Today we celebrate, we celebrate. Jesus who comes
and he encounters us wherever we are, but he
never leaves us there. He always invites us into
resurrection transformation. And he prepared
us with this in John 10, 10, where he says that
there's an opponent, there's an adversary, there's
somebody that is out there, an evil one, that
comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. And
we know this. We've all experienced his impact
on our lives. But Jesus responds right after
that and he says, but I have come to give life
and to give it to the full. Nearly a hundred
years ago, there's a well -often told story of
a group of people that had gathered in Soviet
era in the area of Ukraine. And there was a atheist
lecturer who was... Took his time, two hours
worth, to try to undo and debunk the impossible,
the resurrection. After all, he couldn't make
sense of it and he was trying to convince people
at the core of what the Christian faith is, this
could not be true. Confident on what he said,
he finally invited anybody to counter him and
he took a seat. And a man from the back of the
room slowly made his way up to the front. And
we got up to the front. He turned around and
he looked at the group that was gathered there
that had just sat through this two -hour lecture.
And he said three words. Christ is risen. And
out of their own stories of resurrection transformation,
the group that was gathered there responded,
he is risen indeed, undoing all of what had just
been so thoughtfully, carefully put together
by this lecturer. These stories of transformation
have been going on for 2000 years. And what I
want to invite us to is to think back to some
of the first people that experienced this resurrection
transformation. Then our worship team is going
to follow this with two songs that match these
two individuals. So the first one is a lady named
Mary Magdalene. What we know of Mary is that
she was oppressed by seven. Seven monsters that
were there to kill, steal, and destroy who God
had created her to be. Why seven? Possibly because
this is a complete picture. This is a complete
destruction of this person. She had no option
going forward and lived in such complete shame.
And Jesus encounters her. And he releases her
from this power that is over her life. And so
Mary begins to follow Jesus over the next couple
of years and experience for the first time what
it is to be loved in the way that Jesus loves.
But then on that Friday, she looks at the cross
and she sees the hope that she had placed into
seemingly defeated by that same thief that came
to take her own life. And you can imagine the
anguish that she's feeling as she looks up there
and says, what is going on in this situation?
But Sunday comes. Sunday comes and the resurrected
Savior encounters her. You see, she comes to
the tomb expecting to be grieving and crying
over the death of the one that she had placed
her hope in. But it's not so. The tomb was empty.
And a man she doesn't recognize comes up to her
and says, who are you looking for? She doesn't
recognize him until Jesus looks her in the face
and says, Mary. At that moment, she recognizes
and she calls out Rabboni. Not rabbi, like they
had been calling Jesus from a long time past.
The common name of the one that you follow as
a disciple. But this is a name that elevates
it even more to the significance as well as the
intimacy. It's though Mary is saying, you are
my savior. I know you personally. You've called
me by name. And then from there, Mary becomes
the very first human being, a woman who lived
in complete bondage, the very first human being
to be a witness to the resurrection power of
Jesus Christ. And you and I are sitting here
today talking about that lady from 2000 years
ago. Well, let's put Mary on the side and let's
look at another individual. There's a man named
Simon, also known as Peter. Simon was your average
guy. He was a fisherman and he actually used
the word toil to describe his efforts to make
life work. And so he's just kind of living moment
by moment, trying to get through the day, hoping
that something will change. And it does. Jesus
encounters him. And when Jesus encounters him,
he calls this man Simon to something new. To
repurpose his life into something far greater
than just the daily toil and striving that this
guy Simon knew about. And then later, Jesus pulls
Simon aside and he says, hey, I'm going to give
you a new name. Your name will be Peter. Meaning
rock. Why? Because on you, on the rock of your
leadership, the church is going to be built.
And Peter, thinking about that, continues forward.
But in the climactic, most important moment.
For this man to stand up and do what was right.
When Jesus is going to the cross to be crucified.
Peter falls asleep rather than praying for his
friends. Then when danger comes, Peter eventually
runs away. And then Peter comes back, joins Jesus
at this fire as Jesus is on trial there. And
Peter denies him three times. I don't even know
this man. Out of this fear. But then Sunday comes.
And Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, encounters
Peter in a number of different ways. But one
of them is particularly special. He comes to
a lake and Peter is there around another fire
with the rest of the disciples. And Jesus looks
at him, calling him by his old name, Simon. And
he says, Simon, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Simon,
do you love me? Yes, Lord. Simon, do you love
me? Yes, Lord. Three times he gives the chance
to redeem what had been taken away, what Peter
had failed in in his leadership in front of the
other disciples there. Simon being restored by
the resurrected Lord in this situation. And then
Jesus gives him a taste of what is going to happen.
He said, you know, as a young person, you got
to do whatever you use your own effort. But as
an old person, you're going to be led away and
your arms are going to be spread. Foretelling
the fact that in complete courage, Peter would
end up dying on the cross like his master in
order to encourage you and I in the resurrection
story and transformation going forward. So what
is your story? How has the resurrected Savior
connected with you? And I want us to go back
to that group at the very beginning. And I'm
going to say he is risen and I want you to respond
in the way that they did in a posture of receiving.
Okay, you ready? He is risen. He is risen indeed.
Wow, Lord. There's no words. There's no melody
that can capture the fullness of what you've
done and yet we are here proclaiming to the world.
I'm proclaiming to the kingdom of darkness that
our king is alive. Death has been defeated. Satan
has been defeated. There's no other power and
no other authority in our lives but Jesus and
Jesus alone. So we stand in your presence with
hope, with joy, with excitement, with expectation.
Thank you for what you have done. And I ask you,
Lord, that as we look into your word, you will
meet us in our hearts, in the deepest parts of
our being where the power of your resurrection
is not yet touching. We need you, Lord. Everything
that you envision for us, we want it. But let
your power encounter us today here in your presence.
Use me, Lord, in your power and in your strength
and in your grace. In Jesus' name, amen. You
may be seated. If you happen to be visiting us
for the first time today, we are so glad that
you are here and that you will be able to hear
more about Jesus because Jesus is the reason
why we exist. And later, after the service, we
will have a time of celebration. There will be
food and other things I will tell you later at
the end. But at this moment, what we would like
to do is to think about the power that Jesus
has for your life and for my life today. And
that's why this study is called Jesus, Our Redeemer.
Because Jesus paid the price so that we could
go free. That's what a Redeemer does. A Redeemer
pays the price for your freedom. And Jesus paid
with His life, with His power. The price. So
that you and I can walk in his freedom. And live
freely for him. Now on Friday we got to experience
the celebration of Good Friday. Where we focused
on the death of Jesus. The things that he suffered.
You got to experience the stations of the cross.
A room downstairs where you could walk in quietness.
To explore the different parts of the narrative
of what Jesus experienced. I have time along
with the Lord in prayer. But today, today is
good news. Today is the resurrection of Jesus.
He is alive and we have heard it. We have seen
it in the dance. We have heard it in the song.
We have heard it from Pastor Phil. seen it, we'll
get to touch it. Everything that is about today
is to celebrate the truth that Jesus is our Redeemer
who is alive and therefore He is the one that
makes the entire difference in our lives that
we can follow Him. Now I know that for many people
the idea that Jesus is resurrected is nonsense.
It's myth. Some people have a hard time even
believing that Jesus was a historical figure.
But there's a moment in which one of the followers
of Jesus, one of the apostles, his name was Paul.
There's a moment in which he is engaging with
this idea and he says, okay, let's think for
a second that Jesus did not resurrect. That resurrection
is a myth. It's just man -made stuff. If that
were the case, then we are wasting our time.
And not only that, he says, we Christians should
be pitied by the entire world because we are
following a lie. And not only that, we are still
in our sins. Nothing has changed. But then at
the end of his reflection, he says, but the truth
is, Jesus did resurrect. And he is alive. And
because this is fact. This is truth. Then we
can follow him. And follow him with the confidence
that he is worth following. And his authority
is worth submitting to. There is something that
Jesus told the apostles after he resurrected.
Before he ascended to heaven. before the promise
of his return. There's a moment between his resurrection
and his ascension where Jesus meets with his
disciples and tells them something that becomes
the foundation of our understanding of anyone
that follows Jesus. What did he tell them? We'll
read it together. It's found in the book of Matthew.
And in Matthew, at the end of the book, When
Jesus is engaging with the apostles, he is going
to tell them these words. Let's read it together.
Jesus came and told his disciples, I have been
given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore,
go and make disciples of all the nations. And
then he continues and he says to them, this is
what you are going to do with them as you make
these disciples of all the nations. baptizing
them in the name of the Father and the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, and teach these new disciples
to obey all the commands I have given you. And
be sure of this, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age. As I'm inviting you to follow
me, and as I'm inviting you to serve me, there's
one thing that you can know for sure. That I
will be with you until the very end of the age.
I will never leave you. I will never forsake
you. I'm not inviting you to go ahead in front
of me. I'm inviting you to follow me. And you
can do that because of something he said at the
very beginning. Now, if you are a Christian,
and you've been a Christian for a long time,
you already know what we just read. This passage
is commonly known as the... Great commission,
right? The great commission, because this is
the foundation of all the churches around the
world that are following Jesus. This is their
mission, is to make disciples of Jesus, followers
of Jesus. But at the beginning of this section,
there's something that Jesus said that is the
foundation of everything. And in case you missed
it, let me read it for you. I have been given
all authority in heaven and on earth. And because
I have all authority in heaven and on earth,
now you can follow me and you can serve me. You
can follow me confidently. Because I have a unique
and matched authority that no one else has. Because
he's the only one that died and resurrected.
He's the only one that overcame the power of
Satan and the kingdom of darkness. And therefore,
as Jesus calls us to follow him, is to follow
him but with this understanding that he's indeed
the one that has all authority in heaven and
on earth. But authority for what? One of the
first things that we learn from Jesus is that
he has the authority to forgive sins. We heard
about the story of Peter, the one that betrayed
Jesus, how Jesus forgave him. And that song that
you got to hear about the story of Peter and
how he doubted the resurrection and then finally
he meets the resurrected Christ. And the powerful
song, by the way, was so powerful. Beautiful
song. He is alive. But Peter had to experience
what it was like to be forgiven before he could
follow Jesus. And it's hard. Because when you're
following Jesus and you engage in things that
you shouldn't, shame kicks in. And when you know
that there are things you have done in your past
that are so shameful, the doubt that Jesus can
really erase that by His grace is almost unfathomable.
And that idea escapes your experience. The Apostle
Peter wrote about this in his own words later.
At the end of 1 Peter, he told us these words.
My purpose in writing is to encourage you and
assure you that what you're experiencing is truly
part of God's grace for you. He really has the
authority to forgive everything, even my betrayal.
And there's something you need to understand.
You need to stand firm in this grace. If you
are struggling with shame, if you feel that you
are beyond God's reach, Jesus has all authority
on heaven and on earth, and he has authority
to forgive everything. And he's asking you to
follow him, but follow him as someone who has
been forgiven. The problem is not, Whether Jesus
has the authority to forgive your sins. The problem
is, will you trust his authority to forgive your
sins? I will never forget the time I was having
this conversation and time of focused prayer
with a friend. And as we got to this part, he
loved Jesus. He was following Jesus, but he was
being held back by this deep sense of regret
and shame of something that he had engaged many
years ago. Before he started even following Jesus.
And as I was praying for him. And I said do you
receive God's grace. And his forgiveness. For
this. And he paused in silence. And then he says.
I can't. I can't. Because it was. Too shameful.
And at that moment, we realized he was under
the power of a stronghold of the enemy. Making
him believe that following Jesus meant that you
believe in him, but you also have to help him
a little bit. Because what you have done is so
bad that it's beyond the power of Jesus to forgive.
And for the first time in his life, he was able
to say, yes, Jesus, I trust your forgiveness
for my shame. And that trust comes with tears,
emotions. Are you trusting Jesus' authority to
forgive your sins? Or are you walking in shame?
Jesus is risen. He wants you to walk in freedom.
He is our Redeemer. He paid the price. It is
done. But Jesus also has the authority to restore.
We heard the story of Mary Magdalene. Who was
not only engaged in prostitution. But she herself
was one who was under deep spiritual oppression.
Demonic oppression. That it could be even counted.
Seven demons that were oppressing her. She was
engaging in the kingdom of darkness. With everything
she was. And Jesus met her in that place. Called
her to follow him. And then her life was completely
transformed after that time. And when the resurrection
comes. She's one of the first people in the history
of humanity to see the resurrected Christ. For
some reason Jesus chose. To appear to her first.
And to let her know. Go and tell the apostles.
That I'm alive. But she did. But it didn't work
so much. Because they were not believing her.
But how. Could God not only love someone. That
is so far out there. And not only that. But turn
their life around. If he could do that for her.
Could you do that for me? Often, when we come
from places that have been so dysfunctional,
so toxic, because not only you did not know Jesus,
but you did not know morality, you did not know
stability, your home was broken. Some were involved
in witchcraft themselves, worshipping demons.
Could Jesus have authority to restore that life
and rewrite it completely? There's something
that the Apostle Paul wrote about this as he
was reflecting on the experience of following
Jesus and leading people to follow Jesus. And
he wrote it in these words. He says, you know
what I realize? God showed things despised by
the world. Things counted as nothing at all.
And use them to bring to nothing what the world
considers important. Yes, you may feel like damaged
goods. Granted, you may feel like you're not
good enough. Common. But you know in reality,
It doesn't matter what you have believed until
this day. Because the resurrected king is telling
you. That following him means that he has the
power to restore your life. To transform it.
To restore your calling. And he has the power
to now call you from where you left. Into a future
that you have not yet experienced. But you will
by the grace and power of Jesus Christ. So the
problem is not whether Jesus has the authority
to restore your life. The problem is whether
you will trust him and submit to his authority
to redeem your life, redeem your marriage, everything
that you regret. He doesn't want you to look
at the past. He wants you to walk into the future,
but this time with him. Would you let him? Would
you follow him? Will you trust his authority?
At the core of the resurrection and the power
that Jesus has and his authority, there's one
more thing that he talked about and the Bible
mentions. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
And he has already conquered death. So Jesus
has the authority now to bring life into our
lives, even beyond the grave. And this authority
to give life means that one day, even if our
body has to be turned to the grave, that is not
the end. Of our story. Not for those of us. Who
follow Jesus. Because the Bible says. That the
same. Miraculous experience. Of overcoming death.
And being resurrected. Is the experience. That
those of us. Who follow Jesus. Will have. When
Jesus comes back. We. Will also. Resurrect. And
if I already lost you. At the beginning. With
saying that Jesus resurrection was. True, not
myth. Now you may be thinking, Pastor Pablo,
now you sound like crazy. What? You're going
to resurrect after you die? How would that work?
I mean, that's pretty hard, wouldn't it? Welcome
to following Jesus. Jesus has authority over
death. And this is the power of the gospel. In
fact the apostle Paul wrote this to us. So that
we will not forget. When Jesus comes back. There
is something that is going to happen to us. And
this is our living hope. Will you read what the
apostle Paul wrote? Will you read it with me
out loud? We know that God. Who raised the Lord
Jesus. Will also raise us with Jesus. And present
us to himself. Together with you. God. Not only
resurrected Jesus his son. But he will resurrect
us as well. And we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore for those of us. Who are following
Jesus. Trusting his authority over death. Death
is not the end of our story. If you are experiencing
anxiety attacks. Fear about death. Then I pray
that today you encounter the resurrected king.
Because this Jesus has power to destroy that
fear from your life. Once you understand that
he has authority over death. And the day that
we are told that we have a few days left to live
on this earth. That is not a day for us to fear.
It's a day for us to welcome what is next. In
experiencing the authority and power of Jesus.
Death has been defeated. Praise Jesus. He is
alive. The problem. It's not whether Jesus has
authority over death. The problem is will you
trust him with that authority so that you can
let go of the fear and follow him freely. He's
inviting you to experience eternal life and that
is what he wants to give you. Jesus has authority
to forgive. You don't need to walk in shame anymore.
Jesus has the authority to restore your life.
You don't need to walk in regret anymore. And
Jesus has authority to bring life even beyond
the grave. You don't need to walk in fear anymore.
So Lord, as we stand in your presence, We desperately
need, right now, I'm here to meet you, Lord,
our resurrected King. That those who are here
still enslaved to shame and to regret and to
fear, today they find the freedom that their
heart and soul has been hungering for. Lord,
as we worship you, Will you break through our
darkness? Will you break through the chains?
Will you bring the freedom that the authority
of Jesus only can bring? And it is in the power
and authority of Jesus that I proclaim to the
world and to the kingdom of darkness. Jesus is
our king. And it is in his authority that the
power of darkness is broken. That the lie is
defeated. And today in the power and grace of
Jesus, freedom is taking place. In the powerful
name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Thank you for tuning
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And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.