SPEAKER_00: What a beautiful song and what a beautiful day it is.
SPEAKER_00: I am thrilled to see every one of you excited about today.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Earl, and if you're here for the very first time, we love you already.
SPEAKER_00: Again, let's give our first time guests a big old round of applause.
SPEAKER_00: We're glad to have you online, family in the room, uh in the theater as well.
SPEAKER_00: I see people sitting on stairs too, so we will uh do all we can to make sure everybody feels all taken care of.
SPEAKER_00: But we're so, so glad uh you're here.
SPEAKER_00: If you're here for the first time, you you never would have uh heard us say this because you're here for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of almost every single service, we say, give us a year.
SPEAKER_00: And the idea behind that is we're trying to, you know, help people wrap their brain around this, you know, following Christ and just kind of starting on the journey.
SPEAKER_00: So we say, give us a year.
SPEAKER_00: Not a year where you just be attending church, but a year where you would be like involved and connected and know people's names and they know your names, and you kind of begin to grow in your walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's since it's Easter, I'm giving y'all a discount.
SPEAKER_00: It's not give us a year, it's give us three months.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Three months, three months.
SPEAKER_00: Now, there are some of you, and you're right on the edge of giving your heart and your life all the way over to God.
SPEAKER_00: You're right there.
SPEAKER_00: You can feel that he's been working in you, whether it's an emptiness you feel, or an anxiety, or a stirring, there's something going on, and you're right there.
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like God brought you here today on purpose to say, son, daughter, come on, come closer.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm inviting you into that.
SPEAKER_00: And I also recognize that some people you're like, I'm not coming back, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I'm here this one time.
SPEAKER_00: My girl told me to come, my mother told me to come, that's why I'm here, I ain't coming back.
SPEAKER_00: And fine, no, no problem at all.
SPEAKER_00: But whenever you're ready, just know we'll be here.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll have arms open wide for you, and be ready not to throw any stones, but to accept you and help you become all that God has called you to be.
SPEAKER_00: But those who are on the edge, you're right there, let this be your step today.
SPEAKER_00: What do I mean by give us three months?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna break it down.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to read your Bible every day for three months.
SPEAKER_00: This is your three-month shred.
SPEAKER_00: You know, on YouTube, like, give me three months.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is your 90-day shred.
SPEAKER_00: Read your Bible every day.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to come to church each week.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to tell someone that you're making this commitment.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Three months, okay?
SPEAKER_00: You're already almost there.
SPEAKER_00: Just take this step.
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of these three months, I believe that God's gonna grab a hold of your heart in such a powerful way and push you forward.
SPEAKER_00: And the dream that you have for who you're going to be, I want you to know that God has an even better and bigger dream for you, and He wants to see that fulfilled in your life.
SPEAKER_00: But you're gonna have to be willing to take some steps.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, if you got your Bibles, open up with me to Revelation chapter 21.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 21.
SPEAKER_00: If you didn't bring your Bible with you, we're gonna put the words on the screen so that you can follow along.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation chapter 21, and we'll begin reading in verse number three.
SPEAKER_00: It says, And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.
SPEAKER_00: They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number four, he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
SPEAKER_00: There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Then he who Verse number five, he who is seated on the throne said, I am making everything new.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.
SPEAKER_00: Uh have you ever asked yourself a question like this?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, why is there so many terrible things going on in the world?
SPEAKER_00: Like, why all this brokenness and difficulty and mess?
SPEAKER_00: Why is the world like this?
SPEAKER_00: Have you asked yourself the question, God, what why are you even allowing all of this to happen?
SPEAKER_00: We see whether it's homelessness or or wars or it can be abuse or human trafficking, whatever it might be that's going on in the world, hunger, uh, people dying of thirst.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what is happening?
SPEAKER_00: Why is the world like this?
SPEAKER_00: And it's an emotional question, and I don't want to answer the emotional question just with a practical answer.
SPEAKER_00: That's where you can kind of get disconnected with a person.
SPEAKER_00: They're asking something from their heart, and you answer from your head, it doesn't always line up.
SPEAKER_00: But I think this scripture speaks to answering this question.
SPEAKER_00: And not only this scripture, I think the whole of the Bible does.
SPEAKER_00: You see, first and foremost, the world isn't messed up because of God.
SPEAKER_00: The world is messed up because of us.
SPEAKER_00: We're the ones that broke this place.
SPEAKER_00: When God originally made things, the Bible tells us he created a garden.
SPEAKER_00: A garden for humanity to live in, to connect with him, to connect with each other.
SPEAKER_00: It was peaceful, harmonious.
SPEAKER_00: People there for they're there for worship and serving and encouragement and love.
SPEAKER_00: And then humanity, we decided, God, we don't want your way.
SPEAKER_00: We want our own way.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to go your direction, we want to go our direction.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be obedient.
SPEAKER_00: I'd rather be disobedient.
SPEAKER_00: And once we did that, sin entered into the equation.
SPEAKER_00: And whenever sin gets into a thing, it spreads like a disease and tries to kill everything it touches.
SPEAKER_00: Its aim is not to bring life, its aim is to destroy, to destroy relationships, mental health, peace, community.
SPEAKER_00: Its aim is to absolutely annihilate.
SPEAKER_00: And we decided, humanity, that we're not going to be on the side of God.
SPEAKER_00: We decided to be on the side of darkness and the and the enemy, and all of this has been happening.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see in our world today.
SPEAKER_00: We see this brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: You look on your phone, you can see it sometimes in your own family, maybe even in your own life.
SPEAKER_00: But God is not indifferent to this.
SPEAKER_00: God is not sitting back there going, I don't care.
SPEAKER_00: You screwed it up.
SPEAKER_00: It's on you.
SPEAKER_00: No, God does the exact opposite.
SPEAKER_00: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.
SPEAKER_00: God said, I'm sending my son into the world to fix the brokenness, all the mess, and all of the difficulty.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to stay disconnected.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to enter into it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Christmas is.
SPEAKER_00: It's Emmanuel, God with us, that God comes into this world, is raised as a little baby, and grows into the man that he is, and Jesus Christ one day gets on an old rugged cross for me and for you because God is interested in fixing messes, even ones that we make.
SPEAKER_00: My wife and I have three great kids, and our uh our oldest a few years ago uh was going away to college.
SPEAKER_00: Um now he's all married and grown up, and we love his wife, so thank God he picked good.
SPEAKER_00: Woo! Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be some weird dinner tables conversations if we didn't like her, but we love her more than we like him, so this is good.
SPEAKER_00: But when he's on his way uh to college, uh my wife was having a tough time.
SPEAKER_00: Here's her 18-year-old young man's son, and she's looking at him, and all she can see is the little baby that was in the playpen.
SPEAKER_00: That's all she can see.
SPEAKER_00: So he's got his muscles and his traps and his biceps and his back, and she doesn't see any of it.
SPEAKER_00: She just sees cute little Parker.
SPEAKER_00: So she's like, Earl, you better do something about this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: So I got a dog.
SPEAKER_00: I brought him in the house like he was Simba.
SPEAKER_00: Had him over my head like this.
SPEAKER_00: Couldn't believe it.
SPEAKER_00: The family was going crazy.
SPEAKER_00: So we got Turks now.
SPEAKER_00: That's his name.
SPEAKER_00: And Turks is a cute puppy, as you can see.
SPEAKER_00: Turks is so much fun, but Turks also loves the trash can.
SPEAKER_00: I can't stand this.
SPEAKER_00: There have been so many times I've come down in the morning only to discover that Turks has been in this trash can.
SPEAKER_00: There is stuff everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: I've actually caught him in the can, in it.
SPEAKER_00: And he can't get out.
SPEAKER_00: He got stuck somehow.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you're staying in there.
SPEAKER_00: Close the thing up.
SPEAKER_00: No, I've never done that.
SPEAKER_00: I've thought about it, but I've never done it.
SPEAKER_00: Mess after mess, it's always all over the place.
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know how he gets in this trash can.
SPEAKER_00: I'm convinced my daughter is an accomplice in all of this, but I cannot prove it.
SPEAKER_00: But somehow, somewhere he gets in a trash can, gets trash everywhere, and me trying to be the best dog dad I can possibly be, I clean it up.
SPEAKER_00: He's cute, but he makes a mess.
SPEAKER_00: You're cute, but you make a mess.
SPEAKER_00: We all do.
SPEAKER_00: And God says, I see the mess.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not indifferent toward the mess.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna come.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna put my hands in all of the mess, and I'm gonna clean it up myself.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we are celebrating at Easter.
SPEAKER_00: That in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God not only got in our mess, but he cleaned it up by his grace and by his mercy, and this is for every single one of us.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us in Acts chapter 10, verse number 38, it reads, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and he went about doing good and healing all who are under the power of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: He never walked around putting sickness and brokenness on people.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was always taking sickness and brokenness off of people, giving us the exact representation of who God is.
SPEAKER_00: God is the restorer, God's gonna put your life back together, and it does not mean life is not hard.
SPEAKER_00: We all know life is hard.
SPEAKER_00: It's God entering into the mess that we made and saying, I am in this thing with you to make everything right.
SPEAKER_00: I make all things new.
SPEAKER_00: And it's for everyone, not just for some spiritual elite, not just for those who know all the Bible verses.
SPEAKER_00: This is for every single one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Acts uh chapter 2, verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone, I don't care if you got a story like Ben's, I don't care if you smell like weed right now, I don't care if you got three million dollars in your bank account or your negative$227 in your bank account.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: God is no respectable person.
SPEAKER_00: For married people and single people, Latino, black, white, I don't care whatever your background is, Asian, God has a plan and a purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_00: Go back with me to Revelation chapter 21.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to read these verses again.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number four.
SPEAKER_00: John, who's the writer here, is getting a vision of a future time.
SPEAKER_00: It's after the second coming of Christ, after his millennial reign, and he, verse number four, he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
SPEAKER_00: A day is coming that he'll wipe every tear from your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: There will be no more death, no more grave sites, no more funerals.
SPEAKER_00: There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait for this day.
SPEAKER_00: Man, we've been in some mourning and some crying and some pain.
SPEAKER_00: For the old order of things has passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number five, now God speaks.
SPEAKER_00: God says, He was seated on the throne, said, I am making everything new.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.
SPEAKER_00: I love that God says, You can take this to the bank.
SPEAKER_00: I'm making everything new.
SPEAKER_00: It's done, it's a done deal.
SPEAKER_00: You remember when Michael Jordan uh hit his for his uh his sixth title was in Utah and hit that last shot?
SPEAKER_00: Do y'all remember?
SPEAKER_00: Y'all don't he's a goat.
SPEAKER_00: He's the goat, all right?
SPEAKER_00: He hits that shot.
SPEAKER_00: Once it leaves his hand, he just he knew it was going in.
SPEAKER_00: He knew it was going in.
SPEAKER_00: You know when Steph Curry's at the end of the game and he hits a three, and then he goes, Night night, it's a wrap, it's done, it's over, it's finished, it's completed.
SPEAKER_00: God is saying here, I'm making everything new.
SPEAKER_00: You can write it down.
SPEAKER_00: Night night.
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing it, and I'm going to continue to do it all the way into the future.
SPEAKER_00: This is the God that you and I are serving here.
SPEAKER_00: Uh last uh last Easter, uh a young lady in our church, uh, her name is Olivia.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, she's actually uh here right now.
SPEAKER_00: I got to meet her parents for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: And I met them fresh off of a tragedy happening in their life.
SPEAKER_00: Their home had burned to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: I got some video of it for you.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine pulling up and you see this happening to your home.
SPEAKER_00: The fire department, and this fire is raging, memories, dreams, artifacts, so many things just being consumed in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Gone.
SPEAKER_00: After the fire is put out, I mean it's just debris left in the house.
SPEAKER_00: You see all of the smoke damage.
SPEAKER_00: It's just I mean, it's destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: Olivia, her Connect group got together and they were uh they put something together for her parents.
SPEAKER_00: So loving, so kind.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't solve all the problems, it was just saying, hey, we're thinking about you, we're praying for you.
SPEAKER_00: I got to meet uh her parents, and Olivia uh was telling us that her parents are now rebuilding the house.
SPEAKER_00: And uh it's not done yet, but but but they're rebuilding it and and and putting things back together.
SPEAKER_00: I I saw I saw the home, I saw these pictures, I saw all the wood that was helping put this house back together.
SPEAKER_00: But then I also thought about the nails.
SPEAKER_00: That nails are used all throughout this house to make a new house.
SPEAKER_00: And I couldn't help that's what God uses to make all things new.
SPEAKER_00: He uses nails.
SPEAKER_00: In the story of Jesus, he uh he goes through a trial.
SPEAKER_00: And this trial, it's a sham of a trial.
SPEAKER_00: And he goes back and forth, and they're accusing him and beating him, and then they force him to carry his cross uh up the hill, and he gets there, and there's some Roman soldiers there waiting for him.
SPEAKER_00: And these Roman soldiers with precision have nails, not like house nails, like you and I would use, but like railroad nails.
SPEAKER_00: A nail more similar to this one.
SPEAKER_00: Five to seven inches long, thick all the way around, and it has the ability to drive through bone and wood.
SPEAKER_00: This is what went into Jesus' feet and what went into Christ's hands, and he hung there on that cross for a few hours, and he died.
SPEAKER_00: And they took him off the cross, and they took the nails out of his feet and out of his hands, but nails were still gonna be part of the story.
SPEAKER_00: Because a couple days later, Jesus rises from the dead, and when he rises from the dead, he reveals himself to his disciples, but not all of them are there.
SPEAKER_00: One of them is not present, his name is Thomas, and Thomas says to the disciples, Hey, fellas, you're telling me Jesus is alive, and I'm telling you there's no way.
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe it.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says, the Gospel of John, chapter 20.
SPEAKER_00: It's recorded.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad this is in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 20, verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But he said to them, Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where the nails were, I will not believe.
SPEAKER_00: And there are some of you right now, you're saying, I won't believe unless I see proof that Jesus is who he says he is, and I can see the place where the nails used to be all healed up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, verse number 26, look at this.
SPEAKER_00: A week later, his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.
SPEAKER_00: Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here.
SPEAKER_00: See my hands, reach out your hand and put it in my side.
SPEAKER_00: Stop doubting and believe.
SPEAKER_00: And it was in this moment Thomas said, My Lord and my God.
SPEAKER_00: It was God using the nails in Thomas' life to help him to come to faith.
SPEAKER_00: Can I talk to those of you who are followers of Jesus for just a moment?
SPEAKER_00: You have experienced this.
SPEAKER_00: You've experienced maybe your life burning down, and then God in his grace and his power stepping into your life and restoring and making things new.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, some of you are here and you have a feeling out of place because you don't feel like you're perfect enough.
SPEAKER_00: But little do you know that the people that are surrounding you right now, we are not perfect people.
SPEAKER_00: We have just been touched by the grace of Almighty God, and his mercy has met us in our darkest hour and in our brokenness, and he put us back together.
SPEAKER_00: Do not let the pretty clothes fool you.
SPEAKER_00: Underneath here, there are so many stars, but God has continued to pursue us and love us and empower us and encourage us, and he's the one that has made us new.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking for proof, you're sitting next to proof.
SPEAKER_00: You're sitting next to someone that has been the beneficiary of the grace of Almighty God, that the nail marks that were in the hands of Jesus healed us and has put us on a firm foundation.
SPEAKER_00: God used nails on the cross, God used nails to help a doubter believe.
SPEAKER_00: And God uses nails to make all things new.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he does.
SPEAKER_00: My last verse for all of us, and then we're asked the team to sing a song over us.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 2, verse number 22.
SPEAKER_00: And following.
SPEAKER_00: As you yourselves know.
SPEAKER_00: This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge, and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we celebrate today.
SPEAKER_00: And like it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him, when you and I are found in Jesus, it's impossible for death to keep its hold on us.
SPEAKER_00: Just bow your head for a moment, my friends.
SPEAKER_01: Worthy is the land seated on the throng.
SPEAKER_01: We crown you now with many crowns.
SPEAKER_01: You reign victor, we are Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: We give away the praise where he is live.
SPEAKER_00: This moment that we're stepping into now is going to be a moment in someone's life that will change your life forever.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about having a thing that we all have.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about can you be perfect, it's about reality that of us can we're gonna find our lives in Christ and be made new.
SPEAKER_00: So bow your hands and close your eyes if you wouldn't mind just for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: I do ask you to do that just so you can focus.
SPEAKER_00: If you're under the sound of my voice and you have never given your heart and your life to Jesus Christ, you never made him first, you never made him number one, but you're saying, I don't want to go my own way anymore, I want to go his way.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe there was a time you were serving Jesus, but you slipped away and you've gone another direction, and now you're like, I'm ready to come home.
SPEAKER_00: I'm ready to give my heart and my life over to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: As messed up as I feel I am, I'm ready right now to respond to the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: If that's you, you've never given your heart to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: At one point in time you didn't, you slipped away.
SPEAKER_00: On the count of three, I want you to throw your hand in the air and say, Yes, that's me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give my heart and my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to lift that hand high.
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: One, two, three.
SPEAKER_00: Just lift your hand up high.
SPEAKER_00: You're saying, Yeah, that's me.
SPEAKER_00: This is you responding to the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: You're saying, Yeah, this is me.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the person on your right or your left intimidate you right now.
SPEAKER_00: This is between you and God, your creator.
SPEAKER_00: He wants your heart.
SPEAKER_00: He wants your whole life.
SPEAKER_00: This is beautiful and powerful.
SPEAKER_00: I ask everyone to do me a favor, put your hand over your heart if you would not mind.
SPEAKER_00: I want everyone to repeat this prayer out loud after me.
SPEAKER_00: Say, dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sins.
SPEAKER_00: I admit I made mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: And today, I give you my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Today, I give you my life.
SPEAKER_00: Give me the power to live for you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen and amen.