WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:02.540 So grateful that we get to be together and we 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:05.320 get to just make it here today and we get to 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:09.759 worship God. And I know that for some of you 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:11.599 it was difficult getting here because I've realized 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.720 Easter can be kind of stressful. Easter can be 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:16.140 stressful. How many of you got in a fight with 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.260 your spouse on the way to church today? Don't 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:20.559 answer that. Come on now, that was a trap question. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:24.160 I was trying to get you. Don't answer that. Easter 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:26.539 can be stressful. Tensions can be kind of high. 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:28.280 You've got to figure some stuff out. You've got 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:30.769 to pick out the right outfit. How many of you 00:00:30.769 --> 00:00:32.570 ladies, this is your fourth outfit that you tried 00:00:32.570 --> 00:00:37.049 on? Again, don't answer that. Come on now. It 00:00:37.049 --> 00:00:38.750 can be kind of stressful. You got the right clothes. 00:00:39.289 --> 00:00:41.670 Parents in the room, it can be kind of stressful 00:00:41.670 --> 00:00:43.789 getting the Easter basket together for your kids. 00:00:43.850 --> 00:00:46.329 You're like, this is a lot of work. And then 00:00:46.329 --> 00:00:49.570 whoever invented this, come on now, dying Easter 00:00:49.570 --> 00:00:53.469 eggs, dear Lord, that is not acceptable. I'm 00:00:53.469 --> 00:00:55.530 just saying, it's stressful. When are we going 00:00:55.530 --> 00:00:57.469 to do this? When are we going to make this happen? 00:00:57.929 --> 00:00:59.390 All right, one of the most stressful things around 00:00:59.390 --> 00:01:01.130 this time of year is doing everything you can 00:01:01.130 --> 00:01:04.530 do to avoid the peeps candy, because that's stuff 00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:06.750 nasty. All right, that's nasty. I'm just saying. 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:09.629 You got to avoid it. All right, some of you disagree 00:01:09.629 --> 00:01:12.450 with me. It's okay. You can be wrong. We still 00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:14.650 love you. We're glad you're here. All right, 00:01:14.650 --> 00:01:17.069 that's stuff nasty. I can be stressful around 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:18.709 this time of year, and I'm going to be honest, 00:01:18.769 --> 00:01:22.069 for some of you, walking into church today can 00:01:22.069 --> 00:01:25.390 be stressful too. Maybe you feel like you don't 00:01:25.390 --> 00:01:28.400 belong. Maybe it's not part of your regular rhythm 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:31.319 when it comes to just your life. And so a church 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:33.900 is kind of a weird place for you to be at. Maybe 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:36.079 you're like, I just, I don't fit in here. I don't 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:37.459 know what's going to happen in this building. 00:01:37.579 --> 00:01:40.260 I don't know what to expect. And so maybe you 00:01:40.260 --> 00:01:42.439 feel a little stressful just being in here. And 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.780 I want to put your mind at ease right now. Listen, 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:49.099 we don't have any expectations on you. We don't 00:01:49.099 --> 00:01:51.459 want anything from you. In fact, we want something 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:54.579 for you. We hope that you are able to rest in 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:56.930 Jesus this morning. All right, that's what we 00:01:56.930 --> 00:01:59.829 want for you this morning when it comes to your 00:01:59.829 --> 00:02:02.390 experience. So you can just take a deep breath. 00:02:02.450 --> 00:02:04.290 You can rest. You can relax. It doesn't need 00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:08.610 to be a stressful situation for you. When it 00:02:08.610 --> 00:02:10.550 comes to speaking, I'm going to break the speaking 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:12.770 code here because as a speaker, we're taught 00:02:12.770 --> 00:02:14.530 you got to kind of build it up. You can't tell 00:02:14.530 --> 00:02:16.069 them exactly what you're talking about. You got 00:02:16.069 --> 00:02:18.030 to lead them to that. And I don't break all those 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:19.430 rules right now. I'm going to tell you today, 00:02:19.550 --> 00:02:22.289 this is what this is about. I want you to get 00:02:22.289 --> 00:02:24.939 this today. I want you to understand that Jesus 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:28.819 wants to meet you where you are to take you where 00:02:28.819 --> 00:02:32.800 he is. Jesus wants to meet you where you are 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:38.280 to take you where he is. Let me pray for us real 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:45.099 quick. God, speak to us today. Amen. What? Were 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:48.000 you guys expecting something else? I told you 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.539 I was praying real quick. Some of you did not 00:02:49.539 --> 00:02:51.360 believe me. That's because you've listened to 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:53.340 Pastor John before. And when he says real quick, 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.939 book your whole afternoon. I'm just saying. How 00:02:57.939 --> 00:02:59.620 many of you ever been on a camping trip that 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:03.300 didn't go as planned? You planned it, but it 00:03:03.300 --> 00:03:05.580 didn't go as planned, right? Like maybe you planned 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:07.199 everything, all the details, and you're like, 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:09.960 I got everything that I need to go hike to this 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:11.800 rural place because I'm not going to have access 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:13.460 to anything. So I got to pack everything and 00:03:13.460 --> 00:03:15.400 you packed perfect and you get there and you 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:17.800 realize you forgot water and you're going to 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:21.099 die because you have no water. Or maybe everything, 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:24.219 the plan was perfect and you got everything planned 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:25.939 out perfect and then you get to where you are 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:29.819 camping and it rains and that changes everything. 00:03:31.539 --> 00:03:34.180 Right? We have these experiences where we plan 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:35.719 out but then it doesn't go as planned. You know 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:37.599 what I'm talking about if you've ever gone to 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.060 sleep on an air mattress and woke up on the ground. 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:42.080 You know what I'm talking about? When it just 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.800 starts deflating and you're like, whoa, this 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:46.939 was not fun. You know that for sure. If you have 00:03:46.939 --> 00:03:48.840 shared an air mattress with someone that deflated 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:50.719 and it turns into a taco and you're like laying 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.159 on them in the middle of the night, you're like, 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:55.360 this is not how this was supposed to go. We can 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:58.979 have plans and we can plan as much as we want, 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:03.560 but oftentimes things don't go as planned. But 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:08.539 God's plans never fail. God's plans never fail. 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:12.379 And God had the perfect plan. By sending Jesus 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:15.039 to come camping on this earth. This was not his 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.879 home. He was just camping. You're going to go 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:21.800 on this camping trip on this earth. And in so 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:24.279 doing, making it so that we could live this life 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:28.459 like we are just camping. Over the last several 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:30.259 months at Heights, we've been talking about this 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:32.779 concept of just camping. The concept is this. 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:36.620 This is not your final home. You were never created 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:39.319 to live here forever. And oftentimes we set up 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:41.339 shop like this is it. This is all that matters. 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:44.120 But when you understand that your faith and trust 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.300 is in Jesus, your life is in his hands, you can 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:48.319 view this life that we live as just camping. 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:50.360 Because this isn't our future home. We're just 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.860 stopping by. And so we're going to look more 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:57.259 at what this idea of just camping is and how 00:04:57.259 --> 00:04:59.800 Jesus just camped so that we could live our life 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:02.959 like we're just camping. A couple of months ago, 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.240 I gave in to my kids asking and asking and asking 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:07.620 and asking. Parents, you know what I'm talking 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:10.300 about, right? When they get to like the 474 ask 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:12.920 and you're like, fine, whatever you want. And 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:16.399 so we got a dog and they had finally asked enough 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.639 to where I said, yes. Why are you clapping for 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:22.189 that? Come on now. This is crazy. I get no support 00:05:22.189 --> 00:05:24.310 from you guys. You guys are always on their side. 00:05:25.149 --> 00:05:28.009 And so I said yes to getting this dog in. We 00:05:28.009 --> 00:05:30.370 got this dog in. He's only like five months old 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:32.490 now, but this dude, he wants to be up in your 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:35.449 business at every moment. You know what I'm talking 00:05:35.449 --> 00:05:37.189 about? Like he wants to be where the people are. 00:05:37.730 --> 00:05:39.329 Like you come and sit on my couch and he's going 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:41.250 to be like right here. You're like, bro, personal 00:05:41.250 --> 00:05:44.970 space. Like this is crazy. If you put him outside 00:05:44.970 --> 00:05:46.629 because you're like, okay, people are here. I 00:05:46.629 --> 00:05:47.689 know you want to be where the people are. You 00:05:47.689 --> 00:05:49.110 put him outside and he just stands right at the 00:05:49.110 --> 00:05:54.920 window. You're like, dude, come on now. All right, 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:56.579 so that's him. He wants to be where the people 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:59.000 are at all times. He's like, I just want to be 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:03.360 with you. For all of human history, since the 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.959 beginning of time, God wants to be with his people. 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:10.399 God set in motion this idea of living in union 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:13.319 with people, in relationship with them, in creation. 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:15.600 He created everything. And he put Adam and Eve 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.459 in a garden and he walked with them. In relationship 00:06:18.459 --> 00:06:20.180 with them, he's saying, I want to be with my 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:22.740 people. And because of sin, the relationship 00:06:22.740 --> 00:06:24.939 was broken and God's going, I still want to be 00:06:24.939 --> 00:06:28.579 with my people. And so as the Israelite people, 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:30.439 God's people are wandering and they're moving 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:32.399 about, they had this thing called the tabernacle 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:34.720 where God's presence was in it because he's saying, 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:37.300 I just want to be with my people. And as the 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:39.980 nation of Israel is conquered and they're fighting 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:41.540 battles and they're doing all these things, it 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:43.699 gets to a place where God goes, okay, here we 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:45.839 go. I want to be with my people. And so he sends. 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:52.500 Jesus. He sends Jesus as God to be with his people. 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:57.540 It says in 1 John 1, 14, the word became flesh 00:06:57.540 --> 00:07:01.639 and made his dwelling among us. All right, Jesus 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:04.660 became flesh. He put on flesh and blood and came 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:08.060 to this earth. And we have seen his glory, the 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:11.180 glory of the one and only son who came from the 00:07:11.180 --> 00:07:14.879 father full of grace and truth. God looked at 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:16.879 Jesus and he says, hey, listen, I've got a wild 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:20.220 camping trip for you. I'm sending you on a camping 00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:23.279 trip right now. And he sent Jesus as a human. 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:25.279 And the only way humans make their way into the 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:27.480 world is by being born. And so he sent Jesus 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:30.300 as a baby to be born. And we celebrate at Christmas 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:33.500 time this baby that was born, that was promised, 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.959 that was foretold, that was prophesied. And this 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.620 baby Jesus was born into the world. And this 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:41.500 baby did not stay a baby. He continued to grow. 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.480 And the Bible says he grew in wisdom and stature. 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:46.980 And as he continued to grow in wisdom and stature, 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:49.920 it became very clear that he was not just a normal 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.620 person, right? Because he was fully human, yes, 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:56.720 but he was also fully God. And that this person 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:00.259 who was fully, fully human and also fully God 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:04.620 found himself in a place where he came for a 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:07.100 purpose. And it says in 2 Corinthians 5, this 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:09.699 will be our main text for this morning, 2 Corinthians 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:14.319 5, verse 21. It says, God made him who had no 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:18.759 sin. Jesus who had no sin. Jesus did what we 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:23.079 could not do. He never sinned. And that's crazy, 00:08:23.139 --> 00:08:25.560 right? That's wild because for a lot of us, you're 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:27.160 like, how do you go without sinning? Like I've 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:28.660 literally sinned like four times since I've been 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:30.199 on stage right now. I've judged some of what 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:32.279 you're wearing. I was like, ooh, that's what 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:35.120 we wore to church today. Cool. Like I judged 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.840 you. I sinned just being here. And some of, don't 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:39.840 be, don't act like you're better. You judge someone 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.629 too. You're like, oh. We sin. It's our nature. 00:08:44.649 --> 00:08:47.190 Some of you, you're like, wait a sec. I didn't 00:08:47.190 --> 00:08:49.389 sin. I can stay away from sin. That's in our 00:08:49.389 --> 00:08:52.230 nature. You cannot stay away from sin. You have 00:08:52.230 --> 00:08:54.450 sin nature. If you don't believe me, let me ask 00:08:54.450 --> 00:08:55.850 you this. Have you ever met a two -year -old 00:08:55.850 --> 00:09:01.710 before? They're evil. And nobody had to teach 00:09:01.710 --> 00:09:04.669 them how to be evil. Like you never sat your 00:09:04.669 --> 00:09:05.870 two -year -old down and were like, okay, listen, 00:09:06.070 --> 00:09:08.990 I want you to yell no. Now I want you to yell 00:09:08.990 --> 00:09:11.840 mine. Now I want you to yell, no, mine, and hit 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:13.700 someone. Like you never had to do that. They 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:17.840 just know. It's in them. They're evil. Because 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.980 they have sin nature like all of us. We have 00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:24.320 this nature in us that is bent to sin. We have 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:28.100 a sin problem. And that is all of us. So what 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:30.159 it means for you is this, is you can drop the 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.100 act here. Heights is not a church where you have 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:35.559 to show up and pretend to be perfect. You can 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:38.399 drop the act. All right, you're a mess. I'm a 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.019 mess, right? Some of you walked in, you're like, 00:09:40.059 --> 00:09:42.919 if this guy can do it, then I know I can, right? 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.299 Our pastors are a mess and that should give you 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:48.399 hope. I literally, last night, I almost had to 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.500 sleep on the couch for my conversation with my 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:52.460 wife because I was picking out what I was going 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:53.860 to wear today. And I was like, I think this is 00:09:53.860 --> 00:09:55.740 the perfect shirt. I'm going to wear it. And 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:57.340 she goes, that is see -through. And if you wear 00:09:57.340 --> 00:09:59.379 that, you need to wear an undershirt. And I was 00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:01.259 like, I'm not wearing an undershirt. And she 00:10:01.259 --> 00:10:03.750 was like, yes, you are. And so you can thank 00:10:03.750 --> 00:10:05.370 her today for all the things that you're not 00:10:05.370 --> 00:10:10.669 seeing right now, okay? I'm just saying. Again, 00:10:10.669 --> 00:10:13.029 that's crazy. That's wild that you're clapping 00:10:13.029 --> 00:10:15.590 for that. Yes, thank you. Thank her for that. 00:10:16.950 --> 00:10:20.669 I'm a mess. We're all a mess. And this is where 00:10:20.669 --> 00:10:23.570 we find ourselves, the mess that we are, but 00:10:23.570 --> 00:10:26.970 Jesus was not. It says in 2 Corinthians 5 .21, 00:10:27.029 --> 00:10:30.110 God made him who knew no sin. Jesus never sinned 00:10:30.110 --> 00:10:35.980 to be sinned. for us. Jesus became sin on our 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:39.220 behalf. Jesus became sin on our side. He took 00:10:39.220 --> 00:10:43.299 your sin. He took my sin. He took all sin in 00:10:43.299 --> 00:10:46.759 order to pay the price for sin. He said, I'm 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:48.480 going to take all of the sin, even though I did 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:52.240 not, I'm going to become sin on your behalf to 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.980 pay the penalty for that sin, right? Jesus was 00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:57.879 just camping. And when you go camping, you have 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:00.200 a purpose. You don't just show up and go, okay, 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:02.600 what happens? Whatever happens, happens. All 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:03.620 right, and some of you are like, no, that is 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:05.399 my camping trip. I just want to sit in one spot 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:08.480 and drink as much soda as I can. All right, that's 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.379 what you want to do. But that was your purpose. 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:12.460 You knew that's what you were going to do. Jesus 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:14.820 came camping with a purpose. This is not his 00:11:14.820 --> 00:11:17.960 final home, but he was here for a reason. And 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:22.360 this is what it says about Jesus. Hebrews 4 .15, 00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:25.500 for we do not have a high priest who is unable 00:11:25.500 --> 00:11:29.100 to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:32.429 one who has been tempted in every way. just as 00:11:32.429 --> 00:11:37.529 we are, yet he did not sin. He can empathize 00:11:37.529 --> 00:11:43.350 with us. Jesus gets it. He gets it. You ever 00:11:43.350 --> 00:11:46.470 been betrayed by a friend before? Jesus understands. 00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:49.990 So is he. You ever gone through a difficult time 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:51.570 in your life where you're going, God, why am 00:11:51.570 --> 00:11:53.190 I even going through this? Can you take this 00:11:53.190 --> 00:11:54.909 away from me? I don't even want to go through 00:11:54.909 --> 00:12:00.049 this. Jesus has to. Have you ever been in a painful 00:12:00.049 --> 00:12:02.070 spot where you have pain and suffering in your 00:12:02.070 --> 00:12:05.909 life? Jesus can relate because he has too. Have 00:12:05.909 --> 00:12:07.610 you ever had your closest friends turn their 00:12:07.610 --> 00:12:09.490 back on you and walk away when you needed them 00:12:09.490 --> 00:12:12.210 the most? Listen, Jesus can relate because he 00:12:12.210 --> 00:12:18.929 has too. Jesus gets it. Jesus understands what 00:12:18.929 --> 00:12:21.009 it's like. We don't have to look at Jesus and 00:12:21.009 --> 00:12:23.250 go, okay, he doesn't understand because Jesus 00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:28.039 meets us where we are. Jesus wants to meet you 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:32.179 where you're at. I think some of you don't like 00:12:32.179 --> 00:12:34.279 church or the Bible because you're tired of hearing 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:35.899 about perfect people. You're like, I would read 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:37.740 the Bible, but it's just, I can't relate because 00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:39.340 it's full of perfect people and I'm just not 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:42.320 that. I would go to church more, but I just can't 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:44.580 relate because it's full of perfect people. I 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:47.500 get it. I grew up in church and growing up in 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:50.139 church for me, it was like, I think I'm okay 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:52.080 with this Jesus thing. I think I like Jesus. 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:54.419 But I looked at the pastor and I'm like, man, 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:57.000 I can never be him. He's perfect. Like he drove 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:59.860 a perfect car. He wore the perfect suit and the 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:02.500 perfect tie every time. The guy was perfect. 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:05.039 His hair didn't go gray. It went silver. I don't 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:06.379 even know how it happened. I was like, this is 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:10.879 wonderful. You're majestic. He was so perfect. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:12.399 I'm like, I can't do that. And I think sometimes 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:15.179 we look at the scriptures and we go, it's full 00:13:15.179 --> 00:13:18.179 of perfect people. We think it's just this all 00:13:18.179 --> 00:13:20.100 -star lineup in scripture. And it is. We see 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:23.120 these characters in scripture, these people in 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:24.980 scripture, and they are an all -star lineup. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.840 You have people like Peter who walked with Jesus. 00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:31.039 He was Jesus' right -hand man. Like, how cool 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:34.799 is that? He walked with Jesus as Jesus' right 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:37.100 -hand man. And Jesus looked at him and he said, 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:39.460 listen, upon this rock, I will build my church, 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:42.139 Peter. And Peter got to push the church forward. 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:45.299 The first century church was driven by Peter 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:47.879 obeying what God had done. He's an all -star, 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:51.779 man. I would look at guys like Paul. Paul wrote 00:13:51.779 --> 00:13:55.340 most of the New Testament. Right, guys in here, 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:56.720 some of you, you won't even write a note to your 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:00.039 wife. This guy wrote most of the Bible. This 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:04.179 guy's an all -star. This guy planted churches, 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:05.919 and most of the reason that we do church the 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:07.899 way that we do today is because of what Paul 00:14:07.899 --> 00:14:11.000 did, the way he started it, the way he set into 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:14.139 motion. Paul's an all -star. All right, ladies, 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:17.799 Mary Magdalene. She's an all -star. She's amazing. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.720 Do you know that Mary Magdalene funded Jesus's 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:24.679 ministry? His ministry wasn't free. Somebody 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.139 had to pay for it, and she funded it. She's Moneybags 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:31.159 Mary. That's who she is. She funded his ministry. 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:35.139 We all need a Moneybags Mary in our life. And 00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:37.419 that's not to be disrespectful. That is such 00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:41.139 an honor that Mary got to fund Jesus' ministry. 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:44.340 She got to take her hard -earned money, and she 00:14:44.340 --> 00:14:47.360 got to pour it into advancing the gospel through 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.799 Jesus. That is an honor. We look at these people 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:52.700 in scripture and we go, man, they are amazing. 00:14:52.820 --> 00:14:54.399 They're all -stars. And yes, they are. But do 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:57.399 you truly know their story? Do you truly know 00:14:57.399 --> 00:14:59.720 their story, right? Because Peter, that we look 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:01.899 at and we go, this guy's an all -star. This guy 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:03.779 was getting rebuked by Jesus all the time. Jesus 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:05.960 looked at Peter one time and said, get behind 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:10.440 me, Satan. He called him the devil. You think 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:12.240 you're having a bad day? Jesus called Peter the 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:16.899 devil. He was rebuking him all the time. Peter's 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:19.039 like, man, Jesus, I got your back. Number one 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.179 homie right here. Ride or die. And then as soon 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:23.759 as Jesus gets arrested, you know what Peter does? 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.899 He goes, I don't even know him. I don't even 00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:29.259 know who he is. He denies that he even knows 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:32.820 Jesus. Not once, not twice. Three times he denies 00:15:32.820 --> 00:15:35.980 that he even knows him. Some of you have maybe 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:38.019 denied Jesus and said, Jesus, I don't even know 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:41.600 you. But you know what Jesus did? Jesus met Peter 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.419 in his mess. He met him where he was. In the 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:46.279 mess that was Peter, he met him and the resurrected 00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:48.240 Jesus goes to him and he says, Peter, do you 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:52.899 love me? He says, then work for me. Then join 00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:56.519 my team. Then feed my sheep. He restores him. 00:15:56.580 --> 00:15:59.580 He met him in his mess and he restored him. Mary 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:01.929 Magdalene, the Bible tells us that she... had 00:16:01.929 --> 00:16:04.389 seven demons that possessed her. She was possessed 00:16:04.389 --> 00:16:07.649 by seven demons. And we don't have a detailed 00:16:07.649 --> 00:16:10.389 account of how that manifested, what she did 00:16:10.389 --> 00:16:12.389 with those demons, but I'm guessing she wasn't 00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:16.090 a joy to be around. I'm guessing she was involved 00:16:16.090 --> 00:16:18.289 in some pretty scandalous activity. In fact, 00:16:18.370 --> 00:16:20.090 there's speculation that she was involved in 00:16:20.090 --> 00:16:22.009 prostitution, that she was involved in sin, that 00:16:22.009 --> 00:16:23.809 she was involved in a lot of things. And Jesus 00:16:23.809 --> 00:16:29.450 met her in her mess and he restored her. All 00:16:29.450 --> 00:16:32.139 right, Paul. Paul was the guy who walked around 00:16:32.139 --> 00:16:35.240 and Paul was like, listen, I want to kill Christians. 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:37.039 That's what he did. In fact, not only did he 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:38.899 kill them, he had people that worked for him 00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:40.360 that killed him. He was like the mob boss that 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:42.179 would order hits on Christians. He's like, go 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:44.860 kill them. Go kill them. Bible says he was breathing 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:48.639 out murderous threats against Christians. And 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:50.200 in the middle of that, when he's going, I want 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.120 nothing to do with Jesus. And maybe that's some 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:54.019 of you. I want nothing to do with Jesus. Jesus 00:16:54.019 --> 00:16:57.340 met him exactly where he was at in his mess and 00:16:57.340 --> 00:17:00.750 he restored him. He said, hey, come follow me. 00:17:01.909 --> 00:17:05.690 Come be on my team. Not because you've done amazing 00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:08.509 things, but in your mess that you are, saying, 00:17:08.569 --> 00:17:12.670 hey, come be a part of my team. See, I don't 00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:15.509 know how you walked in today, but maybe you feel 00:17:15.509 --> 00:17:18.390 like you're too messed up. Maybe you feel like 00:17:18.390 --> 00:17:20.250 you are too much of a mess because of what you 00:17:20.250 --> 00:17:22.569 were doing last night or the night before. or 00:17:22.569 --> 00:17:24.369 the addiction that you have, or the thing that 00:17:24.369 --> 00:17:26.190 you walked in. And I need you to understand this. 00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:28.750 It doesn't matter how messed up you feel. Jesus 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:33.029 wants to meet you in your mess. Jesus came exactly 00:17:33.029 --> 00:17:35.569 right now, and you are sitting here right now 00:17:35.569 --> 00:17:39.289 because he wants to meet you in your mess. Not 00:17:39.289 --> 00:17:40.829 because you deserve it, but because he loves 00:17:40.829 --> 00:17:43.650 you enough to say, I want to restore you. And 00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:45.369 I think that we have this misconception often 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:48.089 that we say, I got to get my life together, and 00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:50.640 then I'll come to Jesus. I just got to get some 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.079 stuff together. I'm going through some stuff 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:53.759 right now. And once I get that together, then 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.059 I'm going to come to Jesus. And we have it backwards 00:17:56.059 --> 00:17:58.099 because you can't get your life together enough 00:17:58.099 --> 00:18:01.140 to come to Jesus. Jesus is what gets your life 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:05.240 together. Jesus wants to meet you exactly where 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:09.759 you're at. Second Corinthians 521, God made him 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.400 who had no sin, right? Jesus to become sin for 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:17.900 us. Why? So that in him, we might become the 00:18:17.900 --> 00:18:21.930 righteousness. He wants to meet you where you 00:18:21.930 --> 00:18:26.769 are to take you where he is. Jesus camped for 00:18:26.769 --> 00:18:28.789 the purpose of building something permanent. 00:18:28.910 --> 00:18:30.930 He said, I'm just here to camp, but I'm building 00:18:30.930 --> 00:18:34.269 something permanent for you. I'm building something 00:18:34.269 --> 00:18:37.170 permanent that is not this world. Because it 00:18:37.170 --> 00:18:39.109 doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out 00:18:39.109 --> 00:18:43.309 that our world is a mess. All you have to do 00:18:43.309 --> 00:18:45.769 is get on your phone. All you have to do is turn 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:47.960 on the news. All right, when was the last time 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:49.559 you turned on the news and it was like, tonight 00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:54.000 at 10, great news. Wonderful things happening. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:56.940 No, the world's on fire. Everything's burning. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.579 Things are blowing up. It's terrible. We live 00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:04.440 in a messed up world. And oftentimes we go, okay, 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:06.559 this world is a mess. I just want to escape it. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.000 I just want to get past this. I want some hope 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.349 in the middle of this mess. And here's what this 00:19:12.349 --> 00:19:13.910 is. The hope in the middle of the mess that we 00:19:13.910 --> 00:19:16.670 have is this, is the permanent home that he paved 00:19:16.670 --> 00:19:20.329 the way to by becoming sin on our behalf is in 00:19:20.329 --> 00:19:24.390 his presence. It's paradise. It's no more pain. 00:19:24.849 --> 00:19:28.029 It's no more suffering. It's no more brokenness. 00:19:28.509 --> 00:19:31.990 It's just restoration in the presence of the 00:19:31.990 --> 00:19:36.509 Lord. That's what he came to build. It's freedom. 00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:41.339 It says in 2 Corinthians 3 .17, Where the spirit 00:19:41.339 --> 00:19:46.400 of the Lord is, there is freedom. And I don't 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.240 know how you walked in today, but what I know 00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:52.559 is this. The freedom that you've been searching 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:54.920 for in your life is not when you reach a certain 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:57.460 dollar amount. The freedom you've been searching 00:19:57.460 --> 00:20:00.400 for in your life is not in that drink. It's not 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.400 in that drug. It's not in that relationship. 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:04.400 It's not in any of the things that you try to 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.200 escape your life to find the freedom in. The 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:08.839 freedom that you are searching for is only found 00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:12.980 in Jesus. That is the only place you find freedom. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.299 Years and years ago, a year before I started 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:23.019 dating my wife, and we started dating when we 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:26.259 were teenagers, so a long, long time ago, my 00:20:26.259 --> 00:20:29.759 wife and her family was living in a small town, 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.579 and this small town was about an hour away from 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:35.319 any town where they could do any real shopping. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.559 And so my wife and her sister, they drove, to 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.059 town to do some shopping. And the town that they 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:45.019 lived in was a mountain town. And so it took 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:48.160 some very sharp mountain roads to get to their 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:50.220 town with cliffs on one side and a mountain on 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:52.240 the other. And as they were driving home from 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:55.579 shopping this day, their car failed and their 00:20:55.579 --> 00:20:57.799 car failed in their steering and their brakes. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.980 So they found themselves on this mountainous 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:02.799 road with no steering and no brakes. They went 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:04.700 towards the mountain to try to stop. And as they 00:21:04.700 --> 00:21:07.309 went up, they ended up rolling. They rolled across 00:21:07.309 --> 00:21:09.289 the street, and they rolled down about a 300 00:21:09.289 --> 00:21:13.109 -foot cliff. And over and over and over as they 00:21:13.109 --> 00:21:14.990 rolled down this hill, not knowing when it's 00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:16.829 going to stop, not knowing what is going to happen, 00:21:16.890 --> 00:21:18.609 fearing that this is the end of their life, by 00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:21.410 God's grace, the car landed on all four tires 00:21:21.410 --> 00:21:25.150 at the bottom of the hill. And they put the car 00:21:25.150 --> 00:21:28.170 in park, and they took the keys out. They kind 00:21:28.170 --> 00:21:31.170 of checked if they had everything. They said, 00:21:31.210 --> 00:21:32.789 we've got to get out of here. And so they took 00:21:32.789 --> 00:21:35.109 off, and as they ran, they were about 50 feet 00:21:35.109 --> 00:21:37.910 away from the car when the car blew up. It caused 00:21:37.910 --> 00:21:41.769 a 50 -acre forest fire. And by God's grace, as 00:21:41.769 --> 00:21:43.869 this is happening, there were some firefighters 00:21:43.869 --> 00:21:46.470 nearby that were cutting line, and they immediately 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:50.250 saw this accident. And again, living in a small 00:21:50.250 --> 00:21:53.490 town, the firefighters knew the car, they knew 00:21:53.490 --> 00:21:56.009 who it belonged to, and they immediately rushed 00:21:56.009 --> 00:21:58.970 to the scene of the accident. And at the road, 00:21:59.069 --> 00:22:01.529 they stopped. Without following protocol and 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:03.410 tying down to the truck or to anything else, 00:22:03.450 --> 00:22:05.210 they immediately just ran down the hill and they 00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:07.430 passed by. My wife, who was running up the hill 00:22:07.430 --> 00:22:10.009 as the fire was chasing her, they said, was there 00:22:10.009 --> 00:22:11.450 anyone else in the car with you? And she says, 00:22:11.809 --> 00:22:15.309 my sister. The firefighters continue to go down. 00:22:15.329 --> 00:22:17.069 And again, by God's grace, in the middle of the 00:22:17.069 --> 00:22:19.730 fire, there was one circle of green where she 00:22:19.730 --> 00:22:21.509 had passed out and she was laying right there. 00:22:21.829 --> 00:22:25.039 And they picked her up. And they took her out 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:27.500 of danger. These firefighters showed up in the 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:29.880 middle of a dangerous situation, in the middle 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:32.160 of a mess. And they said, we are going to run 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:35.519 in the mess to rescue you and take you out to 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:38.279 a better place. And by God's grace today, they 00:22:38.279 --> 00:22:40.640 are both alive to tell of his story, to tell 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:43.920 of his grace. But man, I think about those firefighters 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:48.180 that had a choice to run into the flame, to run 00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:51.460 into the mess, to run into the brokenness, to 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:55.069 save somebody and bring them to a better place. 00:22:55.910 --> 00:23:00.630 1 Peter 2 .24 says this, he himself bore our 00:23:00.630 --> 00:23:05.170 sins in his body on the cross so that we might 00:23:05.170 --> 00:23:08.549 die to sins and live for righteousness. By his 00:23:08.549 --> 00:23:12.609 wounds, you have been healed. Jesus's camping 00:23:12.609 --> 00:23:16.609 trip was actually a rescue mission. And Jesus 00:23:16.609 --> 00:23:20.230 came into the mess that is this world to do what 00:23:20.230 --> 00:23:23.250 you and I cannot do to save you and take you 00:23:23.250 --> 00:23:26.369 to a better place. Jesus camped so that we could 00:23:26.369 --> 00:23:30.670 live like we are just camping. But here's the 00:23:30.670 --> 00:23:32.829 thing. If we're going to live like we are just 00:23:32.829 --> 00:23:36.150 camping, you're able to live like you are just 00:23:36.150 --> 00:23:41.289 camping if your eternity is secure. So what does 00:23:41.289 --> 00:23:43.880 this mean for us? What does this mean for you 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.119 and me and all of us today? It means this, that 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:51.599 Jesus switched places with you. What you deserve 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:53.619 because of your sin, because of your brokenness, 00:23:53.619 --> 00:23:55.700 because of your mess is to pay the penalty for 00:23:55.700 --> 00:23:59.019 your sin, which is death. But Jesus took your 00:23:59.019 --> 00:24:03.519 place and he took your punishment on a cross. 00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:07.019 But here's the thing, we're not here to celebrate 00:24:07.019 --> 00:24:10.460 a cross today. A cross is an instrument of death. 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:14.519 And many, many people died on a Roman cross. 00:24:14.579 --> 00:24:16.519 Thousands and thousands of people died on a Roman 00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:18.619 cross. It is not unique in any way, shape, or 00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:20.299 form that somebody would die on a Roman cross, 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:22.619 but there is only one person that died on a Roman 00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:29.170 cross that did not stay dead. And Jesus... The 00:24:29.170 --> 00:24:31.329 miracle is not in the death, it is in the resurrection 00:24:31.329 --> 00:24:33.349 because we are here to celebrate a resurrection 00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:35.569 today. We are here to celebrate that the tomb 00:24:35.569 --> 00:24:38.269 is empty. And when Jesus resurrected from the 00:24:38.269 --> 00:24:41.049 dead, what he did is he broke the power of sin 00:24:41.049 --> 00:24:43.130 and death. What he did is he broke the power 00:24:43.130 --> 00:24:45.470 of sin and death for all time and in your life 00:24:45.470 --> 00:24:49.130 as well to pave a way for you to be with him 00:24:49.130 --> 00:24:53.809 in eternity. Because of his resurrection, you 00:24:53.809 --> 00:24:57.849 don't have to live like you're dead. Because 00:24:57.849 --> 00:24:59.910 of his resurrection, you don't have to suffer 00:24:59.910 --> 00:25:04.390 the consequences of your sin. Jesus made a way. 00:25:06.589 --> 00:25:09.970 And we get to celebrate that resurrection. Because 00:25:09.970 --> 00:25:12.069 what the resurrection means is it means that 00:25:12.069 --> 00:25:17.250 he's given you a free gift. A free gift. Say, 00:25:17.329 --> 00:25:21.230 I paid for you. And here's the thing about a 00:25:21.230 --> 00:25:22.849 free gift. You don't have to do anything to earn 00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:26.029 a free gift. That's why it's free. It's already 00:25:26.029 --> 00:25:28.299 been paid. It's not because you're good enough. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:31.740 It's because Jesus loves you. But you do have 00:25:31.740 --> 00:25:35.440 to receive it. You do have to receive the free 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:38.519 gift. The payment was made, but if you don't 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:41.359 let him make that payment, then you have to make 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:47.259 that payment. At the wages of sin is death. And 00:25:47.259 --> 00:25:51.160 he says, I paid for it. And I broke that. And 00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:54.420 we cannot talk about heaven without talking about 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:57.289 hell. And we don't like this part. And I think 00:25:57.289 --> 00:25:58.990 I have to address the elephant in the room here, 00:25:59.029 --> 00:26:00.990 that I think a lot of times when it comes to 00:26:00.990 --> 00:26:04.269 a block between us accepting what God has done 00:26:04.269 --> 00:26:07.690 is we go, okay, but I can't understand or accept 00:26:07.690 --> 00:26:11.269 how a loving God would send people to hell. And 00:26:11.269 --> 00:26:13.269 I need you to understand this. God doesn't send 00:26:13.269 --> 00:26:16.250 people to hell. People's sin sends them to hell. 00:26:16.650 --> 00:26:20.289 God is inviting you to heaven. God is saying, 00:26:20.329 --> 00:26:23.309 I paid the price for you, but God will not force 00:26:23.309 --> 00:26:26.430 you to go to heaven. God will not force you to 00:26:26.430 --> 00:26:31.009 make that choice. And when we in this life go, 00:26:31.109 --> 00:26:33.329 God, I wanna live how I wanna live and I wanna 00:26:33.329 --> 00:26:35.170 push against the free gift that you've given. 00:26:35.190 --> 00:26:38.809 I wanna choose to not accept it. God is not gonna 00:26:38.809 --> 00:26:40.710 force you to go to heaven. He's gonna go, you 00:26:40.710 --> 00:26:46.250 chose to pay for it yourself. You chose to do 00:26:46.250 --> 00:26:50.609 it on your own. And he's gonna allow you to go 00:26:50.609 --> 00:26:55.140 where you choose to not take his. Payment for 00:26:55.140 --> 00:26:59.279 what you've done. And so today what God is inviting 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:01.740 you to is to accept the invitation of his free 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.299 gift. And I want to give you the opportunity 00:27:04.299 --> 00:27:07.700 to accept the free gift that God has offered 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:10.759 by meeting you in your mess. Not because you 00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:12.559 have it together, but because you don't. He said, 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:15.279 I'm going to meet you where you are to take you 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:19.559 where I am. And so I want to give you an opportunity 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:22.410 to respond. To that today, some of you, you need 00:27:22.410 --> 00:27:24.349 to respond for the very first time saying, I 00:27:24.349 --> 00:27:27.250 accept what Jesus has done on my behalf. And 00:27:27.250 --> 00:27:29.269 some of you, maybe you've accepted it, but you 00:27:29.269 --> 00:27:32.089 need to realign your life to say, I need to live 00:27:32.089 --> 00:27:34.849 like I believe that. And so would you just bow 00:27:34.849 --> 00:27:37.569 your heads right now? This isn't anything special 00:27:37.569 --> 00:27:41.829 or it's just to focus right now. And so if you're 00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:45.009 here right now and you know that you need to 00:27:45.009 --> 00:27:47.470 accept his payment on the cross, that he's trying 00:27:47.470 --> 00:27:50.319 to meet you where you're at. so that you can 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.900 walk in victory. Why don't you just talk to God 00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:55.779 right now and tell him this, and this isn't a 00:27:55.779 --> 00:27:57.579 special prayer or anything. All it is is just 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:02.960 saying, hey, I agree. I need you. Tell Jesus 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:05.019 this. Just say, God, I know that I'm a mess, 00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:10.660 but I know that you took my sin on to pay the 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:18.700 penalty that I owed. Accept your payment. God, 00:28:18.740 --> 00:28:26.400 I pray that I can walk in the truth of accepting 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:30.319 your payment, that I can walk in victory. Now, 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:35.940 if you prayed that, this isn't anything special 00:28:35.940 --> 00:28:37.859 either. This is just, there's something about 00:28:37.859 --> 00:28:41.220 making a physical motion to signify a spiritual 00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.680 decision. And so if you prayed for the very first 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:46.950 time to allow. Jesus' payment on the cross and 00:28:46.950 --> 00:28:50.609 his victory over death into your life, I want 00:28:50.609 --> 00:28:52.809 you to just put your hand up. Just say, that's 00:28:52.809 --> 00:28:57.829 me. I prayed that today. Say, that's me. Yes, 00:28:57.950 --> 00:29:02.650 Jesus, I acknowledge that this is me. For those 00:29:02.650 --> 00:29:05.009 of you in here who maybe you've prayed that before, 00:29:05.109 --> 00:29:07.029 you've said, yes, I acknowledge, Jesus, that 00:29:07.029 --> 00:29:10.069 you paid for my sin and you resurrected from 00:29:10.069 --> 00:29:15.039 the grave. But maybe you need to realign. Just 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:17.400 talk to him right now. Invite him in to talk 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:21.079 to him. God, I wanna invite you into this place 00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:25.480 right now. God, that your Holy Spirit is working 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:29.940 on hearts right now. Lord, I thank you for the 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:32.960 gift of salvation through Jesus and through the 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:37.759 empty tomb. We celebrate the empty tomb. God, 00:29:37.819 --> 00:29:42.420 I am so humbled that you would allow me the mess 00:29:42.420 --> 00:29:47.539 that I am. to find salvation in you. Thank you, 00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:53.740 Jesus. We praise you. We worship you. We pray 00:29:53.740 --> 00:29:57.079 this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.