Crowned
Pastor David T. Elms 4/20/2025
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31:33
Summary
In this Easter message, Pastor David T. Elms explores how Jesus exchanged a crown of thorns for our crown of mortality, offering a definitive solution to the problem of death. He challenges listeners to move beyond a superficial faith and embrace a transformative relationship with the risen Christ that restores our original purpose and dominion.
Key points
- •Humanity was originally created for glory and dominion, described by the Psalmist as being 'crowned with glory and honor' and eventually judging angels.
- •The central problem of human existence is mortality and the 'slow claws of dying,' which society tries to postpone through military, medical, and emergency infrastructure.
- •The 'crowned' theme connects the crown of thorns (suffering) to the crown of life (victory), showing that Jesus took on the crown of pain to restore our original purpose.
- •The resurrection is the only credible solution to the 'death problem,' moving beyond 'Participation Trophy' spirituality to a transformative relationship that breaks addictions and restores families.
Scripture
Resurrection
Mortality
Restoration
Easter
Life application
This week, stop trying to merely postpone the reality of death or struggle through your own strength; instead, acknowledge a specific area of 'brokenness' or 'selfishness' to God and ask for the same Spirit that raised Christ to give you new life.
Reflection questions
- When you consider the infrastructure we build to postpone death (hospitals, militaries, etc.), how does that change your perspective on the importance of the Resurrection?
- Pastor Elms mentioned that we often try to avoid funerals or thinking about death. How does facing our mortality help us live more 'on purpose' today?
- What 'crown' are you currently wearing? Is it one of your own making, or are you accepting the restoration Jesus offers through His sacrifice?
- In what practical ways have you seen the 'Spirit that raised Christ' transform your habits, addictions, or relationships?
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Full transcript
0:00crown. It seems odd when we read the
0:00scripture how God
0:02describes the excellent name that he has
0:05given. He talks in Psalm number eight
0:08about how when David the psalmist looks
0:13at the heavens and sees all the splendor
0:17of the starlit night, he said, "What is
0:20man that thou art mindful of him or the
0:24son of man that thou visitth him or that
0:28you care for him?" And then there is
0:31this
0:32description of God's work on the earth.
0:37Says, "You have made him a little lower
0:40than the angels and crowned him with
0:45glory and
0:47honor. How is man lower than the
0:51angels?" Well, there's several ways. I
0:53know my wife thinks I'm an angel all the
0:55time. And I appreciate her for that. And
0:58I'm glad to be a pastor that knows
1:00biblically there are no female angels in
1:03the Bible. And so if any man calls his
1:06wife an angel, he is not in the
1:08scripture. You got to be biblical and
1:11the truth will set you free.
1:14But uh I just a Bible preacher. Yes, I
1:18am.
1:21But I I I say that in joy really. But we
1:26the the way we know that we're lower
1:28than the angels is the fact that we have
1:30to deal with death. Now I'm not going to
1:32be morbid today, but the essence of life
1:35is realizing where we came from, why
1:37we're here, and where we're going. And
1:40when you really begin to grapple with
1:42those questions, that's when you start
1:44realizing, am I on purpose, and am I on
1:47task? The disease is a derivative of
1:51death and the slow claws of dying seem
1:55to appear in our lives. As you grow
1:57older, you begin to bury your parents or
1:59your friends and life goes on. I was a
2:02pawbearer when I was 15. My dear friend
2:05Andy Fernald had a wreck in his car and
2:08did not survive it. And I for the first
2:11time as a 15year-old realized just how
2:13heavy a casket is. And it's a sobering
2:16thought. And in America, we're not
2:18really good with dealing with death.
2:19It's something we would like to avoid,
2:21and me included. But if I'm going to
2:24live in life in the wholeness of real
2:26life, I've got to understand there's an
2:28entropy and an echo of mortality that
2:31comes upon all of us. And when we start
2:34realizing how we're going to make it
2:36through life and we start asking the big
2:38questions, we wonder, are we really
2:40ready for what tomorrow looks like? Now,
2:43you can imagine that tomorrow, and when
2:44I say tomorrow, I'm not talking about
2:46Monday. I'm talking about life after
2:48death. You can either imagine it's
2:49rainbows and butterflies. You can
2:51imagine it's unicorns and uh hot bowls
2:54of chili. You can imagine it like all
2:56dogs go to heaven. You sit around on
2:58clouds and uh play the harp. Uh whatever
3:01you want to imagine. But I'm not going
3:03to create some fantastical idea of what
3:07tomorrow looks like. I would rather deal
3:09in reality. And there is several that I
3:12could grapple with. And honestly, there
3:14are many people who don't think very
3:15hard about what is afterlife. Uh uh
3:19because it's one of those things that
3:21they don't really buy into a a a story
3:24that is given. None of them they have
3:25bought into. It's like when Bubba
3:27Watson's Watson won the Masters several
3:29years back. He made one of the greatest
3:31quotes I've ever heard. He had won the
3:33Masters. And when you win the Masters
3:35golf tournament in Augusta, Jord
3:37Georgia, I know many of you don't know
3:39what I'm talking about right now, so I
3:40just want to share with you. It's a golf
3:42tournament. uh in Ma in Georgia. It's
3:44the number one golf tournament
3:45celebrated in the world. And when you
3:46win it, they give you a great reward.
3:49It's called the green jacket. And when
3:52you get a green jacket, that's the big
3:54deal. And you know, it's amazing the
3:56games people play. You play four days,
3:59do amazing thing, you get a jacket
4:00that's green. Who wears a green
4:03coat? But it is substantial. And when
4:05Bubba Watson won that, they asked him
4:08about the interview afterwards at the at
4:10the uh cabin where they give this green
4:12jacket away. They said, "Bubba, uh what
4:14what do you have to say about this
4:16situation?" And I think one of the
4:17greatest uh quotes I'd ever heard and a
4:20sports event, my wife always jokes with
4:22me anytime I listen to a coach
4:24interviewed or players interviewed,
4:26she's like saying, "You know, they say
4:27the dumbest things every time. They they
4:30ask the dumbest questions. Look what
4:32this question is." And it's like, "Yeah,
4:33I guess you're right." to a certain
4:35degree they how does this make you feel?
4:37Well, I just
4:38won. But Bubba Watson answered and and
4:41it thought so good. He said, you know, I
4:43never got this far in my dreams to know
4:46what to say. And I think that's a very
4:49accurate depiction of our life much of
4:51the time when we're go walking through
4:53life and we think, I'm just trying to
4:54make it to Monday. What is life going to
4:57be like? Can I find a happy marriage?
4:59Can I find a happy home? Can I raise
5:01happy children? are these processes that
5:04I have in my life and in my world.
5:06Easter is a celebration of the
5:09instruments of death, though. It's
5:11crazy. You just saw a a a depiction of
5:15Calvary and it was so bloody and brutal
5:17and they're putting a man up on a cross
5:19and we're all standing around saying,
5:21"Hallelujah. I love you, Jesus." And you
5:23got this crown. That's no crown. That's
5:26the weaving together of all kinds of
5:28pain. And we've got these things
5:30memorialized and remembered and we're
5:33thinking what is it that they talk about
5:35a man who got whipped and they said it
5:37was for my healing or a crown but it's
5:39made out of thorns so they spit upon him
5:42and mocked him. A cross, nails, spear in
5:46the side. What is this all about? Well,
5:48here's what it is about. We are asking
5:51the big question. Is there a solution
5:54for the death problem? Now what do we do
5:57as a human race to po postpone death?
6:01It's crazy how many layers we have to
6:03shield us from death. We've got first of
6:06all think in a meta narrative way. We've
6:08got these groupings together of nations
6:11supposedly allies. There's these blocks
6:14that come together that supposedly bring
6:16security for their people. the United
6:18Nations is this idea that we can come
6:20together and talk and have peace and
6:23somehow by doing so we can push death
6:26down the road and then we as a nation we
6:29get a military and the stronger our
6:31military is the better we feel for the
6:33security of our children's peace and
6:35then if you take it down a notch you
6:37have the police force which is more
6:39local but it is militarized so that we
6:42can help postpone death for people and
6:45then after the police way down there
6:46we've got the firefighters
6:51I think I pastor more firefighters than
6:53police officers. I'm not sure. I've got
6:55quite a few of both in the church. And
6:57I'm joke with you, but I'm not the
6:58firefighters chaplain. So, I've got to
7:00keep my spot.
7:02But the firefighters are the first ones
7:04you dial 911 and they're the ones that
7:07are going to come and generally be
7:08playing a major role in saving a life.
7:11and they've got all kinds of equipment
7:13and and material and and trucks and and
7:16things to help postpone death. And then
7:19you get down from that, we've got this
7:21World Health Organization which studies
7:23disease and plagues and the Center for
7:26Disease Control. And then we've got
7:27hospitals. And after hospitals, we've
7:29got clinics and after clinics, we've got
7:32people that will come to your home and
7:34visit you. What are all this
7:35infrastructure for? The infrastructure
7:39is to postpone death. And we've got
7:41vehicles that are made for speed. And
7:43they've got all kinds of equipment
7:44coming that can come to your house. And
7:46if that's not fast enough, we've got
7:48helicopters on standby that at any
7:51moment one of our officers could radio
7:53and the helicopter could land in the
7:55parking lot to get you to postpone death
7:57sooner. The infrastructure of life is
8:00crazy. And yes, I'm thankful for it.
8:03It's all standing by at just a phone
8:07call. Why? because we want to stop
8:10death. We want to live. And why this
8:13holiday talking about a man dying so
8:16much? The reason is is because he deals
8:19with this death problem. So that I could
8:23understand my place in the world and
8:25know am I just going to end up like
8:27Jordan Peterson said in his 12 laws of
8:29life that life is ultimately that men
8:31need to come to grips with the fact that
8:33life ultimately is going to end with
8:36here
8:38lies. What are you going to have on your
8:40granite? Oh, so you don't have granite.
8:45here
8:46lies. I know it's morbid and I'm not
8:49trying to be morbid, but in the big
8:52picture of things, we've got to deal
8:53with why do I exist? What am I doing on
8:57this earth? Where did we come from? Am I
8:59just a s a a a being that evolved from
9:02realms and cycles? Did cosmic cycles get
9:05me here and processes where my soul was
9:08reincarnated across decades and cycles
9:12of time? Did I just evolve from random
9:16collisions of molecules that came
9:19through chemical reactions and I came
9:21out of the the beginning processes of
9:24just chemicals come together? Or is
9:27conscience more than that? Is it the
9:29result of chaotic
9:32fortune? Or is there evidence for more?
9:36Well, nobody did what this guy we saw
9:40beat up today do.
9:42Nobody said, "I'm going to
9:46die and in three days I'm going to
9:49rise." Now, that alone is pretty big
9:51stuff. I mean, Harry Houdini, who none
9:54of y'all know because you're all too
9:55young for
9:56that. But Harry Houdini was one of the
9:59great escape artists in America's
10:01history. And he literally told his wife
10:04that I'm going to escape death. And if
10:06you guys can have seances and I'll give
10:08you two secret words that after I die,
10:11if anybody tells you those words, then
10:14you'll know I will have communicated
10:16from the dead. And they held seances
10:19throughout different places in America,
10:21literally waiting for the voice of Harry
10:23Houdini to speak to his beloved wife to
10:26get the words back, I made it back. And
10:30they finally quit just because of lack
10:32of a voice. Because it's one thing to
10:35die. It's another thing to come back
10:38knowing the people you knew in a manner
10:40that they knew you and could recognize
10:44you and say, "Hey, there's something
10:47after the death event." What an amazing
10:50thing. And the Bible gives us this truth
10:53of a man who came to a God who came to
10:56earth. That alone blows my brain. A God
10:59who came to earth and then became a man.
11:02And as a man, he became a a replacement
11:06for my wrongs, a replacement for my
11:09mess, a replacement for my selfishness.
11:12I know nobody here's selfish. I'm the
11:14one here. But I'm telling you, I have
11:16some selfish junk that my life has
11:19carried with it. Times I've made
11:21tremendous errors. And in those
11:23processes of errors, what is going to be
11:26done about my problems? Is it just an
11:28I'm sorry?
11:31Husbands, do you ever try that on your
11:32wife? Well, I'm
11:35sorry. H wives, you don't ever do that
11:38to your husbands, do you? Well, I'm
11:41sorry. Don't come to me for counseling.
11:43All of you that have been in my
11:44counseling, you know that's never
11:46acceptable. No, you cannot walk up and
11:48say, "Well, I'm sorry." That means I'm
11:50not, but I'm through dealing with it, so
11:51get out of my
11:55face. There's a more vulnerable way to
11:57approach this thing. Let's I was wrong.
11:59Will you forgive
12:02me? Let's pump those
12:05brakes. You mean I've got to be
12:07vulnerable in this process of
12:09restoration? That's the difference.
12:13Jesus came and said, "I'm not going to
12:15just be good for you." So you good for
12:18nothings. None of y'all, just
12:21me, can get by with just a lollipop and
12:24a smile. No, I'm going to make myself
12:27the sacrifice because I know you're
12:29going to make some blunders. But if
12:31you'll come to me, if you'll say,
12:34"Jesus, I need your sacrifice. I need
12:39that stuff that they did to you. I need
12:42it on me." He said, "It is not my will
12:44that any should perish, but that all
12:47should come to
12:49repentance." That means I'm I'm the one
12:51who who was wrong. I know a bunch of
12:53dudes who are wrong and they just think
12:55they ought to be able to walk by and go
12:56a day and it's all fixed.
12:59I got a lot of help on female voices
13:01right now in this place. It's amazing
13:04the help I have in the house right now.
13:06Women I haven't heard in months just
13:08said amen.
13:14But this process of saying, "Okay, how
13:17can I get that spotless, sinless,
13:20errorfree life applied to me?" That's
13:24the glory of Easter. That's why I'm
13:27willing to stand underneath this
13:30beautifully ugly.
13:34I mean, if you're going to build a
13:35church, don't put this in it.
13:38Did not anybody get the memo? We're not
13:42supposed to celebrate the
13:46pain. That looks like pain to me.
13:49They've even gone so far as to depict
13:51the throne. The thorns have some blood
13:54on
13:55them. Don't they know we're in the 21st
14:00century? Except every one of you know
14:03that without a sacrifice there is no
14:05redemption. Every nation, every culture,
14:09every person knows sacrifices must be
14:12made for applications to work. And this
14:16sacrifice comes along. And so here's
14:18this Easter story, this story of Jesus
14:21of Nazareth, who they mocked. They
14:23dressed in a purple robe robe. They
14:25called him king of the Jews. They
14:26laughed while he's being killed. And
14:29they gamble over his garment. They know
14:32he doesn't belong in the exclusive club
14:34of crowns. He's got no business wearing
14:37a crown. His daddy was just a carpenter.
14:40He's not a king. But this sick sense of
14:43humor gets them to go and get this
14:46plant this
14:48Zifus Christi. Yes, that's exactly what
14:52that
14:53is. That is the formal name of the
14:58plant. It's a real plant. It really
15:02exists.
15:03flourishes as an evergreen in the Middle
15:06East. And they took this and they put
15:09this crown of pain on his head as a
15:14crown. Who would do such a ridiculous
15:16thing? Except that when you go back to
15:19our text and read what David the
15:21psalmist saw, there was no Calvary.
15:23There was no story of Jesus in the
15:25king's day. He had no song about a cross
15:28and a man dying with a ground. No. But
15:30he said men were made a little lower
15:34than the angels. That wasn't their first
15:37place. The Bible tells us that when
15:39we're re uh born and we're crowned
15:42again, we will judge the
15:45angels. I mean, I don't know what school
15:48you go to for that. I know the Florida
15:50Gators think that they
15:52apply but
15:54no, I'm always picking on the Gator. I
15:57better pick on the seinals in the
15:58church, too. Here's the thing. None of
16:01us have the wisdom to judge an angel.
16:05But in your original creation, you were
16:07created for
16:09dominion. Well, is that coming back? And
16:12that's the whole story of it all. When
16:14you and I fall, we lose the crown that
16:19was bequeathd to us by the original
16:21creation. But when we fell down, he took
16:24a different kind of crown, a crown of
16:27pain. so that somehow I could get access
16:31to my original intention. And the
16:34original creation of God was that he
16:36made you and me. He made mankind out of
16:39dust and dirt and breathed life into us
16:42so that he could commune with us and not
16:45just give us a blessing as servants, but
16:48give us a coronation as sons and
16:51daughters.
16:53How do I get coronated? How do I on
16:56Listen, I know nowadays everybody's
16:59encouraging everybody. Kids play soccer.
17:02Don't score a go. Don't score a goal.
17:04And get participation trophies. I'm not
17:07a fan of it. I never was and I never
17:10will be. Go home, cry. You lost and get
17:14better.
17:16[Applause]
17:22Losing teaches you more than winning,
17:24ladies and gentlemen.
17:27And so here's my deal. I don't want to
17:30just soft soak this church and tell you
17:33just because you showed up with a smile,
17:36all is well. You got a throne and a
17:38crown coming. No, no, no, no. You've got
17:40to understand the price he paid was so
17:43that you could be redeemed, restored,
17:46rebuilt, reconstructed, realigned. You
17:50can be renewed, made a new creature. Old
17:53things passed away. Behold, all things
17:57become new. The things that I used to be
18:00addicted to, I'm not addicted to
18:03anymore. The things that used to drive
18:05me, they don't compel me anymore. The
18:08way I used to treat people has been
18:11transformed because of new life put in
18:14me.
18:16I'm talking to folks right now that used
18:18to be addicted to drugs and now you're
18:21free. I'm talking to people right now
18:23who you could not get past 9 in the
18:26morning without already drinking alcohol
18:28and you have been delivered. You've been
18:31sober for tens and 20 and 30 years
18:35because of what? Not because the
18:36preacher's cute.
18:41Not because the band is popping,
18:44not because we got a good location in
18:46South Florida.
18:48Not because I bring scriptures and nice
18:50poetry to you. None of that has power.
18:53That's just hot air. Unless the spirit
18:56of the God who looked death in the eye
18:59and said, "I have known of you. I know
19:02where you come from and I have power
19:05over you. You will not destroy
19:09me. Death, where is your sting? Grave,
19:14where is your victory? Musicians are
19:16coming right now. So, what is the
19:17takeaway on this Easter 2025? The
19:21takeaway from this sermon is that you
19:24were made to be superior to
19:26angels. You were made to judge angels.
19:30You are not just made for some 70 to 80
19:34years on the earth. Thank God for those
19:37who make it that long. Some don't make
19:39it that long. Some die very young. But
19:41the story of this earth is not here
19:44lies. The story of this earth is you're
19:47going to live forever somewhere. And you
19:48can go on in your selfishness and
19:50completely say that's the nice fantasy
19:52of Christianity. That's wonderful fables
19:55and I'm glad you got that worldview.
19:57Sounds like Disney to me. And that's
19:58okay. But you're going to have to still
20:02face death. And it's like Woody Allen
20:07said. He said, "I'm not afraid of dying.
20:09I just don't want to be there when it
20:16happens."
20:18Yeah. Well, it's going to happen. Three
20:22months ago, I laid my dad to rest. And
20:24in that process, you never know when
20:26death's going to come up. And of course,
20:27my calling gets me close to death
20:30whenever it's coming by. And I'm many
20:32times by bedsides in this process. And
20:35it isn't easy. You know, our western
20:37mentality doesn't prepare us to think
20:39about dying very well at all. We're
20:41really uh ignorant as a nation. And I'm
20:43not calling people names, but as a
20:45nation, we don't handle death very much.
20:47If we can avoid going to a funeral,
20:48we're going to find anything to excuse
20:51oursel from the funeral. If there's
20:53never are we going to go to a wake, why
20:55go to the funeral home? No way. I'm not
20:57touching that. You even look, not you,
20:58but some look the other way even when
21:00they go through
21:01cemeteries. You know, as a kid in when I
21:04was in junior high school, I ran home. I
21:07wanted to be like Bruce Jenner. I don't
21:08know if anybody has found him lately. I
21:10can't find him, but Bruce Jenner was one
21:12of my
21:12favorites. I loved Bruce Jenner. I'm
21:15telling you, Bruce Jenner was one of my
21:17heroes.
21:19And I would run and run and I watched
21:21all the special on Bruce Jenner and I
21:24would run and I had to leave Eastway
21:25Junior High School and go home to
21:27Carriage Drive and there's a cemetery
21:30right beside Eastway Junior High School
21:32that was on the way home and I'm telling
21:33you my my running time got down low low.
21:38And I'm not saying I was afraid to walk
21:39through the cemetery. There were just
21:41moments you
21:43know, I got some good
21:46speed running through a
21:48cemetery. But if you get to know the
21:51truth of Jesus Christ, the fact is that
21:54no one gets to wig out when you want to.
21:58Oh, people can try homicide, suicide,
22:02all kinds of sides. You can do all kinds
22:05of things to say, "I'll stop life." But
22:07you can't stop life. You can stop the
22:11body from living, but your soul will
22:14live
22:15forever. Now, what do you want to think
22:18happens after that? What you think
22:21doesn't mean that's what's going to
22:23happen. So, I've got to find the most
22:25credible
22:27source of the one who died after he
22:31lived and he said, "I'm going to die and
22:34in three days I'm going to raise up."
22:36The reason his story has so much
22:38credibility is not because I like
22:40Nazareth. It's not because I'm fond of
22:43the name Jesus. It's not because he was
22:46born in the Middle East. I'm not fond of
22:49him because shepherds came to his birth.
22:52I'm not fond of him because a star
22:54hovered over his manger. I had a star
22:57over my manger, by the way. I don't know
23:00which one. There were about a million
23:01billion, but they were there.
23:04Why do I care about this man named
23:07Jesus? Why is he important to me when
23:09I've never been a Jew in my life and he
23:11was a Jew? Why should I care about
23:14someone who's never been to South
23:16Florida? Because he's the only man in
23:19the history of the entire world who ever
23:22said, "I'm a man." And they slept and
23:24they fed and they fished and they walked
23:28and he loved people. And all those
23:30people around him thought he was some
23:31special. Good for them. Means nothing to
23:34me. And they were around when he died.
23:37Wow. I've been with people when they
23:40died. I hate
23:42it. What makes him different? The
23:45difference is is that when he rose from
23:48the dead, he didn't say, "I'm just
23:50coming back for the Jews," or, "I'm just
23:52coming back for the Americans." Or, "I'm
23:55just coming back for the South
23:57Africans." Or, "I'm just coming back for
23:59the South Americans." In one month, I'm
24:01preaching in Cape Town, and I'm going to
24:04go down there, a city that, you know, a
24:06part of the world that's getting a lot
24:07of press here in America. But I'm going
24:09down there because you know what? In the
24:11middle of the most chaos in the world,
24:14Jesus walks in and says, "I know why you
24:16live. I know why you're here. And I can
24:19give you a hope that will stand the test
24:23of time." And when if you have that same
24:26spirit that raised up Christ from the
24:29dead in you, it shall also quicken your
24:35mortal
24:36bodies. I was the first one to see my
24:39daddy after he had come out and went to
24:41the funeral home. And the lady showed
24:43me, she said, "He's in there." So I
24:45walked in to where daddy was. I walked
24:48up to his casket and I just talked to
24:51him like he was there. I said, "Hey,
24:53Dad.
24:55Well, we made
24:58it. Mom's coming. Nathan will be here in
25:01a minute. I'm going to get mom's chair.
25:03Set it over here by you. I walked up to
25:06him and I looked at his shirt and I
25:08adjusted the collar. I want it to be
25:11tight. I took his neck tie. I said,
25:14"Here, Daddy. Let me get this right." He
25:17was wearing a neck tie that I gave him.
25:19I said, "I remember buying this, Daddy.
25:23I didn't
25:24think I bought it for
25:27you. I tightened it up. Said, "Let's get
25:31that little dimple." You know, the
25:32dimple right there. Said, "Dad, I want
25:34your dimple to be perfect." So, I put
25:37the little dimple in the neck tie
25:39perfectly. Tighten it up. I reached down
25:42and the hair was a little flatter than I
25:45liked. So, I kind of puffed it. I said,
25:46"Dad, here. You always liked a little
25:48bit extra of hair there. God gave me
25:52some great hair. I reached down and I
25:55touched those hands that taught me how
25:58to play
25:58raetball. Taught me how to shoot a gun.
26:02Taught me how to go
26:03fishing. Taught me how to
26:06pray. Taught me so many things. I patted
26:09those cold
26:12hands. I am not being morbid when I tell
26:17you that man. I will know him as I knew
26:24him because of this book right here. I
26:28don't have to figure out what he is or
26:29where he's at. I don't have to find his
26:31new GPS location. I know this. If that
26:34same spirit that raised up Jesus from
26:37the dead dwell in
26:44me. So my question to you is, does it
26:47dwell in you today?
26:50It's for you.
26:53I'm not talking about you praying a
26:54prayer after me. No. I'm talking about
26:57you building a
27:00relationship. Not a burden. Got a got a
27:03right. Got a call. No, no, not a burden
27:05relationship. I'm talking about a
27:07relationship of one that you know he
27:10really
27:12helps. He really comes through.
27:17He really makes your home a place of
27:22peace. He really fixes a
27:27marriage. Does he fix a marriage? Say it
27:31into the
27:33microphone. 36 years he's kept me and
27:36her and you he keeps. It's not about us.
27:40It's about all of us. It's about knowing
27:44that there's a reason to rise and dream
27:49and know that I
27:51celebrate the crown of
27:54thorns because it
27:56means I shall be crowned in
28:01dominion to rule and reign in peace and
28:07plenty in a
28:09world to come. Oh, we're not there
28:13yet. I know this sounds so
28:16cheeky.
28:18No, we're still in a world of
28:21evil. We're still in a world where
28:24shooters are going to our schools and
28:27killers are abusing children. We're
28:30still in a world that's filled with evil
28:33and brokenness.
28:35But the promises of Jesus is that
28:38there's coming a day that there will be
28:40a great
28:42interruption. A disruptions coming to
28:45this world and every low place shall be
28:48brought up and every high place shall be
28:51brought low and the crooked shall be
28:54made straight and all evil shall be shut
28:58down and all peace shall rise. And he'll
29:02take our weakness and give us strength.
29:05He'll take our tears and give us
29:08rejoicing. He'll take our
29:10temptations and put us in
29:14victory. Not because of my
29:17goodness, but because I
29:23accessed his
29:24goodness. Shall we stand every how head
29:27bowed, please? Standing all over this
29:30building. I'm about to open this altar.
29:32And when I do so, you have a brokenness
29:35that is private. Nobody needs to know
29:37about it. I don't want you to admit to
29:40it. But you have been inundated and
29:45overwhelmed with this pressure. And you
29:49know, it just doesn't seem to go away.
29:53And you're wanting a real hope. I'm not
29:58offering you a cute prayer to repeat
29:59after me today. I'm offering to you a
30:03chance to start being
30:06real. An
30:08opportunity to get honest with the God
30:12of heaven, whose name is Jesus, who
30:17said, "In your weakness, I will give you
30:20strength. I will take your
30:23brokenness and give you hope. And I will
30:27give you
30:28life, not just now, but
30:32forever. Because I
30:34died, you shall
30:39live. Oh Lord, every man and woman in
30:42this place today has come on this Easter
30:44because they want to love you. They're
30:47not here because they don't love you.
30:49Every one of them are in this place
30:51because they respect your promise. They
30:55respect your goodness. They want to know
30:57more about you. Let this day be the
31:00significant beginning of their life as
31:04they start to soar and become what they
31:07were created to be.
31:09Overcomers, victors, world changers,
31:13people who propagate joy and hope and
31:16healing in Jesus name I pray. I'm going
31:20to open this altar as is our custom. If
31:23you would like to come and join me as we
31:26come to the Lord in worship for a little
31:29while, why don't we all take that step