Podcasts about holy god

We live in a world that is in desperate need of prayer. The church is in depurate need of falling on her face before a Holy God crying out for mercy with a repentant heart. Christians should make prayer their first priority, not a last resort. Before trying to network their way out of a difficult situation, they should go to the mat in prayer. Prayer is the God-ordained means by which He works through His people in the life of the Church.

Moody Founder's Week has long been a shining example of time spent learning and growing from God's Word. Students, staff, alumni and friends of the Institute gather to hear what it means to take a new and powerful step closer to Jesus. We'd like to take you back to a previous Founder's Week on the subject of Holiness. Pastor Mark Jobe presents what it means to have a holy hunger for a holy God.Become part of our Advance Team: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/moodypresents/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest speaker Josh Dixon preaches from Luke 16 on Sunday morning May 18, 2025 (Luke 16:19-31)

When we reach Acts chapter 5, we see a Holy God interacting with the early church, and it is a heavy story. The Holy Spirit gives the church wisdom as they course correct to maintain integrity and serve those in need. Listen in as we learn more about these powerful stories. thebridgebluffton.com

Delight with our Holy God as you listen to Apostle Tonya teach on pure intimacy with Him.  For more teachings on our Lord Jesus Christ, and her testimonies on supernatural manifestations, visit ⁠https://apostletonya.org

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comActs 3 Peter and John, two of Jesus' apostles, go to the temple to pray. They see a lame man and Peter heals him. The man expects a monetary blessing but receives the much greater gift of healing. He rejoices and clings to Peter and John. A crowd gathers, affording Peter the opportunity to preach about Jesus. He begins by noting that this power to heal has come from God. Peter explains that God the Father has glorified His Son and that the Jews have made a terrible mistake by crucifying Jesus. It is in the name of Jesus, the resurrected Prince of Life, that this lame man has been healed.  Jesus is God's raised and ruling Servant, and all who repent of sin and turn to Him will be spiritually refreshed. The healing of the lame man affords Peter a chance to preach Jesus to the people. Peter uses beautiful terms to describe our Lord in this sermon: “God's Servant,” “the Holy and Righteous One,” “the Prince of life,” God's “Christ,” as well as “the Christ appointed for you.” He finally explains that Jesus is the “Prophet” raised up by God, just as Moses predicted. These terms should invoke awe and respect in us. Jesus is God's plan for our salvation, and not even death can stop Him from becoming our Savior. The hope was for the people to hear these things and repent. We also should continually turn from our wicked ways when we consider the authority and glory of Jesus.  Holy God, thank You for sending Your Servant Jesus as the Christ who would give His life to free us from our sins. We are refreshed in His grace, and we praise You for the wonderful gifts afforded to us in our Lord. While we have many good things in this life, the healing of our souls is greater than any amount of silver and gold. We treasure Him above all else. Father, so many need to repent and turn to Jesus. Please give us the boldness to tell others about the victory and worthiness of the “Prince of Life.”  Thought Questions: -       A man's life was changed forever after experiencing the authority of Jesus. How has the name of the Lord changed your life? -       People saw God's power, and Peter used the occasion to teach. What opportunities is God creating for you to speak openly about Jesus?  -       In his sermon, Peter uses several titles for Jesus. Mark those. How do they shape how you see Jesus and express His glory to others?

Relationship with the God who saved us by grace compels a distinct life of holiness & mission in response.---We desire to see the Gospel saturate a people, awakening them by the glory of God to treasure Jesus as better.For more Gospel-centered teaching and resources, including audio and video downloads of our sermons, please visit our website: http://www.thewellchurchok.com/resourcesInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/thewellchurchokFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/thewellchurchok

The post Sin And A Holy God appeared first on The Bridge Church.

Today we continue the series following the David Story in 2 Samuel. We see how God exalts David as King over Israel for the sake of his people, establishing his Kingdom in Jerusalem giving him victory over enemies. We also see how David is humbled before the holiness of God, which leads to celebration of God's gracious presence among his people.

Leviticus Series

Leviticus reveals to us the great length God has gone to so we can draw near to him in Christ.

2 Year Gospel Study - week 71 (Friday, 05-09-25) Up To Jerusalem - Teaching 13 Scripture: John 16:1-33, John 17:1-2. In today's teaching we continue with Jesus and His disciples having finished the Last Supper, Judas has left and Jesus and the 11 are walking towards the Garden of Gethsemane. God's call is to radical faith - the kind that allows us to stand strong against the enemy - Jesus shares that they hated Him, they will hate them, they persecuted Him, they will also persecute them. Yet, Jesus assures the disciples by telling of the coming of the Advocate - Holy Spirit - who will testify about Jesus and will bring power and strength and truth. This persecution comes but Jesus doesn't want us to live in fear, but rather to trust and depend on Him. Jesus shares that He must leave, remove His physical presence from the world so that the Father can send the Advocate - Holy Spirit - who will be with us. And no matter what we face the Holy Spirit is with us and lives in us. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, convicts us of righteousness (right relationship with God offered through faith in Jesus who is our only hope because we are sinners).  Having the Holy Spirit draws us to righteous living through His power. The Holy Spirit also convicts about judgement because Jesus is the Victor through His death and He shows that the judgement of the Holy God has been carried by the Son of God.   The measure of God's love is that: He doesn't give us what we deserve, He gives us Himself.   He doesn't give us what we've earned, He gives us what Jesus has earned.   He doesn't give us what we've achieved, He gives us what Jesus achieved - and that is resurrection through faith in Him! Jesus telling of the coming of the Holy Spirit was a prediction that He said before His ascension, but then at Pentecost after His ascension - it is our present reality!  We are living in the Era of the Spirit. We are called to:  live in the power of the Holy Spirit seek the Holy Spirit listen to the Holy Spirit follow the Holy Spirit rejoice in the Holy Spirit! Pastor shares that the Holy Spirit is not an “it,” but rather a Person. The Holy Spirit is God. A real person and we want to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit and live in relationship with God that the Holy Spirit provides - dynamic and radical faith! Jesus goes on to say that they would see Him for a little while and then see Him no more and that after a little while they would see Him again. The disciples are puzzled but in the days ahead this would all be revealed as truth.  Their faith would blossom and grow! And just like His disciples, we too can always be growing in faith and in relationship with God. Jesus prophecies that there will be grief and sadness ahead but it ends with Joy - that because He suffers and dies and rises everything changes.  We now are able to come to the Father through Jesus and we can ask the Father anything - we are called to be people who are radical - not only radical in our faith but radical in our prayers because God's will is to accomplish the seemingly impossible. Whatever tribulation we face remember: Jesus has overcome the world Jesus has overcome the adversary Jesus has defeated the devil Jesus has won the final victory  And so in Him we have hope and peace. AND the promise of His return. Because of Jesus' victory - we who are followers of Jesus are overcomers, too, through our faith in Him!  Our website – https://www.awakeusnow.com Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01 Up to Jerusalem is a study of the final weeks of Jesus' ministry concluding with His resurrection and ascension, using the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John together with material from ancient sources and recent discoveries. Up to Jerusalem is part four of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. Up To Jerusalem is the story of the plan of God to redeem the world, and the story of a Savior willing to obey the Father's plan. As we study Jesus' final days, we will be impacted as we discover the Love of God for each one of us.  This study is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time.

Joe is joined by broadcaster, author, businesswoman, and influencer, Lorraine Keane, to hear about her perimenopause/menopause journey so far. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Usually we think of fools as people who are possibly low in intelligence and like mucking around and causing problems for themselves and other people. However, when we read and meditate on God's Word the Bible, we find out that the Holy God thinks quite otherwise. Many fools are very intelligent people who often have important positions in large corporations or government institutions. They may manage their own businesses or be in charge of a city; a state or even of an entire country. God's definition of a real fool is a person who does not acknowledge God as Creator and has no place for God in His thoughts or decisions.

His glory is attracted to holiness.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet is drawn into a dramatic vision that serves as the theological and spiritual anchor for everything he has proclaimed. Before he can continue speaking to the people on God's behalf, Isaiah must see himself in the overwhelming reality of God's holiness. This passage is not simply a mystical experience; it is a transformational encounter with the Holy God, the One who reigns above every earthly throne, is worshiped by heavenly beings, and before whom all creation trembles. In a time of national uncertainty and loss, Isaiah receives a vision that re-centers the narrative.

This moving sermon explores Isaiah's life-changing vision of God's holiness (Isaiah 6:1–8). We are reminded that encountering the Holy God leads to repentance, transformation, and a life surrendered to His calling. Dive deep into timeless truths that stir your heart for authentic worship and service.Key Themes:

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comJohn 12 Jesus and His disciples come to Bethany to dine with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Mary anoints His feet with costly perfume. Judas Iscariot grumbles about this because he is a thief and hopes to plunder money from the sale of the perfume. A large crowd gathers to see Jesus and the resurrected Lazarus. This infuriates the Jewish leaders, who plan to kill Lazarus. Jesus then enters Jerusalem, and His followers worship Him as King. Many come to Jesus, including Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. Jesus teaches them that personal sacrifice is needed to be in His kingdom. The people then hear God, from heaven, proclaim Jesus and His glory! Some follow Him, while others who believe are silenced by their fear of the Jews.  The approval of men, and fear of others, are serious tests of faith. To believe in Jesus is to follow His teachings, leaving darkness for light, no matter what anyone thinks. The world, in so many ways, tries to weaken and silence believers. Judas was weakened by greed, and he betrayed the Lord. The Pharisees were blinded by jealousy and selfishness. Though God from heaven pronounced Jesus as worthy, others feared the actions of men and would not confess Jesus as King. In all of this, there are servants like Mary, who poured her expensive oil on Jesus' feet with no concern for what anyone thought about it. Only those who believe like Mary will be saved on the last day.  Holy God, we love You and desire to grow in our service to You and Your Son. Help us to see how that must resemble Mary pouring oil on Jesus' feet. Help us to see ourselves bowed down to worship Jesus as He rides in on a colt. This world and its darkness seek to overwhelm us and make us ashamed of Jesus. Give us the strength to fight against greed and jealousy. Help us develop the courage to live out a sacrificial faith in Christ, regardless of what anyone says or does. We know “that His commandment is eternal life.” Thought Questions: -       We cannot replicate Mary pouring expensive oil on Jesus' feet. But what does it look like for you to be more like her? -       Jewish leaders rejected Jesus, while Greeks sought to speak with Him. What does that say about where faith might be found? -       Jesus had to “be lifted up” in death to save us from our sins. Might you also have to face public ridicule in following Jesus?

Daily Dose of Hope April 23, 2025 Day 3 of Week 4   Scripture – Mark 9:1-29   Prayer:  Holy God, We come before you today rejoicing in your powerful name.  Thank you for who you are and all you do.  Thank you for loving us.  Help us gather our scattered thoughts, help us set aside distractions, and truly focus on you right now.  In these next few moments of silence, Lord, we want to hear your voice...In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, a Deep Dive into the Gospels and Acts.  Today, we are starting Mark 9, where we read about the transfiguration and Jesus casting a demon out of a little boy.   The Scripture says that Jesus took Peter, James, and John, to the top of a mountain, most likely Mt. Hermon because it was close to Caesarea Philippi. Mark writes that Jesus was transfigured before him. His clothes became a dazzling white, whiter than any bleach could every make them. Put yourself in the position of these three men. They had only known the flesh and blood Jesus. We know Jesus as risen Lord and Savior. I think we would expect him to wear dazzling white robes and be all shiny and glorious. But they didn't. Right before their very eyes, they get a glimpse of Jesus' glory and it was totally unexpected. Jesus was radiating the very presence of God and they got to see it firsthand.   Moses and Elijah appeared before them and they were talking to Jesus. We don't quite know why Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain with Jesus except that they were two Old Testament figures that anticipated the coming of Jesus, the final prophet to come and deliver God's people once and for all. Their work, their ministries, are basically fulfilled by the person of Jesus. They are servants of God but they weren't God. Jesus, on the other hand, is God and the disciples get a glimpse of that right here.   But there is something about being confronted by the power and glory of God which can make us uncomfortable and even fearful. In awe, yes, but also frightened. Maybe you've been there. Peter is there. He struggles to simply rest in the presence of God's glory. He doesn't know what to do or say so he blurts out, “let's set up three shelters–one for you, Jesus, and one for Moses and Elijah.” Now, Peter is referring to the festival of booths or tabernacles which faithful Jews participating in every year. They make structures in their yards as a sign of when God will tabernacle with his people. So, this might seem like a weird thing for Peter to say to us but it wasn't too off the wall. He is like, “umm...I think God is tabernacling with us and we need to make the shelters.” He is kind of panicky. It seemed like a good thought at the time. What Peter doesn't quite understand ye tis that before his eyes God's dwelling with humanity is present, for Jesus is the new tabernacle of God dwelling with humanity. The shelters aren't needed. God is present with his people through Jesus Christ.   That's all pretty amazing but the mountaintop experience isn't done yet. There is a cloud that appears and covers them–remember the presence and glory of God appeared in a cloud in the tabernacle and throughout the Old Testament. And here is the presence of God appearing before them and the voice of God says “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.” Jesus is clearly set apart from Moses and Elijah, only he is God's Son, the one to be listened to, the embodied presence of God.   There is something about mountain-top transfigurative experiences–times in which we get a glimpse of the glory and presence of God in our lives. I'm hoping you have each had some kind of mountaintop experience in your walk with Jesus, times in which the veil was removed, you've gotten a taste of the presence of God. These are times in which we are confronted with God's power and it can't help but change us. Think about a time in which you were confronted with God's glory and power.  Reflect on that moment.  How did it change your spiritual journey?   If you haven't experienced God's glory in that way, then this is the perfect time to pray for it!   Today, we also read about Jesus healing a boy who was consumed by a demonic spirit.  He had been that way his whole life, and the evil spirit had often thrown him into fires and other dangerous scenarios.  The disciples who did not go up the mountain with Jesus tried to heal the boy of the evil spirit but nothing happened.  So Jesus came back from the mountain just in time.  He is easily able to cast out the spirit and the boy is healed.    Later, the disciples ask Jesus why they couldn't do the miracle.  Afterall, they were working under Jesus' calling.  But Jesus said that some kinds (of evil spirits presumably) can only be cast out by prayer.  What did this mean?   Just because God has called us to ministry and we say yes, doesn't mean that we have the power to do that ministry.  We don't, absolutely not.  It's God working through us every single time, every single day.  The disciples did not have the power to do the miracle.  It's possible they were trying to cast out the demon in their own strength.  Afterall, Jesus had told them to go do so and there were times in which they had been successful.  But they needed the power of God in them, they needed to recognize it wasn't them, it was Almighty God.   This is the scary thing:  There is a lot we can do in ministry in our own power.  We can create great programs.  We can have good counseling.  We can say brilliant prayers and lead amazing Bible studies.  We can even give decent sermons.  But none of it is anointed.  And that will only take us so far.  It's also really dangerous.  We begin to think it's about us and our skills rather than Jesus Christ.  We honor ourselves rather than God.  Ministry without Jesus at the center will eventually fail.  The power is always in Jesus.    Blessings, Pastor Vicki

Nobody expected Jesus to rise from the dead, not even His disciples and those closest to Him expected Him to get up and walk out of the tomb. It did not matter to His disciples that Jesus said that He would suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead (Mark 8:31), because what He said fell upon deaf ears at the time. On the day of Jesus death, everyone believed that He had lost, and evil had won. There was no coming back in the minds of all who watched Him die, and for good reason! When a person was sentenced by Rome to be crucified, it was a sentence that was equally horrible as it was terminal. Jesus died and was buried in a tomb. When Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to Jesuss tomb, they went to anoint a decomposing and dead Jesus to cover up the stench of death while His disciples mourned. What these women were expecting was a very dead body. When they arrived at the tomb and found the stone moved, they were alarmed not because they expected the resurrection, but because they thought someone messed with the body (see Mark 16:1-5). This is why the young man, who most likely was an angel, said to them: Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him (Mark 16:6). What was their response? They were terrified: ...they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid (Mark 16:8). What the disciples saw as defeat, the angels viewed at the edge of their seats, if Peter and the rest could have heard the chatter from heaven, maybe they would have heard: You just wait and see whats coming! If it were possible to hear the angels, and if they were listening closely enough, maybe they would have heard all of heaven ask: Did you not hear what Jesus said when He was with you? Did you not hear Him say, I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.... No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father. (John 10:14-15, 18)? Some of you are feeling the way the disciples and those closest to Jesus felt in the wake of His death. Some of you are feeling like the disciples did when they woke up on Sunday morning: stuck, unsure, afraid, frustrated, angry, and hopeless. I want you to know today that there is a hope within your reach that can swallow up your paralysis, uncertainty, fear, frustration, anger, and hopelessness. For me to do that, I need you to see some things in the 23rd Psalm. Everyone Experiences the Valley of the Shadow of Death Death is the great antagonist and for some strange reason, we act as though we will never experience it, and when it does come... we are surprised by it. Just before Frank Sinatra died, he said, Im losing. The comedian, Groucho Marxs last words were, This is no way to live! Caesar Borgia (chayzaarayborzhuh) said on his deathbed: While I lived, I provided for everything but death; now I must die and am unprepared to die. In Psalm 23:4, we come to a very familiar sentence that has served to comfort the anxious and fearful: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Death is something that we all must face and not one of us will be able to escape it. The valley of the shadow of death is not only death, but the deep darkness of sin, and it is a deep darkness that envelops all humankind.[1] The valley of death is a darkness that no one is exempt from, even if you are a Christian. You see, the valley of deep darkness represents the curse our world is under and the curse that affects us all, and that curse is sin. This is why our world is a mess, this is why there is sickness and disease, and this is why we have to say goodbye way too often and sometimes way too soon. The Bible says that all of us are guilty of sin (Rom. 3:23), and that it is something that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Here is what the Bible says: ...through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.... Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation committed by Adam (Rom. 5:12, 14). What the valley is to you really depends on whether or not you can say with the Psalmist: The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. You see, there is one group of people who will be swallowed up by the valley and then there is another group of people who will walk through the valley. The question is this: What group do you belong to? Not Everyone Remains in the Valley of the Shadow of Death Jesus said of the 23rd Psalm: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). Here is what the Bible says about all of us: All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way... (Isa. 53:3). Or to say it another way, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). All of us have sinned and fall short of meeting the standard of a Holy God. So what was Gods solution to address our sin problem? Listen to the rest of Isaiah 53:3, All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the wrongdoing [sins] of us all to fall on Him. Jesus said, I am the Lord of the 23rd Psalm but He did not stop there, He went on to say, I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep (vv. 14-15). The way that you know that the Lord of the 23rd Psalm is your Shepherd is whether or not you believe who He claimed to be and that when He laid down His life for you because of your sins, that His death on a cross is sufficient for the forgiveness of your sins. And listen, if you really believe in Jesus, if you really belong to Him, and if you really know Him... you will believe the things that He said about Himself: I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35) I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. (John 8:12) I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:2526) Anyone can say the things Jesus said, and everyone will die one day. If all that Jesus did was lay down his life for the sheep, then all that He is... is a dead martyr and nothing more. But consider what Jesus said to the disciples that they missed, most likely because of how impossible they found it to believe what He said to be: I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become one flock, with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it back. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father. (John 10:14-18) What the disciples missed was the most important part of what Jesus said: I lay down My life for the sheep.... I lay down My life so that I may take it back.... I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. In other words, I will die for your sins to redeem you, and then I am coming back by way of a resurrection! It should not have surprised any of the disciples or the women who knew Jesus that the tomb was empty on the third day, but because the resurrection was so impossible and so beyond the limitations of their imagination that the Good Shepherd, the Lord of the 23rd Psalm, could die for sins and then conquer death by rising from it. This is why the angel said to the women when they arrived at the place Jesus was buried: Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him (Mark 16:6). Conclusion We all want a happily ever after story. We go to the movies, and we watch sporting events just so that we might experience the impossible! We want to experience the Fellowship of the Ring and Frodo and Sams impossible mission to destroy the evil ring of Sauron. For you romantics in the room, you want Jerry Maquire to walk through the door finally believing that the love of his life is his wife, Dorothy, and maybe your heart fluttered when Dorothy told Jerry to shut up, followed by the words: You had me at hello. If you like the kinds of movies I like, then you wanted to stand and shout just before the great battle scene in Avengers: End Game. However, when it comes to experiencing the impossible for real and in our lifetime, we are shocked. When fantasy and reality merge and the impossible really happens, we are shocked. Perhaps you think your game is over because you are at the bottom of the 9th with three balls, two outs, a man on second, and you are down by one run! But wait, there is still a player on second and one more pitch to go over the plate. It was during the first game in 1988 World Series that Kirk Gibson, who played for the Dodgers, was injured and unable to run. It was surprising that he was put in as a pinch hitter at the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs. Gibson hobbled up to the plate to everyones surprise. With Mike Davis on first base, Tommy Lasorda was hoping Gibson could hit a ball far enough to get Davis to home for a game tying run. Gibson fouled two pitches for two strikes, swung at another ball down the first base line for a foul, and eventually ended up with 3 out of 4 balls giving him a full count. What this meant was that if he got another ball, he would be forced to walk or if he got one more strike, he would lose the game against the As by one run. When Dennis Eckersley, the closing pitcher for the As, threw a backdoor slider, Gibson swung with just about all his upper body to hit the pitch and sent the ball over the right-field fence for a homerun. The Dodgers won the world series that year, the only time Gibson was able to step up to the plate was that one time at the bottom of the 9th in the first game to hit one of the greatest homeruns in baseball history. After Gibson stepped on home plate, the announcer said this: In a year that seemed so improbable, the impossible has happened. There is a greater event that happened that did not happen before, nor has it happened since, and that event was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When He walked out of the tomb on Sunday, the impossible happened, and because it happened, it changed everything. The resurrection of Jesus Christ affirms all that He did and claimed to be! Because of the resurrection, we can know and experience Him to be the Bread of Life, the light of the world, the resurrection and the life, and the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm. Jesus tomb is empty and because He defeated sin and the grave, He alone is qualified and able to guide me in the paths of righteousness... even through I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. His rod and staff comfort me because He swallowed up the deep darkness of the valley through His resurrection! Jesus not only walked through the valley of the shadow of death, but He also defeated it and came out on the other side as the victor and Lord of Life! Jesus Christ is risen from the grave! If you dont know Him, then the 23rd Psalm is not for you and there is no going through the valley of the shadow of death. But, if you do know Him, then not only will He lead you through the valley of the shadow of death, but there is a table at the other end of it and because of the Good Shepherd, Psalm 23:6 is for you and all who hope in Jesus as the Lord of Life: Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. [1] Christopher Ash, The Psalms vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway; 2024), p. 271.

Nobody expected Jesus to rise from the dead, not even His disciples and those closest to Him expected Him to get up and walk out of the tomb. It did not matter to His disciples that Jesus said that He would suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead (Mark 8:31), because what He said fell upon deaf ears at the time. On the day of Jesus death, everyone believed that He had lost, and evil had won. There was no coming back in the minds of all who watched Him die, and for good reason! When a person was sentenced by Rome to be crucified, it was a sentence that was equally horrible as it was terminal. Jesus died and was buried in a tomb. When Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to Jesuss tomb, they went to anoint a decomposing and dead Jesus to cover up the stench of death while His disciples mourned. What these women were expecting was a very dead body. When they arrived at the tomb and found the stone moved, they were alarmed not because they expected the resurrection, but because they thought someone messed with the body (see Mark 16:1-5). This is why the young man, who most likely was an angel, said to them: Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him (Mark 16:6). What was their response? They were terrified: ...they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid (Mark 16:8). What the disciples saw as defeat, the angels viewed at the edge of their seats, if Peter and the rest could have heard the chatter from heaven, maybe they would have heard: You just wait and see whats coming! If it were possible to hear the angels, and if they were listening closely enough, maybe they would have heard all of heaven ask: Did you not hear what Jesus said when He was with you? Did you not hear Him say, I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.... No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father. (John 10:14-15, 18)? Some of you are feeling the way the disciples and those closest to Jesus felt in the wake of His death. Some of you are feeling like the disciples did when they woke up on Sunday morning: stuck, unsure, afraid, frustrated, angry, and hopeless. I want you to know today that there is a hope within your reach that can swallow up your paralysis, uncertainty, fear, frustration, anger, and hopelessness. For me to do that, I need you to see some things in the 23rd Psalm. Everyone Experiences the Valley of the Shadow of Death Death is the great antagonist and for some strange reason, we act as though we will never experience it, and when it does come... we are surprised by it. Just before Frank Sinatra died, he said, Im losing. The comedian, Groucho Marxs last words were, This is no way to live! Caesar Borgia (chayzaarayborzhuh) said on his deathbed: While I lived, I provided for everything but death; now I must die and am unprepared to die. In Psalm 23:4, we come to a very familiar sentence that has served to comfort the anxious and fearful: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Death is something that we all must face and not one of us will be able to escape it. The valley of the shadow of death is not only death, but the deep darkness of sin, and it is a deep darkness that envelops all humankind.[1] The valley of death is a darkness that no one is exempt from, even if you are a Christian. You see, the valley of deep darkness represents the curse our world is under and the curse that affects us all, and that curse is sin. This is why our world is a mess, this is why there is sickness and disease, and this is why we have to say goodbye way too often and sometimes way too soon. The Bible says that all of us are guilty of sin (Rom. 3:23), and that it is something that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Here is what the Bible says: ...through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.... Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation committed by Adam (Rom. 5:12, 14). What the valley is to you really depends on whether or not you can say with the Psalmist: The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. You see, there is one group of people who will be swallowed up by the valley and then there is another group of people who will walk through the valley. The question is this: What group do you belong to? Not Everyone Remains in the Valley of the Shadow of Death Jesus said of the 23rd Psalm: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). Here is what the Bible says about all of us: All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way... (Isa. 53:3). Or to say it another way, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). All of us have sinned and fall short of meeting the standard of a Holy God. So what was Gods solution to address our sin problem? Listen to the rest of Isaiah 53:3, All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the wrongdoing [sins] of us all to fall on Him. Jesus said, I am the Lord of the 23rd Psalm but He did not stop there, He went on to say, I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep (vv. 14-15). The way that you know that the Lord of the 23rd Psalm is your Shepherd is whether or not you believe who He claimed to be and that when He laid down His life for you because of your sins, that His death on a cross is sufficient for the forgiveness of your sins. And listen, if you really believe in Jesus, if you really belong to Him, and if you really know Him... you will believe the things that He said about Himself: I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35) I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. (John 8:12) I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:2526) Anyone can say the things Jesus said, and everyone will die one day. If all that Jesus did was lay down his life for the sheep, then all that He is... is a dead martyr and nothing more. But consider what Jesus said to the disciples that they missed, most likely because of how impossible they found it to believe what He said to be: I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become one flock, with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it back. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father. (John 10:14-18) What the disciples missed was the most important part of what Jesus said: I lay down My life for the sheep.... I lay down My life so that I may take it back.... I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. In other words, I will die for your sins to redeem you, and then I am coming back by way of a resurrection! It should not have surprised any of the disciples or the women who knew Jesus that the tomb was empty on the third day, but because the resurrection was so impossible and so beyond the limitations of their imagination that the Good Shepherd, the Lord of the 23rd Psalm, could die for sins and then conquer death by rising from it. This is why the angel said to the women when they arrived at the place Jesus was buried: Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him (Mark 16:6). Conclusion We all want a happily ever after story. We go to the movies, and we watch sporting events just so that we might experience the impossible! We want to experience the Fellowship of the Ring and Frodo and Sams impossible mission to destroy the evil ring of Sauron. For you romantics in the room, you want Jerry Maquire to walk through the door finally believing that the love of his life is his wife, Dorothy, and maybe your heart fluttered when Dorothy told Jerry to shut up, followed by the words: You had me at hello. If you like the kinds of movies I like, then you wanted to stand and shout just before the great battle scene in Avengers: End Game. However, when it comes to experiencing the impossible for real and in our lifetime, we are shocked. When fantasy and reality merge and the impossible really happens, we are shocked. Perhaps you think your game is over because you are at the bottom of the 9th with three balls, two outs, a man on second, and you are down by one run! But wait, there is still a player on second and one more pitch to go over the plate. It was during the first game in 1988 World Series that Kirk Gibson, who played for the Dodgers, was injured and unable to run. It was surprising that he was put in as a pinch hitter at the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs. Gibson hobbled up to the plate to everyones surprise. With Mike Davis on first base, Tommy Lasorda was hoping Gibson could hit a ball far enough to get Davis to home for a game tying run. Gibson fouled two pitches for two strikes, swung at another ball down the first base line for a foul, and eventually ended up with 3 out of 4 balls giving him a full count. What this meant was that if he got another ball, he would be forced to walk or if he got one more strike, he would lose the game against the As by one run. When Dennis Eckersley, the closing pitcher for the As, threw a backdoor slider, Gibson swung with just about all his upper body to hit the pitch and sent the ball over the right-field fence for a homerun. The Dodgers won the world series that year, the only time Gibson was able to step up to the plate was that one time at the bottom of the 9th in the first game to hit one of the greatest homeruns in baseball history. After Gibson stepped on home plate, the announcer said this: In a year that seemed so improbable, the impossible has happened. There is a greater event that happened that did not happen before, nor has it happened since, and that event was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When He walked out of the tomb on Sunday, the impossible happened, and because it happened, it changed everything. The resurrection of Jesus Christ affirms all that He did and claimed to be! Because of the resurrection, we can know and experience Him to be the Bread of Life, the light of the world, the resurrection and the life, and the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm. Jesus tomb is empty and because He defeated sin and the grave, He alone is qualified and able to guide me in the paths of righteousness... even through I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. His rod and staff comfort me because He swallowed up the deep darkness of the valley through His resurrection! Jesus not only walked through the valley of the shadow of death, but He also defeated it and came out on the other side as the victor and Lord of Life! Jesus Christ is risen from the grave! If you dont know Him, then the 23rd Psalm is not for you and there is no going through the valley of the shadow of death. But, if you do know Him, then not only will He lead you through the valley of the shadow of death, but there is a table at the other end of it and because of the Good Shepherd, Psalm 23:6 is for you and all who hope in Jesus as the Lord of Life: Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. [1] Christopher Ash, The Psalms vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway; 2024), p. 271.

We've been working our way through the gospel of Mark in a series on discipleship, and we pause that rightly for Easter Sunday, and we're going to be switching over to the gospel of Matthew, Matthew 28, as we consider the resurrection story of Jesus. We look to the ream God's word, though, if you would please join with me in prayer. Holy God, blessed are you. In your son, Jesus, your light shines in our darkness. And the darkness

The Danger and Necessity of a Holy God

Today on the Daily Nugget, Mike reflects on the sobering truth that God's holiness demands justice—and our sin earns a just penalty. Drawing from the chapter on God's holiness in The Greatest Treasure, we consider what it means to reject the Holy God, not just in belief but in the daily choices that dismiss His rightful place as King. On this Good Friday, we remember that the cross was necessary because the holy justice of God had to be satisfied—and Jesus bore the death and wrath we deserved so we could live forever in His grace .

Up To Jerusalem - Teaching 10 Scripture Luke 22, Exodus 6:6-7, John 13 & 14, Psalm 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 Jesus' Last Supper -  Pastor opens with an interesting piece of history. Based on writings from Rabbis during the time of Jesus - the Passover lambs were actually “crucified.” What we know from Rabbinic writings is that when the priests killed the Lambs at the Temple in preparation for the Passover meal - they then took a thin stave and ran it through the shoulders of the killed lamb and then another stave was driven through its mouth and down its spine forming a cross, making it ready for roasting. As our story opens - Jesus and His disciples gather in the upper room that Peter and John have prepared. Passover - how it may have been in Jesus' Day - Passover Table - banquet style meal, low table surrounded by couches or pillows for reclining on, head supported by left hand, ate with right hand, was a lengthy meal that started at sunset. - Four Cups Kiddish Cup (to set apart - Sanctify) Plagues Cup (story of the Passover was shared followed by singing of Psalms 113 and 114) Blessing Cup (during the meal followed by singing of Psalms 115-118) Hallel Cup (Praise cup with singing of Psalm 126. Also referred to as Elijah's cup) Jesus shares that He will not have this meal again until the meal finds its fulfillment in the kingdom of God (following His return). There's a possibility that Jesus ended the meal early. But here's a possible order of the sequence of the events of the meal     - the seating - bickering about who sits where     - Jesus washing the disciples feet     - Jesus tells that one of them will betray Him     - Judas leaves There is uncertainty around when the meal was actually eaten.  Was Judas there or not. Based on text from Luke and John it appears Judas was present for the meal. Pastor shares that Jesus is still merciful to Judas - to the very last He is trying to help Judas see what he is doing. When considering Judas' worthiness to be at the meal, the question becomes were any worthy of participating in this meal? The meal was attended by traitors and cowards. It is a table not of merit but of GRACE. Our God is a merciful and gracious God. His own disciples would run away that very night and leave Him in the garden - abandoning Him in His hour of need and yet Jesus still loved them. He knew what was going to happen and He still gave His disciples this meal as an indication of His incredible love. This meal - the Lord's Supper - is something we have turned into law rather than grace.  None of us can stand before a Holy God and say, “Look how good I am.”  The moment we do that we walk away from the Gospel of Grace. We come to God as sinners, covered by the blood of His Son, made new by Him and when we receive the meal - the very meal He has with His disciples, we are being reassured of His incredible love, a love not based on our merit, accomplishments or achievements, but a love that is based upon the incredible love of The Father for those He has made and those He has redeemed with the blood of His Son. It is NOT a table of merit. IT IS A TABLE OF GRACE. Our website –  https://www.awakeusnow.com Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01 Up to Jerusalem is a study of the final weeks of Jesus' ministry concluding with His resurrection and ascension, using the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John together with material from ancient sources and recent discoveries.  Up to Jerusalem is part four of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. Up To Jerusalem is the story of the plan of God to redeem the world, and the story of a Savior willing to obey the Father's plan. As we study Jesus' final days, we will be impacted as we discover the Love of God for each one of us.  This study is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time.

Jesus' resurrection is the assurance of our reconciliation with God. In these troubled times with so much uncertainty in the world and our lives, Christians should know that all of this is due to sin. Our sin is disobedience and rebellion against the Holy God that created everything. Everyone needs to reconcile with God. Some people have reconciliation through Jesus' sacrifice on… The post Abounding in Resurrection Certainty, Part 1 | The Testimony of Divine Justice appeared first on Pillar of Truth Radio.

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comJohn 6 Jesus feeds 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. The people proclaim Him as the Prophet of God. They want to make Him king, so He withdraws to the mountains. His disciples then cross the sea to Capernaum. Several miles out, in high winds, Jesus walks to them on the water! He gets in the boat, and they are immediately at the land. The crowd from the previous day crosses the sea looking for Him. Jesus explains they come to be fed, but that He is the bread of life. All who digest His words will be raised on the last day and live forever! Sadly, many are confused and leave Him. But the twelve apostles remain saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus performs physical signs to validate spiritual messages. When He feeds the people, some think of Him as a source of physical blessings. But the miracle is simply to demonstrate that He is the Source and Sustainer of life. His nourishment is truth, love, and forgiveness. He fills us with His goodness and spiritual promises so our souls will never lack and will live forever! God gave Israel manna, but they died in the wilderness. God has given us Jesus so that we may live now, and forever after the final resurrection. Jesus' teaching is not always easy to understand or follow, but to whom shall we go? He is the Holy One and He has the words of eternal life.  Holy God, Your Son is a miracle worker. He feeds thousands. He walks on water. He calms the storm. It is not just what He does that draws us, but who He is. He is Your Son. He is the bread of spiritual and eternal life. He is the Prophet who promises a future and resurrection into the glory of heaven. He is everything to us. Lord, fill our hearts with thanksgiving and embolden our lives and lips to pronounce His majesty. When we struggle to understand, hold us close and help us learn to trust Him in all things. Thought Questions: -       Christians understand that following Jesus is about spiritual richness over physical provisions. How do you show that in your life? -        Jesus says to eat His body and drink His blood. In practical Christian terms, what does that look like in your walk of faith? -       When things got hard, many disciples left. What keeps you serving Jesus when His will is difficult to understand or follow?

Up the carpenter went to Jerusalem, knowing full well why. It was time, HIS time, the time, the eternal time as appointed when a world changing event would happen.It was to be the end of his earthly journey, a time for the transition between the Jesus of history and the Christ of Glory.There came that time in the Garden of Gethsemane where he went to pray. He asked his disciples to participate, to watch with him, to stay awake with him. Not knowing the incredible events about to happen, they slept. But the Master prayed, communed with the Father. How wonderful the humanity of Jesus the Christ in Gethsemane. As man, he knew the incredible suffering and agony to come, the crucifixion which would happen and he prayed to the Father:LET THIS CUP PASS FROM MELet there be another way to introduce your love and saving grace rather than crucifixion. But the answer was clear, the plan in place. There would be no change.Perhaps that was the greatest expression and revelation of the WILL of God at work. The plan of salvation would begin with Him, Jesus of Nazareth so that all men might know that He was indeed the SON OF GOD.And so, in blessed surrender, the soon to be Christ of Glory uttered this incredible prayer:NOT MY WILL BUT THY WILL BE DONEOn earth even as it is in heaven. He was ready, and willing.Jesus of Nazareth loved Jerusalem as all Jews do. There stood the temple, the holiest place on earth to the Jews, the earthly abiding place of the HOLY OF HOLIES. It was ordained so by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and it was the place, the center for the longing, the love and the passion of all Jews. Jerusalem, the one and only Jerusalem, the City of David.Jesus of Nazareth poured out His love on the city and its people so very special to him. He passionately lamented how he would love to take the city and its people under his wing and to show them what he firmly believed was the way, the truth, and the life, allnew things. There would be from God through him a new creation possible, all thingsand people born again, a fresh and vital spirituality. But before these new gifts fromGod could become universal, a tragic and horrific event must occur followed by themost miraculous and wonderful event in the history of mankind.HE had dined in Jerusalem with his disciples, a loving Last Supper to commemoratethe event to come, the celebration of his body and his blood. That communion of thedisciples and the Lord, that spiritual fellowship celebrated vicariously with bread andwine, was the end event for them but only the beginning of a lifelong celebration for us.Roman soldiers found him in Gethsemane. There came the mockery of trial andinterrogation before Pilate and Herod. The world knows of the hands–washing, therefusal to make the decision of death for a just and innocent man and the offering tothe people of a choice between Jesus of Nazareth and a convicted criminal. The crowdof course chose the criminal.Then came the walk to the cross, the VIA DOLOROSA, the way of sorrow still todaycommemorated in Jerusalem by the 12 Stations of the Cross. When His cross becametoo heavy to bear, another carried it for him. Crowds lined the way, watching andlistening, some mocking, some wailing, all perhaps sensing this was no ordinary mannor would there be any ordinary crucifixion. But none could know that the world couldchange.And so, the cruelest and most brutal death possible occurred for an innocent man, apublic crucifixion. Roman soldiers nailed Jesus of Nazareth to that wooden cross.It seems ironic indeed, does it not, that a man who lived and worked with wood died abrutal death on wood itself.He hung on that cross for hours, a criminal on each side. The sky grew dark and itwas as though the earth and all in it mourned. The Christ of Glory hung in utteragony, and the horrific pain he experienced caused Him to utter these unforgettablewords:MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN MEWHY?So alone, in utter agony, feeling even that the FATHER had forsaken Him. It isimpossible to know how He felt, how awful that death must have been for Him. But Hewas man, human. We as humans like him can understand the cruelty of man and thesuffering and agony he suffered in death as many of us have. HE took on the sufferingof mankind on that Golgotha Hill. So many who loved him watched, mourned andprayed, never really knowing that this tragic crucifixion would turn into a gloriousResurrection.It seemed indeed that in that darkest moment, God Himself had departed, forsaken.Perhaps it was, as some scholars think that this Holy God could not look upon theultimate and tragic event as they were laid on him the sins of the world. On that cross, in the blood and tortured flesh of the body of the Son of God, in that death unto sin were in fact the sins of the world, all of them and all of ours. That final bloody act of remission and propitiation had to be finished. There had to be that tumultuous and cataclysmic collision of worlds, when heaven and earth became one through Him. For hours, He suffered in agony and pain. His precious body was exposed, mutilated and mocked. He was crowned in the ultimate sarcasm with a crown of thorns to mock the claim of:KING OF THE JEWS.Roman soldiers taunted him, challenging him to use His miraculous powers to come down from the cross, laughing all the while. They cast lots for his garments and treated in cavalier style this world changing event as ordinary, the crucifixion and death of yet another fanatic, yet another would be Messiah as there were so many of them in that day. Never could these men know what would happen on the third day.And so He died and as He was removed from the cross, there came mercifully and lovingly Joseph of Arimathea to claim the body, something which rarely happened in early Roman times, so that Jesus of Nazareth could be buried in His very own tomb. And there He lay as all who knew him, loved, followed and believed in Him mourned. There was perhaps that day a sense of no hope, the law so tragic that HE would never be replaced. Like doubting Thomas, none really believed what would happen that third day.But on that third day, they hurried, they ran to the tomb, the women did. They were so anxious lovingly to attend His body. Instead, they found in the tomb the Angel of the Lord. The stone which had covered the tomb had been rolled back. The event was so terrifying it overwhelmed the Roman guards. The women announced that they had come looking for Jesus of Nazareth, He who had been crucified, buried and laid in this tomb. They demanded to know who took His body. But the Angel of the Lord said to them, words which would change the world:HE IS NOT HERE HE IS RISENHE IS ALIVE. Death as we know it had no power over Him. For millions, that is impossible for us to believe. But for us who do and especially those of us never having seen, heard or been in His physical presence, we who believe the truth and reality of the Resurrection are entitled to the power and the eternal victory over death even as it was with Him. Even as He returned to the Father, so shall we at our appointed time be with Him and the Father as well. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a myth, not symbolic, but the most real event in all of human history.The Apostle Paul states that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most fundamental event, the crux of Christianity. If, says Paul, there was no Resurrection, then Christianity is a farce and more importantly our FAITH is in vain. If the Resurrection was myth, or symbolic and not real, actual, factual, a bodily resurrection, then our faith is in vain. But thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul did, that the Resurrection was real, it endures with everlasting power even now and for allveternity. OUR FAITH IS NOT IN VAIN. The tomb was empty and the empty lives of all mankind could now be filled with the power of this incredible resurrection. The words again which changed the world:HE IS NOT HERE! HE IS RISEN!And so came the Resurrection witness. The resurrected and risen Christ was seen, heard, touched, and otherwise fully experienced as living once again. There were those who doubted, demanding proof. They touched the nail pierced hands and the side pierced with that Roman spear. And they said with the words of doubting Thomas:MY LORD AND MY GODTheir eyes were opened and they recognized Him. They fellowshipped with Him and ate with Him. And He said to them “why are you disturbed and troubled.” Why do such doubts and questionings arise in your hearts? He told them to see His hands and feet and know that it is I MYSELF. No mere spirit, He said, has flesh and bones as I have. His disciples were filled with sheer joy and marvel. Their minds were open to understand Him and the Scriptures. Now said the Resurrected Christ, you are witnesses of these things. Go and preach this wonderful event and our message to all nations. He blessed them and sent them.GO YE, He said, into all of the world and preach the Gospel to everyman, to the Jew first but then to the Gentiles. TO ALL MANKIND. The saving power of the Resurrection was for everyone. So many of us doubt in some ways even today. We see through a glass darkly, said Paul. Our understanding of these things is limited, human here and now. But hereafter, we will know, really know when we see HIM:FACE TO FACEBlessed are those who have never seen and believe!There is nothing in this world like this belief, the outpouring of the saving grace of the Resurrection. The power of life and life eternal through Him is the most powerful force on earth. It comes by acceptance and an open heart, the outpouring of this transforming love. It has been my blessing and I hope and pray that you have had such an encounter with THE LIVING CHRIST, that you have experienced the forgiveness of the cross and that you have accepted and believed in the power of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is Easter, that is what Easter means. It is life anew, one born again. A decision to encounter is the most important decision any person can make. It changes life here and it creates life hereafter. It allows the unfolding of the Kingdom of God now and fellowship in that Kingdom for eternity. We become ONE WITH HIM now, and then forevermore.And so, we who believe sing on Easter Sunday and all year long:CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAYHALLELUJAH!Let the heavens and the earth sing with joy and praise and fill the mind and heart with the power and love of the Resurrection. May the meaning of Easter be with you always, and firmly fasten in your mind the words of the angel, the Messenger of God who stated to those women so many years ago and consequently to all mankind:HE IS NOT HERE!HE IS RISEN!Christ the Lord is in fact risen and our faith is not only NOT in vain but the greatest thing in life. As He was with them in those days following His Resurrection, so He will be with us. His words to that effect are unforgettable.HEAR ME!I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS!EVEN UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!Christ is Risen!HALLELUJAH!

April 17, 2025 Today's Reading: Luke 22:7-20Daily Lectionary: Exodus 12:1-28; Lamentations 4:1-22; Hebrews 5:1-14; Psalm 31“Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.” (Luke 22:7)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The meal is ready. The week is coming to a close around the table of the Lord. Lazarus is resurrected from the dead. The temple is cleansed. The disciples have been taught about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus is anointed by Mary. The disciples' feet are washed. The table is set; let us break bread together. The Passover is at hand. It is time for the lamb to be sacrificed.A lot of preparation has taken place this week to get us to the table of the Lord. The work of Christ is not complete. Today, a New Covenant is instituted—a covenant between God and His people, a covenant that requires the shedding of blood. Covenant-making is very bloody. The blood of Jesus will be the blood of the Lamb, which is the final shedding of blood for the sins of the world.  In the Words of Institution, a New Covenant is brought forth that nullifies the Old Covenant. No longer will the sacrifice of bulls, lambs, and goats be necessary. The words are spoken, and the covenant is established. Christ declares himself to be in, with, and under the bread and wine. His words, “take and eat, this IS” and “take and drink, this IS” are words of comfort for us today.Today, we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in His blessed sacrament. We receive forgiveness of sins in His sacrament. We come to the altar beaten down. We come to the altar covered in our sins. We come to the altar with illnesses and life struggles. Our shame, our guilt, our sins are all exposed.  In preparing to come to the altar, we sing the Sanctus, reminding us that a three-times-Holy God that comes to us. As we approach the altar, it is the Agnes Dei that we sing as we prepare to receive the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He has mercy on us! He gives to us His Body and Blood of the New Covenant for the forgiveness of sins. Your sins are covered by the blood of the Lamb. All your sins are removed before God. No longer does God see your sin. He sees only the blood of Jesus over you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Thursday of Holy Week)-Rev. Timothy Davis, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Athens, GA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

Imagine the vastness of the universe; billions of stars; galaxies, beauty beyond our imagination- and yet scripture tells us that the Heavens cannot contain Him. Jesus taught us to pray to our Father in Heaven, leading our thoughts to His greatness as we pray. In this podcast America Pray Now leader, Josiah Alway explores the phrase, “Hallowed be Thy name,” a call for us to Worship and reverence such a mighty and Holy God.------America Pray Now publishes a magazine on prayer that is free of charge and can be delivered directly to your home. You can sign up for this magazine on our website at americapraynow.comIn addition to our weekly podcast, we meet in 16 different cities every month to pray in person. Most of our in-person prayer meetings are in Virginia, but we also have meetings in Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina. See our website for times and dates at americapraynow.comEnjoy the Podcast? Let us know! Email us at podcast@americapraynow.com

"Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will." – Jesus to St. Faustina (Diary, 1731)The Rosary. The Divine Mercy Chaplet. Formal Prayer.I had resistance to praying in this way.I had resistance to even saying His Name for years.But the more I said It, the more I saw—I needed to say It.Whatever is keeping you from saying It,Or feeling It,Or believing It,Or knowing It—That's exactly why you have to say It.That dissolves.That lets you go.It frees you to move on,To forgive,And to share.Because that's all we're here to do.I love you,NikTHE DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET The Image - Look at it and then see it within!Opening Prayers (On the Crucifix):You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls,and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the world and empty Yourself out upon us.(3x) "O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You."Step-by-Step Instructions for the Chaplet:On the Our Father bead (large):"Eternal Father, I offer You the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."On each Hail Mary bead (small):"For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."Repeat the Our Father (large) and Hail Mary (small) prayers for all five decades of the rosary.Traditional Prayers:Our Father:Our Father, who art in Heaven,hallowed be Thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,on earth as it is in Heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil. Amen.Hail Mary:Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.Blessed art thou among women,and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. ( I trust in you)Holy Mary, Mother of God,pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.Apostle's Creed (On the Crucifix):I believe in God, the Father Almighty,Creator of heaven and earth;and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into hell;on the third day, He rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy Catholic Church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and life everlasting. Amen.Closing Prayers (After the Decades):(3x) Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.Final Prayer:Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible,look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us,that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent,but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will,which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.Take your time with these prayers. Say His Name. Start here. Trust your heart. You're held in His grace. Always.Send me your stories, reflections, or reviews. Wherever you are, you're not alone. I see you.I Love you,nik_________________________--Wake Up to Love, and pray the Holy Rosary, pray the LOVE with us LIVE every weekday morning at 4:44 am ET

Jesus is the one who makes you accepted with the Holy God. Broadcast #7538To help support this podcast, please visit walkwiththeking.org/donate and select "Podcast" from the dropdown menu.A transcript of this broadcast is available on our website here. To hear more from Bob Cook, you can find Walk With The King on Facebook or Instagram.

Delight with our Holy God as Apostle Tonya teaches from the Holy Bible on our Risen Christ and The Last Supper.For more teachings on our Lord Jesus Christ, and her testimonies on supernatural manifestations, visit ⁠https://apostletonya.org

Join host Craig Dalton and Trek Travel's Rich Snodsmith as they take you on an exhilarating journey through the heart of gravel cycling in Italy. In this episode of The Gravel Ride podcast, they share their recent experience at the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo trip organized by Trek Travel. With over three decades of friendship, these two avid cyclists reminisce about their chance meeting at the Lugano Cycling World Championships in 1996 and their shared passion for the sport. Throughout the episode, Rich and Craig discuss their incredible adventures, from vintage bikes at L'Eroica and witnessing the Strade Bianche professional bike race, to participating in the challenging 140-kilometer Gran Fondo alongside 7,000 other riders. They also share their encounters with pro cyclists and the camaraderie of the Trek Travel group. If you're looking for an immersive and unforgettable gravel cycling experience, this episode will inspire you to find dirt under your wheels and explore the breathtaking landscapes of Italy. Topics discussed: Introducing the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo trip with Trek Travel  Riding an international Gran Fondo  Experiencing the energy and spectacle of professional bike races  Meeting pro cyclists and gaining insights into the sport  Challenges and rewards of gravel riding in Italy  Stunning scenery, castles, and brick towns on the route  The supportive and well-organized nature of Trek Travel trips  Exciting plans for future cycling adventures Full Transcript: Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:00:03 to 00:00:33 Hello and welcome to the Gravelride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes who are pioneering the sport. I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner to unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the show, we welcome Rich Snodsmith from Trek Travel. Rich is one of my oldest cycling friends. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:00:33 to 00:01:00 We met over 30 years ago, actually, in Italy. As you'll hear from our story, Rich and I were recently in Siena in Italy for the Strada Bianchi Gran Fondo trip. With track travel, we were able to watch both the professional bike race as well as participate in a 140 kilometer mass start. Gran Fondo across the white roads, the white gravel roads of Siena. Fantastic trip. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:00 to 00:01:10 I can't wait for you to hear more of the details. With that said, let's jump right into the show. Hey, Rich, welcome to the show. Hey, Craig, good to see you. Thanks for having me on. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:10 to 00:01:36 Yeah, absolutely. You and I just shared a magical experience on the roads and trails of Italy, which is the purpose of you joining this call. But you, you and I have a rich history, no pun intended, of cycling experiences in Italy. That's right. We met randomly in 1996 at the Lugano Cycling World Championships and have stayed friends ever since. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:36 to 00:01:51 Yeah, fortunately I. I eventually moved to San Francisco a few years later. So we were able to ride together, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were able to ride together for. Gosh, it's hard to believe it's three decades at this point, which is crazy to think about. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:01:51 to 00:02:14 My end of our Lugano story was I was working in Italy and my colleague, who we both know, Jeff Sanchez, said to me, going to go to the World Championships and oh, by the way, we have to go pick up Rich. He's going to be at the Duomo in Milan on the way. Pre cell phones, be there at 5:00. Don't be late. Yeah, exactly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:02:14 to 00:02:34 So super fun to finally go back to Italy together. Obviously, we've been riding on the roads and trails of Marin county for a long time, but to finally have the stars align on this trip was fantastic. Yeah, it was great to get out there and do that again. We also saw another World Championships together in Richmond, Virginia. That's right, yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:02:34 to 00:02:40 The thing for the World Championships, you've. Seen a few and we've got a future one. I Think in our plans, right? Oh, yeah. Montreal 2026. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:02:40 to 00:02:55 Let's go. There we go. See you there. So this, you put the idea of this trip in my mind probably December of last year. And the trip, to be specific, because I don't think we've mentioned it, although I probably mentioned it in the intro. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:02:55 to 00:03:09 Is the Strada Bianchi professional bike race trip with Trek Travel. Was it me that put it in your mind? I was asking you where you were going to go. I thought you. I thought you convinced me, but I was down as soon as you suggested it. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:03:11 to 00:03:52 It's interesting. Obviously, we're on a gravel cycling podcast and this is sort of a. A hybrid trip almost because we're road riding, but we're riding on the Strada Bianca, the white roads of Tuscany outside Siena. And for those listeners who are fans of both professional road racing and gravel cycling, I think Strada Bianchi is the race that gets us most excited because we see the coverage, we see the professional road riders riding on gravel, and the visuals are just awesome. And they're kind of like what we experience as gravel racers and riders routinely. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:03:52 to 00:04:19 But so cool to see all the pro bike teams go through and participate in the event. So I was super stoked, obviously. I'd been on a Trek Travel gravel tour in Girona a couple years prior, so I'd had that experience with Trek, but this is the first kind of pro bike race enabled tour that I'd ever been on. Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting to blend those things together. I mean, you being more of a gravel rider, me being more of a road rider. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:04:20 to 00:04:59 But the last few trips I've taken with Trek Travel have been gravel trips. You know, getting out there and trying new things, trying the Vermont trip, trying the Dolomites last year, this was just a really cool experience to put like my fandom of the road cycling and racing world along with this, like, almost instant classic. The race has only been around for 20 years and it's like, become a real fan favorite. Yeah, I was, I was looking up some of the history of the race and I didn't realize that it started out with Laroica, which is a. An event that many people have heard about where you ride vintage bikes on this course. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:04:59 to 00:05:18 And the professional bike race emerged. So the loraca started in 1997. In 2007 is when the professional bike race emerged. So it's interesting. And obviously being in that region and riding in that region, we saw signs of Loraka all over the place, right? Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:05:18 to 00:05:38 Yeah, we Even ate at the Laroica Cafe. That was incredible. Yeah, exactly. And I came home with a Loracha sweatshirt as well. And then the, the, the cool thing, and we probably failed to mention it at this point is there's the Gran Fondo the day after, after Strada Bianchi, which was awesome. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:05:38 to 00:05:59 So we actually get to go on a 140 kilometer rides. A ride on the similar roads as the professionals. Yeah, it's not the full men's road course, but it's pretty close to the women's road course and we cover all the last, you know, climbs, you know, that the. Both the men's and the women's race covered. That was really cool. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:05:59 to 00:06:21 Especially after seeing them finish the day before and then going out and riding those roads, seeing where Poga crashed and then, you know, doing that last 20k of climbs is just bananas, beautiful and hard. It was pretty rewarding that ride. I can't wait to get into that details a little bit more of the event later. I did. I'm. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:06:21 to 00:06:46 As I'm speaking, I misspoke because I have been to Europe once before around the Tour of Flanders and did the Tour of Flanders grandson do, which I noted. And in speaking to the Trek travel guides, you've got a series of awesome trips that month in Flanders of a similar vein. Right. You do have Perry Roubaix and. Or a Flanders trip. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:06:46 to 00:06:57 Yeah. You can choose the whole Holy Week, you could do both Flanders and Roubaix or you can break it into chunks and do one or the other. So it's. Yeah. If you're a pro race fan, that's a nice companion to Strat Bianca. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:06:57 to 00:07:10 The. The Flanders Roubaix ultimate weekend or ultimate week there. And then one of the highlights of the year, presumably for Trek travel is your Tour de France tours. For sure. We take over a couple hundred people there every year. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:07:11 to 00:07:19 We do usually do five or six trips through the Alps and the Pyrenees. It's. That's a pretty exciting one too, if you've never been to the Tour. For sure. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:07:19 to 00:07:45 Well, let's talk through the trip a little bit that we participated in because I think it'll give people a flavor. I've talked about my, my experience with track in Girona and my general love of gravel travel. But more extensively, I love traveling by bike and having these experiences because it's just, it's just so much fun. So we start off the trip, it's a pretty quick trip relative to some others because in a five day timeline. Right. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:07:45 to 00:08:01 So we flew over. You'd Already been in Europe, but I flew over to Florence and met you the night before. And day one, we basically just get picked up by our guides and head on over to Siena, which is about an hour and a half away. Yep. And then the bikes. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:08:01 to 00:08:21 Yeah, straight onto the bikes. And the beauty of. The beauty of this trip and all the truck travel trips is they've got bikes already set up for you, so you send your measurements and if you want to ride your own saddles or pedals, you can, you're welcome to bring those, but they'll basically get it dialed. And that. That first day, I think we went for maybe an hour and a half shakeout ride just to see how the bike. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:08:21 to 00:08:31 30 miles. Yeah, yeah. And how many people were in our group. We had 19 with us and then three guides. Okay, so is that pretty typical on these pro bike? Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:08:31 to 00:08:46 Sort of. They tend to sell out. They're pretty popular. And guests will go back and forth between the Strada Bianca or. I think quite a few of the guests or folks that were on our trip had done the ultimate Holy Week trip before with Flanders and Roubaix and some had done the tour as well. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:08:46 to 00:09:03 Yeah. It was pretty fascinating talking to some of the men and women on our trip to learn just how many trips they had done with you guys. Yeah, it was neat to like show up and kind of already have the camaraderie of. A lot of the guests on that trip had been with Nick or Viba or Gio on previous trips. So they were. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:09:03 to 00:09:21 There was already sort of a built in fan base there. Yeah. And I suppose it's. I suppose it's the nature of this type of trip, but I felt like everybody in the crew was quite competent on the bike and there were some people who were faster than us, some people slower than us, but everybody was mostly faster. Yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:09:21 to 00:09:25 There's an impressive riders on this trip. It was pretty, pretty great. Yeah. Yeah. And the. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:09:26 to 00:09:45 And the guides were equally impressive both, you know, across the week. Just getting to know them personally, seeing their fitness. A, but B. And more importantly, they're just understanding of all the sectors and the roads that we'd be riding and their, their love of Strada Bianchi. Yeah, the knowledge and passion for the race was definitely evident. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:09:45 to 00:09:57 It was pretty cool. Yeah. So we got a shakeout ride on the Monday or, sorry, on the first day of the trip. Yeah. And then the second day we went a bit longer and kind of got our first real look at some of the. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:09:57 to 00:10:19 The white roads. Yeah, we think it was a 50. It was a nice lead up to the Fondo because it was like a 30 mile day one, a 50 mile on day two, which was pretty challenging. It was, but not like back breaking. And then we went to the race to view the race viewing day, which was like a gentle 30 miles before the Fonda, which was kind of a nice way to structure the week. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:10:19 to 00:10:42 Yeah. When I think when I first looked at that mileage, I'm like, gosh, I'm going all the way to Italy. I just want to ride my ass off. But as, as it came down to it between like travel fatigue, it being earlier in the year, and the punchiness of those climbs we were experiencing on day two, like that was enough in sort of those first couple days. And I felt totally satisfied. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:10:42 to 00:10:56 Yeah, you can put in if you're doing the big options every day. You get 200 miles in, in four days, plus the race viewing. So it's, it's, I think it's a really well designed trip. It's, it is compact. But it's surprising how tired you can be after doing those four days. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:10:56 to 00:11:10 Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. The elevation is pretty. Every day has a nice chunk of elevation gain. Yeah. And I think for, for us, like we don't have a ton of rolling hills around where we live, they said they tend to be more sustained. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:11:10 to 00:11:28 So it definitely felt different to me. I was feeling a little underprepared that, that 50 mile day, thinking, Gosh, we've got to do 90 plus in the Gran Fondo. It's going to be a long day out there. I'm not gonna lie. I don't think I said it during the trip, but I was a little worried after the first two days. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:11:28 to 00:11:39 I was grateful for the race watching like cool down day before the Fondo. It all worked out. But yeah, yeah, yeah. So we should, I mean, we should talk through a little bit. We'll get into race day next. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:11:39 to 00:12:05 But you know, basically every day after the ride, you just leave your bike and the team cleans it, takes care of it, puts it away. You've got really nothing to do but show up and eat and enjoy yourself in Siena. Yeah, take a nap, whatever you need. We, we stayed at a great hotel, the Hotel Athena, just right outside, like in Siena, but just outside the wall. So it was easy to walk like 10 minutes into town. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:12:06 to 00:12:24 Really, really great location. I mean, one of the best things about the Fondo day was waking up to a completely clean, like just power wash, power dried, chain lubed. It was like a brand new bike getting Ready to ride out to the start. It was pretty great. Clean bike is a fast bike, so I appreciate that. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:12:24 to 00:12:40 And shammy time's training time. That's right. But yeah, those guys work their butts off to keep those bikes in great shape every morning when you show up. Yeah, no doubt about that one. Sort of topography. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:12:40 to 00:12:50 Topography note. Siena is up on a hill. Yeah. And you know, that was like warm down. There's no warm down and there's no sort of. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:12:50 to 00:13:08 In the, in the early mornings when we were rolling out, we're going downhill for 5, 10 minutes no matter what. So it was quite cool on the road out in the rollout in March, for sure. We lucked out. We, the guides every day were saying, it's not usually like this. Like it was. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:13:08 to 00:13:18 We had like mid-60s during the day, every day. And it was. Fortunately we saw almost zero rain, which was great. Would have been tough to ride those roads in the mud. A hundred percent. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:13:18 to 00:13:38 And I think it just would have taken away from how much fun we had out on the course on the third day, which is. So we, we did ride maybe 15, 20K out to, I think sector number two on the women's and men's road course. Got to see the women come through, which is a lot of fun. Right, right on one of the. Those gravel roads. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:13:38 to 00:13:49 Cheer them on. We had ridden that road the day before and then we went to a cafe. Totally overwhelmed. This local cafe with 23 people needing locusts. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:13:49 to 00:14:07 Yeah. I think ebay went in there and basically said, I will buy your entire rack of baked goods. And he just walked him outside and he's like, get the cappuccino machine going and keep them going until we say stop. Yeah, that was great. It was a nice break between the women's and the men's race. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:14:07 to 00:14:26 It was incredible to see, like the riders go through, but then you just see the apparatus of like all the, the sort of security cars, then all the team cars. And at a certain point, both of our videos, all you can see is dust. When you're on the gravel, when everybody's raging by in the team cars, it's like, there they go. And here come. Here comes the caravan, the follow caravan. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:14:26 to 00:14:40 It's pretty cool when the safety motorcycles come by and sort of just casually brush people a little bit further to the side of the road. Get, get closer to the curb, will you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was interesting. I mean, we didn't. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:14:40 to 00:14:53 We couldn't see much of the run up of the women's race, but there was Seemingly a fracture. Even at the point in which we started watching, I think there might have been a crash before the women's race. Pretty broken up outside of the main pack. Yeah, yeah. So it was cool. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:14:53 to 00:15:21 Yeah, they were going slow enough that you could kind of really see your, your favorite athletes cruise by, which is a lot of fun. And to your point, it is always cool seeing all the support the professional athletes get in the team cars. Yeah, it was interesting to see the breakaway. You know, in the men's race you had like a two or three minute breakaway. To see them go by first and then their car, their follow cars and then seeing the, the whole peloton and like UAE on the front clearly just ready to rip it. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:15:21 to 00:15:43 It was pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we should mention that the, the night before with this trip, we had the opportunity, right, to meet the Lidl track team and we got to go on the, the, the tour bus, as I would call it, the, you know, the big bus that the riders hang out in before and after the race. No photos. Yeah, I was really excited to do some photos. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:15:43 to 00:15:53 Yeah. And they said no photos, no photos. And, and then we saw the, you know, the, the mechanics van with all the bikes. Mobile service course. That was incredible. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:15:53 to 00:16:01 Like. Yeah. How many bikes, wheels, chain, chain sets, tires. It's just like a. Incredible organization to get that all set up. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:16:01 to 00:16:09 Yeah. And then it was cool meeting. We got to meet the women's team and some of the men's team members. Do you remember who we got to talk to? We talked to the whole women's team. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:16:09 to 00:16:28 They all kind of came out. We sort of had dinner that night with them in the hotel. So we got to talk to mostly Ena Tutenberg, the director, Retta Hansen, great domestique. And then Lizzie Danan was pretty, they were pretty engaging, pretty, pretty fun to see them all chatting up and answering questions from our group. And we got to met. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:16:28 to 00:16:39 It was a little bit different with the men. They kind of came and went. But we got to meet the previous year's second place finisher Tom Scoins. That was really interesting to talk to him about his race. I think you talked a bit to Quinn Simmons. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:16:40 to 00:16:53 So we got to meet like a little bit of the whole team there, which was really cool. Yeah, it was cool. And probably not giving away any secrets. Say they, they had a buffet that was separate from our meal. They had scales to weigh their food. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:16:53 to 00:17:10 They were quite a bit more disciplined than our 19 person group. Yeah, that was, I was surprised to see that as well. I was with my back to them. So they're weighing their food, really, as I'm. As I'm shoveling my pescatarian options in. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:17:12 to 00:17:39 Um, so then we going back to race day, we see the men in the same location, then we ride ourselves back to Siena that day. Um, and I think we were able to go back to that. Well, I know we were able to go back to the hotel and then make it into the piazza for the time that the women were going to be finishing, which was awesome. We couldn't have timed it better. Yeah, it was great to get back to the hotel, drop off the bikes, grab a quick shower, and then head over there. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:17:39 to 00:18:06 To watch the last, like, 20k and see him come into the finish line was super, super exciting. It's just such a beautiful, scenic place to finish a bike race. We'll get into. I mentioned that it's up at the top of a hill, so we'll talk about what it's like finishing there, but just you've got this square that's not that big, a great, beautiful clock tower. And the imagery is just stunning. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:18:06 to 00:18:24 When they come around the final corner, there's people up in their apartments cheering them on from around the corner. And then you see a rider emerge or a sprint emerge to a slight downhill to the finish line. It's just an incredible scene. Yeah, it's pretty iconic. Like, if you think about, like, that finish line, compared to. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:18:24 to 00:18:44 You could compare it to, like, the finish in Roubaix on the velodrome or the finish on the Champs Elysees in France. It's a super, super different way to finish a bike race up that steep, the Santa Catarina steep climb into the compos. Just really unique. And we were able to get, I mean, super close to the. To the women's finish. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:18:44 to 00:18:51 Yeah, it was. That was sort of shocking how few people were there. It's sort of a bummer. We were there for the women's race. We're just going to say that now. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:18:51 to 00:19:16 So we were excited to be so close and to see the podium ceremony afterwards. But you got some great shots of Demi Vollering winning. And then we were standing right where they all finish, and they're all kind of, like, bottlenecked into this little corner and their whole team is surrounding them and people are congratulating them, and they all just look destroyed, and you're just like, wow, how can you get this close to such amazing athletes? But it was. It was really, really cool. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:19:16 to 00:19:36 Yeah, super cool. And then so we watched the celebration as they got their trophy and sprayed the champagne. We're almost close enough to get hit with champagne. I feel like that was cool. And then the track team had secured a lunch spot right on the piazza in one of the restaurants with the massive flat screen tv. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:19:36 to 00:20:02 So we were able to roll over there, joined lunch that was already in progress and watch the men's race on TV for a few hours. Yeah, that was like a really cool setup to see the women's finish go stuff our faces and, and keep track of the race while we did it and then be able to run right back outside to see the men finish in the same way. I mean it was pretty remarkable. I think we like getting kind of itchy with about 15, 20k to go. We're like, you ready? Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:20:02 to 00:20:35 Let's get out there, stake out our spot along the finish line. It was awesome. You know, being in North American, we don't always get to watch these events live as they're unfolding. So just sort of feel the energy and watch on the TV obviously that the Tom Pickock Pagachar breakaway was happening and we were all, I think all eyes were on the television at the point where they've got this great shot of Tade ripping around this corner and just hitting the deck. And I didn't think he was going to get up. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:20:35 to 00:20:47 I don't know about you. It looked, and the first time I saw it, it looked like he really wailed his head and he rolled far into the grass. Got catapulted into the grass. Yeah, yeah. I was absolutely shocked he was able to get up. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:20:47 to 00:21:22 And then it was nice to see Tom Pickock do the gentlemanly thing and you know, he, yeah, kind of shook his head after the crash but you know, clearly just soft pedaled until today came back to him. It was, it's incredible when you're either in the restaurant or like on the square with the Jumbotrons and something like that happens and you hear the whole crowd gasp, you know, like that, that like collective gasp of a few thousand people right next to you is like pretty like wow, that just happened. Exactly. A shocking mid race events for sure. Yeah, totally. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:21:22 to 00:21:50 And then once it was back on, like you said, I think with, with, you know, 15k today attacked maybe with 18k to go. And by 15 or 10k we were like, we gotta get out there and get on the streets and get right by the finish line again to see this. Yeah, it was incredible to see him come over the line first all battered and bloodied and he had, was so full of Adrenaline. He didn't say much until he got into the interviewing room. It's like right before he was going to go get his trophy that it kind of hurts now. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:21:50 to 00:22:15 It's like he had so much adrenaline to attack and finish the race, but as soon as the race is done, he's like, oh, I'm really scratched up. Yeah, he was totally tore up. And then the other interesting thing for me at the finish line was that, you know, not a lot of people actually finish the race, which is. I mean, as a professional, I get it. Like, you do your job, and then you and I will talk about how hard it is to get to the finish and. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:22:15 to 00:22:25 And why, if. If you weren't required to get there, maybe you don't get there. So I think maybe only, like, 20, 25 riders finished. Does that feel right to you? That sounds about right. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:22:25 to 00:22:39 Once. Once you're out of contention, there's not a whole lot of reason to struggle through. It was. It was incredible to stand there and watch the finishes that come through that just covered in dust, sometimes dust and blood and just looking shattered. Uh, and, yeah, was a little scary. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:22:39 to 00:22:53 Thinking about what we were going to do the next morning didn't help the nerves. No. Real quick shout out to Tade. I thought it was so classy. When he was being interviewed after the finish, they're like, hey, you're the first world champion to. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:22:53 to 00:23:00 To win Strada Bianche. And he's like, no, Lada Kapeki won last year. She was the champion. I love. I love that. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:23:00 to 00:23:08 It was so great. It's just, like, such a classy guy and sort of respect for the sport and his fellow athletes. Pretty cool. Yeah. 100%. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:23:09 to 00:23:26 Well giddy with our. Our race day experience, we then kind of went off to dinner and back to the hotel and needed to get our heads around what 140km on that course was going to look like for us in the gran fondo with 7,000 of our closest friends. Yeah. I'm not gonna lie. I was a little nervous about that start. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:23:26 to 00:23:33 Just not. Not about the. Well, okay. Maybe a little bit about the distance and the elevation, but just. Yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:23:33 to 00:23:48 Do you want to talk about what that was like? Yeah. Like a starting bell go off and 7,000 people take off. I know you've done, like, SBT and Unbound, so it's probably not that different, but the scale was pretty large. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:23:48 to 00:24:02 Yeah. I think, you know, the guides did a really good job of one, previewing us some of the terrain we were going to be on. Yeah. They gave us a lot of confidence that the Trek van was going to be there. So we, we had multiple drop bag locations. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:24:02 to 00:24:31 We knew they were going to be there for us, that we didn't have to go to the mass, you know, rest stop areas, which was a super luxury. So we're on the Trek Checkpoint SLR bikes with 45C gravel tires on them. So, you know, pretty robust bicycle for this kind of event. When you compare to what a lot of people were riding. I think the professionals were still on 28 or 30s and full slicks. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:24:31 to 00:24:46 So interesting from an equipment perspective. And that'll come up, I think, in our conversation. But we get up at 6am we go down to breakfast. You and I are roommates. We go down to breakfast at like 6:01 and every single table is occupied. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:24:46 to 00:25:02 We're sort of fighting for space. This is clearly everybody's fueling up. There's, you know, dozens and dozens and dozens of people in the hotel who are going to go on the same journey we are. I think our rollout time from the hotel was 7:00am does that sound right? That sounds right. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:25:02 to 00:25:12 Yeah. Yeah. So we, we had to go down a hill. This detail wasn't clear in my mind morning of. But we had to ride somewhere to start the event. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:25:12 to 00:25:29 And of course, being in Siena, we had to ride downhill. And then right back then we, and then we rode back up to another part of town. And there were multiple different staging areas based on a color on your number plate. So we kind of fumbled around. Maybe there was five or five different colors out there. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:25:29 to 00:25:41 I think we were in the, the green sector and there's. There had to have been 1500 people in our sector alone. Yeah, it was. I think it was based on distance you were doing and maybe the speed you were going to ride. I'm not sure. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:25:41 to 00:26:10 Yeah, yeah, there could be something like if you're demonstrably a fast person, you're going to go in a different color than us. But, you know, we've been, we be in particular had mentioned, like, it's crazy town to begin with in this event. And I think in addition to 7,000 people being around you, we started with a massive downhill. Yeah, there were a lot of people going really fast. It was good advice. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:26:10 to 00:26:30 He was saying, you know, kind of keep your space and kind of stay to the right because people are going to want to pass on the left. And they were certainly doing that. So, yeah, I think we stayed together or within close proximity just to, you know, for the first. Like you said, the first Hour or so to navigate some of that. But once we hit that first section of dirt, I saw the. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:26:30 to 00:26:46 I saw the robot eyes go on, and you were gone. You're like, dirt. My comfort zone. I wasn't so comfortable with all these people flying around me. I remember at one point you and I were sort of casually riding maybe like three feet apart. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:26:46 to 00:27:07 Yeah. And someone just splits the middle. And I was like, okay, I guess we gotta ride closer if we're gonna discourage these people from dive bombing. And they were dive bombing left, right, and center, no matter what we did. Yeah, there was a lot of passing on the right, passing in weird places, and a lot of people just sinistra passing on the left. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:27:07 to 00:27:13 I'm on your left. I'm going hard. It was like. And. And my problem is I never internalized which one was right or left. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:27:13 to 00:27:22 So I would just kind of keep it a straight line whenever possible. Hold still. Yeah. So, yeah, there's. I mean, I think blissfully in terms of the amount of mileage we needed to cover. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:27:22 to 00:27:57 It was nice that there was, I don't know, call it 20k of riding on pavement to break things up a little bit before we hit the first dirt section. First dirt section was 2.1km long. Still pretty packed in terms of people being around, but definitely, like, I felt more personally in my comfort zone at that point. I knew that from an equipment perspective, with the 45C tires, I had a lot more control than a lot of the. My Italian compatriots who were riding 25s and 28s on their full arrow road bikes. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:27:57 to 00:28:16 There were a lot of flat tires in that first couple hours. Yeah, yeah, no doubt there was. There was some parallels with the unbound experience where it's just crazy and flat tires are happening all the time. That was the nice thing about the checkpoint. Like, the tires are, you know, a little bit bigger, but no, no one on the ride got a flat. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:28:16 to 00:28:30 And that's just really comfortable. Like in a ride like that where it's. It can be pretty challenging, both from a elevation perspective, but also just a terrain perspective, just getting bounced around a bit. It was, if I felt pretty. Pretty good at the end, surprisingly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:28:30 to 00:28:48 Yeah. I think for. I think for. For people who haven't done a ton of gravel riding, it was a confidence inspiring choice to set them up that way because you could go in as someone who's ridden on the road a ton and ride that gravel and not feel like the bike was all over the place. Yeah. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:28:48 to 00:29:06 Totally sketchy. I mean, it's Totally stable under you. Yeah, I witnessed some sketchy, sketchy stuff out there with people and not nothing to do with their bikes handling talents. It was just equipment choice. They like literally could not stay on their line because of their tires being. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:29:06 to 00:29:29 So much smaller and rim brakes on some of those things. The descents, I mean there's. We talk about the climbs but like even some of the descents were, you know, somewhat challenging to navigate, especially with a group. It really kind of opened up once you made the turn to the, the longer part of the event. The, the full fondo and then it kind of really opened up for us like where there was riders but not nearly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:29:30 to 00:29:51 Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. And I think it's a good, it's a good point. On the descending it definitely was. You could definitely see the people who had either just confidence warranted or unwarranted or the right bike for the situation. Yeah, because I was, you know, there were definitely stutter bumps from all the riders out there. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:29:51 to 00:30:11 So you definitely got into situations where you were, you were getting a lot of feedback from the trail. Yeah, it's amazing to have ridden some of those roads in the first couple of days. I think they actually go through and they grade it before the race. Like they try to kind of smooth it out a little bit. But after, you know, two races go through with all the cars and all the riders, the conditions have changed in one day pretty significantly. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:30:11 to 00:30:23 It was pretty interesting. Yeah. Yeah. In total there's 10 different gravel sectors in this event over the 140km. I think there's 50km of gravel riding. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:30:23 to 00:30:43 So it was a nice mix of. Felt like more in a good way. Yeah, for me, for me I was just like, I was way more comfortable on the. Not way more comfortable, but I was having way more fun. Yeah, I think you alluded to like after the, after the two, first two gravel sections I would just hit one and be like, okay, it's on. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:30:43 to 00:31:07 And I was having, I was just having a blast. And yeah, some of these climbs, I mean they were 15, 18% grade, both up and down and a lot of. Them are in the last 20k. Yeah, that's for sure. I remember one, one sector I was just kind of talking to myself and having fun because most everybody speaks Italian and I didn't. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:31:07 to 00:31:35 So I remember at one point a writer just closed the door on the left hand side to another rider and I, I sort of jokingly said, but fairly loud, I guess that door is closed. And it turned out the guy was from the UK and He was just dying laughing because I think he was having the same experience with me. Like, nothing I said really landed with anybody. So it's hard to kind of. You just sort of make noise to make yourself aware and obviously ride as safely as possible. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:31:35 to 00:31:55 Yeah, it was, it was a super, like, challenging experience, but it was like. I don't know if you felt the same as super rewarding, especially like getting through that last 20k and hitting, you know, the Toll Fe climb, getting up the Santa Catarina, like, those are. Those are steep climbs. I don't talk about that experience that you had coming up. A couple of those. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:31:55 to 00:32:19 Yeah, for sure. I mean, those were later in the day. And we're talking 10 kilometer long sectors at this point, which was cool because the earlier ones were shorter, you know, as I mentioned, like 4k, 5k. So to get on the longer ones and then some of the. You were just looking at these beautiful gravel roads going through the Tuscan hillsides. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:32:19 to 00:32:34 Yeah, it was super cool. And we, we sort of hadn't mentioned in the previous days we'd seen castles and old brick towns and, like, we definitely had this. It was, it was a beautiful ride. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even when you're suffering, at least you got something to look at. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:32:35 to 00:32:45 That's pretty. Exactly. And I didn't know enough about the route. Like, I didn't agonize over it. Like, you know, I might have done unbound to try to figure out, like, how am I going to survive this thing? Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:32:45 to 00:33:06 It was kind of more by the seat of our pants. And that, that one long climb up. I think it's the Tofe pass where we met Gio in the van. Like, that was more than I had expected because it was like, just felt like a long gravel grind. And it was interesting just experiencing that and seeing the fans on the side of the road encouraging you. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:06 to 00:33:21 And then you, you kind of crest out on the ridge line back onto the pavement. Yeah. And the van's there and you're just. Like, oh, great, thank goodness, just where you're supposed to be. And you could look back watching everybody coming up the hill. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:21 to 00:33:33 And it was so funny. So you, you hadn't arrived yet. We had gotten separated for a bit, and an Irish rider comes up with two friends. And he. And he's like, hey, do you guys have any tape? Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:33 to 00:33:44 Oh, yeah, yeah. Maybe you were there. Gio's like, well, what do you need tape for? And he's like, my, my look pedal. The entire back end of the pedal has fallen off. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:44 to 00:33:54 So basically he's got Zero purchase. Yeah. And he's like, my friends are tired of pushing me up these hills. Do you have any tape? And Gio's like, don't be ridiculous. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:33:54 to 00:34:06 Like, tape's not gonna do anything. How about breaking away? Yeah. How about we give you a set of pedals, a set of cleats, you just return them. Back in Siena, we're all going to the same place. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:34:06 to 00:34:12 Yeah. Yeah. Such a nice gesture. The guy sat there, put his cleats on, then ended up finishing the race. That was cool. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:34:12 to 00:34:34 Or the ride. Yeah. That's super cool. Gio also mentioned that Quinn Simmons, the professional rider from Lidl Trek, he had flatted out of the race the day before. And it turns out he showed up at the Trek van because he was riding the Gran Fondo with his mom and dad, and he had yet another flat, and Geo gave him a tube to kick him down the road. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:34:35 to 00:34:51 Mobile bike shop. Yeah. Gotta love it. And that. Once we got on that ridgeline, it was awesome because we did have a substantial amount of road riding ahead of us for a while, which I'm sure I could speak for both of us was a bit of a relief to just be able to cruise. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:34:51 to 00:35:00 It was a lot of downhilling at that point. We got into some good groups, and we were just. Just kind of motoring and putting some kilometers under our belt. And you can start to see the city. So you. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:35:00 to 00:35:12 You got your sight line for your finish. Yeah, it's pretty cool. And then I think we were in good spirits. We rolled up with a couple of our. Our trip mates along the way, which was fun to kind of ride with those guys. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:12 to 00:35:17 Roll up. Patrick and Perry. Exactly. Good guys. Very strong. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:17 to 00:35:23 Yeah. Roll up to that van. And we're like. They're like, great. You know, great you guys are here. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:23 to 00:35:34 Let's get you situated. What do you need? Let's get you some more food, et cetera. And then it kind of dawned on, I think, both of us that we knew how much elevation we were needing to have done. I think It's. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:34 to 00:35:45 Was it 7,000ft over the course of the day? Yeah. And we hadn't yet hit 5.5,000ft of. Climbing, and there wasn't much longer to go. Yeah, I'm like, there's a. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:35:45 to 00:36:07 There's a big disconnect here. I got a big problem because it seems like we don't have a lot of mileage, and we've got a lot of vertical feet to cover. So that was a little bit of a heady moment, but it was nice to like, have sort of had a reset, get some food, get a little more warm clothes on if we needed it, and then head off on those last sectors. It's like, yeah. That's why I knew I could make it. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:07 to 00:36:15 I knew it was going to be hard, but I was like, okay, I'm just going to kind of strap in. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah, we had that. I think both of us misunderstood. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:36:16 to 00:36:41 We had asked about this steep climb we had ridden two days before and how far up it was, and I think they were thinking about the dirt sector, and we were talking about this vicious road, and it was right after the rest stop. Yeah, it's right after the rest stop. Like, oh, there it is. It's right here. And this was like the type of climb, even fresh, you sort of think about doing the paper boy weave back and forth on the course. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:41 to 00:36:50 When you. You can see it from a half mile away, you're like, oh, no. Is that where we're going? Yeah. And then a couple more tough gravel climbs after that point. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:50 to 00:36:55 Yeah. Then we got into. Really. Yeah, it was. It was. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:36:55 to 00:37:05 Yeah. And it's funny, I mean, that very much felt like, to me, like the. The end of a big gravel event. Where, you know, you're like almost single tracky. Like, when you get up to the ridge, there was kind of. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:37:05 to 00:37:24 Yeah. Switch back, little single track, kind of super cool. I got some good pictures of you and Perry coming up there, and. And then we kind of. We get into some small towns and starts feeling like we're getting close to Siena because we'd ridden back into Siena a few times, cruising, riding with Patrick and a few other guys. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:37:24 to 00:37:42 And then we hit the climb into Siena, and. Holy God. I mean, this thing is, I don't know, maybe 16, 17% at the end. You kind of climb up the pavement just to soften your legs up a little bit. You go through one of the gates of Siena, one of the. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:37:42 to 00:38:13 From the wall of Siena, and then you. These big cobbles, and you're riding up this chute that you just see probably a quarter mile up ahead of you, and there's fans on the side of the road, there's riders struggling to get up. And it's just this epic scene that you have seen now from watching the pro bike race. You'd seen the riders go up it. And I just remember feeling like just very part of the cycling community and cycling world in Siena at that moment. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:38:13 to 00:38:26 Yeah, it was fun. There are a lot of friends and family for tons of those riders out there. So they Were still cheering people on late in the day. So it kind of felt like you were like wrapping up your own personal strada bianchi race. A lot of people shouting at you to keep, keep pushing. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:38:26 to 00:38:41 It was really fun to kind of come into the city like that. I had a little bit of a break in my story because I kind of crusted that climb. And then we came to an intersection and there was riders going both ways. And I took a left and I'm. And then I. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:38:41 to 00:38:48 I'm riding and like, this doesn't feel right. And I. I asked some riders, I'm like, is this the way to the finish? And they're. They were. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:38:48 to 00:38:57 It was English as a second language. They're like, no, this is the pasta party. I didn't hear, Jesus. Oh, Jesus. I went the wrong way. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:38:57 to 00:39:17 So I turned around and then rolled around the corner. And then you roll into the piazza. You got this, you know, the big clock tower. You go across the same finish line as the pros that we watched before. Just super cool conclusion to an amazing day out there. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:39:18 to 00:39:25 And you get your metal, your finisher metal. Got my meter. Yeah, exactly. The 10 years of the Gran Fondo. Yeah, that was pretty. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:39:25 to 00:39:33 That was a pretty nicely designed metal. I didn't realize it was the 10th anniversary. That was pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I think everybody. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:39:33 to 00:39:47 Everybody on the team finished. Yeah, on our crew, we had some doing the. The medium length one, some doing the long one, which we did. I think everybody, at minimum has some great stories to tell their friends when they went home. Yeah, it was. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:39:47 to 00:40:08 It was a big day, but it was definitely worth it. I think everybody. I think no one really said anything the night before, but I think a few people were a little bit nervous about it, but everybody was, like, super just stoked to arrive in the compo after the ride and just be like, that was amazing. Especially after watching the race the day before. Yeah, a hundred percent. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:40:08 to 00:40:19 Yeah. In hindsight, like, it was. It was a week that was packed with. Packed with things to do. There was a nice progression of the mileage. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:40:19 to 00:40:34 We didn't overcook my grits prior to the event, so I gave myself the best chance of having a good day out there. Yeah, it was hard and intimidating, which I loved. Right. But totally doable and. And certainly well supported along the way. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:40:34 to 00:40:49 Whether it was from the. The Gran Fondo organizers or Trek's additional support level. Like, it just felt like a great accomplishment and felt it couldn't be more satisfied with my trip to Italy. Yeah, I'm Glad to hear it. It was great to have you there. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:40:49 to 00:41:06 It was 30 years in the making, so, yeah, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you there, so. Exactly. Well, it was fun reminiscing a bit, as I'm sure we'll continue to do over the years. It's such a monumental trip we had. And thanks for coming on. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:41:06 to 00:41:42 Thanks for everything you guys do at Trek Travel, for sure. I think you're the third Trek travel person we've had over here. I've appreciated, as I've advocated to the audience, like, Trek's put a lot of energy into gravel tourism and gravel travel, and it's a great way to go see some of these communities you've read about. And particularly in the. For me, the European trips, just to experience the culture and have the guides with local knowledge has always been this, like, additional bit of je ne sais quoi about what that European experience is like. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:41:42 to 00:41:52 Yeah, there's a lot of great gravel over there. Yeah. Check us out, travel.com a good pitch. Lots of good trips in the States and in Europe, so. Yeah, exactly. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:41:52 to 00:42:03 And if you're interested in Strada Bianca, it is a trip that sells out. It's obviously in March every year. I think you can already sort of reserve a spot on Trek Travels website. It's getting close. Yeah. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:42:03 to 00:42:12 You can sort of put yourself on a wait list. Yeah. And there's still. I don't know if there's still room in the Holy Week trips to Flanders and Roubaix. Okay. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:42:12 to 00:42:19 That one goes fast. Like, we're pretty close to sold out for that one. You got to get in early. And same with the Tour. It's pretty well booked. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:42:19 to 00:42:42 Even the Tour de Familes, the Women's Tour de France, is nearly sold out for this year, which is really exciting. Amazing. And I can't wait for you to have some gravel race trips in the future as well. I think it would be a fun way of doing some of these events. People who aren't necessarily racing but want to go to somewhere like SBT or to Unbound or. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:42:42 to 00:42:53 I know you already have a trip to Bentonville, but it is kind of an interesting idea. I think you guys should play around with, connect the two. Yeah. Yeah. What would it be like to bring a group of people who just want to experience that. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:42:53 to 00:43:04 That area in a deeper way and have a little bit of extra support in some of these milestone gravel events? Yeah, for sure. I think Unbound would be an interesting one, for sure. Yeah. Cool. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:43:04 to 00:43:15 All right, well, I will let you go. Hopefully I even see you this weekend and we can do some riding and reminisce some more. Yeah. See you up in up in Marin. Sounds good. Rich Snodsmith (Guest) | 00:43:15 to 00:43:31 Take care, Craig. Good to see you. That's going to do it for this week's edition of the Gravel Ride Podcast. Big thanks to Rich for coming on the show. And a big thanks to Trek Travel for all the great gravel cycling experiences they offer around the world. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:43:31 to 00:44:13 Top notch organization that's dedicating a lot of time and energy into the gravel world. So if you're a fan of professional bike racing and want to have an experience like I did at Stradabianca, go check them out@trektravel.com obviously they've got the other spring classics and the Tour de France, both men and women, as options for you, but also a bunch of fantastic gravel trips to Bentonville, to Switzerland, to Vermont, to Girona, all over the world. So again, go hit them up@trektravel.com and let them know that the Gravel Ride podcast sent you. Until next time, here's to finding some dirt under your wheels. Craig Dalton (Host) | 00:44:27 to 00:44:27 SA.  

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comLuke 22 Jesus is the calm amid the storm as the end of His earthly life approaches. The Jews seek to kill Him. Judas has set up His betrayal. The disciples, while faithful, understand little and often devolve into arguments over who is the greatest. Peter makes a commitment he cannot keep. But in all this, Jesus remains faithful. He gathers the Apostles and establishes the memorial supper that would have great meaning after His death and resurrection. He goes to the garden and communes with His Father. He is comforted by an angel and made ready to complete His mission. He quietly submits to arrest. While Peter's world is shattered by weakness in denying Jesus, the Savior tells the world He is God's Son, knowing it will lead to His death.    Satan is at work near the end of Jesus' life. He enters Judas to lead him to betray Jesus. He incites the jealousy of the Jewish leaders. He even demands permission to sift Peter like wheat and succeeds in tempting him to deny Jesus. Satan is a menace, then and now. He still features these same tactics: greed, fear, and pride. But Jesus is our anchor in the storm of Satan's efforts. He gathers and protects His disciples. He appeals to God on our behalf. Jesus communes with us in His memorial supper. And Jesus helps us face trials with composure and wisdom. We should always be anchored in Him and grateful for His help in times of need.  Holy God, we praise You during the trials and temptations of life. Satan tries to sow doubt and fear into our hearts. Father, give us clarity to see Your Son. He was focused, faithful, and always connected to You. His identity as Your Son sustained Him. Dear Lord, help us to be more like Him. Lead us to make more time for prayer and to keep our eyes on future hopes and blessings in Jesus. His behavior, even in the face of evil, was controlled by peace. Father, fill us with peace in knowing our triumphant King is always with us.   -       Why was Jesus so calm even as Satan was doing his work? How can you establish that kind of peace even if there is trouble around you? -       Jesus' disciples struggled under trial because overconfidence led to complacency. How do you keep from complacency in your faith? -       “Are you the Son of God?” “Yes, I am.” Jesus confidently confessed His name. How does your faith in His identity help you daily?

Passage: 1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'” And Aaron held his peace. (Leviticus 10:1-3) Song: Only a Holy God by Dustin Smith, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, and Rich Thompson Lyrics: Who else commands all the hosts of heaven Who else could make every king bow down Who else can whisper and darkness trembles Only a Holy God What other beauty demands such praises What other splendour outshines the sun What other majesty rules with justice Only a Holy God Come and behold Him The One and the Only Cry out sing holy Forever a Holy God Come and worship the Holy God What other glory consumes like fire What other power can raise the dead What other name remains undefeated Only a Holy God Who else could rescue me from my failing Who else would offer His only Son Who else invites me to call Him Father Only a Holy God Only my Holy God Prayer: This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen. -The Book of Common Prayer

Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” — Mark 9:5 Mountaintop experiences can come in many forms. Sometimes they occur on a literal mountain, like when our family rode the cog railroad to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado. Other times they can be an experience or part of an event that leaves us feeling like we are on a mountaintop. Some of the students I work with have mountaintop experiences at a summer camp or on a mission trip, where everything goes well and they learn and grow in faith. We sometimes wish events like that could last forever, but mountaintop experiences rarely last. Peter thought the experience of Jesus' transfiguration on a mountain would last a long time. He even suggested building shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But the top of this mountain wasn't where they needed to stay. The amazing, spectacular transfiguration of Jesus was soon past. Whatever your mountaintop experience is, it's probably not where you need to stay either. We are called to be in the world, living life, talking to the people around us, bringing about healing and peace, and walking the path that God has in store for us. Mountaintop experiences are great. And we can use them to fill us up for the everyday challenges God has in store for us. Holy God, thank you for filling us up with moments of your presence. Allow those times to carry us along on the path you have laid out for us. In Jesus, Amen.

Introduction: John 19:28-30 - After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 3 Things to Remind Yourself When You Feel Guilty: (Romans 3:21-28) You Are. (Romans 3:21-23) But God is Totally Satisfied by the Cross. (Romans 3:24-26) Proverbs 17:15 – He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. Exodus 23:7 – Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. Acts 17:30 – The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. And Justification is a Gift to Be Received By Faith. (Romans 3:27-28) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Audio Transcript Our next four messages, including Good Friday, which I just found out is on a Friday,will be talking about one of the most profound statements Jesus Christ ever made.And it was on the cross when he cried out, "It is finished."So we're going to be examining the question, "What is finished?"Think about finishing things, right?From a very early age, hopefully we've all been taught the importance of finishing things, right?Didn't you hear that growing up?And maybe some of you now parents are saying, "That's your kids."Hey, finish your supper. Finish your chores, right?Finish your homework.And we're taught that there are consequences when we don't finish.Well, the glorious reality that we're going to be looking at over these next four messages is this.The Son of God came to this earth to do something, and he finished it.So the question is, what is finished?Now let's go to the scene, John 19, verses 28 through 30.It says, "After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said,"to fulfill the Scriptures, "I thirst.A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hissy branchand held it to his mouth when Jesus had received the sour wine.He said, 'It is finished.'And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."What was finished?Well, today we're going to look at one thing of many that was finished.Today we're going to talk about the work of justification.Meaning our guilt is gone.I'd like you to buy your heads with me, please, and I just want to take a moment.If you would please pray for me to accurately communicate the Word of God as I should.And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today from His Word.Alright? Let's pray.Father in heaven, as we turn to Your Word, it's a thought that makes us tremble to think that right nowwe are about to talk about the most important thing anyone will ever hear for their entire lives.And Father, we recognize that as no overstatement whatsoever.We can't begin to fathom how important this message is.This message has just been so distorted and twisted and changed,and we just want to get back to what Your Word actually says.See what You said, God, and we want to not align our lives with our concept of You, God,but we want to align our lives with what You actually said.So I'm asking, Father, You would open our hearts up this morningand that You would bring much glory to Yourself through the straightforward understanding of Your Word.We pray in Jesus' name, and all of God's people said,"Amen! What is finished, the work of justification, the guilt is gone."Do I have to sell anybody on guilt?We've all struggled with guilt, and some of us might be struggling with guilt right now.What is guilt? Well, guilt is just that bad feeling that we get when what I did was wrong.There's another word that's often connected to guilt, and it's the word shame.And shame's a little different.See, shame is the feeling of guilt that I have when people know what I did wrong.You know what I mean? Like, you could have a secret sin that nobody knows about,and you might feel guilt over that, but you don't feel shame because nobody knows.But if that secret sin gets made known, if people know about it, now all of a sudden,people must think of me differently. That's what shame is.How I think people think of me now because of my guilt.The point is this, my friends, we have both of those before God.We have guilt. I disobeyed. We have shame. God is surely disappointed in me.I want you to look at verse 24. We're going to back up here and get to context.I just want you to look at this first phrase in verse 24.This is Romans chapter 3, right?He says, "We are justified by His grace as a gift."That's what we're talking about today. Justification. What is that?It's the most important thing you will ever hear.Justification is God pronouncing a guilty sinner as not only being not guilty,but being perfectly righteous instead. It's a legal term.It's the opposite of condemnation.But listen, it's more than pardoned.So when you pardon someone, you're just taking away the penalty of what they did.Penalty for, excuse me, what they did wrong.Justification is so much more than that.It's not just canceling the penalty, but actually making righteous.Think of it this way. In God's justification, it's not just you won't be punished.God says you can't be punished because there are no grounds whatsoever for punishment anymore.Do you see the difference?But even as Christians, we still wrestle with guilt, don't we?I mean, look, if you've done something wrong to somebody else,you need to take steps to make that right.And Pastor Taylor did an amazing job last Wednesday at our latest workshop.So we're not talking about that today.But today we're talking about guilt before God.Am I really forgiven?Have you ever wrestled with that?Am I really a child of God?Or is God disappointed in me?Well, from God's Word today, I want you to jot some things down.Here's three things to remind yourself when you feel guilty.And if you don't feel guilty now, you will.I mean, like, eventually, I didn't mean like...In 30 seconds, you're all going to be bowing your heads.We all struggle with it from time to time, don't we?Is it just me?Okay, alright.Three things.Look, we're not trying to pile on here, okay?Here are three things to remind yourself when you feel guilty.Number one, you are.Like, wait, wait, wait, wait.I came here to feel good, Pastor Jeff.Look, listen, it has to start here.Because if you don't really think that you're guilty before God,Jesus won't really mean anything to you.Look at verse 21.He says, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifestedapart from the law."Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.So up there, the Old Testament law was to teach us that we are sinners.That was the purpose of the Old Testament law.It was to teach us that we have broken the law of God.And even if you just reduce the Old Testament law to the Ten Commandments,just looking at those shows us adequately that we are really law sinners.I mean, let me ask you, have you always made the worship of Godand your walk with God the absolute most important thing in your life?Has it always been number one?No.Well, if not, then you've broken the first couple of commandments.You should only have one God.You shouldn't have worshiped anything else other than God.You're guilty.Have you always honored your parents perfectly?Like, no, there are times I haven't.Well, you've broken the fifth commandment,which says honor your father and mother.Have you ever hated someone?According to Jesus, you've broken the sixth commandment,which says you shouldn't murder because it starts in here.Have you ever lusted?Jesus said that's the same thing as committing adulteryand you've broken the seventh commandment.Have you ever stolen anything?That's breaking the eighth commandment.How we doing?How we doing?You're like, I'm doing pretty good.Okay, have you ever told a lie?You're like, I think maybe I just did.Well, if you've ever known the truthand intentionally said something else,then you've broken the ninth commandment.Have you ever wanted something that God gave somebody else?Like, what's the big deal?I'll tell you the big deal.That's breaking the tenth commandment.That's called coveting.So you see, that's the purpose of the law was to show us,oh, I'm not a righteous person on my own.We need to be made right with God,but the law shows us that we're sinners.We're sinners.It can't make us not guilty.The Old Testament law can't do that.Look at verse 22.He goes on.He says, "The righteousness of Godthrough faith in Jesus Christfor all who believe."Stop there for a second,because we have to make a key distinction here.Because if you miss this,you're going to be really lost here in a second.He's talking about the righteousness of God.He says it twice.That's the theme of this passage.What is the righteousness of God?Hang on.There's a distinction.In verses 25 and 26,he talks about God's righteousness.Listen, God's righteousness is differentthan the righteousness of God.Those are two different things.And it's going to be crystal clear in the contextso long as you stay tuned in to what God is saying here.Like, what's the difference?Here's the difference.Listen, God's righteousness is the righteousness that God owns.The righteousness of God is the righteousness God givesto believers.So he's saying -one other run at that one -God's righteousness is the righteousness that God owns.That's just another way of saying God's holiness.God is holy, He's perfect.That's what God's righteousness is.But when the Bible talks about here,the righteousness of God,it's talking about the righteousness that God gives to believers.And again, that's going to be very clear in the context.But I don't want us to get tripped up on the terms.So, Paul is claiming here that God makes us righteous through faith,implying that we need to be made righteous,implying that we're guilty.You see that?Look at verse 22, he goes on.He says, "For there is no distinction,for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."Look, when we talk about being guilty before God,he says there's no distinction.It doesn't matter if you grew up in a Christian home.Or if you grew up in a home that didn't even have a Bible in it.It doesn't matter.It doesn't matterif you're the most rebellious sinner in the world.Or if you're just a pretty good person.He says we all have fallen short of the glory of God.Like, what glory of God? What is that?That's God's image.That's God's intention for man.We all failed to live up to being the peoplethat God has created us to be.We've all fallen short.Listen, it doesn't matter how short we've fallen.Because we've all fallen short.Imagine, we're standing on the shore of New Jersey,facing the Atlantic Ocean.And there's me.And there's my man, Max.And there's the Steelers quarterback.Who's the quarterback for the Steelers now?Oh, I'm sorry.I pushed a hot button.Let's just say Ben Rothlessberger.So let's say we're all standing on the shore of New Jersey.All right, me, Max, and Ben Rothlessberger.And we're each given a football.And we're told that we need to throw that football and hit England.I can do that. I mean, how far is England?And I -- everything that I got, I throw it.And it goes 10 feet into the ocean.And Max was like, "Pastor Jeff, step aside."Whoo!Tight spiral, 100 feet.Whoo!Into the ocean.Ben Rothlessberger steps up.And he's like, "I'm going to show you I still got it."And whoo! He throws it 200 feet into the ocean.Which one of us hit England?Right?We all fell short, didn't we?You're like, "Well, Jeff, you fell way shorter than Ben."Okay.But we all fell short. Do you see the point?It doesn't matter how short you've fallen.We all fell short of God's glory.And that's a big deal.Listen, church, we can't minimize that by saying,"I'm not really that guilty."We can't compare to say, "Well, I'm not as guilty as other people."And we can't trivialize it to say, "Yeah, okay, I'm guilty."So what?We need to confess it.I -- and by that I mean me --I am guilty of breaking God's law by my disobedience.So if you're struggling with guilt,this is just your friendly reminder that you are guilty.But number two,but God is totally satisfied by the cross.You are guilty, but God is totally satisfied by the cross.Look at verse 24 through the first part of 25.He says, "Okay, for all of us who fall short of the glory of God,a lot of us probably have that verse memorized, right?"But He says, "And are justified by His grace as a giftthrough the redemption it is in Christ Jesus,whom God put forward as a propitiationby His blood to be received by faith."Look, the cross of Jesus Christ is God's meansof making sinners righteous.Now, there's a word here in these verses we just read.You need to underline in your Bible right now.And we're going to have people at the door handing you an Easter devotionaland checking your Bibles to make sure that you underline this.But it's one of the most beautiful words in the entire Bible.And it's the word "propitiation."I think John uses it in 1 John as well.It's a beautiful word.Like, well, what is "propitiation"?Propitiation literally means to placate anger.I know some theologians try to dance around that.Like, almost to soften the blow.But no, that's what it means.It means God is furious over sin.Propitiation means He's not angry anymore.It means that Jesus' death satisfied God.Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, God saw that.And He said, "The full penalty has been paid.My wrath has been fully poured out.Punishment has been fully doled out."God says, "I am satisfied."You know, when we talk about salvation,sometimes we say, in our evangelism mindset,we say, "How do we get men to accept God?"And that's really not the question we need to ask.The question is, how do we get God to accept men?Because, listen, God was the one who was offended.Not me.God was offended.So any talk about salvation and being righteousand any talk of that has to satisfy God.And you see, that's where every other religion in the world,besides Christianity as presented in God's Word,straightforwardly, every other religion teachesthat there are things that we have to do to satisfy God.There are religious works or some kind of actionthat we have to take to make God satisfied.The Bible says we can't do it.Nothing we do can satisfy God.Look at verse 25 again.It says, "Whom God," talking about Jesus,"put forward as a propitiation by His bloodto be received by faith."Look at that.The Bible says, "God put Jesus forward."Do you see what's happening here?We sinned against God.We deserve God's wrath.And God took His Son and put Him forward.That means He demonstrated some things.He put Jesus on display.God showed us something on the cross.What did God show us on the cross?Well, later in Romans 5, verse 8,it says that God demonstrated His love on the cross.So love for sure.Here, specifically, He's saying that on the cross,God showed that His Son fully paid the penaltythat the law demanded.So now, God says, "Because of my Son..."Look, I'm showing you this.I'm showing you.This is what my Son did.Now, I'm satisfied.Propitiation.Propitiation.This is where theology is important, my friends.Christian, listen.I want you to listen real close, Christian.God is not mad at you.He's not.Because of Jesus,God has no wrath left for you.And to think that He doesis to minimize what Jesus accomplished on the cross.But some Christians think thatGod poured out His wrath on Jesus.They believe that.But they think that God's still mad at them.Like, God is just like,"Yeah, I know that you received my Son,but I'm so upset with you for what you did."He's not.That's what that word "propitiation" means.There's no wrath leftfor the one in Christ Jesus.God is satisfied.Look at the end of verse 25.This gets a little technical, so look.It says,"This was to show God's righteousness."Because in His divine forbearance,He had passed over former sins.It was to show His righteousnessat the present time,so that He might be justand the justifierof the one who has faith in Jesus.We define this term in the outset,but two times here,He says that the crosswas to show God's righteousness.Do you know what He's saying?The cross provedthat God is righteous.Wait, wait, wait, wait.Time out, time out.Time out.Hang on.Why would anyoneaccuse God of not being holy?What do you mean?What possible grounds would someone haveto point to God and say,"God, you messed up here.God, what you didor what you didn't do here,that's not holy, God.That's not righteous."What grounds would somebody have for that?Listen very closely,because this is what Paul's talking about.We're going to do a little theology herefor a couple of minutes,and I know what's the point.You're going to see here in a couple of minutesthat this will change your lifeif you really understand this.So here we go.What's Paul talking about here?When he talks about his divine forbearance,passing over former sins.What's he mean?Listen, in the Old Testament times,which was before the cross, right,God justified wicked people.And that is controversial.You're like, "Why?Why is it controversialthat God would justify the wickedin Old Testament times?"Oh, I'm so glad you asked.I'll tell you why.One reason is,He forbid us to do that.Look at Proverbs 17-15."He who justifies the wickedand he who condemns the righteousare both alike in abomination to the Lord."Do you see that?Do you know what abomination is?In my Bible, I put a little exclamation pointin the margin every time I see that word.That's like something that is so wicked,it like makes God sick.God's like, "I hate that."And here God says,"I can't stomach when the wicked are justified."You're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second.You're saying that we can't do that,but you did that, God,before the cross."Hmm.Is that righteous?Well, actually,it gets even worseif we're barking up this tree,because earlier in your Old Testaments,God actually saidthat He would never justify the wicked.Exodus 23-7,it's pretty self-explanatory.And God says, "I will notacquit the wicked."Do you see the problem?Somebody would say,God in the Old Testament times didwhat He forbid us to do,what He swore He would never do,what He would never do.And we're talking about God being holy,God being perfect, God so righteous.How can we say that?And Paul doesn't -I love this becausehe doesn't shy away from that.He runs right at itwhen he says this was toshow God's righteousnessbecause -look at this again -in His divine forbearance,He passed over former sins.Again, it was to show His righteousness.In other words,He's saying in the Old Testament timesGod tolerated sin.Like, whoa, whoa, whoa.How can we say God's righteous?I mean, in the Old Testament,there was no perpetuation.There was no cross of Jesus Christ yet.So when somebody sinned in the Old Testament,if God is the holy judgethat you say that He is,why didn't He immediately just judge sinners?They didn't havethe blood of Jesus Christ to proclaim.I mean, you look at the guys in the Old Testament -Abraham, Moses, David -I mean, pick one -all sinners.And yet, when you readGod's interaction with them,over and over,we see God giving them the promise of eternal life.Was that really a righteous thing to dofor people that couldn't put their faithin Jesus Christsince He hadn't come yet?How could God give them that promise?Somebody would say,"Oh, that was the Old Testament sacrifices."Couldn't do it.They covered sin,but they didn't take away sin.And somebody else might say,"Well, it was their good works."It was their good works.That's how God was able to...No.Nowhere does the Bible sayyou can earn your salvation.So what's He saying?He's saying in verses 25 and 26 here,"And God's forbearance,"another word for patience.He passed over former sins.And that word "pass over"doesn't mean forgive.It literally means He overlooked their sin.God's patiencecaused God to not punish their sin immediately.This is exactly what Paul was talking about.Very curious verse in Acts 17, verse 30,on Mars Hill,exact same thing he's talking about.The times of ignorance,God overlooked.And now He commands all peopleeverywhere to repent.So how was God able to do that?See, this is what Paul's talking about here.It was still, even in Old Testament times,it was still because of Jesus Christ.You're like, "Well, how can they believe in Jesusif they don't know about the cross?"Look, God is outside of time.And if you study your Bibles like Revelation 13.8,Jesus Christ was always the Lamb of God.That wasn't some radical ideathat God dreamed up one dayabout 2,000 years ago.Like, "Oh, I got an idea."Now, that was always the plan.So here it is.Listen close.Even before the cross happened,God overlooked sin based on what was already determinedthat His Son was going to do.So what He's saying is this,the cross of Jesus Christ reaches backto the Old Testament saints.They were pronounced righteousbecause of what Jesus was going to do,just as we are pronounced righteouslooking back based on what Jesus did in our past.And kids that haven't even been born yetthat eventually will receive Jesus Christ,their sins are already forgiven in Christ.You're like, "Okay, so what's the point?"What's the point?Well, there's two points actually.Number one, it answers one of the most commonly asked questionsthat I get as a pastor.People ask me all the time,"How are the people saved in the Old Testament?"Because if Jesus is the only means of salvation,and I believe that,then how were they saved in the Old Testament?The answer is still Jesus.Their faith was based on what God was going to do.That's why God was overlooking their sin, so to speak.But listen, here's why this theology is so important for you.What were we talking about today?Guilt, right?See, this answers the guilt question.As a Christian, when I sin,and I will,is God mad at me?No.Do I have to ask for forgiveness?Do I have to plead the blood of Jesus over my sinevery time that I sin as a Christian?The answer is no.Or how about this one?What if I sin and then I die?Can I go to heaven since I sinnedand I didn't ask for forgiveness for that particular sin?I have known,pastors, I have known pastors that have taught that,that you better die on a good day.Because let's say you're living this perfect walk with Jesus' life.And let's say you have a blow-up with your wife on the way out the door.And you sinfully speak to her.And you get in the car and go to work,and you die in a car accident, you're going to hell.Because that sin wasn't confessed and repented ofand covered under the blood of Christ.I know pastors that teach that.That is completely wrong.That's why this theology is so important.Listen, when Jesus Christ was on the cross,do you realize all of your sins were yet future?Do you realize that?All of your sins were paid for,even the sins that you haven't committed yet.So if you are in Christ,and if you sin and you will,you don't need to ask for forgiveness.Because you already have it.So listen, somebody is going to misconstrue this.So just grab the shoulder of the person next to you and shake them.And tell them to pay attention.Thank you.Because somebody is going to misconstrue this.Listen, when you sin, church,you need to confess your sin.Then you need to thank Godthat He has forgiven you in Jesus Christ.And you need to turn from your sin.Because you don't want to do anything in your lifethat would dishonor the name of your Lord.But it's not as if God just keeps forgiving you over and over.He forgave you once when you received Jesus Christ.And that lasts for all of eternity.Do you see the security in that?So listen, whether it was Moses' sinor a sin that you are going to commit tomorrow,all sins have been taken away.God is satisfied because of the one-time sacrifice of Jesusthat covers all sins of all believers.There is incredible freedom in that.Three things to remind yourself when you feel guilty.Number one, you are.Number two, but God is totally satisfied by the cross.Number three, justification is a gift to be received by faith.Look at verses 27 and 28.He says, "Then what becomes of our boasting?It is excluded by what kind of law?By a law of works? No.By the law of faith.For we hold that one is justified by faithapart from works of the law."In this passage, faith has come up,have you been counting?Six times.And yes, I'm counting when he used the word "believe"because that's what he meant.Verse 22, including the word "believe," he says it twice.Verse 25, 26, 27, 28.Faith, faith, faith.And then he's like, "So what does that do for our boasting?"Pretty dumb, right?To have the audacity to think that you have anythingto contribute to your salvation at all?What could you possibly boast about?What do your works have to do with the death of Jesus?You realize when Jesus was on the cross,when Jesus was actually on the cross,most of you weren't even born yet.I was going to say all,but I don't know how old all y'all are.So I think it's safe to say when Jesus died,most of you weren't born yet.So what did you contribute to that exactly?See, the cross of Jesus Christ eliminateseven the very possibility of salvation by human works.Faith. Faith is the only way.Faith isn't one way to be saved.It's the only way.And don't think that faith is some sort of merit.Like, okay, God did His part in salvation,and now I'm going to do my part in salvation.It's not even really like that,because earlier he was talking about grace in verse 24,and grace by its very definition is non-contributory.Do you know what that means?If you put forth anything to contribute towards it,it's no longer grace at all.So what is faith?I like how one writer put it.He says faith is simply the eye that sees.He said faith is simply the mouththat drinks from the living water.And he said faith is the hand that receives the gift.I like that, because by the way, in verse 24,he calls it a gift.It is a gift.Imagine that it's my birthday today.It's not.My birthday is September 23rd.I don't see a lot of you writing that down.I can wait. September 23rd.But we're - for today,we're pretending that it's my birthday.And imagine this afternoon,you showed up at my houseand you had a gift for me.Something you went out and you boughtand you wrapped it,and you were so excited to give me this gift.And you come to my houseand you ring the doorbell and I open it upand you say, "Happy birthday."There's four ways that I can respond to that.Right? First way is,I can slam the door in your face and say,"I don't want your stupid gifts."I wouldn't do that.But that's an option, right?I mean, I could do that.Second option is you ring the doorbell,open it up, "Happy birthday."And I look at the gift and I say,"That's awesome. Where's my wallet?"Like, "How much do I owe you for that?"Let me see how much cash I have.I can probably pay you for that right now.Or can I write you a check?How would you feelif I offered to buy the gift that you got me?Pretty lousy, huh?That's another option.Or a third option is you ring the doorbell,I open it up, "Happy birthday."And I take the gift and I'm like,"Wow, you know what?This looks great."Thank you. This looks fantastic.And I set it down by the door.And then you come to my house.Six months later, and that gift is still sitting there.Except now it has an inch of dust on it.And you would think to yourself,"You know, Jeff actually seemed excitedwhen I handed it to him,but he didn't really receive it, did he?"He didn't really do anything with it.He just kind of set it aside.Or the fourth option,you ring the doorbell, "Happy birthday."I got you a gift.The fourth option is I take the giftand I say, "Thank you."Thank you so much for this.And I receive it, and I use it.And you realize those are the same four waysthat you can respond to God's gift in Jesus Christ.You have those same four options.That God says, "I am satisfied."I have paid the price of your sinwith the blood of my son.Here is a gift.And for some people, they take the first option.They slam the door and say, "No.God, I'm not interested in your stupid gift."Some people take that option.Some people take option two,and they think they can buy it."Oh God, that's so wonderful what you did for me in Jesus.Now, let me earn that.And I'm going to start doing this at the churchand I'm going to work at the soup kitchenand they think that they have to earn the gift.And I would suggest to you that Godis probably just as insultedat that notion as I would be,or as you would be rather,if I tried to pay you for the gift that you got me."It's insulting to try to buy a gift.The third option,and I think this is the most taken option in churches, honestly.That's what most people do with the gift of Jesus Christ.They're like, "Yeah, that you're sitting hereand worshiping the Word,and you're just like all into it.You're like, "Yeah, yeah, I need this.Yeah, that's fantastic."And you set them aside.And you never really receive them.You just sort of discarded them.Not flagrant rejection, but,shall we say, practical rejection.The option that the Lord wants you to takeis that you receive the gift.To understand why you need it,and you thank God that He gave it.That Jesus bore God's wrath on the cross.God is satisfied with what Jesus did.The guilt is gone by the gift of God.Did you receive that?So worship team makes their way back up.I'd just like you to bow your heads.And I'm sure sitting here today,there are some Christians that have wrestled with guiltthat have needed to take a fresh lookat what exactly Jesus accomplished on the cross.He didn't accomplish opportunityfor us to earn favor with God.Jesus accomplished our salvation in full.Jesus accomplished the full removal of our guilt and shameby bearing God's wrath on our behalf.But there might be somebody herethat's really hearing this for the first time.Whether it's somebody sitting here,listening to this podcast,or watching the stream.Today's the day that you need to stop setting the gift aside.And receive what it is that God has for you.Father in heaven.Father, this to me is the most mind-blowing conceptin the entirety of your Word.God, I've never really wrestled with creationor the trinity or eternity, things like that.But God, the fact that you can pronounce a sinner righteousis mind-blowing.God, we thank you for the work that you accomplished on our behalfthrough the death of your Son.Father, if there's anyone herewho needs to take that step,who needs to receive Christ,who needs to make their public profession of faith and baptismhere in a few weeks.Father, I pray that you would give them the faithto not put it off,to not talk themselves out of it,but to see the value,the incomparable value of Jesus Christ.What He's done, and in so doing, Father,they would run to you.So just now, Father,we've heard from you,and now we're going to express back to youlove and thanksgivingfor what you've done on our behalf.So Father, might this worshipbe a pleasing aroma,may it be a sweet sound in your earas we revel in your love and grace.We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Small Group DiscussionRead Romans 3:21-28What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Why do you think many Christians still struggle with guilt and shame?Explain the term “propitiation” (Rom 3:25). Why is this such an important aspect of the Gospel? What does it mean for a Christian in practical terms?What does it mean that God “passed over former sins” (Rom 3:25)? How could a Holy God just overlook sin (see also Acts 17:30)?BreakoutPray for one another to be salty and bright.

We are all guilty of sin in our lives, and God is a Holy God who takes it seriously when He says that the consequences of sin is death. This is why He sent His only Son to die on our behalf so that His blood can cover all of our sin. We must look around to the people God places in our lives and share this Good News with them so that they may also be saved. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/640/29

March 30, 2025 In this week's sermon, Pastor KRE unpacks Isaiah 6 to show us the Holy God, the humble man and the heavenly calling.

This Lukan fable has a pretty clear message: Wealth creates an impassable crevasse between humans. Wealth is only one of the many things that can create impassable crevasses between people; so too can race and religion and immigration status, to name a few more. But I have to believe the fable is ultimately meant to inspire us to bridge crevasses before it's too late. This sermon will take you to the midnight bedroom of Ebenezer Scrooge, to the summit of Mt. Rainier (aka “mama Tahoma”), to a jail cell in Durham NC, and to an Executive Board decision of some uncharacteristically speedy Mennonites. Buckle up and come along for the ride; we need one another more than ever. And please remember: I do not answer questions. I do not answer questions. I do not answer questions. We keep each other safe, beloveds.Sermon begins at minute marker 5:22Luke 16.19-31ResourcesBibleWorm podcast: Episode 633 - The Rich Man and Lazarus, Amy Robertson and Robert Williamson, Jr'Crevice' and 'Crevasse': A Gap in Meaning, Merriam-Webster.Anabaptist Community BibleNew release: “MC USA and more than two dozen Christian and Jewish denominations and associations sue to protect religious freedoms,” February 11, 2025.Isaac Samuel Villegas, Migrant God: A Christian Vision for Immigrant Justice (Eerdmans, 2025), 6-8.Front Light podcast, by Mennonite Action, “From ‘quiet in the land' to suing the US Government, reflections on Mennonite advocacy with Iris de León-Hartshorn,” Season 1, Episode 4 (2025). Mennonite Action: “God's Love Knows No Borders” actions, 2025.Know Your Rights with ICE, by WAISN (Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network)Rebecca Solnit, A piece for all hard times. Excerpt: “They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving.  You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love.”Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843.Image: Ladder bridging crevasse on Mt. Rainier; G310ScottS, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsHymn 149 - Forgive, Forgive Us, Holy God. Text: Shirley Erena Murray (Aotearoa/New Zealand)  Music: Barbara Hamm (USA), © 1996 & © 2016 Hope Publishing Company. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

Pastor Steven Henry Wednesday Evening

By Ps.Richard Rubi

Holy God, raise us up to new life in holiness.

We are meant to be separated from sin. Set apart and blameless through Him. He is the one who makes us pure and holy. There is no other way.

(Proverbs 9:10) While there are many things we do not know about God, there is much that we can know about God. He wrote it down for us! The deeper we go into Scripture the deeper we can go into our knowledge of God. (0941250214) ----more----   The Mystery of God There are many things that I do not know about God. There are many things that are beyond my understanding. And why is that? Because I am a finite being and He is an infinite God. And yet, isn't it glorious? Isn't it wonderful? That God, through His Word, has revealed Himself in such a way that there are many things we do know about God. So many people get stuck on the things they don't know and can't understand but they miss in that what they should know and what we can understand.  The Fear of the Lord Is Beginning of Wisdom Proverbs chapter 9, verse number 10 says this, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy. Is understanding." Did you hear that expression? The knowledge of the holy, not of holy things, but of the holy one.  Understanding God's Holiness In fact, holiness is the one attribute that is most often attached to God in Scripture. That does not mean that He is more holy than He is any of His other attributes. He's the perfection of all of them. You can't chop God up. You can't divide Him. He's not one. He is all. He's not more of one. He is perfectly all. But the reason Holiness is attributed to God more than any other thing in Scripture is that His holiness is the perfection of all of His attributes. Everything about God is holy. His knowledge, His power, His love, His mercy, His judgment, everything is a revelation of our holy God. Knowing God Through Scripture And I want to say to you that We should begin, when we are studying what the Bible says, by saying, Lord, we want to know our Holy God. We want to know Him personally. It's one of the great marvels of our God. He is both infinite and knowable at the same time. There's no limit to Him. There's no end to Him, and yet, there is a place to begin. We can know Him by finding out what Scripture says about Him. This is God's revelation of Himself. I heard for years preachers say that when we get to heaven, we're going to know everything. I don't believe that's what scripture teaches. The Bible says we will know even as we are known. But I believe when we get to Heaven, when we get into Eternity, we're going to spend the rest of Eternity entering in our knowledge and understanding more and more to the depths of our great God. I don't think you'll ever exhaust who God is. That's what's going to make Eternity such an ongoing adventure. More and more of His love and beauty and perfection. And friend, that journey is not to begin when we die or Jesus comes. It is to begin right here. And right now, it is to begin by us discovering what the Bible says about God. So what does the Bible say? We can't be exhaustive about this, certainly not in this brief time we have to study together. But may I just give you a few thoughts to, to meditate on today? Some things that you can study further for yourself and look for in Scripture.  Attributes of God: Self-Existence and Immutability In Scripture, we learn that He is self-existent and self-sufficient. It means He is the Great I Am. The only limits on God are the ones He places on Himself. The limits of His own holy will. He holds back, for example, His justice with His mercy. God may limit Himself in certain areas at particular times, but there is no limit to Him. He is I Am. He's the only one who can say I Am and put nothing after it. He is the self existent and self sufficient one. Imagine Him saying to Moses, Tell them I Am sent you. I Am what? Yes. All of the above. More than you could ever imagine. Not only that, He's immutable. That means he never changes. James chapter 1 and verse number 17, Malachi chapter 3, verse number 6, all through scripture we get this truth. He says in Malachi 3 verse 6, "I am the Lord, I change not." God's Eternal Nature and Omnipresence And then, He is eternal. Eternity has no beginning and no end. It's like an open ended front and an open ended back. And God is beyond the limits in both directions. God's not in time. Time is in God. God holds time in the palm of His hand. He's the eternal God. Did you know that the word eternity is only found one time in all of Scripture? I would challenge you to find it. I could give you the reference, but I'm going to challenge you. I'll give you a homework assignment. See if you can find the one verse in the Bible where the word eternity is found, and in that verse, The Bible references the God who inhabits eternity. Think of a God so big, He fills up eternity. God is not bound by anything. Not by time or not by space. No, because He is the great I Am.  God's Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence Then we know He's all powerful. Some people refer to that as His omnipotence. He is all powerful. He is omniscient. That means He knows everything. He's omnipresent. That means He's everywhere at once. If I say to you, where's God, some people say he's in heaven, other people say he's in my heart. The truth of the matter is, you can't limit Him to either place. He may be in both places, but He's everywhere at once. Psalm 139, the psalmist cries out, "Where then shall I go from thy spirit? Where then shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, thy right hand shall hold me." God's everywhere.  God's Faithfulness and Mercy And then we know that God is faithful. He is true. He never lies. He never fails to keep His word. He is a God of truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. We know He's a God of mercy and of goodness. That means He holds back what we don't deserve. And He, or what we do deserve rather, and He gives what we don't deserve. Think of that. He holds back the judgment and He gives good things. What was the Psalmist saying in Psalm 23, "Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." I tell you, you can't beat the Christian life. Mercy and goodness come to live with you now, and you go to live with the God of mercy and goodness for all eternity. I hope you know the Lord as your personal Savior.  God's Justice and Love And then, we know He's a God of justice. And a God of righteousness. That's what the cross was all about. That's what Calvary revealed. God doesn't laugh at sin. He doesn't simply turn a blind. Turn a blind eye to our unrighteousness. Isaiah 53, verse 11. He saw the travail of Christ's soul and was satisfied his justice, his righteousness was satisfied at that moment. Then, praise God, we know He's a God of love. First John 4:16 says, "God is love." It's not just something He does, it's who He is. And then we come full circle back to where we started, He's a holy God. He's the thrice holy God. Do you remember? Isaiah chapter 6, what are they saying? Holy, Lord God Almighty. When you come to the revelation of Christ, what are they saying? "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is to come." The Father is holy, the Son is holy, the Spirit is holy. He was holy in the past, He is holy in the present, He always will be holy for all eternity He is the Holy God.  Loving and Sharing the Knowledge of God I would challenge you to study the names of God all through scripture because his names reveal His character. Study His attributes, learn more about the God of the Bible, and I'll tell you what I think you'll find. Number one, you're going to love him more. To know him is to love him. And the more you come to see what the Bible says about God, the more you're going to say to the Father, I love you, I'm so glad to be your child. The more you're going to say to the Son, thank you for saving me and bringing me into this family. And the more you're going to say to the Holy Spirit, I'm so glad you're with me right now. Learn what the Bible says for your own soul, but then don't keep it to yourself. Pass it along to somebody else. Peter says, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." I hope today you'll both learn and share what the Bible says about our great God. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. Outro We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book by book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.