The Road to Resurrection (Eggstravaganza) Pt. 2 | Chris Gross | Radiant Life Church

It is great to be here with everybody.

WHAT A GROUP OF PEOPLE. One more time,

kids. If you are excited for the egg

hunt, can you let me hear you? I want to

hear you today.

>> Okay, we have some excited ones over

here for sure. And we are going to have

an amazing morning. But before we get

out to that, we have some fun we're

going to have in here. In fact, we've

got our cross here. We have some ropes.

And this morning, we're going to be

using this. We're going to have a bunch

of kids that are going to be a part of

helping us tell the story this morning.

and uh help us see about the amazing

love of Jesus. In fact, we've been

walking through the book of John and we

believe the Bible, the inspired word of

God, he left it for us that that gives

us the guidance for life. It's our our

guide book. It directs us. It tells us

the way. And today we're going to be in

John chapter 19, just at the beginning

John 19 · chapter mention

of the New Testament, the fourth book of

the New Testament, John chapter 19. And

John 19 · chapter mention

we see the story begins of Jesus heading

to the cross. and then what we're going

to celebrate next week in resurrection

Sunday when Jesus comes out of the

grave. But today we're going to look

specifically at how much Jesus loves us.

In fact, he loves us this much. In fact,

CAN YOU HELP ME OUT TODAY? Can you get

your arms spread them as wide as you can

say this much?

>> Come on. That's how much Jesus loves us

today. And maybe even more than we can

stretch our w our hands wide. And that's

what we're going to look at today in

John chapter 19. We're going to see how

John 19 · chapter mention

much he loved us. In fact, we're going

to just dive in this morning. And number

one, today, Jesus loved us enough to go

first. Jesus came to the earth just like

now. When people sin, they do things

wrong. And let me make sin really easy.

Sin is something that hurts you or it

hurts somebody else. Something we do

that hurts somebody else or hurts you.

It sin is something that goes against

the plan and the will of our God. And

Jesus, he came to earth to live a

sinless, perfect life that when he gets

to John chapter 19, he's laid out the

John 19 · chapter mention

plan. He's laid out who he is. He's laid

out God the Father. In fact, the word

says that when we see Jesus, we see the

Father. And now we have his word to see

the Father. We get to see God

>> through Jesus because Jesus is God. And

here he's been given over to the the the

religious leaders or now to the the the

Romans. and he's about to be crucified.

And in John 19:1 16 it says, "So he

John 19:1

delivered him over to them to be

crucified." So they took Jesus and he

went out bearing his own cross to the

place called the place of the skull

which in Aramaic is called Galtha.

Now I just want to just just for a

moment uh on Friday actually I was

looking for this cross right here

because I wanted to use it today and I

found it up in the garage. Now, there's

choices you have when you see stuff, you

find stuff. And my thought is, am I

going to go get a vehicle to transport

the cross in, or am I just going to

carry the cross? And I decided it would

take way too long. So, I just thought,

I'm just going to put it on my back and

carry it over here. I want you to know

something. It started not that heavy.

But by the time I got from the front,

the office, the gray house, all the way

around and brought it in here, Pastor

Dave, I I still I think I'm paying for

that choice. But I want you to think

about Jesus because right before this,

he's been flogged. His back doesn't look

like mine. It was it was it was bloody,

let's just say. And he's carrying this

cross. He does it for us. He does it for

us today. He went first to lay his life

down so that we could have life. We're

going to talk about it. But his love is

so big. It's so powerful. In fact, kids

today, can you can you act kind of like

me? Can you hold up something heavy? I'd

like you're holding up something HEAVY

TODAY. OH YEAH. THAT'S WHAT HE DID. HE

HELD UP THAT CROSS. But we're going to

see he didn't only hold up a cross. He

didn't only go to a cross, but he held

us. His love is so big. In fact, help me

one more time. HELP ME OUT. HIS LOVE IS

SO BIG. HOW BIG? THIS BIG TODAY. BUT,

you know, I think it's even bigger than

that. In fact, I have some helpers that

they're going to come up here that have

been selected. Come on up here. If

you've been selected, not not the

papers, uh, the other things today. Yep.

Come on. We're going to get to the

papers here in a few moments. But Jesus

love, it is bigger than even what we get

here. Liz, Nate, come on over here.

Let's let's see. Let's start to expand

the love of Jesus.

He's so good. And you know, while

they're doing this, he didn't come

because the world got better. He didn't

come because everything was good. He

didn't come because you or I had it all

figured out. No, not at all. He came

while we were still sinners. He came

while we're still in doing the wrong

things and going the wrong way. But he

still said, "I am going to give my life

for them." He stepped forward and his

love got bigger. We could see his his

love for the world. Now, if you have the

red papers today, can you bring those on

up here, kid? If you have the red

papers, we're going to see some things

or pink, excuse me. I'm told they're

pink this morning. The pink papers are

coming forward. And these have some

things that he took on himself that he

took and says, "My love covers them. My

love takes care of you. My love takes

your mistakes. It takes your mess ups.

It takes our bad choices. It takes these

hurt feelings. Anybody ever had one of

these things in your life that you

needed somebody to help you out with

that you needed the strength of God? And

that's what we have today. Messups and

mistakes and hurt feelings and bad

choices. His love is big enough. His

love is strong enough. Can you help me

again? How big IS HIS LOVE? THIS BIG.

WOW. IT'S HUGE. But it's even getting

larger today. He went first.

As we continue on, another thought that

just came out in verse 18 is Jesus loved

us enough to carry our hurt. Said there

they crucified him and with two others,

one on either side and Jesus between

them. And even in this moment, even when

they had given he had given themselves,

he was on the cross. There's these two

other guys that are next to him. And the

Bible says that one reached out and

said, "I've messed up, but you are the

Christ. You're the son of God." And

Jesus said, "Even today, you'll be with

me in paradise. Even in the midst of

pain and suffering, he reached down and

said, "I'll take care of your hurt. I'll

take care of your pain. I'll take care

of what you've done." But Jesus went to

the cross because of the good things he

did. These people were there because of

evil and terrible and horrible things.

And church, I want you to know that

Jesus carries our hurts. He carries our

feelings. He carries our fears. He

carries our pain.

Maybe recently with some of these

storms, kids, maybe it's like, "Oh, the

thunder. It's been so loud. Maybe

there's been fear. There's other areas

of our life. Today, he takes all of that

and says, "I have it. I've got you." In

fact, his love we see is this big, but

this isn't it. It gets bigger. So, let's

let's keep expanding his love today. And

while we do, if you have a blue paper,

would you come on up here as we see what

does God do? What's his love? How does

he move? How does he show himself?

As we continue this morning, we see that

he's here. And you know what? He loves

us when people are mean. He loves us

when friendships break and things don't

go like we want. He loves us when

families struggle and life is difficult.

Church, he loves you so much. He loves

you when you feel lonely. And all of a

sudden, the love of Jesus gets longer.

It gets wider. It gets stronger. The

power of God is great and mighty. And he

gets it just carries more. He carried

it. Whatever it is today, he carried it

for you. And if you're here today and

you say, "I need Jesus to carry it." He

has you and he loves you and he wants

the best for you. In fact, could you say

with me? Could you say he carried it?

One, two, three. He carried it. Whatever

it is, he's got you. He has what you

need today. The power of God, the

goodness of God, the grace of God in our

life. Jesus loved enough to go first. He

loved enough to carry our hurt. And

third, today Jesus loved us enough to

never let go. To never let go.

I find this to be amazing. As we just go

few forward just a few verses in verse

25 through 27 it says but standing by

the cross of Jesus were his mother and

his mother's sister Mary the wife of

Clus and Mary Magdalene when Jesus saw

his mother and the disciple whom he

loved standing nearby he said to his

mother but woman behold your son then he

said to the disciple behold your mother

and from that hour the disciple took her

to his home. And why DOES THIS JUST JUMP

out at me? Jesus is on the cross. Jesus

is welcoming sinners even that are on

crosses next to him. But Jesus sees his

mother and says, "I'm going to take care

of you even in the last moments that I'm

alive before coming back to life, before

resurrection."

He says, "I see my mother." And I feel

like there's people today that maybe you

feel like you've done things or you feel

like there's been problems. you feel

like, "Wow, the Lord, I I don't know

that I could even hold on to him or or

the things of my life. It seems like

it's too late." But even while Jesus was

on the cross, he said, "I'm going to be

sure my mom's taken care of." And I want

you to know today that the God of the

universe loves you so much and cares for

you so much and has the best things for

you that he is not going to let you go.

Even when he was hurting and tired, even

when he was in pain, even when those

things happened, he stretched his love

and said, "I've got you your problems.

I've got you the good things. I've got

you the worst moment of your life. I've

got you and I love you and I'm not going

to let you go." And someone needs to

hear today that God's not mad at you.

God actually died for you. Jesus went to

the cross for you. Is the best for you.

And don't let anybody tell you anything

else besides what his word would say.

And he loves you. That even while we

were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The word says, how amazing. He died for

us even in our sin. And today, I think

there's even more stretch that can

happen today. So, let's let's expand

this. Let's do it one more time. We're

going to KEEP MOVING THIS OUT BECAUSE

HIS love is so good. It's so big. It's

so powerful today. He has you. And in

fact, if you have a yellow piece of

paper out there, come on up here. If you

have a yellow piece of paper, what other

things does he carry does he hold? Maybe

you could think relationship problems.

Anybody ever had a relationship problem

or a friend that all of a sudden there

was a problem, a fight? Absolutely.

Hard days.

I know I don't have hard days. Okay,

maybe I do. Family members are in the

room. I have hard days. You have hard

days. He takes them. He holds them. You

know what? We've talked about when we

mess up, but you know what? When we mess

up, even again, he still holds us and he

loves us and he has you. He He wants the

best for you.

When you feel like you're not enough, I

want you to hear today, he loves you and

he's got you and he's not going to let

you go. He's the God that cares, the God

that loves, and he just opens his arms

to you and to me today. He never stops

loving. In fact, could you say that with

me? Never stops loving. Here we go.

Never stops loving. That is who our God

is. And one last thing and one last

moment. In fact, I think there's MORE

ROPE. LET'S LET'S GET ALL THE WAY. LET'S

DO IT. HOW BIG IS HIS LOVE TODAY? The

love of God is massive. It stretches all

the way out. In fact, Jesus doesn't only

want to meet us at church on a Palm

Sunday or an Easter Sunday or a special

moment or just at church any week, but

he wants his love to go outside to get

outside of the walls. And today, we can

see the love of Jesus even stretches

where we can't even see. It gets outside

of the building, outside of the walls

because he's so good. And if you have a

green piece of paper, come on up here.

run on up here if you have a green piece

of paper cuz we see that his love

reaches all the way to families. It

reaches all the way to our neighbors,

people that live near us. It reaches to

our friends, maybe friends that you're

here today with somebody. His love is

big enough to carry and to hold you

today. But you know, one that is maybe a

little bit interesting that you don't

always think about is his love is big

enough for even people we struggle with

or people we might call or think of even

as enemies. In fact, I think someone

needs to hear this today. Someone might

have believed a lie that's not the word

that you are an enemy of God. But his

love is so big that he carries and holds

even those people that we might look at

as enemies or when we feel like it. No,

HE WELCOMES US. HE welcomes all people,

friends and family, neighbors, even

those that are difficult that we don't

understand. Jesus loves me. He loves

you. There's not a person he didn't die

on the cross for. And we get to

experience the power and the love of our

God. And today, as we think about and we

we plan and we experience his love

today, we get to love him because he

first loved us. Can we say it one more?

How much does Jesus love us? This much.

So much. AND LOOK AT IT. IT JUST GETS

CRAZY. The love of Jesus that extends

and goes on and on and on. And today,

church, before we go out, before we go

to a an egg hunt, before we have that

fun, it's going to be great and I can't

wait for it. We have the opportunity to

receive his love. We have the

opportunity to say, "Wow, look at all

that he can take. Look at all that he

can hold. Look at all that he's got.

HE'S HOLDING THE THE WEIGHT of the

world, the sin of the world. He loves

you so much, church. And he loves you

enough to take you and to say, I want

you to be my son or my daughter. I want

you to be a part of the family at

Radiant Life. That's what we are all

about. One more for Jesus. And today, we

want to give the opportunity for the

love of Jesus to reach you just like he

has reached so many of us. When we look

at the Bible, we see in the book of

Romans, it says that all have sinned and

fallen short of God. Because the wages

of sin is death, the things that we've

done against someone else or our

yourself. But God didn't leave us there.

He sent Jesus to take all of those

things, to hold all of those things. And

I want you to know, he paid your debt.

He paid for it. He gave it his life for

you so you can have eternal life with

him. And you know today we can never be

good enough. We can't do it on our own.

We can only do it through the power of

Jesus, the blood of the lamb, who he is.

And that's what Easter, that's what Palm

Sunday and Good Friday, that's what it's

all about. Jesus coming so that we can

have life so we can have relationship

with him. He conquered the grave for

you. And you might come into this room

today and you might be hurt. You might

come into this room today because of

what someone did. Or maybe even you were

the one that did the hurting today.

You're the one that caused a problem.

Well, Jesus, he welcomes you no matter

what. And says, "I love you. I care for

you. And I want to hold all of the

things. I want to hold our sin and our

problems and our pain. I want to take

them upon myself." And today, all we

have to do is say yes to Jesus. And in

fact, I'm going to ask our ushers to

come forward right now. They're going to

come to the front. And if you say, "I

want more information. I want

relationship with Jesus. I want to know

more about him. You want something, one

of these things. You want him to take

that from you that you walk with him and

you give him your life right now. Would

you just lift your hand from the

youngest kid to the most seasoned adult?

If you say, "That's me." Yeah. All over

this room, if you say, "I want Jesus."

Let's hand those books out. Let's let's

believe God. He's got what you need. He

has the answer. He is our savior today.

And he's got you today, church. All over

this room. Yes. All over this room, keep

those hands up. Keep those hands up

today. If you say, "I want Jesus. I want

information about who he is." That is

the 100% reason why we are here today.

That's why we get to celebrate. That's

why we have an egg hunt because we want

to say yes to Jesus. We don't want to

miss anybody. Anybody else? A hand. Hey,

right up here in the front. Connie.

Connie or Melissa? Right up here in the

front. Yeah. Anybody else? We don't want

to miss anybody. This is the most

important thing we can do.

And we're going to sing one more song

and we're going to do egg hunts, but

saying yes to Jesus. That's what it's

all about. Any other hands in the room

back there? Yep. Perfect. You guys are

amazing. This is exciting. It's

exciting. It's exciting.

Well, let's if we could today, could we

just stand if you're able? We're going

to stand. We're going to get ready for

worship, but we're going to pray

together and in reverence to Jesus. And

if you just said, "I want to know

Jesus." If you would repeat after me,

you're going to join a whole chorus of

others that we're going to all repeat

this together and say yes to Jesus

today. But if this is your first time or

you're rededicating your life, he

welcomes you as a son or daughter and

you're not alone anymore, but you've got

the power of Jesus and his love that

covers you today. If you would church,

let's repeat after me this morning.

Jesus,

I believe

>> you are the son of God.

I believe you died

and rose again.

Today I surrender my life

to you. Forgive me, cleanse me and make

me new.

I choose to follow you

from this day forward

in Jesus name.

Amen.

>> Come on. Come on. Welcome to the family.

Jesus says, "Welcome today." He loves

you and he holds you and he carries you

today. And I'm so thankful for every

person that's in this room. We get to

say yes to him. And I invite you, if you

said yes, be sure to talk to someone.

There's some things we can do. One of

those is get plugged in. We invite you

to come back here next Sunday morning at

9:30 and 11. We're going to have Easter

service. Kids are going to be in the gym

next door. They're going to be able to

worship Jesus in a age specific way.

Adults, we're going to be in here

praying all the way from 6 weeks through

fifth grade. Everyone else, we're going

to be in here, but they're going to be

next door having a party. I also want to

invite you on April 8th to come to

openhouse. It's a way to get connected,

to get plugged in. If you say, "I want

to know more about Jesus. I want to know

about the church and how to get

involved." April 8th, you can come. We

want you to be a part. Go to

radiant.family, the church center app,

and say, "Hey, I'm going to sign up.

talk to one of us if you need help with

that. But today, we're gonna celebrate

one more time the goodness of God. We're

going to have one more worship song. In

fact, all of our kids that you're part

of our dance group today, come on up

here. We're going to sing one more time

for our uh and praise him. If you're

part of the the egg hunt team and you

need to get out of here, now's your

moment. We're going to stay one more

song, then we're going to have

instructions. But church, it's all about

Jesus. And thank you for saying yes to

Jesus