Portfolio - Week 5 (Easter 2024)

Amen. If you got a Bible, go to Luke chapter twenty four.

Luke chapter twenty four, verse one. Luke chapter twenty four, verse one.

It says, now, on the first day of the week, very

early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the

tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone

rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the

body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed

about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they

said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? He

is not here. Get ready. If it's give you a chance to shout,

they'll tell you up from giving you get ready. Why do you seek

the living among the dead. He is not here, But he has risen.

Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying,

the son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,

be crucified, and the third day rise again. Father, We thank you

for your word. It's the only change agent on the face of the planet,

and Lord, our desire today is be more like you. When we

leave this place, I pray that you chip away those cold places in our

heart, that you quickened the dead areas of our destiny, that you reveal

yourself to us in ways we've never known. In Jesus' name, Amen,

Amen, and amen. You know this passage of scripture is going to be

read all over the world today. And the reason I read it to you

is because this passage of scripture is going to be read all over the world

today. I didn't be one of those guys that didn't read an Easter scripture.

We're gonna We're gonna navigate through some things, but we're really gonna finish

up our series today called Portfolio. And we started this series out by talking

about giving. We talked about what that means, and we're going to continue

to talk in that area of giving. But I'm not gonna talk about your

giving today. I'm gonna talk about what was given for us today because our

portfolio is diversified, because it's not just that we give, but He gives.

Also. In Revelation chapter thirteen, verse eight, it says all who

dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the

land, in the Book of the in the Book of Life, of the

Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So I want to focus on

the last part of that passage of scripture, Jesus the lamb slain from the

foundations of the world, that before the world started to be created through the

words of the Father, that Jesus was already the lamb slain from the foundations

of the earth. I think in my mind as I as I think about

how that goes, and I see many times I just kind of see the

word. My brain works in pictures. Amen. Uh. And I can

kind of see this conversation happening that the Father and the Son, they're there,

Holy Ghost is with them, and and and Dad goes he puts his

arm around the sun and he says, Hey, got this great idea.

Jesus says, let me hear it. He says this. Here's the idea

is you see this little planet right here. You see that little planet that's

just without form and void. It's just kind of a dark spot. You

know that that place right there. I got an idea. I want to

I want to create a masterpiece right there on on on on that planet and

Jesus here. Hey, I'm tracking, Dad, Yeah, that that sounds

like a good ideas. I'm gonna create. I'm gonna create a creation,

and the purpose of that creation is going to be to worship us, to

give us praise. I'm gonna, I wanna. I want to create something

that's gonna blow the minds of all the angelic hosts. You're you're gonna like

this, He's like, yeah, I'm tracking, I'm let let let's do

this. He said, Now you're gonna help me create it, right,

Yeah, yeah, Dad, I'm gonna help you create it. He said,

we're gonna we're gonna create man in our own image. That's John chapter

one, verse twenty seven. God created man in his own image, in

the image of God. He created him male and female. He created them

two ways. This is not that message though, This is not that.

So so he says, Okay, we we we're gonna create man. We're

gonna create me. Yep, yep. I like it, Dad, And

they're gonna worship yep, yep, yep. That's that's the gonna worship.

Okay, Now here's the here, here's the deal. So when we do

this we're gonna let this thing roll out for a couple of thousand years and

then you're gonna go and you're gonna become one awfulm He's like, talk to

me, talk to me. I mean I might be So you're gonna go

down and and and they're gonna be desperate for a king. She said,

yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, that sounds good. And

you're gonna go down. You're gonna be born as a baby God, have

a really cool mom. Dad's gonna be a skilled carpenter. You're gonna have

a good life. And you know, twelve years old, they're gonna forget

your church because after all, that is what good Christian. Listen, you're

not a good Christian parer if you hadn't forgot your kid at church at least

one time. Amen. So uh so we we're tracking there. Yeah yeah,

yeah yeah. And then you know, you're gonna teach all these powerful

truths but the Kingdom of God so that our creation can understand. It's gonna

open their mind and their heart to be able to worship. Yeah, yeah,

yeah, that this sounds good. Let's do it. And then you

know, you go around thirty years or so and then they're just gonna kind

of brutally beat you and put you on a tree and nail you to it,

and you're gonna die. He said. Now, now let's run that

last part by me again, Dad, because let's let's let's talk about that

part. He's like, So, here's the thing, you know, the

only way that that that they can spend eternity with us? As if that

happens, well that why don't you just make them perfect to start with?

Why don't you just make them perfect to start How many have you ever asked

that? Why did you just why don't you just make them perfect to start

with? He says, Oh, I am gonna make them perfect to start

with. But in order to make creation perfect for us to get the desired

result, I have to create I have to create them as free moral agents.

I have to create them so that they have a choice to worship us.

See, because we truly won't worship not comply. We could force it,

but we don't want compliance. We want worship and compliance is fear driven,

right, worship is love driven. So they have to be able to

choose to do these things. So I am creating them perfect, but you

know what they're gonna blow it. And I'm sure Jesus thought, well,

if you know that, create somebody else as more will power. Jesus says,

here, you know, here's the thing. Not only are they gonna

mess up the very first one, they're gonna every generation after that, every

person after that, they're gonna blow it to They're there, babe, what

we're about to create has never been thought off. You are the apple of

his eye, the pinnacle, the very pinnacle of his creation, the apex

of God's ingenuity and design. You and some of us he loves more,

so he makes more of us. Just the bigger you are, the more

there is the love. Come on, somebody, and Jesus says, you

know what, Dan, I'm convinced. You know, my heart's already attached

to this creation. So let's do this thing. And then the Father said

let there be light, and it all began. But before he uttered those

first words and said let there be light, he made an initial deposit in

the portfolio of your eternity, and he said, no matter what happens,

this is the moment where the sun is slain. But all we talk about

and all we go through, and all that deposit has already been made because

he knows that you are worth it. He knows that his creation on the

face of the earth, designed to worship him, is worth the pain and

the brutality that he would suffer, and he was willing to allow himself to

be an initial deposit for all of humanity. Wow in Isaiah chapter forty three,

verse twenty one, that says this people I have formed for myself.

They shall declare my praise. That your purpose is praise. That the purpose

those who are far from him, who have not yet received him or know

him, their purpose is to praise him. And no matter the struggle,

the dysfunction, the insecurities, the fear, the anxiety, the stress that

hold us and try to bind us from that relationship with him, his love

is still extended through the initial thought that he had before he spoke, let

there be light. His son was already condemned to death, not because he's

a brutal God, but because he's a loving God and because the object of

his affection the son was to be the perfect sacrifice for the pinnacle of his

creations. Human I want you to think about that, that that early on

God bet on you, the that early on God looked into twenty twenty four

Resurrection Sunday in Oakwood, George, and now listen, before anything was created,

he already had his mind on oak Wood in this building. And he

looked at every heart in every life, those close to him and those far

from him, and he said, I'm betting that you will step into the

reality of the relationship I have for you, and that you will step into

your destiny and become all that I've created you to do. Left there be

light. And I wonder, as Jesus suffered on the cross, I wonder

if that early conversation before the very foundation of the earth. I wonder if

that conversation echoed back through his mind as he hung on the cross, and

he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why do I feel here alone? Because the only way for him to heal

loneliness was to experience loneliness. I wonder if he thought the pain that ravaged

his body was worth it. The only way to heal pain it is to

experience pain. That as he hung on the cross with that thought in mind

of that pre creation conversation, he said, Father, God, forgive them

because they don't know what they're doing they don't know. They don't know about

that initial investment, because if they had known about it, the Bible says,

if they had known about it, they would have never crucified the King

of Glory. But they didn't know about it. It was a secret investment

on your behalf. H You know, I've told that story many times about

us reaching the end of our money before we reach the end of the month.

Amen, I mean I've ever experienced that. You you get to you

get to the end of the money before you get to the end of the

month. That's you know, you're trying to pull those ends so that they

meet, and they just walk right like I eat another rope, and we're

trying to decide what we were gonna do, and we had no idea how

we were gonna make those ends meet. And the phone, rang I answered

the phone, is this Steve Stewart? Now when you already, when you

already know you owe money, that's the worst thing that somebody can say.

Everybody that just laugh knows what bill collectors sound like. Amen, says this

Steve Stewart. I'm like, yeah, cause if you don't matter, if

you ch deeper a mid even if you're drowning. You're drowning. It's like,

what did you used to live? And gave me the address and hush,

I said, yeah, I'm I have no idea. So what did

you live close to there? I said yes? I said, okay,

you're who I'm looking for. Somebody took an insurance, a life insurance policy

out. It has matured. They took it out when you were born,

and we can't find the person. Who's this person? I said, yeah,

said well, I've been trying to find somebody to give this money to.

I said, that that's me. He said, where do you want

me to mail it? I said, where are you at? I'll drive

to you. And you know that it was an investment that was made that

I did not know about. It was an investment made at the very beginning

that matured just in the right moment, that met the critical need at hand.

And the world didn't know about that initial investment. That he was the

lamb slain from the foundation of the earth. But just as we need it,

when we reach that critical moment where it seems like there is no hope,

where everything is dark and everything is caving in around us, that suddenly

the investment is made known, and we experience that beautiful grace collision with Jesus

that he steps in our path, and it shakes us to our core and

we realize that there is more to life than what we've experienced. See Easter

is about the manifestation of that initial deposit in Revelation chapter one, verse five.

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the

dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth, to him who

loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, that no

matter the staind you came in with today, the difficulties of life that you

face, no matter how close or how far from God you find yourself,

Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice to wash you of your sins. Clay,

you guys can come and get ready. That Jesus doesn't cover your sin.

He washes your sin. See here's the here's the difference. If Jesus just

simply covers our sin, then those sins can be uncovered. And a lot

of times we think that Jesus just simply covers up our sin. And we've

experienced through legalism and judgmentalism and all the other isms. We've been trained to

think that God just waits till the most opportune time to maximize the embarrassment and

the shame in our life, and he pulls the cover back and he reveals

those sins once again. But that's not how God does it. He doesn't

leave you positioned for shame. He washes away your sin and he renews you

and may make you a brand new creation. So you're not even the creation

that did those things anymore, but you're a brand new creation, clean and

white as snow, position to maximize a relationship with the King of Kings and

the Lord of lords. You are the recipient of a deposit maid on your

behalf, a diversified portfolio that will see you through every up and down and

in and out of your life. Today we have an opportunity to realize the

worth that Jesus has placed in us. And if you're here today and you're

heard, and you're broken, full of shame and guilt, if you're here

today and you've asked yourself the question if I died, would I go to

heaven? If you're here today in hiding the dysfunction in your life has become

exhausting, you can't even reveal to the people who love you the most the

depth of your day. Spare today, it's when you get the return on

his investment into your life, where he pays that price that he didn't know

for your debt that you can't pay. Everybody's staying with me all over the

room today, Clint, can you remember that moment where maybe you stood in

a room like this you realized for the first time that you were far from

God and needed him. I remember, Spencer, you remember that, Pastor

Clay, You're perfect. Do you remember ever needing this moment? Yeah?

Now this stage is full of broken people saved by grace. We've all had

a moment just like this. You probably even have an advantage over me.

The night that I got saved, I was, I was. I was

under the conviction of the Holy Spirit so bad that I left church and God

had to send somebody to my dorm room to pray a prayer with me.

But today you can make all things new by accepting Him, by coming back

to him. I say what says, it's Easter. Let's do at the

easy way. Everybody by your heads and close your eyes. If you're here

today, and you would say I'm ready to cash in on that original investment

when I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I want to give

my life to Christ today. I want to be saved. Or maybe you're

hearing you say I want to come back to Him today because I'm far from

him. If that's huge, Sleep your hand up, say that's me,

pastor. I want to give my life to Jesus today. Amen. Amen,

Amen, I feel in my heart. There's probably three or four more

people that are here, and you're still trying to wonder if you're just trying

to figure out this is a safe place to admit this or not. We

want to let you in on a little secret. We don't let lie perfect

people here. Everybody reaches the place of perfection, they have to go somewhere

else. God send us here for hurting broken humanity. So one more time,

if you're here, you want to ask Jesus into your life. Sleep

your hand up, say that's me, pastor, pray for me. Amen.

Amen, Amen, Amen, I can put your hands down. Every

eye open, head looking around. Here's where our faith becomes faith. The

Bible says that if you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my

father in heaven. If you deny me before men, I'll deny you before

my father in heaven. Jesus is waiting with the arms of love. But

you have to take the last step to him. So if you're here and

you raise your hand, or maybe you're here and you just realize you should

have raised your hand but you didn't. I'm going to count to three,

and when I get to three, if you raise your hand, I want

you to step out, and I want you to make your way down to

the front. Our altar teams to be waiting on you. They're gonna pray

a prayer with you, a simple prayer. They're gonna help you take the

next step in your journey with Jesus. Don't allow twenty or thirty feet to

rob you of this encounter with Jesus where he takes away your guilt and your

shame. It makes you a new creation. It's on the counter of three.

If you raise your hand or if you should have, want you to

step out from where you are, make your way to the front. One

two, three, step out and move right now. Come on, come

on, Push people out of the way. Push people out of their way.

There were more hands. Come on, come on, come on,

come on, come on, step out. They'll clap for you too.

They'll clap for you too. We've been praying for you, expecting you all

week long, So step out and come I'm gonna wait about another fifteen seconds

then we're gonna let the band sing, and at any moment you can step

out and come listen. I believe in my heart that there are people here

that are far from God still, that are in those seats, and He

has given you an opportunity, in the midst of people that are pulling for

you, that love you, to make things right with Him today. So

do not miss your opportunity to make things right with your God. Jesus,

Jesus Jesus. As you playing Mmm,