Understanding God's Mercies And Miracles This Easter Sunday

James Greer: [00:00:00] Morning, Journey Church. Man, did that praise team rock the house or what? Whew. Good morning, downstairs. Good morning, upstairs. Good morning, online. And good morning, overflow in the back. Amen? Hey, you want to hear something? I mean, we had our first Saturday night Easter, had like 480 people. Amen? I mean, and like 60 to 80 or maybe more first-time visitors. So, I mean, God is rocking the house. I always pray, God, let my last half be my best half. Now I'm praying, God, let my last quarter be my best half. And He is. He's so blessed and it's so great. I'm so glad you're here today. I really am. And I want you to know that God has a word for you. And first of all, I want you to know that Easter is all about what looks like everything's done, over, defeated. I mean, it really looks like - say done. The truth is God's only begun. Many times when you think all things are over, God's only begun. Sometimes we have to get to the point where we have to say it's all done where God can begin. We have to let go of our control where God can be in control. I will tell you, if you don't know it, inside the bulletin, they go to a lot of work, the outlines in the bulletin, there's always a next step in the bulletin also.

James Greer: [00:01:30] And at the end, everybody has a next step. And so you may want to look at that. The message is going to be kind of on mercy and miracles and mercies, undeserved forgiveness, and unearned kindness. It's when God pardons us instead of punishing. And Jesus wants us to have mercy and miracles. And He talks about it in Matthew 28:1. He says, Early on Sunday morning as a new day was dawning. Man, that's what Easter is all about. You have a new day, a new beginning, a fresh start. Amen? I guarantee you, there's people here today that say, man, if there's anything I need, I need a fresh start, I need a new beginning. And right after that, it talks about Mary Magdalene. If y'all don't know about Mary Magdalene, she was the one that Jesus cast out seven demons. And the other Mary, they went out to the tomb. Now, listen, you know, you talk about they thought it was done. They thought they were going to find a dead body. They thought no more Jesus, no more casting out devils, no more the blind to see, no more the lame to walk, no more the dead to be risen again. They thought it's over. Jesus had already shown Mary Magdalene what mercy and miracles was all about. Jesus had cast out the seven demons, and maybe she had had a mental illness. Surely she had behavior disorders. She likely was probably a prostitute.

James Greer: [00:02:59] She had both physical and emotional illness. But, you know, God showed her mercy. He didn't give her what she deserved. He gave her unearned kindness, and then He showed her a miracle by casting out demons. And see, God doesn't want to give us what we deserve. He wants to give us what we need. He tells us in Mark 16:9, He said, And now, when He rose early in the morning, the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast out the seven demons. So you see, Mary thought, Man, this is a new day when that happened. He said, It's unimaginable. And God says, What I want you to know is you can have a new day, a fresh day beyond your wildest dreams. That's what God has and wants for you. First of all, He wants you to know you can have a fresh start, a new day. Second of all, God wants you to know He wants to give you what you need, not what you want. See, they went to the tomb thinking what they wanted was a dead body of Jesus Christ. He didn't want to give them what they wanted. He wanted to give them what they need. In fact, in Matthew 28:6, it said, he isn't here. For He has come back to life just as He said He would. Jesus, whatever He says, He always does. I mean, if He said, I'm going to come back to life, He's coming back.

James Greer: [00:04:21] Whatever He says in this book is going to happen. Amen? He said, come in and see where the body is laying. He said, not only has He come back to life, He said, Listen, Mary, both you Mary's, y'all come on in. Come on into the tomb. Let me show you where He is. I almost want to prove to you that the dead body is not. See, Mary, y'all wanted to come in the tomb. Y'all talking about y'all thought He was done. I want you to show it's not only done, it's only begun. See, neither one of them, He told them that I'm going to rise on the third day. Neither one of them believed Him. See, they thought that's what they needed. They thought they needed a dead body that they could come and they could see and they could see what happened. But they didn't need a dead body. What they needed was a resurrection, Jesus Christ, Savior and Lord. Amen? And I don't know what you think you came to Journey Church on Easter for, but I'm going to tell you, it's probably not what you think you need. What you need more than anything else is Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Amen? And when you say Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, it means, hey, it means your deliverer, your healer, your protector, one who can make you whole again.

James Greer: [00:05:25] He needs to be not only your Savior, but your Lord. So many people want Jesus as fire insurance. Y'all know what fire insurance is, right? I won't Jesus. I don't want to go to hell. Who does? I can remember when I was real young, preachers, they used to come to your house. And he said, James, do you want to go to hell? I said, Hell no. I didn't have good etiquette. You know? Not then or now. And I said, No, I don't want to go to hell. And he said, Well, good, come to church next Sunday. We're going to baptize you. Well, I mean, everybody thought James was saved because he got baptized. I knew I wasn't saved. Oh, no, no, no. You know why I knew I wasn't saved? I got baptized and they said a few words over me. I did not get better. I got worse. The Bible says, any man be in Christ is a new creature. Old things pass away. Behold, all things become new. So really when you get saved, you get better. So I'm a preacher. I didn't even go into the ministry until I'm in my thirties, right? And so one day I asked Mike Scott. I said, Mike, you know, I know I've been preaching and I know most preachers get baptized before they get preaching. You know? But not me. And so I said, I want to get baptized. You want to get baptized? You're already a preacher.

James Greer: [00:06:38] I know. But I know what I'm doing this time. I'm going to dot the I's and cross the T's. And so I came. Can you imagine being at church and your preacher gets baptized? Y'all thinking, what's the deal here? We've been listening to a preacher all the time. He's been lost. He's going to hell. And now he gets baptized. But I knew it. Some of y'all, listen, some y'all, maybe as a child, you were sprinkled or dedicated, and maybe some of y'all got baptized as a child, but you knew you really weren't saved. And today's the day you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. And now you want to follow through in baptism. I got t-shirts back there. Next service I can baptize you. Don't worry about it. Just go on. Or you can do it the next Sunday, whatever you want to do. But what I want you to know is you need more than just fire insurance. You need some life insurance. You need to be able to live an abundant life until that day comes. God has more for you than just simply fire insurance. He wants you to live a worry-free life. He wants you to have a passion. He wants you to have a purpose in life. John 10:10 says, the devil is one that comes to steal, kill and, destroy. The devil is trying to tear your family apart. He's trying to turn your kids against you.

James Greer: [00:07:50] But He said, listen, Jesus said, I've come that you can have life and you can have it more abundantly. He says, I have a life that's exceedingly, abundantly above the average life for everybody. That's the life you want. Amen? In other words, He says, I want you to learn not only to come on Sunday and have a good life. He said, I want you to have an abundant life and I want you to learn how to live it after you leave church. Isn't that what you want? Amen? I can amen myself if y'all can't do better than that. All right. And He doesn't want you to worry all the time. 1 Peter 5:7 says this. Let Him have all your worries. I mean, how many worries? All. Do y'all know what all means in the Bible in the Greek? I don't either. It means all. And worries. Do you know what worries mean? It means you're assuming responsibility that God only intended for Himself. When we worry, we're assuming the responsibility of God. Can I tell you you're not God and I'm not God. So today it's Easter. God's saying, quit trying to play God. He said, Let Him, Jesus, have all your worries and your cares, for He's always thinking about you and He's watching everything concerning you. The same Jesus, I think, listen, you know what I think? I think if they put Him on cross, put Him in a grave, and He defeated death, the burial, and the devil, and He rose from the grave, I think He can take care of your problems. Amen?

James Greer: [00:09:23] So that's what He's saying. He says, listen, I want you to look to Him. He said, I want you to quit living like Jesus is dead because He's not dead. He's alive. Amen? Third, He wants you to learn to enjoy and celebrate what Jesus says. Wants to celebrate what Jesus says. Amen? This is what I'm talking about. In verse 26 of chapter 28, it says, But H isn't here, for He has come back to life again, just as He said He would. Come and see where the body was laying. I'm going to tell you, Jesus is going to always do exactly what He says He's going to do. Today we have God's Word. Amen? And we got God's promises. I call this, man, this is a sword here. This is kind of a switchblade. But the switchblade, you know, sometimes you don't know how to go to the sword. You don't know how to find the promises. You can go in here, man. Open this up. It's got an index in front of it. It starts telling you promises, tells you where you can go to them, how to apply them. I love this. I never saw this before. It says, kids' duties. How many of y'all have kids? How many of y'all want them to know their duties? But anyway. How many of y'all would like one of these? Josh will give you one.

James Greer: [00:10:43] Raise your hand, Josh. I know you will. You'll just find Josh. He's got the straps on and the blue shirt. And after church, anybody that wants one, he'll find you one. If he won't, he'll send you one later on. But anyway. But anyway. An angel told Mary, said, Come see where the body is. It's not like I want to prove to you that He's not here. I want you to come look in the tomb. God says, today I've got God's promises, I've got His Word, and every time God tells you something, it's always come true. It's almost like Him saying, listen, I want you to learn how to use my promises. I want you to learn how to claim them because I want to show you how truth I am. 2 Peter 1:2 says, grace and peace. Grace, I want to give you the power to do it what I've called you do and do it with joy. Peace surpasses all understanding when you do what God tells you to do. Be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, grace and peace is multiplied the more of God's Word you know, the more grace you have, and the more peace you know. Amen? As His divine power has given us all things pertaining to life, God says, Listen, when you have the right knowledge of God, He says, I've already given you everything, the divine power pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who calls us by his glorious virtue.

James Greer: [00:12:00] Now He's going to tell you how to have it. You ready? He says, This is how you get it. By which I have given to us. He's saying, okay, this is how you have it. Exceedingly great and precious promises. They're not just promises. They're exceedingly great and precious promises. Just come to church. I love to preach to people. So come to church. Amen? But we can't have church every day. We could. But y'all probably got to go to work Monday. Amen? Did you know it's hard to be a Christian on Monday? It's hard for me to be a Christian when some of y'all are driving down the road about ten miles an hour when you should be going 50. And when I drive by and wave, Anyway. Let's don't go there. But anyway, God says, By which He has given us everything we need for life, but He's given us exceedingly great and precious promises. In there, He tells me promises on how to have patience, but I shouldn't be reading while I'm driving. But anyway. But I need to. That through this, you may be partakers in the divine natures, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

James Greer: [00:13:16] God says, Listen, He's almost like telling you this. Just like the angel went to the Mary's and said, Look, He's not here just like He said He wouldn't. He said, Let me prove it to you. Come on, look in the tomb. He's not there. Jesus said, Listen, every word I say comes true. But some of you don't know where to find the promise, especially when you have a problem. He's saying, Come on. Check this out. Find the promise for your problem, meet the condition of the promise, and hang on to it till you have the provision, and it'll come true. You'll start having the life, an abundant life greater than you've ever had in your life. See, God wants you to see it. He wants to come alive. He wants you to know that He's here for you in and alive more than you ever knew. And then four, doing God's will can bring joy and fear at the same time. Then the angel said, Now go quickly and tell the disciples that He has risen from the dead and that He is going to Galilee to meet them there. That's the message to them. So guess what? The women.

James Greer: [00:14:24] Where were all the men? The women. You wimpy men. Where were the men? They were afraid. The only people at the tomb were two women. Hey, men, free insight. You ready? Sometimes we need to listen to the women. The women haven't said amen all day. Okay, women. Sometimes we need to listen to the women. Now all the women said. Holy Moses. That's the greatest amen I've ever had in church from the women. Sometimes women are braver than men. Men, quit being such wimps. Let's start being warriors. Amen. How about that? Bunch of wimps. Anyway. They did man up after this. Peter did stand up and preach and 3,000 people got saved after this. Anyway. And the women ran from the tomb, badly frightened, but also they were filled with joy, and rushed to find the disciples that were hiding to give them the angel's message. I mean, you know, I love this because many times I understand what it's like to be fearful and joyful. I know what it's like every Sunday. Y'all might know it. Before I preach, I'm fearful. I got this verse. God, you didn't give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. I quote it over and over. I'll say, But God, I'm still fearful so give me the power. I really do. But, man, if you let Him give you the power to overcome your fear in whatever God's called you do, man, it is the greatest joy in the world.

James Greer: [00:16:10] And then I say, God, y'all know I have dyslexia. Can you imagine being hyperactive and having dyslexia at the same time? A few weeks ago, my wife said, next time you do that, would you just please stop and tell the people to pray? I said, Well, what do you mean? She said, I knew you couldn't read the words. I said, What do you mean? Is 1 Corinthians 10:31 up there? She said, You're going like it was 1 Corinthians 31:10. You're there, for there, eat you. She said, after a while, they got you. You ain't got it. She said, stop and pray or shut up or something. And see the other half the time, you were skipping words. I said, that's because I couldn't see them. She said, Well, they could. And so I know what it's like. I know. I do, I do, I do. I know what it's like to be fearful. But, man, when it all clicks, when I can read and God lets me preach, it's the most powerful, greatest feeling in the world. Sometimes I feel like I can preach. I could just step off. I'm not going to. But sometimes I feel like Peter walking on water.

James Greer: [00:17:22] I feel like I could step off this thing and just preach. God is so good. He is so great. You need to learn that therefore, whether you eat or drink, whatever it is you do, do it to the glory of God. Do you know what that means? It means it doesn't matter where you're working or what you're doing and who you are. You ready? It means who you're doing it for. If you would really learn to do that, success is not so much wealth and power. It's learning to love what you do. Sometimes you have to learn to do that. Learning to love what you do and serve people while you're doing it. It'll change your whole attitude. See, life's not all about you. And the more you make life all about you, the more selfish you become and the less happy you are. It makes a difference. But see, when you really can admit that you're weak, God just becomes strong. And then fifth, I want you to know that Jesus is here to meet you. He's already gone before you to meet your greatest needs. See, as the Mary's were running, suddenly Jesus was there, not behind them, trying to catch them. He was in front of them. I don't know what needs you have. Some of y'all think the life is done. Finance is done.

James Greer: [00:18:54] Job's done. God said, no, no, no, I've only begun. And God didn't leave you. He's here. He's waiting on you to come. He said He was therefore in front of them. He said, good morning. To some of y'all, God's saying, Wake up. Good morning. They fell to the ground before Him, holding His feet and they worshiped Him. Listen. And Jesus said to them, He's got a message for you. Don't be frightened. I don't know what you're going through today. It could be personal, be relational. It could be your job. It could be financial. God has a message for you. Don't be afraid. This is Jesus speaking to them. This is the same Jesus that we're celebrating today, the same one that has a resurrection, the same one that overcame the death, same one that defeated the devil, the same one that was nailed to the cross. And He said, Don't be afraid. Then He goes on and says, Hey, go tell my brothers. Leave at once, go to Galilee and meet them there. Jesus has got a message for you. I don't know what you're going through today. But just like this altar's kind of a way of saying, Jesus saying, I'm here to meet you. I don't know what you're going through. I'm not behind you. I'm already here. I can meet you. Whatever you're going through, your life is not done.

James Greer: [00:20:26] He's only begun. And He wants to do greater things in your life than you can ever imagine. At any age, any race, any anything, whatever it is, He wants to do that. He not only wants to be your Savior, He wants you to have more than fire insurance. He wants to be your ward. He wants to be your authority. He wants to be the controller. He wants to be the director of your life. Some of you may say, well, I'm saved, but I still don't have peace. I feel like my life is out of control, mainly because you're trying to control it. And He wants you to give Him control. When He's in control, it doesn't matter what else is going on in the world. He's got it under control. Some of you need to say, Hey, I feel like my life is out of control. I've been trying to control it. And as of today, I'm going to give it to Him. Then He said, Oh, good. Life's only begun for you. Some of you really and truly know that maybe you weren't saved. You know why? Your life hasn't gotten any better. Or when you lived a really hellacious life, you didn't feel guilty about it. And you want to settle it today. How do you settle it? You believe in the resurrection? You believe God sent His only Son to die on the cross and you know that you've sinned and believe God raised Him on the third day.

James Greer: [00:21:55] And today's the day for you to ask God to forgive you of your sins and you'd like Jesus Christ to come into your heart and for Him to be the Lord of your life. You're going to have people standing here. They'll help you do that. You've got a next step card. You can check that and turn it in the back or you can come here. But why in the world, why would you run from God instead of running to God? Some of you may have a huge problem. And I just preached on God has a promise. God has a promise for every problem. Now you have to meet the condition of the promise, and you might have to claim the promise, meet the condition of the promise and hang on to the condition. Hang on to the promise till God gives you the provision. God never lies. He cannot lie. Every word Jesus says will come true. And maybe today you need to come and pray with somebody or ask them to help you find that promise. And they'll do that. Maybe you've been visiting. Today's the day that you know that you want to join the church.

James Greer: [00:23:04] Maybe you need somebody just to pray with you and pray for you. I also say we have God's presence, which we do. We preach God's promise, which we did. And you have God's people, which we do. You got God's power. And today we have them all. I don't know why you wouldn't let Him have His will and His way. So would you stand and let me pray with you today? God, you're such an awesome God. I want to pray for each and everyone, the ones downstairs, the ones online, the ones upstairs, the ones in the overflow room. God, I pray, God, that for those that need to make that commitment, that you're tugging on their heart, that they wouldn't worry about anybody else. Just like it's just you and them, God. They want to follow through in public baptism. They want to give their lives to Jesus Christ. They've got a problem. They want to find a promise. They want to join the church. God, it might be something I didn't even mention today, but God has laid upon their heart today. Today they want to go out with the freedom of God. I pray, God, that you would tell them what they need to do, that they would let you have your way in their lives. I pray this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.

Bruce Goulart: [00:24:16] Man, What an amazing service that was. Hey, y'all, on behalf of Pastor James, I just want to say Happy Easter, and I'm so glad that you joined us this morning. Hey, if you are a local, if you are here in Pineville or even in Alexandria, I want to invite you to service next week because we are going to be having an amazing message and continuing our series Resurrection Road. And, y'all, this is going to be such a vital message about what Jesus did after He rose from the dead. And so you do not want to miss it. But hey, if you need prayer right now, there's going to be a lower third down with a word 'MOVE'. All you need to do is text the word 'MOVE' to that number and someone will get with you right away. And you can also take your next steps. Next steps are so vital in this world. And so I just want to encourage you, if you are ready to take your next step, maybe that is salvation or maybe that is baptism, hey, fill that link out and we'll get with you. Hey, again, I want to say thank you so much for being here and happy Easter to everyone and God bless. But thank you. See you next week.


Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.