1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,120 He is risen. That's right, He is. 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,480 What an incredible start to Resurrection Sunday. 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,320 Would you join me as I pray before we hear God's word? 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,360 Lord, you are King of kings. You are Lord of Lords, and you 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,160 are not dead. You are alive. 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:24,760 You are a living Christ. And there's a tomb in the Middle 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:28,400 East that sits empty right now because you beat death. 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:31,360 And God, we worship you for that. 9 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,480 We worship you for being willing to die, for having the power 10 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:37,720 over death. And right now, as we come before 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:42,480 your word, would you help us see you in all of your glory? 12 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,920 Would you help our hearts be strengthened and encouraged by 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,840 the gospel? The good news is that we can be 14 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,880 forgiven of all of our sin. We can have power over sin, 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:58,160 Satan, and death forever. It's the hope of the world and 16 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:02,680 it's found not in a concept, but in a man, and his name is Jesus. 17 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,400 And so we lift him high. We get ourselves low. 18 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,840 Lord, would you speak to parts of our heart right now that we 19 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:15,360 try to hide from the world, but that your eyes can see God? 20 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:20,160 You can do that through a messenger like me, but help me 21 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,800 to be as small as possible so you can be as big as possible. 22 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,200 God that I would become less so you could become more get get us 23 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:28,520 to see the things that we can't see. 24 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,320 Get us to feel the things we can't feel. 25 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:34,560 God would you help us to worship you in spirit and truth in Jesus 26 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:36,560 name Amen. Amen. 27 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:37,600 You guys can grab a seat. Thanks 28 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:49,600 bro. How we feel into this 29 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,000 resurrection Sunday. Hey, you guys brought some 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:54,560 energy to the worship said I love it. 31 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:56,800 If I don't know you, my name is Brandon Lodge. 32 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:58,760 Welcome to Saint City. We are so glad that you are 33 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:00,640 here. Whether you're here on spring 34 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,040 break, you're here because a family member invited you found 35 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:06,280 us on Instagram. I don't know how you got here, 36 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:08,759 but I know this. We are glad that you are here. 37 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:13,320 We love you, we love Jesus and we love the reality of what he 38 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:14,640 has done for you. We just want to tell you all 39 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:16,320 about it on this resurrection Sunday. 40 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,000 So if you could turn your Bibles to John chapter 20. 41 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:22,680 If you don't have a Bible, don't worry, you can still follow on. 42 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:24,800 We got Bibles actually in the seats on the floor in front of 43 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:26,000 you. If you don't have a Bible, we 44 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,800 can keep that Bible. But it's going to be on page 906 45 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:31,560 is where I'll be reading from today. 46 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,640 We're not here to hear Brandon talk so much as we are here to 47 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,600 hear, to hear the Lord speak. And that's why we open up God's 48 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:43,360 words each and every Sunday. It's why we are built around the 49 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,920 Bible because we leave. God has spoken and He has 50 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:50,000 something to say to you. It is so cool to know that right 51 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,160 now in across the world that this Resurrection Sunday, we are 52 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,320 not alone. Like there's only a few hundred 53 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,000 of us here in this room today, but across the world right now, 54 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,640 we are joined with Saints from every nation, every tribe, every 55 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:05,520 tongue celebrating the same thing. 56 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,400 Jesus Christ is Lord and he is risen. 57 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,360 Amen. Amen. 58 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,240 Well, see, hear you guys sing like that thinking about the 59 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,520 reality of the global church, It's enough to make a grown man 60 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,440 cry. Frankly, I I'm not quite the 61 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,560 most emotional person. I don't really cry tears of 62 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,360 sadness very often, but tears of joy are common to me. 63 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,640 Like this Easter Sunday. Just thinking about what God has 64 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:32,600 done for me moves me. Seeing University of Arizona 65 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,360 losing basketball last night may or may not have made me shed a 66 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:36,760 happy tear. I don't know. 67 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:40,480 Love you ASU, love you Wildcat fans. 68 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,960 You're welcome here. But there's also tears of 69 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,160 sadness in our world. Just yesterday, parenting my 4 70 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,880 little kids, I think I experienced the full range of 71 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,840 why a kid might cry. Whether they didn't get the 72 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,160 candy that they wanted at the exact moment that they wanted 73 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:58,920 might have shed a tear for one of my kids. 74 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,240 The fact that one of them was getting crushed in a wrestling 75 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,200 match might have invoked the tears of fear. 76 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,880 Perhaps in our home. This is hypothetical, of course. 77 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:12,840 My kids would never cry, right? Or maybe, maybe just the tears 78 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:18,440 of the sadness of their family being far away. 79 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:23,880 Tears are real and tears are something we are all familiar 80 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:29,720 with. Tears are a sign. 81 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,520 They're a signal to us that there's something wrong with 82 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,320 this world. Often times when tears are 83 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,280 happening, it's somebody saying through their eyeballs. 84 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:43,240 It's not supposed to be this way. 85 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,080 It wasn't meant to be like this. And they feel that grief, that 86 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:58,240 sadness, that brokenness. There's a brokenness that exists 87 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,560 in the world. It's around us. 88 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:11,440 At times it's beside us, but brokenness is in us too, that we 89 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,320 actually can feel the shattering of. 90 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:15,840 It was not supposed to be this way. 91 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,080 And some of the most deeply moving and personal things that 92 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:26,280 actually move you to tears are the things that are broken in 93 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:28,160 you or somebody did to break you. 94 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:32,160 It's the brokenness of this world. 95 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:37,040 It's the grief of loss. And every person has an answer 96 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:43,200 for why brokenness is out there and a way to fix it. 97 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:50,120 Whether it's time therapy, retail therapy, distraction, 98 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:58,200 fitness, denial, there's a real brokenness in the world. 99 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:05,920 And what tears show us is this. It's not about the water in our 100 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:12,600 eyes, it's about the wounds of the world we sense in us. 101 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:18,320 It is not meant to be like this, that when we're in a place of 102 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:23,440 grief, of weeping, we can see that there's a brokenness in 103 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,880 this world that must be resolved or solved in some way. 104 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,920 My question for you this morning that we might consider together 105 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,760 is, who has the best answer for brokenness in your life and in 106 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,640 the world? Because it's out there. 107 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,720 There, there's no denying that there's reasons to cry, reasons 108 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:48,520 to weep, reasons to tear up. Who has the best answer? 109 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,320 I've entitled this sermon this morning from Tears to Triumph 110 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,400 because we're about to encounter the resurrected Jesus in the 111 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,040 story right now. And he's going to meet a woman 112 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,960 who is in the middle of grief and weeping and tears are 113 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,520 flooding her face. But she's going to move this 114 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,240 morning from devastation to celebration. 115 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,200 She's going to move from weeping to witnessing, from tears to 116 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:20,720 triumph. And I think that's God's 117 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,880 invitation for all of us today, that we would understand who 118 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,040 Jesus is and what he means for the world. 119 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:33,680 In fact, jot down this big idea that only Jesus can turn tears 120 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,040 into triumph. He's the only one. 121 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,760 There is no other solution. There is no other antidote for 122 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,440 suffering in this world, for the darkness, for the brokenness 123 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:45,880 that you find yourself in. I think Jesus is going to 124 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:49,120 demonstrate in all of his resurrected glory the reality 125 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:53,520 that only he has the authority, only he has the best answer for 126 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,960 what to do about brokenness and suffering in the world. 127 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,080 We're going to be in John chapter 20, verse 11. 128 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,440 If you're there, say I am there. Now turn to your neighbor and 129 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:08,680 say, let's go. Turn to the neighbor you like 130 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:09,480 less. And I'm just kidding. 131 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:16,200 John 20 verse 11 says this. But Mary stood weeping. 132 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:18,680 Mary Magdalene, not Mary, the mother of Jesus. 133 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,280 She stood weeping outside the tomb. 134 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,560 And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. 135 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,680 Pause right there. Think about weeping. 136 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,280 Don't think like a barely a tear. 137 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,120 Think like ugly crying, weeping, the kind where she can't get 138 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,799 words out, the kind where she can't see she is weeping. 139 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:41,200 And she Stoops to look into the tomb. 140 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,520 And she saw 2 angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus 141 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,480 had been laying in one at the head and one at the foot of the 142 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:53,240 bed. They said to her, woman, why are 143 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,320 you weeping? She said to them, They have 144 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:02,080 taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. 145 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:07,240 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, 146 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,480 but she did not know that it was Jesus. 147 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,720 Let's stop right there. Let's help turn our tears into 148 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,360 triumph this morning. And let's stop and make note of 149 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,160 this, that tears turn to triumph first when Jesus appears. 150 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:27,760 And I see clearly the way through the tears, the way 151 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,360 through the suffering is by seeing the appearance of Jesus 152 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,360 Christ. That when you see Jesus clearly, 153 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:40,520 you see the world clearly. When you see who He is and what 154 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,960 He means for your life, you can't help but understand and 155 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:49,760 see with crystal clear heavenly perspective on the world and on 156 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,760 suffering. She came looking for a corpse, 157 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,800 and she finds herself the King. This is so interesting. 158 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:00,240 Like Mary is standing there weeping. 159 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,440 She's coming to do the burial things, and she's like, wait a 160 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:08,160 second, he's gone. Now, in the Bible, a lot of 161 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:10,760 crazy things happen, but even Mary Magdalene didn't have a 162 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,600 category for, hey, this guy could have actually rose from 163 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,720 the Ted. She's like, obviously somebody 164 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,600 must have took him. Somebody must have his body 165 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,440 because dead people don't just start walking around. 166 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,600 So she's grieved not just at the reality that he's dead, but also 167 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:32,760 that her friend is missing. She is weeping over his lost 168 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,400 body. And she turns around and she, 169 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,280 after talking to the Angel, she sees what she thinks is the 170 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:45,440 gardener. It's Jesus in resurrected glory, 171 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:47,680 and he's not the the last time she saw him. 172 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:51,200 I mean, he's as bloody as blood. He gets his face marred beyond 173 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,920 all understanding and even visibility. 174 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,440 And she sees a resurrected, glorified Jesus and she doesn't 175 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,560 recognize him. You guys have had a similar 176 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:03,240 experience before. You've been in an airport, maybe 177 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,880 across the country, and somebody runs into you and you're not 178 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,280 expecting to see them there. And they're like, hey, and you 179 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,360 just can't place them. You're like, I know you from 180 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,400 somewhere, but I'm not expecting to see you here across the 181 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:14,960 country. So what is your name? 182 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,080 You've had it somewhere, maybe not at an airport. 183 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:20,600 But that bewildering experience is what she's going through 184 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:21,920 right now. She's just like, I'm not 185 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:23,840 expecting to see. You're like the last person I 186 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,200 expect to see. But he has appeared and she's 187 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:33,000 about to see clearly. And I can't help but wonder if 188 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,400 you're here today and you're like, man, can I even trust that 189 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,000 this story isn't just a fable, that this isn't just made-up? 190 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,520 Well, listen to this. This is not the kind of way you 191 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:45,560 would write a resurrection story narrative. 192 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,160 This is not the way. If you wanted to make up a 193 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:53,720 story, you wouldn't have started with a woman seeing Jesus back 194 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,280 then. It said by rabbinical law that 195 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,800 it was better to be burned than have a woman testify. 196 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:06,680 If this was made-up, they wouldn't have said Mary was the 197 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,800 first one to saw him, the first one to see him. 198 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:19,000 He appears first to women. That detail is in there because 199 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,880 that's what happened. And that should give you some 200 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:24,840 confidence that this story isn't fake. 201 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,040 It's not made-up. But in case you're still 202 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,080 wondering, like, hey, can I trust the resurrection count of 203 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:31,680 the gospel? I know that I'm in a church 204 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:34,200 right now. I know that Jesus is who you 205 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,720 guys worship. But what other theories are even 206 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,920 out there for what happened on that day in that tomb other than 207 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:44,560 he resurrected Because the cynical side of us might go, you 208 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:47,160 know, I kind of doubt that he rose from the dead. 209 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:49,760 Fair. But let me explain some 210 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,240 alternate theories to you where a speed run through these 211 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:53,600 objections. The first one I call Black 212 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,480 Panther theory. Black Panther theory is that 213 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:58,280 Jesus like faked his death almost. 214 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,160 That he only appeared to have died on that Roman cross, That 215 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:02,800 the Roman soldiers didn't know what they're doing. 216 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,480 That for some reason on that day they did not figure out how 217 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,600 crucifixion worked and that Jesus just faked his own death 218 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:15,640 just to appear dead. But listen to me, that is never 219 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,480 happens in all Roman history. It just doesn't happen even 220 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:21,440 through outside of the Bible. There's no example of a 221 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,560 crucifixion just not working. They knew what they were doing. 222 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:28,040 So Black Panther theory doesn't feel plausible to me. 223 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,200 Ocean's 11 theory. These are all movies, by the 224 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,640 way, because I like movies. Ocean's 11 theory is the idea 225 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,480 that the disciples took him in a holy heist of some sort. 226 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:37,520 They're like, you know what we're going to do? 227 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:38,720 We're going to get past these Roman guards. 228 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,520 We're going to roll away this massive tomb and we're going to 229 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:42,000 we're going to get Jesus out of there. 230 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,000 That's hard to maintain a conspiracy of that magnitude. 231 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,640 First of all, and you might be a conspiracy theorist, but the 232 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:55,160 reality of those Roman soldiers would not have seen, heard, or 233 00:13:55,160 --> 00:14:00,000 even vocalize the reality. It's just not plausible that 234 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,480 they stole the body of Jesus. They had to take him across the 235 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,160 distance all the way to the reality that like, hey, we hit 236 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,360 him just long enough so that he could be seen. 237 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,120 It just doesn't make sense. And and the reality that his 238 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,920 body when it's seen again, does not have much of the wounds that 239 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:18,240 he carried. He just has the nail pierced 240 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,480 hands. How do they do that? 241 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,800 How do they fix that up? I mean, cosmetic surgery is good 242 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:25,760 nowadays. I don't think it was that great 243 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,520 back then. I don't think Ocean's 11 theory 244 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,400 really works, nor Parent Trap theory that this is the idea 245 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,280 that Jesus had a twin who died in his place. 246 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,560 People, you might be thinking that that seems plausible. 247 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:43,040 Like you're like I like Christopher Nolan movies. 248 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,760 Maybe you think of prestige instead of Parent Trap. 249 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:46,760 I don't know. But listen to me. 250 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,160 His wounds were a visible post resurrection. 251 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:50,520 He still had the nail scarred hands. 252 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,920 So you got to deal with that. Either he died or he didn't. 253 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:58,760 And if he didn't die, then how? It's not very plausible. 254 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,600 The inception theory is a group. Group think like hallucination 255 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,320 that we all dreamed this up, that all 500 people who saw him 256 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,200 after he resurrects, they're like, yeah, no, we all saw the 257 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,480 same thing at the same time in the same way, the same Jesus. 258 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:18,120 This was public. What's crazy interesting to me 259 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:23,760 about that is up until this point in history, if you wanted 260 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,600 to be a Messiah figure, nobody thought to themselves, hey, let 261 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:32,440 me resurrect. Like that was not the way of the 262 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,360 Messiah. That's all following Jesus. 263 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,360 Jesus does it because that's what he did to save the world. 264 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,560 And so Messiah figures after started that, but not before. 265 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,800 It was not a hallucination. Nor is it this the dumb and 266 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,280 Dumber theory, which is the idea that as we look back in history, 267 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,440 that we actually nowadays, we have better technology, better 268 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,000 intelligence. We know more than them. 269 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,960 And I just think this one is a little bit silly because they're 270 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:00,720 more acquainted with death than we are. 271 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,360 They knew what a dead body looked like. 272 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,600 They knew what a dead body smelled like. 273 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,880 They knew what to do with it even more than we do. 274 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,880 Like they didn't need to call the mortician to figure that 275 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,120 out. They knew what a dead body was. 276 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,640 And we are not smarter than them because they realized what we 277 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,640 know. Dead people don't rise up from 278 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:26,440 the grave. The empty tomb is not the 279 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:31,280 problem, it's the point. Do you believe? 280 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,240 And do you see what Jesus has done? 281 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,560 That he beat death, robbed a grave. 282 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,200 That's the point. Every theory collapses under the 283 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,080 same question. How do you explain then 284 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,840 terrified disciples who were not even there that day of his 285 00:16:53,840 --> 00:17:02,200 death, going from that to martyrs on the basis of we saw a 286 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:08,720 resurrected Jesus Christ, People would die for a lot of things. 287 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,160 They won't die the way the disciples did for the lie. 288 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:19,920 They'll recant, but they did it because they're willing to go to 289 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,720 their grave saying, I've seen him. 290 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:28,480 Seeing Jesus clearly changes how you see everything. 291 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,920 Tears turn to triumph when he appears. 292 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:34,480 You see clearly. I think one of the things you 293 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,840 see most clearly is that God cares about suffering. 294 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:52,400 God died in the most brutal, gruesome, horrific way 295 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,120 imaginable. He cares so much about suffering 296 00:17:55,120 --> 00:18:02,280 that he went through it himself. That Christianity is the only 297 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,440 religion that offers that that reality that God is going to 298 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:08,680 suffer among us. He came our way. 299 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,640 We didn't have to go to him. He came to us. 300 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:15,720 And when you see suffering like that, it changes everything. 301 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:17,600 It's not the only way that our tears turn to triumph, though. 302 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,480 The second points in the text that you'll see is that tears 303 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:25,320 turn to triumph when he speaks. And I hear personally, she 304 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,640 didn't just see a resurrected Jesus, She heard from him 305 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,800 personally. Look back at the Bible with me. 306 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,640 Jesus said to her in verse 15, woman, why you're weeping? 307 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,120 Why are you crying? There's no crying in baseball. 308 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:42,200 No, he didn't say that. He said, Whom are you seeking 309 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:44,440 and supposing to be the gardener? 310 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,280 She said to him, Sir, if you have taken, if you have carried 311 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,880 Jesus away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take 312 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:57,920 him away. Jesus said to her one word that 313 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:04,160 changed the whole conversation. Jesus said to her in verse 16, 314 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:09,120 Mary. Now I don't know if he said it 315 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:11,680 in a tender way. I don't know if he said in an 316 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,040 authoritative way. I don't know if he said it with 317 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:18,120 an accent or in a goofy way that she heard it. 318 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:23,800 All we know is that Jesus said to her, Mary, and when she hears 319 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:28,760 her name, she turned and said to him in Aramaic, Raboni. 320 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,840 Raboni, which means teacher, the best kind of teacher, that this 321 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:35,480 is the biggest word for teachers that they've got. 322 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:44,360 Raboni, that when Jesus speaks, he speaks personally. 323 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,480 The God who spoke the world with a whisper, who was humble enough 324 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,440 to die for the world. He is personal enough. 325 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:59,440 He is near enough to call you by name. 326 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:08,160 He is transcendent over the world, but near. 327 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,640 Near enough to know your name and know your story. 328 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:17,480 Know you. The resurrected Christ knows 329 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,160 your name. He knows your grief. 330 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,280 He knows your loss. He knows the broken things that 331 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,520 you've experienced. He knows them personally. 332 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,920 And guess what? He meets you in it. 333 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,480 She is in the middle of the tear fest still. 334 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:39,480 She's still sobbing thinking her friend is gone, but he is not 335 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,720 gone. He is there and he sees her and 336 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:46,400 calls her by name. Every other worldview is going 337 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,760 to attempt to explain to you the brokenness of this world, but 338 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,320 none with an answer as accurate or as personal as Jesus and 339 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,200 Christianity. Listen to me, secular 340 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:57,560 materialism. We'll put it this way, that 341 00:20:57,560 --> 00:20:59,320 suffering is random in your life. 342 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,160 It's meaningless. It's just atoms, like we're just 343 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,040 going about our life and guess what? 344 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:05,800 It's actually meaningless. So don't take it personally 345 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,720 because it isn't personal. It's just random with that's 346 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:10,560 without hope, there's no meaning to it. 347 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,200 There's no purpose to our existence. 348 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:19,600 That feels very bleak. Moralistic religion will tell 349 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:24,120 you that suffering is punishment, that you did 350 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:26,120 something wrong and that's why you're being punished. 351 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:28,680 You didn't do enough good things, you didn't pray enough 352 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:29,760 prayers, you didn't go to church enough. 353 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,120 That's why what you're experiencing is happening. 354 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,040 There's religions that claim the name of Jesus that are not the 355 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,480 way of Jesus. That would tell you that That's 356 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,760 why you're suffering. Eastern philosophy will tell you 357 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,560 that suffering comes from your desire, and the antidote to that 358 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:55,600 is to detach from the world. Hurricanes don't make sense of 359 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,680 that. Losing a child. 360 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:05,760 There's real brokenness in this world and some of you have lived 361 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,520 through it. And all of these other religions 362 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,240 with all these other world views, I don't think they hold 363 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,880 the candle to Christianity suffering. 364 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,640 Christianity is that it's real. It is not denied, it is 365 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:22,080 happening, it is existent. You can't deny it, but it can be 366 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:23,880 redeemed because God himself entered it. 367 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:28,320 He entered into it. He joined the suffering of our 368 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,920 world by incarnating himself from the throne of heaven, by 369 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:37,760 joining us as a human being. And he tells us that the hope 370 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,800 for our hardship is not in ourselves, it's in him. 371 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,080 Stephen Colbert, who's a popular late night host. 372 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,080 He had this conversation a few years back with Anderson Cooper. 373 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,480 If you don't know about Stephen Colbert, he when he was a kid, 374 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:55,640 when he's 10 years old, he lost his father and his teenage 375 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,440 brothers when he's 10 years old in a horrific helicopter crash. 376 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,200 What he says is it's a gift to exist, and with existence comes 377 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,080 suffering. There's no escaping that. 378 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,320 You get awareness of other people's loss, which allows you 379 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,720 to connect with that other person, which allows you to love 380 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,440 more deeply and understand what it's like to be a human being. 381 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:23,640 If it's true that all humans suffer, then we must realize 382 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:28,800 this, that if that's true, then then we must hope in this, that 383 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:33,200 in my Christian tradition, you're really not alone because 384 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:42,570 because God does it too. That cross that represents what 385 00:23:42,570 --> 00:23:45,050 happened 2000 years ago back in Jerusalem. 386 00:23:48,250 --> 00:23:50,970 It shows us that Jesus was willing to bear the heaviest 387 00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:56,330 crown of suffering that's ever existed because he was not 388 00:23:56,450 --> 00:23:59,250 guilty. He was innocent, paying for the 389 00:23:59,250 --> 00:24:03,160 sins of the guilty so we could be forgiven. 390 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:09,480 He had three to four inch thorns driven into his skull. 391 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,880 He had nails pierced through his hands and his feet. 392 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:23,800 He took lash after lash after lash, 39 on his back, tearing 393 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:32,120 skin from bone. It's that graphic on purpose. 394 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,400 Because God wants us to know He sees you. 395 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,760 And when He calls you by name out of your suffering, out of 396 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,120 the brokenness, He wants you to know that He loved you enough to 397 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:47,000 empathize with it, to sympathize with our weaknesses. 398 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:53,760 Jesus doesn't just call you out of a crowd. 399 00:24:53,760 --> 00:25:00,240 He calls you by name. He is not a way, a truth, and a 400 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:03,360 life. Jesus Christ is the way, the 401 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:08,200 truth, the life, and no one gets to heaven except through Him. 402 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,480 There's no other hope. That's it. 403 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:14,520 That's all we got to hang our lives on. 404 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,960 Our eternity hangs in the balance of what will you do with 405 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:21,360 the empty tomb? Will you believe in who Jesus is 406 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,600 and what he has done so that your tears would turn to 407 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,320 triumph? Would you see him clearly? 408 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,560 Would you hear his voice loud and clear personally in your 409 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:29,880 life? It is not whether or not 410 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,240 somebody else has heard him personally. 411 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,840 If your mom or your dad, your grandma, your grandpa, your 412 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,440 brother, your sister, your cousin, your friend, No, no, no. 413 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,240 What will you do with the tears that you have? 414 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,320 Will you bring them to Jesus? Say, Jesus, I have no hope for 415 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,400 my sin. I have no hope for the suffering 416 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:46,960 in this world apart from you and your grace and your power. 417 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,280 The Bible says that Jesus Christ keeps our tears in a bottle. 418 00:25:55,280 --> 00:26:00,760 That's how personal He is. Finally, tears turn to triumph, 419 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:07,120 and we'll see in the text when He ascends and I go boldly. 420 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,400 It's not just when He speaks, not just when he appears, but 421 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,960 when he ascends and I go bully. Look how the story wraps up. 422 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,960 Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet 423 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,760 ascended to the Father. More on that in a second, but go 424 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,600 to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father, and 425 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,720 your father to my God and your God. 426 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,320 Mary Magdalene does what he says. 427 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,760 She went and announced, she proclaimed, she shouted to the 428 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:39,360 disciples I have seen the Lord and that he had said these 429 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:43,960 things to her. Jesus is not the first person in 430 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,640 history to resurrect. We got Lazarus, we got Gyrus's 431 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:48,680 daughter. Like he did some miracles, 432 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:49,720 right? He had authority over it. 433 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,760 The thing that separates Jesus isn't just the fact that he 434 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:58,440 resurrected. Jesus dies on a cross for us, 435 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,360 bloody cross. He resurrects by the power of 436 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:10,600 the of God empty tomb, but he goes to the Father never to die 437 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,760 again. Nobody else has that. 438 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,240 The ascension is his coronation as King of Kings and Lord of 439 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,640 Lords. It is not merely that he 440 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,920 conquered death, it's that he truly conquered death forever. 441 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,320 Which gives you and I hope that guess what, we when we die, we 442 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:29,960 don't have to have the fear of dying again. 443 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,000 Because guess what? We will be alive just as he is 444 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,600 alive. We will be made new, just as He 445 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,160 is made new that the New Jerusalem. 446 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,040 When He comes back and step and sets forth His plan that He had 447 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,040 for all time, that guess what? The people who've called on Him 448 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,440 by name, who have called on his blood for salvation, who have 449 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,200 believed in the empty tomb and its powerful lives, guess what? 450 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,240 They will ascend in glory with Him. 451 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,320 They will live, never to die again, just as He did. 452 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:00,320 The ascension is so powerful because it's what separates 453 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,800 Jesus from every other human being in history. 454 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,840 It's what demonstrates the coronation that God looked at 455 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,480 him and said this is exactly why I said he was. 456 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:13,640 It's the receipt that we can take in, cash in and say He is 457 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:15,840 exactly who the Bible teaches him to be. 458 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,560 And you don't have to look at the Bible to know that Jesus was 459 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,600 real. You can look outside or you can 460 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,640 look at like, Roman historians and they will tell you that 461 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,720 something happened in the Middle East with a man named Jesus. 462 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,800 He definitely died on a cross. The thing that the world is 463 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,560 perplexed by, the thing that historians couldn't make sense 464 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,120 of is this. Was it an empty tomb? 465 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:38,040 And did he go to heaven afterwards? 466 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,840 And the Bible makes it abundantly clear that's what he 467 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,160 did next. He hangs out on earth for 40 468 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:49,920 days, goes to a room and like shocks all his disciples that 469 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:54,080 he's alive. Next he makes some fish tacos 470 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,400 with them on the beach. Then he like tells them what he 471 00:28:58,400 --> 00:28:59,680 what? Hey, here's some Archie wars 472 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,760 Before I go. He explains to some people like, 473 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,480 hey, here's the Bible. He has this chat walking with 474 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:12,040 them on the road one day Jesus Christ is not going back to the 475 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:16,560 grave. He ascended to the right hand of 476 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,920 the Father. He has gone to the throne. 477 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,840 If you want to know who to put your hope and brokenness in, 478 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,600 guess what? I'm going with the guy who 479 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,000 looked at a grave and said, yeah, I'm not going back there. 480 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,600 The one who has authority over death because he has the words 481 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,840 of life. If that guy has the power over 482 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,200 life and death, then he certainly has the power over me. 483 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,320 And so I'm going to listen to him because his grave is empty. 484 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,600 Listen to me. Buddha is dead. 485 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:49,920 He's not getting back up. Muhammad is dead. 486 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:56,400 Joseph Smith remains dead. There is only one who is risen 487 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,240 and reigning, and his name is Jesus Christ. 488 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,480 There is no other. That is it. 489 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,880 He did not come to make bad people good. 490 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,080 He came to make dead people alive. 491 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,080 Listen to me. That is the only hope you have. 492 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:16,840 That's all you've got if you want to experience the life that 493 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,200 God wanted to give you from the very start. 494 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,440 It is not going to be found in anyone or anything else, any 495 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,560 other philosophy, any other religion. 496 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:29,200 There is one way, one truth, one life, and he is alive right now. 497 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,040 That's what we're celebrating this Easter. 498 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:34,000 That's what we put our hope in. You guys can clap. 499 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:35,120 Go ahead. We're going to clap, Clap. 500 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:42,520 And because he's alive and ascended, he is on the loose. 501 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,360 Like Easter makes Jesus dangerous. 502 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,360 He's not trapped somewhere. He's out there making a 503 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:55,800 difference, taking back the world, prevailing against the 504 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,920 gates of hell. And he's looking for you. 505 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:05,240 He is looking for you so that you could go boldly and tell 506 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:10,080 others about what he has done. He has found a way in every 507 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,520 single generation to thrill hearts. 508 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,680 In today's coronation Day, we get to celebrate what He has 509 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,120 done. We get to like Mary, come to the 510 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:27,320 tomb with tears and leave with a testimony, the story of what God 511 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,440 has done. That's why Christians, that's 512 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:31,800 why we continue to share. It's what it's what happens. 513 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,560 It's the natural conclusion to seeing a miracle. 514 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,280 The reaction is easy. When you see something awesome, 515 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:42,120 you can't shut up about it. One of the telltale signs that 516 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,720 you're actually a Christian is that this thing, you can't stop 517 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,240 talking about it. You can't stop thinking about 518 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,040 it. It's personal to you. 519 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,080 It's powerful to you. And because you saw a miracle, 520 00:31:53,280 --> 00:32:01,480 you want it to go viral. You want everyone to know he 521 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,240 opened blind eyes. So go boldly. 522 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:09,480 You've seen him, you've heard him, you've seen him with your 523 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,560 now not blind eyes. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 524 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:18,320 and be saved. So what are you going to do 525 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,280 about your tears? Where we started? 526 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,120 There's brokenness in the world. There's brokenness in you, 527 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,640 around you, beside you. Where are you going to put your 528 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,600 hope in for that? Is it in yourself? 529 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:32,720 Is it in someone else? Is it another philosophy? 530 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,800 I think you'll be spectacularly disappointed in those things, 531 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:44,560 but not in Jesus. Wherever you're at today, I want 532 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,120 to speak to you directly. In fact, you see these cards 533 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:48,720 right here, the press dimension we're going to need at the end 534 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:50,880 of the service today. These are our Connect with us 535 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:57,800 cards. We've been praying for you by 536 00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,840 name. We've been praying for some of 537 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,800 you and not even knowing your names, but we're asking that you 538 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,120 would respond to what you've heard today in four different 539 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,160 ways. And you're going to write in the 540 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:10,960 prayer request card one of these 4 letters. 541 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:15,240 The 1st is the letter A, which just means this, that you're 542 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,200 already a Christian. Here's what I mean by that. 543 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,240 I'm going to ask you write down one of these 4 letters and for 544 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,800 you to know what you're doing with your tears, whether that 545 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:25,920 you're going to turn to God for the triumph over them. 546 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,120 The first person is somebody who says I'm already Christian. 547 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:33,320 You know that Jesus called you by name and you speak for him. 548 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,440 You live for him. Easter is more than a holiday 549 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:41,760 for you. It is the hope of your soul. 550 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:51,240 Historical faith says this, that Christ lives, but saving faith 551 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,720 says this, Christ lives in me. That's what it means to already 552 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,600 be a Christian. Not just that you go to church, 553 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:00,720 not just that you pray prayers, not that just you've thought 554 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,440 about God a few times or you say you believe in God. 555 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:08,080 There's a type of belief that saves, and it's the kind that 556 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:11,719 says I'm banking everything on this. 557 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:15,480 The bloody cross, the empty tomb, the throne in heaven. 558 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:22,520 You're already a Christian. Second category B is somebody 559 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,480 who wants to begin a relationship with God today. 560 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:30,360 You came today with wounds. You came today feeling the 561 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,120 brokenness of your life, the suffering that you've 562 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:34,880 experienced, and you're realizing there's no way out 563 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,920 except for Jesus. There's no hope for sin, Satan, 564 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:42,600 and death except for him. And today you're hearing him 565 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:47,520 call you by name. If that's you, I'm going to talk 566 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,880 to you in just one more moment, but I'm going to tell you how to 567 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:52,679 start that relationship with God in just a second. 568 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,639 The third group is C and it's OK if you're in this group 569 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:58,760 considering it's still just because you've heard the gospel 570 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,400 today doesn't mean you are going to respond today. 571 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:01,360 Maybe there's another day for you. 572 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:02,480 You just want to consider it more. 573 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:03,840 You want to do some more investigation. 574 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,520 You want to get an AI and start talking to him about, hey, this 575 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:08,440 is what he just said real. I don't know how you're going to 576 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:09,960 process it. I know this that some of you are 577 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:11,560 still in the considering it first, and may I just tell you 578 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:14,680 this is a great place to consider whatever your next step 579 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:16,280 is with Jesus. If your next step is 580 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:18,840 considering, this is a great place to do that. 581 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:22,960 It is OK to explore, OK to learn who Jesus is here because we 582 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,920 want to tell you all about him and what he means for your life. 583 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:28,800 In fact, I would just encourage you maybe in your exploration, 584 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,880 maybe just read this whole book of John this week and I would 585 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,520 love for you to highlight or to underline when you do that the 586 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:40,280 word believe and what you're going to find is in the Gospel 587 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,640 of John is there's 99 times it says the word believe. 588 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,160 So I think the 100th time the author John wanted you to be the 589 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:50,080 one to say I believe in Jesus Christ. 590 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:53,960 Consider it more Finally, maybe you're here and that is OK. 591 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,720 Welcome to Saint City. It's the D category. 592 00:35:56,720 --> 00:35:59,560 Don't ever intend to follow Jesus. 593 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:02,240 Welcome to Saint City and welcome to Easter, Resurrection 594 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:04,680 Sunday. We're a place for skeptics too. 595 00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:06,680 Skeptics and Saints are welcome here. 596 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:09,720 Don't worry about it. But I would ask you one 597 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:12,320 question. What are you going to do about 598 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:17,040 the empty tomb? The historical reality that a 599 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,680 man named Jesus came, he died and he went to a grave, and 600 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,520 there was a bunch of people from that era, from that chapter in 601 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,840 history who said he walked out of it. 602 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:27,880 You got to wrestle with that question. 603 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:30,880 I think it's the question with which all of human history 604 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,360 hinges upon. Come up with an answer that you 605 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:40,800 can give your life to. As for me, I think he's risen 606 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:45,160 and reigning. If you were in that B category, 607 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:50,360 this prayer doesn't save you. But what it does is it's you 608 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:52,840 saying, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm repenting 609 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,160 of my sins. I'm turning from my life and I'm 610 00:36:55,160 --> 00:37:00,640 turning to him for triumph. It's you saying, God, I need you 611 00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:03,480 in my life. It's not the prayer that says 612 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,360 it's the belief in the trust and who Jesus is that does. 613 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,360 And I just want to make it as easy as possible for you. 614 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,240 So would you just pray with me? If that's all of you, join me, 615 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:12,920 but the B group especially, pray with me. 616 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:20,400 Lord, thank you for conquering death for me so that I could be 617 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:24,600 reborn. I am a dead person in need of 618 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:30,280 life. Forgive me of all my sin and 619 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,160 save me from the punishment of it. 620 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:41,320 I give my life to you now, My calendar, my budget, my words. 621 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,640 I give it all to you because you gave everything for me. 622 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,440 Jesus name, Amen. Amen. 623 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:50,880 Would you stand and sing in worship?