We do also want to greet everybody out of Alamance, Pastor John Mark and the team. They're out there celebrating, having a great time. We love y'all out of Alamance. God bless you all. You're you're the best. One church, two locations. We really love our church in Alamance. And so I don't know about y'all, I love Easter. It's such a fun time of year. It really is. I mean, the grass is turning green, the flowers are blooming and the trees are budding out. And the Masters is next weekend. And oh yeah, Easter's this weekend too. But, uh, anyway, it really is a fun time to celebrate change, transformation, new life. And we really hope and pray that this service is meaningful for you and a significant part of your week. And I want to start off with the question, uh, for you, have you have you ever had this thought before, like someone told you something and you're like, no way, I don't believe it. And then you saw it and he said, he said this, I wouldn't have believed it unless I'd seen it. Maybe you've had that experience where again, someone said something amazing and and over the top you're like, ah, I don't know. And he said, I wouldn't have believed it unless I'd seen it. I remember as a kid, um, someone told me that there was a flying squirrel and I'm like, flying squirrel. There's no way there's no flying squirrels. They're like. Like flying reindeer with a sleigh or something. But anyway, then you see a National Geographic documentary and there's a flying squirrel. It's amazing that flying squirrel is flying out of the tomb, which is that's what it looked like to me from the creative team, I told him, but I wouldn't have believed it unless I'd seen it. Right? Maybe someone told you that a car could drive itself. I got a good friend, Travis. He's an early adopter, and he bought this car. Maybe you've heard of it before. Years ago. Called a Tesla, you know? And, uh, you know, now it's it kind of makes sense. But back then, he's like, the car can drive itself. I'm like, nah. And he's like, yeah. Hop in. So we got in the car and he's like, you know, plushies and buttons all of a sudden, like, the thing is driving us around time he puts in the destination, we're actually heading out to golf and like, we're, like, stops at a stop sign, takes a turn, accelerates on the on ramp, slows down when there's another car. And dun dun dun. And he's just talking every once they put his hand on the thing, they're like, oh, like, I wouldn't have believed it unless I'd seen it.
Right? If I told you there's someone who's an inch short of nine feet tall, you're nine feet. That's pretty tall. Well, Robert Wadlow, Guinness Book of World Records. Here he is. Y'all check this out. Eight feet, 11in. I wouldn't have believed it unless I'd seen it.
Now, sometimes we have the opposite experience, don't we? You probably had this experience where I believed it, and I didn't see it. Right. I believed it, and I didn't see it. Sometimes it is too good to be true. It's not as good as promised, right? Like, we all know this one. We've all learned this one. When you get a phone call from a random number, what's the principle we've all learned? If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, right. We're like, don't fall for it. What have we learned? Read the reviews. Do some research. Is the company reliable? Is the product delivered as good as promised? Will the reality be as good as what they said it would be? We learned to be skeptical. I believed it, and I didn't see it. It's like kind of sometimes when you order something great online, like my son's a golfer. When he was in high school, I got this. I found this great deal on brand new Titleist irons on eBay, and I thought, I'm a genius. And then they showed up at my house and I. Long story short, I realized these aren't real. These were fake replicas, I was duped, I got dark and thank God for a good policy with eBay. But anyway, um, you know, sometimes it just doesn't deliver. Like the time that in 30 days I was supposed to get the six pack of abs, and I still got one big pack, you know?
Anyway, we've all believed something that didn't deliver. What happens? We get skeptical, don't we? I don't want to believe something that isn't true. I don't want to trust something that won't deliver.
And that's exactly where the story of Jesus meets us today. The the the Easter message that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. That God came from heaven to earth. Emmanuel, God with us.
And he's like, y'all made a mess down here. So I'm going to come and I'm going to walk and show you how to love. I'm going to give you some teachings. I'm going to demonstrate my power. He lived a sinless life. He died on a cross. He shed his blood for the forgiveness of sins for every single person and was put in a tomb. And on the third day he rose again. It. It just seems like it's too good to be true. Maybe.
And in. And let me say this, Jesus not only made a claim.
He made a prediction. Jesus didn't just make a claim because Jesus claimed to be God, the Son of God the Son of Man. Like that was his claim. But but here's the amazing thing is, anyone could say that. But he also made a prediction. And he's the only person who's ever predicted his death and his resurrection and pulled it off. Like, that's pretty strong, y'all, right? Like, if I got up here today and said, hey, by the way, this coming week we're going to be starting a new series, and on Friday I'm going to die and be buried. But y'all, don't worry. I'll be back Sunday to preach.
I'll be good. You'd be like, whew! Pastor lost it. You know, unless the person pulled it off. Which is exactly what Jesus did, exactly what he did. The resurrection means some things about Jesus. Let me give you some thoughts. The resurrection means that Jesus is who he claimed to be. The resurrection means Jesus is who he claimed to be. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He said, I'm the way, I'm the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. He said, I'm the gate. I'm the good Shepherd. And the message of Jesus spread from Jerusalem to the Roman Empire to the whole world. Y'all check this out. Not because of a philosophy, not because of a belief system, but because eye witnesses saw with her eyes heard with her ears touched with their hands. That's exactly what the apostle John said. Skeptical followers became bold messengers of a message. Paul said, we preach Christ and Him crucified, risen from the dead.
That's our message. That's our message right there. And a movement was launched from the very city where Jesus was killed, where it should have been squashed, where it should have ended, and it would have ended. Except some people saw with their eyes, touched with their hands, heard with their ears, and they believed because they saw a person, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. And the disciples were willing to give their very lives for that fact that they saw that they experienced something. They believed it so deeply. Like, I'm not giving my life for a belief system. I used to be a math teacher, okay? And I love the Pythagorean theorem. I believe in the Pythagorean theorem. I'm not giving my life, you know, a square plus B square can be whatever you want. Like if you all. You know what I'm saying? You're not going to die for the Pythagorean theorem. All right. But but the disciples, Peter said this. We're witnesses of these things. We can't help but speak what we've seen and heard. It's real. You all, John, I've mentioned said that which we've seen with our eyes, heard with our ears.
Touch with our hands. Luke the doctor. You know, the doctors are pretty analytical. He goes, I did the research. You know, I talked to people. This is reliable. I'm willing to die for it. And Paul says this for what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance, because this is a first importance. This is the whole gig right here, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. We don't have the time to dive in, but according to the scriptures was referencing Old Testament scriptures that spoke to a coming Messiah, a Christ who would come to save his people, that he was buried. The tomb was closed, the stone was rolled in front and guarded, that he was raised on the third day. According to the scriptures, this is the first importance. Now, you might not know this kind of interesting fact in the four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that tell the story of Jesus. You know, 35% of the content is on Jesus last week of his life, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. I mean, that's a huge chunk just over a third, right? Because what they're saying is, if you look at the whole life of Jesus, the part you really need to understand, the part point you gotta get is the fact that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again. This is of first importance now. Then he goes on, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the 12. He appeared to Peter, and then the 12 disciples, which would be like, that's pretty amazing. It's pretty strong. Like that should be good. But he Paul keeps going after that. He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Five over 500 people at the same time. He goes now, some have passed away, but there's some eyewitnesses here. You want to talk to him? You want to read the review? Get the like. There was two disciples on the way to Emmaus at the Sea of Galilee. He appeared in cook some breakfast for the disciples. Like we have over 500 eyewitnesses. We wouldn't have believed it unless we'd seen it. That is what Paul is saying. Read the reviews. There's a ton of five star reviews. Do the research. Look at the product. Look at the fruit. We started off with 12 people. We ended up with 120 in this upper room on the day of Pentecost, at the beginning of the Book of Acts. And then it spread to some thousands, and then it spread throughout the Roman Empire, and the thousands turned into some millions. And today there's 2.5 billion people that will testify to the life transforming power of God's presence, that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and he's real and he's alive, and he does good. And, and and the disciples would have said, listen, we were skeptics. We were done. We were out when Jesus died, there was nothing left. There was no philosophy, belief system. Some new teachings like that was not the goal. It was after the resurrection that faith came and they doubted like we do. They struggled to believe, like one of them really struggled. Thomas was like, he was like this until I see it myself. I will not believe. Like Thomas, we saw his lies. I'm not believing it until. Until I put my hand on his side and see his hands. And Jesus appeared to him. And he said to Thomas, put your finger here. See my hands.
Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.
Thomas was stunned. He said, my Lord and my God. He.
He fell down and worshiped my Lord, my God. And look at what Jesus said to him, because you have seen me, you have believed. But blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Because what Jesus said, there's a blessing that happens that when you have faith, that when you hear with your ears and you and you do the research and you find out from the reviews that that the eyewitnesses have seen and believed that there's a blessing that's going to get passed on from generation to generation through all time, that there's going to be believers. It's going to go from 12 to 120 to a few thousand millions to 2.5 billion people. And there's a blessing of those who have faith to to see the good fruit of lives change. Now, listen, I know that the bad things have been done in Jesus name. I get that, I get that, but y'all look at intellectually honest, the good fruit of the lives that have been changed. See how they love one another. See how lives have been restored and changed. The resurrection means that Jesus is who he claimed to be. Secondly, the resurrection means Jesus has the power he claimed to have. Jesus had power to change life and he demonstrated that power. Like when you read the Gospels, I don't know if you know when you read the Bible, you read the like the the stories. I was like. There's a lot of healings. There's a lot of miracles. I mean, Jesus walks on water, turns water into wine, takes five loaves and two fishes and feeds thousands of people. Blind people see dead people were raised up like a lot happened. Why did all those miracles happen? Why did Jesus do all those miracles? Why didn't he just teach some good teachings? Well, actually, there's a fascinating story in Matthew chapter nine that tells us the answer to that question. I've wondered that. Why did he do so many miracles?
And in this story, some people brought a paralytic to Jesus on a bed. Someone who couldn't walk. So they literally carry him to Jesus. And Jesus looks at the man who couldn't walk.
And what would you think he would say? He said, your sins are forgiven. And the religious leaders were there and they were up in arms. They were like, hey, you don't have the authority to say that only God can forgive sins.
You can't say your sins are forgiven authoritatively like that. Only God can say that.
And then look at Jesus response. Jesus asks them the religious leaders, which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say rise and walk. And I imagine he kind of paused there and let them think about it. Uh, well, I guess it'd be easier to say your sins are forgiven because you can pretend your God when you're not God to say rise and walk. Well, like you'd have to be kind of plugged into a legit power source there and, like, back up what you're having to say. Now look at this next thing. Jesus says this to them. He's so wanted to help them. He so wanted them to see. He says, but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He then said to the paralytic, rise, pick up your bed and go home, and bam! That's exactly what happened. Did y'all catch that? He goes, I'm doing this miracle for you to demonstrate my power in the natural, in order that you would believe and that you would know that I am God.
He claimed to be God, But he also then had the power to back it up because he was so trying to help people say, hey, hey, I've got the power to help you. I can care for you. I want you to know that I am God, that God so loved the world that he gave His Son, that I am Emmanuel, God with us. And I can forgive your sins, and I can help you right where you live, in your place of need.
Here's another question why did they crucify Jesus? I don't know if you've ever thought about that before. Why did they crucify Jesus? Like they put him on trial and they convicted him of a crime that was worthy of the ultimate penalty. Death. What did they bust him for?
What did they get him on? They brought some people to accuse him of some things, and then they didn't line up. And then someone shows up and said, he's a vandalism, you know, he's going to vandalize. He said he was going to tear down the temple and on the third day raise it up again. And He goes like, yeah, he's not really talking about the physical temple. He's talking about the temple of his body or whatever, you know? So none of it all work. And then finally the the high priest looks at Jesus and he says he's just kind of outraged. He says, tell us plainly, are you the Christ, the Son of God? And Jesus said, I am Yahweh, I am. Is the name Yahweh? Yahweh means I am. And it was actually a word that the Jewish people would not even utter, because it was so holy and revered. And so for Jesus to say, Yahweh, I am the high priest ripped his, um, you know, garments and said, we have no more testimony needed.
You heard it himself. Blasphemy! Crucify him, crucify crucified.
Jesus Christ was crucified, but because he claimed to be God.
That was the crime he committed. When they brought him to Pontius Pilate. They couldn't get him for anything. He's like Pontius, like. I don't think the guy did anything wrong. He didn't have any spine to back it up. But at the end of the day, y'all. That's profound. That's profound. Jesus Christ claimed to be God was crucified because he claimed to be God.
And the resurrection means that Jesus has the power that he claimed to have. Thirdly, the resurrection means Jesus did what he promised to do. Jesus kept his promise and Jesus keeps his promises. In the gospel of Mark. Listen to the words of Jesus. He's talking to his disciples and he kind of lays out what's ahead. This is he's laying out what's ahead. He goes, we're going to go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man, and he's speaking in the third person about himself. The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and to the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him, and kill him. Three days later he will rise. Now Jesus was talking about himself, right? Well, the Son of Man, and I think it's pretty powerful if you go and reread this briefly in the first person, because what Jesus was saying is this they will condemn me to death. This is the prediction he made and will hand me over to the Gentiles who will mock me, spit on me, flog me, and kill me. Three days later, I will rise. He made a prediction and he kept it. And it's so interesting. He's saying, this is what's going to happen. This is how it's going to happen. This is when it's going to happen. And what's fascinating is it actually happened on Passover weekend, where they were celebrating the fact that a sacrificial lamb would be given and the shedding of blood would forgive the sins of all of God's people. What a powerful prophetic weekend, and a sign that really was the resurrection proves that when Jesus makes a promise, he keeps it. And that should be encouraging to you because it's personal.
He's faithful. He's good. He's for you. He's with you. He'll never leave you.
He'll never forsake you. I get it, sometimes it feels that way. Where was God? Where is God? I prayed, I asked. But the beautiful thing about the resurrection is, you see, it doesn't just speak about Jesus, it also speaks to what it means for you and me that it's not just a historical event, a factual event. It's personal and it's meaningful. I want to speak that to you, because my hope and prayer is that this Easter would be meaningful to you. What does the resurrection mean for us because of the resurrection? Here's some good news. My past can be forgiven.
My past, my brokenness. My pain. My bad decision. My embarrassing moments. My even shameful moments. The thing that I try to bury and forget and just move on from my past can be forgiven. The free gift of forgiveness is offered. It's free. See, forgiveness is is not earned. It's received as a free gift. It's not about performance, it's not about earning. And I'll just tell you, for me, this is my story. This is where I had just understood it wrong for years, and I had this serious aha moment because I'll just tell you where I was at. I believed in God.
I believe that God was real. But but here was my thinking that a good God wanted me to do good, and if I did good, then he would do good to me. And I wanted like to have a good life.
I wanted to be a good person. Like in my heart of hearts, I really wanted to do what was right, even though I knew. And I don't know about y'all, but for me it was really clear. Like, yeah, like arguing whether or not I was a sinner or not was really easy. I know I was a sinner, you know, like, even though I wanted to do good, I made mistakes in my past. I continued to make mistakes and but, but, but but here was my hope. God, I hope you see my heart like my intention is so to want to do the right thing. And though I fail, and though I make mistakes, I'm really hoping that you'll you'll kind of see that the good stuff in my life kind of outweighs the, the bad stuff in my life. And, and in terms of like God and Jesus and church, I like, I'm just being transparent, but like, I just didn't feel like I fell into the whole Christian culture gig thing. I'm like, ah, you know, like that I'm in college and with my buddies and doing athletics in school, I'm like, I don't think that's really my gig. And I wasn't so sure that either church or Jesus or the Bible was actually that helpful for my daily life. So though I believed in God, I didn't really, you know, do that thing well, I ended up this is my story. I ended up interviewing a pastor for a paper I was writing in college, and I was I had procrastinated, and I was trying to instead of going to the library to do research, I thought this would be faster. So I interviewed this pastor and what he explained to me shocked me. He said this, Kendrick, Jesus never taught that good people go to a good place when they die.
I'm like, no way. I mean, that's exactly what I believed. And he goes, you won't find one Bible verse. You won't find one teaching of Jesus that ever says, good people go to a good place when they die. Because he said, if that was true, what would happen? You get to heaven and go. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I'm better than the rest of them. My good stuff outweighed my bad stuff and those that didn't make it. Well, they should have been more like me. Let me tell you this. When you get to heaven, no one's going to be slapping themselves on the back and congratulating themselves. He said this can hurt good people. Don't go to a good place when they die. Forgiven people do forgiven people too. And we all need forgiveness. We all need forgiveness. We all have sinned, made mistakes, and and fallen short of the glory of God. That's Romans 323. I've heard that before. We've all sinned. I had heard that part, but I'd never thought of and fallen short of the glory of God. What does that mean? Fallen short of God's glory. God's character, his perfections. Like he's altogether good. He's perfect in all of his ways. His kindness, his love is unending. And. And the standard. The measuring stick was who God is in his beauty and his perfections. And and God doesn't base and greatest on a curve. I thought God based us on a curve. Like as long like like he goes. It's not based upon comparison, Kendrick.
You're not competing against your peers, hoping you're doing better than other people. And I'm like, oh, you mean we've all sinned? We've all made mistakes. We all need forgiveness. We all need grace. Isaiah 53 verse six says, we all, we all. Every single one of us like sheep. Here's the picture Isaiah is giving us have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid upon him Jesus the iniquity of us all. What's the our iniquity? What's the sin that God laid upon Jesus was us like sheep going astray, going our own way. And the way that I like to think about it is this like I'm driving a car and I've been driving the car of my life, and I had Jesus in the passenger seat. If you got any advice, let me know. But at the end of the day, I'm going my own way. I'm in control and I can ask God. And sometimes I might even get frustrated with him. Like, why aren't you helping me more? And at the root of our pain, at the root of the brokenness, of what's wrong with our world is we all, like sheep, have gone astray. We've each turned away from the good Shepherd, our maker, our creator, the one who loves us, who made us in his image. And. And forgiveness is a free gift not to be earned by doing better or doing good. It's a free gift to be received by coming to him and having a relationship restored with the God who knows us and loves us. Jesus said, follow me.
Follow me. Have a relationship with me because of the resurrection. My past can be forgiven and because of the resurrection, I can have power for today. I can have power for that. God can help you and me in our like, day to day practical lives down to earth. I get some days are great and things are all going well. But life gets tough at some points, doesn't it? It can feel like it's too much and be overwhelming. Our relationship melts down. A diagnosis is life threatening. Uh, business goes out of business, and now you're scrambling to find a job like it gets tough. And let me tell you this. My wife, Nana and I, we've been through it all. I went through a tough battle with cancer. She had Lyme disease for seven years. Got kicked in the face by a horse, and that was a miracle that she lived. Broke her leg two years ago. Got a plate in seven screws and still rehabbing. We've had challenges with our family, and leading is not always easy and sometimes painful. And there's pressure you live with and stress and criticism, insecurities and fears. Let me tell you what. Like we've all been there. Have you ever said this? This is more than I can handle. I say this. There's some truth to that. Because God never designed life for you to be able to handle it on your own. He designed life at times to bring us to a place that we'd really need him. And we'd open the door to him and we would let him in. And when we've kind of gone astray, he's like, come on back. Come on back to me.
And if you open the door to me, I will work in you. And what I want to do is I want to share a story with you of someone who came to a place where she opened that door and God really worked. Checked it out. My name is Pamela.
I've been coming to Grace almost two years. I was born and raised in Alaska, in a small village. My mom and my dad and my. My brothers and sisters. I remember going to church with my mom at a young age. When I was nine years old, my mom passed away, and then my dad moved us to Reno, Nevada. My dad never spoke about God. When I was 13, I ran away from home.
I was introduced to drugs and alcohol. I guess I clung to it because it numbed the feelings of not having my mom and not being around family. I turned 16, I had met my kids father. He was actually my dealer. I ended up getting pregnant. I ended up getting clean and he ended up going to to jail.
And I got pregnant again once he got out. We moved to North Carolina. I'm thinking I'm in love.
And, um, it didn't turn out very good. Once him and I split up, I started drinking really heavy. I'm being the general manager at the motel six in Raleigh, and I feel like my life was going downhill even more. I got introduced to some people that were living in the hotel that had drugs. I started doing drugs. They foreclosed on my house. My kids ended up living with their dad. I ended up getting pregnant with my younger son. It got to the point where I was staying at different people's houses with my son. At one point, I asked my other kids, father, if he could just take him in. I was either high or drunk and couldn't be around them. 2018 my oldest kids father ended up going to prison for four years, and so my kids were with me for four years, and that was a time where I also got sober. Once my kids father got out of prison, my older son went to go live with him. My daughter ended up going to live with her boyfriend, so we all kind of split. I had no direction, no purpose. I was left with myself, not even know who I am. My default is to numb my feelings. I was addicted to drugs, to men, to sex. I, um, started doing other things for for money. And this lasted for about three years.
April 2024 I was homeless, living in the streets, making money the fast way. The last time I got in trouble, I was sleeping in the back seat of a married man's car. A cop came and knocked on the window and we both ended up going to jail. My probation officer is just like what? You know what? You just. I just seen you. Like, a couple weeks ago. And then here you are again.
I just broke down. I expressed her, I just didn't know what to do. She put me in a program, you and C horizons. Very, very grateful for that. When I started in this program. We'd go to group every day. And, um, in group, they, they, you know, introduce us to the 12 step program. And in the 12 steps they talk about God and. I was like, I don't know God who's God. He hasn't been there for me.
In the program, we have our own apartments. And, um, one of the ladies invited me over for dinner and she turns on the TV. She turns on to, um, a pastor that I once used to watch whenever I was clean. And I really feel like that was like God talking to me, like I am here for you. After I left her apartment, I went to my apartment and binge watched all that pastor's sermons. One of the girls was already coming here and she was like, hey, you should check out Grace church. The first time I came, I was it was amazing. I just felt so welcomed.
And I was just so eager to do everything, everything I did. Step one, step two, step three. Everybody I've met has been so genuine, so loving and encouraging. The spiritual family means a lot. I feel like I'm in a place where I'm able to to really listen to God and to grow. I don't have a car.
My three DUIs. But no matter what I do, I make it a point to come to Grace church. When I got water baptized, my oldest son and my younger son got baptized with me. My older son, he's like, I've never been baptized. I want to get baptized too. And I was like, okay. And then my younger son was like, well, I want to get baptized too. Kim, I love to see families getting baptized together. It's so, so powerful. You received Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. Based on that profession of faith, Pamela, it's my honor to baptize you in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. I had bought on Amazon like a graduation big frame with a certificate, but it's our baptism. I have that hanging in our living room. That was a very proud moment.
Growing up, everybody called me Pam. Once I got baptized, I said, I want to start being called Pamela because I feel like this is a new person in me. I'm finally becoming who I'm supposed to be. I never knew anything about the Bible. I would use the paper to roll up stuff. I cherish it now. I followed through it with the church. I was like, whoa, this is mind blowing.
It had changes in the way that I thought when they were like, safe sex until marriage. I'm like, yes, doing that. Once I read that, that's a promise. I feel like I made to God because I feel like it's not too late, it's not too late. And I know it sounds funny because of what I did in the past, but I don't care. I'm. I'm gonna wait till marriage. I'm not ashamed.
I'm not ashamed of anything of my past. I believe he did. Forgive me.
This is real. This is not a game. This is God in human form that sacrificed his life for our sins. He's forgiven me after all I've done.
And I truly know that he loves me. I wake up so thankful. So grateful, grateful that I'm able to be here with my kids. Now that I'm seeking God, they're also seeking God. My older son can pray like no other. I don't know where he gets it from, but when he prays, I start tearing up and it's just so wonderful. My younger son, he's going into middle school, so he is able to be part of Grace students, so I'm excited about that. One thing I kept saying in the program was that I want to live to see my grandchildren. My daughter is actually three and a half months pregnant right now, so I'm going to be a grandma. I sit back and I daydream about how I'm going to teach my granddaughter or son about God.
Jesus is my foundation that I'm building on and my whole. Everything changed. My. Oh, is that powerful? Wow.
What a story of redemption and transformation. Let me say this. We all have our own stories. We all have our own brokenness. We all have our own pain. And when we open the door to God and let him in, he can come in and he can forgive, and he can change and transform and heal. And I just love the the powerful words that Pamela said. It's it's not too late. It's not too late. And that's true for any of us and any issue of our life. We can we can allow God in the problem for you and me is in a lack of effort or lack of caring. It's that we need a relationship with the living God, our maker, who cares for us and loves us. And when you open that door, God will come in and he will be with you. The Bible says 365 times. Fear not, and the basis of most every one of them is. For I am with you. Because when God is with you, and when God is for you, God will heal the brokenhearted. God will forgive your biggest failures and your darkest secrets. He'll break the power of addiction and unhealthy habits. He'll heal you from the pain of your past and things that you would tend to carry into your future relationships.
He'll lift the heaviness and the depression he'll get at the core on the inside of you, where you may be experiencing loneliness or bitterness or insecurities like he'll he'll touch right there and where you tend to feel that you carry the weight of the world upon your shoulder. He'll carry your cares. And amazingly, he can restore and rebuild relationships. That which has or walls have gone up and years are passed. I'm telling you right there, because of the resurrection, I have power for today. And lastly, because of the resurrection, my future can be secure. The future can be scary. Like tomorrow, next week, next month, five years, ten years from now and and our eternity. And and Jesus conquered death and the grave in order that we would have no fear of the future, no fear of death, that we would have an assurance of our position in our relationship with God. That would not be based upon my trying to do good, but based upon what he did for me.
It's forgiven people with faith, and you can have an assurance and a confidence in that when you believe. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life.
Check this out. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
Do you believe this? I imagine in Jesus just taking a moment, looking around and saying, do you believe this? Do you believe that believing in me you will never die? Do you believe that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever would believe in him should not perish but have eternal life? It's not good people who go to a good place when they die. It's forgiven people who believe, who humble themselves and acknowledge that I have sinned and I need grace and I need forgiveness. The resurrection means that Jesus is who he said he was, that Jesus has power for us today, that he keeps his promises. Our paths can be forgiven. He can help us right where we live, and our future can be secure. What is God speaking to your heart this Easter? What step could you take in your spiritual journey? You know we're all on a journey with the Lord and our relationship with God. And what that might look like is very unique.
But what I find is this one you just keep taking steps and this is where it really gets powerful when you take steps in community. The game changes.
What I love about Pamela's story is she took a step into the recovery community, and then she took a step into the spiritual community of Grace church. And those communities are really what brought the life transformation. It was God and the Holy Spirit and the work, all that. But let me just tell you this we need each other. We need relationships. We need community, and we need God. But God will meet you as you step in. And what I thought was, how helpful is that community? And can't I just do this on my own, in my own head? And when I stepped into community and when I gave it a shot, it was different than I expected, the Bible came alive. I found out that the community was much more loving and accepting and believed in me. And these were real people that were on a journey doing their best. And they just let me in and and it changed my life because I actually really gave it a fair shot. I wasn't doing this. I was leaning in and giving it a shot. And what I want to encourage you, challenge you is this take the five week challenge. That's what we love to say it, Grace, take a five week challenge. We're over the next five weeks, you would come lean in, listen, be open, be hungry, be humble and see what God might do. It's one thing to sit back and say I got. It's another thing to really open up and see what God might do in your life. What we're going to do is this over the next five weeks, we're going to talk about let's talk family, the number one prayer request that we get. Most common is about relationships and family. And we're going to talk about relationships. We're going to talk about family, and it's going to apply to everybody. And it's going to apply in our workplace and in our relationships. We're going to kind of draft office next week. I'm going to talk about this. How do you get God to really work in your relationships, in your family? How have God's blessing in your home, in your relationships when you open that door? It's amazing how walls can come down and relationships can be restored. Pain can be healed. It's, um, and we're going to go week after week. We're going to end on Mother's Day. My wife and I are going to do Q&A, and we're going to have a great Mother's Day. We got a gift for the moms. Gonna be a lot of fun. Take the five week challenge and then I want to encourage you this. Maybe today you want to make a decision to follow Christ. Maybe you need to step from that place of driving your own car and believing in God and asking him to help you to say, hey Lord, you take the driver's seat. I'm going to sit in the passenger's seat. I want to follow Jesus. If I was honest, if I was real, I know that at the end of the day, I've been calling my own shots, going my own way, doing my own thing. And I need to surrender. I need to put God first. You just know in your heart of hearts when that's happened and when you're ready to take that big step. Jesus gave an invitation. He said, follow me. He said, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice opens the door, I'll come in and I'll die, and I'll have a relationship with you. I'll. I'll work in your heart. I'll work in your life. I'll forgive you. I'll adopt you as a son or a daughter into my family. And because. Not because you're a good person, but because you believe in. Have faith, I will work. And I want to pray with you. Everyone out in Alamance, I want to pray for you. And then we'll walk through this response. God, father, thank you today that you are a good father, that you really love us, that you're for us, that Lord, you've never left us. But Lord, your resurrection means some powerful things. That you are who you say you are, that you can help us, that you keep your promises. And I believe today you're here, that every single person is here at Grace church for Easter 2026, not by accident, but on purpose. And I believe that you want to speak to us. You want to speak to us about our lives, our hearts, our relationship with you. And maybe today we're at a place that we really need to Humble ourselves and say, Lord, at this low spot or at this struggle, at this point of pain.
Maybe things are going pretty well, but I need to open the door to God. I've been driving my own car and I need to get out. I need to get in the passenger seat and I need to put God first. Lord forgive me. I surrender to you. I want to ask you to forgive me. And I want to live for you my whole life. All to Jesus, I surrender, I surrender all I pray, father, in any area of our lives, for every person here that we could take a next step in our journey to take the five week challenge, to make a decision, to follow Christ, to get connected to the community, to spiritual family. Lord, we love and trust you. In Jesus name, Amen.