Walk in Joy

Speaker 1: 0:00

Now I have a confession I have to make today. You can just call me Usher. These are my confessions. Don't get me singing up in here. Okay, here you go. Here's the thing. This confession I'm about to confess to is something that probably everyone in here is guilty of the same thing at least once in your life. Here you go.

Speaker 1: 0:22

Have you ever posted a picture on Instagram, facebook, whatever your social media preference is, myspace? How's Tom doing these days? Have you ever posted a picture on social media that looks so awesome? The picture looks so wonderful. It looks so perfect, but in reality, the picture was all a lie. The picture was all a lie. If only people knew the real story behind the picture. Here you go.

Speaker 1: 0:52

When we first had our now five-year-old daughter, we took newborn pictures and it was the single worst experience of my life Just horrible. To this day, I hate taking family pictures. I hate it. It's just awful. First of all, I don't know why they take so long. The photo shoot took like over an hour and then Kingsley was crying the entire time. But the picture, well, the picture looked great. Here you go. The picture looked wonderful. Here's the first picture. Here's this picture. Aw, look at me. I even had a nice fade back then. It looks great, picture looks wonderful. So it looks great. But in reality Kingsley is screaming like screaming as loud as she can, and while I'm holding her I'm thinking to myself wow, I really hate my life right now. Why did Aaron drag me here to do this? This is horrible, but the picture, the picture looked great. Okay, this actually happened.

Speaker 1: 1:47

A couple Easter's ago we posted this picture of all of our kids, their outfits, all of our outfits, perfectly matched. We all look great. They're color coordinated. We look like a little farmhouse family that lives in the suburbs. We don't live on a farm, but it looked all great. See, here's the picture. Look at this picture. Oh, we looked all awesome.

Speaker 1: 2:10

But the truth is the truth, church service went great that day, but everyone on our old teardown team our new teardown team want to do this to us. Everyone on our old teardown team left, left, right after the service. So my brother and I, we were here until about 1.30 cleaning up the church. So then, as I was driving home, I was all bitter. I can't believe they left me, man. Then I got to my house and my house was a mess because somebody didn't straighten up the house before we left, but it wasn't Erin, because she's perfect. But then I got home and I had to make some lunch. Then our daughter looked super, super red all day and then she wasn't acting like herself. So we took her temperature and she had 103 temp. We had to rush her to urgent care. She had a kidney infection.

Speaker 1: 2:58

But that picture, though, looks splendid, doesn't it? It looked great. I should have a picture of how Easter really felt that day. Show this one. That's how it actually felt. Okay, poor Jameson.

Speaker 1: 3:21

See, sometimes, here's the reality. Sometimes life does not go as we plan. Does everyone know that Life does not go as we plan? Sometimes things don't look as good as they seem. Sometimes it's hard to have hope in this situation and you know you're this situation.

Speaker 1: 3:44

So, which leads me to ask the question this Easter Sunday is a life of joy even possible? Is a life of joy even possible? I'm not saying a life without problems, because we'll always have problems 99 of them, according to Jay-Z. That was a good one, okay. I'm not saying a life without difficulty, because we'll always have challenges, but a life of joy. How can we, as everyday people who are learning how to become jesus followers choose joy in our daily lives, and I think I think the easter message gives us some insight on how to choose joy.

Speaker 1: 4:26

Okay, so we are concluding this series that has led us to Easter Sunday, called Live in Grace, where we, as everyday people who are learning how to become Jesus followers, are learning what does it look like to live in this free gift of God's grace. So what we have learned is that grace is not something we can earn. Grace is not something we can earn. Grace is not something we deserve, but grace is the undeserved favor of God. Ephesians 2 puts it like this by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by work, so that no one can boast. And the other thing, though, the other thing we have learned about grace is that God's grace is not passive. God's grace is not weak, god's grace is not timid. God's grace is not intimidated by our problems, however. God's grace pursues us. God's grace is aggressive, and God's grace goes after us, and God's grace is for us. Romans 5 puts it like this but sin didn't and doesn't have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace. Here you go. Grace wins, hands down, grace always wins, and because of that, we can walk confidently in faith, we can walk with action and love to those around us and we can experience purpose in our daily lives.

Speaker 1: 5:46

So today, as we close this series, I want you to leave church today with a sense of joy. My hope, my prayer for you today is that you leave today with a sense of joy, hope, purpose and some practical tools how you can live in grace and walk in joy. Okay, here we go. So here's the thing. I want to shoot it straight to you guys today, though I don't want to fluff you up, I don't want to make you all puffy, I want to shoot it straight to you. Sometimes life does suck. Sometimes you do want to uppercut somebody. Don't do it, though. Sometimes pain is our current reality and you may be like Pastor Jacob, I don't feel very encouraged right now. It's okay, it's okay. I just want to be honest with you, because before I can tell you how to walk in joy, I have to tell you what joy is not. Joy is not the denial of reality. Joy is not the denial of reality.

Speaker 1: 6:47

We live in what we call the already and the not yet, which means Jesus came. He lived the life we couldn't. He died a death we deserve. He rose from the grave and ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God. So we live in this space and time where Jesus came and he's making things right again through you and through me and through the church, but he's to come again. So there's this not yet, there's this middle. We find ourselves in the middle of he came and he's to come again. And because we live in this space and time of the already and the not yet, there's still illness and there's still pain and there's still hunger and there's still problems. So that means for you and I that we still got junk and we still got stuff that we have to deal with and then.

Speaker 1: 7:32

But the problem that happens is there's often this unauthentic Christianity that's not biblical, that you can't find Jesus. Talk about this. There's this unauthentic Christianity that says if you're a Jesus follower you shouldn't deal with pain, or if you have sickness, it's because you don't have faith. If you have problems, it's something that you're doing Like, for example, have you ever talked to a Christian? That's a little bit over-saved. You know what I'm talking about they're a little too saved. They're like, for example, they'd be like, yeah, you know, yeah, a dog, skippy, got mowed down by a car the other day. But you know, god is good all the time, and all the time God is good. Can I get an amen? You're like whoa, whoa, yes, god is good all the time. But poor Skippy, you just threw that in there. See, here you go, here you go. It is okay. I'm going to tell you something. It's okay to be upset, it's okay to be angry, it's okay to be frustrated, it's okay to be honest. It's okay to be honest. That doesn't make you less of a Jesus follower if you're having a negative day or if you're in a tough season of life. It makes you human. It actually makes you like most of the biblical characters in the Bible.

Speaker 1: 8:47

If you read the poetry books of the Bible, you see honest dialogue with the writers and God. If you look at the Apostle Paul, there's an acknowledgement that he is going through tough circumstances, that he's dealing with an addictive behavior that was hard for him to shake. Even Jesus was upset and frustrated. Jesus was full of joy and never denied life. Here you go, joy.

Speaker 1: 9:13

Joy is not the absence of pain, joy can be your reality in pain, in the pain that you're going through. James, the half-brother of Jesus, puts it like this he says you're going through. James, the half-brother of Jesus, puts it like this he says my fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can See. Joy does not deny tough reality. Second thing that joy is not. Joy is not connected to happenings. Joy is not connected to happiness.

Speaker 1: 9:41

Joy, joy is not connected to happiness, meaning that being happy, it's good to be happy, be happy, but happiness is the state of being happiness. So happiness is normally connected to something. Happiness is when, for example, you're at the Starbucks line and you order your $7 tall coffee but then they give you a grande size Like wow, that's an upgrade. This is good, you know. Happiness is when your team wins the game right. Happiness is when you finally got a promotion. It feels great and it's good to be happy. Pursue it. But the only problem with happiness is if you don't get the promotion, if your $7 tall coffee actually spills in your car, if your team loses again, well, you aren't very happy, are you and your emotions. Your stability is conditional. Happiness is conditional. Happiness is conditional. So what is joy? So what is joy In the Greek?

Speaker 1: 10:41

Uh-oh, we getting fancy. In the Greek the word joy is kara, which means the awareness of God's grace. Joy is the awareness of God's grace. Another way to put it is this joy recognizes grace, joy recognizes Jesus in all things. It recognizes Jesus in all things. So I can choose joy, even in this, because love was displayed on a cross for me. And this joy, this joy can stand up against life's troubles, because this joy is good news in the middle of my hurt, in the middle of your heartbreak, in the middle of your uncertainty, in the middle of pain and desperation. Because this joy, true joy, recognizes Jesus in all things. So I say to us today we can choose joy or we can refuse it. We can refuse it, but it cannot be taken from you. The devil can't steal it from you. You can't buy joy and you can't live off someone else's joy. But because joy recognizes grace in all things. So let's get practical. Let's get practical here today. Let's look at the first Easter Sunday and pull some practical tools on how we can live in grace and walk in joy. Three ways we can choose joy and become aware of God's grace. First one is this Choose joy even in life's disappointments. Choose joy even in life's disappointments. Choose joy in life's disappointments. And this kind of sets the stage for the first Easter.

Speaker 1: 12:12

The first Easter Sunday, the disciples, all of them, every single one of them, were disappointed and disillusioned. They didn't wake up looking for the Easter bunny. They weren't looking for the little baskets. They were confused. They didn't know up looking for the Easter bunny. They weren't looking for the little baskets, they were confused. They didn't know what was happening. They've been following Jesus for roughly three years. They've seen him do miracles. They participated in the miracles with Jesus and they thought Jesus was to overrule Rome and reestablish an earthly kingdom that Israel would reign, would rule and reign supreme again.

Speaker 1: 12:46

So what I want to do? I want to take you back. I want to take you back to the moment. I want to take you back to that moment when Jesus was hanging on a cross, jesus being crucified. He's hanging on the cross, people are staring, there's a large crowd and in the back of the crowd are the disciples that haven't fled yet, because most of them did. But they're the disciples that haven't fled yet, because most of them did, but they're the ones that haven't fled yet. In the back of the crowd is his mother. In the back of the crowd are the women who followed him from Galilee.

Speaker 1: 13:14

And let me tell you who wasn't there when Jesus was being crucified. When Jesus was being crucified, there were no Christians in the back, there were no church, there were no Bible, there were no believers. When Jesus was crucified, all there were were dozens of Galileans who were brokenhearted, overwhelmed with sorrow and confused and filled with disappointment, filled with disappointment. Their leaders, their religious leaders, conspired with Rome, their enemy, to murder, to falsely accuse and try and crucify the best person they ever known, someone who was not supposed to die, someone who these early followers, they begin to believe that he was God's ultimate and final Messiah, god's final king. And yet, in less than 24 hours, he was arrested, he was tried and he was crucified, and they were left in shock. They were left in shock because this was completely unexpected, in fact. In fact, they thought. His closest followers thought, when they were in Jerusalem at the time, they thought they were on the verge of winning. They thought they were on the verge of winning. Verge of winning. They thought they were on the verge of winning Then, suddenly, unexpectedly, it was over.

Speaker 1: 14:28

And the question I have to ask you today is this has life ever hit you like that that you were going the right way, you were trying to do the right thing, you were hoping for the right results, you were trying your best and then life hit you unexpectedly and it left you disappointed, left you confused, left you disillusioned. Maybe for you, it was a marriage that didn't work. Maybe for you, it's a marriage that you're in right now, but you're struggling and you feel like you're drowning. Maybe it was a business partnership that went south, kids that are living wayward, a career that's not as fulfilling as you hope, a dream you thought was certain, but you have made sacrifice after sacrifice for others and you have felt like you sacrificed your dreams. Whatever it is, you're struggling with joy, and joy seems impossible. And this is where we find the disciples. On Easter Sunday, on Easter morning, they had a dream, they had a hope and it was gone, and disappointment was all that was left.

Speaker 1: 15:30

Here's the truth about disappointment I got to tell you again. I want to shoot it straight to you. Here's the truth. When we face disappointments in life, when we face heartaches, when we face troubles and trials, when we face these things in life, we choose something. We choose something To deal with disappointments. We will choose something. We can choose joy or we can choose other things. See, I don't know about you, but oftentimes in my disappointments I've chosen anger or bitterness, resentment, fear, anxiety. You know, maybe for you you've chosen doubt or victim mentality, that everyone's against you. But at the end of the day, when we encounter disappointment, when we feel disillusioned, when we feel like we got the raw end of a deal, when we feel like things didn't go our way, we choose something. And why? Why do we choose something? Because we need something to justify the feeling. We need something to make sense of what's happening. Let's check out this story.

Speaker 1: 16:27

Very early that Sunday morning, when the women made their way to the tomb carrying the spices they had prepared, among them was Mary, magdalene, joanna and Jesus' mother Mary. I want you to see this. I want you to see this the women came to the tomb with spices. The women came to the tomb with spices. The women came to the tomb with spices because they were the spice girls. I thought about that joke all week. Guys, I'm sorry, I get one corny one a month, right? Okay, here you go. They came with the spices, not expecting a resurrection, though they didn't, so why would they come to the tomb? Why would they do that? They came with the spices to anoint his body as an act of devotion and love. In their disappointment, they chose to worship. They chose to worship. Here you go, let's keep going, and here we go. This is our favorite verse. He is not here, for he has risen. He has risen. So they came to the tomb. I want you to get this. They came to the tomb with disappointment. They came to the tomb with a broken heart. They came to the tomb confused. They came to the tomb with a broken heart. They came to the tomb confused. They came to the tomb not knowing what's happening, but they came to the tomb anyways. They came to Jesus anyways. They came there anyways. They could have ran away. They could have said I guess he wasn't who he said he was Mary Magdalene, who was among them.

Speaker 1: 18:23

Her life story is a story of rejection, a story of being used and abused, until she met Jesus, until Jesus called her by name and forgave her her sins and gave her a new life. And Mary. Mary says I don't understand everything that's happening right now, but I'm going to find myself back at his tomb, I'm going to find myself towards him, I'm going to find myself there. So she comes to the tomb to anoint him. Anyways, even though things didn't turn out the way she hoped, here you go.

Speaker 1: 18:54

They came to the tomb with disappointment, but they left. They left with hope. They left with hope. Come on, go with me here. Have you forgotten what he said to you while he was in Galilee? The angel said the destiny of the Son of man is to be handed over to sinful man, to be nailed to a cross and on the third day, to rise again and check out this part right here. All at once, they remembered his words. See, I got to say something.

Speaker 1: 19:26

When we face challenges, when we face disappointments, when we face heartaches and heartbreaks, sometimes we forget to remember, see. And what I want to tell you today, lvc, is this Do not doubt, in the dark seasons of your life, what God promised you while you were in the light. Do not doubt in the disillusion, do not doubt in anxiety, do not doubt in the depression, what God promised to you while you were in the light Because that thing that you're going through you got to hold on to his promise. You can't forget to remember, and I've come here today to tell some people that you may have forgot about your promise, but God hasn't forgot. There's some people in here today. You may have forgot about your purpose, but God's still cheering you on. I want to remind some people who've been through some heartache, who've been through some pain, who've been through some trouble, who've been through some trials don't give up, but get back up again. See, I don't like the angels in this story. I want to remind some people in here today you're still called. Your life still matters. You've been hurt by people. You've been hurt by church people. You've been let down by loved ones. Don't give up yet. Keep going after your dream. You can restore that relationship still. You can live out your purpose still, and I know hard times try to make us forget what God has already said. But I'm here to remind you. Don't forget to remember. Don't forget to remember.

Speaker 1: 20:55

Leaving the tomb, they went to break the news to the 11 and to all the others that has seen and heard. Second thing is this. Second thing is this Choose joy even in the middle of uncertainty, even in the middle of uncertainty, why they didn't fully understand what was happening. And I love how Matthew's gospel describes the women. Check this out. Matthew 28, 8 says this.

Speaker 1: 21:21

So the women hurried away from the tomb. I want you to get this, come on church, I want you to listen to this. They hurried away from the tomb, afraid, yet filled with joy, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I thought I'm supposed to be all perfect, I'm supposed. I thought I'm supposed to come, have everything all figured out and become all clean. When I come to come to Jesus, I'm supposed to have. No, no, no, no, no. They hurried away from the tomb, afraid, yet filled with joy, afraid, yet filled with joy, and they ran to tell his disciples they had this encounter and they had this encounter and they had this encounter. At first, they were disappointed and now, all of a sudden, joy is starting to return to them, yet they are afraid.

Speaker 1: 22:05

So, according to text, according to text, and if we're going to be people that live our lives based on the text of the scripture, according to text, it says that you can have joy, awareness of God's grace, awareness of God in your life. You can choose joy, but at the same time, be afraid because you don't understand the process, because the process doesn't always make sense, because sometimes there's things that we wish we can change, but you can't change, and there's things ahead that you don't know the outcome. So I can choose joy right now, I can choose joy in the middle of my uncertainty, I can choose joy in the middle of my fear. I can choose joy in the middle of this. Yet be afraid, and this is what I want you to know Fear. Fear does not disqualify you. Fear does not disqualify your faith. Fear does not say you can't live for God. Fear is your best indicator that you need to activate faith. And so I'm afraid I don't fully understand.

Speaker 1: 23:07

And they're thinking to themselves. I saw him on a cross on a Friday. He was dead dead on a Saturday and now, on Sunday, my hope is returning. My hope is returning and, to quote the Apostle Paul, whose life would eventually be flipped upside down because of this resurrection story, he says this because of our faith, christ has brought us into this place of grace where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory. Here you go.

Speaker 1: 23:42

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, meaning we can choose joy when we don't understand everything. We can choose joy when things don't look great yet, for we know what do we know? For we know that they help us develop endurance and endurance. And endurance develops strength of character and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope, this hope, will not lead to disappointment. Life brings disappointments. Things don't always go how we want. But hope, man, hope. Hope is dangerous. Hope. Hope can activate something in you. See, in the middle of my uncertainty, I'll choose joy by having a fierce hope. See Aaron McMahon.

Speaker 1: 24:33

It says in his book Mind Shift you might as well be extravagant with hope. No matter what the pessimist will tell you, hope does not detach you from reality. Hope does not blind you to the problems of the world. Hope does not make you shallow. Hope is not denial. Hope is the magic behind optimism. Hope reminds you that, no matter how bad it gets, you will get through this. You're going to get through it. And why are we going to get through it? Because he finished it on the cross and he rose again from the grave, and my victory comes from Him. See, here it goes. He says this. He says if you cannot destroy a person's hope, you cannot destroy them. If you want to be rare in this world, never give up on hope. When hope cuts through despair, in the same way that light cuts through the darkness, hope makes you contagious, hope makes you a light.

Speaker 1: 25:27

They ran back with joy and fear. And while hoping and while hoping, I won't compromise my integrity. Here you go, in the middle of my uncertainty. I'll choose joy by using this trial to build my character. I'll keep building my character. I'll keep speaking good of people, even when I don't want to. I won't lean on the side of negativity or discouragement, because Jesus, jesus, our great rabbi, our great teacher, informed us, informed you and informed me that you will have trouble in this life, he told us. So I don't know why we act surprised every time it happens Like, oh my goodness trouble. He told us. But in the same breath, when he said in this life you'll have troubles, he gave us the source of our hope. He says there's trouble, but take heart. But take are also translated be of good cheer. I don't know how Jesus all of a sudden turned to an old English man. But okay, be of good cheer, chap.

Speaker 1: 26:32

Now the Greek word there for take heart or to be of good cheer is thersio, which comes from the root word, which means bolstered because warmed up. When I first read that I said I don't know what that means. Bolstered because of warmed up, what are you talking about? A hot pocket, warming up a hot pocket? I don't know what you're talking about. So I looked into it. I looked into what the word bolstered means and I had no idea. So I looked it up and it means get this. It means provided with a padded support, go with me here. It means I'm comfortable, that means I'm supported.

Speaker 1: 27:14

Second thing take heart or be a good chair means I'm emboldened from within, which is a verb to give someone the courage or confidence to do something or behave in a certain way. So Jesus is saying in this verse. He says you will have trouble in this life, you will be in the middle of uncertainty, you won't have everything figured out. But take heart, because my grace will provide a padded support for your heart. That will give you an unflinching courage which will radiate a warm confidence, because it will keep your heart. That will give you an unflinching courage which will radiate a warm confidence because it will keep your heart warm.

Speaker 1: 27:41

Another way to put it is this joy keeps my heart from turning cold. Joy keeps my heart from turning cold. Joy keeps my heart from being filled with bitterness. Joy keeps my heart from being filled with entitlement. My heart is not shut down and broken or filled with grief and shame. Instead, my heart is warm and it is radiating confidence. Because out of the overflow of the heart, jesus says we do Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Speaker 1: 28:12

The Proverbs writers tell us. So I'll face. So I'll have a fierce hope and I'll choose to build my character. Because joy gives me awareness of grace. That keeps my heart warm Because, if we're all being honest today, we've all seen someone who has a cold heart. Their story there's story because it's story defined by bitterness and anger and unforgiveness and friends. I'm here to tell you today that is not the life God wants for you. That is not the legacy that God has for you. The women came running back, afraid, yet joyful. Lastly, last thing now get us out here to get some brunch. Okay, sound good. Choose joy from a place of victory, from a place of victory. We aren't fighting for victory. Grace allows us to live from a place of victory.

Speaker 1: 29:25

Jesus appears to the disciples. They were in shock. I want to fast forward a little bit to close this message, because I want to give us two thoughts about joy. See, jesus appears to the disciples on three different occasions after his resurrection, and I want to highlight the third one. The third time he encounters them, I want you to see this. Jesus is on the shore. The disciples come and they eat with him. And then there's this interaction that Jesus has with Peter. That is very significant. That's very, very significant. His interaction with Peter is this because during the crucifixion, like most of us know, peter denies Jesus three times. He says I don't know him, denies him three times. And check this out John 21.

Speaker 1: 30:08

After they had first watch that was funny After they had IHOP was that been a better placement of joke? Okay, after they had some IHOP, jesus said to Peter Simon, son of Jonah, do you burn with love for me more than these? Peter answered yes, lord, you know I have great affection for you. Then take care of my lambs, jesus said. Jesus repeated his question a second time Simon, son of Jonah, do you burn with love for me? Peter answered yes, my Lord, you know that I have great affection for you. Then take care of my sheep, jesus said. Then Jesus asked him again Peter, son of Jonah, do you have great affection for me? Peter was saddened by being asked the third time and said my Lord, you know everything. You know that I burn with love for you. Jesus replied then, feed my lambs.

Speaker 1: 31:02

Two points I want to make from that. First one is this your life matters to God. Hey, your life matters to God. I don't care what anyone try to say to you, say about you. How does it feel right now, prophetically, there's some people that have spoken to your life that you don't matter, that you made too many mistakes, and I just want to say right now, your life matters to God, it matters.

Speaker 1: 31:28

Peter has shame and guilt from his denial of Jesus. Yet Jesus, yet grace, pursued him and offered him forgiveness. And please notice the posture of grace. It was not passive, it did not wait around, but it pursued Peter. Grace approaches him with love and forgiveness, and the reason why he asked him the question three times, yes, was to counteract his three denials, but it also represented this he was asking Peter. The three things that he was asking Peter to do was to take care of the current disciples, to reach out to the Samaritans, who were a previously excluded people group, and to reach the Gentiles, meaning meaning he was charging Peter of the task of building and leading this movement called the church. And guess what Peter does it? Peter does it because his life mattered.

Speaker 1: 32:21

And the last I want to leave you with this On Easter Sunday joy is always connected to making a difference. This is what I just got to shoot it straight to you guys today, because I want you to choose joy in disappointments. I want you to choose joy in the middle of uncertainty. But the bottom line truth is this If you are always living for yourself, you will always be unsatisfied and you will always be looking for something more. We were designed to make a difference with our lives, to love people around us, to live beyond ourselves, beyond our comforts, beyond the easygoing life, beyond the quote-unquote good life. There is something more. You will always be doing this Now.

Speaker 1: 33:06

At the beginning of the message, I talked about how the reality behind some of the pictures don't match the real story. I got one more picture I want to show you. Go ahead, let's throw this picture up. That is. That is my yeah. You can clap for people who don't know. This past Friday, on Good Friday, we welcomed a new official member of our family, hayden Michael Gaines.

Speaker 1: 33:37

We finished the adoption process two years ago. We got an unexpected call to take in this premature baby who was in need. We weren't foster parents, we weren't in the adoption, it's nothing like that. We got a random call and we did it, but before we got this picture, which I love, did it, but before we got this picture, which I love, before we got this picture of our baby boy, aaron, my wife had to say yes to God while we were sitting at a burger joint, while we were sitting at Carytown Burgers. The long story short was this when we first moved to Richmond to plant this church, we asked God to show us the people he wanted us to meet.

Speaker 1: 34:21

And we were at dinner at Carytown Burgers with some friends and Aaron was connecting with the waitress there. And at the end of our dinner, aaron felt a nudge of the Holy Spirit to be this young woman's friend and Aaron was like man, I'm not going to ask her to hang out and I'm not going to ask her to hang out and I'm not going to. That's kind of weird, but as as she's handing us our check, aaron describes that the nudge of the Holy Spirit was so strong that she couldn't deny it, and so she felt the nudge. So, with everything inside her not really wanting to do it, she just asked her hey, should we? What new to the area? Do you want to hang out? You want to get to know some friends? And the waitress was over over static. She was like yes, I need to connect to some new friends. I just got out of some stuff in my life and I need, I need new people around me.

Speaker 1: 35:05

And we ended up being friends with the, with this waitress and her husband and the fast forward through a lot of unfortunate circumstances in that, in those in that couple's lives, they fell into hard times. They fell into hard times which led us to being contacted by CPS to take in Hayden. When we got him, we got him 10 days after he was born. He was five weeks early, drug exposed and barely four pounds. Now, why do I tell you that story? It's not to tell you like, how awesome, oh, me and Aaron, we did something so great. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. I tell you that story. We took him in, we took. I want you to get this. Why would we do this? We had no connection to this couple. They're not family. Why did we do it? Because Aaron and I are both sinners saved by grace and this grace transformed our lives. This grace transformed us.

Speaker 1: 36:10

So I can't look at the orphan heart and not give it a name. I can't look at life circumstances and just say, man, I wish I was just living in Florida, I wish I just had my own money and my own thing. Because my life has been transformed and because my life has been transformed, I have to make a difference with it. I have to do something beyond myself, and this Easter I'm going to charge you with something, church. I'm going to charge you with something as your pastor. Do not live your life for yourself. You will always come up empty-handed and you will always come up unsatisfied. But be looking to make a difference because, because it was for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. It was for the joy. And what was that joy? It was you and it was me and it was us and it was this world, and it was that knowing that we can be a part of making a difference in the lives of people. So, church, will you join me and be a little radical, be a little crazy to get out of our comfort zones and say God, use me, use me, use me.

Speaker 1: 37:35

So I say today, because the reality was this Erin at that burger joint could have said no, she could have, we would have went on living our lives. I want to drop something heavy on you today. What are you supposed to be saying yes to? Because it has the power to change everything. So, god, jesus, holy Spirit, we thank you for the cross, we thank you for your endless love and we say yes to you, jesus.

Speaker 1: 38:39

As I was speaking, I mean, I just overwhelmingly feel there's people in here today that you have convinced yourself that your life does not matter. Holy Spirit, come, holy Spirit, begin to speak to those people and bring correction to that. I feel like the Holy Spirit is gently saying you matter, you matter, you matter to God, your life matters. Don't believe that lie. There's someone in here. You have believed the lie and it's been about 10 years of you believing this lie. I feel like the Holy Spirit is saying enough, it's not true. What he says about you is true. Come, holy Spirit, we invite you here. I just feel like the Holy Spirit is reminding us.

Speaker 1: 39:41

It says scripture says the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. You have resurrection in you right now. So, father God, where there has been dreams that have been dead, relationships that have felt dead, purpose that has felt dead, resurrected in Jesus' name. Confidence yep, confidence is low, feels gone, resurrected in Jesus' name. More of you.

Speaker 1: 40:17

Jesus, if you're in here today, you're like Jacob. That sounds good. And I don't know this Jesus you're talking about personally. Maybe you're in here. You're saying, man, I kind of walked away, but I want to come back to God's heart today. If that's you, I want to lead you in a prayer. I'm not going to call you out or have you come up front, nothing like that. I'm not going to embarrass you, nothing like that. Just right where you are in your chair, if you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life or trust Him again with your life, just pray with me, right where you. You can say it out loud or say it in your heart. Just say Jesus, forgive me for my sins, make me new Today. I say yes to you Today. I follow you In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.