[00:00:00] Ken Eagon: This young girl he was talking to said, "The glass is always completely full, because even if it's only half full with water, the other half is full with air." So it's always full. That was you that said that because I wrote this down here. I thought I wrote it down at church last Sunday. It was you that said that.

[00:00:18] Carl Nicolson: God provides the air we need as well. 

Yeah. That's the one. Yeah. 

[00:00:22] Pastor Addy: Remember I was discussing that last Wednesday. 

[00:00:24] Ken Eagon: Okay. Alright. I guess that was what it was. 

[00:00:26] Carl Nicolson: It came to me in junior high earth science class. Thank You, God!. He did it to me in earth science. Mr. Grasdock had no idea he was giving me that much wisdom and knowledge.

[00:00:37] Ken Eagon: I love it. I'm sorry, I better make a note next to that. 

[00:00:43] Carl Nicolson: No, it was from God. Just put, "From God, through Carl's head." 

[00:00:51] Pastor Addy: It's good that you're doing that because that's what I do. I will put the date, the time, who said it, and the place and everything. Yes. So when I look, I just know. 

[00:01:00] Carl Nicolson: Remember when we did that at the golf course when you had the impartation?

[00:01:03] Pastor Addy: Yeah. Yes. 

It's good. That's it. Yeah, because sometimes you open your notebook and you say, wow. And those of us who are pastors and we go to churches to preach. Sometimes you wonder, have I preached this sermon here before?

Keep a 

[00:01:23] Chad Williams: good excel sheet. So 

[00:01:25] Pastor Addy: we put a little thing right there and say,

[00:01:33] Ken Eagon: That's awesome.

[00:01:33] George La Du: Amen. Let's pray. 

Father, thank You for today. Thank You. You're good, God. And we just rejoice in Your goodness and that today we get to gather as a family and. To just receive the manna from heaven. Yeah. Thank You for Pastor Chad and for what You put into him that You do speak through him and feed us today that As we leave here we can run the race that You've set before each one of us With endurance because we've been fed today in Jesus' name 

[00:02:12] Chad Williams: Praise the Lord everyone Excited to share today.

Appreciate the opportunity. And I missed last Wednesday. And thank you. It was a good week. It was just busy, right? And it was also spring break, so my house was full of teenage boys. It was my kids and then about four or five others. And just a lot going on and prepping for Easter.

And there was a Some worship, youth worship events in Eugene. Over the holiday. And we were ferrying back and forth to Eugene, getting involved in a little bit of that worship for these teenagers. And there was all kinds of good stuff going on. Excited about what God did over the Easter weekend.

And today on my heart was just a reflection of Easter weekend. And maybe we'll have an open moment at the end where everybody could maybe reflect on something regarding Easter that your heart just touches your heart. I'm sure there's many things. And so that's where my mind is at today. So I was going to take us to John 19 and through John, some of John 19, a little bit of John 20 and then just share three or four points from that with you guys today.

A reading you may have heard over the weekend or you may have heard some version of this reading over the weekend. And I think I'm going to change, ah, we went there, I'm going to change it to John 19. And I think we'll probably start around eight, 18, maybe. We could always start at the beginning too, that wouldn't hurt my feelings, but let me look here.

Yeah, around 17, we'd start at 17. John 19 and 17.

Jesus. For the cross. John 19 and 17. I have the New King James Version. And so here it be. We're going to read through this and then into 20. And then maybe in 20 down to verse 7. So it says, And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified Him and two others with Him, one on either side and Jesus in the center.

The King James Version says, in the midst, several other translations say in the middle. He was the man in the middle. And verse 19 says, Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.

And it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to the Pilate, or said to Pilate, excuse me, Do not write the King of the Jews, but He said, I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written. 

Yeah. What I've written, I have written.

[00:05:06] Ken Eagon: Pilot knew who He was! 

Pilot knew who He was! Come on now. And preach on that, Ken. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. I have written. I like that. Twenty two. Pilot answered, what I have written. I'm going to read that again. I have written. Then the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts to each soldier a part, and also the tunic.

Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said, therefore, among themselves, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it. Whose it shall be that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. Therefore, the soldiers did these things.

I 

[00:05:51] Chad Williams: love that there's so many meanings behind all of this. And I also love that it reminds us that everything that happened according to what had been previously said, everything that happened. Why this happened? We can find a lot of symbolism for why something's happened, but another reason is because it was prophesied it was gonna happen.

That's why it happened. The Lord's Word never returns void. And so the soldiers did these things. Behold, and this is, I'm sorry, that was a title header, verse 25. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of . I may pronounce this wrong, but Clopas, is that how you guys would say that?

And Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to his mother, Woman, He's brave. I don't know if I could call my mom woman, anyways, He was feeling it, He was feeling it on the cross, Woman, behold your son. Then He said to the disciples. Behold your mother, and from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

Pretty amazing there. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were not accomplished, were now accomplished, excuse me, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished. And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. It is finished. 31 Therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken.

And that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they took, excuse me, they did not break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out.

And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled. There it is again. Not one of His bones shall be broken. And again, another scripture says, they shall look on Him whom they pierced.

Fulfillment of prophecy again. Verse 38. And after this, Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews asked Pilate that he may take away the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. Check it out. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

As I understand it, we have a Pharisee and a Sadducee burying jesus. 

[00:09:18] Carl Nicolson: Oh, I never remembered that. 

[00:09:21] Chad Williams: Burying Jesus. Come on. I think this is beautiful because it's this reminder that not only can tax collectors and sinners be redeemed But a Pharisee and a Sadducee can have their hearts converted to Jesus.

[00:09:37] Carl Nicolson: Wow.

[00:09:38] Chad Williams: That's awesome. Cause there's been some days where I was a tax collector and a sinner. And there's been some days where I was a Pharisee and a Sadducee and just a little bit too judgmental of everything around me, but Jesus says there's hope for both, so for both, then they took the body of Jesus and bounded in strips of linen with the spices as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

Now, in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they lay Jesus, because of the Jews preparation day, for the tomb was nearby. So, 'kay, it was just borrowed. For a moment, right? 20 and one says Now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

That's pretty awesome. I'm glad she didn't come. Too early because she'd had to deal with the stone. No, I'm kidding. But it was rolled away from the tomb. I think that's awesome. My friend, excuse me for the sidetrack delay here, but my friend came in this week from Tennessee and he ministered on Friday night at our Good Friday service and then Sunday morning at our Resurrection Sunday service.

And I was really moved and encouraged by his Friday night service because he preached about a day with no name. And he was referring to the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. And he talked about the frustrations in that day, the questions, the unknowns, the patience that was required in that day.

And he talked about how in our lives, we have days with no names, full of frustration, disappointment, questions, waiting rooms that require patience, but God's working in days with no names, preparing us. for when He resurrects it all And blesses it And he talked a little bit about how that what if Mary Magdalene wouldn't have been patient and rushed to the tomb too soon You know just Gave that little thought and makes me think of times in my own life where I wasn't patient and I wanted to rush out Of the day with no name too soon And then that created more work than was required 

[00:12:01] Ken Eagon: Point of reference here Wasn't there also a tremendous guard of Roman soldiers around that tomb?

[00:12:10] Chad Williams: Absolutely. 

[00:12:11] Ken Eagon: When the stone was rolled away, where were those guys? 

[00:12:14] Chad Williams: Where were those guys at? Taking a nap or something? Ha. Good question, and yes, you're right. There was a pretty good contingency there, right? Because they were afraid the body would be stolen. They didn't want the body to be stolen and then something manufactured from that.

[00:12:28] Ken Eagon: They didn't do it. Do we think that the Holy Spirit showed up on the scene and scared, or a big angel came and scared them all so bad they went running for the hills? 

[00:12:37] Carl Nicolson: It must have been quite a scare, because what I've heard of this is the dereliction of duty...

[00:12:43] Ken Eagon: it's toast. You're done. Yeah, you're toast.

[00:12:46] Chad Williams: Absolutely. Absolutely. 

[00:12:48] Carl Nicolson: Toast that's also crunched into tiny crumbs. 

[00:12:50] Pastor Addy: Yeah. I like when Marge Moreau said that, boy it's too smart. To make the first witness of the resurrection to be a Christian He made unbeliever To be the first witness As we're running like that 

[00:13:05] Chad Williams: Can you imagine how those soldiers are feeling too, stones rolled away and the Saviour is gone That was their responsibility 

[00:13:21] Carl Nicolson: Oh, give me a chill.

[00:13:24] Chad Williams: Interesting, right? Good question. Point of reference. So Mary Magdalene gets there. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him. Peter, therefore, went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.

So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he didn't go in. For some reason, he didn't go in. But you can't stop Peter, can you? Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief.

That had been around His hand, or His head, excuse me, now lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. So the cloths are there, but the handkerchief is not on them. It's folded, but it's in a different location. Talk about that in a second. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also, and he saw and believed.

For as yet they did not know the Scripture that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. Yeah. And so I'm going to go back to John 19 here for a second and roughly 18 and just read that again. Where it talks about Jesus being in the middle. It says where they crucified Him and two others with Him.

One on either side and Jesus in the center or the midst or in the middle. That's interesting to me and I'm thankful for that. Because it seems like our God is always working to be in the middle of what's going on in our lives. Even when you look in the Old Testament, right? They would travel and when they would stop, they would set the tabernacle up.

Where did the tabernacle go? In the middle of the camp. When they pulled back the fold of their tent, everyone had the opportunity to look and see God's sanctuary, the house of God, if you will, right? Bethel. And so God is always working to be in the middle. Go back to the fiery furnace and the King says, Hey, didn't we put three in there?

But I see four. There's one in the midst with them, one in the middle with them, right? There's another there. And you can see all throughout the Old Testament, even there's other references where you see references of God being in the middle. God is always working to be in the middle of his people, in the middle of their lives, working on our behalf.

And we know that the Bible tells us he's Emmanuel, God with us. The Man in the middle on that cross was once again demonstrating where He prefers to be with humanity in the middle. And then think about that. One man is there with, there's two men there, right? Both are criminals and both should be there.

The Man in the middle shouldn't be there. He's there for us, but the other two should be. And yet one of those criminals seemed to be satisfied with his choices and he's being a negative toward the Man in the middle. And the other one seems to be unsatisfied and reverent and says, remember me. 

[00:16:57] Ken Eagon: And I think But before that, he said to the other criminal, I think, he said, we're up here because we're getting what we deserve. Yeah, we deserve, exactly. 

[00:17:06] Chad Williams: Yeah. Yeah. But not him. We get what we deserve, but not him. That makes me think of my own life because there's times, there's so many times in my own life when God is once again in the middle.

He is between who I am and who I can become. And He's contending for me. Working on my behalf. You think about that. You got a criminal who? was getting what he deserved and must have been satisfied to the point where he didn't say remember me and you've got another who's remorseful about his actions who shows reverence for the King and says will You remember me and there's always this struggle within Chad Williams who's human there's this struggle between my flesh and my spirit and my desire to follow the Lord and in that struggle there's parts of me That is satisfied with even bad decisions because there was pleasure in that and it was pleasing And I was just naturally drawn to it and there's another part of me that feels a sense of remorse And i'm thinking God, would you remember me?

In this disappointing moment and Jesus is right in the middle of that Working for us. Contending for us. Just like He was in the middle on that cross. Interceding for us. Trying to help us. Whether it's us as an individual, or even our businesses. Our professional life. He's right there. Between where we're at and where we could be.

Working on our behalf to help get us there. He's always that Man who wants to be that God, who wants to be right in the middle of everything going on in our life. And I'm so grateful for that. Because I'm not very different than those other two men who probably should be getting what He's, what saving me from, probably deserves what He's there to save me from.

And I think that, in times of my life when things are complicated, He's there, He's right there in the middle of it. Sometimes I know it, sometimes I don't, but He's right there in the middle of my circumstances, right there in the middle of the complicated times in my family, the complicated times in my profession.

For a professional life, the complicated times in my ministry callings, and there He is, right in the middle, working, for our good. Working to move us into something greater and something better. I was even thinking about the concept of the middle. The Bible says the veil was torn down the middle.

Think about that. Right down the middle, right? And so He's right there in the middle, working on our behalf, opening up His glory to us all, and contending for us, not just our salvation, not just, An abundant life, but it does flood into the things that we're concerned about, such as our professional life, our business responsibilities, He's there working waiting for opportunity, give us innovation and understanding and discernment of the complicated things happening around us and always looking to.

And so I'm thankful today because I got this God Who's in the middle of everything that's going on. I just have to yield and trust Him. I got this amazing Father there, right? In the middle of everything that's going on. And I just want to trust Him to do what He wants to do. And I'm reminded that He shows me His desire on that cross.

Which is, I want to be in the middle, Chad. I want to be in the middle of what you're up to and what you're doing. That's where I want to be. I want to be there so bad. I gave My life to open the doors to be in the middle on a more personal level, be in the middle of what's going on in your life. And then I'm going to take you guys and we can open up for some conversations a second, but I want to take you to John 20 and six and seven.

Which was toward the end of what we read, John 20, 6 and 7. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the linen cloths lying there. And the handkerchief that had been around his head, now lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. This is really awesome because I was just talking to a friend recently.

We were discussing this, just talking, and we were reflecting on the fact that in a lot of countries, when you sit at a table, and you have a meal, okay? If you walk away from your plate, and your napkin is folded beside the plate, it says you're coming back. You're not finished. If you walk away, and your napkin is folded on the plate, It means you're done.

And we were talking about some of the connection to what He did there. Think about that. Most of His clothes was lying together, but the napkin was somewhere else. Almost like a symbol. I'm not done. I'm coming back. Not finished. 

[00:22:25] Carl Nicolson: Wow. 

[00:22:26] Chad Williams: I'm coming. I'm returning. You think about that. I'm returning. Instead of putting it all together, including that last little cloth that was around his head, it sits somewhere else.

It's whoa, was he sending a message to people who culturally understood the significance of a handkerchief? I'm not finished because I like to be in the middle. I'm the Man in the middle. Not finished. I might have walked away. I'm coming back. To finish some work that I started, amen. Wow, I don't think He's finished you guys.

[00:23:09] Carl Nicolson: I'm...

[00:23:10] Chad Williams: He's got more work to do. 

[00:23:11] Carl Nicolson: He's not finished with me. 

He's not finished with us, amen. He's continually working to be right in the middle. He's so tenacious, I can take Him and put Him over here and somehow He'll find himself right back in the middle. You know what I mean? With my own choices and conduct sometimes.

I can move out of the frame, Jesus. I'm doing this myself. I'm handling this myself, right? And He's gracious and kind and merciful and He just inches His way back in the frame to get right back in the middle, unwilling to give up on me and willing to continually be there in the middle, working, contending on our behalf.

Never finished, it would seem, with what He's doing.

Never finished with what He's doing. So he's the man in the middle. And He's working. And He's not finished. He wants to continue to work. Continue to be right in the middle of our homes and our relationships. Both personal and professional. family relationships faith relationships, business relationships.

He's right there seeking opportunity to be in the middle of what is going on with great intention because the napkin's not on the plate. The napkin's not on the plate for your business or your family or your children your friendships, your finances. Your callings, your purpose. There's a Man in the middle.

He's working for us. Amen? So let's try to stay on topic as much as we can and share for a second. I'm done. Anything resonating with you about this or what you just experienced over the Easter week? 

[00:25:04] Pastor Addy: The goal of the Bible is always love and intimacy. So that's what the middle signify. Paul tell us in Colossians 3.

14, he say, Love is the glue. And the thing in the middle always say, God was in Christ reconciling. The middle pull it together. Notice that all that we do increase them. . It is always opportunity or synchronization or love. Is that one word that God uses when He won't talk about unity or civilization.

So He will say, love is the glue that holds everything in place. . So notice that when certain want to destroy us, He uses something called disunity. So all through the Scripture, God talk about disunity and God says God so much. Expose the strategy of disunity that when the children, when men decided to rebel against God and they were building the tower of Babel, what was God's confession?

These people are one, and anything they desire to do will happen. They have to infuse disunity in their midst. They have to change their languages to stop them. So all through the Scripture, You will see the Bible will be talking about Satan uses the strategy of his unity. to disarm people. So somewhere in Proverbs, the writer wrote that cast all the contentious persons and the strife will cease.

Because when there is strife, there is envy and every other evil work. So God said the solution is that whatever is causing this unity, you have to pull it out. When there is no wood, the fire going out, so you're talking about the middle, unity, that coming together, that being bonded together.

So Paul talks about it, he say, maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Yeah. Come on. So whenever we are together. Let me just say this before I pass it on. There was this proverb where the man caught his children and he take the bundle of straw and give it to them. Each one of them broke it and he took the whole thing and put it together.

And he took each of them to break it and they couldn't even break it. And he was telling them, when you are united, together you are stronger. When you're divided, if I'm talking to him, as close as he is to me, if his spirit, soul, and body. It's not synchronized. He will never receive anything from me Especially if he disengages his mind, even though i'm in close proximity You would say What did you say?

Even in a church where you worship in God, you disengage any part of your body You will never receive the fullness of that benefit your spirit soul and body Has to be in unison Have you noticed that your spirit was worshiping God? And your body is proud. Didn't want to bend. God told you to kneel down.

Your head, your spirit man went like this. But you look around, you saw all the people and your spirit man would lift his hand to say, Amen or Hallelujah, but your mouth wouldn't open because you were intimidated by the people around you. Your spirit man wanted to kneel, he was actually kneeling, but because it's in this suit, the suit said, What are you doing?

You can see all these people. What are you trying to do? You want to embarrass yourself? I said, look at you. You're so proud. Even the experiment is starting to go down. Your body will move. Attention. Between 

[00:28:43] Carl Nicolson: Proverbs 22 10. That was the one. Proverbs 22 and 10. 22 and 10. Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife. Quarrels and insults are ended. 

[00:28:54] Chad Williams: Very good. I want to read another verse to you guys. John, it's 20, keep reading down to 12. Talking about the God in the middle. 12, it says, And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Think about the image there.

An angel where His head had been and where His feet would have been. And you have the Ark of the Covenant. You have two cherubims and the seat. The man in the middle.

[00:29:32] Carl Nicolson: Wow. 

[00:29:37] Chad Williams: The God in the middle. 

[00:29:38] Carl Nicolson: Never considered that simple. Obvious when you say it. 

[00:29:42] Chad Williams: God is the God of life. Wow. 

[00:29:45] Carl Nicolson: Ho, ho, ho. 

This reminds me of what you shared years ago, and it has been such a blessing to me, the principle that you shared, that there are examples throughout our lives of God not hiding things from us. But hiding things for us to discover. 

[00:30:08] Chad Williams: Yeah, that's awesome. 

[00:30:09] Carl Nicolson: Man. That's good. That happened to me. 

[00:30:12] Chad Williams: That's good. For us. That's awesome. I love that. 

[00:30:14] Pastor Addy: And that's where the joy is. That's what you do to your children Easter Sunday and your grandchildren, you hide the eggs when they find it. That's why. Ooh, you're getting closer,

You come there and they discover and the other, you share the joy. It's the same thing as we see. Say you, if you see My face, you will find Me. Yeah. They just, they, the building is in that discovery. And you say, love, feel it not. Come on. Always win. Say, anybody who's working in love will win in the end.

Because he acting like God. He said, add to your faith godliness. For God is love. He that loveth not knoweth not God. Amen. For God is love. Wow. 

[00:30:57] Carl Nicolson: That was awesome. Chad, thank you. 

[00:31:01] Chad Williams: Thank the Lord. Oh, he's worthy. 

[00:31:04] Carl Nicolson: Every time I think of the angels in the tomb.... 

[00:31:06] Chad Williams: Yeah. Wouldn't that have been amazing to see, right?

She saw that. How awesome is that? 

[00:31:13] Pastor Addy: My, my favorite part is when you shouted _"Tetelestai!" _

[00:31:17] Chad Williams: Yes, come on. 

[00:31:18] Pastor Addy: Favorite part. Accomplish. Accomplish. Finish. Finish. Every time, no matter what we're going through. Yes. 

[00:31:26] George La Du: Yes. Along the idea of, He's not finished. If we. Jump down to verse 17. Yeah. 

[00:31:39] Carl Nicolson: Verse 17 says, Yeah.

Jesus saith unto her, Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God. Amen. Amen. 

[00:32:02] George La Du: He's not finished. Not finished. Because He had to ascend, so He could send the Holy Spirit. 

[00:32:09] Carl Nicolson: Amen. 

[00:32:10] George La Du: And the power of that declaration, My father and your father.

[00:32:17] Carl Nicolson: Amen. 

[00:32:17] George La Du: Wow. Do we receive? God and your God. Really? I think for most of us it's. It's hard to see myself as a son of God like Jesus is, but He was declaring that, that day. He said, No, you're, if you're in Me and I'm in you, He is your father. You're no longer a servant. You're no longer a slave.

But you're a son. Who gets to serve, right? With Jesus saying that He's the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me, that when He said, It is finished, what was finished? I believe what was finished was, the way back to the Father. That was finished. Now Jesus made the way. The question is, are you going to take the way and experience the intimacy with the Father that the Father's been crying out for ever since Adam and Eve sin?

And now Jesus made the way. And What I'm concerned about in the Church, in the body of Christ today, is that most of us are like this. Here's the Father, here's the believer. We're so close, and we have the right, the inheritance, to go all the way. But we've been like this close because we've had that servant mentality, that I'm a servant, not a son.

The son gets 24 hour access to the Father. Yeah, and daughters, right? So when I'm saying son, I'm saying both of them, right? Just like men are the bride of Christ. So in a, in that sense, the children of God. So my challenge has been that I've, when I came to Jesus and got born again, and we mentioned this once before, I signed up in the army of God and became a good soldier for Jesus.

I didn't know I was supposed to go on to the Father, that Jesus was the way to the Father, and receive the bonding love of the Father, like Adam and Eve experienced before sin, with the Father in the Garden of Eden. So when Jesus said, It's finished, I finished making the way for you. Now you can go back to the Garden, experience the love with the Father.

That the Father promised on the day that Adam and Eve sinned, He promised He'd send a Redeemer. He promised He'd send the one to crush the head of the serpent. And that's what was finished. Thank you, Lord. 

[00:35:43] Chad Williams: Any thoughts, Adebola? 

[00:35:47] Adebola Adewumi: Got no thoughts over here.

[00:35:51] Chad Williams: Alright, brother. Just checking. Appreciate you. 

[00:35:54] Pastor Addy: I was sharing my testimony with him on Easter Sunday. Jin Park's son. I don't know Jin's kid. I know you know Jin Park. I know Jin is his wife. Yeah. Yeah. Easter Sunday. He came to Jeffrey and say good job, Jeffrey want to do electrical engineering He say I will pay for all your books And I'll give you one thousand dollars every month.

[00:36:24] Kenneth (Bishop): Oh, sorry 

[00:36:27] Pastor Addy: And It's his words Yeah, it's just like Ken or Neil promising or something. His word is good. I've been with him for years And he say as soon as you open the account, you let me know Okay He said be a good boy and keep steady. Can you imagine how blew away I was? I would tell you God will always surprise people.

[00:36:49] Chad Williams: Yeah, praise the lord. Praise the lord. That's awesome. Pastor Addy. Praise the Lord. So as we close john 20 and 19 Then the same day at evening being the first day of the week When the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them, Peace be with you.

[00:37:17] Carl Nicolson: Wow. 

[00:37:19] Chad Williams: When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 

[00:37:27] Carl Nicolson: Again! 

[00:37:28] Chad Williams: Back in a minute. 

[00:37:29] Carl Nicolson: That's so great! Woo! I love that! 

[00:37:38] Chad Williams: Lord. 

[00:37:38] Carl Nicolson: Man, it is amazing to me that I can read something over and yet still there's a thing that just loops out at us now.

[00:37:46] Pastor Addy: Yeah. 

[00:37:48] Carl Nicolson: Wow. 

[00:37:49] Pastor Addy: It's not your head that's picking that up, it's your heart. Heart. That is speaking out loud.

[00:37:56] Carl Nicolson: Oh, ho!

[00:37:59] Chad Williams: I heard somebody say something like, That I, for that very purpose Carl, I heard somebody say, you can read the Bible a thousand times and realize you still haven't read it. How about that? , cause you're like, where did that come from?

[00:38:14] Carl Nicolson: Yeah. 

[00:38:16] Chad Williams: It's so powerful. It's so layered, right? It's so awesome. We have an amazing God. He's working in the middle, folks. He's working in the middle of it all. Amen. Thankful for that. Thank you, Lord. Carl, will you pray for us? 

[00:38:31] Carl Nicolson: Sure. 

[00:38:31] Chad Williams: Thank you, brother. 

[00:38:33] Carl Nicolson: Oh, dear Lord. You are so good to us. Thank You for Brother Chad sharing in Your Word and revealing things to us to bless us and encourage us. Thank you. 

[00:38:43] Chad Williams: Yes. 

[00:38:43] Carl Nicolson: You are in our midst. 

[00:38:46] Chad Williams: Amen. 

[00:38:47] Carl Nicolson: We are gathered here in your name. Amen. Thank you for being our Heavenly Father. 

[00:38:51] Chad Williams: Yes, 

[00:38:52] Carl Nicolson: and our Forerunner..

[00:38:53] Chad Williams: Thank You, Lord. 

[00:38:54] Carl Nicolson: Our Advocate. 

[00:38:55] Chad Williams: Thank you so much, God. 

[00:38:56] Carl Nicolson: Our Sacrificial Lamb, our Triumphant, Risen King. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, in Jesus' name, we pray Jesus name. Amen. 

[00:39:06] Chad Williams: Amen.

[00:39:07] Carl Nicolson: Thank you. 

[00:39:07] Kenneth (Bishop): Praise. 

[00:39:08] Chad Williams: Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. 

[00:39:10] Carl Nicolson: Wow. 

[00:39:10] Chad Williams: Thank you Jesus. 

[00:39:11] Kenneth (Bishop): Thank you Jesus. 

[00:39:12] Chad Williams: Thank you Jesus. 

[00:39:14] Pastor Addy: Read that again, what he just read I'm curious, read that again. 

[00:39:19] Carl Nicolson: With pleasure.

That, sorry, then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and sayeth unto them, peace be unto you. 

[00:39:47] Pastor Addy: Okay. 

[00:39:47] Carl Nicolson: And when He had so said, He shew unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad and they saw the Lord.

[00:40:00] Pastor Addy: Notice that I'm not giving you a lesson specific. You already know what to do when you go home. You're not supposed to stop there. There's something you trying to do in your life. You want to bring something into visibility. So what, and what part of it that struck you? Maybe you want to do something in your business or your family or something.

Every time you kneel down, or you say, Father, I thank You that when You appear, this happened. If you keep praying it, you will see that after some time, that thing will manifest. So He's trying to relate something to you that He wants to do. So don't just, He's trying to take it from the letter to bring it into visibility.

And what most people do, they will close the book. And they won't do anything anymore. And that thing will not be born into the earth. That's why He struck it at you. There's something He wants to do. I don't know what it is, whether it's your business or your marriage or your family. But the part that struck you.

It's that thing He wants to bring into visibility. So it's that thing, you got to either put it on the fridge or on your computer. Put that fridge there, and every day you'll be thanking Him. Thank You that You're going to do this. Thank You that You're going to do this, and you'll see it manifest in the natural.

[00:41:12] Carl Nicolson: That's a good word. 

[00:41:13] Ken Eagon: That's the way that thing about the curtain hit me this morning when I was listening to that guy. Should I share that? 

[00:41:18] Pastor Addy: Yeah.

[00:41:22] Ken Eagon: The Bible study that meets once a month is tomorrow, and we're doing, we're working our way through Acts, so tomorrow is Acts 15. And this pastor was talking about how the, when, after the first missionary journey, Paul ended up back, and They had a a Jerusalem, they had a Jerusalem conference because there were all of these Jews that were saying these guys can't become Christians unless they, come back and do this, and this.

And they're starting to try to layer it all up again. And Of course James set 'em straight. But the fun , the way this guy described it, he says, these guys were trying to sew the curtain back together. . 

[00:42:07] Chad Williams: Good. I like that. 

[00:42:09] Ken Eagon: And they were the Judaizers, the guys that were kind, trying to come back.

And then he said, think about how the song would go if it was instead of Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound, if you had to do all these things, it would be Amazing Circumcision, How Sweet the Sound. 

[00:42:27] Carl Nicolson: That's a terrible sound! 

[00:42:30] Ken Eagon: They were trying to throw all this stuff back in, but the curtain was torn down the middle. And these guys are trying to sew it back together.

Wait, what? We're all of us do this. We think, Oh, I've got to do this and I've got to do that. No, what you got to do is be faithful and not try to think that anything that you're going to do is going to get you, into the other level of heaven or something like this. But we're all just buried in this constantly.

Yeah. That's it. 

[00:43:02] Pastor Addy: Jesus plus nothing. So when he stands before God, he kneels before God. And say, Father, thank You. But it's not about religion. But You are working in my voice, You tearing the view from their eyes and You're bringing them into divine alignment. You're making them to see it is not how much legislation and don't do that.

Don't do that. Why? Trusting You by Your Spirit that You join them to Yourself. The curtain is too. I thank you for tearing the curtains. The moment he starts to pray that he will see that someone will change in his family and he is so God has given him a word for it. for the situation. So that's what I mean when I say, if He wants to do something in your life, He will send a word.

When He send a word to me, about, this situation, I have to take that prophetic word, and I have to engage that word. And most Christians don't do that And the best prayer to pray is to say thank You, Lord, that You've torn the veil I will never try to put it back together You have done everything for me as he keeps saying that before going keep thinking he thinks of being transformed in his children life in his family.

So that's the word for him That God has sent to his house 

[00:44:15] Carl Nicolson: It's a good one. 

[00:44:16] Chad Williams: Very good 

[00:44:18] Ken Eagon: Don't try to sew the curtain back up. 

[00:44:20] Chad Williams: Don't sew the curtain back up. 

[00:44:23] Carl Nicolson: Sew seeds of love instead. 

[00:44:25] Chad Williams: And regarding your question, Ken, Matthew chapter 28, 11 through 15 talks a little bit about those soldiers, how they 

[00:44:31] Ken Eagon: Oh yeah.

[00:44:32] Chad Williams: How they went and reported and they gave them money and told them to go create a lie, basically. I also saw that some suggest, because the Bible says that there was a great earthquake and then an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone, that in the midst of the confusion and the shock of it all, that they didn't quite witness what happened, but they knew he was gone. Kind of thing. 

[00:44:54] Carl Nicolson: Wow. 

[00:44:56] Ken Eagon: In a big old earthquake, everybody's diving for cover. 

[00:44:58] Chad Williams: ,,right? 

[00:44:58] Ken Eagon: Yeah. 

[00:45:00] Chad Williams: Earthquake shock. A lot going on, right? 

[00:45:04] Ken Eagon: I can remember the last time. We had an earthquake here that I can remember years ago. I was sitting in a doctor's office down in northwest Portland and there was a waiting room and a lot of people sitting in there.

And all of a sudden everything started to move. And there's that sound. And everybody in the room looked at each other. Was that a gigantic truck that just drove by? But it's not stopping. It keeps going and the building is shaking. It's shaking. Yeah. I think everybody else in the room, everybody in those situations is thinking the same thing:

God, please just make it stop. 

But it keeps shaking, and it is a, it's a real feeling of helplessness, and that was just a little earthquake. I can't even imagine what it's like when these big ones hit. 

[00:45:52] Carl Nicolson: Oh yeah, and we're not equipped for terra infirma. 

[00:45:56] Chad Williams: Yeah, and it's interesting too, when the soldiers went and told the chief priests, they always was trying to cover each other's back.

So the chief priest gave the soldiers a bunch of money and said, Hey, go tell everybody the disciples came and stole Jesus. And if you do that, we'll make sure you're okay with Rome. In other words, you cover us and we'll cover you. Because they said, and if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure.

[00:46:25] Ken Eagon: So that's in Matthew. 

[00:46:26] Chad Williams: That's in Matthew chapter 8, yeah. Yeah, it's the 2811 through 15. So basically like we're all in trouble here. So we'll give you a bunch of money and you go tell a lie. And then whenever the governor hears, we'll let him know that you did your job, but they fooled you or whatever.

We'll all be clear, supposedly. 

[00:46:45] Pastor Addy: Somebody said, money has always been persuasive.

[00:46:48] Carl Nicolson: Apparently all right. See you guys soon. Alright. 

[00:46:57] Kenneth (Bishop): Real good. 

[00:46:57] Carl Nicolson: Bye, Adebola.. 

[00:46:58] Angela Nicolson: Bye, Adebola.