The Easter Exchange

If you could all stand, we're getting ready to praise God today. Put your hands together. Lord, we praise you for your sacrifice so that today we can boldly declare, we say, It's good to be out of the mess I was in, Betrayed in my sorrow for something to say, Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in. Goodbye, yesterday, I'm living in the light of a new day, I won't waste another minute in my old ways, Praise the Lord, I've been born again. Goodbye, yesterday, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, I've got resurrection in my veins, Praise the Lord, I've been born again. Again and again and again and again, You rescued me out of the mess I was in, Betrayed in my sorrow for something to say, Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in. Again and again and again and again, You rescued me out of the mess I was in, Betrayed in my sorrow for something to say, Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in. I have decided to follow Jesus, The world behind the cross before, and I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus, The world behind the cross before, and I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus, The world behind the cross before, and I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus, The world behind the cross before, and I won't turn back. The world behind the cross before, and I won't turn back. The world behind the cross before, and I won't turn back. Again and again and again and again, You rescued me out of the mess I was in, Betrayed in my sorrow for something to say, Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in. Again and again and again and again, You rescued me out of the mess I was in, Betrayed in my sorrow for something to say, Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in. Praise the Lord, I've been born again. Come on, if you've been born again, you've got a great reason to celebrate. It's only because Jesus died and rose again that you can have that testimony. If you do have it, can you lift up a shout? Come on, somebody clap your hands together. We can only testify this because of Him we say, I'm clean. Sin was stained on me, shame was running deep, but love was built on Calvary.

Oh, hallelujah, I'm clean. Oh, God, how can it be? I'm ransomed and redeemed. 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. Because of you, oh hallelujah, I'm clean. It's not what I have done, but what you've done for me. Made it all up on that tree. Oh hallelujah, I'm clean. Your love has overcome. 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 you are. Oh hallelujah, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, all because of you. Oh, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, I'm as good as you. Oh hallelujah, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, all because of you. Oh hallelujah. This is what he did. Lord, you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross. You got me running out the grave. Hallelujah, here I come. Because you took away my shame,

and you nailed it to the cross. You got me running out the grave. And hallelujah, here I come. You took away my shame. God, you nailed it to the cross. Oh yes, you got me running out the grave. Hallelujah, here I come. You took away my shame. God, you nailed it to the cross. Oh, you got me running to you, Jesus. Hallelujah, here I come. Hallelujah, here I come. I'm coming closer to you, Jesus. I'm running to the cross, Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Somebody lift up a glorious praise. But we praise because he's made all things brand new. He defeated death, hell, and the grave on our behalf. And because of that, we lift a high praise. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, we thank you, Lord. Now, if you know that he's alive and well, and you're glad about it, can you give him one more hallelujah in the house today? Blessed be our God and King, Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Well, I'll tell you what. It's going to be an amazing time in the sanctuary today celebrating the Lord.

Listen, we've got some more worshipers that are on their way in the house. I know y'all weren't on time, but can y'all go on and just scoot in just a little bit if you've got some room on your row, make room for some more worshipers to come in. God bless you. As you do so, tell somebody hello, and we'll be right back. Hey, welcome to Faith Church Orlando. We're so glad you're here. Here at Faith Church, we exist to help people encounter Jesus. Our mission is simple. Connect with God and others, grow in your faith, be inspired to serve through the church, and become equipped to reach the lost in your community. Everything we do is designed to make Jesus known and to help lives be transformed by his love and his grace around the world. And no matter where you live, it's easy to call Faith Church home. We have four locations across Orlando, Curry Ford, Michigan Street, Red Bug Lake, and Narcoossee Road. Every Sunday, our Curry Ford campus meets at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and 12 p.m., and we also offer a Spanish service at 2 p.m. Our Michigan Street, Red Bug Lake, and Narcoossee Road campuses meet at 9 and 1115 a.m. Our midweek services gather at our Curry Ford, Michigan Street, and Red Bug Lake campuses on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. Faith Kids, our children's ministry provides a safe and loving environment for kids from nursery through fifth grade to learn about Jesus and grow in their faith.

You can drop off your little ones before service and know that they are in good hands. In mainstream Orlando, our youth ministry is designed for students and young adults looking for community and wanting to grow deeper in their relationship with God. Here at Curry Ford, middle schoolers meet Sundays at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. for mainstream middle. High schoolers meet every Wednesday at 7 p.m. for mainstream high. And if you're in your 20s or 30s, you can join us for The Voice every Thursday at 7 p.m. Mainstream Orlando also meets at Michigan Street, Red Bug Lake, and Narcoossee Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. We're so glad you're here, and we're praying that this is the day you take your first step on your Faith Church journey. For nearly three decades, Project Rescue has been rescuing women and children from human trafficking and exploitation. But rescuing them was only the first step, because true freedom is not just a question. It's a call to action. requires healing, stability, and the opportunity for a new future. I remember walking down the streets of the red light districts and there's just girls lined up. They looked dead inside and those young girls were coming up to us and saying please get us out of here or we'll end up sold. In order to really change their destiny they needed an education and so Project Rescue started its first academy where children were safe, loved, they were cared for, they were invested in. We have doctors, we have teachers, we have ministers who've come out of the program. Through this academy so many children have not only found freedom they found new futures. For years that

academy has been a place of freedom, restoration, and hope for rescue children. But recently the government announced plans to build a highway directly through the property where the school stands. They're taking our academy, they're building a highway right through our property and so the academy as we know it won't exist in a little over a year. But instead of focusing on what was lost God gave them a bold new vision not just to rebuild the school but to build something even greater that would impact many generations to come. We're going to build a world-class academy with space for a thousand students with lab space and classroom space, a world-class sports facility, an arts facility. That's a thousand families that are being represented. The ripple effect could be significant. If you can educate these communities and give them an opportunity to break the cycle for their family you can stop trafficking and exploitation before it even happens. Church, as Kingdom Builders we've committed $125,000 to help Project Rescue build the Jaira International Academy that will provide education, housing and hope for thousands of children. Because of your generosity children who once faced exploitation will instead have the chance to learn, grow and discover who God created them to be. Yeah that's an amazing project and I'm going to talk about that here in just a few moments. But right now it's time to receive God's tithe in our Kingdom Builders offering. So come on put your hands together this is a church that loves to give and we're going to give you an opportunity to do that right now. You'll see the ways to give on the screen. Probably the easiest way is just to give through our church app. If you do have a physical offering we'll pass the the buckets here in just a moment. So thank you for giving today. And we talk about two steps to giving

here at Faith. The first is the tithe. We return God's tithe out of obedience and we believe biblically that's the first thing we should do with our resource, our income, is to be obedient and responding to the Lord in that. And that really fuels the ministry and the vision of this local church. And so thank you for being a tithing church. And then the second step is Kingdom Builders. And anyone can become a Kingdom Builder and that's when you give above and beyond the tithe. And when you do so you get to support missionaries and missionary projects like the one that you just heard about a moment ago. And we have those that we've selected for this entire year. And in moments like this when we give we're able to fully fund those projects. And what a blessing it is to be a part of Project Rescue where again our church has committed $125,000 to rescue children from human trafficking but also disciple them and educate them. And we as Faith we get to be a part of that because you give. And we want to say thank you for that. And so let's go to the Lord in prayer right now and we'll ask God's blessing upon this offering. God we thank you for all that you're doing in this city and in this church but also God around the world. And as we give today I pray that there'll be a blessing upon this offering that you would multiply it. We want to see God your kingdom advance. And so use everything that we do today to honor you and to glorify your name. And we pray and ask this in Jesus name. Come on somebody say amen today. Amen. Well thank you for giving and being a part of what God is doing through this church. And listen we want to see all of you back next week. We have an exciting series starting. So take a look at the screens. God bless you as you give.

Oh Follow. What? Stop following me. Poke. I poked you. Poke. Poke. I poked you. Poke. Poke. Poke. Tag. Tag. Tag, tag, ooh, pin, pin, pin, swipe, swipe, swipe, like, like, like, like, like. Amen, who's excited for that series starting next week? Make sure you're here. We're getting ready to worship, so go ahead and stand right where you're at. And if you can, just lift your hands as a sign of worship. Lord, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that now we have access to your Holy Spirit through it. Lord, so we sing this unto you today. We say, I could sing your name for all my life and still find more to love each time. So Jesus, be the name ever on my lips. It's sweeter every time that I call on it. And there's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. Oh, there's just something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. And you have been the friend who never left. I won't forget your faithfulness. So Jesus, be the name ever on my lips. It's sweeter every time that I call on it. And there's just something about your name. Oh, there's just something about your name. And there's just something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name that I know. There is no other name that's sweeter. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy.

And there's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. Oh, there's just something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. Oh Jesus, you're worthy. Yes, you're worthy. Yes, you're holy. Oh, God, we lift up praise to you today. Lord, we lift up praise. Because you died for us so that we can sing freely. We say Jesus, your name is like the morning light. The one the darkness can't deny. The resurrection and the light. Jesus, Jesus, your name can save. Your name can heal. Your name can make the storm be still. You never fail. You never will. Jesus, Jesus, the bread of life. Broken for us, the wounded and the worthy one. The first and last until you come. Jesus, Jesus, the King. The overwhelming great. The Lord who will forever reign. The name above all other names. It's Jesus. ♪ Jesus be the Name that gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name that gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name that gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name ♪ ♪ That gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Yeah, the one who sees all of this ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Jesus, Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name, let get all the glory, would you be the Name? ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name, Lord Jesus be the Name, let get all the glory ♪ ♪ Lord Jesus be the Name, Jesus be the Name, You're the only Name that's true, it's Jesus. ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, oh, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. ♪ Jesus we glorify your Name. Jesus we magnify your Name. Come on church, why don't you just take a moment, to lift the Name of Jesus. You can speak it out, and as you speak it out, lift your hands and declare how wonderful, how powerful, how beautiful He is. Jesus, there is no one like you. Oh, your Name has all authority. Your Name is powerful. And in your Name there's healing. And it's all because of this. Death could not hold you. The veil tore before you. And silenced the boast of sin and grave. The heavens are roaring. Praise of your glory. For you are raised to life again. You have no rival. And you have no equal. And now and forever, God, you reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the kingdom. And yours is the glory. And yours is the Name. It's above all names. So your people sing, what a powerful Name it is. What a powerful Name it is.

The Name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful Name it is. Nothing can stand against it. What a powerful Name it is. The Name. We're gathered together today because Death could not hold you. The veil tore before you. You silenced the boast of sin and grave. The heavens are roaring. Praise of your glory, Jesus. For you are raised to life. Won't you declare this with authority? Say, you have no rival. And you have no equal. of now and forever. God, you reign forever and ever, for yours is the kingdom, yours is the glory, and yours is the name of the Lord. What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, our King. What a powerful name it is. Oh, nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, our King. What a powerful name. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. There is no greater name. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. Oh, come on. I wonder, I wonder if there's anybody at any location that realizes that Jesus is the name above all names. And listen, if what we're celebrating today happened, if Jesus died and three days later rose again just like he said he was going to do, then I believe that he deserves high praise. So come on, across every location. Lift your voice, lift your hands, lift your eyes. Father, you're worthy. None like you. The powerful name of Jesus rules and reigns. God, we open our hearts to you because of who you are. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. God bless you. You can be seated across every location. And we are so glad to have you here today in this Easter service and at every location. Let me just welcome everybody at every location. We're so glad that you are there and even at our overflow on this campus. And so come on, just across all locations. Can we just put our hands one more time for what God is doing? He's alive. He's active in our lives. And our ushers are already helping serve you right now at every location. We're putting in your hands an Easter survey card, and we need everybody to get one of these. So each of you get one, and we're all going to do this together. We're all going to do this together. Everybody at every location say, all. Yeah, we're all going to do this together. You go, I've come to this church for 100 years. I know. Just do it with us. It'll be fine. We're all going to do it together. Or maybe you say, well, this is my first time here, so I'm not a part of this. We're all going to do this together. As a matter of fact, if it is your first time, there is a place on the survey for you to check a little box that says, yeah, this is my first time. And so we'd love for you to do that at all locations. If you're worshiping with us for the first time, as you fill out the card, check that little box that says, yes, I am a first time guest. And also don't run off without running into some of our guest experience team across every location and connection hubs that are out. And so we'd love to connect with you, answer any questions that you have about the church. But now let's start working on this survey. We got pens and surveys for everybody. The front is just general information. So just fill in that stuff and write as legibly as you can. And then on the back, let me talk about the back of the survey. There are three questions on the back of the survey. The first two questions we're going to answer now. And the third question we're going to save for the end of the service. Okay? And so the first two questions, let me talk about that first question. It just says what I would like most to grow in this area of my life. I'd like to hear biblical messages in this area. And so I want you just to check a couple of those boxes that are most relevant to you and the things that you would feel like you need biblical teaching on or things that you'd love to hear messages about. And let me tell you, we take this and we take this information and we use that as we're praying about what God would have us share on weekends and what series to go into and what parts of the Bible to teach. We use this. We don't solely do this, but we use this as part of our decision making as we're praying about what God would have us say. And so this is really helpful when you check kind of which boxes you feel like you could really use the most teaching on in your life. The second question there on the survey says, what has been the most impactful aspect of my experience here at faith? So just a couple words that just describes, hey, what has made the most impact on your life? Maybe it's Sundays, maybe it's the ministry

you're involved in, maybe it was an outreach, maybe it was a particular event. But just write that down and it helps us to kinda, as we plan things, to know which events or which things we're putting our hands to that are really making the most impact. And then again, we're gonna save that third question for the end of the service, and so you need to hold on to the card through the service, hold on to that pen through the service, and we'll answer that third question together. Perhaps somebody at some location right now is sitting here thinking, why are they doing a survey on Easter? That just doesn't make any sense. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense because Easter is the weekend y'all come to church. All right, so everybody's here, and so this is our chance to kinda get a really good picture of all of you together. And again, if it is your first time, man, I'm so glad to see you. If it's at this campus, I'd love to connect with you. One of our campus pastors would love to connect with you as well. We're so glad that you're here, and I'm excited to share this word today. I'm gonna preach a word today just simply entitled an Easter exchange, an Easter exchange. And a couple years back, there was a young man that began a series of trades.

He began a series of exchanges, and he documented them all, and he put it on YouTube, and his name was Ryan, and Ryan Trahan, his goal was this. He was gonna start with a penny, and he was gonna go do it for a week of trading up, trading up, trading up, and he was trying to get to the point that can I get to having a house starting with a penny. And so he starts these series of trades, and somebody gives him something for the penny. They trade him a pen, and then somebody for the pen gives him a toy, and then he takes the toy, and he gets a box of mints. And so on and on, the trades go to a set of headphones, and then to a vintage camera. A big trade-up happens when he trades that vintage camera for a really nice set of home speakers, and so those were worth several hundred dollars. And the trades continue, and as he trades, he's got the target that I wanna get to a house by the end of the week, and he continues to trade, and to the point that he actually has in his possession, started with a penny, he trades up to the point that he has a black SUV, as he continues to trade up. Remember, starts with a penny, and trades up and has an SUV, and then finds somebody before the week is out, he finds somebody to trade that SUV for their house. And he ends up with this small fixer-upper house as he exchanges from person to person,

trades up and gets to the house. And I tell you, I got inspired by that. And I just thought, man, this Easter weekend, let's see what we can do in each one of our services. And so we're gonna trade up right now. And I'm not gonna start with a penny. I am gonna start with one of my favorite possessions. I have a wintergreen, a sealed wintergreen Lifesaver Mint. This is brand new, and I'm gonna start with this, and this is crowd participation here. At this location, come on, I need you to be a part of this. And so we're gonna see how much we can trade up. I'm gonna put two minutes on the clock, and I'm gonna see what kind of value we can get to. All trades are final, okay? All trades are final. But we're gonna trade up, and I wanna know who will trade up for me. So here's the thing on the rules before we get, some of y'all are already throwing stuff up here, hold on. Here are the rules. What you offer has to be an increase in value to what I'm giving you, right? We can't trade down, all right? If we get up to something good, and then you wanna throw a penny at it, it's not gonna work, okay? It's gotta be a trade up. All right, so we got some pastors helping me. Here we go, we're gonna start at two minutes.

Who will trade me something for this Lifesaver Mint? I need to go up, we already got some sunglasses, all right? We are trading up to sunglasses. Thank you, I'm just gonna, we're gonna take this, all right? Thank you, my friend. All right, we got a ring for the sunglasses, all right? We got a ring for the sunglasses. Thank you, you're so sweet. All right, we got a ring. Who wants to trade up something more valuable than a ring? Does anybody have something more valuable than a ring to trade up with me? We've got a minute 30 left. I need, I need to be preaching on, apparently I need to preach on materialism, because some of y'all are like holding on to your stuff, like we're not doing this, no. What do we got? All right, we have Jesus, all right? We just got. I guess we're done, I guess we're done. I don't know what to tell you. We are, we are officially finished, because once somebody trades you Jesus, there's nothing more valuable than Jesus. Come on, thank you guys. What's so inspiring and so interesting about those stories, especially with Ryan Trahan, how he starts with a penny and he ends up with a house in one week of trading up. What makes it so amazing is just how little he started with and how much he ended up with. And what we are honoring today, we're honoring today the death of our Savior,

we're celebrating the resurrection of our Savior today. And as we honor and celebrate the death and resurrection of our Savior, here's the thing on this Easter weekend, it represents what Jesus did for you, represents an opportunity for you to have the greatest trade up that you can ever experience in your life. There is no trade that you can find that's going to be better than what God offers you for what you have to offer Him. And I want to read a passage of Scripture in Matthew chapter 27 as we think about an Easter exchange. And I want to kind of zoom in on one scene in the many scenes that make up Jesus' final week before His crucifixion and resurrection. It's called the Passion Week, and there are a lot of different things that unfold and a lot of different moments and a lot of different circumstances. And I want to zoom into one, and where we pick up the story is Jesus has already been captured by the Jewish religious authorities, and now He's been turned over to Roman authority. And that's where we'll pick up the story, and we're going to zoom into that as we look at Matthew chapter 27, verses 15 through 26. It says, Now it was the governor's custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time, they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Barabbas. So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called the Messiah? For he knew that it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him. And when Pilate was sitting in the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message. She said, Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I've suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd, persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. Which of these two do you want me to release to you, asked the governor. Barabbas, they answered. Well, then what shall I do with Jesus, the Messiah? Pilate asked, What should I do with Jesus, the Messiah? They answered, Crucify him. He says, Why? What crime has he committed, asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, Crucify him. And when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but instead an uproar was starting, he took water and he washed his hands in front of the crowd. And he said, I am innocent of this man's blood. It's your responsibility, he said. And all the people answered, Look at this church.

They answered, His blood is on us and on our children. And then he released Barabbas to them to have Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified. And Easter exchange. Let's pray and ask God's anointing on his word. Father, speak to us through your word. We open our hearts to you. In Jesus' name, amen. I did grow up in a Christian household. We went to Catholic school maybe once or twice. But ever since a young age, I really started questioning religion. And I was kind of given the freedom to choose whatever religion I wanted to choose. I grew up in the Christian household, and my mother was always the one that would pray for us and introduced us to God and Jesus. But as a kid, I don't think I truly understood what that was until we started attending this church. And the teachings that we were given were really opening my eyes to who God really was. And started understanding, okay, like, God is real, and his love for me is real. So I started doing my own research on the internet, got pretty deep into some other religions, even into Scientology. Ended up deciding that I wanted to land on being an atheist. It made the most sense to me, deciding that there was no God and that there was no divine purpose for our existence. Throughout my teen years, I began to develop my faith in Christ. And there was this one summer right before college, when I was about to leave, we had a summer camp for our youth group. I had an encounter with Jesus that supernaturally changed my life. I just fell to my knees. started crying. It was a time where I understood that there was a calling on my life to pursue ministry, but when I went to college I forgot all about that because the focus again was to pursue better education and a better life. So a lot of the Sundays that I wouldn't normally attend church, I stopped attending. The Bible that I was reading just was on my counter collecting dust and I felt as if I was walking away from my faith in a way, but it almost felt right because everyone else was telling me that the right way to pursue my future is through college. Going into high school I had a pretty great group

of friends, but slowly I started to get pretty severely bullied and my parents had moved away. I was living alone at 16 and just started to question why I was here and that started to really sink in. I started to develop pretty deep anxiety. I didn't want to go to school anymore. I started to get pretty severely depressed. A deep, deep darkness, a deep sadness overcame me all the time and just had immense anxiety and actually I really hated the church. I was pretty anti Christianity because a lot of people that had maybe bullied me or done something wrong in my life had been Christians. Throughout these years, my dad was dealing with some type of doctor's appointment or hospital visit. Conditions included cancer, diabetes. There was a call that I received during one of my work days and it was my mom saying that my dad was in the hospital telling me that my dad is seriously not well in a coma and that I needed to come down and visit. And after days in the hospital, we decided that the best course of action was to just let my dad go and he had passed away. There was a portion of me that had to almost like stand up and be strong for my mom and my sister. In my mind, it left no time for anything else. So school or hanging out with my friends and I had no time to go to church or to read my Bible. It was this lukewarmness, Christianity that I lived. I would tell people I was Christian but some of my actions didn't represent Jesus the right way. At that point, I kind of started deciding, well maybe there isn't a point for me being here. So I started to question more and more of my existence. I developed some suicidal thoughts and kind of plan out what it would look like to take my life and at one point I kind of decided that that was gonna be what I wanted to do. About the end of my college career, I decided that it's about time for me to return to God. Someone had invited me to faith so I started attending the youth services here and from there started getting involved. I really like started to find all the pills in my house and try to figure out a way to like do this the least painful way as possible but I got really scared. I just think about like my mom, I think about my brother. I'm his only sibling, his older sister. I just knew it would be something that would ruin them but one

day it was one of those nights where I was really sad, really depressed and I knew I just wanted to go somewhere and I knew about faith and I knew that it was a safe place so I decided to go one night. We'll hear more from Daphne's story and Chris's story in just a moment but you know as you look at the four New Testament Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you see that there are relatively very few people who are all mentioned by name in every single one of those Gospels. That list is pretty short. Of course Jesus, he's mentioned in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus' mother Mary's mentioned in all four Gospels. Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four Gospels. John the Baptist is mentioned in all four Gospels. Pontius Pilate who we just read about, he's mentioned in all four Gospels and yet amongst this exclusive group, there's one person that's mentioned in all four Gospels that you may not expect and it's Barabbas. It's the person that we just read about in his encounter with Christ and I was just wondering like if we had Barabbas here today and we said hey Barabbas, we want you to just condense your interaction with Christ, condense it down to one sentence. If you took the events of Matthew chapter 27 and you had to sum it up in one sentence, what would you say? And I think Barabbas might say something like this, he might say, I was given a chance that I couldn't earn to receive an exchange that didn't make sense, which brought a transformation that I couldn't deny. Let's break down this fictional sentence that maybe Barabbas would say if we asked him to condense the events of Matthew 27. I think first that Barabbas might say, I was given a chance that I couldn't earn. Why do I say that this encounter with Jesus was not earned by Barabbas? Why would I say that he doesn't deserve this?

And well, I think it's because we see that Barabbas was, well, Matthew says he's a well-known prisoner, okay? And when we read Matthew talking about him being a well-known prisoner, he's not saying that Barabbas was a famous guy who got into a little bit of trouble, and now he's a well-known prisoner. We see that in the news now, where sometimes some celebrity or some athlete might get in a little trouble, and now he's in prison. He's well-known, a well-known prisoner. That's not what Matthew is talking about. What Matthew is talking about is that this guy is well-known because he's a prisoner. He's well-known because of the crimes that he has committed. He's well-known because of the things that he has done, and the way he has hurt people, and the decisions he's made. He's known for that. When the book of Mark talks about Barabbas in verse seven, it says he's an insurrectionist that committed murder. And when John talks about Barabbas in John chapter 18, he calls him a robber. And so we see that Barabbas was well-known for his crimes. As a matter of fact, probably the reason why Pontius Pilate put Barabbas up against Jesus when he's saying, who do you want me to release? I think it's because he thought, man, when I put Barabbas up there, they're gonna want anybody released other than this guy.

Why, because he's well-known for all the bad things he had done. And I know what somebody's thinking already. You're like, okay, pastor, you're telling this story, and you're getting ready to put me in the place of Barabbas. That's why you're preaching this today. You're gonna say, we're all Barabbas in this story, and if I am, then you're gonna be thinking, well, but pastor, you don't understand. I'm a pretty good person. I feel like I've done more good things than I've done bad things, and so how are you gonna put me as Barabbas? Well, let's just be honest about what we have done. Let's be honest about the fact that whether or not we have deserved an encounter with Jesus. And so there's a story in John eight where Jesus, they bring a woman who's caught in adultery to him. And in that story, he bends down and begins to write on the dirt, and the accusers of this woman start to go one at a time as Jesus says, hey, if you're without sin, you throw the stone at her. And a lot of theologians believe that he's down in the dirt, and what he's writing is he's writing their sins. And so as Jesus writes their sins, they're like, I'm outta here.

So what if I kind of played Jesus here, and I started writing down your sins on my board up here? If I put, okay, I know we all wanna think that we are a good person, but what if I wrote your name here, and I said, I'm gonna begin to list your sins? I'm gonna begin to list, I know that there's been some selfishness. You've been selfish. I know there's been some anger. I know there's been some violence that you've committed. Some of you are like, how do you know that I've done these things? I know you've done those things because you did those things before you turned three years old. Come on, this was already happening as a toddler. If you go into the nursery rooms right now, you're gonna see some selfishness and some anger, and our workers are gonna keep the violence to a minimum, but I mean, come on, there's gonna be some biting happening. There's gonna be some things going on. No, this is in our nature, and you know what else can be, because sometimes in our sinful nature is rebellion. Sometimes it's inward, and sometimes it's outward. Like a few moments ago when we said, hey, let's fill out the Easter card, and some of you are like,

I'm not gonna fill out that Easter card. I know everybody else is doing it. I'm not doing it. What is that? It's rebellion, it is, but it's all good. I'm glad, but if I'm listing your sins, and I go, yeah, and there was some pride in your life, and then, I mean, have you ever lied to a family member? Have you ever lied to a spouse? Have you ever started to gossip about somebody else? And so you can see here, we're not even, this is not even an exhaustive list yet, but you can see that we've already written enough things that we have done that put us in that same category of a chance that we didn't earn, maybe that we don't deserve this kind of encounter with Jesus. And you go, well, I haven't done all of these, but you know what James said. The book of James says that if I stumble at any one point of the law, I'm guilty of stumbling and breaking all of the law. Now hear me, we didn't bring you to church today to beat you up, we didn't bring you to church to tell you that you're worthless and that you have nothing to offer God. Can I tell you, you were made in the image of God and you do have something to offer God. You have a life that you can offer to God and say, God, redeem this life.

Do something with what I do have. Take the brokenness and do something with it. You are not worthless and you don't have, it's not that you have nothing to offer God. No, you have something to offer God. It's just that we don't have anything that puts us in a place of deserving his mercy. I think Brabus was forced to condense his story. Maybe he would say, I was given a chance I couldn't earn to receive an exchange that didn't make sense. An exchange that didn't make sense. Why do I say that this exchange didn't make sense? We read in Matthew 27, a moment ago, that Pontius Pilate says, well, which one of these? Okay, so there is going to be a potential exchange happening here. Which one of these should I release? Should I release Barabbas or should I release Jesus? And the crowd says, Barabbas. And he said, well, then what am I to do with Jesus? And they said, crucify him. And Pilate's saying, well, what has he done? And so it's an exchange that doesn't make sense. And I promise this was not missed on Barabbas as he stood there opposite Jesus. Pilate's saying, which one do you want me to release? There's no way Barabbas thinks the crowd is gonna choose him. Why? Because Barabbas knows his list.

He knows what he's done. He knows all the things. He knows what he's guilty of. And I think Barabbas probably had a pretty good sense of not only the things he had done, but I think he probably had a pretty good sense of the things that Jesus hadn't done. I think he got a pretty good sense of his own guilt, and he probably had a pretty good sense of the innocence of Jesus. And I'd say that's probably the simplest way of describing this exchange that doesn't make any sense. It's when it is our guilt for his innocence. Because if we're listing Jesus's crimes, or Jesus's sins, or Jesus's mistakes, there's the list. And so it is a sea of guilt, and a sea of sin, and a sea of mistakes for innocence. And this exchange gets described in different ways throughout poetry and throughout even Scripture as well. One of the ways that this exchange, other than guilt for innocence or innocence for guilt, another way that sometimes it gets described is this. Sometimes it gets described as riches for rags. And it's kind of referencing the fact that we really are just, we just have rags to offer. Isaiah 64 says that we're infected and impure with sin. At our natural state, we're infected and impure with sin. And when we display our righteous deeds, they're nothing but filthy rags.

And yet, Jesus offers to exchange that for his rich righteousness. Another way that this exchange gets talked about and gets described is glory for shame. And I don't have to explain to anybody in this room what shame is, because we have all had moments of shame. We've felt the weight and the guilt of shame for things that we've done. Some of you, you're feeling that right now from mistakes you made maybe this week. And yet, sometimes the shame can be so strong that we begin to feel like we'll never pull out of it. And the book of Philippians talks about people that become enemies of the cross, and they just instead start to glory in their shame. They're so heavy in shame that they think they'll never get out, and so they just start to be proud of all the bad things and proud of all the mistakes and proud of all the sin. Listen, you don't have to be so engulfed in shame that you glory in your shame. When Jesus offers you and says, I'll take that shame off of your life, and for that, you can have the glory of God on your life. You can have the best of God. You can have the honor of God on your life, the presence of God, its glory for shame. That's why Romans chapter eight, verse one, says that there is no condemnation, in other words, no shame for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The way it gets described is beauty for ashes. Isaiah 61 actually uses this exchange and this phrase, beauty for ashes. In ancient Hebrew culture, ash was used as a sign of public outward mourning and grief and repentance. And like if you read the book of Job, his friends put ash on to just remember the pain and the suffering that he's going through. And so when we talk about beauty for ashes, what that represents, and when Isaiah says that, what that represents is instead of those ashes, they would clean that mourning and that grief and that sadness and that repentance off of your life and instead put on a crown or a beautiful headdress. And what it represented was this complete reversal of fortune. Here's what I ask you. Where do you need a reversal of fortune in your life? Some of you need a reversal of fortune this Easter in your body. And you go, man, I'm dealing with sickness and I need a complete reversal of fortune. Can I tell you that Jesus was wounded for your transgressions and by his stripes, you are healed. Maybe it's in the area of lack. And you go, man, I need God to come through with provision in my life. You need a reversal of fortune.

Perhaps some of you in the realm of faith and instead of living by faith, you're living by fear and you need a reversal of fortune. You need beauty for ashes. Some of you, maybe it's worry and you just worry all the time and you need to learn to trust God. Can I tell you, this is a great day to have a reversal of fortune and to begin to trust God again with your life. Another way that this exchange gets talked about in poetry and in the Bible is triumph for tears. Think about that, triumph for tears. And it's not saying that if you surrender your life to Jesus that you'll never have a bad day, you'll never shed a tear again. That's not what it is. But can I tell you what triumph for tears is alluding to? It's alluding to a day of ultimate victory when those who have been saved by Jesus will stand before God in the heaven. Revelation chapter 21 talks about it. And he will wipe away every tear from our eye. There'll be no more death, there'll be no more mourning, there'll be no more crying, no more pain in heaven. That's the triumph, that's the triumph of our life that again is provided because of his death and resurrection. This entire exchange, it explains and it sums up a theological term. It's a big theological term and it's this,

it's double imputation. Can I tell you what double imputation is? It means that there is essence flowing both directions. It means that I have some things that are flowing towards Jesus and it means doubly now Jesus is imputing some things into my life. And so double imputation would be this, that his righteousness, his clean slate, his innocence is imputed. It's an exchange that doesn't make sense but it's imputed to me. And now all the things that I had done and the things that I had been ashamed of because of his righteousness, it becomes my story. When I do that, it makes me think of Mbesi's Law which is about the conservation of filth and here's what it says. It says in order for something to become clean, something else must become dirty. Just think about it for a second, isn't that true? In order for something to become clean, something else has to be dirty. In order for me to get the dry erase marker off of this board, the marker had to go on to the towel. I mean think about it, if here's your house and you want somebody to clean the counter, the counter will get clean but the rag you use will get dirty. If you mop a floor because the floor needs to be clean, well the floor's gonna get clean

but the mop is going to get dirty. I mean think about when you take your trash out and you put it on the curb and you're like, eh, it just magically goes away. No, the house gets cleaner but the dump and the place where the trash goes, it gets dirtier. And so we see this happening that it imputes, yes, his righteousness to us but where does our sin go? Well in order for something to be clean, something else has to be dirty. Which is why 2 Corinthians chapter five says, he who knew no sin became clean. Sin for us. Not just Barabbas' mistakes came on Jesus, not just your mistakes came on Jesus but no, the sins of the world. imputed to him. It's the second part of the imputation. And it doesn't make sense. This exchange, and I suppose if we asked Arabus to tell his story, he'd say, I was given a chance that I couldn't earn. To receive an exchange that didn't make sense, which brought a transformation that I couldn't deny. Can I talk about the transformation of Barabbas? Because as we read, Pilate releases Barabbas, and then he sends Jesus off to be flogged and crucified. And this release of Barabbas, it was a change of circumstance. It was a circumstantial transformation for sure. What we don't know about Barabbas is if it ever became

a spiritual transformation. Because the Bible never tells us what Barabbas does with this freedom. The Bible never tells us what he does with this exchange. I can't help but wonder what he did with this exchange. I can't help but wonder what he did when Jesus died for him. You know, we sing all the time, right? We sing that Jesus died for me, and we tell people Jesus died for you. And can I tell you, Jesus did die for us. I want you to look at me right now as I tell you, Jesus did die for you. But can I tell you this, that when Barabbas said, Jesus died for me, don't you know it just hit a little bit different? Because Jesus died for him. Like, he probably became known for that. There's the one that Jesus died in his place. What did Barabbas do with that, with that opportunity? What did Barabbas do when perhaps he was around when Jesus is hanging there on that cross, and Jesus says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Did that resonate in Barabbas' heart? What did he make of the fact that when Jesus dies, then the heavens grow dark and the earth trembles? What did he do with that? Was he there when the Roman soldier pointed to Jesus shortly after that and said, surely, this was the Son of God? Did Barabbas hear that? And did it take root in his heart and in his life? Oh, I wonder what Barabbas did when words started to spread of what happened on that very first Easter morning. We read about in Matthew chapter 28 when the women go to the tomb and the angel says, don't be afraid. You are looking for Jesus who was crucified, but he isn't here. He has risen from the dead.

What did Barabbas do? What did he do with that information? We don't know. We do know what an actor who played Barabbas in The Passion of the Christ, we do know what happened to him. His name is Pietro Serubbi. He's an Italian actor, and he gets hired to play the role of this criminal named Barabbas in this movie. And for him, it was just another role. It was just another movie. It was just another paycheck. He actually is an atheist. He was an atheist. He comes into this movie just playing a part. And he gets to the scene where the heavy iron chains are falling off his wrist. And in the script, he's to look at Jesus. And Serubbi says that in that scene, when he looked at Jim Caviezel's eyes, the actor who was playing Jesus, he later said that when I was looking into Jim Caviezel's eyes, he said it was no longer Jim's eyes I was looking at. He said it was as if the Savior was piercing back at me and looking back at me. It was the eyes of Jesus himself. And as he looked back at me, I realized I'm playing a criminal, but I realized that I was the criminal. But the Savior didn't look at me to condemn me. He looked at me to claim me. And right there on that set, he left his atheism in its place, and he became a follower of Jesus and a believer in who Jesus is. And he still, he goes around now and tells his testimony of the way Jesus revealed himself in his life. Pietro Serubbi was given a chance that he couldn't earn, to receive an exchange that didn't make sense, which brought a transformation in his life that he couldn't deny. And this was the time that I decided to come back to Jesus, to pursue what he had called me to do so many years back when I was 17 during the summer camp. When I got to faith, I sat in the back by myself in a corner,

and one of the ladies, she was in the back, and she was on her hands and knees just sobbing. And I just remember looking at her and being like, wow, that is real. So that compelled me to go to the altar. And I just fell to my knees. I started just uncontrollably crying. Everything I had ever felt, like my sadness, my depression, my anxiety in that moment had been lifted off. And I just remember knowing that God was real. And that I wanted to be a Christian. I felt embarrassed. I was crying. I was on my knees. I didn't really know what I was doing. But I just knew that in that moment, that's what I had to do. And the next day, I remember waking up and just being so happy. And he just answered my prayer. So from that moment, I was really on fire for God. I started getting involved here, serving, joined leadership. And I also got called to full-time ministry. I also met a lot of community here, made lifelong friends. And I went to a church event. And that's where I met my husband. I can't believe that this is where we're at. To think that years ago, I had a calling on my life. And to have a dad that passed away

and just get lost in my faith. I was so hopeless. And to think I was going to end my life. I'm just so glad that the both of us got to exchange our old lives to the new ones that we have now. I'm thinking about just how we both grew up. And our upbringings being so different. And just to be here. It's crazy to think that God can restore something that seems so hopeless. It really is a story of redemption. Yeah, it's so awesome that we can do ministry together. And just continue this life, serving the Lord in this way, in this capacity. I'm just glad that I exchanged that part of my life to now having a life in ministry with someone that I also love, and getting to do that together. That's wonderful. Thank you very much. Let's applaud the dad. Thank you dad. God, You're the Lord, You're our blessing, You're our blessing, You're our blessing. Exchange my Savior, make for me His was the cross, mine was the blame. What a wonderful exchange, my Savior, make for me. I will lift my eyes to Calvary where my Jesus died and covered me. He paid it all, now it's paid in full. Lord, I can't believe You did that for me.

I just can't believe You did that for me. Beauty for ash, triumph for tears, what a wonderful exchange, my Savior, make for me. His was the loss, and mine was the gain. What a wonderful, wonderful exchange, my Savior, He made, He made for me. I will lift my eyes to Calvary Where my Jesus died and covered me He gave it all and now it's paid in full Lord, I can't believe you did that for me I just can't believe you did that for me He really did it He really did it My shame lost the battle to my Savior's love If it comes chasing after, I'm covered under the blood Oh, my shame lost the battle to my Savior's love If it comes chasing after, I'm covered under the blood Oh, my shame lost the battle to my Savior's love If it comes chasing after, I'm covered under the blood Oh, my shame lost the battle to my Savior's love If it comes chasing after, I'm covered, I'm covered I will lift my eyes to Calvary Where my Jesus died and covered me He gave it all and now it's paid in full Lord, I can't believe you did that for me I just can't believe you did that for me Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Church, you can be seated for a moment because I want to give you opportunity to consider what kind of transformation

this has on your life I suppose if somebody knows only one Bible verse often the one that they know is John 3, verse 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son Whoever would believe in Him should not perish Watch for the exchange, we don't perish but instead we have eternal life It's our death for His life What an offer that we could never deserve It's true, like you, you've been given a chance that you couldn't earn to receive an exchange that just doesn't make sense and it has the power to bring a transformation that you can't deny in your life and I want you to make that decision today if you need to As a matter of fact, I want us all to figure out where we stand on this Easter and if you would take that survey card out I said we were going to handle that third question together now and this is how we're going to close out our time with this third question Can I tell you what each of those letters stands for? You're going to find yourself in one of these four categories and I just want you to be honest today A would stand for this A just says I'm already a Christian I already know God personally and if that's your testimony then I want you to put A in that box

B, let me tell you what B stands for B stands for I'm beginning I'm beginning a real relationship with God today I'm believing on Jesus today I need salvation, I need to know Him and I'm beginning this journey today and if that's you, I'm going to celebrate with you as you check B in that box C would stand for this I want to consider what God wants to do in my life, but I'm just not ready, Pastor. Like, I'm considering it, I'm hearing you, I just don't know if I'm ready. And if that's where you are, if you're on your journey, I want you to check that, and I want you to know we're praying for you. And D, D would stand for this, D would say, I don't ever intend to make this decision. Like, service was queued, it's fine, I just don't, this isn't for, I don't intend on making this decision, I want you to know we're praying for you as well. But if that's you, I want you to be honest and check box, the fourth box, D, I don't intend. So A, I already know Christ, B, I'm beginning today a relationship with God, C, I'm considering the claims of Christ in my life, and D, I don't ever intend to. And I think it would be so fitting

if we led this entire room in a moment of prayer and commitment to Christ so that we could join with those who have checked B today. There are many today who checked B that said, I want to begin this relationship, I wanna lead you in a prayer, and we're all gonna join in just as an encouragement to you as you pray this prayer of commitment, beginning a relationship with Jesus. So would you pray with me right there where you sit in this holy, sacred moment? Would you pray with me? And everybody just say this together. Would you say Jesus? Come on, let's say it loud on this Easter Sunday morning. Say Jesus. Jesus. I give my life to you. I give my life to you. Today I begin a relationship with God. Today I begin a relationship with God. I walk away from my past. I walk away from my past. I believe Jesus. That what you did is enough. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for forgiving me. And I walk away from my past. To follow you. To know you.

To glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I wanna bring and put our hands together and celebrate because I promise there is a party and a celebration going on in heaven right now. And we wanna take a moment to collect these surveys from everybody. Our ushers are gonna help. There'll be collection at the doors as well. Well, you know what I would think would be fitting on this celebratory day is if we stood to our feet and let's sing that song that we sang earlier in this service that just talks about the powerful name of Jesus. Will you let this moment just seal this word in your life as we sing together about the powerful name of Jesus. Come on, lift your voice. What a powerful name it is. Oh, come on church, let's sing it together. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against Him. What a powerful name it is.

The name of Jesus. Well, church, can we give Jesus one more great hallelujah in the house today? What a blessing it is to be ministered to by His word and to know that His spirit is working life changing in this house today. Listen, I'm gonna pray a blessing over all of you. And after we pray this prayer, we want you to know that our prayer team is here to pray with anyone that would like to receive prayer. If you have any prayer needs, maybe you checked one of those boxes and you're like, I really wanna know some next steps and wanna know how to get going in my walk with Christ, we have a team that's gonna be here to pray with you. But let's pray. Father in Jesus name, we thank you so much God for how you spoke to our hearts today. We thank you Lord that we are walking in the reality of knowing that we have a risen savior who has taken on our sin and shame and has given us a clean slate. God, with that clean slate, with that exchange, God, we are going into the world and we are bringing your gospel to the broken and to the lost God, that they might come to know the same Jesus that has given us freedom. Lord, we love you, we honor you, we celebrate your kingship and your resurrection

and we go with your joy. In Jesus name, amen, amen and amen. God bless you church. Again, our prayer team is here to receive and pray for anyone that would like to be prayed for. Otherwise, God bless you and we'll see you again next week.