Your Only Hope – Part 4

2:01 So all week long, we've been looking at Your Only Hope. And I'll say it again. I said it on Friday. I said it on Wednesday. I said it last Sunday. Then when we talk about Your Only Hope, it is not for the believer a throwing up of your hands of desperation. It's a very good thing, people, that when we begin to realize that the things that we've hoped for turned out to be things that wouldn't last or couldn't hold us up, it's a good day when we find out that those things don't work. In other words, you'd like to test the ship before it goes into the water, right? And so I'm inspired by a YouTube post. I'm not going to show you, but a YouTube post of this grand ship launch. Everybody was gathered together. I forget what country it is, but it doesn't matter. It looked official. And everybody's together, and they take the champagne bottle, and somebody whacks the bow of the ship, and it starts rolling down into the harbor. And this is a big, awesome ship.

3:08 And the music is playing, and the ship is sliding backwards. and the ship, it looked like somebody had gotten the blueprints to build a torpedo, or I should say a submarine instead. That ship went from above ground and it just went right down underwater. And they're all like this. It's like somebody forgot to put the bottom of the boat in. And it was an instant submarine. They had hope that it would float. And a lot of people, a lot of us in life have had hopes and things that wind up not coming to pass. We trusted in this thing. We trusted in that person. Or we look to this thing or the other thing only to wind up being disappointed. Look, everybody, in life, we're going to be disappointed. It's just part of life. You'll survive.

4:03 I'll survive. But when it comes to Jesus Christ, nothing that he has ever said when it comes to the Bible, nothing it has ever revealed to us has ever disappointed. Not once, ever. God does not disappoint. And we need to, yeah, we should give God an applause for that. the only time you and I get disappointed is when we think God is going to do this thing for us our way and when God says no I've got a better way we wind up thinking that he has abandoned us or somehow failed us not true God's ways are better always better and we're looking around at the world that we live in today and every year think of this every year we get one year closer to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you might be here today and you say, well, I don't believe in Jesus Christ coming back.

4:56 I'm just here because it's a tradition for me to come to sunrise service. Well, guess what, friend? Then you're one year closer to eternity. One way or another, you are closer to God. And today we want to make sure that we celebrate as we look at our only hope on this resurrection sunrise service this morning. And I know you just sat down, but can you stand up? We're going to read the scriptures together. You need the exercise anyway, right? You go to the gym early in the morning, don't you? I don't, but maybe you do. John's gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the four gospels covering the resurrection events of this day. And so I'll take the first verse. If you read the second verse and on we go. The Bible says now in the first day of the week, that means Sunday, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and gave his son to Peter, and to the other disciple, who Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and did not know where they were.

6:12 Peter, therefore, went out, and the other disciple, that is John, the author of this particular gospel, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other side of Father and Peter, and he did the two first. John's very big on telling everybody that he's the faster of the two. And he, stooping down, looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. This is important, everyone. And the handkerchief that had been around his head, Jesus' head, not lined with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

7:04 For as yet they did not know the scripture, or they were not understanding, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples were to wake into their own homes. And verse 11 says, But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels who might see on the head of the earth and the feet, for I, Jesus, her name. In verse 13 ends with it saying, then they said to her, woman, why are you weeping?

7:49 Father, again, speak to us out of your precious word. What a day in history. That day in history is our future. And we thank you for it in Jesus' name. And again, all God's people said, amen. You may be seated. Well, the truth of the matter is, those dynamic events of Resurrection Sunday morning, when you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I encourage you to do that today after service. Go home and read that. You'll see various events, and as you overlay the accounts, not one of the four Gospels contradict one another. Each of the four Gospels, overlaid on top of each other, bring it into a technicolor event. And there's so many things going on. There's so many avenues of events taking place. You can be reading about the various appearances of the angels because they're numerous. In this particular case in John's gospel, God bless Mary. She takes a peek in. Now John's gone. Peter's gone. Everybody's gone. But she's out there weeping. And seemingly alone, she takes a look on the inside of the garden tomb. She looks inside and, you know, there's a treat for those who wait upon God.

9:07 And she was waiting there in her grief and she looked inside and she saw two angels. Now, normally seeing an angel would light up your day. I don't think it mattered much to her except for what they said. I think that after you spent time with Jesus Christ as she did, as they did, the appearance and disappearance and the arrival and the departure of angels is not that big of a deal when you have the Almighty God walking with you and the very creator of angels. And she was not going to be comforted or satisfied unless she knew something more about Jesus. We know from one account that the verbiage that takes place is, where is he? In fact, she sees what she supposes to be the gardener in the tomb, and she says, where have you taken the body of my Lord? And Jesus says, Mary, Mary, he repeats.

10:08 And then she exclaims, Rabboni, which is a very affectionate term, my teacher. And she worships. there are various accounts where the disciples are coming to the tomb the roman centurions who were given the guard the detail of guarding that tomb which uh we always wonder about what happened to those guys because uh you would have read earlier that they would have set a seal rome it says in the bible set a seal of the empire upon the stone and it was sealed with the seal of the Roman Empire and nobody could break that seal. In other words, if you're thinking today that Jesus was gone from the tomb because somebody stole his body. Well, listen, what you don't realize is that nobody could have stolen Jesus's body without first killing a garrison of Roman guards who were dispatched there by the authority of Rome itself. Why did they do that? They put a garrison to guard the tomb of Jesus for fear of all of the drama that either somebody stealing his body would create. There would have been an incredible riot. There would have been a horrific uprising. Maybe the disciples themselves would have tried to steal the body of Jesus and try to pull it off. We don't know who could have thought up what, but Rome wasn't taking any chances. Let's seal that tomb and let's make sure nothing happens because there was those rumors that he had said on the third day he would rise from the dead. So let's just seal it up.

11:54 So those guards are standing there and the Bible tells us that angels arrived and the guards fled for fear. Some of them fell down, some of them took off, but here's the deal. Here's the part that we don't know about. To abandon their post under the Roman seal of that property of Rome, because they seized it, they took that right of eminent domain, so to speak, the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a borrowed tomb, which Jesus was laid in. We read it on Friday, did we not, that Jesus was laid in a tomb, freshly hewn out tomb, which no body had ever been laid in before. So you think about, well, that's very amazing. We know that it was Joseph of Arimathea, one of the most wealthiest men in all of Israel, who loved Jesus. But his tomb, it's a family tomb, but Jesus is going to be laid in that tomb. I wonder if he knew that he was going to have Jesus go in his tomb. And if he did, what was the cost of that? We have no idea. It was only for the weekend. Sunday was coming. Even though it was a family tomb, he was going to loan it to Jesus for a few nights, and that would be okay. But the guards were completely blown away, no pun intended, and we don't know whatever became of them, because breaking the Roman seal was punishment of death, and that seal was broken. Another account in the Bible says that when the stone was rolled away, listen, when the stone was rolled away, the angel sat on top of it.

13:31 I love that. So number one, the stone was rolled away, but there's no evidence, there's no record in scripture that the angel rolled the stone away and Jesus came out. It just says that the angel rolled the stone away and the people came in. Jesus was already gone by the time that that angel rolled that stone away. Why would he roll the stone away? So we could get in. God is so good that all of your doubt, all of your fear, God systematically dismantles. Because the Roman Empire and their authority, that's dismantled. The security of the guards and their commitment to pain of death, that's dealt with. the various visitors to the tomb. That's taken care of. Angelic testimony. That's taken care of. But there's nothing like, listen, there's nothing like knowing the living God personally.

14:33 You've got to know him personally. That's the greatest thing about today, is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ breaks all the religious rules that we could ever imagine as to how you and I might approach God. Up until now, man has approached God based upon his efforts, based upon his good deeds, based upon his own works. It will be my morality that brings my presence into God's presence and will be just fine, he and I, because he's gonna look at all of my good and a little bit of my bad and my good will outweigh my bad, the scale will tip and I'll just slide right into heaven and all is well. Friends, that has been a construct that man has always, always made for himself. It is nowhere in the Bible. It's made up. That somehow God will accept us. If God would accept us, this event that we read about this morning is ridiculous. If God accepts us on our own, if God just turns a blind eye to our lust or to our selfishness or to our pursuits that offend him and if he just turns away and acts like it's not real that's not love that's not the love of God you can't say that God loves you if he just turns his eye away from things that you and I have done that are wrong if he loves us then what you and I have done wrong it's got to be dealt with I don't know how parenting is doing these days I'm old enough. Look, Lisa and I, we did our job. We're finished with that. But you know, parenting is a big deal. At least it used to be a big deal. I don't hear much about it anymore.

16:18 But remember those days people would say, James Dobson, I think, invented that statement, tough love. Our kids need tough love, right? If you love your kids, you're going to instruct them and direct them and correct them. And listen, if parents love their kids, how much more does God love us. If God invented parenting by telling us I'm your father, then God speaks to us and says, listen, I love you and I have loved you. In fact, the scripture says, I have loved you forever. And with loving kindness, do I draw you to myself? But there's a problem here. Your sin, the Bible says, has separated me from you. And that's got to be taken care of. Folks, that's not man's idea. That was God's idea. And God says, we got to clear this up. And that's why Jesus came. And so as those disciples had trafficked with him, now this is amazing to me, because remember, Jesus grew up in the Galilee. Yes, born in Bethlehem in the south, but 88 miles to the north, Jesus grew up in Nazareth. It was no big deal for Jesus to go and visit or spend great amounts of his young life at the Galilee.

17:40 and Peter and John and all those guys, they were young men or boys growing up working for their dads, many of them, as we mentioned the other night, fishermen, not all of them, but most of them fishermen, but they lived in the area, and they would have all known about the scandalous announcement that this one Jesus had been brought into this world by miraculous conception. That rumor hung over Jesus' life. what kind of gossip did Mary have to put up with in Nazareth think of that oh there's that guy Jesus there's that kid yeah you know the rumor is way back 12, 13, 14 years ago that God brought him into the world oh that's funny but they knew he was different the Bible makes it very clear not different like he hovered over the ground and never got dirty.

18:40 Now, the Bible says he was just like you and I when it comes to that, but yet without sin. The Bible tells us that at the age of 12, Jesus shows up at the temple and the family is there, and that's a very cute thing. It's, I don't have the time to explain it now, but when all of the children of Israel would come down or come over from their various places to worship God at the temple, you're talking about Jesus and his family They make it an 88-mile journey down south to the temple in Jerusalem. And they traveled in great packs of people, big family clans. And the Bible says that after they had worship, they were heading back to Galilee. And after several days, Joseph and Mary realized, where's Jesus? Now you say, what kind of parenting is that? They should have had a leash on them.

19:34 No, listen, that's completely normal because you're talking about hundreds of family members, aunts and uncles, cousins, second cousins, third cousins, everybody's mom, everybody's brother, everybody had the doctor, my son, the lawyer. They're all there together. They're all traveling along. You got to know the community. It's still like that today. It's remarkable.

19:59 And where's Jesus? I thought you knew where he was at. I thought you knew where he was. And then they start asking around, hey, Aunt Jemima, where is he? I don't know where he is. Ask Uncle Ben. I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him. And all of a sudden, where is he? And they turn around and they go back. And they go back and they find him in the temple. And Jesus is being questioned by all the scribes and the teachers. And they're asking questions. He's asking questions. He's answering questions. They're answering his questions. and when they find him, they say, what are you doing here? And he said, don't you know that I need to be about my father's business? Now that had to cause, look, I mean, Joseph knew what was going on from the beginning. And so did Mary. But when Jesus said, don't you know I'd be busy about my father's business? I mean, he's directing that to heaven.

20:53 I'm here hanging out with all these biblical scholars. We're having a great time together. Dude, you're 12 years old. And they were so impressed. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, the Word of God, born into this world. You'll have to come back at Christmas time to hear more about that. But he was not some special man. He was not Superman. He was not some incredible performer, a magician of some divine sorts. The Bible says that he's the God-man, that 100% God, yet 100% man. Christ came into this world to take upon himself exactly what you and I are, yet without sin. Jesus was perfect in all of his ways, the Bible tells us. And he healed the sick, and he did all of these miraculous events that the Old Testament said, this is how you'd recognize the Messiah.

21:56 People love today. I know my daughter. My daughter loves thrillers, these books about crime scene investigation and, you know, cold case stuff. And she loves that stuff. You can bring up something and she'll say, oh, yeah, in 1971 on June 11th, this guy whatsoever, who cares. I'm glad she does. But let me tell you, you want to take that zeal, you want to take that zeal and apply it to finding out who Jesus Christ is, that'd be a good pursuit, friend. Listen, if you're a skeptic in the house this morning, if you're not sure, if your friends drug you here this morning with a promise of breakfast afterward, if that's why you're here, they didn't tell me to say that. But be sure of this, God knows. you need to know something. Look at human history especially at those who were the most atheistic who went out to debunk the resurrection of Jesus Christ and they committed their lives to it and they wound up becoming believers.

23:02 Go look at the evidence. And after all isn't everything that Jesus promises us isn't exactly what we want. You and I live in a world today and we order things just the way we want it. You go to stores or you go, now if you go to a store online, you order it this way and I want it personalized.

23:31 One of the most nervous, nerve-wracking things, I could never work at a Starbucks or a coffee place. That just terrifies me. I get all nervous because, I mean, I just walk up and I order a coffee. Coffee. sometimes you know it's very intimidating people come up and they say and I don't even know what I'm talking about right now but I want a latte super whip turbocharged extra hot light spin car mi auto I don't know it's just like what I mean I would have had a heart attack if I was on the other side of that counter trying to make that thing say well can you repeat that again I want it custom. That's my drink. And then they call it. They call it the super turbocharged macchiato double upside down whip thing. And you go, that's mine.

24:26 Like you boast about it. That's mine. Personal. But listen, there's a thing about being personal. This is personal. That's personal. You can go to a burger place and have it your way. Listen. Jesus Christ died once on the cross and rose again from the dead. Though he is almighty God who died for you and rose again from the dead, he died for you personally.

25:00 And you say, yeah, but didn't he die for all of us? Yes, he died for all of us. This is the gospel, by the way. This is the evangel. He died for all of us, but you personally must take advantage of the offer. You must make it personal. So there's all kinds of drinks to order, but you make it personal. Hey, listen. Jesus Christ died for all, but only you coming to him and recognizing that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again from the grave that we celebrate this day. That was for you. You say, how is that possible, Jack? How could the God of all creation care about me enough? I know, isn't it something? I've struggled with that a great part of my Christian life. I agree with you.

25:52 Let that settle in for a moment. That the God of all creation. look I have to keep with the flow every service this week I've brought up those astronauts I brought them up on Friday again you know they're a lot closer to the moon right now than they were on Friday but they're still a long way from the moon they're going they're on the tip of that rocket and they're like I mean can you imagine I mean they're sitting there and they sleep in four-hour shifts, and they wake up, and they're a little bit closer. They look at it. They're taking pictures. They're sending the pictures back, and then they're looking back behind them taking pictures of the earth, which you ought to take a look and see. It's amazing how those flat disks are out there floating around like that. now somebody's going to write me you just offended me and I can't hear the gospel now because of that listen you'll make it here's the thing when they get there they're going to go around it they're going to take pictures and all of that but the fact of the matter is this they're a long way from home there's so many ways in our lives that you and I do not feel at home here.

27:17 Listen, let's be honest, for some of us, or maybe most of us, when we came to Christ, we came home, and it's a hard thing to explain. Maybe it's an impossible thing to explain. But before I was a Christian, I didn't feel like I fit into this world. It's not like I was longing or looking for God. I wasn't. But I did everything to try to fit in. I know none of you can relate to that. You try to fit in in parties. You try to fit in with people. You try to fit in. And if you don't fit in, you move on to a different people group. Because you've got to find meaning, purpose, but you've got to blend. You've got to get in.

28:00 I remember going to my first party. I think I was a sophomore in high school. And I was not a Christian. and everybody was drinking, but I thought drinking was kind of weird because I would see people drink and then they would do really dumb things. And even though I was young, I wasn't stupid. And so I showed up to a party with a friend of mine who didn't want to drink either. So we took beer cans and we emptied them out and rinsed them out and we put milk inside the beer cans and we're standing there. Yay. How's it going, man? and isn't it weird that that beer can that might have said I don't know what it said let's pretend it said Coors on it but inside it was milk nobody knew that but me and him and we're like hey see you next week what were you doing we were trying to blend in we were trying to be like everybody else why so it'd feel comfortable we knew that it was wrong and we were doing wrong we were even acting out a lie but nobody knew it but God it's not that God looked at us and said you're drinking milk. That was not the point. The point is you don't feel at home in this world because this world's not your home. Listen, it's not wrong to live on top of the hill in the castle or on the shores of the beach. It's not wrong to have a Fiat or a Ferrari. It's not wrong. None of those things are wrong. But if you have to have those things for your identity, you're no different than somebody holding a can of beer filled with milk.

29:47 You're just trying to blend in. And God says, no more of that. All of those pursuits that you've gone after for the wrong reason is to find some sort of identity. And true, lasting happiness comes when you find out who you are. And this is who you are. The Bible says that I, Jack, Jack, I'm a sinner that is saved by the grace of God because in my sin, I looked at the cross and I understood Jesus died there for me, the Bible tells me, and he rose again from the dead for my justification. Justification means Jesus Christ, watch, it's twofold. Jesus went to the cross and died there to pay the price with his blood. How is sin forgiven? By the cross. Why the cross? He was offered up in our place.

30:41 He died for me. He died for you. If that's the end of the story, then we got up for nothing, folks. But hallelujah, the Bible says, three days later, Christ will rise from the dead. Jesus said, on the third day, I will be resurrected from the dead. That's why Rome sealed the tomb. They didn't want to take any chances.

31:07 And when Christ rose again from the dead, the whole city, Jerusalem, was in an upheaval. And it just got better or worse. It depends on what team you're on. The Bible tells us that as Jesus is resurrected from the dead, he was making various appearances. He would just show up. Now, look, the Bible says that when you and I are glorified as Christ was glorified, we will have a body just like his. Now, I don't know about you? I saw a lot of young kids come in here. Thank God, young kids come into 530 service this morning. God bless you guys. Wow. That's amazing. And you can tell, you know, they're, they're, I saw them. I was greeting them out front. They're walking, they're walking up. And I'm, I was impressed by that. And then, you know, their parents or grandparents are behind them and they're going That I can relate to.

32:07 And for young people, they don't even care about getting a glorified body in eternity because they feel great. They feel great. But for those of us who invest in Advil and all of that, listen, we look forward to a new body. Can I hear an amen? A new body. It's like, wait, what do you mean a new body? God says that in our resurrection, he's going to give us a body that's just like Jesus Christ's body. And yeah, and the Bible tells us that, and I like this, the Bible tells us that Jesus ate in front of the disciples to prove to them that he had a body, which is awesome. He's resurrected from the dead. He appears and disappears. He's talking to the disciples. And then, listen, they're all boarded up. They're all hiding out.

32:59 Jesus appears, and all the windows and doors are locked. And he just goes, just, hey, don't be afraid. He told them, don't be afraid. And they're all freaking out. The Bible tells us up in the Galilee, after Christ is resurrected from the dead, the disciples are all, it's funny, the disciples, the great men of faith who would become apostles, they're all depressed. And they're fishing. because Peter said, I'm done with this. I'm just going to go back to my old world. I'm going to go fishing. And they all said, we'll go with you. And they're in the boat. They've been out fishing all night, caught nothing. And there's a voice from the shore early in the morning. Hey! This is great. Come on. God has got a sense of humor, man. Hey, how's the fishing?

33:57 And they say, we've caught nothing. And whoever's on the shore, by the way, there's a fire going too. There's a little campfire going in the morning. But whoever this person is on the shore says, why don't you put your net on the right side of the boat? Now, Peter was the fisherman. He was the guy.

34:22 Whoever's on the shore is saying, put your net on the right side of the boat. You got to wonder because Peter is a lot like us. I bet you Peter's thinking, who does that guy think he is? That guy's on the shore. He doesn't even have a boat. And he's telling me how to cast my net. and the net goes on to the right side of the boat and the Bible tells us that the catch was so great that they pulled in the boat they tried to pull the net into the boat and they had to wait to get it to shore because they would have sunk the boat there were so many fish Jesus was cooking fish and says to them, have breakfast. Have fish breakfast. And they ate. And they worshipped him.

35:14 Glorified. He died on the cross for our sins and paid the price on Sunday morning. He rose again for our justification. What does that mean? It means this, friend. And this is where we wrap this up. It means this. It means that by him being raised from the dead, it means that, listen, I'll be a little sarcastic about this. It means whoever he is, whatever he is. hell is waiting the Bible describes hell in the book of Psalms with its mouth wide open and it's gaping hell has a mouth as it were that opens up and it consumes the dying or the dead and the Bible tells us death could not hold him So whoever Jesus is, the Jesus of the Bible,

36:12 he rose again from the dead because the grave could not detain him. The grave could not hold him. Now listen, the grave is the place where Satan and his fallen angels dwell. The realm of the dead. Can you imagine when Jesus dies?

36:33 Death, as it were, circles him, looking for sin. The Bible says that sin brings forth death and death brings forth hell. But Jesus was sinless. And imagine for a moment that Jesus dies on the cross and hell begins to examine him. Have you ever looked at something that's very important to you? You look for any flaws or whatever? Dependent upon the value of it all. According to the Bible, hell is for real. The Bible says it was designed by God for Satan. Did you know that no humans were supposed to go to hell? God says it was designed for Satan, not for humans. humans demand going there don't tell me I want to go there I don't want anything to do with God when you say I don't want anything to do with God that's what you're saying get away from me i don't want anything to do with god friend what did he ever do to you let's be honest i don't believe in god what is what did he ever do to you and here's the funny thing i'm an atheist i don't believe in god just don't talk to me about god what are you upset about if he's not real what are you upset about i don't get upset about things aren't real neither to you.

38:03 I don't want to talk about it. My, my. so upset so then yes why don't you believe in God I don't believe in God because and here it comes I don't believe in God because I was molested as a child or I was robbed or I lost my husband or my wife or my child died or my parents died we all have legitimate listen emotions that are connected to excuses the thing is when God says I'm going to die on the cross and be resurrected from the dead, excuses go out the window. Here's the part where you and I must make a decision.

38:45 God says what he says and does what he says. and Christ rose again from the dead, but we don't want him because of fill in the blank, and I counter that by saying, what has he ever done to you? And every, I mean, I don't mean 99%, I'm talking every atheist I've ever spoken to, always, it always goes the exact same way. I don't care how uneducated they are or how educated they are. They all come to the same answer. it's summed up in this. I don't like the way God's running the universe. They don't like it. I don't believe in God because look at all the evil in the world.

39:30 That's funny. God uses the same argument to prove his existence. You can't know evil unless you know what's good. God says, I'm good. What is your argument on this wonderful morning? for you to say, I don't want him. I want to argue with you this morning and say, please change your mind.

39:56 Please do what the Greeks wrote as metanoia. Metanoia. It's a compound word. Meta. again. Noia. Think. Think again.

40:17 Rethink it, we would say. Rethink your decision about Jesus. And it comes this way. Christ rose again from the dead. There is an empty tomb in Jerusalem, in a garden, about 200 feet, 200, 300 feet away from the place of the skull. Golgotha where he was crucified. It's all legit. But I don't need it. You don't need it. Some of you have never been there. You don't need to go there.

40:46 We don't need an empty tomb to have to be seen. Isn't it amazing though you've never seen the empty tomb that Mary and John and Peter and the others saw? Isn't it amazing that for those of us who have given our lives to Jesus Christ that incredible residence that he has established within us that we are no longer tempted or having to fight to fit in. I don't need a can of Coors with milk in it anymore. I don't need to, so to speak, suck my thumb to feel like I'm part of the group, you know? I don't need a pacifier. Well, I've got to have this to be part of the group. No, you don't. Listen, if you have Jesus Christ, there are no groups. That's why you know, well, I'm a Baptist, I'm a Lutheran, I'm a Presbyterian. Can you stop that while I go to Calvary? Well, too bad.

41:44 stop all that do you believe that the Bible recorded it and it happened, that what God said he did and Christ rose again from the dead? Listen, we're going to pray right now and this is a very important moment. We're going to pray right now and listen, you're going to get uncomfortable. Nobody moves. Ushers, seriously, just don't let anybody out. You are... The temptation is going to come upon you in a few seconds. Honey, I think I left the car running.

42:26 I think we should go. You're going to get all kinds of anxiety in a moment. Jesus Christ said... that all those who will come to me, I will not turn away. Question, will you come to him? Jesus said, that as you acknowledge me, I will acknowledge you. The Bible says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead and you believe that in your heart, you'll be saved. the Bible says that to as many as received him, acknowledge, make the public confession of him, to as many as acknowledged him, to them, they gave power to become children of the Son of God.

43:27 we're going to have the worship team come out. I'm going to ask you to bow your head in prayer. And I'm going to ask you to do the unthinkable. I'm going to ask you to be so honest with God that you will sum all those things up in one moment where you will publicly be acknowledging Christ by getting up and coming forward and standing right here at the front of the stage. You don't have to say anything. I'm not going to point at you. But today, what you just heard, you know it's true. It's not true because I said it. I've been quoting and paraphrasing Bibles since I stepped up here. And you have a sense that you need to respond to this offer. That God is saying to you today, you come to me today.

44:23 You come and get your sins forgiven. I will forgive you. And you're not joining church, by the way. Do you understand that? You're not coming to join church. You are coming to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. And you're going to leave a different person than you came today. He promises you that. Your sin has separated you from God. And you need a personal relationship with Jesus. Not one that's kind of. Not one that's sort of. Not almost a Christian. Not, well, I think I'll be okay. You need to respond. So church, let's pray together. Those of you who are standing here right now, let these words fall out loud from your lips. Church family, you can join with them if you'd like. in fact why don't you let's all stand everybody so I'm going to ask all of you that are out there to put your hands out just because the Bible says lift up hands in prayer holy unto God and you're praying for these right here our brand new brothers and sisters are you ready dear Lord I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and I ask you now to forgive me of my sins and to write my name in the Lamb's Book of Life.

45:53 It is today that I proclaim you as my resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in his name I pray and all God's people said Amen