Easter At Cross Point 2026 | Mark 16:1–8 | Kevin Queen

♪♪ ♪ From the throne to a cross, who will pay such a price? ♪ ♪ For the sins of the world, here's your king crucified. ♪ ♪ See the nails in his hands, see the wounds in his eyes. ♪ ♪ See the crown bent upon, that is it prophesied. ♪ ♪ That it was not the end, wipe your tears from your eyes. ♪ ♪ Don't forget that is it, on the third he will rise. ♪ ♪ He's alive, he's alive, he's alive, he's alive. ♪ ♪ He's alive, he's alive, he's alive, he's alive. ♪ ♪ The Lamb of God has overcome, my testimony is his blood. ♪ ♪ And if you say that he is done, he is done. ♪ ♪ So be it God, the weapon of the enemy. ♪ ♪ They have no power over me, the one with all authority. ♪ ♪ So be it God, so be it God. ♪ ♪ It is final, it is risen, it is settled, it is finished. ♪ ♪ See that old grave, he was dead, now he is risen. ♪ ♪ It is final, it is risen, it is settled, it is finished. ♪ ♪ See that old grave, he was dead, now he is risen. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. ♪ Praise the Lord, everybody! Jesus is alive! Turn to someone and say, Jesus is alive! Come on, say it louder, Jesus is alive! Come on, we praise him, let's praise him. Come on, clap your hands like this, come on. We got a reason to praise him. Clap your hands, all ye people. Come on. Shout for joy, let us celebrate. Can somebody shout?

Come on. Enter in with thanksgiving. By his blood he has made a way. Let's all sing together like a big choir, come on. Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Lord, for he is worthy. Praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Lord, for he is worthy. Shout the praise of the Lord, everybody, come on. He's the high king of heaven. Yeah. And our hearts are his dwelling place. Hallelujah. We've been brought into freedom. For our savior has shamed the grave. Jesus is alive, he's alive, come on. Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Lord, for he is worthy. Praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Lord, for he is worthy. Praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Lord, for he is worthy. Praise, sing praise, sing praise to the Lord, for he is worthy. Everybody clap your hands and praise him. It's time to praise our risen King, the one and only Lord of lords, King of kings. This is how we praise. Come on, like this. We clap our way in. We dance our way in. We shout our way in. We come in grateful. We clap our way in. We dance our way in. We shout our way in. We come.

Come on, church. We clap our way in. We dance our way in. We shout our way in. We come in grateful. We clap our way in. We dance our way in. We shout our way in. We come in grateful. We clap our way in. We dance our way in. We shout our way in. We come in grateful. We clap our way in. We dance our way in. We come in grateful. We clap our way in. We come in grateful. Does this make you grateful? Does this make you grateful? Come on, let's tell our children to sing. He's worthy of the praise. He's worthy of the praise. Come on. Sing praise, sing praise. Sing praise to the Lord. For he is worthy. He's worthy of this praise. Worthy of all praise. For he is worthy.

Praise the Lord, somebody. Praise the Lord, everybody. Hallelujah. I have a feeling this church is ready to praise today. Come on, church. Jesus, it is for you and only always about you that we sing. How great the chasm that lay between us. How high the mountain I could not climb. In desperation I turned to heaven. And spoke your name into the night. Then through the darkness your love and kindness Tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished. The end is written. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Anybody thankful today? We serve a living God. Come on, let's respond to that with our singing. Every voice. Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory To wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has spoken. I am forgiven. Praise God. The King of kings calls me his own. Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever. Jesus Christ, you're my living hope. You sing.

Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Sing. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Oh, my God is alive. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to rise. ♪ Began to breathe out of the silence ♪ ♪ The warring lion declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ ♪ Became the morning that sealed the promise ♪ Come on. ♪ Your buried body began to breathe out of the silence ♪ ♪ The warring lion declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ ♪ No claim, Jesus, yours is the victory ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, come on ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, come on ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain, there's salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪

♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who's setting me free right now ♪ ♪ Right now there's freedom in his name ♪ ♪ Death cannot win, there's salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪ ♪ God, you are my living hope ♪ Praise God for Living Hope Church. I invite you to sing with us. Let's be one big choir today. ♪ Because he lives, I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives, all fear is gone ♪ ♪ All fear is gone because I know he holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living just because he lives ♪ Come on, sing it one more time. Because he lives. ♪ Because he lives, I can face tomorrow ♪ Because he lives. ♪ Because he lives, all fear is gone ♪ Because I know. ♪ Because I know he holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living just because he lives ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living just because he lives ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living just because he lives ♪ Praise the Lord. He lives! Come on. When we celebrate Easter today with a tradition that for the past 2000 years, the church has gathered together to celebrate Easter and has incorporated this call and response. And so it starts with, I would say He is risen

and you would say He is risen indeed. And so you ready to try that together? Okay, He is risen. All right, one more time with a little bit more. He is risen. He is risen indeed. And so it's not just a tradition, it's a declaration that what Jesus did 2000 years ago, changed the world forever and has the power to change your life today. So one more time, across every room, across this campus, let's say it together. He is risen. He is risen indeed. So maybe when you hear that, maybe you're curious and you're wondering, how do we know? Or maybe you're wondering what difference does it make in the world? Or maybe you're wondering what difference does it make in your own life? Well, these are the questions that I hope to answer today. And today we finish up our journey through the gospel of Mark, where for the past year, we have been journeying through verse by verse through the gospel. It's been incredible. And today we'll finish with Mark chapter 16,

verses one through eight, and then verse nine through 20, we'll talk about in the podcast that'll be released this week. But the first eight verses give us, it gives us this account of the resurrection. So all of this past year has been working to this, to this moment. And maybe you're just joining us and you're thinking, oh, great, I missed it. No, this is like, it's like seeing the last five minutes of a March Madness game. Like you came at just the right time, what we're gonna look at today. And so before we get into the text, I wanna do another call and response. And in this one, you might be a little more familiar with, it starts with, what is your name? And then you respond with whatever your name is, okay? So we'll try that together. What is your name? Austin. Okay, let's try it again like you know, like you know the answer to that question, okay? What is your name? Austin. Well, it's great to meet you. You guys are pros. Okay, so I wanna introduce you to my family

and share with you their names. And so this is my wife, Ree, and our four kids, Raleigh, Camden, Durham, and Bolton. And y'all pray for us. This is the only year that we'll have three in college at the same time. Need a lot of prayer for that. Also, we need prayer because Ree and I both graduated from Georgia, go Dawgs. And Durham is going to Auburn. So we're gonna need, we'll need some help with that. So that's a little bit of our family. My wife, her name is Ree. It's spelled R-E-E-A. Some people pronounce it Ray, or some people pronounce it Rhea. It's Ree like T, like T with an R. My name is Kevin, like Home Alone. And my grandfather never really got that. I'm gonna tell you a true story. My grandfather called me Kelvin my whole life. His whole life, till he went to go be with Jesus. He called me Kelvin that my parents tried to stop him. They said, his name is Kevin, but he's 6'3", and he just did whatever he wanted. And so I was Kelvin my whole life, which reminds me of this quote. It's from Dale Carnegie. He said, there's no sweeter sound to a person's ear than his or her own name.

That when you hear your name called, there's nothing like it. I mean, it's just something special about someone remembering your name. I remember when I was in sixth grade, we had moved to a new school and I didn't know anybody. And some of you have experienced what that's like. You can be painfully lonely, sat by myself. This is not like, I'm not looking for pity. I'm just telling you the story. And so I just remember, I didn't know anybody. And then finally the last class of the day was chorus. We can talk about that later, but last class, last elective was chorus. And I had this teacher, I remember her name. It was Ms. Moon. The reason I remember her name is because when I left that class that day, she said, I'll see you tomorrow, Kevin. And suddenly in that moment, I went from down and dejected to like, she knows my name. I strutted to the bus. It changed everything hearing someone, because when somebody says your name, it says, I remember you, I see you, you matter to me, you belong here, you're included. And that's what we all long for. And all of us know what it's like in some way to be on the outside,

maybe on the outside of a framework. Maybe you just moved to a new city. Maybe you moved to a new school. Maybe you knew, maybe it's on the outside of a relationship. Maybe it's on the outside of a team at work where you feel like you're on the outside and you want to be on the inside. I got good news for you today that Jesus welcomes anybody and everybody to be a part of his friend group who wants to be. And Jesus calls his disciples by name. So today is a message with your name on it. And before we jump into it, I got to push back on Mr. Dale Carnegie, who said the sweetest sound to a person's ear is his or her own name. For the 2 billion Christians who are gathered around the world this Easter to celebrate, there is a name that is sweeter than our name, and it's the name of Jesus. Something about hearing that name. There's an old hymn, an old hymn that says, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fears. That was written in 1779. It is just as true today. You just say his name with me, Jesus. Jesus, you just say his name again, Jesus.

And so we're gonna read through the text and you're gonna see his name. And then you're gonna be able to see that there's this one unlikely shout out that has implications for you. And so there are a lot of names that we'll come across today in Mark chapter 16. So if you would turn there with me, if you've got your Bible, Mark chapter 16, we're gonna pick up in verse one. If you don't have your Bible, we'll put it up on the screen so you can look at your neighbor's Bible or you can take their Bible, just any of those. And we will be working through this together. Before we get to Mark 16, let me give you a recap of what happened in Mark 15. In Mark 15 is the account of the crucifixion. So if I had to sum it up for you, Mark gives us a hundred details of what happened to the cross that Jesus, who is the son of God, lived a perfect life that you and I could not live. And he laid his life down in our place. He sacrificed his life for our sin, for our guilt, for our shame, all of our wrongs were placed on him. All of your regrets, the stuff that you want to forget, all of those things were placed on Jesus. And he has given us, those who have faith in him, who have trusted in him, we have received new life.

We received forgiveness for our sin. We received, he takes our guilt and our shame. We received his righteousness, where now we can have a relationship with a holy God because our sin separates us from God. We can have a relationship through Christ where we are reconciled with God in a moment that can change. That is the good news. That is the gospel. On Friday, Jesus laid down his life. And on Saturday, he's in the tomb. And then on Sunday is where we pick up, where we pick up in the text, verse one. It says, when Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices so that they might go anoint Jesus' body. Now in Jerusalem at this time, and in the Jewish culture in that day, in Judaism really, Sabbath is the day of worship. It's the day of rest. It's where everything shuts down like Chick-fil-A on Sunday. Everybody everywhere shuts it down as a day of rest and also as a day of worship. And so Saturday for those Jesus followers, for the small group of people who were followers of Jesus, that Saturday wasn't really a day of rest. It was a day of grief because the one that they left everything to follow, they saw him on a cross.

The one that they hung their hopes upon was hanging on a tree. They saw him breathe his last. They saw his body taken down. They saw his body placed in a tomb. And so they think, where do we go from here? What do we do now? See, Saturday was a day of uncertainty. It was a day of loss. It was a day of great sorrow. And some of you know exactly what I'm talking about because that's what it feels like in your life right now. So when they show up at the tomb on that Sunday morning, they weren't showing up expecting a resurrection. They were showing up expecting a body. They didn't have confetti poppers. They had spices for anointing his body. But Jesus had told them, he told them, I'm gonna be raised from the dead, but grief has a way of causing us to forget things that we want to do. And so they show up that day and they show up expecting to find a body. Now Mark gives us the detail. He said there were three women there. He gives us their names. He tells us Mary, Mary, and Salome. Have you ever wondered why there are so many Marys in the gospel? Like everybody's named Mary.

The reason that there are a lot of Marys in the gospel is because at the time of Jesus' birth, remember they were under Roman occupation and there was this resurgence in faith for the nation. And they were asking God to deliver them. And so they were naming their kids' names of matriarchs and patriarchs, other names in the Old Testament. So Mary for Miriam. You've got James for Jacob, Simon for Simeon. Salome, her parents just like deli meat. So good job, 11 o'clock. Other services struggle with that one, but you got it and you were on it. And I was so excited about that joke all week long. So thank you. Thank you for that. So these women, they show up at the tomb. Well, the question is where are the men? Well, the disciples are hiding. They're afraid. They're afraid. They know that Rome has more crosses. And if the Roman authorities wanted to put down the movement of Jesus, it would mean what they would always do with the movement is they would crucify all of them. So they're hiding out of fear of the Romans and out of fear of death. I think we have a hard time wrapping our mind

around how much courage it took for these women to show up that day. Verse two, it says, very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb. And they asked each other who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb. So in the way it occurs to them, we can't move the stone. Why? Because the stone was huge, 2000 pounds. Be like two vending machines together. There were 10, there was no way that they would be able to move this stone. And so they were, it occurs to them, we can't move it. Who's gonna move the stone? Have you ever had a problem in your life that you didn't know how to solve? Have you ever had a problem in your life that you're like, I don't know how to solve it. Maybe it's unemployment right now, or maybe it's an issue at work, or maybe it's struggling your marriage, or maybe it's a situation with one of your kids, or perhaps you recently got back a diagnosis, or maybe there's a financial burden that you're carrying right now. Listen, this is what it means to live by faith. It's to take that next step, even though you don't know how it's all gonna work out. It's to move forward, believing and trusting

that there is one who is powerful enough to move the thing you can't move. And so out of faith, they show up at the tomb. They arrive at the tomb and it says, but when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. Listen, God did the thing they could not do. When it comes to your salvation, God doesn't need your help. When it comes to your salvation, God doesn't need your help. He's already done all the heavy lifting. Jesus laid his life down, was raised from the dead. This is the salvation comes by grace through faith, through trusting, through believing. God has done all the work. Verse five, as they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed. Don't be alarmed, he said. You know why the angel said don't be alarmed? Because they were alarmed. They were afraid. They were scared. They were overwhelmed. They were shaken. They were shook. They were thinking this, in that moment, why are they afraid? Because they're talking to an angel. Number two, they're afraid because the body that was there is not there.

And so they are overwhelmed with fear. The angel continues, you are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. Now, this is the first time in all of history that the resurrection is announced. A messenger from heaven comes to say that he has been raised. He is not here. That angel is saying, you're in the right place and the wrong place at the same time. You're in the right place because you're looking for Jesus. You're in the wrong place because he's not here. He has risen just as he said, but the angel doesn't stop there. Says, but go tell his disciples. And Peter, he's going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. That's it. That's how Mark ends it. But you can go to the other gospels and you pull together the eyewitness accounts of what happened next. In Matthew chapter 28, the women go and they tell the disciples.

In John chapter 20, Mary comes back to the tomb and she encounters the risen Christ. And when she sees it, she thinks he's a gardener. But then he says her name, Mary. No sweeter sound to a person's ear than his or her own name, especially when it's Jesus who says it. But when he calls her name, she says, rabbi, she realizes who it is. Jesus is raised. In Luke chapter 24, there's some disciples walking down the road to Emmaus. Jesus just shows up and starts walking with them. Hey y'all, what's up? They get to the house and they eat together. Jesus eats with these disciples in Emmaus. Same chapter, he visits the disciples who were in an upper room and they got the door locked for the fear of the Jews and the Romans. They got the door locked, afraid that they're gonna be crucified. And Jesus comes into the room. Door is locked. Jesus just enters in. He's like, hey y'all, what's up? Ah, that's what I would have done. I would have scared them. But Jesus didn't. He says, peace be with you. He gives them peace.

Think about this. They're the ones who left him, who deserted him when he needed the most. And the first thing he says back when he sees them again, he doesn't shame them, he loves them. He says, peace be with you. Shalom. He gives them peace. There's nobody that loves you like Jesus. Man, he just keeps showing up. Thomas was AWOL. Thomas was missing. And so Jesus comes back another time when Thomas is there with the disciples and Thomas is having a hard time believing it. Jesus is like, look at my hands, look at my side. He eats with the disciples at that time. In John chapter 20, he shows up with them again. They're fishing on a beach and Jesus shows up on the beach and he cooks breakfast for them and calls them in and they eat together, eat fish and bread. And they're just eating together on the beach. In 1 Corinthians, it tells us that Jesus appears to a crowd of 500 eyewitnesses, 500 eyewitnesses seeing. In Acts 1, it says. He says that over those 40 days that he's just going around teaching. He's teaching about the kingdom of God. In Matthew chapter 28, it tells us that he commissions the disciples

and then he ascends. And so we pull all this together. This is what happens. And so a couple of things we learned from this. One is that Jesus, resurrected Jesus loves to eat, which is good news. Cause maybe we're gonna have good food in heaven. Like we're gonna... The second thing that it teaches us is that Jesus goes where he's wanted. He just goes where he's wanted. To those that desire him. He just, he shows up and he's surprising people all over the place. Just sneaky Jesus showing up, surprising people all over the place. And so with all those details, the question is, why does Mark give us this account? Why does he include the details that he does? Well, the first thing he wants us to know is that the resurrection is real. That it's a historical event. And so he gives us some evidence. So if you're taking notes, you can write this down. The first thing we see is the eyewitnesses. The eyewitnesses who are women. Now in the ancient world,

in Jewish, Greco-Roman culture, women were marginalized. And their testimony wouldn't hold up in court. So if Mark was making this story up, there's no way that he would choose women as the first eyewitnesses. He would choose men. He's not making a story. He's telling us the facts. He's giving us the details. And he gives us their names. Which in the first century, that would be like footnotes. He's like, if you don't believe me, just go ask them. They would have been alive when he wrote this. The second thing that we see is the stone was rolled away. The stone is rolled away. Which leads us to the question, who rolled the stone away? It wasn't the women. It wasn't the disciples. They were hiding. There were Roman guards who were there. Who rolled the stone away? God did. God moved the stone, not so that Jesus could get out, but so that the world could get in

and see that he is alive. Just as he said. Third, the tomb is empty. Listen, this is what separates Christianity from every other religion, every other belief system in the world. Every other belief system in the world, you can go to a place on the planet to see where the remains of the founder are. Christianity is the only religion where people travel to the other side of the world to go to an empty tomb. Everybody does the same thing. They go in, they walk in, they look around, and they walk out and go, well, it's still empty. Just dad jokes in Jerusalem, just happening. Now, some might ask the question, well, how do we know that somebody didn't steal the body? Well, first off, we have over 500 eyewitnesses that were alive when this was written who saw the resurrected Christ. Secondly, is there were Roman soldiers that were posted guard to guard the tomb. But what I find most compelling is the transformation. The transformation in these disciples who were afraid and who were hiding, that in a moment, they went from cowards to courage. In a moment, they went from fear to boldness. In a moment, they went from hiding out

to standing up and proclaiming the gospel, the good news of Jesus, to the very same people that just took his life. The only way to explain that is it's not an idea. They saw a person. And they said, well, if Jesus came back from the dead, they had courage from that, because if you can't kill him, what are you gonna do with us? If there is life after this, then there was just all kind of courage and all kind of faith that they had, and it changed everything for them. I mean, even the day that we worship goes back to what happened that first Easter, because for their whole lives, they worshiped on Sabbath, on Saturday. I mean, that was their whole culture, all that they knew. But something happened that first Easter on Sunday that reoriented their calendar. Early church, the early believers, they would gather together on Sunday because Jesus is alive. Jesus rose on that. So Easter changes everything. The evidence, also the supernatural messenger. Now, in the biblical story, angels show up at these pivotal moments in history with a message from God. I mean, think about it, at Christmas,

the arrival of Christ and his birth, angels show up. And here at the resurrection, the angel gives a message from heaven, and the angel says, go. Jesus wasn't raised so you can just sit here. Jesus wasn't raised so that you can just stay here in this tomb. The angel says, go. Go what? Go tell his disciples and Peter he is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. Once you notice that word, it says his disciples. Why is that a big deal? It doesn't say go tell the disciples. It says, go tell his disciples. Oh, you mean the one? who turned their back on Him. Oh, you mean the ones who left Him when He needed them? Oh, you know, you mean the ones who deserted Him? What this tells us, they're still His. They still belong to Him. And this may be an encouragement for you because you may feel like you've let go of your faith. You may feel like you've drifted. You may feel like you've gone a long way from where you want to be or desire to be, but you need to know that once you put your faith and trust in Jesus, although you might feel like you're letting go, He hasn't let go of you.

And so His call is for us to return, for us to follow Him. So it says, go tell His disciples. And then there's two words that just fired up in my spirit, like that three-point shot in Yukon the other night. Unless you're a Duke fan, that was not good news. That's not the gospel, but I'm telling you, in that moment, I was like, this is, He says, tell His disciples, what are the next two words? And Peter. Tell His disciples, and why would He say, tell His disciples, and Peter? Because remember, Peter is the one who denied Him. Three times. Peter's the one who said, Jesus, I will go with you anywhere. Jesus, I will die for you. And then when the heat got turned up, He's like, I don't even know Him. Three times. He's thinking, I'm disqualified, I'm out. Peter's thinking, I mean, remember, this is 48 hours after His greatest failure, His greatest regret. He betrayed His closest friend, His rabbi, master, Savior, Lord. Turned His back on Him, said He didn't even know Him. Peter's thinking, Jesus, I don't know what You have in store. He's assuming it's without Him. And Jesus said, tell His disciples,

or the angel said, tell His disciples, and Peter. No sweeter sound to a person's ear than his or her own name. And heaven goes out of its way to make sure that the one who failed Jesus knows He's still included. And that's good news for us. That may be really good news for you. If you're anything like me, there have been times where I felt like a failure. Maybe you're here today and you feel like a failure. Maybe you feel like you failed spiritually or failed morally or failed relationally. Maybe failed in marriage or failed in a situation with one of your kids. Or maybe there's secret stuff that nobody else knows about. And because of that, the enemy has heaped shame and guilt on you. And you need to know, heaven delivers this message. So the one with a broken heart and broken dreams and broken promises would know, Jesus hasn't given up on you. So how does Peter respond when he hears? Well, Luke tells us how he responds. He runs, I don't know what that was, but like, just pretend that was sprinting. He sprints, he takes off and he goes because he wants to see, is the tomb really empty? So he runs to the tomb.

Because he's thinking, if Jesus is alive, I got a second chance. If Jesus is alive, the end is not the end. If Jesus is not in that grave, then there's a chance for me. If Jesus is alive, then he's not done with me. I can repent, I can be restored. It was great news for Peter, it's great news for you. Because it means if Jesus is alive, that the cross was sufficient. If Jesus is alive, it means what Jesus did on the cross, that that sacrifice took. That the resurrection validates the cross, which means that Jesus is who he says he is and he will do what he says he will do. We can trust him. John chapter 11, verse 25. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the one who believes in me will live, even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? Man, who says that sort of thing? Who says that? Unless they're God. Who says, I am the resurrection and the life. If you believe in me, you will never die. Jesus predicted his own death, burial and resurrection. He made good on that. If he made good on that,

and he'll make good on all his other promises. And it's not just that you can trust him with your eternity. It's that there's nothing you can't trust him with. That you can trust him with everything. He says, I am the resurrection. Let me give you one more proof. One more proof. It's the name Peter, the name Peter. You're like, what are you talking about? Hang with me. So do you know where the name Peter comes from? Name Peter first shows up in John chapter one. John chapter one, look with me. Jesus said, you are Simon, son of John. You will be called Peter. Peter, this is the first time they met. Who says that? Hello, what's your name? Simon said, no, it's not. I will call you Peter. I mean, who says that? Unless you're God. Like Jesus just gives him a new name. He says, your name will be called Peter. Now, Peter, you know what that word means? It means rock. So he's like, your name is rock. 2000 years, it'll be kind of Dwayne Johnson. He got nothing on you. So he's like, he calls him rock.

He's like, he'll rock over. He tells him he's rocky. He's like, you're rocky. Now, in that moment, Peter's like, no, my name's Simon. I mean, they just met. And Jesus said, come follow me. Why? Because he was a rabbi. People are starting to hear about Jesus. Peter's like, I'll leave everything and I'll follow you. So he starts following Jesus and he gets this name Peter. And for the rest, Jesus calls him Peter. Why does Jesus, he's like, you're like a rock, man. When I look at you, like, man, you're solid. There's so much substance to you. And Peter's like, that's not what I see. Simon's like, that's not what I see when I look in the mirror but see, Jesus doesn't just see you as you are. He sees you as you were made to be. So he gives him a new name. Well, do you know how many people were named Peter in the historical record before this moment on the shore of Galilee? Zero. The name doesn't even show up in the historical record until this Peter. He is the first person to get this name. Did you know, since that moment, that name has been in the top 10, 15 names for the past 2000 years in the world.

Name didn't exist. Jesus gives the name and the name, you're like, what proof does that have of the resurrection? Well, if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, that name would have slid and faded into history. Wouldn't even know that name. But because Jesus is alive, Peter gets a second chance. Because Jesus is alive, Peter goes on to live a life worth emulating, a name worth passing down from generation to generation because Peter lives that kind of life because Jesus is not in the grave. Jesus is alive. And Jesus is still changing lives. Man, I can tell you, it's one of my favorite parts of what I get to do is I get to get a front row seat for stories of life change. And so one of the stories that I've heard is Cooper's story and I thought, man, I'd love we could capture that story. So the team sat down with Cooper and captured his story. I can't wait to share it with you. Check it out. I grew up in the church and I definitely knew the language. I knew the Bible verses, but I just kind of thought of God as this distant figure who is mostly just waiting around to judge me. As I went through life, I was self-reliant and I found my identity, perfectionism, the comforts that I could create by achieving,

by performing, but I knew something needed to change. I just woke up every day with this emptiness and this pain and trying to subdue that pain through alcohol and distractions just took me further and further away from being present. And then God made me fully dependent on him. Competitive professional golfer. I've been playing professionally for 12 years now. I started playing really well, started playing well overseas. I ended up moving over to the UK for a while and played in eight tournaments straight and missed eight cuts in a row. Didn't make a single dollar, was completely lost, was drinking every single night to subdue the pain of lack of performance. I knew I needed a break, knew I needed something different and I dove into hospitality. In the midst of all of that, I ended up getting really hurt to a point where I wasn't able to swing a golf club anymore. I wasn't able to walk anymore. I completely lost my identity. Being stuck on a couch and my wife changing my bandages and carrying me up and down the stairs and rolling me around in a wheelchair and things I never would have thought I would have to go through.

I knew it was time for a change and I said, we need to go back to church. We showed up at Crosspoint Franklin and sat down and had no idea what to expect, but just knew I needed something. Pastor Kevin proceeded to deliver a message on First Timothy 115. Jesus Christ came to die for all sinners, whom of which I am the worst. That was Paul. the worst, and then he proceeded to say, guess what? Jesus wants to love the worst off of you. When I heard that, I just felt like the entire room got quiet just for me, that that whole campus was just there for Jesus to get to me. I broke down, and I surrendered my life to the Lord. I was able to get baptized at Crosspoint. And then a few months after that, I got to baptize my wife. I was so bogged down by sin and shame. I thought that some future version of myself was going to be good enough for Jesus. That's what sin and shame does. It distracts us from what's actually going on. It takes our attention, and instead of putting it on God, where it should be, and on others, and how to serve those around you, it puts it on yourself. There's still a recovery journey from the injury that I'm going through and processing through daily, but I hope that I bear his fruit. I hope that any essence of good that anyone sees

is just because of who he is, not because of me. So if you're sitting in my chair, and you're lost in sin and shame, know that Jesus wants you for who you are right now today, regardless of whatever you've done. He's not waiting for you to get clean to then send Jesus to die for you. You can't out-sin the cross. You're not too far gone. Come on, let's celebrate. I don't know that you can say it any better than that. He said, you can't out-sin the cross. You're not too far gone. And that is the message of Easter. That is the message of those two words, and Peter, and Cooper, and Jessica, and Jacob, and Emily, and Madison, and Luis, and Jerome, and Olivia, and Marcus, and Daniel, and Lauren. Maybe you wanna, you didn't say my name. He did. He calls you by name. He knows you by name. And the message of Easter is that he desires a relationship with you. It doesn't come through good works. It comes through putting your faith and trust in him. The question is, do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that he is the son of God? Do you believe that he lived a perfect life,

and he laid his life down on the cross? Do you believe that he was raised from the dead? You don't have to have all the rest of it figured out to enter into a relationship with God. It's by grace, by faith, through grace, that we step into that relationship. And so if you've never entered into that relationship, well, then I wanna invite you into a moment. And what happens, what separates Christianity from all the other religions, all the other beliefs, all the others are outside in. This is inside out, that he changes us from the inside out. He changes our heart. And the invitation is for you. So I'm gonna lead us in a prayer. In fact, I've invited all of the invitations that we would all pray it out loud. Some would pray it for the very first time in sincerity of saying, Jesus, I wanna begin a relationship with you. For some, this would be praying this as a recommitment, as a saying, I'm entering back into faith. Maybe you've drifted, maybe you've been off in isolation, and the invitation back to join him and begin to follow him again. Maybe for some, you would pray it just in support and encouragement of those who are making the decision today. So we're gonna put it up on the screen. And I wanna invite us all that we would,

and remember, it's not magic words, it's the desire of your heart. He knows your heart. That's why he wants that relationship with you. So if this is true for you, and I would invite all of us to pray this together. We can pray this. Father, thank you for loving me and sending Jesus for me. I confess I've sinned. I need your grace and forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died in my place and was raised from the dead. I trust in him as Savior and Lord. I turn from my old life and commit to follow you. Fill me with your spirit and help me live for you. Thank you for saving me. Amen. In Jesus' name, amen. Listen, the scripture says, when even one person returns. turns to the Father when even one person repents and turns back home, that all of heaven breaks out in a celebration. Can we join with heaven for those who may be seated? Thank you so much. So maybe you're wondering, what do I do? Well, I encourage you, do what Cooper did. Tell somebody, tell the person you came with, tell us. But first, let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for your truth. We thank you that the resurrection power is still bringing dead things to life, dead dreams to life, dead hopes to life, dead faith to life, dead hearts to life, dead marriages to life, dead reputations to life, that you're still bringing life. And so Jesus, we celebrate your name, your name that's above every other name. And it's in the name of Jesus that we pray, amen. Amen, will you stand with me? Stand with me together. Can we just say the name that's above every other name? Will you say it with me? Jesus. One more time, Jesus. One more time, Jesus. Now let's worship him together, church. Let's go. ♪ Worthy of all praise I have King, yeah ♪ ♪ With dominion over death he holds the keys ♪ ♪ In his holy nail scarred hands he is the healer, yeah ♪ ♪ That has crushed the serpent's head ♪ ♪ In my resurrected grave I am, I call you Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you, I call you healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you Savior ♪ ♪ I call you Savior, worthy of glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪

♪ Every time I call your name, flames break, dry bones wake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake ♪ ♪ Of hell shake, every time I call your name, chains break, dry bones wake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, dead things come alive, come on ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive, oh ♪ ♪ The dead things come alive, come alive, dead things come alive ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power, something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave, Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you, I call you savior, worthy of glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave, every time I call your name ♪ Amen! Woo!