The King We Didn’t Expect | John 12:9–23

You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with

Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is

people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's dive in. Amen.

Thank you for joining us as we celebrate Jesus.

The Bible says if Jesus said if he is high and lifted up, that

he would draw all men to himself and that's our hearts desires,

that Jesus would be lifted up in this place, that we would get a

greater view of Jesus, that we would stand in awe of Jesus,

that we would be at a place in our lives where Jesus is

glorious and he is holy. And I think sometimes what

happens in our lives is we've settled so much for the crumbs

of this world that we're no longer satisfied by the bread of

life, Jesus. And I just want to thank you as

your pastor for the amazing community of us hitting from the

seats to the streets, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Never did I ever think I would move to the South.

I knew I would be in Southern California, but I'd never

thought I'd live in the South. And God does above and beyond

all that we could ever ask, think or imagine.

And so with that being said, we want to lift up Jesus who has

risen. If you come from the old school

church where you know, when he says the pastor says he has

risen, the church always said, let's try that again because

it's kind of weak in here, even though we have a lot of people,

he has risen. Amen.

Amen. I want to ask that you turn in

your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27, Matthew chapter 27.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention Matthew 27 · chapter mention

I want to deal with a topic this morning of us being able to

rise. And if you take any types of

notes here, we want to remind you that because Jesus rose

again from the dead, you could rise in any situation that's

been given to you by the loving hand of God and by the authority

in the working of his Holy Spirit.

And we really believe that that today is a day that the church

is called to. Today is a day that we come out

of our own lives of possibly sin that you might be in and Jesus

calls you to rise due to his death, his burial and his

resurrection. So if you'd follow with me, in

Matthew chapter 27, beginning in verse 62, the Bible reads these

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

words that on the next day, which followed the day of

preparation, the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered

together to Pilate saying, Sir, we remember while he was still

alive, how that deceiver said, Speaking of Jesus, after three

days I will rise. Just tell your neighbor that he

is risen. Therefore command that the tomb

be made secure until the 3rd day, lest his disciples come by

night and steal him away and say to the people He has risen from

the dead. Can you just look at your

neighbor and say he has risen so the last deception will be worse

than the first? And Pilate said to them, you

have a guard, go your way. Make it as secure as you know

how. And so they went and made the

tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

But there's more. Matthew 28 verse one.

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to

dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

And behold, there was a great earthquake.

For an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came

and rolled back the stone from the door, and he sat on it, and

his countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as

white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of

him, and became like dead men. But the Angel answered and said

to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus,

who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen.

Risen. Can you look at your neighbor

and say, He is risen from the dead, and indeed he's going

before you into Galilee, therefore you will see him.

Behold, I have told you. And so they departed quickly

from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his

disciples word. And as they went to tell his

disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, Rejoice.

And they came and held him by the feet, and they worshipped

him. And Jesus said to them, do not

be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to

Galilee, and there they will see me.

Can you pray with me this morning?

Lord, we thank you for the power of your word.

We thank you for the working of your Holy Spirit.

Father, we pray this morning that our eyes would be awestruck

by Jesus, that our heart would be aligned with Jesus, that our

ears would be attentive to the voice of Jesus.

Lord, I pray that you would wipe away every distraction that's in

this room, possibly even that we came into this room feeling,

sensing, seeing, and hearing. Lord, we pray, Lord, that our

eyes would be completely fixed on the person of Jesus Christ,

Not a pastor, not a platform, not a ministry leader, but on

the person of Jesus Christ. You Jesus, are the great

shepherd of our souls. And so Lord, we ask and pray

that you would do your great work in this place.

And I asked this in Jesus name and everybody said Amen, if you

can, as we always do at Bridgetown every Sunday, if you

would just look at your neighbor and say neighbor, my neighbor, I

can't handle this weight. I'm not talking possibly about

your body, I'm talking about your burden.

I want you to understand that because it was just last week as

I was loading a 28 foot trailer long, 9 feet trailer high that

we were loading in box after box after box, tables, beds.

And I was thinking to myself, there was one item that I didn't

want to carry. It was what I inherited from my

father-in-law. It was his Craftsman toolbox.

I wasn't dreading carrying this simply because I didn't like it,

but it was way too heavy and I didn't have the patience within

me to take out every drawer of the toolbox just to get it up

the ramp. And so I thought to myself, I've

been exercising a little bit, possibly with my son-in-law,

Noah, we can get this Craftsman toolbox right up the trailer.

And there was the landscaper off to my left watching the whole

scene unfold. His name is Brian.

I should have listened to Brian. Brian told me these words.

He said would you like to take out each drawer before you

actually move it? I said no, we got this.

And so in one fell swoop on the Dolly, I pulled while Noah

pushed and we made it. We made it all the way to the

middle, but we made it and I struggled in the middle.

It was there that I realized that I couldn't handle the

weights and I kept trying to pull and I didn't want to look

weak in front of my son-in-law. So I asked him.

I said, Noah, you got to push, man.

And he kept pushing and straining and I kept pulling and

straining. It felt like the muscles on my

lower back were about to explode.

And I said I got to let it down. I got to let it down.

And we got it down to the bottom again.

And Brian walks up and he says, can I show you how to release

the weight of this toolbox? He said there's small clips on

each side and all you need is a screwdriver.

And I promise you at that point in time, you will be able to get

this whole thing up. Have you ever found yourself

there right in the middle of your struggle?

There was so much pain that you couldn't really progress forward

in your life. Have you ever found yourself

there where the load that you were lifting was too much to

hold in your life right now? If you have, just say Amen.

Have you ever found yourself there where you really couldn't

handle the weight? The problem wasn't necessarily

you're pushing. The problem was the pressure

that you were called to carry in that moment.

Have you ever found yourself at that point in time in life where

your life was not about bright colors this Easter, but maybe

dark hues this Easter? Maybe what you're wearing today

is not the cute wardrobe that you came in here with, but maybe

you were dressed in despair this morning.

Maybe you've come into this place and your experience this

Easter is not necessarily a celebration.

It is sadness. And what you're saying to

yourself is I can't really handle this weight anymore.

I can't handle the weight of grief.

I can't handle the weight of unmet expectations.

I can't handle the weight of my health.

I can't handle the weight of my marriage.

I can't handle the weight of shame, the weight of guilt and

the weight of betrayal and the weight of doubt and the weight

of questions. And lastly, this is the one that

seems to get us the most the weight of regret that we

actually could have done some more.

Have you ever found yourself in your life saying these words?

I just can't handle this weight anymore.

I want you to know if you have, you're not alone.

You're not alone in this room. And what I want to submit to you

is 1 sentence today as your pastor and that is this.

Stop holding what Jesus alone can keep carrying.

Once again, stop holding what Jesus alone can keep caring for

you. This is what the Bible says.

The Bible tells us in first Peter chapter 5 verse 7 to cast

1 Peter 5:7

all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Notice the Bible does not say manage your anxiety.

The Bible says to cast your anxiety upon Him.

This word cast in the Bible simply means to throw it, to

place the full weight of it on something or someone.

But here's the problem. The problem is, many of us carry

what God is inviting us to release.

We rehearse it in our minds. We replay it with our heart, the

fear in our minds. We try to control the outcome

that God alone has the power to control and to carry.

This is what we do this Easter. We try to Google it.

We ChatGPT it. We have ChatGPT talking to us on

how well we're doing in our lives.

We have ChatGPT for everything that we think we need

information of. We have information overload.

We have a high level of information.

We have a low level of trust and we think that higher information

means my trust will grow. But let me ask you a question.

The more you googled it, has the anxiety gone away?

The more that you've ChatGPT D it, has that really gone away

for you? The answer is not necessarily

going to be found in what you and information that you're

carrying, but God's Word says something beautiful.

And here's what the Lord says to you this Easter.

God does not just tolerate your anxiety, He actually cares for

you as a person who's battling the anxiety.

Do you see? The Lord has given to us this

Easter the invitation to release ourselves into the hands of the

One who carries the whole universe.

The Bible says underneath you are the arms of the everlasting

God. If he carries in his hands the

universe, you will not slip out of his hands as you commit

yourself to him. This is what Easter is all

about. It is the divine exchange that

Jesus carried the physical and spiritual weight of the cross so

that we would not bear the crushing burden of sin, hell and

the grave. And I say this to you today,

because Jesus rose, you can actually rise.

He can handle what's heavy. He can handle what's heavy.

I'm going to say it until the church gets it.

He can handle what's heavy. He can handle everything that

you're carrying in your life. And Easter is the divine proof

and proclamation that Jesus can handle everything that's heavy

in your life. This is exactly where the

disciples find themselves. The disciples aren't huddled up

in an in a dark room making colorful eggs and hosting an

Easter party. They're not doing that.

They're not on some search in egg hunt at their favorite

restaurant. The disciples are discouraged.

They're despairing. They're depressed.

They're questioning, They're doubting, and they're wondering

why Jesus didn't really come through.

He said he would be king. And this is where the disciples

found themselves. And in this specific place, the

report comes to them that Jesus is alive.

I love what Ji Packer said. He said this is not optimism,

this is hope. He writes, optimism is a wish

without warrant. Christian hope is certainty

generated by God himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as

to whether good things will ever actually come.

Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of this

life and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth

and certainty that God's own commitment to him is that the

best is yet to come. And I tell you that today

because he rose, you can rise. You might be asking, well, what?

What did Jesus actually carry that was heavy?

I just want to go through a few things in the story if we could

together, if you afford me a little bit more time in your

morning. And I want you to hear this

today, that Jesus handles everything that is heavy.

And notice if you would, in Matthew chapter 27, the

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

religious rulers had come together in verse 62, the

Pharisees had gathered together the chief priests and the

Pharisees. Now the chief priests were the

religious political leaders of that day.

The chief priests were normally what the Bible would call the

Sadducees. The Sadducees didn't believe in

the resurrection afterlife and the Pharisees came together.

Now that this is very interesting.

The chief rulers, the Sadducees, came together with the

Pharisees. The Pharisees were again

religious rulers. They would hold to the adherence

of the Oral Law in the Torah and they joined together.

But the Pharisees believed in the resurrection.

The Sadducees and the Pharisees normally did not hang out

together. They did not like each other.

It was blue and red. And they they did not come

together except for one thing, to make sure that Jesus did not

come out of that tomb. Notice they said as they came to

Pilate, the Jews did not like the Roman authority.

The Sadducees hated the Pharisees.

The Sadducees and the Pharisees hated Rome, but they hated Jesus

more. And they come together in this

moment and they say, Sir, we remember in verse 63, while he

was still alive, how that deceiver said, after three days

I will rise. Isn't it interesting?

Can I just give you this for free, that the enemies of Jesus

believed his word more than the friends of Jesus.

And in this moment the enemies of Jesus believed what he

actually said, that Jesus would actually rise again.

And so they asked Pilate command us command verse 64 that the

tomb be made secure until the 3rd day, lest his disciples come

by night and steal him away. That's a conspiracy theory you

don't want to follow and say to the people he has risen from the

dead. Can you look at your neighbor

and say he has risen? So the last deception will be

worse than the first. Then?

Pilate said to them. You have a guard.

Can I give you the first thing that Jesus takes care of in the

power of the resurrection? You ready for this?

He takes care of the soldiers. He takes care of the soldiers.

Now notice in verse 65 Pilate said to them, you have a guard,

but notice if you would jump down with me in Matthew chapter

Matthew 28:4

28 verse 4 says, and the guards plural shook for fear of him and

became like dead men. Was it 1 guard or was it mini

guards? They believe, historians say

that there were 4 to 16 guards watching the tomb of Jesus

Christ. That's a lot of people.

And here is Mary and Mary. While Peter, James and John and

all the other disciples were so afraid.

Thank you women for being bold. Thank you for taking this step

of faith. Thank you for your courage.

Mary and Mary come along and say get up, let's rise, let's go.

And in the Gospel accounts, one of the stories is, is that

they're wondering what they're going to do when they get to the

stone. In this moment, Jesus has

handled the soldiers. And in this moment, as Jesus

handles the soldiers, there could have been 4:00 to 16

soldiers all around this tomb. Notice what happened.

Verse 4 tells us the guards shook for fear of him the Angel

and became like dead men. Can I give you another free

thing? The ones on the outside of the

tomb were dead men. The one on the inside of the

tomb was a lie, and here is the moment inside of the tomb.

There was no one there because Jesus is alive.

The resurrection proclaims that no person can stand against the

power of Jesus Christ. The resurrection shows us that

we don't have to agree, but God might align these things.

And this opposition, even this Easter that you might be facing

is God's opportunity to show us that no matter the person placed

at the tomb who says that Jesus is dead cannot stop that a God

who says that Jesus is alive forever more.

Here's the problem, men and women this Easter.

Here is the big problem that every single one of us face is

this is many times we fear men in the face of men because we

have not seen the face of God. And because as Charles Spurgeon

said, you've not seen the face of God, you begin to fear the

face of men. And thus we live in fear of our

lives rather than faith that God can handle these types of

people. No notice, notice in your life,

you, you probably names might be popping up of certain people.

Don't don't say them out loud, but maybe people who might be

against you right now, maybe a boss, maybe a Co worker, maybe a

friend, maybe a loved one, maybe a cousin, maybe your husband,

maybe your wife. And all that's inside of you is

wondering how are you going to handle these types of people.

I think the resurrection proves to us that God is greater,

bigger, mightier, holier, all powerful, all knowing and can

take care of people. That the heart of the King is in

the hand of God and he moves it where he wishes.

I had an arch nemesis once. His name was Harvey.

I know that doesn't bring up anything for you probably, but

it triggers me the name Harvey at Harvey at the age of 6 years

old at Blair Park in the great city of San Bernardino, CA.

If you ever want to visit, that's a good place to go and

see what God is up to in the city.

And there at Blair Park, Harvey decided to spit in my brother's

face. Now as a younger brother, I had

to make my pathway secure at the slide, so I could not allow

Harvey to do that. So Harvey and I were the same

size at that time and and I fought Harvey and I beat Harvey.

I boast in the Lord in that like David did with Goliath.

But Harvey got bigger and I stayed smaller.

And every time I would ride my bike by Blair Park, Harvey was

huge. He was big, I was small, and I

would ride my bike faster when I passed his house because I knew

at some time he would come out and he would ask me, will you

fight me again? Every time, Every time I saw him

in the park, let's fight again. But he was bigger and I was

smaller. I realized this very important

principle that I want to submit to you.

Today. I had to call on your brother.

I had to call my older brother. I had to call someone stronger.

I had to call someone greater. I had to call someone who had

the audacity to stand in Harvey's face and not allow him

to progress and be a bully. I had to call on someone greater

than myself. And I just want to submit to

you. You have a you have an older

brother, you have one who is passed from death to life, who

has conquered sin, hell in the grave.

And you can call on Jesus. You can be at a spot in your

life where you see that God will meet you right in the place that

you're at. And every time he came, I

called. Just like Moses with Pharaoh,

just like Joseph with his brothers, just like Esther with

Haman, just like David met Goliath, just like Elijah met

Jezebel, just like Daniel met the evil officials.

And the disciples would go to the tomb and they would see that

Jesus not only had the power to cancel sin, hell in the grave,

but he also had the power to move people.

He had the power to protect. He had the power in a place

where he could move in such a way where God would be at work.

I love the story of Lisa Turkhurst, who talks about the

pain of a husband who committed adultery on her over and over

again. And I love not the story itself,

but I love her her out come of her faith in Jesus Christ.

This is what she wrote of the pain of facing the situation

that she was in. She writes these words.

Are you dealing with the aftermath of someone what

someone else has done, wondering if things will be made right

when how people have hurt you, but they never suffer the

consequences. It's very unfair.

Bitterness can arise. She writes We don't have to.

I love this sentence. She writes.

We don't have to allow We don't have to allow the one who broke

our trust to break us in the moment.

Jesus has the power to handle people.

He had the power to handle the soldiers, but he also had the

power to handle the seal, the seal which was over the tomb.

Notice the Bible says that they asked for a specific seal.

They they asked that a command would be given to secure the

tomb until the 3rd day, lest anyone take the body of Jesus

Christ. So in front of the tomb or 4 to

16 soldiers across the tomb spread out in different

directions is the not just the people, but the authority of

Rome. And here in this moment, the

Bible tells us these words, that the Angel came at this place in

verse 2 and there was a great earthquake.

When heaven touches earth, something should quake in your

life. And the Angel touches down.

And the Lord, the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and

he came and noticed this. He rolled back the stone.

He rolled back the stone, but not only did he roll back the

stone, but check this out, He sat on it.

I don't want you to miss that the seal is given, Pilate said.

If you break the seal, it is punishable by death, but the

only one who could break that seal was the one who was fully

alive, and that is Jesus. So Mary and Mary are going to

this heavy situation. Their Savior has died.

I don't know if you've ever been in a spot where someone that

you've loved has passed into eternity.

You saw them breathe their last breath upon this planet.

You saw their spirit enter into eternity.

You know the pain and the grief that we're upon their heart in

this moment. They go in the darkness of the

morning. It's the breaking of dawn.

And there they're wondering, how are we going to handle the

soldiers? What are we going to do for the

seal? And Jesus handles it.

He handles all of it for their benefit and for God's glory.

Notice the Roman authority meant maximum security, and it

signified legal ownership by Rome.

And it was a simple statement that every guard at that place

had to follow that if this seal was was broken, death would be

experienced. It was human authority that

tried to war off divine almighty sovereignty.

Not only did Jesus handle the people, but Jesus can handle

other people's perception of their own power.

There is no power that is greater than the person of Jesus

Christ. There is no government that is

greater than Jesus Christ. Listen if you would Russia is

not greater than Jesus. China is not greater than Jesus.

North Korea is not greater than Jesus.

America is not greater than Jesus.

Iran will not be greater than Jesus.

No country in Europe will ever be greater than Jesus.

Canada is not greater than Jesus.

No politician, pilot, whoever you want to put in that

category. No politician will ever be

greater than the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus alone has the power. Jesus alone has the authority.

Jesus alone is the unmatchless, almighty one, true, living God.

Jesus alone is the one who has given His life, and in giving

His life, He gives to us the power to face any power that is

in our path. I had the opportunity in

December of 2001, three months after 911, to stand on the

platform where the families would view their loved ones who

are still being searched for. In that moment, though, in that

moment that I was there, in the month of December, we had the

opportunity to pray for families who came up, but they weren't

looking for living people in that time.

They, they were actually looking for people who were deceased and

they were bringing their bodies to a place of honor.

And I remember watching the firemen and the policeman coming

out of what they called the pit. And as they would come out of

the pit, the wreckage that was brought on, of these towers

collapsing, there was a place that you might be aware of that

formed this metal cross. And every fireman and policeman

coming out of that pit had to go into the cross as they left, as

they exited, they went from the cross.

As they went into, they went in with the cross in view.

And I submit this to you this morning, that it is in the view

of the cross of Jesus Christ that Jesus said your devastation

is not your final destination. The cross of Christ proves to me

in my view of the cross of Jesus Christ, where Jesus said it is

finished. And because it is finished, this

will not have power over you. The doctors can share their

words. Politicians can share their

promises. Advisors can make you aware.

But only Jesus has the power to break the bonds of evil in hell.

He can handle any seal that people put over your life.

He handled the soldiers. He handled the seal.

Notice this. He handled the stone.

No notice the the the Bible says they rolled a stone in front of

the tomb of Jesus. And when the women got there,

the Angel had already gotten there and he rolled back the

stone. This is where Rolling Stones got

their name for their no, I'm just kidding for for from their,

their band. That was my last joke is your

pastor. But from the door, notice the

Angel sat on top of it. The Angel sat on top of it.

Well, why would the Angel? Now this is what the Angel

looked like. His countenance was like

lightning and his clothes was white as snow.

So this this Angel is gleaming and he's just chilling on top of

the stone and it isn't it interesting that the Angel sat

on the stone? You think that an Angel would

like stand guard over it? Can you imagine the angels like

legs are like dangling off the stone and his I don't know if

they have wings or whatever, but but he's just just just sitting

on the stone. This shows the authority of God

over the weight of your life because it brings me back to

what Jesus did in the middle of the sea when the disciples were

facing the storm. Jesus, the Bible said, walked on

the water. The same water that caused the

disciples fear was the same water that Jesus would step on

in authority and go to the boat. It is the same stone that Jesus

would send the Angel, the Father would send the Angel, and the

Angel would sit on top of a stone.

Now you might be thinking of the small stone like this little

Pebble. This is not £50.

This stone with this soldier in the seal is not 100 lbs.

This. This is not £500.

This is one to two ton of stone. This is about 40, £500.

You ever worried about something that was in front of you?

Mary and Mary, we can't really see the future, but we're going

to Jesus. You don't really understand the

future, but you're going to Jesus.

You don't really see what's going to happen next, but you do

know that you have to take the next step towards Jesus.

And in that light and in that way, you come to a place where

Jesus could take upon the stone an interesting enough. 4500 lbs

would not be the heaviest thing that Jesus would carry.

And your stone right now has probably paralyzed you.

Your stone is probably trapped you.

Your stone has probably stopped you and some of you, if I could

submit this to you that been in church for a long time, One of

the stones that I believe that you're dealing with right now is

church hurt. You're hurt.

You're hurt. Let's be real.

Let's be honest. You're leaving, Pastor Casey.

We're hurt. We're sad, we're grieving, some

of us. It's not because I'm leaving

some of it. It's just because of what we

went through at another church. And that stone has become so

heavy over your life, you're wondering if this is something

you could ever get past. Can I submit this to you this

morning? That was a good time for a yes

Pastor. Can I submit to you?

That the same Spirit who rose Christ from the dead lives in

you. And it is time to rise.

Not because Pastor Casey is here or isn't here, or Pastor Chris

is here. It's time to rise because Jesus

is here and our eyes are fixed and focused on him.

I want to encourage you to take the next step and your Savior

will face your stone, but you. Know the heaviest thing that.

Jesus handled. It wasn't the soldiers, it

wasn't the seal, it wasn't the stone.

It was sin. It was sin.

It was when you lied, it was when you cheated.

It's when you use ChatGPT for your paper.

It's when you were out getting drunk.

And you didn't want anyone else to know about it.

It was when you. Were on the Internet viewing.

Pornography This past week it was when.

You treated your. Wife out of anger, rather out of

kindness. The sin that was during.

Direct rebellion. Against God it's the sin that

Jesus handled for us Friday we call Good Friday.

But something happened on Friday.

The savior of the world was given and as Chris shared last

week, the triumphal entry of the king crying out Hosanna and one

moment they crowned him and then next moment that same crowd

would yell out crucify him. And that's exactly what happened

to Jesus. They crucified him on Friday.

But not only did Jesus suffer because of our sin, but he

actually bore our sin. He actually took our sin upon

himself. And Friday is good because we

know Sunday is coming. And Friday.

Is something that we look. At is dark and bleak and Jesus

paid the price he paid, paid a debt he did not owe because I

owed a debt that I could not pay.

And I needed someone to wash my sin away.

Not another sacrificed lamb at the temple, not another bleeding

goat, but the blood of the Lamb of God who would take my place

in your place and pay for everything that you should have

done and everything that you chose to do wrong.

And the Bible says that Jesus took that spot for me.

And in this moment the Angel comes and says, I know that you

see Jesus who was crucified, and he was crucified for our sin,

but he says he is not here, he is risen.

He said, come see the place where the Lord lay, and go

quickly and tell his disciples. Tell him what?

Look at your neighbor and say it he.

Is risen, He is risen. He is risen.

Jesus is risen. I have 8:00 kids.

Four boys, 4 girls. Not because I always love.

Kids, but I really love my wife. Like, oh, you don't have TV?

In the high desert or something. Like, come on, really, it's

obeying God's. Command man like.

Go be fruitful. Multiply Want to make disciples?

In all nations. In every neighborhood.

Having lots of kids means. Large grocery bills so as.

Christians, we choose to go. To our favorite spot, Costco.

Costco. We're coming out of that season.

In our lives. Thank you.

Jesus. But I I don't like something

about. Costco, can I just bear my heart

with you today? We have two carts that we're

pushing. Full.

Overflowing. You have to put everything out.

And now they're making you box it too.

That's not the worst part. You're pushing 2 heavy carts.

And as you're pushing it there, there's a a lady or a gentleman

who stops you as you exit. And they have to go.

Through what's on the receipt to?

Make sure that it's actually. Purchased because what is

purchased is set free with you. And so they go through the list

you. Got the toilet paper.

Yeah, 65 of them. They got the potatoes.

Yeah, 300 lbs of them. You, you have, you have the, the

orange juice. They don't just sell one, they

sell six in a row. And you're just holding it like

that as you walk out. It's like the promised land.

And, and they, they, they go through everything that you've

purchased and they put a yellow highlighter down the center of

the receipt and they say you're good to go.

I'm going to tie this in. The resurrection is the receipt

that you've been purchased and when you've been.

Purchased. You're able to go free.

If you haven't been purchased by.

Jesus, you will not be free. So I was speaking.

To the bank teller, the. Other day and she said I just, I

just hate it. I just hate it every time I go

to church. I said when do you go to church?

She said I go to church on Christmas Eve and I go to church

on Easter. She said I hate it though.

I hate it. The pastor looks at me every

time from these, from his stage, and he says you're a creaster.

Like what I've never heard. Of a creaster.

She's like, yeah, Christmas and Easter only.

She said these words. Wouldn't you just think he was

excited that I'm even there? I said I.

Don't know about that pastor. But I do know that Jesus is

excited you're here. And I want to tell you that you

might come. On Christmas and Easter, I don't

want to call you a creaster or CEO.

Christmas and Easter only I, I, I want you to know that.

Christ has purchased. Your sin upon the cross, I want

you to know that not only did He purchase it, but He suffered and

died on your behalf. I want you to know that His

blood was spilled so your sins can be forgiven.

I want you to know that your iniquity can be gone, not just

covered, but it could be gone because of the work of Jesus

Christ and the resurrection is the receipt that he did the

purchase and as you've come. This morning I just want to.

Ask if that's you and your thinking to your heart.

This is my moment to understand what it means to be purchased by

Jesus, by believing in Him, by trusting in Him.

I want to give you an opportunity to receive the great

work of Jesus, that He can handle everything that is heavy

from the soldiers to the seal to the stone.

And last but certainly not least, your sin that has

separated you from God. Will you pray with me this

morning? Father, thank you for every

person in this room. And we ask and pray as we've

gathered that you, by the working of your Holy Spirit,

Lord, would move in a way that you would draw men and women to

yourself, Lord, that people would put their trust and their

hope and their faith in you. Lord, I ask and pray that people

would be saved by you, Lord, as they call upon the name of the

Lord. And if that's you this morning,

as we've gathered and you're thinking to yourself, I want to

surrender, I want to believe, I want to trust in Jesus.

Can you just lift your hand up? If you don't know that you've

been purchased by Jesus, Can you lift your hand up as high as

possible so I could see it? God bless you.

Anyone in this room. God bless you, anybody else?

You just put your hand up. Put your hand up as a sign today

I, I want to release what I'm holding in my sin.

I want to trust that Jesus is my savior.

Anyone else in this room, Jesus alone can pay the price for

anything you've ever done. He did it on the cross.

He proved it in the resurrection.

Is there anybody else this morning, as we've gathered, that

you've not have not received the work of Jesus, Anybody else

where you're seated as you lifted your hand to the Lord,

This is you putting your faith and your trust in Jesus.

You could just simply cry out to the Lord and just say something

similar to this as you're sitting there, dear Lord.

Today I believe. That.

You have died upon the. Cross for me?

I ask. That you'd forgive me?

Of my sin as I surrender, I pray that you'd fill me with your

Holy Spirit. I pray that.

You would make me your. Child and I ask.

And pray that you would fill me with.

Your power I. Believe today in.

Jesus, his death, his burial and his resurrection make me new

from the inside out. And I ask this in Jesus name and

everybody said Amen, Amen, Amen. We hope you enjoyed this message

and we'd love for you to join. Us in person every Sunday at

10:30 AM. For more information and

updates, visit wearebridgetown.com.

Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week.