all of you and every campus to lift up

Ahmadi Thrace to a risen Savior

Kingdom

this Sam

if y’all don’t quit I’ll just keep

Rocking

I ain’t ashamed of my roots I came out

on those shouting searches I came out of

one movie they’ve brought up and young

many of you don’t know what I’m talking

about and I’m giving away a secret but I

came from churches like where they

shouted so bad that sometimes they’d

knock holes in the sheetrock in fact if

I know what I’m talking about

I wish we would around here every once

in a while tell somebody I’m gonna

praise the Lord if he’ll sit in that

seat I’m gonna praise the Lord turn 2 to

3 people say it’s time to braise the

long

you can be seated that’s amazing that’s

amazing well welcome all of you here

today all of you and the overflows all

of you down in Spartanburg and Buford

Midtown’s having the first morning

service this morning in that awesome

coming is going to double services and

Orange County is meeting in the Bren

Center that seats over 6000 and they’re

packing that out out in California and

here we are in G Ville and in the Lord

blessing us I mean if you’d like to hear

just a little bit more of that I know

you would and it’s not fair to whoever

arranges the services to let them sing

and then me have to preach behind that I

don’t appreciate that it’s kind of act

anti-climatic from this point forward

but God is in this house and it’s pretty

exciting and it’s alive

and I’m believing God today to touch you

in a powerful powerful way if you have

your Bibles I do want to read the

miraculous story of Easter that’s found

in the New Testament Luke 24 you can

look on the screens now on the first day

of the week very early in the morning

certain other women came with them to

the tomb bringing the spices which they

had prepared turned to somebody and say

so that’s the Spice Girls and they found

the stone and rolled and it was rolled

away from the tomb and they went in

listened and did not find the body of

the Lord Jesus and it happened as they

were greatly perplexed about this that

behold two men stood by them in shining

garments which tells me it wasn’t men it

was angels then as they were afraid and

bound their faces to the earth they said

to them what a great question why do you

seek the living among the dead he is not

here

but he is risen remember how he spoke to

you when he was at still in Galilee

saying the Son of Man must be delivered

in the hands of sinful men and be

crucified and on the third day rise

again and then they remembered his words

it’s a powerful powerful thing to

understand what happened at Easter a

great great preacher who has gone on to

be with the Lord left a legacy of two

remarkable sermons one of the sermons

that became quite famous from dr. SM

Lockridge he was an African American

pastor and preacher so leader in the

civil rights movement March with dr.

King but even more notable than that was

his ability to preach Jesus from the

pulpit he had a famous sermon that was

called that’s my king and it became

world-famous and whether you realize it

or not you’ve heard it you’ve heard bits

and pieces of it there’s not a preacher

in the nation that hasn’t taken some of

it at some point and if they if they

haven’t they’re just young and haven’t

discovered it yet but it’s a remarkable

remarkable sermon then his second sermon

that became famous that sometimes

someone will say something and it

becomes something that lives for

generations and that’s what’s happened

with his second sermon it was called

it’s Friday but Sunday’s coming you know

if you get a title like that you don’t

have to preach good if you can just come

up with a good title it’s Friday but

Sunday’s coming it’s three minutes of a

sermon but it’s three minutes of truth

that are profound and I want you to hear

them from the lips of this great

preacher and let the message settle in

and I’ll come right back check this out

it’s Friday Jesus is praying Peters are

sleeping

Judas is betraying but Sunday’s coming

it’s Friday

pilots struggling the counselor is

conspiring

the crowd is vilified they don’t even

know that Sunday’s coming it’s Friday

the disciples are running like sheep

without a shepherd

Mary’s crime Peter is denying but they

don’t know that Sunday’s are coming it’s

Friday

the Romans beat my Jesus they go him in

Scala they crown him with those but they

don’t know that Sunday’s comes

it’s Friday see Jesus walking to count

his blood dripping his bodies stumble

and his spirits burden but you see it’s

only five Sundays come

it’s fine the world’s winning people

arson and evils grinning it’s right the

soldiers nail my saviors hands to the

cross they nailed my saviors feet to the

cross and then they raised him up next

to criminals it’s Friday but let me tell

you something

Sunday’s come it’s right the disciples

are questioning what has happened to

their king and the Pharisees are

celebrating that they’re scheming has

been achieved but they don’t know it’s

only five Sundays

it’s fine he’s hanging on the cross

feeling forsaken by his father left

alone and done can’t nobody save them

all its fries but Sunday’s come it’s

right the earth trembles the sky grows

dark my king yields his spirit

it’s Friday hope in love death has one

sin has come and Satan’s justa laughing

it’s fried Jesus is buried a soldier

stands guard and a rock is rolled into

place but it’s fried

it is only fried sunday is a cup

[Music]

that’s better so I want to preach part

two of his sermon and it’s simply this

he was right he was preaching Calvary

was Friday but Sunday’s coming but I

want to preach good news today that is

Sunday it’s Easter Sunday and Jesus is

coming just like he said he would he’s

coming again there is no Easter Sunday

without horrible Friday’s the sky grew

dark the earth began to tremble what a

horrible horrible thing that was heard

as Jesus uttered from the cross my

father my father why have you forsaken

me the veil was torn in the temple Jesus

hanging on the cross heaven is weeping

hell is rejoicing the perfect man Jesus

Christ is dying a hideous death on the

cross Satan thought he had destroyed

Jesus on Friday Satan thought that the

battle was won for hell on Friday but

three days later a mighty angel was

dispatched from heaven he rolled the

stone away and Jesus Christ stepped out

of that tomb when he died on the cross

he was a silent lamb but when he rose

from the dead and stepped out of that

tomb he was no longer a silent lamb he

was the Lion of the tribe of Judah and

he was roaring with resurrection power

and today the message is he is not here

in that tomb he is risen

it’s Sunday it’s Easter Sunday and our

Savior has humiliated hail our Savior

has outwitted Satan he has overpowered

the grave he has caused sin to bow its

knee he has defeated the strategies of

hell

you and against your family he has taken

your sin and your shame and he is

pronounced that you are forgiven and you

are a child of the Most High God it’s

Sunday and Jesus is coming again do you

believe that say man somebody if you

want to really understand this day what

atheists don’t understand what Christian

critics don’t understand is you can’t

just go to the story of Christmas and

stop of a baby being born you can’t just

go to the cross and realize that he died

for our sins and stop

you don’t understand Christianity if you

do that you can’t even come to Easter

and say because there’s an empty tomb

then the program of God is complete

because that is not the end you have to

go to the back of the book and when I go

to the back of the book it tells me that

it’s Easter Sunday

but it’s not over he has conquered the

grave he has conquered sin but one day

he’s coming back again the trumpet is

going to sound and ain’t no grave gonna

hold our bodies down the trumpet is

gonna sound there is going to come a

change in the moment in the twinkling of

an eye we’ll be caught up together to

meet the Lord in the air it’s Sunday but

Jesus is coming I love that line that s

in Lockridge said he said the world is

winning people are sinning and evil is

grinning but I want to say is Sunday

they may be grinning and winning and

sinning but Jesus is coming and we

better be ready we better get our hearts

ready we better get our families ready

because he’s coming soon he’s coming

soon you can’t take half the gospel and

it doesn’t in at the tune he’s coming

soon I’ve read the back of the book and

his Sunday

but Jesus is coming I want you to know

that we don’t celebrate a resurrection

only that happened 2,000 years ago but

we celebrate another resurrection that

is coming for those who have died in the

Lord your mothers your father’s your

children your sons your husband’s your

wives people that you love people that

you miss people that you think about

people that your heart was warned while

she was singing a few moments ago ain’t

no grave gonna hold and you couldn’t

help but see before me my father’s faced

flash this gone on to be with the Lord

my brother’s face came before me and

other ones my grandfather people that

I’ve loved and people in this church

that that I preached their funeral but

one of these days the trumpet is going

to sound and we’re going to a land where

there is no more death no more crying no

more sign no more pain for the former

things will be passed away and I want to

remind Satan that one angel is going to

chain him and throw him in a bottomless

pit and ultimately he’s going to burn in

the lake of fire that I’ll never go to

because Jesus is alive it’s Sunday but

Jesus is coming

give him a praise if you believe it at

every campus give him a mighty praise

right now hallelujah

Calvary was a tremendous temporary

victory for Satan and all of Hell it’s a

true story about the war between England

and France Napoleon had invaded England

and everyone knew in that nation of

England that if they didn’t make a stand

and stop Napoleon at a place called

Waterloo the whole nation would fall

they would all go into captivity so the

Battle of Waterloo became critical the

British captain was named Wellington he

was overall the Armed Forces

would fight Napoleon in his powerful

army they had never been defeated back

then they had signalman that would stand

on mountains and they would send signals

from mountaintop to mountaintop from

signalman one to another until they

reached the City of London there in

London thousands upon thousands of

people back in those days the only form

of communication they they erected a big

billboard as massive as they could see

so that everybody in the streets of

London could look up and see how the

battle had ended at Waterloo they knew

if Wellington had been defeated at

Waterloo then the battle was over and

they were going to become slaves to

Napoleon and his armies so they waited

watching and the signal started coming

from the battlefield how the battle had

gone and just as it would happen this is

a true story

the fog started setting in as if you’ve

ever been there to London it can come

suddenly out of nowhere and as the man

was riding on the Billboard with red

paint he wrote these words and then the

fog came and it covered but all they

could see was two words that he wrote

Wellington defeated Wellington defeated

the people of London their hearts sank

in fear many began to tremble and cry

and some ran to their homes and lock the

doors and others stood in the streets

dumbfounded heartbroken realising that

their nation would never be the same

Wellington defeated was the message but

as some were still standing in the

streets the fog began to lift some time

later and someone happened to look up

and they realized that the message had

been obscured in its entirety one word

was missing it said Wellington defeated

and the word missing was Napoleon nobody

knew it didn’t look like it and now son

the Weeping turned into rejoicing

suddenly the people realize that that

Napoleon didn’t defeat our general but

our general defeated Napoleon and they

were rejoicing and they were stansson in

the streets two thousand years ago on

the cross when they put Jesus crammed

that crown of thorns on his head and

stabbed him in his side and pierced his

heart up through his abdomen ripped his

back to pieces and it looked like that

it was over inhale put up a big

billboard Jesus Christ defeated and all

of hell was laughing in all of heaven

was weeping but three days later at the

dawning of a new day suddenly the fog

lifted and the message was not when

Jesus came out of that tomb Jesus Christ

defeated it was Jesus Christ defeated

Satan he defeated hell he defeated the

grave and he defeated your sin and shame

somebody give the Lord a praise I’m glad

that Calvary was the devil’s Waterloo I

[Applause]

heard a story the other day already

actually about a man who was in a hurry

walking home and he decided that he

needed to take a shortcut and it was

very dark this night and he had to go

through a cemetery and he had to walk

through it with no lights and he was

walking and I guess he was a little

freaked out and he was looking around

hearing strange sounds and he walked and

fell right into a grave that had been

fresh freshly dug they were probably

gonna put a coffin in there the next

morning and when he hit the bottom of

that grave he jumped and he called and

he did everything he could to try to get

out but it was too deep and he could not

get out after trying for about 30

minutes and sweating and he finally just

said in

dark corner of that grave that’s so dark

that you couldn’t even hardly see your

hand in front of you he said in the

shadow of that corner of that grave and

just said to himself I’ll wait for the

Sun to come up and somebody will come

find me tomorrow while he was sitting in

that shadow along comes another man and

he falls into the same grave on the

other end and he naturally and quickly

starts grabbing and clawing and

scratching trying to get his trying to

lift himself out of that grave and he

can’t get out he tries and tries and

tries and finally after about ten

minutes he just sits down in the side of

the grave and he thinks to himself well

I can’t get out and suddenly while he’s

sitting there he hears from the other

end of that dark grave a voice and the

voice said you can’t get out of here but

he did when they put Jesus in that tomb

all the demons in Hell and death itself

said you can’t get out of here but I

promise you he did he did it for me he

did it for you he paid the price he

conquered death hell and the grave tell

somebody besides you he did it it’s

Sunday but Jesus is coming I told them

at the Good Friday service the word

Easter I felt needed to carry more

significance and so I just did a simple

little outline that I want to close with

this morning I want you if you’ve got a

pen or a piece of paper to write this

down if you’ve got a phone I want you to

make a note and I want you to remember

what I’m about to share with you over

the next six minutes but there there are

the letters of the word Easter write

them down EAS ter write it like that and

the

stands for Emmanuel the message of

Easter is God is with us

the message of Easter is Jesus came and

he was God in skin if you want to know

what God is like don’t go to the Old

Testament and read how the kind of a it

almost looks like God was dealing with

sin in the Old Testament there there it

was brutal I for I it you had to pay the

price of sin had to be paid but if you

really want to know what God is like

Jesus said if you’ve seen me you’ve seen

the father you want to know how God

looks at you they look at Jesus how did

he treat people he was never mad at

anybody

he was never angry at anybody except

Pharisees and hypocrites but to people

who were hurting to people who were

called in sin to people who had failed

miserably to people who had messed up he

would throw his arms around them the

woman caught in the act of adultery the

woman living with married five times and

living with number six he didn’t condemn

her he said neither do i condemn you go

and sin no more he said I give you

living water that’s who Jesus is if you

want to know how God loves look at Jesus

if you want to know how God thinks look

at Jesus you would not be afraid of

Jesus you some of you are afraid of God

you don’t understand who he is you think

he’s like Zeus the Greek god the

pictures of Zeus he has one finger

pointing and he has with the other arm a

lightning bolt and he’s just waiting on

you to mess up and that’s some of many

of you have an image of God like that

and he’s waiting on you to mess up and

when he does he’s gonna get you real

good that is not the god of the New

Testament the god of the New Testament

whose name is Jesus says I love you I

took your sins away I paid the price all

I want to do when I catch you is love

you and bless you and raise you and

forgive you and restore you and be with

you wherever you go

Emmanuel God is with us and then there

is the a which stands for atonement the

word atone that means at one meant that

we were separated from God but

on that day of atonement Jesus on the

cross made us one at one met with God he

said no longer will I be separated from

you from your because of your sin but my

blood cleanses you my blood pronounces

you guiltless my blood says that your

past is forgiven and Easter stands for

Emmanuel God is with me

Easter stands for I have atonement my

sins cannot I don’t have to listen to

the haunting of the ghost of guilt there

is no condemnation because of the

atonement blood of Jesus Christ and then

thirdly there’s the Emmanuel and there’s

there’s the atonement but then there is

the thank you sunrise sunrise sunrise

you saw my said you spelled it wrong

Noah didn’t we had a sunrise service

this morning out there and had one at

Lake Lanier and hundreds of people were

gathering it was beautiful but I’m not

talking about that kind of sunrise issue

and I’m talking about Esso in the

message of Easter is that God doesn’t

just forgive you that God has called you

his son his daughter and it’s a call for

the sons of God the daughters of God to

as many as believed on him to them gave

he the power to become not the slaves of

God not even the servants of God he

doesn’t see you as that he sees you as a

son as a daughter and he says I want you

to rise to sonship I want you to rise to

a place of reigning in life I want you

to be blessed I want you to succeed I

want you to have destiny and dreams and

purpose connected to your life and I

want you to rise so that sonship rise to

that place where I have called you to be

you are a daughter of the Most High God

you are a son of the Most High God and

the S stands for sonship then I want you

to see that the T stands for truth

there’s a powerful verse in numbers they

can throw it up and it says is God a man

that he can lie numbers 14 and our 23

says God is not a man that he can lie

nor the son of man listen to this that

he should repent listen now has God ever

made you a promise

listen to what he says he says has he

said it and he will not do it I know the

Lord told me that he had somebody for me

but I’ve been waiting a long time and I

hadn’t met him yet

as the Lord said it and will he not do

it has the Lord spoken it and he will

not make it good did he not say I know

the plans I have for you plans of good

and not evil to give you hope and give

you a future and will he say it and not

make it good the answer is no he cannot

lie he is true and your God has told you

the truth he’s got a plan for your life

and the message of Easter is he’s given

you truth then lastly I want you to see

this the e stands for eternal life oh

I’m so thankful that if I die in the

Lord today I’m ready to go I’m in a suit

and everything praise the Lord

just put me in there I look good today

got a town I don’t always look like this

but you know what the shell the old body

will be empty but my spirit to be absent

from the body is to be present with the

Lord

[Applause]

you understand if you’ve lost a loved

one they are presently with the Lord we

have eternal life we don’t fear death I

love what what Karen said I don’t know

if you heard it but when she was saying

that that line over and over she said in

the middle of it cancer cancer Caitlin

can’t keep me down disease can’t keep me

down nothing can separate me from the

love of God and eternal life that has

been given through Jesus Christ boy when

you get that revelation why would you

turn him down

how would you wait why would you put it

off to another day or no when I get

older lady you can have eternal life and

lastly the our sound stands for

resurrection that because he was

resurrected and came out of the grave

you have resurrection power you have the

power of the Holy Spirit right now that

says there ain’t no grave the grave of

alcoholism the grave of drug addiction

the grave of shame the grave of failure

the grave of self-hatred eating

disorders whatever it is that the enemy

hasn’t has has put you in and said this

is going to be your death this is going

to be your ending there is no grave that

can hold you if Jesus is Lord of your

life because he gives you resurrection

power today

[Applause]

all you have to do is receiving and all

the campuses I have the greatest job in

the world I get to tell you that God

loves you that God is for you and he

wants to get in you he wants to

transform your life and all he’s waiting

on is an invite if you just open the

door if you just respond if you just let

your stinking pride be put under your

foot today say you know what is Sunday

it’s Easter Sunday but Jesus is coming I

better get ready I better get my family

ready I better get my whole life needs

to be in one direction moving toward

heaven moving toward eternity where will

you spend eternity where will you spend

eternity I know in whom I have believed

because he live would you stand up at

every campus I can face to my everybody

that ever can’t be seeing it like a big

choir because

that’s beautiful all fear is gone all

fears

[Music]

because I know

I know he holds my future my life is

worth the living just because ceiling

would you just lift your hands and sing

it be

Oh

I can place

oh yes

he’s Emmanuel

me

[Music]

[Music]

many of you’ve been to Jerusalem with us

on the Israel trips they’re amazing but

I want you to pretend for a moment

you’re standing at an empty tent then

sings my soul my

[Music]

huh singing church great

worship you

[Music]

my god I see to me

[Music]

singing

[Music]

see

precious safe

[Music]

when I think about what you

[Music]

[Music]

every head bound at every campus

[Music]

if you would like to say today I need

that Savior I need all of those miracles

contained in the word Easter I needed in

my heart I’ve tried to change I can’t

change me I need that in my life I

needed to come in me and live I need

Jesus Sunday but Jesus is coming get

ready get ready

if you’re listening to me the day is not

by accident I really feel a constraining

now many many need to make a decision

for Jesus Christ there backsliders need

to come running not to a god who’s angry

at you but one who’s ready to wrap his

arms around it’s been waiting you want

Jesus to be Lord of your life and you

don’t know you’re right with God and

you’d like to have that peace

at forgiveness you know that she I want

to embarrass you

I won’t humiliate you I’m gonna pray for

you but he never comes where he’s not

invited and when you raise your hand in

a moment that is the invitation and his

Spirit will come running

pastor pray for me I need to get right

with God today that you boldly lift your

hand high and unashamed it’s powerful

it’s powerful

raise those hands all over the building

in the overflows wherever you’re sitting

at every campus just lift them high and

keep them up just a moment hands up

hands up up in the balcony I’m looking

in the balcony now look in every campus

thank you for raising that hand you can

put it down

Jesus saw every one of those hands and

now I’m gonna ask this congregation in

unison out loud to pray prayer that is a

biblical prayer God said I’ll back it up

I’m the truth and I’ll do what I said I

would do if you’ll pray this everybody

in this room just lift your hand toward

heaven say these words Lord Jesus I

believe in you

I believe you were born of a virgin I

believe you died on the cross

I believe the blood you shed

was precious blood and it cleanses my

sins and I believe on the third day you

did it

you came out of the grave and because

you came out I can come out I receive a

new life I receive a new beginning I

receive the power to be called a child

of God

I am NOT a slave to fear I am a child of

God and I am free I’m born to live free

from this day forward I am your property

Lord and my life is yours give the

biggest praise of the day right now that

you

are you ready for the blessing here

comes

every one of you that prayed that prayer

there’s a little area back there called

next steps go back there we’ve got free

material we’re gonna pour into your life

and I’d love to baptize you in water in

this church on this stage it is a

miraculous thing that happens when you

do that are you ready for the blessing

lift your hand up right now and now may

the Lord bless you and keep you may the

Lord make his face shine on you may the

Lord be gracious unto you may he lift up

his countenance upon you and give you

peace in Jesus mighty name you are

blessed we love you we’ll see you

Wednesday night next Sunday don’t miss

it for anything have a great week

everybody god bless you

[Music]

relieve it here today I want to remind

you that if you have not yet picked up

your ticket for forward student

conference you can do that by going to

forward conference dot o-r-g get your

ticket today but another opportunity

that is available to you is to get a

ticket for someone else you can serve as

a sponsor all you have to do is go

through the same registration process as

you would for your own ticket but you

can sponsor a student that may not be

able to get there by themselves so again

that’s forward conference dot o-r-g

register today be a sponsor for someone

as well and we know that god is going to

change a thousands of lives at Forward

Conference 2019 but thank you so much

for joining us here today at Easter

Sunday here at free chapel and we’ll see

you next Sunday morning

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]