Finding Jesus

Can you think of a time in your life when you expected someone or something to be in a specific place, but it wasn’t? Remember the intense feeling of chaos that arose within you when you realized that this particular person or thing was missing. During the message, Finding Jesus, I shared an event that took place in my life that I will never forget. A time when my wife, Mandy, and I felt an overwhelming sense of chaos. It came as the result of realizing people we greatly loved and valued were not where we expected them to be! They were gone... Missing... Completely disappeared! (You can listen to that story here.)

One Sunday morning, 2,000 years ago, similar chaos was taking place at a tomb in Jerusalem because something… someone… was MISSING!

Matthew 28:6 NKJV (The angel said), “Jesus is not here; for He is risen”

Jesus was not there! The tomb was empty!

While we celebrate this truth today, the initial reality created intense turmoil for Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John as they tried to investigate where Jesus' body was and who had taken it. At that moment, they couldn’t fully understand the happenings (Ref. John 20:9). Amidst the chaos, angelic beings became manifest and spoke directly to the disciple shedding tears and possessing the most significant brokenness; Mary Magdalene. With point-blank directness, the angel informed her, Jesus wasn’t in the tomb because he had RISEN.

Matthew 28:6 NKJV (The angel said), “Jesus is not here; for He is risen”

Shortly after this moment, on the first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene discovers she will not find Jesus. Instead, He found her (Ref. John 20). And, the same will be true for each of us! Consider then, all along... despite the disciples’ chaos... Jesus had been there -- not in the grave, but the adjacent garden! Jesus overcame death, Hell, and the grave! Then, he hung out in a garden to bring man's journey from Genesis full circle. And, as best relayed theologically by Len Sweet and Frank Viola (in a recap of their mutual study of Jesus’ life), “Jesus was not a ghost or a delusion of the disciples’ minds. He was a resurrected human being.”

For 40 days following his exit from the tomb, Jesus stayed on earth with his disciples; allowing them to test and prove his Resurrection. This period set in motion radical transformation in his followers. Next, born out of resurrected power, this richly diverse group would go on to be known as the early Church and turn the world upside down! The Gospel-recorded change from who they were to who they became, thus proving the effect of Jesus’ Resurrection upon their lives was incomprehensible. They grew bold and on fire with a passion for sharing about Jesus. To them, death had lost its sting!

Likewise, we serve a resurrected Jesus today!

The Jesus that conquered and took the keys to death, Hell, and the grave!

He is not THERE. He is RISEN. He is HERE!

And… if invited, Jesus can be IN you.

All you have to do is decide that you believe in Jesus' Cross & Resurrection, and allow him ownership of your heart. Despite any level of chaos or personal loss, call on his name one time, and discover you’re not searching for Him... Jesus has been with you all along. He’s just awaiting the invitation to step into your life fully with His resurrection power!

Romans 8:11 NCV God raised Jesus from the dead, and if God’s Spirit is living in you, he will also give life to your bodies that die. God is the One who raised Christ from the dead, and he will give life through his Spirit that lives IN you.

Check out this message by Pastor Eric as he walks us through the events that took place on Easter Sunday thousands of years ago and why these events are just as relevant to us today!

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION and GUIDE | MESSAGE NOTES

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The Most Important Word in the Bible

Love is the most used and abused sentiment in the world. It has healed many hearts and broken many others. Interestingly, love is the key theme of all 66 of the Bible's books. The very definition of God comes in the context of love, and the greatest commandments in the Bible are based on love.

Because God is LOVE, He desires for His love to be duplicated throughout the earth. That is why, as children of God, we have been commanded to LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE. However, Jesus gives us a warning in Matthew 24:12, when sin and lawlessness abound, the love of many will wax cold.

In the Book of Revelation, we learn from the Church of Ephesus what happens when our love waxes cold. While Jesus affirmed the Church of Ephesus for their perseverance, He had one complaint against them. Amid persevering, they lost the most important thing; their proper expression of love for God and others.

The solution was to repent and redo the works associated with their first love. And, Jesus firmly told them that failure to facilitate this act of turning back would result in removal of their lampstand.

Like the Church of Ephesus, Jesus wants us to persevere, but he also wants us to love people. Have you considered if there are places where you have persevered, but your love for God and others has grown cold along the way? Do you need to turn back and revisit the place where you invested in your first love?

Check out this message from Pastor Eric to learn the definition of a church's lampstand and how to know if you are in a spiritual danger zone.

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

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WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE | MESSAGE NOTES | TRANSCRIPT

King of Hearts

According to Jesus, the greatest commandment is for us to love God with all of our heart. Not a portion. Not a section. Not in a calculated or marginalized way. But, rather, to love God with our WHOLE heart.

In 1 Samuel 13:14, we find a king who is no longer honoring this commandment. He has drifted. The response from God is swift, and it is delivered by a man named Samuel, a righteous judge in the land, "But now, your kingdom shall not continue, Saul, (because) the Lord, has instead sought for himself a man after his own heart... because you Saul have not done what the Lord commanded."

Here's the recap. One king is being taken out of his position. Another king is being put into position simply because of what was going on in these two hearts. One man, Saul, has drifted from God in his heart. The other man, David, desires one thing above all else, the heart of God.

• The Bible makes it clear that Saul was tall and handsome. The Bible also says that David was handsome.
  

• The Bible relays to us that Saul was a man who could prophesy and sing songs unto the Lord. Likewise, Scripture teaches us that David could also decree things on behalf of God and sing songs of worship.
  

• Samuel's writings further relay that Saul was a skilled warrior; he could defeat thousands of soldiers in battle. And Samuel also lets us know that David was an exceptional warrior who could also take-down thousands of enemies in battle.

Do you notice any similarities? With these comparisons in mind, it becomes insightful to consider that the only thing David had that Saul didn't have was a right spirit.

Never underestimate where a clean heart and a right spirit can take you!

Like most of us, David did have a moment in his life where he failed significantly. His moral miscoming happened after he had ascended to Saul's former position, the throne of Israel. But in his prayer following the failure, you can sense David was aware that it was a right spirit that had been most valuable to him in his life. He knew his heart had drifted from God, and he wanted to make sure that things were reconciled as soon as possible. Hear his prayer, perhaps, even borrow it, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

Maybe you've made a mistake. You've made a failure. You realize that at some point in your life, God was elevating you, God was blessing you, and then a mistake has caused you a lot of problems. The mistake caused you grief. Now, it's weighing on your mind. It's giving you sleepless nights. But the Lord wants to remind you, He is one prayer away if you will mean it with ALL of your heart. He will give you a clean heart and renew a right spirit.

On Sunday, I shared more on this subject in my message, "King of Hearts". You can check it out here at this link.