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You're very welcome to today's 
Triumph Church podcast. 

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We pray that you enjoy the 
message. 

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If you brought your Bibles, 
we're going to begin in 1 John 

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chapter 3 and verse 16. 
It says we know what real love 

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is because Jesus gave up his 
life for us. 

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There are moments in in history 
that divide time, moments that 

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really are so significant that 
things are changed, that there's

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a a stark difference between 
what was previous and what is 

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going forward. 
Everything feels different after

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them. 
You have the invention of the 

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printing press. 
That changed the spread of 

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knowledge, didn't it? 
You have the discovery of 

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electricity that we're so 
thankful for. 

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We have lights, we have sound, 
we have all these wonderful 

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things that transform 
civilization. 

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Then you have the invention of 
the airplane that changed the 

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way we travel, right? 
Are you thankful for an 

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airplane? 
Sure. 

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Saves us a lot of time, doesn't 
it? 

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Then you have the development of
the Internet. 

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That could be a good or bad 
thing, depending on how you look

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at it. 
But that changed how we access 

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information, right? 
But there's one moment that 

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stands above every other moment 
in human history, a moment that 

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did not simply change politics 
or science or culture, but it 

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changed everything. 
Nearly 2000 years ago, outside 

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the city of Jerusalem, there's a
man named Jesus of Nazareth who 

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was executed on a Roman cross. 
And by all appearances, his 

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story was finished. 
His body was wrapped in burial 

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clothes. 
A stone sealed the tomb that he 

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was placed in. 
Roman guards were stood to 

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watch, and everything about that
scene communicated this one 

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message that it was over. 
Everyone thought it was over. 

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But three days later, something 
happened that changed the world.

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The tomb was empty, and from 
that moment forward, history has

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never, ever been the same. 
Today, we're not remembering a 

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religious story, though some 
people may think of it as that. 

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This is much larger than that. 
We're confronting the single 

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greatest event in human history,
and that is the resurrection of 

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Jesus Christ. 
And if this is true, all right, 

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and the evidence say that it is,
then that changes everything, 

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doesn't it? 
So we're going to look at 3 

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realities today about what the 
resurrection reveals. 

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The first thing we're going to 
look at is the historical 

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reality of Jesus life, his death
and his burial. 

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In One Corinthians chapter 15 
and verses 3 and 4, the apostle 

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Paul wrote this. 
He said that I passed on to you 

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what was most important and what
had also been passed on to me, 

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that Christ died for our sins, 
just as the Scripture said. 

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And in verse four, he was buried
and he was raised from the dead 

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on the third day, just as 
Scripture said. 

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The Apostle Paul wrote these 
words really within a few 

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decades of this event of the 
crucifixion, and many of those 

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who had been eyewitnesses to 
Jesus after the resurrection 

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were still alive. 
So they could either deny that 

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that was true or they could 
corroborate that this was truth.

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That what the apostle Paul wrote
here, that he died for our sins,

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he was buried and he was raised 
from the dead, that they could 

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say and agree that that is true.
Notice the order of this 

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declaration. 
Christ died, He was buried, and 

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then he rose again. 
Those aren't poetic words, these

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are historical claims. 
The historical of evidence of 

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Jesus life is overwhelming. 
Roman historians like Tactus 

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wrote about his execution under 
Pontius Pilate. 

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Jewish historians like Josephus 
referenced him as well. 

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And much of the 1st century 
world knew about this man from 

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Nazareth named Jesus. 
The point being is that Jesus 

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lived, that this is a historical
fact, but more importantly that 

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Jesus died in Luke chapter 23 
and verse 46, as Jesus hung upon

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the cross and as he was about to
die, it says and then Jesus 

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shouted, Father, I entrust my 
spirit into your hands. 

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And with those words he breathed
his last. 

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Isn't that amazing? 
He did that for you. 

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The Roman crucifixion was 
designed for one purpose. 

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It was designed for a painful, 
excruciating and humiliating 

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death. 
The soldiers who carried it out 

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were professionals. 
They knew when someone had died.

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They were experts at it. 
They were tasked to ensure it. 

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They were trained executioners. 
In Mark chapter 15 and verse 39 

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it records one of these soldiers
noting Jesus death, but it also 

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notes a a realization that he 
had of something far greater. 

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In verse 39 it says And when the
Roman soldier who stood facing 

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him saw how he had died, he 
exclaimed, This man truly was 

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the Son of God. 
He saw that Jesus was dead. 

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He was trained to know when 
someone was dead. 

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And after Jesus died, his body 
was taken down and placed in a 

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tomb belonging to Joseph of 
Armethia. 

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A big stone was rolled in place 
and Roman guards were assigned 

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to the site to ensure that no 
one was able to steal the body. 

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Both the Romans and the Jewish 
leaders wanted to ensure that 

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this story had ended. 
Everything about the burial 

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confirmed the same reality that 
Jesus was truly dead. 

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And this matters because 
Christianity isn't built on 

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inspirational sayings or moral 
philosophy, is actually built on

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an historical event. 
If Jesus did not truly die, then

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the resurrection really means 
nothing, does it? 

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But the historical evidence 
shows something undeniable, that

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Jesus lived and that he was 
crucified and that he was 

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buried. 
And that brings us to a deeper 

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question. 
Why would the Son of God come 

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down into the world only to be 
executed? 

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Why would he do that? 
To answer that we have to 

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understand the purpose of his 
life. 

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This brings us to the second 
point. 

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The purpose of Jesus life was to
make a way to the Father. 

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Jesus did not simply come to 
perform miracles or start some 

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religion. 
His purpose was to restore 

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humanity's relationship with 
God, Yours and my relationship 

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with the Heavenly Father. 
From the very beginning, 

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humanity was created to know 
God, but sin separated us from 

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Him. 
Unrighteousness caused 

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separation and every generation 
since has been trying to bridge 

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that gap through morality, 
through philosophy, through 

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religion and effort on our part.
But Jesus made a bold claim that

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there is only one way back to 
the Father. 

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He made this claim in John 14-6 
where he said, and you probably 

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know the Scripture, He said that
I am the way, the truth and the 

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life, and no one can come to the
Father except through me, 

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through Jesus. 
Notice what he did not say. 

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He did not say that he would 
show the way, right? 

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He said that He is the way. 
That statement alone is one of 

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the most radical claims ever 
spoken. 

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Every other religious teacher 
has said follow my teaching, 

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right? 
But Jesus said follow me. 

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Why? 
Because the problem of humanity 

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isn't merely ignorance. 
We have lots of knowledge, don't

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we? 
The problem isn't enlightenment.

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The problem is sin. 
Sin separates us from a holy and

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just God. 
No amount of good deeds on our 

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part in our effort can reverse 
it. 

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No amount of religious activity 
or church attendance can erase 

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it. 
No philosophy can fix it. 

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No effort on our part can undo 
it. 

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And that is why Jesus came. 
He had to. 

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We were without hope, right in 
Mark chapter 10 and verse 45, 

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Jesus spoke these words. 
He said for even the Son of Man 

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came not to be served, but to 
serve others and to give his 

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life as a ransom for many. 
That's all of us. 

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Jesus entire life was moving 
towards this one moment, the 

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cross. 
And on the cross He carried the 

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weight and the penalty of all of
our sin, all of humanity's sin, 

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and the punishment that justice 
demanded fell upon him. 

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But here's the good news. 
He did that so that mercy could 

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be offered to you and I. 
Isn't that good news? 

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The cross was not an accident. 
It was actually a mission. 

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It was Jesus mission. 
And what makes Christianity 

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different from every other 
religion is what happened next. 

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What we're celebrating today is 
the resurrection. 

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The resurrection proves Jesus 
authority over death. 

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Let's read this in Matthew 
chapter 28 and verses 2 through 

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verse 6 and verse 2 it says, And
suddenly there was a great 

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earthquake, for an Angel of the 
Lord came down from heaven, and 

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rolled aside the stone and sat 
on it. 

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And verse 3 And his face shone 
like lightning, and his clothes 

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were as white as snow. 
And verse 4, the guard shook 

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with fear. 
And when they saw him, they fell

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into a dead faint kind of 
picture, something like a kids 

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cartoon there where you have 
these, these big muscular, you 

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know, scary soldiers. 
And they see this Angel and all 

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of a sudden they're terrified, 
right? 

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And all of them faint of fear. 
These are Roman soldiers, 

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trained killers. 
And then in verse 5, the Angel 

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spoke to the women, the two 
Marys that came, and they said, 

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don't be afraid. 
I know you are looking for Jesus

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who was crucified, but he isn't 
here. 

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He is risen from the dead, just 
as he said that it would happen.

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Three days after the 
crucifixion, the tomb was empty,

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not because someone moved Jesus 
body, but because Jesus rose 

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from the dead. 
And the evidence for the 

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resurrection is astonishing. 
And we're going to look at some 

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of it this morning. 
We don't have time to go into 

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the all, all the evidence, but 
we're just going to look at 

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three things here this morning. 
First, the tomb was empty, in 

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spite of the tomb being sealed. 
And they poured. 

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When it says it's sealed, they 
actually poured wax between the 

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stone and the tomb to ensure and
make sure that that stone was 

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not moved. 
And if it was moved, they would 

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know it. 
And whoever moved it would be 

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put to death. 
This was something serious. 

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So the tomb was sealed. 
But not only that, it was 

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heavily guarded by trained 
soldiers. 

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And these soldiers were elite, 
all right. 

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There would have been a fierce 
battle to get past these 

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soldiers. 
If someone was attempting to 

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steal Jesus body. 
Listen to a typical guard unit 

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at the time would have consisted
of a minimum of four soldiers up

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to maybe 16 soldiers. 
The Roman soldier was highly 

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trained, highly skilled, But the
interesting thing about the 

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soldier is they risked death for
failure. 

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So you can bet that they were 
not going to allow that tomb to 

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be messed with and that body to 
be stolen. 

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The second is Jesus appeared to 
hundreds of people. 

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Paul writes in One Corinthians 
that more than 500 witnesses saw

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him alive after the 
resurrection. 

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In any court of law, that would 
have been considered 

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overwhelming testimony. 
If you go to court and there's 

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500 witnesses who have signed 
some kind of affidavit, who have

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sworn their testimony and they 
say something had had happened, 

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like that's a done deal in the 
court, right? 

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So here you have over 500 people
who saw and could verify that 

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Jesus has resurrected from the 
dead. 

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The third thing is the disciples
themselves were transformed. 

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And this is what is so 
fascinating and compelling 

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because after Jesus was hung on 
the cross, after he was dead, 

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what did the disciples do? 
Did they go out and share the 

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gospel and tell people about 
Jesus? 

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Hey, we're here to tell you 
about our dead Savior, all 

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right? 
No, they were scared. 

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They were terrified. 
They went into hiding. 

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But what changed? 
What happened that you have all 

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these men and these people who 
were cowering in fear all of a 

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sudden. 
You have in the first or in the 

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2nd chapter of Acts, you have 
the Holy Spirit come. 

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You have the 120 in the upper 
room, right? 

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And you have the apostle Peter. 
He denied Jesus three times, 

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didn't he? 
He couldn't even stand up to a 

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little girl who asked him if he 
was one of the disciples. 

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He said Nope, right, He was a 
coward. 

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All the disciples went into 
hiding. 

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But Peter and all the other 
disciples, on the day of 

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Pentecost, they're preaching to 
thousands of people, declaring 

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Jesus his life, his death, his 
burial and his resurrection. 

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Right. 
What changed the disciples from 

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cowards to people who were 
empowered, who were bold to 

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share their faith in Jesus? 
It was that they had encountered

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the risen Savior, just as Jesus 
had said. 

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What's funny is, is people try 
to come up with all sort of 

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ideas, you know, to explain away
the Bible, to explain away these

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different things. 
Like all those people, they had 

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a hallucination, right? 
These 500 people all had all had

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the same hallucination, right? 
That Jesus was risen from the 

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dead. 
Like that is mathematically 

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something that is not going to 
happen. 

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It's just foolishness, right? 
You know, the same, these are 

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the same people who said that, 
well, it was really easy for the

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children of Israel to cross the 
the Red Sea with Moses, right? 

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Because it was only it was 
really shallow. 

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So they were able to cross the 
Red Sea really easy. 

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They went at the shallow point. 
Well, OK, explain to me how the 

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entire Egyptian army drowned in 
really shallow water. 

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All right, the world comes up 
with all sort of ideas to try to

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explain away Scripture, right. 
Well, why would they want to do 

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that? 
Why would the devil want to do 

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that is the real question. 
It's because everything hinges 

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on the resurrection. 
Everything hinges on this book 

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actually being truth, right? 
This is truth. 

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We know love. 
We all know real love because 

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Jesus came to die upon the cross
for you and I. 

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But that love was proved, and 
that love was demonstrated not 

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just with his sacrifice, but 
with his resurrection. 

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Amen. 
So the disciples were 

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transformed. 
They went from people who were 

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cowards to people that were 
bold, unafraid to share even in 

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the midst of persecution, even 
in the point of being threatened

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with death. 
And let me tell you, all of the 

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disciples except for John, the 
disciple Jesus loved, right? 

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All of the disciples died 
horrendous deaths. 

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They all died martyrs, even 
doubting Thomas made his way to 

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to India. 
And they have in, in in Shania. 

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There they have a monument to 
Thomas who who went across the 

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world to share the gospel. 
And there they say that he was 

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speared to death for sharing 
this truth, right? 

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What made Thomas so bold? 
He encountered the risen Savior.

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Something happened which changed
them, which emboldened them, 

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which empowered them, right? 
Jesus resurrection changed them 

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forever. 
And it changes our lives too. 

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What empowers us to share this 
real love with other people? 

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It's because we're all 
convinced. 

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We all believe we have faith 
that just as Scripture had said 

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that it is true, right? 
Jesus said this in Revelation 

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chapter 1 and verse 18. 
He said I am the living one, I 

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died, but look, I am alive 
forever and ever, and I hold the

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keys of death and the grave. 
The resurrection was not simply 

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a miracle, it was a miracle. 
It was a declaration that Jesus 

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had authority over death, but 
even more, He has authority over

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life. 
Jesus said this in John 10/10. 

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He said the thief does not come 
except to steal, to kill, and to

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destroy. 
But I have come that they may 

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have life and that they may have
it more abundantly. 

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Amen. 
This world is terrified of death

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because they don't know what 
comes after, right? 

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But you and I know what comes 
after because we have faith in 

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the resurrected Savior. 
We have faith that we have 

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eternal life with our heavenly 
Father through Jesus. 

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Man, if you want to come to the 
front here, Aiden, play quietly 

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on the guitar. 
Jesus came to bring life. 

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But to do this, Jesus had to 
conquer death. 

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And this brings us to the most 
important question of all. 

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What does that mean for you? 
If Jesus truly rose from the 

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dead, then he's not just a 
philosopher, he's not just a 

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teacher or a prophet, but he is 
Lord. 

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And if he is Lord, then every 
person must eventually answer 

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the same question. 
What will I do with Jesus? 

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If he is the fulfillment of 
Scripture, if he is the Savior, 

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if he is the King of kings and 
the Lord of Lords, and there's 

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no other way to God except 
through Jesus Christ, then we 

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must ask ourselves the question,
what will we do with Jesus? 

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The resurrection proves that sin
can be forgiven. 

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That's good news, isn't it? 
It proves that death has been 

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defeated, and it proves that 
eternity, eternal life with God 

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is possible. 
But it also confronts us each 

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with a choice. 
All of humanity is faced with 

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this choice because Jesus didn't
merely come just to make your 

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00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:46,280
life better. 
He came to give you life, and 

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00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:53,080
life is better with Jesus, but 
he came to give us new life 

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entirely. 
We become a new creation through

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Christ, Paul says, and Jesus 
said this in Matthew chapter 16 

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and verse 24. 
He said if any of you wants to 

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be my follower, then you must 
give up your own way. 

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That's hard, isn't it? 
But that's the requirement of 

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Jesus. 
If you want to be a follower of 

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Him, then you have to lay your 
own way at the foot of the cross

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and let it die. 
You offer your own way to Him, 

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but in place of that He offers 
you His way, which is life, and 

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life more abundantly. 
We serve a good God. 

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00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,360
He didn't come here just to 
oppress us and suppress us. 

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He gave. 
He came to bless us, to bless us

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with life, but to bless us with 
life more abundantly. 

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That's eternity with him. 
That's this life so much better 

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00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,600
than we could possibly do on our
own, so much better than we 

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00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:28,320
could even imagine. 
So I want to ask you all a 

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00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:34,160
question today. 
Will you answer Jesus call and 

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00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:40,480
follow him if I could have every
person's bow your heads and 

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00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:48,640
close your eyes? 
Many of us have tried life our 

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00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,960
own way, but that way has failed
us. 

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00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:59,640
It's failed US time and again. 
It's led to allowing the devil 

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00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:06,080
to steal our joy. 
It's allowed the devil to kill 

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00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:12,920
our dreams, and it's allowed him
entrance to cause destruction in

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00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:19,440
our life and in our family. 
But Jesus is giving us a choice.

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He came to give us life, and 
that choice is now yours. 

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00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:32,520
Do you want to follow Jesus? 
Will you make him the Lord of 

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00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:37,480
your life and receive 
forgiveness of sin? 

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00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:43,040
If you want to follow Jesus 
while every eye is closed, I 

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00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:45,040
just want you to raise your 
hand. 

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No one's looking around, it's 
just me, you and God. 

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If you want to follow Jesus, 
just raise your hand. 

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00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:09,080
Maybe we've been a Christian for
many years now, but really, if 

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00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:15,280
you're honest, you really 
haven't done what Jesus said and

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00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:19,680
given up your own way. 
I want you to raise your hand 

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00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:25,760
too. 
This is probably the most 

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00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,680
consequential decision that 
you're ever going to make right 

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00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:36,040
here this morning. 
And I want to wait just a moment

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00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:41,560
longer because I believe that 
there's more people here that 

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you either haven't made a 
decision for Christ or you've 

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00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,680
been living in your own way and 
you want to make a change. 

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00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,560
You're choosing to put down your
own way. 

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00:27:56,160 --> 00:28:00,000
Lay that at the foot of the 
cross and follow Him. 

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00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,920
Is there anyone else here this 
morning? 

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Listen, honestly, that could be 
each and every one of us if we 

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00:28:17,500 --> 00:28:19,220
could just pray all this 
together. 

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00:28:19,820 --> 00:28:30,020
We can all stand and we'll pray 
this prayer together. 

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00:28:32,420 --> 00:28:37,420
Dear Heavenly Father, I believe 
in Jesus. 

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00:28:39,420 --> 00:28:48,200
I believe he's resurrected, I 
believe Jesus as my Lord, and I 

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00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:56,480
repent of all my sin today and 
I'm making the decision to 

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00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:01,200
follow Jesus. 
Fill my heart with you, God, 

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00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,640
help me live my life to please 
you. 

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00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:12,040
Help me walk in your ways. 
Thank you for this new life in 

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00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:22,320
you in Jesus name, Amen. 
Hallelujah for those of you who 

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00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:29,640
who raised your your life. 
Listen, Pastor Amy and I would 

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00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:35,720
love to connect with you and I 
have a a book, you know, if 

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00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,600
you're a first time guest to the
church, you would have get 

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00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,240
gotten this in a welcome bag 
there. 

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00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,360
It's the book so loved and it's 
based off Ephesians chapter 2 

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00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:48,720
and verse four in the amplified 
classic version. 

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00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,360
You know, and of course we know 
John 316 for God so loved, 

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00:29:53,600 --> 00:30:01,200
right, So loved you read that. 
It's not a long book. 

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00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:08,440
I think it's like 84 pages, but 
it kind of explains this in more

368
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,720
detail, what we talked about 
today, how much God loves you, 

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00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,120
but we'd love for you as well 
to, to connect with us after 

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00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,000
service. 
Just let us know of the decision

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00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,320
that you made. 
Sometimes it it's good just to 

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00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:26,880
fortify that choice that you've 
made, fortify that decision that

373
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:29,520
you made and say, listen, Pastor
Brad, I just want you to know 

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00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,120
that I gave my life to Christ 
today. 

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00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,240
Listen, Pastor Brad, I'm 
choosing to set aside my own way

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00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:40,400
and I'm choosing to be 
uninhibited in following Christ.

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00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,640
Amen. 
Hallelujah. 

378
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,200
Heavenly Father, Lord, we just 
thank you. 

379
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:54,200
Lord, you're so good. 
Your goodness leads us to 

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00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:59,920
repentance. 
Lord, you didn't come to this 

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00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:03,680
world to judge us. 
You came to this world to save 

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00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,360
us, Lord, and we thank you for 
that. 

383
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:12,320
Lord, I just pray that for the 
rest of this day, for the rest 

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00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,800
of this week and month, Lord, 
let every day be a celebration 

385
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,720
of Jesus. 
Let every day be a celebration 

386
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,280
of his death and his burial and 
his resurrection. 

387
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,400
Thank you, Lord, that we 
wouldn't take that for granted. 

388
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,520
We wouldn't set it aside as as 
just a story or or some 

389
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:36,880
religious thing, Lord, but 
something that is a historical 

390
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:45,360
fact that Jesus did for us. 
Jesus name Amen. 

391
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,520
Thank you for listening to the 
Triumph Church podcast this 

392
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,080
week. 
If it was a blessing to you, 

393
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:57,960
share it with someone you know. 
For more information on Triumph 

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00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:03,880
Church, you can visit us at 
www.triumphchurch.ie.