213 ~ EASTER SUNDAY ~ POWER AT THE TOMB

Hi and welcome to the VR Zion Sermon podcast.

We are a local church based here in Chennai, India.

We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will

encourage, inspire, and instill fresh faith in you.

We want to wish you a blessed Resurrection Sunday and hope

that you experience the risen Christ in all of His power and

glory. We looked today at how the

resurrection power that was at work in Jesus is still alive and

working in each of us, His followers.

Will you ask God to fill you with that power so that you live

radically free and transformed for his glory?

Hi Church. It's such a joy and a privilege

to be bringing God's word to you today, even as we globally and

around the world are celebrating Easter Sunday.

And even before I start, I just want to wish each and everyone

of you, whoever is watching, who was listening to us, that I pray

that God's resurrection power is working in and through your

life. I pray even as you gather around

your loved ones that you will have a blessed Easter Sunday.

You know as a lead up to this week, especially with Palm

Sunday kicking in and then us walking all the way through Good

Friday and into Easter. I'm just excited that we get to

see God and he gets to rejuvenate us.

We've been through probably many Easters.

We've been probably through many of these Sundays where we've

celebrated his resurrection. And yet we've gone back to a

Monday where we felt so low, where we felt God.

I'm back to the same rut. But God wants to remind us today

that who He is. God wants to remind us what He

has done. Even for those of you who

listened to our Good Friday service, who watched it online

or listened to it, I believe His blood is at work.

How many of you believe that? You know, even as Tina spoke

about appropriating his blood over our lives, we've been

claiming His blood time and again.

In times when things have been uncertain, in times when you

know we don't know what to do, we've claimed his blood.

In times of desperation we've held on to it.

In times of, you know, being in a place of not being protected,

we've just used that and applied it over our lives and said, God,

you're protecting us. His blood has been more than

enough even 2 days back as we saw His blood wipes away all our

sins. But I believe his blood also

sets us apart as Tina spoke. And so today, with that

assurance, even as we move into Resurrection Sunday, we see that

Jesus is alive. But many at times it's just a

statement that we believe it's not something that's working in

and through us. It's not something that we see

God live out completely in our lives.

And today I want to take some time to assure us from His word

why we celebrate this Easter Sunday.

What is this Easter Sunday all about?

And so today my sermon title is Resurrection Power at the Tomb,

Resurrection Power at the Tomb Today, as we've gathered here,

you know, and as we've as we look through the Easter story,

we are sitting on the 31st of March 2024.

For those of us here in India, it's the end of a financial

year. First April is the start of a

new financial year. But for some of you, you might

be just looking at, OK, the first quarter, the first three

months have not meant much, Lord.

And today I want to tell you Jesus is here to say my

resurrection power is with you. My resurrection power is with

you. Even the passage that I've taken

today is from one Peter. It's from one Peter, chapter one

verses three to five. And this is what it says.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again

to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled,

and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being

guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed

in the last time. One of the words that has been

recurring especially is to look to keep our eyes on eternity.

The prize is that, and even as we read this verse, Peter is

emphasizing this specifically to an audience, and they call

themselves the Elect Exiles, and Peter coins his word Elect

Exiles. Basically to say, we are exiles

of a greater Kingdom. We are exiles of one where we

are, our eyes are in eternity, our eyes are in heaven.

And pretty much to sum it up, to say that our hope is only that

today you and I need this hope, the hope of eternity, because a

lot of us today are just living to a day-to-day hope, which many

at times is being squashed, is is many at times being, you

know, trampled upon by the disappointments of life.

But today can I ask you, could you once again turn your eyes to

this living hope? This living hope comes when we

as dead in our areas which we really need hope and start

looking up. When we start looking to our

savior. When we start looking at saying

Jesus, I need you more than ever before, Peter in fact goes on to

say in that first Peter chapter one, he tells his fellow

listeners saying we are living in this world, A lot of you are

undergoing persecution but that living hope is within you.

So today let it not be something which you just make it as a

statement, wear it on AT shirt, use a sticker.

All that is good, but maybe something that we live by may be

something that we hold on to even when things are getting

tough. Jesus's resurrection is so

important in our Christian faith because without that, nothing

else makes sense. Everything else we are one among

the crowd, with everyone else worshipping every other God.

Jesus's resurrection is the hinge that holds our door into

eternity. So today, if you do not believe

Jesus is risen, we can go on to say that he's not God.

The faith that we profess is when we say Jesus is risen from

the dead is to say that Lord, you reign over everything.

There's nothing that you do not control.

Peter emphasizes this and many at times why I'm coming back to

this thing is we're living in a day and age where we are

questioning even the events that have happened, even the events

that have happened. I was just listening to a

podcast where this guy was talking about going to the

Houston Space Centre and he meets this wife of an astronaut.

And even as he's talking to her, he says, you know what, why

don't you talk to him? Takes a phone out and starts

dialing. And you know he's one among the

eight who's living right outside the Earth and above the Earth in

the space station. And the way communication works,

it blows our mind. Sometimes you're unable to

fathom the way God brought about creation, the way God created

space and earth and everything. And he says the problem with

today's generation is we've made it look like a conspiracy

theory. We made it look like, oh, this

was done in the studios, you know, man didn't actually land

on the moon and all that, That even the very facts that have

happened, they're starting to question, they're starting to

disbelieve, they're starting. So why would someone believe

that Jesus rose from the dead 2000 years back if you and I are

not believing it today? Jesus does not make any sense

today. And so today I would request

each and every one of you to make that honest declaration

with your mouth, declaration with your heart, saying Jesus,

you are alive. I believe that that is who I

believe. A God who lives, A God who's

risen, a God who's coming back, a God who's seated on the throne

even right now. And I can call on to him and

he'll answer. If you read in the amplified

version the same chapter, verse and verse three, it says

blessed, gratefully praised and adored be the God and Father for

Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant boundless mercy

has caused us to be born again. That is, to be reborn from

above, spiritually transformed, renewed and set apart for his

purpose to an ever living hope and confident assurance through

the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

There are three things that he says here, He says we need to be

reborn, spiritually transformed, renewed and set apart.

Three areas where we'll be called to be reborn, spiritually

transformed so that we're not spiritually in that same rut

again. We become overcomers in a

spiritual body, in a spiritual being.

Our minds are starting to be renewed.

So we no longer are having a mind of the world, but we're

having a mind of a risen Saviour.

And we understand that we're set apart for a purpose because my

body is being transformed, my spiritual man is being

transformed, and my mind is being transformed.

It starts revealing in the physical acts that I'm doing.

I set myself apart. I start keeping myself away and

doing things. Not what the world requires, but

I'm doing what he requires. I came across this and it says

philosophy. Emmanuel can believe that the

only way life is livable if there is life after death.

He says that there's only way that's life livable is life

after that, and that comes only in Jesus.

Just imagine if you know all the dictators have died and all the

people who've done good works, who've lived right, who've been

compassionate, who've didn't think of themselves here but

have lived for others who've also died.

As I said that there are two sections of people.

If they both died and we say that there's no life after

death, it becomes meaningless. Might as well be.

All could have lived the way we liked.

But there is life after death because of Jesus.

There's even hope that everyone who follows him will be with

him. So today, you and I have an

unparalleled hope that evil will be undone and that justice will

begin. Evil will be undone.

You and I have that hope. With that, when we rise up

again, that only justice will prevail.

There's a clear demarcation between right and wrong.

To live without hope is to cease living.

The three facts that we have to come to terms in the fact in

this resurrection story, even as we look later from Luke, chapter

Luke 24 · chapter mention

24, verses one to two, is the fact that that it's an empty

tomb. It is an empty tomb.

The Pharisees and the Sanhedrin went ahead.

They sealed it, but the stone was supernaturally moved by the

power of the resurrection God. You cannot say that the tomb was

just suddenly, overnight a whole bandit group of people came and

they'd no, it was a supernatural fact.

God chose women to testify about his resurrection.

Why would God choose women in a society where women's You know,

if they had to stand in the court of law they didn't even

have a standing. God chose appeared before people

because he wanted to prove that he is God and Lord.

He could have come back to in all of his glory.

But he realized that it's far greater because he didn't just

come for a nation. His resurrection power.

Even though he came out of Israel and he died, he came for

entirety of mankind. And so in his resurrection power

he wanted to set everything right.

His resurrection power was setting.

Mankind was bringing heaven here to earth, which is if women were

not given a standing for their testimony, He gave them a

standing. If people didn't believe in the

supernatural work of God. He made sure that the tomb was

empty and it was only Him alone who could have done it and no

one else. And the third thing is when we

see what He did because of His resurrection part is He granted

each and every one of us that hope to live here on this earth

so that when we believe in Him, we live different.

When we believe in Him, He starts working in and through

us. When we believe in Him

wholeheartedly, we are living out His life to the fullest here

on this earth till we close our eyes.

Because when we close our eyes, we are assured that we will see

Him face to face. So today the resurrection part

is within you and is within me today.

So even right now, we're just going to watch this particular

passage of Luke chapter 24, verses 1 to 12 from the Luma

Luke 24:1–12

Project. And as we watch, I just want us

to see what the resurrection part entailed.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the

women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they

entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in

clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them in

their fright. The women bowed down with their

faces to the ground. But the men said to them, Why do

you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here. He has risen.

Remember how he told you while he was still with you in

Galilee? The Son of Man must be delivered

over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day

be raised again. Then they remembered his words

when they came back from the tomb.

They told all these things to the 11 and to all the others.

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and

the others with them who told this to the apostles.

But they did not believe the women, because their words seem

to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran

to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips

of linen lying by themselves, and he went away wondering to

himself what had happened. As I said earlier the tomb is

empty. God's identified and started to

you know give a standing to those who didn't have standing.

And the resurrection part was meant to be taken to the ends of

the earth, was not just meant to be contained within a nation not

a people group but was meant for entirety of mankind.

So three things that this resurrection part that I believe

we need to hold on to. Today's step out boldly into a

Mondays into a week ahead is the first thing is his resurrection

path. Demolishes the power of death

over our lives. Demolishes the power of death

over our lives. You know when we look at a

physical tomb, a grave, it's pretty much set in stone.

Literally set in stone that it's it's it's buried, it's done once

and for all. There's nothing I can do to

resurrect it, but his resurrection power gives us a

living hope wherein to say if the enemy has taken anything

away from you, if the enemy has stolen, or probably you're

living out the consequences of your sin.

Or probably you are on the stage of life where you you've gone

through a hardship and you're and a struggle and a fallout,

and you're dealing with that fallout.

He's saying I can still give you my resurrection power and I can

bring good out of this. I can rewrite the wrong that has

been written. So today are we coming to a

place where we can say, Lord, guilt and shame is no more,

guilt and shame is no more? God wants to move that

gravestone away from our very own lives?

That we've many, there are many instances, many seasons, many

places where we've actually rolled A gravestone and said,

you know what, I'm not going to do this anymore.

And many a times it's the God ordained thing, that God wants

you to step into that place again because the resurrection

power is not about you, but it's about him.

The resurrection part is not about your strength, but it's

about his strength. Resurrection part is not on your

timing but on his timing. So it's demolishes power, every

form of power, every spoken word of death.

God can turn it around. One Peter, one verse 3.

And the Passion says this. It says celebrate with praises

the God. When we even as we read one

Peter, one verse three in the Passion, it says that he shows

us extravagant mercy. For his fountain of mercy has

given us a new life. We are reborn to experience a

living, energetic hope through the resurrection, a fountain of

mercy. His resurrection power will give

you mercy. Satan won't give you mercy.

Satan probably would give you mercy to accomplish something

more sinful so that you live in that guilt and shame.

But the mercy that Jesus gives is one of life even as we look.

I want to look specifically in Romans chapter 8 verses 9 to 11,

Romans 8:9–11

and this is what it says. But if God himself has taken up

residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of

yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not

welcomed this visible but clearly pleasant God, the Spirit

of Christ, won't know what we're talking about.

But for you who welcome him in whom he dwells, even though you

still experience all the limitations of sin, you yourself

experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it,

that if the alive and present God who raised Jesus from the

dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he

did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself.

But God lives and breathes in you, and he does as surely as he

did in Jesus. You are delivered from the dead

life with his spirit living in you.

Your body will be alive as Christ.

So today I want you all who are listening to come to a place,

say, God, I commit myself holy to you.

You know, probably a lot of you are struggling in areas where

abuse has touched you. A lot of you are probably

struggling in areas where you know a certain addiction has

plagued you and has caused you to move into a season of guilt.

And you're just tripping on shame because you're like you're

you feel like you're letting people down.

You feel like you know what you're you're good for no one.

You don't deserve anything. And what God's not just about

changing behaviour. He's wanting to change the very

outlook that you have of who you are.

Probably a lot of you are even, you know, cancelling yourself

because of the way you look. You're unable to look yourself

in the mirror. You buy clothes, but you're not

able to wear it because you think, God, this is not who I

I've been and you've been speaking death over your life.

You've not seen miracles happen. So you think the problem is with

you. And today I want to read this

passage over you because I believe that if we come to a

place and say, God, I wholly trust you have resurrected,

would that same Resurrection Park come into me?

And you know, the beautiful thing is, he doesn't change it

overnight. But five years from now, you'll

see so many changes happen because you've walked in

obedience to his Resurrection Park.

You've walked in alignment to his resurrection path.

I love what it says here. When God lives and breathes in

you as He does, as surely as He did in Jesus, you are delivered

from that dead life. Even everything you're feeling

emotionally, you're feeling you know not great about yourself.

Every selfish thought, every thought that pulls you down,

committed to the resurrected path.

He wants to bring life. What does life look like?

Life looks like having hope. You wake up knowing that God,

you're in control of that day. I'm not in control.

You wake up knowing that God today, even as I step out, I

know your presence is coming out with me.

You know when you're going into the meeting, God, I'm committing

this meeting. I'm presenting this.

I pray that, Lord, you will work it out.

It's not my strength. What?

It's your strength. It's not my will, but your will.

It's not my control. But it's your your plan that's

unfolding in my life. Romans 8 verses 15 to 17 says

Romans 8:15–17

this because you've committed yourself to allow Jesus, this

very spirit that brought about Jesus to life.

You allow that into your body. This is what happens, this

resurrection life you've received from God.

It's not a timid, grave tending life.

It's adventurously expectant greeting God with a child.

Like, what's next, Papa? God's spirit touches our spirit

and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know

who we are, Father and children, and we know we are going to get

what's coming to us. An unbelievable inheritance.

We go through exactly what Christ goes through.

If we go through the hard times with him, then he certainly is

going to go through the good times with him.

And what we read from this passage is simple.

We come expectant. We come with an adventurous

spirit. We come saying God touch our

spirits again. I want to wake up knowing that

you're in control. I want to wake up knowing that

this is you who is leading me into this area.

When we see Jesus after he resurrected, there are certain

things he did. And one of the things that he

did is he went back even as Peter.

When we read in John, we read specifically the power of death

that was on Peter was being demolished once and for all.

And we see because of that we see Peter thriving in who Jesus

called him to be in John Chapter 21, verses 15 to 19, this is

John 21:15–19

what it says. It says when they had finished

eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do

you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, he said, you know

that I love you. Jesus said, feed my lamps.

And then Jesus said, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

He answered, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

Jesus said take care of my sheep The third time, he said to him,

Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time.

Do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all

things, you know that I love you.

Jesus said, feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you

were younger, you dressed yourself up and went where you

wanted. But when you're old, you will

stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and

lead you where you do not want to go.

Jesus said this is to indicate the death by which Peter would

glorify God. Then he said to him, follow me.

And the reason why I'm taking this passage is Peter stood

there back at what he was good at, doing what he thought he was

good at. And that's where Jesus meets him

again. After Jesus risen, he tells him,

have you caught anything? No.

Cast your net. They catch and he knows this

Jesus. He comes to Jesus.

All the other disciples are quiet.

They didn't want to open their mouth.

He sits and eats. And what does Jesus do?

Jesus, in the quietness of that place, redeems the guilt and

shame that Peter carried. And so today, church, I just

want you to come to a place. For those of you listening, if

probably you sitting right behind the screen.

And if you have been hurt by church, I want to boldly declare

this. Jesus wants to redeem that.

You're too precious for him to just let you go.

His church was never meant to hurt you.

People in the church will hurt you.

His church was never meant to hurt you.

If his church, the so-called church you serve, the so-called

place that you were spoke death over you spoke and said things

that were go back to Jesus and say, God, I forgive what was

happened, but I'm coming back to this resurrecting power.

Would you redeem me? I've been plaguing myself in

this guilt and shame. He's willing to come and speak

over your life. You know, most scholars say that

you know the words that Peter used here.

His response was the failure love, but Jesus response was one

of the agape love. His love is different from what

we've experienced. His love and his care.

His touch is way different than what we've experienced as

humans. Let's not take a human

experience and try it to mask it on a God and say this is what

the experience will be. No.

You and I have to find Jesus for ourselves, have to experience

them personally, for ourselves. We can preach, We can lead you

to see the Scripture. But the revelation and what the

Scripture says has to come solely from the Spirit who

birthed out these words, because it's that spirit which carries

life. Peter was grieved.

Jesus knew where to touch that pinched nerve.

You know when you have a pinched nerve somewhere we are unable to

do certain things, especially in your neck.

When you wake up with a sore neck and you're unable to even,

you're stiff like this. You can't even turn to your

right or to your left. He knows where to come put his

healing hand and say, son and daughter, I'm here to touch you.

I'm here to bring life into everything that has been spoken.

Death. So today you might be wondering,

you know what, Geshram? You're saying all this but the

effects of certain things. I walked in.

The abuse, the, the, the hardships are so real and

painful. But the beautiful thing is when

you look to Jesus, when you bring it to Jesus, what you're

going to experience is nothing to do with the earthly love that

you received so far or the earthly love that you didn't

receive. You need to go back to the

Father, because the Father knows how to love you just the way he

knows how. There's There's no playbook

here. There's no guidebook here of how

to say a step by step. This is how he's going to do it.

So today, I don't know who I'm talking to, but I'm going to

tell you, the Cross is where our history ends.

Our his resurrection is where our new beginning begins.

The Cross is where our history ends.

This is what Watchman niece says.

Our old history ends with the Cross.

Our new history begins with the resurrection.

So today, what is this rebirth that I mentioned earlier from

one Peter causing us to do? As I said, it causes us to do

three things. The first thing I believe

strongly is that when He transforms us, He transforms us

from being controlling to being committed.

We rather than trying to control everything, we are committed to

something because we know Jesus is in control.

I'm not in control. So we stop striving and we start

committing to Him. As I read in that we are

spiritually transformed. We start realizing that I I

can't work out my salvation. But the Holy Spirit starts

working in me. And in due time, as he starts

working in me, I am spiritually transformed.

So I start seeing things with the spirit lens.

What does that look like? It looks entirely with us having

life in our lenses. When you look at something,

there's no sunset. We're like, you know what?

If that is where God is pointing us?

In the direction I'm heading in that direction.

And even as you're heading in the direction, you'll soon

realize God is asking you to raise people up so that it'll

continue beyond your lifetime. Because His resistance power is

working beyond our lifetime, we stop fretting about the future.

So today, even as you and I are wanting this resurrection power,

may I encourage you, may his resurrection power come over you

so that it will invade every dead area and bring life, so

that you won't walk in condemnation or guilt or shame.

But you would walk with life that is everlasting, life that

comes only from him knowing him personally.

The second thing is his resurrection power makes room

for miracles. His resurrection power makes

room for miracles. When I put this point down, when

I when I was reading the resurrection story, I realized

God is basically, if there's a hole with doubt, he plugs the

hole up with faith. If there's holes in our life

with doubt, he plugs it up with faith.

And soon they are all covered. And you know he's able to do the

work that He requires us to do. You know, we don't have to be

sick to experience a miracle. We don't have to be in in want

to experience a miracle. Those are those are how we see.

Sometimes you know the word miracle is coming to it, but

sometimes it's even in just being that in our we have a

tendency to disapprove certain things of God and he wants us to

exercise faith in that. And when I read specifically

from the life of Thomas, we see that he wanted to take away

these doubts. He wanted to take away these

doubts his Jesus when he came he this this wasn't just, you know,

like a ghost appearing here and then no, he walked with them.

He was there till an appointed time when he was taken up to

heaven. In John chapter 20, verse 30, it

John 20:30

says Jesus performed many of the signs in the presence of his

disciples which are not recorded in this book.

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus the

Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life

in His name. And the reason why I think many

aren't written is they didn't want.

I think the Holy Spirit wanted to just give enough for us to

have faith because if we if we had way too much it's John goes

on to write that might not be room to write and I believe that

but I also believe God wanted to raise a generation who will take

Him at His word? Who will take him at His word

today? A lot of us are in this place

where we're seeing deconstruction of the Christian

faith, deconstruction of the church, deconstruction of Jesus.

And honestly though, the the world stage is not the place to

look at because people are using religion and especially

Christian faith to kind of have their own agenda and own way of

making things happen. But today, even in your process

of your doubt and your fear and all that you're going through,

because sometimes in the very existence of doubt, when doubt

exists and then the deconstruction happens, don't do

it alone. Deconstruct everything on the

Christian faith with Jesus. Invite the Holy Spirit into the

deconstruction so that he will be able to reveal something you

know. It doesn't require anything to

tear someone down when they're not present.

It's easy to tear someone down when they're not present.

We might as well have that person defend themselves and

tear them down. So invite Jesus in.

Invite Jesus in. If it's about Jesus, invite

Jesus. And if it's about this church,

invite him in. And that's where we need to be.

If we are longing for an invitation, missing Jesus, I

have this doubt. Come in, show it to me.

He's willing to plug it with faith.

John 20, verse 24 to 29. Now Thomas also known as didn't

John 20:24–29

miss one of the 12 was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord but he

said to them, unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put

my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side, I

will not believe. A week later, his disciples were

in the house again and Thomas with them though the doors were

locked. Jesus came and stood among them

and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your

finger here, see my hands, reach out your hand and put it into my

side. Stop doubting and believing,

Thomas said to him, My Lord my God.

Then Jesus told him, because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen me yet and have believed

how ironic. We are all Indians here.

We are sitting in India. There's a church in India.

We are, in fact in Chennai, and this is where Thomas was

martyred. The guy who didn't believe.

But you know what? One of the beautiful things is

even if he didn't believe, he chose to be in the group which

believed. And that's where Jesus meets.

That's where Jesus meets. Jesus meets us when we are with

the group that believes because it depends whose side you're on.

If Thomas had said OK, these guys have gone bonkers, you

know, let me just go to the market and be there here.

I've been just hearing rumours of certain things.

No, he chose to be with the group.

And so today I want to ask each and every one of you, as much as

we're doing online and everything, Find the community

that believes Jesus. Participate in the community

that believes in Jesus. Show up with the community that

believes in Jesus. So participate in what God's

doing. In your doubt, participate in

your not receiving a miracle. Participate in your questioning.

Still participate, because that's where God shows up.

If you are unable to participate in that instance, or you'll soon

realize the crowd that you want to be part of is different and

you're starting to believe what they want to believe.

And I love how Jesus concludes it.

It's like, literally Saint Thomas.

You believe, you ask, I'll show up.

But blessed are those who still believe when they don't see me.

And we are a generation today. We have not seen physically

Jesus, but we believe. We believe in His name, we

believe in His work, we believe in His power, We believe in His

resurrection. Today, are you allowing His

faith to come in and plug in all your doubts, Even as the worship

team sang, This is a House of miracles.

If you want to experience a miracle, I would rather be in

the House of miracles, because that's where I know I'll

experience the miracle. One of the beautiful things I've

seen happen in church, which I which I beautifully, even if I

think I think God even enabled me to speak there on Palm

Sunday, is that the purpose and the plans that each and every

one of us have when it comes within the body of Christ, we

realize it's far bigger, it's far wider, it's far, it's far

big. And God's not calling us to be

in silos, to have our own tiny little Kingdom and think, you

know what this is what Christian life is.

No, God's wanting us to come together 'cause that's where we

will see a bigger work of his resurrection power.

We'll be amazed to see what God can do.

As I said, the first thing, His resurrection power demolishes

the power of death over our lives.

And the second thing we saw, His resurrection power makes room

for miracles. It fills every doubt with faith.

And the third thing that I want to conclude is his resurrection

power propels us to reach the unreached.

It breaks through every spiritual blindness.

You know, one of the beautiful things about the Easter story is

that it came upon a group of people who didn't know why they

were called, why they followed Jesus for 3 1/2 years.

They just, you know, it. There was a certain, I believe

in the physical. They saw something and they just

followed him. But after Jesus left them, what

continued to allow them to follow and do all that he had

called them to do was the resurrection power.

They literally were the first group of people who started to

reach the unreached, which means it broke through their spiritual

blindness. They are their understanding of

all that Jesus taught suddenly broke open and they were able to

see Jesus for who he was. They were able to see this is

who God is. This is what he's meant.

This is what he wants me to do. This is what he's calling me to

do. We see that even in the road

when those two people, two of his disciples were walking, he

showed up and they concluded saying didn't are bodies burned

with something, that this guy is something else.

He's talking something else. They knew something was

happening, this spirit, even when he was there physically

with them. The resurrection part in Matthew

Matthew 28:18–20

28 verses 18 to 20 message says Jesus, undeterred, went right

ahead and gave this charge God authorized and commanded me to

Commission. You go and train everyone you

meet far in here in this way of life, mocking them by baptism

and the threefold name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Then instruct them in the practice of all that I've

commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this,

day after day after day, right up to the very end of age.

And so today, if you and I are called, we are called to do this

day after day after day. A lot of us have taken the

Resurrection Path for a season, and I want to speak specifically

into that because God does not. His resurrection power does not

have a shelf life. His resurrection power does not

have an expiry date. The expiry date is only when we

close our eyes here on this earth.

It's like us walking from 1:00 room into another.

We walk from the physical life into an eternal life and God is

saying my resurrection power will be upon you.

We need to come to a place of saying God.

I'm in deep discontent. I don't have enough.

I need your resurrection, Pennsylvania.

It's not about being comfortable.

He's called us to keep our eyes wide open.

The call was not to build a standoffish community or a

school or a college or a, you know, or a church.

Noise call was to go out into the world, reach the unreached.

They will look different. That's why Missions has existed

all this while. That's why we are always looking

out. Looking out, because people

won't be like us. But we teach them the way of the

Lord. And in turn we also learn the

our ways are different. We go into a culture and we

learn the culture and we start seeing if God, Jesus has to come

into this culture. What did it look like?

You're not creating clones over here.

No, we are understanding God. If this is who you're moving, if

this is the way you're moving, I will abide by this.

I will allow your resurrection part to work in and through

this. So today, if you are being

placed specifically in a place where God's called you, would

you invite the resurrection power?

I believe God's raising up data scientists, God's raising up

teachers, God's raising up artists, creatives, film makers,

God's raising up venture capitalists, God's raising up.

Each and everyone in the church influences whatever you want to

call it, whatever you give the positional name that you want to

give for whatever you're doing. He's calling each and everyone

of you to walk in that resurrection Path solely that

you'll be commissioned to do what he's called you to do.

And I pray specifically that your spiritual blindness will be

broken. I pray specifically that the

Great Commission that he gave forth in Matthew 28 will be

lived out every day. When we lived out, you know

what? When I went when I was in

college and lived it out, but then when I came and got

married, no, I couldn't live it out.

No, it has to propel. It has to multiply in terms of

X. When you it'll be 1X.

When you're married becomes 2X. When you have a kid becomes 3X.

When you have another kid becomes 4X.

That's how we see the resurrection part taking effect.

I want to read from one Peter chapter 2, verses 9 to 10, and

this is what it says. But you are a chosen race, a

royal priest to a consecrated nation, a special people for

God's own position, so that you may proclaim the excellence, the

wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections of Him who called

you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you are not a people at all, but now you're God's

people. Once you had not received mercy,

but now you've received mercy. One of the ways in which we'll

see is resurrected power work is constantly We will go back and

do what was done earlier in a different way so that it'll

reach a whole new bunch of people.

You know, I was just talking to some of the people who have who

who are heading the The Jesus Film Project and it came out in

1979. It's literally close to, you

know, a little 40 years plus, and that it was a defining

moment when many were able to see and accept Jesus for who he

was. And that film still is being

used for evangelistic purposes. But God raised up an Enrique

group saying, hey, the people, the way they engage now is

entirely different. We need to step into that space.

What is that spiritual blindness?

If we are going to be building our own kingdoms, we will be

spiritually blinded by what we want.

But if we are being driven by His resurrection power, we will

soon realize that His Spirit is breathing in US.

His Spirit is causing us to do far more greater things than

what we can imagine. And so they are coming out with

the Jesus animated film project, creating, you know, things with

AR and VR so that it will engage an audience not just five years

from now because five years from now we we will not be able to

engage a whole other generation. But with that in mind, if you're

working, what does it look like? And they've come and it's

marvelous to see how many are partnering along when they bring

this out. It's going to come out in 2000

plus languages. Before it just came out in one

language. Now it's 2000 plus.

Look at the way the resurrection power is working.

So today, you and me cannot just be idling our way at work

saying, you know what, I'm working in this because I just

had to pay my ear. Mice.

No, we have to have a far bigger way in allowing this

resurrection part to work in and through you.

Far too long we've played catch up, far too long we've had

excuses. But today you and I have to come

to a place where we are not just being tugged by the Spirit of

God. No, we have overcome by the

Spirit of God. We are saying Holy Spirit, His

resurrection power, is going to come upon us and cause us to be

awakened so that our spiritual blindness is broken, so that we

are able to see far and wide of what God's calling us to do.

We've used the language of safety.

We've used the language of being protected.

We've used the language of, you know what, I can't do this

because I might be exposing myself.

But Jesus is saying no. My resurrection power is the one

that shall protect you. My resurrection power is the one

which will cause you to have success in everything that you

do. A lot of us are using our own

physical limitations. And I was just reading the story

of Nick Vijic and it says he said if God can use a man

without arms and legs to be his hands and feet, then he will

certainly use any willing heart. And the reason why I'm touched

this he knows how to appear for his audiences, for a Christian

audiences. He brings Jesus right in.

But for a world which does not believe.

He goes out and says, hey, I don't have my limbs and I'm able

to do so much. You have purpose and he's

intertwining that and reaching. God will miraculously use each

and every one of your story to reach.

Are you willing, Are you willing his resurrect?

Are you willing for his resurrection part?

For you to tell his story? Are you willing for his

resurrection part to work in and through you?

God's causing you to be, you know, having a two pronged

approach as you reach out. So when you go out into the

world, you are going out and saying, hey, this is where where

I can come, this is what I'm God will move you towards excellence

wherein they'll be like you know what, you're good at this we

want you to do it. But behind the pushing factor is

the resurrection path. Behind is the fact that He is

allowing you to move through. And you'll also be clear with

your convictions as to where you stand, who Jesus is, what he's

done, what you believe. And that's where we'll be able

to live his resurrection life with his power to the fullest.

So today, even as I conclude, may we come to a place of

realizing Jesus, I can't do this without you.

I need you more than ever before.

Our Christian faith hinges on his resurrection, on the

resurrection story, on the fact that he's living again.

He died and he rose again. And all this while, if Easter

has just been one one of those important days to you, I want to

ask you if you will be able to make that commitment to, say,

Jesus, I'm willing to commit myself to you.

Can your resurrection power work in and through me?

Can you pray? And as I pray, if you're not

invited Jesus into your heart, Lord, I pray even right now that

you would come, Lord, as those who are watching and listening,

that they'll be able to see you, they'll be able to invite you

into their hearts. Would you open your mouth and

say, Jesus, I invite you into my heart, come into my heart.

You're allowing his resurrection part to come in.

I pray that Lord, they won't be bound by the death that was

spoken over them. Lord Jesus, if they're reeling

in guilt and shame and Lord and if they're suffering the

consequences of their sin, that your life giving promise would

come into their life, that they would walk in the assurance that

you are alive. Lord, I pray every doubt will be

plugged with faith. Lord Jesus, every doubt I pray

they'll see the miraculous come. Lord Jesus.

I pray they won't discount and be far away, but they'll be in

community. Lord Jesus, in your place, with

your people. Lord Jesus, we thank you his

resurrection power. Lord Jesus, your resurrection

power breaks through every spiritual blindness, and I pray

right now it will breakthrough and they will see clearly what

they're called for, what their purpose is, for what they're

called to do that will be far bigger.

They won't put a lid because the resurrection part didn't have

anything It nothing could contain you.

Lord Jesus, go before them, Lord.

I pray especially, Lord, that there'll be peace, love and joy

over them. Right now.

I pray Lord, your healing power would come upon their homes

right now, upon their situations, relationships,

families. Right now, I pray your hand of

grace come upon them right now. Lord Jesus, I pray resurrection

power. Would you move in and through,

Lord, so strongly that they'll be able to experience you.

Lord Jesus, we thank you, Lord, we thank you.

Be glorified. Be honoured.

Be strengthened. Lord Jesus.

Thank you, Lord. Strengthen people.

Lord Jesus. I pray circumstances will

change. Situations will change.

Lord Jesus, we thank you. I pray even as family gathers,

that there will be a time of your love to be experienced.

Lord, that your life would be lived out in these places.

Lord Jesus, we thank you. I pray especially not as we step

out in the week. We won't step out timid, but we

will step out with boldness and courage because your

resurrection part is in our slot.

Go before us and be with us. Lord, your most full name, we

pray. Amen.

Amen. So, Church, even as we just

listened, I pray that even as you step out and as you go about

your week, that you would go out with a resurrection power.

Don't allow guilt. Don't allow shame to eat you up.

Go back to His word, receive His resurrection power.

Allow the miraculous to work so that no doubt can be in the

forefront. But rather faith would be in the

forefront and overcome the spiritual blindness so that

you'll be able to see that He's called you to reach the

unreached. So, Church, even as you go go in

peace, I pray and Commission you that you will be able to do all

that God's called out you to, that you would have His

resurrection part in and through.

You'll be confident in who he's called you.

I pray that even as you gather around your families and loved

ones, you'll have a wonderful time.

His peace, his love and joy will be a portion, and his blood

covering will be upon you. Wherever you go, pray that you

all have a blessed Easter. God bless you all.

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