Another Resurrection Story

April 8, 2026

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Grateful to God.
Our meditation text comes fromActs chapter 26, verses 12
through 15.
And I ask you to encourage youto read all of really chapter 25
and 26.
Really 24 through 26 that formsthe context of what we'll talk
about today.
But I want to give you thismeditation verse and then I'll

(00:22):
give you this our main text.
Amen.
Let us read together.
One day I was in Damascus, armedwith the authority and
commission of the leadingpriests.

(01:16):
And the Lord replied, I amJesus, the one you are
persecuting.
Amen, amen.
Paul recounting his testimonyfor others.
And our main text is one chapterbehind that.
Acts 25.

(01:37):
Verses 18 and 19.
And these are the words of tworulers in the region at the time
that Paul was on trial.
One by the name of Fesus.
And the other by the name ofKing Agrippa.
And here's what Fessus says toAgrippa.
But the accusations made againsthim weren't any of the crimes I

(02:00):
expected.
Instead, it was something abouttheir religion.
And a dead man.
Name Jesus.
That's where I want to part thisat.
Amen.
I want to talk about anotherresurrection story.

(02:23):
Another resurrection story.
Anybody here today love a greatstory?
I I have to admit, I just love agreat story.
I confess that.
Matter of fact, my favorite newsprogram.

(02:44):
I try to watch it every day.
ABC News with David Lewis.
That's pretty much all the newsI watch right there.
All that other stuff will upsetyou, amen.
But ABC News with David Lewis.
The reason why I watch him, Iwatch it because I just he gets
to the point.
But most importantly, at the endof every broadcast, he's gonna

(03:06):
close it with a great story.
I love that about it.
Last week, he shared a storyabout a man by the name of
Arthur.
Arthur Green is 109 years old,y'all.
He's a military veteran fromWorld War II.
And you know why he wasfeatured?

(03:27):
He threw out the first pitch atopening day for the Baltimore
Orioles.
Walked out on that field on hisown, threw the pitch on his own,
waved to the crowd, and walkedback to his seat all on his own.
Tell your neighbor, let me seewhat you do when you become 109
years old.

(03:50):
That's a great story.
I saw another story.
This story was about a PGAgolfer by the name of Gary
Woodland.
In September of 2023, Gary had abrain surgery to remove a brain
lesion.
Lesion was causing extremeanxiety and fear.

(04:13):
And even after the surgery, hecontinued to struggle mightily
with PTSD.
And yet last week, not only didhe win the 2026 Texas Children's
Houston Open, but he alsoqualified for the PGA flagship
tournament, The Masters.

(04:34):
Tell your neighbor, that's apretty good story.
But this last story is the onethat really did me in.
It's the story of aneight-year-old little boy by the
name of Bowden.
He's at three years old, hedeveloped a rare aggressive
staph infection that led toseptic shock.

(04:55):
He spent months in intensivecare.
He also went through some20-plus surgeries, but
unfortunately, they had toamputate both legs.
At three years old, you're old,y'all.
But that didn't stop him.
He plays little league baseballtoday.

(05:16):
The Arizona Diamondbacks, aMajor League Baseball franchise,
got wind of the story andinvited him to throw out the
first pitch of one of their homegames.
He ran out there on the field,threw out the first pitch as if
it was nothing.
Tell your neighbor, you thinkyou got problems.
That's a great story.

(05:36):
And all I'm trying to share thismorning is that I just really am
a sucker for good stories.
And those were some wonderfulstories I had to share.
And really, what I believe isthat on this Resurrection
Sunday, it really speaks toabout a God who himself loves a
great story.

(05:57):
Our God is a God that lovesstories.
And he loves a great story inreal life.
This past Friday, we had apowerful prayer time here at
Christ Community, our 12-hourprayer chain.
And it was really, reallysomething special.
But what really moved me is thatduring the prayer time, they

(06:19):
started playing one of thesongs, No Greater Love.
And if you know the song, it'sthe story about the cross.
And there's a line that says,They hung him high, they
stretched him wide, he hung hishead, for me he died.
That's love.
That's a great line.

(06:41):
That's a great story.
But the one that gets me is thatnext line.
But that's not how the story is.
Y'all don't hear me today.
Because in three days he roseagain.
That's love.
I'm simply trying to tell you,God loves a great story.

(07:03):
And I don't know who I'm talkingto today.
Maybe 2026 has been a rough yearfor you.
But God is here to tell.
I believe God is here to tellyou on this resurrection Sunday.
That's not how your story has toend.
The power of the resurrectioncan transform our story.

(07:23):
Matter of fact, I'm ready togive you my thesis right now.
The hope of the resurrection ofJesus Christ is that God loves
to craft our story.
No matter where you are, nomatter what chapter you're in,
no matter what volume you're in,the story is never over.
God can take the resurrectionstory and intertwine it with

(07:48):
your story and produce an entirenew ending.
God loves to craft our story.
And that's what we have heretoday.
He's crafting the story of Paulinto another resurrection story.
That's what's going on in thistext.
Luke shares with us how God wascrafting Paul's story.

(08:12):
And let me just kind of prefacemy remarks here today.
When I talk about anotherresurrection story, I'm not
talking about anotherresurrection event.
No, when we talk about theresurrection of Jesus Christ,
that is a unique event thathappened in human history.
No other religion, no otherfaith can claim someone who died

(08:34):
and came back to life to testifythat they have conquered death.
That's why we're Christianstoday.
Paul said it like this if Christbe not raised, your faith is in
vain.
The entire apparatus ofChristianity rests on the

(08:55):
resurrection.
It is not a cute fable, it isnot a cute little nursery rhyme,
it's not a little story.
No, 2,000 years ago, the stonewas rolled away.
Jesus came out of the grave andhe lives forever.
And the old folk would say, Howdo you know he lives?

(09:15):
Because he lives in me.
The resurrection is an eventalone, all by itself.
But God has a way of using theresurrection in our lives, in
which it echoes through theresurrection story he's crafting
in our lives.
And that's what Paul is goingthrough right here.

(09:37):
And that's what Luke is tryingto suggest to us in this story.
And Paul here, he has returnedto Jerusalem after his third
missionary journey.
And while in Jerusalem, he'sarrested, he's indicted, and put
on trial for the testimony ofthe resurrection.
And these two men in this text,Festus and King Agrippa, they've

(10:00):
been charged to decide the fateof Paul.
And I like how Luke describesit.
Luke describes it a way thatthat great scholar, Walter
Brugeman, talked about that Godhas this subversive paradigm.
That is, from a humanperspective, it may look like
one thing, but in a divineperspective, God is behind the

(10:24):
scenes, redirecting and movingthat thing in a different
direction.
So from a human perspective, itlooks like Festus and King
Agrippa is in charge.
It looks like God has allowedFestus and Agrippa to decide the
fate of Paul.
But from a divine perspective,God was using even their

(10:47):
dastardly, devious plans tobring about his purpose in the
life of Paul.
How do you know that, Pastor?
Because in Acts chapter 1, verse8, Jesus said, You shall be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea,Samaria, and the uttermost part
of the earth.
And Paul was tasked to carry thegospel all the way to Rome.

(11:10):
And the night before he wasarrested the first time in Acts
chapter 23, the Lord spoke tohim while he was in custody,
down in prison, and said, Paul,you will make it to Rome.
And here are these two rulers.
They think they can stop whatGod has for his life.
But how many of y'all know whenGod has a destiny for your life,

(11:34):
Satan and all the imps in hellcan't stop what God has for you?
And in this text, Luke isreminding us of who's already in
charge.
And in a word, what I'm tryingto say is when you trust God and

(11:55):
you give your life to Jesus, Godhas already written your
conclusion.
It's already written.
Just like Paul's, it was alreadywritten.
I don't care what your hatersmay be up to, I don't care what
your opposition may be up to.
When God makes a point that thisis gonna happen in your life,

(12:16):
all the forces of evil can comeagainst you, and they cannot
stop what God is doing in yourlife.
So let me run through this veryquickly.
How does God craft our story?
Three things very quickly, andI'll be out your way.
Number one, God has a way ofgiving us an undeniable
encounter.

(12:37):
An undeniable encounter.
That's why I love that text inverse 19 where he says instead
it was something about theirreligion and a dead man named
Jesus, who Paul insists isalive.
I'm in that Paul group.
I insist that he's alive.

(13:00):
It's not up for debate.
I don't need to have aconversation.
No, I don't need to hear theother side of the no, I insist
that he is alive.
In other words, Paul said, Iknow for myself.
I know what God did in my life.
Mama didn't have to teach methis, no deacon had to teach me
this.
God spoke to me directly.

(13:21):
I had my own experience withGod.
And in a word, what it says is,God knows we all need to know
the Lord for ourselves.
We don't want to get itsecondhand, we don't want to get
it through the rumor meal.
We want to know it forourselves.
Old folk used to say it by wayof Billy Holiday, mama may have,

(13:42):
Papa may have, but what?
God bless the child, it's gotits own.
We want our own face, and wedon't need anybody else to tell
us what God is doing.
But sometimes if we're notcareful, we can miss the
undeniable encounter.
Why is it that Paul sees it, butso many other people miss what

(14:02):
God is doing in their lives?
And I argue that this text tellsus that in every divine
encounter, there's a call totransformation.
In other words, we can't confuserestoration with transformation.
See, restoration is a goodthing.
Restoration is a biblical idea.

(14:24):
Matter of fact, the word saysthat Job, when he lost
everything, everything wasrestored back to him.
And sometimes God can be so goodwhen you go through loss.
Does anybody know God has a wayof restoring what was lost?
But when God is trying to moveus to a place to faith and trust
in him, he's not reallyinterested in restoration, he's

(14:49):
interested in transformation.
And when Paul met Jesus on thatDamascus road, it was not a
reformation emo, a restorationmoment.
It was a transformingexperience.
Let me say it like this.
If I had a 69 Chevy and it's oldand beat up, and it looked like
it was in 59, even though it wasa 69 Chevy, and I decided to put

(15:13):
it in mint condition, I canspend all kinds of money
restoring it back to itsoriginal condition.
Spending all the money on thepaint job, spending all the
money on the metal and the andthe outside, spending all the
money on the covering, doingeverything I possibly could.
Put a new steering wheel on it,a new driving panel, doing

(15:34):
everything possible to restoreit to mint condition.
But understand any work ofrestoration is more concerned
about what's going on on theoutside and not necessarily on
the inside.
Restoration is about impressingfolk on the outside.
Transformation is aboutimpressing the one who is high

(15:56):
and sees what's on the inside.
But if true transformation isgonna happen to my 69 Chevy, I'd
have to put a 2026 engine into a1969 Chevy.
And guess what?
It won't drive the way it usedto drive, it won't even go
places it used to go.

(16:17):
You don't hear me, becausesomething has been changed on
the inside.

SPEAKER_00 (16:25):
That's what happened to Paul.

SPEAKER_01 (16:27):
Paul had a change on the inside.
Look what Jesus said to him.
It is useless for you to fightagainst my will.
Old King James said, You arekicking against the pricks.
What does that mean?
You're fighting me.
Because sometimes when God showsup in my life, He's trying to

(16:51):
take me in a direction I reallydon't want to go.
And instead of trusting God, Ifind myself fighting with God.
And some of us, maybe you'venever been on a Damascus road,
maybe you've never rode on ahorse, but you have been
fighting what God's trying to doin your life.
It's not the first time God hasspoken to you.

(17:13):
Today is the day of salvation.
Don't close your heart to God.
Right now is the day ofsalvation.
Don't wait, don't hesitate,don't delay.
Give your life to Christ.
But we find ourselves fightingand fighting, and the word that
God tells us in this text isstop fighting him.

(17:34):
And I get it.
Because church folk will makeyou fight.
Church show scared me too.
But God says, I'm bigger thanchurch folk.
I'm bigger than the church.
Matter of fact, who's gonna loveyou like I'm gonna love you?
Don't you know I've beenwatching over you even before
you even thought about me?

(17:54):
See, that's what his word was toPaul.
Paul didn't even realize when hewas at his worst, God remained
at his best.
God was watching over him thewhole time.
And somebody here can testifythat even where you are right
now, there's some things youcan't explain in your life
because God has been watchingover you.
God's got his eye on you.

(18:16):
It's useless to fight him.
Stop fighting the Lord.
Oh, taste and see that the Lordis good.
Number one, he gives us anundeniable, an undeniable
encounter.
But then number two, he gives usunique experiences.
In other words, God has a way ofmoving in our lives to let us
know if it had not been for theLord on our side, where would I

(18:37):
be?
That there's some stuff in ourhistory that we can't explain.
And somehow God brought usthrough it.
It wasn't our smarts, it wasn'tour connections, it surely
wasn't the people that we votedfor, it was nothing but God on
our side.
And that's what Paul testifieshere.

(18:59):
If you go back to chapter 23,verse 12 through 13, the text
says this the next morning, agroup of Jews got together,
bound themselves with an oathnot to eat or drink until they
had killed Paul.
And there were more than 40 ofthem in the conspiracy.
Tell your neighbor, no, that'ssome haters.

(19:20):
Might be some church folk too.
Made up their mind.
They wanted to kill Paul.
The crazy thing, the nightbefore in the previous verse,
God had already told him, Don'tworry, Paul, you're gonna make
it to Rome.
And the trip part is Paul ismaking his coffee at the time.
They're planning to kill him.
They're gonna kill him, and Paulknows nothing about it.

(19:43):
And God shows up in an unusualway to protect his life.
Text says later on down in thatsame story, in that same verse,
that Paul had a nephew who musthave been out at night at that
time.
What were you doing out at nightat that time in the first place?
That's where my mind went.

(20:03):
But he overheard the plot tokill Paul.
He tells Paul, Paul tells theRoman guard and saves his life
from these 40 men that wanted totake his life.
How do you know God is real?
God is able to work both sidesof your situation.

(20:23):
See, God was working in thesituation that Paul could see.
But thank God God was working inthe situation where Paul could
not see.
And I don't know who I'm talkingto today.
Your situation may look big.
That's what you can see.
But if you hold on and trustGod, God's working the side that

(20:45):
you can't see.
Let me see if I can make thisthing plain.
It's kind of like kind of likekind of like I heard about this
individual that was great atevangelism.
And what they would do, uh, hewould do that is, uh, he was
good at using object lessons toreach people for the gospel.
He was really good at it.
And so there was a waitress notfar from where he lived that

(21:06):
worked at a diner in which heloved to frequent for breakfast.
And he had been trying to reachthis waitress and just could not
reach her for the gospel.
She'd always sit down and listento his object lesson.
She would understand it, but herheart would turn.
She just wouldn't go for it.
And so finally, one day he camein and he said, I think I got

(21:28):
the object lesson that's gonnaget you today.
She said, Well, I gotta hearthis one.
He said, Here's what I want.
I want a pancake, but here's myone condition.
I only want you to cook oneside.
She said, What?
I want one pancake cooked on oneside.
Do not cook the other side.
She knew it was an objectlesson.

(21:48):
She couldn't wait to sit downand hear it.
She rushed off to the kitchen,had to cook cook a pancake with
one side, rushed right back outwith the syrup, with a plate,
with a pancake.
One side cook, sat right infront of her, with her hands
under her jaw.
I gotta hear this one.
And this is what the man said.

(22:09):
He said, You just like thispancake.
You only see one side of theissue.
All I'm simply trying to tellsomebody I know it's been
difficult this year.
I know there's some things youcan't explain, and some troubles
you've been through.

(22:30):
And it may seem like God hasforgotten you, but here's my
word you only see one side.
There's another side to thisthing that God is working that
you cannot even see.
God knows what you're goingthrough, but if you hold on,

(22:51):
like Isaiah said, but they thatwait upon the Lord will renew
their strength, they'll mount upwith wings like eagles, they'll
run and not be weary, they'llwalk and not faith.
I dare you to trust God.
Is there anybody in here thatknows it pays to wait on the
Lord?

(23:11):
Let me wrap this thing up.
Here's my last one.
When God writes our story, he'sgonna give us an unforgettable
expedition, he's gonna give us awonderful journey in faith.
And one of the things why I'm aChristian to this day is that
faith is not about perfection,even though we got so many

(23:31):
self-righteous Christians.
But faith is about a process,and that every single day God is
working on my heart.
From the first day I trustedhim, he's teaching me to trust
him a little bit more.
And what I love about God, he'sso patient with me.
Even when I'm down on myself, hewon't let me stay down on myself

(23:55):
for too long.
He said, Don't you know youbelong to me?
Don't you know I have a purposefor you?
He's patient.
The old folk were right.
He walks with me, he talks withme because my faith is a journey
and it's an unforgettableexpedition.
In a word, you don't know howmuch value that God has on your

(24:20):
life.
And I'm gonna go back to Paul'snephew.
That's the first and the lasttime you're gonna hear about
Paul's nephew in Acts 23.
And he was probably out in thestreet in a place he had no
business being.
Because how you gonna overhearthe plot of somebody ready to

(24:41):
kill your uncle unless you inthe vicinity of folk who like to
do some killing?
That's all I'm saying.
What you doing out there at thattime of night, bruh?
It's a word that you can neverfall too low for God to use your

(25:04):
life.
I know there's some folk whothink they gotta be so high for
God to use them, but I'm in thecrowd that you can never fall
too low, that God can use yourlife.
God has a purpose for your life.
God will keep you and he'llbless you if you let him write

(25:25):
your story.
Let me close with this.
Oh, I was doing a littleresearching this week, and I had
to share this story.
Came across how eagles teachtheir eaglets how to fly.
They had this whole deal aboutthe eagles.
Uh, these two eagles on TVhatched a baby, and I was really

(25:46):
excited about that, and just dida little research and came
across an article.
Say, you'd be surprised what aneagle will do to teach their
eaglets how to fly.
They say after they're born,they'll wait a certain amount of
weeks to when they get a littlebit of maturity, and then they
do something that's crazy.
They just kick them out thenest.

(26:09):
I said, what kind of parent?
You'll catch that on the wayhome, will kick their child out
the house, I mean the nest, andthey're not even prepared or
trained to handle life.
But that's what the eagle willdo, will just kick the eaglet
out the nest.

(26:29):
And here's the little eaglet.
He's never flown before, andhe's just flapping his wings
feverishly, and it's clear heain't gonna fly.
He's dropping like a rock, andhe's gonna die.
But what the little eagletdoesn't know is that the big
eagle can fly faster than he canfall.

SPEAKER_00 (26:51):
So while he's falling, the big eagle has got
his eye on the little eaglet,and he swoops down and catches
the eaglet, brings him back tothe nest until the next day.

SPEAKER_01 (27:06):
That right there would give me a heart attack,
right there.
Take me to intensive care.
You think it would stop rightthere.
The eagle does something crazythan that.

SPEAKER_00 (27:19):
The second day, the eagle takes the eaglet to a
higher height, lets him go.

SPEAKER_01 (27:27):
Little eaglet trying his best.
It's hopeless, y'all.
But thank God the big eagle canfly faster than the little
eaglet can fall and swoops in ina nick of time, brings him back
to the nest.
And that eagle will repeat thatprocess over and over and over

(27:51):
again until the little eaglelearns to fly.
So I started thinking aboutthat.
I said, when that little eaglegrows up and becomes an adult, I
wonder what he does when he goesto church.
I'm sure the dog got atestimony, I'm sure the cat got

(28:12):
a testimony, I'm sure a horsegot a testimony, but I bet you
somewhere in the service, hesays, You ain't heard a story
until you heard my story.

SPEAKER_00 (28:22):
My daddy kicked me out the house.
I thought it was over, but guesswhat?
My daddy could fly faster than Icould fall, and he caught me
every time.
And whenever I go, that's gonnabe my story.
I got a father, that my fatherwas trying to help me, but the

(28:45):
whole time he was trying to helpme.
There's the little woman in herethat has the father, that's
gonna give you the story.
What are they doing?
My God! Will craft your story!He walks with me! He talks with

(29:07):
me! He tells me God is good! I'mso glad! That even though he
died on a dark Friday! He got upwith all the power! Even his
head! And that's a low! I loveit alone! He loves me! He keeps

(29:34):
me! He walks with me! He watchesover me! And even in the thaw!
He catches me! He's alive! He'salive! Anybody know he's alive!

(29:56):
He is risen! Hallelujah!Hallelujah!

SPEAKER_01 (30:06):
Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you so much.
That's not how your story has toend.
Cause in three days he roseagain.
That's my story.
And I thank God that he's alwayscrafting my story for another

(30:30):
resurrection story.
If you're here today and you'venever trusted Christ, this is
your moment.
This is your time.
I know it's Easter Sunday, andwe all dress up and it's a
wonderful experience, but thebig point is that he lives.

(30:53):
He's got his eye on each andevery one of us.
Come back to the low.
Whatever you didn't do.

(31:23):
You kind of like how you onlyhad a Damascus role.
You can't stand Christians.
I get it, I get it, I did it, Ireally did it.
I was trying to kill Christians.
Maybe the church did some thingsto you.
I'm not sure if you can trustthe God behind the church.
But the resurrection is abeckoning to come back to him.

(31:47):
At this time, we're gonna do theLord's Supper.
And I want you to pray aboutthis decision because we're
gonna present the gospel afterthe Lord's Supper.
Pray about what God is saying toyou on this resurrection.
Pray about salvation.
Pray about your faith if youalready know him.
Maybe it's time to come out fromwhere you are and be a part of

(32:12):
God's people.
Pray about the purpose that Godhas for your life.
He has an unforgettableexpedition for your life.
You know your life was meant formore of what you do than what
you're doing right now.
Maybe this is your life.
Maybe this is your time.

(32:32):
We're gonna take the Lord'ssupper.