WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.839 Well, amen, amen. Heights, it is so good to be 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:07.019 with you today. Can you believe that it was snowing 00:00:07.019 --> 00:00:10.439 two days ago? Like, what is going on right now? 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:13.259 You guys can go ahead and grab a seat. Man, I 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:15.880 am so excited to be with you today, to welcome 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:18.500 you from wherever you are coming from. Welcome 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:20.600 those of you from our Prescott Valley location 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.719 here with us today. Come on, we can be excited 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:27.329 for Prescott Valley location. There we go. Welcome 00:00:27.329 --> 00:00:29.690 those that are from our Prescott location that 00:00:29.690 --> 00:00:34.710 are here with us today. Come on. Welcome those 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:37.409 who are from our online family that are joining 00:00:37.409 --> 00:00:39.909 us in person here today. We can welcome them 00:00:39.909 --> 00:00:43.829 as well as welcoming those that are on our online 00:00:43.829 --> 00:00:46.810 family as well. And then a special, special welcome 00:00:46.810 --> 00:00:49.049 to any of our guests that are here with us today. 00:00:49.549 --> 00:00:52.009 We're just so glad that you decided to come and 00:00:52.009 --> 00:00:54.810 be a part of this today as we can be one family. 00:00:55.899 --> 00:00:59.299 celebrating a risen Savior. Celebrating a risen 00:00:59.299 --> 00:01:01.219 Savior, man. And I'm excited. Some of you were 00:01:01.219 --> 00:01:02.640 like, I'm not sure if we should be excited. We 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.799 can be excited about that. And we're gonna talk 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.920 more about that. Just to let you know, I'm gonna 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:10.400 try to say this as quick as I can because my 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.459 hair doesn't allow for much sun protection. And 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:15.420 so we're gonna try to get through this as quick 00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:18.379 as we can, man. But super excited. I love Easter. 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:20.840 I absolutely love just being able to celebrate 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:24.040 a risen Savior. And I wish I could say that. 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:26.959 I've always loved Easter because of Jesus, but 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:29.280 it's because of the candy. I gotta be honest. 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:31.780 It's because of the candy, right? Because here's 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:33.799 the deal. Reese's does this thing around this 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:36.879 time of year where they find the perfect ratio 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.599 between chocolate and peanut butter in their 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:43.180 Reese's eggs. Come on, that is proof that God 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:45.760 exists. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. We 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:48.599 have proof. God exists, man. But here's the deal. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:51.340 When I was younger, we would do Easter egg hunts. 00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:54.140 And this was my time to shine because it wasn't 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:56.120 just about getting the candy. It was about dominating 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:59.040 and finding every possible egg. Like I would 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.620 turn into Sherlock Holmes, man. I could find 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:02.879 them anywhere. I could find eggs anywhere. I 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:04.920 love it. But here's the thing. A lot of times 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.099 when you go out to do an Easter egg hunt, parents 00:02:08.099 --> 00:02:10.099 that are smart will give a limit on how many 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:12.080 eggs so that everyone gets their fair share. 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:16.360 My parents. We're not that smart. But I remember 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:18.419 one year we went out and they said, okay, here, 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:22.219 the easy ones leave for the younger kids, but 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:25.460 the harder ones you can find. The problem with 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:26.900 that though is that they don't actually put a 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:29.180 distinction between what's the easy and what's 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:30.659 the hard. So every egg that I saw, I'm like, 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:32.900 I don't know, seems a little easy. I'm not gonna 00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:35.219 keep going. And so I was searching for the hard 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:37.620 eggs the whole time until we got to the end of 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.139 the Easter egg hunt. And everyone else that was 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:41.819 doing the Easter egg hunt had a basket full of 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:44.830 like 30 eggs. And I had like five eggs in my 00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:47.289 basket. And I'm like, man, I thought they were 00:02:47.289 --> 00:02:51.050 all too easy. And I remember the first time realizing 00:02:51.050 --> 00:02:52.750 that Easter is supposed to be exciting, but man, 00:02:52.770 --> 00:02:55.289 I was full of disappointment when I realized 00:02:55.289 --> 00:02:58.669 I didn't get what I was expecting. So I feel 00:02:58.669 --> 00:03:00.830 like some of us may have walked in here today 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:03.490 and the only way you can characterize how you're 00:03:03.490 --> 00:03:07.030 feeling is a sense of disappointment. Maybe life 00:03:07.030 --> 00:03:08.909 just isn't going the way that you had set out 00:03:08.909 --> 00:03:12.530 for it to go. Maybe you walked in today and the 00:03:12.530 --> 00:03:14.830 only thing that you can say is, man, I really 00:03:14.830 --> 00:03:18.330 am feeling this disappointment. Maybe you're 00:03:18.330 --> 00:03:19.770 at a place in life where you just want to quit. 00:03:20.550 --> 00:03:22.050 Maybe you're at a place in life where you're 00:03:22.050 --> 00:03:25.169 kind of at the end of your rope. Maybe you're 00:03:25.169 --> 00:03:27.370 only here today because it's what you do on Easter. 00:03:27.449 --> 00:03:29.050 You just show up to church and that's why you 00:03:29.050 --> 00:03:32.210 came here today. But you're at a place where 00:03:32.210 --> 00:03:34.629 this is what you're feeling. And I think sometimes 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:39.139 what we put our faith in fails us. What we put 00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:42.020 our hope in fails us. See, I understand this 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:43.819 very well because I'm a San Diego Padres fan. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:47.379 And right now, just side note, you need to know 00:03:47.379 --> 00:03:49.080 they do have the best record in all of baseball 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.039 right now. But I've put my faith in them and 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:54.159 I know that at some point they will fail me. 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.080 All right, they're gonna fail me. All right, 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:57.819 listen, Dodger fans, I don't need to hear it 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:00.439 right now. I'm not talking to you. Listen, Jesus 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:02.099 loves you. I just don't like you, all right? 00:04:03.020 --> 00:04:05.159 But it's okay because the worst of people are 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:06.780 welcome here today. It's okay, we're glad you're 00:04:06.780 --> 00:04:08.849 here. We're glad you're here. I'm just kidding. 00:04:09.009 --> 00:04:11.710 I'm just kind of kidding on that. All right. 00:04:13.849 --> 00:04:15.909 Man, but the truth is that things let us down, 00:04:15.930 --> 00:04:19.449 right? I love Reese's. I love them. And then 00:04:19.449 --> 00:04:20.870 I look in the mirror and I realize they've let 00:04:20.870 --> 00:04:24.589 me down a little bit. They've let me down. All 00:04:24.589 --> 00:04:27.269 right, sometimes we put our faith in things that 00:04:27.269 --> 00:04:30.029 let us down. It lets us down when we go, man, 00:04:30.089 --> 00:04:32.470 this is what I'm putting my faith in, what I'm 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:34.829 putting my trust in, right? That friend that 00:04:34.829 --> 00:04:37.189 apparently. isn't as much of a friend as you 00:04:37.189 --> 00:04:40.110 thought they were. At that marriage that you 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:42.990 thought would survive, and either it didn't or 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:46.149 it's looking like it's not going to. Maybe it's 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:47.610 your health that you said, well, nothing's gonna 00:04:47.610 --> 00:04:49.889 happen, and then your health starts going downhill. 00:04:50.970 --> 00:04:53.790 Maybe it's the stress or pressure of taking care 00:04:53.790 --> 00:04:56.850 of somebody else. So I don't know what it is, 00:04:56.889 --> 00:04:58.569 but a lot of us, we put our faith in things that 00:04:58.569 --> 00:05:00.250 end up disappointing us, they end up failing 00:05:00.250 --> 00:05:03.129 us, they end up letting us down, and we arrive 00:05:03.129 --> 00:05:05.800 to a place where we go, man. I'm just feeling 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:08.920 disappointed. And I think that's a place that's 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:11.819 pretty natural because life has ups and downs, 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:13.899 and that's how they felt on the first Easter 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:16.800 as well. Resurrection Sunday in the Bible, if 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:18.699 you look at the first Easter, they were feeling 00:05:18.699 --> 00:05:22.800 pretty much the same thing. If you have your 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:25.459 Bibles, we're going to be looking in the Bible 00:05:25.459 --> 00:05:27.879 today, and we're going to be in the book of Luke. 00:05:27.939 --> 00:05:29.759 But here's the thing is, is things didn't go 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.620 as planned for the people that we see in Scripture. 00:05:33.230 --> 00:05:35.589 The nation of Israel where God's chosen people, 00:05:35.689 --> 00:05:38.509 he said, man, you are chosen. There's prophecy 00:05:38.509 --> 00:05:40.389 saying, hey, you're gonna be amazing. Great things 00:05:40.389 --> 00:05:41.949 are gonna come from you. And then all of a sudden 00:05:41.949 --> 00:05:43.850 they find themselves in the midst of all of these 00:05:43.850 --> 00:05:46.029 prophecies that are supposed to happen. They 00:05:46.029 --> 00:05:48.350 find themselves under Roman oppression, under 00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:51.189 Roman rule. And they're going, okay, this isn't 00:05:51.189 --> 00:05:54.089 how it's supposed to be. And then they get a 00:05:54.089 --> 00:05:55.689 little bit of hope because this guy named Jesus 00:05:55.689 --> 00:05:58.360 shows up on the scene. And Jesus starts doing 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:01.220 miracles. And Jesus starts doing things that's 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:03.519 attracting crowds. And he's teaching people. 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:06.439 And crowds start following Jesus. And they start 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:08.259 going, I want to know what this man has to say. 00:06:08.779 --> 00:06:11.120 And he has disciples. And disciples start showing 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.939 up, which are followers that followed him closely 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:16.079 and learned from him. They were his students. 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:19.019 And all this is happening and they're getting 00:06:19.019 --> 00:06:20.779 this glimmer of hope. But then all of a sudden 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:24.370 their hope is completely smashed. Because the 00:06:24.370 --> 00:06:26.689 person that rode in on a donkey a week before 00:06:26.689 --> 00:06:29.170 and they've laid down their coats and they laid 00:06:29.170 --> 00:06:31.490 down palm branches and they said, Hosanna, which 00:06:31.490 --> 00:06:35.649 means save us or save now. As he rides in one 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:38.490 week later, their hope is crushed because Jesus 00:06:38.490 --> 00:06:42.430 is arrested. Because Jesus is sentenced to death 00:06:42.430 --> 00:06:46.930 and Jesus is nailed to a cross. And Jesus then 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:49.709 dies on a cross as they poke a spear in his side 00:06:49.709 --> 00:06:52.250 and blood and water pours out symbolizing he 00:06:52.250 --> 00:06:55.310 is dead. And they take him off of this cross 00:06:55.310 --> 00:06:58.689 and put him in a tomb. And they seal him in this 00:06:58.689 --> 00:07:02.829 tomb. And all of their hope was completely smashed. 00:07:03.589 --> 00:07:06.009 And we pick up in Luke chapter 24, starting in 00:07:06.009 --> 00:07:09.170 verse 13. It says this, now that same day, two 00:07:09.170 --> 00:07:11.410 of them were going to a village called Emmaus, 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:14.550 about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking 00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:16.850 with each other about everything that had happened. 00:07:17.170 --> 00:07:19.470 As they talked and discussed these things with 00:07:19.470 --> 00:07:22.420 each other, Jesus himself came up and walked 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:25.259 along with them, but they were kept from recognizing 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:29.139 him. They are walking away from everything that 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:31.019 had happened. They're walking away from it. They're 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:33.060 walking away in disappointment. And I think some 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:36.439 of you are on that walk today. Some of you, that's 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:37.839 the walk that you're in. You're just walking 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.800 in this disappointment. You think it's over. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.980 You think it's too late for you, either by something 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:46.000 you've done or something that was done to you 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.480 or the situation you find yourself in. You're 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:52.139 walking in going, it's just over for me. It doesn't 00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:54.959 matter. It's too late. I'm too far gone. I'm 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:59.279 too broken. And you came in carrying this major 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:01.399 disappointment and discouragement. See, we have 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:04.459 disappointment when our expectation doesn't meet 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:07.779 our reality. When we expect something different 00:08:07.779 --> 00:08:11.339 than what actually happens in reality. All right, 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:13.040 have you ever ordered something online before 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.860 that doesn't show up the way that you thought 00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:16.660 it would? You know what I'm talking about? My 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:21.180 wife, she ordered this amazing giant, this dresser 00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:23.579 that was gonna be amazing, and it shows up, and 00:08:23.579 --> 00:08:25.600 I think it was made for Barbies, I'm not sure, 00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:27.839 but it was like this big, and we're like, what 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.399 is this thing? All right, there's an expectation, 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:33.279 and then there's a reality. I remember when my 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:36.100 first two kids were born, they were twins, and 00:08:36.100 --> 00:08:38.279 so. I don't know why I didn't expect this, but 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:39.860 we were going in, and I had this picture in my 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:41.740 head of what it was going to be like, taking 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.039 my kids home from the hospital and how great 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:46.860 it would be. And I was completely shocked when 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:48.419 the doctor said, hey, no, they need to go straight 00:08:48.419 --> 00:08:51.659 to the NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit, 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:54.139 and they need to stay there for weeks. And I 00:08:54.139 --> 00:08:56.279 remember the disappointment, the extreme disappointment 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:59.220 for being like, but God, why? This isn't what 00:08:59.220 --> 00:09:02.149 I had pictured. Maybe some of you are on that 00:09:02.149 --> 00:09:04.590 walk that these people were on here walking away 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:06.990 from Jerusalem going, this isn't how it was supposed 00:09:06.990 --> 00:09:10.230 to go. This isn't where I wanted to find myself, 00:09:10.330 --> 00:09:12.629 but here I am and I'm on this same walk and you're 00:09:12.629 --> 00:09:14.870 discouraged and you're walking in this discouragement, 00:09:14.889 --> 00:09:16.929 but I need you to know that sometimes our discouragement 00:09:16.929 --> 00:09:20.509 leads us away from our destiny. And today God 00:09:20.509 --> 00:09:23.190 wants to speak to you. In the middle of whatever 00:09:23.190 --> 00:09:25.110 it is that you brought in with you, God wants 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:27.870 to speak to you because he has conquered all 00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:30.919 of that. And as Jesus is walking with these people 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:34.379 here, verse 17, it says he asked them, what are 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:37.399 you discussing together as you walk along? I 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:39.559 love this. Jesus is asking them about his own 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:42.580 story. It says they stood still, their faces 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:46.179 downcast. One of them named Cleopas asked him, 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.740 are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who doesn't 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:50.480 know the things that have happened here in these 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.500 days? What things, he asked. About Jesus of Nazareth, 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:56.909 they replied. They said he was a prophet. He 00:09:56.909 --> 00:10:00.649 was powerful in word and deed. He was the chief 00:10:00.649 --> 00:10:02.429 priest and the rulers. They handed him over to 00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:05.529 be sentenced to death and they crucified him. 00:10:05.889 --> 00:10:08.049 We had hoped that he was the one who was going 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:10.529 to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the 00:10:10.529 --> 00:10:13.330 third day since this took place. In addition, 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:15.350 some of our women amazed us. They went to the 00:10:15.350 --> 00:10:18.289 tomb early this morning, but did not find his 00:10:18.289 --> 00:10:20.690 body. They came and told us that they had seen 00:10:20.690 --> 00:10:24.100 a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then 00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:26.360 some of our companions went to the tomb and found 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:28.779 it, just as the woman had said, but they did 00:10:28.779 --> 00:10:32.960 not see Jesus. They're telling Jesus the story 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.620 of exactly what happened to him. And Jesus, as 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:37.460 he's walking alongside of them, as he's walking 00:10:37.460 --> 00:10:40.080 beside them, he's listening to tell the story 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.100 and tell exactly what was prophesied. See, sometimes 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:45.919 we're in a place where even the truth in our 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.440 life, when the truth is told to us, it doesn't 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:51.139 get through. We've heard the truth. Maybe you've 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:53.259 seen the truth. Maybe someone has spoken the 00:10:53.259 --> 00:10:55.159 truth to you, but sometimes we don't see the 00:10:55.159 --> 00:11:00.019 truth even when it's right in front of us. And 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:01.500 I think what a lot of times we like to do is 00:11:01.500 --> 00:11:04.879 we like to put people in our life that will just 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.639 tell us the lie that we want to hear. We need 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:09.460 people in our life that will speak truth to us, 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:11.399 but we surround ourselves with people that just 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:14.379 reinforce the lie that we've told ourself. My 00:11:14.379 --> 00:11:19.059 youngest daughter, she's two. Every night when 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:21.600 we say, hey, it's time for bed, it becomes an 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:23.840 argument and a fight for bedtime. Because she 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:25.320 goes, no, no, it's not time for bed. It's not 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:27.419 night -night time yet. And so we have to take 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:29.419 her over to the door and we have to let her look 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:31.659 outside and say, look, it's dark outside. It's 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:33.659 night -night time. And she's looking outside 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:35.759 into a completely dark sky, into a completely 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.159 dark world. And she looks back and she goes, 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:40.159 it's not dark outside. It's not night -night 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:43.059 time. Which is a lie. We see it. We're like, 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.450 we can see it with our eyes. We know. And then 00:11:45.450 --> 00:11:47.610 she does something very strategic. She goes and 00:11:47.610 --> 00:11:49.970 she gets her doll and she brings her doll over 00:11:49.970 --> 00:11:52.570 and she looks out the door with her doll and 00:11:52.570 --> 00:11:54.289 she has a little quick conversation with her 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:55.769 doll and then she looks at us and she goes, yeah, 00:11:55.789 --> 00:11:59.289 she says it's not dark outside either. I'm like, 00:11:59.309 --> 00:12:01.350 awesome. Two against one here. This is going 00:12:01.350 --> 00:12:04.029 well. All right, but see, that's what we like 00:12:04.029 --> 00:12:05.629 to do. We like to surround ourself with people 00:12:05.629 --> 00:12:07.590 that will reinforce the lie that we've told ourself 00:12:07.590 --> 00:12:09.509 instead of hearing the truth that's right in 00:12:09.509 --> 00:12:12.279 front of us. We need to surround ourselves with 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:14.419 people that are gonna speak truth to us, right? 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.620 That's why it's important that we're a part of 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:18.700 a family that can speak truth. Listen, we call 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:21.320 Heights a family because we are people that wanna 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.019 walk alongside one another. And every single 00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:25.879 one of you invited to be a part of this family, 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:27.820 we'd love for you to continue to walk with this 00:12:27.820 --> 00:12:29.919 family, to join us at one of our services, at 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.059 one of our locations, to be a part of what we're 00:12:32.059 --> 00:12:34.659 doing, to say, hey, I wanna be a part of a family 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:36.500 because I need people that are gonna walk alongside 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:38.820 of me when things get difficult and aren't afraid 00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:42.789 to speak truth. to me. Jesus is not afraid to 00:12:42.789 --> 00:12:44.490 speak truth to them. I love this. After they 00:12:44.490 --> 00:12:47.350 say this to Jesus, it says in verse 25, he said 00:12:47.350 --> 00:12:51.049 to them, how foolish are you? Jesus is just like, 00:12:51.129 --> 00:12:52.629 hey, we ain't messing around. How foolish are 00:12:52.629 --> 00:12:55.169 you right here? And how slow to believe all the 00:12:55.169 --> 00:12:58.110 prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have 00:12:58.110 --> 00:13:01.129 to suffer these things and then enter his glory? 00:13:01.429 --> 00:13:04.570 And beginning with Moses and the prophets, beginning 00:13:04.570 --> 00:13:07.370 in the beginning of the book, he explained to 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:11.149 them what was said in all the scriptures concerning 00:13:11.149 --> 00:13:14.470 himself. See, sometimes we just need truth spoken 00:13:14.470 --> 00:13:18.070 over us. Jesus reminded them of God's promises. 00:13:18.129 --> 00:13:20.830 That's what he was doing. He said, I wanna remind 00:13:20.830 --> 00:13:23.009 you of God's promises right now. We need truth 00:13:23.009 --> 00:13:25.950 spoken over us. Can I just speak truth and remind 00:13:25.950 --> 00:13:27.710 you of God's promises? Because some of you have 00:13:27.710 --> 00:13:29.789 believed a lie for too long and you need to understand 00:13:29.789 --> 00:13:32.610 that what God says is true. And God says in Psalm 00:13:32.610 --> 00:13:35.350 34, 18, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:38.320 and saves those who are crushed in spirit. He 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.480 says in Romans 8, 28, in all things, God's works 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:43.519 for the good of those who love him, who have 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:46.039 been called according to his purpose. In Psalm 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:48.440 23, 4, it says, even though I walk through the 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:53.539 darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you 00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:56.820 are with me. And I need you to know this, God 00:13:56.820 --> 00:13:59.940 is not done with you. It doesn't matter what 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:01.320 the disappointment you're feeling. It doesn't 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:03.559 matter what you walked in with. God is not done 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.399 with you. If you're not dead, God's not done. 00:14:05.659 --> 00:14:08.220 God has a purpose for you. God has a calling 00:14:08.220 --> 00:14:12.360 for you. God wants more for you. And a lot of 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:13.960 times we believe the lie that we've been told, 00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:15.720 the lie that we live around in our culture, the 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:17.779 lie that we tell ourself, the lie that the people 00:14:17.779 --> 00:14:19.919 we surround ourself with are telling us, but 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:21.559 we need to start listening to the truth that 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:25.220 only comes from him. Jesus speaks truth to them. 00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:30.269 It says this. In verse 28, as they approached 00:14:30.269 --> 00:14:33.549 the village to which they were going, Jesus continued 00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:37.190 on as if he were going further. Jesus wanted 00:14:37.190 --> 00:14:39.370 to continue to walk by, but they urged him strongly, 00:14:39.669 --> 00:14:43.610 stay with us, for it is nearly evening. The day 00:14:43.610 --> 00:14:46.889 is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. 00:14:47.710 --> 00:14:50.710 See, I wonder how many times we let Jesus walk 00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:53.490 right past us instead of reaching out for him. 00:14:54.289 --> 00:14:56.090 I wonder how many times we've been in proximity. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:58.919 And instead of reaching out for Jesus, we just 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:03.240 let him slip right past. One of the privileges 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:06.519 that I have in my life is I get to be an assistant 00:15:06.519 --> 00:15:08.480 coach for Embry -Riddle University. I get to 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.659 coach baseball over there. And we have some of 00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:12.679 the Embry -Riddle baseball eagles in the house 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.519 with us today right now. Come on, can we support 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:17.820 the local boys right now? Let's go. Shout out 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:19.990 to them. I'm glad that they're here with us. 00:15:20.090 --> 00:15:21.830 But one of the things we do every year is we 00:15:21.830 --> 00:15:24.009 get to go to a spring training game and we take 00:15:24.009 --> 00:15:26.629 the team there to have some team bonding and 00:15:26.629 --> 00:15:28.850 to be able to watch a game. And so we went down 00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:30.409 and we got to watch a spring training game. And 00:15:30.409 --> 00:15:32.409 as I was sitting there, I noticed that in the 00:15:32.409 --> 00:15:36.309 section right next to me, a famous Hall of Fame 00:15:36.309 --> 00:15:39.389 manager was sitting right there. And so I nudged 00:15:39.389 --> 00:15:40.649 some of the players next to me. I'm like, hey, 00:15:40.710 --> 00:15:42.889 that's a famous Hall of Fame manager right there. 00:15:43.129 --> 00:15:44.750 And they go, hey, you should go talk to him. 00:15:45.009 --> 00:15:47.580 I'm like, I'm not going to talk to him. He doesn't 00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:50.100 want to hear from me. I had to come up with every 00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:51.759 excuse right then. I'm like, well, he doesn't 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.279 have time for me. I'm not going to go talk to 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:56.519 him. He's not going to want to talk to someone 00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:58.259 like me anyway. Why would he want to talk to 00:15:58.259 --> 00:16:00.279 me? So we waited until the end of the game, and 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:02.120 finally my player, he's the one that had the 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:03.620 courage to go up and talk to him. And he goes 00:16:03.620 --> 00:16:06.340 to talk to him, and he goes, hey, I know who 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:08.220 you are, and this is really exciting. Can we 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:10.600 take a picture with you? And I'm sitting there. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:11.899 I'm standing there. I'm like, this is awesome. 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:13.879 And so my player then turns to me and hands the 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:15.200 phone, and he goes, hey, coach, will you take 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.840 a picture of us? I'm like, bro, I wanted to be 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:22.340 in the picture. What the heck, man? But then 00:16:22.340 --> 00:16:25.480 in that moment, I was identified as the coach. 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:27.799 And so this Hall of Fame manager realized and 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:29.580 he walks over to me and he shakes my hand and 00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:30.899 he says, hey, coach, you're doing a great job 00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:33.799 with these boys. And he talks to me for a few 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:35.659 minutes there and I get the conversation with 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:37.360 him right there. And I was like, all right, I 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:41.679 won. I'll take your picture now, it's okay. All 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:42.840 right, but see, I would have let him slip right 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:45.039 past without saying anything, without reaching 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:47.940 out. See, Jesus was just walking past. Jesus 00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:50.259 was gonna continue on going and these people 00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:52.019 reached out and they said, no, no, no, hey, stay 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:56.559 with us. Hey, stick with us. And as Jesus was 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.700 doing this, as Jesus was reaching out, he's saying, 00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:03.200 hey, I wanna just keep going. And he looked at 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.000 them and he stayed with them. And Jesus stayed 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:09.519 with them at that moment, right then, right then 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:13.980 and there. And Jesus sits down with them. See, 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:16.119 here's the invitation. Jesus wants to sit down 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:21.500 with you. Jesus wants to sit down with you. And 00:17:21.500 --> 00:17:22.920 you know why I know that? Because Jesus went 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:27.420 to a cross for you. We celebrate Jesus. We remember 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:30.240 what he did on Good Friday when Jesus went to 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.720 a cross. And sometimes we frame it up in our 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:36.359 mind that Jesus went to a cross because they 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:39.319 sent him to a cross. But the Bible says, no, 00:17:39.339 --> 00:17:41.359 he laid his life down. Why did he go to a cross? 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:45.420 He went to a cross. Because he loves you. And 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:48.299 Jesus decided to pay the price for you on the 00:17:48.299 --> 00:17:51.240 cross. And when Jesus was nailed to a cross, 00:17:51.339 --> 00:17:53.059 when Jesus was beaten and he was bloodied and 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:55.460 he was bruised and he was crucified on that cross, 00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:00.279 what Jesus did was he made a way for you to have 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.500 a relationship with God. That is the good news. 00:18:03.579 --> 00:18:06.599 The good news today is that Jesus made a way. 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:09.480 He paid the price and Jesus went to a grave, 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:13.140 but Jesus did not stay in the grave. And when 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:15.160 Jesus rose from that grave, what he did is he 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.140 conquered sin and he conquered death and he made 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:20.359 a way for you and I to have a relationship with 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:25.240 God. And it's a free gift. It's a free gift. 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:30.619 And I talk about my love of Reese's quite often. 00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:33.200 And so I got lots of people that are, they're 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.009 kind of my suppliers. I have my friend Dory. 00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:37.809 She shows up in the office almost every day and 00:18:37.809 --> 00:18:39.130 goes, hey, here you go. Here's some Reese's. 00:18:39.329 --> 00:18:41.190 So just so you know, this message is brought 00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:44.910 to you powered by Reese's. And then I have my 00:18:44.910 --> 00:18:46.750 friend Deb. My friend Deb, she'll show up to 00:18:46.750 --> 00:18:48.549 me and she did a couple weeks ago at church and 00:18:48.549 --> 00:18:50.230 she just comes up and she goes, hey, this is 00:18:50.230 --> 00:18:53.730 for you. And I already know what's in it before 00:18:53.730 --> 00:18:55.809 she even says it. I know what she's brought me. 00:18:57.230 --> 00:18:59.430 I said, why do I get this? Why do I need this? 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:02.400 She looked at me and said, you don't need that. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.160 I'm just kidding. She didn't say that. She didn't 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:07.859 say that. But she said, no, you didn't do anything. 00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:11.400 I just want to give it to you. It's a free gift. 00:19:13.700 --> 00:19:17.359 See, as Jesus went and he sat down and he started 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.920 eating with these people, as Jesus was sitting 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:26.039 with them, it says that they shared a meal. And 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:27.539 they talked about all the things that had happened. 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:28.980 They talked about what was going on. They talked 00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:32.660 about their walk there. And they still didn't 00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:35.339 know it was Jesus. And then it says this, their 00:19:35.339 --> 00:19:41.000 eyes were opened to him. My prayer for you is 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.019 this. My prayer is that your eyes are opened 00:19:44.019 --> 00:19:47.359 to him today. Maybe you've been around the message 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:49.859 of Jesus, but you've never put your faith in 00:19:49.859 --> 00:19:52.799 Jesus. Maybe you've heard it before, but today 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:54.940 is the day that you say, I'm gonna take a stand. 00:19:55.980 --> 00:19:58.380 Today is the day that you say, I am going to 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:02.990 make a decision. Because today is my day. And 00:20:02.990 --> 00:20:04.450 it doesn't matter what disappointment you walked 00:20:04.450 --> 00:20:06.150 in with. It doesn't matter with what pain you 00:20:06.150 --> 00:20:07.809 walked in with. It doesn't matter with brokenness 00:20:07.809 --> 00:20:11.529 you walked in with. You're gonna leave a new 00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:20.329 life today. So here's the thing. Salvation. Salvation 00:20:20.329 --> 00:20:24.769 through Jesus is a free gift. But if I never 00:20:24.769 --> 00:20:27.130 went and took this gift, it wouldn't be mine. 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:29.980 And if my friend Deb just sat it down and said, 00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:32.359 okay, hey, there you go. And I just walked away 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:34.160 and left it there. Somebody else would steal 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:35.380 it and they would eat my Reese's. That's what 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:40.079 happened. It does not become yours until you 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:42.839 reach for it, until you grab it, until you take 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:49.339 hold of it. See, the free gift of Jesus is offered 00:20:49.339 --> 00:20:53.839 to you. The free gift of salvation is offered 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:56.299 to you, but it is your job to reach out and to 00:20:56.299 --> 00:20:59.869 take it. How do you accept this? It's simply 00:20:59.869 --> 00:21:02.210 telling God, listen, I surrender. I'm tired of 00:21:02.210 --> 00:21:05.910 trying to do this on my own. I'm tired of trying 00:21:05.910 --> 00:21:09.069 to push my will instead of bending and understanding 00:21:09.069 --> 00:21:15.369 that your will is what matters. And I believe 00:21:15.369 --> 00:21:18.529 that there are some people in here today. I believe 00:21:18.529 --> 00:21:22.670 there are some people here right now that it's 00:21:22.670 --> 00:21:25.970 time for you to get to a place where you say, 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:29.859 I give my life to Jesus. Because as their eyes 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:31.819 were open to Jesus, as they were sitting at this 00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:35.200 meal with Jesus and they were right there, it 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.799 says while he was speaking and while he was going 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.259 through the scriptures, didn't you feel that 00:21:41.259 --> 00:21:44.740 burning inside your heart? So I think some of 00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:47.339 you today have felt that. And that's nothing 00:21:47.339 --> 00:21:49.119 I've said, but it's all of the Holy Spirit. It's 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.079 God working in you. It's God working in your 00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:53.660 heart right now. And I believe that you are feeling 00:21:53.660 --> 00:21:55.400 that burn inside of you right now because God 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:56.880 is speaking to you and he's saying, hey, today 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:03.000 is your day. Today is your day. It says in the 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:05.880 book of 2 Corinthians, the day of salvation has 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:15.259 come. Today is my day. If that's you today, And 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:16.859 today, maybe you walked in with disappointment. 00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:18.799 You walked in with discouragement. You walked 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:22.000 in feeling like this whole life was on your shoulders. 00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:27.000 You can leave with new life because the tomb 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:31.920 is empty. And the tomb being empty, this is the 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.660 best part, is that tombs are designed to hold 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:38.440 dead things. They're designed to not be escapable 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:40.400 because what's inside of them is dead. But Jesus 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:43.640 rose from the dead. Jesus is alive. And because 00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:47.839 he is alive, you and I can escape the tomb. You 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:50.700 and I can run out in glorious victory. We do 00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:52.900 not have to walk in shame of disappointment. 00:22:52.940 --> 00:22:55.779 We can walk in victory because Jesus conquered 00:22:55.779 --> 00:22:58.519 the grave and he provided the victory for you 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:07.539 and for me. And listen. There are so many in 00:23:07.539 --> 00:23:10.480 here today that need to step into that victory. 00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:16.099 And it's as simple as this. It's as simple as 00:23:16.099 --> 00:23:21.640 saying, God, I know that I've messed up. I know 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:25.579 that I've sinned, but I trust what you have done. 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:30.319 I'm not doing this for myself. I'm trusting in 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.319 you and putting our faith and trust in Jesus. 00:23:35.819 --> 00:23:37.480 I'm gonna pray right now and I wanna give an 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:40.140 opportunity for that. I wanna give you an opportunity 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:44.599 to give your life to Jesus today. I'm gonna pray 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:47.920 and if you're here right now and you know that 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.420 today is your day, today is your day to accept 00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:53.839 the good news that Jesus died for your sins, 00:23:53.900 --> 00:23:56.420 but he did not stay dead. He conquered the grave 00:23:56.420 --> 00:24:01.119 so that you have a path to life. I want you to 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:06.480 just pray this after me. Dear God, I know that 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:10.059 I'm a sinner. But God, I know that you loved 00:24:10.059 --> 00:24:15.759 me enough to die for me. I place my faith and 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:23.980 my trust in you. I want the new life that comes 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:30.440 only through you. Amen. Listen, if you prayed 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:32.180 that prayer, yeah, let's give it up for Jesus. 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:33.779 Let's give it up for those that prayed that prayer 00:24:33.779 --> 00:24:39.250 right now. Listen, if you prayed that prayer, 00:24:39.410 --> 00:24:41.410 I need you to know that you are not alone in 00:24:41.410 --> 00:24:43.650 this journey. I need you to know that there are 00:24:43.650 --> 00:24:45.509 people that wanna come walk alongside of you, 00:24:45.569 --> 00:24:47.329 that there are people that are going through 00:24:47.329 --> 00:24:49.950 this same journey that have been on this journey 00:24:49.950 --> 00:24:52.309 for years, that wanna come alongside of you. 00:24:53.029 --> 00:24:55.630 And if you're somebody who prayed that prayer 00:24:55.630 --> 00:24:58.490 today, We have people all over this park that 00:24:58.490 --> 00:25:00.509 are walking around that wanna give you something 00:25:00.509 --> 00:25:02.230 right now. They wanna give you a bag and in that, 00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:04.670 there'll be a QR code that you can scan and it'll 00:25:04.670 --> 00:25:06.970 take you to a place where you can just say, today 00:25:06.970 --> 00:25:09.349 is my day and let us know that you made a decision. 00:25:10.450 --> 00:25:13.529 You can also go over here. There's a tent with 00:25:13.529 --> 00:25:15.589 a big sign that says prayer right there. If you 00:25:15.589 --> 00:25:17.269 wanna talk to someone specifically, there'll 00:25:17.269 --> 00:25:20.099 be people there. But right now, is there people 00:25:20.099 --> 00:25:22.019 around this park that wanna give you something 00:25:22.019 --> 00:25:24.299 to help you? Let us know, hey, I made this decision. 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:26.119 If you prayed that prayer today for the first 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:28.240 time to say, God, I'm giving my life to you, 00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:30.259 would you just put your hand up right now? Would 00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:32.380 you just put your hand up? We see those hands 00:25:32.380 --> 00:25:34.259 all over. People are gonna be bringing you things. 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:36.700 People will be handing you bags that you can 00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:39.839 do. Let's praise God for what is happening right 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:41.819 now. Let's praise God for the people that have 00:25:41.819 --> 00:25:48.279 crossed from death into life. You can go on our 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:50.859 app or the website. If you've made that decision 00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:53.259 today and there's a button there that says, today 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:56.039 is my day. If you click that, it'll let us know 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:57.779 and we wanna reach out to you. We wanna contact 00:25:57.779 --> 00:25:59.619 you. We wanna help you along this journey because 00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:01.720 saying yes to Jesus doesn't mean that everything's 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:07.519 easy now. It means it even gets harder, but you 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:10.700 don't have to walk it alone because death is 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:22.009 defeated because Jesus reigns victorious. If 00:26:22.009 --> 00:26:23.569 you need to talk more about the decision that 00:26:23.569 --> 00:26:25.650 you've made today, or maybe you're not quite 00:26:25.650 --> 00:26:27.210 ready to make that decision, there'll be people 00:26:27.210 --> 00:26:28.910 under this tent over here that wanna talk with 00:26:28.910 --> 00:26:31.029 you. You can head over there. You can talk with 00:26:31.029 --> 00:26:33.990 them. But I just wanna praise God right now. 00:26:34.069 --> 00:26:37.109 God, we love you. God, we praise you. God, we 00:26:37.109 --> 00:26:40.200 are so grateful that you stayed. that you stayed 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:42.779 long enough to pay for our sin, but you did not 00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:45.640 stay forever. You rose from the grave, God, and 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:48.079 we praise you for that, God. We honor you. We 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:50.259 glorify you for the work that was done in this 00:26:50.259 --> 00:26:52.400 park today. This is a normal park, but God, the 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:54.960 presence of Jesus is here with us today, and 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:58.099 we thank you for that, God. We thank you for 00:26:58.099 --> 00:26:59.599 everything that you've done. We thank you for 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:01.519 the lives that have crossed from death into life 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:06.339 today. And God, we are so grateful, and we praise 00:27:06.339 --> 00:27:10.299 you, God. We worship you, God. We sing your praises 00:27:10.299 --> 00:27:13.920 now. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:14.359 praise him.