Transcript
Pastor Mike (0:00)
This is Julian Edelman from Games With Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time, and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of, but I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big Game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough and you can show support by sharing the Blue Square Tax season has arrived and doing taxes without the right help can feel overwhelming. Intuit TurboTax is here now to guide you through it with confidence. Match with a TurboTax full service expert who handles everything for you from start to finish. Your dedicated expert checks every single deduction and credit to help you get the best possible outcome so you can feel confident you're getting every dollar you deserve. And the best part? You'll see real time updates on your expert's progress right on your phone while you live your life. Plus you get unlimited expert help at no extra cost even on nights and weekends during tax season. Visit turbotax.com Only available with TurboTax Full Service Experts Real time updates only on iOS mobile app welcome to Transformation Church Podcast where we represent God to the lost and Found for Transformation in Christ. We're so glad you're here and wherever you're listening from, we believe God will transform your life through today's message. Today I want to speak to you. I want to preach to help you understand how good God is. If I never see you again, if this is the only time that I get to see speak to you today, I'm going to try my hardest to convince you that there's no better way than Jesus. Like Like I just want to tell you up front because a lot of people, they want to impress you first I want to tell you my end goal is that you leave here and forget me and only remember Jesus. And so today it is my attempt to speak words that make sense enough for somebody to make an eternal decision. Thank you for coming, but if he didn't come, none of us would be here. And today I'm grateful. It's weird because I haven't been able to preach on a Sunday on Easter for like eight years because usually we're doing Ransom at this time, and I have a little sermonette prepared for y' all in the middle to tell you about the gospel, but I don't get to preach a whole message. And today I want to let you know Ransom is probably one of the greatest productions of the story of Jesus Christ that you could ever see. And we have one more showing of ransom tonight at 6pm and I want you to gather your families. I want you to gather. Gather your people, your folks, people who are lost and found. And I want you to watch this tonight on YouTube. I'm telling you, it will transform their lives from children all the way up. We've already seen hundreds of salvations through this. But I felt that God told me that I was supposed to speak a word to you in season today. And so the one thing that I'm gonna do is be obedient to God. And so if you came for a play, you got played. We tried to tell everybody, we tried to communicate. But today, I have a word. And a word from God is better than anything you could want. It's what he wants you to have. So today, can we pray together and ask God to open up our hearts to be ready to receive? Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you that you would speak in this place today. Do what I can't do. Holy Spirit, I need your help up here. For the thousands of people that are in this room and watching online, I thank you that today would mark their life forever for such a time as this. You've brought us into this building. And I thank you that there will be thousands of people that receive Jesus at the end of this service. Not just for a moment, Father, but their lives will be radically transformed. Today. We give you glory, we give you honor, and we give you praise. You be lifted high in this place. God have your way in Jesus Name everybody say we agree. We expect. Say Amen. Would you put your hands together one more time as we go into the word? Amen. All right. Hi, my name is Michael. I'm wearing a yellow suit. All right, let's get that out the way. My daughter told me I look like the guy from Curious George today. Shout out to Bella. He ain't never been this fly. No. Today I want to encourage you. I think if I could do anything today, I want you to leave, like, with a smile on your face, saying, like, oh, snap. I actually do have joy. Like, if you're in a dark situation right now, if things aren't looking good for you right now, I just want you to be encouraged that. That. That the brighter side is coming to your life. Somebody just. If you want a brighter side, if you want things to light up, if you want things to get better. I need you to make some noise in the building right now. Okay? Just need to make sure I was talking to the. To the right people in this place. And so today I believe that the word of God is going to be something that is going to bring joy to your life. I want to look at the actual story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter. We teach so many other things a lot of times, and you don't look at just actually what happened. Luke chapter 24, verse 1, it says, but very early on Sunday morning, there were two women that went to the tomb. They took the spices they had prepared. I didn't know if they had lorries or seasoning salt. I don't know what type of spices. But they found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in. That's where it would have stopped for me if the stone would have been rolled away. That. That's white people stuff. Y' all want to go in and like, Scooby Doo? No, I'm just like. Like, that's. I would have stopped. I, like. The stoners rolled away either. He came out, they went in. I'm out of here. But they went in, and they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there, puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, watch this. Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn't here. He is risen from the dead. Somebody say the king is alive. If you're excited that the king Jesus is alive, just give him one shout of praise. The king is alive. Sunday was awesome, y'. All. That's why we celebrate. That's why we put our kids in flowers. That's why we praise God. Sunday was awesome. But can I tell you something that the resurrection on Sunday doesn't take away the reality of Saturday. Everybody's excited about this moment, about the mountain tops in our lives. But there are so many people that right now, even as you are sitting here listening to me preach, you feel this emptiness because you're feeling the sorrow of Saturday. Jesus is alive, but I'm still hurting. Jesus is alive, but I still feel lonely. He is risen, but I still feel like giving up. And the truth of the matter is, most people, when they come to the resurrection and the thing that we're thinking about, how God did his thing, it's like, I'm glad that happened for you, but when am I gonna see some resurrection? When am I gonna feel like death ain't all over me? And for real, some of y' all are dealing with the reality of your Saturday. The reality of raising kids, the reality of navigating this economy, the reality of wrestling with your purpose, the reality of a diagnosis that was not favorable. The real. Is anybody dealing with reality in here, in the. Okay, I need to find out where the real church is. Humble, open and transparent. How many people got some real stuff going on right now that is really taking up a lot of your brain space, heart space, emotional space. You ain't even got time for the people you love because you're dealing with other stuff. The resurrection, the reality. Praise him. Problems. He's the healer. I'm still hurting. Y' all don't want to be real this Sunday, because the truth is that this. This disgruntled, this tension, this frustration is why most people only come once a year. They only come. They only come when they need it. The reason why is because I cannot reconcile how he's so good, but this still feels so bad. Okay, but this is the thing you need to know about Jesus that separates him from every other God or deity or idea of a higher power that we serve. The only God that the Bible says he can relate. He's the only one that actually came to walk our steps for 33 years, and he can relate. I'll prove it to you in the bible. Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 15. For we do not have a high priest Jesus, who is unable to empathize with our weakness. You're not serving a God that's like, look at these peasant servant children of mine dealing with all of this stuff that I would never have to. It says he was tempted at every turn with everything that you were tempted with. But we have one, a high priest who has been tempted in every way, just as we are he, yet he did not sin. Jesus can relate. So maybe you've had a hard week, maybe you've had a hard year. Maybe you've had a hard life. But Jesus can relate. Somebody say that with me. Jesus can relate. Day or night. 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