Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: You can feel it right. God is up to something today. Hey,
Speaker 1: welcome Happy Resurrection Sunday. Everybody all over the world. We
Speaker 1: greet you in the name of Jesus, the name above
Speaker 1: every name, Jesus who is seated at the right hand
Speaker 1: of God, Jesus who was laid down in grief and
Speaker 1: awoke holding keys. May he unlock prison doors in your
Speaker 1: life today. We believe He's going to do something awesome.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor, I believe God is gonna not going
Speaker 1: to gonna do something awesome in your life today, spectacular
Speaker 1: in your life today, mind blowing in your life today.
Speaker 1: And now look at him and say mine too. I'm
Speaker 1: getting in on this. Another stone is rolling right now?
Speaker 1: Is it you? Is it you he wants to call
Speaker 1: out of depression? Is that you he wants to call
Speaker 1: out of despair? I'm looking for me. God gave me
Speaker 1: a word for this Easter Sunday. This is my nineteenth
Speaker 1: Easter preaching here at Elevation Church. I would like to say,
Speaker 1: and I hope that I don't jinx it by saying
Speaker 1: this before the sermon. It's the best Easter crowd we've
Speaker 1: ever had on the Easter Sunday. Now live up to that,
Speaker 1: all right, it's a lot of pressure. Don't be acting
Speaker 1: all stuffy because Aunt Susie came to church with you today.
Speaker 1: Act how you always act. I know you will. So
Speaker 1: I want to share with you from the Resurrection account
Speaker 1: in Matthew chapter twenty eight, and offer a fresh perspective
Speaker 1: that the Lord shared with me. I think one of
Speaker 1: the greatest blessings God can give you sometimes is a
Speaker 1: fresh perspective. You know, just where you look at things different.
Speaker 1: Sometimes He changes things. Sometimes he changes the way I
Speaker 1: see things, and then things change. So the perspective on
Speaker 1: the Resurrection. You know, nineteen years of preaching this thing,
Speaker 1: you would think I knew what was in it. But
Speaker 1: God is so great and his word is so awesome.
Speaker 1: It's just the most remarkable he ever told, the most
Speaker 1: remarkable of an inhuman history that Jesus rose from the grave.
Speaker 1: But let's go back there for a moment into a
Speaker 1: flashback in Matthew chapter twenty eight. I'm going to read
Speaker 1: verses one through four for context, but my lesson really
Speaker 1: picks up at verse five. The Bible says, after the Sabbath,
Speaker 1: at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary
Speaker 1: Magdalen and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
Speaker 1: There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the
Speaker 1: Lord came down from heaven, and, going to the tomb,
Speaker 1: rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance
Speaker 1: was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
Speaker 1: The guards were so afraid of him that they shook
Speaker 1: and became like dead men. Verse five. Pay attention. The
Speaker 1: angel said to the women, do not be afraid. Really,
Speaker 1: so the guards are over here dead, These big Roman
Speaker 1: soldiers are like dead men, and the women are supposed
Speaker 1: to not be afraid. Okay. But the angel said to
Speaker 1: the women, this is this guy, this stone rolling, This
Speaker 1: is a ba right here, a big angel. I don't
Speaker 1: know what you what. Okay, it's easter, it's easter. I
Speaker 1: will think for you. The angel said to the women,
Speaker 1: do not be afraid, for I know that you are
Speaker 1: looking for Jesus who was crucified. I need you to say.
Speaker 1: The keyword was verse six. He is not here. He
Speaker 1: has risen. All of that already happened. All of that
Speaker 1: already happened. He is not here. He has risen, just
Speaker 1: as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Speaker 1: Then go quickly and tell his disciples. He has risen
Speaker 1: from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.
Speaker 1: There you will see him. Now I have told you
Speaker 1: verse eight, and will stop here for now. So the
Speaker 1: women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy,
Speaker 1: and ran to tell his disciples. I want to use
Speaker 1: as a subject for this sermon today, something in between,
Speaker 1: something in between. And would you look at your neighbor
Speaker 1: real quick and say I'm something in between. Look at
Speaker 1: your other neighbor, the one you rejected, scorned and bypassed
Speaker 1: the first time, say I'm something in between, and you
Speaker 1: may be seated. Wow, something in between. I'm so excited
Speaker 1: to pre man. I know I was excited because I
Speaker 1: was having weird dreams three in the morning, four in
Speaker 1: the morning, about four I woke up. I was dreaming
Speaker 1: about Clemson. I reckon I fell asleep when they were
Speaker 1: losing their game. They made it to the Elite eight,
Speaker 1: but then they lost. So I think that was in
Speaker 1: my subconscious and so was the excitement of like Easter
Speaker 1: and anything as possible. So in my dream, listen to this.
Speaker 1: I was at Clemson as a student, as a forty
Speaker 1: four year old man, and I was going to football
Speaker 1: practice to see if I could walk on and play.
Speaker 1: That's how excited I was. I didn't even play little
Speaker 1: league football. I've never played football in my life. That's
Speaker 1: how excited I have been to be with you. I
Speaker 1: was dreaming about Dabbo, and of course that has everything
Speaker 1: to do with Matthew twenty eight. But I'm just excited,
Speaker 1: you know. And when I get excited, I'm an extreme person.
Speaker 1: I am. I'm going to get excited about something that
Speaker 1: I'm all in. I sell everything, buy everything, sell everything,
Speaker 1: and then buy everything, buy it, and then sell it.
Speaker 1: I'm very extreme. So for me, it was a real
Speaker 1: insight to realize that everything in this text, which is
Speaker 1: about as extreme as you get angels, rolling stones, earthquakes
Speaker 1: shaking the foundation of the planet, dead men rising, that's
Speaker 1: as extreme as it gets. A crucifixion where the innocent
Speaker 1: son of God was treated as a common criminal. That's
Speaker 1: as extreme as it gets. And yet everything in the text,
Speaker 1: everybody say, and yet everything is in between. One man said,
Speaker 1: life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.
Speaker 1: And as the women are bringing their spices to anoint Jesus,
Speaker 1: he's already taken a stroll on a Sunday morning. So
Speaker 1: we love this text because everything is in between. But
Speaker 1: just reading it for the exclamation point of the resurrection
Speaker 1: misses some of the intricacy. First of all, let me
Speaker 1: give you this in a few different ways. The ministry
Speaker 1: of Jesus in Matthew chapter twenty eight is at an
Speaker 1: in between moment, in that he has already fulfilled his
Speaker 1: earthly mission, which is to save us from our sin
Speaker 1: by dying on a cross, so that everybody who puts
Speaker 1: their faith in him, and that could be you today
Speaker 1: could be saved in his name. And then after he
Speaker 1: did that, suffered a horrible death that we could not abide.
Speaker 1: He rose again with all power in his hand. He's
Speaker 1: done with that now, but he has not yet ascended
Speaker 1: to the right hand of God. So his earthly mission
Speaker 1: is complete, but his heavenly ministry, where he sits at
Speaker 1: the right hand of God, what he's doing now has
Speaker 1: not yet begun. He's in between. One thing I was
Speaker 1: tempted to skip over, but when I slowed down and
Speaker 1: read it became very important is that the Bible says
Speaker 1: it was after the Sabbath at dawn on the first
Speaker 1: day of the week when the ladies found the tomb
Speaker 1: of Jesus empty. So think about that. Not only was
Speaker 1: the ministry of Jesus in between, but this is an
Speaker 1: in between moment as well. The ministry is in between.
Speaker 1: The moment is in between. It's dawn, not exactly morning,
Speaker 1: it's not exactly night. It's something in between. That's why
Speaker 1: I wore this today. It's springing Charlotte, and it's not
Speaker 1: exactly cold, and it's not exactly hot. It's something so
Speaker 1: I've got coverage and ventilation. It's something in between. Graham
Speaker 1: was picking on me. I had this shirt that I
Speaker 1: thought was really cool, and I bought like fifty of
Speaker 1: them because I'm extreme, and he said, I hate tell
Speaker 1: you this because I then he got fifty. I did
Speaker 1: not get that shirt. It's not a compression shirt, and
Speaker 1: it's not fashionable. It's got a scoop neck and it's
Speaker 1: too tight, and it's not an athletic shirt you can
Speaker 1: work out in, and it's definitely not something you need
Speaker 1: to wear on stage. It's something in between. Some of
Speaker 1: y'all came to church today with your they're not exactly
Speaker 1: just your friend. Little dtr might happen in the car
Speaker 1: on the way home from elevation today. I'm here to
Speaker 1: serve you know well, no, we're not dating, but not
Speaker 1: evangelizing her either. I invited her to church with maybe
Speaker 1: some ulterior motives. There's something in between. It's dawn, it's morning,
Speaker 1: it's night. The night is losing its grip on the morning,
Speaker 1: but it is just peeking through the shades of pink.
Speaker 1: The sky is not yet blue and clear yet, it's
Speaker 1: just a little bit of it that I can see
Speaker 1: as the night relinquishes its whole. Is something in between,
Speaker 1: you see what I mean. It's a beautiful text, a
Speaker 1: beautiful text because not only is the ministry of Jesus
Speaker 1: in between, not only is the moment in between, but
Speaker 1: the messengers are in between. The messenger the angel. The
Speaker 1: Angel is not Jesus. The Angel is not God. But
Speaker 1: the Angel is not a human either. The Angel is
Speaker 1: Maybe if I preach this till Christmas, y'all will finally
Speaker 1: get my call and response Kate and say it is
Speaker 1: something in between. Put it in the chat. It's something
Speaker 1: in between. Now look at your neighbor and say, you're
Speaker 1: not an angel. Tell him, but I don't think you're
Speaker 1: a devil either. Now repeat the next line. You're something
Speaker 1: in between. I need everybody in this church that is
Speaker 1: not an angel. But you're not a devil. I'm not
Speaker 1: the best Christian in the world. I'm probably not the
Speaker 1: worst one either. I've seen how some of y'all drive
Speaker 1: with your elevation stickers on your car. I didn't know
Speaker 1: that was a worship signal when you did that one
Speaker 1: finger up in the air. Does that mean something in between?
Speaker 1: We all are pink, purple, indigold, blue, violet. I don't
Speaker 1: care what you wore in here underneath that is your flesh.
Speaker 1: And although you may be ready for heaven when you die,
Speaker 1: because Jesus Rose, don't you need him in between? Come on,
Speaker 1: don't you need him in between? Wave at me if
Speaker 1: you need him in between? I mean Lord, I appreciate
Speaker 1: one day you're coming to get me up out of
Speaker 1: here and take me to a place where there's no
Speaker 1: more tears. But there's tears here, and I need you
Speaker 1: in between. So the ministry of Jesus is in between,
Speaker 1: the messenger is in between, the moment is in between.
Speaker 1: And then you have something that the angel says to
Speaker 1: the women. And it is like these annoying parents that
Speaker 1: try to coach their kids from the bleachers. When I
Speaker 1: go to watch my kid wrestle, they'll say things to
Speaker 1: the kid that is probably the right thing to say
Speaker 1: to the kid, but it's not that easy to do
Speaker 1: when you're out there doing it. I heard one parent
Speaker 1: say to a kid who was wrestling the other day.
Speaker 1: His kid was getting beat and he said, that's the
Speaker 1: wrong move. That helps dad, Thanks, I let you know
Speaker 1: the right one. And here's the angel. Look what he
Speaker 1: says to the women. He says, don't be afraid. And
Speaker 1: that's easy for you to say. You're an angel. You're
Speaker 1: big angel, a ba a bold angel. You've been in
Speaker 1: the presence of God. You weren't there when we watched
Speaker 1: him die. You're not bound by this flesh. Don't be afraid,
Speaker 1: and the Bible gives a very, very instructive phrase. And
Speaker 1: this is where I want to teach you today. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna teach you a lesson today. If you are gonna
Speaker 1: look this good to come to church. We are going
Speaker 1: to get the most out of your outfit today and
Speaker 1: teach you something. All right, because it was crowded when
Speaker 1: you came here to Valentine today, right, and you had
Speaker 1: to fight through some things to get here. Now, I
Speaker 1: don't worry. Next week, there'll be plenty of room for everybody,
Speaker 1: So come on back. I'm probably gonna start a new
Speaker 1: series next week, an eight week series, so you should
Speaker 1: come back next week. But look what the angel said.
Speaker 1: He said, do not be afraid, for I know that
Speaker 1: you are looking for verse five again. Please Jesus who
Speaker 1: was crucified. He is not here where you expected him
Speaker 1: to be. He is not dead, which is the last
Speaker 1: way you saw him. He is not lying in this
Speaker 1: place anymore. He has risen just as he said. Won't
Speaker 1: he do it just like he promised? Now, come and
Speaker 1: see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and
Speaker 1: tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and
Speaker 1: is going ahead of you. Into Galilee. There you will
Speaker 1: see him. Now I have told you verse eight. The
Speaker 1: women were full of faith and doubted nothing, and so
Speaker 1: they did what the angel instructed. Is the way this
Speaker 1: should read. If we were angels. God's got me and
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter that they're laying people off in my
Speaker 1: division because God's my provider. Is how it should read
Speaker 1: if we were angels. I know that God's going to
Speaker 1: bring my kid back, so I'm not going to spend
Speaker 1: all of my time worrying about it. I'm going to
Speaker 1: turn it over to the Lord and do the best
Speaker 1: I can. Is how it should feel if I'm an angel,
Speaker 1: And if I didn't believe in God at all, then
Speaker 1: I would have complete despair. But I believe in Him.
Speaker 1: But yet I have to be in this body, and
Speaker 1: so I'm something in between. Like the women in this passage.
Speaker 1: It says verse eight, look at this police they hurried
Speaker 1: away from the tomb. And I love this phrase because
Speaker 1: this is how I feel, afraid yet filled with joy.
Speaker 1: This is not a translation error, by the way, because
Speaker 1: most of us think like you're either gonna be afraid
Speaker 1: or filled with joy. I had somebody ask me the
Speaker 1: other day, I was going to do something that was
Speaker 1: a big deal, and they said, are you looking forward
Speaker 1: to it or are you dreading it? And I was like,
Speaker 1: are those the only two options? Because I'm not exactly
Speaker 1: looking forward to it. I'm not exactly dreading it. I'm
Speaker 1: something and it can change from moment to moment. I'm like,
Speaker 1: really grateful for this life God has given me and
Speaker 1: this influence that He gave me. And then sometimes that
Speaker 1: anticipation feels like anxiety, and sometimes my anxiety feels like anticipation.
Speaker 1: And sometimes listen to this. The difference between anticipation and
Speaker 1: anxiety is the way you label it. Some of the
Speaker 1: things in your life today. Now I'm going to talk
Speaker 1: right to where you live. Let's get away from two
Speaker 1: thousand years ago history and bring it right into your
Speaker 1: current situation that I'm saying, I'm anxious. If you look
Speaker 1: beneath the anxious feeling, there is actually a future that
Speaker 1: you are anticipating. And every time you step forward, you
Speaker 1: shake a little bit. Every time you reach for the
Speaker 1: right thing, it feels a little foreign in your hands
Speaker 1: because you've been reaching for the wrong thing. But the
Speaker 1: Bible says that you can be afraid yet filled, that
Speaker 1: you can be empty in your energy and filled with
Speaker 1: God's spirit. That you can be empty and not know
Speaker 1: the solution of how this is going to work out,
Speaker 1: but yet somehow have complete confidence that He who began,
Speaker 1: he who began a good work in me, will be
Speaker 1: faithful to complete it. Somebody say, I'm yet filled. I
Speaker 1: like the way that felt when I said it. I'm
Speaker 1: yet filled. I don't have all the money I need
Speaker 1: to start the business, but I'm yet filled with faith
Speaker 1: that if God wants me to do it, the supply
Speaker 1: is on the way. No, I don't know how this
Speaker 1: is gonna exactly turn out yet, but I'm yet filled
Speaker 1: with the knowledge that the God who was with me
Speaker 1: before in the previous season would not abandon me between
Speaker 1: winter and spring. At this point, if you interviewed these marys,
Speaker 1: they would say, our minds are back and forth. We're grieving.
Speaker 1: I want to put these on the board so you
Speaker 1: can see it real quick. Put the first ones up.
Speaker 1: I'm grieving, but I've got good news, and I know
Speaker 1: that it's going to be good in the end. But
Speaker 1: my grief didn't go away just because I got good news.
Speaker 1: This is why you can throw up your hands and
Speaker 1: worship God even while you're going through hell. That's how
Speaker 1: you reach for them. Now, let me make sure I'm
Speaker 1: making this clear, because I get so worked up and
Speaker 1: I start moving too fast. Their grief over the depth
Speaker 1: of Jesus did not disappear to make way for the
Speaker 1: good news that he was risen. And in the text
Speaker 1: it says a little conjunction. It says afraid yet filled
Speaker 1: yet is a conjunction. Jesus is my conjunction. Jesus is
Speaker 1: my in between thing. Jesus is how I can say.
Speaker 1: You know, how people say it's all good. I can't
Speaker 1: say that. I got some habits that are not good.
Speaker 1: I've got some people in my life. I must skip
Speaker 1: that one. I'll come back to that next week. I've
Speaker 1: got some things I'm dealing with that are not good.
Speaker 1: So it's not all good. How are you doing? It's
Speaker 1: all good? We say that all the time. I don't
Speaker 1: say that. I don't say that anymore because it's not
Speaker 1: all good. But it's not all grief either. And you
Speaker 1: got to remember that when you're going through a dawning
Speaker 1: season where it's not exactly dark, it's not exactly light.
Speaker 1: My marriage isn't exactly back on track, but it's not
Speaker 1: yet falling apart. I haven't yet lost my mind, but
Speaker 1: I'm not really that same yet either, So don't test me,
Speaker 1: because I could pop loose real quick. I'm something in between.
Speaker 1: But I read a Bible verse I want to give
Speaker 1: to you from the New Testament in Romans eight twenty eight.
Speaker 1: Romans eight twenty eight says that in all things God
Speaker 1: works for the good of them that love Him and
Speaker 1: our call according to it purpose. It doesn't say everything
Speaker 1: will be all good. It says, even when it's not
Speaker 1: all good, it's still all God. God, help me shout.
Speaker 1: That's what I want you to say about your life today.
Speaker 1: It's not all good, but it's all God. Somebody shout,
Speaker 1: is all God. That's how I made it high. Find
Speaker 1: somebody say, oh God. I wouldn't dismay if I did
Speaker 1: not believe that I would see the goodness of the Lord,
Speaker 1: that I would see it. Can't see it right now,
Speaker 1: can't prove it on a charge, can't draw it on
Speaker 1: the ground.
Speaker 2: So I got God, God, God, I shout a God,
Speaker 2: and I got grief.
Speaker 1: Are you grief? Ask your neighbor? Are you grieving? Or
Speaker 1: are you good. Tell him I got something in between.
Speaker 1: I got something seek. God is my in between. God
Speaker 1: will take whatever happens. If it's bad, he'll make it good.
Speaker 1: If it's good, he'll get glory out of it. If
Speaker 1: it's bad, he'll make it good. And they'll no' live.
Speaker 3: Look God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God,
Speaker 3: oh God.
Speaker 1: So if you see me play in Division one NCAA football,
Speaker 1: you know it was Oh God, something must have happened
Speaker 1: in between. Now watch this? Can I give you more?
Speaker 1: There is a quote that changed my life from the
Speaker 1: Austrian psychologist Victor Frankel. He wrote the book Man Search
Speaker 1: for Meaning. It is one of the best selling books
Speaker 1: of all time. And I know why from this one quote.
Speaker 1: Put it on the screen. Look at this goodness what
Speaker 1: he said, between stimulus and response. There is a space.
Speaker 1: In that space is our power to choose our response.
Speaker 1: In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Wait,
Speaker 1: I should have told you more about him before I
Speaker 1: read what he said. He was a Holocaust survivor. So
Speaker 1: Victor Frankel didn't say it's all good. I don't know
Speaker 1: anything about his religious belief, but I found this to
Speaker 1: be true in my life. Sometimes the only thing I
Speaker 1: have is that space between stimulus. Do you know what
Speaker 1: I mean by stimulus? Not the checks they gave to
Speaker 1: everybody over the age of three or a while back.
Speaker 1: But what happens a stimulus like bop, you hit my hand,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna slap your face, or and this is where
Speaker 1: he talks about the space you slap my hand in
Speaker 1: between my slap back is a space, somebody say space.
Speaker 1: Look the quote again, between stimulus, between stimulus and response.
Speaker 1: The women were afraid, yet that's the space filled. And
Speaker 1: so they ran on the revelation that they had, even
Speaker 1: though they didn't know what the result would be. Now
Speaker 1: they only have to go about a mile to get
Speaker 1: to Jerusalem, where the disciples are still saying, But there's
Speaker 1: eighty miles to go to Galilee, where Jesus said he
Speaker 1: would meet them. Keep that in mind. As important as
Speaker 1: we talk about space, stimulus, response, let's talk about God.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Jesus. Since this Eastern the cross was
Speaker 1: God's response to your sin. The stimulus was your sin.
Speaker 1: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,
Speaker 1: and God's response to your sin could have been wrath.
Speaker 1: Instead it was grace, the distance was fixed between me
Speaker 1: and God so that I could not come to him.
Speaker 1: His response, he came to me. The suffering was the stimulus.
Speaker 1: Forgiveness was his response. You're starting to see what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about. That space in your life right now is
Speaker 1: what happened to you and what you will do next.
Speaker 1: And the resurrection speaks to that. Because if there is
Speaker 1: a space, put it up one more time between the
Speaker 1: stimulus and response. And if that's space, is my power
Speaker 1: to choose my response. I know one thing about me, Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't do very good with that space. I had
Speaker 1: one this week. This guy texted me something crazy. I
Speaker 1: hadn't heard from him in eight years, and he just
Speaker 1: decided to text me something crazy out of the blue.
Speaker 1: Happy Easter. Here's something stupid, antagonistic, irritating, ignorant, all of it. Now,
Speaker 1: what I want to tell you is I prayed for
Speaker 1: him and sent him some boots, some pink boots for Easter.
Speaker 1: I made the best text. And you'll know I'm pretty
Speaker 1: good with words. I put every word I've ever learned
Speaker 1: in seminary and in seventh grade in a text. I
Speaker 1: tried seven different drafts. I typed them all up and
Speaker 1: I deleted him, and then I typed another one, and
Speaker 1: I deleted and everyone I typed up got better than
Speaker 1: the last one by the time I finished texting him back.
Speaker 1: By the time I finished texting him back, now this
Speaker 1: is important, By the time I've ended up texting him back,
Speaker 1: I didn't send it all right, I'm gonna save you
Speaker 1: a lot of trouble. Look at your neighbor and say
Speaker 1: you need space before you hit sind What in the
Speaker 1: world would we have paid to know that earlier in
Speaker 1: our life, not just on a text, but on a response.
Speaker 1: A response, and thankfully, if you are too weak in
Speaker 1: your own strength to make the right response, Easter comes
Speaker 1: to say that you have a savior who emptied the grave,
Speaker 1: and all power is in his name, and that same
Speaker 1: power is in you. What am I trying to say?
Speaker 1: Your Savior is a space maker? How many need a
Speaker 1: space making savior in your life today? To see the
Speaker 1: good I want to do? I don't always do it.
Speaker 1: And this is why this church is so excited about
Speaker 1: Jesus in case you're a first time guest, because our
Speaker 1: Savior is our space maker, because we were bound in sin,
Speaker 1: we were wrapped in our past, we were trapped in
Speaker 1: our trauma, we were locked in our loneliness, we were
Speaker 1: down in our despair, and the space maker came to
Speaker 1: show us that all things are possible. I five me
Speaker 1: and say, I got a space maker. I'm praising the
Speaker 1: space maker. Now, let's contrast this. Victor Frankle said there
Speaker 1: is a space between stimulus and response. The other philosopher,
Speaker 1: Willie Nelson, said, I got to give you what Willy said. Y'all.
Speaker 1: I go over to my mom's every Wednesday night for
Speaker 1: dinner and she picks out different I got a record player,
Speaker 1: and I asked her to pick a record every Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and lit's listen to music and eat, and then we
Speaker 1: watch will of Fortune and Uh, pass a Jack. I
Speaker 1: still want to meet you. If you ever watched me preach,
Speaker 1: that would be a real bucket list for me. I
Speaker 1: love pass a Jack. I pray for him every time
Speaker 1: before he goes on. But uh, I came in the
Speaker 1: other night and my mom was playing a record by
Speaker 1: Willie Nelson, and it got my attention. I thought I
Speaker 1: would use it in my Easter sermon. Willie says this, Well,
Speaker 1: I gotta get drunk, and I sure do. Dread it
Speaker 1: because I know just what I'm gonna do. I'll start
Speaker 1: to spend my money calling everybody honey and wind up
Speaker 1: singing the blues. I'll spend my whole pay check on
Speaker 1: some old wreck and brother, I can name you a few,
Speaker 1: but I gotta get drunk, and I sure do dread
Speaker 1: it because I know just what I'm gonna do. I
Speaker 1: researched it, and Willie said, that's the dumbest song he
Speaker 1: ever wrote. He said, it's a good song, but it's
Speaker 1: a stupid song. But it was true at the time.
Speaker 1: I gotta get drunk. I gotta go off. Did you
Speaker 1: hear what they said about me? I gotta go off.
Speaker 1: I gotta do it. I gotta do you disrespect me
Speaker 1: like that, I gotta do it. I think this Easter
Speaker 1: the space Maker wants to change your gotta watch me
Speaker 1: from I gotta do it to I gotta God. Somebody
Speaker 1: say I gotta God. I don't gotta do it anymore
Speaker 1: because I got a God who made space, who shed blood.
Speaker 1: And if I call on his name, and if I
Speaker 1: stay in his word, he can change me from Simon
Speaker 1: to Peter. He can change beauty out of ashes, he
Speaker 1: can turn graves into gardens. So I've got a grave.
Speaker 1: Watch this, but I've got a god who can turn
Speaker 1: it into a garden. Put it in the comments right now.
Speaker 1: I got a god. I got a god. What I
Speaker 1: used to have to do, I'm not powerless to do anymore.
Speaker 1: Because he got up. That's fifty percent of a shout
Speaker 1: that should have happened there. I'm gonna give you another opportunity.
Speaker 4: I don't gotta steak down.
Speaker 1: Does he got out? I got a god, give me
Speaker 1: my next set. So they're standing at the tomb the
Speaker 1: next worse and they're standing in a grave. But the
Speaker 1: angel says, go to Galilee. And they can't stay at
Speaker 1: the grave because he's not there. Somebody say, he's not here.
Speaker 1: He's not in this depression. He's not in this giving up.
Speaker 1: He's not in this failure. He's not in I mean,
Speaker 1: he's in it to help me, but he's not in
Speaker 1: it to leave me. He's calling me forward to Galilee.
Speaker 1: And so the women, all the women make some noise.
Speaker 1: They did it, and it's annoying, right because where are
Speaker 1: the guys. The guys are eating fish and chips and
Speaker 1: protein bars and Monster Energy drink and they say, now
Speaker 1: we got to go stop by and tell the guy
Speaker 1: that Jesus is gonna meet them in Galilee. I'll probably
Speaker 1: have skipped it and just went right on the Galilee myself.
Speaker 1: This is eighty miles, Benn, take like three or four days.
Speaker 1: So let's get ahead start because we want to see Jesus.
Speaker 1: Somebody say, I want to see Jesus. So what they do?
Speaker 1: They're afraid? Did you notice Vers? Eight? But they ran.
Speaker 1: They used their fear for something productive. I know you've
Speaker 1: been through some things. Use them. I know you got
Speaker 1: something on the inside of you chasing you. Well point
Speaker 1: it in the right direction and let's go. You've been
Speaker 1: an attic helping at it. You've been through horrible abuse.
Speaker 1: Put your arm around somebody. They need to hear that
Speaker 1: God can do a miracle for them. I'm leaving this grave.
Speaker 1: Everybody in here has got a grave. God is calling
Speaker 1: you away from everybody in here's I got a place
Speaker 1: in you, a place in life, a place you can't stay,
Speaker 1: and a long way to go. Oh, it's a long
Speaker 1: way to Galilee. I don't know if we can make
Speaker 1: it eighty miles to Galilee to see Jesus again. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I can make it through this season.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can do it at this
Speaker 1: stage of my life. I don't know if I have
Speaker 1: the fuel left to do it again. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I have a repeat performance in me. The first
Speaker 1: time we followed him, it was hard, but then he died.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I have a second wind in me.
Speaker 1: But they're running, and this whole Sunday hinges on a
Speaker 1: word in Matthew twenty eight, verse nine that God brought
Speaker 1: you to this moment to show you. As they are
Speaker 1: leaving the graves and eventually going to Galilee, the Bible
Speaker 1: says Matthew twenty eight, verse nine. Suddenly, because not only
Speaker 1: do I have a space making savior, but I have
Speaker 1: a suddenly savior. Shout suddenly, come on, shout it with
Speaker 1: your lungs, baby, say suddenly suddenly? What suddenly Jesus met them? Oh?
Speaker 1: You mean they didn't have to go all eighty miles nah,
Speaker 1: because while that angel was still talking about Galilee, the
Speaker 1: Savior was headed your way. No, I need you just say
Speaker 1: this my thing. He's coming my way.
Speaker 3: He's headed my way, He's handed my way.
Speaker 1: He's headed my.
Speaker 5: Way, I'm leaving this grave, and the Lord wants somebody
Speaker 5: to know.
Speaker 1: You are not going to have to go all the
Speaker 1: way to Galilee to get to him. He's coming to you.
Speaker 1: See the scene with me, See the scene with me.
Speaker 4: They're running, they're running, and maybe between the two of
Speaker 4: them they're sharing.
Speaker 1: I don't know if we should trust that big man
Speaker 1: sitting on the stone. He said he was an angel,
Speaker 1: but who knows. You can't trust any men. And the
Speaker 1: other sister says back, the other Mary says back, well,
Speaker 1: what are we going to do?
Speaker 4: We can't stay at the grave. We've got to go.
Speaker 4: We can't stay in this dead place. We've got to go.
Speaker 4: If we stay here, it will only ever beat dead.
Speaker 4: We's not coming back to the grave. We've got to go.
Speaker 4: And so they're going, and they're going, and they're calculating
Speaker 4: all the distance between them and Galilee.
Speaker 1: We got seventy miles left between where we can't stay
Speaker 1: and where we want to be. And somebody is there
Speaker 1: right now. You're calculating the distance between where you are
Speaker 1: and where you think you need to be. But put
Speaker 1: my verse back on the screen.
Speaker 6: The Bible says, suddenly Jesus met them and on their
Speaker 6: way from the grave to Galilee, they hear something in between, greetings.
Speaker 1: Could that be greetings? It sounds like him, greetings. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's his voice. I thought we were gonna have to
Speaker 1: go all the way to Galilee, but suddenly somebody shouts, suddenly,
Speaker 1: I see something in between. Jesus met me in the
Speaker 1: middle of my mess. Jesus met me on my first mile.
Speaker 1: Jesus is gonna meet me in this moment. What a savior,
Speaker 1: I said, What a savior? Not only is he a
Speaker 1: space making savior, not only is he a suddenly savior.
Speaker 1: Do you understand the power of the savior suddenly that
Speaker 1: a lifetime of sins can be washed away with one
Speaker 1: call upon his name, with one mention of his name,
Speaker 1: with the bowing off your knee, Everything that speaks the
Speaker 1: name of Jesus will be saved because he's a suddenly savior.
Speaker 1: And the thing that you're so stressed about, if God
Speaker 1: is real, what makes you think he isn't already planning
Speaker 1: to do something in between, because that's how the devil
Speaker 1: will get you. I was talking to somebody the other
Speaker 1: day and they said, I'm so worried about my kid
Speaker 1: going to college and this college and that college. Their
Speaker 1: kid is in the seventh grade. I said, don't worry
Speaker 1: about that. Worry about something else. You can worry about stuff,
Speaker 1: but don't worry about that. So much could happen in between.
Speaker 1: You understand, you think you are going to just be
Speaker 1: lonely the rest of your life. God could have one
Speaker 1: greeter out those doors. And in between the time I
Speaker 1: say Amen and the time you try to eat some
Speaker 1: ham for lunch, God could do something in between. That's
Speaker 1: all that. Holly, she was traveling through Monk's Corner. I listen,
Speaker 1: she was living. She grew up in Miami, Florida. She
Speaker 1: was traveling all over the country doing ministry with this team,
Speaker 1: this ministry team, and they would ride around in an
Speaker 1: RV and do ministry. And their travels brought them to
Speaker 1: Monk's Corner. All right, So you got Miami, you got
Speaker 1: Monk's Corner, very different, very different. And she saw a
Speaker 1: very handsome young man at the church where they were
Speaker 1: no she did, and listen how good her game was.
Speaker 1: She comes up, She's like, I'm homeschooled, and uh, I
Speaker 1: need to take the act. And I was wondering, maybe
Speaker 1: if you could go to your guidance counselor and get
Speaker 1: me an act prep pack. That is the most masterfully
Speaker 1: understated pickup line in the history of great romances. Could
Speaker 1: you go to your guidance counselor? And when I looked
Speaker 1: at her, I was like, Oh, I know another guidance
Speaker 1: counselor that I believe. Come on, somebody, you got a
Speaker 1: guidance counselor. Because while I was growing up in Miami,
Speaker 1: in Monk's Corner six hundred and fifteen miles away in Miami, Miami,
Speaker 1: two months corner, if God could do that from a
Speaker 1: grave to Galilee and everything in between, you don't even
Speaker 1: know what he can do in between. All right, preach
Speaker 1: it to your fear for a minute. Let's talk to
Speaker 1: your fear of say, God always does something in between.
Speaker 1: So the outcome you're dreading is based on the events
Speaker 1: that you are hypothetically creating. What if God does something
Speaker 1: in between. What if it doesn't even go to trial.
Speaker 1: What if you get through it. What if you get
Speaker 1: through it and it ends up being the best thing
Speaker 1: that ever happened to you? What if God does something?
Speaker 1: What if God does something in between? He must be
Speaker 1: doing something in between. He did it for Daniel. Daniel
Speaker 1: spent the night in a lion's den, but their teeth
Speaker 1: never touched him. There must have been something in between
Speaker 1: Daniel and those lions. He did it for the three
Speaker 1: Hebrew boys. They were thrown in a fire. The fire
Speaker 1: was heated up seven times hotter than normal, but they
Speaker 1: didn't smell like smoke when they came out. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you even get close to the fire, you're gonna
Speaker 1: smell like smoke. So if they came out of the
Speaker 1: fire and didn't smell like smoke, God must have done
Speaker 1: something in between. Will not this same God, will not
Speaker 1: this same Savior who met the women, not when they
Speaker 1: got to Goalie. And now I don't feel sorry for
Speaker 1: them anymore because the boys had to wait. They got
Speaker 1: to see him first. I stand before you today, excited
Speaker 1: and afraid. I stand before you today a sinner and
Speaker 1: a saint. I stand before you today a flawed man
Speaker 1: and a child of God. And I'm never all of both.
Speaker 1: I'm something in between. What Jesus said to those women
Speaker 1: will touch you so deeply. He said, I'm going ahead
Speaker 1: of you, but I met you on the way. I'm
Speaker 1: already in your tomorrow. But I'm going to show up
Speaker 1: right now to remind you who you're walking in. Thank you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: Say thank you Jesus. When you talk back to the
Speaker 1: preacher in church, don't talk to the preacher, talk to God.
Speaker 1: Say thank you Lord for that word. Thank you Jesus.
Speaker 1: I received that coming to me right now on this
Speaker 1: first mile of my eighty mile journey. I got to
Speaker 1: get to Galilee, but I'm thankful that you met me
Speaker 1: in between. And he tells them, go, I know you're afraid,
Speaker 1: Verse ten, but go go tell my brothers. You still
Speaker 1: calling them brothers after they left you at the cross.
Speaker 1: Every single disciple except John went away, and Jesus called
Speaker 1: them brothers. Every person in this room today, if we
Speaker 1: could look inside your heart, you are carrying the guilt.
Speaker 1: Put my final slide on the screen, because I want
Speaker 1: to give an invitation to you now of what you did,
Speaker 1: the guilt of who you think you are, the guild
Speaker 1: of what you failed to live up to that you
Speaker 1: meant to be. And then there is the glory of God,
Speaker 1: who is Jesus Christ, who is the righteous one who
Speaker 1: knew no sin but became sin that we might become
Speaker 1: the righteousness. Of God. All have sin and fall short
Speaker 1: of the glory of God. You're not the best Christian
Speaker 1: that ever lived. His name is Jesus. But there is
Speaker 1: nothing so wrong with you today that the Savior, who
Speaker 1: is perfect and pure, cannot redeem it. Why are we
Speaker 1: surprised to see him? Why are we surprised to hear
Speaker 1: him in between the grave and galilee. We shouldn't be
Speaker 1: surprised that he met us in the middle. We shouldn't
Speaker 1: be surprised when he shows up in our shame. Wouldn't
Speaker 1: be surprised when he gives us mercy for our mess
Speaker 1: and righteousness for our rags. We shouldn't be surprised to
Speaker 1: see him in between because the last time we saw
Speaker 1: him on the cross, Look what John nineteen eighteen says
Speaker 1: Jesus was doing there. They crucified him with two other men,
Speaker 1: one on either side, back on the screen, and Jesus
Speaker 1: in between. I see Jesus in between today. There's an
Speaker 1: anointing on this word to bring you out of your grave,
Speaker 1: to bring you out of your guilt. For wherever there
Speaker 1: was guilt, grace was greater. Grace was greater whatever you did.
Speaker 1: Wherever you've been but gone is breaking good morning. He
Speaker 1: is risen, and his grace is greater.
Speaker 4: Your sin has separated you from God, but your savior
Speaker 4: is greater than your sin. He is Jesus in between,
Speaker 4: making you right with God. You could never be right
Speaker 4: with God in your own righteousness. You don't have to.
Speaker 4: You've got Jesus in between.
Speaker 7: Right now, while the presence of God is standing on
Speaker 7: this road in this moment, what Jesus said to the women,
Speaker 7: he says to you, greetings, be not afraid, but go.
Speaker 1: It's bowt eyes closed. Everyone standing at every location, no
Speaker 1: one moving. This is a holy moment. This is an
Speaker 1: in between moment. For though our sins where a scarlet,
Speaker 1: he washed them as white as snow. This is an
Speaker 1: in between moment. He is a stretching savior. He is
Speaker 1: a suddenly savior. He is a space making savior. And
Speaker 1: there is room at this cross for you, for everyone
Speaker 1: online and at all of our locations who wants today
Speaker 1: to meet Jesus. I want to tell you the great
Speaker 1: secret of the mystery of the Gospel. While the women
Speaker 1: were looking for Jesus, Jesus was already looking for them,
Speaker 1: and he desires to meet you in this moment. Right now,
Speaker 1: I'm going to pray a prayer. If you've been far
Speaker 1: from God and you know it, and yet today he
Speaker 1: calls you brother, sister, friend, child of God. If your
Speaker 1: sins have been weighing heavy on your heart and you
Speaker 1: haven't known what to do with them, and shame is great,
Speaker 1: I introduce you now to the Savior, whose name is greater.
Speaker 1: I'm going to lead you in a prayer. Won't be
Speaker 1: a magic trick, but it is an act of faith.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that if anyone calls on the name
Speaker 1: of the Lord, they will be saved. It is by
Speaker 1: grace that you are saved. Your guilt is great, his
Speaker 1: glory is great. But His grace is greater than your guilt,
Speaker 1: and you can receive it right now. Suddenly you can
Speaker 1: be a brand new person today this day. So right now,
Speaker 1: if this message was for you, I want you to
Speaker 1: repeat this prayer after me. You're coming to Jesus. He
Speaker 1: already came to you. You just repeat after me and
Speaker 1: let him into your heart and turn from your sin,
Speaker 1: and he will make you a brand new person. We're
Speaker 1: praying out loud as a church family for the benefit
Speaker 1: of those who are coming to God. For the first
Speaker 1: time or coming back to God. Repeat after me, this
Speaker 1: is your moment, Heavenly Father. Today is my day of salvation.
Speaker 1: I am a sinner in need of a savior, and
Speaker 1: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
Speaker 1: and the savior of the world. I believe he died
Speaker 1: that I would be forgiven and rose again to give
Speaker 1: me life. I receive this new life. This is my
Speaker 1: new beginning. I am a child of God. On the counter.
Speaker 1: Three shoot your hand up if you prayed that boldly.
Speaker 1: One two, three.
Speaker 7: We celebrate your resurrection today. We celebrate your resurrection today.
Speaker 1: That is what it's all about. Today. That Jesus met me,
Speaker 1: that Jesus changed me, that Jesus is with me, and
Speaker 1: I'll never be the same. I need everybody who believes
Speaker 1: Jesus is it give him a great sound of lives.
Speaker 3: Wait a little better than that.
Speaker 1: Makes such stay on the side of and yet myself.
Speaker 1: So thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those
Speaker 1: of you who give generously to this ministry. Is because
Speaker 1: of you that this ministry is possible. You can click
Speaker 1: the link in the description to give now or visit
Speaker 1: Elevation Church dot org. Slash podcast for more information and
Speaker 1: if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can
Speaker 1: share it with your friends. You can click the share button,
Speaker 1: take a screenshot and share it on your social stories
Speaker 1: and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 1: God bless you.