After the Cross - At The Cross pt. 4

I felt that second chronicles. I don't know about you That story came into my spirit, and then I began to believe what Scripture tells us that that's a whole another sermon. Let me get on top of it because I just you know, that story is second chronicles where your host is that he is something when your enemies who don't like each other conspire to come against you.

You understand what I'm saying?

That's like Duke and Carolina coming together Y'all know what I'm talking about, right?

Man. Man, Passover we spent in a sermon series called At the Cross at the Cross. And so today is our last or last series or last sermon for that series. And last week, man, God showed up and showed out man. I tell you, it was just amazing. Just an amazing time. Regardless, just working through his children in the Holy Spirit, was unleashed in such a way.

I believe this kind of glory fell on this place. And last week, we talked about this because it's resurrection Sunday. You know, we talked about the stone in the seal and the soldier For those of you who weren't here, we talked about where the stone was a problem that had to be controlled in that that seal was the power that had to be change in that soldier was that individual who we had to confront And truth be told, there's some there some some problems, some with some powers and some individuals that we have to begin to readily identify But last week, we talked about how God went before he went before Mary and the disciples,

and he rolled the stone away. He removed the seal and he restrained the soldier. So even today, the problem that you may be facing God is Rolling Stone away.

The power that's keeping you restrained, God is removing and that individual that person who's causing you some problems, God is going to restrain. And I'm so excited to know that God is still sitting on a throne thinking about you and I in such a way So if you have your Bibles, let's turn to Luke chapter 24. I'll be lifting up 11 reverse 27.

Now, what does this really get the context of what really is taking place today? This is, for me, one of my favorite passages, scriptures, because this particular account of the scriptures is only written in the book of Luke and Luke is by profession. He's a doctor and by his profession. We know that doctors should be detailed amen. You can't use shorthand like are you sure him write my notes, right?

Because you want to know fully what the doctor is saying about your sickness or your illness. And that's the reason why I think Luke was the only person that captured this particular story in scriptures. Luke Chapter 24 verses 11 through 27 but they did not believe the woman because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.

Bending over, he saw the stripes of linen lying by themselves.

And he went away wondering to himself what had happened. Incorrectness, strips that stripes. They may pray for your pastor I might need to borrow my wife's glasses and at some stage my wife a little bit it's not staying on task past the stay test. I will. Now. That same day, two of them were going to a village called a Mess about seven miles from Jerusalem.

They were talking with each other about everything that happened as they talked and discussed these things with each other. Jesus himself came up and walked along them, but they were kept from recognizing him. I want you guys to realize that they're having a conversation about what's taking place. And here comes Jesus strolling along. He walks in and joins them in on this conversation.

This just imagine it. He asks them, What are you discussing together as you're walking along? They stood still with their faces, downcast, one of them named Clovis, asked him, Are you the only visiting? Only the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things would have happened there in these days? What things? He asks about Jesus of Nazareth, they reply.

He was a prophet, powerful in word, and indeed before God. And all the people, the chief priests in our rules handed him over to be sentenced to death. And they crucified him.

But we had hope that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

But we had hope that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what was more is that on the third day since all this took place, in addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but they didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.

This some of our companions went to the tomb and found it, just as a woman has said, but they did not see Jesus. He said to them, How foolish are you? How slow to believe that all the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter to His glory and beginning with Moses, not the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself if I had to give a title to my lesson today, that would be after the cross, after the cross.

Why would I give such a title? Have you ever wondered, like, what takes place after the cross, right after you begin to believe who crisis and believe what God is doing and you receive salvation? So what is after the cross? Because the cross itself symbolizes salvation so what's next? Let me just paint this picture. Let me just really map out Luke chapter 24.

What's taking place. You have two people walking down to the road of a mess talking about what just took place these past several days. They're talking about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And how he was beaten and bruised and wounded for our transgression and how they took a spear and put it into the flesh of our Lord and Savior If I was one of those individuals, I would be talking about, did you see where he fell on the ground and where he was I had to pick up the cross.

I'm like, I'm not picking up that cross. I will have a conversation like you pick up the cross. I'm not carry that man's burden. I'm not I'm not guilty of his sin. Because to carry someone else's cross. You're saying, you know what? I'm guilty of the sin that was taking place I believe even in those conversations, I believe that at the point of time there would be talking about Mary like he did you see his mother and how she was weeping at his son being crucified.

The father watching his son hanging on that cross his brother James amazed the disciples scattered what would you be talking about?

God gives us experiences in life so that way we can align our faith with the word of God. And once you understand that the God gives us experiences throughout this lifetime that our lives in such a way that we can align our faith with his word and is your faith lined up with what scripture says see, my wife and son, we're talking about a man.

We'll talk about it some more. My wife has some caring tendencies mhm. OK, let me, let me that's that's too early for some of you guys. She has some Becky, Tennessee, zip better OK. There you go. There you go. She has some tendencies where she may miss some things. I love her to death. It's a life when I think about loving my wife and we begin to talk about life experiences and how what God gives us to experience here in life to really align our our value and our actions to what the word of God says in automatically go to First Corinthians Chapter 13 we're talking about love is passion the love is kind.

The love is not jealous or both. We're proud or it's not rude. It is not the man itself in his own way. That is it is not irritable and it keeps no record of being wrong. And so what that means that I have to begin to love my wife in such a way that I have to be patient with the and sometimes I'm not the most patient person because if you type, you know, you buy up, you know, procedures and, you know, just rhythms and making sure structure is there.

My wife, bless her heart, boy, she's just a flower child. Her name is Felicia. Right. Which means Felice, which is happy and she's just me. I tell you a lot, babe. I need you to get into the rhythm but then I remember first Quincy, chapter 13, that love is passion. The love is kind. That love is not jealous or boastful.

And even in our relationships, it keeps the track of evil there will be times during this journey of faith that will not be comfortable, convenient for you that you truly believe that if you have taken the cross, if you have proclaim Christ who he is, there will be times alone his walk of your Christian faith that will not be comfortable or convenient because I believe this, that God will grow you in painful predicaments.

God will begin to grow you in painful predicaments. The many people begin to ask How is it possible that a loving God will prescribe pain to grow you for His glory and His grace like right like God? Why would you inflict this pain on me? So that way I can grow in such a way that I can showcase Your glory and Your Grace to.

Guys are probably saying, Jesus, I just I just don't know. Like, I don't know what, what this pain and what this what you want from me. Like, we're talking about what has taken place these past 2472 hours Jesus knew the only way that we will listen to him is to put us through the school of hard knocks. Right? Did Jesus know sometimes that for us to really get to a place where he wants us to be that he had to position us to have life taking place to us.

Pastor Stephen Verdict says this. He said Time under tension is the formula for growth. That time under tension is a true formula. For you and I to grow in Christ in other ways that can be put like this. Your tolerance retention determines your potential for growth, your tolerance for the tension, the stress those trials in your life determines your potential for growth.

Many times we see tension at work. We may find tension at home. We may even find tension in our families. And even in the Ministry of the Gospel. There's tension and sometimes so much tension in all four of these aspects that sometimes, you know, we're like, we don't know what to do. But when we're faced with the crossroads of life, know that you're in a classroom being taught by God so if you're struggling financially, guess what?

You're in a classroom called stewardship.

If you're struggling and constantly being faced with being offended or being the offender, guess what? You're in a classroom of forgiveness.

If you're struggling in your relationship, God is trying to teach you another way to love so what class or test is God taking you through right now? What test is God really prompting you? And what is God is trying to teach you through the season of your life?

What does God has for me? Have you ever asked a question like God, when am I going to get my I'm watching everybody else get theirs? Like, when is my time coming when and what but I ask you this. Does God have your yes, does he have your yes does God have your yes when he calls you to go on to the mission field?

Does God have you? Yes. When He calls you to do the ministry, does God have your yes. Even in the discomfort of pain because we know that sometimes God yes is is no God's no is actually it's not a rejection. It's a redirection. Think about that. God's nose sometimes is not a rejection of you. God is trying to redirect you in such a way that you begin to align yourself with him it's in the redirection of our lives that God is bringing us closer to where He wants us to go and what He's preparing us to do and what He's called us to do and sometimes that redirection is that it's not pretty for me.

Any of you guys know I've been I was a marketplace leader in the community. I worked with hotels doing sales and marketing work for us, some amazing companies in the hotel community. You know, early on, when I joined or started my career in the hotel arena, as a a sales rep director, sales region or director or sales area director of sales I remember my first job at the hotel industry.

I worked at a hotel called Holiday Inn, and God told me to quit the job like my season there was up. Oh, my God, I got this. You know, you know, I'm trying to get things going. I'm trying to build my resume. I'm trying to, you know, do life and make things happen. I got no gas and. Right.

I need you to quit your job. Like, I need you to find another another hotel company to partner with. My God, is this not time? I'm having this conversation back and forth with God. And guess what? God did I got fired oh, my God. That's that's not that's not in my roadmap of life, you know, how can you know?

I think I'm a semi golden child, you know, like, good. Felicia, says I'll have lit a halo, you know, I like, how am I going to get fired from his job? And I did everything right. So give you context. So I had some clients that I was working with because this hotel was a lot of distress. Can I put it that way?

In other words, this broke down a busted. Now, tell people you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig, right? It doesn't matter. You can't dress it up any other way. You put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig, right? You got bacon, a ham hocks and all that great stuff, right? It's still a pig. And so in my hotel, professional career, what I begin to realize that this particular company struggle making money. And so for me to be sustainable because I was responsible for the financial wealth of the hotel, I started booking business that was that favorable as a believer. I started booking parties that was like an all white party, not all white people.

I'm just saying we're all white, OK? I missed it. Oh, gosh, Mayor. So an all white parties where you dress up in all white. So we had an all black party that we called an eclipse party. Guess what? You dress up in all black. And then we have some exclusive parties where we have a hotel buy out a hotel, sell out basically to their to their their group of people and I was being surrounded.

I was selling VIP booths and I had like ten VIP booths. And there's this big old meeting room ballroom, and each VIP booth was $500 a pop know. I would have probably, you know, private bartenders for each VIP booth because I was selling. I was trying to make money. It was nice when we would have these parties out.

We were physically in cash. $40,000 a guy said, Ryan, what you're being surrounded for you is not what I have for you. The things that you are seeing, the things that you are exposing your spirit to is not conducive. Where I want you to go so a guy eventually said, I have to let you go. So this particular client that I was working with the air conditioning in the ballroom, we'll go out frequently and you can have your sexy young wearing all white and you're sweating, right?

So you need air conditioner. So three days before the party was supposed to take place, the air conditioned, the hotel went out like, Oh my God. So I contracted another party, another a third party vendor to pipe in air conditioned with some belt contracted because like this wrote in the contract I signed and my client signed it. And then the owners came in said, I'm sorry we have to let you go because you overstepped your boundaries as a sales director.

So in short, what God is trying to tell me is this what I have for you and what I want you to do. I need you to disassociate yourself with certain things but during the process of being let go from the hotel, I remember my walk with Jesus the walk that God has called me to walk after the cross.

The walk where God is saying, Ryan, this is what I want you to do because you have professed my name as your Lord and Savior. These are the things I need you to do.

As we look at Luke, chapter 24 and 13, it goes and says that the two men were walking to a village called a Maze and they were about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking about the events I was taking place, and then Jesus comes up and begins to talk to these two individuals and have a conversation with him and sometimes we can be so tired of our past that we miss what God is calling us to do.

That we're so connected to our past that we miss what God is trying to call us to do. That you miss what God has for you next. Did you remember about all the things that you used to do, all the business that you booked, all the things, all those those awards that you had in your past, that you're missing, what God is calling you to do today, let me put it this way, that sometimes you can be so exhausted by life that you miss without us calling you to do today this sometimes that you're so tied with life experiences that you will miss what God is calling for you today, that you are so fatigued by sickness and trials and tribulations that you're missing what God is calling you to do after the cross, even when you have been beaten down by ministry and family and friends, that you are missing what you are called to do today, and more importantly, you're missing the walk with God that God has been walking with these two individuals for quite some time.

In the reminiscing about what took place yesterday and the crucifixion and the pain that they're missing, what God is doing right now, right then they're literally walking with the Lord and Savior many of us may be living on broke. Been there, done that. I wrote a book. I got six chapters of it, living from paycheck to paycheck. I get I know what that is.

That we miss the call that God is calling us to do to move into the next season. And I believe this that we should passively pursue God's presence wherever you are, that you should passionately pursue God's presence where you are. Presently are. What do you mean, Pastor Ryan?

Pursue God if you're presently tired, pursue God if you're presently broke, pursue God if you're presently seek, pursue God. If you're presently homeless, pursue God. If you're presently shacking up with somebody, pursue God in your ways.

As you lie next to that joker. Won't don't give you a ring as you lie next to that female voice. She won't say I do if you're presently a drug addict, pursue God. If you're presently in the fear of doubt as saying Pursue God if you're presently in sin, sue God, pursue God. If you're presently in fornication, pursue God if you're broken, pursue God if you're lying, pursue God if you're living in a homosexual lifestyle, pursue God in new ways, even when the church says you're not supposed to Come on now, don't give me another topic because I promise you this is just a sidebar.We'll see some homosexuals in heaven you may not like it if you want to call me or text me later on, we'll have a talk. We can just sit down and talk about it over coffee.

Because this is all you have to do in your present circumstance. Is to confess with your mouth, to believe in your heart that the Lord Jesus Christ died and he rose and he's coming again, even in their present condition.

That's just a preview for next month's series. Get ready So what do I do after the cross? What do I do after accepting Jesus Christ? See, I get the point where you say to passionately pursue God in his presence where I am as jacked up as I am, as broken as I am after the cross there, we're still to pursue God a second point would be this that you should passionately pray to God so we're called to passionately pursue God after the cross then we're also called to passionately pray to God because First John, Chapter 514 tells us this This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to

It says the confidence that's resolute. That means that we know that we know that if we approach God with anything as it lined up with this will for your life, this is not a name in a claim, a gospel. This is not a lay hands, a walk around a house seven times that we have to passionately pursue God, that we have to passionately pray for God, pray, pray to God because He tells us and to ask it will be given to to seek and we shall find and knock and the doors will be open.

It's in our asking, it's in our seeking, it's in our knocking. It's in your asking. It's in your seeking. It's in your knocking it's because God wants to create new opportunities for many of us. But we're so demobilized about what has happened in the past we're so demobilized about what happened in yesterday that we're missing Jesus walking with us along the way. It is time for the next. Many people may ask and to say that, you know, I pray to God, but he's not listening they may even say, I pray for God to show up and he's not there in God's responses.

I never left you praying to God to show up. But God is saying, my son, my daughter, I never left you. I've always been here. Even when you're doing your mess, I'm still here.Because he is giving you a way of an escape.

Your path is harder because God is calling you higher your path is harder because God is trying to elevate you. He's calling you to go higher. He's calling you to go deeper. He's calling you to pray on it. He's calling to pray over it, and he's calling you to pray through it. He wants you to pray over it.

He wants you to pray on it. He wants you to pray through it. He wants you to pray on the things that you are troubled about. He wants you to begin to pray over it, the situation that you've been struggling with. And even in that, even if it doesn't change, he wants you to pray through it. Because I find myself doing this I find myself locked myself up in my prayer closet praying privately what I want God to do publicly and I'm praying privately what I want God to do publicly.

There's some things that God has been putting into my spirit that that he needs me to pray for, that I only can take to him and no one else. So when the time is ready, you begin to expose it then we always in our prayer. In what? Amen. And when we say, Hey, man, this is what we're saying, we're saying that got out, agree with you. That I'm a and that I'm aligning myself, my will or my way. The end would be moving with God, that I'm agreeing with God to move with God to end with God, and so if I'm agreeing with God and I'm moving with God and ending with God, that means there's no other resolution but God that I'm never doubting God that's your amen.

That I agree that I will move in our end and I would never doubt so if I'm passionately pursuing God and I'm passionately praying to God then I must passionately proclaim God. What is your proclamation? What are you proclaiming who God is what does it mean to proclaim God simply just tell your story just tell your story.

And tell the story about how God has changed your life. Because that's what happened at the end of this story in Luke Chapter 24, that they invite Jesus to go back to their house and eat with them. And Jesus takes that invitation and is there that invitation where Jesus sits down to have have dinner with them, and then Jesus reveals himself to Him, to both of them, during the dinner. Then they look at each other like, didn't didn't our hearts burn with fire? That there was something that we knew that this person was different and they didn't stay there. They got up. They got up that very same evening. They went back to Jerusalem, which was a seven mile hike, at least to tell the disciples it's true. It's true that the risen savior has rose like you said, he's going to rose, that he rose in such a way with all power and all authority, because we saw him with our own eyes.

We sat and had dinner with him. We talked with him, and we saw the scars in his hands. We saw the piercing on his side. They proclaim who he was. They proclaim the Old Testament prophets that it was filled so what do we do after the cross church as a worship? Think you're ready we're called to passionately pursue God with all our hearts. It's if you believe here today and you said, I do to God and you say to God, I receive you as my Lord and Savior. And somewhere along the way that you stopped pursuing God, that you're just doing life, that you just live a life on a normal way, that you're not really pursuing God, that you wholeheartedly after Him this is your check point.

We're also called to passionately pray to God and also partially to proclaim Him may be asking How, how do we do all of this? How do we do these three things? I'll tell you how you begin to ask God, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing in my community? What are you doing in my church?

Not only what is God doing? Where is he doing it? Where's God moving? How is God showing up because as you know, the what and the where then a question is this Who has yet to be reached see, those two individuals went back to Jerusalem to proclaim who God was that Jesus Christ did rise from the grave so as we ask, what is God doing? Where is he doing it? Who has yet to be reached? Then the last one should be this how can I join in how can I join in doing what God has called us to do?

You can join in in so many different ways. Because we know that victory belongs to Jesus. Somewhere along the way, many of us have gotten lost after the cross that we're OK with this save Christianity there were OK with the status quo of life but he called us to pursue him. He called us to pray with him and pray to him.

And he called us to passionately proclaim the gospel. Simply put this, Matthew, to the great commission and many of us haven't shared our testimony so much that is owed. We need to shake the dust off of it that you need to begin to share your testimony in such a way that somebody who needs it and a reminder of John Chapter 15 he tells us this I am the vine and you other branches, if you remain in me and I in you you will bear much fruit.

But apart from me, you can do anything apart from me that you can do anything at all, that you can do nothing but if you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. So if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

This is. This is my father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples. So what do we do after the cross after you receive Christ as our Lord and Savior?

Guys, there's so much work to be done. That We, the Gospel, our father needs our help to proclaim His glory and his goodness. And I promise you it would be the best experience that you can possibly live so let us soon as we begin to proclaim the victory in Jesus, because he got up, he's no longer in the cross so the church, let's not lose sight of the cross.

Let's realign ourselves to our Heavenly Father in such a way that he will be proud of us, that we can proclaim who he is, that we can pray to who He is, and I promise you, it will be the best days of your life. Amen.