April 19, 2025 • 32 mins
Today's episode of Sunday Service by Pray.com features Ken Foreman.
In this powerful devotional, we reflect on the freedom God brings to our lives by revisiting the Exodus story. Just as He delivered Israel from Egypt, He also delivers us from our past, our shame, and our bondage. Through the blood of Jesus, we are set free, completely and forever. Discover how you can walk in that freedom today.
Sunday Service is a weekly podcast featuring some of the nation’s most renowned faith leaders. Every Sunday, tune in for inspiration, encouragement, and Bible-based teachings.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. Jesus said, unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me. Though
he were dead, yet shall he live? John eleven twenty five. Jesus,
I believe in your resurrection. I believe you were dead
and buried, but rose again on the third day. You
(00:23):
are alive and seated at the right hand of the Father.
I believe that when I accepted you into my heart,
you gave me eternal life. I will live beyond the
grave with you forever. Jesus, you are my life, my hope,
and my eternal joy. I believe your word is the
(00:43):
way you want me to live. As I humble myself
in obedience to your will, I will let you know
how much I love you. Those who don't love you
follow their own ways, strengthen me to follow you all
the days of my life.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Thank you for listening to today's daily prayer. For more
inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor, stay
tuned to pray dot COM's Sunday service.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Hello pray dot com family, Happy Resurrection Sunday. This is
Ken Foreman, the lead pastor at the Cathedral Faith Church
in San Jose, California. And it is such an honor
and joy to join you in celebrating this great day.
The Bible says, Praise be to the God and Father
(01:48):
of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy
has given us a new birth into a living hope.
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we
have a living hope in a living person, and his
name is Jesus. He has risen and hope is rising.
(02:11):
So if you've had a setback, get ready for a comeback.
Now we live with great expectation. His comeback is our comeback.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Let's celebrate together.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Everyone. The toomb is open. He's alive. That's not possible, Mary,
Maybe it was someone else.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Anything got mad?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
H Peter, see the doom for yourself. Now do you
(03:23):
believe me? But he's gone gone.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Now he's back. Amen.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yes, that's what we celebrate today.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
He's back. Say that way me. He's back.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And because he's back, his comeback is my comeback. It's
great to see everybody well, Cathedral of Faith. God is
good and all the time, Jesus is alive. The tomb
is empty, and his comeback means my comeback.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
In fact, on your way in.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
You receive this little towel, and it's a piece of
cloth that reminds us that his comeback is my comeback.
And if at some point during the sermon you get
inspired and you want to wave that towel. Football has
its terrible towels, and Cathedral has its comeback claws. Amen,
(04:52):
for the next few moments, I want to talk to
you about a comeback. If you had a set up,
set back is in this place and wants to give
you a comeback. Think for a moment about one of
the greatest comebacks you've ever seen in your lifetime.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
It might be in.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Music, it might be in sports, it might be in politics,
it might be in business. One of the greatest comebacks
I've ever seen in my lifetime was in a boxer
by the name of George Foreman. Now, this Foreman is
a lover, not a fighter, but that Foreman was a fighter,
(05:35):
a very good fighter. He became the heavyweight champion of
the world. And there's a new film coming out in just.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
A few weeks.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Our teams, some of our team had a chance to
do an early screening of the film and they said
it's very inspirational.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
And as you follow his life.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
You started boxing when he was young, and then he
won the gold medal in the Olympics, and then he
turned pro at twenty four, and then he became the
heavyweight champion of the world.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
And his career was up.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Into the right all the way till he met Muhammad Ali,
and in a fight that they called the Rumble in
the Jungle, Ali knocked him down, knocked him out, and
he never could get another title shot. So we ended
up paying up his gloves retiring from boxing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But ten years later he decided to make a comeback.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
The reason he said he was going to make a
comeback was to prove that turning forty is not a
death sentence, and all those over forty said amen to that, right.
So he starts training, working up the ranks, and eventually
it gets his title shot.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
He's forty five years old. In boxing. You might have
we'll be one hundred and five.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
He's forty five, His opponent is twenty six. Nobody gave
him a shot, but he stuns everyone by knocking out
his opponent. He becomes the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
We have a picture of his victory right up here.
(07:23):
Every wrong foreman everybody's got to have a dream.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Amen. But think about that.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Twenty years after he lost the title, he regains the title,
and he wore the same red trunks, the same trunks
he was wearing when he lost.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
He wears them again when he wins.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Now those trunks had a new memory attached to them.
Think about your life, where could you use a comeback?
It seems to me the great comeback in human history
was what happened two thousand years ago when Jesus Christ
(08:07):
came back from the dead. Up until that point, Death
was undefeated. Every time it had a match, it knocked
the other person down and it knocked them out. It
was undefeated, and it looked like the same thing was
gonna happen again.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
It knocked Jesus down and.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You could hear the count day one, day two.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But on day.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Three, Jesus gets up off the mat, steps out of
the grave, and Death is not undefeated anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Jesus comes back, and we read this in Hebrews chapter two,
that through his death he the power of the devil.
Would you say that with me he destroyed the power
of the devil, who has the power of death.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Jesus did this to make us free.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
From the fear of death. We no longer need to
be chained to this fear. And in one Corinthians fifteen
we read it a moment ago It says, oh.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
But thank God he gives us a victory over sin
and death through our Lord Jesus Christ, hallelujah. And because
Jesus was the greatest comeback champion, he can help me
(09:51):
to have it come back to Where have you had
a set back? I mean when people looked at Jesus,
they thought he was finished. Do you remember his last
words on the cross? And John nineteen we read when
he had received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished.
With that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
It is finished. Would you say that with me?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It is finished? Everyone that heard that thought that meant
that Jesus was finished. His enemies thought that he was finished.
The religious leaders they never did like Jesus. They didn't
like his mission, they didn't like his message, and they
(10:38):
were so mad.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
At Jesus, so threatened by Jesus said.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
They pushed to have Jesus killed on a cross. Think
about it, the best government of that day and the
best religion of that day. They team up to put
the most innocent person who has ever lived, this sinless savior,
(11:04):
son of the living God. They put him to death,
and when they did, they thought they would never hear
from him again. And then on account of.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
Three, Jesus stood up, walks out of the grave, and
they found out that he was not finished after all.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
As a matter of fact, he was just getting started.
Even his friends, even his friends, they thought he was finished.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
They really did.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
At one point they thought he was a savior that
the world had been waiting for. But then he died
that humilitating death on the cross, and now they thought,
he's just one more would be savior. If you study history,
there were lots of in the first century, lots of
would be saviors that showed up, and the same thing
would always happen. The leader of the movement would be killed,
(12:06):
the followers would scatter, and you would never hear from
them again.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
They were down for the count, and.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
When Jesus was killed, the disciples thought he's another would
be savior. But on ac count of three, Jesus gets
up off the mat, walks out of the grave and
they found out that Jesus was not finished after all.
(12:37):
As a matter of fact, he was just getting started.
And more than three billion people around the planet today
are celebrating.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
The resurrection of Jesus Christ with us. Can we give
him praise?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Amen Ah, Jesus is alive and well. See, Jesus did
not say I am finished. He said it is finished.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
It's not a cry of defeat, it's a cry of victory.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Then, the same way an artist finishes a painting, or
in the same way a manager finishes a project, or
in the same way that a student finishes a paper,
or in the same way that a dog. You can
see this dog just finished his taxes. When you complete
(13:31):
the task after all the blood, sweat and tears, and
you say it is finished, this is what Jesus was saying.
My mission is finished, My assignment is finished.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I came and I.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Lived the perfect life that you could not live, and
then I died the death.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
That you deserve to die. It is finished.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
He has completed his mission. And when you put your
faith and trust in him. Let me tell you, someone
needs to know that when you put your faith in
trust in him, your life is not finished.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
You are just getting started.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
You really are, even if you've had an epic fail.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know those little things called gifts.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I saw these gifts that had the title of epic fail.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
See what you think.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Here's a golfer who has an epic fail. I feel
his pain. Here's a soccer player, and then there's a guy.
He's working out on a treadmill. But it's all coming apart.
Don't you hate when that happens. Let's go a bit
(14:48):
more personal. Can I ask you a question. If you're
having a cup of coffee and you told me about
an epic fail in your life, what would you say.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Do you think you can come back from that?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
There was a young lady who had experienced failure in
her marriage. Whenever you get married, you walk down the aisle.
No one wants the marriage to end up in divorce.
No one plans on it ending up in divorce. But
people are broken. Life can get messy, and that's where
she found herself.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And she needed to come back. This is what she writes.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I am thirty one years old and divorced. Though I
fought the divorce bitterly, I still feel bad. I have
no hope for the future. I go home and cry,
but no one is there to hold me when I cry.
I'm stressed out emotionally, I feel so hurt and bitter.
I feel I will have to sit out the rest
(15:52):
of my life, the rest of my life in the
penalty box.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Have you had some kind.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Of set back, some kind of epic fail. You need
to come back in your relationships. You need to come
back in your spirit. You need to come back from
that relapse. You need to come back from that bankruptcy.
(16:28):
Jesus lead disciple, he knew what it was to have
an epic fail.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
You want to see an epic fail.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
The night before Jesus goes to the cross, his lead
disciple Peter, he says this to Jesus.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
He says, even.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
If everyone else deserts you, I will never I will
never say that with me.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I will never desert you.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Even if I have to die with you, I will
never say that with me.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I will never deny you.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
He makes a promise, and in just a few hours,
not a few weeks, not a few days, a few
hours later.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
He denies three times that he.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Even knows the best friend that he has ever had.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
That's what you call an epic fail.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And those aren't the kinds of things you read about
on Facebook. People post their successes on Facebook, but failure
is what we can all identify with. I don't know
a lot about you. I may not know where you
were born. I may not know how old you are,
I may not know where you work. But I know
(17:45):
one thing about you. I know that at some point
in your life, to one level, you have experienced failure,
because it is the human condition that we.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
All have in common.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
But thanks be to God, because of Jesus Christ. Here
at cathedral, we have a saying, and the saying goes
like this, Mistakes are not fatal, Failure is not final,
and delays are not denials.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Would you say that with me?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Mistakes are not fatal, Failure is not final, and delays
are not denials. Failure is not final. And when you
bring that failure to Jesus. No one likes to fail,
No one wants to fail. It's painful to fail. But
(18:36):
when you bring that failure to Jesus, you can learn
from it, You can grow from it, and it can
be a stepping stone to your future success and your
comepack can be greater than ever. See Jesus, he came
back and because he came back. I can have my
(19:00):
If I've had a setup, I can have a comeback.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I'm on my way. Say that with me.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I'm on my way. And that's what happens to this disciple, Peter.
He's given another chance. He makes a comeback. We read
about this comeback a few days after the resurrection in
John chapter twenty one that Jesus says to Peter. He says,
(19:30):
Simon's son of John.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Do you love me.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked a question a third time.
He said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I
love you.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Jesus said, then feed my sheep. Feed my sheep.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
How many times did Peter deny Jesus three times?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And three times.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Jesus asked, Peter, do you love me? And three times
Peter answered, you know that I love you? And three
times Jesus restores Peter's mission, then feed my sheep. In
other words, Peter, your best days are not behind you.
(20:20):
Your best days are still ahead of you. Jesus is
in the house, and that makes all the difference.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
It does. And the sound of that to Peter.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
It was sealed with all things, of all things with
a scent listen to where this took place. It took
place around breakfast, and we learned this about breakfast. It
says when they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them.
Jesus was cooking fish, cooking over a charcoal fire, underline, charcoal.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Fire, circle, chark hole fire. Follow me on this.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Did you know that your greatest sense that you have
is your sense of smell, That your nose can distinguish
between ten thousand different sense The smell can influence people's moods,
smell can influence.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Your work performance.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And your sense of smell is connected to this part
of your brain where your memories are formed.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So when you smell something.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
It can create a powerful memory for you and it's
attached to a person or an event, for example, when
you were young. Or if you smell bread, anybody like
the smell of bread? Yeah, anybody gonna have some bread
later on the day. Yeah, hurry up and finish the sermon?
(21:52):
Can so I can go have some bread today?
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
So this sense when you smell bread, it might take
you back to your mom when she was cooking bread
in the kitchen, or it may take you back to
a romantic dinner that you had.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
With your wife, or it may take you back to
that one time.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It was just once, that one time you broke your diet.
But your smell takes you back to a memory. And
what about the smell of a charcoal fire? Where did
that take Peter back to? There's only one other place
that you find this in the Bible, and that is
(22:32):
when Peter denied Jesus.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
He denied him around a charcoal fire.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
It was the scent of failure, the scent of setback.
And now Jesus creates this charcoal fire because he wants
to attach that smell to a new memory, a better memory.
Now it's the scent of restoration. Now it's the scent
(23:00):
of his comeback. Now it's the scent of Peter. Your
best days are not behind you. Your best days are
still ahead of you. And what if today, what if
this service? What if you're not here by accident or
you're here by chance. But the sights and the sounds
and even the scent of that charcoal fire, it's a
(23:23):
big setup for.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
You to come back.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
You may have had a setup, but God has set.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
This up for your comeback.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
As your best days are not behind you, your best
days are still ahead of you.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Hallelujah. Own it today.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
The scent of grace is in the air, the scent
of mercy is in the air.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Oh friend, I love the smell of a charcoal fire
in the morning. It smells like victory.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
God is not finished with you yet. I'm on my
way to my comeback. I'm on my way.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Say that with me. I'm on my way.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
When you bring your failure to Jesus, it's a little
bit like this basketball. It's playoff time in the Bay Area.
Can anybody say, Warriors, Oh, come on, we can do
better than that. Everybody whoas I thought you were in
(24:32):
the house. Have you noticed with the basketball that when
you bounce it, the harder it falls, the higher it bounces.
Have you noticed that the harder it falls, the higher
it bounces. And because Jesus came back from the dead,
(24:54):
and because we're connected to Jesus, I want this to
get in your spirit. If I fall down one time,
I'm bouncing back. If I fall down two times, I'm
bouncing back. If I fall down three times, I'm bouncing back.
If I fall down four times four times. If I
fall down four times, I'm bouncing back. If I fall
(25:15):
down five times, I'm bouncing back. If I fall down
six times, I'm bouncing back.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
If I fall down.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Seven seven times, seven times are down for the count.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
No I'm not.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
If I fall down seven times, I'm bouncing back. The
Bible says, for though the rightss fall seven times, they
rise again, Halleluja.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
And the harder I fall, the higher.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
I'm gonna bounce. Let that get in your spirit. I'm
on my way to my comeback.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Say it with me.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I'm on my way to my comeback. I want you
to hear from a friend of mine because you maybe
think and it'll take a miracle.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
It really will.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
But a friend of mine, Roma Downey, who she was
a star of touch by an angel, but she's also
the head now of MGM Studios in she took time
to sit down and share a message for Cathedral. Share
a little bit about the movie. It's based on a miracle,
real life story. And as you watch this, I want
(26:28):
you to think about your story if you need a
miracle for your comeback, nothing is impossible with God.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
And I've just made a new movie that's coming onto
Amazon Prime.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
It's called On a Wing and a Prayer.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
It stars Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham and this extraordinary
true story of a family who get on board a
small plane coming out of Fort Myers, Florida, flying to
Louisiana after a funeral, and the most extraordinary thing happens.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
The pilot, the.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Only pilot on board, dies unexpectedly of a heart attack.
And this family find themselves hurtling through the air in
a plane that no one knows.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
How to fly.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
It's like your worst nightmare, really, but they're a family
of faith, and they call out to the Lord, and
through an extraordinary series.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
Of coincidences.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
And talent and hard work and mobilization, everyone comes together
to help.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
And it's extraordinary story of a miracle. Really. It made
me think.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
The reason I wanted to tell this story was that
it made me think of all the places in our
own lives where you know, we're not at the yoke
of a plane, and God willing.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
We never will be.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
But there may be situations in your life that are challenging.
You know, many of you might be facing health issues
or financial issues, issues of.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Heartache and loss.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
And I know I've experienced many of these things myself,
and you think, how am I going to land this plane.
How am I going to get through this? And I
just encourage you two things. One, if you need help,
make sure you reach out and ask somebody you know,
because if they don't know that you need help, they
(28:38):
don't know that you're struggling, people can't take action on
your behalf. And the second thing is not to forget
to pray about it. I have seen prayer work firsthand
in my own life.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
We belong to a loving God.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
And when you pray in the mighty name of Jesus,
you know miracles can happen. Extraordinary things do happen, healings
can occur, planes can get lended.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Amen. Well, God, nothing's impossible that come back.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
Get in your spirit today to bow your heads with
me for just a moment. Everybody lock in, whether you're
on site online, I.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Want to ask you a question.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
If you say, pastor ken, I'm here on Easter so
I know about Jesus.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I've heard about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I admire Jesus, I like Jesus. I'm a fan, I
really am. But you've never really surrendered your life to Jesus.
Every journey starts with a step, and you've never stepped
across the line. And said, I am moving from being
a fan to being a follower, and that's the decision
you're making today.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I want to agree with you that this is your moment.
This is your moment. All heaven's locked in.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
And if that's a decision you're making, would you lift
up your hand real high all over the building.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. Up
in the balcony, God bless you. God sees your hand,
he sees your hearts.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Out in the amphitheater, out in the parking lot, those
who are watching online, Lord Jesus, I thank you for
those who are making decisions today to follow you.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
They're putting their trust in you.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
They're receiving you as their savior, and they're making you
lord of their life.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
They're putting you in charge. They're surrendering your the life
to you. God.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
I pray they would know how much they're loved by you.
And I pray for all of us, all of us today,
that the spirit of comeback would get on the inside
of us. Then we've had a set back. It's just
a setup for our comeback. And because Jesus came back,
we're on our way back to We believe it. We
(31:03):
declare it in Jesus' name. For Jesus glory. All God's
people said, Amen, Let's give him praise.
Speaker 7 (31:10):
Amen, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
You will be like God.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
Human unity.
Speaker 5 (31:29):
God was severed and through it all God's promise remain true.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Follow me, April, and I will make you great.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
This is the Chosen People.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Listen to the Chosen People at the Chosen people dot com.
That's the Chosen People dot com.
Let us pray. Jesus said, unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me. Though
he were dead, yet shall he live? John eleven twenty five. Jesus,
I believe in your resurrection. I believe you were dead
and buried, but rose again on the third day. You
(00:23):
are alive and seated at the right hand of the Father.
I believe that when I accepted you into my heart,
you gave me eternal life. I will live beyond the
grave with you forever. Jesus, you are my life, my hope,
and my eternal joy. I believe your word is the
(00:43):
way you want me to live. As I humble myself
in obedience to your will, I will let you know
how much I love you. Those who don't love you
follow their own ways, strengthen me to follow you all
the days of my life.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Thank you for listening to today's daily prayer. For more
inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor, stay
tuned to pray dot COM's Sunday service.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Hello pray dot com family, Happy Resurrection Sunday. This is
Ken Foreman, the lead pastor at the Cathedral Faith Church
in San Jose, California. And it is such an honor
and joy to join you in celebrating this great day.
The Bible says, Praise be to the God and Father
(01:48):
of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy
has given us a new birth into a living hope.
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we
have a living hope in a living person, and his
name is Jesus. He has risen and hope is rising.
(02:11):
So if you've had a setback, get ready for a comeback.
Now we live with great expectation. His comeback is our comeback.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Let's celebrate together.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Everyone. The toomb is open. He's alive. That's not possible, Mary,
Maybe it was someone else.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Anything got mad?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
H Peter, see the doom for yourself. Now do you
(03:23):
believe me? But he's gone gone.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Now he's back. Amen.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yes, that's what we celebrate today.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
He's back. Say that way me. He's back.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And because he's back, his comeback is my comeback. It's
great to see everybody well, Cathedral of Faith. God is
good and all the time, Jesus is alive. The tomb
is empty, and his comeback means my comeback.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
In fact, on your way in.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
You receive this little towel, and it's a piece of
cloth that reminds us that his comeback is my comeback.
And if at some point during the sermon you get
inspired and you want to wave that towel. Football has
its terrible towels, and Cathedral has its comeback claws. Amen,
(04:52):
for the next few moments, I want to talk to
you about a comeback. If you had a set up,
set back is in this place and wants to give
you a comeback. Think for a moment about one of
the greatest comebacks you've ever seen in your lifetime.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
It might be in.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Music, it might be in sports, it might be in politics,
it might be in business. One of the greatest comebacks
I've ever seen in my lifetime was in a boxer
by the name of George Foreman. Now, this Foreman is
a lover, not a fighter, but that Foreman was a fighter,
(05:35):
a very good fighter. He became the heavyweight champion of
the world. And there's a new film coming out in just.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
A few weeks.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Our teams, some of our team had a chance to
do an early screening of the film and they said
it's very inspirational.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
And as you follow his life.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
You started boxing when he was young, and then he
won the gold medal in the Olympics, and then he
turned pro at twenty four, and then he became the
heavyweight champion of the world.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
And his career was up.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Into the right all the way till he met Muhammad Ali,
and in a fight that they called the Rumble in
the Jungle, Ali knocked him down, knocked him out, and
he never could get another title shot. So we ended
up paying up his gloves retiring from boxing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But ten years later he decided to make a comeback.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
The reason he said he was going to make a
comeback was to prove that turning forty is not a
death sentence, and all those over forty said amen to that, right.
So he starts training, working up the ranks, and eventually
it gets his title shot.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
He's forty five years old. In boxing. You might have
we'll be one hundred and five.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
He's forty five, His opponent is twenty six. Nobody gave
him a shot, but he stuns everyone by knocking out
his opponent. He becomes the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
We have a picture of his victory right up here.
(07:23):
Every wrong foreman everybody's got to have a dream.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Amen. But think about that.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Twenty years after he lost the title, he regains the title,
and he wore the same red trunks, the same trunks
he was wearing when he lost.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
He wears them again when he wins.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Now those trunks had a new memory attached to them.
Think about your life, where could you use a comeback?
It seems to me the great comeback in human history
was what happened two thousand years ago when Jesus Christ
(08:07):
came back from the dead. Up until that point, Death
was undefeated. Every time it had a match, it knocked
the other person down and it knocked them out. It
was undefeated, and it looked like the same thing was
gonna happen again.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
It knocked Jesus down and.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You could hear the count day one, day two.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But on day.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Three, Jesus gets up off the mat, steps out of
the grave, and Death is not undefeated anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Jesus comes back, and we read this in Hebrews chapter two,
that through his death he the power of the devil.
Would you say that with me he destroyed the power
of the devil, who has the power of death.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Jesus did this to make us free.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
From the fear of death. We no longer need to
be chained to this fear. And in one Corinthians fifteen
we read it a moment ago It says, oh.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
But thank God he gives us a victory over sin
and death through our Lord Jesus Christ, hallelujah. And because
Jesus was the greatest comeback champion, he can help me
(09:51):
to have it come back to Where have you had
a set back? I mean when people looked at Jesus,
they thought he was finished. Do you remember his last
words on the cross? And John nineteen we read when
he had received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished.
With that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
It is finished. Would you say that with me?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It is finished? Everyone that heard that thought that meant
that Jesus was finished. His enemies thought that he was finished.
The religious leaders they never did like Jesus. They didn't
like his mission, they didn't like his message, and they
(10:38):
were so mad.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
At Jesus, so threatened by Jesus said.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
They pushed to have Jesus killed on a cross. Think
about it, the best government of that day and the
best religion of that day. They team up to put
the most innocent person who has ever lived, this sinless savior,
(11:04):
son of the living God. They put him to death,
and when they did, they thought they would never hear
from him again. And then on account of.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
Three, Jesus stood up, walks out of the grave, and
they found out that he was not finished after all.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
As a matter of fact, he was just getting started.
Even his friends, even his friends, they thought he was finished.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
They really did.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
At one point they thought he was a savior that
the world had been waiting for. But then he died
that humilitating death on the cross, and now they thought,
he's just one more would be savior. If you study history,
there were lots of in the first century, lots of
would be saviors that showed up, and the same thing
would always happen. The leader of the movement would be killed,
(12:06):
the followers would scatter, and you would never hear from
them again.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
They were down for the count, and.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
When Jesus was killed, the disciples thought he's another would
be savior. But on ac count of three, Jesus gets
up off the mat, walks out of the grave and
they found out that Jesus was not finished after all.
(12:37):
As a matter of fact, he was just getting started.
And more than three billion people around the planet today
are celebrating.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
The resurrection of Jesus Christ with us. Can we give
him praise?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Amen Ah, Jesus is alive and well. See, Jesus did
not say I am finished. He said it is finished.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
It's not a cry of defeat, it's a cry of victory.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Then, the same way an artist finishes a painting, or
in the same way a manager finishes a project, or
in the same way that a student finishes a paper,
or in the same way that a dog. You can
see this dog just finished his taxes. When you complete
(13:31):
the task after all the blood, sweat and tears, and
you say it is finished, this is what Jesus was saying.
My mission is finished, My assignment is finished.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I came and I.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Lived the perfect life that you could not live, and
then I died the death.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
That you deserve to die. It is finished.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
He has completed his mission. And when you put your
faith and trust in him. Let me tell you, someone
needs to know that when you put your faith in
trust in him, your life is not finished.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
You are just getting started.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
You really are, even if you've had an epic fail.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know those little things called gifts.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
I saw these gifts that had the title of epic fail.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
See what you think.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Here's a golfer who has an epic fail. I feel
his pain. Here's a soccer player, and then there's a guy.
He's working out on a treadmill. But it's all coming apart.
Don't you hate when that happens. Let's go a bit
(14:48):
more personal. Can I ask you a question. If you're
having a cup of coffee and you told me about
an epic fail in your life, what would you say.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Do you think you can come back from that?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
There was a young lady who had experienced failure in
her marriage. Whenever you get married, you walk down the aisle.
No one wants the marriage to end up in divorce.
No one plans on it ending up in divorce. But
people are broken. Life can get messy, and that's where
she found herself.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And she needed to come back. This is what she writes.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I am thirty one years old and divorced. Though I
fought the divorce bitterly, I still feel bad. I have
no hope for the future. I go home and cry,
but no one is there to hold me when I cry.
I'm stressed out emotionally, I feel so hurt and bitter.
I feel I will have to sit out the rest
(15:52):
of my life, the rest of my life in the
penalty box.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Have you had some kind.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Of set back, some kind of epic fail. You need
to come back in your relationships. You need to come
back in your spirit. You need to come back from
that relapse. You need to come back from that bankruptcy.
(16:28):
Jesus lead disciple, he knew what it was to have
an epic fail.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
You want to see an epic fail.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
The night before Jesus goes to the cross, his lead
disciple Peter, he says this to Jesus.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
He says, even.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
If everyone else deserts you, I will never I will
never say that with me.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I will never desert you.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Even if I have to die with you, I will
never say that with me.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I will never deny you.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
He makes a promise, and in just a few hours,
not a few weeks, not a few days, a few
hours later.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
He denies three times that he.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Even knows the best friend that he has ever had.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
That's what you call an epic fail.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And those aren't the kinds of things you read about
on Facebook. People post their successes on Facebook, but failure
is what we can all identify with. I don't know
a lot about you. I may not know where you
were born. I may not know how old you are,
I may not know where you work. But I know
(17:45):
one thing about you. I know that at some point
in your life, to one level, you have experienced failure,
because it is the human condition that we.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
All have in common.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
But thanks be to God, because of Jesus Christ. Here
at cathedral, we have a saying, and the saying goes
like this, Mistakes are not fatal, Failure is not final,
and delays are not denials.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Would you say that with me?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Mistakes are not fatal, Failure is not final, and delays
are not denials. Failure is not final. And when you
bring that failure to Jesus. No one likes to fail,
No one wants to fail. It's painful to fail. But
(18:36):
when you bring that failure to Jesus, you can learn
from it, You can grow from it, and it can
be a stepping stone to your future success and your
comepack can be greater than ever. See Jesus, he came
back and because he came back. I can have my
(19:00):
If I've had a setup, I can have a comeback.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I'm on my way. Say that with me.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I'm on my way. And that's what happens to this disciple, Peter.
He's given another chance. He makes a comeback. We read
about this comeback a few days after the resurrection in
John chapter twenty one that Jesus says to Peter. He says,
(19:30):
Simon's son of John.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Do you love me.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked a question a third time.
He said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I
love you.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Jesus said, then feed my sheep. Feed my sheep.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
How many times did Peter deny Jesus three times?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And three times.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Jesus asked, Peter, do you love me? And three times
Peter answered, you know that I love you? And three
times Jesus restores Peter's mission, then feed my sheep. In
other words, Peter, your best days are not behind you.
(20:20):
Your best days are still ahead of you. Jesus is
in the house, and that makes all the difference.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
It does. And the sound of that to Peter.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
It was sealed with all things, of all things with
a scent listen to where this took place. It took
place around breakfast, and we learned this about breakfast. It
says when they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them.
Jesus was cooking fish, cooking over a charcoal fire, underline, charcoal.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Fire, circle, chark hole fire. Follow me on this.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Did you know that your greatest sense that you have
is your sense of smell, That your nose can distinguish
between ten thousand different sense The smell can influence people's moods,
smell can influence.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Your work performance.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And your sense of smell is connected to this part
of your brain where your memories are formed.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So when you smell something.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
It can create a powerful memory for you and it's
attached to a person or an event, for example, when
you were young. Or if you smell bread, anybody like
the smell of bread? Yeah, anybody gonna have some bread
later on the day. Yeah, hurry up and finish the sermon?
(21:52):
Can so I can go have some bread today?
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
So this sense when you smell bread, it might take
you back to your mom when she was cooking bread
in the kitchen, or it may take you back to
a romantic dinner that you had.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
With your wife, or it may take you back to
that one time.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It was just once, that one time you broke your diet.
But your smell takes you back to a memory. And
what about the smell of a charcoal fire? Where did
that take Peter back to? There's only one other place
that you find this in the Bible, and that is
(22:32):
when Peter denied Jesus.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
He denied him around a charcoal fire.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
It was the scent of failure, the scent of setback.
And now Jesus creates this charcoal fire because he wants
to attach that smell to a new memory, a better memory.
Now it's the scent of restoration. Now it's the scent
(23:00):
of his comeback. Now it's the scent of Peter. Your
best days are not behind you. Your best days are
still ahead of you. And what if today, what if
this service? What if you're not here by accident or
you're here by chance. But the sights and the sounds
and even the scent of that charcoal fire, it's a
(23:23):
big setup for.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
You to come back.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
You may have had a setup, but God has set.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
This up for your comeback.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
As your best days are not behind you, your best
days are still ahead of you.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Hallelujah. Own it today.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
The scent of grace is in the air, the scent
of mercy is in the air.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Oh friend, I love the smell of a charcoal fire
in the morning. It smells like victory.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
God is not finished with you yet. I'm on my
way to my comeback. I'm on my way.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Say that with me. I'm on my way.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
When you bring your failure to Jesus, it's a little
bit like this basketball. It's playoff time in the Bay Area.
Can anybody say, Warriors, Oh, come on, we can do
better than that. Everybody whoas I thought you were in
(24:32):
the house. Have you noticed with the basketball that when
you bounce it, the harder it falls, the higher it bounces.
Have you noticed that the harder it falls, the higher
it bounces. And because Jesus came back from the dead,
(24:54):
and because we're connected to Jesus, I want this to
get in your spirit. If I fall down one time,
I'm bouncing back. If I fall down two times, I'm
bouncing back. If I fall down three times, I'm bouncing back.
If I fall down four times four times. If I
fall down four times, I'm bouncing back. If I fall
(25:15):
down five times, I'm bouncing back. If I fall down
six times, I'm bouncing back.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
If I fall down.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Seven seven times, seven times are down for the count.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
No I'm not.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
If I fall down seven times, I'm bouncing back. The
Bible says, for though the rightss fall seven times, they
rise again, Halleluja.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
And the harder I fall, the higher.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
I'm gonna bounce. Let that get in your spirit. I'm
on my way to my comeback.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Say it with me.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I'm on my way to my comeback. I want you
to hear from a friend of mine because you maybe
think and it'll take a miracle.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
It really will.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
But a friend of mine, Roma Downey, who she was
a star of touch by an angel, but she's also
the head now of MGM Studios in she took time
to sit down and share a message for Cathedral. Share
a little bit about the movie. It's based on a miracle,
real life story. And as you watch this, I want
(26:28):
you to think about your story if you need a
miracle for your comeback, nothing is impossible with God.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
And I've just made a new movie that's coming onto
Amazon Prime.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
It's called On a Wing and a Prayer.
Speaker 5 (26:48):
It stars Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham and this extraordinary
true story of a family who get on board a
small plane coming out of Fort Myers, Florida, flying to
Louisiana after a funeral, and the most extraordinary thing happens.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
The pilot, the.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Only pilot on board, dies unexpectedly of a heart attack.
And this family find themselves hurtling through the air in
a plane that no one knows.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
How to fly.
Speaker 5 (27:20):
It's like your worst nightmare, really, but they're a family
of faith, and they call out to the Lord, and
through an extraordinary series.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
Of coincidences.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
And talent and hard work and mobilization, everyone comes together
to help.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
And it's extraordinary story of a miracle. Really. It made
me think.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
The reason I wanted to tell this story was that
it made me think of all the places in our
own lives where you know, we're not at the yoke
of a plane, and God willing.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
We never will be.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
But there may be situations in your life that are challenging.
You know, many of you might be facing health issues
or financial issues, issues of.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
Heartache and loss.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
And I know I've experienced many of these things myself,
and you think, how am I going to land this plane.
How am I going to get through this? And I
just encourage you two things. One, if you need help,
make sure you reach out and ask somebody you know,
because if they don't know that you need help, they
(28:38):
don't know that you're struggling, people can't take action on
your behalf. And the second thing is not to forget
to pray about it. I have seen prayer work firsthand
in my own life.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
We belong to a loving God.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
And when you pray in the mighty name of Jesus,
you know miracles can happen. Extraordinary things do happen, healings
can occur, planes can get lended.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Amen. Well, God, nothing's impossible that come back.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
Get in your spirit today to bow your heads with
me for just a moment. Everybody lock in, whether you're
on site online, I.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Want to ask you a question.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
If you say, pastor ken, I'm here on Easter so
I know about Jesus.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I've heard about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I admire Jesus, I like Jesus. I'm a fan, I
really am. But you've never really surrendered your life to Jesus.
Every journey starts with a step, and you've never stepped
across the line. And said, I am moving from being
a fan to being a follower, and that's the decision
you're making today.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I want to agree with you that this is your moment.
This is your moment. All heaven's locked in.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
And if that's a decision you're making, would you lift
up your hand real high all over the building.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. Up
in the balcony, God bless you. God sees your hand,
he sees your hearts.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Out in the amphitheater, out in the parking lot, those
who are watching online, Lord Jesus, I thank you for
those who are making decisions today to follow you.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
They're putting their trust in you.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
They're receiving you as their savior, and they're making you
lord of their life.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
They're putting you in charge. They're surrendering your the life
to you. God.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
I pray they would know how much they're loved by you.
And I pray for all of us, all of us today,
that the spirit of comeback would get on the inside
of us. Then we've had a set back. It's just
a setup for our comeback. And because Jesus came back,
we're on our way back to We believe it. We
(31:03):
declare it in Jesus' name. For Jesus glory. All God's
people said, Amen, Let's give him praise.
Speaker 7 (31:10):
Amen, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
You will be like God.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
Human unity.
Speaker 5 (31:29):
God was severed and through it all God's promise remain true.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Follow me, April, and I will make you great.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
This is the Chosen People.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Listen to the Chosen People at the Chosen people dot com.
That's the Chosen People dot com.
Host
Matthew Potter
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