The Plan Is in Place | Judah Smith

I am excited actually to share this scripture with you and um tonight I have a message that the reason I'm really excited to share a scripture and this particular story by the way the story we're going to go to is about a week after Easter which I think is pretty apppropo as they say since we're approximately a week after Easter.

Um, and I spoke it recently. I tested it out in Tennessee. And my wife afterwards, now I'm not going to lie to you. I love my wife of 25 years. I'm I'm obsessed with her actually. And sometimes when she sleeps, I I just look at her. I do.

I'm just like, I don't know how I got you, lady. But I mean, she is honestly a wonderful human being. Yesterday I was playing 18 holes of golf with my buddies. And on the 18th hole, cuz we were struggling so bad, we said, "Shouldn't we play another 18?

It's called emergency 18." And I text my wife, "Baby, I think I need to play another 18." And she said, "Baby, absolutely no problem." And I thought, "That's my girl." Like that's my story. You know, you're like, "Wait, you were away from your family for seven hours? Come on.

We just were together for spring break." But um sometimes Chelsea after I speak can be like, "Hey, can we talk?" That was kind of all over the place and kind of unclear, but in Tennessee, she says, "Hey, that is uhoh, she just was walking in." Um she said, "That's literally one of my favorite sermons you've done in a long time."

And I spent some time in the bathtub today talking to the big guy. Like Judah, we're not calling God the big guy. Talking to the big guy. Um and I just felt inclined to do this. So, the premise I'm going to be working from tonight is um the plan is in place or a more specific and elongated title would be God's plan for your life is in place.

We're going to talk about God's plan for your life. Do you love the musicians or is that just me? I love you all so much. Um, I hate traffic. That's not a profound statement. I think we all do, don't we? I've never met anyone who's like, you know what I really need in my life is just just dead stop traffic.

You know what I miss? Just heading out, getting in my car, and just getting stuck in traffic. But, um, I was late. I was 20 minutes late to my son's volleyball game. Sue me. Um, and I walked in and I I told my friend, um, traffic was terrible.

And he looked back at me with that look, this is just a few hours ago, with kind of like, are we still doing this? Like, are we still using traffic in LA as an excuse? And literally a few months ago, I told him, I was like, "Hey, man.

I'm I'm really sorry. You know, like traffic was really bad." And and this was their response. I don't know if this has ever happened to you in LA, but this one really gets me. He said, "You know, it's LA, bro. How about plan for it? I told him I had to go and we didn't have coffee.

No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I just forgave him. Well, because I think that's rude. And and I just want to go on record to say I'm not going to plan for traffic. To me, that's like planning to die. I know it's coming, but hopefully not today. How about that?

All right. So, like, yeah, you know what? You know what? I plan for record time. Call me an optimist. Okay. The proverbial glass is half full. All right. But I I don't want to plan for traffic. I really don't. I want to believe that. Um Do you guys was anyone here during CO and did you did you go out even though we weren't supposed to.

I can't remember what the rules were to be honest. But did did did you hop in your car during CO around here and realize that this whole city is 12 minutes from everything? No, I'm dead serious. We're 12 minutes from everything. No, I'm we're 12 minutes from Orange County.

I didn't even know that. like it's unbel I can get to Laguna Beach in 11 minutes during CO. It was crazy. Um and so in my mind I'm still that I'm like it's so close. Maybe I'll stay in the bathtub a little longer. Maybe I'll brush my teeth a little bit longer.

We'll hop in the car and we'll make record time and we'll make it. Well, you're not. I'm 20 minutes late to my son's volleyball game. And and I'm sorry, but um here's my point. I was stuck in traffic in um Tennessee last week. Yeah, I don't want to brag.

Um, all right. No, it's no problem. We'll keep the stories coming and the sarcasm in hopes that at some point you'll laugh. Um, so I'm in Thank you. So, I'm in I'm in Tennessee and we're we're on a road trip. We had to we were with some friends for spring break and our kids are about the same age and we went out to South Carolina to um hang out for about five, six days.

It was it was a great time. Uh, bugs. Couldn't do it. Couldn't do it. I I I love everyone in this country and all the countries. I really, but I I'm not I'm not cut out for South Carolina. It's not It's not my place. But, um, the the the like the like gnats like um in your eyes and in your ears and you're like, "Oh, this is not enjoyable at all."

Um, but anyways, we we had a fivehour drive from where we were to my friend's church in Tennessee, and I was going to speak for him last Sunday where I tried out this sermon to see if it was good. All right, we'll just keep the jokes coming here, guys.

That's sarcasm. Anyways, so we're in the car and uh you know, I'm doing what dads do. You drive the whole way. No stops, no rest, no nothing. Kids, not a problem. And I really did. I drove the whole thing, did I not? I don't even think you offered to drive.

But, you know, the point is, we're driving and at approximately 11:30 at night, we're like we're somewhere where there's a lot of humidity and a lot of bugs. It's 11:30 at night and we're about 2 and 1/2 hours into this drive, which is like two and a half hours longer than I ever want to drive.

And all of a sudden, all I can see in front of me is red lights, tail lights. And I'm like, "Oh, no way." Like, I'm not going to like do like humidity bugs and traffic. I want to go home, you know? Like, this is this is wild. And sure enough, pull up and we are now parking lot dead stop traffic in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee.

By the way, Tennessee people are sweet. I love it. Just And the people in the south are so nice. We had we had a lady um was like Uber Eats or something. She's like delivered groceries to a house that we uh Airbnb out in South Carolina. And you guys, I'm dead serious.

And I grew up in Seattle. And if you think LA is not friendly, you should come to Seattle, okay? We're all on our computers, okay? In Seattle, like no one's talking to each other. She she she rings the doorbell and brings us our groceries. Walks into the house.

She's like, "Wow, this is nice. This really happened. This is nice. Nice spot. My My 20-year-old Zion is like, he literally, he'll tell you, he he went and and just laid down behind the couch. He was overwhelmed. He was he was like, "Why is this lady She proceeds to start telling us about her life.

Do you know how long 13 minutes is to have a perfect stranger in your house from Uber Eats?" Like, in LA, that doesn't happen in the South, okay? Like, we got in deep conversations. This is bad. But I ran into a guy by the pool and in a minute and a half I clocked it.

In a minute and a half I was already into the fact that he had broken his collarbone riding dirt bikes and his wife had told him that if you don't quit dirt bikes so you don't die for the kids, they're going to be kids without a dad and I'm going to kill you for it.

We're a minute and a half in and I'm found about Collarbones and his wife leaving him because he rides dirt bikes. And I'm like this is an overwhelming place to connect with people. This is a lot. So, we're in the middle of Tennessee. I love Tennessee. I love the all these people.

They're wonderful people, but I don't like traffic and we're dead stop. Now, if you're in traffic ever, you ever especially if it's like late, you know? Have you ever kind of pulled your car over into the median just to see like, all right, hold on a second. I want to see what's going on.

And so, I I kind of pulled the car over and it I can't see anything. Which is also a little bit discouraging because it's like, oh my word, I I can't even see it from here. like how long is this traffic jam gonna last? And then as we kind of inched our way closer eventually, you know, I'd look out and I I saw it.

Sure enough, it was a wreck. Now, here's the good news. It was a minor wreck. That's probably kind of insulting if you were in that wreck, but it wasn't a it was like a a proper fender bender, if that's okay. I don't mean to make light of wrecks, okay?

But um it wasn't a serious wreck. And everybody was, you know, everybody was good, but it was it was a wreck. and and couple of police cars were there and the fire engine and and um which is also it's a it's a lot you know for a fender bender but um so once I can kind of see that somebody's hit somebody um you know I'm not proud of this I'm not I'm not proud of this but you know what am I I'm a guy I'm human all right sue me but I started to say to myself really like what I mean I've been just guys.

And I might have said it out loud. Family's dead asleep and I am just, how should I say, taking care of the entire family by myself? It's not a problem. And um I might even said out loud, really guys, you know, you like talk to people in traffic, but no one can hear you.

Guys, just keep it moving. Like it's a fender bender. Nothing to see here. Come on. Right. And the longer you sit in that lineup, you're like, "This is this is why this is why I this is why I got to quit pastoring. People are people aren't this is dumb.

This is ridiculous. Just come on, guys. We're in the middle of Tennessee, you know. I got to get to a cult I'm preaching to. We We got to keep this thing moving." And maybe you've been there. You I don't know if you ever been there. Mostly looking at me like, "This is weird."

You're weird. But anyways, kidding. I'm kidding. I love you. Um, but you ever had that thought like, I mean, why is everyone slowing down? This is ridiculous. I'm not proud of this next part. I'm really not. But I do want to let you know that I'm self-aware enough to know that I did this.

I don't know when it was that I finally figured out it was a minor wreck, which is insulting. I know who rates wrecks. I do, but minor wreck. No one's hurt. No big deal. I assumed I I I concluded traffic should be moving at a pretty regular pace now, but it's not.

Why? Because people are stopping selfishly, slowing down to just make sure. Is everybody all right? All right, hit it, Sally. Let's go. You know, and I am aggravated telling them, "Move it along." might have been about 14 minutes to get to the site myself. And this really happened.

This happened six days ago, five days ago. When I got to the site, and I'm humiliated by my absolute fraudulent activity. I'm a hypocrite. When I got closer to the site, here's what I said to myself. This is a true story. I said, you know, I've waited all this time.

I paid the price. You know what? I think I think I deserve a little moment to check out the site. No, I'm serious. I'm I'm I'm dead serious. I had this I It wasn't non-concious. I really did this truly conscious. I said to myself, "No, seriously. I mean, I'm already here.

You know what? I suffered. They should suffer." And as God is my as my witness, I slowed down that SUV. And I just checked checked out everybody. All right. Waved to the cop. True story. How are you? And then gunned him. And then I I I a few minutes later, I literally laughed out loud.

You're a nightmare, bro. You're unbelievable. The amount of pontificating I was doing mere 14 minutes before about how ridiculous humans are and their behavior. This is insane. It's not a zoo. Keep it moving. But just give me a few moments where I arrived at the site myself. And um you ever felt like you're the exception to the rule?

You ever been pulled over for speeding? I never have. I'm a man of God, but maybe you have. And the officer says, "Do you know how not do do you know how fast you're going?" I used to say, "I've been in so many of these." I'm like, "I have experience."

I used to say, "I have no idea." Which was a lie, by the way. I've gone out of I got I have gotten out of a couple tickets by saying I know exactly how fast I was going and I'm disgusted with myself. But you guys think I'm joking.

I'm not. And that's embarrassing. I didn't make up that line. I really used it. And I had one officer say, "And I respect your honesty." And I was like, "I respect you, sir." Um, but uh Chelsea will tell you this. I'll get annoyed when um when I feel like I get in trouble for something that isn't that big of a deal.

And Chelsea will say, "You think you're an exception to the rule? You do. You don't think it should matter that you're going 7 miles an hour over the speed limit. Well, I don't I I don't think it I was Well, I Yeah, I think it's dumb that we all slow down, but everybody slowed down.

So, when I got there, I slowed down because I honestly think like it makes sense if I do it, but it doesn't make sense if other people do it. And what is that called? I think it's called a cult leader. So, I think it's called a hypocrite. I think it's called a hypocrite.

I'm a nightmare. The other night we had family dinner and I decided I was going to make an announcement at family dinner. I said, 'Look, I got I got to tell you guys something. I love these dramatic announcements. Being a dad's pretty awesome, you sit at the head of the table and you kind of get to make these big announcements.

All right, I want everyone's attention. I didn't really get it, but I said, I'm going to start working out again. That went over like a lead balloon. No response. I'm frustrated. I said, "I'm I'm I'm going to start working out again." And the only response I got from my middle son is again.

I cussed him out and then I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Um I said, "Oh, come on." He said, "Dad, you I don't" And he goes, "Wait, wait. You did say you worked out in high school, so technically, Dad, it's again, what's the point?" Do you ever say things emphatically and never do them?

Do you ever condemn be condemn people for things you do 14 minutes later? You ever start out January by saying this is going to be your year and you're going to quit coffee, but by the end of the day you're four espresso shots in. I can relate to that.

And here's the problem. My behavior leads me to a conclusion that perhaps you suffered from because I know I have. And it's very simple. And this leads us to the premise of the night and that is because of my inconsistency, because of my proverbial batting average in my lifestyle, leadership and behavior, because I have experienced the delta between what I say on stage and what I do in real life, I've made a conclusion.

God, rightfully so, has had to augment his plan for my life. Of course he has. Like I, you know, there was an ideal plan and then I was born and he's had to adjust it ever since. All right. Well, that I had this for you, but now some of you have come to environments like this enough to know that preachers like me, maybe not even meaning to, and I have to point the finger first at myself, I have preached a lot of sermons.

I've been preaching for a long time, which is wild to think about. But I preached a lot of sermons that insinuated and and and really kind of communicated that idea that, hey, listen, like, you know, I used to say, you can't stop God's plan, but you can miss it.

I disagree with myself emphatically. Now, I don't think that's the gospel. I don't think that's the message. In fact, tonight I'd like to prove to you no matter how much of a nightmare you are, God's plan for your life is exactly in place. That what God made you for, designed you for is very much still in play.

Very much still in place. In fact, I dare say in his sovereignty, big word, in his sovereignty, he pre-planned your makeup, your lips, hips, and fingertips and everything about you that would play an adorable, fun, awesome, enjoyable role in his plan for your life. Now, now let's establish something before I before we go any further because there are theologians and scholars amongst us and I want to say this.

Lest we deduce God's plan for your life to your job. Don't do that. Don't do that. It's more than that. But that's okay that you do that because we're natural. We're normal people and we constantly think how am I going to pay the bills? But but but God's plan, don't don't deduce it to a time frame.

Don't deduce it to a 401k. Don't deduce it to an income or checkings or a savings or even the city you live in. Uh I want to remind you when it comes to God's plan for your life, there is one primary plan for all of us collectively. It's very very abundantly clear in the narrative in the story book of the Bible and that is you are to enjoy God enjoying you.

That's pretty much the whole thing. What are you doing enjoying the big guy as he's enjoying me? Now don't don't miss that. Ultimately, you exist to enjoy God because I can assure you he's enjoying you. He's proud of you. He loves you. He thinks He thinks even when you're a nightmare, he thinks, "I knew you'd be a nightmare, but I still can't wipe this smile off my face, I I love you.

I love you." You ever seen a mom interviewed whose son's in prison? It's wild, right? Because everybody else can be like, "Ah, that guy, he had to go to prison." What? But you talk to the mom. That's my boy. He'll be out. He'll be out soon for good behavior.

Don't you worry. That's my That's my boy. I got news for you. You You if you earthly father know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask? That is a little old scripture from Matthew 23:23.

No, Matthew 7:11. That's right. I knew it was one of those. 7-Eleven. All right, babes. Don't that little smirk you give where you're like, I know the Bible so much better than him. It's embarrassing. Please don't do that. I forgive you. I meant that. But anyways, Matthew 7:11 proves to us that God says even the best of dads and moms down here don't even come close to his affection and his love and his care for you.

God's plan for your life, it's in place. and I'm going to prove it to you. So, here's what we're going to do. We're going to go to approximately a week after Easter, which is kind of where conveniently we find ourselves tonight. Now, I got to make a couple of more comments because I'm a pastor and this is how my brain thinks.

Side note, pause. Please don't let this distract you. How are the Lakers doing? Anyone? How we doing? Only down three. Okay, there is a God. All right, not a problem. We'll put it on up here. You know, I did that. Do you guys want to hear a funny story?

This is on you for making me tell this story. So, one time the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle were playing in a playoff football game and we had a service during the playoff. I would never do this now, but we had a scheduled service and so I decided I was going to put on the big screen behind me the coin toss.

Matt Hasselbach, Sean Alexander in Green Bay, The Coin toss. Now, at that time, Adam Sandler, who I love, had an awesome movie which included a beautiful woman in a yellow bikini. And um we had no idea that right after the coin toss, without any notice for the guys up in the booth, Adam Sandler's trailer would come on right after the coin toss.

And I'll never forget, I'm standing actually in a suit and tie and I'm standing center stage at our church in Seattle and I'm kind of looking out at the crowd going, "Am I not a good pastor showing you this football game?" And I don't know how to explain, but the next thing that happened was like a wave of a gasp.

And I'll never forget my mom went like this. And what I had no idea is there was a slow motion of a beautiful, gorgeous woman in a yellow bikini coming out of the surf onto the beach. And man, God knows what you need. All right. Wait, what? That is not the message.

But anyways, that really happened. Why did I tell that story? Any idea? All right. What's that? Oh, the Lakers. They always ask about the Lakers. Okay. All right. Well, keep me updated on the Lakers. That's awesome. That really happened, though. And it's a funny story. And if you ever get to see that trailer.

All right, Judah. John 20 19, week after Easter, this is where we're going to go. We're going to have 10 verses we're going to look at. We're going to let this story um kind of sit in front of us and see if we can't come to a similar conclusion together on this idea of God's incredible plan for your life.

Again, I did say I was going to say a couple of things before we jump right in. This is these pastoral comments I have to make. and and that is that um I I do want you to know there's a there's a reason um you're on this planet and you're not an accident.

This is not pointless and purposeless. Uh you matter infinitely to God. And I do want you to know if you hear nothing else tonight, you are valuable, significant, important, and we are not only honored that you're here, but it is our privilege to be in this life together and living in the same city, in the same era, in the same age or time of being on this planet.

God does have a plan. And I know sometimes that plan seems so hard to comprehend. See, there are people in this auditorium tonight that your struggle is not, "Have I done something so dumb that I've ruined God's plan?" But you have gone through something so painful. You're asking yourself, "Is this his plan?

Is this his plan?" And the only thing I can speak to that very quickly and say this, in the dynamic and cosmic relationship between sovereignty and free will, there is, how should I say, an allowance. That there are painful things that happen on this planet that are beyond description and beyond our understanding.

But the sacred scripture assures us that when there is calamity and when there is loss and when there is pain, and this might seem trit and silly to you because there is people dealing with all kinds of pain here tonight, but one of my dearest friends is in this room and the vet told him two days ago his dog of 14 years has less than a week to live.

And so it's time to say goodbye to his beloved dog. And you all know the journey I've been on. And if you've been in this church for more than a decade, you know I used to make fun of people with pets. And now I fight for people with pets because I love these little animals that God gives us and they're sacred and they're special and they're gift.

Now there are people here dealing with all kinds of different levels of pain. But you that's painful. My friend looked at me backstage. He said, "I cried a lot yesterday." And I said, "Good. You should, bro. That's that's that's difficult and that's painful." But the sacred scripture assures us that the things that are intended to derail us, detour us, and devastate us, God is an orchestrator, and he can work it together for something beautiful and good.

And I believe he can do that. So if you're here tonight and you're like, to be honest, Judah, this plan you speak of, I'm done. I'm out. I hope the plan is over because there's been so much pain. I want a whole different setup. Frankly, I got good news.

God can take you even in one of the most painful seasons of your life and he can work it for good. And can I just say this to an to an extent? We in this together. This is the first church service I've ever spoken at in some 36 30 plus years of preaching that somebody asked me if I was a cult leader as I walked in.

So, I'm going to be honest with you. We both dealing with some stuff right now together. Okay. And the truth is God can meet us again in his sacred story. This is that evening the disciples gathered together and because they were afraid of repi reprisals from the Jewish leaders.

This is Easter folks. This is Sunday. They were afraid of reprisals from the Jewish leaders. They had locked the doors at the place where they met. But suddenly Jesus appeared to among them and said, "Peace to you." Then he showed them the wounds of his hands and his side and they were overjoyed to see the Lord with their own eyes and he repeated his greeting.

Peace to you, he told them. Just as the father has sent me, I am now sending you. Now, as we jump into our story, let's set the stage just for a few moments together so that we're all on the same page. We understand what's happened. Jesus on Friday was crucified. the most famous crucifixion, but frankly the most famous death maybe in all of human history.

During his death, it should be noted that the earth shook, the sky went completely dark and people got out of graves. Wild stuff. So, not your average death. Now, remember Jesus, who many people today in popular culture tell us, I think Jesus is a good guy. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big pro-Jesus guy.

I think he's great and all, but I don't think Jesus is God or nothing. I think Jesus was a good guy. He was a prophet. He was a positive influencer. I really No, I back him. I think he's cool and everything, but you know, that's who I think Jesus is.

Now, that's a popular notion, but it is a um how should I say it is an illogical notion that that notion doesn't hold water at all because nobody says to the guy who's in the room talking about I'm God. You know, he's a nice guy. Nobody says to the guy at the party that's like, "You all need to eat my flesh and drink my blood."

They call that guy a cult leader. No, they they Nobody says about that guy, I really like that guy. He's a He's a positive influencer. No, no. They say either he is exactly what he says or he's not well. So Jesus did not walk around town. Now he was relatable and reachable and lovable and kind and he always stood for those who are marginalized and overlooked particularly women and children in antiquity.

Jesus is extraordinary don't get me wrong but the content of his messaging was abundantly clear. He said I am God with skin on. That's what he said. Now much was made when he said that. People are like come on bro. like you got like you got like normal hair, dog.

Like you you in fact, one passage says it wasn't like he was extra handsome or extra good-looking. He was pretty average. And this is a funny note, but I mean, by all research tells us like Jesus definitely was not a tall man. Okay, particularly back then, most people were shorter.

So, you know, Jesus might have been 5'5. Like, Judah, we can't get into the details. You don't know that. But like, so it's not like Jesus walked in and was like, "Woo, tall, handsome glass of water." No, no, he was pretty average. But, but when he said he was God, people had to kind of absorb that and be like, I mean, really?

So, here's what he did. He said, "Look, I know that's hard to stomach. I know that's hard to take. I know I look pretty average and normal. Now, I did a I did do quite a few miracles, and if my memory serves me correctly, the first one I did is I made you guys drinks at a party, which is a pretty good thing if you think about it."

All right. He said, "But but besides all the miracles, here's what I'm going to do. They're going to kill me." No, no, no, no, no. It's they're going to kill me. I came to die, but on the third day to on the third day, I'm going to undy.

And so what that's going to do for you is you're going to go, "Oh, wow." And I'm going to go, "Exactly." So then you'll know. The way you'll know I'm God is that I'll die and then I won't be dead anymore and I'll live forever and then you'll see me and you'll be like, "All right."

And then we'll be like, "Exactly." Okay. And and so that'll be kind of how I wrap this up. And then I'm going to levitate in the clouds and my spirit form will be on earth and he will remind you of who I am, what I'm about, what I taught.

He'll live with you, walk with you, move with you. It's going to be amazing. Okay, deal. So, where we find ourselves in the story is Jesus died just like he said he would. Now, again, he died and even his death should have kind of given us a little bit of a clue.

Sky went dark, earth shook. I mean, people got up out of the grave. Like, at some point, you should be, okay, this is not your normal kind of guy. This is wild. Three days later, the closest confidants and disciplined followers of Jesus are so persuaded by his prophecy that he'll rise again, they have found a little itty bitty room and they've locked themselves in for fear that they too will be crucified.

So in other words, human nature is what human nature has always been. Jesus friends, he said a lot of times to this group of people, on the third day, now if it was 17 days later, I get it. Okay, but everybody can count one, two, three. Okay, on the third day, you're going to see me again.

They don't look like they're preparing for a resurrection. So, they lock all the doors, terrified and scared. Pretty average ordinary people, sounds like to me. And all of the sudden, the undead resurrected Jesus walks through the walls, shows up in the room, and I love this part because preachers like me, um, we we love to make it so dramatic.

And and the preachers will tell you, he came in the room and he said, "Peace to you." Now, if we went to Top Golf and I ran into you and you saw me at Topgolf and I saw you at Topgolf and I said, "Peace to you." You'd be like, "He talks weird.

That'd be a weird greeting." But if I saw you at Top Golf, you saw me at Top Golf and I'd be like, "What up?" You'd be like, "My guy." When Jesus says, "Peace to you," it's not it's it's a very very normal average greeting, which I think makes the story even more enjoyable to me.

Okay. Jesus walks through the wall, appears before them, and he goes, "Hey, what's up?" And everyone's like, "Oh." First thing he does, he's like, "It's me." You start showing them the scripture says everybody gets happy. Everybody gets happy. Like yes, we knew it. Yeah, you guys look like you remembered.

Yeah, you guys good. And and and and and what does it say? And and and then it says in verse 21, he repeated his greeting, which I think is additionally funny. He he appears and he goes, "What's up?" And everyone's like, "Oh, that's right." He's like, "Yeah." And he goes, "What's up?" and nobody says anything.

And so here's the first thing of substance the resurrected Jesus says. Boy, if I had time, I would emphasize the weight and significance of what I just said a moment ago. This is the first thing of substance resurrected Jesus says to his dedicated disciplined followers. This is the first thing of substance Jesus says in his resurrected form.

He says, "Just as the Father has sent me, I am now sending you." Yeah, it's beautiful, right? It's powerful. Now, in church, we love this verse and we love this phrase. Now, if you grew up in church, you know what I'm talking about. We love to use this particular passage.

Just as the Father has sent me, I'm now sending you. Let me give you a little context and backstory. In church, there are certain particular gatherings and meetings where we will find that there are families within the church. We would often call them missionaries. And they would be families in the church who they felt compelled by God to move to Antarctica or Cambodia to preach the gospel of Jesus.

And we would all be like, "Wow, that's amazing." And then there would be an eldership and leadership and people would say, "We believe God's called you." And so then we would ask other people in the community. Are you willing to sew into their ministry for, you know, let's support them financially?

We're going to send them to Somalia. We're going to send them to the ends of the earth. They're going to go to to Iceland and they're going to preach the gospel. And so what we would do, you may not have experienced this, but this is what we would do.

We would have a meeting just like this. And and and before the preaching or right after the preaching, it doesn't really matter. The preacher would get up and he would say, "Tonight is a very special night, church." And all God's people said, "Amen." Give God a shout of praise.

And we would do all the stuff that we do, right? And then we would say, "Now, tonight we have something very special and and and and wonderful to do. We're going to ask um for the the Robertson family to come to the stage." And everybody like, "What are Robertsons?"

And the Robertsons would get up and they'd have their baby and their and their toddler. And the Robertsons would come up on the stage and we would stand and we would be we'd clear the stage and we'd be like, "Come on." And then the mom and dad are crying and we say, "Come on, mom and dad.

Come on. All the in-laws come on up with the Robertsons." And then the pastor would stand in front of the Robertsons and say, "You know, the Robertsons have felt the call of God." And everyone would be like, "Well, that's crazy. I went to school with her. I dated him.

He's crazy. I They're going to go They're going to go to the ends of the earth. Would you like to share your story?" And the Robertson step up and they hold the mic. They haven't been up in the church very much and in front of the church very much.

And he says, "I you know, baby, I don't know what you'd like to say, but we've been praying and probably about two years ago, we we felt God tugging on our heart." And she said, "We really did." And we felt all of a sudden I started seeing ice and land and land and ice.

And we started to think Iceland. And the mom's the mom's over here, right? And the dad's over here. He's got his Bible and he's holding one of the grandkids, the grandpa. He's proud of you, son. And the whole church is like, "Wow." Now, what we don't tell anybody is that most of the people in the congregation are going, "Thank you, God, for sending them and not me.

Here I am. Send them." Now, what you don't know is guys like me with mics like this almost surely quote John 20:21, but you didn't know. And right about the time the climactic concluded prayer when we're just about ready to send them to Iceland. I remember as a kid we would pray over missionaries that were leaving and then I would see him at the supermarket later that week and I was like, they didn't go.

Anyways, so the pastor lays hand and the climactic conclusion of the great sending is almost always the pastor says, "Now as the father sent Jesus, we are now sending you in the name of the father, the son, and the church and the holy ghost." Now stand your feet church and give God a shout of praise.

And they and we usher the Robertson's off the stage and everyone goes, "Wow, this is amazing. They're giving it all for Jesus." But nobody ever talks about the context of that sending. In fact, I was led to believe as a little boy in church that John 20:21, the context of that verse must be some incredible performance or behavior by the sendable people that caused them to receive such commendations from God.

I I just always imag I'm serious. I'm I'm a preacher's kid. What can I say? I would imagine in my mind that must be some sort of a mountaintop experience where butterflies and hummingbirds are flying everywhere and on the top of this mountain the most incredible man andor woman standing there who have offered their entire life.

They don't cuss, they don't smoke, they've never they can't even spell tobacco and they're on this beautiful mountaintop. They don't even know what pornography is. They're just amazing. And I always thought those were the people God sends. And then I read this story. And he says to the most terrified, unimpressive group of people, he said, "First thing of substance the resurrected Jesus says is, "So you guys are my plan.

You guys are my plan. It's you that I'm sending. And I think this holy little horrified herd of people are like now if I were to take more time and tell you the implications that Jesus unloads when he says in the same way the father God the father sent God the son is the same way I'm going to send you.

Now, I don't have time to talk about the theological implications of that parallel. This is not okay. If I'm God or this is a show and I'm the director and we're on set, I'm like, "Cut, cut, cut. Not possible. That's ridiculous. We're not saying that. These are not sendable people.

This is not sendable people. You just had to walk through the wall because they locked the doors because they're so afraid of getting crucified just like you were. These are not bold, audacious, faithfilled people. These are people who forgot what you said, don't know how to count, and frankly are only thinking about themselves.

Don't send these guys. Let's find other people to send. These are not sendable people. Or at least give them time to act sendable. I don't want to send them. I don't want to send them to the supermarket, let alone Iceland. As the father sent me, I'm sending you.

You ever felt unsendable? That's what I'm talking about. That's my guy right there. That's pretty much how I feel. You ever felt unscendable? You ever felt like, you know, and you hear guys or gals like me talking about, you know, God loves you. He's got a plan for your life.

You're like, "Yeah, I'm the exception to that rule, big dog. Ain't got any sense of me. All I do is lock doors and hide out." You've been hiding. You've been hiding lately. I know what it is to hide. All kind of things we hide behind. You've been hiding, embarrassed to admit it.

You've been hiding behind all kinds of stuff. Felt like God's given you opportunities, but you're always ducking and hiding. I I can't. No, I can't. Not today. You ever had anxiety so bad you make up stories to tell people why you can't come over? And here I am on stage on cult night, I mean God's night, telling you God wants to send you and you're like, "Oh, really, bro?

I can promise you he doesn't." Well, unfortunately, we got to go to the text and the first group. Now, first is always significant in the sacred story. Anytime there's a first, it's what we like to call it sets a precedent. So the first people resurrected Jesus sends is people who are hiding, people who are terrified.

And yet preachers like me for centuries have made you and I feel like the people that get sent are the holy people and the sacred people. But I found out something. It's the sneaky people who get sent. It's the average and ordinary people. It's the people that think Schledge is going to protect their life.

You know what I'm talking about? Deadbolt Company. No big deal. You think locking doors is gonna save you. It's adorable. Of all the things we do as humans, we still tell each other. I do it, too. Wait. You lock the door. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All right. Everything's great.

This is so adorable what we do now. Everything will be fine. So Schlledge has got you covered, huh? They're just going to Is that how you say it? You guys don't think I'm saying it right. Is it Schledge? I don't know. They spawn They gave us money tonight for the the the sermon, so I had to mention them.

I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Can you imagine? Start building in ads. But it is funny, isn't it? How we do the same thing. We lock ourselves in thinking, "All right, the story gets w it gets crazy." I'm just tell we hadn't even got to the crazy part. I know this is why.

Okay, we'll keep reading. Verse 22. And taking a deep breath, Jesus blew on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Do you ever think about if his breath smelled good? I bet it did. He's resurrected. You know what I mean? Probably smelled like eucalyptus. And now the sending gets like, by the way, he breathes on them because that's indicative of creation account in Genesis.

It's a rebirth. It's a new beginning. It's a new start. It's a new earth. It's a new way to be human. It's the whole thing, right? And so don't don't think it's weird like he blew on them. Oh my word, this is so weird. No, it's it's it's a portrait.

It's a picture. It's it's he's telling them and he says, and now he gets real serious about this sending. He goes, "Now I want to send you with one primary message. I got a message. This is going to be the message." And you guys, you're not going to believe the message that they were said to and this is supposed to be the message that we preach today.

And which is wild because I don't Anyways, this is wild. I know we preach a lot of sermons and it's cool and I think it's awesome, but do you know there's like one particular sermon we're supposed to I send you to preach about sin. That's not what it says.

I get so many emails from people like you asking me to preach on sin more. And I'm like, "Oh, no. I can't. I'm not allowed to. My job is to preach about something greater than sin, something that defeated sin, something that solved sin, something that overcome sin. It's the forgiveness of sins."

Yeah. And listen to what I love. Oh, I love Jesus. He says, "And and then people will be forgiven. You just got to tell them." Okay. How I love this. And he goes, "But if you don't tell them they're forgiven, they'll just live guilty." And boy, guilt will make you live a crazy life.

Compensating, comparing, competing. Guilt. It might be the thing that's hurting us the most in this world. And you know what's wild? Pre preachers like me with microphones, we perpetuate guilt in the name of the gospel. When in fact, we are supposed to be alleviators of guilt with the proclamation of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, which produces victory over all the dumb stuff you do, and so do I.

So that's the message. That's not even really one of my points, but it's a good one. So, he says, uh, one of the 12, the scripture says, verse 24, you guys seeing this, okay, I'm not making it up. One of the 12 wasn't pre Good timing, Elijah. I love you.

One of the 12 wasn't present when Jesus appeared to them and his name was Thomas. He has a nickname called the twin. I think that's a great side note. Jesus has nicknames, my guy. So, the disciples informed him. Now, listen to this. This is this is true story.

This is wild. The disciples said, "Hey, Thomas, we know you were like down at the market or whatever. You were at the like at the flea market, you know, getting furniture and stuff, but like the thing is we we we seen them with our own eyes." Watch this.

Still unconvinced, Thomas said, "No way." Now, hold on. Let's put a little context to this. How many people were in that itty bitty lock little room? 10, 12? Well, we know at least 10. 11. We know Judas wasn't there. All right, let's not get into it now. Okay.

But like probably 20, 30, 40. So you mean to tell me you ever had dedicated doubt? You ever had committed doubt? You ever had disciplined doubt? You know, doubt that is loud and proud. Do you want me to tell me 20, 30 people told Thomas, "I saw him.

I saw him. I saw him. I saw him. I saw him. I saw him. I saw him." And Thomas proceeds to go, "No, you didn't. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Like, well, dang, Thomas. You are really dedicated to your doubt, slugger.

Look at you. I mean, this guy, this is not average doubt. This is not emotional doubt. This is kind of angry doubt, bitter doubt, annoyed doubt. Now, we're getting somewhere. Some of you are here and you're convinced God doesn't have a plan for your life because you're not just neutral.

You're mad at God. And I would like to propose to you. I think the reason Thomas said, "No, you didn't know. You didn't know. You didn't know. You didn't know." Because he's disappointed in Jesus. He said, 'Nah, nah, it didn't happen. I mean, at some point, somebody had to be like, "You're an idiot.

You think we all are in this lie together? We saw him, Thomas. Now, I know you're upset that you weren't there. Your fault, not ours." He's like, and listen, it gets gory. This is rude. It's crude. It's honestly, it's it's it's not cool at all. He says, he says, "You know what?

No way, bro. Here's the truth. Unless I personally see the wounds of the nails in his hands. It gets weirder. And I want to touch, which is weird because you can't like, you know, he he's like, I want to put my fingers in the holes. All right, Thomas.

This is this is obscene. This is ridiculous. Grow up, bro. No, no, no. I want to touch him with my fingers and put my hand in the wound that I saw they pierced him with. You're not going to believe how this story unfolds. Eight days later, now here, now we're getting somewhere.

Everything that I've said so far was introduction. The next two hours will be the sermon God told I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm coming to a close. Elijah's here. He's playing a piano. Everybody relax. Eight days later, which is ballpark kind of where we are. About a week after Easter, Thomas and all the others were in the house together.

Even though all the doors were locked, we're doing this again. One week, friends, and they're lock back to locking doors. You think you're a nightmare? You ever seen the tangible manifest, physical manifest? Jesus walk through the walls of your house and show up and show you the wounds in his hands and his side and one week later take things back into your own hands.

You're doing better than you think you are, friend. I'm dead serious. You're doing better than you think you are. It says, "And they were all together, and I swear to you, I mean, I'm a man of God. I can't swear, but I do. But I sw that that I thought the text would read like this.

Eight days later, Thomas and all of those were together in the house and every window and door were open and they had the guitar out and they were singing how great is our God. Sing with me, how great is our God. and and and then those who were passing by in the villages and the towns would stop to listen as Chris Tomlin I mean the disciples were singing loudly for all to hear.

God is resurrected. Nope. They're scared again. They're tired again. Jesus hasn't shown up for a week now. It was good when he did. It was good. It was we unlocked the doors back then and we we did Easter man was a great day but you know I'm a week in now and we haven't really heard much from him.

So um like like here's here's how my brain thinks. Who was the first one to say um should we lock the doors again? How you feeling? You know cuz I wouldn't want to be the guy that's like I say we lock the doors again. Oh come on bro.

We saw him, dog. I know. I'm just saying. I don't think it's not that bad of an idea since we're here. Why leave him unlocked? Let's lock him. But evidently, somebody at some point said, "Let's lock the doors." And everyone was like, "Yeah, yeah, word. For sure. Let's do that.

Let's do that." Okay. Now, now, now, now we're getting somewhere. Cuz if I'm Jesus in the story, this appearance is going to go a little bit different. That's the lock room. One week later, they're back in there. What are they doing? What are they doing in that room?

I don't know. Playing poker. Probably not. Just sitting around scared. Jesus. Look what this says. Jesus suddenly before them. Guess what he says? Hey, what's up? Not me. I walk through the walls this time and this is how it goes. First of all, dead silence. And I I stroll through the room like this and then I say this.

Really? Really? Insert football coach halftime speech. Really? You think this is how we're going to change the world? You guys sitting in here like scaredy-cats when the world out there is dying and needs to know I'm alive. Peter, did it ever occur to you you're the oldest? Did it ever occur to you the captain of this team and we're all counting on you?

I got to know what got into you guys. You're not acting like I believe I and and we do the whole coach speech. That's how our preaching sounds because we think God is a lot like the American football coach. By the way, football coaches need to be football coaches and that's awesome.

But I got good news. They are nothing like God. Nothing like God. Instead, he comes back to the room. Friends, it's this simple. Eight days later, zero progress. Eight days later, the starting team hasn't even played a game. And he walks in and he goes, "Hey guys," and I got to tell you, these are the stories I read.

And I go, "I got to get to know that guy. because the guy I've been told about. That's not how I saw that going. Chelsea told me, Bonhaofer, the great writer, thinker, theologian, said, "When when we ask questions about God, we should ask questions to God." Oh God, help us as we sit in our locked rooms pontificating about the nuances of God when he's in the room waiting to be asked.

So we're going to ask God tonight in this room. Not just going to talk about him. He's here. So let's talk to him because the guy who appears the second time, I didn't see him coming, bro. I thought for sure he was about to drop a real deep lecture.

Instead, he appears with evidently must be some sort of positive facial expression as he says, "Hey, what's up?" Watch this. You can't make this up. Look at the next verse. Then, are you reading this? Looking into Thomas's eyes, what? So evidently he's come for one primary reason. He has come for one person.

So evidently Jesus walks through walls for one pe one person. And it's the most dedicated doubter of the whole group. He walks around the room. Now can you imagine the tension in that room as everyone's like, "I wonder who he's looking for. Oh, it's not me." And then at some point as he's moving towards Thomas, everyone's like, "Of course."

Get him. We've been annoyed for a week with this guy. And he walks over and the scripture wants you to know. He looks into his eyes. Now, come on. You You can say, "I don't know this, but I know this. I think it was hard to make eye contact for Thomas."

You ever been there with God? He's looking in your eyes and you feel like I Yeah. Yeah, I know. Now again, this is where if I'm Jesus, I look at Thomas and say, "They weren't lying, dog. I'm here." This really happens, guys. You can't make this up. Watch what happens.

Jesus eye contact with Thomas. Look what he says. You read it for yourself. He says, "Okay. I heard what you said. I heard what you said and so I've come to give you exactly what you said you needed." Watch this. He says, "Put your finger in there." Not sarcastically, not manipulatively.

Evidently, even when we state our doubts, God can hear them like prayers. And he says, "Go ahead." And he say, "Put put your" and he says, "Go ahead. Put your hand in my side. Listen to these words. I got to get to know this guy, man." He says, "Thomas, don't give into your doubts any longer.

Just believe." I mean, where do you think Thomas is at at this point emotionally, physically, mentally, internally, externally? I mean, Thomas must be shaking under the influence of commitment and love and care like he's never known. These are moments as a dad, as a husband, as a friend, as a pastor.

I'm overwhelmed with God. Is this your standard of loving people? Because Thomas, he he made light of your appearance and yet you heard about it and you showed up to give him exactly what he said he needed. Even though what he said he needed was almost tongue and cheek and he was actually being kind of rude and crude about it.

But you showed up and you looked him in his eyes and you said, "I've come to give you what you say you need." And then and then he ends the whole story, at least the part we're going to end on tonight, by talking about you. But before we do that, look at verse 28.

Is it up there? Look at this. So here's if you ask me why I do what I do. If we were at Topgolf together, Judah, why do we keep talking about Top Golf? But if we were at Top Golf together and for whatever reason between hitting five irons and three woods and such, you said to me, "Hey, can I ask you a question?

You 46 now?" "Yeah, 46. All these years, dog, you've been doing this. Why are you doing this?" I would tell you, I mean, cuz I never met nobody like Jesus. Like, I'm really in love with him. But eventually, the best way I could explain to you why I'm doing why I'm doing what I'm doing is is right here.

It says this about Thomas. The encounter he had with Jesus was so magnificent and magnanimous and extraordinary. It says, "Then the words spilled out of his heart." Did you catch that in the text? So the text is telling you that now we know where Thomas is emotionally. Thomas is so overwhelmed with a thing called love that he makes no premeditated cognitive thought about what should I say or how should I say what I should say?

What's the best thing to say in this moment? He's so overcome with the most tangible manifest love he's ever experienced. What comes out of his heart is a profound, deep, rooted confession of faith. He says, "You're him. You're him. You're my Lord. You're my God. You're what I've been looking for my whole life, bro.

You're him. You're what I'm looking for. Sorry, I didn't know you're him. That's what I'm doing. I promise you. To me, that's it. If I can assist you using a gift God gave me to talk so long. It's only once a month, though. We got to work on this cult thing.

But if my gift can shed a little bit of light on the reality and extensiveness of his extraordinary love and essence so that your soul can get to that place where you finally say without thinking about it, I've been looking for you my whole life, you're him. Then to me it's worth it.

To me it's worth it. And it occurs to me that we do a lot of venting and performing and gathering and lighting and singing and speaking and amplifying and but I think the goal is is that John 20:28 happens to us at some point where his goodness just renders you undone.

Not his condemning, directing, leading go. His essence so overwhelms you that your soul finally says, "So, so you're it. You're the desire of all the nations. You're what I've been looking for on the internet. You're what I've been looking for at parties and events. You're what I've been looking for in work and income.

You're what I've been looking for in skin care and diets and social skills. And it's nice to be home, you know. And I think that's what overwhelms me tonight is that um Thomas is so like you and me. He's just mad at Jesus. He's just upset because he's like, "He's gone, bro, and it sucks and I don't like this and I think it's dumb and we gave everything and where is he and what's going on?"

And Jesus shows up not to say to Thomas, "Dude," he just is like, "I know this is what you need. It's okay. I can give it to you. I can give it to you. This is what you need. So, I'm going to give it to you." And it occurs to me that this has not happened to Thomas yet.

Do you know what I mean? Do you know what I mean? Thomas has been with Jesus and he likes Jesus a lot and he really likes him. I think he loves him. But it's not until post-resurrection when Jesus says, "If you need to put your fingers in my scars, I'm here.

You can do it." And I think Thomas is lost it when he's actually doing what he kind of said he needed, but he didn't realize what he was saying. And then he says, "So, you're him. I see. And um that's what I want for you. That's what I want for you more than anything.

And I think that um that's the goal of all this. And I think that's the goal of all the worship albums and all the preaching podcasts and all the books we're writing. This is the goal, guys. Let's not get it twisted. I think your disciplined behavior and your social uh uh your um devotions and everything is so awesome.

And I think it's awesome. But this has to happen, bro. And I can't make that happen. You can't make that happen. But he will make it happen. And so then Jesus ends with this. And I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. In Tennessee, this was a lot shorter. They just have less problems, so it's easier to talk to them.

I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Come on, everybody. Relax. Look straight forward. It's a cult. Jesus responded and said, um, Thomas, now that you've seen me, you believe it's good. Um, it is rare, I'm a mess. It is rare in scripture where you and I are directly referenced, but this is one of them.

He says, 'You know, but there's going to be people in the future who've never seen me with their eyes, but will believe in me with their hearts. And I know that you feel so overwhelmed with blessing right now, Thomas, but those people will be even more blessed than you.

Now, please bear with me as I try to get through this because the implications of this are so astronomical, it's hard for us to really absorb this. So, listen closely. The word blessed there, it's it's its actual meaning is spiritually secure. So bear with me. What Jesus is trying to tell you is the work that he wants to do in your soul is going to make you more spiritually secure than the way Thomas was.

God help me. When he put his fingers in the wounds of Jesus' hand. And the reason I'm crying is because um I think we are so spiritually insecure. It's it's debilitating many people today. We are so unsure of God's love. We are so unsure of God's calling. We are so unsure of God's favor.

We are so unsure of God's affection. And so we are insecure. Um, we're anxious and we're fearful because our heavenly father must be disappointed in me. And his disappointment, it plagues us. And um, there are people that didn't come tonight, not because I'm not a good speaker, they didn't want to hear me.

They were just like, I can't do it, bro. I'm a nightmare. I'm a big disappointment. One service ain't gonna make a difference. I'm a joke, bro. It's only once a month. And last time I was there last month, I swore I would never. And it's all I've done this month.

I'm I can't keep doing this game. And you've concluded much like your earthly relationships that this is performancebased contractual agreement. And I don't fault you for that because that's normal. This weekend I will perform a wedding for some near and dear friends. And in that wedding there will be an agreement based on performance.

In the actual vows it says basically I love you and you love me, right? And if you will love me, I will love you and I will love you and you will love me. And that's basically how a wedding goes. And everyone's there to go, all right, they agreed.

They made a commitment. We're going to hold them to it. And that's how we think God is. I don't have enough words, vernacular, vocabulary, or time to articulate adequately that there is a God who is in love with you and you can't do anything about it. You can't do anything about it.

He's not going anywhere. He's just there because he made you to enjoy you and he loves you. And he knew every idiosyncrasy and propensity and error and wrong and selfish deed you would ever do. But he loves you. And in your most disgusting, deplorable, dedicated, doubtful days, he hears the frustration of your mumblings like prayers.

And perhaps he will show up to give you exactly what you need. But he made me a promise that if Thomas seems blessed in our story, I will be even more blessed. What does that mean? It means that I will fully absorb the finished work of Jesus on the cross and I will believe that the love of God in and over and around my life is immovable and eternal.

And I am secure. I am forgiven. I am his. And that won't change. Your perspective of me can change, but his love for me will not. That's the thing. All right. The truth is this week I had a friend that was from Tennessee, actually, and he texted me and he said, "So, you're a cult now?"

And I thought about not texting him back because I was like, "What a mean thing to say. And I text back, haha. But I never laughed. I cried. I cried. I thought, man, this is wild. I never saw this one coming. And then I think I text, "Is that a question?"

He's like, "Nah, we good, bro." I was like, "That's really affirming." I had another person send me a voice memo this week. Hey, I just want you to know I actually still think you actually care about people. I was like, huh, that didn't come across as a compliment.

Life is wishy-washy. You know, people change their feelings about you, but God never does. He never does. So, if you can find a better arrangement, find it. Tell me about it, and I'll go give my whole life to it. I promise. Promise. But until somebody can outdo this man, I'm his because I've never found love like this.

Love so sure, love so secure, love so wonderful, love so true, love so pure. And um I want you to know that because it can change everything. In fact, it might not change anybody around you, but oh, it'll change you. It'll change you. And I tell you one thing it'll do for you.

It'll help you forgive a lot faster. And the more you forgive, the freer you'll be. And um you can keep being exactly who God made you to be. I got good news tonight and I'm done. The plan of God in your life. It's in place. You're ascendable. You are his choice and he loves you and he has a great plan for your life.

And so I hope tonight in some small way you get in your car. Hopefully you're not driving because driving sucks, especially road trips. But maybe you get a smirk on your face at some point tonight and giggle to yourself thinking. I'm his. I'm called. I'm favored. He's got a plan for my life.

I like to say this to my kids. It'll always work out. It always does for me. You ever had one of those annoying friends? People just pay for their meals, give them free coffees at Starbucks. like it always works out for you. What if you became one of those people?

I just started to believe it just works out for me. I'm his favored. I'm loved. Let me pray for you. God, I am um officially um stunned by your love. I never met anybody like you. I just think you're indescribable. We're going to be honest tonight, though. We read this story about Thomas, and there are parts of us that wish something like that would happen to us.

The truth is, we need you to show up over and over. Maybe eight days ago, you showed up, but God, we need you to show up today. Tonight, I'm asking as a gift that you would grant your children spiritual security in ways they have never experienced before. Assurance, confidence, boldness.

Grant us the gift of being rooted and grounded in your love. Thank you, God. If you're here tonight, you say, "Judah, I would like to accept the free gift of forgiveness that Jesus made possible through his death, burial, and resurrection." I am not asking you to observe all the traditions and disciplines of a dedicated Christian.

I'm I'm not asking that. I'm simply asking, would you be willing to accept that Jesus is who he says he is? God, Savior, forgiver, and deliverer. If you would like to receive that free gift, it's yours tonight for free. If that's you and you want that free gift, would you just slip up your hand and you can put it right back down, take that gift.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. We raise our hands for us. That's all God already knows. But that's you just even notifying your brain and body, hey, this is happening. This is real. Jesus is God and I want him in my life. Lastly, and I'm just going to ask for this moment if you don't mind, just try your best not to look around.

There's some people here. You are almost frozen with fear, overcome with anxiety, riddled with the idea that God's plan has fallen apart in your life. I need to pray for you, friend, because I think I've been preaching to you all night, man. I need to pray especially for you.

So, if what I just said for some odd reason makes a lot of sense to your soul, would you raise your hand? And I want to include you in this prayer. Wow. Yeah. So God, you knew these extraordinary humans would be in this room tonight. And I am asking that if what you did for Thomas is so grand and you say what you'll do for us will be even more grand.

We say then then then let it be so. Grant your children spiritual security by the sense of your nearness and the reality of your love right now in this moment. You are here. You are near. You are wonderful, indescribable. And we thank you for