The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 1: Resurrection | Easter 2023

Episode Date: April 9, 2023

Do you Believe? By believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, you may have life in His name. 

Well, amen and amen. How we doing? Church, doing all right? Today is the day that we have gathered here to celebrate that we serve a risen Savior. Amen? From eternity past till 2,000 years ago, he was in heaven. He wraps himself in flesh. He does a nosedive down here to earth.

He lives a perfect life, dies on a cross, and on the third day was resurrected from the grave. He ascended to the right hand of God the Father. And right now, as we speak, has the ear of the Father and has been praying. for us. We don't follow a set of rules. We don't just obey a set of religions, but we serve a living savior, and that's what today is all about. Amen. Amen. Hey, finish this sentence. I feel like you're going to crush it. If the tomb is empty, anything is possible as evidenced by me today. All right, so, for those of you that only come on Easter, and you think I dress up all the time, that's adorable. I love that. Hey, if you're kind of an Easter-only person, and I do just want to give you one warning.

when I was growing up, we didn't really go to church. I only went on Easter, all right? Me, only went on Easter. So be careful. It might get on you. You might work for us next year, okay? Hey, if you got your Bibles, and I hope you do, John chapter 20 is where we're going to be.

We are kicking off a brand new series on this Easter Sunday, and we're going to be studying nine different miracles. And the reason that we're studying miracles is because when the Bible talks about miracles, the Gospel of John calls him signs because the sign always points to something greater than itself. And the point is not the miracle. And the point is not that you get your miracle met. The point is that you would meet the maker of miracles. And you see, the greatest miracle of all time is what we celebrate today. The reason that you can believe in the miraculous is because God, the Father, resurrected Jesus from the grave. A miracle is anytime the unexplainable is met by

the undeniable. In this miracle, the empty tomb is the greatest of all miracles. And the reason that you can believe in the miraculous is because of the resurrection. And the reason that you can believe the claims of Jesus Christ, he claimed to be the way, the truth, the life, and no one could come to the Father except through him. And the reason that you can believe this is because of the empty tune. You see, Christianity is unique in its claims that the foundation of our faith is not faith, that the foundation of our belief is not belief, it's not a set of ideas, it's not a set of

activities that you have to participate in. The foundation of Christianity is that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the grave. The reason that you can believe that God loves you is because of the resurrection, that God demonstrated his love for us in this. While we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. That the cross screams out that God loves you, and the empty tomb is the exclamation point to that. And the reason that you could believe

that God can have a miracle for you, because some of you are in need of a miracle. I know we all have come in here with all kind of different life stages, right? Some of you are doing awesome, some of you not so awesome. Some of you need God to move in a miraculous way in your life. maybe in your marriage or in your health or in your finances or in your relationships.

Well, listen, man, if God can breathe life into his dead son and bring him out of the grave, then surely God can breathe life into whatever situation you find yourself in. You see, because I have read the Bible from cover to cover, and I have yet to find an expiration date on the miraculous power of the work of the Holy Spirit. Amen? You see, the reality is, man, if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. And you can believe for the only thing. eternal miracle. Every other miracle, as stated in the Bible, was temporary. It was temporary.

A physical healing was only temporary. The only eternal miracle is this, is the miracle of salvation. And it is a miracle promised to anyone who would believe and receive. And again, I don't know how you've walked in here today. Some of you, again, things are going awesome. Some of you, not that awesome. But we bring ourselves to the empty tomb. Our ego, our insecurities, our doubts, our fears, our sadness, our happiness. We bring those things to this Easter Sunday. And what we are going to find here in the text is that God wants to meet you right where you are.

And he wants you to believe. Not just believe in miracles. He wants you to believe in the miracle maker. John chapter 20 said it this way. Starts out now. Well, the now is there because it's describing what has happened. And what has happened is that Jesus Christ has shown up on the sea. That God became a man, wrapped himself in flesh, and that Jesus lived a perfect life.

He taught, he did the miraculous. He claimed that he was God and the only way to God. And he accomplished the law. He fulfilled every prophecy and promise of God in the Bible. And then he was tried. He was convicted. He was beaten. He was crucified, he's dead, and he was buried.

That's what has happened by the time you get to John chapter 20. Now, on the first day of the week, that's Sunday, that's why Christians worship on Sunday. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark. Now, the other gospel writers let us know that there were a few other ladies with her. And do you know why she's showing up to the tomb? Do you know what she's expecting to find when she gets to? to the tomb. She is not expecting a resurrected Savior. She's not expecting an empty tomb. The Gospel of Mark says that she brings with her some spices because they are going to clean up the body. Do you know

why they're going to clean up the body? Because the Bible says that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Jesus off the cross and prepared his body. Ladies, how many of you know you know you've had a couple guys clean up a situation and then you have to come behind them and clean up to clean up? You know what I'm talking about? Can I get a witness from all the mammas in the house? All right, That's what's happening here. Mary's like, oh, that's cute the way you think you clean up. And so they are there expecting to find dead Jesus. This is very, very important.

They are expecting a body to be in the grave. And so it says, and Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. You see, by the way, if you're a little slow on the uptake on the whole Bible study thing, Like there's some stuff that just doesn't make sense to you, you have a hard time catching on. I got some really good news for you. You could make a great disciple. You see, because the resurrection of Jesus went right over her head.

She didn't get it. I mean, I don't understand how you don't get it. Jesus talked about it all the time, but she let her circumstances cloud out what Jesus has told her was coming. And so she ran and she went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus left. loved. Okay, if you've been around Bible study for a little while, who is this talking about? John. And he's only called the one whom Jesus loved in the gospel of. John, written by John. Come on, man. Listen, man, this is basic man code. You don't get to give yourself your own nickname. That's just not how it works, okay? So, here's the thing about John. I like to pick on him,

and I'm going to pick on him when I get to heaven, okay? I'm sure Dowding Thomas is like, man, I didn't know you could give yourself your own nickname. I would have had a better one. But imagine how your life would be different if you could see yourself the way John sees himself. Imagine if every time you introduced yourself with a great humble confidence, you could clearly articulate, I'm the one Jesus loves. Now, I'm not saying he doesn't love you, but I am confident of this, that he loves me. You see, if you knew that you were loved by God, it would change everything about everything, about everything in your time. entire life. That all of your ego and all of your insecurities would all melt away in the bright and

shining sun that is the love of God upon you. In fact, John writes four more letters in the Bible. First, second, third, John, he wasn't very creative with the titles, and he writes down the revelation in the last book of the Bible. And in 1 John, chapter four, verses seven and eight, he says this, Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, whoever loves God is born of God, and whoever does not love, does not know God because God is love. He calls the people of God beloved. It's a title and a commandment. Did you know that's what you are?

You are beloved of God. And if you could just be loved, if you could receive the love of God, regardless of what you've done, that God doesn't love you because of what you've done, God loves you because he is love and he demonstrated it through Christ on the cross. So would you just be loved? because if you could be loved, it would change all of your relationships. It would change who you are. It would change the way you see yourself, and it would help you understand how God sees you. And then he defines what love is.

In verse 10, he says, in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. That word propitiation, I know it's a big theological term, but it means this. It means the payment that satisfies that when Jesus Christ, on the cross, pushes up on his nail-pierced feet, and says, it is finished. Then Christ fully satisfied the justice of God, the holiness of God, the law of God. For anyone who would believe, he paid the debt to God that we owed. And when he says, to tell us die, it literally means

paid in full. He is the propitiation, the payment that satisfies, which means this. If you are in Christ, then God cannot be dissatisfied in you. This is a really, big deal, man. The reason that you're dissatisfied and people are disappointed in people is because you expected one thing and you experienced something else. And in the middle there, there is surprise and disappointment. That has never happened with the Lord. He did not sit up this morning and go, what in the name of me is he doing at church, okay? Right. If it's been a while since you've been here, God doesn't look at you and be like, it's about time. You know, we do this every week, all right? Now, I know your wife said that, but that's different, okay? No, man. He's not. He's not. He's a

loves you. If you're in Christ, he ain't mad at you. He's not disappointed in you, and if you could see yourself that way, it would change everything about your life. And so she ran, and she went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken away, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. And so Peter went out with the other disciple. Now, there's not a wasted word in the scriptures. John wants you to know this, and they were going towards the tomb. Every detail matters. John needs you to know that when he left for the tomb, he and Peter left at the same time. Verse four, both of them were running together. Once again, in case you just missed it, John need you to know that he did not have a

head start. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. So up to this point, there are three things that John was to clearly communicate to you. One, Jesus is alive. That's a big deal. Two, Jesus likes John the best. And three, in a foot race, his 40 time is better than Peters. Okay, these are very important details. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. He may be fast, but he ain't brave. He's like, I'm not going in there. That's a tomb, all right? Maybe he's a fourth. He's a I'm afraid, I don't know. By the way, every detail does matter.

If you ever come to Israel with me, I'll take you to the garden tomb. Joseph of Arimathea, it's his tomb. He was a rich man's tomb. He prophesies that Jesus would be buried in a rich man's tomb. Most people were buried in like catacomb styles. This is why in John 11, when Jesus brings Lazarus out

of the grave, he's got to call his name specifically, because if he just said, y'all come on out, then a whole, he'd have emptied the graveyard. So he's like, no, not you, just Lazarus, you come, okay? But this was a rich man's tomb, and Joseph, it wasn't quite finished yet. So when you stoop in, there's a spot you can lay a body right here. It's not finished.

There's a spot you can lay one right there. It's not finished. But the one catty corner across from the opening is where the body of Jesus would have been laid. And John's like, I'm not going in there. Verse 6. And then Simon Peter came following him. Why is he following him? Because John now for the second time needs you to know that he can outrun Peter.

And he went into the tomb. And he saw the linen cloths lying there. See, this is evident. that the body was not stolen. You ever stolen anything? Of course you have. You're in an 11-22, okay? So, in fact, one time when we first opened this building, a guy came up to me, he was like, hey man, this used to be Walmart. I was like, yeah, it did. He goes, man, I used to steal all kind of stuff from here. Funny? But I met Jesus, so I'm forgiven. Okay, so. So listen, if you were going to steal the body, you would not take the time to unwrap the 125 pounds

of burial cloth. No, no, man, you're just scoop and score. That's what you would do. But the linen cloth is lying there. And the face cloths, and the face cloth. which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. It was Jewish custom that if you were at the table and you had to excuse herself and you were finished, you would crumple up your napkin

and you would lay it over your plate. So the server knew to take it away. Kind of like today. But if you had to excuse herself and you were planning to return, then you would fold up your linen and you would place it neatly where you were. Every Jewish person that read this or saw this knew

what Jesus is saying is, I'll be back. And then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first. Okay, this is the third time. John need you to know that Peter's a big deal. Okay, Peter's the rock, and he's the Pope,

and he can walk on water and all the things. But in a front leg, he might be okay on water, but on dry land, Peter, I mean, John wants you to know that he can outrun Peter. You see, it's almost like he can't get out of his own way. You know,

this. I mean, he's going to point to Jesus, but while he's talking about the resurrection, he wants to make sure, hey, but everybody see me? You see, we all bring our ego to church today. We do. We bring our ego. We bring our insecurity. We bring our hopes. We bring our fears. We bring us to the empty tune. And I'm just going to tell you, if you're new here, this ain't the place to fake it. You know why the fake you's doing just fine. Okay? You can leave that for Instagram. She looks great on Instagram. Keep it up. But do you know that a real Jesus died on a real cross and he really came out of the grave?

And he can really revolutionize your life if you will just bring yourself to him. That John is going to be met right here with all of his egos and insecurities. And also, John's going to go in. And he saw and believed. He saw and. believed. Let me ask you this question. Do you believe? Do you believe? I think as a preacher is very unfortunate that the word gets translated, believe here. The Greek word here is Pistuo. He saw and Pestuo. Pestuo means to believe in. You know the difference between believing in and

believing that? You see, if I ask you, do you believe in Jesus? A lot of people believe that Jesus is who he says he is. But the Bible says even the demons believe. They don't trust him. This word Pestuo it means to trust, to lean in, to commit your whole life to. There's a big difference. In 1850, there was this guy named Charles Blondon. He was a tightrope walker. And he stretched the tightrope between Canada and America over the Niagara Falls. And he had a great PR campaign. Thousands of people show up to watch this brother tightrope across the Niagara Falls. And so he does it the first time, no problem. Then he does it backwards. No problem. Then he does it blind folded, no problem. Then at one point he gets a camera like one of those big 1800 cameras and

marches the thing out to the middle, turns around and takes a picture of the audience. At what point he walks out with a tray with wine on it, wine glasses, opens up some wine and has a drink and then walks back. Then he heads back over to the Canada side and gets a wheelbarrow and scoots it across. And then he does it blindfold it and does it blindfold it backwards. Eventually with the wheelbarrow standing in front of the crowd in America, he says, who believes that I can take the wheelbarrow across again and they're like, we believe. And he says, who believes I could do it with somebody into willbarrow? And they're like, we believe. And he says, who wants to get into wheelbarrow? And they went, I don't think I'm going to do that. Nope. I'm going to do that.

That's the difference. That's the difference in believing that and believing in. When the Bible talks about belief, it's talking about climbing up into the wheelbarrow because you know you need Jesus to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. And he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. I got some really good news for you if you struggle to understand all the things

and all the claims about Jesus. You don't have to fully understand to fully believe. And the thing that they couldn't get their mind around was the resurrection. It's the point of the whole thing. and then the disciples went back to their homes, verse 11, but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb.

You see, some of you bring sadness to Easter because this is the first Easter without the loved one that you lost this year. Or maybe your circumstances and your situation, it's not going the way that you hoped it would go. And listen, man, sad's okay. It's done wrong with being sad. Emotions are a gift.

from God. There are no bad emotions. Emotions are a great tool that God has given us to navigate this thing called life, but they make a terrible Lord, they make a terrible decision maker in your life. And so Mary brings her sadness to the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one of the feet. This is a really, really big deal. This is a picture of what the Old Testament, the Old Covenant calls the Ark of the covenant. You see, in Exodus chapter 20, God gives to Moses the law. It starts with the 10 commandments. And then there's 613 in total. And after God gives the commandments, the next thing he does is he, he tells Moses how to make a sacrifice because he knows that the people will not be able to keep

the commandments of God. And so he commands Moses to build a tabernacle, which will become a temple. And inside the middle of the middle of the middle of the temple is this room called the Holy of Holies. and in the middle of the Holy of Holies, there set this box. It's called the Ark of the Covenant. And in this box, the law of God, the Ten Commandments were inside this box. It was covered in gold.

And on top of this box, there was an angel at the top and the bottom, facing one another with their wings extended. And if you saw a picture of it, it looks like a throne. And this would be the throne of God here on the earth. This is where the presence of God would sit. And on the top of the box,

there was this seat. It's called the mercy seat. In Hebrew, it's called the Hillisterium. In Greek, it's called propitiation. And every year, according to Leviticus 16, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would consecrate himself. He would go into this room, the holy of holies. He would shed the blood of a lamb,

and he would sprinkle the blood of the lamb over the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. So that when God looked down, he did not see his broken law, but he saw the shed blood of a lamb covering over his broken law. And then Jesus Christ shows up on the scene. And John, the baptizer, Jesus's cousin, on the day that Jesus is baptized, he says, listen, behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world. Not another Lamb of God that's here to cover the sin of the Jewish people until next year,

but the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the entire world. And when Mary sticks her head in the tomb, there it is the full and final sacrifice needed, not to just cover over sin, but to take it away. It's a really, really big deal. In verse 13, and they, the angel, said to her, woman, why are you weeping? If you raise teenage girls, you will say this all the time in your house. Woman, why are you crying, okay?

It don't make sense. I think, I think this is a legitimate question. I think the angels are confused. I mean, even though the angels are angelic and they come from heaven, they're not omniscient, they're like, I don't understand. What you're crying about? You're supposed to be crying?

This is Easter. This is Resurrection Day. What? How can you, it's like crying on your birthday. What's wrong with you? How could you be crying? Why are you upset? Listen, I was just in heaven like four minutes ago, and heaven's a roaring.

They're partying like rock stars up there. We've been looking forward to this day for a long time. I mean, did you not pay attention to Sunday school? Jesus said that he wasn't going to be here. Remember, he said he was going to, he was going to be arrested. tried, flogged, crucified, dead, and buried, and then on the third day, he was going to come out of the grave. Well, I don't know if you've been counting, but Friday was one. Saturday was two, and Sunday was three, and now he's alive.

We all expected to show up here to the empty tomb and see all the disciples waiting outside going, three, two, one, move that bus, and then Jesus, pah, come on out of here. What are you doing? But they missed it. They missed it. They said, her woman, why are you weeping? And she said to him, they've taken away, my Lord. And I don't know where they have laid him.

Having said this, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing, but she did not know it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? And supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. You see, she is so focused on the circumstances that are not going her way.

It is so clouded her vision that she can't see past her nose. She's two feet away from the resurrected Savior. She can smell the breath of God, but in this moment she's not filled with the breath of God. Because she's under circumstances blind her. Church, please, please, please, please, when things don't go your way, please don't get Bible amnesia. Please remember that God loves you. Please remember that he's got a purpose and a plan for you. Please remember that God is at work in all things for the good of those that love him

and are called according to his purpose. And especially when things don't make sense, you need to lean in to him. You need to open your eyes to see him. You want me to tell you what my greatest fear is as the pastor of this thing? You know how many people are going to be here this weekend? There'll be about 30,000 people that sit in seats at our campuses. There'll be another close to 100,000 people that worship with us live online. There'll be another about 300,000 people

that will watch this service over the next month or so. That's a lot of people, isn't it? Please don't miss Jesus. Please don't miss Jesus. Because he's here, man. The Lord is in this place. Wherever the saints of God get together to make much of Jesus, God inhabits the praises of his people,

and it would break my heart to think that you did all the things at Easter, but you missed Jesus. Because it ain't about the Easter bunnies, man, and the Easter egg hunt, that's fine. It ain't about lunch at Nannis. It ain't about like a super good looking outfit that you rock on Easter. It's not what it's about, man. It's all about one thing.

And it's not about your circumstances. It's all about Jesus is alive. And she doesn't see him. All the evidence is there, and she doesn't see him until this happens. Verse 16. And Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned and said to him in Aramaic Ramon, Ramoni, which means teacher. It literally means like precious teacher. It's a term of endearment.

I hope you pick up on this. It's not until Jesus calls her name that her eyes are open and she sees him for who he really is. If you've ever put your faith in Jesus Christ, that's what happened. He called your name, man. He called your name. When I got saved a hundred years ago at camp, I was at this little fundamentalist Baptist camp in South Carolina and they know how to put the fun fundamentalism, if you know what I mean? And on the night I put my faith in Christ, I need you to know, I didn't get any new information. I grew up in South Carolina, man. I believed in God. I believed I was a Christian.

Why? Because I'm a Southerner, and that's just what we do. But I believed in Jesus, like I believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, NASCAR, and SEC football. Sweet tea and grits, second amendment, those kind of things, you know? All kind of on the same level. And when Coach Lee stood up and said, God so loved you, he gave his only begotten son that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life? I had heard that verse.

It's the only verse I knew. But on that night, the counselors at our camp dressed themselves up in like bed sheets, like Toga deal, and reenacted the crucifixion of Christ. They acted it out, and I'm just telling you, when I saw Jesus, who was a sophomore at Furman, hey man, way to go. We were rooting for you. Firmament basketball player's right there. All right. If the tomb is empty, anything is possible.

All right, so when he pushed up on his nail pierce feet and said, it is finished, I'm telling you, you know what happened? I did not get new information. I had a divine revelation. He called my name. And if you're saying, did you hear him call your name? No, no, no. I heard it down deep in the soul heart level, which was infinitely louder than anything I'd ever heard with my ears. And he called my name.

I've been praying all week that you would hear him call your name. I think the empirical evidence is, if you're any of our services, if you're here in this sermon right now, then he is calling your name. I hope you'll open your ears and you'll hear him. And Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, my God and your God, if you've got the same dad, you brothers and sisters, that's what he's saying. And Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said, these things to her. The first evangelist in the Bible was Mary. And on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and he said to them, peace be with you. I think the Bible is so

understated. You see, the disciples were gripped with fear at this point. They're not coming up with a strategy of how do we tell the world that he's alive. No, no, no, no. They're like, how do we keep us alive? That was their plan. And they were afraid, and so they go and they locked themselves in a room. They're hiding away. They're looking for a safe space. They're just going to kind of hang out until the coast is clear. And I can imagine, right?

Matthew's like, hey John, you locked the door? It's like, hey, Peter, go ahead and check. Well, actually, I can't trust you, Peter. Hey, Bartholomew, will you check the doors, make sure they're locked? Yeah, they're all locked. And then, knowing that the door is locked, just out of nowhere, where Jesus shows up. And they're like, and when he says,

I don't think he says it like a Jedi, like, peace be with you. I don't, man. When he's like, well, pee, peace, peace be with you. This is Greek for John. Change your britches. I know you just peed a little, okay? So that's what it means. And if that offends you, you're going to hate this church.

Just go ahead and get over yourself. Okay, so he just shows up. It says, peace be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. and then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord, and Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them.

What's happening here? He's breathing on them. Now listen, man, I think pre-COVID, we just ran right by that verse. Post-COVID, you'd be like, what? How are you going to breathe on somebody? He probably shouldn't do that these days, right? You ever think about how it happened? The Bible doesn't say how it happened.

How did it happen? Huh? You ever think about this? The detail. of how it happened, doesn't say. I mean, was it birthday cake style, you know? Like he, like, he gathered all of them together and it's like, peace be with you. Was it that? I don't think it was. I don't. I think individually he's walking up to each guy. And he's like, Matthew, peace be with you. Peter, peace be with you. John, love you. Peace be with you. That's what I think, okay?

That's what I think's going on here. But why, man, why? Why is he breathing in people's face? Here's what I think. If you go all the way back to Genesis, in the beginning, God creates everything that is. He just speaks it into existence, and he says, that's good. But it wasn't good enough. He could do better. He wants to create image bearers of himself. And so out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, one God in three persons, God the Father's Son and Holy Spirit,

in a perfect love relationship with one another, because he is love, he decides to create us, image bearers, that we can give and receive love, create. to be in relationship with him and one another. And the Bible says that he gathers together the dust of the ground. The word for dust in Hebrew is Adamat, where we get the name Adam. And the Bible says that he breathes into the nostrils of Adam, the breath. The Hebrew word is ruah, breathes in the ruah of life. That word ruah can be translated, breath or spirit.

The Bible says at this point, before he breathes the life into him, the breath of life into him, the Bible says he's not yet a living creature. That's what I'm afraid of for some of you. I mean, you're alive biologically, but you're dead spiritually. And what you need is the breath of God to be breathed in you. So think about this, that he is face to face, nostril to nostril, nose to nose, mouth to mouth, with the very first human being, and God breathes in the ruah of life. And the very first man opens his eyes, and he is face to face with his creator who is his heavenly father.

and that's what every single one of us were created for that very moment right there this is why by the way even when life is going awesome even when you're crushing it and you got the new job and you got the promotion and you got the grades and you got it in the college you wanted to and you got your kids into the right school when your life is like the Lego movie man and everything is awesome and you lay your head on the pillow at night and you go is this it nope that ain't it you were created to be in that face to face relationship with God. Well, in the next page of my Bible, Adam and Eve's sin, and that face-to-face relationship is fractured.

And so this is why Jesus comes on a rescue mission. And when he goes to the cross, he pays the price for us. And God makes him, who was without sin, to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of God, that we would have a right standing with God. And I think what Jesus is doing when he's saying, peace be with you, and he is breathing on them. He's saying, welcome home. Now, because of your faith in me, you have been reconciled to God, and what makes heaven heaven is not streets of gold and mansions.

What makes heaven heaven is you get that face-to-face relationship with your creator who is your heavenly father forever and ever and ever. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and he said, received the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness for many, it is withheld. Here's what he's saying. If you don't share the gospel with people, people ain't going to get forgiven. verse 24 now Thomas one of the 12 called the twin was not with them when Jesus came

and so the other disciples told him we've seen the Lord but he said to them unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side I will never believe you ever been there you've been there you ever been at a place in your life where the doubts are just bigger than your faith. You get to a place in your life and you're like, all right, pastor, really appreciate that he called your name at church camp back in the day, but I hadn't heard him call my name. If God really did love me, then help me explain this, why did my kid get sick,

why the prodigal, why my marriage situation, why my financial situation, whatever it is. And you may be like, you may be like Thomas and say, listen, I want to believe, but I need some proof. I want to believe, but God, if you are who you say you are, can you show yourself to me? Because let me tell you what I believe. I believe when you do that with a broken and sincere heart. God, I want to believe, will you help me overcome my unbelief? The evidence of the scriptures is that he will show up in places that you never even dreamed he might show up and prove himself to you. verse 26, eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.

What I love about this is the disciples didn't kick Thomas out because of his doubt. He said, listen, just take a minute, man, take a minute. You've got a place with us right here. You pray and ask God and see what he does. And although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. He said, John, change your pants again, okay? He keeps startling people. And then he says to Thomas, put your face.

fingers here and see my hands and put out your own hand and place it in my side, do not disbelieve but believe. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? You see, a miracle is when the unexplainable is run over by the undeniable. And maybe you find yourself in a situation where you want to say, all right, God, if you are who you say you are, can you convince me? The best story I've ever heard of this, of God moving in an impossible situation is a story of a friend of mine. He's 1122 or his name is Sergeant Eich Brown, and I want him to share his story with you. Take a minute and watch this.

Police made an arrest of the murders of two men during an apparent robbery. These fellas don't have any connection to our shooter. It just seems to be that they were just in the wrong place in the wrong time. My name is Ike. I've been in law enforcement. I've been a police officer. As a matter of fact, this is year 38. I joined in 1986.

I started in corrections, and after a couple of years, I decided to go on the street. So, you know, I went back to the academy, the police academy, and graduated in 1988. I love what I was doing. You know, I love going to the calls. I love getting in the car chases. So I enjoy just being on the street,

being around the people, the community. You know, growing up, you know, I had a mother that, that loved Christ, you know. So we grew up in church. I accepted Christ early in my life, you know, baptized. I called on him when I was in trouble. But when things were good, I didn't really think about, you know, Christ.

You know, I knew he was there. I knew who he was, but we didn't have a relationship. I was previously married. I had two kids by that union, and, uh, After 14 years, I got divorce. The Lord blessed me to meet my current wife now. It's Gina. We have three kids together.

I have a stepdaughter. So I want you to tell me about your firstborn, a boy that bears your name. My firstborn, Ike, Jr. I tell you nothing but a joy. He was a comedian. Like, he didn't meet a stranger, Even in high school, like I had pictures, he always dressed up.

He was like the class clown. Like, everybody loved him. He played basketball. Just the rest that's going to be calling the game. Hey, the right way. Y'all heard, ladies'all. So we know if it's wrong, he's going to hear me. Come on, ice, work with him, work with him, boy.

I love going to the games. He wasn't the biggest guy on the court, so he was always a thinker. You know, he was smart in his move, smart the way he'd be. And so he didn't get that for me. All around good guy, loved family, loved his friends. You know, I never got a call of him mistreating somebody's daughter, or never got a call of him being in any trouble or doing something he shouldn't have been done,

and just a good manner of a son. And that's one thing I loved about him through his entire life was how he was. And that was the big thing that meant the most of me. May 27, 430, 4.30, 445, I'm up, and I'm kind of slowly getting ready, and my doorbell rings. And I'm like, who is this this time of morning? So when I opened the door, my sergeant was standing there, and my lieutenant was there,

and my chief was there. And as odd as that was, it never, nothing never dawned on me that something was wrong until I saw the chaplain. And I said, Chapman Crossby, why are you here? you know, what's going on. And my sergeant spoke, and he told me, you know, that my son had been killed. Police say it all happened here on Town Square Drive. Three friends were playing video games at the home of one of their girlfriends.

Another man was there, too, police say. He's now charged with two counts of murder. Police say it looks like the two men that were killed, 21-year-old, Ike Brown Jr., and 21-year-old Jeffrey Hicks, didn't know their killer all that well. These fellas don't have any connection to our show. They don't have any connection to anybody except Gavin Barry who they were visiting. And that's why I'm making that point is that, you know, it just seems to be that they were

just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tokoya Kriiner was arrested and convicted of killing Brown and a friend and wounding another man. Prosecutors say Kriiner went to Barry's southside home that night to smoke pot and drink beer. Jeffrey Hicks, Isaac Brown Jr. and Barry played video games. Criner sat back. They say he pulled out a gun and started shooting. Gataberry will tell you the next thing he knows is pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, all successive gunfire and rapid succession.

And you're kind of standing there like, did he just say my son was killed? He's 21 years old. I'm supposed to go, you know, not my children, you know. You know, I always said that if you hurt one of my children, that I wanted to get you. I wanted you to hurt like I was hurt, and I wanted you to die. I convinced myself that's what God wanted. He wanted me to be. He made me, you know, he gave me these feelings and emotions, and I meant that.

And all of a sudden, you know, my son is gone. And I walk in that courtroom, and I see to court. the young man who killed my son and his best friend. And I'm telling you, for the moment I laid eyes on him, I loved it. I couldn't, and I can't explain it, never hating him, never had those feelings I thought I was going to have. It never transpired.

You know, when I looked at him, he looked like my boys, you know, just bigger. I questioned God, but I question God. but I questioned him about me. I asked God what was wrong with me. You know, why didn't, why didn't I hate him? Why didn't I, why didn't I have all these feelings? You know, I'm a father.

This is my son. I was supposed to be angry at this boy for what has happened, you know. And I wanted to hug him. Forgiveness wasn't even an issue. Channel 4 cameras are rolling when emotions from inside the courtroom spill out into the hallway after a jury finds Tocoya Criner guilty of first-degree murder. We, the jury, found the defendant guilty of first-degree murder as charged in the indictment. Criner's family so stricken with emotion, they can hardly stand.

Brown's father, who was a Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer, was in the courtroom every day. I'm just glad the week is open. Glad it's over. And I can find some peace. I realized that that something was happening inside of me that I wasn't even aware of.

You know, I know without a doubt it was God. You know, he goes off to prison and wherever he ended up, I would always be mindful of him. I would always be, you know, praying for him. A couple years passed

and I'd write a letter and I'd throw it away. I'd write a letter, throw it away. You know, I'm wondering, you know, hey, what do I say? You know, do he even want to hear from me? After I think about three years, you know, I wrote him a letter,

and I always let him know I was praying for him. Always started off what I hope things are as well as they can be. You know, I knew it was tough enough, you know, just being in there. And so at the end of the letter, I said, I need a favor from you. I said, I miss my son, I, Jr., you know. And I said, I'd like you to fill in for him until we all get to heaven. And I said, if not, you know, I understand it. So I hurry up and I mail the letter, you know, before I tick it out again,

and not knowing what to expect. And it probably took about three weeks to a month. I get a letter back. And I'm actually riding the beat. And I got the letter and it's sitting on the seat of the police car and I'm scared to open it. because I don't know what it's going to say, you know. I don't want to hear from you. Leave me alone.

Curse me. I don't know what to think. And I pulled over on the corner of Kings Road and Myrtle Avenue. And I opened that letter. And that letter said, Dear Mr. Brown, I now know that God is real. He said, I told God that if you meant what you said, if you forgave me, if you really loved me,

I told God that I wanted to hear from you. And I told God that if I heard from you, I would give my life to him. Boy, I started crying. But there were tears of joy, you know. And he wrote the most beautiful letter, you know. And at the end of the letter, he said, Mr. Brown, you asked me for a favor.

You asked me, would I fill in for Mike Jr. And he said, no way am I qualified? But if you have me, from this point on, you're my dad and I'm your son. My name is Ticoyi Criner, and we had Cross City Correctional Institution, Cross City, Florida. I remember like it was yesterday, I never forget it. I was really desperate for God to show me that he was still there with me and that I wasn't alone.

I was looking for a sign everywhere, anywhere. And I remember when the officer, brought that mail to me. I didn't have to get through the first sentence to know the tone of the letter and what this was. And it was God speaking through this beautiful man. It was God. And it broke me down right there.

I had no if answer buts about it or doubts that, you know, God was real. I knew his love was real. I knew his mercy was real. I knew his salvation was real. It changed everything in my life. Jesus walks with me. He's there with me every single. with me every single day.

I don't walk around with a burden of a life sentence of being incarcerated. I walk around with the energy and spirit that I'm free because I know I am. Grace is something that is given to those who don't deserve it. Mr. Proud, you know, what he offered me, the love he gave me, the opportunity that he gave me

to be a part of his family, to be his family. You know, it's nothing short of grace. From that day to this one, you know, we're able to communicate. You know, I was able to visit him. And years later, we still, you know, we're still able to communicate and enjoy one another. Jesus is our advocate, you know, he can stand in the gap for me. When I don't have, when I don't have words, you know, Christ, he was all I had, you know, to depend on. You know, look what God did, you know.

He, in his own time, in his own way, he's there for you, you know. The Bible says if they would have known what they were doing, they never would have crucified our Lord. I tell people if Satan would have known what was going to happen out of this tragedy, he never would have messed with those boys. Hey, Church, Sergeant Eich and his family are sitting. sitting right here on the front row. Amen.

Amen. It's unbelievable, isn't it? I mean, unbelievable. But you heard testimony. It's undeniable. How in the world does the father look at his son's murderer and not hate him but love him and even adopted? There's only one way.

Because if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. And I hope and I pray, that you didn't miss the gospel there. This is an unbelievable illustration of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 24, says this. Christ took on our sin, the curse of our sin in his body on the tree.

You know what that means? That when God sent his son to this planet, that it's our sin that murdered Jesus, that we are the murderers of the son of God because of our sin. And God the Father wrote us a letter. He wrote us a letter. And in this letter is an unbelievable invitation.

But it's undeniable. That when God the Father looked at the murderers of his son, he could have just come at them with confidence. condemnation, but it's inexplicable. He loves us. He loves us. And for whoever would believe on his son, Jesus Christ, believe in Christ and his resurrection, then the invitation, according to this letter, is that he wants to adopt you into his very

own family. You see, Jesus showed upon Thomas. And he says, don't disbelieve, but believe. And then Thomas answered him, my Lord. and my God. And Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. That could be you this day right now. And the way John closes this, he says, now Jesus did many other signs of the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God,

and that by believing you may have life in his name. So back to my reading. So back to my question. Do you believe? Do you believe? Maybe right now for the very first time you hear Jesus calling your name. Again, not with your ears, but so much louder, like down here in the soul, down here in the heart level, that you know, that you know that you're not just a mistakeer that needs to try harder to do better, but that you are dead in your sins and you believe that somehow when Jesus Christ went to the cross and pushed up on his nail pierced feet and says, it is finished that somehow that counted for you. And the Bible says that if we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, then you

will be saved. And it's even more than that, just like Sergeant I did with Toquay. He doesn't just want to save you. He doesn't just want to forgive you. He wants to love you. and adopt you as his very own. Do you know how you do that? You believe? You put your trust in. You climb up in that wheelbarrow and say, I believe. I want to give you the opportunity to do that right now

for the very first time. Would you buy your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if you would say, you know what, Pastor, that's me. That's me. I don't know how to explain it. I just can't deny it. I know in this moment that I believe for the very first time.

And in this moment, if you believe, in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and you were ready to confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then right now I want you to lift your hand as high as you can, no matter where you are, and say that, say, I believe. Lips it as high as you can, praise God, and say, God, I believe. I admit it. I'm a sinner and need of a savior. I believe in Christ. God, on the cross. It counted for me. And Christ, I want to confess you as my Lord. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. And God, I thank you that this is love,

not our activity towards you, but you loved us and sent your son Jesus as the payment that satisfies. And for anyone who would believe, every man, every woman, every student, within the sound of my voice, whoever would ask you for a favor, God, do you grant that favor every single time? And God, we thank you that right now there is salvation in this place. And we pray this in the good, strong name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ. Amen. Church, would you please stand to your feet as we respond. Here at 1122, we respond to the gospel because it demands a response. If you're a regular here, this is the time where we bring our ties and our offerings. I know if this is your first time, you're like, they didn't even take them an

offering. That's not what we do, man. We don't take, okay? And I know you're like, it's my favorite church now. So if you want to bring your first and best, then you do that. Most people do it electronically through the app. And we also, we pray. We pray because when Jesus, when Jesus, as it is finished, it tore the curtain that separated the presence of God from the people of God, and there's an open invitation from the sovereign king of the universe who still has the world in his hands, and he says, come on, cast all your cares upon me because I care for you. That's what prayer is. So it would be a fool to run away from the presence of God. If you have a need, once you come and just pray, kneel down on the carpets or the kneelers and cast your cares upon him, and we're going to sing.

And the Bible says that in heaven the angels consistently sing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come and we're going to join our voices together and we need to sing like save people sing like people that used to be lost and now we're found used to be blind now we see sing like people that used to be dead and now we are alive and adopted in Christ so let's bring let's sing let's pray let's respond