Elevation with Steven Furtick - Something In Between

Episode Date: April 1, 2024

Jesus can meet you in between. In “Something In Between,” Pastor Steven Furtick reminds us that we serve a Savior who is greater than the guilt, grief, or grave that can keep us separated from God. To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://www.elevationchurch.org/giving/ If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfrSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. Hallelujah. You can feel it, right? God is up to something today. Hey, welcome. Happy Resurrection Sunday, everybody. Jesus. The name above every name.

Jesus who is seated at the right hand of God. Jesus who was laid down in grief and awoke holding keys. May he unlock prison doors in your life today. We believe he's going to do something awesome. Tell your neighbor, I believe, God is going to. Not going to. Gonna. Do something.

Awesome in your life today. spectacular in your life today, mind-blowing in your life today, and I'll look at them and say, mine too. I'm getting in on this. Another stone is rolling right now. Is it you? Is it you he wants to call out of depression? Is it you he wants to call out of despair? I'm looking for you. God gave me a word for this Easter Sunday. This is my 19th Easter preaching here at Elevation Church. I would like to say, and I hope that I don't jinx it by saying this before the sermon, it's the best Easter crowd we've ever had on an Easter Sunday. Now live up to that, all right? It's a lot of pressure. Don't be acting all stuffy because Aunt Susie came to church with you today.

Act how you always act. I know you will. I want to share with you from the resurrection account in Matthew chapter 28 and offer a fresh perspective that the Lord shared with me. I think one of the greatest blessings God can give you sometimes is a fresh perspective. You know, just where you look at things different. Sometimes he changes things. Sometimes he changes the way I see things. And then things change. So the perspective on the resurrection, you know, 19 years of preaching this thing,

you would think I knew what was in it. But God is so great and His Word is so awesome. It's just the most remarkable story ever told, the most remarkable event in human history that Jesus rose from the grave. But let's go back there for a moment into a flashback in Matthew chapter 28. I'm going to read verses 1 through 4 for context, but my lesson really picks up at verse 5. The Bible says, after the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week,

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. Verse five. Pay attention. The angel said to the women,

Do not be afraid. Really? So the guards are over here, dead. These big Roman soldiers are like dead men, and the women are supposed to not be afraid. Okay. But the angel said to the woman, this guy, this stone rolling, this is a BA right here.

A big angel. I don't know what you're what... Okay. It's Easter. It's Easter. I will paint for you. The angel said to the women, do not be afraid. For I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

I need you to say the key word, was. Verse six, he is not here. He has risen. All of that already happened. All of that already happened. He is not here. He is risen, just as he said, come and see the place. where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples. He has risen from the dead and is going

ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you." Verse 8 and we'll stop here for now. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. I want to use as a subject. for this sermon today. Something in between. Something in between. And would you look at your neighbor real quick and say, I'm something in between? Look at your other neighbor, the one you rejected, scorn, and bypassed the first time. Say, I'm something in between. And you may be seated. Something in between. I was so excited to preach this, man. I know I was excited because I was having weird dreams. Three in the morning, four in the morning. About four I woke up. I was dreaming

about Clemson. I reckon I fell asleep when they were losing their game. They made it to the elite eight, but then they lost. So I think that was in my subconscious, and so was the excitement of Easter and anything as possible. So in my dream, listen to this, I was at Clemson as a student, as a 44-year-old man, and I was going to football practice to see. if I could walk on and play. That's how excited I was. I didn't even play Little League football. I've never played football in my life.

That's how excited I have been to be with you. He's dreaming about dabbo. Of course, that has everything to do with Matthew 28. But I'm just excited, you know, when I get excited, I'm an extreme person. I am. I get excited about something that I'm all in. I'll sell everything, buy everything, sell everything and then buy everything. Buy it and then sell it. I'm very extreme.

So for me, it was a real insight to realize that everything in this text, which is about as extreme as you get, angels, rolling stones, earthquakes, shaking the foundation of the planet, dead men rising. That's as extreme as it gets. A crucifixion where the innocent son of God was treated as a common criminal. That's as extreme as it gets. And yet, everything in the text, everybody say, and yet everything is in between. One man said life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.

And as the women are bringing their spices to anoint Jesus, he's already taken a stroll on a Sunday morning. So we love this text because everything is in between, but just reading it for the exclamation point of the resurrection misses some of the intricacy. First of all, let me give you this in a few different ways. The ministry of Jesus in Matthew chapter 28 is at an in-between moment, in that he has already fulfilled his earthly mission, which is to save us from our sin by dying on a cross, so that everybody who puts their faith in him, and that could be you today, could be saved in his name. And then after he did that,

suffered a horrible death that we could not abide. He rose again with all power in his hand. He's done with that now. But he has not yet ascended to the right hand of God. So his earthly mission is complete. But his heavenly ministry, where he sits at the right hand of God, what he's doing now has not yet begun. He's in between.

One thing I was tempted to skip over, but when I slowed down and read it, it became very important, is that the Bible says it was after the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week when the ladies found the tomb of Jesus empty. So think about that. Not only was the ministry of Jesus in between, but this is an in-between moment as well. The ministry is in between. The moment is in between. It's dawn, not exactly morning, it's not exactly night.

It's something in between. That's why I wore this today. It's spring in Charlotte, and it's not exactly cold, and it's not exactly hot. It's something. So I've got coverage and ventilation. It's something in between. Graham was picking on me. this shirt that I thought was really cool and I bought like 50 of them because I'm extreme.

And he said, I hate to tell you this because I know you got 50. I do not get that shirt. It's not a compression shirt and it's not fashionable. It's got a scoop neck and it's too tight. And it's not an athletic shirt you can work out in and it's definitely not something you need to wear on stage. It's something in between. Some of y'all came to church today with your... They're not exactly just your friend.

A little DTR might happen in the car on the way home from elevation today. I'm here to serve. You know, well, no, we're not dating, but not evangelizing her either. I invited her to church with maybe some ulterior motives. It's something in between. It's dawn. It's morning, it's night. The night is losing its grip on the morning, but it is just peeking through the shades of pink.

The sky is not yet blue and clear yet. It's just a little bit of it that I can see as the night relinquish us. It's whole. There's something in between. You see what I mean? It's a beautiful text, a beautiful text, because not only is the ministry of Jesus in between, not only is the moment in between, but the messengers are in between. the messenger, the angel.

The angel is not Jesus. The angel is not God. But the angel is not a human either. The angel is, maybe if I preach this till Christmas, y'all will finally get my call and response, Caird and say it. Is something in between? Put it in the chat. It's something in between.

Now look at your neighbor and say, you're not an angel. Tell them, but I don't think you're a devil either. Now, repeat the next. line. You're something in between. I need everybody in this church that is not an angel, but you're not a devil. I'm not the best Christian in the world. I'm probably not the worst one either. I've seen how some of y'all drive with your elevation stickers on your car. I didn't know that was a worship signal when you did that one finger up in the air. What does that mean? Something in between. We all are. Indigo, blue, violet. I don't care what you wore in here. Underneath the

That is your flesh. And although you may be ready for heaven when you die because Jesus rose, don't you need him in between? Come on. Don't you need him in between? Wave at me if you need him in between. Lord, I appreciate one day you're coming to get me up out of here and take me to a place where there's no more tears, but there's tears here, and I need you in between.

So the ministry of Jesus is in between. The messenger is in between. The moment is in between. And then you have something that the angel says to the women. And it is like these annoying parents that try to coach their kids from the bleachers when I go to watch my kid wrestle. They'll say things to the kid that is probably the right thing to say to the kid, but it's not that easy to do when you're out there doing it.

I heard one parent say to a kid who was wrestling the other day his kid was getting beaten. He said, that's the wrong move. That helps, Dad. Thanks. Not like you know the right one. And here's the angel. Look what he says to the women. He says, don't be afraid.

And that's easy for you to say, you're an angel. You're a big angel, a B-A, a bold angel. been in the presence of God. You weren't there when we watched him die. You're not bound by this flesh. Don't be afraid. And the Bible gives a very, very instructive phrase. And this is where I want to teach you today. I'm going to teach you a lesson today. If you are going to look this good to come to church, we are going to get the most out of your outfit today and teach you something. All right? Because it was crowded when you came here to balance you. time today, right? And you had to fight through some things to get here. Now, don't worry,

next week, there'll be plenty of room for everybody, so come on back. I'm probably going to start a new series next week, an eight-week series, so you should come back next week. But look what the angel said. He said, do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for, verse five again, please, Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here where you expected him to be. He is not dead, which is the last way you saw him. He is not lying in this place anymore. He has risen just as he said. Won't he do it? Yes.

Just like he promised. Now, come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you. Verse 8. The women were full of faith and doubted nothing, and so they did what the angel instructed is the way this should read if we were angels. God's got me and it doesn't matter that

they're laying people off in my division because God's my provider is how it should read if we were angels. I know that God's going to bring my kid back so I'm not going to spend all of my time worrying about it. I'm going to turn it over to the Lord and do the best I can is how it should feel if I'm an angel. And if I didn't believe in God at all, then I would have complete despair, but I believe in him. But yet I have to be in this body. And so I'm something in between. Like the women in this passage, it says, verse 8, look at this, please.

They hurried away from the tomb, and I love this phrase because this is how I feel. Afraid, yet filled with joy. This is not a translation error by the moment. the way. Because most of us think like you're either going to be afraid or filled with joy. I had somebody asked me the other day I was going to do something that was a big deal and they said, are you looking forward to it or are you dreading it? And I was like, are those the only two options? Because I'm not exactly looking forward to it. I'm not exactly dreading it. I'm something and it can change for me.

moment to moment, I'm like really grateful for this life God has given me and this influence that he gave me. And then sometimes that anticipation feels like anxiety. And sometimes my anxiety feels like anticipation. And sometimes, listen to this, the difference between anticipation and An anxiety is the way you label it. Some of the things in your life today, now I'm going to talk right to where you live. Let's get away from 2,000 years ago history and bring it right into your current situation. That I'm saying I'm anxious. If you look beneath the anxious feeling, there is actually a future that you are anticipating.

And every time you step forward, you shake a little bit. Every time you reach for the right thing, it feels a little foreign in your hands because you been reaching for the wrong thing. But the Bible says that you can be afraid yet filled, that you can be empty in your energy and filled with God's spirit, that you can be empty and not know the solution of how this is going to work out, but yet somehow have complete confidence that he who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it. Somebody say, I'm yet filled.

I like the way that felt when I said it. I'm yet filled. I don't have all the money I need to start the business, but I'm yet filled with faith that if God wants me to do it, the supply is on the way. Now, I don't know how this is going to exactly turn out yet, but I'm yet filled with the knowledge that the God who was with me before in the previous season, you know, that the God who was with me before in the previous season would not abandon me between winter and spring. At this point, if you interviewed these Marys, they would say, our minds are back and forth.

We're grieving. I want to put these on the board so you can see it real quick. Put the first ones up. I'm grieving, but I've got good news. And I know that it's going to be good in the end, But my grief didn't go away just because I got good news. This is why you can throw up your hands and worship God even while you're going through hell. That's how you reach for it. Let me make sure I'm making this clear because I get so worked up and I start moving too fast. Their grief over the depth of Jesus did not disappear to make way for the good news that he was risen. And in the text it says, a little conjunction, it says, afraid, yet filled.

Yet is a conjunction. Jesus is my conjunction. Jesus is my in-between thing. Jesus is how I can say, you know how people say, it's all good? I can't say that. I got some habits that are not good. I've got some people in my life. I'm going to skip that one. I'll come back to that next week. I've got some things I'm dealing with that are not good.

So it's not all good. How you doing? It's all good. We say that all the time. I don't say that. I don't say that anymore because it's not all good. But it's not all grief either. And you've got to remember that when you're going through a dawning season where it's not exactly dark. It's not exactly light. My marriage isn't exactly back on track, but it's not yet falling apart. I haven't yet lost my mind, but I'm not really that same yet either, so don't test me because I could pop loose real quick. I'm something in between. But I read a Bible verse I want to give to you from the New Testament in Romans 828. 828 says that in all things God works for the good of them that love him and are called

according to his purpose. It doesn't say everything will be all good. It says even when it's not all good is still all God. Y'all help me shout. That's what I want you to say about your life today. It's not all good, but it's all God. Somebody says. Shout it's all God. That's how I made it. High five. I did not believe. The goodness of the Lord that I would see it.

I got grief. Are you grieving? Ask your neighbor. Are you grieving? Or are you good? Tell them I got something in between. I got something. See, God is my in between.

God will take whatever happens. If it's bad, he'll make it. it good. If it's good, he'll get glory out of it. If it's bad, he'll make it. So if you see me play in Division I NCAA football, you know it was all God. Something must have happened in between. Now watch this. Can I give you more? There is a quote that changed my life from the Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl. He wrote the book, Man Search for Meaning. It is one of the best-selling books of all time, and I know why from this one quote. Put it on the scream. Look at this, goodness, what he said. Between stimulus and response, there is a space.

In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response, lies our growth and our freedom. Wait, I should have told you more about him before I read what he said. He was a Holocaust survivor. So Victor Frankel didn't say, it's all good. I don't know anything about his religious belief. But I found this to be true in my life. Sometimes the only thing I have is that space between stimulus. Do you know what I mean by stimulus? Not the checks they gave to everybody over the age of three a while back.

But what happens? A stimulus, like, pop, you hit my hand? I'm going to slap your face. Or, and this is where he talks about the space. You slap my hand, in between my slap back is a space. Somebody say space. Look the quote again. Between stimulus, between stimulus and response.

The women were afraid, yet, that's the space filled. And so they ran on the revelation that they had, even though they didn't know what the result would be. Now, they only have to go about a mile to get to Jerusalem where the disciples are still saying. But there's 80 miles to go to Galilee where Jesus said he would meet them. Keep that in mind. It's important as we talk about space. Stimulus response. Let's talk about God. Let's talk about Jesus since this Easter. The cross was God's response to your sin. The stimulus was your sin. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And God's response to your sin could have been wrath.

Instead it was grace. The distance was fixed between me and God so that I could not come to him. His response he came to me. The suffering was the stimulus. Forgiveness was his response. You starting to see what I'm talking about? That space in your life right now is what happened. to you and what you will do next.

And the resurrection speaks to that. Because if there is a space, put it up one more time, between the stimulus and response, and if that space is my power to choose my response, I know one thing about me, okay? I don't do very good with that space. I had one this week. This guy texted me something crazy. I hadn't heard from him in eight years, and he just decided to text me something crazy out of the blue. Happy Easter. Here's something stupid. Intagonistic, irritating, ignorant,

all of it. Now, what I want to tell you is I prayed for him and sent him some boots, some pink boots for Easter. I made the best text, and y'all know I'm pretty good with words. I put every word I've ever learned in seminary and in seventh grade in a text. I tried seven different drafts. I typed them all up, and I deleted them. Then I typed another one, and I deleted it. And every one I typed up got better than the last one. By the time I finished texting him back, by the time I finished texting him back, now this

is important. By the time I ended up texting him back, I didn't send it. All right. I'm going to save you a lot of trouble. Look at your neighbor and say, you need you. space before you hit sin. What in the world would we have paid to know that earlier in our life? Not just on a text, but on a response. A response. And thankfully, if you are too weak in your own strength to make the right response, Easter comes to say that you

You have a Savior who emptied the grave and all power is in his name, and that same power is in you. What am I trying to say? Your Savior is a space maker. How many need a space-making Savior in your life today? Because see, the good I want to do, I don't always do it. And this is why this church is so excited about Jesus in case you're a first-time guest. because our Savior is our space maker.

Because we were bound in sin. We were wrapped in. We were trapped in our trauma. We were locked in our loneliness. We were down in our despair. And the spacemaker came to show us that all things are possible. Me and say, I got a space maker. I'm praising the space maker.

Now, let's contrast this. Victor Frankel said, there is a space between stimulus and response. The other philosopher, Willie Nelson, said, I got to give you what Willie said. Y'all, I go over to my mom's every Wednesday night for dinner and she picks out different. I got a record player, and I asked her to pick a record every Wednesday and listen to music and then we watch Will of Fortune. And Pat Sayjack, I still want to meet you if you ever watch me preach. That would be a real bucket list for me.

I love Pat Sejack. I pray for him every time before he goes on. But I came in the other night and my mom was playing a record by Willie Nelson and it got my attention. I thought I would use it in my Easter sermon. Willie says this, well, I got to get drunk and I sure do dread it because I know just what I'm going to do. I'll start to spend my money calling everybody honey and wind up singing the blues.

I'll spend my whole paycheck on some old wreck. And brother, I could name you a few. But I gotta get drunk. And I sure do dread it, because I know just what I'm going to do. I researched it, and Willie said that's the dumbest song he ever wrote. He said it's a good song, but it's a stupid song. But it was true at the time. I got to get drunk.

I got to go off. Did you hear what they said about me? I got to go off. I've got to do it. I got to do. You disrespect me like that. I've got to do it. I think this Easter, the spacemaker, wants to change your got to, watching from I got to do it to I got a God. Somebody say, I got a God. I don't got to do it anymore because I got a God who made space, who shed blood. And if I call on his name and if I stay in his word, he can change me from Simon to Peter. He can change beauty out of ashes.

He can turn graves into gardens. So I've got a grave. Watch this. But I've got a God who can turn it into a garden. Put it in the comments right now. I got a God. I got a God. Who what I used to have to do, I'm not powerless to do anymore because he got up

That's 50% of the shout that should have happened there. I'm going to give you another opportunity I got a God Give me my next set so they're standing at the tune the next words and they're standing at a grave But the angel says go to Galilee and They can't stay at the grave because he's not there and Somebody say he's not here. He's not in this depression.

He's not in this giving up. He's not in this failure. He's not in it to help me, but he's not in it to leave me. He's calling me forward to Galilee. And so the women, all the women make some noise. They did it. And it's annoying, right? Because where are the guys?

The guys are eating fish and chips and protein bars and monster energy drink. And they say, now we got to go stop by and tell the guys that Jesus is going to meet them in Galilee. I probably would have skipped it and just went right on to Galilee myself. This is 80 miles because it's going to take like three or four days, so let's get a head to start because we want to see Jesus. Somebody say, I want to see Jesus. So what they do?

They're afraid. Did you notice verse 8? But they ran. They use their fear for something productive. I know you've been through some things. Use them. I know you've got something on the inside of you chasing you. Well, point it in the right direction and let's go.

You've been an addict, helping at it. You've been through horrible abuse. Put your arm around somebody. They need to hear that God can do a miracle for them. I'm leaving this grave. Everybody in here has got a grave God is calling you away from. Everybody in here has got a place in you, a place in life, a place you can't stay, and a long way to go.

Oh, it's a long way to Galilee. I don't know if we can make it 80 miles to Galilee to see Jesus again. I don't know if I can make it through this season. I don't know if I can do it at this stage of my life. I don't know if I have the fuel left to do it again. I'll know if I have a repeat performance in me. The first time we followed him, it was hard, but then he died. I don't know if I have a second wind in me, but they're running.

And this whole Sunday hinges on a word in Matthew 28, verse 9, that God brought you to this moment to show you as they are leaving the grave and eventually going to Galilee. The Bible says Matthew 28, verse 9, suddenly, because not only do I have a space-making Savior, but I have a suddenly Savior. shout suddenly. Come on, shout it with your lungs, baby. Say suddenly. Suddenly what? Suddenly Jesus. Met them.

Oh, you mean they didn't have to go all 80 miles? Nah. Because while that angel was still talking about Galilee, the Savior was headed your way. Now I need you to say this my thing. He's coming my way. He's headed my way. Even this grave.

The Lord wants somebody to know you are not going to have to go all the way to Galilee to get to him. He's coming to you. See the scene with me. See the scene with me. They're running. And maybe between the two of them, they're sharing. I don't know if we should trust that big man that was sitting on the stone. He said he was an angel, but who knows, you can't trust any men.

And the other sister says back, the other Mary says back, well, what are we going to do? We can't stay at the grave. We've got to go. We can't stay in this dead place. We've got to go. If we stay here, it will only ever be dead. We's not coming back to the grave. We've got to go.

And so they're going, and they're going, and they're calculating all the distance between them and Galilee. We got 70 miles left between where we can't stay and where we want to be. Somebody is there right now. You're calculating the distance between where you are and where you think you need to be. But put my verse back on the screen, the Bible says, suddenly Jesus met them and on their way from the grave to Galilee, they hear something in between. Greetings.

Could that be? Greetings. It sounds like him. Greetings. Yeah, that's his voice. I thought we were going to have to go all the way to Galilee. But suddenly, somebody shouts suddenly. I see something in between.

Jesus met me in the middle of my mess. Jesus met me on my first mile. Jesus is going to meet me in this moment. What a Savior. I said, what a Savior. Not only is he a space-making Savior. Not only is he a suddenly Savior. Do you understand the power of the Savior suddenly?

That a lifetime of sins can be washed away with one call upon his name, with one mention of his name, with the bowing of your knee. Everything that speaks the name of Jesus will be saved because of God. He's a suddenly Savior. And the thing that you're so stressed about, if God is real, what makes you think he isn't already planning to do something in between? Because that's how the devil will get you. I was talking to somebody the other day, and they said, I'm so worried about my kid going to college, and this college and that college, their kid is in the seventh grade.

I said, don't worry about that. Worry about something else. You can worry about stuff, but don't worry about that. So much could happen in between. You understand, you think you are going to just be lonely the rest of your life? God could have one greeter out those doors. And in between the time I say amen and the time you try to eat some ham for lunch, God could do something in between.

Oh, Matt Holly, she was traveling through Mook's Corn. She was living. She grew up in Miami, Florida. She was traveling all over the country doing ministry with this team. this ministry team, and they would ride around in an RV and do ministry, and their travels brought them to Monks Corner. All right? So you got Miami, you got Monks Corner.

Very different. Very different. And she saw a very handsome young man at the church where they were. No, she did. And listen how good her game was. She comes up, she's like, I'm homeschooled, and I need to take the ACT, and I was wondering maybe if you could go to your guidance counselor and get me an ACT prep hat. That is the most masterfully understated.

pickup line in the history of great romances. Could you go to your guidance counselor? And when I looked at her, I was like, oh, I know another guidance counselor that I believe. Come on, somebody, you got a guidance counselor? Because while I was growing up in Monk's Corner, 615 miles away in Miami to Monk's Corner, If God could do that, from a grave to Galilee, and everything in between, you don't even know what he can do in between. Preach it to your fear for a minute. Let's talk to your fear.

Say God always does something in between. So the outcome you're dreading is based on the events that you are hypothetically creating. What if God does something in between? What if it doesn't even go to trial? What if you get through it? What if you get through it and it ends up being the best thing that ever happened to you? What if God does something? What if God does something in between?

He must be doing something in between. He did it for Daniel. Daniel spent the night in a lion's den, but their teeth never touched him. There must have been something in between. Daniel and those lions. He did it for the three Hebrew boys. They were thrown in a fire. The fire was heated up seven times hotter than normal, but they didn't smell like smoke when they came out. I mean, if you even get close to the fire, you're going to smell like smoke. So if they came out of the fire and didn't smell like smoke, God must have done something in between.

Will not this same God? Will not this same Savior? Who met the women not when they got to Galilee, and now I don't feel sorry for them anymore? Because the boys had to wait. They got to see him first. I stand before you today excited and afraid. I stand before you today a sinner and a saint. I stand before you today a flawed man and a child of God.

And I'm never all of both. I'm something in between. What Jesus said to those women will touch you so deeply. He said, I'm going ahead of you, but I met you on the way. I'm already in your tomorrow, but I'm going to show up right now to remind you who you're walking in. Thank you, Jesus. Say thank you, Jesus. When you talk back to the preacher in church, don't talk about.

Talk to the preacher, talk to God, say thank you, Lord, for that word. Thank you, Jesus. I received that coming to me right now on this first mile of my 80-mile journey. I've got to get to Galilee, but I'm thankful that you met me in between. And he tells him, go. I know you're afraid, verse 10, but go. Go tell my brothers. You're still calling them brothers?

After they left you at the cross, every single disciple except John went away and Jesus called them brothers. Every person in this room today, if we could look inside your heart, you are carrying the guilt. Put my final slide on the screen because I want to give an invitation to you now. Of what you did, the guilt of who you think you are, the guilt of what you think you are, the guilt of what you, failed to live up to that you meant to be. Then there is the glory of God, who is Jesus Christ, who is the righteous one, who knew no sin but became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. All have sin and fall short of the glory of God.

You're not the best Christian that ever lived. His name is Jesus. But there is nothing so wrong with you today that the same thing. the Savior who is perfect and pure cannot redeem it. Why are we surprised to see him? Why are we surprised to hear him in between the grave in Galilee? We shouldn't be surprised that he met us in the middle. We shouldn't be surprised when he shows up in our shame. We shouldn't be surprised when he gives us mercy for our mess and righteousness for our rags. We shouldn't be surprised. We shouldn't be surprised to see him in between because the last time we saw him on the cross, look what

John 1918 says Jesus was doing. There they crucified him with two other men, one on either side, back on the screen, and Jesus in between. I see Jesus in between today. There's an anointing on this word. to bring you out of your grave, to bring you out of your guilt. For wherever there was guilt, grace was greater. Grace was greater.

Whatever you did, wherever you've been, the dawn is breaking. The morning has come. He is risen. And his grace is greater. Your sin has self. separated you from God, but your Savior is greater than your sin. He is Jesus in between. Making you right with God.

You could never be right with God in your own righteousness. You don't have to. You've got Jesus in between. Right now. While the presence of God is standing on this road in this moment, what Jesus said to the women, he says to you, greetings be not afraid. but go. It's bowed, eyes closed.

Everyone's standing at every location. No one moving. This is a holy moment. This is an in-between moment. For though our sins were as scarlet, he washed them as white as snow. This is an in-between moment. He is a stretching Savior. He is a suddenly Savior.

He is a space-making Savior. And there is room at this cross for you. for everyone online and at all of our locations who wants today to meet Jesus. I want to tell you the great secret of the mystery of the gospel. While the women were looking for Jesus, Jesus was already looking for them. And he desires to meet you in this moment. Right now I'm going to pray a prayer. If you've been far from God and you know it,

and yet today he calls you brother, sister, friend, child of God. If your sins have been weighing heavy on your heart and you haven't known what to do with them and your shame is great, I introduce you now to the Savior whose name is greater. I'm going to lead you in a prayer. It won't be a magic trick. But it is an act of faith. The Bible says that if anyone calls on the name of the Lord, they will be saved. It is by grace that you are saved.

Your guilt is great. His glory is great, but His grace is great. than your guilt, and you can receive it right now. Suddenly, you can be a brand new person today, this day. So right now, if this message was for you, I want you to repeat this prayer after me. You're coming to Jesus. He already came to you. You just repeat after me and let him into your heart and turn from your sin, and he will make you a brand new person. We're praying out loud as a church family for the benefit of those who are coming to God for the first time or coming back to God. Repeat after me. This is your moment. Heavenly Father, today is my day of salvation.

I am a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe he died, that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new beginning. I am a child of God. On the count of three, shoot your hand up if you prayed that boldly. One, two, three. We celebrate your resurrection today. That is what it's all about today. That Jesus met me. That Jesus changed me. That Jesus is with me.

And I'll never be the same. I need everybody who believes he's risen. Give him a great shout of praise. We can do better than that. For the Savior, did it and you know it. Give him a shout. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give Jen.

to this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot, and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.