"Unbelievable” - (True Colors - Week 5- Easter)

Unbelievable - So great or extreme as to be difficult to believe; extraordinary

 

The strangeness of the resurrection, points to the significance of the resurrection.  

John 3:16 (NIV84) 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

The level of confidence we have in the belief that Jesus is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.


John 20:1–2 (NIV84) . . . Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple. . . and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

 

John 20:3–8 (NIV84) 5 [John] . . . looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter . . . arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.  

 

8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey, happy Easter. I said Happy Easter. Jesus, thank you so much for giving us a reason to gather and a reason to celebrate, uh, man, Lord, the power of the resurrection being made real and being celebrated as we worship you today. Um, what a, what a tremendous thing, Lord, to just sense your presence in such powerful ways in. Lord. My hope and our hope is that we would all come together and hear a message that stands on its own. And that is that you kicked sin and death and you are victorious. And that that truth in and of itself would, would bring change to our lives, would bring hope to our lives and peace and purpose, um, would, uh, bring direction to our lives and to all the parts of our lives that hope the hope of the resurrection. And so I pray for anyone who will gather this day and those over the weekend under the banner of alive. I pray that if they're coming, looking for what is next, that they would find hope and the power of the resurrection for whatever part of their lives. So Laura, because of that, um, hide me deep, deep in that empty cross and allow your words to flow freely, open our hearts, those who will listen to open our hearts to what you might have to say. And we'll give you an incredible praise for you are worthy of it in your name. Amen. I Dunno, a this week for me has been filled with these what I would call unbelievable type events. Um, and it actually started last Sunday. And so I want to kind of start with a sports illustration and hopefully some of you will kind of engage with it. I know some of you don't like that, but just, just go with me. So this week in my mind has been unbelievable because last Sunday millions of people watch the masters golf tournament in Augusta. Uh, and, and tiger woods won his 15th major and his fifth green jacket, which means he's won the masters tournament for the Fort for the fifth time for you'd kind of non golf folks. He's one that five times. To put that in perspective, this tournament's 85 years old and the only person who's wanted more frequently as Jack Nicklaus and he's won it six times now. This is more than just an athletic feat if you fall news at all. Because Tiger at one time was the greatest golfer of our day and he was on track, uh, unequivocally to be the greatest golfer of all time. But then the whole thing sort of fell apart in his life a decade ago. His personal issues off the course became very public and his poor choices result in the loss of his marriage. Sponsors dropped this guy like he was a hot potato and his personal life landed on the front pages of celebrity news. And then in 2013, tiger woods was voted third on the Forbes list of most disliked athletes. Uh, tiger woods was would of that. And then there are the injuries. He's had at least seven different surgeries over the past 15 repaired Achilles and torn ACL and a few spine are just all part of the ailments that tiger, the has, has plagued tiger, the athlete and for all intents and purposes, most people, a lot of people, even people who know what they're talking about, believed tiger. The professional athlete was done. So last Sunday as tiger climbed near the top of the competitive field at the masters, it was unbelievable. In fact, as the, as as tiger took over, uh, of the field, the viewership starting to increase the Sunday 18 million people kind of tuned in to see how this thing was going to play out. This athlete, they figured was done and it was unbelievable. It was unbelievable as tiger did what tiger does best and he marched around the back nine and he ends up winning the green jacket in the press conference for the winning discussion. They asked him about his come back and they asked him about how everybody thinks you were done and everybody assumed you're a washed up and all that you've been through. What was the key? And he said, well, you never give up. You always fight. Giving up is never in the equation. If you're a sports fan or golf fan. Last Sunday was unbelievable. On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, the end of unbelievable for me were the horrible images that clog our newsfeed as we watched Notredame cathedral fully engulfed in flames.

Speaker 2: 4:30

Yeah,

Speaker 1: 4:31

a landmark that began construction and 1160 it would take 200 years to complete it and it's on fire. Henry, the sixth of England was crowned inside that Cathedral in 1431 the cathedral at one time had went to complete disrepair and close to the point of being demolished, but it was saved by a little guy by the name of Napoleon who himself was later crowned emperor in 1804 inside that cathedral. It was unbelievable for our family as we were there last summer's, we feared the loss of the relics from the Byzantine Empire that were actually housed in that cathedral. The relics include what some believed to be the actual crown of thorns that Jesus wore housed inside that cathedral. They claim they have a piece of wood from the cross that Jesus actually died on, as well as the nails that secured him to that cross. They're housed in that cathedral, and don't forget the pieces of art, the rose windows that are a three of them in the wrap around that cathedral, they still hold the 13th century glass and they take your breath away. It was unbelievable to watch that burn and to wonder about what might happen next, what might be preserved, and it's that word unbelievable. I kind of want to go after with you today. Unbelievable means so great or so extreme as to be difficult to believe. Extraordinary.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Okay.

Speaker 1: 6:00

This leads me to why we all gathered here today. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Even the most devout followers of Jesus have to admit this is an unbelievable claim. There's always this bit of trepidation for me when it comes to explaining the story, and I'll tell you why. I can't find a place to hang this story. I can't find something that makes me think, oh, there's my connection point. I know I'm supposed to believe it, but I can't get there because the thing is so unbelievable. I can't find a place where this Easter story intersects with something I can fully understand and honest confession. It can seem unbelievable. First. First there is this cross business and all the imagery surrounding that. I don't know anything about across crosses or pieces of jewelry from me. Your tattoos, that's what a cross is. This crown of thorns, I can't even relate to. That sounds horrible. And torture isn't. And then the piercing aside with us with a, with a sword or a spear, I don't even know anybody that has a sphere. And then, and then on top of all that, this whole drink of wine vinegar or whatever that was as he was hanging on a cross, that doesn't sound good. And then there are the traditions of dealing with someone who has died. When you read the story in scripture, and I don't know anything about pulling a loved one's body off across and how you go about that. I don't know anything about prepping a dead body for burial. And to be honest, I don't ever want to know anything about that. I don't to have to ever Google that. But the Easter story has these details. Preparing a body with spices and all that just makes it seem unbelievable at some level. But maybe it's because I don't have any experience with it.

Speaker 2: 7:58

Okay?

Speaker 1: 7:58

But then there's this resurrection business, this, this resurrection business truly must land it in this category. That's another term I don't even use outside of church world. Only in church world. It's rare outside the world of Christianity that we even talk about death being overcome. I don't know anybody who died and then came back three days later and started talking to me. And again, I don't want to know those people at all. Now do those here who do not call themselves Christian. The whole thing's a little unbelievable. And this is why I started this way, because truth be told, the whole thing's a little unbelievable to Christians as well because this surely qualifies as some great or extreme difficult to believe. Extraordinary, extraordinary event. But here's where I down on this whole resurrection and all its, yeah, mystery. See if you agree. I think the strangeness of the Resurrection Actually Points to the significance of the resurrection. The fact that this isn't every day as normal. The fact that this was weird, this was strange, this was unbelievable. That kind of calls my attention. This was not an event supposed to be repeated ever again. This was not a regular occurrence that happened every day in the daily news. This was a one time deal for all of history and it would impact all of eternity. In fact, one Bible writer calls this the once for all event. The story is supposed to be unbelievable. You're supposed to sit there and think, I've never heard of that happening before. You're supposed to have the conversation with yourself that says, hmm, that's not normal, because it's not because it was weird because it was extraordinary because it was supposed to be something totally outside the box, different from what is normal, not the run of the mill. The story's supposed to be filled with mystery and awe and questions and wonder, but it isn't just the story. That's unbelievable to me. If we just paused right now and we dissected the story and all the different pieces of it, we would all say, yeah, there's an unbelievable point. There's an unbelievable point and there's an unbelievable point. I've never heard of this happening before, but it's actually the claim of the story that is the most unbelievable of everything, way beyond the cross and a dude who dies on it and then kind of the whole taking a body off and rolling it into a tomb and whatever that means, and and way beyond even the idea that there's a resurrection where this body comes back and walks around three days later. Even beyond that, this claim, this claim is even more difficult to believe. Now what's what's rocking my world these days is the points that makes this story difficult for me. And if hopefully for at least some of you, the point that's making this thing difficult, this unbelief, this is unbelievable. But when Jesus started applying this whole thing buttered to bread, this is what he said. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes the unbelievable, if you will, whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Here's what's messing me up. This unbelievable story with these unbelievable details apparently has the power to change our lives. If we believe, you know what that says to me? This shouldn't be easy. I mean, if it's an unbelievable story with unbelievable circumstance, of course people that aren't in my hold, my worldview should push on that and of course I should say, I know it's not believable. That's exactly why I believe this unbelievable cycle of events, this crucifixion and resurrection apparently can change my status before a holy God if I believe and I'm choosing to do that. Belief is at the center of this thing called Christianity. This not religion, this relationship. And so the question that I think it's imperative that we all mind down on that we all get peace about whether we believe or not is basically this, what is our level of belief in the unbelievable, let's say it again. What is your level of belief in the unbelievable because however you define that, wherever you gauge that, that's faith and by faith I mean this. It's the level of confidence that we have in the belief that Jesus is who he says he is and he'll do everything that he said he's going to do. Where's your level of faith? Where's your level of belief in the unbelievable? Why should that matter to you? It you've settled for yourself, but I think our beliefs impact how we live out our lives. What we believe in determines what we worry about. What we believe in determines what we're afraid of. What we believe in determines what we struggle with. What we believe in determines whether or not we have peace. When we believe in determines whether or not we are okay. When everything is not okay, what we believe in determines whether or not we have purpose and whether or not we have freedom. That's all based on what we believe in. What we believe in determines whether or not the marriage has any hope, whether the sick may be healed or whether the children will ultimately be okay. That's all based on what we believe in. An Easter is a great opportunity. I think for everybody, every one of us individually to look at what we really believe.

Speaker 2: 14:51

Okay?

Speaker 1: 14:51

If what we believe in isn't working friends, as you evaluate this one and only life you have, if what we believe in isn't working, then maybe it's time to find something better. So let me ask you, where are you when it comes to faith? What do you believe in and did it working? The first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus didn't know what to believe. So if you're wondering for yourself here, all these ideas and what you're hearing and you think, I just can't get past what I don't believe, you're not alone. Look at this. Mary Magdalene went to the Tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciples and said, check this out. These are, this is what Mary said. They have taken the lord out of the Tomb and we don't know where they put him. Now to me this makes sense. The body was in the hole in the ground. Now it's not. Somebody took it weekend at burn. It was some, some kind of reference. I just, somebody took it. I don't know what you do with it. I don't know how you moved it, but somebody must've taken this thing. This I can believe. In fact, if I stood up here and told you the whole story related to Easter up to this point, we got the empty tomb and I said, guess what? Somebody took it all y'all would say, oh yeah, that makes sense. It's creepy. But that does make some sense. That does make sense. Somebody stole the body. It's crazy as that sounds, it makes more sense than a resurrection. But it's what they concluded. So naturally Peter and John, they have to run after and investigate this for themselves because there's tomb is empty and now we've got a problem. So Simon Peter arrived and went into the tomb and he saw the strips of linen lying there, watch this as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head and the cloth was folded up separate from the linen. So, so who would steal a body?

Speaker 2: 17:18

Okay.

Speaker 1: 17:18

And then take time to fold the cloth. I guarantee they weren't men because,

Speaker 2: 17:31

okay,

Speaker 1: 17:32

who take a body and then take, hold on a minute there. Ralph. Let me get this thing folded up here, so I'm glad it's not one of those fitted sheets. You know that kind of moment. You ever had an Aha moment like grabbed an electric fence to discover it's on. You ever had one of those? How about this one? Like when you realized that she really didn't want an honest opinion about whether or not the outfit may look good on her. Have you ever had that moment and just kind of say, oh, that looks great. How about this? As you get older, if you ever realize that Aha moment when you realized your parents weren't as dumb as you thought they were or are, those are that of parents? You ever realize your kids weren't as dumb as you thought they were? Those Aha moments. Well in this moment, the two disciples, Peter and John, they peer into this empty tomb and they have an Aha moment for the record books because suddenly they recall all Jesus had taught them in the three years that he had been with them sleeping and eating and teaching and traveling over and over and hearing Jesus teach the multitudes and cheek teach the individuals. And suddenly they recall all Jesus has said. And it all comes rushing into their hearts and minds when they empty tomb and it triggers it, it all for them. And they come to this point. Finally, the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went inside and he saw and he believed the UN believable. So how about you?

Speaker 2: 19:15

How about you?

Speaker 1: 19:17

Do you believe in the unbelievable? Only you can answer this, not the person besides you, not the person you came with. Do you believe in the unbelievable? See, I suspect there are many people listening to the sound of my voice who aren't sure. I've heard spiritual growth and spiritual maturity described as a ladder. The idea as you climb up one step of a wrong and another rung and then another rung. Nowadays, modern theologians or whatever would call it, like this timeline, I don't know what they're doing, but for me it's never been a ladder or a timeline. See the goal, if it's a ladder, it's to these get to the first rung. Cause if I can get to the first wrong, maybe I can hold on to this whole thing. And when it's all said and done, I'm going to be okay. And that's how some people believe. I like to think of my belief in God more like a coil or a spring, stay with me on this cause I can move up the coil. But they've also been times in my life where I feel like I've sort of moved down. There's been times when I felt really great about what's going on in my heart and life. Spiritually, I'm kind of arking upward. And then there are other times I'm like, Eh, I don't know if I'm doing quite so good today. And maybe I circled back, kind of ebbs and flows. I think I progress. And then I regress, but all the while I'm slowly moving upward into Christ's likeness, but I'm not forced to grow. Have you noticed that none of us are forced to grow? Whether you see it as a ladder or a timeline or a coil, God doesn't force us into belief. We can move forward and we can move backward if that's what we want to do, we can stop our progress on the coil. It's our decision and God will not violate our will, but what does that relationship look like? What if I choose to believe? What does that actually look like? How am I supposed to lead differently? I use the analogy of a dance to describe this all the time and I shouldn't because I don't know anything about dancing at all. I mean, nothing, absolutely nothing. People get hurt when I try to dance, but it helps me understand what's happening on my coil, if you will. God will ask Tom, do you want a dance? He'll asked you the same question. Do you want to dance here? Me Out on it. See there's a, this is what I would call an awakening in your heart and my heart where you're in a service or a Sunday school or reading a book or in a small group where you're talking to your grandma and all of a sudden something inside of you awakens to the reality of God in a culture that is actually asleep and it stuns you. It's this Aha moment when you realize that God is active and involved all around us, but everything else seems to be asleep and we see God as he actually is. But for the first time we actually see ourselves as we actually are and it disturbs our souls were awakened in that moment. We're awakened for our spiritual sleepwalking or spiritual deadness. Sometimes this is a sudden processed, but sometimes it's a slow process where people are a weakened and the awakening is where God invites us to dance this life with him. And we have to decide whether or not we want to. Everybody has to decide for themselves and if we accept God's invitation to believe in him, to have faith that he is who he says he is. And he's going to do what he says he's going to do. That's called salvation. That's getting on the coil, climbing the ladder. Whatever word you are most comfortable with and are we learn our growth sins. I'm not by gross I don't mean like Ooh, creepy, Yucky. I mean gross like major there we learned there are some big pieces of our lives that are not in alignment with who we, who we believe God's made us to be. And so we start practicing these disciplines of faith. Maybe we go to church, we start getting into scripture, maybe we serve and we start to see the reality that God is actually all around us. He's in creation and he's in the lives of people who follow him and we become aware of some of this obvious sin in our lives and things we know are wrong and we desire to live without. That's all part of. Do you want to dance in the awakening that comes along? Some of you may be right there and you should pause and take note.

Speaker 2: 24:29

Okay.

Speaker 1: 24:30

Cause maybe some of you have actually had the awakening, but you've never said yes to the dance. Maybe for some of you, God spoke to you, if you will. If you allow me in the service or in a Bible study or in something on the radio or through a friend and something stirred inside of you that had never stirred before,

Speaker 2: 24:55

okay,

Speaker 1: 24:55

but you, you never said yes to the dance. Well, if that's you, your next step.

Speaker 2: 25:03

Okay,

Speaker 1: 25:04

there's the answer. That question with yes, I want to give it a whirl. What's going to happen? Awakening. You'll start seeing major sins revealed in your heart and life, major ones, big ones, things that you probably already know aren't pleasing to God. Eventually as you start to dance with God, one thing I've learned is you'll have to determine who's going to lead this dance with God.

Speaker 2: 25:32

Okay,

Speaker 1: 25:33

because you both can't leave, but you're going to try. Here's what's happening. See once we say yes to the dance, we've actually invited a new partner into our life experience because we've been awakened to something. And so as we begin to dance, at first we're stepping all over each other because we're chill trying to determine who's going to lead. And so God says this and you stomp on that and then God says that and you stomp on that. Then you take and make a decision to go over here and God's saying, I want you to go over here. And during that time it can feel so tumultuous and says, if the whole thing is making up in your mind, maybe it's not working. The coil, you're sliding up and you're sliding back and you're sliding up and you're sliding back. That's the decision about who's going to be in charge of the dance because there are still these competing affections in our lives. We all have them. I love you God, but you're brand new. I also love this and apparently the two of you can't be in the same room more than blatant sin at this point, more than those gross major sins. During this time, we start to discover there are some things that are socially acceptable in our lives that are not the way of Jesus. And again, we have to decide do we progress or do we regress? This requires surrender. If the first one required saying, yes, at this stage we'll find ourselves over and over and over again to these points of surrender. Not so much to the belief that Jesus is who he says he is,

Speaker 2: 27:23

but to the belief

Speaker 1: 27:25

that we can trust God with our one and only life. No, the fruit of this kind of relationship isn't the idea that in God everything works out. If anybody tells you that, punch him, that's not true.

Speaker 2: 27:42

Yeah,

Speaker 1: 27:43

and you know it to say that just because you're in God, it's all going to be pretty and roses and box of chocolates. I Dunno where Forrest Gump came from, but nonetheless to say that that's what's happening isn't true. And you know it because sometimes you pray for something to happen and it doesn't happen and they get well and they die and sometimes that happens. But here's what it does. Promise ready. This whole idea of who will lead, what it does promise is this. Whatever goes on in our lives, whatever happens, we won't be alone.

Speaker 2: 28:12

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 28:13

We'll be in this relationship with the giver of life and let me tell you something. Nothing can take that away. So I still may face cancer her. I still may face relationship struggles or financial struggles or self doubt or depression or whatever it might be, but I don't face it alone because God leading the bands. So some of you might be right there. You said yes somewhere along the way and you believed and you started the dance, but then you got involved in it. All of a sudden you realized you really do enjoy leading.

Speaker 2: 28:53

Okay.

Speaker 1: 28:53

Or maybe you felt the thing's not working in your life because you thought Christians never had anything go wrong with them.

Speaker 2: 29:02

Well, maybe

Speaker 1: 29:04

your belief should be adjusted to say, maybe things do still go wrong,

Speaker 2: 29:10

but at least we're not alone. God's leading the dance.

Speaker 1: 29:17

Finally, on our coil, we get to this point in our belief development where we just decide, God, you lead the dance. You lead it. Man, I've screwed this up. I can't do it right. I've tried. You lead this dance marriage and my kids and belief systems and what I'm going to do with my life and you lead this dance. At this point, God has gained our trust and our dependence in our affections, all center on him and what he desires to do with us in this life and he becomes our identity and the hub of our existence on the coil. No competing affections in our lives. We live with this new default setting where now we find ourselves in ceaseless flow of thought and feeling and desire that come from God and flow back to God, offering it to him for with our lives and it is beautiful and that's available to anybody who believes.

Speaker 2: 30:28

What's the,

Speaker 1: 30:30

what's the option for you here?

Speaker 2: 30:34

Because if

Speaker 1: 30:35

God's not going to lead it, there's only one other deal on the table and it's you and I had to get to this point. We're asking myself the question, am I made to be God?

Speaker 2: 30:54

Okay?

Speaker 1: 30:55

No, I'm not.

Speaker 2: 30:57

Yeah,

Speaker 1: 30:57

I want to be, but I can't handle it. I can't handle people in faith that I love and relationships when things are bigger than I can control a manage. I can't handle that.

Speaker 2: 31:13

Okay?

Speaker 1: 31:15

The goal of all this dance is clear. No. Whether you buy into a ladder or a timeline or a coil or a trapezoid, whatever you believe the goal is simple. I want to abide in God's presence and then live God's love in the world. That's it. Don't be distracted by all of the things that people like me do wrong at times, or people like the church do wrong at times. We're all doing our best. Sometimes we do great, sometimes we don't do so great, but don't be distracted. Why should you believe? Because this is the goal to abide in God's presence, good days and bad days, and then live God's love in a world desperate to see it.

Speaker 2: 32:00

Okay,

Speaker 1: 32:00

so how are you doing in your walk, your dance with God? Does this encourage you or discourage you? As I get older, I find that my belief system has sort of changed. And I'll tell you how

Speaker 2: 32:29

I've

Speaker 1: 32:31

believed for a long time that Jesus was the son of God. I had to wrestle down, but I believed that this whole resurrection business was the chewy chocolate center for me.

Speaker 2: 32:43

And so I believe that

Speaker 1: 32:45

what I have wrestled with in my life on this coil for a long time,

Speaker 2: 32:53

okay?

Speaker 1: 32:54

It's whether or not God was pleased with me. Psych. I'd have a good day and things will be going great, and then all of a sudden

Speaker 2: 33:10

go back, you follow? And I was like, Oh man, God, do you hate me now?

Speaker 1: 33:19

Did like, did you take my name out of a book or something? You know what happened, right then when I'm going back, do my, do I stink now are you, are we still together? Are we dancing or have you left dance when this happens? I don't know what's happening. What's going on.

Speaker 2: 33:35

Hm.

Speaker 1: 33:38

And I've come to realize something new in my faith with God in this coil that God won't leave unless I ask him. As long as I want him there, he'll stick around.

Speaker 2: 33:56

Okay.

Speaker 1: 33:57

And so I had this new thought.

Speaker 2: 34:01

Okay.

Speaker 1: 34:01

And then that's what I'm hearing these days, cause I'm amazed still at how far I have yet to go and how dark my heart and soul can be at times. And how selfish I can be.

Speaker 2: 34:13

Okay.

Speaker 1: 34:13

But do you know what I hear these days from God, what? I'm on my coil and things are going well then maybe I have a day or two. It's like, ah man, I hear God say now

Speaker 2: 34:31

we'll get there, we'll get there. You stay in the dance, we'll get there. Boy,

Speaker 1: 34:42

you're not too bright at times. Make no mistake. But that's really on me. I'm the one that made you, so you know you're,

Speaker 2: 34:52

but we'll get there.

Speaker 1: 34:57

This is what I want to tell you. I don't know how you are in the dance

Speaker 2: 35:04

if you haven't begun the dance. I want to invite you to believe.

Speaker 1: 35:11

Hmm. You don't even need me to say that. You can choose to believe just because your soul has been awakened. And if that happens and you start the dance, not whether you're perfect, if you're waiting to perfect you, this isn't going to happen. This, this, this won't happen here. But if you start the dance, um, then your next step is to sign up for our, the baptisms going to happen in a couple of weeks. Why does that matter? Well, it's where you go public, that you're joining the tribe, you're joining the dance. You are dead to your sin and you had been made alive in Christ and you should sign up. That's, that's your next step. If you find yourself sort of discourage these days and you feel like it's all a matter of gross and no sin Gross, maybe, maybe it's a point of surrender, but who's going to lead your life? Maybe it's time for you to decide to let God lead it, not you. You need to take the hands off it. Laura, this relationship, I can't fix this addiction. I can't battle on my own. This sense of guilt that I carry the shame. You have to lead this dance that's surrender. Maybe you'll get to the point where you're doing your walk with God and you're living in that full submission and your life is this expression from heaven back to him. And even so, you find yourself every so often having that thought or that idea and God says to you, Hey, we'll get there. You keep dancing. I'll never do that again, but you keep dancing. Jesus, thank you so much for these good folks. What the high honor of being able to share with them, the hope of the resurrection in the ward. I'm very well aware of there are people who have cheering this on in their own lives today. They're cheering it on because they haven't joined the dance, and this may be a time of great celebration, maybe time of difficulty. Maybe what they need is we're going to get there. You stay with me, we're going to get there. Lord, I pray for my friends who have never said yes to this dance before and they find themselves sort of wrestling with it right now because there's something awakening deep inside of them and they want it. They believe it. They just haven't, haven't made the decision, and I pray today they would feel free to make the decision. And if that's you, listen, this is what you do. You Talk to God like you'd be talking to me, Lord, I want to join the dance. I want to dance. I want you into my life. Come into my life. Invite him with your own words. Whatever you would use to say, come into my life. Ask him to forgive you and then ask him to teach you how to dance with him. That's what you do. Some people pray, Lord, forgive me for my sin. If that's your style, do it. Others don't even know what that means, but you say, Tom, something is awakening in me. I want to say yes. If you believe Jesus is the son of God, you'll be saved if believe in the unbelievable. And if you do sign up, get yourself in the baptism list so we can publicly know who you are and come in around and build around you and help you learn to dance. Oh Jesus. So beautiful to us. Thank you for Easter. Thank you for the hope of the resurrection. In your name. Amen.