“The Crown After the Cross” By Caleb Cole

In The Crown After the Cross, Caleb Cole shares a powerful Easter message from Hebrews 2 about the choices Jesus made for humanity. Before He wore the crown of glory, He chose humility, suffering, and the cross. This sermon points to the grace of God, the victory of the resurrection, and the invitation for every person to choose Jesus and receive the life only He can give.

• (00:00) - Happy Easter and Hebrews 2 opening
• (01:37) - He really did it
• (02:15) - The Crown After the Cross
• (03:02) - Why we love crowns
• (05:04) - Jesus chose the cross before the crown
• (06:42) - Jesus chose to lower Himself
• (09:48) - God uses unlikely people
• (10:22) - Jesus stepped into suffering on purpose
• (12:25) - We want the crown without the cross
• (14:16) - I was there to give, not receive
• (16:25) - Jesus teaches us true humility
• (17:17) - Jesus chose us at our worst
• (19:17) - Why receiving grace is so hard
• (24:30) - God has more than enough grace
• (26:01) - Jesus tasted death so we could have life
• (29:10) - The crown proves He conquered death
• (30:28) - What are you choosing today
• (33:27) - Today I choose Jesus

Creators and Guests

Host

Caleb Cole

Caleb, a Sacramento native, grew up in a pastor’s home and is a third generation minister. At the age of 12, after one of his grandfather’s sermons, he felt a call from God to be a pastor. He consistently pursued that call throughout high school and college. Caleb attended Central Bible College in Springfield, MO where he earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies and went on to the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary where he earned an M.A. in Theological Studies.

What is Project Church?

A life-giving Jesus community for a new generation of people in Sacramento.

Join us every Sunday
Old Sacramento: 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM & 11:45 AM @ 1200 2nd Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
South Sacramento: 10:00 AM (English) & 11:30 AM (Spanish) @ 6528 44th Street, Sacramento, CA 95823
Online: https://www.youtube.com/projectchurchsac

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;19;06
Caleb Cole
Project church. Good morning. So good to see you. You guys are excited to be here I love it. Happy Easter, happy resurrection Sunday. I want to read from God's Word. And so I know we're still passing the buckets. Please, would you do me a favor? We're going to go old school. Would you stand one last time in honor of the reading of God's Word?

00;00;19;06 - 00;00;42;04
Caleb Cole
Let me read Hebrews chapter two. It'll be on the screen for you. I'm going to read starting in verse number nine. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus. Everybody say Jesus crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

00;00;42;11 - 00;01;11;13
Caleb Cole
How many are thankful our Savior tasted death so we wouldn't have to, for it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. Everybody say one. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.

00;01;11;13 - 00;01;28;11
Caleb Cole
I want to tell you right now, in this place that Jesus calls you brother, he calls you sister, calls you son, he calls you daughter. And I'm just thankful that we get to celebrate that he is risen today in this place. I want you to turn to your neighbor as your seed and tell him he really did it.

00;01;28;11 - 00;01;37;10
Caleb Cole
Tell him he really did it. He really did it. Jesus.

00;01;37;12 - 00;01;53;14
Caleb Cole
That's right. He did it. Well, hey, I, I want to let you know about what's coming up. We have these cards on the way out. We'll hand you one. These are our calendars for the month of April, but we're kicking off an all new series next week. I want to let you know it's called Name the Chain.

00;01;53;16 - 00;02;15;08
Caleb Cole
What I'm seeing in the world right now, a lot of us are bound. We're bound by past hurt, past trauma, betrayal. We're bound by sin. We're bound by, addictions. Right. All kinds of things that have us locked up in chains. And so this series, we're going to fight for freedom every week. We're going to be believing that by the end of these five weeks, there's going to be many people that we're bound and are going to be set free.

00;02;15;14 - 00;02;42;22
Caleb Cole
So come back next week, name the chain kicks off, it's going to be five weeks. You're going to get a lot out of it. I know I already been getting a lot out of it as I've been preparing for it, and I can't wait to see you and God's going to change us and set us free. Well, hey, I am kicking us off today, as you can see, as you saw behind me a moment ago, we are in this theme of Easter, of the Crown after the cross.

00;02;42;24 - 00;03;02;01
Caleb Cole
And I want to talk to you first about crowns. Now, remember, growing up, one of my favorite places to go as a kid was Burger King. Because I knew that I would get a paper crown. How do you rock the paper crown? You know what I'm saying? Like, it was amazing for like 30 minutes until the grease got to it, you know, on your dirty hands.

00;03;02;01 - 00;03;22;29
Caleb Cole
And then by the time you got home, that paper crown was ruined. I think it's funny. Like, we we actually love crowns in our culture. When it's your birthday, you get a birthday hat, don't you? A birthday crown, and I don't know about you, but my wife, she loves to celebrate her birthday. She doesn't celebrate her birthday or her birthday week.

00;03;22;29 - 00;03;46;11
Caleb Cole
She celebrates birthday month. Where am I? People that are just weird and celebrate all month long. Okay, you're like my wife. Y'all are a lot of work, you know what I'm saying? Like, you keep us on our toes. We got to work. But yeah, you get the birthday crown, the birthday hat. I remember my my sisters, when they were little, they would put on the princess crowns.

00;03;46;13 - 00;04;08;20
Caleb Cole
And when they got that princess crown, they throw on a dress. They walked around the house. They were different, weren't they? They. They pranced around and man, there was a boldness and authority that came upon them in that moment. We had homecoming growing up. My son actually told me the other day, he's now 14. He said, dad, you're no longer unk status.

00;04;08;23 - 00;04;34;11
Caleb Cole
You are now officially OG. I said, okay son. Like, thank you, thank you. But I do remember homecoming and I remember, the king and queen getting crowns, right? This popularity contest where someone would win and be dubbed homecoming King and crown. Nowadays we have social media crowns. You know what they look like? Blue checkmarks. You know what I'm saying?

00;04;34;13 - 00;05;04;20
Caleb Cole
Certain amount of followers. Why? Because we measure our worth by attention in today's world, right? We measure our worth by the attention that we get from people from the outside world. We love crowns, and we love crowns that make us look important. And the reality is, most people are choosing earthly crowns, some sort of earthly crown that makes us feel that we matter, makes us feel that we're important, makes us feel like.

00;05;04;23 - 00;05;35;18
Caleb Cole
Like we have something of authority in this life. But what I want to talk to you about is choices. Today you see, our Savior Jesus didn't choose the crown. He actually chose the cross. And before he ever was crowned with glory, which he was, he chose the cross. And so today, I want to talk to you about the choices our Savior made, because life is all about choices.

00;05;35;20 - 00;05;56;01
Caleb Cole
Y'all chose to be here today, didn't you? Like you got up this morning. You said, I'm going to the ten a am. You got your you chose what you're going to wear. Our atmosphere team chose to do this to my pulpit today. And, I don't feel the manliest standing behind it, but, you know, this was their choice, and we're living with it, you know?

00;05;56;02 - 00;06;05;07
Caleb Cole
So, like, No shit. I threw some shade at the atmosphere team. Come on, give it up for them. For making it look beautiful in our building.

00;06;05;10 - 00;06;16;17
Caleb Cole
But, you know, this was an interesting choice for your boy. Okay? Like, this would have been great for fashioned sisters event.

00;06;16;19 - 00;06;42;29
Caleb Cole
You see, before he wore the crown, he chose the cross. And he chose the cross for you. For me and for all of humanity. And so what I want us to do today is I want us to learn from the choices our Savior, Jesus made. His choosing teaches us some things, and I think his choosing will help us with the choices we make.

00;06;42;29 - 00;07;10;25
Caleb Cole
You see, first he chose to lower himself. How many know our Savior went low? He humbled himself. He humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant. It actually says in this text, I just read to you in Hebrews two nine and ten it says that he was lowered even below the angels. Imagine the creator going lower than his own creation.

00;07;10;27 - 00;07;36;03
Caleb Cole
Imagine the creator taking on the form not just of a human being, but of a baby. A baby that was helpless and needed everything done for him. And this is what our Savior chose. He chose to lower himself. He went low. The Savior that we serve is humble. We actually see that he was raised in the town of Nazareth.

00;07;36;05 - 00;08;03;08
Caleb Cole
You've maybe heard this, and the town of Nazareth actually had a bad rap. In fact, there's a text in John chapter one where this man, Nathaniel, he hears about the Savior being born into this family in Nazareth, and he actually says, Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth? I was thinking about us, you know, in California, what would be the equivalent?

00;08;03;11 - 00;08;29;27
Caleb Cole
I'm thinking Merced said. You know what I'm saying? Like Mary said, can anything good come out of Merced? Said the armpit of California former said catching a stray up here from from me. Anybody from her said I'm sorry. Okay. But but I was thinking about so many of us. Right? We we disqualify ourselves from God using us or having his hand on us, maybe because of where we came from.

00;08;29;29 - 00;08;58;02
Caleb Cole
And I think about the tomb is reminding Tomas people that can anything good come from the tomb is, you know, I'm saying, what about West SAC? Where's my West SAC people? Out. Yeah. Okay. Where's a West sac? Can anything good come from West SAC? There, on the other side of the river. They got their own county. Yolo. Can anything good?

00;08;58;04 - 00;09;19;26
Caleb Cole
I grew up in Vintage Park. You know, South SAC, where my South SAC people. You know, I'm saying like, can anything good come from Vintage Park, come from South SAC? We got anybody from up. We got Rancho Cordova in the building. Folsom in the building. Okay. And. Yeah, I didn't think so.

00;09;19;28 - 00;09;48;09
Caleb Cole
Folsom. People are not welcome here now. Okay. Can anything good come from Folsom? I don't know, but it's funny, isn't it? This city of Nazareth, it was, around 200 or less people. It was an insignificant town. A town that was poor and. And was a bunch of farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters. And Nathaniel, here is the savior is raised in the city of Nazareth.

00;09;48;09 - 00;10;22;26
Caleb Cole
Can anything good come from this city? But what's interesting is that God specializes in using the least likely people. He specializes in pulling great things out of bad places, doesn't he? Right. But what I see is our savior. He didn't just choose humility, he chose intentional descent that he would come down. He didn't fall into suffering. How many know?

00;10;23;03 - 00;10;43;17
Caleb Cole
Depending on where you were raised, in the family you were born into, like some of your your trauma, your dysfunction, the pain you've experienced, it had nothing to do with your choice. You were born into that. It happened to you. It's not your fault. You wouldn't have chosen it. And yet our Savior, he chose humility. But he didn't fall into suffering.

00;10;43;17 - 00;11;13;04
Caleb Cole
It wasn't accidental. It wasn't by happenstance. No. He stepped into suffering. He chose the cross. He chose the punishment and the death that we should have died. Why? Because he wanted to take our place. This is the humility of our Savior. But humility is a funny thing, isn't it? It's hard for us as human beings. I gotta preach on humility, but, you know, when I preach on humility, it's like, Caleb, can't you really use practical examples?

00;11;13;04 - 00;11;47;02
Caleb Cole
You know, saying like kind of negates the whole humility thing. If you talk about how humble you are. That's why when we talk about humility, we must just go to our Savior, Jesus, because he wants you to understand what it is to humble yourself. Because God specializes in using least likely people, unlikely people, people from bad places. But not only that, he exalts those who humble themselves, but he will humble those who exalt themselves.

00;11;47;05 - 00;12;08;25
Caleb Cole
Now I've always told our church, look, you would much rather humble yourself than get to the point where God has to humble you. It's hard to humble yourself. It's much harder and more painful when God has to humble you. But how many? You know, some of us learned the hard way. Some of you are a little stubborn. You're a little more hard headed.

00;12;08;26 - 00;12;25;05
Caleb Cole
How many of you God had to humble you? Just be honest. Just say yes. God had to humble me. I couldn't do it on my own. Yeah, a lot of hands are going. I'm going to raise my hand to. You see, the reality is we want the crown. We would much rather have the crown than the humble circumstances.

00;12;25;06 - 00;12;50;01
Caleb Cole
Why? Because we want the blessing. We want the favor. We want the breakthrough. Nobody signs up for the cross. And yet Jesus did. He chose the cross. Why? So we would be able to one day share in the crown. He chose to lower himself. We must learn to lower ourselves. This, last week I got to do the chapel for the Sacramento Kings.

00;12;50;01 - 00;13;08;18
Caleb Cole
It was my my first time doing. It was a really cool experience. And, you know, it's very chill, very laid back. And so it's a handful of guys, you know, because it's voluntary. And so they're both teams come in. And so it was the the Philadelphia 70 Sixers. And and the Sacramento Kings. And they just do the the chairs in a little semicircle.

00;13;08;18 - 00;13;26;05
Caleb Cole
And it's in the media room. And it's right before the game. So like 6:00. And then they go right into warmups. And so I actually you know the chaplain who had me come in, he was like, hey, you can just sit on the stage. So I just like it was very chill. So I just sat on the stage just like I'm a mess up the YouTube right now.

00;13;26;05 - 00;13;50;16
Caleb Cole
But, you know, it's okay. So I just sat on the stage and I gave my little ten minute devotional and Russell Westbrook sat right next to me on the stage. I was like, my dogs know. So. And, I did. I did the shopping for Handful of Kings and Sixers. Very cool experience. But I got home and my kids ran to me like, dad, dad, did you get any autographs?

00;13;50;16 - 00;14;16;06
Caleb Cole
First thing they say to me getting the autographs, I said, no, I didn't get your graphs. Dad, dad, did you take any photos? I said, no, I didn't take any photos. They said, dad, what was the point of doing it? You didn't get any autographs. You didn't take any photos. Why? You didn't do it. And I had to explain to them I wasn't there to receive something.

00;14;16;06 - 00;14;41;02
Caleb Cole
I was there to give something. I wasn't there to to to be blessed. I was there to be a blessing. I wasn't there to get. I was there to give. And so I walked into that room with that mentality. You see, this is the mentality, the heart, the humility that God wants us to have, that we are always positioned in a place to serve others, not what we can get.

00;14;41;05 - 00;14;57;27
Caleb Cole
It's funny because I heard T.D. Jakes talking about something similar. Most of you have heard of T.D. Jakes, one of the most famous pastors in America. But he was talking about how when he goes out and people always come up to him. Now, this actually happens to me this week. I was at at the mall and this guy ran up to his eye, pastor kid, what's up?

00;14;57;27 - 00;15;18;15
Caleb Cole
He's like, you shop? I'm like, I do, you know, like I'm a I eat too. It's crazy, right? So I love when people say, what's that to me? So if you ever, you know, see me in this in these streets. Yeah. Come say but but T.D. Jakes was saying, you know, it's on another level for him because everywhere he goes, like throngs of people coming up to him.

00;15;18;18 - 00;15;31;27
Caleb Cole
And he said that it's so interesting to me that the majority of the time I'm at an airport, I'm at a restaurant, the people come up to me and all they want is a picture.

00;15;32;00 - 00;15;51;17
Caleb Cole
He said they got petty pastor Jesus, can I get a picture? Can I get the picture? Take a picture, walk away, he said. Almost every time they have the person right in front of them. But all they want is a picture. They could get prayer, but they want a picture. They could get some game, but they want a picture.

00;15;51;19 - 00;16;25;15
Caleb Cole
They could get a blessing, but they want a picture. And I wonder how many of us struggle with humility because we have created this caricature of Jesus, and he's this image of this person far off, and it's cute. And we we attach him to certain parts of our life when it's convenient. But the only way for you to learn the humility of our Savior is for you to really get to know the person, for you to really get to know who he is, for you to really get to know what he's about, for you to really be transformed by a heart connection with him.

00;16;25;18 - 00;16;51;23
Caleb Cole
We got to get to know Jesus, the man, the Savior, the person. Why? Because in that we are sanctified, changed, and made more like him. And we can learn to be humble like he was humble. He chose to lower himself. We must get to know the Savior that can teach us how to walk in humility. That everywhere I go, I'm there to give.

00;16;51;26 - 00;17;17;24
Caleb Cole
I'm there to bless. I'm there to serve. I'm there to be a light. We also see that Jesus shows us at our worst. How many are thankful that Jesus chose you at the worst time for you? He chose you at the lowest part of you. He chose you in the deepest, darkest secret of you. And he still chooses you day in and day out.

00;17;17;27 - 00;17;43;29
Caleb Cole
You see, he gave grace, though he didn't deserve it. It says in this text so that by the grace of God, it's only by the grace of God. He knew every sin and still said yes to the cross. I want you to imagine this. You are God. You know every sin that every person has ever done. Think about your deepest, darkest secret.

00;17;44;01 - 00;18;05;27
Caleb Cole
And he knew every one of them, of all of mankind, and knew that in that moment on the cross, all of those sins would be heaped upon him. All the shame, all the guilt, all the failure would be on his shoulders, and yet still he chose the cross. He chose the cross despite the worst of us and the worst in us.

00;18;06;00 - 00;18;25;17
Caleb Cole
He chose it for us. You know, it's funny up a few years back, I was going to lunch with a friend of mine and he was trying to pay, and I don't I don't like when people pay for me because I'm going to pay, you know what I'm saying? And so we were out at lunch and he was like, I'm I'm like, no, you're not.

00;18;25;20 - 00;18;50;28
Caleb Cole
So we started to fight and I'm pushing his cart away and he's pushing my cart away. And and so we're having this, you know, battle over who was going to pay for the meal. And then finally he looked at me. He said, Caleb, don't rob me of my blessing. I said, excuse me, I have never heard that, but I'm going to use that from now on because when someone says that to you, there's nothing you can do.

00;18;51;00 - 00;19;11;01
Caleb Cole
He said, Caleb, don't rob me of my blessing. I said, dang, that's the trump card. All right, you can pay. I let him pay. He said, Caleb, I get blessed to be a blessing. Don't rob me of my blessing. Some of y'all going to use this, but you're going to do it the other way. And when you both are looking at the bill, you're going to be like, I don't want to rob you of your blessing.

00;19;11;01 - 00;19;17;26
Caleb Cole
Go ahead. You know, you can pay.

00;19;17;29 - 00;19;41;24
Caleb Cole
But here's the reality. The reality is, too many of us had a have a hard time receiving grace. Like, you have actually disqualified yourself because you do not believe you are worthy of the grace that God wants to bestow upon you. The grace that God wants to pour out on you the forgiveness, the mercy, the love, the grace.

00;19;42;00 - 00;20;03;01
Caleb Cole
You don't think you're worthy and so you push it off. No, I don't want that. No, you can't pay for me. No, you can't usher in grace on my life. No, you can't bless me. And I just want to say to you, Jesus saw you long before you saw him. Long before you believed in him. He had already chosen you.

00;20;03;01 - 00;20;29;08
Caleb Cole
The Bible says he knit you together in your mother's womb. He knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows everything about your life. He chose you at your worst point. And I want to encourage you that you would learn to receive the mercy and the grace that God gives to every single person. You see, there's an issue often in Christianity that too many Christians think the law was given to save them.

00;20;29;10 - 00;20;54;21
Caleb Cole
If I just follow this to the tee, if I do enough good things, if I'm righteous enough, holy enough, then I'll be saved. But the Bible says otherwise. The law was given the old Testament covenant or law was given to reveal what happened in the New Testament or covenant, which was that you could never be good enough. You can never be righteous enough, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

00;20;54;26 - 00;20;59;18
Caleb Cole
There is no one good, no not one. Scripture tells us, and so you can never.

00;20;59;18 - 00;21;00;06
Caleb Cole
Follow.

00;21;00;06 - 00;21;24;04
Caleb Cole
This enough. Be holy enough, read the Bible enough, pray enough, worship enough, fast enough to get your way to heaven. That's why we need his mercy. Because what the Lord does is reveals your need for a Savior. Then no matter how hard I try, I cannot live up to this. And that's why Jesus came. Because he knew you would fail.

00;21;24;07 - 00;21;48;15
Caleb Cole
He knew I would fail. He knew Caleb is a failure. He says one thing and does another. Caleb is a hypocrite. He says he he he loves his wife and then other times live selfishly for himself because that's what we do as human beings. And so he said, no, the law was meant to reveal your need for a Savior.

00;21;48;17 - 00;21;53;19
Caleb Cole
I sent the Savior, but you have to receive it.

00;21;53;22 - 00;22;20;06
Caleb Cole
Some of you have been pushing back on the mercy and grace of God thinking you're undeserving. That's the point. You aren't deserving, but he gives it to you anyways. When we first opened, this building going on five years ago now, we opened the coffee shop and back at that time, our coffee shop, payment would, would put a certain amount that you could pick.

00;22;20;06 - 00;22;41;02
Caleb Cole
It wasn't a percentage back then. It said $1, $3 or $5. And so I always wanted my kids to love coming to church. You know, they're pastor's kids. They got to be here all day, you know, every Sunday. They get here super early with us. And so, so I always want them to, to enjoy it. So I, I've told them all these years, whatever you want from the coffee shop, you can get.

00;22;41;04 - 00;23;15;01
Caleb Cole
So I give them my phone. They know my passcode and they use my Apple Pay and they get whatever they want. So they would go a couple times every morning to get snacks. And I was fine with them, like on Sundays you can do that. I want them to enjoy church. Well, after a few months of us being in the building and then going every morning, one of the baristas one day said, hey Caleb, I don't know if you know this, but every time your son came, who at the time was like ten years old, every time your son Kanan buys food here, he tips us $5 and he does it, you know, two, three

00;23;15;01 - 00;23;20;04
Caleb Cole
times a Sunday every single week.

00;23;20;07 - 00;23;33;16
Caleb Cole
So I went to my son. I said, Kanan, bro, what are you doing? I said, you cannot tip $5 every time you bought a 99 cent donut. It's like a 400% tip.

00;23;33;19 - 00;23;50;01
Caleb Cole
I said, you're trippin. You cannot tip $5 every single time. He said, dad, $5 is nothing for you.

00;23;50;03 - 00;24;30;15
Caleb Cole
He doesn't really know my bank account. You know what I'm saying? But you know what I love about that? I love the perspective of my son, because the perspective of my son was that my dad has more than enough $5. That's nothing for my dad. I just want to ask you today what your sources. Because I think that the reason some of you have disqualified yourselves from receiving the grace of God isn't just because of how bad you are, but actually because you don't think there's enough grace to go around.

00;24;30;17 - 00;24;49;18
Caleb Cole
You actually think that there are certain people who have less sin, that there's enough grace for them. But because of the amount of sin that you have, because of how worse you are, there's not enough sin for you. There's not enough grace for you. Let me tell you something. The God of the universe has more than enough grace for each and every person in this room.

00;24;49;22 - 00;25;02;04
Caleb Cole
The worst of you, the best of you, every person in all of humanity. He's got more than enough grace. And it's for you and me and everyone in this room.

00;25;02;06 - 00;25;36;13
Caleb Cole
We gotta learn our source. The source is God, and he has more than enough for you. Your sin. There's nothing for God. $5. That's nothing for you, dad. That's the perspective we have to have. He has it all. Come on. There's nothing you could ever do that would disqualify you from the love of God. His love is wide and deep and far.

00;25;36;15 - 00;26;01;06
Caleb Cole
It says that he sanctifies. He who sanctifies. Verse 11. And those who are sanctified all have one source. Everybody say one. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers. Some of you got to receive this today. You've disqualified yourself for for too long, the source, our Savior has more than enough and he is calling you brother.

00;26;01;10 - 00;26;19;26
Caleb Cole
He is calling you sister. He is calling you son. He is calling you daughter. Step into this. And finally he chose to taste death so we wouldn't have to.

00;26;19;28 - 00;26;35;06
Caleb Cole
Want you to think about this. Our Savior, it tells us, chose to taste death. He humbled himself.

00;26;35;09 - 00;26;44;02
Caleb Cole
Taking on the suffering of death so he might taste death for every single one of us.

00;26;44;04 - 00;27;13;02
Caleb Cole
Will you still die physically? Yes. The Bible is clear, but it also is clear that this life is a missed, and that these bodies we've been given are temporary. So while your physical body will experience death, your soul will live on forever. And the Bible is clear that heaven and hell are real place. And what you choose in this life determines where you live.

00;27;13;02 - 00;27;37;21
Caleb Cole
Eternity moving forward. You see, before Jesus ever wore a crown of glory, he wore a crown of suffering. Why did he do this? Because his will was that none would perish. His will was that all would step into life and life to the fullest. His will is that all of us would be called sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.

00;27;37;24 - 00;28;07;08
Caleb Cole
His heart is for all of us. It's why he went to that cross. It's why he chose it. It's why glory came down. The crowned one came down, said, I'm going to put on a crown of thorns instead I'm going to put on a crown of suffering instead. Why? Because I don't want them separated from me. I don't want them left to their own vices and struggles and destruction and death.

00;28;07;14 - 00;28;34;21
Caleb Cole
I don't want them suffering wrath and judgment and separation from me. No, I tasted death so they could taste life. He experienced it fully. He didn't just sample your pain. He absorbed it all. He took the full cup so that we would never have to taste the same judgment that was placed upon his head.

00;28;34;24 - 00;28;38;08
Caleb Cole
You see, there's a reason.

00;28;38;11 - 00;28;43;05
Caleb Cole
That he chose the cross.

00;28;43;07 - 00;29;10;10
Caleb Cole
And there's a reason now that there's a crown. You see, the reason that there is now a crown that we declared over this series and over this message and over this day, is that Jesus now wears a crown, is because he conquered death. This is what sets our Savior apart from every other Savior, our religion, apart Christianity from every other religion.

00;29;10;12 - 00;29;30;28
Caleb Cole
It's that our Savior said, I will rise again. I will conquer death. And then he really did it. And 400 eyewitnesses gave account. They said, I touched his hands and the scars. I touched his side and the scars. And I seen that he is who he said he is. That he conquered death, hell, and the great that he rose again.

00;29;31;02 - 00;29;59;10
Caleb Cole
And he sits in throne today. You see, if Jesus didn't conquer death, put on the crown once and for all. Then why are we here? This is the clincher church, do you hear me? The clincher of this whole thing. There's nothing more important. It's why we gather on Easter and the church comes together to remember our story. The clincher is that our Savior wasn't helped by death.

00;29;59;12 - 00;30;28;27
Caleb Cole
Our Savior overcame death, and now he lives and sits at the right hand of the father. The Crown tells us that the cross was enough. The crown tells us that the sin was paid for. The crown tells us that death was lost. You see, he chose the cross, but now he wears the crown. The conquering hero, the Savior, not just of one group of people, not just of one race, not just of one religion, the savior of all humanity.

00;30;28;27 - 00;30;55;29
Caleb Cole
Anyone that would put their faith in him. He chose the cross for you. You see, today has been all about choosing. What did Jesus choose? He. He chose the cross. He chose to humble himself. He chose to suffer. He chose to die. But I want to ask you, what have you been choosing? Because this king, it says, is waiting.

00;30;56;01 - 00;31;21;28
Caleb Cole
He's waiting for us. And there are things, I believe, that have stopped you from choosing, stopped you from choosing him. Maybe even today, there's this turmoil going on within you, and you've wanted to choose Jesus. You've wanted to choose to believe. But so many things get in the way, man. Even today you came in this, this building, this room stopping you.

00;31;22;00 - 00;31;47;00
Caleb Cole
What I'm wearing might be stopping you. The person you saw on the way in, you're like ups. I seen them some other places, and I know how they really live. And it's stopping you. You see, the natural inclination of humanity is judgment. But why do you think that is? Why do we naturally want to judge everyone and everything around us?

00;31;47;02 - 00;32;14;04
Caleb Cole
You know why? Because I think there's something deep down in our soul that's crying out for mercy. We judge because a part of us knows we need mercy. We judge because there's a part of our heart longing for mercy. And yet we so often look at our lives like Nathaniel looked at Jesus, who said, what good could come from Nazareth?

00;32;14;07 - 00;32;37;05
Caleb Cole
What good could come from my life? What good could come from the family I grew up? And what good could come from the part of town I came from? What good could come from why my my history and and my life? But today I just feel in this place that there's someone you've chosen a lot of things. The things of this world, chosen your own way.

00;32;37;05 - 00;32;59;23
Caleb Cole
But today is the day when you finally choose Jesus. The Bible says he's been waiting. He's that father waiting with arms wide open for you. So I want to ask you right now that you would bow your heads and close your eyes. In this moment. I want you to get alone with the Lord. The Holy Spirit has been speaking in this room.

00;32;59;25 - 00;33;27;01
Caleb Cole
If you're here and you say, Caleb, that's me. I've chosen the things of this world. I chose other crowns. I chose to try to fulfill the whole in my life, in my heart, with, with, with stuff, with money, with sex, with relationships, with drugs. I don't know what it is. But today you say I'm done running. I'm done choosing everything else.

00;33;27;01 - 00;33;40;07
Caleb Cole
Today I choose Jesus. Maybe for the first time. Maybe, you know, you need to rededicate your life to him. A new and a fresh. What I want to do is I want you to lift your hand on the count of three. If that's you, say I need to choose Jesus today. For the first, I'm going to rededicate my life to.

00;33;40;07 - 00;34;08;10
Caleb Cole
Yes. One, two, three. Go ahead, put your hand up. Yes. 123456. Seven. Eight. Nine. 1011 1213 1415. 16. 17. In the back, I see it. Thank you. 18. You can put them down. Pray this with me. Everyone in this room say this prayer with me. Say Jesus today I choose you. I ask you to forgive me, to change me and to make me new.

00;34;08;13 - 00;34;37;20
Caleb Cole
I need you, Jesus, to transform me from the inside out. Today I surrender wholeheartedly all that I am to you. I lay it down. My crowns and I take up the cross with you. Jesus, I love you. Pray this in your name. Amen. Amen. Come on, let's give God some praise in this place for all these people that raise their hands.

00;34;37;22 - 00;34;49;26
Caleb Cole
Hey, do me a favor. If you raise your hand, we got some cards and some materials for you. We love for you to fill this out. We can hook you up with the Bible on the way out and all that. So if you want to fill out a card to get more information for us to follow up with you on this journey.

00;34;49;26 - 00;35;02;15
Caleb Cole
We have a new believer's class that we're getting ready to launch in the next week. Raise your hand right now. Our team will come around and they're going to give you a card.

00;35;02;18 - 00;35;05;27
Chrissy Cole
Thank you for being a part of our online community here at Project Church.

00;35;05;28 - 00;35;09;09
Chrissy Cole
We hope that this message and the whole service bless your life.

00;35;09;12 - 00;35;25;17
Caleb Cole
Yeah. And if it did, we want to ask that you would do something for us. First of all, if you're not already subscribed to our YouTube channel, be sure to subscribe. Like this video. But also, we would ask that you would consider financially supporting what God is doing through Project Church. You can give in a variety of ways.

00;35;25;20 - 00;35;40;26
Caleb Cole
You can text project to 97,000. Right now. You can give to our Church Center app, or you can give on our website project church.com/give. Thanks so much for being a part of our online community. And once again God bless you guys. We'll see you soon.