Questions From The Empty Tomb

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. Hey, Happy Easter, everybody. I'm so thankful that you're here. Welcome, welcome. Welcome to church. Grab your Bible, if you would. God's got some things. He wants to speak to us. Luke chapter 24 is where we're going to spend all of our time as we dig into the greatest story ever written. The story of Jesus, the story of the battle that takes place, the story of the victory over death and hell and the grave and over sin. It is Easter Sunday, the greatest story in the history of stories. And I just want to say, on behalf of me and my wife and my family, this is our 10th Easter to celebrate with you in Longview, Texas. It has been the greatest honor of my life. Thank you so much. We have. We. We've had some crazy Easter. There was. There was one Easter. There was. There's actually two Easters that I remember very, very clearly that were strange. One was when we got snowed out, iced in, and all of Easter services were canceled. And we're spending it at home thinking, are we even saved anymore? Like, what. What is happening? So strange not to be in church on Easter. And then, of course, about six years ago, when we got shut down, everybody started hoarding toilet paper. You don't remember? Yes, you do. But we're having to do Easter just on video, and it's so strange. So it is quite an honor just to be able to gather together with you guys, to have you here in the house, to be able to worship God together. There's a newfound appreciation for just being in the room. Isn't that right? It's a good thing. I'm glad that you are here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad that you came. I'm glad somebody invited you. I'm glad you put on deodorant and so is the person next to you. It's going to be a good day. We also want to welcome in all of you who are watching online. Thank you so much for tuning in. Many of you were able to attend last night. We had a massive response. I asked many of you, if you wouldn't mind, to come on our very first Saturday services. And let me just. Let me just report to you. There was 19 people that got saved on a Saturday night. I think that's a pretty big deal. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your generosity. You guys have been awesome. It's already been a fantastic weekend and God still has more to speak to his people. So thank you so much for being here. Thank you for tuning in. Luke chapter 24. I want to bring a message specifically from the book of Luke because he, he loves to describe. He. He describes things in a way that I think is, is different to the other Gospels. And I think as I was reading through chapter 24 this past week and asking the Lord what to speak to you from the. He brought these things to my mind. I think it's going to really help you and encourage you and speak to you this Easter Sunday. So in case you, in case you've been living under a rock or you don't know this story, what happens is it's kind of a big deal. Jesus gets up out of a grave. Don't know if you knew that. He proved once and for all YOLO does not apply to him. He gets up. But here we find a group of Jesus's friends, a group of ladies who are coming to the tomb very early in the morning, and they're carrying the spices that would have been part of the Jewish, the Jewish burial custom of the day. And they're coming to pay their respects to their friend one last time, doing the job that perhaps most people wouldn't want to do. And we see them having to have a conversation about who's going to roll away the, the big stone in front of the tomb for us? Who's going to talk to the Roman soldiers? Are, are we going to even be able to do this favor for our friend one last time? And so we kind of zoom in on the story of these ladies heading to the tomb. And the Bible tells us something very specific happens when they actually get there. A lot of their questions were answered and they got presented with some brand new questions, some questions that they had not considered when they were first making this trip in the morning. And so verse one picks it up right here. It says this on the first day of the week. Now, I want to pause there for just a moment because Luke is doing more than just telling you the timestamp. It, it's. It's powerful how he's using the, the same picture that God paints for us in Genesis chapter one, when God says, you know, evening and morning, and, and this was the very first day the first day of the very first week of all time in creation. And God said, let there be. Come on, somebody. Light. You remember. You remember the story. Let there be light. And here is the brand new light of the world. So Luke is using creation language here as he starts this chapter. On the very first day of the week, God not only said, let there be light, then he's saying, let there be light. Now Jesus is the light of the world, and him getting up out of the grave brings new light, new hope, new life. It's a brand new week. And I don't know if you know this, but this is actually the moment when the Jewish Christians stopped celebrating Christianity or their religion on Saturday and moved to Sunday because of the resurrection of Jesus. It just changed worship, which is another reason why we did worship last night and worship today. We're not sure which one. We'll do them on both. Let's see what happens. But only for last night. That's not happening this next week. I can't be doing it. I'm almost 50 years old. Let me just tell you, I know that your jaw's dropping because I don't look a day over 32, but this is service number four or five. And I might cuss. I don't know what I'm going to say today. If I tell a joke twice, just know that it's not dementia. It's a lot. It's a lot of speaking. But here's what he says. On the very first day of the week, the women took the spices and they went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. That would have caused a few questions. Could we agree? A few questions. Who rolled away that stone? Where's his body? What did you guys do with it? And it says, while they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. That would have caused me to ask a few more questions. But the men said this. Look at this question. Why do you look for the living among the dead? Now, if you have a paper Bible like me, grab one of those pins on the seat back pocket in front of you and underline that question. This is more than just a poetic question. Here's what we know. When God asks questions, when Jesus asks questions, when the Holy Spirit asks questions, when angels ask questions, it's not because they don't know the answer. It's because we need to know the answer. It's a. It's a much more in depth question than. More than something that just sounds poetic. Why do you look for the living among the dead? And as they ask this question, they say this. Don't you remember how Jesus told you? Do you. Do you remember what he said? There's another question. Do you remember what Jesus told you? He told you very plainly, the Son of man must be crucified and on the third day be raised again. Didn't Jesus tell you this? Multiple times. And it says in that moment, they remembered Jesus. Words they remembered. And when they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 and to all the others. But it says this. The disciples did not believe those women. Why? Because it sounded like a bunch of nonsense to them. Can you imagine the confusion as three ladies come in early in the morning like, we haven't even had our coffee yet and just start screaming, he's alive. Like, what are you talking about? The mass confusion, the mass chaos of the very first carriers of the gospel as they burst into the room telling the other 11 disciples, you're not going to believe what happened. They just bop, bop, bop, bop, all at the same time. I would have asked, what's in those spices that y' all were carrying? Is that Colonel Sanders? Got nothing on those 11 herbs and spices, right? What do you guys have? Like, what are you talking about? Slow it down. But it says, it seemed like nonsense to them. And here's what's crazy, is that you. If somebody was making up the story of Jesus getting up out of a grave, you would have never portrayed the very first people as skeptics. But they had a lot of questions. They didn't believe it either. And it's what makes it even more believable to us. The very first people that heard the story were like, that's nonsense. That doesn't make any sense. Even though Jesus had told them at least seven times recorded in the Gospels, this is what's about to happen, they still had questions. And of course, if you know the story, then Peter takes off running for the tomb, and one of the disciples decides to write down. But he wasn't the first one to make it. Because your boy meet him. And it is wild how that happens multiple times when someone's writing something in Scripture and they kind of refer to themselves in the third person. And they're like, but your boy beat him to the tomb because Peter's a little slow. I ran a 4, 5, 40 in high school. Peter didn't recognize my game. Like, that kind of thing. It's like when Moses Said Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth. Are you sure? Little Terrell Owens in there, I love me some me. Like you literally wrote that about yourself. And this is what happens. Peter has crazy questions. He's like, I don't understand what these ladies are saying. He runs to the tomb, but he doesn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. And there's a lot of questions. The first hearers of the gospel did not believe the story. They have a lot of questions. And in reality, Easter should bring up a lot of questions. It should be more than something that we just read it as words on a page. More than just accepting it as fact. It even more than taking it on faith. It should bring up some questions in you. There's some questions around Easter. How did this happen? Explain this to me. Is there any proof? Easter brings up a lot of questions. And sometimes I think the church has failed in really answering those questions well. And I think that starts at, at the, at the beginning in, in children's ministry. I remember there's. A few years ago, I was watching a massive Easter egg hunt. And these kids were super excited, but the parents were even more excited and perhaps getting on verge of a little delirious because parents were like having like the pre game chat with their kid. All right, here's the game plan. I want you never go for the rookie mistake. Eggs in the front, you want to hit towards the back. I want you to take out the lady on the left. That's your biggest competition. Pull out the iPad. Diagramming the play. Like, here's the game plan. I've mapped this out to scale. You know, parents were a little crazy on the Easter egg hunt. And then before it all, before it all kicks off, the Easter egg volunteer coordinator for that ministry steps out. He says, all right, kids, we're about to do this Easter egg hunt. Are you ready? And they're just like, ah, you know, just freaking out. And he says, keep this in mind. There's the reason why we're doing this. Because Jesus got up out of the grave, we look for eggs. And I'm like, close. Wait, what, what are we teaching these kids? Like, what in the world? That makes no sense whatsoever. And he's like, let us pray. I'm like, I, I don't, I don't understand this. How did we get from telling the greatest story of all time and then transition to a bunny? What in the world does a bunny have to do? Bunnies don't lay eggs. It makes no sense. No matter what you believe that still makes no sense. And I can't believe that we celebrate the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, with the nastiest candy on this planet called Peeps. I will fight you for that. That is nasty. Don't eat that. Somebody told me last night, you don't understand. It's just marshmallows covered in sugar. Like, don't trick it up. The marshmallow is good by itself. Leave it like it's supposed to be. There's a lot of questions I have around it. There's a lot of questions that I have that have nothing to do with Easter whatsoever. I don't understand why refrigerators have to have WI fi these days. That makes no sense to me. Like, how is the FBI wanting to know what I have in my refrigerator? Have you thought about that? They're like, let's show you the new model, Mr. Ingram. This has WI fi. Does it get things cold? That's what I need to know. I, I, I have questions. When did, when did water bottles become, like, emotional support items? Why do you have to have so many? Don't elbow anybody. We're looking at you. Are we taking a field trip to the Sahara Desert? Is there, is there a reason why, like, literally every, every place that we're going to go to, there's four gas stations on the way with any beverage that you could want. There is no risk of dehydration from here to Walmart. That's not going to happen. You never know. You just never know. I could be thirsty at some point. How do. I've got questions. I, I get that. And here we see in this story that Luke records like this, there was a lot of questions. Easter actually gave us more questions than answers. And there are some questions that Luke writes that help us to kind of confront some things that we need to have confronted in our own spirits as well as we read this story, as it becomes more than just words on a page, more than just a memory of Jesus, more than just a story that we tell our children. It needs to hit home. It needs to make a difference to you and to me. And I want to give you three questions that I think the story screams at us. The, the questions from an empty tomb, if you would. Here's the first question I want to ask you and that I think the story speaks to us. Number one is, what do you expect to find? What do you expect to find? And I want you to see that in this story, what the ladies carried to the tomb showed you what they expected to find. What they carried, show you what they expected. They carried spices because they were expecting to find a dead body. Yet Jesus had clearly told him, I ain't going to be there. Multiple times in scripture, we find Jesus clearly and plainly saying, the Son of Man must be crucified by the Pharisees, by the elders. They're going to take me, they're going to torture me. He even told them the night before, and they're like, you know what? We're going to die with you. And like, you won't even make it to, to dessert. You're all going to leave me, but don't worry. Said I'm not alone. He as a matter of fact, I'm, I'm. I'm going to be gone, I'm going to die, but I'm coming back in a couple days. I'm like, hm, I wonder what he means by that. That's a weird story, Jesus. Let's look deeper into that meeting and Jesus like, I'm literally plainly telling you I'm going to the cross. But death is not the end for me. It's. It's going to end differently. He said, in a few days, you're going to see me no longer. And where I'm going, you can't come, but going to be back. Don't throw a funeral for me. You're going to waste your time and money. I'm coming back. He said, in a few more days, your joy will be full. He tells them over and over, what does it show us when the ladies are carrying spices to a tomb? They're doing the best they can with what they've got. But it shows us that during times of anxiety and pressure and stress, we will often rely upon ourselves than the truth of what Jesus said. It shows us that many believers have faith but don't trust God's word. I believe in Jesus, I believe in the story. But yet when it comes to my life, my situation, what I want to do, I'm not trusting God's word. I'm in charge of me. I'm the boss of me. And it's strange how from the very beginning of the story, we find a group of people that have been clearly told exactly what was going to happen, and yet they still are showing you what they expect to find by what they're carrying on the way there. What does it show me about us? It shows me this, that what you're carrying today shows what you're expecting to find. What you come into this place today, your expectations. It tells us a little something about you. You have expectations of what it should feel like, what it should look like when you come to church, and. And what you carry into this place shows what you're expecting to find. And I think it's time that we allow ourselves to let God's word speak into our hearts and reveal things that perhaps we need to see. And more than just putting up walls, the Word becomes a mirror and shows us some things about ourself that I have. I have some things that I carry into this place that shows me what I'm expecting to find. So they came carrying spices because they expected to find a dead body. I wonder, what do you come into this place carrying today? Do you come in expecting to be hurt because the church has hurt you? Do you come in expecting to be entertained because you've been taught that Christianity is about entertaining you? Let me just tell you, we're not that good. Lower your expectations. Do you come in expecting to find something to criticize? Expecting somebody to offend you? Do you come in expecting things to happen a certain way? And what happens when they're. When they're not met? All of us have things that we bring in to the presence of God because we have an expectation of what is supposed to be there. Here's the good news. Today, Jesus loves to exceed expectations. And could it be that what you come in here carrying with today the expectations that you have, Jesus says, I have something better in mind for you. I've got a little surprise. Guess what? It's different than what you expect. And perhaps what you're carrying isn't needed anymore. Could it be that today is perhaps a day where you live differently than the way that you came because Jesus loves to exceed your expectations? You see these ladies? They came expecting death because they're carrying death spices. But they left carrying the message of the Gospel. They did not leave the same way that they came. They came expecting to find a dead body. They found an empty tomb. They came expecting to find an ending. They found a new beginning. I wonder. I wonder, does God have a new beginning for you? Could it be that today is a day where what you expected to happen gets exceeded because there's a new beginning for you? Could it be? Or are you expecting to leave the exact same way that you came into this place? Could it be that this is more than just a message? Could it be that this is more than just words on a page, but this is a holy moment for you? Could it be Jesus loves to exceed expectations? He loves for us to come in and tell him what we think should happen because he laughs. Your God has a sense of humor. And he would say stuff like, I've got something better in mind for you if you'll let me. Here's another question I think the story of Easter speaks to us today. Number two is, why do you always do this? Now, for those of you that have heard this question asked to you, it is never asked in a complimentary way. Why do you always do this? No, it's always, why do you always do this? Right. And normally, let's just be honest, it's asked of you by a person that loves you very much, but you've gotten on the end of their last nerves. Why do you always do this? Especially in public? Now, don't elbow anyone, but this is a great question. Why do you always do this? And essentially, that is exactly the question that these two angels are asking the women as they come to the tomb. When they ask them, why do you seek the living among the dead? The original language tells us that it should read more like this. Why do humans continually look for life in dead places? And it's more than just a poetic question. It's a theological rebuke. Why do we always do this? Why do we look for life in places that Jesus has declared that dead? And many believers today, they still search for life in places where Jesus has declared it dead. And the angels are asking them, what are you doing? Don't you remember what Jesus told you? He told you he wasn't gonna be here. So why do you always do that? Why do humans continually do that? You look for life in places that are dead. You look for Jesus in places where he used to be. You look for freedom in old, dead religious rituals. Why do we do this? You look for fun and sin. We look for new life and dead relationships, new hope and things that Jesus said, that's not for you. The old has passed away and new has come. But yet we still, in our human tendency, we find ourselves constantly looking for life, looking for freedom, looking for salvation, look for happiness, looking for joy and things that could not possibly fulfill what is lacking. It can only be filled by Jesus. Why do we always do this? Here's the good news. When the angels ask him this question. The angels didn't shame them for looking for looking in the wrong place. They just pointed them to the right place. And I'm not here to shame you today. If you've ever asked yourself, why do I always do this? Because you found yourself doing the exact same thing that you promised God you would never do again. Talking to somebody. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you said, God, why can't I? Why can't I get this right? Why can't I fix myself? I find myself always doing the exact same that I promised myself I wouldn't do anymore. I promised God I couldn't do this, I wouldn't do this. I'll never go back there. And then I find myself right back there. Why do I always do this? And just like the angels didn't shame the ladies, there's no shame coming to Christ. Because here's the good news. You're not good enough. You can't fix you. But thanks be to God, he sent his Son, who is good enough for me, who offers me freedom, offers me hope, offers real joy. So when the angels say, why do you seek the living among the dead? Why do we always do this? It's a question. Not because they didn't know the answer. Because we need to know that the answer can only be found in Jesus. It's not in something dead. Here's the third question that we see from this incredible story is the words, do you remember? Do you remember? And the entire story that we find in Luke chapter 24 hinges on that one word, remember. Do you remember what Jesus told you? Do you remember the experiences that you had when Jesus spoke to you plainly that he was going to get up out of a grave, that he had to die, that he was going to get up though that death would have no power, no authority over him? He told you this was going to happen. And everything changes in these women's mind at the moment that they remembered the words of Jesus. And the same can be said for people like me and for you. Everything can change in your mind and in your situation in your life when you can simply go back and remember what Jesus has told you, what he has shown you, the experiences that you've had. Everything changes when you remember. Now, of course, now that I'm approaching the age of 50, there are things that I could remember that I never thought I would actually live to see. The age where I'm remembering these things. But I'm officially at the age where I can look around, put both my hands on my hips and say, I remember when this was fields as far as the eye could see and be telling the truth. There are parts of Longview I look out like, hey, 10 years ago, none of this was here. We used to not have any Brahms back in my day. There was no sprouts. It was nothing but a dream, nothing but A prayer. There was no fresh. None of that existed. I remember. I'm actually at the age where I remember things, where my children, and hopefully my future grandchildren will have no idea what I'm talking about. I, I remember things like be kind, rewind. They've never rewound anything in their life. What do you mean? Rewound what? Rewind. Rewind. That's a weird word. So retro. Rewind. I remember. Be kind, rewind. Anybody remember that? I remember what it feels like to have to drive a stick. I remember. I remember there used to be three petals on the floor. And that third one, you need it. It's not an emergency break. You'll make that mistake one time. And if you've ever been stopped at a red light on a hill with one foot half balancing that clutch and half balancing that brake, let me just remind you, everyone in that car has nothing to do with atheism. In that moment, we are all believers. We're all asking God for help. If you know, you know, I, I remember those things. I remember when McDonald's had ashtrays in the playground. Do you remember? I remember. I'm of the age where I remember things. I'm also at an age where I go back in my mind and remember sitting in a little Sunday school class, some volunteer was probably at the very end of her last nerve trying to teach me about Jesus and thinking, this boy is just disobedient. He is completely out of touch with all these things I'm trying to teach. And they're trying to make a difference in my life. I ain't having it. We know this later to be adhd, at the time raised Pentecostal. It's just a demon. Everything was. Everything was a demon. And I remember as a pk, as a preacher's kid, preacher's kids are the worst. They're the worst. Why? Because like, like some of our staff kids, like, this is the fourth service they've been in in a row, and those kids are over there like, I don't want any more goldfish. This church takes forever. Why would this stay here all day? I, I, I remember what that feels like. And beyond the. Just the last nerve. And I feel so sorry for those that were, that were trying so hard to make a difference in my life. And we just, Just push the envelope, man. Push the envelope. Because as pastors kids, maybe you weren't the worst if you're a pastor's kid, but your sister was one of y'. All. But also remember that they would tell me, they would Tell me some stories. They would tell me things that I didn't realize at the time had become foundational truths for me. And I appreciate it so much more at the age of 50 than I did at the age of 4 and 5 and 6, those stories. And they would talk about Jonah and the big fish and would just add to the trauma of not knowing how to swim. And then they talk about Abraham and Isaac. And then I'm like, I'm side eyeing my dad on the way home. But I remember those stories. They talk about David and Goliath. They talk about creation and Adam and Eve and the apple and the snake. I'm thinking, we're from the south, we just eaten the snake, have a whole different world. And then I remember a particular story that just stuck with me. That's when they would tell the story of the prodigal son. I love that one. Do you remember? Come on, do you remember? Let me take you back. They would talk about the young man that had left his home, squandered all that. He had lived a life of sin and found himself in the pig pen, eating the pig's food at the end of his rope and dirty, broke. All of his potential had been washed down the drain. I remember them painting the picture of that story. And then they. They would always say, but then he came to his senses. You remember that he came to his senses. They always say that he came to his senses. He. He remembered. He remembered the father's house. He remembered the father's love. And he said, man, if I. If I could just go back to my father's house. Even the lowest of my dad's servants has it better than this. Surely. Maybe my dad can. Can. Can take me back. Maybe he can treat me like a. Like a servant. And it says that as he comes back down the road towards his father's house, that they always said it this way while he was still a long way off. You remember? A long way off. The dad gets up and. And starts running towards the. The son. And he says, put a. Put a robe on my son. Put. Put shoes on his bare feet. Put my ring on his finger. He's. He's come home. My son has come home. Let's throw a party. My son has come home. I remember that story. Why? Because a few years after they told me that story, that became my story. And I didn't realize how important, how foundational those stories would be to me until life brought me to a place where that's all I had. Let me just remind you, there are moments. I know there are moments in your life that I want to take you back to. For just a moment, I want you to remember the things that God has shown you to. You might not have even recognized it as the power and the presence of God. But maybe for you it wasn't in some Sunday school classroom. Maybe for you it was in a deer stand or on a bass boat. Maybe for you it was watching your children be born. And something just begins to open up in your heart in a brand new way. Something speaks to you in a way that you can understand. Maybe you're sitting on a beach, you're seeing the mountains for the first time. And some sense of awe, some sense of wonder comes over you. And these are the moments where I believe if. If we can look past just the beauty of the moment, we can see that there is a Creator on the other side, saying, I have a plan for you, have a destiny for you. Life is. It's about more than what you settled for. Can you remember. Can you remember the moments that you've had with the Father, where He's shown you miracles, where he's shown you his love for you? Scripture says he draws us with his loving kindness. God's not waiting to judge you. He's drawing you near to Himself. He's drawing you into relationship with Him. And even if you've been walking with God your entire life, he wants to draw you closer. There's deeper depths, there's higher heights in your relationship with Him. Do you remember? And so when the angels ask these ladies, don't you remember what Jesus has told you? Do you remember the stories he gave you? Remember the examples? Remember your time of walking with them? He has explained himself and they found brand new faith, not in something new, but in something that they remembered. I think there's something powerful for that to be brought to our mind. You see, new faith doesn't start with seeing something new. It starts with remembering what God already said. I think for everyone in this room, maybe even for those that are watching online, God's already said something to you. Question is, did you recognize it? Do you remember? Are you still just doing the best you can with what you got, still carrying the spices? Because you have your expectations? Let me just remind you, Jesus loves to exceed expectations. And could it be that he has new faith, new things to show you? And the things he's already said? Do you remember? I hope you are reminded of a few things today. Hope you're reminded that the tomb is still empty. The grave couldn't hold Him. Jesus is still alive and he still loves you. He still has a plan for your life. In spite of what you may have come into this place expecting, in spite of the past that you may be dealing with, in spite of the issues that make you think I don't deserve to be here, this is a room full of perfect people. I'm the only one messed up. Let me just tell you. No, you ain't. We're all crazy. It's not a competition. We all have issues. This is not a church full of perfect people. If it was, I would have messed it up the moment I walked in this morning. We're human. And no matter what you may have brought into this place, Jesus loves to exceed your expectations. He wants to remind you that he loves you. He has a plan for your life, that he's a good God and he cares deeply about you. We say around here, if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. He loves you. He has a plan for you. And it's more than just words on a page. It's a story from the beginning of creation that includes you. There's a purpose for your life. There's a relationship that he wants to have with every single person in this room. And it's always better than what we could imagine. Here's what we see, is those ladies are an important carrier of the greatest story of all time. And I'm here today because those ladies carried the message from that grave. Here's what's blowing my mind is that they believed in the story of Jesus before they met the resurrected Jesus. They believed when they remembered. And I wonder if that's enough for you today. If you could have a new level of faith, you can have new belief in just what you remember. God can use people that get it wrong. God can use people that make mistakes. God can use people just doing the best they can with what they've got. God can use messed up people because I am one of them. And here's the good news. When we see these ladies at the tomb, here's what we know. They forgot his promises. They doubted his word. And Jesus still used them to change the world. And he can still use you. I want to finish up right there today, if you wouldn't mind. Go ahead and close your Bibles and put away your phones for just a moment. They're not going to go anywhere. No emergency is going to happen. Your kids are fine over at Children's Ministry. The pot roast is not going to burn. Golden Corral is still going to be open you're going to be fine. I want to invite you to bow your head for just a moment. It may have been a while. It may have been too long for you. It's been a while since you've talked to the Lord. I want to give you an opportunity to just talk to Jesus. I want to give you an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to speak to you in a way that makes sense to you. For some of us, it's been a while. You may say, how do I do this? I'm not sure. I want to invite you to pray a prayer that's existed since the 4th century Christians. It's a three word prayer and it's powerful. The prayer is simply this. Holy Spirit, come, Holy Spirit, come. It's an invitation for the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Holy Spirit, come. Holy Spirit, would you speak to us today? I pray that you speak to every single person in a way that he or she could understand. That you would meet them right at the point of their need. Show them what you want them to see. Show them your incredible love. Show them your grace. Show them your compassion. Show them how much you care for them. Let them sense your power and the purpose and the plan that you have for each of us. You're a good God. You still do good things. You've proven your love for us by sending your son for you. So love the world that you gave your one and only Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. With heads bowed and eyes closed. How many of us would say today by the lifting of our hands, Pastor, when you were talking about that, the moments where God may have been speaking to you, I have those moments. There's things that I've seen, there's things that I've experienced where I recognize now that God was speaking to me. Do you have those moments? Can I just see your hands all across this place? Do you have moments where the Lord's beginning to show you something? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good. You guys can put your hands down. How many of us would say by the lifting of our hands? Pastor, when you were talking about that prodigal son story, I recognized myself. That's my story, too. Can I just see your hand all across this place? Many, many, many, many, many people. That's. It's not just my story. It's your story. It's our story. You can put your hands down, my friend. I'm glad you're here. God is speaking to you. His word says, my sheep, hear my voice. He's Speaking to you today, he's calling you deeper into a relationship with him. Let me remind you, you are as close to God as you choose to be, and he loves you deeply and he wants to be a bigger part of your life. For some of us in this place, you might say, pastor, if I'm going to be honest with you, I don't have a relationship with Jesus at all. I don't know what that means, but I want that relationship with Jesus. My friend, you are in the right place. I am glad that you're here. We can absolutely help you. The exact same way that somebody helped me one time, somebody loved me enough to introduce me to Jesus. And I would love to have that same honor to help you start your relationship with Jesus today. For others, maybe you came here today and you're saying, pastor, if I'm going to be honest with you, I am so far from God right now. Maybe you were raised in church, maybe you did all the things, but you've gotten away from God and God knows it and you know it. My friend, you're in the right place today, too. God led you here for this moment, and this is for you. You may say, pastor, I'm not sure how to make it right. My friend, let me help you. The exact same way that somebody helped me one time, somebody loved me enough to tell me the truth and to help me get into a relationship with Jesus after I drifted so far from Him. I would love to help you in the exact same way. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, if you want a relationship with Jesus or if you need to come back into a relationship with Jesus, I'm gonna ask that you pray this prayer with me. I'm gonna start the prayer out and I'm gonna ask that you just repeat these words with me. And as a matter of fact, all of us gonna say this out loud together so you don't feel embarrassed or singled out in any way. I would never do that to you. But you need this. You need this moment. And if you want a relationship with Jesus, pray this prayer with me. Come on, believers, let's say this together. Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe that you came and died, and I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for my sins. Please forgive me and I'll give you the rest of my life. Thank you for loving me in Jesus name. And with heads bowed and eyes closed, with no one else looking around, if that was you and you prayed that prayer and you meant that prayer, Can I just see your hands all across this place? Would you lift them up nice and high and proud? Good, good, good, good. I see you. Good for you. Good for you. Good for you. You guys can place your hands down. Just those of you that raised your hands, that responded to that, I want to ask you, would you look up at me for just a second? On the screen behind me, there's a phone number that's going to appear. That phone number is just for you. If you raise your hand, I'm going to ask that you text me. Text the words I prayed to that number. And what will happen is if you text me, I'm going to send you back the link to some things that will help you understand what just happened in your heart and what to do next. Because this is not the end of your relationship with Jesus. This is the beginning. And it is the greatest honor of my life to help people know Jesus better. I'm super proud of you in the decision that you just made today. Thank you, thank you, thank you. High rich family, go ahead and look up at me if you would. Let's stand to our feet together. That's 21 people responding to the gospel. Do we think that's a pretty big deal? Come on. Do we think that's a pretty big deal? Jesus is still alive. That tomb is still empty and the gospel still works. It's a beautiful thing. Hey, if you're watching online today, I want to say thank you so much for watching. If you believe that this is important, that people need to hear this message, click that share button on any social media platform that you're watching from. It is a beautiful thing. Every single week we have people responding to the gospel from places far outside of Longview, Texas, just because they watched a video that somebody shared with them. So if you'll share that on your social media platform, it makes a massive difference when you do that. Also, if you did not bring, if you did not fill out one of these connection cards, these, these little connect cards that's on the seat back pocket in front of you. If you're a guest with us, please fill out one of these cards. We want to connect with you. Don't just leave this place and say, I wish somebody would connect with me. This is how we do that and we would love to connect with you. For everybody else, let me just remind you there is no Saturday services this next week. It is back to regularly scheduled program. But there is a wonderful sermon series that we have coming out next week that is, it's called First Watch. And I'm super excited about that. So you're all invited to come back next week. Also have our elders and their wives coming forward at this time. They're going to gather at the very front of this platform to be available to pray for you about anything that you might need prayer for. I think it would be a shame for us to walk into church saying, I wish somebody would pray for me. I'm walking through a difficult season and for us to leave the exact same way that you came in. These people will stay here. So in just a few moments, I'm going to dismiss and many people are going to walk towards the doors. If you want some prayer, if you need somebody to for real, like, legitimately pray for you, we would love nothing more than to pray for you. These guys will stay right here. This is my personal prayer team. These are our intercessors. These are the elders of our church. These are their wives. And we would love to pray for this. The best I got, because we believe in the power of prayer here. God still hears prayers. It's amazing to me that Jesus told his disciples, you don't have because you didn't ask me. I wonder what we're missing out on, because we didn't pray about it. We didn't ask. And so we would love to pray for you. Let me bless you and send you out. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? I pray that you'd bless their families, bless their marriages, Lord, bless their finances, bless their children. I pray that you bless their careers, that your hand would be all over it, that they would walk in the light of the risen Savior all week long. We thank you, we love you. We bring you all glory and praise in the mighty name of Jesus. And all of us said together, amen. God bless you as you go. [00:42:00] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. [00:42:12] Speaker B: If you want to be a part [00:42:13] Speaker A: of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our [email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.