John 20:1-18 (NIV): “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead) Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (Which means Teacher). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.”

Let’s take a trip into the tomb for a minute. The tomb is place where you die with Christ. When you die with Christ, your eyes are opened to the spiritual atmosphere around you. There are things going on around our lives that we have no idea about. As Mary Magdalene ran into the tomb to make sure that Jesus was gone, her eyes were opened to the things inside of the tomb that the disciples had overlooked.

There were three things inside of the tomb, in addition to the Angels sitting in reverence and praise at the head and foot of where Jesus had lain. The first of these things were the strips of linen that Jesus’ body had been clothed in. This means that as Jesus rose from the grave, he donned new garments. For those of us dying with Christ, this means that we become new people. We have the same person inside of us, but we are now clothed with the King of all Kings, with the best of the best. Our attitudes in life are radically changed, and people notice that.

The second thing that is found in the tomb is the burial cloth, the face cloth that covered Jesus’ face as his body lay in the tomb. For us, this means that we will be washed clean of our past, not forgotten, but washed clean. It is a brand new day; the freshness of God is on our lives. We have the brightest of futures to look forward to.

The third thing we find in the tomb is Mary’s humanity. She falls down on her knees and weeps, begging for her savior to be given back to her, to know where his body lay. She died to herself, wanting nothing more than her savior. As she realized who was standing before her, she wept with joy, not sorrow. As we ourselves die with Christ in the tomb, our humanities are also stripped away. As we die to ourselves, we turn around and find our lives in the hands of our savior. Joy floods into our lives, replacing the sorrow.

It is hard to believe what Jesus says sometimes, but his promises are true. Visit the tomb- so that you can die with Christ and come alive with a new life. The same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is also alive within us. Take a hold of that, and don’t you ever let go.

Matthew 5:13 & 14 (NLT): “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

Arrange your life around the House. That is a concept that is difficult for most Christians to understand. Mainstream Christians have a habit of keeping the “God-thing” in their life separate from the “life-thing.” Isaiah is urging people to live IN the “God-thing.” The Prophet Haggai urged the People of Israel in much the same way. He urged them to repriortize their lives so that the House of God was in the center of all they did. But to those of us who understand and live this principle, we see the blessings.

Yes, it is difficult sometimes to combat the mistakes and overall bad history of the church when living in the world. It is almost too easy to keep the “God-thing” for Sundays. In doing this, we miss the message God is sending to us: A healthy Church is the greatest force on earth! Church is God’s business. He is building His church to be the mightiest force this world has ever seen! Now, it is understood that there is no such thing as a perfect church because there are no perfect people to run them. But if you are willing to invest into the church, you will reap the blessings.

Church is engagement. That is a lost factor in this day and age when people who have been offended by the Church stay at home to watch church on TV or listen to it in podcasts. There is no accountability, no relationship, no interaction. Church is all those things! Offense comes as a chance for us to push through and breakthrough! To conquer mountains in our lives and defeat giants standing in our way! Church is accountability; it is the opportunity to choose good over evil and see where those choices take us.

And when the people of God come into that healthy church, then ” nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory.” Matthew 5:14 says that we are “the light of the world.” The world is dying. Everyone born into this world is dying. We are the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.” Salt is used to preserve; Light is used to reveal! Suddenly, the darkness is chased away to reveal what is truly around us.

The Light is not about us. When you look directly at light, you hurt your eyes. You can’t look directly at the sun without doing damage to you eyesight. We are a light to the world; they are not to look at us (so beware of pride!); they are simply to see the truth when the light comes on. When the light comes on, the world changes!

Notice how Jesus used two different words in Matthew 5. He said “salt of the earth“ and “light of the world.” Salt, as previously stated, is meant to preserve. We dig deep into the earth–into the darkest depths of people’s lives where there is pain. We rub the salt in deep, preserving them by giving them hope when all seems lost, help when no one else is there, encouragement when they lose faith, love in a cruel world; we stay in the depths and we preserve!

The light has been there the whole time, but they can’t see it. You can’t force them to see it. Yet, we keep bringing the light. Sometimes, they catch a glimpse and it angers them, so they lash out. But keep holding on. Because, soon, God moves and the light is seen. Their world is illuminated around them, and they see the truth! The truth is revealed in the light. The light is the revelation that leads them to God, the source of all light.

So, be aware of your affect on the world around you. Don’t be afraid to invest in people. When you care, you can change the direction of a person’s life. When the light comes on, you can see where you are going. If the destination is destruction, you can change your direction now that you see that there is another path: God! “nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory.” The only hope the world has is in you and I preserving them long enough for them to see the light! Dial the “self” down and make it about someone else. We are going to change the world!

The glory of God – Hebrew word “shakina” – it is like a shining light and is actually a physical manifestation of God’s love. God’s dream is to fill the whole earth with his light and glory. To bring his power to change people’s lives, deliver them from their past, save them and bring them into his full purpose. We are passionate about the church because we know that once we have an experience with God, God begins working in us. His glory begins to come upon us. He begins to deliver us from the kingdom of self and into the kingdom of God. It’s not until you allow yourself to be changed by God that the kingdom of God within us begins to be revealed. You have to make this decision even after your experience with Christ and you initial salvation.

God wants us to worship him and him alone. The problem Israel faced time and time again is that they would get tired. Their attention would drift and then would begin to worship other idols. The prophecy in Malachi is actually directed to the priest of the temple. The priest would receive your sacrifice, prepare it and offer it to God. It’s called an offering because there is no guarantee that God will receive it. The problem here was that the offerings were unacceptable to God because they came from the wrong heart – with the wrong intentions. Israel had promised God their best, but weren’t offering their best. And, instead of the priest standing up to the people and reminding them of their promises, the priests took the offerings anyway. God was repelled by the attitudes of their hearts and scolded the priests.

Giving, bringing God our best, putting God first and putting his house at the center of our world is the most important thing we can do. Allowing God to take preeminence in every area of our lives – because when we do that we are walking away from the kingdom of self and firmly establishing ourselves in the Kingdom of God where God is first, others are second are we are third. In the kingdom of self, it is all about us. In the kingdom of God, God is first. God doesn’t care if you have possessions. He wants you to enjoy your things, but when those things get in the way of his house or become more important than your walk with God, they become idols. Anything that subverts God’s place in your life becomes an idol.

God is a God of the heart and he sees everything that is going on in the heart. He sees anything that is trying to take His place – which for most of us is the job because we get more fulfillment out of what we do than who we are, which is how God intended it. God is more important that our marriage, family, job – everything. When you put God first, all your dreams, visions and desires – God says I will give them back to your more than you could imagine. We bring God our best. When we do, we establish a covenant with God and he says we will walk in his favor. When you have favor, you know God’s hand is on you. Things just seem to work for you rather than against you. The favor of God places you in a position that it doesn’t matter what you have physically! (because we cannot equate favor, blessing and happiness with how much we have!!!!).

In Haggai, God said to Israel “You are putting your own life above my house. You are storing up treasures for your own life as my house is in shambles. You make all this money and put it in your pockets, but it is like putting it into a pocket with holes because you have made all of these things more important than me.” The people repented and rebuilt the temple because the temple was the center of Jewish life. When Israel prospered it was because God’s house was a priority in the nation.

What is God’s will? The will of God is the Word of God. The Word became flesh in Jesus. Jesus – the Word of God – is the Will of God. Jesus proclaims “I am going to build my church. Not as the temples of old; I am going to build my church inside of you. I am going to build my church upon you having a revelation of who I am and then I am going to give you a revelation of who you are. I will bring my will to the earth through my people – the church. I will bring my glory to the earth through my church.” That glory is so beautiful – it will be the most important thing on earth. God’s house manifested all over the world. It’s going to shine in every corner of the earth. The glory of God is going to fill the earth because nothing will stop God’s glory or God bringing his will to the earth.

That’s why we love the house of God. That’s why we have a vision to plant more churches. We want the kingdom of God to invade this world through us. We want people to grow in God. The kingdom of God is the hope of the world. Is it the most important thing to us? It is hard sometimes to not get caught up with life and what we see around us. But we are not of this world! Our lives are not dependent on what we see here. God is our provider! Our lives are in his hands! God is first. When you put me first, you put my house first. Get out of your own problems for awhile and start focusing on others. When you do, you will be amazed at how small your problems look and how quickly things will begin to change. Give God control and come see things the way he does. Put him and others before yourself, and all these other things – your needs, desires and dreams – will be added back to you.

God, others, self. Grow in God. It starts with practical things – praying, being in the house, tithe, serve and give your time – put your self in a position to be around the things of God and do the things you know God works through. Growth comes through sacrifice. Get these things set. Get these foundations right so that God will be able to do everything he wants to do through you.

God wants to bring heaven to Earth, and He wants the church to reflect what heaven is. The church has traditionally been more focused on going to heaven than on bringing the kingdom of heaven to Earth. Oftentimes, when Christians don’t like their lives, they focus on the second coming. However, when heaven gets inside of us and the kingdom of God is working inside of us and in our lives, we don’t want the second coming to arrive because we already understand the joy of living in God’s kingdom. Bringing God’s kingdom to Earth gives us glimpses of heaven everyday in our own lives.

When Jesus came to set up God’s kingdom on Earth, he came to set up a different kind of kingdom. It is a kingdom of the heart, not one in the physical realm. It is about transforming the earth by transforming people’s hearts. Once we change inside, we bring change on the outside. God wants to change the world by changing His people. The way the Kingdom is going to reach the world by living in us. Our salvation experience – the first moment we repent and God comes into our lives – is the first step towards the Kingdom growing in our hearts.

Acts – Church Birth – Acts 2 gives the earliest account of the meetings of the first church. First mentions are very important in the Bible. When something happens originally (first) in Scripture, that is a DNA example of how God wants it. He is setting a pattern for further use. It is important to see how He set it up so we can copy it. We want to emulate Him. It is important for the church to reflect God’s desire, not our desire. The chapter begins with the Day of Pentecost. v41 – Peter began to preach and 3000 believed, were baptized and were added to the church. The church went from 120 to 3120 in one day. v43 “A deep sense of awe came upon them all.” The apostles brought many signs and wonders, and the believers met together constantly, praising God. They sold what they owned and gave to the poor, and everyday God added to their number. The very act of believing in Jesus – having the same experience together – began changing their hearts. They joined a community, reached out to people they didn’t know, shared meals together and became focused on the needs of others.

The essence of the kingdom is living for others. Before this transformation, people were living for themselves. There was no such thing as generosity in the Roman Empire – generosity at this level was totally new. There were needs amongst them and they began to recognize these needs and give what they had to meet these needs. The world looked on and saw what was going on. They didn’t just believe – their actions began to change and their lives began to change. People were in awe at what the church was doing and the church gained favor with the people. As soon as they believed, their hearts began to change. People were literally seeing heaven on Earth – what God does in the lives of believers – and it made them want to join. This is God’s plan for reaching the Earth.

Ephesians 4 – Church Maturing – v14 – “Then we will no longer be like children forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lies seem like the truth. Instead we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ.” The church is maturing. After the initial excitement of finding God and joining a church, when everything is being done for you, as like with a child (part of the role of the mature believers is to care for the young believers) – we have to begin to mature. We have to grow in God and allow His kingdom to begin growing inside of us.

Under Jesus’ direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly – joined together perfectly. They can’t be all unto themselves because they are all connected. As the kingdom of God begins to grow in us and our understanding of Christ and His work in our lives is revealed to us, we understand that we are part of something greater than ourselves. As each part does its own special work it helps the other parts to grow – healthy, growing and full of agape love (self-sacrificing, outward focused, centered on the needs of others). You find out who you are and discover your gift. When you are doing what you are designed to do, you flourish. As we discover that we have a part to play, we begin to feel the tension of growth – the spiritual tension of the Kingdom expanding inside of us. When the church is healthy and growing, we begin to demonstrate this agape love. Jesus said the world will know my church by the love that is in their hearts.

Isaiah says there is no end to the increase of God’s kingdom. Kingdom equals what’s going on inside of us. When we believe, the seed of the kingdom is planted within us. When the seeds are healthy and in the right environment, they grow and flourish. The kingdom on Earth is about God’s kingdom growing and flourishing in us to the point that the world sees the change and are attracted to the God is us. The change resulting from our encounter with Jesus is evident. There is no end to the increase of what God wants to do inside us. As the kingdom inside us increases, so does the reach of the kingdom through us. Everything we do reflects the realities of our God. Every part joined together and representing God’s kingdom on the Earth.

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

Whatever that person does shall prosper. Verse 1 is a progression of connection. The lost connect to the world. We love the world. Why? Because God does. Sometimes we need a season away from the world, especially at the time we get saved. We begin moving toward the future: our dreams, our goals. We begin to move. You make a decision to shift your life and make it happen. Your change your priorities & focus for a while.

Everyone is going somewhere. If you are stagnant, you are going nowhere. When we come to Christ sometimes we translate that into pulling away from the world. It is good to do so for a season because it allows God to plant a seed of new life. But there are people in this world who need to be reached. Once you get established in your faith and your walk, you are on a different pathway. It is time to reconnect with the world to reach the lost. Reconnecting doesn’t mean to walk with the world; allowing their counsel dictate how you live, your life, your values. Sometimes when we connect we begin to walk with the world. We find ourselves progressing like in verse 1. First, we walk with them. Then we begin to stand. We need to be able to self govern. Be in the world not of the world. We can’t allow it to dominate us.

On the other hand, I can’t think of anything worse than alienating ourselves from the people that God loves. What are our motives for separation? Disdain? They aren’t as good as us? Do we look down on them? That they aren’t as together as we are yet? “God so loved the world.” How can we reach the world if we do not love them? If we walk in pride? We are not to walk, stand, or sit. Notice each step we become more comfortable. Sitting means being at their table, eating what they serve. We are not called to reject, but we are not called to eat what the world has to offer, either.

We are called to love them, but the difference is influence. In every situation, someone is always influencing someone else. The connection dynamic in relationships is alive. What are we to do? Stand and grow. We become strong so the world will not influence us, but we will influence the world. “Blessed is the man whose delight is the law of the Lord.” There is life in our heart. So we must protect our heart. It should be soft to God but protected from the stuff of the world.

It isn’t commonality but connection that creates the environment for the supernatural to happen. We come to God to connect heart to heart. We should feel the emotion of our heart in church. We want to bring the lost into that same connection with God, but guard our heart from the contrary influence of the world. Connection is influence transfer. Influence flows both ways. Heart connections are awesome. Share moments, have heart connections, but don’t allow them to influence you. Stand in your values and beliefs. Ask yourself, “Am I influencing what’s going on rather than the other way around?”

”His delight is in the word”. This word trumps all other words. Nothing spoken is higher than God’s word. Teaching puts the word in our hands but it is echoing because it is spoken out of God’s spirit. It gets into our hearts and influences us. God’s word is changing me, feeding me. Having love for God’s word is our strength and ability to fulfill His call in our world. We get that by reading or meditating on the word. It doesn’t matter how, but find a way to meditate on His word. Chew over it & speak it into your world.

Strength? Meditate on the word. Love the word. Then you will be planted like a tree. Like the giant sequoia tree, not just any tree. The tiny seed in the pine cone is opened by fire. Then it is planted and grown. That’s what we are. Seeds have to be planted in the soil to flourish and grow. Being born again is like having abundant life planted by a river. The Bible refers to the river as a channel – a man-made waterway. The church is a channel for the rain of the Spirit and God’s river of life. We can’t exist “just me & God”. We must exist with others. Planted by a man-made river means to be submitted to the house of God. We prosper in all areas of our lives – spiritually, marriage, family – when we are planted by the river. Then we have the kind of life that attracts the lost to the God in us. Prosperity is not about money – it is about fullness in all areas of our lives. The lost have hearts that are hurting. They will be drawn to lives that are full and whole.

We must be able to stay connected to the lost, but strong enough to not allow the world to dictate what we think. Meditate on the word to shift and change. We are a million miles from where we were when we got saved. Our strength and ability will influence those who come into our world. Then we will prosper.

In Luke 15, Jesus gives three parables that teach us how to view ourselves, reach the lost and walk with the heart of God.

1) The parable of the 100 sheep – Jesus asks, if you had 100 sheep and one was lost, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine to rescue the one? There is more celebration in Heaven when we reach the one that is lost than when we stay with the 99 who do not need rescue. But in this parable, Jesus taught that if one sheep gets lost, the Shepherd will leave the flock to risk his life for the one that is lost. We are called to reach the lost. In order to do this, we have to be strong enough in our faith and our Christian walk and have our lives together enough to go back into the world as a light without getting sucked back into our old ways. The sheep was lost in the wilderness – the world. We are in the house of God, but we are called to go into dark places and reach the lost. The house of God is safe. It is a safe environment for us to grow in our faith and walk out our christianity. We are part of the flock and are under the protection and guidance of the Shepherd. The wilderness is not safe. We are called to reach people in the wilderness. We have to follow Jesus’ example and have the strength, the passion and the boldness to find the one – to lay down our safety and overcome obstacles to reach the lost.

2) Sheep get lost in the house of God. They are like coins. In this parable a woman has ten coins and loses one in her house. Jesus said wouldn’t you light a lamp and scour all corners of the house until you found the lost coin? Wouldn’t you call to your neighbors and say “Come and celebrate with me! I have found my lost coin!” It is VALUABLE! People lost inside the church are like lost coins. When we first get saved, God makes it all about us. We learn who we are in God through his house. Once we understand our roll in the house, God’s plan for us and everything God has done for us, we realize that it isn’t all about us. It is about leading others to God. Sometimes when people come out of the world and into the church, they don’t know where they fit. They don’t know how to connect. They are limping, or carrying wounds from the world. Even though the Shepherd brings the sheep home, it isn’t necessarily all fixed. When the shepherd brings the sheep home, it becomes something valuable to the house. One of our roles as part of the body, the house, is to help parts of the body, the house that feel lost. We are called to reach the lost coins. The people that have value. The people that God brought into his house. We are called to reach these people and discover their value. We are called to release them in the house and into what God has for them.

3) The parable of the prodigal son. It isn’t about one son, it is about two sons. One is a prodigal of the flesh and one is a prodigal of the spirit. Don’t come to God with pride. Crisis humbles people. One son was lost and came home. He came wanting mercy, and was willing to be a servant in his father’s house just for safety. The father celebrated his return, adorned him in new clothes and the family ring, and had a feast to rejoice in his return. The lost sheep is found and all heaven rejoices. But the other son, the prodigal of the spirit, gets angry. He was home, working hard. When he heard the music and learned of his brother’s return, he became angry. What is going on in my father’s house that I don’t know about? I work in this house. I have ownership in this house. He was indignant and got mad because the lost son was welcomed home The “good” son felt he didn’t deserve the party, forgiveness and food. He was the prodigal of the spirit – the one who is in the house, but does not know his place in the house. He didn’t know the heart of the Father. He still thinks the house is all about him, and hasn’t turned his focus outward. It’s not about paying back a debt, it’s about welcoming home the lost. The father says Don’t you understand my nature? Don’t you understand what this house is all about? This is a place where we forgive and accept, not condemn and judge.

The attitude of those that are connected to the house must be the attitude of the Father. We must carry a heart for the lost – the heart of the Father.

Luke 4:14-17 – In verse 1 Jesus was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, in verse 14, the Spirit led him into the wilderness. He was filled by the Spirit, then led by the Spirit and then filled with His power. We can be filled with the Spirit but not yet filled with His power. The ultimate goal for us as Christians is to have the Power of the Spirit operating and working in our lives.

Later in this chapter, Jesus went to the Tabernacle and read from the scrolls of Isaiah. This was at the beginning of his ministry. It says He turned to the place – Jesus knew the word and knew what He wanted to teach. The passage in Isaiah that He read was His mission statement. He found the place that was about Him. He could have picked anything from that scroll, but He found this particular passage because it told Him who He was and what God’s mission was for Him.

You can have a “Jordan experience” – we want people to experience God. Once you have an experience with the Holy Spirit, you can experience being led by the Spirit. You become sensitive to his voice and direction. Once the Holy Spirit is leading you, you have the potential to tap into the Spirit’s power. You do this by knowing what the Bible says about you – the endorsement you have in Scripture – who you are in Christ. Once we know what the Scriptures say about us, we can go in the confidence of who we are in Christ. Jesus read what the Bible said about Him: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me. When it came time to launch his ministry, Jesus knew exactly where to go to proclaim what He was and what He was about to do. He was the anointed one, appointed by God to bring the good news and reach the lost.

We have also been appointed and anointed. When we can see what the Bible says about us and believe in its promises – believe that God believes in us, believe in what He wants us to do and what He has for us – the Spirit fills us and leads us, and then empowers us to preach, proclaim, open our mouths and speak things that are good. We are not called to proclaim judgment, but to bring the good news. When we talk about reaching the world, we have to come from a perspective of good – good news – positive vision. Jesus says I am the light, and I am going to make you the light. Light doesn’t try, it is. You don’t have to try to be a Christian, you are.

The darkness flees when the light comes. Sometimes we think we have to help the light, but all we have to do it let the Spirit shine in us – just turn the light on. We don’t have to fight the darkness, with judgment or condemnation, because darkness has no power over the light. We are bring light and freedom to the captives. The power of the Spirit holds the keys to their freedom. The Spirit has the answer for every need. It is not our place to judge the world – only to bring love, light and freedom. Our holiness is only because of the blood. We are covered even though we don’t deserve it. Let the love – the fire of the Spirit, the light of God – inside us to shine.

We are called to shine in the darkest of dark places.Everywhere I go I am trying to be the light. Every time I come in contact with someone I am consciously thinking about being the light. My life is better than their life. From the beginning I have something incredible to share. Just turning up in someone’s life can brighten his or her life. Be determined to let your light shine. Allow the Spirit in you to affect them.

God equals freedom. Jesus came to set the captives free. Sometimes Christianity doesn’t sound very freeing to them. Rather it seems binding. Be we just keep proclaiming the favor of God. When we come into contact with them, the life God gives us will get onto them. People are desperate for what we have. If we don’t have it, they won’t want our message. They look at our life before they hear what we say. Our lives are something to be witnessed. It is something for them to look at. It will transfer on to them and change people’s lives. We don’t have to force it.