Well, if you would, take your Bibles. Let's go to the book of Philippians as a starting point for this morning. The book of Philippians chapter 3. And we'll read verse number 7 down to verse number 10. The phrase, the power of his resurrection is found here in Philippians 3. And we're going to look at that very thought. the power of his resurrection. There is nothing for the child of God more powerful, though I do know in Acts 2 and on, and the encouragement that they received, that they would receive power by the moving of the Holy Spirit, that they would receive the power to boldly speak the gospel in all places. But for the child of God, we're not talking about necessarily the giving of the gospel, we're talking about on a personal basis, on a very personal aspect this morning, the power, there is no greater power for the child of God in the confidence that we have, no greater power than the power given because of the resurrection of Christ. Without the resurrection, we would just have a sacrifice. Without the resurrection, we would just have a storyline of someone dying for me. Without the resurrection, we might have a lot of feel-good things that someone cared enough to pay a penalty for me. But because of the resurrection, as I mentioned earlier, it's not just for this life only that I have hope in Christ. the cause of the resurrection, it gives me the power to have hope for today, tomorrow, and all eternity. There's nothing else that we will ever face in life. You can find many things powerful enough to give you some hope in your day to day. You can find many things powerful enough to give you hope for tomorrow to a degree. But you'll never find a single thing in this life outside of the resurrection of Christ that gives you the power of hope for eternity. There's nothing else that gives the power of hope for eternity save the resurrection. of our Savior. We did not sing a song we've sung before as a family. Victoria is not here and I wanted to wait for later. We'll get her back. Sorry, forsaking of the family, going to college. By the way, she wanted to be here today. She begged us to let her. They have a few days off and she had begged. She wanted so bad to drive up here, surprise everybody and be here for for this morning, and we just told her that's not the best use of your small window of time. She had several things she had to get done, and she's already stressed enough as it is, so we told her there's wise use of your time, though we would love to have her here, but she'll be back in the summer, amen. It's only a few weeks away, believe it or not. And so looking forward to her getting back. But besides that, that's a little, you know, squirrel thing. It's dead. Okay, moving on. But we're looking here in Philippians 3, but the song I was mentioning is we sang how you could go to the tomb of Buddha, you can go to the tomb of Muhammad, you can go to all these different tombs of people that are worshiped and looked up to and followed in religious sects and religious realms of things. And you'll find that every single one of those individuals will still be in a tomb. They died and they're still there. There's only one you'll go and no matter what you try to do, you're going to find that there is no body, there is no evidence of a body, there is nothing left in the tomb of Christ. He is gone. He is risen. But Philippians 3, chapter 3, verse 7 through verse number 10 says this, But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. In the words, Christ is more important than anything else this life can offer me. Verse number nine, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Side note on that, again, just proving that man's righteousness, you cannot earn forgiveness with God and forgiveness of sin, man's righteousness by the deeds I do will not account for me to be enough to deal with the sin problem. Therefore, we cannot work enough, we cannot do good enough, be good enough to receive the forgiveness necessary. It is the righteousness of God placed on my account because I could never be righteous myself. Verse number 10 says this, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. And Paul here, you could also go to where he talks about how he has learned to die daily, being conformable to his death. That even in that, that this mind that was in Christ would also be in us. What is that mindset? What is that mind of Christ? That he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It took humility and it took a lowering of what I think I am. Well, it took it for Christ. He lowered Himself. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And that mind and that heart and that idea to be conformable unto His death means I learned to have the same humility my Savior had in dying daily for Him. Because we serve a risen Savior, we can know Him more, that I may know Him and the power of his resurrection. And I believe many times if we're not careful, if you know Christ is your personal savior and I'm in the same boat, we can get so used to being saved, so used to being forgiven, so used to the idea that my eternity is settled that we forget the power. of the resurrection of Christ and what it means for the child of God. And this morning, I just want to bring us a few reminders concerning what it is that we have in the hope for eternal life because of the power of the resurrection of Christ. of the Savior that we placed our trust in Jesus Christ. Let me pray and then we're gonna open up a little bit more and look at several things this morning. Heavenly Father, we thank you. that we can be here this morning we thank you for a beautiful beautiful day that you have given us but regardless of how this day would have turned out weather wise it would still be a beautiful and wonderful day to be able to focus on and remember that we serve a risen savior and a hope lives and springs eternal within the child of God because of that very understanding and fact that our Savior is not dead. and not in the tomb. And I pray this morning as we look at this thought of the power of the resurrection of Christ, Heavenly Father, I pray that you'd help us to be renewed once again in the excitement that it brings, the encouragement for the child of God. And that there be one here this morning that does not know without doubt, that they for sure have received Christ as their Savior. There's one person here that is unsure about their eternity and whether or not they are a child of God according to the Bible. Lord, when they see that need this morning, they look and say, I don't understand this hope of eternity. I don't understand this secure feeling of knowing for sure you're forgiven. Lord, may the Holy Spirit lean on their heart put a burden on their heart that they would come forward later more than talk to somebody and get that settled to know for sure that Christ is their savior. I pray this morning as we look at these thoughts that you would challenge us and encourage us and we'll give you all the honor and glory for what you do in and through us this morning. We ask it in Christ's name, amen and amen. Well, the very security and assurance of our salvation depends on this pivotal truth out of scripture concerning the fact that Christ arose. It is a pivotal part of the gospel. You cannot teach or preach or share the gospel without bringing up the fact that Christ was buried but rose again. In 1 Corinthians 15, Verse 1 through 4 says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory that I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I have delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. But it doesn't stop there. Verse number four says, and that he was buried, and it doesn't stop there. Goes on to say, and that he rose again the third day, and here's the key, according to the scriptures. The foundation of everything we believe and we hold and we can trust is found right here in the word of God. If you do not believe, we're talking about that on Sunday nights. If you do not believe that you possess the word of God, then you will not have confidence in trusting what it says, being God's word. We understand that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. We celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. Now, I'm gonna give you these thoughts. I'm gonna chase one little squirrel. Talking about it being part of the gospel. When we would teach and our years of teaching us might be over now. It's just ministry has grown and it's kind of hard to keep going and doing everything you used to do. But the years that we've taught at Smite Camp, Summer Missionary Institute in Training and Evangelism, teaching boys and girls, men and women even, how to hold a five-day Bible club, how to give and teach a Bible lesson, and how to give and teach a missionary story, and all the different aspects of a Bible club. But one of our main focuses, what we taught mostly, was how to teach and how to mold the gospel into your Bible lesson. And one of the number one things, we'd stress it, and we'd stress it, and we'd stress it, and we'd stress it again. Do not leave Christ in the grave. When you give the gospel, don't just talk about how he died for you, and how he was buried, and then move on. Bring him back out, because he's alive. Do y'all want to know the one thing they always forgot? They'd always forget. They'd have to teach in front of us, and we would grade them on how smoothly they would give the gospel in the midst of teaching a Bible story, a story out of the Bible, and influence and put in the gospel throughout the whole thing and make it flow like it's one story. It's a bit of a learned trait. You kind of grow into it. Eventually, you make it very smooth. But without fail, at least, I would say 85% of the time, I don't know about the girls, but I know the guys. I want to slap them. We'd go over it and go over it and go over it and go over it. And then they hand in some of the work and, fellas, please, fellas, do not leave him in the grave. And guess what? They'd still do it again. But sometimes we get so fast into the fact that Christ died for us, we forget that he rose for us as well. But the resurrection is necessary. And here's just some simple reasons why. The resurrection isn't necessary for Jesus to have the keys of hell and of death. If it were not for the resurrection, Jesus would not have the power to conquer death and hell. He conquered fully death and hell and took the keys of it all when He died on the cross, suffered our punishment. The Bible says that in that timeframe that He conquered death and hell and He gathered the keys of it and He controls every bit. And not just because He died, it's because He rose again that He gave Him the power to conquer. And I encourage you to look on the bulletin we have for today. There's a new pastor's pen there dealing with that very thing, that we have a conqueror, a conquering king. He has the power over death. And hell, Revelation 118, Christ himself speaking in this point, he says, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen. and have the keys of hell and of death. If it wasn't for the resurrection, Jesus would not have been able to keep his word. It was his word that he would rise again. He promised, I will rise again. He told his disciples over and over and over again, trying to get them to understand that I am going to be taken. I am going to be bruised and I am going to be crucified and I'm going to be buried, but I'm coming back. I'm going to come out on the third day, I will rise again. And of course, we've talked about it many times, they missed it over and over and over again. They couldn't fathom the one they were following, their king, they couldn't fathom him being taken and killed. And that's all they ever heard, and that was it. They couldn't listen anymore. So they never really got the understanding that he's not going to stay dead. Otherwise, they would have been kind of, I personally think, if we were in their condition, and we were where they are, and we heard him teaching, and we saw him crucified, we would have already made notes about, okay, step one, crucified. Step two, buried. Step three, rising again. If we had paid attention to his preaching, and we had made notes in his preaching, and we had had those notes, we would have said, okay, step one, hmm, check, crucified. Step two, he said he was gonna be, hmm, hmm, check, he's buried just before the Passover. Step three, all right, third day, he's gonna rise again. If they really believed what he had been teaching them and preaching to them about himself, they would have actually been around the tomb saying, all right, we're waiting. By the way, Mayor, mind you, it's a little resembling how we are today. Because he said, I'm coming again. And you're supposed to be waiting and ready, and you're supposed to be attentive. It's not supposed to take you by surprise. You should know I'm coming. You should be looking for, even so come Lord Jesus. And yet, we're still doing today what they did. We're acting like he's not coming back. just like they forgot he said, I'm gonna rise again. They weren't at the tomb waiting and watching and hmm, I wanna witness this thing. No, no, no. And so here we are, we're living our days and many times, how often do we forget he's returning at any moment? Now again, I'm with you. We shouldn't just sit down and say, okay, Lord, we're waiting. We should be busy until he comes. But the Bible says, according to what we're given, we could literally, every single morning you wake up and God gives you breath again, and God gives you a new day, you wake up, you could step outside and say, okay, Lord, are you coming right now? Throughout your day, you can stop and say, you know what, it could be right now, just the next couple of seconds. We could live our lives expecting him to return at any given moment, not to set foot on earth, not to take over and rule and reign as king of kings and lord of lords, but the return, which we call the rapture, the calling out of his church, and therefore we, if you know Christ as your savior, will be called out to meet the Lord in the air. At that moment, he has come to claim his own, and then seven years later, he will come to rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But if it wasn't for the resurrected Savior, Jesus would not have kept his word. John 10, 17 through 18 says, therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me. Oh, by the way, that's a key. He wasn't murdered. He laid down his life. He said here, no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father. If it wasn't for the resurrection, it's necessary. Why? Because it was necessary for Jesus to prove his deity. And that's a big attack in today's world especially. Everybody out there, they don't care for Jesus, they don't care for this book. They're constantly trying to challenge whether or not Jesus was God's son in the flesh. Was he truly deity? If Christ had not risen again, then one of two things would be true. Either Jesus is not God or part of God is now dead and nonexistent. But since we know he rose from the grave, we know that Christ is the son of God. He has the power to, by the way, he didn't need help. He brought himself back. He didn't need a faith healer. come show up at the tomb and say, Christ, I command you to come out. No. He just woke up and said, I'm walking out of here. By the way, I don't think the stone had to be rolled out of the way for him to walk out. You say, how do you know? Because the Bible says that he just appeared in the midst of them and then he was gone. He was there and he was gone. He was there and he was gone. There was nothing stopping him. Decorology. You ready? Here we go. I believe he got up and walked out. Guards still standing there. Everybody's still there. He got up. He walked out. The tomb, the door, over the doorway right there, that big stone rolled over. I don't think he moved it at all. I think it was there. He walked out. He was done. You say, well, the stone was rolled away. Yes, it was. But I believe that was for those who were there to witness it. He didn't need a stone rolling. That stone wasn't, if death could not hold him in the grave, a stone ain't gonna hold him. And so I believe he walked out without a stone having to be moved. But God said, angels, y'all push that thing aside because those that are coming need to actually see it truly is empty. And so this stone was rolled away and all of a sudden, everybody sees he's no longer there. Again, it was for the witnesses and not for the one who's risen. And so, but if it wasn't for the fact that Christ rose from the grave, then we would have great question as to whether or not he truly was God's son in the flesh. If it wasn't for that, here's the last one for you for this. Then Jesus, the resurrection is necessary because Jesus had to confirm final judgment. The final judgment can only take place before a living word of God, the Bible says, and that is Jesus Christ. Acts 17 31, because he that appointed a day into which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Who is it that sits in judgment? Him who God hath raised from the dead. It is Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, the resurrection is necessary for the judge to sit on the judgment seat on the throne, judging over all the earth. But just like all things necessary for our salvation and spiritual life, our enemy, now watch, our enemy has fought intensely throughout the ages to diminish the power and priority of the resurrection while also trying to bring total denial of its occurrence. You hear things such as, well, Jesus did not die on the cross, he just swooned. That's a big word. In other words, he just fainted. By the way, you can ask any medical doctor out there, and they've done the research, the ones who really cared to, they did the research, and all that Christ went through just leading up to the cross, and many of them concur together that just in what he endured getting to the cross would have killed most every single man. It had to have been something supernatural that he even got to the cross. The blood loss alone would have been enough for most men to have never made it. And yet, then he got to the cross, and he's on the cross, and all that he deals with there, when being nailed to the cross, and by the way, no, not just tied by ropes, he was nailed to the cross. And that endurance of being nailed to the cross, by the way, again, just supernatural that he even survived the timeframe. God would not let the sacrificial lamb die outside of the way that the lamb had to die. And as he nailed, Bible says, he nailed our sins to the cross. which Jesus becoming sin for us became that sin nailed to the cross, which for me is completely unfathomable. I can't even really wrap my head around the Bible talking about how Jesus became sin for us. And that sin was nailed to the cross, which by the way is why God the Father could no longer look during that timeframe on his son, because God could not look on sin itself. And so he had to turn his back on his son. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I believe that's the cup that he was worried about. I don't think he was worried about dying for sin because that was his entire purpose. He wouldn't have been born if it wasn't for the fact that he was born to die for mankind. However, I believe the idea that he would be separated from the Father, never in history has it ever happened until that time. Never in history will it ever happen again that God the Father and God the Son, had a literal division of separation because of sin, Jesus became sin on the cross, and God the Father could no longer look upon him. And by the way, I believe that is when the Bible says the entire earth went dark. And I believe it, here's some more decorology for you, ready? I believe God said, if I can't look on him, none of you are either. And so it went dark. No light. No one visibly watching as Christ became sin nailed to the cross. That's before he said, into thy hands I commend my spirit. He suffered sin. You say, preacher, I thought we're talking about a resurrection. You gotta get there first. But he took it all. and he died. Why is resurrection so important? Because when he was placed in a tomb, but did not stay there, he became the one powerful over death and hell. And he became the one enabled to give us the power of hope for eternity. Jesus did not just swoon on the cross. He did not just faint from things and therefore they placed him in a tomb. He was passed out, he was in a coma. No, he was dead. That was proven. They knew he was dead. Matter of fact, he didn't even look like a man anymore. He had been so abused and beaten. Bible says his bones did stare at him. He died. He did not swoon. He did not faint. He wasn't in a coma. And then there's also the thing, the stories that have come out. I don't know if you've ever read some of these. I look at them just for a laugh, but they come out with, we found the tomb with Jesus's bones. We've even tested them and proven they go all the way back to that timeframe. And we did all the history of where this tomb comes from. It has to be the one. This is the real tomb and his bones are still there. Man has for years, by the leading of the adversary, been trying to discredit the fact that Christ rose from the dead. Why would they try to discredit it if it did not matter? Why such a fight against a resurrected Savior if it really doesn't make a difference in the life of the child of God or for eternity? If it's just another event, and yeah, okay, well, he died on the cross, that's what was important. If the resurrection is not important, they wouldn't be trying to dismantle it and do away with it. But society and man, by the leading of our adversary, has been trying from the very get-go. You say, how do you know that? Because when the soldiers went to the high priest, the soldiers went and told them what had happened. He's not there, he's gone. Everything went crazy, it went nuts. All of a sudden, he's gone, he's out. And they said, oh, we can't have that. No, no, no, here's what we're gonna do. Here's what we're gonna do, okay? We're gonna pay you We need you to say that all of his followers came and overpowered you and they rolled away the stone and they took his body to make it look like he rose. From the very beginning, man has been trying to discredit a risen Savior. Or at least, I should say, Christ rejecting man has been trying to do that. It's nothing new. It still exists today. I saw... I saw just this morning, and it breaks my heart, it really does. I know over here in Priceville, I don't really have a leaning one way or the other concerning these things, but they put a big, big white cross up over here in Priceville. I'm not even sure exactly where it's at. but they just erected one of those big white crosses. And I'm not against it at all. I think it's okay. It's not a full crucifix or anything. It's just the symbol of forgiveness, per se. But somebody posted what's happening in Priceville, and I saw the post this morning, and some guy said, yeah, just what we need, a great big eyesore in Priceville. I'm like, wow. And then there were several people, a lot of people supporting it, a lot of people saying, oh, no, it's wonderful, we love that, we like it. And then someone else put on there, well, if we're gonna support one group, why don't we support all of them? Where is the pride flag coming next? Again, I'm not trying to attack anybody, but here's my thing. If there's one thing that the world wants is, they want Christians with a cross and a risen Savior, a Savior who died for us and one who rose for, they want us to shut up and be quiet. Stop bothering our lives with all your fairy tales. And you see it over and over and over and over and over again. May I say, What they did there, what they're doing with the cross, I don't have a problem with it. I'm not gonna go put a big one up in our field over here. But here's the thing. When it brings about attack, but it is a focus of what a Savior has done for us. There are many people that absolutely hate this Sunday. They can't stand it, because all these Christian-y people are going to start getting all crazy with their risen Savior. And they go on the attack. Why do Christ-rejecting men attack the truth of Christ who died for us, was buried, and rose again? The gospel. Because it matters. Because it makes a difference. because the adversary wants it to be silenced. If our gospel be hid, it's not ours technically, it's Christ's gospel, but it's ours to share. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them who are lost. The God of this world had blinded the eyes of them that would believe. It's just so important to understand the struggle with this and how these things With each and every one of us, you're gonna fight. If it matters, it's gonna be focused on and attacked by our adversary. But I wanna give you these three things to end out with this morning. That's only 11.15. All right, so hold on. We're not even close to lunch yet. Don't worry, we're gonna wrap it up. There is great power in the resurrection. And here's the encouragement for the child of God. You ready? Because of the resurrection, there is power to complete. Christ, through the resurrection, completed the work of the cross. The cross conquered the debt of sin. Jesus paid for our hell on the cross. The resurrection conquered the effects of sin. Jesus defeated death. 1 Peter 3.18 says, It's to complete the work on the cross, but also The resurrection allows Christ to complete the work in us. Colossians 2, 10 through 12 says, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. It is the work that God can complete in us because of the power of his resurrection. I challenge you to go over and you can read 1 Corinthians 15, 17 through 20 as well. Good verse to read there. We're gonna move on for sake of time. Secondly, not only the power. that the resurrection gives to complete the work of the cross and the work in us, but the power the resurrection of Christ gives to conform us to the image of a living Savior. In this area, the living Savior We look and we know through this that Romans 6, 4, and 5, therefore we are buried with him and by baptism unto death, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be the likeness of his resurrection. The power to be conformed to the image of our Savior. Without the resurrection, there would be no power. By the way, if he was still dead, why would you want to be conformed to his image? There's not much there. If he's no better than every other person that man has lifted up and made a God out of, if he's no better, if he's not truly the son of God that can have the power over death, hell, the grave, everything, every bit of it, if he's not truly, why would I want to be conformed to his image if he's not strong enough to handle all that life and sin throws at us? Bible says that he was tempted in all points like as we, yet without sin. We can now look to a Savior who is risen and because he has risen, there is the power to be conformed to his image and it be worth something to conform to. It is the power also, and I'll give you this last one, the power of His resurrection is the power to conquer, to conquer the flesh through the power of the Spirit. Without Christ conquering the grave, the child of God would have very little hope of conquering life. We face, now listen, eternity is not in our hands to handle. Eternity is in God's hands. We place our eternity in His hands when we choose Him. But as a whole, we understand that in this life, we have a lot to face. We have some mountains to conquer. We have some valleys to survive, amen. We have some ups and downs of life, and we want to be more than conquerors. So how do we conquer? Well, because we serve a risen Savior, He's conquered, He lives, He is the conqueror. Now we have the ability to conquer as well. Conquering what? Conquering the fear of the trials and troubles of this life. I can, through Him, conquer these fears. Because He lives, we don't have to walk alone in the fear of life. Romans 8.15, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 2 Corinthians 12.9, And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I don't have what it takes to face the fears of life by myself, but because I serve a risen Savior, I know that He lives and I can face tomorrow. It's the power to conquer the dominion of sin, the overthrowing that sin tries to give, the overthrowing of the flesh. Anybody here ever fought your flesh? Anybody here ever wanted to say something you knew you shouldn't have? Had that, ladies, have you ever wanted to buy something that you knew you just didn't need and just did, I want it. I say, I did that on purpose, because fellas, we're not any different. Amen, every single one of us will see things. All right, I got to pick on the Fagermans over here. The kids, y'all ever see things y'all want, yeah? You're saying, hey, let's go buy this. Yeah, it's sometimes we see things we want things right. And we're going to get y'all ever worked hard to give yourself whatever you want. And then in the midst of about to do that, something inside of you says, but you don't need that and you know it. But I want it. I've worked hard for it, I deserve it. We fight the flesh, don't we? What gives us the power to listen to the Spirit over the flesh? It is a risen Savior that works in us, that gives us the ability, since I am in Him and He is in me, I have the power because of a risen Savior, I can conquer the flesh. and I don't have to live in bondage to the things that this old flesh and sin would have me do. As a child of God, I have hope to be a conqueror in this life through the work of Jesus. You can go to Ephesians, we're not going to do it for a second time, but go to Ephesians chapter one, verse 19 through 23, talking about that power over the flesh through a risen Savior. Then go, lastly, here it is, we're done, all right? It's shocking, it's only 11.22. Conquering the power of death. And this is the most encouraging part. We had a funeral yesterday, Miss Linda Dodd, and we talked to the family. And then of course, Jordan Dodd spoke and said the same thing during the service about the fact that you never wanna lose a loved one. You never wanna have that loss in this life of somebody you care for. But if there is a good time to ever deal with a funeral, It's right now. It's on the heels of celebrating a risen Savior. And because He's risen, those that are in Christ will not be held by the power of death, but they have, through Christ, conquered death even before facing it. Death has no hold. Grave, where is the sting of death? Where is the power of the grave? It's been conquered. but not by me. It's been conquered by Him that lives in me, and I in Him, and because He's a risen Savior, I have power of the confidence that if the Lord doesn't return, before I pass away, and I meet Him in glory, and y'all have to have a funeral, I'm not planning on going on the next bus, all right? If y'all had to have a funeral, the beauty of it is, even before I face death, I know that death is no match. Because of what Christ has done in my heart and my life, and because he has risen, my body will not be held by a grave. One day, if I be put in a grave, it's coming back out when he calls for it, and it will be glorified. But I know in the moment that I die, I'm also, as the Bible says, my soul is immediately within the presence of God. He'll reunite the body and glorify the whole one day, but he'll do that because he conquered death, he controls death, and death isn't stopping anybody that's a child of God. The grave isn't holding anybody that's a child of God. It's all because of the power of his resurrection. We would have no hope in and of ourselves, but it's because of our Savior that power exists for a hope of eternity. over all these things. Romans 8, 10, and 11 says, and if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. There's the promise of the power to conquer death. May I say, it's not just a story. It's not just a feel good. It makes for a really good day to sing extra songs and be excited and get together and just rejoice together, but it's not just a day to kind of boost attendance. On a personal level, this is the day, this is the time, this is the focus of a risen savior that gives me an individual personal hope for all eternity. It is the power of His resurrection that gives you, if you know Christ as your Savior, gives you the hope of all that Christ has conquered. You also have a conquering understanding of it through Christ. You don't have to fear life. You don't have to be in control by the flesh. I don't have to be in doubt about death and the grave. I know who's conquered it and I know who I have placed my faith in. I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. It's the power of his resurrection that gives the child of God the power of the confidence. of this life and eternity. I'm glad I serve a risen Savior. I'm glad He is mine and I am His. May I ask you this morning, do you know for sure, without any doubt, that Christ is yours and you are His? Have you received Christ as your Savior, plus nothing, minus nothing? Have you trusted in Him and Him alone? for the forgiveness of your sins. If so, the power of his resurrection is the power you get to rest in. If not, today would be a really good day to take care of all those issues by placing faith alone in a risen Savior who died, was buried, and rose for you. Heavenly Father, thank you for this morning. Thank you for the truth. that we get to celebrate the truth that we know with a confidence we serve a