Easter 2026

Amen, Amen and amen ushers, if you would come and

we're going to we're gonna start today in John chapter twenty.

If you got a Bible, go to John chapter twenty.

This morning, we're gonna start there. I want to talk

to you today on the topic of there's a place

for you. There's a place for you. If you have

the Church Center app. You can take notes there. Don't

forget that there's filling the blanks there. All the scriptures

are there. Everything is there on the Church Center app

for you. In John chapter twenty, starting in verse one,

John chapter twenty, Verse one, it says, now on the

first day of the week, Mary Magdalen went to the

tomb early while it was still dark, and saw that

the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then

she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the

other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they've

taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we

do not know where they've laid him. Peter therefore went

out and the other disciple, and we're going to the tombs.

So they both ran together, and the other disciple out

ran Peter and came to the tomb first, and he,

stooping down looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there,

Yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came

following him and went into the tomb, and he saw

the linen clothes lying there, and the handkerchief that had

been around his head not lying with the linen claws,

but folded together in a place by itself. Then the

other disciple who came to the tomb first, went in also,

and he saw and he believed. Let's pray, Father, we

thank you for your word. It's the only change agent

on the face of the planet. And I pray that

today it changes us.

At the very fabric of our being.

Lord, that a harvest comes from the seeds that are

planted today, and our lives are transformed.

We give you glory and awe for it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen, you know this, uh, this passage of scripture. I

like passages of scripture like this because it shows us

how common.

The people that Jesus called to follow him were.

You know, through this, this is like the monumental moment.

This is like the pivotal place of our faith. Jesus

has risen, He's beaten death hell and the grave, and

John is writing this and and.

He talks about him and Peter they're running.

To the tomb and that that that they're about to

get the good news that Jesus has risen. And right

in the midst of it, John points out that he

outran Peter. He just pointed out that he was faster

that day and he outran him to the tomb. These

were people that listen that they that they argued and

they jockeyed for position the whole time they were with Jesus,

and in this moment it was no different. They were

trying to outrun each other. They were trying to one

up somebody. I just wonder what happened to the spirit

of competition in the church. I wonder what happened to

you just looking at what other people are doing for

the kingdom and you just want to.

Do a little more.

Just a thought, That's not what I'm.

Preaching on today, Just a thought, just a thought that

maybe you know, you look and somebody brought four people today,

so next week you bring five people. I'm just wondering

if maybe we need a little more of that function

like that. I mean, I know some of you are

competitive people, I've been on the golf course with some

of you. I've been and I've seen some of you.

Coach and scream and yell and do all those.

Things that you do. I mean, I've seen those things.

Let's get a little fired up about what Jesus is

doing and just let that spirit of competition, not the

unhealthy one that grips your life, but the one that

motivates you and causes you just do a little bit more.

John outran Peter to the tomb. But when they got there,

John his religiosity kicked in just a little bit, and

he looked in, but he wasn't willing to go in,

because the living were not supposed to go into the

place of the dead. But Peter, being who he was,

he just gets there and he dives straight in and

he begins to look around, and he saw something that

John didn't see, and he saw something that Jesus intentionally

left there for him. When Peter went in, he saw

the grave clothes lying by themselves, And then he looked

and he saw the towel, the handkerchief folded neatly by itself.

The same hands that were pierced with nails. Took the

time to fold the towel and place it to the

side so that Peter would see it. It was a

a moment where Jesus was speaking directly to him, but

it echoed two thousand years to today.

In John chapter thirteen, verse three.

We need to back up to see the significance of

this moment. In John chapter thirteen, starting in verse three,

says Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things

into his hands, that he had come from God and

was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside

his garments, and he took a towel, and he girded himself.

After that, he poured water.

Into a basin, and he began to wash the disciples

feet and to wipe them with the towel which he

was girded with. Then he came to Simon Peter, and

Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet?

Jesus answered and said to him what I'm doing. You

do not understand now, but you will know after this.

Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet.

And Jesus said to him, if I do not wash

your feet, you have no part with me. If I

don't wash your feet, you don't belong to me. If

I don't wash your feet, there's no place for you

with me. See, the towel whispered from the tomb, you

have a place with me. He looked to that pivotal

moment where he had this intense conversation with Peter. Peter

defiantly said, no, no, Lord, you don't need to do

that for me. I'm already submitted, I already understand. I'm

already walking with you. And he said no, no, no, no, no,

no no. It's important for this to happen. It's important

to you, for you to see the serve oft leadership.

It's important for you to receive this because this is

going to be transformational in your life. This is a

moment that you're going to look to. And then in

the tomb, Jesus left the towel to point back to

that moment to tell Peter you always have a place

with me.

The towel says to you, there is a place.

For you in the kingdom.

Now you have to remember that Jesus had already spoken

to Peter, and he said, listen, you're gonna deny me

three times. You're gonna deny me before the rooster crows

you're gonna deny me.

And that's exactly what happened.

Peter had been this bolsterous person, and then when Jesus

was taken away, Peter began to tell people, no, no, no, no,

I don't even know who that is.

But Jesus still left the towel.

Even though he denied him, even though he fell short,

even though he messed up, Jesus was still crying from

the tomb, Peter, I have not forsaken you.

I haven't left you. I haven't given up on you.

There's still a plan for you, there's still a purpose

for you.

You have a place in the Kingdom.

And the place in the Kingdom is more significant than

anything we could ever imagine.

The place for us in God's Kingdom.

Is not one of just survival, of just making ends me,

and it's not one of just going through the motions.

But it is a life of fulfillment.

It's a life that's above anything we could ever live

anywhere else, because there is such significance attached to it,

significance beyond the trappings of the world. When we look

at the world and the way things operate, everything is

attached to some monetary value, almost everybody's identity is attached

to monetary value. Where I live, what I have, the

shoes that I wear, the car that I drive, all

of those things that the trappings of that capture.

Us and captivate us.

But there is so much more to kingdom living than

the things we have. It's who God has called us

to be and the fulfillment we can experience in the

midst of His peace, even in a troubled storm, when

we're doing what He's called us to do. See, the

significance in you is about reaching someone else for the

Kingdom's sake. The significance in you is that He has

given you the power and the ministry and the word

of reconciliation that you carry, the word that you carry,

the ability to reconcile falling man to Holy God by

speaking the truth of Jesus in a moment, And that's

who God has trusted you to be. He could have

chosen any method he wanted to choose, but he chose

to use people. He chose to use us and our brokenness.

He chose to use us and our insecurity. He chose

to use us and all of our dysfunction and all

of those things.

But so many of us.

We cower down because of guilt and shame. The scripture

says that the moment we're born again, our shame is

washed away, our sin is washed away, we're made brand new,

a new creation. Those things are gone, and behold, all

things are made new.

And the enemy tells you the.

Lie, time and time and time again, that you're not enough,

you're not good enough, you're not significant enough.

He can't use you. You're not smart enough, you're not.

Educated enough, You've done too many bad things. I came

into the Kingdom of God. I felt like Paul. I

felt like that I was the chief of sinners, that

when it came to things you weren't supposed to do,

I led the way. But God still spoke to me

in a moment, in an instant, in one of my

most unlovable moments, he reached down and he picked me up,

and he restored life to my body. And I could

not imagine anything better than the moment I met him,

the moment that he came in and set me free

from all the things that had me bound. Not just

set me free, but put me on a path to

purpose that was I didn't even plan. That put me

on a path to purpose. I should have been when

I did that. Right. If I had a handheld microphone

didn't sound as powerful. Because I wear a head, said

a path to purpose, and he put me on that path.

And I look back, and I see so many times

that God gave me opportunities that I didn't deserve because

it was his grace. So many times that God opened

a way for me to be able to step into

a situation that I didn't deserve.

It was only by his grace.

See, the tomb is empty so that your life can

be full. The tomb is empty so that you can.

Live a full life.

In John chapter ten, verse ten, probably one of my

favorite passages of scripture in all the Bible, that.

Says, the thief come.

The thief does not come except to steal and to

kill and to destroy.

See, the only time he comes.

He doesn't show up if he's not stealing something, if

he's not killing something, if he's.

Not destroying something.

The only time the enemy shows up in your life

is when he wants to kill your purpose. He wants

to destroy your reputation. He wants to steal your joy.

He wants to steal the fruit that's growing in your life.

He shows up to do those things. But that's not

the end of the scripture. It says I have come

now Jesus is writing this.

I have come that.

They may have life, and that they may have it

more abundantly. That we can experience life that's not bound

by the principles of the world and the pressures that

the world face, because we have the equalizing pressure of

the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us that

when hard times come, Holy Spirit pushes back and he

keeps the pressure equalized. So we don't suffer the way

other people suffer, and we don't stress out the way

other people stress out, and we don't worry the way

other people worry, because we understand that Jesus has called

us to life and life more abundantly. It doesn't look

like everybody else's life looks. And it's all because of

the empty tomb that he destroyed death, hell and the

grave in a moment.

You know, when we look.

At the sacrifice of Jesus, what he did for us,

so many times we focus on the death on the cross,

but the significant moment of extravagant love was when the

stone rolled away. Because nobody loves you enough nobody else loves.

You enough to come back from the dead for you.

There are people in here right now that could probably

probably would take a bullet for you.

They would probably.

Lay down their life for you, but they don't have

the love for you to come back from the dead

the way Jesus did to impart to you life and

life rebundantly. What happened in the tomb that day was

not a one time thing.

We think that Jesus was raised from the dead and that.

That was this moment, but it's happened every day in

history from that moment on that every day resurrection has happened.

That every day someone has heard the good news and

their life has been transformed. That every single day sin

has died and the new Man has come to life.

That every single day from that moment in the tomb

until this moment, resurrection has happened because Jesus beat death,

hell and the grave and he made a way for

you to live in eternity. And every single time someone

comes into the Kingdom it's a brand new resurrection from

the dead. I wonder today what you're looking for Jesus

to do. You know, so many of us, we we

we dwell on the way things used to be. Come

on now, the good old days, the way things used

to be. I just want to I just want to

say something to you. If the way things used to

be would have saved everybody, then everybody would already be saved.

Amen.

Now there are some things we've moved on from. There's

some things we need to get back to. But here's

why we need to get back to them, so that

we can move ahead to what God has for us.

The greatest miracle we could ever see is for someone

to experience God for the very first time, and for

their sin to be rolled away, and for purpose and

destiny to be birthed on the inside of them, for

them to experience the same life. You get to experience

life and life more abundantly. In Romans chapter eight, in

verse nine, it says, but you're not in the flesh,

but in the spirit. If indeed, the Spirit of God.

Dwells in you.

Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,

he's not his. And if Christ is in you, the

body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is

life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of Him

who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He

who raised Christ from the dead will also give life

to your model, to your mortal bodies through His spirit

who dwells in you. He says, the same spirit that

raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you.

If you belong to Christ, the same power.

That shook history dwells on the inside of you. The

Tible says that your past is behind you, that your

past is buried, and His power lives in you.

The moment we get.

Saved, abundant life and the power of God is resident

on the inside of us.

Now, I want to take just a moment here.

Every single one of you who's born again in this

place has the same spirit that raised up Christ Jesus

from the dead.

Every one of you.

It doesn't say that, you know, I give him ten

percent of the power, fifty percent of the power, seventy

five percent of the same spirit. The same power that

raised Christ Jesus from the dead is in you as

a believer. So that means if there are ten, I

hope there's more than ten. But if there are ten

believers in this place today, that means that there are

there is ten times more power in this place today

than was in the tomb when Christ Jesus was raised

from the dead.

If there's fifty.

Believers, there's fifty times the power that raised Christ Jesus

from the dead in this place right now. This is

a virtual power plant of God's miraculous power working in

and through us right now, in this place today. And

the only thing we have to do to experience that

power is get past all of the insecurity that we

have and realize that we have a place in the Kingdom.

And the place is not in the back.

The place is not pressed down, it's not beaten, it's

not second rate. Its first class. And God is calling

you to a significant moment in life. He's calling you

up to purpose and you up to destiny so you

can experience Him in a very real way and help

others experience.

Him in a very real way.

The Tiele's whispering to you today, there's a place for you.

There's a place for you in the Kingdom. Pastor Clay,

you guys can come and get ready. There's a place

for you in the Kingdom. It doesn't matter whatever that

excuse is that you have in your mind right now,

it doesn't matter where you've been and what you've done,

where you were last night and what you did last night.

It doesn't matter.

All that matters is this moment right now, the fact

that you're here. But the only thing you can think

of about is getting out of here so you can

get a so you can get your next fixed.

It doesn't matter.

You're so consumed with worry because of the things that

are happening in your life. It doesn't matter. When Jesus

was lying in that tomb he was fixated on you,

that he looked into this room today and.

He saw you and his love and passion and desire

for you, or why.

The spirit touched his body he moved for the very

first time. Could you imagine, could you imagine being in

that tomb that day?

Could you imagine.

Just being a little fly on the wall, and this

one that the enemy tried so hard to kill, that

the religious order tried so hard to kill, And there

he is, wrapped in grave clothes.

It's just a little it's a little moment.

Just a just maybe maybe a twitch, maybe just a twitch,

and the grave clothes moved.

Maybe it was a breath. His chest lifted, just a bent.

Mm hmm.

And with each breath he thought of you. He began

to move, shake himself.

Free those grave clothes that had him bound. Maybe you

feel bound today, but Jesus is beginning to move on

the inside of you, and he's beginning to call you

out of those grave clothes. He's beginning to call you

out of the tomb that your life has been in

depression and anxiety, and coldness and darkness and indifference in

all of those things.

He's calling you out of those things. Those grave clothes

begin to fall.

To the side, and he sits up, face covered.

And with a hole still in his hands. He took

that title and he folded it and he laid it

down so that.

Someone in the tomb, someone in the damp, dark place

of death, could find it.

And realize.

There's a place for me.

You may have never experienced love in your entire life.

You may have gone through heard and brokenness, trauma and pain.

You feel like there's nobody on your side. Maybe somebody

invited you here today and you think they're not even

really my friend. They just invited me here because their

pastor ask them to. I want you to know that

maybe they don't like you, but Jesus does. Maybe they

hate you, but Jesus loves you. It's not his fault.

That you've been going through the things you've been going through.

He is the answer to the pain.

He's the answer to the pain, and today he wants

to lift you up and set you in a place

that's already been designed for you.

Jesus wants you today.

With every head and bound and every eye closed. If

you're here today and you feel forgotten, you feel broken, underappreciated,

m hm.

You feel like people don't care, people don't get you.

Jesus is here.

If you're here today, you want to be set free

from the.

The shame of sin.

You want to give your life to Jesus, be set

free from the things that have you bound, from addiction

and am your depression and all of those things. You

want to come to the Lord today. If that's you,

just slip your hand up and say that's me, Pastor,

pray for me.

I want to give my life to Jesus today.

I want to.

Finally belong somewhere. Amen.

I see that hand. I want to finally Amen. I

see that hand. Amen, I see that hand. If you're

here today and you say I just for so long,

I felt like I've been by myself.

For so long. It's been so hard.

I've been trying to make it and I don't know

if I can't make it anymore. If that's you, just

slip your hand up and say that's me. I want

to turn it over to Jesus.

Amen.

I see that hand, Amen, I see that hand. I

feel in my spirit that there's somebody here to David

that you've considered, that you've considered.

Taking your own little life because you feel so abandoned

and so alone.

The Lord has a place for you.

There's value in you, there's worth in you.

He's calling you. Where are you just slipping him and said,

that's my pastor. I'm ready to come to Jesus.

I want to find that purpose of that value.

I want to come running to him this morning. I

can't wait anymore.

I just need.

I need it. Everybody, open your eyes. Everybody stand to

your feet. Halter, team, come and get ready.

Now. Listen. You need to hear this.

If you raise your hand in just a moment, I'm

going to count to three. When I count to three, you.

Need to move out from where you are and make

your way to the front. If you confess him before men,

he'll confess you before his father in heaven. Do not

stand in obscurity and dark and loneliness anymore.

Step out, and he will bring you into his Kingdom

of light.

It's on the counter of three. If you raise your hand,

I want you to step out and come. Don't wait

see if anybody else is moving. This is not about

popularity this morning. This is about faith. When I get

to three, if you raised your hand, you come. If

you've just realized you should have raised your hand and

you didn't, you come too. If you need somebody to

come with you, you grab their hand and say go

with me. If you know somebody needs to come, you

reach over, you grab your hand and say I'll go

with you. On the counter of three, one, two, three,

step out and move right now. If you raise your hand,

come on, come on, come on, come on, come.

On, come on, church, Come on, church, come on, church,

Come on. There's others that raise their hand. Come on,

come on. Don't stand there, don't stand there.

Come Just walk to somebody right now, Just find a

just find somebody to pray for you right now, come on,

come on, come on, listen. There's two or three other

people that should be down here right now. There's two

or three other people that should be down here right now,

Come on, step out and move right now. Come on,

step out and move right now, right now. Your heart's

beating fast. You can't figure out what's going on. The

Holy Spirit is drawing you. Holy Spirit is drawing you.

He's calling you to Jesus.

Listen. The band is gonna see. The band's gonna see.

The altars are open the Lord to speak to you.

And if you need to come, come, if you need

to come, come, we'll wait on you, but we won't

wait forever. Amen, Pastor Clay.

That's worship.

H