SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: As you can see on the slide, this morning we have kids' church.
SPEAKER_00: And so kids that are from first to fifth grade, Ellie's at the door.
SPEAKER_00: Will's gonna help today.
SPEAKER_00: So please make your way over here and the kids will be back at the end of the church service.
SPEAKER_00: This morning our scripture comes from the book of Luke.
SPEAKER_00: So Luke 24, verses 13 through 35.
SPEAKER_00: If you didn't bring a Bible, we've got black ones over here, so please come and get one.
SPEAKER_00: And it's on page 831.
SPEAKER_00: So page 831, Luke 24, 13 through 35.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, please stand for the reading of God's holy and inerrant word.
SPEAKER_00: That very day, the two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
SPEAKER_00: While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?
SPEAKER_00: And they stood still, looking sad.
SPEAKER_00: Then one of them named Cleopus answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, What things?
SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word, before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
SPEAKER_00: But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and besides all of this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.
SPEAKER_00: They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that he that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
SPEAKER_00: Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
SPEAKER_00: Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
SPEAKER_00: And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scripture the things concerning himself.
SPEAKER_00: So they drew near to the village to which they were going.
SPEAKER_00: He acted as if he were going further, but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent.
SPEAKER_00: So we went in to stay with them.
SPEAKER_00: When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.
SPEAKER_00: They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?
SPEAKER_00: And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven, and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.
SPEAKER_00: When they told, then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Peggy.
SPEAKER_01: Well, good morning, everyone.
SPEAKER_01: It's so good to see y'all on this Resurrection Sunday or Easter Sunday for some who know it as.
SPEAKER_01: Um if this is your first time at our church, would you raise your hand?
SPEAKER_01: We want to give you a warm ethnos welcome.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_01: Good to see you all.
SPEAKER_01: Um every week we get the chance to sit and listen to the words of Scripture, and I'm just gonna spend some time explaining uh this story and draw some truths out of it to help make it relevant to us.
SPEAKER_01: So let me pray for us before we begin.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we thank you, Lord, for the privilege of knowing you and the privilege of gathering at this school, week in and week out.
SPEAKER_01: What a joy it is to be in a relationship with you.
SPEAKER_01: And we pray for those here in our midst who are still far from you, would you draw them closer to yourself even today?
SPEAKER_01: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Well, growing up, my mother used to say something to me that I'll never forget.
SPEAKER_01: And she would say, if you have a problem, fix it.
SPEAKER_01: If you have a problem, fix it.
SPEAKER_01: And it's one of those things that you know when you're growing up, you just have this sense, I just can't forget that.
SPEAKER_01: It's affected me even as an adult, where I, uh, if I'm running into problems with an electric company or an Amazon purchase or something, I have no problem picking up that phone, talking to customer service, getting through all the AI and all that customer, you know, all the automated stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I need to speak with someone.
SPEAKER_01: If I got a problem, I'm gonna fix it.
SPEAKER_01: Stuck with me.
SPEAKER_01: It's stuck with me.
SPEAKER_01: And it was almost a way for my mom to teach me that there's really nothing that should stand in your way of getting something done.
SPEAKER_01: If if you just put your heart head and your mind to it, you can solve it.
SPEAKER_01: Don't worry.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I bring this up because I would argue that this mentality of you've got a problem, if you've got a problem, fix it.
SPEAKER_01: It's a pretty normal human experience.
SPEAKER_01: It's a mentality that we humans tend to bring to our problems, whether big or small.
SPEAKER_01: Now, maybe it's an intellectual problem.
SPEAKER_01: Let's say with a war in the Middle East, have you seen those gas prices recently?
SPEAKER_01: I saw one, oh no, it's diesel on the way here.
SPEAKER_01: Diesel's at$4.99 and 9.10, so technically$5.
SPEAKER_01: I know we don't drive diesels, but the gas prices are rising.
SPEAKER_01: Overall consumer costs are rising.
SPEAKER_01: What's the fix?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you figure out ways to cut down on spending.
SPEAKER_01: You could do without that Netflix subscription.
SPEAKER_01: You could probably cut down on some of the eating out.
SPEAKER_01: You cut down on your budget, right?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a physical challenge that you gotta overcome.
SPEAKER_01: You just gotten injured.
SPEAKER_01: What's the fix?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a call.
SPEAKER_01: See a doctor.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's an x-ray.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's physical therapy.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta fix.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe it's an emotional hurdle that you've got to get over.
SPEAKER_01: You've been struggling with years and years of under the radar emotional issues.
SPEAKER_01: What's the fix?
SPEAKER_01: Call up a counselor, get some sessions, maybe see a doctor, get on some medication.
SPEAKER_01: My point is that we humans tend to believe that as long as we think long and hard about whatever problems in front of us, we can find a solution.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: There's only one problem with that.
SPEAKER_01: And it shows up when you start thinking about the spiritual side of life.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we humans are not just physical, emotional, intellectual beings.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we have those capacities, but I would argue that we have a spiritual side to all of us as humans that we need to tend to.
SPEAKER_01: So even if you have everything in life pretty much figured out right now, you're in top-notch mental shape.
SPEAKER_01: Emotionally, you're feeling healthy.
SPEAKER_01: Intellectually, you're doing pretty well, you're pretty sharp.
SPEAKER_01: I would argue that if you have not yet tended to the spiritual side of being human, well then you've still got a problem that needs fixing.
SPEAKER_01: And the problem I'm talking about here is the problem of spiritual blindness.
SPEAKER_01: It's a problem that shows up tangibly when you think you've got everything in life pretty much under control.
SPEAKER_01: Pretty happy with the career you've chosen.
SPEAKER_01: You like your friends.
SPEAKER_01: If you've got a family, you're building a life you are happy with with your kids.
SPEAKER_01: You are making good memories with the people you love, you're satisfied with life.
SPEAKER_01: And there's really nothing else you think you need.
SPEAKER_01: And I would say, if this is how you feel about your life right now, you actually have a glaring blind spot, a glaring blind spot in your life that you are completely missing.
SPEAKER_01: I would argue that if you still don't have a relationship with God, you are missing out on something that He created us humans to experience in this life.
SPEAKER_01: You've got a spiritual blind spot.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, if you don't have a relationship with God, you might not even realize that you need it.
SPEAKER_01: And the only problem with the spiritual blindness is that this is a problem that no human being in and of ourselves can fix.
SPEAKER_01: It's true.
SPEAKER_01: That's why on this Easter Sunday, who Jesus is, why he came to this earth, why he did what he did, matters to this conversation.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Christianity centers around the fact that Jesus Christ, 100% man, 100% God, came to this earth some 2,000 years ago to live, die, and to finally be resurrected so that he can reconcile us back to God.
SPEAKER_01: He solved a problem that none of us could fix.
SPEAKER_01: A well-known Christian from long ago named Augustine of Hippo wrote these words of God.
SPEAKER_01: I have it on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: You made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
SPEAKER_01: God made us to find our ultimate sense of hope, happiness, and joy in Him.
SPEAKER_01: He did.
SPEAKER_01: And the spiritual blind spot that I've been talking about is that it keeps us from seeing that the only solution to our heart's restlessness, the only solution, can be found in a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: We could turn to all sorts of other things in life: money, sex, business, power, but the only true solution to this restlessness in our hearts as humans is to be in a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: And so the question I have for us as we study this chapter in Luke, in the scriptures, is this if spiritual blindness is a problem that no human being can fix, well then how can anyone see Jesus for who he really is and be saved from their sins?
SPEAKER_01: That's the question I want us to wrestle with, all right?
SPEAKER_01: So Luke chapter 24.
SPEAKER_01: We're in Luke chapter 24.
SPEAKER_01: Luke is in the second part of the Bible, so it's in what's called the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: If you need a Bible, ooh, there we ran out.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're you're you're around someone who doesn't have a Bible, please share with them.
SPEAKER_01: Luke is in the second part of the Bible called the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the four biographies of Jesus written by people about him.
SPEAKER_01: Luke chapter 24 is where we're at.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to start in verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Again, the question before us is this: if spiritual blindness is a problem that no human being can fix, how can anyone see Jesus for who he really is and be saved from their sins?
SPEAKER_01: Alright, just for some context, this author of the story is a man by the name of Luke.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't a Jew.
SPEAKER_01: He was from a city called Antioch.
SPEAKER_01: He was a physician by trade.
SPEAKER_01: And what he did was he took eyewitness accounts, he researched, he compiled a series of stories explaining the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for people to read.
SPEAKER_01: So this is his attempt to give an accurate historical account of the person of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now, chapter 24, Luke recounts the events right around and after Jesus' resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: So it's a perfect story for us today.
SPEAKER_01: And he notes that on the first day of the week and that Sunday, at the break of dawn, there are these female disciples who show up at the tomb to find Jesus and to bring some spices and take care of his body.
SPEAKER_01: But for whatever reason, the stone in front of the tomb was rolled away and the body was missing.
SPEAKER_01: They go in the tomb, and lo and behold, he's gone.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, they're met by two angels who say the following words.
SPEAKER_01: Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man, that's Jesus referring to himself, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day rise.
SPEAKER_01: This is the plan all along.
SPEAKER_01: So these ladies head back to tell the disciples of Jesus what had just happened.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible tells us that they didn't believe them.
SPEAKER_01: To them, these words were like an idle tale, the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: And one of Jesus' closest disciples, named Peter, runs off towards a tomb to see the situation for himself, and lo and behold, he does in fact come across an empty tomb.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes home marveling at what happened.
SPEAKER_01: Now, that's where we pick up in verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: This is the same day, this event happens on the same day.
SPEAKER_01: The story of these two disciples.
SPEAKER_01: Look down there with me, verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: That very day, two of them, meaning two of Jesus' disciples, were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
SPEAKER_01: Now, no one really knows where the village of Emmaus was.
SPEAKER_01: One possibility I have on a map here is just about seven miles west of the ancient city of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's not not far, but it's not a short distance either.
SPEAKER_01: They're walking these seven miles or so.
SPEAKER_01: And the point is that two of Jesus' disciples were heading back from Jerusalem after a long day, and they were perplexed.
SPEAKER_01: And top of their mind was a news headline of the day.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' body is missing.
SPEAKER_01: So they're talking about it.
SPEAKER_01: They're discussing it.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
SPEAKER_01: But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
SPEAKER_01: And he said to them, What is this conversation that you're doing with each other as you walk?
SPEAKER_01: And they stood still, looking sad.
SPEAKER_01: Notice the irony here.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus himself somehow catches up with these two disciples.
SPEAKER_01: They're walking back to the village where they live after a long day, and for whatever reason, their eyes are kept from recognizing Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They're literally talking to the man that they're bewildered about.
SPEAKER_01: And it's thought that perhaps Jesus may have had a form of a resurrection body that maybe they couldn't recognize.
SPEAKER_01: Or that God simply kept them from recognizing who Jesus was for that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Someone who they would definitely have recognized any other day.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: Then one of them named Cleopas answered, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?
SPEAKER_01: This is so funny.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus answers, What things?
SPEAKER_01: You catch the humor in this story?
SPEAKER_01: Cleopus is sarcastically asking Jesus, even though he doesn't recognize him, is your hand in the sand?
SPEAKER_01: Like, where have you been?
SPEAKER_01: Cleppus, he's just being honest.
SPEAKER_01: He's bewildered by the fact that this person has no idea what just happened, and Jesus is playing along, almost acting clueless, and he says, What things?
SPEAKER_01: Now, on one hand, Jesus maybe was acting.
SPEAKER_01: But on the other hand, and I think this is more likely, he asks this question for a reason.
SPEAKER_01: He asks it to draw out what was going on in their hearts.
SPEAKER_01: And so, verse 19, they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who is a prophet mighty indeed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
SPEAKER_01: But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
SPEAKER_01: Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.
SPEAKER_01: They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back, saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
SPEAKER_01: Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said, but him they did not see.
SPEAKER_01: Now, these disciples were sad.
SPEAKER_01: And they were sad for a reason.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason is that up until this point in history, the Jewish people, the Jewish people, because of prophecies written long ago, were expecting someone to redeem them out of oppression from Roman rule.
SPEAKER_01: They were under the hands of Roman, the Roman Empire.
SPEAKER_01: And according to prophecies, they were waiting for a national hero they would call the Messiah to redeem them, to bring them back to the glory days when people like King David or his son, King Solomon, were in power.
SPEAKER_01: They were looking for someone to rescue them politically, and they were hoping for change, political change.
SPEAKER_01: So it's been pointed out that these two disciples on the road to Maeus were disappointed because they felt let down.
SPEAKER_01: Because they had put their hopes in Jesus and expected him to come start a political revolution as a Messiah and get Israel back to greatness again.
SPEAKER_01: But what happened instead?
SPEAKER_01: On a cross, embarrassed, disciples fleeing.
SPEAKER_01: It was game over.
SPEAKER_01: And all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
SPEAKER_01: And so Jesus starts with where his disciples were.
SPEAKER_01: He meets them exactly in the moment of their disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: But he doesn't leave them there.
SPEAKER_01: He uses the scriptures to help them see what they were missing all along.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like if you've ever watched a movie where you're like, I don't really know what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: I don't really know what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: And then at the very end, there's this flashback of all these points in the story, and you're like, oh, I get it.
SPEAKER_01: This dot connects to this dot, this connects to this, this character, this conversation.
SPEAKER_01: That's what that meant.
SPEAKER_01: And you finally get it.
SPEAKER_01: That's what was going on here.
SPEAKER_01: Every dot is connected and every piece fits together.
SPEAKER_01: And my point is that the Jews of the day, just like these two disciples, they couldn't fathom that the Messiah would be born the way Jesus was born in a humble major, to live and then to be killed like he was on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: They couldn't fathom that their national hero, the Messiah, would end up like this.
SPEAKER_01: It was a disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: But what Jesus does is he takes these two disciples, kind of like a flashback through a movie, through all the key points of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: And he shows them what they were missing all along.
SPEAKER_01: Now it's not exactly clear which passages Jesus brought up.
SPEAKER_01: But perhaps he started in Genesis chapter 3 and showed how, even though it seemed like Satan had the upper hand when he tempted successfully Adam and Eve in the garden, it was Jesus himself, who was the prophesied offspring of Eve, who would one day crush the serpent's head.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps he took him back to Genesis 12 and showed them how he himself was the fulfillment of God's promises to Abram, that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him because of the work on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe Jesus took them back to the stories of Israel in the wilderness, actually before the wilderness, while they were slaves to the Egyptians.
SPEAKER_01: And how on the tenth and final plague the angel of death came and killed off all the firstborn in the land.
SPEAKER_01: But how only those who had the blood of the Passover lamb smeared over their doorways were spared from death.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is a true and better Passover lamb whose blood takes away the sins of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps he took them to the writings of the prophet Isaiah to help them see that the Messiah really, truly was supposed to embrace the identity of the suffering servant.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 53, 4 through 5 says this surely he has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
SPEAKER_01: He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was a chastisement that brought us peace, and by his wounds we are healed.
SPEAKER_01: So it was written hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth.
SPEAKER_01: The Jews missed it.
SPEAKER_01: They had these prophecies written down.
SPEAKER_01: They missed it.
SPEAKER_01: How did Jesus help these two disciples, disappointed as they were, overcome their spiritual blindness and see what they could not yet see about the long-awaited Messiah?
SPEAKER_01: And I love what one writer puts it.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Jesus held a Bible study.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus held a Bible study.
SPEAKER_01: He started where these disciples were, and then he patiently walked them through scriptures, interpreting them for them.
SPEAKER_01: A better way to see Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: It involved time, talk, and togetherness.
SPEAKER_01: So if spiritual blindness is a problem that no human being can fix, how can anyone see Jesus for who he really is and be saved from their sins?
SPEAKER_01: The first answer I see is this it'll take someone patiently and clearly explaining who Jesus is from scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: That's the way Jesus did it.
SPEAKER_01: And this gives us a clear roadmap to what it takes to begin helping someone who's in spiritual blindness begin to get out of it.
SPEAKER_01: There's a story told of a man named John Fulmer.
SPEAKER_01: John Fulmer was a lawyer who became, uh, he uh worked his way up the ladder, the political ladder, and he eventually became chief counsel for a U.S.
SPEAKER_01: senator.
SPEAKER_01: And he had big ambitions, big dreams.
SPEAKER_01: He was gonna work hard.
SPEAKER_01: Eventually, he was gonna hope that his senator would help him appoint him to become a U.S.
SPEAKER_01: attorney.
SPEAKER_01: And at some point, he was he was hopeful that he'd be in position to run for Congress.
SPEAKER_01: Then one morning, he's in Washington, D.C., living and working with his family.
SPEAKER_01: One morning he's he's he's uh jogging, he's jogging through the neighborhood, and he notices a church building in his neighborhood, just to the side.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't really have any interest in God at this point.
SPEAKER_01: He's chasing after his dreams, and he but he decides for whatever reason to visit on a Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: He says out a civic duty, you know, being a good citizen, maybe make some political connections while he's at it.
SPEAKER_01: And he finds himself one day, later on, after he visits the church, sitting down at lunch with the pastor of this church.
SPEAKER_01: And as they have conversation, the pastor concludes out loud that he thinks John is a nominal Christian.
SPEAKER_01: That's someone who says they're Christian but isn't really a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: There's many of those out there.
SPEAKER_01: So this pastor invites John and challenges him to sit down with him over a period of time, over six weeks, and go through something called Christianity explained.
SPEAKER_01: It's a six-week study that explains the basics of Christianity, who Jesus is, what he's done, and it just simply presents what Christianity is all about.
SPEAKER_01: And John Fulmer says in his own words that through this study he came to a clear understanding of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And on December 17th, 1995, he was genuinely converted to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He explored the faith and he found the true Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He'd been missing all along.
SPEAKER_01: Ten years later, he and his family moved to the Middle East, where since then he's been serving as the senior pastor of the Evangelical Christian Church of Dubai.
SPEAKER_01: Where he's continued to teach many, many others from around the world the truths of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Now I bring the story up for two reasons.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here today and you're still unsure of where you stand with God, if you're curious to explore more about the Christian faith that I've been just talking about, I want to encourage you to find a trusted Christian who will give you the time and will answer your questions and we'll explore with you whatever's on your mind about who Jesus is and what Christianity is all about.
SPEAKER_01: The way these two disciples on the road to Emmaus came to see Jesus for who he really is was through a Bible study.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why I want to encourage you to start.
SPEAKER_01: Pick up the Bible and read it with someone.
SPEAKER_01: Read it with someone who knows how to explain what's in it, who can answer your questions, who can honestly address some of your doubts.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to give you an opportunity to do just that at the end of our talk today.
SPEAKER_01: Now, for those of you who are already followers of Jesus, here's what I want you to take away from this part of the story.
SPEAKER_01: Be convinced of the value and the worth of patiently processing through the truths of Christianity with someone who's unfamiliar to the Christian faith over a long period of time.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying it's the only way, but I think it should be your main way.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's in, it's in the context of a relationship.
SPEAKER_01: People are people.
SPEAKER_01: So meet them where they're at.
SPEAKER_01: Give them time.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about pressure, it's about relationship.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' method was a Bible study.
SPEAKER_01: It involved time, talk, and togetherness.
SPEAKER_01: So who are you going to invest your time in this year?
SPEAKER_01: And do you know when you get together with them what to talk about?
SPEAKER_01: On this next slide, I want to give you just some conversation starters to help you go from general conversations about the weather, about sports, about the movies, to go a little deeper and just start addressing some things about spiritual conversations.
SPEAKER_01: Just some ideas.
SPEAKER_01: Was your family religious growing up?
SPEAKER_01: Love to hear more about that.
SPEAKER_01: You're just asking for stories.
SPEAKER_01: And you can share your own too.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone's got a story.
SPEAKER_01: Whether they're religious or not, everyone's got a story.
SPEAKER_01: From childhood till now, who are some people?
SPEAKER_01: What are some things, whether it's books, whether it's a life event, that have shaped how you think about God or religion today?
SPEAKER_01: What's your opinion about Christians or Christianity and why?
SPEAKER_01: What do you think about blank?
SPEAKER_01: And I have in parentheses, God, Jesus, the Bible, the meaning of life, anything.
SPEAKER_01: Be interested in what people think.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay to have conversations with people who think differently than you.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be afraid of that.
SPEAKER_01: And then as you have these kinds of conversations with people who are far from God but close to you, look for people who are interested in engaging in those kinds of conversations.
SPEAKER_01: They might just be the kind of person who will take you up on an offer to study the scriptures with you.
SPEAKER_01: There's no pressure.
SPEAKER_01: But it's opening up the scriptures and letting them decide what they think.
SPEAKER_01: Invite them to do something like Christianity explained.
SPEAKER_01: Whether you're a Christian here today or not, please, please, please don't let what's on the news, what you've heard or read about in the past, that people have done in the name of Christianity allow you to misunderstand who Jesus is and what he's all about.
SPEAKER_01: I think you'd be surprised.
SPEAKER_01: When you hear Jesus speak for himself.
SPEAKER_01: To explore what he actually said, to explore what he was actually, how he actually lived, to explore what he was actually about.
SPEAKER_01: I think you'd be surprised.
SPEAKER_01: And you do that when you explore what's in this book.
SPEAKER_01: This book.
SPEAKER_01: Luke chapter 23.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 28.
SPEAKER_01: So they drew near to the village to which where they were going.
SPEAKER_01: He acted as if he were going farther.
SPEAKER_01: But they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.
SPEAKER_01: So he went in to stay with them.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus and these two disciples have finally reached their destination, a village called Emmaus.
SPEAKER_01: And before Jesus has a chance to move on, it's dark, the disciples invite him.
SPEAKER_01: They think he's a stranger, right?
SPEAKER_01: Now a friend, but just a stranger turned friend to spend the night with him.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 30.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
SPEAKER_01: And their eyes were opened.
SPEAKER_01: And they recognized him.
SPEAKER_01: And he vanished.
SPEAKER_01: This is amazing.
SPEAKER_01: He vanished from their sight.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus vanished from their sight.
SPEAKER_01: They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: And they arose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: They found the eleven and those who were with them, gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.
SPEAKER_01: Then they, and these are the two disciples, they told what had happened on the road, that's on the road to Maes, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
SPEAKER_01: I think one of the most prominent features of this story is that even though Jesus himself was walking and talking with these two disciples on the road to Maes, they didn't recognize him.
SPEAKER_01: They saw with their eyes, but they didn't really recognize what they saw.
SPEAKER_01: They literally thought they were talking with just another clueless stranger in town.
SPEAKER_01: But the Bible points out that Cleopus and his companion were kept from recognizing who Jesus was.
SPEAKER_01: And not because of their ignorance or incompetence, but because something from outside of them, outside of their control, was keeping their eyes from seeing who Jesus really is.
SPEAKER_01: That makes sense?
SPEAKER_01: Something from outside of them was keeping them from seeing who Jesus really is.
SPEAKER_01: And then in verse 31, when they're about to eat with Jesus, the Bible tells us that their eyes were suddenly opened.
SPEAKER_01: And they recognized him.
SPEAKER_01: And I think Jesus is teaching these disciples an object lesson here.
SPEAKER_01: Just as it says in John chapter 6, where Jesus says that no one can come to him unless the Father who send Jesus, who sent Jesus, draws them, him or her, to Jesus, so no one can truly understand the spiritual things of God and recognize Jesus for who he really is, apart from the mysterious opening of the eyes by God Himself.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says elsewhere, in John chapter 3, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, Jesus says, therefore, unless one is born again of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, the Holy Spirit plays a necessary role in the process of salvation without his work of convicting people of their sins, without his work of enabling people to see their desperate need to repent and trust Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Without his work of regenerating their hearts, the Bible calls that being born again, no one can enter the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: No one.
SPEAKER_01: Which is actually a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's a humbling thing, but a good thing.
SPEAKER_01: As much as we Christians want all our friends, all our neighbors, all our coworkers, all our family members to come to faith in Christ and actually follow Jesus with us, we have absolutely zero ability to make that happen.
SPEAKER_01: Zero.
SPEAKER_01: Because no human being has the ability to ultimately cause the kind of heart change in another person that leads him or her to genuine faith and salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why in the work of evangelism, we must never forget that we're not doing this alone.
SPEAKER_01: It is always, always, always us, our friends and family who are far from God and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, there is something outside of our non-believing friends and family members, outside, keeping them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same ancient enemy that showed up as a serpent in the Garden of Eden.
SPEAKER_01: It's the devil himself.
SPEAKER_01: And this spiritual blindness is why our non-believing friends can't see the value and the worth of following Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's why they can't ultimately agree with the Scripture's verdict that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and therefore are in need of a Savior.
SPEAKER_01: It's why when they sit down to count the costs of following Jesus, they can't and do not see the worth.
SPEAKER_01: They do not see that it's finally worth it to take up the cross and follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They can't see it.
SPEAKER_01: And so if this spiritual blindness is a problem that no human being on his or her own can fix, how can anyone see Jesus for who he really is and be saved from their sins?
SPEAKER_01: Not only is it going to take someone to patiently and clearly explain who Jesus really is from the scriptures, but it's going to take the supernatural gift of spiritual sight.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to take being given the supernatural gift of spiritual sight.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Acts, there's this one story as the early church is growing, as Christianity is spreading from the ancient city of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: There's a story about a lady named Lydia.
SPEAKER_01: And the story goes that as Paul and his companions are on a missionary journey, they end up in this ancient city of Philippi, which is in the modern country of Greece.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible tells us that these men, they head out to outside the gate to the riverside, and they find this place of prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And where in this place of prayer are these group of women gathered together.
SPEAKER_01: And Lydia was one of these women in that group.
SPEAKER_01: She's a seller of purple goods, which as has been pointed out, means she was a pretty wealthy businesswoman.
SPEAKER_01: Purple goods were a coveted luxury associated with royalty, with wealth, with high position.
SPEAKER_01: So here these men are near the river, they're talking with Lydia, and as Paul's talking with her, presuming about God and Jesus, who Jesus is, the Bible points out a wonderfully important detail about something that happens to Lydia.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible points out that as she was there by the riverside that day, the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
SPEAKER_01: Then and only then did she become a believer of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And not only that, after this, she invited these men to her home to stay.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible tells us that she was baptized, and not only that, her whole household was baptized, presumably after hearing the words of the good news of Jesus Christ as well.
SPEAKER_01: And scholars point out that that day Lydia became the first Christian convert in all of Europe.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_01: And she probably, because she had a home and was wealthy, probably had the early church meeting in her own home, the church of Philippi.
SPEAKER_01: A house church.
SPEAKER_01: What I want you to take away from that story is to see that we Christians, we Christians do have a role to help people see Jesus for who they really are.
SPEAKER_01: Like Paul sharing the gospel to Lydia that day near the riverside, God.
SPEAKER_01: God in his sovereign wisdom has decided to involve us, us, in the process of helping others see Jesus for who he really is.
SPEAKER_01: But the decisive moment when a person has a change of heart, when a person's eyes are finally opened to see Jesus for who he really is, that ultimately belongs in the hands of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible tells us that God, who at the time of creation said, let light shine out in darkness, is the same God who has the ultimate power and ability to shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you're here today, you're not a Christian, but you're curious to understand more about who this Jesus really is, I want to encourage you to begin your journey by simply asking God to open your eyes to see Jesus for who he really is.
SPEAKER_01: That's what's ultimately going to make a decisive difference in your life.
SPEAKER_01: If God is real and I believe he is, then you can ask him to make himself real to you.
SPEAKER_01: To you.
SPEAKER_01: No Christian sitting here among us can do that for you.
SPEAKER_01: No Christian can do that for you.
SPEAKER_01: But what we can do is explain to you the main message of Christianity and the meaning of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: We can explain to you how to become a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: The other day I was with my boys and we were reading before bedtime a really, it was a really good book, but there's a really good analogy, and it goes like this.
SPEAKER_01: The author starts off by asking, is it possible to get close enough to the sun to scoop out a sample to bring home in a jar?
SPEAKER_01: Is it possible?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you guys are still with me.
SPEAKER_01: Of course not.
SPEAKER_01: The sun is just way too hot to get even close enough to do that.
SPEAKER_01: You have these solar flares that would just get there and consume you the moment you get too close.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what many of us don't realize is that God's holiness shines brighter than the sun's solar flares.
SPEAKER_01: His holiness.
SPEAKER_01: Just like we have zero chance of approaching the sun and surviving, the Bible tells us that our sinfulness is what makes it impossible for us to approach a holy and righteous God because of our sins and survive.
SPEAKER_01: Which is why it was necessary for Jesus, God in the flesh, to come to this earth some 2,000 years ago to live the life that we should have lived, to die the death that we should have died.
SPEAKER_01: He died on the cross in our place so that our sins could be washed away.
SPEAKER_01: And that we could then approach a holy and righteous God.
SPEAKER_01: And the resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus on the third day, what we celebrate today, goes to show that God did accept Jesus' sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: It goes to show that Jesus does have power over sin and death.
SPEAKER_01: And what Jesus offers to anyone, to all and anyone, all and anyone who would turn away from their life of sin, turn to Him to be Lord and Savior of their lives.
SPEAKER_01: He offers, He offers not only the gift of eternal life, but the gift of being forgiven of all your sins, past, present, and future, and the gift of having your relationship with God restored.
SPEAKER_01: You can have a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came to fix a problem none of us could fix.
SPEAKER_01: Like the sun and its consuming fires, God's holiness would consume us if not for a Savior who died in our place to wash away our sins.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to learn more about these things, or you're just curious about what it means to be a Christian, maybe you have some questions you want to just talk about, you just want to have someone kind of think through things with you.
SPEAKER_01: Got a QR code on the screen for you to contact us, let us know.
SPEAKER_01: After service, there's gonna be a sign-up table on your right right there.
SPEAKER_01: Sign up and let us know, and we'll connect you with someone from our church who you can do that with.
SPEAKER_01: And just start your journey of learning who Jesus really is.
SPEAKER_01: This Easter, don't let this opportunity to understand more about who Jesus is and why he came to this earth pass you by.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, to those of you who are already followers of Jesus, let me encourage you one thing.
SPEAKER_01: Use God's word when you pray for those around you who are far from God but close to you.
SPEAKER_01: And particularly, I want to commend a passage of Scripture that I love when I pray for my own friends who are far from God.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Corinthians 4, 4 through 6.
SPEAKER_01: As you pray, you use the words of God to pray back to God, and you remind yourself in those times of prayer that the God of this world has blinded the hearts and minds of those who still can't see him.
SPEAKER_01: That's the reality.
SPEAKER_01: But as you're praying, you're also reminding yourself that God, who at the moment of creation spoke light into darkness, has the absolute authority, ability, and power to shine light into the darkness of your friends, your family members, your coworkers, your neighbors' hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That's something we can't make happen.
SPEAKER_01: We can't give spiritual sight to those who can't see spiritually.
SPEAKER_01: But may the Lord help us persevere and never grow weary of pleading with Him to do something that we can't do.
SPEAKER_01: And may the Lord help us persevere and never grow weary of seeking to be faithful witnesses to the gospel, ready and willing to do our part in patiently walking people through scriptures to help them see Jesus for who he really is.
SPEAKER_01: I want to leave you with the words of the late J.A.
SPEAKER_01: Packer, and it's a quote from him, saying this: It is God's regular way to withhold his blessings until his people start to pray.
SPEAKER_01: Until his people start to pray.
SPEAKER_01: God will make us pray before he blesses our labors in order that we may constantly learn afresh that we depend on God for everything.
SPEAKER_01: And then, when God permits us to see conversions, we shall not be tempted to ascribe them to our own gifts or skill or wisdom or persuasiveness, but to his work alone.
SPEAKER_01: And so we shall know whom we ought to thank for them.
SPEAKER_01: The knowledge, then, that God is sovereign in grace, and that we are impotent to win souls, should make us pray and keep us praying.
SPEAKER_01: Father, what a gift it is to come before your word this resurrection Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: To know that we are impotent to change anyone's hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Those we love, those we long to follow Jesus with us, we are impotent to change their hearts, but God, you can.
SPEAKER_01: God, you can.
SPEAKER_01: And we trust that you will.
SPEAKER_01: We pray for any of and those of us here who still don't see the value and worth of following Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Would you give them eyes to see, hearts to believe that Jesus came to die on the cross for their sins, to reconcile them back to God.
SPEAKER_01: May they no longer be spiritually without sight.
SPEAKER_01: We pray for the gift of spiritual sight.
SPEAKER_01: It's a supernatural gift.
SPEAKER_01: We pray for them, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We ask all this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.