I Was Blind but Now I See || Pastor Adam Mesa

Why do we share that with you this Resurrection Sunday, Well,

because a few reasons. Number one, we have a generation

right now that is more interested in Jesus than ever before.

And that's beautiful thing, and that's something we celebrate. But

we know that because there's a generation more interested than ever,

most of us will turn to this device quicker than

anything else.

And we use this device for everything.

We go to Google, we go to Yelp, we go

to Instagram, and we go to artificial intelligence. And so

while we have questions, the beauty about Jesus is we

can intellectually show you everything about Jesus. We can intellectually

tell you and show you how Jesus died on the

cross and he rose again. We can show you that

the disciples were willing to give their life up for Jesus.

But at some point, that truth and that information has

to go from your head to your heart, because if

the resurrection of Jesus is not just something that we

think or we know, it's something that you and I

have to decide, is this resurrection for me? On this

Resurrection Sunday, that's the opportunity that we all have, is

not just to know Jesus by thought or mind, but

to have a moment where Jesus, where we believe in

the resurrection for ourselves, because today we.

Know that Jesus has risen.

Take the disciples, for instance, on Friday, when Jesus dies

on the cross, over the next three days, they run

away and they go back to their old lives.

They didn't want the.

Future that Jesus experienced when they saw Jesus on the cross,

his best and closest friend on earth, Peter, his main disciple.

When they ask him, are you with Jesus, his answer

was no, And if.

You read it in the original languages, he even used

cursingfan to express how much he's not with Jesus.

And then he runs away and he goes back to fishing.

But on that Sunday at sunrise, when Jesus was risen,

and later on when Jesus would show up from Galilee,

Peter would go from a young man that denied Jesus

amongst people to literally giving his life for that message.

Why does that happen because Jesus's risen, That's.

Why it happens.

I want you to see how much the disciples, all

of them, not one of them was faithful to Jesus

over those next three days. But on resurrection Sunday their

life radically changed. How much so? How did it end

for the disciples? I want to share with you. Here's

what happened to all the disciples. Here how their lives went.

The moment they met a risen Jesus and their blind

eyes were seen, and they saw the resurrected Jesus, and

there was a boldness in their faith. What happened to them?

Well?

For Andrew, he was crucified on an X shaped cross

in Greece Barfolomele.

He was flayed alive and then beheaded.

James, son of Zebedee beheaded by King hrod Agrippa around

forty four a d. James, son of Alpheus was thrown

from the southeast pinnacle of the temple, then beaten to.

Death with a club. John survived in initial attempts of killing.

They even tried to.

Boil him in hot oil, and he still lived to

an old age, and he wrote.

The Book of Revelation.

Judas Is Scariot hung himself out of the guilt of

betraying Jesus.

Matthew was killed by a sword in Ethiopia for preaching

the gospel.

Peter was crucified upside down in Rome, Philip was crucified,

and others say potentially Stone Simon the Zealot was martyred

and sawed in half.

Thaddeus was killed by a sword.

Thomas was impelled by a soldier in India. These men

were willing to give their life up not because Jesus

died on the cross, but because he rose from the grave.

Because they knew that if Jesus has the power to

rise from the grave, then there's nothing for them to fear.

There's no death that they could be interrupted by.

That.

If Jesus can conquer sin, if Jesus can conquer death,

then disciples.

Knew there's nothing to fear.

You don't have to fear death when you are following

the person who has control of death.

Nothing to be scared of. There's nothing to.

Be scared of when Jesus holds the keys to heaven

and earth.

Resurrection.

Sunday is not just a day that we celebrate our

risen Lord. It's a day that you and I see

Jesus with full clarity. And if you have your notes

that we handed out, you could follow some thoughts along

with me. And the first point is very clear. Point

one number one that I want to share with you

is this is that when you and I see the

resurrection of Jesus, we see that Jesus helps us see clearly,

it's God's desire that you and I see him in

full visual force. Here's what Matthew chapter twenty eight, verse

five to seven says when the Angel of the Lord

appears to the women concerning Jesus's empty tomb. It says this,

But the Angel said to the women, do not be afraid,

for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified.

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said,

Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly

and tell the disciples that he has risen from the dead.

And behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There

you will see him.

See I have told you.

You see.

Even still to this day, you and I could jump

on a plane and we can go to Jerusalem, and

I can show you an empty tomb that sits in

Jerusalem where a Jesus for three days once laid. But

here's the beautiful thing about the resurrection.

That tomb is empty.

Jesus no longer resides in that tomb because he has risen.

That's a miracle of God. There's an empty tomb that

still exists.

The cross reveals the cost of our sin, but the

empty tomb reveals the clarity of our savior.

The Gray author C. S. Lewis says it like this.

He says, I.

Believe in Christianity, or rather Jesus, as I believe that

the sun has risen, not only because I can see

the sun, but because by it I see everything else.

The resurrection is God's grace and God's grace of a

lens that you and I can.

See the rest of the world.

Not only that, it's through God's grace that we can

see ourselves. It's in the resurrection that you can see

that Jesus paid a price. Not only that the resurrection

is Jesus is victorious. He's conquered death, he's conquered sin,

and he'squered Satan and put him in his place. There's

hope in the resurrection of Jesus. There's belief in the

resurrection of Jesus. Seeing Jesus clearly is not seeing him

where he was, which was the cross.

It's where Jesus is.

You see, if the story just stops at the cross,

then that's it. It's where Jesus was. He was on

the cross. But what matters is where Jesus is today.

Jesus sits at the right hand of God.

Fully risen, fully risen, and that's because that's who Jesus is.

Here's the second thought I want to share with you

on this resurrection Sunday. What happens is when you and

I see the resurrection of Jesus, will see that Jesus.

Is here to help you with your own calling.

Jesus has called every single one of us John chapter twenty,

verse twenty one, as the Father sent me, I am

sending you. Jesus has a call for your life. Jesus

has your purpose for your life. And you see this calling,

and this purpose that Jesus has is to create.

A boldness in you and I.

The resurrection of Jesus is not a path towards convenience.

It's a path towards conviction and commitment.

Jesus did not die so that you and I would

live a comfortable life. It's that he died and resurrected

so that we would live a victorious life. That we

would see that Jesus is more than a conquer and

through him and by him, you and I have conquered,

not because of what we've done, because everything Jesus has done.

You see, the crost Us exposes our brokenness. But the

resurrection should ignite your boldness. That's what the resurrection is.

It's a boldness that God has given you and I.

You see, when the disciples saw a risen Jesus, they.

Went from cowards to confidence. You see. Peter denied Jesus

by a.

Fire, but when he met the resurrected Jesus, he preached

fire at Pentecost.

You see, Thomas went from doubting.

Jesus's resurrection to declaring Jesus's resurrection to the point that

he was stabbed in India for it. And Mary Magdalene

went from weeping over Jesus's death to witnessing to the

world that Jesus is alive. When you and I believe

in the resurrection and see the resurrection, it creates a

confidence and a boldness in our spirit that if Jesus

has risen, then there's nothing to fear and there's everything

to say celebrate. There's a confidence knowing that Jesus paid

the price. Have you ever been pre approved for a

loan before, like going into a car dealership or anything

like that, because there's.

Two type of situations that will happen.

Is if you go to get a car loan, you

go into the car dealership and then they go in

the back and they run the numbers and they come

out to you, and you're nervous.

Because you don't.

Know what that APR is gonna be. Like, you don't

know whether you're gonna be approved. You don't know if

they're gonna say, oh, we need more money down or

whatever it is. But a lot of times if you

go through a credit union, they.

Will approve you pre approved and they.

Will even send you a check that you can bring

to the dealership. How many of you guys know because

I've done both options before. The first option, when I'm

not pre approved, I go into the dealership scared, timid, nervous.

It gonna be zero percent or nowadays thirty percent. But

when I'm preapproved, now walk in that dealership, check in hand.

This guy, look at this. You need to talk to

our finance man. Nah, he talk to your find He

need to talk to me. You're talking about I ain't

worried about nothing. I'm pre approved.

There's nothing to worry about. When you and I look

at the Cross and the resurrection of Jesus, it's God's

approval of you that you need to walk in life,

not scared, not timid, not worried. But you walk into

the room and you know that Jesus, by your faith

in the Cross and the Resurrection, he has approved you.

And if you've been approved by God, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter what your neighbor says, It doesn't matter

what your auntie says, it doesn't matter what your friend says.

When Jesus approves of you, you gotta get bold, you

gotta get confident.

Nothing to worry about.

The Psalm says, though I walked through value of the

shadow of death, I will fear no evil from my

God is with me. You see, though you walk through valleys,

though you walk through deserts, when you've been approved by

the resurrection of Jesus to give you a boldness and

a calling and a confidence.

What are we so worried about? Why do we get

so troubled by the news.

Why do we get so troubled by what we see

on our phones. Why do we let this thing affect

us so much? When our king has risen, When Jesus

is alive and he.

Has approved you. He's approved you.

God has called us to live a life of confidence.

Jesus says this in the scriptures. He said, Then Jesus

said to them, do not be afraid and go. Tell

my brothers to go to Galilee, for they will see me.

When you and I see Jesus, we see that God

doesn't save us from something. He saves us for something.

I didn't just save you to rescue you from sin

and death. He saves and he redeems you through the

resurrection for something and for someone else to go let

someone else know that Jesus has risen. It's like when

you hear good news about something. If you're a person

that loves people and loves your neighbors and loves your friends,

you're gonna tell your friends about.

That good news. We don't keep that to ourselves.

Jesus is the good news of the world that he

has risen.

We gotta be more bold. How many you guys?

Is there anybody here that's like a fan of cats,

Because I'm personally I'm not I can't stand them. I

have doubts about them, you know.

I don't know.

I'm like, how many of you guys see Look how

bold cats are, Like, it doesn't matter how big the

enemy is to a cat, it doesn't matter how scary

the situation is.

Like that cat is fighting a cobra.

I have a Doberman, and I think he would run

away from a cobra. That fluffy little cat is fighting

a pack of dogs. So much so that cats have

such a boldness that there's a stereotype about cats that

they say that cats have nine lives, not because they

literally have nine lives, but because of how bold cats are.

They say cats just don't fear death. I mean, you

see them.

They jump from one wall to another, and they'll fall

like thirty feet in the air, land on the ground,

get up.

And keep walking.

I think to myself, what if more believers in the

resurrection walked about their life with a boldness like that

that says, oh, I don't have one life.

I serve a resurrect in Jesus.

And if the resurrection is true for Jesus, the resurrection

is true for me. If the resurrection is true for Jesus,

then those loved ones that have gone home to be

with the Lord. They're alive, and there's a resurrection promised

for them. The Book of Revelation says Maranatha, Jesus, come quickly.

We await for the return of Jesus to resurrect all

humankind that believeth in him.

That is what we look forward to.

Instead, there's so many of us because of life. We

walk around more so with our tail in between our legs,

scared and fearful of every corner and every turn. And

I'm not saying don't be wise about what happens around us.

But what I am saying is that if we believe

the resurrection is true and real, then we.

Should be a little bit more bold.

And we should know that Jesus calls us to be bold.

What would happen if you had your chin more up

in the air and your chest high in the air,

not because of what you've accomplished, not because the degrees

you have, or what you have in your bank account

or don't have in your bank account, but because you

know that your King is in heaven and he's risen,

and there's an empty grave that proves that. And there

are disciples that gave their life. That show that if

we believed more of the resurrection, we would be bold.

Not only would we be bold.

The last thought I want to share with you is

we would also be confident. God calls you to be bold,

and that means to have a purpose, a boldness to

share your faith in Jesus. But there's something deeper than

that that God wants to do. Is the resurrection of

Jesus will help you in your confidence.

How do I know that? Well? The Word of God

says this.

It says, and Jesus came and said to him all

authority in Matthew twenty eight, and on earth has been

given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name.

Of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Teach them to observe all that I've command you, And behold.

I am with you always till the end of the age.

That's a prom of Jesus through the power and thy

dynamic power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is with us.

And if Jesus is with you, according to Romans chapter eight,

who'll be against you? If God is on your side,

what can separate you from Jesus. Nothing, nothing, nothing can

separate us from the love of God. So God has

called us to be more confident. In two thousand and seven,

when I was a senior in high school, I gave

my life to Jesus Christ. That's when I gave my

life to Christ. It was a radical transformation for me.

It was in December of two thousand and seven. I

remember it vividly. I was in the I was next

to I was in my brother's bedroom of my parents' house.

My brother Caleb shared the Gospel with me.

But here's what happened to me all of high school,

predominantly high school, I was actually very ashamed to be

a Christian. I didn't want no one to know that

I identified as a Christian. Now I hadn't fully surrendered

to Jesus, but like anyone else, you know, I would.

Say that I was a Christian because I went to

church on Sundays. That was kind of it.

But one of the reasons why I didn't want people

to know that I was a Christian because so many

people already knew that my dad was a pastor, and

so anyone that knew my dad was a pastor, expectations

were here and I didn't live up to those expectations,

and it was a parent if you hung around me

long enough. So I hated it because often I would

hear things like this, not exactly like this. This was

about the meanest version that I heard it. But for me,

it kept my desire for no one to know that

I'm a believer or that I may believe in Jesus

because of moments like this. I'm in high school in

his senior year. It's the beginning of the semester, and

I have a teacher, and I happened. And my teacher

was an atheist, but she knew that my dad was

a pastor, and so what happened was is I was

like cussing and other stuff in class, okay, and so

don't be judging me. Non't me staring at me. You're

talking about you was doing it. Just looking for parking today,

So don't look at your spouse. Don't do that his forgiveness.

We're gonna do that the end of service. But I

was like the teacher. She would overhear me. I'd be

flirting with girls in class, I'd be cussing.

Other things like so. I vividly remember one.

Day I'm walking out a class and she says, hey, Adam,

your dad's a pastor, right, And I said, I said, yes, ma'am,

my dad is a pastor.

And she said, you.

Know, you are a sorry excuse and a bad example

for a Christian. I was like, what, she goes, you

should be ashamed of yourself for your dad being a

pastor and you talk the way you do and blah

blah blah blah blah. And you know again, I wasn't

saved at that moment, so I shared with her some

thoughts that I had fresh on my mind in that moment.

I ended up in the dean's office and I ended

up getting a little time off from for a couple

of days. But here was the thing. I was always

ashamed for people to know that I was a Christian,

or at least that my parents.

Were Christians and I just went to church on Sundays.

But what happened was when I was saved just a

few months later and I gave my life to Jesus Christ.

I was so bold and so confident.

God opened my blind eyes and I saw the death

and resurrection in such a way that I said that

if Jesus would die for me, if Jesus would take

my sins on the cross, if Jesus would resurrect from

the dead, not because he had to, but because he

chose to for you and I.

What am I.

Doing here in school, not letting anyone know that I

have a risen savior?

What am I doing? I saw my cowardness in my

own life that.

I said I gotta do somebody. So what I did

in my own way, this was in high school. You

all remember those old school Gideon Bibles, these little pocket

bibles that they would have. What I did was I

went on eBay and I bought them in every color.

So I had like orange, green, camel, I had everything.

And back then, because I had.

More like a skater style, we would wear shoelaces as

our belts. And so what I would do is, depending

on my outfit for the day, what I would do

is I would slide my Bible in the belt loop

of my shoelace. And so if I was wearing green

that day, I would have a green Gideon's Bible. If

I had orange in my shirt that trust me, I've

been flying for a very long time, even since high school.

When you're raised in a black church. You make sure

things match. That's the one thing you're taught when you're

raised in a black church. And so what I did, though,

is I would wear it like this. And I went

from never talking about Jesus. I went from never inviting

anyone to church. God didn't want no one to come

to church, because you'd come to church and you see

me lifting my hands on Sunday, but you see me

holler at someone on Monday.

I didn't want nobody. I didn't want nobody to know.

But when Jesus got my heart, when Jesus turned this

heart of stone through his resurrection heart of flesh, I

was so proud. Not only did I wear this during

my lunch breaks, I begin to read this.

I fell in love with Jesus.

For me, it wasn't a matter of information, It wasn't

a matter of knowledge. God was transforming my heart. He

was raising a dead atom from the grave. Every day

that I had an encounter with the power of God,

my confidence grew. Not because I was confident in myself,

but God began to build confidence in my life. That's

what the resurrection does. That's what God wants to do

in your life. That's what he wants to do in

our life is he wants you to be bold and confident,

not by your strength, not by your might, but by

the power of the blood and the resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus has risen, He's risen, and you and I can

be bold and confident to know that if you and

I would believe in Jesus, if we would see the

Father's love for humanity, that he would send his only

son to die for you and I, you and I

would have an encounter of clarity and calling from Jesus

like never before. One Corinthians fifteen fifty five to fifty

seven says.

This, oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where

is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of

sin is the law. But thanks be to God who

gives us victory through Jesus Christ. Have you ever seen

an NBA team win a championship and they go through

their city in a parade and everybody celebrates the victory.

Every Resurrection Sunday, we're celebrating the.

Victory of Jesus. We're celebrating that our God.

Has risen and Jesus has the power of sin and

death in his hand. And according to Genesis, he's crushed

the head of the enemy and he's given you and

I life, abundant life to those who would believe.

In what he's done.

So I closed today with this last story that I

want to share with you, and it's one that my dad,

Pastor Diego, has been sharing for over a decade every

Resurrection Sunday. And wherever you're at, if you're in the cafe, courtyard,

the gym, I know we're overflowed in every place right now.

I want to make an invitation to you in just

a matter of moments on this Resurrection Sunday. There's a

story my dad's always told and for me it always

has brought tear in.

My eye on Resurrection Sunday.

It's a story of a man who was wealthy, and

this man was a lover of art.

He collected all types of art.

He collected paintings and statues, and he collected things by

Picasso and Monet.

And just beautiful pieces of art.

And he had an only son, and him and his

son would go throughout his home and they just love

to revel in the beauty of the art pieces. It's

a passion that him and his son shared together. Well,

his son ended up joining the military, and he ended

up going off to war. The son himself was he

loved art so much so, but he was a very

amateur artist, wasn't a great painter, wasn't a great drawler.

But what happened was when he was in war, his

best friend showed up on his father's doorstep one day

and he had the flag, and he said, I'm sorry, sir,

but your son has died in battle.

And he gave him the flag.

Out of his pocket, he said, And by the way,

the day before he died, he drew this self portrait

of himself and he hands it to the father. The

father broken hearted, the father who was hurting, and the

father who had missed his son. He looks at that painting,

and he looks at that drawing, and he covers all

his other art pieces. He covers the picassos, he covers

the monet's, he covers it all, puts black tarp over

all of it, and every day he would just look

at his son's drawing of himself. Well, eventually that father

would die of old age, and because he had no

one to pass his estate to, it went.

Up for auction.

While all of the world's wealthy in who's who They

came in. They flew in chauffeurs, private jets. They arrived

at the house and they're all trying to get their

hands on the rarest paintings and sculptures that humans have had,

and people are ready to bid millions upon millions upon

millions of dollars. Before the bidding starts, the conductor of

the bid comes on stage and he says, before we

start the bidding for everything that everyone has come for. First,

the man who's passed away according to his will, he

says that he's going to have a drawing that his

son has drawn, drew, and that's going to be the

first thing that's up for auction. And so the little

on a little piece of paper, they put it up

on a display and everybody starts laughing because it's not

a good painting and it's not a good drawing, but

to the father it meant everything. It was the only

it was the last drawing his son had before he died.

And so what happens is is they said we'll start

the bid at ten thousand dollars. People start snickering and laughing.

No one says anything, We'll start the bid at one thousand.

Dollars, no one says anything.

We'll start the bid at five hundred dollars, no one

says anything. Three hundred dollars, no one says anything. Finally,

a man stands up and he says, I'll give you

twenty dollars for the picture. The man at that time

takes his gabble and he slams it down on the table,

and he says, lady and gentlemen, I want to thank

you so much for coming to the auction today. The

auction is officially closed. I will now read you the

rest of the will and the letter of the Father.

He pulls out the Will of the Letter of the

Father and he says this, he that gets the Son

gets it all, sir. By you getting the painting of

the Son, you get everything else that everyone has come for.

That's what the resurrection of Jesus is. The person who

chooses to.

Receive the Son, you get it all. You get life,

you get peace, you get hope, you get joy, you

get stepfastess, you get a boldness.

You get confidence. You get the King of Kings and

Lord of lords.

You get the Holy Spirit. You get God that will

lead you in life. He that gets the sun gets

it all.

You get it all when you get Jesus. I don't

know what questions you have. I don't know what you

came with, but I can tell you this.

It's Jesus is sufficient in all things.

You get it all. I want you to look at

someone and say, you get it all through Jesus. You

get it all.

And so I simply want to ask in this moment,

wherever you're at. You may be in this room, you

may be in the cafe, courtyard or the gym, and

you're saying, I've never I've never received Jesus Christ is

my Lord and Savior. I'm here to tell you today

that there is no way to have a relationship with

God the Father. There is no way to heaven outside

of Jesus. Why because that is God's only son, This

his only son. I wouldn't give up one of my

sons for something if there was another way to get somewhere,

If my son was the only way to cure a disease,

but other people were like then they created another type

of way to cure that disease, and they say, well,

we still want to take your son, We still want

to take his life.

It just be more added value.

I'd say no, no, If you're gonna take my son,

then he's got to be the only cure.

But I'm gonna give up my son. He's the only

one that people need to trust in.

For God, He's given his only son that whoever believe

in him will not perish, would have ever lasting life.

He that gets the son gets it all.

So, if you're in this place today, I'm gonna make

an invitation of faithf you're ready to receive Jesus Christ

as your Lord and savior today, you're ready to rest

your hope and your faith on the Son of God,

the risen King. On the counter three, wherever you're at,

I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand. If Jesus

can die, bold and naked and bloody and beaten on

a cross for all to see, then in this place today,

at church, amongst safe family and friends, anyone who's willing

to choose.

Jesus as their Lord and savior.

Surely we could be bold enough to raise our hand

and give our life to Christ.

So, if you're ready to make a decision.

To follow Jesus, I encourage you, on the counter of three,

raise your hand boldly in the air today one two, one,

two three, raise your hand to hey, God bless you,

my friend. Keep your hand up so we can sell.

God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God

bless you, God bless We celebrate with you. Welcome to

the family. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you,

God bless you. I see, I know there's people in the.

Courtyard and the cafe and the gym and aline.

God bless you. We celebrate with you. Can we all

say this together right now with a heart of boldness.

Dear Lord Jesus, in this moment, I confess you as

my Lord and savior.

I repent to my sins. Now.

I believe in my heart that Jesus rose again, and

I choose to follow you for the rest of my

days in Jesus' name. Amen, Let's celebrate one more time

with those that raise your hand. If you gave your

life to Jesus today, you could go to our website.

Before you leave. You're gonna ww dot grow fa pastor

Aaron's gonna dismiss us altogether.

Could we all stand on our feet.

We're gonna leave here together right now in a matter

of moments.

As Pastor Aaron dismisses.

Us, let's give Jesus a round of applause for what

do you accomplished today?

Hey, when you came in here, everybody.

Received this mirror and it's on your notes from First

Corinthians thirteen twelve. For now we see in the mirror dimly,

but then face to face. Now I know him part

then I should know fully. And this is the symbolize

that you don't see yourself clearly until you see Jesus.

And many of you guys have met Jesus today. I'll

close with this, and if you need additional prayer, our

team will be in the front to pray for you.

Remember fifteen years ago when I heard Pastor Diego give

that altar call and I stood away back in the back,

and he gave the challenge on Easter twenty ten, he said,

come to church for the next year straight and see

what God to do in your life. Well, the Levy

family is testimony and when you put God first, he'll

radically transform you. So we can't wait to see you

next Wednesday or next Sunday. Heavenly Father, we thank you

for what you've done accomplish your word through your saints.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Hey man, God bless you.

You're dismissed. Thank you,