WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.319 Just let's talk about death. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.080 No one likes it. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:06.160 Never met someone who's a fan of death. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:13.039 My youngest son Eli, who's four, just became aware of the concept of death for the first time. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:14.320 And he hates it. 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:18.960 It's not serious, it's not like a it's not a pet, it's not a loved one, thank God. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:20.399 It's video games, actually. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.679 Um I feel judged right now, but I'm just gonna say it. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:25.519 My children play video games. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.320 How many of you have children who play video games? 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:29.440 Come on, raise your hand. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:30.320 Yeah. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:31.600 Some of you are lying. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.679 I'm looking, I know some of you that didn't raise your hand. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:37.280 I'm looking at you, and you're like, oh, we don't, you know, no, children play video games. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:38.320 My kids play video games. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:39.439 I'm just gonna be honest. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:40.399 He's four. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:41.840 Should he be playing video games? 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:43.119 No, of course not. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:44.079 Is it healthy? 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:45.280 Absolutely not. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:51.280 But he has older siblings who play, and I don't have the bandwidth or frankly the energy to stop him. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:52.799 I just don't. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:54.240 And it's hard for me, right? 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:00.000 Because like when I was a kid, those of you that are from my generation, 80s and 90s kids, how many 80s and 90s kids in the room? 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.320 Yeah! Yes. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:05.920 Our parents used to be able to say things to us. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.239 Like when I was a kid, we didn't have video games. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:09.680 My mom would say that to me all the time. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:10.400 She grew up on a farm. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.159 She would say, you know, when I was a kid, when I was playing too many, she would say, We didn't have video games. 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.480 And she would talk about how she had to get up and milk cows. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:18.159 And I was like, we don't have cows. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:21.280 You never, you didn't buy me a cow, you bought me a Sega Genesis. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:21.680 Okay? 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:22.879 So I'd like to play it. 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:24.159 Like that's my childhood. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:25.680 But my mom, they could say things like that. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.680 They could say, you know, when we were kids, we didn't have the internet. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.280 I can't say that as a father. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:32.640 I have very little ammunition as a dad when my kids are playing too much. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:38.719 I can't be like, you know, when I was a kid, we had video games, and I played them a lot, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:39.680 So get off. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.640 Like I can't say that, it just doesn't have the same power. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:45.280 So my four-year-old, he plays video games. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:45.920 It is what it is. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.959 And he's got this game that he plays called Boomerang Fu, and he plays as a cheeseburger with a boomerang, and he fights a watermelon with a boomerang. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:55.519 And sometimes the watermelon wins. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:59.200 And so a few weeks ago, he was experiencing this for the first time. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:02.640 And I'm in my room and I hear him scream at the top of his lungs. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.799 And parents, those of you who have kids, if you don't have kids yet, like you'll learn this. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:09.520 There's a certain scream, and you're just like, they're dead. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:10.800 Like that's what just happened. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:11.280 That's it. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:12.800 That was their life is done. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.479 And you run into the room and he's on the couch, and I'm thinking, okay, here he goes. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:18.080 And I'm like, what's wrong? 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:19.360 Eli, what's going on? 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.719 And he turns to me and he has these massive tears in his eyes. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:26.080 But not like sad tears, angry tears. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:31.039 Like he is, he's at a depth of anger that I've never seen him experience. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:36.960 And he just says to me, passionately, I keep dying and I hate it. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:38.639 That's what he says. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:39.599 You know? 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.719 And this like involves him screaming and yelling. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:43.520 He's throwing a fit. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:44.560 At first, I try to console him. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:45.520 I'm like, son, calm down. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:46.400 It's okay, it's okay. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.439 And then you know, sometimes, like if you have kids and they they get too emotional or you start to shift into now you've got to parent that. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:55.759 And so I'm like, you gotta stop. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:56.960 And he wouldn't. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:58.000 And I said, you know what, son? 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:03.360 When when I was your age, and we died in a video game, we had to start the whole game over. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:04.560 Alright? 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:07.280 So just think about that for a second. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:11.680 And uh went right over his head. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:14.719 Doesn't have the same bite as I never played one, but I oh well. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:21.039 Eli, through video games, has experienced death for the first time and he hates it. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.120 And he's right to hate it. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:25.280 Death is the worst. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:27.039 Death is awful. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:31.599 We spend so much of our time doing everything we can to distract ourselves from it. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:38.560 We don't want to talk about it, we don't want to think about it, but when when we see it, when it hits close to home, we hate it. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:39.919 And we should. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:41.680 We should. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:49.039 Easter is often framed through the lens of Jesus defeating death. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:50.800 And that's what we're gonna talk about this morning. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:52.240 It's not a big shock. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:55.599 I don't I don't on Easter Sundays go, what should I talk about this week? 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.159 I wonder, like, I'll probably talk about Jesus raising from the dead. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:03.120 Like, Easter is the story of Jesus versus death. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.280 But I think it's really important for us to understand something today. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.199 That for Jesus, this was not just some one-time happenstance. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:14.800 He he just happened to encounter death, and in that moment, he defeated it. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:17.680 Jesus hated death. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:20.480 Death made Jesus angry. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:25.279 Jesus is fundamentally opposed to death. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:31.680 In fact, we see this in a story that happens really close to the story of his own death and resurrection. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.519 Very shortly before all that, Jesus had a friend named Lazarus who died. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:36.959 And he was very sick. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:39.920 His sisters, Mary and Martha, very close friends with Jesus. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.000 They sent word to Jesus who was not far away. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.560 They said, Come quickly, Lazarus is dying. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:47.839 And Jesus gets the news, and his disciples are like, okay, I guess we're going. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:50.639 And he's like, No, let's let's just wait a little bit. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:53.920 And they were like, but you know, Jesus, I don't, he's dying. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:54.959 It's Lazarus. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.839 And Jesus tells his disciples, hey guys, calm down. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:00.800 This will not end in death. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:01.519 That's what he says. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:02.959 This will not end in death. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:04.399 And so they go, okay, fine. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.800 Jesus knows best, and then Lazarus died. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.360 And Jesus waited several days before he even went to visit the family. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:14.079 Which was not like the custom in his culture. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:16.879 If someone you love died, you dropped everything. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.680 And you went immediately, but Jesus hangs back. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:24.480 And he finally arrives, and Mary and Martha, very close friends, they believe in Jesus. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:29.040 They look at him, they're angry as you can imagine, and they say, Jesus, if you would have been here, he wouldn't have died. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:30.480 Like, why? 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:36.560 And then they start kind of doing the things that you do, maybe if you ever pray and you're mad at God and you're like, God, I know, but but I know you're good. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:38.079 You don't really mean that. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:39.600 You're really angry. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:46.079 And so Jesus gets to this point where he's finally ready to go see Lazarus. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.600 Because here's the thing spoiler alert, Lazarus is risen. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:51.759 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.040 It's like a test run for Easter. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:59.360 I don't know why, the timing, it's just what he does, and it's what he planned to do from the beginning, which is why he told his disciples, this will not end in death. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.160 But check out what happens before he raises Lazarus from the dead. 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:04.959 This is John chapter 11, verses 33 through 35. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:14.560 It says, When Jesus saw her weeping, this is Mary, and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.600 And he was deeply troubled. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:18.800 Where have you put him? 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:19.519 He asked them. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.680 And they told him, Lord, come and see. 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:23.360 And then Jesus wept. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.480 This is so strange to me. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:32.000 Because the very next thing he does is he raises Lazarus from the dead, and he was gonna do it. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:33.279 It was the plan all along. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:44.160 And I don't know about you, but if I showed up for the purpose of raising this man to life, and I knew I was gonna do it in like 30 seconds, I would not break down and cry right before I did that. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:49.439 I mean, if anything, I would be like holding back a smile, which would be very rude in the situation. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:53.680 Like everyone's crying, and I'm like, oh man, this is gonna be awesome. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.160 Like, you guys have like, why are you smiling? 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:56.800 Don't worry about it. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:58.959 Just wait, just wait, it's coming. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:06:59.279 Right? 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:00.720 I'd be like fighting that. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:02.879 But Jesus breaks down. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:05.920 And part of that might just be compassion. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:07.279 Jesus is incredibly compassionate. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:10.240 Whatever you're going through in life, he cares, he loves you, he's compassionate. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:11.759 But it's more than that. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:17.519 It says he's deeply angered by death. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:25.759 And I think back to my four-year-old screaming on the couch, hating death in a video game, throwing the expensive controller. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:32.879 Jesus with tears in his eyes, angered by death. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:41.839 We need to be reminded today that not only did Jesus face death one time and he he rose and he won, yay, hurrah. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:50.720 Jesus Christ is fundamentally opposed to death. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:59.600 One of the unique aspects of my role over the years is doing funerals. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:04.160 And it's not something I ever thought about when I when I said yes to this. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:09.120 I thought a lot about Easter Sundays, celebrations, not so much about funerals, but I've done a lot. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:13.199 And I've done a lot and with your families, many of you who are here. 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:22.560 And it's interesting, as I've done probably over 50 at this point over the years, the breadth of experiences I've had with families who are facing death. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:30.959 And what I've noticed is that it doesn't really matter if the person who has died is 20 or 85. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:40.000 There's something in every family where that same anger wells up and we say to ourselves, this isn't right. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:41.840 This shouldn't have happened. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:43.840 And you would think it'd be the opposite, right? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.799 We're several thousand years into human history, everyone's died. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:50.240 You'd think by now we'd be like, yeah, this is just this is how it goes. 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:53.279 Like we don't cry when the sun sets every single day, right? 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:54.799 Because it's like this is what happens. 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:55.919 This is just how it goes. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:57.039 You'd think we'd be like that with death. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:00.320 We would have come to terms with it, but we we aren't there with death, and you know what? 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:01.600 We shouldn't be. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.440 Because we were not created to die. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:15.440 When you read the story of God's creation, he did not create us to die, he created us for life with him, eternal life. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:21.440 And death comes into the picture as the result of us choosing death, walking away from life. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:33.759 And I think that's why, no matter if someone's a follower of Jesus, believes in God, or even someone who doesn't believe in any of that at all, and maybe that's you, maybe you're here this morning because your friends invited you, and you're like, that means they think I'm a bad person. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:35.200 They invited me to church on Easter. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.080 No, they don't. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:37.519 They're bad people too, first of all. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:38.720 Let's just get that straight. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:39.279 Okay. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.360 They invited you because they want to share the most important thing in their life with you. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:44.320 That's a good thing. 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:47.519 But it doesn't matter if you're like church person, not church person. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:55.600 I think deep down inside, all of us know, it's like encoded into us, that we should not die. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.519 That death is an enemy. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:07.679 Which is why it's so amazing to think about the fact that Jesus always treated death as an enemy. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:13.120 There's times that Jesus encounters people who are right on death's doorstep and they're dying, they're sick. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:17.120 And when Jesus is with those people, the stories that we have, he heals them. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:19.519 He interrupts death. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:28.480 There's a story of Lazarus, there's also the story of a young girl who died, and his father came to get Jesus, and while they were on the way for this girl to be healed, she actually passes away. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:30.000 She was sick before, now she's dead. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:32.720 And people come to him and say, Hey guys, it's too late, you didn't make it in time. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:37.440 And he turns to Jesus, the father, and says, You know, thanks, but it obviously no reason to come. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:38.960 And Jesus says, No, I'm coming. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:43.840 And he raises this girl to life, and he raises Lazarus to life, and when he dies, he raises to life. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:44.240 Why? 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:53.039 Because Jesus is against death, he is opposed to death because he is the opposite of death. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:55.440 Jesus is life. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:06.720 In no uncertain terms, Jesus is the Son of God, He is the author of life. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:11.519 There is nothing that was created, that was created apart from him. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:24.559 He holds all things together, and every single aspect of human history is moving toward a point where every single person will recognize that Jesus Christ is the King of kings. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:26.320 He is life itself. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:32.879 And so, of course, Jesus is opposed to death because there's nothing that could be further from who he is. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:38.399 What does that mean for us? 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:44.559 For all of us, that Jesus is opposed to death. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:51.120 What would it look like if we grabbed a hold of that idea? 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.120 How would we live life? 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:05.759 If we knew that our God was the opposite of death, and that he, before we had even breathed the breath, had defeated it. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:13.120 You know, sometimes, I'll just be honest with you, sometimes, especially like Easter Sundays, you know, there's a lot of you guys who are here and you haven't been here in a long time. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:14.639 And you're dressed really nice. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:16.080 Like you brought your best today. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:16.960 It's awesome. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.919 And so sometimes it's Easter Sunday, and I'm like, man, I better bring it. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:20.639 You know what I mean? 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:25.600 There was a family that I love, and they like, they were like, hey, we're coming, and they haven't been here in a long time. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.600 And they're involved in another church, which is awesome. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:31.120 I'm not trying to beat that church today, but am I trying to beat that church? 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:31.679 Maybe. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:33.360 Just being honest. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:34.559 I'm a competitive person. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:39.200 And so like they text me, hey, we're coming, and I'm like, oh, I better bring it, you know? 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:47.039 And like, when it's something like Easter, what you want to do very often is you want to come up with some like really catchy thing. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:52.639 Something that you could say that everyone likes and loves and goes, yay, they agree, they say woo. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:54.080 You I've talked about this if you go here. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:57.919 I like it when you say woo, but not everything in church is woo-worthy, you know? 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.720 So sometimes you want to you want to make the woos happen. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:11.039 And so you see that a lot with things like, like, for example, you see statements that sort of come from church that are like excited and they they do well on social media. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:13.120 Everyone goes yes, everyone goes woo. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:14.720 Things like love conquers all. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.799 Love conquer, like, come on, let's just pretend for a second, like, love conquers all. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:19.440 Woo. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:21.919 No, it does not. 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:23.840 You're wrong. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:25.279 I set you up. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:31.519 Like, God's love conquers all. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:35.679 That was alright. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:42.879 God's love, like his, but love in and of itself, separate from God, conquers very little. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:48.639 I mean, think about how many people you've looked at in the eyes and said, I love you, and then later on said, you know what? 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:49.759 Never mind. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:53.200 I don't. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.519 And like, we've been on the receiving end of that too, and it's really hard. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:05.120 But like, that's what happens. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:08.320 That idea, love conquers all, that comes from scripture. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:10.639 That that idea is rooted in scripture. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:18.240 The the whole platitude in the world, even apart from our faith, that love conquers all, that would not exist if not for what scripture says about love. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:20.799 But if you remove God from it, it's just not true. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:22.480 Love doesn't conquer all. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:27.279 Human love is like fickle at best and even annoying sometimes. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:28.720 I love my wife. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:29.519 I annoy her. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.919 She actually compared me once to Pepe Le Pew. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:35.440 Uh I'm a little much. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:38.399 And it's kind of true. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:41.519 Okay, so so let's take the same thing with Easter. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:45.919 Like, sometimes I'm I'm tempted at Easter to boil this down into something that's just super catchy. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.080 Like we might say, life wins. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.799 You know, it's life versus death, and life wins. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:52.960 Come on, people, life wins. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:55.759 No, it doesn't. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:58.320 It doesn't. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:00.639 Unless God's involved. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.759 Like, human life does not win. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:08.799 Prior to Jesus, death was batting a thousand. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.159 If you're not a sports person, I'm sorry, I use a sports analogy. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:13.519 Death was undefeated. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.360 Which is still kind of a sports thing. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:15.759 Whatever. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:16.159 Okay. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:17.519 Death won every time. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:18.639 Now, there's a few stories in the Bible. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:22.399 Some of you guys are like Bible people like, oh no, no, no, there's a story of this guy or this guy that didn't die. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:24.559 No, they didn't defeat death, they just avoided it. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:25.840 If you believe those stories. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:26.480 I do. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:28.320 But they just avoided it. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:35.919 But every single person before Jesus who faced death in their own strength, without Jesus being involved or God being involved in some powerful way, they all died. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.480 And even the ones that rose again died again. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.240 Like there's stories where people get like Lazarus died twice. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:54.159 There's only one person who has ever lived and died and been resurrected and then stayed alive forever, and that is Jesus Christ. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.639 That is worth the woo, right? 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:02.480 And so Easter is not the story of life versus death and life wins. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:07.200 Easter is the story of Jesus versus death and Jesus wins. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:10.559 It's Jesus. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:14.480 Let's stop with the woos for just a minute. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:15.360 I'm just teasing you guys. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:16.080 I liked it. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:18.000 No, it's Jesus wins. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.039 And what that means is really simple for us is if you have Jesus. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:35.200 Guys, if you have Jesus, if you've given your life to him, you you have a life inside of you through him and only through him. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.639 That death itself cannot stop. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:40.480 You know, it's interesting. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:46.240 In Scripture, very often it describes our lives before knowing Jesus as death. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:54.240 So for example, Ephesians chapter 2 says, Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.639 That's a slightly offensive verse. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.039 Remember when you were dead? 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:01.200 You were dead. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:02.720 Okay. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:13.440 Ephesians 2, 4 through 5 goes on to say, but God is so rich in mercy and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.519 It is only by God's grace that you've been saved. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:17.759 Now, if you're new to the whole church thing, you're like, what in the world is this? 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:20.319 There's a scripture that says the wages of sin is death. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:21.440 Sin leads to death. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.880 Sin being rebelling from God, doing things your own way, selfishness, you name it. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.720 And here's the thing: we all believe that, because we've all experienced it. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.880 When we're selfish, when we go against God, when we do things our own way, it always leads to death. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:40.720 Death of self-respect, death of trust, death of relationship, death of our dignity. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.000 Something dies. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:49.039 And this actually says that before knowing Jesus, we were just sort of like dead, and that's a weird idea. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:55.039 And that might be confusing, but actually I love the fact that we live in this day and age because we all have ways to understand this. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.359 Um, how many of you, just out of curiosity, have a phone? 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:58.319 You have a phone? 00:17:58.559 --> 00:17:58.960 All right? 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:04.559 Just y'all are dead. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:05.519 You're acting like you're dead. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:06.640 Okay, here we go. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:13.279 Woo! So if my 12-year-old were in the room right now, he would be staring at me with eyes of death because he does not have a phone. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:20.640 And he wants one very badly, and I have told him no, and like all of his friends are getting phones, and I'm like the final holdout, so he hates me. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:22.720 Um, how many any parents? 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:23.440 You're the holdout? 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:24.000 You're the one? 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:24.880 Like, yeah. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:27.119 First service, there were four of us. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:28.079 We're growing. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:29.599 We are, we're growing. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:30.160 Okay. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:31.599 So you have a phone. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:38.160 At some point in time, in the last week, at the very least, you have probably described your phone as being what? 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:39.839 Dead. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.759 You've said, Oh, my phone is dead. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:45.119 And when that happened, when you said my phone is dead, you didn't go in the backyard and bury it. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:45.759 Right? 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.599 You didn't get people together and say, let's remember the times we had with this phone. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:50.880 Like, I love this. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:53.359 This is the phone that introduced me to Wordle. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.240 I love this phone. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:55.680 And some of you know what Wordle is. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.839 If you don't look it up or don't, because it's addicting. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:59.359 But no, we don't do that, right? 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.119 What do you do when your phone is dead? 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:02.640 You charge it, right? 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:03.839 Because then it comes to life. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:13.359 You connect it to a source of power that it does not have within itself, and it comes to life, and it has the ability to be what it is meant to be. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:18.240 Apart from Jesus, disconnected from Jesus, we are dead. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.680 We are not able to function as we're meant to function. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.160 We are not able to be what we're meant to be. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:32.640 But connected to Jesus, through faith in Jesus, we now have access to something that fills us with life. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.759 And we can be the people that we're meant to be. 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:39.680 We can be the people that God created us to be, but only through Jesus. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:42.000 And by the way, it's a life. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.319 It's a life that doesn't ever die. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:48.880 It's not just a temporary charge. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:20:05.200 And Easter is the moment that we celebrate the fact that Jesus didn't just, he didn't just beat death for himself and then do a victory lap and say, like, did it, nailed it, by he gives his life to us. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:18.160 Romans chapter 8, verse 11 says, The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, and just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he'll give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living inside of you. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:28.640 If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, even if you feel down, dejected, lonely, depressed, you don't know what to do, you look at the world around you, and you're you're freaked out, those are your feelings. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:33.759 But the reality is that there is a life inside of you that nothing can stop. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:37.680 So what do you do with that? 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:39.920 I'll tell you what, you do that. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.200 You live life. 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:42.960 Like you live now. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:44.720 Now, look, you guys didn't come to the first gathering. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.400 If you had, you'd have more time left in your day. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.279 But that was your choice, and you know it's okay, you gotta live with your choices. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.960 Um, no, I actually know a lot of you were serving in the first gathering, so thank you so much. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:58.559 But seriously, there's a lot of there's a lot of the day left, and I'm not gonna talk that much longer, so there's a lot of the day left. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:04.000 That was deserved. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:06.079 Walked into that one. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:07.839 But seriously, there's a lot of the day left. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:09.039 Here's my question today. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:09.920 Let's just look at today. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.519 Are you gonna live life? 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:16.240 Because how many of us know that very few people actually live life? 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:20.559 There's a difference between living life and avoiding death. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:25.839 We we spent the last two years learning what avoiding death looks like. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:30.559 It's not good, it's not worth it. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.880 But Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we could just avoid death. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:36.480 Because we can't. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:42.079 Jesus died on the cross so that whenever we face it, we know it loses. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:50.960 And when you have that kind of faith, when you have that kind of belief that the life inside of you can never be snuffed out, that the life that Jesus has put inside of you will live no matter what. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:56.160 Jesus actually said to Mary and Martha that same day he raised Lazarus, he said, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:58.799 And if you believe in me, you will live even after you die. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:00.720 If you believe that, You know what you do? 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.039 You go out and you live life. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:04.240 You enjoy it. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.119 You savor it. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:06.240 You love it. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:07.920 You love it. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:11.359 We live in a world where people, guys, they don't live life anymore. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:12.640 They don't enjoy it. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.440 They're just trying to cling to whatever existence they have. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:16.559 They're trying to avoid death. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:26.000 That's why we have all these things in our society where people will tell you that if you never eat good food again and you work out every single day, you might be able to add what? 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:29.759 Four years, maybe, to your life? 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:31.039 No, thank you. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:33.440 Anyone like a woo for that? 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:42.640 I do have a friend, though, that just turned me on recently to a diet called the carnivore diet, and all you eat is meat. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:43.519