Empty Tomb, Renewed Mind: Living Resurrection Hope

You made your job the source, made people the source, made money the source, made validation the source, and now we're wondering why we feel so empty. We are exhausted not because we're doing too much, but because we're drawing from the wrong places. You're pouring, but you ain't being filled. You're giving, but you're not being renewed. You're showing up, but something in you feels empty. And let me tell you why. Because anything you draw from that is limited will eventually leave you depleted. Jesus said it like this. I am the vine. You are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing. In other words, if you're disconnected from the source, you can function, but you cannot flourish. [01:04:34] (43 seconds)  #SourceNotStatus

Here's something that I want you I want you I want you to hold on to today because the tomb is empty, but our minds are still full. If you wanna label it a point, label it a point. The tomb is empty, but our minds are still full. Luke says early in the morning, they came to the tomb bringing spices, and those spices are important because spices were used for burial, which means they came preparing to see a dead Jesus. They came expecting to anoint a dead body, but not to encounter a miracle. [00:48:27] (39 seconds)  #TombEmptyMindFull

Stop looking for life where life no longer lives. There's a second point. Stop looking for life where life no longer lives. The question wasn't random. The angel asked, why seek the living amongst the dead? Yeah. That question matters because they weren't just asking where Jesus was. The angels actually were trying to correct where they were looking. Watch this. You can be sincere and still be searching in the wrong place. They came early. They committed. They prepared, but they came to the wrong location for what god had already done. They were standing in a place that used to hold life but no longer did. [00:55:22] (44 seconds)  #LookInTheRightPlace

Brothers and sisters, I don't have to tell you this is more than just another Sunday. This is more than just a holiday on the calendar. This is more than just a day where we dress up, come to church, go through the Easter routine of egg hunts and wearing pastel colors. This is the day that changed everything. Because over two thousand years ago in a borrowed tomb in the quiet of early morning before the sun had fully risen, something happened that history has never been able to undo. Jesus got up. And I don't mean symbolically. Emotionally. I mean literally, physically, bodily. He got up out of that grave, and from that moment forward, the world has never been the same. [00:36:35] (52 seconds)  #HeRoseWorldChanged

If Jesus didn't get up, then this is just religion with no real power behind it. If he didn't get up, then the cross was a tragedy, not a victory. If Jesus didn't get up, their sin is your sin is still undefeated. If Jesus didn't get up, then death still has the final word. If Jesus didn't get up, then the grave is still the end of the story, and there is no hope beyond what you see. [00:38:18] (25 seconds)  #NoResurrectionNoHope

Positions can't give you life. Titles can't give you life. Relationships by themselves can't give you life because anything external, hear me, has limits. And if you keep looking for life and things that are limited, you will keep coming up empty because real life doesn't come from what you achieve. It comes from who you are connected to. Come on. And I just wanted to tell somebody since you were in church today, it's only Jesus. Jesus has the power to give you life that can actually fill you, life that sustains you, life that steadies you, life that holds you together when everything else feels like it's falling apart. I said, only Jesus can do that. [00:58:35] (49 seconds)  #OnlyJesusGivesLife

I'm trying to move on, but I want you to know today that resurrection is not just about what happened to Jesus. It's about what has to happen in your mind. Your thinking has to rise. Your expectation has to rise. Your perspective has to rise. The way you see yourself has to rise. The way you see your situation has to rise. The way you see what God can do has to rise. Because if your mind stays in the tomb, you keep living beneath what God already made possible. If your mind stays in the tomb, you're gonna miss out on what God has already done. I said the tomb is empty, but your mind cannot stay full of what died. [00:54:35] (41 seconds)  #RenewYourMind

But something has shifted because scripture has always taught us that life is found in God. Genesis says, God breathed into man, and he became a living soul. John says, and God was life. And now in Luke 24, that life that that life that was crucified has risen, which means life is no longer where you last saw it. So the angel is not just announcing resurrection. The angel is redefining reality. Life is no longer in the tomb. It is no longer in what died. It is no longer in what you bury. Life is in the one who got up. And if you miss that, you will keep going back to places that can never give you life again. [01:02:54] (41 seconds)  #LifeInTheRisenOne

Because the resurrection isn't just a church belief, it is the foundation of Christian faith. The early church on this day didn't gather because it was convenient. They did did not risk their lives because it was comfortable. They gathered because they were convinced that a man who was dead is now alive. That's why they preach. That's why they endured persecution. That's why they face prisons and even execution because they had seen something that changed everything. [00:37:27] (33 seconds)  #ResurrectionIsFoundation

Sometimes the reason you're confused is not because God hasn't moved. It's because God didn't move the way you planned. God help me. So now you're standing in front of a miracle trying to make it fit your expectations instead of letting your expectations adjust to what God just did. So when you expect loss, you don't even recognize life. When you expect defeat, you don't recognize victory. When you expect things to stay broken, you don't recognize when God starts restoring. [00:51:40] (33 seconds)  #AdjustYourExpectations

I'm telling you the grave is empty, and he ain't there, but you're still expecting death, still expecting disappointment, still expecting it to fall apart, still expecting it to go the same way it went before, you walked into a new season, but you're walking in with an old expectation. God's already done something new, but you still holding on to what used to be. Still replaying and still rehearsing and still letting it define how you see everything now. And and brothers and sisters, you can miss what god is doing right now because you're still holding on to what god already brought you out of. [00:53:36] (48 seconds)  #MindCatchUpWithGod

Even people who love Jesus, god help me, have to be confronted because sometimes even their expectations are too low. I came to tell you this morning that resurrection is not just something that happened, it is something that still has power. Because when Jesus got up, he didn't just get up for himself. He got up for you, for your life, for your freedom, for your future, for your freedom. He got up so that death wouldn't have the final word, got up so that your past wouldn't define you. He got up so your struggle wouldn't hold you, got up so what tried to bury you would not be able to keep you. [00:47:15] (35 seconds)  #ExperienceResurrection

it's also dangerous because it can be possible, watch this, to celebrate something historically and never experience it personally. It can be possible to shout about the resurrection and still live like you are stuck. It's possible to declare victory and still feel defeated. It's possible to wear a resurrection on the outside, to look Easter cute on the outside, and still carry dead things on the inside. [00:40:02] (29 seconds)  #ComeToJesusNotChurch

And so Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is still saying, come to me. Hear me. Not come to church. Come to me. I'm almost getting ready to close. I ain't there yet. Not just hear about me, but come to me because life is not there. Life is not in what you're chasing. Life is not in what you're trying to hold together. Jesus says life is in me. And until you come to god through Jesus, you'll keep living tired trying to get from places what only god can give. [01:05:58] (36 seconds)  #LiveDontSurvive

You can survive, but you cannot live. And some of us have gotten so used to running on empty that we don't even realize how dry we are. We normalize exhaustion, normalize burnout, normalize being spiritually drained, calling it being responsible, calling it just life, calling it it is what it is, but that is not resurrection life Because resurrection life means you are connected to something that never runs out. A peace that doesn't collapse under pressure, strength that doesn't quit when life gets hard, joy that doesn't disappear when things go your way. [01:05:17] (40 seconds)  #DontNormalizeExhaustion

He lives when life feels heavy, lives when money is tight, lives when the world is unstable. He lives when your mind is tired. He lives when your heart is heavy. He lives when you don't know what's next. And if he lives, then you can live too. Hear me today. I want you to to not survive. I want you to live, not barely make it. I want you to live. Not just exist. I want you to live. Not just wake up and go through the motions God sent you here today so you can have breath in your body so you can live, not just drag yourself through another week. I said live. [01:08:17] (39 seconds)  #PraiseButDoubtNot

Because when pressure sits on you long enough, you stop expecting things to get better. You start expecting more of the same, more tension, more struggle, more uncertainty, and that's where it gets dangerous because now you're living in the same space as the women in the text. You love God, but your expectation is shaped by what you've been through. So you show up, but you're still expecting death. [00:45:22] (30 seconds)  #ExpectGodToMove

God has already moved, watch this, but your mind is still holding on to what hurts you. God has already shifted something. Hear me, but you're still seeing it the way it used to be. Because when your mind is full of yesterday, it is hard to recognize what God is doing today. And what you carry in your mind will shape how you interpret what God is doing. Listen. Luke says they found a stone rolled away, and when they went in, they did not find the body. The text says they were perplexed. [00:50:06] (40 seconds)  #PrettyOutsideDeadInside

That word carries the idea of being confused, disoriented, unable to make sense of what's happening. Why are they feeling this way? Why? Why? Why? Because when your expectation is set on one outcome, even a miracle can confuse you. You're so locked into what you thought would happen that when God does something different, you don't even recognize it. You're looking for one thing, and God shows up another way. You expect enclosure, and God gives you an opening. You expect it at the end, and God says something and start something new. And instead of complaining, you start questioning. Instead of recognizing the move of God, you're just trying to figure out what went wrong because your mind was prepared for one thing, and God refused to stay inside of your expectations. [00:50:47] (53 seconds)  #SuccessCantGiveLife

And if I'm honest, some people walked into this building today looking alive, attractive, fresh, handsome, smelling good, hair dead, haircut. I'm telling you, y'all look good, but carrying things that feel dead. Dead hope, dead dreams, dead energy, dead expectations. Listen. And I feel you. You showed up, but you're still tired. You showed up, still believing, but but the truth is even in church, you're still wrestling a little bit. You're still praising but questioning all the more because we are living in times even right now where life feels heavy. [00:40:31] (37 seconds)  #AchievementIsntWholeness