Easter Family Service

Well, we're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise.

We're going to sing in Psalm 84, the Scottish Psalter version, Psalm 84.

! We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 6.

!

We'll sing from verse 1 to 6, and we stand to sing to God's praise.

O Lord, I'll host to thee,

The tabernacles of thy grace,

How pleasant are they me?

My thirsty soul on bitterly,

It pains thy course to see.

My heavy heart and flesh by air,

O living God for thee.

If all the sorrow findeth thine,

And I'm sent to rest.

The swallow also for herself,

Hath purchased head and head.

In thine old altar's prayer, she say,

Her young was born, they bring.

O thou almighty Lord of hosts,

Who art my God and King.

Let power be in my house that dwell,

They ever give thee grace.

Blessed is the one whose strength thine art,

In whose heart are thy wings.

Who passing thorough make us clear,

Then into Jacob wells.

The soul of the rain that falleth down,

That puteth water fill.

Amen.

We'll bow our heads now in a word of prayer.

Let us pray.

Lord, our gracious God,

We do thank you for this, your day,

The day that you have made,

And help us to rejoice and to be glad in it.

We thank you that it's a day that reminds us

Of the wonder of our risen Saviour,

The one who came into this world,

The one whose name was Jesus,

Because he came to save his people from their sins.

And we thank you that in order to save,

He came not just to live in this world,

But to give his life,

To lay it down,

To die for our sins.

But we thank you that death had no hold on him,

That the grave could not keep him,

And that we come today reminded again of the great news

That Jesus is risen,

That he is alive.

We know we have that message every day,

Every Lord's Day,

On the first day of the week,

We are reminded of it.

But we are thankful for the significance of this weekend,

An Easter weekend,

Where there is our particular focus on Good Friday,

Which may seem a strange name when we think of Jesus dying,

And yet it was because it is good news for us.

And we think of the Saturday and the silence of that day

As he lay in the tomb.

But then we know that on the first day of the week,

The grave was open.

He was not there,

For he was risen.

And so today we thank you

That we come to worship our living, risen Saviour,

Who is Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And so we pray, Lord,

That you will bless our time,

And the word that we look at together today,

We thank you for it,

And for the blessing that it is to all our hearts,

To hear the good news of Jesus.

And we pray that together as families,

Friends, and visitors here today,

That together your spirit will be with us,

To guide us and help us in all that we do.

We thank you for that desire you put in our hearts,

To come and draw near to you.

We thank you for our young people,

We thank you for all present here today,

And all maybe who are away on holiday just now as well.

We pray for them,

For you to bless them and to keep them,

In school, in the homes,

In the communities around us, Lord,

That they would know your protection and your help.

And together as families,

Even here today,

We would know your peace upon us.

Bless the young ones as they go through

To the holiday tweenies,

And also those in the creche as well.

We thank you for all who care for them there,

And help them to understand your word.

And we just pray that together,

We will know that help,

That even Jesus speaks of,

In the passages that we read today,

That the spirit would help us to understand,

All that is written in the prophets,

The psalms,

In the word of God,

As we have it before us.

Lord, we need your help.

So remember us,

Remember those unable to be with us,

Remember those belonging to us,

As a people who are mourning at this time,

Those who are unwell,

Those who are confined to their homes.

Lord, we continue to pray for each one,

In all their different needs,

And ask that you will bless them,

Surround them as well.

And so may you be with us now,

And all your people today,

As so many gather to worship,

To all ends of the earth.

We thank you that from the rising of the sun,

To its setting,

Your name is praised.

Be with us throughout the day,

Into the evening service.

Remember Callum,

As he preaches here in this evening,

Remember us in the praise night as well,

Lord,

And for all who have prepared for that as well,

That we would see,

And hear of your goodness in all of these things.

So bless us,

Watch over us,

Go before us,

Pardon all our sins,

That's all we ask,

We ask in Jesus' name,

And for his sake.

Amen.

Well, it's Easter Sunday,

So it's an important day for us,

As we remember that Jesus,

Although he came into this world,

And died on a cross,

We remember today,

That he rose from the grave,

That he is risen.

So Easter Sunday,

What's maybe the first thing that comes to mind,

When you think of Easter Sunday?

What kind of things come into your thinking,

As you think,

What is Easter Sunday?

What does it mean?

There may be certain things that come to you,

You think Easter eggs,

Anybody had an Easter egg today?

Hands up,

Oh, there's a few hands going up already,

Yeah,

I'm sure many of you had Easter eggs,

Does anybody like hot cross buns?

Hands up,

Or you like hot cross buns?

I'm sure there's a few,

Who like hot cross buns,

Yeah,

One elder at the front there,

Or nameless,

I won't say who it is,

So the hot cross buns,

You probably had some of them,

During this week,

You think of holidays,

When you think of Easter,

We think of holiday time as well,

So there's all these things,

That come to mind,

But what about Jesus?

Where does he fit into Easter,

As you think of Easter,

And all that it means?

Does he fit into everything,

That you're thinking about,

When you think of Easter?

It's a little like Christmas as well,

When we think of Christmas,

What comes to mind then?

We maybe think of presents,

We think of the Christmas tree,

We think of turkey,

We think of the holidays,

We've got all these things,

That we think of,

When we think of Christmas as well,

But we ask the same question,

Where does Jesus fit into that?

Where does he fit into Christmas?

Where does he fit into Easter?

Where does he fit in our lives,

As we think about all of these things?

Is he just part of it,

That we put to the side,

And just take out when we want?

Or is he the most important thing,

In it all?

Well if you go back to,

Christmas time,

We had a Christmas family service,

And we were together,

Thinking about Jesus being born,

Into this world,

That amazing story,

That Jesus was born,

Into this world,

And they gave him the name,

Jesus,

Because Jesus is such an important name,

It means,

He will save his people,

From their sins,

So Jesus is important,

And then,

That leaves us with a question,

Well if he's going to save his people,

From their sins,

How?

How is he going to save his people,

From their sins?

Well that's when we see,

The importance of Easter,

Because Jesus came,

As we remember at Christmas time,

Each year we remember his birth,

He came to live,

But in order to save his people,

He had to die,

He died on the cross,

He gave his life,

And that sounds so strange,

To us,

It can sound a little strange,

To think,

Why did Jesus have to die?

Was there no other way?

It might sound like,

Things were a little out of control,

That things had got beyond God,

That he had no control,

Over what was happening,

And that Jesus dying,

Was a mistake,

And even to the people,

Who were around Jesus at that time,

Even his closest people,

His followers,

They were called the disciples,

They were confused by it all,

And so many people had questions,

Why is this happening?

Well that's what we see today,

As we think of Easter,

Because we remember,

God had a plan,

And this was all part,

Of God's plan,

That people would need,

Saving from their sins,

And in order to be saved,

He had to send Jesus,

Into the world,

It was all part,

Of his plan,

A plan that we see,

Right through the Bible,

Even when we think of going back,

Into the Old Testament,

We see,

God had a plan,

All the time,

In the book of Jeremiah,

In the Old Testament,

There's a verse,

In chapter 29,

And verse 11,

It says,

I know the plans,

I have for you,

Declares the Lord,

Plans for your welfare,

And not for evil,

To give you a future,

And a hope,

God had a plan,

All the time,

Who likes playing with Lego,

Anybody like playing with Lego,

Hands up,

Yeah,

There's a few hands going up,

That like playing with Lego,

You can make all kinds of things,

With Lego,

It's amazing,

And it's been around,

For years it seems,

It can be quite annoying,

If you stand on a bit of Lego,

When you're walking barefoot,

Through the living room,

But it's great fun,

To play and make different things,

With Lego,

What kind of things can you make,

You can build racing cars,

Out of Lego,

You can build boats,

Out of Lego,

You can build houses,

And castles,

Even football stadiums,

You can make them out of Lego,

You can do all sorts,

With Lego,

But what's important,

When you're playing with Lego,

What's the key,

That's in the box,

Not just the Lego pieces,

But there's a bit of paper,

With the plans,

The instructions for you,

And how to build these things,

If you don't follow the plan,

You go wrong,

It can be good fun,

Sometimes just to try,

And do things yourself,

But if you want to have,

The finished product,

You need to follow,

The instructions,

That's just the way,

We are sometimes in our life,

We don't always listen,

To what the plans,

The instructions say,

And instead we make our own plans,

We try and do things ourselves,

And so often our plans,

Can just go wrong,

Think about the kind of plans,

That we've made,

Maybe even in the last few weeks,

Over holiday times,

You've made plans,

To go away on the ferry,

And you get a text,

Technical fault,

It's not sailing,

Plans change,

Plans go wrong,

Maybe you make plans,

To have a plan for the week ahead,

What you're going to do each day,

And you think,

I'll do this,

I'll do this,

I'll do this,

And you wake up on Monday morning,

And you're full of the cold,

Or you've got the flu,

And all of a sudden,

Plans have gone wrong,

There's so many ways,

That our plans go wrong,

Even when we think of,

Maybe building things,

Building a house,

Or building a shed,

Whatever it might be,

We think,

I'm going to do it like this,

And you realize,

I can't afford it,

I can't do it like that,

There's much more to it,

Than I thought,

Our plans,

Can so often go wrong,

God's plan,

Never went wrong,

Even though things,

Might seem strange to us,

And to so many people,

That Jesus came to die,

Wasn't that his plan went wrong,

His plan was in place,

All of the time,

Nothing takes God,

By surprise,

And that's the wonder,

Of all that we have today,

To look at in the word,

Of God,

That we come,

With God saying,

Trust my plan,

I've got everything in hand,

What you have to do,

Is believe,

And trust in me,

Believe,

In the son,

Who I have given,

Jesus,

Who came to save,

His people from their sins,

By dying on the cross,

But today,

We remember too,

He is risen,

He is risen,

He is alive,

And that is our hope,

So we are going to look,

At God's plan,

In a few different ways,

But before we do,

We are going to sing again,

To God's praise,

In Psalm 16,

And the sing,

Psalms version,

Psalm 16,

The sing,

Psalms version,

We are going to sing,

From verse 7,

Down to the end of the psalm,

To verse 11,

And during this singing,

The children who are going out,

To the holiday,

Twinnies can go out,

Through the door,

To my left here,

And go through,

To the halls,

We are going to sing,

Psalm 16,

At verse 7,

The tune is,

Golden Hill,

I'll praise the Lord,

My God,

Whose counsel,

Guides my choice,

And even in the night,

My heart,

Recalls,

Instruction's voice,

We stand to sing,

These verses,

To God's praise,

The Lord,

My God,

Whose counsel,

Guides my choice,

And even in the night,

My heart,

We lost its passion's voice

Before we constantly

I said, the Lord my Lord

Because the earth's at my right hand

And all the overthrows

Therefore my heart is mine

My child with joy will stay

My Lord eternal and secure

In hope and will I live

For you will not allow

My soul in debt to stay

Nor will you hear your holy one

To see the tombs decay

You have made good to me

The power of my divine

This shall I know

At your right hand

Joy from new faith will shine

We're going to read our first passage of Scripture together

Just now we're turning to the book of Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

I'm reading from verse 21 to verse 28

Acts chapter 2 at verse 21

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Using the church Bible you find it around page 1097

We've got three different readings today

But they're all really focused on the fact

That Jesus is risen

And that being God's plan

In the midst of all things

So Acts chapter 2 at verse 21

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We take up our reading

Roughly halfway through Peter's sermon

At this time on what they call the day of Pentecost

And Peter was preaching to a large crowd

And he had these words to say to them

So at verse 21 we read

It shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord

Shall be saved

Men of Israel hear these words

Jesus of Nazareth

A man attested to you by God

With mighty works and wonders and signs

That God did through him in your midst

As you yourselves know

This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan

And foreknowledge of God

You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men

God raised him up

Loosing the pangs of death

Because it was not possible for him to be held by it

For David says concerning him

I saw the Lord always before me

For he is at my right hand

That I may not be shaken

Therefore my heart was glad

And my tongue rejoiced

My flesh also will dwell in hope

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades

Or let your Holy One see corruption

You have made known to me the paths of life

You will make me full of gladness with your presence

And may God bless that reading

You notice as we read in these verses

The middle of verse 25 there

The psalm that we just sung

Psalm 16 is being quoted

So you think of God's plans

And you see how God's plans

Are really there for us in the Old Testament as well

We see all so clearly

So a plan was made

God had a plan

Do you like the thought of having to stand in front of a large crowd of people to speak

Hands up here

If that would fill you with a sense of excitement

Standing in front of a large crowd and speaking

I don't know if any hands would really go up

It doesn't thrill you does it

What about the thought of coming up here to the pulpit

And coming to preach in this pulpit to the congregation here

Any volunteers

Anybody want to come up and give it a go

I've got a couple of ministers in the congregation today

They might want to just come up and show me how it's done

Anybody want to come up here and preach

It's a scary thought

It is

Every Sunday coming here is a scary thought

Standing in front of everybody to speak

But it's a wonder being able to speak about the word of God

And what God has done for us

Well what if you had done this before

And it had been a disaster

It had all gone wrong

And you were made to feel so stupid

You had said all the wrong things

Nothing had gone right

The thought of coming to do it again would be terrifying

Again if you ask the ministers here myself included

We'll see every Sunday you think

Why did I say that?

Do I have to go back and do it again?

We always feel like we can't do it right

We often make mistakes

But still we can come and tell of the wonder of God

And when you look at this passage

And you think of Peter

And Peter who was preaching this sermon

And you think well he must have been so confident

He must have been so assured

With what he was doing

So courageous there to stand up and speak

And yet when you look at the life of Peter

What had he done previously?

He had made mistakes himself

He had been made to look quite stupid in many ways

And the thought of maybe coming to speak in front of people

Because when Jesus was going to go to the cross

What did Peter do?

What did Peter do?

People started turning to him and saying

Are you not friends with Jesus?

Are you not one of his followers?

What did Peter do?

Did he say yes, I'm one of his followers?

No

He denied him

He says I don't know this man

No, not once

But three times

He did that

And he felt a failure

Failure

He felt he had let down his Lord

But his Lord Jesus

When he rose

Restored Peter

And he said to him

Feed my sheep

Go and tell the people

And that's what we see now

Peter doing

And what makes the difference

Even though he had failed in the past

Even though he had denied

The Lord Jesus

It's because now he knows

He knows

He knows fully

He knows fully

That what God had said in his word

What Jesus had told him

It is all true

Even when he thought

Things were going wrong

That they were taking Jesus away

To put him to death

That he would never see him again

What's the difference?

Well he knows now

He is risen

He has seen him

And so now he's able to come

And speak to them about this Jesus

Who is risen

Have you ever heard someone say

I knew that would happen

Or they would say

I knew that person would say that

When do you hear people saying that?

So often it's after the event

And they're making themselves to look

As if they know everything

Oh I knew that would happen

Like yesterday

I was able to say for sure

Before it happened

Aberdeen will beat hearts

And get to the cup final

Definitely it's going to happen

Not that confident actually

But it did happen

There are so many things

We can be uncertain about

But do we really believe it?

Until it actually happens

We're maybe not entirely sure

Well here is Peter now preaching

This sermon

And what does make the difference for him

Is these words that we find in verse 23

23

And 24

Where it says

This Jesus

Delivered up according to the definite plan

And foreknowledge of God

You see Peter says here

This was the plan

The definite plan

This was going

There was no other way

It was all part of God's plan

And in order to show that

He quotes from that psalm

That this is what was going to take place

The grave could not hold on to our Saviour

You will not let your Holy One see corruption

Basically means that Jesus was going to rise

From the grave again

And so Peter realizes this is all part of God's plan

And now he's preaching about God's plan

This plan is made

This plan is certain

It's secure in Jesus

And as he stands to preach

He shows them the depth of this plan

How great this plan is

Even though it seems strange

The definite plan and foreknowledge of God

This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan

You crucified and killed

In the hands of lawless men

You did it he says

But he says God raised him up

God raised him from the dead

This was part of God's definite plan

And the wonder of that too

It's such a deep plan

But in many ways there's a simplicity to this plan as well

Because what it says now to the people is

In verse 21

It shall come to pass

That everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord

Shall be saved

Because of the depth and the wonder of God's plan

The definite plan

This is what people can do

In order to be saved

They call on the name of the Lord

Many things in life are exclusive

That means we can't get them

Unless you've got maybe the right amount of money

Or the right ticket

You can't get it

Think of just walking through an airport

You ever walk through an airport

And you see a place with a sign

Executive lounge

But they won't let you in

Because you're not important enough

You don't have the right credentials

So you're not allowed to go in

All you can do is just walk past

And have a wee look in

To see what it looks like

Or maybe then you go onto the plane

You're going onto a big plane

Hundreds of people on it

And you have to go to the right

To standard class

But to the left is first class

But you don't have the ticket

You can't get in

And all you can do is just have a wee peep

And see what it looks like

All these big seats that they have

That they can put in to recline

And sleep on

And you have to go down

And be crushed in the midst

With everybody else

We don't have the right access to get in

But the wonder of the gospel

As we see here is

Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord

Nobody's excluded

It's for all of us here today

If you've called, great

If you know that salvation

How wonderful it is

But if you haven't

Well here's the instructions

God has a definite plan

He has done everything

According to his foreknowledge

And he says

Call upon the name of the Lord

To be saved

The plan is made

God had a definite plan

And the next thing we want to see

Is how this plan

Is actioned

And for that we're going to read

In another part of scripture

We're going to read

In the Gospel of John

John 19 · chapter mention

Chapter 19

And just a few verses

In that Gospel

Verse 28 to 30

Just a few pages back

John 19

John 19

And we read at verse 28

So here is

We come to the cross here

And the death of Jesus

After this

After this

Jesus knowing that all was now finished

To fulfill the scripture

A jar full of sour wine

So they put a sponge full of sour wine

On a hyssop branch

When Jesus had received the sour wine

It is finished

And he bowed his head

And gave up his spirit

Just these few verses

But they say

So much to us

And what we want to see here

Put into action

What's your plans?

That's a common question

That we're asked, isn't it?

What's your plans for the weekend?

What's your plans for the holiday?

What's your plans tonight?

We're so often asked that question

What about this question?

What's your plans for being saved?

Can we do it ourselves?

Are you going to save yourself?

We can't

So what's your plans for being saved?

Who is able to save us from our sins?

Well, we've already said, haven't we?

Who is it?

Who is able to save us from our sins?

What's the name that we think of

When we think of

Who is able to save us from our sins?

Who wants to shout out that name?

Isn't it?

Jesus saves us from our sins

But not just the Jesus we think of

Thinking back to Christmas

The one who was born into the world

But the Jesus that we read of here

As he goes to the cross saying

It is finished

It is finished

So someone referencing

A football manager this week

Some of you may be too young to remember

He was manager of Arsenal

A number of years ago

Very successful manager

And he said at one point

As he was managing the team

He said when looking at the games to be played

Christmas is important

But Easter is decisive

What did he mean by that?

What did he mean by that?

Well at Christmas time

You find that the teams

You have to play a lot of games

In the same period of time

Maybe four or five games

Maybe in two weeks

And it is important

It is important that they do well

But the way he looked at it was

Christmas is important

But then you look at Easter

Which can be a busy time

And it is coming to the end of the season

And he is saying

Easter is decisive

That is when things are really decided

And what the person was saying

And what the person was saying

Is he was talking about this

In a football way

But we can think of it

From the scripture as well

Christmas is important

Jesus came into the world

That is so important

But Easter is decisive

Because without the death

And the resurrection of Jesus

Our faith would mean nothing

The resurrection is so important

Easter is decisive

He was born into this world

But he came to die

And rise from the grave

That was the definite plan

But Jesus' dying on the cross

Can seem like a plan that had gone wrong

That God had failed

And maybe this was kind of plan B

How are we going to make things right?

We've got to find another way

Like we, when we're doing things

We can go wrong

And we think, right, what's plan B?

How are we going to fix this?

How are we going to change this?

But all along

This was God's plan A

And that's what we see

As you go right through the Old Testament

It's always pointing towards Jesus on the cross

Because he had to die for our sins

But how do we know

This is plan A?

Well, there's a word used in these few verses that we've read

These three verses that we've read

It's the word finished

You see it there in verse 28

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished

Said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst

And then when Jesus had received the sour wine

He said, it is finished

And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit

So the word finished

Is so important for us

There's a number of words or phrases that maybe stick with us when we hear them

Words that we can associate with something

For example, the Titanic

You think of the ship, the Titanic

That sank back in April 1912

It was the anniversary just earlier this week

Of the sinking of the Titanic

Many people when that ship was built

They looked at it and thought

They used that word

Some people used that word

Unsinkable

But on its first proper voyage

It sank

A tragedy occurred

There was another time when a spaceship went up to space

There was a mission, Apollo 13

There's a film made about it

And the words that were used at one point was

Houston, we have a problem

And these kind of words, they stick with us

Because we think that we associate them with something

Unsinkable

Or Houston, we have a problem

And we think of

Plans that had not worked out

Plans that had gone wrong

And for many people

Jesus' words here in these verses

People think that

He'd lost control

It was done

It was finished

He'd failed

That's the way many people see it

That's why many people saw it at the time

As they looked on Jesus dying on the cross

They thought, we're done

The one we had hoped had come to save us

Many people look on it in the same way

Jesus means nothing

But what we have to see is

This word finished

And it's a word I want you all to remember

Because it's such an important word

It's one of the most important words

It's one of the most important words

That Jesus said

It is finished

It's one word in Greek

Tetelestai

And I want you to remember that word

Young and old alike

It means

And behind that word is

Everything is paid in full

Everything is paid in full

And it's only used in the New Testament here

These two times

It's the only place it's used

One of Jesus' last words on the cross

Tetelestai

It is finished

Other people have used it in a different way

But it always points towards something that is complete

A servant who was maybe doing work in a house for someone

They would use that word when their task was finished

Tetelestai

It's finished

An artist would use it

When they put the last touch to a masterpiece

Tetelestai

It's finished

It's done

Or people in trade would use it when they've come to an agreement

When a deal has been struck

The deal is done

Tetelestai

It is finished

It is finished

But here Jesus uses this word

In a sense of everything that he had come to do

Everything about God's plan

Everything was finished with him

All

Is done

The price is paid

Have you ever been to the castle

Here in Stornoway

Have you ever gone inside

Even just looking outside is amazing now

But when you go inside

The transformation since it lay derelict for so many years

Just falling apart

But then people got together and said

We're going to renovate it

We're going to redo it

And a lot of money was put into it

Maybe about 20 million pounds was spent on bringing it back

Into what it had been previously

And you go in now

And you see it

It's amazing to see

Weddings are held in there

You can stay a night in the castle

It's an amazing place

So imagine someone coming up to you and saying

It's yours

There's the keys

What would your first reaction be

You say I can't afford it

20 million just to do it up

What's it worth now

Hundreds of millions

I can't afford it

But someone comes and says

What would you do

If you got those keys

Keep it to yourself

Come and see my new house

70 bedrooms

Anybody want a job cleaning it

You can't imagine that happening

Everything being paid for you in that way

And yet here

As you look at the word of God

You got something even better

Where Jesus says

It is finished

He is saying

Here is the keys to life for you

I have done it all

Paid in full

This is the plan of God for salvation

For salvation

He died

So that we might live

And he says

It's for you

The plan

Was actioned

It was done by Jesus

But is that it

Well we want to thirdly think of

What does this mean for us today

And we want to do this

By just reading a few more verses

In the Gospel of Luke

We are going to read in chapter 24

Luke chapter 24 verse 44 to 53

Luke 24:44–53

And as we read these words

What we see now is

Here is Jesus

Having been on the cross

Where is he now?

He has risen from the grave

They went to the tomb

On the Sunday morning

And the stone had been rolled back

The grave was empty

The woman met the gardener

Who said

He is not here

He is risen

And then Jesus met

With his people

In different ways

And here is one occasion

When he met with them

As we are reading in Luke 24

Then he said to them

These are my words

That I spoke to you

While I was still with you

That everything written about me

In the law of Moses

And the prophets

Must be fulfilled

Then he opened their minds

To understand the scriptures

And said to them

Thus it is written

That the Christ should suffer

And on the third day

Rise from the dead

And that repentance

For the forgiveness of sins

Should be proclaimed in his name

Beginning from Jerusalem

You are witnesses of these things

And behold

I am sending the promise

Of my Father upon you

But stay in the city

Until you are clothed

With power on high

And he led them out

As far as Bethany

And lifting up his hands

He blessed them

While he blessed them

He parted from them

And was carried up into heaven

And they worshipped him

And returned to Jerusalem

With great joy

And were continually

In the temple

Blessing God

Jesus is risen

And what does that mean

For us today

Well go back to the castle

And the offer of the keys

To it being yours

For that to be complete

What needs to happen?

You have to move in

You have to accept it

Until you do that

Until you do that

It's not yours

It's not yours

You're not living there

You're not part of it

And that's like it is

With the kingdom of God

As well

The offer is there for us

Everything is done

It is finished

It's Jesus said

But in order to live

Life to the full

We need to believe

And understand the scriptures

All that is written

And that's what we see

In these words here

That Jesus is speaking

To the crowds

Who are there with him

He says

These are my words

That I spoke to you

While I was still with you

That everything

Written about me

In the law of Moses

The prophets

And the Psalms

That's the Old Testament

As we have it

Must be fulfilled

And then he opened

Their minds

To understand the scriptures

That's what we long for today

That the Lord would open our minds

To understand the scriptures

To understand the importance

Of this message

It is finished

It is done

It is paid in full

But do you understand that today?

Do you understand the importance

Of that today for yourself?

That in order to live with God

You need to believe in Jesus

The resurrection

Affects our whole life

And our eternal life as well

What we believe today

Is what will matter

In the future

Even as we think of ourselves

Living in this world

We know we are just passing through

And the day will come

When we are called away ourselves

But are we ready?

That's always the question

Are we ready for that day?

Well, it is the word of God

It is trusting in Jesus

And the finished work

Of all that he has done

There was a lot of confusion

At the time of Jesus' death

Peter, as we said

Was confused by what was happening

He denied knowing Jesus

And the disciples left

Even before

They could see what had happened

And when they were told

That he has risen

They didn't believe it

We will be hearing more of that

But just before this part of Luke 24

You have two who were on the road to Emmaus

And they tell us that

Everything just seemed to have got out of control

God's plan had failed in many ways

They didn't understand what was happening

They were saying

This Jesus has been crucified

He has been put to death

And we had hoped that he was going to be our savior

They couldn't understand

And while they were discussing all of these things

Jesus came alongside

And it says in verse 16

Their eyes were kept from recognizing him

They didn't see him

They didn't understand who he was

They were kept from recognizing him

But what they do then is

Later on

Their hearts are opened

As he preaches the word

Did not our hearts burn within us?

As he opened up the scriptures to us

And when you see that in light of what he says here

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures

You see it's all about Jesus

He is the one who helps us to understand

Their eyes were kept from seeing him

Until their hearts burned within them

And for yourself today as well

It's what are you trusting in?

Are you trusting and seeking to understand from these words

That here is the way to eternal life

Here is the way to be saved from our sin

It is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

There was a man

Who used to go out in the streets of the cities

Different cities around America

And he was always preaching about Jesus

Telling people about Jesus

But he said I would often be interrupted by the crowd asking a question

And so often he was saying the same question kept coming up

They would say there are hundreds of religions in this country

How can we know that the truth that you are telling the truth?

And the man would answer the question something like this

Did I hear you say there are hundreds of religions?

I'll say this to you

There's only two

And he said yes there may be different shades of religions

But there's ultimately only two

And one he said covers all who expect salvation

By doing it themselves

That's one religion

You are saved by what you do yourself

The other he says covers all who say

They are saved by something that was done by another

Jesus

Are you saved by what you do yourself?

That's one religion

And it's a religion that's so common in this world

We don't need Jesus

It's about what we do, how we live

That we're good people

We live that we're good people

All of these things

But that's not what counts

Through religion

Is found through faith in Jesus Christ

Believing in something that was done by another

But we couldn't do ourselves

We couldn't save ourselves from our sins

But that's why Jesus said

It is finished

It is done

It is done

And that's why we need help from Jesus

To open our minds to understand these scriptures

To understand all that is written

Jesus paid it all

All to him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

That's what the hymn writer says

Jesus paid it all

We all like a good bargain

We all look for the best deal

Is that how you're living your life?

Looking for cheap grace

Somebody wants to put it like this

There are no victories at discount prices

Jesus paid it all

It is finished

Do you believe this?

God

had a plan

He put his plan

into action

This plan

is completed

Do you believe it?

What has Jesus done?

He said he would come

We can say

Tetelestai

Finished

He said I will die

We can say Tetelestai

It is finished

He said I will resurrect

We can say Tetelestai

It is finished

There's one part yet

He said I will come again

It is time

To get ready

And to believe

That God's plan

The instructions

Now help us Lord

To understand

These scriptures

And to believe

That all is done

All is paid

He is risen

And he will come

Let us pray

Our Father in heaven

We do rejoice

In all that is done for us

That it is finished

That the price is paid in full

And we ask

O Lord today

That you will help us

To understand these scriptures

So that our hearts

May burn within us

And rejoice

In the hope that is found

In Jesus Christ

The one who defeated death

Who rose from the grave

Who was ascended on high

And the one who will come again

Hear our prayers

And continue with us

We ask in his precious name

We're going to conclude

By singing to God's praise

In Psalm 33

In the Scottish Psalter

We'll sing from verse 8

To verse 11

Page 245

Of the Psalm books

At verse 8

This Psalm reminds us

That the word of God

Is true

It stands forever

Let earth and all

That live therein

With reverence fear the Lord

Let all the world's

Thread him with one accord

For he did speak the word

And done

It was without delay

Establish it

It firmly stood

Whatever he did see

We'll sing from verse 8

To 11

We stand to sing

To God's praise

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let voyance

Let Him with one accord.

For He did speak the word undone,

it was without delay.

Establish it, it firmly stood

whatever he did say.

What love the council bring to naught

which He then hoped to take?

And what the people do delight

of the defective day?

Oh, that the council of the Lord

does stand forever sure

and all His heart the purposes

from age to age and true.

Amen.

After the benediction, I'll go to the main door.

We'll close the benediction.

Now may grace, mercy, and peace from God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

rest upon and abide with you all

now and forevermore.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.