Easter Sunday: Responding to the King • Ps Nadia Clark

He had no good works. He had not previously walked with Jesus. He didn't know the Bible. He hadn't been baptized. He hadn't been in church, and all those things are amazing to grow our faith, but all the man had, all the thief had was Jesus, the man on the cross, told me that I could come. That's all he needed. The man on that cross, he told me that I could come, and Jesus took him from such brokenness and gave him life. Jesus does the same for every single one of us today. What a savior. [00:36:53] (46 seconds)  #savedbygrace

The thief was so hopeful he said to Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. That was incredible faith. Jesus that was dying right next to him, yet he had the faith to see that there was something far greater than what he was seeing with his natural eye, that there was something eternal going on that was something beyond the natural world. He had faith, and he turned his faith to Jesus. You know, that word remember in the Greek isn't just to mentally recall something like we use the word. It means to actively remember in a way that leads to action. [00:34:31] (44 seconds)  #rememberme

What it means to respond to the king is the first thing is that we're honest in failure. See one thief, he responded in anger trying to justify himself. Come on Jesus, if you were God, get off this cross, save me and yourself. He responded in anger and frustration trying to justify himself, trying to save himself. Yet the other thief looked at Jesus, and he said, we are punished justly. We are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong. [00:13:33] (40 seconds)  #honestinfailure

And Jesus responded to that honesty about his failure and said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Don't you love that we have a king when we are honest before him about our failure that he responds to us? He responds with his forgiveness. He responds with love. It says this in Romans five verse eight, Christ arrives right in time to make this happen. He didn't and doesn't wait for us to get ready. He presented himself with a sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. [00:14:13] (35 seconds)  #kingforgives

Yet the last thing he did before Jesus died on the cross was deny him three times. Yet, this is so powerful. The morning of resurrection Sunday, when Mary Magdalene walks to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, she gets there, but the tomb is no longer shut. There is no body. The stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty, and the angel appears to her and says, do not be afraid. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. [00:15:41] (28 seconds)  #emptytomb

What was meant to rob you, I'm carrying the weight of that curse. I'm allowing you to be set free. So no matter how broken you are, I'm carrying the curse of that brokenness. I'm the God that so loves you that I carry the weight of your brokenness. I carry the weight of the depression that you're fighting. I carry the weight of the anxiety that you are facing. I carry the weight of the brokenness, the insecurity that you're feeling. I carry the weight of what you don't understand. I carry it. I carry the curse. [00:27:10] (38 seconds)  #jesusbearscurse

So don't let what we don't understand rob us from embracing the king and his goodness to us. Let those questions cause us to run to him because the truth is again Jesus said this in John 16 before he went to the cross 33, in this world which again is not God's ideal for us you will have trouble but he says but take heart because I have overcome the world. No matter what we are facing, you have a God that wants to overcome. [00:29:18] (36 seconds)  #heovercomestheworld

Don't you love that? All other religions, it's about man reaching God. But we have a God who did everything to reach us. We have a God who has already paid the price so that we could come to him honestly in our favor and say Jesus, like that thief did on the cross, help me. I need you. And he responds in that moment of honesty. What an amazing God we have. The second thing we're gonna look at in how we respond to a king is we're honoring an approach. [00:22:10] (32 seconds)  #godreachesus

He hunts Peter out in the middle of his failure. He deliberately pursues Peter out of everyone else, says, Peter, I still am calling you by name. Peter, I still have my plans in store for you. Peter, I'm still there to redeem your life around. Peter, I'm I still know how I wanna use you. Peter, I still have plans for you. Peter, I'm still powerfully gonna use you. I'm actually gonna go before you, and I'm gonna reveal myself to you. So no matter how we feel today, you may feel the furthest that you could possibly be from Jesus. [00:16:22] (41 seconds)  #peterredeemed

And then he just whacked winners for him over and over and over again. And then by the end of the game, the other kids, they hadn't took any notice of Easy, but all of a sudden, Easy's right at the top because behind the scenes, his dad had been working the victory. And you know what? No matter where you find yourself today, there is a God that's working behind the scenes on your behalf. He's got victory for you. He loves you. He's the God of the turnaround, and no matter how far away you feel from God today, take heart that he's a God that wants to reach you, and he has power to redeem your story. [00:18:02] (45 seconds)  #godbehindthescenes

The disciples and other believes of believers of Jesus were so radically committed to the truth that Jesus died and then rose again that they all faced crazy persecution and death. Some of them were hung on the cross upside down because they said, I'm not worthy to face the same death as my savior. They were hung. They were scorched to their faith, but they did it because they knew the truth that their savior had died and rose again. The church grew off the back of the revelation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [00:05:36] (36 seconds)  #radicalcommitment

And see this fear wasn't a fear that caused him to go away from God, caused him to shy away from God, caused him to go, God, you were too great for me. No. It was a fear that caused him to run to God, to go, God, if you are God, then I need you. If you are God, then I'm gonna lean into you. If you are God, then I've gotta discover who you are. If you are God, then I'm gonna pursue you. Because if you are God, you created me. And if you created me, then you've gotta have a plan for me. So I put my hope in you. There was it's such a beautiful perspective to have of God. [00:23:04] (38 seconds)  #fearthatdraws

His church is still growing across the entire globe. You know, today, over 2,600,000,000 people on this planet profess that they believe in Jesus, that he has transformed their lives. Based on his current growth, by 2030, there will be over 3,000,000,000 people on the planet that believe in Jesus. And you know what? Today, he is still transforming people. Last Sunday, we had 50 people baptized, making the public declaration, I am all in, following Jesus, and the testimonies of what God is doing. One [00:06:38] (36 seconds)  #globalchurchgrowth

Literally, it's spit it split history in two before and after the death of Jesus, but the most powerful about thing about it is the cross isn't just something that exists in history. It is for each and every one of us today because still today, it reveals how much God loves you, how much he is for you, how he is a God who is mighty to save. See, Romans five verse eight says this, but God demonstrated his own love for us in this, [00:08:42] (30 seconds)  #crosschangedhistory

Come on. Don't you love that he made a way for us to reach him in our failure, in our weakness to cry out to him and go, Jesus, I need you like that thief did on the cross. Jesus, I'm helpless right now, and God responds to that honest heart cry. Now as I was doing study for this this week, I came across this for the first time, which I'd never seen around the story of Peter, and he was one of the closest disciples of Jesus [00:15:12] (27 seconds)  #cryoutinhonesty

because thorns have meaning in the bible. When you go back to Adam and Eve, when they disobeyed God, it meant they were separated from God. The first sign of the curse was that thorns and and thistles would come from the crowns. So when the soldiers were mocking Jesus, they were actually unknowingly revealing the gospel. The curse that entered the whole world was now sitting on the head of Jesus Christ. He was now carrying the curse that had been set on humanity, and he was declaring the curse that was meant for humanity. I'm not carrying it on myself. [00:26:33] (37 seconds)  #crownofthornsgospel

the golf ball as far as you possibly can, and you earn points. And and as a family, we were playing it, and Easy, our youngest son, he was struggling with it. He could hardly get any balls even to even to the to the front of the pitch, and and so he his score was pretty bad. He was failing pretty badly. But as the other kids were getting distracted by other things, by the food that was coming, I saw his dad out of the corner of my eye come and just tap Eazy's name on the on the little sheet, the tablet in front of us. [00:17:30] (32 seconds)  #fatherbehindthescenes

In the middle of our failure, you gotta hear it. You have a God that pursues you. A God that is seeking after you. A God who has good plans for you. A God that wants to bring the victory, wants to bring the turnaround, and now we were up on the Gold Coast for one of our family holidays last year, and this is just such a beautiful illustration of the goodness of our father. And we were at Topgolf playing, you know, Topgolf where you just smack the golf [00:17:03] (27 seconds)  #godpursuesyou

It was used in a business context in ancient receipts, used to indicate that a debt had been fully paid. It was used in a judicial context, in a court, when a sentence was fully served, and then it was also used in military context when a battle had been completely, finally won. So, when Jesus cries out, it is finished, he was declaring the debt of our sin has been fully paid for. He was declaring the judgment of your sin has been fully served, and he was declaring the spiritual war against Satan, against the devil, against the powers of this world. It's been won in my mighty awesome name. [00:35:52] (44 seconds)  #debtpaid

Don't you love that? All other religions, it's about man reaching God. But we have a God who did everything to reach us. We have a God who has already paid the price so that we could come to him honestly in our favor and say Jesus, like that thief did on the cross, help me. I need you. And he responds in that moment of honesty. What an amazing God we have. [00:22:10] (25 seconds)  #godreachedfirst

and Jesus took him from such brokenness and gave him life. Jesus does the same for every single one of us today. What a savior. It is finished as a statement over every single one of our lives. Your sin has been fully paid for. Your judgment has been fully served, and your victory has been won. And, all we need to do, like that thief on the cross, is turn to Jesus and say, Lord, honesty in my failure, I have messed up. Jesus, I honor you as Lord and King, and Jesus, I put my hope. I put my trust in who you are. [00:37:26] (59 seconds)  #saviorgiveslife

He responded in anger and frustration trying to justify himself, trying to save himself. Yet the other thief looked at Jesus, and he said, we are punished justly. We are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong. And Jesus responded to that honesty about his failure and said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Don't you love that we have a king when we are honest before him about our failure that he responds to us? [00:13:50] (38 seconds)  #honestyleadsparadise

One thief being on his left, the other thief on his right. Both had different responses to the king. One responded in such a way that it led to his salvation. It led to eternity with Jesus, and my prayer today is that each and every one of us would open our hearts to hear the truth of how much God loves you, how much he wants eternity. He wants paradise with you for eternity, but it is up to us how we respond to him. [00:11:28] (30 seconds)  #chooseeternity

which again is not God's ideal for us you will have trouble but he says but take heart because I have overcome the world. No matter what we are facing, you have a God that wants to overcome. [00:29:38] (16 seconds)  #jesusovercomes

And here's the thing, it's okay to have questions, but we need to run to god with the crave questions rather than allowing the questions to separate us from God. Because when we distance ourselves from from God because of questions like, if God is real, why is it so much suffering? We miss the greater truth that is also present in that question because why is there something in us that longs for a world with no suffering? Why is that in us as humans? [00:28:02] (36 seconds)  #runwithquestions

The disciples and other believes of believers of Jesus were so radically committed to the truth that Jesus died and then rose again that they all faced crazy persecution and death. Some of them were hung on the cross upside down because they said, I'm not worthy to face the same death as my savior. They were hung. They were scorched to their faith, but they did it because they knew the truth that their savior had died and rose again. The church grew off the back of the revelation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [00:05:36] (36 seconds)  #faithunderpersecution

I carry the weight of the brokenness, the insecurity that you're feeling. I carry the weight of what you don't understand. I carry it. I carry the curse. And he was the savior that was declaring, am over that curse. I am above all. I am the one that intercedes for my children. What a good god that we serve. [00:27:39] (23 seconds)  #jesuscarriesburden

come and just tap Eazy's name on the on the little sheet, the tablet in front of us. And then he just whacked winners for him over and over and over again. And then by the end of the game, the other kids, they hadn't took any notice of Easy, but all of a sudden, Easy's right at the top because behind the scenes, his dad had been working the victory. And you know what? No matter where you find yourself today, there is a God that's working behind the scenes on your behalf. [00:17:56] (37 seconds)  #unexpectedvictory

And see this fear wasn't a fear that caused him to go away from God, caused him to shy away from God, caused him to go, God, you were too great for me. No. It was a fear that caused him to run to God, to go, God, if you are God, then I need you. If you are God, then I'm gonna lean into you. If you are God, then I've gotta discover who you are. If you are God, then I'm gonna pursue you. Because if you are God, you created me. And if you created me, then you've gotta have a plan for me. So I put my hope in you. There was it's such a beautiful perspective to have of God. [00:23:04] (38 seconds)  #fearthatleads

She came and discovered Jesus, and she said literally on stage here on Saturday, I've been adopted into the family of God. I've finally found hope. I've found meaning. I've found purpose. I've found the one who always created me, who's always loved me. One girl came and discovered Jesus a few weeks ago. Her mom did as well. Their grandma has been praying for them for years. Then last Sunday, her boyfriend also came to church, opened his life to Jesus. [00:07:22] (32 seconds)  #adoptedintofamily

that we're not joining a religion, but we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and there's nothing more, as we've heard today from Sung, as we've heard today from King, there's nothing more that gives us peace like knowing Jesus, nothing more that secures us like knowing the love of Jesus Christ. [00:39:09] (19 seconds)  #relationshipnotreligion

Jesus that was dying right next to him, yet he had the faith to see that there was something far greater than what he was seeing with his natural eye, that there was something eternal going on that was something beyond the natural world. He had faith, and he turned his faith to Jesus. You know, that word remember in the Greek isn't just to mentally recall something like we use the word. It means to actively remember in a way that leads to action. So the thief wasn't just saying, hey, think of me when you come into your kingdom. He was saying, Jesus, act towards me. [00:34:42] (42 seconds)  #remembermeansaction

because still today, it reveals how much God loves you, how much he is for you, how he is a God who is mighty to save. See, Romans five verse eight says this, but God demonstrated his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. You know that Greek word for demonstrate is the Greek word sinistemi. It means to prove, to establish, to put on display, to command in a way that continues to stand as evidence. [00:08:58] (34 seconds)  #goddemonstrateslove

So we were playing this over summer a lot. We were very invested in it as a family, and we were playing one particular match. I was up against Zion, our oldest son, and Hope, our daughter, and I was in the lead. I was killing it. It was I I only had one one piece to get around the entire board. It was looking like I had the victory. And then out of nowhere, our daughter, Hope, just started popping sixes. And she ended up just taking over all of us, taking us out in defeat, taking her victory. [00:02:13] (29 seconds)  #unexpectedcomeback

Today, my heart's desire is to know you for eternity, and I want us to hear it today. Our king's desire is that we would know life and life in all its fullness. But again, it's up to us. We can have the response of a thief that responded to Jesus in such a way where he accepted Jesus as Lord and King, or the other thief that mocks him. So what I wanna do today is look at how we respond to the king. [00:13:08] (24 seconds)  #knowjesusforever

and brings victory in every area of our lives? And I'm so aware that this Easter, there are so many different people in the room right now. And maybe you've come from an invitation of a friend, and you thought, well, know what? It's Easter Sunday, so I need to tick that box, but I wanna encourage you, please be present in this moment. Know the cross of Jesus and our eternity and our faith in God is something we need to take so seriously. It's something that truly, truly matters. [00:04:07] (29 seconds)  #takeeasterseriously

He's got victory for you. He loves you. He's the God of the turnaround, and no matter how far away you feel from God today, take heart that he's a God that wants to reach you, and he has power to redeem your story. [00:18:33] (15 seconds)  #godofturnaround

but he got to the place where he cried out to Jesus, and Jesus met him in that place and has brought incredible hope and meaning. Our God is so good. You know the incredible thing about the power of the cross is it's so powerful that our calendar is literally centered around the birth and death of Jesus Christ. Literally, it's spit it split history in two before and after the death of Jesus, but the most powerful about thing about it is the cross isn't just something that exists in history. It is for each and every one of us today [00:08:23] (35 seconds)  #crossforalltoday