Christ Arose, Happy Day, I Came Alive, This Is Amazing Grace
Christ Arose
No matter where you are this morning in your relationship with God, I hope you’ll take the time to gaze at Jesus. To take in the depths of his sacrifice on the cross – he died for YOU! And then respond.
You can respond with singing, you can respond with silence. If you want to get on your knees at any point in worship, feel free to do so, or if you want to simply raise your hands in surrender, do it. Or maybe you’re raising your hands as a symbol that you’re ready to receive forgiveness, or receive new life from Christ.
As we sing the next song you’ll also have the opportunity to respond by bringing your tithes and offerings to Him. The ushers will be passing the offering bags down the rows – and we do that here together, in the middle of our worship service, because offering our tithes to God is just that: an act of worship. A wonderful, tangible, act of worship when we get to proclaim that God is first in our lives and that He comes before anything else.
For those of us who call Him Savior, and Lord, our response this morning is one of joy at the freedom we find in Him: freedom from sin and death; deliverance into new life in Christ! Easter changes everything. It’s the crux of our faith, and the watershed event in all of human history – when God gave himself up to pay the penalty for our sins, so that we can have eternal paradise in His presence without guilt or shame.
On Good Friday we had two services in which Pastor James walked us through the death and burial of Jesus. We had a tomb constructed to help us visualize the darkness of that day. Pastor James invited us to write on the walls of that tomb a memory, or a statement of gratitude for what Jesus did for us, or the date on which we received Christ…kind of like an open mic time at a memorial service, but writing down our eulogies instead.
Well, this morning we’re celebrating the empty tomb, and we’ve disassembled the tomb that we had on Friday and placed it along the walls. If you’d like to add your own memory to a wall this morning there is chalk nearby. Feel free to write something down as an act of worship either during these next two songs or at the end of the service.
Also, after you’ve passed the offering bag along, would you stand and join us in singing a celebration of that Happy Day when we were set free!
Happy Day
I Came Alive
Story Behind The Song
20140420 EASTER sermon video from The LIFEhouse Church on Vimeo.
As we sing this last song, I want to encourage you to write something down on your connection card – a prayer request, a praise, or better yet write down what your next step is so that our pastors and elders can be praying with you and come along side you in prayer.
And then, go and grab a piece of chalk from beside these tomb walls and write a note to your savior and participate with us in creating a piece of written artwork as an act of worship that we can present to God.
But most importantly please take this time to reflect on the amazing grace that God has poured out on you and the unfailing love that took your place, bore your cross and set you free, and then lift your voice in praise to the one who conquered death!
This Is Amazing Grace
