There’s a song called Someone’s been sending me flowers. Every new day brings another bouquet. Now that my house is a garden, bursting
with blossoms and blooms, I’d like to lie down but there just isn’t room. The cactus corsage touched me deeply, a 
beautiful plant in its prime, I felt much the same when the rock garden came, one rock at a time. Somebody madly adores me, I know no whom to suspect. Since I cannot afford to be madly
adored, I do wish you stop sending flowers collect.
In Victorian times, they invented the language of the flowers. Of course, if someone sends you poison ivy, even today that sends a message. But did you know that if you send hemlock, that means ‘You will Cause my Death.’ Send a fig tree and that means, “I kiss you.’ It does seem simpler in New York to just kiss the guy instead of sending the tree. And there is the Japan Rose with two messages, ‘Beauty is not your real attraction.’ Just try to work that out.
We are living in a hard moment in history. The news shows this morning while this program is happening feature the six generals who are calling for the resignation of the Secretary of Defense and the show is entitled ‘Is This Treason?’ A republican senator from Oklahoma said yesterday that he expects that Republicans will lose six congressmen and one senator going to jail on corruption charges this year.
The great news is that God has not given up on the planet. The price of Easter is the death of Christ, given for the crimes of the world and the failures of own lives. We have our eyes fixed on the problems we came through last week. God has eyes fixed on the plan of God to rescue the world when moments seem the worst. You are here today to hear of the passion of God’s love and God’s determination that you will break free of whatever chains clings to you. So we are going to hear God’s message to us today, spoken through four flowers to help you pin on your heart, the ivy, the olive, the ….
The Easter story is first all a message of happiness. And that’s the message of the
honeysuckle. This is the flower that means happiness. Psychologically, we need moments of great excitement and happiness to stay healthy. That’s one reason people like baseball. The 
chemicals that get released in your body when you are part of a
party give you a deep feeling of victory, of overcoming any troubles, a feeling of triumph. And Jesus’ resurrection is the greatest moment of happiness that we know. That is why we have made the special service, added the
celebration for the kids, had the special choir ministry – because we are having a revel and splurge to celebrate Jesus overcoming death itself. If you identify with Christ, then you are going to triumph over the death urges in your life.
First happiness, but the second message is the olive of peace. Jesus is the Prince of
Peace. There is a tremendous calm that you can have in life when you feel the peace of the Holy Spirit. We have counselors and drugs to help us capture moments of calm,
but our true peace is centered in growing in Christ. If you are not religious, then you can only start to find that calm today with a commitment of your life to Christ, but get
involved in a spiritual life and the sense of peace will just keep growing. Friends, I am not just saying this 
because its Easter Sunday. I spoke to someone this week who considered suicide twice in the last two weeks. And every time I get into a conversation, I could
not live with myself if I were giving false hope. I offered the peace of God because I know that experience in my own life and I have seen others find peace in their lives too.
Honeysuckle of happiness, and olive of peace. Then we have the ivy of love. We all need to be loved. If you have traveled to another country by yourself where you don’t know anyone, then you know how important it is to be loved. God’s work through the death and resurrection of Christ comes from God’s love for you. God so loved the world that he sent his only son, the Bible says. And for Christians, God provides the church so that everyone has a place to go to experience friendship in an immediate way. Churches are never perfect. It hurt me to hear the Pope’s hateful message on Easter for gay people. And churches can get caught up with rules and fixing old buildings and all the silliness of human life. But I hope you come back next week and in the weeks to come. I can promise you that our leaders meet each month and one of our key topics is how to reach out and make sure that everyone has a friend and something they can be involved in which will give them satisfaction. I want to ask leaders and church members to stand who are willing to help you get started if you stop to chat with them after the service.
We have got only one flower left for the bouquet to join the honeysuckle of happiness, the olive of peace, and the ivy of friendship. The last flower is the hawthorn of hope. Hope that tomorrow is better than today. Americans are being tested because our standard of living is going to slow down as China and other nations become more developed. And we are wasting the wealth of our children by allowing the president to continue these ruinous wars. But God offers hope in every situation. And we know that some of our members are dealing with grave illness and nursing home experiences. God still offers hope for life here and the hope of a heavenly home where we get new bodies and a life forever.
I hope that you will leave here with these flowers pinned to your heart. You have done such a wonderful thing to come to God’s house on Easter. It is one important step. Don’t let the dream of God die for your life. Come back next Sunday and in the weeks to come to keep growing in Christ and know the Joy, the peace, the Love, and the Hope that God offers.
