April 7, 2024

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Good morning, everyone.

 

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Welcome to the Wise County Cowboy Church. Oh look, Quinta’s gonna come do announcements, awesome. No, come on.

 

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Good morning everybody.

 

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I’m going to do a few little announcements and then we’re going to watch a video real quick.

 

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So remember on Wednesday nights at six o’clock is our Bible study. And that is a really, really neat time. And anybody that’s been to it and just keeps going, they really enjoy it. There’s new people that’ll come and go, I’ve never been to a Bible study like this. I’ve learned more from this. But usually we just pick a subject and we all just kind of go on our own and read about it.

 

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and then share what we’ve read. But here lately, Gator’s been making us a little Bible study guide, and we’ve been going through those, and they’re really awesome. And it’s just a good time of fellowship. And you will learn a lot. Also, on May 4, there’s the men’s breakfast. And today is the third.

 

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event of the buckle series and that starts at two thirty outside at that arena and uh… connie preston is going to turn how old twenty twenty nine plenty nine on april fifteenth and amy gosh we got lots of people and april seventh today is mike and helen’s anniversary anniversary

 

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So anyways, I’m gonna have Miranda start this video and if somebody can get the lights at the back, I want y’all to watch this. It lasts six minutes, but it’s worth it. If you’ll just pay attention, it’s really cool.

 

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is Jesus obsessively dangerously undeniably Jesus the vision is an army of young people you see bones I see an army they are free from materialism they offer nine to five little prisons they could eat

 

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day.

 

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to the nations, they need no passport. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free, yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying. What’s the vision? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes, it makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

 

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from every secret motive every private conversation it loves people away from their suicide leaps their Satan games this is an army that will lay down its life for the cause a million times a day its soldiers choose to lose that they might one day win the great well done of faithful sons and daughters

 

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And this is the stunt.

 

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Thanks for watching!

 

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is breathing this.

 

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..

 

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Thanks for watching!

 

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On the outside, on the outside, they got me.

 

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I took the chair with blood and sweat and many tears with tears

 

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Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

 

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Wasn’t that cool? The youth really needs to hear that, because I’ve been talking to Rick and Jeff about this and a few other people. I don’t know if it has to do with the way things are getting in the world, that the worse they get, the more

 

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inside me and I know this has got to be happening to other people, the more I feel this welling up of strength and just to resolve a determination to do what God wants me to do, to bring people to Christ. And I was listening to an old Rod Parsley video last week and it was from 1988 and

 

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When I was younger, you know, I graduated in 86. So I remember hearing him and thinking, that dude is nuts. And now I listen to him and I’m like, man, that was the best sermon I’ve heard in a long time. If you haven’t heard any of his sermons, go back and listen to him. He was talking about a remnant of people. That’s what this is talking about. But it needs to be mostly a remnant of young people.

 

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And I think there’s going to be some, like I’ve said, Davis has it in him. I see it all over him. There’s got to, if you feel this in you, this, like, I describe it like this, like I feel something pulling me from my chest forward. I feel something that’s calling me to a higher level. And we need that. Also in that sermon of

 

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Rod Parsley, he talked about how 98% of born-again Christians will never lead not one soul to Christ, not one soul, 98%. So that is a remnant of people if only 2% are doing it. He also said that if 3% of the United States would actually go to church, that every church in the United States would be full to overflowing.

 

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with three percent of the population. And that is staggering. You know, our life here on this earth is just a vapor compared to eternity. And if you’re going to heaven, you’re going to spend an eternity in peace and love and safety. You know, praising God, living, living.

 

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with Jesus and having a good life, but if you go to hell, you’re tormented for eternity. And the people around you that you love, you don’t want that to happen to them. So times are getting short. Everybody knows that. Everybody can feel it. You know, now is the time to start standing up for Jesus and standing up for the people that we love and bringing them to church and asking them, do they know God? And I don’t…

 

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I don’t know if it was Jessica Taylor or you, but who bought these? Who got these? You? So, they put these out last Sunday all over the place, but since then, people have been using these to start conversations about Jesus with perfect strangers. We need more of these. I’ll order them if you’ll tell me how, but anyways, we’re going to get some. Like Rick said, he hands them to people and says, will you accept Jesus?

 

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Right? So, I mean, what a great little start of a conversation. Now, I handed one to my cousin on Easter and said, would you, do you need a little Jesus? And she put it in my shirt and said, I don’t need Jesus. And I said, everybody needs Jesus, hon, everybody. And she just turned around and walked off. So, you’re going to have those people like that, but then you’re going to have other people that aren’t like that.

 

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one of the other statistics I read this morning that out of millennials that don’t go to church, 75% of them would go to church if the church would do stuff to help other people and to speak about mental health and that’s a huge deal for everybody right now. Everybody feels like their mental health is staggering, you know, it’s not doing right.

 

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But there is a Redeemer, there is a Helper. The Bible’s full of help for people with mental health issues. You know, it’s our job, it’s the youth’s job to start bringing those people in here that need that help. We can have every seat in this building full. And I promise you, I pray for revival in this church and it’s gonna come and y’all are gonna help. So let’s get busy. Amen? Amen. All right, I’m gonna.

 

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I’m gonna pray real fast. Dear Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you today with praise and thanksgiving for every single good thing that you do for us. And we just thank you, Lord, for this beautiful day that you gave us to come praise your name and to listen to your word. And I pray, Lord, that every single person in here, that they get this message down deep inside of them and that a boldness start to build inside of them.

 

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a courage that they’ve never felt before to share your word and to share your gospel and to bring people to your kingdom. Give them an urgency, Lord, an urgency for you. Send your Holy Spirit here today, Lord, and let him fill this place and fill every heart and every mind with your peace and your goodness. And we just ask you, Lord, to bless Jeff’s message today. Give him the wisdom and the words to speak to the

 

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to these people and the people online. And we just praise your name, Lord, and we ask you to bless the rest of this day with the bull riding and every person here, every step they take. In Jesus’ mighty name, I pray, amen. Amen. And also I wanna say hi, Janet and Jerry. They asked me to give them a little wave, so there you go, Janet and Jerry. Love y’all.

 

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Who did not get a bulletin? Anybody?

 

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You hear my guitar?

 

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All right, I can’t hear it, so here we go.

 

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God is good all the time. He put a song of praise in this heart of mine. God is good all the time. Through the darkest nights, his light will shine. God is good. God is good all the time.

 

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God is good all the time. He put a song of praise in this heart of mine. God is good all the time. Through the darkest night, his light will shine. God is good, God is good all the time.

 

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You’re walking through the valley There are shadows all around Do not fear, he will guide you He will keep you safe and sound For he has promised

 

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Never leave you, oh forsake you, and this word is true. God is good all the time. He put a song of praise in this heart of mine. God is good all the time. Through the darkest nights, his light will shine. God is good.

 

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God is good all the time.

 

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We are sinners, so unworthy, still for us He chose to die. Filled us with His Holy Spirit, now we can stand and testify, that His love is everlasting and His mercy.

 

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They will never end. God is good all the time. He put a song of praise in this heart of mine. God is good all the time. Through the darkest nights, His light will shine. God is good.

 

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He is so good, God is good. Yeah, God is good all the time.

 

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Oh, last and said I won.

 

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has lost his only son.

 

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Brightest star no longer shines.

 

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Finally this world is mine Then he gathered all his demons near He said we have conquered love with fear

 

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Meanwhile, back at the cross, all is not lost. Forgiveness is bought with each drop of his blood. It falls to the ground, mercy abounds, as Mother Mary’s tears fall down.

 

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See her precious son pay the cost The devil said we’ll use their pride

 

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TAC, then FAY, and SHOOT

 

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with vanity.

 

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Answers are all they see

 

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and white and rich and poor to justify the holy war.

 

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Meanwhile, back at the cross, all is not lost. Forgiveness is bought with each drop of his blood. That falls to the ground, mercy abounds. As Mother Mary’s tears fall down, to see her precious son pay the cost.

 

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Just take a look around, turn on the evening news, the devil says there’s no way.

 

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is everywhere. Love cannot be found. It took me two thousand years, but it’s almost over now. Meanwhile, back at the cross, all is not lost. Forgiveness is bought with each drop of his blood that falls to the ground.

 

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mercy about as mother Mary’s tears fall down to see her precious son pay the cost at the cross.

 

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I’m doing my best to stay standing with y’all. I got some pretty bad sciatica, so hopefully I can stay standing for you.

 

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summer breeze and it ripples on the palm

 

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through the reams and the willow trees beyond. Daddy in his good hat, Mama in her Sunday dress. Watched with pride as I stood there and the water up to my chest. And the preacher spoke about the cleansing blood.

 

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I sank my toes into that North Texas mud And it was down with the old man, up with the new And raised to walk in the ways of light and truth

 

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Didn’t see no angels, just a few saints on the shore But I felt like a newborn baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord

 

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Oh, how sweet the sound There was glory in the air There was dinner on the ground

 

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My sins that were many were washed away and gone Along with the buffalo nickel I forgot to leave at home

 

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It seemed like such a small, small price to pay For the blessed peace of mind

 

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Down with the old man, up with the new.

 

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to walk in the ways of light and truth. I didn’t see no angels, just a few saints on the shore, but I felt like a newborn baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord. This road is long and dusty, sometimes the soul must be cleansed.

 

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Long to fill that water, and so no more me again. Down with the old man, up with the new. Race to walk in the ways of light and truth.

 

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I didn’t see no angels, just a few saints on the show But I felt like a newborn baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord I felt like a newborn baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord

 

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Father I can, you said child you will, for I’ll be your strength, your sword and shield. You said father how, you said child by faith, when you learn to trust.

 

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No burdens too great. You can move mountains if you just believe. Simply by asking, you will receive how you profess my name.

 

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talking but your life won’t change till you start walking

 

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father where? I said child right now, try your wings, I won’t let you down. I said father where? Child wherever you go, practice what you preach and the world will know. You can move mountains if you just believe.

 

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Simply by asking you will receive. Now you profess my name. With all of your talking, but your life won’t change. Till you start walking. All it takes is a little leap and your faith is free to grow.

 

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the world beneath your feet and watch the blessings flow. Oh, you can move mountains if you just believe. Simply by asking, you will receive. And I confess my name.

 

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And all of your talking But your life won’t change Till you start walking Your life won’t change Till you start walking

 

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We got time for one more, Jeff.

 

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And then an old friend of mine I’ve not seen for some time Will stop by and ask me where you been? What’s on your mind? They wonder why I’m not drinking And still painting this old town red Tell them I’m serving Jesus now

 

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And the old man is dead.

 

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And you see before you, you look a lot the same. I may wear the same old clothes, so I have the same old name. But you’re looking on the outside, you could see inside instead. You would see a brand new man, cause the old man is dead.

 

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Used to live such a wicked life

 

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inside. I was lost in the darkness just searching for a light.

 

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church after hearing what the preacher said. He gave my life to Jesus and the old man is dead.

 

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you see before you, they look a lot the same. I may wear the same old clothes, still have the same old name, but you’re looking on the outside, you could see inside instead. You would see a brand new man, cause the old man is dead.

 

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Looking on the outside, you could see inside instead. You would see a brand new man, cause the old man is dead.

 

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The old man is dead

 

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I’ll give Brent another hand, because that’s not easy.

 

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pray for Melissa. She’s gone to her grandmother’s funeral, I believe, and Dennis is…

 

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at Trace Deos, a ministry that he works in. And so Brent had it all by himself today and he did an awesome job. We appreciate you, Brent. He sure did. Well, if you brought your Bibles, take and turn there to Luke chapter 24. And it’s good to see y’all here today. If you were here last week, this is a lot of crowd, I guess a pretty day, they all went fishing, I don’t know.

 

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It’s a good day to talk about them since they’re not here. No. Okay. So you won’t tell? Well, we’ll have bull riding at 2.30 y’all. We’ll have another message up there. So if you can come back, please do because you’ll enjoy it. And I want to say a couple of things before we get started, go any further. Do I have anybody here to baptize today?

 

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Anybody come for baptism? Okay, I couldn’t remember. We baptized nine.

 

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nine last week. That’s awesome. And so I want to tell those that if you’re here and you got baptized last week, we have bibles and certificates at the back. So if you’ll catch me at the back door before you leave, we have a certificate and a Bible for you. Okay, for everybody that got, I already handed a few out, but I think there’s still six or so back there. We’ll get one to you, has your name on it, the date so that you can remember.

 

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That date, that’s a very important date in your life if you chose to follow Jesus in baptism. Well, I’m going to try to slow it down. Usually I’m like, I’m going to hurry it up, okay, I’m going to slow it down, but I’m still going to get us out of here in time. I’m going to try to teach you something today and not be quite so…

 

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to fast about it, but I’ve got a lot of scripture I want to share with you because as Quinda shared with y’all in the beginning and if you watched the video one thing she talked about was something inside you feeling like it’s about to bubble over and I want to introduce you to two guys in the Bible that felt that way too and you should feel that way as a Christian if you’re really

 

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guys right after Jesus resurrection who walked with him and they had a fire burning inside them and you’ll hear their explanation. So Luke chapter 24 and you can just turn over to let’s see we’ll just pick up about verse 28 about verse no let’s go back let’s back up

 

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Let’s go back to verse 18, Luke 24, verse 18. I’m gonna read a number of verses to you, and then I’ll explain it to you as we go along. It says, then the one whose name was Cleophas answered and said to him, back up a little further. Let’s go back to verse 13. Go back to verse 13. Let’s start, Luke 24, verse 13. It says, now behold, two of them were traveling the same day.

 

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to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem, and they talked together.

 

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of all the things which had happened. Now this, let me stop right there and just explain that. There’s two guys walking on a road, two Emmaus, from Jerusalem, it’s about a seven mile walk, and this is just after Christ resurrected. Now you understand when the Bible says disciples, I want you to understand something, you and I should be disciples, disciples of Christ. All right, the disciples were not just the 12 guys, and if you know anything about the crucifixion story,

 

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You know that Jesus had chosen 12 men that we called disciples who we would later say 11 of them became Apostles because one of them named Judas betrayed Jesus then went out and hung himself after doing so and So we might think of Peter James John those guys as the only disciples But you got to realize Jesus had a lot of disciples a disciple is one who follows another and learns from them

 

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Do you get that? So every one of us are disciples, if we’re followers of Christ, we’re one who learns and follows after Jesus. Matter of fact, the very word Christian, do you know where that came from? It came from a group of people in a place called Antioch that called the believers there Christians, meaning little Christ. Now I’m not Christ and I’m far from him, but my life and your life should be a reflection of him. In other words, when people look at me or they look at you in our life,

 

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should say there’s something different about them. It should be evident by the way we walk, by the way we talk, by the way we live, that we follow Jesus.

 

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That’s something that the world ought to see different in us. And it should come because of a relationship with Jesus. In other words, when you have a relationship with Jesus and you follow him, you become like him. The Bible tells us that we’re being changed daily. It’s a big word called sanctification, the process of which the Holy Spirit is changing us from day to day to be more like Jesus.

 

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saved.

 

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That’s my justification. I’ve been made right with God. But then as I live my life, there is a process of sanctification taking place, that process but which makes me to be more and more like Jesus. And then finally, there’s our glorification. When we die, this body goes in the dirt and then we’re raised from the dead eventually and that is our glorification. We’re in the presence of God. So I just want you to notice in these guys

 

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they’re walking and talking together they’re talking about the crucifixion that had just happened in Jerusalem and one of those men was Jesus and then he’s risen so now they’re they’re talking about man this has been an eventful couple of days this this man that we loved and followed Jesus he was crucified we saw it with our own eyes

 

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And then now some of the women are saying, he’s risen, he’s alive. And so they’re just walking back home after this event in Jerusalem and they’re talking among themselves. How many of you think that would have been easy to believe?

 

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I mean on this side of history we look and we say well I know Jesus has risen but how many of us if we were standing there watching as they crucified him and watching as they took his body off the cross and put it in a grave how many of us would really be able to believe on the third day he’s alive that that would be quite something to believe.

 

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And these guys had seen it and so they’re talking among themselves. Look at verse number 15 So it was as while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them So in other words, they’re talking and they’re walking down this road Probably just kicking some rocks along the way talking and and all of a sudden Jesus appears right beside him and he’s walking with them now that Follow me on this it says then

 

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But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know him. Okay, so they’re walking with him. I don’t know if they weren’t looking at him or if God, for whatever reason, had just made it so they didn’t recognize him, but he certainly didn’t look the way he did when he came off the cross.

 

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When he came off the cross, he was beaten. He was bloody. He was mangled and and so they’re walking with him and Their eyes are restrained and look at verse 17 and he that’s Jesus said to them What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad in other words there? They’re walking back They’re sad

 

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They’ve just witnessed the most horrific thing I think any person could see and that was a crucifixion and a crucifixion of someone they loved and they liked. And so they’re very sad. And this is what they say in verse number 18. It says, Then one of those whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? And have you not known the things which happened there in these days? And he said to them, What things?

 

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What are you talking about? And they said to him, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed in word, before God and all the people, and how the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. In other words, we thought he was the Messiah.

 

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We were following him, hoping in him. We thought that he was gonna deliver Israel from the Roman soldiers and the Roman rule. He was gonna liberate us, and now he’s dead. This is what they think. And indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.

 

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Yes, a certain woman of our company who arrived at the tomb early this morning astonished us when they did not find his body. They came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. And a certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. Then he said to them, oh foolish ones, in a slow of heart to believe.

 

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in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses in all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Now I’m gonna stop right there for a second. We’ll pick back up in a minute. So they’re walking down this road.

 

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And it’s the road to Emmaus. You may have heard of the Emmaus road or something like that. They’re walking down the road. I like the picture in my mind. They’re probably just kicking some rocks, and they got their head down. The Bible says they were sad.

 

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And that tells me they were probably quite depressed about the situation. And as they’re walking down the road, here comes Jesus appears to them, walking beside them and he says, Hey guys, what are you so sad about? And they’re like, Hey, are you the only one that doesn’t know in all of Jerusalem what just happened? And they go on to tell him we, we were following this guy, Jesus of Nazareth. We thought that he was the Messiah. We thought he was going to liberate us. And now he’s dead.

 

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Some saying that he’s not even in the tomb anymore. It’s the third day and Jesus begins to say to them Oh you foolish big guys. Do you have no faith? Do you not understand? And so he begins the Bible says to expound to them From Moses and the prophets. What does that mean? It means Jesus went back in the old testament and and I can’t preach a sermon anywhere like this. Can you imagine what he did? He he begins to

 

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and the prophets, all the Old Testament, how the Old Testament pointed to him coming and who he would be. And as he’s doing this, I’m sure they’re listening, I’m sure they’re thinking, well, that kind of makes sense. But the one thing the Jewish people could not then and do not now,

 

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understand and cannot reconcile is that Jesus was the Messiah, the chosen one of God, the King of Kings, but he was also a suffering Savior. All they had seen was a snapshot in time of Jesus suffering on the cross. They yet to see him risen, although he’s walking with them, their eyes are still blinded, they don’t get it, and they’re really upset.

 

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and he’s reasoning with them, preaching to them, sharing with them from the scriptures what had happened, telling them that not only were, was.

 

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Jesus going to come and not only did the prophets prophesy every event that took place and it all matched perfectly Yet they couldn’t believe it Have you ever noticed that when you’re sad and depressed or have you ever talked to somebody else that sad or depressed no matter How much hope you give them? Sometimes they just can’t get out of their junk. You ever notice that they just can’t believe it

 

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They become so focused on the negative that they can’t see the positive. And I think that’s what was going on right here. They simply could not gather in their minds that Jesus was the Son of God, that yes, he had been crucified, but yes, he was risen, even though he’s walking right beside them. And he’s sharing with them from the Old Testament, the prophets, Moses, everything from the scriptures concerning himself.

 

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So look at verse 28, then they draw near to the village where they were going and indicated that he would have gone further. But they constrained him saying, abide with us for it is toward evening, or it’s almost night for the day is spent far. And he went in to stay with them. And that came to pass as he sat at the table with them, that he took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them. And look what the next verse says. Then their eyes were opened.

 

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and they knew him, and he vanished from their sight. Now you’ve got to understand when Jesus rose from the grave, he no longer was constrained to the

 

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simple physics of this world. When he rose from the grave, he had a new glorified body and he was he was completely able to walk through a wall. He was able to ascend to the Father. I don’t even understand all that except to know that he had been dead. He’s now risen. He appears to these guys. They didn’t know him though they were walking with him until he sat down and they began to break bread together. When they did, what happens is they began to fellowship with him. They began to

 

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They began to talk with him and the Bible says all of a sudden their eyes are open and he vanished from their sight. The next verse is what I want you to get. Verse 32. And they said to one another, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us? So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.

 

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Found the eleven the eleven disciples that we are apostles and those who were with them gathered together saying the Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon and they told about the things that had Happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread So it wasn’t until they began the fellowship with him that they really began to know him

 

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It wasn’t until they began to sit down and eat and he broke bread with them that their eyes were open and they really But once all that happened they began to say to themselves after he had disappeared They said did not our hearts burn within us in other words because he was present with us Was there not something bubbling up on the inside? Not something burning on the inside listen to me carefully if you don’t have something burning On the inside of you because of what jesus has done for you

 

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You you don’t yet know him You don’t really know him second Christians 5 verse 17 The Bible says that if any man be in Christ any person be in Christ They are a new creation old things are passed away all things become new. Let me tell you something I’ve never met anybody who truly met Jesus and wasn’t changed and Transformed by and it lights a fire in them that never goes out this this morning

 

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In Roanoke, Texas, there’s my dad and Fred and Anna. They’ll know Dr. Joe Thames, who baptized me when I was six years old. Today is his 51st anniversary at the church he’s pastoring. And I sent a message this past week and just thanking him for what he had done and the many years of serving the Lord there and all the years of ministry that God has used him. And remembering that it was there as a kid

 

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Children’s Church. It was there as a kid that I would go and go to vacation Bible school. It was there that when I was a kid that I would hear the preaching of the gospel on Sunday morning in Sunday school, Sunday at Children’s Church, and then Sunday night and then Wednesday night. See, I wasn’t a preacher’s kid, but I went more than a preacher’s kid did, because my mama made a promise that she was going to raise me in church, and she kept that promise.

 

51:11

And God lit a fire in me then. And then later when I got older and I surrendered to preach, I was, my family attended Aurora Baptist Church, not far from here. And there God lit another fire in me when I surrendered to preach to love Jesus and to share Jesus with others. So what I wanna tell you this morning is, as a Christian you say, what is my purpose as a Christian? What do we do after Easter? What do we, what does the resurrection mean to us?

 

51:41

as a Christian it means number one you should have a fire burning in you to share Christ with others. In other words I don’t know about you when I go somewhere I don’t know how many of you ever been to a good restaurant I’m not talking about Taco Kast or Taco Bell okay I know if you love that it’s just because you’re sheltered.

 

52:05

I mean a good restaurant. I mean somewhere like Del Rancho’s in Norman, Oklahoma Okay, I’m just picking one. I don’t know how many of you have got some okies in here. I know Donna she’s pointing his wife. It’s okay. You’re among friends. No readers in to be embarrassed. I Love okies But man you go to Norman, Oklahoma, you got to go to Del Rancho’s restaurant

 

52:34

It looks like an old sonic. It’s like an old drive-thru. You go in there and you pull up and you can get your order or whatever. But here’s what I’m gonna tell you. It is so good. It’s so good I gotta tell you about it. It’s so good not long ago my youngest daughter went through Norman with me. She’s like, dad, where’s that restaurant you’re talking about? It’s a hole in the wall, nothing fancy. Gonna serve you some paper towels, but they serve you a bag of onion rings when you measure it, cause I did one time.

 

53:03

It measures 10 inches and then it’s bubbling over with greasy fried onion rings. But tell you the best part, if you go there you get the Del Rancho Supreme.

 

53:17

You know what that is? See, I don’t know how many of you know where Norman, Oklahoma is, but that’s where OU is, all right? So you got big football players, hungry guys there, they’re just now leaving home and they’re in college and the only thing they eat more than a teenager is a college kid. And they’re just star, so you got these big football players. So years ago, this restaurant’s been in business now nearly 50 years, years ago, they developed a chicken fried steak sandwich with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomatoes on it. But when you measure it,

 

53:46

measures over 12 inches across. So like when you eat this thing, you’re and it’s like 1095 for the whole deal comes with a drink. So when you eat that, I mean you better be hungry or ready to share. Okay? I mean it’s big. It’s awesome. You’ll leave there with greasy heartburn, but it’s awesome. Okay?

 

54:09

It’s just one of the best sandwiches you’ll ever eat in your life. And I’m telling you all that because I’ve eaten it and it’s just great. If I go through Norman, Oklahoma, I’m going to stop at Del Rancho’s and I’m going to eat a big greasy chicken fried steak sandwich and I’m going to have that big bag of onion rings. I’m going to pig out and I’m telling you about it because it’s great. But you know what something greater than that is Jesus.

 

54:34

He is the answer to life. He is my hope. He is everything to me. I had a guy one time tell me he was, and I love to debate people. How many of you have ever debated someone or you know, just some people call it an argument. I don’t call it an argument. I mean, I’m not afraid if somebody challenges me on my faith. I actually welcome that and like that.

 

54:55

But I remember this guy, he was talking to me and he was an atheist and he was talking to me. He’s like, you know the other thing I have about you Christians is Jesus is like a crutch to y’all. And I thought about that for a minute. I’m like, no.

 

55:11

He’s not my crutch. He’s my wheelchair. He’s my walker. He’s my crutch. He’s my cane. He’s my everything dude I can’t get up and live without jesus And the reason I say that is because I know who I would be without him And I know what he’s done for me in my life I have peace and can sleep at night and that’s something money cannot buy I’ve spent my wife spent a fortune on a real nice mattress How many of y’all ever done that?

 

55:41

those multi-thousand dollar mattresses, you know, I don’t know. And it’s good to have a good mattress, but how many of you know that even a good mattress, a very expensive mattress, cannot buy you sleep? It cannot buy you peace.

 

55:55

See, you can lay down on something really comfortable. You can be really tired. But if you don’t have peace of heart and peace of mind, but I have the peace of heart and peace of mind, more than that, I have freedom from myself and from sin and from Satan. And because of that, I can sleep at night. I can get up in the morning, no matter what I’m facing. And by the way, I’m just like you. I’ve gotten up every day in my life and I’ve faced some really hard stuff. And the reason I can face it is because of Jesus.

 

56:25

in my life. That’s why there’s a burning passion. You say, preacher, why do you show up every Sunday to preach? Why do you get up and why are you so passionate about it? I’m so passionate about it because I know how good Jesus is and what he means to my life and the power that I have in him. And I want to share that with everybody. And I worry, I worry about someone who says, I know Jesus, but never talks about Jesus. I worry about somebody

 

56:54

But never shares jesus how many of you would think it very cruel of me If I were smarter than I am which i’m not Y’all get that a minute But how many of you would think it very cruel of me if In my redneck inventions and quinnit calls me a modern-day. McGyver. Some of you old people know what that means Oh redneck. McGyver. Okay

 

57:22

I got those accolades during COVID. Not during COVID, it was the big freeze, the big freeze. Yeah, that’s right. I was pulling out gadgets she didn’t even know existed. I was making power, there wasn’t no, I had power in my body. I mean, I’ll just, y’all keep telling me. I had so much power going and when we had no power, and we were surviving. But no, just imagine if I was able to discover the cure for cancer, like all cancer.

 

57:52

Just bear with me for a minute. Just imagine that I came up with the cure for cancer, every kind of cancer, especially cancers that children get. And let’s say that it was sheer proof, it worked every time, it was simple, it was inexpensive. Matter of fact, I could make it free, and yet I sit here every day of the week. What would you think of me?

 

58:23

I can tell you what kind of person I would be, a sorry one. If I had such knowledge, why would I not go to Cook’s Children’s Hospital or Dallas Children’s Hospital or begin to share it all over the world? Why would I not get on social media and begin to tell everybody that I have found the cure for cancer and it’s available for free and it could save many, many lives? And yet, I know the one.

 

58:51

who can save anybody, anytime, anywhere, no matter what they’ve done, no matter who they are, no matter how far gone they are. I know Jesus, I have the greatest cure. I didn’t discover it on my own, but I know it. I have it, He lives in me. How can I not share Him with others?

 

59:11

How could I not share him with others? So I want you to take your Bible real quick, go over to First Peter. I told you I was gonna try to do some teaching here. First Peter, and I wanna show you something real quick. We’re gonna look at this and a few more verses of scripture and then I’ll be done. I’m gonna get us out of here no later than noon. We’ll be out there before then. So First Peter, chapter three, and I’m gonna look at verse 15 and I want you to just follow with me.

 

59:42

And this is the apostle Peter and he’s writing to Christians not long, this is probably 20, 30 years after Christ’s resurrection, death and resurrection. And many Christians in his day were beginning to suffer persecution. Many of them were being put to death for preaching the gospel, for following Christ.

 

01:00:09

And so he writes to these suffering Christians as a word of encouragement. Okay? And in that, he’s trying to explain to them and us why the gospel is so important and why us sharing our relationship with Christ with others is so important. And here’s what he says, and by the way, how many of you…

 

01:00:33

How many of you, and you’ll have to raise your hand because I’ve been there too, how many of you sometimes think, well, I don’t know if I know enough about the Bible to really have a discussion with someone else? Don’t have to raise your hand, but I’ve been there too, okay? Believe me, one of my first big debates I ever had was with an atheist that knew more Bible than I did, and he chewed me up until we got to the point that I could say simply, I believe in Jesus because he changed my life.

 

01:01:00

I can’t argue anything. He was just chewing me. I didn’t know as much scripture as I do now, but it really came down to the point like, look, no matter what you say, I still believe in Him because I’ve met Him. I talk with Him and He’s changed my life and I couldn’t even do that for myself and neither could anybody else but Him. But here’s what the Bible says and notice what Peter says. He says, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.

 

01:01:29

And notice this next phrase. In always, y’all say always with me. Always. What does always mean? Always, right. Right, all right, you’re tracking with me. We’re smart today. Always, always be ready to give an answer or defense. We actually, from that word, if it’s in Greek, we actually get the word apologetic.

 

01:01:56

Does it mean to apologize? It means to defend, to argue, to give a defense for. Always be ready to give an answer or defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. In other words, meekness and fear, what do you mean by that? It means I can’t say, well, I’m such a good guy that Jesus saved me. No, no, no, no, no.

 

01:02:26

I heard someone say this the other day.

 

01:02:33

If you died, I’m 50, almost 51 years old. If I died and stood before God today, and he brought my life upon a big screen, I would not want him to do that. But if he did, like every moment, and he were to say to me, Jeff, I’m gonna give you one hour to edit your life and pick the best five minutes of your life.

 

01:03:00

No matter how much time he gave me, no matter how much editing he did for me, or I did for myself, I probably couldn’t find five seconds. Matter of fact, I know I couldn’t find five seconds of my life that would be worthy of the salvation that I have in Jesus.

 

01:03:29

all 50 almost 51 years of my life would scream I need a savior I need a savior my very best my very best days my very best deeds my very best words could never outweigh the bad in my life and by the way if you could get to heaven for good deeds and all you’d have to do is good and Jesus would not have had to die but the bible says that even our best works

 

01:03:59

are 50 rags before God. Because I’m a sinner, I’ve sinned.

 

01:04:05

So I’m not worthy of that. So I should always be ready to give a defense or an answer for the hope that lies within me or the hope that is in me. What does that mean? It means no matter who I meet, because notice what the scripture said, to everyone, to everyone who asks. So it don’t matter if they know more Bible than me. It doesn’t matter if they go to church more than me. It doesn’t matter if they’ve never been to church. It doesn’t matter if I’ve never been to church much. What the Bible is telling me

 

01:04:35

what always, I said always, what does that mean? It means always. I should always be ready to give an answer, a defense. In other words, the moment that someone asks me, why do you believe in Jesus?

 

01:04:50

Well, I’ve read the scriptures and I believe those and they’re historically accurate matter of fact There is no book on planet Earth that is more historically accurate than the Bible Jesus is risen I know that because he has changed all of his no other man in human history has changed human history The way Jesus has that I could so I could argue the mechanics of that But I’m gonna get to the real stuff here and the real stuff is because I know him. I Know him. I Got up this morning and I spoke with him

 

01:05:20

I did. And you want to know something more? He spoke to me. The moment I opened that Bible, He began to speak to me, not just through the words, but through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And so every day of my life, I know Him, and the pursuit of my life and your life should be that we want to know Him and know Him more. I want you to now take your Bible.

 

01:05:45

Go to Philippians. Philippians for a second. I’m going to show you another passage. Philippians chapter three. And I have this marked in my Bible. And the reason I do the way I do is because when I was in seminary, I remember Brother Tom Mears. He was an old, old pastor. Sweet, sweet man. Man, you talk about someone who could preach.

 

01:06:10

and could speak so eloquently, and I took this course, it was two semesters, called The Life of Christ.

 

01:06:18

What it was was a study, the chronological order study of the life of Jesus, like from the time he was born to the time he ascended back to the Father. And so throughout the two semester course, we were learning when he did this miracle, when he did that miracle, and you know, all the stuff, and you know, and so when it came finals time,

 

01:06:41

I just knew I’m going to have to remember, OK, did he make wine first, did he turn the water into wine, or did he feed the 5,000? All those things he did. There’s a lot of stuff in four gospels that he did. And I’m thinking, am I going to be able to remember all this? Am I going to be able to remember all this? But every day of the class, he would begin the class by writing on a marker board. Now, I know some of you young people don’t even know what that is.

 

01:07:08

My son-in-law is an ag teacher in Granbury, and I went into his classroom, and I’m like, where are the marker boards? There’s screens in there, TV screens now. Everything’s digital. Poor kids. I love those marker boards. I’m old enough to remember chalk boards. They’re dark green, and they look awesome when you spit bitwads at them. Oh, yeah.

 

01:07:34

It’s like, me and my buddies, we would take our pins and break them, oh, I shouldn’t be talking about this. They would break them open and make spit boys, yeah, I got it, you know. What was even funnier is when the teacher turned her back, you get right in the back of the hair. Forgive me. See, I needed Jesus.

 

01:07:55

Brother Tom Mears would write this on the board every day. And the older I get, the more this verse means to me. And it was his life verse. And the older I get, the more I want it to be my life verse. And it’s Philippians 3 and verse number 10. And it says, that I may know him. This is the apostle Paul. What was the heartbeat of Paul and his ministry?

 

01:08:19

Talking about the guy who wrote 13, maybe 14 books of the 27 books in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, okay? The greatest preacher of all time except Jesus. Like, how do you hold a candle? What made the Apostle Paul tick? You want to know the Apostle Paul’s life verse? You want to know what made him who he was? It’s this verse. He says, that I may know him.

 

01:08:42

Him being Jesus, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. How many of you know that as a Christian, the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you? Do you know that? Do you understand that? The same spirit, the Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the same spirit that lives in us. Do you realize you have resurrection power in you? Do you understand that?

 

01:09:12

that. I don’t know, I’ve never been raised from the dead yet, but I’m going to be and I believe that not because of me, but because of the power that lives in me because of Christ. All right, so but he says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Everybody loves that part, right? Look at the next verse and the fellowships of his uh-oh sufferings. Yikes.

 

01:09:41

Time out. You mean in order to know Him and His resurrection power, I have to suffer with Him? Because what does fellowship mean? It means to do together, to do together. I’ve got to suffer with Christ. All right. What about that verse I just read over in 1 Peter? We read it together, chapter three, verse 15, when it said that we should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies in us.

 

01:10:11

See.

 

01:10:15

Maybe you’ve never been asked this question, but I have.

 

01:10:23

When someone looks at us as a Christian, and they see us going through loss and suffering, we lost our job, we lost a spouse, we lost a child, we’ve experienced loss just like the world loses. How many of you know that Christians and unbelievers shop at Walmart? I don’t, but they do, okay. I do.

 

01:10:48

I’d rather take a beating and go into Walmart sometimes, just because I don’t like the lions, okay? I don’t like, you know, waiting in line. But how many of you know that being a Christian doesn’t make you exempt from the troubles of life? Shame on the preachers that have lied to people and said that you become a Christian and your life will be perfect. They’re lying. They’re lying, I know they’re lying. I’m a Christian, my life ain’t perfect.

 

01:11:18

No, I’ve walked through some really tough stuff in my life, and I’m sure you have too. And some of you in here, you may be walking through it right now. So.

 

01:11:32

When the world looks at us, and when I say world, I mean people who don’t know Christ, and they see us suffering too, they see us going through hardship, they see us, what appeal would that be? Well, look, you’re a Christian and your life’s falling apart too.

 

01:11:50

worse. I got a bull’s eye on me. Devil hates me. He hates you if you’re Christian. So what’s the difference? The difference is when they watch how you handle that. When they watch the hope that lies in you. When they see that oh you may be saddened but you haven’t lost hope. You haven’t lost hope. When you stand at the grave of a loved one just like anybody else.

 

01:12:20

but you have hope that the grave is not the end. You have hope in the resurrection of Jesus because of his resurrection power.

 

01:12:30

You have hope that because he died and he was buried and he rose again, you have hope. I have hope that just because my life is falling apart, this life isn’t even all there is. But the one thing I know is, if I’m walking in addiction, I have hope. I have hope for deliverance. If I’m walking in despair, I have hope. Hope that it won’t last forever. Hope that help is on the way.

 

01:12:59

See, that’s what the world doesn’t have, and they don’t know. I’ll never forget this, and you may have heard me tell this story, I’m about to wrap up. Years ago, I had some DPS sergeant in my church, the first church I pastored, that LaDonna attended there. But I was just a young preacher just starting out, and I had these DPS officers in the church.

 

01:13:28

Made me nervous at first. I thought, man, any day they’re gonna have a warrant for me. You know, just saying, okay. Maybe you’ve never been there, but I have.

 

01:13:39

But they like me and they would come and one of them begins to win other guys to Christ And so it was nothing to drive by our church on a Sunday morning There’d be three or four maybe even five black and whites out there Parts and these guys sitting in uniform and they would tell me we may get a call gotta go and that’s no problem No problem, but I remember they began to ask me to do something They said, you know the hardest part of our job and I think that their whole job is hard They said the hardest part of our job is going on notifications when someone’s killed and we have

 

01:14:09

to go and talk to the family and notify them. They said, would you go with us? And so I began doing that, and man, were they ever right. That was extraordinary hard to have to knock on the door of a family and tell them their loved one has perished or been lost in an accident. No one’s ever expecting that, and it’s just unimaginable sorrow to have to see and deliver that kind of news. But I’ll never forget.

 

01:14:35

I got a call one day and it was to go to 114 between Boyd and Paradise, an area which I grew up in and knew very well and I go over there and there’s a little line of cars and we had just got this white van in the church and had not put stickers on it and little did I know that the officers in the beginning, they were asking me to come because there was a fatality accident, multiple fatalities, matter of fact there were four people killed and so they were asking me to come. And I had just…

 

01:15:01

I was wearing a jacket and a tie. Okay, like I was still in seminary, my first year of pastoring, I had not found real freedom yet, you know, like to get away from suit and ties because I hate to wear suit and ties anyway. I think those are going to the lake of fire, but I’ll digress. So I roll up in this white van and they usher me right up to the scene of the accident. Little did I know they thought I was the funeral home from driving this white unmarked van. When I get there,

 

01:15:31

They were fixing to load people into my van. I’m like, no, no, no, no, no. I’m not those guys. And over against the fence, and I actually had helped load those who had been deceased. Over against the fence was this young lady. She couldn’t have been more than 23, 24 years old. And she’s covered in blood, and she’s holding a baby that was probably Neva’s size. And that baby’s covered in blood. And little did I know.

 

01:15:58

She was the person behind the accident, the first one to the car that had been hit by a big rig where the four people had died. One of those four was that baby’s mother, the other was its grandmother, the other was its great-grandmother, and it’s her uncle and they had all passed in that. She was in a car seat and so when the mother reached over, she had to reach over her deceased, the baby’s deceased mom to get the baby out of the car seat and hold it till they,

 

01:16:28

wasn’t injured, the blood on both of them was from the baby’s mother. You see that scene. And she’s having a horrible time standing over by this barbed wire fence on the side of the road while they’re attending the scene. And I walk over and I extend my hand, told her who I was, and asked if she was injured. She told me who she was, why she was standing there, who the baby was, and that there was no injury to her or the baby. And.

 

01:16:56

And I’ll never forget her looking at me in the eye and saying, you’re a preacher? I said, yes. She said, and tell me this, where was God when this happened? Where was God when this baby lost its mother just a moment ago?

 

01:17:14

Can I tell y’all something? They didn’t teach me that in seminary. They didn’t teach me that answer. Didn’t tell me anything about a situation like that. Now let me ask you a question and I ask it sincerely. What would you have said? What would you say?

 

01:17:37

All I could tell her was that I know is God is good.

 

01:17:43

because he spared the life of that child. And all I could say is I did not know why God allowed that accident. I just had to be honest. But little did I know in that conversation, in being honest and truthful with that mother that she would soon come to Christ. She ended up coming to our church, hearing the gospel, and came to Christ. And you know the reason she told me that? She said,

 

01:18:13

I can’t imagine what it was like for you to walk into that situation. And even though I could tell you were shocked, afraid, and uncertain, you had something in your eye I didn’t and that was hope in a good and faithful God.

 

01:18:31

I didn’t know that. I didn’t know that. So what I’m trying to tell you this morning is when you have a relationship with Jesus it will show. You will have a fire burning in you like those disciples on the Emmaus road. Did our hearts not burn within us as we walked and we talked with him? And as you do and others see that and they encounter you.

 

01:19:01

Be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies in you. I can give that answer because I know Jesus. How do I know him? I know him because he changed my life. I know that. I know the moment I repented of sin and turned to him for salvation, he saved me. And he’s always been faithful to keep me. To keep me.

 

01:19:31

through every failure and every thing. Hey listen, being a Christian doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It doesn’t mean you’re exempt from the problems of life. But what it does promise you is that you will have victory over the problems of life. When you come to the end of the Apostle Paul’s life.

 

01:19:48

When you come to the end of the Apostle Peter’s life, the Apostle John’s life, all of those men who would later give their life for believing the gospel and preaching the gospel, they could do so with joy because they knew Jesus and that was their hope. He was their anchor.

 

01:20:18

years ago, some of you have heard me tell this story, my dad knows this story well, Quenda and a few others. When I was born, my parents lived right next door to some other people, they were our neighbors, and Larry was the only man in human history who could call my mama.

 

01:20:47

She’s not here today, but y’all know my mama. Call her Bertha while she was pregnant with me. Some of you ladies are going, what? Yeah, ask her about it. She’d probably kill me for saying this. So Larry would say to my mama, they were next door neighbors, Larry, Donna, my dad, and my mom, they were next door neighbors, and Donna was pregnant with her son, Ike, who’s the same age as I, and then Larry.

 

01:21:14

And Larry was about as full of bull as a Christmas turkey all the time. Called me Brother Bodine my whole life. When I was a little man, he always had a name for somebody. If he knew you, he named you. It wasn’t your real name, it was some other name. My mama was Bertha, my name was Bodine. Brother Bodine.

 

01:21:35

Matter of fact, he introduced me to a Catholic guy one time. He was trading sheep with and drinking beer with. And he said, this is my preacher, Bodine. He ain’t no Catholic. He’ll drink wine. He’ll drink beer. OK. What he said about it. I’ll never forget that. So Larry was a Vietnam vet. And I knew Larry my whole life. From the time I was, I just remember him my whole life. And

 

01:22:03

He and my dad would hang out when they were younger. And so I grew up with his sons. And Larry being a Vietnam vet, Larry would tell me after I became a preacher and I knew Larry didn’t know the Lord, and I would try to witness to Larry about Jesus.

 

01:22:20

And I remember one day we were riding down the road and he would always, he would always pay, he said he was hard of hearing, I’m not too sure about that, but he would always want me to go to the cow sale with him or the goat sale to buy for him. And I love that. How many of you ever got to spend somebody else’s money? That is so awesome. Just raise your hand and keep on buying. I was like, you like them Larry? Yep, okay, we’ll just keep bidding. I would enjoy that. We’re riding down the road one day and I’m talking to him about Jesus and he’s like, Jeff, listen.

 

01:22:49

He said, I love you, man. And I believe that you believe what you believe. Believe you believe what you preach. He said, but if you saw the things I saw in Vietnam, I just can’t believe there’s a God. His job as an army ranger, whatever it was he was, I may not be using it, I know he’s in the army, was when the Viet Cong would be in the tunnels. His job was to go open those tunnels.

 

01:23:15

and go down in there after the Viet Cong, the Vietnamese, and kill them and bring them out. Sometimes they would pour gas or whatever, flames, and burn them out. And as they would come out, their job was to shoot them. And before you think that’s bad, you need to understand it was war. It was war. It was either kill or be killed. And so he saw a lot of horrible things there. Told me one instance of a child at a

 

01:23:45

at an area, they heard a baby crying and his buddy goes over to this outhouse looking thing to rescue the baby. When they get there, it was a doll with some recorded device and it blew up. He held his best friend at that time in his arms as he died from this bomb. He saw a lot of horrible things. He said, I just can’t believe there’s a God if you saw what I saw in Vietnam. Fast forward a number of years.

 

01:24:15

His son, who was my age, gets married and his wife gets pregnant. Gonna be Larry’s first grandchild. And I get a call from Larry’s wife, and she’s just bawling. And she says,

 

01:24:31

the mother’s name and she says the doctors just told them and the baby has some sort of defect that if it’s born, they’ve told her she should go ahead and go forward with an abortion because if the baby is born at very best it’ll be in a vegetative state all of its life, severely deformed if it’s even born alive. And yet they were so joyous to have the prospect of having a life.

 

01:25:01

They chose to, she chose to carry that baby, to give birth to it, but they asked me to pray that God would intervene and perform a miracle.

 

01:25:14

That’s a pretty tall order. I don’t care who you are. And I prayed, I remember praying with them and praying for the whole family. Well, the time came the mother was gonna have the baby. I go to the hospital before I get there. She’s had the baby. By the time I get there, there’s word that it was, she delivered safely, mom was okay, and the baby was perfect. Okay? So this is in the days when you’d go down the hall and you would look.

 

01:25:43

through the windows at the newborn babies and This baby looked just like his grandpa and his daddy no denying it got the biggest ears Look like I mean got the biggest ears you ever see I’m like dad has got to be your grandkids and Larry standing there I mean, he’s got a smile from ear to ear. He’s so happy and I’m like man There is ain’t God good and about the time I said that I never seen a man cry, but I saw tears go down his cheek And he turned to me and he said man

 

01:26:14

I’ve never believed in God. I told you if you saw what I saw in Vietnam, I couldn’t. He said, but I remember the night Donna called you and you prayed. And now I see my grandson. He said, I know there’s got to be a God. And he said, Jeff, how do I know him?

 

01:26:34

And I said, you know him through his son, Jesus. And we knelt down right there in that hospital hallway. And I had known him, I was in my 30s by that time. I’d known him 30 years of my life, all my life. And I got a chance to lead my friend Larry to Jesus. Because it wasn’t anything I did. It was all, I had no special power in the prayer. I called upon the one I knew could heal him.

 

01:27:02

But on that day, I was able to give an answer, a reason for the hope that lies in me. And that hope, which is in Jesus, my hope is Jesus, changed that man’s life. And when I did his funeral service, I got to Ted, Larry later got cancer, and I did his funeral service a few years ago, and I got to stand at that grave.

 

01:27:25

As we lowered his casket into the ground and I got to tell his family, you’re going to see him again because I was there the day he believed on the name of Jesus. This past, I’ll tell you the best part, this past June, my middle daughter Rachel got married. Her and her husband were here last week, big tall guy, like real tall.

 

01:27:55

Big tall kid. Good kid, good guy.

 

01:28:02

We were at the reception after the wedding. I was the, you know, dad walked her down the aisle and then I also performed the wedding and everything. There’s lots of people, it’s hot. But we get into the reception and I’m sitting there. Quinn, are you with me?

 

01:28:19

And up walks this kid, you know, they’re all, he’s in his 20s now, same age as my daughter. Big ears, no mistaken who this kid was when I saw him. She said, Dad, you remember Kyler, which was the boy that was born, and I got to see and tell him the story of his grandpa receiving Jesus the day he was born. And he said, I’ve never, I never heard that story. You never heard that story. So what I’m trying to tell you this morning.

 

01:28:49

It’s like the disciples on the Emmaus road. There ought to be a fire burning inside of you. I like the way Jeremiah said. I remember when I first surrendered to preach and preached my first sermon. I’ve told most of you, you’ve heard me say it, and it’s really, really true. I mean, it really was. 30 years ago this past September, I preached my first sermon, and it was seven minutes long.

 

01:29:14

I can’t even tell you what verse to turn to in seven minutes anymore, but it really was. And when I got through preaching…

 

01:29:22

I was so nervous. Like I ate a whole box of Pepto-Bismol tablets before I preached, because I mean, I was so sick. And I’m so nervous. But there was something in me. And I remember going to my pastor, I was like, where can I preach again? I was like, I didn’t even want to preach when God come. But I’m like, something’s burning. And he showed me Jeremiah, where Jeremiah said that it’s stored up in me like a fire in my.

 

01:29:51

When you’ve got good news, how can you not share it with others? Hey, God may not ever call you to stand on a platform like me and preach to a congregation. He’s got something even more important for you. It’s that you go to the people He’s put in your life and you share Jesus with them and be ready for that crisis moment in their life. Don’t get discouraged when you share Christ with them and they don’t come to Christ. Don’t let that bother you.

 

01:30:21

a moment of crisis in their life. That person at work that makes fun of you because you’re a Christian, hey just hang on because the wheels are going to come off their wagon, okay? That’s country boy for saying they’re going to have a crisis and when they do they’re not going to the atheist at work for help. They’re going to remember you. They’re going to watch you walk through crisis and they’re going to go, you know what? They go through the same thing we do but look how he or she handles that.

 

01:30:49

Bull riders, you’ve heard me say. It’s easy. It’s super easy to make a 90 point ride and get off and praise God. Get yourself thrashed, slammed in about two seconds. Embarrassed. Y’all know some of y’all, you know, one of them bulls that makes you look stupid, okay? And bow your head in that arena and thank God before you walk out of it.

 

01:31:19

Do that. That’s when it’s tough. You say, what’s the reason for it? Because somewhere down the line, somebody else is gonna lose and they’re gonna see you and they’re gonna see you win one day and they’re gonna know that the Jesus you follow is real. See, if he ain’t real in the good times and the bad times, he ain’t real at all.

 

01:31:38

But I promise you, he’s real in the good times, and he’s real in the bad times. And I encourage you today to share him wherever, wherever, wherever you go. Let’s bow our heads. If you don’t know him as your Lord and Savior today, I hope you’ll call upon his name before you leave this service or turn off this video today if you’re watching on Facebook Live. If you don’t know him,

 

01:32:08

that I want you to know that he died on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day for your sin. And if you by faith will simply do this, lastly, a young man asked me, he said, Brother Jeff, is salvation really as simple as believing that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again? I said, yeah, he says, that sounds so simple. I says, it is, because he did all the work, and all you have to do is receive the free gift of salvation.

 

01:32:37

Will you receive him today? Will you trust in him, believe in him?

 

01:32:44

But just humbling your heart, in a prayer like this from your heart to His God, I know I’m a sinner, but I believe Jesus is the Son of God and I believe He died for my sin. I believe He rose from the grave. And today, Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of my sin, to save me and change my life. And I promise you, if you’ll pray that prayer by faith and mean it, He’ll do just that.

 

01:33:12

You’re here today and you say, I know I’m a believer. I know Christ. Then let me encourage you to share Christ. Walk with him. You may be going through a rough time in your life as a Christian and that’s okay, we all do. Don’t lose hope, because he is your hope. He is your anchor.

 

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And God will use the things you’re walking through, God will use that as a testimony to others at some point in your life, you watch and see. And God will use you and your testimony and your relationship with Jesus to reach somebody else that their life too might be changed for His glory.

 

01:33:58

Lord, we love you. We thank you for your word. Thank you for this time together today. Bless those that can’t be here. Bless those that are traveling. Bless those that lost loved ones this week, Lord. And we just ask that you comfort them in a way that only your Holy Spirit can. We pray, Father, you help all of us to walk from here today. Lord, with a burning desire to know you, Jesus, to know you more. Thank you for what you did on Calvary for us. Thank you that you’re not on the cross and you’re not in a grave,

 

01:34:28

Thank you that you live within us. Thank you that we have hope in you and help us to share that hope with others in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Well thank you for being here. Hey listen don’t forget about Bible study Wednesday night 6 o’clock. Be sure to get a bulletin before you leave. I know there’s I forgot to make this announcement last week may have made it. We don’t pass an offering plate. We got a milk can back there if you want to give an offering to the Lord.

 

01:34:58

have online giving and there’s the Vimo thing or whatever on the back some what do you call that deal? Venmo. I call it Vimo. Okay that what is that thing called that QR code you can scan that you can give that to go straight to the church so we’re just trying to make online giving easier if that’s what you want to do okay God bless you love you have a great week in the Lord all right see you at 230