Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Good morning.
[00:00:01] Good morning. If I have not met you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here, and I got the joy to open up God's Word with you. So on the front end, I wanna ask you to think about the time when you became a follower of Jesus.
[00:00:21] There are typically three kind of like, salvation stories that people tell. The first goes something like this. I believed when I was a kid. Or sometimes they'll say, I kind of just always believed. And so often for these people, there's not like a date or a moment that they can point to where they became a follower of Jesus. But often their stories, usually by junior high, high school, or college, there is a moment where really their faith became real, where it kind of moved from their head to their heart. But if you ask them, they would say, no, I was saved as a kid, but just kind of this experience in life made me rededicate my life to Jesus. So that's the kind of the first category of people. Now, I do want to tell you this. If you're in this category and you're listening to other people's testimonies, and they're all like, crazy sin, right? And you're like, man, I was just saved as a kid. Let me just tell you. Give me that testimony over the testimony where I had to live in darkness and have Jesus intervene and pull me out of the muck and mire. Give me the salvation story of being for you, hearing the gospel and believing. And yes, we all struggle with sin, but I'll take that testimony any day. So second salvation story goes something like this. I grew up around it, but it became real when. And then again, this is often going to be high school, college, 20s, sometimes 30s, most of the time. But this is the moment where somebody realizes, yeah, I went to church, but I was what they call a cultural Christian. Jesus was not a primary thought or even a secondary thought. He was, generally speaking, kind of an afterthought. He wasn't the dominant part of your life. And if you did go to church, it was usually like when you had to go to church or you felt guilty and you just kind of, like, weren't there. And the preacher would preach and they go in one ear, out the other. And the only time you prayed, for the most part, was when you needed something. And so then there was this moment where you actually realized your sin before a holy God and you came to him. Many times these people will have a date, but not always. Sometimes, like, if you grew up in the church, they'll point to a season. I came to Christ in the spring of 98, or something like that. Some of you are like, what century? 1998. Okay. Lastly, the third salvation story goes something like this.
[00:02:47] I was far from God. God met me. God wrecked me. I called out and he saved me. And you're probably. If you're in this story, you're like, God waited a while, right?
[00:03:00] But he was writing a story just for you, very unique to your life. And he allowed you to get as low as you needed to go before you would call out and call on Jesus to help you. So my question is, which story best summarizes your story? Now, if there is a fourth version of this, my ask is let me know so that by the time we get to the next service, I can update this and make this accurate. If you have a Bible, open up to the book of Luke, chapter 24. What I want to do is I want to show you the salvation story of two people in Luke. And I think as we understand their story and what happened to them, it's going to really help us understand our story about how we came to Christ. So let's set the context. Luke 20:4. It is resurrection Sunday, also called Easter. It's the very first Easter. It's Resurrection Sunday. Jesus has just been raised from the dead, and rumors are spreading quickly throughout Jerusalem that the body is gone and the tomb is empty. And so Luke 24, we're gonna start in verse 12. Verse 12 sets the stage for us. It says this, but Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in. He saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home, marveling at what had happened. And then we get to verse 13, that very day. So still Easter Sunday. It's Resurrection Sunday.
[00:04:25] Two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. So just pause for a moment. When you think about the two disciples who are on the road to Emmaus, when you picture them, what do they look like? And I want to ask you a really specific question.
[00:04:46] Are they both dudes?
[00:04:50] Why do you think that? Because for probably 99% of us in this room, when we think about this, it's two dudes on the road to Emmaus. Well, just let's hold this, and I want to show you something here. In a moment, verse 14, things unfold. They were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. Verse 16. This is very important. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk? And it says, they stood still looking sad. Okay, they did not stand still because they're like, wait a minute, is this Jesus? That is not what the text is communicating here. They stood still because they're like, I'm sorry, but the most popular person in the nation of Israel was literally just publicly executed even though he did nothing wrong at Passover. You're leaving Jerusalem with us. Were you not in the same city? Because all anybody has been talking about is the prophet Jesus of Nazareth is dead. And you're like leaving it, like, what planet are you on, buddy? Okay, so I want you to look at this also. Two phrases I want you to remember for a little bit later in the message. Verse 16, Their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And then verse 17, they were looking sad. So we're gonna come back to this in a bit and make sense of this. But their big thought is this. Okay, stranger, how on earth are you unaware of what just happened? Verse 18. Then one of them named Cleopas, he is a dude, answered him.
[00:06:36] Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? Okay, so the first guy, his name is Cleopas. He's a well known follower of Jesus, very close to Jesus. We actually meet him in the book of John. Chapter 19, verse 25 says this, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother. By the way, her name is Mary. And his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas. And for funsies, there's another Mary Magdalene apparently is a very popular name. But it's interesting that Mary, the wife of Clopas is at the cross when Jesus is being crucified. Where did all the male disciples run to fear? Someplace else. But these women were bold and were unashamed to be identified with Jesus all the way up to the point of being affiliated with the cross. What's interesting is Clopas and Cleopas, it's like 99.9% they are the exact same person. They spell their name a little bit differently because guess what, this is pretty normal. There are usually multiple spellings for a name. Mike, Michael, Mikey. No other names. Don't call me Mikey. Okay? I mean, you can. I just won't respond.
[00:07:55] But who was the other disciple? And here's what it appears. It appears that it's his wife, Mary, the wife of Clopas. Now it's also striking the text kind of as it unfolds, the pieces start coming together. Where are they going? They're going to their home where they live together.
[00:08:19] And so also both of them, Clopas, Clippas and Mary, if they're separate, we're all in this group of disciples following Jesus at Passover. The dudes run away, the women go to the cross. And so they're all there. And so with almost absolute certainty, this is Mary and Clopas walking back from Jerusalem after Jesus had been killed on that Sunday morning. Let's get back to the dialogue. It's actually very funny because Jesus is like feigning ignorance. He's like, I'm sorry, what happened? Tell me more. Okay, verse 19. And Jesus said to them, what things? And they said to him, and I appreciate this, they're going to talk about Jesus as if they're introducing somebody to a complete stranger who knows nothing about Jesus whatsoever. They're like, clearly this guy's dense as a doornail, so we're going to have to give him like a one on one introduction concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
[00:09:26] And I want you to notice this in verse 21. I want you to notice their striking lack of faith. And then he says this. But we, we had hoped.
[00:09:36] But we had, we had hoped. Why were they looking sad? Remember that? Because their hopes were dashed.
[00:09:43] But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes. And besides all this, here's more reasons why he's not that guy. It's now the third day since these things had happened. Now Mary, the wife of Clopas, saw Jesus murdered by very effective murderers, the Roman guards by crucifixion at the cross, sees all of it go down, watches him be killed. And here's what Mary knows that she knows, that she knows Jesus was historically, literally, absolutely 100% dead.
[00:10:19] And so her emotional state is not one of optimism, it is one of expectation of death. And on top of this, Jesus has already been put into a tomb and embalmed. Okay, like this is like the dude's dead, wrapped, done. Nobody's getting this guy out. And there's a stone, the stone is in front like, and she's trying to wrap her mind around all this and communicate to this guy, but they've given up. Verse 22. They continue telling the stranger about the crazy events.
[00:10:48] Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. Jesus, OOH do tell. What happened?
[00:10:56] They were both at the tomb early in the morning and when they did not find his body. Wait a minute. They didn't find his body? Where could it have gone? I mean, the romans put a 2 to 3 ton stone in front of it. Tell me more.
[00:11:08] They came back saying that they'd even seen a vision of angels who had said that he was alive. In verse 24. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But him, Jesus, they did not see.
[00:11:26] They were amazed. How does somebody get this body out of a tomb? But to be clear, did they believe?
[00:11:34] No.
[00:11:35] Not only was Jesus dead, but like dead people don't raise. They don't raise. Like this is just not a thing. And then I'm thinking in the back of my brain, were you there when Lazarus got raised or is that just a rumor too? I don't know.
[00:11:49] I want you to catch this. Because the women all go to the tomb on Easter Sunday and they tell the story and there are two groups of people who respond to the story. The first group of people ran to the tomb, like, could it be real?
[00:12:07] The second group of people went home and completely gave up. Clopas and Mary, even though she followed Jesus to the point of crucifixion on the cross and being there the moment she saw him dead, finished her Passover festivities and Jewish obligations and then left and just went home with her husband. Do they believe? Do they believe the story of these women? Do they believe that Jesus was crucified and historically raised from the dead? And the answer is Definitely not verse 25. I want you to watch what Jesus says. He says to them, O foolish ones and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his his glory? I want to remind you they still do not know that they are talking to Jesus.
[00:13:02] Verse 27 and beginning with Moses, that's Genesis and all the prophets all the way to Malachi. He, Jesus interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
[00:13:17] I want to be a part of this Bible teaching lesson. This is Bible 101. The entire old Testament was written to point to and to prepare the nation of Israel for the coming Messiah whose name is Jesus. So Jesus starts with Genesis, works through Malachi. So what I want to do for a moment is I want to share with you what I think this outline of this teaching could have looked like. So I am going to talk very fast for a Moment. But I'm going to try to give you, like, an overview of the kinds of things that Jesus might have been sharing with Mary and Clopas. So six different actual categories that Jesus could have actually taught them through. Here's the first one.
[00:13:54] Places in the Old Testament where Jesus actually shows up. These are called Christophanies. Genesis 16, we have the angel of the Lord appears to Hagar. Genesis 18, the Lord appears to Abraham. Genesis 22, the angel of the Lord stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Pause for a moment. In the Old Testament, whenever you see the figure, the angel of the Lord, end quote. It is Jesus. If it says an angel of the Lord, that is just an angel. But the angel of the Lord is Jesus manifesting physically in the Old Testament. Okay, so every time you see that, that's Jesus showing up. Because remember, before he was born, he existed eternally. Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with a man, Jesus. Exodus 3, Burning bush. The angel of the Lord is there. Exodus 23 and 32. Again, the angel of the Lord. Numbers 22. The angel of the Lord blocks Balaam's path. Judges. The angel of the Lord shows up four times. Joshua 5, the commander of the Lord's army accepts worship. 1st Chronicles 21. The angel of the Lord punishes David. Zechariah three times. He shows up. Daniel 3. Remember the fourth guy in the fire. Guess who that is. Jesus. Okay, he could have gone through all of that. But let me tell you all the times the Old Testament told stories about me. Here's another way you could go through this. The things in the Old Testament that symbolize Jesus. The New Testament calls these things types and shadows. They're shadows. And the substance cast in the shadow is Jesus. And so you had typological people or people who pointed to Jesus. You have Adam, Abel, Melzedek, Joseph, Boaz, Isaac, Moses, David, Jonah. And then there are typological objects and rituals. These things that when Jesus comes, they're just a shadow of the person. The Ark of the covenant, the Passover lamb, bronze serpent, manna rock, scapegoat, sacrifices, tabernacle temple. We're two of six, by the way. Here's another way he could have gone about this. Number three prophecies that predicted facts about Jesus life. The virgin birthday, born in Bethlehem. Ministry in Galilee, out of Egypt. Healing ministry. Betrayed. 30 pieces of silver, pierced garments, bones not broken, buried with the rich. The resurrection. Or he could have done here all the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled on purpose so that everybody knew that he was declaring his identity. Triumphal Entry in the donkey Proclamation in Nazareth, Palm Sunday Temple Cleansing. Good Shepherd, Son of man I am parables. Let's do a different avenue. Jesus and the covenants. How they all point to him. You have the Adamic covenant. Christ crushes the serpent. I actually don't know how he fulfills the Noah covenant. And so if you have an idea, let me know. Third service will integrate it. But I'm sure Jesus came up with something that was true. Abrahamic covenant. He was the promised seed. Mosaic covenant fulfills the law. Davidic covenant. Jesus is the promised eternal King. And the new covenant inaugurated by the blood of Jesus. Let's go a different route. Number six. Jesus roles that he fulfills in the Old Testament. He's the best prophet, priest, king, judge, shepherd, bridegroom, Redeemer, servant. There's a seventh category I didn't put up here, which is how all the psalms that are messianic in nature, that just as a book, point to the coming Messiah. This was a seven mile walk. It probably took two to three hours. And this would have been the best two to three hour lecture I think I would have ever heard in my life. Now verse 28.
[00:17:06] So they drew near to the village to which they were going and he acted. Jesus is so funny here. He acted as if he were going further.
[00:17:15] But they urged him strongly, saying, stay with us, for it's toward evening and the day is now far spent. So he went in to stay with them. Verse 30, when he was at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Remember, they still don't know who the guy really is.
[00:17:37] I want you to listen to how Mark 16:12 describes this event.
[00:17:44] After these things He Jesus appeared in another form to the two of them.
[00:17:53] Jesus intentionally hid who he was in form so that they would not know initially who he was. But then verse 31 and their eyes were opened and they recognized him. And the word recognize, it's actually a pretty thick word. It really means they understood, they saw the reality, the truth of who he really was.
[00:18:18] I want you to look at these two verses next to each other. Verse 16 says this, but there eyes were kept from recognizing him. And then verse 31 says, and their eyes were opened. So the passive construction of the language demands that an external agent is doing both the closing and the opening. Okay? And actually this has huge implications that I don't want you to miss. So what I want to share with you from this are basically three rules of salvation, three principles of salvation. I think it's gonna help you understand this text and I think it's gonna help you understand your own story. So here's principle number one.
[00:18:59] In order for salvation to occur, you will need God himself to reveal to you the resurrected Jesus.
[00:19:09] Here's what is striking.
[00:19:12] They have all the prophecies all the way the Old Testament points to Jesus. They have it all explain. And what's striking about this is that even that doesn't convince them that Jesus was raised from the dead. Do you guys remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus?
[00:19:29] And so Jesus tells the story and this guy Lazarus, he's super rich, he dies, he goes to hell, and then Abraham is there and he has a conversation with Abraham. And I'll show this to you in Luke chapter 16. And here's what he says to Abraham. No Father Abraham, but if somebody goes to them from the dead, he's talking about his family, they will repent. Like really, if they see a dead person raised, they're going to repent. And Abraham says to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
[00:20:03] We need to remember something that when we are sharing the gospel with people, apologetics, great. That's like the defense of the faith having all the reasons that it is logically required and necessary that Jesus is that he was crucified for our sins, was raised from the dead. The statistical impossibility that any other human on the planet could fulfill this many prophecies over literally century after century, millennia after millennia. But even the best apologetic in the world doesn't inherently have the power to take a hard heart and make it soft and tender to Jesus.
[00:20:37] And so we have to remember is that like in all of the things, these are good and they are right, but there has to be a softening of the heart that happens when somebody experiences the resurrected Jesus. And this is the second principle. Jesus uniquely reveals himself to each person in order to both expose your sin and amplify the magnitude of his love. I want to help make sense of this.
[00:21:00] We can agree that Jesus does not reveal himself to everybody in the same way.
[00:21:05] Every disciple had their own personal story with the resurrected Jesus, but everyone to whom he revealed himself, they were faced with the gut wrenching contrast of their ugliest sin and his unbelievable grace. And let me show you how this looks.
[00:21:29] Jesus had a remarkably personal and vulnerable moment with Peter where if you know the story, Peter had to come face to face with his ugliest, darkest sin. He betrayed publicly his rabbi, his God, Jesus betrayed him. And Jesus shows up in such a way that he makes him face his darkest sin and shows him not just the kindness of his grace, but then installs him into apostolic leadership and says, you're not disqualified. I'm actually gonna use you to do incredible things, Peter. On this rock I will build my church. Then we get to Thomas.
[00:22:07] Thomas also had a different experience. We talked about this last week, how Jesus waited eight whole days to reveal himself to doubting Thomas. And it seems that the entire experience was designed to amplify and to highlight Thomas ugliest sin, which is his jaded doubt and struggle to believe. And then it's contrasted with Jesus kind forgiveness.
[00:22:32] You have James, the little brother of Jesus, all growing up with Jesus did not believe. The text says that his brothers thought he was looney tunes out of his mind. And then first Corinthians 15 actually tells us that Jesus had like a one on one with his brother to personally reveal the resurrection of Jesus to him. And then James is not just convicted of his unbelief, but trust in Jesus and becomes the leader of the most influential church in the first century of the church in Jerusalem. Then you have the apostle Paul who is literally on his way to murder Christians and he is murdering Christians and he is proud of it. And Jesus stops him dead in his tracks. And what does he do? He highlights his ugliest sin, his murder of Christians, and then offers him not just the grace of forgiveness, but also gives him the opportunity to be an actual apostle and to build the kingdom of Jesus. And guys, I want you to catch this. These salvation stories all have two things in common. They come to grips with their sin and the marvelous kind good forgiveness of God. Here's the third principle Jesus timeline. It is always deeply personal and it's on purpose. Again we've said this. Why wait eight days for Thomas? Because he's writing a different story in Thomas life then he's writing in the other disciples life with Cleopas and Mary his wife. I mean it's literally resurrection Sunday. And like you, you would think to yourself in this moment, Jesus, why didn't you just reveal yourself to them before they left the city?
[00:24:06] Why don't you reveal yourself to them halfway? Like why do you take this whole route? Well, he was actually waiting for them to get all the way home. To show them you literally went home and highlighted not just their lack of belief, but their abandonment of him. And then contrasted this with forgiveness and mercy and grace.
[00:24:27] All salvation stories, they have the same two elements. A Belief in the Gospel and a deep conviction of sins. And I just have really great news for you. Whatever your story is, it was written by Jesus. And Jesus strategically revealed himself in a way and at a time that revealed probably your ugliest sin and his glorious grace.
[00:24:48] And when you look at verse 31, there's more to say. Here it says, then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. This is delightful. And he vanished from their sight. Guys, not only do I want to watch a movie of, like, the entire presentation and lecture of Jesus on Christ in the Old Testament, I want to watch him vanish. And I want to see their eyes. Like, I just want to see that. What just happened? Where'd he go? This is a joke. Oh, my gosh. In verse 32, they said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? And this is the work of the Holy Spirit. When there are spiritual realities taking place, they often manifest in the physical realm, because the physical and the spiritual work together.
[00:25:36] When you realize you went all the way home and you should have stayed in Jerusalem, when you realize you're wrong about Jesus, like, what do you do? And the answer is, you should go make it right. So look at verse 33. Says, they rose that same hour. It's evening, and they returned to Jerusalem, and they found the 11. And those who were with them gathered together, saying, the Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon. And they told what happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. I want to share with you two. So what's number one? Ask God to reveal himself to you.
[00:26:22] Here's what most people hear when I say this. God, give me a miracle. If you give me a miracle, I'll believe.
[00:26:32] And I can say this with high confidence. Jesus will not dance for you.
[00:26:39] When Jesus reveals himself to you, there are a few indicators. And so if you are not a believer, I want to share with you, like, these things that often happen when Jesus, the scriptures say, is drawing you to him. Okay?
[00:26:56] And if you're a believer, what you're actually gonna find is if God is about to do something really, like, important in your life, maybe there's a new ministry he's calling you to or a new season of spiritual growth. Like, you're gonna find that actually some of these principles are similar. When Jesus is about to move, there are some things that begin to happen. Here's number one.
[00:27:13] Look for a growing realization and conviction of your Spirit, no one was ever truly saved without conviction of their own sin.
[00:27:24] And it's interesting because oftentimes the sin that people feel convicted of, it is usually one of their ugliest sins that they are palpably aware of. Now, you might be unexpectedly feeling guilty over things that never convicted you in the past. And you're like, I've just always done these things, like, who cares? Why is this even bothering me? And you try to just keep pushing this guilt down and you don't know where it's coming from. And it might be the Holy Spirit drawing you to Jesus.
[00:27:59] Number two, look for things that compete with Jesus to begin to fail.
[00:28:07] The Bible calls these things idols.
[00:28:09] And so it might be a relationship or substances or job or money. And the things that used to feel great, the things that used to be your big wins, the things that used to bring you so much joy, they begin to lose their luster. And instead of filling you up, they're beginning to drain you of your spiritual energy. And you're like, what is it about these things? Like, I could do these things and have no issues. And now I'm just. I'm feeling just empty. Like, they don't. They don't meet the needs that they used to meet deep down inside of me. I just don't enjoy it as much. Maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit is beginning to soften your heart and to draw you to Him. Number three, look for gospel seeds planted by people.
[00:28:56] I'm not expecting that all of these things would happen to you, but if even one or two of these things are happening in your life, maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit is drawing you to himself. Have you found yourself unexpectedly in spiritual conversations?
[00:29:10] Do you have new neighbors who are Christians? Interesting. Are you the new neighbor? Who is God working?
[00:29:18] Is your social media feed beginning to be filled up with spiritual things that point you to Jesus? I think you'll appreciate this. It's not just the devil that has control over your feed. Jesus can use it anytime he wants to put ideas into thoughts into your head, too. Amen. And you're like, I. I haven't been talking about Jesus or spiritual things. And all of a sudden, like, these sermons pop up. Like, what's going on? Are you getting invited to church randomly? You're like, listen, nobody's ever invited me to church, ever. And now my coworker or my friend or my. My brother, my sister. And they're like, you should go to church with me. You're like, I've never had the thought in my entire life.
[00:29:49] When you drive by churches, is there, like, this weird curiosity growing inside of you? Like, previously you're just like, ah, church. Or you don't even notice it. And now you're like, I wonder what they believe. And like, it's like a magnet. You're like, why do I want to go to church? Don't know. Do you find yourself searching for things online that are more spiritual in nature? And then you're like, oh, I got to erase my history because I don't want anybody to know I'm asking these kinds of questions. When the Holy Spirit begins to draw you, there are just things that begin to happen. And you might be like, wow, you're describing my life recently. And I want to look at you and say, maybe the God of the universe who loves you is pursuing you and revealing the resurrected Jesus to you in a timeframe and at a pace that you can comprehend and understand. Maybe, just maybe.
[00:30:34] And number four, look out for great opportunities to sin.
[00:30:40] If Jesus is real, so is the devil.
[00:30:44] And once the devil realizes Jesus is pursuing you, he's going to go to work to make that process as unbelievably difficult as possible.
[00:30:53] And if he can get you to do something unbelievably stupid that you're going to have to live with for the rest of your life before you come to Christ, he'll do that. Why? Because he hopes that you're going to live a life filled with shame and regret, feeling unworthy, and do nothing big for the kingdom of Jesus when you trust in him, look for old, bad friends to show up again.
[00:31:20] Look for opportunities that bring you not to the fullness, but just to the edge of those sins that used to control you that you thought were out of your life. Look for opportunities where now you're just being brought right, right up to that edge. And then, of course, whenever you get to the edge, you're like, I'm this far. I'm this close. I mean, what's the big deal, right? And you might be being pursued by the Holy Spirit to trust in Christ if these things are happening in your life. Which brings me to my last so what?
[00:31:53] Who cares what you lose if you gain everything?
[00:32:01] Who cares if you lose your boyfriend or your girlfriend if you get eternal life? And some of you are like, oh, man, they're with me.
[00:32:13] Who cares if you lose money and you gain heaven?
[00:32:19] Who cares if your friends ditch you because you became a Christian? You've heard me say this a lot recently. Like, if your friends are going to ditch you because you're becoming the man or woman God Jesus made you to be. They're not real friends. They don't love you.
[00:32:35] Who cares if your parents are upset with your new faith? If you and your Heavenly Father, who, by the way, you're going to have to live with for all of eternity if you're reconciled with him?
[00:32:46] And who cares if you lose the sin that you really enjoy, if you can look yourself in the mirror and live with yourself and your Creator with a clear, clean conscience?
[00:32:59] Guys, there are a million reasons that might hold somebody back from trusting in Jesus, but God's hand is extended. And if you're sitting here and you're like, all those things you just described, they're basically my life. Like, it is clear that Jesus has been pursuing you, and maybe you just didn't have the vocabulary for it, and now you're like, oh, that's what he means. Like, you mean he's intentionally pursuing me, drawing me to himself through all these different avenues. I just had no idea it was him. You've put the pieces of the puzzle together. If you are here and you are realizing that God loves you and he is inviting you to trust in Christ and you are ready, guys, there's gonna be a thousand reasons not to do it, but who cares about those things if you get to gain everything by coming to Christ?
[00:33:51] And I just want to invite you today if you know that Jesus is your God and that he died for your sins and was raised from the dead, and if you're feeling this deep sense of conviction over sin, that is what is required for you to come to faith in Jesus.
[00:34:09] This is what is required. Tell him you're sorry for your sin and that you believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and he offers you everything.
[00:34:18] And so you might be here, and you're like, I'm not ready for that. I do get this sense that something's happening between God and me. Things are getting really spiritual and weird lately. I just got a lot of questions. Well, whatever those roadblocks are, do whatever you have to do to take those roadblocks down so that you can meet your Creator and be redeemed and receive eternal life. Amen. Amen. It's not just Easter and Easter. It's Easter. Every Sunday here at Village Church, we celebrate the resurrected Jesus. He died for your sins in your place so that you don't have to, and was raised from the dead, and he is revealing himself to person after person after person all over the world to the tune of probably tens of thousands. Or more every day coming to faith in Jesus. And if he is revealing himself to you, respond, respond to him and believe. I want to take a moment. I want to pray for you. We're going to celebrate communion together and we're going to continue to worship. Father, thank you for the way you so personally and individually reveal yourself. Jesus, thank you for how kind and tender that you are. Even as you reveal the ugliest parts of our life, you simultaneously offer forgiveness. That is not just once, but it's forever. And it is unlike any kind of forgiveness that we have ever seen in any human on this planet.
[00:35:40] I just am so grateful that you have given us recognition of our darkness, but also just clarity into who you are. And so, Father, if there's anyone who is just struggling with faith and belief, would you reveal yourself to them? And Lord, for those of us who have trusted in Christ, God, would you just fill us with more and more gratitude because as we sang earlier, that everything we have is from you and we need you complete. And so, God, thank you for saving us. Fill us with gratitude and joy. Renew for those who are just struggling, who are just feeling spiritually flat. Renew in us the joy of our salvation. We love you and we pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
