So, one of the things that I spend a lot of time doing as a father is driving in a car with multiple children in the backseat. And that is a very unique experience. I know many of you are either there or you've been there, and you learn some things when you become a parent and you have kids in the backseat. You learn that the rearview mirror is not actually for looking at cars behind you. The rear view mirror is just like a weapon that you use. You like focus it on whichever child has drama. You know, you've done that. Like it, you get good at it too as a parent. Like you know just instinctively, like which kid is where, and you'll just be like, hey, hey, and you give them the eyes, you're just like, stop it. You know, you do that kind of thing a lot. I have very interesting experiences with children behind me all the time. In fact, very recently, I was driving my youngest Eli, he was going on an errand with me, and he he got car sick and he threw up a lot. And that's always awful when you're a parent, because it's like you can't, you can't do anything in the moment. And and it stinks that your first, at least this is me, maybe it's not you. Your first my first thought is not, I hope they're okay. I'm like, what did they throw up on? That's my first thought. Like, what am I gonna have to to what extent do I have to clean? When my first thought should be, are they okay? But you know, it just is what it is. So he he he lets loose, and then I look at him and I go, Oh, buddy, I'm sorry. And he says to me, three years old, it's your fault that I threw up. And I was like, why? He said, You talked to me, and I didn't want you to talk to me, so I threw up. And I was like, Okay, fair enough, you know. That's my my bad. Like, what do you say? And he was crying, he's like, It's your fault I threw up. I was like, oh. And so anyway, I uh I brought him home, took his shirt off, gave him a bath, all that fun stuff. It was it was great, it was gross and great. I have these really unique experiences when I'm driving my kids, but one of them, every once in a while, it'll be like a moment that that it's actually kind of deep. Like your kids will say things, and you're like, whoa, I was not intending us to go there in the conversation. And I had that happen just a couple of months ago with my my third child, Judah. It was me, Judah, and Eli, my youngest. Judah's five, Eli's three. We're just driving. And when when the two of them, it's just the two of them, they get along really, really well. And so, you know, it's chill. And I like it. When I'm driving and it's chill, it's so nice because it's not always chill. And all of a sudden, Judah just asked me this question that I'm not prepared for. He says, Dad, what are all of those fields with rocks that we drive by? And I'm trying to like figure out what he means. I'm like, I don't know what you mean. He goes, you know, the field with all the rocks in it. And I'm drawing a huge blank. I'm driving, you know, I tilt my mirror to him, so I'm kind of driving and look like, son, I'm so sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about. And he's like, Dad, there's all the rocks, and they have words on them. Now, right as he says that, I pass by a cemetery. And it's like God, like, hey, you know, that. Like, thanks, Lord. Oh, and I'm like, Judah, are you talking about those? And he goes, Yeah. And I'm like, oh, okay, well, one of my kind of rules, I guess, as a dad is that when your kid asks, they're ready to know. And so I say, All right, well, um, Judah, when people die, oftentimes their bodies are buried in the ground, and then those are called graves, and they put a stone on the top of where they're buried with their name on it so that you know their their family knows where their body is. And he goes, Okay. And he just like thinks for a few seconds. He's just, I'm just looking at him in the mirror. You know, I'm not, I'm not looking at him like this, not intense, like, stop, but I'm just kind of, what's going on here? He's just kind of looking up and thinking. And about 30 seconds later, he goes, Well, what's with all the flowers? And I was like, Oh, okay, well, um, oftentimes their family members will, the one those who are still alive, will come and put flowers on their graves, and that's kind of their way of remembering them. It's kind of their way of just expressing how much they miss them. You know, this is a five-year-old, and he goes, Oh, okay. And then we keep driving, and I kind of pull the volume down on the car because this is like an interesting conversation that I was not expecting to have. And about a minute, two minutes goes by, it's very silent. And he says something to his brother that just like melted me. He turns to Eli and he just goes, Hey, Eli. And Eli just looks up, yeah? You'll have to be the one who puts flowers on my grave. And Eli just goes, Okay. Like, I got you. I'm your wingman, little brother. And like it just hits me because I'm thinking about the thought process, right? So here's my son, and he's he's now, for the first time ever, just asked that question. I've never thought to explain graveyards to him. And so he's like, This is what happens when you die. And he's thinking, well, that's gonna happen to me. And who's gonna be around? Mom, dad, long gone. Like that's what he's thinking. Not a chance. He's got two older siblings, he's like, but they're older than him, you know, so they're they're probably gonna die before he dies. And he's like, who's gonna be around to put flowers on my grave? He's planning his funeral in my car as a five-year-old, you know? And then he looks to his brother and he's like, it's gonna have to be you. You're the only one who will be left. And there was this part of me that was like very sad for a moment. Like, these five years old. Shouldn't have to be thinking about things like this. So I quickly pulled into a Dunkin' Donuts, let's change the subject, you know, which worked. But the longer I've thought about that, I'm like, actually, good for him. Good for him. Because one of the most important parts of life, ironically, is coming to terms with and being okay with death. Now, for some context, we're in a series right now called different. In fact, we're wrapping it up today. And I want to apologize. I realize this is a very specific person. Um, maybe this is your second time here. And last week we talked about money. And this week we're talking about death. And so you just got like the perfect welcome to his hand. Like, what could be next? Like, how what could be next? You know? Um, but we're talking about what makes us different. What's supposed to make us different than the rest of the world? Matthew chapter 20, verse 26, Jesus says very simply, but among you it will be different. Hey, if you're my follower, you're gonna be different. We're supposed to think different, have different filters, a different perspective on life, different goals, different priorities, a different way of looking at things. 1 Peter 2 9 puts it this way: you're not like that, talking about the rest of the world. You're not like that. For you are a chosen people, you are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness and into his wonderful light. We're meant to be different, not just for the sake of being different, but to make a difference. You cannot make a difference if you're not different. So, how are we supposed to be different from the rest of the world? And we've looked at some of them, some of the ways that we are. We talked about our relationship with truth, the way we view truth and who determines what is true. We talked about the love that we experience from God and the love that we then pour out to others. Last week we talked about our relationship with money, how we're not slaves to money, we're not lovers of money, we don't worship money, that we're just managers of what God gives us. And we do what he asks us to do. And we have wisdom, but we have generosity and we have enjoyment. We enjoy what God gives us. And today we're gonna talk about our perspective on death. Because we're supposed to have a very different perspective than the rest of the world. Specifically, if you're a Jesus follower, you are meant to live completely and totally free of the fear of death. If you follow Jesus, you are meant to live, and it's not easy, you're meant to live free of the fear of death, and that is not the way that our world lives. Now, I've, and I realize this is a heavy topic, but I my hope, and I'm confident in this, is that by the time we're done talking about what we're talking about, I we're gonna be excited. But I think it's it's vital for us to have this conversation because I do believe that this is one of the things that should make us in many ways way more different, more obviously different than the rest of the world. That we are not people simply living trying to avoid death. That is the way that most people live. How can I avoid death? How can I push it a little bit further away? You know, if like if you don't ever eat anything you enjoy, then maybe you can get like three extra years. You know, if if you do this, this, this, and this, and if you never do this and never do that, then you can live for like. There's no one saying that you'll live like a hundred more years. It's always very small amounts. And as Jesus followers, we should be kind of like, nah, I'm good. You know, I don't need those three years. I mean, I'm not gonna be reckless, I'm gonna be a good steward of what God's given me. I'm gonna be, you know, as healthy as I can be, but I'm not I'm not living to avoid death. I'm actually living to pursue life. And there's a difference between avoiding death and pursuing life. There's a big difference. When I decided to be in ministry, originally it was youth ministry, and I was just thinking about telling kids about Jesus and having a lot of fun. And that's basically what we did. We had a lot of fun. We talked about Jesus. I connect with a lot of great young people, many of whom are still at this church and serve in really awesome ways. And then when I transitioned into this role, it was like, oh, I'm just gonna keep talking about Jesus and make sure the church is healthy, more responsibility, but still, you know, we're gonna have fun. This is a fun church. But one of the things I never thought about when I started doing ministry was was dealing with death. And even though I'm I'm you know I'm relatively young, I'm 38, I've probably done about a hundred funerals at this point in time. And so I've had all these experiences where I'm with families, and many of your families. I've I've been there with many of you guys in these really difficult times. And it's been a fascinating experience for me. And it's taught me some things. Number one, it's taught me that um that we're all gonna die. I'm sorry to say that. Don't be don't be down. We live in a world right now that's kind of obsessed with statistics. Like, what's the percentage chance that you might die of this or that or this or that? There's this percent, but if you do this, you have a lower percentage chance. But I have learned that the one statistic we should probably be aware of is that 100% face death. In fact, it's actually more than 100%. It because some people die more than once. Like even in the Bible, think about Lazarus. He's Jesus' friend, if you know the story, he dies. They have a funeral. That means his family members are like, what am I gonna say about Lazarus? I'm gonna prepare this whole thing. They give the speeches, they mourn. Jesus shows up, has the audacity to show up days later when they've already done all that, and then he raises Lazarus from the dead, and it's like amazing, but at some point in time after that, Lazarus died again. And I imagine his family's like, we already gave the speeches. Do we do it again? Do we just do, do we just repeat that? Like, what do you do? That's more than a hundred percent chance. And and and again, starting heavy, but but trust me, please. I I've learned through those experiences that when it comes to me personally, you know what? I'm probably not gonna die when I would choose. I'm probably not gonna die in the exact manner in which I would choose. It's not really what happens, but I have a 100% chance of facing death. And how amazing is it that our God, who had the power to avoid it, chose to humble himself and face it and experience it just like all of us. And not only did he experience it, but he experienced it at a time in which no one would choose, 33 years old. And in a manner in which no one, no one would ever dare. So when we talk about this, we realize that we have a God who gets it. But we're supposed, because of our God going through what he did and doing what he did and rising from the dead, kind of a big deal, we're supposed to have this attitude that we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 54 and 55, which sort of puts together various scriptures from the Old Testament, but it it says, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Do you know what this is? This is trash talking death. That's what this is. This has happened before in our family. We've had a child who's gotten out of line, and all of you have different strategies for how to discipline your kids. And look, we've tried it all. And there have been times where we've we've done the just look, you know, you're gonna spanking. And if that shocks you, I just apologize, forgive me, but like it works sometimes. It works sometimes. It does. Just give like, and one of our kids trash talked us one time. We spanked him, and he just went, that didn't hurt. You know what I mean? Like, is that all you've got? And I always like, it's hard when your kids do stuff like that because you're not mad, you're kind of impressed. You're like, wow. Okay, well, what do you I mean it's just fine, you're off the hook. What do you do? Right? But this is scripture trash talking death. Oh, death, where's your victory? Oh, death, where's your sting? This is scripture being like, death, is that all you've got? Is that is that all you can do? And look, I I find in some ways, you know, when when death seems like something that's really far away or or you're not gonna have to think about it, it's easy to be like, yeah, but when it's a reality, and when you live in a world that constantly makes you think about it, like our world does now, it can be tough to have that mentality. But this is scripture saying that death at the end of the day doesn't really matter. Because of what Jesus did to it. So here's what I want us to really think about for a moment. Jesus changed death. Jesus changed death. One of the greatest pieces of evidence that Jesus is alive is not just the absence of his body from the tomb that it was put in, but it's the absence of fear in the lives of those who saw him raised to life. Let me let me read a pretty long chunk of scripture. We're gonna be reading a lot of scripture this morning, but I love it. It's good. Acts chapter 4, if you don't know, the book of Acts tells the story of the early church. It really covers the early days of the movement of Jesus, uh, really going into decades into when the movement of Jesus was spreading all over the civilized world at that time. Acts chapter 4 is pretty early on. The movement of Jesus has not gone beyond Jerusalem at this point. And what's happened is that the the leaders who who had Jesus killed thought that they had dealt with their problem. Jesus was a huge, huge problem for the religious leaders of his day. The Sanhedrin was this ruling body of religious leaders, and it was made up of different uh kind of sects in Judaism. You had the Pharisees, you had the Sadducees, and they had dealt with Jesus, or so they had thought. But his followers continued on. And what's happened right here is that a few of his followers have recently healed a paralyzed man in the name of Jesus. The very kind of thing that Jesus was doing that they thought they had put a stop to, now it's happening, and it's not just happening, it's happening in the name of Jesus. And so it says in verse 1 that while Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. They arrested them. And since it was already evening, they put them in jail until morning. But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about five thousand. The next day, the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas, the high priest, was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priests. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, By what power or in whose name have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we've we've done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the scriptures where it says, The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and they conferred among themselves, What shall we do with these men? They asked each other. We can't deny they performed a miraculous sign. Everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus' name again. So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard. The council then threatened them further, but finally let them go because they didn't know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign, the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years. It's a cool story, right? It's a good story. Now, when you read this and you see the boldness, the boldness that Peter and John have in front of these men, you have to understand that a very short time before this, that boldness was not there. When Jesus was arrested, his friends, the disciples, Peter and John, they ran. Like they they they ran. Now John actually is the only disciple that we know was present at the crucifixion. There may have been others, but but he at least followed everything going on up to that point. Peter, he he sort of followed, he he kind of followed when they took Jesus and watched what they did, and they actually took Jesus through this sham of a trial. And while that was kind of going on, when that was all happening, uh Peter was recognized. Someone said, Hey, you're you're one of those guys that was with Jesus, right? And Peter's like, no, uh uh-uh, nope, not me. This happens three times to the point where he he actually curses and says, I've never even met this man. He's so afraid of being arrested. He's so afraid of what these people could do to him that he's denying that he even knows Jesus. That boldness is not there. Even after Jesus is raised to life, and there's a little bit of news that maybe he's alive, the boldness still isn't there. In fact, we see this in John chapter 20, verse 19. It says that Sunday evening, and this is after Jesus is raised to life, that Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Who are the Jewish leaders? The very men that we just read in Acts chapter 4. They're hiding behind locked doors. There is no boldness in them. They are so afraid of getting arrested, of facing the same people that had Jesus crucified that they're hiding behind locked doors. So what happened? What changed? We'll go back to John chapter 19. That Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them. Peace be with you, he said. And as he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side, and they were filled with joy when they saw the Lord. They saw the risen Jesus. They saw Jesus defeat death, get back up. He was in front of them. He showed them his scars. One of the gospels actually says that they had him eat food. They're like, let's make sure it doesn't like fall through him. You know what I mean? Like it's like eat something. Like, did he ate it? Yeah, it's still in there. He's alive. It's real, you know. They saw Jesus alive. And that changed everything for them. All of a sudden, their their fear of death, their fear of these authority figures, it's gone. It changed everything. It gave them a boldness and a courage that doesn't really make any sense. Let's go back to the book of Acts. I want to read another fairly long section, but this is just so filled, it's so jam-packed. This is shortly after what's just happened. The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and they put them in public jail, but an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. In some ways, you have to feel sad for these leaders during the time of Jesus because they're trying everything they can think of to deal with the problem. They kill Jesus, he comes back to life, didn't see that coming. They're threatening all these men and throwing them in jail, and angels are showing up and letting them out of jail. It's like, come on, like, give give these guys a break just for a second. And then he told them, the angel, go to the temple and give the people the message of life. So at daybreak, the apostles entered the temple. This is so rich. As they were told, and immediately began teaching. When the high priest and his Officials arrived, they're arriving to talk about what do we do with these guys we just put in jail. Okay, when they arrived, they convened the high council, the full assembly of all the elders of Israel. This is like a ton of people. This is an official meeting. This is a big deal. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. But when the temple guards went through the jail, the men were gone. So they returned to the council and reported, hey, the jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside. But when we opened the gates, funny thing, nobody was in there. Oh, this is great. When the captain of the temple guard and the leading priest heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end. And then someone arrived with startling news. The men you put in jail are standing in the temple teaching the people, like right now. Right now, this is happening. So the captain went with his temple guards and he arrested the apostles. This happens again, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them. And then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them. We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man's name, he said. Instead, you filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him. And you want to make us responsible for his death. But Peter and the apostles replied, We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross. And then God put him in the place of honor at the right hand. At his right hand, his prince and savior, he did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these things. So is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him. When they heard this, the High Council was furious and decided to kill them. But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaleel, and this is actually a man who the Apostle Paul, who, if you know, wrote much of the New Testament, studied under. He's actually to this day an incredibly respected figure in Jewish history. A Pharisee named Gamaleel, who was an expert in religious law, and I'm pretty sure I mispronounced his name, but you know, I'm trying. He was respected by all the people. He stood up and he ordered that the men be sent outside the council chamber for a while. Then he said to his colleagues, men of Israel, take care what you're planning to do to these men. Some time ago there was that fellow, Thaedis, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and his followers went their various ways. How many of a show of hands have heard of Thetis? Any any Thetis followers in the room? Anyone? No? Why? Because he died. And it ended. Like a lot of things. And he says, look, remember him? Yeah, the whole movement came to nothing. And after him, at the time of the census, this, by the way, is like right when Jesus was being born, there was Judas of Galilee. He got many to follow him, but he was killed too, and all of his followers were scattered. So my advice is leave these men alone, let them go. If they're planning and doing these things merely on their own, it'll soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you'll not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God. The others accepted his advice, so they called the apostles in and had them flogged, which just means brutally beaten. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. The apostles left the high council, rejoicing. That God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus, and every day in the temple and from the house, from house to house, they continue to teach and preach this message. Jesus is the Messiah. So this is what happens. They get arrested, like, don't talk about Jesus again, and they're like, No. And then they get arrested again, get let out, immediately go right to where they know they're gonna get caught. They're like literally a few feet away from the people who arrested them. They're preaching the name of Jesus, they're preaching the message of Jesus, they get arrested again, they get brutally beaten, they walk out high-fiving each other. They're like, that was awesome. How crazy is it? Like, I got flogged, you got flogged. Remember, Jesus got flogged. We got to do what Jesus got to do. This is amazing. Let's go tell everybody about it. These are men who are either one of two things, and we can be honest, they're either crazy, they're either nuts. Or like that, that wise Pharisee recognized maybe something is actually happening here. Something happened in the hearts of these men and women. And you have to understand that the the that our faith began being spoken about and preached about by people whose society counted as nothing. They were not people with wealth, they were not people with influence, they were nobodies. And the most important and influential people in the land in which they lived were after them, were killing them, were threatening them with death, and nothing could shut them up. Why? Because they saw the risen Jesus, and all of a sudden death looked a lot different to them. Jesus changed death, and he transformed it. It's vital for us to remember this and believe this. In the Old Testament, there's a man named Job, and Job is a very godly man. In fact, says that he's like the godliest man on the earth at the time. And all this tragedy hits Job's life, and he loses everything. He loses his wealth, he loses his friends. People abandon him left and right. He loses his children, they die. And when this happens, Job, being a very godly man, asks this really interesting question. He says, Can the dead live again? Now Job is living centuries and centuries before Jesus. Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death. He's asking this question, is there any way? Is there any way that death is not the end? Because if I knew that was true, then he says, I would eagerly await the release of death. It wouldn't bother me at all. Now contrast this to another godly man who lived after Jesus, Paul. Philippians chapter 1. He's actually in prison as he's writing this, facing pretty much certain execution. And he says, For to me living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ, so I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires. Like I long to go and be with Christ. That means die. Like I'm I'm really looking forward to that. Which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live. You know, it's interesting. He says, I long to go and be with Christ. Very, very interesting because Paul uses the word go to describe death here. And no one in Paul's culture had ever used that word to describe death before that moment. That was a word that you would use if you were a sailor and you were pulling up anchor to go on a voyage. You would use that word. It actually meant to loosen and to depart. So if you were a sailor, you're about to set voyage, you're about to go on a journey, you would say, hey guys, it's time to go. You would use that specific Greek word, and they're like, Yeah, let's get going. Or if you were someone who was traveling. And in those days, you you traveled on foot, and so you would oftentimes bring with you tents and camping equipment, and you would have to set up a campsite. When it was time to tear down that temporary campsite and go to your permanent home, that's the word you would use. It's time to go. But no one had ever used that word to describe death. No one thought of death that way. But Paul did. Why? Because, like the apostles, Paul encountered the risen Jesus. The living God. He wasn't afraid of death. And what's interesting is even if you're not a Jesus follower, even if you're just someone who's you know lives life and you maybe you believe in God, maybe you don't, maybe you're just here kind of checking it all out, which is great, by the way. If you've ever talked about death and said, oh, they've they've moved on, you have Jesus to thank for that. No one ever thought about death like that before Jesus. The ancient world, death was you. You were terrified of it. Or you'd be rich like the pharaohs, and you would believe that you know, if you died with all your treasure, like all your stuff around you, then you'd be able to like use it when you woke up. All their stuff's still there. Everyone was terrified of death. And then Jesus comes, and for the first time in human history, you have these people who aren't. And that's the thing we have to realize. Like, it did not make sense to the Pharisees because everybody's afraid of death. So if we threaten them with death and we can kill them, they'll stop because everyone's afraid of death, except for these people. Why? Because Jesus defeated death, he changed it, he transformed it, and it's never been the same since. That's why we can say, hey, death, where's your victory? Where's your sting? What else you got? It's something that's meant to make us so different than the rest of the world that we don't live obsessively worrying about death. We don't live with our life's purpose to just avoid it. But we can actually pursue life. This is so vital. It's so vital for us to understand. In fact, a couple years ago, it was Easter Sunday, and uh, and we were doing like we kind of do this with Christmas and Easter every year. Like we know what stories we're gonna tell. Like I never know on Easter, like what story from scripture am I gonna tell at Easter this year? Uh, probably one where Jesus raises from the dead. Christmas. Whose birth should I talk about? Jesus, right? And so, you know, we always pray, God, give us like a fresh angle, help us see it in a new way so that we can be excited about it, like all over again. We love that. And so this particular year, the theme that we we felt we we wanted to talk about for Easter was life, comma, life. In fact, I have a graphic. Uh you guys, a lot of you guys don't know this, but Matt Simmons, who leads our worship team, he's a really good artist. And so most of the graphics that we've done over the years and the cool stuff, Matt makes that stuff. So I I've spent a lot of time sitting next to Matt. Yeah, you can clap for that. He's a talented guy. He also hates to be clapped for, but it's all good. But I remember sitting next to Matt while he was designing some of this stuff and talking about it, and I said, here's the thing, Matt, like Jesus makes a promise in John chapter 10, verse 10. He says, The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they would have life and have it abundantly. All right, and like Paul said, I long to go, right? Because uh to live is Christ and to die is gain. And so, guys, if you can go back to that image, I'm sitting next to Matt and I'm like, I don't want the first life to be sad. I don't want that to be like a sad life, because the life that we have right now is good. Please understand, as Christians, we're not supposed to be like, well, life sucks, but at least there's heaven. That's not that's not what we're supposed to live thinking. Oh, this is terrible, but I got that heaven thing to look forward to. No, the the life that He's given us, it's it's now. The Holy Spirit is what brought Jesus back to life. Scripture says the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in you. That life, if you believe, is in you now. So I'm like, I don't want the first life to be sad, but I want the second life to be like, like, come on. Because what's waiting for us is even better. It's even better than anything we've experienced right now. And the real key to this was that comma. Because here's the deal, guys, death used to be a period. In people's minds, death is the end, and death has the final say. There's life, a period. And that period was death. And that's it. And you better hope that that what comes before that period is good enough. Death is not a period. It's just a comma. Why would you be afraid of a comma? Like, honestly, look how harmless a comma is. It's like, it's almost like a period that didn't quite commit. You know? It's like I wanted to stop the sins, but then I was like, maybe not. Ah, you can keep going. Like, that's what a comma is. And that, I'm saying this not facetiously. If you're a Jesus follower, that is all death is. That's all it is. It's a temporary pause, which is followed by something greater than you can even imagine. I mean, the promises that Jesus makes to us, He says that I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am you may also be, where every tear is wiped away, where there's no more mourning, there's no more suffering. Now, again, as Jesus follows, we're not supposed to live just thinking about heaven. That's why most of what we talk about is about life right now. But like, if you're on that side of the comma and you know what's on the other side, shouldn't that affect the way you live right now? Shouldn't that fill you with some passion, some excitement? Should you be afraid of a comma? Should you let the possibility of a comma dictate every decision that you make?

No.

Look, the promises that Jesus made about life, they're audacious. John 3 16. This is how God loved the world. He gave his one and only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Jesus said things like that all the time. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. If you believe in me, you won't perish, you'll have eternal life. There have been scholars who have done some interesting things, and they've taken statements like that, and they've said that that Jesus is either a liar, like he knew that wasn't true, he said it anyway, that would make him a horrible person. He was a lunatic, he really thought that was true, but it wasn't, or he's the Lord. It's one of those three. He's either a liar, he's a lunatic, or he's the Lord. Because that's an audacious thing to say. And understand this: if Jesus said that, whoever believes in me will never perish but have eternal life, and then he just died like all of us die, and then that was it? And then they put a little gravestone and someone came and put flowers on his grave every year. If that was the way the story ended, then that promise of Jesus doesn't hold much. But the promise of Jesus of eternal life is not an empty promise. You know why it's not an empty promise? Because that tomb is empty. The tomb is empty, but the promise is not. It's not. And so this is one of the things that makes us different. We are Jesus followers. We are not afraid of death. That doesn't mean we don't take it seriously. That doesn't mean we don't mourn. Even Jesus mourned. He cried when people died. It doesn't mean that that we're foolish. Like, like, by the way, this is not a knock to any of you because a lot of people here, and actually, let's just do this. Come on, we're family. Who here has jumped out of an airplane? You've you've done skydiving before? Wow, I'm never gonna do that. I'm proud, I'm proud of you in a way, I'm like, wow, but my philosophy is simple. I never want to die in such a way that I'm standing in front of God and He's like, You jumped out of a plane. Like, I gave you life, you had a family, I was blessing you, you had a lot of years ahead of you, and then you jumped out of an airplane. Why would you do that? What like why? Like, I just don't want to die that way, you know? So I don't like swim in the ocean much. I know what's in like the ocean, it's full of monsters. Actual monsters live in the ocean. We're not supposed to be in there. It's clear every single time you see a science article that says new species discovered in the ocean, it's terrifying. It's terrifying. It's like they're all monsters. So I'm not going in there, right? I have that, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna be wise. Right? It's okay to live taking care of the life you have. And listen, this is important. It's okay to struggle with death. It's okay to wrestle with it. Even Jesus did, guys. Jesus wrestled with death. He he had to wrestle with God a little bit and pray, like, Lord, is there any way to avoid this, to take this cup of suffering away from me if that's possible? But it wasn't. Because here's what it says in Hebrews chapter 2 as we wrap up. Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus through his suffering a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. This is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. For he said to God, I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, I will praise you among your assembled people. He also said, I will put my trust in him, that is I and the children God has given me, because God's children are human beings made of flesh and blood. The Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die. And only by dying could he break the power of the devil who had past tense had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. If you follow Jesus, you have a 100% chance of dying. Everyone in the world does. But if you follow Jesus, you have what not everyone in the world has. You have a 100% chance of really living if you choose to take it. Because he has given you life and he's given you life abundant. We are not supposed to be afraid of death. It is not a period, it's definitely not an exclamation point. It's a puny, tiny little comma. And what should set us apart from the rest of the world is that while everyone else is living to avoid death, we are pursuing life with every single moment we have. Like, I hope when you live, when you leave here today, I hope you're like, let's live. Like, let's live, let's go have some fun. Who do I love? I'm gonna talk to him, I'm gonna hang out with them. Like, who am I glad is in my life? I'm gonna spend some time with him. What do I enjoy? I'm gonna do that. Why? Because I'm not afraid of death. I'm not gonna live, you know that phrase, like live like this is your last day, like live like there's no tomorrow. That's dumb. Live like there's a thousand tomorrow, a million tomorrows, because there's actually an infinity of them. Live like there's always a tomorrow, because there always is. That's what Jesus has done. He's changed death. And again, it's it's all worthless, except for that whole getting back up from the grave thing. He changed everything, guys. So we as Jesus followers, we gotta live like this. That means live with some passion, live with joy, pursue everything that God has given you. Go after it. Like, go after it, go hard. If God's put something in your path, if there's someone that you love, like love them, enjoy them. Don't worry so much about the future. Enjoy what you've got right now. Jesus says, Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow has enough trouble, right? Today has enough trouble for itself. Like, enjoy the day. That's what I'm hoping happens. That's the great thing about church being early enough in the morning. There's a lot of day left. So let's live it. And tomorrow, live and live and live and live and never ever be afraid of a comma. Sound good? All right, let's pray. Father God, we thank you that you have defeated death. Like Jesus, I'm fired up right now because I just think about the victory that you have. God, I get so excited at small victories in my life. I fixed a garbage disposal and felt like a champion two weeks ago. I can't even imagine how it felt when you got up from the grave. And Lord, the fact that you don't just keep that victory for yourself, but you give it to us. Jesus, you didn't just defeat death and keep that life that you won for yourself. You give that life to all of us. You give it freely. You don't hold out on us. You give us a rich and satisfying life. You give us life and life abundant. And that life can only come from you. Because you're the only one who's defeated death. So, Lord, I pray that if there's anyone in this room who's never given their life to you, Lord, if they sense anything stirring inside of them, they would recognize that that is you because you're alive and you speak, and they would give their life to you, that they would commit their life to you, to following you, to learning who you are, to walking with you. And Lord, for all of us who have already committed our lives to you, I pray that we would be free from the power of the fear of death. Because it's it's victory is over with, it's lost the battle. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? Lord, help us remember every day of our lives that we're not living trying to avoid anything, we're living in pursuit of everything that you've given us. So give us a passion for life and take away the fear of death. It's useless to us. Because you're a risen Savior, you're a risen King. You're alive. We love you, Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen.