Pastor Stephen Tilmon | When Death Lost Its Sting | Easter 2026

Death feels permanent. Regret feels defining. And a lot of us walk into Easter carrying things that feel buried for good. We go straight at that tension with 1 Corinthians 15 and the message Paul refuses to soften: if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then preaching is useless, faith is useless, and sin still owns the story. But if he did rise, then everything changes, including you and me. 

We unpack what it means to say the resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith, not a holiday mood. Jesus is called the “first of a great harvest,” the start of something that continues in everyone who belongs to him. We talk through the contrast of Adam and Christ, the reality of being born again into a new bloodline, and why Easter is bigger than an empty tomb, it’s the reversal of the curse and the promise that death does not get the final word. 

Then we bring resurrection power down to street level: grief, fear of death, shame, addiction, bitterness, and the exhausting cycle of trying to “fix yourself first.” We talk about spiritual maturity, prayer and fasting, and why surrender is not weakness but the doorway to real freedom. And we end where Paul ends, with direction: be strong, be immovable, and remember that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review, what part of your life needs resurrection hope right now?

Ending

Transcript

Opening Communion And Prayer

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So in the night he was betrayed. Jesus took the bread, gave it thanks, and broke it. He said, This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. His body was beaten, it was broken and placed in a tomb. On the third day, that same body was a giving glory. Let's take the bread together. After supper, he took the cup and said, This cup is the new covenant. In my blood, which has been poured out for you. His blood was shed for the forgiveness of sin. And because of the blood, the grave has no claim over us. Let us take the cup together. Let's bow our hands. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the cross. We thank you for the empty tomb. Thank you for the new life. We ask that you help us walk in resurrection power. Not only today, but every day. Let us live to reflect your victory, your love, and your grace. In your mighty name we pray. Amen. If you

Welcome And Next Steps

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would pass the cups to the center, and we'll have someone pick it up. And once again, thank you for choosing Connect Church to spend your Easter with.

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This book right here. We need to have this filled out before I think the last Saturday of April is when we're doing Growth Track. I know y'all have been standing for a while, but guess what? Gotcha. What is happening? It's terrible. We had it on the screen. We're gonna have it

Resurrection Scripture And Prayer

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on the screen for you again in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 20. And it simply says this it says, But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your mercy, Lord. We praise you for your grace. Thank you, God, for sending your one and only Son, the precious gift, the most precious gift you had, you gave it to us. And he chose to die for us. And today we celebrate that and we just want to say thank you, Lord. We just want to say thank you, God, for thinking of us, for going above and beyond what you even had to do, but yet you saw through time that we needed a way to make us right. And you sent your son to die on the cross. In your name we pray, amen.

From The Cross To Purpose

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I oftentimes think about those moments as Pastor Bill was walking us through a little bit of the Last Supper and what happened, and and you know, a lot of times in in church and in life, and and we're supposed to be believers, so you ready? And not once did he say or do anything towards him because he knew that this was gonna have to happen. You know, if we look at this and we have the perspective of because we we look at the cross and the cross is ugly. The cross is torment, the cross is torture, the cross is death. And oftentimes we see things as things in our life as being destructive, as being distracting, as being this, being that, and we and we we want to try to ask the Lord, Lord, take this cup from me, as Jesus did. But oftentimes the cup that we must drink from, we may be surrounded by our enemies because the purpose they play is to lead you into your place. And so I know we have to be as smart and intentional of who we let around us because sometimes we could be swayed in the wrong direction. But how many of you know that what the enemy tries to use for evil in your life doesn't matter who's around you or who's next to you, who is cunning and trying to do things behind your back, it does not matter because whether they try to destroy you or whether they come against you or whether they try to destroy your house, your relationships, your home, your your church, whatever the case may be, your job, we know this that if we stay true to who God has called us to be, then it doesn't matter what they do around me, because it may it may look like I'm surrounded, but I know that what surrounds me is surrounding them. And so I don't have to worry, I don't have to fret, I don't have to worry about tomorrow. There's enough problems in today to take care of themselves. So if you got your Bibles, we're gonna read from today in the book of 1 Corinthians, and we're gonna be pulling from chapter 15. These are the verses we're gonna be pulling from. We're gonna group them together in 14 through 22. So chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians 14 through 22, and then we're gonna read and break down 42 through 58. So

When Death Lost Its Sting

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today's title of the message is When Death Lost Its Sting. You know, oftentimes I get a little animated. I know y'all don't know that. I get a little excited, and in my mind, and sometimes in the physical, I just do like that, like I'm kicking the devil in the teeth. Sometimes you gotta you gotta let the devil know what's coming for him. You know what I'm saying? A little bit of thunder, a little bit of lightning, he don't even know what's happening. But uh my brother here this morning, he texted me, he said, Man, if I had some keys, I'd be shaken. Because Jesus went to the depths and he conquered death, hell, and the grave. He didn't come back with the well, nobody was home. He didn't come back with the well. I kind of bled a little bit. Yeah, he did, but he came back and he was the champion. He was the champion. So let me let me just kind of start this off today by the things in your life that feel like they may have died. May God, if need be, resurrect that today and let it let you realize that dead men's bones, when they come alive, they create an army. And so, what I want you to do today is you set your mind as we walk through this and say, Lord, what is it in me? I love what David says. He says, Create in me a clean heart, oh God. That is giving God full invitation, that is giving the Lord full rights to clean me out, to subtract, and to add not what I deem necessary or deem that I need, but it leaves it up to him for his will and his way in our lives. And so I've said this before if 99% of you is obedient, and then 1% of your life doesn't belong to God, you're still living in 100% disobedience. Everything you are, every part of you, every darkness, every personality trait, every word out of your mouth, and this is tough because we are flesh. Amen. See now, like, yeah, I gotta pray every day. That's okay. Pray as much as you have to. Anoint yourself. Sometimes this sounds silly, but I don't know if you know this. David shows this in the in the book of Psalm, but sometimes nobody's around you to uplift you and raise you. You got to do it yourself. You got to proclaim in where I am right now, I'm gonna serve the Lord in spite of how it feels, in spite of what it looks like. And I know that maybe right now I feel like I've been buried, but I know from the just the example of Jesus, I haven't been buried. I've been planted, and there's gonna come life from the death that is happening in my life today. So we have to receive that today in Jesus' name. So Easter is more than a holiday, it's more than lilies, it's more than church clothes, it's more than church shoes. Come on, somebody it's more than family pictures, which I hope all of these you partake of. It's more than a full sanctuary, it's more it's more than just an empty tomb. It's the moment heaven declared that sin was defeated. Death was broken, and Jesus Christ was exactly who he said he was. A lot of people celebrate Easter as a beautiful moment in history, but Paul does not let us leave Easter in history, he drags it right into the middle of our lives. He shows us that if Jesus did not rise, then nothing matters. But if Jesus did rise, then everything should change. This is not just about what happened to Jesus, this is about what his resurrection means for us. Because when Jesus walked out of that grave, he did not just prove he had power, he proved that death does not get the final word. He proved that sin does not get the final word. He proved that your worst day, your deepest failure, your darkest season, and even the grave will not get the final word. Because the same power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that dwells in the believer. So this is why I'm calling today's message when death lost its sing. Let's go through our points.

Resurrection As Faith’s Foundation

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Point number one the resurrection is the foundation of our faith. The resurrection is the foundation of our faith. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 14 through 19. And it says, and if Christ has not been raised, then all actually, you know what? Let's go back to 12. Let's go back to 12. Sorry, I don't have it up there for you guys, but let's go to verse 12 and chapter 15. It says, But tell me this since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless. And if your faith is useless, and your faith is useless. Verse 15. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. Verse 16. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still guilty of your sins. Verse 18, in that case, all who believe or who have died believing in Christ are lost. And verse 19, and if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are to be pitied more than anyone in the world. Paul does not treat the resurrection like a side issue. He treats it like it is the issue. He says that if Christ has not been raised, then what we preach is useless. Then us gathering here is pointless, that faith is useless. The apostles are liars, sin is undefeated, the dead are lost, believers are pitiful. In other words, if there is no resurrection, then Christianity collapses under its own weight. The resurrection is not just a good ending to a sad story. It is the proof that the cross worked. The cross without the resurrection would leave people wondering, well, was the sacrifice enough? If there was no exit from the grave, we would only have the crucifixion. And so we wouldn't actually know the answers of what happened, because there would be no part two to the story of him resurrecting. Was the sacrifice enough? Was sin really paid for? Did death win after all? Because by all sight and knowledge, if the stone remained unturned and the body remained in the tomb, there was no resurrection, there was no power displayed. The resurrection is God's stamp of approval on the finished work of Jesus. The empty tomb is heaven saying, Yes, the payment was accepted. Yes, sin has been dealt with. Yes, the Son is victorious, and yes, salvation is real. Some people want the teachings of Jesus without the resurrection of Jesus. Some people want the morals of Christianity without the miracle of Christianity. But Paul says you cannot separate them. If Jesus is still in the grave, he may be inspiring, but he would not be saving. He may be admirable, but he would not be victorious. He may be remembered, but he would not be considered Lord of all, sitting at the right hand of the throne of the Father, because there was no recognition of who he really was. Until I know he did miracles, I know he did signs and wonders, but until he was raised from the dead, that is the moment he became the Messiah to everyone who saw him and believed. And that is what we believe today. Our message today is not that he tried. Our message is not that he almost won. Our message is not that his ideas live on, his philosophy, his theology lives on. Our message is this Jesus Christ is exactly who he claimed to be, and he rose from the dead, and he is sitting at the right hand of the Father. He is sitting in authority, he is the risen Savior. He is why we are who we are. He is making us righteous before a righteous God. I think it's very, very intentional when the Bible doesn't say who the Lord sets free is free indeed. What does it say? Who the Son sets free is free indeed. Who the Son sets free is free indeed. Because why do we pray at the end of our prayers in the name of Jesus? Because we know that there is power in the name of Jesus. Mountains move, cancers lead, backs are healed, relations are restored. We know that there is power in the name of Jesus. There is power when you speak his name. Every devil trembles because there is resurrection power. And it's time for the believer to start acting as if that power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me. He lives in you. If you said yes to Jesus and your life belongs to him, the power lives in you. That is scripture. You may not recognize it now, but in years to come you will. Slowly but surely, the culture of demonic activity is taking over every place in our lives. And so if believers do not have the power and know what we believe and stand on the word, then you will be convinced when an antichrist makes his appearance. Man, he preached this almost every sermon he mentioned it. The Lord's coming soon. The Lord's coming soon. And man, as a teenager, I'd roll my eyes and be like, Dad, come on. You're just an old dude stuck in your ways, preaching an old gospel, preaching this, preaching that. You say the same thing all the time. And now, as I am an adult, still young, but I'm adult. I'm watching with eyes that are expectating, with expectations of the Lord is doing something, and I'm seeing evil pop up. Not only evil pop up, but evil be welcomed into even the church house. We've got to be in the world and not of the world. We've got to. So we as Christians and believers, we need to start acting as if we know where our power comes from. And it starts here. It starts here. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is so powerful that when you die, one day that same power will resurrect you. Isn't that mind-blowing? I'm like, come on, I ain't trying to get there quick, but I'm like excited about it. You know what I'm saying? Point

Jesus Opens The Way Home

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number two, Jesus opened the way for all who belong to him. Look at verses 20 and 22 through 22. In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. We read this, we went through this in our book of Romans. We've talked about the first Adam and the second Adam. First Adam being Adam, the second Adam, the first brought damnation, introduced sin into the world, was kicked out of the garden, and the second Adam, Christ, brought redemption for everyone who has been born into the curse. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because all belong to Adam, we are all from that line of Adam. Everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. So the Bible wraps this up and says that you must be born again. So we're being born again, and there's a new bloodline being created. And so that that sinful nature, that sinful bloodline, that evil bloodline that we are all born into from birth, that we are born again, it it severs, it severs that blood. It cuts off what that produced and it creates in us a new heart. It creates in us salvation. So I love the way Paul shifts here. After laying it out, laying out the horror of faith with no resurrection, he says, but in fact. But in fact, the phrase changes everything. But in fact, Christ has been raised, meaning death made its claim, but in fact. Sin did its damage, but in fact. Hell thought it had won, but in fact. The stone was sealed, but in fact. The grave looked final, but in fact, Christ has raised from the dead. Paul calls Jesus the first of a great harvest. That means his resurrection was not an isolated event. It was just the beginning of something greater. It was a representation of not only the power of God and showing everyone who may have doubted. This is why I think he appeared over and over again, so they would know that no one stole his body. It was the power of God in him that raised him from the dead. And so this began to stir up more faith. And then they got hungry and the spirit came and filled, and it exploded the church in a way that it had never seen before. Thousands in days came to Christ. Jesus did not raise as a private individual, he rose as the head of a new humanity. Adam brought sin, he ruined everything, he brought death. Christ brings righteousness, Christ brings restoration, Christ brings new life. In Adam, death spread to everybody. You cannot Not escape sinful nature. This is why even Jesus himself, the only time I disagree with Jesus, when he said, Why do you call me good? Oh, and the Father is good. I'm like, Bro, you're dying and you're a spotless lamb. I think you can consider yourself good. But he was showing what humility looked like, even though he had it all together. Hello, church people. This is why Easter is bigger than any empty tomb in Jerusalem. It is about the reversal of the curse. Adam opened the door to death, and Jesus kicked that door off the hinges. The first Adam handed us guilt. The last Adam handed us grace. The first Adam brought separation and Christ brings us reconciliation. The first Adam left us in the graveyard, and Jesus Christ walks into the graveyard and says, Come forth to every believer. That means Easter is not just about what happened then, it is about what is possible now. Because if you belong to Christ, your story is no longer defined by Adam. It is now defined by Jesus. You may have been born in sin, but you can't be born again into new life. You may have inherited brokenness, but through Christ, you can inherit resurrection hope. So

Buried Weakness Raised In Glory

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point number three: what is buried in weakness will be raised in glory. Look at verses 42 through 44. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. He says, What is buried is broken, is weak, perishable, it is natural. And that sounds a lot like the human condition. We are born into this, we can't escape this. We know brokenness, we know weakness, we know sickness, we know aging, we know grief, we know funerals, we know what it is to watch this fallen world wear down the world God created and make it totally something He did not intend it to be. But Paul says burial is not the end of the story for the people of God. What is buried in brokenness will be raised to glory. What is buried in weakness will be raised in strength. What is buried perishable will be raised imperishable. The world sees burial as final, but for the believer, the burial is a planting. Because one day something is gonna come out of there that is not, thank God I'm not gonna have this body again. I'm gonna ask the Lord about listen, can I just be a little ripped up? Just a little bit of so when I walk around, you know what I mean? Like, Lord, come on. I prefer not to get out of breath when I run. Whatever's going on in here to make me like that, can you just take that away? Like, even steps, you know. Let me not get so worn out. I'm like, goodness, I'm getting older. Chasing a little two-year-old around and about to be a newborn. I'm like, Lord, this is, I guess if I'm asking you for it, you're conditioning me now. They either make you feel younger or a whole lot older. Paul uses language that like that sounds like seed language. Something goes into the ground looking finished, but it is not finished. It's going into the ground one way and coming up another. The grave is not a prison for the believer, it is a planting ground. What goes down in tears will come up in glory. What goes down in weakness will come up in power. What goes down dishonored will come up transformed. Easter is the Super Bowl Sunday of the church. But if you're new here today, I'm gonna throw you off your game. You come here next Sunday, you're gonna get the same thing. We worship and we preach the word. There's nothing crazy, there's nothing painted up special. What we are is what we are, and so we pride ourselves in being who we are. We pride ourselves and not try to do something too extra. I gotta reign some people in sometimes because you know, people be extra. I'd rather reign five of them in than have a thousand lazy ones. Amen. Somebody. But things in your lives you can feel buried. You can feel like your joy is gone, that your hope's been buried, your peace has been buried, purity, dreams, prayer lives, passion. And because Jesus got up, buried things do not have to stay buried. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead still specializes in bringing life out of places that smell like death.

Death Defeated And Sin Broken

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Point number four, death is defeated and sin's power has been broken. Verses 54 through 57. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this scripture will be fulfilled. 55, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? You remember I talked earlier about kicking the devil in the teeth? To me, this is what Paul's doing right here. Like, where are you at, bro? What you thought you had the capability to do, God just blew that out of the water by raising his son. Where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death. This is why God tries to protect us from sin. He tries to give us guidelines to keep us out of sin. Not that what you do gets you into heaven, but who you become births out of you new characteristics of spiritual fruit that helps us uh be more spiritually mature, which, if you don't know, that is the loud alarm I say almost every single Sunday. I tell it to my leaders, I tell it to anybody. Spiritual maturity is a must. The law gives sin its power, but thank God he gives us victory over sin and death through the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul gets bold here. He starts talking to death like he is already lost. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? Paul is trash talking if you aren't aware of what's happening here. Now, why can he talk like that? Because Jesus took away the sting. Paul says the sting of death is sin. That means death is terrible not merely because we stopped breathing, death is terrible because sin brought it. Before sin was introduced, there was no death. So death equals sin. Sin equals death. Death is the consequence of rebellion. Death is a sign that this world is not the way it should be. But when Jesus went to the cross, he did not just face physical pain, he bore our sins. He put the weight of our sins on him, he took our judgment, he stepped into our place, to my place, in your place of all the things that we actually deserve. He took that for us. So now that every believer can say this death is still the enemy, but it is a defeated enemy. Death may still visit us, but it cannot own us. Death may still touch the body, but it cannot keep the soul of the redeemed.

Grief Hope And A Salvation Story

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We all experience loss in our lives. We all go through times of of sometimes some of the darkest seasons of losing someone to death. But one of the greatest rejoices that those who die and know the Lord, or those who are left behind that knew they know the Lord, know they knew the Lord, is that they are not done. That now our loved ones that have gone on, I buried my grandpa a couple years ago, and he was like the pillar of the family, is my dad's dad. And thank God I got to go and see him, like in the last few moments of his life. It wasn't, I don't even know if it was maybe even a month, and he passed away after I got to go up there and see him. But I don't even know if he knows I was there or not. But when I went and I held his hand and I just prayed over him and prayed for the family that was there, there wasn't, there was a loss, but it wasn't defeat. Do you know the difference? There's a loss, but there's not a defeat because I knew that he knew that he knew. I've heard his salvation story. Most of y'all, like, yeah, we got to get him to church to get him saved. But let me tell you how my grandpa got saved. He didn't want to go to church. He didn't want nothing to do with the Lord. But the Lord wanted something to do with him. And when it was time, it was time. And so my my family, my dad's, all of my dad's side up in southeast Missouri, all farmers, and now they have a company of truck drivers. So we we rednecks, I guess, is what where I come from. Everybody's neck is red. And sorry. He was out there on his uh on his combine, he was chopping cotton, and he just got struck with the power of the Lord, and he had to get off out of his tractor. So much he couldn't even drive anymore. And he got out and he knelt beside that combine. He said, Lord, I don't know if you're real. I don't know where you are. I don't know what's going on. I don't even know really how to pray. Never done this before. They were good country people. You know what I mean by that? Like they just, you know, helping that if somebody's on the side of the road, they'd stop and help them. They would, you know, give the shirt off their back, they would give you their shoes, you know, whatever they grew up poor. My dad always, so many stories of just poor, like nothing to eat, beans and cornbread, and that was literally it. And you had to make that stretch. They had nothing, but they were hard workers and they would help anybody they could. And if somebody like that, who will sacrifice so much for strangers, needed to have an encounter with God, guess what? You do too. We need to have an experience and an encounter with God. Because here's the thing if we don't say yes to Jesus, we're saying yes to the devil. Did you know that there's no nuance with salvation? There's no in-between. Now you can be saved and struggle. There's things that God still got a buff out of me. Y'all seeing the end product. Should have seen me 10 years ago, fresh out of jail, 11 years ago. You wouldn't probably call me a Christian, but I wanted to be. That desire in my heart spurred me. That relationship with God spurred me to something deeper and something stronger in building that relationship with God. All that to say this. And so we have this promise from Jesus. We have this promise from the Word of God that says that we may feel loss, but we know that we know that we know that we are not walking in defeat. That in spite of what may disappear from our lives, whether it's relationships, whether it's marriages going bad, whether it's losing a job, and we have all this these pain points in our lives where we really can struggle sometimes in our faith. Because even if a lot of times you ever been to that place where you you feel like you're doing it right, and it seems like nothing is going right. Perseverance, no discipline is pleasant at the time. Maybe you just ain't been learning. Come on, Jesus, get them. But the grave that used to be a place of fear or unknown, but to the believer, now we know. And some people, and this is a fair question, some people will come and say, Well, how do you know that after there's actually heaven? Like, well, call me naive, but I prefer to believe that than there's nothing. There's faith, there's hope, there's belief that there is something beyond now. And as we walk through our life and we experience the Lord, it it overshadows the doubt that we would have of the doorway of death because we've experienced in God. So if I've been walking with him on this side, why would he lie and all of a sudden this is the thing that doesn't work? Because if he can't do that, if there's nothing on the other side, then why are we proclaiming Jesus that demonstrated that that is how it works? So the fear that used to be around death, I'm not scared of death. I'm just, I don't, there's certain ways I don't want to go. You know what I mean? Like, I don't care really about dying. Okay, I'm gonna be with the Lord, absent from the body, present with the Lord. I'm just concerned about the way that I go. I used to pray that, you know, Lord, I just I want to go in my sleep, but then I got to thinking, I've had some pretty vivid dreams, and there's no telling what would happen before I actually died. So I'm like, no, Lord, that could go anywhere. Real life is better than that. But the grave that used to be a place of fear, now for the child of God is only a doorway to take us to our faithful Lord and Savior. The enemy used to accuse you are guilty, but the cross answered that and said, The enemy used to threaten you are doomed, but the resurrection answered. The enemy used to whisper, this is the end, but Jesus got up and said, No, this is not the end. This is only the beginning. Now

Overcoming Sin Through Surrender

SPEAKER_00 37:11

let's make this plain and simple. The resurrection is not just about victory over death, it's also about the victory over sin. It's not just the death part. But if you remember earlier, I explained as sin does lead to death. And some of you are like, well, I know people that have been sinning their entire life and they ain't dead yet. Matter of fact, they may outlive us all. Anybody got those? But it leads to a spiritual death, a spiritual death, which is much worse than a physical death. Then they will die twice. And I hate that. The resurrection is not just about victory over death later, it's also about the victory over sin now. See, a lot of us overlook this and we we focus so much on the death part because he resurrected, but when he died, he got the keys and overcame sin. So, what does that mean for the believer, for the struggling believer, those who yet not believe? It means that we can overcome sin in the power of Jesus. That is how we overcome sin. And I explain this a lot in this way is that we we sometimes anybody ever like control? I'll turn this way if you don't want to be embarrassed. And and and you don't want to do it 100% God's way, you want to do it mostly your way, and then have God come along and say, Yep, you're doing it right. Good job, buddy. Anyone else? Got a couple of necks breaking in the house? Come on. And we do this, but we do the same with like sin. We're like, oh Lord, I uh let me get fixed first, and then I will start coming to church again. Let me get let me let me work on me first, and then I'll start coming to Bible study. Yes, Lord. By the way, we got Bible study on What's it nice? Oh, let's keep on going. Let me get myself fixed first, and then I'll come to prayer meeting on Tuesday mornings and Tuesday nights. Yes, Lord. But that's not how God works. Because what happens is we try to fix it and we make a bigger mess of it, and then we're like, okay, I can't do anymore. Lord, where you been? If we would do it first, give ourselves to the Lord, and then realize that we have the power through Christ to overcome the sin, then we can be successful. So let me tell you today, if you're here today and you have something private or public, whatever the case may be, and you've been struggling, you've been dealing with it over and over and over, and you feel like you kind of end up in the same place, maybe the problem is you. Maybe you're trying to figure it out and find the equation and plug in all the numbers to make it be the value that you want it to be. Maybe you're trying to have your hand in it, and God is saying, Listen, if you will just okay, if that's what you want, all right. All right, if that's what you want to pray for, okay, I'll let you have it for a while. You ever pray for something and God gave it to you, and then you realize I should have prayed different. This is part of spiritual maturity. But because Jesus raised from the dead, death not only was conquered, death has not just become a doorway, but sinful nature can be cut out at the root if we choose to give everything to Him. Every habit, every thought process. How many of you are older in age, but you still got some of the same thought processes from when you were hurt? Freedom is what Jesus desires for you, for me, but until we fully let Him have full control, full control, not partial, not some, not where I'm comfortable letting go. Because how do you know? I got a lot of spots, I ain't comfortable letting go. Because I know if I just had a little bit longer, I'd figure it out, right? If I could if I just Lord, just give me a little bit, little bit more time, and I got this. I'm almost there, and then it blows up in our face. And I'm just speaking from experience, I don't know what you got going on, but when we give all of ourselves to the Lord, we realize that the things we struggle with in here and in here actually can be overcome when Jesus, when Jesus is covering those things. Not when you figure it out and find out how all the pieces fit, when Jesus, when it's given to Jesus through the power of Jesus, because the same Jesus who conquered the grave can conquer your addiction, can conquer your shame, can conquer your bitterness, can conquer your secret sin, can conquer your bondage, can conquer your despair. If he can walk out of a sealed tomb, he can walk into your situation. If death could not hold him, your chains cannot either. So give your bondage to him. Some of us define ourselves by our bondage and we won't let go of it. A lot of times, if we let go of the things that have actually been torturing us, we would feel so lonely, we'd go mad.

Strong Believers Prayer And Fasting

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Point number five Jesus arose and brings meaning. Verse 58. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord. For you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. This is so powerful for Paul to end this way. He does not finish with emotion only, he finishes with direction. Because Jesus rose, believers are to be strong. Weak Christians will not push back the gates of hell, will not push back the dominions and the powers that try to come out here and take over. We Christians won't do that because you won't pray and you don't know scripture. And you sure ain't fasting. Hallelujah. But we are to be as spiritual warriors, some of the strongest people, with my dad being a pastor my entire growing up, some of the strongest people in his church were not the people on the stage. They were not the people taking up the offering. They were not even the people on his board. But it was the little old ladies that had a prayer closet at their house that would pray and touch heaven. And they would agree in one thing with all those around. And I believe that those types of people who have a prayer life are the ones that are going to change this nation back towards God. It's not the people that are out there being the loudest. It's the people that are being in their quiet time with God and they take it seriously. It's not going to be how good we can quote scripture and how much we can we can regurgitate theology. It is if we are pregnant and if we are fasting, if we want to see the power of God through Longview and Kilgore and Gilmer and all the surrounding areas around here, we have to be spiritual warriors that are fasting and know how to pray. And if we pray in quiet, we'll be able to reproduce it in public. Some of us are scared. Come on. You're scared to grab that person's hand in the line that mentioned something going wrong in their life because you don't actually know how to pray because you never do it. Practice makes perfect. And here's something I know. Church people, religious people, spiritual people, have you want to God's people don't get serious until we have something to really pray about? You know what my prayer is? Lord, don't have, don't make me have to go through that for me to remind remember who you are. Don't have to put me through that for my memory to be clicked. And then I'm like, oh, I need him more than ever before because of this in my life. Listen, it's good to pray when you need something, but that should not be the only conversation you have with him. It is a relationship. Relationship because the believer is supposed to be strong. The believer is supposed to know how to pray. The believer is supposed to know what it means to fast. The believer is supposed to know what it means to be filled with the spirit. The believer is supposed to know what it means to be faithful. The believer is supposed to know what it means to be hardworking and steadfast. Why? Because the resurrection means what we do for God matters. If we're going to be world changers, which I believe this church is, we got almost just the right number on the day of Pentecost. To me, I'm like, okay, Lord, I see you. How many of you do that? You read scripture and you insert yourself in there, and it's really not about you? Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I say that out loud? Because the resurrection means that what we do for God matters. Every cut listen, and I do this in my business. Some people are scared to talk about Jesus or God or prayer or anything because what if I lose business? If they're gonna leave because I mentioned Jesus and I'm talking about God, I don't need them. If I'm not saying you have to have a Christian, you know, a non-profit, whatever your business. What I'm saying is this if we are believers, everything that we touch and we are about should be about the kingdom. It just should flow out of us. It should. Because what we do here, now in life, it matters. It matters. And some of us sitting here for years, been saved for years, are doing more of the devil's work because we can't shut up. We want to beat people over the head and be mean about it. We should be over the top loving to those who do not know God. We don't have to defend God, He can do that on His own. We don't have to beat them over the head with scripture. The Lord will reveal that to them. They will get a hunger because of who we are. When we love each other and we show our love for God, that relationship shines and will produce the fruit that we actually truly want to happen. If there's no resurrection, then life is random. Suffering is mean meaningless, sacrifice is foolish, and obedience is wasted. But because Jesus lives, none of those things are true. The prayer you prayed when nobody knew you were suffering and nobody knew your situation was not wasted. The seed that you sowed, that person that seemed like they didn't respond to you saying something about God, not wasted. The tears that you have cried are not wasted. That service you rendered with no payment, not wasted. That hidden obedience, not wasted. In a world that often feels fragile and shaky, the resurrection gives the church a steel spine. We know where we stand and we know what is true. Nothing on this earth should be able to shake our faith if we truly believe. Because I know this the devil has been doing his thing a lot longer than we've been alive. Which means he's smarter than you. He is cunning. He knows your faults, he knows your traps, he knows what to put on your screen when you're at night with that in front of you. He knows exactly what to put in front of you to get your mind going in the wrong direction. I know some of us, as we get older, digital products are no longer our friends. But I promise you this the devil is old, but he understands how to work it. He knows how to get you, he knows your faults, he knows where you have hangups, he knows, he knows. This is why prayer and fasting is so important. It realigns here and it realigns here with the will of God. You do not have to live like people that have no hope. We don't have to worship like Jesus is still dead. I know some of y'all do. It's fine. We don't all have to worship the same way. I'm more animated. I get it. Andrea that's up here, she's more animated than most of y'all. But she doesn't care. We don't care if anybody's watching. Because in the moment when I'm worshiping, as you should be, should be about me and him. That's it. My heart belonging to him. You don't have to pray like heaven is closed. You ever think about that? Like, well, I'm gonna pray for somebody. I'm gonna pray miracles, you know. Imagine, just for a second, if you will. Imagine if church people, believers, begin to pray like they knew miracles were real. Would that change the way we pray? I think so. Because in faith, we're already expecting because I know that God is who he says he is, and because of that, it doesn't take me seeing something firsthand to have faith. Well, if you show me, Lord, I'll believe. And we don't have to serve like our labor is pointless. You know, a lot of things in the church that happen that people serve, and the capacity of what we do and all the things that happen behind the scenes, most of you will never know who's done what. And sometimes that can make us bitter or upset because no one ever says thank you because they don't know who to thank. And so for those who serve in the church, we got to remember that we're not doing it to be recognized. We're not doing it for someone saying thank you, we're doing it for the Lord, we're doing it for the kingdom, and so it makes us serve different and it makes our motives shift from being in the limelight to just giving God all the glory. And the Bible declares that when we give God glory, he will elevate us and give us glory as well. But it's from where we do it from that matters that makes the difference. If we're giving it, if we're trying to get glory for ourselves, then we're robbing God of His glory, and I don't want to stand in that position. Jesus got up, and because he got up, our faith stands. Your future is secure, your sin can be forgiven, and your life can be changed, and your work in the Lord is not in vain.

Serving For The One Matters

SPEAKER_00 53:11

Jesus uh in the Gospels gave a very simple example of how Jesus left the 99 and he went for the one. If we spend, think about this for a second. I know our lives sometimes, the older we get, the shorter life feels, but the the life we've lived on this earth, and sometimes we we look back and maybe we don't think we're so productive in in doing something for the Lord, or, or maybe we haven't left a legacy like we want to, or maybe how many of you got to a place in life and you're like, this didn't turn out the way I thought it would? I'm here and I never thought I'd be here. Whether you're happy or not happy, usually life ends up you're in a place and it's not where you really set out to be. It's very rare that it's a hundred percent exactly how you thought it would be. And so we can feel this way when we serve in the kingdom and we have things or we do something, and only one person shows up, or one person comes to the Lord, and it doesn't feel like it's very productive, and they're like, well, we don't need to do it again, or we need to, you know, maybe I'm doing something wrong. But I see that as a half, a glass half full. Matter of fact, if someone comes to the Lord, that cup is running over. Because we shouldn't be doing it for the masses, we should be doing it for the lost. And if our entire lives, if we serve God and only one per we only see one person be the fruit of our labors, we have lived a full life that has been dedicated to God, and that makes all the difference. You never know what one person that you were faithful and you said, you know what? I'm not gonna get discouraged. I'm just gonna cultivate and disciple this one person. You never know how many lives they're gonna touch. It's a multiplication process. I'm not doing it so I feel better about myself. I'm doing it to make disciples of Jesus Christ. That is the point. So if I just touch one life, if I just help someone, one person turn to Jesus, and everything that we've done in this building has been worth it all. Now thank God when it's more, right? But we have to remember that if it's just for one, then we have one. As we close, Easter simply means this our faith is built on a risen Savior. Our sins can truly be forgiven. Our future resurrection is secure. Our future resurrection is secure, death has lost its final word. Our labor in the Lord still matters. You know, if you serve God for a while, you can kind of lose that first fire. The Bible even calls it a first love. You know, you you're first dating and you get married. No, honeymoon phases on. Come on, girl, you know, and you're like loving her, she can't do nothing wrong. And then you got five, ten years in, fifteen years in, and you're like, everything you once thought was cute gets on your nerves. Now, fellas, do not say amen when I talk about this stuff. I'm saving marriages right now. And so you kind of you what do you have to do? You have to work and figure out. Here's here, fellas, write this down. Write this down right now in Jesus' name. If you're younger and you're married, it will come to this. If you're older and you're married, you are here. Women seem to constantly change their entire lives, and men always want things to be exactly the way it was when we first met. Huh? I want you to look the way you looked. I want you to, you used to be more docile. You know what I mean? You used to be more chill, and now you're all every every little thing I do. I've been doing the same thing for 20 years, you know what I mean? Yes, Lord. So what happens is that men have to keep pursuing the woman, and the woman has to remain the same and steadfast with her man. So I've used this analogy all the time with me and my wife. She is the uh I'm the one that's like a squirrel. Oh, she oh, I'm I'm gonna use your analogy with the dogs. Can I use that? Okay, I don't know if y'all know this, but our kids are hyperactive. Okay, and Jesse the other day, she was like, you know, I feel like I'm a golden trever, golden retriever raising boxers. I don't know, that that is so foundational for our relationship. Like that makes so much sense. Not to say, pray for her. But the way we do things and how we do things matter, and if it's all just for one, it's worth it all.

Closing Praise And Final Hope

SPEAKER_00 58:13

Paul says that Christ wins, even though the world tries to say that death wins, there's no hope for the unbeliever. The grave says it's final, and Jesus says it's only temporary. Hell says defeat, and heaven says redeemed. And today, because of the resurrection, the church does not gather around a memory. We gather around a risen Savior, and we lift him, praise his holy name.