My God! ¡Dios Mio! | Rodrigo Vargas | Easter 2026

Let's give Him all the glory. Let's give Him all the praise. For the tomb is empty, He is risen, and He is ready. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your presence in this place. And you may be seated in the very presence of a mighty God, and His name is Jesus. I absolutely love Resurrection Sunday, so if this is your first time with us, we want to say we're so glad that you chose today. We also want to tell you that you're not just a guest, you're an actual answered prayer for us. And we exist to connect people to God with the gospel of Jesus Christ, which says it doesn't matter what your past looks like, I know it. You probably heard that, we mean it. It doesn't matter what you're presently struggling with, and it doesn't matter what your doubts in your heart, may weigh in your hearts. God loves you right where you are, as you sit. And He loves you too much to leave you where you are. And that promise is extended out to every person watching us that is incarcerated through the Pando Ab Unity. Can you help me welcome our Unity Prison Campus? I know you feel the love. We can't see you, but we love you, and we can't wait for the day that you join us in person. It's Resurrection Sunday, the most important holy day in the church's life. This is the most important day in all of human history. Jesus was crucified for crimes He did not commit, so that we wouldn't die spiritually for the sins that we do commit. Amen? He was laid in a cold, dark, and lonely tomb. I wonder if you walked into church today, being in that season. You know what that's like. A tomb that was silent, completely. And maybe that's what your life has been recently, or maybe even for years. But on the third day, the earth shook, a stone rolled away, and Jesus walked out victorious over sin, death, and hell. An event so seismic, it didn't just shake the ground. It shook an entire company of hardened Roman soldiers. Matthew 28 verse 4 tells us that they were so overwhelmed by what they saw that they froze in place. They were like dead men, the scripture says. They were pale, powerless, and unable to move. These men had seen it all. War, executions, death up close. They were the kind of men that weren't easily frightened, but when they came face to face with the living God, they fell. Now I want you to sit in that for just a moment. What would you have done if the earth shook beneath you? And the sky split open, and a grave opened, and the most glorious sight you'd ever seen walks out. And you were the one that put the body in the grave. Now this is exactly the question I come today so that we might wrestle with today. Because the truth is that this is our story. Whether we know it or not, we have all been guilty of putting things in the grave that were never meant to stay buried.

And today, we're going to go back to the cross. I know you probably got dragged here, invited here, you're wanting some really inspirational, fluffy message. But I'm going to take you to the cross. But we're not going to stay there. We're going there to understand what God has done. And so that we can receive. Here, you came to a church that's going to give you the full weight of what an empty tomb means to us. Mark chapter 15, verse 33-39. And here at this church, we like to stand for the reading of God's word. So can you stand with me as we read God's word? And it says, at noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon for three whole hours it was dark. And at three in the afternoon at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, labach sabachthani? Which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was quoting a Psalms. And when some of those religious mocking people standing near heard this they said, Listen, he's calling Elijah. Now that's found in John chapter 19 verse 28. I'm filling in the gaps for you. Because I want you to get the full weight and the full gravity and the full context of what's happening. And Jesus says, I'm thirsty or I thirst. In verse 36, someone ran and filled the sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff and offered it to Jesus to drink. Now leave him alone. This is what religious people do. They'll come here. We had one Friday night show up, Patrick. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down, he said. With a loud cry, when he had received the drink, fulfilling scripture by the way, Jesus said, Tetelestai. Which translates to, it is finished. And with that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus called out with a loud voice. Father, Luke chapter 23 verse 46. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And when he had said this, he breathed his last. Going back to Mark verses 37 through 39. Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus saw how he died. In another translation in Aramaic, in scripture, it says that he saw how he cried out to his father. He said, surely this man was the son of God. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for today. We thank you for the resurrection. Jesus, we honor you. You are our king. You are the name above every name. And today, we ask you in your name to send us the spirit of the living God. To anyone here who is here for the first time hearing the gospel. For anyone watching across the airwaves in prison cells, in dorms, in waiting tanks. Lord, that you be with them in spirit. Opening up eyes to see. Hearing of what we need to hear from the other side of time and space. And most importantly, that you soften the hearts of those calloused hearts that have been bruised and battered by life. Help me, Holy Spirit, to deliver that which you have deposited into my spirit. And I pray this in Jesus' mighty name. And the church of God said, you may be seated. My God. These are the words that I want to preach to you from today. My God. This is what the centurion said.

I've noticed something very unique over the years of following Jesus. Something that is rather perplexing to me. I've noticed that it doesn't matter who you are or what you believe. But every human soul, when faced with the full weight of a tragedy, of death, of things that are out of their control. All have what I call a, oh my God. Ay, Dios mio. I've sat and seen hardened criminals, ex-Muslims, atheists, and witches. All have an, oh my God. The underground church has countless. Endless testimonies of how Muslim that had never heard the gospel had an oh my god moment And you know what happened Jesus showed up I want to suggest to you today that this isn't some emotional reaction or visceral reaction It is my deep conviction that this is an innate spiritual response That is hardwired into our soul by who God our creator Yahweh Now this is the exact response that you get from the centurion at the cross today That that's where the the words of the centurion at the cross take us today But but for us to do any justice to this passage We're gonna have to establish is who is this injury? Who are we talking about? He's not some punk a centurion so is the commander or the captain of a commanding of a Company they call it a regiment we call it a company here now This is typically 80 to 100 soldiers now He was the captain of his company, and he's an accountable directly only to the Roman Authority in Jerusalem now this particular centurion was stationed in Jerusalem, and he was under direct orders of Pontius Pilate

He wasn't simply Nearby Jesus when he was crucified No He oversaw everything the arrest the whipping the flogging the mocking the crown of thorns being pressed into Jesus's skull The nails the cross being lifted all of it Nothing happened without this man's orders the early church actually gave them a name the name of longinus and Based on the military record throughout the Gospels of Mark and John it is almost Certain that it was longinus who was also the commanding officer That was assigned to make sure to confirm Jesus was dead Sticking with a spear and put him in the tomb with guards around him. It's the same guy It was the same guy standing there with his company on the morning the stone rolled away What I'm what I'm trying to tell you is that this centurion man isn't just four words on the piece of paper this man Had a front row Witness to the entire miracle of the resurrection from the first blow to the empty tomb. It was this man Standing at the foot of the cross who looked up and said surely This was the Son of God my god. Yo smile You know what what the other words he said right after that what have I done But we gotta keep it We gotta keep it straight Right we say we say Houston you straight You straight, right? We say you straight for everything Right, we need to get straight Houston We read we read passages, right? And we picture ourselves elsewhere in the scene You know what you saw yourself. I would be a disciple crying in the distance

Sure some of you are a little bit more both some of you prophets, you know Some of you that were flowing the spirit No, you wouldn't Because We have to be honest We have we have to be truthfully and painfully honest We're more like the centurion in this story We Are the crimes of The cross not the recipients of the cross I Came here on a resurrection Sunday. Tell you are the crimes. I put him on that cross You're not that you're not you're not the recipient of the cross It's so easy to cast ourselves as the heroes of Scripture. Oh, yeah, you're David with the five smooth stones Right, but your lifestyle is like a life mocking the living God You know you see yourselves as John the Beloved. Oh, I would have been leaning on Jesus's shoulder. But in reality you sell out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver This is the truth. If you want to get that listen if you came to church and anything if you're visiting today you want to get anything out of scripture you need to cast yourself as the scoundrel and as the wicked as as the person that that is a coward you're not the hero we're not the heroes if you're gonna get the most out of it jesus though was pure scripture tells us that he was sinless oh you know what he did i'm gonna tell you what he was guilty of he he served a lot he you know what he served a lot and he wasn't church hurt he served a lot and he wasn't burnt out you know he he cared a lot he he cared for people he he fed people right he he healed people he walked with people he preached a message of love salvation and the father because you can't preach a message about love without preaching the message of being saved because if i love you i want you to be saved and i can't be saved unless i tell you who the father is and how he wants us to live do you see how all this works what we and yet he stood silent before his accusers willingly because he understood what his mission was i wonder if he understand what your mission is to take on the cross

that we deserve so that we might be saved and this is what we have to be real even when we're caught red-handed when you guilty as hell and your approach like yeah but but but but but deflect don't we we we deflect we negotiate we minimize because we don't want to face the full weight of what we have done just look at a child i know some of you young parents with eugenics when we was growing up we got we got ass whoopings you see what i'm saying this is why we're not easily offended right this is how this is why we know how to say hello sir how are you welcome these young kids walk around they got their heads in the toes like this so when you're a child though you knew you was about to get whooped what would you do you know the belt is coming but you were still right see if you can like i had this technique if you just kind of roll with the whoop you know mama get tired before it does any real damage see you learn life skills get whooped here's the truth of the gospel today though that we have to listen i i want you i hope you came willing to sit with this truth that we are the crimes of the cross that we are the crimes that put jesus on that cross we are judas who sold them out for money for power for possessions and for the approval of the world every lie we tell whether small or big is a lash whipping jesus across his back every act of listen to me young people sexual immorality every substance we put into our body that numbs what god wants to heal every outburst of rage every moment of lust every move made by greed pride selfish ambition is a nail driven into the hands and feet of jesus of nazareth we are the ones that flogged him we are the ones that drove the nails in we are the ones that crucified him we are the centurion first peter chapter 2 verse 24 he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so we might might die to sins and live for righteousness so in other words when we die to sin what happens afterwards we live for righteousness by his wounds you have been healed that is the gospel that is the weight of it and we will never receive what the cross offers if we refuse to stand in the truth of what brought what we brought to the cross we have to be willing to know what are we bringing to the cross but and and this is everything because when the centurion came face to face

with that reality, something supernatural inside of him happened. He forgot he was a Roman. He forgot that he was a pagan. He forgot that he worshipped Saturn. He forgot that he followed Zeus. He forgot that he had his lucky amulet. He completely forgot that and something inside of him changed. This is where the resurrection meets us today. Here's the truth. When we come face to face with our crimes, only one response will do. Only one response saves us. His response, watch this, simple. It was raw. It was unstoppable. My God, surely this was the Son of God. My God, what have I done? Maybe that's what the young man on Friday night didn't get. That we create and foster an environment for young people to run after God so that they can come with their baggage. So that they can walk in smelling like weed. So they can come in with a pocket full of drugs and leave them at the altar and worship the King of Kings. Maybe we don't have a dress code. Maybe I don't wear a suit. Maybe we aren't strict with religion. But can I tell you what we are? We are crazy about the gospel. We are crazy about the Spirit of God. We are crazy about coming face to face to what we have done. My God, what have I done? I want you to think about how many times you have witnessed or you have been through a moment in your life where people around you, either they had a terminal diagnosis come in and they say, what have I done? My God, help me. A loved one is dying and there is no money to fix it. You have no power enough to do something about it. And you have this moment where you are like, my God, what have I done? I get it. You are an atheist. You are a communist. You are a Marxist. You are a Muslim. You are a Jew. But you have this moment where you call out to the Creator of heaven and earth and you say, my God, what have I done? Where have I put my faith? Your marriage is crumbling. A child is gone. A decision you made years ago keeps biting you in your butt and now it is collecting the debt that it was always going to collect. God ain't going to save you from that, but God will give you strength to get through that. My God, what have I done? And I am going to tell you something, because I have some men in here. I love talking to men. Tough men. I don't like weak men. I love weak men.

There is a difference. But I like refined, tough men. Becoming face to face with your crimes is not weakness. It isn't to Patrick who visited us and gave us a battery. He is going to be a popular star. And Susie Jo, we got Patrick now. Listen, it isn't irreligious. No. It is the most faithful thing you can do with Jesus. And watch this. Just wait until you get to the end of the sermon and the word of God that God gave me to just prove my point. It isn't irreligious. It is not irreverent. It is our souls clamoring for the one who made us. So I get it that you were sold a bag of tricks and ideas and identities and worshiping your ancestors or your heritage or your indigenous roots. Who cares? The Creator created you, not your indigenous roots. You don't want to know why I preach the way I preach. You want to know why I yell the way I yell. Because this is urgent. I'm going to tell you why. Because I've been in too many hospitals where too many people have had their my God moment a little too late. And you've got to live the rest of your life with that. And unfortunately, I don't want people to have that oh my God moment in the moment of transition from this realm to the next realm. And this is why I love you enough not to give you a comfortable message on Easter. I want every person that is in here. I want every person in every dorm, in every cell block. Watching through the panorama to make the most important decision of your life today. Now look, what happened in a moment at the cross. There was so much happening all at once. Because we think, I pointed you to one little single sliver which is the reaction of the centurion. But for it to for it to full weight come down and really preach to us we're gonna have to paint the picture of what was happening. This is what was happening. Jesus was fulfilling prophecy no fewer than 10 prophecies written by multiple authors over thousands of years and three different continents right from Genesis and Exodus to Isaiah, Zechariah, the Psalms, and Amos. Just to name a few.

Peter Stoner, a great mathematician calculated the mathematical probability that it was 1 in 10 to the 17th power for one person to achieve all this. That's a 10 with 17 zeros. The sky went dark at noon. Did you catch that for three hours? Did you know that astronomers, you can go look this up, have since documented a solar eclipse happened in Jerusalem on 33 AD, the week of Passover. The earth shook. Geologists have gone to where Golgotha stands and there is a fault line that runs directly beneath Golgotha. This is incredible. The veil tore. Let me tell you about this veil. It is 60 feet high. It is 30 feet wide and it is four inches, okay, that's four knuckles wide and it tore not from the bottom up but from the top down. The sound of that tearing roared across the city and all that happened so that we wouldn't need a veil. So that you, with all your crimes, with all your mess, with all your record, with all your shame, with all the sin, with all the filthiness, no matter what you're wearing, you can come into the presence of a holy God and be received by a loving and merciful God. That is the gospel, baby. The apostle Paul, who was the worst sinner of them all, according to him in Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 and 14 says, when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us of all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. Now why would God do that? Because God loved his creation so much that he needed to find a way that hard-headed, calloused hearts, wicked people, his creation, would understand. And so he tells us, Paul tells us in Romans

chapter 5a, that God demonstrates his love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, God gave himself to us. The cross is not just an instrument of death for criminals. I've been talking to you about living on this side of the resurrection, but on this side of the resurrection, that cross is the ultimate sign of the love of God. It is an instrument of love for God. God doesn't wear a crown of gold, he wears a crown of thorns, and he took the curse of mankind and he put it on a curse so that we would never have to carry that again. One response, one, and it shall be finished. Because we may not have received the cross, but we are all blessed with an empty tomb. See, we don't get a cross, but we get an empty tomb. That should make you run around by itself. You get the benefits of an empty tomb without having to go through the cross. See, grace is not getting what we deserve. That is salvation. And this is why some people don't get it. You can't just abuse grace and say, well, you know, I'm gonna do this tonight, but God's gonna forgive me. It don't work that way. Favor is getting what you didn't earn. And that is the blessing of an empty tomb. Favor. And I love saying, I always get like free meals or a free pass or a VIP, I go to a game and I end up courtside or something like that, and I always tell Sarah, like, favor ain't fair. It ain't. It ain't fair. The favor of the empty tomb is everlasting life. Eternal security. I wonder if there's someone in here that's still searching. Have you found what you're looking for in life? Because today I want to propose that you'll never find it until you have a vibrant relationship with Jesus. That's the truth I live. I came here today to tell you

that it's even more than that. There is even more. The empty tomb means that God deposited the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the living God, and he lives inside of us, resides, dwells inside of us, to guide you in moments of confusion, to comfort you in seasons of pain, to counsel you in every decision you have to make. That's what Resurrection Sunday is really all about. It isn't just that Jesus rose. It isn't just because he rose. It is because he rose and you don't have to live the way you've been living. You don't have to carry what you've been carrying. You don't have to be who you've always been. Today you can make a decision, but I gotta tell you, it starts here. It starts now. It starts by realizing you're the criminal and deciding to come face to face with your charges before a sovereign and holy God, trusting that Jesus, the king of kings, will look at your case and all your charges. For those of you that know all about court cases and your discovery file, you know what I'm saying? I know all about that discovery file. It makes your stomach hurt when they tell you, look what we found in your discovery file, and you realize you open up that file and they got evidence to put you under the jail, not in the jail, but under the jail. And he looks at that record and he looks at what you've done and you know what he does? He dismisses the case and he used three words. It is finished. I came here today to tell you, you need to leave that shame here because it is finished. You need to leave that addiction here because it is finished. You need to leave that identity you took on a long time ago and you walk around telling me you are. It is finished. You need to leave that old life that you've been carrying around and living in and you need to say it is finished. You need to stop striving. You need to stop performing. You need to stop pretending. You need to stop lying. It is really finished. One humble and honest response and it will be done. Longinus, the same century, assigned to Gord a seal too. One that third day dawn and the earth shook and has been fainted. He realized that the God they crucified was alive and here we are 2,000 years later and Jesus is still offering the exact same thing he offered that day. Do you know what that is? Luke 23, 34. Father, forgive them for they didn't know what they were doing. That prayer was for us. Jesus wasn't crucified alone though. Patrick, I hope you're watching because I think that your intentions are sometimes obscured by religion but you're using truth to try to communicate

to try to communicate reverence by being irreverent because Jesus tattered organs exposed. I want to paint the picture to you. His bones can be seen barely hanging on. He's defecated himself. He's urinated himself. He's naked which is a huge shame to Jewish culture and he's hanging on that same cross. He hung with two other criminals. One to his left, one to the same cross. The same moment, the same suffering. Here's what scripture says, One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. Aren't you the Messiah? Well, save yourself and us. But the other criminal, he rebuked him. Don't you fear God? Patrick, don't you fear God? Since you are under the same sentence. Patrick, you're under the same sentence. Me and you are under the same sentence. We are punished justly. We are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me When you come into your kingdom, remember me. He didn't say, save me. Take me with you. He didn't say, get me off this cross. Hey, dismiss my case. Some of y'all want Jesus just to dismiss your case. Let me tell you something. You need to be like this man. Jesus, just listen, remember me. And Jesus answered him.

Something that has always affected me in tremendous ways. Something that in my early years of walking with Jesus and the weight of my sin and my shame was heavy on my heart. As I recalled and I remember the places I've been and the things I did to my wife and to my children. I hung to these words where he told the scout. Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. The same and yet two completely different responses. One man looked at Jesus with pride, with deflection, with bitterness, negotiating. If you are the son of God, save us. He was still trying to manipulate his way out of facing his charges. But the other man, he looked at Jesus and said, don't you fear God. We're getting what we deserve. He didn't negotiate. He didn't minimize. He didn't try to escape. He faced his charges. And then he turned to Jesus with the most honest prayer we could ever have for him. Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom. It was not a long prayer. It was not a religious ritual. Jesus didn't take his track record or faithful service. Just a man at the end of himself, at the end of his rope, facing his crimes, turning to the only one who could do anything about it. But it took humility, it took honesty, and it took surrender.

And Jesus showed up. I believe he's going to show up for you today and tell you today you will enter into paradise. This, ladies and gentlemen, this is the gospel. This is the offer. This is what today is really all about. You're here, and in this room, and in the Pando app, wherever you're watching from, because today is your moment. Because today is your my God moment. And the same Jesus who received a criminal on the cross is here in our presence, in our midst. And he's walking around right now, and he's waiting for hearts. He's not asking for perfection. He's not asking for a history of faithful church going. He's not asking you to know the whole Bible or even understand all things of God. He's just asking for what the criminal gave. Humility, honesty, and surrender. Will you face your crimes? Will you look at what your sin has cost and turn to the one who has already paid the price? Will you let the king of kings dismiss your case and say, it is finished? If that's you today, and you're having, my God, I am the criminal. You are the king. Remember me. That's enough. That has always been enough. I want to welcome you to a life of an empty tomb. But see, it's not really empty. Because what remains in that tomb is going to be your sin, your shame, and your past. Would you stand with me?

We have prayer partners. If you're new to us, we have prayer partners. They minister anything you may need. Maybe you haven't had prayer. You need prayer. Easter is the best time to do it. They're here to answer the call of prayer. Would you do me a favor and just bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment. And I want to invite you to invite the King of Kings into your heart. This is your moment. Maybe you've made a decision in your head. Today I'm going to ask you to make a different decision of your heart. It's called surrender. That today, after today, no matter how much it hurts, no matter how much it is uncomfortable, you're going to follow the voice of Jesus, the words of Jesus, and the way of Jesus. But I don't need to tell you what He's offered. It's realizing that you're the criminal, that you've been sinful, that you have a past, that you're broken. But that admission and the fact that only Jesus can take that away through the cross, and that on the third day He rose again so that when you come to faith in Jesus, you may live an empty tomb life. If that's you and you want to make that decision, I need you to shoot your hand really proud, really bold, declarative in the house of God. And even if you're moved and you need to come get prayer, I need you to start moving out of your chair and start coming up here. Father God, we thank you. We thank you for the hands that were raised. We thank you for the salvations in this house. We thank you for those that are entering into the kingdom. And we ask you to be with every prayer partner as you answer all things that are needed by your people. Lord, we praise you.