April 20, 2025 • 47 mins
What does it mean when God says, “Behold, I am making all things new”? In this Easter message, All Things New, Pastor Tyler Lynde explores the stunning vision of restoration found in Revelation 21:1-8. This isn’t just about going to heaven—it’s about the complete transformation of creation, relationship, and experience.
Tyler begins by showing us that God’s plan is not to repair the broken world, but to recreate it. The new heaven and new earth will be free from natural disasters, decay, and death. As beautiful as parts of our current world may be, they are merely glimpses of what’s to come. Revelation 21 opens our eyes to the breathtaking scale of God’s restoration—where everything wrong is made right.
But it’s not only the physical world that will be renewed. Tyler highlights the restoration of relationship at the core of the passage: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.” Since the fall, humanity has been separated from God, but in the new creation, this relationship will be fully restored. No more barriers, no more distance—just perfect communion with our Creator.
Then there’s the emotional restoration. “He will wipe away every tear… death shall be no more… neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain.” This vision offers a powerful contrast to the world we live in now—a world filled with suffering, anxiety, and loss. Tyler reminds us that in Christ, we don’t just look forward to healing—we’re promised complete renewal.
Most importantly, this newness isn’t only for the future. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” When we respond to Jesus in repentance and faith, God begins His renewing work now. Through the Holy Spirit, we’re empowered to live differently today, even while we wait for the ultimate restoration.
But Tyler also doesn’t shy away from the urgency of the moment. Revelation 21 ends with a warning for those who reject this invitation. Eternity is on the line, and we’re called to respond—to repent, believe, and receive the free gift of salvation.
This message is a celebration of the resurrection, a call to transformation, and a reminder that the best is yet to come.
We are Trinity Community Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Episode Transcript
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Tyler Lynde (00:03):
Are we ready for the word of God this morning?
Amen, ready or not, here itcomes.
The title of today's message isAll Things New.
All Things New.
Let's turn to Revelation,chapter 21, and we're going to
be reading verses 1 through 8.
Revelation 21, verses 1 through8.
Since then, I saw a new heavenand a new earth, for the first
(00:27):
heaven and the first earth hadpassed away and the sea was no
more.
And I saw the holy city, newJerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as abride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice fromthe throne saying Behold, the
dwelling place of God is withman.
(00:49):
He will dwell with them andthey will be his people, and God
himself will be with them astheir God.
He will wipe away every tearfrom their eyes and death shall
be no more.
Come on now.
(01:26):
And he said to me it is done.
I am the alpha and the omega,the beginning and the end.
To the thirsty I will give fromthe spring of the water of life
, without payment.
The one who conquers will havethis heritage and I will be his
God and he will be my son.
But as for the cowardly, thefaithless, the detestable, as
(01:50):
for murderers, the sexuallyimmoral sorcerers, idolaters and
all liars, their portions willbe in the lake that burns with
fire and sulfur, which is thesecond death.
Let's pray together, father.
We thank you and praise you foryour matchless word.
We thank you that you've leftus so many signs and testimonies
(02:14):
of the goodness of God and thetruth concerning Jesus Christ,
and primary amongst them is yourvery word, the Holy Bible.
And so, lord, we thank you that, as we dig into these verses
today, we ask that you wouldopen the eyes of our
understanding, that we would beenlightened by the Holy Spirit
to see the truth that is foundrichly packed within these words
(02:37):
from the book of Revelation.
We pray, lord, that you wouldread us, that you would see us,
that you would move in us, thatyou would transform us and,
father, that you would beglorified in everything that is
said and done in Jesus' name.
Amen.
When we first came into thisbuilding 10 years ago, this room
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didn't look like it looks today.
This room didn't look like itlooks today.
Some of you were there back inthat time and you walked in this
room with concrete floors.
The walls were very dirty, theceiling was a mess, because this
was an industrial facility.
There was a lot of work thatwas going on in this place.
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In fact, the room was packedfull of all kinds of industrial
things, machinery and thingsthat are built by machinery.
It was just completely packedfull.
And if we hadn't been told thatthis had formerly been a church
, there's no way that we couldhave discerned that just from
walking in the building.
I guess maybe if we looked upat the ceiling because, if I
(03:42):
remember right, there were acouple of chains hanging up here
where it was obvious that therehad been a screen here at one
point in time over this area,and maybe there was an outline
of the stage here, if I rememberright, but very little evidence
of any kind that this had beena church at one time.
It was a church, in fact, kellyand Nikki Kinder, one of our
(04:03):
pastors, actually attended hereat one point in time back in the
day, and so obviously over thelast 10 years we've done a lot
and, by the grace of God, thisplace has become what it
currently is.
Right, there's been a completetransformation, there's been a
huge renovation that hasoccurred here and, as we've been
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studying over the last severalweeks the book of Nehemiah.
What have we seen?
We've seen the fact that Godloves a good renovation project.
God is in the renovationbusiness In a similar way today.
Our passage kind of borrowsfrom this.
This is an ultimate redo, anultimate restoration, an
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ultimate renovation.
John, the disciple whom Jesusloved, was banished by the Roman
government because theycouldn't kill him.
They tried to kill him and theycouldn't kill him, and so they
sent him to the Isle of Patmosand he was in the spirit on the
Lord's day.
He was having church all byhimself, because that's all that
was there, and he was extendingpraise and worship to God.
(05:08):
And in the middle of that, godinterrupted his time and he
began to give him a vision ofall of history, past, present
and future.
And he began to see glimpses ofthings that were very hard to
describe.
And he tried the best that hecould to write down all of the
things that he had seen andexperienced.
And please, when you read thebook of Revelation, don't forget
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the first part that says thisis the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
This is the revelation of JesusChrist.
It is not primarily therevelation of tank movements and
nuclear weaponry, although thatmay be found somewhere within
the chapters of the book, it isprimarily the revelation of
Jesus Christ and the kingdom ofGod, as it advances throughout
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time, even though it comes undercomplete, utter frustration,
persecution, difficulty, and yetwhat happens?
It continues to endure becauseJesus, our mighty king, is in
charge and in control.
Aren't you grateful for that?
So at the end of this divineencounter, john sees the
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culmination of God's restorationplan and he says it like this
behold, I am making all thingsnew.
Behold, I am making all thingsnew.
Behold, I am making all thingsnew.
So let's talk about a few of thethings that this passage
describes to us as being madenew.
The first thing is that there'sgoing to be a new creation.
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Let's read again verses one andtwo.
Then I saw a new heaven and anew earth, for the first heaven
and the first earth had passedaway and the sea was no more,
and I saw the holy city, newJerusalem.
How many of you know that Godis a creator?
It's not just something that hedoes, it's a part of his
(07:01):
character, it's a part of hisnature.
It's who he is.
In the beginning we know and weread in the book of Genesis in
chapter one God created what theheavens and the earth and he
also created mankind and heplaced Adam and Eve in the
garden of Eden.
Right?
Can you imagine with me forjust a moment what it must have
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looked like in that place, forjust a moment, what it must have
looked like in that place, aplace of perfection.
The greens must have been thegreenest of greens.
The blues must have been thebluest of blues.
I know, in my travels over timeI've been to Ireland and I've
seen a green that is almostimpossible to describe.
I've been to the southwest ofthe United States and seen the
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painted deserts and understoodthat this is just a picture,
just a snapshot, a Polaroid,almost a faint impression of
what it must have been like.
I've been to the Caribbean andI've seen the bluest of waters.
That the color is almost youcan't even find it fully.
It's indescribable, it'smagnificent, it's spectacular.
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I've been to the RockyMountains.
I grew up at the base of theRocky Mountains and as you look
up upon those mountains, youhave to ask yourself, and maybe
answer your own question Isthere a God?
And yes, there is a God.
God is a creator, he's acreator, he loves to create new
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things.
Can you imagine an earth, anearth that doesn't have that,
where nature is at harmonyinstead of at odds with each
other.
Because, as pristine as we canfind places in this world, how
many of you know, they're just ataste.
They're just a small expressionof what could be, of what once
was.
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And this scripture tells us, inRevelation 21, that we will
experience the intent of Godconcerning his creation in its
fullness.
In its fullness, can youimagine a world with no
hurricanes or tornadoes, orearthquakes or famines?
Can you imagine an earth withno pests or thes, or earthquakes
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or famines?
Can you imagine an earth withno pests or thorns, or thistles
or snakes yes, I said it orspiders or mosquitoes?
Can you imagine a place likethat?
Well, god's imagined it andhe's going create it, and it's
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going to appear in the.
I believe that it will be inthis place that we will
experience the newness of God,in a new creation in its
complete majesty.
So what went wrong with thisplace where we now find our
residence?
Adam and Eve, god's firstcreated humans, rebelled against
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God.
So what went wrong with thisplace where we now find our
residence?
Adam and Eve, god's firstcreated humans, rebelled against
God.
They were given one job, rightTo obey one commandment, and
they rebelled against him andthey sinned, and the result was
the marring of God's creation.
Not only did they suffer theimpact of that or the results of
that, but the earth itselfsuffered the results of their
fall from grace.
From Genesis 3 throughRevelation 20, the earth and
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everyone in it experiences theresults of sin and death.
Things like decay anddestruction, death and evil are
all part of our lives here onthis earth.
All we have to do is watch 30seconds of the news and we see
these things broadcast in frontof all of our eyes.
Even nature itself groans to bedelivered from the curse.
(10:34):
In Romans 8 21, it says thatthe creation itself will be set
free from its bondage tocorruption and obtain the
freedom of the glory of thechildren of God.
For we know that the wholecreation has been groaning
together in the pains ofchildbirth until now, and not
only the creation, but weourselves, who have the first
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fruits of the spirit growninwardly as we wait eagerly for
adoption as sons, the redemptionof our bodies.
Even this earth moans andgroans, and creation itself
groans and cries out for newnessto be made new.
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Aren't you glad that the storydidn't end with Adam and Eve's
sin.
We're going to get to that allin just a minute.
When Adam and Eve sinned, godgave glimpses of this promise,
as he promised that the Messiahwould come, even in the middle
of all of the curses that he wasgiving because of the sins that
were committed.
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He says that there will be onewho will come, who will rescue
and save people from their sin.
And if you read through the OldTestament, as we're doing, we
see many glimpses, manyprophecies that speak to a
future point in time.
The prophet Isaiah declaredthat salvation is found in God
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alone and that he will certainlyjudge sin.
And he prophesies of the newheaven and new earth.
And he says see, I will createnew heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not beremembered.
My friends, we can look forwardto a new creation.
It is coming, ready or not, itis coming, it will come.
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It is the word of God and wecan take it to the bank.
But not only can we lookforward to a new creation, we
can also look forward to a newrelationship.
Reading on in Revelation 21, itsays and I heard a loud voice
from the throne saying beholdthe dwelling place of God is
with man.
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He will dwell with them andthey will be his people and God
himself will be with them astheir God.
How many of you know that God isnot just interested in
inanimate objects, he's not justinterested in creating
something and letting it be.
God is interested primarily inrelationship.
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God is a relational God.
That's why he is called Father.
He is our Father.
And Jesus himself.
When he was telling hisdisciples how to pray, how did
he begin that prayer?
Not with the list of requests,but our Father in heaven.
Our Father and his Son arerelational beings and the spirit
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with them.
And he has a desire.
In fact, the reason why hecreated humanity in the first
place was so that he might havefellowship with them.
You might say, well, was Godlonely?
Obviously not.
God cannot be lonely.
He is content, completelycontent.
But he desired, he had a desireto increase fellowship, and so
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he created humankind.
And in the scripture we read ofa time when God will not only be
around us or be near us ordwell in us by his spirit, but
that he will be with us.
God, the father, god the sonand God the spirit, will make
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their new home in this newheaven and new earth.
It's interesting when you readthe Bible, the different
dwelling places of God.
First we know that God walkedwith Adam and Eve in the garden,
and then he dwelt with Israelin the tabernacle, the tent of
meeting, and then also in thetemple.
And when Israel sinned towardsthe end of the Old Testament, we
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see that God even departed fromthose dwelling places and later
Jesus Christ came to earth anddwelt among us.
That was the incarnationEmmanuel, god with us.
And today God does not live inhuman-made temples.
How many of you know that thisbuilding isn't necessary or
essential for God to dwell in?
But we're thankful that becauseeach and every one of you, who
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is carrying the Spirit of God onthe inside of you, when you
walked over the threshold ofthose doors on the outside, how
many of you know that God camewith you?
The spirit of God that dwellson the inside of you came with
you and all of our human spirits, informed by the Holy Spirit,
as we gather together.
There's a corporate presence ofGod that is involved in his
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church as well.
That's why Hebrews tell us notto forsake the assembling of
ourselves together.
It's important because weexperience God in a new and
different way when we're able tobe together.
God created humanity, like Isaid, in order to have
fellowship with him.
That has always been his desireand his ultimate plan.
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But, how many of you know,unfortunately the plan was
paused.
It was placed on a temporaryhold in the Garden of Eden.
The result of the curse thatcame because of Adam and Eve's
sin is not only that they wereto be punished, but where were
they sent?
They were sent out of theGarden of Eden, no longer to
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enjoy the daily presence oftheir father.
It says of them that theywalked and talked with God in
the coolness of the day in thegarden, and because of their sin
and because of the curse thatcame because of their sin, they
were forced out of the gardenand there were angels that were
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placed at the entrance of thegarden with flaming swords to
guard that entrance so that theywould no longer be able to
enter back in.
Sin has its consequence.
A holy God must deal with sinin order to remain holy, and it
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would be one thing if we werejust talking about Adam and Eve,
but how many of you know, itdidn't stop with them.
It went on.
In fact, we are all bornsinners.
We are all born with a sinfulnature that separates us from
God.
Sin entered the world throughone man and death through sin,
and in this way, death came toall people.
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This is found in Romans 5,verse 12.
Every one of us was affected byAdam's sin, every one of us.
There are no exceptions,obviously, except for Jesus.
One trespass resulted incondemnation for all people.
Not only that, but we have allsinned and fallen short of the
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glory of God.
We all have sinned.
Ephesians 2 describes it likethis and you were dead in the
trespasses and sins in which youonce walked, following the
course of this world, followingthe prince of the power of the
air, the spirit that is now atwork in the sons of disobedience
.
My friends, all of us were bornin this condition.
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All of us were born dead to God.
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All of us were born with achasm between us and God, and we
could not bridge that gap.
I don't care you know how manyprayers that you prayed, I don't
care what you attempted to doto try to reach God, I don't
know.
I don't care how good yournature was or how many good
things that you did here on thisearth to help things and to
help people.
None of it is good enough toreach a holy righteous judge, a
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holy righteous God.
In order for us to understandthe goodness of God and
salvation, we must understandthe punishment and the penalty
and the power of sin.
There are not many churches onEaster Sunday that will be
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preaching about sin, but Ipromise you, unless you
understand it, you cannotunderstand the glorious majesty
and unbelievable truth thatwe've been ransomed, that we've
been bought back.
You see, sin has caused notjust a problem, but eternal
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separation from God.
We were dead in our sins, wewere hopeless.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Thankfully, the story does notend there and, by the way, when
I say story, this is completelytrue.
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Jesus is God's solution, just aswe know that sin has affected
each and every person other thanJesus that's ever lived on this
planet.
Jesus is the solution.
Jesus is the savior of theworld.
You see, from the very momentthat the curse came in the
garden, there was a promisegiven that the one who would
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come to make all things right.
How would he do it?
He would do it by being awilling sacrifice for sin.
Hebrews 9 says so.
Christ has now become the highpriest over all the good things
that have come.
He has entered that greater,more perfect tabernacle in
heaven, which was not made byhuman hands and is not part of
this created world.
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With his own blood, not theblood of goats and calves, he
entered the most holy place oncefor all time and secured our
redemption forever.
Under the old system, the bloodof goats and bulls and the
ashes of a heifer could cleansepeople's bodies from ceremonial
impurity.
Just think how much more, howmuch more, the blood of Christ
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will purify our consciences fromsinful deeds, so that we can
worship the living God.
For by the power of the eternalspirit, christ offered himself
to God as a perfect sacrificefor our sins.
Jesus, the lamb of God, whotakes away the sin of the world.
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You see, jesus, the perfect sonof God, god incarnate, came to
this earth to represent thefather in all of his glory.
He lived his life in completeobedience to the father.
He was tempted in every way,just like we are, yet without
sin.
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He exemplified the kingdom ofGod by his teachings, his
miracles and by his compassion.
After being betrayed andfalsely accused, and beaten and
mocked, he was led to a crueldeath on a cross, like a lamb to
the slaughter.
But make no mistake, today weare here to celebrate something
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more, something else, somethingin addition to the cross where
Jesus was nailed.
How many of you know that Jesusdid not lay in the borrowed tomb
that he was given for long?
One day, two day, three days,and on the third day the spirit
of God entered that place and hewas raised to life again and he
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lives forever and ever.
He went, he, he, he, yeah, comeon, we can take a praise break,
it's all right.
He walked on this earth for 40days, he was seen by over 500
people, he ascended into heavenand he was given the name that
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is above every name, that at thename of Jesus, every knee
should bow and every tongueshould confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God,the Father.
This is the Jesus that weworship, that we praise, and the
reason that we are here todayand please don't forget this
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isn't the end of the story,because there will be a day not
far from this day, when theeastern sky will split and this
Savior and Lord, who was raisedto life, will return to this
planet, and when he returns, wewill be with him, we will be
made like him and we will livewith him forever and ever and
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ever, ever and ever and ever.
We can look forward to a newrelationship.
We also can look forward to anew experience, a new experience
that goes on to say he willwipe away every tear from their
eyes and death shall be no more.
(23:33):
Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things havepassed away.
If you ever were concerned aboutthe father's heart, what does
he consider a state ofperfection?
A life free from grief andsorrow and suffering and pain.
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Can you fathom with me?
Can you imagine what that wouldbe like just for one moment in
time?
You see, the effects of sin inthis world affect our souls just
as much as anything.
The reality of anxiety and fearand pain and sorrow and
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depression and oppression, andon and on.
These are things that we dailyencounter, that we daily battle,
that we daily endure on thisplanet, in this life, as a
result of sin.
But I am here to tell you,according to the word of God,
that there will be a day whenall of those things will be For
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some reason.
I was thinking this week aboutmy brother who drowned when he
was two and a half years old,and so I did some research with
the help of my wife, and Idiscovered that April 18th was
the day that he passed from thislife.
I had never known that datebefore, and so then it made
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sense to me why I was kind offeeling this way and
experiencing this, and as I'vethought about it this week, you
know what has come to my mind.
He's doing really well, likehe's doing really well, and I
feel like I just want to knowhim.
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I just feel like I've beencheated in some ways from
knowing him, but I'm so thankful.
The Bible tells us that, forthose who are in Christ, that
we're going to be reunited withthose who have gone before us
who are followers of JesusChrist, and we're going to be
able, with those who have gonebefore us who are followers of
Jesus Christ, and we're going tobe able to spend eternity
together with them.
I look forward to knowing mybrother Brian at this time that
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Revelation teaches us about.
We who follow after Christ canlook forward to a new experience
when Christ returns.
So what do we do.
Peter preached his sermon on theday of Pentecost, and towards
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the end of that sermon and I'mjust putting this on you I
believe you're asking what thenmust we do?
And so I'm going to try toanswer that question.
And the scripture here tells uswhat to do.
There's a proper response thatwe give to the message of the
gospel.
It goes on to say and he whowas seated on the throne said
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behold, I am making all thingsnew.
Who's speaking here?
Jesus is speaking.
Also, he said write this down,for these words are trustworthy
and true.
And he said to me it is done.
Does that sound familiar to you?
It is finished, it is done.
I am the alpha and the omega,the beginning and the end.
(27:10):
To the thirsty I will give fromthe spring of the water of life
, without payment.
The one who conquers will havethis heritage and I will be his
God and he will be my son.
Jesus, speaking directly toJohn, tells him to make this
clear, to painstakingly get itright.
Don't skip a beat or miss aword.
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What you have seen and heard,John, are absolutely the truth.
I put my own name andreputation on it.
That's what Jesus is saying.
In the gospel book written byJohn, there are seven statements
that he makes that are from Godand from Jesus and about Jesus.
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These are, I am statements, andI'm not going to rehearse all
of them, but in one occasion hesaid I am the way, the truth and
the life.
No one comes to the Father how?
Except by me.
And I believe that the bookendto that statement is found here
in Revelation 21, when Jesussays I am the alpha and omega,
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the beginning and the end.
You see, he is the word thatwas spoken in creation.
Jesus is the word that broughtlight and life to all mankind
and he is the word that issaying that all things will be
made new, will be made new.
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Notice that these promises aremade to the thirsty.
Are you thirsty?
Are you hungry?
Jesus loved using the theme ofhunger and thirst when talking
about us recognizing our needfor God.
In Matthew 5, verse 6, it saysBlessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, forthey shall be satisfied or
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filled.
So how do we respond?
First of all, we repent.
We repent.
Repentance is acknowledgingthat I am a sinner, that I
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cannot save myself and that Ineed a savior that is greater
than I am, recognizing my needfor change, my need for
transformation, my need to bemade new.
You will not be saved outsideof this step.
Jesus himself said that we mustrepent and believe.
The second step is to believe.
That is, to put your faith,hope and trust in Jesus's
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sacrifice and the fact that hepaid the price for all of our
sins.
We must believe.
We must believe Not just thathe was a baby in a manger, not
just that he came and lived aperfect life, not just that he
died on a cross and raised fromthe dead, but that he did those
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things for me.
I believe in you, jesus, for me, not not my grandparents faith,
not my church's faith.
You know, we went out witnessingyesterday, a group of us, and
we went to Target and Kroger andhad some really interesting
conversations and one of the themost interesting things that I
learned about people is thatthey equate their faith with the
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church they attend.
Very few of them said I'm afollower of Jesus Christ or I'm
a believer in Jesus Christ.
As soon as we asked, would youmind if we pray for you?
They said I go to blank blankchurch.
I go to whatever church youknow I go to.
Going to church doesn't make youa Christian.
Doesn't make you a Christian.
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There's more to it than that.
It's important to go to churchdoesn't make you a Christian.
Doesn't make you a Christian.
There's more to it than that.
It's important to go to church.
Please don't take that youdon't need to be in church.
But it's more than that.
There's a recognition, there'sa faith that must be applied.
There's a choice that we maketo put our faith in someone
outside of ourselves.
Put your faith in Jesus todayand finally be saved.
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Be saved, receive the free giftof salvation.
Can you imagine at Christmastime if there was a present
under the tree that had yourname on it and Christmas came
and went and you never opened upthe present?
Was that present made availableto you?
Was it paid for for you?
Was it deposited for you?
Was it ready for you?
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What was the problem?
You didn't receive it, youdidn't open it up, you didn't
accept it.
And so many times people have ahead, knowledge about God and
they have an understanding aboutthe things about Jesus, but
their hearts have not beentransformed.
And the way for your heart tobe transformed is to receive, by
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faith, the free gift ofsalvation.
How many of you know that allof these steps follow the Holy
Spirit of God moving on theinside of us to make what was
dead alive again.
We cannot properly respond toGod in any of these ways unless
the Spirit of God makes us ableto do that.
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But he's here this morningdoing that very thing.
He's walking amongst theseaisles and he's tapping on
hearts and he's speaking to youand he's saying come home, come
home.
I have good news for you as wefinish this up.
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We do not have to wait for anew heaven and a new earth to
experience these new realities.
How many of you know that Godhas provided a way, through
Jesus, for us to begin toexperience newness of life right
here on this planet?
We have been made new already.
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If we are followers of JesusChrist, no longer are we under
the penalty of sin and no longerare we under the power of sin.
We have the ability, by God'sgrace, to say no to sin and to
say yes to Jesus.
What a gift that is given.
What a gift that is given.
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What a way that God hasintersected himself in this
world that is still so filledwith sin and sorrow and shame.
2nd Corinthians, 5, 17 saystherefore if anyone is in Christ
, he is a new creation, not abetter form, not a prettier
picture.
Not a better form, not aprettier picture, not a whatever
description you want to a newcreation.
You've been made brand new.
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Old things have passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
You see, when someone trusts inGod for salvation, the Holy
Spirit indwells them and theybecome a new creation.
The believer is no longer boundby sin.
We are able to please God andlive in his ways, and Galatians
2.20 says it really well.
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I have been crucified withChrist and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body.
I live by faith in the son ofGod, who loved me and gave
himself for me.
No longer do we live forourselves, but we live for the
one who is life.
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Transformation has occurred.
When Jesus said, behold, I makeall things new, he's already
started the process in us.
Why in the world wouldn't welive like that?
Why would we choose a lesserversion of life?
Why would we choose to focus onthat which isn't instead of
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that which is?
Why in the world would we alloweverything that's around us in
this world to attempt to squelchand to quiet out and to disturb
the truth that should be foundon the inside of us.
Christ, in us.
The hope of glory, thetransformational power of the
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spirit of God that raised JesusChrist from the dead lives in us
as believers, and he's able toquicken our mortal bodies so
that we can be true and honestand faithful to him.
This is good news, my friends.
It's not just Jesus that raisedfrom the dead.
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We got maybe 250 or more inthis room that have been raised
to life again by the power ofthe Holy Spirit.
I hope the truth of all thingsnew makes us live with eager
expectation, seeking to know himmore, becoming more like him
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and making him known to others.
I hope that our lives areaffected and influenced in
greater ways in the year thatcomes by the reality of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Our hopeful future is whatchanges how we live as we await
Jesus coming to truly make allthings new.
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Now, that would be a typical wayto end the sermon, but the
passage doesn't end there.
There's a final warning thatsays but as for the cowardly,
the faithless, the detestable,as for murderers, the sexually
immoral sorcerers, idolaters andall liars, their portion will
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be in the lake that burns withfire and sulfur, which is the
second death.
Now, before you believe a lieof Satan.
This isn't talking about aperson as committed one of these
sins, because we all havecommitted one of these sins or
more of these sins.
This is talking about a personwhose identity has not been
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changed, a person who has notrepented of their sins and put
their faith in Jesus Christ andreceived the free gift of
salvation.
This is talking about a personor people who refuse to put
their faith and hope and trustin a living, risen Savior.
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My friends, hell is a real placeand there will be,
unfortunately, and there will beunfortunately, many people who
will live out eternity.
And you can think of hell inmany different ways, and there's
a lot of descriptives that wefind in the scripture, but to me
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, the most haunting if I mightuse that word of all is the fact
that the presence of God willnot be found there.
This is not religion.
This is not.
My parents told me so.
This is not.
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It's socially acceptable.
This is not a pretend thing orsomething that we just add to
our lives like we add a new pairof clothes.
Eternity is forever and thechoice that we have to make this
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day is, will we choose tofollow Jesus and to put our
trust in him, or will wecontinue to follow ourselves in
our own?
Put our trust in our ownability to be good enough
somehow to avoid going to hell?
This is a somber thought andsomething that God didn't want
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us to forget, even in thispassage, with such glory and joy
and amazing realities of a newheaven and a new earth.
Father, we pray today for thosein this room and those that are
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watching online, who findthemselves in the latter
position, lord, that areidentified by sin, sorrow and
shame and they, being born deadin sin and trespasses, have not
yet repented of their sins andbelieved on the Lord Jesus
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Christ and been saved.
And, father, we pray that todaywould be the day.
We ask that, by your power andyour might and by your spirit,
that you would awaken those whofind themselves asleep.
Today, we pray that the truthof the word of God would cause
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there to be light and life inthe deepest, darkest crevices of
our hearts and our souls.
Father, we pray in Jesus' namethat those that you're working
in their hearts.
Although praying a prayer notbeing the means of salvation,
there is a prayer to be prayedbased on the work that you're
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doing in the hearts of mankind.
So we pray that those that areexperiencing this would cry out
to you even now.
God in heaven, I am a sinner, Iam deserving of your judgment.
I deserve to be sent to hell,but I believe in Jesus Christ.
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I believe that he came to thisearth and lived a perfect life
and took my sin to the cross atCalvary.
I believe that he died and hetook the punishment for my sin
upon himself.
I believe that he was buriedand that he rose again from the
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dead, and I choose this day tobelieve in him for me, for my
life, for my salvation.
I receive the free gift ofsalvation by faith.
Save me, lord, save me now.
Change me.
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For those of you who have prayedthat prayer, thank you, thank
you.
Thank you for being obedient tothe gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for choosing tofollow after him.
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Thank you for acknowledging thework of God inside of you to
bring you to a point to whereyou could even acknowledge your
need.
Thank you.
And now I just encourage you toget plugged in, be a part of a
local church, get yourselfalongside other people who have
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been walking with Jesus for sometime and learn of them, learn
from them.
Pick up the Bible and read, andmaybe read the Gospel of John,
and begin to see who Jesus isand what Jesus did for you.
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See, the truest sign oftransformation is not a prayer
prayed, but a life changed, andso I'm going to pray also for
the rest of us that might be inthis room who find ourselves in
differing states of disarray.
I believe that there are someprodigals that are listening.
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You've tasted and you've seenthe goodness of God and you know
that what I'm saying is truethis morning.
But you've been running, you'vebeen running, you've been
running, but you've been running, you've been running.
I ask you to stop and turnaround and see the Father
standing there with his armsspread wide open, ready to
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accept you back, to welcome youback, to embrace you.
Father, we pray for that now, inthe name of Jesus.
Lord, that those who findthemselves in a place of a
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backslidden state, lord, we praythat there would be the ability
for change to come even now.
Restore the joy of yoursalvation in each one.
And, father, for all of us.
Would you help us, days andweeks ahead, to not be ashamed
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of the light that lives withinus, to not just be so longing
for a time that will come thatwe forget for the change that's
already happened, that we forgetto honor you and glorify you
and praise you and be thankfulto you for who you are and what
you've done that we.
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Lord, would you help us to bebold in our faith and our
witness?
Would you help us to not beashamed of the gospel of Jesus
Christ?
Would you encourage us, lord,every day to be involved in the
spiritual disciplines that wewould make grace our habit and
not something that we just runto when we're in desperate need.
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Father, I pray that the powerof the Spirit of God, the
resurrection power of JesusChrist, would live in us, change
us and would flow out from usto a world in desperate need.
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Would you just stand with me?
There's gonna be a prayer teamthat's gonna be here in just a
minute and if you have apersonal request, we'd ask that
you come.
These are trusted people andall they want to do is pray with
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you and ask the Lord to meetyou at the point of your need.
Also, if you did ask Jesus tobe your Savior and Lord today,
we want to know about that, notso that we can broadcast it or
embarrass you, but so that wecan pray with you, walk with you
on this exciting new journey.
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This is exciting.
The Bible says that heavenrejoices when one person commits
their life to Jesus Christ, andwe want to rejoice with you.
And the next step is baptism.
We're having baptism coming upin May and we'll be talking
about that in the weeks to come.
I'm just going to pray ablessing over you and send you
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out this Easter to shine thelight of Jesus.
Amen.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
May he cause his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
May he lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace In
Jesus' holy, matchless, mightyname.
Amen, amen.
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Happy Resurrection Day.
God bless you guys.
Are we ready for the word of God this morning?
Amen, ready or not, here itcomes.
The title of today's message isAll Things New.
All Things New.
Let's turn to Revelation,chapter 21, and we're going to
be reading verses 1 through 8.
Revelation 21, verses 1 through8.
Since then, I saw a new heavenand a new earth, for the first
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heaven and the first earth hadpassed away and the sea was no
more.
And I saw the holy city, newJerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as abride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice fromthe throne saying Behold, the
dwelling place of God is withman.
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He will dwell with them andthey will be his people, and God
himself will be with them astheir God.
He will wipe away every tearfrom their eyes and death shall
be no more.
Come on now.
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And he said to me it is done.
I am the alpha and the omega,the beginning and the end.
To the thirsty I will give fromthe spring of the water of life
, without payment.
The one who conquers will havethis heritage and I will be his
God and he will be my son.
But as for the cowardly, thefaithless, the detestable, as
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for murderers, the sexuallyimmoral sorcerers, idolaters and
all liars, their portions willbe in the lake that burns with
fire and sulfur, which is thesecond death.
Let's pray together, father.
We thank you and praise you foryour matchless word.
We thank you that you've leftus so many signs and testimonies
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of the goodness of God and thetruth concerning Jesus Christ,
and primary amongst them is yourvery word, the Holy Bible.
And so, lord, we thank you that, as we dig into these verses
today, we ask that you wouldopen the eyes of our
understanding, that we would beenlightened by the Holy Spirit
to see the truth that is foundrichly packed within these words
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from the book of Revelation.
We pray, lord, that you wouldread us, that you would see us,
that you would move in us, thatyou would transform us and,
father, that you would beglorified in everything that is
said and done in Jesus' name.
Amen.
When we first came into thisbuilding 10 years ago, this room
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didn't look like it looks today.
This room didn't look like itlooks today.
Some of you were there back inthat time and you walked in this
room with concrete floors.
The walls were very dirty, theceiling was a mess, because this
was an industrial facility.
There was a lot of work thatwas going on in this place.
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In fact, the room was packedfull of all kinds of industrial
things, machinery and thingsthat are built by machinery.
It was just completely packedfull.
And if we hadn't been told thatthis had formerly been a church
, there's no way that we couldhave discerned that just from
walking in the building.
I guess maybe if we looked upat the ceiling because, if I
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remember right, there were acouple of chains hanging up here
where it was obvious that therehad been a screen here at one
point in time over this area,and maybe there was an outline
of the stage here, if I rememberright, but very little evidence
of any kind that this had beena church at one time.
It was a church, in fact, kellyand Nikki Kinder, one of our
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pastors, actually attended hereat one point in time back in the
day, and so obviously over thelast 10 years we've done a lot
and, by the grace of God, thisplace has become what it
currently is.
Right, there's been a completetransformation, there's been a
huge renovation that hasoccurred here and, as we've been
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studying over the last severalweeks the book of Nehemiah.
What have we seen?
We've seen the fact that Godloves a good renovation project.
God is in the renovationbusiness In a similar way today.
Our passage kind of borrowsfrom this.
This is an ultimate redo, anultimate restoration, an
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ultimate renovation.
John, the disciple whom Jesusloved, was banished by the Roman
government because theycouldn't kill him.
They tried to kill him and theycouldn't kill him, and so they
sent him to the Isle of Patmosand he was in the spirit on the
Lord's day.
He was having church all byhimself, because that's all that
was there, and he was extendingpraise and worship to God.
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And in the middle of that, godinterrupted his time and he
began to give him a vision ofall of history, past, present
and future.
And he began to see glimpses ofthings that were very hard to
describe.
And he tried the best that hecould to write down all of the
things that he had seen andexperienced.
And please, when you read thebook of Revelation, don't forget
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the first part that says thisis the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
This is the revelation of JesusChrist.
It is not primarily therevelation of tank movements and
nuclear weaponry, although thatmay be found somewhere within
the chapters of the book, it isprimarily the revelation of
Jesus Christ and the kingdom ofGod, as it advances throughout
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time, even though it comes undercomplete, utter frustration,
persecution, difficulty, and yetwhat happens?
It continues to endure becauseJesus, our mighty king, is in
charge and in control.
Aren't you grateful for that?
So at the end of this divineencounter, john sees the
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culmination of God's restorationplan and he says it like this
behold, I am making all thingsnew.
Behold, I am making all thingsnew.
Behold, I am making all thingsnew.
So let's talk about a few of thethings that this passage
describes to us as being madenew.
The first thing is that there'sgoing to be a new creation.
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Let's read again verses one andtwo.
Then I saw a new heaven and anew earth, for the first heaven
and the first earth had passedaway and the sea was no more,
and I saw the holy city, newJerusalem.
How many of you know that Godis a creator?
It's not just something that hedoes, it's a part of his
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character, it's a part of hisnature.
It's who he is.
In the beginning we know and weread in the book of Genesis in
chapter one God created what theheavens and the earth and he
also created mankind and heplaced Adam and Eve in the
garden of Eden.
Right?
Can you imagine with me forjust a moment what it must have
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looked like in that place, forjust a moment, what it must have
looked like in that place, aplace of perfection.
The greens must have been thegreenest of greens.
The blues must have been thebluest of blues.
I know, in my travels over timeI've been to Ireland and I've
seen a green that is almostimpossible to describe.
I've been to the southwest ofthe United States and seen the
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painted deserts and understoodthat this is just a picture,
just a snapshot, a Polaroid,almost a faint impression of
what it must have been like.
I've been to the Caribbean andI've seen the bluest of waters.
That the color is almost youcan't even find it fully.
It's indescribable, it'smagnificent, it's spectacular.
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I've been to the RockyMountains.
I grew up at the base of theRocky Mountains and as you look
up upon those mountains, youhave to ask yourself, and maybe
answer your own question Isthere a God?
And yes, there is a God.
God is a creator, he's acreator, he loves to create new
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things.
Can you imagine an earth, anearth that doesn't have that,
where nature is at harmonyinstead of at odds with each
other.
Because, as pristine as we canfind places in this world, how
many of you know, they're just ataste.
They're just a small expressionof what could be, of what once
was.
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And this scripture tells us, inRevelation 21, that we will
experience the intent of Godconcerning his creation in its
fullness.
In its fullness, can youimagine a world with no
hurricanes or tornadoes, orearthquakes or famines?
Can you imagine an earth withno pests or thes, or earthquakes
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or famines?
Can you imagine an earth withno pests or thorns, or thistles
or snakes yes, I said it orspiders or mosquitoes?
Can you imagine a place likethat?
Well, god's imagined it andhe's going create it, and it's
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going to appear in the.
I believe that it will be inthis place that we will
experience the newness of God,in a new creation in its
complete majesty.
So what went wrong with thisplace where we now find our
residence?
Adam and Eve, god's firstcreated humans, rebelled against
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God.
So what went wrong with thisplace where we now find our
residence?
Adam and Eve, god's firstcreated humans, rebelled against
God.
They were given one job, rightTo obey one commandment, and
they rebelled against him andthey sinned, and the result was
the marring of God's creation.
Not only did they suffer theimpact of that or the results of
that, but the earth itselfsuffered the results of their
fall from grace.
From Genesis 3 throughRevelation 20, the earth and
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everyone in it experiences theresults of sin and death.
Things like decay anddestruction, death and evil are
all part of our lives here onthis earth.
All we have to do is watch 30seconds of the news and we see
these things broadcast in frontof all of our eyes.
Even nature itself groans to bedelivered from the curse.
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In Romans 8 21, it says thatthe creation itself will be set
free from its bondage tocorruption and obtain the
freedom of the glory of thechildren of God.
For we know that the wholecreation has been groaning
together in the pains ofchildbirth until now, and not
only the creation, but weourselves, who have the first
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fruits of the spirit growninwardly as we wait eagerly for
adoption as sons, the redemptionof our bodies.
Even this earth moans andgroans, and creation itself
groans and cries out for newnessto be made new.
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Aren't you glad that the storydidn't end with Adam and Eve's
sin.
We're going to get to that allin just a minute.
When Adam and Eve sinned, godgave glimpses of this promise,
as he promised that the Messiahwould come, even in the middle
of all of the curses that he wasgiving because of the sins that
were committed.
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He says that there will be onewho will come, who will rescue
and save people from their sin.
And if you read through the OldTestament, as we're doing, we
see many glimpses, manyprophecies that speak to a
future point in time.
The prophet Isaiah declaredthat salvation is found in God
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alone and that he will certainlyjudge sin.
And he prophesies of the newheaven and new earth.
And he says see, I will createnew heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not beremembered.
My friends, we can look forwardto a new creation.
It is coming, ready or not, itis coming, it will come.
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It is the word of God and wecan take it to the bank.
But not only can we lookforward to a new creation, we
can also look forward to a newrelationship.
Reading on in Revelation 21, itsays and I heard a loud voice
from the throne saying beholdthe dwelling place of God is
with man.
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He will dwell with them andthey will be his people and God
himself will be with them astheir God.
How many of you know that God isnot just interested in
inanimate objects, he's not justinterested in creating
something and letting it be.
God is interested primarily inrelationship.
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God is a relational God.
That's why he is called Father.
He is our Father.
And Jesus himself.
When he was telling hisdisciples how to pray, how did
he begin that prayer?
Not with the list of requests,but our Father in heaven.
Our Father and his Son arerelational beings and the spirit
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with them.
And he has a desire.
In fact, the reason why hecreated humanity in the first
place was so that he might havefellowship with them.
You might say, well, was Godlonely?
Obviously not.
God cannot be lonely.
He is content, completelycontent.
But he desired, he had a desireto increase fellowship, and so
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he created humankind.
And in the scripture we read ofa time when God will not only be
around us or be near us ordwell in us by his spirit, but
that he will be with us.
God, the father, god the sonand God the spirit, will make
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their new home in this newheaven and new earth.
It's interesting when you readthe Bible, the different
dwelling places of God.
First we know that God walkedwith Adam and Eve in the garden,
and then he dwelt with Israelin the tabernacle, the tent of
meeting, and then also in thetemple.
And when Israel sinned towardsthe end of the Old Testament, we
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see that God even departed fromthose dwelling places and later
Jesus Christ came to earth anddwelt among us.
That was the incarnationEmmanuel, god with us.
And today God does not live inhuman-made temples.
How many of you know that thisbuilding isn't necessary or
essential for God to dwell in?
But we're thankful that becauseeach and every one of you, who
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is carrying the Spirit of God onthe inside of you, when you
walked over the threshold ofthose doors on the outside, how
many of you know that God camewith you?
The spirit of God that dwellson the inside of you came with
you and all of our human spirits, informed by the Holy Spirit,
as we gather together.
There's a corporate presence ofGod that is involved in his
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church as well.
That's why Hebrews tell us notto forsake the assembling of
ourselves together.
It's important because weexperience God in a new and
different way when we're able tobe together.
God created humanity, like Isaid, in order to have
fellowship with him.
That has always been his desireand his ultimate plan.
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But, how many of you know,unfortunately the plan was
paused.
It was placed on a temporaryhold in the Garden of Eden.
The result of the curse thatcame because of Adam and Eve's
sin is not only that they wereto be punished, but where were
they sent?
They were sent out of theGarden of Eden, no longer to
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enjoy the daily presence oftheir father.
It says of them that theywalked and talked with God in
the coolness of the day in thegarden, and because of their sin
and because of the curse thatcame because of their sin, they
were forced out of the gardenand there were angels that were
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placed at the entrance of thegarden with flaming swords to
guard that entrance so that theywould no longer be able to
enter back in.
Sin has its consequence.
A holy God must deal with sinin order to remain holy, and it
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would be one thing if we werejust talking about Adam and Eve,
but how many of you know, itdidn't stop with them.
It went on.
In fact, we are all bornsinners.
We are all born with a sinfulnature that separates us from
God.
Sin entered the world throughone man and death through sin,
and in this way, death came toall people.
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This is found in Romans 5,verse 12.
Every one of us was affected byAdam's sin, every one of us.
There are no exceptions,obviously, except for Jesus.
One trespass resulted incondemnation for all people.
Not only that, but we have allsinned and fallen short of the
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glory of God.
We all have sinned.
Ephesians 2 describes it likethis and you were dead in the
trespasses and sins in which youonce walked, following the
course of this world, followingthe prince of the power of the
air, the spirit that is now atwork in the sons of disobedience
.
My friends, all of us were bornin this condition.
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All of us were born dead to God.
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All of us were born with achasm between us and God, and we
could not bridge that gap.
I don't care you know how manyprayers that you prayed, I don't
care what you attempted to doto try to reach God, I don't
know.
I don't care how good yournature was or how many good
things that you did here on thisearth to help things and to
help people.
None of it is good enough toreach a holy righteous judge, a
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holy righteous God.
In order for us to understandthe goodness of God and
salvation, we must understandthe punishment and the penalty
and the power of sin.
There are not many churches onEaster Sunday that will be
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preaching about sin, but Ipromise you, unless you
understand it, you cannotunderstand the glorious majesty
and unbelievable truth thatwe've been ransomed, that we've
been bought back.
You see, sin has caused notjust a problem, but eternal
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separation from God.
We were dead in our sins, wewere hopeless.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Thankfully, the story does notend there and, by the way, when
I say story, this is completelytrue.
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Jesus is God's solution, just aswe know that sin has affected
each and every person other thanJesus that's ever lived on this
planet.
Jesus is the solution.
Jesus is the savior of theworld.
You see, from the very momentthat the curse came in the
garden, there was a promisegiven that the one who would
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come to make all things right.
How would he do it?
He would do it by being awilling sacrifice for sin.
Hebrews 9 says so.
Christ has now become the highpriest over all the good things
that have come.
He has entered that greater,more perfect tabernacle in
heaven, which was not made byhuman hands and is not part of
this created world.
(20:18):
With his own blood, not theblood of goats and calves, he
entered the most holy place oncefor all time and secured our
redemption forever.
Under the old system, the bloodof goats and bulls and the
ashes of a heifer could cleansepeople's bodies from ceremonial
impurity.
Just think how much more, howmuch more, the blood of Christ
(20:42):
will purify our consciences fromsinful deeds, so that we can
worship the living God.
For by the power of the eternalspirit, christ offered himself
to God as a perfect sacrificefor our sins.
Jesus, the lamb of God, whotakes away the sin of the world.
(21:05):
You see, jesus, the perfect sonof God, god incarnate, came to
this earth to represent thefather in all of his glory.
He lived his life in completeobedience to the father.
He was tempted in every way,just like we are, yet without
sin.
(21:26):
He exemplified the kingdom ofGod by his teachings, his
miracles and by his compassion.
After being betrayed andfalsely accused, and beaten and
mocked, he was led to a crueldeath on a cross, like a lamb to
the slaughter.
But make no mistake, today weare here to celebrate something
(21:46):
more, something else, somethingin addition to the cross where
Jesus was nailed.
How many of you know that Jesusdid not lay in the borrowed tomb
that he was given for long?
One day, two day, three days,and on the third day the spirit
of God entered that place and hewas raised to life again and he
(22:09):
lives forever and ever.
He went, he, he, he, yeah, comeon, we can take a praise break,
it's all right.
He walked on this earth for 40days, he was seen by over 500
people, he ascended into heavenand he was given the name that
(22:29):
is above every name, that at thename of Jesus, every knee
should bow and every tongueshould confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God,the Father.
This is the Jesus that weworship, that we praise, and the
reason that we are here todayand please don't forget this
(22:50):
isn't the end of the story,because there will be a day not
far from this day, when theeastern sky will split and this
Savior and Lord, who was raisedto life, will return to this
planet, and when he returns, wewill be with him, we will be
made like him and we will livewith him forever and ever and
(23:12):
ever, ever and ever and ever.
We can look forward to a newrelationship.
We also can look forward to anew experience, a new experience
that goes on to say he willwipe away every tear from their
eyes and death shall be no more.
(23:33):
Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things havepassed away.
If you ever were concerned aboutthe father's heart, what does
he consider a state ofperfection?
A life free from grief andsorrow and suffering and pain.
(24:01):
Can you fathom with me?
Can you imagine what that wouldbe like just for one moment in
time?
You see, the effects of sin inthis world affect our souls just
as much as anything.
The reality of anxiety and fearand pain and sorrow and
(24:23):
depression and oppression, andon and on.
These are things that we dailyencounter, that we daily battle,
that we daily endure on thisplanet, in this life, as a
result of sin.
But I am here to tell you,according to the word of God,
that there will be a day whenall of those things will be For
(24:56):
some reason.
I was thinking this week aboutmy brother who drowned when he
was two and a half years old,and so I did some research with
the help of my wife, and Idiscovered that April 18th was
the day that he passed from thislife.
I had never known that datebefore, and so then it made
(25:18):
sense to me why I was kind offeeling this way and
experiencing this, and as I'vethought about it this week, you
know what has come to my mind.
He's doing really well, likehe's doing really well, and I
feel like I just want to knowhim.
(25:39):
I just feel like I've beencheated in some ways from
knowing him, but I'm so thankful.
The Bible tells us that, forthose who are in Christ, that
we're going to be reunited withthose who have gone before us
who are followers of JesusChrist, and we're going to be
able, with those who have gonebefore us who are followers of
Jesus Christ, and we're going tobe able to spend eternity
together with them.
I look forward to knowing mybrother Brian at this time that
(26:05):
Revelation teaches us about.
We who follow after Christ canlook forward to a new experience
when Christ returns.
So what do we do.
Peter preached his sermon on theday of Pentecost, and towards
(26:26):
the end of that sermon and I'mjust putting this on you I
believe you're asking what thenmust we do?
And so I'm going to try toanswer that question.
And the scripture here tells uswhat to do.
There's a proper response thatwe give to the message of the
gospel.
It goes on to say and he whowas seated on the throne said
(26:47):
behold, I am making all thingsnew.
Who's speaking here?
Jesus is speaking.
Also, he said write this down,for these words are trustworthy
and true.
And he said to me it is done.
Does that sound familiar to you?
It is finished, it is done.
I am the alpha and the omega,the beginning and the end.
(27:10):
To the thirsty I will give fromthe spring of the water of life
, without payment.
The one who conquers will havethis heritage and I will be his
God and he will be my son.
Jesus, speaking directly toJohn, tells him to make this
clear, to painstakingly get itright.
Don't skip a beat or miss aword.
(27:32):
What you have seen and heard,John, are absolutely the truth.
I put my own name andreputation on it.
That's what Jesus is saying.
In the gospel book written byJohn, there are seven statements
that he makes that are from Godand from Jesus and about Jesus.
(27:52):
These are, I am statements, andI'm not going to rehearse all
of them, but in one occasion hesaid I am the way, the truth and
the life.
No one comes to the Father how?
Except by me.
And I believe that the bookendto that statement is found here
in Revelation 21, when Jesussays I am the alpha and omega,
(28:15):
the beginning and the end.
You see, he is the word thatwas spoken in creation.
Jesus is the word that broughtlight and life to all mankind
and he is the word that issaying that all things will be
made new, will be made new.
(28:40):
Notice that these promises aremade to the thirsty.
Are you thirsty?
Are you hungry?
Jesus loved using the theme ofhunger and thirst when talking
about us recognizing our needfor God.
In Matthew 5, verse 6, it saysBlessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, forthey shall be satisfied or
(29:03):
filled.
So how do we respond?
First of all, we repent.
We repent.
Repentance is acknowledgingthat I am a sinner, that I
(29:26):
cannot save myself and that Ineed a savior that is greater
than I am, recognizing my needfor change, my need for
transformation, my need to bemade new.
You will not be saved outsideof this step.
Jesus himself said that we mustrepent and believe.
The second step is to believe.
That is, to put your faith,hope and trust in Jesus's
(29:49):
sacrifice and the fact that hepaid the price for all of our
sins.
We must believe.
We must believe Not just thathe was a baby in a manger, not
just that he came and lived aperfect life, not just that he
died on a cross and raised fromthe dead, but that he did those
(30:13):
things for me.
I believe in you, jesus, for me, not not my grandparents faith,
not my church's faith.
You know, we went out witnessingyesterday, a group of us, and
we went to Target and Kroger andhad some really interesting
conversations and one of the themost interesting things that I
learned about people is thatthey equate their faith with the
(30:34):
church they attend.
Very few of them said I'm afollower of Jesus Christ or I'm
a believer in Jesus Christ.
As soon as we asked, would youmind if we pray for you?
They said I go to blank blankchurch.
I go to whatever church youknow I go to.
Going to church doesn't make youa Christian.
Doesn't make you a Christian.
(30:55):
There's more to it than that.
It's important to go to churchdoesn't make you a Christian.
Doesn't make you a Christian.
There's more to it than that.
It's important to go to church.
Please don't take that youdon't need to be in church.
But it's more than that.
There's a recognition, there'sa faith that must be applied.
There's a choice that we maketo put our faith in someone
outside of ourselves.
Put your faith in Jesus todayand finally be saved.
(31:21):
Be saved, receive the free giftof salvation.
Can you imagine at Christmastime if there was a present
under the tree that had yourname on it and Christmas came
and went and you never opened upthe present?
Was that present made availableto you?
Was it paid for for you?
Was it deposited for you?
Was it ready for you?
(31:43):
What was the problem?
You didn't receive it, youdidn't open it up, you didn't
accept it.
And so many times people have ahead, knowledge about God and
they have an understanding aboutthe things about Jesus, but
their hearts have not beentransformed.
And the way for your heart tobe transformed is to receive, by
(32:08):
faith, the free gift ofsalvation.
How many of you know that allof these steps follow the Holy
Spirit of God moving on theinside of us to make what was
dead alive again.
We cannot properly respond toGod in any of these ways unless
the Spirit of God makes us ableto do that.
(32:29):
But he's here this morningdoing that very thing.
He's walking amongst theseaisles and he's tapping on
hearts and he's speaking to youand he's saying come home, come
home.
I have good news for you as wefinish this up.
(32:51):
We do not have to wait for anew heaven and a new earth to
experience these new realities.
How many of you know that Godhas provided a way, through
Jesus, for us to begin toexperience newness of life right
here on this planet?
We have been made new already.
(33:13):
If we are followers of JesusChrist, no longer are we under
the penalty of sin and no longerare we under the power of sin.
We have the ability, by God'sgrace, to say no to sin and to
say yes to Jesus.
What a gift that is given.
What a gift that is given.
(33:38):
What a way that God hasintersected himself in this
world that is still so filledwith sin and sorrow and shame.
2nd Corinthians, 5, 17 saystherefore if anyone is in Christ
, he is a new creation, not abetter form, not a prettier
picture.
Not a better form, not aprettier picture, not a whatever
description you want to a newcreation.
You've been made brand new.
(34:00):
Old things have passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
You see, when someone trusts inGod for salvation, the Holy
Spirit indwells them and theybecome a new creation.
The believer is no longer boundby sin.
We are able to please God andlive in his ways, and Galatians
2.20 says it really well.
(34:22):
I have been crucified withChrist and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body.
I live by faith in the son ofGod, who loved me and gave
himself for me.
No longer do we live forourselves, but we live for the
one who is life.
(34:43):
Transformation has occurred.
When Jesus said, behold, I makeall things new, he's already
started the process in us.
Why in the world wouldn't welive like that?
Why would we choose a lesserversion of life?
Why would we choose to focus onthat which isn't instead of
(35:07):
that which is?
Why in the world would we alloweverything that's around us in
this world to attempt to squelchand to quiet out and to disturb
the truth that should be foundon the inside of us.
Christ, in us.
The hope of glory, thetransformational power of the
(35:27):
spirit of God that raised JesusChrist from the dead lives in us
as believers, and he's able toquicken our mortal bodies so
that we can be true and honestand faithful to him.
This is good news, my friends.
It's not just Jesus that raisedfrom the dead.
(35:47):
We got maybe 250 or more inthis room that have been raised
to life again by the power ofthe Holy Spirit.
I hope the truth of all thingsnew makes us live with eager
expectation, seeking to know himmore, becoming more like him
(36:11):
and making him known to others.
I hope that our lives areaffected and influenced in
greater ways in the year thatcomes by the reality of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Our hopeful future is whatchanges how we live as we await
Jesus coming to truly make allthings new.
(36:37):
Now, that would be a typical wayto end the sermon, but the
passage doesn't end there.
There's a final warning thatsays but as for the cowardly,
the faithless, the detestable,as for murderers, the sexually
immoral sorcerers, idolaters andall liars, their portion will
(37:00):
be in the lake that burns withfire and sulfur, which is the
second death.
Now, before you believe a lieof Satan.
This isn't talking about aperson as committed one of these
sins, because we all havecommitted one of these sins or
more of these sins.
This is talking about a personwhose identity has not been
(37:26):
changed, a person who has notrepented of their sins and put
their faith in Jesus Christ andreceived the free gift of
salvation.
This is talking about a personor people who refuse to put
their faith and hope and trustin a living, risen Savior.
(37:47):
My friends, hell is a real placeand there will be,
unfortunately, and there will beunfortunately, many people who
will live out eternity.
And you can think of hell inmany different ways, and there's
a lot of descriptives that wefind in the scripture, but to me
(38:07):
, the most haunting if I mightuse that word of all is the fact
that the presence of God willnot be found there.
This is not religion.
This is not.
My parents told me so.
This is not.
(38:28):
It's socially acceptable.
This is not a pretend thing orsomething that we just add to
our lives like we add a new pairof clothes.
Eternity is forever and thechoice that we have to make this
(38:48):
day is, will we choose tofollow Jesus and to put our
trust in him, or will wecontinue to follow ourselves in
our own?
Put our trust in our ownability to be good enough
somehow to avoid going to hell?
This is a somber thought andsomething that God didn't want
(39:15):
us to forget, even in thispassage, with such glory and joy
and amazing realities of a newheaven and a new earth.
Father, we pray today for thosein this room and those that are
(39:40):
watching online, who findthemselves in the latter
position, lord, that areidentified by sin, sorrow and
shame and they, being born deadin sin and trespasses, have not
yet repented of their sins andbelieved on the Lord Jesus
(40:01):
Christ and been saved.
And, father, we pray that todaywould be the day.
We ask that, by your power andyour might and by your spirit,
that you would awaken those whofind themselves asleep.
Today, we pray that the truthof the word of God would cause
(40:23):
there to be light and life inthe deepest, darkest crevices of
our hearts and our souls.
Father, we pray in Jesus' namethat those that you're working
in their hearts.
Although praying a prayer notbeing the means of salvation,
there is a prayer to be prayedbased on the work that you're
(40:46):
doing in the hearts of mankind.
So we pray that those that areexperiencing this would cry out
to you even now.
God in heaven, I am a sinner, Iam deserving of your judgment.
I deserve to be sent to hell,but I believe in Jesus Christ.
(41:08):
I believe that he came to thisearth and lived a perfect life
and took my sin to the cross atCalvary.
I believe that he died and hetook the punishment for my sin
upon himself.
I believe that he was buriedand that he rose again from the
(41:28):
dead, and I choose this day tobelieve in him for me, for my
life, for my salvation.
I receive the free gift ofsalvation by faith.
Save me, lord, save me now.
Change me.
(41:56):
For those of you who have prayedthat prayer, thank you, thank
you.
Thank you for being obedient tothe gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for choosing tofollow after him.
(42:18):
Thank you for acknowledging thework of God inside of you to
bring you to a point to whereyou could even acknowledge your
need.
Thank you.
And now I just encourage you toget plugged in, be a part of a
local church, get yourselfalongside other people who have
(42:41):
been walking with Jesus for sometime and learn of them, learn
from them.
Pick up the Bible and read, andmaybe read the Gospel of John,
and begin to see who Jesus isand what Jesus did for you.
(43:03):
See, the truest sign oftransformation is not a prayer
prayed, but a life changed, andso I'm going to pray also for
the rest of us that might be inthis room who find ourselves in
differing states of disarray.
I believe that there are someprodigals that are listening.
(43:29):
You've tasted and you've seenthe goodness of God and you know
that what I'm saying is truethis morning.
But you've been running, you'vebeen running, you've been
running, but you've been running, you've been running.
I ask you to stop and turnaround and see the Father
standing there with his armsspread wide open, ready to
(43:54):
accept you back, to welcome youback, to embrace you.
Father, we pray for that now, inthe name of Jesus.
Lord, that those who findthemselves in a place of a
(44:16):
backslidden state, lord, we praythat there would be the ability
for change to come even now.
Restore the joy of yoursalvation in each one.
And, father, for all of us.
Would you help us, days andweeks ahead, to not be ashamed
(44:40):
of the light that lives withinus, to not just be so longing
for a time that will come thatwe forget for the change that's
already happened, that we forgetto honor you and glorify you
and praise you and be thankfulto you for who you are and what
you've done that we.
(45:02):
Lord, would you help us to bebold in our faith and our
witness?
Would you help us to not beashamed of the gospel of Jesus
Christ?
Would you encourage us, lord,every day to be involved in the
spiritual disciplines that wewould make grace our habit and
not something that we just runto when we're in desperate need.
(45:22):
Father, I pray that the powerof the Spirit of God, the
resurrection power of JesusChrist, would live in us, change
us and would flow out from usto a world in desperate need.
(45:43):
Would you just stand with me?
There's gonna be a prayer teamthat's gonna be here in just a
minute and if you have apersonal request, we'd ask that
you come.
These are trusted people andall they want to do is pray with
(46:06):
you and ask the Lord to meetyou at the point of your need.
Also, if you did ask Jesus tobe your Savior and Lord today,
we want to know about that, notso that we can broadcast it or
embarrass you, but so that wecan pray with you, walk with you
on this exciting new journey.
(46:27):
This is exciting.
The Bible says that heavenrejoices when one person commits
their life to Jesus Christ, andwe want to rejoice with you.
And the next step is baptism.
We're having baptism coming upin May and we'll be talking
about that in the weeks to come.
I'm just going to pray ablessing over you and send you
(46:51):
out this Easter to shine thelight of Jesus.
Amen.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
May he cause his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
May he lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace In
Jesus' holy, matchless, mightyname.
Amen, amen.
(47:13):
Happy Resurrection Day.
God bless you guys.
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