S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: I think the greatest evidence of the resurrected Christ is
S2: our stories. What God has done in our life. I mean,
S2: I just never ceases to amaze me how God can
S2: cause a life to do a 180, a radical turnaround.
S2: And that's his power and grace. A lot of breaking
S2: news out there every day. But just to let you know,
S2: we've gotten word this morning from the Vatican that Pope
S2: Francis has passed away at the age of 88. And, um,
S2: a religious figure known throughout the globe and, um, pretty interesting,
S2: I think our own vice president, JD Vance, if I'm
S2: not mistaken, had an audience with him.
S3: He was there this week or actually was there yesterday? Yeah,
S3: I think so.
S2: So the day after Resurrection Day, Pope Francis has passed away.
S2: A lot to be said about that. Um, and I
S2: might venture into that a little bit at the bottom
S2: of the hour. Uh, there's. There's a lot of distinction
S2: that the reformers established that I hold true to. And
S2: yet we need to be aware of the fact that
S2: there are there are a lot of people. Let me
S2: just break it down right now. I listened to a
S2: clip by R.C. Sproul, and I thought it was one
S2: of the best handlings of this whole issue of Catholicism,
S2: and it was so sweet. And I couldn't agree more
S2: with R.C. Sproul. At the end of the day, how
S2: are we brought into relationship with Jesus Christ? How does
S2: that work, Ali?
S4: Well, I mean, because of the blood of Jesus Christ,
S4: we celebrated yesterday the death and resurrection. And when we believe,
S4: we confess, we believe, we accept, and we turn to
S4: him for salvation.
S2: Yeah. I mean, it's just total repentance, abandonment of self,
S2: surrendering to Jesus and going his way. And I thought R.C.
S2: Sproul just nailed this. It's an old clip. He was
S2: asked on a panel, you know, where do you stand
S2: with Catholicism? We have a lot of listeners here that
S2: were raised in Catholicism. And I want to just proclaim,
S2: as R.C. Sproul did, I know that there are many
S2: people who are associated with the Catholic Church who love
S2: God deeply and believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of
S2: their sins and his work alone. Where this gets a
S2: little bit dicey is when you start talking about the
S2: priesthood of some men over the priesthood of believers? That's
S2: very problematic for me. I think that flies in the
S2: face of Scripture, because now it's putting a man between
S2: as a mediator, between God and man and Jesus's scriptures
S2: absolutely clear on this one. There's one mediator between God
S2: and man, and his name is Jesus. The beautiful thing
S2: of the crucifixion and the resurrection is that access to
S2: the Holy of Holies, the presence of God, has been complete,
S2: and we can seek him wherever we are. I think
S2: some of the other things that caused some of the
S2: Reformation to occur, without a doubt. If you look at
S2: Martin Luther, you see that there was a period of
S2: time when there were payments that had to be made
S2: to the church for the remission of sin. And we
S2: know that that is not the case that the price
S2: that was paid on the cross, the blood that was shed,
S2: is all the price that needed to be paid. It's very,
S2: very important and the ability that we have to go
S2: straight to God, not to a person. The completeness of salvation,
S2: justification by faith alone, not by works, so that no
S2: one can boast, is another big theological distinction with the
S2: Catholic Church. There are other things that I would distinguish
S2: distinguish myself theologically from. I'm not going to speak for
S2: anyone else here, but I think it's important to note
S2: that things are not as cut and dried as anyone
S2: that's over here is lost, and anyone that's over here
S2: is saved, insomuch as there's a lot of evangelical churches that,
S2: in my estimation, miss the gospel, like the broad side
S2: of the barn. So we need to always be drawn
S2: back to the Word of God. And what does it
S2: say Jesus Christ shed blood? Was the propitiation for our
S2: sin past, present, and future? And there is one mediator
S2: between God and man. His name is Jesus. And on
S2: this day, my heart goes out for a lot of
S2: people who Revere people. Because you know what? That's just real, Ali.
S2: I mean, it's it's a it's an honorable thing to
S2: to say this morning. Uh, there's a lot of people
S2: around the globe that are grieving over the loss of
S2: Pope Francis and the the. On a practical note, um,
S2: everything that I was tracking with his health is that
S2: he had. I mean, he was touch and go in
S2: the hospital with double pneumonia and he was on the ropes.
S2: And last I had heard, he was doing well. And
S2: sure enough, I saw a picture of JD Vance with
S2: him at the Vatican. And I thought, boy, this guy's
S2: up and going again. But when you're 88 years old,
S2: we just don't know. So Pope Francis has passed away
S2: at the age of 88. News coming out of the
S2: Vatican Monday morning early. So that's just now getting around
S2: the globe today. Got a lot of lot of ground
S2: we want to cover today guys. Because he is risen.
S2: He is risen indeed. Where did that start. Anybody got
S2: any ideas on that one.
S4: That like saying it like that. Yeah.
S2: Come on give me a guess. Sally. Your best shot
S2: at this one.
S4: I don't know, I don't know.
S2: Just if you were to guess how old that tradition
S2: is now I'm going to I'm going to give you
S2: a hint right now, okay? No one can pin it down.
S3: Oh, okay.
S4: All right, I'm going to give a working theory. Let's see.
S4: Let's say it started sometime in the early 1900s. It
S4: was a Sunday school class with a group of kids.
S5: I guess. Yes.
S4: And the teacher was a senior saint who said he
S4: is risen. And the kid said, what? He is risen.
S4: And they said, oh, he's risen indeed. That's. Is that.
S4: Is that right?
S2: Well, it probably goes back about 1700 more years than that. Okay.
S2: But that's okay. You were close. You were within 2000 years.
S4: Give it a good story and go with it.
S2: Yeah. All right. Coming up, we're going to break it
S2: down a little bit. What in the world? He is risen!
S2: He is risen indeed! How long has that been around?
S2: Where did they think it originated from? And what happens
S2: after the resurrection? There's some cool points of history that
S2: we want to highlight for you this morning.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: He is risen. He is risen indeed. We've all said that. It's.
S2: It's amazing how cultural that has become, right?
S4: Yeah. And it's usually maybe the pastor or whoever's greeting
S4: the church on Easter Sunday says he is risen. And
S4: then most of the church will, in response, say he
S4: is risen. Indeed. At least that's how I've seen it done.
S2: Now, I had to rally the troops a little bit yesterday,
S2: and Jonathan, of course, was there.
S3: And it was.
S2: Because I think if you're going to say he is,
S2: what are you laughing about?
S3: Because I remember you rallying the troops.
S2: I said, listen here, if we're if I'm going to
S2: say he is risen, you better have a hearty, he
S2: is risen indeed, because that's not something you can say
S2: weak in a weak manner. Is that fair?
S3: It's fair. I would agree with that.
S2: You got to. You got to belt it out. But
S2: let me give you the history behind this as best
S2: we can tell. It's probably dates back to the second
S2: and third centuries somewhere in there. Now, we don't know
S2: what happened three weeks ago, for sure. So history's a
S2: funny thing. We're still trying to figure out where Covid started.
S2: I mean, my goodness, we don't we we have some
S2: problems here. So here's the deal. We've got a early
S2: church that had a perspective on Easter. That is something
S2: we need to reclaim. And it was titled Easter Tide
S2: or Easter Season. And Easter Tide. You ever heard that
S2: term before Easter tide?
S4: Not no, no, not before today.
S2: Okay, so Easter tide I had heard of, but as
S2: I'm as I'm drilling down on this a little bit more,
S2: it's it's an amazing time and something that we could
S2: learn from. It was a 50 day run from the
S2: resurrection to Pentecost Sunday. And they called that Easter tide.
S2: And I think what I love about this is that
S2: Easter doesn't end. Easter is the beginning. Resurrection Sunday is
S2: where it all starts, not where it ends. It's not like,
S2: oh wow, I got that one behind us.
S4: Why do you like that? um, approach to looking at
S4: the church calendar as opposed to Easter Sunday kind of
S4: being the culmination.
S2: Yeah, I love the fact that Easter, it's my favorite
S2: day of the calendar year because it's the, in many ways,
S2: the holiest day. It's the day that our Savior rose
S2: from the dead. And it doesn't end there. It begins there.
S2: It signifies this abundant life that we can have in Christ.
S2: And I love that the early church said, all right,
S2: this is going to kick off a new season of
S2: anticipation and celebration of the day of Pentecost. So it's
S2: just a really cool thing. I am so grateful for
S2: church history because from it, we can learn so much
S2: what not to do and what to do, and we
S2: need to take what is great. And it's kind of like,
S2: chew the meat, spit out the pits.
S4: The bones.
S2: Yeah. Yep. We got to spit out the bones. Chew
S2: the meat of the grape or the cherry. And don't
S2: swallow that pit. That thing's not good. But what should
S2: we do in this season? Today and tomorrow and Wednesday
S2: and Thursday, we're going to talk about the joy of
S2: rising up right from Romans six. And we're going to
S2: break it down for you. Hang on.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Rise up. It didn't end yesterday. It's going on. And
S2: that's the beauty of Resurrection Sunday. It's the beginning, not
S2: the end. And you know, in the book of Romans,
S2: the apostle Paul. What a theological book. It is so deep,
S2: but it's actually rooted and grounded in not only seeing
S2: the resurrection of Christ is something to be celebrated, but
S2: something to be applied to our life. And Paul goes
S2: to great lengths to explain the the truths, the anchors
S2: of what it means to be in Christ. And I mean,
S2: it is so chock full. It is meat. And all
S2: you got to do is look at the first, uh,
S2: the fifth verse in the sixth chapter and it says,
S2: for if we have been united with him in a
S2: death like his, we shall certainly be united with him
S2: in a resurrection like his. So being united with Christ
S2: on the cross means that he took the weight of
S2: our sin on the cross. By his stripes we are
S2: healed through the shed blood of Jesus and His atoning blood.
S2: By only that can we receive salvation. And that's good news,
S2: because any attempt to work our way to God doesn't work.
S2: We are justified by faith alone, which is one of
S2: the most empowering things. Going at the center of Christianity
S2: is a savior at the center of every other world.
S2: Religion is a person, you and me, working our way
S2: to get right with God. But true biblical Christianity has
S2: Christ at the center paying for our sins on the cross.
S2: And then Paul goes on to say, if we died
S2: with him, meaning if we died because we've asked for
S2: forgiveness of sins and our our sins were nailed to
S2: the cross, we have this same resurrection power. But it's
S2: interesting because when you speak of resurrection power, what do
S2: you think of Ali?
S4: Um, I mean, I think the power to live as
S4: Jesus did.
S2: Yes.
S4: Um. Victory over death.
S2: Victory over death.
S4: Where death does not have the final word in our lives.
S4: Even though we will die.
S2: Victory over death. Victory over sin. The ability. Now, before
S2: we didn't to order our lives in a way like
S2: Christ did. Christ indwells us. The Holy Spirit has sealed us,
S2: filled us up. But this is funny because I've got
S2: some great theologians here with their statements of what this
S2: verse five means. So let me give you a few
S2: of them. John Calvin said, by his resurrection we are
S2: not only raised with Christ, but he lives in us.
S2: His power animates our daily sanctification. Big fancy word for
S2: growing up in Jesus powerful statement, right? Martin Luther said
S2: the resurrection is not only the future of the body,
S2: but the present transformation of the heart. The power of
S2: Easter is now, said Martin Luther.
S4: I like.
S3: That.
S2: Charles Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers from Metropolitan Tabernacle in England,
S2: back in the good old days. The same power that
S2: rolled the stone away rolls sin away from every believer soul.
S2: He does not lie in the tomb of guilt. He
S2: walks in the garden of new life. Jonathan Edwards says
S2: the resurrection is the father's stamp of approval on the
S2: son's work and the spark of new birth in the
S2: soul of the believer. These are rich, aren't they?
S4: They really are.
S2: Wayne Grudem says Paul uses Christ's resurrection as a model
S2: for the believer's sanctified life. It is also the source
S2: of power for living in obedience. D.R. Carson says Christ's
S2: resurrection is the first fruit of what is to come,
S2: but also the power source of a spirit empowered, cross
S2: shaped life in the now more contemporary John Piper. The
S2: power of the resurrection is not just the power to
S2: be raised at the last day, but power to live now,
S2: to love now, and to lose everything for Christ without fear.
S2: Tim Keller. Passed on, by the way, um, great preacher
S2: out of New York went on to his reward here,
S2: I think, about a year ago. Resurrection means not merely
S2: that Christians have hope for the future, but that they
S2: have power in the present, power to face suffering, to
S2: forgive and to live with boldness. And Michael Horton, I
S2: like this one in particular. Christ's resurrection is not just
S2: a personal benefit. It's the cosmic turning point. It unleashes
S2: resurrection life into history, the church and the believer. Man,
S2: that's a beautiful thing.
S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
S1: Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: We got a question for you. What's that? A simple one, right?
S4: Yeah. What's that good thing that sometimes, if you're not careful,
S4: can crowd out? God, you've experienced the conviction. 805. Five. Five. 78. 98.
S4: A couple of what's coming in. Cooking channels, music ministry.
S4: Helping my daughter with college planning. Dot dot dot. I
S4: get obsessed.
S2: I love this man. This is honest. And it comes
S2: right out of Hebrews 12. So the Hall of Fame
S2: of faith is Hebrews 11. There's all these people. By faith,
S2: Abraham by faith, Moses by faith. These people stood up. Jephthah.
S2: The list goes on and on and on. And then
S2: you go into Hebrews 12 now that we're inspired by
S2: their lives, therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a
S2: cloud of witnesses, let us also meaning they did lay
S2: aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and
S2: let us run with endurance the race that is set
S2: before us. So here's the implication from the writer of Hebrews.
S2: It's clear it's there's there's two key things that are
S2: highlighted here that hold us back from running this race
S2: of faith. One is sin. We get that right. I mean,
S2: come on. I mean, that's when we're missing the mark
S2: and we know it. You know it. And you're like,
S2: all right, that's got to get out of my life.
S2: But then there's this other one that are good things
S2: that too much of can begin to be a distraction
S2: from this race of faith. And that's what we're asking
S2: you today. Let's go back to the phone lines. Ali,
S2: who do we have?
S4: Let's go to send calling in this morning from Illinois.
S4: Give it to us. What is it for you?
S6: Hey, good morning everyone. For me, it's coffee. It's having
S6: a cup of coffee as part of my morning ritual.
S6: And so starting my day thinking more about just being
S6: caffeinated than really trusting the Word of God to be
S6: my source of energy. Like, even on the way, like
S6: sitting on Lakeshore Drive, I'll be like listening to Scripture
S6: or crew and I'll be like, man, it's going to
S6: be really good, though, when I get to work and
S6: I get to get that cup of Joe in me.
S6: And so I think where my heart is just where
S6: my yeah, where my heart is and my energy for
S6: the day. Where it comes from.
S4: Ooh.
S2: That's interesting. That's interesting. I love that for me, it's
S2: not that first cup of coffee. It's the third or fourth.
S4: Well, and, you know, you could easily hear and go,
S4: are you saying it's wrong to drink a cup of coffee? What?
S4: Are you legalistic? And it's like, that's not it at all.
S4: That's not it at all, right, Carl? I mean, it's not.
S2: No, no. I mean, I love what sin's saying here.
S2: It's interesting because to to him who knows what is
S2: right and doesn't do it to him it is sin. Yeah.
S2: So God can reveal something to one person and not
S2: to another. And this is why. This is why we
S2: need to have a lot of. We need to have
S2: a lot of grace for each other in the body
S2: of Christ. Because you may not, you may not enjoy.
S2: And it's easy to almost, um, it's easy to almost
S2: demonize or make evil someone who loves watching, uh, let's
S2: just say, uh, a YouTube shorts on accessories that you
S2: wear with certain clothes. There's nothing inherently sinful about that.
S2: Until a good thing becomes so much of a good
S2: thing that you're nudging got out. So there you go. Uh, Melissa,
S2: first time caller in Tennessee. What do you say, Melissa?
S7: Hey, good morning, y'all. Um, I think mine is, uh,
S7: when music gets to the point of obsession. So I
S7: write music, and I also perform, and I think it's
S7: the obsession side, but it's also when my heart is
S7: in the attention seeking side of it or the performance
S7: like the validation side of it. Like, obviously it can
S7: be a good thing too. So it's twofold. But I
S7: was recently convicted. Um, about six months ago during a
S7: sermon and just kind of realizing how much of an
S7: idol it had taken my life. Um, I mean, it's
S7: caused two moves to Nashville. Um, and. Yeah. That's mine.
S2: Wow, man. That's honest. I can tell by the way
S2: you speak. You got good pipes, by the way. I
S2: can tell it. Thanks. So how do you know? How
S2: do you know when you've crossed that line? Is the
S2: Holy Spirit's obviously at work in your life, right, Michelle?
S7: Mm. Yeah. Great question. I think, um, it's definitely a
S7: heart posture thing. And, um, I think when it gets
S7: to the point of it's dictating my day to day,
S7: to the point of I'm not letting the Holy Spirit
S7: lead the day, I'm not seeking that. First I'm thinking
S7: what the next thing is, or when it dictates my, um,
S7: my finances or when it dictates. You know, it's it's
S7: a complex thing, right? Because God gifted me with this,
S7: and God gifted me with the creativity. But, um, there's
S7: there's a there's a difference between letting it be an
S7: act of worship, like writing and doing what, um, he's
S7: placed in me and letting it be the thing that
S7: I worship. And I guess the easiest thing would just
S7: be that it's the Holy Spirit in me kind of checking,
S7: checking me of, hey, this is this is becoming an
S7: idol or this is an idol. Um, yeah.
S2: It's cool.
S3: That's good.
S2: Melissa, I'm glad you're wrestling with that sister. Stay on
S2: the horn. We're sending you Carl and crew prize pack.
S2: This is a better topic than I even thought it
S2: would be, and I thought it might be a good topic.
S2: I mean, this is. It's so great.
S4: It's so real life. And, you know, you you listen
S4: to it, and it's going to be different for different people.
S4: I mean, because you could you could easily for the
S4: next person. Music isn't an issue for the next person.
S4: Coffee isn't the issue, but it's something else. And so
S4: listening to the power of the Holy Spirit lets you
S4: know what that something else is in your life.
S2: Yeah. You know, we're going to blow out what we
S2: had planned at the bottom of the hour. We're going
S2: to keep cooking here on this question. Ali, let's see
S2: it up. I this for some reason, the Holy Spirit
S2: has us in a sweet spot here. And this is healthy.
S4: What is that good thing in your life that if
S4: you're not careful, it can crowd out God. And you
S4: know what it is for you because you get the
S4: nudge of the Holy Spirit. It's not some other person
S4: saying you can or you can't do this. It's man,
S4: this is a good thing, maybe a good thing for
S4: a lot of people, but for me it's become a
S4: bit too much.
S2: You know, this is good because it gets us good.
S2: Have you ever heard the phrase you get you get
S2: good answers when you ask good questions, you get great
S2: answers when you ask great questions. We've heard a variation
S2: of that.
S3: Sure, sure. Yeah.
S2: And this there's the the scriptures are so illuminating and so. Aha!
S2: That if we look at it for what it is,
S2: we go, man, we got a great question here. And
S2: it flows right out of Hebrews 12 verse one and two.
S2: Check this out. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so
S2: great a cloud of witnesses, who are these witnesses? It's
S2: the Hall of Fame of faith in Hebrews 11. By
S2: faith I mean you can go through this Abraham by faith,
S2: Moses by faith. The people crossed the Red sea by
S2: faith Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. And
S2: it goes on to talk about some of the hardship
S2: they went through by faith. But then we're inspired to
S2: look at their lives and go, all right, then the
S2: picture is there in the grandstands looking down on us.
S2: That's the picture says, since they're there, let us also
S2: lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely,
S2: and let us run with endurance the race that is
S2: set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter
S2: of our faith, who for the joy that was set
S2: before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
S2: seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
S2: So there's two things here that the writer of Hebrews highlights.
S2: One is sin. Obviously, we know anyone that's got the
S2: Spirit of God indwells, and we understand that sin can
S2: totally block our forward movement with God. Are we all
S2: together on that?
S3: Yes. Yes, absolutely.
S2: But then you got this other wild one. And I'll
S2: never forget, when I first heard this, I was on
S2: homiletics class at Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon, and I
S2: heard our prof. Exegete this passage and I'm like, whoa.
S2: He highlighted this. Let us also lay aside every weight.
S2: The writer of Hebrews does not ID this as inherent sin,
S2: but it is best captured as good stuff that begins
S2: to get in God's way. Isn't that interesting?
S4: Yes, it can become a weight. Good stuff can become
S4: a weight.
S2: Yes. So we're asking you a question this morning.
S4: What is that good thing that can become a weight
S4: if you're not careful? It can crowd out. God, we've
S4: heard everything from watching landscape videos to golfing to coffee.
S4: 855 five 7898. What is it for you? 800 555 7898.
S2: Let's go back to the phones.
S4: Let's go to Matthew calling in this morning from Nashville. Matthew,
S4: give it to us.
S8: Hi. Yeah, this may not be exactly what you're looking for,
S8: but I was immediately convicted upon your question. Uh, church.
S8: So many people, myself included, do and have used church
S8: as almost an excuse. Hey, I went to church, so
S8: I'm good, but we don't actually spend time. We're not
S8: actually using that to get closer to the Lord and
S8: our relationship with Christ. And I feel like that gets
S8: in the way because people say, hey, I punched my ticket.
S8: I went to church this week or this month. Yeah.
S2: So that's.
S8: My.
S2: You know what? It isn't spot on with what we're
S2: doing here. But I'm intrigued by this. Matthew, the Spirit
S2: of God just boom plopped into your heart. This this thing.
S2: How have you battled that? You walk in, you don't
S2: want to be a a list, you know, checker. You
S2: don't want to be punching a time card, so to speak,
S2: in your relationship with God. How has God turned that
S2: around for you?
S8: Uh, literally just starting with prayer and some days not going,
S8: some days just sitting alone in my house with the
S8: word open and worship on and doing it there because
S8: or gathering with somebody at somebody, say coffee or a
S8: coffee shop and where two or more are gathered there,
S8: I will also be that's church. And I feel like
S8: sometimes we get stuck in the in the ritual so
S8: much that it becomes a ritual, and it's not about
S8: a relationship anymore.
S2: I love that, by the way, I want to give
S2: you a word of encouragement. You might want to get
S2: a book by Brother Lawrence called Practicing the Presence of God,
S2: because his whole deal was. I mean, I remember him
S2: saying this and it just intrigued me to no end.
S2: He said, you know, we have these set times of prayers.
S2: He was in a monastery, and he said, we have
S2: these set times of prayers. But I find the presence
S2: of God in the everyday. He worked in the kitchen
S2: scrubbing pots and pans, and he experienced the presence of God,
S2: scrubbing pots and pans almost more so than those set
S2: times of what could become ritual. And that's a that's
S2: a powerful thing, man. Appreciate that. Matthew. Thanks for sharing
S2: your heart. So what? Good thing that when you do,
S2: too much of it gets in the way of God,
S2: it becomes a weight. Right, Ali?
S4: Absolutely. 800 555 7898. I mentioned that for me, it
S4: can be I can become kind of obsessed with my
S4: kids sports, and that can become a good thing. That
S4: can become a weight where I'm starting to fixate on
S4: who they're playing and how they're doing and the rankings
S4: of teams. And all of a sudden, I get that
S4: conviction of this is taking up a lot of time
S4: and emotional energy.
S5: You know.
S2: Explain that to me, because I think I love your
S2: vulnerability on this, that you are not a demonstrative ref. Yeller.
S4: No, I'm a pretty calm sports parent. In fact, my
S4: kids are like the other parents are cheering louder like,
S4: do you cheer for us? I don't, I don't I'm
S4: not loud at games. I'm usually pretty quiet. I may
S4: cheer here and there, but I've noticed, though, that if
S4: I'm not careful, my heart can become too invested. Like
S4: where I'm really feeling. If they lose a game, I'm
S4: really feeling sad about it. Like more so than what
S4: I should based on. It's out of proportion to what
S4: it is. And and I've just noticed that sometimes it
S4: can be a good thing that I become. My heart
S4: becomes too tied to it.
S2: I love I. What a great discussion. And I thought
S2: this was going to be a little subplot of our
S2: theme today. This is the plot that God has us on.
S2: What is the good thing? Not inherently sinful and a
S2: little bit of it's great, but what is the good
S2: thing that when you do too much of it, it
S2: gets in God's way? What is that for you? 800
S2: 555 7898 800 555 7898. Uh, real quick, we'll go
S2: back to the phones here. Ken in Alabama. What do
S2: you say, Ken?
S8: Yes, I'm.
S9: Riding my bicycle. I used to I spent all day
S9: Saturday and a lot of times on Sundays, and it
S9: was taking me away from church and family, and it
S9: wasn't a bad thing. It was really good exercise, but
S9: it was something I felt convicted over and nobody brought
S9: it to my attention. It just came to me.
S2: Well, the Holy Spirit did. Right? Yes he did. The
S2: Holy Spirit. You know what a classic example.
S3: You.
S2: See on the horn, Ken? You're getting a prize pack,
S2: by the way. Call everyone else back that I didn't
S2: tell him to call back and get their prize pack. I'm.
S2: I'm feeling resurrection power today. We're giving away prizes. But
S2: what a great thing, Ali.
S4: And you know, I love how you said it. It's
S4: great exercise. Like it's not a bad thing. Nobody came
S4: to him and said, you know, I've. I'd like to
S4: do an intervention. I've been noticing you've been riding your bike.
S4: And I really think that's a problem. Nobody's going to
S4: say that to you. But that little still small voice,
S4: that nudge of the Holy Spirit, like this bike riding thing,
S4: it's getting out of hand. It's actually keeping you from church.
S4: It's keeping you from time with God.
S10: Do you feel.
S1: Stuck or paralyzed? Are you ready to break free? Here
S1: are your questions answered. It's time for ask, Pastor Carl.
S2: A common question that I get asked, and one that
S2: comes in very different forms, fits into the big bucket
S2: of what in the world does resurrection power look like?
S2: And as I was preparing for my message on Sunday,
S2: I was blown away at the distinctiveness. Yet the commonality
S2: between all these great leaders John Calvin, Martin. Luther, Charles. Spurgeon, Jonathan. Edwards, Wayne. Contemporary. Wayne. Grudem, D.R. Carson, Tim. Keller, John. Piper, Michael. Horton.
S2: And at the end of the day, these definitions that
S2: deal with and I love John Calvin's by his resurrection.
S2: We are not only raised with Christ, but he lives
S2: in us. His power animates our daily sanctification. To me,
S2: that's that's the big one. And so I want to
S2: illustrate this for you and tell you I am an
S2: avid life hacker, Lifehacker. Probably because I'm not in my
S2: 30s anymore. I find it an incredible thing to study
S2: the human body that God so beautifully designed, and do
S2: everything I can to try to take good care of
S2: my bod. Sleep. Hydration. I even did a deep dive
S2: last night on hydration. And how much water should we get?
S2: For crying out loud? All these things that are. I mean,
S2: isn't it funny? Lifehacking is a funny thing, isn't it?
S4: Yeah. If you're not familiar with that term, that's just
S4: finding kind of new ways to shortcut things to make
S4: things a little bit easier. Like life hacks that just
S4: make your life go a little bit smoother.
S2: Yeah. And so one of the things that I've done
S2: is I've. I think Ali inspired me with this. I
S2: years ago. Yeah. With the smartwatch.
S4: Oh, yeah. I mean, I do a Fitbit watch that's
S4: about as advanced as I've gotten.
S2: Okay. But you enjoy that, right?
S5: Yeah.
S2: Why do you.
S5: Do you steps.
S4: And you can see, um, mainly for step tracking. See
S4: how active you are. Um, you'll get a little, uh,
S4: notification if you haven't moved to a certain number of
S4: steps in the hour. It'll kind of remind you to
S4: get up and get moving.
S2: Time to get up and get moving. And sometimes you'll
S2: get a it's time to stand. Just. It's time to
S2: get up. You've been sitting down too long. And all
S2: those things are valuable. And I went and did a
S2: deep dive on smart rings. So there's a lot of
S2: different brands out there. There's one I won't mention that's
S2: got it kind of was first in the pool, and
S2: it's got a lot of advertise and now it's going mainstream.
S2: It's on cable news. It's all over the place. They're
S2: advertising it like nuts. And I thought, oh, that sounds
S2: so gimmicky. And then I started doing a deep dive
S2: because I'm a Lifehacker going, all right, what's the advantages
S2: of these things? And all the reviews are coming back.
S2: It's unbelievable. And the reason is, is that the back
S2: of the wrist, the top part of the wrist, where
S2: the smart watch is, smartwatches doesn't get the kind of
S2: blood flow like, say, an index finger has. And my
S2: team in here can see that I've got an index
S2: finger ring going on. Well, that's a smart ring. Now
S2: this thing I love. It gives me data points like
S2: you can't believe. I mean, let me give you just
S2: a few things. I'm going to pull up my app
S2: here really quick. I mean, the data points are amazing.
S2: In fact, I shared this in the message and I'll
S2: give you the punchline here in a moment. But I
S2: had a 93 year old woman come up to me
S2: after the service and she said, I've been thinking about
S2: getting one of those. Tell me more about this. For
S2: which I was happy to help out. Betty, she's a
S2: great woman. So it shows. Sleep. Not good. Last night, 77,
S2: I got a score.
S5: Out.
S4: Of 100.
S2: Out of 100. Okay, dynamic recovery is 80. Not bad.
S2: Stress rhythm. I'm at 99. I'm doing good.
S4: Okay, so a high score there is good?
S5: Yes. Okay.
S2: Yeah. Movement 77. Not bad. Just getting the day started here.
S2: And then it's got things about circadian rhythms. It's got
S2: caffeine windows when you should be shutting it down. And
S2: all these things are designed to give you metrics that measure.
S2: How are you doing? Are you treating your body well?
S2: And I love it. But there's one thing my ring
S2: can't measure. And that one thing my ring can't measure
S2: is the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in my life.
S2: You might say, well, how does that get measured? Last
S2: week I had a night where I didn't sleep very
S2: well at all, and I woke up and I looked
S2: at all my indicators on my dashboard for my smart ring.
S2: And guess what, Ali? They were ringing. I mean, they
S2: were blinking red lights everywhere.
S4: It's like, okay.
S2: Not enough sleep, not enough recovery. You really should get well, I,
S2: I know I should get more sleep.
S4: I'm trying.
S2: I'm working at it. But here's what happened. This is
S2: what God's had me doing as of late. I grabbed
S2: a cup of coffee, went down to a chair in
S2: our living room. It was very early, and I began
S2: to spend some time alone with the Lord. And the
S2: Lord began to just minister to my heart, talking with
S2: me from his word. And I was so encountering the
S2: presence of God that there was something this smart ring
S2: couldn't account for. And it was this thing called. The
S2: resurrected power of Christ in a follower of Jesus who's
S2: meeting with the Lord, And me, as John Calvin said,
S2: animating me for daily sanctification. And although I was sleepy
S2: in body, my spirit was cooking for Jesus. I can't
S2: even describe it, except that I got up and I
S2: faced that day. I got a nap in the afternoon
S2: because I was way short on sleep, but I faced
S2: that day with a level of robustness, optimism of the
S2: power of Christ in me and joy in the Lord
S2: that my ring couldn't track. To me, that's one of
S2: the greatest evidences of resurrection power in my life. There
S2: is nothing like. I'll never trade my time alone with
S2: God early in the morning for anything. It's better than
S2: my coffee. Can you believe I'm saying that, Ali?
S4: Well, that's so encouraging. Because, you know, when you think
S4: about the life hack thing and and I mean that
S4: that's awesome. But there's so many limitations that can keep
S4: us from living our best lives physically. I mean, yeah, illness, disease,
S4: so much of life that we cannot control, that comes
S4: at us, that keeps us from sleeping well, that keeps
S4: us from doing a lot of the things that we
S4: know we would like to do for our body. But
S4: for whatever reason, in whatever season, we can't. Well, resurrection
S4: power is available to us on sleepless nights when we're
S4: in hospital rooms, when we're not at our best physically.
S4: And that's what's so encouraging, because the life hack stuff
S4: can almost seem aspirational. Man. Resurrection power is existential. I mean,
S4: that is absolutely what we need to go through our
S4: our everyday lives, regardless of what comes at us each day.
S2: Boom! You nailed it.