Crossing Nation happy Easter man.
It's so good to be with each and every single one of you, my name
is Clayton Hansel. And for those of you who don't
know me, I have the opportunity to be one of the pastor's here,
on staff at the Crossing, and my parents raised me in a good
Christian home. They took me to church on a
regular basis. But over time I realized that
there were some questions that I had that I didn't have a really
good answer. Answers to questions, like can I
actually trust the Bible questions?
Like did Jesus, really died on a cross questions?
Like if Jesus really died on a cross, was putting a grave on
Friday and then somehow on Sunday, came back to life.
How did that happen? I had questions and I needed
some answers because I'd also heard some teachings about
Jesus, that there was an eternal glory of Heaven, for those who
were in a relationship with him, and then there was eternal
punishment. Hell for those who didn't and
when you think about eternity and you think about the glories
of heaven or the horrors of hell, I figured I probably need
to get this thing figured out because there's an awful lot
that hangs in the balance. I had heard teachings about
Jesus teachings, that I love. That were very appealing to me
teachings, like forgiveness, Peace, Hope.
But was it, reliable? Was it trustworthy?
I'd heard about all the love that Jesus proclaimed in the
standard of love that. He He called his followers to
that. Also was appealing to me.
But was it reliable? Was it trustworthy?
And so I went on a search for answers to these questions.
And this journey took me down one of the most life-changing
roads. It changed my identity.
It changed my purpose and it changed my outlook on this life
and in the life that is to come. So today at the Crossing we are
beginning a seven-week sermon series called if because we all
have questions and I think we all deserve some answers.
It is designed to help people who already have a relationship
with Jesus Christ to strengthen. There's to give you a firmer
Foundation, but it's also designed for those of you who
have lost your faith. To those of you who are seeking
your faith. For you to be able to find it
for you, to be able to start it. I want to welcome those of you
joining at all of our different locations.
Those of you here at 48th Street, those of you who are
part of our Macomb location, Kirksville, and 929, and Pike
County and Hannibal. Those of you joining us in Lima,
Mount Sterling, Keokuk, Monmouth Jacksonville.
To those of you who are part of our inside family, at the
Western Illinois, correctional center, Pike, County Jail,
Adams, County, jail. And those of you gathering at
the Vandalia women's prison and the thousands of you joining a
online and I all. Yeah, that's great.
I also want to welcome all of you joining us for the very
first time, or maybe the first time in a long time.
We are so thankful that you are here, and I want you to know
that there are campus pastors at every single one of our
locations and staff at every single one of our locations and
difference makers at every single one of our locations that
are rooting for you and have been praying for you as a
church. We are in your corner and we To
help you find an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus
Christ. And I know in a room, this big
at all of our different locations.
There are some of you here today that are just here to make
somebody else happy We get it. So we're going to get you out of
here as soon as possible. We know that there are some of
you Gathering here today that don't believe in God.
And I want, you know, you picked one of the coolest places to
hang out if you don't believe in God.
There are some of you here today you believe in God, you're just
mad at him and I want you to know, it's okay to be here.
If you're mad at God to, there's some of you who you are going
through the Thrills of life and you think you don't need God,
and there are some of you who are going through, Through the
lows of life and you can't seem to find him.
There are some of you who you have questions that you
desperately need answered. And there are some of you
listening to my voice right now. That have questions you're too
afraid to ask for the first 18 years of my spiritual journey.
This is what I thought it meant to be a Christian and meant to
close your eyes. Cover your ears, ignore all
human thought. All human reason and just take a
blind leap of faith. And I couldn't do it.
I needed something that could be evaluated something that could
be examine something that could be questioned.
I was in a conversation with a guy, and he was telling me what
God was like, and he was saying, you know, God's whoever you want
him to be, man, there's no Heaven, there's no hell, it
doesn't matter what you do here on Earth, it's all going to turn
out well, in the end. And so, I listened for a while
and then I said, well, how do you know And he was like, you
just know man okay, I'm exaggerating a little but that's
pretty much what he was. Now we all have a little bit of
that. I said, well how do you know he
goes? I just know in my heart.
Okay, I'm that sounds cool. Make a good card but I give you
needed. Open heart surgery.
He had a friend who's like, just come on over to the house.
I'll figure it out. I know how to do heart
surgeries. And you said, well, how do you
know? And they said to you?
Well, I just know how to do heart surgeries in my heart,
you're gone. No, I need something on a wall.
I need something better than that.
What I want to tell you is when it comes to Eternity, when it
comes to your salvation when it comes to your soul, But it's
infinitely more important than open, heart surgery and I think
we need something a little bit more than I just know in my
heart. One of the commands of Jesus is
to love him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength.
What I'm trying to tell you is one of the ways we can love.
God is through a reasoned faith. Not a blind one.
Now, listen to me, I don't want you to get me wrong intimate,
personal relationship with Jesus Christ is definitely more than
just intellectual assent. It's way more than just deep
critical thinking but it is certainly not anything less.
And today I want to take you on the journey, the end up being
life-giving to me and hopefully will help you on your faith
Journey. Here's the bottom line, the
centerpiece of Christianity is not Jesus on the cross.
I know some of you are like oh my goodness, I knew that this
church was crazy and here it is on Easter weekend, but listen to
me, it's just not lots of people died on crosses.
In fact, Jesus was only one third of the dudes who died on a
cross on the day, that became known as Good Friday, for all
the Christian bumper stickers, for all the crosses on churches,
for all the really cool cross tattoos.
It's not the cross. That makes a special.
Something different. Christianity Rises and falls on
a historical factual literal resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In fact, one of the biggest names in all of Christianity, 20
years after this event rights to a group of people in Corinth and
this is what he says. And if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins.
If only for this life, we have hope in Christ.
We are of all people, most to be pitied.
The resurrection isn't true. We can all get an awful lot of
our time back. And we could spend it way
differently than we spend it. We've have different standards
different measurements. So I started this journey and
there are four historical facts that everybody has to agree on.
Now when I say everybody has to agree on these four facts, I'm
gonna saying whether you're Republican or Democrat, you have
to agree on these four, whether you are a believer in God or
your you don't believe in God, atheist or agnostic.
You can't get around these four historical facts, history.
Fact. Number one, Jesus of Nazareth
died on a cross executed by Pontius Pilate.
Now this is not just the testimony of the Christian,
writers, of Matthew, Mark, Luke John, or you, or Peter, or Paul.
It's also of Josephus and tacitus.
Josephus was a Jewish historian, tacitus was a Roman historian.
And given the fact that both of these governments, both of these
nations were hostile to the person and message of Jesus.
They included this stuff as a badge of honor.
Yeah, this guy died. Nobody can dispute that there
was a man by the name of Jesus who died on a cross executed, by
Pontius Pilate. The second historical fact, is
the grave was empty. We're going to circle back on
that one in a second. The third historical fact is
that Jesus's early followers believed in a literal physical
tangible, resurrected, Jesus and this event transformed their
lives. This experience shifted who they
were, they went from being fearful, followers discouraged
and distraught followers to being radical, Proclaimers of a
gospel message, and leaders of a movement that transformed
Society. They believe that Jesus rose
from the grave. The fourth historical fact is
that the Christian church was founded?
Ended because of this belief in a risen Jesus.
And these, this event was seismic.
Here's what it did to the religious calendar, for fifteen
hundred centuries, Jewish people who are trying to worship God on
Saturdays. They would worship him.
But these early followers of Jesus, who believed in a
resurrection to honor and celebrate and commemorate, the
fact that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, shifted worship
from Saturday to Sunday. Now that might not seem like
that big of a deal but I said 1500 years of religious
momentum. Imagine what kind of event would
have to happen today in our world, will actually not today
1250 years into the future, where we no longer celebrated
Independence Day on July 4th We celebrated it on a different
day. Who would have to occupy us what
would have to happen on our American soil?
That would make us as an entire nation.
Go, hold on a second here. Forget about independence from
the Brits. We've got a whole different
Independence that we need to celebrate and we be letting off
fireworks at some other time of the year.
No seismic. The second thing is, is it
didn't just shift the religious calendar.
It shifted every calendar. In fact, every event in human
history and every event that will ever happen in the future
is measured off of this event. Everything before Jesus is BC
before Christ. Everything after is a D, in the
year of Our Lord, we are gathered in 2023 in the year of
Our Lord 20. Three.
These four events. Regardless of where you find
yourself on the spiritual Continuum, whether you hate God,
barely believe in God or been following out your whole life.
All four of us have these four fact, are all of us have these
four facts in Colin. Now, let's Circle back to the
empty tomb. It is a historical fact that the
tomb was empty and people have put forth a couple of theories
as to how the grave was empty because it was empty.
The first one is that everybody went to the wrong tomb.
Now, the problem with that is the first people that went to
the tomb were women And women pull over and ask for
directions. Had the first people been guys,
we never would have found Jesus. We never would have known, he
could have risen from the dead but we never would have found
out. But women will pull over the
second problem inside of this is we know who's Kim.
It was, it was Joseph of Arimathea.
Sit was a brand new Tomb, he bought it.
He had it made for himself so he would have had to go to the
wrong tomb. Not only that the religious
leaders would have had to have gone to the wrong tomb and the
Roman authorities who put a seal on it.
And Put guards out in front to guard, it would have had to go
to the wrong tomb. In other words, the women went
to the wrong tomb, the men went to the wrong tomb.
The religious authorities went to the wrong tomb.
The Civil Authorities went to the wrong tomb, and Joseph of
Arimathea who bought it, forgot where he had it.
Highly unlikely. Okay, well, the second theory is
well that Jesus didn't die. He swooned everybody say swim.
You'll never use that word again but now we have it.
What they're saying is that Jesus just didn't die.
Now let me walk you through what he went through for just a quick
second. First thing we find out is that
he was beat, then he was flogged which has been known to kill
people. Then he carried a heavy cross to
the point of failure and Simon of Cyrene had to carry it.
The rest of the way then to help him recover from what he's
already sustained. They drove Nails in his feet and
Nails in his hands and strung him up on a cross for For six
hours to help him get a little bit better.
Then the Roman officers Executioner's who are designed
to make sure that people died came up to him and said he's
dead, but just to make sure they ran a spear up inside of him and
pierced his heart and it says that blood and water flowed out,
which is pretty interesting. Because I don't know how many of
you guys have ever stab somebody in the heart, but that's like
one of the new policies we have here at the church.
No stabbing. And if I were to stab you right
now, You're living. Just blood would come rushing,
out of your heart. Okay, if I stab you, I'll put it
over here. If I were to stab you, it all
that would happen, but if you were already dead, something
happens when you die your blood separates.
When you go to give blood, your doctor will tell you this, your
blood will separate the red blood cells, will collect at the
bottom and your plasma, which looks a little bit more like
water. The clear substance will float
to the top. It's like oil and water in a
jar. So when you pierce it, what
comes out first, what's at the bottom?
The blood and then what comes after that, the water.
The only way you would get that is if Jesus was already dead
before, he was stabbed, but he survived that I guess.
And then all the blood drained out from at least this way down.
Then they don't, you know, they put him in a first-century.
I see you also known as a grave. They put him in the grave and
they wrap them up and then they put 75 pounds of spices in
there. Then they, it's cold and dark.
They roll this. The stone over the grave.
Then they just leave them in there for three days.
No food, no water, no care. So we can just rest up and then
he rises up and he makes his clothes.
That's why women love Jesus. Because when Jesus gets up, he
folds his clothes, make some snacks them all neatly.
Then from inside the tomb, he rolls the stone back, which is a
pretty Herculean effort because when the women were going to the
tomb, they said, who's going to move this big stone for us?
Well, Jesus. He's had a couple hours rest
from everything that he's been going through some So he's more
than willing to be able to move are more than able to move the
stone and then he goes out and takes out the Roman guards.
That's what they're proposing in.
The Swoon Theory, I wasn't buying it.
I'm guessing neither. Are you other people have said,
well, it was just a hallucination.
Everybody was just hallucinating that Jesus had risen from the
dead. The problem with that is people
who usually hallucinate have either done a lot of drugs or
they're going to have a severe mental illness and rarely do
people have the exact same hallucination.
I mean, some of you You. You know, somebody who's had too
much. And you were having too much
till and you probably didn't. Do the.
Are you seeing this too, man? Here's what would have had to
happen. The women at the tomb, the
disciples at the tomb Thomas when he physically touched him.
The two on the road to Emmaus, those who went fishing with
Jesus and over 500. People would have all had to
have the exact same hallucination over a period of
40 days. The other problem is it still
doesn't account for the empty tomb, all they would have to do
is go. Hey, you hallucinating crazy
people. Here's dead, Jesus.
But they didn't do that. So then what they said is, maybe
maybe someone stole Jesus. Okay, maybe his enemies did it.
Well, that doesn't make sense. Why would you use his enemies?
Steal his body. Because they were trying to kill
this infant movement. They're trying to stop it before
it got big, they were frustrated.
If they had stolen the body, all they have had to do.
So, here is that Jesus and have been over.
Well, maybe maybe the disciples stole it.
They believe so much in his message that they would have
stolen his body to keep the myth and the Rumor alive.
The problem with that is that they have had to overpower the
guards and they were never brought to trial and punished
for stealing the body. The other problem is Their lives
were completely transformed by this event, almost.
All of them were committed to it.
To the point of death. There were zero defectors,
everybody who saw Jesus alive, believed it and paid dearly for
it. They were severely punished or
killed for the belief that Jesus not only died for their sins.
But Rose from the grave in a bodily, physical tangible state.
People die all the time. People die for causes all the
time but people don't die for something that they know to be a
lie. These early followers of Jesus
would have had to have stolen the body and known in their
hearts. That Jesus did not rise from the
dead and then spend the rest of their lives at Great cost.
Proclaiming. And Offering for what they were.
Proclaiming that Jesus rose from the dead.
They received no comfort for this belief.
No social standing, no monetary gain.
All they did was suffer for what they believed.
And for me I couldn't buy it. This left me with sufficient
evidence to believe that Jesus indeed Rose from the grave.
And that means that Jesus is who he says he is and that means
that what he taught has. Value and implications for me
that I can look through and empty tomb.
And I can see the cross. And I can see the teachings that
he left for you. And for me, that means that hell
is real and so is heaven. And when I die, I need to have
this figured out and have a life that reflects it, in my opinion.
It means at least four things. A resurrected.
Jesus means one that. God loves you.
And we'll never stop loving you. He loved you before you ever
took your first breath. He loved you before you ever did
anything wrong. Because before you existed, he
sent his son to die on the cross on your behalf.
And you can tell how much somebody are how much something
is worth by how much someone is willing to pay for it.
Some of you right now, you may be experiencing an increase in
the appraisal of your home and you're looking around and you're
going, our house keeps going Up and value.
And some of you are excited about it because you're ready to
sell others of you are frustrated by it because you
know, that the accessor of the the county assessor is looking
at the same thing that you're looking at your like we haven't
done anything to our house, but the value keeps going up.
Well, it's because your house value is going up because other
people are willing to pay more for what you have.
Your value is based on what somebody else was willing to pay
for it. And if you want to figure out
how much you're worth, all you have to do is look at the cross,
because God sent his one, and only son to die on the cross to
rescue you, to purchase you to redeem you to buy you.
And it cost him the life of his son.
That's how much you're worth. The second thing that it means
is that you have purpose because God created you, you are not an
accident, your parents might not have planned you.
You might be the result of a lot of country music and a lot of
alcohol on our really long night, but that does not mean
that God did not want to bring you into the world.
That means that God believes that you have something to offer
and God has something to offer. You three, it means that you can
be made new. I wonder if there's anybody
gathering at any of our locations who could use a
do-over who would like to be made new, who would like a
restart? Who would appreciate a mulligan?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, is not just that he changes us, but
he makes you knew. Point for the fourth thing that
are resurrected. Jesus means is you have been
completely forgiven. If I were right now to pass the
microphone around and say, everybody tell us your darkest
sin, I would walk off the stage and then all of you would go to
the bathroom and that would be the end of our church.
Okay, everybody be doing burnouts and the parking lot.
We got to get out of here because there are certain sins
that we would tell people that. We wrestle with.
And there are some sins, we don't ever want anybody to find
out. And Jesus paid for them all.
Jesus came for all of it. Well, how does God make this
happen? How does all of this take place
second Corinthians. Chapter 5 tells us?
Therefore if anyone is in Christ to be in Christ, is to have an
intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
So these statements are true. If you are in an intimate
personal relationship with Christ, the new creation has
come the old has gone. The new is here, when you come
into an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
when you are in Christ, you are made new. if you are not in an
intimate, personal relationship, with Jesus Christ, You are still
in your sins. Let's keep going.
All of this is from God. This wasn't our idea.
This was his idea. He loved us so much that he came
up with the idea to reconcile us to himself through Christ.
So, you get a right relationship with God, that reconciliation
means a right relationship. He came up with it, that it
happens through Christ. It doesn't matter how many
friends you have, it doesn't matter if your parents believed,
it doesn't matter if you make enough money or how poor you
are, doesn't Don't matter how connected you are.
How cool your job is, how fashionable you are.
How you look in the mirror, none of that matters.
What matters is are you in Christ?
Because it is through Christ that we are reconciled and those
of us who get reconciled, he gives us the ministry of
reconciliation to go out and help other people find this
relationship with God. Let's keep going in the text.
That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.
How is he doing that? By this, by not counting
people's sins against them. Single one of us are relational
struggles with friends, family members, spouses, co-workers
bosses has everything to do with the fact that they are counting
our sins against us and we are counting their sins against them
but God chose not to count your sins against you.
Well how does he do that? We're going to find out in a
couple of verses that God was reconciling the world to
himself, not counting people's sins against them and then he
has committed. To us.
Those of us who are in Christ, the message of reconciliation.
Let's keep going. We are.
Therefore, Christ's ambassadors. As though, God, we're making his
appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's
behalf be reconciled to God. Come into an intimate personal
relationship with him and experience the purpose and the
forgiveness. And the love that you were
destined for that. You were created for well how is
God not counting our sins against Us.
How are we coming into this reconciled state with God verse
the next verse tells us? God made him.
That's Jesus. Who had no sin to be sin for us.
So that in him in Christ and Jesus, we might become the
righteousness of God. Here's what happened.
God looked at you and took all of the sins that you have ever
committed and all the sins that you will ever come in, and he
placed them on the perfect person of Jesus, And he took all
of the Perfection of Jesus and he placed it on us.
And so he still punished the sins.
He just didn't punish us. He punished the ones who bore
our sins. And so when you and I look at an
empty grave and we look at the cross.
We see Jesus suffering on our behalf so that you and I could
have a right relationship with God.
Here's what I'm trying to say. If you are needing rescued, I
know where to find it. If you're looking for Mercy, I
know where you can get it. If you need a restart, if you
need to be made new, if you need someone to take care of your
past and give you a future, I know where you can get it.
If you're the kind of person who's need to be made or
righteous, if you want the promise of Heaven if you're
looking for Hope, if you're needing some help.
If you're looking for a miracle, if you want some comfort, some
direction or peace, I know where you can find But don't go to the
tomb because he's not there, and don't go to the Cross.
He's not there either, but it's because of an empty tomb.
And it's because of a cross that I can come into a relationship
with a risen savior. He is alive, and he wants a
relationship with you. And the worst thing you could do
is put it off. We're moving to a decide time of
decision. There's some of you in here
today, you've never started an intimate personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. And I want you to hear me say
this for me and for thousands of people all across this region,
we would tell you two things. It was the greatest decision we
ever made and our biggest regret is we didn't do it sooner and I
know there's some of you in here going Clayton I still have a lot
of questions and I'm going to encourage you to ask him.
Don't hide from them. Pray through them.
But there is some of you in this room or watching online that you
know enough, here's what I mean. Most of you don't know
everything there is to know about a car.
But, you know, enough that you don't want to walk.
Some of you you don't know everything there is to know
about a house but you signed all 56 legal documents that you
didn't read when you bought one and you walked away so proud of
yourself and I get to put in your Banker could have put in
that contract, bring Clayton, a Snickers every day for the rest
of your life and like it's right there.
Like I didn't know it because I wasn't reading so you didn't
know everything but, you know, enough men Be cool here.
How many of you know everything there is to know about a woman
Yeah, we have a support group that meets on Tuesdays and how
many of you would say that? What you knew about your wife
last month? No longer applies this month.
But, you know, enough. To know that you wanted her in
your life forever. I get the desire to know God and
understand everything about him, but I need you to know you will
never understand everything about an infinite god with your
finite bring but you can know enough.
You can know enough to know that you need him and you don't want
to spend another day of your life without him.
And you can be made new today. You can be reconciled to God.
Today, you can get your restart today.
You can experience forgiveness today.
You have to make a decision and no decision is a decision and if
you have questions about what that is or what that looks like,
there's me somebody right over there by the bastard.
Who would love an opportunity to talk with you about what that
looks like to the rest of you to the Christians, to those who've
been made new been given our loved have been reconciled.
God has given you. And I a Ministry of
reconciliation and why would you settle for living for anything
less? There is no grander purpose for
your life. No better mission to submit
yourself to No Greater message to display and God is calling us
to bring his lost children home and will you join us in that
mission? Would you stand with me?
Heavenly Father, do something in this church in this service.
This right now do something that only you can do.
Stir Hearts change Hearts, altered Destinies, change
Eternal, destinations God. We believe that you can do it,
and we're begging you to do. So, and your name, I pray.
Amen.