That's Not All You Are

0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.160 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.520 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.559 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:18.560 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message now, listen. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.439 I was telling somebody the other day. They said, Easter 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.600 must be the easiest time for you to preach. I said, oh, 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:28.720 on the contrary, it's really the hardest because everybody thinks 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.400 they know the story better than they really do. And 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:36.839 this part of the Easter story is maybe something that 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:40.960 you've heard before. But if we study it together today, 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:43.800 I believe you see something you've never seen. In John 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.520 chapter twenty, verse twenty four. It's kind of the climax 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.839 of John's gospel. Now, Thomas, also known as Didamus, one 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:53.120 of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.680 So the other disciples told him we have seen the Lord. 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:02.320 But he said to them unless I see the nail 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.000 marks in his hands and put my finger where the 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:11.920 nails were and put my hand into his side, I 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:20.160 will not believe. A week later, his disciples were in 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:25.240 the house again, and Thomas was with them, though the 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:29.520 doors were locked. Jesus came and stood among them and said, 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.840 peace be with you. And then he said to Thomas, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:40.399 put your finger here see my hands. Be careful what 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:45.880 you ask for. Reach out your hand and put it 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:52.240 into my side. Stop doubting and believe. And Thomas said 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:57.360 to him, my Lord and my God. Then Jesus told him, 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.600 because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:10.880 those who have not seen and yet have believe. Now 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:16.880 listen to this. Jesus performed many other signs in the 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:20.919 presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.880 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:29.519 is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:36.440 believing you may have life in his name. Can you say, man, 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.280 that's the word of God. Now let me give a 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.080 title to dis sermon, and you can give it to 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.760 your neighbor. Tell them, I know you're I know you're 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:50.919 Tell them I know you're a good person. Tell him 0:02:50.919 --> 0:03:00.480 I know you're a Christian, I know you're nice. Tell 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:10.280 him I know your moody. Now I don't want to 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.240 start anything, but tell him I know you're kind of 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:16.919 crazy now, but that's not the title. Here's the title. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:23.400 Come the title. Say that's not all you are. That's 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:31.919 not all you are. Now be seated, and let's talk 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:38.040 about Thomas, or as you judgmental church people like to 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:43.400 call him doubting Thomas. If you're new to church. We 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:45.880 have nicknames that we give certain disciples. We don't do 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.840 it to all the disciples. We just pick on certain disciples. 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:54.520 Like Peter gets to be called the Rock, right because 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.560 Jesus called him that. We don't call Peter. Peter cussed 0:03:57.640 --> 0:03:59.440 somebody out one time when they were trying to see 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.960 if he was a church member of Jesus Christ. But 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:10.640 we don't call him, you know, profanity Peter. No. But Thomas, Like, 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:12.560 for real, I wish you were here right now because 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:14.520 you can hide on the other side of that screen. 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.000 It's much better when I can see you in the 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.359 like eyeball to eyeball. I love that because somebody that 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.719 I don't know, what's your name? Yeah, yeah, oh I 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:25.400 know you work for the church. Okay, I'm gonna pick 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:31.279 somebody else. What's your name? Yeah yeah, hunter? Hunter? Do 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:35.360 you ever? Do you ever? Do you ever? You ever 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:37.480 do do you ever? Do you ever do something that 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.640 contradicts your beliefs? But you know you should do better, 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:42.839 but you do the wrong thing anyway. You're real slow 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:46.320 to nods. She nodded quickly. I wish you could have 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:48.839 seen it. She was nodding before I finished the question. 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.480 But but, but, but that's called hypocrisy. So what if 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:59.360 we called you hypocrite? Hunter? Right? That be fair? Be fair. 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:04.479 It wouldn't be kind or gracious or anything like that, Lisa, 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.360 Does Tom ever lose his temper? I've never seen him 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:12.840 do it, So we should call him right tantrum Tom 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.920 because the Bible passage I just said, Thomas was doubting. 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:21.279 Oh he must be doubting, Thomas. Stick a label on him. 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:26.320 We love to label things. Is there anybody in the 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:30.279 back of the room that ever struggles with overeating? Just ever? 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.000 I mean just even like on Christmas, you eat crap 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:34.560 on the back of the room, on the back of 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:36.240 the room. I'm not looking at y'all right now, on 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:37.800 the back of the room. I'm not even looking at 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:39.760 the Epham at the back of the room, all right, 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:41.320 what's your name? All the way up there in the 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:42.960 corner of the room, right there in the back of 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.320 the room. No, no, back behind you, even back behind you, 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.560 even no over that way, over that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:50.000 She raised her hand. She said she struggled with overeating. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:55.400 What's your name, Camille? What if we call you Calorie 0:05:55.880 --> 0:06:00.880 intake Camille? Huh, I'll just make the He's off right. 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.599 This is what we do. We love to label stuff 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:14.080 because if I label it, I can be lazy, because 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.839 I can think I know you, because you remind me 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:24.520 of something that's in myself that I won't admit. This Easter, 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:28.719 I would like to talk about Thomas and suggest to 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.520 you that if any of the other disciples had been 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.440 in his same situation, they would have had his same doubt. 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.840 The Bible says that Thomas wasn't there when Jesus showed up. Now, 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:46.120 remember he rose from the dead. He showed himself to 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:48.880 Mary Magdalene, not to the boys first, because he knows 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:50.960 that women have the ability to feel and not be 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:53.440 so calculative about everything, and know things that their minds 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.160 can't conceive, and see things spiritually that men are blind to. 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.360 Because we are so ego focused that we can't even 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.279 connect with one another. Let alone resurrected Son of God. 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:07.240 You like that pandering idea to the female demographic there? 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:08.960 That was good, wasn't it? But I really believe that. 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:10.760 I really believe that Hollywood was with a bunch of 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.520 other pastor's wives a while back, and she was saying, like, oh, 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.000 it's so good, and we opened up and we talked 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:16.520 about this, and we talked about that. And I said, 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.200 if that had been the pastors of those churches and 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:21.720 not the women who are co pastors or pastors' wives, 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.120 all we would have talked about is things that started 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:32.040 with how many or how much? Because we love to label. 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.880 Guys are really simple. We are still trying to figure 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:40.920 out how much do you bench? Just you know, now 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.800 with dollars instead of dumbbells, like how much did you 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:47.360 make last year? And all this stuff. Because we love 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:51.800 to label, it helps us. It helps us to accommodate 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:56.440 our assumptions. If we can label something, look at somebody 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.760 and say, that's not all you are. We love sometimes 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.680 to identify ourselves as Christians by our jewelry, even though 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.280 the cross was originally a torture instrument, not a fashion statement. 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.600 There's nothing wrong. I got one myself and I'll wear it. 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.920 But my point is sometimes it's easier to label it 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:28.160 than to live it. Doubting Thomas, Yeah, that's really fair. 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:32.400 I mean, when it says that he wasn't there, he 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:36.720 wasn't there. We don't know why, you know how you 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.480 fill in the blanks and assume things about people. He 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.800 wasn't there because Jesus had been crucified and he was 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.160 ashamed to be identified with the others, or maybe he 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:51.840 was running an errand I mean, after all, the other 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.480 disciples were not exactly full of faith. How do you 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.920 know that the Bible says they had the doors locked 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.679 because of fear of the Jews. You know how you 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:04.760 say Easter's the super Bowl? Not really? Not really, It's 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.760 not really like the super Bowl, because even though Jesus 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.200 was risen and they had heard about it, they still 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.640 had to live with the reality that they represented a 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:19.080 threat to the Jewish Council that represented the religious establishment 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:23.480 of the day. So it's a strange celebration. It's kind 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:25.760 of like how how sometimes in your life you can 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.680 be really happy about something but really worried about something, 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:31.040 and you can't exactly jump up and down about this 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:36.000 because you're distracted about that. So somebody says, how you knowing, 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:37.640 You're like, I'm good, But that's not all you are. 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.280 You are good in the particular area of your life 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:48.079 that you chose to disclose in that moment. Thomas wasn't there. 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:52.760 The only difference between Thomas and Peter is Peter got 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:58.360 to see Jesus when he showed up. Peter didn't have 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:01.240 greater faith than Thomas. He just he's had a different experience. 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:07.240 Don't judge people about where they are if you don't 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:17.480 know where they started. Maybe he wasn't there because he 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:22.480 was scared, or maybe he was just struggled with punctuality. 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:30.120 Maybe Thomas was late. It's no worse of an assumption 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:31.920 than the fact that he wasn't there because he didn't 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:34.920 love God. I don't know why he wasn't there. It 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:36.920 just says, let's read the text again, so y'all will 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:38.439 think I'm not making this up. I don't want y'all 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.640 to trust me. I want you to trust the text now. Thomas, 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.560 also known as did amis one of the twelve, was 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:46.319 not with the disciples when Jesus came. What if he's 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:50.440 not doubting Thomas at all. He could be tardy Thomas. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:54.600 I like that tardy Thomas. You know how I think 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.640 Jesus would call him. I was sinking about this. What 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.000 would Jesus call Thomas? What would Jesus call the one 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:01.880 that wasn't there? What would Jesus call the one who 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:03.680 came back a week later to make a special guest 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.559 appearance too? He thought so much of him that he 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:18.800 showed back up. Maybe Jesus would call him honest Thomas. 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:25.440 Honest Thomas, because what he said. I think. I think 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.600 he said a good thing. He said. I've got to 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:32.240 see it for myself. There comes a time when your 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.360 faith in God, when what your grandparents taught you, or 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.400 what you learned on a flenograph and a Sunday school 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:42.000 can't really get you through the real complications of adult life. 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:47.080 So what he said wasn't I won't believe, he said. 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:53.600 I won't believe unless I see the nail marks in 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.920 his hands and put my finger where the nails were 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:02.320 and put my hand into his side. I won't believe 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:08.320 unless what would it take for you to believe that 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:11.320 God was with you in this moment, in this season. 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:14.440 What would it take for you to believe that God 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:19.079 had your kids in his hands. What would it take 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.160 for you to believe that He knows what's best for you? 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.280 What would it take for you to believe that God 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:27.840 does not relate to you on the basis of the 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:29.640 thing you're most ashamed about. What would it take for 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:35.240 you to believe? He's already seen so much? Thomas has 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.320 He's seen a lot. And John says, Jesus did so 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:44.800 much we couldn't write it all down. So John, in 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:49.440 making this we call it a book, his gospel account, 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:52.480 he says, I put the ones in the book that 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.280 would serve as a sign so you could believe. And 0:12:56.320 --> 0:13:00.960 he includes seven of them, which is a significant number, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.800 especially for the Jewish mind, because it was seven days 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:09.160 of creation, you know. And John is saying, here, I'm 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.720 gonna I'm gonna show you seven things. He starts talking 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.040 about the signs in John chapter two, where Jesus turned 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.800 the water into wine at a wedding. Then in chapter four, 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:24.280 Jesus heals this official sun. It's crazy because Jesus didn't 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:27.560 even have to go physically to the place in order 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.120 to heal the boy. All it took was for the 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.080 man to believe it was his faith that made his 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:36.600 son well. In John chapter five, there's a man trying 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.079 to get to the water and Jesus says, well, it's 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.280 a good thing that the water showed up, since you 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.440 can't move. Because the man was actually paralyzed, he could 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.000 not get to the water, so Jesus brought water to him. 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:51.840 That's the third sign. One of the miracles that we've 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:53.880 heard a lot about if we were around church was 0:13:53.920 --> 0:14:00.280 when Jesus fed five thousand men, women and children, and 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.280 is significant in this particular sign because when they found 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.920 this little boy in John chapter six, they said, here 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.439 is a boy. To them, he looked like a boy. 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:16.680 He was carrying a buffet. In't that amazing? Look at 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:18.559 your neighbor again and say, that's not all you are. 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.720 That's not all you are. Yeah, you look like a boy, 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:28.000 But when your bread gets in the hands of the 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.000 one who knows how to do with it. As a 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.400 matter of fact, when Jesus went walking on the water, 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.360 they thought he was a ghost. They didn't recognize him 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.280 at first, they didn't see him at first. They felt 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:42.600 fear at first, not faith. And then in John chapter nine, 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.320 I think it is you can check all these later. 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.120 I'm giving you a Bible study for the next week. 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:47.440 By the way, you could go through all of this 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:51.760 where this man was born blind and Jesus healed the 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.800 man born blind, which was amazing. But the greatest thing 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.760 that he did to show who he was started with 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:07.280 what he didn't do. My favorite story in the Bible 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:11.320 last year was the story of Lazarus in John chapter eleven. 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.760 I spent the greater part of the year off and 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:20.040 on looking at this story. And I want to show 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.000 you something that's in the story that I think might 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:26.800 relate to your season of life as well. If you 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:30.120 have John chapter twenty right now, just maybe put that 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:33.320 little ribbon in your Bible. Who am I kidding? Like 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.200 y'all brought paper to church today, Just mark it on 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.000 the screen and go to John chapter eleven for just 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.960 a moment, because if we flip back to John chapter eleven, 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:48.560 it will show us something about who Jesus really is. Now, 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.880 John says, I can't tell you everything, but I told 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:57.040 you enough that you can believe. For the part that 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:01.480 you can't see, I can't I can't tell you everything 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.640 that he did, but I gave you enough to believe 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.520 God said, I'll give you enough to go on. So 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.560 when Moses asked God, who are you, he said, I am. 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:14.400 You don't have time for me to tell you all 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.880 that I am, because the moment that I tell you 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.200 exactly what I am, you will label me, and the 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:25.680 moment you label me, you will limit me. It's like this. 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:31.080 People will say, oh, oh, that must be a Pentecostal church. 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.480 That must be a Baptist church, that must be a 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.800 well they say. Sometimes they'll say oh, they'll say, I 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.120 remember one person said, sometimes I don't like how elevation 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.680 mixes different genres. It should either be worship or gospel, 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:53.320 not both. So the definitions I found in the Bible 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.680 confused me because I thought worship was our job description 0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:02.400 and gospel was our message. But now what's what we'll do. 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:09.240 We want to create a genre about a God who's 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:16.560 worthy of eternal worship, because if we can categorize him, 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:24.159 we don't really have to trust him. So Jesus, watch this. 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:31.080 Thomas wasn't the only one who wasn't there. Jesus wasn't 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:36.720 there in John chapter eleven to heal his friend Lazarus. 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:39.760 And what I'm discovering in the Bible is you can 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:44.199 learn just as much about God through absence as you 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:48.680 can through presence. Prove it to me. Okay, one time 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.240 Paul said, I had this storn and I wanted God 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.679 to take it away, but God didn't do what I 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:55.639 asked him to do. How many have something in your 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:57.360 life right now that God's not doing that you asked 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.160 him to do on the timetable that you're asking him 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:00.879 to do. If he is doing it, he better go 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:02.359 ahead and get to it because it's gonna be too late, 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:10.240 real soon. This is the situation in John eleven. At 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:15.160 first Lazarus is sick, and then Lazarus is dead, and 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:19.480 they do not get the attention of the healer. Now 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:21.880 we can see this most clearly because there's a lot 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.080 in this passage, and God, I wish I couldppreciate it 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.240 all to you right now. If I summarized it, it it 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:28.399 would actually ruin it because I would squeeze out at 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.960 all the detail. So I'm not gonna summarize it. By 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:37.720 the way, just to the side point, don't trust the summary. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.000 Don't trust the summary. Put that in the chat. Don't 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:46.160 trust the summary. When we try to summarize something, we 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.000 squeeze out of at the meaning right. So if I 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:52.160 tell you John, chapter eleven, Lazarus died, Jesus raised him 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:56.879 from the dead. You missed the tears that he cried 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:03.119 at his tomb. Don't even try to summarize salvation and 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:08.440 just make it about heaven and hell. Because I need 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:17.040 Jesus on this earth, and they needed Jesus to show 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.119 up and heal their brother. And they had a reason 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.720 to expect because he would stop through Bethany every time 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.440 he needed airbnb at Martha's house, and Mary would listen 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.440 because she had a good heart. But Mary, Martha actually 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:30.720 knew how to cook, so she's the one doing the work, 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:33.760 paying the mortgage, and Mary is over here doing anyway. 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:36.720 It's a whole dynamic. Again, I can't summarize it. It's 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:40.720 a very very involved story. But I thought I would 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.199 show you verse thirty two, John, chapter eleven, because their 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.879 brother is now dead and Jesus missed the opportunity to 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.400 heal him. Now, very specifically, before I came, God said, 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:55.440 you're going to speak to somebody today who thinks it's over. 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.520 And the limitation that they have placed is not on 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:04.840 a genre of music. The limitation that they have placed 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:11.919 is on themselves. In the story of Lazarus, they asked 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:15.159 for the healer to come. They call him the teacher 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:18.600 or the rabbi. That's how they knew him. And it 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:20.680 says in verse thirty two, when Mary reached the place 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:22.439 where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:24.000 feed and said, Lord, if you had been here, my 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:28.240 brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.280 and the Jews who had come along with her, also weeping, 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:35.119 he was deeply moved in spirit and trouble. Where have 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:39.280 you laid him? He asked, Come and see Lord, they replied, 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:42.920 and Jesus wept. Wait a minute, I thought you were God. 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:49.959 You're supposed to be drying tears, not crying them. What 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:52.080 I what you've heard about God is not all there 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:58.200 is to him? What if the God that you've heard 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:04.040 about is only a sliver? See, people will describe God 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:08.920 in many ways, and they'll say that God is a healer. 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:12.639 But then someone that you love will die. And to 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:15.879 assume that he's not as powerful as you thought he 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.040 was because he didn't do what you thought he would 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:27.120 misses the entire basis of true faith. Our problem is 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:30.119 just like we do to Thomas, we do to God. 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:36.159 We want to define people and even define God, and 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:43.200 even define ourselves by our worst moment. Now, the danger 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:47.880 in this passage is that by seeing their expectation unmet, 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:52.320 their faith could have been discontinued. And you've got two perspectives. 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.880 At the tomb of Lazarus this day, in verse thirty six, 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:58.080 the Jews said, see how he loved him. But some 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:00.600 of them said, now watch this, this is my message. 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.080 Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:08.159 man have kept this man from dying? You see what 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:13.560 they did. They labeled him according to their limited experience 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.639 of what he could do, because they heard he was 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:20.840 a healer, So to them, that's all he is. And 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:24.200 if he's a healer and he didn't heal, then it's over. 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:30.879 If he's only the one who opens blind eyes and 0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:33.840 your brother died, then he didn't do what he could do, 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:37.880 and he can't do it now. But sometimes you've got 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:40.560 to have enough faith in God. Listen to me, by 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:42.840 the spirit of the Lord. Sometimes you got to have 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:46.200 enough faith to say, God, I thought you were a healer, 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:53.840 but that's not all you are. God, I thought, I 0:22:53.880 --> 0:22:56.720 thought you were the one who would keep it from happening. 0:22:57.800 --> 0:23:01.000 But that's not all you are. Have you ever had 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:08.120 God not stop something and he could have, then you're 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:12.920 just like Jesus. His father could have stopped him from 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:16.760 going to the cross. Even Jesus said I could call 0:23:17.560 --> 0:23:24.800 a legion of angels and they would rescue me. And 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:30.320 they thought he was a king. And when we worship 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:34.600 Jesus and we say you're a king, he is. He's 0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:40.960 also a carpenter. And the greatest revelation that Jesus ever 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:44.280 gave anybody in the scripture of who he was was 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:52.119 after what he didn't do. So let me break this 0:23:52.240 --> 0:23:56.040 down real simple. I was talking to a YouTuber the 0:23:56.040 --> 0:24:02.720 other day, and there's nothing uncommon about YouTubers, but he's 0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:09.240 fifty nine and he was sharing with me how he 0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.240 had been a music producer and then when that stopped 0:24:12.480 --> 0:24:14.399 and he was down to his last little bit of 0:24:14.440 --> 0:24:17.119 money in the bank account. I told you this story, 0:24:17.600 --> 0:24:21.800 I'm gonna tell them now. He kind of was at 0:24:21.840 --> 0:24:23.359 the point in his life where, you know, by the 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:25.919 time you're fifty four, he's fifty four when he started 0:24:25.920 --> 0:24:28.639 his channel. You kind of have a pretty good idea 0:24:28.640 --> 0:24:32.480 of what you can and can't do, right, Like, I mean, 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:35.320 one day his intern walks and he told me the story. 0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:36.720 He said. One day his intern walks and he says, 0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:40.840 you should start a YouTube channel. And the beautiful thing 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:45.399 about this guy, he's got the grayest gray hair, shocking white, 0:24:45.520 --> 0:24:50.440 like the transfiguration of Jesus Christ himself. And he said, 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:55.440 there's nobody with hair like this on YouTube. I'm a producer. 0:24:55.480 --> 0:24:57.080 This is what I do. I'm a music teacher. This 0:24:57.119 --> 0:24:59.080 is what I do. I don't even know how to 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:03.760 make the videos. Now, I wouldn't be telling you this 0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:08.240 story if he tried and failed. Obviously he succeeded, right, 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:14.200 I was studying. There's all these other YouTubers who are 0:25:14.240 --> 0:25:19.280 younger and more hair and different colored hair and all 0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:22.800 of these different things. See. See, I'm telling you the 0:25:22.840 --> 0:25:29.000 story because you can tell yourself a summary of what 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:34.040 you are and what you're not based on the experience 0:25:34.160 --> 0:25:41.360 that you've had, not the potential that you carry. And 0:25:41.400 --> 0:25:44.880 so what he said was, I'm not a YouTuber. I'm 0:25:44.920 --> 0:25:49.919 a fifty four year old producer. His channel is bigger 0:25:49.960 --> 0:25:56.280 than all the young guys today, right right, And you 0:25:56.320 --> 0:26:00.520 would be clapping so hard if you realized that whatever 0:26:00.600 --> 0:26:04.200 you have told yourself is the stopping point of what 0:26:04.280 --> 0:26:08.639 you can be fails to factor in that the limitless God, 0:26:08.880 --> 0:26:12.119 who says my name is I am and will not 0:26:12.359 --> 0:26:16.800 be confined to one category, is living on the inside 0:26:16.840 --> 0:26:23.200 of you. Sophy was gonna do it, he'd have done 0:26:23.240 --> 0:26:26.680 it by now. Well, maybe he wants to do something different. 0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:31.960 So God, I expected you to be this in my life. 0:26:32.160 --> 0:26:34.159 I expected you to plan it and do it and 0:26:34.240 --> 0:26:37.960 executed like this. But what I thought you were is 0:26:38.040 --> 0:26:40.800 not all you are. So the message of Easter is 0:26:40.880 --> 0:26:48.440 just like the tomb. I'm open. I'm open. Say it 0:26:48.440 --> 0:26:52.280 out loud. I'm open. I'm open. I'm open. And the 0:26:52.320 --> 0:26:54.480 thing about it is, I'm not open to what I 0:26:54.600 --> 0:26:56.919 hoped would have happened. I'm not open to what I 0:26:56.960 --> 0:26:59.199 thought would have happened. I'm not open to what I 0:26:59.200 --> 0:27:02.040 think would be better. God, I believe if you could 0:27:02.040 --> 0:27:03.960 put a fifty nine year old on the top of 0:27:04.000 --> 0:27:07.239 a YouTube mountain, watch this. If you can heal a 0:27:07.280 --> 0:27:09.960 man who's been in the grave so long that his 0:27:10.080 --> 0:27:13.159 sister is more concerned about the stinch than she is 0:27:13.200 --> 0:27:18.359 about the potential. If you can do that. Come on, 0:27:21.000 --> 0:27:30.440 I'm open. God wants you to unlearn your limitations. You've 0:27:30.480 --> 0:27:35.040 got to unlearn your limitations and stop thinking that it 0:27:35.119 --> 0:27:39.959 had to be on one schedule. Well, their kid is 0:27:40.160 --> 0:27:43.879 smarter than mine. Their kid is peaking too soon. All right, 0:27:47.840 --> 0:27:52.040 that's all it is. Your kid has got street smarts 0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:55.840 and d's on their report card. And later in life, 0:27:57.240 --> 0:28:07.080 Later in life, the lateness of God. Why did he 0:28:07.119 --> 0:28:13.400 make Thomas wait a week? Thomas wasn't there. Jesus could 0:28:13.440 --> 0:28:16.720 have waited, caught up with him somewhere else. Why did 0:28:16.760 --> 0:28:19.359 he wait a week? You didn't see it when I 0:28:19.400 --> 0:28:21.159 read it. Okay, I'll go back to it for you. 0:28:21.920 --> 0:28:25.159 This is really and Elijah's reading through the Book of 0:28:25.200 --> 0:28:26.960 Matthew right now, and he said, Dad, do you ever 0:28:26.960 --> 0:28:30.280 feel like Jesus is trolling his disciples? And I said kinda, 0:28:30.359 --> 0:28:32.600 he does. Doesn't mean like I'm going to pay the 0:28:32.600 --> 0:28:35.640 temple tax, but go fishing. It'll be in the fish's mouth. 0:28:35.680 --> 0:28:37.320 He's like, this is just weird, and I'm like, it 0:28:37.400 --> 0:28:39.680 kind of is. I see. I'm glad he's reading the 0:28:39.720 --> 0:28:44.000 Bible for himself so he can learn to wrestle with 0:28:44.120 --> 0:28:48.000 questions about God. And about life, and not just trust 0:28:48.040 --> 0:28:53.600 the summary that Jesus loves the little children. Jesus does 0:28:53.680 --> 0:29:01.840 love the little children. Jesus also flips tables. I asked 0:29:01.920 --> 0:29:03.760 him the other day, did you get to the party 0:29:04.040 --> 0:29:05.880 in Matthew yet? Because he read chapter nine? I said, 0:29:05.880 --> 0:29:07.440 you get the party at where he's cussing it all 0:29:07.480 --> 0:29:09.720 the pharisees out. Not exactly cussing, but he might as well. 0:29:09.880 --> 0:29:12.240 I mean everything you'd want to call him. He's calling 0:29:12.320 --> 0:29:16.080 them whitewashed tombs and all these things. But see, when 0:29:16.120 --> 0:29:18.240 you have a view of God that thinks that he 0:29:18.360 --> 0:29:21.880 only says soothing things, you get surprised. That's why I 0:29:21.920 --> 0:29:25.280 hate preaching on holidays. We took something as powerful as 0:29:25.280 --> 0:29:46.960 the resurrection and dressed it in pastel. Let me tell 0:29:47.000 --> 0:29:48.760 you my Christmas sermon. I already got it. You're ready 0:29:48.760 --> 0:29:51.680 my Christmas sermon. You know, silent night, Holy night, all 0:29:51.760 --> 0:29:53.760 us calm, all his bright away a manjing Cridford, a 0:29:53.760 --> 0:29:56.600 better lord. Jesus laid down the sweethet. The cattle are 0:29:56.600 --> 0:29:59.560 lowing the sky. I don't know the word, but this part, 0:30:00.320 --> 0:30:04.000 little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes. That's a lie. 0:30:04.680 --> 0:30:08.280 I like the song to y'all, but it's not true. 0:30:08.440 --> 0:30:16.320 He's a baby in a bard. He's crying. So I'm 0:30:16.320 --> 0:30:19.120 gonna do a message on Christmas, not silent Night. It's 0:30:19.160 --> 0:30:22.200 gonna be called Screaming Jesus. I hope you'll put it 0:30:22.240 --> 0:30:26.000 on the It's December twenty fifth, twenty twenty one, right 0:30:26.000 --> 0:30:37.920 here from this pulpit, coming soon, Screaming Jesus Ah. I 0:30:37.960 --> 0:30:39.440 know you know me as a healer. I know you 0:30:39.480 --> 0:30:41.440 know me that I open the man's blind eyes. I 0:30:41.440 --> 0:30:43.000 know you know me in this season of your life 0:30:43.040 --> 0:30:44.400 is this. I know you know me as that I 0:30:44.440 --> 0:30:46.480 know up until this point I provided for you this way. 0:30:46.600 --> 0:30:48.120 And I know you think that what you've seen is 0:30:48.160 --> 0:30:53.040 all there is. But blessed her those. This is what 0:30:53.120 --> 0:30:58.600 he told Thomas, who have not seen and still believe. 0:31:00.720 --> 0:31:04.400 Who's he talking about in that? Who's he talking about? 0:31:04.440 --> 0:31:09.360 He's not talking about the other disciples they saw. Who's 0:31:09.400 --> 0:31:14.880 he talking about? I think he's talking about Mary and 0:31:14.920 --> 0:31:23.640 Martha because Martha was like, if you would have been here, 0:31:23.680 --> 0:31:25.240 my brother wouldn't have died. And Mary was like, if 0:31:25.240 --> 0:31:26.920 you'd have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And 0:31:26.920 --> 0:31:28.440 if you would have did what I thought you could do. 0:31:29.880 --> 0:31:32.400 But Martha says something real powerful. Watch this, she said, 0:31:33.000 --> 0:31:41.040 But I know that even now it's too late. But 0:31:41.120 --> 0:31:45.080 even now you didn't fit the definition of what I 0:31:45.120 --> 0:31:50.800 thought a good friend was God. But even now you 0:31:50.880 --> 0:31:52.880 withheld the healing that you easily could have given in 0:31:52.920 --> 0:31:59.240 you intentionally missed the opportunity to perform. But even now 0:32:00.960 --> 0:32:04.520 I thought you were a healer. But that's not all 0:32:04.520 --> 0:32:10.840 you are. Martha's confession is the powerful confession. She says, 0:32:10.880 --> 0:32:16.320 you are the Christ, the Messiah who has come into 0:32:16.320 --> 0:32:22.400 the world. So whatever I thought you were, whatever I 0:32:22.440 --> 0:32:26.240 thought you would do, whatever I expected from your hand, 0:32:27.520 --> 0:32:32.160 that's not all you are. Would you say that to God? 0:32:32.200 --> 0:32:37.840 This Easter? I had my nice little pretty picture of 0:32:37.920 --> 0:32:42.480 little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay, or the great 0:32:42.560 --> 0:32:46.480 King Jesus, who destroys every devil and drives out all darkness. 0:32:46.480 --> 0:32:50.640 But you're also the one who weeps with me in 0:32:50.680 --> 0:32:56.680 something that you could have prevented. You are the one 0:32:56.680 --> 0:33:01.080 with all authority. You are also the one with all empathy. 0:33:02.160 --> 0:33:06.040 I wonder what else you are. You know, for years 0:33:06.120 --> 0:33:10.600 now you've been defining yourself by your dysfunction. MHM. I 0:33:10.640 --> 0:33:12.760 hear it because I talk. I talk to you, I 0:33:12.880 --> 0:33:14.600 hear you. I hear when you talk. You do it, 0:33:14.720 --> 0:33:17.080 you do I do it. I do it all the time. 0:33:20.600 --> 0:33:23.000 I think it's somewhat of a cop out from us 0:33:23.000 --> 0:33:28.480 having to grow, because if we condemn ourselves, we don't 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:33.680 have to work towards change. That's just how I am. 0:33:33.760 --> 0:33:37.160 Hey man, I'm just not organized. I can't hope it. 0:33:37.200 --> 0:33:43.360 I'm just not organized. You know, there's like methods for that, right, 0:33:44.120 --> 0:33:47.720 And now I'm worried because, Yo, when they do personality 0:33:47.800 --> 0:33:51.640 tests Myers Briggs and Enneagrams and all of this, I 0:33:51.680 --> 0:33:54.040 know Aneagram's not a personality test. Trust me. I get 0:33:54.080 --> 0:33:55.680 a lot of feedback every time I make fun of 0:33:55.760 --> 0:33:58.720 Vineagram on the internet, and I'm grateful for that. It's 0:33:58.760 --> 0:34:09.200 a blessing. And uh, but that's a helpful tool. But 0:34:09.280 --> 0:34:10.839 if you take something that was meant to be a tool, 0:34:10.880 --> 0:34:12.680 do you know, Enneagram, you put a number and that's 0:34:12.760 --> 0:34:15.120 kind of your dominant sin or weakness or something, then 0:34:15.160 --> 0:34:17.000 you can understand it and all that that is really 0:34:17.000 --> 0:34:20.600 what it is. But see, we like to slap a 0:34:20.680 --> 0:34:23.080 number on something so we don't really have to know it. 0:34:23.160 --> 0:34:25.440 I hear people walking around all the time. You're a seven, 0:34:25.600 --> 0:34:27.719 you're a three, you're an eight. I'm like, I'm like 0:34:27.800 --> 0:34:30.239 a at least a like because Holly told me I'm 0:34:30.239 --> 0:34:31.879 a one, I'm at least I'm at least a one 0:34:31.920 --> 0:34:34.440 point five, a one point seven? Like do I get 0:34:34.440 --> 0:34:36.680 a decimal? Like? Do I really have to be that 0:34:36.880 --> 0:34:39.520 exact of a thing? And there's nothing against all of that. 0:34:39.600 --> 0:34:43.600 It's good, it's good. It's good, it's good. But we 0:34:43.640 --> 0:34:51.120 will even turn a tool into an excuse. Yeah, I'm 0:34:51.160 --> 0:34:54.440 a perfectionist. That's just who I am. That's just how 0:34:54.480 --> 0:34:58.200 I am. You're also a payment. You're also aggravating to 0:34:58.320 --> 0:35:03.080 some people. That's not all you are. And I love 0:35:03.160 --> 0:35:07.520 yelling church. I'm a child of God. I am a 0:35:07.880 --> 0:35:11.080 child of God. That is not all you are all 0:35:11.120 --> 0:35:23.239 the time. If you clap, I won't call you out. 0:35:23.840 --> 0:35:28.080 We won't pretend like you are always holy and righteous 0:35:28.239 --> 0:35:33.640 and blessed and full of faith. So how do we 0:35:33.719 --> 0:35:39.600 deal with this? Thomas aka Didamus I love how he 0:35:39.640 --> 0:35:45.080 even had a little nickname means the twin You ever 0:35:45.080 --> 0:35:56.560 feel like there's two of you? By the way, this 0:35:56.640 --> 0:36:01.839 is an opportunity for him who experienced Jesus not through 0:36:02.800 --> 0:36:09.960 another spectacular miracle, but through a sacred scar and notice 0:36:10.480 --> 0:36:13.080 what he wanted to see. I've already seen him walk 0:36:13.120 --> 0:36:16.560 on water, I've already seen him feed the hungry crowds, 0:36:16.600 --> 0:36:21.000 I've already seen him open blind eyes. But I never 0:36:21.000 --> 0:36:26.640 saw him die before. And the experience of the cross 0:36:26.640 --> 0:36:32.440 would be enough to confuse any of us, because how 0:36:32.440 --> 0:36:34.440 can God be with you? And how can God before 0:36:34.440 --> 0:36:40.280 you and you go through this? So when Thomas says, 0:36:42.000 --> 0:36:48.960 my Lord and my God, one commentator said that it 0:36:49.040 --> 0:36:53.200 is the most powerful expression of faith in any Gospel account. 0:36:54.360 --> 0:36:58.239 Now let me ask you something. What do you take 0:36:58.280 --> 0:37:02.240 from the fact that the most powerful expression of faith 0:37:03.080 --> 0:37:06.960 in the whole Bible was uttered from the mouth of 0:37:07.000 --> 0:37:14.520 the disciple with the greatest doubt. I think it means 0:37:14.520 --> 0:37:18.719 that even though you might be a skeptic, sometimes that's 0:37:18.719 --> 0:37:23.399 not all you are, right And even though you might 0:37:23.400 --> 0:37:27.040 be addicted to something right now, an attic is not 0:37:27.080 --> 0:37:33.799 all you are. And even though you've limited yourself to 0:37:34.800 --> 0:37:37.759 the path that you've seen thus far, Jesus said, it's 0:37:37.800 --> 0:37:41.920 great to see it and believe it, but blessed her 0:37:42.000 --> 0:37:46.200 you if you really can believe it and you don't 0:37:46.239 --> 0:37:51.040 even see it. So if I don't see God making away, 0:37:51.160 --> 0:37:56.720 is he still a waymaker? This is the decision of Easter. 0:37:58.400 --> 0:38:02.880 This is the decision of every day. Don't trust the 0:38:02.920 --> 0:38:05.120 summary because people will tell you things in the summary 0:38:05.160 --> 0:38:08.439 that are just too simple. God is good all the time, 0:38:08.520 --> 0:38:10.879 all the time. God is good. Oh, they repeated it. 0:38:10.880 --> 0:38:18.000 It must be true. That's cute. But to really know 0:38:18.120 --> 0:38:23.600 that God is good for Thomas, he had to touch 0:38:23.640 --> 0:38:28.200 the wounds, and the most powerful expression of faith was 0:38:28.280 --> 0:38:32.680 uttered from the one with the greatest doubts. I think 0:38:32.719 --> 0:38:38.480 sometimes God can use the people the most who are 0:38:38.480 --> 0:38:44.239 willing to get honest about where they really are and 0:38:44.400 --> 0:38:46.560 just be willing to admit that every day doesn't feel 0:38:46.560 --> 0:38:51.120 like Easter in your heart. He showed up a week 0:38:51.239 --> 0:38:57.040 later because Thomas was ready yet. And isn't it crazy 0:38:57.200 --> 0:39:00.840 that the only thing that would stop God from revealing 0:39:00.880 --> 0:39:08.600 himself to Thomas was his own belief. Stop doubting and 0:39:08.680 --> 0:39:15.640 believe makes it sound so simple, doesn't it. Stop doubting? 0:39:16.280 --> 0:39:21.359 I wish it was that simple. Siri came on in 0:39:21.360 --> 0:39:23.560 my office a minute ago before I came to preach. 0:39:23.640 --> 0:39:26.120 I said, hey, Siri, stop, She said, there's nothing to 0:39:26.160 --> 0:39:31.880 stop here. I'm talking to right now, there's nothing to 0:39:31.960 --> 0:39:38.839 stop here. I wish doubt could be like just like, hey, 0:39:38.840 --> 0:39:46.160 fear stop, Hey, bad memory of the thing that stop? Hey, 0:39:46.239 --> 0:39:49.759 worrying about things that haven't happened yet stop. And the 0:39:49.760 --> 0:39:52.200 more I studied it, I realized Jesus wasn't just telling 0:39:52.400 --> 0:39:56.839 Thomas to do something mentally. The thing that he said 0:39:57.360 --> 0:40:02.600 is actually better translated like this, stop becoming an unbeliever 0:40:04.160 --> 0:40:07.840 and become a believer. That's what he literally said, Danny, 0:40:08.680 --> 0:40:12.640 stop becoming an unbeliever. When did you start becoming an unbeliever? 0:40:13.000 --> 0:40:16.760 When did you get so jaded about others about yourself? 0:40:16.920 --> 0:40:20.359 When did you start trusting more in the summary right 0:40:22.360 --> 0:40:26.360 than you did in the Holy Spirit? And so I 0:40:26.400 --> 0:40:28.920 want to share something with you today on this Easter. 0:40:31.520 --> 0:40:36.759 A few months ago, I was kind of just unsuspecting 0:40:36.800 --> 0:40:40.440 on a Thursday afternoon, writing some thoughts down about Lazarus, 0:40:40.480 --> 0:40:43.040 who eventually did get up and rise from the dead, 0:40:44.040 --> 0:40:46.000 and there's so much good stuff in that story, but 0:40:46.640 --> 0:40:51.640 it's for another time. And the opening line to what 0:40:51.680 --> 0:40:55.239 I thought was like a poem came to me and said, 0:40:55.239 --> 0:40:57.880 may I never lose the wonder of this gospel mystery. 0:40:59.320 --> 0:41:02.600 From the heaven came a savior from the ground to 0:41:02.719 --> 0:41:08.080 Rosa King. I sat with it for a moment, and 0:41:08.120 --> 0:41:09.880 it just kept coming to me in this way, and 0:41:10.440 --> 0:41:13.719 I wrote down the rest. Every day is born in darkness, 0:41:15.200 --> 0:41:19.239 every winter yields to spring. So let us speak of 0:41:19.280 --> 0:41:26.400 resurrection even in the suffering. As the sisters begged the 0:41:26.440 --> 0:41:31.080 Savior come at once to Bethany, for the one you 0:41:31.160 --> 0:41:34.360 love is dying. But his yes was not to be, 0:41:36.200 --> 0:41:39.799 and his weeping begged the question could his friend he 0:41:39.880 --> 0:41:45.080 not have healed? But he still is Resurrection Even when 0:41:45.120 --> 0:41:59.320 the two is sealed, speaks a whisper in the silence 0:42:00.800 --> 0:42:05.080 sleeps the harvest in the sea, cradled now a new 0:42:05.120 --> 0:42:11.719 beginning in the heart that dares believe. So crucify your hesitation. 0:42:14.600 --> 0:42:22.400 Whom did expectation bring? Will you welcome resurrection? Will you 0:42:22.440 --> 0:42:28.759 crown the risen key? So that's the question, will you 0:42:28.880 --> 0:42:33.160 welcome resurrection? I know you've lost some things, and I 0:42:33.200 --> 0:42:35.719 know that it seems like it's too late, But will 0:42:35.719 --> 0:42:38.319 you welcome the possibility that God is greater than any 0:42:38.360 --> 0:42:41.920 of your limitations? That's what Jesus wanted. The sisters to 0:42:41.960 --> 0:42:45.600 see that I'm greater than anything you imagine me to be. 0:42:46.480 --> 0:42:49.400 And when God doesn't meet our expectations, sometimes it's because 0:42:49.400 --> 0:42:52.360 He wants to exceed them. If the disciples would have 0:42:52.360 --> 0:42:55.200 had their way, Jesus never would have gone to the cross. 0:42:55.880 --> 0:42:57.600 But if he'd never gone to the cross, he couldn't 0:42:57.600 --> 0:43:02.120 pay for their sin, he couldn't redeem and set them free. 0:43:02.719 --> 0:43:05.319 I just want you to know in the bottom of 0:43:05.320 --> 0:43:10.440 your heart today that whatever you've done, however you've run, 0:43:11.280 --> 0:43:15.920 whatever limitations you've placed on yourself or God, he's so 0:43:16.000 --> 0:43:19.239 much greater and he's in you. Father. I pray right 0:43:19.280 --> 0:43:23.879 now for Easter resurrection, miracles in the lives of men 0:43:23.920 --> 0:43:26.600 and women all over the world. I thank you so 0:43:26.719 --> 0:43:29.520 much that you have called us to this hope. I 0:43:29.520 --> 0:43:32.120 thank you that it's a living hope, and I thank 0:43:32.160 --> 0:43:35.120 you that the empty tomb gives us confidence for any 0:43:35.120 --> 0:43:38.239 of the spaces we don't understand in our life. Lord, 0:43:38.280 --> 0:43:41.359 I pray for miracles. I pray for breakthrough, I pray 0:43:41.360 --> 0:43:44.480 for deliverance. I pray for salvation to come to their 0:43:44.480 --> 0:43:47.560 home today, that you would touch them and they would 0:43:47.600 --> 0:43:53.040 be whope. In Jesus' name, Amen, Thank you for sharing 0:43:53.040 --> 0:43:56.000 this day with us. We love you, we're praying for you. 0:43:56.440 --> 0:43:58.600 Thank you for being a part of this global ministry 0:43:58.640 --> 0:44:01.120 all over the world. May God bless you in a 0:44:01.160 --> 0:44:02.359 tremendous way this week