Easter at City First Church

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♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ This is the gospel. This is the good news. There is a God who loves you In the beginning you sent the earth spinning fashioned us from the dust Since our existence there's only been one mission for you to commune with us Then came the garden we became the fallen sin made us lose our way Oh, but the love that's too good to give up set a course for amazing grace This is the gospel This is the good news Tell everybody How we saved you This is the gospel Tell me the good news Tell everybody It's a God that loves you. Oh how he loves you. There's a God that loves you Oh how he loves you There's a God that loves you Then came the savior was born in a manger raised up to ransom us Us Healing the blind raising dead back to life all the signs of his perfect love And there on the cross how he paid every cost he defeated death hailing grace And on that third morning the stone started rolling. Oh, what a beautiful day This is the gospel This is the good news Tell everybody How we saved you This is the gospel

Tell me the good news Tell everybody There's a God that loves you. Oh how he loves you. There's a God that loves you. Oh how he loves you There's a God that loves you Hallelujah here and now You have turned my life around amazing grace, how sweet the sound I was lost but now i'm found This is the gospel This is the good news Tell everybody How we saved you This is the gospel Tell me the good news Tell everybody There's a God that loves you Yeah Here and now Oh Well, happy easter city first church, how we all doing today All right, we're gonna try that one more time if you are grateful for the message of easter Let me hear it from you tonight, come on, let me hear you. There we go The message of easter Is an empty tomb means we can have a full life and I am so grateful to God for what this weekend represents And i'm also grateful that each and every one of you are here Just want to take a quick second and greet everybody welcome you to city first church I can't think of a better place to be on a saturday than right here right now Celebrating easter and I want to take just a second greet some pretty special people because you know that especially on a weekend like this There's people who brave walking in this really big building for the first time Or maybe you're joining us online for the first time and if that is you today, we just want to say Welcome, we are so glad you are here and you are our honored guest and we actually have something for you

It's the it's a little gift. It's just our way of saying Thank you so much for coming and being here with us today And you can pick that up on one of our next step booths outside after service is dismissed just swing by there and say hey It's my first time we'll put that gift in your hand. It's just our way of saying thanks for being here So church, can we give our guests today a huge warm city first church welcome? We're so glad you're here well if you are able would you join me in standing And i'm going to pray for us and then we're going to go into a time of worship and I I can't think of a better way to launch into service on Easter weekend than taking the focus off of ourselves and putting it on Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. So let me pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for Easter. God, thank you for what it represents for us. Forgiveness, hope, life, purpose. And so Jesus, as we get ready to celebrate the resurrection, God, we just come before you and we worship you tonight. We love you in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Amen. Oh, we worship you, Jesus. There on a cross they made for sinners For every curse, there's blood atoned One fine breath, and it was finished But not the end we could've known For the earth began to shake And the veil was torn What sacrifice was made Has the heaven and the earth All hail King Jesus

All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Saviour of the world You did it all for us, Jesus The rising bomb, it went in the sky, they heard The flash of light breaking through When all was lost, He crossed eternity, oh yes He did The King of life was on the moving wheel For in a dark cold tomb Where our Lord was laid One miraculous breath And we're forever changed All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Saviour of the world All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Saviour of the world Oh, we thank You for the coming days Oh, we praise Your name Let every knee come bowing for the King of kings Let every tongue confess that He is alive Lift up your shout, let us join the chorus ♪ We're standing Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh holy ♪ ♪ We're standing Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh holy ♪ ♪ We sing Jesus is holy Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh holy ♪ ♪ We're standing Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh holy ♪ ♪ We're standing Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh holy ♪

♪ All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ We respond in worship to you Jesus ♪ ♪ He's the only name that's worthy ♪ ♪ The only name that conquered the grave ♪ ♪ We rise on you Jesus Yes we do today ♪ ♪ There's no one like you Lord No one like Jesus ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ my King ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is Nothing compares to this ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Death could not hold you The veil tore before you ♪ ♪ You silenced the pulse of sin and grave ♪ ♪ The heavens are roaring The praise of your glory ♪ ♪ For you are raised to life again ♪ ♪ You have no rival You have no equal ♪ ♪ You have no equal Now and forever God you reign ♪ ♪ Yours is the kingdom Yours is the glory ♪ ♪ Yours is the name above all names ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ my King ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is Nothing can stand against ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ my King ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is Nothing can stand against ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus ♪

♪ What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus ♪ We love you Jesus, thank you for your love Lord. Thank you Lord. May the Lord bless you. Yes, Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves me The Bible tells me so Yes, Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves me The Bible tells me so The Bible tells me so I'm so thankful today for that simple yet profound and powerful truth, Jesus loves you. If you're thankful for his love, can we give him one more hand clap? Tell him thank you, use your words. That's what this Easter weekend is all about, the amazing love of Jesus. Well, it's so good to see each and every one of you with us at City First. Happy Easter to you. You can go ahead, have a seat. As you do that, tell the person next to you, happy Easter. Our vision is simple, cities filled with the hope of Jesus and people living out their purpose. We are passionate about shining God's light into the darkest places locally, nationally, and globally. And we will never stop bringing help and hope to a hurting world. Throughout the year, we prayfully partner with schools and organizations to provide support to those who need it most. And last summer, through our annual backpack drive, we had the privilege of placing 2,700 backpacks into the hands of students across 18 schools. At Christmas, we blessed 3,375 children with gifts, many of whom would have not received the present otherwise. As you can see, I'm here at one of our food distributions. And to this day, we have given away 3.8 million pounds of food since we began our efforts in 2020. City First, I want to remind you that this is what it's all about.

Because of your immense generosity, we are equipped to bring heaven to earth, to love our city, and to introduce everyone to Jesus. Because of your immense generosity, we are equipped to bring heaven to earth, to love our city, and to introduce everyone to the life-changing love of Jesus. Together, we are making an internal difference. Well, hey, give it up. That's all because of your generosity. You know, it's amazing to see what happens when we all come together. You know, each time that we do gather, we always take a moment to receive a freewill offering. And if you'd like to participate today, there'll be a way that you can do so digitally. Just scan that QR code that's on the screen. Or if you have a physical gift, we can collect that here in just a moment. And I would just say that if you're a guest with us today, we just want to let you know that there's no pressure to give. We're just glad that you're here celebrating Easter with us. But for those of us that call City First home, this is the time in service where we continue in our worship. Because around here, we don't give because we have to. We actually give because of what God has done in each of our lives. And Easter really reminds us of why this all really matters so much. You know, Jesus didn't come just to give us a little bit of a better life. Jesus actually came to give us a completely new life. And when you've experienced that type of transformation, there's only one response that's natural. And it is the response of gratitude. So we don't give out of obligation. We give out of gratitude. And that's why I love our church. Because our church is so generous. And generosity isn't just something that we talk about. It's something that we actually put into action. You can see it. And that's really how God works too. See, God loves us. And he didn't just say that he loved us. He actually showed us. And that's what we're celebrating this weekend. He showed us that he loved us by sending his son, Jesus. And in the same way, we don't want to just talk about generosity, we want to live it. And you can see it in action in the life of the church through the video you just saw.

Throughout the course of a year, we're having impact on many families and individuals. You see people that are being fed, families that are being supported, backpacks that are given, Christmas hope gifts that are given. You know, our city knows that there's a group of people that deeply care about them. And it's not by accident, that only happens because we choose to live intentional, and we choose to live open-handed. And every time that you give, you're a part of that. You're not just giving to a church, you're giving to God through City First Church. And what's amazing is God takes each of our gifts and multiplies that impact far greater than what we could have on our own. So as you're giving today, what you're doing is you're helping to continue the story. You're helping us to reach more people, help to serve more families, and create more opportunities where people can experience the life-changing hope of Jesus. So with that, let me go ahead and pray for our gifts today. God, I thank you that you modeled generosity for us. God, that it was your generosity, God, that sent your son to the cross. God, we thank you that we're the undeserving recipients of that. And Lord, we just pray as we give today, God, that you would take our generosity and impact many people's lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Okay, three, two, one. Happy Easter. Happy Easter. Happy Easter. Happy Easter. Happy Easter. Happy Easter. Happy Easter. He's a mutant Australian bunny.

Is that the history of the Easter Bunny? He got sent on a ship to Australia, and Bluey helped him. From all of us at City First Church, we are glad you're joining us today. We are one church with multiple locations. And we aren't just a friendly church, but a family church. It's our vision to see cities full of hope and people full of purpose. Today we are celebrating that Jesus is alive. I'm excited to celebrate Easter with you. Me too, and now we have a few announcements for you. First, hello to all of our locations. Everyone watching online. City First anywhere. And all the guys at God Behind Bars. And hello to everyone at Spring Creek, Cape Coral, and Janesville locations. We have ministries for everyone. There's City First kids, youth, young adults, life groups. And one of our favorite ministries, Champions Club. That's our ministry for individuals with special needs. Learn more about all our ministries on our website or app. Okay girls, we have something just for you. Layla. Original Women's Conference is coming up April 23rd through 25th. That's only three weeks away. We are celebrating 20 years. Register today at originalconference.com.

And use code Easter26 for $10 off. Get that ticket, girl. Get that ticket, girl. Get that ticket, girl. Ha ha ha, I said boy. Get that ticket, girls. Okay boys, what's next? Well the best thing you can do is come back to church. Next Sunday we start a brand new series. It's all about relationships God's way. Check out our website or app for regular times and locations. Finally, for all you kids out there, we have a gift for you. Every kid today will receive a Kids Easter storybook as they exit. This is a great story to read together as a family. Well I think that's everything. Thanks for spending your Easter with us at City First Church. All right, three, two, one. Happy Easter! All right, that's right. Hello City First and happy Easter. Happy Easter. Now listen, there have been believers in Jesus that for 2,000 years have been saying this on Easter and it is he is risen. And then the response is he is risen indeed. Now the first recording of this

was back in the fourth century. So I mean we're talking for hundreds of years but I figured it'd be good for us to try that here at City First right now in 2026. So when I say he is risen, you guys say he is risen indeed. Y'all with me on this? You ready? All right, he is risen. He is risen indeed. Come on, let's give our risen savior a huge round of applause. Give him praise. All of our locations. Well listen, whether you're joining us from Cape Coral. from Janesville, right here in good old Rockford, Illinois, or God Behind Bars, City First Anywhere, we are very, very grateful that you are with us here this Easter, and this is a weekend that is actually a celebration of a historic event. So in other words, it was something that took place. It's not just a holiday to celebrate, just for holiday's sake, but it is actually the centerpiece of our faith, and it actually happened. Now for those of you that are not super familiar with this story, Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of God, lived a sinless life, and because of that, he was crucified on Good Friday, and died for our sin. He took the place of us. He was punished in our place, you could say.

And you know, sin is kind of a heavy term, but it basically means this, it means to miss the mark, to miss the mark, and I think all of us, if we're gonna be honest, we fall short of being perfect. We've missed the mark, and so because of that, there has been a barrier between us and a perfect God, and that barrier is our mistakes and our sin. But then, on what is now called Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead, proving that he actually was who he said he was, that he was the Son of God. And over 500 people were eyewitnesses to the fact that Jesus died and came back to life again. That's a lot of people. There was only around 60 people that witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So to put it in perspective, there were way more people that saw that Jesus came back to life. And so this was a historical event, and because Jesus lives, it means that we can have forgiveness and a new life in Christ. So what's the big deal about Easter? This is the big deal, that the old life is forgiven because of the work of the cross, and a new life is given to us because of the work of resurrection. So if you are a Christ follower, I'm telling you that it is more than just a holiday. This is the centerpiece of your faith. But the Easter story, the whole weekend, did not start off that great.

It started off, in some ways, with great loss and what we now call Good Friday. And in fact, there's a tension that when you're in the middle of a story, it doesn't feel like you're gonna win or have victory. And I believe that the followers of Jesus on Good Friday were probably sensing that. Like 2,000 years ago, if you were a follower of Jesus and you see him get crucified on a cross, and he dies and he's buried, you would not call that a victory. You would say, it's over. It was all lost. You would be confused, just like they were. You would feel defeated, just like they did. You would feel like everything is falling apart, just like they thought. But we, now, 2,000 years later, we know the rest of the story, you could say. But the followers of Jesus didn't. And it kind of reminds me of a personal experience I had back in 2016. I, ever since I was a little kid, I have been a diehard Chicago Cubs fan, all right? And I will tell you, I remember coming home from elementary school, and I would turn on WGN, Channel 9, and I would watch the rest of the game, because they all started at like 1.20 back then in the afternoon, and I'd watch the rest of the game. Jack Brickhouse was calling the plays.

I mean, that's how long ago this was, like back in the covered wagon era, you know? And anyway, I love the Cubs. Well, 108 years it had been, and they hadn't won a World Series. I mean, there were years they got really close, but they fell short, and then 2016 happened. And it was the Cubs against Cleveland. In Cleveland, game seven, the World Championship is on the line. The Cubs jump out to an early lead. Those of you that were Cubs fans right now, you remember this, and then Cleveland comes roaring back and ties it up, and like Jen and I, we are super fans, and we are losing our minds in our living room. Like, I mean, we are stressed. We are sweating bullets. I mean, you know, we're talking back to the TV. You ever do that? Like, that helps, right, you know? And there was one point that literally, it was so tense that I see out of the corner of my eye, Jen opens the front door of our house and just walks out. And she's gone for like 15 minutes. And she comes back, and she's like, I can't take it. I just had to walk around the block a few times. We're pacing, we're stressing, we're praying. I don't even know if God answers those kind of prayers. You know, but we're praying, God, this is your team, the Cubs, you know, you can do it,

you can do it, God, please. Well, all I know is there was this 17-minute rain delay, and the Cubs go back into the clubhouse, and Jay Hay, one of the players, gives a pep talk, and they come out a different team, and who would have ever thought that 17 minutes of rain would wash away 108 years of drought? And they came back, and they won, and they were World Series champions, and like, we are jumping up and down in our living room, like, Jen is jumping up and down on the couch, no joke. I mean, like, we are just like celebrating, we are screaming, we are high-fiving each other, and all of my stress that I had for almost four and a half hours was how long that game was, all that stress just melted away, and I literally was just celebrating. Now, a friend of mine had called me earlier in the day, and he was working late, and he said, hey, Jerry, he goes, I actually cannot, like, watch the game in real time, I'm gonna have to DVR it, I'm gonna watch it, it's gonna be about an hour delayed, and he goes, I'm gonna shut off all my phones, I'm gonna not look at my laptop, I don't wanna know, I'm gonna come home from work, and I am going to watch the recording, and I'm gonna be delayed for about an hour. So, as he is still in, like, the seventh inning, and he is stressing, and he is pacing in the living room, he is sweating bullets, I'm driving to Dick's Sporting Goods

because, like, 1,000 of the rest of you, I'm going there to buy a new T-shirt. And I'm standing in line at Dick's Sporting Goods, I'm high-fiving people, there are, like, hundreds of us in line, we're all best friends, you know what I mean? And we are celebrating 108 years, the drought is over! And at the same time, my friend, he's in his living room, and he is dying because he is watching the game. Now, listen, same moment in time, what's the difference? I'm celebrating, he's stressing. Here's the reason why. I knew the outcome, and he didn't. And that sounds so simple, but here's the thing. At that point, as I'm in line at Dick's Sporting Goods, I knew the Cubs couldn't lose because we already won. And it reminds me of Resurrection Sunday. Resurrection Sunday tells us, guess what? We can't lose. It's too late to lose. The resurrection changed everything. Good Friday was a loss. And all of the followers of Jesus were giving up, and they were hiding in their houses, and they were crying, and they were mourning the fact that they had lost Jesus, but they didn't know Sunday was coming. Now, you know what? 2,000 years later, we know the rest of the story. But they were living in despair. They were living in hopelessness.

Why? They didn't realize the outcome. And because of that, I will tell you, if you are a Christ follower here today, you are not living in uncertainty, even though there are many uncertain times in our world. We know the outcome. At the end, Jesus wins. At the end, guess what? We have victory. Because of Easter, it's too late to lose. It's too late to lose. What would it be like if you and I lived our lives knowing God's outcome? He's in our future. He knows what's gonna happen. And even though life sometimes really is difficult, there's a lot of challenges, there's things that keep us up at night, we don't sleep well during seasons when we're challenged and stressed, at the end of the day, God looks at us and he says, guess what, I got it covered. I still have the whole world in my hands, he would say. And because of the cross, we can have faith and an understanding that God is in control, even when we feel like our life is spinning out of control. At one moment during the Easter weekend, the enemy, the enemy of our souls, Satan himself, thought he was winning.

In fact, it says this in Luke chapter 23. It says, it was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. For the sun had stopped shining and the curtain of the temple was torn in. 2, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last breath. At that moment, hell celebrated. Hell thought they were victorious. In fact, at that moment, the followers of Jesus thought all was lost. They mourned their savior had been betrayed, had been beaten, had been crucified, had been buried. From a human perspective, game over. All was lost. But here's what we know as Christ followers, as we know the rest of the story, and that is this, just because in your life it looks like something's over, just because it looks like a dead end, just because it looks like it's a loss, it doesn't mean that God is done working. I don't know where you're at right now. You may feel like your marriage is over. You may feel like your finances are just a loss. You may feel like your health journey is challenging and you just wanna give up. Whatever it is, that best friend,

whatever it is in your life, maybe it's even a mental health battle, and you just say all is lost. I'm here to tell you, you may be experiencing Good Friday right now, which is full of a lot of sadness, but Sunday is coming. A victorious savior came out of a grave and he can give you victory over whatever it is that you are battling to, and you can give that a huge round of applause. On Resurrection Sunday morning, the women who were followers of Jesus came early, early to the tomb to ceremonially prepare the body of Jesus for burial. And when they got there, the stone was rolled away and Jesus' body was not there. It says in Matthew 28, the angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen just as he said. I think this is interesting. Just as he said. In other words, the women needed a reminder that Jesus said, I will come back.

And sometimes you and I, we need a reminder that Jesus says, I am with you no matter what you're going through. Because some of us have forgotten the fact that Jesus is with us because we're going through the challenge of our life right now. And I'm here to say that, guess what? Our God is a God that can make dead things come back to life. Dead dreams come back to life. Dead relationships come back to life. Dead finances, dead situations come back. Death had a moment. Death had a minute, but Jesus gave the final answer. On Good Friday, he said, it is finished. But on Easter Sunday, he proclaimed, it is final. I am victorious, he said. You may feel like right now life is beating you up. You may feel like it's game over. You may look at world events right now and be thinking to yourself, I'm actually slightly fearful of what's going on. But I will say that that's exactly what the followers of Jesus felt on Friday. And on silent Saturday as they hid in their homes. But Sunday was coming. And the stone was rolled away.

And the grave was defeated. And death and sin lost its power as Jesus came out of the grave. The resurrection was God's final word over every threat of the enemy. I love how the message paraphrase words it. In First Corinthians, it says this, death swallowed up by triumphant life. Who got the last word, O death? Who got the last word, O death? Who's afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening. And law code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of life. All three, sin, guilt, and death are gone. The gift of our master, Jesus Christ, thank God. How many of you thankful today that because of an empty tomb, you can have a full life, right? We have the blessing, unlike the followers of Jesus 2,000 years ago on Friday and Saturday. You and I have the blessing of knowing the rest of the Easter story. We know that Good Friday happened, but we also understand that Easter Sunday happened. And therefore, we understand that we're not waiting to see who wins. We already know who wins.

Jesus wins. The resurrection rewrote our future. Now listen, rewrote our future, which informs our present. We live different because we know about Jesus's victory. We might be living in a Good Friday moment. I live in them, you live in them. We experience loss, we experience pain in this hopelessly broken world. We have hardships, we have struggles, we have hurts, we have heartaches, and we have hangups. But what if I told you that you and I can live knowing that we can't lose? Oh, it doesn't mean that we're not gonna get beat up a little bit in this life by circumstances. Oh, it doesn't mean that bad things aren't gonna happen. It doesn't mean that your life is gonna be full of rainbows and unicorns. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is this, is we don't fight for victory, we fight from victory. We have a different mindset. Many of you know this, but Jen and I recently have become grandparents. And what that means is we're officially old, all right? And I've noticed something in the last few years, and even before we became grandparents just a couple of weeks ago, but as our older children have left the home

and gone off into life, I've noticed that more and more young families, young parents will come to Jen and I and ask us advice about raising kids. And we'll say, you know what, first of all, raising kids, not for the faint of heart, all right? And secondly, there's no owner's manual. Most of the time you feel like you're flying blind. And every parent said, amen, right? But they'll come and they'll say they're having a challenge with their kid, or their kid's going through something. And they'll say, what did you guys do? And I said, you know what, when our kids went through different struggles and battles, and every kid, by the way, goes through struggles and battles, this is what we did. We began to stand on the word of God. And we prayed knowing this. We knew God loved us, God listens to our prayers, and that God loves our kids more than we even love our kids. So it was a different way of going through the battle. We weren't fighting for victory. We were fighting from a place of victory. We were saying, you know what, God, you listen to us. You love our children more than we even love our children. You are more powerful than our influence or anything we could do. And so it gave us not a cockiness,

it gave us a confidence, a faith, knowing that God was going to help and that he would take care of it. But it's not just raising kids. It could be about your business. It could be about your relationships. It can be about your health journey. Do you know that if you've made Jesus the leader and the forgiver of your life, that God loves you? He has not forgotten you. He is not distant, even though sometimes you don't sense his nearness. That God is with you. And Easter says that we already know the score of the game. That we don't have to live with all this burden and stress because life already is so heavy. We're already carrying that, but we can't carry more. We know God is in our present, but he's also in our future. He is victorious, and so therefore, this reality changes how we live each day of our life. We see things differently. We respond differently. Because of Easter, we can experience peace in the middle of uncertainty. Here's the thing, it's kind of hard to understand. It's almost like you live it, but in one hand, you can have hope. And in the other hand you sense the reality of what you're going through and

there could be sadness. You live with this tension. You can trust God is in control even though sometimes it feels like your life is out of control. You can have forgiveness in the middle of failure. You can have confidence that God is with you even when you feel alone. Life is full of this tension but I would say this, city first, wherever you're at right now, if Jesus walked out of the grave he can walk into your situation. He can bring his power, his hope, his love, his restoration. He can bring these things. You are in a moment right now of challenge but God is in control of the ending and no matter how much you try to control it you won't be able to do it because you and I we have limited resource, limited ability, limited influence but we are connected to a God who's infinite in power and resource and he is able to do it. You know even when things don't go your way, even when the prayers that you try to pray aren't answered in the way that you you want them to be answered or in the time frame we have this hope. It is this, that when we know Jesus we can't lose. We can't lose. We know that Jesus is in control and even when we come out of this life into the next life because this is one thing I've noticed no one gets out of this life alive but when we go from this life to the next life the Bible even says oh death where's your sting? We go from here right into the presence of Jesus. You see we realize that Jesus's victory becomes our victory. It says in Romans chapter 10 if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. Saved from what? Well from yourself. Saved from the wrong choices you've made. Saved from the consequence that you and I both deserve. See this is where it gets personal. Because Easter, Easter isn't something you just believe about. It's something you step into. You say because of Easter I actually have a different worldview. Because of Easter I actually see things differently. The good times, the bad times, and even the ugly times. You know I realized that Jesus didn't just come out of the grave as a stunt. No, no, no. He came out of the grave to provide a new way for you and I to have a new life. A way for us to be forgiven. A way for us to be made new again. See some of us we've been around church. We grew up in

church, right? We know the story. We know the facts. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. The angel was there. We know it, right? But here's the thing. Maybe for some of us we haven't made it personal. There's a difference between knowing about Easter and knowing the King, the Savior, the Messiah of Easter. This isn't about being perfect. It's not about saying, okay God I'm perfect. I'm never gonna do anything wrong. Well that's impossible. You and I will do things wrong. This isn't about cleaning yourself up first. That's like saying I'm really sick and I'm gonna get better before I go to the hospital. No, no, no. This is about saying I come to you Jesus just the way you are. It's okay to not be okay. You say, Jesus I believe you are who you said that you are and that you died for my sin and you rose again from the dead and and I'm gonna give you my life. It's not about, it's not about whether I believe in God or not. It's about saying I want a personal relationship with Jesus and I believe that Jesus died for me. Because here's the truth. You and I, we don't earn this victory. You and I, we don't work for this victory. We just receive the victory. Easter is all about receiving God's forgiveness and a new life and his promises. No matter what happens in this life, we can experience God's forgiveness. His presence in heaven as our home someday. Jesus's victory becomes our victory. Then all of a sudden, guess what? When I'm worshiping at church, I'm worshiping from a place of victory. When I'm trying to overcome the challenges of everyday life, and trust me, there's a lot of them, just like your life, I'm overcoming from a place of victory. I'm not seeing just the battle I'm in. I'm seeing the fact that I have hope because of Jesus. I see life from a different perspective because it's from a place of victory.

I live from a place where I realize the empty tomb gives me a new life. Because of Easter, because of the cross, because of the shed blood of Jesus that washes away all of our sin, because of an empty grave, because Jesus is alive, it's too late to lose. Come on, let's give God our praise about that, huh? Yeah. ♪ Is it not the way the story ends? ♪ ♪ Is it not the way the story ends? ♪ ♪ Is it not the way the story ends? ♪ ♪ No matter what it looks like, your love will always win. ♪ ♪ I have seen your faithfulness before. ♪ ♪ Even when my world is shaking, one thing is for sure, ♪ ♪ that the cross still stands and the blood still spills, ♪ ♪ and the grave still lifting. Jesus, I believe. ♪ ♪ You've already overcome. You've already won it all. ♪ ♪ The victory belongs to you. It's too late to lose. ♪ ♪ You've already made a way. There is power in your name. ♪ ♪ The victory belongs to you. It's too late to lose. ♪ ♪ It's too late to lose. This is not the time to be afraid. ♪ ♪ The odds may be against me, but you have the final say. ♪ ♪ Because the cross still stands and the blood still spills, ♪ ♪ and the grave still lifting. Jesus, I believe. ♪ ♪ You've already overcome. You've already won it all. ♪ ♪ The victory belongs to you. It's too late to lose. ♪ ♪ You've already made a way. There is power in your name. ♪ ♪ The victory belongs to you. It's too late to lose. ♪

♪ It's too late to stop this miracle. It's too late. Nothing's impossible. ♪ ♪ It's too late to stop this miracle. It's too late. It's too late. ♪ ♪ It's too late to stop this miracle It's too late. Nothing's impossible. ♪ ♪ Nothing's impossible. It's too late to stop this miracle. It's too late. ♪ ♪ Cause the cross still stands and the blood still speaks. And the grave's still empty. Jesus, I believe. ♪ ♪ Cause the cross still stands and the blood still speaks. And the grave's still empty. Jesus, I believe. ♪ ♪ You've already overcome. You've already won it all. The victory belongs to you. It's too late to lose. ♪ ♪ You've already made a way. There is power in your name. The victory belongs to you. It's too late to lose. ♪ ♪ It's too late to stop this miracle. It's too late. Nothing's impossible. It's too late to stop this miracle. It's too late. It's too late. It's too late. ♪ It's too late to stop this miracle. It's too late. Nothing's impossible. It's too late to stop this miracle. It's too late. It's too late to lose. Yes. All the blood of Jesus. All the blood of Jesus. All the blood of Jesus. It washes white as snow. All the blood of Jesus. All the blood of Jesus. All the blood of Jesus. It washes white as snow. Before we dismiss here in just a moment, I realize that even as I am talking here today, some of you might be listening and thinking this whole idea of it being too late to lose sounds like a lot of hyperbole. Like, you're looking at your life right now and you're thinking, well, I've already lost my marriage, or I've lost my business, or I lost my savings and my 401k, or I feel like I'm losing my health battle, or I've lost the mind game battle, mental health battle. And you're thinking this whole idea of, like, I could have victory, it feels like, it just feels like a fairy tale. And I get it, because much of where we live is in the good Fridays and the Saturdays of life, where it feels like it's just loss. We don't all the way understand the power of Easter Sunday. But this is what I know. I know that God is a God that brings dead things back to life. I know that He's a God that can give restoration, that He can give help, that He gives healing, that He comes alongside of us in the moments of loss, and He brings His power and His touch and His influence. And really, at the end of the day, it kind of comes down to this. It's like, do we want to navigate this life trying to do it in our own strength? Or do we call upon the God that created us and say, God, I need your strength. I need Easter Sunday kind of strength to be working in my situation. Because I feel like sometimes everything just feels like a loss. So today, this is what I want to tell you. You can walk out of here different than when you walked in. Not because of a message, not because of a sermon, but because of a Savior. A Savior that forgives, a Savior that loves, a God who is with us through thick and thin. A Savior who's alive and victorious. Even though you might think, it's too late. Made too many mistakes. Too far gone. My life's too much of a mess.

No, I want to say this. The Jesus that overcame death, hell, and the grave, He has the ability to help. to reach, to rescue. So my question is, have you made Easter personal? Have you made that decision to make Jesus the leader and the forgiver of your life? Not not have you gone to church, not do you believe in God, but rather is Jesus Lord? Have you said, you know what, I'm gonna give my life, whatever it is, whether it's awesome or whether it's a mess, I'm giving to you Jesus and I'm asking you to lead it and I'm asking you to bring the miracle of Easter into it and forgive me of all of my sin and my hope is in you Jesus. If you say, yeah I'd like to do that, well I'm gonna pray a prayer here in a moment and this prayer is between you and God. I'll lead us in a prayer but really God's listening to you and and realize this, this prayer is not having you join a church, has nothing to do with memberships or denominations or anything like that, this is a prayer saying, Jesus I believe you died for me, I need forgiveness and I want to live for you. And if that's you and you want to pray that prayer, I got the best news, this could be the best Easter ever, it is when God gives you a new life, a new beginning and a fresh clean slate. So let's bow our heads, let's close our eyes. If you say, that's me, Jera, I'd like to pray this prayer, I want to give my life to Jesus and I acknowledge that he died for me on a cross for my sin and I need him to lead my life and I just want him to be in charge. If that's you, just go ahead and raise your hand real quickly and put it right back down. Yeah, there are hands up everywhere, I guarantee it, all locations. Let's all say this prayer after me and realize that you're saying it to God and God is listening to you, he loves you so much. Let's all say this prayer together, ready? Dear God, I admit that I've sinned and I need your forgiveness. I believe Jesus died on a cross for me and rose again to give me a new life. I choose to make him my Savior. I choose to repent of my sin. Thank you, Jesus, for loving me. I want to live for you. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Come on, can we give God a huge round of applause for that, for everybody that prayed that prayer. Well, what an amazing time that we just had together celebrating the good news of Jesus and we want to say thank you so much for joining us for Easter here at

City First Church. That's right and if you are making that decision today to follow Jesus, we want to first off say congratulations because that is the best decision that you could ever make and we have a free resource that we would love to send you. It's called New Beginnings and it's just a simple 14-day devotional that's going to explain a little bit further about that decision you're making today to follow Jesus and we also want to send you a special video from our pastors Jeremy and Jen and once again, we're celebrating with you. That's a huge decision that you're making today. Yeah, that's right. It's the best decision you'll ever make so make sure you get those resources. They're available to you just by scanning the QR code or you can visit cityfirst.church or download the City First app. The City First app is a great place to go for all types of resources that will help you grow in your faith and also on the City First app, you can request prayer. So if there's anything that you need prayer for, we would love to partner with you in prayer. If you joined us today and you're thinking of someone that would benefit from today's good news, the message of Easter, make sure that you share the link with them. There's gonna be multiple times that they can tune in or they can watch on demand as well. But the best thing that you can do is to come back to church next week. And next week, we're launching a brand new relationship series called Red Flags and Roses. Okay, it's gonna be helpful. You're gonna enjoy it and no matter what the relationships look like in your life, this series is gonna be beneficial for you. So don't miss it. Come back online, in person, bring somebody with you as we all grow in our relationships. That's right. And once again, we just want to let you know that we're here for you and that Jesus loves you. And we believe that God has a great plan for your life. Well, we love you, church family, and we can't wait to see you back here soon. We hope you have an amazing day, an awesome week. And for all of us here at City First Church, happy Easter. Thanks for watching!