Easter Sunday

Happy Easter, everyone.

Last week I asked the question, what's your relationship like with death?

! Do you think about death that much?

And of course it's one of those things that makes us uncomfortable to think and process.

Sometimes we want to live as though we live forever and everything that we do revolves around everything here and not everything that is to come.

I was just talking to Danny and Grace as we were coming up and for those of us who gathered here on Friday for the Good Friday time that we had and some of you stayed to watch the Passion of the Christ, which is such a horror on so many levels, right?

It's so painful on so many levels.

How in tune are we with the death of Christ and what it actually means?

There were some people in the day of the church back then when this book was written, where they were disputing that.

Last week we talked a little bit about that, 1 John 5.

John was saying, hey, he's not just God because of the baptism, he's God because of his blood.

I know there are some churches actually, there are some movements happening around the world where they're trying to rub those things out a little bit or at least to water them down.

They say, actually, we don't want to talk about death.

We don't want to talk about the crucifixion.

We don't want to talk about these things because they're a little bit too offensive to us.

So actually there's churches around, there's people around, you know, let's not talk about that.

Let's just talk about Jesus being a good guy, being a good teacher who teaches us the way to live.

But as actually Joe said on Friday, if your answer to the question, how will I get into heaven?

If it starts with the word I, then you've lost it.

Then you won't get, that's not the point.

You don't get into heaven because of anything that you do.

You get into the heaven because blood was spilled on your behalf because someone did something for you.

And so if we kind of skim over that and just say, Jesus was a nice guy.

He's teaching me the way to live and I'm going to live the way of Jesus and love people like he did.

That's enough.

No, that is not enough.

That's why John was saying, it's only by the blood.

It's only when you get confronted with this idea that someone died for us, for you and I.

The word we used on Friday was expiation, which is actually transferring your sin and the blood that comes with that because the wages of sin is death.

We transferred using red paint and we put it onto the cross.

And we transferred our sins, our paint onto the cross and then we washed our hands.

That moment wrecked me because I was like, wow.

That's what is happening here.

And I never want to lose sight of that.

I will never want to lose sight of the fact that one day I will die.

But it won't be an eternal death because someone paid that price for me.

How huge is that?

It's one of the crucial parts that John was trying to address as we went through the book of 1 John.

And actually today I want to address another one, which is what Paul was wanting to address.

And it comes from 1 Corinthians 15.

And it is the chapter.

If you're looking for a chapter on the resurrection, this is the chapter.

And Paul addresses it and says, actually, because there's other people who are saying, hey, it's not about the death.

And it's also, this guy didn't come back to life again.

In fact, since the beginning of time, man has been obsessed with immortality.

People ask us, why is your Chinese fairly good?

It's because we, Joe and I, we grew up watching TVB.

And one of the, all the dramas about, like, especially the old ones is about, right?

It's finding the way to live forever.

The Jews were arguing all the time.

Can someone be resurrected?

And so there was this, all this talk that Jesus was a man.

He was a good man.

But then he died and that was it.

And then Paul's like, no, no, no, no, no.

Anyway, the reason why we gather here today is I think the same, I hope is the same reason why the people gathered in the very beginning when time, when we're starting to count the calendar again from basically 33 AD onwards.

Why?

Because someone died, faced the very thing that we're all most afraid of and came back to life.

Came back to life.

I can't just sit at home now and just carry on doing the thing that I'm doing because someone died, defied the laws of science and nature and came back to life.

I must respond in some way.

And so Paul's doing that.

And I want to open up two places today.

One is the resurrection story, which is the book of John.

But I wanted to start off with 1 Corinthians 15, the chapter on the resurrection.

And I want to read it to you.

I believe there's nothing more powerful than just the word of God itself.

And even Acts 2.42, we'll talk about this again in a couple of weeks.

It says, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.

That doesn't mean they devoted themselves to the apostle and to follow the apostle around.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, which is basically what we have here in this book.

And I don't believe there's anything more powerful than this.

And I wanted to read to us 1 Corinthians 15 from 1 to 19.

We do a thing here at the gathering, which is we try to remind ourselves of the holiness and reverence that we must have for this book.

That this book really does give life.

So can I invite you to stand for the word of God?

Thank you.

The apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 15.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.

On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

Now, if Christ is proclaimed and as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.

We're even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ,

whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised,

your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

This is the word of the Lord.

Please take a seat.

Paul is trying to tackle the most important thing here.

He's saying, this is it.

Without that, we have nothing.

In fact, let's just say, now I remind you, the gospel I preach to you in which you stand.

This is how you are saved.

After I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,

that Christ died for our sins, and we addressed that last week.

He says this, if you don't believe in the resurrection of Christ,

first thing is, your preaching or my preaching is useless.

And some of you say, well, I didn't say it.

You said it.

Preaching is useless.

There's no point us gathering.

There's no point being here if there isn't the resurrection of Christ.

That's why we're here.

What I'm trying to say, what I'm trying to proclaim,

is the good news is that death has been defeated.

If that didn't happen, then there's no point being here.

The second point he says is, not only is my preaching useless and futile,

so is your faith.

Your faith in this higher being that brings you comfort,

that brings you salvation, that doesn't matter anymore,

because the person that you put your faith in is dead.

He said, that's not right.

And the other problem with that is, if your faith is futile,

and he didn't rise from the dead, then actually you are still in your sins.

If the wages of sin is death, then you are still in your sins,

and it means you are still going to die.

What is that?

Well, we talked a bit about that last week.

We were created to be in communion and fellowship with God,

so that we can have this life of flourishing.

But instead, we decide to choose our own way,

and we decide to trust either in our own wisdom or in God's wisdom,

and when we say that, we're going to trust ourselves.

And when we do that, we went from flourishing to perishing.

And that's what really Christianity describes as sin.

We've simply just turned our backs on God and said,

we're going to go this way, not knowing or now knowing

that actually that leads to death.

And you are still in your sins, and all those who have died

will have perished, and we will perish.

And most of all, we of all people are most to be pitied.

That's what he's saying here.

Just a bit of context here.

How much did it cost you to be at church today?

How much did it cost you?

How much did it cost you in this day and age here in Hong Kong

to come to church for this Sunday morning?

Probably not too much.

Probably maybe a ride on the taxi or the MTR.

Maybe your friends are going out on a junk boat today,

and you said, I can't go because I've got to go to church.

How much did it cost you to be here?

Really not much.

Nothing in comparison to the people who are together at that time.

The context of theirs, the people that he was talking to,

the people that were being read this letter,

and they're saying, if Christ isn't risen from the dead,

you are most to be pitied.

Why?

Because you're suffering persecution being here.

You turning up here this Sunday morning,

some of your family members might actually turn against you

and snitch on you.

Some of your friends who find out what you're doing here

are going to snitch on you.

And then they're living in poverty.

They're living in poverty.

Why?

Because of the values of the kingdom of God

that they're trying to abide.

Why?

They can't carry on and conform to the ways of corruption

that the rest of the business world are doing.

So a lot of the Christians at that time,

imagine yourself sat here in the secret room,

threat of persecution right outside,

and you're also poor

because you're living by a set of values

that means that you can't make as much money as you can.

So not only are you persecuted,

you are also poor.

And finally, you don't get to enjoy all the pleasures

that your friends outside are doing

because of these values.

And he's saying,

man, if Christ didn't rise from the dead,

I have so much sympathy for you,

so much pity for you,

because your life sucks.

But if Christ did rise from the dead,

then that changes everything.

And that's what he's saying here.

There's a couple of things that people have used

to really dispute this idea of the empty tomb.

And we're going to jump over to John 20 now.

And actually today you have the pleasure,

and maybe to your relief,

not just me speaking,

we have two people

who are actually going to come

and share a little bit as well.

One is our dear friend,

my dear friend,

and our dear Deacon Tony,

and also Kelly,

who was killing it on the keys.

And so,

but before that,

I just wanted to set a little bit of the scene.

John 20, of course,

is the resurrection story.

And so when everyone was reading it just then,

that was such a blessing.

Seriously, such a blessing to hear that.

Well done.

And thank you, Alex, for organizing that.

That was just so good.

John chapter 20.

John 20 · chapter mention

Now on the first day of the week,

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early

while it was still dark

and saw that the stone

had been taken away from the tomb

while it was still early.

Who wakes up when it's still dark?

My wife wakes up when it's still dark right now

because she's feeding.

Can you just imagine?

Actually, I know this.

When I'm waiting for something heavy

or some decision,

I remember waking up at 4 a.m.

and just checking my email

to see if I got anything.

Just this stirring,

this anxiety that's in my heart.

I can imagine Mary Magdalene had this.

She wakes up.

It's been a couple of days now.

It's still dark.

She can't sleep anymore.

It's 3, 4 a.m.

I can't deal with this anymore.

This grief that I have.

And so she goes to the tomb early

while it's still dark

and she discovers what?

It's empty.

It's empty.

Now, many scholars and theologians

have talked about this.

This fact of the empty tomb

is what's going to prove to us

that the resurrection really did happen.

You see, some people say,

well, actually, maybe he didn't die.

Maybe he didn't die.

Maybe that's how we explain

that people still saw Jesus.

You see, the problem with that one

is that you're totally underestimating

the ability of the Romans

to kill someone.

The crucifixion, as we talked about,

was the most brutal and humiliating form

of execution that they could have.

And the Romans themselves

were experts in killing people.

So to say that,

oh, Jesus managed to survive the cross,

to survive carrying the cross,

to survive getting beaten

the days before,

and those of you

who watched the Passion of Christ,

maybe that's where it really hits home.

And all those things

that happened to him,

and then they drove a spear

into his side

where blood and water

would come out,

and they're bleeding,

and you think that Jesus survived that.

Not only do you think that,

you think that they somehow

managed to put him in the tomb,

and then he had the strength

to wake up that morning

and to push the tomb

to the big stone side,

see the Roman soldiers

and say,

hey, what's up, guys?

I'm going to beat you up now

and run away.

Guys,

I played basketball yesterday morning.

I played with Bill's son.

Like,

I could barely walk this morning

just from playing basketball.

You're telling me

that Jesus not only didn't die,

that he subjected himself

to all of that pain,

and yet still managed

to somehow get out of the tomb.

Okay, then.

There's a problem with that.

Well, then,

actually,

other people say different things.

The Jews will say,

well, actually,

someone stole the body.

Maybe that's something.

See, the problem with this is,

actually,

we see this in the accounts.

They were worried about this

because they had heard

that these people of the way

who were following Jesus,

that they had heard

about his resurrection,

so they went to the Romans

and said,

hey,

there's going to be this thing

that happens

because they're going to try

and say that Jesus is alive,

and the way to do that

is they're going to steal the body

and say,

you don't have the body,

so why don't we steal the body first

and protect it and guard it?

That's why the Roman soldiers

were there in the first place.

You see,

the problem with that is,

one day,

three days of this rumor going,

one week,

one month,

one year,

at some point,

if you were the Jews

who had plotted this,

you would have been like,

you know what,

let's just bring the body out,

and that'll show everyone

that this way is fake,

but they didn't do that.

Actually,

the Muslim scholars

have a different view,

which is actually

a lot of them believe

that the Jesus

that appeared to the people

was Jesus' twin brother.

So they're like,

okay,

well,

Jesus did die,

but the one you saw

wasn't Jesus,

was Jesus plus,

and that's it.

The problem with that,

of course,

there's just so many problems

with that,

but there's accounts

of his siblings

and all these other people,

and again,

this was writing

to people

who were still alive,

who knew who Jesus was.

Jesus himself

faced resistance

from people

who knew him

growing up.

You were still in nappies

when I was an adult,

Jesus.

I can't believe

who you are,

that you are

who you say you are.

I've known you

since a little baby.

It's hard to fathom.

So that one

really doesn't

quite make sense either.

Some of the reasons

why actually

the resurrection of the dead

really does hold

on its own,

and actually N.T. Wright

talks a lot about this.

First of all,

the transformation

of the people around him.

If you look at the account

of what happens

in the Gospels,

the cowards,

people,

when Jesus was arrested

and taken away

and crucified,

his disciples ran away,

sometimes naked.

They would betray Jesus

and deny that they knew Jesus

even in front of young girls.

Those are the kind of people

that were following Jesus

on the last days,

and suddenly,

can you explain

how suddenly their lives

and their mindset

completely transformed

to the point where

they were going around

fearlessly sharing the Gospel?

Peter,

who denied Jesus three times,

suddenly now is willing to die.

All of the disciples

were killed,

martyred

for this.

Does that even make sense?

How these small group of people

transformed completely

and ending up

starting a revolution

that completely outlived

the Roman Empire?

That doesn't make sense.

You know what else

doesn't make sense?

The fact that

Jesus' own family

believed that he was God.

Jesus' own brother

brought in that he was God.

I have a problem

believing that my brother

is a man.

Let alone God.

somehow,

somehow,

somehow,

somehow,

Jesus managed to convince

his own brother

and his own mother

that he is God.

That's God to count for something.

Somehow,

he managed to meet

a mass murderer,

the persecutor of the church

in Paul,

the most zealous of them all

in trying to stamp down

this Christianity.

Somehow,

he managed to turn him

to believe as well.

This doesn't seem

to make sense

unless there was

the resurrection

of Christ.

What else is there?

The actual witness account.

Now,

if you've read stories,

one of my favorites,

Harry Potter,

platform nine and three quarters

from King's Cross,

that story,

J.K. Rowling,

that just beautifully

written story,

there's so much detail

and it's just perfect.

Lord of the Rings,

J.R. Tolkien is probably

something similar as well.

All these beautiful

myths and stories.

If this was supposed

to be a myth,

then actually,

it would be a very poor myth.

If they were trying

to write this

to convince people

of the resurrection

of the dead,

they've gone about it

completely the wrong way.

First of all,

when you're trying

to convince people

that someone rose again,

the witness that you have

is very important.

And back in those days,

to have a woman

be the witness

wouldn't stand

at all.

And yet here,

what does Jesus do?

Jesus chooses

to introduce himself

to a woman.

Not only any woman,

one who was formerly

demon-possessed.

A person who everyone

else would ignore.

If you're trying

to make up a story

that other people believe,

you've gone about it

the wrong way completely.

The story itself

is a terrible story

and actually sheds

terrible light

on the people

who were trying

to spread the news.

If this was Peter

trying to start something,

because he didn't want

to go back to fishing,

let's say,

even though actually

the account says,

he doesn't know

what to do,

so he ends up

going back to fishing.

Let's say he was

so obsessed

with this Jesus

and the reputation

that he'd gained.

He's like,

let's just keep this going.

Guys,

let's make up a story

and let's keep it going.

He writes this account

and puts himself

in such a bad light.

Peter is so lame

through most of this story.

If you are writing this

and trying to convince

people to have faith

in you and believe in you,

you've once again

gone about it

the very wrong way.

Again,

if you're to make up

a story,

you don't make it up

in the town

where people still know you.

This is what they do.

They stay in Jerusalem

because if you're going

to make up a story,

you say,

hey,

I know someone

who lives in Kazakhstan.

You don't know them,

but that's okay.

Trust me

because I know

there's someone

in Kazakhstan

who managed to defeat death

and is now living,

but you can't see him.

That's not what they're saying.

The account here is,

not only did he show himself

to Mary Magdalene,

but then to Peter

and then to 500 people.

Every other religion,

the Mormonism,

Joseph Smith says,

hey,

I've received a download

from God.

It's only from me

and so you're just

going to have to trust me

and you're going

to have to follow me.

Christianity here

is saying,

no,

it's not just one person

that's made this up.

You're either going

to have to believe

that 500 people

were hallucinating together.

But those of you

who know about hallucinations,

what are those?

These hallucinations happen

with just one person.

It is not a public experience.

And yet you see here

that it's 500 people

and he says this

and he calls people out

by name and says,

hey,

some of them have died,

but some of them

are still alive.

What does that mean?

Go check.

That means go check

that this is real.

Even in the story

to the walk to Emmaus

where he walks

with these two people

who've seen all the hype,

thought they believed it,

Jesus died

and then they decided,

okay,

it's time to go.

Nothing to see here.

So they walk

and the account there,

even that one,

if you're making it up,

you'd give more details.

But in the account here,

you've got Cleopas

and some other unnamed person.

Again,

if I'm writing a story,

I either tell one name

or I don't tell any names at all.

I just tell both names

or just no names at all.

But the account itself

just shows that

there is something

that's just raw

and real

about the resurrection story.

the resurrection of Christ

showing that he's still alive,

convincing family members,

convincing disciples,

starting a revolution

that outlives

the Roman Empire,

the most powerful one

at the time.

The fact that there remains

to be an empty tomb

remains unchanged

and there is no real explanation

for it

and that fact

changes everything.

See,

then Jesus goes

and introduces himself

to something else more.

It's just interesting here,

if I'm Jesus,

I've been subjected

to all this cruelty,

all this pain.

The Roman Empire

tries to destroy me

and then I come back to life.

What am I doing

when I come back to life?

Man,

I'm going Captain Marvel on them.

I'm going to go

straight to Caesar.

I'm going to go,

how are you at me now?

I'm going to go

and just fly up into the sky

and just hover

and just blast the cities

and destroy them all.

Would you not?

After having been through

what you went through,

would you not come

and just show yourself

to all the haters

and destroy them?

And what does Jesus do?

Jesus goes to his friends,

goes to restore the people

that he knew

and he loved,

one by one.

There are a series of days,

not many days,

up until Pentecost,

he goes and he just restores them.

He knows Peter is just

Peter is just lost for words.

He had all this gusto.

I'll follow you everywhere.

And then soon

this little girl comes,

ah, I don't know Jesus

and he runs off.

Peter is just,

can you just imagine

Peter's shame

and what does Jesus

choose to do?

Instead of flying,

hovering into the sky,

threatening to bazooka

the heck out

of the Roman Empire

and Julius Caesar,

he goes and sits

next to Peter

by a fire

and he says,

Peter, do you love me?

Peter says,

I can't even say yes,

but no, but yes.

And Jesus goes on this journey,

this patient,

gracious journey

to restore Peter.

That's the Christ

that we know.

He meets Mary Magdalene

who put all her hopes in him.

She was cast out

by society

and she's weeping

in the tomb

because she has nowhere

else to go

and he goes to her first.

and she's grieving

and she's at a loss.

She doesn't even recognize him

until what?

Until she says,

he says her name,

Mary.

And suddenly,

being called by a name

by the risen Christ,

she realizes who it is.

I'm going to invite Kelly up now

because even the story

of Mary Magdalene

is fascinating to me.

how Jesus chooses

to meet her first

and the question

that I really have is,

and Joe maybe had

a great term there,

which is the reality

of the resurrection.

And the question

I asked Kelly

to really pray over

and ponder over this week

was how does the reality

of the resurrection

meet us in grief?

Because Mary Magdalene

was grieving.

We are grieving

about something.

We're at a loss

about something.

So the question here

is we know how important

the resurrection is.

We know that it happened.

The question really is

what does it mean to us?

And so I want to just,

Kelly's going to share

for five minutes

on how the reality

of the resurrection

impacts her

when it comes

to the issue of grief.

Can we give her

a round of applause?

Is that good?

Good morning,

brothers and sisters.

Pastor James mentioned

that on Good Friday

we watched a movie

called The Passion

of Christ

which really portrayed

the immense physical

and emotional torture

that Jesus went through.

It also portrayed

Mary Magdalene,

a good friend of Jesus

who followed Jesus

the whole way

as he carried the cross

to Calvary

and she had to watch

him get mocked,

humiliated,

flogged

and eventually crucified.

Friday really seemed

like the worst day ever.

The Messiah was dead

and in utter despair

and hopelessness

Mary went to the tomb

on the third day.

And when we look

at the passage,

John 20,

John 20:11–18

verse 11 to 18

as Pastor James read,

is it just me

or did Mary

really go through

an emotional

rollercoaster there?

She went from

weeping

and mourning

to all of a sudden

discovering

the greatest news

of all time.

And she went

and announced

that I have seen

the Lord

announcing

the good news

of Jesus' resurrection

to the disciples.

And as I reflected

over what happened there

and what it means

to me,

I came to an understanding

that a lot of the times

in life,

it feels like

it's game over.

It's going to lead us

into weeping,

mourning,

and hopelessness.

But when the resurrected

Jesus comes

into the picture

and when we just

turn around

and when he calls

us by our names

and we recognize

the resurrected Jesus,

weeping turns

into rejoicing,

mourning turns

into dancing.

And just like Mary,

we can freely

and joyfully

declare the good news

of Jesus' resurrection.

And we can rest assured

that death

is not the end.

You and I

will eventually

spend eternity

in heaven

where every tear

will be wiped away.

There will be

no more death,

no more crying

or pain

or mourning.

And this is such

a game changer

for me

because,

as some of you

might know,

my mother,

her name is Auntie Jean,

in case you didn't know.

My mother and I

have a really extraordinary

and precious bond.

25 years ago,

when the people

around her

and the culture

of the world

were telling her,

it's,

Kelly is an accident.

she's too much

of a risk

and...

She's too big

of a commitment.

My mother decided

to seek

and obey

the voice of God

and courageously

gave birth to me

in her mid-40s

and that's why

I can stand here today.

And,

whew,

for as long

as I can remember,

she's been

my best friend,

my teacher,

my counselor,

my role model,

and so much more.

And,

I've shared

with some of you here,

whew,

my biggest fear

is losing her.

The thought

that

one day

she's going to

depart from me

makes my heart ache.

I know that

that day

is going to be painful.

I will mourn

and I will weep.

But I also know

that

when I turn to

and recognize

the resurrected Jesus,

I no longer

have to fear

because death

is not the end.

My mom and I

will reunite

in heaven

and spend eternity

with Jesus

who is seated

at the right hand

of God.

So,

whew,

Jesus'

resurrection

doesn't mean

that there's

not going to be

bad days

or difficult moments.

In fact,

there is going

to be

tough times

when it feels

like

you've reached

the end

and you just

feel like

you can't go on

with this life

anymore.

But may I

encourage you

that when we

are grieving

and when we

are mourning

and weeping,

Jesus meets

us where we

are.

Just like

how Jesus

met Mary Magdalene

in her despair

where she was.

There is no

battle in your

life that is

too difficult

for God

because even

in the most

difficult battle

of all time,

God came through.

Jesus won

the ultimate

battle.

And we can

stand in his

victory and rise

up again and

again.

And just

no matter

what we

face,

just know

that it'll

be all

right.

So brothers

and sisters,

let us rejoice.

Christ is risen.

Jesus is alive.

And I can't

wait to

proclaim this

good news

to the people

in Thailand

tomorrow as

some of us

go on

mission.

Happy Easter!

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm reminded

in John 11,

Jesus' close,

close friends,

Mary,

Martha,

Lazarus,

Lazarus dies

and there's

just grief

and there's

just crying

and Jesus

shows up

and they're

like,

oh,

if only you

were here!

And what

does Jesus

say?

Those famous

words,

I'm the

resurrection

and life.

1 Thessalonians

4 says about

this,

we can

grieve.

If you're

grieving,

you can

grieve.

You're

allowed to

grieve,

but we do

not grieve

as those who have no hope.

We grieve knowing there is hope,

that this isn't the end.

And that's what the reality of the resurrection

means for us,

that we can face all of those same things

that everyone else faces in the world as well.

Because we will, isn't that,

maybe this is too morbid,

doesn't that fact just cross your mind

every now and again,

that every single person in this room will die?

It does to me all the time.

Maybe I need to go see someone.

But that's what I am acutely aware of.

And yet there is hope.

And so I can grieve, but there is hope.

My brother says that he gets invited to more funerals

than he does for weddings,

which he should probably reflect on his own life about that.

But he says, actually, he loves going to funerals.

And I also like going to funerals

because there's just this,

it's just, it's beautiful in this way

where you are reminded of the,

just the treasure that is life

and how we should live every day.

And we're reminded that Jesus says,

I am the resurrection and the life.

I hold the keys to death and Hades.

And now I'm alive forevermore.

So Jesus meets us at our grief.

He then has this story, the next story along,

which is another fascinating one,

because as Jesus is starting to appear to people,

there's a guy who gets ultimate FOMO,

fear of missing out completely.

And who's that guy?

Thomas.

Tommy boy.

So he's out and is somewhere else.

And then the friends, the disciples,

they're in a room and they meet Jesus.

And then Thomas misses out and then he comes back.

And they're all just in hysterics

that Jesus is back and he's alive.

Thomas gets a lot of grief from all of us.

Oh, you're doubting Thomas.

But if you and I were Thomas,

we would do exactly the same thing that Thomas does.

Would you not?

You walk back into a room with all your friends

and everyone's grieving.

He probably just went to take a walk

and just to kind of get some fresh air.

He comes back and everyone's just gone crazy.

We saw him, we saw him.

And he'd like, in my mind, I'd be like,

you guys, you guys have lost it.

You all lost it.

And then so he says, hey, look,

I'm trying to just remain even keeled here.

Just, I need to see it to believe it.

And little did he know that that would then be coined

for him for the rest of his life.

They're like, you are all doubting Thomas's.

He's like, man, that's just the real thing to ask.

Jesus then, eight days later, meets him in his doubt.

Which again, is a fascinating story.

He could be destroying the Roman Empire

and yet here he is saying,

Thomas, I'm going to circle back around.

I'm going to meet you in your doubt.

There are some of you who have sat here

who are like, okay, well, I get it.

Fairly compelling case.

Not looked into it too much.

Not cared quite enough either.

But I don't know.

I still have some doubt.

The question that I have for Tony is actually,

how does the reality of the resurrection

meet us in our doubt?

And what does that mean for him?

And again, Tony has been spent this week

just mulling this over.

He's been very gracious

because he was going to talk about something else

and then I gave him this last minute

and he's changed.

So can we give a round of applause to Tony?

Thanks, James.

Feels a little bit weird to share the stage with Kelly.

He used to be my Sunday school student.

In fact, the last time I did something like a message

was many years back during Sunday school.

So James asked me to talk about Thomas.

I looked him up in the Bible.

There's not a whole lot of things about Thomas in the Bible.

In fact, the only book that talks about what Thomas talked about

was in John, the Gospel of John.

We kind of knew that Thomas was a good man

with a good family

because he's got a Jewish name

and he's got a Greek name.

It was in the Bible that we're in John.

Didymus.

It's kind of like when, you know,

in the good old days of Hong Kong,

we're under the British colony.

Some of us were given British name

on top of a Chinese name, right?

So we got this very long name,

you know, identity card.

So he's got parents that actually are pretty well to do

and I figure that's probably

want him to be successful

in the days where he lived in Galilee,

say a major city under the Roman Empire at the time.

So we didn't really know much about Thomas,

but from the very few verses in the book of John,

we knew he's a pretty good disciple among the 12.

You know, he's well-spoken.

He urges his peers on,

even though at times that people were not sure.

And he asked questions

and he chimes along with Jesus,

you know, teaching.

But the most famous thing

that people knew about Thomas

was this thing about him asking questions about,

hey, you know,

I don't believe that Jesus resurrected.

And unless I see his hands and sigh,

I don't believe that.

So he's famous for being a doubting Thomas.

So we probably have our fair share

of doubting Thomas around us.

I met a few very nice people,

thanks to Alex,

during our Alpha sessions a few weeks back.

These are very nice men,

pretty much similar age to me,

very bright,

Cambridge-trained,

physicians and scholars.

And they kind of okay with this God existence,

but they had a really hard time

to believe that Jesus resurrected from death.

And they all saying,

show me the evidence.

I need scientific evidence to believe it.

And yet one of them,

I had a good chat with him.

He was very much into Stephen Hawking's.

And even though Stephen Hawking's,

we're very much talked about,

you know,

in theory,

based on mathematics,

which is,

again,

cannot be repeated in a lap,

as most science does.

So what about the doubting Thomas in us?

In my 40 years of being a Christian,

I had my fair share of doubts.

The one that I share would be

speaking in tongues.

So I've been to churches

and I've been to gatherings

where we heard people

were speaking in funny,

you know,

driblish language.

And I had my doubts,

you know,

is this really

what the Bible was describing

in the book of Acts,

where people are filled with Holy Spirit

and they speak a foreign language.

And in the book of Acts,

they actually talk about

interpreters.

So I have never met

an interpreter

who actually interprets for me.

And yet,

I learned to

accept

that

perhaps,

you know,

the speaking of tongues

is

a spirit-filled

act.

Even though I

myself

have really not

experienced that.

So in our faith journey,

we all have

our moments of doubts.

I believe God

can handle us

with

questions

and

he would give us time

so

we can kind of

work it out

ourselves.

Right?

Doubts are often

a

kind of a

twisting path

to a deeper,

more meaningful

faith.

Doubts

are a

twisting path

to a deeper

and a more

meaningful faith.

We can't

really avoid it.

There's a way

that

through Thomas

we can learn

how to live

with this mystery

of doubt.

Jesus

could have

revealed to

Thomas

right

after

that

evening

gathering

with the

disciples

when Thomas

wasn't

there.

But he

waited

eight days.

Now that

eight days

probably

is good

for Thomas

and maybe

it's

good for us

as well.

we are

given the

opportunity

to

think,

to seek,

to question,

and to

listen to

others

to figure

out

our

faith

and how

to handle

these doubts

that

we have.

So we

need to

keep this

as an

kind of

an open

heart

so the

eighth

day of

hope

can

arrive.

Sometimes

we have

to wait

what seems

to be

no good

reason

as well.

It

doesn't

make any

kind of

sense.

And it

probably

doesn't

make sense

for another

thousand years

after our

lifetime.

But I'm

learning to

be okay

with that

because

when the

time comes

that

waiting is

over,

like what

Thomas is

experiencing,

I know

we all

will react

to the

same way

that Thomas

did,

which is

exclaiming

in excitement,

my Lord

and my

God.

Faith is

assurance

for things

that we

have not

seen.

if we

see an

evidence,

then it

is not

faith.

Back to

James.

Thank you,

Tony.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

What does

the reality

of the

resurrection

mean for

you?

How can

you apply

it today?

What does

it mean

for you?

And the

two accounts

we see

here are

that Jesus

in his

grace meets

you in

your grief.

Jesus

in his

grace meets

you in

your doubt.

And I

love what

Tony said,

that doubt

is the

twisting path

that you

often have

to go on

to get

deeper in

the faith.

Some of

you come

from church

contexts where

you're like,

don't ask

questions.

Don't ask

questions.

The 5,000

were full,

right?

They were

fed.

Don't ask

questions.

Don't even

doubt.

Don't even

grieve.

And yet,

that's not

the God

that is

revealed in

this book.

You see

this book

time and

again,

whether it's

Jonah,

who we're

going to

go through

in a couple

weeks,

whether it's

Elijah,

whether it's

Peter,

those who have

betrayed and

disappointed and

turned their

backs on

God,

God seems

to draw

close to

those people

even more

in the most

patient,

gracious kind

of way.

You see,

even after

those accounts

where Jesus

shows up,

chapter 21

in John,

Peter doesn't

really know

what to do

with himself.

Can you

imagine being

Peter in

that room

when Jesus

shows up?

He's usually

the head of

the table.

He's usually

just up there.

This time he

probably would

have just been,

oh man.

And there's no

account of Jesus

saying anything to

him.

Can you

imagine just

how Jesus

would be

feeling?

Just tiny.

And those

eight days

comes and

then Thomas

finally gets

to see him

and Peter

would still

be like,

oh man,

he's back.

I wonder

whether he

knows what

I did.

But then

he rose

from the

dead so

he probably

knows what

I did.

And then

he does

this thing

and he

says,

oh,

I don't

know what

to do.

I'm going

to go

fishing.

And he's

like,

you know

what,

I'm just

going to

go back

to what

I knew.

Maybe

that's it.

Jesus

didn't want

to talk

to me

anymore.

I have

doubt,

I have

grief.

I'm just

going to

go back.

And yet

it's in

that moment

he goes

fishing and

you show

his leadership

and you show

what good

leadership does

and you show

what bad

leadership does

because Peter

says I'm

going to

go fishing

and the

other guys

are like,

we don't

know what

to do,

we're going

to come

with you.

And Jesus

in that

moment

meets him

again.

And this

time he

sits with

him.

And this

time he

speaks to

him.

And this

time he

restores him

and he

turns that

shame

into

honor and

love.

What does

the reality

of the

resurrection

mean for

you?

If you

have had

grief that

has turned

you away

from him,

then take

comfort

because he

is still,

his mercy

and goodness

is still

following you.

if you

have doubts

and you're

like, I

don't

understand

that,

where did

the

dinosaurs

go?

I don't

know,

whatever

your

doubt

is.

What

about

the

dinosaurs?

Terry's

like, what

about the

dinosaurs?

Okay, we'll

find someone

smart to

talk to

you about

that.

But even

in those

doubts,

ask away.

Man, if

God is not

question-proof,

then I don't

know if he's

God at

all.

But he's

bigger than

your

questions.

And the

other thing

is, if you

were to

understand

everything

about him,

then maybe

he's not

God either.

So come

at him

with your

doubts.

Hey, I

have

questions.

Those two

people walking

away from

Jerusalem,

disappointed,

leaving,

he walks

with them,

speaks to

them, opens

up the

word with

them, and

their hearts

start burning.

Maybe that's

some of us

here.

The

resurrection

in the

Greek

anastasis

means to

rise.

It means

to cause

one's feet

to stand

up, to

stand on

one's feet

again.

That is

what we

believe.

That is

what we

hang our

hats on.

That is

why we're

here.

And because

of that,

we have

no fear

of death.

We have

no worry

about what

our boss

will say

to us

tomorrow.

We have

no worry

about what

our friends

think of

us,

because someone

died and

rose again.

The fact

that an

empty tomb

remains

is the

thing that

changes

everything.

It has

to.

what does

it mean

for you?

I want

to invite

you to

the last

few moments

now.

If you

have grief,

if you

have doubt,

if you

have

disappointment,

then I

want to

do what

our

resurrected

Christ did

and invite

you in.

Come in

with all

of those

things.

Revelation

at the

end,

he says,

Behold,

I stand

under the

door and

knock.

Whoever

opens the

door,

I will

come into

him and

I will

eat with

him.

I will

be at

the table

with him.

The

resurrected

Christ,

you may

have only

heard about

him,

but there

have been

many greats

who

finally,

who actually

met him,

whether it's

the Apostle

Paul,

whether it's

C.S.

Lewis,

whether it's

the person

sitting next

to you,

there are

people in

this room

who have

met that

resurrected

Christ,

and that

same

Christ

knocks on

your door

today.

We

invite Alex

and the

team up

as their

leaders in