Episode 6

The Road to the Resurrection: He is Risen (North OC)

In this sermon, Marcel Hall addresses the congregation on Easter Sunday, marking the conclusion of the series 'The Road to the Resurrection.' The message focuses on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a pivotal event in Christian faith. Marcel emphasizes the significance of the resurrection as a historical event that affirmed Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. He encourages the congregation to celebrate this monumental event and to commit or recommit their lives to Jesus. Marcel recounts the biblical narrative leading to and including the resurrection, and relates it to modern Christian faith, urging believers to reflect on their journey and respond to the good news with joy and commitment.

00:00 Easter Greetings and Introductions

00:27 Global Church and Local Services

01:36 Significance of Easter and Resurrection

03:13 The Road to the Resurrection Series

04:46 Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

08:24 The First Easter Sunday

11:57 Jesus Appears to His Disciples

14:47 The Ascension and Joyful Worship

17:30 The Joy of Resurrection

17:50 Witnesses and Participants in God's Mission

18:24 Personal Reflections on God's Power

19:53 The Gift of Grace and Mercy

21:07 The Call to Celebrate

22:24 The Verdict of Salvation

26:10 Commitment to Christ

32:18 Practical Steps for Faith

34:52 Closing Reflections on Resurrection

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OC Church of Christ

Transcript
Marcel:

Amen.

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Amen.

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Happy Easter.

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Good morning.

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I said good morning brothers and sisters.

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Good.

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Happy Easter.

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He is risen and you're supposed

to respond to Paschal greeting.

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He is risen indeed.

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Okay, so let's start this over again.

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He is risen.

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He is risen indeed.

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Amen.

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In fact, tell person to

your right, to your left.

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He is risen.

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He is risen.

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And then tell him he has risen indeed.

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Amen.

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My name is Marcel Hall and I have

the honor and privilege to be a

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minister full-time here in our

church and with my wife Carina.

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We lead our north OC

portion of our church.

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We're a church that's really global

all across the globe, and we have

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sister churches all across and

we have we're part of a larger

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fellowship here in the Los Angeles.

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Area in particular, we have an Orange

County congregation in which we have

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right now, today, I think we had

five worship services taking place.

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There was a worship service taking

place at 7:00 AM over in Dana

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Point, a little Sunrise service.

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I think Rusty went to that.

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Right?

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And look Rusty coming twice.

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Did you go this morning, rusty?

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I was Turkey on.

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Okay.

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He didn't make it, but he,

in his heart, he was there.

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And so we also have a Korean speaking

service that's taking place today,

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a Spanish speaking service, uh, one

taking place over in Huntington Beach.

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And and here we are

worshiping here together.

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And so I wanna welcome you all and thank

you for visiting with us here to worship.

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Whether you've been a member for many

years, your joints for the first time,

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those who are worshiping with us online,

we're so grateful that you can join us.

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Hope to meet you in

person, and being able.

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To connect.

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Today is Easter Sunday, resurrection

Sunday the day in which we remember,

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and we celebrate the resurrection

of Jesus in a special way.

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Now as disciples of Jesus, those of

us who have made the commitment to

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Christ we really, in many ways, we

celebrate with our lives every day.

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Yeah, but just like birthdays and

holidays and anniversaries, we take

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this time to celebrate in a special

way and remember in a significant

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way the resurrection of Jesus.

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Because this is the foundation

of our Christian faith.

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It is the resurrection, the

historical event that took.

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Place, and this was the message

of the first century church.

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It was that Jesus died, but that

Jesus rose again on the third day.

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And that is our message today,

is that the tomb is still empty.

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And he is risen.

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Amen.

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And so we're gonna get

into the word of God today.

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And as was mentioned through a couple

of people, we've been in a season

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of leading up to the resurrection.

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For a number of us, we've read or

reread a book from our fellowship called

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The 30 Days at the Foot of the Cross.

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And so we ended that yesterday and.

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On Friday several people

had mentioned it on stage.

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We had a good Friday Last

Supper, Christian Seder meal.

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And so really try to engage and immerse

ourselves into this historical time that

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has radically transformed our lives.

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And so we've been doing that

for the last month or so.

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And then we've also had a sermon

series in which we've called

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the Road to the Resurrection.

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And so we've been studying

out the gospel of Luke.

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Luke is was a doctor and follower

of Jesus, and he writes this kind of

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autobio, not autobiography, but this

biography, if you will, about Jesus' life.

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And so we've been studying out the

last week and some called the Holy Week

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of Jesus for the last several weeks.

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And so we've been looking at

it and going through and to see

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Jesus's road to the resurrection.

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And so today.

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We conclude our series, the Road

to the Resurrection, and today

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we talk about how he is risen.

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He is risen.

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And so let's go to God in prayer.

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Father, we thank you so much for

what we've already been able to

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experience, being able to encourage

one another, strengthen one another,

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being able to meet new faces, being

able to worship you, sing out and

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cry out to you in song and through.

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Prayer.

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God, you are worthy of

all this and even more.

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And so we are humbled that you

accept this, and we are grateful

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that you move through this time.

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And we pray God, as we look through

the scriptures, that we will walk

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away with a greater appreciation,

a greater faith, and a greater

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resolve to respond to the good news.

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It's in Jesus' name we pray.

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Amen.

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We're gonna go on over and we're gonna

do a little recap to bring everybody up

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to speed where we are here in the story.

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So we gotta go back a little bit.

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And so Jesus, several times he

actually predicts his death,

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burial, and resurrection.

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He tells his.

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Followers and his tight crew there,

his apostles, what was going to happen.

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And so we take it up in

Luke chapter nine, verse 18.

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It says, once when Jesus was praying in

private and his disciples were with him,

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he asked him, who did the crowd say?

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I am.

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They replied.

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Some say John the Baptist.

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That was the actually Jesus' cousin

who was a leader spiritually in

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the community who was a forerunner

to Jesus and his message.

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Others say, Elijah, he was a prophet

from many, many years ago and still

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others, that one of the prophets

of long ago has come back to life.

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But what about you?

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He asked, who do you say I am?

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Peter answered God's messiah.

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He got the answer right.

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Jesus strictly warned them

not to tell this to anyone.

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Then he said, the son of man Jesus would

often refer to himself as the son of man

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must suffer many things and be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests and

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the teachers of the law, and he must be

killed on a and on a third day be raised.

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To life.

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And so Jesus tells them this in about

at least maybe 10 days or maybe even

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longer after saying this to his apostles.

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This is what happens in verse 51.

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In Luke chapter nine, it says, as the time

approach for him to be taken up to heaven,

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Jesus resolute, set out for Jerusalem.

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And so now Jesus, at this moment, he

is told his guys, he's prepped him

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at least two, maybe two weeks later.

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He says, all right, now it's time to go.

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We're gonna go to the Passover,

and I'm going out to Jerusalem.

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And he knows in his heart what's going

to take place when he gets to Jerusalem.

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He's gonna have his death, his burial,

but he's gonna have his resurrection.

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And so from Luke nine, all the

way to Luke 19 is Jesus and his

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companions traveling up to Jerusalem.

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And in j Luke chapter 19 through

the end of the chapter is really

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where we have been studying

and Jesus reaching Jerusalem.

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And then we see his weak.

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We see his death.

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We saw we refer to as death and

burial earlier today, and now we're

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talking about his resurrection.

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But I wanna mention this too as well.

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In these travels, up until Jerusalem,

Jesus mentions at least three other

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times in which he's going to suffer, and

explicitly he's going to again, raise.

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From on the third day in Luke 18

verse 31, Jesus took the 12 aside and

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told them, we are going to Jerusalem.

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And everything that is written

by the prophets about the

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Son of man will be fulfilled.

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So the prophets, the Old Testament

that talked about a Messiah who would

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come and he says all these things

are going to be fulfilled, he will

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be delivered over to the Gentiles.

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They will mock him, insult

him, and spit on him.

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They will flog him and kill him, and

on the third day, he will rise again.

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And the disciples did not

understand any of this.

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Its meaning was hidden from them and they

did not know what he was talking about.

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And so we see here, he's telling them

several times what's gonna happen,

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but unfortunately don't get it.

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But don't look down upon the

apostles because you also don't

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get it sometimes too, don't you?

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My wife tells me something and I'm be

like, yeah, I didn't really get that.

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Tell my kids stuff sometimes.

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And then they come back and I'm like,

you didn't do what I told you to do.

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Because they don't get it.

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So they didn't get it.

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What was gonna take place.

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And so now in Luke 23, we see

Jesus, he dies upon the cross.

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And now we take it up in

Luke chapter 24 in verse one.

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And it's interesting because we

don't really get much written about

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the Saturday after the resurrection.

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And in Luke, actually, all it

says is that they rested on the

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Sabbath day, and that's all we get.

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Just imagine what was Saturday

like for his followers.

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You know, that's the middle of

despair, but also joy because they

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have despair of what took place and

they don't know that Sunday's coming.

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And so they're in this uncertainty, and

I'm sure there's fear, there's anger,

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there's anxiety, there's a frustration,

there's sadness, there's mourning.

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But Sunday is coming, and so we take

it up in chapter 24 verse one, church.

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Are you with me here?

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Yep.

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It says, on the first day

of the week, that's Sunday.

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This is the first Easter Sunday.

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Very early in the morning,

the woman took the spices.

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They had prepared and went to the tomb.

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They found the stone rolled away from

the tomb, but when they entered, they

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did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

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While they were wondering about this,

suddenly two men in clothes that gleam

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like lightning stood beside them.

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In their fright.

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The women bowed down with their faces to

the ground, but the men said to them, why

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do you look for the living among the dead?

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He is not here.

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He has risen.

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Remember how he told you why he

was still with you in Galilee?

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The son of man must be delivered over

to the hands of sinners, be crucified,

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and on the third day be raised again.

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Then they remember his words when

they came back from the tomb.

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They told all these things to

the 11 and to all the others.

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It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary,

the mother of James and the others with

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him who told this to the apostles, but

they did not believe the women because

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their words seemed like nonsense.

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That makes sense, right?

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What?

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What do you mean he's not there?

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What?

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What do men said?

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What to you?

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You talking crazy?

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They couldn't believe it.

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They didn't understand

what was taking place.

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Peter.

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However, got up and ran

to the tomb, bending over.

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He saw the strips of linen lying by

themselves and went away wondering

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to himself what had happened.

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Peter says, you know, I don't

get it, but let me hurry up

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and go see what's going on.

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And you know what's interesting

here is that it says the linen

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was lying there by themselves.

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Again, this is help.

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To see that the resurrection

is a historical event.

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If somebody stole the body and

wanted to claim that Jesus rose

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from the dead, they wouldn't have

left his clothes still there.

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And we also know from John,

they were actually folded

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up, so Jesus did his chores.

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And so we see this and so this

helps us to go, man, this was,

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this was, this was reality.

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This was true.

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And they couldn't believe it.

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They were, they were amazed

and didn't quite understand.

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And so we're gonna skip here in, in

verses 13 through 32, uh, two of Jesus's

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disciples, a man named Ops, and another

one you ever met any ops in your life?

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That's one of the biblical names

that doesn't get a lot of love.

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You know what I'm saying?

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It's Cleopas and Judas,

you know what I'm saying?

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Like nobody names her kids that.

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And so Jesus, he sees these two

disciples on the road and they, they,

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they can't really recognize who he is.

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They're kept says from

recognizing who they, who he is.

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And so they start telling Jesus.

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Jesus is like, Hey, what's

happened over the last couple?

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You know what's going on?

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And they say, you don't know what's

happened over the last couple days.

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The, the, the, our, our,

our leader, he's died.

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And, and, and now the women are saying

that they can't, they went to the.

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Tomb and they can't find his body.

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So Jesus goes, he has a little

meal with them and as he breaks

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the bread, they recognize Jesus

and then he takes off and he leaves

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and that we take it up in verse 33.

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Are you guys with me here?

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They got up and returned

at once to Jerusalem.

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There they found the 11 and those with

them assembled together saying it is true.

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The Lord has risen and

has appeared to Simon.

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Then the two told what had happened on the

way and how Jesus was recognized by them.

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When he broke the bread, while

they were still talking about this,

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Jesus himself stood among them and

said to them, peace be with you.

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They were startled and frightened

thinking they saw a ghost.

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He said to them, why are you troubled

and why do doubts rise in your minds?

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Look at my hands and my feet.

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It is.

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I myself, touch me and see.

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A ghost does not have flesh

and bones as you see, I have.

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When he had said this, he showed them

his hands and feet, and while they

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still did not believe it because of

joy and amazement, he asked them,

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do you have anything here to eat?

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You gotta love this about Jesus.

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Just imagine being in this scene.

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And so they said they're,

they're, they, they, they see it.

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They, they, they get it, but

yet they're scared, but yet

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they're happy and it makes sense.

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Whoa, whoa.

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We, we know you were just crucified,

but now you're here in fleshing

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blood and now we touch you your

physical, whoa, what is going on?

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And ask, now you're asking for some fish.

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He wants to eat.

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'cause you know ghosts don't eat name.

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That movie where you saw the

ghost eating, it doesn't happen.

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And so here he goes on and he says they

gave him a piece of broil fish and he

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took it and ate it in their presence.

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What was that meal like?

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Could you imagine it?

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Of the apostles?

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They probably didn't eat.

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They just probably looking,

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he's really eating, you know?

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And Jesus is like, oh

Mary, you did it again.

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Girl.

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That's some good stuff.

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Hey, hey Peter, can you go

ahead and pass some more salt?

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You know what I mean?

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Like this was probably a crazy meal.

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And they're freaking out going, whoa,

he's here, he's risen and he's eating.

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And he goes on and he says, he

said to them, this is what I

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told you while I was with you.

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Everything must be fulfilled.

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That is written about me in the law

of Moses, the prophets in the Psalms.

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He was referring to the whole Old

Testament and he opened their minds so

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they could understand the scriptures.

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He told them this is what is written.

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The Messiah will suffer and rise from

the dead on the third day, and repentance

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for the forgiveness of sins will be

preached in his name to all nations.

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Beginning at Jerusalem.

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You are witnesses of these things.

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I'm going to send you what my father has

promised, but stay in the city until you

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have been clothed with power from on high.

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When he had led them out of to

the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted

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up his hands and blessed them.

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While he was blessing them, he left

them and was taken up into heaven.

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Then he worshiped him.

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They returned to Jerusalem with

great joy and they stayed continually

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at the temple praising God.

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And so Luke right here gives us the

day, but then he kinda skips ahead

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and he skips ahead at least 40 days,

and he gives us the ending here.

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But what do we see here?

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We see the road to the resurrection.

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We see the resurrection is taking place.

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He is risen, and the

disciples start to get it.

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They understand what's taking place,

what's going on, and you can just imagine

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the enjoy the encouragement they had.

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Our hopes are no longer lost.

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Remember what Saturday felt like?

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But Sunday came, our

faith isn't misplaced.

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We put our faith in the right place and

we don't regrets our commitment to Jesus.

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You know, the resurrection

was God's vindication.

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The resurrection, vindicated

and confirmed that Jesus is the

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Messiah, that he is the savior.

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The resurrection confirmed

that Jesus is the son of God.

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It vindicated Jesus'

teaching and his works.

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It proved, yes, all the things that he

taught, the things that he claims he

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truly is because of the resurrection.

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You know, in verse 44, Jesus

reveals that the cross and the

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resurrection was God's plan all along.

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He had a plan to redeem his creation,

who was fallen from his side, and

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this is why it's called good news.

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Because God has been redeeming,

he's had a plan, and his plan is

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to sacrifice but then restore.

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And that plan applies for all nations

and for all people, for you and for me.

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And it's interesting right here at the

end here, it says they worshiped him and

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returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

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They stayed continually at

the temple praising God.

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Jesus rose, he ascends and it says

they actually weren't grieved.

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They didn't have grief after he left.

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They weren't saddened by it.

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I would've been saddened.

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No, no.

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Please don't leave again.

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But it says they had what?

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Joy.

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They were praising God.

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They were celebrating.

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Why?

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Because he has risen and

they were getting it.

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Whoa.

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This is incredible.

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Jesus rose.

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So we can celebrate, we can

rejoice, we can praise God because

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the scriptures are fulfilled.

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The Savior has come and

offered salvation to the world.

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God's power is revealed and

death itself is defeated.

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And they are witnesses, recipients,

and also now participants.

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There are witnesses of this resurrection.

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There are witnesses of God's power.

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There are recipients of the gospel.

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They're recipients of the treasures

of salvation, of the good news of

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the kingdom of God, and now they are

participants in God's redeeming mission.

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For the world, and so

therefore they celebrate.

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You know, it's awesome because we too

can celebrate, rejoice, and praise God.

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You and I can rejoice and praise

God and celebrate and effect.

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I believe that's one of the things

that we should do in response.

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To the resurrection is that we

should celebrate the resurrection.

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We should celebrate the

good news being fulfilled.

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And you say, well, why?

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Well, because we also are witnesses,

recipients, and participants.

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We are witnesses of

God's power in our lives.

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Has anybody been changed or transformed or

just helped a little bit by some of Jesus

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and his teachings and the resurrection?

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We can go down the line, we can

go down the list and it would be a

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long Easter service if we did that,

but we could go, we could share.

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And I want you to think about have God

has changed one thing in your life.

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If you've seen one iota power

of God, you can celebrate that.

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And so we are witnesses.

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To see Chris Galassia up here, to

see the brothers and sisters who

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shared WAN being able to share.

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That's the power of God right there,

because 20, 30, 15 years ago, they

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wouldn't have been doing that.

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And knowing Chris, he definitely

wouldn't have been doing that,

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but we're witnesses of the power of God

in our lives and in those around us.

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We also are recipients of

this mercy, of grace of love.

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Sean shared a scripture that

all good gifts come from who,

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:

from the Father, and they come

because of love, grace, and mercy.

388

:

You and I are here today only because

of God's love, grace and mercy.

389

:

Whether you are a true Christian

or not, God is displayed, is love,

390

:

grace, and mercy to you today.

391

:

And so we are recipients of this.

392

:

Great eternal treasure, and we are

also participants in God's mission.

393

:

God's mission, to redeem his

creation, to have an eternal life.

394

:

You and I, as true Christians,

get a chance to participate with

395

:

God in this great redeeming work.

396

:

How awesome is that?

397

:

You can do some cool things.

398

:

Maybe work for the government or or be

a professional athlete or win an Emmy

399

:

or a Grammy, whatever the case is.

400

:

But nothing can compare to

working with the King of Kings and

401

:

redeeming people for all eternity.

402

:

There's no greater joy, no greater call.

403

:

And so what can you and I do?

404

:

We can celebrate.

405

:

I don't know about you, but I

get fired up thinking about this.

406

:

You know, you ever get some, uh,

a, a letter in the mail and uh,

407

:

it makes you a little nervous.

408

:

Some of you ever get that or you get

a text or an email, you're like, uhoh.

409

:

You know, sometimes when the DMV send

me something, I'm like, uhoh, what a

410

:

brother do you know what I'm saying?

411

:

One time I think I got

something from collections.

412

:

I was like, collections,

who do I owe money to?

413

:

And they shrimping calling collections.

414

:

I think it was Time Warner.

415

:

We had some beef about $30.

416

:

You know what I'm saying?

417

:

I won't get into all that,

you know what I mean?

418

:

But just imagine, right?

419

:

You get something and it says,

important notice from the judge,

420

:

and it says, verdict inside.

421

:

How you feeling?

422

:

You feel a little nervous, aren't you?

423

:

What's going on there?

424

:

And as you, you, you, you, you're

hesitant to open up the envelope.

425

:

Because you're nervous about

what it's going to reveal.

426

:

You're nervous, man, what am I gonna do?

427

:

What's my excuse?

428

:

How am I gonna get out of this?

429

:

Who can I call?

430

:

Can I call my mama my daddy to fix this?

431

:

What can I do?

432

:

But then you realize, you know what?

433

:

I am guilty.

434

:

I have done something, and so I'm about

to receive my punishment spiritually.

435

:

All of us have sinned before God.

436

:

There's not a soul in here, and I don't

care how good you think you are, there's

437

:

not a soul in here who hasn't sinned

before a righteous and living God.

438

:

And not only have we sinned, but we

sinned multiple, multiple, multiple times.

439

:

Sometimes we did it on accident, but most

of our times we did it intentionally.

440

:

And so if we stand before the judge.

441

:

We know we are guilty as charged,

but let's go back to this envelope.

442

:

You pull out the envelope, you

read it, and a note says this,

443

:

he has risen debt, paid in full.

444

:

How would you feel?

445

:

Then?

446

:

Fired up.

447

:

You no longer scared anymore, are you?

448

:

You are scared.

449

:

No, you fired up.

450

:

I can't believe it.

451

:

You going to get ready to do a TikTok

dance, you know what I'm saying?

452

:

You are fired up.

453

:

Hallelujah.

454

:

I know.

455

:

If it's me, Corina, and I'm doing, I'm

picking up Dominique, my 6-year-old

456

:

son, and we're getting Lion King on.

457

:

I'm fired up 'cause I'm like, yes,

I was guilty, but I've been freed.

458

:

And here spiritually, what happens

that when Jesus died, but more

459

:

so when he resurrected, he said

he has risen and all that debt of

460

:

your sin has been paid in full.

461

:

So therefore, guess what?

462

:

You don't have to stand

before a judge saying guilty.

463

:

You're stand before a judge

who says not guilty, justified

464

:

as if you had never sinned.

465

:

But I have sinned.

466

:

Guess what?

467

:

Jesus wiped all that away.

468

:

Amen.

469

:

Now, what should you do with that?

470

:

Be sad.

471

:

Oh, I can't believe I'm saved.

472

:

No, you rejoice.

473

:

You celebrate.

474

:

Hallelujah.

475

:

Thank you so much for raising for

the dead, and thank you for giving me

476

:

the opportunity to respond to that.

477

:

So we rejoice today for our salvation.

478

:

We rejoice because we can celebrate.

479

:

Because the resurrection

leads to all this.

480

:

It leads to a new life, an eternal life.

481

:

It leads to hope, it leads to peace, it

leads to security, it leads to power,

482

:

it leads to change, it leads to purpose,

it leads to mission, and then more.

483

:

This is why we celebrate the

resurrection because it gives

484

:

us all these things and more.

485

:

We have a new life here.

486

:

We have an eternal life.

487

:

We start to enjoy now.

488

:

We have hope for the future.

489

:

We have hope for eternity.

490

:

We have a peace

491

:

and victory over us.

492

:

Death and fear can't hold us down.

493

:

Because of the resurrection of Jesus.

494

:

It's the event that is

the basis of our faith.

495

:

And just like we celebrate on the 4th

of July as Americans freedom from the,

496

:

the tyranny of the Great Britain and

the English rule over us, we celebrate

497

:

because sin, despair, fear, and the

chains of death no longer have hold

498

:

on us because we are free in Christ.

499

:

Indeed.

500

:

Amen.

501

:

And so we celebrate and what

heaven is our destination.

502

:

That's where you and I are going.

503

:

As true Christians,

504

:

it also calls not only to celebrate,

but I believe the response to the

505

:

cross calls for us to commit to commit.

506

:

To Jesus, you know, we'll

look at it real quickly here.

507

:

Remember when he was talking to them,

he said, I'm gonna send you out.

508

:

He said, the Messiah will suffer and rise

from the uh, dead on the third day, and

509

:

repentance for the forgiveness of sins

will be preached his name to all nations.

510

:

Repentance.

511

:

What does that repentance means?

512

:

Change.

513

:

It leads to a transformation.

514

:

I change the way I think, therefore

I change the way I feel about things.

515

:

Therefore, I change the way I behave.

516

:

It means to turn around.

517

:

I was walking this way toward sin

and destruction, but God called

518

:

me to repent and I turn, and now

I walk toward the living God.

519

:

That's what repentance is.

520

:

That's what it produces in our lives.

521

:

And it was mentioned actually in

the beginning by Savannah in Second

522

:

Corinthians, chapter five, I want to read

this, this, uh, leader in the church.

523

:

His name is Paul.

524

:

He wrote this to the church that

met in the city called Corinth.

525

:

He says, for Christ's love compels us.

526

:

Because we are convinced that one

died for all and therefore all

527

:

died and he died for all that.

528

:

Those who live, that's you and me should

no longer live for themselves, but for

529

:

him who died for them and was raised

again, you see, God calls us to commits.

530

:

We have an opportunity to celebrate,

but he also says, commit to me.

531

:

And just as Chris talked about

earlier, there's a commitment

532

:

when it comes to Jesus.

533

:

And God is calling for us to commit.

534

:

And if you think about it,

it's the only thing that makes

535

:

rational and proper sense.

536

:

It's the only response that makes

any sense is to commit to that.

537

:

And I believe God is calling every

one of us here today to either

538

:

commits or to recommit to Jesus.

539

:

Nick and Tiana was mentioned earlier,

your wedding is coming up correct.

540

:

You guys are getting all

kind of love today, right?

541

:

Now just imagine I have the honor and

privilege to be able to marry them.

542

:

And here we are.

543

:

They're gonna be there.

544

:

And, and, and we ask, Hey,

you know, we do the vows.

545

:

And then Nick's like, uh, I don't know if

I'm really feeling this commitment part.

546

:

How would Tiana feel about that?

547

:

She, Eric said, run, take off, girl.

548

:

He's no good.

549

:

Drop that zero and get with a hero.

550

:

You know what I'm saying?

551

:

That's what they used

to say back in the day.

552

:

Ricky Lake, all my old folks,

you know what I'm saying?

553

:

Drop that zero.

554

:

Give through the hero

once a dog, always a dog.

555

:

You know what I'm saying?

556

:

That's not you, Nick.

557

:

There you go.

558

:

And so it would only make sense as

they're deciding to get married that

559

:

they would fully commit to each other.

560

:

It wouldn't make any sense at

all for them to propose and say

561

:

yes, and then say, you know what?

562

:

I like all the benefits, but I

don't like the commitment part.

563

:

I want all the benefits from you,

but I don't wanna commit to you.

564

:

Would that make any sense?

565

:

The only rational, proper response

would be if you're committing

566

:

to me, I'm committing to you.

567

:

Again.

568

:

God is calling some of

us to commit to Christ.

569

:

For some of us, he's

calling us to recommit.

570

:

I did a renewing of the vows last

week, man, this is just like the season

571

:

of weddings and all kind of stuff.

572

:

And, uh, it's a friend of mine and

they were recommitting, they're,

573

:

they're getting back together in

their marriage and they decided,

574

:

you know, we wanna do this God's way

and we wanna officially recommit.

575

:

We just don't wanna just do this.

576

:

We wanna, we wanna renew our vows.

577

:

And so we got there and, and called

them to recommit to the promise that

578

:

they made once, because they were

clear and they weren't shy about it.

579

:

And every witness there knew their story.

580

:

And they decided, you know what?

581

:

We are going to recommit our vows to

each other, and for some of us, this

582

:

is what God is calling you today.

583

:

You may be at once, had great faith,

but you haven't been committed.

584

:

Or maybe you've been a longstanding

member for many years, but in

585

:

your hearts you have not been

committed the way you once were.

586

:

I was praying this morning and I was

thinking about it and I, and I was

587

:

like, God, what do I need to recommit?

588

:

Because I know I'm committed to

you, but are there areas in my

589

:

life that need to be recommitted?

590

:

And I was like, you know what?

591

:

Sometimes the way I'm looking at my

sin, I don't view it and I don't have

592

:

the veracity and the determination

to deal with it the way I need to.

593

:

So I need to recommit in this area.

594

:

A couple weeks ago, I felt

like, you know what, man?

595

:

I'm sitting on a pocket of

lottery tickets that have won

596

:

and that's called the Good News.

597

:

And I'm not sharing this good news

the way I need to, the way I want

598

:

to, or even the way I used to.

599

:

And so I decided I need to recommit

to getting the good news out to

600

:

as many people as much as possible

for as long as I live, I had to

601

:

recommit in this area of my life.

602

:

So I want to ask you, is there an area

in your life you need to recommit to?

603

:

Because if you do, whether it's

recommitment or commitment, there's

604

:

joy and blessings that are waiting.

605

:

The joy and the blessings are waiting

to be claims for your life, but you

606

:

have to commit or you have to recommit.

607

:

Again, that's the only response that

makes sense to the joy of what Christ

608

:

did on the death and resurrection

for our sins and our salvation.

609

:

And so brothers and sisters, I

want to call you today to commit

610

:

or to recommit in response to the

gospel, the good news of Jesus.

611

:

Let's get real practical here.

612

:

If you're visiting here for with

us for the first time, I'd like

613

:

to get what we call action steps.

614

:

So it means we don't just listen to

the message, we don't just like the

615

:

message, we don't just share the

message on Instagram or Facebook.

616

:

But no, we're gonna put this

into practice in some form.

617

:

And so here's my encouragement

and direction for everyone

618

:

here, and it's real simple.

619

:

Number one, celebrate.

620

:

Celebrate.

621

:

I don't care if you have big plans today.

622

:

You're doing the Easter egg hunt, or you

just going home to watch the NBA playoffs.

623

:

Go ahead and celebrate

the resurrection today.

624

:

Go ahead and have joy and praise

God for Jesus resurrecting.

625

:

Praise him for the things he's doing

in your life, things he's done in

626

:

the past, and the things he wants to

do in your life, and the fact that

627

:

you can even hear his message today.

628

:

Celebrate today.

629

:

Amen.

630

:

Go ahead and play that song.

631

:

Celebrate, you know what I'm saying?

632

:

And in fact, I think every one

of us, because of how good God

633

:

is, again, we should be doing

some Christian tiktoks today.

634

:

You know what I'm saying?

635

:

Was it Christians on TikTok?

636

:

You know what I'm saying?

637

:

He isid.

638

:

He isid.

639

:

You know what I'm saying?

640

:

We should get it cracking today.

641

:

And here's the second thing.

642

:

I want you to do this.

643

:

Ask yourself, am I doing this right?

644

:

Am I doing this right?

645

:

Because if you're not experiencing

the things that were listed, the

646

:

things that we've shared, why not?

647

:

Why aren't you experiencing those

things in your life right now?

648

:

Is it a view that's off?

649

:

Is it, is it your actions?

650

:

Is it your company that you keep that

that pulls you in the wrong direction?

651

:

Is it pride?

652

:

Is it selfishness?

653

:

I don't know.

654

:

But ask yourself, am I doing this?

655

:

Right,

656

:

because maybe you've never committed,

or maybe you need to renew your vows

657

:

to Christ, but am I doing this right?

658

:

And we have some help.

659

:

We wanna help each other out.

660

:

We're gonna start a sermon series

next week, and it's called this.

661

:

Am I doing this right?

662

:

And we're gonna look at our faith.

663

:

Are we doing this faith thing right?

664

:

This religion thing,

am I doing this right?

665

:

And it's not for us to feel

bad, but for us to do it right.

666

:

How about relationships, man?

667

:

Yeah.

668

:

Am I doing this right?

669

:

Finances success.

670

:

So we're gonna be talking about that for

the next four weeks, and I'm excited about

671

:

this time to go ahead and dig into this.

672

:

But again, we close out,

this is Resurrection Sunday.

673

:

The good news, the gospel of Jesus.

674

:

And because it's good news, we have

a reason to celebrate and we have a

675

:

reason and a proper response to commit.

676

:

I wanna close out in Luke

Chapter 24, brothers and

677

:

Sisters, are you still with me?

678

:

They said to the women, why do you

look for the living among the dead?

679

:

He is not here.

680

:

He has risen.

681

:

May we celebrate the day that changed

the world, the road to the resurrection.

682

:

He is risen.

683

:

Amen.

684

:

Amen.

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