WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:08.960 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:14.000 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:19.280 Amen. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:20.000 Amen. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.800 Well, let me ask you to stay standing for just a second. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:25.600 I just want to remind you that what you're just saying is the gospel. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:27.280 You say, what do you mean the gospel? 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:28.879 The gospel is a word that we use in the church. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:30.239 It means good news. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:37.600 That it's the good news of Christianity, is that God didn't come to get you all jammed up and put a lot of religious rules on you, He came to set you free. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:43.119 So if you hear anything today, this may be the first time you've been in church since last Easter, okay? 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:44.000 Relax, all right? 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.320 No one's gonna beat you up or shame you or anything. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:52.399 Some of you didn't know the words for the song, so like me when I first started coming to church, I would just move my mouth and say, banana, banana, banana, banana. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.960 I would start when you weren't supposed to start and keep singing that you're supposed to stop. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:00:58.719 And it was just like, that was embarrassing. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:00.640 Memoryself never go back. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:03.439 Here's the thing Jesus came. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.079 The first thing God said to Adam and Eve was, You're free. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:13.439 And Jesus comes, dies on the cross, lives a sinless life, dies on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, which you'll hear about this morning. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:14.000 Why? 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:15.439 So we could be free. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:18.159 So we could live in the freedom God created us to live in. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:18.560 Okay? 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:24.719 So if you're here, you're jaded, you're cynical, and you're like, I'm just here because my wife told me it's Easter, we're going to church. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:25.680 Relax. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:27.280 At least she got free coffee. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:27.920 Amen? 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:29.840 So here's what I'm gonna do. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:30.879 Just a minute, I'm gonna pray. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:38.159 I'm gonna open up the Bible and I and I'm gonna read from 1 Corinthians 15, the guy named Paul, that God used to record 13 books of the New Testament. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:38.959 He says this. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:43.599 He says, Hey, I'm passing on to you what I received as of first importance. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.680 In other words, hey, this matters. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.120 You got to think about these things. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:52.319 I'm gonna read 11 verses in the Bible, and I'm gonna say, hey, here's five things that the Bible says to us to think about. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.079 At the end of it, I'm gonna shut up. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:57.760 And everybody said, Not so loud. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:00.400 I'm gonna be quiet. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:02.959 And I'm gonna say, hey, let's just spend some time thinking about this. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:05.120 What we will not do here, we do not do this here. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.200 We're not gonna try to manipulate you into something. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:08.560 We're not gonna try to make you feel bad. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:12.080 We're not gonna dim the lights and hum kumbayah or pass out bunnies. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:18.159 No, the Bible, it engages your head and your heart. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.599 And it expresses itself through your hands and what you do. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:22.159 Okay? 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:23.919 You good with that? 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:25.919 Let me voice a prayer and we'll get going. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:27.199 Father, we we love you. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:28.800 Thank you that you set us free. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:31.599 Thank you that it was for freedom that you set us free. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:35.439 And so you're not here to get us all jammed up with a bunch of rules and everything. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.879 And so, Lord, help us to understand the life we were created to live. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.319 Help us to understand what the resurrection means and why it's important, okay? 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:47.680 It's just not a day to dress up and have a family photo op and go eat lunch with our parents and grandparents or whatever. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:49.439 All that stuff is well and good. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.439 But if we miss what's of most importance, then we miss the whole thing. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:54.719 We don't want to miss it, God. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:55.599 That's why we're here. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:56.560 So speak today. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.439 Say something that has our name on it in a language we understand. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:00.719 We ask in Jesus' name. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:03.039 And everyone said, You can have a seat. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.719 If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.520 1 Corinthians is after the gospels of the New Testament. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:14.639 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, uh, and then it has the book of Acts, and then it has 1 and 2 Corinthians. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:16.159 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:17.840 If you don't have a Bible, it's one on your row. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:19.759 I'm on page 961. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:27.039 And if you don't own a Bible personally and you like that one, you can take it with you as our gift to you, and we'll get some more, okay? 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.120 So, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:31.199 I want to talk to you today about the importance of Easter. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:32.479 And the importance of Easter. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:39.120 When I say the importance of Easter, I don't mean uh, well, I don't mean what you may think I mean. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.960 Like, for example, I made the bad mistake on Friday of going to the mall. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:45.599 I didn't really, I totally forgot it's Good Friday. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:46.719 I thought I man's Good Friday. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:50.000 By the way, kids are out of school on Good Friday. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:51.199 What in the world? 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:53.680 I thought we had, I thought we had separation of church and state. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:55.039 Why aren't these kids in school? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:01.439 So I go to the mall, there's just roving bands of teenagers everywhere, and I'm like, come here, I'm gonna take my belt off and whip you. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:02.960 Who let you out of the house wearing that? 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:04.639 My goodness, what in the world? 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.719 So I was getting worked up, and finally I said to the lady in the dealers, I said, Where are all these people? 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:10.479 And she said, It's Easter. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.800 And I said, What's the big deal about Easter? 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:14.479 And she goes, It's Easter. 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:16.879 And I said, But what's the big deal about Easter? 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:18.000 I don't know, it's Easter. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:21.040 Everyone comes shopping to get a dress or something to wear to Easter. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:21.759 It's Easter. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:23.120 I said, Where to Easter? 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.480 Where do they go to wear it to Easter? 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:26.240 And she goes, sir, you're confusing me. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:26.800 It's Easter. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:28.000 Can I help you? 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:30.959 No, no, you cannot. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:32.800 I want to tell you why it's such a big deal. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:38.319 Some of you, uh, I mean, people all over the world, they stop what they're doing and they go to church on Easter. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:44.160 But the Bible tells us, hey, there's a reason, there's something inside of us that kind of says, hey, you might want to think about this. 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:48.079 The Apostle Paul writes about it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 1. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:58.959 He says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I preach to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word that I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:11.680 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures, and then he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelfth. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:16.879 And then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom were still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.519 And then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:23.040 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:28.160 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:33.120 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:38.800 On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, but it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:42.959 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:44.560 What's the big deal about Easter? 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:46.720 Why is Easter so important in everyone's mind? 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.160 Well, the Bible gives us five things to think about from these eleven verses. 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.240 And the first thing it says to us is this right here, that the death of Jesus is real. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:56.160 The death of Jesus is real. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:01.199 Now, if you're a thinking person, when I say that, the first thought that goes off into your head like fireworks is really? 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:03.600 I shaved my legs to hear you tell me that. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:05.199 I could have told you that. 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:09.839 Now, let me say it again because I want to establish a basic baseline of understanding. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:12.959 When I say the death of Jesus is real, here's why that is a big deal. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:19.519 In most world religions today, the way you demonstrate your love and your allegiance to your God is you sacrifice yourself. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:21.360 Make sense? 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:27.439 Well, if the Bible comes along and says, hey, the way God demonstrates his love for us is that he sacrifices himself. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:36.399 Christianity is the only religion in the world where the central character, the God, the highest power, the deity of that religion sacrifices himself. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:42.399 And he doesn't tell his followers, hey, if you love me, you'll blow yourself up for me, or you'll offer your life up for me. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.120 No, he goes first and he offers himself up. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.120 Now this was a problem for people, okay? 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:50.160 In the Bible, it's a problem for people here in Fort Bend County. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:59.040 I've talked to people, and they said when they find out I'm a preacher, they say, Well, you know, preacher, no, no, no disrespect, but you know, I just can't believe in a God that he couldn't keep himself from getting killed. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:05.120 I mean, if Jesus was the Son of God, it seems like he could have overpowered those people and and they couldn't have killed him. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:09.199 And I said, If if Jesus would have saved himself, he couldn't save you. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:18.879 And the guy's like, Well, I don't know what that means, but I just, I think I said, so if you don't trust in God, if you don't believe that Jesus is God because he got himself killed, then who do you trust in? 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:21.680 And the man looked at me and said, I trust me. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.839 I said, That's gonna be sadder and sadder the older you get. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:35.680 But by the way, if you're here this morning, you're one of those people that's thinking, you know what, if he was really God and he's all powerful, seems like he could have done something and not got himself killed. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:37.360 You're not the first person to think that way. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.680 Matter of fact, the people in the Bible thought that way. 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:43.279 The Bible records this in Matthew chapter 27, starting verse 39. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:51.759 It says, And those who pass by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.319 And if you're the son of God, come down from the cross. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:00.720 And so also the chief priests with the scribes and the elders mocked him, saying, He saved others, he cannot even save himself. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:02.079 He's the king of Israel. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.120 Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:06.480 He trusts in God. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:11.199 Let God deliver him now, if he desires him, for he said, I'm the Son of God. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:15.519 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:18.560 Now, I want you to think about what we just read, okay? 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:25.439 We'll leave we'll leave that passage up there because I want you to look at that, and I want you to notice the progression of the people that insult Jesus. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.480 It starts off with, first of all, those who pass by. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.279 Those who pass by, anonymous, random strangers. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:32.559 Jesus was crucified. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:34.799 Jesus, in this passage, is on the cross. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.440 He's not dead yet, and people are making fun of him. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:39.919 How cruel and heartless do you have to be? 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.559 I mean, they're giving Jesus the business, okay? 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.200 And it was in a public place, very popular place. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:50.000 Matter of fact, the sign that they put on the cross above Jesus' head was written in three languages. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.759 That was that much of a cosmopolitan uh uh exposure. 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:56.399 And so, first of all, it's the people that just passed by. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:02.000 They derided him, wagging their heads, saying, You talked about destroying the temple and building it back in three days. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:03.600 You can't even save yourself. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:06.080 If you're the son of God, come down from the cross. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:10.320 Translation: if you're really the son of God, save yourself. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.240 And Jesus just hangs there. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:19.840 The second group of people that that kind of make fun of him, uh, the Bible says it's the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.519 We don't use those words today, but it'd be like modern-day preachers. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:26.559 So a group of preachers come by and they mocked him. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:27.519 Listen to what they said. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.519 He saved others, he cannot save himself. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:30.799 He's the king of Israel. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:33.759 Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:39.759 Translation, if you can get yourself out of this, if you can come down from the cross, then we'll believe in you. 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:46.159 But what Jesus knows, that they don't understand, is that if he comes down off the cross, they have nothing to believe in. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:49.919 Ask yourself this morning, what do you believe to be ultimate? 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:51.440 What governs your life? 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.200 What do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt? 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:57.039 This is certain and absolute, and I will never change my mind about that. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:01.200 Because here's what I'm saying to you, I'm submitting this to you to think about today. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:12.000 It's that by staying on the cross, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gives the world something that's absolutely real and truthful to be the baseline, governing reality in their life. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:18.399 The third group of people gets even worse down to the very bottom of the last sentence it says, and the robbers who were crucified with him. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:25.919 You ever had a bad day where one thing after another happens and it goes from bad to bad to worse to worse, and just kind of snowballs? 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:27.200 This is that kind of day. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:33.679 I mean, Jesus is hanging there between two robbers, between two thieves, and everyone's everyone's giving the business, and these guys turn on him. 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:38.799 It's like you go into work tomorrow and you picture a big presentation and your boss says, Hey, you know what? 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:39.840 Horrible job. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:40.960 Go do the whole thing over. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.600 I know you worked on it for four months, but that was horrible. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:49.279 Your PowerPoint was messed up, the bar, the bar graph was out of whack, the pie chart didn't make any sense. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:50.240 Go do it over. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:56.720 Then you walk down the hall, and two hours later you hear guys snickering around the water cooler, talking about you and your lousy presentation. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:01.039 You come back from lunch and your secretary's kind of like, Yeah, I heard you tanked it this morning, boss. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:01.600 Awesome. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:04.000 And you're like, can anybody else talk about me? 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:11.039 And then you go to your car and you're driving out of the parking garage, and the security guard sees you at the little booth, and he's kind of like, boom boom. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:13.759 You're just like, I'm going home. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:19.200 You go home, you open the door, your wife's kind of like, so we got to sell the house, loser? 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.360 You're really put it in the ditch today. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.120 I thought I coached you on this. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:24.559 It's that kind of day. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:27.919 But he's the son of God, it's the person who had the capacity. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:34.320 Jesus says in one of the gospels, I could have called on my father and he would have sent 12 legions of angels. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:36.159 But he didn't. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:37.360 Why? 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:39.679 Because the death of Jesus is real. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:42.320 Jesus actually is the Son of God. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:44.720 He could have saved himself, but he chose not to. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:57.279 Even when they came to arrest him in the garden before they tried him on trumped-up charges and and nailed him to the cross, when they first came to get him in the garden, it was an indication that Jesus was like, hey, I I'm not here to defend myself. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:01.360 Because they came, one of his most faithful followers, guy named Peter, pulled out a sword. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.679 You need redneck friends who carry knives, okay? 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:05.519 Takes a swing to cut a guy's head off. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:09.360 The guy ducks and he locks his ear off, just clean, smooth. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:14.000 Jesus reaches down, brushes the grass off, three-second rule, puts it back on. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:16.399 That's in the Bible. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.000 That's why you should read the Bible. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:20.960 And they're just kind of like, What just happened? 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:23.200 And Jesus spoke, and listen to this. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:28.320 He had so much authority that he just him speaking knocked men flat on their back. 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:31.440 And he's like, Hey, I'm not here, my kingdom's not of this world. 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:32.320 I'm not here to fight you. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.399 If it was of this world, my men will be fighting. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.879 Instead, I put that cat's ear back on. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:37.840 Figure that out. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:39.200 Take me to your leader. 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:42.159 And they're like, okay, let's go. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:42.799 Why? 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:46.399 Because the death of Jesus is real, it has to happen. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:47.360 He knows that. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.840 So he surrenders himself to the plan of God. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:51.600 Why is the death of Jesus real? 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.159 Because secondly, the death of Jesus is necessary. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:56.159 The death of Jesus is necessary. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:57.200 Look at the Bible. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:58.159 Verse 3. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:02.559 He says, For I delivered to you as a first importance what I also receive, that Christ died. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:03.840 That means it's real. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:04.559 But why? 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:05.840 Look at the next three words. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:07.039 For our sins. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.200 For our sins. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:15.279 See, when you factor that into the equation, then the death of Jesus isn't just death, it's payment. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:16.960 Let me say that again. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:21.279 When you factor that into the equation, because the Bible says he died for our sins. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:27.279 Now, I don't want to assume that you know what sins are, but the Bible says that we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:31.279 To sin, it's a Greek word homartia, and it means to miss the mark. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.799 It means that you're aiming at this and just a little bit outside. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:35.759 That's what sin is. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.720 You're kind of missing it. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:38.320 You're falling short of God's standard. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.519 The Bible says we've all done that, but I don't want to assume you realize that. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:42.639 So let me ask this question. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:49.279 How many in this room know, hey, at least once in my life I've done something I knew was wrong and it was a sin? 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:50.879 Can I see your hand for a second? 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:52.320 Hold it up real high. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:52.879 Yes. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:54.240 Aren't you in great company? 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:55.360 Look around. 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.279 Yes, this is awesome. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:01.759 So the Bible says here, hey, hey, because we've all sinned, that's the easy question. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:02.480 How many of you sinned? 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:03.519 Like, who hadn't? 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:05.440 Here's the really harder question. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:10.320 What can you do about that to make it right in God's eyes? 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:15.919 Now, if you want to get a great conversation going in a bar the next time you're in a bar, lob that up on the table. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:19.440 Them cats will be like, we need another round of crown over here. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:20.799 We're gonna be a while. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:27.039 Because here's a you boil it all down, you put all the responses in a pot, put it on low heat, stir it every 10 minutes. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.559 Here's what it comes out as. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.600 I do some good stuff to outweigh my bad stuff. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:33.840 The Bible calls that works. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:35.759 And here's what the Bible says about works. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:37.360 Works doesn't work. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:38.720 And here's why. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:41.279 Because you're smart people, you know this. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:42.879 Here's why works doesn't work. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:50.480 Because if you can do good stuff to outweigh your bad stuff and that gets you forgiveness and gets you into heaven, then why do you need Jesus? 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:58.960 You have figured out a way to get forgiveness and get eternal life in heaven with God, and you don't even need Jesus. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.120 But the Bible says that's impossible. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:06.879 The Bible says that for by grace we're saved through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:16.000 It also says in a book, the book in the Bible called Titus in chapter 3, he says, hey, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy has he saved us. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:17.759 Now that's good news, and here's why. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:25.519 Because despite you could do some good things, I'm not saying you can't do good things, but you can't do enough good things to discount your bad things. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:31.759 And the Bible says the reason that's good news is, hey, not because of works of righteousness, but according to God's mercy. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.639 God has more mercy than you do good deeds. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:37.039 Does that make sense? 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:41.840 God has more mercy than I have in me the capacity to do good things. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.039 The Bible, matter of fact, says of God that He's rich in mercy. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.279 And so you got to understand, okay, I've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:50.000 We don't like that. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.919 We don't like, hey, maybe ramp my hand Friday night at our Good Friday service. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.799 I began in talking about, hey, the Barabbas. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:05.600 He was the guy that they held up, and Pilate said, hey, we have a law that says we let somebody go, just kind of to remind ourselves during Passover that, hey, forgiveness is real. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.000 You want Jesus, King of the Jews, or you want Barabbas, who the Bible said was a robber. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:16.159 And because I love my church so much, I told them all on Friday night, you're all like Barabbas, you're a bunch of robbers. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:18.799 I got an email that night when I got home from a man in our church. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:20.879 He's got a daughter, she's like six or seven years old. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:25.120 He said, Neil, my daughter did not like being called a robber tonight. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:27.279 And I thought, here we go. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:28.559 Here's one of those emails. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:29.840 But it was incredible. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:37.440 The next line said, However, on the way home, unprovoked by anybody, she did admit to being a little bit of a liar. 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:42.080 Hey, that's progress, my man. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:43.360 That is progress. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:44.480 Hang on to that. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:45.840 So here's what you do. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:47.919 Here's what you gotta ask yourself, okay? 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:53.919 So if I've sinned, if I've messed up, and I can't get right with God by doing good deeds, so how do I get right? 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.080 Because sin is, here's the thing about sin. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.000 Sin didn't suddenly make you feel bad. 00:16:58.240 --> 00:16:59.919 Sin separates you from God. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:02.960 The Bible says your sins have separated you and cut you off. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:04.480 You say, I don't know what you mean. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:11.440 Some of you know what I'm talking about, because some of us sometimes we get stuck in a rut doing the wrong thing for so long, we don't even want to pray to God. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:14.799 We just kind of get in bed and kind of go, uh, let's just not. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:16.960 I'm gonna turn over now and go to sleep. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:18.400 You can read my mind. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:19.279 Here we go. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:20.079 Yeah. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:21.279 Because you feel it. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:22.240 What do you feel? 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.400 You feel the separation inside of you. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:26.319 That's not God, by the way. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:27.759 That's the mercy of God. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:35.519 That separation, that yucky feeling is God kind of going, hello, hello, excuse me, you think it's supposed to be this way? 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:40.880 And sometimes it's so bad, you're just kind of laying there and you're like, uh, and you just pull the covers up over your head. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:42.000 Sure. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:43.359 Absolutely. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:44.640 So what do you do? 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:47.680 The Bible says this in Romans chapter 5, verse 6. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:51.519 It says, For while we're still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.839 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.720 Though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:01.200 But God, He shows His love for us and that while we're still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:03.440 Do you hear that kind of sliding scale? 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:05.279 He says, hear it again. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:08.960 He says, For while we were still weak at the right time. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:09.839 Now don't miss that. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.079 I ain't got time to go into that this morning because it's Easter. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:13.440 I gotta get you out here on time. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:15.279 So you can go to grandma's and have ham. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:20.400 I find it ironic that in celebration of our Jewish Messiah, you eat ham, but that's a whole nother thing. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.559 Uh but we'll we'll press on. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:23.920 But look what the Bible says. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:24.960 He says this right here. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.160 He says, hey, for while we were still weak at the right time. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:30.400 Do you hear that? 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:40.240 The right time is not when you get it all together and you feel spiritually strong and like, now this makes sense for God to love me and for me to respond to that. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:41.599 It's never gonna make sense. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:47.279 The love of God is so big and so overwhelming and so forgiving, it's never gonna make sense. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:51.680 He says at the right time, and then he goes on and says, Christ died for the ungodly. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:57.039 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, or for a good person, one might get one one might possibly die. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:58.400 And look at the sliding scale. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.640 He says, Hey, no one's gonna die for a righteous person. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:00.960 Why? 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.079 Because they don't need it. 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:08.880 He said, but one might die for a good person, but then God lowers the bar way down here. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:15.839 Now, when I was in the seventh grade, I played football, I played basketball, the last day of basketball practice. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:17.599 My friend looked at me and said, You're gonna play track? 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:19.839 And I was like, play track. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:21.279 I'm for playing track. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:24.240 He said, You get running shoes and you get sweats. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.079 And I was like, I'm down with that. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:29.680 No one told me you don't play track, you run track. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:31.200 I didn't get that memo. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:36.400 So first day of track practice, we had our sweats and our little track king, three-striped shoes to make us run faster. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:39.680 We're running around out there like a bunch of hairless electric chihuahuas. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.640 And they had a porta pit, which is a big foam mat, and they had a high jump bar. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:52.319 We put the bar up there, it was like maybe three feet off the ground, and we're I there's probably 40 seventh graders lined up jumping over three feet. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.119 It's just like we're rolling around on the mat. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:56.480 It's like a house of pain video. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.079 Jump around, jump around, and we're get out of the way. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:00.880 It's my turn. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.680 And we're doing the Fosberry flop and the Western roll. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:05.279 We got all the styles out. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:07.440 And then Coach showed up. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:11.200 Brother snapped an artery and bled out right there on the scene. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.599 Went blowing up. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:14.960 What are you doing? 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.839 Get off that portiped! Are you kidding me? 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.640 And we were like, oh, coach, what's the big deal? 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:22.240 I mean, we're just having fun. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.599 It's just a big deal. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:26.240 It's my mom can high jump three feet. 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:31.519 And then he unscrewed this little thing, the standard, and slid it up to four feet six inches. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.200 Went on this side over here because on those things there's measurements. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:37.279 I was like, shut up. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:39.759 Put the bar up there. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.359 This changed my life. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.079 I never thought the same way about track ever again. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:47.279 And I never played track ever again either. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:53.599 He put the bar up there and he said, open in height in the seventh grade track meet is four feet six inches. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:57.680 If you sorry, rascals can't clear this height, you're not gonna do high jump. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:20:58.799 You're gonna do a running event. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:03.200 And so he made his all line up and he tooted the whistle, and one after the other, you had to run. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:04.640 And they were just clanging it down. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:05.920 He went, next, go run. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.119 I'll find you something to do. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:15.279 Well, in the seventh grade, I thought, if you get a big head start, get way back here and get down low like this and pull your sweats up, make you gonna run faster. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:17.680 I was back behind the concession stand. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:21.519