Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, happy Easter.
First Baptist Church, powderSprings.
Everybody, put your handstogether.
If you're excited to be inchurch this morning, it is good
to see everybody here.
We're thankful for everybodyonline.
Go ahead and turn to somebodynext to you and tell them happy
Easter right now.
Go ahead and tell them happyEaster Now.
Turn to the person on the otherside of you that you don't like
as much because you didn'tchoose them first, and go ahead
(00:23):
and tell them just make it up tothem.
Say it looks like you've lostweight.
Go and tell them that right now, it looks like you've lost
weight.
So it is great to haveeverybody here, everybody tuning
in line.
Easter is my favorite Sunday.
It's my favorite time of theyear.
Man, god is so good.
We get to celebrate theresurrection of Jesus together.
(00:48):
I want to remind you thatcalories don't count on Easter.
Amen, calories don't count.
So you make sure and go all intoday, man, we love having fun
here, we love laughing, we lovehaving a good time.
We think people ought to havemore fun going to heaven than
the world going to hell, and soI just want you to relax, I want
you to have a good timetogether, and I want to
encourage everybody to grab one,everybody.
If you're a first-time guest ora long-time member.
(01:09):
Everybody grab a Next Step cardif you can during this service,
and I want everybody to get oneso that we're all just a shared
experience together.
I want you to be filling it outduring the service as you're
able, and it might be a greatway for us just to make sure we
have all the correct information.
But I'm going to walk throughthat next step card with you.
I've got some questions for youthis morning.
(01:31):
I need some feedback from you.
But first, I heard a story thisweek of a redneck by the name of
Bubba.
Everybody say Bubba, redneck bythe name of Bubba and Bubba.
He went to a funeral one dayand he walked up to the casket
of his good friend with two ofhis other good friends.
They looked at their goodfriend and Bubba looked over at
friend number one.
And Bubba said you know, oneday you're going to be in that
(01:53):
casket.
What would you like for us tosay about you?
And Bubba's friend number onesaid well, I just want y'all to
tell everybody that man, I lovemy family, I love my wife, I
love my kids and they love meand Bubba said that's real nice,
that's real nice.
And he turned to friend numbertwo and he said well, what do
you want us to say about you?
Friend number two said you justtell them I love Jesus, I love
my church.
(02:13):
Man, I love going to Sundayschool and man I love giving and
all that man I just love to saylook, he's moving.
Right, I like that, I like thathe's moving, he's moving, he's
alive.
And aren't you thankful thatJesus is alive today?
(02:35):
Jesus is moving.
Can I get an amen?
Jesus is moving.
I pray he's moving in ourchurch.
Do you realize how Jesus ismoving around the world?
Have you been watching the newsright?
Sometimes you got to readreports because the news won't
even tell you.
Did you know that today, onEaster Sunday, there's going to
be some 2.6 billion peoplegathered together to worship
(02:59):
Jesus for his resurrection?
Can I get an amen?
2.6 billion?
Did you know that the church ofJesus Christ, all the Christians
put together, that we are thelargest organization of people
in the entire earth?
Did you know that we are larger?
All the Christians put together, we are larger than China plus
Europe, plus all of America 2.6billion Christians.
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Did you know that God is movingso much right now across our
planet that in the UnitedKingdom in England, of all
places that has been so atheistfor so long that it has grown
the church attendance has grownby more than 50% in the last six
years.
In the last five years, biblesales have grown hear me, 87%.
(03:43):
Did you know that here inAmerica, commitment to Jesus is
on a 10 year high, higher thanit's ever been in the last 10
years?
There are 30 million more adultAmericans claiming to follow
Jesus today than just back in2021.
And, hear me, the majority ofthose that are experiencing
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revival right now across ourcountry and across our planet
are in their teens and in their20s.
Put your hands together rightnow for what God is doing.
God is so good.
I remember when I was 20 yearsold right, I remember actually
going through a Bible study andI remember I came to the Bible
study about the resurrection ofJesus and I really remember
(04:28):
thinking to myself like I gethis birth and I get his life and
I get his suffering and I gethis death and I get his burial.
But I remember thinking tomyself at 20, I don't really
even understand the resurrectionLike why did he have to be
raised from the dead and whatdifference does that have to
make in my life?
Well, I'm here to tell you thismorning, as we're in this
(04:50):
series together, the passion ofJesus.
Everybody say passion, thepassion of Jesus.
You understand that Jesus ispassionate about you.
Look at somebody and tell themright now, jesus loves you.
Go and tell them that right now, tell them Jesus loves you,
jesus is passionate about you.
So what I want you to see today, I want you to see today how
Jesus's resurrection actuallychanges your life's direction.
(05:16):
I heard it said one time that ifyou ever are come to a fork in
the road and you don't knowwhich way to go and there's two
men that are there and one isdead and one is alive, you ask
the guy who's alive.
You know what I'm saying.
So, in other words, jesus isalive.
Do you know that Jesus is theonly one who has come from
heaven?
Jesus is the only one who haslived life on earth.
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Jesus is the only one who hasdied.
Jesus is the only one who hasraised from the dead.
Jesus is the only one that hasgone back to heaven.
Jesus is the only one that iscoming back again.
Jesus is the only one that haslived eternal life, that has
done all those things.
In other words, if you getconfused about life, like I do,
the person we should always askis Jesus.
If you believe that, say amen,here we go.
(05:59):
Here's what I want you to see.
We're gonna talk very quicklytogether.
You can open up in your Biblesto Matthew, chapter 28.
Matthew 28,.
How does Jesus change yourlife's direction?
I believe that he changes yourexpectation, your ambition, your
affections and your questions.
So let's check that outtogether if you're ready and say
let's go, let's go, here we go,let's go.
(06:20):
Number one.
Number one is this Jesus'sresurrection changes your
expectation.
What is your expectation in life?
You know, some people arereally positive.
Some people are really negative.
It's funny.
I've never met a person thathas ever said man, they are so
negative.
I just love spending time withthem, I just love being around
them.
I just love negative.
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Nancy, nobody ever says thatright.
But did you know?
The Bible neither tells us tobe positive or negative.
Rather, the Bible tells us tobe hopeful.
Did you know that the word hopein English means to wish?
Like man, I hope that's goingto happen.
We typically say that, meaningI wish that's going to happen.
But did you know that the Bibleuses the word hopeful to mean a
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confident expectation of thefuture?
Meaning because we have hope inJesus, we are confident that
God is going to work everythingout according to his will.
We see that in Matthew, chapter28, verse 1.
It says now, after the Sabbath,toward the dawn of the first
day of the week, mary Magdaleneand the other Mary went to see
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the tomb, the tomb of Jesus.
Notice that this happens on aSunday, the first day of the
week, and that's why we haveEaster Sunday together every
year.
That's why we come together andwe worship Jesus and we worship
his resurrection.
But I want you to know that wedon't just do this on Easter
Sunday.
We worship Jesus for hisresurrection every Sunday,
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because he died, he rose fromthe dead and he can save you.
And guess what?
If you die and rise from thedead, we're going to give you
your own day of the week too.
Right, jesus gets his own day.
We call it the Lord's Day.
Every Sunday we get to cometogether and worship Jesus.
So I want to encourage you, ifyou don't have a church, that
you to encourage you if youdon't have a church that you
(08:06):
call your home, if you don'thave a church that you call your
family.
We don't want to just be achurch in your life, we want to
be a church for your life.
We want to be here and help younavigate life in all that it is
to have direction in lifefollowing Jesus.
We see here that there were twoMarys at that time.
Mary and Mary went to the tomb.
(08:28):
I just asked our little girl.
We've got a little six-year-oldgirl.
Her name's Brooklyn.
We got a two-year-old son.
His name's Cruz.
We got an 11-month little babygirl, eliana, and our little
girl, brooklyn, brooklyn.
We adopted her out of thedelivery room.
We were actually there when shewas born and, man, what an
honor it is to be her daddy andfor Michelle to be her mommy.
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And just around the one yearmark she was diagnosed with
cerebral palsy, so you can tellher real easy.
She's the one just whippingaround in a wheelchair
everywhere, right?
So watch your toes.
And, man, she is awesome, she'sjust a light.
And I asked her the other dayshe's as smart as all get out.
And I asked her.
I said Brooklyn.
Who was the first person to seeJesus after he rose from the
(09:09):
dead.
She said Mary it was a popularname back then and I didn't even
know that.
Right, I have a doctrine.
I didn't even know that and Iwas like how do you know these
things?
And so you've got Mary and Mary, and the gospel of Mark
actually tells us that they weretaking spices to the tomb to
give Jesus a proper burialbecause he had not been properly
(09:30):
buried yet.
I heard one pastor say Mary andMary were the first spice girls
.
They were the first spice girlsright there on the scene.
If you're not 40 years old, youdon't know what I'm talking
about, you know.
And so Mary and Mary says inverse two it says and behold,
there was a great earthquake,for an angel of the Lord
descended from heaven and cameand rolled back the stone and
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sat on it.
The angel's appearance was likelightning and his clothing was
white as snow.
So here you got Mary and Mary,and they're taking the spices to
the tomb, and Mark also tellsus that they don't even have a
plan, right?
I mean, these are tough women,these are fearless women.
(10:13):
It says that this earthquakehappens and they still go.
God often used earthquakes backin that day, not to hurt people,
but to announce that he wasdoing something that would shake
the earth.
God would often send angels toshow people that what I'm doing
is eternal, that as these angelscome down from heaven, he says
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this one his appearance is likelightning and his clothes are
white as snow, just like we arein the presence of God.
When you really get in thepresence of God, he makes you
different.
Can I get an amen?
You can't get in the presenceof God, you can't know Jesus,
you can't believe in him, youcan't spend time with him, you
can't be worshiping him and notbe different from other people
(10:58):
around you.
In the same way, this angel wasdifferent like lightning and
like white as snow because hehad come from heaven and he had
been in the visible presence ofGod.
It says in verse four.
It says in fear of him, fear ofthe angel, these Roman guards,
so the Romans they would send.
They sent the guards to Jesus'stomb because his death and his
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crucifixion was such a big deal.
Historians tell us that therewould be somewhere around 12 to
16 different guards.
I mean, these are big, armed,trained, massive, strong,
fearsome guards, and the Biblesays that these guards when the
angel came down from heaven, theearthquake.
The angel rolls the stone away,sits on the stone.
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Why does the angel sit on thestone?
Because he wanted a front rowseat to the resurrection.
Gotta get him in right.
So I love it, by the way, whenour worshipers come and sit on
the front row.
If you are a part of our churchand you love to worship and you
love to sing and you love toraise your hands, I want you on
the front rows, I want you tolead the way.
(12:03):
And so here's what we see thesemen strong, trained, massive,
fearsome.
It says that they trembled andthey became like dead men.
They played like possum.
Right, they're laying therebecause they are experiencing,
they're encountering somethingfinally greater than them.
They're encountering the gloryof God.
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And there is something aboutyour life that you need to
encounter, someone, somethinggreater than you, so that you
can know, first of all, who youare, but also, most importantly,
so you can know who he is, andhis name is Jesus.
And when you encounter Jesus,you can't help but know that he
(12:46):
is far greater than you and thatyour life is worth living for
him.
These ladies are so tough.
Are you kidding me right now.
They just killed Jesus.
The disciples are all hidingtogether behind locked doors in
an upper room at this time.
These ladies go to this tomb,where it is guarded by all these
Roman guards.
They are literally riskingtheir lives.
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These are fearsome, fearlessladies.
This is like Sporty Spice andScary Spice.
You know what I'm saying.
And so they're coming to thetomb.
If you're not 40, you don't getit, it's fine.
They're coming to the tomb andthey are.
They come to see Jesus.
Why?
Because they love him.
I wanna give them a properburial.
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I just wanna give a shout outthis morning to all the ladies,
because, as a pastor, I meet somany people and they often tell
me the same story.
If it wasn't for my mom, whowas always praying for me, if it
wasn't for my grandmama, whowas always praying for me and
who was always witnessing me, ifit wasn't for whoever in my
life that was always inviting meto church, I have so many
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people say I would not be saved.
Today there are so many moms inthis room, grandmoms in this
room, aunts in this room,sisters in this room, ladies in
this room, that you are holdingdown the fort spiritually and we
just want to honor you thismorning.
Put your hands together for allthe ladies in this room.
We're so thankful for what youdo.
And we have Mother's Day.
Coming up and hear me, we'regonna give a free rose to every
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single female, if it's a babygirl up to a grandma, because we
want to honor womanhood,because we believe the world
won't honor womanhood but thechurch should.
Can I get an amen?
So we want you to come back forMother's Day and every female
gets a rose because we honor you.
But also I wanna give a shoutout to the men up in this room
here today as well, and here'swhat I want the men to know Men,
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all those revivals that I'vebeen telling you about typically
revivals in the past we couldsee like women leading the way.
Did you know that revivals thatare happening today around the
world, in our country and others, that's happening in the lives
of teenagers, the lives of 20sand those who are older?
Did you know that today thatmen are leading the way,
spiritually, in those revivals,that God is awakening the hearts
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of men and we have a bunch ofgodly leading men here who lead
their church, who love theirfamilies, who lead their
families.
Can we put our hands togetherfor the men this morning, for
godly men that God is raising up?
Did you know that if a kid getssaved, there's a 3.5
statistical chance that thewhole family's gonna get saved?
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Did you know, if a mom getssaved, there's a 17% chance that
the whole family's gonna getsaved?
Did you know, if a dad getssaved, there's a 93% chance that
the whole family's going to getsaved?
Man, we're praying for men tobelieve.
We're praying for men to lead.
We're praying for men to stepup.
We're praying for men to followJesus.
Amen.
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That's why, on Father's Day,we're going to give every male a
slice of bacon.
Amen, we're going to giveeverybody a slice of bacon.
That's what we did last year.
Everybody loved it.
We're gonna do it again thisyear, right?
And we're gonna give every boy,all the way to every granddad,
a piece of bacon.
Why?
Because there's something trueof all of us guys we all love
bacon and all God's men saidAmen, let's go.
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We gotta keep moving.
Man, y'all ain't listening fastenough.
Here we go Mother's Daytogether, and I want you to know
that Jesus's resurrectionchanges your life's expectation
into hope.
Everybody say hope.
Take that next step card rightnow On the back, pastor James
already told you.
The large box at the bottomwrite down your greatest prayer
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request.
It is our honor as your staffto pray over that prayer request
for you this week.
On your behalf.
We want to take your prayerrequest to God's throne.
Here's why Because we want youto turn that expectation you
have into hope that God is goingto work it out.
I just recently heard one of myfavorite pastors who's dead.
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I heard a video.
Someone videoed him rightbefore he died.
His name is Tim Keller.
They said Pastor Tim.
They said tell us about theresurrection of Jesus.
What does the resurrection ofJesus mean to you?
You have a terminal illness.
You're about to go see him.
What does the resurrection ofJesus mean to you?
And here's what Tim Keller said.
One of the smartest men alive.
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Tim Keller said this If Jesusrose from the dead and I believe
he did Tim Keller said If Jesusrose from the dead and I
believe he did Tim Keller saidthen I believe that everything's
going to be okay.
If you believe that Jesus rosefrom the dead, then no matter
what is happening in your life,everything is ultimately going
to be okay.
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Number two Jesus' resurrectionchanges your ambition.
Everybody say ambition.
What is the ambition of yourlife?
What do you define assuccessful?
What do you really want tohappen in your life?
Verse five says but the angelsaid to the women do not be
afraid, for I know that you seekJesus, who was crucified.
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Do you know?
The word seek means to crave.
These women craved to see Jesus.
Why were they seeking him?
Why were they craving to seehim?
Here's why Because they'venever been loved like that,
because Jesus' love for them waspure.
Jesus' love for them wasselfless.
Jesus' love for them was safe.
And Jesus' love for them, hearme, was unconditional.
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They didn't have to earn hislove, jesus just loved him.
And so people just wanted to bearound him.
They even just wanted to go andbe around his dead body to give
him this proper burial.
And so the angel said why areyou searching for the living
among the dead?
In verse six, the first part ofverse six, he says he is not
here, for he has risen.
(18:31):
Just as he said Heard a storyabout a little boy who was in an
Easter pageant, a little Easterplay.
He only had one line he's nothere, he has risen.
He practiced it for months.
He practiced it with hisparents, he practiced it with
his drama team, he practiced itwith his teachers.
Sure enough, sunday EasterSunday came around.
He's on stage, the play'shappening.
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It's his time to shine thespotlight's on him.
He stands there and he freezesand he forgets his line.
The little teacher in the frontrow mouths it to him.
He's not here, he's risen.
The kid looked back at theteacher like he'd never heard
the line before.
She said say it.
The kid said he's not here,he's in prison.
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Right, messed it up right there.
Well, aren't you thankful thatJesus wasn't there?
Because Jesus wasn't there atthe tomb.
Jesus is here with us today.
Can I get an amen?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusis with you?
Whether you're online, ifyou're at home, if you're in the
car, if you're in prison, rightnow, jesus is with you.
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Whether you're online, ifyou're at home, if you're in the
car, if you're in prison rightnow, jesus is with you.
Why?
Because he wasn't there.
So Jesus is here, or Jesus iswith you wherever it is that you
are.
And the angel said come see theplace where he lay.
Go quickly and tell hisdisciples that he has risen from
the dead.
I want you to see four wordsvery quickly Come.
Everybody say come.
There are some people heretoday that all you did today was
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come.
Somebody asked you to come.
Maybe you didn't wanna come,but you're here and I want you
to know that God brought youhere for a reason to hear
something that is the mostimportant thing that you could
hear in your life.
And then the angel said see.
Everybody say see.
That you could hear in yourlife.
And then the angel said see.
Everybody say see.
The angel wanted them to seefor themselves.
Why do we want you to be here?
Because it's so important thatyou see for yourself.
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You see with your own spiritualeyes.
May God take the blinders offof everybody's eyes so that they
can see Jesus for who he is,that he's your Lord, that he's
your savior, that he's died foryour sin, that he's risen from
the dead and he can give youlife.
If you believe that, say amen.
And everyone say go.
The angel said go.
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The angel said go.
What does go mean?
Go doesn't just mean to leave.
It means to leave with apurpose.
It means to go and to doministry and to love other
people.
And the angel said to tellEverybody.
Say tell.
Tell means to go and tellpeople what Jesus has done for
you so that he can do the samefor them.
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I want you to take that nextstep card and there on that
first blank at the top, thatfirst box on the back at the top
, I want you to write down isthere somewhere that we can go
and be a ministry to?
Is there some place?
Is there some agency?
Is there some people?
Is there some location?
Is there someone in need or abusiness in need, or whatever it
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might be, that we can go and bea ministry to?
Because First Baptist ChurchPowder Springs wants to minister
to Powder Springs and all ofour surrounding communities.
You write that down so that wecan read that and we can know
opportunities that we have.
But did you know, did you know,that Christians have told
researchers for a long time nowthat we are all, as Christians,
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a little scared to share theirfaith?
How many of y'all admit you'rea little scared to share your
faith?
Raise your hand.
My hand's up, my hand's up.
You're scared to raise yourhand right now is what you're
doing.
I get it.
Every single Christian is alittle scared to share their
faith.
Did you know, though?
The same Christians say but ifsomeone would just teach me what
to say and how to share myfaith, just how to share Jesus
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with others, I would love forsomeone to teach me so I could
do it more Next Sunday.
Everybody say next Sunday, nextSunday, we're gonna be man,
it's strong up here.
We're gonna be starting a newseries called Made for More, and
you're gonna learn about howyou can share Jesus with other
people, because God has made youfor the mission, it says.
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They departed quickly.
The women left the tomb withfear.
That means with worship.
With great joy, they ran totell the disciples why?
Because Jesus's resurrectionchanges your life ambition.
To his mission, to his mission.
Jesus has a way of saying look,your mission, your ambition, as
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long as it's not sinful, it'sfine, but it should never be
greater than mine.
My mission that I want to do inyou and my mission that I want
to do through you.
Number three, quickly, jesus'sresurrection changes your
affection.
Who do you love most in life?
What do you love most in life?
He says in verse nine.
And behold, jesus met them.
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He met the ladies, mary andMary, and he said to them
greetings, which means hey,everybody and the ladies came up
and they took hold of his feetand they worshiped him.
I love how Jesus came to themand they came to him.
That's what that relationshiplooks like that Jesus comes to
them and they came to him.
That's what that relationshiplooks like, that Jesus comes to
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you and he says I love you,believe in me, give your life to
me.
And when we go to him and say,jesus, I believe in you, I will
live my life for you, that'swhat starts a salvation
relationship together.
That word worship the Greekword there in the text is
proskuneo.
Proskuneo literally means toworship, to fall on our knees
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and to be in submission of theone who is Lord.
And that's what they did.
When they saw Jesus for who heis, the resurrected Lord and
Savior they fell on their knees,they grabbed his feet and they
worshiped him.
I remember being in a church oneday and this church they were
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doing this play, this drama,this production, and we would
walk from room to room.
And so the first room we walkedto it was kind of a room where,
like, they were trying topicture a guy who wasn't living
for Jesus and so kind of walkedfrom room to room where he was
like partying and doing all thissin and all this bad stuff,
whatever.
And we get to the last room andthe last room is all painted
black.
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It was supposed to be hell,right.
So the room's black,everything's dark.
There's somebody really weird,strangely dressed, like the
devil over the corner, like witha creepy laugh, and they had
space heaters all plugged in.
It was like 93 degrees, likeyou break a little sweat in hell
, no big deal.
And so we followed his life.
And then we followed anotherguy's life room to room and we
saw this guy was.
He wasn't cool, he wasn'tpopular, right, whatever.
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But you walk into a room andyou experience when he gives his
life to Jesus.
It was very moving.
Go to the last room In the lastroom of the whole thing was
heaven, and I'll never forgetthe room because it was all
painted white.
This church had pillows hangingdown from fishing line.
I think it was supposed to beclouds.
They had people walking aroundin like angel Halloween costumes
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, which was really creepy, right.
And then they had us all lineup shoulder to shoulder, just
right, next to each other, andin come walking through the door
was some I lived in Alabama atthe time, some redneck in a fake
beard and a white bathroomwalking.
It was supposed to be Jesus,right?
And so Jesus walks up to thefirst person and he whispers
something to their ear and hegives them a hug.
He walks up to the next person,whispers something to their ear
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and gives them a hug.
Next person, next personGetting closer to me.
I'm thinking I have a personalrule in my life Rednecks don't
whisper in my ear and give me ahug.
It's just man code.
I got right.
So he gets right up in front ofme.
He looks me square in the eyesFake redneck Jesus, white
bathrobe and he says well done,my good and faithful servant.
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I love you.
I, my good and faithful servant, I love you.
I've been waiting for you.
Welcome into my kingdom.
And I don't know what happened.
But I beat fake redneck Jesusto the hug, right.
I wrapped my arms around himand I squeezed him in and he was
starting to feel awkward.
He's pushing away and I justhad like a moment of the day
that I'm gonna get to see Jesusface to face and eye to eye.
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So let me ask you, how are yougoing to respond when you see
Jesus?
Here's what's going to make thedifference whether or not you
believe in him in your life.
When you get to see him, you'reeither going to worship him,
you're going to love him, oryou're going to fear him because
you never gave your life to him.
And today is your opportunity,your life is your opportunity to
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give your life to him.
Jesus' resurrection changesyour affection to him.
You can love other people, youcan love other things, but we
should never love other peopleand love other things more than
we love him.
And I'm done.
Last one Jesus' resurrectionchanges your questions.
Everybody say questions.
(27:13):
Stick with me for this lastmoment.
This is so important.
While they were going, behold,some of the guard went into the
city and told the chief priesteverything that had taken place,
that Jesus had risen from thedead, the angel, all that.
And when they had assembledwith the elders and taken
counsel, they gave a sufficientsum of money to the soldiers and
they said they said tell people, tell everybody.
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His disciples came by night andstole him away while they were
asleep, time out.
If you're asleep, how do youknow they came and stole him?
Who knows Time in Okay, verse14.
And if this comes to thegovernor's ears.
We will satisfy him and keepyou out of trouble.
So they took the money and didas they were directed, and the
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story has been spread among theJews to this day.
Can I just be honest for asecond?
Just be transparent.
As a pastor, I have a lot ofquestions in my life for God.
I have a lot of questions in mylife for God, and I'm sure you
do too.
We don't understand everythingand we won't understand
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everything, but hear me, maybeyou're here today and you have
major questions about theresurrection, so much so that
you have objections.
I want you to know that thereare five major objections to the
resurrection.
Number one people say, wait,what if his body was just stolen
?
Okay, well, let's just thinkthat out for a second.
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You're telling me 12 fishermenthat Jesus called are going to
go and fight, 16 armed, trainedRoman soldiers.
Win the fight, roll a two-tonstone away, grab the body of a
dead man, take it out, not showit to anybody, and it's going to
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result in 2.6 billion people onthe planet believing in Jesus.
Some people say, well, maybeJesus really didn't die, maybe
he was just passed out, maybe hewas just in a coma.
Let's chase that down for justone second.
These are trained Romanexecutioners who scourged him,
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who crucified him, and evenhistory tells us that they
thrust a spear into his sidewhich said that water and blood
came out, meaning that even thefluid around his heart had
ruptured.
And you're telling me he wentinto a coma and he went into a
grave for three days with nofood, no water, and he is able
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to move a two-ton stone and byhimself, fight 16 Roman soldiers
.
I still want to believe in thatguy.
Amen, but he died.
He rose from the dead.
Some people say, well, maybethey went to the wrong tomb.
Okay, maybe Mary and Mary wentto the wrong tomb.
Maybe the disciples went to thewrong tomb.
Maybe the Roman guards wereguarding the wrong tomb.
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Maybe the disciples went to thewrong tomb.
Maybe the Roman guards wereguarding the wrong tomb.
Maybe Joseph of Arimathea, whoowned the tomb, who actually dug
it out himself.
Maybe he took the body of Jesusto the wrong tomb.
Maybe the angel from heaven gotthe wrong directions and went
to the wrong tomb, but stillnobody could come up with the
body from the right tomb.
Number four some people say,well, jesus' disciples, maybe
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they were hallucinating.
Jesus appeared to over 500people, people that were able to
talk with him.
They were eyewitnesses, theyallowed people to come up and
question them, people thattalked to him, people that
touched him, people that saw him, people that ate with him.
And even if people havehallucinations, you don't have
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500 people all seeing the samehallucination at the same time
in all kinds of different places.
Number five some people say,well, maybe Jesus's resurrection
is just a legend.
He appeared to 500 people.
They all told their testimonies.
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Anybody could come and talk tothem at any time.
And here's what I believe is thegreatest witness of the gospel
that this is true.
This is what changes our life'squestions into faith.
This is where Jesus becomes thefulfillment of our expectations
, our ambition, our affectionand our questions.
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Here's what I need you to see.
Did you know that every singleone of those disciples died for
their faith in Jesus?
Peter was crucified upside downbecause he said he was unworthy
to die like Jesus.
They crucified Andrew on anX-shaped cross.
John was the only one of the 12disciples who didn't die as a
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martyr, but they boiled him in avat of oil and he survived.
They banned him to an islandwith nobody there, and he lived.
But Philip Bartholomew, matthew, thomas, james, thaddeus, simon
and Matthias were all martyredfor their faith.
(32:17):
And hear me, nobody dies for alie.
Every one of them died sayingyou can take my life, but you
can't have my faith, because Isaw him with my own eyes, I
touched him, I heard him, Ibelieved in him and he rose from
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the dead.
And I'm telling you, when youcome and see and you see Jesus
for who he is, you can't helpbut go and tell so that other
people can experience him, likeyou, with every head bowed and
every eye closed this morning.
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I just wanna give you thatopportunity.
Maybe you're here this morningand I just want to give you that
opportunity.
Maybe you're here this morningand you just came, didn't even
want to be here invited, justwanted to be with family, and
maybe God has spoken to you in apersonal way this morning and
God has helped you to see, andmaybe this is your day where you
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just, you just gotta give yourlife to Jesus.
You don't have any other choice.
You get it, you see it, youbelieve it, you want it.
So, right here, right now, Iwanna encourage you just to pray
and you can say dear Jesus, Ilove you, I need you and I
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believe in you.
You can say I believe that,jesus, you died on the cross for
my sin and I ask you to forgiveme of all my sin.
And you can tell him.
You say dear Jesus, I believethat you rose from the dead, I
believe that you're alive andyou're real.
And, jesus, I call on you to bethe Lord of my life, my master,
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my savior, my God, my all.
The Bible says that if youconfess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe withyour heart, then you believe
with your heart that he rosefrom the dead.
You will be saved, jesus, wethank you for that promise.
Thank you for saving anyone andeveryone that prayed that
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prayer this morning and meant itwith all of their heart, giving
their life to you.
We love you in Jesus' name.
And all God's people said wouldyou put your hands together for
anybody that prayed that prayerthis morning?
The Bible says that heavenrejoices every time a sinner
repents and gives their life toJesus.
We are so thankful for all thatGod is doing and I just wanna
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encourage you right here, rightnow, that God is moving.
Jesus is moving, jesus is alive.
Look at somebody and tell themJesus is alive.
Jesus is alive and that meansthat he can be alive in you.
That means he's moving in you,that means he's moving among us
and that means that we worshiphim.
Can we stand right now andwe're gonna worship Jesus, not
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just because he's alive.
We're gonna worship Jesusbecause he wasn't there at the
tomb.
We're gonna worship Jesusbecause he's right there at the
tomb.
We're gonna worship Jesusbecause he's right here with us
this morning.
Can I get an amen church Onthis Easter Sunday?
Jesus is with us and we'regonna worship him like he's in
the room, because he is.
Let's worship Jesus right nowtogether.
Well, happy Easter.
First Baptist Church, powderSprings.
Everybody, put your handstogether.
If you're excited to be inchurch this morning, it is good
to see everybody here.
We're thankful for everybodyonline.
Go ahead and turn to somebodynext to you and tell them happy
Easter right now.
Go ahead and tell them happyEaster Now.
Turn to the person on the otherside of you that you don't like
as much because you didn'tchoose them first, and go ahead
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and tell them just make it up tothem.
Say it looks like you've lostweight.
Go and tell them that right now, it looks like you've lost
weight.
So it is great to haveeverybody here, everybody tuning
in line.
Easter is my favorite Sunday.
It's my favorite time of theyear.
Man, god is so good.
We get to celebrate theresurrection of Jesus together.
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I want to remind you thatcalories don't count on Easter.
Amen, calories don't count.
So you make sure and go all intoday, man, we love having fun
here, we love laughing, we lovehaving a good time.
We think people ought to havemore fun going to heaven than
the world going to hell, and soI just want you to relax, I want
you to have a good timetogether, and I want to
encourage everybody to grab one,everybody.
If you're a first-time guest ora long-time member.
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Everybody grab a Next Step cardif you can during this service,
and I want everybody to get oneso that we're all just a shared
experience together.
I want you to be filling it outduring the service as you're
able, and it might be a greatway for us just to make sure we
have all the correct information.
But I'm going to walk throughthat next step card with you.
I've got some questions for youthis morning.
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I need some feedback from you.
But first, I heard a story thisweek of a redneck by the name of
Bubba.
Everybody say Bubba, redneck bythe name of Bubba and Bubba.
He went to a funeral one dayand he walked up to the casket
of his good friend with two ofhis other good friends.
They looked at their goodfriend and Bubba looked over at
friend number one.
And Bubba said you know, oneday you're going to be in that
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casket.
What would you like for us tosay about you?
And Bubba's friend number onesaid well, I just want y'all to
tell everybody that man, I lovemy family, I love my wife, I
love my kids and they love meand Bubba said that's real nice,
that's real nice.
And he turned to friend numbertwo and he said well, what do
you want us to say about you?
Friend number two said you justtell them I love Jesus, I love
my church.
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Man, I love going to Sundayschool and man I love giving and
all that man I just love to saylook, he's moving.
Right, I like that, I like thathe's moving, he's moving, he's
alive.
And aren't you thankful thatJesus is alive today?
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Jesus is moving.
Can I get an amen?
Jesus is moving.
I pray he's moving in ourchurch.
Do you realize how Jesus ismoving around the world?
Have you been watching the newsright?
Sometimes you got to readreports because the news won't
even tell you.
Did you know that today, onEaster Sunday, there's going to
be some 2.6 billion peoplegathered together to worship
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Jesus for his resurrection?
Can I get an amen?
2.6 billion?
Did you know that the church ofJesus Christ, all the Christians
put together, that we are thelargest organization of people
in the entire earth?
Did you know that we are larger?
All the Christians put together, we are larger than China plus
Europe, plus all of America 2.6billion Christians.
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Did you know that God is movingso much right now across our
planet that in the UnitedKingdom in England, of all
places that has been so atheistfor so long that it has grown
the church attendance has grownby more than 50% in the last six
years.
In the last five years, biblesales have grown hear me, 87%.
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Did you know that here inAmerica, commitment to Jesus is
on a 10 year high, higher thanit's ever been in the last 10
years?
There are 30 million more adultAmericans claiming to follow
Jesus today than just back in2021.
And, hear me, the majority ofthose that are experiencing
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revival right now across ourcountry and across our planet
are in their teens and in their20s.
Put your hands together rightnow for what God is doing.
God is so good.
I remember when I was 20 yearsold right, I remember actually
going through a Bible study andI remember I came to the Bible
study about the resurrection ofJesus and I really remember
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thinking to myself like I gethis birth and I get his life and
I get his suffering and I gethis death and I get his burial.
But I remember thinking tomyself at 20, I don't really
even understand the resurrectionLike why did he have to be
raised from the dead and whatdifference does that have to
make in my life?
Well, I'm here to tell you thismorning, as we're in this
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series together, the passion ofJesus.
Everybody say passion, thepassion of Jesus.
You understand that Jesus ispassionate about you.
Look at somebody and tell themright now, jesus loves you.
Go and tell them that right now, tell them Jesus loves you,
jesus is passionate about you.
So what I want you to see today, I want you to see today how
Jesus's resurrection actuallychanges your life's direction.
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I heard it said one time that ifyou ever are come to a fork in
the road and you don't knowwhich way to go and there's two
men that are there and one isdead and one is alive, you ask
the guy who's alive.
You know what I'm saying.
So, in other words, jesus isalive.
Do you know that Jesus is theonly one who has come from
heaven?
Jesus is the only one who haslived life on earth.
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Jesus is the only one who hasdied.
Jesus is the only one who hasraised from the dead.
Jesus is the only one that hasgone back to heaven.
Jesus is the only one that iscoming back again.
Jesus is the only one that haslived eternal life, that has
done all those things.
In other words, if you getconfused about life, like I do,
the person we should always askis Jesus.
If you believe that, say amen,here we go.
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Here's what I want you to see.
We're gonna talk very quicklytogether.
You can open up in your Biblesto Matthew, chapter 28.
Matthew 28,.
How does Jesus change yourlife's direction?
I believe that he changes yourexpectation, your ambition, your
affections and your questions.
So let's check that outtogether if you're ready and say
let's go, let's go, here we go,let's go.
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Number one.
Number one is this Jesus'sresurrection changes your
expectation.
What is your expectation in life?
You know, some people arereally positive.
Some people are really negative.
It's funny.
I've never met a person thathas ever said man, they are so
negative.
I just love spending time withthem, I just love being around
them.
I just love negative.
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Nancy, nobody ever says thatright.
But did you know?
The Bible neither tells us tobe positive or negative.
Rather, the Bible tells us tobe hopeful.
Did you know that the word hopein English means to wish?
Like man, I hope that's goingto happen.
We typically say that, meaningI wish that's going to happen.
But did you know that the Bibleuses the word hopeful to mean a
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confident expectation of thefuture?
Meaning because we have hope inJesus, we are confident that
God is going to work everythingout according to his will.
We see that in Matthew, chapter28, verse 1.
It says now, after the Sabbath,toward the dawn of the first
day of the week, mary Magdaleneand the other Mary went to see
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the tomb, the tomb of Jesus.
Notice that this happens on aSunday, the first day of the
week, and that's why we haveEaster Sunday together every
year.
That's why we come together andwe worship Jesus and we worship
his resurrection.
But I want you to know that wedon't just do this on Easter
Sunday.
We worship Jesus for hisresurrection every Sunday,
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because he died, he rose fromthe dead and he can save you.
And guess what?
If you die and rise from thedead, we're going to give you
your own day of the week too.
Right, jesus gets his own day.
We call it the Lord's Day.
Every Sunday we get to cometogether and worship Jesus.
So I want to encourage you, ifyou don't have a church, that
you to encourage you if youdon't have a church that you
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call your home, if you don'thave a church that you call your
family.
We don't want to just be achurch in your life, we want to
be a church for your life.
We want to be here and help younavigate life in all that it is
to have direction in lifefollowing Jesus.
We see here that there were twoMarys at that time.
Mary and Mary went to the tomb.
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I just asked our little girl.
We've got a little six-year-oldgirl.
Her name's Brooklyn.
We got a two-year-old son.
His name's Cruz.
We got an 11-month little babygirl, eliana, and our little
girl, brooklyn, brooklyn.
We adopted her out of thedelivery room.
We were actually there when shewas born and, man, what an
honor it is to be her daddy andfor Michelle to be her mommy.
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And just around the one yearmark she was diagnosed with
cerebral palsy, so you can tellher real easy.
She's the one just whippingaround in a wheelchair
everywhere, right?
So watch your toes.
And, man, she is awesome, she'sjust a light.
And I asked her the other dayshe's as smart as all get out.
And I asked her.
I said Brooklyn.
Who was the first person to seeJesus after he rose from the
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dead.
She said Mary it was a popularname back then and I didn't even
know that.
Right, I have a doctrine.
I didn't even know that and Iwas like how do you know these
things?
And so you've got Mary and Mary, and the gospel of Mark
actually tells us that they weretaking spices to the tomb to
give Jesus a proper burialbecause he had not been properly
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buried yet.
I heard one pastor say Mary andMary were the first spice girls
.
They were the first spice girlsright there on the scene.
If you're not 40 years old, youdon't know what I'm talking
about, you know.
And so Mary and Mary says inverse two it says and behold,
there was a great earthquake,for an angel of the Lord
descended from heaven and cameand rolled back the stone and
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sat on it.
The angel's appearance was likelightning and his clothing was
white as snow.
So here you got Mary and Mary,and they're taking the spices to
the tomb, and Mark also tellsus that they don't even have a
plan, right?
I mean, these are tough women,these are fearless women.
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It says that this earthquakehappens and they still go.
God often used earthquakes backin that day, not to hurt people,
but to announce that he wasdoing something that would shake
the earth.
God would often send angels toshow people that what I'm doing
is eternal, that as these angelscome down from heaven, he says
(10:35):
this one his appearance is likelightning and his clothes are
white as snow, just like we arein the presence of God.
When you really get in thepresence of God, he makes you
different.
Can I get an amen?
You can't get in the presenceof God, you can't know Jesus,
you can't believe in him, youcan't spend time with him, you
can't be worshiping him and notbe different from other people
(10:58):
around you.
In the same way, this angel wasdifferent like lightning and
like white as snow because hehad come from heaven and he had
been in the visible presence ofGod.
It says in verse four.
It says in fear of him, fear ofthe angel, these Roman guards,
so the Romans they would send.
They sent the guards to Jesus'stomb because his death and his
(11:20):
crucifixion was such a big deal.
Historians tell us that therewould be somewhere around 12 to
16 different guards.
I mean, these are big, armed,trained, massive, strong,
fearsome guards, and the Biblesays that these guards when the
angel came down from heaven, theearthquake.
The angel rolls the stone away,sits on the stone.
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Why does the angel sit on thestone?
Because he wanted a front rowseat to the resurrection.
Gotta get him in right.
So I love it, by the way, whenour worshipers come and sit on
the front row.
If you are a part of our churchand you love to worship and you
love to sing and you love toraise your hands, I want you on
the front rows, I want you tolead the way.
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And so here's what we see thesemen strong, trained, massive,
fearsome.
It says that they trembled andthey became like dead men.
They played like possum.
Right, they're laying therebecause they are experiencing,
they're encountering somethingfinally greater than them.
They're encountering the gloryof God.
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And there is something aboutyour life that you need to
encounter, someone, somethinggreater than you, so that you
can know, first of all, who youare, but also, most importantly,
so you can know who he is, andhis name is Jesus.
And when you encounter Jesus,you can't help but know that he
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is far greater than you and thatyour life is worth living for
him.
These ladies are so tough.
Are you kidding me right now.
They just killed Jesus.
The disciples are all hidingtogether behind locked doors in
an upper room at this time.
These ladies go to this tomb,where it is guarded by all these
Roman guards.
They are literally riskingtheir lives.
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These are fearsome, fearlessladies.
This is like Sporty Spice andScary Spice.
You know what I'm saying.
And so they're coming to thetomb.
If you're not 40, you don't getit, it's fine.
They're coming to the tomb andthey are.
They come to see Jesus.
Why?
Because they love him.
I wanna give them a properburial.
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I just wanna give a shout outthis morning to all the ladies,
because, as a pastor, I meet somany people and they often tell
me the same story.
If it wasn't for my mom, whowas always praying for me, if it
wasn't for my grandmama, whowas always praying for me and
who was always witnessing me, ifit wasn't for whoever in my
life that was always inviting meto church, I have so many
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people say I would not be saved.
Today there are so many moms inthis room, grandmoms in this
room, aunts in this room,sisters in this room, ladies in
this room, that you are holdingdown the fort spiritually and we
just want to honor you thismorning.
Put your hands together for allthe ladies in this room.
We're so thankful for what youdo.
And we have Mother's Day.
Coming up and hear me, we'regonna give a free rose to every
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single female, if it's a babygirl up to a grandma, because we
want to honor womanhood,because we believe the world
won't honor womanhood but thechurch should.
Can I get an amen?
So we want you to come back forMother's Day and every female
gets a rose because we honor you.
But also I wanna give a shoutout to the men up in this room
here today as well, and here'swhat I want the men to know Men,
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all those revivals that I'vebeen telling you about typically
revivals in the past we couldsee like women leading the way.
Did you know that revivals thatare happening today around the
world, in our country and others, that's happening in the lives
of teenagers, the lives of 20sand those who are older?
Did you know that today thatmen are leading the way,
spiritually, in those revivals,that God is awakening the hearts
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of men and we have a bunch ofgodly leading men here who lead
their church, who love theirfamilies, who lead their
families.
Can we put our hands togetherfor the men this morning, for
godly men that God is raising up?
Did you know that if a kid getssaved, there's a 3.5
statistical chance that thewhole family's gonna get saved?
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Did you know, if a mom getssaved, there's a 17% chance that
the whole family's gonna getsaved?
Did you know, if a dad getssaved, there's a 93% chance that
the whole family's going to getsaved?
Man, we're praying for men tobelieve.
We're praying for men to lead.
We're praying for men to stepup.
We're praying for men to followJesus.
Amen.
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That's why, on Father's Day,we're going to give every male a
slice of bacon.
Amen, we're going to giveeverybody a slice of bacon.
That's what we did last year.
Everybody loved it.
We're gonna do it again thisyear, right?
And we're gonna give every boy,all the way to every granddad,
a piece of bacon.
Why?
Because there's something trueof all of us guys we all love
bacon and all God's men saidAmen, let's go.
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We gotta keep moving.
Man, y'all ain't listening fastenough.
Here we go Mother's Daytogether, and I want you to know
that Jesus's resurrectionchanges your life's expectation
into hope.
Everybody say hope.
Take that next step card rightnow On the back, pastor James
already told you.
The large box at the bottomwrite down your greatest prayer
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request.
It is our honor as your staffto pray over that prayer request
for you this week.
On your behalf.
We want to take your prayerrequest to God's throne.
Here's why Because we want youto turn that expectation you
have into hope that God is goingto work it out.
I just recently heard one of myfavorite pastors who's dead.
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I heard a video.
Someone videoed him rightbefore he died.
His name is Tim Keller.
They said Pastor Tim.
They said tell us about theresurrection of Jesus.
What does the resurrection ofJesus mean to you?
You have a terminal illness.
You're about to go see him.
What does the resurrection ofJesus mean to you?
And here's what Tim Keller said.
One of the smartest men alive.
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Tim Keller said this If Jesusrose from the dead and I believe
he did Tim Keller said If Jesusrose from the dead and I
believe he did Tim Keller saidthen I believe that everything's
going to be okay.
If you believe that Jesus rosefrom the dead, then no matter
what is happening in your life,everything is ultimately going
to be okay.
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Number two Jesus' resurrectionchanges your ambition.
Everybody say ambition.
What is the ambition of yourlife?
What do you define assuccessful?
What do you really want tohappen in your life?
Verse five says but the angelsaid to the women do not be
afraid, for I know that you seekJesus, who was crucified.
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Do you know?
The word seek means to crave.
These women craved to see Jesus.
Why were they seeking him?
Why were they craving to seehim?
Here's why Because they'venever been loved like that,
because Jesus' love for them waspure.
Jesus' love for them wasselfless.
Jesus' love for them was safe.
And Jesus' love for them, hearme, was unconditional.
(18:10):
They didn't have to earn hislove, jesus just loved him.
And so people just wanted to bearound him.
They even just wanted to go andbe around his dead body to give
him this proper burial.
And so the angel said why areyou searching for the living
among the dead?
In verse six, the first part ofverse six, he says he is not
here, for he has risen.
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Just as he said Heard a storyabout a little boy who was in an
Easter pageant, a little Easterplay.
He only had one line he's nothere, he has risen.
He practiced it for months.
He practiced it with hisparents, he practiced it with
his drama team, he practiced itwith his teachers.
Sure enough, sunday EasterSunday came around.
He's on stage, the play'shappening.
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It's his time to shine thespotlight's on him.
He stands there and he freezesand he forgets his line.
The little teacher in the frontrow mouths it to him.
He's not here, he's risen.
The kid looked back at theteacher like he'd never heard
the line before.
She said say it.
The kid said he's not here,he's in prison.
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Right, messed it up right there.
Well, aren't you thankful thatJesus wasn't there?
Because Jesus wasn't there atthe tomb.
Jesus is here with us today.
Can I get an amen?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusis with you?
Whether you're online, ifyou're at home, if you're in the
car, if you're in prison, rightnow, jesus is with you.
(19:34):
Whether you're online, ifyou're at home, if you're in the
car, if you're in prison rightnow, jesus is with you.
Why?
Because he wasn't there.
So Jesus is here, or Jesus iswith you wherever it is that you
are.
And the angel said come see theplace where he lay.
Go quickly and tell hisdisciples that he has risen from
the dead.
I want you to see four wordsvery quickly Come.
Everybody say come.
There are some people heretoday that all you did today was
(19:57):
come.
Somebody asked you to come.
Maybe you didn't wanna come,but you're here and I want you
to know that God brought youhere for a reason to hear
something that is the mostimportant thing that you could
hear in your life.
And then the angel said see.
Everybody say see.
That you could hear in yourlife.
And then the angel said see.
Everybody say see.
The angel wanted them to seefor themselves.
Why do we want you to be here?
Because it's so important thatyou see for yourself.
(20:19):
You see with your own spiritualeyes.
May God take the blinders offof everybody's eyes so that they
can see Jesus for who he is,that he's your Lord, that he's
your savior, that he's died foryour sin, that he's risen from
the dead and he can give youlife.
If you believe that, say amen.
And everyone say go.
The angel said go.
(20:40):
The angel said go.
What does go mean?
Go doesn't just mean to leave.
It means to leave with apurpose.
It means to go and to doministry and to love other
people.
And the angel said to tellEverybody.
Say tell.
Tell means to go and tellpeople what Jesus has done for
you so that he can do the samefor them.
(21:00):
I want you to take that nextstep card and there on that
first blank at the top, thatfirst box on the back at the top
, I want you to write down isthere somewhere that we can go
and be a ministry to?
Is there some place?
Is there some agency?
Is there some people?
Is there some location?
Is there someone in need or abusiness in need, or whatever it
(21:24):
might be, that we can go and bea ministry to?
Because First Baptist ChurchPowder Springs wants to minister
to Powder Springs and all ofour surrounding communities.
You write that down so that wecan read that and we can know
opportunities that we have.
But did you know, did you know,that Christians have told
researchers for a long time nowthat we are all, as Christians,
(21:47):
a little scared to share theirfaith?
How many of y'all admit you'rea little scared to share your
faith?
Raise your hand.
My hand's up, my hand's up.
You're scared to raise yourhand right now is what you're
doing.
I get it.
Every single Christian is alittle scared to share their
faith.
Did you know, though?
The same Christians say but ifsomeone would just teach me what
to say and how to share myfaith, just how to share Jesus
(22:09):
with others, I would love forsomeone to teach me so I could
do it more Next Sunday.
Everybody say next Sunday, nextSunday, we're gonna be man,
it's strong up here.
We're gonna be starting a newseries called Made for More, and
you're gonna learn about howyou can share Jesus with other
people, because God has made youfor the mission, it says.
(22:32):
They departed quickly.
The women left the tomb withfear.
That means with worship.
With great joy, they ran totell the disciples why?
Because Jesus's resurrectionchanges your life ambition.
To his mission, to his mission.
Jesus has a way of saying look,your mission, your ambition, as
(22:53):
long as it's not sinful, it'sfine, but it should never be
greater than mine.
My mission that I want to do inyou and my mission that I want
to do through you.
Number three, quickly, jesus'sresurrection changes your
affection.
Who do you love most in life?
What do you love most in life?
He says in verse nine.
And behold, jesus met them.
(23:15):
He met the ladies, mary andMary, and he said to them
greetings, which means hey,everybody and the ladies came up
and they took hold of his feetand they worshiped him.
I love how Jesus came to themand they came to him.
That's what that relationshiplooks like that Jesus comes to
them and they came to him.
That's what that relationshiplooks like, that Jesus comes to
(23:35):
you and he says I love you,believe in me, give your life to
me.
And when we go to him and say,jesus, I believe in you, I will
live my life for you, that'swhat starts a salvation
relationship together.
That word worship the Greekword there in the text is
proskuneo.
Proskuneo literally means toworship, to fall on our knees
(23:57):
and to be in submission of theone who is Lord.
And that's what they did.
When they saw Jesus for who heis, the resurrected Lord and
Savior they fell on their knees,they grabbed his feet and they
worshiped him.
I remember being in a church oneday and this church they were
(24:20):
doing this play, this drama,this production, and we would
walk from room to room.
And so the first room we walkedto it was kind of a room where,
like, they were trying topicture a guy who wasn't living
for Jesus and so kind of walkedfrom room to room where he was
like partying and doing all thissin and all this bad stuff,
whatever.
And we get to the last room andthe last room is all painted
black.
(24:41):
It was supposed to be hell,right.
So the room's black,everything's dark.
There's somebody really weird,strangely dressed, like the
devil over the corner, like witha creepy laugh, and they had
space heaters all plugged in.
It was like 93 degrees, likeyou break a little sweat in hell
, no big deal.
And so we followed his life.
And then we followed anotherguy's life room to room and we
saw this guy was.
He wasn't cool, he wasn'tpopular, right, whatever.
(25:02):
But you walk into a room andyou experience when he gives his
life to Jesus.
It was very moving.
Go to the last room In the lastroom of the whole thing was
heaven, and I'll never forgetthe room because it was all
painted white.
This church had pillows hangingdown from fishing line.
I think it was supposed to beclouds.
They had people walking aroundin like angel Halloween costumes
(25:25):
, which was really creepy, right.
And then they had us all lineup shoulder to shoulder, just
right, next to each other, andin come walking through the door
was some I lived in Alabama atthe time, some redneck in a fake
beard and a white bathroomwalking.
It was supposed to be Jesus,right?
And so Jesus walks up to thefirst person and he whispers
something to their ear and hegives them a hug.
He walks up to the next person,whispers something to their ear
(25:47):
and gives them a hug.
Next person, next personGetting closer to me.
I'm thinking I have a personalrule in my life Rednecks don't
whisper in my ear and give me ahug.
It's just man code.
I got right.
So he gets right up in front ofme.
He looks me square in the eyesFake redneck Jesus, white
bathrobe and he says well done,my good and faithful servant.
(26:09):
I love you.
I, my good and faithful servant, I love you.
I've been waiting for you.
Welcome into my kingdom.
And I don't know what happened.
But I beat fake redneck Jesusto the hug, right.
I wrapped my arms around himand I squeezed him in and he was
starting to feel awkward.
He's pushing away and I justhad like a moment of the day
that I'm gonna get to see Jesusface to face and eye to eye.
(26:30):
So let me ask you, how are yougoing to respond when you see
Jesus?
Here's what's going to make thedifference whether or not you
believe in him in your life.
When you get to see him, you'reeither going to worship him,
you're going to love him, oryou're going to fear him because
you never gave your life to him.
And today is your opportunity,your life is your opportunity to
(26:53):
give your life to him.
Jesus' resurrection changesyour affection to him.
You can love other people, youcan love other things, but we
should never love other peopleand love other things more than
we love him.
And I'm done.
Last one Jesus' resurrectionchanges your questions.
Everybody say questions.
(27:13):
Stick with me for this lastmoment.
This is so important.
While they were going, behold,some of the guard went into the
city and told the chief priesteverything that had taken place,
that Jesus had risen from thedead, the angel, all that.
And when they had assembledwith the elders and taken
counsel, they gave a sufficientsum of money to the soldiers and
they said they said tell people, tell everybody.
(27:38):
His disciples came by night andstole him away while they were
asleep, time out.
If you're asleep, how do youknow they came and stole him?
Who knows Time in Okay, verse14.
And if this comes to thegovernor's ears.
We will satisfy him and keepyou out of trouble.
So they took the money and didas they were directed, and the
(27:58):
story has been spread among theJews to this day.
Can I just be honest for asecond?
Just be transparent.
As a pastor, I have a lot ofquestions in my life for God.
I have a lot of questions in mylife for God, and I'm sure you
do too.
We don't understand everythingand we won't understand
(28:19):
everything, but hear me, maybeyou're here today and you have
major questions about theresurrection, so much so that
you have objections.
I want you to know that thereare five major objections to the
resurrection.
Number one people say, wait,what if his body was just stolen
?
Okay, well, let's just thinkthat out for a second.
(28:40):
You're telling me 12 fishermenthat Jesus called are going to
go and fight, 16 armed, trainedRoman soldiers.
Win the fight, roll a two-tonstone away, grab the body of a
dead man, take it out, not showit to anybody, and it's going to
(29:02):
result in 2.6 billion people onthe planet believing in Jesus.
Some people say, well, maybeJesus really didn't die, maybe
he was just passed out, maybe hewas just in a coma.
Let's chase that down for justone second.
These are trained Romanexecutioners who scourged him,
(29:23):
who crucified him, and evenhistory tells us that they
thrust a spear into his sidewhich said that water and blood
came out, meaning that even thefluid around his heart had
ruptured.
And you're telling me he wentinto a coma and he went into a
grave for three days with nofood, no water, and he is able
(29:45):
to move a two-ton stone and byhimself, fight 16 Roman soldiers
.
I still want to believe in thatguy.
Amen, but he died.
He rose from the dead.
Some people say, well, maybethey went to the wrong tomb.
Okay, maybe Mary and Mary wentto the wrong tomb.
Maybe the disciples went to thewrong tomb.
Maybe the Roman guards wereguarding the wrong tomb.
(30:05):
Maybe the disciples went to thewrong tomb.
Maybe the Roman guards wereguarding the wrong tomb.
Maybe Joseph of Arimathea, whoowned the tomb, who actually dug
it out himself.
Maybe he took the body of Jesusto the wrong tomb.
Maybe the angel from heaven gotthe wrong directions and went
to the wrong tomb, but stillnobody could come up with the
body from the right tomb.
Number four some people say,well, jesus' disciples, maybe
(30:27):
they were hallucinating.
Jesus appeared to over 500people, people that were able to
talk with him.
They were eyewitnesses, theyallowed people to come up and
question them, people thattalked to him, people that
touched him, people that saw him, people that ate with him.
And even if people havehallucinations, you don't have
(30:49):
500 people all seeing the samehallucination at the same time
in all kinds of different places.
Number five some people say,well, maybe Jesus's resurrection
is just a legend.
He appeared to 500 people.
They all told their testimonies.
(31:09):
Anybody could come and talk tothem at any time.
And here's what I believe is thegreatest witness of the gospel
that this is true.
This is what changes our life'squestions into faith.
This is where Jesus becomes thefulfillment of our expectations
, our ambition, our affectionand our questions.
(31:30):
Here's what I need you to see.
Did you know that every singleone of those disciples died for
their faith in Jesus?
Peter was crucified upside downbecause he said he was unworthy
to die like Jesus.
They crucified Andrew on anX-shaped cross.
John was the only one of the 12disciples who didn't die as a
(31:51):
martyr, but they boiled him in avat of oil and he survived.
They banned him to an islandwith nobody there, and he lived.
But Philip Bartholomew, matthew, thomas, james, thaddeus, simon
and Matthias were all martyredfor their faith.
(32:17):
And hear me, nobody dies for alie.
Every one of them died sayingyou can take my life, but you
can't have my faith, because Isaw him with my own eyes, I
touched him, I heard him, Ibelieved in him and he rose from
(32:39):
the dead.
And I'm telling you, when youcome and see and you see Jesus
for who he is, you can't helpbut go and tell so that other
people can experience him, likeyou, with every head bowed and
every eye closed this morning.
(33:00):
I just wanna give you thatopportunity.
Maybe you're here this morningand I just want to give you that
opportunity.
Maybe you're here this morningand you just came, didn't even
want to be here invited, justwanted to be with family, and
maybe God has spoken to you in apersonal way this morning and
God has helped you to see, andmaybe this is your day where you
(33:25):
just, you just gotta give yourlife to Jesus.
You don't have any other choice.
You get it, you see it, youbelieve it, you want it.
So, right here, right now, Iwanna encourage you just to pray
and you can say dear Jesus, Ilove you, I need you and I
(33:45):
believe in you.
You can say I believe that,jesus, you died on the cross for
my sin and I ask you to forgiveme of all my sin.
And you can tell him.
You say dear Jesus, I believethat you rose from the dead, I
believe that you're alive andyou're real.
And, jesus, I call on you to bethe Lord of my life, my master,
(34:07):
my savior, my God, my all.
The Bible says that if youconfess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe withyour heart, then you believe
with your heart that he rosefrom the dead.
You will be saved, jesus, wethank you for that promise.
Thank you for saving anyone andeveryone that prayed that
(34:30):
prayer this morning and meant itwith all of their heart, giving
their life to you.
We love you in Jesus' name.
And all God's people said wouldyou put your hands together for
anybody that prayed that prayerthis morning?
The Bible says that heavenrejoices every time a sinner
repents and gives their life toJesus.
We are so thankful for all thatGod is doing and I just wanna
(34:52):
encourage you right here, rightnow, that God is moving.
Jesus is moving, jesus is alive.
Look at somebody and tell themJesus is alive.
Jesus is alive and that meansthat he can be alive in you.
That means he's moving in you,that means he's moving among us
and that means that we worshiphim.
Can we stand right now andwe're gonna worship Jesus, not
(35:18):
just because he's alive.
We're gonna worship Jesusbecause he wasn't there at the
tomb.
We're gonna worship Jesusbecause he's right there at the
tomb.
We're gonna worship Jesusbecause he's right here with us
this morning.
Can I get an amen church Onthis Easter Sunday?
Jesus is with us and we'regonna worship him like he's in
the room, because he is.
Let's worship Jesus right nowtogether.
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