Grace Haven Church

0:00 And so the readings for today are found in Luke, and I'm going to read Luke 24 verse 1 to 12.

0:07 It says, On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

0:17 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

0:25 While they were wandering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

0:33 In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead?

0:43 He is not here, he has risen.

0:47 Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee?

0:51 The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.

0:59 Then they remembered his words.

1:02 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others.

1:08 It was Mary Madeline, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.

1:16 But they did not believe the because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

1:23 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.

1:27 Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

1:51 Thinking they saw a ghost, he said to them, Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?

1:59 Look at my hands and my feet.

2:01 It is me.

2:03 Touch me and see.

2:05 A ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.

2:09 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet, and while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, Do you have anything here to eat?

2:21 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

2:26 He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you.

2:31 Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and Psalms.

2:38 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures.

2:44 He told them, This is what is written.

2:47 The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.

2:59 You are witnesses of these things.

3:02 I am going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.

3:14 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

3:19 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

3:23 Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

3:37 Thank you so much.

3:40 I don't know if you had a chance to read Luke's Gospel, but obviously this is one of the parts of his Gospel that speaks profoundly of the resurrection of Jesus.

3:54 You know, Christmas, we all know what Christmas represents.

3:58 It's the announcement.

3:59 It's the birth of a child.

4:01 But for me, hearing a child being born really isn't intimidating.

4:05 It's wonderful.

4:06 Most times, I guess, you know, Oh, wow.

4:10 But the announcement of a king being born, obviously, well, who's threatened by that?

4:17 But maybe a king of a kingdom that maybe feels threatened by the announcement of that.

4:23 But generally, we're not threatened by the announcement of the birth of a child.

4:26 But when it comes to Easter,

4:29 when it comes to this particular representation of Christianity,

4:35 a grown man, the age of 33, innocent,

4:40 done no wrong, did nothing but good, healed,

4:47 loved, forgave, included, fed, brought miracles into people's lives, spoke with a tongue that reassured people,

4:57 bound, untied the lie of the enemy on people's lives, brought freedom and liberty and hope.

5:05 And there's so much richness.

5:09 And yet he's now hanging as a criminal on a Roman crucifixion, a Roman cross designed to be brutal, slow and painful.

5:21 And so we have this story in front of us that represents into or speaks into the Easter message.

5:30 We have a group of people that were following him, and they were beaten up.

5:35 They were discouraged.

5:40 Everything they thought Jesus represented was now taken from them.

5:46 It was like, this guy's the real deal.

5:50 And yet, why did you do that to him?

5:53 And there's so much conflict and there's so much confusion.

6:00 And so they gathered together in this room and the text in Luke's Gospel 24 says that he turns up

6:14 and he shows his hands and his feet.

6:21 He shows them the scar or the wound where the Roman soldier had put a spear to check that he had died.

6:32 All the details we get in the Gospels,

6:37 and he says, hey, look, look at my hands.

6:39 They're freaked out.

6:43 They're like, hang on we saw you dead.

6:45 We saw the nails go in.

6:47 We saw from a distance.

6:48 We saw the thorns going into your head.

6:52 We saw you getting dragged through the streets.

6:54 We saw the pain.

6:56 We saw the suffering.

6:57 We couldn't stand it.

7:02 Mary's crying.

7:04 Joanna's crying.

7:05 We're all crying.

7:08 They're traumatised.

7:11 And now he's turned up in the midst of their own agony.

7:16 And the reason I'm saying that for you, and the reason I think Luke's Gospel captures this for us, is because in this time, in this moment, maybe there are things in this story that we can identify in our own lives.

7:30 Maybe life has not gone the way you wanted it to go.

7:33 Maybe you were planning to start a family and it has not worked out the way you wanted it to work out.

7:40 Maybe you've prayed for a loved one, a family member, a mother, a father, an omer, an opah, and they haven't made it.

7:48 And maybe you've once were full of faith and now you're like, oh, I used to be like that.

7:54 Once you used to be at the front, singing, hands in the air, almost dancing.

8:00 And today you've had too many setbacks.

8:04 Maybe you were in a relationship for three years and it didn't turn out into anything wonderful.

8:09 In fact, it's brought pain, heartache and despair.

8:12 And you're wondering, what am I going to do?

8:14 How can I do this again?

8:15 And it is tough when you break up in a relationship and you're with someone for a period of time, maybe a long time, and it doesn't materialise into something that maybe you had expectations for.

8:26 Whatever it is, we can go for a job and be rejected.

8:29 We can be in a good job and wrongly, we can be accused of something that's not true.

8:35 Whatever direction we look, we can find people experiencing pain, suffering, setbacks and disappointments.

8:45 This is not just true for the first century followers of Jesus.

8:48 This is very true for the 21st century followers of Jesus.

8:54 And how are we going to handle that?

8:56 Are we going to get knocked down and stay down or are we going to get back up?

9:01 How are we going to recover from setbacks and disappointments, despair, suffering, pain, tragedy?

9:09 No one wants to talk about these things, but the fact is we can't ignore these things.

9:14 How do we handle a good God when we see crazy things happening in the world?

9:19 And so I want you to consider on this Easter Sunday, looking at the text, being so close to the truth of what this and ask yourself and consider what does the hands and feet and the wounds of Jesus mean to you?

9:36 They could see him.

9:40 They knew he was dead, but now they're like, oh my goodness, you're alive.

9:46 You see, this is why it's so amazing because who comes back to life?

9:53 Now, I've never had the privilege of praying for a dead person and seeing come back to life, but I've heard stories that people have done it.

9:59 I have had the privilege of praying for a four year old girl in the Philippines who was who wasn't born blind, but she lost her sight because of poor nutrition and her mum and dad were holding her.

10:09 And I remember just literally extending my hand to pray for her.

10:12 And within seconds, she's and her parents are absolutely in amazement.

10:18 And I had a translator to explain to me what had happened.

10:21 And I watched God open her eyes.

10:25 I've seen God do miraculous things, but what I am asking you to understand is he turns up in this room and he can turn up in your room and he can turn up in your life.

10:37 If he turned up in their life, he can turn up in your life.

10:40 If he can breathe life into them, he can breathe life into each of us.

10:47 And so there's things that Jesus does in this moment that we all need to consider.

10:51 Number one, he gives them a reason to believe.

10:57 Look at my hands.

10:59 Look at my feet.

11:02 Look at my scars.

11:04 It's real.

11:06 The cross was real.

11:08 The pain was real.

11:10 The blood was real.

11:12 The agony was real.

11:15 The thorns on my head to mock me as a king was real.

11:21 But here I am three days later.

11:25 Death, where is your sting?

11:27 Grave, where is your hold?

11:29 Death, enemy, you have been defeated and you will never be able to hold a child of God ever again.

11:39 Life forevermore.

11:42 Life is but a moment, but eternity is eternity.

11:47 We live in the moment.

11:48 We live in such a short time on Earth.

11:52 And yes, we're familiar with tragedy, setbacks, but God promises that this is not it.

11:58 If you want justice, he's the one that will ultimately bring justice for all.

12:06 The innocent suffering, the vulnerable being exploited.

12:14 And we've got to remember Jesus comes into our story and he comes into the good news and he brings good news and he says, listen to me, I will be the one that goes first.

12:27 And he lays down his life and he says, father, everything that's wrong with them, put it on me and everything that's right with me, put it on them.

12:39 This is the good news.

12:42 And it's available to everyone.

12:46 And so he does something profound.

12:48 He gives them a reason to believe.

12:51 I know you're down right now.

12:52 I know you're out right now.

12:54 I know you're discouraged right now, but look at me.

12:58 It happened to me, but I'm back.

13:00 I'm not just back.

13:02 I'm back in strength.

13:04 I'm back in victory.

13:06 I'm back with things accomplished.

13:08 I've come back with everything that now is available to you.

13:13 I had to do it.

13:14 Why?

13:14 Because you could not do it yourself.

13:16 I did it for you because I love you.

13:18 I've forgiven you.

13:19 I've accepted you.

13:20 Now, come on, let's go.

13:23 This is what this weekend represents.

13:27 And so he gives them a reason to believe and he does something else.

13:31 He gives them revelation.

13:33 If you look at the text again, he opens their mind.

13:36 He opens their heart to the scriptures.

13:39 These weren't rabbis.

13:40 They weren't religious teachers.

13:43 They weren't theologians or academics.

13:44 They were fishermen.

13:45 They were hardcore men.

13:49 They'd seen him do amazing things, and yet they're now in this vulnerable position where they're like, what the heck?

13:56 Have you ever found yourself doing something and you're like, where's this gone?

14:03 Or maybe you've been studying.

14:04 I know sometimes we all study and we're like,

14:08 Joyce is telling me you need to get in there.

14:10 I'm like, I know I need to get in there, but leave me alone.

14:12 I'll get in there on my own time.

14:14 I have to psych myself up sometimes to jump in for studies.

14:17 Anyone know what I'm talking about?

14:19 Some people call it pro-ask, pro-pro -pro.

14:22 Yeah, whatever.

14:23 I'm just like, it's called psyching myself up.

14:26 All I'm trying to tell you is, how many times have you done something and you felt like what was the point?

14:32 Sometimes we do things and it doesn't seem to materialise.

14:35 It doesn't seem to have fruit.

14:37 And I just need you to understand you're not unique in this situation.

14:41 This is something that's not just you've gone through.

14:44 Many have gone through.

14:46 And Jesus knows this.

14:48 So he gives them something that I believe is important for all of us.

14:51 First of all, he's believable.

14:53 That's why he said, look at my hands, look at my feet, look at the scars of my life.

14:57 He's believable.

14:59 And let me tell you, all of us, when we start to follow Jesus, we've got to learn to become believable.

15:07 Just because you've got scars on doesn't mean you're not believable.

15:10 In fact, it proves the opposite.

15:12 You're probably more believable.

15:15 A life with no problems, a life that just seems to work, a life that just seems to be perfect is not believable.

15:26 It's when things become real.

15:28 It's where we become vulnerable.

15:30 And you know what?

15:31 I don't feel like I measure up, but you know what?

15:33 I'm going to get up anyway and have a go.

15:36 I know when people get up here to speak, young people or anyone who gets up to speak and they share from their own story.

15:42 And I watch all of you lean in and they borrow the courage that you bring.

15:46 It's almost like they can do it because you're telling them you can do it.

15:51 It's not just fakeism or, you know, hypism.

15:55 It's better than that.

15:55 It's encouragement.

15:58 And we need to encourage each other as we walk this journey out.

16:03 And this is what good news is.

16:05 You're not alone.

16:07 You don't have to suffer in silence.

16:09 And what I believe Jesus is doing here for them and what I believe he's doing for us today is he is telling us, hey, I'm believable and I believe you're going to be believable.

16:23 Your story is real, but it's an unfinished story.

16:27 Your pain might be in your story, but your whole life is not pain.

16:33 Brokenness, setbacks, mistakes, things that were not right, but that's not your whole story.

16:39 You've got an overcoming story.

16:41 Can anyone say amen today?

16:42 That's the good news.

16:44 Your story is unfinished.

16:49 And he can take back what the enemy has stolen and he can repair, he can restore, and he can bring back to wholeness.

16:59 Maybe you've gone too far sexually in areas of your life, but I'm telling you he can renew something fresh back in you where there's a sense of purity again.

17:07 Only God can do that.

17:09 You can't buy these things back.

17:11 Once it's gone, it's gone, but you watch what God can do.

17:14 He can renew you like you're brand new in Jesus' name.

17:18 If you know what I'm talking about, sometimes you can't undo what you've seen.

17:22 Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

17:24 Once you've seen it, you've seen it.

17:25 But we have got a generation of young children who are overexposed.

17:30 They have seen too much.

17:31 And instead of helping them, it is defiling them.

17:34 It is diminishing them.

17:35 And we need the grace of God and we need the mercy of God to be poured back in to a generation.

17:42 If we don't protect them, then who does?

17:45 I'm not talking about ideologies and doctrines that actually hurt us.

17:49 I'm talking about truth that liberates us.

17:51 I'm talking about the good news.

17:53 I'm talking about a Jesus that knows what it's like to hurt and to suffer.

18:01 And so we've got to remind ourselves when he showed his hands and his feet, he does something else that's amazing.

18:08 He says, have you got any food?

18:11 I'm like, who does that?

18:14 I love this part of the text.

18:17 Broiled fish.

18:19 I say sardines.

18:21 Imagine Jesus right in front of you.

18:23 He's just showing his hands and his feet, his side, his scars, his bruises.

18:26 He's like, has he got any fish?

18:29 And he just cracks open a tin of sardines and he cracks the salt and pepper and puts a bit of olive oil in there and then squeezes a lime juice all in there and starts to eat it.

18:42 I wonder if he ate with his mouth open or his mouth closed.

18:47 Well, if Mary was there, she would have said, close your mouth.

18:52 But what I am saying is, you can just imagine it's real, it's human.

18:57 He's eating with them.

19:03 You can imagine a bit of sardine on his beard just there, you know, like Jesus, Jesus.

19:09 But what I am trying to say to you is that don't be too far from the text.

19:15 Don't just ignore it and think you're going to get through.

19:18 You're not.

19:19 You're going to have to get faith from the word.

19:22 You're going to have to read it for yourself.

19:24 And what he does is he gives them revelation.

19:26 And I want you to see this because it wasn't enough to give them a reason to believe.

19:31 They needed revelation.

19:33 They needed to know that he was in every book of the Bible.

19:37 There were still books yet to be written, letters still to be written, but he basically gave them revelation.

19:42 He said in the scriptures, this is me.

19:45 And I want to read it to you because I think sometimes we miss this, but we need revelation.

19:51 We need to be believable and we need to give revelation, but we need to have revelation to give it.

19:57 And the third thing that he does for them, he gives them spirit.

20:01 In John's gospel, he breathes into them and they receive the Holy Spirit.

20:06 In Luke's gospel, don't go anywhere.

20:09 Don't leave Jerusalem till you get what the Father.

20:12 It's not conflicting different things.

20:15 It's just different perspectives have been shared through the gospels.

20:18 This makes it more believable, not less.

20:20 But what I need you to understand is he walks them through every book of the Bible and he points to all of it and he helps them get revelation.

20:30 In Genesis, he's the seed of woman.

20:33 In Exodus, he's the Passover lamb.

20:37 In Leviticus, he's our high priest.

20:42 In Numbers, the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night.

20:49 In Deuteronomy, the prophet likened unto Moses.

20:53 Joshua, the captain of our salvation.

20:55 Judges, our judge and lawgiver.

20:59 Ruth, our kinsman and redeemer.

21:04 First and second Samuel, the trusted prophet.

21:06 First and second Kings.

21:08 First and second Chronicles, our reigning king.

21:12 Ezra, the faithful scribe.

21:14 Nehemiah, the builder of broken walls of human lives.

21:18 Esther, our Mordecai.

21:20 Job, our everlasting redeemer.

21:23 The Psalms and the prophets, our shepherd throughout life.

21:27 Ecclesiastes, our wisdom.

21:29 Who is this Jesus?

21:31 They needed to know.

21:34 They wanted to know.

21:36 The Song of Solomon, he is our lover and bridegroom.

21:39 In Isaiah, he is the Prince of In Jeremiah, the righteous branch.

21:43 In Lamentations, he is the weeping prophet.

21:46 Ezekiel, he is the wonderful four-faced man.

21:49 In Daniel, he is the fourth man in the fiery furnace.

21:53 Hosea, the faithful husband.

21:54 In Joel, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

21:57 Amos, he is our burden carrier.

22:01 Obadiah, the mighty one who saves.

22:03 Jonah, he is the foreign missionary.

22:05 Micah, the messenger with beautiful feet.

22:10 Nahum, the avenger of God's elect.

22:13 Habakkuk, he is God's evangelist.

22:16 Zephaniah, he is our saviour.

22:18 Haggai, the restorer of God's lost heritage.

22:23 Zechariah, the fountain open to the house of David.

22:26 Malachi, Malachi.

22:28 However you want to say it, he is the son of righteousness with healing in his wings.

22:33 Who is this Jesus?

22:36 Who is it that they needed to know who he was and who he is and who they could be?

22:40 In Matthew, he's the Messiah.

22:43 In Mark, he's the wonder worker.

22:46 In Luke, he is the son of man.

22:48 In John, he's the son of God.

22:50 In Acts, he's the leader of the church.

22:52 In 1 and 2 Corinthians, he is our sanctifier.

22:56 In Galatians, he is the redeemer from the In Ephesians, he is the armour of God.

23:02 In Philippians, the God who supplies all our needs.

23:07 Colossians, the visible image of the invisible God.

23:10 1 and 2 Thessalonians, he is our soon coming king.

23:14 1 and 2 Timothy, he is our mediator between God and man.

23:18 In Titus, he is our faithful pastor.

23:21 Philemon, the friend that the great physician.

23:31 1 and 2 Peter, the chief shepherd.

23:34 In 1, 2 and 3 John, he is love.

23:41 In Jude, he is the Lord coming with 10 ,000 angels.

23:47 In Revelation, he is the king of king and the Lord of laws.

23:58 Who is this Jesus that stands amongst us, helping us to believe?

24:05 Who is this Jesus that is opening our eyes and our hearts to the breadth and depth of all that God is?

24:14 He is Abel's sacrifice.

24:16 He is Noah's rainbow.

24:18 He is Abraham's ram.

24:19 He is Isaac's wells.

24:21 He is Jacob's scepter.

24:23 He is Moses' rod.

24:24 He is Joshua's son and moon that stands still.

24:28 He is Elijah's mantle.

24:30 He is Elijah's staff.

24:32 He is Gideon's fleece.

24:34 He is Samuel's horn of oil.

24:37 He is David's slingshot.

24:39 He is Hecaziah's sundial.

24:42 He is Daniel's visions.

24:44 He is Amos' burden.

24:46 Who is this Jesus that stands in front of us, resurrected and alive forevermore?

24:54 He is Peter's shadow.

24:56 He is Stephen's signs and wonders.

24:58 He is Paul's handkey chiefs.

25:00 He is John's pearly white city.

25:03 He is the father to the fatherless.

25:05 He is a husband to the widow.

25:07 He is the bright and morning star.

25:09 The lily of the valley.

25:11 The rose of Sharon.

25:12 He is the honey and the rock.

25:15 He is the brightness of God's glory.

25:18 He is the expressed image of the person of God.

25:24 He is the prince of peace.

25:26 He is the king of glory.

25:28 He is the oil and the wine.

25:29 The fairest of 10 ,000.

25:31 The rock in the storms of life.

25:33 The pearl of great price.

25:35 The cup that runs over.

25:37 The rod and staff.

25:38 The comfort and guide me.

25:40 He is the good and faithful shepherd.

25:42 He is the abundant life.

25:44 He's the everlasting truth.

25:45 He is the one and he is the way and he said he is coming again.

25:50 He is Jesus of Nazareth.

25:52 He is the king.

25:53 He is the Lord.

25:55 He is my Saviour.

25:56 He is your Saviour.

25:57 He is my God.

25:59 He is your God and he is here today and he is here forevermore.

26:04 There's not one burden he can carry.

26:06 There's not one sin he can forgive.

26:08 There's not one thing he can heal and there's not thing he can restore.

26:12 He can lift your life.

26:14 He can bring it back.

26:15 He can lift you.

26:16 He can hold you.

26:18 Surround you.

26:19 Strengthen you.

26:20 He will pour in his Spirit and he will give you a new Spirit.

26:28 New oil and new wine.

26:33 And if you want to see better days, my friend, today is the day of salvation because this Jesus that turned up in that room is the same Jesus that will turn up in this room.

26:46 After their being with Jesus, they left with joy and they went to Jerusalem.

26:54 Jerusalem represented persecution, suffering, hostility, angry people doing angry things, violent people doing violent things.

27:09 But they left the room that they had been in with Jesus and instead of leaving discouraged, they left with joy.

27:21 And I'm telling you right now, whoever you are, why don't you exchange the oil of sadness, the garments of sadness and turn them up to the oil of gladness.

27:34 You can shake off whatever it is that's been holding you back.

27:38 You can lay it down.

27:39 You can give it away because when you pick up life with Jesus, you're walking to your God-given future, leaving the past behind.

27:47 Your sins are forgiven.

27:48 You are accepted by God.

27:50 You are loved by God.

27:51 You're included by our Heavenly Father and Jesus has gone before you and he's the one that is beckoning you.

27:58 He's the one that is He's the one that is forgiving you.

28:01 He's the one that is making you acceptable to the Father.

28:05 Father, accept them.

28:06 They're with me.

28:07 Father, accept them.

28:09 They're with me.

28:10 Father, they belong to me.

28:12 Accept them, Father.

28:13 You are being accepted.

28:15 Would you start living from that acceptance?

28:17 Would you start living from that love?

28:20 Because that's what Easter's about.

28:22 Amen.

28:23 It puts a new fire in your heart.

28:25 It puts wind back into your sails and it lets you know you're a child of God and you have come alive for the purpose that God has called you to.

28:41 He's given you revelation and now it's allowing yourself to be filled up again with the Spirit of God.

28:49 Be filled in Jesus' name.

28:50 In a few weeks from now, in the next month of May, we're going to be celebrating Pentecostal Sunday.

28:56 It represents the outpouring of the Spirit to the church and let me tell you, if they needed it in the first century, how much more do we need in the 21st century?

29:07 God is alive, my friend.

29:09 God is alive and he's alive in you and he's alive in me and if he can do it for them, he can do it for us.

29:16 If he can do it for them, he can do it for you.

29:19 If he can do it for me, he can do it for all of us in Jesus' name.

29:23 Do you believe that why don't you stand at your feet, why don't you sing this together and declare there's a new day, there's a new wind of the Spirit, there's a new sense of momentum for your life moving forward in Jesus' name.

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