Easter At Awakening 2026

Well, good morning, awakening church.

Great to be with you.

Happy Easter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If you're new, my name's Ryan.

We're absolutely thrilled to have you join us today.

Now, down through the centuries, Christians have this call and response, especially on Easter, but not only on Easter, where one person says, He is risen, and the respondent says, Oh, you know, you know it.

You know it.

Let's let's let's do that all together, human mind.

He is risen! And because he has risen, you and I have real hope.

Praise God.

Amen.

Um the other day I lost the remote to our TV.

Yeah, I know.

Um, it stirred quite the search, mind you.

Um, you know, sofa cushions flipped, kids blamed, our house looked like we had been robbed.

I couldn't find it.

So I ordered a new one.

It came the next day.

And it reminded me of something that we all know.

And it's simply this: when you lose something, the search reveals just how valuable it is.

Uh I was doing laundry once, and I remember having this distinct thought.

I was in the middle of laundry, and one of my socks fell behind the washer.

This was literally had this thought.

Well, it's gone forever.

I hadn't even lost it.

It just wasn't worth getting.

Uh last March, my family and I, we went to the snow uh up to Tahoe to snowboard with family friends, and it was on the weekend.

Maybe you remember where the big storm hit.

And like visibility is maybe 50 feet, and so we're up on the mountain.

And if you get off the main, you know, run, you're into snow up to your waist.

I remember having to take the snowboard off many times, like crawling out, sliding on your belly.

It's miserable.

Going down one run, I got you know disconnected from one of my sons, and it's like, all right, not a problem.

We'll um reconnect at the bottom of the mountain.

The only problem where we're at was a really big mountain.

I get to the bottom, he's not there.

I'm like, oh, he's probably off with his buddy.

I'll see him at some point during the day.

I see his friend about you know 30, 40 minutes later, and I go, Oh, have you seen my son?

And uh he goes, No.

Like, oh, okay.

A little bit of worry starts creeping in, you know, he's fine, he's a good snowboarder, it's gonna be great, you know.

And then about an hour or so later, I get a call.

It's my son, and I hear his voice.

And he got off the main uh run, he's been lost.

He's up to his waist in snow, he's stuck, it's cold.

Somehow he lost a glove.

His phone's at one percent.

Why are teenagers' phones always at one percent?

His voice on the other line, Dad, help.

I thought some people would be coming, but I've been calling, no one's around, I'm stuck, scared.

And then his phone died.

I didn't know the mountain well, but my buddy did.

We alerted snow patrol, and there's three different groups of us going out searching for him.

A little while later, I get a call, he's been found.

He's shaken up, but he's okay.

When you lose something, the search reveals just how valuable it is.

We replace what's cheap, we pursue what's cherished.

And when something is truly valuable, you don't stop searching until you find it.

Uh, truth be told, I gave up very quickly in trying to find that remote.

And I would have given my life trying to find my son.

Question.

How far would God go for you?

I mean, what kind of search would God do for you?

The sermon title today is The God Who Pursues.

Would you say that with me?

If honest, most of us don't feel pursued by God.

Maybe you even feel abandoned or rejected or judged.

Maybe that he's waiting for you to screw up, you feel evaluated, he's watching from a distance with crossed arms, grading your life.

What if God isn't distant or aloof or standing back?

What if he's been moving towards you, pursuing you in love this whole time?

Easter, friends, is the answer to that question.

How far would God go for you?

The life of Jesus, by the way, brings into focus the very heart of God.

The life of Jesus brings the heart of God into focus.

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

And here's the reason why Jesus didn't claim to just be a good man, good teacher, or even God like.

He claimed to be the God man.

In theology, we actually have a word for this.

I'm gonna teach you a theology word.

We good with that?

Better than the last service, I'll take it.

Um it's called the incarnation.

Can you say the incarnation?

Yeah, think carne asada.

That'll help you remember it.

Literally, carne, flesh, meat, right?

Uh incarnation in the flesh.

That's what it literally means.

In the flesh, in Jesus, God became one of us forever.

Fully God, fully human, for all time.

And so when you see Jesus, you see God.

How Jesus responds is exactly how God responds.

How Jesus lived, brought God's heart into focus.

And the question is, why in the world did God go all to all the way, all the trouble to become human?

Why the incarnation?

In the Gospel of Luke, we get a crystal clear picture of the heart of God and why he went to all the trouble.

If you got your Bibles, you can open up to Luke 15.

If not, it's in your notes.

Luke 15, 1 begins this way.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus, but the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

It's interesting that the religious group in Jesus' day were the most confused about him.

What is he up to?

Why?

Jesus, why do you hang with all the quote wrong type of people?

And Jesus' response, he tells what's called a parable or a story.

In fact, he tells a collection of parables, three stories that build with an intensity and clarity to reveal the heart of Creator God for his creation, Jesus' purpose for why he came.

It begins by telling him a story about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep and he loses one of them.

And what does the shepherd do?

Well, he leaves the 99 in pursuit of the one.

When he finds his lost sheep, he picks it up and carries it back.

And instead of scolding that sheep, the shepherd throws a big party, I found my lost sheep.

And then he tells the story of a woman who had 10 gold coins.

This would have been her life savings, and she loses one of them.

She doesn't treat that one like a sock, mind you.

No, she lights a lamp, she sweeps, she searches until she finds the coin.

And once she finds it, she throws a celebration.

She tells all of her friends, come celebrate with me.

And then Jesus tells his final story to make his point.

Each story, something precious is lost.

There's a significant search, and once it's found, there's a great celebration.

This is the climax, the exclamation part.

And perhaps Jesus' most famous story or parable ever.

It's the story of the lost son.

You may know it as the prodigal son.

Jesus continues.

He says, There was a man who had two sons.

The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of this state.

So he divided his property between them.

Now, this is offensive in our day.

It's even more offensive in that day.

The son looks at his dad and basically says, Dad, I wish you were dead.

I want what's coming to me.

I don't want to live under your roof, under your rules.

I want to live life my own way.

Would you give me what's coming to me once you die so I can live life on my own terms?

And the truth is, we all want to live life on our own terms, don't we?

In fact, Isaiah the prophet would say it this way that we all like sheep have gone astray.

Each one of us has wandered and turned our own way.

We're all like that one sheep.

We all want to live life on our own terms.

We all wander.

We all think we know what's best.

We don't want anyone else telling us what to do.

And the truth is, we find ourselves more lost than we care to admit, don't we?

It's fascinating about the father's response.

Wasn't it like a lecture?

It wasn't just to kick him out.

Son, if that's what you want, here you go.

Jesus continues.

Not long after that, the young son got together all he had.

He set off for a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth in wild living.

He got what he wanted.

He lived it up, spent it all, and then Jesus tells us there's a severe famine that hit the land.

He's broke, no family, no friends, no money, nothing.

And so just to get by, he has to work tending pigs.

So hungry, he wished he could eat the food, the slop that the pigs were eating.

What he thought would bring freedom, what he thought would bring fulfillment, turn to quiet desperation, a hidden emptiness.

He had gotten himself lost.

We don't know how long he lived it up, and we don't know how long he was tending pigs.

What we do know is it was long enough to hit rock bottom.

Then it says this about the younger son.

When he came to his senses.

I love that line.

Would you say that with me?

When he came to his senses.

There was a moment of clarity in the muck of the pig pen.

The home he'd left, the father he dishonored, just maybe he could come back as a son.

Not as a son, but as a servant.

And so he devises this plan.

How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to?

I'll set out and go back to my father and say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me like one of your hired servants.

So he got up and went to his father.

He had a moment of clarity in a place of desperation.

Friends, this moment may be your moment of clarity.

Maybe you've tried everything else to bring purpose in life, but the emptiness is still there.

The quiet desperation is still there.

Oh, we're good at covering it up.

Put on a good face.

People think you have it all together.

But the eggs there.

The longing persists.

The son starts the journey home, and the question is what will be the response of the father?

What kind of father will he meet when he gets home?

Will it be rejection?

Will it be arms crossed?

Now, here's what's fascinating.

There was something about the father that the son knew even in all that he had done, he could still come home.

Jesus continues.

But while he was a long way off, this is so good.

His father saw him, filled with compassion for him.

He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.

But while he was a long way off, every day since his young son left, the father had his eyes on the horizon looking.

Maybe one day his son would return.

Every day he watched, he waited, he'd hope.

He'd sit on the porch after a long day's work and look out into that direction to see is there gonna be the silhouette of my son?

And then one day there was that dot on the horizon that turned into the silhouette that he could just begin to notice the gait, the walk of his son, this the shadow, like he's just so he's like only a father can know, and a parent can know.

That's my kid.

And he runs to his son because he's filled with compassion, filled with love for him.

He runs to him, he picks up his robe and exposes his leg like a little kid.

No, this was not what a patriarch was supposed to do.

Patriarch, well respected in his community, was to stand there and wait.

If the son was to return, he would the son was to do the walk of shame through the village, have the rest of the townspeople, his friends, his neighbors hit, you know, hurl ridicule and insults at him, mutter, gossip about him, and he's supposed to stand there and his son's supposed to grovel and, you know, could I possibly get back?

And he's supposed to be like this.

Yet the father disgraces himself in the eyes of the community to embrace his son.

Don't miss this.

The love of the father is greater than the rejection of the son.

The love of the father is greater than the rejection of the son.

And the father, this is so good.

The son would have would have walked back and had this walk of shame.

The father runs to him before the voice of shame could even speak and embraces his son and says, Now, the son, think about this.

The son begins in his speech.

Worked on this.

Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

He's in the middle of this speech, and his father goes, I don't think he's listening.

Quick! Bring the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, bring the fatted calf and kill it.

Let's have a feast and celebrate.

Why?

For the son of mine was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and he was found.

So they began to celebrate.

He lost everything he had left with no robe, no sandals, no ring.

And immediately the father covered his son in the best that he had and placed the ring of sonship on his finger.

Do not miss this.

The heart of God is to welcome you home.

His arms are open wide.

His response was not shame.

His response wasn't, well, finally, it wasn't about time.

It wasn't, what were you thinking?

You're such a disgrace to the family.

You're such an embarrassment.

No, the father's love saw him a long way off and he ran to him, arms open wide.

In the kingdom of heaven, there are no second-class citizens.

He wanted to just simply be a servant.

He says, No, there are not damaged goods.

There are no ones who are just servants or barely squeaking in.

There are precious, delighted in daughter and sons of the King Most High.

And for some, come on.

For some of us, we felt like we could never return home.

You've wandered too far.

You've done too much.

Or if you did come home, all you would find is shame and rejection.

Maybe you used to have a faith.

And then you've wandered off, and the question you have is, would God ever want me back again?

But if it's true, the life of Jesus brings the heart of God into focus, then it answers our biggest questions about coming home and what kind of God is welcoming us.

The incarnation answers the question: Does God understand me?

The incarnation reveals that God understands you from the inside of your world because he stepped into your world.

He understands rejection, he understands betrayal, he understands suffering, he understands what it's like to be rocked and ridiculed, and he understands pain and suffering and brokenness.

He understands you completely.

And the God of all eternity left heaven to come find you.

The cross answers the question: does God love me?

The cross reveals how far God is willing to go for you.

He'd rather die than live without you.

It wasn't Nels that held him to the cross, it was love.

And for all of eternity, his arms stretched open wide for you and for me.

And the resurrection.

The resurrection answers the question: does God have the power to change me?

You see, if the story ends at the cross, we would know we have a God who loves us, but we wouldn't know if he actually has the power to save us.

The resurrection reveals God's power to bring you home.

Easter, this is a news alert.

Hang on.

Easter is not about a bunny.

Sorry, kids.

Which are they're good.

Easter is about an empty tomb.

Easter is about the savior of the world defeating death itself.

The resurrection of God is his declaration that death does not get the final word.

Sin doesn't win, and your past isn't too big.

When you lose something.

Search reveals just how valuable it is.

The truth is, we all wander.

We all get lost.

We all long to find our way.

And the resurrection means there's no place you can go where God cannot bring you home.

I want to share a story with someone who definitely lost an experience and felt found by Jesus.

Would you take a look at it?

I felt so miserable.

Like I couldn't stop crying because you know it's just easy to show to other people that you look great, you look okay, but they don't really know like how broken my heart is.

So there's always like in my heart like restlessness, no contentment.

It just searching for something, like something to feel you.

I remember that was the time I saw a lot of celebrities who claimed that they uh receive healing or clarity or like they found their purpose in life.

It's called ayahuasca, it's a plant-based medicine, and they do it mostly in Latin America.

I thought of myself, oh my god, I can relate.

If this will solve whatever like emptiness or questions about really what's the purpose of life, if this can give me the answer, then be it.

When I got there, it it looks so beautiful.

Like imagine like a resort in the middle of a secluded jungle.

Basically, they're gonna give you some ayahuasca, and that ceremony there will be like shamans just going to like do the chants.

It's really like a spiritual thing, and the first night I truly experienced something I thought was real.

God told me it's okay, whoever I worship, as long as there's love and peace, it felt so light, like there's so much light and so much love.

Second night, I heard this, like I don't know how you would describe it, but like a demonic voice.

I just uttered, stop it, stop it.

And then when I opened my eyes and I just looked up to the sky, that's when I saw the image of Jesus, his face.

He appeared so sad.

I actually asked him, like, why he looked so sad.

His image was disappearing, and I really didn't like what's happening.

Like, I didn't want him to be to disappear.

I think my heart was so crushed thinking about his leaving.

So that's when I held my hand and I just said, like, for three times, like, I need your Jesus.

I need you Jesus, I need you Jesus.

After saying those words, that's when all of a sudden I became sober.

I was just watching what's going on, like my eyes were so wide open, and I realized it was so dark.

Because I was seeing some people that the shamans they pick up and then they place in the altar, and the shamans just like bowing there, like they're chanting, they were chanting.

In that moment, I witnessed what's um like how wicked, how wicked it was.

Back to my hotel.

I had my Bible with me that time, and so when I opened my Bible, the page that I turned, it said there that even Satan can disguise as an angel of light.

That's when it hit me that oh my god, I was in a dark place, and I was crying, I was sobbing.

That was the moment that I truly asked repentance to the Lord.

Like, what did I do, Lord?

Forgive me, and I just remembered all the bad stuff that I did in my life, and I know that was the first time I ever talked to him like that.

Like, it was so raw and it was so real.

I suddenly remembered the verse that was being taught when I was a kid I am the only way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.

So I just uttered those words and then um I declared that Lord lead my life.

You are my Lord and Savior.

I suddenly felt this overwhelming peace, love, and joy.

That very moment, I just knew that I'm a different person.

I think the biggest revelation that night that I'm so sure of my salvation that no one is too far gone.

And even when I was in a wrong place, he still rescued me, and he still found me.

That's why Jesus that he has the power to bring you.

You may feel like you just have one percent.

Maybe you may even feel like your phone's dead a little bit.

And like Leilani's story, it can happen out in the middle of a jungle, or it can happen in the middle of a cafeteria.

Jesus, I need you.

Dad, help.

That's it.

He responds to that.

You may have walked in here feeling far from God, but God is not far from you.

And he longs to meet you.

He longs to rescue you.

He longs to offer the great exchange, his life for yours.

And it's just simply the cry of your heart, the same cry, Jesus, I need you.

Jesus, I need you.

I've been wandering, I'm lost, I'm stuck.

I've tried so many things that I thought would bring life and hope and purpose, and I'm just aching.

If that's you, I just want to give us a moment as before we begin in worship, for you to accept the invitation of Jesus that he says, I long to save you, I long to bring healing and wholeness and purpose.

And so would you pray with me?

And prayer is just a conversation with God, it's just talking to God.

That's all prayer is.

And if you long to experience his rescuing new life, just pray after me.

Jesus, I need you.

I feel lost.

I've been wandering, I'm stuck.

I believe you came for me and you died for me, and you defeated the grave that I might have life in you.

Would you come into my life and make me new?

Would you forgive me and heal me?

Jesus, would you be the leader and rescuer of my life?

If we can just stay in a moment of prayer, and if you prayed that that, would you mind just raising your hand so I could see?

I just would love to pray for you.

No, just raise your hand nice and high.

Awesome, amazing.

Yeah, keep them up, amazing.

Very cool.

Very cool, thank you.

Something lost was found.

A significant search took place.

Once found, a great celebration was thrown.

Those who have stepped into life or have wandered back home.

Your father is celebrating.

Heaven is rejoicing.

Welcome home.

Welcome home.

Welcome home.

Jesus, thank you for your rescuing love, your grace, your kindness, your healing.

Thank you that you went all the way to the cross for us.

And so now as we continue in worship, we just simply say one and big thank you in return.

In your name we pray.

And all God's people said, Amen.

Why don't you stand and we continue?

We hope you are blessed by this message.

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