← Red Rocks Church Weekend Messages
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Red Rocks Church. How you feel? Happy Easter. You look fantastic. You look fantastic. Say hi to everybody.
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Happy Easter. Red Rocks Church. Hello. What an honor it is to get to celebrate such a sweet moment. The moment that we celebrate that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is alive changes everything. Us. And how special that we get to celebrate with you this weekend. It's an honor that you've come and we love you. And I am going to kick us off by praying and just giving this whole moment to God. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for sending your one and only son, Jesus. Jesus. We thank you that you were obedient to our Heavenly Father and that you came. And we thank you that you lived among us. You experienced this life. You know the highs and the lows. You know all of it. You know suffering firsthand. And while we cannot imagine what you went through when youn gave your life on the cross, we just say thank you, even though we don't fully understand the gravity. But God, you are so kind. You are so loving, you are so giving, and we rejoice. Thank you. You changed everything for us. I thank you that your presence is here in this Holy Spirit. We ask that you would speak, that you would move as only you can do. We give you this moment. We give you this time. We say thank you, we love you, we honor you, and we celebrate you. Jesus, again, thank you for making a way for us to do life with you. In your name we pray. Amen.
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Amen.
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Happy Easter. Red Rocks Church.
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Love you, babe. Hey, would you stay standing for a second? Band at least drums and some guitar. Stay here and make some noise here in a second. I want. I'm going to. I'm going to read the. The. The. The eyewitness account of the very first Easter. And. And the last three words of it. Spoiler alert. He has risen. Okay, if you didn't know, I was going to tell you anyways. When I get to. He has risen. Can we go bananas? Can we go crazy? Every single location. My hope is that the other Denver locations hear this one. Lakewood, we want. Nevada. Park Meadows. We want to hear you from here. All right? All right, so stay with me. The very first Easter looked like this after the Sabbath. At dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake. For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. What a g. His appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow. The Guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. All right, get ready. The angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know what you're looking for. You're looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He's not here, church. He has risen. Somebody make some noise. Thank you, Jesus. All right, all right. High five, somebody. Have a seat. I like to tell you guys, almost every week, as long as I remember it, that right up top, that we are just a bunch of messed up, imperfect people. And depending on where you're watching this from, you may have already heard your campus pastor tell you, but I got to make sure you understand this. We are. We're just imperfect people, but we love to get together like this and pursue a perfect God. And the reason I say that every time is because I know that every single week we have people that join us that have never been with us before. And on a weekend like this, we'll have thousands probably that haven't been with us before or haven't been with us in a long time. And I just never want you to. I don't ever want you to come here and feel like you have to be nervous or you have to feel awkward. I invited a friend to Easter not too long ago, and he was really worried about, like, what do I wear? What do I wear? And I'm like, oh, bro, shorts and flip flops. You're good here, I promise. Like, we're a little dressed up today, okay? And he's like, hey, man, I don't have a Bible. And I go, that's all right. Most of these people do, but they ain't bringing it with them, so you're fine. I said, I'll get you one. And then afterwards, right out in the lobby, he goes, hey, man, sorry, the. Those baskets came by and I wasn't prepared. He goes like, what are the dues? And I was like, I love you so much. I'm so glad you're here. There's no dues, but, like, you see what I mean? Like, you know, because you've been doing it for a while, but when you haven't, you don't. So we just want you to know in this place, you're going to be loved and welcomed and valued no matter what has happened, no matter what you're going through or have been through. And I just couldn't get this off my heart. I felt like God wanted me to encourage somebody that, you know what, this doesn't have to be a one stop shop for you. And I know for some of you, like, it'll just be today, or maybe it's today and Easter or just once in a while. And I just want to encourage you, like, you could come back next week and what if. What if. And look, if this is not your flavor of church, I get it, there's so many great churches in our city. But what if you came back and you didn't just watch? What if you, like, got involved? What if you let us help you get in a group, get on a team? And what if God used that? You locking arms with some other believers, start to do life with some other believers, you start to feel that rush of purpose. And what if God used that to change your life forever? I'm just telling you, I could pass this mic, I could take it to all of our locations, and thousands and thousands of people would tell you, we got involved in his local church and he changed the game for me. You know, church wasn't our idea. Like, this was. This was a Jesus idea. He's the one who said to his best friends, I'm gonna build my church, and the gates of hell can't stop it. His plan was to change people's lives through his church. So I'm just inviting you back. Today doesn't have to be a one stop, one stop deal. But even if it is, I do believe with all my heart that you're not here by accident. You're not listening. You're not watching by accident. God has a plan to speak to you about your life. I believe that. Are you ready? I'm telling you, church, here's what you're going to find out. There is no person he can't reach, no life he can't change, no miracle he can't do. When he stepped out of the tomb, everything became possible. Amen. All right, if you have a Bible, flip to Romans chapter five. We're going to look at a passage of scripture that you might not expect us to look at on Easter weekend. But what's fascinating about the two verses that we're about to read is the entire story of the Bible is in these two verses. It needs a little unpacking, but I'm telling you, the whole thing is in these two verses. These two verses talk to us about how sin got here, what the consequences of that sin are, what God's plan is to do about it. What did Jesus do about it? How will that affect us? I mean, it's all in here, two verses. And what you're going to see is two men who make Two decisions at two trees. And these two decisions are going to change the world in two drastically different directions. We're going to start in verse 18. We're going to read 18 and 19. Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification in life for all people. For just as though the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners. By the way, that's talking about Adam in the Garden of Eden at a tree. We'll talk about that here in a second. Made a decision that allowed sin and condemnation into our world. That's the one man. The many were made sinners. So also, though, through the obedience of one man, the many will be made righteous. Says, there was one man at one tree who made one decision, and it brought all kinds of condemnation and sin and shame and problems into the world. But then it says, but there was another man, and he also came to a tree, a second tree, and he made a decision that was going to make every single one of us have the opportunity to be absolutely perfect in God's sight, free from sin and shame and death, all of it. And maybe you go, what? You're talking about Jesus, right? And why are you saying tree not cross Often in the Bible? You may know this, you may not. Often in the Bible. The Bible will actually refer to the cross that Jesus went to for us as a tree. Acts 10:39 is one of them. It says this. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day. Two men, two decisions, two trees. Thank you, creative team. By the way, for our trees. They look good. Right before I got saved at 24, I thought I had seen the worst decision anyone had ever made concerning a tree. Like, I was positive I'm gonna tell you about it now. Let me ask you a question. Any of you afraid of heights? Anybody afraid of heights? Some of you. Okay. Probably more. You just don't want to admit it. It's fine. Okay. Maybe it's not a fear. I don't know that I'm afraid of heights, but anybody get really weird when you stand on a real tall balcony and look down and something inside you goes, I kind of want to see what that's like. Like, I'm probably not gonna. But I think I could make it to that pool. I think that every time I'm at a hotel, I got on the back and I'm like, I mean, I'm probably not gonna. But I'm pretty sure I can make It. And I was like, I don't know if it's just me. I think if it is, I gave it to my boys. We were on vacation last summer and we rented an Airbnb and it had a little rooftop. And we were on the rooftop, and one of my boys walks over and he goes, I jump over and make it to that house. And I was like, I beg you to try. Just don't tell mom because I'm so. Like, I think I could, too. So, so, so. Kansas University. My first year at Kansas University. We all know. Best school in the world. Rock chalk, Jaycock. Go K you. So I'm at. In this amazing city called Lawrence, Kansas. Put it on your bucket list. A friend of mine had a third story apartment and they had a little rooftop on top of it. And we're up on the roof. There's about 10 of us in, like, you know, lawn chairs. And one of my friends, his name is Z Man, we call him Z Man because his last name started with a Z. Kind of like, you know, bz, but different. Different Z. So anyways, called him Z Man. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, Z Man just goes, bet I could jump off this roof and land in that tree. I said, what? He goes, oh, yeah. I go, z. That's like 20ft away. That's like crazy, dude. You can't do that. And you know how guys are. Some of the guys are like, what's up? You gonna try it? You know? You know, guys, one. One guy over here hadn't said anything all afternoon. He goes, you won't. Bet you can't. I'm like, bro, this is on your hands, you know? So now. So now it has to be done. And so Z Man gets on the. And we start. 10, 9, 8. He runs over to the edge. He goes. Start over. We did, man. 5, 4, 3, 2. He runs. He's kind of little guy. Real fast. Little strides, though. Real fast. You don't know what happened, don't you? I'll tell you later. So. No, I'm just kidding. So he runs and he jumps. He jumps off this roof. And guys, he looked like a superhero. He grabs this tree. Made it. He jumped all the way over, grabs the tree. We're freaking out. We're going, z. Yeah. And then all of a sudden, we go, no. Because what none of us thought about was, what's he gonna do after he gets there? Not one of us considered that he jumps, guys, I'm telling you. He just. And then just three stories, and we just Hear. And then silence. I look at my friend, I'm like, you killed him. You killed Z. All of a sudden we hear. And then we hear, help. I'm not kidding. We run downstairs. Z rolls over. Guys, he's wearing shorts and a T shirt. All the inside of his legs, his arms, his face. I mean, it looked like he got drugged behind a car or something. Like, it looked like he got set on fire. He rolls over. And I thought two things instantly. Number one, I thought, that was awesome. And then the second thing I thought was, that's going to hurt. For a long time, I thought I had seen the worst decision at a tree. That's called a transition there, Conrad. But there was a different one in the book of Genesis, chapter two. Now, the Lord God had planted a garden in the east in Eden. And there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees, made them grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden, there's a tree of life and a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There's two trees that he has to make a choice between. One represents God's plan and God's perfection and God's presence. And one represents the only thing that God asked him not to do. See, God created us so that he could love us. He created us so that we could actually have a real relationship with him. And we can. It's one of the reasons I want you to keep coming back. Because one of the things we try to help people do every single week is get to know God in a very real and practical way. And you can. But God knows if you're going to actually love me and I'm going to love you, there has to be a choice, or else it's not love. And the Lord God commanded the man, I'm giving you a choice, but I'm begging you not to choose. Wrong. You are free to eat from any tree in the garden. There's the choice. But you must not eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat from it, you'll certainly die in that moment. Even if you haven't been in church, you know, Satan comes and tempts Adam and Eve, and they fall for it. Satan called the author of lies the father of lies. He starts saying. He says the same things that he's saying today. You can't trust God. Don't trust his word. Don't trust what he says. He doesn't have the best, you in mind. He's got his own agenda. You can't trust God. Life will be better, more fun, if you do your thing and they do and they choose wrong. And in that moment, and we're going to read two verses that show us this. In that moment, sin, shame and death enter our world. And I think it was in that moment where God looked down and went, ah, I think I was heartbroken. I think he thought that that's going to hurt for a long time. Watch this, though. This is crazy. Genesis 2. 25. This is. I'm going to read you two verses that show us what the sin and the shame and the death look like. That. That first tree, the decision that that first tree brought into our world. But let me read one verse first because it just baffled me. This week. God describes what it was like for Adam and Eve before sin. And here's what he says. Adam and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame. And all the guys are like, talk to me about the naked thing, man. Bro, it's Easter, okay? Now, the first time I read the verse, I was like, yeah, they had no shame, no clothes. I mean, they're eating pretty healthy, right? I mean, talk about organic, you know, farm to table. Like it's. They got a six pack probably. I don't know. I don't picture, you know, Adam or Eve ever saying the other one. Like, oh, shouldn't have that third Krispy Kreme, Let me get my fat pants on before we watch church, babe. You know what I mean? So. The no shame part, though, that's not just they had no shame between them. They had no shame with God. And I thought, that's so interesting because God could have used a whole bunch of words to describe what it was like for Adam and Eve in their relationship with God. If he's just going to use one word to talk about it before sin comes into the world. Like he could have said, they were joyful, they were peaceful, they were purposeful, they were righteous. Like all kinds of things he said, no, no, I want you to get this. Before sin came into the world, they had no shame. Do you know, Adam and Eve, before sin, they never knew what it was like to go, I really need a miracle and I really want to pray for it, but I haven't been very good lately. And I don't know if this is the time. They never felt that. Adam and Eve never felt what it was like to go, excuse me. Adam and Eve never felt what it was like to think, I should go to church. This weekend? No, not the way I've been acting. I want to get close to God, but I bet he's mad at me right now. I bet he's disappointed because, you know, I've been. They never knew what that was like. They had no shame. And our whole Bible is how God is going to fix what happened at this first tree and to get rid of the sin and to set us free from the shame so that we can have life in the here and now and life to internal with him. They had no shame. And then sin enters the world. And watch this. Genesis 3:8. The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And they hid. They hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Why'd they hide shame? Same reason we think things like, I probably can't get involved in that. I probably can't. I shouldn't go get in a small group. Not the way I'm living right now. I could never lead a small group. I still deal with. I can't pray. I can't ask God for anything right now. But we know the feeling. Shame is one of the first things we see, the first consequence. And if you kind of start reading your Bible with that on your radar, you'll start to see that Satan's plan and hopes is to keep as many people as possible from ever experiencing Jesus or actually enjoying Jesus and walking in purpose with Jesus. And he wants to use shame to keep us from it. Sin and death. Romans 5:12. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin. And in this way, death came to all people because all sinned. He wasn't the only one who was affected. We've all been affected and we all still sin. In fact, Paul says, make sure you don't just look back and go, that was just something that Adam and Eve dealt with. That's our reality. It's something that we deal with. He says, this is our. Our reality today. Romans 3. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And God's word tells us that sin has a consequence. It comes at a price, has to be paid for. And there's this very sobering verse. Go ahead and put that up on the screen if you would. For the wages of sin is death. Stop right there. You can leave it up, but let's stop right there. That verse and the verse we just read that talks about when Adam and Eve sinned and sin and shame, and it says, Death became something that we all deal with. That's not talking about like we breathed our last breath here on earth. That's not the death that that verse or this verse is talking about. It's talking about eternal separation from God in a place that the Bible calls hell. Cause see, God is perfect and sin free, and he can't coexist with sin. So the price of sin wasn't just shame in the here and now. It was eternal separation from God. Go ahead and put the. There you go. But I love this. It's this verse, you see, right in the middle of this verse, it's like where God stands up and goes, not gonna happen. Not what I want from my kids, not what I want from my sons. Not what I want from my daughters. Yes, the wages of sin is death. But. But God. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. He said, I'm gonna send you a gift that's gonna take care of everything that happened on the first tree. And the gift is going to be Jesus going to the second tree. He says, I'm gonna send my son, and he's gonna take care of the sin. He's gonna take care of the shame. He's gonna take care of the eternal separation or the death. He says it like this. First Peter, 2:24. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. The first tree let sin and shame and death into our world. Jesus says, that first tree is not the end of the story. I'm going to choose. And if you were here for our Good Friday services, you heard our campus pastors and some people on our staff beautifully share with you what it was like. And if you missed it, you got to get caught up. But Jesus said, I choose. I choose to go to that second tree that you call the cross. I choose to go to the cross. I choose to let my body be broken so that your sins can be paid for. See, I think we need to understand this. See, the Bible says God is just and loving. So he can't ignore sin. Because if he's. If you're just. You realize that a crime has to be paid for, right? So he's just. Which means the sin has to be paid for. But he's loving. And so he says, I don't want you to pay for it. I'll send my own son and I'll let him pay for it. Our sins were never ignored. They were nailed to the cross. Jesus bore our sins for Us on the cross and understand this church. Sin may have entered the world on the first tree through Adam, but sin was conquered for the world on the second tree through Jesus. Sin, death or sin, shame and death from the first tree, right? Jesus says, no, I choose. I choose a different path. I make my own decision. I choose to take care of the sin for you. And I'm gonna read you a couple verses to help us understand why that is. And then you'll understand here in a second why I wanted to talk about trees so badly. First John 1:9. How do we receive this gift? God, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness when we put our faith in Jesus. That's what that verse says. But the gift of God, right? All we have to do is receive the gift. We receive the gift by putting our faith in Jesus. And when we put our faith in Jesus, we are promised he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Righteousness just means you're in perfect right, standing with God. So us saying, God, Jesus, I want to put my faith in you. I want you to forgive me of my sins in that instant. Not because we've earned it, not because we've deserved it, not because we've been good enough. We get absolute forgiveness of sins. And we are now in perfect right, standing with God. And what that means is when God looks at us, he doesn't see our sin. He sees Jesus perfection. He doesn't see us for the sin that we have done. He sees us for the decision, for the taking care of the sins that Jesus already did. We get forgiveness of sin if we put our faith in him. We get freedom from shame. Romans 8:1 2. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed. Behold, the new has come. Sometimes I do this. I won't even indict you, okay? I will hold on to shame in a way that God's going, I don't even see that anymore. Why are you holding onto it? Jesus has paid for that. Why are you holding onto it? Like if I. If I pulled my truck over to the side of the road and fought somebody, like I have felt like doing a few times, Many, many, many years ago, obviously, and before I started putting red ruck stickers on the truck. So. But let's say I do that and I get arrested and Then Jill comes and she bails me out, and she doesn't even yell and scream. She just gives me the. Which is way worse. But what if you saw me here in the lobby the next weekend and I go to like. Like, high five you and hug and the whole thing, and I got. I got handcuffs on. You're like, what are you doing? Like, oh, I got arrested last week. Yeah, I did something bad. Did they tell you you have to keep wearing those? No, I just. I like to remember that I've done some bad things. I. I just. I. I don't deserve total freedom. You should. What I did was wrong. And I just keep these on. Wouldn't that be. You'd be like, you don't have to wear that. Jesus has set you free from that. Christians, I'm telling you, that's what we're doing to ourselves nonstop. And it's a choice. We have to just choose. I'm not gonna listen to the lie of Satan anymore. He's not gonna keep me from going to my God anymore. I've been set free from sin. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In John 3:16, Jesus says, I came to give you life instead of death. For God so loved the world, so loves you, so loves me that he gave his one and only son. Here it is. Whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. The first tree does bring sin and shame and death. But Jesus says, no, I'll go to the second tree, the cross, and I'll take care of that. And if you put your faith in me, you get forgiveness, you get freedom from shame, and you get life to the fullest. That word, life is Zoe in the Greek. Life to the fullest in the here and now, and life eternal with God. I said all that because I wanted to say this. This is. This has been my prayer for you. And I hope that you let God speak to you. Somebody needs to hear this. I'm going to tell you like I would tell my boys. Don't you dare live under the shame of the first tree when you can walk in the freedom of the second tree. Don't you dare. Don't walk in the shame of the first tree putting handcuffs on yourself when you've been set free when Jesus died to pay the price for that sin. Set you free from that shame and let you begin to live life to the fullest. But we just got. Sometimes we gotta remind ourselves, don't we? And let me tell you what it looks like. You'll know if shame is snuck in and starting to run the show, here's what it'll look like. If you haven't ever put your faith in Jesus, it'll look like this. Here's what you think. God won't want me. God's gotta be disappointed in me. That's what you'll think. And that is Satan's attempt to keep you from ever actually putting your faith in Jesus, giving him control and experiencing salvation in a whole new life. That's his plan. Same as it was in the Garden of. In the Garden of Eden. If he can use shame to get you to just hide and stay away from God and. Right. And so here's. Here's the thoughts. I can't. I can't do this God thing. Like, I'm not good. Like all these people are. I couldn't do it. Like, who am I kidding? If I tried, I'd fail. Like, I remember so vividly. I wish I had video footage to show you. I remember so vividly the first time I went to a church as an adult at 24. I was straight out of LA, and I was going to a church in Illinois, and I had my combat boots on and my. I bought some slacks at a thrift store. We used to go to these thrift stores in la where you spend more at the thrift store than if they were brand new. Not brilliant on our part. Had my slacks from the thrift store, my grandpa shirt from the thrift store, my leather jacket, chain wallet. The guy who brought me, he worked at the church. He was off doing I work at the church things. And so I just stood by the front door and just smoked cigarettes. I didn't know what to do. I just. And it's funny because what I now know is, is I was 100% the guy that 12 security guards were going, you still see him? Yeah, I got him. Okie. Roger that. I had no clue. But I know. I know now. And I didn't want to come into the service because I was so scared that someone would see me for who I really was. And I know what you're feeling. And I was so desperate for life change. I was, like, really hoping that something would stick and, like, change my life, but I just didn't think I'd qualify for it. And I remember I sat in the middle of a row and I just looked down at my feet. Most of the time I was listening, but you wouldn't have thought I was. I didn't want to make eye contact with anyone because I was certain they don't want me here. They don't want people like me here. They don't want people who tried to take their life less than a week ago here. They don't want people who have drugs in their pocket right now. They don't want me here. God wouldn't want me here. Who am I kidding? And I just thank God. And I don't know how I got over those thoughts, but I thank God that day. I said, if he's real, I just want to try it. I want to say yes to Jesus and ask him to forgive me of my sins if he's real. And I'm telling you, church, it changed the game for me for the rest of my life and it could do the same for you. We got to get past Satan trying to keep us from coming to Jesus through shame. And if you already have put your faith in Jesus, here's what it sounds like for you. God won't want me. God's got to be disappointed with me. Satan's not that creative. He's just consistent. That'll be the same thought. And I can't tell you how many days and weeks at a time I have lost joy to just letting myself focus on why I'm not good enough and letting shame run rampant in my mind and in my heart when I know Jesus set me free from that on the cross. But I have chosen somehow to hold on to it. I can't decide what thoughts go in first, but I can decide which thought, which thoughts stay there. And sometimes I just got to do what the Bible says. I got to take that thing captive, kick it out, and focus back on what God says. I'm a new creation whether I feel it or not. You're a new creation whether you feel it or not. If you've put your faith in Jesus, but we let shame, we'll come to a service like this. And I kind of want to worship, but I keep doing that thing I said I'd never do again. Who am I kidding? He didn't want me to worship. I need some prayer. I don't deserve it. I need God to do a miracle in my life. I don't think he'd actually do it for someone like me because right, we know what that feels like. I remember one time I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who's a pastor, amazing pastor. And I was telling him one day I was like, man, I don't know about you, but like, I just, I feel exhausted sometimes from non stop fighting this battle in my head that Says I'm not enough. And you don't have to be a pastor to have that. Whatever you feel like God's called you to do and be. I bet some of you know what that feels like. I said, man, I'm just like, I'm exhausted non stop. Like I'm trying, I'm trying. Even this pastor thing, I feel like I'm trying with like my heart and my soul. And then I read one email that reminds me I'm not enough again. Or I get one message that reminds me I'm not enough again. Or I don't even need to look at anything else. I can remind myself pretty easily I'm not enough again. I still deal with all these temptations that I wish I didn't. I still deal with temptations like doubt, anger, lust, pride, insecurity. Like I could keep going. And I told my friend, I said, I've even. I go, I'm so ashamed that I even deal with anxiety and depression. Like I'm ashamed of the fact that I deal with that stuff when I feel like I shouldn't, when I should be able to get over it, when I should be able to move on and I haven't been able to move on and I'm ashamed of. Makes me want to give up sometimes. My friend, in an honest moment, he looked back at me and he said, he said, I know exactly how you feel. He said, I know God loves me because I believe his word. And he said, he does. So it's kind of like he has to. He goes, but I can't figure out why he'd like me because I never feel like I'm enough. And we started talking to each other and I'm gonna tell you the things we started telling each other. Cause we had to. At some point we had to go, wait a second. We get to choose which tree we focus on. We get to choose. Do I keep remembering the sin and shame and death that the first tree brought or do I focus on what Jesus brought on the second tree? We're not forgiven because we feel forgiven. We're forgiven because Jesus died so that we could be forgiven because God's word says we're forgiven. I'm not a new creation because I feel like it every day. I'm a new creation because Jesus paid the price for my sins. And God's word said I'm a new creation. And in Christ there's no condemnation. And I could step into that. But we got to decide for ourselves. Not going to let the second tree control my or the first tree to control my life. When Jesus paid the price to get rid of all of it, on the second tree, When we. When we realize that's what's happening and we actually go, no, no, I'm going to choose to change that. I'm going to make a conscious choice to change that. You know what God's hope is? That we just come to him as his kids with absolute confidence. Not because we've been good, that we've earned it, that we deserve something. No. He's like, do you understand what I let my son go through? It's not about what you deserve. It's about what he did. It's not about what you've done. It's about what's been already. He said, it is finished. And it was. And you can step up to me no matter what you need, no matter how bad things have been. Maybe you sinned a nanosecond ago. You can come to me with confidence. He says, let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence. Confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us when we're perfect. No, when we're at our lowest, sometimes in our time of need. That's it. I wanted to do all this stuff with the trees because I just wanted you to see, like, yes, it's real. Sin, shame, death. It's real. But it doesn't have to be for us. We can choose Jesus. But the same thing that happened in the garden, God says, I love you enough. I won't force you to choose me. I won't force you to love me. I won't force you to want to do life with me. But if you choose, if you put your faith in Jesus, if you just repent of your sins and let the gift take over, I'll forgive your sins and purify you from all unrighteousness. I will take away that shame. There will be no more condemnation. Jesus said, I came that you would have life and life to the fullest. That's in the here and now and forever with him. And so as we close, I want to give you a slightly different visual than you've had. I know the video at the beginning said two trees. And so far, all I've talked about is two trees. I want you to. I want you to think about three trees for a sec. You may know this, you may not. Our Bible is actually bookended by talking about trees. In Genesis, we already read it. There was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that God said Please don't choose that one. But. But they chose that one. And so everything the Tree of Life had to offer that perfect unity with God, perfect relationship, perfect peace, that got forfeited. That's in Genesis. If you go all the way to the back of your Bible talks about that same Tree of life, Revelation 22. Let me introduce this to you. If this is new to you, then the angel showed me the river of the water of Life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. That's Jesus. Down the middle of the great street of the city, on each side of the river stood the Tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will will there be any curse. Our whole story starts with a tree where a bad decision was made. And sin and shame and death have now taken over. And we are dealing with those things today. We're still broken people in a broken world dealing with those things. And God's plan is to get us to be in heaven with him for eternity, where the Tree of Life will be again, and we won't lose that one. That one we get forever, and that will be perfect. No more tears, no more crying, no more pain. Perfect relationship with God in His presence. And the Tree of Life, we'll be there to represent all of it. And that's the plan. That's what God wants. Every single one of us. We got one on one end and one on the other. And then. See, the reason we celebrate Easter, the reason this is so amazing, is because Jesus, when He came, he came to build the bridge between the first tree and the last. And so he went to the second tree and he said, I'll give you my everything, but you will have to choose me. But if you do, I have built you a bridge that will take you to the presence of God for all of eternity. And that bridge looked like this. Jesus hung on that tree, and they executed him, and they put him in a tomb. And on the third day, he came up out of that tomb. Tomb. Proving everything he said was accurate. He said he could forgive sin. He said he could grant eternal life. He said he could set you free. Anyone could say it, but when you predict your own death, burial, and resurrection, and then on the third day, you come up out of the grave like no human could ever do, proving you're the one and only son of the one and only God in the one and only way to heaven. That's what makes Easter so Special is Easter was him proving I have the right to build the bridge from the first tree to the eternal tree. And then he says, that's where I want every single one of you. But I love you so much. I'll let you choose. Let's pray. God, I thank you. I thank you for your son, Jesus. I thank you that you allowed him to die on a cross to pay the price for our sins. And we never earned it. Never been good enough to deserve that. Never. Not even close. I thank you that you brought him up out of the grave. So on those days when we. When our faith starts to fail us a little bit, we can look back to that historical event and go, no. I know why I believe what I believe because he came up out of that grave. I thank you for that. And, God, I pray that everything that your son did for us, the forgiveness of our sins, the freedom from our shame, and the life instead of death. I pray, God, that you would help each one of us begin to experience that in a real and authentic way. With everyone's eyes closed. I want to ask two questions, just give you a chance to respond to whatever God might be doing in your life this Easter weekend. The first one's this. You go, I know what it feels like to deal with shame. I know what it feels like to have those thoughts creep in every now and then that say, I'm not enough. And today I just want to ask Jesus, would you give me the strength to walk away from those? Because you've already set me free from. From them. God, would you set me free from shame and the feeling like I'm not enough and I never will be? If that's you, would you raise your hand? I'm just gonna pray for you. We're gonna experience some freedom. Praise God, a whole bunch of us. I'm with you. I get it. The second question is this. You may not have even expected this. You may not have even known why you were coming to a service or watching or listening from wherever you're at, but God did. And you could. Something's been going on inside of you. Like, you just know this was for me. I needed to hear this. I needed to be reminded that sin and shame and eternal separation from God are real. And I can really experience life change through Jesus Christ. And I can really have his spirit living inside of me to set me free from things like shame. And I can really spend forever in heaven. And today I need to make that decision. Not because I'm perfect, not because I think I'm good. Enough or earned it? Because I just want to say yes to Jesus and receive that gift. I want forgiveness of my sins. I want to make sure I'm going to heaven forever. If that's you, raise your hand. I'm just gonna say a prayer for you. Hold him up high. Praise God. Praise God. Raising your hand doesn't make you saved. It just sort of does something for your heart. An action just sort of reminds your heart. I know I'm making a choice here. Praise God. God, I thank you for the eternal lives that are being changed right now. In Jesus name, I pray that as we begin to worship you, we would literally just feel weights lifted off our shoulders and we would sense your presence in such a real and authentic way. And I pray God, for every person who's been battling shame, who's been battling those thoughts of I'm just not enough. I'm not good enough. I don't act right, I don't do enough right. I. I still sin, I still mess up. Maybe it'll never be enough. God, I pray that you would take those thoughts and just cast them out of our minds today in Jesus name, that we would be reminded we're forgiven because your word says we are. We're forgiven because of what Jesus did. And there is no condemnation. We can walk in confidence and be free from shame. And we do get to live life to the fullest in the here and now. And we praise you for it. And we can't wait to be with you one day in heaven forever. In Jesus name. And everybody said amen. All right, Red Rocks church, stand up with me if you would. We're gonna sing a song called the Lord Is With Me. And I just want to remind you, no matter what you might be going through today, no matter what you've been through, no matter what you feel like you're facing that's ahead of you, that feels impossible, whatever it is, as we sing this song, I just challenge you. Don't watch someone sing it. Get in, sing it with us and declare it. I will get through this. Because the God of the universe, he stepped out of a grave on the very first Easter, which means he could step into my life today. I don't have to be afraid because the Lord is with me in Jesus name. Let's do that. I love you, Church. Happy Easter.