SPEAKER_00 0:00

Isn't that awesome? That is awesome. Incredible. I want to say happy Easter and welcome to all of you. I want to welcome all of our campuses and everybody online. If you're a guest today, it is super good to have you here. My name's Sean. I'm the lead pastor here. And before we jump into the Easter message, I do want to just say a little bit about what we just saw. I, unless you've been there, like unless you've gone to Kenya and you've been there and you've seen what these kids go through, you'll never understand just the opportunity that we have just to create just that, like opportunity for these kids. When you think about the opportunity that our kids have here in the States, even kids who deal with difficulty and struggle and poverty, it is nothing like when you look at Kenya, there are no programs and opportunities to help these kids. Like we are the opportunity. And so we've got a value around here that's called Made for More. And we talk about that idea of made for more. It means we were not just made to, we were not made to sit, we were made to serve. We were not made to just just consume. We were made to contribute and help people have the opportunity to hear hope. And so that's what we're doing right now. I'm really excited. We are at$245,000 of that$300,000 goal. So that's pretty incredible. And uh I think that by the end of today, with uh all of our campuses together, I think we can knock that out. And so if you call Central Home, here's what I want to encourage you to do. I do want to encourage everybody to be involved above and beyond your regular giving. And let's jump in and make that happen. If you're a guest, here's what we want you to know. Man, do not feel obligated, but just know you're invited. Like if you want to be a part of these kids, there's 420 kids in our school. We're gonna double the size of that to 820. But in Mohi in general, across Kenya, there are 32,000 kids that are in these schools, that are in churches. We're helping transform those lives, and you can't imagine the ripple effect into families, into communities, an entire country. And so if you want to be involved in that, here's how you can give. There's boxes at all the doors in the back at all of our campuses, giving boxes you can give there. You can also go online to our website, choose Easter offering, and just make a gift there, or you can go to our app and you can give in the app also. So just want to say thank you ahead of time for helping us help these kids. All right, let's jump in. I I just want to say again, happy Easter, and I am super glad you're all here. I know some of you, you're here every weekend, and uh glad to see all of you. There's some of you, you're just back for the first time in a while, and man, super glad you're here. And there might be some of you that got a text or a phone call or an invite, and you said yes, and you're still wondering why you said yes, right? And and you're sitting here today going, what am I doing here? Well, hey, I'm really glad you're here, and I mean that. And I mean that because this is not just any Sunday. Like, like today, this is not just any Sunday. This is the Sunday. Like, this is the Sunday that everything hinges on. Like our whole faith, everything hinges on this resurrection day. Like the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, here's what Paul says. He says, and if Christ is not raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. Like, think about it this way: it if the resurrection did not happen, like we're not just a little bit off. Like as my 16-year-old says, we're cooked. Like we are cooked. Like, like we're what are we doing here? Like, this is what everything's based upon. So if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, if he didn't walk out of the tomb on Sunday morning, then why in the world am I standing on this stage and why are you sitting there wherever you're sitting listening? But if it did happen, like if Jesus actually did walk out of the grave, if the stone was rolled away and he walked out and he is alive today, then man, it changes everything. Like it means like hope is available, that death doesn't win. It means that your story matters, and it means that God, if God can make beauty out of that mess, man, he can make beauty out of any mess that any of you, any of us, I have, you have created in our lives. And that's good news, isn't it? That's good news. But here's the tension. Like, I think we live with the tension of, and it would be this, and I want you to be honest with yourself for a second. Like, have you ever had the quiet thought of, yeah, believe in the miraculous? Like, I believe this is true, but I just don't know if it's true for me. Think about that for a moment. Because there are some of you sitting here, some of you would say, I don't know if it is true. Like, I actually don't know if it is true. And you definitely would say, Well, then the miracle moments, the power of the resurrection is definitely not true for me. But what about those of you who do? Because I think the majority of us, we got up this morning, we got dressed, we got here on time, we sat down, we found a seat because we believe that it is true. The problem is that most Christians believe that the miraculous power of the resurrection was for the people back then in the story, not true for us today. And that's understandable because you look at the resurrection story, and it was miraculous, and it wasn't just miraculous for Jesus, like miracles happened for everybody that surrounded the story. Peter and Mary and the disciples. I mean, there were miracle moments everywhere. And then we just kind of look at our own life and we're like, eh, that's not my life. Like, I don't think there's a whole lot of us that we walked in this morning and we're like, man, I'm living a resurrection life. Like, miracles are happening everywhere. Let me just tell you about it. I think there's a lot of us that walked in today and we're just trying to get through. Like we're just trying to get by, we're just trying to make it, we're just trying to make sense of this kind of ordinary life that we're living. Like some of you said this last week, and you just hit your nine to five job and you're answering emails and you're like, why am I doing this beside a paycheck? Families with young kids, man. You're just trying to get the kids in the car, get them here today, and you're like, man, everybody pile in, and somebody's like, I can't find my shoes. You're like, you can never find your shoes. You know, it's just that's life. And it's life that just feels ordinary, it feels unmiraculous, it just feels like that's for them, and it's not for me. And if we're not careful, we start buying into that lie that God does the miraculous, he just doesn't do it for me. And man, if that's you, if you've ever had that thought, and I think most of us have, then I'm glad you're here today because here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna look at a story in Luke chapter 24. It's it's associated with the resurrection, but it's it's not the usual story that we talk about on Easter Sunday. Because it's not about the usual suspects, not about Peter, it's not about Mary, not about the disciples. It involves Jesus, but it's just two ordinary guys. I want you to get to Luke chapter 24. If you don't have your Bibles, don't worry, the scriptures will be on the screen. Let me give you a little context. It's Sunday afternoon. So this story that Luke records, it happens Sunday afternoon. So if you go all the way back to Friday, what happens on Friday? Jesus is crucified. Like there is a betrayal, there's an arrest, there's a conviction, there's a sentence, and then Jesus is put on the cross. He is brutally beaten, then executed, taken off the cross, placed in a tomb on Friday night. That's day one. Saturday, not a whole lot happens. Not a whole lot is recorded that happens on Saturday. It's just the disciples fearful, gathered in an upper room. We just know that they're just kind of worried about what happens next to us. And then Sunday happens. And Sunday morning, we know that from the gospel accounts that the stone was thrown away, the women went to the tomb, the angels appeared to the women. Like there was even an appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, but then the angels say to the women, go back and tell the disciples, and then a couple of them run, but nobody sees Jesus yet. Like none of the disciples have seen Jesus. And then this story happens Sunday afternoon, resurrection Sunday, two guys just walking on the road away from Jerusalem to a town called Emmaus, just having a conversation. Two ordinary guys having a conversation about all the events that have happened over the last three days, trying to make sense of it. And what happens? Jesus walks up and starts walking with them. If you look at verse 13, here's what it says. It says, Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus. It's about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they walked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him. Stop right there because you have to understand something really important about this account. Luke is the only one, like there's four gospel writers. He is the only gospel writer that records this account. Matthew doesn't do it, Mark doesn't do it, John doesn't do it, it's only Luke. And what he writes about is just two ordinary guys. And here's how ordinary they are. We're gonna find out two verses later that one of them, his name is Cleopus. You know that Cleopus, this is the only time he's mentioned in the entirety of Scripture? Like there's no other moment. And we don't even know why Jesus chose these guys to show up with. So there's Cleopus, and then there's the other guy. Like, it doesn't even give us his name. He just, he does the other guy. I mean, two ordinary guys. And while Luca's writing, or Luke's writing, he's saying, okay, Jesus could have showed up anywhere. He could have showed up to emperors, he could have showed up to kings, he should have could have showed up to really important, he could have showed up to the disciples. He hasn't even done that at this moment. He just shows up to two ordinary guys that are having a conversation on an ordinary road, walking to an ordinary little town. Do you know that Emmaus is not even a town that they found? Emmaus actually means hot springs, so they they think they know a little bit of where it is. There's some hot springs around Jerusalem, about seven miles away. But I think that's the point. Like if you only think that Jesus shows up in big, miraculous moments to really important, really spiritual people, you're gonna miss what he does in your everyday, ordinary life. Like I think what Luke is trying to say to you and me, who sit there and look at our life and say it's a mess, it's ordinary, it man, the power is for them, it's not for us. What he's trying to say is, is man, you can be close to Jesus and still miss Jesus. Or, as Jesus said all throughout Scripture to his disciples and to others, he said, He said, Don't worry, because I will be with you always, even to the end of the age. Meaning, Jesus is with us every single moment of every single day. And the problem is, is most of us, because we believe it was for them and not for us, is we're missing him. Let me just ask you this. What are you missing out on? Because you're missing Jesus. You're missing the fact that he wants to be with you. He is with you in the middle of your everyday, ordinary life. Here's what the story says as it goes on. So they're walking along, Jesus comes up with them, and it says, He asked them, What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast, and one of them, named Cleopus, asked him, Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem that does not know these things that have happened here these days? I love Jesus' response. Verse 19, he says, What things? What things? Like he doesn't know. I mean, Jesus walks up to these guys and he knows everything that's happened. He knows exactly what they're talking about. And Jesus, I think this is actually comical, and I think it makes Jesus so relatable. Because don't you just kind of look at scripture sometime and you just see Jesus kind of, it's almost like this mission to the cross, and we see his compassion that he has upon people, but man, scripture goes so fast that half the time you just don't see his personality. And all of a sudden, Jesus walks up, and I think this is a comical moment. Like it's almost like Jesus has gone through all the emotion of the cross, and he even says in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus was there and it was before the cross, and he gets down on his knees and he cries out to God and he says, If there's any other way, it says he was so emotionally distraught that he sweat drops of blood, and then he goes through a betrayal, a conviction, beatings, and then a crucifixion and death, gets buried. But this is after the resurrection. It's almost like Jesus, like, okay, all that's done, guys. This is a new day, and Jesus is on one. And he walks up to these guys and he's like, What are you talking about? And Cleopus looks at him, and Cleopus is still in his grief, right? He's dealing with the grief of like all the things that have gone wrong. Like they were ready to give their life to this thing. They were a little off because they thought Jesus was going to be this political savior. He was gonna come in and save the Jews from Roman oppression, he was gonna lead a revolution, and the disciples would be his kind of right-hand guys, and maybe Cleopas and the other guy would get a spot too. And they're just like, man, let me tell you. And Jesus just says, He just says, What things? And Cleopus looks at him, he's like, dude, are you when's the last time you checked your news feed? Like, seriously, are you the only one that doesn't know what happened over the last three days? And if I'm Jesus, I would have been like, actually, Cleopas, I am the only one that really knows what happened. But he doesn't say that. He looks at him and he just says, What things? And then Cleopus, not knowing it's Jesus, begins to explain to Jesus what happened to Jesus. And here's what he says in verse 19. Jesus says, What things? And Cleopus says, About Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. You just see, like, Cleopas is, he's not doubting. He's not like off the map now, and like this is all done. He's like, Man, I just, I'm disappointed. Like, I don't get it. Here's who this person was. Verse 20 says, the chief priest and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all of that took place, and they knew that Jesus said some things about the third day, and there were some things that were rumored that happened, but they just nobody had seen him yet, and they're just struggling. Verse 22, he says, In addition, some of the women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but did not find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions, meaning Peter and John, went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn't see Jesus. And in their confusion, they begin to explain everything that had happened from their perspective. Like total confusion. Like Cleopas just is like, Jesus. He doesn't even know it's Jesus. He's like, hey guy. He's like, let me just tell you what happened. Like this whole thing that we believed in, that we thought was just gonna be extraordinary, has turned out to just be a colossal mess. Like a massive failure. Like what we thought was gonna be the revolutionary guy that was gonna lead everything. He's dead. Like dead, gone. And now there's some rumors about him, but nobody's confirmed anything, and we we just don't even know how to make sense of this mess. And then they say it. Verse 21. We had hoped. And I think that's a really familiar line. I know it's for me, I'm sure it is for many of you. It's one of those lines that says, Man, my story just did not turn out the way I thought it would. It's one of those lines that just carries confusion of like, I don't know why. It carries disappointment of just like, I thought it was gonna be different, but this is how things have landed, and man, I am disappointed, can't believe it turned out this way. What's that moment for you? Now, if I go back about 30 years, 30 years, a little over 30 years, I was an 18-year-old graduating high school. You can see a picture of me when I was that age. That's me. That's seven, I love that 77 Camaro. I actually liked having hair. Maybe not that hair, but I did. But man, I was that kid, man. I had that kid, I was that kid like anybody. I was 18 years old. I was heading off to college, going to Ozark Christian College back in Missouri. I was studying for ministry, I was playing basketball, that's what I was super excited about. And I had the story written. Like I knew how the story was gonna go, and I was like, man, I'm gonna take the world by storm and we're gonna just make some things out. This is gonna be great. Went off to college, just having the time of my life, dorm life, having fun, was playing basketball. Week before my basketball season started, I got poked in the eye, like not just poked in the eye, it was like massive and uh retinal detachment, um, mass, you know, major surgery, and it took my basketball season away. And really, when I mean, just like young kids and just like people, we're we're usually focused on something we think is really important. That's what I was focused on that was really important. So when that was taken away, my focus just went away. Like I wasn't playing ball, and so I my grades, I was keeping my grades up so I could play ball. My grades just went in the tank. I spent way too little time studying, and then I spent way too much time hanging out late and you know, partying the dorms and having a good time with the guys and doing whatever and being stupid, and like a lot of people do. And I just started watching life just kind of I wasn't realizing it, but it was spiraling downhill. Get around to the spring and uh met a girl, we got uh we started dating, and it went really fast. And it was one of those really fast and really unhealthy, like we just kind of was kind of codependent, all the stuff, and we started pulling away. I started pulling away from my buddies, I started pulling away from friends, I was pulling away from school stuff that I was doing. I had parents come, my parents were coming and saying, Sean, what's going on? You doing all right, and what and I just was pushing away. I had buddies that were just coming saying, Sean, what are you? I had professors that were like, Sean, you gotta get back on track. And man, I just pushed away and I was like, I'm gonna do what I wanna do. Pushed everybody away. Went on for a little while and um got engaged. Guys, I actually sold that 77 Camaro to buy an engagement ring. Bad idea. All the guys, that's all you're gonna remember this message. Sold that, got engaged, um, super unhealthy on both sides. And it came down to it all the kind of the big moment, it came down to 48 hours before we were supposed to get married. 48 hours before we had a family dinner. It was uh my aunt and uncle's house, family had come in, I had people that flew in from out of town. We're having a family dinner, and it didn't go great. It wasn't, but after that, there was an argument that ensued. And it was rough, and we knew it was rough, things had been rough, and it was just messy, and it was like this argument happened, it was not good. And I found myself 11:30 at night, my parents pull up, they're picking me up from where I was. I jump in the backseat of the car, and I am just emotionally distraught. Like just, they can't see it. I'm trying to, or I'm I think they can't see it. I'm trying to hold that back. My parents see it written all over my face, and my dad looks at me and he's like, What's going on? And I just begin to share. I just begin to share what's going on, and just what a mess I've made of things. And my dad finally at the end of that, and there's tears coming down my face, he looks at me and he says, Are you sure you want to do this? And inside in that moment, I'm like, I know I've made a mess, and I'm gonna make a mess of this thing either one way or the other. And I look at him and I just broke and I said, No. I said, No, I don't want to do this, but I've made a mess of this and I don't know what to do. And my parents looked at me like, yeah, you've made a mess of this, but we gotcha. And guys, there are some messes in life that are really private that people don't hear about until you know later, but this was very public. Like when you have to get up the next morning and you have to go over and you tell somebody and you guys decide that that marriage isn't happening, and that that wedding ceremony is not happening, and then you gotta call all the people who are coming and say, hey, turn the car around or cancel the ticket, and then you gotta call on the cake and the guys, it was a mess. I had made a mess of my life, and I found myself leaving school, going back. I was broke financially, I'm living at home, and I'm just sitting there, just ashamed, demoralized, and I'm going, This is not how I thought the story was gonna turn out. You ever had that moment? You ever had that moment where you're like, like, what's your moment that's that is that, like, this is a mess, I'm disappointed, this is not how the story was gonna turn out, should have turned out, I thought it was gonna turn out moment. This is not what I hoped for. Like, I think there's a lot of us that walked in today that are just going, yeah, I've had that moment. Or you walk in today and you're like, no, I'm in, I'm in the middle of that moment. Like, I'm in the middle of a marriage. It's not what I hoped it was gonna be. Or maybe I'm in, I was in a marriage that didn't end up being what I hoped it would be. Or maybe you're saying, man, I had hoped that I could control this addiction and I haven't. Or I hoped that I would have a better relationship with my kids and I don't, or I hoped I would have a better relationship with my parents and it's not. Or I hoped I would find somebody, or I hoped we would have kids, or I hoped I would be further along in life, or I hoped my career was gonna be different. Man, what's that we had hoped moment for you? Here's the issue in life for us. Like if we only look at, like Cleopas and this other guy, they're only looking at this part of the story, what they can see, kind of a human perspective of the story. When you only look at life from that portion of the story, you will always be disappointed. Because the reality is, is we live within a mess. If you just look around you in this world, man, this world is a mess and it bleeds on us, and we bleed on each other. And there are moments where other people have created messes that just bleed on us, or we've created messes that bleed on each other. And if you only see Life from this perspective, you will always be disappointed. And here's why. Like if you're a movie fan, you'll get this. This would be like when you only see life from a human perspective, kind of the horizontal perspective of life, what you can see, what you can control. It's like only watching half a movie and not finishing. It's like only watching part one and not finishing part two. How many Marvel fans out there? We got any Marvel fans? Here's what this would be like. Yeah. Here's what this would be like. This would be like watching Infinity War and then stopping right there and never watching Endgame. That's what life is like. Like when we look just from our perspective, it would be like watching Infinity War, and you're just watching the whole portion where it comes down to the end and Thanos has got the stones and he puts them on, and all of a sudden he snaps his fingers and like half the world goes away. Half the Avengers go away. Like Spider-Man just kind of melts into oblivion. Right? Now, if you're a DC fan, it would be like this. Actually, there are no DC fans, so that doesn't exist. Seriously, it would be like watching that movie and just going, well, that's a disappointment. That's the end, that's all there is. But never watching the rest of the story. And you see, the reality is, is when we look at life from the human perspective, from all this, just the human perspective, the problem is, is we never see what God's able to do with the rest of the story. What Easter does is Easter introduces a vertical perspective to the story. Like an upper story that begins to intersect with the lower story. And when that happens, it changes everything. And that's what happens in this story. Cleopatra and this guy are walking along, and what does Jesus do? Jesus shows up and he says, Man, let me give you the rest of the story. Like, let me help you connect the dots. In verse 25, it says he said to them, How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all the prophets had spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things to enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. Man, this is when it starts to come into focus. Like this is when these guys start to hear and start to understand Jesus just says, Let me give you a bigger perspective. You're only seeing one half of the story. You're only seeing this part of the story. Let me show you this part of the story. And it begins with Moses, and then he goes to the prophets, and then he goes through the whole story, and he goes to the virgin birth, and then he goes to the cross and then the resurrection and then explains everything about himself. Wouldn't you love to hear that Easter message? And he's like, let me connect the dots for you. Because guys, you are missing it. You're only looking at what you can see, what you can control. But there's a whole nother layer of this story happening, and what Jesus does is he shares the rest of the gospel with them, the good news that is the cross. And what he says is he says, in your perspective, that was a mess. But let me show you the eternal heavenly perspective of the good news of the gospel. This is not a mess. This was the plan. Like the cross was not a mess. It was not a colossal failure. This was the plan where God, Jesus, the eternal God, the Almighty God, connected, came down from heaven, came into our humanity, and just changed everything. You see, the problem is in our life, when we only look at this life as a human horizontal perspective of this life, what we do is we're all looking for a gospel. The gospel, what is it defined as? The gospel is that word means good news. It's the idea of just any kind of good news that brings some hope to us. Everybody's looking for a gospel, and here's what we do: we look for it in relationships, we look for it in success, we look for it in all these things. It's exactly what I did. Basketball, a sport, hanging out in dorm life and hanging with the guys, then a girl, a relationship, all these things. And what we do in life is we hop from thing to thing to thing to try to find just a little bit of good news in the midst of our ordinary life that changes things, gives us a little hope. And we just bounce from thing to thing. It's kind of like when the new iPhone comes out. What does everybody do? I gotta get that new iPhone.

unknown 26:34

Right?

SPEAKER_00 26:35

So they go to the Apple store, they order it online, they get it, and they're like, this is great, and it makes you feel better until it doesn't, and then you need a new phone. And we look at our life, and what's the last thing you've tried? To bring a little bit of hope. And what Jesus explains to these guys is the good news of the gospel, his gospel. That we have an infinitely loving creator that created us to do life with us, to love us, to care for us, to give us the abundant life, as Jesus calls it in the New Testament. Not just an ordinary life, not an unmiraculous life, but an abundant life. Like beyond what we could ever imagine. And we mess that up. We made a mess of our story, we've made a mess of other people's stories, we've chosen sin. We chose to do things that go against God, and it separated us from God. But it says, the gospel says, that he loved us so much that he sent his son. He sent Jesus to become like us, to be fully God and fully man, but to live in the middle of our mess, but then to take care of the mess at the cross. To go to the cross and stretch out his arms. You realize you were loved that much that Jesus would go and stretch out his arms and be nailed to a tree to be humiliated in front of all of mankind so that he could take the penalty for your sin and put it to death. And then rise again on the third day to say, if resurrection power is true for me, if I am who I say I am, then I want you to know that I love you so much that I want to give that to you. I want to transform your ordinary life and begin to bring beauty out of it. Here's the thing: if you never connect your story with God's story, you'll never see your story for all it could be. Like until you understand Jesus' story and the gospel story and connect his upper story with your lower story at the cross, you'll never be able to see the bigger, fuller picture of what God wants to do and the beauty he brings into your life. So you see what you begin to understand when you see both perspectives, when you start to put this together, you begin to see that God does his best work in the middle of the mess. He does his best work in the middle of the mess. That's the picture of the cross, and that's a picture of our lives. And I'm telling you, that was a picture of my life. Like I landed back home. Landed back home. I'm financially broke, I'm humiliated, I'm ashamed. I land back at my parents' house. My parents had moved homes. I didn't even have a room in this new home. Like I had a bed that was in my dad's office. And my parents had one requirement. They're like, you can live here, you can live here rent-free. Like, get back on your feet. We want to help you. We're there for you. I mean, they had helped me so much through that situation. We have one requirement that's you show up on Tuesday night to the young adult study that we host in our house. And I was like, no way. It's like I know some of those people. I'm ashamed of what happened. I do not, I'm not showing up on Tuesday night. And my dad was like, well, if you want to eat and you want to sleep, show up on Tuesday night. And I wanted to eat and I wanted to sleep. So I showed up on Tuesday night, and guys, I met the most authentic, incredible, kind, cool group of people that I'd ever met. They just brought me in, and man, it was one of the best years of my life. Like we spent every weekend together, we served together, we hung out together, we spent Tuesday nights together, Thursday nights, Friday nights, Saturday nights, Sunday night. I mean, it became a family, and that little group from 15 grew to 55 that year. And it was one of the coolest. I mean, it totally transformed my life, got me back on track, and showed me the purpose that God had for me in my life. A couple of weeks ago, I was actually at our Timpee campus at 7 o'clock on a Monday night. I was preaching to our young adults group that meets on, and there was like 60, 70 kids there, and I was looking at that deja vu moment. Like, this is that group. I would encourage you, if you're a young adult, you should be there. Because it's one of the most critical times in your life. And that group, they took me in and they just got me redirected. And then there were six of us that went back to school that year. Went back to that same school because I was gonna go back, I was gonna reclaim my reputation and try to get back on focus. And I went back to that school, and I'm telling you, man, God drastically transformed the direction of my life. And that led to my wife Jen and 28 years of marriage with her. Last night I look right over here and I see my four beautiful kids sitting there. And you just realize that, man, God does it. When we don't think he's working, in the messes that we create, God's doing some of his best work. He doesn't create that mess, but what he wants to do is rescue you out of that mess. And he wants you to see that, man, if you will open your eyes and see a full picture of what he wants to do in your life, that when you connect your life with the power of Jesus at the cross and his resurrection power, he can bring beauty out of any mess. If you'll just open your eyes to see it and walk with him and connect your life with him. I want you to see what happens next in this passage. It's incredible. Jesus gets to Emmaus and they've walked it seven miles. I mean, they walked all afternoon into the evening, it's dinner time, and he acts like he's gonna, he's still on one. He acts like he's gonna walk past Emmaus. And these guys are mesmerized. They're just like, no, Jesus, stay with us. And so he stays with them and he begins to just to eat with them and share with them. And look at what happens at dinner at verse 30. It says, When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, and he broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us. Guys, you ever had one of those moments where everything comes into focus and you see it clearly? That's this moment. Like that's this moment where they begin to see God's story and they begin to see, see their story. And I wonder, I don't know if I have this right, but it says that he broke the bread and he reached across the table to hand it to them, and that's when they recognized him. Do you think that that's when they recognized when they saw the nail prints in his arms? And they looked and they realized that he is. That's him. He's alive, he is the resurrected savior. He wasn't a political leader, he is a resurrected savior. And what they did is it says that they looked at each other and said, We're not our hearts burning within us? And they got up, it's dark, and they ran the seven miles. It says, ran the seven miles back to Jerusalem, bust in the upper room, looking at disciples were like, He's alive. The disciples were like, We know, we saw him too. And the story radically changes for every one of them from there on out. And guys, there's some of you sitting here today, and I know, I know, that some of you are feeling it in your heart right now. That you just feel God moving in your heart, and you're saying, I know, I don't know how I know, but I know this is true. Guys, this is not a moment just to feel something. This is a moment to decide something. And if you're a person who's sitting here and saying, Yeah, I've kind of veered off the path, or I've not been around, or I've distanced myself, man, this is a moment to re-engage and start walking with Jesus because that's where they saw Jesus. This is a moment to come back to your faith, to reconnect with him and be back in church and be back with people and start saying, God, well, my story's a little bit of a mess, and I've tried. Would you help me rewrite my story? And if you're a person who's sitting here today saying, I've never actually made a commitment to Jesus, this is not a moment to walk out of here just seeing life the way you've always seen it. This is a moment from going, I know about Jesus, to saying, I want to trust my life to Jesus. This is a moment where you decide to give your life to him. Paul says in Romans chapter 10, verse 9 and 10, he says this, he says, if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified. It is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Scripture says, anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame. I want to give you that opportunity right now. It is as simple as a simple prayer. If you want to accept Jesus as your Savior today, here's what I want to encourage all of us to do across our campus is just bow your heads. This is a moment not just to feel something, it's a moment to decide something. I want everybody just give the privacy to people who want to make that decision. Everybody bow your heads, close your eyes. If you want to accept Jesus right now, as Paul said, you just need to declare with your mouth to pray and say, Jesus, I believe. And if you want to do that, just pray this prayer after me. Just repeat this. Jesus, I'm done trying to live life my way. Jesus, I believe you died for me. Jesus, I believe you rose again. And I know all of that's because you love me. Jesus, today I accept you as my Savior and Lord. Forgive me, change me, lead me. Today I give you my life. I want you to keep your eyes closed and give people the privacy. If you, if you prayed that prayer, would you just at all our campuses, would you just raise your hand? It's awesome. I'm sure at each campus, I see people in every single section that raise their hand. Here's what I want to encourage you to do. You're gonna open your eyes right now and just put your hands down, open your eyes. Let's just celebrate with those people. Jesus says, all who fall in the name of the Lord will be saved. But understand, seeing Jesus clear is not, it doesn't just happen in a prayer. Man, we declare our faith in Jesus and He forgives our sins, gives us the gift of His Spirit. But He does say, man, the more you walk with me, the more you will see me, the more you will see me in your story, the more you will see your story clearly. The beautiful picture that is supposed to be. So here's what I want to ask you to do. If you prayed that prayer at each of our campuses, man, there are no strings attached. We're not, here's what I ask you to do. Pull out your phone right now and text yes. Just text yes. If you said yes to Jesus, text yes to the number on your screen. Now, we're not gonna spam you, not gonna send you a million texts, we're not gonna ask you for your information, not gonna send you a bunch of emails. Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna send you a link to a document that just says, here's your next steps. Because we want you to walk with Jesus and see. And if we can be helpful in any way, but you do that right now, you pull out your phone, just text yes to the number on your screen, and we want to help. Here's what happened at the end of that dinner. They broke bread. They broke bread, and that's when they saw Jesus, and that's what I want us to close with today. Would you just pull out your communion? And I want you to take the bread. Let's do it all together. Take the bread right now, recognizing that it represents Jesus' body. It was given on the cross for you. Then you turn that over, and I want you to take the juice and just remember that that juice represents his blood that was shed for you to wash your sins whiter than snow. We're gonna stand. I want everybody just to stand after you take your community and let's stand together. We're gonna sing. I'm gonna pray for you. But here's what I want us to walk away with today is you remember that if Jesus can make beauty out of the cross, man, he can make beauty out of your story. Let's pray. Father, as we prepare to sing right now, just remind us. Show us how much you love us. Father, we know that your blood that was shed on the cross, it paid the penalty for our sins. And as we sing about that today, Father, we just want to just declare, pray, and acknowledge that if we will see you, you will change our story. Father, I pray that that will be true for those of people who have accepted you, those people who are walking with you, and Father, for those who are just a little skeptical, Father, I pray that they will they'll reconnect and just see what you can do in their life. God, thank you for bringing beauty out of the mess. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.