1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:01,960 Good morning. My name is Chuck. 2 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,120 I'm one of the leaders here. In fact, I'm married to the 3 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 delightful Taran who you saw in the green earlier on. 4 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,360 And it's it's fantastic to see you. 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,360 And we're going to open up the Bible together now. 6 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,000 If you've got a Bible with you, now is the moment to produce it. 7 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:17,440 If you don't have one, that's fine. 8 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:19,200 The words are going to come up on the screen. 9 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:24,640 It just occurred to me to say, by the way, I was, I've met a 10 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,200 whole bunch of people already today who like, this isn't your 11 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,160 normal church. Maybe you don't even go to 12 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,520 church at all. And you're probably thinking, 13 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,880 oh, like, I feel a bit awkward. Everyone else here knows what 14 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,720 they're doing. And, and I like, I'm not used to 15 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,280 this, actually. What you probably don't know is 16 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,000 that there are loads of people in this room who don't normally 17 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,160 come to church And, and that's the same every single week. 18 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:52,720 And we have people exploring faith, pursuing Jesus, trying to 19 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,440 figure out what this whole thing is about every single week. 20 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,440 And so you'd be welcome to come any week and you wouldn't feel 21 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,040 out of place. That's exactly the kind of 22 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,160 church we're trying to be. We want to be the kind of church 23 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,120 where it's like it makes sense for people who don't normally do 24 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:08,120 church. And so if that's you, I'd love 25 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,000 to meet you afterwards. Come to the Connect lounge 26 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,720 through the doors on the left or just come next week and we can 27 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,760 meet you that next week instead. We always say like, don't judge 28 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,360 us on one week. That would be silly. 29 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,360 Just like, come for like six weeks and then decide whether or 30 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:21,840 not you want to be part of this church. 31 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,680 We'd love you to do that. OK, I'm going to open up the 32 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:25,240 Bible. Now. 33 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:30,360 Let's pray. And Lord, we are just so excited 34 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,680 to be celebrating Easter, your resurrection. 35 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,120 And we pray that as we open the Scriptures together this 36 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,560 morning, by your Spirit, you'd be causing them to burn within 37 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,440 us. We just open up our hearts. 38 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,400 We open up our lives, we open up our minds to you, and we invite 39 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,840 you to speak by your word and your Spirit. 40 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:51,880 Amen. Amen. 41 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,920 Well, a few years ago when we were living in Scotland, we, we 42 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,800 had our garage converted and, and so whilst the builders were 43 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,600 like nailing things and laying bricks and whatever they were 44 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,120 doing, me and Taron went off to go and try and find some 45 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,360 flooring. And so we, we went to a bunch of 46 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,160 different flooring shops and then we went to this one shop. 47 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,000 And, you know, when you meet someone who's just so passionate 48 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,800 about their job, you know, and so this guy was the most 49 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,400 passionate guy you could ever imagine on the subject of 50 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,200 flooring. He said, can I help you? 51 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,320 And we were like, well, we're just looking for some flooring. 52 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,600 He said, no, no, no, no, never apologize for looking at 53 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,160 flooring. You know, don't you're not just 54 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,240 looking for flooring. You're looking for flooring 55 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,160 today. And then he was like, well, what 56 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,000 kind of flooring do you want? Do you want laminate flooring? 57 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000 Do you want vinyl flooring? Do you want engineered wood 58 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,920 flooring? Do you want solid wood flooring? 59 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:45,840 Well, I don't know. And so he was showing us all 60 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:47,520 these different things. And eventually we found 61 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:49,000 something that we thought might look all right. 62 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,520 And he said, right now I'm going to give you a sample. 63 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,680 He said, I'm only going to give you this sample if you promised 64 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:58,920 to do 2 things. And we were like, OK, we 65 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:02,360 promise. The two things are #1 He said, I 66 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,400 want you to go home. I want you to examine the 67 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,280 quality of the flooring. We were like, OK, we promised to 68 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:08,480 examine the quality of the floor. 69 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,840 Promise #2 He said, I want you to take this piece of flooring 70 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,640 and wherever you're going to lay it in your house, I want you to 71 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:17,640 put it on the floor. And then I want you to, like, 72 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:20,800 kneel down next to it. And I want you to just get your 73 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,080 eyes as close as possible to the flooring and then just look 74 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,600 across the flooring. Just imagine, just looking 75 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,800 across this sample, that the whole floor is covered with your 76 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,480 sample. And we were like, yeah, OK, we 77 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,720 promise. Might not have meant it, you 78 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,680 know, but it's like, and anyway, you might be wondering what the 79 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,160 point is. The point is that Jesus 80 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,640 resurrection, the resurrection that we are enjoying examining, 81 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,360 celebrating today is a sample resurrection, right? 82 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,960 We are examining the quality of this resurrection because it 83 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,600 really matters to us. In fact, the apostle Paul said 84 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,600 in Philippians chapter 3 verse 20, he said, but our citizenship 85 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,800 is in heaven and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the 86 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,480 Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring 87 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:13,160 everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies 88 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,680 so that they'll be like his glorious body. 89 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,120 In other words, we're enjoying and celebrating Jesus 90 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,800 resurrection because one day it's going to be ours. 91 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,720 And so it's worth examining the quality of it to see what it's 92 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,000 going to be like. But also it's worth just 93 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,400 imagining just kneeling down at his resurrection and looking 94 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,400 across his resurrection and imagining the whole earth filled 95 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,920 covered with people who have also been raised from the dead. 96 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:44,680 Right. Just thinking about Revelation 7 97 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,120 where it talks about there before me was a great multitude 98 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,680 that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and 99 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:55,440 language standing before the throne and and before the Lamb. 100 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,600 They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches 101 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:00,400 in their hands. And they cried out in a loud 102 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,080 voice. Salvation belongs to our God who 103 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,240 sits on the throne and to the Lamb. 104 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,680 And so my point is that what we're celebrating today is that 105 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:16,040 Jesus is very dead body in a cold tomb in the Middle East 106 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:21,680 2000 years ago was just the sample of what we're going to 107 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,800 enjoy across the face of the earth for every single one of us 108 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,440 available to us that we could enjoy a life after death. 109 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,600 And So what I want to look at this morning really briefly is 110 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,760 like, what is the nature of our hope? 111 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,920 What does it look like for there to be a resurrection? 112 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,320 What does it look like for the possibility of each one of us 113 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:45,920 being raised from the dead? And we're going to do that by 114 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:50,160 looking at this incredibly powerful picture of resurrection 115 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,440 that comes in the book of Ezekiel. 116 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:57,960 So Ezekiel chapter 37, if you've got your Bible with you, Ezekiel 117 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,800 is a prophet in the Old Testament who is prophesying at 118 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,640 one of the lowest points in the whole of the Bible history, 119 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,320 right? So, so throughout the Old 120 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,400 Testament, God has been pursuing his people with grace. 121 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,840 Throughout the Old Testament, the people of God are 122 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:20,680 consistently turning away from God and he keeps forgiving them. 123 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,600 He keeps being gracious to them. He keeps like bringing his word 124 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,440 to them and trying to gather them back. 125 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:31,400 And eventually he says, well, listen, this is what you 126 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,720 actually deserve. And his justice means that 127 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,080 eventually he says, OK, I'm going to give you over to what 128 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,600 you really deserve. And the Babylonians come and 129 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,920 they come to Jerusalem. They besiege the city and they 130 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,560 take, they ransack the city of Jerusalem. 131 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,520 And they take God's people out of Jerusalem, out of the 132 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:56,520 promised land, and they take them out into the the nation of 133 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,520 Babylon. And so this is like the lowest 134 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,840 point in the whole of the biblical history. 135 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,600 And into that context of of real sadness and desperation, the 136 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:15,000 prophet Ezekiel begins to speak about hope and about the 137 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,520 possibility that the fortunes of the people of God could turn. 138 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,960 And so that's Ezekiel 37. And just as we're reading it, 139 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,840 you just have to understand, whenever we read Old Testament 140 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,760 prophecy, we're reading in three different ways. 141 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,680 First of all, we're reading, what did this mean to those 142 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,240 people at that time? And clearly this is a message of 143 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,080 hope to a people who in exile in Babylon. 144 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,920 But also we're reading it like, what does it mean to us today? 145 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,560 What is God's word to us today? And then also finally we're 146 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,440 reading it like when Jesus comes in his glory and he finishes 147 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,960 every job that is unfinished, what will it mean then? 148 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,920 OK, so they're three different ways, but but what does it mean 149 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,360 for us today? Ezekiel 37 reading from verse 150 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,600 one, it says this. The hand of the Lord was on me, 151 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,920 and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in 152 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,040 the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. 153 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,680 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many 154 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,440 bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very 155 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,360 dry. He asked me, Son of man, can 156 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,320 these bones live? I said, Sovereign Lord, you 157 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,800 alone know. Then he said to me, prophecy to 158 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,280 these bones, and say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the 159 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:32,799 Lord. This is what the sovereign Lord 160 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:35,400 says to these bones. I will make breath enter you, 161 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,640 and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and 162 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,080 make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. 163 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,640 I'll put breath in you, and you will come to life. 164 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,240 Then you will know that I am the Lord. 165 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,920 So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I was 166 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,280 prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones 167 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,720 came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh 168 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,280 appeared on them, and skin covered them, but there was no 169 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,600 breath in them. Then he said to me, Prophecy to 170 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:08,480 the breath prophecy, Son of Man, and say to it, This is what the 171 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:12,320 Sovereign Lord says, Come breath from the four winds, and breathe 172 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,320 into these slain, that they may live. 173 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,120 So I prophesied as he commanded, and breath entered them. 174 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:22,520 They came to life and stood up on their feet a vast army. 175 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:28,800 Amazing picture of not just one resurrection, but whole army 176 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:30,920 full of people being resurrected. 177 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,600 So what is the nature of our hope as Christians when it comes 178 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,240 to resurrection? Well, first of all, resurrection 179 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,360 is never beyond hope. There is always hope. 180 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:46,240 This picture that Ezekiel paints is of a battlefield, right? 181 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,160 So there's a valley and there are bodies everywhere. 182 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,960 And these bodies aren't just like a bit unwell, you know, 183 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,800 like, oh, bless them. They're feeling a bit under the 184 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,120 weather, you know, because these are dead bodies. 185 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:58,880 And in fact, they're not just like dead. 186 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,760 They're skeletons. And in fact, they're not just 187 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:03,960 skeletons, but the bones have been scattered. 188 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:05,720 And in fact, the bones just haven't been scattered. 189 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,880 They're dry bones. So they've been there for ages. 190 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,280 So vitamin C is not going to help, right? 191 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:13,480 They're not going to wake up in the morning and think, oh, that 192 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,560 was a heavy night. You know, these, these are dead, 193 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,440 like deader than dead. These are these, these are 194 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,160 utterly beyond hope. The situation is terrible. 195 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,800 But Jesus said, you know, lots of things are impossible for 196 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,000 man, but all things are possible with God. 197 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:41,800 And these hopeless bones come back to life under the power of 198 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:43,400 God. And we see that in the Easter 199 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:45,920 story as well, don't we? There's Jesus. 200 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,440 And Jesus has been brutally tortured to the point where he's 201 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,560 unable to carry his own cross. But that means that he's nearly 202 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:57,560 dead by the time he even arrives at the cross. 203 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:04,160 And then he's brutally executed by one of the most barbaric 204 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,840 methods of execution ever invented. 205 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,320 And then a spear is thrust into his side just to make sure that 206 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,240 he's definitely dead. And then his body is tightly 207 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,760 wrapped in burial clothes, and it's placed in a tomb. 208 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,200 And then a stone that weighs as much as a small car is pushed 209 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,400 across the entrance of the tomb. And then this the the stone is 210 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,560 guarded by 16 professional Roman soldiers. 211 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:38,000 And so the chant of a man like sufficiently recovering after 212 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,040 everything that's happened to him over the previous days, to 213 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,920 the degree that he can unwrap himself from these tightly 214 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,760 wrapped clothes, push away the stone that weighs as much as a 215 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,760 small car, and then sneak past 16 professional Roman soldiers, 216 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:57,800 is precisely 0 right. It's impossible without the 217 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,240 invention of God, intervention of God. 218 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:04,160 And the point is it's not possible to be in a state of 219 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:12,160 death too deep that it is beyond the hope of a resurrection that 220 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:17,160 is empowered by the Lord God. It reminds me of that moment in 221 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,240 Luke chapter 8 where there's a man there in the region of the 222 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:25,680 garrisons and he's, he's like lost his mind. 223 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,600 And people have clearly tried to help him. 224 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,520 They've tried giving him clothes to wear, but he just kind of 225 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,840 tears them off. And they've tried sitting down 226 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,320 with him and they've even tried restraining him. 227 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:39,720 But this poor man just sits there and cuts himself with 228 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,040 stones and cries out. And he's just like, his 229 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:45,720 situation is completely beyond hope. 230 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,680 And in fact, the the author Luke, he tells us that this man 231 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:54,920 has been living among the tombs, which is way more than just a 232 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,160 geographical location, right? It's like this man is living 233 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:04,120 among the tombs until Jesus comes into his life. 234 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:08,000 And within moments, this man who's just completely beyond 235 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,120 hope is sitting dressed in his right mind, listening to Jesus 236 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,600 and his teaching. Resurrection is never beyond 237 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:22,000 hope. So many of us, in so many ways, 238 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,240 we appear to be alive, and yet actually we have areas, parts of 239 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,400 our lives that in a sense, we're living among the tombs. 240 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,920 Friends, you're not beyond hope. You're not beyond hope. 241 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:39,760 There's always hope. That's the first thing. 242 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,520 The second thing is resurrection is only available from God. 243 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,320 In verse 3, God asks son of man's can these bones live? 244 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,400 Now remember I said to you, these bones are like really 245 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:51,920 dead. So the answer is what? 246 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:57,760 No, no, these bones can't live. But suddenly Ezekiel has this 247 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:01,560 like flash of revelation and he's like, well actually they 248 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:03,960 could live if you did something about it. 249 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,400 He says, sovereign Lord, you alone. 250 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,960 No, in other words, like God, well, if you decided to, to do 251 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,000 something, then something could really change. 252 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:17,680 My mum has had problems with her knees for like years. 253 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:19,640 And we've been saying, mum, you've got to do something about 254 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:20,880 that. And finally she went to the 255 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,240 doctor and the doctor was like, I can't believe you've been 256 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:26,120 living with that for so long. And so, you know, she went on a 257 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,920 waiting list and eventually this in the, in the course of the 258 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:34,040 last year, she's had surgeons take, I don't know, a hacksaw or 259 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:36,920 something like that to her legs and just chop out her knees and 260 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,720 give her like titanium knees. You can have all kinds of parts 261 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:45,160 of your body replaced. Did you know that it's also 262 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,960 possible, you know, like you, you might say, well, I don't 263 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,560 really like the effect that age is having on my body. 264 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,120 You know, my face, my nose, my boobs. 265 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:57,880 Can you say boobs in church? I don't know. 266 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,680 But Tara's like, no, OK, forget I said that. 267 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:09,440 Anyway, you, you can have, you can have all parts, all kinds of 268 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:11,320 parts of your body renovated, right? 269 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,080 You can have bits of yourself replaced. 270 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:14,880 You can have bits of yourself renovated. 271 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:20,640 You can be refreshed. You know, you can be like, you 272 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:26,160 could go to a spa and they'll wrap you in, I've never been to 273 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,200 a spa, but they'll wrap you in seaweed or cling film or 274 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,600 something like that. And like, you know, they can 275 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,040 like do that thing where they thread your eyebrows and they 276 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:36,760 can give you a hot stone massage. 277 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,520 And, you know, yeah, it could be really refreshed. 278 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:44,160 It's apparently wonderful. Taron and I love a box set. 279 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:46,560 We, we love to watch Netflix and stuff like that. 280 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,560 And we've watched the, I don't know whether you remember the 281 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,720 series ER, We've watched ER like hundreds of times. 282 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:58,320 And so I like to think that I basically am nearly a doctor, 283 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:03,760 like, you know, I know all the language, CBC, Chem 7 central 284 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,640 line rib spreader, you know, like I, I feel like I, I feel 285 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,560 like in an emergency, you know, if they was to say like, is 286 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,760 there a doctor on the plane, I would be like, well, I've seen a 287 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:20,160 lot of ER. My point is, like in the 21st 288 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:24,920 century, with all kinds of medicine and therapies, like you 289 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:29,480 can resuscitate, you can renovate, you can refresh, you 290 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,400 can whatever the all the other things I said were, but God 291 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,040 alone through Jesus Christ can do resurrection. 292 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,760 There's no other. There's no one else you can go 293 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,800 to. You know, I want to say this 294 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,600 like if you're here and you're visiting and you're kind of like 295 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,600 pursuing God or God's pursuing you, or you're like on a, 296 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,920 whatever language you would use to describe like what brings you 297 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,960 here today. Like if you're looking for a 298 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,880 spirituality that works right now, that's great. 299 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,640 And I can tell you, you've come to the right place. 300 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,760 If you want to know real peace in your life right now, if you 301 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,680 want to know joy even in the midst of the hardest of 302 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:12,440 circumstances, if you want to know a meaning and a purpose, if 303 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,079 you want to connect with your Creator, then you've come 304 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,800 absolutely to the right place. But what I want to say that's 305 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,640 even more important than that is if you're worried about what's 306 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,680 going to happen after you die and you're thinking I would 307 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,840 really like to live after I die, I would really like to live for 308 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,720 eternity. I would really like to know God 309 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,160 for the rest of my, you know, for the rest of eternity. 310 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:40,160 Then there's literally no point shopping around, right? 311 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:41,600 I'm really good at shopping around. 312 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:43,720 In fact, it's like a speciality of mine. 313 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,360 If you need a new TV, I'll find you a new TV. 314 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:48,720 That is like the best price, the best specification. 315 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,000 Like I've got it nailed. I've got all these different 316 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,480 websites I use and stuff like that. 317 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,840 There's no point shopping around for a resurrection because only 318 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,440 God alone through Jesus Christ can raise you from the dead. 319 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:06,840 Oh, there you go. Resurrection is only available 320 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:08,400 from God. And then the third thing is 321 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,640 resurrection is a work of the Holy Spirit. 322 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,480 It's a work of the Holy Spirit. I am, I'm, I'm a very 323 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:19,800 enthusiastic person who, who, but, but more than that, I, it's 324 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,480 like contagious, you know, when I see somebody else who's really 325 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,520 enthusiastic about something, I sort of catch it. 326 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:30,160 And so I don't know whether this is you, but like, I could just 327 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,280 watch Wimbledon for about 10 minutes and I'm looking for my 328 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,840 tennis racket under the bed. Does is there anyone else like 329 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,480 that? You think I could do that? 330 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:42,480 Like I was saying to someone the other day, Friday, I was 331 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:48,440 speaking to a midwife and like when we had our babies, I was 332 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,120 like, I think I could be a midwife. 333 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:54,160 Like, I, I just, it's true. It's true. 334 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,280 I just, I just enjoy people's enthusiasm and stuff like that. 335 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,240 It's just kind of contagious. I promise you. 336 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:06,800 I watch 20 minutes of the Great British Sewing Bee and I got out 337 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,000 the. This is absolutely true. 338 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,400 I got out this sewing machine and I made a cushion. 339 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:14,520 Yeah. Thank you. 340 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,160 And I, I watched the Great British Bake Off when they were 341 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,800 making cakes using vegetables. Have you seen that, that one 342 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,720 where they, you know, they're using courgettes and beetroot 343 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,160 and carrots and stuff like that and they're making vegetable 344 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,720 cakes. And I was like, I've got some 345 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,200 carrots in the fridge that need using up. 346 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:36,600 I'm going to make some carrot cake. 347 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,240 And so I, you know, it was grating away making it all and 348 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,360 put it in the oven. And then what came out was a 349 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:44,000 little bit disappointing, if I'm honest. 350 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:48,280 Have you, you know, like if you open the boot of your car and 351 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,560 then you lift up that little flap on the bottom and there's 352 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:54,080 like a spare wheel there, a space saver wheel and it's like 353 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,520 really, really thin, but really, really hard. 354 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,600 That's basically how my carrot cake came out. 355 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,360 You know, I could have used that in an emergency to just, you 356 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:04,120 know, make my car go down the motorway. 357 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,160 And the reason was because, and this is where I'm going with it. 358 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,600 You're going to enjoy this. I've forgotten the. 359 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:14,680 Raising agent, do you see? Sorry about that. 360 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,280 Anyway, my point is, God's raising agent, His agent for 361 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,520 raising people is the Holy Spirit. 362 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,080 In Ezekiel's picture, you know, there's tendons that come on and 363 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,160 muscles and then skin and all of that. 364 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,000 And so these are bodies, but the bodies aren't yet alive until 365 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,000 what? Until the breath comes into 366 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,640 them. And the Hebrew word for breath 367 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,600 is the word ruach, which means which is all trans, also 368 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,400 translated as spirit. And so there are three times in 369 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:52,400 this short passage where where the Spirit of God, the breath of 370 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:56,160 God comes into these bodies and suddenly they come to life. 371 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,320 In verse five, I will make breath enter you and you will 372 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,880 come to life. Verse 6, I'll put my breath in 373 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,360 you and you'll come to life. Verse 14 I'll put my spirit in 374 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:10,160 you and you'll come to life. The way that God brings life out 375 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:15,240 of death is that He deploys His Spirit, which is the agent of 376 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:20,320 resuscitation and resurrection. The Spirit that raised Jesus 377 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:25,320 from the dead is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is at work 378 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,880 in US. Romans 8 verse 11 says this. 379 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,480 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is 380 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:38,360 living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also 381 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:42,920 give life to your mortal body because of his Spirit who lives 382 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,560 in you. You might say, So what? 383 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,520 I'm really pleased that I'm being raised from the dead. 384 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,320 I don't actually really mind how he does it. 385 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,520 I don't care whether it's the Holy Spirit or like bicarbonate 386 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:55,880 of soda. I'm not that bothered. 387 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:02,160 Well, the reason is because you already have the Holy Spirit in 388 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,720 your life if you follow Jesus, and so therefore he's already 389 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,080 beginning to raise you from the dead. 390 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,440 I went for a walk with a friend a while ago and he works or 391 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,240 worked in Teen Challenge, which is a Christian drug 392 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,840 rehabilitation place. And, and as we were walking, he 393 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,840 was saying that at that particular time, they had 14 men 394 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,960 staying in this rehab center and they'd done a little exercise 395 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:34,360 where they added up how many years that between them they've 396 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:41,040 been living among the Tombs, 224 years of, of their adult lives 397 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:42,800 have been spent in heroin addiction. 398 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:47,400 And, and so these guys, 224 years, that's nearly 2,000,000 399 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:53,640 hours of death. And then the Holy Spirit, they, 400 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,560 they connect with Jesus, the Holy Spirit floods into their 401 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,200 lives. And now they're dressed and in 402 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,760 their right mind. Now they're raised from the dead 403 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:03,720 now. Now they're experiencing hope in 404 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:05,760 a way that they'd never experienced before. 405 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,880 And if I had more time, I could, like, parade along the stage, 406 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:13,560 like all kinds of people in our church family who say, well, 407 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,320 I've known the power of death in my marriage and then the Holy 408 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,400 Spirit intervened. Or I've known the power of death 409 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,960 in my eating disorder, and then the Holy Spirit intervened. 410 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:29,680 I've known the power of death in my marriage, in my health, in 411 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,840 all kinds of situations in my life, and then the Holy Spirit 412 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,600 intervened. You know, the truth is, we all 413 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,520 want to change something about our lives. 414 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:45,520 I looked up on Amazon, there are 178,862 books on Amazon with the 415 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,240 words life change in the title. Not even in the description. 416 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,720 178,000 books with life change in the title. 417 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,600 Here are some of them. Super foods. 14 foods to change 418 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,920 your life, change your aura, change your life, change your 419 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:06,800 underwear, change your life. That's one for the teenagers fun 420 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,160 I love you, I love you Feng shui arranging your furniture to 421 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,840 change your life change your life without getting out of bed 422 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,680 on my favorite one. How to change your entire life 423 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:27,800 by doing absolutely nothing. We we all want to change our 424 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,000 lives. We all, we all know that there 425 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,120 are things about our lives that need to be changed, but actually 426 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:37,280 whether they're really changed really comes down to our answers 427 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:42,160 to two questions. The first question is this, Will 428 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,200 I welcome the power of the Holy Spirit into my life? 429 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,680 And question number 2, will I participate with what the Holy 430 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:51,640 Spirit is seeking to do in my life? 431 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:57,280 Right, as, as my conscience is being awakened, as, as, as my 432 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,200 mind is being awakened and the Holy Spirit is doing things in 433 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:06,400 my heart, my mind, my, my body. Will I be willing and, and will 434 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,880 I be participating in what the Holy Spirit is wanting to do in 435 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,440 my life? OK, I'd love to pray. 436 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,200 And then we're going to baptize some people. 437 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:29,210 Oh, OK. And so, Lord, I want to pray for 438 00:25:29,210 --> 00:25:33,130 anyone here who doesn't yet know you. 439 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:42,240 Thank you, God, that you're pursuing them, that you're 440 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:51,420 drawing near to them. And I want to pray for them that 441 00:25:51,420 --> 00:25:54,900 they would connect with you in a way that changes everything, not 442 00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:59,980 just now, but for all eternity. And for all of us. 443 00:25:59,980 --> 00:26:04,940 Lord, we all want to change. We know that there are aspects 444 00:26:04,940 --> 00:26:08,340 of our lives that just in a sense, we're living among the 445 00:26:08,340 --> 00:26:11,720 teams. We pray God that by your spirit, 446 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:18,080 the resurrection power of God, the power that raised Jesus from 447 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,400 the dead, would come into our mortal bodies and also raise us 448 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,440 from the dead. Amen.