Children, first of all, you're dismissed at Children's Church, and you will be brought back before the service is over. Everyone else, let's open up our Bibles together. We are in the Gospel of John. We've been going through Matthew so long, I almost said turn to Matthew. We are in the Gospel of John today, John chapter 20. John chapter 20, we are going to read the whole chapter over the course of the sermon, except for like the last verse or two. But for right now, we're only going to read the first 10 verses. Now in the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen clothes lying there and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. Let's pray. Father, we come before you today, and we acknowledge sometimes that familiarity can breed contempt, and it can lead to just a comfort level of a story that we fail to appreciate how remarkable what we're reading today is. So we pray, God, not that the story has to change, but that, Lord, you would open up our eyes and ears and hearts and that we would change. and that we would see just the glory of our risen Lord. And may it change us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. All right, I need to know, are you a resident skeptic or a blind trust kinda guy or girl? How easily do you believe or how easily are you deceived? Believer or doubter? All right, by a show of hands, who here easily believes everything? Raise your hand. Okay. Who here is a skeptic? Raise your hand. That is the masses, right? Because we live in a world of deception, right? Most of you in here today have unpaid EasyPass accounts. for the turnpike that you're never on. Did you know that? If you would just follow that text message, you can straighten this all out. It will not cost you anything. I think probably a good portion of us have won millions from a prince in a faraway country. They emailed you, right? Out of all the people in the United States, we wanna give you 13.6 million, but it's not millions, it's in a different currency level, but it's gonna translate into all of those things. My junior high school boy recently took the ACT, so a company called and said, hey, when he took his ACT, he clicked on a box about getting some free help to study and prepare for it. I'm in the midst of my basement flooding stuff, so not in the best mood, so I appease the dude, let him keep talking, and he's just confirming my address, your address, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm like, can we get done with this? He's like, oh, before I let you go, I need your credit card number. I was like, I was like, yeah, not interested. Click. That is the world that we are constantly under attack with people saying stuff to us that might be true, might not be true. And I think with this background, it is difficult to believe. especially things that seem unlikely and improbable. We've been lied to far too long. And I think as we saw, I mean, in a gymnasium filled with people, the vast majority of you labeled yourself skeptics. As a result of that, our guard is constantly up. And I think that's good often in life, having our guards up, because we do live amongst deceived people. But I would say in today's lesson, today's passage, this is not the time to have your guard up. You see, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a scam, it's not a lie of man, it's not a fairy tale, it's not a pipe dream, but it's a foundational truth to believe in. This truth is something that we stand upon, we build upon. We saw Jesus as the cornerstone. If we have a Savior who is still dead and lying in the grave, please hear this. We have no hope if that is true. We're still in our sins. We're still destined to an eternity of wrath and condemnation in hell. And if that is all true, why are we here today? We could be eating brunch at some restaurant right now. We're wasting our time. But we don't believe that. So that's what we're gonna look at, the great joy and life transforming message of our risen Lord, that he is not dead, but he is alive today. We're gonna ask and answer three questions if you're taking notes. So if you're following along in the bulletin, we're going to ask and answer three questions. The first question we're asked is why all the doubts? And as people, like a vast majority of you have been at Covenant for a while now, we've been going through the gospel of Matthew. It would make sense at this point in the life of the disciples that what happens in today's passage should not be earth shattering. He spoke about it. He told them this was going to happen. The Old Testament scriptures allude to it, and yet they are confused again. So we're going to see all these doubts. Second question we're asked is why all the tears? Kind of understand Good Friday being sad and discouraged. Jesus being crucified, but today, in the passage, he's not there, he's risen, and there's still a sense of depression that's going on amongst them. And then the last question we're gonna ask is why all the grace? Because I think that's really the startling aspect of this, is God's patience with the disciples. His patience with sinners, his patience with you and I. As we're filled with doubts, he doesn't just say, I'm a done with you all. Enough is enough. I'm going to find some people who are faithfully going to trust and believe in me, and yet God, in His grace and His mercy, slowly walks them through this reality. And then we'll wrap up our time and we'll be, if you didn't pay attention, we'll be celebrating the Lord's Supper to finish our time in the Word. So let's ask that first question. Why all the doubts? So on Friday, for those of you who were able to come, this was our second Good Friday service we've ever had. I thought it was a real blessing to gather and to reflect on the death of Christ. And Pastor Randy preached not only the death of Christ for us, but the death of Christ with us. That he really puts everything into perspective for us as we ignore the hardships of this world. But really, the crucifixion of Christ is the low point of humanity. I mean, it's the most unjust thing to ever happen, the perfect son of God being crucified and killed by sinful man. But what we see is it's not the end, it's just the beginning. Notice, first of all, as we look at these doubts, the ample reasons to believe. Read verses 1 to 6 with me again, 7 to me again. Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and he said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he did not go in. And Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen clothes lying there, and the face cloths, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself. So it's Sunday morning, they come to the tomb. I've always loved this part where John the, not John the Baptist, John the disciple brags about his running speed. Just kind of slips it into Holy Scripture. The two of us ran and the one who Jesus loved, that's me, so he's speaking third person. Yeah, I got there a little bit faster, so we don't know if he had a D1 offer on the place. We do, so they get there, and they show up, and then Luke 24, three says, when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord while they were there. They were perplexed. And notice the emphasis that we're seeing in John. At one point, there was a body in this tomb. Now there's not a body in this tomb. It's the mystery. It's the question for the disciples. How did this happen? Where did the body go? As they rightfully know, dead people don't do what? Dead people don't get up and walk. I mean, if we go down to the cemetery, nobody's getting up and walking today, realistically, right? Matthew, that's why they began to, even we'll see a little bit later, they began to explain away this, but there was a body, now there's not a body. I mean, really what you would have called in in today's world is you would have brought in CSI. criminal forensic experts. They would have tried to reenact. They would have taken DNA. They would have done all these things. They would have swept, looked for fingerprints. They would have tried to figure out, okay, what happened? How did this tomb get rolled? Like, how could we move the rock away? All of that stuff. But understand this, friends. This is a key component to our Christian faith. This is a non-negotiable. Like you can argue over how old the earth is and things like that, even though there's things I'm strongly opinionated about and really believe in the literal creation. But like friends, this is closed fist. You can't cave on this. And I've heard too many Christians professing believers who can kind of flex on Jesus rising from the dead. And if he didn't rise from the dead, all of this is a scam. Here's four reasons over the years that Bible teachers and students have given for what happened to the body. First of all, his enemy stole the body. This one seems so improbable because if that was the case, would they not have brought the body out to squelch this movement based on a person that allegedly conquered death? Second one is his friends stole the body. Matthew 28, 13 speaks of this. Tell the people his disciples came by night and they stole him away while we were asleep. That would have also been completely improbable. One, it would have been guarded. Matthew 27, we know that Pilate had armed guards. These were not, the disciples were not Navy SEALs. They could come in, no, they would have been going against armed Roman guards. Their life would have been in jeopardy for even to try. And you realize the guard's lives would have been in jeopardy as we see if something happens to the body. There was wax on the stone. There was string. They would have done all these things to prevent from the tomb being accessed. Third one is that Jesus was not dead. that all that stuff, the crucifixion, the flogging, the piercing, he just was in really bad shape. Or lastly, and this is what we believe, and this is why we're here today, is what? That God raised Jesus from the dead, that death conquered. That's what the gospel teaches. Are you skeptical to that today? Does your explanation hold up to the truth? Do you see that we have reasons to believe that Christ is alive today? Not only do we see the ample reason to believe, we are awaiting a reveal to believe in the passage. Verse 8. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet he did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. So there's this marveling going on, Luke 24, 12, with Peter. They just don't get it. John, he says that he believed, but they just, they didn't understand the scriptures. Why? Because God had not revealed yet. God had not opened up their eyes, their hearts, their mind, to fully grasp what was going on. Imagine with me, you're in first grade, not you specifically, but your child, and they come home with a calculus book. And they're like, what is this? I don't know, the teacher gave it to us, said, learn up, test Friday. Who here's having problems with that teacher? Raise your hand. Calculus, right? First grade, I mean, maybe if your child is very uniquely gifted, maybe that's a possibility. No, it's a process. You don't get to calculus until later in school because there's a foundation laid where you can understand and grasp what you are learning. And it's really remarkable, even with all of the evidence for the disciples to believe, all the promises made, all the experiences, they still were not ready to fully grasp what Jesus had said. That should be an encouragement to you and I. Because I think sometimes we're confused. We're misguided, and we believe that once we believe in Jesus, we're gonna have all the answers. And then when we don't have answers, we feel like we're dumb and ignorant, or maybe not you don't feel that way, maybe you look at other Christians who are maybe not as advanced, not as mature in their faith as you are, and it's quick for you to judge. Friends, your understanding of the gospel today is by the grace and mercy of God. It's not because you're smarter than the person sitting behind you. It's not because you've worked harder. It's not because you're just, you are just the thing. You're that person. No, it's God's grace. John 6, 44, listen to what Jesus says. No one can come to the Father unless he is first drawn by him. In the book of Acts, it speaks of Lydia and how God had to open up her heart to the message that Paul was preaching. That's why Philippians, Paul could say in Philippians 3.14, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. But those of you who are mature think this way, and if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that to you. Are you grateful today that God has revealed his truth to you? Are you grateful for his patience? Are you pleading for greater revelation? Do you need insight today? I mean, that's the beauty of this passage as we see Jesus slowly revealing himself to the disciples. You might be in a place right now in your life where life is not making sense. Circumstances don't make sense. Decisions, you have uncertainty and the future feels very blurry in your perspective. Well, don't we have the same God in this passage? Well, we can pray like, God, I just, reveal yourself to me. Guide me, direct, make me teachable. Help me to understand what you're doing. So we saw the doubts, ample reason, they awaited a reveal. Well, why all the tears? An empty tomb should be joy and excitement. And it's clear in this passage that these tears that we see being shed are not tears of joy. They're tears of sadness. worry, fear. I think part of the reason we see these tears is because she is strongly connected to Christ. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. Then they said to her, woman, why are you weeping? And they're not asking that question because they need information. They're not asking that question saying, hey, just out of curiosity, what's the whole, liquid coming out of your eye. No, they're asking more of a rhetorical question. You shouldn't be weeping. And she says to them, they've taken away my Lord and I do not know where they've laid him. Having said this, she turned and saw Jesus standing as she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking, supposing him to be the gardener? She said to him, sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you've laid him and I will take him away. I think part of the reason that we see Mary so emotionally distraught is because of how impacted she was by the Savior. I think we could all testify to maybe individuals in our lives, maybe it's a family member, it's a close friend, who have went over the top in their life for their care and love and devotion of you. Those individuals who they've just poured out their lives on you that there's this a place in your heart that is reserved for them. It's remarkable at times where I've seen people who have given away, like given a kidney in order to let somebody ultimately live. And I mean, that is a level of devotion that is rare and extreme. And you'll notice when those individuals Think of those people who helped save their lives. There's just a sense of gratitude. There's a sense of awe. There's a sense of devotion, like, I owe you my life. And that was Mary. Listen, Luke 8-2, it says, Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had been called out. John 19-25, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, and guess who? Mary Magdalene. She came to anoint him in the grave. She loved him so much. Jesus reveals herself to him and it's her frailty of faith. Christ enters into the picture. J.C. Ryle, listen to what he says. If you do not love Christ, let me plainly tell you what is the reason. Think of that question. He says, if you do not love Christ, because some of you here today, you even might be professing believers and you're like, I don't get the warm bubblies about Jesus. I mean, I kind of love him. I mean, that's pretty cool. I'm not gonna go to hell. That's a good thing. Listen to what he says. If you do not love Christ, let me plainly tell you what is the reason. You have no sense of debt to him. And I think that's the heart of most of our problems when it comes to Jesus. We don't have a sense of debt to him. We look at the gospel and it sounds like good news, but at the end of the day, it sounds like good news for him and her and you, but you don't understand, I wasn't that bad. I mean, I went to church, I was reading the Bible. Friends, we are all on a fast track to hell until Christ came and stepped in our place. And I think the more we grasp the reality of that, the more we sense the debt of that, it revolutionizes how we follow Jesus. Like we should struggle at times when we sing the songs that we sing. If they're really coming from not only your eyes, but your heart and mind down to your heart, because it is remarkable. of what Jesus not only has done, is doing in our life. That's why David in Psalm 51 could say, cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. He wrote that after he committed adultery and had Uriah killed. And God confronted him and he looked back and he's like, oh my goodness, I did that. And you're willing to forgive me? And you're willing to embrace me again? Friends, that should be what the gospel does to our lives, but here is the unfortunate reality, and I think most of us here can confess this. We have divided hearts. We have divided hearts. We have opened up our heart and our mind to other lovers. We have this warped view that we can have an open relationship with God. I love you, but I like her, and I like him, and I like, you understand where I'm going? That's why, what is the greatest commandment? To love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Now, the second one is love your neighbors as yourself, so God still leaves room out there for us loving other people, but at the end of the day, and I think Mary Magdalene, she got it. She sensed the debt that I was demon possessed. I was a social outcast. And he came and he rescued me. And I think it worked in her heart and her mind. She was so distraught because she's like, he's gone. Where is he? Are you motivated by Christ? Would he find room in the end of your heart? You long for Him, are you longing for His return? Revelation 2, one of the problems, Church of Ephesus, we talked a little bit about it in one of the last couple weeks. At the end of the day, Church of Ephesus, shortly after the New Testament, it ceased to be a church. And in Revelation it says, you have forsaken your first love. Are you strongly connected to Christ? But not only do we see that, we see that she is severely confused by the cross. Verse 16, Jesus said to her, Mary, she turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabbani, which means teacher, Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, that he had said these things to her. She still doesn't understand the promises in the scripture. She still doesn't understand. She thinks he's dead. Now he reveals himself. It is confusing. It's kind of overwhelming. It's literally blowing her mind. But notice his devotion to the lowly, his patience, his relief, the relief and excitement and joy. Like you can imagine, like literally, I think she is clinging to him physically. I remember with a couple of our kids, when we dropped them off for kindergarten, a couple of them were like, see you later. See ya. I'm like, all right. Next time we'll just drop you off at the door. My bad, I'm sorry, I'm here. But then a couple of them, it was like, they were attached. So we had to pry them off. And then I'm like, you're having that parent battle. I have a terrible parent for leaving my kid here. Like that pulling away, and we see Jesus, he's like literally kind of like pulling Mary off, saying, hey, I can't do this. And the reason though is, and listen, here's the encouragement in all this, it's because it's good for him to go. John 16, seven, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. And that's the news that you and I have today. That Jesus is, he did go away. He ascended to the Father, the risen Lord, but he didn't leave us here alone. If you're a believer in Christ, the Holy Spirit lives and dwells inside of you and empowers you and equips you. Now there's a sinful flesh that's still getting rooted out until glory, but you are not alone. I mean, I can't imagine, I think Pastor Andy would testify to this, I can't imagine if I had to stand up here in front of you all in my own strength. that would be horrifying. It's horrifying enough to know I'm gonna have to give an account to God for what I say on a given Sunday morning. But where I have confidence, where I have assurance, is at the end of the day, I've got the holy scriptures, perfect and infallible, and I have God's spirit living and dwelling inside of me, and as long as I can kind of get out of the way and let him speak in and through me, there's power. And that's what we see here. But not only that, he gives her a job. Notice what he tells her to do. Go tell the disciples. He emphasizes that this is my God and your God, my father, your father. He is emphasizing what with her? The family relationship that she now has with God. That we're family. Isn't that good news? I mean, not everybody here has great family experiences. You might be the product of a divorced family, you might not have a relationship with some of the family members, you might have parents who have died, all of those things. You might feel very alone, very secluded, but man, what Jesus is emphasizing here with Mary is like, your father and my father and your God and my God, there's that communal element being highlighted here. Does that comfort you, that you are a part of something so much bigger than just yourself? So we ask the question, why doubts? Ample reasons, awaiting reveal, we saw the tears, why? Strong connections, but severe confusion. But in the midst of this, I want us to see God's grace and God's mercy. First of all, he sends them. By all the grace he sends them. On verse 19. Notice this sending going on. Once again, the emphasis is They've had the empty two, now there's a physical appearance of Jesus and it startles them. I think we've all been startled before. I have a bad habit of sometimes walking in a way that I sneak up on people, not even meaning to sneak up on people. When I used to work at UPS, it was my Achilles heel, because I had people fall off of stands because they turn and there's me. I'm like, hey, and then like, So I got to a point where I had to make commotion when I would walk in, like yell from, hey, hey, hey, just so they knew it was coming. And can you imagine, they're hiding, they're locked, they are afraid because why? Jesus is dead, they think, so. And they're afraid that they're going to be the next ones on the murder route, being killed by the Romans. So they're locked. And all of a sudden, they turn, and there is Jesus. And then notice what he gives them. He says, peace. Peace, Luke 24, 37. They were startled. They were frightened. And they thought they'd saw a spirit. And he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? John 17, 18, he speaks, not only does he give them peace, he gives them a purpose, he sends them, he says, as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. That's a commission, the great commission we'll look at in a few weeks in the Gospel of Matthew. It's where Jesus ultimately, at the end of the day, he says, I'm gonna go and make you a fisher of what? Fishermen, that imagery, I cannot get out of my head every single day the last two months driving in Maumee because I go over the bridge and if you look over the bridge, there's a bunch of fanatical fishermen out there fishing. Even today, they were lined up because it's a beautiful day and they're out for the walleye run. And they do that for a couple months every year, and people come from all over, not just the Toledo area. And I'm not judging that, I'm an avid fisherman, I'm just not good at that particular fishing, so I don't love it as much. But I get it. But friends, God has given us something greater than a walleye run. It's like a man run, a women run. And here's the deal, the wall I run is a couple months to a year. This run that God has called us to is... 24 seven, 365, it's all year, that you and I, the same, I would argue there should be a greater devotion by us as followers of Christ to be out in the river of life, getting our line out there, fishing, than any of these men who are waking up at six in the morning or five in the morning, getting out there, standing in the cold mommy river, waiting to cast their line. And that's what he says, so he gives them this commission, this responsibility. But then notice what else, he gives them the Spirit. And we're gonna see it play itself out a lot more, and we don't have time to unpack it with Pentecost. But at the end of the day, he is giving them God's Spirit so they can have power to do what they're doing. And then lastly, we see he gives them forgiveness. and not only forgiveness, but that they can offer forgiveness. Because isn't that the heart of what we're celebrating today? We're not just celebrating that Jesus died. We're not just celebrating that Jesus was raised from the dead. What we're celebrating in the midst of all of that is by his death and resurrection, he paid a debt that you and I will never pay. He paid for our sin. He redeemed us from the curse, as Galatians 3 says, by becoming a curse. For His written curse is anyone who hangs on a tree. And that's where our forgiveness ultimately comes. It's through what Christ has done, His atoning work on the cross. that He gives grace to us as skeptics, to hiders, to fleers, to unbelievers, to sinners. Well, do you need that peace today? Are you living as one who is forgiven, who is found in Christ? And are you living on mission? The resurrection celebrating on Easter is spectacular. This should be a 364 other days out of the year celebration. Tomorrow, Easter Monday, And then on Tuesday, guess what? This message is still relevant and applicable. Are there going to be lost people in your life on Tuesday? A few? How about Wednesday? How about the following week? No, I mean, no, right? Nobody. No, it's every day. This is the gospel. But not only does he send them, he shows them. Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord, but he said to them, Unless I see it in his hands, the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe. We see this awareness of the lack of faith here. Thomas is not the first time he doesn't believe their testimony. He seems to be a little bit of a Debbie Downer. Not that he's Debbie, and not that all Debbies are Downers. You understand what I'm saying? Seem kind of the pessimist, cup half empty. John 11, six, teen, they're talking about Lazarus' death. He says, let us go also that we may die with him. Like, just kind of pessimistic. Well, Thomas is very descriptive in his ultimatum. He declares that I will never believe. It reminds me when I was in eighth, get through this. Eighth grade. I was in eighth grade. I had moved from my childhood school from kindergarten to sixth grade. Had a year at this school. And then we were going to be moving again. And I was optimistic. I was hopeful that we were going to move back to the school district I had grown up in my whole life. That's where all my friends were. And we ended up moving to a different school district. So at this point, I decided to go on a food protest. So I remember it, I looked at my mom, and I said, I am not eating again until I end up at, Coventry was the school district. And I did not eat for two meals. By dinnertime, I was like, the protest is not working. Mom is not changing her mind and I'm really hungry. And so I ate. But we see that with, I mean, this like ridiculous ultimatum by Thomas. He's like, unless I see the hands and the marks, unless I place my finger into them and my hand into a side, I'm not going to believe. I refuse. And I think in my situation, my mom should have probably, there should have been some discipline with my attitude, but she was very gracious, very patient. I think she also knew how much I liked food and this was not gonna probably last very long. But notice also his accommodation for faith, verse 26. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again and Thomas was with him. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, remember, he says this thing, Jesus is not present. This time he is, and he says, put your finger here and see my hands, put out your hand, place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe in Thomas' answer from my Lord and my God. Jesus said to him, have you believed because you've seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have yet believed. First of all, notice how he accommodates for him, and God just does that. He's so patient. You remember the story when we were going through Genesis with Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah's laughing at the promises being made. And then they say, why'd you laugh? I'm like, I didn't laugh. I didn't laugh. She did laugh, because she thought it was ridiculous what God was promising, that this 90-year-old woman was going to have a baby. And yet God did. So I think it's just so refreshing to see his patience with the doubting Thomases of faith. I mean, he could have saw Thomas and said, get out of here. Like, how dare you doubt me? I walked with you for three years, and you've watched me come, seize, raise dead people, and you're not gonna believe that I could be raised? But that's not how Jesus handles him. He says, hey, come here, I know you're struggling. I'm going to show you. I'm going to show you my hands. I'm going to show you my side, because I want you to believe. And he does believe. Praise the Lord that that was the catalyst that he did believe. But then notice what else he's saying here. He's saying to you and I that he wants us to be people who believe even when we don't see. Hebrews 11.1, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, It reminds me of Mark 9, 24. We've looked at it before. But the father of the child who was born from basically childhood with demon possession and would throw himself into fires. And then the father cries out and says, I believe, help my unbelief. And I am certain there are people here today that that is their cry. I believe. But help my unbelief because I'm looking in these circumstances. I'm looking at the situations that I'm in and I don't see you God. I know you're there. I can look back in my life and I can testify to every time you got me through those dark times. But right now, I'm not seeing you and what is Jesus to come here? Let me take a look at my hands. Take a look at my side. That's how patient God is with you. And I really believe he wants to comfort you today with that reality. If you're struggling with your faith, is God sovereign? Can you testify? You pray for the gift. I feel very blessed and privileged to be a pastor. I do, it's such a blessing. Like I said, this is 20 years of Easter, so in August, Lord willing, if we make it that time, it'll have been 20 years that Ryan and I cluelessly started Covenant. And to look out into a full gym and see people here, not to come see me, or to see Ryan, but come to gather as his people. It's really overwhelming, and it's a blessing. But I will say pastoral ministry is challenging. It is difficult, and one of the things that I find difficult is I get to be in your lives in the good times, but also the bad times. And it's hard, it is hard to not put your burdens on myself. And Andy would testify to that and the other elders. So with that said, when I look at entertainment, I want happy stuff. Like I don't want sad, depressing things. If I'm gonna watch a movie, I deal with that in real life. That's my profession. So like I want stuff that is unrealistic. I'm cool with that, like superhero movies. Yeah, that's probably not gonna happen, but it feels good. I don't ever have to deal with superhero movie realities as a pastor. But one of the things I love with those kind of movies is most of those movies that I kind of trend towards is happy endings. Good triumphs over evil. Reconciliation takes place in a relationship. The guy gets the girl. Like those kind of things. But I also realize amongst everybody here, that's not real life. That's great that you enjoy that entertainment, but that's not real life. I mean, in the last year, people have lost loved ones. People have battled, I mean, it's remarkable the number of people in our church who have battled cancer, who have dealt with sickness. But here's the deal, and that's what I love about this story today. It's a happy ending. This is good news that we have a risen Lord. Now, it's not a Hallmark movie. It's not a Hollywood story. No, this is a redemption story. It's got some sadness to it. Jesus dying, being buried, but here's the good news. He's risen from the dead. He's coming back. If you die before he comes back, you're gonna rise again then, and you're gonna be in the presence with him when the moment you die regardless. And that's the hope. That's the hope we have for our own death. That's the hope that we have for the death of other peoples, that we will not remain in the grave. He didn't, neither will we. And that's our good news. So I'm gonna close us in prayer. At this time, and then kiddos are gonna become scrolling in at some point, and then we're gonna have the deacons and everyone else is helping pass out the elements while we sing the last song. As Andy mentioned, we do have a gluten-free option, so in the midst of, like after I get done praying, if you need to run over to get the gluten-free, and then we're gonna end up celebrating communion. So let's pray. Father, we come before you right now and we just thank you. We thank you that although this world can feel very bitter, that life is tough, we lose people, we go through hard situations, we struggle, we mess up relationships, we sin, but we thank you, Lord, that it's not only bitter, it's bittersweet. that there's a silver lining in all of this, that you are with us, that you're patient with us, that you are walking us and you began a good work and you're gonna carry it on to completion and we have that hope, we have that assurance. So even right now as we're about to participate and celebrate communion, we have a encouragement, we have a joy that Jesus