The Resurrection: Did It Happen and Who Cares?

John 720. If you have a Bible I was listening to a Bible teacher the other day named Andy Stanley, he said that the way to really understand something if you want to understand something is to go back to its starting point on everything. He says everything has a starting point every job every journey, every living thing had a starting point, you you had a starting point.

Some of you were started on purpose. Others of you. It was more of an accident but were glad that you're here nonetheless. I'm glad that you made it. Romances romances always have a starting point. Some of you remember your very first romance you were nine years old. It was your cousin. Thankfully you have moved on lease most of you, depending on what part of North Carolina you're from, but your faith.

Our faith has a starting point.

Also, for many of us the starting point of our faith was what our parents told us was true, maybe for you it was whatever the priest said or maybe it was what your preacher said what what the Bible says growing up and my childhood we had a saying the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it. And when you were walking when you were young that kind of you to really work fine. You use a good foundation for truth, but as you got older, you begin to feel a little uneasy with just that is the foundation for what was right. You begin to ask the question how do I know what is true about God and he told a story that really reminded me of my own experience growing up I was always told the story of where God speaks to Samuel the middle the night same as young boy Elizabeth Temple and I would say no.

Here's his name called and I think that you live your praises only runs the Lodge room is is what you need and Eli eventually says you know hey I'm not doing this must be God. So when you your name at night. Again, say, speak, Lord, your servant here's the application was, you know, it was always have. God speaks your name, your first say to him speak, Lord, your servant here's and I just remember as a nine-year-old therapy can please Lord, do not call my name out in the dark at night do that in the day, because if you do it at night. I don't think my response is going to be speak, Lord, your servant here's I think my mom is going to have to put back on the plastic liner back on the bed and I'm nine years old. I don't want to do that but bottom line is I never really heard a voice, and I never heard God call my name audibly. So the question for me and for many of you became how do I really know what God has said, and I know that many of you are like that and I want know that you know that you begun to wonder you like this because my mom said so or just because the priest said, so that's not a good reason to believe will believe it or not. The apostle Peter seems to have had the exact same questions, Peter. You see, had always been a really trusting guy. He was one of the very first ones to sign on to Jesus. He took Jesus at his word. He commenced other people to follow Jesus. But then Jesus was put on trial until, and in that moment everything that Peter believed came crashing down.

Jesus was not supposed to die. Jesus was supposed to save the world. How could God if there was a God. How can you let that happen. And Jesus was so loving and in control. Like he said he was then why would he have left Peter all by himself in such a mess back Peter struggle of faith got so bad that he outright denied being a follower of Jesus. He didn't just kind of fall out of church and sorta get lazy with it is that I don't even know the man any longer. Everything changed for Peter early one Sunday morning, the apostle John tells us the story. 720 verse one early on the first day of the week. While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one that Jesus love which is John's name for himself and said they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they put them so Peter and the other disciple, John started for the two. Both are running but the other disciple outran Peter.

Please also how John points out, he's more athletic than Peter was. There was a P90 X guy guess, but he reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in the strips of linen lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. The saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus said the cloth was still lying in its place separate from the Linda significance of that is. This was neatly folded up. This is not a rush job. It was somebody taken the time to make sure it was tidy when they left. Verse eight finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside and he saw and believed. Up until this point. You see, they still did not understand still had not understood from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. The apostle Peter walked into that tomb a discouraged, defeated doubter.

He walked out of that tomb as the most important leader in the new Christian movement from this moment on word literally seconds after this is over, the disciples are going to look to Peter to lead them. What was it that changed Peter in that moment it was not some new flash of insight into Jesus teaching. Oh I get it.

I'm like the good Samaritan or it was a no I understand predestination. Now note the came face-to-face with a place that should've had a body and it but did not. I will put you if I can in the place of Peter this morning because I know that many of you are like Peter you have questions. There are some things about Jesus that just don't add up for you maybe like Peter you feel like he's disappointed you. You feel like he has abandoned you, or you didn't show up when he was supposed to.

Or maybe you feel like you have disappointed him.

Peter had denied Jesus so many times that he felt like it.

Jesus is real. I don't think there's really any hope that we can ever put our relationship back together have messed it up so many times I don't even know the way back. So I want you to experience what Peter experienced. I want you to have the same change so I want to know the one confront you with the fact of the empty tomb. I'm going to explain very briefly how we can know that Jesus raised from the dead with certainty and will present you with some reason for that in the number two I'm gonna let Peter explain to you in his words, the implications of that it serving a number one. The fact of the empty tomb will either not that the tomb was empty that morning when Peter got there is a fairly agreed-upon fact obviously not everybody believes that Jesus rose from the dead, but just about every scholar agrees that amending Jesus really lived that he was executed by the Romans that he was buried, and not bet on the third day the tomb where he had been laid was found empty on that point. There is no substantial disagreement. The question for debate is how did the tomb get empty. There's really only three options you can come up with option one to someone stole the body. Somebody stole it and then the myth grew up Jesus resurrected the question then with the combo did it you got to come up with suspects and I can really only think of three possible suspects for suspect. You need a means and emotive unsuspecting one would be the Romans the Romans certainly would have the means to steal the body pilot had ordered a garrison of Roman soldiers to be put in front of the two I garrison was 16 soldiers the way it works for would stand guard 12 it said in a semicircle around them. They were all armed, and they rotate every few hours someone sleep and the others would stand guard you like. Maybe they were the ones that stole him may be based ON you know is a joke.

Well, the problem is is that part pilot and put a seal on that tomb and Roman law said that if you broke the seal you were to be punished by death, Romans knew that in order for them to do this, they would've had omitted a significantly compelling interest they would want to kill Jesus in the first place. Is it will maybe they were bribed okay by whom would get a suspect number two maybe the Jews. The Jewish leaders at a part of this order been their motive. The only motive that I can come up with for them stealing the body is somehow to preempt the disciple stealing it.

Maybe thought hey we still at first emanates feel it saves resurrected, then then will you reduce the body because I got it in the movement will die. That certainly would've killed the movement that disciples out there preaching Jesus raising the dead may drag out the body that would've stopped in its tracks, but they never did that. So let's go to suspect number three the disciples.

The problem with the disciples of the suspect is really twofold.

One somehow they speak past the garrison of soldiers.

That's what I detail by the way of the neatly folded linen cloth comes in. Robberies are not usually are usually done in a hurry. You don't robberies don't usually put a lot of thought into the tidiness of the whatever they're leaving behind so that yet the details in their thing about this is much more important. Would stealing Jesus's body really have served their purposes in a religious hoax nerve and lots of religious hoaxes throughout history, but in a religious hoax. The leaders always gain some magic measurable asset like power or money or sex. They gain something to the deception. What did this new testimony gain for the disciples whether testimony certainly gained in the power for their entire lives. They were pursuing the death every single one of them was tortured and killed for their confession. According to Eusebius, the early historian both Peter and his wife were crucified, Peter was forced to watch her on his wife drove off to be crucified and Peter was crucified upside down. The next day on their testimony gain the power their testimony given in the money.

The apostles were notoriously poor and any money they did get they just gave away their testimony did not get them sex. They taught that sex was only only to be between to be experienced between two people and monogamous marriage so they didn't do anything concoct this hoax for money or sex or power on the reasons and other religious hoaxes have been come up with.

So what would have been their motive that they would teach Christians imitate their followers to live in the world joyfully without money, sex, or power. The three things that the world said you needed to be happy. They would say you can live joyfully in this world about any of those things because your kingdom is not of this world and you can put up with misery in this life because you are assured of the kingdom that is coming, and the basis of that assurance for them was the resurrection of Jesus. The question you gotta ask yourself honestly is what they have taught that and when they have lived that way themselves if they knew it was a hoax and they just stole the body to the theory that somebody stole the body just fails to be compelling to me at all.

There's nobody that would have the means and the motive so it's going to theory number two. Jesus never really died. Maybe Jesus didn't quite dive across.

He just passed out when they put it in the tomb we revived, whereupon he snuck out of the tomb and appeared to a few of his disciples, he convinced a couple of them that he and resurrected, and then he headed off to France where he sired the Medici family with Mary Magdalene and lived undiscovered until Tom Hanks broke his coat a couple years ago a number of problems with this theory other than its utter stupidity number one of the Romans were experts or crucifixion. They knew what somebody had died it back. Roman law said that if they pulled a person off of the cross before they died. They had to be punished in the same manner just to good to be sure they pierced Jesus his heart with a spear to make sure he was dead. By the way, there's little detail that's included that's very medically significant to us but not them. This is a blood and water came out but we know now that in that area of the body when you dive the blood begins to clot, and it separates from a watery serum so, blood and water come out. It's the significance they been dead for a while that the significance of that is they didn't know that medically back then we know that now.

They included the detail it shows us that he had been dead for a while. On the other problem with the idea that Jesus just had just faded is any been beaten prior to his crucifixion. Most people were not beaten prior to the crucifixion.

Usually you were either beaten or crucified quite often beating led to death.

Cicero said many men died during the meeting on the second most were at least partially disemboweled, there were extreme losses of blood. Cicero said it was not uncommon to see a rib go flying off a man's brain while he was being beaten. That's probably why Jesus died so much quicker than the other two, because they had not endured the beating.

The point is if anybody were to survive or crucifixion. It would not have been somebody would be whipped that brutally and lost that much blood.

And if he had somehow survived. You still got the problem of how he snuck past the guards and appeared to his disciples and manages to convince them in his battered we can condition that he's the Lord of all the earth, and the judge of eternity.

So option number two. Jesus didn't really die didn't seem like a good one either. So that leaves us with option number three and that is the Jesus really did die rise from the dead is by far the simplest explanation is the most compelling Jesus resurrected the appeared to his disciples. They saw with their own eyes and ignore on the world testifying to it even if it cost them their lives and they do it gladly, because they had seen him with their eyes they touch them with her hands and they heard with their ears, you say well if that is the simplest explanation and it is the most compelling like you say it is, why is it not universally accepted.

Why did everybody say will of course let me answer with the words of the German philosopher with heart pine and bird.

The evidence for Jesus's resurrection is so strong that nobody would question it, except for two things.

First, it is a very unusual event. What he means by that. Is it supernatural, and a lot of people just predisposed to give the supernatural. Ironically, they do this in the name of good science or good history, as if taking those disciplines seriously means refusing even to consider miraculous evidence, but closing yourself off to certain types of explanations, no matter how compelling they are is the definition of closemindedness to simply say in the name of something to be close this type of evidence could that fit my category is the definition of closemindedness.

He said, so if the unusual event they don't want to think about it or this is probably more significant if it's true. If you believe it happened you have to change the way that you live.

If it's true, you have to change because of Jesus rose from the dead, that means he is the Lord over morality is Lord over salvation is the Lord who goes to heaven and hell. The Lord of what's right and wrong is Lord over politics is the Lord of her history. Algae was Huxley, the man who coined the term agnostic writer were a renowned skeptic admitted this my solicitor this is a very insightful under from his book ends and means. I had noticed for not wanting the world to have a meeting for myself as well as Mo as well as most of my contemporaries. The philosophy of meaninglessness was a philosophy of liberation deliberation that we saw was liberation from Christian morality. In other words, we want to be ability to do whatever we wanted and not feel guilty about it and that drove our acceptance of this idea that there was no God and that Jesus was not really the son of God.

Bart Herman says that they're here at UNC Chapel Hill says that the main reason he will not really seriously consider whether this could be true is because the world has so much suffering and it is that I won't even entertain the idea that there's a God who could've raised Jesus from the dead. If you would've left so much suffering in the world. Now, again, look at that very plainly that is not an honest consideration of the evidence that is a dismissal of the evidence, because you already made up your mind. It could not be true because of some other reason.

So let me just ask you this question. Have you ever considered the evidence on its own terms, or are there reasons that you are predisposed to not even really consider it.

You say, for example.

Well, the resurrection sure why the world, such a mess. Why are there so many different religions. Why did my life turn out like this where was God when I asked in this guy want to show up every once a while the world that would be awesome if I would pray and you would just do something while maybe it is that you just don't want anybody telling you what is right or wrong to do with your money or what to do with your body.

I would challenge you this weekend to be open minded enough to consider the evidence on its own terms and then redefine your objections and your questions in light of the undeniable evidence and not close your mind of the evidence in light of the questions that you have sued to walk with Peter in that empty tomb means three things here's the three applications and again I'm a let him explain these to us. The implication from the tomb and wanted me to Jesus as a recess is if the tomb is empty then that means in Jesus rose from the dead that Jesus is reset. He is, regardless of how it contradicted Peter's perceptions and accept before Peter gets into a really interesting argument with a bunch of academics and theologians who are explaining to him why Jesus could not possibly be the Messiah and they bring out reason X, Y, and Z and say you know everybody you smart in the world agrees with us and Peter with his GED education, respondent asked for 19. Peter answered and whether it's right to listen to you rather than the God you got a judge.

We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard with our eyes and ears. In other words, what dudes were not saying were smarter. You guys got more degrees. Hang on your wall than a thermometer. But then again, on the other hand, we know this guy who came back from the dead and no offense to you his coming back from the dead trumps your magna cum laude note that we had a vigorous discussion backstage. By the way, about whether it was waterlogged day.

I have no idea. Maybe one of you know, one of our pastor says for me it was I graduated.

Thank you Lord a that's all that I say about that. But regardless, they set under one can assume a magnet degree that you got this come about from the dead trumps all that. Let me ask you to do a thought experiment. If you got a lot of objections and a new many of you do need to do a thought experiment.

Let's just suppose that's you were the first one walking that tomb and there you were confronted by Jesus and what is your objection is a summary religions are paying.

The Bible says homosexuality is wrong. These are the reasons I want to consider are what say that you were in the tomb and you have is objections and there's Jesus standing there watching you and he says I just want you to know that I am who I say I am on resurrected and also to know I'm not can answer your question, at least not in this life of an answer in eternity and I just need you to trust me for the next 2030 4050 years until you die and then I'll explain it to you.

Here's a thought experiment.

Would you be willing to suspend your objections. For the next 50 years. If you had encountered the resurrected Jesus. That's what happened to Peter you say all Virginia. That's the very problem bear that you just said I can't go back and see him understand, but see even today the evidence is strong enough for you to reach a certain conclusion about it. The breakdown is never in the insufficiency of the evidence. The breakdown is always in some prejudice that keeps you from considering the evidence on its own terms will only be really personal with you. This is how things work for me when I was in college at a lot of questions. Why is there a Helen. Why doesn't God do this and it probably will pour almost lost my faith and it was this very thing that someone challenge me on that. Turn the corner. For me this is not Peter moment this somebody said if Jesus were to appear to you if you were to see him resurrected and he were to say I'm not an answer your question, but I am to show you that I resurrected. Would you trust him and I knew the answer that was yes, and I knew that it was undeniable that Jesus raised from the dead, and from that point on I said I want to live with some unexplainable things because of the undeniable truth of the resurrection, and that's my favorite definition of faith. By the way, faith occurs when the unexplainable confronts the undeniable you got questions you think are unexplainable and you know what many maybe I can answer a few of them. However couple coffee maybe I can answer a couple, maybe a bunch of my cooking because you're smarter than me.

The resurrection is a miracle. However that is undeniable, and when the unexplainable meets the undeniable one of two things are going to happen you wanted one option is you refuse to even consider the evidence until God explains these other things as if you refuse to even consider the possibility that there is a God who runs the universe is wisdom and ways are so much higher than yours. You might not be able to grasp everything immediately. That's one option. The other option is you humble yourself before God and you say okay God, I will consider the evidence on its own terms. I will realize that you have ways of running the universe which may not make sense to me and I will suspend my objections in light of the undeniable resurrection. You see, here's my view of heaven and I was not totally accurate but it to give you a picture that night. I think the I view the first hundred years old heaven as a big sixth-grade classroom were Jesus's walk since it's all down says okay Q&A whose first and I promise you, first I'll be second or third in a monastic question is to be a doozy. And Jesus can explain it to him. I had my backups to follow place in the end, when the other team doing this and finally he's not to say what you him angrier.

Somebody else just ask the question because I have lots of questions and lots of things that I don't quite understand yet but we cannot but help what we seen and heard the resurrection redefines everything. The question is, I know that you got questions. I know that you got doubts, here's my question for you. Are you open-minded enough to doubt your doubts to suppose that may be. There are some things that Jesus has not revealed totally to your understanding yet but you believe them because he resurrected.

That's what happened to Peter is Peter to get an explanation. He got a revelation and the revelation was the resurrection of Jesus.

Number two Peter realized the light of the resurrection that his past no longer defined in the resurrection is true.

The red pastor longer defined me Peter said like I told you Peter felt like he had let Jesus down summary times that his relationship with Jesus was beyond repair. But here's what he says in his first letter, the book of first Peter, he says through the resurrection. We are born again into a living hope, one verse four that is kept in heaven for us. There are two things in that verse that totally changed how Peter saw himself born again and living hope. Let me start with living hope your hope in this context is whatever you believe danger acceptance before God. Most people believe that God's acceptance of them is based on how good they are, how well they keep the tenets of their religion like God's big scorecard or maybe God Beeswax scale like things in heaven where was your good works on one side to bad works. On the other. If so, your hope is how well do you live the networks awesome until like Peter, you fail and you start wondering okay how good is good enough. What's the cut off does God write on the courtesy throughout the lowest grades I got me to college right drama look your lowest grade I had this moment where I did this and Laura did it. Got a brother to think maybe I'll be okay and you certainly would doubt have I done enough.

That's where Peter was.

Have I sinned too much that I can get back. The gospel is that Christ earned our acceptance in our place.

He paid the penalty for our sin when we say here is he live the life that we were supposed to live. And then he died the death that we were condemned to die in our place in the resurrection was God's declaration that he had accepted Jesus payment on our behalf. In the resurrection, God declares that Jesus payment process sufficient God resurrected Jesus and he put them at the right hand of God, and there he stands Peter says alive, testifying to the fact that my acceptance is settled in the payment for my sin is finished. That's what Peter said I got a living hope that's kept in heaven for me. It's no longer dependent on me is standing there by the throne of God and every time I have a question of whether or not God can accept me into heaven.

Jesus says yes yes because I boarded taking care of your payment in your place. You see, Jesus stands there and what he is doing for you.

If you have trusted him as your Savior is when somebody brings an accusation against you is is. Here's why they K going to heaven, Jesus, as you can hold accusation against them because I pay for that accusation and I have settled their debt forever. Let me make a bold statement you this summer you're gonna find three a little abrasive and maybe a little arrogant if not somewhat real estate not heart attack and I dropdead before my dead body hit the floor of this stage, my soul would be standing in the presence of God and I made sure that I would enter into Heaven's Gate, as I'm sure Jesus is there right now you see how the world as you possibly say that you really think you're that awesome note, no wife reminds me often that I'm not that awesome is that I know that my salvation is no longer dependent on how I live my salvation is dependent on what Jesus Christ did in my place you live the life I was supposed to live. He died the death I was condemned to die. He did it for me as a gift, and he gave it to me and I got a living hope standing out the throne of God and my salvation is assures him as always he's there and guarantee that I will enter into heaven because he has become my salvation.

Most people in our culture say things like all religions teach the same thing and truthfully many religions do about many things on this when the gospel is totally different because the gospel says no it is not how well you do that earned your place in heaven because you could never do enough is what Jesus has done.

Peter says in the resurrection I got a living hope now and the other things on born again God through the resurrection has started that process of new life in me. In the same power that brought Jesus out of the grave turn Peter from a Jesus denying coward and a Peter.

The rock of the church that is the same power that can work in you there. Many of you that are in this place at one of our campuses that you feel like Peter out even know how to get back you look around at all these other people you man their lives sure look like they are together. These people look like they everything is perfect. All dressed up. Looks I'm going to church Abercrombie and Fitch is how they dress up their styles and I could never fit in this group. Something messed up. I been passenger for 13 years, which still blows my mind I knew something about these people sit around you that you don't know and you would not be sitting as close to them. If you knew some of things that I knew there are some people listening to me right now who are very active members of this church. At one point in their life or on drugs. There are some who were unfaithful to their spouses and destroy their marriages. There were some who got kicked out of school for cheating.

There were some who spent time in prison. There are some who were filled with bitterness and racism and hate. But God change them now because they were decent people who just needed a second chance, but because they were dead people that Jesus made alive. You feel like you're too messed up for God to be interested in you. You thought your mistakes are too severe. You thought your addictions are too strong. God breathed life into a dead body God brief courage into a cowardly Peter he Breedlove into a murderous Paul he believes free self-control into a lustful Augustine when you believe he will breathe new life into you. Your past does not define you because Jesus has settled the payment for your sin he is washed it away through his blood he is giving you his righteousness and he started the new process of new life in you. When you trust him as your Savior. Here is the third implication of the empty tomb. Peter said because of it.

I know my future is secure.

Peter says through the resurrection. We now have an inheritance that can never perish.

Never spoil or fade.

One of the depressing things you learn as you get older is everything in your life.

Spoils your riches spoil, even if you managed to hang onto until you die you give your kids and it's called them and they fritter away your health spoils. Even if your you know an awesome specimen high to low IQ today when I was 22 years old and it just makes me mad I could drink like 10 o'clock and I drink an entire 2 L Mountain Dew and eat a whole bag of chips and a sleeve of fig newtons and a right to sleep wake up the next day and never gave up and I do every night never gave town now I look at a muffin Starbucks and I gave town noises let you start measuring that your your body fat percentage content gig. It was on the season like I know how to measure the body fat content. I get out of the shower. I stamp my foot and I start counting the last part of me quits jiggling. That's my body fat count on the you machine a night when I was 20.

In my 20s I play four hours a basketball four hours a basketball and I got this morning define noise like what you do today.

Yesterday unlike what's a movie I don't know. It just hurts. I'm not looking forward to my 35th birthday. Because he does get older religious herds, your family, your family fades. We love our families. Write me here is available as a pastor everybody's family screwed up. You will just wish I had their family know you don't usual normal enough, everybody's got the crazy uncle already got. Years later, family, billing all going about so-and-so, if you're sitting like a nobody like that my family and you are the crazy uncle there thinking, not about you right now matter what you try to hold onto it all fade in all spoils in the life of believer and unbeliever probably never more contrasted than in how the believer and unbeliever approach that reality Bertrand Russell who wrote the book why I'm not a Christian, why I am not a Christian I read this several years ago said that his near death is and I'm realizing the darkness and of always feared is finally overtaking me there is no justice.

If you happen to be one of the ones who fortune who fortune fills their lives with tragedy, then you just gotta live is one of the losers I contrast that with one of my heroes of faith.

Joni Erickson taught a who was still alive. But when she was in her teens I think she was 14 years old. She had a diving accident broke her neck. She's for 50 years she's been a quadriplegic paralyzed from the neck down.

She says when I got right with God.

You know, 17 years old and I would look around and I would see all my friends running and jumping. I used to be in the swim team.

The diving team I would get so angry that I couldn't do that anymore and she said it really can go ahead. One morning in church, she said in the morning in church. The pastor us or biting the meal and there I am in a wheelchair not but I will never be able to kneel. She's admitted hit me. She said one day the first time that I'm going to have the strength to kneel on to be in the presence of Jesus, and she said what can happen.

My first action that I'm going to take as I stand on my new sanctified legs is to drop to my new sanctified knees and just thank Jesus for saving my soul and then on a jump up and I want to do a back flip that is the difference of somebody that approaches life with the understand the resurrection of somebody approaches life without it. There's a question for you. What are you going to do what you can a hope in when death overtakes you. I have three daughters.

So of course the very first weekend it was out.

We were all there to see Cinderella if you haven't seen the movie you probably know the story Cinderella was a very beautiful girl who, though she had been born and privilege to a family who loved her deeply was forced to live with a wicked stepmother and her two wicked stepsisters who turned her into a slave made her feel ugly.

One night, you have a story or fairy godmother shows up is your address in the pumpkin carriage and she goes to the ball. Were she experiences the love of the prints and everything for those few hours are like. It should be within the clock strikes midnight and she is swept back into her old situation. All that's left of that glorious few hours are the glass slippers in the movie she's got one in the prints as one best part of the stories of the Prince never forgets or refuses to forget her and he won't rest until he has found her and brought her back to the palace.

So because house to house looking for her until he finds her mail live happily ever after. And I'm watching that annunciator and I think you know, the resurrection is a lot like that glass slipper. I'm in a theater with 100 5010-year-old girls.

I had the theology tries to keep my sanity.

We live in a world that is under the influence of the wicked stepmother the devil. We are oppressed by her two wicked daughters the world and our flash who constantly beat us up and constantly tell us that were worthless, but in the gospel. We have met the prints now. We got the shoe. The resurrection is that shoe of God's promise of what he is making this into the promise that he's gonna return for us. So what you do when the wicked stepmother or your stepsisters treat you poorly what you do when they make you feel worthless. You deify their lives with that glass slipper. You tell yourself in the resurrection that this dirty dungeon is not your home that wicked stepmother and those wicked stepsisters are not your family this rap existence is not your future. You are love by the prints you are cherished by the Prince and the Princess coming back for you. Faith has a starting point faith has a basis that basis of the resurrection of Jesus.

When the apostles chose one word to summarize their entire message it wasn't chastity one purity. It wasn't give money what even cross the one word that summarize their message was the resurrection. Why because the resurrection was everything the resurrection was how they knew what they knew.

The resurrection was how they knew what to experience in the present.

The new life of Christ, the resurrection was how they knew what to expect in the future. This was what was coming for them. The resurrection was the assurance that as he had left he was going to come back.

The resurrection was the core of their faith. It was a starting point was a basis it was everything and the best part of the resurrection for them that it was offered. Anybody who would receive it. It was a gift. It was a gift that God gave to you when you took your place and died in your place, and they gave you this is a gift, but you have to receive it personally is not automatically applied to you. You have to choose to make it your own.

It's a gift. The question I have for you this weekend at all of our campus is is have you ever personally received asked if you come to church every once in a while when you give a lot to ask you how good of a person you are is very possible to be in church all your life and never have actually made this your own but you can this weekend if you want.

Once you bow your heads all over campus is if you would if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior. If you're not sure you have a personal relationship with him simply receiving the gift. It's two things. Repentance and faith, repentance means you surrender to the control of Jesus.

You express that right now in a prayer is not magic words what a prayer from your heart Jesus or the Lord, and I surrender to you. Faith means you receive the gift that is offering that would sound something like this, Jesus.

I receive this gift of salvation resurrection is my right now. I take it is mine. Yes, Lord Jesus, yes, I think. Father I pray for the many right now. One of our campuses. Just trust to join the many this weekend. He trusted Christ as their Savior. I pray God that this would become the moment that their lives totally transformed and I pray God that she would give them the courage to do what I when I asked him to do next operate as this God in Jesus name, amen.

Everybody IS if you look up here for just a moment to be an invitation to do something we do now for the last several he serves and that is give you a chance to express your faith. Express your trust in Jesus Christ. Baptism if you never have.

Baptism was what Jesus commanded for every follower of Jesus after they had trusted Christ as their Savior trusted him as her Savior received baptism, you reenact the resurrection, just like Jesus was put in the earth. You go down in the water and just like Jesus was brought out of the earth. You come up out of the water, demonstrating that you have taken his death and his resurrection on your behalf as your own. It's a public proclamation that you receive Christ. Jesus gives it is a command to everyone who is followed him. We got basically three groups of people in the church. We got one. This group of people that you trusted Christ in you. 40 been baptized. We had another group that used trusted Christ just a few moments ago for the first time.

The message made sense and you just begin a personal relationship with Jesus you prayed that prayer with me and him and ask you in just a minute when we all stand over campus and someone asked you to do something very bold much you step out into the aisle at your campus and when I should come forward and they'll be somebody there that she was to grab you and they're gonna were to go in there and answer any questions you have and if you want to get baptized. That point is no pressure, but to give you a chance to be baptized as 1/3 group and that some of you that were trust Christ long time ago in your relationship got a sincere, but you never expressed that the baptism you were to give you a chance to do that today as well say was it really that important. I mean this is a hassle. Jesus commanded, so it's important you say why got the main thing writing about relations with yes you have them anything right, but Jesus commanded that you should do it so well will go home when it's cold outside kisses were awesome we were to have everything that you need to change close we get every possible thing that you would need to talk on the product to be a nothing you think of it. We got you, will take care that we got towels and will we got that taken care of so valid that does the baby you know we think that's awesome, I'm your parents baptize you in the hopes of one day you grow up and follow Jesus. Praise God for that. We want to celebrate that the baptism in the New Testament is supposed to be a declaration of your own faith. So it's time for you now as an adult to ratify your parents faith. They expressed faith in the sprinkled you was a kid.

Now you're been expressed faith by saying I trust in Christ and my choice in the middle ratify what they did to baptism every year at Easter.

We have whole families get baptized. It's awesome.

I don't how many of already done at last 30 some much more.

The first services this morning someone invites you to never take that step to do it this weekend. It's bold. I know you made were taken out of the were ready, you're ready to quit making excuses… Do this okay all of our campuses in just a minute when I stand you up. Don't wait, don't wait for mouse move just in one motion to stand up and just move out of the you make your way forward somebody will greet you there looks my standing right here to my right into my left don't greet you there no bill take prime father I pray that in this moment, you would give people the courage to obey what you were telling them to do and I pray God that they would obey this impulse that you're putting their heart.

I pray in Jesus name, amen, amen at all of our campuses altogether, but stayed in unison or worship teams are coming. You step out right now will be somebody to greet you here at either side step out right now at your campus and you make your way down and they will take you. Don't wait and somebody else know now. The person beside you will move out of the way the back you come down and so I don't greet you in thanking her hands together all of our campuses