Recognizing Jesus in the Unexpected: From Eden to Emmaus

• Resurrection and Progressive Revelation [00:57:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor begins with a prayer acknowledging the resurrection and asking for God to reveal Himself more powerfully, establishing the theme that knowing God is a progressive journey.
• The Road to Emmaus / Unrecognized Jesus [01:00:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus to illustrate how believers often fail to recognize Jesus when He appears in a new or different form (post-resurrection) compared to their past experiences.
• Seasons of Faith [01:02:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor draws an analogy between natural seasons and spiritual seasons, explaining that God's activity changes, making it difficult to recognize Him when the 'spiritual climate' shifts.
• Avoiding Theological Boxes [01:07:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor warns against limiting God to a specific way of working ('trapping ourselves into a box'), citing Joshua and Mary Magdalene as examples where Jesus appeared unexpectedly.
• Divine Presence and Revelation [01:07:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the disciples' realization of Jesus' identity and contrasts this with the modern believer's desire for tangible experiences of God, arguing that God reveals Himself progressively and often beyond our limited understanding.
• Faith vs. Doubt [01:11:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > He reframes the spiritual struggle not as a lack of faith, but as a problem of doubt, asserting that believers possess the faith of the Son of God but must allow it to overcome carnal doubts.
• Recognizing Christ in the Uncomfortable [01:12:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Matthew 25, he argues that Jesus is often found in 'repulsive' or difficult people, challenging the congregation to see these encounters as invitations to encounter God rather than reasons to push people away.
• Walking by Faith [01:17:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > He explains that Jesus is transitioning the disciples from knowing Him in the flesh to knowing Him by the Spirit, requiring them to look with 'new eyes' and trust in His presence even when He is not physically visible.
• Divine Presence and Welcome [01:18:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God seeks to be welcomed and celebrated by believers, urging them to invite His presence rather than letting Him leave.
• Recognition of Christ [01:20:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the disciples' eyes being opened to recognize Jesus during the breaking of bread, highlighting the power of spiritual revelation.
• The Two Meals (Garden vs. Emmaus) [01:21:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the first meal in the Garden of Eden (leading to shame and separation) with the post-resurrection meal at Emmaus (leading to revelation and restoration).
• Self-Awareness vs. God-Awareness [01:25:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that the first meal made humans self-aware apart from God (leading to insecurity), while the new meal opens eyes to see Jesus and find identity in Him.
• Recognizing Jesus in the Unlikely [01:33:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers must learn to recognize Jesus even when He comes in forms that are off-putting, offensive, or involve people with difficult personalities, as these may be Jesus disguised.
• Communion as Revelation [01:35:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor redefines communion not as something taken, but as something received—an invitation to spiritual enlightenment where the mind is opened to understand the Scriptures, mirroring Luke 24:45.
• Valuing People [01:34:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > A warning against taking people for granted or disliking them until they are gone, noting that God uses people to influence our lives and that losing them means losing a part of Jesus' influence.

• Sermon Illustration [01:01:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a personal anecdote about visiting Emmaus in Israel, where the guide gave an indifferent look at the ruins, contrasting the physical lack of grandeur with the spiritual power of the story.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal revelation from nearly 50 years ago where God told him, 'My face is like a diamond; it has many sides,' which became a cornerstone for understanding progressive revelation.
• Sermon Illustration [01:06:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Mary Magdalene mistaking Jesus for a gardener, illustrating how easily one can miss the Lord when He does not appear in the expected form.
• Sermon Illustration [01:07:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the disciples asking 'Who is this man?' after Jesus calmed the storm, illustrating their gradual realization of Jesus' identity.
• Sermon Illustration [01:08:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about feeling abandoned by God during seasons where he did not sense His presence, using this to validate the congregation's potential feelings of disappointment.
• Sermon Illustration [01:16:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > He references the biblical account of the Road to Emmaus, where the disciples failed to recognize Jesus until the breaking of bread, illustrating how spiritual blindness can persist even in the presence of Christ.
• Sermon Illustration [01:18:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > He uses the example of Jesus pretending to go further on the Road to Emmaus and walking on water, illustrating that God often 'passes through' situations to invite a response of welcome and desire for His presence.
• Sermon Illustration [01:20:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of trying to blow air into a dead horse to illustrate the futility of trying to hold onto or revive a spiritual experience that God has allowed to ebb.
• Sermon Illustration [01:30:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about a young girl named Alicia (Elisa) at a 2008 'vintage river life' event, noting she was laying on the floor after being touched by the Lord, and uses this to offer a birthday blessing and encouragement.
• Sermon Illustration [01:31:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a personal memory of seeing a photo of a young girl named Alicia laying on the floor during a powerful church service, using it to offer a birthday blessing and encouragement about her future influence.
• Sermon Illustration [01:32:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a humorous aside about Alicia not being as smart as her dad to lighten the mood before transitioning back to the theological point.
• Sermon Illustration [01:33:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Jesus breaking bread with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) and opening their minds to understand the Scriptures, using it as the primary analogy for what should happen during communion.

• Pastoral Charge [01:19:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > Actively invite and urge the Lord to remain present and active in their lives, mirroring the disciples' request for Jesus to stay.
• Pastoral Charge [01:32:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > To use the influence God has given her.
• Pastoral Charge [01:36:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > Place hand on head and pray for spiritual understanding and open minds.
• Pastoral Charge [01:38:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come forward up the aisle to receive communion.
• Pastoral Charge [01:39:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > Return to your seat to partake in communion.

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:06:24] I got one good morning. Anybody else? Hey, thanks. That was sweet. It's good to see y'all. I hope you all are doing okay today. Happy Easter indeed. If you are here visiting with us, I just want to call out a couple things. A, welcome. We love seeing new faces. Probably the biggest component for new faces if you have kids. In about 45 minutes from now, we'll be dismissing, or 45 minutes to an hour now, we'll be dismissing to Sunday school. We do use a program called
[00:06:54] kid check to get your kids checked in and out. So if you have never used that before, we have about an hour to get you signed up. So if you want help, come see me. We'll go do that. It'll be
[00:07:04] awesome. There's a little bit of parking at the top of the hill. Probably doesn't affect y'all in here since you're already here and parked. But if you got family come in, there's a coned off section of the Jenny's Rocking Hill Ranch up the road that we can't park in, but otherwise
[00:07:21] there's some spots up there that we could use if we wanted to. And then just calling out to our normal congregants. Y'all know who you are. We are probably going to be full today. So if y'all
[00:07:35] would help us by making sure there's seats, and if you got a seat next to you, pull in, get tight, let somebody sit next to you. Grayson said we're going to treat these like pews and just pack
[00:07:44] people in. So we're going to pack this place out today. All right, so on Friday night, we gathered together to do a Good Friday service, which was leaning really heavily into just remembering this event that happened where Jesus died on the cross. And there is this reality of
[00:08:03] that moment that it's sad, and it's hard, and we kind of lean into that sadness and that hardness.
[00:08:11] But then when we leave Friday night, there's this expectation that Sunday's coming. That's right.
[00:08:19] and joy comes in the morning.
[00:08:23] And so this moment, we get to celebrate this event in human history where Mary is brokenhearted and goes out to find her savior in the tomb to wash him and to clean him.
[00:08:35] But the tomb is empty and we get to say he is risen.
[00:08:44] Isn't that amazing?
[00:08:46] So in celebration, church, will you stand with me?
[00:08:51] We just say, Lord Jesus, we are so excited.
[00:08:55] We are so excited to celebrate today our risen Savior, that death could not hold you, and that that grave is empty.
[00:09:04] Hallelujah.
[00:09:05] And we worship you this morning, Lord.
[00:09:08] Move in this place.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:09:09] In between desperation, I turned to heaven and spoke your name.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:10:30] Through the shadow of the sun.

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:18:08] Last verse together about his coming.
[00:30:23] He shall return in song.
[00:30:31] So we receive it with courage in our hearts and bravery, God.

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:38:43] We approach you in your presence, Lord, knowing you made the sacrifice, God.
[00:38:48] You made us clean, and we desire communion with you, Lord, right now.
[00:39:00] Sing, oh, praise.
[00:39:01] Walk in the light and not the darkness.
[00:42:31] So let that light come right now, Lord, and shine.

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:42:35] We really do, we praise you, the one who gave it all.
[00:43:09] Thank you so much, Lord, for your willingness to go to that cross for us.
[00:43:19] thank you so much Lord for the power you exhibit when you're not in that grave anymore hallelujah if you are feeling less than fully alive today I just want to say that this inheritance that we get
[00:43:45] when we partner with Jesus in his resurrection his victory over death and the thing that I think some churches miss is that's not an end time activity that's a right now today activity So Lord, in our salvation, as we become heirs of the kingdom,
[00:44:12] we have access to our inheritance today.
[00:44:15] And Jesus, you say that you came to give life and life to the full.
[00:44:20] So if you're not feeling that today, I just want to pray, dear Lord, move right now in hearts.
[00:44:25] For anybody on this celebratory Easter morning who doesn't feel fully alive, Lord, I pray that you would show up in a mighty way.
[00:44:34] You are a God of miracles.
[00:44:38] You're a God of empty tombs.
[00:44:41] How amazing is that?
[00:44:44] So, Lord, be a God in our hearts this morning.
[00:44:47] Show up in a mighty way.
[00:44:50] Do a work in us.
[00:44:54] And what a joy to be a new creation, y'all.
[00:44:58] We get to leave that old stuff behind.
[00:45:02] I mean, that's one of the best parts of the resurrection, I think, is we get to be new creations.
[00:45:07] So we praise you, Lord.
[00:45:11] This transition, y'all, I'm not going to lie, is going to take some finagling, and we are going to finagle this.
[00:45:17] So if you have a seat and want a seat, the ushers are going to start working their way forward.
[00:45:21] If you don't have a seat and trying to get a seat, in about 90 seconds, we're going to free up some seats, maybe a minute and 90 seconds.
[00:45:34] We'll get the ushers up here first.
[00:45:37] Welcome again if you are visiting with us.
[00:45:40] I do see a lot of folks I don't know.
[00:45:42] Hey, welcome.
[00:45:45] I know you.
[00:45:45] we are going to dismiss kids so again folks if you are new and you have kids here we got a kid check program we're going to get rolling we can help you with that if we can we're going to take
[00:45:56] an offering so i'm going to pray for that and then do some logistics well dear lord oh father the giver of all good gifts we thank you so much that you're a daddy who loves us and gives stuff
[00:46:09] to us that you say ask and you'll receive what a blessing what a blessing lord we thank you for opportunity to give back to you. It's some of yours anyway. Lord, so take these offerings and
[00:46:23] bless them today, Lord, in the furtherance of your kingdom. In your name we pray, amen.
[00:46:29] So the ushers are going to pass some baskets around. If you are visiting with us, there's no stress, there's no expectation. Enjoy the morning. For anybody who doesn't already know this information, who is trying to tithe or giving the offering, the baskets are a great receptacle for
[00:46:45] paper products. That would be cash or check or I guess an IOU scribbled on something and we can talk about it later. I don't know what that looks like. If you want to give digitally, we have all
[00:47:00] the digital options. There's push pay, there's text to pay, there's go to a website and pay.
[00:47:08] We'll help you out. Don't worry. So if you're stuck, we'll find a way to get through that.
[00:47:12] but the ushers are coming around right now. I know that it seems dreary outside church, but I just am so thankful that my car is going to be less green when I go home.
[00:47:38] Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. He is risen indeed. There's no more pollen. It's an Easter miracle.
[00:47:50] All right. So we're now at that about 90 second moment, folks, when we're going to dismiss kids.
[00:47:54] So kids not yet. Before this morning, we do have childcare for birth through, and then Sunday school starts.
[00:48:02] I don't know what that, through fifth grade this morning.
[00:48:06] We call this an all-in Sunday for our middle school students.
[00:48:09] So normally they would go to Sunday school, but once a month we invite them to participate with us in the church service, listen to a sermon.
[00:48:16] So that's happening this morning.
[00:48:17] So really when I'm dismissing, I'm dismissing birth through fifth grade.
[00:48:21] Okay?
[00:48:25] And I was trying to make sure that Tommy doesn't get trampled back there when the kids start running by.
[00:48:29] You're welcome, Tommy.
[00:48:30] I got your back.
[00:48:33] Can you imagine if we lost ushers every Sunday?
[00:48:35] is a stampede. And then after the kids go, if you've got a seat next to you that one of those birth through fifth graders occupied, if you want to offer that to somebody else, we can tighten in, slide in, get some more folks who are sitting on the foyer right now into a
[00:49:02] seat. All right. Get out of here. Kids, you can be dismissed. All right. The kids are being dismissed. They're clearing out of here. We're going to get Adrian up here to do some announcements.
[00:49:24] It's going to be awesome.
[00:49:26] Get excited.
[00:49:28] Some joy of the Lord announcements.

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:49:30] No pressure.
[00:49:32] I mean, can we make announcements fun?
[00:49:35] I guess.
[00:49:36] Okay.
[00:49:36] Just do a little dance.
[00:49:38] No.
[00:49:38] Okay.
[00:49:38] Sorry.
[00:49:38] I'll behave.
[00:49:39] Sometimes I know how to behave and sometimes I don't.
[00:49:41] I'll try today.
[00:49:43] Okay.
[00:49:43] Good morning, everybody.
[00:49:44] Happy Easter.
[00:49:46] So, like he said, I'm just going to highlight some fun events that we have going on.
[00:49:50] one of the many great things about this church is that there's lots of opportunities to connect and to get to know each other and to serve and so we're we have I'm just going to highlight a few
[00:49:59] of them coming up um if you have not already signed up to get your emails every Sunday morning an email goes out that that tells you everything that's going on through the week doesn't matter
[00:50:09] what age you are in what age bracket you're in doesn't matter who you are there's a place that you can get connected there's things going on for you so this is a really exciting part about this
[00:50:17] church. Okay, so I'm going to highlight number one. Sunday, April 19th, we're doing a Camp Morley fundraiser. Camp Morley is the youth group camp that happens in the summer. Listen, y'all, the Lord really moves in this camps for our youth, so this is something that we really do want to sew
[00:50:36] into to make it accessible for everybody. Amen. So we're going to do a lunch fundraiser, and here's the icing on the cake. It's a Latin lunch. Who's involved in this? Who is cooking this?
[00:50:50] Where's Erica? Francisco? Yeah, I figured. Okay, listen, you guys don't want to miss this.
[00:50:55] It is $15 a plate. You can go back there. You can buy a hundred of them and take them and feed all your neighbors. You also, but let them know that if you're planning on doing that, just so they can
[00:51:03] prepare for that. But you also can buy a plate and sit back there in the back and eat with us. We can all fellowship together while we eat delicious food. I'm not joking. I have had their food before.
[00:51:13] It is worth it. Please don't miss this. Also, it's a fundraiser, blah, blah, blah, but the food will be really good. That's a joke. Okay, so again, that's Sunday, April 19th. Also, we want to celebrate the
[00:51:27] graduates that are, that's happening in May. Do we have any graduates in the house? Okay, yeah, woo, yay.
[00:51:35] So we want to celebrate you three. Just kidding. So if you or a family member are graduating, jump on the email. There's a sign-up link that you can go in, and you could just let us know
[00:51:47] who we're going to be celebrating. The deadline to submit the information is Friday, April 24th, but we're going to be doing the recognition on Sunday, May 3rd. So jump on there on that email and do that so that we know who we get to celebrate, because that's a big milestone,
[00:52:03] and I know everybody wants to know their church family is behind them. Amen. Amen. And this next announcement is one of my favorite things that happens throughout the year. It is church in the park. It's going to happen. Yeah, it's so fun. Mark your calendars because it's May 17th. We're
[00:52:23] going to be at Mount Ula. Not from around these parts. Boy, I just got schooled. If anyone was wondering, it's Mount Olo. So here we are. So you're going to bring your lawn chairs. You're
[00:52:39] going to bring some food. It's potluck style. Go to the email. It breaks down everybody into categories, who you are. You get to bring X, Y, Z. So they've got it. Listen, Kristen is in charge.
[00:52:48] She knows what's up. She knows how to make this happen. Do you see her little princess wave?
[00:52:54] So she's got this under control as far as who should bring what. But we do need a team of volunteers. So please also jump on there and sign up to volunteer. We need people to help set up.
[00:53:03] to, um, serve and to also help break down. And yes, so you're going to help bring stuff. We're going to have service in the park. So we get to hear a word. We get to worship all under the
[00:53:14] canopy of the Lord's magnificent heavens. And it's very, very special. I do want to say when the night, this is such a God thing. The night before we first walked in this church, we had
[00:53:25] been invited by someone. Um, and it had been months before we had the opportunity to come and visit, and the night before that we were going to come visit, we were at a concert, and I don't know
[00:53:35] if it was in the song or in between songs. He said, find a church that still does potlucks, and there was a season in my life where I'd have been like, but at that moment, I just was like,
[00:53:45] yeah, yeah, that sounds good. That sounds like community. That sounds like fellowship. That sounds like the richness of life, and you know, like you are with your people, and the next morning, we come and visit his church, and he's on staff here. So I was like, oh, isn't that
[00:54:01] funny? We found the exact church he was talking about. So how blessed are we that we get to do things like this? So it's just an opportunity for fellowship. So come and let's be together at the
[00:54:13] park. Lastly, one of the many really cool ministries happening in our church is our Father's Table. I think it's my Father's Table. The Father's Table. Thank you guys. You guys are so good about helping me say the right thing this morning. Anyway, the Father's Table is a ministry
[00:54:35] where we are helping feed families in the church and also outside of the church. So behind me is a list of foods that they can use. This is their April wish list. I do have to tell you, this is
[00:54:45] kind of sad, they're having to turn away families because they don't have enough to give. And that's not the heart of our church. Like, I know that that's not our heart. And so if you guys want to
[00:54:56] pick up things and bring them, you can bring them Sunday morning to donate. You can bring it Wednesday morning. Also, there is a drop-down menu, the QR code that was up here, wherever you gave, you know,
[00:55:06] if you give tithes and offerings, there is an option on there for my father's table. So if it's, if you're like me and it's hard to remember to pick up groceries, maybe that's an easy way. If
[00:55:15] you do feel led to give to this ministry, which is really pouring out and ministering to a lot of people in our congregation and beyond. So, and community. Thank you. So, who's preaching today, Byron? You look comfortable. Do you want to stay there? Do we have any volunteers?
[00:55:38] Who wants to talk about Jesus this morning? I'm done with my part. Would you like to come up?
[00:55:46] Look at that. A warm welcome. Look at this guy. How you doing? Yeah.
[00:55:57] I get the honor of getting to pray with him before he speaks.
[00:56:02] So, Jesus, the richness of your goodness is overwhelming sometimes, Father.
[00:56:12] And I just really sense right now, Byron, that the Lord wants you to encounter that goodness in a really deep and new way.
[00:56:18] That you are here.
[00:56:20] He's called you, and you know, to help others fall into that grace and to understand it and have that spirit of revelation through the Holy Spirit fall upon them.
[00:56:29] and be used in that way.
[00:56:31] And I also feel like, yes, the Lord wants to do that and he wants to do that in you as well as you're gonna be pouring out through overflow today.
[00:56:40] So Lord, fill Byron.
[00:56:41] If we could just reach out hands to him.
[00:56:45] Lord, fill him to overflowing.
[00:56:47] Fill him with overwhelm of your love of revelation.
[00:56:53] Any distractions, we bind them and tell you to be gone now in Jesus's name.
[00:56:57] Physical ailments, be gone in Jesus's name.
[00:56:59] we ask lord for just a centered mind singularly focused on you and your goodness and your grace and what oh what kind of god does what he does what you did for us lord may we fall in love
[00:57:13] deeper more intimately in worship with you and jesus is mighty and holy name amen that's the

[00:57:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:57:22] first time somebody's prophesied to me while they're supposed to be praying for me it's pretty good adrian we knew you were prophetic so you know you just proved it so that was good thank you for doing that yeah and i appreciate you guys praying for me also uh we all need prayer don't
[00:57:41] we amen well thank you lord today is resurrection day right amen the lord's good right yeah we wouldn't be here without the resurrection i wouldn't anyway yeah so just i just love you know just take a moment here and just you know think back in your life about what the lord has
[00:58:01] done for you and how he rescued you from from really the pit of hell really in the life that you were living before christ and so father we just want to thank you for that this morning and
[00:58:13] acknowledge that jesus really is king he really is alive and one day we're going to see him we're going to really see the lord again uh and it's going to be different it's going to be
[00:58:26] glorious lord and lord i just pray for all of us i pray like john in the book of revelation when he when you came to him after he had walked with you those years and on the earth when you were here
[00:58:40] and then afterwards through the time when he was walking after the spirit and seeing you by the spirit but when he saw you that day uh in the book of revelation and just fell at your his your feet
[00:58:53] like a dead man because of the beauty and glory of who you are.
[00:58:58] And Lord, we are saying that there's more that you want to show us.
[00:59:03] There's more you want to reveal to us about yourself.
[00:59:06] And I just ask you that in this season of many distractions, in this season of many disappointments, in this season of war and rumors of war, that somehow we would see Jesus above all that.
[00:59:20] and we'd see you lifted high above all these things, Lord, that are going on in the earth today and be able to focus on you and hear your heart for this time and know what the word of the Lord is for this time
[00:59:36] and that we would be able to carry that word into our situations and circumstances of life, into our homes and neighborhoods and communities, Lord, in the business world, Lord.
[00:59:46] We just ask you to do that.
[00:59:48] I just ask you that you really would reveal yourself to us in more and more powerful ways.
[00:59:54] And thank you for dying for our sins.
[00:59:57] Thank you for doing what you did and paying for us with your very life and your very blood.
[01:00:04] Lord, we don't take that lightly.
[01:00:06] And thank you that when you died, we died on that cross.
[01:00:09] We were with you.
[01:00:11] And that when you were buried, we were buried with you.
[01:00:14] And when you were raised from the dead, we were raised with you.
[01:00:18] And Lord, when you became seated at the right hand of the Father, we were seated with you.
[01:00:24] And that's where we are in reality.
[01:00:27] And I just pray that reality would become a deciding factor in our life.
[01:00:31] Not just a theology, not just by principle, but by truth and lived out.
[01:00:36] In Jesus' name, amen.
[01:00:40] Well, I'm going to tell you just Luke chapter 24.
[01:00:44] This is really one of my most favorite chapters.
[01:00:46] when it's about the road to Emmaus.
[01:00:50] How many people are familiar?
[01:00:52] I think I've told you when we went to Israel a few years ago, that was one of the places I wanted to go to was to go see Emmaus.
[01:01:01] The guy who was hauling us around kind of had an indifferent look and said, but okay, but basically what it was, it was like driving up to Highway 21 and looking across this field at some ruins.
[01:01:14] That was Emmaus.
[01:01:16] but maybe they're going to restore it one day.
[01:01:20] But it's one of the most powerful stories for me because it's like a conversation that Jesus had after the resurrection with these two people.
[01:01:31] And so that, to me, really speaks of how, you know, it gives us some insights about how God wants us to relate to him not as Jesus who walked on the earth, but the Jesus who's become the resurrected king
[01:01:50] and who's now sitting in heaven.
[01:01:53] And so it's been a great thing in my life.
[01:01:56] Actually, God spoke it to me many years ago.
[01:01:59] And I was just really dumb back then.
[01:02:04] I'm probably a little bit less dumb now, but back then I didn't know anything, but I knew that was the Holy Spirit talking to me.
[01:02:11] But let me just read a few verses.
[01:02:13] It says, it says behold on that day two of them were going to a village named emas which is seven miles from jerusalem and they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place
[01:02:25] being you know the the cross and you know the rumors about jesus being alive while they were talking and discussing jesus himself approached and began traveling with them but their eyes were kept from recognizing him that's what i want to stop there jesus the
[01:02:44] stranger uh um sometimes and and often in your christian life what you're going to find there's like different seasons of life right in the natural you know there's four seasons but in your own life there's different seasons like you know your childhood adolescence and then when you
[01:03:03] become a teenager and then you go out on your own so the life shifts and often you know i've found in my life with the lord there's just these different seasons that and and it can be difficult
[01:03:17] at times to recognize the lord when things change when life changes when when the spiritual climate changes when god when when there's some activity of the spirit of the lord which no longer is relevant. Are y'all, I'm hoping, I'm trying to help you connect in your own life. And so what
[01:03:40] we find here is these two guys were walking along and things had changed. The Jesus who walked on the earth was now fixing to leave. He was the post-resurrection Jesus, which the post-resurrection Jesus is a little bit different than the pre-resurrection Jesus. The same Jesus, obviously,
[01:04:01] But, you know, the Bible says what's sown one way is raised another.
[01:04:06] And so, you know, he became, you know, who he always was after the resurrection.
[01:04:12] And so it's kind of like the, there are different places in the Bible where this is reflected.
[01:04:20] Actually, this is kind of a theme in the Bible, believe it or not.
[01:04:23] Like, for instance, in the book of Joshua, you know, Joshua had been with the Lord a lot.
[01:04:30] when the children of Israel had been in the desert.
[01:04:35] He had been there.
[01:04:36] He had seen the glory of the Lord when the Lord rested.
[01:04:39] He had experienced the whole thing.
[01:04:42] When God would come and rest on the nation of Israel, Joshua would be right in the middle of it.
[01:04:47] But after they came into the Promised Land, things changed.
[01:04:51] It became a different situation, and the Lord appeared to him.
[01:04:55] You know the story, many of you, as the captain of the armies of Israel.
[01:05:00] And Joshua did not recognize him.
[01:05:02] He did not recognize that Jesus that was so powerful and wonderful while they were wandering in the wilderness suddenly was looking at him in a different way.
[01:05:12] And what I've discovered with the Lord, the way he reveals himself to you is the way he wants you to know him at that moment.
[01:05:21] Because God deals with us and reveals himself at different times and different seasons, you know depending on how he wants us to to to know him because knowing the Lord is is a progressive thing and I've told y'all this story many times but might be somebody who never
[01:05:41] but this was a powerful moment in life when the Lord really revealed himself to me and spoke to me and this is what he said to me and this is almost 50 years ago he said my face is like a
[01:05:55] diamond it has many sides and you would be wise to spend the rest of your life getting to know me as I reveal myself to you that's what he said to me this is almost 50 years ago and it really
[01:06:09] became like a cornerstone in my life and scriptures like this the scripture and Joshua the scripture when Mary was in the tomb the garden tomb after the Lord and looking for the Lord's body uh and jesus was there and it's the bible says she supposed him to be the gardener that he
[01:06:30] was she didn't even recognize him and and and he had to speak to her to let her know that it was him that's really powerful isn't it and so the lord will come to us at times and reveal himself
[01:06:43] in different ways and and and like these people this is what it's telling us like these people it's easy to miss the lord it's easy to not recognize him when he doesn't come to you
[01:06:55] the way you expect him to and so it's almost like you have to really you really need the holy spirit to help you there's this other one and then uh i really love uh is after jesus had
[01:07:09] i think after he had spoken to the to the sea and calmed the ocean the disciples said who is this man you know i mean they were just at that moment realizing who is this guy with us you know because
[01:07:22] at that moment they really didn't have the full impact of who he is and i believe we we have a measure of revelation about the lord but i believe there's so much more to the lord that he wants to
[01:07:33] reveal to us and we have to be careful that we don't trap ourselves into a box where god god is this is the way we know god and this is the only way to know god that's not the way this thing is
[01:07:46] meant to work are y'all with me yeah so you know and i love how this is another thing that's really powerful here um is you can i can imagine those people two people felt like they were abandoned
[01:08:02] at that moment like you know because they had put everything they had put their whole you know livestock into Jesus you know and suddenly he's been murdered and you know if I were in their
[01:08:14] shoes I would not be feeling real happy about see I'd have a lot of questions about what why I believed what I believed and I would have a certain level of disappointment about the Lord
[01:08:25] at that moment and a certain feeling of being abandoned by him because he had promised them you know and giving them so many words and but the truth is is god never abandons us you see that's that's something i've had to learn and learn the whole way because there's just been
[01:08:41] seasons in my life when i felt i didn't feel the presence of the lord okay i didn't sense this presence very well and that just it wasn't a lot happening with me spiritually the way i want to
[01:08:54] connect with the lord and you know i think a lot of people in this room are kind of like we we want to experience the presence of the Lord right we want to we don't want to just experience it by
[01:09:05] faith we want to have a living real experience in our life that impacts our life and the Lord wants us to have those kind of experiences there's no doubt because if you take those experiences out of the Bible you're going to have a pretty flimsy Bible all of a sudden it's going
[01:09:21] to be a lot less to read because it's full of encounters it's full of experiences but it's also full of people walking by faith. It's full of people walking with Jesus when they don't feel
[01:09:34] it. It's full of people being faithful over the long haul of life. There's a scripture in Revelation. It says those who are with him, I think it's in Revelation. It's either Revelation chapter 17 or 14. I can't never get that right. It says those who are with him are called, chosen,
[01:09:53] and faithful. And so there's three parts of our life. There's a calling in all of our lives, and God has chosen us, but there's also the faithfulness with the Lord, and walking with the Lord over the long haul through every season of life. And so these men, that was a lot said,
[01:10:09] wasn't it? Are y'all here? Y'all are like, what the heck is he talking about? We're supposed to be talking about Easter today, and he's up there rambling. No, this is really important, because there's going to be seasons in your life
[01:10:23] where you're not going to sense the Lord.
[01:10:27] There's going to be seasons in your life like these two people here where you're going to have questions.
[01:10:33] And it's okay.
[01:10:34] Let me say it is okay.
[01:10:36] God can take your questions.
[01:10:38] God can take your disappointment in Him.
[01:10:41] He can take it.
[01:10:42] He knows your frame.
[01:10:43] You see, if you read all the details, He looked at them and they were sad.
[01:10:48] And so He didn't admonish them.
[01:10:51] He didn't go after them for being disappointed and being full of questions.
[01:10:55] He just started talking to them and having a conversation with them.
[01:10:58] And then he began to tell them stuff that would help them deal with their sadness.
[01:11:04] And that's really what the Lord wants to do for people.
[01:11:07] So, and I believe this with all my heart, y'all.
[01:11:10] We used to be like, you know, you got a faith problem.
[01:11:12] Really, it's not a faith problem, it's a doubt problem.
[01:11:15] That's where our real issue is.
[01:11:17] we allow these doubts to get in and they overshadow our faith we have good faith in us everybody in this room if you're in Christ you got the best faith there is we have the faith of the Son of God
[01:11:28] inside of us but there's a carnal doubt that can get on us that that faith will not force its way through we have to allow it to force we have to let it force its way through
[01:11:39] so yes I wanted to read this other scriptures in Matthew 25 and this is really powerful y'all because this is part of how God's been dealing with me and teaching me about recognizing him but this is a thing this is famous y'all everybody in this room
[01:11:56] probably knows this if you don't you really should be and this is when Jesus came back okay he prophesied this and you know I love how it says the earlier verses it's when the son of man
[01:12:08] appears in all his glory with his angels he's going to divide the nations he's going isn't that a cool thing when you get i mean i can just imagine in that moment where where the son of man comes
[01:12:21] back in all his glory and you know the lord is rich in glory right i mean it's going to be like pretty significant moment but he's going to do a division okay sheep nations and goat nations he's
[01:12:31] talking about nations man he's not talking about just individuals he's not talking about different Christian groups or denominations. He's talking about nations. And he begins to talk to them about, you know, what was disappointing to him about what they did and didn't do. And this is what
[01:12:49] he said in verse 35. He said, for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. Naked and you
[01:13:02] closed me i was sick and you visited me and i was in prison and you came to me and so really he's not just giving us a list of good works here so just don't take that like he's trying to open our
[01:13:14] eyes here to recognizing him when he comes to us because he comes often to us in situations that are not very comfortable okay and he comes to us through people now we all know jesus can
[01:13:29] be found in the poor and we want to minister to the poor and to the naked and all that but but i think this is one of the things that i think where we can really miss the lord where
[01:13:40] i've missed the lord maybe you haven't but is is uncomfortable people difficult people naked people maybe naked spirit you know however that works out in life where they are in front of your face okay and you you want to push back on them or you want to pull back on them am i talking
[01:14:03] to anybody in this room okay and this is where we can get into danger in life because god will allow people like that into our life okay for for different reasons sometimes just to teach us how
[01:14:18] to create boundaries in our life okay to not allow people to trespass on us but sometimes is to try to draw something out in us to find Him in it because sometimes when we're looking at somebody
[01:14:32] that might be in the natural a little bit repulsive to us.
[01:14:35] Do y'all know what I'm talking about?
[01:14:37] Am I the only person in this room that feels like some people repulse me?
[01:14:42] You know, that I want to keep my...
[01:14:44] Pastors shouldn't be saying that but they would be lying if they claimed it wasn't because they're human beings.
[01:14:51] But what I've discovered just the hard way is sometimes when i'm looking at that person i'm looking into the face of god and that god brought that person into my life to really invite me into an encounter with them
[01:15:07] and to begin to teach me something that i couldn't get any other way and i think that's really really important for us that we really allow the lord it's lucky the lord um well i think you know
[01:15:27] I've always been surprised about this stuff is the people who, like, well, when did we do that for you?
[01:15:36] That was the question they asked us.
[01:15:38] We don't remember ever giving you anything to drink, Jesus.
[01:15:43] Or we don't remember visiting you when you were sick or you were in jail.
[01:15:49] They weren't really trying to do anything.
[01:15:52] It wasn't like they were just doing it.
[01:15:55] And they were doing it to him.
[01:15:57] And I think that's really one of the ways that the Lord has been revealing himself to me in the last few years.
[01:16:08] Because I'm kind of like one of those people who would love for the Lord to reveal himself to me in dreams and visions and revelations.
[01:16:16] And I'm always going to be that person.
[01:16:18] But I feel like a lot of life is not that.
[01:16:20] A lot of the Christian life is not that.
[01:16:23] A lot of the Christian life is in these ways like here.
[01:16:26] And this is what Jesus was saying when he comes back.
[01:16:29] did you get to know me?
[01:16:32] Just like the people on the road to Emmaus, they didn't recognize him.
[01:16:37] And these people who were doing these good works, they didn't recognize him.
[01:16:44] And so God wants to teach us how to recognize him in these things and not to automatically push people away just because they may offend you or you don't feel comfortable in their presence.
[01:16:54] And I'm not talking about them hurting you or anything.
[01:16:58] I'm talking about.
[01:17:00] You get what I'm saying on that?
[01:17:02] It's really important.
[01:17:04] But here's the thing.
[01:17:05] He wants to teach us how not to recognize Him by physical sight, but by faith, by the Spirit.
[01:17:13] That's what was happening with the people on the road to Emmaus.
[01:17:18] Okay?
[01:17:20] He was setting them up and He was setting us up to say, y'all have known me in the natural.
[01:17:27] Y'all have known me in the flesh.
[01:17:30] But that's fixing to change.
[01:17:32] I'm going to change that.
[01:17:34] For you to see me and recognize me, you're going to have to look with different eyes than you've been looking.
[01:17:40] There's these new eyes that you're going to have, and that's how you're going to be able to recognize me because I'm going to disappear on you.
[01:17:49] Isn't that pretty cool?
[01:17:51] Are you all with me on this?
[01:17:53] So I'm going to read some more here, okay?
[01:17:56] and I'm kind of shifting gears but it all goes together at least in my little brain are y'all with me this morning okay I'm glad you are because it's eastern if you're not it's just not my problem
[01:18:07] you have Jesus in you he'll help you so you know he goes along has this walk with these guys and the bible says he opens the scriptures up about himself and explains himself from the scriptures
[01:18:20] that's what it says but then in verse 28 it says they approached the village where they were going and he gave the impression that he was going to go further.
[01:18:29] Now, I'm going to tell you this.
[01:18:30] Jesus is known for doing that kind of stuff.
[01:18:33] Okay?
[01:18:34] He really is known for that.
[01:18:35] Like, for instance, when he was walking on water one time, the Bible actually says he acted like he was going to go on a bomb.
[01:18:42] In other words, he was looking for a response from somebody.
[01:18:45] Does anybody want me?
[01:18:48] Okay?
[01:18:48] Would you, you know?
[01:18:49] And so, lots of times, that's the way the Lord works in our life is he will come near to us And he will pass through things, but he's looking for us to say, hey, no, don't leave.
[01:18:59] Be here.
[01:19:00] We want to be here with you.
[01:19:01] We want you here.
[01:19:02] He's looking for that.
[01:19:04] Just like we want to go places where we're welcomed and celebrated, he wants to go to places where he's welcomed and celebrated.
[01:19:11] And so that's why that's in the Bible.
[01:19:14] And so they strongly urged him.
[01:19:16] And that's really a cue for us.
[01:19:18] We need to strongly urge the Lord about, Lord, we need you.
[01:19:24] We want your presence.
[01:19:25] We want your activity around us.
[01:19:28] And I believe the Lord responds to that kind of thing.
[01:19:32] Saying, stay with us for it is getting towards evening and the day is now nearly over.
[01:19:37] So he went in to stay with them.
[01:19:40] And it came about when they reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, man, and blessed it.
[01:19:49] Okay, that's good.
[01:19:51] He took the bread and blessed it.
[01:19:52] And he broke it and began giving it to them.
[01:19:56] So that kind of reminds you of something, right?
[01:19:59] He began giving it to them.
[01:20:00] And then, listen, then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
[01:20:05] Isn't that powerful?
[01:20:07] And he vanished from their sight.
[01:20:09] Isn't that not so great?
[01:20:12] Wait a minute.
[01:20:13] We just figured out who you are.
[01:20:15] And you're disappearing.
[01:20:20] Isn't that just the way God is?
[01:20:21] Like it's grabbing at you.
[01:20:22] You're trying to grab air.
[01:20:23] You know, if you ever get into a move of the Lord, let me tell you what not to do.
[01:20:27] Don't try to hold on to it, because it's like grabbing air.
[01:20:31] And when it begins to ebb, no matter what you do, you can blow as much air you have in your lungs in it to keep that dead horse alive.
[01:20:38] It is not going to stay alive.
[01:20:41] Right?
[01:20:42] Some of y'all know that.
[01:20:43] We've all tried to blow air into dead horses.
[01:20:47] You know, after we beat that dead horse to death trying to get it to be raised from the dead.
[01:20:51] Okay.
[01:20:52] and then they said to one another were our hearts not burning within us when he was speaking to us on the road doesn't that really speak to your heart oh that's what I so want Lord
[01:21:09] is I want that moment in my life while he was explaining the scriptures to us that's powerful isn't it their hearts were burning while he was speaking to them and and they got up that very hour and returned to jerusalem and found the 11 gathered together
[01:21:27] and those that were with them and then they went in and began to tell them the lord has risen and you know that was sort of the beginning so i think this is interesting y'all okay
[01:21:38] right here this is an interesting thing because if you think about it in the bible there were two there are two meals actually three one of them we we it's called the lord's supper which is a
[01:21:51] famous famous meal but there's these two other meals that are hugely important in the bible this is one of them this is one of the most important meals in the scripture because it is the first meal that jesus had after his resurrection okay and that meal changed everything
[01:22:11] It was like, this is the new covenant meal.
[01:22:15] This is the new creation meal.
[01:22:17] This is the meal that's going to change the world and change the way you relate to me.
[01:22:24] Okay, this is what it was.
[01:22:26] But there was this other meal, the first meal, and everybody knows about this first meal.
[01:22:31] I want to read this one to you.
[01:22:33] Are y'all following this?
[01:22:35] This is the meal back in the garden.
[01:22:37] Okay, this is the first meal that recorded in the Bible.
[01:22:40] you know if you know about the bible and genesis is you know there are all these trees in the garden and the lord told told adam hey you can eat every tree any tree in this garden you want
[01:22:53] to accept one tree and that's the tree of knowledge of good and evil and he said the day you eat that tree you will surely die you will surely he didn't say you might die he said you're gonna die if you
[01:23:05] eat that tree and so he told him not to do it and then of course the devil came you know the devil's always hanging around right he really is okay the devil's real y'all whether you believe it or not
[01:23:18] but he's real so the devil comes and tempts adam and eve he you know begins to talk to them about this tree wanting them to eat this tree and goes through this little conversation with
[01:23:30] them which is a very fascinating conversation but here's the results of it in verse six it says when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the
[01:23:43] tree was desirable to make one wise she took some of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband with her and he ate then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were
[01:23:56] naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waste coverings. And in the next verse, it tells you what they did is they ran away from the Lord, okay, and hid themselves amongst the
[01:24:08] trees in the garden. So, the first meal, this meal, brought separation, shame, fear, and ultimately death. That's what it brought on humanity. It brought separation. It separated us. It brought shame. It brought guilt. It brought fear. It brought
[01:24:24] insecurity all your dysfunctional stuff that you carry around in your heart all this brokenness that you feel in your life okay that's what that tree when she bit into that tree it brought all that it opened a door for all that all the murder all the rape all the kids that are being aborted
[01:24:41] all of this this war stuff all this killing of people and threats and rumors of war that's what happened when that she bit into that that's the ultimate thing that has come about in humanity
[01:24:54] in our in our world this beautiful world that God created has become a toxic world and God threw us down right into this toxic world and you know saved us okay that's a terrible thought so what
[01:25:10] happened was for us is we became the ultimate thing that happened to to Adam and Eve and to us is that we became self-aware apart from God.
[01:25:20] God was no longer informing us about us.
[01:25:24] All this other stuff was informing us about us.
[01:25:28] You know, the world was informing us.
[01:25:30] The devil was informing us.
[01:25:32] The environment was informing us and telling us stuff about ourself.
[01:25:37] Do y'all know what I'm talking about?
[01:25:39] If you've ever looked in the mirror and felt insecure or you didn't get selected to the team or whatever it is or somebody made a comment about you, we became aware of all that.
[01:25:50] It says they realized they were naked and they tried to cover themselves.
[01:25:54] And we've been trying to cover ourselves ever since until Christ came and He offered to be our cover and He offered us the blood.
[01:26:03] He offered us Himself for us to be put into Him and be clothed with Him, and He's in us.
[01:26:10] So that's what happened.
[01:26:11] And so, let me just read.
[01:26:15] I wrote down some parallels between these two meals that I think is just absolutely fascinating, okay?
[01:26:21] So, let me just read them to you.
[01:26:22] In both meals, they do not recognize who was offering the food, okay?
[01:26:28] In the garden, of course, it was the devil who was offering them the food.
[01:26:32] They didn't really recognize.
[01:26:33] They didn't know about the devil like we do today.
[01:26:36] But at Emmaus, it was Jesus.
[01:26:38] But they didn't know.
[01:26:39] At that moment, they did not know that Jesus was offering them that food.
[01:26:43] So you see, God is setting us up for something with these two meals.
[01:26:48] He's trying to show us the destruction of that first meal, but also what He has done to undo that destruction.
[01:26:57] At both meals, eating leads to open eyes and a new awareness.
[01:27:02] The first meal, obviously, they became self-aware, okay, which was not good because God was no longer telling them because Seth couldn't process what it was hearing and seeing.
[01:27:14] But in this, in Emmaus, the male opened their eyes to see the Lord.
[01:27:19] It took their eyes, listen, it took their eyes off of themselves and put them on something else.
[01:27:25] That's why the Bible tells us a few places, like set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.
[01:27:35] Hebrews, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher.
[01:27:39] That's why it tells us that thing.
[01:27:41] Because it's telling us this is where your eyes have been opened to see something and this is where you need to put your focus.
[01:27:49] Does that sound practical?
[01:27:52] In both meals, there's a realization that changes everything.
[01:27:56] In the garden, they knew themselves apart from God.
[01:27:59] And at Maas, they knew Him.
[01:28:03] They knew themselves apart from God.
[01:28:05] We knew ourselves apart from God.
[01:28:07] And now we can know the Lord Himself.
[01:28:10] Okay?
[01:28:11] Okay, in both meals, they realized in hindsight, okay, this is really, really interesting.
[01:28:20] In hindsight, something God had already told them.
[01:28:23] Of course, in the garden, Adam and Eve understood what God meant when he said they would know good and evil.
[01:28:29] All of a sudden, they knew good and evil.
[01:28:31] At Emmaus, they realized why their hearts were burning as he opened the scriptures about himself.
[01:28:37] See, Jesus had told them something beforehand, and suddenly they realized it.
[01:28:42] in the garden, Adam and Eve realized what God meant.
[01:28:46] Did y'all get that?
[01:28:47] Did y'all catch that?
[01:28:48] It's really, really powerful.
[01:28:51] In both meals, they lose sight of God.
[01:28:53] This is crazy.
[01:28:54] Isn't this crazy, y'all?
[01:28:55] I'm fascinated with this kind of stuff.
[01:28:58] It's all over the Bible, stuff is.
[01:29:00] It's just fascinating.
[01:29:01] In both meals, they lose sight of God, okay?
[01:29:04] In the garden, Adam and Eve ran and hid from him, okay?
[01:29:08] At Emmaus, Jesus vanished from their sight.
[01:29:11] You see that?
[01:29:12] He vanished from their sight, but he didn't vanish from being with them because he had given them a disability to see him by the Spirit.
[01:29:22] Okay, in both meals, they move from where they are.
[01:29:25] Adam and Eve run away.
[01:29:28] The two in Emmaus go back to Jerusalem.
[01:29:33] So one meal leads to fear and hiding, okay?
[01:29:38] The other leads to revelation and return.
[01:29:41] Now, y'all got that?
[01:29:44] One leads to fear and hiding.
[01:29:46] And that's what humanity, we're born into that.
[01:29:48] We're born into afraiding to be ourselves.
[01:29:52] Afraiding for people to really see us and know us who we really are.
[01:29:55] Y'all know, I know that some of y'all suffer with that in this room.
[01:29:59] I can't be the only person in the room that suffered mightily with that.
[01:30:03] You know, afraid for people to see you because you would feel rejected.
[01:30:13] That's what that meal gave us, is that kind of thinking.
[01:30:16] But Jesus gave us a meal that would completely change that, that our eyes could be opened to seeing him and beginning to hear what he has to say about us and beginning to allow what he has to say about us to really change our life
[01:30:32] and help us to become the person he created us to be.
[01:30:36] Isn't that really cool?
[01:30:38] I just don't know why I want to say this, y'all, but I'm going to anyway.
[01:30:44] It has to do with the foresight girl.
[01:30:49] The young one, Elisa.
[01:30:53] Well, whatever.
[01:30:54] I've been knowing her all her life.
[01:30:58] Now, somebody, Ann Stepanek, sent me these pictures, okay, of 2008 vintage river life, okay?
[01:31:08] And, well, if you'd been here in 2008, you might get up and leave this church right away because it was pretty wild.
[01:31:16] There was all these people laying on the floor, okay, because the Lord had touched him so powerfully.
[01:31:22] And there was this little blonde-headed girl in a black dress laying on, and I was looking at that picture like, who is that little girl laying right there?
[01:31:31] And I realized it was Alicia.
[01:31:33] Yeah, that was special, Alicia.
[01:31:37] Oh, happy birthday.
[01:31:45] You know, I forgot, Alicia, the Lord given me words for you a couple times I've never given to you.
[01:31:51] And I forgot what they were.
[01:31:54] But the Lord hasn't forgotten.
[01:31:58] I mean, there's been a couple of times I wanted to say something to you in church because I felt like the Lord wanted to say something to you.
[01:32:06] But I do know the Lord's saying happy birthday to you.
[01:32:09] You know, the Lord does love you.
[01:32:11] And I just want to say, you know, well done.
[01:32:16] You know, I know you went through a season in your life.
[01:32:19] But well done.
[01:32:20] You went through it.
[01:32:22] Okay?
[01:32:22] And the Lord's proud of you.
[01:32:24] And I think God has more for you than what you're thinking right now.
[01:32:27] You know, God really is going to use you to be an influencer.
[01:32:32] No matter where you go, he's giving you influence.
[01:32:36] And so don't hesitate to use it.
[01:32:39] Okay?
[01:32:40] Yeah.
[01:32:41] I mean, you're not as smart as your dad.
[01:32:44] Nobody is.
[01:32:46] Okay?
[01:32:46] I mean, he's just too smart.
[01:32:47] But you're pretty smart.
[01:32:49] Well, that's what I wanted to say about Alicia.
[01:32:51] I'm sorry.
[01:32:52] anyways so it says that jesus took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them okay and so um that's the thing that i'm feeling this morning is is about being able to recognize
[01:33:11] jesus okay and having jesus to open our spiritual eyes to recognize him and even when he comes to us in unexpected ways or even ways that offend us or push us off being able to recognize jesus
[01:33:28] you see that's that's where god wants us to grow at i believe he wants us always to grow in visions and dreams in that world i mean i mean i'm into that world big time but i believe that this other
[01:33:43] thing is going to be important for us is to recognize jesus no matter how he comes and embrace Him no matter how He comes, even if it's off-putting to you, even if the person comes to you,
[01:33:58] they don't smell good.
[01:34:03] You hear what I'm saying to you?
[01:34:04] Even if they're off-putting to you, even if you don't like their personality, even if you don't like the way they act, it really could be Jesus disguised coming to you and wanting to reveal Himself to you.
[01:34:16] And I wanted to say this.
[01:34:20] we're going to do communion in a second.
[01:34:23] I wanted to say this.
[01:34:25] One of the things, what I just said to you is I've learned, you just learn some things the hard way.
[01:34:34] You learn that God brings people into your life.
[01:34:38] Okay?
[01:34:40] And if you're not careful, you'll take them for granted.
[01:34:42] Or if you're not careful, you won't like them until God removes them like if they pass away or move away.
[01:34:49] And you realize when they're gone, that a part of Jesus that was influencing your life has gone through that person.
[01:34:58] And that's really hard when that's like that.
[01:35:00] It's not to take people.
[01:35:02] So the Lord reveals Himself as He wants you to know Him.
[01:35:07] Okay?
[01:35:08] No longer by physical sight, but by the eyes of faith.
[01:35:12] And so we're doing communion.
[01:35:14] Communion's actually an invitation.
[01:35:16] This morning, the way I'm thinking about communion, it's an invitation into that reality.
[01:35:21] is an invitation like for those two, for us, that in communion that there would be an enlightenment that would come upon us like them, that they would suddenly see the Lord like they have never seen Him before
[01:35:37] and realize and all the things that Jesus had spoken to them in that moment which suddenly became, they suddenly understand it, revelation became their partial portion.
[01:35:49] portion. Later in Luke 24, 45, Jesus prayed for his disciples. Okay, and this is what it says.
[01:35:58] It says, he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He opened their minds. Let's Luke 24, verse 45. He opened their minds to understand the scripture. And see, that's an encounter. And when we begin to see that, when that begins to happen in our life,
[01:36:17] is going to make a big difference in life.
[01:36:19] So I want to pray that over you.
[01:36:22] And so I think one of the things that I love about this is, you know, we would say something, oh, we're going to take communion, right?
[01:36:31] Or we're going to take the offering.
[01:36:32] I think the better word is this.
[01:36:36] We're going to receive communion.
[01:36:38] We're going to receive it.
[01:36:39] It's not something we necessarily take.
[01:36:41] It's something we receive.
[01:36:43] It's something He's offered us.
[01:36:46] It really is.
[01:36:47] So I want to just pray for you.
[01:36:49] If you want to put your hand on your head, I want to pray for your understanding that your mind would be open to understand the Scriptures.
[01:36:58] Because this is really important.
[01:37:00] Because one of the primary ways we can relate to Jesus is through the Scriptures, like with these guys.
[01:37:07] Just like with that.
[01:37:08] It says, you know, He explained Himself.
[01:37:10] He said, Father, we thank You today.
[01:37:11] And we're coming before You, Lord, this morning.
[01:37:14] And we're not coming to a dead Jesus.
[01:37:16] We're coming to a living Jesus.
[01:37:19] We're coming for your throne of grace this morning.
[01:37:22] And we're understanding something.
[01:37:24] We're understanding that we need our understanding.
[01:37:27] We need our minds open, Lord, to really understand the Scriptures.
[01:37:33] Where the Scriptures would become a reality, a revelation would come on us.
[01:37:38] And we begin to know the Scriptures and know what they really mean and know what they're really saying.
[01:37:42] and we begin to recognize you, Lord, as you break the bread.
[01:37:47] Lord, we are asking you to break the bread this morning.
[01:37:50] We're asking you to do that this morning in Jesus' name.
[01:37:53] We're asking you to break that bread just like you did with those two, Lord, so our lives can be changed.
[01:37:59] And we're saying, come, Lord, and do that.
[01:38:01] And every person in this room, Lord, I just ask you, Lord, to do that.
[01:38:06] Holy Spirit, you're the one who does that.
[01:38:08] You're the power of God that comes upon our mind and causes our minds to be renewed and restored and refreshed.
[01:38:14] And we're asking you to do that right now in the name of Jesus.
[01:38:20] And Lord, we thank you for that.
[01:38:22] We thank you for that.
[01:38:24] I'm going to have Corey come out here and do the communion because he's a lot better at doing stuff than me.

[01:38:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:38:31] If the communion stewards would come forward, y'all.
[01:38:35] In just a minute, I'll pray and then we're going to do communion.
[01:38:37] What I'm going to ask is if y'all come as best you can up this aisle, You'll receive the bread.
[01:38:44] There'll be two folks on either side because there's a lot of us.
[01:38:48] So that's a lot of communion that needs to be received this morning.
[01:38:51] So you receive the bread and then you'll receive the cup.
[01:39:00] Now, these are the traditional cups, but ignore the little wafer, okay?
[01:39:03] You're going to get some good bread, all right?
[01:39:06] Then you're going to get a cup and you can take that back to your seat and do your communion at your seat, okay?
[01:39:11] Is that good?
[01:39:12] And then if you are looking for some gluten-free bread of Christ this morning, I'll be over here.
[01:39:17] You can come see me.
[01:39:18] The juice is the same.
[01:39:20] It's all gluten-free juice of Christ.
[01:39:22] But if you need the bread, you come see me.
[01:39:24] Well, Lord, we just thank you so much that you gather those people that you love close to you and you share a meal with them.
[01:39:34] And in that, Lord, you're really sharing your body with them, your broken body.
[01:39:40] But what a gift, Lord, that through that our eyes can be opened.
[01:39:44] So open our eyes this morning, Lord.
[01:39:46] Show us who you are.
[01:39:47] Show us what you're doing.
[01:39:48] even today. As we go into our jobs, as we go into our families, Lord, let us see you. Where are you?
[01:39:54] What are you doing? Revelation, Lord. We just want more revelation.