WELCOME TO THE HAGERSTOWN CHURCH OF CHRIST If you are visiting with us today would you please fill out a Welcome Card and leave it on the seat beside you? We will collect them following our service today. Thank you. Psalm 150:6 (NASB) 6  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

SCRIPTURE READING 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

“Howdy, I’m just so proud to be here.”

John 14:19 – “In a little while the world will no longer see Me John 14:19 – “In a little while the world will no longer see Me. But you’re going to see Me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive.”

John 2:19-22 - 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. NASU

1 Corinthians 15:1-8 - Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. Holy Bible, New Living Translation.

“He [talking about Jesus] included everyone in His death so everyone could be included in His life. A far better life than people lived on their own.” 2 Cor 5:15 – The Messenger Paraphrase.

I have tasted something better.

THERE IS SOMETHING BETTER One, people feel EXHAUSTED. And exhaustion always leads to the second thing – EMPTINESS Then Emptiness leads to what I call ENSLAVEMENT. GOD CALLS IT THE BETTER LIFE.

IT’S A LIFE FILLED WITH MEANING.

Colossians 3:4 – 4 Christ gives meaning to your life, and when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory. CEV

1 Peter 1:3-4 -“Because Jesus was raised from the dead [that’s what Easter is all about] we’ve been given a brand new life. We have everything to live for including a future in heaven and that future starts now.”

“Same old junk with a new title.” First – this is somehow connected to what Jesus Christ did at Easter. The second thing - It’s an entirely new deal. “New and Improved”? “Same old junk with a new title.” But God says I want to give you a brand new life. I want to give you a chance to start over. I want to give you a chance to begin again. That’s the starting point of a better life.

“Because Jesus was raised from the dead we’ve been given a brand new life”.

. 2 Corinthians 5:15 - “He died [Jesus] so we would no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us and was raised to life for our sake.”

Matthew 25:35 -“I was hungry and you gave me food Matthew 25:35 -“I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home and you invited me into your house. Jesus said, ‘When you did it for the least of these My people, you also did it for Me.’”

2 Corinthians 8:9 - 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. NASU

Luke 2:22-24 - 22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS." NASU

It is a life freed by grace. Romans 7:6 – “… we're free to live a new life in the freedom of God. (from THE MESSAGE) First, He set us free from guilt. He sets us free from the fear of death. He sets us free from the hurts that other people cause us. He sets us free from the expectations of other people.

He sets us free from worry. He sets us free from anxiety. He sets us free from fear, from boredom, from meaninglessness, from purposelessness. Jesus sets us free from trying to earn God’s approval.

Does God like you? “do” “done”

Hebrews 7:18-19 -“The old system [that old system of trying to earn by works God’s approval and love] was canceled because it didn’t work. It was weak and useless for saving people. It never made anyone really right with God but now we have a far better hope. For Christ makes us acceptable to God.”

1 Timothy 2:5-7 - 5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. Holy Bible, New Living Translation.

REDEMPTION Romans 8:12-14 - 12 So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. 13 There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. (from THE MESSAGE.)

Romans 6:3-8 - Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. Holy Bible, New Living Translation.