i'm not sure where to go from here [Music] i'm not even sure who i am anymore for the last three years he's been with me everywhere we went to capernaum i sell him across the sea i put him in my boat and i served his fish and bread i was just fishing when i met him who am i without jesus let me take you let me take you back and show you what happened [Music] and what brought me here to this place and let me show you how he was so much more [Music] than what i ever imagined and now [Music] he's going away watch this job great god you knows all and sees all i know you're looking down on us on me i know there's a great plan for all of this but right now it it just doesn't make sense how could the one who came to save us not even save himself [Music] geez were you able to sleep just a little we kept watch most of the night fearing the soldiers might come to our home what about you mary were you able to rest no i just kept seeing images of jesus on that cross i couldn't get it out of my mind is this if he let them crucify him yes i sensed the same thing he could have called down a legion of angels to his rescue he could have struck down those soldiers at the very least he could have just got down off the cross and yet get me he's chose to die i can't make sense of it right now but i must believe that there was a greater plan look at us faithful to the very end he was the one to anoint and wash the feet of the male disciples yet here we are the ones to go and anoint his body do you think the guards will permit us to see it the guards do not fear women what could we do to them they know he is don't say it just don't we will ask the soldiers to remove the stone so that we can go and apply these oils to his body surely they will not deny us this last rite of passage this can't be the stone is rolled away but he's gone the body of jesus is gone nothing left with the head wrapping and yet it's been folded neatly as if done on purpose i knew we shouldn't have come alone if the soldiers can steal the body of our lord can you imagine what they're planning to do to us his followers [Music] must go and tell the other disciples do they even believe us how can they not we are here seeing the empty tomb for ourselves we must go and alert our brethren shalom peter shalom john still doesn't feel right jesus not being here with us i know brother it's been three days since the crucifixion and yet i i still feel like i'm there at the foot of the cross i was such a fool to deny him i should have been there with you i should have been there with you all he named me peter the rock and yet when he needed me the most rock was the last thing i was brother that is in the past and remember he already forgave you so forgive yourself and besides we have much work ahead of us and we really need you you're right the messiah gave me instructions before he was led away he told me once i was restored to strengthen my brothers and sisters and i'll do just that i will not fail him not this time brothers and sisters we must stay alert we must stay vigilant even though jesus is no longer with us we must remember that we are still his disciples [Music] he's gone he's gone mary what's wrong what are you talking about who's god the messiah jesus his body's no longer in the tomb we believe the soldiers have taken his body what are you all saying no no you you all must be overcome with grief jesus is dead and buried in joseph's tomb mary you were there when we buried him and even when we rolled the stone in front of the grave it took six men alone to mow that stone besides those guards were standing watch all night we know what we saw an empty tomb and the stone the stone was rolled away someone has taken our savior and we must find him if you don't believe us go and see for [Music] yourself destroy this temple and in three days i will raise it peter peter peter yeah what huh they're convinced that his body has been stolen so what should we do mary if what you say is indeed true then that must mean well maybe he has he must go to the tomb peter you don't think he actually rolls [Music] uh [Music] anything he's not here the soldiers must've they must have stolen his body but but why why would the soldiers take his body and how many men would it take to move this stone without the soldiers being aware and where are the soldiers what does this mean you know what this means john you remember what he said [Music] everybody search his garden and beyond we must find him [Music] [Music] same [Music] say [Music] oh [Music] woman why are you crying who do you seek i'm sorry i'm looking for my savior he was crucified yes crucified my lord [Music] and he hung on the rugged crows and all i could say was my own sin my own guilt my path my shame he died so that the world could live so that i could live [Music] my what a beautiful garden there's nothing beautiful about this place all i see is a place where things are buried yes it appears to be a burial ground but i see a beautiful garden well you see what cannot be seen i see what is yet to be every garden has a gift but in order for the ground to produce the seed must be buried and then watered by heaven's tear and then up from the ground in its season springs the evidence of life flowers and grass fruit and trees all growing from the gift of the seed planted in the garden woman why are you weeping i'm looking for my savior sir he was buried in the spiral tomb you loved him we all loved him but his love for us was greater it cost him his life i see no greater love than this than a man who would give his life for his friends tell me where are they where are the rest of them they've gone to search for his remains and you why did you stay there's just something about this place [Music] i perceive you the gardener here please if you know where he is or have any idea where his body is tell me so i can i can go and anoint him mary [Music] do not cling unto me i have not yet ascended to my father in [Music] heaven master yes it is you mary let your fear be gone all is well i have gathered the keys to death hell in the grave the sting of death is gone hell has no victory over anyone who believes in me now i need you to go tell the disciples what you have seen here their faith needs to be renewed you tell them that you have seen me and i must go ascend to my father your father my god and your god [Music] jesus you rose again you are alive you [Music] what [Music] who would have ever known [Music] who would have ever thought [Music] that was just [Music] one times when touch was all i needed to know that it would be okay and one love what look was all he gave me and all of my fears ran away he freed me from [Music] he freed me from the guilt of my past and it changed my story and never never will be the same since i saw him [Music] my life forever changed with just one touch one look one word changed everything that day the day i saw jesus one more man one moment in his presence i fell to the love i would never know [Music] one step in his direction i knew i was aware [Music] glory standing with the man [Music] since i saw him my life forever changed with just one touch one look one word changed everything that day i was lost [Music] but then i saw him and he saw [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] uh [Music] changed everything that day the day i saw jesus [Music] [Music] i've seen him peter i've seen him john and he's alive jesus is alive mary are you sure i've never been more sure about anything in my life peter i feel like we should sing i feel like we should worship our lord and savior jesus is alive [Music] i had a lot of questions looking for the answer [Music] [Applause] [Music] the name of jesus saved me never will forget the day that my life changed now that i found you i am ever get better [Music] am is that jesus is [Music] jesus is [Music] you ask me you ask me [Music] is [Music] at jesus [Music] is since you came and changed me you never will forget your name the name of jesus [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] acts 13 28 through 35 and though they found no cause of death in him yet desired they palate that he should be slain and when they had fulfilled all that was written of him they took him down from the tree and laid him in the sepulchre but god raised him from the dead and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from galilee to jerusalem who are his witnesses unto the people and we declare unto you glad tidings how that the promise which was made unto the fathers god has fulfilled the same unto us their children in that day he raised up jesus again as it is also written in the second psalm thou art my son this day have i begotten thee and as concerning that he raised him up from the dead now no more to return to corruption he said on this wise i will give you the sure mercies of david wherefore he saith also in another psalm thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption a defining moment it is important that you come back here no matter where we go or what we do or where we live or what we drive or where we work we must always come back here this is the place indelibly etched into our minds the substratum of our belief system the fundamental idea through which our whole faith is built it is not the superficial superfluidus ideologies that you hear espoused often in our circles that makes us believers it's not whether things go good or bad whether they seem just or unjust whether they seem fair or unfair you are not a christian because you're a nice person or because you do nice things or because you go nice places or you abstain from certain things you're a christian because there's always something that draws you back here now i know this is a a strange place to be drawn because for some [Music] this is a catastrophic place for others it is a disastrous place and for some i would dare to say that it is even a disappointing place because they did not expect christ to be crucified the plans they had for him as they followed him and gave up everything to be with him did not include nails in a tree blood running down his legs a gasping sigh of death a blackout in the heavens a trembling of the earth a shaking of the soil and opening up the tombs it didn't include any of that they had in mind that he might overthrow the roman empire and become the king of the jews and they wanted to sit on the right and the left and have they didn't want to sit on the right and the left of of a tomb disappointment there this is a place that reminds us of betrayal it is a place that reminds us that one of his own sold him for 30 pieces of silver it reminds us that in this life we will be betrayed no matter how good we are no matter how well our intentions are that ultimately somewhere along the way we will run into someone who says that they're actually with us and in fact they really are not and they will betray us and we have to live with that and as often as we come back to this tomb it reminds us what it is all about that it's not about stuff it's not about things it's not about the accruments of life it's not about the acquisition of fame or fortune or talent or people the life is filled with tombst oh yes life is filled with tombs the scripture i read in your hearing is to is taken out of acts it is written where paul comes to antioch and he shares with them the story of the death burial and resurrection of our lord and savior jesus christ and he does it in graphic terms it is littered throughout the scriptures it was prophesied from the very beginning it is prophesied from the old testament to the new it is reflected from the epistles to the book of revelations while the old testament looks forward to it the new testament looks back at it and this is the hinge of our faith is right here at this rolling stone this tomb golgotha's heel the bitter cup of gal the taste of death in his mouth the slow trinkle of blood running down his body his legs his thighs now covered outwardly with what they once covered inwardly and he died openly naked and unashamed the bible said that genesis said adam was naked and not ashamed but here christ is naked and not ashamed the only covering that he had is not a garment such as this he was covered with his own blood to remind us that his blood would be the covering and the propitiation of our sins and as much as we come to this place we honor the fact that this is what it's all about and paul rehearses it's an antioch and antioch incidentally it's the first place that we were called christians before that we had no real name some called us believers and some called us the way and some called us fanatics and some called us fools but at antioch we became christians because there paul taught them about the cross it is interesting to note that paul did not always teach as flamboyantly about the cross as he did at antioch his first epistle was the book of first thessalonians where he scarcely mentions the cross at all but as he walked with jesus he said i am persuaded that i am not ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ for it is the power of god unto salvation he didn't grasp that at first but eventually he said i counted all but dung that i may gain the excellency of the knowledge of jesus oh oh that i may know him in the fellowship of his suffering and in the power of his resurrection he became convinced of the cross you must give him credit don't judge him too harshly he wasn't there when he hung his head in the locks of his shoulders he wasn't there when the sun refused to shine he wasn't there when the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom he was not there when the disciples fled to the upper room for fear of their lives the apostle paul was not there he had not yet been converted he missed the appearance in the upper room when jesus walked through the door and showed himself alive and was man enough to eat fish and spirit enough to walk through the door he wasn't he wasn't there for that so he he's writing about something for which he was not initially an eyewitness too but having experienced the road to damascus is so engulfed his soul that by the time we hear him preaching in acts he professes to know nothing except christ and him crucified you must understand then brothers and sisters that this is our point of reference this is the undeniable truth to which all of our faith hinges it is flamboyant of god opulent i might even say that he would attempt to draw us not with treasure or gold or silver or promises of heaven and streets of gold but he drew us with an old rugged cross and a bleeding suffering savior to a graveside service he says whosoever will let him come what an invitation an invitation to die jesus himself said if you're going to be my disciple pick up your cross and follow me follow me follow me if you follow me and you're really in the will of god it will lead you in here it will lead you in here oh my god it's so it's so dark and there everything with god that manny starts in a dark place from the creation in the book of genesis when the bible says the evening and the morning was the first day it doesn't start with daybreak it starts with night for everything that god will ever do will always start in a dark tank place a claustrophobic place a place that almost asphyxiates us a place that we think that we cannot stand it it's not attractive it is not beautiful and it's not opulent it has not been decked with jewels or precious stones or pageantry oh no it is a dark tank hole a cave a cabin a grotto it all starts in the dark life itself starts in the dark it starts in the womb of a woman where no light can shine at all an occasional moving of a knee or a jabbing of a toe down in the womb of a woman is where all life begins and as we come to this cross it is a defining moment because it is definitely a tomb it is a tomb that has been borrowed for jesus to use not to stay you never borrow something unless you know you won't need it law it is absolutely a tomb it is where the dead are placed there is a place for him to lay and a death napkin to cover his face the bible says that when he rose from the dead with the luxury of utter confidence he didn't leap up like i would have and run out the door he sat up and folded up his death towel folded it up with the confidence of knowing that no man takes my life i lay it down and if i lay it down i'll pick it back up again and he had the grace the nerve if you will to be neat in the way he arose from the dead because this is a defining moment [Music] it is not a disrupt moment it's not a chaotic moment it is not a catastrophic moment it is not a painful moment it is a defining moment it is a moment that will cost you your life it is a moment that you will be crucified for it is a moment that you will be thrown into snake pits for it is a moment that you will be beheaded for and you will do it willingly because of this defining moment it is a moment where stefan will be stoned to death and smiling looking up into the heavens at something better than this old world will ever be able to afford and he was able to smile because he had experience this one defining moment of stone has been rolled away from a dog place it is absolutely a tomb but it is also a womb yes come on you must realize that jesus tomb was a womb there is some synergy between tombs and wolves tombs and wombs tombs and wombs are always inextricably and can be connected one with the other there is little difference between the tomb and the womb you must realize that for a baby to be born into this world is to die from the world he lived in he cannot be born to the present without dying to the past he must forsake one in order to attain the other he must leave the sanctity of the warm dark cavern his mother has prepared in her very own body and be vacant to be absent in the body is to be present in the world the tomb our brothers and sisters is a womb but never forget that the womb the tomb is also a womb and the womb is also a tune it you bury your loved ones and you put them in the tomb always remember what i taught you that their tomb is also a womb it is a passage from one world into another it is the gateway through which we access that that we can attain no other way to be absent in the body is to be present with the lord this is as much a womb as it is a tomb it is our god who always incubates greatness in dark places in small stuffy pink places away from the scrutiny and the views and the expectations of men he grooms greatness and isolation so that arrogance cannot fit in the tomb arrogance arrogance arrogance is too big to get inside the tomb because there are no crowds there are no accolades there there are no people there there are there are no applauds in the dark place people always want to come out into the light where they can be exposed but god does his work in the dark in the shadows in the dark place and we must always come back to this no matter how high you get you must always come back to this no matter how far you're going who loves you and how they care for you and how they see about you and how they promise you and how they're there for you never totally buy into it because when all else fails and you feel like giving up and you feel like dying and you feel like quitting and you think you can't take anymore all you ever have to do is come right back here and remember greater is he greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world this is why he came in the old testament you see their point of reference was the passover night it was the night that the lamb was slain and when the lamb was slain and moses had them put the blood on the doorpost and the lintel it became the point of reference and all through the old testament god referred to himself as am i not the god who brought you out of egypt am i not the god who brought you out on eagle's wings am i not the god who delivered you from the hands of pharaoh am i not the god he always referred them back because this is your default setting it was the default setting of the early church the old testament church they couldn't look at the cross it had the courage yet they had to look at the shadow which was the lamb the innocent spotless lamb who was snatched out of the lambo that night of the passover wondering what have i done i have done no harm at all and yet he saw the life rays and he died an innocent lamb so that guilty men could live so that hebrew slaves could become sons so that the bound could become free so that the shackled could be loose so that the addicted could be liberated do you hear what i'm saying to you the old testament church ecclesia called out called out of their slavery was called out only to always remember that it was through the blood of the innocent lamb that they were able to have the freedom that they were able to experience the child the lamb the lamb the lamb was just the shadow of which christ christ is our reality let us not forget that it is by his stripes we are here that he was wounded for our transgressions and he was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed and let us not be so arrogant that we blame the romans or the jews because the truth of the matter is it is our sins that crucified the lord our indulgences our excessive behavior our compulsive behaviors it is us that crucified the lord he redefined what love is for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life this was how god expressed love this is god's love language it's not acts of kindness it's not pleasant words it's not service it's not touching it's dying it's god's love language when god gets ready to show how deep and intense and rich his love is he does it by dying so much so that the bible called the cross his passion can you conceive that god loves you with such passion that the only way he could find to express his utter adoration his complete enthrallment with you his absolute fascination with you his complete love for you his caring for what you've been through and how you've suffered and how you've been doing that jesus is the lover of our soul and when he got ready to make love to us he didn't rent a room he borrowed a tomb and laid on a cross and died and called it his passion god so loved god the infinite power soul to the infinite degree love the infinite emotion the world the infinite chaos that he gave the ultimate gift his only begotten son the ultimate sacrifice that whosoever believeth believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life and if you don't believe that then this is just another holiday for you to hang out with your friends get high on your weed get drunk off of your wine have a good time and go play golf but don't pretend to be religious if this is not a defining moment if this is not the kind of moment that no matter how far you get out of his wheel like a magnet it keeps pulling you back keeps pulling you back to him over and over again if this is not the kind of moment that no matter how far you get away from sure it pulls you back like an anchor back into your rightful place then this is just a holiday to play games and have fun and enjoy yourself go to the strip club have a good time celebrate the way you celebrate but for us yes it is a defining moment when life seems crazy when life is confusing when it's unfair when you lose your baby it defines the moment when your husband walks away it defines the moment when you lose your job it defines the moment when you feel like you're about to lose your mind come on on the hill far away stood it on freaking cross it was a wonderless attraction that's what it is to us it's getting up power it's resurrecting power this is a defining moment because the greatest enemy in the world is death and for christ to overcome death means i can overcome debt means i can overcome grief means i can overcome pain means i can overcome agony means i can overcome trouble means i can overcome rejection means i can overcome denial it means if he can get up out of this i can get up out of whatever you send in my life come hell and high water i'm just enough like my daddy to rise again oh yes you might hold me down for a few days [Music] you might have me shackled on friday night hands tied behind my back you might have my finances shut down and my mind confused all day saturday but look out my god look out because sunday's coming and they didn't make a stone he couldn't roll away and i want all of you that are listening to me out there right now no matter what dark hole you have climbed into no matter what dark addictive hole you have succumbed to no matter how dark and dank the hour may be in your life right now i want you to hear me the stone is rolled away and you can get out of this this is your defining moment it is not just for us to come and commemorate that christ died for us for the bible says that if we are planted together in the likeness of his death we sh we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection he says if you go down with me you're gonna come up with me i won't take you into nothing that i won't get you out of if i got you hit it i'll get you out of it and you can overcome everything life put in front of you roll it up out of your way roll it roll it roll it roll [Applause] and then look back at it and say oh death where's [Music] where is you you thought you had me judge come in you thought you had me [Music] millions didn't make it [Music] for the things he has done all that we have traumatized has already been realized all that we have portrayed and depicted has already been accomplished i am just wondering where are you in this story are you the judas that sold him for your fun [Music] or maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe you're the thomas that doubted him and ran away who are you in this story are you the ones who nailed his hands to the tree or did you keep doing business in the presence of your savior and cast lots for his clothes where are you in the story in my life [Music] i have known sorrow in my life i have known [Music] great pain in my life i have counseled and worked with people who have been through things that should have killed them victims of rape a dark place victims of abuse a dark place left by lovers in a dark place homeless people sleeping on the bridges [Music] in a dark place i've been in the prisons talking to inmates on death row who spent their nights in a dark place i've seen babies born with their entrails hanging out they were in a dark place but the reason this is a defining moment is that this proves that trouble don't last always he rose from the dead so that you wouldn't have to be the first footsteps he left a path in the ground to show you how to walk your way out of everything that ever tried to hold you down and if you can't look up to the heavens then look down for the footprints because whatever you've been through he made it through if he beat death you can beat it by the power of the living god it is a defining moment as i conclude i want you to understand the great thing is that it is a defining moment the bad thing is that moments don't last [Music] moments don't last if you're going to make a change you have to do it now [Music] the text said it quotes from the psalms this day have i begotten thee not just when your mama had you [Music] but when you rose from the dead it proved you were my boy this day have i begotten thee would you consider being begotten of god to come out of that cave and stop living in a place you should have borrowed you were not meant to live there just because you lay there doesn't mean you have to live there come out the angels have rolled away the stone and you have an opportunity and something you can't buy in any mall you can't google it amazon won't deliver it i'm talking about eternal life it's not in your cell phone it's not an app you can download but you can have it for free because once they roll the stone back it never closed again [Music] there is a way out of every thing you're dealing with today there is a way out of everything you are dealing with today if you have the courage just the simple courage the simple courage the simple courage you may have to duck your head a little bit you may have to humble yourself a little bit you may have to lower yourself you may even have to get down on your knees but if you make up in your mind you're coming out you're coming out even if you have to hold on to something yes sir even if you have to grab something and push away one foot at a time little by little day by day step by step i'm i'm not what i ought to be but i'm not what i used to be yes sir i'm on my way out i'm coming across i'm coming over i'm coming through that's how you get out of it you don't always leap out but you always come out you come out because god has something out here for you that's better than where you've been laying yes sir jesus laid in the tomb three days and three nights but he did not live there he came out with all power in his hand and so can you this day have i begotten me this day 24 hours this day have i begun this is the most important day in the history of the scriptures not the parting of the red sea this is the most important day in the scriptures not when noah got off their heart this is the most important day in the scripture not when abraham's name was changed this is the most important day of the scripture not when the children of hebrews came over into egypt this is the most important day that's going to not when lazarus was raised from the dead this is the most important day in the scripture not when mary was found with child this is the most important day in the scriptures god said this day yes have i begotten thee this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased i want to say to you you're running out of excuses [Music] and you my friend are running out of time a day only lasts so long i pray you make it out before the darkness that's in here gets out here it's getting darker and the hospitals have filled up sir it's getting darker and the weather is unpredictable it's getting darker and people with degrees can't get jobs it's getting darker new diseases are coming from every direction it's getting darker if you're going to make it to the light you got to do it now because it's getting late it's getting late in the evening and the sun is going down it's getting late in the evening and the sun the sun [Music] is going down don't let this day pass by can i pray for you before we leave i want to pray for you that you might accept this jesus into your heart pull you out of your dark place out into the open so that you can receive the marvelous light of his presence i want i want to just pray for you i don't care what your net worth is i don't care how many degrees you have i don't care whether you're married or single i don't care about any of the things that you put all your energy and effort to because none of it means nothing if you miss this day this day have i been cutting thee and you are running out of time and right where you are with tears welled up in your hands right where you are going through everything you're going through have you ever thought that maybe you're going through what you're going through because god is trying to tell you something just pray this little prayer with me lord jesus come into my heart wash away my sins [Music] forgive me i believe you died for my sins i believe you rose from the dead [Music] and this resurrection sunday i'm getting up to in jesus name amen god bless you may heaven smile upon you let's praise the name of our god let's praise the name of our god let's praise the name of our god let's try it let's try it try your first praise try your first way try your first pray try your first prayer if you've never did it before try your first break try your first prank first time newborn newborn newborn again try your first phrase amen yes god bless you [Music] they thought you may never [Music] [Music] there is no tomorrow [Music] he's not here come with [Music] he won't be he's alive [Music] [Music] he's not here is is [Music] he's [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and you'll see that our god is the reason king where they lead him he won't be cause our god is raising he's you