Speaker 1: I hope that for you, those are more than just words that we're singing.
Speaker 1: I hope that's the reality of your life, that Jesus is your living hope.
Speaker 1: If he's not, that's the invitation on the table for you today.
Speaker 1: You may have come in here confused and broken, uncertain about the future.
Speaker 1: There is living hope available to you today.
Speaker 1: While we're standing, we're going to read our passage of scripture for the day the context of Luke 24.
Speaker 1: Jesus has been crucified on a cross on Friday, at the hands of the Roman Empire, at the behest of the Jewish religious leaders.
Speaker 1: Jesus is hung from nails that are pierced through his hands and his feet, and he dies on Friday.
Speaker 1: On Saturday, confusion and pain is ruling and reigning.
Speaker 1: That day, disciples don't know what's happening.
Speaker 1: There's a spiritual battle that is raging as darkness thinks it has won.
Speaker 1: On saturday and luke 24 says this on the first day of the week, sunday, at early dawn, they went to the tomb we'll find out who they are in just a moment.
Speaker 1: Taking the spices that they had prepared, they're they're going to finalize the burial process.
Speaker 1: They they're going to anoint the body of Jesus in their final act of customary burial.
Speaker 1: When they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
Speaker 1: When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Speaker 1: While they were perplexed about this, they're confused.
Speaker 1: Behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel and as they, the disciples were frightened, they bowed their faces to the ground.
Speaker 1: The men said to them why do you seek the living among the dead?
Speaker 1: He is not here.
Speaker 1: He has risen.
Speaker 1: Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day, rise.
Speaker 1: And they remembered Jesus' words and, returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest.
Speaker 1: Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
Speaker 1: That's the day.
Speaker 1: It was Mary and Joanna and the other Mary and other women with them who told these things to the apostles.
Speaker 1: That's the they.
Speaker 1: It was Mary and Joanna and the other Mary and other women.
Speaker 1: They were the they, the disciples at the tomb that morning.
Speaker 1: But these words seem to the 11 and the rest an idle tale, a fairy tale, a shot in the dark.
Speaker 1: There's no way that someone who was dead, someone we saw die.
Speaker 1: There's no way he came back to life.
Speaker 1: But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in.
Speaker 1: He saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Speaker 1: So, father, that is our prayer today that God, regardless of how we came in the room, that we would walk out marveling at the empty tomb.
Speaker 1: God, maybe we walked in and we're hurting, we're confused, the future seems uncertain, life has happened to us and it is not going according to plan.
Speaker 1: Leave us in all today of the empty tomb.
Speaker 1: Father, may the power of the resurrection encounter our lives and, god, may we be transformed by the grace of God in Christ.
Speaker 1: God, may your truth shine brightly in our hearts today.
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, and everybody says together amen, you can be seated this morning.
Speaker 1: Happy Easter.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for being at church.
Speaker 1: What a phenomenal day it's been already.
Speaker 1: Aren't you glad you're in church this morning?
Speaker 1: Have you ever been confused though?
Speaker 1: I mean, are you human?
Speaker 1: Have you ever had a moment in life where you're like this is confusing, life is confusing, the world is confusing, I'm confused.
Speaker 1: So I was driving the other day with my four-year-old in the backseat of the truck and as we're driving down the road, my four-year-old says Daddy.
Speaker 1: I was like yes, sir.
Speaker 1: He said I have a question.
Speaker 1: I was like all right, what's your question, bud?
Speaker 1: Are you married?
Speaker 1: I was like believe it or not?
Speaker 1: Son, yeah, I am.
Speaker 1: And Judah, my four-year-old, goes wow, that's weird.
Speaker 1: And I was like I agree, it can be, it can be strange sometimes.
Speaker 1: And then he followed that first question up with another question.
Speaker 1: He said who are you married to?
Speaker 1: And I was like well, um, it's a good teaching moment.
Speaker 1: Right, here we go.
Speaker 1: Um, you know, life's confusing, judah's confused.
Speaker 1: Let's teach a little bit.
Speaker 1: Judah, I am married to your mom, to Tara, mommy, you call her mommy, you know he's like oh.
Speaker 1: And he said again he's like oh.
Speaker 1: And he said again, he said wow.
Speaker 1: And then.
Speaker 1: And then he said this.
Speaker 1: He said I do not understand how that happened.
Speaker 1: And I was like dude, don't tell her that, because I don't understand how that happened either.
Speaker 1: My dad's been telling me for almost a decade that I out punted my coverage when Tara agreed to marry me, and that is absolutely true.
Speaker 1: I did.
Speaker 1: Judah, I'm confused as you are.
Speaker 1: Don't tell her that we're confused about how this happened, but here's the reality.
Speaker 1: Whether you're four or 44 or 84, life can be confusing.
Speaker 1: There are moments where we look around and we're like, wow, I don't understand how that happened.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm not even sure what just happened.
Speaker 1: I don't know what just happened.
Speaker 1: Life is confusing and, if you're honest, what often follows confusion is pain.
Speaker 1: What often follows confusion is uncertainty and anxiety.
Speaker 1: When we don't know what the future holds, that's a difficult place to be and that's exactly where the disciples find themselves in Luke 24.
Speaker 1: The future has become cloudy.
Speaker 1: The crucifixion of Jesus on Friday has introduced into their life a whole different level of pain and uncertainty.
Speaker 1: The one they had followed for three years, the one they had trusted in, the one in whom they had placed their hope, is dead and buried in a tomb, and the disciples don't know what to do.
Speaker 1: And it's in that place that confusion grows and pain grows and uncertainty grows, anxiety grows.
Speaker 1: And here's the reality for us today.
Speaker 1: Life will be challenging, there'll be moments of uncertainty and anxiety and pain and difficulty.
Speaker 1: And if we, as people, don't know how to process life, process the information that's coming in process, the sources that are feeding us, the information that we're hearing, if we don't know how to sort through life.
Speaker 1: We're in for a rocky ride.
Speaker 1: We're in for a bumpy journey.
Speaker 1: Today's title is how to think clearly in an unclear world.
Speaker 1: Life is unclear, and so how do we, as people, think clearly about the world around us?
Speaker 1: If we know anything about pain and anxiety, it robs us of the ability to think clearly.
Speaker 1: Here's the premise of today's conversation.
Speaker 1: When life is unclear, we need a starting point.
Speaker 1: When things are uncertain, we need a foundation.
Speaker 1: When life gets difficult and the circumstances in our lives become painful, we need a solid rock upon which to stand.
Speaker 1: And just to put all my cards on the table this morning, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus is the starting point.
Speaker 1: He is the one that allows us to ride the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows of life with stability in an unstable world.
Speaker 1: I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, that his word is truth, that he is the only way to the Father and that his life in exchange for my life is my opportunity for hope, today and forever.
Speaker 1: I believe he's the starting point by which I can now interpret the world around me.
Speaker 1: So, when life is unclear.
Speaker 1: I've got a way, a process to think clearly.
Speaker 1: I go to Jesus and that's my invitation to you from the top.
Speaker 1: When life is unclear, turn to Jesus.
Speaker 1: When you don't know what to do, go to Jesus and that's my invitation to you from the top.
Speaker 1: When life is unclear, turn to Jesus.
Speaker 1: When you don't know what to do, go to Jesus.
Speaker 1: When you don't know where to turn, look to Jesus.
Speaker 1: He's the starting point to allow us to think clearly in an unclear world, like James.
Speaker 1: How do we know?
Speaker 1: How can I be confident in this?
Speaker 1: Well, just think about for a second the people that you know and how people process information.
Speaker 1: So many times, when it comes to processing the world around us, we really don't think that much.
Speaker 1: Anybody agree with that.
Speaker 1: We don't think nearly as much as we should.
Speaker 1: Right, I don't think nearly as much as I should, and maybe you do.
Speaker 1: Maybe you think all the time, but maybe you don't.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're like me.
Speaker 1: What do we do instead?
Speaker 1: Instead of thinking, what we often do, we react.
Speaker 1: We just react Whatever we feel.
Speaker 1: We go that way.
Speaker 1: Whatever we want, we chase that.
Speaker 1: Whatever we think, we say, whatever we desire we do.
Speaker 1: We just react to the circumstances and the stimulus in front of us.
Speaker 1: Somebody hurts us, we lash out.
Speaker 1: Somebody says something unkind to us, we return fire with fire.
Speaker 1: We feel something on the inside and we act on it.
Speaker 1: We just react to the world around us.
Speaker 1: We spend all of our days not setting the pace, the trajectory, the course for our lives.
Speaker 1: We just react to whatever urgent thing pops up in front of us.
Speaker 1: That's why sometimes we go through two weeks of our life and we look around like what have I done?
Speaker 1: What have I accomplished?
Speaker 1: Nothing, because we've just been reacting to everything around us.
Speaker 1: And if we're honest, sometimes, if we're not reacting, we're just repeating.
Speaker 1: We react based on what we feel, based on what emerges in front of us, and then we repeat whatever the cultural narrative of the moment is, Whatever the loudest voice is shouting at us, we just begin to believe that and think that and repeat that.
Speaker 1: We don't think critically and logically about the world.
Speaker 1: We just say, hey, what's everybody else saying?
Speaker 1: Let me say that too, let me go with the flow.
Speaker 1: And here's the reality.
Speaker 1: To follow Jesus means that we crucify our desire to react and to repeat and rather we begin to filter everything through the lens of who Jesus is what Jesus has done and what Jesus has to say, and that puts us oftentimes at odds with what everybody else is doing and where everybody else is going.
Speaker 1: And so here's the question If I'm going to go against what everybody else is doing and say something that nobody else is saying is doing, and say something that nobody else is saying, how can I be certain that Jesus is a good starting point for my life?
Speaker 1: If following him is going to put me at odds with culture and people and people in my office and maybe people in my family, if it's going to cause me to have to change some things in my life and maybe even, from time to time, go against my own desires and feelings and emotions, why would I consider starting with Jesus?
Speaker 1: Well, luke 24, I think, gives us some insight.
Speaker 1: We just read how, early on Sunday, the women came to a tomb that they expected to be occupied and rather they found a stone rolled away.
Speaker 1: They found two guys in dazzling white clothes saying why are you looking for the living among the dead?
Speaker 1: He's not here, he's risen.
Speaker 1: And so their confusion turns to hope and they go back to Jerusalem looking for the apostles.
Speaker 1: They tell them hey, here's what we found.
Speaker 1: Here's what we expected.
Speaker 1: Here's what we found.
Speaker 1: The apostles don't believe it, but Peter, he goes, looks at the tomb and he leaves the tomb, marveling at the fact that there's no body in the grave.
Speaker 1: Now, fast forward.
Speaker 1: We're going to read the rest of Luke 24 this morning and we're going to see why Jesus is a solid starting point for us today.
Speaker 1: Luke records in verse 13,.
Speaker 1: He says that very day, so on Sunday, that same day, two of them, two of the disciples, not the 11 closest followers of Jesus, but two of those who had been in the crowd of people following Jesus over the last few months of his life Two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: So they're getting out of the city of Jerusalem, where things have become dangerous for the followers of Christ, and they're going to Emmaus.
Speaker 1: Maybe they're from Emmaus, maybe they've lost hope and they're going back home, maybe they're just afraid for their lives, and so they're trying to get out of town before they get persecuted as well, but they're going to Emmaus, seven mile road, seven mile journey, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
Speaker 1: Hey, can you believe that?
Speaker 1: Jesus, the one who opened blind eyes and healed deaf ears and put lame people back on their feet and caused them to walk again.
Speaker 1: That can you believe that Jesus, the guy that called Lazarus out of the tomb and called him to live again can you believe that Jesus died?
Speaker 1: Can you believe that our hope was crucified?
Speaker 1: Can you believe that Peter's denied Jesus three times and the disciples are scattered?
Speaker 1: Can you believe what's happened While they're talking and discussing together these things?
Speaker 1: Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
Speaker 1: So here's the scene.
Speaker 1: Picture the scene Cleopas and his companion we're going to find out his name is Cleopas in just a moment they're walking this road and all of a sudden, there's a third person walking on the road with them.
Speaker 1: We know who is it it's Jesus.
Speaker 1: They don't know what we know, and this makes for some comedy and it's fantastic.
Speaker 1: Their eyes were kept from recognizing in them him, and Jesus said to them what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk?
Speaker 1: I love this.
Speaker 1: Y'all.
Speaker 1: Don't tell me.
Speaker 1: God doesn't have a sense of humor.
Speaker 1: Jesus shows up and he's like hey guys, what?
Speaker 1: What are you talking about?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 1: He knows, does he not?
Speaker 1: He knows what are you talking about.
Speaker 1: They said to him.
Speaker 1: They stood still looking sad, and then one of them, named Cleopas, answered Jesus, are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened here in these days?
Speaker 1: You're the only guy in town that doesn't know what's going on, and I love this.
Speaker 1: He said to them.
Speaker 1: Jesus said to them what things he's like.
Speaker 1: Really, tell me more what happened, tell me more.
Speaker 1: And so verse 19,.
Speaker 1: They begin to tell Jesus what happened to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Now, can you just imagine this conversation that Jesus is listening to them?
Speaker 1: Tell him what happened to him.
Speaker 1: He's like whoa, no way, how did I miss it?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 1: Like, just imagine this conversation.
Speaker 1: Hey, it's about.
Speaker 1: We're talking about Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God, and all the people and our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
Speaker 1: Jesus is like oh my goodness, and we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
Speaker 1: Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
Speaker 1: Now we read this and y'all I mean.
Speaker 1: To me it is.
Speaker 1: It's funny.
Speaker 1: We can laugh in church.
Speaker 1: This is funny, but at the same time there's a depth to what is happening here that I don't want you to miss this morning.
Speaker 1: The disciples, cleopas and his companion.
Speaker 1: They had hoped Did you catch that?
Speaker 1: They had hoped, we had hoped.
Speaker 1: What had they hoped?
Speaker 1: They had hoped was the Messiah.
Speaker 1: They had hoped that deliverance was finally here.
Speaker 1: They had hoped that their opportunity for forgiveness was in front of them.
Speaker 1: They had hoped that he was the promised one of God.
Speaker 1: They had hoped.
Speaker 1: But then something happened.
Speaker 1: In this case, they saw Jesus die on a cross.
Speaker 1: They saw him taken from the Roman cross and carried to a tomb.
Speaker 1: They saw him laid in the tomb.
Speaker 1: They saw the stone rolled in front of the entrance and what they saw.
Speaker 1: What happened destroyed what they had hoped when Jesus died.
Speaker 1: Their hope died, destroyed what they had hoped when Jesus died.
Speaker 1: Their hope died.
Speaker 1: When Jesus died, confusion emerged.
Speaker 1: When Jesus died, their world was thrown into uncertainty and by Sunday morning, their lives are marked by confusion and pain.
Speaker 1: We had hoped, but here's what happened.
Speaker 1: We had hoped, but here's what happened, and maybe that's the scenario of your life today.
Speaker 1: You had hoped that this time was going to be different.
Speaker 1: You had hoped that God was going to show up and he was going to do something in your life that only he could do.
Speaker 1: You had hoped that the relationship was going to be saved or the cancer was going to be healed, or you had hoped that this time it would work out in your favor.
Speaker 1: You had hoped, but then what happened was not what you had hoped, and so where you are today is a place marked by confusion and uncertainty and pain.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're like the disciples, standing still and looking sad.
Speaker 1: They're heartbroken and they don't know how to move forward.
Speaker 1: I talk to so many people in our world today that they say things like I used to have faith in God, I used to believe, I used to worship, I used to pray, I used to be in the word, I used to be following after Jesus.
Speaker 1: But then here's what happened, and maybe that's where you are today.
Speaker 1: You used to, but today you're just here because somebody invited you and they said they'd take you to dinner after and they wouldn't quit inviting you.
Speaker 1: So finally you're like okay, I'll come, just leave me alone, be there on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's why you're in the room.
Speaker 1: It has nothing to do with Jesus, it was just somebody invited you and you wanted to be a good friend, and so you're here, but the reality is, what happened has destroyed your hope and for you, jesus is a used to.
Speaker 1: I love that it is in that place that Jesus shows up on the road to Emmaus.
Speaker 1: He doesn't go search out the disciples that are holding strong in their faith Even in the face of pain and uncertainty.
Speaker 1: He shows up to the two whose hope has been destroyed and he meets them where they are and he begins to do something incredible in their life.
Speaker 1: Watch what happens, they say to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Moreover, some women of our company they amazed us.
Speaker 1: They went to the tomb early in the morning.
Speaker 1: When they did not find the body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
Speaker 1: Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, found it, just as the women had said, but him they did not see.
Speaker 1: You see what's happening here?
Speaker 1: Like all of this, stuff is happening.
Speaker 1: We're getting reports of this and we're hearing that, but we haven't seen Jesus.
Speaker 1: We haven't seen Jesus.
Speaker 1: They're confused and Jesus said to them foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Speaker 1: Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
Speaker 1: Jesus, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.
Speaker 1: So here's what happens, guys.
Speaker 1: Jesus shows up.
Speaker 1: He hears from the disciples how their hope has been destroyed by what happened and he says to them let me point you to truth.
Speaker 1: And he takes what in those days would be called the Hebrew Bible we would call it the Old Testament and he walks them through the Old Testament, showing them how all of the Old Testament points forward to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Now think about for a second the greatest teacher you've ever had.
Speaker 1: Anybody like math.
Speaker 1: Okay, this doesn't apply to you If you don't like math.
Speaker 1: Have you ever had a math teacher that actually made math tolerable?
Speaker 1: You got to be a great teacher.
Speaker 1: Just saying, if you're a math teacher, we love you, I love you, I just don't love math.
Speaker 1: Right, like.
Speaker 1: But you have a teacher that can just make a subject, make the content come alive.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine hearing Jesus teach God's word?
Speaker 1: So Jesus opens up the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, and begins to explain to Cleopas and his companion how it points forward to him, like James.
Speaker 1: What did he say?
Speaker 1: I don't know, I wasn't there and we don't get a record in Luke, but maybe Jesus said something like hey, y'all remember he wouldn't have said y'all because they didn't say that back then.
Speaker 1: But that's not the point.
Speaker 1: Maybe he said, hey, think back to Genesis, the garden, genesis, chapter three.
Speaker 1: You know the story, you know how Adam and Eve, they sinned and they ate from the tree they weren't supposed to eat from.
Speaker 1: And when they did, there was brokenness that was introduced into the relationship between God and humanity.
Speaker 1: There was rebellion on the part of people and it separated them from a holy God.
Speaker 1: And then God shows up in the garden and Adam and Eve start shaming and blaming each other.
Speaker 1: And then God curses the serpent, the deceiver, the snake, satan, the enemy of the people of God.
Speaker 1: And God says to the serpent there's going to come one from woman, a descendant of woman, who will one day crush the head of the snake, and Cleopas and his companion.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's his wife, maybe it's his friend, we don't know, but maybe they're like oh, yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what Jesus did on the cross.
Speaker 1: He crushed the head of the snake, he reversed the curse.
Speaker 1: He made it possible for the brokenness between God and man to be bridged.
Speaker 1: Jesus became the curse breaker and the redeemer.
Speaker 1: He is the son of God.
Speaker 1: And they're like oh, okay, okay, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: Then Jesus, maybe he said something like hey, think about Moses.
Speaker 1: Like, oh, yeah, we know Moses, moses, he's a big deal.
Speaker 1: We know Moses.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know you know Moses, moses, what did he do?
Speaker 1: Well, moses led the people of Israel out from Egyptian slavery.
Speaker 1: Like, oh, yeah, we know that that's a great story.
Speaker 1: Part of the Red Sea cross on dry ground through the wilderness for 40 years.
Speaker 1: Like that, yeah, we love Moses.
Speaker 1: And then maybe Jesus said something like well, you know Moses, he freed the people from Egyptian slavery, but he didn't have the power to get the spirit of slavery out of their hearts.
Speaker 1: He couldn't conquer the spirit of rebellion that lived inside the people of God.
Speaker 1: Jesus comes on the scene to be the greater Moses, who actually has the power to lead the spirit of rebellion that lived inside the people of God.
Speaker 1: Jesus comes on the scene to be the greater Moses who actually has the power to lead the people of God into freedom.
Speaker 1: Maybe Cleopas and his companion are like oh, amazing.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus might have said something like oh, but think about David, the king chosen by God to rule God's people, to lead them in the worship of God and to be their leader, to guard their worship.
Speaker 1: What did David do?
Speaker 1: They'd be like oh well, you know, david was a man after God's own heart.
Speaker 1: He was a great king.
Speaker 1: Jesus might've said was he perfect?
Speaker 1: And they'd have said, no, he wasn't.
Speaker 1: In fact, david failed pretty big.
Speaker 1: He blew it pretty big time.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus might've said something like what about the rest of the kings that came after David?
Speaker 1: Did any of them get it right?
Speaker 1: They said no.
Speaker 1: No, in fact, the kingdom, it tanked after David.
Speaker 1: By the end of Solomon's reign, the kingdom was divided and civil war broke out.
Speaker 1: And then there was bad king after bad king after bad king, and no amount of kingly reform was able to reverse the hearts of the people back to God.
Speaker 1: Forever.
Speaker 1: Jesus is like yeah, that's right, but then the son of God, the king of kings, comes and he's the greater David.
Speaker 1: He's the greater king, he's the king with the authority to rule and reign forever.
Speaker 1: His throne will never pass away.
Speaker 1: Maybe they were like oh, my goodness, this is amazing.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus got to the prophets.
Speaker 1: You know, david wrote some prophetic literature in the Psalms.
Speaker 1: Maybe Jesus said, hey, remember, on Friday on the cross, as Jesus hung there dying, remember, he cried out my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Speaker 1: And he said, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Jesus said where did that come from?
Speaker 1: Maybe Cleopas, maybe he's an Old Testament scholar, maybe he's like, oh well, he's quoting Psalm 22.
Speaker 1: Jesus said, yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1: What's the rest of Psalm 22, say?
Speaker 1: Well, it talks about how the garments of the one who's being talked about in the psalm, the garments, would be divided and the spoils would be split amongst the conquerors.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like, yeah, what happened at the foot of the cross?
Speaker 1: Oh, the Roman soldiers.
Speaker 1: They divided the garments of Jesus and they took them for himself.
Speaker 1: And Jesus might have said, yeah, so who is Psalm 22 about?
Speaker 1: And they would have said, oh, my goodness, it's about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Jesus on the cross was saying, hey, I am the one that David talked about in Psalm 22.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus might have said what about Isaiah 53?
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, the suffering servant, the one who is under the curse of God, but not because he did anything wrong, because he took upon his own shoulders the sins of the world wrong, because he took upon his own shoulders the sins of the world and the punishment that is laid on his shoulders actually becomes our peace before God, and by his wounds we're healed.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like yeah, it's amazing, isn't it?
Speaker 1: And Cleopas and his companion are like wow, it's amazing.
Speaker 1: What you're saying is that we've been prepared for this moment the whole time.
Speaker 1: All of the scriptures is pointing us to the cross.
Speaker 1: It's all about Jesus.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So then they get to Emmaus and Jesus starts messing with them again.
Speaker 1: What happens?
Speaker 1: The disciples, cleopas and his companion, like all right, well, we're turning off here.
Speaker 1: We're going to go in and eat some dinner.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like all right, see you guys.
Speaker 1: Disciples Cleopas and his companion like all right, well, we're turning off here, we're going to go in and eat some dinner.
Speaker 1: And Jesus is like all right, see you guys.
Speaker 1: He scripture literally says y'all.
Speaker 1: You didn't laugh, you didn't see it yet, but it's.
Speaker 1: It's funny.
Speaker 1: We'd hoped he was the one to redeem Israel.
Speaker 1: Here's what happened.
Speaker 1: Jesus opens the scripture.
Speaker 1: They draw near to the village verse 28, to which they were going, and Jesus acted as if he were going further.
Speaker 1: Like all right, we're going here and Jesus is like have a great day.
Speaker 1: And he keeps on walking.
Speaker 1: And they're like wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Speaker 1: You come in with us, come eat dinner with us.
Speaker 1: Like it's late, you can't keep walking, it's about to be dark outside.
Speaker 1: Come on in with us.
Speaker 1: It's toward evening, the day is now far spent goes in to stay with them and something beautiful happens when he was at the table with them.
Speaker 1: Now, hang on just a second.
Speaker 1: Who invited who to the table?
Speaker 1: Cleopas and his companion invited Jesus to the table.
Speaker 1: They get to the table and who takes over?
Speaker 1: Jesus does Jesus, does Jesus does.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's what needs to happen in your life today.
Speaker 1: You think you're inviting Jesus to the table, but what really Jesus wants to happen is for Jesus to take control of your life, not so that he can tell you what to do, but so he can lead you into life.
Speaker 1: Jesus took the bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he gave it to them and their eyes were opened.
Speaker 1: And he broke it and he gave it to them and their eyes were opened and they recognized it.
Speaker 1: They get to the table.
Speaker 1: Jesus takes the bread, he blesses the bread.
Speaker 1: Father, thank you for this bread that you have given us for our life.
Speaker 1: He breaks the bread, he hands it to the disciples.
Speaker 1: And what do they see?
Speaker 1: They see his hands, the disciples.
Speaker 1: And what do they see?
Speaker 1: They see his hands.
Speaker 1: Is it possible that in that moment, they see where the nails would have pierced his wrist?
Speaker 1: In that moment, as he breaks the bread, blesses it, hands it to them.
Speaker 1: Maybe they were around in the past when Jesus fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, and they saw him do the same thing bless the bread, break it and begin to pass it out.
Speaker 1: Maybe they heard about the upper room on Thursday night as the disciples celebrated Passover, when Jesus blessed the bread, broke it and then put a new meaning on the breaking of bread and the cup.
Speaker 1: Regardless, we know in this moment, jesus blesses the bread, he breaks it, he passes it to the disciples and their eyes are open.
Speaker 1: They see Jesus, they see it.
Speaker 1: And what happens next?
Speaker 1: He vanishes.
Speaker 1: If you didn't know that was coming, you would not see that coming.
Speaker 1: You would think oh, my goodness, this is a moment of reunion, there's gonna be a celebration.
Speaker 1: It's like oh it's Jesus, boom, jesus is gone.
Speaker 1: What's going on, right?
Speaker 1: What's happening here and then what happens next is fascinating.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 1: He vanished from their sight.
Speaker 1: They said to each other did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?
Speaker 1: Why is Jesus the starting point for our interpretation of the world around us?
Speaker 1: Because Jesus is the truth, he is the life, he is the only way to the father.
Speaker 1: The truth of jesus burns with clarity in the midst of an unclear world.
Speaker 1: If you're here today and you know jesus, you know what I mean when I say that the truth of jesus burns in your heart.
Speaker 1: You know what the disciples are saying when they say that their hearts were burning within us as the teaching of the scriptures came to them from Jesus.
Speaker 1: You know what that is like To have God illuminate his word in such a way that it leaves you in awe at the beauty and the wonder and the power of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Maybe today, for the first time, some things are beginning to connect in your mind and you're like well, there's some brokenness in me.
Speaker 1: I know I've not always been a perfect person.
Speaker 1: There's not a lot of peace in me.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of confusion and a lot of anxiety and a lot of uncertainty about the future.
Speaker 1: And you know, I really, to this point in time, haven't given a lot of thought to Jesus and the reality of Jesus.
Speaker 1: But today, as we've been talking from the word, something's been happening on the inside, and I don't think it's the guy up there talking.
Speaker 1: I think there's something about Jesus that is doing something on the inside of me.
Speaker 1: The truth of Jesus burns with clarity in an unclear world.
Speaker 1: And if you're in that place today of saying I don't know what to do with Jesus, here's the question that we have to ask Did Jesus rise from the dead?
Speaker 1: The question that we have to ask did Jesus rise from the dead?
Speaker 1: Because if he didn't, then we can just go home now and you don't need to come back next week If he did not rise from the dead.
Speaker 1: We are wasting our time.
Speaker 1: We can stop singing, we can stop reading this.
Speaker 1: There's no point in prayer.
Speaker 1: We're wasting our breath in gathering and teaching the scriptures about Jesus.
Speaker 1: But if Jesus did rise from the dead, then everything changes.
Speaker 1: And not only is he the resurrected king of kings, he is the authority that has every right to speak into my life.
Speaker 1: He's not just someone else's king, he's the king of everything.
Speaker 1: In fact, he is everything.
Speaker 1: He's our source of truth.
Speaker 1: He's our hope for the future.
Speaker 1: He's our peace in times of uncertainty.
Speaker 1: He's the love that we need to be made complete.
Speaker 1: He is forgiveness and he is grace.
Speaker 1: He is the revelation of God for our salvation.
Speaker 1: If Jesus rose from the dead, everything changes, and that's what these two realize in that room that night.
Speaker 1: Jesus is alive, so much so that it changes so much for them.
Speaker 1: They rise that same hour.
Speaker 1: They were concerned about Jesus going on ahead because it was dark outside.
Speaker 1: They're like you can't travel tonight, it's too late.
Speaker 1: But when they realized that Jesus is alive, they're like wait a minute.
Speaker 1: There's faith that's greater than our fear.
Speaker 1: They get up from the table and they're like we've got to go back to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: We're not just going a little ways, we've got to go seven miles the exact same way we just came, because we've got a message that we need to tell.
Speaker 1: The Lord has risen.
Speaker 1: Indeed, he's alive.
Speaker 1: I believe it.
Speaker 1: I'm willing to give my life for it.
Speaker 1: I'm willing to run into the face of danger to proclaim it.
Speaker 1: Jesus is alive.
Speaker 1: They told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Speaker 1: If you're a follower of Jesus, you've said yes to Jesus.
Speaker 1: You believe that Jesus is alive.
Speaker 1: You have answered that question in your heart.
Speaker 1: I believe Jesus rose from the dead.
Speaker 1: Here's my challenge to you today Don't give up on Jesus in the space between happened and hoped.
Speaker 1: Don't give up on Jesus in what we'll call the space of Saturday.
Speaker 1: I hope God would do this, but here's what happened.
Speaker 1: Don't give up on Jesus in that space between.
Speaker 1: If Jesus has risen from the dead, then hope is never dead.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying God's gonna do exactly what you want him to do.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say that your hope is gonna be fulfilled exactly like you think it should.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying you can trust Jesus because he's alive and he's alive forevermore.
Speaker 1: Don't give up on Jesus in the space between happened and hoped.
Speaker 1: But if you're here today and you've never trusted Jesus as your savior, are you willing to say yes to Jesus today?
Speaker 1: Are you willing to receive the free gift of his grace, the forgiveness that comes through the shedding of his blood?
Speaker 1: He took the nails for you.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're confused, maybe you're worried, maybe you don't know what the future holds.
Speaker 1: Trust Jesus.
Speaker 1: He is the revelation of God for our salvation.
Speaker 1: Like I'm not even sure what all this means, I don't know what the future holds If I trust Jesus.
Speaker 1: Like I'm not even sure what all this means, I don't know what the future holds if I trust Jesus.
Speaker 1: Jesus is in your future.
Speaker 1: Let that be enough for you today.
Speaker 1: We had the adventure yesterday morning.
Speaker 1: Group of us started moving some stuff to Memorial Stadium, mckissick Field about eight o'clock yesterday and the adventure kicked off about 10.
Speaker 1: And about 10, 15 minutes into the egg venture, somebody comes up to me and says hey, rhonda needs you.
Speaker 1: Rhonda's our minister to kids.
Speaker 1: And so I went over to where Rhonda was and she was standing with a lady whose name is Brianna.
Speaker 1: Brianna, 15 minutes into the egg venture yesterday, had made the decision that she was ready to say yes to Jesus, and so Rhonda says hey, will you come and stand with us while we pray?
Speaker 1: And Brianna gives her life to Jesus.
Speaker 1: And Rhonda simply said to Brianna are you ready to surrender your life to Jesus?
Speaker 1: And Brianna said yes, and in that moment Brianna moved from death to life in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1: She was an old creation.
Speaker 1: She became a new creation yesterday morning.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because she realized that God made him to be sin.
Speaker 1: Who knew no sin, so that in him we could become the righteousness of God.
Speaker 1: And Brianna left the egg venture yesterday with a couple of dozen Easter eggs and a new life in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: Come on, yeah, we can clap for that this morning.
Speaker 1: And so here's what takes this day from being just another day to being a day that changes eternity.
Speaker 1: It's when you say yes to Jesus.
Speaker 1: If you're here today and you've never placed your faith in Jesus, I wanna invite you now, with every head bowed and every eye closed, to place your life in the hands of Jesus Christ, to surrender to him.
Speaker 1: If that's you and you're ready to do that this morning, I invite you to pray this prayer with me.
Speaker 1: Dear God, I believe that Jesus died for me.
Speaker 1: I believe he rose from the dead and today I surrender my life to him, with nobody looking around this morning.
Speaker 1: If you prayed that prayer for the first time today, will you just raise your hand right where you are?
Speaker 1: Say today I gave my life to Jesus for the very first time?
Speaker 1: Amazing, that's incredible.
Speaker 1: I want to invite you if that's you today, when we stand and sing, step out from where you are and meet me at the back of the room.
Speaker 1: I'd love to follow up with you.
Speaker 1: This morning, father, we are grateful for new life in Christ.
Speaker 1: God, like Brianna yesterday, we're going to have people in this room this morning who came in here dead in their sin and who walk out of here alive today and forever.
Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus God.
Speaker 1: We celebrate new life in Christ today, father.
Speaker 1: We respond now.
Speaker 1: Life in Christ today, father.
Speaker 1: We respond now in worship in Jesus' name and everybody says amen.
Speaker 1: We're going to stand and we're going to sing.
Speaker 1: If you prayed to give your life to Christ, meet me at the back.
Speaker 1: If you need to join the church or you just need somebody to pray with you about the uncertainty in your future, let's have a moment to respond to Jesus together today.