This Might Be My God Moment

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.280 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.680 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.440 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:25.560 Enjoy the message. Well, welcome, y'all. Messed up our Easter service. 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:27.120 It was supposed to be nice. 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:49.760 And calm, dignify how many people love Jesus in this place. Father, 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.880 We thank you for your presence. Now, we thank you 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:58.440 for your power. We thank you for the ways you've 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.320 provided for us. You've seen us through so many seasons, 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:02.480 and we call you faithful. 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.440 We thank you for this day we celebrate. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:13.080 We celebrate that the God of miracles triumphed gloriously with 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:18.959 scars in his hands, declared victory over the grave. We 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.280 thank you for blood that was shed so we could 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:26.080 be spotless. We thank you for breaking through the barrier 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:30.039 of death itself so that we could be justified, raised 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:34.400 to life in your name. And now I ask you, Jesus, 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.080 the Jesus who rose from the grave, the Jesus who 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:40.880 lives in my heart. I ask you to speak to 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:46.480 every person who came today. A personal word, A personal 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.400 word that can turn their life around. A personal word, 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:53.680 a personal word that can bring hope in the darkness. 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:58.960 A personal word, a personal word so specific that you 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:01.440 can shout it or with h for it. But we 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.560 lean in now declaring that you are Lord of all. 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:07.960 I thank you for the enthusiasm of the faith of 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:11.360 the people around me. They were not dancing because they've 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.200 never been depressed. They were dancing because they are delivered 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:19.720 from depression. They were not dancing because they've never been down. 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:25.160 They were dancing because you got up and you reached down, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.519 and you lifted us with you. So we praise you today, 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:33.640 Great God. Now, Lord, with all that you showed me 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:36.280 in your word, help me to have the miracle of 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:40.760 talking fast, and help them to listen fast as well, 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:42.960 so that you can say all that you want to 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:48.480 say in Jesus' name. Amen, remain standing. Put your hands together. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:54.040 If you know that our God is God and beside him, 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:59.160 there is no other. Thank you, choir, Thank you for 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:01.639 coming today. God bless you. I'm glad you're here. 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.160 Wow, remain standing. 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:07.800 I'm going to read our scripture and then give you 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:10.480 our topic for today, and we're gonna be sharing from 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.600 John chapter twenty and I want to go from verse 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:17.800 twenty four to verse twenty nine and share something with 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.760 you that I believe is very pivotal and powerful on 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.680 this the most pivotal day in human history. 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:28.320 Now, when I read this to you, don't be confused. 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:33.639 Jesus at this point in John's Gospel has been up 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:38.080 from the grave for a week, and the Bible says 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.200 that he appeared to his disciples. He went to the 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:45.440 women first, all the women make some noise. Went to 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.440 the women first, he did. That's just the fact. He 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.880 went to the women first. But then he showed up 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:56.000 to the disciples, and the Bible tells us about one 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:57.960 of them. Now, the reason that I believe the Holy 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.280 Spirit selected this passage today is us. 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:03.000 He wants to speak to each one of us. 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.200 And this is not a public appearance of Jesus as 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.240 much as it is a private audience that he has 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:12.480 with the disciple named Thomas, the one that you mistakenly 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:16.080 have called all your life doubting Thomas. But I'm going 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.000 to show you why it's a mistake to label him 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.960 that way. In just a moment, the Bible says in 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:27.159 John chapter twenty, verse twenty four. Now Thomas, one of 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.840 the twelve called the twin, was not with them when 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:36.599 Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, we have 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:41.520 seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.200 see in his hands the mark of the nails, and 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.520 place my finger into the mark of the nails and 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:53.640 place my hand into his side, I will never believe. Now, 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.960 give him some credit. This was before Ai. But Thomas 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.800 feels like this is unlikely that this has happened, just 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:05.160 like they said. But just after he says, I will 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.839 never believe. Put that back up in verse twenty five. Please, 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:12.240 I will never believe. The Bible says. Eight days later, 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:19.120 his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:24.600 Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.200 Y'all missed a great place to shout, because although the 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:31.760 doors were locked, Jesus came. How many are thankful that 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:38.720 he came anyway. He came anyway, through locked doors, through 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.680 a broken heart, through a divorce that you went through 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.159 last year. He came anyway, even though you were trying 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.960 to push him back and tell him no, he came anyway, 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.880 He came through locked doors and stood among them and said, 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:56.200 peace be with you. And then he said to Thomas, hey, 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.960 I heard you've been talking about me, So let's do this. 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.599 Put your finger here and see my hands, and put 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.240 out your hand and place it in my side. Do 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:11.720 not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered him with one of 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:16.279 the greatest confessions in all of scripture. My Lord and 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.400 my God. Now I want you to turn to your 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.600 neighbor one more time and tell them my title. First 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:28.240 of all, just introduce it and say this. Say today, please. 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:28.520 Forgive me. 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:34.479 If I seem a little focused. Tell him I can't 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:38.440 talk to you for the next thirty minutes. Don't bother 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.560 me for the next thirty minutes. Now give them my title. 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:51.760 Say this might be my God moment. This might be 0:06:53.760 --> 0:07:08.039 my God moment in Jesus' name. Amen, be seated. So 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:13.559 what did I miss? Thomas asked Peter after not coming 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.600 to the little prayer service on the Sunday that Jesus 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.440 rose from the dead. And Peter said, oh, man, Thomas, 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:26.600 you picked a bad time to miss prayer meeting. Jesus 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:30.560 came and Thomas is like and shut up. Quit playing 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.320 for real, though, what did I miss? He's like you 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:35.840 missed it. 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:36.320 He came. 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:40.160 Jesus came, you mean like his spirit. No, Jesus came. 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:44.960 He showed us where they put the nails. He showed 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:46.720 us where they pierced his side. 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.400 With the spear. It was him. 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:51.760 I know it was him because I would recognize that 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.200 voice anywhere. It's the voice that told me come over 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:56.120 choppy waters. 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:58.560 It was him. I know it was him. 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.640 And if I wasn't certain by his voice, I was 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.240 certain because I saw his scars. 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:06.600 It's amazing. 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:14.280 Sometimes when even words can't convince you, wounds will. Some 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.560 of the things in life that you and I have 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:18.400 to learn, we have to learn not. 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.400 Through words, but through wounds. 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:26.480 Sometimes you have to touch the hot stove to realize 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:31.440 why your mom told you not to. And yet in 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.920 the scripture we don't see Thomas learning from his own wounds, 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:39.280 but by the wounds of Jesus Christ. Let's clap our 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:44.400 hands and thank God that by his wounds we are healed. Yeah, 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:49.240 that the message of the Cross and the Resurrection is 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.840 that I don't have to do everything stupid in order 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:56.840 to receive what God has for me. And in this 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.880 particular passage of scripture, Thomas is missing on the day 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:04.679 that Jesus appears, and since he missed the experience of 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.800 seeing Jesus, it is hard for him to believe what 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:12.120 he has never seen. Now, the Bible says in verse 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.280 twenty six, and I thought this was a very anointed verse. 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.480 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again and Thomas 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.240 was with them. In other words, he said, I Am 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.559 not going to miss it again. And I believe that 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:28.880 there are some people listening to me preach on this 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.200 Easter celebration that feel like you missed it. 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:34.480 You feel like you missed it. 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:38.080 You feel like you missed the opportunity to really be 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.240 there for your kids. You feel like you missed the 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.040 opportunity to really be what you could have been. It 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:44.920 could have been a mistake that you made, or it 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.600 could have been a distraction that had you pulled to 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.920 the side and you missed what God was doing. I 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:54.720 missed it, And the spirit of Thomas in this passage 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.600 is someone who said I'm not going to miss this again. 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.800 In the same that some of us feel drawn to 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.839 church today, and we were not dragged to church. We 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:08.320 were drawn to church. Let me say my theology. Even 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:14.480 if somebody dragged you, God drew you. Even if they 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.520 made you come, God got you here. Even if your 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.079 mom told you she was going to beat you within 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.760 an inch of your life if you didn't get dressed 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:23.600 and get in the van, that was God speaking through 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.199 your mom, threatening a beating through your mom, using your 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:30.120 mom as the instrument of his rat so that he 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:33.560 could bring you to the place of his mercy. And 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.600 it's amazing how moments can happen in the presence of 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:40.160 God that can supersede all of the moments that came 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.160 before it. That's what we celebrate on the cross, that 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.959 every sin that was committed up till that point in 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:48.160 human history was on the back of our Savior, and 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.800 in that moment when he died for you and I, 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.000 it made a way for all of us to be forgiven. 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:56.000 Let's clap our hands again and thank our Savior that 0:10:56.040 --> 0:11:02.120 he made a way for us. I'm making you clap 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:04.320 today because I don't want you to miss it. 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.600 I want you to celebrate the resurrection. I don't want 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:09.960 you to miss it. Some of y'all. 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:11.960 When I came out here, I was dancing, and you 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.959 didn't dance you missed it. You could have got your 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.840 church and your cardio all in one package deal, but 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.959 you missed it. And if we dance again at the 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.319 end of service, I want you to get ready because. 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:25.240 You're not going to miss it again. 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:27.520 If I have to come out there and dance with you, 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.079 if I can dance with my limited rhythm in front 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:33.760 of thousands, you can dance too. 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.280 I'm not going to miss this. 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.760 Thomas said, I'm gonna be in church next Sunday. And 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.480 this shows us a very important lesson because I think 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.680 as much as Thomas has become a villain for those 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:50.120 who doubt, I believe he is also an architect, an 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:54.080 archetype of those of us who press through doubt in 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:55.720 order to find true faith. 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:00.320 And Thomas shows up on a Sunday. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.640 Eight days after Now they counted the days from It's complicated, 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:08.400 but it's basically been a week. The first Sunday that 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.640 they met together was the Sunday Jesus got up from 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.920 the grave. It's been eight days in the way that 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.040 the Jewish calendar runs, and it's Sunday again, and Thomas says, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.720 I'm coming to church with you. Yeah, but you said 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:24.240 you didn't believe. I don't yet, but I'm coming. Here's 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:33.480 the principle. Sometimes you've got to show up unsure. And 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.240 I said that just in case you're here today feeling 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.760 like I don't know if I really believe this. The 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:44.040 fact that you showed up is enough for God to 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:48.840 show up and show you who he is, even though 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.400 you're not sure. Sometimes you've got to show up to 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.199 work unsure. Sometimes you've got to show up to a 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:01.319 doctor's office unsure what the diagnosis will be. Sometimes you've 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:06.200 got to show up in prayer, unsure, even wondering, Lord, 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.920 are you listening? Now? I won't ask you to raise 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.080 your hand, but have you ever been praying about something 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:18.240 and wondered, Lord, are you listening? Somebody pull out your 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:24.040 phone real quick. How many believe that your phone is 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:31.280 listening to you? Raise your hand. If you believe your 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:36.120 phone is listening to you, how do you know? Because 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:42.320 stuff shows up because you said something, but you didn't 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:46.400 type anything, and you weren't even talking to the phone. 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:50.880 But five minutes later, how did this hair replacement pill 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.880 get on my phone? All I did was look in 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.160 the mirror and think I got a little spot back here? 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:02.720 How is this on my phone is listening to me. 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.560 I'm convinced that it's listening. I don't know who's spying 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:08.720 on me or what they want other than to sell 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.760 me stuff, but is listening to me. 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.800 Now, hold up your phone. You believe it's listening. 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.480 You believe that there is technology that was invented by 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:25.440 man that can know your thoughts from a farm and 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:29.560 can show you stuff that you said. You have more 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.800 faith in your phone than you do in your father, 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:34.320 who made you. 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:40.040 Look phone was made by a man, but man was 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:41.120 made by God. 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.400 And if my phone can hear me talk about going 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.840 to Disney World and put it on my Instagram feed. 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.640 How much more can God here? I'll prove it to you. 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.720 When Thomas said, unless I touch his hand, I won't 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.680 believe Jesus wasn't in the room. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.320 No, it means he's listening even when you're not looking 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:04.160 at him. 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.800 He's listening, even when you don't fully feel him. 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:09.640 He's listening, even. 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:11.880 When you don't have the courage to say what you think. 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:17.160 Touch your neighbor and say, my God listens. He's a 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:21.240 good listener. My God is a good listener. My God 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.080 doesn't break eye contact with me. My God was listening 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:28.120 when I was singing to him today. My God likes 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.400 to hear me sing. My God loves to hear me praise. 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.000 My God listens to me. He not only hears the 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:38.240 song that I sing. He hears the groans that are 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.760 within me. When I have a groan that is too 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:45.120 much for a word, his spirit intercedes for me. And 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.960 God listens even when I don't see him. He's listening, 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.000 even when I can't discern him. He's listening even when 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.920 I cannot trace him. I can trust him because I 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:07.160 know he hears my prayer. We serve a Lord who listens, 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.880 so that when he shows up to tom As, he says, Hey, Tommy, 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.160 I heard you want to touch right here. 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.280 Go ahead and touch right here. 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.800 I heard you want to touch this one too, Go 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:21.720 ahead and touch both hands. 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:22.960 I've got time. 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:27.600 By the way, speaking of time, realized that God transforms 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:37.120 lives on his timeline, not ours, not ours, Especially if 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.560 there's somebody that you're praying for that you care about, 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.480 who you know is far from God. God knows the 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:48.960 right time to show up and touch their heart, and 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:51.560 just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean he doesn't 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:52.280 hear your prayer. 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:55.160 I want to say that to a parent. 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.080 Just because it hasn't happened for your child yet doesn't 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.800 mean he hasn't heard your prayer. I want to say 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.040 that for a wife who's praying for your husband and 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:07.800 he wouldn't come to Easter service. 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:09.959 A lady told me the other day I met her 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:10.480 out on tour. 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.679 She said, you're the only preacher I can get my 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:13.719 husband to listen to. 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:15.200 Please keep preaching. 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.680 I can't get him to go to church with me yet, 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:21.399 but he's listening. And I said, if he keeps listening, God. 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:22.120 Will keep speaking. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:27.040 And it is only a matter of time because God 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:36.840 transforms lives on his timeline, not mine, His timeline not mine. 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:41.760 Put it in the chat, his timeline, not mine. Lord, 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:48.320 are you listening, Yeah, I'm listening. Well, Lord, you're a 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:53.480 little late. And the Lord said, I'm listening. I'm not late. 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:58.399 I'm waiting eight days on purpose, which begs the question. 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.760 If he waited eight days to come and tell Thomas 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.600 to touch him, why would he waste eight days when 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.280 he's only going to be on Earth fifty before his ascension. 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.520 That's almost a tenth of the time that he is 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:17.200 going to be on earth that he wasted waiting. Now 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.720 here's the beautiful thing about this passage. And I'm going 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:23.480 to tell you why I chose Thomas for our Easter sermon. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.959 We've been in a series in our church called called 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:30.000 Very Creative. The series is called called We've been knowing 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:31.800 this twenty years. I'm running out of ideas. I just 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.159 called it called But in all seriousness, has been for me, 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.479 one of the most rich studies in scripture that I've 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.360 ever done, because I'm going through different people that God 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.080 called by name, but specifically he called their name twice. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.200 Now, if you'll notice in the scripture, Jesus didn't. 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:48.879 Call Thomas's name, but Thomas's name means twin and it 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:52.440 says that in verse twenty four. 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:55.919 Now Thomas one of the twelve. Watch this. 0:18:56.640 --> 0:19:01.240 He still wanted the twelve even though he doesn't have faith. Yeah, 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:04.960 God knew it was going to take him a while 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:08.600 when he called him. He called him anyway, He's still 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:12.200 one of the twelve. Now, Judas that didn't go so good, 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:16.240 So it's technically eleven. Judas is going to be replaced shortly, 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:19.520 but he's one of the twelve and watch this he 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.680 has called the twin. That's literally what the name Thomas means, twin. 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:30.080 There's widespread speculation amongst scholars as to who Thomas's twin is, 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.840 and if you research that question, you'll get many different answers, 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:36.800 none of them satisfactory. 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:38.719 The Bible doesn't tell us who twin is. 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:41.639 But I want to suggest to you that there is 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:45.960 a twin in Thomas that reflects the twin in you, 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:50.399 because regardless of who his actual brother or sister was, 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:54.199 that was his twin. We see a man swing in 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:59.720 this passage from I will never believe to my Lord 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:04.840 and my God in just a moment. Furthermore, he said, 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:09.120 I'll never believe unless I touch Jesus's hands. I'll never 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.520 believe unless I touch Jesus's side. But if you'll notice 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.800 in the passage, the moment never came where he actually 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:20.639 touched Jesus's hand, because, in spite of all that he 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:22.919 thought it would take for him to trust in God, 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:29.320 seeing Jesus alive was enough. And so Thomas, who you 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:35.119 call doubting Thomas. The Bible does not call him doubting Thomas. 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:39.480 Nobody called him doubting Thomas until a few hundred years 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:44.320 ago when the church began to canonize his dysfunctional moment 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:48.880 and make it his identity. So who we call doubting 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:54.600 Thomas only doubted for eight days? He went on to 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:58.080 be one of the most effective disciples that ever lived. 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:02.080 So my question for you today is shouldn't we give 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:08.479 him a better name than doubting Thomas, because doubting Thomas 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:12.920 also had a twin and his name is not doubting Thomas. 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:13.560 But watch this. 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:17.800 I am renaming this disciple today on the spot because 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:22.000 Jesus didn't name him doubting Thomas. People, did you say 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:28.439 he's doubting Thomas, I say he's trusting Thomas. And I 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:33.400 say that he went from doubting Thomas to trusting Thomas 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.800 because Jesus loved him enough to show up, and not 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.400 only show up, but to show him the scars where 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:44.439 the nails had been, to remind him of the price 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:48.879 that had been paid. And when Thomas saw the print 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:51.879 of the nails, and when Thomas saw the wound in 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:55.640 the side, he makes a confession that is very meticulous 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:57.760 and we should observe it for a moment. 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:03.160 On Easter Sunday, he says, my Lord and my God. 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:06.800 Now you say that's not a big deal. It most 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:07.640 certainly is. 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:11.879 For a first century Jew to call any man Lord 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:17.960 would have been considered blasphemy unless that man was God. Furthermore, 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:21.680 throughout the ministry of Jesus, many people called him Lord. 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:25.880 It was a title given of respect. And so Thomas 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:30.159 says two things. When he sees the proof of the 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:34.600 wounds of the one who won his salvation, he says, 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:39.919 my Lord and my God. And let me show you 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:44.760 why I call him trusting Thomas. John's Gospel starts and 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:46.800 John one one says, in the beginning was. 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:50.480 The Word, and the word was with God, and the 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:51.919 Word was God. 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:56.639 John's purpose in writing his gospel was to declare the 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:00.320 truth that Jesus is God, not just a good man, 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:04.480 the God man. Jesus is the Word of God made 0:23:04.480 --> 0:23:05.600 flesh to dwell among us. 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:06.680 John one fourteen. 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:09.840 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:14.760 with God, and the Word was God. But it is 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:18.800 not until John chapter twenty, when Thomas sees the wounds 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:23.719 of the Savior, that Jesus is called God by another person. 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:28.879 Isn't it interesting that the one who was latest to 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:34.520 see Jesus after the Resurrection, made the greatest confession of 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:40.080 faith in the entire Gospel of John. Tell your neighbor, 0:23:40.160 --> 0:23:43.920 don't count me out. I'm a little late, but don't 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:47.600 count me out. I got some issues I'm still working through, 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:48.640 but don't count me out. 0:23:49.560 --> 0:23:51.400 I've got some things that are really. 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:54.520 Dragging me down and dragging me back right now, But 0:23:54.640 --> 0:23:57.720 don't count me out. I got a little something that 0:23:57.840 --> 0:23:59.960 I'm working out over here on the side, and I'm 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:03.560 not exactly as holy as everybody on this row, But 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:07.159 don't count me out. Don't judge me just because you 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:11.560 met me as doubting Thomas. I have a twin. My 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:16.320 twin is trusting Thomas. And after Jesus gets through with me, 0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:20.920 after Jesus gets finished doing what he's doing in my life, 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:24.200 he who began a good work in me will be. 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:25.919 Faithful to perform it. 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:29.399 The truth of the matter is every Thomas has a twin, 0:24:30.080 --> 0:24:33.639 and everybody in here praising God has a twin that 0:24:33.760 --> 0:24:36.760 we might meet on Tuesday if we encounter you in 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:37.840 a different situation. 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:41.280 So it just depends on when I meet you that 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:45.800 determines how I identify you. But in the beginning, was the word, 0:24:45.840 --> 0:24:46.600 and the word. 0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:50.000 Was with God, and the word was God. So God 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:53.480 does not label me by my lowest moment. God does 0:24:53.520 --> 0:24:56.919 not label me by my doubts inside. God does not 0:24:57.119 --> 0:24:59.880 label me by what I missed out on. God does 0:25:00.160 --> 0:25:03.040 I label me by the shame of my past. He says, 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:06.600 I heard you were talking about me, Thomas. Now I 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:10.280 want to show you something because I was listening to 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:13.399 you like a phone listens to you when it's not 0:25:13.480 --> 0:25:16.280 in the room. I wasn't in the room, Jesus, how 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:18.119 did you get in? I don't really have a problem 0:25:18.119 --> 0:25:23.080 with locked doors. Hey, anytime you can walk out of 0:25:23.119 --> 0:25:26.400 a sealed tomb, a locked door is not a problem. 0:25:27.359 --> 0:25:32.480 The thing you are worried about, God's like, really you 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:35.800 think that's gonna keep me out? Really you think that's 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:37.840 gonna stop my plan for your life? 0:25:38.200 --> 0:25:41.879 Really you think that's going to derail the destiny that 0:25:41.960 --> 0:25:46.000 I planned for you. Eight days he. 0:25:46.000 --> 0:25:50.119 Doubted, And after eight days he made the greatest confession, 0:25:50.400 --> 0:25:52.320 My Lord and my God. 0:25:52.680 --> 0:25:55.160 Nobody has called Jesus God. 0:25:55.119 --> 0:25:58.160 Up until this moment, and it was the one who 0:25:58.200 --> 0:26:03.560 doubted him the most. Is God saving the best for 0:26:03.720 --> 0:26:07.879 last in your life? And could it be that the 0:26:08.000 --> 0:26:11.760 darkest moments reveal the deepest truths about who he is. 0:26:13.480 --> 0:26:17.439 My Lord and my God. Put that verse back up there, 0:26:17.520 --> 0:26:22.879 say it my Lord and my God. And that was 0:26:22.920 --> 0:26:32.159 Thomas's my God moment. You're my God, You're not just 0:26:32.240 --> 0:26:36.119 my GPS. That tells me where to go to feed 0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:39.639 the multitudes. Thomas had followed Jesus for three years, but 0:26:39.720 --> 0:26:42.280 this was the moment that he saw Jesus as what 0:26:42.359 --> 0:26:46.360 he always was. He said, you're not just my guide, 0:26:46.560 --> 0:26:52.359 You're my God. You're not just my guy. Jesus is 0:26:52.400 --> 0:26:52.800 my gud. 0:26:52.960 --> 0:26:56.920 No, he's not your guy. He is not just a guy. 0:26:57.000 --> 0:27:01.520 He is my God. He's not just the one that 0:27:01.600 --> 0:27:02.520 I worship and serve. 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:04.360 When he does it the way that I wanted him 0:27:04.359 --> 0:27:05.919 to do it, when I wanted him to do it, 0:27:05.960 --> 0:27:10.880 he is my God. He is God. He's either God 0:27:11.000 --> 0:27:13.960 or he's not. And if he's God, I'm going to 0:27:14.000 --> 0:27:15.639 have to accept what he gave me and accept what 0:27:15.680 --> 0:27:16.359 he didn't give me. 0:27:17.359 --> 0:27:18.200 If he's God. 0:27:19.320 --> 0:27:21.840 Notice, however, it's not just that he calls him God. 0:27:21.880 --> 0:27:23.920 But this is really the heart of the matter, isn't 0:27:23.920 --> 0:27:31.840 And he says, my God, my God, this is personal 0:27:33.320 --> 0:27:36.919 my God. It's one thing for you to serve the 0:27:36.960 --> 0:27:39.080 God that you were told about growing up in church. 0:27:39.119 --> 0:27:41.119 But Thomas said, my God. 0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:44.280 I believe there are people that God brought here today 0:27:44.280 --> 0:27:49.240 who believe in somebody else's God but have never experienced 0:27:49.320 --> 0:27:54.160 him as your God. And this could be today your 0:27:54.520 --> 0:27:58.800 my God moment, not just where you take what you've 0:27:58.840 --> 0:28:00.920 heard about him as truth because you heard it from 0:28:00.920 --> 0:28:05.840 the other disciples, but where you say, my God. And 0:28:05.880 --> 0:28:08.720 the beautiful thing about a my God moment? Have you 0:28:08.760 --> 0:28:10.000 ever had a My God moment? 0:28:10.040 --> 0:28:11.960 By the way, I. 0:28:11.960 --> 0:28:14.800 Mean that in a couple of different ways. Some of 0:28:14.880 --> 0:28:17.000 us are going through a my God moment right now. 0:28:17.880 --> 0:28:20.840 It is the moment where you no longer can walk 0:28:20.920 --> 0:28:23.359 by sight, you must walk by faith. It is the 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:26.440 moment where you no longer can cling to your will, 0:28:26.520 --> 0:28:29.640 but you say, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. 0:28:29.760 --> 0:28:29.879 Now. 0:28:30.200 --> 0:28:35.080 I think when Thomas said my Lord and my God, 0:28:35.240 --> 0:28:38.720 this is an echo of something that he heard Jesus 0:28:38.720 --> 0:28:42.080 say on the cross. You know, on the day that 0:28:42.200 --> 0:28:45.400 Jesus died. The Bible says something really crazy in Mark 0:28:45.480 --> 0:28:49.360 chapter fifteen. Put it on the screen, please. It says, 0:28:49.400 --> 0:28:52.880 when the sixth hour had come. This is noon, when 0:28:52.920 --> 0:28:55.720 the sixth hour had come. I'm giving you a timeframe 0:28:55.840 --> 0:28:58.960 for this for a reason. When the sixth hour had come, 0:28:59.440 --> 0:29:03.960 there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 0:29:04.160 --> 0:29:08.440 That's three pm. We've never seen that before. 0:29:09.600 --> 0:29:13.800 It doesn't get dark from noon till three pm, not 0:29:13.920 --> 0:29:18.960 on our timetable. But when Jesus was dying, the sun said, 0:29:19.280 --> 0:29:23.400 I'm gonna stop shining for a little while because he 0:29:23.560 --> 0:29:27.400 is the light. How much God do you have to 0:29:27.440 --> 0:29:31.760 be to tell the sun to take a break? How 0:29:31.880 --> 0:29:35.360 much God do you have to be that the solar 0:29:35.480 --> 0:29:40.000 system responds to your sacrifice. When they hung Jesus on 0:29:40.080 --> 0:29:43.240 the cross, it looked like he had lost control, but 0:29:43.320 --> 0:29:46.360 he was still sovereign. He was sovereign enough to tell 0:29:46.400 --> 0:29:50.360 the sun stop shining. Because I want darkness to know 0:29:50.760 --> 0:29:57.520 that it works for me. I want darkness to know that. 0:29:57.600 --> 0:29:58.360 I am God. 0:29:58.440 --> 0:30:03.040 But from this stretched physician of sovereignty on the cross 0:30:03.120 --> 0:30:05.920 making a sacrifice for our sins. I feel like preaching 0:30:05.960 --> 0:30:09.160 the crucifixion of Jesus today because my hope is in 0:30:09.200 --> 0:30:12.600 this moment. This is my God moment. This is when 0:30:12.920 --> 0:30:17.120 God sent his son who knew no sin, and he 0:30:17.280 --> 0:30:21.520 became sin that I might become the righteousness of God. 0:30:21.920 --> 0:30:25.440 This is where Jesus died as if he had sinned, 0:30:25.760 --> 0:30:28.200 so that I could live as if I never did. 0:30:28.840 --> 0:30:31.840 This is where Jesus took my place. This is my 0:30:32.000 --> 0:30:34.600 God moment, not that I came to God, but that 0:30:34.680 --> 0:30:37.640 he came down to me. This is what we got 0:30:37.800 --> 0:30:40.440 up for this morning, y'all. This is why we have 0:30:40.600 --> 0:30:44.520 a reason to dance on the grave that we once 0:30:44.640 --> 0:30:48.960 lived in, because he died on the cross that we should. 0:30:48.760 --> 0:30:49.440 Have died on. 0:30:49.960 --> 0:30:52.080 And my sin is on that cross. 0:30:57.480 --> 0:31:00.640 And everything I ever did, every mistake I ever made, 0:31:00.840 --> 0:31:03.600 past present, future, it's all up there on that cross 0:31:03.640 --> 0:31:08.320 on him. It was the ninth hour. Verse thirty four says. 0:31:08.520 --> 0:31:11.920 And when it was the ninth hour, Jesus cried with 0:31:12.000 --> 0:31:13.880 a loud voice, I gotta show you something. I've been 0:31:13.920 --> 0:31:15.600 studying this all week. I've been waiting to show you 0:31:15.680 --> 0:31:21.600 this all week. Jesus cried with a loud voice. Eli eli. 0:31:23.400 --> 0:31:24.600 Loma shaboctini. 0:31:26.440 --> 0:31:29.840 How much God do you have to be just still 0:31:29.840 --> 0:31:33.800 have the breath to scream while you are suffocating on 0:31:33.840 --> 0:31:34.440 a cross? 0:31:36.080 --> 0:31:37.480 How much God. 0:31:37.200 --> 0:31:39.920 Do you have to be, How much love does it take? 0:31:40.160 --> 0:31:44.200 How much pain would it be that you would press 0:31:44.240 --> 0:31:46.720 yourself up? The very last words in the beginning was 0:31:46.760 --> 0:31:47.920 the word, and the word was with God, and the 0:31:47.920 --> 0:31:48.600 word was God. 0:31:48.640 --> 0:31:50.320 These are the last words of the word. 0:31:50.360 --> 0:31:58.800 He said, eloi, eloi lama shabaktany, which means, my God, 0:32:00.200 --> 0:32:07.800 my God, why have you forsaken me? Lord? Are you listening? 0:32:09.880 --> 0:32:15.040 It's okay if you wonder that, because Jesus did one 0:32:15.080 --> 0:32:20.000 time too. I know it offends you that I say 0:32:20.080 --> 0:32:24.080 Jesus wondered anything because he knew everything. So why did 0:32:24.080 --> 0:32:29.720 he quote Psalm twenty two, verse one, My God, my God, 0:32:30.240 --> 0:32:31.640 why have. 0:32:31.520 --> 0:32:32.440 You forsaken me? 0:32:34.000 --> 0:32:35.920 I think we all come to moments in our life 0:32:36.840 --> 0:32:42.040 where if Jesus is asking why, we will ask why 0:32:42.080 --> 0:32:48.680 to Sometimes the best answer is I don't know. Sometimes 0:32:48.680 --> 0:32:51.520 when somebody experiences something so horrible, the only thing to 0:32:51.520 --> 0:32:55.160 tell him is I don't know why. Sometimes that's the 0:32:55.160 --> 0:32:57.600 most loving thing that you can do, is to sit 0:32:57.680 --> 0:32:59.760 with somebody in their why and say I don't know either. 0:33:01.240 --> 0:33:04.320 But isn't it even more comforting to know that Jesus 0:33:04.960 --> 0:33:08.840 will sit with you in your why? Then another human 0:33:09.560 --> 0:33:14.840 who doesn't know why, And that Jesus said, watch this, Matt, 0:33:15.280 --> 0:33:20.760 my God, why. And what I love about it that 0:33:20.880 --> 0:33:24.840 is so powerful for our lives today is that even 0:33:25.040 --> 0:33:28.280 when he was asking why, he still. 0:33:28.000 --> 0:33:31.320 Said, my God, why. 0:33:32.880 --> 0:33:37.560 So even when I don't know why, you are still 0:33:38.400 --> 0:33:45.680 my God. And God has got some of us in 0:33:45.720 --> 0:33:49.040 a moment, in a season where it's gone darken the 0:33:49.120 --> 0:33:52.840 sky at noon right now in your life. But notice 0:33:53.200 --> 0:33:56.720 that when the light left at the cross that day 0:33:57.520 --> 0:34:04.040 and the Lord listened Eli Eli lana chaboctyny, My God, 0:34:04.920 --> 0:34:06.360 my God, why. 0:34:06.160 --> 0:34:07.400 Have you forsaken me? 0:34:08.320 --> 0:34:11.960 The next verse says that many that were hearing it said, behold, 0:34:11.960 --> 0:34:14.640 he is calling Elijah. And they went to get some 0:34:15.440 --> 0:34:18.120 vinegar or some sour wine on a sponge, and they 0:34:18.120 --> 0:34:19.719 put it on a reed to give to him to drink. 0:34:19.719 --> 0:34:22.480 And they said, wait, let us see whether Elijah will 0:34:22.480 --> 0:34:25.200 come and take him down. Now, this seems strange. What 0:34:25.280 --> 0:34:27.920 does Elijah have to do with the Savior dying? And 0:34:28.000 --> 0:34:30.200 this is what I was studying all week that I 0:34:30.239 --> 0:34:33.080 was trying to figure out why were they talking about 0:34:33.160 --> 0:34:37.120 Elijah when Jesus was dying on the cross. Elijah lived 0:34:37.160 --> 0:34:42.040 eight hundred years before Jesus Elijah was a powerful prophet, 0:34:42.200 --> 0:34:45.560 no doubt. He called down fire on Mount Carmel. No 0:34:45.680 --> 0:34:48.520 doubt he was a man of God. He broughtphesied, a drought, 0:34:48.520 --> 0:34:51.680 and a famine resulted. No doubt there was power in 0:34:51.719 --> 0:34:56.640 his words. But why are they talking about Elijah while. 0:34:56.560 --> 0:34:57.920 Jesus is on the cross. 0:34:58.000 --> 0:35:01.799 Well, for one thing, el Yahoo is the name for 0:35:01.880 --> 0:35:07.200 Elijah in Hebrew, and Jesus says eloi, And so if 0:35:07.239 --> 0:35:10.360 you're shouting from a distance, it sounds very similar. 0:35:10.840 --> 0:35:12.399 Eli wait. 0:35:12.480 --> 0:35:17.880 Is he calling Eli Yahoo Eli? He's calling Elijah Eli. 0:35:18.040 --> 0:35:21.799 He's calling on Elijah to come get him down. So 0:35:21.840 --> 0:35:24.719 they devise a plan. Let's get some sour wine. 0:35:24.920 --> 0:35:26.879 If he gets dehydrated, he'll die. 0:35:27.080 --> 0:35:30.719 Let's give him a little bit of substance so he 0:35:30.760 --> 0:35:33.279 can make it a little bit longer. And let's see 0:35:33.320 --> 0:35:38.120 watch this, Let's see whether Elijah will come to take 0:35:38.200 --> 0:35:42.040 him down. Verse thirty seven. And Jesus uttered a loud 0:35:42.080 --> 0:35:45.920 cry and breathe his last So to the onlookers that 0:35:46.040 --> 0:35:49.400 day hear me good. It looked like that God the 0:35:49.520 --> 0:35:53.959 Father did not listen to Jesus. But if you read 0:35:54.000 --> 0:35:57.919 the next verse, the Bible says that when he screamed 0:35:58.360 --> 0:36:05.200 and breathed his life. Next verse, the curtain of the 0:36:05.239 --> 0:36:11.960 temple was torn into But watch this from top to bottom. 0:36:13.200 --> 0:36:16.319 Why not from bottom to top, because that would mean 0:36:16.320 --> 0:36:23.520 a person did it. You know. The devil tried to 0:36:23.560 --> 0:36:26.600 tell me this message was too deep for Easter. But 0:36:26.719 --> 0:36:29.839 I told the devil, there's somebody here who needs to 0:36:29.880 --> 0:36:34.480 have a My God moment this Easter in church. There 0:36:34.560 --> 0:36:38.000 is somebody here who needs God to do something, not 0:36:38.120 --> 0:36:39.760 from bottom to top. 0:36:40.560 --> 0:36:41.719 I need God to. 0:36:41.719 --> 0:36:46.120 Do something from top to bottom. I don't need a 0:36:46.160 --> 0:36:50.000 person to do this. A person can't do this. If 0:36:50.000 --> 0:36:52.479 a person could have done it, it would be done 0:36:52.600 --> 0:36:53.240 by now. 0:36:53.800 --> 0:36:57.280 But I need a God who can take the curtain 0:36:57.840 --> 0:37:04.200 in the temple that's separate Holy God from Unholy Man. 0:37:04.440 --> 0:37:12.640 And tear the curtain from top to bottom. So let 0:37:12.640 --> 0:37:15.800 me tell you why I'm in his presence today because 0:37:15.920 --> 0:37:16.920 my God. 0:37:16.760 --> 0:37:18.120 Hurt me when I. 0:37:18.200 --> 0:37:24.680 Called him and he tore the veil from top to bottom. 0:37:24.800 --> 0:37:29.040 Say that he tore the veil from top to bottom. 0:37:29.160 --> 0:37:29.919 What is the veil? 0:37:30.160 --> 0:37:34.000 Its separated the Holy of Holies from the next place 0:37:34.000 --> 0:37:37.160 in the temple, and nobody could go in but Jesus. 0:37:37.239 --> 0:37:40.840 When he was dying was going in why because he 0:37:41.040 --> 0:37:44.320 was representing you to the Father, and he said, Father, 0:37:44.640 --> 0:37:45.480 don't hold. 0:37:45.239 --> 0:37:49.080 It against them, forgive them. They know not what they do. 0:37:49.560 --> 0:37:53.080 This is the gospel, This is the good news. This 0:37:53.120 --> 0:37:59.640 is the moment everything changed. And at the moment that 0:37:59.719 --> 0:38:01.160 it like God. 0:38:00.920 --> 0:38:03.040 Didn't answer the veil Toeur. 0:38:03.480 --> 0:38:06.319 At the moment it looks like nothing is happening, the 0:38:06.440 --> 0:38:09.120 veil tears at the moment when it looks like it's 0:38:09.120 --> 0:38:12.640 getting worse in your life. Don't walk away now, Thomas. 0:38:12.960 --> 0:38:16.440 You need to come back. Thomas, you need to get here. Thomas. 0:38:16.880 --> 0:38:20.839 Jesus might be coming back. Jesus might be coming back. 0:38:21.239 --> 0:38:23.680 I don't want you to miss it this time, Thomas, 0:38:24.160 --> 0:38:27.879 Jesus might come back. The wounded one has risen with 0:38:27.920 --> 0:38:31.160 all power in his hands. And I don't want you 0:38:31.239 --> 0:38:37.120 to miss this. This might be my God moment. 0:38:38.640 --> 0:38:44.920 This might be The Spirit of the Lord is. 0:38:44.920 --> 0:38:48.239 In this place today. The spirit of the Lord is 0:38:48.280 --> 0:38:50.560 in your living room today. The spirit of the Lord 0:38:50.600 --> 0:38:53.279 is in your recovery meeting today. The spirit of the 0:38:53.320 --> 0:38:55.680 Lord is with you right now, laying there in your bed, 0:38:55.800 --> 0:38:58.600 couldn't even find the strength to get up. You miss church, 0:38:58.640 --> 0:39:01.919 But Church didn't miss you, baby, God doesn't miss this 0:39:02.520 --> 0:39:10.040 is your God moment. As a matter of fact, Jesus 0:39:10.160 --> 0:39:15.960 wasn't calling on Elijah because Elijah had called on Jesus. 0:39:17.800 --> 0:39:22.840 The very first resurrection recorded in the Bible was in 0:39:23.000 --> 0:39:28.680 One Kings seventeen. The Lord sent Elijah to stay with 0:39:28.760 --> 0:39:31.520 a widow or a woman at Zaraphath who had a 0:39:31.600 --> 0:39:34.880 son who was about to die from starvation because of 0:39:34.920 --> 0:39:38.640 the famine that Elijah had prophesied. And as he was 0:39:38.680 --> 0:39:41.120 there at that widow's house, something or that woman's house, 0:39:41.360 --> 0:39:46.000 something very terrible happened. Her son died. The woman brought 0:39:46.040 --> 0:39:50.000 the son to Elijah, and Elijah said, what am I 0:39:50.040 --> 0:39:53.560 going to do about this? Now? I've already told you 0:39:53.600 --> 0:39:58.680 about Thomisus my God moment. I told you about Jesus, 0:39:59.440 --> 0:40:03.960 my God moment. But Elijah had on my God moment too. 0:40:05.239 --> 0:40:07.840 The Bible says in First Kings, chapter seventeen, verse seventeen, 0:40:08.320 --> 0:40:10.160 the son of the woman became ill, and his illness 0:40:10.200 --> 0:40:12.160 was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 0:40:12.520 --> 0:40:15.440 Watch how beautiful the Bible lines it up. There was 0:40:15.480 --> 0:40:19.359 no breath left in Jesus. There was no breath left 0:40:19.400 --> 0:40:20.279 in this woman's son. 0:40:21.160 --> 0:40:21.920 This is the. 0:40:21.800 --> 0:40:26.760 First recorded resurrection in the Bible. Give me verse eighteen. 0:40:27.200 --> 0:40:31.279 And she said to Elijah, what have you against me, 0:40:32.080 --> 0:40:35.840 Oh man of God, You have come to bring my 0:40:36.040 --> 0:40:40.000 sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son. See, 0:40:40.000 --> 0:40:42.000 she thought, like so many of us mistakenly think that 0:40:42.040 --> 0:40:44.360 when God comes into your life, it's to punish you. 0:40:45.840 --> 0:40:48.640 That's what she thought. She didn't know God. But she 0:40:48.719 --> 0:40:51.440 was about to have her very own God moment, because 0:40:51.480 --> 0:40:55.520 watch what Elijah did. He said to her, give me 0:40:55.640 --> 0:40:56.200 your son. 0:40:56.560 --> 0:41:00.560 And he took him from her arms and carry him 0:41:00.640 --> 0:41:03.480 into the upper chamber, where he lodged, and laid him 0:41:03.520 --> 0:41:05.200 on his own bed verse twenty. 0:41:05.480 --> 0:41:07.680 And he cried to the Lord, say it out loud, 0:41:08.040 --> 0:41:11.160 Oh Lord, my God. 0:41:11.960 --> 0:41:14.279 It's the first time Elijah says it this way in 0:41:14.320 --> 0:41:18.960 all of scripture. Every time you see Elijah prophesying, he's 0:41:18.960 --> 0:41:23.440 prophesying about the Lord God. But this time he says, 0:41:23.800 --> 0:41:29.320 oh Lord, my God, because he's confused about it, because 0:41:29.320 --> 0:41:32.000 he doesn't know what to do about it, because it's. 0:41:31.880 --> 0:41:34.760 Personal this time. Are you standing over. 0:41:34.560 --> 0:41:39.279 A situation today that is too big for you? Are 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:42.439 you standing over something today that is impossible for you. 0:41:42.760 --> 0:41:44.560 This is your my God moment. 0:41:45.640 --> 0:41:48.239 This is your moment to say, my God, this is 0:41:48.320 --> 0:41:52.040 not something I caused or my God, it is my fault. 0:41:52.080 --> 0:41:55.560 But I need you now. God, I missed it, but 0:41:55.680 --> 0:41:59.720 I need you now. Oh Lord, my God. 0:41:59.400 --> 0:42:01.759 Have you brought a lamity upon the widow. 0:42:01.520 --> 0:42:04.839 With whom I sojourn by killing her son? And then 0:42:04.880 --> 0:42:09.440 he stretched himself. I don't know about y'all, but when 0:42:09.480 --> 0:42:15.279 I saw that, I saw Jesus. He stretched himself upon 0:42:15.320 --> 0:42:17.520 the child three times. 0:42:18.760 --> 0:42:19.560 I don't know about y'all. 0:42:19.560 --> 0:42:21.880 But when I saw three times, I heard three days. 0:42:22.840 --> 0:42:26.839 He stretched himself. He stretched himself. 0:42:27.640 --> 0:42:31.080 I'm not confident in the fact that I can do it. 0:42:31.320 --> 0:42:34.840 This is my God moment. I can't do this by myself. 0:42:35.120 --> 0:42:39.160 I can't accomplish this by myself. I can't save myself. 0:42:39.560 --> 0:42:44.360 But he stretched himself. He stretched his arms, he stretched 0:42:44.400 --> 0:42:48.279 his love, he stretched his compassion. He flung open the 0:42:48.360 --> 0:42:52.480 doors of salvation. He stretched himself three times and cried 0:42:52.520 --> 0:42:55.239 to the Lord, Oh Lord, my God, O Lord, my God, 0:42:55.480 --> 0:42:58.480 O Lord, my God, let this child's life come into 0:42:58.520 --> 0:43:06.759 him again. And the Lord listened. The Lord listened to 0:43:06.880 --> 0:43:10.000 the voice of Elijah, and the Lord listened to the 0:43:10.080 --> 0:43:12.279 voice of Jesus, and the veil was torn, and the 0:43:12.280 --> 0:43:15.600 Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life 0:43:16.280 --> 0:43:19.799 of the child came in to him again, and he 0:43:19.880 --> 0:43:23.400 revived and watched verse twenty three. And Elijah took the 0:43:23.480 --> 0:43:27.800 child and brought him down from the upper chamber into 0:43:27.840 --> 0:43:32.720 the house and delivered him to his mother, and acted 0:43:32.760 --> 0:43:35.759 like he had confidence the whole time, and acted like 0:43:35.800 --> 0:43:38.160 he didn't just have a complete panic attack on that bed, 0:43:38.600 --> 0:43:40.880 and acted like he wasn't just snotting and slobborn and 0:43:40.880 --> 0:43:42.520 wondering if God was going to do it too. 0:43:42.520 --> 0:43:46.000 And said, see, your son lives. 0:43:46.920 --> 0:43:50.680 And I realized that the Gospel is in this passage 0:43:50.760 --> 0:43:55.320 because Elijah brought a son down who was alive again, 0:43:56.840 --> 0:44:03.759 and God raised a son up alive again. And so 0:44:04.800 --> 0:44:10.040 when Elijah was calling on my God, he was calling 0:44:10.400 --> 0:44:16.120 on Jesus, who is resurrection. So when they said Jesus 0:44:16.520 --> 0:44:20.760 is calling on Elijah, they had it backwards. Jesus doesn't 0:44:20.760 --> 0:44:25.239 call on Elijah. Elijah calls on Jesus. And I want 0:44:25.280 --> 0:44:27.800 to tell you something today. Some of you, the devil 0:44:27.800 --> 0:44:32.399 has it backwards in your life. Jesus does not bow 0:44:32.520 --> 0:44:38.640 to sin sin bows to Jesus. Death does not conquer Jesus. 0:44:39.280 --> 0:44:45.120 Jesus conquers death. Elijah brought down a son. God raised 0:44:45.200 --> 0:44:49.799 up a son. This is my God moment. So for 0:44:49.920 --> 0:44:53.560 everybody in here today who is dead in your transgression 0:44:53.600 --> 0:44:56.640 and sin, for everybody in here today who is at 0:44:56.680 --> 0:44:59.320 the dead end of your own hope or your own logic, 0:44:59.600 --> 0:45:02.520 or your own conclusions. And you say, like Thomas, I'll 0:45:02.560 --> 0:45:06.160 never believe. I believe God brought you here because this 0:45:06.360 --> 0:45:12.680 is your my God moment. This is your moment to 0:45:12.840 --> 0:45:17.720 give it over to God. It's his situation, it's his battle, 0:45:18.040 --> 0:45:22.560 it's his fight. You're his child. That is his assignment, 0:45:22.880 --> 0:45:26.040 that is his burden to carry. He paid the price 0:45:26.080 --> 0:45:29.800 for those sins. Don't you carry another day what God 0:45:29.880 --> 0:45:32.880 gave his son to remove from your life. This is 0:45:33.000 --> 0:45:37.600 God's moment in your life. For the Bible says that 0:45:37.640 --> 0:45:40.080 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, 0:45:40.080 --> 0:45:42.960 and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, 0:45:43.920 --> 0:45:51.320 you will be saved. This is your my God moment. 0:45:52.520 --> 0:45:55.560 You've seen what you can do without him. Now I 0:45:55.600 --> 0:46:00.000 want you to see what He can do with you. 0:46:00.440 --> 0:46:05.279 Thomas went from doubting Thomas to trusting Thomas without even 0:46:05.320 --> 0:46:10.960 having to touch Jesus's poems. And I believe that Jesus 0:46:10.960 --> 0:46:14.720 has touched somebody here today, watching at a campus, watching online, 0:46:14.719 --> 0:46:16.520 even watching me in a prison, even watching me in 0:46:16.520 --> 0:46:19.279 a hospital room, watching me at the back row of Valentine. 0:46:19.400 --> 0:46:23.000 The Lord has touched you today. 0:46:23.360 --> 0:46:29.320 And this is your my God moment where he becomes 0:46:29.320 --> 0:46:33.279 personal to you, where it becomes real to you. It's 0:46:33.320 --> 0:46:36.680 a pivotal moment for you. Man, it's a pivotal moment 0:46:36.719 --> 0:46:39.080 for you. I know you're unsure, but you showed up 0:46:39.120 --> 0:46:45.160 and so does he. Everyone standing, no one moving. 0:46:51.880 --> 0:46:52.879 What a moment. 0:46:55.239 --> 0:46:59.200 For the risen Lord who is in this place today. 0:47:01.600 --> 0:47:03.640 Thomas wasn't the last one that he showed. 0:47:03.440 --> 0:47:07.960 Up to talk to. He's here to talk to you too. 0:47:09.280 --> 0:47:10.920 Will you bow your head and close your eyes? 0:47:14.400 --> 0:47:16.479 How good is God that he would listen and hear 0:47:16.520 --> 0:47:19.880 the cry of a sinner, Lord, be merciful. Unto me, 0:47:22.719 --> 0:47:25.920 the resurrection stands as evidence in our lives. Nothing is 0:47:25.960 --> 0:47:30.400 too far gone for God. And I just kept hearing 0:47:31.360 --> 0:47:33.239 the Lord speak to me when I was preparing. There's 0:47:33.280 --> 0:47:35.560 somebody who's saying it's too late. It's too late for me. 0:47:36.440 --> 0:47:39.000 I wasted it. It's too late for me. If it 0:47:39.040 --> 0:47:41.239 wasn't too late for Thomas, it's not too late for you. 0:47:42.360 --> 0:47:44.600 If it wasn't too late for that son who died 0:47:44.640 --> 0:47:46.960 in One King seventeen, it's not too. 0:47:46.840 --> 0:47:50.960 Late for you. Resurrection is what God does. It's what 0:47:51.080 --> 0:47:51.600 he does. 0:47:52.360 --> 0:47:54.560 And the one who was last to see him is 0:47:54.640 --> 0:47:58.480 the one who made the greatest confession about him. My God, 0:47:59.560 --> 0:48:03.239 my God. And he's not just my God, He's not 0:48:03.360 --> 0:48:06.160 just the God of Thomas. He wants to be your 0:48:06.239 --> 0:48:11.520 God too. And the only job that you have is 0:48:11.560 --> 0:48:15.960 to believe that God raised him from the dead. So 0:48:16.080 --> 0:48:19.320 right now, with your head bow and your eyes closed, 0:48:19.360 --> 0:48:22.319 in the holiness of this moment, I'm going to lead 0:48:22.360 --> 0:48:25.400 you in a prayer that you can pray to Jesus. 0:48:25.440 --> 0:48:31.400 This is your my God, moment, My God, my God. 0:48:32.120 --> 0:48:34.960 Why have you forsaken me? But Jesus was forsaken so 0:48:35.040 --> 0:48:37.759 that you would never have to be That's why the 0:48:37.840 --> 0:48:43.840 veil was torn. My God, My God, have mercy on me, 0:48:43.960 --> 0:48:47.439 my God, if you can save me. Here I am, 0:48:47.960 --> 0:48:51.960 and he can, and he will. Whoever calls on the 0:48:52.040 --> 0:48:54.879 name of the Lord will be saved. So right now, 0:48:55.560 --> 0:48:58.799 at every location and watching online, we're going to pray 0:48:58.840 --> 0:49:01.640 a prayer out loud as a church family for the 0:49:01.680 --> 0:49:03.560 benefit of those who are coming to God for the 0:49:03.600 --> 0:49:05.640 first time or coming back to God. 0:49:05.880 --> 0:49:08.680 This is your God moment. Do not miss it. 0:49:09.600 --> 0:49:12.560 He brought you here in your breathing. Do not miss it. 0:49:12.600 --> 0:49:19.000 He died for you. Don't miss Repeat after me, Heavenly Father. 0:49:21.040 --> 0:49:22.799 I'm gonna say it again. Say it with your heart, 0:49:23.000 --> 0:49:30.960 Heavenly Father. Today is my day of salvation. I am 0:49:31.000 --> 0:49:35.760 a sinner in need of a savior. And I believe 0:49:36.760 --> 0:49:41.600 that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the 0:49:41.640 --> 0:49:42.640 Savior of the world. 0:49:43.880 --> 0:49:45.960 And today I make. 0:49:45.920 --> 0:49:50.480 Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died 0:49:51.640 --> 0:49:56.040 that I would be forgiven and rose again to give 0:49:56.080 --> 0:50:02.400 me life. I receive this new life. This is my 0:50:02.600 --> 0:50:07.640 new beginning. I am a child of God. On three 0:50:07.719 --> 0:50:10.919 shoots your hand up. If you prayed that one, two, three, 0:50:11.000 --> 0:50:15.000 say this is my God moment. This is my God moment, 0:50:15.040 --> 0:50:16.120 from top to bottom. 0:50:17.480 --> 0:50:18.120 This is the. 0:50:18.040 --> 0:50:21.439 Moment where God breaks through. This is the moment where 0:50:21.480 --> 0:50:25.600 grace breaks through. This is the moment where shame falls off. 0:50:26.400 --> 0:50:29.920 This is the moment where darkness flees. This is the 0:50:30.000 --> 0:50:33.160 moment that the light comes. This is the moment I'm 0:50:33.200 --> 0:50:37.080 born again. This is the moment I received forgiveness. 0:50:37.480 --> 0:50:41.040 This is the moment my sins are rolled away. Come on, 0:50:41.160 --> 0:50:43.600 let's have a moment of praise today. 0:50:44.719 --> 0:50:49.680 For the great things God has done in Jesus' name. 0:50:52.640 --> 0:50:53.759 Thank you for joining us. 0:50:54.040 --> 0:50:56.520 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:50:56.560 --> 0:51:00.000 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:51:00.520 --> 0:51:03.080 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:51:03.600 --> 0:51:07.480 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 0:51:08.000 --> 0:51:10.640 and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:51:11.040 --> 0:51:12.360 You can share it with your friends. 0:51:12.640 --> 0:51:14.960 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:51:15.000 --> 0:51:17.120 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:51:17.120 --> 0:51:18.000 Elevation Church. 0:51:18.040 --> 0:51:24.680 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.