Easter (What Does Easter Mean To You) | Pr Gloria Paul

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to a message to go from acts church.
We hope this message will light up your day.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
The fodest message is about understanding what is Easter to us, like,
the true meaning of Easter, especially if we've been a
believer for many years. You know, sometimes the day can
just pass through, right, thinking that it's just another day
that we do in church, right, But I hope it's
not just another day, and we never take it for granted.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
But we are.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Always grateful for his grace. Yeah, We're always grateful for
his love in our lives.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
So I'd just like to start off with this story
or something that I've read in a book in some
years back, actually, and it has left an impact on me. Right,
And this famous theologian Zacharias he shed And he's a
theologian who actually has a lot of debates with different faith,

(00:58):
different group of people, you know. And the common question
that people often ask when they're debating on which region
is you know the true one?

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Right? There?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
People who often have such conversation, the common question is
always back to the cross, right. The common question is
always back to how do you know this really happened?

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Right?

Speaker 2 (01:17):
So I'm just going to read this portion here, which
I found quite impactful. Him. So this guy is this
teologian Zacharias. Okay, he was having a conversation with a
couple of you know, Muslims in Damascus, right, and so

(01:38):
they were just having a friendly conversation, you know, talking
about their fate, sharing about it. And so this group
of people in Demascus, Yeah, they say it to Zacharias.
I think instead of us asking you to prove the crucifixion,
which is the story of the cross, could you tell

(01:58):
us why Jesus were to the cross? Yeah, could you
tell us why Jesus went to the cross? And so
this was Zacharias's respond to him, Right, he said to them,
because they were in Damascus, it was not too far
from where this incident happened. Yeah, he said, a heill
not far away from here. Many many years ago, Abraham

(02:23):
took his son Isaac to sacrifice him. And when Abraham
was obedient to do that, God stopped him. God stopped
him and told him that I will provide. And in
the cavalry he did provide.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
And when Zacharias gave this respond to the group of
you know, of this different fate, there. They were just
in silence because you're just trying to prove a point here.
But you are telling me exactly what God did. He
did not fail when he said he provided, he did provide.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
And for some of you who may not be familiar
with this story about Abraham and Isaac, right, Abraham was
someone who waited for a son for many years and
you only got a son at this old age, one
and only son, Isaac, and you can you could imagine
how precious he could have been to Abraham. And this
very one son God told him to take and sacrifice,

(03:32):
and Abraham did it because he was a father of
faith and obedient.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
Right.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
And yet when he was doing it, God stopped him.
And some of us might think that the story just
ended there. When God stopped him, he provided a ram
two to be sacrificed.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Right.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
But it was not just that, but many years down
the road, God still provided by sending his one and
only son. Not just he didn't allow Abraham to take
his own son, right, But God was so willing to
give his one and only son for you and me, right,

(04:11):
take some time to think about it. Who would ever
do that for us? As parents who are here I'm
sure it's not something you can't even think of doing. Right,
But God, God did that for us. His sent is
one and only son, so that we can leave again. Yeah.

(04:33):
And that, my friends, is the true meaning of Easter.
It's the God who provides.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
And we are seated here today because God provided Jesus
for us, and that we have this personal relationship with
him that we don't just call him God. We call
him our friend. Right, we call him our greatest counselor
our provider. Right, He's our everything. Yeah. You can read
this story from Genesis twenty two. Yeah, if you're not

(05:01):
familiar with Abraham's story, but for today, Okay. And in fact,
when Abraham had that encounter of God providing, you actually
called that whole mount God provides. Till today it is
known as that.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
In Hebrew, God provides. That's how he remembers God.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
So today we're going to focus on the story of
the resurrection and three points on how can we remember
what is Easter? Okay, how can we remember the gift
of what God has given to us?

Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
So if you have your Bible, so you can turn
with me to Matthew chapter twenty eight, Right, Matthew twenty eight.
I mean you can see this story of the resurrection
all the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Yeah, and
each of this encounter can be written and it's it's

(05:59):
it's same, but it's written a different encounter.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
So we're gonna draw it from Matthew twenty eight, the
very last portion, yeah, where it talks about the gift
of resurrection.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
Right, are you all there? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Okay, let's just read a couple of scriptures together, Okay,
and we'll just learn from this. Yeah. So Matthew twenty
eight was one, okay, says Yeah. Now, after the Sabbath,
as the first day of the week began to dawn,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

(06:37):
This is after he was resurrected, sorry, after he was
even to the cross. Yeah, and he was brought to
the tomb, and behold, there was a great earthquake, for
an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came
and rolled back the stone from the door and set
on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing

(06:59):
as why snow, and the gods shook for fear of him,
and became like dead men. But the Angel answered and
said to the woman, do not be afraid, for I
know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is
not here, For he is reason. Can happen?

Speaker 3 (07:19):
Amen? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Amen, God is his reason. And he said, come see
the place where the Lord lay in verse seven, and
go quickly and tell his disciples. And he is reason
from the dead. And indeed he is going before you
into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have

(07:40):
told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb
with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his
disciples word right, and you read God's word. I think
it's just good sometimes to imagine being there. Imagine if
you're one of those disciples. You know, you entered in
the tomb thinking you're feeling all said, right, like, where

(08:01):
is Jesus? What has happened?

Speaker 3 (08:03):
You know?

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Mary? And they went to to find Jesus. But then
again when they entered, he's not there. How would you
be feeling. I'm sure you had maybe question mark, what
is going on? I mean when you read different different gospels,
you can see that some of them found it hard
to believe. Yeah, but they were filled with such joy right.

(08:25):
They were filled with such gladness that they felt it
was so good that you had to go and tell
it to others in the street. Right, That's exactly what
they did. Now, let's move on to verse nine. It
says yr and as they went to tell his disciples, behold,
Jesus met them, saying rejoice. So they came and held
him by the feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said

(08:47):
to them, do not be afraid, go and tell my
brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.
What a beautiful encounter. Right, you see Jesus right in
front of you, say, do not be afraid. I'm reason yeah,
and I'm just thinking about those people who were in unbelief, right,

(09:08):
or those who were we were all out of wanting
to crucify Jesus. And when they saw this happen, well,
how do you think they would have been feeling regret
or doubt, like, you know, shameful. Yeah, they just missed
the point, right, they missed the point. And you read

(09:29):
certain scriptures, you will see that some of them actually
saw Jesus performing miracles. They saw it with their eyes.
But yet when it came to the crucifixion. They just
chose not to be part of it, right, They chose
to be part of the bigger crowd that was all
out of wanting to crucify Jesus. Yeah. And so the

(09:51):
story of Eastern we always focus on the ones who
believed and you know, enjoy the goodness of seeing Jesus
being reason. But sometimes, I if you think about, there
was a bigger group of people who missed the point
as well. Yeah, and I pray that none of us
would ever miss the point in this faith.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Sometimes we can hear God's word so often, but sometimes
we miss or we forget to have the faith right,
or we forget to know that God is still in control. Yeah.
Let's be the group of people who is always filled
with enjoy because we're encountering God afresh. Yeah, because we

(10:31):
are walking in faith and not by sight.

Speaker 3 (10:33):
Amen. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
And so when we speak about the power of resurrection,
the first thing we have to believe and remember is
that Satan was defeated. Amen. Satan was defeated, conquered under
Jesus' fath. He had a different plan, but of course
it did not work. Yeah, Jesus was the one who won.

(10:56):
He triumphed in Collisions two fifteen, it says in this
way he disharmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed
them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yea.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
And when you read the remaining scriptures in the Book
of Matthew, you will see that some of them, some
of the soldiers, were bribed to not go and tell
others about this.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
They were so worried that if more people got to
know about this, meaning more are going to believe in Jesus.
You know, they knew that they made a mistake about it.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
And in fact, if you look at some faith, this
is the portion of scripture that they don't have it
in their in their holy books. Right, the very fact
that Jesus resurrected it ends with the part that he
just went to the cross and he died. Yeah, this
is the fate of our cousins that they don't they

(11:51):
don't see that portion where he was resurrected.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
But we know the truth here. So my question for
all of us today is has God truly reason in
your life?

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Right?

Speaker 2 (12:03):
It's God truly reason in your life? Is it just
something we hear or do we truly believe it in
our hearts that He is a life in us. Yeah.
Do we leave our lives that when someone sees us
they can tell God is a life in you. Right.
It reflects from the way you see them living. When
you saw our dancers in the front, I think it's
so obvious that Christ is reason in them right, the

(12:26):
way they are, They're just worshiping freely and you know,
dancing it out. How are we living it?

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (12:35):
How are we living it? There is no Christianity without
the Cross and the Resurrection, Okay. And the core of
everything we believe, receive and experience is resurrection itself. If
you think about it, the core of it all is
the Cross is the gift of the resurrection.

Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
And when we speak about the resurrection of power does
not just come down from heaven, but it lives in you.
It lives in you and I, right, And we've just
got to activate it. We've just got to believe in
it and declare that God leaves a man.

Speaker 3 (13:13):
Right.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
And I'm going going to share with you three points.
And when someone asks you what's the meaning of Easter?
I pray that you can tell them this.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
The first thing is that through the gift of resurrection.
We have hope in Christ. If someone believes this, say amen,
a man, right, we have hope in Christ. You know,
if you know in between the Good Friday and today Easter,
there was that Saturday just yesterday, right, and some of

(13:45):
us might be in that kind of a position in
our spiritual lives as well or in the in the
different things that we may be going through that in between, Yeah,
while you're waiting for something to happen. And if you
can just imagine a bit with the disciples at that
time they knew Jesus was when you went to the

(14:06):
cross on Friday. What would have been doing on Saturday?
They could have been waiting Either they will be waiting
with anticipation because they remembered that this is what Jesus
told them, right that okay, I am going to be resurrected.
Or they would have given hope on that Saturday thinking
what was it a ways that we believed to name

(14:27):
all this while what's going to happen tomorrow?

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Right?

Speaker 2 (14:31):
That Saturday? And some of us here could be in
that Saturday of our lives. We are waiting for something
to happen, right, whether it's a breakthrough. You're believing for
something to to just happen, a healing or a testimony.
You've been praying for so many years, and you're saying, God,
when is this going to happen. I just want to

(14:53):
encourage all of us today that He is reason, and
that is why we have hope.

Speaker 3 (14:59):
Man.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Thing happens in our lives without a reason. You know,
I've God created you. He must have had a beautiful plan, right,
He must have had a beautiful purpose for each one
of us. And so this is the encounter that Mary
Magdalene had. Okay, when it says here when when she
went in the Angel of the Lord told her in

(15:22):
verse six, right, in verse chapter twenty eight, verse six,
he is not here, for it is reason. As he said,
Come see the place where the Lord lay. Right, Come
see the place where the Lord lay. It's empty, it's empty.
And I believe that God is telling each of you
here today to come and see right. Come and see

(15:47):
that God is reason. Come and see that God is alife. Right,
he is alivee and he is moving amen.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
Right.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
In tough times, everything changes when you encounter the living God.
It just takes one encounter, right, one encounter one moment,
everything changes. Yeah, everything changes, and the resurrected Jesus will
keep you going no matter what you are going. True.

(16:21):
In Romans eight eleven, it says the spirit of God,
who raised Jesus from the dad, lives in you. And
just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he
will give life to your mortal bodies by the same
spirit living within you. Amen.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
Right.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
And so as just as Jesus overcame the grave, you
too can overcome your challenges and your fear.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Amen. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
So do we have hope church? Yeah? Do we have
hope for the tomorrow? Do we have hope for the
future that's ahead of us? Yeah? Let's let's leave. Let's
be the people of hope. Yeah, the people of change.
You know, because God gives us hope, not because we
can do it, but because Jesus enables us to do it. Amen. Amen.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
Right.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
You know. And in fact, this word hope is a
very simple word. But often if I have through my
different encounters, I would see that it's not the easiest
for some people to comprehend or to even accept the
fact that, how do you know there is hope?

Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (17:32):
And you know this this encountered I had this week
is still it's still in my heart. And I was
feeling a little bit down about this, you know, and
and this just got me thinking about how important it
is to have a sense of hope. Right, I mean,
some of you know that that I was teaching before this,
right in one of our private universities around And so

(17:53):
I'm still keeping in touch with some of my colleagues.
And so one of this Colliaque reached out to me,
my ex colleague, and she told me, you know what, Gloria,
we just had a student who took his life, you know.
And and so it's the campus, or the at least
the university, they're not at a very good place. Of course,

(18:14):
teachers are feeling very affected. Some of them taught him,
some of them were, you know, actively mentoring and counseling him. Right,
I mean, I know it's not a good good story
to to to talk about. But what I'm what I'm
telling us today this is that there are people out
there struggling. Yeah, there are people out there struggling. And

(18:37):
so after that that conversation I had with that collegue,
I reached out to a few other colleagues who are
my close friends. Because one of the role that I
used to play in my previous office is to be
a support for my for teachers, right, And so as
I was talking to them, they were troubled, Right, they
were feeling very distressed, Like what else could I have

(18:57):
done as a teacher. Yeah, of course there's no one
to blame. But look at one life that's just gone,
if only that person had a sense of hope. Right,
And sometimes encounters like this or stories like this, I
pray that you'll remind us to not just take hope
for granted. Yeah, we are sitting here today because we

(19:19):
know that God makes things possible. You know what could
be the worst. But some people out there might be
reaching the final thing and they feel what else is there?

Speaker 3 (19:31):
Right?

Speaker 2 (19:31):
What else is there? But can I encourage all of
us today to speak hope. You'll never know what someone
goes through. Students, when you're in your campus, when you're
in your classrooms with your friends, declare the word of hope. Yeah,
speak over your campus, speak over the young lives, right

(19:53):
in your workplaces, so that people can look so good
in the front. They're completely fine carrying themselves. But you'll
never know what people are going through until you can
share your story and you'll never know that. If you
can share the story of Easter to someone who might
be losing hope, do you know what kind of a
change you would bring? Right, someone who thinks that no

(20:14):
one loves me, no one has done anything good for me,
But there's someone Jesus who has died on the cross
for me, Right, and it gives me a sense of hope.
It changes a person's decision. Yeah, it changes a person's
destiny to choose hope instead. Yeah, to choose hope instead. Right,
So let's speak that over this week, as should we

(20:39):
heard the testimony earlier. Right, you turn good Friday. You
know all this doesn't just end here. It is what
we do after this. Yeah, that is so important. So
let's continue to speak the message of hope. Amen.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
Right now.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
The second thing that we need to understand about what
Easter is is that there's freedom. Yeah, there is freedom.
With hope comes freedom. In John eight thirty six, it says,
so if the sun sets you free? You are truly free?
Are you free?

Speaker 3 (21:11):
Church?

Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, You're not in the process of being free. Okay,
you're not going to be free. You are free. It's
a past tense Yeah, each one of you have freedom
in your hearts. Each of you are called to leave
a free life. How would a free person look like
to you? What can you see in that person?

Speaker 3 (21:33):
Happy? Joy?

Speaker 2 (21:37):
When a person is not free, how do they look like? Tired? Stress?

Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (21:46):
So what kind of lives are we choosing to leave?
And to show people? You know, and again, of course
you're not doing it for men, but we want to
show that true action. Yeah, that I am a free person.
I'm no longer holding on to the past, mistakes or regrets.
We're all humans. We make mistakes, but our God forgives.

(22:09):
That is why you went to the cross to save us. Yeah,
and today we are called to be free. Amen. Yeah,
So resurrection power frees you from the bondage of sin
and from your past. You must forget those things that
are behind you and reash forward to what's the hete
of you. Yeah, let's not hold on to the past.

(22:34):
If you keep holding on to the past, If a
driver keeps looking at his front mirror, what's going to happen?
You're gonna crash?

Speaker 3 (22:41):
Right.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
That's sometimes yeah, you look, but in most times that
is why you're you're you know, the glass at the
front is bigger. Right, You've got to look forward. Okay,
you've got to look forward. In Philippians street aer tein
what that's called? Remind us? Yeah? No, oh, dear brothers
and sisters, I have not achieved it, But I focus

(23:04):
on this one thing forgetting the past and looking forward
to what lies a hit. I press on to reach
the end of the race and receive the heavenly price
for which God to Christ Jesus is calling us. Amen,
and I pray that all of us are aiming for

(23:26):
that price. Yeah, for aiming towards running of what's a
hit of us?

Speaker 1 (23:33):
Men?

Speaker 2 (23:34):
When he shed this blood, he did it because he
wanted to get rid of yesterday. Yeah, and I pray
that none of us will be holding on to yesterday,
but to move forward, amen, right. Second Corinthians five seventeen,
he says, this means that anyone who belongs to Christ

(23:55):
has become a new person. The old life is gone,
a new life has begun. Turn to the person next
to you and tell them you are a new person
in Christ. Yeah, you are a new person in Christ. Okay,
they all has no place in your life. Romans six

(24:17):
's four, For we died and were buried with Christ
by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the
date by the glorious power of the Father, now we
also may leave new lives. Amen. We live new lives.
And if you're talking about wanting a restart, it doesn't
just happen on the jet first January. It can start

(24:40):
on Easter as well. Okay, this can be your restart.
You're saying, Okay, I want to activate my my walk
with God once again. I want to, you know, be
be more disciplined. I want to encounter God. I want
to keep my past behind and move forward. Today is
the day to start, Amen. Today is the day to
set start, and He gives you grace to do that.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
You don't overcome sin by trying to stop sinning. We
can all keep trying. Yeah, but you overcome it by
walking after the new life God has put within you.
And how do you do it? By spending time with
Him through his word, through prayer, and the spirit of
God strengthens you. Amen. Yeah, So let's be let's live

(25:28):
a life that is free, free from fear.

Speaker 3 (25:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
The resurrection power living in you means you don't have
to be afraid about anything. Okay, if you're seated here today,
and if you have fear, fear of your future, what
am I going to be? Am I going to be graduating?
What am I going to be working? As you know,
people say that the world, the working life out there,
is becoming more challenging. Right, How am I going to

(25:55):
make it? How am I going to stand out against
everyone else?

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Right?

Speaker 2 (26:00):
People always say I have to step up? How We
have a lot of these kind of questions, right, fear
Can I safe enough money until I before I retire?

Speaker 3 (26:14):
Right?

Speaker 2 (26:15):
And then people say the economy is that it's never ending, right,
And I guess that is why we are filled with fear.
And it's only human to feel that way. But we
find renewal through God's word. We find the truth through
God's word. Yeah, the world can have all these things
going on, you know, and and yes that's reality, But

(26:38):
how many of you know that God doesn't work with reality. Yeah,
it doesn't work with reality. It takes faith. Remember we
learned last week that we walk in faith and not
by sight. If you just keep walking because we want
to only take the next step if we see it,
then you won't be able to feel experienced faith. But

(27:00):
if you can take that step of faith before even
seeing what's a hit. That is faith, right, That is
when God works. Yeah, we Hadlenu Shad a testimony on Friday. Okay,
when we talk about the light of God, when you
talk about his guidance, sometimes we think that it's about

(27:21):
figuring out everything that's ahead of us. But you and
I know it doesn't work that way. Yeah, But it's
about taking the first step, first step, and the second step.
God guides each small step that you take. Yeah, it's
like how a father holds the hand of a little
child who's learning to walk. You may fall, but he

(27:44):
picks you up. Yeah, and you just keep going.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
And that is being free.

Speaker 3 (27:52):
Men.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
So do we live a life in freedom?

Speaker 3 (27:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (27:56):
And I pray them and someone looks at you, they
know that this guy is free. Yeah, there's nothing that
is holding him back, you know. But he leaves a
life that is free. And what does it mean to
leave a life of freedom is to be able to believe.
That's the first thing when we read the scriptures on
the story of resurrection, Right, the first thing for them

(28:20):
was to believe. Right, they had to believe that Jesus
is reason. Yeah, they had to believe that Jesus is
the Son of God. Yeah, if they didn't, if you
didn't start with belief, how they how could they act?
How could they speak it out right? Only when Mary
and the disciples believed they could actually start acting it

(28:40):
out going and telling to others. Jesus is reason. Yeah,
Jesus is reason. So it all comes with believing. So
let's have a hard check of our lives. If you
go for this week, would you be able to leave
that life that is free? Or who could be that
one person that you can actually share about this good news? Okay,

(29:04):
think about this one name at least the classmate that
you're seeing all the time, or a colleague, a family
someone you have lost touch for a long time.

Speaker 3 (29:13):
You know.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
But maybe God is giving a nuts and saying, hey,
why didn't you give a call to this person?

Speaker 3 (29:19):
Right?

Speaker 2 (29:19):
And sometimes it starts with just a desire and God
brings that person to you.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
And I remember saying this now in a messurement last week.
Let's not just leave our lives for ourselves. Yeah, let's
leave our lives for this as well.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
Amen.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
And that leads to my final point, which is Easter,
it's all about self sacrificial. Yeah. If Jesus, or even
if God was not self sacrificial to send is one
and only son, you and I would not have been
here today.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
Right.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
In John fifteen, verse twelve, it says, this is my commandment.
Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one's
life for one's friend. So living a resurrected life with
Jesus changes everything. In fact, he makes the most difficult

(30:21):
situation and opportunity to bring the Gospel to someone out there.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
Right.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
And if you notice the Book of Matthew, and you
read this now Matthew chapter twenty eight, what is that
final portion that you see in the scripture? What does
it talk about? The final portion? The Great Commission? Right,
the Great Commission? So do you know how important it is?
God is saying that, yes, I went to the cross.

(30:50):
I have reason. Yeah, the Holy Spirit is with you.
And what's the next thing you're called to do is
to go and make disciples, is to go and learn
of artists.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
So, dear friends, right, Christians, our work doesn't just stop here.
Today we celebrate with gladness, but what we do tomorrow
matters yeah, is to bring the gospel out there to someone.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
In fact, it takes the perspective of us and puts
the perspective on God working in the world. So I thinks,
sometimes we don't understand what's going on around right, we
wonder why is this person doing it this way? Why
is the nation like this? But when you pray and
when you ask God to see things the way He

(31:38):
wants you to see, it helps you to go beyond
your lens. Right. And the word God tells us. Right,
He gives us wisdom if you ask for it, and
it comes with the relationship that we have with him.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
And so just ask God, what is it or who
is it that you're calling me to encourage or to
pray for someone, or to bring the good news or
to even share your story, and God brings that person
to you.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
As we read in Matthew twenty eight, verse sixteen, let's
just read the final portion here. It says, then the
eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which
Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they
worshiped him, but some doubted. Yeah. So even until the end,

(32:31):
there are people who doubted, though they saw such a miracle.
He is to reason. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
all authority has been given to me in heaven and
on earth. Go therefore make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of

(32:52):
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo,
I am with you always, even to the end of
each Amen. And if you're sitting here and thinking, what
this is my purpose of life, Well, this is your purpose, right,
This is your purpose to bring the good news out there,

(33:15):
to make disciples.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
And we make disciples in different capacities. It can be
true friendship. It can be parents discipling your children. Yeah,
these are the next generation. It could be even sometimes
through your family, through your parents, you know, through the
place that God has positioned you to be. This is discipleship.

(33:38):
You know, you just bring God's perspective. Discipleship is bringing
God's perspective into another person's life, modeling it out right,
showing what God's love is like. Yeah, and I pray
that all of us could do that in this spirit
of Easter. You know, to be able to bring that
good news to someone. Amen. Yeah, so again, let's just

(34:03):
take this message this week.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more
information on our church, please visit aschurch org. We are
also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this
week is going to be a good week, a hit
for you. God bless