It Missed Me | Easter 2026

I come to you today thankful, grateful, overwhelmed, and

overjoyed because I stand before you today a Sinner who has been

saved. And I came to church today to

make much of Jesus Christ. Because of Him, purpose can come

out of your pain. Through Him, the fear of death

can be cast aside. There is no valley I can walk

where His presence is not far off.

There is no whisper that escapes his ear.

There's not enough darkness to overcome His light.

There is no act against me that escapes his sight.

And you might be wondering, how do I know this to be true?

I'll tell you because it is a matter of recorded history that

Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, lived a perfect and

sinless life, died on the cross, was buried, but he was raised on

the third day. He was dead, but he is risen.

He is alive. So as I said, I come to you

today thankful, grateful, overwhelmed and overjoyed.

I want to welcome those of you joining us here at 48th St. to

those of you in Macomb and Kirksville and 929 Pike County,

Hannibal, Lima, Mount Sterling, Keokuk, Monmouth, Jacksonville,

Weaver, online and inside. We are so glad that you are

here. And I want to extend a very

special welcome to those of you who are here for the first time,

or maybe the first time in a long time.

To those of you who are new here, I've been praying

specifically for you over this last month.

And I believe that God has orchestrated this moment for His

glory and for your good. My name is Clayton Hensel, and

there was a time in my life when I had no meaning, no purpose,

and no hope. I was gripped by sin.

I was crippled with regret, but then I met Jesus and He turned

everything around. So today, as I stand before you,

my life has significance and meaning.

I wake up every morning with purpose through the power of the

Holy Spirit. Sin is losing its power over me

and my desire to sin is being diminished.

And today, my biggest regret is that I did not turn my life over

to Jesus sooner. And I wonder, do you have a

story like that? And if you don't, what if I told

you that you could? That no matter where you are on

your spiritual journey, no matter what challenges you are

presently navigating, no matter what addiction has your life by

the throat? What if I told you that today

your life could be transformed, your past could be forgiven,

your future secure, your hope restored?

I titled my message It missed me.

Turn to your neighbor and say it missed me.

If you don't take anything away from this message, I want you to

take away the title. It missed me.

Let me explain. I like ice cream.

And when I say I like ice cream, that's a bit of an

understatement because I love ice cream.

I love it in cones and in shakes, on cakes and bowls and

on paper plates. I love ice cream.

And I have heard that there are people who walk planet Earth who

are not lactose intolerant, but whatever DNA gift they received,

it missed me. There are people who have

fashion sense. My wife can pull a bandana out

of a glove compartment, a hair tie out of the cup holder, a

high V SAC out of the floorboard, and she could walk a

runway. Not me.

I have the fashion sense of a mule.

I have 0 fashion sense whatsoever.

It is so bad. My wife and some of the team

here at our church get together. They pull all the clothes out of

my closet and they make me a slideshow of what I'm allowed to

wear and what I'm not allowed to wear down to the belt and the

shoes. The only thing that I have

authority over is my underwear and my socks.

And if the service goes according to plan, you will see

neither. I know that there are people,

some of you, that's you. You have the ability to

understand colors and tones and patterns and fits.

Whatever abilities you have, it missed me.

There are people who have the best smiles.

You know what I'm talking about. You see their smile and you just

kind of find yourself stopping and just taking it in.

There's a lady who serves as a difference maker at one of our

locations as a door greeter and I've tried to hire her three

different times. I don't know if she's good at

anything, but what I can tell you is, is when she smiles, your

world slows down and I desperately want her to work in

our offices so that way everybody who comes into our

offices just sees her and will have a good rest of the day.

I, on the other hand, cannot smile.

Cannot smile to save my life. My cheeks shoot up like a

mountain range. Cover my eye.

Here, let me explain. Zoom in.

You ready? This is a real smile.

Do you know what it feels like to have thousands of people

laugh at you over your smile? Listen, I get it.

It's completely fine. It's the people.

Say, Clayton, just open your eyes.

I can't do I can't. They're just like, it's just

whatever facial tissue. You guys got it missed me.

There's some people who have, I want to make sure I use the

right word here. A metabolism.

Have you met those people? They can eat whatever they want,

whenever they want at whatever time they want and they just get

to keep enjoying life. I on the other hand, I I went

the other day. I don't want to make a big deal

of how good of a husband I am, but I was grocery shopping by

myself and I stayed too long in the cinnamon roll aisle and

gained 5 lbs because I wasn't wearing gloves.

I, I just, I, I was my mistake, I shouldn't have done it.

There's some people they can go to friends houses, sit in any of

their furniture and not worry about what's going to happen

after that. This is missing most of you, but

there's some of you who live with my condition where it's not

good. Let me testify for just a

second. On multiple times at multiple

houses, I have destroyed their furniture.

I sat down just like everybody else and then I kept going.

Unlike everybody else. There are certain people who

I've been to their house multiple times and on multiple

occasions I have broke their lawn furniture.

There's even one family where I broke 2 chairs and one night

there was plastic shrapnel going everywhere.

It was like bombs are going off. I basically qualify for the VA.

Whatever gifts God gave some people be able to sit in lawn

furniture. It missed me.

There's some people who are going, Oh my goodness, it would

be so great to be tall like you, Clayton.

You wish you were tall like me until you had to live like me.

It's not all it's cracked up to be.

Let me explain. They've never had to do an

origami sequence to get out of a car.

They've never been in a vehicle and going.

I should have taken up yoga because I'm going to need about

6 sessions to get out of here. You don't have to hold your

breath while you're tying your shoes.

You don't have to worry about standing up too fast because

your blood can't keep up with your brain and passing out.

They've never been hit in the head by the door closer while

walking into the Pizza Hut all you can eat buffet.

No joke. The door was just closing in

front of me and you guys don't think doors closing is a big

deal? It's not a big deal for normal

people, but the door closer came out and tapped me in the

forehead like I was Goliath and about put me out.

You've never had to worry about your dryer getting too hot and

turning your pants into capris and you got to know when you're

my size, you don't wear capris. They've never.

You guys can just put on shirts and you can wave at people.

I can't wave at people. I got to be super careful

because I can turn a curved hem into a mid drift real fast.

Do you know how hard it is to make friends after you've shown

them your belly button? It's incredibly difficult.

Whatever gifts you guys have, it missed me.

A long time ago, I took our youth group down to Six Flags to

ride the roller coasters. I had never ridden a roller

coaster in my life. So we got in and we all stand in

the line and everybody comes over and they do their thing and

then the attendant comes out. Do you know how hard it is to

ride your first roller coaster as a pastor with your youth

group and not cuss when you are being held on by 1 Metal Tooth

manufactured in China and prayer?

There are a lot of normal sized people floating around.

But normal sized, well, it missed me.

Turn to your neighbor and say it missed me.

There might be some of you today.

And you think because of the way life has turned out, because of

what you've done, that the plans of God, the purposes of God, the

grace of God, the mercy of God, the love of God have landed on

everyone else. But it missed you.

And if that's where you are today, I wrote this message for

you. If you want to understand God,

the very best way to do that is through his scriptures, through

the Bible. And as you read your Bible,

you'll discover that God is holy and perfect, good, great, loving

and righteous. Because of that, God cannot

accept sin, nor can he tolerate it.

And this makes sense. A judge who does not punish evil

is not a good judge, nor a judge who should be trusted.

So God in his goodness made a way for the sins of people to be

made right, because sins carry a penalty.

Romans chapter 6 verse 23 tells us that the wages of sin is

Romans 6:23

death. So how do we atone for our sins?

Hebrews 922 tells us that without the shedding of blood

there is no forgiveness of sins. That means that my sins and your

sins deserve an eternal punishment because they were

committed against an eternal God.

In 2010, JD Greer wrote a book called Breaking the Islam Code,

and in it he gives an illustration that he would use

to explain to the people he was trying to reach about the

character of our God. This is how the story goes.

An ancient king had a reputation among his countrymen as being

the most just and the most loving king that had ever lived.

One day it was discovered that money was being stolen from his

treasury, and so he made a decree that whoever was caught

stealing would be whipped with 10 lashes.

Several weeks went by and the stealing of money persisted, so

the king issued A decree doubling the punishment.

The thief who was caught would receive 20 lashes.

News spread across the land. Several more weeks passed by and

still money was being stolen from the treasury.

And so the king issued this decree, doubling it again. 40

lashes will be visited upon the thief, and 40 lashes was a death

sentence. Nobody could survive it.

Several days passed and the thief was discovered and

apprehended, and to the shock and the horror of the country,

it was none other than the King's own mother.

What was the king to do? Some thought that the king would

punish her, but others asked how can this be the most loving king

who has ever lived and kill his own mother.

Others thought that such a loving king would surely pardon

his mother, but others contended that this would not be just.

The punishment had been declared, and if the king were

just, he must dole out the punishment.

The king decided that because the law was clear, the

punishment had to be given. And so, in front of the entire

country, the King's mother was brought out, her arms bound and

stretched over the whipping stone.

They undid the back of her dress and exposed her bareback.

And the guard stood off to the side and raised his hand to

deliver the 1st of 40 lashes. And the king cried out.

Stop. Everybody in the country held

their breath, wondering what was going to happen next.

The king walked over, took off his shirt and laid himself over

the back of his mother. Turn it to the guard and said,

now hit her. The guard said, king, there is

no way for me to hit her without hitting you.

The king said I am the king. I am giving you an order.

Give her the punishment. Now hit her and the guard

proceeded to administer all 40 of the lashes upon the King's

mother. But each of those 40 lashes

landed on the King. His body shielded her from the

punishment that she deserved. I titled my sermon today.

It missed me. It missed me the punishment that

I deserved from a righteous and holy God.

It missed me. The punishment that I had earned

missed me. The punishment that I owed the

debt of death and blood. It missed me.

But let me be clear, it did not miss me because I was good.

It did not miss me because my parents took me to church or my

parents loved God. It did not miss me because I

tried to live a decent life. It did not miss me because I

made enough money or gave enough money away.

It did not miss me because I was clever and dodged it.

It did not miss me because I was smart and talked my way out of

it. It missed me because it landed

on Jesus, and it landed on Jesus because He shielded me and

covered me from what I deserved. It missed me.

Romans chapter 3 verses 25 and 26 give us insight into this.

Romans 3:25

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through

the shedding of Jesus's blood to be received by faith.

How does it miss me when I in faith, grab hold of what Jesus

has done on my behalf? God did this to demonstrate His

righteousness because in His forbearance, in His patience, He

had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present

time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have

faith in Jesus. Let me unpack that.

You see, God is not just good, He is also great.

He's not just holy, He's also loving.

He is not simply just and doing what is right and issuing the

punishment that we deserve. Watch this.

He is also the justifier who makes people like you and me

right through the powerful work of His Son Jesus.

No wonder Isaiah the prophet cries out in chapter 53.

Look at what happens to Jesus and look at what happens to us

in this passage. But he was pierced for our

transgressions. He was crushed for our

iniquities. The punishment that brought us

peace was on Him. By his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on

him the iniquity of us all. There's this interesting word in

the Greek language, the language that the Bible was written in.

The word is to telesty. There are a variety of ways the

word was used by the writers of the 1st century.

The word simply means it is finished.

They would use to telesty when a task was accomplished, when a

dangerous feat had been performed.

It was used when a plan had been put into effect.

When someone's will was carried out.

They used to tell us die at when a promise was fulfilled, when

orders to a soldier were executed.

They used the word when an oath was made effective, when a legal

document was formally signed. They used it when a prayer was

brought to pass, when a request was granted.

It was used when a time period had come to an end to tell us

die. They used it when a sickness had

reached its conclusion and healing was being poured out.

They used it when a debt had been paid.

In fact, when archaeologists started putting together scraps

of legal documents written in papyrus repeatedly at the top of

these legal documents they would find the word to telestye across

the receipts and the bills of sale.

It was their way of saying paid in full.

If you go home today and you were to open up your Bible to

the book of John to the 19th chapter, while Jesus is hanging

on the cross, you see Jesus pushing up with his legs that

are pierced, pulling up with his arms that are pierced so oxygen

can fill his lungs so he can say something.

And what is it that he says? John 1930 Jesus said to Telesty,

it is finished. And what a fitting word for Him

to proclaim from the cross, perhaps the most fitting word of

all, because in that moment the task for which the Father had

sent him was accomplished, for He had paid for our sins.

The dangerous feat had been performed, but it cost Him His

very life. The plan of making you and I

righteous had been put into effect and the will of God had

been carried out. The promise of God was

fulfilled. The oath was made effective.

The legal document declaring us righteous in His sight had been

formally signed. The prayer of our souls that

have victory over sin was brought to pass.

The time period when Satan had control and the right to bind us

by guilt and shame had come to an end, and the sickness of sin

had reached its end. For by His stripes we have been

healed, and across the debt of sin that you and I could never

pay, Written in love by the very blood of Jesus Christ are the

words to Telesty Paid in full. It missed me and it landed on

Jesus. When you read the Old Testament,

you get all of these pictures of God, and then when you read the

New Testament, you see them fulfilled in Jesus.

You see, Jesus is Jehovah Roki, who is the shepherd who lays

down his life for the sheep. He's Jehovah Nisi, who wins the

battle that I could never win and grants me victory over my

enemy, the devil. He's Jehovah Rapha who heals me

from the sickness of my sin. He's Jehovah Shalom who gives me

a peace that surpasses understanding.

He's Jehovah Mechadesh who sanctifies me.

He's El Rohi who sees me in my shame and guilt and moves on my

behalf. He is Jehovah Jireh, who

provides what I could not provide for my It missed me.

Like I said, I came today thankful, grateful, overwhelmed

and overjoyed because there was a time in my life when I had no

meaning, no purpose, no hope. My life was gripped by sin and

crippled with regret. But then I met Jesus and he

turned everything around and I stand before you today as a

person whose life has significance and meaning.

I wake each day with purpose to the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sin is losing its power over me and my desire to sin is being

diminished because Jesus has declared to tell us die over my

past, my present and my future. Do you have a story like that?

And if you don't, do you want one?

Because the penalty that I deserved, it missed me and it

landed on Jesus. But in that moment, but my sin

and my shame and my pain and my sin landed on Jesus.

Grace landed on me. Mercy landed on me.

Purpose and meaning landed on me.

Love landed on me. And I want it to land on you

too. We're moving to a time of

decision. So to that group of people I

want to talk to 1st or those of you who don't know Jesus, you've

never started that intimate personal relationship with

Jesus. Lean in real quick and don't

miss this. You might be thinking, hey, I

just heard Clayton's story and it's great that he had this

encounter with Jesus and that he's been redeemed and he's been

set free and he's got a story. And you may be thinking, what

about me? But I get to tell you as a

follower of Jesus as well that that is my story as well, that

at my very lowest and at my worst, Jesus met me and he

conquered the sin that was in my life on the finished work of the

cross. He simply said to Telesty, it is

paid in full and making Jesus Christ my personal Lord and

Savior was the very best decision that I have ever made

in my life when I was just 17 years old.

But I will tell you that my biggest regret is that I did not

do it sooner. I had friends and had family.

They invited me to church. I had friends and I had family.

They, they share the good news of Jesus Christ with me, but I

put it off. I ignored it and because of

that, I just kept living life my way with my terms and I was left

without purpose and I was left causing destruction all around

me. But that's not just Clayton's

story. And I know that's not just my

story. I know that there are thousands

of people who are part of the crossing church, that that is

their story as well. And so for those of you who

don't know Jesus yet, this and I'm going to do something and I

just need you just to kind of glance around real quick and see

how beautiful the the testimony of his people are.

If you're in this room and even if you're online right now, if

the greatest decision you've ever made was making Jesus

Christ, your personal Lord and Savior, could you just raise

your hand, put it down? And I know there's some of you

in this room. There's some of you online.

You, you have this foundation of faith.

Your family raised you and you, you had an early faith early on.

But I believe there's probably a lot of you like me and like

Clayton, that your biggest regret is that you didn't do it

sooner. If that's your story, would you

put your hand back up, Look around.

It's not just our story. God is doing it over and over

and over again. And, and I believe that God can

do it right now in this moment and in this space in your life

over you, if you don't let it miss you.

And it's just a moment. The worship team, they're going

to come out on the stage. We're going to sing some songs

and some are going to come up to the steps and they're going to

pray. And I would invite you, if

you're like, I want to start that relationship with Jesus

today, Easter Sunday. You want to claim new life.

Maybe you have questions or you want to talk to a pastor.

There's going to be someone right over there by the

baptistry, right underneath that screen that would love to talk

with you and help you make the greatest decision of your entire

life, your entire eternity. And online right now, there's a

prompt that just came on the screen for you.

If you would like to start that relationship with Jesus, just

click that button and don't put it off any longer.

For the rest of us who are following Jesus, maybe you just

started following Jesus. Maybe you've been following them

for a couple months, years. I don't know how long.

Listen, by now, I'm hoping our hearts are full and we're ready

just to go into this time of worship and response and just

like lift our hands up and just sing a little bit louder at just

the goodness of God, all that he's done on and in and over our

lives. But I'm assuming that there's

probably something in your life that you're like, hey,

something's not quite right with the Lord.

If you need to turn something over, you need to recommit and

just say, hey, I want to be all about the work of the Kingdom.

A version of this word to Telesty shows up a little bit

later in the New Testament that I want to share with you.

It's Paul who is talking to Timothy, and it's in Second

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Timothy chapter 4, and it says these words.

I have fought the good fight. You probably heard this.

I've fought the good fight. I have finished the race.

I've kept the faith. And believers, if you're in this

room and I just want to ask you a few questions as we go into

this time of worship. Are you still fighting the good

fight? Are you still running the race

that has been marked out for you?

Are you still holding tightly to the faith?

If not, I'm praying that you would use this time to recommit

your life to the cause of Christ.

I invite you to the steps. Maybe you bring your family up,

maybe just get down on your knees and you just give God

thanks. The reason we come forward, we

humble ourselves, is because we simply want to say, I'm lowering

myself before an almighty God and I want to recommit whatever

is not in alignment with His will.

I'm praying that there's a lot of us in this room.

That's probably what we need to do.

Or if there's a sin that just has you wrapped, up, a sin that

you just keep running back to, maybe for you, you just need to

claim to telesty. It is finished, it is paid in

full, and you give it to him In this moment, would you stand

with me as we respond and as we come to the steps and as we sing

and we celebrate the name of Jesus?

Heavenly Father, we love you. I thank you for this moment.

I thank you for your gospel, your good news.

I thank you for the cross. I thank you for what the work is

that was completed on the cross. But but more importantly, we're

thankful that the cross is no longer, the grave is no longer.

You have defeated death. You have defeated shame.

You have defeated my sin and their sin, and right now we are

covered by your blood. We are covered by your

righteousness. And so God, in this time,

whether it's someone who is coming and just declaring a new

life in you or there's someone who is just recommitting their

allegiance to you, I pray we come humbly, we come excited, we

come expectant, what you can do in US and through us in this

moment, in Jesus name that I pray, Amen.