HE IS RISEN

He is risen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.

Give the Lord some praise in this place.

He is a great, glorious God and he is for

you, not against you. He is with us and he is here

today. Amen. Amen. Well, as we continue in our

flow today, before I get into what I believe the Lord has me

share. I am Pastor Kevin. I'm the lead pastor pastor here. I'm glad that you

are here this morning. Welcome on this very beautiful day. I'm glad the rain

came yesterday and the sun is out today. But more than that, I'm glad

to celebrate a resurrected king today. And so,

hey, listen, next week we have something special happening here at

Springhouse and we want you to know about it. Mike Goodwin is going to be

with us. He is a comedian and he is going to come and he's going

to. He's really. It's going to be a special service. Okay, so here's the deal.

If you're new with us, we'd like you to come back and be a part

of this. And if you're home folk and family, I want you to invite a

friend and come. He's going to be with us both gatherings 9am and 11am

and amen. It's going to be a treat. So come. Also, if you

are new to Springhouse or newer to Springhouse,

we have a newcomer's luncheon. Maybe you're here and you're saying, I want to know

a little bit about that church. If you think we're weird, we'll tell you all

about it at this luncheon on the 19th.

Just come at 12:30 after the gathering on the 19th. We

would like for you to come. We're going to feed you, you're going to meet

the pastors and we're going to love on you for a little bit and tell

you about Springhouse. Does that sound good? All right, well, let's get into what God

has for us today. We're going to stand here at Springhouse. We have a tradition

where we stand and read the word together. So if you'll stand with me, we'll

put the words on the screen. And if you are home folk, let's do this

with gusto. Okay, here we go. Let's read. We're reading about Jesus

appearing to Mary Magdalene after the

death and the burial. This is the resurrection. All right, here we go. Let's

read together now. Mary stood outside the

tomb crying as she wept, she bent over

to look into the tomb and saw two angels in

white seated where Jesus body had been.

One at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, woman, why are you crying?

They have taken my Lord away, she said, and I

don't know where they have put him. At this, she

turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But

she did not realize that it was Jesus. He

asked her, woman, why are you crying? Who

is it you are looking for? Thinking he was

the gardener, she said, sir, if you have carried him

away, tell me where you have put him and I will

get him. Jesus said to her, mary.

She turned to him and cried out in Aramaic,

rabboni, which means teacher.

Jesus said, do not hold on to me, for I have

not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead

to my brothers and tell them I am ascending to my

Father and your Father, to my God and your

God. Mary Magdalene went to the disciples

with the news. I have seen the Lord.

And she told them that he had said these things to

her. Father, I thank you for your amazing, powerful,

transformative word. Let it do a work in our hearts today.

In Jesus name, amen. Before you sit, hug

the neck of someone you don't like this morning,

Sam.

Mary Magdalene is one of three Marys we learn about in Scripture.

And in the first century Jewish culture, women were valued,

but they were socially limited. It would be

out of the ordinary for a woman to be a formal disciple

of a rabbi. And they had lesser public voice than

the influence of the men that were around them. So right off the b.

This Mary that we're talking about, Mary Magdalene, she had

an uphill battle. She had an uphill battle in her life. Has anybody been a

part of something where you start out and it already seems like an uphill

climb to get there? Well, this Mary, she has this uphill

battle. And not only does she have an uphill battle because she was a woman

in a culture that didn't really value a woman's

voice. But she had a problem. And the problem was, is the word tells us

that she had these demons in her life. She had sex. Seven

demons. Seven demons. Now, I know I don't know about you, but, you know, we

tend to contend with some things from our past. And we'll look at our

lives and it will kind of like. If you're anything like me, Jeanne, I'm like

an onion, okay? I've got layers, you know, to me, and there's just layer at

the layer. This woman is dealing with seven demons.

Seven demons. And in the culture of that day,

demon possession was not just a spiritual issue.

It carried with it fear and judgment and

isolation, social isolation. And because of this marriage, Mary

would have been avoided. She would have been

labeled and she would have been excluded. Can anybody relate

to this? Avoided, labeled and

excluded. So Mary here, she wasn't just struggling,

she was feared. She was misunderstood,

she was marginalized, and she was marked in order to be

avoided. She didn't just have a past,

she had a reputation. You ever met somebody with a

reputation? A reputation? She had a reputation.

Mary was a woman that in the culture would sideline her

because every room she entered, the verdict was

already rendered. In other words, they judged her before she

even said a word. And then something

miraculous happens. Jesus steps into her

life. Oh, aren't you glad for the day that Jesus stepped into your

life? Jesus steps into Mary's life. And

when Jesus arrives on the scene In Luke chapter 8, the Word tells

Luke 8 · chapter mention

us that he delivers Mary from these

demons. But not only does he deliver her spiritually, he

does something totally radical here. He doesn't just manage

her symptoms or slightly improve her

condition. See, we like to kind of rub up to

Jesus just enough to get those symptoms to

kind of settle down. But see, Jesus isn't in the business of just

catering to symptoms. Jesus is looking to get to root issues

and to uproot those issues so that we can actually be free.

Somebody say amen. And so he

restores her dignity, her identity

and belonging, and then allows her the freedom

and the privilege to follow him. Do you know

that it is a privilege to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? It is

a privilege to follow Jesus. Jesus is in the business of setting

people free. And Jesus set Mary free. So

now what was once avoided, labeled and

excluded was transformed into something that someone who was

pursued, redeemed, and, and belonged. And I believe,

Hallelujah. That this is a lot of our stories today. Amen.

Some of you here carry a similar story to

Mary. And you can point back to a moment where Jesus arrived on the

scene and he changed your life.

When someone has been radically touched the way that

Mary has been touched, when you've been radically

changed, you don't just love casually.

Those types of people stay close and they stay near.

So Mary didn't just know about Jesus, she had

a life changing encounter with him. And

the God who changed Mary's life is the very same

God who can change your life today. Same

God. And this is the delineation between

spectators and participants in the Kingdom of

God. Those often impressed with Jesus

will leave. But those changed by Jesus, they'll stay.

If you've been changed by Jesus, you'll stay.

You'll stay around. You know, I grew up in a tradition

where I was scared into salvation. I was told

that there is a fire awaiting for me when I don't let Jesus come into

my heart. And so I was given a candle to put my hand in. And

I had to hold my hand over that flame for as long as I could.

Ouch. As a little third grader. And they said, kevin, your soul's

gonna burn in hell just like that if you don't get saved. And

let me tell you something. I got saved that day. I was

so scared. I was so scared to go burn in hell like the way they

were telling me about. Here's the thing. I don't know what hell is like because

I've never been there. But I'm gonna tell you right now,

hell is a place where Jesus is not. And

any place that Jesus is not is not a place that I want to be.

It's not a place that I want to be. I

remember the moment when I was introduced

to the Meek family here at Springhouse, which was then Smyrna

assembly. And they introduced me to a Jesus

connected to love and relationship, to this great

glorious God who saw Kevin o', Day, knew my

name, knew my story, and wanted to have a

relationship with me. Can I tell you that same very God is

available to you today? This God who knows you, who sees you.

Guess what? He even knows that thing that's back in that dark corner of your

life, that thing that you haven't let out in the open, that dark

crevice of your life. He knows all about that. And friends, today I'm telling you

that he is a redeemer and he is a Savior.

And despite the choices and the things that you've done, he is here

giving an invitation for you to come and be with him. For

eternity. For eternity. And this invitation

is for everyone? Would you say everyone?

So Luke chapter eight tells us that Mary traveled with

Jesus and she supported his ministry.

Now, Jesus did not come to attract fanfare.

The Word tells us that Jesus, his reason that he came. He said,

I've come to seek and to save that which

was lost. Now, here's the thing. The only way that something

is lost is when it's truly lost. And the only way that can

be found is going into a lost situation and finding

it, illuminating the lost thing. Jesus comes in and wants to illuminate

lost things. Jesus came to radically change our lives

in a way that no one else can. Mary was

delivered and it changed her life. This is why

she traveled with Jesus. This is why she

supported his ministry. And that's why we find

her at the tomb. We find her at the

empty tomb. Peter, John, and Mary there at

the tomb. Now, here's the thing. Peter and John left.

She went and told them, hey, the tomb's empty. Peter comes, John comes.

And here's the thing. I think there's a delineation here. See,

Peter knew Jesus as a teacher.

John knew Jesus as beloved. And this doesn't devalue or

diminish Peter and John's importance. But I have to ask the question, why

did Mary linger? Why did Mary choose to stay?

Well, while one knew him as a teacher, the other knew him as beloved.

Mary knew him as a deliverer. And when God

delivers you out of something and you have a history and a

connect with him in that way, powerful, extraordinary

things happen in your life. Mary stayed.

And the people who stay get to witness extraordinary

things over in Acts. If you're a believer and you know the word over

in Acts. After Jesus ascended to heaven, the Bible

tells us 500 witnesses were there. They were watching this ascension.

Glory to God. And do you know what happens 10 days later? That

500 decreases to 120. What happened to the

other 380 people? Did they get bored?

Was it not exciting enough to wait around? See,

here's the. Let me, let me paint this picture. They literally saw

the Son of God ascend into heaven.

And Jesus said, I'm going to promise to give you a gift. These

people were waiting around on the gift. And so 120 people stay. And

guess what happens when they stay? They get to experience the power of the Holy

Spirit. The day of Pentecost. Let me tell you something. If you will

stay, if you will stay, you will

witness miraculous things. If you stay, you will

witness extraordinary things. This is my daughter,

Hadassah. And she,

like all of my daughters, has birthdays every year. And every other year,

every other year, we allow our daughters to choose a place that

they would like to go for their birthday. And I do a daddy daughter date

with them, and we go to that place. And on this particular year, she decides

that she wanted to go see a tiger, a real live tiger. She

likes tigers, favorite animal. And so we decided to go to the

Cincinnati Zoo because we hear that the Cincinnati Zoo has a great

display of tigers. And so we get on the plane and we go to

the Cincinnati Zoo. And we went there and we saw giraffe, we saw

elephants, we saw goats, we saw

hippo, we saw everything. We went to the tiger exhibit.

And the tigers were not there. What is going

on? Where are the tigers? Well, they were there. They were just in the cave

and not coming out. And so we were there and I could just

see the disappointment on our eyes. The whole reason for the trip was to see

this tiger. And so we left and I said, well, let's go to the other

exhibits. And so we went and saw other animals. And then we would make our

way back to the tiger exhibit. And we stood there and we just waited and

kind of looked a little foolish waiting there. Cause everybody was just knowing that

the tigers were not there. But we were there hopeful that the tiger would come

out. And so I did what every great dad would do.

I thought I could fake her out by getting her one of these. And so

I went into the zoo store and paid an

abnormally an outrageous price for a plushed animal. And I

gave it to her. And I said, here's a tiger. And she said, well,

daddy, I wanna see a real tiger. And I'm like, well, I know, dear, but

the real tigers are not out today. And so we circle

again, and the zoo is about to close. We circle again. We go. And we

stand there by the pexiglass. And people are kinda looking at us. What are

you looking at? There's nothing there but trees and grass. And there's a

tiger. And I'm like, baby, it's time to go. They're about to close. And

she says, daddy, the tigers will come if we pray.

You're right, dear. And so she prays for the

tiger. And at the same time, I'm praying the Lord to give me words to

comfort her in her disappointment. And so I'm there and I'm praying, and

she's praying for the tigers. And we're looking and. And it's time to go.

The people who work in the zoo, they are pushing. They are now all in

a line moving the crowds out the door. And so I grab

Adas hand and we go through the bookstore in the

area where you're exiting or whatever. And she says, daddy, can we go back one

more time? And I'm like, baby, like the whole line of people are

here. And so I say, okay. And so we go, and we sneak

around the side and kind of avert the eyes of the

zookeepers. And we go there, and here we are once. And I'm like, oh, Lord,

please. And so we stand there and there's

nothing. And so I grab her hand and we go to

turn away. And as soon as we turn away, the tiger comes

out. And this is Hadassah with her,

with her tiger.

One of the largest issues we have is that we expect something to change, but

we don't see long enough for it to happen. This

is where faith is really tested. Will you stay to

see God do something, or will you leave the minute it gets

hard? Mary didn't understand what happened.

She couldn't explain it. She couldn't fix it. She stayed because

her experience and her relationship with Jesus carried a

matchless depth that no one else could

rival. We sang a song on Friday night where the line

in the song said, this. My one life's endeavor is to

match your surrender, and so I surrender all. This

was the heart posture with which Mary lived her life.

I want you to understand today, church, that casual

encounters create seasonal followers.

Casual encounters create seasonality

followers. If all you have is a casual encounter, then you

have very little motivation to actually show up and stick around. There

was a boy, and he was with his father. And he said to his father,

how big is God? And the father said, well, look

up at the sky. Do you see that airplane? And he sees this airplane up

in the sky. And the father says, how big is that airplane? And the son

says, well, it's really small. It's a really small plane. He said, you're right.

So he gets his son and puts him in the car and they drive over

to the airport, drives right up onto the tarmac, gets out of the car, and

brings his son right up to a Boeing 7700 series.

And he looks up at the Boeing plane and he says, son, how big is

this plane? And the son said, this plane is huge.

And he said, God is as big as your perspective

based on your proximity to him.

Guys, how much time and how close you get to God is how big he

will be in your life. And if you're settling for a casual

encounter, you'll only be a seasonal follower. That means we'll

see you today and we'll see you at Christmas.

But God invites you on a journey full of life,

full of longevity, full of joy, full of radical

transformation and change if you'll just allow him the privilege

of coming in to your life.

Mary's encounter with Jesus was not casual. She had a history.

And some of you are here right now. You walked in this morning, you put

on your pastel stuff, you put on your bright dress, you walked

into the door and you put on a smile. But can I tell you the

truth behind that smile this morning? You are tired, you are

confused, you are worn down. You're carrying Things that you

haven't said out loud. You don't have clarity. You don't even know what God is

really doing in your life. Some came in seeking the validation

of others. Let me tell you about getting your validation from others. The same

people who cried out hosanna to Jesus are the exact same people

that said, crucify him. But praise be to

God that the same people that said, crucify him are the same people he died

and rose again for. We don't get

validation for people. We need our validation from a king who

actually knows us in our story. But despite any of the

darkness that you have experienced or the darkness that you're walking in,

I want you to know that I recognize, and we recognize that you

chose to show up this morning. And that matters, because

here's the reason. No depth of darkness disqualifies you

from an encounter with Jesus. No depth of darkness

disqualifies you from an encounter with Jesus.

Yes, that thing that popped up in your mind right then, that

did not disqualify you. He was the perfect

price on Calvary for our sin. He was the

perfect price. We couldn't pay the price. He was the one who did it.

And so there is no darkness that disqualifies you. This Mary,

she looks into the tomb, looking right

at what represents death. And she sees something

miraculous. She sees two angels sitting there, this

Mary who lingered around and stayed. And they ask her

this question. They say, woman, why are you

weeping? Now, I don't think that they were saying that in the

way of pity. Woman, why are you. Why are you

weeping? They're

asking the question with foreknowledge, that Jesus has come back to life.

Why are you weeping? This

is the wrong emotion to be moating at this moment.

Clearly, there's a disconnect here.

And she answers them through her perspective in her

lens. And she says, they have taken.

They have taken, my Lord. She's not

just looking into a tomb. She's looking through everything

she's just been through. She saw

Jesus beaten. She saw Jesus

crucified. She saw him buried.

So when she looks in, she's not looking with faith.

She's looking through the lens of a painful

memory. In other words, her past

is shaping her expectation. Her pain

is shaping her perception.

Mary is looking for confirmation of loss. She's literally

staring at something she cannot explain. But she filters it

through what she already believes to be true.

Friends, may I suggest to you this morning that your

pain will preach louder to you than the truth

if you allow it. To your hurt will speak

volumes louder than the actual truth if you

give it ear in that way.

And so she says, they have taken my

Lord. That means that she still claims him.

She still belongs to him. But she's

walking in this expectation that he's gone. You

know what that tells me? That tells me that we can call Him Lord all

day long and not expect him to do a thing in our lives. He

is a God that will exceed our

expectations. You can trust this great glorious

God to move on your life.

So let me ask you, have you ever been in a place where you

prayed and it didn't happen? You

trusted and it didn't work out. You believed and it

didn't look like you thought it would. You asked God to fix it, but it

got worse. You waited and nothing

changed. You stepped out in faith and it fell apart.

You forgave and they still walked away. You

stayed faithful and you got overlooked. You

gave your best, but it wasn't enough.

You thought that door was God, but it slams shut in

your face. You thought that relationship was it,

but it ended. You thought the healing would come and it didn't. You thought the

season would be different and it wasn't. You thought God would show up in a

certain way, and he didn't show up like that. And now, based on

these momentary disappointments, hear me, church. Without

even realizing it, you don't expect him to act

like the God you say you believe he is. Over.

In second Timothy there is this scripture and it talks about the end times. And

this is going to be disastrous things in the end times. But there's a section

of that scripture, scripture that talks about having a form

of godliness, but denying its power.

In the end times it will be, I know the Lord Jesus Christ,

but I deny he can actually do anything in my life.

That is a lie. That is a lie from the Father of

lies. The power of Jesus has the power

to eradicate anything you're going through. The power

of Jesus Christ can infiltrate any situation, any

hurt, any pain. And he. He can bring peace and comfort that nobody

else can. He is so super

faithful. And so now you show up to church on Easter Sunday,

but you're not looking for life. It seems as if you're

just bracing for loss because you're looking at God through the lens

of what or who hurt you. And so you

cope. You numb it. You

pour another drink. You stay busy so you don't have to think about

it. You scroll until your mind goes quiet. You chase another

relationship so that you don't feel alone. You throw yourself

into work so you don't have to deal with what's underneath. You. Binge,

distract, perform, achieve. Anything that will take the edge off.

And guys, if we're honest for just a moment, it works.

For just a moment, for just a second, it feels just a little

bit better. It helps you breathe for just a second.

But it never heals it, does it? Someone

once said you can't get rid of your demons if you're still

enjoying their company. For some of

you, your experiences didn't just hurt you,

they trained you. So, like Mary, you

keep looking, but you're only expecting to find

what you've already determined.

True. Here's the deal. If you

expect death, you will miss life.

If you're walking around expecting death, you

will miss life. And some of you have

chosen to be miserable because you've trained

yourself to look for a dead outcome. Can I tell you this morning

that Jesus wants to change your perspective?

Jesus wants to open your eyes to see in a way that you

have never seen him before. The Word says that she turned with

her body and Jesus is standing right

in front of her. Jesus is not playing a glorified game

of hide and seek with you. He is right there

in front of you. We're gonna have an Easter egg hunt at my house a

little bit later today. My kids are gonna go look for Easter eggs. But do

you know that I'm not gonna take these eggs? And I'm not gonna go dig

up my sewage tank and dig it in so deep that they don't find

it. I'm not hiding the eggs from

my kids. I'm hiding the eggs for my kids.

And Christ is hidden right in front of you in plain sight. If

you'll just acknowledge him, he will reveal himself

to you.

He's not hiding from you. Truth can be standing

right in front of you and you still miss it. Church I want you to

know today, Friends, I want you to know today. If you need a way,

Jesus is the way. If you need

truth today, Jesus is truth.

If you are needing a source of life,

Jesus is life. The Word says that

she saw Jesus but did not

recognize Him. So Jesus asked her this

question. Who is it you are looking for?

Who is it that you're looking for? And I'm asking you this morning

the same question. Who is it that you're looking for? Everyone's looking

for something. Peace, relief. Identity,

control. Mary

responds to Jesus with a distant

response. She calls him sir and treats him like

a gardener.

Because of her pain because of what she witnessed,

she could not bring herself to the reality of seeing

the God who was right in front of her. When I was real little, I

was Catholic, and I remember going

to my first confessional and I walked into that

room. And what you do is you go and you sit with the priest. And

I went into his little. I guess it was a little house. And we went

in there and I sat on the couch with him. And he said, kevin, I

want you to tell me all your sin. Tell me everything you've done

wrong. So I started to tell him, well,

I stole a toy from my brother once. He said,

good, tell me more. Well,

I think I didn't do what my mama asked me to do once. And he

said, good, tell me more. I think I stole. I'm pretty sure I

stole a cookie or two a time. And he said, good,

tell me more, and I'll tell you. This priest was so encouraging. I started making

up sin. I started making. I want. If I was going to be a sinner,

I wanted to be the best one.

But here's the thing. You don't have to hide behind a

person to get to Jesus. The book of

Hebrews tells us, because of Jesus and what he did, we can come, right?

You know what? It doesn't just say, you can just go to his throne. He

actually uses this word boldly, Boldly,

confidently. Listen, my girls, I'm literally sleeping with

my underwear in the bed. And the girls just belt into the room asking me,

can I have a snack? Can I have a drink of water? They don't knock.

They just come confidently and boldly and joyfully right into my presence.

You can go to your phone, Father, that way, because

of Jesus, boldly and

confidently before his throne.

But let me ask you this question honestly. Have you ever gotten to

the point of pain and grief that you don't

even recognize what's right in front of you? Or more than

that, who is right in front of you?

Listen to this. Mary. Mary was looking. Listen to me. This was

her frame of mind. Mary was looking for evidence

to validate the reality she created in her mind.

Guys, so often we are looking for the evidence to validate

the reality we've created. When the reality we've created

is based on a lie, it's based on fiction, or it's based on

maybe an experience that happened that God's wanting to pull you out of. You've

assigned your identity to this place. And God said, but that's not who you

are. That's not the name I gave you.

That's not the destiny I've placed in front of you.

And so if we're not careful, we'll assign false evidence to the

deception in front of us. And we'll live our life based on something

that's not true. Your

past does not define you. Your

pain does not get the final word.

Your failure is not your identity. What

happened to you is not who you are.

Your worst moment is not your permanent name.

Your history may explain you, but it does not own you.

Your mistakes may mark you, but they do not master you.

What broke you does not get to build you. The lie you

believed is not the truth that you have to live. Just

because it felt real doesn't mean that it's true. Listen.

Everything Mary thought she had lost was standing right in

front of her. And his response was not shame,

not judgment, not disappointment, not

correction, not frustration, not pull it together,

not be stronger. His response was this,

Mary, as if to say,

it's me. And some of

you this morning need a it's me

moment with the creator of the universe. And can I tell

you, you came on the right Sunday because he decided to show up this

morning and you can have an it's

me moment with the Lord. And in that

moment. Here's the thing. In that moment, I believe it was this

moment when he said Mary that she

was transformed. See, before she was delivered. She was

delivered from those demons. But this moment

caused transformation. See, deliverance is

what God does to you. Deliverance is what God

does for you. Transformation is what God does

within you. And this is the moment for Mary that

everything came full circle. This is where

Mary got her song. This is where the Jesus that

she had intimate connection with, it all came to

life at this moment. And I believe that it was at this

moment that she realized with every fiber of her

being that Jesus was everything she ever

needed. I've asked Garner to play this song over us.

Let it sink in your spirit as he sings. Sings as Lyrics

Jesus says Mary. He says,

mary. And she for that

moment in time, everything stops. And

she sees the Jesus that she knows.

It's revealed to her. In that moment, everything

comes together and I just see her because he says in the next

beat, don't cling to me. I don't think it was like a get away from

me. I think she was so in the moment that she just grasped him

and didn't want to let him go. But here's the thing.

Here's the thing. Listen. The same woman, Remember the woman we

introduced at the beginning of this, who didn't have a voice, who did. Who had

a past, who had a reputation, who had demons. Now,

let me think about it. If God. I'm thinking God, Jesus is sitting up in

heaven. They're planting. This whole master plan is being put together. Now.

If I'm up there and I'm a part of the conversation, I'm saying, hey, let's

get Peter. Let's get Peter there on the scene. Let's make sure. Or let's. What

about John? You know, maybe John. Maybe Thomas doesn't need a doubt. Maybe let's get

him, like, really there. He needs to see it firsthand. No,

the God of the universe, the God who breathes

stars, chose the last rung on the

totem pole. The one who didn't have a voice, the

one who had demons, the one who had a reputation, the one the culture

would have gone, no, we don't want to hear from you. Guess what? I

want that one to be the first one to receive the gospel

news and go share the revelation of the risen Christ.

Guys, don't tell me that you don't have a

purpose. Don't tell me that he doesn't have a plan

for your life. The king of kings knows your name.

He knows your story. And you have not gone so far down south

that he can't come and save you. Stand with me this morning, church.

So I ask you, this morning, who

are you looking for?

This can be the day of real change.

I was walking at my house, and I saw one of those

goldfish crackers on the floor. And

you know what I did? I didn't pick it up. I walked right by it,

came back around, saw the goldfish on the floor, and I walked by it again

in the carpet. The third time I walked by,

guess what? Somebody had come by and they had stepped on the

goldfish cracker. You know what that does? It means all those

little crumbs were all in the floor. Here's my point.

Had I dealt with with the cracker initially, it wouldn't

have gotten worse. And, guys, some of you need to deal with some things

today before it gets smushed and gets worse. And you have

a king that wants to meet with you today. If

you're gonna pray with people, would you come forward? Listen to this.

He is not too far to be found. This is what Jeremiah says. You will

seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. Have

you come into this house mourning or crying? This is what the word says. Weeping

may endure for a Night. But guess what comes in the morning? Joy. A

joy unexplainable. A joy everlasting. Because here's the

thing. When Jesus shows up, everything

changes. When Jesus is introduced in the situation,

everything changes. So listen to this. Whatever you walked in with, it's not

final. It's not done. It does not

win. If he got up, hope gets up. If

he got up, freedom gets up. If he got up, your

story's not over. Mary thought he was gone, but he was standing right there.

And he is standing here today. He's not in the grave. He's

not in the tomb. He's not in your past. He's not confined to history.

He's not limited to a story. He's not distant from your reality.

He's not waiting for you to move. He's not unsure of your

future. He's not overwhelmed by your situation. He's not

intimidated by your struggle. He's not defeated by your past.

He's not finished with your life. He is alive. He is

present. He is moving. He is speaking. He is calling.

He is drawing. He is restoring. He is healing.

He is drawing. He is restoring. He is standing. He

is reigning. He is returning. And everything that feels dead,

he has power to raise it. Everything that feels lost, he has the

authority to restore it. Everything that feels finished, he

will rewrite it. Because he didn't stay in the grave. He didn't stay in

the tomb. He's not staying away. He is alive. He is here. And,

guys, he's going to come back again. We have

a hope in Christ Jesus.

And so there are three groups of people here today. First

group is the this. You can't

honestly say with authenticity that there was ever a moment in your

life that you said, I need Jesus in my

life. Well, I've been a Christian all my life because I grew up in a

Christian home. No, there. There is an appointed time because

you have to declare with your mouth, I am a sinner. I need

Jesus.

If that is you today, there's

no greater gift that you can walk out of here than

to have eternal life that starts right now, today.

This Jesus can radically change your life. And these people

down here, they are not perfect. They are tore up from the floor.

I know their stories, but they know this great glorious

God and they would love to introduce you to him today. If that's you,

number two, there's a group of people in here, and let me tell you, this

is the vast majority of you. You ready? Are you ready for this? You got

up this morning and you thought church was gonna be cute today. You got your

pastels on. You're ready for the egg hunt. You're ready for a good Easter lunch.

But here's the thing. The God that breathes stars said,

no. I wanna deal with something in you today. I

wanna remind you that your hurt and your brokenness does not define

who you are. You have been living beneath the calling

I've given you. Because I am a great, glorious God. Do not

diminish the power of my resurrection, says the Lord God. And

if that is you today, come down here and allow somebody to

agree with you that today everything changes. And the third

group of people here I talked about Hebrews saying, go boldly before the throne of

grace. You are in a time of need, and you have just decided that

you're gonna saddle up and carry that need all by yourself. But let me tell

you something. You can't do it alone. You're not strong enough to do it alone.

And the God of the universe wants to shoulder that for you. Come

down here, release it so that you can walk out free today.

Amen. The altars are open. Let's worship you. Come and let the Holy Spirit

do something in your life.

Hey, Church. There are people whose

eternity changed in this moment. Can you give God some praise?

Come on. Hallelujah. Bless the Lord. Bless the

Lord.

If you gave your life to Jesus today, the next step is water

baptism so that we can celebrate with you. And we would be so

happy and privileged to baptize you in the name of the Father, Son

and Holy Spirit. Come and see us. Guys, I hope that you enjoy the

rest of your Easter Sunday. Come back next week. Guys, listen.

We don't just have this gift inside of us. It's not a selfish thing.

We actually have a world that's dying out there that needs to know the good

news of Jesus. Let's not forget that this week, okay? Let's not forget the

gift that we've been given, the power of the resurrection. Let's share that with this

dying world. I'm not going to give you a blessing. We're going to go out

on this song as the benediction, y'. All. Let's sing it. Here we go. Come

on.