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Grace. Mercy to you from God,
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our Father and our Lord
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Jesus Christ.
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In the past,
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people either proclaimed or
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rejected Christ's resurrection
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as a fact of history.
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But in today's culture it
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becomes more appropriate to say
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Jesus rose from the dead.
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So what?
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Fortunately,
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the Bible answers that question.
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The empty tomb has impacted
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every life as it has touched
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from the first witness
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to our life today.
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Since we are still in the joyful
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season of celebrating the
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resurrection of our
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Lord Jesus Christ,
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I want to share a message this
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morning and I entitled it the
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Transforming Impact of
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the Resurrection.
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The resurrection has immediate
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impact on the disciples.
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It transformed them from
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frightened followers to
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faithful believers.
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Put yourself in the possession
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of one of Jesus followers the
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day after his crucifixion.
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He had placed all his hope in
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this teacher, the anointed One,
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only to watch his life ended
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on a Roman cross.
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Thomas saw the crucifixion of
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Jesus and experienced
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a complete meltdown.
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He was overcome with pessimism
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and perhaps he lamented
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internally I knew it.
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It was too good to be true.
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Why did I even get involved?
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He was discouraged enough that
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he was not with other disciples
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on the day of the week when
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Jesus appeared in the middle
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of the locked room.
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When the disciples came to tell
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Thomas he didn't believe
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their story.
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They pleaded with him
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but he responded I don't
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care what you say.
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Unless I touch His wound,
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unless I see my with my eyes,
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I am not going to believe you.
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When the resurrected Lord Jesus
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appeared to Thomas,
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he did not say to him Thomas,
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you foolish man,
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why didn't you believe me?
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Our great loving Savior said to
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his doubting and pessimistic
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follower Thomas,
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come
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feel my hand. Feel my
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feet. Feel my side.
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See the marks of the wounds of
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your sin of unbelief in my body.
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And Thomas could only reply,
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my Lord and my God.
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The risen Christ utterly
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transformed Thomas,
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bringing him from pessimism to
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hope, from suspicion to victory,
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and from selfcentered doubt
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to God centered mission.
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The same could be said of Peter.
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When Jesus was on a trial before
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the religious council,
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Peter was not standing beside
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Him. He was in the courtyard,
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denying Him.
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He folded to pressure,
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not from the powerful
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Roman Pilate,
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nor from the influential
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Jewish high priest,
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but from a common slave girl.
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Luke, tell us that
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after Peter denied Jesus
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the third time,
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the Lord turned and looked
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straight at Peter.
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Something inside Peter broke,
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and he wept bitterly.
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But later,
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the risen Jesus appeared
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personally to Peter,
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as he had to Thomas.
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Jesus met him at the edge
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of the Sea of Galilee,
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the same place where he had
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called the fishermen
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to follow Him.
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Jesus restored his failed
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follower and began the
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transformation process with a
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simple question do you love me?
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Which is the text we
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read last night.
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The same Peter who had boasted
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his willingness to follow
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Jesus to death
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became the humble servant
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empowered to truly follow and
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die for Christ. As he answered,
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Lord, you know all things.
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You know that I love you.
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These are just two
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transformations among many.
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After Jesus resurrection,
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he appeared to more than
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500 other disciples
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over the course of 40 days.
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As these followers saw the risen
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Jesus, their cowardice,
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doubt and fear gave way
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to courage and faith.
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No longer frightened,
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they prepared to face death,
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because if Jesus tomb was empty,
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theirs would be as well.
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Second,
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the disciple were transformed
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from faithful believers
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to empowered messengers.
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At the end of the 40 days,
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Jesus ascended into heaven.
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But before he left,
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he gave his follower a
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commission and a promise.
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He commissioned his disciple to
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be his witness to all nations,
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and he promised to give his
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people the power to
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complete the task.
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Power from the resurrected Jesus
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to proclaim the resurrection
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of Jesus.
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On Pentecost,
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the promised power arrived.
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The text of this morning show us
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how Jesus faithful believers
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were filled with the
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Holy Spirit.
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And instead of denying Jesus,
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Peter become an empowered
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messenger.
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Standing before the crowd
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in Jerusalem,
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he declared God has raised
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this Jesus to life,
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and we are all witness of it.
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Repent and be baptized,
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every one of you,
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in the name of Jesus Christ,
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for the forgiveness of your sin,
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and you will receive the gift
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of the Holy Spirit.
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Peter boldly proclaimed the
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truth of Jesus resurrection and
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3000 people believed that day.
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This has been the pattern in
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the church ever since.
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Later on we see Stephen boldly
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faced martyrdom as he proclaimed
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the message of the resurrection.
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The same power transformed
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Saul to Paul,
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changing the greatest persecutor
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of Christians to a man
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sold for the gospel.
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Paul knew the power of the
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resurrection so intimately that
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he considered a joy to suffer
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the loss of all things,
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including his own life for
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the sake of the gospel.
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After Thomas touched
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the risen Jesus,
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he did not go home and returned
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to life as usual.
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He remained with the disciples.
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He was in the upper room when
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the Holy Spirit came upon them.
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He took to heart the commission
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of the resurrected Christ
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and set off to the east.
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He went to Nineveh modern day
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Mosul in Iraq and founded a
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church that is still
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there today.
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From Nineveh he went to India
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and established the church
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of Thomas,
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which still thrives today.
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These churches stand as a
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testimony to the power of the
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resurrected Jesus Christ,
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who overcomes our own
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doubt and failing.
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And the last impact is
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the eternal impact.
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For the last 18 years I have
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been doing mission locally and
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globally among Muslim.
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During this year I received
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hundreds of letters testifying
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to the transformative power
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of Christ resurrection.
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Terrorists have turned
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into evangelists.
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Criminals have become honest
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Christ loving men and women.
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Academics who once spent their
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life searching for way to
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undermine the Christian faith
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are now its biggest proponents.
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The power of the resurrection
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is available to everyone who
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believes in Jesus Christ,
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regardless of how powerless
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we may feel.
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It won't give us a prestigious
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job, wealth or fame.
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That is not what Jesus
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came to do.
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He came to give us the power to
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overcome devil, world and the
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greatest enemy of all death.
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God privileged the apostle John
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with a glimpse of the future,
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a vision of the Church
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gathered in heaven.
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John writes in the book
00:10:18.252 --> 00:10:18.962
of Revelation,
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chapter twelve and I heard a
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loud voice in heaven saying now
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the salvation and the power and
00:10:26.268 --> 00:10:28.202
the kingdom of our God and the
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authority of his Christ
00:10:30.448 --> 00:10:31.420
have come.
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For the accuser of our brothers
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have been thrown down.
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Who accuses them day and
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night before God,
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and they have conquered him by
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the blood of the Lamb and by the
00:10:44.772 --> 00:10:46.858
word of their testimony.
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For they loved not their lives,
00:10:49.924 --> 00:10:51.710
even unto death.
00:10:52.630 --> 00:10:54.702
These are the true and faithful
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member of the Church
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of Jesus Christ,
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people from every nation
00:10:59.966 --> 00:11:01.569
before God's throne.
00:11:02.069 --> 00:11:04.466
And note the people in the
00:11:04.488 --> 00:11:08.440
vision are alive forever more.
00:11:08.890 --> 00:11:10.850
They have experienced
00:11:11.010 --> 00:11:13.014
resurrection just as
00:11:13.052 --> 00:11:14.134
their Lord did,
00:11:14.252 --> 00:11:15.990
demonstrating what the future
00:11:16.060 --> 00:11:18.262
hold for all those who
00:11:18.316 --> 00:11:20.280
belong to Christ.
00:11:21.450 --> 00:11:24.982
That is the powerful impact that
00:11:25.036 --> 00:11:27.319
the resurrection makes.
00:11:27.850 --> 00:11:29.425
The reason Jesus turned
00:11:29.458 --> 00:11:31.918
frightened followers into
00:11:32.004 --> 00:11:33.630
faithful believers.
00:11:34.050 --> 00:11:35.870
Faithful believers into
00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:37.690
empowered messengers,
00:11:37.850 --> 00:11:40.800
and empowered messengers into
00:11:41.250 --> 00:11:45.294
resurrected conquerors. And now,
00:11:45.332 --> 00:11:46.334
may the peace of God,
00:11:46.372 --> 00:11:48.490
who surpasses all understanding,
00:11:48.650 --> 00:11:51.021
keeps your heart and mind into
00:11:51.076 --> 00:11:53.050
everlasting life. Amen.