Victory Over Death

It is awesome to see everybody tonight on our opening service as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus.

And let me just start by saying He is risen.

Yeah, some of you, so I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna train you on how we uh how we move into this Easter season.

So I would prompt you by saying He is risen, you respond as an entire body by saying He is risen indeed.

Alright, so are you ready?

Are you ready?

He is risen!

He is risen indeed.

Yes.

Now if we can change the expressions on some of your faces to a smile and get you uh to get excited.

Um I would say probably the three o'clock crowd on a on a weekend like this is probably the most subdued and conservative crowd.

That's okay.

We can change that over the course of the next um 20 or 25 minutes.

And hopefully when you walk out of here, you're gonna walk out of here impacted by the reality of an event that actually happened over 2,000 years ago.

It's not something that that is a myth.

It is not uh, you know, this uh story like we would watch um uh you know with with superheroes.

This is actually the story of God.

And so we celebrate um the empty tomb this weekend.

And so um a couple years ago, my wife and I were able to actually go and spend some time in Israel, and so um at the very end of our trip on the last full day, um, we we came upon uh the garden tomb.

We went to the garden tomb.

There's there's two locations that that theologians and scholars kind of debate and argue about where the resurrection actually took place physically there, and so I I've studied and and I I have some opinions, but the bottom line is that both places are without a physical body or any bones and they're empty.

And so I'm walking into the tomb, and the next picture shows you, and they've got a little gate up there.

I but the first time I went, they didn't have that gate.

But I think people try to try to like break off things and take them home with them, and so they had to they had to kind of guard the area where Jesus' body was actually put.

But but here's what I discovered.

In 2022, the tomb was still empty.

Amen.

The tomb is still empty.

And and so so the next picture is a picture, you can tell who is who is most important in our relationship to me.

As I took the selfie, I I'm in the center, and I and I'm like, honey, come on into the picture.

You know, so that is my wife Jill.

And so so as I'm contemplating and thinking back, this picture, it may be the most significant picture of the three.

I mean, they're all they're all important, but but really what happens in that tomb, it was a historical event that actually happened.

It provides for our victory, our atoning, forgiveness, our redemption, Jesus' death.

We celebrated Good Friday.

We had a prayer experience, look at the cross, you see, where people wrote things down, nailed them to the cross.

It was a it was a prayer journey with several stations in here on Friday night.

And so I'm I was reminded that it's easy to focus on the resurrection as a historical event and miss out on the power that this event makes available to us.

And so you might be here as a guest, an invited guest with family.

You might be here as a part of our church, regular family, you might be here for the first time because you either saw this advertised or somebody invited you.

Uh but if you are here and you are not a believer in Jesus, I hope, my prayer is that you'll move closer to putting your faith and believing in what Christ provided in his death and his resurrection and his plan and story for our lives.

And that we'll walk in that.

You know, death is is death is a real thing.

And so I I spend, I probably have spent more time than I care to in hospitals over 30 years of ministry.

It comes with the job description to go visit people when they are experiencing health problems.

Uh is part of my role, and it's one of the most rewarding things I do is to walk with people as as they experience loss in their life.

And so, um, but I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't like going to hospitals because it reminds me of that that death is real.

It is a real thing that we have to deal with in this earthly existence and earthly life that we experience.

And death, death is vicious.

Death is, it smells, it it has a terrible feeling.

It just death is is vicious, but you can be physically alive, but still be walking, allowing death to have victory in your life.

And that's not what God wants.

Now, he does want us to be aware that there that our days are numbers.

Matter of fact, James says this, James 4, 14.

He says, How do you know when uh what your life will be like tomorrow?

He says, your life is like a morning fog.

Some translations say it's like a mist or a or a fog.

And he says, it's here a little while and then it's gone.

And so there's this idea of having a healthy understanding of our humanity.

But when we read God's word and we read God's story, we understand that there's more to this life than just this life.

There is life after death.

There is life when our physical bodies will give in to age, to sickness, or to disease, or to decay.

And so the question is, are we going to walk allowing death to have the final say in our life or in the life of the people around us?

Or are we going to walk in the victory that Jesus' historical resurrection provides for us?

And so we tend to we tend to minimize the effects of death.

We tend to soften even some of our language.

Sometimes we don't want to say somebody died or somebody, you know, um, you know, just say it plainly.

We we we say somebody has passed on, they've passed away, or or they're no longer with us.

Uh very often I go to uh I'll go to a funeral, whether I'm preaching it or not, and inevitably somebody says, we're so thankful because they're in a better place.

And of course, I'm like, well, where is that place?

I mean, because it matters.

Where is it?

Because I tell you, there's one of two spots we're gonna be.

There's only two choices.

It's one of two choices.

Where will you be when your physical body takes your last breath?

And so what the Bible teaches me and what the significance, what I learned from the significance of this resurrection that Jesus literally physically experienced, is it is the first of many.

We're all going to experience life beyond this life.

And so we can we can change the language, we we can we can cover it with flowers, we can sometimes try to laugh through the experience of death, or or but listen, it is real, but it has limited power.

And it and listen, we need to put our faith in Jesus and trust that what he experienced on that first Easter Sunday is real and it can change our life.

And so we we all have probably been touched by death in some way.

And if you hadn't been touched by death, you've been touched probably by the effects of sin and death.

And so we feel it.

We ache, we hurt, we know that we're made for something else.

We were made for life.

We were made to live in victory and to walk in victory, which brings us to Easter Sunday.

That first Easter Sunday.

And it's more than just about hunting eggs.

It's more than just about dressing up a certain way.

It's more than just a photo opportunity for our family.

It is about the opportunity to have victory over death and to walk in new life.

And here's kind of the big idea for today is the resurrected life isn't just about Jesus walking out of the tomb.

It's about you walking into real life.

It's about you walking into real life.

And so as we begin a brand new series today called The Resurrected Life, we're gonna celebrate the resurrection this weekend, but we're gonna continue to teach over the next few weeks.

And here's a few of the things I want you to maybe know that we're gonna address.

Um, how do we live in the power of the resurrection?

How do we walk in in victory?

How do we battle spiritually and fight and fight the effects of death, the effects of the enemy?

Um, how do we trust and believe and to receive and walk in the victory?

Um what lies have you believed?

What lies have you bought into, and how can Jesus give you victory over those lies and you can walk in the truth?

We'll look at how the resurrection changes your relationship to shame and guilt and regret.

We'll talk about how the resurrection changes your relationships, your purpose, even how you might deal with suffering and death and pain in your life, fear, negative things in your life.

But it all starts right here with the realization and the trust that the resurrection was real.

The tomb was empty.

As a matter of fact, let's read Matthew 28.

Let's read six verses.

Matthew 28, I'm reading out of the New Living Translation.

So here's the account.

It says, early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.

This is after the crucifixion.

And verse 2 says, Suddenly there was an earthquake.

For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.

His face shone like lightning, and it's and his clothing was as white as snow.

The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

And the angel spoke to the women, don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid.

One of the most common commands in all of Scripture.

Don't be afraid.

He said, I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

But he isn't here.

Amen.

That that listen, it's okay to smile and get excited.

We're celebrating Easter, okay?

He isn't here.

He is risen from the dead.

Just as he said would happen, come see where his body was lying.

So I want you to imagine the scene.

I want you to imagine the just what it was like.

Probably you know, we we celebrate Easter in the springtime, and we know because it was it was around the Passover, we know that that's that that is that is an accurate um accurate dating or accurate assessment.

And so you imagine that morning, the air being a little cool, maybe a fog and a mist, as these ladies and and these disciples make their way to that tomb, and they are anticipating that they're going to prepare his body, further prepare his body for burial.

And so these two women approached the tomb.

They probably have swollen eyes because they've been weeping, they've been experiencing grief, and they've been mourning, they've shed tears, many tears, over the last couple of days, as they watched, as they experienced Jesus being beaten, being crucified, being put in this tomb.

And so imagine the emotional temperature.

Imagine the feeling of sorrow and hopelessness.

Imagine how there is no joy.

Their Savior, their future king is dead.

Hope is gone.

They thought this man who was going to be the king was going to be the Messiah.

He's been crucified.

He has been buried, and they're going to seal his body behind a tomb.

And so they come not expecting a miracle, they come to mourn.

They're coming to honor their Savior.

And they discover that He is not there.

I don't know if they get it immediately, but when they arrive, things begin to change.

The ground begins to shake.

An angel appears.

The stone is rolled away, and the words that split history in two are spoken.

He is not here, he is risen.

Splits all of history.

I mean, all of history.

Whether you are a believer or you are not a believer, whether you live in America or you live in the Middle East or you live in Asia or you live wherever you live in the world, you know that there is a BC and an AD.

There's a significant point in history.

And what is the defining event that splits all of history?

It is an empty tomb where there is victory over death, where Jesus had experienced physical death.

He is resurrected.

Imagine what that first breath was like.

As his body lay there, and God breathes through the Holy Spirit life back into this physical body.

And so they go there expecting to find death.

Instead, they they they they see that that real life, true, true eternal life is a possibility.

It is something we can have future hope in.

But here's the reality.

It wasn't just a new life, it was a new way of living life, a new kind of life that they were to experience.

It wasn't just meant to be saved for this one day that they see the empty tomb.

It was meant to change their entire life and future.

And so, as a matter of fact, if you're a note taker, the resurrection isn't just your future hope.

It is your present power.

It's your present power.

And so, so it is meaningful not just to celebrate Easter one day a year, but we walk in resurrecting power every day of our life.

And so when we think of the resurrection, we think about two things.

We think about the past and the future.

We think about the story of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus.

We think about how He has He's cleaned the slate, He has forgiven us.

He is, when He looks at us, when He looks at each one of us, He doesn't see sin.

He doesn't see disobedience, he doesn't see rebellion anymore.

He sees His Son Jesus.

And so when He looks at you, he doesn't see your past.

He doesn't see your sin.

He sees righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus.

That's what God the Father sees when he looks at us.

He sees Jesus in you.

And so, two words justification, sanctification.

Justification is the fact that Jesus was resurrected to prove that he had power over death and sin in the grave and that he can save us for a forever life.

That event changes everything.

But that word sanctification is important because sanctification is about how we change and how we transform and our character is impacted, our mindset about things is changed, and we are living in this process of transformation, becoming more like Jesus every day.

And so the resurrection isn't just about what happened in the past, it's about how you live in the present and how you move forward in the future.

And here's what the Apostle Paul writes in several places in Scripture.

He uses this language.

I'm going to read it out of Colossians chapter 2, verses 13 and 14.

Colossians 2:13

He says this.

He says, You were dead because of your sins and because of your sinful nature was not yet cut away.

You were dead.

He doesn't say you were in bad shape or you were sick or you were a little bit disobedient.

He says you're dead.

You're dead.

Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

He says, you were dead.

That's how Paul opens Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

You were dead in your transgressions and in your sin.

You were dead.

But then he says, but then God made you alive with Christ.

God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all of our sins.

Isn't that good news?

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

So when Jesus suffered and died, it was as if you were on the cross.

He took your place.

He took your spot.

He took the spot that all of us deserved because of our disobedience and rebellion and sin.

But he made us alive.

And the resurrection is the singular event in all of history that proves that Jesus had the power over sin and death in the grave.

So Paul doesn't say that we're broken.

He doesn't say that we're struggling.

He doesn't say that we're kind of just out of God's will.

He says we are dead before Christ.

He says you're dead.

Not just not physically, but spiritually.

You're dead.

Disconnected.

Powerless.

Out of God's will.

Yes, out of the presence.

Not allowed into the presence of God.

Going back to the garden.

Sin cuts us off from the presence of God.

Being dead in our sin.

He doesn't allow us into the presence of God.

But he says that God made you alive with Christ.

You circle those two words, made alive.

Put a star by those.

Highlight them.

Made alive.

That word there, listen, this is important.

In the Greek, it's the aorist tenth.

A-O-R-I-S-T.

And so that's why word study, Bible study, looking at the details is so important.

That aorist tense is pointing to an event that happened in real time, and that event is.

Finished and it's completed its work that God intended it to complete.

And so what it's saying here is that it's a past completed action.

You are forgiven, you are given the gift of righteousness, you are given a new identity.

And so it implies not a hypothetical, in a hypothetical way, you know, that you might hope it's saying Jesus made you alive.

You say, well, Russ, I don't feel alive.

There's days I don't feel spiritually alive.

Well, that's why you go back to when you put your faith in Christ and what happened there, it was the Holy Spirit working.

It wasn't you deciding on your own.

It was your will in conjunction with the sovereign work of Christ that provides for your salvation.

And so there might be times that you don't feel more saved, or you don't feel more close to Jesus, or you don't feel like you're in God's will.

And that's why you go back to the word and you put your faith in what God says about you rather than in what you think or feel about yourself.

You see it?

And so you're not waiting to be made spiritually alive.

If you are in Christ, it has already happened.

You're not slowly becoming alive.

You were made alive the moment you trusted Jesus.

And see, I know, I know where my brain goes, and I think that's probably where your brain might go at times.

But Russ, you don't know what I did.

You don't know where I've been.

If you knew what I thought about, if you knew my past, if you knew how I live, if you knew what my language, I mean, we could go down our list.

And listen, life's hard.

And there is a spiritual battle, there really is an enemy, the devil, and he wants you to question the historical facts of the resurrection.

He wants you to question whether God exists.

He wants you to question your own salvation.

He does not want you to walk in confidence, a victory.

Neil Anderson, author that's written multiple books on spiritual warfare, deliverance, you know, how we can be oppressed by evil forces.

We're living in this battle.

Here's what he says, dear believer, and he's speaking to us, those of us who would identify ourselves as followers of Jesus.

Dear believer, you are spiritually alive in Christ right now.

You will never be more spiritually alive than you are right now.

So if you are in Christ, you are spiritually alive.

And here's what he's saying: you don't, you don't, you will never be less spiritually alive.

If you are in Christ, your identity has been changed, and it was a work of God and not a work that you can create on your own.

So how can I undo something that only sovereign God can do?

And when I'm incapable of attaining it, I can't lose something that I never had the power to find myself.

And so your salvation point is big.

I mean, when you put your faith in Christ, it's a big moment.

I had a lady who has a senior daughter about to graduate, coming up, and and she asked for pictures of her daughter's baptism.

And they're they're they're trying to create a mural for her that marks the significant moments in her life.

And there is no more significant moment than when you put your faith in Christ and you take those steps of obedience.

So it's kind of like this.

Have you ever experienced snow or ice and the power went out in your house?

How many of you ever you've you've lost power and snow and ice?

We usually lose our minds.

We lose our ability to drive.

We lose a lot of things, but but power goes out.

And I don't know about you, but when the power goes out, what is my natural reaction?

I go through the house flipping switches, checking to see it.

Well, maybe it's out over here, but it's not not, you know, maybe over here it'll work.

I I actually will pull out my computer to see if there's Wi-Fi, even though there's no power.

Man, can I get on the internet?

My phone, is my phone working?

And so finally you you realize you have no power and that you have no personal power to change, that you have no power.

And so you go to bed.

They'll come and turn the power back on some point.

But you don't plan on the fact that they turn it back on at 3.30 in the morning after you've turned on everything in your house checking.

And so the TV comes on, the lights come on all over the house, and and man, and we're, you know, it shocks me and my wife, and we're we're up.

Like, man, we we blew that, didn't we?

But it's all of a sudden, when you when when Jesus begins to work that work of salvation in your life, at the point you believe and receive, it's like the power being turned on, where you are spiritually made alive.

And all of a sudden you read scripture and and it jumps off the page.

All of a sudden, I feel convicted when I sin.

All of a sudden, I have the boldness to share my faith or invite my neighbor.

And so the lights flip on, the house comes alive, your life, you're you come alive in Jesus.

And so if you've never put your faith in Christ, that is, that is, that's when things, your eyes are open.

You begin to see things as they truly are.

There really is evil.

There really, the world is broken.

There really is a devil.

There really are demonic forces, and there is a battle over our souls.

And if the devil can't keep you from going to heaven, then his next goal is to keep you from having power and influence in your life on this earth.

And so there's this tension.

You, if you don't know Christ, he wants to make you alive.

And he promises to turn the lights on in your spiritual eyes.

And so, now for those of us who are in Christ, who are believers, there's this tension.

You can be alive in Christ and still live as if you are lost and in the dark.

And we probably all have testimonies where we've had seasons where we didn't have it all together spiritually.

You can be forgiven and still live defeated.

You can be spiritually alive and still believe the lie that you're not good enough.

You can have access to power and you just don't know how to plug it in, plug into it.

And so this is why Easter matters so much.

This is why Easter should not be a memorial.

Easter was an inauguration.

That the king has come.

He does have power over sin and death in the grave.

He does have the ability to give us life and hope and eternal life.

And so, but he also has the power to change my life now.

And we we aren't living as if Jesus won.

And can I tell you that Jesus won?

Listen, Jesus didn't just raise you, he renamed you.

2 Corinthians 5.17 says, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation.

The old is passed away.

Behold, all things have become new.

And so he has recreated you.

He has resurrected you.

He has made you alive.

He's given you a new identity.

He's given you a new name.

He's changed how you should look at yourself, how others should look at you.

Certainly he's communicated to us through the Bible how he views us in Christ.

It's not just about trying to improve our life, it's about walking in total transformation.

So the moment you put your faith in Jesus, you didn't just get your sins forgiven.

You got a whole new name, a whole new nature, a whole new future.

You're no longer who you were before.

You are not what you've done in the past.

You are who God says you are.

And C.S.

Lewis in Mere Christianity says this.

He says, God became man to turn creatures into sons, not simply to produce better men of the old kind, but to produce a new kind of man or woman.

And so it's it's it's it's imagine a child, and I've um, you know, we we have families in our church that have fostered and adopted.

I know people that that have fostered and adopted, and so there's always there's always a challenge when a child who's been through trauma or difficulty and and either lost parents or or or they've had to remove them from a home because of abuse, so a child can go to this home and have these wonderful foster parents or wonderful potential adoptive parents, and let's say hypothetically that they go through the whole process and it's illegal and the adoption is finalized.

This child has literally become a part of this family in the sight of the legal system.

But that child at times is going to have to take time and a process to help them learn how to walk in this new identity, in this new family, and in this new adoption, new living arrangement.

And so it gives us a little bit of a picture of sometimes we don't realize that we are in Christ.

We've been adopted, our identity has changed.

And there are days we don't feel like we're close to God, we don't feel like we're living a righteous life, and you don't go by how you feel, you go by the truth.

And so we need to learn how to walk in our new identity, and that's the goal of this series.

If you are in Christ, you are.

You are a new creation.

If you are in Christ, you are a child of God.

If you are in Christ, you are a citizen of heaven, a citizen of a new kingdom.

If you are in Christ, you are a saint.

You are no longer a sinner.

That is no longer your primary identity.

Now, are you going to sin?

Yes, we will struggle with our old nature and our new nature for a season in our eternal existence.

Until we step into eternity, until Jesus comes back.

One of the other.

And so our challenge is to walk in this identity.

If we're in Christ, we are fully accepted, not barely tolerated.

And so back to Neil Anderson, he says it is who we are that determines what we do, not what we do that determines who we are.

So when you know who you are, you'll stop chasing what you don't need.

You'll stop trying to earn what you already have.

You'll stop trying to prove something that Jesus has already accomplished.

And so finally, the resurrection doesn't just save you, the resurrection crushes the enemy.

Now, if I was sitting right up, if I was sitting here, I'd probably be on the first or second row.

That was just, I was always on the first or second row because smart people that want to make good grades always go to the class and they sit in the front.

I mean, just research says that we do better.

So I I've always been at one, I'm I'm, you know, I'm I'm either trying to earn a good grade or I'm kissing up to a teacher or something.

You know, I'm always on the front, you know, thinking I'm I'm more, I'm smarter, I'm gonna be seen in a better light if I'm you know sitting up front.

So I'd be sitting right there, and if somebody just said, made this statement, the resurrection just didn't just save you, it crushed the enemy, I'd be like, yes! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! That's why I can't wait till five and nine and eleven, because those crowds will probably embrace this with a little more excitement.

No offense.

So the enemy's been crushed.

The resurrection crushed the enemy.

Amen.

Yes.

That's so much better.

Thank you.

See, people can be, they can learn.

Back to Colossians, Paul says it.

He said, in this way he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.

He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

And so the resurrection was not just a private victory for Jesus, it was a public triumph over the enemy.

Jesus didn't just forgive your sin, he defeated rulers and authorities in the dark places, in the dark forces.

He defeated the enemy.

He disarmed them.

He exposed them.

He shamed them.

He won.

Jesus won the battle when he was resurrected.

And so Neil Anderson says this.

He says, Satan's power has been neutralized.

His lives have no legal right over you.

His authority has been crushed under the feet of Jesus.

And so, because of this, we have victory.

And we can walk in victory.

We don't have to question whether or not God is good.

God is good.

And I will look and I will view everything that I experienced in this life by the truth that I find in the Word.

And this word tells me that God is good.

All the time.

God is good.

And so what does this mean for you?

What does this mean for you?

How does this change you?

Well, for some of you, it means you might need for the first time put your faith in Jesus.

John 1.12 says, But to all who believed him and accepted him, believe, receive.

He gave the right to become children of God.

And so identity changes.

Salvation is not about trying harder, it's done.

But we do have a role.

We, our will, we have a role in how we walk in the victory that Christ has provided.

And so I want, I want to invite you, first of all, if you don't know Jesus, there's no better time than an Easter weekend celebration.

To put your faith and to believe and to receive what Christ has provided.

Jesus said it this way: He said, The kingdom of God is here.

Mark 1, 14 and 15.

The kingdom is here.

Repent and believe the good news.

Well, what's the good news?

I've just preached on it for the last 35 minutes.

Jesus is alive.

We can walk in victory.

Now, for those of you who are believers, you're here this weekend celebrate.

Thank you, by the way, thank you for coming at 3 o'clock on Saturday.

This is a great 3 o'clock crowd on a Saturday afternoon.

This is going to help us, you know, minister to more people effectively this whole weekend.

So if you're if you're here and maybe you hadn't been around church in a while, or maybe maybe you've gone through some difficult things in your life and you feel a bit defeated, I want you to walk out of here confident.

I want you to walk out of here in the resurrecting power of Jesus.

And I want you to come back as we learn together how to live this resurrecting life, this resurrection life, this walking in the victory that Jesus provided through his literal physical resurrection.

And so would you bow your heads with me?

And I want to ask you, those of you that maybe you've never put your faith in Christ.

Maybe tonight is the night.

This afternoon, today is the day of your salvation.

If you want to put your faith in Christ, the Bible says, teaches us, Jesus taught us, he said, repent, believe.

There's not a magical prayer, there's not a mantra to repeat.

You simply say yes to Jesus.

In your own words, you believe and you receive.

And so we imagine him at Galgotha on Calvary on that cross.

And when he said, It is finished, the work was completed, and there was darkness in the land, the temple curtain was torn in two, declaring that we can approach God's throne, that we can come to God.

So if you've never put your faith in Jesus, you want to do that.

I just want you to pray something like this.

Say, dear God, I need you.

I know I'm a sinner.

I know I've been disobedient.

I know that I need to turn and repent.

Put my faith in my Savior Jesus.

And so I just give you my life and I turn and trust you.

And if you prayed that prayer for the first time tonight, I wonder if you would be willing to lift up your hand and just lift it up and say, hey, that's me.

I want, I want to, I want, I want to put my faith in Jesus.

I need the Lord.

That's you, would you just lift up your hand?

You want to put your faith in Christ for the first time?

Well, let me pray for those of us that are believers.

Lord, there are some of us here that we feel defeated.

We feel as if we are just having a hard time walking in victory, walking in this new identity.

And so, Father, I pray that you would empower your church, empower believers.

Give us the revelation of the reality of the resurrection.

Let us walk in that reality.

Let us walk in the present power it provides for us.

This week, this week, we don't leave here the same.

We don't go back to work the same.

We don't go back to school the same.

We don't go back to our neighborhoods the same.

We don't go back to our team or our group the same.

We are transformed, and Jesus is Lord of our life, and we are excited to walk in the victory that He's provided.

God, thank you.

Thank you for winning the battle.

Thank you that you've already won, that we don't have to win anything else.

You have already won on our behalf.

And you say, Russ, I needed to hear this message, and I needed the encouragement to know that Jesus has won the victory, and it it's impacted me tonight.

If that's you, just would you slip your hand up and say, I needed to hear that tonight?

Say, Russ, I need, I and I'm gonna pray for you to continue to walk in victory.

Several of you, several of you.

Father, would you work in us as we close this time celebrating, singing back to you what you've already done on our behalf has provided for our victory.

And we thank you, and it's in Jesus' name that we pray.

And everybody said together.