WEBVTT 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:13.360 I want to welcome everyone to church today. 00:00:13.600 --> 00:00:14.400 Come on. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.960 Welcome to our Easter celebration. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.839 You know, we believe that this is the Father's house. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:38.560 And we've learned that Jesus didn't come just to bring us a religion, but he came to introduce us to our Heavenly Father and invite us into a family. 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:41.359 And we are the family of God. 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:44.079 We are made up of little children. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:47.039 We're made up of the older folks. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:50.799 Let's hear for the older folks here today. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:57.359 And this is the reason why you feel something different. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.879 And why you feel something special when you're here. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:02.560 Because you're home. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:04.560 Your home. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:06.560 Your home here. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.159 It's where you belong. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.320 It's where you belong in relationship with the Father. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:13.840 In his house. 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:17.039 Scripture says he prepares for us a room. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.280 And he's preparing for us a place where we can live together in eternity. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.719 So you got to get to know and love your neighbor. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.439 You got to learn to forgive. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:32.560 We have to learn how to work together and be reconciled to each other. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:40.319 And if you're here today and you say, I don't believe yet, but I feel something different. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:44.400 It doesn't matter, change the reality that you belong here. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:47.679 This place is for you. 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.079 It's always been for you. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:57.840 And your soul knows it and your spirit agrees, and that's why there's a resonation that happens on a day like today. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.400 Some people call it the tingles. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:10.560 Some people feel it in their the shift in their body, this an emotion that occurs, and they don't know what's happening, their heart's pounding. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:17.120 There's there's a resonant effect because this is where you belong. 00:02:17.920 --> 00:02:25.759 Globally, we're joining with approximately two and a half billion people, plus or minus a few hundred million. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:31.439 Our global family in celebration of Jesus Christ this Easter. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:34.639 Today we have visitors from Mexico. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.439 We have one of our family here, uh Mitzi. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:38.879 Where's Mitzi today? 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:40.080 Is she in your there? 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:41.599 She is, won't you stand up? 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.400 The pastor's family from Mexico. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.599 Let's welcome them to church today and their daughter Marie. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:53.280 Part of our global family. 00:02:55.359 --> 00:03:01.759 We have people from all over the world and nationally in Ottawa, just over a week ago. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:17.359 I attended an event where over 1,600 representatives and leadership leaders from the prime minister, the leader of the opposition, Pierre Polyev, and we have with us today a number of former MPs. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:19.680 We have Tracy Gray, the Honorable Tracy Gray. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:21.199 Why don't you stand today? 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:33.599 As well as I'm gonna invite you to stand, Candace Bergen, who was the leader of the opposition at the time, is former MP. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.960 So thankful for your service to our country and for our community and our city. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:47.280 From the north and the south, from the east to the west, we've joined in prayer for our nation. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:04:01.439 I got a glimpse in the last few weeks as we were petitioning the government, and over 150,000 calls went out to MPs and leaders across our country in defense of religious freedom in Canada. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:16.160 There's an expectation, and perhaps when you're here today, you feel the anticipation in the air. 00:04:44.640 --> 00:04:55.920 And when I look at the day like it is today, and I think of the day of the empty tomb, the stone that is rolled away, and what came out of that tomb wasn't death. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.800 What came out of the tomb was life. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:01.280 A new beginning. 00:05:01.440 --> 00:05:10.560 That word, the breaking out, is very symbolic of a woman giving birth into something that's living, bringing life into the world. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:16.720 And when the tomb, the stone was rolled away, life was ushered into the world. 00:05:17.760 --> 00:05:24.800 And two thousand years later, that resonant sound is still happening. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:27.840 We still feel it today. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:35.600 The anticipation, we wake up, we see the sun rise, we think of that morning. 00:05:37.200 --> 00:05:49.280 Luke chapter 24 says this on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices that they had prepared and went to the tomb. 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.760 They were the original spice girls. 00:06:00.640 --> 00:06:04.160 They found the stone that was rolled away from the tomb. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.040 But when they entered, they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:18.160 And while they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood behind them. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:22.640 And in the fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:27.920 But the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:33.040 He is not here, and let's say it together: he has risen. 00:06:35.440 --> 00:06:36.080 Amen. 00:06:39.840 --> 00:06:44.720 Remember, twice in this passage it says to do this. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:53.760 Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee, the Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners. 00:06:54.080 --> 00:06:59.360 He must be crucified, and on the third day he will be raised again. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:04.080 Then they remembered his words. 00:07:12.400 --> 00:07:15.280 We bring it back to remembrance. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:19.520 The fact that we're called to remember means that we can forget. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:22.640 And it's Easter Sunday. 00:07:22.960 --> 00:07:24.400 Jesus is coming. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:27.200 Jesus came and he's coming again. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.680 I believe he's coming again. 00:07:29.760 --> 00:07:35.360 And that's why there's still an anticipation of his eventual return. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:40.880 And we realize that there's no Easter Sunday without a Friday. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:53.520 We know that on Friday the sky grew dark, the earth trembled, and when it was shouted from the lips of Jesus, My Father, my Father, why have you forsaken me? 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.520 The veil was torn in the temple. 00:07:57.840 --> 00:08:01.280 Heaven was weeping, hell was rejoicing. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:07.040 The perfect man was dying a hideous death on the cross. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:16.640 And while Satan is rejoicing, thinking that the battle is won, a stop in the story. 00:08:18.320 --> 00:08:25.440 Three days later, a mighty angel rolls a stone away, and Jesus steps out of the tomb. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:34.159 When he died on the cross, he was a silent lamb, a lamb that was led to the slaughter. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:40.879 But when he stepped out of the tomb, he was no longer a lamb, he was a lion. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:46.879 He was the lion of Judah, and he was roaring with resurrection power. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:55.360 He was announcing death has no power. 00:08:55.680 --> 00:08:58.240 Life is here. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:00.080 There is hope. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.440 Light is more powerful than darkness. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:12.000 Eternity is available for every person, and the weight and consequence of sin has been atoned for through me. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:14.879 He outwitted Satan. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.680 He overcame the grave. 00:09:21.040 --> 00:09:29.200 He defeated the strategies of Satan so that you, your family, your marriage, your future is taken care of. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.200 He took care of your sin, he took care of your shame. 00:09:33.680 --> 00:09:41.200 He announced that you are his child and a part of his family. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:49.120 He is alive and he came to make us all fully alive. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:51.040 Amen. 00:09:51.920 --> 00:09:56.879 Father, we thank you today for your presence in this place. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:07.920 There was silence for three days. 00:10:11.920 --> 00:10:14.080 And then there was an awakening. 00:10:14.560 --> 00:10:29.279 Father, we pray that you would awaken our hearts, awaken our city, awaken our nation, awaken people across the globe, Lord, to the sound of your arrival. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.920 Lord, today we're so grateful for your spirit that lives with us. 00:10:36.800 --> 00:10:42.240 We're so grateful that your presence that is here, alive in each one of us. 00:10:42.560 --> 00:11:11.680 Ask that you would open up our hearts to receive from you today all that you have planned, that that story that resonated 2000, that originated 2,000 years ago and resonates through through history to a present day would settle in our heart today, and that we would remember that you are risen, you are no longer dead, you are alive. 00:11:13.040 --> 00:11:13.680 Amen. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:15.279 Amen. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:16.480 Amen. 00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:21.600 So what does it mean to be fully alive? 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:31.519 I feel that every person in this room wants this life to be experienced. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:41.759 Whether they say it or not, it I believe fully alive living is summarized to be known and to be loved. 00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:53.200 And we want to be more than just noticed, we want to be more than just followed, we want to be more than just liked on Instagram or social media. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:12:03.200 We want more, we want more than a name, we want more than a title, we want more than a position, we want to be known and loved. 00:12:05.920 --> 00:12:08.000 But here's the tension in it. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:20.320 To be known and loved, and known and not loved, or no not known and loved are all different feelings, experiences. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.000 To be known and not loved is risky. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:28.560 To be known is vulnerable. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.879 To be known means exposure. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:45.279 To be known is is concerning to each and every one of us because we we risk the fact that when we open up ourselves to someone and they see us for who we really are, will they still love us? 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:50.800 If you fully knew me, would you fully love me? 00:12:52.399 --> 00:13:05.519 We've all been at that point where we've opened up to someone, shared with someone who we really are, and experienced that anxiety and that fear, experience the rejection and the pain. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:19.040 And what's natural in those situations is that we pull back and we adjust and we protect ourselves and we build walls and put on a mask, and we don't ever show that part of ourselves again. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.480 To be fully known is too risky. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:31.840 To be loved and not known, and that's just surface, it's just performance. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:34.879 You love me, but you don't know me. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:37.200 It's exhausting. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.560 People love you because of your title, your position. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:44.240 You're strong, you're successful, you're in control. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:56.320 But deep down, you know, if they really knew what I struggle with, if they see me crashing out on Saturday or Sunday morning before church, they wouldn't love me. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:13:58.720 So what do we do? 00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:01.680 We spend our life in culture. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:20.879 Emphasizes this, how we edit ourselves, we filter ourselves, we post our highlight reel, we hide our true struggles, and we show people the version that we think that they'll love will hide the parts that we're afraid that they won't. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:28.240 Here's the truth: if you're not fully known, you can never feel fully loved. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:36.160 And if you're not, if you're fully known without love, you'll never feel safe. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:55.440 So deep down there's the question: is there anyone, anyone besides my wife loving me, who could see all of me and still choose to fully love me? 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:01.200 It's not just a human question, really, it is the question of Easter. 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:10.560 The message of Jesus is not just that he loves you, it's that he knows you completely and loves you fully anyway. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:12.639 How many of you are grateful for that? 00:15:14.160 --> 00:15:19.279 He fully knows me and fully loves me. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:26.320 Because of Jesus, I don't have to choose between being loved or being known. 00:15:26.560 --> 00:15:29.840 In him, I'm fully known and fully loved. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:36.800 And I can experience through him full life because of that. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:45.840 The human problem, which I consider this to be, that Jesus came to uh solve. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.120 It started at the very beginning. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:52.720 It's not something new, it actually began with Adam and Eve. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:57.920 It was an original condition that we go all the way back to Genesis. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:05.279 And what they did when they sinned before God and they disobeyed God, they hid. 00:16:05.920 --> 00:16:07.040 Why did they hide? 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:19.680 Because they knew that if they were known, if it was known what they did, then they would be exposed, and their exposure would mean a separation from God and a separation from His love. 00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:21.920 So they covered themselves. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:23.680 And how'd they cover themselves? 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:29.680 They used uh fig leaves, at least that's what I read in my cartoon Bible when I was growing up. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:33.840 They used fig leaves, but we use better tools today. 00:16:33.920 --> 00:16:35.759 We use image and performance. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:46.320 We can convince ourselves that if I can just be good enough, spiritual enough, successful enough, then maybe I'll be accepted. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:59.120 Education, money, recognition, title, achievement will cause people to love me. 00:17:00.560 --> 00:17:03.200 Adam and Eve, just like us, hid from God. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:07.039 They stepped into the pattern we're still living in today. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:09.440 We hide and we perform. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:16.880 And it was a lie from the start, and that lie clearly was you will never be fully loved if you're fully known. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.240 So we cover ourselves, but we cover ourselves differently today. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:22.880 We don't use fig leaves particularly. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.200 We cover ourselves with humor. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:29.039 How many of you have used humor to cover yourself? 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:32.240 We joke about what really hurts. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:36.559 We cover ourselves with distraction. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:42.960 We stay busy, we just keep scrolling, we go home, we keep keep our calendar full. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:49.120 Silence might make us focus on what's actually underneath. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.160 We cover ourselves with strength. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:53.920 People ask, How are you doing? 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:56.079 The first response is, I'm fine. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:57.680 I got it. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:17:59.279 I don't need help. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.640 I'll be okay. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:03.839 We cover ourselves with comparison. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.640 Well, at least I'm not as bad as they are. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:10.240 At least I'm not in a position like them. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:13.759 We cover ourselves with religion. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:23.600 Show up, we play the part, but still keep those vulnerable parts of ourselves at a distance from God. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:28.160 Ultimately, we're not hiding from God. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:33.200 We're hiding from ourselves from being fully known. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:40.640 And the problem is that covering up may keep you safe, but it will keep you stuck. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:47.279 And too many people go through life safe, but stuck. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:53.360 So when we move to the cross, this is what makes the cross so powerful. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:19:01.120 Jesus didn't come to just improve your cover, he came to remove that need for cover. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:16.319 All the comparison, all the religion, all the strength, all the distraction, all the humor isn't necessary because nothing is hidden from him. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:22.640 You are fully seen, you're fully loved, all at the exact same time. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:28.000 No one loves me like God loves me. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.240 No one loves me like Jesus loves me. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:35.920 Romans 5 8 said this. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:44.720 It said, I'm just telling you, while you were still sinners, Christ died for you. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:59.680 While you were still in trouble, while you were still stuck, while you were still hiding, while you were still trying to put on that face, God died for you. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:02.000 He sent his son for you. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.559 There was no buyer's remorse. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:11.200 He redeemed you and he redeemed you completely. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:22.240 Your sin, your shame, your guilt, your worst thoughts, your private battles, even your regrets, everything was taken on him on the cross. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.440 He saw it all and he took care of it all. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:31.120 And here's what's shocking. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:36.559 He didn't step back from us, he actually stepped in with us. 00:20:37.600 --> 00:20:44.720 The cross is the place where you were most exposed and most loved at the exact same time. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.640 He knows you at your darkest and still gave his best for you. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:55.440 He still gave the best so that you could know his love. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:59.200 And this love that he gave for you isn't transactional. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:02.880 It wasn't something that we could offer for his love. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.960 My best could not pay for my worst. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:14.640 What should be something that keeps us separated and broken for all time? 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:29.279 God used his best in Jesus to bridge the gap so that we could find a way to the Father and find a way home and find a way to a family and find a way to a future and an eternity. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:33.200 Even before you knew God, God knew you. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.960 Even before you chose God, God chose you. 00:21:37.120 --> 00:21:40.480 Even before you love God, God loved you. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:44.319 You were in his heart before you were in your parents' heart. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:51.200 Before the world says that you were good enough or not good enough, God said, You're mine. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.319 You belong to me. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:58.000 You'll always have a place in my house. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:02.000 While you were at your worst, Christ died for you. 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:10.400 He didn't come for you when you were cleaned up, he didn't come for you after you had fixed yourself up, he didn't come for you after you had made yourself. 00:22:11.120 --> 00:22:13.360 Better, you could not do it. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:30.079 It was futile, and thousands of years recorded in the Old Testament proved the fact that people would fail and fail and fail to try and keep to a law and keep to perfection until Jesus came. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:36.880 At your worst, you were fully known and you were fully loved. 00:22:37.360 --> 00:22:38.000 Amen. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:40.720 Let's give him a round of applause right now. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:41.680 Come on. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:52.799 Every now and then you just need to take a praise break and just say, thank you, God. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:23:00.720 Thank you, God, that despite like I keep things in my I I don't want to share my dirty laundry. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:04.720 I don't want to share things, but Lord, you know. 00:23:05.120 --> 00:23:07.279 And I thank you for loving me. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:11.440 Easter doesn't stop at the cross. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:18.480 The cross says, I see you and I love you, but the resurrection says I'm not leaving you there. 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:23.680 The fact is that Jesus did more than the cross. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:29.120 He came with a kingdom to invite you into. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:41.680 Ephesians chapter 2, verse 13 says, You were once, you who once were far away have been brought near. 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:45.680 That we were far away from God. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:48.079 We got saved. 00:23:49.120 --> 00:24:01.200 God, Jesus, through Jesus, we were known that we are loved and we are cared for, but it's the cross and the resurrection that actually brings us close. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:06.960 The cross dealt with your sin, but the resurrection dealt with your separation. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:11.360 He rose to redeem you. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:13.519 He rose to restore you. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:23.360 You're not just forgiven, you're actually invited back into relationship, back into closeness, back from being lost. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:30.640 You're invited out of hiding, from being alone into a family, out of performing, out of pretending. 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:35.039 You're brought into intimacy with him. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:47.600 What sin broke, Jesus couldn't, Jesus sin just cover, he restored, he repaired, he redeemed, and now we can walk with him fully known and fully loved. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:54.559 And that good news is that you don't have to perform for a relationship that's already been paid for. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:01.200 Today's a reminder that he's paid it all. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:05.680 And now the challenge is how do you want to live? 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:09.360 Live with him fully alive? 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:16.240 And what that means is that we need to put things to death, put things away. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:22.720 Romans 8 says this there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:26.799 The worst thing about you has already been dealt with at the cross. 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:31.600 And now we can just walk in the world of acceptance. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.680 We can stop pretending we've already been accepted. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:45.759 So freedom is that God doesn't is not God doesn't know, freedom is God knows, and He still chose us. 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:48.480 And that changes everything. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:54.000 One of my favorite verses is in Galatians chapter 5, verse 1. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:57.279 And I'm gonna invite the worship team to come in. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:04.640 It says, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. 00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:11.120 No longer to be subject to a yoke or bondage of slavery. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.839 Freedom is what we've been given through the cross. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.759 Freedom is what we've been given through Jesus. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.920 Freedom is what we've been given through the empty tomb. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:27.920 New life, new beginning, new start. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:35.519 So you may be in the room today, and you might have spent your whole life managing what people see. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:39.279 And a lot of people find this exhausting. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:50.240 I think it's the contributor to a lot of the mental illness in the world right now is that people are trying to manage their persona themselves. 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:54.000 They're trying to accept something that they cannot repair. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:27:02.319 But the reality is Christ repaired, Christ redeemed, Christ accepts us. 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:11.360 And when we can see ourselves the way Christ sees us, we can present ourselves to a world the way he sees us. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:17.519 We don't have to become exhausted or tired, we don't have to pretend or perform. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:21.680 We can actually move forward in freedom. 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:26.400 Some people might fear in this room. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:31.120 You may say that, Pastor Brody. 00:27:31.600 --> 00:27:34.480 But if people really knew me, they wouldn't love me. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:41.759 But Easter stands in front of that fear and says, God already knows you and God already loves you. 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:44.880 And we've all experienced it here. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:58.720 That new beginning and that new start and that new recognition with a new name and a new birth and a new life and a new hope. 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:03.440 So there's an invitation today. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:14.559 His word says that he stands at the door and he knocks, and he invites you to approach God's throne with confidence. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:17.600 Confidence. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:27.920 Take something to actually stand up and say, Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.559 I accept this invitation. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:36.079 I repent and I'm sorry for trying to do it myself. 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:48.240 And I turn to you with my with my own your my only hope and my only opportunity is through you for this life. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:29:10.400 Receive my shame, receive my confession, and allow me to receive your grace and your goodness and your mercy and your forgiveness and your life. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:12.880 Amen. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:26.480 If you're here today, the cross proves that the empty tomb, and the empty tomb declares it that you are fully known and fully loved. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.720 You are fully known and fully loved. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:33.440 No one can know you like Jesus. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:36.240 No one can love you like Jesus. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:46.160 No one can can share with there's no one who you can have a relationship with that compares to him. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:51.039 So we need to move that that needle in our life. 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:53.680 We need to move in the direction of him. 00:29:54.079 --> 00:30:04.160 So if you've been perhaps invited here today, perhaps it's your first time, perhaps you've been just weighing this opportunity for the invitation. 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:11.279 I'm gonna invite the just the whole membership here just to just to bow your head and close your eyes. 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:15.360 And just take a moment of silence with him. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:18.640 Are you fully known? 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:20.240 Are you fully loved? 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:24.880 Have you embraced the totality of this day? 00:30:25.360 --> 00:30:41.200 Do you know what it means to be accepted and welcomed into the family of God, into a family of hope, into a future, into a future, an eternal future. 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:55.039 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish, shall not perish, but have eternal life through Jesus. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:38.000 Something needs to shift and I need to make a move, then I'm suggesting today that today's your day. 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:39.680 Today's your moment. 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:42.160 And to embrace it. 00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:49.759 The scripture says he sits at the door and he knocks and waits for that invitation for you to open up. 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:57.680 So if there's anyone here today, just between you and I and our team, just if that's you, just raise your hand nice and tall. 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:03.200 If that's you today, you want to receive that gift of salvation today. 00:32:03.360 --> 00:32:06.559 Would you just raise your hand nice and tall for me? 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:09.759 I see that hand. 00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:11.519 I see that hand. 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:15.360 Anyone else see that hand? 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:18.319 Good, good. 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:30.000 Congregation, would you just take a moment to bow your heads and we're gonna pray this prayer together for all those who made that decision today and just recite this prayer after me? 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:34.480 Father, thank you for sending your son Jesus. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:43.039 I accept today the invitation to be welcomed into your family. 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:53.839 I believe that you died on the cross, and three days later you rose from the grave. 00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:57.120 You can pay for my sin. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:06.319 So today I confess that I am a sinner in need of a savior. 00:33:07.120 --> 00:33:23.279 I confess you as my Lord, in Jesus' name, allow me to receive that eternal life and that new salvation and that new spirit. 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:26.240 In Jesus' name. 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:27.440 Amen. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:33.200 Would you just give a round of applause today for those who made that decision? 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:35.839 Amen.