Transcription
Forever your home, forever your life restored. We will be forever green. My love will always be forever great. Thank you Jesus.
Lord, you are risen. We worship you today. Come on. He picked me up and he turned me around. He placed my feet on on solid ground. Thank you, Lord. I thank the master. I thank the Savior. I thank God.
I'm wondering into the night. I'm wanting a place to hide. This weary soul, this bag of bones. Well, I try with all my might, but I just can't win the fight. I'm slowly drifting back upon. And just when I ran out, I met a man I didn't know. He told me that I was not alone. Oh, he lifts me up and turned me around and placed my feet on the solid ground. I think master, I think savior because he healed my heart. He changed my name forever free. I am not the same. I thank the master. I thank the savior. I thank God.
Come on, let's bost another one. I am free. Oh, I am free. Oh, I am free. Hell lost another one. I am free. Oh, I am free. Yes, free indeed. Hell lost another one. I am free. Oh, I am free. Oh, I am free. I am free. Oh, I am free. Come on, let's see. Let's get up. Get up. Get up. Let's get up. Let's get up. Get up. Get up. Let's get up. Let's get up. Get up. Get up. Let's get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Heat. Heat. Yeah.
He pick me up, turn me around, and taste my feet on a solid ground. I think master, I think the savior because he healed my heart and changed my name forever. I am not the same. I master. I savior. I praise him. Praise him in his face. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise you, God.
I know a name that can silence roaring waves. I know a name that can empty out a grave. I know a name. It's the only name that saves and it's worthy of all praise. I call you Jesus. I call you. I call you healer. Rising and raining power. Something comes out of grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you. I call you savior. Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave.
Every time I have a king with dominion over death, he holds the king in his holy nail heads. He is the king. Yeah. that has crushed the serpent's head of resurrected great. I call you Jesus. I call you I call you healer. Rising and raining in power. Something comes out of grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you. I call you savior. Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of gra.
Every time I call your name, chains break. Try bones break. Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name every time I call your name. Every time I call your name. Every time I call your name. Death is now lost. And where all grieve your victory now where all death is now your sting and where all great vtory where all day Yeah. Heat.
Death is come alive. Death is come alive. Death is come alive in the name of Jesus. Death come alive. Death come alive. Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus. Things come alive. Dead come alive. Dead come alive in the name of Jesus. Dead come alive. Come alive. Come alive.
I call you Jesus. I call you. I call you prison. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you. I know you say worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of every time I call your name. Every time I come alive in the name of Jesus come alive in the name of Jesus. So much power in the name >> Jesus. >> So much power in the name >> Jesus. >> All my healings in the name >> Jesus. >> I was healed in the name >> Jesus. >> Found my freedom in the name >> Jesus. >> Found my breakthrough in the name >> Jesus. >>
I call you Jesus. I call you. I call you healer. Risen and reigning in power. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you. I call you savior. Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave.
Every time I call your name, Death could not hold you. The veil tore before you. Silence the B of sin and gra. Heavens are roaring the praise of your glory for you are raised to life again. And you have no rival. You have no equal now and forever. God reign. Yours is the kingom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name of all. Oh Jesus. What a powerful name. Nothing can stand again. What a powerful name. The neighbor. You have no rival and you have no equal now and forever. Ever God you reign. Yours is the kingom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above. You have no. You have no right. You have no heat now and forever. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
The name of Jesus. We sing of hope. But what do we cling to in the silence? Hope is more than words we sing. It's what we reach for in the chaos. When the noise fades and we're left alone with what's left, you start to realize you need something real. You need hope. We search for peace in things that don't last. We look for hope in man's wisdom, but we know those things were never our hope. They were never strong enough to hold us. They were never real hope. So where do we turn? Not to something we can fix, not to something we can earn. Because if it depends on us, it was always going to fail. We don't need more work. We don't need more control. We need hope. When we were lost, he made a way. When we believed lies, he spoke truth. When we were dead, he became life. This isn't just a message. This isn't just a moment. This is rescue. This is freedom. This is redemption. Because who he makes free, he makes free indeed. Not another option, not one of many paths. He's not just a hope. He is our only hope. Our hope in our highs, our hope in our lows, our hope in our joy, our hope in our sorrow. Not just for some, but for all. Amen.
Heavenly Father, Lord God Almighty, we come before you this morning. We thank you that we are a people full of hope because Lord, you are the living one. You are the one who promised us that you would come, that you would die, but that on the third day you would rise from the dead. Lord, no one's got this message. No one has this hope but all as we learned a moment ago and saw that and heard that all can have it. All can have what you give. So father we thank you for this service today. We ask you Lord to bless now as we continue to praise you in your word and in study in Jesus name. And all God's people said >> amen.
Well listen on the count of three. You guys know what to do. On the count of three, I'm going to uh say my part and you are going to do yours. He is risen. >> He is risen indeed. >> Indeed, he is. God bless you guys. Why don't you turn and say hi to somebody around you and take your seat if you would.
Well, this is very odd for uh for us and uh taking a walk yesterday uh walking by. There's a little area uh in Chino Hills that uh before we were even a city, the the Chino Hills area was being um built and we were under the county and uh there was this area, this park area. We we didn't know that at the time, but it was flattened and uh it was all uh grass and it was probably about uh 24 in of grass and we were a home Bible study group. I think this was about 36 years ago. There was uh the desire though within the home study group to have a Easter sunrise service. And so, uh, what happened was Mark Andrews and I, we got our lawnmowers out on Saturday before Resurrection Sunday, and we went over to that park and uh, we began mowing a pathway from the street uh, into this area that would handle maybe 500 chairs. And we mowed that area down and got the chairs set up. We had no idea uh what we were doing, but um we invited the the home group and a Monday night home group and and those who would invite others and God wound up filling up those seats and and bringing a few people to stand as well. But um from that moment on uh we did we didn't see uh anything going back. We saw God just moving forward with the gathering of this small group. And um what's interesting is that we have always had our Easter sunrise services, resurrection services outdoors. Uh and so because of the construction project uh and unable to secure external sites where we could uh get everybody together, we we've had to settle for this, but this will work. But we're going to ask you to keep your eyes on the camera that is capturing the sunrise. Uh that might help. We we can't be out there, but we'll bring it in here. Okay.
With that, so all week long we've been looking at your only hope. And um I'll say it again. I said it on Friday. I said it on Wednesday. I said it last Sunday. Then we when we talk about your only hope, it is not for the believer uh a a throwing up of your hands of desperation. It's a very good thing, people, that when we begin to realize that the things that we've hoped for turned out to be things that wouldn't last or couldn't hold us up. It's a good day when we find out that those things don't work. In other words, you'd like to test the ship before it goes into the water, right? And so, I'm inspired by a YouTube post. I'm not going to show you, but a YouTube post of this grand ship launch. Everybody was gathered together. I forget what country it is, but it doesn't matter. It looked official. And everybody's together and and they take the the champagne bottle and somebody whacks the the bow of the ship and the it starts rolling down into the harbor. And this is a big awesome ship. And the music is playing and the ship is sliding backwards. And the ship, it looked like the somebody had gotten the blueprints to build a torpedo or I should say a submarine instead. That ship went from above ground and it just went right down underwater and they're all like this. IT'S LIKE SOMEBODY FORGOT TO PUT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT in and it was an instant submarine. They had hope that it would float. And a lot of people, a lot of us in life have had hopes and things that wind up not coming to pass. We trusted in this thing. We trusted in that person. Or we look to this thing or the other thing only to wind up being disappointed. Look, everybody in life we're going to be disappointed. It's just part of life. You're you'll survive. I'll survive. But when it comes to Jesus Christ, nothing that he has ever said when it comes to the Bible, nothing it has ever revealed to us has ever disappointed. Not once ever. God does not disappoint. And we need to you Yeah, we should give God a applause for that. The only time you and I get disappointed is when we think God is going to do this thing for us our way. And when God says, "No, I've got a better way." We wind up thinking that he has abandoned us or somehow failed us. Not true. God's ways are better. Always better.
And we're looking around at the world that we live in today. And every year, think of this. Every year we get one year closer to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you might be here today and you say, "Well, I don't believe in Jesus Christ coming back. I'm just here because it's a tradition for me to come to sunrise service." Well, guess what, friend? Then you're one year closer to eternity. One way or another, you are closer to God. >> And today, we want to make sure that we celebrate as we look at our only hope on this resurrection sunrise service this morning. And um I know you just sat down, but can you stand up? We're going to read the scriptures together. You need the exercise anyway, right? You go to the gym early in the morning, don't you? Amen. >> Uh I don't, but uh maybe you do. >> John's gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the four gospels covering the resurrection events of this day. And um so I'll take uh the first verse. If you read the second verse and on we go. The Bible says now on the first day of the week, that means Sunday, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early uh while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Peter therefore went out and the other disciple that is John the author of this particular epis uh of this gospel and were going to the tomb >> John's very big on telling everybody that he's the faster of the two and he's stooping down looking in, saw the linen claws lying there. Yet he did not go in. >> This is important, everyone. And the handkerchief that had been around his head, Jesus's head, not lined with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. For as yet they did not know the scripture or they were not understanding that he must rise again from the dead. >> And verse 11 says, "But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. In verse 13 ends with it saying, "Then they said to her,"Woman, why are you weeping, Father, again speak to us out of your precious word. What a day in history." That day in history is our future. And we thank you for it in Jesus name. And again, all God's people said, "Amen." >> Amen. You may be seated.
Well, the truth of the matter is those uh dynamic events of Resurrection Sunday morning. When you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I encourage you to do that today after service. Go home and read that. You'll see various events. And as you overlay the accounts, not one of the four gospels contradict one another one another. Each of the four gospels overlaid on top of each other bring it into a a technicolor event. And there's so many things going on. There's so many uh avenues of events taking place. You can be reading about the various appearances of the angels because they're numerous. In this particular case in John's gospel, God bless Mary. She takes a peek in. Now, John's gone, Peter's gone, everybody's gone, but she's out there weeping and seemingly alone, she takes a look on the inside of the garden tomb. She looks inside and uh you know there's there's a treat for those who wait upon God and she was waiting there in her grief and she looked inside and she saw two angels. Now normally seeing an angel would light up your day. I don't think it mattered much to her except for what they said. I think that after you spend time with Jesus Christ as she did, as they did, uh the appearance and disappearance and the arrival and the departure of angels is uh not that big of a deal when you have the almighty God walking with you and the very creator of angels. And she was not going to be comforted or satisfied unless she knew something more about Jesus. We know from one account that the verbiage that takes place is where is he? In fact, she sees what he she supposes to be the gardener in the tomb and she says, "WHERE HAVE YOU TAKEN THE body of my Lord?" And Jesus says, "Mary, Mary," he repeats. And then she exclaims, "Raboni," which is a very affectionate term, "my teacher." And she worships.
There are various accounts where the disciples are coming to the tomb. The Roman centurions who were given the guard the detail of guarding that tomb which uh we always wonder about what happened to those guys because uh you would have read earlier that they would have set it a seal. Rome, it says in the Bible, set a seal of the empire upon the stone and it was sealed with the seal of the Roman Empire and nobody could break that seal. In other words, if you're thinking today that Jesus was gone from the tomb because somebody stole his body. Well, listen. What you don't realize is that nobody could have stolen Jesus's body without first killing a garrison of Roman guards who were dispatched there by the authority of Rome itself. Why did they do that? They put a garrison to guard the tomb of Jesus for fear of all of the drama that either somebody stealing his body would create. There would been an incredible riot. There would be a horrific uprising. Maybe the disciples themselves would have tried to steal the body of Jesus and try to pull it off. We don't know who could have thought up what. But Rome wasn't taking any chances. Let's seal that tomb and let's make sure nothing happens because there was those rumors that he had said on the third day he would rise from the dead. So, uh, let's just seal it up. So those guards are standing there and the Bible tells us that angels arrived and the guards fled for fear. Some of them fell down, some of them took off. But here's the deal. Here's the part that we don't know about to abandon their post under the Roman seal of that property of Rome because they seized it. They took that right of eminent domain so to speak, the tomb of Joseph of Arythea, a borrowed tomb which Jesus was laid in. We read it on Friday, did we not? That Jesus was laid in the tomb, freshly uh heuned out tomb which no body had ever been laid in before. So you think about, well, that's very amazing. We know that it was Joseph of Arythea, one of the most wealthiest men in all of Israel, who loved Jesus, but his tomb, it's a family tomb, but Jesus is going to be laid in that tomb. I wonder if he knew that he was going to have Jesus uh go in his tomb. Uh and if he did, what was the cost of that? We have no idea. It was only for the weekend. Sunday was coming. uh even though it was a family tomb, he was going to loan it to Jesus for a few nights and that would be okay. But the guards were completely uh blown away, no pun intended. And we don't know what ever became of them because breaking the Roman seal was punishment of death. And uh that seal was broken.
Another account of the Bible says that when the sto stone was rolled away, listen, when the sto stone was rolled away, THE ANGEL SAT ON TOP OF IT. I love that. So, number one, the stone was rolled away, but there's no evidence, there's no record in scripture that the angel rolled the stone away and Jesus came out. It just says that the angel rolled the stone away and the people came in. Jesus was already gone by the time that that angel rolled that stone away. Why would he roll the stone away? So we could get in. God is so good that all of your doubt, all of your fear, God systematically dismantles because uh the Roman Empire and their authority that's dismantled. Uh the security of the guards and their commitment to the pain to pain of death, that's dealt with. Uh the various visitors to the tomb, that's taken care of. Angelic testimony, that's taken care of. But there's nothing like, listen, there's nothing like knowing the living God personally. >> You've got to know HIM PERSONALLY. THAT'S THE GREATEST THING ABOUT today is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ breaks all the religious rules that we could ever imagine as to how you and I might approach God. >> Hallelujah. >> Up until now, man has approached God based upon his efforts, based upon his good deeds, based upon his own works. It will be my morality that brings my presence into God's presence. and we'll be just fine, he and I, because he's going to look at all of my good and a little bit of my bad, and my good will outweigh my bad. The scale will tip and I'll just slide right into heaven and all is well. Friends, that has been a construct that man has always, always made for himself. It is nowhere in the Bible. It's made up that somehow God will accept us. If God would accept us, this event that we read about this morning is ridiculous. If God accepts us on our own, if God just turns a blind eye to our lust or to our selfishness or to our pursuits that offend him, and if he just turns away and acts like it's not real, that's not love. That's not the love of God. You can't say that God loves you if he just turns his eye away from things that you and I have done that are wrong. If he loves us, then what you and I have done wrong, it's got to be dealt with. I don't know how parenting is doing these days. I'm old enough. Look, Lisa and I, we did our job. We're finished with that. But, you know, parenting is a big deal. At least it used to be a big deal. I don't hear much about it anymore, but um remember those days uh people would say, James Dobson, I think, invented that statement. Uh tough love. Our kids need tough love, right? If you love your kids, you're going to instruct them and direct them and correct them. And um listen, if parents love their kids, how much more does God love us? If God invented parenting by telling us, I'm your father, then God speaks to us and says, listen, I love you and I have loved you. In fact, the scripture says, I have loved you forever and with loving kindness do I draw you to myself. But there's a problem here. Your sin, the Bible says, has separated me from you and that's got to be taken care of, folks. That's not man's idea. That was God's idea. And God says, "We got to clear this up." And that's why Jesus came.
And so, as those disciples had trafficked with him, now this is amazing to me because remember Jesus grew up in the Galilee. Yes, born in Bethlehem in the south, but 88 miles to the north, Jesus grew up in Nazareth. It was no big deal for Jesus to go and visit or spend great amounts of his young life at the Galilee. And Peter and John and all those guys, they were young men or boys growing up working for their dads. Many of them, as we mentioned the other night, fishermen, not all of them, but most of them fishermen, but they lived in the area. And they would have all known about the scandalous announcement that this one Jesus had been brought into this world by miraculous conception. That rumor hung over Jesus's life. What kind of gossip did Mary have to put up with in Nazareth? Think of that. Oh, there's that there's that guy, Jesus. There's that kid. Yeah. You know, the rumor is way back 12, 13, 14 years ago uh that uh God brought him into the world. Oh. Oh, that's funny. But they knew he was different. The Bible makes it very clear. Not different like he hovered over the ground and never got dirty. No, the Bible says he was just like you and I when it comes to that, but yet without sin. The Bible tells us that at the age of 12, Jesus shows up at the temple and uh the family is there and that's a very cute thing. It's I don't have the time to explain it now, but uh when all of the children of Israel would come down or come over from their various places to worship God at the temple, you're talking about Jesus and his family making an 88 mile journey down south to the temple in Jerusalem. uh and they traveled in great packs of people, big family clans. And the Bible says that after they had worshiped, they were heading back to Galilee. And after several days, Joseph and Mary realized, "Where's Jesus?" Now, you say, "What kind of parenting is that? They should had a leash on him." No, listen. That's completely normal because you're talking about hundreds of family members, aunts and uncles, cousins, second cousins, third cousins, everybody's mom, everybody's brother, everybody had the doctor, my son Deoya, they're all there together. They're all traveling along. EVERY YOU GOT TO KNOW THE COMMUNITY. IT'S STILL LIKE THAT TODAY. IT'S REMARKABLE. And where's Jesus? I thought you knew where he was at. I thought you knew where he was. AND THEN THEY START ASKING AROUND. HEY, AUNT JAMAIMA, WHERE IS HE? I DON'T KNOW WHERE he is. ASK UNCLE BEN. I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS. I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, WHERE IS HE? AND THEY TURN AROUND AND THEY GO BACK AND THEY GO BACK AND THEY FIND HIM in the temple. And Jesus is being questioned by all the scribes and the teachers. And they're asking questions. He's asking questions. Uh he's answering questions. They're answering his questions. And when when they find him, they they they say, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" And he said, "Don't you know that I need to be about my father's business?" Now, that had to cause Look, I mean, Joseph knew what was going on from the beginning, but and then so did Mary. But when when Jesus said, "Don't you know I'd be busy about my father's business?" I mean, he's directing that to heaven. I'm here uh hanging out with all these biblical scholars. We're having a great time together. Dude, you're 12 years old. And they were so impressed. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, the word of God, born into this world. You'll have to come back at Christmas time to hear more about that. But he was not some special man. He was not Superman. He was not inc not some incredible performer, a magician of some divine sorts. The Bible says that he's the God man that 100% God yet 100% man. Christ came into this world to take upon himself exactly what you and I are yet without sin. Jesus was perfect in all of his ways, the Bible tells us. And he healed the sick and he did all of these miraculous events that the Old Testament said. This is how you'd recognize the Messiah.
People love today. I know my daughter, my daughter loves uh thrillers, these uh these books about um crime scene investigation and uh you know, cold case stuff and uh she loves that stuff. You can bring up something and she'll say, "Oh yeah, in 1971 on June 11th, this guy whatsoever, who cares?" Um I'm glad I'm glad she does. But let me let me tell you, YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT ZEAL, you want to take that zeal and apply it to finding out who Jesus Christ is, that'll be a good pursuit, friend. Listen, if you're a skeptic in the house this morning, if you're not sure, if your friends drug you here this morning with a promise of breakfast afterward, if that's why you're here, they didn't tell me to say that, but be sure of this. God knows. You need to know something. look at human history, especially at those who were the most atheistic, who went out to debunk the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and they committed their lives to it, and they wound up becoming believers. >> Y'all look at the evidence. And after all, isn't everything that Jesus promises us isn't exactly what we want?
You and I live in a world today and uh we we order things uh just the way we want it. You you you go to stores or you go you now if you go to a store online you order it this way and I want it personalized. One of the most nervous nerve-wracking things I could never work at a Starbucks or or a coffee place. That just terrifies me. I get all nervous because I mean I just walk up and I order a coffee coffee sometimes, you know, some it's very intimidating. People come up and they say, and I don't even know what I'm talking about right now, but I want a latte super whipped turbocharged extra hot light spin car in I don't know. IT'S SHE'S LIKE, "WHAT? I MEAN, I WOULD HAD A HEART ATTACK if I was on the other side of that counter trying to make that thing." You said, "Can you repeat that again? I want it custom. That's my drink." And then they call it They call the super turbocharged macchiato double upside down whip thing and you go, "That's mine." Like you boast about it. That's mine. PERSONAL. BUT LISTEN, THERE'S A THING ABOUT BEING PERSONAL. This is personal. That's personal. You can go to a burger place and have it your way. Listen, Jesus Christ died once on the cross and rose again from the dead. Though he is almighty God who died for you and rose again from the dead, he died for you personally. >> And you say, "Yeah, but didn't he die for all of us?" Yes, he died for all of us. This is the gospel, by the way. THIS IS THE EVANGEL. HE DIED FOR ALL OF US, but you personally must take advantage of the offer. >> You must make it personal. >> So there's all kinds of drinks order, but you make it personal. Hey, listen. Jesus Christ died for all, but only you. Coming to him and recognizing that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again from the grave that we celebrate this day. That was for you. You say, "HOW'S THAT POSSIBLE, JACK? HOW COULD THE GOD OF ALL CREATION CARE ABOUT ME ENOUGH?" I know. Isn't it something? I've struggled with that. A great part of my Christian life. I agree with you. Let that settle in for a moment. that the God of all creation. Look, I have to keep with the flow. Every service this week, I've brought up those astronauts. I brought them up on Friday again. You know, they're a lot closer to the moon right now than they were on Friday, but they're still a long way from the moon. They're going they're on the tip of that rocket that and they're like I mean, can you imagine? I mean, they're sitting there and they're they sleep in four hour shifts and they wake up and they're a little bit closer. They look at it. They're taking pictures. They're sending the pictures back and then they're looking back behind them taking pictures of the Earth, which you ought to take a look and see. It's amazing how those flat discs are out there floating around like that. Now, somebody's gonna write me, "You just offended me and I can't hear the gospel now because of that." Listen, you'll make it. Here's the thing. When they get there, they're going to go around it. They're going to take pictures and all of that, but the fact of the matter is this. They're a long way from home. There's so many ways in our lives that you and I do not feel at home here. Listen, let's be honest. For some of us, or maybe most of us, when we came to Christ, we came home. And it's a hard thing to it's a hard thing to explain. Maybe it's an impossible thing to explain, but before I was a Christian, I didn't feel like I fit into this world. It's not like I was longing or looking for God. I wasn't. But I did everything TO TRY TO FIT IN. I know none of you can relate to that. You try to fit in in parties. You try to fit in with people. You try to fit in. And if you don't fit in, you move on to a different people group because you got to find meaning, purpose. But you got to blend. You got to get in. I remember going to my first party. I think I was a sophomore in high school and I was not a Christian and everybody was drinking but I thought drinking was kind of weird because I would see people drink and they would then they would do really dumb things and even though I was young I wasn't stupid and so I showed up to a party with a friend of mine who uh didn't want to drink either. So we to we took beer cans and we emptied them out and rinsed them out and we put milk inside the beer cans and we're standing there. Yay. How's it going, man? And isn't it weird that that that beer can that might have said I don't know what it said. Let's pretend it said Kors on it. But inside it was milk. Nobody knew that but me and him. And we're like that. Hey, see you next week. What were you doing? We were trying to blend in. We were trying TO BE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. WHY? So it'd feel comfortable. We knew that it was wrong and we were doing wrong. We were even acting out a lie. But nobody knew it. But God. It's not that God looked at us and said, "You're drinking milk." That was not the point. The point is you don't feel at home in this world because THIS WORLD'S NOT YOUR HOME. LISTEN, IT'S NOT WRONG TO LIVE ON TOP OF the hill in the castle or on the shores OF THE BEACH. IT'S NOT WRONG TO HAVE a Fiat OR A FERRARI. IT'S NOT WRONG. NONE OF THOSE THINGS are wrong. But if you have to have those things for your identity, you're no different than somebody holding a can of beer filled with milk. You're just trying to blend in. And God says, "No more of that. ALL OF THOSE PURSUITS THAT YOU'VE GONE AFTER FOR THE WRONG REASON is to find some sort of identity. And true lasting happiness comes when you find out who you are. And this is who you are. The Bible says that I Jack Jack I'm a sinner that is saved by the grace of God because in my sin I looked to the cross and I understood Jesus died there for me. The Bible tells me, "And he rose again from the dead for my justification." Justification means Jesus Christ, watch, it's twofold. Jesus went to the cross and died there to pay the price with his blood. How is sin forgiven? By the cross. Why the cross? He was offered up in our place. He died for me. He died for you. If that's the end of the story, then we got up for nothing, folks. But hallelujah, the Bible says three days later, Christ will rise from the dead. Jesus said, "On the third day, I will be resurrected from the dead." >> That's why Rome sealed the tomb. They didn't want to take any chances. And when Christ rose again from the dead, THE WHOLE CITY, JERUSALEM was in an upheaval. And it just got better or worse. It depends on what team you were on. The Bible tells us that as Jesus is resurrected from the dead, he was making various appearances. HE WOULD JUST SHOW UP. I now look the Bible says that when you and I are glorified as Christ was glorified, we will have a body just like his. Now, I don't know about you, I saw a lot of young kids come in here. Thank God young kids come into 5:30 service this morning. God bless you guys. Wow. That's amazing. And you could tell, you know, they're they're I saw them. I was greeting them out front. They're walking they're walking up and I'm I was impressed by that. And then you know their parents or grandparents are behind them and they're going that I can relate to. And for young people, they don't even care about getting a glorified body in in eternity. Uh because they feel great. They feel great. But um for those of us who who invest in Advil and and all of that, listen uh we look forward to a new body. Can I hear an amen? >> A new body. It's like, wait, what? What do you mean A NEW BODY? GOD says that in our resurrection, he's going to give us a body that's just like Jesus Christ's body. And and yeah, and the Bible tells us that, and I like this, the Bible tells us that Jesus ate in front of the disciples to prove to them that he had a body, which is awesome. He's resurrected from the dead. He appears and disappears. He's talking to the disciples. And then, LISTEN, THEY'RE ALL BOARDED UP. THEY'RE ALL HIDING OUT. JESUS APPEARS AND ALL THE windows and doors are locked. And he just goes just, "Hey, don't be afraid." He's he told them, "Don't be afraid." And they're all freaking out. The Bible tells us up in the Galilee after Christ is resurrected from the dead, the disciples are all, it's funny, the disciples, THE GREAT MEN OF FAITH who had become apostles. They're all depressed and they're fishing because Peter said, "I'm I'm done with this. I'm just going to go back to my old world. I'm going to go fishing." And they all said, "We'll go with you." And they're in the boat. They've been out fishing all night. Caught nothing. And there's a voice from the shore early in the morning. Hey, this is great. Come on. God God has got a sense of humor, man. Hey, how's the fishing? AND THEY SAY, "WE'VE CAUGHT NOTHING." And the the whoever's on the shore, by the way, there's a fire going, too. There's a little campfire going in the morning. But whoever this person is on THE SHORE SAYS, "WHY DON'T YOU PUT YOUR NET ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BOAT?" NOW, Peter was the fisherman. He was the guy. Whoever's on the shore is saying, "Put your net on the right side of the boat." You got to wonder because Peter is a lot like us. I bet you Peter's thinking, "Who does that guy think he is? That guy's on the shore. He doesn't even have a boat." And he's telling me how to cast my net. And the net goes onto the right side of the boat. And the Bible tells us that the catch was so great that they pulled in the boat. They pulled the uh tried to pull the net into the boat and they had to wait to get it to shore because they would have sunk the boat. There were so many fish. And Jesus was cooking fish and says to them, "Have breakfast. Have fish breakfast." And they ate and they worshiped him glorified. He died. He died on, listen, he died on the cross for our sins and paid the price on Sunday morning. He rose again for our justification. You said, "What does that mean?" It means this, friend, and this is where we wrap this up. It means this. It means that by him being raised from the dead, it means that listen, I'll be this I'll be a little sarcastic about this. It means whoever he is, whatever he is, hell is waiting. The Bible describes hell in the book of Psalms with its mouth wide open and it's gaping. Hell, hell has a mouth as it were that opens up and it consumes the dying or the dead. And the Bible tells us death could not hold him. >> So whoever Jesus is, the Jesus of the Bible, he rose again from the dead because the grave could not detain him. The grave could not hold him. Now listen, the the grave is the place where uh Satan and his fallen angels dwell. The the realm of the dead. Can you imagine when Jesus dies, death, as it were circles him looking for LOOKING FOR SIN. THE BIBLE SAYS that sin brings forth death and death brings forth hell. But Jesus was sinless. >> And imagine for a moment that Jesus dies on the cross and hell begins to examine him. Have you ever looked at something that's very very important to you? You look for any flaws or whatever dependent upon the value of it all. According to the Bible, hell is for real. The Bible says it was designed by God for Satan. Did you know that no humans were supposed to go to hell? God says it was designed for Satan, not for humans. Humans demand going there. Don't tell me I want to go there. I don't want anything to do with God. That's what you're when YOU SAY I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH GOD. THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. Get away from me. I don't WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH GOD. FRIEND, what did he ever do to you? Let's be honest. I don't believe in God. What is What did he ever do to you? And here's the funny thing. I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God. Just don't even talk to me about God. What are you upset about? If he's not real, what are you upset about? I don't get upset about things aren't real. Neither do you. I don't want to talk about it. My my so upset. So then you Why don't you believe in God? I don't believe in God because and here it comes. I don't believe in God because I was molested as a child or I was robbed or I lost my husband or my wife or my child died or my PARENTS DIED. WE ALL WE ALL HAVE LEGITIMATE listen emotions that are connected to excuses. The thing is when God says I'm going to die on the cross and be resurrected from the dead, excuses go out the window. Here's the part where you and I must make a decision. God says what he says and does what he says and Christ rose again from the dead, but we don't want him because of fill in the blank. And I counter that by saying what has he ever done to you? And every I mean I don't mean 99%. I'm talking every atheist I've ever spoken to. Always, it always goes the exact same way. I don't care how how uneducated they are or how educated they are. They all come to the same answer. It's summed up in this. I don't like the way God's running the universe. They don't like it. I don't believe in GOD BECAUSE LOOK AT ALL THE evil in the world. That's funny. God uses the same argu argument to prove his existence. You can't know evil unless you know what's good. >> God says I'm good. What is your argument on this wonderful morning for you to say I don't want him? I want to argue with you this morning and say please change your mind. Please do what the Greeks wrote as metaninoia. Metaninoia. It's a compound word. Meta again. Noa. Think. Think again. Rethink it. We would say rethink your decision about Jesus. And it comes this way. Christ rose again from the dead. There is an empty tomb in Jerusalem in a garden about 200 feet 200 300 feet away from the place of the skull Golgtha where he was crucified. It's all legit. But I don't need it. You don't need it. Some of you have never been there. You don't need to go there. We don't need an empty tomb to have to be seen. Isn't it amazing though you've never seen the empty tomb that Mary and John and Peter and the others saw. Isn't it amazing for that for those of us who have given our lives to Jesus Christ that that incredible residence that he has established within us that we are no longer tempted or having to fight to fit in. I don't need a I don't need a can of Kors with milk in it anymore. I don't need to, so to speak, suck my thumb to feel like I'm part of the group, you know? I don't need a a pacifier. Well, I've got to have this to be part OF THE GROUP. NO, you don't. Listen, if you have Jesus Christ, there are no groups. >> Amen. >> That's why, you know, well, I'm a Baptist. I'm a Lutheran. I'm a Presbyterian. Can you stop that? Why I go to Calvary? Well, too bad. Stop all that. >> Do you believe that the Bible recorded it and it happened that what God said he did and Christ rose again from the dead? >> Listen, we're going to pray right now and this is a very important moment. We're going to pray right now and I listen this you're going to get uncomfortable. No, nobody moves. Ushers, seriously, don't just don't let anybody out. You are the temptation is going to come upon you in a few seconds. Uh, honey, I think I left the car running. Um, we I think we should go. You're going to get all kinds of anxiety in a moment. Jesus Christ said that all those who will come to me, I will not turn away. question. Will you come to him? Jesus said that as you acknowledge me, I will I will acknowledge you. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead and you believe that in your heart, you'll be saved. The Bible says that to as many as received him, acknowledge, make the public confession of him, to as many as acknowledged him, to them, they gave power to become children of the son of God. >> We're going to have the worship team come out. I'm going to ask you to bow your head in prayer and I'm going to ask you to do the unthinkable. I'm going to
ask you to be so honest with God that you will sum all those things up in one moment where you will publicly be acknowledging Christ by getting up and coming forward and standing right here at the front of the stage. You don't have to say anything. I'm not going to point at you. But today, what you just heard, you know it's true. It's not true because I said it. I've been quoting and paraphrasing Bibles since I stepped up here. And you have a sense of that you need to respond to this offer that God is saying to you today. You come to me today. You come and get your sins forgiven. I will FORGIVE YOU. AND YOU'RE NOT JOINING CHURCH, by the way. Do you understand that? You're not coming to join church. You are coming to meet the Lord Jesus Christ and you're going to leave a different person than you came today. He promises you that.
Your sin has separated you from God. And you need a personal relationship with Jesus. Not one that's kind of not one that's sort of not almost a Christian. NOT WELL, I think I'll be okay. You need to respond. We're going to sing this song and I'm going to ask you and then we'll pray together here in a moment. Let's sing this song. And if God is speaking to you, you get up and you make your way. If you're in the courtyard overflow, make your way into the main sanctuary. Come now. If you're outside on the overflow, come on now. But come by all means respond. Let's sing the song of worship and you get up and you come forward if you want to accept Christ today as Lord and Savior.
Oh, I hear the voice of my father. Your kindness is calling me to repentance again. I see the scars of my savior. The ransom you paid for to save me and call me your friend. I know at the cross you gave it all. Yes, I know at the cross you paid it all. Here's my life. I lay it at the altar. You are worthy of it. You are worthy of it. No turning back. Jesus, now I surrender my heart, my soul, my all. You can have my heart, my soul, my love.
Hey, listen. I want to encourage you. If today, right now, you're sitting here and you're thinking, I I think I'm okay with God, or I'll do this next week. If that thought's in your mind, I'll do this next week. Listen, the spirit of God's speaking to you, and when he does, there's a sense of urgency. And immediately you said to yourself, I'll do it next week. I'll do it some other time. I want you to know that's God speaking to you. And the Bible says when you hear the gospel, today is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time. You have no guarantee you'll be alive, tomorrow or next week. What are you going to do about that? Come to Jesus now like the thief on the cross.
Or maybe you're here today. This always happens. There's a wife here today that is praying, "Oh Lord, speak to my husband. Lord, speak to my husband." Well, ma'am, listen. If God is speaking to you, you take a stand with or without your husband. But husbands, it's time to lead your families. Husbands, it's time to be husbands and fathers. Men of God, take a stand. Lead your family. But by all means, if God's speaking to you, if you have that tinge that just that tweak where the where you're hearing the thought in your head, notice how unnatural the thought is in your head. I should do this. to some effect you're hearing, I should do this. That's God speaking to you. If you are hearing that, come on, get up and come. Make your way.
I know my past found it ending. Salvation's beginning. This moment is only the start. I feel the power of your spirit. Your grace without limit as I draw near to your heart. I know at the cross you paid it all. Oh, I know at the cross you paid it all. Here's my life. I lay it at the altar. You are worthy of it. You are worthy of it. No turning back. Jesus, now I surrender my heart, my soul, my all. You can have my heart, my soul, my all. Here's my life. I lay it at the altar. You are worthy of it. You are worthy of it. No turning back. Jesus, now I surrender my heart, my soul, my all. Oh, you can have my heart, my soul, my.
Okay, listen. This is going to be a very specific thing and it's going to be very quick. These are people who have come and uh God is speaking to them and they're responding. This is between them and God. Maybe you're here today and if you were asked, "Are you a believer?" You would say, "Yes, but your life is far from him." You know this. You're you're not really walking with God, but you you know God. You've gotten kind of messed up in the world or whatever it might be, distracted by things. It's called recommmitment. This is to the believer who has wandered. Before we wrap this up, imagine this big door is starting to close. The ship is about to set sail. If you're a believer, but your heart has wandered from the Lord, it's not uncommon. We've all gone through that. But what a great day to make a recommitment to come back to what the Bible says is your first love.
Maybe you'd be saying today, "Yeah, yeah, I know God, but you know what? I've been really that you're the one. You're the one today. Now, with this business being done right here to the believer, I say if today is the day of recommmitment, asking God to catch your heart back on fire again, I'm going to give you about 60 seconds. 60 seconds. You can you can do that. No matter where you're at, you can run here if you have to, but I'm going to look at the clock. You got 60 seconds. And if you don't come, the the door closes, the ship sails. So, make your way. Hurry up.
Here's my life. I lay it at the altar. You are worthy of it. You are worthy of it. No turning back. Jesus, now I surrender my heart, my soul, my all. Oh, you can have my heart, my soul, my all. Here's my life. I lay it at the altar. You are worthy of it. You are worthy of it. No turning back. Jesus, now I surrender my heart, my soul, my all. You can have my heart, my soul, my.
Amen. Amen. Man, could you imagine the day that God shut the door on Noah's arc? We we would say, "Okay, the door shut. Sorry, you guys can't come. Sorry, nobody else can come." Wouldn't that be something? Uh, thank God. You're not living in that day. But, uh, God's grace. So, we're going to pray. And all of you need to understand something. This is very, very important. uh if we were uh talking to one another, we would be expressing, we would be sharing, we would be dialoguing one with another. God gave us that ability to do that. It's personal. The Bible says, he says of himself, he's personal. And out of all of his creation, the Bible says that he created humans in his own image. Not even angels, not animals, only humans. That's why this life, by the way, when we go against God, this life becomes so painful because we know what good is, but we just seem to fail and it hurts. You know what's better and you know what's best and you've responded today. So, when you pray this prayer, even though we're all going to pray it together, God hears it from you alone personally. It may be a group prayer, but you have to mean it. Make sense? And for those of you who are recommitting to Christ, same same is true. For those of you who have never met Jesus before and you're about to meet him, you may or may not feel anything. Some people get goosebumps. Some people say they feel like water coming down from the top of their head to the bottom. I don't know anything about that. I've never felt that stuff. And I'm not denying it. I'm just saying this. This I know. When you leave here soon, within about an hour, your thought life, you're going to find out there's someone else inside your head speaking to you. And it's like, where in the world did that thought come from? And it will be him.
It will be him. That's how I knew. I didn't feel anything that they accepted Christ. But on my way home, my thoughts were different. By the way, from that time forward, my goodness, almostif almost 50 years ago, I've never been lonely from that moment forward. He's so good. He's so good. So, church, let's pray together. Those of you who are standing here right now, let let these words fall out loud from your lips. Church family, you can join with them if you'd like. In fact, why don't you let's all stand, everybody. So, I'm going to ask all of you that are out there to put your hands out just because the Bible says, "Lift up hands in prayer, holy unto God." And you're praying for these right here, our our brand new brothers and sisters. Are you ready?
Dear Lord, Dear Lord, I come to you. I come to you in the name in the name of Jesus Christ. of Jesus Christ. The King of Kings. King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And I ask you now I ask you now to forgive me of my sins forgive me of my s and to write my name to write my name in the lamb's book of life. the lamb's book of life. It is today It is today that I proclaim you that I proclaim you as my resurrected Lord as my resurrected Lord and Savior. And Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. In his name I pray. In his name I pray. And all God's people said, "Amen." Amen.
Oh my. Okay. So, here's what we're going to do. Are you guys ready over there? So, you guys, we know what we're doing. We've done this before. Um, your family members are here, but family members, you're going to reclaim your brand new person, your brand new Yeah, that's true. Your brand new brother or sister in Christ on the other side of this wall. They're going to go through that little door and they're going to come outside in the courtyard. You're going to pick up your new family member out there. That means you're going to need to grab their stuff and you guys to connect with your family and on the way through you're going to be given a Bible and you're going to be given contact information on how you can reach us. But u welcome to the family of God. And if you would, if you guys would just go right this way, your family will meet you. So come right this way. Just follow the line and we'll take care of you. Your family will meet them on the outside. Church family, wherever you go today, let people know it. You're going to go to breakfast somewhere, take your Bible, set it down on the table, watch the food server kind of freak out a little bit, and tell them God loves them. Tell them that Jesus died on the cross for them. and that he has a life for them everlasting. Let's sing this song in closing. God bless you in Jesus name. Amen.
I am free. I am free. Oh, I am free. Lost another one. I am free. I am free. Oh, I am free. So lost another one. I am free. Oh, I am free. Yeah, I am free. I am free. Oh, I am free. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up out of that grave. We'll get up. Get up. Get up. We'll get up out of that grave. Get up. Get up. Get up. We'll get up out of that grave. We'll get up get out of that gra get up. We'll get out of that grave me around. Place my feet on solid ground. I think master I savior because he my heart change my name I think I savior he is risen bless you guys have an amazing day hopefully we'll see you on Wednesday night for our Wednesday night service God bless.