Robert Madu "Locked In"

I think wherever you're watching today you just make this declaration are you ready I want you to say this it is well with my soul come on I want you to say one more time make sure your neighbors can hear you say it is well with my soul have you know it doesn't have to be well with your circumstance for it to be well with your soul would you just say that one more time it is well with my soul I'm telling you you make that declaration and don't just say it out of your mouth believe it in your heart it is well with your soul perhaps the beauty of the season of crisis is you find out what's critical and what could be canceled and here's what I love there's just some things that cannot be canceled how many thankful that the gospel cannot be canceled Jesus Christ cannot be canceled the church cannot be canceled hope cannot be canceled faith cannot be canceled I don't know what the enemy is here today but you need to declare it is well with my soul hey man come on right there give God some praise in your living room in your kitchen wherever you are there come on let's think of our incredible worship team leading us into the presence of the Lord this is the day that the Lord has made will still rejoice and be glad in it I'm excited to share God's word with you today I hope you're ready I hope you're leaning in we've been saying during this season that church is online you still have to participate have to lean in get excited shout at the screen and I believe God's presence is gonna hit you right where you are and I want you up straight into the Word of God if you have your Bibles pull it out smart device pull it out I really believe that this word it's for this time and for this season I want you to go with me to the Gospel of John John chapter 20 I want to look at verses 19 through 22 the Gospel of John chapter 20 we'll start in verse 19 and we'll land in verse number 22 and you can chill where you are honor the Word of God in your heart but I'm gonna sit down so I don't get too excited because this is a good word John chapter 20 starting in verse number 19 and we'll land in verse number 22 and look at what it says he says that Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders suddenly Jesus was standing there among them peace be with you he said as he spoke he showed them the wounds in his hands and decide they were filled with joy when they saw the Lord again he said peace be with you as the father has sent me so I am sending you then he breathed on them he said I want you to catch this breathe on them and said receive the Holy Spirit that is good stuff Trinity fam social Dallas fam look at verse 19 again it says that Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors locked doors I want to preach today not long in this season I promise you this will be a short message but I want to preach today using this as a title locked in locked in I want you to look at whoever you're with even if you're tired of looking at them would you just look at them right in the face and say I'm I'll come on somebody all didn't say and I can still hear you look at them and say I am locked in father thank you for your word father thank you that your presence knows no limits you can beat us wherever we are what our hearts are ready to hear from you got in dark times if we need your work as your word it is a light unto our feet it is a lamp unto our path speak to us today and may we never be the same in Jesus name everybody said come on right there in your kitchen say a man locked and make no doubt about it we were all created with a craving for community at our essence at our very core we are all social beings uniquely and distinctly designed with a desire to be fully loved and fully know one of the challenges that we face in this season of social distancing is that it is completely opposite to who we are we're created for connection we were made for hugs and high-fives and kisses we were created to connect I don't care what your personality is I don't care what your inia gram score is even the greatest injured was never meant to bear the burden of isolation as a matter of fact the psalmist Celine Dion was right when she said all by myself don't wanna be all by myself nobody likes isolation because whether you're an adult in solitary confinement or whether you're a toddler and timeout nobody wants to be alone nobody wants to be in isolation I don't care how spiritual you are I love some church people in this season you're like I thank the Lord for this quarantine yes cuz I don't need anybody but Jesus just me myself and God that's all I need that sounds cute but it's not real cuz Adam had God you know Adam in the book of Genesis Adam had God he had the presence of God Adam had groceries he was in the original whole food market he had animals he had the entire animal kingdom he had God and yet God still looked down at Adam and said it is not good for man to be alone it is not good for man to be alone understand that that is deeper than a spouse that's deeper than marriage that's deeper than procreation that actually speaks to reflection reflection because of Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 God says let us make man in our image let us who is to us God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit the Trinity God a community three-in-one he said let us make man in our image in other words Adam could not accurately reflect the image of God alone he needed somebody you need somebody it is not good for man to be alone however after 16 plus days in my house with my five year old my four year old and my two year old I want to declare today that yes it is not good for man to be alone but it is also not good for man to be alone with his kids come on somebody I'm not complaining I'm not complaining we've had awesome family moments family memories family movie nights family walks I'm not complaining all that is good but can I get a witness type into a man cabin fever is real it is real I'm telling you it seems like in our household that tension and irritability is running high and patience and snacks are running low because yes we behave crave community but when that community has to be confined it can drive you crazy you feel like the walls are starting to close in because you feel like you are locked in what do you do when you feel like you are locked and I love my text today because this taste could not be more appropriate for the season we are living in because the Bible says in the Gospel of John chapter 20 that the disciples are locked there they are literally locked in a room a house together I don't know how many of the disciples are there I do know that Judas the original hater is not there Thomas is missing so let's just do a little math 12 minus 2 that's 10 so 10 of them perhaps are locked in this room 10 of them so they're in the governmental guidelines of a gathering 10 of them are locked in this room and you have to understand their emotional state because just two days prior they watch Jesus their Lord their Savior their master the one that they forsook everything to follow him they watched him crucified on a cross they watched him die a gruesome and bloody death they watched him get arrested and whipped and beaten they watched him as he was hung high and he was stretched wide they watched him say father into my hands I commit your spirit they watched him die so on one hand they're suffering and dealing with the death of Jesus which was an execution but on the other hand they are dealing with the death of an expectation you understand that when Jesus died on the cross the disciples expectations died they weren't expecting Jesus to die they were expecting him to overthrow the Roman government they were expecting him to establish an earthly kingdom because after all he kept preaching about a kingdom and they were already picking out their robes and arguing over which side they were gonna stand on they were not expecting Jesus to die him die cross was the death of their expectation what do you do when your expectation has died it's a matter of facts suffering has been defined as the gap the gap between your expectation and your current reality and that where the world is right now because all of us are suffering because we're experiencing something that we weren't expecting come on you weren't expecting to be unemployed you were not expecting to have to lay people off you were not expecting to have a baby and not be able to have family in the room to hold that baby you were not expecting to lose that loved one you were not expecting to have to take your classes online and not be able to walk across the stage for graduation nobody was expecting dad whenever your experience something that you weren't expecting how many know that does not mean that God is not moving the disciples weren't expecting Jesus to die but they should have been so one hand I can relate to the disciples they were not expecting Jesus to die but on the other hand I kind of got to ridicule them because Jesus had been telling them that he was going to die they shouldn't come out of surprise today he had been telling them for three years this was gonna happen even gave them metaphors he said it's just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale so shelled us for three days so shall the Son of Man be in the earth he was telling them this should not have been a surprise they knew on the third day he was gonna rise again and when they were locked in to the third day so why did they lock the door third day and he told you he was gonna get up from the grave on the third day it seems like to me you should have unlocked the door and put a big sign in the front of the yard and said a resurrection party over here it seems like he should have been looking out the window saying hey this is this is day three is that him no his hairs not long enough is that they should have been expecting watching but they weren't they were afraid they locked the door why would they lock the door instead of open the door waiting for Jesus to come in I think it's in verse 19 of the text I want us to look at it today verse 19 of that scripture it says that Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid oh that's why the door is locked the door was locked because they were afraid fear made them lock the door no wonder they can't remember the words of Jesus because it's hard to hear when fear is in your ear it's hard to hear when fear is shouting lock the door they weren't just locked in the room they were locked into fear fear is what made them lock the door and fear will make you do things that faith won't they locked the door because they were afraid fear said to them you just watched him arrest and crucified Jesus what makes you think they're not gonna do the same thing to you and fear made them lock the door I used to think that the disciples biggest problem of they were is that was that they were locked in the room but I think their biggest problem is that they were locked in to fear because where you locked in is critical see I titled this message locked in not because of the disciples location I tired of the message locked in because of their focus what they were locked into and can I tell you in this season of uncertainty and unprecedented times your focus is everything where you are locked into is absolutely everything your focus matters in this season right now it's matter of fact I'm just gonna say it focus focus focus would you say that with me focus focus focus right there in your bathrobe say it Oh focus focus come on get the kids in on it focus focus the world is going crazy I know focus focus focus focus focus focus focus seems like everything is spinning focus focus focus that is what God is saying for us to do in the season that your focus has got to be strategic focus my baby sister Amanda shoutout to her I used to take her to her dance recitals that's what I did when I was 16 I was her uber driver and I would take her to her dance recitals and I'll never forget her being in these ballet practices and she would be doing ballet spinning hard you just going crazy that make you dizzy she said no cuz I just found my spot I said huh she said I had to find my spot she said whenever you do a spin you have to find your spot something that is stationary in the room something that it will not move something that has some solidarity to it and once you find your spot you no matter how many times you keep spinning as long as your eye is fixed on the spot you can keep spinning but you keep your eyes on the spot and even though everything is spinning if your eye is locked in on the thing that is not moving you can keep your hand you can keep your calm because your eye is fixed on the spot focus focus focus this is about your focus in this season where's your focus somebody saying what about fear what about faith I think both of those have to do with focus you know me I don't care if it's just me in the sanctuary I got to give you a visual and give you an illustration everybody especially in this season is talking about faith and talking about fear talking about faith and talking about fear but I think it's a matter of focus as a matter of fact my first point is shift your focus shift your focus is it about faith or is it about fear because people are operating to both extremities we have some people the culture that are all the way on fear just losing their mind it's the end of the world waiting for zombies to come out of a closet just operating in complete fear and complete panic but panic and fear is a worst virus than a corona they're just operating complete fear crippled by fear there are some people who on this extreme and they're about faith and they'll quick to tell you I'll tell you what I'm not afraid of anything God's not given me a spirit of fear yet though I go through the valley of the shadow I got to think that my scared I'm not even breaking a sweat I'm not scared at all and they tout their faith but some people who are claiming faith and faith seems hollow it seems fake because how do you know a faith that makes you suppress your feelings is not real how many you know God can handle your feelings yes God is not giving us a spirit of fear but that does not mean that I don't get afraid oh yes fear is an emotion as a matter fact sometimes it's good to have so fear come on when your baby girl like mine was the other day its run around the house with a knife I had that make me grab the life out of her hand and some people are using their faith to suppress their feelings but God can handle your feelings so which one is it is it faith is it fear some people are just saying put your faith over your fear which one is it I wonder is it possible for these two things to exist in the same space and same place but it's all about focus focus focus focus let me show you how it works cameraman do me a favor would you just focus in on faith put the camera focus on say don't leave the faith right now keep it focused on faith how many you know fear has not left the picture but the focus is on faith and the only thing that is keeping the focus on faith is my word declarant to the cameraman keep it on faith that's why the Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God in this season you need to be so in the Word of God that it is building your faith keep your focus on your faith in the Word of God what he spoke in your life it will come to pass my focus is on my faith because whatever I focus on is gonna grow whatever I focus on is gonna have greater power in my life this is the time to bring your focus on your faith your God what I doing this season shift your focus shift your focus from fear to faith some you need to cut off the news yes some of you are so informed you're in fear cut the news off and open up the word of God and begin to speak it over your soul shift your focus that disciples the tragedy of this text is not that they were locked in a road is that they were locked in to the fear and not just fear also anxiety because there's a difference between fear and anxiety fear is an emotional response to a perceived or real threat that is imminent anxiety is different anxiety is the anticipation of our future threat oh yeah fear is like a thunderstorm it comes and it goes to the side but anxiety is like a constant rain that just drowns out your soul there they have anxiety in this room think about this they're looking around going they just kill Jesus I wonder if they're coming after me anxiety had filled their hearts you know how it is when every every noise makes you go home what is that what is that they had anxiety I can feel the disciples a little bit I had one of those moments have you ever watched something scary and then had some scary happen while you're watching something that was scary not so long ago I was watching this movie that I will not give you the title of especially during a quarantine you do not need to watch this movie because it feels like we are living in this movie right now but in this movie it was a post-apocalyptic movie and there was a family who was just trying to survive they've gone down the aisles all the toilet tissue was gone barely any food there I mean it's a post-apocalyptic movie and the family is in fear and they have anxiety because these these extraterrestrial monsters in the time they were blind but they had an acute sense of hearing these monsters were blind but they could hear so all throughout the movie the family is walking in silence trying to make sure they don't make a noise before these extraterrestrial monsters who can hear just come out and grab them so I am watching this movie by myself in the bedroom one night I don't know why and I'm watching it and like 90% of the movie is in silence because the monsters as soon as they hear noise they come after you so I'm watching this movie and it's quiet and I'm doing everything the characters are doing on the screen when they're quiet I'm quiet when they're sweating I'm sweating when their heart starts beating my heart starts beating and as I'm watching this movie my anxiety is high the movies quiet I'm quiet and all of a sudden in silence in the quiet I hear hey what do you want for dinner I almost passed out Taylor screaming in the background like we bout to be dinner because these monsters that have an acute sense of hearing about to kill us I almost passed out the anxiety this is what the disciples are feeling in that room that date their anxiety is and watch this right in the midst of their anxiety here comes Jesus straight out of a Stephen King novel or M night Shyamalan movie Jesus just appears in the room read your Bible that's what it says he just appears in the room I don't know if he came through thin air I don't know if he walked through the wall all I know is that the door was a lot the disciples have anxiety and Jesus just sure up in the room they're afraid and Jesus just shows up in the room they've got anxiety and Jesus just shows up in the room they feel like they're about to die and Jesus just shows up in the room they knew they lock the door but Jesus just shows up in the room I want to pause right here and thank God that he can show up in locked places that place is where you lock the door you were sure he can't get in here nobody can get in how many no there is no locked door that our God can't get through come on he just got up from the grave surely he can walk through a wall or a locked door he can come into any area of your life hear me today wherever you are watching this there is no locked place that your God cannot invade he can step in and show up even in the midst of your fear and your anxiety he just showed up what do you do when you're locked in number one you shift your focus but number two welcome his presence welcomed his presence when you are locked in shift your focus but welcomed his presence it's lonely in this sanctuary right now incredibly lonely I can't wait till we gather again and I can hear people shouting and clapping and giving God praise the building is closed we're used to being in this building saying God we welcome your presence here but perhaps in this season God's trying to show some of us that the same presence you welcomed in the church building can be welcomed right there into your house you need in your house right now and say god I welcome your presence in this living room I welcome your presence in this bedroom I welcome your presence in my kid's room I welcome your presence in this kitchen welcome his presence what do you do when you're locked in you welcome his presence the disciples they didn't welcome his presence they actually were terrified they were scared to death that Jesus just showed up in fact I want us to in Luke's account Luke's gives us some details that John doesn't give he says they thought they were seeing a ghost and they were scared half to death he continued with him don't be upset and don't let all these doubting questions take over look at my hands look at my feet it's really me touch me look me over from head to toe a ghost doesn't have muscle and bone like this as he said this he showed them his hands and feet they still couldn't believe what they were seeing it was too much it seemed too good to be true they did not welcome his presence they were terrified in his presence to the point they believed he was a ghost they're like no he's not real he's not real they thought he was a ghost that sounds familiar when was the last time they were afraid and thought he was a ghost oh I remember when he was walking on the water one night in the midst of a storm and these same disciples were scared and they thought he was a ghost and didn't believe him in that funny that whether he was walking on water or walking through a wall they did not believe he was really Jesus they thought he was a ghost because they were scared you know I'm telling you to welcome his presence it's because often when we are worried you will wonder if he's really with you often when you are scared to death those are the times you question God is that really you are you a ghost in Luke's account they made him eat a piece of fish to prove that he was real yes I know some disciples had to be black they just they just had to be like now I ain't with this exorcism stuff now now hold on hold on I see dead people back up a little bit Jesus honk get that catfish out of the fridge and then give it to him and if he eats it he's not a goat they didn't even believe that he wasn't a ghost because when you are worried sometimes you wonder whether he's really with you can I tell you even when you're worried he's with you can I tell you that our God psalm says is an ever-present help in the time of trouble some people don't want trouble how many know if you're avoiding trouble you're avoiding God to be an ever-present help in that trouble he is an ever-present help don't you let that worry make you wonder if he's with you it's not a ghost he is there welcome welcome his presence I love it because if they would have welcomed his presence which he forced them to he took their focus he said here's how he do it did it he said come here touch my wounds feel the wounds in my sod fill the wounds in my hands fill the wounds and my feet and as they came close and felt the wounds of this resurrected Jesus they realized he's real and immediately their fear turned to joy their circumstance didn't change but because of their focus was on him and because they welcomed his presence and touched his wounds immediately their fear turned in to joy welcomed his presence those wounds represented then he paid the price for sin did he nobody else could know that my presence is real with you even in your fear even in your anxiety I love it because he didn't just have them touch his wounds he also spoke a word you ever noticed the first words that came out of the mouth of the resurrected Jesus the first words to these frightened disciples out of the mouth of a resurrected Jesus was peace be with you the first thing he said to him was peace be with you as a matter of fact he said it twice he said peace be with you later said peace be with you then breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit just as my father sent me I am sending you first words peace be with you you didn't even have to say it cuz how many know Jesus is peace he is the personification of peace but yet his first words resurrected or peace be with you what do you do when you're locked in number one you shift your focus number two you welcome his presence number three you receive his peace receive his peace he said peace be with you now a surface level peace be with you is a common greeting then many Jews would have used they still use it today but how do you know coming out of the mouth of a resurrected Jesus Oh peace be with you much deeper than a greeting Oh peace be with you had power coming out of the mouth of Jesus when he said peace be with you the first time how many know that's proof positive that he is the Prince of Peace not the Prince of petit because come on I'm being with you that's me if that's me and I went to the cross and the disciples deserted me the way they deserted Jesus you know they just ran as soon as things got a rough every single one of them deserted him not just Peter all of them forsook him and walked away so if it's me and I thought from the grave like I told you I was going to do and I come through the wall in a room please believe the first words out of my mouth are not gonna be peace be with you the words out of my mouth it'll be what were you not for it where were you when I needed you surely the disciples had to be feeling some guilt in that moment it wasn't just Peter that denied them all of them denied him and yet even after denying them him even for their feelings of guilt here walks in Grace saying peace be with you peace be with you was the declaration out of the mouth of a resurrected Savior that can only be declared because of a crucified Savior who said it is finished receive his peace watch this from your past receive piste for the sins of the past that is what he's saying to them didn't no matter what you've done in your past it no matter how messed up your past has been how many no because of what Jesus did on that cross you can have peace some of you keep letting me replay your past mistakes replay all the things you did wrong and you think God is in heaven mad at you no can I tell you he is not mad at you he is in love with you because he already paid the price for the sand so why do you keep beating yourself up about it peace be with you that peace is able to go back to every sin that has ever been committed that will ever be committed peace be with you that means you don't have to have guilt over your past I love this idea of peace it's actually what the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans chapter 5 I want to read this to you this is a powerful passage of Scripture in Romans chapter 5 received his peace peace over your past Paul says this therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and we boast in the hope of the glory of God we have what we've done in our past because of the price that Jesus paid on the cross he doesn't just say peace be still once he says peace be still again the first time was for my past the second time is for my present I need peace with God because only Jesus could pay the debt of sin and when he said it is finished the debt the debt was completely paid I have peace over my sin over the mistakes of my past I am in right standing with God but how me you know I need the second peace be with you because I need peace right I need peace in my present I need peace in the midst of all that is going on in the world right now I need present peace this is the piece that the Apostle Paul talks about in Philippians chapter 4 where he says do not be anxious about anything but in everything in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus that peace is the peace that allows you to be calm in the middle of the storm you know how Paul is writing about peace and Philippians how in the world can this apostle write about peace because you know where he is he's not on a palatial island he is not in paradise he's in prison he's locked up but how many you know it has nothing to do with where you are in life sometimes you don't get to pick where you are but I can always choose when I'm locked in to see Paul understand the power of a lot to understood the power of being locked in the power of focus he said yes I'm in this prison but I can still have peace do you know how many things Paul wrote being locked up but he was locked in come on when he was a locked in he said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me when he was locked up but locked in he said I've learned in whatever state I'm in therewith to be content when he was locked up but locked in he understood that heaven and earth may pass away but his word won't pass away you can be locked up but still locked in to who Jesus is where's your focus I know some of you're going crazy because you're locked in a room locked in the house you can't help that but can I tell you today you can choose what your lock do you can choose your focus what do you do when you're locked in number one you got to shift your focus number two you got to welcome his presence he can meet you wherever you are number three receive his base I have peace with God because of the price that Jesus paid I have peace in my presence in my present because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives me calm in the midst of the storm lot and I'm gonna ask you to bow your head wherever you are I'm ask you to close your eyes and just find you a place of quiet father I thank you today for your word but I thank you in the midst of the storm and the midst of all of the challenges in the midst of expectations that have died people that we love that have died plans being wrecked schedules being ruined father I thank you that we can still choose our lock in what I pray today that our focus would be on you god that we would fix our eyes on you just as you did father you said for the joy that was set before you you endured the cross despising his shame father even with the cross in front of you you had a lock in to Joy on the other side so Lord in this time in this season I pray that even if we're locked up Lord we will fix our lock in on you but I pray we would welcome your presence that we would receive your piece right there with your head bowed and your eyes closed I want to pray for two groups of people some of you if you're honest you don't have peace with God not because he hasn't paid the price but because you have not confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and I love it because salvation is a free gift that you receive don't let the enemy lie to you you don't have to fix yourself to come to God you don't have to get yourself together you come to them just as you are you can have peace with God because of what Jesus did on the cross so that's you when you're watching this wherever you are he said you know if I'm honest I'm not so rendered in my life to Jesus but today today I've got to give him my life I want a peace that the world can't give that money can't buy a peace that is a solid foundation because of the finished work of Jesus he said it is finished so that he could declare peace be with you the suu never surrendered your life to Jesus would you just lift up your hand right where you are I know it might seem awkward people might be in their own ESCO but just right where you are God says you lift up your hand thank you you can put it right back down I want to pray for somebody who says you know what I need peace and my present you're saying I've surrendered my life to Jesus but I'm seeing some scary stuff right now and I need peace in the prison I need to shift my focus back to who Jesus is if that's you I believe God's gonna give you that peace even right now this is the moment for the church to show peace in the midst of the storm if you need that peace would you just lift up your hand thank you God I want you to repeat this prayer after me especially if you lift up your hand that first time would you say this from your heart I'm gonna give you the words but you declare it from your heart just say dear Jesus thank you so much I have peace with you God because of the price that Jesus paid on the cross so today I declare you are the son of God you live for me you died for me you are coming back for me but until that day all that I am is yours until that day I will have peace even in suffering I will have peace in the midst of the storm lord help me to be locked in to you I welcome your presence into every area of my life and I receive your peace in Jesus name

Channel: Trinity Church Cedar Hill

Views: 38,218

Rating: 4.9274807 out of 5

Keywords: TrinityChurch, Trinity, Church, CedarHill, Robert Madu, Locked in, Robert Madu new message, social Dallas

Id: HWGHaax2OPY

Length: 41min 53sec (2513 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 30 2020