Held by Nail-Scarred Hands, Sent to Serve

See, some of you are spiritually exhausted because your hands has spent years trying to carry what only Jesus can. And that is why the gospel is such good news. Don't miss this. This is the gold. See, before God ever asks anything from our hands, he gives us everything through his hands. Before God ever asks anything from our hands, he gives us everything through his hands. He gives us his forgiveness, his mercy, salvation, identity, and rest. [00:40:58] (48 seconds)  #GospelGivesEverything

Your salvation is not held on you because of your grip on Jesus, how great it is, but the grip that Jesus has on you. Your hands fail. His does not. Your face struggles, his mercy does not. You grow weary, he remains faithful. You lose your grip, he doesn't lose his. You even let go to grab other things, but he holds on. [00:43:47] (27 seconds)  #HeldByHisGrip

The resurrected Jesus still bears scars. He could erase them, but he kept them. Why? Because the wounds and the scars tell the eternal story that your salvation was purchased at the cross. Jesus stretched out his hands for people with failed hands. For selfish people, fearful people, broken people, doubting people. For us. [00:37:33] (35 seconds)  #ScarredHandsSave

Christ changes self serving hands into serving hands. Jesus doesn't just forgive, he transforms him. Before Christ, our hands were reaching and curving in and always bringing in and everything was about us. But now that we've been redeemed in Jesus, our hands begin to what? Open outward. Not perfectly, but genuinely. We begin loving, begin serving, and giving, and blessing. Number four, see, we're we're held by his hands and sent with ours. [00:46:48] (44 seconds)  #HandsTransformed

See, our hands are not just busy reaching, they're broken. See, our hands are failed hands. Our hands have hurt people. Our hands have hidden sin. Hands have pushed others away. Hands have folded in prayer while hearts wandered. These hands have reached out for things God intended to save us from. And maybe the hardest part is this, that in sometimes, even in our service to God becomes another attempt to justify ourselves, to prove ourselves, to matter, to feel enough. [00:34:29] (53 seconds)  #BrokenHandsTruth

So remember, one day, the hands that were nailed to the cross for you will wipe away every tear from your eyes. The hands that carried your sin will say, welcome home. But until that day, you do not walk alone. You are held held by Jesus, held in mercy, held in grace, held by nail scarred hands that never let go. [00:54:07] (39 seconds)  #HeldByScarredHands

See, hear this clearly. Jesus was pierced for your failing hands too. And notice something beautiful. Hey, Jesus meets doubting people with scarred hands, not crossed arms. He meets them with the scarred hands. That means he comes to us and he calls to us and not in condemnation, not in humiliation, but in grace and mercy an invitation, an invitation that Jesus opens his hands for you. [00:38:39] (53 seconds)  #InvitationNotCondemnation

Which means, d, we don't just need clean hands. We need redemption. We need redemption. And this is where Christianity becomes radically different than self help. Jesus not simply stand away shouting at us with his arms crossed, his hands in his pocket because if he could have done that, if that would have been that easy to change us, he would have told us, just keep your hands in your pocket and you'll be okay. But it's not the hands, it's the heart that needs to be redeemed. He says, no, don't put your hands in a pocket, but bring those reaching hands to me. [00:35:22] (40 seconds)  #RedeemTheHeart

Your work matters. It's a calling from God. It's important. It's what he designed your hands for. Your hands were meant to produce. At the same time, your hands belong to Jesus. And what does that mean? That our identity, our value and worth is not measured by what our hands produce. Our value worth comes from Christ and belonging to him and that's the freeing thing. He frees us to then to work. And our work is not at a desperation to produce something that have some meaning, but it is actually our worship. [00:49:09] (46 seconds)  #WorkAsWorship

Christ is still a healing savior and he still works through his people. He works through his medical, but he also works directly through his people, regular people, friends, pastors, parents, caregivers. God's mercy is often through the hands of human people. So pray earnestly. Pray earnestly for the healing of others and just submit into God's hands. But lay hands and pray and ask. [00:52:02] (34 seconds)  #HealingThroughHands

But Jesus says something piercing. They have received their reward. Meaning, human applause is all they wanted, that's all they're gonna get. And Sonny's becomes a little bit deeply personal. Again, because our hands reveal where our hearts actually trust. And so Jesus is asking and pushing in is, what are your hands reaching out for now? What are you trying to hold together? And what are you afraid of to lose? [00:32:56] (47 seconds)  #HandsRevealTrust

Hands gripping tightly to money often in fear. Hands constantly working to reveal our identity built on performance. Our hands endlessly scrolling may reveal a longing to be seen. Our hands pushing others away may reveal wounds that never healed. And perhaps some of you are exhausted because our hands have spent years trying to earn what only Jesus can give. Worth, identity, peace, security. [00:33:45] (44 seconds)  #HandsTryingToEarn

Jesus is saying, look, your hands are constantly reaching. They are reaching out for security. They are reaching for comfort. They are reaching for control. They are reaching for approval. We grasp on to things we think will finally satisfy us. And some of that's obvious. It's money, success, status. But sometimes, it's more subtle. It's a need to be right, the need to be noticed, the need to feel valuable. And some of us are exhausted because our hands are spent all this time trying to hold together things that we were never meant to carry alone. [00:28:53] (62 seconds)  #GraspingForSecurity

Some of you came today tired. Your hands have spent the week holding things together, fixing problems, trying to fix people, paying bills, raising children, caring for aging parents, trying to keep a marriage together, trying to carry burdens that nobody else carries. And underneath all that is a deep spiritual truth. And your hands reveal your heart. And this is where Jesus meets us today. Number one, your hands are not neutral. They're always reaching for something. [00:27:09] (46 seconds)  #HandsAreNotNeutral

He gives us forgiveness through those pierced hands, that mercy through the wounded hands, life through the crucified hands. Christianity is not I gotta reach out to God and strive to God to have his approval and his forgiveness and his gifts. No. To have God accept me. No. Christ has already secured you in the cross through his hands. [00:41:46] (25 seconds)  #SecuredByHisHands

And we see Abraham who struggled. David failed. Peter denied Jesus. Thomas doubted we could go on, and we can go on to the church today. And pastors and church leaders are are not on pedestals either. They're sinners who are held by grace to God's hands. See, a little bullet there. Discipleship is not held together by our grip on Jesus, but his grip on us. It's his grip on us. [00:43:06] (42 seconds)  #GraceHoldsUs

Brothers and sisters, our labor is not meaningless. Your service matters, whatever it is. Because what you're doing, whatever your job is, it's not for that boss, it's not for that company, it's for the Lord. And that's what he's given to you. And when you're doing that, that's part of his kingdom work. You carry out his kingdom work, whatever job you have, and he is with you. [00:53:34] (33 seconds)  #WorkForHisKingdom

Much of motherhood happens in hidden faithfulness. Laundry, nobody applauds. Meals that disappear in seven minutes. Cleaning the same room 17 times in a row. Hidden faithfulness matters deeply to God. The father sees in secret sees you. This is why it's good to celebrate moms, ladies, for all they do in secret that never gets celebrated and thanked. [00:49:58] (35 seconds)  #HiddenFaithfulness

Because we look at our crooked lines and we see a mess. We look at our crooked lines and we see all the mistakes. We look at our crooked lines and say, man, there's just been too many or too great. They're all pulled up and we start to become in this hopelessness that it's all gonna go and we have to take control, we have to do something. And we don't realize in the crookedness and the mess, in our crooked ways, God is drawing a straight line. [00:45:45] (26 seconds)  #GodDrawsAStraightLine

Get in this moment. Thomas doubts. He's struggling. He's questioning. He's wondering. And in that thinking that's going on, this is what's underneath of it. Will he reject me? What does Jesus do? He shows his hands. Put your finger here. Do you realize what this moment is for Thomas? It's not an intellectual argument to convince him. It's grace for his soul. It's grace. [00:36:34] (60 seconds)  #GraceForTheDoubter