He Was There the Whole Time I Robert Madu I Social Dallas

I want to thank Him that He won it all for me, for me, for me, it should have been me on that cross, but thank God for Jesus, He won it for me. Let God be the glory for the great things He's done, for the great things He will do. You sense the presence of the Lord in this place today. Remain standing, we're going to jump into the Word of God. I do believe that there is a word for somebody in this house today. I don't know what you came in with, but you don't have to leave with it. There's a God who knows you, who loves you, and wants to speak to you today. So go with me to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, and I want to look at verses 13-24. Luke 24, start at verse number 13 and we'll land at verse 24. By the way, this is when I have us read our verse of the year, which is in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 35-37. But how many know we already did that? Some of y'all was still trying to get in, it's all good. I have a word for every year, and our word this year at Social Dallas is trust, that we're going to have confident trust in the Lord. But today I want us to look at Luke 24, we'll start at verse number 13. While you're looking for Luke, how many of you, again, it's your first time or your first time in a long time to social? Can I get a wave? Come on, so glad you're here, for real, for real. So glad that you're here. Verse 13 of Luke 24 says, now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened, and as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him. So we got Jesus in disguise, and he asked them, what are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast.

One of them named Cleopas asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things? Jesus asked. About Jesus of Nazareth, foo, foo, I added that, but it's interesting, they're talking to Jesus about Jesus. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priest and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him, but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. They weren't lying, but they did not see Jesus. This is so good. I want to put a title on this text today and just preach to you from this thought on a resurrection Sunday. He was there the whole time. He was there the whole time. I feel like my title is already preaching to somebody that feels like God left you and you need to know he was there the whole time. Look at your neighbor. Get in their face. Get in their personal space. Get right in their face and just say, neighbor, I hope you know he was there the whole time. That was the wrong neighbor. They were stuck up. Find somebody else. Find somebody else in their pastels and just look at them.

Say other neighbor, I know after service, you might take some pictures. In the blue bonnets, but I need you to know He was there The whole time if you believe God's gonna speak give him some praise in here Lord have your way speak today. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord He was there The whole time how y'all doing at the very top top top top top y'all good Perhaps one of the hardest things about being human is That you don't know what it's like To be on the other side of you In other words one of the most challenging people to see clearly is yourself You don't believe it. I'll prove it right now Right now in this moment. I can see y'all You can see me But we can't see ourselves. I Mean think about that. You have no clue what you look like right now Come on, you ever experienced that phenomenon of going home and seeing something in your teeth and Then thinking back to all the people that you talked to that day Like I ain't got no friends did nobody want to tell me had a big piece of kale just right here Because you can't see you see the person next to you see the person behind you in front of you But you can't see you and ladies and gentlemen, that is how life works You only ever live life from your side from your perspective which means People around you have perspective on you that you don't have There are things about you. You don't know there are ways that you come across that you are unaware of There are moments you think you're right and you're not Not because you're a bad person But because you never stood on the other side of you This is why if you're ever gonna be changed you have to have humility and not pride

So I gotta be careful when you make those statements and give yourself a trophy time about well, I know one thing I'm a good husband. I'm a good wife How do you know? You've never been married to you. I Don't know what's wrong with these kids. I know one thing. I'm a good parent. I'm a good parent You've never parented yourself, I Know one thing that would be glad I showed up to this job today. I know that I'm a good employee I'm a real good employee How do you know you have never had to work for you? And let's be honest if some of you did you would fire yourself You would let yourself go. Come on. We could do this all day. We could do this all day I could say I could say with everything that's within me social Dallas is an amazing church. I Appreciate those few claps. I believe that I really do. I would go to this church if I didn't pass to this church I think this is an amazing trip. I think it should be like this every single Sunday. So come back next week. I Think it's an amazing church, but the question has to be asked How do I know? I've never attended social Dallas as a visitor. I always attended as the pastor. How do I know? However, there was one time There was one time I did not attend social Dallas as the pastor of social Dallas. I attended social Dallas as a visitor It was the year 2022 I will never forget it Our church was growing and exploding and I wanted to make sure that people were still being treated Right because we did not start mega all those people like I hate mega churches. You should have pulled up in 2021 We were not mega. I want to make sure people are still treating everybody, right? And so I said here's what I'm gonna do I want to experience what it's like to be a visitor to experience what you experience Experience what you experience today. So guess what your boy did? I called up a professional makeup artist a professional makeup artist and I said, hey I need you to take your boy from 38 to 68 and I had prosthetics and everything on it was incredible I called a film crew to film me secretly and y'all I channeled my inner Eddie Murphy and Drew ski and your boy pulled up Just show Dallas. This is a true story I pulled up to our church in disguise looking just like this right here. That's how I pulled up. Oh

It was amazing. It was amazing all the way from the parking lot. They had no clue. It was me the whole time I was messing with the parking lot crew timeout. Can I smoke up in here? I mean I Fooled so many people I went to the first time guests connect in I wanted to see are they really nice I fooled so many people there were staff members that had no clue. I was asking them about me the whole time So what you think of Pastor Robert? I fooled so many people, but here's what shocked me Not that I fooled our staff and our volunteers. Here's what shocked me that I fooled these people right here. That's what shocked me Y'all that is my mama and my daddy who took a picture with me and had no clue That it was me the whole time Now those of you going how in the world did they not know your boys a good actor your boys a good actor But not only that we can't separate what I did from the context and the timing in which I did it See, I came to social in disguise in July and everybody's been around social knows in July That's when our family takes our rest month. We take a break. I have guest speakers in July So watch this the cognitive category that everybody had for July is PR ain't here He's gone He's not here So when you're not expecting somebody to be there You can miss them when they're right in front of you if you have no Expectation to see them you can be close by them and not even realize they were there The whole time one of my favorite moments was texting our creative director in service he's saying service is amazing I'm texting the back is it And I was there The whole time and I'll never forget what that feeling felt like to be in our church To be walking past people. I know and love and to be close, but not recognized To be present but not be perceived To be right in their face and they didn't even notice it. I wonder what you're missing Because you're not expecting to see it Ladies and gentlemen, this brings me to my text today in the gospel of Luke chapter number 24. I have to be honest

This is one of my favorite resurrection stories in the entire Bible you will not find this in any other gospel except for Luke's gospel and leave it to uncle Luke to give us this story Right here because you do know that Luke's gospel is distinctly different from any of the gospel He gives us a different lens all four gospel writers come together to talk about the same Jesus, but they give us a different lens It's Matthew who lets us know. This is what Christ said. He is focused on the words of Christ It's Marky Mark that lets us know what Christ did Mark is about that action boss He wants to let you know that Jesus moved immediately. He went here immediately. He went there It is John who is focused on his deity. He wants you to know who Christ is But Luke Wants you to know what he felt. He wants you to know that your God. Yes was God But he was also human not 50% God and 50% human but 100% God and 100% humanity He wants you to feel what he felt So no wonder that Luke gives us details that other gospel writers don't give us It is Luke that lets us know that as he's dying on the cross as he is Suffocating in his own blood as his flesh is lacerated He he fixes himself to breathe and to say a word and he says father Forgive them while they're killing him. It is Luke that gives us that detail It is Luke that lets us know while he's dying He speaks to a thief on the cross meaning that even in his greatest misery He was still doing misery ministry letting the guy next to him. No, it's not too late Guess what today you gonna be with me in paradise Oh that gave me hope right there to know that it'll matter how long it's been God can still reach you even if it's at the last minute. Thank God for his grace It is Luke's gospel that gives us different details and Luke lets us know In the 24th chapter as he brings his book to a climactic close that Jesus has died and he's gotten up from the grave Just like he said he would and if it was me as soon as I got up from the grave y'all I would have been gone Oh No I'm just being honest with you if I came from heaven to earth put on human skin

Lived a flawless perfect innocent life and y'all still killed me after I said it is finished when I got it from the grave I'm gone y'all. I'm leaving as soon as I finish the assignment. I get up from the grave I am going straight up to heaven throwing the deuces to all of y'all That is not what Jesus did Luke lets us know that for 40 days Jesus is just walking around doing post Resurrection pop-up parties just showing up different places showing up to Mary she thought he was a gardener because who you can't see something sometimes until he spoke her name and and said, Mary, and she realized it was him. My favor, the disciples have locked themselves in a room. They're afraid. They said, hold up, they killed him. We used to roll with him. We probably next. Lock the door, lock the door. And right as they're in there, locked in, all afraid, here comes Jesus, walking through the wall. Talk about peace be with you. Almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing? This is what he did. Why is he showing up? Why is he revealing himself to people? I'll tell you why. Because the resurrection is proof that Jesus said what he was gonna do, and he did exactly what he said. Oh yes, they were gonna get power in the book of Acts, but before the power, they needed the proof that he was gonna get up from the grave just like he said he would.

Can I tell you why I shout about the resurrection? Because the resurrection is proof positive that God always keeps his promises. That if God said something, he's gonna do it. That if God has given you a promise, how many are glad it's going to come to pass? The resurrection is proof that if God said it, that settles it. And some of y'all ought to be shouting if you've ever gotten a promise from God, because that means even if I don't see how the promise is gonna come to pass, the resurrection is proof that if he said it, he's gonna do it. I wish somebody would take a praise break and thank God that he's not like us. He cannot lie. If he said he's gonna do something, please believe he's gonna do it. That's why the angel said he's not here. He is risen just like he said. The resurrection is proof positive that God keeps his promises, that God cannot lie. It doesn't matter how bad it looks. If he said it, he's going to do it. But what blows my mind is who he makes an appearance to in our text today. Why in the world is he showing up to two random disciples, y'all, who don't give us main character energy?

Come on. These two disciples are not a part of the intimate 12. Come on, we don't even get one of their names. The other dude's name is Cleopas. Any Cleopases today, Cleo? No? You don't even name anybody Cleopas. These aren't famous disciples, and yet Jesus takes time to make an appearance to them? Make an appearance to two disciples, watch this, who are going in the wrong direction. They're leaving where the promise was. They watched him die on the cross. They said, it is over, y'all. We thought he was gonna do what he said he was gonna do. We may as well go home. They're going in the wrong direction. They are sad, they are discouraged and despondent, and all of a sudden, Jesus shows up to them. They're not famous. He shows up to ordinary people. What is he letting us know? He's letting us know who he shows up for, that you ain't gotta be famous for him to show up to you. He will show up to ordinary people in an ordinary moment on an ordinary road. I love it, I love it because watch this. They weren't even looking for him, but he was looking for them. They just walking, talking about what happened.

Can you believe it? I cannot believe it. I knew Judas was a sellout. I knew it the first day when I saw him. Yeah, well, the women said he rose, but you know they be making up stories. They be lying. Can you, they don't even realize they're just talking. In fact, the Greeks suggest they're so deep in the conversation, they don't even realize that Jesus is walking with them. Ooh, walking with them. They had no clue he found them. They didn't find him. Oh, I wanna thank God for a savior that even when you're not looking for him, he's looking for you. Oh, that messed up some of the church people because the church people were like, no, you need to seek God. You need to seek God. Draw nigh unto, there go King James. Draw nigh unto him and he will draw nigh unto you. Yeah, I know that, that's true, but I wanna thank God for the moments I was going the wrong direction. I was depressed. I wasn't even looking for him, but I'm thankful to God that he'll invite himself on the journey sometimes.

I'm thankful I could be going in the complete opposite direction and that his love will find a way to reach me. Yes, you ought to seek Jesus, but I wanna thank God that he'll seek me, that he'll find me out. Ooh, what a wonderful savior that even when you're walking in the wrong direction, he'll come find you. Ooh, he'll come find you. That's why we need to take something out of our vocabulary. I found God. He wasn't lost. You didn't find him. He found you. He found these two and he's walking with them. And all of a sudden, I think they realize, are we being followed? I love it because he disguised himself. He didn't put on like makeup like I did, but I think he did it for the same reason. He didn't want to deal with the phony them. He wanted to deal with the real them. See, if he shows up as the Messiah and says, here I am, and he's glowing, they would have said, Yeshua, and they would have not been honest about the condition they were in. And God cannot deal with the fake, phony, plastic you that has pretense. He can only deal with the real, honest, vulnerable you. So look at what he does. He pulls up on them in disguise and says, what y'all talking about? The one who knows everything is asking them, what are y'all talking about it? Now allow me to use my exegetical imagination because I can see it.

I can see they really didn't want him in the conversation at first. You've been there before. You have been having a conversation and you see somebody all in your conversation and they're not taking the clues like we talking. I'm thinking this is what's happening, especially because of the way Cleopas responds. He goes, what are y'all discussing? And Cleopas goes, are you the only one in Jerusalem that doesn't know what's happened these days? You weren't there when it was dark for three hours and there was an earthquake. Are you the only one? Are you the only one that doesn't know what was happening the whole time? And Jesus goes, um, what things, what things, what happened? Look at him playing, wanting them to be honest about where they are, what things. So they start talking to Jesus about Jesus. He said, well, since you don't know. Jesus was a man who was powerful in word and in deed. Jesus is like, word? He's like, yeah. They didn't go on to say, but the governors and our leaders crucified him. And then they say something that let us know where they are. They say, and we hoped, we had hoped that he was going to redeem Israel. Did you hear it? Sometimes it takes a while to let a person talk, to get to the bottom of us really bothering them. And in one statement, they let us know where they are. They said, uh, we had hoped that he was the one that was going to redeem Israel. We had hope. In other words, when Jesus died, their hope died. You ever been there before where you had hoped God was going to do something. They had an expectation that he was going to show up in a certain way.

And all of a sudden when they saw him die on that cross, when they saw him placed in the tomb, all of a sudden their hope died. They didn't stop having faith in him. They believed he lived, but what died in them, it was their expectation. Ooh, you know, pain has a way of doing that. Pain has a way of making you forget everything that God promised. Because remember he told them I'm going to get up from the grave. It was not a secret. He let them know, but pain has a way of making you forget the promises of God. Sometimes the disappointment in your life makes you feel like your hope has been extinguished. And I'm wondering if there's anybody on this resurrection Sunday that is saying I had hoped. You got faith in him. I believe he's real, but you don't have the expectation. And I can tell you've lost your expectation when you're headed to Emmaus. Emmaus is away from Jerusalem. It's in the other direction. Emmaus is when you reach the place in your life where you say, okay, God, I tried. I had hope, but now my hope is gone. So you know what? I'm done. I'm going back home. Have you ever been on a trip to Emmaus where you said, God, I tried, but what else is there for me to do? Some of you tried church. I tried. Lord, I told you I was going to go at the beginning of the year, but see them church people, you know how they are. So you know what? Forget it. I'll pull up on Easter Sunday.

That's it. Have your expectation extinguished and now you're on your way to Emmaus because you're saying God I had hoped you were gonna heal my mom but you didn't. So I'm gonna go to Emmaus. I still believe that you're real I just don't believe you can do anything in my life. I still believe that you're real. I haven't lost my faith in you but I have lost my expectation that you want to move in my life. I wonder who here today is on your way to Emmaus and not even realizing that God is still with you. They had no clue he was still there and they're going in the wrong direction and I want to help somebody today that's on your way to Emmaus and let you know he still loves you and he still cares and he can be close and you don't even know it. He was there the whole time. So they say oh we had hoped he was going to redeem Israel. Now this is the part where I thought Jesus was gonna go oh you had hope well guess what get your hopes up. It's me. I was tricking you. It's me. That's not what he does. Jesus goes further to make a crazy statement. You got to put yourself in the shoes of the text. They're already losing their hope. They have lost their hope. They are sad. They're walking with a stranger. They don't even know what he's doing and as they're walking with him all of a sudden they get honest about where they are. I've lost my hope and do you know what Jesus said to them? It's gonna make some of y'all leave the church today. I'm gonna put it on screen. Look at what he says to people who've lost their hope. He said to them how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? What kind of Jesus gets up from the grave and starts rebuking people who are already sad? How foolish you are. I like this version. I like the message translation. He said like this. He says, so thick-headed and slow-hearted. See y'all don't like that Jesus right there. Y'all don't like that Jesus right there. You don't like the Jesus that will confront you. Yeah you want the Jesus that will cuddle you and that's why some of us never get changed because if he can't confront you, you can't be transformed. If he can't challenge you, you can never be changed. I'm scared of you if Jesus only tells you to do things

that you want to do and tells you to do things that you like. You might not be following Jesus. You're probably just following you, but we serve a resurrected King that will say what's wrong with you? Thick-headed, slow-hearted, thick-headed, slow-hearted. Oh that should be bars and a song. Thick-headed, slow-hearted. Jesus let me tell you about it. Thick-headed, slow-hearted. Some of y'all would have been offended right there. He's going, did you not understand that I told you I was gonna have to go through this? You thick-headed, slow-hearted. He's not insulting them, but here's what he is doing. He is confronting their interpretation of what happened. He said, you got the wrong interpretation of what happened. You were expecting me to overthrow the Roman government. You were expecting me to redeem you the way you saw me redeeming you by getting Rome out of the government and putting you on the throne, but I came to destroy something bigger than that. I came to defeat something bigger than that. I came to defeat sin, death, hell, and the grave. You got the wrong interpretation of what happened, because if you really knew what happened, you wouldn't be sad. You would be giving God praise. I wonder if there's somebody in here that has the wrong interpretation of what's happened. You got the facts, but you got the wrong framework. If they knew, if they knew what really happened, they would have been shouting. I'll prove it in the text. They go on to say the thing that we shout about. They said about what we shout about. They said we had thought he was gonna be the one that was gonna redeem Israel, but the only problem is it's the third day, and the women went to the tomb and there was nobody, and some other people went, and they corroborated the women's story, so nobody was there. See? What? That's what we shout about. We shout about the fact that on the third day he got up. We shout about the fact there was no body. Can I tell you what would stop my praise on this Easter is if they found the body. But since they still haven't found the body in over 2,000 years, I want to give God some praise.

I want to thank God that he did what he said and got up from the grave. I want to praise him for defeating death. Somebody ought to give him some praise if you're thankful that they still ain't found the body. What you crying about? You're supposed to be shouting. It's the third day. I don't know why they didn't book the Airbnb just one more day. You left too early. That's your problem. And I came to tell somebody in here, you left too early. If you would have stayed one more day, you would have. Oh, I got to hurry. Y'all got to get to brunch. They sad about what they're supposed to be shouting about. See, it's the third day, and there was no body. And so watch what he does. They've got a thick head, slow heart. The problem is not what you're going through, it's your interpretation of what you're going through. It's how you're interpreting what you're going through. But look at our Savior, who will not leave us stuck in our thick-headedness or slow-heartedness. Look at what he does next. The Bible says that Jesus begins to preach to them and explain the Scriptures to them, starting with Moses and the prophets.

As they're walking a seven-mile journey, Jesus starts preaching to them and explaining the Scriptures to them and letting them know that they were about him. OK, all right. There are a lot of moments in the Bible that I wish I could have been there. Like, I wish I could have been there when the children of Israel got to the Red Sea and Pharaoh was behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them. I wish I could have been there when Moses chest out. And all of a sudden, they walk through on dragon. I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have been there when all of a sudden, they got the fish and the five loaves, and they'd be handing it out. And you watching that thing get down to the last bit. And somebody who looks real, real hungry is going, I'm hungry. You better have enough for me. And as you reach down, knowing there's nothing there, all of a sudden, some more fish and bread. I wish I could have been there when Jesus is four days late, and he goes to Lazarus, too, and preaches a three-point sermon and says, Lazarus, come forth. And a dead man comes out. I wish I could have been there. But of all those moments, I wish I could have been there, walking on the road to Emmaus, listening to Jesus, the greatest preacher to ever preach, preach about himself.

Oh, I wish I could get this sermon on Spotify, on iTunes. Can you imagine, of all the preachers that are preaching around the world today, how many know they ain't got nothing on Jesus, the greatest orator, the greatest preacher? Understand, we just have a word. He was the word. I wish I could have been walking there. Listen to Jesus preach Jesus. Listen to the word. Talk about the word. Can you imagine, he went all the way to Moses and the prophets and just started explaining, oh, that was me. That was me, too. I wonder where he started. Did he start with the Passover lamb in Exodus 12 and say, you know that lamb that they took, that innocent lamb? And you would shed the blood of that lamb and put it on a wooden doorpost so that the death angel would pass over? Guess what? That lamb, that was me. I wonder if he went into the wilderness and said, you remember when Moses lifted up that bronze serpent after they had been bitten by the serpents? And everybody that looked at the serpent that was lifted up all of a sudden got healed. Guess what? That was me. That's why I had to be lifted up.

I wonder if he went to Isaiah 53 and said, I'm the one that was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your iniquities. I wonder if he went over to Genesis 22 and said, remember that time when Abraham was taking Isaac, his only son, and was about to sacrifice him? But all of a sudden, there was a ram. And the thinking, guess what? I am that ram. I'm the one that was the substitutionary death for you. I wonder if he went to Joseph's story and said, remember how Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers? They sold him out. But all of a sudden, he went from a pit to a palace to redeem the very. was that sold him into slavery. Guess what? That was me. That's why I'm not mad at Judas. He had to do it. Nobody took my life. I laid it down. I was there. Remember when that bread started coming down from heaven and sustained them in the wilderness? That was me. I was there the whole time. And for two hours, I did the math, seven miles, about two hour walk. He starts revealing every moment in scripture, scripture that they had, but didn't know it was him the whole time. Walking with him, discouraged and despondent, not knowing he's there the whole time. And I'm just wondering if the disciples didn't see it. I'm just wondering if my own mama and daddy didn't know that was me. I wonder if he's with you and you don't even realize it. Oh, I wonder even in your pain, you don't even realize he's been with you. He was there the whole time. He's preaching so good. They get all the way to the house. And I love this part because Jesus, he's such an actor. He acted like he was going to keep walking just to see. He acted like he was going to keep walking. And he said, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait.

No, come, come in the house and stay for a little bit. Which blew my mind because I'm like, wait a minute, you interrupted the walk. You didn't ask no questions then. Why not just invite yourself over? I mean, why you got manners now, Jesus? You already interrupted the walk. Why not just invite yourself over? He said, no, no, no, no, this is different. Because if I'm going to come into your home, into your life, I will not force my way in. I have to be invited. So, I just wanted to see if you want me to stay. He could have let, they could have let him keep walking and they would have missed out on the revelation and the power of a Savior that wants to come sit at the table with you. I wonder if the reason some of us miss out on the revelation of who Jesus is, is because we have relegated him to Sunday morning or just once a year. Or just once a year when you serve a Savior that wants to come in the house and sit at the table with you. You just wanted to see, you're going to invite me? Oh, you'll invite me? Okay. He comes in the house. He's invited as a guest, but he starts acting like a host. You might invite him in as a guest, but he won't be a guest. He's going to be the host because it's the host's job to take the bread and to divide it. But look at him, invited as a guest, but becomes the host. And he takes the bread and he blesses it, and he breaks it, and then he gives it to them. He takes the bread, he blesses it, and then he breaks it, and then he gives it to them. And as soon as he did that, their eyes were open to see him for who he really was. I don't know what they had a flashback to. I don't know if they had a flashback to hearing of what happened in the upper room when he took the bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and said, this is my body that is broken for you. I don't know if they had a flashback to that day they were out on the hillside and they had run out of food and he took the bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he handed it to them. I don't know if their eyes were opened because when he took the bread, he blessed it and he broke it. As he began to give it to them, they caught a glimpse of the scars on his wrist and got a revelation. He did what he said he was going to do, that he defeated death, hell, and the grave. And the moment they got the revelation, he disappeared. And they got up and said hold up we got to go back To Jerusalem. I know we came all the way to Emmaus because we thought it was over But now that I've seen him and now that he's spoken the word to me

Did not our hearts burn on the inside of us while he was talking. I gotta make the journey back I thought it was just gonna be a seven-mile trip. I didn't know it was gonna be a round trip I gotta go back to Jerusalem and I came to preach on Resurrection Sunday To somebody that's lost your hope, that's lost your expectation God told me to tell you this is your Sunday to turn around and go back to the place of the promise Go back to the place where he spoke to you Go back to the you that used to worship when you were in kids church and used to say I love you Jesus Go back! Go back! Get your expectation back This is a Savior That wants to be intimately involved in your life It's time for you to go back Because he was there The whole time I'm gonna ask everybody that can would you stand to your feet? Please nobody move and honor this moment I'm gonna ask that heads be bowed And eyes be closed Can't nobody move Because I'm believing that today somebody Is gonna turn around And come back home We say it all the time here at Social Dallas you can always Come home God is not mad at you He's in love with you This text proves that he can be close and you don't even recognize it He can be by your side and you can be unaware And I felt like somebody came in today saying God, where were you? Where were you when my childhood was falling apart?

Where were you when my father walked out on us? Where were you during the abuse? Where were you? And hear me he was there the whole time He didn't cause it But we serve a God That can use every single thing for his glory And if you don't believe it look at the cross And if you don't believe it look at the cross the only reason we call it Good Friday is because what he did on Sunday something that looked like it was a defeat Was actually victory And his victory is your victory So what heads bowed eyes closed today if you'd be so honest to say hey PR This word is for me and today I need to respond By giving him my life I need to respond by surrendering all that I am to him As heads about eyes are closed if that's you today Would you just lift up your hand high enough and long enough to where I could see it to say today's the day I'm giving him my life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Jesus. I see hands going up all over this place today Even at the top. Thank you Jesus. Thank you. God. Thank you God He Was there the whole time he's here now And he wants you to respond to him anybody else just lift it up saying today's the day I need to give him my life Head still bowed eyes still closed if you're here today, and you say hey, I've put my faith in Jesus But I'm still on my way to Emmaus I've got faith in him, but I've stopped having Expectancy and hope that he can move in my life God wants to restore your hope today To believe that he is willing and able to move in your life Death does not have the final say He is the resurrection If you're here today and say I need to get my hope back up

Would you lift up your hand high enough and long enough to where I could see it today. Thank you Jesus. Thank you God I want to lead us in this prayer We're all gonna say it But especially those of you who respond to that first time saying I need to give Jesus my life Would you say this from your heart say Jesus? Let's lift up our hands just as a sign of surrender say Jesus. I Need you Lord I know I can't I do life without you. Jesus, thank you for loving me enough to pay the price for my sin. Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God. You lived the life that I was supposed to live. You died the death that I was supposed to die. You took my place. So today, my response is to surrender. Forgive me of my sins. Make me brand new. I'm coming back home. I'm walking with you. Thank you for being there the whole time. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen, amen. Come on, if you meant what you prayed, would you give God praise today? Oh, come on, you could do better than that. Can you give King Jesus just the best praise that you got?