WEBVTT 00:00:09.860 --> 00:00:12.679 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:15.279 Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:20.839 you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:24.359 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:28.000 message from our preaching team. Last Christmas, 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:31.179 I got, I was given this, this beautiful blue 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:34.490 Yeti drink bottle. It was, there it is. It was 00:00:34.490 --> 00:00:37.909 a gift from my sister. Stunning. I was stoked. 00:00:38.829 --> 00:00:40.590 It was my favorite color. I'd wanted one for 00:00:40.590 --> 00:00:43.469 ages. I could both be hydrated and look cool 00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:47.170 at the same time. It was the perfect present. 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:54.329 And I lost it within a week. When you lose something, 00:00:55.170 --> 00:00:58.070 you look for it. You check under the couch. You 00:00:58.070 --> 00:01:00.750 check under the bed. You check in the shed. You 00:01:00.750 --> 00:01:02.710 check at work. You check in the lost property. 00:01:02.969 --> 00:01:06.269 box at school you look and you look and you look 00:01:06.269 --> 00:01:09.870 and once you have checked everywhere once what 00:01:09.870 --> 00:01:14.109 do you do you look again even if you've searched 00:01:14.109 --> 00:01:16.790 there before you look again because sometimes 00:01:16.790 --> 00:01:19.230 when you look the first time you miss the obvious 00:01:19.230 --> 00:01:21.530 thing right in front of you you're rushing around 00:01:21.530 --> 00:01:26.469 even though you thought that you had searched 00:01:26.469 --> 00:01:29.969 that place thoroughly sometimes all it takes 00:01:29.969 --> 00:01:33.599 is to look again And it's in the looking again 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:37.459 that we find what we're searching for. Friends, 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:42.420 it is Easter Sunday. And on Thursday, Jesus served 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:44.920 his disciples and was betrayed. And on Friday, 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.239 Jesus was crucified and gave up his life so that 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.180 humanity could be reconciled to God. And today 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:54.420 is the third day, and Jesus has risen from the 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:57.540 grave. And this is great news. In our text today, 00:01:57.579 --> 00:02:01.469 we see that Mary is before first light heading 00:02:01.469 --> 00:02:04.870 to Jesus' tomb. This is not Mary, Jesus' mom. 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:07.010 There are lots of Marys in the gospel. This is 00:02:07.010 --> 00:02:09.530 Mary, the brother of Lazarus. She's one of his 00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:13.569 followers. And this is her very first opportunity 00:02:13.569 --> 00:02:15.830 to even visit the tomb. Yesterday was a Passover 00:02:15.830 --> 00:02:18.930 festival. That's a no -go. So she gets to the 00:02:18.930 --> 00:02:21.550 tomb so early, it's still dark. And either by 00:02:21.550 --> 00:02:24.270 moonlight or first light, she sees the stone 00:02:24.270 --> 00:02:26.610 has been rolled away and she must see nobody 00:02:26.610 --> 00:02:30.069 on the stone table inside. because she runs to 00:02:30.069 --> 00:02:32.530 Peter and John and tells them the body has been 00:02:32.530 --> 00:02:36.150 taken. And those disciples, they run, they sprint, 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:38.669 they've got to see it for themselves. And they 00:02:38.669 --> 00:02:41.270 reach the tomb to look inside and they see nothing 00:02:41.270 --> 00:02:44.229 there but the cloth that was wrapped around the 00:02:44.229 --> 00:02:46.550 lifeless body of Jesus lying there on the stone 00:02:46.550 --> 00:02:50.710 table. Now if you were stealing a body from a 00:02:50.710 --> 00:02:53.409 tomb, you probably wouldn't take the time to 00:02:53.409 --> 00:02:56.610 unwrap the cloth from the body. That would be 00:02:56.610 --> 00:03:00.129 both tedious and unhygienic. You just wouldn't 00:03:00.129 --> 00:03:04.449 do it. And seeing this, the text says everything 00:03:04.449 --> 00:03:10.810 clicks for them. They believe. They get it. Jesus 00:03:10.810 --> 00:03:14.389 meant what he said when he said, I am the resurrection 00:03:14.389 --> 00:03:20.129 and the life. Peter and John, they believe. But 00:03:20.129 --> 00:03:25.069 Mary, Mary doesn't believe. She does not believe. 00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:27.150 Mary is looking for Jesus, but the Jesus she's 00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:31.870 looking for is not life. To her, Jesus is just 00:03:31.870 --> 00:03:35.590 a corpse, the lifeless body of her dear, dear 00:03:35.590 --> 00:03:38.969 friend. And so there Mary is grieving. She's 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:41.389 remembering. She's distraught. She's weeping 00:03:41.389 --> 00:03:45.870 outside the tomb. And then she does what we all 00:03:45.870 --> 00:03:49.969 do when we have lost something. She looks again. 00:03:50.949 --> 00:03:54.449 She stoops in to look. And there she sees two 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:56.389 angels, one sitting at either end of the stone 00:03:56.389 --> 00:03:58.610 table. And they ask her, and you can hear the 00:03:58.610 --> 00:04:05.009 compassion, dear woman, why are you crying? She 00:04:05.009 --> 00:04:07.310 says, because they've taken away my Lord and 00:04:07.310 --> 00:04:12.909 I don't know where they have put him. She turns 00:04:12.909 --> 00:04:14.750 around to leave and there's a man standing in 00:04:14.750 --> 00:04:18.189 the garden behind her. And we know that it's 00:04:18.189 --> 00:04:20.230 the resurrected Jesus, but she doesn't recognize 00:04:20.230 --> 00:04:23.370 him. She doesn't recognize him. She thinks he's 00:04:23.370 --> 00:04:26.709 a gardener of these garden graves that they're 00:04:26.709 --> 00:04:32.870 surrounded by. And he asks her, dear woman, why 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:38.449 are you crying? Who are you looking for? Sir, 00:04:38.449 --> 00:04:41.670 she said, if you've taken him away, tell me where 00:04:41.670 --> 00:04:44.930 you've put him and I will go and get him. Mary 00:04:44.930 --> 00:04:48.730 is overcome. She's distraught and she's determined. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.339 All she wants to do is to attend to the lifeless 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:57.879 body of Jesus, her friend. She wants to mourn 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.360 him, to have some kind of closure, to make sure 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:02.540 that he is as honored in death as he was honored 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:06.860 in life. Whatever it takes, she says. Even if 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:09.360 I have to fireman carry away the lifeless body 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:11.560 of Jesus, then let's go. Show me where he is. 00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:13.779 I'm going to go and get him. It's great energy. 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:19.129 I love it. And all it takes for Mary To realize 00:05:19.129 --> 00:05:21.069 that what she's looking for with all her heart 00:05:21.069 --> 00:05:24.129 is standing right in front of her is one word 00:05:24.129 --> 00:05:30.050 Mary He speaks her name. He calls her by name 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:34.209 as he has done a hundred times before He doesn't 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:40.610 say dear woman Mary and it clicks for her He's 00:05:40.610 --> 00:05:43.750 alive. Everything he said was true. He has risen 00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:49.740 from the grave now now Mary believes Mary was 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:52.800 looking for Jesus with all her heart. Even though 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:55.360 all she thought she was looking for was the lifeless 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:59.740 body of her friend and Lord and teacher. And 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:04.000 even, get this, even in her unbelief, she was 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.120 looking. But it was when she looked again that 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:10.740 she found him. And he wasn't dead, he wasn't 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:13.500 a corpse, he was resurrected, risen and alive. 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:20.519 There's a sixth century saint called Gregory 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:23.199 the great which is just a great name and he makes 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:28.100 this comment about Mary and I love it she persevered 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:34.259 in seeking and That is why she found him If Mary 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:37.339 does not seek think about it if she doesn't persevere 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:41.279 if she does not look again She does not encounter 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:46.360 Jesus in this way She finds him Because she wants 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:52.240 to find him Perhaps for you this morning, you 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.060 are looking for Jesus. Maybe you've been in church 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:59.399 since you were in diapers, and yet you have never 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:02.839 experienced the real living relationship with 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:06.100 God that is available to us in Jesus Christ. 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:10.279 And you're looking, you're looking for the real 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:12.839 risen Jesus behind the routines and the ritual 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:15.819 of the religion that you know so very, very well. 00:07:18.589 --> 00:07:21.410 Maybe for you there are circumstances that you're 00:07:21.410 --> 00:07:23.990 going through that are so complex, so difficult, 00:07:24.370 --> 00:07:27.449 so heartbreaking, that whether you believe or 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:31.850 not, they're causing you to ask, where is Jesus 00:07:31.850 --> 00:07:36.029 in all this? Where is God in all of this? How 00:07:36.029 --> 00:07:41.310 could this be so? Maybe for you, you might not 00:07:41.310 --> 00:07:44.050 say that you're looking for Jesus, but you're 00:07:44.050 --> 00:07:47.810 looking for something. Something to make sense 00:07:47.810 --> 00:07:50.930 of this life. Something bigger than yourself 00:07:50.930 --> 00:07:54.129 that you can be a part of. Something true and 00:07:54.129 --> 00:07:57.810 beautiful and eternal. And you're just not finding 00:07:57.810 --> 00:08:00.889 it. You're not finding it in your career. You're 00:08:00.889 --> 00:08:02.670 not finding it in your family. You're not finding 00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:05.110 it in your wealth. You're not finding it in self 00:08:05.110 --> 00:08:07.329 -help books. You're not finding it online. You're 00:08:07.329 --> 00:08:12.310 not finding it in working for the weekend. The 00:08:12.310 --> 00:08:15.790 good news of Easter is this. And it's simply 00:08:15.790 --> 00:08:20.990 this, if you want to find Jesus, you will. If 00:08:20.990 --> 00:08:23.810 you want to find Jesus, you will. If you look 00:08:23.810 --> 00:08:26.209 for him as Mary did, you will not find a corpse. 00:08:26.930 --> 00:08:31.449 There is no body. You will find the risen Jesus. 00:08:33.129 --> 00:08:35.570 You will find the risen Jesus behind the religion. 00:08:35.629 --> 00:08:38.029 You will find where Jesus is in your circumstance. 00:08:38.450 --> 00:08:40.730 You will find whatever it is that you are looking 00:08:40.730 --> 00:08:49.779 for in Jesus. When I was a teenager, I was looking 00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:52.860 for Jesus. I had grown up in the church my whole 00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:56.299 life. I loved it. I loved the community. I loved 00:08:56.299 --> 00:09:01.139 the stories. But as I got older, it wasn't enough 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:05.059 for me. I wanted to encounter the risen Jesus 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:07.500 behind the religion. I wanted the real Jesus 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:11.139 to please stand up. I knew there had to be more. 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:14.200 I knew there had to be more than just plain church 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:19.639 every Sunday. Jesus says this in Matthew 7, ask 00:09:19.639 --> 00:09:22.820 and it will be given to you. Seek and you will 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:27.500 find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:31.240 For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:34.059 finds and to the one who knocks the door will 00:09:34.059 --> 00:09:38.500 be opened. And as a teenager I asked, I seeked, 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.019 I knocked because I really wanted to find Jesus. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:46.929 And I did. I found what I was looking for. At 00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:50.169 15, I had a radical personal encounter with Jesus 00:09:50.169 --> 00:09:52.029 that just changed the trajectory of my life. 00:09:52.289 --> 00:09:55.129 I would not be standing here today without that 00:09:55.129 --> 00:09:58.450 encounter. I met the risen Jesus. And people 00:09:58.450 --> 00:10:00.950 all over the world, different ages and ethnicities, 00:10:01.210 --> 00:10:04.389 religions, they all have similar stories to tell 00:10:04.389 --> 00:10:09.309 of encountering the living Jesus. The good news 00:10:09.309 --> 00:10:11.250 of Easter is that if you want to find Jesus, 00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:16.169 you will. But there's actually better news. Better 00:10:16.169 --> 00:10:17.669 news than that? Yeah, there's actually better 00:10:17.669 --> 00:10:21.389 news than that. You see Easter is God coming 00:10:21.389 --> 00:10:26.909 to find you. In our sin, our rebellion, our selfishness, 00:10:27.590 --> 00:10:29.990 it has estranged us from God. We couldn't be 00:10:29.990 --> 00:10:32.769 with God in this life and death was the end for 00:10:32.769 --> 00:10:36.490 us. And so Jesus came on our behalf to reconcile 00:10:36.490 --> 00:10:40.519 us to God again. And then He was raised to life 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:43.220 so that in Him death is no longer the end. So 00:10:43.220 --> 00:10:47.360 that in Him we could have no fear in death. And 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:54.759 God did all of that for you and for me. So that 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:58.100 we could come alive to God. So that it could 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:01.360 click like it clicked for Peter, John and eventually 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:06.370 Mary. So that we could be with God forever. And 00:11:06.370 --> 00:11:10.210 why would God go to such great lengths at such 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:15.250 great personal costs? It's because He loves us. 00:11:15.870 --> 00:11:20.950 And because He loves you. Mary was looking for 00:11:20.950 --> 00:11:25.149 Him. But the reason, risen Jesus didn't have 00:11:25.149 --> 00:11:29.610 to take five just to go and comfort Mary. She 00:11:29.610 --> 00:11:33.269 would have found out later. But instead He meets 00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:36.590 her. with a gentleness and compassion anyway. 00:11:37.389 --> 00:11:41.909 And He calls her by her name. Only those who 00:11:41.909 --> 00:11:44.870 know you call you by your name. Everyone else 00:11:44.870 --> 00:11:46.769 will just call you mate because they've forgotten 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:53.370 what it is. Jesus calls her by her name because 00:11:53.370 --> 00:11:57.470 He knows her and He loves her. And friends, this 00:11:57.470 --> 00:12:01.120 is who God is. This is the kind of life that 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:06.019 God has made available to us in Jesus To be known 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:11.539 and to be loved to be called by name by the God 00:12:11.539 --> 00:12:17.559 who created you The incredible news of Easter 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:22.019 is that God in Jesus Like a shepherd who leaves 00:12:22.019 --> 00:12:24.779 his flock to find the one that's lost God has 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:33.990 come to find you God has come to find you. I 00:12:33.990 --> 00:12:39.529 haven't found my yeti yet. I keep looking and 00:12:39.529 --> 00:12:42.129 looking again and I keep looking because I want 00:12:42.129 --> 00:12:45.190 to look cool and hydrated at the same time but 00:12:45.190 --> 00:12:47.190 mostly so that my sister will stop being upset 00:12:47.190 --> 00:12:49.990 with me for losing her present after a week. 00:12:51.889 --> 00:12:59.389 You know if only my Yeti was looking for me. 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:08.210 My dear friends, happy Easter. This is a joyous 00:13:08.210 --> 00:13:10.330 day. This day means that if you want to find 00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:13.370 Jesus, you will find Him because He has come 00:13:13.370 --> 00:13:18.850 to find you. So my friends, look again. Look 00:13:18.850 --> 00:13:28.009 again. Thanks so much for tuning into this week's 00:13:28.009 --> 00:13:31.210 message. If you felt challenged or need prayer, 00:13:31.769 --> 00:13:34.490 we'd love to hear from you on Instagram at encounterhenny. 00:13:35.049 --> 00:13:37.429 Or if you're interested in how you can support 00:13:37.429 --> 00:13:41.409 this ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide 00:13:41.409 --> 00:13:45.570 .com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless 00:13:45.570 --> 00:13:45.929 you.