WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:00.959 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:01.360 Welcome. 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:02.160 Happy Easter. 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:07.040 Good to have you here, whether you're in the sanctuary or I know some people ended up in the overflow room, so thank you for being in there. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:09.279 Good news is y'all can misbehave a little bit in there. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:10.160 I'll never know. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:11.839 You can have a good time. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:22.079 What we love to say every single week is we are more broken than we originally thought, but we are more loved by God and Jesus than we could ever dare to dream. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:24.399 That's the good news we talk about every single week. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:26.879 It's the good news we'll talk about today. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.640 Three days ago on Thursday, Jesus had dinner with his disciples. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:31.679 He held up the bread. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:33.840 He said, This is my body broken for you. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:34.960 He held up the wine. 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.359 He said, This is my blood shed for you. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:41.439 He washed the disciples' feet, even the one who would betray him. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:45.600 He prays for his friends, and then he leaves and he goes to the Mount of Olives. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:47.840 He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:51.280 Here's a picture of the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.320 In the Garden of Gethsemane, he's there praying. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:56.640 Now Gethsemane is a device. 00:00:57.520 --> 00:00:59.520 It's used to crush olives. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:03.520 Here's a picture of the device that would be used to crush olives. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:06.560 So here is Jesus praying. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:11.359 The Bible says, so stressed that he sweated blood. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:12.879 And I was like, is that real? 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:16.319 And so I did a little Google, and yes, it's true. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:18.959 I think my voice set off a Siri when I said sweated. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:21.280 Did all your Siries activate? 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:23.120 It's a real thing. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.879 That's a real medical condition to sweat blood. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:32.239 And so Jesus is there and he's being crushed like an olive. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:33.920 He's being crushed. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:35.920 He was then arrested. 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:37.359 He was tried. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:38.719 He was beaten. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:40.079 He was crucified. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:44.239 Isaiah 53, 5, he was pierced for our transgressions. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.120 He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:51.040 On Friday, he was nailed to a cross like a common criminal. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:02:00.239 He who knew no sin became sin that we, you and I, might be the righteousness of God by gift to us. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:03.200 On Saturday, hope was gone. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:06.319 And then there's today. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.039 There's Easter, there's resurrection, there's new life, there's hope. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:17.680 So what might this have to do with your heart and life today and Marietta in 2025? 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:24.080 Is this just tradition, or could it possibly be more? 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:27.360 Luke 24, 10 through 12. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.319 The ladies have come back from seeing the empty tomb. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:32.800 They said, guys, you won't believe this. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:33.840 He's not there. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.800 Those words he spoke to us about rising from the dead, it actually happened. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:37.360 He's not there. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:38.560 The soldiers are gone, all that. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:39.599 It's all gone. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:41.199 Luke 24, 10. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:50.479 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and the Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with whom told these things to the apostles. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.159 But these words seemed to them an idle tale. 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:56.319 And they did not believe them. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.439 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:03.840 Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen claws by themselves. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:07.840 And he went home marveling, marveling at what happened. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:15.039 Point number one is this resurrection compels us into marvel of God, a life of marveling. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:17.199 I love that word marvel in verse 12. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:22.319 The word marvel means to have wonder or admiration. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.800 See, we marvel at that which we think is remarkable. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:32.240 Whatever you think is remarkable in your life, you will marvel at it. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:37.199 Two years ago, I went on a refuge leadership retreat in eastern Montana. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:38.400 Eastern Montana. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:40.800 There is nothing out there. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:42.879 Middle of nowhere. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:44.000 It's the end of the day. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:48.879 We had fished the Bighorn River, and a whole group of leaders is around a huge table. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:50.240 We're having dinner together. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:54.560 We're sharing our leadership struggles and opportunities, the burdens we carry as leaders. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:56.159 And then we finish the discussion. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:58.639 We go outside and we sit around a campfire. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:03:59.599 There's nothing right there. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.280 There's pure darkness everywhere except for this little fire. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:04.800 There's no lights anywhere. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:08.800 And then there is a flash of green across the sky. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:11.759 And then there was a flash of purple. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:17.439 And for 45 minutes, we get to see the northern lights. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:19.680 That's not AI. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:20.800 There's no filter. 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:22.720 That's a real picture. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:25.360 It's very similar to the laser show at Stone Mountain. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:27.040 Okay, so that's about the same thing. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.279 You don't need to go to the Northern Lights, just go to the laser show. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:31.120 It's very, very, very similar. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.519 45 minutes, these colors swirl. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.680 And all of us become speechless. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:41.759 We all stand up. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:46.800 We all move to kind of the edge of the area that we're, there's another picture of us standing. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:52.800 We just move to the edge, and all of our heads go up, and we just stand there speechless for a while. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:56.639 We marveled. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:03.759 We weren't like, oh, should we uh should we stand up now and marvel at this? 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:12.160 We didn't have a discussion, it wasn't a debate, it was just like, oh my god, like all of us, like 20 people just all stood up at the same time, no words. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:17.279 Everybody stood up and their heads go up, and we just stand on the edge of that field and look up. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:25.120 And then suddenly guys started to say something, but the only words coming out were words like, wow, amazing, beautiful. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:26.160 Oh, oh, you see that? 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:27.279 Wow, amazing. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:28.879 We marveled. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:34.399 We are filled with wonder and admiration of something that we saw that was remarkable. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:39.120 Peter looked in, Jesus was gone, that's remarkable, and he marveled. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:43.120 He is sent into wonder and admiration. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:46.639 Jesus was dead, and now he's alive. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:48.000 We marvel upon Jesus. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:51.040 We're called to a life of beholding Jesus more. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.839 What does this alive Jesus give us? 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:59.120 Listen how Peter describes it, 1 Peter 1, 3 through 5. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:04.879 According to his great mercy, so his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:09.839 So he caused us, not us causing something, he has caused us to be born again into what? 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.759 To a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to what? 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:28.160 An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power, you are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:40.399 Point number two is this we have new life, not because of our work for God, we have new life through Christ's work, the cross, and Christ's victory, the resurrection. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:44.319 Verse 3 says, according to his great mercy. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:49.920 The word mercy means kindness or goodwill toward the miserable. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.000 Anybody ever felt miserable? 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:54.160 Have you ever been miserable to somebody? 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:56.399 Just like a real pill, right? 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:05.040 Kindness toward you, the miserable one, the afflicted, with a desire to help them. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:11.839 That God's heart to you while you're miserable is to help you. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:13.920 So we marvel upon Jesus. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.000 By his mercy, he gives us this new life. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:17.040 Now, what is this new life? 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:18.319 What is this inheritance? 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:19.680 Peter talks about. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.839 Well, here's a list that we look at in our church repeatedly in the sermons that I preach. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:25.360 What is our new life in Jesus? 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:26.560 We've seen this before. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:28.639 Let's marvel upon it. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.879 In Christ, we are always forgiven and always righteous. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.199 Jesus is your righteousness. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.879 In Christ, we have secure, forever acceptance, and peace with God. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:40.560 Jesus is your peace. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:44.560 In Christ, we are never alone and have endless companionship. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:46.160 Jesus is with you. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:52.319 In Christ, we are liberated from performancism to live by the Spirit and freedom and love. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.000 Jesus is your freedom. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:59.519 In Christ, we are relieved of judgmentalism and empowered to live with love toward others. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:01.439 Jesus is your source of love. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:06.240 In Christ, we are both deemed godly while we're becoming godly. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:11.199 Jesus is your holiness and he's your empowerment toward holiness. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:17.040 And Christ, we have a heavenly home prepared for us when our days on earth are over. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:19.439 Jesus is your home. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:28.720 And Paul said that inheritance, by his great mercy, you have that. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:34.559 Two months ago, my youngest daughter and I were finishing the classic series, The Wonder Years. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:36.080 Do you remember The Wonder Years? 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.919 So it was a show in the 80s about the 60s. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:40.320 Okay? 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:42.480 Show in the 80s about the 60s. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:46.000 I grew up watching The Wonder Years, Kevin Arnold, Winnie Cooper. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:50.000 The show begins when they're in the sixth grade, travels with them year by year. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.039 And Kevin adores Winnie. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.000 And if you watch the show, you adore Winnie. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.159 We all love Winnie Cooper. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:16.320 Kevin and Winnie, they play together, they hold hands, they have their first kiss, they date other people, they become jealous, they have to work that out, they learn to be friends, and then they get into high school, ninth grade, and Winnie starts to hang out with older, driving, troublemaking boys. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:22.159 And Kevin goes to her and says, Winnie, this isn't good. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.600 He says, Winnie, you're not being yourself. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:27.120 But she won't have it. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.879 She won't hear it, and she runs off and she gets in the car. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:33.440 And they get in a car wreck. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:46.799 And Kevin goes to her house, sits in the front yard, and waits all day, all afternoon, for Winnie to come home from the hospital with her parents. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:50.159 So let's watch as her parents bring Winnie home. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:51.919 That's about three minutes long. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:55.919 Is she all right? 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:03.279 Well, it's a broken leg and some cuts, but she's gonna need some time to recover, but she'll be okay. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.200 Kevin, maybe you should go home now. 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:19.440 What? 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:22.559 Kevin. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:25.039 Winnie doesn't want to see you right now. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:28.159 But that's impossible. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:29.200 I know she wants to see me. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:30.240 Kevin. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:31.519 Please go. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.480 And I guess that's when I finally understood. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.000 I'd been part of Winnie's past. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:46.399 A past she wanted to forget. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:58.799 And now there was nothing to do but go. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.159 And I was part of her. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:09.440 And no matter what. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.519 I knew I could never let her go. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.279 We're both just kind of a mess. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.159 We're 66 episodes into the show at this point. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:18.320 We love Winnie Cooper. 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:19.919 Kevin loves Winnie. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.240 And then Winnie rejected him. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.080 Guilt and shame. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:25.679 Guilt and shame won. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.720 The story was over, but he didn't go. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.600 The story wasn't over. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:36.240 He sees her in her mask, he pursues her, he moves toward her. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.039 And what does he say, sweet little Kevin Arnold? 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:40.320 I love you. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.519 I mean, what a beautiful Easter image. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.799 We reject God, we go our own way. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:52.879 We're self-centered, we're rebellious, we're miserable, we're self-righteous. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:54.960 We say, I don't want to see you. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.480 We are guilty and ashamed. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:00.240 But the story's not over. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.080 Death does not win. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:04.720 He sees us in our mess and he loves us. 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:07.600 Listen to how Paul writes it in Romans 5, 6 through 8. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:09.440 This is the message version. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:12.480 Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.759 He didn't and doesn't wait for us to get ready. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.559 He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:26.799 And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:35.679 We can understand someone dying for a person we're dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble can inspire us to selfless sacrifice. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:44.960 But God put his love on the line for us by offering his son and sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:15:04.159 In the next chapter of Romans, in Romans 6, verse 4, Paul writes this We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.279 Paul gives a graphic image here. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:14.480 The images is that your old life of sin, your old Adam, the Bible says, is drowned. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:16.639 It's drowned. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:20.240 And what is raised is a new life. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:27.840 A new life inside of us, a new self, hindered by the sinful nature, but not controlled, not governed. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:34.639 We now have a life centered on the grace of God and a gaze upon Jesus. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.840 A couple of weeks ago I heard the term siren song. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:39.519 Have y'all heard this term siren song? 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:44.080 So it's the it's the idea that a song plays on your phone or on the radio. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.240 As soon as you hear it, you're kind of like, whoa, hold on a second. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:46.799 Hold on, hold on. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:48.799 Oh, oh, I hear it. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:49.679 Oh, yeah, hold on. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:51.279 And you kind of like, oh, I gotta turn that one up. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.759 Like it's the idea of like as soon as you hear it, you're like, whoa, gotta turn this up. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.399 Like that's the idea of a siren song. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:01.120 So I'm gonna play you two siren songs for me. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:02.879 Uh, here's the first siren song. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:04.080 See if you recognize it. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.240 As soon as you hear it, you're like, ooh, I can I can hear it. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:36.960 It's coming. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:38.240 I'm gonna turn that up. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.080 All right, here's here's one more siren song for me. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:46.720 Right? 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:48.720 Stephen Curtis Chapman, could you hear it? 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:51.200 You're like, nobody's around, I'll crank it up. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:51.840 Real good. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:52.799 Nobody's around. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:53.759 All right, we're good. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.320 So that's the idea of siren songs. 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:59.279 You hear it, you just have to turn it up. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:03.360 Because something in you comes alive when you hear it. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:05.200 Something awakens. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.960 It brings the question: what brings you life? 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.839 What song are you listening to about who you are? 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:21.680 We say in our church, we need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day because every day we forget the gospel. 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.440 Meaning, what is the song you listen to every day that you're turning up? 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:29.519 Is it a song about a tiring, performance-based life? 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:34.000 Achieve and you'll be enough, look a certain way, you'll be enough, get something and you'll be enough. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:36.480 Is it a song about life without God? 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:45.279 Or is it a song about the loving Heavenly Father who sees you, knows you, loves you, pursues you, redeems you? 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:55.599 Now, I I know you may not come back to church till Christmas Eve, so let me just have my moment with you. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:02.079 In Jesus, God loves you without condition and without limits. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:18.000 All the seeking that you and I are doing, all the proving that we're doing, we're just wearing ourselves out to be somebody, to feel okay, to feel forgiven, to feel righteous. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.839 All of that you have in Jesus. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.839 And God's grace to you. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.799 This is the new life we have in Christ. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:29.680 According to his great mercy. 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:34.319 On Friday, Christ was crucified for our sins. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:35.599 He was dead and buried. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:38.160 On the third day, he rose from the dead. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.599 Beloved, be buried in Christ in baptism. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:44.799 You are raised to walk in the newness of life. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:49.519 If you have a question about this sermon or you would like prayer for anything, I'll be down front afterwards. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:51.200 So let's pray together. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:19:07.200 Heavenly Father, we're so grateful that you do not leave us, but you move toward us in our mess, in our guilt and shame, and when we say, I don't want to see you, you just keep lovingly pursuing us. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:12.000 Forgive us for the ways that we rebel against you. 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:19.440 Forgive us for the ways that we act self-righteous and think that we're too good and we don't necessarily even need your grace anymore. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:25.759 Help us to behold you more, to marvel at you more, at the goodness of Jesus for us. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:33.599 May we as individuals, may we as families, and may we as a church behold Jesus more. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.279 In Christ's name we pray.