MidTree Church
The sermon audio of MidTree Church in Harris County, Ga. BEHOLD // BELIEVE // BECOME
MidTree Church
The Joy That Was Set Before Him: How Easter Changes Everything | Pastor Will Hawk | April 20th, 2025
The confusion of Easter morning might be the most relatable part of the resurrection story. Three different groups encountered the risen Christ, yet each initially failed to grasp what was happening. The faithful women found an empty tomb and were "perplexed." The disciples heard their report and dismissed it as "an idle tale." Two followers walked with Jesus himself for hours without recognizing him. Why would God allow such confusion?
Luke's account reveals a profound pattern: spiritual sight doesn't come through physical eyes but through understanding Scripture. The women didn't recognize Jesus until they "remembered his words." The Emmaus road travelers' hearts "burned within them" as Jesus explained the Scriptures. The disciples finally believed when Jesus "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."
This Easter narrative offers incredible hope for skeptics and believers alike. God seems perfectly comfortable with our questions and perplexity, using them to create space for deeper faith. We don't need to figure everything out on our own. Scripture provides the framework through which confusion becomes clarity.
The greatest plot twist? The very people who were confused, doubtful, and slow to understand became witnesses commissioned to share this news with the world. Those who might have participated in crucifying Jesus became those who worshiped him. Those who failed to recognize him walking beside them became those who couldn't stop talking about him.
If you're searching, questioning, or feeling perplexed about faith, you're in good company. The first followers felt exactly the same way. Open God's Word and allow it to open your eyes to see Jesus standing right in front of you, inviting you into a story far bigger than you could write yourself.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
Good morning, mitri. Happy Easter. It was Friday, now it's Sunday. We're going to be reading the passage for today. It is from Luke 24, 1 through 11. If you're in the Pew Bible, that's page 884. Alright, on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered they did not find the body of Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them why do you look for the living among the dead?
Speaker 2:He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you when he was still in Galilee that the Son of man must be delivered to the hands of sinful men and be crucified on the third day and rise.
Speaker 3:Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, joanna Mary, the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
Speaker 4:What's going on everybody? Happy Easter, excited to spend time with you. Let me give you a couple of things very quickly. One of my favorite things that we do whenever somebody gets baptized I have an embarrassment of riches of microphones. Whoever's coming up after me, I've hid them deep down below. One of my favorite things that we do on a baptism Sunday is when you guys walk out of those double doors, there's gonna be this big sort of glass vase and next to it are gonna be some note cards.
Speaker 4:I would love for those of you who are trusting in Christ, if you have a connection with Julia, if you just want to encourage her, to jot down a small note, a scripture that has meant a lot to you. To me, it is one of the best ways that we can take this sort of reality of baptism and continue to encourage those who are drawing near to the Lord. So please take an opportunity and do that. And then I also wanna let you know this I'm not a real formal person. If you are coming to Midtree and you're like he's got his sleeves rolled up, I want you to know this is about as formal as it gets for this guy right here. And just a couple of things to ease any of the awkwardness. We are super glad that you are here. We're gonna do something very simple. We're going to sing God's word. We're going to pray God's word. We're going to read God's word. We're going to enjoy the whole thing together. For those of you who may be new to that, I want you to know we love that you are here. Zero percent of us want you to feel awkward. None of us want us to feel like, well, hey, who are you and how did you get my seat and why are you in my parking place? Everybody who calls Midtree Home is so glad to give up whatever used to be their seat and used to be their parking place and if we ran out of donuts, used to be their donut and give it to you because we want you to hear about Christ. Additionally, we did not do this on purpose.
Speaker 4:Shipping helped us with this little teaser. We've got about six different resources. I've got a handful of them here. That was a good one to start with. How can I serve my church? I didn't mean for that one to be on the front. How do I fight sin and temptation? How can I be sure I'm saved?
Speaker 4:You will see booklets like these as you leave the sanctuary. If you are skeptical about the claims of Christ, if you are seeking, if you are new, if you're a Christian, you're like. I just need to brush up. Please take them. We ordered seven different ones. Three of them went to the wrong place and so they will be here next week as a little teaser for you, apparently. So if you decide to come back after Easter, those will be there, and usually I say come and get them, please don't take these. I need to point to them. Next service Don't take those, don't take those. Don't take those.
Speaker 4:There's this pressure, in case y'all don't know this, there's this pressure that pastors feel there's a pressure on Easter that you better get it right. This is the Sunday, for no mistakes. Clean it up, make everything as clean as it can be. And then there's also this pressure, especially if you are going to look at a passage that people have heard before. Hey, pastor, you better tell me something I haven't heard. I want something new. I want something to challenge me, something to stretch me. Can I tell you? We are going to read, maybe outside of the Christmas account, the portion of the Bible that more people know than anyone else, because we always preach the same thing on Easter Sunday and I do want you to know I did find something I'd never seen before, but I didn't feel pressure to do it. However, I am very excited to show you what it is that I think the Lord would have every one of us wrestle with skeptic, seeker and believer.
Speaker 4:And it all began on Good Friday when Thomas put this up for our Good Friday service. My wife's response to this question Thomas, wherever you are was I didn't really like that question and I was like well, baby, I'm not running Friday, thomas is running Friday, so no tweaks on that. She was like it just feels deep. It feels like a lot to wrestle with, especially if we're gonna have like seven and eight year olds in here. But as I was reading it, this is what happened to me. I immediately he asks this question, we start singing songs and I immediately wanna pick up. Hey, man, great question, we really enjoyed it. Yeah, all right.
Speaker 4:We start singing songs and one weird ism that Will does is I like reading the Bible while we're singing songs. I've done it since I was a teenager. Sometimes if you see me over there reading, it is because I'm preparing and wondering what I'm going to say next. But many times it's one of my favorite ways to worship and so long as the team isn't singing a new song that causes me to say something heretical, like I am the Alpha and the Omega. Have you ever had that happen in worship and you're like, well, this Sunday's a bust. I'm going to have to start repenting now. I love reading text while we're singing.
Speaker 4:And after he put this question up what was the joy that was set before Jesus? This comes out of Hebrews 12. For the joy that was set before him, being Christ, he endured the cross. Everything in me wanted to turn to Luke, chapter 24. Why? Because it is finally time for two things to happen. Number one it is finally time for our church to complete the gospel of Luke, which we started over a year ago. Praise God for that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so, if you're new to Maitre, we work through books of the Bible. We did it, guys. We made it, and in non-typical church fashion. I believe next week we're going to start a new book of the Bible, which is Song of Songs. So young ears beware I may give us a one-week buffer, but we'll see. If you're new to the church, it's the most scandalous romantic book in the Bible, and as we come to the end of Luke 24, we finally get to see what was it that Jesus was so excited about as he looked at something so terrifying and so horrible? And I think the answer to that question is simply this the joy of those he most loved finally getting it Peter and James and John and the disciples, who end up looking like knuckleheads through the majority of the gospel. They are finally going to get it. They're going to know who Christ is, why he came, what he did, what they get to put their hope in what life and eternity look like for now and forever more. They get to realize that there is a plot twist that they should have seen but never saw, coming in a better ending than they ever dared hope for.
Speaker 4:I don't know what your favorite genre of movie is, but mine is the psychological thriller with the twist at the end. In 1997, a movie came out that's all right that 80% of you were like I wasn't born, that's fine, it's still there. In something you can find it Michael Douglas, the Game 1997. The movie that caused me to fall in love with the psychological thriller with the twist at the end. Two years later, bruce Willis came out with another one that most people know as the Sixth Sense, and you watch it and you realize all along I missed this incredible piece.
Speaker 4:That is what Luke, chapter 24, is, and there is one thing better than watching a movie that has a twist at the end it's watching somebody watch it after you've already seen it. When we were flying home from Thailand I won't give you any Thailand stories today, but when we were flying home from Thailand a few days ago, I downloaded a movie for Ames and I to watch together and what I realized was I was not watching this movie, I was watching my son watch this movie, so that when something happened, I was like wasn't that awesome, isn't that great, and this is the joy that Jesus had. I was like wasn't that awesome, isn't that great, and this is the joy that Jesus had. I'd like to show it to you, but on the first day of the week. This is a freebie, it's not really in my notes, but this is why Christians celebrate on Sunday. Jews continue to celebrate on Saturday.
Speaker 4:Christians would have continued, but on the first day of the week, at early dawn they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared, by the way, this they is the women who had longed to love and care for Jesus, but Sabbath law prevented them Verse two and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed this is our word for the whole Jesus. While they were perplexed this is our word for the whole day. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel, two angels, and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them this was what we looked at for sunrise service. Why do you seek the living among the dead by show of hands? How many of you guys were here for sunrise service? I was kind of curious. How many of you hung around? Yeah, you got better seats this time than you did last time, I can tell. Okay, I'm not going to preach the same sermon to you. I thought that would be unfair. Okay, but I did want to point to one similar point here. The angels look at them and they have one major question why are you looking for something living where dead things go? Why do you seek the living among the dead. He's not here, but has risen Now. Here is what I want you to notice. I told you this is going to be our word perplexed Question number one If God was going to send angels to comfort the confusion and the perplexion of the women who came to the tomb, why not have the angels waiting for them?
Speaker 4:Why make them get to an empty tomb with every question in their mind? Why make them walk in and look and wonder what happened to the soldiers who moved this stone away? What happened to my Savior? Why are their clothes still here? If somebody was robbing the body, they certainly would not have taken time. And the way they did it back then, it was like a mummy wrap with lots of linen strips and they're all folded up neatly, like every mother wants their children to leave their clothes when they're done. This was not a rush job.
Speaker 4:Why did God not start with an angel? Why let them be confused? Why cause them to be perplexed? The angels look at him and they say didn't he tell you he was coming back? Haven't you been listening? Why are you looking for living people where dead people go? It doesn't make any sense. Do you know that? I found zero people this morning digging through the trash can to try to find a fresh donut. I didn't see a single one. When somebody came in and they were looking for a wifi signal, do you know, I didn't see a single one of them run down the hill further from the building, because you're not going to get a Wi-Fi signal further from the building.
Speaker 4:This morning, when we got together for sunrise service, do you know how many people were looking west? Zero, because you're not going to see a sunrise coming from the west. And the angels look at these confused women. They say ladies, what's the deal? Why are you looking for living things where dead things go? But here's my question why did God allow them to be confused Verse 8,. And they remembered his words and, returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11. These would be the disciples. Why does it say 11 and not 12? Why Judas is gone. He missed the cut. He's not able to enjoy this day. He walked with Jesus, but he didn't know Jesus, he didn't trust Jesus, he didn't have faith in Christ. So now we're down to the 11 and all the rest. By the way, there's probably about 120.
Speaker 4:Now it was Mary, magdalene, joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But here's confusing thing number two these words, what words? We saw an angel, the tomb is rolled open. Jesus isn't there. Keep in mind, these are the disciples. They heard Jesus teach more than anybody else. They saw him do miraculous things more than anybody else. But notice what God's word says.
Speaker 4:They hear this story and it seemed to them an idle tale, not even just a story. A story that is idle, no momentum, no movement, just some story that you would tell a child to pass the time, a story that you tell in the hopes that they would fall asleep. It has no main thing. We're just trying to get from here to Bucky's. How am I going to get you there without you whining the whole time? I'm just going to tell you a tale. I'm going to make it up. Hey, chat GPT, give me a story on whatever it is that your kids like.
Speaker 4:This is what the disciples heard when the women talked about an empty tomb and when they talked about angels. And this is precisely what the world would want you to believe about Easter. The world wants you to believe it's just a story. It's just a tale. In fact, even Jesus's closest followers once thought the resurrection was just some story. If you are a skeptic in the room, the people who knew Jesus most did not believe this. If you're questioning, can the claims of Christ be real? I want them to be real. Why is it? I cannot believe this is the right Sunday for you to be here.
Speaker 4:His closest followers couldn't get it, and this is what the disciples first wondered. It's just some story. I don't know what happened with the women when they got there, but it's got to be just some tale. The devil would want you to believe the resurrection is just some story and, if we're honest, your own flesh wants you to believe that. The world that you live in wants you to believe that Easter is just some story. Don't give me something too big to believe in. Don't give me something that is too great to hope for.
Speaker 4:The disciples get the exact same message the women do at the tomb and they don't believe. Now you could say, yeah, well, the women had an angel show up. If an angel showed up right now, can we all agree our faith might increase, maybe just a little bit. Then here is my second question for you. If God allowed the women to get to the tomb without an angel so that they were confused. Why not send one to his disciples as well? Why is it that God is so comfortable with you being confused and perplexed? Why allow confusion when God could have made everything instantly clear? I want to show you one more. I want to show you one more confused group of people, and this is the thing I want you to realize as I do. This all happens on the exact same day. God, in his word, in his providence, by his spirit, crams all three of these stories together. That very day, two of them, two disciples, were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
Speaker 4:One of the things Julia didn't tell you is that she just completed a 100-mile. I don't even know what you call it. Do you call it a race? Do you call it a multi marathon? I don't know what you call it. Crazy is what I would call it. But one of the coolest things was some of the members of her MCG showed up to run the last couple of miles with her and I read this that these guys are going on a seven mile walk. And I'm like impressive that these guys are going on a seven mile walk and I'm like impressive. I'm just letting you know, will doesn't run, will doesn't. I mean I walk, but I do not run for fitness or for fun. Out of curiosity, anybody wanna guess how long about a seven mile walk would take? Just give me a number, somebody. Three hours, okay, you're a little slow, all right. On average for a human it would be between two and two and a half hours.
Speaker 4:This is two men who, by the way, you never see again in the Bible. You never see these two people again in the Bible. This is their cameo and they get two hours of a walk. And here's how it goes. They're going to Emmaus from Jerusalem on a two-hour walk and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. This is a word in the Greek that means God prevented them from seeing who Jesus really was. Don't know how it worked. I don't know if it seemed blurry, I don't know if he changed it in their head. I don't know how it worked, but here's all I know. Two guys go on a two and a half hour walk with Jesus and they have no idea. Two guys who, by the way, is two of them, two of Jesus's followers, and they're kept from recognizing him. Followers, and they're kept from recognizing him.
Speaker 4:Have you ever missed something that was right in front of you? This is my favorite illustration of somebody missing something right in front of them. This is a dude on his phone who cannot find his baby. Can't find it anywhere. Where'd that thing go? See how dangerous social media is. You see it now, don't you? And this is my favorite thing, he starts calling his wife, like hey, you got the kid. That's the phone call you want to get as a mom.
Speaker 4:But the person who has the best story on this day is the lady in yellow hey, your kid's on your back. Can you imagine what dinner was like for her? She gets there and she's and yellow hey, your kid's on your back. Can you imagine what dinner was like for her, can you? She gets there and she's like guys, you would not believe this. I went to the mall and there is this dude calling his wife trying to find the kid that was strapped to his back.
Speaker 4:This is what's happening as these two guys go on a two hour walk with Jesus and he said to them what's this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still. So maybe they did get closer to three hours. I don't know how long they stood there looking at Jesus being like. What do you mean? What are we talking about? There's only one thing to be talking about right now the guy who said he was the king of the Jews was crucified.
Speaker 4:Darkness appeared from noon until three in the afternoon. The temple that had this massive curtain that separated people from God was ripped in half. An earthquake shook the world. Dead people came back from the dead and walked around. What do you mean? What are we talking about? There's nothing else to be talking about.
Speaker 4:And then one of them, named Cleopas, answered are you the only one who does not know the things that have happened? Favorite line in the whole thing Jesus. Are you the only one who doesn't know what's going on here? Favorite line, favorite line this is the guy watching the movie next to somebody who hadn't seen what's happening next. Why is it that God allowed the women to be confused? Why allow the disciples to be confused? Why allow Cleopas and his buddy to be confused for this wonderful moment.
Speaker 4:Jesus has been looking forward to this. He has looked forward to this from the day he said let there be light, and it exploded into a universe he made. He creates a world and he creates people in his own image. This is what Jesus has been looking for. Jesus, do you not know what's going on? Here's the best plot twist of the story that's ever been told. And he's standing right there with them and he said to them what things? Let's see how much you know. Tell me what's going on, guys. This is Jesus. And he looks at these two. He's like tell me what's going on, how much do you know?
Speaker 4:And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, he was a man like us. I don't know how to explain it to you exactly, but he would do these incredible things. But he got tired and he bled and he was hungry and he was weak. He was like me, but not like me. He was a prophet. He seemed to always know what was going on, no matter where he was. He was comfortable. No matter where he was. He was powerful in deed and in word. When he spoke, the most powerful people shut their mouths. He brought people back from the dead, healed the lame, caused the blind to see, made food fall from the heavens. This guy was special, but our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and they crucified him.
Speaker 4:We had hoped he was the one. Do you know how cool it is to be Jesus in this moment? Do you know how long he has longed for them to say we just hope that he would be the one? And to drive the point home? We find out that, even though they say it's been three days, how could anything good happen now? They say we did hear this one story.
Speaker 4:We heard this story from some of the women in our company. They amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and when they didn't find his body, they came back and said that they had seen angels who said he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it, just as the women had said, but him they did not see. Here they are, even after the angels, even after an empty tomb, even after the reminder of resurrection, they did not have faith. Why, why does God allow us to be confused? Why do these two ordinary men get two and a half hours with Jesus and not see him.
Speaker 4:Let me make the point why can some people come to an Easter service for 40 years and not get it? Why can some of us grow up in the church and at one point have a heart for the things of God and the things of Christ and then wonder why is it no longer important to me? Is it something wrong with me? Am I actually seeing correctly? And everybody else has the wool pulled over their eyes. What is it that causes them to not see? Well, here is the answer. And he said to them oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer and enter his glory? And beginning sorry, my bad and beginning with Moses, genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy, the Pentateuch and all the prophets, the Old Testament. He interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. Jesus gives the best Bible study that's ever been given.
Speaker 4:In a two and a half hour walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus, they drew near to the village which they were going. Jesus acted as if he was going to go farther. I'm going to just keep going, guys. And they're like wait, wait, wait, wait. We don't want you to go anywhere. This has been the best two and a half hours of my life. I don't know who you are. You remind me of somebody, I can't quite put my finger on it. You remind me of somebody and I don't want you to go. But they urged him strongly, saying stay with us. It's toward evening, that's going to matter in a minute, and the day is now far spent. So he went in to stay with them when he was at the table with them.
Speaker 4:Now this two and a half hour walk has turned into a table for three. How cool are these guys? How fortunate are these guys. Jesus breaks bread right in front of them and their eyes were open and they recognized him. And then Jesus banished from their sight. It's like, come on, we're so close, we're so close. Where did they see Jesus? They couldn't see him until something happened. What was it? I've put up a slide with a lot of scriptures. This is the last one I'm going to put up. They look at each other a table that's set for three with an empty seat. Now, and they have the same response. Cleopas, did not our hearts burn within us when he talked, while he opened to us the scriptures and they this is the best they rose that same hour at night, when the day had already been fully spent. And they go on another two and a half hour walk. We got to get to Jerusalem. We've got to get back to the 11. We've got to get back to the women who told this story. We need to tell them. We just spent two hours hanging out with Jesus, who explained to us the entire Bible. So at night they walk back to Jerusalem. They find the 11 and those who were with them gathered and they say the Lord has risen. Indeed, he's even appeared to Simon and they told what happened on the road and how he was known.
Speaker 4:In the breaking of bread and in verse 33, all three of these stories come together. The women at the tomb are there, the 11 disciples are there, the travelers to Emmaus are there. On that first Easter morning, every perplexed thought, every unanswered question was remedied by one thing alone there is one medicine for this illness. Did you see what it was? Did you notice? Because you had to be paying close attention For the women at the tomb. They remembered his words. It wasn't seeing him, it was the Word of God that caused their hearts to come to life.
Speaker 4:The eleven disciples are still confused at this point in the text. But the travelers to Emmaus? What do they say? He interpreted to them all the scriptures and their hearts come alive. So what's going to happen with the 11 disciples?
Speaker 4:As they were talking about these things, jesus himself stood among them. Finally, here he is. And he said to them peace to you. And he said to them why are you troubled? Unfair question, jesus. We show up to the tomb Nobody's there. We got tons of questions.
Speaker 4:Then the angels come. We go and tell the disciples and they're like ladies, that's a really great story, but it's a bit of a fairy tale. Then you go on a two and a half hour walk with these guys, hide your face from them. When they finally see it, you disappear. What do you mean? Why am I troubled and why is there doubt in my heart? Because we haven't seen you is what they think. And then he says I want you to see my hands. I want you to see my feet. Hey Thomas, you want to put your hands in here? Do you want to see the lengths I went to to rescue you from your sin? But it wasn't even seeing Jesus. That caused them to believe. Then he said to them these are my words, that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then, then then, he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. That is where their hearts come alive. Where do they see Jesus? They see him in the word. They remember his words. He interprets it to them and he opens their mind to understand the scriptures.
Speaker 4:On the first Easter morning, every perplexed thought, every unanswered question was remedied by one thing alone the word of God.
Speaker 4:There is a bit of a pressure that pastors feel on an Easter service, and can I just be transparent with you? Unless we have the most unique Easter service that has been had in a number of years, some of you are going to come here for the first time. Some of you are going to come and you're never going to come back. And I want you to hear from me right now. I'm not throwing any shade and I'm not casting any shame. Some of you are here because your kids come here and you're like well, I go to church, don't get all like convictional on me, okay, I just don't go to this one, that's fine. What I want you to know is this there is I'm looking at a pastor in the room while I say this there's this pressure for us that we better get it right this week because I may not see you for another 364 days and I don't know what God has in your story for the next 364 days. I don't know if you're going to be alive in another 364 days to come up this driveway and try to find a place to park. And there's this pressure to get it right.
Speaker 4:I was expecting when we got here today for there to be this huge truck stuck behind that sign, because they showed up on Friday, their hydraulics broke and they got bogged down and it's like welcome to Easter everybody. We got a broke down truck in the front. Just wanted you to feel welcome and I had like two or three questions. Hey, will you? Okay? You all right with that. I don't care about a dumb truck that's stuck, but do you want to know the thing that alleviates the most pressure for any pastor?
Speaker 4:I can't convince you. I can't cause all of your confusion about who God is and what he has done with your life. I can't fix every perplexing thought that you've got, but I can tell you what will the word of God, it's all I've got. I have one trick, and it just happens to be a really, really good one. And he said to them here is what is written the Christ should suffer. He has to suffer.
Speaker 4:Our sins are a real deal. On the third day, he's going to rise from the dead. Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death. Except Jesus committed no sin, so he didn't owe death anything. In fact, not only did he not deserve death, death didn't deserve him, which is why, on the third day, he rises from the dead. That repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations.
Speaker 4:So why so much confusion? Why leave people perplexed? Because you and I need to be reminded that we do not understand everything as well as we think we do. Because you and I need to be reminded that we are part of a bigger story, that we did not begin writing and we will not be the ones to end it either. We need to be reminded that God has a plan in your life that only makes sense if you see him as God, and in the greatest plot twist of all time, he looks at this group of people. Stokes, bennett Crew, y'all can come up. I didn't give you a heads up. I'm closing, plane landing In the greatest plot twist of all time.
Speaker 4:This is the words that Christ ends with. You are witnesses of these things. The very people who yelled crucify him would have yelled crucify him. We're going to stand up in a minute and instead we are going to sing about how great Christ is. The very ones who would have lifted him on the cross when God came to us. Do you know what we did to him? We killed him. The very ones who would have lifted him up to a cross now, in our hearts, lift him up every day as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Those of us who would have mocked him and spit on him and put a crown of thorns on his head now bow our knee to him. This is the greatest plot twist of all time. You get to be witnesses of these things.
Speaker 4:And may I give one last encouragement. If you're a Christian in the room and you have been walking with Christ, I hope today sets your heart on fire. I hope that hearing the word of God causes you to burn just like it did with Cleopas and his buddy, and I hope that it's so much more than 90 minutes on a Sunday. And then you just try not to get coffee on your dress or whatever it is and head on to the next thing. I hope your heart burns within you.
Speaker 4:And you say that last sentence is insane that the one who I hated and rejected is enlisting me on his team. Couldn't he send an angel? It'd be more convincing. Couldn't he do a miracle? That would be way more compelling. I'm not even impressive. I don't have that great of a life. Yeah, and that's what makes God seem so incredible that he would use you, that he wants to use you, that you would be the storyteller who listens to, the one who writes every good story.
Speaker 4:How cool is it that the people who were perplexed five minutes ago are the ones Jesus says hey, you get it now. I'm the answer. You get it now. I let you be confused for some of you for five minutes, five years or 50 years, so that you would realize you are not going to figure this life out, but I have, and if you will come to me, I will make the rest of it make sense, whether it's good, difficult or somewhere in between you get to be put on the team and you don't have to prove anything to anyone. This is the best news for me personally.
Speaker 4:I don't have to convince you. I don't have to talk you into morality. I don't have to convince you. I don't have to talk you into morality. I don't have to tell you how to be successful. All I have to tell you is this God's word is true and it is living and active, and I am going to leave it in front of you for you to see what Christ thought all of us needed to know, and I'm simply going to pray this God would you set our hearts aflame with the goodness of your word and would you send rebels like us into a world you created who need to hear the good news of a resurrected king who invites us to life that lasts forever? Amen.