At The Cross

Easter Sunday

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is the Ketas Off First Podcast. Life built on truth. Happy Easter, guys.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey, notice he went away from the what's up. What's up? The what's up? I didn't wait to see if he would say it.

SPEAKER_04 0:18

That wasn't an I told you. I'm self-conscious about it now. We're never gonna hear it again. Never, never, not ever.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Happy Easter. Happy Easter, brother.

SPEAKER_04 0:26

Yeah, he is risen. Amen. So as we're jumping in today uh with our truth behind the sermon podcast, what is your favorite thing to do with your family for Easter? Take a nap.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yeah. After service. Definitely post-service nap. Um, I've always enjoyed Easter baskets, and uh Easter baskets in my family now have become a touchy subject uh because it and it and it's a little ingest because my mom, when I probably about five, six, seven years ago, um, she was like, Hey, you both are old enough. I'm not doing an Easter basket anymore. I'll still do Christmas presents. And me and my brother loved the Easter baskets because we would get uh we would get what's called a Reaster bunny, which is uh a Reese's Easter bunny that is just like a pound and a half of chocolate and peanut butter. It's amazing. And then we would always get opastemic. We would always get like a pair of flip-flops and a bathing suit because the weather was getting warmer. We were getting into summer, and we just loved it. So now we all send each other the uh the little jokes about like, oh, now I'm looking for a nursing home to put my mom in because she's not getting us an Easter basket. And uh so your mom's gonna be a big thing. Yeah, so Caitlin was getting some stuff for an Easter basket. I was like, you get that baby an Easter basket. She deserves an Easter basket because you know, we don't want to be putting a nurse in all the world.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Yeah, my mine is like a machine gun. I love I love Good Friday. I love Good Friday services that are very celebrated. And so um I love to celebrate the cross. I do that. I do love uh I love um Easter. You know, I end up preaching like three times before noon on Easter one year. It was four. But I love every one of those services. I love going to Winkenhofer. My daughter used to go with me from a little girl all the way up to college, and she would go with me. That was kind of our little thing. So Avery and I did that together, so I really enjoyed that, and just having that special time with her, and yes, I do uh what I can do is is I can eat one, you know, the the the Reese's, whatever it is, you know, at Christmas, it's the Christmas tree Reese's Reese and the egg is what you get at Easter. I love those things. So uh anyway, man. Shout out to Reese on that one. Yeah, it sounds like Reese's sponsored this episode.

SPEAKER_04 3:22

Yeah, um I'm gonna I'm gonna throw a critique in there though. I don't like the specialty Reese's.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

No.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

I mean, like I okay, maybe I shouldn't say I don't like them, but they're I would rather have a normal Reese's. Yeah, the ratio of a normal Reese's is perfect. You put it in the fridge, it is the exact correct ratio of chocolate to peanut butter. You start changing that ratio up with those eggs and the Christmas trees and everything else, and I'm just like, man, wow, don't don't fix what ain't broke.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

I would go against that. I like more peanut butter in them. So I that's maybe why I like the the egg and the Christmas tree because the because of the ratio. But hey, to each their own.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

Yeah, and there's always somebody, you know, there's the little lady at church that decides she's gonna make one of those and bring it to you, folks. I mean, the jury's still out on that, I guess. But nobody can do it like Reese's. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 4:21

But if you want to try, we have staff meetings on Monday. And we would be willing to taste test, we'll score it if you need us to, not live, but it's checking to bring pound cake tube. We want to bring me away. Absolutely. So one of one of our favorite things, or one of my favorite things that we've done since we've been here in Kennesaw, um, is our church family really is our family away from home. Um, and so Pastor Mark and Ms. Janine have always made it a point to reach out and basically invite, hey, if you're not doing anything for Easter, come on over. And so I'll usually throw a ham in the smoker before I leave for church that morning and then run home and grab it, and we'll go over there. And you know, there's been years where where Trey's had his kids over there, and we'll do a little egg hunt out there and and watch uh Pastor Mark and Mama Neen as we call her, uh play Me Maw and Peapaw out in the yard throwing eggs around. And so we have a good time doing that. That's great.

unknown 5:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Well, that's amazing. Well, Easter is here. This is the week. This is the week, um, especially for us here in the ministry. I know that we've been working really hard all week in our respective areas just to make this a very uh special Sunday. Uh, and for us to look again. This is a final week of our look again series. And uh this week we look again at the tomb, at the resurrection. We're in John chapter 20, verses 1 through 5 and more. And so we see uh three different points about the tomb, about Jesus. Will you take us through those, Pastor?

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Sure, you know, the beauty of John 20. I I just love John 20. It seems like every year I have a hard time not like going back to John 20 because John 20 shares and just the beauty of what the disciples saw when they went to the tomb. And this year our theme is look again. And when you go to John chapter 20, the word Saw just jumps off the page over and over and over. And some of that is lost in translation because there are three different Greek words there for Saul, and they help us kind of get a little bit of an idea of what uh was going on when Peter and John, and then really Mary Magdalene saw the tomb. And so that's kind of the central focus of what uh the first part of this message, and uh one of those words uh is the word blepo, which means to just kind of take a casual glance. And I think people do that at Easter time. They they'll kind of just, you know, it's kind of like a drive-by. They just kind of drive by and they look and they take a glance and they're like, okay, I guess I'll go to church today because it's kind of a special day. Let's do that. And it's the it's what precedes the lunch or the Easter egg hunt or whatever. But that that word gives a little picture of what Mary Magdalene first did and what Peter really did when they first started looking at the tomb. But then there's another word that transitions, and it's the word uh thorough, which is a Greek word which means to develop a theory. And Peter was the first to kind of just bring that in, and he he developed a theory. He's like, hey, something's going on here. There was something different about those grave clothes that made him go beyond the casual glance. And then the Bible says in verse 8 that John came in, and when he came in, he saw those grave clothes, and the result of that was that what he saw, that word means to it's oral, which means to see with comprehension and understanding. So I love the way that kind of connected with the whole series theme with you know, look again, take a look. And so the first part of that whole message really is it focuses in on those grave clothes and how orderly they were, what it looked like, what they were seeing. And we can kind of get in the eyes of the disciples and Mary when we look in John chapter 20 and we understand that language and what's lost in translation. But what um what really is revealed here is they saw the grave clothes was that Jesus has the power that he claimed to have. He truly was God, he truly was the Son of God. After all, listen, what just happened is he just rose from the dead. There is nothing that can compare to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The world religions, no one else, no other religion claims that their leader actually came forth from the dead. And Jesus did that. And not only is it claimed, it's proven. And when you look at history, you look at archaeology, you look at all the things, as a matter of fact, it is one of the most provable things, even by Jesus' own enemies, they made mention of this resurrection of the dead. So, so Jesus has the power, and that was a question, not did Jesus exist and not did Jesus die, but the biggest question is did he raise again from the dead? And he proved it. He proved it, he has the power to do what he says he's gonna do. And so the second one is he has the ability to be the friend. And we look at Mary Magdalene there, and we begin to see the friendship Jesus had with Mary Magdalene. I love that part. Actually, I've never really ventured into that on an Easter Sunday morning before. But here's a woman who had seven demons, and Jesus, you know, he he got to know her, he came to her, and he cast those demons out, and she became immediately a follower of Jesus. I mean, she began to follow him around, and as she did, it's just a beautiful picture of the friendship that Jesus developed, even with a person of opposite sex. I and I love that, and and the beauty of how Jesus Christ Himself had friendship with men and women. And a lot of people in that day, women really were kind of pushed to the side. They were they were not considered to be even remotely close to being someone that God might use in a special way. And what Jesus does here is Jesus makes her the first one that he spoke to after the resurrection, which I think is a shout out to women, period, but also a shout-out to to Jesus to say, you know, he not only uh crossed barriers culturally with the Jews, but he also crossed over into people's hearts and their. I mean, think about the guilt she probably sensed. We don't know what had brought about this demonic possession of her, but what we do know is we do know uh that Jesus cleansed her of that and it was life-changing. And so uh that was that was the second part, and then ultimately Jesus will keep all the promises he makes. And he made a promise uh that he would, of course, forgive us. He made a promise that he would live in our life. I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And he also made a promise of heaven, and so that's kind of a quick overview of what we uh look at when we look at this story in John 20. But it's it it there's so much application to our life. Uh, I think maybe what I really enjoyed uh about this story was really venturing in and studying a little bit more about Mary Magdalene and seeing the beauty of that friendship and the the purity of that friendship. Uh, you know, a lot of people will look at that friendship and they try to take it places where it should not go, and that does and they try to add something to it. But here's what Jesus did. Jesus was a friend of sinners. And it didn't matter who you were, it didn't matter where your background was, Jesus wanted to come near to us all as sinners and become our savior. So that's the story that we get from Resurrection Morning.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Yeah, you made some great points in there, and and I kind of want to stay on this thing about Mary Magdalene. Uh, you know, I find it very interesting. Uh, there are some parallels as well between the Easter and the Christmas story with elevating women uh with these miraculous um things about Jesus, the birth of Jesus, the conception of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, and now the the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus were miraculous stories. And for a a writer, a preserver of history in that time to use the uh you know, the witness of a of a woman, it would not have really gained much traction in the Jewish culture. But it was primarily, it was the woman that Jesus appeared to first. And I think we shouldn't, we also shouldn't discount the obedience of Mary Magdalene, that she was even there, that she was even there in the first place. Uh so Jewish burial rituals, they they would bring spices, anointing oils, and it was to show their devotion to the person who had died. And she had come, they said, I think on the first day of the week. And that was that meant that she didn't go on the Sabbath. Right. That meant she was observing the Sabbath as she should have. And then early in the morning, as soon as she possibly could, she got down to the tomb. And uh she was going to carry out those rituals. And so we see the obedience of Mary, and then we also see how she is uh she's elevated, she's empowered, and it shows really that relationship that they had. Uh, so I I just I I love that that she's being mentioned and uh that she's kind of a main player because where were the disciples? Why weren't they there?

SPEAKER_02 14:57

I mean, they were hiding out, no doubt. And and also think about the religious leaders, they broke the Jewish law uh-huh because they went the next day and they're asking for the sealing of the tomb of the rock, you know. And they're going to Romans, and the Jews were the I mean, that was a big no-no. And this is the religious leaders, so it just shows that they were the type of people that were they were hypocritical.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

They were the real they're the religious leaders who were breaking the law. They accused Jesus of breaking and they just killed him for it, and they're now going and breaking the same exact laws. And and it's just it's mind-boggling, but also you kind of do take a look again at yourself. It's like sometimes we do some of the same things just in different ways. And uh, so it there's there's so much to unpack in this story. Uh, but I do want to ask, um, as we have gone throughout this Easter season, uh, I don't want to neglect what uh, you know, I I know that there's a lot that's going on, us in ministry. It's it's a big week, there's lots of moving parts, we're doing stuff that's special, it's different. Um, but in your own personal life, what is something this this Easter season that you have looked again at and thought to yourself, man, that really hits me in a different way.

SPEAKER_04 16:30

Yeah. So one, uh, Kara almost killed me this morning because I've been setting my alarm for 5 30. Um and just getting up riding gives me some time to be still with the Lord. Uh this morning. She almost killed me because I hit the snooze button a handful of times. And uh I still got up and had my time with the Lord. Yeah, but she uh she let me know. Uh but so um I I'll bring up something that I got to hear Pastor Perry say uh actually a little bit ago uh while he was doing his uh Seder mill presentation that he did for the middle school students here at First Baptist Christian School. Um and he talked about you know during the Passover they would have had four cups, um, which will which were all tied to four promises, right? I'll I promise I'll bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. Uh I'll I will not you know allow you to continue to be enslaved, I'll redeem you with outstretched arms. And Pastor Perry just asked a question during that moment of uh, you know, he said, we don't know this for sure. He said, but but if this was the moment when Jesus looked at his disciples and said, you know, this cup is my blood, take this in remembrance of me. Um and he had tears in his eyes when he said it. Um, but man, it just it just kind of wowed me because I I've you know, we've heard the story, right? And we've seen it, and I and I've seen Pastor Perry do the satyr meal before, you know. Um, but to have that moment of just like just that in your face reminder of this was always the plan, you know, that this Jesus was not plan B. Jesus was not a in case the law doesn't work, we'll come up with another way. It was, you know, from from the onset, from from the word go, that was what was gonna happen. And so just to be reminded to look again, to look at the intentionality of God and how much he loved us and set this whole thing in emotion so that we could be redeemed, which is really good.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

I agree with that. That third cup in the Passover is I will redeem you with outstretched arms. And it makes every time I get to that one, it I mean, even right this second, I'm like, oh gosh, hold back, hold back the emotion. Because I always wonder if Jesus grabbed that third cup and said, This is the cup of God, you know, my new covenant by blood, which is good for you. You know, I will redeem you with outstretched arms. And so I've always wondered that. And also looking back all the way back to the Exodus, and I think it's just wonderful that we've been studying through the book of Exodus, and now we come upon this. But when they put the blood on the doorpost of the from the Passover lamb, it was the you know, it was like the head and the two doorposts, it was like outstretched arms and then the crown of thorns, the blood from his head. And you know I I always just pause at this time of year, and it makes me it makes me really good to have not only Jesus as um as my friend, but Jesus as my redeeming Lord, and to value him as a redeeming Lord, to worship him. And that's why I just really I think the reason why I love Good Friday is because of that factor in our relationship, that he is redeeming Lord. And I really enjoyed getting into Mary Magdalene here and really focused in on the friendship. You know, God's not surprised by our sin. I mean, he already knew we were sinners while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And this morning when I woke up, I was I was listening, I have Sirius XM, and sometimes I'll wake up early and I and Jan gets up at 5 30. And so I I stop and I turn on Christian music, and and that statement was said, it was like, oh my goodness, I've been thinking that. And uh the um Laura who's on Sirius XM, she said, she said, God's not surprised at all by your sin. He already knew it, and he's not afraid to get close to it. Yeah, he's not afraid to get close to your sin. He's not you know, while it's repelling to him, it's still the flip side of that is he runs to it. We often think of of people who are heroes, they're the people that run to danger. God ran to our sin and he redeemed it. That's my hero. That's my hero. He came to rescue.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah, one thing that I've really been um just captivated by coming into this Easter season, and just to kind of peel back the curtain a little bit, like I've been planning Easter and thinking about Easter since uh December 26th. And um so uh it was it was you know something that I had kind of been chewing on for a while. But the more I got in and looked at it and kind of studied it was just how in that those last weeks of Jesus' life, how everything had just drastically. Changed and how people, the religious leaders, the disciples, their minds were in this spiritual blender. And so we're we're doing this uh spoken word reading that Trey is gonna do on Good Friday, and it's all about what changed. What changed last week? You were saying you were shouting Hosanna, you were shouting Hosanna to the king. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, you know, and now you're shouting, we want Barabbas. Yeah, the hymn of the garment that people crawled to just get a touch of so that they could be healed is now being gambled for. What changed? And so we go through we go through a a few different ones, and we finally get to it and we say, maybe the thing is nothing changed. That this was the plan all along, just like you said. Maybe this was plant the plan all along, and that God has a sovereign plan for everything, and that this is what had to happen. You know, last week you talked about uh there was there was a price for our redemption, for our buying back. Jesus was the propitiation, he was the substitution, and we needed that, and there was nothing that could supply it. And uh, you know, as we dive into all these details, the parallels, the um the symbolism that's there, people have written books, have written fiction books for thousands upon thousands of years, and have never come close to a story that's as captivating as this one right here. That's the truth. And uh, so that was something that really uh captivated me. And uh, so I mean, just as we get into Easter, it's a good time for us to, you know, that's why I love this uh this idea of looking again and taking an intentional pause and a look, uh, and and really evaluating what this story is because it is familiar. We hear it all the time, we know it like the back of our hands, and yet sometimes in that familiarity, we miss out on the depth of it, we miss out on the brevity of this, we miss out on the need for it as well. Um, so in number two on here, Jesus has the ability to be the friend that we need him to be. I always think of that moment that, you know, in this passage, you know, she turns around and thinks it's the gardener that's there, which is kind of funny. She's like, just go, you know, and just imagine, like, just go, you know, well, I don't know where he is, I'm weeping, I'm tired, like, just go away, mom. And then turns around and uh Mary hears Jesus say her name, and she turns around and she says, uh, she says, Rabbinai, right? Yeah, which means teacher, and that was a that was a very intimate name that she would have used there, and then Jesus says, Why do you cling to me? Which implies that she probably just threw herself upon him. And so Jesus is has that closeness. Is there a time that you think about in your life where Jesus really has shown himself to be uh that that close friend?

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Yeah, I think I think people struggle in this area because they really wonder in life when they're going through circumstances and they're going through something, you know, there seems to be a desert time in their life where it's like, is God really near? Is he really close? Uh is he really there for me? I think we've all gone through times like that. You know, when God seems to surprise me the most is when God will just take moments, and most of the time in my situation, it's it got uh God gets my attention in the dark portals of night, you know. I'll wake up, but I must remember just um about a year ago, there was uh a moment in the middle of the night that I woke up and I just sensed the presence of God was in the room with me. And it was it was like, Lord, you know, it's kind of like that. It's like Lord, you're here, and it was so intense that I wondered why's Jan not waking up. She's on the other side of the bed, and I'm like, why is she not waking up? And the reason why was because this wasn't you know a moment for her. This was a personal moment between me and the Lord, but I sensed that deep, deep presence of God that I've felt so many times in my life. Um and um just but when God surprises us like that with just the sense so heavy, the sense of his presence, of his Holy Spirit, that is so heavy in the room, all you can do is just sit in all. It's like, God, I can't believe you came to me. I can't believe that you, you know, that you have of all the billions of people in the world, and I know you can be everywhere all the time, and you are, but for some reason you've opened up the the portals of heaven. You it was like a transfiguration type of moment of it, you know, kind of to a little bit to me on that night. And there really wasn't anything I would that was heavy in my life. There wasn't really a whole lot. It was just the Lord just wanted to have a special moment with me. And I think those moments are some of the most wonderful moments, and I haven't forgotten it, and you you don't when God gives those to you, and he can give it to you when you're um when you're alone, but he can also do it in a Easter church service where you sense the conviction, the presence of the Holy Spirit. I and I do feel that a lot in our worship times together. And sometimes it's you know, it it's just simply singing Revelation song. Uh that's just one of my favorite songs, and you led that a couple of weeks ago, Chaston. And I just wanted to sit down and said, okay, I'm good. I don't even need to preach today. You know, God is in the house. Yeah. And so so I love it that God is so personal with us that way. And so that's that's what I recall the most. It's those special little moments.

SPEAKER_04 29:02

Yeah, I I would actually point to a worship service we had here is probably maybe a year and a half. Well, no, it would have it would have been, yeah, a year and a half ago, maybe a little more, because Kara's mom was still alive. Um, and she was sick and she was going through some of that stuff. Um, at the same time, a lot of people don't know that I was dealing with a lot of just anxiety and worry. Um, I didn't have, didn't end up having some health concerns that I thought I was having, and was really, was really worried about that. And I just remember, uh, I don't remember what we were singing, but I remember in the moment of worship, just being overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord and and being able to rest for what felt like the first time in months of like just being embraced and knowing, like, hey man, it's okay. Like, I'm here. I've got you. I've got you just as much as I always have. Breathe. Yeah, you know, and that was it. That was the moment.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

It makes you want to just scream, folks, this is for real. Yes, exactly. This is for real, exactly. Yeah, and it's life-changing.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Yeah, there are a couple moments that stick out to me personally. Uh, you know, I was dealing with uh some severe anxiety a few years ago, uh, just overwhelmed, uh, you know, had some things going on in my life, and um it was just during that time, there wasn't, you know, during that moment, I didn't really have that kind of moment, that that moment where it just hit me all at once. It was like over time, over a period of time, I just began to feel a lot better. Um, and I began to look to Jesus to be my friend. Yeah and I looked to him to help me out, and it was kind of in that surrender over amount of time over an amount of time that Jesus really showed me, like, I'm here, I'm close to you. And that's that's what I love about the Lord is that we do sing these songs, holy, holy, holy. This is the song of heaven, you know, holy, holy, holy. You are separated, you are so holy, you are so other from us, yet at the same time, you are right here next to us. And, you know, there's this, there's this balance that we have to strike of recognizing that God is sovereign and Lord over all of us. And, you know, some people take it a little too far with, you know, God's my homeboy, the big man upstairs, you know, like, but at the same time, it's like we still need to recognize that Jesus is very close to us, uh, and that he's a friend to us, he cares for us, and he loves us. The second one was uh actually around this time last year. Um I had gone to the Gospel Coalition conference in Indianapolis, and the Getys were there, they were the main worship leaders, and um that was the first time it was it was the week right after Easter. So I was exhausted. In fact, there was one night I didn't even go to a session because I felt I felt so sick. I felt like uh I was gonna pass out. I was like, guys, you guys go on to the session, I'm going. I went to sleep at 5:30 that night and woke up the next morning. I just needed to sleep. And so I had a hotel room to myself, and and I was just like, guys, I need to, I need to go. And so it was the next day. I had finally rested. I went back, and they sang this song Power of the Cross. We're actually singing it on Good Friday. I oh my gosh, it's become one of my favorite lyrics. And uh it says, Oh, to see my name written in the wounds, for through your suffering I am free. Death is crushed to death. Life is mine to live, to live one through your selfless love. If that does not capture the love that Jesus Christ has for us, to see my name written in your wounds, to see my name on his mind as he hung there on the cross, and to see him, even in his final moments, still have grace and mercy to the thief on the other cross. And um, you know, that that just goes to show how close Jesus is to us and how deep his love is for us, and that it goes beyond feelings, and that our deepest of affections are captivated by him. So Jesus being close to us is nothing new, and uh it's amazing when we're reminded of it and how much peace it brings us. So uh let me get over to my notes here. Uh, the final thing that we see in this sermon is that Jesus has promises to us. You you give us three promises uh that that Jesus gives. Promise number one, my past can be forgiven. Promise number two, our present can be managed. And promise number three, my future is secure. Will you uh kind of break down those real quick and and and what you go go a little bit behind the the curtain to see what we got?

SPEAKER_02 34:38

Uh you know, Jesus, there was no pretending here. Jesus was just straight up addressing his disciples where they were. And uh through the person of Mary Magdalene, here she is. She's a woman who I'm sure her past was something that she would look back at and probably like all of us do say, Man, if I could redo, have you ever had a project at home and you get about halfway done, you know, halfway done, yeah, and you realize this is not gonna turn out the way I intended to be kept back up and start all over.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

Turns out I don't know how to tile the floor.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

Well, sometimes we look at our lives that way, and we're like, man, uh I wished I could go back and fix some stuff and and maybe start again and start in a different way, but that's not how God works. God began to work with Mary Magdalene, with the disciples, exactly where they were. He's like, Yeah, you may have made a mess of this, but I can fix it. And um, so I think with with just application of what the resurrection means, it means that Jesus is going to come into our life when we receive him, and he's gonna, he's gonna forgive that past, and he's going to manage today. He's gonna, he's gonna go to work in our life every single day. We are more than a project, we're a person, we're a person he loves. And that's what he was doing among the disciples. And uh the Bible says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And and the the the way that happens is through the resurrection power. God's resurrection power is in us. And Ephesians 1 20 says, How incredibly great is his power to help those who believe in him. The same mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead. That's what we live by, the power of the resurrection with Jesus in us. And of course, our future is secure. And we know that's true. Because at first glance it looked like hope had died on the cross, dreams were buried in the tomb, and silence filled Saturday. But praise God, Sunday was coming. So that gets me excited. So um that's how you that's how you finalize a message like this. You know, you're just like, okay, I I better stop before I have a heart attack. I'm so excited. But uh, yeah, on the third day, when he got up, hope got up, he stood up, he brought hope into our life, he brought hope into every day, he brought hope into the future, and all of that is because Jesus got up, walked out of the grave, and walked into our lives, and he's gonna be there forever. And so that's really the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus. He came near, but he not only came near, he came to us, and today he lives in us. Yeah, and that's it.

SPEAKER_04 37:38

And it it frees us so much to live for him. Yeah. You know, like there's the there, there's all the promises that he makes, and then we get to experience the fruit of them now. It's really easy for us to think that our my future is secure. It's really easy to think just of heaven, but it's like, no, you're you're really good. So we we actually talked with the students this past week um about this idea of living life from a place of victory as opposed to pursuing victory. Because if if we have to pursue victory, it's about us and our efforts. But if we're coming at life from a place of victory, from knowing that our future is secure, holy cow, it's like it's like playing a game, you know you're gonna win.

SPEAKER_02 38:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:26

Right. I mean, like it's it's like taking a three-pointer when you know it's gonna go in, you're gonna do it. You're just gonna pull it up and shoot it. It's like swinging at a ball that you know you're gonna hit out of the park, you're just gonna do it, you know? Um, and so that's that was what was jumping off uh at me during uh this whole thing was just man, we have so much freedom to live in Christ because of the grave and because of the resurrection. Like it's it's really done. It's done.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

And one thing I really like is Jesus did say to Mary, stop clinging to me. He says, I've not he goes, go tell the disciples there's an ascension that's gonna happen. Jesus is like, okay, I know the next step, and it's gonna be 70 days later. Yeah, you know, yeah, but Jesus is giving her saying, Listen, this is what's next in this ascension is gonna be exciting, and there's gonna be a reason for that. He's gonna ascend to heaven, be at the right.

SPEAKER_04 39:20

Hold me, was ready to go back to the Father. Yeah, I want to go home. It's like, all right, I did it. It's like the end of vacation. You're like, I want to go home. It's time to go.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

Yeah, exactly. But there there had to be an excitement of Jesus about that. But also, there was I I like the fact that here Jesus is making mention of the future, he's making mention of, hey Mary, just know uh at the moment, you know, yeah, you can grab on to me, but don't cling because I'm departing to the Father. I have a there is a reason why I need to be at the right hand of God. There's a reason why I need to make intercession for you, and that's where I'm going to take my rightful throne. But in that, we don't see the things that, of course, she saw physically. But he later would appear to Thomas and he would say, Blessed are those who have not yet seen but believed. I think there's a holy anticipation that comes from this whole Easter season that says, one of these days I'm gonna see Jesus. And he's gonna call us by name like he did Mary, and oh my goodness, we're gonna hang on to him. And I think at that point he's not gonna say, stop clean into me. I think he's gonna say, keep on hanging. I've got a hold of you. You know, what a glorious day that's going to be. You know, that's gonna be one long hug, and I have a feeling it's gonna be a group hug because none of us are gonna let go. Yeah, social dis no social distancing in heaven.

SPEAKER_04 40:59

Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. Just handing out, man.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

Oh man. Well, one thing got another box. One thing before we leave. Um, so the San Diego Padres have what's called a the Tony Gwynn opening day. Okay, so opening day in baseball is traditionally the most attended day. Well, Tony Gwynn, long time player for the San Diego Padres, and probably one of the best hitters in all of baseball over history, correct? Um, said, you know what, opening day is cool, but I don't care about opening day. I care the season really starts on the second day. He was basically saying there's more to come. And so next Sunday, I have uh I have called it Tony Gwynn Sunday because Easter, we always work up towards Easter, and it's this big, awesome, amazing thing, but we don't want to discount what's coming next. And here in this story, we see again the obedience of Mary Magdalene is that she doesn't just see the resurrection, she responds to it. And uh what I would invite us to do is to respond to the resurrection and to keep on going because there is more coming. We now have a responsibility to go and tell people. Um, and we'll see Jesus set up this command um right before the ascension to go and tell. Uh, but the the resurrection, like you said, brings us into this freedom of life. So go and tell someone, respond to the resurrection. It will change your life. The Easter season invites us to take a second look at the very foundation of our faith, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. For over 2,000 years, this moment has captured hearts, souls, and minds. Throughout this season, we have looked again at who Jesus really is, a suffering servant who stood in our place as the propitiation for our sins. We looked again at the second coming of Jesus and that his return is not only promised, but imminent. We took a look at the cross and its beauty, power, and wonder, and the hope that the cross brings. And now we look at the resurrection, the moment of victory for us all. Take heart. The tomb is empty, hope is alive, Jesus reigns from his throne and is coming again for his bride someday very soon. So will you look again at Jesus today and let him change your life? Have a great week, and gentlemen, we'll see you next time. God bless everybody.

SPEAKER_02 43:56

Happy Easter. Yeah, you like that?

SPEAKER_01 44:02

We're glad you joined us for today's segment. We believe a life built on truth is a life that transforms everything. To stay connected, share this message, subscribe, or visit us online at Kinnesoft First.church. We'll see you next time. Keep building your life on truth.