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All of you are having a great morning so far and you've been able to celebrate life that we have in Christ. I love Easter. Anybody love Easter? I I love Easter. It's uh one of my favorite days on the calendar every year. Um I just get I get excited just thinking about it. Um I've been I've been excited for a month just to stand up here today and to proclaim the fact that Jesus is alive and to remember that because he is alive, we are alive. Um yeah, absolutely. And here's the thing. I'm not just uh I have a new reason, I guess, to be excited uh about Easter this morning because um some of you may know my wife has been uh carrying a child for a long time, and uh we have been praying that God would bring this child early or bring this child late uh in terms of Easter, and uh God decided that last night was the night. And so um about five o'clock in the evening, yeah. Yes, uh, this is our our new little son Tate, and uh he is quite a stud, if I'm gonna say so myself. Um nine pounds six ounce stud. Um, so yes, and there is a lot of life in the shock house. This is number six for us, if you didn't know that. Some of you are like, whoa. Uh but uh we did not think we were gonna have six kids, but God has blessed us with six children, and uh we are just blown away by his graciousness to give us Tate and uh give us uh a son on Easter and his story forever. Uh we will remember him being born on f at 4.22 a.m. I won't forget that. Um, as my eyes are puffed up and I am uh didn't get any sleep. Uh, but yet I am excited because Christ is alive and he is the giver of every good and perfect gift, and he is the giver of life, and so we can be grateful this morning, can't we? I'm gonna ask you to do something with me this morning. Uh it's actually a tradition uh that's gone uh taken place in the church for a long, long time. And and they would say to uh the people as they worship, they would say something that went like this. They would say, He is risen, and then everyone would repeat, they would say, He is risen indeed. Okay, so I'm gonna say that, and I want us to be uh a part of the church as we think about the global church, as we think about the church through all generations from the first uh first century on. And I just want to say that to us, and I want to hear you uh with all that you've got this morning saying, He is risen indeed. So let's try this. Ready? He is risen.

unknown 2:32

He is present indeed.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Sweet. Let's try that one more time. You guys have got it ready? He is risen.

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He is present.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Awesome. He is alive, isn't he? Jesus Christ is alive, and it changes everything. And I want to talk about this morning. And so if you would pull your Bibles out this morning, we want to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which is really the best chapter I can think of in the entire Bible to speak to this uh issue of the rev the resurrection. And so I'm excited to speak God's word from it this morning. And let me just tell you that as a church, we believe in a literal resurrection. That Christ literally physically came to life. He was dead, and now he is alive. That he went into a grave after he suffered, after taking a beating. Some of you came on Friday and celebrated Good Friday with us here as we reflected on Jesus' humanity as he walked the earth, he took on human flesh, he dealt with our suffering, our pain, our sorrow, and then he died on a cross, but thankfully he did not stay dead. Okay? We believe in a literal physical resurrection as a church. And for some of you in this room, you're thinking, maybe that's crazy. Why would you believe in that? How can you possibly believe in that? And I want to talk about that today because I want you to know we don't just believe it because the Bible tells us that there was a resurrection. Although that's a great reason because I believe the Bible is trustworthy. Some of you may not buy that the Bible is trustworthy this morning. And let me tell you that there are reasons that we believe the resurrection is a literal event that took place in history that changed everything for a number of reasons. And I want to speak to those things this morning. But if you've got your Bible open to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I want us to look specifically at three verses this morning. We're gonna jump around in 1 Corinthians 15, but I want to read these three verses to you. Verse 12 says this. Now, if Jesus is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith. Now those are strong words from the Apostle Paul, and he was writing to a group of people in Corinth who were struggling to buy into the resurrection. Now, they thought they were uh so intellectual and they were just too sophisticated to buy into this reality that Jesus Christ came out of the grave. Now they were okay with Jesus' teachings, they were okay with Jesus' instruction. They they liked Jesus, they they even had bought into the gospel, and what they understood is he died for them. But the resurrection was something they were struggling to believe. And the truth of the matter is that some of you today are struggling to believe in the resurrection. Some of your neighbors, some of your friends, some of your coworkers, the reason that they aren't here this morning, or maybe they're not part of a church, or maybe they've not a part of a Christian faith in any kind, is because they really can't buy the fact that there was a literal resurrection. And the truth of the matter is, is if there was not a literal resurrection, they shouldn't buy it. They shouldn't. They shouldn't believe the message that we preach if there wasn't a literal resurrection. And so this morning, the first point that I want to make to you is this simple point. The resurrection, some realities for us. It happened. It happened. We can believe that the resurrection literally happened. Now I could tell you things like when you look at the first century, uh, it's unbelievable the evidence that we see historically. In fact, you would have to be a historical snob to not buy into all of the historical evidence that is there that tells us that Jesus was a man who actually walked the earth and that he actually did do what he said he was going to do. But in the text, in the first part of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, it says this about uh the resurrection. It says in verse uh 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to five hundred brothers at one time. Most of them are still alive. Catch that? Most of them are still alive. At the time of the writing of this, most of them are still alive. But some have fallen asleep, meaning that they have died. But the understanding of that point was that when you died, you just fell asleep until it was time to be with God. Until the resurrection. And then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one abnormally born, this is Paul speaking about himself, he also appeared to me. What does that text tell us this morning? It tells us this that a resurrected Jesus showed himself to many people. He revealed himself to many people. When he came out of the grave, it wasn't a secret. It wasn't like he kind of hid himself over in a corner. No, over 40 days, daily, he would reveal himself to people in and around Jerusalem. He met his disciples again. It talks about the disciples, the twelve. He met Cephas, which he's talking about, Peter there. Okay, the one who's going to proclaim in the book of Acts, the first sermon, that we're going to see thousands of people put their trust in Jesus. He appeared to them, literally appeared to them. He showed up on the scene. You know, the reason that we can buy into the resurrection is, like I said, not just because the Bible tells us that there's a resurrection, but because a first century tax collector named Matthew records all that God had showed him, and specifically he had seen a resurrected Jesus. Right? And that we see that he's not the only one, but Peter saw a resurrected Jesus and he writes down what he saw, what he experienced, and we can believe in that. And that even Paul, who wasn't one of the original twelve, in fact, he was an enemy of Jesus. He was one of his arch enemies, and he was killing Christians, and yet he had such a divine encounter on the road to Damascus. Some of you may be familiar with that story, some of you may not. He was literally going to try to persecute more Christians and throw them in jail and to cause them to suffer because he hated what Christ stood for. And yet God met him. Jesus actually called down to him and said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And because of that life transformation that happened when he encountered a living, resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became one of the most powerful missionaries to ever walk the planet, wrote half of the New Testament that we read today. Isn't that amazing? These men were transformed because they saw a resurrected Jesus. Don't you think it would change everything if you saw a resurrected Jesus? You know, maybe one of the ones that's most profound to me is actually James. Now you may not know this, but James is actually Jesus' brother. Now, I've heard it said this way, and maybe this is uh funny to you, but how much would you have to pay your brother or sister to believe that you were God? Think about that for a minute. And yet James is one of the first pastors in the early church who writes the book of James. If you go and read the New Testament, it's a little short book that's just packed with great practical wisdom for our lives. And he grew up with Jesus. Now I'm sure growing up with Jesus was a little bit hard for him, right? It's like, well, Jesus did this and Jesus did that. Why can't you do that, right? And yet he actually worships his brother because you know why? He knew that he was God and that he was a resurrected savior. We see that he appeared to all these people. And when the protest would come and when people could step up and say, Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait. He didn't appear to anybody. Guess what? There were over 500 witnesses that could step up and say, I saw him, I saw him, I saw him. In fact, I was reminded Rick Warren this week had talked a little bit about that, and that as over those 40 days Jesus revealed himself to different people, when the early church was founded, a lot of people came to faith at once. You know why? Because many people had seen Jesus resurrected, they had seen him, and so their hearts were ripe to hear the gospel. And the Spirit of God came on them and they believed and they put their trust in a risen Savior. You don't put your trust in a lying lunatic, but you put your trust in someone who said they were going to do something and they do it. Like come out of a grave. It's amazing. It's an awesome thought this morning. I could speak to other things like the circumstantial evidence and how that, you know, Jesus' tomb was never enshrined. You go to all the other religious leaders that have walked the face of the earth and you can find their tombs, and you can go to them, and you can see they have all these flowers out there, and people will walk and they will bow down and they will meditate there and they will pray to these leaders and they will just worship these leaders. But you know what? You can't find Jesus' tomb. You know why? Because he wasn't in it. It wasn't that important. It was just an empty grave. It was just an empty cave that Joseph had offered him, but he didn't need it very long. He was just there like it was a hotel, right? He's just moving in and moving out, moving on. Because he was a resurrected savior. And the truth of the matter is, today we can have hope in that because of Christ coming out of the grave, and he did come out of the grave. Or maybe even the fact that the Jewish people, even though they tried so hard to debunk this thing, like to basically say, like, there is no way this happened. There is no way that Jesus came out of the grave. And so they did everything they could. They tried to pay off the soldiers that were there at the stone when it had been rolled away, and the angel appeared and they all fell over like dead men. I was reading that with my kids this week and kind of had them act that out, right? But literally they they were there and he tried to pay them off. The Jewish leaders did. But what's interesting is when you look at the Jewish writings, they never argue the fact that there was an empty tomb. Never. You know why? Because it was empty and Jesus came out of the grave. It happened, and you can put your hope and your trust in that today. I could go on and I could go on and on. There's so many evidences, and if you ever want to sit down and get bored to tears, I'll just sit and just share, you know, like uh one after another, because I'm so intrigued by the reality that we have so much evidence that points to a resurrected Jesus. But the second thing is this not only did it happen, but it is the centerpiece of our message. The resurrection is a centerpiece of our message. 1 Corinthians 15, early, I just read a portion of this a while ago, but go back to verse 3 in chapter 15, if you're if your hand's still there. It says this for I passed on to you as most important what I also received. That Christ died for our sins, according to the scripture, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures. Listen, listen, people. If Christ is dead, Christianity is dead. Right? If Christ is dead, Christianity is dead. If he didn't come out of the grave, then what we're doing here is pointless. Paul even says that. He says, you know, if Christ wasn't resurrected, your faith is futile. That's a fun thought. But here's the deal. We know that Christ was raised, and it is the centerpiece of our message. The resurrection is not a peripheral issue, it's not like a side issue, it is a foundational issue. In fact, there's many people that I've met in South Austin since our time of living down here for a couple years or the last couple years, and they want to argue the Bible a lot. They want to talk about why we shouldn't buy into the Bible and why we shouldn't believe this or why we shouldn't believe that. And I get all that because, I mean, honestly, we live in a culture that's skeptical, and and and we the only people that we're not skeptical of is ourselves. Um, and and so we we tend to be very skeptical and cynical and all those things. But listen, here's the thing: like, the one issue that I push people to, if you have never investigated for yourself, is to investigate the resurrection. To take some time and really consider, did this happen? Because if the resurrection happened, everything else is possible, isn't it? A virgin birth? A God who can speak the world into existence? Everything is plausible, everything is possible when you understand that resurrection actually happened. It is a centerpiece of our message. What is the message of the Bible? Because here's the other thing. I find so many people who think that the Bible is a message that is really just about morality and rules, a way to get to be a better person, to be a good person and live a good life. But I hope you understand that that's not what the Bible is. The Bible's not just a better way to live a better life. No, the message of the Bible is that God made a world that was perfect. And he gave mankind a job to manage that world and to relate to him. But mankind decided we were smarter than God. Now, nobody in here ever feels that way, right? Nobody ever here thinks about that you're smarter than God. But but but Adam and Eve in the garden, they thought they were smarter than God, and they were deceived by our greatest enemy, and they bought into this lie that they needed something other than God. And as a result of that, they rebelled. And in their rebellion, it cost them the closeness that they had with God. In fact, it brought spiritual death to them. It brought spiritual death because they were now separated from the God that they were made for, the God that they were meant to worship and be with. But praise God. He put a plan into motion to redeem mankind, to fix what we broke, to fix what we cannot fix. Right? He put a plan into motion. His plan, which was not my plan, it wouldn't be my plan. I can't fathom this plan, was that he would send his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. But he wasn't just gonna die. He was gonna overcome sin, live a perfect life, and it was gonna overcome the grave by conquering death, our greatest enemy. And here's the thing when we think about that peace, when we think about the resurrection of Jesus, if he just died, that would be great and all. But the truth of the matter is that it would not seal the deal. It would not complete the story because that's not what he said he was going to do. It doesn't stop with his death. In fact, if you look around the world, how many of us wear crosses? Wear cross jewelry, uh, maybe even have a cross tattoo. Maybe crosses on your wall in your house. Maybe you wear shirts with crosses on them. I've even seen cowboys wearing cross rhinestones on their rear. I mean, I guess you just wear them everywhere. Crosses are just everywhere, right? Now here's the thing. Maybe, just maybe, I'm not devaluing the cross. The cross is infinitely important in so many ways because of what Christ did. But here's the thing: maybe we should wear some stones around our neck. Maybe we should wear like a big, you know, rock around our neck. To remember that it didn't stop at the cross. It wasn't just that he died, it's that he overcame sin and death. And that's huge. Rather than an instrument of death around our neck, maybe we should we should wear a stone to remember that that that grave was empty. That that cave that was cut out of the rock that Jesus was laid in and he was wrapped up and he had those spices on it, he that it is empty today. And we celebrate that, don't we? We celebrate that. Yeah. Absolutely. And so to this morning, you remember that the centerpiece of our message is the resurrection. And Paul said that it was that the gospel was most important and that the resurrection was a key piece as it completed the work that Jesus started when he came to this earth 2,000 years ago and walked among us. But not only is it the centerpiece of our message, it's the source of our lasting hope. It's the source of our lasting hope. It's interesting to me. I talk to a lot of people, and um, if you live in a house like mine, one of the things that you long for is peace and quiet. Right? Sometimes it just doesn't happen. But it's can it's consistently one of the things that I get asked to pray for the most for people. In fact, even Friday night, as we sat here and we participated in communion and and we had families that came around and we asked, what do you what do you want us to pray for? You know what the number one thing people ask for? Peace. Peace. Maybe, just maybe, as I look at a room this size with a group of people in here, that you are on a quest for peace. Because the truth is, is none of us live with peace all the time. Even if things are going well right now, and I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, the day's coming, isn't it? Hard times are coming. We live with hopelessness. We we live in moments of fear and pain and anxiety and worry. Some of you walked in this morning and your job is driving you crazy. Some of you walked in this morning and your marriage is driving you crazy. And there goes some elbows. Some of you walked in this morning and your kids are driving you crazy. Some of you kids walked in this morning and your parents are driving you crazy. You know, here's the deal. All of us in this room have hurts and we have fears and we have doubts and we have worries and we have concerns and we have issues. Let's just say it. We have issues. But here's the thing we can have hope and peace even in those issues, even in those struggles. You know why? Because our deepest, most terrible enemy, death, has been defeated. Has been defeated. Done. We know. And when you read the Bible and when you look at the scripture, we know what the end of the story says, and we can have lasting hope today. We can have lasting hope. You know, Paul says in verse 19 of this passage, he says this he says, if we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more. Than anyone. Our hope isn't just in the here and now, is it? Because the scripture says that this life is like a vapor. It's here and it's gone. But thankfully, there's a life that's going to last forever, and we can have that in Christ. And it's not just a life filled with more pain and suffering. It's a life where all the pain and suffering that we see now will be gone. Taken away. In fact, I won't go there right now, but Revelation 21, just go home and read that today and be encouraged as you think about no more pain, no more suffering, no more crying, no more struggles, no more issues. Praise God for that. And it gives me hope, not in the possibilities, but in the promises. Because when Jesus said he would come out of the grave and he came out of the grave, that means whatever he has told you in his word that he will do, he will do. He will do it. You can trust that. You can take it to the bank again and again and again because he is not a liar. Our God is not a liar. He's done what he said he would do, and he will do what he has said he will do. And you can trust in that today. And that gives you hope, doesn't it? Gives you hope. Hope to face whatever the issue is because it gives you perspective. And that hope brings peace. Peace that passes all understanding. And some of you need that today. Some of you desperately need that peace. Just to get up tomorrow and go back and face that job. Just to get up in the morning and go back and face that coworker. Just to get up tomorrow and to still try to be a husband or the wife that you know God's called you to be, or to deal with the problems and issues in your home. You need peace. And Christ can offer that. And he can give you strength and he can give you power to overcome. If we only have hope for today, but not for eternity, we will never really have hope today. But we can have hope today. So three responses to this. Three responses. First is this to the resurrection this morning. Hear me, I'm not being facetious here. I'm not being sarcastic here. I'm not being mean. I'm just telling you straight up. The first thing is that you and I in this room, we have the choice to dismiss the resurrection. Okay? We have the choice to dismiss it. To just say, I don't believe it. I don't buy it. I can't go there. Can't do it. And I want you to understand that God does not force himself on us. Right? God does not force himself on us. Don't hear me this morning, don't hear me standing up here this morning saying, you better believe this. You have to believe this. I mean, I don't I want to compel you. I believe I believe in what the scripture says. I know what God has told me, but I want you to understand, you have the option this morning to say no to the resurrection to Jesus. You have that option. But here's what I ask you to do is that if you choose that option, that you would no longer play this game where you pick and choose what you like from the Bible. Can I just be honest with you? Like, don't say that you love God or you love Jesus, but you can't believe the resurrection. Don't say that Jesus was a good teacher because he wasn't, because he said he was going to come out of the grave and then he did it. He's a liar, he's bogus, so just you need to dismiss it. But dismiss all of it. Don't just take bits and pieces that you like. Church is pointless unless he came out of the grave. Right? The worship songs we sing, you might like the sound of them, you might like the song, you might like the lyric, whatever, but it's pointless unless Christ came out of the grave. And so this morning, some of you, maybe that's where you're at. And Paul even said this. He said, listen, if Christ didn't come out of the grave, then we're the worst kind of liars. Here's what he's saying? He's telling them in his day, he's saying, Listen, if Christ wasn't resurrected, then I'm a liar and you shouldn't listen to me. And I say that this morning to you. Listen, if Christ didn't come out of the grave, I am a liar, and you need to run. You need to go ahead and have lunch early today and celebrate Easter with your family and go chase some eggs, okay? Find some eggs, something like that. I don't know how you chase them, but anyway. But seriously, I just just be honest here. You you don't take hope in heaven or a God that's loving, or any of the things that you get from the Bible, maybe things that you don't even realize that you get from the Bible, don't take those to be truth for you if you aren't going to buy into the centerpiece of our faith, the resurrection. Because it doesn't work that way. You can't do it. You can't say, I don't like the resurrection, when all the New Testament, the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all declare that there is a resurrection. You hear what I'm saying this morning? But you have that choice. You have that choice to dismiss it. And I mean that sincerely. You do. And people choose every day to not follow Christ, to not put their hope in Christ. In fact, I was thinking about this week that I see stories in Scripture where even with his disciples, Jesus said, Come and follow me. And then he kept moving. Or the story of the rich young ruler, where he meets this young man who has a lot of wealth, and the young man says, You know, what must I do to enhance eternal life? And he says, Go and sell all you have. And it says the rich young man, you know, he walks away sad because he had a lot. Notice what Jesus doesn't do. He didn't chase him down and say, Hey, let's negotiate that. Just go sell half of it. Maybe, maybe, okay, maybe I was going to be a little strong there. Okay, maybe we should like lower the bar a little bit. See, Jesus knew his heart. He knows our hearts. There's nothing hidden from him. And so this morning, he offers us truth. He offers us life. But he's also not going to force that upon us. And the truth of the matter is, is that if Christ didn't come out of the grave, we should all just go hit the golf course, head to the lake, go find a good hobby for Sunday afternoons or Sunday mornings, sleep in, and then go to your hobby. Because this thing is worthless. It's pointless. But I don't believe it is. Personally, I don't believe it is. You see, my hope this morning is that every one of us in this room would believe in the resurrection. We would believe in the resurrection. Whether you've never believed the message before, or simply you've grown so familiar with it that you've lost sight of its reality. My prayer this morning is that you would believe again in the resurrection. You would believe again in a savior that came out of the grave. The question that people are wrestling with so much of the time is, you know, well, what about what about that pastor I had that, you know, he's he got up and proclaimed this truth about Jesus, but then he just, he really messed up. He failed morally. He did these horrible things. I can't buy this. Or what about that boss that I have who says he's a Christian, but he's a total jerk? Like, what do I do with that? Or what about what about this issue of I prayed for God to do something and then he didn't do it? I can't believe in a God like that. Listen, here's the question. What I want you to believe in is not what's happened in your circumstances, but did Jesus come out of the grave? Do you believe that this morning? Have you put your trust in that? Jesus even asked his disciples the simple question, not long before he suffered and died and left the earth. He said this, who do people say that I am? And the same question can be asked us today. Who do you say that I am? Who do you say that Jesus is? Who is he to you? You see, Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, the list goes on. I can tell you, none of them as religious leaders claim to be God. But Jesus did. He claimed to be God. And that's something you have to make a decision on. You got to decide, is he God or is he not? Is he Lord? Is he not? You can you can say no, but you have to make a decision. And here's the thing this morning, I want to remind you really quickly who it is I'm asking you to believe in, who I'm hoping that you will put your trust and belief in today on this Easter Sunday, 2014. You see, because Jesus is the creator of all things. Jesus is the beginning and the end. Jesus is the Son of Man. Jesus is the God man. Jesus is the suffering servant. Jesus is the man of sorrows. He is the good shepherd. He is the prince of peace. He is the wonderful counselor. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the sinless Savior. He is the resurrection and the life, as he says in John. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the sinner's friend. Jesus is the great high priest. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of Lords. And he is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one has any way to God except through him. And so that's who I'm asking you to put your trust in this morning. That's who I'm asking you to believe in this morning. That's who God is asking you to consider believing in today. Romans 10, 9 says it this way: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that what? God raised him from the dead. Isn't that interesting? Confess with your mouth that Jesus is King. He's in charge. We're not. That right there is hard. He is Lord. Not just of our life, but the whole universe. He is Lord. But that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. You'll be saved. You'll be saved. What an awesome thought that he offers that to every person who would receive it. God is not exclusive. He says anyone who believes this can have a free gift of eternal life. A free gift of eternal life. I'm going to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes this morning. Here's my question to you. Do you believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? Do you believe that? If you have never had a moment in your life, a time that you can remember, where you said, Jesus, I believe that you're Lord. I believe that you came out of the grave. That you are the resurrected Savior. If you have never done that before, then my invitation to you today is to do that. My invitation is to repeat after me as I just pray this simple prayer. God in heaven, I know that I have sinned. And this morning, I ask you to save me from my sin. To forgive me from my sin. I believe that you, Jesus, are the Lord of heaven and earth. And I believe, Jesus, that you came out of the grave. I put my hope and my trust in you this morning. I pray that in the strong, powerful name of Jesus. Amen. While you guys are still with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, if you prayed to put your trust in Jesus for the first time this morning, if you put your trust in Jesus Christ for the first time to save you and you believe He is who He says he is, who the Bible says he is, I'm just gonna ask you really quickly just to lift up your hand and then put it down. Just to lift up your hand and say, I've prayed that prayer this morning for the first time. Okay, thank you. Thank you. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you have put your trust in Christ and you're here to celebrate Easter because you believe that Jesus came out of the grave, there's a final piece that I didn't finish on your notes a while ago. And it's this piece right here. If we believe that Jesus came out of the grave, let's tell everybody. Let's tell everyone. Let's tell our neighbors, let's tell our friends, let's tell our coworkers. And you're thinking to yourself, I'm afraid. Listen, welcome to the club. Because there are people in the first century that saw a resurrected Jesus, but they still had fear. Fear of being killed, fear of losing their lives. As a pastor, I know it's hard to believe, but I actually am afraid many times when I engage my neighbors on the topic of the Bible and Jesus. You know where that fear comes from? It comes from self-centeredness in me, but also comes from the enemy who wants to keep our mouths closed. So people don't know about this resurrected Savior. So this morning, if you know Jesus, if you've put your trust in Jesus, there's been a moment you prayed and you said, I believe that Jesus, then our job now is to tell the world that He is alive and well. And He loves people more than they know. So we're gonna do something that helps us remember that this morning. In front of you in the chair, there's a little cup. It has a little plastic top on it, and there's a little wafer there. And I just want to ask you to simply pull that out this morning. Now, here's the thing. If you don't believe that Jesus is your Savior, this is a it's a silly, symbolic thing that won't mean much to you. But if you believe that Jesus is your Savior, if you understand that He is the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world, who was beaten and broken, bruised, crushed, so that He could forgive us, and then went into a grave and came out of that grave. If you believe that this morning, we're gonna take this wafer and we're gonna say, thank you, Jesus, for letting your body be broken for me. And we're gonna take that cup and we're gonna say, thank you, Jesus, for letting your blood be poured out for me and for all mankind. So right where you are, take that wafer and eat. Thank you, Jesus, for your body broken. And drink that cup of juice and say thank you, Jesus, for your blood that was shed. Jesus, this morning, we worship you as King, we worship you as Master, we worship you as Savior, we worship you as Lord. And we just say thank you so much for what you have done, for taking our place, for taking our punishment, for giving us life, for giving us hope. So that we have hope in the face of all the obstacles and hardships and suffering in this life, but also we have hope in the face of death. Our ultimate enemy, this side of heaven. We have hope in the face of that, a lasting hope that we will be with you forever, that we will not simply die, but that we will have life for eternity. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Church, I'm gonna ask you to stand this morning, and as these guys lead us in singing, I want us to sing in response to a resurrected Savior. Let's sing to a king who's overcome by death and sin on our behalf. Let's worship him as we close our time together.