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An unsealed grave and empty till a folded burial cloth Jesus had risen and claimed victory over Dan but he is all the evidence of the resurrection a loss to history today on turning point Dr David Jeremiah continues his special Easter message with a look at several key proofs of Christ's resurrection that withstood the test of time listen as David shares the conclusion he really is alive and thank you for joining us on the Friday edition of turning point Good Friday the day we remember our Lord's death and we're preparing today as we did yesterday for the celebration of his resurrection which takes place on Sunday and we are most excited about the truth of the risen Christ because it stands at the center of everything we hold dear because he is alive we have hope and because he is alive there is a Gospel to preach and we are so thankful that we can measure our words today and over the weekend to encourage people to really look carefully at the risen Christ if he came out of that tomb on his own power because he is the Son of God and he put his foot on death there's hope for all of us Jesus put it this way because I live you 2 shall live because he has come out of the grave we have hope as well he is the 1st fruits of those who sleep that means he is the one to guarantee there will be other resurrections and their coming in the future well we'll get to our lesson today but before we do that on. John and I are so excited about the opportunity to share with you a refreshing and relaxing cruise to Alaska where we're going to see firsthand many of the wonderful splendors of God's creation and we're going to be visiting places where the majesty of his handiwork lives like nowhere else on the earth where glaciers slide from the untamed wilderness into the waters that are filled with animals of all sorts it's it's so stunning it just takes your breath away and we'll spend 7 nights cruising aboard on the Holland America Beautiful New Amsterdam ship from port to exciting port we will see so much beauty and will enjoy so much time together I'm hoping that you will take a moment and explore the possibility of joining us in Alaska the dates are July 15th through the 22nd we leave and return to Vancouver Canada and and we're going to have a great time we have wonderful guests be teaching from a new series that I've just been working on for a brand new book that comes out in October and we'll have a great time together make sure you check it out at David Jeremiah dot org There's a button that you can click on that gives you all the details and you can make your reservation today now let's get back to what we started yesterday were discussing some of the modern evidences of the historic resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just change in the lives of the Apostles is a testimony to the power of the resurrection the bottom line is this the body of Moses lies in a grave somewhere. The body of Mohammed lives a tomb the remains of Lenin lie in a class covered casket in Moscow on his casket are these words he was the greatest leader of all peoples of all countries of all times he was the Lord of the New Humanity he was the savior of the world but when Lenin went to bed on January 20th 1924 he never woke up no one has ever heard from him since that night he's dead like every other human being who has ever lived and one day stop living if Lenin is the savior of the world we are in a lot of trouble. But on the authority of the Word of God I am here to tell you that Jesus Christ who said he would die and rise again is the savior of the world the Lord of Lords the King of Kings he alone conquered death and because of that he can offer us eternal life. So you have the predictions of our Lord's Resurrection in his own words you have all of these proofs these evidences of the people who saw him and whose lives were transformed. And someone will say yes but that's back then in history what about today well let me just suggest to you that today there are several lines of evidence of the reality of the resurrection not all of the evidence of Christ's resurrection is in the past I think of at least 5 things that are currently true that scream out at us about the reality of the resurrection 1st of all let's talk about the Christian faith I don't know if you noticed it but this is a big Sunday for churches. I mean more people go to church on Easter Sunday than any other Sunday in the year more than Christmas there's no other Sunday even close more than Mother's Day everybody goes to church on Easter. And I don't know what that means and I'm sure not one of those pastors who wants to fuss at you if you haven't been here since Christmas I'm glad you're here thank God you're here. But why do we do that what keeps all of this alive it's what we call the Christian faith and the Christian faith is resurrection the Christian faith is welded to the resurrection Paul said if Christ is not risen our preaching is empty your faith is empty and we are found as false witnesses Paul said if there isn't any resurrection there isn't any Christianity and I know that Christianity is hurting in some places and waning in others but I want to tell you Christianity is alive and well and in many places in this world it is flourishing and multiply and hundreds of thousands yes millions of people are being touched by the message of Christianity the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very civil of the Christian faith someone has said that if the resurrection of Christ is not an historic fact then it is our duty to dig a new grave bury in that grave not a man but a religion and that religion is Christianity the only hope of the world you want to know why I believe in the resurrection just look around everybody is going to church everybody is talking about their faith everybody is singing worship songs everybody's looking into the in from Porton message of the Bible the Christian faith the largest religion in the world and it's the result of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let me talk to you about the Christian church if the crucifixion ended the disciples experience of Jesus if that's all there was it's really hard to understand how the church could continue at all because you see the sole reason the Church survives and flourishes today and why it flourished back then is and can celebrate Easter Sunday. Is simply because Jesus broke out of the tomb declaring that there is life after death. Do you think that for a moment the early church could have survived even for one week in hostile surrounding If Jesus Christ had not been raised from the dead listen carefully the resurrection of the one on whom the church was founded was preached within a few minutes of the tomb where Jesus was buried as a result of the 1st sermon that was preached Peter preaching that sermon 3000 people were converted a few days later within a week he preached again and 5000 people were say listen to me any one of those people could have walked right down there to the tomb and if the body of Jesus was in that tomb I would have been the laughing stock of the community but it wasn't there then and it's not there now Jesus Christ is not in the tomb Don and I are going back to Israel we've been there 5 or 6 times and one of the great moments when you go to Israel is the service in the garden where the tomb is many people believe that we're actually in the very place where Jesus was buried and the tomb from which he was resurrected in the garden you can go to where the tomb is and you can walk into the tomb it's open the openings very small I have to bend way down to get in when you get in you can see the ledge where the body of Christ had been placed. I walk into that tomb every time and I think I want to be under control but when I stand in that space I want to start saying in the hello You course he is alive he is alive Jesus is alive I've been in that tomb 5 times and every single time it was empty till I walked in I'm here to tell you that the tome where Jesus was placed has never been occupied since the day he walked out of there in victory over death and I know that this savior of mine is the risen Lord indeed the Christian church one of the most astounding current evidences of the resurrection is the Christian Sunday let me tell you the story the very fact that you and I attend church on Sunday is evidence of the resurrection you say how does that work well the original day of worship for all of those in the early days was Saturday you see the most reverent thing that a Jewish person could ever do was to observe the Sabbath and to keep it holy It was the highest expression of their devotion but Christians began meeting on Sunday the 1st day of the week after it was acknowledged that Jesus came back victoriously from the grave on Sunday remember the early church was made up predominantly of Jewish Christians to make the change for Sabbath worship to Sunday worship signified that something earth shattering had occurred. What was that something it was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave as Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday followers of Jesus worship on Sunday and Sunday services now are a testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the practice goes all the way back to the 1st century when those who actually beheld the risen Lord with their own eyes began to change their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday but the Sunday observance of worship for us is attributed specifically to one thing and one thing only that Jesus Christ came back from the grave on Sunday. Can you think of any other historic event that is celebrated $52.00 times every year. The most rational explanation for this phenomenon is that Jesus appeared personally to people after His resurrection and convinced them that it was true. The Christian faith the Christian church the Christian Sunday let me talk with you briefly about the Christian ordinances Now for those of you don't know what that is in don't mean to be confusing and the ordinances are the 2 things we practice as a part of our church according to the New Testament those 2 things are baptism and the Lord's Supper Let's talk about baptism every week almost without fail we have someone who is baptized by immersion in our baptistery they give their testimony and then the officiating pastor says I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit they are placed under the water and they are brought up out of the water and the Scripture teaches us that every time we do that we are giving an example of what happened to Jesus he went into the 2 and he was raised victoriously out of the tomb and when a believer is baptized he is identifying with the resurrection of Jesus Christ he is saying I once was this way but all things are passed away and behold all things have become new baptism is a testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Lord's Supper is also a testimony as you know the cup is a representation of the blood of Christ and the bread of the Body of Christ it is a remembrance of his death but when you read Acts 2 you discover that you're supposed to participate in communion with joy looking forward to the fact that Jesus is risen from but then. One of the great apologists of our day is a man by the name of j.p. Morgan he explains the significance of communion like this he said What's odd is that these early followers of Jesus did not ever get together to celebrate his teachings or how wonderful he was they came together to have a celebration meal for one reason to remember that Jesus had been publicly slaughtered in a grotesque and humiliating way. Now he said think about this in modern terms if a group of people loved John f. Kennedy they might meet regularly to remember his confrontation with Russia or his promotion of civil rights or his charismatic personality but they're never going to celebrate the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald murdered him because you see for him that was the end that was death that was it but when Jesus was crucified and came back from the grave it wasn't the end it was the beginning it was the beginning of hope for all who feared death because now their leader had come through the process of death walked out of the tomb put his foot on Satan's neck and said I have gained victory over death and because I have done it you if you put your trust in me can do it all so we celebrate the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ because it's the only hope. Now we have as followers of Christ last but not least here is to me the most visceral of all of the evidences and that is the changed lives of people today as you know turning point reaches out across the country on radio and television and now in many places around the world which means we get a lot of mail from people and we get tremendous amount of mail at turning point every Friday one of the ladies who goes through the mail and sorts it it helps us give me a folder and that folder is filled with the stories of people who have written in to say that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ they have been saved their lives have been changed it happens every week it happens every day it happens all over the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Risen Savior is changing the lives of people we know the resurrection is true because we see what the risen Christ does in our lies it's like many of us have our own resurrections isn't it we're dead we are lost and then Jesus Christ comes and he gives us new life I know that the Savior lives today because he lives within my own heart and I witness what happens to people when they give their hearts to Christ he makes them into new people from the inside out. And that's why I love to preach on Easter because the story of the Christ who came back from the dead is The Greatest Story Ever Told Now before we end this message I want to leave you with 2 thoughts one thought is for those of you who are already Christians you already know the Lord you believe in the resurrected Christ you've accepted him. And one is for those of you who may be searching and you're not sure about all of this. Both of them happen to be involved with Resurrection one of them with the resurrection of Christ and one with the resurrection of Lazarus on Jesus' resurrection morning 2 women went to the tomb as you know to visit the tomb and instead of finding Jesus' body when they got there they found 2 angels in the tomb and the angel said to the 2 women why do you seek the living among the dead he is not here he is risen. Today like the women at the tomb if we are not careful we often seek for the living among the dead we try to find peace and hope and forgiveness even as followers of Christ in the wrong world it's not in that world because he's not in that world we often look among the dead for our hope and peace and forgiveness but he is not there he has risen we focus on all that is wrong in our world and we need to look among the living for our risen Savior number 21 day Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus and he was comforting Lazarus sister because Lazarus had died he was in the tone the Bible says He was so dead he had begun to stink he was stinking dead and Jesus was trying to comfort Lazarus sister. And I want you to listen to what he said to her. He said I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he may die he shall live and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die do you believe this while what did Jesus say he said I Jesus in the resurrection and the life if you believe in me though you may die you shall live that sounds like double speak what does he mean while the word die has 2 meanings the word death has 2 meanings the word death itself means separation and so death is 1st of all physically the separation of your soul from your body when you die your soul leaves your body your body stays here but you aren't there because the real you has left the New Testament says for a Christian and when you die it's absent from the body you present with the Lord so death is 1st of all physical it's when we die physically our soul is separated from the body but the Bible says there's a 2nd kind of death and that's the death you don't ever want to mess with the 2nd death is the separation of your soul from God for ever now go back and read the verse with me again Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he may die physically. Will never die spiritually but he will live and whoever lives and believes in me will never die never be separated from God and then Jesus said to her. Do you believe this and that's what I want to ask you today do you believe this you say well I understand it I'm not asking you if you understand it I'm asking you Do you believe it or you say how do you believe it you decide to believe it you decide to believe what the Scripture says concerning Jesus Christ I'm more convinced than ever that that's what it is it's a matter of us saying I have determined to believe this I have determined to bet my life on Jesus Christ and what he said if he can say that he's going to die and be buried and come back the 3rd day and he can pull that off I'm pretty sure he can take care of me and I'm going to bet my life on him I choose to believe that he is the resurrection and the life and that if I put my trust in Him I will never die. And I want to ask you where you make that decision it's not about a feeling it's not about an emotion it's about determining my life is going to be committed to Jesus Christ I'm going to believe in him and when you make that decision he will come and live within your heart He will start a project on you you won't believe he will make you all over again from the inside out he will turn you into the person you really want to be if you put your trust in him but you have to decide nobody can decide for you Jesus didn't say to the group do you believe he said to her Do you believe and I'm asking you today do you believe this you say will pastor how do I convey that I believe you do that through prayer you say that to the Lord and I'd like to help you today I'd like to lead you in a prayer if you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ I'm going to ask you to do it today I want you to pray this prayer in your heart and the prayers like this during Lord. I believe you are the resurrection and the life I believe you are the Son of God I believe that you came to this earth to die on the cross and pay the penalty for all of my sin and today I choose you I choose to believe in you and accept you as my Savior Lord Jesus today I am making a decision to put you in control of my life and invite you to come and take me under control. Lord I know how much you love me I know what you did for me I know that you say your offer is a gift and today I accept your gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord. And father wherever that prayer has been prayed you have entered into a life I know that there will be evidence going forward of the reality of your truth and I pray for those who have received you today and I also pray for all of us who are believers Lord God that you will keep us from seeking life where only death lives through remember that our hope is in Christ. It's in his precious risen name that I pray Amen Amen Amen Well let's. 123 sail loud together he really is alive. I can't hear you but I know you join me in the celebration of the risen Christ I hope you'll have a great weekend obviously you'll be going to church hopefully with your family some of you may not make it to church regularly This is one of those weekends you don't want to miss you'll be there to celebrate with others this incredible truth isn't it amazing that all over the world this weekend people will celebrate an event and many I'm don't even believe the event happened they will go to church they will buy their Easter bonnets they will have a special dinner with their families they will celebrate Easter and how much more wonderful it is for us who know the Risen Savior to be able to celebrate the reality of his victory over death now don't forget during the month of April we're making available one of 2 books for your investment in this ministry one of the books is called Captured by grace the other one is 101 things Jesus has done for 7 10 am the word where Dr David Jeremiah is sponsored by turning point you can also hear Dr David Jeremiah weekday mornings at 1030 Up next it's focus on the Fit only right here on 7 10 am the word where faith comes by hearing these silly things in the designs have a right to it nature would home just in time for spring and summer energy the styles range from strong and right now you can save on all of them during nature would sell the same pressing fabric tensors incomes choosing over 130000 disclaim all so busy love and sex no chance to mince and recliners are on sale major wooden bridge things in the early fifty's 'd. 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Believe in Miracles as you've been the pain inside city for you would like to hear his words that's going to make it is this you find this the shack rated p.g. 13 maybe appropriate for children under 13 soundtrack the dream the new single when I play for you from Dan and Shea Now please theaters. In the range of filler get a bit so sure that's where you know we've you original superstring screen oh it works best and penetrates the sued with mostly rooms and downs and I'll tell you one thing I had no idea this though for sure Bernie and Louis new original super strength cream available to all major retailers it works fast for a long lasting soothing of tired muscles and joints. From the crosswalk dot com studios You're listening to 7 10 am the word. This is Jim Daly inviting you to join focus on the family for a 40th anniversary cruise to the Bahamas. Aboard the Disney Dream Nov 13th to 17 sang a family up for the fun at Focus Cruise dot com That's focus cruise. Ships registry the Bahamas. This is Jim Daly from Focus on the family when you get in touch please let us know the call letters of this great radio station I've been in the ministry for 33 years. Christians on East the people who live in a good friday world inappropriate opening for today's focus on the family with their president Jim Daly And I'm John fold John today we're coming back to a message from British evangelist John who we just heard in that clip explaining for reasons why he's a Christian and if you missed part one of his presentation yesterday get in touch with us it is powerful we're offering the audio download for free today so that you can share it with a friend or a family member certainly someone who needs to hear that Christianity is relevant and true and you can visit focus on the Family dot com slash radio to get that download here now is Jay John speaking at an Easter service in Australia and we're going to start with a brief recap of what we heard last time. I'm going to give you 4 reasons why I'm a Christian if I could give you reasons kind of with the time that I've got I'm going to give you 4 reasons why I'm a Christian for reasons why you should be a Christian now there's a very famous 1st in the Bible located in John's gospel chapter 3 verse 16 it says this for gone soon enough the world that He gave His only Son so you ever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life that is a one sentence kind of action is the essence of what Christianity is all about. The 1st reason why I'm a Christian is because Jesus Christ is alive his resurrection all sent to Cates everything that he said everything that he did after Jesus rose from the dead he spent 40 days before his ascension into heaven during the 40 day period that he taught he neither withdrew nor added anything that he had taught the previous 3 years that is why we can believe Jesus about the past about the present and about the future I am a Christian because Christianity is true. The 2nd reason why I am a Christian is because I need forgiveness. I need food for a nurse I gave a whole series of lectures Oxford University and the student comes up to me and he says I've listened to all your lectures I've enjoyed the Yeah Yeah Yeah you know and then he goes this is what he said but personally I believe Christianity is a crutch. I said hey if you broke both of your legs would you appreciate the use of a wheelchair to get around is it yes I would I said if you broke one leg would you appreciate the use of crutches to get around is it yes I would I said I'm a broken person so you I've never met a person who isn't broken and I'm so please I can lean on Jesus while he's putting me back together again. I'm a Christian because it's true I'm a Christian because I need for give for Nurse That's why you should become a Christian because you need forgiveness the 3rd reason why I'm a Christian is because Jesus did something for me and for you to clear the overdrafts so for God so loved the world put your name in there for God so loved John for God so loved your name in Lay For God so loved you may be he gave his only son. He gave His only Son Jesus came into this world to do something for us. I was doing my shopping at the supermarket and the lady at the supermarket on the checkout desk she had a cross around her neck so I said Oh hello I see if you're a Christian she says Woo. I said you're a Christian she says What are you talking about I said you've got a cross around your neck because I it's nice. I looked at her name Tracy I said Tracy. It was not nice it was nasty she looked at me as though I was an alien that are just landed from another planet so i'm point to stuff on the conveyor belt with packing we're talking I said Tracy listen if I have an earring here and you said well she earring there as a gas chamber nor gas chamber. Why you're wearing a gas chamber earring I said well I want to remember how millions of Jewish people died in the 2nd World War and then you said to me Well sure rather earring all that when their electric chair. Chair. Why are you wearing the actually chairing are so well I want to remember how certain criminals got executed in the United States I said tracing what would you think of me if I was walking around with an electric chair earring and a gas chamber earring what would you think which got huffy you've lost it you've lost it now so I said Tracy is that because there's symbols of execution she goes yes yes yes I says So Tracy what do you think you're wearing around your neck. I said Tracy you've got to remember this Jesus didn't where it around his neck he wore it on is. Big diff. And we were in this huge supermarket and it's like. The whole place went quiet. She 1st came into this world to clear our overdraft to clear our overdraft thank you this is focus on the family in our presentation today from j. John is available as a free audio download for you focus on the Family dot com slash radio and now more from j. John Today's focus on the family. Those are very famous artists who went back to the very small town where he grew up and he's walking around the stalls of the little town and in an antique shop he cannot believe it in the front windows one of his masterpieces he was one that he painted years before he was famous the frame was broken it was scratched it was dented the painting was dirty but it was his but he couldn't go into the antique store say my pains and give it back to me if he wanted it back he had to buy it back before he could clean it restore it really frame aids Jesus daughters back. He pulled back. He says came into this world and died upon the cross because by dying on the cross he was purchasing for asked forgiveness from the past you know when I experienced this I experienced this on the 9th of February 1975 the light came on. Straightway the light came on my heart RWA. Rule. I know what it was now I know there's a why my mother said Your brain washed I said Mother my brain has been washed. If you only knew mom was in my brain you'd be pleased they got washed. It is an incredibly amazing experience to be set free from the past you and I cannot alter the past but we can bring the past to the alter of God. And we can be cleansed and set free I'm a Christian why my Christian because it's true I am a Christian because I need forgiveness I am a Christian because Jesus died on the cross for me to purchase for me forgiveness from the past back to our verse For God so loved the world He gave His only Son so who ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life Jesus died on the cross rose from the dead to give you a forgiveness from the past mute life new life today and a hope for the future I love it when you read the Bible when you read about Jesus and you read about who he is he was and it what he did and who we is it's amazing there is so many different images in the Bible to help us. Sure it. Jesus is the Bread of Life so that bakers can understand. Jesus is the water of life so that plumbers can understand Jesus is the light of the Waltzer the Elo traditions can understand Jesus is the cornerstone So the architects can understand Jesus is the son of righteousness so the strong members can understand Jesus is the hidden treasure so that bankers can understand Jesus is the life so that biologists can understand Jesus is is the great physician so that doctors and nurses can understand Jesus is a good teacher so that educators can understand Jesus is the lily of the valley so the florists can understand Jesus is the Rock of Ages so that geologists can understand Jesus is the righteous one so that judges can understand Jesus is the pole of great price so the jeweller's can understand Jesus's wisdom so the full loss of us can understand Jesus is the word so that I can understand thank you Jesus is The Good Shepherd so that farmers can understand Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega so that scientists can understand Jesus is the king of Keynes so that royalty can understand Jesus is the way so that traffic wardens can understand Thank you sir it is true so that politicians can understand the Hayes's is the resurrection so that funeral directors can understand thank you Jesus is the one thank you Thursday is that the war and. Why should you be a Christian you should be a Christian because it's true you should be a Christian but because you need forgiveness you should be a Christian because Jesus died for you so that you can have forgiveness in the past new life today and our hope for the future that will Christian has got the word Christ in it if you remove the word Christ from the word Christian you are left with I am in isn't going to help you. Now I'm sure ins a nice guy. But he a can I help you. You know I Me too many people today who say oh yeah I'm Christian Yeah Christian and they got more in common with me and. Then they do a crying. You're listening to British your banjo list j. John on focus on the family and you'll find a free audio download of this program so you can listen again and share with a friend at Focus on the Family dot com slash radio let's go ahead and return now to more from Jay just. Think of your life like a car just for a moment like a car like a the car of your life to be a Christian means Christ is in your car Ok so in a few minutes I'm going to ask you if he's not in your car put him in the car I'm going to you to stand up going to watch you to do that I want him in my car now I know many of you have got him in the car you've got him in the car obviously you haven't invites him into the night those of you that have got him in the car where is he. Do you drive your car to church unlock the bit of the trunk get Jesus out for religious happy hour. And then you say get back in there. You're going knowledge a journey is not in the boot in the trunk is in the car where on the back see a bit of a passenger you know is in the front passenger seat are bit of a companion but still a passenger now you're thinking we know where you're going with this John you don't actually. Say your thinking he's now going to say are is in the driving seat of the car of your life I am actually is in the driving seat of the car of your life now everybody who thought yes is in the driving seat of the car of my life I have one more question for you Are you a backseat driver. The car gets to an intersection Jesus turns left noone you. Are going down the road and generosity for one or more. Thank the in than you know a lot of people haven't yet heard the sermon on the amount. You get to another intersection Jesus turns right we're really going on going down the road of forgiveness one on one of them. Did you ever see the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding yet I'm greek I'm Greek when that movie came out friends of mine said John is it true is it true I said no it's not true top. My mother is a travel agent for guilt trips. But my belief in Jesus has to affect my behavior. It has to affect what I do and how I do it see it's very easy to say Are you Jesus is in my life some of you tonight you know Jesus is in the car of your life but you need to reposition Jesus some of you got to get him out of the trunk the boot out of the back seat and you're going to say Jesus I want you in the driving seat of my life because if you if he's in the driving seat this is what's going to happen his spirit will produce in you and through you love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control so. How long you've been a Christian for 5 months 5 years 15 years Ok how fruity are you. If you're lacking some of that fruit and you got a little red light in your car flashing saying it's time for a repositioning some of you tonight are going to stand up and say hey I want to be in my life I want to be in the driving seat I want my overdraft clear others of you going to say tonight I need to reposition Jesus I'm a Christian because it's true because I need forgiveness because Jesus died for me Ok let me give you another reason. One more I'm a Christian because it was. Thank you. It actually works it makes 0 difference our next door neighbors they're not Christians yet. They call my wife and I the neighbors from heaven. That's quite encouraging actually isn't it you want to be called the neighbors from the other side to you. Anyway the lady she had a stroke and as a consequence of the stroke she fell into a coma and had to be admitted into hospital and and the family came around she was in intensive care the family came around said look we've just met the doctors and the doctors have told us that there's no brain activity and we're going to switch off the life support machine in 5 days. And my wife said I was away that day my wife said r listen is there any way that we can go visit her before you turn the life support machine off they said are would you because she was so fond of you and it works now because I was away our got back we went on the 5th day so that they are going to turn off the life support machine we go to the hospital we walk into this intensive care room and she's there on the road we walk here and I are I call out to her and I say hey the neighbors from heaven are here my wife's like be quiet her. We're in intensive care Oh yes sorry sorry sorry but then I start speaking to her and I say to listen we've come to pray for you so Kili gets hold of her hand I hold killings hand I hold her rather hand and I say kill you let's pray the prayer that Jesus taught us and we prayed Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come as we said Your kingdom come she woke up. She's home. She's home. She's still not Christian. More so now. Christianity works now listen listen I've been in the ministry for 33 years Christians are East the people who live in a good friday world the world is broken in our world there is the tension between miracle and mystery. And I realize that and you might be in a situation where you feel overwhelmed by these mysteries that of happening to you burdens whatever it is God knows God knows if you have a concern about your health Ok wherever you are put your hand now in your heart to put my hand on your heart when we're now going to pray for everyone has a health need to Jesus you are the king of kings and you are the great physician so we're asking you to release more of your healing presence and where there is any sickness infection disease we pray that you will flush this out of our systems now whether it's been any kind of deed generation we're asking you for regeneration we're asking you for restoration and we pray health and wholeness and wellbeing in body in mind and spirit and we pray that you will continue to minister your healing grace throughout this night. All through the house of our fleet minister healing to off and may we experience this week a tangible sign of you'll healing out while we pray this in the name of Christ on them I've given you 4 reasons why I'm a Christian I'm a Christian because it's true I'm a Christian because I need forgiveness I'm a Christian because Jesus died for me I'm a Christian because actually one. Thank . British evangelist j. John as we close this edition of focus on the family and Jim You know I can also say Christianity actually works it's so true John you might not of seen someone come out of a coma while you were praying for them as j. John and his wife did but I think all of us could say that we've seen circumstances where God is obviously working behind the scenes for our good in fact we get letters every day from Focus on the family listeners who have had those miraculous experiences and we praise God for how he's working in our lives and how he cares for us here's just one example from a woman named Michelle she wrote I was listening to your radio show and felt moved to donate $50.00 but I didn't have any money I asked God to make it happen later that same day I received a $50.00 tip at work and immediately called Focus on the family to donate it God is good man I'm telling you so are you Michelle thank you so much for providing that hard earned money the tips are tough and to give us that kind of generosity I am grateful for I just love hearing stories like that and you know what the more you trust God the more opportunity you give them to work in your life like he did in Michelle's. For a lot of us that's a struggle I mean what where is that walk of faith going to take us and in Michelle's case wow God worked on somebody else's heart so to give her that 50 dollars and she opened up and gave it wow what a story and that's part of how God disciples us as we learn to trust his guidance trust that still small voice in our hearts and as we celebrate Easter this weekend let's thank the Lord for dying on the cross for each one of us and more importantly let's praise him for the resurrection which is all the difference in our faith we serve a risen Savior and I hope you were encouraged by this message from j. John and as our Easter gift to you were making the audio download they lable for free just request it from our website and let me say as I would say at Christmas Happy Happy Easter to each one of you and if you don't yet believe that Jesus was who he said he is then let me encourage you to get our free e-book It's called Coming Home an invitation to join God's family you'll find that e-book and free audio download of today's presentation at Focus on the Family dot com slash radio. Have a great weekend and be sure to tune in on Monday you'll hear how humor helped comedian Shonda Pierce get through some very difficult times and I praise God that at some point in my life God flipped the switch for me and taught me what a gift that hearing the sound of laughter the medicine that it can really make. Next time and focus on the family I'm John Fuller and on behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team thanks for listening and join us again on Monday as we once more help you and your family thrive in Christ and as we wrap up one final thought from j.j. If you haven't yet received this receive it tonight in just a moment just a minute I'm going to only ask you to stand up if you need to say yes. If you need to re position Jesus I'm not asking you to stand up to embarrass you I wouldn't do that I'm asking you to stand up among hundreds of Christians because if you cannot stand out here you will never be able to stand up out there. If you would like to begin to be a follower of Jesus and invite Jesus into your life all you would like to reposition Jesus in your life can you please stand up stand now now seal the opportunity please stand please stand fantastic keep standing Come on stand up and say yes I want to do this I want to do this today on this sacred. Day. May use. Protection. To fix our eyes. So we are. For the blessing of the Holy Trinity. Who died for us. Every. Member. So. For someone who. Really. To focus on the family for. Daily. Is our story. Of ministry. Today. 800 a family 7 10 am the word the focus on the family radio program is sponsored by Focus on the family friend by name is.