Reverse The Search

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:07.760 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.920 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:12.960 it gives your perspective to see God is moving in 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:17.880 your life. Enjoy the message. We're looking at the seven 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.720 last Words of Jesus Christ, what he said before he died. 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:21.920 How it applies to our lives. 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:24.120 Taking some things that we might be very familiar with, 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:26.479 or may not have been familiar with at all, but 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:31.160 really owning them personally and incorporating them into our lives 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:35.159 of faith on our personal journey with Jesus. And it 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:38.440 is a journey. And sometimes on the journey you become 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:41.920 so familiar with things that you don't notice them. 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:44.120 They can just be right there. 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.959 I grew up thirty miles from Charleston, South Carolina, and 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:50.879 I love going to Charleston with Holly when we want 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.480 to get away for a weekend. Typically we will sneak 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.120 away to Charleston. And by the way, if it's a vacation, 0:00:57.280 --> 0:00:59.600 that means there are no kids. If the kids are there, 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:05.039 it's a family trip. Vacation is me Holly, a hotel 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:13.480 and some shopping, maybe some carbohydrates too. But we go 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.760 to Charleston a little bit, and it's only three and 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:19.080 a half hours from Charlotte. And she asked me one time, 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:20.520 the first time we went, She said, what was it 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.679 like growing up so close to such a historic and 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:28.200 beautiful place? I said, never thought about it when I 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:33.000 was a kid. It wasn't a thing. Just you know, 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.840 it was Charleston. We never really made it past North Charleston. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.600 That's where the mall was. And I never really even 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:44.080 made it downtown, the place that I pay now to 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:45.240 go and spend the night, I. 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:46.080 Never even drove to. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:51.360 It was almost too close to notice until I got 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:55.000 away from it. And even the other day, y'all, I 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:57.360 was eating with the family. We go out to eat 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:02.240 most Fridays, and we were eating at this a burger restaurant, 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:08.040 burger joint, as the young people say, and that what 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.320 the young people call it, a burger joint over at 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:17.919 the five and dime. And I'm gonna get to my 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:19.840 scripture in a minute. Man, it's Luke twenty four or 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.239 thirteen through thirty five. Don't worry, I'm going there in 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.560 a minute, you can meet me there. Lace up your shoes, 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.600 stretch your hamstrings, do whatever you got to do, because 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:28.200 we're going on a journey. Tell the person next to 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:32.000 you we're going somewhere. We're going somewhere. So we went 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.360 to this restaurant and the young lady who was serving 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.040 us was really nice, but she kept looking at me funny, 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:39.639 looking at me funny every time she come over. You're 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.560 looking at me funny. And she came up and said, 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.840 I just figured out who you are. You're the Facebook guy. 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:50.720 I said, am I? She said, me and your friends 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.480 send the clips of your Facebook preaching to each other, 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.920 my friends in California. I said, cool, that's great, you know, 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.359 and all of that. And she brought her fries and 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:06.720 came back another time and she said, they just told 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:10.520 me in the back that your church is here in Charlotte. 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.920 I said, well, yeah, it's two miles from here at 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.760 this restaurant where I preach from. We have churches in 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.680 other places, not just in Charlotte, but it's based in Charlotte. 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.280 Like two like we could probably throw a French fry 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:28.080 at it and hit it. And and she said, I 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:32.040 didn't even know it now she's two miles from the church. 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:35.800 You don't need to invite people more, is what I'm saying. 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:39.960 You are not doing your job. It's what that said 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.520 to me. But what it really reminded me because I 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:44.400 told her, you know, you can get it on Facebook 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.680 and there's little cliffs, but if you really want to 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.800 see what makes that special, you gotta get in the 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:54.160 parking lot, see the people there, get a hog from 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.360 a greeterer. Have you got kids, You need to drop 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.320 your kids off at eat kids and watch how we 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:02.040 teach him. I mean, you really need to get around 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.880 the people. This is your lucky day because you're gonna 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:08.000 be my special guest. And I gave her an invitation 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.040 and she still didn't come. But that's not the point 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.800 of the illustration. The point of the illustration is you 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.040 can be so close. Elijah, my oldest son. The other day, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:18.719 I went to hand on my phone. He said, Daddy 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.039 wants said on your wrist. I said, on my wrist? 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:25.000 What's on my wrist? And he was talking about my scar. 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:30.040 I've had this scar since I was four. This scar 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:36.000 is my mom tells me from a childhood incident. She says, 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:39.640 I was playing with a dog bowl, and it was 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.000 made of glass. I dropped the dog bowl. The dog 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.479 bowl cut my wrist. She said she thought I was 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:46.200 gonna die. 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.800 I don't remember any of this. It's not traumatic for me. 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:54.040 But I've always had this little Harry Potter thing right 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.359 there on my wrists and. 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:02.520 Elijah noticed it. That's crazy. 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:05.960 These are the first hands that held his ungrateful butt 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.000 and wiped his ungrateful. 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.719 And he never even noticed. 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:17.839 I mean, how many times have I changed his diaper 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:22.960 with these hands? Probably not many, single digit probably. 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:25.880 But my point is it can be. 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:37.800 So close and remain unnoticed, so imminent and invisible to us. 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:39.840 But that doesn't mean it's not there. 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.839 Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:51.320 Let's go on the road. Seven miles. Let's go. Are 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:51.719 you ready? 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.760 I probably shouldn't have worn my white sneakers today. 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:56.520 They're gonna get dirty. 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:01.239 Because we're going on this Amaeis Road loop. Jesus only 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:07.480 has forty days. He's risen from the dead. He is resurrected, 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:11.760 just like he said he would be. He has the 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.279 keys to death, hell and the grave. He gave the 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:17.320 devil a big black. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.760 Eye when that stone rolled away, and. 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.800 Now all of Hell is trembling because the temple they 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:28.200 thought they had destroyed has rebuilt himself, just. 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:33.400 Like he said he would. He is resten, he is resin. 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.640 And the women went to the tomb, and it's Sunday morning, 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:41.599 and they brought some spices, but they would not need them, 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.400 because the Angel said to the women, why do you 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:47.520 look for the living amongst the dead? I want to 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.880 talk in this first installment of Seven Mile Miracle on 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:57.880 the subject reverse the search. Maybe we are missing the 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:03.000 presence and the power of God, the resurrection power of God, 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:07.240 the redemptive power of God, the restoration power of God, 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:08.720 the redeeming. 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:09.279 Power of God. 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:16.440 Because we're searching in the wrong places. They were looking 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.560 for the living among the dead. He is not here, 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:26.400 he's risen. What are you looking for a living God 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:32.920 in a dead place, a dead relationship, a dead text thread, 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:37.200 a dead Facebook page? Why are you looking for the 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:41.800 living God in dead religion? Dormant religion? Why are you 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.160 looking for the living touch? Somebody say, reverse the search? 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:49.240 He is alive and he is real, And the presence 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:51.280 of God is not meant to be an ad on 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:52.400 in or accessory. 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:53.960 But the operating. 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.720 System of the life of anyone who will choose to 0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:59.600 believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:01.720 Jesus Us as Lord and God has. 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.360 Raised him from the dead. And he's risen from the. 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.800 Dead, and he's gotta go, get the message out, get 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.160 on the road, because he's only got forty days. He's 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.320 about to be taken up to heaven and seated at 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.080 the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from whence 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:16.880 he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:18.640 And he's got to go, and he's got to show 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.000 the world that he's living, so they'll so they'll believe 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:22.760 the proof of the power of his resurrection. 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:25.160 And so he's got to go. What should he do first? 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:27.440 If he wants to reveal himself to the world and 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:29.280 let him know that the proof is that he is 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.320 the son of God in the fact that death. 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:33.080 Could not hold him in, the brave could not keep him. 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:34.680 And the tomb was borrowed because it wasn't needed for 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.199 very long. Where does he go? What does he do? 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:41.880 Perhaps we should perhaps we should host a resurrection reenactment event. 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.640 Maybe he can get Barclays, Maybe he can call Jay, 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:46.760 maybe he can maybe he can do it in a 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.199 cultural center. Maybe he ought to call Zuck. Maybe you 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.280 ought to put this on social Maybe he ought to. 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:52.640 Get it out. 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:54.640 Maybe he can go viral, maybe ought to make a Mean, 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:59.320 what does Jesus do on the day he defeats death? 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:07.160 You might be surprised, because what he does next is 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:07.839 take a walk. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:10.920 Come on, let's walk. 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.199 Will you walk with me? I don't even care if 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.800 you know where Luke is in the Bible. I just 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:21.280 want you to walk with me to this passage of 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:24.200 scripture where we join two travelers who as of yet 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:26.240 remain nameless. 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:27.719 What's that. 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:31.720 Jesus, on the day of his resurrection, with only forty 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:33.880 days to spare, to tell the world that he is 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.600 God and convinced them with many signs and proofs, appears 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:43.679 to two travelers whose names we have never seen. I mean, 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:48.200 at least go get Bartholomew. I've heard of him. But 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:51.440 these two travelers were watch this just like you and 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:56.720 me walking along, and they were headed toward a village 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:58.400 called Amaeis. 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:00.600 I've been there. Years ago. 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:03.200 We did an Easter presentation for our church by the 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:09.520 name seven Mile Miracle, and we decided to be cool 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.240 if we shot it there, but when we got there. 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.360 How many of you would love to go to Israel 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.240 one day if you could and see where Jesus walked. 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:17.520 How many of you are fine just. 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:19.880 To watch it on National Geographic and you don't need 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:21.280 all that, And you're like, well, thank. 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:21.880 You for your honesty. 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.920 But if you go, they'll tell you when you get there, 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.839 they'll say, hey, this is a Maus. And then if 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.200 you have a really honest guide, they'll say, I mean, 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.800 it's maybe a Mais. We don't know exactly where a 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.920 Maais was because it was such an insignificant place in 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:42.920 its day that there is no archaeological evidence that this 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:48.920 was definitely the place. Why would Jesus go to a 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:53.720 place that wasn't even significant enough in its day to 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:59.280 be known in modernity or pinpointed on a map. We 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:04.400 look for God in places that everyone recognizes. I mean, 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.680 we think that Jesus needs a shout out from Kim 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:14.800 or Kanye. We act like Jesus needs an oscar for 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:22.600 best resurrection. But instead he goes on this dirty road, 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.800 this a little road, real tiny road. 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:26.360 The one that they say he might have walked. I 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:26.760 walked in. 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:30.760 And he meets up with two people. And it's not 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:39.000 Zuck and it's not Trump. Now watch, they're walking toward 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:45.320 to Mais. Jesus died in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the place 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.120 where the Passover feast had just been celebrated. Jerusalem was 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:51.520 the place where the promised Holy Spirit was to come. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.679 But Jesus leaves the place where the Spirit is coming 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.079 to follow two people, and we don't even know who 0:11:59.080 --> 0:11:59.480 they are. 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:02.560 What kind of God is this? 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.679 Who would speak to you in a crowd of thousands 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.720 and would bring you to this place at this moment? 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:18.160 And these men are walking along on that same day, 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:20.360 the same day that Jesus got up from the grave. 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.720 So picture it now. Two things are happening. It once, 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.080 the eternal Word of God, who was in the beginning 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.080 with God, the fullness of his glory, full of grace 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.400 and truth, has trampled death, sin, hell, and the grave 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:32.880 made a mockery of Satan. And those who handed him 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:34.679 over are soon to bow down and worship him, and 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:36.880 every need will bow and tonge confess that Jesus Christ 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.199 is Lord to the glory of God the Father, and 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:39.960 God has exalted Jesus to the highest place, given them 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:43.320 the name that is above every name, that's happening, and 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:49.280 these two unnamed people most scholars say probably a husband 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.120 and wife. In a minute, we get the guy's name, 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.280 we don't get the woman's name because in Bible times 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.720 people didn't treat women too well. They were pretty overlooked. 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:59.480 But that's the kind of people Jesus life is, the 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:03.120 people who were overlooked. He would work a miracle with 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.880 the little kid's lunch. In their math, kids didn't count, 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.520 But in Jesus' math, that's where the multiplication was in 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:12.480 the hands of the one who everybody else walked past. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.160 I'm just saying that because you might think you can 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:16.960 only go on this journey if you're perfect. 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:19.440 You might think you can only go. 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:23.240 On this journey if your life is profound, that God 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.680 can only use you if everybody knows you, because we 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:31.400 worship the idol of fame in this age, but the 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:37.160 famous one, the name above every name, meets with two 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.319 previously unnamed travelers. And only because he met with them 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.360 do we know that the name of the man was 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:51.640 Cleopus Jesus Christ and Cleo that's what his friend's call him. 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.040 And since we're going on this walk with him, we 0:13:54.040 --> 0:14:00.720 should call him by his nickname Cleo. And they're walking 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.520 to a village called a Maaeas, a village that nobody 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.920 even knows where it really is today. I mean, they 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.280 can guess, but they don't. They're going toward a Maas. 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.760 Why would Jesus make one of his first resurrection appearances 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:20.680 headed toward a place away from where the Holy Spirit 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:24.200 was about to fall, toward a place that no one 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:29.640 would even remember. Could it be possible that we look 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:35.640 for God in the destination? But he is the God 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:40.240 of the detour. Can I preach on this for about 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:45.359 fifteen or thirty minutes? He is the God of the detour. 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:50.080 I'm trying to tell you that the perfect, flawless Son 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:54.360 of God turned his back on Jerusalem, set out on 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:58.320 a road toward an unknown place, followed to people we've 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.440 never met before. Because he is not the God of 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.160 a rival. He is the God of the first step 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:08.240 and the second step and every step. He's with me 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.440 when I'm right, he's with me when I'm wrong. He's 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:13.080 with me when I'm going forward. 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.120 He's with me when I'm stuck. He's with me when 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.640 I'm high stepping. He's with me when I'm crawling. He's 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.760 with me when I'm strong, He's with me when I'm weak. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:30.080 He walks with me, he talks with me. And they're 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.840 walking the wrong way. 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.520 Remember, they're walking the wrong way. If they really believed 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:38.720 he was going to raise from the dead, they would 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:40.040 have stayed in Jerusalem. 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:44.000 But they didn't, and God followed them to the wrong place. 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:46.480 Because grace will chase you down. 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.880 Some special is going to happen in this church today, 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:57.280 something special, something significant. 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.080 But it might start real small. 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.760 See, we look for God in the dramatic, but he 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:06.920 hides in the details. 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.720 Sit down, let's go for a walk. This is just 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.480 a setup week. Man, it's gonna be amazing. 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.880 It's gonna be seven last sayings of Jesus Christ before 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.800 he died last worse. We're gonna study them, apply them 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:21.240 to your life. 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:22.880 This is gonna be amazing, It really is. 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.040 We're gonna do a devotional on YouTube. 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:25.560 Facebook. 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.680 Did they tell you Instagram, everything, my Space. 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.520 I'll send a pigeon to your house with the devotion. 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:34.560 You see what I'm saying. 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:37.320 We'll do whatever we have to do is digital discipleship, 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:42.480 so we can see Jesus in three D and the 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:48.600 first d is not destination, it's detour, because God will 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:54.600 meet you on the detour the parts of your journey. 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.280 You didn't ask for a plan for or pack for 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.640 feed these people. We didn't bring lunch. You didn't tell 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:06.520 us to. Jesus said one time, I need to go 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:11.639 through Samaria, and they were like, that's not the most 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:12.440 direct route. 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:16.199 See Jesus is or I don't mean this in an 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:17.560 insulting way, but I think you'll. 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:24.719 Agree he's inefficient by human standards. It says in Proverbs 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:26.560 three five and six trust the Lord with all your heart, 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.280 lean not on your own understanding. When you try to 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:34.920 search for God with your understanding, and you say I'll 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.720 start my journey when I understand, you will never leave 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:45.880 earth of the Chaldeans Abraham, because it grows as you go, 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.919 with every step you see. And so he walks up 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:54.840 to them on the detour in the wrong direction, toward 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.480 a destination that has disappeared from our modern maps, because 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:02.520 it wasn't what happened when they got there, it was 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:06.639 what he revealed along the way. What if Christianity is 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:13.399 a journey, not a destination. What if salvation was a 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.080 starting block, not a finish line. 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:18.119 What if God's not done with you? 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.879 What if you don't have to find out to step out? 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:24.520 What if you don't have to know the reason to 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.399 stay on the road. That's all these two were doing 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.520 was walking. They didn't invite Jesus. They didn't pray to Jesus. 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:34.160 They didn't go to church. They didn't sing a helm, 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.399 they didn't pray a prayer, they didn't memorize a verse. 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:42.199 They didn't even join any group. But you should, but 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:47.400 they didn't. All they did was walk. And as they're 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.280 walking along the road to a village called to Maaeus, 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:51.280 as I'm. 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:52.720 Walking through my life. 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.600 As I'm raising my kids, as I'm dropping them off, 0:18:55.600 --> 0:19:01.240 as I'm smacking them as we go, tour to me 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:06.320 is a seven mile journey. I'm glad to put that 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.159 detail because that lets me know that He began a 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.040 good work in me, will be faithful to complete. Seven 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.760 in the Bible is a number of completion. God created 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.040 the world in six days. On the seventh day, he rested. 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:20.520 He didn't rest because he was tired, He rested because. 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.000 He was done. You like that. 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:27.400 I love y'all so much. I love y'all so much. 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.000 I love sharing the word of God with you. The 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:34.200 Word of God is alive and active. It'll make you holler, 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:37.439 it will it'll make you scream when the word of 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.199 God is alive to you. When Jesus shows up on 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.600 the road and meets you in your sin and snatches 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:50.919 you from your sin, it'll thank you holler. You just 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:57.800 jump up. And they're they're going along the road. Touch 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.600 somebody say, I'm going somewhere. I'm going somewhere, and I 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.359 don't have to know the destination, because every detour he 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:08.040 will direct my past. That's what Proverbs three five and sixcess. 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.120 He will direct my paths. That means the straight ones 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:14.320 and the crooked ones, he'll bend them all together. That's 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:18.120 what grace is. Seven seven is the number of completions, 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.920 seven times around the walls of Jericho, and they fell. 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.720 Did you go to Bible school, you remember this? Seven miles, 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:26.000 seven miles. 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:34.320 They're walking Cleo and missus Cleo. They're talking with each 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:40.840 other about everything that had happened. How they hung the 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:43.560 one that they had hoped to be the redeemer on 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:49.719 a tree, and how the Romans had crucified the one 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:57.280 that was supposed to deliver them from their oppression, and 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:02.720 as they look at verse fifteen with me, as they 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:12.119 talked and discussed these things, these events, the divorce, the 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:21.160 job loss, the struggle, the wasted relationship that you. 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:22.040 Didn't know how to handle. 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:26.200 As they talked about the death of what they had 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:31.120 set their expectation on. Right there in the middle of it, 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:39.160 Jesus himself came up, didn't politely ask to join them 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:42.120 on their journey, walked along with them. 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:46.920 Have you ever felt like God wouldn't leave you alone. 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:51.199 Even if you wanted him to, Like you tried to 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:54.560 disable your conscience and you still felt bad smoking it. 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:56.080 Come on, talk to me. Don't look at me like 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:58.760 you came in church riding in on a chariot, polish 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:03.640 a halo, I come at you, walk right up to you. 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.560 That's what he did. He walked up right up to him. 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:10.560 But they were kept from recognizing them. Have you been 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:17.040 kept from recognizing resurrection right in front of you because 0:22:17.040 --> 0:22:20.560 we looked for God in the dramatic, but he shows 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:27.600 up in the details. He takes a walk. Jesuys, you 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:30.080 do not have time for this. Let me be his 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:33.280 press agent for a little while. Okay, we got forty days. 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:35.639 We got to meet with people, make things happen. We 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:38.680 gotta get this show on the road. He says, Yeah, 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:45.160 on the road with Cleo. I gotta meet with Clear, 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:49.800 I gotta I gotta show myself to Cleo. 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:52.440 But he was kept from recognizing. 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:55.240 It. Didn't say that he didn't recognize him. Something kept 0:22:55.320 --> 0:23:00.560 him from recognizing. And resurrection begins in your life when 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:03.760 you ask the question, what is keeping me from recognizing 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:09.040 the presence of God that is right there, not only. 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:12.240 Beside me, but within me. Can I teach you about 0:23:12.280 --> 0:23:15.000 this a little bit, just a little bit. 0:23:15.200 --> 0:23:17.359 This is an opening week and it'll get better as 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.000 it goes, But you got to start somewhere. The journey 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:24.960 has to start somewhere, and every journey that is successful begins. 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:25.720 With the end in mind. 0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:28.800 I know it seems kind of backwards that I want 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:31.480 to teach you a series on what Jesus said before 0:23:31.520 --> 0:23:34.199 he died, and I'm starting with the spoiler alert that 0:23:34.240 --> 0:23:36.080 he's already resurrected and. 0:23:36.040 --> 0:23:36.639 On the road. 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:40.159 But when you begin with the end in mind, you 0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:43.320 see that no matter what I go through in life, 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:47.560 the result is that God will use whatever I go 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:48.120 through to. 0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:49.560 Reveal his glory. 0:23:49.920 --> 0:23:53.440 I am convinced that the sufferings of this present time 0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:57.520 are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that. 0:23:57.400 --> 0:24:01.120 Will be revealed in me. Stay on the road. 0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:04.840 See I don't understand all the reasons, but I'm. 0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:05.280 On the road. 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:11.000 And they were kept from recognizing him. How many times 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:14.480 have I been kept from recognizing what God was doing 0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:17.840 right in front of me? How many times have I 0:24:17.880 --> 0:24:21.959 been kept from recognizing ordinary moments of joy because I 0:24:22.040 --> 0:24:27.240 was waiting on things to be perfect. How many times 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:29.439 have I missed a miracle because all I saw was 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:32.800 the mess? How many times have I missed the opportunity 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:34.680 to give something because. 0:24:34.359 --> 0:24:37.679 I was so centered on myself? How I feel, what 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:40.080 I need? What I didn't get? 0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:43.080 And God said, if you'll change the question and reverse 0:24:43.160 --> 0:24:47.000 the search, maybe it's not about what is happening to you. 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:49.560 Maybe it's what I want to do through you. They 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:53.600 hung him hot. He didn't dump down. He had something 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:54.000 to do. 0:24:59.160 --> 0:25:07.280 They didn't recognize I didn't recognize it. I didn't recognize 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:09.280 that my kids were growing up fast, so I didn't 0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:13.520 make the time. I didn't recognize I didn't recognize the 0:25:13.560 --> 0:25:15.399 good things about the person I said I'd spend the 0:25:15.400 --> 0:25:17.480 rest of my life with. So I started focusing on 0:25:17.560 --> 0:25:19.960 the things about them that were mildly annoying, and eventually 0:25:20.040 --> 0:25:22.000 it became an insurmountable resentment. 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:25.080 I didn't recognize. 0:25:25.880 --> 0:25:28.000 I didn't recognize that the people I was hanging out 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:29.520 with were doing some things that were going to stick 0:25:29.560 --> 0:25:30.400 with me for the rest. 0:25:30.240 --> 0:25:30.720 Of my life. 0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:32.520 And it became an addiction, even though it just started 0:25:32.520 --> 0:25:38.480 out as an attraction. I didn't recognize, and they were 0:25:38.560 --> 0:25:44.120 kept what kept them from recognizing You can be kept 0:25:44.160 --> 0:25:47.400 from recognizing the patterns that created your outcomes. You can 0:25:47.480 --> 0:25:50.760 be kept from recognizing the behaviors that are leading you 0:25:50.840 --> 0:25:52.679 to the destinations that you hate. 0:25:52.840 --> 0:25:54.760 You know, you hate where you are, but you don't 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:55.920 know how you got there. 0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:03.800 And they were kept from recognizing him. And he was 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:08.919 right there with him, like that dude who prayed God 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:11.160 would save him. And the helicopter came and he didn't 0:26:11.160 --> 0:26:14.000 take the helicopter. You know this story, boat came, he 0:26:14.040 --> 0:26:16.919 wouldn't get in the boat. He drowned and he died 0:26:16.960 --> 0:26:18.800 and he said, God, ask you to save me. And 0:26:18.840 --> 0:26:23.760 God said that helicopter was me, that boat was me. 0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:30.040 That rejection was me. Yeah, even that pain, I let 0:26:30.080 --> 0:26:32.800 it happen because I wanted to produce a. 0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:35.920 Power in your life. And the only way I could get. 0:26:35.720 --> 0:26:43.399 It through and open your eyes. And they're walking and 0:26:43.440 --> 0:26:48.280 here comes Jesus like a stalker. Come on, It's kind 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:51.280 of weird, right, He just shows up in the middle 0:26:51.320 --> 0:26:55.639 of him Cleo and Missus Cleo, and he asks him 0:26:55.680 --> 0:26:59.640 a question. Just sit right down beside him in church, 0:26:59.680 --> 0:27:01.960 walk up on the road, and I love Jesus. 0:27:02.040 --> 0:27:02.960 This is comical to me. 0:27:03.160 --> 0:27:04.879 If you think the Bible is boring, I want to 0:27:04.960 --> 0:27:06.720 challenge the fact that maybe it's you. 0:27:06.800 --> 0:27:10.240 That is boring. And you huh. 0:27:09.720 --> 0:27:12.479 Huh, because watch this, This is some funny stuff. The 0:27:12.520 --> 0:27:14.840 author of life, who knows all things, who lays bare 0:27:14.920 --> 0:27:18.000 the intents of every heart, who created Cleo and Missus 0:27:18.080 --> 0:27:20.840 Cleo before the foundations of the earth for an express purpose, 0:27:20.920 --> 0:27:23.720 by whom and through whom and for whom all things 0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:26.080 are created. That's Jesus, the Word made flesh full of 0:27:26.080 --> 0:27:26.760 grace and truth. 0:27:26.960 --> 0:27:29.480 Walks up to Cleo and says, what y'all talking about? 0:27:33.920 --> 0:27:40.760 Like he doesn't know? And they stood still, their faces down. 0:27:40.880 --> 0:27:43.960 Everything in this textings backwards to me, y'all, he's going 0:27:44.000 --> 0:27:47.639 Tortimaeus away from Jerusalem. That doesn't make sense. He's talking 0:27:47.920 --> 0:27:50.760 to people that don't seem important. That doesn't make sense. 0:27:51.000 --> 0:27:52.399 He just got up from the dead. If you just 0:27:52.440 --> 0:27:54.560 got up from the dead, would you want to hang 0:27:54.560 --> 0:27:58.919 around happy people. I would want to find somebody who 0:27:59.000 --> 0:28:09.679 could celebrate. Come on, we're gonna pop something. But Cleo 0:28:09.840 --> 0:28:12.080 is sad because it didn't go the way he thought. 0:28:12.119 --> 0:28:14.360 It didn't end up the way he thought. Their faces 0:28:14.359 --> 0:28:16.200 were downcast, and all. 0:28:16.080 --> 0:28:17.359 Of a sudden they stopped walking. 0:28:17.720 --> 0:28:22.480 My Bible says they stood still, their faces downcast, and 0:28:22.560 --> 0:28:28.479 they stop, and apparently Jesus stops with them, and they're sad, 0:28:29.560 --> 0:28:34.000 and apparently he enters into their sadness, and they start 0:28:34.040 --> 0:28:39.040 explaining to the one who created life how life was 0:28:39.080 --> 0:28:45.280 supposed to turn out. I love the Bible. I'm fascinated 0:28:45.360 --> 0:28:47.880 by this journey. See, if you read the Bible like 0:28:47.880 --> 0:28:52.160 a magic rule book, you will never fully understand the 0:28:52.240 --> 0:28:54.880 extent to which it is meant to speak to your 0:28:54.920 --> 0:28:58.200 situation and guide your life. If you really get into 0:28:58.200 --> 0:29:00.600 this thing with me, over the next seven I'm gonna 0:29:00.600 --> 0:29:02.960 show you how God is not scared to walk right up. 0:29:04.080 --> 0:29:05.800 In the details of your situation. 0:29:06.080 --> 0:29:08.360 A bird falls out the sky and he counts it 0:29:08.400 --> 0:29:10.160 and puts it on the ledger. And you think he 0:29:10.240 --> 0:29:14.240 doesn't know about your loneliness, your tears, your heart break, 0:29:14.600 --> 0:29:18.200 your question. You think he's intimidated by your skepticism. You 0:29:18.240 --> 0:29:20.960 think your broken heart can chase him away. The Bible says, 0:29:20.960 --> 0:29:23.840 a broken and a contrite heart, he will not despise 0:29:23.920 --> 0:29:25.840 the only heart he can't get into, as the one 0:29:25.840 --> 0:29:29.120 that is closed up through pride. But if you open yourself, 0:29:29.200 --> 0:29:37.200 even with your face down cast, And Cleo said, hey, man, 0:29:38.920 --> 0:29:43.200 are you this is Ironica. The host of Heaven has 0:29:43.240 --> 0:29:45.360 come to earth. He died and rose again and lived 0:29:45.360 --> 0:29:51.120 a perfect life. And Cleo says, are you the only 0:29:51.160 --> 0:30:02.440 one visiting Jerusalem? Remember he made it. Reading the God 0:30:03.320 --> 0:30:08.400 of the world like a guest is so funny to me. 0:30:08.680 --> 0:30:10.600 How we get it twisted, How we get it out 0:30:10.640 --> 0:30:11.040 of order? 0:30:11.240 --> 0:30:14.400 We start we start thinking that God needs to consult 0:30:14.440 --> 0:30:16.960 our blueprint of how our lives need to be built. 0:30:17.040 --> 0:30:19.040 I can get this way as a pastor telling God 0:30:19.040 --> 0:30:21.360 what he needs to do in my church. You get 0:30:21.360 --> 0:30:23.360 this way as a parent what God needs to do 0:30:23.440 --> 0:30:26.720 with your children. Cleo launches out on this long excuse me. 0:30:26.720 --> 0:30:31.200 Clopus launches out on this long, long speech, telling Jesus 0:30:31.280 --> 0:30:32.360 what happened to Jesus? 0:30:35.360 --> 0:30:39.040 You find me. God has a sense of humor because 0:30:39.080 --> 0:30:40.040 he lets him talk. 0:30:41.840 --> 0:30:48.400 Cleopus gives him is his speech, and Jesus lets him finish. 0:30:48.440 --> 0:30:52.240 Are you the only one who doesn't know what happened? 0:30:53.160 --> 0:30:57.840 The one it happened to is standing there, and Cleo 0:30:57.920 --> 0:31:01.040 wants to tell him what happened. What that happened was 0:31:01.200 --> 0:31:05.200 Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet, powerful in word, indeed 0:31:05.240 --> 0:31:08.760 before God and all the people. They are standing before 0:31:08.840 --> 0:31:11.680 the Great I Am, and they start with he was, 0:31:16.360 --> 0:31:19.840 and there he is, and they're stuck in he was? 0:31:20.520 --> 0:31:24.120 Are you missing what is? Because you're stuck in what was? 0:31:30.360 --> 0:31:32.400 We hoped he was the one, but it took a 0:31:32.440 --> 0:31:34.920 turn for the worst. The chief priests and our rulers 0:31:35.200 --> 0:31:37.880 handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they 0:31:37.960 --> 0:31:42.560 crucified him. Jesus is nodding Verse twenty one, tell me 0:31:42.600 --> 0:31:45.440 all about it. But we had hope, And had I 0:31:45.560 --> 0:31:49.640 been Jesus, I'd have stopped you right there, cause hope 0:31:49.680 --> 0:31:54.400 that is seen is not hope at all, And if 0:31:54.440 --> 0:31:58.240 you had hoped and don't hope anymore, what you had 0:31:58.720 --> 0:31:58.920 was in. 0:31:59.000 --> 0:32:04.200 Real hope, because real hopes can hold on. And on Friday, 0:32:10.240 --> 0:32:13.920 I had hoped, I had hoped. 0:32:13.680 --> 0:32:17.120 To be over by now. I had hoped the medicine 0:32:17.160 --> 0:32:21.960 would fix it. I had hoped they'd say yes. I 0:32:22.040 --> 0:32:26.240 hoped they had asked. I had hoped. I had hoped. 0:32:27.080 --> 0:32:31.000 Hope is standing in front of hopelessness. Christ and Cleo 0:32:31.160 --> 0:32:34.920 and the Cross clashed with Cleo's expectation, and now his 0:32:35.040 --> 0:32:43.400 experience has left him downcast. We had hoped that he 0:32:43.560 --> 0:32:49.320 was the one. I thought i'd be further along by now. 0:32:50.800 --> 0:32:56.920 Thought i'd be married by twenty six. I thought I 0:32:56.920 --> 0:33:01.239 hope they would be good to me and pay me 0:33:01.320 --> 0:33:07.520 back and appreciate me after all I did for them. 0:33:08.160 --> 0:33:13.280 I had hoped he was going to redeem me. I 0:33:13.320 --> 0:33:17.840 had hoped he was going to heal me. Could it 0:33:17.880 --> 0:33:20.400 be that we miss God because we look for him 0:33:21.520 --> 0:33:26.400 in the dreams, but he is found in the disappointment. 0:33:30.400 --> 0:33:35.600 Their faces were downcast, their hopes were dashed, and from 0:33:35.600 --> 0:33:41.240 their standpoint, the story was over. Since I'm your tour 0:33:41.280 --> 0:33:43.080 guide on the seven mile journey, let me give you 0:33:43.120 --> 0:33:48.120 A professional travel tip, don't judge the journey before it's over. 0:33:51.920 --> 0:33:53.160 I don't know who that was even for. 0:33:55.240 --> 0:33:59.760 Don't judge the journey of seven miles when you had 0:33:59.760 --> 0:34:04.680 any haven't been too yet. See what the end will be, 0:34:06.480 --> 0:34:10.240 See what the end will be. If you trust his promise, 0:34:10.320 --> 0:34:13.800 you have to trust the path. And it might be winding, 0:34:14.520 --> 0:34:17.600 and it might lead to a cross, and it might 0:34:17.680 --> 0:34:20.360 not feel good, and it might be confusing. 0:34:21.160 --> 0:34:23.279 But he is the god of the detour. 0:34:23.760 --> 0:34:26.759 And it might not be spectacular, and he might not 0:34:26.880 --> 0:34:29.800 prove himself to you with signs that you can see 0:34:29.920 --> 0:34:32.000 or sense or feel. And it might not be a 0:34:32.040 --> 0:34:35.920 goosebump that proves his presence. He might show up in 0:34:35.960 --> 0:34:39.960 the details, you know, the little things. It might be 0:34:40.000 --> 0:34:44.040 in the little ways. He's right there on the road, 0:34:44.080 --> 0:34:47.640 he's walking with him. They almost can't recognize him because 0:34:47.680 --> 0:34:50.920 it's so common. What's happening is so common. He looks 0:34:50.960 --> 0:34:54.719 like just another guy. They are standing next to resurrection 0:34:55.239 --> 0:34:56.960 and they don't recognize it. 0:34:57.280 --> 0:35:04.680 And it's right there. He's right there. He is here now, 0:35:06.360 --> 0:35:12.000 he is, he was, he is to come, and he's 0:35:12.160 --> 0:35:27.200 with you in this moment. I hope he was the one. 0:35:27.400 --> 0:35:31.080 And what is more, Cleo says, to make matters worse, 0:35:31.160 --> 0:35:32.360 look at twenty one. 0:35:32.520 --> 0:35:37.880 It's the third day. It's funny, Yellow know that's funny. 0:35:38.000 --> 0:35:41.120 I'm sorry. I'm just a nerdy little pastor. I get 0:35:41.160 --> 0:35:44.759 kicks out of weird stuff. It's the third day. The 0:35:44.880 --> 0:35:46.600 whole time he was on the. 0:35:46.600 --> 0:35:48.839 Earth, he said, this is gonna. 0:35:48.560 --> 0:35:53.520 Go bad on Friday, but come Sunday. Don't look for 0:35:53.560 --> 0:35:56.920 me in the tomb. They buried me, and I did 0:35:57.080 --> 0:35:57.879 not out here. 0:36:04.440 --> 0:36:08.280 And what they thought was the dead end was really 0:36:08.360 --> 0:36:12.840 just the beginning. You want to see him in three D. 0:36:13.640 --> 0:36:16.680 Look for him in the detours. 0:36:18.040 --> 0:36:19.520 You want to see him in three D. 0:36:19.719 --> 0:36:22.960 Not this flat little coloring book Jesus with the lamb 0:36:22.960 --> 0:36:23.960 on his lap. 0:36:24.160 --> 0:36:26.240 But the living, risen Son of. 0:36:26.080 --> 0:36:31.840 God under who's off feet things, still sit and standing strong, 0:36:32.280 --> 0:36:34.799 seated at the right hand of God. You want to 0:36:34.840 --> 0:36:37.880 see him like that. Don't look for him in just 0:36:37.960 --> 0:36:43.760 the dramatic. Look for him in the details, that little 0:36:44.480 --> 0:36:48.719 little thing that God has been doing in your life. 0:36:48.920 --> 0:36:51.120 You want to see the Son of God. You want 0:36:51.160 --> 0:36:53.480 to see Jesus. How many of you want to see him? 0:36:53.520 --> 0:36:55.160 How many of you want to see God? Active in 0:36:55.200 --> 0:36:57.399 your life. I mean with the eyes of your heart 0:36:57.920 --> 0:37:03.440 to know him. 0:37:03.480 --> 0:37:04.880 He can be found at the dead. 0:37:04.800 --> 0:37:10.279 Ends when you used to hope and now it's hard 0:37:10.320 --> 0:37:15.279 to hope. That's where he meets you on your Amais road. 0:37:17.320 --> 0:37:21.640 I'm glad they can't find a Mais. I'm glad they 0:37:21.680 --> 0:37:26.080 can't because that means we each get to have our own. 0:37:27.800 --> 0:37:33.720 That means I get to have my own Amais. 0:37:33.920 --> 0:37:36.360 You know, I'm on my own journey. 0:37:38.320 --> 0:37:42.400 I'm on my own path and I'm not alone. 0:37:43.400 --> 0:37:45.279 I don't even like walking very much. I don't have 0:37:45.280 --> 0:37:48.680 a fitbit. 0:37:50.640 --> 0:37:53.880 Everything about this seems backwards, doesn't it. He spent his 0:37:53.960 --> 0:38:00.000 whole life telling people follow me, and now he's following them. 0:38:00.560 --> 0:38:01.880 He's come down out of heaven. 0:38:01.960 --> 0:38:04.279 Instead of people making their way to God, now God 0:38:04.320 --> 0:38:05.719 has come to us. 0:38:07.960 --> 0:38:09.240 He has reversed the search. 0:38:09.280 --> 0:38:11.320 You weren't even looking for him, and he was looking 0:38:11.360 --> 0:38:13.640 for you. You weren't even seeking for him, and he 0:38:13.760 --> 0:38:24.799 was showing himself all along. And Cleopas said, we had 0:38:24.800 --> 0:38:27.560 hoped he was the one. And in addition, he said, 0:38:28.280 --> 0:38:30.279 some of our women amazed us. They went to the 0:38:30.280 --> 0:38:36.080 tomb early this morning. Wrong place. He's not in the tomb. 0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:40.640 He's on the road. He's not in religion, he's in relationship. 0:38:43.080 --> 0:38:44.239 Please help me prist us. 0:38:46.200 --> 0:38:50.120 I need to know you're receiving it, because God told. 0:38:49.920 --> 0:38:51.560 Me that some of you are going to come out 0:38:51.600 --> 0:38:54.360 of tombs, tombs of tradition and. 0:38:57.040 --> 0:39:00.920 Really experience the presence of God. How many want to 0:39:01.080 --> 0:39:03.320 experience his presses? 0:39:08.640 --> 0:39:13.560 Find it on the road. 0:39:15.160 --> 0:39:18.720 Our women went to the tomb, they didn't find his body. 0:39:19.440 --> 0:39:21.759 They came and told us that they had seen a 0:39:21.840 --> 0:39:26.440 vision of angels who said he was alive. And then 0:39:26.480 --> 0:39:28.520 some of our companions went to the tomb. This is 0:39:28.560 --> 0:39:35.919 still Cleo talking telling Jesus about Jesus, still not recognizing 0:39:36.920 --> 0:39:41.520 what's right beside him. Some of our companions went to 0:39:41.560 --> 0:39:43.759 the tomb and found it, just as the women had said. 0:39:43.920 --> 0:39:46.920 But this most ironic verse in all the scripture. They 0:39:47.000 --> 0:39:52.799 did not see Jesus. He is telling Jesus about other 0:39:52.960 --> 0:39:54.480 people who didn't. 0:39:54.320 --> 0:39:59.800 See Jesus, and he doesn't know it's Jesus. Have you 0:40:00.040 --> 0:40:01.760 ever realized how. 0:40:01.560 --> 0:40:04.080 Easy it is to judge somebody. 0:40:03.640 --> 0:40:06.640 Else's journey and not. 0:40:06.600 --> 0:40:09.640 Even recognize what God is doing in your own. 0:40:13.600 --> 0:40:15.960 Go better, stand up so I can close this message. 0:40:17.000 --> 0:40:21.800 Jesus said to them, how foolish you are and slow 0:40:21.920 --> 0:40:22.480 to believe. 0:40:22.560 --> 0:40:23.840 That's the problem. 0:40:24.680 --> 0:40:28.680 Look at me every location, watching on television, watching online. 0:40:28.800 --> 0:40:29.360 I want you to. 0:40:29.360 --> 0:40:31.000 Look at me. If you can't look at me, look 0:40:31.040 --> 0:40:35.560 at the screen, look at me. It starts in the heart, 0:40:37.719 --> 0:40:40.200 he said. You're slow to believe. You keep trying to 0:40:40.280 --> 0:40:41.560 make sense of things. 0:40:41.320 --> 0:40:43.160 In your life with your head. 0:40:44.400 --> 0:40:46.640 You keep trying to figure out the reason for what's 0:40:46.680 --> 0:40:50.440 happening to you. And when you can't figure out the reason, 0:40:51.160 --> 0:40:53.799 you want to jump off the road. You want to 0:40:53.840 --> 0:40:56.560 stop following, You want to stop trusting when you can't 0:40:56.560 --> 0:40:57.279 figure it out. 0:40:58.840 --> 0:41:05.239 But if you would verse the search and believe in 0:41:05.280 --> 0:41:07.920 your heart what you have not yet seen. 0:41:07.719 --> 0:41:11.520 With your eyes, and believe the goodness of God, who 0:41:11.520 --> 0:41:15.360 am I preaching to in the top level of Valentine, if. 0:41:15.239 --> 0:41:15.920 You would get it. 0:41:15.880 --> 0:41:28.879 In here, this journey doesn't start with making sense. This 0:41:29.000 --> 0:41:30.720 journey starts with faith. 0:41:31.600 --> 0:41:38.000 Have faith in God. He's with me on this road. 0:41:39.680 --> 0:41:42.920 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and 0:41:43.000 --> 0:41:46.000 then enter in his glory? You keep wanting to see 0:41:46.040 --> 0:41:48.480 the glory, but you're only going to see it in 0:41:48.560 --> 0:41:51.759 the suffering. He is the God of the detour, He 0:41:51.920 --> 0:41:54.560 is the God of the detail. He is the God 0:41:54.600 --> 0:41:57.000 of your dead end, and he has brought you to 0:41:57.080 --> 0:41:59.960 this moment today. The spirit of God is in this place. 0:42:00.120 --> 0:42:04.560 I am preaching out of my mind for somebody who 0:42:04.560 --> 0:42:10.120 has been on the road watched this beginning with Moses 0:42:10.160 --> 0:42:14.719 and all the prophets. He explained to them. He took 0:42:14.760 --> 0:42:18.640 it all the way back to show them that the 0:42:18.640 --> 0:42:22.400 one that the prophets had looked forward to was standing 0:42:22.520 --> 0:42:31.640 right in front of them, and he explained to them 0:42:32.000 --> 0:42:36.040 what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. Man, 0:42:36.080 --> 0:42:39.959 he broke it down. He broke it down on the way, 0:42:41.200 --> 0:42:45.880 on the road. That's where you learn, is on the journeys, 0:42:45.920 --> 0:42:49.560 where you don't wait till you understand to get started. 0:42:49.920 --> 0:42:53.279 You grow as you go. You know as your goal. 0:42:53.719 --> 0:42:58.600 Keep walking, keep walking, keep walking, deep walking, keep walking. 0:42:58.960 --> 0:43:01.400 You all your stand you didn't better buy and five. 0:43:06.000 --> 0:43:09.880 Give it a chance, man, give it a chance to do. 0:43:10.120 --> 0:43:11.880 Give him a chance to show. 0:43:11.719 --> 0:43:15.560 You who he is. Hold on to his unchanging hand, 0:43:16.400 --> 0:43:17.000 trust his. 0:43:17.080 --> 0:43:22.440 Heart, even if you can't trace his hand. God, I 0:43:22.440 --> 0:43:27.840 don't get this well, I'm going forward. It's a decision. 0:43:29.040 --> 0:43:29.840 It's a decision. 0:43:31.640 --> 0:43:32.160 Can I give you. 0:43:32.200 --> 0:43:35.400 One more thing? I don't want to cheat you. Some 0:43:35.440 --> 0:43:37.600 people drove a long way to get here. How many 0:43:37.640 --> 0:43:39.600 of you drove over an hour to be at church today? 0:43:39.760 --> 0:43:41.400 Over two, over. 0:43:41.320 --> 0:43:48.880 Three, over four hours, over five, six, seven hour, miracle, 0:43:50.400 --> 0:43:52.760 six hour energy whatever? 0:43:54.440 --> 0:43:56.439 Touch Seven people said, we're going somewhere. We're going somewhere. 0:43:56.440 --> 0:43:58.840 We're going somewhere. We're going somewhere. God didn't save us 0:43:58.840 --> 0:44:00.480 to leave us like he found us. God save us 0:44:00.480 --> 0:44:01.520 to leave us like you found us. 0:44:01.640 --> 0:44:03.840 God didn't create me to stay suck in one place, 0:44:04.080 --> 0:44:06.560 one frame of mind, one way of looking at things. 0:44:08.040 --> 0:44:12.080 And every step Eugene Peterson said, every step is in arrival. 0:44:13.120 --> 0:44:15.400 You got that every step. 0:44:16.560 --> 0:44:19.080 So by the time they arrived, they had already arrived, 0:44:21.040 --> 0:44:24.080 and what was revealed on the road was only recognized 0:44:24.120 --> 0:44:28.840 in reverse. What was happening to them as they walked 0:44:28.880 --> 0:44:33.399 only made sense once they sat down. And the same 0:44:33.400 --> 0:44:35.080 one who got up from the grave, watch what he 0:44:35.120 --> 0:44:38.719 does next. They approached the village to which they were going, 0:44:39.560 --> 0:44:41.480 they got a lot more than they bargained for along 0:44:41.520 --> 0:44:41.839 the way. 0:44:43.320 --> 0:44:44.279 They didn't plan for this. 0:44:45.520 --> 0:44:48.440 They didn't wake up on that morning expecting a miracle, 0:44:48.480 --> 0:44:51.200 they were mourning the loss of what they had thought 0:44:52.200 --> 0:44:56.120 was the answer, and the answer walked up to them 0:44:56.520 --> 0:44:58.200 and asked them a brand new question. 0:45:01.480 --> 0:45:05.759 I love it. I'm excited about this series. This is 0:45:05.840 --> 0:45:12.280 the beginning. This just the beginning. We we we we we, 0:45:12.280 --> 0:45:15.000 We got a lot of ground to cover. I want 0:45:15.040 --> 0:45:17.920 you online every day at seven am. 0:45:17.920 --> 0:45:24.000 On in the car, treadmill, whatever, under the covers, eye boogers, whatever. 0:45:27.160 --> 0:45:30.640 Yeah, join the journey. Join the journey. 0:45:31.160 --> 0:45:33.000 You see, he's there all along in the little things, 0:45:33.640 --> 0:45:36.759 just the little little things. And and and they got there, 0:45:36.960 --> 0:45:38.920 to the to the place. Look at twenty eight again, 0:45:38.960 --> 0:45:41.040 twenty eight, twenty eight, twenty and they. 0:45:40.920 --> 0:45:47.120 Approached the village, and Jesus continued on as if he 0:45:47.160 --> 0:45:47.920 were going farther. 0:45:50.360 --> 0:45:54.919 The journey starts where you are, but where it ends 0:45:55.080 --> 0:46:01.280 depends on you, because they got there right, And Jesus 0:46:01.400 --> 0:46:04.520 is like, thanks for the company, I'll see you later. 0:46:06.000 --> 0:46:06.319 See you. 0:46:06.400 --> 0:46:14.200 Cleo, Yo, Cleo, I gotta go. Cleo got Peter to 0:46:14.200 --> 0:46:15.480 see things to do. 0:46:17.719 --> 0:46:19.640 Cleo said, hold on, hold on, hold, hold on. Look 0:46:19.640 --> 0:46:22.000 at verse twenty nine. They urged him strongly. 0:46:22.800 --> 0:46:27.759 Cleo said, although we've come to the end of the 0:46:27.760 --> 0:46:40.200 amaeas road. Still, I can't let go. It's unnatural. You 0:46:40.239 --> 0:46:42.759 can't leave me now. You can't leave me. Now you 0:46:42.920 --> 0:46:45.680 started something, God, You've started something. 0:46:45.400 --> 0:46:48.200 In my life. Stay with me till it's sober. 0:46:48.760 --> 0:46:52.720 Stay with me, hold my head, walk with me, talk 0:46:52.760 --> 0:46:53.080 with me. 0:46:53.480 --> 0:46:59.279 I mean you, every hour, stay with me. 0:47:01.360 --> 0:47:04.440 So he went in to stay with them, and they 0:47:04.520 --> 0:47:09.440 sat down. Remember he's the same god who sent angels 0:47:09.440 --> 0:47:11.600 to a tomb. He's the god of the dramatic, but 0:47:11.680 --> 0:47:15.360 he's also the god of the details, because the Bible 0:47:15.360 --> 0:47:17.719 says while he was at the table with them, he 0:47:18.040 --> 0:47:18.760 took bread. 0:47:19.160 --> 0:47:20.319 He's always taken over. 0:47:20.840 --> 0:47:26.239 He takes over conversations, he takes over supper time. He's 0:47:26.239 --> 0:47:28.440 supposed to be a visitor, and he becomes a host, 0:47:28.480 --> 0:47:31.640 and he takes the bread. God wants to take your 0:47:31.719 --> 0:47:34.879 life over today, don't you see it. You've been doing 0:47:34.920 --> 0:47:37.240 it on your own. 0:47:37.280 --> 0:47:41.720 You don't have to do it alone anymore. They invite 0:47:41.760 --> 0:47:42.080 him in. 0:47:42.840 --> 0:47:49.480 He takes over, takes the bread, breaks the bread like 0:47:49.560 --> 0:47:50.280 he was broken. 0:47:51.960 --> 0:47:52.560 Blesses it. 0:47:54.600 --> 0:47:59.960 Thank you Lord, he says, grace, and he breaks the bread. 0:48:01.040 --> 0:48:03.680 He gave him the bread that he had just finished breaking. 0:48:05.160 --> 0:48:07.880 And the Bible says that when he broke the bread 0:48:07.880 --> 0:48:11.960 to give it to them. I want to show you this, 0:48:12.840 --> 0:48:14.359 when he broke the bread to give it to them, 0:48:14.440 --> 0:48:15.120 Verse thirty one. 0:48:15.800 --> 0:48:20.320 Then their eyes were open. 0:48:27.640 --> 0:48:30.480 What was revealed in the routine of the breaking of 0:48:30.480 --> 0:48:33.080 the bread that was not revealed all along the road? 0:48:33.160 --> 0:48:37.759 What did they see at that moment that they had 0:48:37.840 --> 0:48:48.680 not seen before? They saw it in his stars, They 0:48:48.840 --> 0:48:50.480 saw it in what he suffered. 0:48:51.520 --> 0:48:54.480 Do you see it? Do you see it? 0:48:56.600 --> 0:48:59.960 Sometimes you see him in the broken places more than 0:49:00.000 --> 0:49:03.120 when you see him in the blessed places. Sometimes you 0:49:03.239 --> 0:49:10.239 have to see it in the scarf and the hands 0:49:10.880 --> 0:49:14.160 that had helped them all along revealed to them. 0:49:14.200 --> 0:49:18.280 When they saw his scars, then their eyes were opened 0:49:19.480 --> 0:49:26.680 and they recognized him. Open our eyes, Lord, open our eyes, 0:49:28.360 --> 0:49:29.240 open our eyes. 0:49:31.120 --> 0:49:33.040 Close your eyes. Quit focusing on what you got to 0:49:33.080 --> 0:49:36.000 do next. Close your eyes. Ask him. 0:49:36.080 --> 0:49:40.000 Open my eyes, Lord, out loud, Open my eyes, Lord. 0:49:42.440 --> 0:49:44.840 Ask him what the disciples asked him say, Stay with me, 0:49:47.719 --> 0:49:52.240 tell them come on in going on a journey. 0:49:53.719 --> 0:49:56.800 Yeah, And he's with you in this journey. 0:49:57.600 --> 0:50:09.200 Every mile, every detour, every detail, every dead end, every scar, 0:50:10.760 --> 0:50:13.960 every struggle, He's with you. 0:50:16.520 --> 0:50:17.640 Thank you for joining us. 0:50:17.920 --> 0:50:20.400 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:50:20.480 --> 0:50:23.960 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:50:24.400 --> 0:50:26.600 You can click the link in the description to give 0:50:26.680 --> 0:50:30.839 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:50:30.840 --> 0:50:34.640 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:50:34.920 --> 0:50:36.280 You can share it with your friends. 0:50:36.560 --> 0:50:38.840 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:50:38.880 --> 0:50:41.000 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:50:41.000 --> 0:50:41.879 Elevation Church. 0:50:41.920 --> 0:50:48.520 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.