Happy Easter! Pastor Tim Dunn "Alive" (Sunday 4-20-25)

Welcome to Life City. This podcast was created to celebrate

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listen to the Word and we pray that God speaks

to you in this message.

Matthew twenty eight six. I didn't put that on there.

To whoever's running at don't freak out, Matthew twenty eight six.

He is not here, for he is. All right, We'll

try that again. He is not here, for he is.

Are we go you so quick? As he said, had

come see the place where the Lord lay March sixteen six.

But he said to them, don't be alarmed. You seek

Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He

is not here. See the place where they laid him. Amen.

Luke talks about it. Now, I do have Luke. Let's

go to Luke chapter twenty four. So they went in,

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

They didn't find it, Amen, But yet they expected to.

You thought about that, expecting to find his dead body,

despite spending all of this time with him, despite hearing

what he had to say. Despite him telling them I'm

not gonna stay dead, he was very clear about his plans.

Yet they went in expecting to find his body. Amen. See,

this is the amazing thing about the Lord when you

begin to seek him. Sometimes you seek him in what

you think you want to find, but he knows what

you really need. And so that's why Nehemiah said, Our

Jeremiah said, if you seek him with all of your heart,

you will find him. Now, when you find him, it

may not be in the context that you were seeing

him in, but you're gonna find him. He's gonna show up. Amen.

This to use a Bible word, this perplexed me. It's

a good word. Use that this week and see if

somebody looks at you sideways. So they went in, and

they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

Happened as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold,

two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as

they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth,

they said to them, why are you seeking the living

among the dead. And that's a whole nother message right there.

He is not here, but his risen. Remember how he

spoke about this. Remember how he spoke to you when

he was instill in Galilee, saying, the son of Man

must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and

be crucified. And the third day rise again, oh verse eight.

And they remembered his words, hallelujah. Life has a way

of pushing the promises of God to the back burner

of our minds. Amen. Just last night a lot of

us were texting each other. You are right, you high

flying roofs still on well. Physical storm that blew through

this area. Yeah, several your life ever felt like that.

But this is the thing. We walk outside, I think,

I see the sun shining. The storm is still not raging.

It passes. Just like David said, though I walk through

the valley of the Shadow of Death, I don't have

to fear, you know why, because His rod and his

staff are with me. They comfort me. He is my provider,

he is my protection. Amen. And so there are storms, physical, emotional, relational,

spiritual storms that have in our lives. But just know,

the storm passes, and the Lord is still good, and

he's still on time, and he's still powerful. Amen. Amen.

And so they remembered his words So this little exchange

here in verse five from the angels was a challenge

of Mary's expectation. What did she expect to find? The

angels could have gone on and asked her about the

spices that were meant for a dead body, because that's

why they came back. Why was she expecting to find

his body when they had been told that he would

rise again? And I felt the Lord really pushing me

to lean in to this idea of expectation. So instead

of telling you the resurrection story, which I imagine most,

if not all, of me, you've already heard it. If

you haven't, you can go to your Bible. There's four

books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that tell you very

intricately about it. So instead of telling you the resurrection story,

instead of finding some nuance within the story to highlight

and preach, and there are a lot of them, I

threw out a little deal to a few of the

ministers here this week. I text him and I said, hey,

here's a conundrum, kind of here's a you know, everybody,

the joke is I chase squirrels when I'm preaching. This

was a squirrel I shared with them. I invited them

to my hunt is what I did. I asked him

this question, I said, and I'm I'm Some of you

are gonna be like, why did you do that? I

asked him, I said why in Matthew and Mark mentioned

one angel, Luke and John mentioned two. Mark, Luke and

John mentioned angels inside the tomb. Matthew is the only

one that mentions an am the tomb sitting on the stone.

See this is picture into my head. Amen. Just see

there's all these little nuances that you can go and

Jaren last night during the storm, he was we were

all outside watching the storm. Jaren was studying his Bible.

He text us this long deal. I said, well, thanks

for preaching part of my message. I feel I need

to tell you about what you can expect from him,

what you and I can expect from our risen Lord

and savior. Right off the top, as I mentioned earlier,

you can expect his mercies to be new every day. Amen.

The reason they're new every day is because he's alive. Amen.

If he would have stayed in that tomb, his mercies

would not be new every day. They would have died

with him. But we, because he is alive, can expect

his mercies to be new every single day, no matter

how dark the night, no matter how bad the day.

In the morning, when I rise, I rise with his

mercies still firmly planted in my life. And I can

take a step knowing that He holds my today, that

he's already there preparing my path. Amen. We have that

promise because he's alive. Amen. And as also as I mentioned,

we know because he lives, and because he is sufficient

to Amen. Whatever the unknown of tomorrow is, I know

I'll make it to. The storm may be strong, the

wind may be strong, it may be raining sideways. I

know I'll make it through. Why, because His grace is

sufficient to Tomorrow may hold something else, a giant for you.

You may face a wall tomorrow, you may face a

hardship tomorrow. But I want to remind you of the

word of God today that you can expect his grace

to be sufficient for tomorrow. Amen. Amen, these are just

some things that we can expect. Hallelujah. And you can

expect his love to be perfect. You can expect that

tomorrow you don't have to fear. You know why, because

His love for you is perfect and perfect love cast

out all fear. Amen. Perfect love removes all fear, and

so you don't have to fear tomorrow. You don't have

to walk in to tomorrow filled with anxiety and fear

and stress. You can walk in tomorrow knowing nothing I

face will defeat me, nothing I face will overcome me.

Why because the Lord is on my side. Amen. We

have these promises every day. Why because he's alive, Amen,

and we can expect them. So tomorrow, when you wake up,

expect his mercy, expect his grace, and expect his perfect love. Amen,

Because he stands in tomorrow waiting on you and I

You know he's already there. He's not bound by twenty

four hours. He's not bound by time. He created time.

He spoke time to us outside of the realm of time. Amen.

Time hinders us, it limits us. It's why we age

and why we get old, and why we get white

hair in our beard and white hair on our head,

and it's why we grow wiser when those white hair

show up. Amen. We're gonna start a white hair ministry. Amen.

What to expect In the Gospels the writers. Each writer

tells us the story just a little bit different than

the others, but they all mention how many enters the

tomb to find his body gone. They all mentioned something

about angels being present. But it's only in the Gospel

of Luke where we find the Angel reminding Mary of

what Jesus said. It's only in Luke where he says

in verse seven of Luke twenty four, the son of Man.

Remember him saying this, The son of Man must be

delivered into the hands of sinful men. He's going to

be crucified, but he will rise again. Now this was

my thought. How did what they saw on Calvary mute

his words about his resurrection? Or they if they would

have remembered his words, his teaching, they would have expected

the tone to be empty when you think they would

have expected him to be gone. So I want to

remind you of his words about your resurrection. We know

about his It's all written here. What about your resurrection?

What about your new life? What about what he has

in store for you? What about the dead things in

your life coming to life becoming alive? What about you

and I being alive in him? Amen, that's what I

really want to know about. That's what I want to

talk about today. You don't why, because it's what he

wants to talk about. It's why he did what he

did on Calvary and in the tomb and being risen again.

He did it so that you and I could be

among the living. He did it so that you and

I would not be dead in our sin and our trespath,

but that we could be alive in Him, living a

life of purpose, living a life of power and anointing

and calling. Amen. Not just existing, not just breathing, but

being alive. Somebody next to you and ask them, are

you alive? So this is the deal. They probably answered

you yes, but that didn't answer the question. Are you

alive in him? Hallelujah? Are you alive in him? Are

you living your life in His purpose? You could be.

If you're not, you can be. You need to be.

You should be. Amen. That's what we're called to do.

If you came worried today about dead things in your life,

if you think his promises are dead, if you think

his calling and purpose on your life is dead, if

you think his anointing over you is dead, let me

remind you of what Jesus said and John chapter eleven.

It's already been read, verse twenty five through twenty six.

Jesus said to her. Ah, she thought he's talking to Martha.

This is another todd You're gonna appreciate this. This is

another thing. Martha and Mary were commentator commentators. Historians say

they both were at the tomb of Jesus. How did

they not expect him to be alive? Because right here

in John eleven, Martha and Mary are upset at Jesus

because he didn't show up to heal their brother Lazarus,

and so here to them to their clock four days late,

and they're griping them out if you'd have just been

here on time, man, why are you always late? Wait? No, wait,

that's what my wife says to me.

Sorry, I got all messed up just playing baby.

So Martha and Mary witness him stepping to the tomb

of Lazarus and simply saying come and four day dead.

Lazarus gets up and walks out of the tomb. Amen,

and this is what he says. I am the resurrection

and life. Hallelujah, he who believes in me, though he

may die, he shall live. I want you to leave

that up. I am the resurrection in life. Somebody needs

to be reminded of that today. Amen. Amen, you may

be alive here today, got breath in your body, Your

heart is pumping, blood's running through, You're standing, You're awake. Amen,

But are you really living? Are you really alive in

Jesus Christ? If you are not, he is still the

resurrection and the life. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen, you can live

a life that is full of anointing and purpose and

power and dominion and authority. Amen. That's what he wants

for you. Amen, hallelujah. All right, I guess I got

it up there. So go to verse twenty six. And

whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do

you believe this? He was asking Martha? Do you believe this?

I'm asking you? Do you believe in your own resurrection? Amen?

Do you believe that God here today can speak life

into the dead things in your life? Amen? The things

that you thought your past had had killed. We all

have them. A couple of weeks ago, we had a

missionary come and he talked about skeletons in the closet, right,

remember that.

Man.

He talked about his own skeleton. Man. But truth be told,

there are some spiritual skeletons that we've allowed to stay dead.

And the last me to just simply remind you that

he wants to resurrect the promises that you thought were dead.

He wants to resurrect the calling and the anointing that

you thought were dead. He never called you just to exist,

He never called you just to live. He called you

to be a chosen generation, a holy priesthood, a royal nation,

a royal people, a chosen people. That's who he has

called you to be. Amen. And so if you're living

anywhere below that line, Amen, he has come to speak

life into your life today. He's come to speak life

and to resurrect your calling and your anointing and your

spiritual relationship with him. Amen. Paul wrote to the church

in Rome Romans, chapter eight, verse eleven. But if the

spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells

in you, does he does that spirit dwell in you today?

I hope it does. He who raised Christ from the

dead will also give what life? Amen. I want us

to say that give what life. There was a time

I think we yes, it was when before our girls

were born and we were wanting to have a child,

and it was difficult. We went through this season, it

was really really hard. We've talked about it. My wife's

talked about it. I've talked about it, and I don't

even know remember who it was. It may have been family.

I don't remember who it was. But they told every

day speak life, every single day, speak life. Amen. And

we've got two beautiful girls, little girls. That principle still

works every day when you when you're eyes open, you

need to speak life. Amen. Speak life over your calling,

speak life over your mind. Amen. Why because if you don't,

fear will try to come in. Amen. Anxiety and oppression

and depression will try to come in. Amen. And so

it's important for us to speak life. He said, He

who has raised Christ from the dead will also give

life to your immortal bodies through his spirit who dwells

in you. Amen. Hallelujah. The angel asked Mary in luke,

why are you seeking the living among the dead? Hallelujah.

I'll say this then I'm gonna move on, because that

is a giant world that I would love to chase

right now. Amen. Our human nature, in its weakness, has

a tendency to look for answers in dead things, in

temporary things. Amen. Paul said, Let your mind be on

things above, not on things on the earth. Amen. Let

your mind be consumed with the things that are eternal,

the things that know no limitation, and that is God Almighty. Amen.

Don't seek the things for your soul among the temporal

things that will die and fade away. No, let us

be seeking Jesus. Hallelujah. I told you I that's all right.

I'm moving on. But Jesus rose again to make the

dead come to life. I'm so glad that he came

looking for me among the dead things. You know why,

because just as he told the prophet Ezekiel, speak to

the bones, Amen, speak to the bones and Ezekiel, can

these bones live? These? E say? Lord? You know Amen,

I would ask you that question. Those things that you

thought were dead? Can they live? Amen? Are you willing

to start speaking life to those things? Is there a

resurrection that needs to happen in your life a man,

in your relationship with him? Does your faith need resurrected?

Does your hope need resurrected? Amen? Does your love for

Jesus need to be resurrected? Does your relationship and your

knowledge and your understanding of Him need to be resurrected today? Amen?

If so, that's why he has met us here Ephesians

chapter two, As my wife comes, Ephesians chapter two, Verse one.

I love this. He doesn't make any bones about it,

he doesn't beat around the bush. And you he made alive,

who were dead in trespasses and sins. We were a

pile of bones, dead in dry bones, in which you

once walked, according to the course of this world, according

to the Prince of the power of the air, the

spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among

whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust

of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and

of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,

just as the others. But God, but God, who is

rich in mercy. You know what that means. His mercy

never runs out. Amen. You read through the books all

the passages that end with and his mercy will last forever,

And his mercy endures forever. And his mercy endures forever. Amen.

There is no timestamp on the mercy of God. Why

because he is rich in mercy, because of his great

love with which he loved us, even when we were

dead in trespasses, made us alive, made us alive. Verse

six and raised us up together, raised us up together.

There is a resounding expectation that God has for us.

You know what it is. You know what God expects

from you. It is to live, to live. That's his expectation,

is to live. But how in him acts as in him,

we live, and we move and we have our being Amen,

John ten ten. The thief does not come except to

steal and to kill and to destroy. But I have come.

I the resurrection and the Life have come that you

may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.

I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives life,

gives his life for his sheep.

Amen, hallelujah.

Paul wrote to the church at Rome, sin shall not

have dominion over you. That's a promise to the living. Amen. Amen,

you don't have to stay dead. Who God called you

to be is still alive. Are you willing to see

it resurrected? Amen? Why don't you stand with me today?

Hallelujah, hallelujah, helelujah. Because he lives.

The prophet Isaiah wrote this in Isaiah forty one to ten.

Fear not, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed

for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes,

I will help you. I will uphold you with my

righteous right hand. So promise the promise to the living. Amen.

This is what he has said about your resurrection. Hallelujah.

What a blessing to have, What a blessing upon you

and your family that He has made you alive. Amen.

I wonder if we would close our eyes this morning,

we're gonna end this Easter service by just spending a

moment in His presence.

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

And as you are worship teams about to start to begin,

h as they are about to send a scene. Man,

I wonder today if you would just consider what area

of your life needs resurrected, What area of your life,

of your relationship with him needs to have.

Him say, rise, come forth, speak life. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Amen. God has ordained it that you're here today, and

in his divine love, perfect love, in his wisdom and

his knowledge of your life and for you, he wants

to remind you he's got something more. He's got something more.

Hallelujah.

Why don't we begin to talk to him as our worship.

Team Thank you so much for being with us today.

We hope you were blessed in some way by the message.

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and we hope you have a great week.