GUEST SPEAKER | SUNDAY 19TH APRIL | SUE BAKER

your presence, Father, and we soak you

up, God. This morning, we take a hold of

you. We embrace you and we call upon

your name, Jesus. That name that is

above every name. That name that just

transcends through the generations. That

name that has creative power. That name

that can heal and restore and revive and

bring freedom. God, we turn to you this

morning and we take hold of you this

morning and we cry, Aba, Father, come,

come. Lord God, we thank you for your

presence, Lord. We thank you for the

weight of your presence. We thank you

for the power of your spirit to draw us

in and draw us near.

Jesus, be that name.

That name that is on our lips, Lord God.

That name that brings freedom, that

brings liberty to us.

Jesus be that name, the giver of life.

God, this morning we bow before you. We

take our place in your presence this

morning, Lord, that you be high and

lifted up on our worship, on our praise.

Thank you, Father.

Go before us, Lord God.

stand beside us Lord and come behind us

in the name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

And thank you music team.

Wow.

You know it's kind of good to be in

worship when

things start to get all wobbly. You

know, I don't know if that happens to

you. It's probably an overshare, but

you stand in the presence of God and you

start to feel a bit wobbly because his

presence is so tangible and so real and

you're you're awake to him. We're awake

to him. You know, like sometimes the

Holy Spirit comes gently and he breathes

on us and sometimes he comes and he

slaps us in the face with a wet fish and

says, "Oi, I'm here. I'm here now." You

know, are you paying attention? Did you

recognize that? Did you notice I was

around? And this morning when we gather

to church and every time we come into

the house of the Lord, let us come with

that expectation that God will meet us

here.

>> That God's presence will will cause you

to stand up on the inside and to

recognize that he is alive, that he is

here, and he wants to presence himself

with us because that's how he rolls.

There is not one person in this room

that God is not interested in. Let me

tell you that. And if YOU'RE ONE OF

THOSE PEOPLE WHO don't like to be part

of the collective, get over it because

you're part of THE COLLECTIVE AND GOD IS

interested in you and amongst all these

other people, he's interested in you.

>> And this morning, when you came to the

house of the Lord, did you come with an

expectation? Did you come with an

expectation to absorb God and more of

him to rub up against him and other

people to touch him through other

people's lives? Did you have an

expectation that he would meet you here?

>> God, I hope you had that expectation

because it was going to happen to you

whether you wanted it to or not because

he's here. AND IF YOU DON'T FEEL THAT,

AND IT'S NOT ABOUT EMOTIONS, but if you

don't sense that he is here, then I'm

asking you to wake up.

>> Please.

Please, for the love of God, and I mean

that in the way it is said, for the love

of him who has come here today to love

on you.

Open your eyes.

>> Open your eyes that you might see.

Open your heart that you might know him.

Open your mind that you might understand

what it means to be in his presence.

We've just come through Easter and it's

so easy to zap through Easter, right?

And we get through we we come in through

Lent and we we work through all of those

amazing things that God calls us to. We

spend time. We focus. We allow God to to

we we we we make time and space for God

and and then we come through the Easter

period and then there's after and this

morning I want to talk to us about the

resurrected life.

That resurrection life you know what on

that day when Jesus was crucified Joseph

a righteous man went to Pilate and said

give us his body so we can take him and

we can we can we can wrap him and and

put him in the tomb. And they did they

took him in the tomb and then and then

for three day three days he lay there

and you know what

they were to anoint him with oil

for his burial

and then you a funny thought this is how

my brain works. What was he doing in

those three days? You know we know what

he was doing. He was pretty busy.

>> What was he doing? you know, did he lie

there and and his spirit was alive and

awake? And he thought, I'm going now.

I'm out. I'm going now. I'm I'm going to

to Hades and I'm going to take back the

keys and I'm going to I'm going to deal

with the enemy and I'm going to tell him

this is the end. You know, this this

far, no more. And and in those days, he

res would have wrestled and tussled in

the spiritual realm. He would have taken

hold of some things on your behalf.

He would have done that on your behalf.

He was fighting with you in mind. He had

you in mind when he did that. He fought

on your behalf. He claimed some things

on your behalf. And then they put him in

the tomb. And then three days later,

they go on the Sunday morning. The girls

head down to the tomb because they had

to anoint his body. AND HELLO. THEY GOT

THERE. THE big stone had been rolled

rolled away. 250 lbs I reckon which is

about 113

kgs

had been rolled around and these small

women

did not roll that stone away

but the power and the authority of

heaven had removed that stone and they

went in and he was not there.

He was not there. His cloth was there.

His burial cloth was there. the shroud

was there but he was not there and they

they were distressed. they would have

been distressed, you know, like, oops,

wrong thing. You know, I remember um a

few years ago, some of our faro um one

of their nannies died and they went down

the coast to the to the funeral to the

tongi and um they stopped at the mai and

they wait, they get called on

and they're

they get called on and they're standing

and and the one of the guys is standing

up and he's talking about this queer,

this old lady. He's talking about her

and talking about her life and what an

amazing woman she was and what that she

served God and she loved Jesus and he

was really talking her up and and he he

spoke and then he moved toward the

coffin and it just was not that nanny.

It was some other nanny

that the nanny that he thought was there

was gone. Actually, she was just a bit

further down the road. They just stopped

too soon. But imagine imagine that

arriving there and you've gone through

that poety process and you've walked

into this tongue and it's the wrong

nanny,

wrong show. Hey, and then and so then

they they you know and people were

giggling because he was saying her name

and they knew that it wasn't that lady

lying in in states that that was another

nanny lying there. But they let him they

let him tell his stories of his nanny.

They let him tell tell about who she was

and how she loved Jesus. You know how

embarrassing like that would be so

embarrassing. And then when they came to

do the how do you do, you know, to to

greet everybody and kiss everybody,

people were just cracking up laughing

because it was so funny. And one of the

other living nanny said, "She's actually

down the road." But you know what? What

shock that would have been? And when

Mary and them stood in that empty tomb,

they would have been shocked.

Not that it was the wrong nanny, but

that the tomb was empty. He was gone.

And then the Roman soldiers came down

and they were so overwhelmed with the

situation that they fainted. Harden up,

guys. That's a bit of a bad testimony

for the Roman soldiers, you know, that

they fainted. They passed out under the

strain of the tomb being empty. And then

the angels appear to Mary to the Marys

to these women and and he they say they

say say why are you looking for the

living

amongst the dead?

>> Why are you looking for the living

amongst the dead? And you know what? If

we accept that that stone on Sunday

morning was rolled away as believers, if

that's what we believe, if we accept

that Jesus rose from that grave, if we

accept that the tomb was empty, if we

believe that Jesus Christ died and he

rose again, then we have to ask ourself

this question.

What does that mean for us?

What does the resurrection actually mean

for us? I was listening to um a a a

theologian the other day, historian, and

he was saying, you know, why would you

build a faith, a movement around the

fact that a guy died and he rose again

and he disappeared off the planet? I

mean, that's kind of like pretty hard to

get your human head around. It's as bad

as looking at the wrong nanny in the

coffin. it well it's actually no it

can't be compared to that sorry sorry

Jesus

if we accept that that is true

if you believe that that is true then we

have to ask the question what does that

actually mean for me in 2026

because it matters

because it matters you see We if we if

we don't find ourselves if we don't put

ourselves in that crossroad of actually

questioning ourselves what does that

mean to me then for for many of us the

the resurrection just becomes a

well can become a story that is framed

within a theological framework in the

Bible and it's part of the story it's

part of the story of Easter it's part

but what does it actually mean for me

why was it that God wanted the those the

people of that time to notice that the

resurrection.

So let's have a look at that. You know,

if we if we don't find ourselves at that

that crossroad that where resurrection

is just a static event, please don't do

that. That's not good. It's not healthy.

Or something that's to be proved by

science or academics. If we're not

standing here wondering and trying to

understand the whole event actually

being lived out in 2026 and what it

means, then we're in trouble

because we're just following a process.

We have this belief that Jesus died and

he rose from the dead and he the work he

did in those those days in between. We

believe that story.

But somehow

God, no, not somehow, God

transformed the lives of the people who

bore witness to that resurrection.

He transformed them to a degree where

they carried the living presence of of

God in their inner through their lives.

And that is how that this message, this

salvation message has continued on

because the people who bore witness to

that resurrection carried the truth of

that in their lives and they responded

to the truth of the resurrection. They

responded to the power that sat there on

that day to rise raise people from the

to raise Jesus from the dead. that

power. I I want us this morning to I

want to encourage us this morning to

contemplate that power and and and for

us to move beyond an empty tomb and to

trans transition from simply believing

that this was an event and it was a

great event and we love it and we sing

about it and we worship God.

But that experience, that moment

made what was to be what was never seen

before,

believable,

turned it into an experience that a

whole lot of people had. Mary, those

Roman soldiers, people who believed and

people who didn't believe. People who

had never heard of Jesus believed

because of the witness that was held

from th from that resurrection time and

they were looking for the living amongst

the dead and and but he's risen Christ

has risen question has he risen in you

in 2026 is the resurrection power of

Jesus Christ pumping through your veins

because that is where life is. Yes, we

draw oxygen, we draw breath, we we live,

we move, we have our being, but life is

in Christ. The life that we were

ordained to live is in Christ. And I'm

not talking about us being per perfect.

I'm not talking about us being a

complete picture of health or wholeness

or wellness. I'm talking about us being

in relationship with the story of Jesus

Christ. That story, that resurrection

power is at work in us now as intensely

as it was when Mary stepped into that

tomb and and they and the angel said,

"He is not here. Why are you looking for

him here? He has risen." The same power

that you you need to call on when you're

struggling is alive in your being

because Christ is in you, the hope of

glory. There is no escaping that. Even

if you try and reject him,

it will not alter the fact that he has

risen and he is here and he loves you

and he is here for you.

Um, in the in in the modern framework,

we often think of witnesses. I watched

this thing the other day about two

juries. I don't know if anybody's seen

that, but they have a murder trial and

there's two juries and they don't know

that they're working beside each other

and they both have to come to, you know,

draw conclusions and judge the the

person who's committed the crime.

Why did I say that? Um,

anyway, well, witnesses. So, they they

they take the reports of all the

witnesses and they collect that idea and

they come to some conclusions.

We have come, you those of us who

believe, have come to some conclusions

about who God is. We've come to some

conclusions about salvation. We've come

to some conclusions about the word of

God and what it means. We've come to

some conclusions about who we are in

Christ. We've come to some conclusions

about our purpose based on the evidence,

the witness of these who have risen, who

have seen the resurrection power. And

now we're called to live in it. We've

come to some conclusions. Well, I hope

you've come to some conclusions. And if

you're if you you know, sometimes we go

through times where we're really

confused about our conclusions.

It happens. And our brain gets in the

way and the way we think gets in the way

and our relationships get in the way of

these conclusions that are true because

Jesus is faithful. because Christ is

faithful. You know, the the early church

didn't build the church on an abstract

idea. They started with a collection of

encounters that were lived lived

encounters. And that same call is here

in 2026 to be the lived encounters with

Christ and with his spirit. to allow

yourself to be in the presence of God

that to have that power, that

resurrection power unfold in real time

in your life. And no matter what you're

facing, no matter what path you're

walking or where you're standing today,

in real time, let the power of God

manifest in your life as living evidence

that he is alive, that he is risen, that

his POWER IS HERE FOR YOU TO function

and work and move in your life. We

cannot be lazy not in these days. We

cannot be lazy as witnesses. We have to

be on to it as witnesses. We have to

stand up and declare. And you know what?

It doesn't matter how old you are or how

long you have been in this journey.

Every day there is testimony of who God

IS IN YOUR WORLD BECAUSE YOU WAKE UP and

you draw breath. You are alive

with his life.

You are alive.

You know, I was I was when I was getting

this word really, I kind of um was

thinking about Mama Flo and what a

ruckus she causes. You know, on a any

given day, she causes a ruckus. She's a

bit of a fiery old bird.

And you know what? This woman has the

life of Christ, the resurrection life

and power of Christ in her tongue,

in her hands, in her feet, in her home.

that she lives in. This has not passed

us by because we're getting older. It

does not pass us by because we're too

young. You're never too young.

But to live that life in its full

measure is what we're called to in 2026.

If we can put ourselves in the place of

of Mary and those who witnessed Jesus

afterwards, the disciples met with him

and talked with him, didn't even know it

was him. And he goes,

Pay attention.

Wake up. I I'm risen. I'm the Messiah.

And then to the 500 that sat there,

brothers and sisters, believers in the

faith, he came to them and he showed

himself resurrected Christ alive and

living and in amongst them. And it

remains the same in 2026. It remains the

same. Christ is in you. So when you want

to dig your your hands deep into your

pocket and just deny that or fight that

or just be too scared, don't be scared

because the life that Christ brings

isn't scary. Feel the fear and do it

anyway. I mean, that's a really old

saying. There's a new one. Fear. Oh, I

forget. Anyway,

just get on with it. Get your hands out

of your pockets and do this stuff. Be

the testimony. Tell your stories.

There are so many stories that this lady

here can tell about a resurrected life.

And although although she is sick, hey,

she's sick. This is Jerry. And Jerry has

had a lot of health issues. But you

could not shut her up.

You cannot

>> try. I dare you. You cannot shut her up

about the goodness of God and about the

life of Christ. And there she is bearing

witness to the resurrection power of

Jesus Christ in her life when she utters

his name when she talks about what she's

been through, what she's done, how God

has brought her the right doctors, how

how things have gone down in her journey

with God. And I didn't ask you to I was

going to do that, but too bad there with

goats done. Um, and there are all of us

that have we all have stories.

where we can bear witness to the

resurrection power of Christ in our

lives. This is our job. This is our job.

Not to not to be a performance,

not to be a performance, but to be a

lived experience that is a testimony to

who God is. that we're not merely

observing a a a a historical moment when

we talk about the resurrection of Jesus

Christ, but we are participants in that

transformative relationship. And for

some for for some um it began at the

tomb. For others who took it, they they

went from the tomb and they went out

into the community and rolled out into

their homes. And this has come to our

homes. if you're a believer that this

power ought to be dwelling in your home.

It should be what's in your home. When

people walk into that, when they come

into that atmosphere of life, Zoey life,

abundant life, when they step into that,

they must know that resurrection power

because it's a whole other realm of

power that we walk and live in.

And the the angels prompted and they

said, "God has raised this Jesus to

life." Sorry,

I think my slides might be all over the

way. God has raised this Jesus to life

and we are all witnesses of it. We are

all and when when that was spoken, it

was spoken down through the ages. The

first believers saw him and walked with

him again. The their faith grew not by

regurgitating what they had heard but by

experience a shared life in Christ. They

shared that life. They walked with him.

They they walked side by side with him.

They were covered in his dust as a

rabbi. They they consumed him. They were

absorbed by him and he them. And their

witness was simply that their

relationship was made visible to the

world.

We are here and we are called to make

visible to the world the a relationship

with a living God. A relationship that

transcends situations.

A relationship that goes beyond

brokenness. A relationship that will

take us out beyond what we're

comfortable with. You know, I think if

you're going to be a Christian, you have

to be prepared to be uncomfortable.

1 Corinthians 15 it says for what I

received I passed on to you as first and

this is Paul talking uh as a fir at of

first importance that Christ died for

our sins according to scriptures he's

telling us he's telling us about this

journey and that he was buried and that

he raised on the third day and according

to the script according to the

scriptures and that he appeared to to

Cphus to Peter and then to the 12 and

after that he appeared to more than 500

brothers and sisters, he's testifying.

He's bearing witness to what happened.

He's journeying people along by talking

to this in Corenth. And and then he

appeared to James and to all to all the

apostles. And last of all, he appeared

to me also as to one abnormally born.

Well, I thought about that and I

thought, why would he say he was

abnormally born?

What one of the the parts of his story

is that he was actually a preeie baby

and so he was abnormally born in in a

very natural sense. But then there is

the story of his salvation which was

pretty abnormal. He was a murderer.

While Jesus was walking the earth doing

what Jesus was doing in that time Paul

was killing Christians and persecuting

Christians. He wasn't walking with Jesus

yet.

Then he had an abnormally born again

experience where the spirit of God

stopped him on the road to Damascus and

blinded him and stopped him dead in his

tracks and said, "Hang on, wet fish

moment. I'm going to smack you in the

face and I'm going to show you who I am

and you are going to know and you're

going to bear witness to that and it's

going to transform you on the inside.

It's going to change you and you are

going to carry the story like that in

power. Your story has power. Your

whitetish moment and the moments that

followed that has power. Every young

person, every story that you carry has

power. It has authority and the ability

TO TRANSFORM LIVES. IT is real and it is

abundant and IT IS UNFAILING. HE IS

FAITHFUL.

and he will stand with you in your

story. He will not walk away from you in

your story. He's not like that. He's

okay with hitting people in the face

with a wet fish, but he will not walk

away from you. So, your abnormally born

again story is powerful

for life in Christ.

Um,

okay.

I often talk about us being signposts.

There was Mary who was a signpost to

Christ's death who came and anointed him

with oil and that oil she saturated him

from a position of intimacy. There was

intimate relationship here. And what I'm

saying here is that this thing is about

relationship and it's about intimacy of

relationship. And sometimes life causes

us to neglect that intimacy. And you

know what? I'm not just talking about

intimacy where it's quiet and you're all

with Jesus and and it's the warm fuzzy

moments. But it's the intimacy that you

experience with him in the middle of

your storm. It's the intimacy that you

know because you're scared out of your

wits that he is with you. It's the

intimacy that you know that when he has

spoken a word and you choose to be

obedient and follow, you will follow

him. So today, I'm I'm encouraging us.

I'm calling on us to be like Mary and be

take those moments of intimacy. Act on

them so that you might bear witness. and

her story stories continually told

throughout the generations as will yours

be.

If you tell them,

if you don't tell them, if you don't

live this out, if you're not living

proof that the resurrection power is at

work in us, then how can it be told? How

will they tell say if they don't know

man? The manifestation of the presence

of God in it in in our lives is not

about producing a glossy perfect life.

It's just not

as marvelous as that might be, but

actually we are jars of clay and we are

cracked. Some of us more than others,

but we are cracked and chipped and

marred. Yet Christ will come and inhabit

that with his life, with resurrection

power. And from that jar of clay, we

will pour out kingdom life, kingdom

authority, and kingdom power.

The there's a word shama, which means

faithful and watchfulness. And I'm

asking us this morning,

would you test yourself this morning?

You test yourself. You and the Holy

Spirit

And ask yourself this.

How good are you at staying present?

Moving away from striving and doing

things and towards an awareness of

being.

Staying present in your darkest moments.

Staying present in your weakest moments.

Staying present when you're on the

mountaintop with Jesus. staying present

and not getting giddy, you know, like

when you fall in love and stuff and you

get all giddy and you actually forget

things and but actually staying in the

moment, staying present. Are you

noticing? Are you cultivating a quiet

hunger to see where God is already at

work in your neighbor, in your

neighborhood, and in your own heart? Are

you noticing that stuff? Have you

noticed when was the last thing you What

is the last thing you noticed about

God's work in your life about what he

did? When was the last thing? Ask

yourself that question. What is the last

thing where you sat back and you said,

"God, I thank you

for helping me to contain my anxiety.

I'm getting better at it, Lord. I'm

getting better at because I'm trusting

you more." That is bearing witness to

the resurrection power of Christ in our

lives. When was the last time that you

noticed that you were drawn to somebody

in prayer and you lay hands on somebody

and you prayed the prayer? Nothing

happened,

but you know this Christ called you

there to be a witness to his name in

that place. Are you noticing? And it's

all about small steps.

This is not about we're we're not we

don't wear Lycra. We're not superheroes.

We're not we're not Superman. We're not

Batman and other man's Ant-Man. Why

would you have Ant-Man as a superhero

anyway?

Small steps, choosing honest steps of

trust rather than waiting for a grand

manifestation.

You know, often

I was so moved last time we were

together and this altar was open to us

and I'm going to I'm I want to invite

you to to do this with us this morning

for yourself.

This altar was open and there was such

an incredible sense of the presence of

God as collectively we gathered

in his presence with the intention of

being soaked by him

of just receiving.

You know on that morning pastor Aaron

said you might get prayed for you might

not. Wow.

Because the expectation, the witness was

he is here.

His presence is here. And I want us as a

church, a church that's in this living

in this 2026 era,

to remember to stand right,

to stay in his in the presence of God.

St and be present in the presence. Yeah.

Don't just

log out.

notice his presence and take small

steps. Church, this morning, I want us

to I'm just going to ask um Christie to

come and jump on the keyboards.

Um it it's God wants us to transition

from just being a believer in Christ to

being a witness. And I'm I'm not talking

about standing

and sharing the gospel on a street

corner or that stuff. I'm talking about

your life being a witness. The words

that come out of your mouth will bear

witness to the resurrection power of

God. The worship that people hear

playing in your home will bear witness

to the living God. the freedom that you

experience in yourself from addictions

from from the the things that ensnare

you. People will see that and you will

bear witness to the resurrection power

of Jesus Christ. When was the last time

that you loved somebody in such a way

out of obedience to God, a heart,

somebody hard to love, and you saw God

break through and you bore witness to

that breakthrough in a person's life.

So this morning, I'm going to get us to

stand and and I'm I just want us to pray

this morning about just receiving and

soaking in that presence.

Don't settle for a mundane life.

Cuz all of that work over the course of

Easter

was done that you would not live a

mundane life, but that you would live an

extraordinary life that bears testimony

to who God is.

Would you stand with me this morning?

You know what? M maybe you don't know un

you don't know that resurrection power

that abides in Christ. You don't know

salvation. And this morning I want to

invite you if that's you this morning

and you want to have this relationship,

this intimacy with Christ, this walk

with Christ, I want to encourage you

this morning to come up the front. And

if you if you come up the front, we'll

pray for you. If you come stand this

side, we'll pray for you over here.

But for the rest of us, would you just

close your eyes

and just allow God to

envelop you,

to take hold of you with his

resurrection power. I'm going to get

people to come and stand in prayer for

those who might want to come this

morning

and just get that get that have that

time.

You know, maybe you feel a bit flat in

your walk. Maybe you feel that your life

is a bit underwhelming. You've forgotten

to bear witness. You've forgotten to

testify. You've forgotten to live that

resurrected way. Then you come. Would

you come this morning?

Would you come this morning and let us

pray for you? If you need Jesus Christ

in your life, would you come and stand

over here where Pastor Paul is and he

will pray with you and lead you through?

You know what? This earth is hungry.

It is hungry and it is in great need

of the resurrection power of Christ

in our communities, in our families, for

those those we love and those who are

unwell, those who are are trapped in

court.

Could you walk out of here today

primed with resurrection power that

Christ might come and he move through

you?

Would

you come this morning? You come. Feel

free to come. And you know what? We're

never too topped up that we can't get

topped up some more. Take time this

morning.

Let God speak to you.

It's just people come to the altar.

Thank you, Lord.

Father, I just pray this morning that

you would transform us,

Lord, as as Mary came into and anointed

Jesus, that intimacy that that anointing

led Jesus into a triumphal entry and

then to the cross

where he died, but he rose again.

Thank you, Lord. Father, we want more of

you in our everyday

lives.

in our Sunday to Sunday lives. Lord God,

would you take us?

Would you fill us and show us, Lord? How

do I demonstrate this faith that you

have gifted me with?

Lord, my journey has become about the

things that happened to me. Father, help

me to see you.

Thank you Lord.

Thank you Jesus.

We're just going to let people

just stand here in the in the presence

of God. And if that's you, you know,

take the time. Don't be shy to come. And

we're going to send you off. Um, if you

could want to leave, you can go out into

the the street and enjoy each other's

company. Take some time out there. But

as you go, be blessed in the name of the

Lord. Be filled with his power. Be

challenged by his spirit and move and

move with him. I pray that for you this

week.

Okay. Sopho, if you're ready to go, you

can move out and we'll just allow people

time up the front here.

Thank you, Lord.