Cameron: 00:04

My name is Cameron. I'm a lead pastor here at Conduit. Welcome. Happy Easter. Now I wanna see how many old time traditional Easter attenders we have here.

Cameron: 00:17

If I were to say he is risen. Alright. That's what I'm talking about. Amen. He is.

Cameron: 00:26

What a glorious day to be here and, to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and our savior, Jesus Christ. Paul said, the apostle Paul said that if Jesus has not risen, that our preaching is useless and our faith is in vain. All of our lives as followers of Jesus revolves around this very day and this very celebration. If Jesus has risen from the dead, then truly what else could be made an issue in our lives? If Jesus has claimed victory over sin and death and the grave, then truly what else could be what else could stand in our way?

Cameron: 01:09

And that is what we're here to celebrate this morning. We're gonna be singing. We're gonna be praying. We're gonna be hearing the word proclaimed over us by pastor Luke. You can give an opportunity to reflect and respond to that word.

Cameron: 01:24

We've been praying for you, and we're so glad that you chose to come and celebrate us with us this morning. Let me pray for us, and then, we're gonna go right into, worship led by this team up here. Heavenly Father, you have demonstrated your love for us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Now that in and of itself is an amazing story. But, father, we come this morning to hear the rest of the story, knowing that that's not the end of it.

Cameron: 02:17

Jesus didn't stay in the grave. Jesus didn't just die. Jesus came that we may have life and life in him, life abundant. We believe, Lord, that because Jesus was raised from the dead, we too, the same spirit, Paul says, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us by faith in him. And so, we come this morning asking for the spirit of God, the spirit of resurrection to fall upon this place.

Cameron: 02:57

Let our eyes be opened to see the resurrected Jesus in our midst this morning. We come and give our lives and give our time and give our energy and give our gifts and give our song, every breath in our lungs, to that this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Luke: 03:21

Heavenly father, Lord, we are filled with joy this morning. Lord, we are filled with joy and praise because your son did not stay in the grave. Lord, your son, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead indeed. Lord, this morning, I pray that you would fill us with your spirit, that we would be part of the church globally this morning that is gathered around this town, this city, this county, this world that is proclaiming your praises this morning. Lord, I pray that you would just lift our voices and that it might join the chorus of angels who sing your praise from eternity past to eternity future.

Luke: 04:10

Lord, as we open up your word, as we look towards you, I pray that you would remove distractions from us, that you would lift our eyes up and that we might see the gospel afresh this morning, that we might not just be so used to kind of a cartoon telling of a story, Lord, but that we would recognize its reality and its importance to our life today. Lord, above all things, I pray that you'd be among us today, that you'd be filling us with your spirit, and that this might all be for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, morning, everybody. My name is Luke.

Luke: 05:18

I'm one of the pastors here at Conduit. And as you're finding your seats and making friends with your elbow buddies, it is just my privilege to say welcome home. We always want Conduit to be a place that you can call home, whether it's your first time here or you've been here a thousand times. We really strive to be a place where we can help people take whatever their next step is closer to Jesus, whether you're still figuring out what faith is all about or you've been doing it for a long time. It's Easter.

Luke: 05:53

Right? And one of the things that, you know, we've we've all week, and it's no joke, we're not like it's not a thing we just say. It's a thing we do. We've been praying for everyone who's here today and anyone who would be coming here today. And, you know, I was thinking about this this week, and there's this experience that I think is a little unique to pastors and people in ministry, is that sometimes I'll talk with somebody and I'm getting to meet them, you know, and you ask those questions you ask every time you get to know somebody, you know, what's your name?

Luke: 06:27

Where are you from? So what do you do? And I usually say, you know, and they say, oh, I do that, and they're like, what do you do? And I say, well, I'm a pastor. And then I watch everybody go.

Luke: 06:40

And, you know, depending on how much church guilt they grew up with, they they kind of will say something like, well, I haven't been to church in a while. I know I should. And like, it's always, you know, and I always wanna, like, rescue them in that moment. The reason being is because I never want anybody to feel guilty about having not been to church in a while, or they come to church and they're like, I know I should come more often. And when I hear that, I just hear kind of like a like a guilt, a shame, kind of an embarrassment almost.

Luke: 07:15

And I just wanna, like, dispel that. Our church and our goal is always just to be we're happy, you're here today. The invitation is always here. Of course, we would love to have you here as often as you do come, but we're not ever here giving shame. We want this to be a place of open invitation always where you feel like you can come as you are, having everything figured out because I don't either.

Luke: 07:44

So and if you do, let me know. So just happy that you are here today, whether you are regularly with us here or it's your first time here today, whether you've been to church a lot of times or this is your very first time stepping in a church. So that's my hope. That's my goal is that you experience some of that hominess and that welcome that we strive for here at Conduit. Now, Easter, like pastor Cameron was saying, is this important moment in the Christian faith.

Luke: 08:18

It's the big holiday. Now, everything Christmas gets all of the attention a lot of times in my opinion. Right? It gets all the marketing. But Easter Easter is the hinge point of Christianity.

Luke: 08:34

It is the moment. It is the event in the Bible in the I think in history, but in the church history as well. So today, I want to open up and I want us to want us to read essentially eyewitness accounts. Right? The Bible did not did not just drop out of the air.

Luke: 09:01

Right? This is written by real people who really existed. And we're gonna read in John chapter 20 this morning. We're gonna read actual eyewitness accounts of what happened in that garden all those years ago in John chapter 20. That that's a legitimate way to do it.

Luke: 09:30

I applaud you. In all good faith, if I if I had a dime for every time Siri started answering a question I did not ask her. Right? Technology gonna save us all. Right?

Luke: 09:48

Alright. But no. John chapter 20. We also side note. We have tons of Bibles in this church.

Luke: 09:59

We try and keep as many Bibles in here as you can as we can. There's Bibles underneath the pews in front of you. If you don't have a Bible, you can take that Bible home with you. That's your that's our gift to you. We also have a number of Bibles in the back corner by the door where you came in.

Luke: 10:15

There's a there's a shelf that's got Bibles in it, and all of those are free to you to have. We wanna make sure that you if you want the word of God, you can have it. So John chapter 20, we're gonna start in verse one. So John is one of the disciples of Jesus, one of the 12, the inner 12, who followed Jesus around for his three years of ministry, ate with him, was by his side through all of these things, witnessed the crucifixion, and then this is his retelling of what happened that morning so long ago. John chapter 20 verse one says, now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

Luke: 11:03

So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one to whom Jesus loved. That is John's way of talking about himself. And said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out with the other disciple, John, and they were going toward the tomb. And both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

Luke: 11:33

I still don't know why John put this in the account, but he wanted to make sure people knew. Verse five says, and stooping to look in, he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came in following him, and he went into the tomb. He saw the linen clothes lying there and the face cloth which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who reached the tomb first also went in.

Luke: 12:10

He saw and he believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. Notice they didn't really immediately understand what was going on. That's what that's saying.

Luke: 12:27

It says they did not understand the scripture. You see that John maybe has an inkling of belief, but I don't know that he truly understands yet. Verse 11, Mary is standing there, But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. So she's standing there outside of the tomb. Peter and John have left her there.

Luke: 12:46

They've gone back. They've walked away. Okay, we've seen everything that there is to see. And Mary is just distraught. She's weeping outside the tomb as she wept.

Luke: 12:56

She stooped to look in the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Having said this, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping?

Luke: 13:27

Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned and said to him in Aramaic, rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me for I have yet not yet ascended to the father, but I but go to my brothers and say to them, am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God.

Luke: 14:01

Mary Magdalene went and announced this to the disciples. I have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. On the evening of that day, so later this evening of the first day of the week, the door is being locked. All the disciples are hiding in a room. They've locked the door for fear of the Jews fearing their own death.

Luke: 14:24

Jesus came and stood among them and he said, peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands, his side, and then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the father has sent me, even so I am sending you.

Cameron: 14:46

Amen.

Luke: 14:49

Here's the thing. Good Friday could have happened, but if Easter Sunday didn't, there would be no Christianity. Good Friday is the day that we term this past Friday, the day where we remember Jesus' wrongful arrest, his wrongful beating, accusations, and condemned to death, and he was put on a cross and he died publicly by the side of the road where everybody could see him. And he was he'd suffocated and he was stabbed with a spear, then he was laid to rest at the end of the day. And if he had just stayed in the tomb, Christianity and Jesus would be just another footnote in all of the other footnotes of all of the other people who have claimed to be a king or a messiah along the years.

Luke: 15:44

See, the thing that we don't often recognize or the thing that we don't always think about is how many other people claim to be a messiah. How many other people who were even around this time period trying to lead movements and revolts against the Romans and all of these things. You can go back and look at them, but none of them are a religion because they all died and stayed dead. The thing is is that there are lots and lots of tombs of lots and lots of spiritual leaders, but there's only one empty tomb of Jesus. One of the things that I think we kind of can have a temptation to do is a thing called chronological snobbery.

Luke: 16:34

It's a term stolen from CS Lewis. He had this great way of saying that we tend to think of ourselves now here in the year 02/2025 as being much more advanced, much more smarter than all of those people two thousand and twenty five years ago. Right? We're like, well, these people in the Bible didn't have a cell phone. What did they know?

Luke: 16:59

Right? Like, we kind of just have this assumption that as time has gone on, we've gotten smarter. We've figured more things out. We're more enlightened, all of that. And we kind of dehumanize people in the past.

Luke: 17:11

But we have to take a moment and we have to pause and say, well, no, humans actually haven't gotten smarter. Arguably, we've gotten kind of dumber. But like, imagine your same intelligence that we have now, just two thousand years ago without a smartphone. Right? It's not like the people in ancient Israel and the people in the Bible were like, Oh, wow.

Luke: 17:38

I guess guess dead people just don't die sometimes. Right? Like, it was not like they were just like, it's an empty tomb. I guess that must mean he's resurrected. And, like, they were just so gullible and easily to believe the the the fact that he had risen from the dead.

Luke: 17:56

Well, the fact is is that the story tells us very plainly, they were they were like, oh, somebody took the body. Like, he's definitely still dead, because every dead person we've ever seen has stayed dead. Right? Like, it's not like we figured out now, later, being enlightened that dead people don't usually come back. They were very aware of this.

Luke: 18:18

And they were just like, well, well, here's a gardener, and the gardener must have took him or the Roman soldiers or the Jews, somebody took his body. There's no way he's resurrected. And that's the first instinct and the first thought of the people who knew him best. The people who wanted to believe that he was resurrected were reluctant to believe that he was resurrected. They were so either out of shock or confusion or Christ's own just transfiguration of himself didn't recognize him at first often.

Luke: 18:49

They were like, oh. Like, they didn't standing right there, and it wasn't until often he said something that remind they're like, oh my gosh. It's him. So I could go on about reasons to believe in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, and a lot of Easter sermons I've heard have done that, and I think there's a lot of value in that. I think I could make an argument over all of the eyewitness testimony in here and tons of things.

Luke: 19:20

Talk about just the fact that this happened. It is one of the most historically attested things ever in all of history, particularly in ancient history. But instead, I wanna ask I wanna answer a different question. Rather than wrestling with that, I think you and I, and this morning, I don't think you guys need to hear a lot of historical arguments. I think we need to sit and answer the question, what does the resurrection mean to us today?

Luke: 19:53

What does the resurrection have an impact on your life and my life today as we're in this room, as here we are on this beautiful Sunday morning, and as we're gonna go out from here, what difference does the fact that Jesus didn't stay in a tomb have for you and me? That's the question I wanna spend some time answering. And in order to do this, I wanna just focus on Mary's interaction with Jesus in John chapter 20. So I'm gonna be still on John 20. I'm gonna start in verse 11.

Luke: 20:27

I wanna relook at 11 through 18, where Mary has this interaction with Jesus. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept, she stooped in to look at the tomb. She saw the two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. And they said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.

Luke: 21:04

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. She said to her Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him off and away, tell me where you've laid him and I will take him away. See, she is not assuming he's resurrected.

Luke: 21:28

This is not the first conclusion. Jesus said to her, Mary, and she turned and said to him in Aramaic, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and to your father and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that she that he had said these things to her. Mary becomes the first one to proclaim the gospel.

Luke: 22:05

Mary, who had not had a easy or pretty life up into this, she had been demonically possessed, and she had lived a life of sin, and she had met Jesus, and he had transformed her life. She had followed him and become an integral part of his community of disciples. She was with him all the way through. She saw him die, and then she was one of the first people on Sunday morning to come and bring fresh linens and clothes and spices to make sure that they did a honorable burial for Jesus because of Jesus dying at the end of Friday and Sabbath coming, that they had done probably a rushed burial, and it had been not by people who maybe had cared for Jesus as much, and so they were coming to do a proper and right and honorable burial for Jesus, and this story happens. She's initially she's weeping.

Luke: 23:12

She's distraught. She's even more upset than she was at the beginning. This person who has changed her life has died wrongfully and brutally. She's come to pay respect and care for his body, and he's not there. She he she's come to grieve, and she doesn't even have a body to grieve.

Luke: 23:39

But then she encounters Jesus risen, and she becomes the first preacher of the gospel to the rest of the disciples. The disciples, they were in hiding. They're in the upper room. They've locked the door because they assume they're like, well, they killed Jesus, and we're his, like, closest disciples. The people who killed Jesus are probably going to come kill us, make sure we're wiped out, we're gone, we don't cause any more trouble.

Luke: 24:11

So we're just gonna hide in this room together. These were not people who were like, you know, ready to keep on carrying they were defeated. They weren't gonna carry on the mission of Jesus. They were done. They were hiding out in the city until they could kind of slowly trickle out and leave and go their own separate ways and not be bothered anymore.

Luke: 24:37

This is where his disciples were, and that's where they would have been and continued to have been if it were not for the resurrection of Jesus. I wanna read for you first Corinthians chapter 15. This is the passage that pastor Cameron mentioned earlier. This is a really bold and really honest passage. First Corinthians chapter 15.

Luke: 25:05

This is Paul who saw Jesus resurrected. Paul was a persecutor of a church, someone who was killing early Christians who had every reason to not believe in Jesus, but then saw Jesus resurrected and became one of the most prolific evangelists for the gospel. I wanna start in verse 12 of chapter 15. Jesus says this. They're not Jesus.

Luke: 25:31

Paul says this. Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection from the dead? But if there is no resurrection, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. If Christ has not been raised, we shouldn't be sitting in this building.

Luke: 25:57

That's what Paul's saying. We even found to be we have we are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ is not as raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sannies. Then also, those who have fallen asleep, those who have died, Christians who have died since Jesus has been resurrected, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Luke: 26:33

If in Christ we have hope, in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Saying if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, if this is something we just made up for some reason, we are the most pitiable people in the entire world. But Paul doesn't end there. He ends with saying, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Paul's saying this is not something I just say willy nilly.

Luke: 27:07

This isn't something that we've just made up. This is something we are banking our lives on. This is something that is real, intangible. Without the resurrection, there is no faith or hope. We are simply left alone in a garden weeping.

Luke: 27:30

Without the resurrection, there's no hope. There's no faith. Paul goes on to say, let us eat, drink, and for tomorrow we die. Right? That's the that's the world we live in.

Luke: 27:44

If there is not a God, if we have or even if we have a God who's disinterested disinterested and uninvolved with us. But we believe that we have a God who is interested, who has come near, who has revealed himself to us, who has loved the world so much that he would give his one and only son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. We have a God that loves us that much, and that changes the world we live in. If there's no resurrection, we are left alone in a garden weeping, but there is indeed a resurrection. Amen?

Luke: 28:28

I wanna turn forward in chapter 15 to verse 54 there in first Corinthians. This is is Paul continuing. He says, when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?

Luke: 28:59

The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that the Lord in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. What do we have?

Luke: 29:24

We have a faith. We are to be immovable. Our work, our labor is not in vain. Death has no sting because Jesus has resurrected from the dead. If we turn a little bit farther in our Bible to first Thessalonians first Thessalonians chapter four, I know this is a bit of a Bible bee, but First Thessalonians chapter four verse 13.

Luke: 29:56

We'll read this. It says, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as other people who grieve and have no hope. When they say those who are asleep, he's talking about those who have passed away. He says, for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, though through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. We do not grieve.

Luke: 30:26

We experience death differently than those who have no faith in Christ. Death is different because of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. And then finally, a little bit more forward in your New Testament to first Peter, after Hebrews and James, first Peter chapter one, chapter one verse three says this, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope, not a dead hope, not an empty hope, not a hope that's just wishful thinking, a hope that is as alive as Jesus Christ is, a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power, you are being guarded through the faith through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though for a little while now you, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it's tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Luke: 31:54

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I believe that's absolutely a word for us today. We do not have just an empty, wishful thinking, a hope, a made up story to give us meaning. We have the son of God, God himself, come in flesh, come near to you and I, known what it is to be human.

Luke: 32:36

He died for our sins, and he not only died, but he rose from the dead and is still today alive in heaven, interceding, praying for you and I beside the God the Father, and will come again one day. This is the truth. It's a reality. It's not something we've just made up. But the question then is with those three verses, they're talking about faith.

Luke: 33:08

They're talking about a hope. Like I said, if the resurrection isn't real, then we have no faith. We have no hope. But it is indeed real, and therefore, we have a living hope. We have a living faith.

Luke: 33:24

And so what does this mean to you and I? What is I what I said at the beginning of the sermon, What does this got to do with you and I? What does the resurrection mean today? Well, it means we have a living hope. It means we have a living faith.

Luke: 33:37

It means that we are resurrection people. We're defined by this. We're a people who live differently because of the resurrection. That's what those three passages are telling us is that you live different because Jesus has risen from the dead. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, Mary would still have been just left weeping.

Luke: 34:04

The disciples would have been left scared in a locked room. But instead, they went on to boldly proclaim the gospel and die the deaths of martyrs because they refused to deny the reality that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. And if it can change their lives, it changes our lives. But how does it change our lives? There's a number of ways.

Luke: 34:31

These were three ways that I thought that being resurrection people changes our lives. The first is that we face darkness differently. I think sometimes, unfortunately, Christians kinda get this rap as being kind of, like, kind of naive to the things of the world and darkness and suffering, maybe wanting to kind of just skate over wants to keep life kind of in like a PG level, right? We don't want to talk about oh, let's not talk about that. That's kind of sad.

Luke: 35:09

Right? That's kind of the the rap I think Christians get. And I think that's really sad because I think out of all people in the world, Christians should be the most unafraid of difficult, sad emotions and darkness and suffering because we have a hope. It's terrifying to look at suffering, to look at pain, be if you have no hope because then you're just like, woah, is there a is there a bottom to this hole? If I go down there, am I just going to get stuck?

Luke: 35:42

Am I ever going to be able to get back up? But because we're resurrection people, we know that Jesus went into a grave and came back up that there is no is no hole that is too deep for Jesus, that death has lost its victory, it has no sting. We face darkness differently. We endure trials differently. When things come into your life that you were not expecting, the difficult thing that threw you for a loop, that chapter of your life you sure was going to go this way, all of a sudden takes a left turn.

Luke: 36:24

When you endure trials, we endure them differently because we're resurrection people, because we know that God is doing something in it. Here's the thing. One of the most conceivably worst things that could ever, ever happen? The death of the Son of God, maybe? The wrongful execution of Jesus?

Luke: 36:51

His public humiliation and beating? And what did God do with that? He redeemed the world. If God can do that with that horrible situation, if he can turn that upside down, what can he do with your trials and tribulations? Doesn't make the bad thing good.

Luke: 37:18

It's still a bad thing, but it changes the way we go through it. God doesn't waste anything. And then finally, we live life differently because we're resurrection people. The way we make decisions, the way we conduct ourselves is different because we're not living for the kingdom of this world. We're not trying to just get all we can have and just enjoy it now because tomorrow we die.

Luke: 37:49

We live differently because we're living for a kingdom that has just started and will go on for eternity. We're in this small little portion, the small little section, and we we have no idea what's on the other side of this, of God's eternal kingdom that Jesus started. We're part of the church, you and I. We are part of a legacy of faith that has started two thousand years ago of people who said Jesus is alive and that changes who I am and that changes my life. You and I are here because people refuse to deny Christ, because they went and they told other people about Jesus.

Luke: 38:33

We are here in that long chain of faith. And by God's grace will be one more link that links another chain to another link in that chain. We live differently. Our lives are conducted different. We're supposed to seem kinda odd.

Luke: 38:54

We live different because we're resurrection people, because Jesus is alive. I was thinking about this, and I was trying to think of a story or an illustration of this. And there's more stories and illustrations of this than I could probably ever fathom or find or research. But the best story is usually the story that's yours. So I was thinking about this.

Luke: 39:25

How has this truth impacted me? How has this affected me? And I had to go back to June 2019 when I very, very seriously considered taking my life. I was in a very dark place. I was struggling to live daily life, and I was really in a place where I had a plan and I was thinking about taking gotten my first position as an associate pastor, and I had really kind of gotten to a place where I did not have a lot of hope.

Luke: 40:07

And it's pretty hard to look back at that because by God's grace, that seems like a different person, a different time, a different lifetime. And God did a lot of things in that space when I finally said, you know what? I need to be open. I need to be honest. I need help because this isn't good.

Luke: 40:31

And I had a lot of grace from people. God graciously provided the right people at the right time for me. The Lord spoke to me. He helped me walk through that, and it was all very difficult. But at the other end of that, I have to tell you that I'm thankful for that season.

Luke: 40:53

And the reason being one of one of the reasons being is that I would not be who I am without having gone through that. Trust me, I would have never chosen, like, could have absolute do you wanna go through a really heart wrenching and difficult season of life, deal with these besetting issues, really struggle, and get to this place where you kind of question your own life? Would you want to do that? No. I don't know that I would choose to go through it, even being on this side of it, but I wouldn't trade what God has done in my life through it.

Luke: 41:31

And I'll be honest, I am overjoyed, I'm overfilled with thankfulness every time I sit down with someone, and they're going through a really difficult time. It's a honor, and it's a duty as a pastor to sit with people in difficult spaces. And anytime I've been able to do that and someone has walked away and they've said, thank you. That was helpful. The only thing I can do is just be thankful because the only way I know how to minister in that space is because of what God did with me when I was there.

Luke: 42:18

My life has been changed. I have a living hope. I have a living faith that is active, that has changed the way I face darkness, endure trials, and live my life because Jesus is alive, because the resurrection has happened. And I think that God wants to do something similar in your life today. I don't know where you're at.

Luke: 42:43

You could be very much in a similar situation where I was at at that time. I don't know. Or maybe you've never been there, but you're still looking for, what am I doing? Where am I going? I think we all wrestle with this question of what's the point of me being here?

Luke: 43:05

What am I trying to do? What am I accomplishing? Jesus changes all of those things. I wanna read for us out of Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five starting in verse one says this, therefore, since we have been justified, we've been made right with God by faith.

Luke: 43:56

We have a peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings. We endure suffering different. Knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces a hope.

Luke: 44:23

And that hope will not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. That's you and me. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good one, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Luke: 45:06

Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved from by him from the wrath of God. For while we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more. Now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by what? His life, his resurrection.

Luke: 45:32

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. This is the gospel. This is not a passage that says you got to fix yourself up. You got to get your life all back together. You got to get all your ducks in a row.

Luke: 45:52

You need to stop cursing. You need to stop doing this and that and all that. You got to get yourself in your Sunday best and you got to be able to come to church. That's not what that passage says. Passage doesn't say you got to be in your Sunday best to come to church on Sunday.

Luke: 46:08

Doesn't say you got to get it all figured out and then you can talk with God about it. He says, while you were still sinners, while we were still enemies, while we still were a hot mess, God died for us. And why? Because he loves you. Because he has grace.

Luke: 46:32

And what does he ask of you? Faith. It's not that I'm coming here and I'm, like, doing this whole thing because I'm trying to earn God's love. No. I've been given all of it.

Luke: 46:44

God doesn't love me any more right now than he did at any other point. He doesn't love you any less or more right now than he ever could. God is simply inviting you and calling you to himself. Jesus invites us through the strange but inviting words of those who seek to find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Jesus invites us to follow him on a journey.

Luke: 47:30

He says, come and follow me. When he went to the disciples, they were out fishing. They were sitting underneath trees. They were doing their ordinary days. And Jesus came and he said, hey, follow me.

Luke: 47:47

None of them knew that three years later they were gonna be in Jerusalem, that they were gonna witness this man die for their sins, and then meet him resurrected from the dead, and that their entire lives and trajectories were gonna be changed because they followed a man who invited them. I don't know what journey Christ wants to take you on, but I know he's inviting you on one. So the only question I really have left for you is simply the question that Christ had for Mary. Why are you weeping? He is risen.

Luke: 48:35

Let's take some time and pray as the worship team comes back up. Let's just take a moment, and let's just let's just be silent here for a moment together. Like I said, this morning, I don't know what your story is or where you are, what your relationship to Jesus is like. But I think Jesus has an invitation for all of us, whether we are currently following Jesus or we're not really sure. I think Christ has an invitation to you to be a resurrection person, to be someone whose life is changed by the fact that Jesus did not stay in the grave.

Luke: 50:27

If you are hearing call of the Lord, if you are hearing his spirit press upon you, I wanna encourage you to say yes to following Christ. Whether that's just following in deeper and fuller obedience or it's saying, yes, Jesus, you are Lord. You are risen from the dead, and I want my life to be different because of it. Let me just pray over us. Heavenly father, we are beyond thankful in words.

Luke: 51:13

Lord, you have loved us with a love that is beyond our comprehension. You have taken all of our sin, all of our wrongdoing, all of our mistakes, our brokenness, all the sin that was committed against us as well. And you took it upon yourself. You freed us from bondage, and you've made us redeemed people. You've made us resurrection people.

Luke: 51:47

Lord, I pray that today that truth would sit deeper in our hearts, that we would be filled with a joy that simply cannot be silenced. Lord, that we would proclaim with our lives and our mouths that you rose Christ from the grave. That you would build us into the image of your son, Jesus, that we would become more and more your church. Lord, I am so thankful for your work and what you are doing. Lord, we simply wanna say yes to you today.

Luke: 52:32

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Hallelujah and amen. Conduit this morning, if the Lord has done something or is doing something in your heart, don't leave without heeding that call. Would love to hear from you and pray with you up here if you have anything you'd like to talk about from today.

Luke: 52:51

But conduit, I have one final thing to say as we go from here rejoicing, and that is he is risen. Amen. Go in peace, conduit. You are loved.