Jesus and Authority - Saddleback Weekend Service

Everybody welcome to Saddleback Church. We're so glad you're here. Come on, let's clap our hands all over the room. We're so excited to worship with you today. Are you ready to lift up Jesus? Come on, let's sing it. Who breaks the power of sin and darkness Whose love is mighty and so much stronger The King of glory, the King above all kings Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder And leaves us breathless in awe and wonder The King of glory, the King above all kings This is amazing grace This is unfailing love That You would take my pain That You would break my cross You laid down Your life And I would be set free Jesus, I sing for all that You've done for me Who brings our chaos back into order Who makes the orphan a son and daughter The King of glory, the King of glory Who rules the nations with truth and justice Child like the sun in all of its prisons The King of glory, the King above all kings This is amazing grace This is unfailing love That You would take my pain That You would break my cross You laid down Your life And I would be set free

Jesus, I sing for all that You've done for me Worthy is the land who was slain Worthy is the king who conquered the grave Worthy is the land who was slain Worthy is the king who conquered the grave Worthy is the land who was slain Worthy is the king who conquered the grave Worthy is the land who was slain Worthy, worthy, worthy This is amazing grace This is unfailing love That you would take my pain That you would bear my cross You laid down your life That I would be set free Jesus, I sing for All that you've done for me All that you've done for me Lord, I'm so grateful All that you've done for me decision that said yes to following Jesus. There's nothing magical about the water. It's just a symbol of going, our old life and our sins being washed away and coming up out of the water and walking into new life with Jesus. And today, in front of all of you and family and friends, our friend Micah is gonna declare his love for Jesus through baptism. Now, in just a moment, up on the screen, you're gonna see him in the water.

And so I have an assignment for all of us. Our job is to cheer as loudly as we possibly can when Micah comes up out of the water. You know, the Bible talks about when one sinner repents and turn towards God, the heavens rejoice. And so we want this room in here to match the rejoicing of heaven. Are you guys in? You good to go on that? Okay, it's gonna be amazing. We have Micah, he's 15 years old. He's declaring his love for Jesus in front of all of us today. So let's sing together and let's celebrate. ♪ I was washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ All because of you, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I'm clean, sin was stained on me ♪ ♪ Shame was running deep, when love was spilled on Calvary ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, I'm clean, God how can it be ♪ ♪ I'm ransomed and redeemed, I'm standing in your victory ♪ ♪ I'm standing in your victory, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ All because of you, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I'm clean, it's not what I have done ♪ ♪ But what you've done for me ♪ ♪ You've painted on our country, oh hallelujah, I'm clean ♪

♪ Your love has overcome, and your mercy is supreme ♪ ♪ I'm dancing in your victory, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ Cause you took away my sin ♪ ♪ And you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, can I die? ♪ ♪ Cause you took away, cause you took away my shame ♪ ♪ And you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, here I am, cause you took away, cause you took away my shame ♪ ♪ Oh, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, here I am, cause you took away my shame ♪ ♪ And you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, here I am, hallelujah, here I am, oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, here I am, hallelujah, here I am ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood, I've been poured together with you ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, I've been poured together with you ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, I've been poured together with you ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, I've been poured together with you ♪ ♪ Everybody clap your hands! everybody clap your hands!

Come on, let's lift our hearts and sing together! ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I've been filled again today, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I've been filled again today, oh hallelujah ♪ Yeah. Hallelujah. We can sing hallelujah because we have each experienced the faithfulness of God in our lives. So come on, let's keep singing. Let's testify of His goodness today. Come on, let's sing this together. ♪ When I was lost and all alone ♪ ♪ Your presence was where I found home ♪ ♪ You were there and You're here right now ♪ ♪ In every high and every low ♪ ♪ You never left me without hope ♪ ♪ You were good and You're good right now ♪ Come on, let's declare this together. ♪ I've witnessed Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I've seen You breathe life within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, You're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Your promises never fail ♪ ♪ I've got stories I live to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, You're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ You left Your throne and chose the cross ♪ ♪ Laid down Your life to rescue us ♪

♪ The Savior then and the Savior now ♪ ♪ But even death was not the end ♪ ♪ You conquered hell so I could live ♪ ♪ Resurrecting then, resurrecting now ♪ Come on church. ♪ Resurrecting then, resurrecting now ♪ ♪ I've witnessed Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I've seen You bring life within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, You're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Your promise is never there ♪ ♪ I've got stories I live to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, You're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ You're good and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're strong and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're constant, I've witnessed it and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again ♪ ♪ You love and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You heal and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You save and I've witnessed it and I'm confident ♪ Come on church, let's testify of His goodness tonight. ♪ You're good and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're strong and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're constant, I've witnessed it and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again ♪ ♪ You love and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You heal and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You save and I've witnessed it and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again ♪

♪ I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I've seen you bring light within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Your promises never fail ♪ ♪ I've got stories I live to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ You're good and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're strong and I've witnessed it ♪ ♪ You're constant, I've witnessed it and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again ♪ ♪ And again, you love and I'll witness it ♪ ♪ You heal and I'll witness it ♪ ♪ You save and I'll witness it ♪ ♪ And I'm confident I'll see it again and again ♪ Well, we have a God that keeps his promises. That is good and that is faithful. Well, Saddleback, we are so glad that you are here with us today as we get to worship together for church. And wherever you're located, wherever you're joining us, we would love to know about it. So we wanna invite you to leave a comment if you're watching on YouTube and maybe even reply to someone else and say hello as well. And also wanna give a shout out and say hello to all of our extensions that are joining us across the world, whether you're in Singapore or Australia or New Mexico,

we love you so much and we're so glad that you're joining us today. And if you're new to our church family, if you're checking out Saddleback for the very first time, we would love to know about it as well so that we can personally reach out to you and help you get connected and take a very first step in getting plugged into the life of our church. So you can do that by clicking the link in the description if you're watching on YouTube, or you can download our Saddleback app, set your campus to online community, and then open the notes section to access our program. There, you can let us know it's your first time and even take some steps to get plugged into our church. We can't wait to get to know you. Well, right now we are in the middle of a series called Jesus on the Move. And we are taking a deep dive look at the book of Mark and the life of Jesus as he's going from town to town and resurrecting people and healing people and doing miracles and spreading the good news. And it's been so awesome being in this series together. And also as a church family, we are reading through the book of Mark as well. And so we wanna encourage you to not just hear about the book of Mark on the weekends, but in your day to day, in your quiet time, to read through Mark. And so we have a reading plan called March Through Mark

that you can access through the Saddleback app in the resource section. And we wanna invite you to join us as we're reading through Mark together as a church. Well, we're so grateful you're here today. Now let's join the rest of our church family as we hear some things and exciting stuff that is happening in our church. Hey Saddleback, Easter is just three weeks away. Now every Easter, we see God do amazing and incredible things as people walk through our doors of our campuses for even the first time. And last year, 353 people took a huge step of faith and got baptized at Easter services. It was an incredible celebration. And often it all begins with a simple invitation. Now last weekend, Pastor Andy reminded us that God loves to use ordinary people to impact other people, and that your one life can help someone else discover the hope of Jesus. And this Easter, maybe God has already been placing someone on your heart. It could be a neighbor, a coworker, a friend, or a family member. Now to make it easy to invite, we've created some tools like yard signs. Listen, we've got invite cards, social media graphics, and more. All these tools exist so that you can share

the hope of Easter with the people in your life. So before you leave today, pick up an invite tool after service. We believe that your one invitation might be the moment that opens the door for someone to encounter Jesus. And we're praying for you as you extend an invitation for someone to join you this Easter at Saddleback. Now this past weekend, something special happened that we want to take a moment to celebrate, and that is the official grand opening of Saddleback South Bay's new home in Lomita, California. Because of your generosity, especially through Dream Now, our South Bay church family has been blessed with a permanent home where people can gather, worship, and discover the hope of Jesus. Let's take a moment to hear from South Bay's campus pastor, Pastor Steven Moon. Hey Saddleback family, Pastor Steven here from Saddleback South Bay, and we are at our grand opening weekend, and we just love seeing our community come out, be a part of what God is doing in this space. He is truly pouring out our presence where powerful worship is happening, connection is happening all throughout as you're seeing behind me. And I just want to say thank you for being a church that's been praying with us. Really, this is a win for our whole church as we're going to get to see life change,

people connected, and really go deeper in their journey with Jesus. So thank you, Saddleback family, for praying with us and journeying with us. We are truly one church in many locations, and we love you so much. Isn't that awesome? And as God continues to grow what's happening in the. South Bay, we want you to know that your faithful giving is helping support life-changing ministry like this across all our campuses. And if you'd like to give your tithe or offerings today, you can do so through the Saddleback app or by using the giving envelopes available at your campus. Thank you Saddleback for your bold faith, your constant prayers, and your amazing generosity. Now let's hear from Pastor Andy. Let's celebrate that right there. 700 people showed up to the launch of our South Bay campus and most importantly, 35 people made first-time decisions to follow Jesus. So let's celebrate what God did at South Bay. So many wonderful things God's doing in our church family. We're one church in many locations. I want to welcome those of you who are joining us online and all of our campuses that are with us today. Today we are in the third week of a message series called Jesus on the Move. And we've been looking at the life of Jesus. We've been going through Mark's teachings,

miracles, what God did through Jesus when God came from heaven to earth. And today we're gonna look at a subject called authority. And sometimes people struggle with authority, but Jesus ultimately gives us a different picture of what authority is all about. So today, as we talk about authority, authority is a little bit like control. And there are some people that have control issues. So I thought we should start with a little survey to see if you have control issues. Guys ready? Okay, no elbowing the people next to you, okay? You might have control issues. Just kind of keep a note how many of these you have. If you always need to hold the remote, how many of you guys always need to hold the remote? Yes, you might have more of an issue if you hide the remote so that nobody else can find it. This happens in our home. Okay, maybe some of you, you keep your messages really low, like zero messages. And that's cool. God bless you that you clear your inbox, but you also struggle with anxiety when you see other people have unread messages. And you might have control issues if you're checking their messages for them. You might have more issues if when they leave the room, you respond to their messages on their behalf.

Does anybody do this out of curiosity with your spouse? Okay, another one. You might have issues if you start organizing something that belongs to somebody else, cabinets, pantries, desks. Anybody ever do this before? Okay, you might have control issues if when you are in the passenger seat and you go somewhere with somebody else, you feel the need to tell them exactly where to park. You might have control issues. It's really quiet because maybe I'm hitting on some things. Okay, how many of you start shaking when you watch somebody else load the dishwasher? You might have control issues. How many of you can't let somebody fold your laundry, out of curiosity? Okay, that would include my wife. She's not here right now, so I can say that. Okay, how many of you would say you find yourself, this is the last one, rearranging, redesigning restaurants, airports, or other people's homes in your mind, out of curiosity? Okay, so you might have control issues. So let's give it up for everybody that was honest about those. But isn't it true, we all have a measure of control issues in our life. And today I wanna talk about that from the vantage point of this question.

Who is in charge of your life? You know, some of us struggle. We don't want anybody else, anything else to be in charge or in control of us. And I get that, I have my own issues. But the reality is something or someone is controlling all of us. Sometimes it's a relationship that you're in, and maybe the way somebody's treating you, or perhaps your career and your job that you find yourself stacked under. Or perhaps it's a habit that you just can't seem to get rid of, but there's something in your life that is controlling you. Who's in charge of your life? And the truth is, when we take on a weight that God did not intend for us to carry, when we hold upon ourselves worries and anxiety of the world that God did not design our shoulders for, we find ourselves stacked under that weight, with anxiety, with fear, with worry. And God does not intend for us to live that way. So today we're gonna talk about, how do you experience the peace that comes with the authority that Jesus brings? And today I hope that you can experience a level of freedom that comes when we recognize that God wants to lift the weight on our shoulders as we see him as the ultimate authority. So if you have a Bible, I wanna invite you

to turn to Mark chapter one, beginning in verse 21. And we're gonna wrestle through this question. I just wanna encourage you to store it in your mind. Someone or something is in charge of your life. Who is that? And as we read through, we wanna notice the teachings of Jesus, and in particular, the miracles that Jesus. is going to perform in this passage of scripture. Now last week, we looked at the moment where Jesus called his first disciples. And he said, come, follow me. So they left their nets at the side of the lake and they followed Jesus. They came and gave their energy, their heart, their passion to following him. And for the next three years, Peter, James, and John, they were side by Jesus' side, watching him as he was teaching and performing miracles. But this particular passage that we're looking at, many historians and theologians believe that it happened the same day that Jesus invited his disciples to follow him. So in Mark chapter one, starting in verse 21, it says, they went to Capernaum. And when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and he began to teach. So I want you to notice, this is like their local church. So Jesus has come off of this interaction with the disciples. They start following him.

And now he goes into the synagogue and he's gonna teach on the Sabbath day. The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. So there's this overwhelming response to the teachings of Jesus, out of the gate. In fact, Mark, over and over again, this gospel just goes really fast through the life and teachings of Jesus. And it says that they were amazed at his authority. They were overwhelmed. The original language means that they were taken back by what Jesus was bringing. And they say, who is this man that has this authority? Because he didn't teach as the teachers of the law taught. Now the teachers of the law, what they would do is they would find other rabbis that they would quote from. So if they got the right rabbi and they unrolled one of their scrolls or teachings and they took the quote and they wrote it down and they read it, they would establish their credibility based upon another teacher's authority. But when Jesus comes, he doesn't need anybody else's authority to establish his power and dominion. And so they're taken back by this. They're amazed by it. It says, not as the teachers of the law he was teaching. And just then, a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure, evil, demonic spirit

cried out. He said, what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Now thank God I have never had this happen in a church service. And Jesus is teaching and this man, he's overcome by an evil spirit and he cries out, I know who you are. I know that you are Jesus of Nazareth. And there's this collision between the unseen realms, the demonic comes upon this man and collides with Jesus. Now notice what happens when Jesus sees this man react. He says, be quiet, Jesus said sternly. Come out of him. And the impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. So Jesus just says two things and the evil spirit is gone. So notice the power that he displays. With a spoken word, the evil spirit obeys. And it says the people were also amazed and they asked each other again, what is this? A new teaching and with authority, he even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him. And news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. So Jesus starts his public ministry and he's moving forward. And his first weekend in church, a demon cries out and Jesus frees the man, the demonic, the spirit or the impure spirit is gone when Jesus speaks.

But I want us to notice this from the standpoint of Mark is very quickly establishing who Jesus is. So we said in the first week, he was writing to an audience that was not Jewish. He was writing to Romans and they understood power and authority. They understood there's a hierarchy. In fact, later in the book, we see a man who is a Roman soldier, comment on the power of Jesus saying, I'm a soldier and I'm under authority and I have those under authority with me and just one word moves us. So Jesus is coming and Mark is establishing that Jesus is the ultimate power and authority. But it's so important to see this from the filter of the kind of relationship that we have with God. Because when we come to our understanding of faith and our understanding of Jesus, we all bring a lot of different things to that understanding. And it might be your religious background. It might be kind of how you relate to God. But the truth is most of us want God to be ready and on call when we want him. Like dear God, I need you to fix this problem. I need a new car. I want a Maserati. God, do it now. And the truth is that we will think of God

through the filter that God is just on call when we need him. I remember when I was growing up, my dad, he was a plumber and he used to carry these pagers on the side. Young children who've never seen a pager before. It's like this big case about the size of a phone on the side and it would beep. It'd go, vroom, and it'd beep. show a number, and then you're supposed to find a phone and call it. And so my dad, when he was on call, it would go off and he had to go to the job. And a lot of us think of God like that, like God is just on call. But I want to encourage you, Jesus is not here. Jesus did not come to be on call. Jesus did not come to be on call. Jesus is here. He came to be in charge. And this is important. Mark is establishing Jesus is here. He's the authority of both the seen and unseen realms. And I want us today to understand the nature of this and how it impacts our lives and literally the way that we live. So the first point in your notes is that Jesus is the ultimate authority. All authority, Jesus would say at the end of his life, after his resurrection, and as he's going back to heaven, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Everything comes up under the authority of Jesus. This is why Jesus was so different than the religious leaders of his day. One word and the demon had to flee. And Jesus does this. First of all, his ultimate authority is to give us freedom.

So he has the ability to deliver us from the power of evil. And this man was under that authority until a greater authority, a greater power encountered that demon. Now when you read the Bible, especially the teachings of Jesus, you know, there's, there's kind of some extremes that people go to. And there is both very clearly in the Bible, there's a seen realm and an unseen realm. And there are some people that live constantly believing everything is a demon, like every rock, every problem. And that tendency is to go to an extreme to say like, well, you know, I'm just, I've just been praying that God would deliver me from a spirit of cookies. I just, every time I see them, I'm just overwhelmed. And the truth is that when Jesus comes and he gives freedom, he gives freedom in the unseen and seen realms. And that freedom does encounter the evil or the unseen realms. But it's not just like every single thing that you have to have a balance. So the other extreme though, is to ignore the unseen realm and to act as though everything is physical. And the truth is the both of them are working together. So the Bible gives us this picture all the way back at the beginning, that there are angels and demons. And one third of the angels were kicked out of heaven when Lucifer rebelled against God. And so now there's this cosmic reality that constantly is at play. And the moment that you make a decision to follow Jesus, you now find yourself going against evil. So maybe for some of you, you recently have decided to follow Jesus and you're encountering challenges that you'd never faced before in your life. And the reality is, if you are going with the devil, you're not going to experience his resistance. And the moment that you respond and you go with Jesus, now you're going in the opposite direction.

And the good news in the midst of this though, is that Jesus has the power over anything that has hold on you. That's good. That whatever it is that grips us as humans, maybe it's an addiction, maybe it's something that you find yourself going back to over and over and over again, both in the seen and the unseen realms, Jesus is the ultimate authority to give freedom and he does it two ways. One, he does it through deliverance. So when Jesus says out in this passage of scripture, he delivers the man from the demon. So the demon must flee. And this happens. I've seen people delivered from the power of sin, from evil, quickly. And then there are other people, and most of the time, in addition to this deliverance, that there's also discipleship. So it's deliverance and discipleship. And sometimes we want it just to go away in an instance, but the way that God works in our lives is he will deliver us from something, but then that something now that it's gone has created a void in our lives and if we don't backfill that with the better ways of Jesus, then we find ourselves returning over and over and over again to the same pattern. So discipleship is this lifelong journey. Deliverance is a moment. So we want both of them. We want God to move in the moments in our lives, but we also want to recognize there is this lifelong journey that we go on. So that's the power and the beauty of the local church, is that we as a church family are here to help you grow spiritually. Not just on a weekend, in a moment of deliverance, but all throughout the week. That's why we do small groups. Every week when I get together with my men's group on Wednesday night, I'm eager to be together because I'm reminded about my journey of faith and my desire to follow God.

Each week I'm encouraged and strengthened along this lifelong journey of discipleship, following Jesus. And this is why we do Activate as a church. You probably have heard us talk about this over and over again. that Activate is this starting point for anybody coming into the life of our church to see the tools and resources that we have to help you grow over the course of time. We wanna come alongside, not just on the weekends, but all throughout the week, to give you those tools and resources to keep growing. So if anything in you wants more of that, we wanna invite you to join us at our next Activate, and you can sign up for that through the app that's happening in April. But that's a way to grow spiritually, not just in a moment with the deliverance, but ultimately through discipleship. So Jesus brings freedom. The other thing that Jesus has the authority to do in addition to that, is Jesus has the authority to bring healing. So you notice Jesus delivers the man, but immediately after the deliverance. I want you to look back with me at Mark chapter one. It says, as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the home of Simon and Andrew with James and John, but Simon's wife, Simon Peter, his wife's mother-in-law, mother, sorry,

but let me start over. But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever. So his mother-in-law. So Simon's mother-in-law, Peter Simon, she is laying there sick with a fever. So we know a couple things about Peter. We know one, that he had a wife, and we know number two, that he liked her mom, because if he didn't, he wouldn't have told Jesus about her. So it says that they told him about her at once. So he says, Jesus, here's my mother-in-law. She's got a fever. And so when Jesus hears it says he came and he took her by the hand, he lifted her up and immediately the fever left her and she began to serve them. This is important. So notice a couple of things here. It says they told him about her. And when they told him about her, Jesus went immediately to Peter's mother-in-law. And this shows you a bit of the heart of God, that there's nothing too big and there's nothing too small. So God cares about cancer and he cares about canker sores. He's in all of it. And today, if there's an area of your life where you have a need physically, an illness, or something in your life that is off, that is broken, that is not the way God intended it to be,

you can bring that to Jesus and he cares and he has the authority to bring healing. So Jesus takes her by the hand and immediately she begins to wait on them. She's up out of bed. And I want you to notice even how her healing results in serving. So the moment that Jesus changes her, then her outlook goes to how can I help? How can I serve? And this is what happens in the life of Jesus followers, that when we're changed from the inside out, there's this desire to serve and to love. And we see Jesus bringing this healing. And notice in verse 32, it says, that evening when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed, and the whole city was gathered at the door. And so Peter, he's there with this house that the Lord has entrusted him with him and his wife and his mother-in-law. And this home is becoming a vessel for Jesus to bring healing. And it says, then he healed many. Jesus healed many who were sick with various diseases and started casting out many demons. And he did not allow them to speak because they knew him. And notice the heart of God. Notice what happens when God in human flesh,

when Jesus is here, he spends his entire day meeting need after need, praying over people, blessing people, healing people. This is why it's good news. Because he cares and he has the power and ability. His authority reaches into the sickness and is freeing people from demons and sickness. And he's showing that he is the ultimate authority. We believe that that's the same Jesus we sing to today. It's not some historical account of some dude that lived. It is a historical account, but it's not simply that. It is a living and active demonstration of the kind of work that God does. That when God came in human flesh, he did these things, but the things he did are the things he does. And he wants to do this in our lives as well. And he has that same power today to bring healing. We believe this. Now God doesn't always choose to heal this side of eternity. And there are many moments that we pray God gets to decide, but we believe that he is able. So we bring our requests with faith to him. And this last week, we had a moment like that for our church family. Many of you know we have a campus down in Buenos Aires. And we just want you to know we love you, Buenos Aires. Seba and Ceci are our campus leaders there. They've been leading there from the very beginning. They have three young sons, these incredible young men of God.

Their middle child, Emmy, this last week, was riding his bike and had a collision with a train. It was really bad. They took him to the hospital, and the doctors were like, this is tragic. If he makes it out of this, it's going to be a complete miracle from God. So if you've been watching social media this week, you've been seeing our church family just post on this. And we just, within moments, just post online, let's pray for Emmy. And there are literally people all over the world praying for Emmy. He's the one in the gray shirt, and just asking God to give healing. And what started happening was people in Australia, and in Europe, and Hong Kong, and all over the world just say, we're praying for Emmy. We're praying for his healing. So the doctors take him into this emergency surgery, and his brain is starting to swell. And this surgery, the doctors are able to drain what's building up in his brain. The doctor says, I think that there's a little bit, there's activity in there. We think maybe he's responding to what we're doing. So then they take him back, and they're waiting now on his body that's inflamed from all of the trauma to begin to diminish so that they can go and do surgery internally with his organs. And what looked like a dire situation, a few days later, you can see the hand of God healing this young man. Just believing God is able to do that. And we're still praying. We're still asking God. Now what is beautiful about this is Emmy's friends, some of whom don't know the love of Jesus, started gathering together at the Buenos Aires campus to pray, and to ask God to intervene. All these high school students gathering together from all over the city to come together to pray, some of them standing outside the windows of the hospital just asking God to heal this

young man. And what I want you to notice is the way that God uses healing, is that God is using healing to lift up his authority, his power, his ability, so that people around can watch. And there really is a purpose that we see in the life of Jesus, that when Jesus was healing people, Jesus was healing for the purpose of transformation. So he was healing so that his name would get out. And every time he would heal, people would flock, and they would want to see, and they would want to know so much that here the whole town is gathered. So when God does something good in our lives, we ought to speak of it. We ought to let other people know God's healed me, God saved me, God changed me, that his power is at work in our lives because it's always intended to not just stop with us, but it's intended to go through us into the lives of others. This is why we're praying so passionately for Easter, that God would use us to impact people who are far from his heart, because our transformation, our healing is not intended just to stop with our lives. He wants to use his power to impact the world around us. He gives his power to bring freedom. He gives his power to bring healing, and he gives his power to bring forgiveness. And that's the third thing we see that he does. He offers us forgiveness. Jesus has the authority over sin and death. And I want you to notice, I'm not going to teach these verses today, but we're going to come to this passage later. I didn't intend to be in chapter one for four weeks, but I just, there's so much here. But I want you to notice in Mark 2, there's one moment where a guy who couldn't walk gets brought to Jesus. Four friends bring him to Jesus, and when they get to Jesus, he's teaching in a room in a house, and they can't get inside, so they climb up the side of the house, they dig a hole in the roof, they lower the man down in front of Jesus, and Jesus looks up and it says, when he saw their faith, the faith of these friends, he looked at them,

and he says, you're forgiven. He heals the man in a moment. And there's some Pharisees, religious leaders, teachers of the law that are there, and they start judging Jesus internally. And it says, in some of the scribes, verse six of chapter two, were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sin but God alone? Now, this is not a good idea with Jesus, because he can read your thoughts. So it says, but immediately, Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were reasoning thus within themselves, and he said to them, why do you reason about these things in your heart? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, arise, take up your mat, take up your bed and walk, but that you may know the son of man, he's speaking of himself, has power on earth to forgive sins. And he says to the paralyzed guy, I say to you, arise and take up your bed and go back to your home. And the man stands up in full view of them all. And you see the power of Jesus to forgive sin. So Jesus, in the seen realm, heals the man, in the spiritual realm, forgives the man. This is glorious. This is the one that we sing to. He's the one that has the power to free us. He's the one that has the power to heal us. He's the one that has the authority to forgive us so that we're not. stacked under the weight of shame any longer, that before a holy and righteous God, you can stand forgiven. This is why it's called good news. It's because the God of the universe intersected our reality, and his dominion, his authority,

there's no one greater, there's no name more powerful than the name of Jesus, and that same God who holds the stars in orbit and spoke creation into existence, is at work in your life, and sees you, and knows you, and cares about you, and wants to sustain you, and bring healing and transformation. So his authority, his dominion, when you're under that dominion, there's no better place to be than under the authority of Jesus. And so many of us live our lives outside of the blessing of God. Now I get it, there are some folks, you've got control issues like me, and you've got a lot of opinions. Every time I take a personality test, it's like you have a lot of opinions. That's what they say, all of them. And the truth is, sometimes there's certain personalities, it's a battle to get to a place where you come under the lordship or the authority of Jesus. But friend, I just wanna say as much as I can from my heart, God is not a cosmic killjoy. God is wanting to bless you. God is wanting to give you peace beyond circumstance. God is wanting joy to flood your soul that is eternal joy connected to a hope

that comes from an empty tomb. He's wanting to give you purpose and meaning for your life. So he's not out to get you or destroy you, he's out to bless you. And so the second truth I want us to see is that Jesus resists rebellion. So he resists the haughty, the prideful. And it says in James 4, 6, he has more grace. He has more grace than you can imagine. This is amazing that you cannot even comprehend the depth of his mercy and grace. His mercy is new every morning. The width, the breadth, the height, the depth of his love beyond comprehension. He has more grace than you can fathom. More grace for your weakness, more grace for your sin than you can possibly understand. But James says, therefore, he says, because there is so much grace from God, it says God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. So there are moments in our life where we stand at odds with Almighty God. And it's a little bit like this umbrella. Now, I know that some people have this superstition about opening umbrellas inside of buildings. And I will just say, that's kind of demonic, so just let it go, okay? So this is an umbrella. And underneath the umbrella, I'm protected from the elements.

You know, if it's raining or if it's windy, like my body can be protected. But if I move out from the protection, now I'm gonna get wet, now I'm gonna be overwhelmed. And the truth is, God's authority is like an umbrella. To submit literally, in the Old Testament, the Hebrew is to come under. It literally means to come under the authority of God. So there is the ability to rebel or surrender to God's authority in our lives. Now, we know this challenge starts early. I remember when my kids were young, we used to give them a sippy cup. All of them, they had this challenge. You put them in a high chair, they take that sippy cup. Young parents, you know this. They take the sippy cup, they take about two sips, and what do they do? Throw it on the ground. And then you pick it up and you put it back on there, and what do they do? They throw it on the ground again. And if you put it on there a third time, that's not really good parenting. At that point, it's just like, let it go, baby. And then people will say like, oh, they're just playing with you. It's like, well, they're actually rebellious at heart. They're little, beautiful, cute things, but they're rebellious, just like me and you.

Nobody's laughing, but you know it's true that there's this tendency on the inside. They're beautiful, they're wonderful, we love them. We love kids, but we also realize that deep within us, that from childhood, from birth, there's this rebellion inside of us. I think I know what's best. I wanna do it my way. And the truth is, there's a blessing that comes when I see God's way and I come under his authority. So you can rebel against God if you want to. You can do it in a few ways. You can rebel against his word. You can rebel against his ways. And you can rebel against his wisdom. And let me talk about this for just a moment. See, God's word that he gives to us, this is not just a book. It's not just a historical account, it is the authoritative Word of God. It's living and active. It contains instructions for living, it contains the very words of life. And I have to make a decision, will I live under the authority of God's Word, or will I live in such a way that I think I'm the authority on what God's Word teaches? And there are so many people that what happens is in their journey spiritually, their experience and their understanding of God's Word collides. And then they have to make a decision, will I let my experience be my authority, or will I let God's Word be my authority? And the moment that you make that decision, that you decide, I'm no longer under the authority of God's Word, there's all kinds of pain, unnecessary pain that comes into our lives the moment that we say, you know what, I know it's better.

I know it's better for marriage, I know it's better for sexuality, I know it's better for the value of human life, I know it's better for how to treat people, I know it's better so I'm gonna do it my way because I have a better way. And the truth is, the more we do that, the more pain, the more anxiety, the more worry, the more mental health crisis that we find ourselves in when there is simple guidance in God's Word and it's to bless. When we do God's ways, when we understand how He designed for us to treat one another and love people that are different than us and to serve and to forgive and to live open and honest lives and to do marriage and parenting and church and family the way that God designs, there's a blessing that flows from His Word into His ways and then there's a wisdom that God gives to our lives so the invitation is to come up under that authority that God already says it's here, you're blessed when you do it. It doesn't mean that there's not pain, it doesn't mean that there's not grief, it doesn't mean that there's not loss, it just means that you're moving in the direction of God's joy, His peace, His purpose, His blessing over your life. So the question you've got to ask yourself is do I want to be blessed by God? And if I want to be blessed by God, I have to come under His authority which leads me to my last point and that's Jesus honors surrender. He honors surrender when I come under God's Word, under God's ways and His wisdom. And today that's what I want to ask you to do is to recognize maybe there are some places in my life that I'm deciding to do it my own way and today I'm going to decide to come up under the authority of God's Word, His wisdom and His ways and experience the full blessing that comes from a surrendered life that submits to God. Here's the thing, God is not a second fiddle player in some cosmic concert. God is the ultimate authority who is the focus of all of creation and at the end of it, He's on a throne with angels surrounding Him declaring holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty and there will be no contention for His reputation. There will be no like Taylor Swift in heaven like, oh, do you see Taylor's there, you know? It's going to be Jesus, Jesus is there and all eyes are going to be on Him when He returns. It's not going to be like, oh, there's Donald Trump and Jesus, no, it's not going to be

like that. It's going to be Jesus as the focal point of everything coming and bowing and bending. Everyone who's ever been acknowledged or praised throughout human history will come and bow before Him. And so the question is like, do you want it now or do you want to have to deal with all of that later? And I would rather, I'd rather just, you're God, you know what's best, your power is greater and the truth is when we understand who He is and what He's like, it leads us to a place of wanting to say, God, you're in charge and your notes. Greater trust leads to greater surrender. And in Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, we see this reality. It says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways submit to Him and He will make your path straight. He'll direct, He'll lead and He'll guide. So there's this trust and this trust flows out of understanding two parts of God. It's that He is good and He is great. He is both good and He is great. He is powerful and mighty, but He is personal and cares just like He would go into Peter's house and heal his mother-in-law. That same kind of concern He has for you. And when we understand this, it leads us to a place to say, God, my life is yours. And then finally, greater peace comes. from greater surrender. So when I bring my life to him, there's a peace that he gives me. As Isaiah 26, three says, you will keep him in perfect peace. The one whose mind is stayed or steadfast because he trusts in you. His mind is fixed on you.

And right now, at all of our campuses, I understand there's some of you listening to my voice right now. You are stacked under the weight of your life. And there's worry, there's fear, there's anxiety. Maybe you're carrying some things that God never designed you to carry. There's a young man in Anaheim right now, and you're sitting there and you're just overwhelmed with your work. There's a young mom over in Corona right now in this moment, and you're just, you're bearing up under so much weight. You didn't realize parenting and marriage was gonna be this hard, and you're carrying so much. And right now in this moment, the God of the universe, the one who's crowned with glory, the one who one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, says, I'm here, I have all authority. I am one who delivers. I am one who brings hope and forgiveness. I am one who heals. And all you have to do is bring your life to me if you want my blessing. He's saying, come to me, come to me, all of you who are weary, heavy burden, and I will give you a soul rest when you place your life into my hands.

I wanna ask you to do that today. And maybe there's some of you that there's something in your life that just you need a touch from God. You need God to intervene. Maybe there's a child you've been praying for and just been asking God, heal him, change him, bring him back to you. There's some of you that you've been praying for a spouse for months on end, maybe even years on end. God, liberate him from that addiction. Bring him out of that bondage. He's a healer. I just wanna remind you, he's not done. Your story's not over. You're still in it. And you wanna bring it to him right now to realize with a word, things change on his authority. Things change with his word. He speaks creation into existence and he still moves in our lives today. He's inviting you to come. And some of you, maybe the thing that today you need to come with is a person in your life that you say, God, save them from their sin. Maybe there's a friend or a family member that God is just saying, I want you to pray for them. Lean in, ask me to do what only I can do. And there's some of you that that person is the person God wants to use you

to bring them to Easter this year, that they might experience the forgiveness of God. He's inviting us to come, to bring to him our circumstances, to bring to him our lives, to bring to him our addictions, to bring to him our sickness, to bring to him our shame, to bring to him our guilt and say, Jesus, you have it all. You have the authority. I believe you to be who you say you are. I wanna invite you to stand with me at all of our campuses right now. And I just wanna ask in this moment for you to put your life into Jesus's hands. Whatever it is that today is on your heart that you need his authority, his power to move for you to bring that before him. In fact, if we could at all of our campuses, close our eyes for just a moment and maybe there's something you just need to imagine giving back to God. Perhaps you would even just put your hands in front of you right now just as an act or a sign of surrender just to say, I give it back to you. Imagine yourself putting that situation, maybe it's a boss, maybe it's something at work, maybe it's your finances, but you're saying, God, I give it back to you. Oh, Jesus, we recognize creation knows your voice, the voice that spoke it into existence. We're overwhelmed with the magnitude that you are the same God today,

same God that you were in the scripture, that you have all power and authority. You're crowned with glory, yet you're near and present in this moment. Thank you that you're a God who is with us. Thank you that you're a God who cares. Thank you that you are a God who changes things, that the way we are today is not the way it has to be. The way it is now is not the way it has to be. So we cry out to you, knowing you have the authority. Some of us need a touch, and we're grabbing on the edge of your garment. Now Jesus saying, I need you to heal this person in my life. We need a touch from you, God. We need your miraculous power to move in our midst, to move in our day, to move in our church, to move this Easter. So God, we're begging you to be who your word says that you are, almighty God, crowned with glory, freer, deliverer, healer, the one who's able to save us from our sin. God, we declare these things that you have the authority in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen, amen. Let's worship together. Let's worship together. One word from you. Things change on your authority. Your word is true. Things change on your authority.

One word from you. Things change on your authority. Your word is true. Things change on your authority. Heaven will prevail. Struggles will be moved. Spirits will be silenced. And cower at His rule. Then my, my God is born. So what have I to fear? For nothing will deny the glory that is His. Heaven. Heaven will prevail. Struggles will be moved. Spirits will be silenced. And cower at His rule. I know my God is born. So what have I to fear? For nothing will deny the glory that is His. Oh. One word from you. Things change on your authority. Your word is true. Things change on your authority. One word from you. Things change on your authority. Your word is true. Things change on your authority. Your word is true. Things change on your authority.

Your word is true. Things change on your authority. Your word is true. Things change on your authority. Things change on your authority. Things change on your authority. Your word is true. Your word is true. Your word is true. Your word is true. Thanks for watching!