[0:00] A beautiful song, and I hope the Easter service has already been a blessing to you. I know it has to me. But I would like you to open the Word of God with me. If you didn't bring your own copy, that is fine. We should have one in the pew in front of you.
[0:17] Someone else may grab that before you get your hands on it. So if you would like to look on with the person next to you or use the Bible app on your phone, that is absolutely fine. We will be looking this morning in John chapter 11. So if you would turn to John chapter 11.
[0:37] While you're turning there, I wanted to just share a couple of heartfelt thoughts about Easter with you. Easter egg hunts are proof that your child can find things when they really want to.
[0:55] Son, go bring me my keys, and they're right next to him. Where are they? But if they're looking for eggs, they can find them anywhere. The best Easter is one spent with your peeps.
[1:09] How many of y'all actually like peeps? Now I know why they keep making them. Okay. How many of you had the Dr. Pepper ones?
[1:20] Yeah, those are the only ones acceptable in Texas, I think. There you go. And then I'll just share this last one with you. It's not meant to be an accurate portrayal of Scripture, but just take it for what it is.
[1:35] What do you mean? That wasn't you who just said good morning? I'm not sure if that's exactly how it happened, all right? But one can imagine.
[1:46] All right, John chapter 11. Would you turn with me there? John chapter 11. A man was sick.
[1:58] Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Martha was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume, wiped his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick.
[2:09] So the sisters sent Jesus a message. Lord, the one who you love is sick. So from this we realize Jesus was really close with these sisters and this brother.
[2:19] They'd grown up together and they were dear friends. So when Jesus heard it, verse 4, he said, This sickness will not end in death, but it's for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.
[2:33] Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he ran straight to them. I was just seeing if your Bible said that.
[2:45] Mine doesn't. Y'all were paying attention. Good for you. No, he loved them. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.
[2:58] Then after that, he said to the disciples, Let's go to Judea again. By the way, the last trip to Judea had not gone well. Rabbi, the disciples told him, Just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you're going there again?
[3:16] Jesus said, Aren't there 12 hours in a day? If anyone walks during the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.
[3:28] You'll notice a pattern. Jesus talked like that sometimes. When he was answering their clear questions, he gave slightly less than clear answers sometimes.
[3:38] But it was all leading to something that they weren't quite ready to hear yet. So, verse 11. He said this, And then he told them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm on my way to wake him up.
[3:54] The disciples said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he'll get well. Don't you think he needs to sleep if he's sick? They didn't realize he had died. And Jesus knew it.
[4:06] And that's what he called falling asleep. Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, though they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. So, Jesus then told them plainly, Lazarus has died.
[4:20] I'm glad for you that I wasn't there, so that you may believe. But let's go to him. Then Thomas, called twins, said to his fellow disciples, Let's go too, so that we may die with him.
[4:35] They don't know what's awaiting them when they go to Judea and get to Bethany. They don't know if the Jews are once again going to try to stone him. They don't know if they're going to have to stand up for Jesus in his defense and give their very lives for him.
[4:48] This is a tense moment. So what happens? We get down to verse 17. Then Jesus arrived, and he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
[5:03] They had to walk, you know. The journey took a long time. Bethany was near Jerusalem, less than two miles away. Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.
[5:14] So a lot of these Jews are there who tried to stone Jesus last time. And as soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
[5:26] Then Mary said to Jesus, I'm sorry, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. We've seen you heal people with sicknesses.
[5:38] We know you could have intervened. You ever ask that question? God, if you had just intervened, this wouldn't have happened. Why did you choose to let this happen?
[5:51] Martha is experiencing that in the loss of her dear loved one at this moment. So, verse 22, her faith comes through strong.
[6:05] Yet even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus tells her, your brother will rise again.
[6:19] Now we get to look ahead and see what happened in the story so we know what Jesus is talking about. But Martha doesn't know. So she believes, like she was taught from an early age, that there would be a resurrection of the dead someday far off in the future when God would raise up those who were his children who had gone before.
[6:40] And so she says, I know. I know he'll rise again in the resurrection in the last days. And Jesus said to her, you don't understand. I am the resurrection.
[6:53] He said, I am the resurrection. I am the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
[7:09] Do you believe this? This is a critical moment in Martha's life. And she says, yes, Lord. With as much faith as she can muster despite her grief in that moment, she says, yes, Lord.
[7:23] I believe you are the Messiah, the promised one that we've always been told about who would come and deliver us and bring us salvation. You are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world.
[7:36] Having said this, she went back and she called Mary and she said in private, the teacher, Jesus, he's here and he's calling for you. And as soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him and Jesus hadn't yet come into the village, but he was still in the place where Martha had met him.
[7:50] And the Jews who were there with her in the house consoling her, saw Mary gets up quickly. She runs out and they follow her supposing that she's going to the tomb to cry over her brother. Well, we got to go with her.
[8:01] We got to comfort her. Verse 32, as soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and she's so brokenhearted and she says, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
[8:13] You see their faith. It's really strong. Their faith is really strong. When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.
[8:29] Where have you put him? He asked. Lord, they told him, come and see. Verse 35, what does Jesus do? He wept.
[8:41] He cried. So the Jews said, see how he loved him. Couldn't he, who opened the blind man's eyes, also have kept this man from dying?
[8:56] Remember what these people did the last time he was around there. So not only do they see his display of emotion, think if he cared so deeply about this guy, why didn't he keep him from dying?
[9:07] Is he really who he says he is? I don't think so. Verse 38, then Jesus deeply moved again. You know what that word deeply moved means? It means he was angry.
[9:21] We see it twice here. In verse 33, Jesus sees Mary crying. He sees the family crying and weeping over their brother's loss. And it says he was deeply moved.
[9:33] Your Bible might say troubled. It might even say angered in his spirit. That is what it's trying to tell us. It says that Jesus was angry. Why was he angry in this moment?
[9:46] Well, you've got to go all the way back to the beginning of creation. You've got to go back to when God made the heavens and God made the earth and he made mankind. And what was one of the first things man did after God made him?
[10:02] What did he do? He sinned. He disobeyed. Right? Since then, and that's what we do too. As soon as we get the chance, we mess it up, don't we?
[10:14] We're experts at that. It all started way back with Adam and Eve and it's passed on in every single one of us, you and me. We look nice. We dressed up for Easter. I don't usually look like this on a Sunday morning, but that's all right.
[10:28] Neither do you, by the way. It's Easter. We all doll up for some reason. By the way, there's a family photo backdrop back there if you want to take advantage of everybody looks nice for once. But look, we make ourselves look as pretty as we can, but the truth is, you and I are on equal level.
[10:48] We're all sinners. We're all bad. At our core, we're not good. We're selfish. We're self-centered. We're unreliable.
[11:00] We're dishonest. At our core, that's who we are. We try to be better. We try to overcome that. We try to be there for the people we love. And you know what we do?
[11:11] We let them down. We let ourselves down. Jesus knows that. That is why he was angry. Because of the damage that sin had done on this world.
[11:26] I can only surmise that, but based on what he has taught us through his word, we can pretty, be pretty accurate and pretty sure that Jesus was moved and troubled and angry because this is only happening because of sin.
[11:45] These people would not experience this loss, this sadness, this sorrow, this heartbreak that was never meant for them when my father and I created this world, created them, and we're seeing the awful effects of sin.
[12:00] You want to know why the horrible things happen in this world? Sin. That's why. And it's awful. And God hates it. He's moved by it.
[12:10] He's angry at it. Moved enough to make a way to solve it. Move enough to give an answer.
[12:22] To give a way of escape. So, Jesus is moved again in verse 38 and he comes to the tomb and it was a cave and the stone was lying against it. You know, a little rock was up against it.
[12:34] No, it was huge. It was huge. It would have taken multiple men to move this thing. It was huge covering the stone entrance. And Jesus says, remove the stone. How many days had Lazarus been dead?
[12:48] Four. That body was smelling fresh, wasn't it? Jesus says, remove the stone. The dead man's sister, Martha, told him, Lord, there's already a stench because he's been dead four days.
[13:07] Verse 40, Jesus said to her, didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? See, Martha, you didn't even know how big your faith was. You said the right thing.
[13:18] You had enough faith, but you didn't realize what you were saying. That what God would give me if I asked it could come to pass.
[13:29] So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you heard me. He already knew. He already knew what was going to happen. I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here, I'm saying this so that they can believe that you sent me.
[13:46] And after this, he shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. And the dead man came out. Y'all, this had never happened before.
[13:58] Okay? And it's never happened since. Except for one moment. We're going to get there in just a minute. Okay. After this, he said, Lazarus came out, come out.
[14:11] The dead man came out, bound hand and foot with linen strips and his face wrapped in a cloth. Somebody was talking to me before the service and they said, this is a good thing that this didn't happen in Texas where you got a bunch of cowboys strapped up and they just were watching The Walking Dead the night before.
[14:26] Don't get me started on that. And they see the dead guy walking out, bound up. He knew the time and the place and the culture to do this.
[14:37] All right? It might not have gone that well in Texas. I'm not going to say who told me that right before church. But it was funny. All right. And he came out all bound up, head to foot, his grave clothes looking like a mummy, his face wrapped in a cloth and Jesus said, unwrap him, let him go, loose him, free this guy, he's alive.
[15:05] So, this was a great story. We're so happy for this family that lost their brother and then Jesus stepped in and he came back to life.
[15:15] but what about all the families whose loved ones didn't come back to life? Jesus didn't raise them from the dead. Because Jesus did not come here to extend our life on this earth.
[15:32] He didn't come here just to pull off the greatest miracle that we'd ever seen, raise a dead man back up after four days. I understand there have been medical marvels where the heart stops and some of you in this room I know have even experienced being pronounced dead and then God brings you back.
[15:50] I don't think any of you have been out for four days. That was a once in a history moment. So, why did he do it? He did it number one so the people would see that he came from God.
[16:06] But there was a second reason. Because he was signifying the main moment in all of history that was coming.
[16:19] And it was coming pretty soon after this. It's when once again he would turn death into life. Once again someone would die.
[16:33] Once again he would be buried in a tomb. The stone would block the door. And once again it would be rolled away at God's command. And Jesus would walk out.
[16:47] Would you go with me quickly to Matthew 28? While you're turning to Matthew 28 I want to talk to you this morning about resurrection power.
[17:04] Folks, this is a different kind of power than you have. It's a different kind of power than I have. I've been going to the gym a little bit more lately. I've been trying to get more powerful. Highly mixed results on that.
[17:17] Okay? It's a long slow process. You might be a very powerful person in your world. You might have a lot of power at your job.
[17:29] You might have a lot of power in the community. Or you might be at the complete opposite end of the spectrum and feel very powerless. Everybody wants to feel powerful. Everybody wants to feel like they're in control.
[17:41] But I'm talking about a different kind of power than you or I could ever access. This is resurrection power. This is power over life and death.
[17:53] Matthew 28. Would you read it with me? Matthew Verse 1. I got to get there myself first.
[18:04] Hang on a minute. There we go. Matthew 28. And verse 1. After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb.
[18:20] For context, Jesus had just died on the cross. He had given us the ultimate sacrifice to pay for our sin. You heard the testimony from those two young ladies this morning.
[18:31] I believe that Jesus died for my sin. And this is what we had just seen happen in Matthew 27. So, first day of the week is coming.
[18:42] The two Marys go to the tomb. And there was a violent earthquake because the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it when they arrived.
[18:54] His appearance was like lightning. His clothing was as white as snow. The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men. Yeah, if I saw this happen, I might become like a dead man too.
[19:07] I probably wouldn't say, did you say good morning? No, I didn't say it. Who's that? And what happened to that stone? Boom, I'm fainted, I'm on the ground. The angel told the women, don't be afraid because I know you're looking for Jesus who was crucified.
[19:25] He is not here. Let's say it again. Ready? He is not here. He has risen. That's right.
[19:37] Just as he said. Did you forget? Remember when he said, I can build this temple up and I can tear it down in three days.
[19:48] I can build it again. Wasn't talking about the building, he was talking about his body. Then go quickly, the angel tells the Mary's, and tell his disciples he's risen from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee.
[20:05] You'll see him there. Matthew gives us this incredible account of something that completely changes the game. You can be reading the whole Bible starting in Genesis all the way up through Matthew 27, and then you get to Matthew 28, and it's like, whoa, wait a minute.
[20:27] It's all true. He actually did it. I caught the little hints maybe along the way, talking about the resurrection and saying he's got to do this, and then he's going to rise again, and he actually did it.
[20:43] That's something that you can't do. That's something that your power can't control, but there's a different power here. I want to share this quote with you.
[20:55] The resurrection with God the Father's way of authenticating all the truths that were declared by Jesus. You go back and you look at the Sermon on the Mount. You look at all the things that Jesus did, all the things he said, all of a sudden they become this little word called gospel.
[21:13] All of a sudden they become truth. all of a sudden they become something that we have to build our lives around. Why? Because he's God.
[21:26] Because he holds power over life and death and no one else does. Because then everything he said, everything he taught has been authenticated because he is who he says he is and he did what he said he would do.
[21:45] A couple of thoughts before we leave here this morning. Number one, resurrection power requires our faith. Resurrection power requires our faith.
[21:56] Back in John chapter 11, we saw it happen. We saw the faith give way to Jesus' miracle. And throughout all of Jesus' time, walking around this earth, healing people, you read through the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, you see all these stories of Jesus going and healing the sick.
[22:16] And you know what he says almost every time? Your what? Faith has made you whole. Your faith has healed you. And that's what resurrection power requires.
[22:29] If you want to tap in to God's power, the power that you don't have, that requires faith in him. Resurrection power requires faith.
[22:40] Romans chapter 10 and verse 9, Paul wrote the book of Romans as a letter to the church in Rome and he says this, if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, there's that resurrection power, you will be saved.
[22:57] Why? Why does that save you? We talked about this subject a little bit on Wednesday night in our worship training, our evangelism training, sorry, on worship Wednesday. And we talked about this.
[23:08] Why does belief that God raised Jesus from the dead, why is that what saves you? Anybody want to take a stab at it? Why isn't it being a good person?
[23:21] Why isn't it going to church every week? Why isn't it giving a certain amount of money to the church? Why isn't it being an upstanding member of the community? Why isn't all these other things we read in the Bible, why is it belief that God raised Jesus from the dead, why is that what saves you?
[23:37] That's right. Because that's something we can't do. Only God can do that.
[23:49] So if you believe that Jesus raised from the dead by God's resurrection power and you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord.
[24:02] You know what Lord is? He's in control. He's in command. You're giving it over. Folks, y'all look nice this morning.
[24:14] You really do. But look, some of you are genuinely good, upstanding people and you've tried to be that as long as you can.
[24:25] But you've never made Jesus Lord. You've never done this. You might believe that God raised him from the dead but you've never humbled yourself to say, you know what?
[24:40] I'm letting go. I'm giving it all up and saying, Jesus, you are now Lord. And because of that, I'm so sorry to tell you that someday there's going to be people gathered in heaven.
[24:52] We read about it in the scriptures and they stand before God and say, Lord, Lord, you were my Lord. Lord, I believed in you and his response because he knows you never made him Lord.
[25:12] His response is going to be, depart from me. I never knew you. I don't want that for you. I don't want that for me. I don't want that for my family.
[25:24] So our heart at this church and God's heart for you and for me is the same that we would declare with our mouth, Jesus is Lord. And while we are doing that, we believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead.
[25:37] And what happens at that moment? We are saved. Saved from what? Saved from the punishment of sin. Saved from the power of sin and given this new resurrection power.
[25:52] I don't want to live under the power of sin. I don't know about you, but it's hard to break. The power of sin is really hard to break. But resurrection power can break it.
[26:05] Resurrection power can break your addiction that not even your husband knows about. That not even your wife knows about. That not even your parents know about. Resurrection power can break the chains of fear of depression that have been holding you back and keeping you from being the real you.
[26:24] Resurrection power can bring light into your darkness that you try to keep hidden so well. There are historical proofs of the resurrection and we don't have time to get into them all, but I can share just a couple of them with you today.
[26:39] It requires our faith, but God knows how weak our faith is and so there are historical proofs that Jesus came back to life. One of them is the accounts of so many that came after him.
[26:54] Historians, writers, some Christian, some non-Christian, some were not even followers of Jesus. I encourage you if you'd ever like to, and I can point you in the right direction if you'd like, but to do a Google search or do a study, I can even give you some resources that would talk about from a non-Christian's perspective the historical proofs that Jesus, this man who was crucified, actually was seen alive.
[27:22] There are historical proofs of his resurrection and that can help our faith, but that resurrection power must require your faith. It must require you to say whether the proofs are there or not, whether the world says he did it or not, I know in my heart because God has revealed to me that Jesus rose from the dead.
[27:45] I make him Lord. Number two, resurrection power responds to God's will. What happened? When Jesus said, Lazarus, come out, what happened?
[27:59] He obeyed. He obeyed that power. He had no choice. God holds the power over death and life. You might feel like you're in a season of death right now.
[28:13] You might feel like you're trapped and you can't seem to come out of it. God holds the keys to it. He has power over it. You make him your Lord and you taste his power.
[28:29] Maybe you made him Lord at some point in your life, but you've kind of strayed away from him. You've kind of wandered away and it's time to come back and say, God, you are my Lord. You are my Lord.
[28:42] Rescue me. Let me taste your power yet again. It responds to God's will. John chapter six and verse 40. This is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the son Jesus and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.
[29:02] There's another resurrection coming. Isn't that crazy? We've seen one back in John 11 with Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. We've seen another one, which is what Easter is all about with Jesus himself rising from the dead.
[29:14] There's another resurrection coming. When our time on this earth comes to an end, someday we don't know when it's up to God. We don't have to worry about it. Might be tomorrow. Might be a thousand years from now.
[29:24] I don't know, but Jesus is coming back and there will be another resurrection of the dead. You and I will be caught up together to meet him in the clouds and they will get to be forever with the Lord.
[29:41] Now we might already be dead by then and they will be with the ones that are coming down to receive all those who are alive and still here. But there is a resurrection coming and we will be raised up on the last day.
[29:53] That's God's will. And we must always obey God's will. The dead have no choice but to rise to life when God speaks it.
[30:07] Darkness has no choice but to flee when God's will is spoken. It has no power over resurrection power.
[30:19] Ephesians chapter 1. Would you turn there? It's our final passage for you to turn. Ephesians chapter 1. If you'd like to just listen, that's fine too. We're just going to read a couple verses. Ephesians 1 verse 19.
[30:31] For sake of time, I'm going to go ahead and read Ephesians 1 verse 19. I'm going to back up and read 18 for you. I pray. Paul's writing this one to another church in Ephesus and he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.
[30:47] By the way, Paul himself is another historical proof of Jesus' resurrection. He wasn't there when it happened. But God himself stopped him on the road to a place called Damascus.
[30:58] Stopped him in his tracks and completely changed his life. Completely rerouted his life instead of being the axe man, the hit man for the government with a license to kill and going out and hunting illegal Christians.
[31:14] Because that was illegal back then. We couldn't do then what we do today, meeting in church like this. And Paul was the hatchet man for the government to go hunt them down and bring them to a bloody justice.
[31:27] God stopped him in his tracks and converted him that day. Revealed him and that he tasted resurrection power like he had never known or believed in before.
[31:38] And all of a sudden, Paul became the most dogmatic, the most public, the most dedicated, and loud proponent of faith in Jesus Christ.
[31:53] Became his follower. Even though he wasn't one of the original twelve. Yet another proof of the power of Jesus' resurrection. So this guy then is writing all these letters to these churches as God uses him over the years.
[32:08] And he says, I pray that the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling. What is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints?
[32:20] That's us. And what the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the mighty working of his strength. Yeah, I would say his strength is pretty mighty, isn't it?
[32:33] There is nothing our God can't do even when facing death. Verse 20, He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand of the heavens far above every ruler, far above every authority, every power and dominion, every president, every congressman, every boss, everyone who abuses their power, abuses their authority.
[32:55] He is far above them all. Not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him, Jesus, as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
[33:16] When we are called as the church, the body of Christ, you realize what that is? Jesus raised his body back to life. We are the living embodiment of resurrection power.
[33:34] That's what the church is. That's what it must be. So, I want to take you here and we'll be done. Resurrection power renews our hope.
[33:49] It renews our hope. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3. According to his great mercy, he has called us to be born again to a living hope through the what?
[34:09] According to his great mercy, he's called us, caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection. Of who? Jesus. Yeah. That's where we get our hope.
[34:23] Because he's not dead, he's alive. You didn't know you were going to have to participate this morning. He's not dead, he's alive. Amen.
[34:35] You'll hear some people saying this morning and if you've never heard it, that's alright, you're hearing it now. He is risen. He is risen indeed. You said, I knew this was a cult. No, y'all, we just really believe it, okay?
[34:50] We just really believe it. Because we have experienced resurrection power, many of us in this room. We have tasted that living hope and we know that he has caused us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
[35:07] That renews our hope. If you are without hope this morning, if you have a relationship that seemed hopeless, if you have something in your life that just bears no hope, may I introduce you to a living hope.
[35:22] May I introduce you to resurrection power and I can understand why your situation seems hopeless. I can understand like Martha and Mary thought Lazarus' situation was hopeless.
[35:36] I can understand how Jesus' followers thought his death was hopeless, but I promise you there is nothing that is hopeless when faced with resurrection power.
[35:49] Isaiah 43, 19, you don't need to turn there, I'm just gonna read it for you. Look, I'm about to do something new, a new thing. Even now it's coming. Don't you see it?
[36:01] I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, life in a tomb and turn it empty. I will bring death to life.
[36:12] I will bring dry bones back to life. God can do anything. God can do all this and so much more. You have every reason to hope.
[36:29] Robert Platt said this, the resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.
[36:42] Maybe somebody in this room needs to start over. Maybe you're looking for meaning and direction. You've come to the right place. It's not me. It's not this church even.
[36:57] It's Jesus and his resurrection. Easter Sunday, there's no better time than to renew your faith or maybe place it for the first time in Jesus and his resurrection and what it means for you.
[37:13] The power that you have access to. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses.
[37:27] You've got a room full of witnesses in this church. But we must not only wear witness of this to each other but to those who don't know. We must take the power of his resurrection to the ones.
[37:41] You know what we're talking about, right? The ones. Slip your hand out if you know what I mean by the ones. Yep. Yep. All over. We're doing this thing called who's your one and everybody is praying for someone in their life who they want so desperately to meet Jesus.
[37:58] follow him. We can be his witnesses of resurrection power. So our takeaway this morning are you missing out on the resurrection power that God is offering you?
[38:10] I hope not. I pray not. And if you are, if you know deep in your heart that you are, I pray that you'll use these next couple minutes to seek deeply in your heart number one, am I a child of God?
[38:24] God, not am I a good person, not do I try to go to church when I can, not do I try to help my neighbor. Those are all good things. There's a lot of people trying to do those things.
[38:36] But have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord? Have you declared that publicly? Do you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead?
[38:48] is he your Lord? Then if he is, you have that resurrection power. We don't always use it. Sometimes we miss out on it when it's right there for us to claim.
[39:03] Would you bow your heads with me now? God, every heart in here needs you. Starting with me, we are desperate for you, God.
[39:15] We're all busy. We're all overwhelmed. We're all distracted. We're all hurting in some way. We're all broken. We're all imperfect. But Jesus Christ, you hold the keys to something far more powerful, the ultimate enemy, and you've conquered him time and time again.
[39:37] Conquer him again in our lives. Conquer him again in our hearts. Let the wife and the mom who can't seem to figure out what it's all there for, got hurt in her heart that nobody knows about.
[39:55] You be the great comforter for her, God. You show her your power. The busy man who's trying to hold it all together, not sure how finances look, not sure how relationships look, got his own struggles and demons.
[40:15] I pray that you would have power over that right now. That you would draw them, that you would say, I am here for you. You didn't just walk in this morning to check a box that you went to church on Easter.
[40:27] You came to encounter Jesus. You came to taste his resurrection power. And God, I pray that you would not let my words be what are echoing in their ears, but let your words, I am the resurrection, I am the life, let that be what takes root.
[40:46] Church, with that in mind, our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. I'm going to extend one invitation to you. Would you keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed for privacy? If God's drawing you now and you say, I want to respond to him and maybe for the first time in my life, I want to genuinely make Jesus my Lord.
[41:07] I want to become a follower of Jesus and taste his resurrection power today. If that's you, would you just slip your hand up now and I'll pray for you. So I want to choose Jesus today.
[41:24] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You can put your hands down. Thank you. God, you see those who raised their hands. Work on their heart.
[41:35] Draw them right now, God. don't let them walk out of here without finding out how they can become your child. If you slipped your hand up a moment ago, please find me right after the service.
[41:51] I'll be in the back. Would you come to me and we can go off, we can find a quiet spot, we can sit, open the word of God and just very briefly show you the simple way of placing your faith in Jesus.
[42:03] For the rest of us in this room, if you say there's an area of my life that I'm struggling with and I need God to show his resurrection power, I'm praying for that now. Would you slip your hand up and I'll pray for you too.
[42:15] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. God, I need his resurrection power in my life. There's an area Satan's got a stronghold. It's hard.
[42:26] It's tough. Thank you. Thank you. You can put your hands down. Thank you. Thank you. God, I might have missed some hands, but you saw everyone and you know what's going on in their hearts right now, God.
[42:38] Move. Show them. Let them hear your voice. Let them feel your peace and then teach them how to run to you every day. Choose you over their own strength.
[42:54] Jared's going to lead us very briefly in a verse of this song. This is a time you can sing along. You can keep your seats. You can stand. You can come down here at these steps.
[43:05] You can kneel and pray. If you'd like to talk to me, I'll be right down here. This is a time for God to just do some business in this church. Give us a couple minutes before we dismiss this morning.