1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,840 Good morning everybody, happy Easter. 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:08,800 I'm going to not make you keep saying he is risen. 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:10,920 He is risen indeed. Even though it's so much fun. 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:13,120 You can say it if you want. You can say it if you want. 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:21,120 Man, I am excited today to be here together to celebrate the 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,480 resurrection of Jesus, the new life which is taking up 7 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:30,160 residence in you and me and change the world in my life. 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:35,120 And today is a day we get to rejoice, we get to celebrate, we 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,080 get to remember and even to experience afresh. 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,440 So as Ali already said, thank you for being here. 11 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,880 What a joy to be able to celebrate the resurrection of 12 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,560 our Lord together today. If we haven't met. 13 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,760 My name is Josh. I have the joy of serving as 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:53,760 pastor here at the Garden Inn today. 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:59,240 It's my job to briefly recount for you the greatest story ever 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,240 told, the story that we find here in First Corinthians 15, 17 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:08,240 where we'll be today named as the gospel, The gospel story. 18 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,360 And Paul here in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 19 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:16,160 3 says that this story was delivered into you of first 20 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,480 importance. Like there's nothing more 21 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,920 important than this story in this message, which we know as 22 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,160 the gospel. It's the bedrock claim upon 23 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:32,280 which our entire faith rests. In Paul's own words, it is the 24 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:37,000 claim that Christ died for our sins according to the 25 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,640 Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised again on 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,160 the third day. Most of you in this room have 27 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,600 been to a sporting event of one kind or another. 28 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,120 A couple weeks ago, I had the chance to take my daughter to a 29 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,720 Boston Legacy match to see our new pro women's soccer team. 30 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,320 We had a lot of fun and, and before that match, just like 31 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,120 probably most of the matches that we've attended here in this 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,080 country at least, there's a tradition, right? 33 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,160 Every time everybody gets up, there's some local artist who 34 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,120 comes to center stage or to the field and, and belts out to the 35 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,240 best of their ability, the song, the Star Spangled Banner, our 36 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,960 national anthem, right? And everybody, when we hear that 37 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,640 song, at least if if you're an American citizen, right, we'll 38 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:24,880 stand, we'll honor kind of the singing of the flag. 39 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:26,560 We might put our hand over our heart. 40 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,160 We're respectful. We listen, we pay attention to 41 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,200 that song, to that moment. And then the moment passes. 42 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,520 There's the tip off or the kickoff and, and before you know 43 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,320 it, you know Jaylen Brown is, is driving the lane right or, or 44 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,000 all of a sudden Drake May is, is trying to find a receiver 45 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,840 downfield and scrambling out of the pocket. 46 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,360 And what I want you to notice this morning about this practice 47 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:56,320 of singing the anthem before our games is that it has basically 48 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,480 no relationship to anything that happens on the field immediately 49 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,600 thereafter, right? We, we, we have this, we have 50 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,280 this moment, we have this tradition, we have this space 51 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,200 where we, where we sing and we do this thing. 52 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,720 And then as soon as the game, like the whistle blows and the 53 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,840 game kicks off, we all forget completely about it, right? 54 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:18,360 Because it's in no way actually connected to the playing of the 55 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:20,800 game. I'll share this with you because 56 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,080 I think it's, I think it's an interesting question. 57 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:26,200 What is Easter for you and for me? 58 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,120 Is it like the national anthem that we sing before the sporting 59 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,360 match? Is it one of these, these, these 60 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,520 moments where we come, you know, we get dressed up, we wear our 61 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,080 pastels, we get to have a doughnut, maybe we have some, 62 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:40,960 some nice photos. We have some brunch plans. 63 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,160 Well, we have a great time. It's a tradition. 64 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,080 We love it. The kids get to do their Easter 65 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,040 egg hunts. Everybody has a blast. 66 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:49,480 And then we go back to Monday morning. 67 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,160 Like, does it, does it, does it make a difference past the 68 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,080 whistle? Does it connect to the rest of 69 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:58,760 our lives in some meaningful way? 70 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,400 And I want to invite you to consider the claim this morning 71 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,640 that comes in two parts, really, the claim that Paul makes here 72 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,440 in First Corinthians chapter 15. And it's very simply this. 73 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,840 It's first that the resurrection really happened, that that three 74 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,600 days after Jesus was murdered, that he got up physically from 75 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,520 the grave. And the second piece to that 76 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:28,960 claim is radical, as the first is perhaps even more so, that 77 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:35,040 this historical reality of Jesus resurrection matters in some way 78 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,800 for your life and my life, for how we actually go about our 79 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:44,880 day-to-day today, that the life that Jesus achieved then matters 80 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:49,800 for me and you. Now, Paul, of course, it says 81 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:56,360 here in in First Corinthians 15, he, he talks about this story, 82 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,720 this story that he describes as of first importance. 83 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,760 I think that this is although the greatest story ever told. 84 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,120 It it's a bit challenging to tell this story in a way that 85 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,160 hooks because like like a joke where everybody has heard it 86 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,640 before and knows the punchline. It's easy for us to kind of be 87 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,040 like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know this one, right, for the 88 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,280 significance to kind of drain out because of the familiarity 89 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,840 that exists. But Paul says no, no, no. 90 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:27,160 This is so important for us. And as a way of attempting to 91 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,200 invite us back into the significance of the resurrection 92 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,440 this morning, I want to, I want to do a little thought 93 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,200 experiment. It's the same thought experiment 94 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,720 that Paul actually takes us through here in First 95 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,200 Corinthians 15. Paul plays a little game, if you 96 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:45,280 will, of what if, of what if. A few of you out there are 97 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:47,520 Marvel nerds. I think many of us have probably 98 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,080 seen a Marvel movie at one time or another. 99 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:52,560 I see some some knowing looks out there. 100 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,840 And yeah, like 60 something percent of Americans have been 101 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,280 at least to one movie. But, but if you're an OG, which 102 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:01,880 I am not, you go back to the comics, right? 103 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,080 And, and during the days of the comics, there was a, a, a lesser 104 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,160 known series that was titled What If. 105 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,680 And the what if series of comics basically did the same thing 106 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:12,560 that Paul is doing here this morning, right? 107 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,880 They laid out an alternative, like what if spider man's true 108 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,920 identity was released into the world and everybody knew he was 109 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,080 Peter Parker. Like what if if Cap didn't give 110 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,360 away his shield? What if, what if things had 111 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,640 played out differently? And that's exactly what Paul 112 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:29,760 does here in first Corinthians 15. 113 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:34,000 Beginning in verse 12, he begins to to make an argument for make 114 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,080 a case for what if the resurrection didn't happen. 115 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,200 And essentially he's responding to some challenges, some 116 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,960 skeptics in the Corinthian community who doubted the 117 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:47,840 resurrection just like so many people do today. 118 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:52,200 I mean, after all, like, even though they were ancient people, 119 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,840 even though they did not have smartphones or telescopes, 120 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:56,920 right? They couldn't go to the moon, 121 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,760 but they weren't stupid, right? They knew just then, just like 122 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,120 we know now that the death has like a pretty consistent record. 123 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,320 Normally when we bury people, they don't get back up. 124 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:11,280 You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that 125 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:12,880 fact. And people in the Corinthian 126 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:14,480 community were like, ah, no, no, no. 127 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,840 I don't know if Jesus really rose from the dead. 128 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,280 Maybe maybe he didn't really resurrect. 129 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,720 But Paul says here in verse 14, he says, hey, if Christ has not 130 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:30,960 been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 131 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,480 There would be those today who would suggest to you that you 132 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,040 can be a Christian without believing in the resurrection, 133 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,080 that somehow we can construct some form of faith that doesn't 134 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,000 actually take the bodily resurrection of Jesus seriously. 135 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,080 But Paul is very clear. He says no. 136 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,760 He says your faith is is pointless and powerless if Jesus 137 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,880 did not literally get up from the grave. 138 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,640 Not only that, he goes on in verse 15 to say that that that 139 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,800 we would be found to be false witnesses of God. 140 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:07,000 Paul says not only would it be fruitless to believe in a 141 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,600 Christianity without the resurrection, but it would also 142 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,240 be fraudulent. Like if, if, if what we are 143 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,080 purporting to you happened did not happened, then this is a 144 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,360 conspiracy. This is false advertising. 145 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,200 It's amazing when we look here at First Corinthians 15, you may 146 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,320 know this First Corinthians is one of the earliest 147 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,000 chronological letters in the New Testament. 148 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:32,919 Scholars believe that First Corinthians was written to the 149 00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:37,520 church at Corinth somewhere between 53 and 55 AD. 150 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,280 Now I'm not much of A mathematician, but you may know, 151 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:46,120 right, Jesus died at what age? Around 33, right? 152 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,640 OK. And and we mark AD for after 153 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,720 death, right? The common era starts right from 154 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,920 his birth. So what that means is 155 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,400 chronologically, what we're talking about is a document that 156 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,480 was written within 20 years of Jesus death. 157 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:03,840 That's the letter that we're looking at today. 158 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,480 It was, it was just a couple of decades. 159 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,840 It was a a few years. And Paul earlier in first 160 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:14,000 Corinthians 15 goes on to explain that this was witnessed, 161 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,360 right? Jesus resurrection really 162 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,760 happened. And, and, and he goes on to name 163 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,760 names. He says this person saw it and 164 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:22,520 that person saw it and then they saw it. 165 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:28,800 He, he says over 500 people saw this guy alive at one time. 166 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:31,800 And then he said something remarkable. 167 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,640 He says some of those people have died, but most of them are 168 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,600 still here. OK, now, obviously this isn't 169 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,440 true for us, but at the time that Paul is making this claim, 170 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,880 there were dozens, even hundreds of people who had witnessed, who 171 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,840 had physically seen and spent time with the resurrected Jesus 172 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,800 that you could go and ask about it like they had been with him. 173 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,320 They were witnesses to his resurrection. 174 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,800 So when Paul here is saying that the resurrection is the core to 175 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:06,480 our faith, he's saying like, hey, to deny this, it means that 176 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:08,480 we have this massive conspiracy going on. 177 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:10,800 We all got together. And for some reason, which 178 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,560 doesn't make a lot of sense because most of what we're 179 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:15,720 getting out of this is persecution, But but for some 180 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,720 reason, we all just decided that martyrdom seemed fun and we were 181 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:20,440 all going to get together and lie about this. 182 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,600 Chuck Coulson famously said after he went to prison for 183 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,120 Watergate and then was converted, He he said, I know 184 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,640 for a fact that Watergate proved to me that the resurrection of 185 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,880 Jesus is real. He says, because there is no way 186 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,480 that 12 dudes can keep a secret for three weeks, much less 40 187 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,720 years under penalty of death, right? 188 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,560 There's no motivation for it. But these guys were convinced 189 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:49,000 that something dramatic had happened, something that had 190 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,320 changed their lives. It's something that had set them 191 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:57,120 down a new path. See, prior to the resurrection, 192 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:59,040 we see the apostles and, and what are they doing? 193 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,720 They're locked up in a room. They're afraid of the Jewish 194 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,000 leaders. They're, they're cowering and 195 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,440 timid, right? There's no way that they want to 196 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:11,320 go into the courts in the temple and, and proclaim the message of 197 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,920 Jesus. They've been taken by surprise. 198 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,600 They were expecting not a, a savior to die and resurrect, but 199 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,880 a, a political savior who would come and overthrow the empire, 200 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,520 somebody who would come in and, and seize control and seize 201 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,040 power. This is why they're all 202 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,880 jockeying, if we read the history, for a place in the new 203 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,760 administration, right? They wanted a cabinet seat when 204 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,720 Jesus comes to power. They weren't ready for death and 205 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:41,040 resurrection. And so when the events of Holy 206 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:45,760 Week play out, when Jesus dies and then rises, the disciples 207 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,240 are distraught, They are confused, they are lost. 208 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:56,160 If Jesus did not rise, this is what we would have, right? 209 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,520 No Christian movement, no thousands of conversions in 210 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,520 Jerusalem, no church planting movement across the 211 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,840 Mediterranean world that we wouldn't have the, the, the 212 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,560 hospitals in the orphanages, in the elder care, in the, the 213 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,320 social programs that that come from this mandate to love our 214 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,360 neighbor, right? We would not have this radical 215 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:20,280 ethic of Jesus that calls us towards forgiving our enemies, 216 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,280 right? For for giving away our money to 217 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:26,560 other people and then not telling anyone about it. 218 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,920 Right To forgiving again and again. 219 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,480 There are so many things about the way of Jesus that if Jesus 220 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,160 goes into the grave on Good Friday and then doesn't 221 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,840 resurrect are done right. The ethics of that day suggested 222 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,840 to people that might makes right that you would honor. 223 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,760 You should extend honor to the people who are powerful, right? 224 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,520 Do good to the people who do good to you, and then try to 225 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,280 harm your enemies. And this was the morality of the 226 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:58,880 day. When Jesus comes on, he points 227 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:00,840 people in a radically different direction. 228 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:06,280 But Can you imagine what the story would have been if Jesus 229 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:07,920 goes to the drave and never gets up? 230 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:13,120 Man, that guy's an idiot, right? That's silly. 231 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,840 How foolish is this? Like a little tiny sect within 232 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,600 Judaism? A rabbi with some harebrained 233 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,440 ideas who got himself and a bunch of his followers killed. 234 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:29,200 And that was the end of it. It would be the end of it that I 235 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:33,280 I am confident that you don't know the name of the many 236 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,240 additional Jewish rabbis in the centuries since then that came 237 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,560 and proclaimed I am the Messiah attracted a crowd of people, 238 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:43,440 right? People began to follow them, and 239 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:46,920 then they were killed and their movement dispersed and that was 240 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,880 the end of it. And so too, it would be with 241 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,480 Jesus of Nazareth without the resurrection. 242 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,320 Without the resurrection, Jesus doesn't alter the course of 243 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,760 history. He doesn't alter the fabric of 244 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,160 morality, giving us a different vision. 245 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:11,200 But maybe most importantly, for me and for you, if Jesus doesn't 246 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,800 rise from the dead, then the life that we have available 247 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:20,000 through him is not available, right? 248 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,120 Because I know that this question of resurrection, this 249 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:28,040 question of hope this morning, it doesn't just meet people in 250 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:30,720 some kind of theological or abstract way. 251 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:36,640 Like we're real people with lives out in the world. 252 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,000 We read the news, we have relationships with other people. 253 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,480 And I know that that means that very often we're carrying a 254 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:50,560 weight, a burden. Maybe that's a burden of grief 255 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:55,920 because that you lost somebody and, and every time you get to a 256 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,920 certain time of year, the memories are evoked and there's 257 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:02,680 this longing, this emptiness, this hollowness that you feel 258 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,280 month after month and year after year. 259 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:11,400 Maybe it's the burden of, of stuckness that you're carrying 260 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:15,000 this morning. You come in today and, and your 261 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,840 life, honestly, if you look at it, hasn't gone the way that you 262 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,480 hoped. Maybe it's your career, maybe 263 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,040 it's your relationships, it's your finances, maybe it's your 264 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,880 mental health. You look at things and and 265 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:30,960 things are not what you longed for them to be. 266 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:37,760 You carry a weight, a grief, A longing that comes into spaces 267 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:42,720 even like this today. Maybe it's not just out there, 268 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,880 but but in here this morning, you sit with the reality and the 269 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:52,280 realization that like I get that the world is broken, but but 270 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:54,320 something with me is not working either. 271 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,880 All of my willpower, all of my coping mechanisms, all of my 272 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:03,320 attempts to to to to self help myself or to strategize myself 273 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,080 into a different way of life. And I keep flying off the 274 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,120 handle. I keep finding that it's just 275 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,960 easier to lie about what's going on than to tell the truth. 276 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,720 I keep finding myself compulsively avoiding 277 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:21,520 situations. Maybe you know these things that 278 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,600 the Bible calls sin? You might refer to them as as 279 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,120 brokenness or effects of trauma, or coping mechanisms. 280 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:34,240 But the reality is, according to Scripture, that we have gone our 281 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:39,000 own way in one way or another. Every one of us has attempted to 282 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,600 manage the world, to control the world on our own terms. 283 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,000 For some of us, it might be going better than others at the 284 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,880 moment, but it never works out for very long. 285 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,200 We find that these self help mechanisms, these ways of trying 286 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,520 to be our own masters, to be our own gods, to control things and 287 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,920 Orient the world according to our own preferences and desires, 288 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,720 ultimately ends up falling flat, causing pain and harm for 289 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:11,960 ourself and other people. And if Jesus didn't rise from 290 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,839 the dead, I don't know what to tell you. 291 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:22,960 Like, honestly, if Jesus didn't get up from the grave, keep 292 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,680 trying. I guess do your best. 293 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,160 Like, you know, have some conversations with like, what is 294 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:35,160 the advice that we have? What is the solution that we 295 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:40,080 have if the answer is always just to, to try harder, to do 296 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,480 more, to to take things into our own hands? 297 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,240 This is a way that is ultimately doomed. 298 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:52,280 And Paul speaks to this here in First Corinthians 15 when he 299 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:57,840 talks about how futile the relationship or or our life 300 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:03,440 would be without Christ. He says if Christ was not raised 301 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,720 from the dead, not only would we be false witnesses, not only 302 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:12,880 would there be no hope for life after death, but you, he says in 303 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,000 verse 17, you are still in your sins. 304 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,600 Paul is saying like if Jesus is not alive, you're on your own. 305 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,280 You're stuck not only under God's judgement, but but the 306 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,800 trap of your own making, like something that we can't work our 307 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,560 way out of. Friends, where do you feel that 308 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:39,280 stuckness this morning, that darkness this morning, The place 309 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,720 where life is not working in the way that you want it to, where 310 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:47,040 things feel too heavy to bear, where you keep cycling through 311 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,520 the same patterns, the same anger, the same avoidance, the 312 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:52,240 same numbing, the same people pleasing? 313 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,080 If that's you this morning, I think the Holy Week is such a 314 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:02,000 beautiful answer. Because the gospel story doesn't 315 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,840 minimize the weight of sin. It doesn't minimize the weight 316 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,480 of our sickness. It doesn't minimize how broken 317 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:15,000 and and damaged the world is. It's able to acknowledge a world 318 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,200 where Jesus is murdered by a violent and oppressive empire, 319 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:24,360 Something that is helpful to remember in a world where we 320 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:28,480 continue to bomb one another, where pedophiles get off. 321 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,920 Where every day more corruption and despair and pain seems to 322 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,960 pop up on our news feeds. But the sin is also personal. 323 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:42,080 It's also individual. It's also that which me and you 324 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,080 carry are places of stuckness and hopelessness and brokenness. 325 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,640 And that the problem that we're faced in this story, in this 326 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:55,560 alternate reality, is that if Jesus wasn't resurrected, as 327 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,840 Paul says, that we don't have hope. 328 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:03,360 Our faith is pointless. Our faith is powerless. 329 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,280 The the witnesses to Jesus are a fraud. 330 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,880 If Jesus didn't raise from the sins, our faith is futile and 331 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,720 you are still stuck in your sins as he says in verse 17. 332 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,640 He concludes with this downer of a line. 333 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,640 If only for this life we have hope in Christ. 334 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,000 We are of all people most to be pitied. 335 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:31,080 Like if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then man, we are going 336 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,800 the wrong way. You might as well eat, drink and 337 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,400 be happy. Make the most of it while you 338 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:40,080 got it. Because at the end of the day, 339 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:45,200 we die and that's it. And then there is perhaps the 340 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,520 most important conjunction in all of Scripture. 341 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,640 We get to verse 20. And Paul starts with but BUT 342 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:58,240 like, but he says like, yeah, this reality looks pretty dark. 343 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,680 It looks pretty grim. It looks pretty messed up, but 344 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:09,120 he says but Christ has indeed been raised. 345 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:15,360 Thank God. Like thank God Christ has indeed 346 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,440 been raised, Paul says. He says he got up from the grave 347 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:26,000 and what this means is that Jesus has won the victory. 348 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,480 See, on the cross what happened is that God himself came to do 349 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,320 what we could not do for ourselves. 350 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,800 The infection of our sin that had had grown deep into the 351 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,400 hearts of each one of us. It wasn't just a problem that 352 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,720 could be amputated, it was an antidote that needed to be 353 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,880 found. Like as Solzhenitsyn said, it 354 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,800 wasn't that God could just, you know, judge those bad people 355 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:58,080 over there and then free the rest of us up, right? 356 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:02,000 The the problem was, is that we too are part of the problem. 357 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,120 The dividing line between good and evil runs not through 358 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:11,520 political parties or nations, but right down the center of 359 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:16,680 each human heart. Like we needed not just to be 360 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,920 rescued from them, we need to be rescued from us. 361 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:25,680 And so Jesus, when he goes to the cross, he takes on sin in 362 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:31,400 its most potent form, the deep, the depth of evil on every 363 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:35,080 dimension we can imagine it. He's murdered by the might of 364 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:39,560 systemic structures and empire. He's betrayed relationally and 365 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,080 interpersonally by a close friend. 366 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:48,600 He takes on the alienation even from God and and he takes on the 367 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,960 weight of the world. As Isaiah says, by his stripes 368 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:56,840 we are healed. Jesus took into his own body 369 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:02,120 sin. But unlike every other time in 370 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:08,080 all of history where sin has inevitably produced death, this 371 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:14,280 time that death was not the end. See, sin killed Jesus. 372 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,560 But this is a bit like a rocky fight, right? 373 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,240 He got knocked down, He got knocked out. 374 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:25,200 He went into the grave. He took on all of the evil, all 375 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,760 of the sin, all of the the the punishment and the consequences 376 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,520 of that. But then he rose again, 377 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,520 victorious. Like death was not the end of 378 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,920 the story for Jesus and that means that death is not the end 379 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,320 of the story for us. See, if sin and death and hell 380 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,680 had one with Jesus, if he had just gone to the cross as some 381 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,480 sacrificial lamb and and then it had defeated him, we would have 382 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,600 no hope that we would still be stuck. 383 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:03,600 But Scripture says that on that third day that Jesus got up, he 384 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,920 rose from the dead. And because of that, that means 385 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:12,800 that a cure has been found. The antidote is available, a new 386 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,640 life has been born and is available through him. 387 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:22,560 For you and for me, because of Jesus, this way of life. 388 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,120 That seems radical, that feels silly, that seems honestly 389 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:29,600 bizarre. If you don't believe in life 390 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:34,480 after death becomes not only plausible but but almost 391 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,480 necessary, we can look at things that otherwise would would seem 392 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,960 absurd. Things like loving your enemies, 393 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,720 forgiving unconditionally, responding with generosity when 394 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,880 somebody takes advantage of you, praying and trusting God. 395 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,880 Things that that don't make sense if we're confined to the 396 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,320 scope of this life. Because when we look at life 397 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:00,880 after death, when we look at the power of the resurrection, we 398 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:06,000 can say that this is in fact the only rational move. 399 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,800 The year I was born, there was a kid named Michael who was a 400 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,680 freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, and he was 401 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,560 wrestling with questions about his future, as so many freshmen 402 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:20,960 are. His parents had a very strong 403 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,680 vision for his life. He was going to be a doctor. 404 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,560 That was their commitment. And Michael was kind of on board 405 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,120 with this, at least for the moment. 406 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:34,920 He was studying pre Med classes, but he wasn't really content. 407 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,560 He wasn't that excited about it. In fact he was really 408 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:42,800 fascinating by all this emerging technology with computers and 409 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,360 every moment that he could get away from his classes he was he 410 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:50,360 was buying computer parts and and tinkering with special 411 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,720 custom builds in his dorm room. And so much so that one day his 412 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,040 parents showed up unexpectedly and he panicked. 413 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,480 Like he he he took all the stuff and got his roommates to help 414 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,520 and moved everything into an adjacent room. 415 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,520 Like he didn't want them to know that he wasn't taking his pre 416 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:11,920 Med degree seriously enough. But yet he was so drawn to this 417 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:16,960 alternative he kept chasing it. And to the point where he began 418 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,120 to struggle even just to like, show up for classes, to want to 419 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,600 do all the work to prepare for finals. 420 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:25,040 Honestly, his heart was somewhere else. 421 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,520 So as he approached the end of that first year, he he called 422 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,440 his parents and he said, hey, I've made the decision to drop 423 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,240 out of college. And his parents did. 424 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,720 Probably what the parents in the room, like instinctively are 425 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,560 like, what? What do you mean? 426 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,080 Absolutely not. In fact, they were so panicked 427 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,240 that they flew to Austin. They were like, you can't do 428 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,440 this. You can't throw your life away 429 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:50,960 like this. What are you thinking? 430 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,800 This doesn't make any sense to his parents. 431 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,960 Michael looked like, you know, a young, naive college kid who 432 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,480 just doesn't really understand who the world works like. 433 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,720 They knew he needed to keep pressing ahead into to finish 434 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:07,200 his degree. Man, what are you going to do on 435 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,240 that GED? Life is hard out there. 436 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,480 They wanted him to stay the course and finish what he had 437 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,640 started. But Michael saw things 438 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,760 differently. Like for Michael, he knew like, 439 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,880 I'm in a window of time right now, all the computer parts are 440 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:27,680 being sold by these middle men's. 441 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,040 There's this opportunity to step in and to carve out a space in 442 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,440 the market. If I go another three years, 443 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,080 that window will close. It won't make sense. 444 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,840 So Michael did in fact drop out of college. 445 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:46,760 He took the $1000 that he had saved from various odd jobs and 446 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,120 hired a few friends. They began assembling custom 447 00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:53,560 computers around some 6 foot folding tables, at first in the 448 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,400 dorm room and then in another space. 449 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:01,640 By the end of his freshman year, he was earning $80,000 a month. 450 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,120 He went, of course, on to found Dell. 451 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:10,000 Michael Dell, who became one of the Forbes richest people and 452 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,680 founded one of the most significant technology companies 453 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,120 in the world. My point here is not that you 454 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:20,120 should drop out of college. What I'm trying to say in this 455 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:25,400 story is that Michael Dell saw something that other people did 456 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,640 not, and that shift in perspective changed what made 457 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,520 sense from the perspective of his parents. 458 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,560 He was on a great track. There was no reason for the 459 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,560 risk. Like, don't throw things away. 460 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,320 Just do what everybody else is doing. 461 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,760 This is the proven track. It's the one that makes sense. 462 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,760 Keep going in this direction. But Dell saw another reality. 463 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,320 He was compelled by it. He was confident in it. 464 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,760 He knew that there was an opportunity. 465 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:58,040 And so he seized it and of course changed his history as 466 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,520 well as that of the world. And friends, my point here this 467 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,640 morning is that that's a lot like following Jesus. 468 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:11,400 Not the making $1,000,000 part, probably, but when we make the 469 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:16,120 decision to follow after Jesus, we, we, we Orient ourselves, we 470 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,360 Orient our lives according to a different reality, a reality 471 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:23,680 that honestly, if you're just looking at how things make sense 472 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,440 according to the terms of the world, is a fool's errand. 473 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,200 It's probably not a great move if the resurrection didn't 474 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,840 happen. But if Jesus got up from the 475 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:40,480 grave, if there is life after death, if Jesus is alive, then 476 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,120 what seems foolish is in fact essential. 477 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,640 It's necessary. It's the smartest thing that you 478 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,080 could possibly do. As Frederick Beekner said 479 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:55,120 beautifully, here's the world. Beautiful things and terrible 480 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,920 things will happen. Don't be afraid. 481 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,640 Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last 482 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:07,320 thing. See, because of Jesus, because 483 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:11,040 of the life that he won over death, because the antidote is 484 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:17,000 available, we know that we can live courageously, bravely, 485 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,920 beautifully, for the sake of love, and that it does, in fact, 486 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:25,600 make sense. Friends, this morning I also 487 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:30,640 want to invite you to reckon with whether or not you believe 488 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,480 Jesus, whether you have not just been somebody who has listened 489 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,280 to the anthem, if you will, and then gone about your life. 490 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,120 But if you are living in light of the resurrection this 491 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:46,720 morning, see the message of Jesus means for me and you that 492 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,520 those dark places, those stuck places, those hopeless places, 493 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:54,640 those places where you feel trapped and bound don't have to 494 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:59,520 be the end of the story. Because even though you may not 495 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,480 have the strategy, even though you may not have the willpower, 496 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:06,160 even though you may not be able to solve it on its own. 497 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:11,200 An alien life, the life of God himself has sprung up from the 498 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:17,000 ground, bringing resurrected life even here even now 499 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:22,360 available for you today. So the worst thing that has 500 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:26,240 happened in your life, that place where you feel shame, that 501 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,320 place where you feel helpless, that place where you feel 502 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,200 trapped or stuck, it doesn't have to define your story. 503 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,600 It doesn't have to be the final chapter. 504 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:42,640 Jesus has made a way through his resurrection for life, for hope, 505 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,520 for faith, for love to take root in you. 506 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:50,200 Today, maybe this morning, you're sitting on the precipice 507 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:52,680 of this as you reflect on your own life. 508 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,760 You look out and you're like, I think I'm an observer in the 509 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:00,040 stands rather than a player on the field when it comes to this 510 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,960 Christianity stuff. Like, I know about it. 511 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,480 I grew up around it. The story is familiar, sure, but 512 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:11,320 I'm not sure there's ever been a moment where I said, Jesus, I 513 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,800 trust you, Jesus. I want that new life to live in 514 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,240 me. I want to trust you to to, to 515 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,760 break these chains, to make a way to forgive me, to heal me. 516 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,600 I, I need the antidote. I see that that can't come from 517 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,400 my own resources. Will you forgive me? 518 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,680 Will you heal me? Will you save me? 519 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,920 Friends, if you haven't made that step of faith this before, 520 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,480 this morning is your moment. It's your time. 521 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,280 It's your opportunity to say yes to Jesus, to take a step of 522 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:48,960 faith that to go from the stands to the arena to, to become a 523 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:53,080 follower of Jesus. Maybe you look at your life and 524 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,000 you say, you know, I've been, I've been following Jesus for 525 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,280 decades. I know Jesus, I've grown up 526 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,680 around Jesus, I've followed Jesus. 527 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,280 But I know this is true because it's true for me. 528 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,400 There's still that area of my life, you know, there's that 529 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,720 still that area where I'm not really experiencing the new life 530 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,800 of Christ, where I still have this stuckness, this, this 531 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,480 anxiety, this difficulty, this despair. 532 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:28,000 And I need that healing. I need that life on Easter 533 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:33,040 Sunday and every Sunday there's an opportunity for you to say, 534 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,880 Jesus, would you meet me in this place of darkness? 535 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,760 Would you meet me in this place of brokenness? 536 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:46,880 And that's the great thing about Jesus, like the cross itself, a 537 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:51,440 a symbol of execution and death, dismemberment and torture 538 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,040 becomes the thing that we look to as a source of hope and life. 539 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,160 Because Jesus can take those broken places, those those 540 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,440 places that are shattered, those places that that feel empty, 541 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:07,520 that feel hopeless for you, and he can bring them back together, 542 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:11,679 stitch them back together like a beautiful mosaic.