Ep 170: Resurrection Morning And The Empty Tomb (Part 2)

"DO you understand how the Resurrection of Jesus is the greatest FEAT in all history? Today, we continue with our examination of the empty tomb and its implications for US."

You can spend your whole life trying to become a “better swimmer” and still never cross an impossible ocean. That is the tension Pastor Teddy (Fred David Kenney Jr.) presses today as we return to the Resurrection Sunday message and sit with the implications of the empty tomb. The claim is simple and disruptive: we do not rescue ourselves with good works or spiritual upgrades. Jesus comes to us, removes the chain of sin, and brings us to God.

We connect the resurrection of Jesus to the Bible’s deeper threads, including the third day pattern and the Feast of First Fruits, then we open Isaiah 53 and follow the prophecy beyond suffering into life that continues. From there, we lay out a memorable case for evidence with FEAT: Jesus’ Fatality, the Empty tomb, His Appearances, and the Transformation that follows. The disciples are changed, Mary Magdalene is changed, and the risen Christ still changes people across history, including stories of hope that surface in the darkest places.

The conversation also gets personal: do we treat prayer like a quick ritual, or do we live like we actually have access to God Almighty? We talk about Jesus as the Light of the world, how we become lamps only because He lives through us, and why gratitude should shape our daily walk. We close by taking communion together and pointing everything back to “It is finished”.

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Transcript

The Boat That Saves

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Lord, you know. You're now listening to play is the best. It doesn't matter. And all the religions of the world are running around like clowns. I'll show you how to do a better backstroke to make you a little bit better. I don't need to be better. I need to be made perfect. I need to have this ball and chain removed. And this is the gospel message. I can't swim to God. I can't get over there. No matter what I do, my good works are never gonna get me all the way over there. What did Jesus do? He came over in a boat. In fact, he is the boat.

Welcome And Easter Message Return

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Do you understand how the resurrection of Jesus is the greatest feat in all history? Today we continue with our examination of the empty tomb and its implications for us.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Hello, and welcome to Place on Word Radio, where we discuss, analyze, work, and play on the Word of God. Thank you for joining us on the Sixth Thursday today. Let's join Pastor Teddy, also known as Fred David Kenny Jr., the founder of Place on Word Theater, as he does a deep dive into the Word of God.

One Road To Eternal Life

Third Day And First Fruits

Isaiah 53 And Resurrection Hope

FEAT Proof For The Resurrection

Lives Transformed By The Risen Christ

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Okay, so last week we uh actually thank you very much, Josh Taylor and Katie Kenny, for that spectacular introduction again. Uh forgive me for n for just jumping into it. I just wanted to um say welcome to everybody and say thank you to my wife and to Josh Taylor, my dear brother in Christ. And um last week we uh were checking out the Resurrection Sunday, Easter Sunday message that we delivered at Calvary Chapel Southport in North Carolina, my home church, where I'm the senior pastor there. And um we we checked out the message, but we didn't finish it, so guess what we're doing today? We don't want to find ourselves every every road leads to God, but there's only one that leads to eternal life, and that's through Christ. There's only one. This is not an image that was taken 2,000 years ago, but this is just like you know, just an imagination of what walking out of the tomb would have been like for him. The tomb was definitely empty. And it it was on the third day that all this went down. And that should, we just went through Genesis, so that might remind us of what we looked at in Genesis. Let's see if I have the slide up there. I don't have my monitor. Yes. In Genesis 1, um, when God was making everything and he saw it was good, listen to this. And God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plant plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit. In which there is their seed, each according to its kind on the earth. And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning. When? The third day. So you're telling me the first fruits came forth on the third day. Is that not something? The feast of first fruits happens on the day. You see, you have Passover, which is like Thursday, Friday, then Saturday is the unleavened bread feast, and then Sunday, the first day of the week, starts the feast of first fruits. Christ is the first first, he's first preeminent over all creation. He was, is, and always will be. But, you know, he's the first over all, he's he's he's the one. He's the goat, the greatest of all time. Do you guys follow me on that or am I off in the weeds again with the first fruits? Christ is our first fruits. Isaiah 50. Okay, we we read we read from uh Psalm 22, we also read from Isaiah 53, and I didn't finish those. And um in Isaiah 53, let me just read, I'll read the continuation of Isaiah 53. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him, he has put him to grief. And that's where we stopped on Friday. You know, he he he his grave was made with the transgressors, right? And that's where we stopped on Friday. But look at look at the continuation. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, and that was our guilt, not his, he was innocent. He shall see his offspring and he shall prolong his days, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. This is someone that's alive. This points to the resurrection of this servant that goes to death, poured out his soul unto death, but yet he's alive. And this right here we see as the resurrection. So the world scoffs and like rolls their eyes. Ah, the resurrection. Well, come on, man, whatever. Let me tell you something. The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest feat ever. It's the greatest feat. And remember that as an acronym. I usually teach this, I tell this, feat, F-E-A-T. It's a great way to remember it. Listen, Jesus was absolutely the F is fatality or fatally wounded. He absolutely was killed. There's no question about whether or not he died or not. The Romans didn't make mistakes when it came to killing people, they perfected it. The term crucifixion comes from comes from the word uh uh uh the term excruciating comes from the what we call the crucifixion. Because they had to invent a word to talk about how hard it was, to try to describe it. Jesus definitely died. There's not a question that he, you know, you know, he didn't swoon. It wasn't somebody that, you know, he didn't come off the cross and all the disciples put their faith in him as he's limping around and all beat up and trying to, you know, has a hole in his side and the holes in his hands, and like he's our resurrected king. No, that's not how it went down. No, he definitely died. His life left the flesh. The tomb was definitely empty. That's the E in feet. All they had to do to stop Christianity was say, here's the body. Here's his body, right here. But they didn't know where the body was. The people that hated him didn't know where the body was. Where's his bottom line is the tomb was empty. Then the A is he made appearances, like what we just read. We made an appearance with Mary. He appeared to the disciples, he appeared to Peter. He appeared to 500 people at the same time on the hill. All of this stuff is testimony that would be submissible in court to make a case. He made appearances. Ah, but then the T is the transformation. First with the disciples. You look at the disciples, Peter was basically scared of this little servant girl on Friday, or Thursday and Friday, or Thursday, going into Friday, Thursday night when the fire, when he was by the fire, this servant girl, three times he denied that he knew Jesus. He was scared and acted like a coward. But 50 days from right now, on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit hits the church, he's up there proclaiming, almost in the same area, proclaiming the truth about Jesus boldly, and his life is drastically changed. Why? Because he had an encounter with the risen Christ. He encountered him. Mary, the one we uh Mary Magdalene, who saw him, she she you can't tell me she she was the same person after she saw the risen Jesus when she said Rabboni. Oh my god, it's you. Oh my god. And she clung and didn't want, she wasn't trying to let him go. She was like, no, you're not, you're not leaving me this time. And he was like, don't cling to me. No, no, I'm not, I haven't ascended to my father yet. Her life was never the same. But it's not just the disciples. This same risen Jesus for the last 2,000 years has been transforming people's lives. I would be willing to bet a lot of people in this room, if I ask for a show of hands, don't have to do it. But they would say, Yeah, I'm one of those people that has encountered this risen Christ. Might not have seen him. But undeniable that he's in my life. He's working in my life, he speaks to me, speaks to my heart, directs my steps, protects me, sometimes chastise me, lets me know when I'm wrong. Only someone who loves us is going to do that. This same Jesus has transformed people's lives. Now, I'll tell you, I don't know if it's a Christian myth or what, but there's a story about this, and I want to say it was in the Philippines or out in the South Pacific, you guys would probably know. During World War II, uh, this lady was taken captive by the Japanese, and she was in a prison camp, and it was terrible. And then she was released, the war was over, and six, seven, eight years later, some Christian missionaries come through and they're preaching the gospel. And she is sitting back listening as they're preaching the gospel. And she comes up after, she comes down to the to the pastor and I guess his wife or whatever, and afterwards, and she says, Now I know his name. She says, This Christ you're preaching about, he's the one who visited me when I was in prison. She had an encounter with him while she was in prison, man. And she said, I didn't know his name. How amazing is that? To this day, this same Jesus is transforming people's. I know evidence in my life. I have not, I'm I'm blaming everything on him. Everything weird with me.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

You guys, because it it it wow, I got an amen.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

I didn't even ask for an amen. Oh Lord. Oh Lord, yeah, but she it's it's I'm telling you, it's amazing. She's she's she told them he he was with me when I was in prison. I knew him, he interacted with me. I just didn't know his name. Now I know his name. And you can't tell me no different. I know, I know my Redeemer lives.

unknown 11:40

Amen.

Has He Transformed Your Life

Light Of The World And Us

Do Not Take Access For Granted

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Amen to that. So, in closing, my question is, has he has let me post this question. Has he transformed your life? I mean, it's more this this listen, he he's risen, he's risen indeed, he is alive. He wants more than to just be called right before you chow down for five seconds. If that's your communication with God, did you did you pray today? I said grace. Okay. He shed his blood for a relationship, though, with us to walk with us in every step we take of life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. He's like, I'll be with you in the valley of the shadow of death. I'll be with you. I'm not gonna keep you from difficulty because in difficulty you get to know my strength. You get to know the descent of my cologne, man. You do you get the intimate with me when you need me. Jesus is indeed the light of the world. I pray, I'm telling you, I pray that every single person here leaves more anointed than when you came in by his spirit, and that your relationship with him flourishes in new ways from this point on. Jesus said, He's the light of the world. He says, Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And then he also says, in a different gospel, he says to the disciples on the Sermon on the Mount, he says, You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp or put it under a basket, but on a stand or an easel. And it gives light in all the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to God, to your Father who is in heaven. And of course, we don't generate this light. It only comes from him living through us. That's the key. He's the light of the world, and he said, guess what? You guys are going to be my lamps. When he says you're the light of the world, he is the power and living through us. We can be his lamps here. We don't have to generate it. You don't have to try. Just be. Abide in him. I talked about, I need to make a correction first of all. On Friday, I talked about this app that Katie has where she tracks me. And actually, I must make the correction. I probably track her more than she tracks me. Not probably, I do.

unknown 14:43

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

I need to tell you this story. When the women's women got together at Pat's house for that first meeting at Pat's house, the women's meeting, uh, I was coming to, I went to pick Katie up. I was going to pick her up, you know? So I said, oh, I have that app. That's right. So I'm looking at the app, and I can see she's on the map, I can see she's at Pat's house. All of a sudden, she starts moving.

unknown 15:10

I'm like, what?

Moving Toward Communion Together

Religion Versus The Gospel Boat

Prayer Of Thanks And Blessing

Send The Link To Someone

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Wait, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to Pat's house. I call, goes to voicemail. I call, who's she with? Uh, she's with Louise and she's with D. Let me call Louise. Louise, voicemail. Katie's moving along, and I'm like, I don't, I'm supposed to be meeting her in this location. I call D. D finally picks up. Oh, hi, Pastor. Where's my wife? You're a fellowshipping. The point is, though, the point, the point is, you know, I'm amazed at the access that we have. And I, you know, we I just take for granted, oh, I can just, I can find my wife, boom. Or I take for granted that I have access and or that we can communicate the way we do. And I said on Friday, let's not take for granted that we have access to God Almighty, because it didn't have to be the way it is. But the fact that it is the way it is shows glory on his side and it makes it makes it even more spectacular when you just dwell on what he did for us so that we would have access to the Father, that we would be able to walk righteous in his sight, and for all eternity have a hope for a future. Let us not, absolutely, let us not take for granted. Let us be thankful about that and be grateful, especially on what this day represents. So we're gonna take communion and we're gonna have, I think we have we're gonna have our usher pass this out. Let me take one. I'll take mine. Oh, you're going up front. Yeah, I'll take mine. There we go. The world would love to tell us that you know that Christianity is just another religion. You know, just one among many. Well, we're us followers of Christ, you know, being a Christian, actually, that you that was a pejorative when it first came out. It was uh used as a put down. Oh, they're Christians. Those are followers of Christ. Followers of the way. That's what they that's what we identified ourselves as before. We were, oh, I'm of the way. The way. The way, the truth, and the life. That's what Jesus is. He's the way to God. And many religions, many religions specialize in trying to teach you how to be incrementally back better. I don't need to know how to be better. I need my sin removed. This is the this is the problem. You guys remember that Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps? Remember him? He could swim, he was a fish. I mean, he could swim fast and far. If I went down to the Southport, that way, and Michael Phelps came down there, and we both had our bathing suits on, and we started swimming. We'll strike that from the tape. Oh, D, we love you. Um, so but we start swimming. It doesn't matter that he's better than me. Why? Because we have to swim to France. Okay? It doesn't matter that he's a better swimmer. All the religions of the world are like, here, I'll show you how to do a backstroke better. Um, here, I'll I'll show you um how to float better. I don't need to know that. My problem is I have this ball and chain on me, which is my sin, and I have to span this gulf of the Atlantic Ocean. That's impossible. The distance between sinful man and a holy God is way greater than the Atlantic Ocean. But I'm just trying to give you something to grasp here. It doesn't matter. And all the religions of the world are running around like clowns. I'll show you how to do a better backstroke to make you a little bit better. I don't need to be better. I need to be made perfect. I need to have this ball and chain removed. And this is the gospel message. I can't swim to God, I can't get over there. No matter what I do, my good works are never gonna get me all the way over there. What did Jesus do? He came over in a boat. In fact, he is the boat. He came over in a boat and he cut off the ball and chain of my sin and said, get in, man. And by faith, I'm with you, man. I'm with you. I'm getting in the boat. He's the one who brings us to God, to a right relationship with God. All other good deeds, and listen, I'm begging you, if you're trusting on your good deeds, if you were, God forbid, but if you were to die today, and I pray it doesn't happen, but if you were to die today and you find yourself in front of God's desk and he says, Why should I let you in here? You better not start with, well, I was a I did a couple good things, you know, I was a, I did a couple, I did, I was good. No, that's not how you do it. The only way, the only ticket in is I'm trusting in your son. He's my redeemer. And as far as I know, my debt's been paid. He said to Telestai. He said it's finished. My debt's been paid. And the father would look and say, of course, this is not. Don't send me any emails on this thing. Okay, the father, this is just a hypothetical little thing to grab. The father would say, You're right. Your debt, your debt is paid. I see Christ when I see you. Enter in. And it was all because of what he did and what we celebrate. So let's partake. He said on the night that he was betrayed, on Thursday, he took the bread and he said, This is my body. This is my body. Give him for you. The Lamb of God. This is the bread of life. Unleavened bread. And he broke it and passed it out. And they all partook. Let's partake. And after. He took the cup. And he said, This is the new covenant in my blood. And I'm not going to drink it. I'm not going to drink of the fruit of the vine again until I drink it anew in my father's kingdom. And he passed the cup to his guys. He didn't partake of it. He passed it on to them. And they all partook. So let's partake. The day's coming when he does partake. And we're going to be there with him as he partakes of the fruit of the vine. In the kingdom where righteousness rules. Amen. Amen, church. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you, we praise you. We love you. There's none like you, Lord God. We pray and we thank you, Lord, so much for what you did for us. And Lord, I just pray for everybody in this room that we would just have a just a special joy from you, Lord, as we leave up out of here. Amen. That includes you in the radio right now. And may you be with us, Lord God, in every aspect of life. And even I pray that you would show us how you would have us live, that we would live lives pleasing to you by the power of your spirit. I pray this in the mighty name of Christ Jesus. And all God's people says. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey, thank you for joining us for this episode of Plays on Word Radio. Until next week. Hey. Tune in next week. And you know, send this link to somebody else. Just out of the Lord's gonna put somebody on your heart. Somebody needs to hear it. Alright? Send them this link. And uh until we meet again, the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

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