Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
This morning, people all over the world, churches all over the world, the people of God, that when someone will declare that Christ is risen, that the people stand and they say he is risen indeed. And So can we do echo with people all over the world that have just declared that Christ is king because he's alive today. Amen? Because Christ is risen. He's risen indeed. So we know the early birds, the really good guys that paying attention, they stood up over here. So we're gonna do the wave then. Okay? This is what we're gonna do. So you guys are all standing now.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:37]:
So I'm gonna say Christ is risen, and let's just do the wave. Right? Let's do the wave. Lord, thank you so much that the God who would go to the cross, that when the sin of the world and my sin and our sin was placed on you, that he didn't stay dead, but that you raised him from the dead. So we declared this morning, among your people, that Christ is risen. Amen. He's risen indeed. And hey, hey, turn to your neighbors. I'm so glad God's alive.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:10]:
You can have a seat. You know, like, it's one of the most prolific things we say that that we serve a living God, you know, but but sometimes in the in all of the the holidays, did you guys ever anybody like me that sometimes feels that Easter gets a little bit of the short end of the stick, right? Because Christmas has all the decorations, you know, like we have all the lights and the trees and just the music. Right? There's there's all the sights and sounds of, of Christmas, and sometimes there's even the smells, right, like the that are happening in the holidays. And, what do we get at Easter? Actually, you know what I love about Easter? Less traffic. Right. So, like, only half joking. Right? But less traffic on on Easter. But the other thing is that Easter is the only day that it's really good to put all your eggs in one basket.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:57]:
You guys notice that? Like, the kids are gonna find that out in a little bit. And, but you know that Easter is it's the greatest holiday because what it reminds us is that that when you and I that there's times that in life we yeah. We're facing an uphill battle. I don't know if you guys are feeling like that today. Sometimes there's things that you go, I don't know how I could make it. I mean, the circumstances, the way that, you know, I'm I'm under the circumstances, but what Easter declares to us when Christ was raised, you know what? That that was against all the odds. Right? You guys notice that? You guys ever notice that that when somebody dies, what usually happens? They stay dead. Right? Like, they stay dead.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:35]:
And it was against all the odds, but part of the reason that he does it, he does it to break the power of sin, the grave, all of that. But part of that is to say, when you are facing odds that are greater than you, guess what? When you're aligned with him, that you have the odds breaker on your side. Right? And so this morning, we're going to talk about four things that really that that show us that why Christ is one that that what the resurrection has purchased for us. Because Jesus said a lot of kind of amazing things and those things that, to be honest, probably you and I couldn't we couldn't say. Not with a straight face. Not having people believe. When Jesus said I and the father are one. If you have seen me, you've seen the father declaring that, you know what, me and the But if I said that, by the way, Right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:31]:
Right. Tell them we need the wagon with the padding and the little jacket, because something would be wrong if I said that and I was talking about myself. Right? And when he said this, I told you these things that in me you may have peace. Boy, sometimes my wife says, I give the opposite of peace. You know what? When he says, your sins are forgiven, I can forgive somebody who did something to me, but I can't forgive the things that you just did. I I don't have that power. When he says, in this life, you have many problems and trials and things to overcome, but take heart. I've overcome the world.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:12]:
Guess what? Unless he was raised from the dead, those were nice sentiments, but he would have no power to fulfill them. But when he walked out of the tomb like a boss on the third day. Right? Now how many of us said, when you get sick, you got the flu, hard to get up after three days. Jesus walks out of the tomb, and he is perfectly healed. He is perfectly restored. He is perfectly raised except for the marks on his hands and the spear pointed inside and the holes in his feet. And because of that, he says this, He has made the way. He's still alive.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:55]:
He's still at work. And even though they didn't understand those things were happening, that he told his disciples in advance. Right? He's told them in advance. This is gonna happen. They they couldn't get it. How many of us that in school that there was a class that you didn't quite get it? You're talking about? Any math? I'm like, you know, I was really good up until, like, about sixth grade when it was just adding, subtracting, and multiplying. After that, I got a little bit lost. Right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:23]:
That was a little slow. The disciples were a little bit slow. Right. They couldn't get it. They couldn't believe that that would be something God was doing. And sometimes, you know, we're going through things in life, sometimes we're facing things in life. We didn't, we can't even see how good could come out of it like, like Imelda was saying. This symbol, this cross is the most iconic symbol, right, for the faith in Christ.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:49]:
But you know what it is really? It's like having a hangman's noose. It's like having a gas chamber as the symbol for hope. You know why it is? Because that power was broken on the cross. That's why today that when we have the cross, Christ is not on the cross because he's resurrected and alive. And so this morning, we're gonna read what he says in Revelation one seventeen to 18. And would you be kind enough to stand in reverence for God, reverence for his word? We're gonna read this together. This is what he says as he's opening this book. Ready? Let's read.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:23]:
Don't be afraid. That's a good way to start. Don't be afraid. Turn your head over and say, don't be afraid.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:06:28]:
Don't be afraid.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:29]:
This is what he says. Let's keep reading. I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I died, but look. I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys to death and the grave. And so because he's alive, he's saying we don't need to fear. And so be give somebody a high five, says, hey, you don't have to fear, and then you can have a seat.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:53]:
Right? And, you know, one of those things, because he's alive, because God's our maker, he's our creator, as well as our redeemer, the one he loves us twice. He loved you because he made you, and he loved you because he bought you back. Now, I heard this story about a little boy that that he made this ship, and, and and then he sailed it in a little pond, and it went down at this little stream, and then he lost it. Right? And and he was so heartbroken because he had spent all this time and built this ship, and and it was his prized possession. And then one day he's walking through town and there was a a little pawn shop in the the store and he recognized, hey, my ship is there. And he says, that's my ship. Can I have it? And it the the the the owner said, you know, I'm sorry that somebody brought it in. I actually paid money.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:43]:
If you want it, it's gonna cost you $40. 40 dollars in the board and have $40. Right? And he says and he says, I'll be back. And he did whatever he needed to do. He he he worked. He cut the grass. He he did all those things, and he raised the money, and he paid the the price. And when he got the ship, he says, now you are more precious than ever because not only did I make you, but I bought you back.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:09]:
You know, that's how God feels about you. That's how God feels about me. He didn't just make you. He bought you back. And you know, there's four things that I think that the greatest needs that we all have is that that come as a result of him buying us back. The first thing is this, that he gives us truth to hang on to. He gives us truth to hang on to. You know, in this world that we live in, so often, how many of you guys feel like there's so much hype and spin in the world? If you're on social media, right, if you're watching a political thing, if you're getting an ad in some kind, right, we we get all this hype.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:46]:
This will do amazing things, right, and or maybe we just live in a very emotional world. You know, today that that instead of true, so so much people will say this and and and you might have said it. I I I might have said it. It's like, well, that's that's my truth. And what we really mean is that's how I feel. This has been my experience. But you know, God gives a truth so that you can hang onto your life, because if we are just having to say, you know, I'm going to be left, I'm going to be right, I'm going to be, I'm going to be for this, I'm going to be against this, I'm going to do what the the people are saying, what's what's popular in the moment. It'll always be hard to stand.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:26]:
Somebody asked me once in the political season, he says, where does the church stand, pastor? Does does the church lean left or the church lean right? I said, I hope we're not leaning either way. I hope we're standing on a word of God, right? Because when I'm standing on the word of God, I'm not going to be shifted left. I'm not going to be shifted right. I'm going to stand for what is right. And and if Jesus gives that because why? Because it it doesn't allow us to be just driven by our emotions, but the truth heals our emotions. The truth will heal our broken hearts. He says that when you know the truth, the truth shall set you free. It's not just declaring the truth, it's the truth that you know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:13]:
Right? It's the truth that you embody. It's the truth that you stand on. And so this is what Jesus said. Jesus said, I am the what? The way, the truth, and the life. No one can come through the Father but through me. And He talks about He gives us wisdom of how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He talks about the fact that that in our changing lives, in the changing season, in our changing culture, he never changes. He's he doesn't need to.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:42]:
You know, change implies either decay or improvement or growth. Right? Change in some way. It it'll it'll imply that, but this is what it says about Jesus. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And whatever he did when he walked the earth, he's still doing today. You know, last night, you know, one of our our singers, Imelda, you know, the the guy with the glasses that that kind of made somebody's, somebody's glasses crack, I heard, during the worship, when she had the high note, but, you know, that last night at the end of the service, I just say, hey, great job, and she couldn't even talk. She couldn't say anything. She said, in the first song in the middle, I just totally lost my voice.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:29]:
She couldn't even speak. Jar Jar. And I said, well, let's go pray. So we went in the back, and we prayed, and I said, how are you feeling? And she says, better. Better. I said, well that's good. That's good. But you know, Jesus, that 20% better? She goes, yeah, 20%.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:44]:
I said, you know, Jesus didn't die for 20% of my sin. Let's pray. Let's let's get God what He what He what He bought, what He paid for. We prayed another time, she could speak. We prayed another time, she can sing. This morning, she sang upstairs, she belted it out. It's the same God. He gives us a truth to hang on.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:05]:
He hasn't changed. He still moved. He moved back then. He's still moving today. Amen? Amen. And so He taught us. He said, you know what? Take me at my word. And he modeled for us a way to live with wholeness and strength, with purpose and calling.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:24]:
You know, I love that Jesus had a mission, and yet he could be interrupted because sometimes when I get interrupted, I get a little irritated. You guys ever get irritated? You guys at home, you guys ever watching the game and your wife calling you and then you're hearing that and just to turn and she says, can you turn off the TV for a moment? You guys ever get that? How many of you like you just say okay. Sure, honey. Or is it like, you cannot wait till the commercial. Right? Like, we get like but, you know, Jesus, when he was on the mission and the kids were coming up and hugging him and the disciples were, like, irritated. The disciples were, like, hey, get away. Stop bothering him. And and Jesus said, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, cool you jets.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:02]:
Right? He says, hey, the kingdom belongs to this kind of a person. Innocent, believing, trusting. He says, I love that. And he he grabbed them and he prayed for them and blessed them. Right? Like, he he just prayed for them and and and asked for God's favor. We're gonna do that in a in a few weeks. We're gonna have a child dedication, I think at the May. If if that's you have kids.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:27]:
You you don't want them to be prayed over. You want them to be dedicated. You want them to be blessed. I think we all want our kids to be blessed. We all want our kids to have better, do better, be better than we are. Right? And so Jesus had that capacity to be interrupted and still stay on track. And that's the truth that he gives us that that can flow with the ebbs and flow of life. That's one of those things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:52]:
He love he showed us how to love God and love people, right. It didn't matter to him, clean or unclean, popular or unpopular, people who, you know, that that in those days that that if you had a disease or you did something that you shouldn't have done, they were declared unclean. But you know what happened is that when Jesus touched the unclean, Jesus didn't become unclean, that was Jewish law, that they would come unclean. Instead, when Jesus touched the unclean, guess what happened? He made them clean. When Jesus touched the leper, He made them well. And so we serve a God that can serve others humbly, seek and save the lost, the outcast. He taught us how how not to worry, how to pray, how to how to have peace, how to build our lives on solid ground, how to stay connected to God, how to be light in darkness, and how to love sacrificially. You know, all those things are things a man and a woman need to learn.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:56]:
Right? In in order to to be the people that God's calling us to be, to be a people that aren't just stuck under our circumstances, but that sometimes can rise above it. But you know, a while back, I I had my patients tested a little bit because I had an envelope that came in the mail, and it said city and county, you know, kind of a thing. I go, what is this? Because it's not taxes time, it's not any of that. And I open it up, and it says, you have a parking ticket that hasn't been paid, and you owe 70 or $75 or whatever it is. And I was like, what? Wait When was this? And I looked, oh, November. And then it was like, wait, wait, where's where's this? I don't remember getting a parking ticket. And it said Wahiawa. I'm from Wahiawa.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:40]:
I was like, was I in Wahiawa November? I was like, okay, I don't even remember. And then I looked at the the tag number, the the the license of the car, I go, oh, this is not my car. This is my daughter's car, but it's under my name. Right? And and you know, I had a bill that was, I accrued, and rightfully so, right, because I'm the legal owner, although really, it's really her car, cheaper insurance, right. The thing is that that was mine, but I never knew I owed it. Can you imagine that you get that and it's like, I paid the $70 and made my daughter pay me back. But it's alright, you know. But, we all learn that way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:23]:
Right? But there's a lady in Chicago that she didn't she didn't realize she had owed the city of Chicago a hundred and $5,761 in parking tickets. She she got notices. She just kind of threw them on the side. She's like, I don't even know what she's talking about. Because her car that had been abandoned was actually drivable, because people was driving it and and going around getting all parking tickets, speeding tickets, all those things, and it was she owed a hundred and $5,000. She never even knew. You know, sometimes we have things that that are outstanding and we don't even realize. Right? But sometimes there's things that we've done, and sometimes there's things that we can't even remember.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:10]:
You guys ever get together with some friends maybe from from high school or whatever it is, and you go, hey, remember that time, and he's telling all the crazy stories and the stuff that you used to do? And then sometimes I'll say, like, oh, no, I don't remember that. And sometimes I really don't remember, and sometimes it's so embarrassing I pretend I never remember. Right? Oh, no. I don't remember. I never Oh, really? Oh, wow. That's interesting. Inside, like, right? But the thing is that we all have things like that. And you know, Jesus paid the price that we never even realized for most of us that we owe.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:44]:
You see, the scriptures say that one day when this life ends for for each of us, that we're gonna stand account to God. And and he's gonna see the good and the bad that we did. And it's it doesn't say that's how you get into heaven, but it just says that we're gonna stand accountable for the things that we did in in our life. And, you know, the thing is sometimes those things will be much more than a hundred and $5,000. Those are things that that I can't pay. I couldn't pay it. But so Jesus did it. The prophet Isaiah, seven hundred years before Jesus was born, said this, but he was pierced for our rebellion.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:22]:
Right? The things that when I rebelled against God, when he was crushed for our sins, he was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us like sheep have strayed away. We have left God's path to follow our own, yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. You know, sometimes in life that there's a struggle we have as we grow up into adulthood and and wanting to be our own man or our own woman, and and that's a healthy thing. Right? But sometimes we we cross boundaries. We we we step outside what we were created for. We step outside what God made us for, and and he says this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:02]:
He he doesn't just say I'm gonna smash you as a result. He says I'm gonna pay for you. Right? He's gonna pay he's gonna pay for you. And he's not like me. He doesn't make you pay back. He doesn't say pay me back. I said my daughter pay me back. I just took him out of her account, in fact.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:16]:
No. But, you know, I'm glad that Jesus doesn't take it out of your account. He deposits you in your account. And so he says, it's finished. You know, it's the last words that Jesus said when He hung on the cross. It's finished. And and it wasn't just that I I finished all my work, you know. It wasn't just that, okay, this this agony that I've gone through is, okay, it can end.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:40]:
The word that he says, it is finished, it comes from this Greek word called tetelestai, which literally is what they would write on the bill when it's paid. You know, just how you get, like, paid in full? That's what that means. And so what he said was, you know what? The bill that you owe, I already paid it in full. You just gotta be willing to take the payment for me. Right? If you trust me, I've already paid it because you couldn't pay it. And some of us, we never even realized there was a bill to be paid. But you know, growing up, I think a lot of us, we it's our carefree days, right. You guys ever look back in those days when you were, like, a little kid and run around with all your friends out in the park, or, maybe today that you you hung around and did this all day and played in a game or whatever it is, and sometimes those were great days, you know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:38]:
I look back with great fondness, growing up in my childhood with my brother and sister and, my friends on the block. But I also look back and realize that not everything was great, right, when you were a kid, that you have fears as kids sometimes. How many of you guys were afraid of the dark? Raise your hand. Nobody. This is amazing. You guys are all liars, right? Right? We a lot of us, I think, we were afraid of the dark. I had to turn on the light to go to the bathroom at night, turn on the light in my room, and then turn on the light in the hallway, and then turn on the light in the bathroom, and then reverse them, right, turn them off as you go back. Right? And, and, you know, I I had a fear of water.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:21]:
I had a fear of water because, my my parents would say, like, they would put me on the sand, and I would start, but I do my god. You You know why? Because I I had an older sister. I have a sister. She's five years older than me. And I remember going to the pool, in Wahiawa, and she said, I'm gonna teach you how to swim. I said, oh, okay. That's awesome. That's great.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:40]:
You know? And so she held me out like this. She said and then she said, okay. Swim. And I literally remember seeing her through the water like that. And then she's saying swim, swim. I was like, right? And so it's understandable. Right? I I went to therapy and it helped. Helped.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:58]:
No. But, you know, today, you know, I'm not afraid I'm not afraid of the water. I enjoy the water. Today, I'm not afraid of the dark. Right? I I don't have to turn on all the lights. I just use my phone. No. I'm just kidding.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:09]:
But I just I I don't have to turn on all the lights in the house, right? Because I know that the greater light is in me, right? But you know what? It was one that I never kind of outgrew growing up was the fear of death. I remember being as a kid when my grandfather died that, going to the Big Island for the funeral and all that. And it just it's the first time a family member passed away, anybody close, to me, and and it just, like, was weird and knowing that you'll never see him again. And I remember talking to my parents, I didn't understand this whole thing about death. And some people say just, that's it? Just the light goes out? That's it? What happens when you die? Some people say, like, nothing, because you're just not gonna exist anymore. And, like, you know what? That freaked me out. What does that mean? Like, I I'm not gonna exist. Right? And then some people said there's there's judgment and there's heaven and all these things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:05]:
And and I I just was by that because if there was a right religion, there seem to be so many religions. How in the world was I gonna find the right one? Right? And you know, I had this I couldn't sleep. Nine, 10 years old, I couldn't sleep. Oh, don't worry. Don't worry about it. But I worried. Anybody ever tell you don't worry about something, but you're still worried, right? I think all of us have had things like that. And you know, then when I I was in high school and a little bit older, I didn't think about it, and I didn't really have that fear.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:40]:
Did I have an answer? No. I just covered it over with all my activities, with my friends, and going out, and doing all that other stuff. And sometimes in life, you know what we do? Is we just cover it over. It's not that you have an answer. It's not that you have a solution. Right? We just pretend it doesn't exist. But the last thing I realized that that I know when I looked that what has a hundred percent mortality rate is being human. Because every one of us who've been born means that one day we're gonna die.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:13]:
And to be honest, you know, one of us is gonna be first. But this is what the resurrection implies, and this is what the resurrection purchases for us. It's not just the forgiveness of our sin and His presence and His peace and truth and guidance and all of that, But he promises eternal life as well. Jesus said this, I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, he will live even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never die. And then he adds that little line. This is the most important line.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:54]:
Do you believe this? Do you believe this? You know, I've visited a lot of people in hospitals and in their sick beds, and I never used to like that because it just reminded me of death. And my own brother, when 23 years old, had cancer, and he's in the hospital, like, about a week out of every four or five weeks, getting chemotherapy, all that. Before I became a believer, I never went because I didn't have an answer for death. When I came to know Jesus, I understood. I understood that death is not the end, there's more. You know, that's what only only that gave me the power to go and visit. But you know, visit. But you know, over the years, I, I visit a lot of people and, and sometimes I realize that, you know, they cannot sleep.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:45]:
I don't know if you guys have ever seen that in, like, a loved one. They can't sleep. And you know what that usually is a sign of? If they fear that if they close their eyes, they're never opening again. Right? They're not healthcare workers, they're nurses, emergency room, right, that's what they see that. And I've seen that. You know, I've had the opportunity to sit with them and pray with them. And and sometimes it's like people so close to me, I I call them grandma. Right? It's like my ex girlfriend's grandma.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:15]:
I had a I had that privilege. I said, grandma, you know, you believe in God. Right? Never talked about God. Never. In fact, when I became a believer, they thought it was so weird they didn't understand it. Not only was I the first believer in my family, but, like, in that whole circle of my friends, they never knew. But I talked to grandma, and I said, grandma, you know, I know you don't always believe in God, but, you know, He believes in you. He cares about you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:42]:
Sometimes we don't wanna maybe talk about it because we get some guilt and shame, Right? She nod her head. I said, you know, God knows that. That's why he died in your place. Right? And we just over a little simple conversation, we prayed, and and I saw the peace of God come on her. And she did go home to be with the Lord, you know. I mean, she she she did die of the liver cancer that she had but the thing is that she didn't go from death to nothing. She didn't go from death to hell. She went from death into life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:19]:
That's God's promise. And I saw it on her face. And I've seen it on my dad's face. Right? I've seen it over and over because Jesus is the only one of all the religious leaders that are out there that when he died rose from the dead. Buddha never claimed to be the way. In fact, when he was getting ready to die, he he said this. He said he grabbed a bunch of leaves, and he he dropped it, and he said, just as these leaves all kind of fall their own way, you you gotta figure out your own way as well. He didn't say I'm the

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:27:56]:
way, right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:57]:
We can go to the grave of, Mohammed, right. We know where that is. It's only the empty tomb in Jerusalem that declares that the God that we serve is a living God. So he says this, you place your faith in me. That question that sometimes we just cover over with our life and all of our activities and all of the relationships. He says, you know what? Don't worry. I have a spot. You can go from life to life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:32]:
But you know, sometimes we do. We we try to get a think a new job is going to solve it or a new, you know, group of friends. I don't know if you've ever felt like you need something new in your life. I've been in that place. I need something new in my life. I need a new hobby or whatever, but I don't know if you've ever been like I've moved in around a little bit, you know, on the island. I moved on the mainland and lived in a couple different places, and and what I've noticed is that wherever you go, you got the same heart. Right? It's the same you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:59]:
You're just changing the location, right? You're changing different things. But you know, sometimes that that God offers you a new heart. That sometimes what we really need is a new heart, and to know that he's always with us. When the Bible talks about the heart, what he's really talking about is not just that organ that's beating in your chest. He's talking about your your emotions, your will, your your intellect. Right? He's talking about those things that generally make you you. And and he's saying this. He says, sometimes sometimes we have wounded hearts.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:32]:
Sometimes we have hard hearts. Sometimes we have hearts that have been hurt by others, and sometimes we have hearts that hurt others. And so God says this, that that when you try to change, you go, you do all these things, and you but you're still bringing the same heart with you. What's the what's the solution to that? God says that and let me give you a new one. The prophet Ezekiel said it like this, that long before Jesus was born, he says this, I will give you a new heart. Let's say a new heart. How many of you could use a new heart? Right? A new sense of optimism, a new sense of thinking, a new sense of feeling, a new sense of healing and an emotion. Right? I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you, and I'll take out your stony stubborn heart and give you responsive heart.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:29]:
And you know, so often we don't tend to think I I I have a stubborn and stony heart, but some of us are married to people with a stubborn and stony No. I was kidding. Right? Right? We we know what that's like. It's like, hey, should we just we get all that, and it's like but sometimes, we don't know how to get a we don't know how to get the new heart at times. I I tried. I tried changing this. I tried myself. I tried changing myself.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:54]:
I couldn't change myself. I didn't know how. It didn't happen because I wanted to change. It happened when I met Jesus. And and you know, sometimes we're stuck in our situations, we don't know how to get out of it. And I wanted us to see a story of of a brother who had a real powerful experience of experiencing this, that sometimes in places and and really against the odds for him. And so let's take a look on the screen, and, we'll hear his story, and then we'll we'll close-up together.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:31:33]:
As a child, I instantly fell in love with the game of golf. Every free minute I had, I would golf. At 10 years old, I was a junior golf state champion. That qualified me to compete in the junior world championships, with the best golfers in the world. You know, I came in fourth in the world. Guess who came first? Eldrick Tiger Woods. Fast forward the tape, high school. Everybody was telling me, Kyle, you're gonna you're gonna put Hawaii on the map, and you're gonna be famous, you're gonna be rich.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:32:13]:
I let all that get to my head, bro. In my senior year of high school, I made one one bad choice, and I got expelled. And my dreams got shattered, instantly shattered. And all my friends went off to colleges, not me. So all my friends around me started changing now, experimenting with crystal meth. I instantly became an addict, and I did panty bad things to my community. I burglarized homes. I stole vehicles, and I did what was necessary fulfill my addiction.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:33:01]:
When they got me, I was ninety eight pounds, full blown crystal meth addict. As I sit in the Hilo Jail, Crystal Meth calling me, I am planning to execute one of the biggest escapes. A Big Island inmate is also still on the loose tonight. The island are searching for an escaped inmate. Twelve days later, three high speed chases later, they got me. A manhunt for an escaped inmate on Hawaii Island has come to an end. They flew me to Halawa Correctional Facility. They walked me down this tunnel.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:33:41]:
It's called the special holding unit. Seven by seven isolation cell. One, two, three. Touch the wall. Turn around. +1, 23. Touch the door. Pace.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:34:00]:
Pace. You're alone. You're alone. They never take me outside. I never feel the warmth of the sun. This loneliness, this isolation, this silence is killing me, bro. So right on time, I hit a squeaky springs on the trapdoor. Open.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:34:20]:
I see my food slide in. Swear. Swear. Swear. In hopes he's swearing me back just so I can hear somebody, bro. Silence. Trapdoor closed. I'm on myself.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:34:43]:
I was in that isolation cell for three years and two weeks. Because me a hard head, I'm gonna try to do things on my own until I broke. One day, bro, I woke up, and a voices of isolation was screaming at me, bro. Kyle, he's

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:05]:
a six time state champ,

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:35:07]:
ranked fourth in the world. No worries. You know, seven by seven cell. I'm losing your bike. Grab your head in the wall. Grab your head in the wall. Grab your head in the wall. So I'm back up as far as I could, and I was ready for lunge forward and smash right into this wall.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:35:20]:
But no matter how hard I tried to go forward and lunge myself into this wall, I couldn't go over. Something was holding me pinned against my wall. Try again. Go. Go. I cannot. And the only direction I could go was down, bro, to my knees. All I said was, god, my name is Kyle.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:35:47]:
I'm sorry for what I did to all those people. If you're really, really, really out there, help me. I need help. I need help. The most beautiful warmth that I could ever feel. I felt them instant. The best feeling that I ever did feel my life. I still am my seven by seven cell, but in my body, in my spirit, in my soul, I am free.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:36:28]:
I am free. I'm saved by God, but I still in a high custody prison. And I'll tell myself, stay humble, bro. This is temporary. This is not your home. Father God, thank you for the breath of life. Thank you for everything that you do. Protect me, guide me, keep me safe.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:36:57]:
Amen. Still more prayer? I came out of prison with a different person, bro. I came out of prison with a focused mind on grateful heart and just my appreciation for life, bro, being in my family. And now I free off crystal meth for twenty years, free from prison for ten. Today, I'm I'm going into Halawa Correctional Facility, and I will speak to inmates. My name is Kyle from Big Island. 8 5 Hundred 3 2 1 3. This is what I look like that they didn't catch me.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:37:46]:
But by the grace of God, he can do anything. Move mountains. Yeah. When I surrender in myself, I wanted to share with somebody about myself. So I wanted to write them down. You hear what I wrote? I have a friend with, like, two peas in a pod, and just so happens, he's an awesome God. Love and compassion, he would never lack. And my friend Jesus would never turn his back.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:38:19]:
He gave sight to the blind and he cured the lame, and he answered your prayers if you pray in his name. Jesus has the ability to heal and mend, and I'm proud to say that he's my friend. The glory of God, I want people to see so they can experience firsthand what my friend did for me. Now I'm a motivational speaker, and now I travel around this nation. And I dedicated myself to help as many people as I can, especially our youth. I'm living proof that there is a God, bro. Because only God can do what he did for me. Wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today, bro.

Barronelle Stutzman (Video) [00:39:10]:
Thank you, Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:19]:
Ain't that a powerful story? Three years and two months. I cannot even stand myself for a day, right, and you know when he comes out, he's still walking in the same body, but he has a different heart, And he's a different man. Right? He has a different life today. And and if we had seen Kyle at three years and one month, who would have bet that he will be an inspirational speaker? Who would have bet that he, any amount of money would say he's going to get married and have kids? Stain on the community that needed to be separated from everybody, he would be invited and speak to our kids in our schools. Who would have bet? Nobody. Nobody. It was against the odds. But when you have the odds breaker on your side, then nothing is impossible.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:36]:
And you know, I think a lot of us, we we relate to Kyle because we've been in places where we were stubborn. And we we one little thing just let us down this road we never thought we would walk. There's a bunch of us, I think. We we understand. Maybe you've never been in prison, but there's parts of us that have been. Prisoner of our own anger, prisoner of our own controlling behavior. You can't even change it. You tried.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:14]:
Your own negativeness. Right? Now there's there's one danger though in in playing a story like Kyle's. That sometimes people might think, of course, Kyle needed a new heart. His heart was dark and and broken and all that. I'm glad I'm not like him. You know, Jesus told a story about a religious man that kind of felt like that. And he says, you don't even realize. You don't even realize.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:47]:
You're in just as much of a prison as him because you're locked into all of your pride, right? All of your religiousness, right? All those things that you cover over, all your guilt, all your shame, and you look down on another person. Sometimes we get lost in our goodness. Jesus told a story about a man who had two sons and and one was took the rebellious road like Kyle. And it wasn't until he hit rock bottom, when all the money was out, all the crazy living that he's living with pigs, nothing to eat. He's envying the pigs. That's pretty low. And he heads home. And when he heads home, he's not sure what his dad's gonna say.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:42]:
He's not sure if he's even gonna be welcomed. He just knows that his dad, he took care of people. His dad was a provider. His dad was kind. His dad gave grace when grace wasn't deserved. So he heads home. Maybe timid. Maybe with his head down.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:03]:
And this is what he didn't hear. He didn't hear, like, what in the world are you doing here? When you left, you are not part of this family. He didn't hear that. Instead, he was embraced, he was loved, He was covered. He was brought back into the family. He was given rights and responsibilities. But you know, there was a another brother and that brother, he never did any of that stuff. I'm sure he was a golden child, right? Did everything right, worked, served, did all this stuff.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:45]:
And you know what? He was just as lost as the other son. He was lost in a different way. He he wasn't lost in his rebellion. He was last lost in his his own sense of accomplishment, his own sense of of goodness. He didn't realize how much he needed the father as well. You know, when you hear a story like that, this is the story that Jesus told. It it really isn't just about rebellious sons and good sons. It's about saying, even if you're on this end, and it's this extreme of life, who would tell their dad, like, I wish he was dead, give me the money of my inheritance.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:33]:
Nobody would say that, but that's the story he tells. And and who would have been that good and and continue to serve and do all these things? And they both needed me, and he's saying, and anyone in between. Frankly, most of us were somewhere in between. We're not quite Kyle's story. You don't have to be. You're not quite, you know, perfect one either. You're somewhere in between. But Jesus came for you and for me because we all have guilt.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:08]:
We all have shame. We all have things we're not proud of. We all have things that sometimes we pretend we forget, but we remember. But this is what I love about Easter. Easter is not just about Jesus rose from the dead, yay Jesus. Although, yes, that is huge, right? Praise God. But this is also the other half of Easter. In Romans eight eleven, it's a story of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:46]:
And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to who? Your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you. You see, Easter is only really celebrated when the spirit that raised Jesus from the dead comes in you, and you have your own resurrection. Sometimes it's the resurrection of a dream. Sometimes it's the newness of a heart. Sometimes it's the forgiveness of all of our guilt and shame from our past. Sometimes it's the price we never knew we had to pay. Sometimes it's the fact that now we have a truth to hang on to and it just as Kyle's hardness of heart and his brutalized emotions got healed, it's because the spirit of God came in and the truth set him free. He has eternal life and he never have to be alone anymore.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:51]:
He's not in an isolation cell anymore. Even when he was there, God was there. Then he says this, no matter where you go, he says, I'll be with you. Jesus said the same thing. He said, I will be with you to the end of the age. Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. You just have to open your heart to Him first. You just have to receive all that He's wanting to give because that's where, that's where change happens.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:27]:
And this morning, I don't know what it is that you face, but when you get the odds breaker on your side, when you align your life with Him, nothing is impossible. A new start, an ability to persevere, and I'm not promising you're gonna get everything that you want, but I am promising this, He will do more than you thought. He would never leave you. He'll forgive you, and you'll never be just saved. That I can guarantee because His promise is once I'm here, I'm never going. Hey, let's bow our heads. We'll close in a word of prayer. Father, I know that there's each of us today, we came to honor you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:20]:
We came to some of us, we came because somebody just invited us. But I thank you, Lord, that whether we're here for the first time in a church, or, Lord, where we come to celebrate our risen king, Lord, we're all facing things in life. And I thank you that we don't have to do it alone. And Lord, that the things that sometimes we can't even talk about, you know about us. You made us. You created us. But I thank you that you redeemed us. Close lately.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:05]:
And there's some of us, Lord, we we just come you don't need a new heart. You just need your heart renewed. You need to just say, Lord, I wanna be close again. I'm sorry that I pushed you in the side in the busyness of my life. And you know what he's promised is? He says, welcome home. Welcome home. If you're here this this morning and you know what that's like, it's not that you don't know Jesus, but you really do need your heart renewed. Would you just raise your hand to God and say, God, that's me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:44]:
Yeah. Yeah. Father, I thank you that you're the healer of hearts. Father, you're the one who who empowers your people. Thank you. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is still there. We just need to give you access. Lord, we're giving you access today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:04]:
Would you lead us and guide us today? Would you heal hearts today? And maybe you're here and you're like Kyle and the fact that you're stubborn. You've been you've been a self made person. You've worked hard. You've got where you are because of all those things. Or maybe you're in a place that you're in prison, a different kind. It doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter if you're on one end or the other. But if you recognize there's a price to be paid, and I don't think I can pay it. You know, sin always will take you farther than you thought, hold you longer than you'd like, and has a price to pay that's higher than you and I would like to pay.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:01]:
But this is what Jesus said. Let me pay it. It happens when we have a relationship. When you become my son or my daughter, you become my child, I'll pay the price for you, and you'll be part of my family. If that's you this morning and you'd like to know God, you'd like to be part of His family, you'd like to know that that your sin and your guilt and your shame can be washed away, you realize you need a new heart. This is what Jesus says. Take my hand. If you take my hand, we'll be friends and you'll be part of the field.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:43]:
We do that by faith, really. We just put our trust in Him. Sometimes we'll use language like, give God your heart or surrender or trust. But they're just really expressions of that same thing. It doesn't matter what the language you use, it matters the attitude of your heart. And if today you want God, would you notice he wants you? What you want. Would you just raise a hand to God? But our heads bowed, eyes closed. You're raising a hand, but you're just saying to God, God, that's me today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:17]:
God, that's me today. Thank you, Lord. We're gonna pray a very simple prayer. You guys can put your hands down. And if you're just it's not magic words. There's no magic words. It's the attitude of the heart. If this if this echoes what you'd like, just saying, God, I need you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:42]:
I want you. That's really what it's saying. And if you'd like to pray along, we're gonna pray. You repeat after me. You're God. Thank you for knowing me and creating me, but you also said, you paid the price for me. Thank you. I didn't even realize I had something I owed you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:11]:
So would you come live inside me today? Would you forgive me of my sin? And would you be my king, my Lord, my savior, my leader? I want to know you more. I surrender myself. And would you help me to grow as your child? Would you strengthen me, heal me, and lead me? And would you bring others around me who are also followers of you so that I can find encouragement, community? Because Lord, I wanna be who you created me to be. I'm willing, Lord, to let you lead. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Hey, can we say congratulations to those folks? Great. Hey, you know, when we pray things like that, it's not, kind of like the end of the road, like, oh, I'm done.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:24]:
No. It's really the sign of a new beginning.