WEBVTT 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.519 Well, good morning, Church at the Grove. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:33.600 It is so good to be with you guys in this room. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:36.479 It's also great to be worshiping with you guys that are online. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.840 Let me share a couple of things with you this morning. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:51.920 The first thing I want to share with you is this is that as of this morning, I'm announcing that next week we will be going back to 9.15 and 11 o'clock worship services. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:01:00.640 Now, that is a good problem to have, but we want to create a little more safety, a little more space. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.799 And here's the challenge for every one of you that are here. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:09.200 And listen, if you're online, maybe next week is your week to come back with us. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:11.680 If not, you keep worshiping with us online. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:12.959 That is awesome. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:21.200 But your challenge is that you have to come to one of the two services back next week, and you've got to bring somebody with you. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.680 You've got to invite somebody to join you. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.439 I don't want to, I don't want to have two rooms that are just split evenly. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:28.879 I want us to increase. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:31.680 I want to see God to continue to reach people. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:37.120 And I and so that's the challenge is you come 9:15 or 11. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:39.840 We're going to have a little more room, a little more space. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:41.040 We want to be safe. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:45.359 We've got some medical personnel in here that will chastise me, right? 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:47.840 If we don't create a little more space. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:50.799 And so Nathan texted me uh this morning. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:57.120 I mean, that was kind of our agreement because last week was kind of full, and he said two services definitely in social circle. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:00.239 And so we're moving back to 915 and 11 plus. 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:02.879 Today we're going to be celebrating communion. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.680 So if you hopefully you got one of these when you came in. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:17.439 If you didn't, um you can slip out one of these side doors or slip your hand up if you didn't get one, and one of our ushers will make sure to get one to you. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:19.199 Good? 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:20.960 Awesome. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:29.120 Now listen, I I I love stories and I love the power of story, and I love how stories pull us in. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:38.479 Especially stories that have historical context, and sometimes it may not even be a nonfiction story. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:48.879 It may be a story that has historical setting, but I especially love stories that pull you in with strong male characters. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:03:13.039 I mean, who how many of us can identify with William Wallace being on that horse as he rides up and down the line and he yells out to the Scottish uh fighters, you can they can take our lives, but they can never take our yeah, see, some of you, you you've never seen the movie, obviously. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:16.240 Yes, it is old. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:17.520 Like me. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:22.080 Or gladiator. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:38.639 I love the story of of General Maximus fighting for something that is right, that is, that is a moral imperative that he believes in. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:04:05.360 The story of the Patriot, which is is a the writer says a collection of, it comes from a collection of individuals in the Revolutionary War, but but it's about this Benjamin Martin who is who is somewhat aligned with the British as he lives in on his farm in South Carolina, but after his son is brutally killed, he becomes a part of the American Revolution. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:06.960 I mean, we could go down the stories. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:15.680 I mean, even going back a little farther, you know, with stories like like Rocky Balboa, and where where you get where you're just drawn into it. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:24.879 You're pulled in because the story is compelling, but the story also has a strong male character. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:35.360 And let me let me just say that I believe that we need that in the world in which we live right now, more than any other time, probably in the history of our nation. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:47.279 We are in a leadership crisis in our country right now, and we need somebody to fill the gap, to fill the vacuum. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:05:03.279 Unfortunately, if you look at pictures and culture, things on TV, and let's take the example of television sitcoms, most male characters in those sitcoms are laughing stocks. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.639 There are men who have no backbone. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:12.000 There are men who won't stand up, and they're laughing stocks. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:37.680 And so, and if God forbid that there is any mention of the church of God, the church of Jesus Christ, and there are male roles in these portrayals, whether it be movies or television, the men are not portrayed in line with scripture. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:51.279 They're not portrayed with the courage and the moral integrity of the disciples who were willing to give their lives, or the other church champions that we see throughout church history. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:57.839 They're like Ned Flanders, they're spineless. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:10.079 There's no sacrifice, there's no courage, they're nerdy and they're timid and they're pushovers. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:20.480 And I believe that God is looking for maybe a generation or a group of men who would stand up. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:25.600 I'm praying for revival, and I'm praying it would begin with the hearts of men. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:37.519 Because the sad thing is when people look at men that are spineless in the church, the danger is that they would see Jesus in the same light. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:53.120 And as we've been through this series, Jesus, the unsafe Savior, we've been looking at all these different characteristics of Jesus that come right out of Scripture and how Jesus has power over the natural world. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:03.839 Jesus has power over the spiritual world, how Jesus calls us to wholehearted devotion and commitment, nothing half-hearted. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:10.720 He's not afraid to call people out like he did in Matthew 23 with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:17.680 He's not afraid to turn over the tables in the temple and to say that this is my house. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:19.600 And it should be a place of prayer. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:27.759 It should be a place where the Gentiles, the non-believers, can come and get a picture of what it means to encounter a holy God. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:33.759 And Jesus is the hero of all heroes. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.879 Jesus is the ultimate hero. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.240 And so today we're looking at the end of Jesus' life. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:45.680 We're looking at as he approaches this last full week of his life. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:08:04.160 Last week we we talked about the triumphal entry, and we looked at how he went to the temple and he turned over the tables and he called the temple the place of prayer and a place where the Gentiles could see how God's people could worship so they could understand how to get close to God. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:11.199 That was God's purpose for the nation of Israel to be a light to the nation, to be a light to all the world. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.040 Not to be exclusive. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.879 The church is not meant to be a country club. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.120 The church is not meant to be a place that is exclusive. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:30.000 We are the only organization on the planet that really exists for the people that are not yet apart. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:46.720 So Jesus turns the tables over, and then you move into Holy Week, and you see where he has the Passover meal with his disciples. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:09:15.039 And the ultimate gesture symbol of servanthood, the king of the universe, wraps a towel around his waist, and he washes the feet of his disciples, modeling for us what servanthood should be about. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:22.159 He came to serve, not to be served. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:32.960 And from that dinner, from that place, from that Passover meal, Jesus goes out to the Mount of Olives to pray in what we know as the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:37.120 And here's what he says in Luke 22, verses 42 through 44. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:39.200 Jesus is praying. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:40.080 Listen to this. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.159 And you can, I wish you could sense. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.399 Many of you have read this. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:48.320 You've even maybe seen it in the Passion of the Christ. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.240 He says, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:56.080 Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:00.559 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:09.360 And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:15.120 And so Jesus is praying, and he's praying and knowing what is about to happen. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:24.879 And in the in this mystery of his identity, he is fully God and He is fully man. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:34.080 And in his humanity, he is overcome with stress to the point that he begins to sweat drops of blood. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:48.000 The medical term, hematidrosis, it's a very rare condition, but it is known to happen when a human being is overcome with just immeasurable amounts of stress. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:11:19.039 And so to the point, and doctors don't even really know how to explain it, but but they they tie it to what is called the fight or flight response in a human being to the point where they will literally begin to sweat drops of blood when they are facing something that is drastic, something that is tragic, fear, anxiety, maybe even facing death as Jesus is about to face, torture or ongoing type of abuse. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:23.279 And so Jesus is fully God and fully man at this moment. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:34.159 And he is knowing that physical pain and what he's about to experience is awaiting him. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:41.279 The guards would come, they would arrest him, and what would come is something that none of us could imagine. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:50.000 And here's what I want you to see is that Jesus sets the example for us. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:55.440 He chooses commitment over his comfort. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:00.320 He chooses commitment over comfort. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:05.840 His willingness to submit. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:07.039 He could have fled. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.519 He could have called on a legion of angels. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:15.360 He could have spoken a word and he could have exited the scene. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.519 But he knew what he had to do. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:18.799 He knew what he came for. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:20.399 He knew what his mission was. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:22.399 He knew what he was created for. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:35.679 And the only way that creation could experience forgiveness and restoration and wholeness was for his sovereign plan to unfold and to be fulfilled. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.519 And so Jesus is arrested and taken to trial. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:50.000 John 19, if you if you're a note-taker and you can follow along in your app, or if you want to open your Bibles up, we're going to be in the Gospel of John primarily here for the rest of the sermon. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:54.879 John 19, verse 1, it says, Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:01.039 He's arrested, he goes through his trial, and then they take him and they flog him. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:06.159 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:12.399 They came up to him saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and they struck him with their hands. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:23.360 See, Pilate wanted to follow the Jewish custom, which was to release a prisoner at the demands of the Jewish people during the Passover. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:30.080 But the people demanded another person to be released besides Jesus. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:34.559 I mean, Pilate says, hey, here I've got Jesus on one side, I've got Barabbas on the other. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:36.080 And what do the people call for? 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:39.519 They said, release Barabbas, and then what do they ask for? 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.080 They said crucify Jesus. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:43.759 Crucifying him. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:54.240 There were all types of types of means and ways that people would be killed. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:55.759 Criminals would die. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:57.919 They would chop their heads off. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:03.919 There were different types of punishment, terminal punishment. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.039 But they wanted the worst. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.440 They wanted it to be the most gruesome. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:11.039 So they didn't yell, kill him. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.679 They yelled, crucify him. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.159 Verse 14, John 19. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:19.279 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.200 It was about the sixth hour. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.919 And he said to the Jews, Behold your king. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.240 And they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:41.679 And there's a whole teaching that I don't have time to get into that that fits with how the Jewish people on the Day of Atonement, once a year, they would sacrifice one goat and kill it. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:48.159 And then they would symbolically place the sins on the head of another goat and release it into the wilderness. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:52.080 And they would say, Away with the goat, away with the sin, away with him. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:56.000 And they said, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:59.279 Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:03.279 And the chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:20.879 Now that is interesting coming from the people that have had the heel of the Roman Empire on the backs of their necks for years, and would have done anything to have received a Messiah that had the ability to give them a military victory. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:27.039 And how interesting they say, we have no king but Caesar. 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:31.840 So he delivered him over to be crucified. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:37.519 Let's talk about the crucifixion for a second. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:43.679 And this is difficult. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:54.159 I'll never forget I was a student pastor when the Passion of the Christ came out. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:16:03.600 And I took a group of college students to go see that movie for the very first time in the theater. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:06.799 And my wife is sitting next to me. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:18.799 And in the midst of that movie, I I mean, I you could feel the whole row of chairs shake as people begin to weep. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:23.120 Because what they were watching was so painful. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:33.519 It was if crucifixion was invented by the Persians around 500 BC and the Romans used it and they perfected it. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:41.840 I mean, they they took it and made it an art form, and it was not outlawed until probably about the fourth century, based on what we know in history. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:47.759 And the ancient Jewish historian Josephus called crucifixion the most wretched of deaths. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:59.200 The ancient Roman philosopher Cicero asked that the decent Roman citizens not even speak of the cross because it was too disgraceful a subject for the ears of this decent people to hear. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:05.680 It created a whole new word in the language of the culture. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:11.920 And so where we get the word excruciating comes from the crucifixion. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:16.880 That word was invented to explain, and it's where we get the word excruciating. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.599 It literally means from the cross. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:36.960 And so people would hang on the cross and they would hang these criminals and they would let them hang there for hours and even days to suffer before they would die, before they would finally give in and suffocate and to ensure maximum suffering. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.200 Before they were crucified, they were sent to be scourged. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.680 And many of you understand scourging. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:18:01.839 You know that the image is having your hands tied above your head against a post, and you might either be standing or either kneeling or somewhere in between where you couldn't even rest, and wanting to pull and relieve yourself from the pressure. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:10.240 And they would take this instrument called the cat of nine tails, and it was a leather handle with leather strips tied on the end of it. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:22.000 And in those leather strips were tied pieces of bone, pieces of metal, pieces of rock, and sometimes lead at the very end. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:36.640 And they would whip the person that was tied to that post with the ultimate goal of ripping flesh from their body to the point that sometimes their human organs, their inner organs would be exposed. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:43.440 You say, Russ, why are why are this is man, we're in church. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.160 This is supposed to be a place of joy. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:54.799 But if you there is no such thing as joy, joy has no meaning. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:19:03.680 It has no significance until you know the extent of what Jesus went to. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.759 There is no measurement for what is good. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:10.480 I mean, C.S. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:14.559 Lewis said, you can't even tell a stick is crooked unless you got a straight one laying next to it. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:32.880 And so you you you their joy, fulfillment, happiness, salvation, restoration, it has no meaning unless we know the extent that God went to in sending his son to die in this manner. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:47.759 And so so, in a sense, that is the is the is the Roman uh soldier was was be beating Jesus with the cadenide tails like a chef tenderizing meat. 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:58.319 And then it says they took a crown of thorns and made it. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:08.880 Jill and I have one hanging on our wall that probably is similar with thorns that are that are a few inches long, and they they placed it on his head to mock him. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:15.119 And it says they would hit him on top of the head to drive the thorns down into his head. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:31.759 And so can you imagine the the shape of his body and then the thorns into his head and the blood that would have and the messiness and and how it would have run down into his eyes as he strained to see through his own sweat and blood. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:41.119 And then they they took him and they made him carry his own cross, probably a cross beam that he carried. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:51.359 Probably a hundred pounds, give or take, on the back of a man that's already been beaten beyond what any of us could have withstood to live. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:59.839 And they put it on his back, and and it we know the story says that it was it was even hard for him to carry, hard for him to manage. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:10.559 And and doing a little research to find out that these were very expensive things to make and to build, and so they were used multiple times over and over. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:18.559 So can you imagine what was already caked on top of that wooden beam before it's strapped to the back of our Savior? 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:29.839 And they get to the site of the crucifixion, which was a public place outside the town where everyone could see it. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:34.880 They wanted to make sure everybody could see these public executions. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:39.680 It was visible because it stood as an example. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:45.200 Here is what happens to you if you cross the Roman Empire. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:56.880 If you are a criminal, if you if you try to fight back, if you commit a crime, here's what happens to you if you live in the Roman Empire. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.359 We want everybody to see it. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:30.000 Crucifixion Victor literally died of suffocation. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:37.359 And they would push up after all that time trying to get grasped one more. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:43.680 Some of you heard this. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.440 Often they would break their legs where they couldn't push up anymore. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.400 And to fulfill one of the prophecies from the Old Testament, not one of Jesus' bones was broken. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:56.160 And so He hangs there. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:22:59.599 And people are tormenting. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:01.359 They're allowed to walk up. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:04.160 And here's I've shared this before. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:10.000 It was most of us see the pictures of the crucifixion where the cross is raised very high. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:28.880 It is quite possible that the crosses were set up where the average person could come at eye level and spit and curse right in the face of the criminal as they were hanging on the cross. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.960 How much more they would be tormented. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.319 How much more it would be humiliating. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:40.400 It was so overwhelming. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:50.000 I know this is so hard to imagine, but you gotta think about just how the body would respond. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:53.839 There'd be a point where where they would become incontinent. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:01.599 And so so imagined losing all control of your body. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:25.119 There's a beautiful exchange to take place where he gives us his perfection. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:32.000 And he takes upon himself every imperfection in our life. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:33.839 You know, we we just sing a song. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:36.960 We you know, we we there's a reason we pick songs, right? 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:38.880 We sing who who is like the Lord? 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:44.880 Nobody, God is is holy, he is so other than us, he is transcendent. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:53.519 We can't even describe him in our in our humanity what he is in the fullness of his character and all of his attributes. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:55.680 He is holy. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:01.599 And when he created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he created humanity holy like himself. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.079 But humanity was given a choice. 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:11.759 You can be fulfilled if you take and make everything out of this tree and what comes from this tree your sustenance. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:28.319 Or, or you can you can try to figure it out on your own, and you can partake of this tree that you are forbidden to partake of, and then you will be aware of what's right and wrong, and maybe you'll have a little more knowledge, but you won't be holy anymore. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:40.480 And so in his holiness, he has a plan, a sovereign plan to send his son, Jesus. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:49.359 And Jesus came and Jesus was holy, and Jesus was sinless, and Jesus became our sin. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:52.960 It's the beautiful beauty of the gospel story, right? 00:26:53.279 --> 00:27:05.119 Is that Jesus comes and lives this holy, perfect life on this earth, and he demonstrates the character of God in human flesh. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:09.039 He demonstrates that he has power over all nature. 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:12.240 He has power over the spiritual realm. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:15.279 He has power to set people free. 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:22.480 He is great and he is mighty and he has authority to teach the word of God. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:28.240 He has the power to save those that have been caught up in sin. 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:30.640 He can heal the brokenhearted. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:33.920 He can heal those that are physically sick. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:35.839 He has power. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:46.079 Jesus became the most ugly, wicked, defiled, evil, corrupt, rebellious, and hideous thing of all creation. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:54.000 And then in his suffering, in his death, he became an alcoholic. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:55.200 He became a thief. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:56.559 He became a glutton. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:58.160 He became an addict. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:05.039 He became someone who found their identity in any one of numerous sexual ways. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:06.960 He became an adulterer. 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.799 He became an idol worshiper. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:09.920 He became a whore. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:11.920 He became a pedophile. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.599 He became a self-righteous Pharisee. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.880 He became all that and everything else. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:29.440 And Paul writes it this way: for our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:32.640 Jesus is the ultimate hero. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:35.359 He is the figure in history. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:47.039 And in his death, he took the punishment that we all deserved in himself, but not just physically. 00:28:47.359 --> 00:28:55.359 He took the spiritual punishment that all humanity had been suffering, being separated from their God. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:57.759 He took all of that. 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:17.440 I've been to places on the earth where I just felt like I was overwhelmed by the poverty and the and the and the way that people had to live. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:27.359 And you think, man, this is like hell on earth. 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:38.880 The gospel story is Jesus suffered hell on earth, so we would not have to suffer hell in eternity. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.799 Now that's not the end of the story. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:49.599 John 20. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:58.880 Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:06.640 So she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb. 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:09.039 And we do not know where they have laid him. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:13.759 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:15.440 Both of them were running together. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.400 But the other disciple outran Peter. 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:23.599 You know, John's writing this about himself, which is just kind of humorous to me. 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:27.200 I would have won that race too if I was writing about myself. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:35.680 And so he outran Peter and reached the tomb first, and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't, he did not go in. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:40.559 Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloth lying there. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:48.240 And the facecloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:49.519 There's a whole story with that. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:59.039 Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.599 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:04.400 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. 00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:07.920 And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:14.880 And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:17.599 And they said to her, woman, Why are you weeping? 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.359 She said to them, They've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they've laid him. 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:26.640 Having said this, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing. 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:28.799 Yes. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:35.039 But she did not know that it was Jesus. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.119 Jesus said to her, Woman, Why are you weeping? 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:38.240 Whom are you seeking? 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:43.920 Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you've laid him, and I will take him away. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:46.079 And Jesus said to her, Mary. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:49.039 Mary. 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:54.880 Some point her eyes had to be open. 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:58.720 The Holy Spirit awakened her. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:07.200 She turned and said to him, in Aramaic, Raboni, which means teacher, Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:12.480 But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God. 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:19.599 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:22.720 Jesus was alive. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:25.039 Jesus is alive. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:30.480 Jesus defeats death to bring us life. 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:34.960 The hero of the story suffered in our place. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:37.359 The hero of the story. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:43.119 He exchanges our imperfections for his perfection. 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:52.400 The ultimate hero of the story defeats death to give us life and to give us hope and to give us joy. 00:32:52.880 --> 00:33:02.640 He suffers for us so we can have forgiveness, justification, the imputation of righteousness. 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:09.119 All of these things that we become part of God's family. 00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:18.480 The resurrection from death brings formerly dead people to life, regeneration, fullness, restoration. 00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:22.000 So it's not just the cross. 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:24.960 The cross is huge, but we can't stop at the cross. 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:27.680 If it was just the cross, we'd be a bunch of corpses, right? 00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:28.319 When we die. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:33.839 No, there is hope because of the resurrection, the miracle of all miracles. 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:48.640 And so the story doesn't end there, the story continues. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:34:02.720 And the story continues with asking for a response from those that hear the story. 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:05.839 So you look at the story of the church. 00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:19.199 From the first time that Peter steps out and preaches the gospel, and 3,000 come to Jesus Christ, to this point today, this story demands a response. 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:22.239 You can't just sit and hear this story. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:36.880 There is a question to be asked, and the question is this have you put your trust and your faith in the Jesus that died and rose again to offer you life? 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:40.880 There isn't a magical set of words for you to say. 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:45.119 Matter of fact, Jesus just said, hey, he said, repent and believe. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:59.920 Repent and believe, which means you turn and you put your whole weight, your whole life, your whole trust, your whole being into Jesus to provide you with life and meaning and joy and hope. 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:04.320 Knowing that one day he is going to set everything right. 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:09.760 He is going to restore everything back to the way that he created it in the beginning. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:18.480 And that while we're here on this earth, we are here to take as many people with us as we can. 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:23.280 And so let me ask you to bow your heads for a second. 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:39.360 Before we take communion, let me just ask if there's anyone here, maybe physically in this room, or maybe that's watching online. 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:55.840 And if I asked you if you've ever responded to the gospel, if you're not sure, or the answer is no, this is an opportunity for you to say yes to Jesus. 00:35:56.559 --> 00:36:00.400 And repent and believe and trust. 00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:03.760 Put your faith in him. 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:16.480 And if that's you, if you're in this room and you want to do, if you want to trust Jesus for the first time, I'm just going to ask you to raise your hand up. 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:18.000 Raise your hand up. 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:19.840 Say, I'll Russ, this is it. 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:20.639 This is this morning. 00:36:20.719 --> 00:36:22.719 I want to put my faith in Christ. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:25.039 I see those two back there. 00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:27.679 Thank you, Jesus. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:28.719 I see that. 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:30.239 Anybody else? 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:31.840 Two or three of you over here. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:33.760 Anyone say Russ, that's me. 00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:38.719 If you're online, you type in the chat. 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:40.480 Type in the chat. 00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:41.599 That's me. 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:43.199 I'm trusting Jesus. 00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:44.559 I need Jesus. 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:45.840 You type it in it. 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:46.480 Type there. 00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:47.519 Let us know. 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:51.440 Matter of fact, there's a number you can text. 00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:53.519 9700. 00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:56.400 Start to follow. 00:36:56.719 --> 00:36:57.599 You text that. 00:36:57.840 --> 00:36:58.880 Let us know. 00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:02.079 And so we can walk alongside you. 00:37:02.239 --> 00:37:06.800 We can help you take your next steps in your journey with Jesus. 00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:11.199 If you're in this room and you're one of the few people that raised your hand, do the same thing. 00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:18.079 Text 9700 and you put in start to follow and let us know. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:19.440 We want to help you. 00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:22.639 Some of you need to take the step to be baptized. 00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:26.480 Maybe that's your next step as a believer. 00:37:26.639 --> 00:37:32.159 Whether it's this morning or even before this morning, that you responded to the gospel of Jesus. 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:36.320 Maybe you need to step into the baptismal waters. 00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:39.199 You need to go public with your faith. 00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:50.159 The Bible doesn't really give us a prayer that's a response. 00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:51.440 It's really just us. 00:37:52.159 --> 00:38:20.800 In your own words, I receive and I believe in what Jesus went through in his physical death and because of the power of his physical resurrection, that I have hope and I can have salvation and I can be restored into a right relationship with my Heavenly Father. 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:25.119 Thank you, Jesus. 00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:31.599 So I want to ask you, look up now. 00:38:32.880 --> 00:38:37.119 We're going to partake of the Lord's Supper together. 00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:41.360 This is COVID communion. 00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:41.920 Okay? 00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:44.400 A little different. 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:52.559 Very top of your little container there, you've got to be careful to take off the little wafer. 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:02.400 The wafer represents the body of Jesus. 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:06.000 The broken body of Jesus. 00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:13.599 When he shared that last meal with his disciples, he told them to take the bread. 00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:20.239 He said, This bread represents my body that is broken for you. 00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:24.719 And he said, You take it and you eat of it. 00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:27.280 Father, would you bless this? 00:39:28.159 --> 00:39:35.039 Symbolically, we are partaking in your life, your death, your resurrection. 00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:49.360 We are remembering as you have asked us to by participating in this holy moment, this event that you asked us to continue to do until you return. 00:39:49.920 --> 00:40:03.920 And so, Father, we eat of this, remembering your broken body that was broken to take on our imperfections and to offer us perfection and relationship with you. 00:40:05.039 --> 00:40:08.800 We eat of it, remembering in Jesus' name. 00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:24.719 Take your little cup, the juice inside, and carefully take off the top of that. 00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:31.360 By the way, I should have explained this before we started at home. 00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:32.800 You don't have this. 00:40:33.119 --> 00:40:42.400 You grab a cracker or a vanilla wafer, you grab, it's not, it's not the actual substance itself that is significant. 00:40:42.480 --> 00:40:44.880 It is the act and the symbol. 00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:50.079 So if you've got a goldfish and a cup of sprite, it matters. 00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:50.719 Okay? 00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:58.480 And so you take it, and this represents the blood of Jesus that was spilled. 00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:16.880 The blood that ran down his head, the blood that came out of his body, that ran down that cross, the blood that washed away all of our sins, that provides us with joy and hope. 00:41:17.199 --> 00:41:22.559 The blood that was shed to defeat death and to give us life. 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:26.960 Father, thank you for spilling your blood for us. 00:41:27.199 --> 00:41:29.199 God, we worship you and thank you. 00:41:29.519 --> 00:41:33.679 We remember you as we partake of this and drink it. 00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:48.880 Now pray with me, Father. 00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:57.440 We come this morning now to a place really of celebration. 00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:09.679 As we think back to how dark that day was and how victory seemed so distant and so hopeless. 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:20.480 We live in a season right now where we struggle with anxiety and maybe feelings of hopelessness at times. 00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:32.159 But Father, we know and we declare that there is victory through the death and the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. 00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:45.599 And even as dark as it felt in that day, Father, you open that tomb where your son could walk out and where the world could sing together, all hell, King Jesus. 00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:49.920 And so I'm gonna ask you to stand with me right now, and we're gonna sing this song. 00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:52.239 And listen, we're we're gonna sing it. 00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:58.480 We're gonna sing it with this realization that Jesus has come. 00:42:58.719 --> 00:43:00.559 He is here this morning. 00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:02.800 And it listen, it doesn't stop here. 00:43:02.960 --> 00:43:13.679 When you walk outside these doors, you hold on to hope with one hand and you hold on to joy with the other, and you continue to sing all hell, King Jesus.