he saw

and he believed what they encountered that Easter morning changed, transformed

them both then and forevermore.

There are three facts about the resurrection that even

critical scholars accept.

The tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on

the Sunday following the crucifixion.

Jesus' disciples had a real experience with one whom they

believed was the risen Christ.

As a resource of the preaching of these disciples, which at the resurrection

at its center, the Christian Church was established and grew.

These things form a threefold strand of evidence.

It's hard to describe how profoundly Easter transformed these people.

It changed everything about them.

The rest of the New Testament is evidence of the effects of

what happened on Easter morning.

Sometimes something happens that is so profound that it changes

everything, and Easter is like that.

The continuing effects of Easter still continue today.

Something happened on Easter Day, which made Christ more alive on

the streets of Jerusalem 40 days after his crucifixion than on the

day of, of his triumphant entry.

A false report might last 40 days, but the church, which was founded

on a risen Christ has lasted for over 2000 years producing

generations of Godly men and women.

So let's put all of this together.

Unlikely, even unusual people who don't usually get it.

We read here how they encounter Jesus.

And are changed, they are transformed forever.

That's the one thing I want you to take away today.

The Jesus we read about in these verses is still alive today.

The Easter message is far too important to dismiss.

I would encourage you with all my heart to see him out.

Check out this Easter story and see your life changed and transformed

by his love and his goodness.

God bless you.

Coming up, we have Conversation street, but before we get into that,

here's a clip from our podcast what's the story which you can subscribe to

on all your favorite podcast apps.

Across the 10 years I worked to what, five or six different war zones

experienced most, uh, manifestations of war that are out there.

Not chemical or biological warfare, but, um, certainly either directly

or through the staff I work with.

Um, the biggest issue, and I can tell lots of stories, uh, of individual instances

or suffering or death, um, was a deep challenge to your understanding of God is

love and which is something that everyone has to faith through face really in

their Christian faith that, our hardest question is where is God in suffering?

Welcome back to Conversation Street with myself and Dave Connolly.

Uh, it's um, Dave, it's unusual that we have on the livestream the

person that did the talk as the host.

We do do it occasionally, but it's great that you are here,

uh, cuz we can get into the talk.

Let me ask you a question straight off the bat.

Because Easter's one of those times, it comes around very quickly every

year, but it is by far the, the most important part of the Christian holiday.

Um, what's your favorite part of the Easter story?

You know, when you read it every year and you kind of think, this

bit here just really draws me in.

What would that be?

It's what happens just af..

Well, it's part of the Easter story.

Well, I didn't mention it in that talk.

It happens just a little while after when there's two men

walking on the Emmaus road.

You know, two disciples.

Mm, walk to Jerusalem and, um, I scratched my head cause I'm like, you were told

to stay there and wait, you know, for the resurrection and these two guys are

obviously not doing as they're told.

And they're off.

And they're talking to each other as they walk this like seven mile

journey and they're deep in thought and the they're sharing their

despair, you know, these guys had put everything into following Jesus.

They believed him to be the Messiah.

Their coming king, their Lord, their savior, and he's gone.

And he says how Jesus walks a little bit behind them.

And he can hear them and then he catches up and he listens to them and

then they get caught in conversation.

And then these men say to Jesus, um, we're staying here.

Stay with us.

And then the fellowship continues to fellowship, then they break bread.

And it's, at that point Jesus reveals himself cause they hadn't recognized him.

Mm-hmm.

And, and it's, it's just this wonderful thing.

The, sometimes we as Christians, we feel despair and lost.

You know, being a Christian, we feel like God's abandoned us or gone, gone missing,

and that's how they must have felt.

But Jesus comes and walks with them, and there's a gentle rebuke

and there's a gentle refocusing.

That's, that's what I love about the Easter story.

Besides Jesus raising from the dead which is the obvious.

Well, I mean, you know, for me it's a, you know, I really relate to that.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

So it's a, it's a, no, you're right.

It's a brilliant story, isn't it?

I like that, that sort of gentle refocusing on the road that actually,

uh, what was a time of despair?

Actually when, when they sort of understood who Jesus was in the

center of it, um, turned out to be a time of great rejoicing.

Uh, and um, it's quite often, uh, true for life, isn't it?

There are times when, when life's quite not, we don't, we're not

quite sure where it's going or the direction it's going or why it's

going, the direction that it's going.

It's not as we planned or thought.

Um, but when we allow Jesus into it, there's a gentle.

Maybe it's sometimes a gentle rebuke, but a gentle sort of refocusing on what's

important and, um,and what was difficult becomes actually a time of rejoicing.

Right?

Absolutely.

And, and you know, those two guys, as you read the story, they go back, you

know, and they're telling everybody what they've just experienced and that adding

to the story of what the other disciples had been going through, you know?

Mm-hmm.

Um, Well at, at, at the Easter story itself.

I just looked the way, um, you know, how we can read about philosophers and

historians at the time, how they write, you know, of the crucifixion of Christ

and we would call them non-believers.

Yeah.

I think I mentioned So there are, there are accounts of the

crucifixion by, you know, so-called non-believers and non-Jews.

Yeah.

That we can, yeah.

You know.

For me, the crucifixion can hold up to inspection.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

I totally agree.

It's interesting, isn't it?

Uh, when we talk about Easter, we talk about the resurrection.

Uh, we've been working as a, as a church, we've been working our

way through the Book of Acts.

Mm-hmm.

And all the amazing stories of transformation that you see in the

Book of Acts, could only really have happened because of a resurrected Christ.

Right.

So the, the, yeah, it, there's, there's obviously this immediate impact,

um, of the resurrection of Jesus as you, as we sort of go through.

But one of the things I wanna circle back to is, um, you talked about how

at the time there was, uh, a lot of sort of grave robberies going on, and

it was a common thing to rob graves.

Uh, and in fact, one of, and, uh, I put it in the comments was one of the

things that really intrigued me about this story is, um, the Jewish leaders of

the day, they went and said to Pilate, you need to put a, a guard around the

tomb because he's been telling everybody he's gonna raise from the dead and

we don't want his body to get stolen.

So we need to guard this tomb.

So we know that there was, um, a guard around the tomb that the tomb was sealed,

uh, and so if, if it was gonna be a robbery, if it was gonna be a bit of a

hoax, it would be quite a difficult thing to do because they were all expecting it

and they're all sort of prepared for it.

Um, but it, it, it, it obviously for me is one of those signs, you know, we talk

about the evidence of the resurrection.

This is just one of those things where you just go, well, there was a guard

on the tomb and, uh, the religious leaders at the time had to then bribe.

They, they bribed the soldiers to say, Hang on guys.

Uh, just tell everybody the body got robbed while you were guarding it.

You know, Rome's best guards, uh, and we'll pay you a large

sum of money to do that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And yet the Roman authorities had already put out, um, you know, that they, they,

because brave robbery was common, that even if you touched the seal on the

tomb, you know, you were in trouble.

So the fact now somebody comes along, frightens off these just very, these

like elite troops, run up, somebody breaks into a tomb, unravels a body, and

the, you know, the grave clothes were more, you know, precious than the body.

Yeah.

So the unraveller leaves the thing that you could get most money

from and saving a naked body, but they tidy up the grave cloth.

I mean, that's, I don't get it.

Right?

I don't have enough faith to believe in that.

Who, who's ever heard of a tidy burglar?

Uh, it just doesn't happen.

The, I love what Graham's put here.

Let just add that to the broadcast.

So Graham's said here the bit I love is where Mary is grieving outside the tomb.

She is so caught up in her grief that she doesn't recognize the person

standing beside her, who is Jesus.

He then gently says her name, uh, which is similar to the, the road, uh, to

Emmaus that you were talking about.

Right?

Yeah, I think that's a beautiful illustration.

Mm-hmm.

You know, when she, I mean, she's just grieving and you know, so much, you

know, I, I think, you know, it is that despair and you have that real sense

of loss and, um, I, I, I'm not sure if it's from God's spell, but there's a

song called, I don't know how to love him, might be Jesus Christ Superstar.

And I know people can say, oh, that means x, y, and z.

But you know, that song, I don't know how to love him, for me, I

find it quite an emotional song.

Yeah.

Because, and this lady have such a debt to her, you know, the love

that she feels for her savior.

It's not a physical or a sexual thing.

It's what her love for her savior.

Yeah.

You know, so I do think it's fantastic.

Yeah, yeah.

No, it's true, isn't it?

And again, um, I mean, the road to Emmaus, uh, Mary, uh, Magdalene,

outside the tomb, we've got all of these people sort of, life has not

gone the way that they thought.

Um, and so, and they feel let down.

They feel grief, they feel there's all kinds of things that they're feeling.

Um, But it, it, it's when they realize that Jesus is there with them in the

midst of it, that life starts to change for them a little bit, doesn't it?

And um, actually resurrection is more than, is more than what they

expected, um, because they, they saw something very one way, didn't they?

And actually resurrection changed their whole viewpoint.

And that's why I used the word a lot in the, um, ju just trying to emphasize how

when you have this resurrection experience with Jesus, He doesn't just patch up

or paints over things in our lives.

He changes it.

He, it's a transformation that takes place not just in how we think,

we're literally in how we live and how we view things because um, yeah,

for me it is just transformational.

Everything changes.

He, you know, it's like the establishments of his lordship in our lives, where he

comes through and again, I think for me, the Easter story speaks of Lordship.

Yeah.

Something happens to men and women, when the resurrection power

of Jesus comes into their life.

A new boldness comes.

Yeah.

Fresh boldness now comes to them.

Mm-hmm.

It's really interesting, you, you talk about that, you know, this sort of the

resurrection, uh, the transformation.

Um, we were talking about this a little bit earlier on.

Um, there's a great quote.

Uh, where with Christianity is not about behavior modification.

Um, it's not about self-help.

It's not about life improvement.

It's about a spiritual transformation because you were spiritually dead and you

need Jesus to make you spiritually alive.

That's what happens in the resurrection.

Just, I mean, you've, you've obviously, uh, for those who don't know, um,

you've been a pastor for a fair few years, uh, here in Sunny Liverpool.

Um, just a few, just a couple.

Um, how have you seen then, because it's, I mean, we can read stories about

Mary Magdalene at the tomb, right?

We can hear the stories about the guys on the road to Emmaus.

How have you seen this transformation in modern day Western society?

Is it still.

Um, I appreciate, this is a bit of a leading question, Dave,

but is it still accessible?

Is it still available?

Is the, is this something that still impacts people today?

And if so, how do we, how do we latch onto that?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it can't, it can't be any different today.

If it's not the same, then Jesus has changed.

Mm-hmm.

You know, scripture says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Um, I, I certainly see people's lives transform and dramatically.

And for some people they have an encounter with Jesus, and

transformation is dramatic and sudden.

And for many, it's much more of a process.

Mm-hmm.

You know, and, um, I, you've heard me say when I first became a Christian,

my life was a bit of a rollercoaster.

You know, I had highs and very deep lows, you know?

Um, mm.

That's what I love about reading the story.

You know, and I, and I talk about Mary had a past.

Now we all have a past.

Yeah.

You know, and we, you know, we, we, we know some, some of our friends

who, who been notorious, you know, baddies before they met Jesus.

And yet Jesus loved them, reached them, and has transformed their lives.

And then we, we, you know, we all meet lovely people.

And you know, and you just say, you know, and some of these lovely

people, they're nicer than some of the Christians we know if we're honest.

That's true.

It's very true.

God, by his spirit reaches out to them, they receive something of his

love and he reaches into their hearts and they surrender their lives to

Jesus, which is what it's all about.

And their lives to also be transformed.

And I, I'm really thankful Matt that.

God touches us individually.

You know, um, he, he, he, he, he just knows where we are and he knows how to

speak to us and how his words bring hope, where there's hopelessness with, brings

life where there's really no real life.

Hmm.

You know, and cliches that we can talk about, the true those cliches are true.

You know?

Mm-hmm.

Um, It's a work that only Jesus can do.

Yeah.

Work that is done because of the cross and because of the resurrection.

So yes, those people's lives are being transformed and it's

wonderful to hear stories of actually people asking questions.

Yeah.

You know, Easter and indirectly, I mean, me and Julie, um, a neighbor of ours.

Um, was having a conversation with Julie indirectly, um, about her niece, and then

that opened up to something else where, you know, um, Julie was talking with

this neighbor and now Julie, you know, is offering to go through scriptures

with her, you know, so yes, Jesus is still transforming people mm-hmm.

And transforming their lives and they're, there's still the Mary Magdalenes.

The very crazy Peters and you know, Johns, little Johns and crazy Peters,

you know, and everybody in between.

Yeah, yeah.

No, that's awesome.

That's so true as well.

And it's, um, I like that Nicola's put here in the comments.

It's definitely a process and it's a big process.

We're all in a process.

Yeah, it's um, it's one of those, isn't it, where, um, I mean,

I've mentioned this before.

Let me grab the Bible notes on my computer here.

So I'll read the scripture.

Um, I've mentioned this before on Crowd and I'll, I'll mention again.

The reason we talk so much about the resurrection and about this

transformation is because, um, it is the heart of the Christian message.

Um, mm-hmm.

And Paul wrote this, he said, uh, in one Corinthians, chapter 15 he

is writing to the Corinthian church.

Um, and he says, if it is preached that Christ has been raised from

the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection?

So there was a, there was a debate, um, even in Paul's day whether or

not Christ had been resurrected cuz there was a, there was a sect

of people who didn't believe in the resurrection, a sect of Jews.

If there is no resurrection, then Christ has not even been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised from the dead, our preaching is useless.

And so is your faith.

The whole thing for me, um, about Christianity, the whole

crux of it is the resurrection.

If there's no resurrection, there's no Christian faith.

Our faith is useless.

Uh, as Paul says, it's not, it's a waste of time.

Um, and so this is why we talk about it a lot, right?

This, you've gotta wrestle with this idea of the resurrection.

It is so important to the message of Christianity.

Yeah, it's that whole new, that newness of life and, um, you know, it, it's

just the whole resurrection story.

You, it, you know, we think, wow, what, you know, that's an ultimate,

the, you know, the end, but it's just opening up a whole new chapter of the

beginning of the church and you know, first what we need it's understanding.

There's a lovely scripture.

And that says, you know, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead.

Mm-hmm.

It's just in my head, just the reference.

So, please excuse me, but it says the same spirit who raised Christ

from the dead lives or dwells in you.

And that's a word with each of us, the same spirit, not a portion of it, the

same spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead lives or dwells in us.

And so folks like me and Nicola we talk about being in process.

We can be confident that regardless of what season we're in, um, that

that same spirit he dwells in us.

He doesn't visit us, but he's permanently in us.

Yeah, absolutely.

And.

Yeah, Romans 6:10, the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

Romans 6:10

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he'll give

life to your mortal bodies by the same spirit living within you.

And in fact, he also mentions it again in Romans 8, the Spirit of God who

raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

Just amazing, isn't it?

Just amazing.

Yeah, yeah.

No, I'm with you.

I'm with you.

I mean, how can it not excite you that the spirit of God, uh, who raised

Jesus from the dead now lives in me?

I mean, that's just, that's just nuts, right?

I mean, it's a whole head rake right there, but it's, it's just so amazing and

something to get excited about and it's, you know, why we love the resurrection.

Yeah.

Um, I mean, I got a friend who is.

Um, in North Africa, and she went through a stage in her life,

you know, over a decade ago.

She loved Jesus, everything was going, whatever, and she just, you

know, got this revelation about the same spirit living in her.

And, um, I remember having a conversation with her.

She was telling me all about it and updating, said, I'm really aware.

The same spirit living in me.

So I said, all right.

What does that mean?

She says, there's places I don't go anymore because I

don't wanna take him there.

And, and she was, no, I think, I think what she was saying, you know,

she was a bit of a party girl at the time and she was saying, I don't

want to, I don't want to go there.

I don't want to do that type of thing anymore.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because, and that wouldn't be a blessing to her, you know?

Um, so I, I caught the horse at what she was, you know, of what she was saying.

You know, in.

Yeah.

That's a good, good way to look at it though.

I don't need to watch this because I don't need the spirit

of God inside me watching this.

Right.

It's not something that he is necessarily that interested.

No, I get it.

I get it.

Uh, Miriam's in the comments.

Happy Easter to you all.

Miriam.

Happy Easter to you, the same power that conquered the grave now lives in me.

Yes, that's true.

Uh, Nicola says, that's great.

Yes, absolutely it is.

Great, Nicola.

It is very, very great.

So, Dave, in the last few minutes, right, uh, as we wrap up our conversation about

Easter, we talk about the resurrection.

Um, and for those of you actually watching who may be unconvinced about the

resurrection, uh, whether you're on the livestream, whether you're on catchup,

whether it's something that you are investigating, whether it's something

that's still quite new to you, um, there is a great book or there's a series of

books actually, which are worth reading.

I think one of them's called Evidence That Demands a Verdict, which I found

super helpful early on in my Christian faith by Lee Strobel, um, talking

about the evidence of the resurrection.

I think he was a lawyer, Dave, correct me if I'm wrong, and I think he, he

wrote the book from a perspective of an atheist lawyer setting out to

disprove the resurrection, but he found more evidence for it than against it.

Yes he did, and the evidence that demands a verdict is by Josh McDowell.

Okay.

The case for Christ.

That's, that's by Lee.

Yeah.

And he was, he was a, um, journalist, so he, he and he wasn't.

When he first started, I don't think he was a believer.

His wife was.

Mm-hmm.

He wrote it really why he was search or he gathered his material then mm-hmm.

Evidence that demands a verdict by Josh McDowell.

I mean, if you've got an inquiring brain you have lots of questions,

um, and it's okay to have questions.

Hmm.

Josh McDowell is great.

If you want something that is more readable and easy access, Lee

Strobel's book the case for Christ.

And there's a second book called The Case for Faith.

They are very accessible, you know, if you are gonna search then

do so with an open heart mm-hmm.

And an open mind.

And you know, the Bible says this and you, this will apply

to whoever's watching today.

Um, if you seek him with all your, your heart, you'll find him.

Mm.

Jesus is, is attracted to people who are seeking him.

Yeah.

He's not hidden, you know, and just truthfully look, ask questions,

say God the Prayer I prayed.

And I know you know this Matt, when I gave my life to Jesus wasn't very technical.

It was God if you were real.

Mm-hmm.

And you better than somebody like me.

Let's have a go.

Yep.

A good theology.

Um, and all I was saying, You know, and, and I, and you do have to come

to a place where you are willing to surrender your life to Christ.

Yeah.

You know, and, um, and it is about faith.

Yeah.

You know, let, let's be honest, this isn't about adjusting our thinking or

invite, just inviting Jesus into here.

Mm-hmm.

It's Christ into our hearts.

Yeah.

And it's a faith, you know, and.

If you don't know Jesus, I would encourage you off the back of the Easter story.

Seek him out.

You will not be disappointed.

Yeah, that's very true.

You will not be disappointed.

Uh, it is definitely, um, my testimony.

I know it's yours, Dave.

I, it's not gonna be easy, but you won't be disappointed.

Uh, and I think the, the life with Christ is such an adventure.

Um, and, you know, he calls us upon a great adventure.

And so my encouragement is just live it.

Live that adventure, uh, that um, Jesus has got for you.

Be an amazing, amazing story.

So, But search him out like David.

Love that.

If you're gonna search for him, search for him with all your heart.

And there's a lot of books out there that can help you, uh,

around the world at the moment.

A lot of churches will be running something called an Alpha course.

If you are looking for more information about Christianity, alpha

courses are a great place to start.

We have an online alpha course here at Crowd Church, which you

can access and sort of watch, uh, and we would love to hear from you.

If you've got any questions, feel free to reach out to us.

And, uh, I'm gonna push this button here.

Hopefully it'll come.

Yes, there you go.

You can reach out to us.

Uh, my, my, my little button, thing's not working, so I've

gotta do it on the screen.

Uh, reach out to us at Crowd Church, www.crowd.church.

Uh, if you're listening to the audio, you can also reach us

on social media @Crowd Church.

We would love to hear from you.

If you have any questions about the Christian faith, uh, or would like to

know more, or if you've recently become a Christian, we would love to hear from you.

There is a great resource on the website which says, how do I become a Christian?

So if you go to Crowd Church, just click the link on How do I Become a Christian?

I think you follow the new here link and it'll take you to, uh, that page and it

talks about how you become a Christian.

Do follow that, do you read that, do you study that.

Uh, because like I say, it's an adventure worth taking.

No doubt about it.

Nicola's put here.

If it was easy, everybody would do it.

Happy 200th birthday Matt Edmo.

Yeah, thanks Matt Crew.

Appreciate that.

Matt Crew and the comments wishing me, uh, a happy birthday.

That's true actually, Matt's put, we're not zooming midweek this week folks.

So normally, uh, if you're a regular to crowd, we have a midweek

zoom group, uh, that's not going on during the Easter holidays.

It will be starting up again.

Not next week, but the week after, we will of course let you know.

But if you would like to join the midweek community groups, we would

love to see you in the Zoom group where we catch up, uh, get to know

one another and build community.

Uh, just get in touch with us via the website, um, or on social media.

We'll send you those details.

We would love to hear from you.

Next week we have, uh, I'm gonna check actually next week.

We have Sharon, uh, my beautiful wife.

She is doing the talk, uh, as we carry on our study in the book of Acts.

Uh, Dan Orange is hosting along with Chris and Sue Holcombe, which will be fantastic.

Me.

I'm gonna be, uh, joining the live stream in the comments.

Uh, I'm gonna be enjoying a, a week off because it is my

birthday celebration next weekend.

So, uh, Dan's taken over, which is lovely.

Uh, and Dave, I'm gonna see you next Saturday, right?

You certainly are.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Looking forward to it.

So, uh, that's it from us.

Let me just end this live stream by saying a big fat, massive happy Easter to you.

Happy resurrection day.

He is risen.

That's something that we say a lot to each other, uh, at church.

Uh, and we all answer.

He is risen indeed, uh, because that is, like we said, central

part to the Christian faith.

So, Dave, happy Easter, my friend.

God bless you.

It's been great doing Crowd with you.

Yeah.

It's been fantastic.

God bless you, Matt.

You, you're a legend.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, bless you.

Thanks for all your comments.

Thanks for joining us.

Uh, and if you're watching on Catchup, come join us on a

Sunday, uh, on the livestream.

Always great to meet people in the comments, uh, but in case no one's

told you yet today, you're amazing.

You're awesome.

God created you awesome.

It's just a burden you've got to bear.

A happy Easter Anna.

It's all in the comments.

Anna's twins day, beautiful little twins, which was great.

So.

Anyway let's end it there before I get carried away.

Uh, bless you guys.

Happy Easter.

Have a great day.

We'll see you next week.

Bye for now.