Ghostbusters

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast,

you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. If you don't

know me, my name is Angus or Goose. Yeah, I'm

preaching today. So let's pray. God, thank you

for your spirit. Father, we thank you that your

spirit is here. Father, we thank you that you

want to do a work. You're a God that is with

us and for us. You're not a God who is against

us, but God, you are for us. And that is why

you sent Jesus to show us that you are for us.

And so, Father, I pray that as I speak this afternoon,

God, that it would be your power, be your wisdom

and your strength in your spirit. Father may

it all be to your glory may it all be to who

you are father. I lay myself down Just say God

have your way Invade our hearts invade our minds

God so that we can walk away richer in love for

you and each other and Deeper in understanding

for who you are in your name amen Amen Well one

of my favorite film franchises of all time Lord

of the Rings oh yeah hopefully you've all seen

it Alex is shaking his head oh that's okay well

worth a watch if you haven't they're long but

definitely worthwhile if someone wants to host

a watch party maybe if Deanna goes out for a

day I can do it Apparently our TV is very big.

So it is very big. Yeah But if you're unfamiliar

with the story, it takes the classic trope of

good versus evil and the Hobbit Frodo House and

his mates Robert Frodo and his mates the Fellowship

of the ring they take on the task of taking the

ring of power to Mount Doom while fighting and

evading the evil Sauron and his forces of orcs

and along the way They meet this guy, Gandalf

the Grey, and he's a good friend of the Hobbits.

He's powerful, he's wise, and he sacrifices himself

in a fight against the Balrog. Sorry. It's been

out for 26 years. Like, Charlie wasn't even born

yet. Spoilers. Gandalf dies, oh no, fighting

the Balrog. And the Fellowship is distraught,

as you'd imagine. The Hobbits in particular are

quite shaken up by it. They grieve and they mourn

their friend Gandalf and they feel his absence

as they continue on their quest to destroy this

ring of power. However, and more spoilers coming,

in a dramatic twist later on in the story, Gandalf

is resurrected. Not as... Not as Gandalf the

Grey anymore, but now as Gandalf the White. And

he rejoins the battle against Sauron. But the

thing is, Gandalf the White, while it's the same

character, kind of, he's quite different to Gandalf

the Grey. He comes in and most obviously, visually,

his robes are white and his hair is white instead

of grey and he's also much more powerful. However,

something to note is that the movie depiction

of Gandalf the White is quite different to how

he's portrayed in the books and we get some glimpses

of it in the movie and while he's still definitely

wise and he's still powerful, he's also distant

and he's a bit aloof and sometimes even cold

to his friends. He's much more otherworldly.

After this resurrection and it's probably you

can argue more of a spiritual resurrection as

opposed to a physical one And it's easy for us

to imagine that this is kind of what resurrection

is like It's it's easy for us to recognize the

spiritual ramifications of a resurrection, especially

when it comes to Jesus You know, it's a glorious

and it's an amazing fantastic thing But it can

also be difficult to make grounded especially

because it's not something we see in our day

-to -day lives. But the thing is, when we take

this portrayal of resurrection like Gandalf,

it's starkly different to the resurrection of

Jesus. Because after Jesus' resurrection, he

remains grounded. It is a spiritual resurrection,

but it isn't just a spiritual resurrection. It's

a physical one. as well and when we consider

this is not just a nice story from the book of

Luke as Carly read but as a true grounded historical

event which is important for us as Christians

if you call yourself a Christian in the room

this is important for us and it has crucial importance

it's detrimental to our faith and our lives it's

central to who we are and what we believe if

you've been around church for a while You know,

you would have heard a lot about the resurrection

of Jesus, you know. Every Sunday, it's probably

tied in in some way, shape or form. It's almost

like we can be a bit desensitized to it in a

way. We can get a bit numb to its significance,

because it's like the saying goes, familiarity

breeds content. And it's kind of like, you know,

when I was in Italy, and maybe I'll shut up about

going to Italy one day. But when we were there,

we caught a train up to Switzerland. And we drove,

not drove, we caught this train through the Alps.

And the sights that we saw were just like absolutely

stunning. And you know, there's people on this

train that, you know, have clearly done this

trip many times. And they're just like on their

phones, whatever. And it's kind of like, oh,

yeah, you know, it's old news. I've done this

before. It's whatever. Meanwhile, Deanna and

I, they're like, oh my gosh, this is like one

of the most beautiful things we've ever seen.

It's amazing. It's the same kind of thing, you

know, it becomes the norm. And so for us as Christians,

hearing about the resurrection all the time,

it can almost become like the norm. And it doesn't

necessarily lose its significance, but the weight

that it carries doesn't necessarily feel as heavy.

Does that kind of make sense? Am I gibberish?

Speaking gibberish? I don't know. Maybe I'm yapping.

We got 20 more minutes of this. So strap in.

So we're fresh out of Easter and we're making

our way through a series called The Resurrection

Files. You know the best part about Easter is

not that Jesus died for our sins, although that

was amazing, but it's that he was resurrected

and he defeated the power of death and he gave

us new hope and a new life. The resurrection

of Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith and

it's not just important but is vital for us to

understand. You know you can feel distant, It

can feel foreign because it happened so long

ago, but this does not diminish its significance.

And so this series is focused on unpacking the

resurrection of Jesus and what it means for us

2 ,000 years after the fact. So we'll be sitting

in Luke 24 today. If you have your Bibles, you're

welcome to open them up or get your phones up,

just don't text your friend. So what this passage

does for us... is that it grounds Jesus' resurrection

in reality. It shows us that this wasn't just

a spiritual resurrection, but it was holy, and

it was completely physical as well. It's easy

for us to think of resurrection as something

like what happened to Gandalf. Jesus was risen,

and we can get it in our head that he's white,

and he's pure, and he's otherworldly. We see

the disciples' reaction to him, and it says they

thought he was a ghost. They can't believe it.

They think it's something unreal. They think

it's something disembodied. It's something foreign.

And we can do this too. Even in our own lives

we say things like, Jesus lives in our hearts.

His spirit is here. This is helpful language

and it's not bad and it's not wrong. But it can

quietly shrink what actually happened. It takes

away from the physical embodied resurrection

of Jesus Christ. The resurrection becomes private,

individual and internal, which isn't all that

different from the disciples. You know, they

respond with fear. They assume it's something

less than physical. It's something that's not

quite real. And so Jesus responds to them in

a very clear and a very direct way. He doesn't

leave any room for questions, any room for doubt.

He says, look at my hands, look at my feet, touch

me and see. Give me something to eat. I want

to eat some fish. And he's saying, you know,

when he says this, he's saying, I'm not a ghost.

I'm not something otherworldly, but this is real.

I'm here. This isn't an idea. Jesus is physically,

bodily, alive. What this did for the disciples

and what it does for us today is that it moves

our faith from something abstract and foreign

to something real. And this is important because

if our faith isn't real, then what's the point?

Without the physical resurrection, our faith

is empty at worst and a wholesome feel -good

mindset at best. Paul writes in a letter to the

church in Corinth, 1 Corinthians, it says, if

Christ has not been raised, our preaching is

useless, and so is your faith. If Christ has

not been raised, Our preaching is useless and

so is your faith. The physical bodily resurrection

of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian

faith. And without it, as Paul says, it's useless.

It's empty. It's hollow. It has no meaning. And

so what Jesus is trying to show his disciples

and us, oh sorry, this was a question. What is

Jesus trying to show his disciples and us in

this moment in the passage? There's a few key

movements throughout the passage and you know

moments and phrases that Jesus chooses very deliberately

First as we've read he completely debunks the

thought that he's just a ghost He invites the

disciples to look touch Feel me the first century

Jews were very superstitious. They're quite a

spiritual people and they definitely believe

in ghosts and I mean You know if I if someone

I I knew was dead had you know saw die myself

was like appeared in front of me i'd be i'd be

pretty shaken up i'd maybe i'd believe in ghosts

i'm not sure but you know we'd all have some

doubts if that happened to us right so jesus

breaks down the barriers he challenged them on

what they think they're seeing and he says a

ghost does not have flesh and bones like i have

i have flesh and bones and he finishes off by

eating some fish and this isn't because he's

hungry But he's proving to his disciples beyond

any doubt that he is risen physically He is alive.

It's not just a spiritual thing. It's he's not

some ethereal Otherworldly being but he is truly

physically alive Because if Jesus did only rise

spiritually and it wasn't a physical resurrection

Death isn't really defeated Because he rose bodily,

something fundamental changes. Death has been

overcome. And this matters because it means that

our faith isn't just in something spiritual or

distant, it's not just an idea, it's not something

that's hollow, but it is grounded in a historical

event, a risen Jesus who was touched, seen, and

known. Now I don't have time to unpack the evidence

for the resurrection. But you can spend some

time looking at that in your own time. But it's

a historical event grounded in reality. And so

once Jesus has done this, once he's proven to

them like, yep, this is real. I'm here. He points

them towards the scriptures. He opens their mind

to how all of scripture, the law, the prophets,

the Psalms, they all pointed to this moment.

And this is where the weight of the resurrection

really starts to set in for the disciples because

they knew the scriptures. These were Jewish men

who would have grown up becoming familiar with

the Old Testament, the prophets and the Psalms.

They would have known the scriptures. They would

have been very familiar with them. But knowing

isn't necessarily understanding, right? You know,

it's like I can put my keys into the car and

I can twist the key and my engine goes vroom

and I can drive. I don't know how it works. I

don't understand it. I just know that I put my

key in and twist. I can drive. You know, maybe

other people like that. But we all have things

that we know but don't necessarily understand.

Maybe for you it's cars. Maybe it's something

completely different. But for these first century

Jewish men, they knew the scriptures. They knew

what was written, but they couldn't understand

them. And so Jesus... refrains all of it for

them. He tells them, the Messiah will suffer

and rise from the dead on the third day. And

this is bringing in a couple of different scriptures

from the Old Testament. Isaiah 53 says that he

was despised and rejected by mankind. He was

a man of suffering. He took up our pain and he

bore our suffering. And then in the book of Hosea,

in chapter six, verse two, it says, on the third

day, He that's God will raise us up so that we

may live in His presence. We will be raised up

and we will be restored to God. Now this is a

pattern. This is a pattern we see all throughout

scripture. Suffering followed by restoration.

Death followed by life. Jesus opens their minds

to the scriptures and reveals to disciples that

this was always the plan. This was always going

to be the way that unfolds. This was always the

way. This was how God always intended to restore

His people to Himself. This was the pattern.

Jesus' physical resurrected body is the proof

and the evidence of the Scriptures being fulfilled.

It's not just that Jesus lives, but Jesus has

passed through death and come out the other side.

It's a testament to God's faithfulness. It demonstrates

to us that God isn't just concerned with the

spiritual, but he restores the physical as well.

He's not just concerned with the spiritual, but

he restores the physical. Just as Jesus was restored

physically and bodily, it's God's promise to

us that he won't just redeem us spiritually,

but our physical lives today, they have importance.

They have value. There's a meaning and a purpose

behind our lives today Because our resurrected

lives aren't just spiritual It can be easy for

us to dismiss and just kind of think, you know,

it doesn't matter until after I'm dead But it's

it's just not true church our lives today matter,

you know that restoration Doesn't begin after

we die it begins now Not in its fullness But

it certainly happens in real and meaningful ways.

Because Jesus was raised, it points to the reality

that God's redemption includes our whole entire

lives. Not just our souls, not just our spirits,

but our embodied physical existence as well.

Are you with me? I'm saying physical a lot. You

know when you say word a lot and it just kind

of loses meaning? Like chair, chair, chair, chair,

chair. It's school holidays. Jesus has shown

them that He's not a ghost. And He's shown them

that this was always God's plan. But the most

important part of all of this, and this is the

most personal part for us as well, death is not

the end. Because Jesus doesn't appear to them

as a memory. He doesn't appear to them as a vague

spiritual kind of wispy presence. He doesn't

come back as anything less than he was before.

He stands in front of them in a real, physical,

tangible body. A body they can touch, they can

see. A body that still carries the scars of his

crucifixion. Jesus has gone through death and

he's come out the other side. His scars, where

the nails were hammered into him. His scars,

symbolic of death, are now symbolic of victory

instead. This interaction with his disciples

at its core displays a truth to us about resurrection,

is that life does not stop at death. Death is

not the end. And not in some vague spiritual

disconnected way, but life after death is real.

It's embodied. You know, by eating with the disciples,

Jesus shows them that it's still him. He's the

same Jesus that they walked with, the same Jesus

they learned from, laughed with. It's the same

guy, but he's changed because he's passed through

death and he's no longer bound by it. Because

resurrection isn't just about life being breathed

back into someone. It's not just life returning

the same as it was before, but a resurrected

life is a transformed life. Church. A resurrected

life is a transformed life and through Jesus

we see what that really means. Sometimes we can

think about life after death and we can imagine

something less than what it was before. I don't

know about you guys but it's hard for me to kind

of imagine life in heaven. I'm not really sure

what I picture but it's hard for me to kind of

imagine like we are today. physical people, bodies

around, talking, having coffee. I'll be honest,

I don't get it. I don't understand it. I'm preaching

on it. I don't get it. I'm just feeling like

I'm exposing myself. But, you know, Jesus shows

us that life after death is not less physical.

It's not less real and it's not less grounded,

but actually it's the opposite. We see more life.

We see more fullness. We see more reality. It's

not a return to how it was before, but it's a

transformation, like a caterpillar turning into

a butterfly. When a caterpillar comes out of

its cocoon, it's the same creature. It doesn't

stop existing and it's not replaced by something

else, but it undergoes a transformation. And

it turns into something more complete, something

more alive. It transforms into what it was always

supposed to be. Not any less real, but something

greater and something more. And Jesus shows his

disciples and us that he's the same person, but

he's just transformed and he's now fully alive

in a way that death has no claim over anymore.

And this is what God promises for us. Because

after all, it's what we were made for. Right

now, we're caterpillars. Quote that. The book

of Genesis tells us that we were created in God's

image. We were made for and we were designed

for a life beyond what we have here now. In Philippians,

Paul writes, our citizenship is in heaven and

we eagerly await a savior from there. The Lord

Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him

to bring everything under his control, will transform

our lowly bodies so that they will be like his

glorious body. We're promised to be resurrected

into something greater, just like Jesus was.

Again, Paul in 1 Corinthians, he says, the body

that is sown is perishable. The bodies we have

are perishable. but it is raised imperishable.

It is sown in dishonor, but it is raised in glory.

It is sown in weakness, but it is raised in power.

Death is not the end of our stories, church.

It's not a feel -good comfort, it's not just

a nice sentiment, but it's a promised truth to

us from God that death is not the end. And this

changes everything for us. It changes how we

see loss, how we see grief when we're faced with

our own mortality. Because although these things

are hard, and they're real, and they can be extremely

painful, they don't have the final word. It doesn't

mean that the impact it has on us is any less

real. I've lost people that I love and that I

care about. It doesn't mean that things are necessarily

feeling okay. And you know we can share sentiments

like, it's for the best, they're somewhere better

now, they're not suffering anymore, they've passed

on, they've gone somewhere better. And these

are nice and they can be comforting at times,

but they don't fully capture the scope of what's

actually happening. You know, a resurrected life

doesn't erase the pain, it doesn't change what's

happened. You know, Jesus still had his scars.

but it transforms what it means for us. Because

it's not just a blind optimism. As Christians,

we don't just have a blind optimism. It's not

just a hope in empty promises. It's the guarantee,

the promise from God that death is defeated.

It's not a setback. It hasn't just been avoided.

It's defeated. It's a hope for something greater

that goes beyond just a warm sentiment or an

optimistic mindset. It's a hope that our future

matters. Our present is not meaningless, but

it's actually full of purpose. What we do matters,

because the reality is if God is going to raise

and restore our bodies, then what we do today,

here and now, matters. We have meaning. We have

purpose for our lives. We're not just waiting

for death to happen to start our resurrected

lives. God doesn't throw His creation away, He

restores it. Jesus with His disciples in this

passage in Luke, it's a glimpse of the future

for us where death is not the end. It's a glimpse

of our future life that is transformed and restored.

So to close. finish up. The resurrection being

real, truly, physically real, means that it can't

just sit in the past as something amazing that's

happened before. But it impacts our lives today.

It demands a response from us. Because Jesus

has defeated death, the things that are so Often

ultimate for us and other things that just seem

so ultimate and final, you know things like death

fear failure suffering They're not the end of

the story anymore Now for the disciples in the

passage this moment it's a turning point for

them Everything changed for them because Jesus

has shown them that death isn't the end the fear

that gripped them is turned into boldness and

they're sent into the world. In a few weeks we're

going to hear about the Great Commission. Their

confusion was replaced with clarity and purpose.

And there's an invitation from Jesus for us today

to join in on that. Because Jesus doesn't just

appear to them for, you know, a final meal or

a final farewell. He gives them a mission. He

tells them that repentance for the forgiveness

of sins will be preached in his name to all the

nations And he says you are witnesses to these

things He says disciples you are witnesses of

these things. It's not and this isn't a statement

But this is a call to action It's a call to action

for his disciples and it's a call to action for

us because if we believe that this is true Then

we are also witnesses If we believe in the physical

resurrection of Jesus, we are called to be witnesses.

Not just to an idea or a nice philosophy, but

to a living, resurrected Jesus who changes everything,

Church. And this can be difficult to kind of

take on because when we get a job, we have to

prove we have the skills. Now you're sitting

in an interview and someone asks you questions

about what can you do? What can you bring to

the table? But God doesn't work like that. God

just says, you believe? Great, let's get to work.

Let's do it. We don't need the answers. We don't

need perfect theology. We don't need to live

a perfect life. Because if they were the criteria,

then it all would have stopped with Jesus. But

what it means is that we live in the light of

what we've seen and what we know to be true.

That Jesus is alive. It means that we don't just

talk about it, but we embody our faith. It means

that when we face suffering, when we face hardship,

when we face trials, we don't ignore it, we don't

pretend it's not there, but we face it with Jesus

at our side, knowing that it is not the end of

the story. It means when we experience brokenness

in ourselves, in others, in the world, we don't

give up. We don't fall into despair, but we turn

to hope because we know that restoration is at

the heart of what God is doing. My mum died when

I was 13. She was a Christian. She had a faith.

And in her final years of life, she was sold

out for Jesus. And when she died, I really wrestled

with this. You know, I couldn't hear her laughing

anymore. I couldn't see her anymore. And it all

felt so final. And I wasn't really sure where

I was at with faith at the time. You know, the

whole concept of heaven and life. after death

i knew what the bible said but it never really

felt real to me you know i couldn't imagine a

life for my mom after she died but now i know

through the promises of god that it's not just

that she's not suffering anymore it's not just

that she's in a better place now now these things

are true but it's also so much more than that

She now gets to experience the resurrected life

that Jesus has demonstrated for us. And we will

too. It means that our lives today matter deeply.

The way we love people, the way we forgive, the

way we pursue justice, the way we care for the

world and the people in it. They're not just

small, intangible, temporary things. but they're

glimpses of a resurrected life breaking into

the world around us. The kingdom of heaven, the

kingdom of God breaking into the world around

us. Because Jesus is alive and God is at work.

We can look around and we can see it. We see

it in changed hearts. We see it in transformed

lives. We see it in restored relationships. We

see it in acts of grace that aren't earned, that

aren't deserved. And so tonight, my hope and

my prayer for you guys is not that we just simply

understand the resurrection better. If you do,

fantastic. But my hope is that you take this

message as an invitation. Not just to understand

the resurrection, but to live in it. To live

in this resurrected life that Jesus has shown

us. To allow the resurrection life we can step

into to reshape how we see our lives. our future,

our meaning and our purpose as Christians and

as people. To make our faith feel real and grounded.

And maybe for some this just starts by simply

recognizing that it's not just a story. Jesus

dying and being resurrected, it's not just a

story, it's truth. And it demands a response,

because if Jesus is alive, then He isn't just

someone to look up to. He's not just someone

to admire and think, oh yeah, He said some pretty

cool things. The fact that Jesus died and was

resurrected completely, physically, He's someone

to be followed. And if death is not the end,

then we get to live life differently. not held

back by fear and not defined by our past, not

defined by our shortcomings, not defined by our

suffering or the things that we've done wrong,

but stepping forward into a life that is promised

and a future that is secure. Death has been defeated,

church. And that means that death is not the

end. The resurrection isn't even the end. The

resurrection is the beginning of something new.

And we are invited to step into it. Let's pray.

God, we thank you for the love that you show

us. The act of sending Jesus to die for us on

the cross. What a miraculous act of love. My

father didn't stop there. Death was not the end

of the story. Jesus rose again. He showed us

the resurrected life that we are all invited

to be a part of. And so God, I pray that for

all of us here, God, could you give us the courage

and you give us the faith to step into that life,

even though it might be uncomfortable, it might

be hard, it doesn't take away from the suffering,

doesn't take away from the bad, but Father, it

gives us a hope of something new. Father, it

gives us a hope of life after death. Death is

not the end of our stories. And so Father, give

us the courage, give us the spirit of courage,

the spirit of boldness and bravery to not just

talk about our faith, but to live it out. Father,

for our Sundays to invade our Mondays, we are

Monday invaders. God, I pray that for all of

us. This doesn't just fall to the side, that

this isn't just, you know, a nice wholesome Sunday

message, but this is an invitation and a challenge

for us all to step into something more and something

greater. A life with you, a resurrected life

with you, not held back by fear, not held back

by anything else. but Father, a life stepping

forward with you. So Father, we thank you. We

give you the honor. We give you all the glory

in your name. Amen. Thanks so much for tuning

into this week's message. If you felt challenged

or need prayer, we'd love to hear from you on

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go to our website encounteradelaide .com .au.

Thanks again for listening. God bless you.