The End is Just the Beginning - JJ Vasquez

You know at all of our campuses right now, there's some greenery that's planted on the stage And the reason is because we're starting a brand new series today. It's part one of a four-part series We're doing that so that you can come back next week of a series called Planted tap your neighbor tell them planted. I Think it's important if we begin the Easter story That we should begin telling the Easter story like every great story begins and if you've ever read a book or Let's be honest Watch the movie Who reads books? Then you would know that every great book and every great movie always begins the same way with the setting of the scene it's a Dark alleyway, there is a beach and a sunrise and and that's because in a good story the the setting communicates just as much to the story as the people and Especially in the Bible in the Bible whenever it goes out of its way to mention the place where something happens Which it doesn't always it is mentioning the place for a purpose in the Bible The place is never apart from the plot in the Bible the place is always a part of The plot and so I'd like to take a second to look at the place where Jesus was buried because I believe there is some truth Planted where he was laid if you have a Bible you can turn to the book of John chapter 19. If not You can go ahead and look at the screens and you'll be able to read along with us John chapter 19 verse 38 Later Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus But secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders and with Pilate's permission. We're gonna talk about why that's important detail He came and took the body away He was accompanied by Nicodemus We're gonna talk about in a little bit why that's an important detail The man who earlier had visited Jesus at night Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes about 75 pounds

Verse 40 taking Jesus's body the two of them wrapped it with the spices and strips of linen This was in accordance with the Jewish burial customs verse 41 and 42 at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a what a Garden and in the garden a new tomb in Which no one had ever been laid and since the tomb was nearby They laid Jesus there the fact that his whom was nearby is also an important detail I think I think you should know that Jesus being buried in a garden was not a guarantee It's not like being buried in gardens was the custom of the day In fact for a criminal who was to be executed or who was executed. It was the exact opposite of the custom It was Roman tradition for the person who was crucified To be left hanging on the cross so that the vultures could eat their flesh and drink their blood That's why Joseph had to go to Pilate to ask for permission to take the body down because that was not the way that it was normally Done on top of that after the body was eaten Then the st. Hedron who are the st. Hedron the st Hedron are the Jewish rulers of the day they would come and they would take the body and They would take the body off and they would put the body in a mass grave Outside of Jerusalem that was unmarked where they would bury all the dishonorable people That's why it was an important detail that Nicodemus was there because Nicodemus was also a member of the st. Hedron yet Jesus's body was not eaten alive on the cross and it was not thrown in a mass grave on top of that The Bible says that the the garden was nearby just so happens to be nearby Why is that an important detail because the Sabbath day was coming in on the Sabbath you couldn't do any work Including preparing a body for burial and so they had to get it done quick and they had to move it nearby and it just So happens to be Joseph's garden nearby where the cross was. I hope you see what I'm seeing This is not just the setting of a scene. This is a setup Jesus God the Father has strategically organized all of these random things happening together to make sure that Jesus's body was placed in a garden because there is a message that God is trying to communicate to us about The garden and that message is beginnings. Somebody say beginnings Yeah, I think the message that he's trying to communicate to us is beginnings for a couple of reasons to kick off

First off it is a garden in the spring. Have you ever seen a garden in the spring? It's blossoming this fruit. It is beginning on top of that. It is Passover weekend So in the Jewish culture Passover weekend is literally their January 1st. It's the beginning of their year on top of that Any time that the Bible implements a garden motif it is recalling the very first garden that was ever created Which is in the book of Genesis at the beginning of your Bible the garden of Eden and so God is trying to communicate beginning somebody say beginnings but the problem with this image of beginnings and that in the middle of this beautiful beginning while everything is blossoming and Fruit is coming out and the year has just started dead center in the middle is a stone Now I need to show you this stone because this is not before you Call me a heretic and this is definitely not what it looked like in the Bible, okay? I'm not saying that it did but the reason why I needed to put this here is because I couldn't put a rolling stone If I put a rolling stone here, you'd got all excited You got all Pentecostal You saw the rolling stone you'd be like yes, Lord You're gonna roll that away. He's gonna come out. I'm coming out like he coming out. Amen and The reason why you get excited when you see the rolling stone, please keep in mind is because you already know the end of the story So I couldn't show a rolling stone Because then you would not have felt the way people felt when they walked by this stone They would have not felt excitement. They would have not felt anticipation. They would have saw not a rolling stone, but a tombstone They would have not felt like something was about to start they would have felt like something had just ended See when you don't know the end of the story the end feels like the end of the story Jesus of Nazareth 0 AD to 33 AD keep the stone here in the middle. He's dead and It feels over And now I don't know how to feel emotionally Now I'm confused Because I'm in a beautiful garden and I wanted to start and I wanted to begin can we pan out? Can we see all this garden here as a beautiful garden and I'm excited and I'm beginning and everything's starting But at the same time there's a stone

So what am I supposed to feel is this a story that is just about the beginnings if this was just a garden then It'd be a story that was just about beginnings if it was a tomb Just the tomb just just a grave then it'd be a story that was just about endings but a grave in a garden Communicates a radical new message that only the followers of Jesus can say with a straight face and that is listen that the ending is just the beginning It's Not just an ending it's not just a beginning but the ending is just the beginning I Say that no other person in the world. No other religion in the world No other follower of another religion can say that sentence with a straight face Because and I don't mean to be disrespectful to other world religions I'm just being factual because no other founder of other world religions ever claimed to have resurrected You go down the list. There is not one major world religion where the founder claims to have come back from the dead God bless Abraham Isaac and Jacob the founders and the the fathers of Judaism But you could get on a plane go to Israel and you can go visit their grave right now The founder of Islam Mohammed you could get on a plane go to Saudi Arabia There'll be a big line outside of his grave people waiting to go visit his bones. What am I trying to tell you? I'm trying to tell you that the patriarchs of Israel died one day and were buried the next day I'm trying to tell you that the the prophet of Islam died one day and was buried the next day But the Prince of Peace died on Friday was buried on Saturday then got up on Sunday He got up All those other men that I mentioned when they died their life ended and their legacy lived on but their life ended But Jesus when his life ended not only did his legacy live on his life They've on the greatest part of all those other men's stories ended when they died But the greatest part of Jesus the story began when it ended Are you seeing what I'm saying? And if that's how our whole faith begins then that means that followers of Jesus

Should look at endings the way that no one else in the world looks at endings When something ends in our life We ought to process it differently because we know what can begin with an ending That ought to encourage you today because nobody in this room likes endings we all hate endings nobody likes endings I don't even eat at McDonald's ever like anymore, but whenever the McRib goes away I Get a little sad it's not like I was gonna get it, but what if I did want to I don't drink coffee Starbucks anymore just past Liz likes to save money. We make it at home But sometime between January and February Those little red cups go away It's something inside me Goes away with it How about your favorite TV show? Sometimes they just end it in the middle of like a plot You don't even know if they get together You don't even know if they get out the cave just the next show turn on TV new show But we'll get over the McRib And we'll get over the Red Cubs and we'll find another show to like What happens when your marriage is ending? What happens when your health ends? What happens when your business ends happens When someone you love their life ends I I Would believe I would bet any amount of money that everybody in this room and everybody watching online and everybody on our campuses in One way shape or form are wrestling with an ending today and if not just strap in Because if you haven't realized it yet

Everything Eventually ends and If you don't know how to process an ending Then when it ends You will end with it And I want to teach you today listen how to turn your endings into beginnings And I want to teach you I want to teach you by going back to that first garden that we mentioned The garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 2 verse 7 because I believe that Endings turning into beginnings is one of the first lessons that God actually taught humanity Genesis 2 7 then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being now the Lord God had planted somebody say planted Planted a garden that's gonna be an important detail that we come back to later So log that Planted a garden in the east in Eden and there he put the man he had formed The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground Trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food Verse 15 and the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it I think it's an interesting detail. I think it's an interesting story I think it's powerful and I think we've if you've ever heard that story before it kind of loses its impact I'm gonna switch mics here kind of loses But I think it's it hits you different when you see it and I know you've you you've heard that so much times But I just think it's so cool that God took his hands into the dirt and out came a man. I Think that is just the coolest thing It's my friend he's helping me preach this weekend I'm between names right now. I got a Fern Park Freddy. I Got East Orlando Emmett

Without but my personal favorite is probably Kasumi Ken Although the actual Kasumi Ken would probably be just a couple shades browner than this guy I Wanted it I wanted to do that not just to be funny not just to illustrate but because I think there's something there's a powerful Imagery here and you know God gave life to humanity two times The first time he gave life to humanity was when he pulled Adam out of the ground But the second time he gave life to humanity was when he pulled Jesus out of the ground The first time he pulled man out of the ground. He did it to bring him natural life But the second time he took man out of the ground. He did it to give eternal life and what I really want you to capture is that in both moments when God pulls men out of the ground both Require God to get messy Both require God to get dirty the first time he took on the soil of the earth But the second time he took on the sin of the earth Both times he got dirty both times He got messy so that you can have life and that's important because I meet so many people who tell me things like I'm gonna wait till I get cleaned up to come to God I'm I'm gonna wait till I get it together to come to Jesus. And I'm like, I don't think you know how this works. You don't come to him when you get it together, when you get clean. He comes to you in the middle of your dirt, in the middle of your filth, in the middle of your mess, and he pulls you out. If you're buried, you can't get out yourself. You need someone to pull you out. And so God pulls out Adam from the ground. Like he pulls out Jesus from the ground. Like he pulls you and me out from our mess and our dirt.

And then the next thing that he does is he puts Adam in a garden. Please note that he planted. I told you to log that for later. Because it's interesting that God uses the word planted. Why is it so interesting that God uses planted? Because at that point, when God had made anything, he didn't plant it. The Bible says he used these three words, let there be. He said, let there be light, and there was light. He said, let there be land, and there was land. He said, let there be trees, and there were trees. He spoke it, and it happened. But the verb changes in Genesis 2, no longer to let there be, it changes to planted, which means that he didn't say, let there be Eden. And there was Eden. I know I'm getting a little deep now. This is a little kind of Bible nerd type of thing, but there's a revelation in this that I hope that you grasp, and I really hope you grasp it, or else I'm just playing with a doll up here. And I really want you to understand this. Here's what I'm trying to get you to understand, that God said he planted, that means he took a hole. He opened up the hole. That means that he took a seed, and he put the seed in the ground, and then he covered it so that Adam could watch it,

because he needed Adam to learn how to take care of it, because the Bible says that Adam was gonna take care of the garden when he was done. And so now Adam sees the seed go under the ground, but Adam is not discouraged. Adam is not afraid. Adam is excited, because who in the world has a better revelation than Adam of what can come out of the ground? Yeah, let's hear it for Adam. Let's hear it for Adam. He's like, I came from the ground. And when the seed goes in, I bet his eyes are peeled to see what happens, because Adam knows something that you and I have forgotten. Because we no longer live in an agricultural society, and that is this, that just because it went under doesn't mean it's over. That's amazing. Something can come from that. You need to hear that today. Something can come from that. And I know you can't see it, because when you're planted, let's be honest, when you're buried, you can't see anything. You can't see how God could turn it. You can't see how God could use it. That betrayal, that pain, that hurt, that abandonment, that abuse, that sickness, that health issue, you can't see how God could use it.

But I got good news for you today. Burying is actually how God uses it. If I got a seed right now, and I just dropped seeds on this soil, would you expect that seed to grow? Absolutely not, because I don't know if it ever hits you or not, but a seed doesn't grow until it's buried. Did you know there's a reason why seeds are buried? And there's a reason why it had to end. I know there's some things in your life, you're wondering, why am I going through this? Why am I enduring this? Why am I going? It's because it had to end. And I'm gonna tell you why it had to end. Some reasons, if you've been asking the Lord, two reasons. Number one, in Matthew chapter 13, verse four, Jesus is explaining to us some things about seeds that we don't know, because we're not farmers. He says this, he goes, he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. This was like a duh moment, but also an aha moment. Did you know that seeds have to get buried, because if they're left on the ground, the birds will eat them? In other words, listen, why did it have to end? Number one, it had to end to defend, because the devil can't bite what's buried.

I'm a passcode parent. Y'all know what that is? Passcode parent. Raise your hand if you're a biggie, like you put passcodes on everything in your house. Four of us care about our kids. Let's see, I'll just let them do what they want. I can hear the parents right now, you gotta trust your kid, trust your kid. That's how houses get burned down. Trust him, he's 12. You trusting a 12-year-old? I put passcodes on everything in my house, man. You turn on the TV, passcode. You won't get on the internet, passcode. You open the fridge, passcode. I'm just playing, I'm just playing. That's a little much. When they play their video games, though, you best believe you can play for one hour. Then the time, passcode. And they'll give me the Switch, the Nintendo Switch. They'll be like, dad, put in the passcode. I wanna keep playing. I'm like, your time has come to an end. And they're like, why? And then I pull out all the studies of video game time and how when you spend too much time on the video games, it messes with your brain and it's not good for kids to spend multiple hours on video games.

And then one of them will ask me, they'll be like, how come I seen you play longer than an hour one time? And I'm like, mind your business. I'm trying to protect you. I'm trying to keep you safe. Listen, I know it feels like I'm ending, but I'm not ending, I'm defending. Here's what you need to know about God. Every time he takes something from your life, he is usually protecting you from something in your life. One day you're dating somebody, you're gonna marry them and then it's over and you're devastated because it's over. You're like, oh my gosh, I thought they were the one and I was gonna marry them and that was gonna be it and we were gonna have a happily ever after. And then five years later you meet somebody even better for you and you get married and you can't even imagine your life any better. And then, that wasn't the moment to clap. But you can clap for the next one, ready? And then, and then after you're married and happy and thriving with the life that you can't even dream of, you bump into your ex. You're ready to clap. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And then when you leave them, you realize God wasn't ending, he was defending. Defending.

Sometimes your business partner leaves you, takes half of the clients and then gets arrested two years later for fraud. God wasn't ending, he was defending. It's bad, it's bad, it's bad, it's bad. Sometimes you end up in the hospital talking about, God, why are you ending my health? This is terrible. It's because if you didn't end up in the hospital, you wouldn't have changed your diet. You wouldn't have stopped drinking. You wouldn't have started working on your sleep. God wasn't ending your life, he was defending your life. For all of our people who are Journey Church family watching from incarcerated in a jail, in a prison through the Pando app right now, I know it felt like God was ending your freedom when you got locked up behind bars, but I promise you, God was not ending your freedom. He was defending your freedom, the kind of freedom that you can't find in a jail, outside of a jail, the freedom from sin, freedom from addiction, freedom from, and he had to get you in so he could defend. Here's another reason why things have to end in your life. Listen, not just to defend, but to depend. You know, sometimes things in life have to end so that you can learn what to depend on. And let me give you a little heads up,

never depend on anything that ends. 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse nine. In fact, we felt as if we were under, under buried, the sentence of death, but that happened so that we would not depend on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead to life. I'm gonna grab a seed here. I don't know if you know this or not, but you could do a really cool science experiment with your kids when you get home, not that you would, because you don't care about your kids because you don't have passcodes, but you could take a little seed. Can you put it on the screen? You could wet it in water and you could put it on a paper towel and the seed will sprout on the paper towel. It's really cool. But, and it'll sprout fast, but as fast as it'll sprout, it will also die. Do you know why it will die? Because inside this seed right here are nutrients and vitamins and things that the plant needs to live. It's actually in the seed that comes with its own little refrigerator of things to eat off of. But listen to me, eventually what's in it runs out. It's got nutrients, it's got minerals, it's got the water. It can go, but eventually it uses that all up.

Eventually it runs out. And if it is not planted in something that has more nutrients, that has more minerals, that has more life, it will die. Why do I tell you this? Because I know y'all got a little bit inside of you, but you gotta be careful where you plant your seed. Because if you plant your seed in something that does not last, I think sometimes we will take our seed and we will plant our seed on things like my money, not knowing that money doesn't last. I got a savings account. I got money in my 401k, that's cool. Until a war in Iran happens and the stock market crashes and gas is $59 a gallon. And somebody might hear, might be like, well, no, I'm really good. Like, I'm really wealthy. That's okay. It's still not gonna be enough for you. because one day you realize this is paper, not purpose and it doesn't have the nutrients to fill your soul like you've been looking for. Some of us will go, well, you know what? I'm real strong and I'm real talented. I'm just gonna depend on those things. I'm a good singer. I'm a good preacher. I'm pretty.

I work out. I go to a therapist. I'm emotionally strong. I'm resilient. I can do it. And can I just, I don't care how strong you are. I don't care how good you are. I don't care how many weights you lift. Listen to me. I have known this about everyone. Millionaires who end up taking their life, athletes who burn out. There is only so much of life that you can absorb. You can only absorb so much until you yourself fall apart. Come on, I'm talking to anybody who's ever been on the edge of a breakdown before. You know what I'm talking about? Come on, you start hearing voices. What the, what was that? Happy Easter. And you only got so much. Here's my favorite, because this is the one that the world will try and push on you. Pastor, I got a support system. I got family. I got friends. I'm good. I don't care how great they are. Have you ever noticed how even the best people,

sometimes all it takes is a breeze and they're gone. Well, my friends would never leave me. One night, my wife would never leave me. And who's immune from death? And so when they go, what you got? Good news is there is someone else who you can get rooted in, who you can be planted in, who never leaves. Jeremiah chapter 17, verse seven and eight says, but blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. For they are like trees, say that word with me, planted along a river bank. Why does the river bank matter? Because that means that its roots can touch water, which means that if it rains or if there's a drought, he'll still produce. She'll still produce because she's rooted in something deeper. She doesn't need, he doesn't need other people, the environment. He's got it from the Lord. With roots that reach deep into the water, such trees are not bothered by the heart, the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing. This is what I love about the devil's attacks, everybody. Now, let me be clear. I don't love the devil and I don't love the devil's attacks,

but there is one thing about the devil's attacks that I do appreciate. And that is the fact that every time he throws me down, he is only bringing me closer to the one who saves me. Every time he tries to cover me, he is only covering me in the love of the one who gives me nutrients and minerals and feeds me. I'm trying to tell you today that the devil did not bury you. He planted you. He thought he was killing you, but he was preparing you. He thought that he was putting you through something, but he was getting you ready. Come on, come on. He wasn't killing you. He was bringing you closer to Jesus. When you go through something hard and it drops you to your knees, amen, because that's exactly where we need to be, on our knees. So let me help you today. I want to let you know how you can go from this to that. Listen, I'll tell you how you can end. Let me tell you why it had to end. Let me tell you how you can begin. Here's how you can begin. Number one, you got to get in. You got to get in. What do I mean? Get in.

Open to, can you show a picture of the open tomb really quick? The reason why the tomb is open in this picture is because it's an invitation. Listen to me, you can't start your new life if you're not willing to end your old life. Here's what I learned about people. Everybody wants to start, but few people are willing to end. Come on now, you can't come out if you don't go in. Here's my question, what are you willing to end so that God can begin? Huh? I want new friendships in my life that bring me closer to the Lord. Are you willing to end the old friendships in your life that pull you further from the Lord? I want my husband and my wife, are you willing to end the one night stands? Because the new thing can't begin unless the old thing ends. And I want so much for you to experience your new life in Christ, but you won't be able to experience it until you're willing to end some things. Only those who are buried with Christ can resurrect with Christ. The other thing you got to do, listen, is not just get in, but remain in. You got to remain in. You got to remain in. Let me show you a picture of a seed real quick.

This is a picture of a seed of the closed tomb. You should go to the closed tomb. Show the closed tomb. Show the closed tomb. the fact that Jesus stayed in the grave on Saturday you ever notice that? he didn't die on Friday and then be like he didn't die on Friday and come back the next day he put a Saturday in between to let you know that there is a process in between your burial and your resurrection called remaining show the seed now that seed is we would say it's germinating scientifically but to you and me you know what that looks like it's breaking and it's cracking a lot of people are going to get into the tomb today I believe a lot of people are going to give their lives to Jesus I'm so grateful this seed doesn't have legs you know why? because if this seed had legs the moment it started to crack and break it would run out of the ground I want to grow Lord all of a sudden it starts breaking and he's like I didn't mean that and it runs off when you give your life to Jesus today I know so many of you are you might even get baptized next week which is awesome can I tell you the hardest part about being a Christian? it's not getting in it's definitely not coming out it's remaining it's staying planted while God breaks certain things inside of you so that things can come out don't run away

from the very place that God has placed you to grow you and here's the last thing listen see what God does in see what God does in this tomb moves away with the stone come on I got good news for you eventually eventually you will come out here's good news y'all you won't spend your whole life under the dirt that's good news here's the bad news but you will spend your whole life in the dirt you know when a plant gets comes out of the ground it doesn't just bounce it's like I made it once it comes out of the ground it's there it's planted and the miracle then will be this listen while God produced in you while you were still in it when you become a Christian it doesn't get easier life is still hard but the miracle is what God produces when it's hard and you're gonna be just like this guy producing fruit and you're gonna be here I didn't think that God could take anything out of that divorce but look what God produced in that divorce I didn't think God could take anything from that sickness but look what God produced in that sickness I don't think God could produce anything in the bankruptcy but look what God produced in the bankruptcy I didn't think God could produce anything in the death of my loved one but look what God did in the death of my loved one come on if you're in it but God is producing in it lift your hands today tell Him thank you Jesus for producing all over this place if you're not standing yet would you stand as we close here's the Easter message here's the Easter message listen

not only will He produce in but one day life will finally get you if you're lucky they'll call it old age if you're not so lucky they'll call it cancer if you're really not lucky they'll call it a car accident but one day no matter how much money you make no matter how many vitamins you take I don't care if you're vitamin A, B, C, D, E, F, G one day all of us and on that day people who don't know Jesus will look at you in the dirt and go his story her story has ended but you and I will know that every ending is just the beginning and just like in Genesis God will take His hands and He will put them into the dirt one last time and He will pull man from that dirt and He will pull you from that dirt and me from that dirt and we will spend eternity with God in heaven with no more tears and no more pain and no more illness and no more shame and no more depression no more anxiety No more hatred, no more violence, no more death. Listen to me, Journey Church, remain. For those who are Christians, remain. For those who are thinking about jumping in, give God one year of your life. It takes time to get planted. Every head, about every eye closed, if you're in this room today and you're going through it right now, it's hard right now, it's scary right now, will you stay planted in the ground that birthed you? What God started, he will finish. If you're in this room and you don't know Jesus,

on the count of three, I would love it if you raised your hand, if you're willing to give Jesus a chance, willing to go into the open tomb, to remain in the ground while he works in you, buries you, doesn't just bury you, but listen, but produces in you and life comes out from you because I want you to come out, but you can't come out if you don't go in. So today, would you go in with me and with all of those who made a decision in the past to give their life to Jesus, we would testify just like Jamie, what God took us out of when we went in, all over this room, if that's you on three, raise your right hand high. One, two, three, all over this room, all over Kissimmee, all over East Orlando, online right now, I see so many hands, I'm ready to go in, I wanna start a new life today, I'm ready to go in, I'm ready to give God one year of my life, amen. You can put your hand down, whether you raised it or not, I want everyone to pray this prayer out loud. Father God, I'm going in, I bury my sin, my shame, my past, my hurt, my pain, my unforgiveness, I bury the old me and I commit to remain while you work in me, because I believe that one day you will pull me out.

In Jesus name, I declare, I believe in you, you are my Lord and my Savior, amen. Come on, put your hands together. Hey, we're JJ and Liz Vasquez, we wanted to say thank you so much for watching and engaging in today's content. Maybe today you made the decision to follow Jesus, we wanna celebrate the incredible decision that you made, all you have to do is text journey to 55498, we would love to walk this journey out alongside you. Hey, and don't let the journey stop here, we'd love for you to do one of three things, subscribe, share, or support. If this ministry has blessed you at all, subscribe so you don't miss out on any new videos. Share with a friend, you never know what the people closest to you are going through, or you can choose to partner with us through generosity, which helps bring these videos to people just like you. Thank you so much for connecting with us, be blessed.