Who Is Jesus? How the Resurrected Christ Sets Us Free

As you're turning in your Bibles to John, chapter five, where we're going to be hanging out today, I just got to say what an inspiring story of God's healing power in the life of this couple. There's two things I want you to take away from this story. On one extreme, we serve a God who is still in the business of healing, amen? There are many testimonies in this room across all of our campuses of people who could say similar things, that things were looking really dire, I brought it to God, and he healed. In fact, our Bible tells us to ask and to seek and to knock. But there's something else I want you to catch from this story. There's kind of an even-if subtext to it, that even if God didn't heal, they were still going to hold onto him as hopeless and as dire as things look. God is not our cosmic vending machine, where we kind of insert our request and we tell him to do whatever it is he wants to do, because there's even probably more stories of people who love Jesus, seek Jesus, found themselves in dire circumstances, and did not get what they were praying for, and yet they held fast. And friends, I want to tell you, that's a powerful testimony, to hold onto Jesus, even in the midst of suffering, and never get what you're believing him for. The reason why we can hold on is because we may grieve, but we don't grieve as those without hope. Our hope is not tied to circumstances, it is anchored in the empty tomb. And on that note, I want to say to you, he has risen. He's risen. Indeed. Well, let me just deal with the elephant in the room, because my name is not Pastor J.D., and you're wondering what in the world's going on, Brian. We appreciate you, but where is our pastor? I just want to say about a year ago, Pastor J.D. and I were hanging out, and he just out of the blue said, hey, what do you think about taking Easter weekend 2026? And I was just baffled by it. This is the kindest gesture that's ever been extended to me in all of my pastoral ministry,

and I just want to just go on record and thank the humility of Pastor J.D. in taking the most strategic Sunday of the year and entrusting it to me. So would you just help me to publicly honor and thank Pastor J.D. Greer? Absolutely amazing. Now, he did caveat it by saying, now, you better be good, Brian. You better be good. So on that note, let me pray, and my mama would be proud of the suit. So, mom, I know you're watching online. I did this for you, pocket square and all. Let's pray. God, thank you. Thank you, Father, for the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ. Thank you for the good news of Jesus Christ, that he not only died on the cross, was not only buried in a borrowed tomb, but he got up the third day with all power in his hands. This is not just the high point of the year. It's the high point of history. History rises and falls on our response to the empty tombs. I do pray, Lord God, that you would give me great clarity of mind, concision of speech. Give me a listening ear to what you want to say, Lord God. I pray, Spirit of the living God, I know that there's people all across our campuses, Father God, who, some of them would call themselves followers of you. Some of them, this is their first time in church, Lord God. But God, I don't have the ability, the capacity in and of myself, Lord God, to address such a broad spectrum of people, but you can. And so I do pray, Lord God, that you would take my feeble attempts at articulation and that you, Lord God, would prove your word to be true, that it is living and active. So Spirit of the living God, take the seat of your word, and would you stir among the hearts of many at the Summit Church today? It's in Jesus' name I ask all of these things. Amen.

John chapter five, we're going to cover all of the chapter, but I'm only going to read verses 19 to 26 to you. Pick me up in verse 19 of John chapter five. This is Jesus talking. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will. For the father judges not. No one but has given all judgment to the Son that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Last verse. For as the Father, that's God, has life in himself so he has granted the Son, that's Jesus, also to have life in himself. Many, many years ago, I saw the film, The Wiz, not The Wizard of Oz.

It's kind of loosely based on The Wizard of Oz. This is the more soulful interpretation of The Wizard of Oz. The Wiz, ain't no Kansas here. The Wiz, Dorothy in The Wiz is played by Diana Ross and the Scarecrow is played by Michael Jackson. It's a little different but what a soulful interpretation of a timeless classic. In one of the opening scenes, we're introduced to the Scarecrow and the Scarecrow, again, played by Michael Jackson. He's strapped to this pole. He's in this predicament he can't get out of. He can't undo his situation. He's tied to this pole. And to make matters worse, there is a circle, a chorus of crows who are mocking him and jeering him. They force him to sing a song. It's a song that says, you can't win. Look at the lyrics with me. You can't win. You can't break even and you can't get out of the game. People keep saying things are gonna change but they look just like they're staying the same. You can't win. You're in over your head and you only got yourself to blame. You can't win, child. You can't win, child. You can't break even and you can't get out of the game. Ever felt like that?

Ever had moments, situations, circumstances that you just kind of take inventory of your life and you just go, I can't win. I've been there. I've been there. I've been in situations in my life where I'm going, man, I think I'm doing things the way that they should be done but problems keep showing up. By the way, when problems come to my house, they never come by themselves. They bring their aunties and uncles and play cousins and have a nice little family reunion right there on our front doorsteps. It's just one thing after another. And I just have moments in my life where it just feels like, man, I can't win. Ever been there? Sure you have. Maybe some of you, you've had moments in your marriage where you go, man, I just can't seem to win. Maybe there's moments in your singleness where you go, I just can't seem to win. Maybe there's an addiction that you're battling and you're honestly, you've got the best of intentions but this monkey has turned into a gorilla on your back and it's crushing you and it feels as if I can't win. Maybe you feel that way with your job, your career. It's not going the way that you want or maybe with your finances.

It's just one unexpected bill after another. And you're going, man, I just can't seem to win. Let's keep it a buck. Maybe parents, you felt that way with a certain child. I just can't seem to win. Can't break even. Can't get out of the game. John chapter five is gonna kick off with a guy who's simply described as an invalid. He's been that way for 38 years. I'll unpack the significance of that to you in just a few moments. But when we meet him, he's sort of like the scarecrow who is surrounded by a chorus of crows who are singing to him, you can't win. It's almost as if, if you listen to the background elevator music of our text, it feels like you can hear these crows singing to this individual. You can't win. Oh, but Jesus is going to step into his story and he's going to take him from defeat to victory. And he'll anchor all of that in the life that he gives because of the empty tomb. And the message of our text is no matter how bad. life gets, because the tomb is empty, we win. We win. Our text opens up and John gives us some details as it relates to the setting, the framing of our story. John chapter five, verse one, will you look at it with me?

John documents, after this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now the Jews had a lot of feasts in their calendar. God was always baking in seasons of celebration. He wanted them to look back on his faithfulness in their life and to pause, stop, and celebrate. But John just tells us it's a feast of the Jews. He doesn't tell us which one. Now while we don't know which one, here's what we do know about any feast of the Jews. People would come from all over the then known world and these Jews would flock to the Mecca of Jewish culture, which is Jerusalem, and the epicenter of Jerusalem was the temple, they would crowd into the temple to celebrate these kind of week-long feasts. Here's Jesus and notice he walks into town and he doesn't make a beeline for Jerusalem or even the temple, he takes a bit of a detour. John tells us this in verse two when he writes, look at it with me, now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, an Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five-roofed colonnades. In these, watch it now, lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there for a long time. He said to him, do you want to be healed? Stop right there. Jesus goes to a place called the Pool of Bethesda.

John says that it is filled with a multitude of individuals. Pool of Bethesda, it's not where you would take a spring break trip to, it's not a destination spot. You don't go there to work on your tan. It's a place of hopelessness. It's a place of helplessness. Why are they there? John would go on to say that there's a pool there and according to Jewish mythology at the time, there were moments, unpredictable moments when the waters of the pool would be stirred. It was believed to be by an angel. And the first ones to get to the pool were those who would be healed. In this sea of hopelessness, there's a little sliver of hope that, that man, if I can just get there, I'll be healed. And in this multitude of hopelessness, Jesus locks in on one particular individual. John never gives us his name. He's only described by what's ailing him. He's an invalid. And then John gives us this zinger of a detail. He's been an invalid for 30 years. Eight years. Yeah, I didn't think I'd get any oohs and aahs over that. In our culture, that's a young man. But if I'm hearing this story in the first or second century, my mouth is on the floor. Wait a minute, he's been an invalid for 38 years.

Why am I marveling at that? Because average life expectancy in Jesus' day was 25 to 30. He's been an invalid for 38 years. Let me give us some handles on this to kind of update the language a little bit. If average life expectancy is somewhere in the neighborhood of 76 years today, add eight to that, and we could very well say he's been an invalid for 84 years. In a sea of hopelessness, he is the hopeless of the hopeless. And Jesus makes a beeline to him. And if you wanna know something about Jesus, here it is, who is Jesus? The first thing our text shows us is that he is drawn to those who can't seem to win. He makes a beeline to this individual who's an invalid, 38 years, all of his life, and then some, and he walks up to him and he asks this zinger of a question, hey, do you wanna be healed? Now, y'all forgive me, I mean no disrespect to Jesus, none whatsoever. I say this with the utmost respect. Jesus, at minimum, that question seems silly, if not downright insensitive. Hey, do you want to be? I mean, it's like me walking into Wake Medical, making a beeline for the intensive care unit,

finding someone on their sickbed, pulling up a chair next to their bedside and going, hey, do you want to be better? You have to know this about Jesus. When Jesus asked questions, it's never for information. He's the all-knowing God. But when Jesus asked questions, he always asked questions to expose things. Hey, do you want to get better? Do you want to be healed, Jesus asks. His answer tells us a lot. Verse seven, look at it with me. Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I'm going under, another steps down before me. His answer, it's laced with self-pity. Self-pity. I mean, to say it another way, hey, man, I've been out here a long time. I've tried. It just is what it is. This is my lot in life. The problem with this man, it's not that he's an invalid. It's that this is his identity. And I want to submit to you on this Easter Sunday of 2026 that Jesus's question, do you want to be healed, is no more relevant than it is today in our therapeutic culture. I have a friend of mine, Trevin Wax. He's a thought leader.

He's a great communicator of the word of God. He gives this quote, look at it with me. Trevin says, there's a tendency today to place our identity in our illness, to find solace in our sickness. Sometimes the hardest thing about sickness is that it can be a part of us. The hardest thing about sickness is that it can threaten the self we have come to know. Sometimes we would rather cling to the comfort of the familiar than face the freedom of the unknown. So we live this kind of life, oh, I love this, where we always want our wounds nursed, but never healed. We just keep picking at the scab. Jesus is saying to us today, hey, I'm here. Do you wanna be healed? And this works in a million different directions. I could take it down a physiological direction. Some of us are maybe dealing with issues of depression and anxiety. And again, when I say therapeutic culture, I am not anti-therapy. I've been to therapy. Our family has benefited greatly from therapy. Our dog's gone to therapy. We love therapy. We're believers in therapy. Don't misunderstand me. My philosophy has always been pray, trust God and take your medicine.

But the problem is I've sat with so many people wrestling with depression and anxiety is that they've taken this diagnosis and they've made it an identity. You may have depression, but you are not depression. And Jesus is saying, do you wanna be healed? Others that I've sat with over the years, they've come into my office or I've met them somewhere and man, they've been hurt. They've been wounded. They've been offended. They've been wronged. And man, the offense is breathtaking. It's as if someone has taken their fist and punched them in the soul. They didn't see it coming. And man, I've grieved with them. I've tried to give them some sound wisdom and biblical advice. I've sent them to therapy as well. Work these things out. We've got a ministry here called G4 Ministry. Work these things out. Have people sit with you. But the problem is I'm just seeing is people now take what has happened to them and it's become them. And Jesus is saying, do you want to be healed? Or do you want to nurse this thing?

Now, I don't know if Jesus will miraculously heal your body of cancer like we heard in this couple's story, or if he'll miraculously heal you of depression and anxiety, I don't know. But there's another illness that he's already provided the vaccine for that is readily available to you today. For so many other people, their sin has become their identity. Whether it's the sexual choices that they make, the way they spend their money, the fact that they put their identity in their possessions, who they're in relationship with, what other people think about them, a million different ways, sin has infected all of us. And there's a guarantee I can make you. Jesus is saying to you today, you're here, I promise. Maybe someone gave you a card and invited you to church and you're in one of our campuses. And man, I'm telling you, you're not here by accident. God in his sovereignty has drawn you here, not just to hear some good music, not just to hear a preacher, but God has drawn you here and he's asking you the question when it comes to your sin. Hey, do you wanna be healed? I can do that right now. Right now, I can pull you out of your sin, take you from a road to death, do a U-turn, put you on a path of life, give you eternal life right now, I can do that.

What I've learned is you can't help people until they nod their heads and say, yeah, I'm sick of this. I'm sick of this. I want something new. And here's Jesus. So right then, after his self-pity response, Jesus says these words to him in verses eight and nine. Look at it, get up, take up your bed and walk. Where? And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked. Now, I gotta ask you a question. If you were an invalid all your life, if you were an invalid like this man for 38 years, in our context, let's say 84 years, and just like that, Jesus healed you, what would you do? What would be the first thing you would do? I can tell you, the first thing I would do, man, I'm taking a long walk in the local park, maybe I'm gonna train for a marathon, maybe take a kickboxing class, maybe I'm gonna go for a swim, I'm gonna try these new legs out, the euphoria, but it's interesting, this brother doesn't do any of that. The first thing he does, this blows my mind, the first thing he does, look at verse 14 with me on the screen. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple. What? You just got your legs healed and you're in church?

Why? Because in the law, there was a rule that said invalids could not go to the temple. In the Old Testament, the temple was the presence of God. So this man had not only spent all of his life paralyzed, but estranged from God. Don't you see there's two miracles here? Jesus fixes his felt need, but gets to his real need. My boys are in their 20s. A couple months ago, they were all home and I asked them a really vulnerable question. I said, hey, what do you remember most about your time when you were a kid in our house with dad? It felt like a great question, then as soon as I asked him, I'm like, ooh, this could go one of two directions. And I was surprised. Immediately, several of them responded, oh yeah, dad, the weekly breakfasts you took us to. I'm like, that's not the answer I was looking for. All that money I spent on Disney World, I needed you to say Disney World. I needed you to say that. They said, the weekly breakfasts you took us to. And I said, well, how long had you been gone? They said, it was a week. I said, how long had you been gone? we had with you dad. I couldn't have spent any more than 25-30 bucks at the local They said, about a week.

I said, how long were you gone? They said, about a week. Chick-fil-A, Panera Bread, or whatever. You all understand what the breakfasts were about for me. All I did was take a felt need, their physical hunger, to address their real need, connection with their father. You know what a tragedy is? For this man to get his legs healed, but never his relationship with God healed. You know what a tragedy is for this man to be doing jumping jacks while eternally separated from God. You know what a tragedy is? God to heal you of your cancer, God to rid you of depression and anxiety, Jesus to end your infertility journey by blessing you with a child, and yet he never gets your heart. In fact, the most beautiful thing that I've seen is the exact opposite. It's when God so captures a person's heart that they never get their felt need addressed, and they're okay with it. Because God, I'm not in this for the benefits package. I'm not in this for the outcomes. More than your felt need, friends. Jesus wants your real need, a heart connection to the Father. Then at the end of verse 9, John throws this zinger of a line. Oh, by the way, all of this happened on the Sabbath. So here's this guy, he's healed by Jesus on the Sabbath. He's now walking in the temple. Religious leaders now see him, and they're like, what in the world? They would have known who this guy was. He was a regular for 38 years. He was by the pool of Bethesda. They would have seen him before. All of a sudden, he's carrying his mat. Now, I got to tell you, you would think the response would be, let's high-five, let's celebrate, let's rejoice. We're going out to eat. It's on me, man. Let's rejoice. It's the Feast of the Jews, man. This is your first time being in the temple. Let's celebrate that. But no, they don't. In fact, here's their response to them, to this man. They say, verse 10, it is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.

Religious people are like referees. All they do is blow the whistle and call a foul. They never rejoice with those who rejoice. They tend to rejoice with those who grieve and grieve with those who rejoice. They're like referees. I've never seen a referee rejoice at the last-second shot. By the way, it's March Madness. We've seen a lot of last-second shots, haven't we? I won't go there, won't press this further. I've only been in the triangle for six years. I'll wait another 10 before I wade into the Duke UNC controversy. But I digress. Referees don't celebrate. All they know is it's the Sabbath. You can't work on the Sabbath. Who did this? Jesus did it. And according to the religious people, the religious people said, the only person who can work on the Sabbath is God. They then confront Jesus. What gives you the right to do this? Jesus responds in verse 17. Look at these words. My father is working until now, and I am working. Do you see what he's saying? You say God is the only one who can work on the Sabbath. Well, I'm equal to God. Who is Jesus? He's not a religion. He's not a list of rules to comply to. He's a living person to have a relationship with. If you're here today and you're like, and something is starting to stir in me about this Jesus thing, but tell me more. I'm not offering you religion. I'm offering you a real person who wants to have a real relationship with you. You all know the story of Joseph Jackson, the father of Michael Jackson and his brothers. Early on, Joseph Jackson sees that Michael and his brothers have a lot of talent. He says, man, I got to leverage this. This could be our ticket out of Gary, Indiana. And so as the story goes, Joseph Jackson would come home from work. I think he worked in the steel mills. He'd go home to his little kind of home there in Gary, Indiana. He'd push the furniture to the side of the room. Then he would demand that Michael and his brothers all do the dance steps. He would demand that they'd put on a performance. He would demand that they would go over the choreography while he stood there

and watched with belt in hand. Because if they missed a step, there were severe consequences. On one level, it worked. As abusive as that is, it worked. Michael Jackson became the greatest performer of all time. Worked. But I don't know if you ever caught it, when Michael would be interviewed and they'd ask him about his dad, he never called his dad, dad. He only called him Joseph. In fact, in a 2001 speech that Michael gave at Oxford University, I think you should Google it and read it. In tears, he said, in essence, I was longing for a dad, but all I got was Joseph. So I'm going to talk to religious people. Come to church. Maybe you come to Summit all the time. Maybe you're an out-of-town guest, you go to your church. I mean, you're consistent. You got your quiet times, you're reading your Bible, you're praying, you're journaling. Maybe you're in a small group. Wonderful. Here's the question. God's got your feet, you're doing the steps. Does he have your heart? For too many religious people, God is not dad, he's Joseph. Someone you're afraid of. Let me do the right things. And here's the irony of our text. The invalid who was away from the temple ends up closer to the father than the

religious people who are in the temple every day. The resurrection is not just for people at the frat house. It's not just for people who acknowledge I'm away from God. It's also for church-attending, Scripture-quoting, Bible-toting people who are under the illusion they have a relationship with God, when in reality, all he has is your feet, not your heart. So maybe God wants to save some people today who think they're saved. So Jesus says, in essence, how I'm able to heal this man on the Sabbath? Because you say, God gets to work. Well, he's my father, and I'm equal to him, so I'm working. The message here is that Jesus is of equal status with God, and they don't like this. Who is Jesus finally? Jesus, it's clear, he is God. Look at their reaction right after Jesus making this astounding claim in verse 17. Look at the reaction. This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father. Here's the key phrase, making himself equal with God. Jesus is like, man, don't get it twisted. I'm not just a historical figure. I'm not just a good teacher. I'm not just a rabbi. I'm not just a prophet. I am God. This is the message of John. It's the message of the gospel. It's the message of Christianity. It's the message of all of life. Our faith rises and falls on the deity, the godness of Christ. Thanks for the golf clap.

Appreciate it. Good practice. The masters is coming up next week. Love it, love it, love it. And then Jesus digs deeper. Verses 20 to 21, he says, for the father loves his son and shows him all that he himself is doing and greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel for as the father raises the dead and gives him life. So also the son gives life to whom he will. Do you see the veiled reference he's making to the resurrection and how he's anchoring his ability to give life and fresh starts and do what he did with the invalid on the Sabbath? It is anchored in the resurrection. Just a few chapters later in chapter 11, he gets the news that Lazarus, his friend has died and his sisters are grieving. And he says to his sisters these words, look at it with me, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? He says, I'm the resurrection. Here's the good news of the gospel. The gospel begins with the devastating news that all of us are sinners. Behold, David says, we were born in iniquity and in sin did our mother conceive us. He says, I came into this world a sinner. Brooklyn theologian by the name of Biggie. Biggie says, born sinner, the opposite of a winner. I'm here to tell you, Biggie, that's good theology. I didn't know if Biggie would work here. You've never heard a Biggie reference on Easter.

I better keep it moving. Our sins had separated us from God. Now, all of the religions would acknowledge a similar sentiment, but what they would say is to close the gap, I have to work myself up to God. Christianity is the exact opposite. It says you can't work yourself up to God, but God worked himself down to you. And the person of Jesus Christ, and on the cross, he took all of our sins, everything I've ever said, done, thought, am, thinking, doing, saying, will, think, do, and say. All of our sins, past, present, and future, it was laid on him, and we call it Good Friday because he didn't stay in the grave, but early Sunday morning, he got up with all power in his hands. That's what makes Friday good. And then Jesus ends. He says, let me give you five proofs that this is true. I'll just call five witnesses. You can read it for yourself. He says, I'm God, by the way. I don't know why this is popping in my mind. Have you noticed in American history that it seems like everybody who claimed to be God, David Koresh, Jim Jones, they all claimed to be God, but they wore glasses at the same time. You can't be my Messiah and go to LensCrafters. I need my Messiah to have 20-20 vision.

Jesus does not, he's not wearing glasses. Here's his witnesses. God testifies to me. He'll go on to say John the Baptist bears witness to me. He'll go on to say my works testify to me. He'll go on to say the scriptures, that's the Old Testament in that day, they bear witness to me. And then he'll end by saying Moses, the most revered figure in Jewish history, he wrote of me, he testified to me, and he gets finished with all of that and drops the mic. It's the end. He's done. He's done. It's kind of awkward silence. There's no Q&A. And I think in the silence, Jesus is saying, what are you gonna do with me? I'm telling you who I am. I'm God. You're just gonna go have brunch and act like nothing's happened? What are you gonna do with me? A guy by the name of Lee Strobel, he wrestled with that question. Lee Strobel is an investigative journalist, an atheist. He said one day, his words, the bottom fell out of my life. He said, my wife became a Christian. I'm an atheist, my wife becomes a Christian.

That was not the plan. So he says, I'm an investigative journalist, so I decide what I'll do is I'll use all my investigative journalist techniques and I'm gonna dismantle this Christ person. So for two years, two years, he hopped on planes, flew around the world, looked at original archeological evidence, interviewed the top experts in the world, all for the purpose of dismantling Christ. But at the end of it, he said, I couldn't deny his words, the avalanche of evidence that Christ actually existed and was who he claimed himself to be, God. He wrote a book called The Case for Christ, one of the most compelling books you can read. But Lee had to do the work to say, what am I gonna do with him? What am I gonna do with him? My concern is some of you all, what you just heard, it's sort of like a novel. I'm holding my book, a great novel, Theo of Golden. Don't know if you've read it. If you haven't read it, you should. Best novel I've read in 15 years. Everyone I've recommended it to has called me up and said, oh, in tears, Brian, this is amazing. But one person, that one person, I won't tell you their name, their initials are JD. Literally, he said, eh, eh, pray for his faith, y'all.

But for some of you, what you've just heard, it's like a novel, man, it's a good story. It's entertaining. But I'm not gonna surrender my life, it's fiction. Others of you, you'll take it a step further. What you just heard is kind of like reading a good biography. I got this biography, The Accidental Presidents on Harry Truman. Biography is my favorite way to people watch. Every time I read a biography, I'm always amazed at the complexity of humanity. And I'm always looking at these people going, yeah, there's some exemplary things, areas, pockets of their lives. I wanna learn from that, I wanna grow in that. But I've never read a biography and said, I wanna follow this guy. Because most biographies I read, they died and are still in their grave. Some of you all, what you just heard, it's like a textbook. When a student engages a textbook, they wanna absorb the material, they wanna internalize the material, they wanna master the material. Why? Because this is going to help me to get the life I want. Textbooks are a means to an end, they're not the end. And sadly for so many people,

Jesus is nothing more than a textbook. He's a means to the life you want. He's not the life you want. But at the end of the day, Jesus is not a novel. He's not a biography, he's not a textbook. He's the living word of God. John begins his gospel by saying, in the beginning, speaking of Jesus was the word. And the word was with him. And the word was with him. And the word was with him. And the word was with him. And the word was with God. And the word was God. This word is living and active. And I promise you as I'm speaking, something is stirring in you. And his name is Jesus. Would you bow your heads with me right now? No matter where you are, would you just bow your heads? I promise you didn't come here by accident. You're here by divine intention. And Jesus is saying to you, do you wanna be healed? The healing he wants to offer you immediately is the healing and forgiveness of your sins. If you're here today and you would say, Brian, I can't deny it, something is stirring in me. You may know that you're far from God or you may be a religious person

who thought you were close to God, but something is stirring. And you're saying, yeah, I wanna be healed. I wanna invite this Jesus into my life for an encounter with the same way the invalid did. I want a relationship. I don't want religion as much as I want a relationship with Jesus. If that's you, no matter where you may be, you may be in this room or one of our other campuses, would you slip your hand in the air? I want a relationship. Yes, I see you. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm gonna pray a prayer. And I wanna encourage you to make this prayer your own. Dear God, I acknowledge to you that I, like everyone else in this place, is a sinner. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to die in my place for my sins. I surrender my life to him. Clean me up, make me new by the resurrection power of the empty tomb. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen.