all of you and every campus to lift up
Ahmadi Thrace to a risen Savior
Kingdom
this Sam
if y’all don’t quit I’ll just keep
Rocking
I ain’t ashamed of my roots I came out
on those shouting searches I came out of
one movie they’ve brought up and young
many of you don’t know what I’m talking
about and I’m giving away a secret but I
came from churches like where they
shouted so bad that sometimes they’d
knock holes in the sheetrock in fact if
I know what I’m talking about
I wish we would around here every once
in a while tell somebody I’m gonna
praise the Lord if he’ll sit in that
seat I’m gonna praise the Lord turn 2 to
3 people say it’s time to braise the
long
you can be seated that’s amazing that’s
amazing well welcome all of you here
today all of you and the overflows all
of you down in Spartanburg and Buford
Midtown’s having the first morning
service this morning in that awesome
coming is going to double services and
Orange County is meeting in the Bren
Center that seats over 6000 and they’re
packing that out out in California and
here we are in G Ville and in the Lord
blessing us I mean if you’d like to hear
just a little bit more of that I know
you would and it’s not fair to whoever
arranges the services to let them sing
and then me have to preach behind that I
don’t appreciate that it’s kind of act
anti-climatic from this point forward
but God is in this house and it’s pretty
exciting and it’s alive
and I’m believing God today to touch you
in a powerful powerful way if you have
your Bibles I do want to read the
miraculous story of Easter that’s found
in the New Testament Luke 24 you can
look on the screens now on the first day
of the week very early in the morning
certain other women came with them to
the tomb bringing the spices which they
had prepared turned to somebody and say
so that’s the Spice Girls and they found
the stone and rolled and it was rolled
away from the tomb and they went in
listened and did not find the body of
the Lord Jesus and it happened as they
were greatly perplexed about this that
behold two men stood by them in shining
garments which tells me it wasn’t men it
was angels then as they were afraid and
bound their faces to the earth they said
to them what a great question why do you
seek the living among the dead he is not
here
but he is risen remember how he spoke to
you when he was at still in Galilee
saying the Son of Man must be delivered
in the hands of sinful men and be
crucified and on the third day rise
again and then they remembered his words
it’s a powerful powerful thing to
understand what happened at Easter a
great great preacher who has gone on to
be with the Lord left a legacy of two
remarkable sermons one of the sermons
that became quite famous from dr. SM
Lockridge he was an African American
pastor and preacher so leader in the
civil rights movement March with dr.
King but even more notable than that was
his ability to preach Jesus from the
pulpit he had a famous sermon that was
called that’s my king and it became
world-famous and whether you realize it
or not you’ve heard it you’ve heard bits
and pieces of it there’s not a preacher
in the nation that hasn’t taken some of
it at some point and if they if they
haven’t they’re just young and haven’t
discovered it yet but it’s a remarkable
remarkable sermon then his second sermon
that became famous that sometimes
someone will say something and it
becomes something that lives for
generations and that’s what’s happened
with his second sermon it was called
it’s Friday but Sunday’s coming you know
if you get a title like that you don’t
have to preach good if you can just come
up with a good title it’s Friday but
Sunday’s coming it’s three minutes of a
sermon but it’s three minutes of truth
that are profound and I want you to hear
them from the lips of this great
preacher and let the message settle in
and I’ll come right back check this out
it’s Friday Jesus is praying Peters are
sleeping
Judas is betraying but Sunday’s coming
it’s Friday
pilots struggling the counselor is
conspiring
the crowd is vilified they don’t even
know that Sunday’s coming it’s Friday
the disciples are running like sheep
without a shepherd
Mary’s crime Peter is denying but they
don’t know that Sunday’s are coming it’s
Friday
the Romans beat my Jesus they go him in
Scala they crown him with those but they
don’t know that Sunday’s comes
it’s Friday see Jesus walking to count
his blood dripping his bodies stumble
and his spirits burden but you see it’s
only five Sundays come
it’s fine the world’s winning people
arson and evils grinning it’s right the
soldiers nail my saviors hands to the
cross they nailed my saviors feet to the
cross and then they raised him up next
to criminals it’s Friday but let me tell
you something
Sunday’s come it’s right the disciples
are questioning what has happened to
their king and the Pharisees are
celebrating that they’re scheming has
been achieved but they don’t know it’s
only five Sundays
it’s fine he’s hanging on the cross
feeling forsaken by his father left
alone and done can’t nobody save them
all its fries but Sunday’s come it’s
right the earth trembles the sky grows
dark my king yields his spirit
it’s Friday hope in love death has one
sin has come and Satan’s justa laughing
it’s fried Jesus is buried a soldier
stands guard and a rock is rolled into
place but it’s fried
it is only fried sunday is a cup
[Music]
that’s better so I want to preach part
two of his sermon and it’s simply this
he was right he was preaching Calvary
was Friday but Sunday’s coming but I
want to preach good news today that is
Sunday it’s Easter Sunday and Jesus is
coming just like he said he would he’s
coming again there is no Easter Sunday
without horrible Friday’s the sky grew
dark the earth began to tremble what a
horrible horrible thing that was heard
as Jesus uttered from the cross my
father my father why have you forsaken
me the veil was torn in the temple Jesus
hanging on the cross heaven is weeping
hell is rejoicing the perfect man Jesus
Christ is dying a hideous death on the
cross Satan thought he had destroyed
Jesus on Friday Satan thought that the
battle was won for hell on Friday but
three days later a mighty angel was
dispatched from heaven he rolled the
stone away and Jesus Christ stepped out
of that tomb when he died on the cross
he was a silent lamb but when he rose
from the dead and stepped out of that
tomb he was no longer a silent lamb he
was the Lion of the tribe of Judah and
he was roaring with resurrection power
and today the message is he is not here
in that tomb he is risen
it’s Sunday it’s Easter Sunday and our
Savior has humiliated hail our Savior
has outwitted Satan he has overpowered
the grave he has caused sin to bow its
knee he has defeated the strategies of
hell
you and against your family he has taken
your sin and your shame and he is
pronounced that you are forgiven and you
are a child of the Most High God it’s
Sunday and Jesus is coming again do you
believe that say man somebody if you
want to really understand this day what
atheists don’t understand what Christian
critics don’t understand is you can’t
just go to the story of Christmas and
stop of a baby being born you can’t just
go to the cross and realize that he died
for our sins and stop
you don’t understand Christianity if you
do that you can’t even come to Easter
and say because there’s an empty tomb
then the program of God is complete
because that is not the end you have to
go to the back of the book and when I go
to the back of the book it tells me that
it’s Easter Sunday
but it’s not over he has conquered the
grave he has conquered sin but one day
he’s coming back again the trumpet is
going to sound and ain’t no grave gonna
hold our bodies down the trumpet is
gonna sound there is going to come a
change in the moment in the twinkling of
an eye we’ll be caught up together to
meet the Lord in the air it’s Sunday but
Jesus is coming I love that line that s
in Lockridge said he said the world is
winning people are sinning and evil is
grinning but I want to say is Sunday
they may be grinning and winning and
sinning but Jesus is coming and we
better be ready we better get our hearts
ready we better get our families ready
because he’s coming soon he’s coming
soon you can’t take half the gospel and
it doesn’t in at the tune he’s coming
soon I’ve read the back of the book and
his Sunday
but Jesus is coming I want you to know
that we don’t celebrate a resurrection
only that happened 2,000 years ago but
we celebrate another resurrection that
is coming for those who have died in the
Lord your mothers your father’s your
children your sons your husband’s your
wives people that you love people that
you miss people that you think about
people that your heart was warned while
she was singing a few moments ago ain’t
no grave gonna hold and you couldn’t
help but see before me my father’s faced
flash this gone on to be with the Lord
my brother’s face came before me and
other ones my grandfather people that
I’ve loved and people in this church
that that I preached their funeral but
one of these days the trumpet is going
to sound and we’re going to a land where
there is no more death no more crying no
more sign no more pain for the former
things will be passed away and I want to
remind Satan that one angel is going to
chain him and throw him in a bottomless
pit and ultimately he’s going to burn in
the lake of fire that I’ll never go to
because Jesus is alive it’s Sunday but
Jesus is coming
give him a praise if you believe it at
every campus give him a mighty praise
right now hallelujah
Calvary was a tremendous temporary
victory for Satan and all of Hell it’s a
true story about the war between England
and France Napoleon had invaded England
and everyone knew in that nation of
England that if they didn’t make a stand
and stop Napoleon at a place called
Waterloo the whole nation would fall
they would all go into captivity so the
Battle of Waterloo became critical the
British captain was named Wellington he
was overall the Armed Forces
would fight Napoleon in his powerful
army they had never been defeated back
then they had signalman that would stand
on mountains and they would send signals
from mountaintop to mountaintop from
signalman one to another until they
reached the City of London there in
London thousands upon thousands of
people back in those days the only form
of communication they they erected a big
billboard as massive as they could see
so that everybody in the streets of
London could look up and see how the
battle had ended at Waterloo they knew
if Wellington had been defeated at
Waterloo then the battle was over and
they were going to become slaves to
Napoleon and his armies so they waited
watching and the signal started coming
from the battlefield how the battle had
gone and just as it would happen this is
a true story
the fog started setting in as if you’ve
ever been there to London it can come
suddenly out of nowhere and as the man
was riding on the Billboard with red
paint he wrote these words and then the
fog came and it covered but all they
could see was two words that he wrote
Wellington defeated Wellington defeated
the people of London their hearts sank
in fear many began to tremble and cry
and some ran to their homes and lock the
doors and others stood in the streets
dumbfounded heartbroken realising that
their nation would never be the same
Wellington defeated was the message but
as some were still standing in the
streets the fog began to lift some time
later and someone happened to look up
and they realized that the message had
been obscured in its entirety one word
was missing it said Wellington defeated
and the word missing was Napoleon nobody
knew it didn’t look like it and now son
the Weeping turned into rejoicing
suddenly the people realize that that
Napoleon didn’t defeat our general but
our general defeated Napoleon and they
were rejoicing and they were stansson in
the streets two thousand years ago on
the cross when they put Jesus crammed
that crown of thorns on his head and
stabbed him in his side and pierced his
heart up through his abdomen ripped his
back to pieces and it looked like that
it was over inhale put up a big
billboard Jesus Christ defeated and all
of hell was laughing in all of heaven
was weeping but three days later at the
dawning of a new day suddenly the fog
lifted and the message was not when
Jesus came out of that tomb Jesus Christ
defeated it was Jesus Christ defeated
Satan he defeated hell he defeated the
grave and he defeated your sin and shame
somebody give the Lord a praise I’m glad
that Calvary was the devil’s Waterloo I
[Applause]
heard a story the other day already
actually about a man who was in a hurry
walking home and he decided that he
needed to take a shortcut and it was
very dark this night and he had to go
through a cemetery and he had to walk
through it with no lights and he was
walking and I guess he was a little
freaked out and he was looking around
hearing strange sounds and he walked and
fell right into a grave that had been
fresh freshly dug they were probably
gonna put a coffin in there the next
morning and when he hit the bottom of
that grave he jumped and he called and
he did everything he could to try to get
out but it was too deep and he could not
get out after trying for about 30
minutes and sweating and he finally just
said in
dark corner of that grave that’s so dark
that you couldn’t even hardly see your
hand in front of you he said in the
shadow of that corner of that grave and
just said to himself I’ll wait for the
Sun to come up and somebody will come
find me tomorrow while he was sitting in
that shadow along comes another man and
he falls into the same grave on the
other end and he naturally and quickly
starts grabbing and clawing and
scratching trying to get his trying to
lift himself out of that grave and he
can’t get out he tries and tries and
tries and finally after about ten
minutes he just sits down in the side of
the grave and he thinks to himself well
I can’t get out and suddenly while he’s
sitting there he hears from the other
end of that dark grave a voice and the
voice said you can’t get out of here but
he did when they put Jesus in that tomb
all the demons in Hell and death itself
said you can’t get out of here but I
promise you he did he did it for me he
did it for you he paid the price he
conquered death hell and the grave tell
somebody besides you he did it it’s
Sunday but Jesus is coming I told them
at the Good Friday service the word
Easter I felt needed to carry more
significance and so I just did a simple
little outline that I want to close with
this morning I want you if you’ve got a
pen or a piece of paper to write this
down if you’ve got a phone I want you to
make a note and I want you to remember
what I’m about to share with you over
the next six minutes but there there are
the letters of the word Easter write
them down EAS ter write it like that and
the
stands for Emmanuel the message of
Easter is God is with us
the message of Easter is Jesus came and
he was God in skin if you want to know
what God is like don’t go to the Old
Testament and read how the kind of a it
almost looks like God was dealing with
sin in the Old Testament there there it
was brutal I for I it you had to pay the
price of sin had to be paid but if you
really want to know what God is like
Jesus said if you’ve seen me you’ve seen
the father you want to know how God
looks at you they look at Jesus how did
he treat people he was never mad at
anybody
he was never angry at anybody except
Pharisees and hypocrites but to people
who were hurting to people who were
called in sin to people who had failed
miserably to people who had messed up he
would throw his arms around them the
woman caught in the act of adultery the
woman living with married five times and
living with number six he didn’t condemn
her he said neither do i condemn you go
and sin no more he said I give you
living water that’s who Jesus is if you
want to know how God loves look at Jesus
if you want to know how God thinks look
at Jesus you would not be afraid of
Jesus you some of you are afraid of God
you don’t understand who he is you think
he’s like Zeus the Greek god the
pictures of Zeus he has one finger
pointing and he has with the other arm a
lightning bolt and he’s just waiting on
you to mess up and that’s some of many
of you have an image of God like that
and he’s waiting on you to mess up and
when he does he’s gonna get you real
good that is not the god of the New
Testament the god of the New Testament
whose name is Jesus says I love you I
took your sins away I paid the price all
I want to do when I catch you is love
you and bless you and raise you and
forgive you and restore you and be with
you wherever you go
Emmanuel God is with us and then there
is the a which stands for atonement the
word atone that means at one meant that
we were separated from God but
on that day of atonement Jesus on the
cross made us one at one met with God he
said no longer will I be separated from
you from your because of your sin but my
blood cleanses you my blood pronounces
you guiltless my blood says that your
past is forgiven and Easter stands for
Emmanuel God is with me
Easter stands for I have atonement my
sins cannot I don’t have to listen to
the haunting of the ghost of guilt there
is no condemnation because of the
atonement blood of Jesus Christ and then
thirdly there’s the Emmanuel and there’s
there’s the atonement but then there is
the thank you sunrise sunrise sunrise
you saw my said you spelled it wrong
Noah didn’t we had a sunrise service
this morning out there and had one at
Lake Lanier and hundreds of people were
gathering it was beautiful but I’m not
talking about that kind of sunrise issue
and I’m talking about Esso in the
message of Easter is that God doesn’t
just forgive you that God has called you
his son his daughter and it’s a call for
the sons of God the daughters of God to
as many as believed on him to them gave
he the power to become not the slaves of
God not even the servants of God he
doesn’t see you as that he sees you as a
son as a daughter and he says I want you
to rise to sonship I want you to rise to
a place of reigning in life I want you
to be blessed I want you to succeed I
want you to have destiny and dreams and
purpose connected to your life and I
want you to rise so that sonship rise to
that place where I have called you to be
you are a daughter of the Most High God
you are a son of the Most High God and
the S stands for sonship then I want you
to see that the T stands for truth
there’s a powerful verse in numbers they
can throw it up and it says is God a man
that he can lie numbers 14 and our 23
says God is not a man that he can lie
nor the son of man listen to this that
he should repent listen now has God ever
made you a promise
listen to what he says he says has he
said it and he will not do it I know the
Lord told me that he had somebody for me
but I’ve been waiting a long time and I
hadn’t met him yet
as the Lord said it and will he not do
it has the Lord spoken it and he will
not make it good did he not say I know
the plans I have for you plans of good
and not evil to give you hope and give
you a future and will he say it and not
make it good the answer is no he cannot
lie he is true and your God has told you
the truth he’s got a plan for your life
and the message of Easter is he’s given
you truth then lastly I want you to see
this the e stands for eternal life oh
I’m so thankful that if I die in the
Lord today I’m ready to go I’m in a suit
and everything praise the Lord
just put me in there I look good today
got a town I don’t always look like this
but you know what the shell the old body
will be empty but my spirit to be absent
from the body is to be present with the
Lord
[Applause]
you understand if you’ve lost a loved
one they are presently with the Lord we
have eternal life we don’t fear death I
love what what Karen said I don’t know
if you heard it but when she was saying
that that line over and over she said in
the middle of it cancer cancer Caitlin
can’t keep me down disease can’t keep me
down nothing can separate me from the
love of God and eternal life that has
been given through Jesus Christ boy when
you get that revelation why would you
turn him down
how would you wait why would you put it
off to another day or no when I get
older lady you can have eternal life and
lastly the our sound stands for
resurrection that because he was
resurrected and came out of the grave
you have resurrection power you have the
power of the Holy Spirit right now that
says there ain’t no grave the grave of
alcoholism the grave of drug addiction
the grave of shame the grave of failure
the grave of self-hatred eating
disorders whatever it is that the enemy
hasn’t has has put you in and said this
is going to be your death this is going
to be your ending there is no grave that
can hold you if Jesus is Lord of your
life because he gives you resurrection
power today
[Applause]
all you have to do is receiving and all
the campuses I have the greatest job in
the world I get to tell you that God
loves you that God is for you and he
wants to get in you he wants to
transform your life and all he’s waiting
on is an invite if you just open the
door if you just respond if you just let
your stinking pride be put under your
foot today say you know what is Sunday
it’s Easter Sunday but Jesus is coming I
better get ready I better get my family
ready I better get my whole life needs
to be in one direction moving toward
heaven moving toward eternity where will
you spend eternity where will you spend
eternity I know in whom I have believed
because he live would you stand up at
every campus I can face to my everybody
that ever can’t be seeing it like a big
choir because
that’s beautiful all fear is gone all
fears
[Music]
because I know
I know he holds my future my life is
worth the living just because ceiling
would you just lift your hands and sing
it be
Oh
I can place
oh yes
he’s Emmanuel
me
[Music]
[Music]
many of you’ve been to Jerusalem with us
on the Israel trips they’re amazing but
I want you to pretend for a moment
you’re standing at an empty tent then
sings my soul my
[Music]
huh singing church great
worship you
[Music]
my god I see to me
[Music]
singing
[Music]
see
precious safe
[Music]
when I think about what you
[Music]
[Music]
every head bound at every campus
[Music]
if you would like to say today I need
that Savior I need all of those miracles
contained in the word Easter I needed in
my heart I’ve tried to change I can’t
change me I need that in my life I
needed to come in me and live I need
Jesus Sunday but Jesus is coming get
ready get ready
if you’re listening to me the day is not
by accident I really feel a constraining
now many many need to make a decision
for Jesus Christ there backsliders need
to come running not to a god who’s angry
at you but one who’s ready to wrap his
arms around it’s been waiting you want
Jesus to be Lord of your life and you
don’t know you’re right with God and
you’d like to have that peace
at forgiveness you know that she I want
to embarrass you
I won’t humiliate you I’m gonna pray for
you but he never comes where he’s not
invited and when you raise your hand in
a moment that is the invitation and his
Spirit will come running
pastor pray for me I need to get right
with God today that you boldly lift your
hand high and unashamed it’s powerful
it’s powerful
raise those hands all over the building
in the overflows wherever you’re sitting
at every campus just lift them high and
keep them up just a moment hands up
hands up up in the balcony I’m looking
in the balcony now look in every campus
thank you for raising that hand you can
put it down
Jesus saw every one of those hands and
now I’m gonna ask this congregation in
unison out loud to pray prayer that is a
biblical prayer God said I’ll back it up
I’m the truth and I’ll do what I said I
would do if you’ll pray this everybody
in this room just lift your hand toward
heaven say these words Lord Jesus I
believe in you
I believe you were born of a virgin I
believe you died on the cross
I believe the blood you shed
was precious blood and it cleanses my
sins and I believe on the third day you
did it
you came out of the grave and because
you came out I can come out I receive a
new life I receive a new beginning I
receive the power to be called a child
of God
I am NOT a slave to fear I am a child of
God and I am free I’m born to live free
from this day forward I am your property
Lord and my life is yours give the
biggest praise of the day right now that
you
are you ready for the blessing here
comes
every one of you that prayed that prayer
there’s a little area back there called
next steps go back there we’ve got free
material we’re gonna pour into your life
and I’d love to baptize you in water in
this church on this stage it is a
miraculous thing that happens when you
do that are you ready for the blessing
lift your hand up right now and now may
the Lord bless you and keep you may the
Lord make his face shine on you may the
Lord be gracious unto you may he lift up
his countenance upon you and give you
peace in Jesus mighty name you are
blessed we love you we’ll see you
Wednesday night next Sunday don’t miss
it for anything have a great week
everybody god bless you
[Music]
relieve it here today I want to remind
you that if you have not yet picked up
your ticket for forward student
conference you can do that by going to
forward conference dot o-r-g get your
ticket today but another opportunity
that is available to you is to get a
ticket for someone else you can serve as
a sponsor all you have to do is go
through the same registration process as
you would for your own ticket but you
can sponsor a student that may not be
able to get there by themselves so again
that’s forward conference dot o-r-g
register today be a sponsor for someone
as well and we know that god is going to
change a thousands of lives at Forward
Conference 2019 but thank you so much
for joining us here today at Easter
Sunday here at free chapel and we’ll see
you next Sunday morning
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]