Easter Cantata No More Night - 04/04/2021

Resurrection Hope and the Light of Easter

Today, tomorrow, and forevermore. He is our resurrection and our life, and because we believe in Him, we will not die, but share life with Him eternally. We come today to rejoice and reflect. We come to celebrate the glorious dawn of Easter morning, yet also remember the long night of suffering that came before.

We come to worship our risen Savior, for in Christ alone is our light, our strength, our hope.

Of life everlasting. Christ alone is the light of our salvation. In His coming, He.

Realized the promise of the ancient prophets. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Arise, shine, your light has come. In the time Jesus lived among us, bodies and hearts were healed, spirits were filled, lives made whole.

Jesus’ Final Meal and the Meaning of the Lord’s Supper

Yet Jesus knew that the fulfillment of the Father's redemptive plan was near. As He made His way toward Jerusalem, Jesus spoke to His followers with a new urgency. You're going to have the light for just a little while longer, He told them.

Put your trust in the light while you have it. Then Jesus entered the gates of Jerusalem for the final time. The hosannas quickly faded and the palm branches lay discarded on the streets. Jesus moved closer to the hour of the death He had long predicted was at hand.

During His last evening before the crucifixion, Jesus shared a final meal with His grieving disciples. Don't let your hearts be troubled, He told them. Trust in God, trust also in Me, as My Father has loved Me, so I have loved you.

Now love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one but this, that He lay down His life for His.

Friends. The Word of God tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, it says, and this is the essence of what we're doing today, is this first part of the verse, from what I received from the Lord is now what I also pass on to you.

Today we continue 2 ,000 years of history, and I struggle to call it tradition because it's more than tradition. It's the reality, it's the picture of what we should have in our lives. And too many people chase a moral standard or chase a religious creed, and they leave again and again empty.

They feel it's all vanity. It's because what they're receiving is simply just tradition. But today, hear the Word of God again afresh. If your heart has grown cold, or you have seemed to be out of touch with the Lord, and you really are a born-again believer, listen fully to the Word of God.

It says, from what I received the Lord, what I also passed on to you. On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and said, this is my body which is for you.

Do this.

In remembrance of me. Unokomomai is the Greek word that means coming together.

And as we come together as they pass out the bread, I invite you, if you truly are a believer in the Son of the Living God, we are going to now as a family come together, as we've done once again, over and over again, and take the bread and eat, as the body of Christ now take and eat.

The New Covenant in Christ’s Blood

Men are giving out the juice. Remember that the Lord's Supper is not an.

Ordinance. It's a beautiful picture, like this is not my marriage. It's a symbol of marriage. This is a symbol of something greater than religion, or church, or silly denominations. It's amazing to hear so many people laud the fact that churches are multicultural.

Listen, that is not the Gospel. We're not to be multicultural, be single cultural. In Acts chapter 2 it says, and we came together with one heart, one mind, in one accord. And the only way for us to do that is not to point out everything that's wrong, but to have the central understanding that we are dead, but yet alive in Jesus Christ.

Galatians says, for I am crucified with Christ, yet nevertheless I live. Yet it is no longer I, but Christ that lives within me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Hear the Word of God again. On that same night, that intimate time, where those men had come together, and they were afraid they were fearful, some of them were angry. Maybe you have been burned by religion.

Well, I tell you, listen to me now. It's your fault for touching the stove of falsehood. Maybe you've had struggles and pains in your lives. Listen to me. You can be free from that, not by a silly church.

You can be free with it from this. In the same way, after supper, he also took the cup and said this, listen, this cup is the new covenant established in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. As the body of Christ in celebration of.

The new covenant of freedom, take and drink. When the meal had ended, Jesus.

Prayed, Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. Then they left the upper room, and the long night began. Under the cloak of darkness, one friend would betray his master.

Another would deny him. A secret midnight trial gave way to another at dawn. An angry mob called for his death, and Jesus began the agonizing walk to the scene of his execution. The road ended at Golgotha, the place of the skull, where Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross and crucified.

The Cross, the Empty Tomb, and Victory Over Death

The day turned to night, and a centurion, gazing at the cross against the black sky, cried out, surely this man is the Son of God.

Our eyes upon Jesus, who though he was God, took the form of a servant, humbling.

Himself and becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Among the dead, he.

Is not here. The Lord has risen. He has risen indeed. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Death has been swallowed up in victory. The Lord has risen. He has risen indeed. Come, let us join together and raise our.

Voices to worship the risen Savior. The light of the first resurrection morning shines.

Today and all the way to eternity, for this is the glorious promise of Easter, that through faith we shall share in Christ's resurrection. Our bodies, which are perishable, will be raised imperishable, and there shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no crying.

There shall be no night. In Jesus Christ, the light of the world, shall reign forever. Hallelujah.