The Resurrection Story | Part 1

If you have your Bible and make your way to Isaiah chapter 52,

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

Isaiah 52, we break from our series answering the call of God

out of the book of Genesis for a couple weeks as we walk through

Palm Sunday leading up to Easter Sunday.

And I think that'll become clear why we're turning to Isaiah 52

and 53 in a moment. I want to ask you this question.

What if I would have only shown you the last few seconds of the

race? Would you have celebrated the

win seeing the last few seconds of the race in the same way you

celebrated the last few seconds of the race after seeing the

whole race? Of course you could celebrate

someone winning by a fraction of a second.

That's wonderful, right? But no doubt there's no way

you'd celebrate the win in the same way you'd celebrate that

win unless you knew the full story.

Unless you knew that she actually would fall flat on her

face before getting back up and experiencing victory.

That changes everything. I don't I don't know about you,

but I know for me, often times we walk into we come up to we

lead into Easter Sunday and often times it can feel like

that Sunday comes and we celebrate the last few seconds

of the race without realizing and walking through all that led

up to the days prior to that day.

What Jesus experienced then the story of this week leading up to

Easter Sunday that would allow us to see the full picture and

celebrate the last few seconds. If you have the highlight of the

resurrection in a that we would not celebrate unless we had kept

in mind and walked the path that Jesus walked leading up to that

day, that he walked out of the grave alive.

So often we celebrate that as we rightly should.

But I want us through Isaiah 52 and 53 to walk, if you will,

hundreds written hundreds of years before Jesus would walk as

was prophesied here. We're going to see things

perhaps from a different perspective.

They're going to allow us to see the whole race.

Today is Palm Sunday. This is the day that we mark in

history that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey,

fulfilling the prophecy out of Zechariah. 9/9 This is, behold,

your king is coming to you, humble and righteous.

Is he riding on a donkey as he rode in, just like our

preschoolers demonstrated this morning, The people waved palm

branches. Those are symbols of victory.

They're symbols of triumph. They're symbols of peace.

And as they wave these symbols of victory and of triumph, of

peace, they cried out, Hosanna, save us, we pray.

This was the day that set into motion the events that would

culminate in the cross, this moment when Jesus rides into the

capital city, hailed as the Messiah, worshipped and called

out to in prayer, save us, we pray.

From which this day when it started and this act occurred,

there was no turning back. He would have, he would have

either have to overthrow Rome as king or he was going to die on a

criminal's cross. And this day we mark in history

leading up to the events of the last week, often referred to as

Holy Week, that will lead up to the day when Jesus will go to

the cross for you and for me. Of course, we can read the story

of the resurrection as historical fact in the New

Testament, primarily in the four books, the four gospels that

tell the story of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

But what's also fascinating and when you might not realize and

how remarkable it is, is you can also read the story of the life,

death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

An incredible down to minute details as it was prophesied and

written over 700 years before Jesus ever took on human flesh

and lived out exactly what Isaiah said would happen.

And Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53. It's one of the most majestic,

all inspiring, magnificent passages in all the Bible.

I've actually wanted to preach this text for quite a while.

I just felt like I needed the right occasion to do it.

And certainly Palm Sunday and leading up to Easter Sunday is

that it's from from here that I want us to see the story of the

resurrection from the Old Testament this Palm Sunday and

Easter Sunday, this text if you need some orientation.

All right, I don't have time to do much of that, but let me just

tell you this, It is all about Jesus.

This text captures and communicates the heart of our

faith, the gospel. This text will take us to

Calvary where Jesus died. It will take us there.

It will take us to the grave, to the tomb.

It will take us to the resurrection.

This chapter of all chapters in the Old Testament, this one,

Isaiah 53 in the end of 52, is either alluded to or quoted more

in the New Testament than any other Old Testament text.

You need to know this text, the next of your Bible, as

magnificent as it is. We're going to walk through it

in two parts, just a small portion today and a greater part

next week on Easter Sunday. Because like a good storyteller,

Isaiah, before he tells us the whole story, is going to tell us

the story in part or in miniature at the end of chapter

52 before we see the whole or the rest of the story.

And Isaiah 53 next week. So listen to the word of God,

Isaiah 52 beginning and verse verse 13.

Behold, Isaiah writes, my servant, that's Jesus shall act

wisely. He shall be high and lifted up.

He shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you.

His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and is

formed beyond that of the children of mankind, so shall He

sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths

because of Him. For that which has not been told

them they see, and that which they have not heard they

understand. Father, I pray that you would

open our eyes to behold wonderful things from Your word.

God give us a clear picture of Jesus and what he's done for us,

perhaps like we've never seen it before.

Father, I pray that if anyone is here and never heard and

believed and received the good news of the gospel, today would

be the day I pray in Jesus name and all God's people said the

first thing in your notes there, if you're following along, is

this the resurrection story is the greatest success story in

all of history. It is this story is the greatest

success story in all of history. You can say it like this.

Isaiah begins with spoiler alert like over 700 years before it

happens. Spoiler alert verse 13.

God says riot at the gate before he says anything else about

what's going to happen, how it's going to go, go down.

He says, behold, my servant God the Father says through Isaiah

shall act wisely. You say, Kyle, I don't really

know what that's spoiling. What is that saying?

What that means is when it says he shall act wisely, it means he

shall prosper. This means Jesus will be

successful. The servant here is none other

than the Messiah. That's just a word that means

anointed 1 And this servant here often referred to as the

suffering servant in Isaiah 53, is the one promised as an

offspring of Abram. That we've been walking through

the 1st beginning book of the Bible where God said He was

going to unfold His plan of salvation by sending one an

offspring of Abram. That would be a blessing to how

many families of the earth. So all the families of the

earth, including yours and including mine.

Hallelujah, This is him. If you want to go back even

further, this is the new and better Adam.

The first Adam kind of messed up.

Amen. Right fell flat on his face in

his race. The curse of sin entered all

creation but God had said guess what, the promise goes all the

way back to the end. Genesis 315 One of that would be

a seed of the woman is going to come and it's going to win.

It's going to crush the head of the serpent.

This is the new and better Adam. This is humanity.

Ladies and gentlemen, 2 point O who came this time to get it

right so that he could get it right for you and get it right

for me. This is Jesus, this is the one

that was prophesied that would be the better prophet than

Moses. Moses LED to physical freedom

out of Egypt. This prophet and priest and king

is going to lead to spiritual freedom out of the bondage to

sin. Do you see who this is?

This is Jesus, this is the Christ, this is the promised

One, this is the Anointed 1 and it says he shall act wisely.

That is, He shall prosper. He's going to be successful.

Kyle, I need specifics. Here's what I mean.

He's going to embody the very wisdom of God.

He's going to live sinlessly, fulfilling all righteousness.

This one is going to fully accomplish the will of the

Father. This one is going to fulfill

perfectly the purpose for which he was sent.

This one is going to be prosperous.

And in fact, the way to think about it would be like this.

There's never been and never will be greater prosperity from

anyone who's taken on human flesh than the prosperity that

Jesus will accomplish here as a fully and finally in the

fullness of time, fulfilled the will of God the Father who so

loved the world that He sent his Son who came willingly to

voluntarily give his life to redeem sinful man.

There's been no greater success story in all of history than

Jesus. Spoiler alert over 700 years in

advance. This is what God is saying is is

going to happen. God is calling the win for his

son. What he's saying, ladies and

gentlemen, is Jesus is not going to lose.

He's going to win. And guess what, If you're with

and been joined to Jesus by faith in him, guess who's going

to win too? You and me.

But you might say, Pastor Kyle, I don't feel like I'm winning

right now. They've told me I have two to

six months to live with cancer. There's somebody in our church

that's heard that very word, those very words.

That man who's a believer in Jesus wins.

The parents that I talked to recently who are having some

severe behavioral problems with their children, they've placed

their faith in Jesus. Guess who wins?

Those parents? that Lady who suffered an

injustice at her job and has lost her job in a way that was

unrighteous. Guess who wins?

Because she's placed her faith in Jesus, she wins.

It matters what we go through in life.

But no matter what we go through in life, no one can take the win

for our from us. That is ours in Jesus.

The salvation, the eternal life, the hope and the joy.

We all win because of our faith in Jesus.

If we've been joined to Him, God is calling the win for His Son.

You say, what do we mean by when?

I want you to listen to what Isaiah says here, and I want you

to listen to it and hear it through the lens of what you

know in the New Testament. He says he shall be high and

lifted up and shall be exalted. The lowliness, the humiliation,

the despair and of death and the grave is not Jesus is in that he

shall prosper to eternal life despite going through all of

that. Listen to what this how this we

could we could say high Jesus shall rise high from the what Oh

come on y'all wait with me from the dead.

Jesus shall be lifted up. He's going to ascend to be

lifted up back to heaven. Jesus will be exalted to where

the right hand of the the Father.

Before I tell you how the resurrection story begins,

Isaiah says, let me tell you how it ends.

Jesus wins #2 The resurrection story is the greatest comeback

story of all history. Not just the greatest success

story, but the greatest comeback story in all of history.

You see, Jesus is when will be the greatest comeback the world

has ever seen. Listen to verse 14 again.

It says as many were astonished at you.

And here's what he means. His appearance was so marred

beyond human semblance in this form, beyond that of the

children of mankind. Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

if you thought Rocky Balboa was battered, beaten and bruised in

the ring, what he experienced was a day at the spa compared to

what Jesus, the Son of God would suffer for you and for me.

Say, Kyle, what do you mean? Isaiah prophecies over 700 years

in advance that Jesus physical features that his body would be

so mangled and so marred he'll barely appear human.

You say, Kyle, what does it say in the New Testament?

It says they will beat him the rod that they put in his hand

after a purple cloak that they put on him.

They will beat him with a stick over the head.

They are going to spit upon him, covering him with their they're

going to pluck out his beard. They're going to lash his back

to it's laid open. They're going to they're going

to force a crown of thorns on his head.

They're going to Pierce him to a tree.

They're going to split his side for you and for me.

He will not bear the semblance of even looking like a human.

When sinners are done with the Savior, Isaiah says, people will

be so appalled they will turn their faces away.

If you would have recognized him before, after his death, you'd

be able to recognize him no longer.

If it ever looked like someone had lost, Jesus is going to

appear to have lost in the worst kind of way possible.

By giving his life, by taking the sting of death, by suffering

unspeakably at the hands of men. And yet looking as if he had

lost, Jesus is going to save sinners and shock the world.

You see, what looked to men like the most humiliating of defeats

is actually the greatest of victories in all the universe.

The New Testament in Colossians chapter 2, Paul puts it like

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

this in verses 14 and 15 when he basically describes the victory

that looked like a loss like this.

God was canceling the record of our sin.

That's your sin and mine. God was canceling your debt on

him and through his Son that stood against us with its legal

demands. That's our death.

That's our punishment. That's what it legally demanded.

But this he, God the Father, set aside by nailing him, Jesus to

the cross. He disarmed by doing so.

He took out the ammunition from the enemy.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities of the spiritual

realm, Satan himself, and put them to open shame.

But Jesus suffering the worst of the worst defeat possible with

the darkness, thinking they had won, God the Father was

overcoming it all and making the greatest win possible for

mankind who had sinned against Him by nailing his Son to the

cross, disarming the rulers and authorities, putting them to

open shame by triumphing over them.

In him, Him is Jesus. This story is not just the

greatest success story, it's the greatest.

Look like it was a lost story, and yet it was winning it all.

It was winning salvation for you.

It was winning salvation for me. To all who would call on the

name of the Lord to be saved. What an astonishment to those

who esteemed Him the lowest of the low.

The resurrection story is the greatest comeback story in all

of history #3 The resurrection story is the most astonishing

story in all of history. It's not just the greatest

success. It's not just the greatest

comeback. It is truly the most astonishing

story in all of history. Look at verse 15 again.

So shall he sprinkle many nations that word for sprinkle.

There is Old Testament language and imagery for salvation or for

purification, for cleansing, for redeeming, for purifying.

Because what they would do is, is they would take that Old

Testament animal sacrifice and the priest would take the blood

of that animal and often sprinkle it on the altar and

sometimes even sprinkle it on the people, representing the

contact they were coming into of the cleansing power of the

blood, if you will. And yet the animal blood could

never fully cleanse from sin. It could make ceremonially clean

for their worship in the old covenant, but can never fully

take away sin that was only in the power of the blood of the

one who sang about His name. Is Jesus, the Lamb of God who

takes away the sin of the world. Hebrews 12/24 says it like this,

but you have come. That's you and me to Jesus, the

mediator of a new covenant, and to the watch this this language

to the to be sprinkled the sprinkled blood that speaks a

better word than the blood of Abel.

By his suffering, by his shed blood, by his death, Jesus would

win and save sinners from every tribe, tongue, language, and

nation. If you've been saved, here's

what I want you to think about in Old Testament language.

It's because you've been sprinkled, you've been washed,

you've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

There's no salvation, there's no forgiveness of sin without

contact by faith with the blood of Jesus.

If you've called on Jesus to save you, you've called on him

because of his shed blood for you.

If you need to call on Him to save you, it's because you've

realized He has shed His blood for you.

The only thing that has the power to cleanse you from your

sin sets you free from what you deserve and give you life in

Jesus forever. Have you called on the name of

the Lord because of the power of the blood?

If not, you can now. You can right now.

The resurrection story is the most astonishing story.

It says here sprinkle in verse 15.

But that word can also mean to startle.

As in to astonish, like to shock, to call someone great

surprise, which is exactly what Jesus will do to the peoples and

leaders and nations of the world.

Notice that's what Isaiah says right after that.

Kings are going to shut their mouths because of Jesus, because

of him. That's a nice Old Testament

prophet way of saying what you parents told your kids not to

say, right? Their jaws are going to go up.

Their mouths are going to close. They're going to get speechless.

They're going to go mute in shock at what Jesus is going to

accomplish. Kings of the earth are going to

go silent because of him. Don't you remember when Anas and

Caiaphas, Jewish high priest and leaders, right we're opening

their mouths to falsely accused and questioned Jesus, and

ultimately they open their mouths to falsely accused Jesus

of blasphemy. They open their mouths, but

they're going to be shut. Pilate opened his mouth to

Jesus. Remember the Roman governor that

Jesus was brought before? Pilate opened his mouth to

question Jesus. Are you the king of the Jews?

Right. And therefore Pilate didn't get

the response that he was after Jesus didn't.

He did not refuse the false charges.

He simply said you said it. You've said I'm the the king of

the Jews. He was affirming the pilot.

What he said was right. But Pilate then opened his mouth

to try to recuse himself and wash his hands and be innocent

of the blood of the Lamb, the blood of the Son of God.

And then furthermore, he'd go before Herod.

Jesus would another ruler. And again Herod would open his

mouth mocking Jesus, this time sending him on to the cross.

Yet these same leaders and kings who open their mouths against

the Son of the living God, whose jaws dropped open in

astonishment at his suffering and humiliation and death.

These kings and countless, countless, countless more would

have their jaws shut in absolute silence and shock that what they

thought they were witnessing was actually something completely

different and would astonish them in such a way that Jesus,

who was considered the lowest of the low, would actually be, was

the highest of the high. It says here Isaiah writes for

that which has not been told them they see, and for that

which they have not heard, they understand.

What they had not been told, what they had not seen or

understood, was the message of the gospel.

Listen closely to me if you're here and you don't exactly know

or think you don't know. What is it that we Christians

believe? What is the good news?

What is it that you must understand in order to have

eternal life? It is this message that they

didn't fully see or comprehend, that is now so clear that they

have seen, that they have heard. It's that Jesus, the Son of God,

took on human flesh, that he lived a sinless life in your

place. Because you and I have sinned

and fallen short of the glory of God.

What we deserve is death. We've fallen short of the

holiness and the righteous standard of God our Creator.

And yet God so loved us that despite the fact that we deserve

death and separation from Him forever, God sent his Son after

us to live for us, to die for us, to be buried for us, and to

walk out of the grave defeating death for us so that all who

call on the name of the Lord will be saved, rescued from what

we deserve, set free from sin, given eternal life and the hope

of heaven. That's what a Christian

believes. That's who a Christian is.

There's been a moment in time that became clear in their heart

and soul. They gave their life to Jesus

and called on Him to save them. That's the action you must take

if you are to be saved. Have you taken that action by

faith? You too can call on Jesus as we

speak. How is it that these would see

what they missed? How is it that these would

understand what they didn't understand?

Well, I want you to think about it like this.

They would see the empty tomb. They would see the lives of the

apostles transformed and turned upside down.

They're going to hear the rumor around town.

He's alive. He's alive.

They're going to hear it. They're going to see the church

explode. They're going to see the Gospel

go forth. They're going to see the word of

God go forth with such fire and rapidness.

Despite the blood they would spill of all the martyrs trying

to stop the witness to the fact that Jesus was alive.

They would see. They would be in shock because

something started that though they didn't understand it, they

couldn't stop. And the world, the world will

stand in awe. Kyle, how do you know it's the

gospel message Isaiah is prophesying?

Well, if you want a New Testament connection, Romans

Romans 15:20–21

chapter 15 verse 20 through 21. Paul puts it like this.

He says I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where

Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's

foundation, but as it is written and he quotes Isaiah 5215 as it

is written there, those who have not been told will see and those

who've never heard will understand.

Isn't that amazing that he's quoting there The Old Testament,

the gospel prophesied over 700 years before Jesus ever walked

the earth. Listen, if if you're here this

morning and you're a little skeptical of all of this, you're

like Kyle, I'm just not sure, man.

You know, being raised from the dead, that sounds a little

beyond rationality to me. Listen, you know when they

discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls? You should check this out if

you've not investigated. The Dead Sea Scrolls were

fragments and whole scrolls of Old Testament text.

And beyond that, a shepherd boy in the desert in the Middle East

shepherding his sheep through a rock randomly heard a clunk in a

clink that he didn't think he should have heard.

Investigated, and sure enough, the rock went in a cave full of

many Old Testament manuscripts. One of the ones they found was

the entire scroll of the prophet Isaiah that predated any

complete scroll that we had in existence by 1000 years.

And you know what it said The exact thing your Bible says

today that was written, that this particular one they found

was in existence and came into writing 100 to 125 years before

Jesus walked the earth. And Isaiah writes in this.

If you read in your homework this week, Isaiah 53, you'll

read it as if Isaiah was standing by the cross almost

1000 years in advance watching what God said would happen,

unfold. You can't tell me faith is not

rational. They've yet to be able to

explain the empty tomb to this day.

You look at creation and see that one must have the design

mind and spoken it into existence, that this didn't come

out of a random dryer of the universe and all fit together

and work right. It's unbelievable how clear the

word of God is pointing us to the truth of reality, of a God

who made us, who loves us and sent his Son for us.

Have you looked to the cross by faith and believed you All the

shock, this humiliating death would be just a tiny tremor on

the seismic scale of the shock of his resurrection and the

proclamation of his gospel. The gospel message is not just

that Christ died, but it's that Christ died for our sins.

This is the part that shocks. If you've never been shocked by

this, you're missing it because Jesus did not die.

He was not mangled beyond recognition because he was

guilty. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, I

want you to hear this clearly. Jesus.

Jesus suffered to the point that you would not have recognized

him had you known what he looked like, because you and I were

guilty. That's the shock of the love of

God. That's the shock of the gospel.

That's the scandal of the gospel, that God would love and

accept sinners who deserve that, but he would send his Son in our

place to take it for us, that we could be called the

righteousness of God. Do what?

Do what? Mouths will be shut.

There's nothing to say. What do you say?

All there is, is to stand in awe of the love of God.

How could it be that blood would be shed for you and for me?

Because of the life, death, burial and resurrection of

Christ? We can tell every nation, every

tribe, every tongue, every person that God so loved the

world that God sent His one and only Son, that whosoever would

believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This is the most astounding story, the most astounding story

in all of history. There's one more thing I want to

show you and it's really how I want us to end.

And it's a challenge that I want you to leave with today on Palm

Sunday. To take this challenge before

Easter Sunday. Listen to what the Word of God

says in verse 1 of chapter 53. Who has believed what He has

heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the

Lord been revealed? When he says there who has

believed what he has heard? Isaiah is implying that you

would think people would immediately be drawn and

believe. But that's not what happened.

Israel as a whole did not believe.

Guess what? The world as a whole has not.

What #4 The resurrection story is the most rejected story in

all of history. This is the most rejected true

story in all of history. To whom has the arm of the Lord

been revealed? I love what 1 preacher said.

He said when God made the universe, according to Psalm 8,

David says he only had to use his fingers.

When he put the billions upon billions among billions of

stars. The universe God only had to use

his fingers and he knows them by name.

When God he said set the people free out of slavery in Egypt,

God used his. Well let me look back what he

says because I don't remember. He used his strong hand.

God went from fingers to creating everything to his hand

and setting his people free. This is what I do remember.

But when God went to save the souls of mankind, God flexed and

used the might of His almighty arm, sending His one and only

Son. I like that right there that God

would show His might most clearly and His love most

astonishingly, and sending His one and only Son, Jesus, the

innocent Son of God, dying in the place of sinful human

beings, taking the place of guilty sinners, paying the price

of our salvation. It's a message so unbelievable,

who could hardly believe God would say it and do it?

It's an announcement so marvelous, right, that unless

the Spirit of God opens the eyes of the heart of a man, woman,

boy or girl, who could believe it?

And yet the Bible says this. This is how it's believed that

if one turns the eyes of their heart to the cross and you see

Jesus hanging there for you, marred beyond recognition, when

you get the fact that it was for you when it was for you, because

when Jesus went beyond what people could recognize because

God was doing it for you, that's the moment everything changes.

And if by faith you place your faith in that Savior who

substituted himself for you, by faith, the Holy Spirit quickens

your spirit, makes you alive, brings you from spiritual death

to life, inhabits you by the Holy Spirit, forgives you of

your sin, and destines you for heaven.

Can I ask you, have you realized it was for you, for you and as

everything changed, if not today, it can.

This is how the story goes from rejected to received.

Isaiah 53. One, as I was looking at this

again this morning and just praying through, I felt like

this would be the best way for us to end with the challenge

this week, in a week that we celebrate the fact that Jesus is

alive. So let me just tell you, when we

celebrate something, we talk about it, don't we?

If you're not talking about something, you're not

celebrating something. So I just got back from

Columbus, Ms. where my brother-in-law was competing in

his hometown in a professional bass tournament.

This was a dream of his from a child to be a professional bass

fisherman, he's become one. He was competing in his

hometown. It was a dream come true on

water. He had fished 1000 times, had

the hometown crowd rooting for the hometown kid.

He was the hero. The crowd was going wild, right?

He desperately, desperately wanted to win this tournament.

What a place to win. Well, he didn't win.

He had to make the top 10 out of 101.

You got to make the top 10 to fish.

On Sunday. He was 12th.

He missed the cut by 11 oz. Even still, it was the talk of

Columbus, Ms. I was driving back yesterday.

I had taken my dog, who, by the way, got sprayed by a skunk.

That's a different story. And I'm trying to bathe my dog.

I'm trying to get ready to preach.

I'm trying to, you know, all the things and my buddies are still

calling me wanting to talk about, you know, who.

What if he'd have done this? What if he wouldn't have left

that area this way? What would?

They were still celebrating even though he hadn't won.

They were and they were by talking about it, they were all

right. So if we celebrate something, we

talk about it. Now listen to this challenge and

I'm going to I'm going to change one word in the sentence.

Are you ready? Who has believed what he has

heard from you? From you?

Who's going to have a chance to believe the most greatest

success story in all of history, the most greatest comeback story

of all of history, the most astonishing story in all of

history, and yes, even to this day, the most rejected one.

But who's going to have a chance to hear it and believe it this

week because of you talking about it, because you're what?

You're celebrating it. I guarantee you this week,

Easter, the word Easter is going to come up and go in.

It's going to go into your ear canal this week.

It's either going to come out of your mouth, it's going to go

into your eardrums. When it does, I just want you to

hear bingo. It's an opportunity for someone

to hear the rest of the of the story.

Because guess what? For those of us who know it,

there's no greater celebration or way to celebrate it than to

see somebody hear it and discover it and believe it for

the for the first time. What if this week they heard it

from you? What if this week more people

got to hear it on Easter Sunday because of your invitation for

them to come hear the rest of the story next week?

And more people heard it, and perhaps more people believed it.

And one day through Carter's will, first fab this than I've

ever heard it and believed it before.

Do you think we'd celebrate? What do you think we talked

about the week after the people found out Jesus is alive?

Father, I want to ask in these next few moments that if anyone

is in the room that has never placed their faith in you,

Jesus, that today would be the day, God, I pray, Lord, that you

would open up the eyes of somebody's heart today by faith,

realizing that you were marred beyond description for them.

Father, I pray they'd be bold enough to step out from where

they are to come take me by the hand and say, Pastor Kyle, I

need to, I need to trust Christ. God, I want to pray for those in

the room that we know the story, we've received the story and the

truth we've been saved. God, I pray that we would

celebrate in the highest of ways this week by taking the

challenge to share it with at least one person who has

believed somebody to see the arm of the omnipotent Almighty God

flexed for them out of his love for all eternity for them

through His Son that they could hear and believe, hear and

receive this week. God, I pray that we as a church

would celebrate Easter this year like we've never celebrated it

before. God, I pray if it's your will, I

pray more lost people would be here than saved people would be

here on Easter. I pray, God, we'd be praying for

the person to our right and our left that we'd be willing to go

forward with them. We'd be willing to share with

them and pray for them as they see, as they receive.

God help us, God help us celebrate by sharing and you

getting all the glory in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Church, would you stand with me? Maybe you need to come because

you've trusted Christ today. Maybe you need to come and ask

God to help you be the spokesperson of the story this

week for someone who needs to hear and you just want to commit

yourself to that this week. Maybe you got a burden on your

heart. You feel like you're losing.

If you're in Christ, you're going to win.

Heaven is on its way. We're not citizens of earth, but

of heaven. Just come and put your heart

before God this morning as we worship you.

Come.