Breaking Free from Baggage: The Story of Nicodemus

What's up, everybody? Pastor Justin here. It's Easter Sunday. Would you get ready with me this morning? All right, Bet. So we got our glasses, we got our watch, but I gotta change this shirt really fast. You already know our theme. Jesus and Vallejo. All right, that looks a little bit better. Got this. Let's make sure we get the shoe game right, too. Now. What am I missing? I have my clothes together. I got my Bible. I got my iPad. I'm missing something. Oh, I know. I'm missing my baggage. So, you know I gotta bring my baggage to church today. Yes. I have on my baggage. So I have my first bag. I have my relationships and friendships and my ego and my access. I gotta make sure I bring this back to church today. And then I also have. Oh, this is a heavy one. I got anger and animosity in this bag. I gotta make sure I bring that to church today, too. Did anybody else bring anger and animosity?

I got my anger and my animosity. Oh, that was it.

Oh, I got another one. I have. This bag is full of my insecurities and all my past frustrations. So I got that bag, too. I gotta make sure I bring that, too. I hope there's enough room for me at church today then. Oh, geez. This one. I got my net worth and my influence. Because, you know, I'm nothing without what people think about me. And because I think I'm so important, I got my influences, too. Think I got everything to go to church. I got my baggage. I can't wait to talk to you about Jesus today. Because this Easter, I'm gonna be deep in my b. I'll see y' all soon. Happy Easter to all of y'. All. Got my anger, got my insecurities. I got what people think about me. And that's why nobody can sit next to me today. I got so much baggage to bring. Doesn't this look foolish? But a lot of us, we come to church on Sunday. This is exactly how we look. We come to church dragging our bags and living from our bags, thinking that what I've accrued in the world and thinking what I've got is so much more important than what Jesus can do for me. And so you can't sit next to me because my insecurities push you away. You can't talk to me. I'm gonna look at you strange. Cause my anger is bigger than anything the Gospel can share with me. And as crazy as it looks on a Sunday morning, for some of us, this is what you look like. When you came to church today, and you're not the first one, it's amazing because the story of Easter, when we go back to the beginning of the story, there's a brother named Nicodemus. And Nicodemus, after Jesus died on that Friday, for the third time in his life, he encountered Jesus. But look what he did. The Bible says in John 19 he brought him £100 of spices because instead of a relationship with Jesus, Nicodemus was going to be deep in his bag. Nicodemus decided that instead of following after Jesus publicly and openly, once again, he was going to be scared and, and bring Jesus his bag. And that's the story in John chapter 19. You can keep your seats. The Bible says in John 19 that Joseph Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. He was a disciple, but they secretly went to Jesus because of the fear of the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body of Jesus away with Nicodemus, who earlier had visited Jesus at night. And Nicodemus brought 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe, took his body, wrapped it up in strips of linen. So let's talk about Nicodemus, because I believe Nicodemus is like a lot of us this morning. Nicodemus name meant victory of the people. He was impressive because Nicodemus had won the admiration of his people. And Nicodemus wasn't just saintly and significant. But y', all, let me tell you about Nicodemus. Nicodemus was all three. In 1 John 3, verse 1 introduces him as a Pharisee. He was a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish Ruling Council. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. And the Pharisees also were a group of the Jewish population who had been telling people about the strict adherence to the law of Moses going all the way back to the time of the Maccabees. So rabbis had a massive body of oral tradition which interpreted, expanded and safeguarded the original laws. By the 1st century AD there were likely 6,000 Pharisees. So there was a small population, but they had a ton of influence over what people ought to do in accordance to religious law. So then not only that, so Nicodemus was saintly. I mean, he knew the Torah, he knew the Old Testament, he had it going on. And not just that in his faith, but Nicodemus was a part of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish Ruling Council. The sanhedrin was a 70 member council in the Jewish Supreme Court. The number 70 came from the Book of Numbers, when Moses appointed people to lighten his load with, from the suggestion of Jethro. So most of the members of the Sanhedrin were Sadducees. Typically, what they did, what the Sanhedrin did is the Sanhedrin worked in tandem with the government. It's amazing, because as spiritual as they were, they worked in tandem with the government. So the government was really making religious decisions for the people in the face of rabbis who would bow at the knees of a president. But instead of bowing at the knees of Jesus, they were being flooded, influenced by the government and be paid by the taxes they were taking from people who were broke in the first place, telling them to manipulate the Torah because what the government told them was more important because the taxes that paid them. It sounds a lot like Western capitalism today. So Nicodemus Shah was sightly. Nicodemus was significant. Nicodemus was successful.

He had it all.

He was wealthy, he was powerful, he was brilliant. He was successful. And then in the midst of his wealth as possible, power, success, and his brilliance. John 3 says, One day Jesus came along. And I want to tell the story about how Jesus comes along and he follows Jesus. But no, Nicodemus goes to Jesus at night and he has this conversation with Jesus. And Jesus says, nicodemus, I know you're wealthy, you're powerful, you're building, you're successful, but you got to be born again. Nicodemus says, how can I be born again? I can't enter back into my mother's womb. And Jesus gives him this long explanation exposition. And he ends the exposition by saying this. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And God then come to the world to condemn the world, but that through him, people might be saved. So that's not the last time we see Nicodemus. Then In John chapter 7, the Bible says the Sanhedrin were trying to come against Jesus. So Nicodemus begins to talk about Jesus. Have y' all ever talked to this man? And they respond and say, nicodemus, what prophet can come from Galilee? Nicodemus gets silent. This is the second time Nicodemus gets silent, because in John 3, he hosts Jesus but doesn't follow Jesus. In John 7, he defends Jesus, but stops it and doesn't warn Jesus. And in John 19, this Sanhedrin member, this man who was curious about Jesus, they bury Jesus, but he doesn't want to follow Jesus. Nicodemus was the picture to me of a fence sitting Christian. I'm a. I like Jesus, but I'm a watch Jesus from afar. I want what Jesus can give me at my convenience. But I don't want to follow Jesus. And here's what's amazing In John chapter 19, when Nicodemus brings Jesus from his back, he brings him 100 pounds of aloe and myrrh. And here's what's amazing, Ek, when I read this. When he brings his aloe and myrrh. Aloe was this, this, this, this, this, this. You take the aloe, you take the myrrh and you would puree it. And it wasn't an embalming fluid. It wasn't something to embalm him. Nicodemus believed the word of God so much. Watch this. That he brings a hundred pounds of aloe and myrrh. Because as a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus had watched him with a coat of nine tails, get flesh stripped out of his body. And so Nicodemus brings something. Hear me. That would heal the broken body of Jesus. He wasn't embalming Jesus and preparing for death. He was preparing to help Jesus to be healed so he can resurrect on the third day. Nicodemus believed that no man takes my life, I'll lay down my life. And so Nicodemus was participating by rubbing 100 pounds of paste on Jesus's body, on the linen and on the couch, and Joseph of Arimathea's church tomb instead of. So when Mary and Martha bring £300 on Sunday morning, that's them preparing for a dead Jesus. But Nicodemus was preparing for the resurrection. So here's what I want to show you here. Nicodemus had everything to help Jesus, but Nicodemus decided to wait until after Jesus died. Nicodemus decided to wait until after Jesus.

Was died dead then, because he could have advocated for Jesus to the Sanhedrin.

But he waited for a dead Jesus.

He could have followed Jesus in John.

3, but he waited for a dead Jesus. Nicodemus was on the Sanhedrin and didn't.

Advocate Nicodemus had influence with the government and didn't advocate Nicodemus had all the tools necessary to make known a living and breathing Jesus.

But Nicodemus held on to his bag.

Because you have everything in your bag.

Church to heal Vallejo. Oh, we have everything in your repertoire to heal Vallejo.

Every gift we need to eviscerate every.

Sin in our city is in this church. But we love talking about what we got in our bag and not bringing our bag out.

Everything to keep your kids out of jail is in your bag. Everything that get your prayer, your friend out of prison is in your bag. You love complaining about the city manager, but the way to heal our politics is in your bag. But here's what we love to do. We wait until Jesus is dead, then.

Talk about what we have.

Oh, so you wait till your kids in jail to be like, I should.

Have loved them more.

You wait till you go to divorce.

Court, talk about, we should have dated more. Oh, I ain't scared of none of y'.

All. This morning I said, I'm in my own bag this morning, so I'm open my own bag up. We wait until our marriage is falling apart to talk about we should have talked more often. We wait until our children cuss us out to sit there and be like, we should have ate dinner and put our phones down. We wait until we're about to get fired, to email with intentionality. We wait until our lives about to fall apart to go see a therapist. And just like Nicodemus, we like a dead Jesus. Because a dead Jesus is a Jesus. I can tell what to do. A dead Jesus, I can pick up and put him where I want him. A dead Jesus, Jesus, I can tell you where he is and nobody else can get to him. I like a dead Jesus because a.

Living Jesus confronts my sin.

A living Jesus makes me holy. A living Jesus makes me live right. A living Jesus makes me understand that I can do all things through Jesus, not through me. A living Jesus tells me greater is he that's in me, not by myself, that I don't need my bag when I'm walking with Jesus.

But Nicodemus said, I'd rather sit on the fence, be deep in my bag.

Because it's easier for me to talk.

About what I got instead of rejoicing what Jesus gives. So, Nicodemus, it's like a lot of us sitting on the fence of our faith. I would join a church, but, you know, they weird. I would do this because I like the idea of Jesus. I don't want to follow Jesus. I like the idea of what Jesus can give me. But when it comes to trusting him, openly loving him, nah, get somebody else to do it. So when Jesus comes to me, my response is not giving Jesus my heart. My response is giving Jesus what's in my bag. Okay, so Jesus comes to you and says, follow me. And we're like, hey, Jesus, you don't really want me, do you? Know all about me, because in my bag, I can give you this Jesus. I got. I got my. I got my influence. So you'll just take that. Don't ask me to join a church. I'll just help them silently in the corner, and I'll get some grants for the church because I don't want to. I don't want to serve. But you could have my influence. You know, I know people. I got a long contact list. And then, you know, I'm worth some money. So maybe when the church has a capital campaign, I can help them out a little bit, because I got laughter, land and land and land. I'm not going to tithe. But y' all can just call me because you know my number, right? You know, I got some anger and I got some animosity. So I got some big emotions. So I don't want to follow Jesus, because if he only knew my real story, he wouldn't want to talk to me. So I'll give him that. And then you know what, Jesus? I got connections.

I know people.

I'm fine. I look good. And people answer the phone when I call. So I'll give Jesus my friendships, my relationships, and. And then Jesus, you know, you really can't use them because I'm a little insecure. Like, what they gonna say about me if I praise the Lord. So I'll give you my insecurities, Jesus.

I'm not gonna give you my heart.

But I'll give you my insecurities. And Jesus, you know, I'll give you my. I'll give you my ego because, you know, I'm a big deal Jesus.

Like, do you know who I am?

You know my last name? My mama been in this church all.

Her life, and I got my ego.

To give you Jesus. And then, not just that Jesus, I got, you know, Jesus, I gotta pass. I don't want nobody to know my story because they won't let me serve Jesus. And we just keep giving Jesus more and more stuff from our bag. And then, oh, what we do? Oh, we got more stuff to give Jesus from our bag because I don't want to follow Jesus. But Jesus, you can have this and you can have my children. I'll come on first Sundays for kids church, but I won't come any other Sunday because, you know, the kids got to know Jesus, but I don't.

I'll give you this Jesus, too. And I'll. I'll give you this.

I came on Easter. They better be happy. Mama better not ask me to come to church again. Because I'll give Jesus all these things in my bag. And Jesus says, I don't want this. I want your heart. I want you to trust me. And even right now, for some of you, you're sitting here like, I would join a church. I would trust Jesus. I would follow after Jesus. But what if the church would just take this and Jesus says, this Easter, I don't want this. I want you.

I didn't die for your skill set.

I didn't die for a personality test. I died for you. And we make a mess in the presence of Jesus because we find all the reasons not to follow him. When Jesus says, I know who you are because I made you.

I know everything about you because I created you.

And the very thing you think would disqualify you from my presence, I died for that. See, God can be everything in your life, but next. That's so good. That's. That's so good.

I said, God can be everything in.

Your life, but the next thing that you do. You know, tomorrow is the busiest day of the year. When are you going to go to the gym? Tomorrow.

When are you gonna stop cussing?

Tomorrow.

When are you gonna go to therapy?

Tomorrow. When are you gonna follow Jesus? Tomorrow. When you gonna stop doing those things that you know are getting you away from building your marriage? Tomorrow. When are you gonna trust God? Tomorrow. Because he's the next thing on my list. He's the next thing I need to do. And what if God wasn't the next thing, but he was your now thing? When are you gonna start loving your neighbor as yourself? Right now? When are you gonna start understanding that you don't need. Cussing is a language of the verbally handicapped. So I'm not going to waste my intentionality and my language by belittling somebody else and belittling myself by using something that goes against the gift inside of me. So cussing does not help me. Cussing tears me down because I don't trust my. My own maturity by using language that.

God has put inside of me. I don't need to use bad language.

To build myself up. I think on things that are lovely and think on things that are true and think on things that are honest.

So I don't need to cuss to.

Get my point across.

If you don't respect me, pack your bags and leave me. But I'm not going to waste my energy on cussing somebody else. Because God did not die for me to cuss you out. He died for me to give you brand new life. But when you gonna stop cussing now? When you go love yourself now? When you gonna trust God now? When you gonna show up to church now? When you gonna give now? Because now faith is the substance of things hoped for. And the. Am I talking to anybody in the building? Today is the last day I'm gonna sleep on Jesus. Today is the last day I'm not gonna trust Jesus because I'm not gonna wait till tomorrow to give God glory. But right now, I will bless Jesus, Lord, at all times, and his praise will continually be in my mouth. Right now, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble will hear it and be glad. Right now, I give God my glory, right? Am I talking to anybody who can turn up on a Sunday morning? I can say, right now, I will bless the Lord. Right now, I'm thankful for his glory. Right now, he's healing my body. Right now, he's restoring my marriage. Right now, I. I'm not waiting till my next season, but somebody toss your head back, open up your mouth and say, now. I want my child home now. I want my marriage back now. I want my children home now. I want my job healed now. I want my finances healed now. Now. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Somebody toss your head back, open up your mouth and say, now.

God can be everything in your life, but the next thing that you do. You know why?

Because while we were yet sinners, I ain't got nobody in this Anglican church. I said, wow, we were yet sinners. Jesus didn't wait till tomorrow to cleanse your heart. Jesus didn't wait till tomorrow to save your soul. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died that I might have now life. Somebody toss your head back, open up your mouth and say, now.

Pastor Justin, I get you. This is cute. This is, you know, whatever. But, Pastor Justin, you don't know my life. I know some of you right now, like, oh, my God, I'm connected. Nicodemus was connected. He was wealthy. He was significant. He had a grown family. He had a bunch of children. He had a wife. And you want me to give up all that I have to follow after some lunatic named Jesus? I can get with, like, a concept, Pastor Justin, but I'm like Nicodemus this morning, following Jesus. I got a lot to lose if I follow Jesus. So I'm gonna slide some stuff on the side to Jesus, because I'm not gonna stop my life for Jesus. Jesus, I can tip you. I can support you. But my reputation. If my folk at my job found out I was saved, they would look at me a little different. I get this whole bring your Bible to work movement, Pastor Justin. But listen, if my boss saw my Bible, I don't think they like me anyway. But if they saw my Bible, you know, I don't. I don't want my friends. I don't want to be ostracized by people. So, Pastor Justin, go get some ghetto folk like Peter. Just go get some. Get some hood niggas like Peter. Jesus. Pastor Justin, go get some folk like John who just want to lay on Jesus and cry all day time. I don't.

I don't.

I got too much to lose because, Pastor Justin, I'm not giving up the club to follow Jesus. I just learned how to twerk.

I wish I had a witness. I just learned how to do it. I just learned how to throw it in the circle. And you want me to get covered up for Jesus?

My knees don't hurt in the morning anymore.

You.

You want me to stop doing that for Jesus?

I just.

You know, the investments I made just returned. You want me to. You want me to sow a seed? You know how hard I worked for that stock? You want me to sow a seed? You know how much I've been working on my reputation? And you want me to add because let me tell you something, Pastor Justin. Faith don't feed these kids. Faith don't get my kid out of jail. My bag gets my kid out of jail. My connection to the judge gets my kid out of jail.

Faith don't pay my bills. Pastor Justin.

You want me to give the church. Faith don't pay my bills.

Faith don't feed these kids. Faith don't fix Joe Biden.

Faith don't get Donald Trump to shut up. And you want me to trust God. I want my career. I want my respons. I got responsibilities. I got to work hard. And you want me to trust Jesus over all this stuff? Listen, Jesus can fill in the gaps, but he's not going to be the center of my life. I'm talking to people in the room where the concept of Jesus sounds amazing, like Nicodemus. But let me tell you something about the Disciples. What made the disciples so radical is that the disciples were just like a lot of us. Jesus was not some broke heretic from Nazareth. Jesus was a Tecton. Let me tell you how wealthy Tectons were when they got married. Joseph built Mary a house like y' all over here talking about put a ring on it back in the day if you like it, you put a House on it. Like, I love you so much. I gave you a mortgage and some utilities. I wish I had a witness. They built a house. Y' all want something from Jared? Kiss me with K. They built a whole three bedrooms, two bathrooms. I want four bathrooms. I mean, that was a. Tecton was wealthy. Jesus was a well known carpenter in that time. He took over his daddy's business. He was a wealthy Tecton in that time frame. What made them so difficult was that Peter was a very successful fisherman. Like, very successful. That's why it was so amazing when they caught no fish. Because Peter had a whole business. Like, if Jesus came back, he wouldn't come and get me. He go get the owner, the CEO of Safeway. He go get the CEO of Facebook.

Because we don't like them because they.

Have so much, much. And they said the same thing. You want us to throw our nets over for you? You want us to give up our business for you? Because Jesus takes you places your bag can't take you. Jesus takes you places your frailties cannot stop you. Jesus takes you places your insecurities won't disqualify you. For Jesus takes. Peter became the first Pope of the King Catholic Church. Matthew began planting churches all over the continent of Africa. John began to write letters to every church in Asia Minor. I mean, all the. Bartholomew printed churches all around Greece. Paul began to plant churches all over Asia Minor.

So you say faith don't feed these kids. No, faith is all you need. Because faith is the one thing that.

Will take you places that your body.

Your bag, your degrees will never take you.

You want to see your life change, Trust Jesus. So I want to challenge you to get away from your bag. I know you got a deep bag, but let me tell you about an even deeper bag. Paul says it like this in Ephesians 3, that he has love that's so deep you can't go under it. He has love so high you can't go above it. He has love so wide you can't go around it. So Paul, when he saw the great, great love of Jesus, said now unto him who can do exceedingly and abundantly above all I can ever begin to ask, think or imagine according to the power that works within me to him be glory for Christ Jesus in the church for generations to come. So how do you get out of your bag really quickly? Number one, decentralize yourself. Now hear me. Decentralize yourself. We live in a world. We have such a keen awareness of ourselves, but too much awareness of ourselves becomes selfish, not selfless. Nicodemus was so aware of what he had that he was more comfortable in using what he had instead of trusting the one who gave it to him in the first place. And there's a lot we can surmise from these encounters with Nicodemus. I mean, there's the fear of judgment, the fear of inferiority, the fear of conditional love. Because a lot, a lot of Nicodemus life is based upon conditions and not unconditional love. So why would I trust someone? Because my entire life has been based upon what I can give others. So I'm going to give others what I desire to receive. I'll give Jesus my time because I want his time. I'll give Jesus my. I'll give Jesus my bag because I want what's in Jesus's bag because I can't see myself outside of the lenses of my own insecurity. My challenge to you is decentralize yourself. The weight of carrying your life makes life difficult. Some of you in the room today are coming into church. You got the weight of making everything happen, the weight of figuring everything out, the weight of trying to make everything make sense. I'm talking to people in your life in this room this morning, where my challenge to you is to move from a me life to an us life. Like imagine if you espouses, worked together, that you stopped fighting and competing against each other, but began to work together to build your marriage. Moving from a me marriage to an us marriage. Talk Justin Lester Children, imagine if you trusted your parents to have the best interest in your life and parents. What if you trusted that your children are learning what what it means to be themselves because they look at you.

Do you know?

Children, learn how to respond to things starting at three months old. The reason your kids cuss is not because of rap songs. They learned it from you. The reason they know dysfunctional relationships is not because of a movie, but the reason they know functional relationships, the reason they know how to affirm themselves, the reason they know how to see themselves with clarity. The reason they know who Jesus is is because of. So what if you work together, not just me parenting, but us parenting. What if you as co workers at work, it wasn't just about you making your career amazing, but it was a us thing. Decentralize yourself to see yourself. You are successful, but you can be even greater. You are beautiful, but you can be even greater. Death to self to find life in Christ, I want you to respect yourself so much that you respect the one who made you. Because too often we respect the world system Too much we respect what people think about us too much. We respect what people say about us so much that we forget that the only opinion that matters is the one who knows every single number of the hairs on your head. Respect yourself enough that you don't call something Jesus made a failure. Glory to the Lamb of God.

You God does not look at God. When God made you in his image.

God does not look at his creation and say it's ugly, stupid and a failure. God does not look at what. How dare we look at something in the mirror that God created and call.

It outside of the name of what God created. When God made you, he called you good and you calling good ugly. When God made you, he called you good and you calling good stupid. When God made you, he called you good and you calling good fat. When God made you, he called you good and you calling good. Too dark. No. I am fearful and wonderfully made in the image of God. And I respect my Maker too much to disrespect myself.

I am so in love with Jesus that I love his creation too. And the reason you can respect yourself is God respects you. How do I know he looked beyond? Hallelujah. Hold your faults. See, some of us, I said this a while ago and I want us to hear the truth of it. Don't have skeletons in your body like old sin in your closet like old sins. Some of us got some sin so fresh it ain't even set in the rigor mortis yet. But I thank God he looks beyond every single one. And by decentralizing myself, I begin to respect the Maker more than I trust myself. Lastly, all this baggage that Nicodemus had, I wanted you this Easter to get tired of carrying all of this life. Number one, decentralize yourself. And number two, get tired of trying to carry it all. Life is busy, life is heavy. Life lifes. Nicodemus had it all together. Yet he knew there was something that Jesus wanted about Jesus that he wanted. He came to Jesus at night in John 3. He wanted to talk about Jesus to the Sanhedrin in John chapter seven. And that's why Nicodemus grabbed everything he had in his home. He got his servants to watch the death of Jesus. Exactly after Jesus died, after the soldiers ran away, then Nicodemus came with £100 of spices and took time to rub it into every wound on Jesus body. Because Nicodemus wanted to be a follower of Jesus. Nicodemus wanted to trust Jesus. Nicodemus wanted to be around Jesus. He just got so comfortable carrying the Weight of his own life. Comfortable being. The weight of a Pharisee. The weight of being a father. The weight of being a leader. The weight of being a leader in the Sanhedrin. The weight of being a Pharisee. The weight of being a spouse. The weight of being a dad. The weight of being a leader. The weight of having always having the right thing to say. The weight of having to make difficult decisions. The weight of trying to lead a community. The weight of the Roman government. Government. He had all this weight. And so he got so comfortable carrying.

The baggage, but he really wanted Jesus.

And so I love this moment with Jesus that Nicodemus had, because it finally took the death of Jesus for Nicodemus to let go of his bag. Because the Bible tells us that after the resurrection of Jesus, Nicodemus left Jerusalem.

Moved his family to North Africa and spread the gospel of Jesus. But it. It took him finally getting tired of.

Carrying the weight of his life and.

Trusting that Jesus's shoulders are strong enough.

To carry everything in your life.

My challenge to you is you have the ability to heal your family. Just get rid of your bag. You can destroy generational trauma. Just get rid of your bag. You can build your community. Just get rid of your bag. You are the truth. Change your family needs. Just get rid of your bag and trust that even a dead Jesus can heal your mind. Even a dead Jesus can restore your heart. So my challenge to you, get off the fence with Jesus. Come out of hiding with Jesus. Get out of your head, get out of your anger, get out of your animosity. Because what is the worst thing that can happen if you trust Jesus? What's. What's the worst thing that can happen if you give it over to Jesus? Because if I give it over to Jesus, he's gonna give me healing. If I give it over to Jesus, he's gonna give me deliverance. If I give it over to Jesus, he's gonna heal my trauma. If I give it over to Jesus, he's gonna restore my marriage. If I give it over to Jesus, he's gonna bring my child home. So what's the worst thing that you get delivered? What's the worst thing that you get set free? What's the worst thing that he forgives you? What's the worst thing that he redeems you? Well, if I can get redemption from Jesus and not from my bag, forget my bag. I want Jesus. And I'm challenging every person today to let it go. Let go of trying to figure it all out. Let go of trying to do it by yourself, yourself. Let go of trying to carry this stuff everywhere you go. Let go of what people say. Let go of the lies in your head. Let go of what your mama said. Let go of what your daddy said. All it's doing is making your hair turn gray. All it's doing is giving you a hunchback. All it's doing is making your body tired. All it's doing is destroying your time with Jesus. But I wish I had somebody on this Easter Sunday, Sunday morning that doesn't serve a dead Jesus, but I serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is living no matter what men may say. I see Hallelujah. His hand of mercy, and I hear his voice of cheer. You ask me how I know he lives. He healed my body. You asked me how I know he lives. He took my weight off my shoulders. You asked me how I know he lives. He healed me from cancer. You asked me how I know he lives. He brought me back from death. You asked me how I know he lives. I let go of my past and he gave me my future. I let go of my bag, and he gave me mercy. I let go of what they said, and he told me, I love you.

So.

Let it.

Go.

Stop trying to do it all. Let it go. Stop trying to be Superwoman. Let it go. Stop trying to be Superman. Let it go.

Because let me tell you, the cross will always represent the great love Jesus had for me, that when I let it go, he picks it up and says, and I'll give you mercy. I'll give you goodness. And I'll remind you the whole time that I am your shepherd. Some of you are saying, pastor Justin, I want to trust Jesus, but you don't understand how broken my life is. I'm in bad decisions. I make poor choices. And Jesus specializes. See, here's what's amazing, that it's not a matter of cracked glass. Some of us in the room, you've broken things so bad that every time you try to pick it up, it cuts you. And so you stop trying to build the broken pieces of your life. Can I tell you the reason I love stained glass? Because stained glass reminds us that God can create a beautiful mosaic with all the broken pieces of your life that you don't got. God says, you call it broken. I call it beautiful. You call it broken. And I'm showing you there's a whole new ring of life that can come through you. Let it go. You know, I used to. My wife and I right now in the midst of training and trying to lose some weight. And don't tell me I haven't lost weight. I know I look good. Some of y'. All. Nope. I lost, like, £18. I feel good. I'm lighter. I'm moving. Yeah, don't say, I know I look good. You ain't got to say it. I tell myself I look in the mirror and kiss myself so I know I look good. So check this out. My wife and I. I believe you do this, and it's the last thing I'll give you. You dream in decades. You evaluate in years, and you work in days and weeks. You dream in decades. You evaluate in months and years, and you work in days and weeks. And so as we're dreaming in decades, I'm dreaming about, like, who's the justice that's going to own multiple property, going to see his kid, going to college? That's decades. But if I'm evaluating in years, this year, my one goal, my one goal in my fitness is to dunk again. Now, not just dunk. I ain't doing no foo foo dunk. I want to, like, drop step, embarrass somebody in the face, dunk, right? And I used to be able to do it.

I did.

I used to be able to do it. But then, like, this knee said, you're old. This knee said you're old. I broke a bone in my back. I'm old. An all this foolishness stuff. So now I'm training, and my training shifted because I'm working to dunk. So I remember back in the day when I used to play ball, I used to wear a weighted vest. Put a weighted vest on, and the weighted vest would be put on. And so I started training with some weights on, ankle weights and arm weights, because I'm weight. And so my. My running is a lot slower. My movement is a lot slower. My jumping is a lot lower. But the thing is, though, once I took the weight off, I'm able to jump so much higher. I'm able to run so much faster because I taught my body. Watch this. How to deal with more weight. So when I let go of the weight that I added, I was able to realize how fast I can move, how quick I can go, and how high I can jump. Don't miss your next level because you're comfortable with unnecessary weight. Don't miss what God is doing in your life because your whole holding on to yourself. Don't miss what God wants to do because you're holding on to you. Let it go. Let your ego go. Let your pride go. Let what they said go. And there's an old song that said, and then do this. Trust and obey. There's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.