First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. A Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast and remember, there's power at the Park.

Turn, if you would, or move in your devices to the last chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Saint Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28. Many of us know the end of that passage that deals with the Great Commission and it's really the mandate upon all Christians, 19 and 20.

We focus this morning, as we would have to because this is such a signal moment, Matthew 28 beginning at verse 1. The New Living Translation says early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.

His face shone like lightning and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid," he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here. He is risen from the dead just as he said would happen. Come, see where the body was lying."

"And now go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I've told you." The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy and they rushed to give the disciples the angel's message.

And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid. Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee and they will see me there." Thus far the words of God. You may go to your seats around the building.

In this worship experience, I want to come back to verse number 5. Matthew 28:5. "Then the angel spoke to the women. 'Don't be afraid,' he said. 'I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. I know you were looking for Jesus.'" The title of this message, "Looking for Something?" I had to put a certain emphasis. "Looking for Something?" That's the question that can be asked on this resurrection morning.

Looking for something. The reality of it is anytime you come to worship, you ought to be looking for something. You're not just simply coming to check the box, but you're coming that you might have some kind of encounter with God. Not just to be a hearer but to be a doer. There's this sense of expectation and anticipation.

Even worship today is a day to get excited about. I didn't know how many candidates we would baptize. I figured it would be in double digits, but I was still restless and excited about being able to see new life, a new start, a fresh start, and possibilities when potential is realized. All of these things that can line up in our lives, that sense of looking for something or someone who could fill our dry spaces.

Wherever the emptiness is, whatever the challenges are, we serve a God who can meet us. These women, during this month that we celebrate women and Women's History Month, the Scripture tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come early in the morning. And as they come early in the morning, they are pleasantly surprised. Some could say shocked because something has happened.

And again, they did not know. They were trying to compute what is this that has happened during these early hours. That's what makes this baptism this morning so special, that we can get up early in the morning and see persons going down into the liquid stream. I talked last night as I lifted a passage from 1 Peter and, of course, we were relating to the Noah event.

Of course, the Noah event where eight persons were able to survive death because they had made preparation, the building of the ark. And so that when the waters start to rise, they had already made certain provisions. When the waters rise in your life, will you be ready? When storms come, when challenges meet us, looking for something.

Three areas we're going to look at this morning in this worship experience. Number one, Jesus can meet us at our most difficult moments. No matter how difficult your life might seem, God can meet you. So good to see you Trustee Bernstein Allen, Dr. Nat, good to see you in worship. We've been praying and what a joy it is to look out and see your face.

But the reality of it is no matter how difficult the moment. And persons who are in this room today, you've had to bury relatives. You've had to deal with all kinds of challenges, even this week with the disaster in Baltimore as persons are not only affected in terms of the loss of life, but then the loss of economy. And persons who are depending on that kind of financial release. And so no matter what comes our way, Jesus can meet us at our most difficult moments.

The second thing is that we realize in this worship experience, Chairman McCormick and Chairman Williams, that God is still rolling stones away. What is that which blocks you? Blocks you from your praise and adoration unto God. What is it that blocks you from being able to lift up your head and keep pressing forward? What is it that blocks you?

But I want to tell you that whatever blocks you, God is still able to roll stones away. But not only can he roll stones away, he can roll boulders away. Oh yeah, no matter how heavy because the reality of it is that nothing is too hard for God.

The third thing in this worship experience is that once you receive clarity, you need to act with urgency. Oh yeah, I got clarity, so I've got to move quickly. I have to have a sense of urgency. I've got to have some pep in my step. I've got to have some joy. My God, I can look forward to the tomorrow and I'm able to realize that the Hebrew writer said without faith, it is impossible to please God.

So as I go to that next moment, that next day, I'm realizing that I'm moving faith-strong. Here it is. We back up to number one, that Jesus can meet us at our most difficult moments. It was early in the morning and as these women are now coming, they're coming to this place and they find an angel who was able to have a dialogue with them.

Oh yeah, when they come, and I'm thanking God that it says the angel spoke to the women. And the first thing the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid." Oh, because they thought, "My God, this was some spooky movie." They thought that this was a scary moment, but the angel said, "I don't want you to be afraid."

And that might be a message for somebody who is in this room today or listening and watching online and you need to know, here it is, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. My God, we can all have fear. I can think much younger than I was, I was afraid to get in front of people and it would make me nervous and I didn't want to get in front of all these people.

But thanks be to God that the Lord can speak to you. And when he speaks to you, he can give you a level of confidence. Well, those years ago when I would stand before people, before I had some LASIK surgery to my eyes, I wouldn't stand before people with my glasses on and all I was seeing was a blur. And so that's the way I handled it. I handled it because I'm not going to worry about the people looking at me.

Oh, I'm just going to act like I can see them, but I can't see a thing. Do I have a witness here? But sometimes you've got to learn the different tricks to be able to move you from where you are to where God wants to take you. Somebody out there, you don't like needles and so you've got to figure out how I'm going to take a shot. And some of you start praying, looking another direction.

Even a nurse told me that he said cough at the very time that I give you the needle and you won't think about the needle. In other words, I'm trying to point you to a distraction. The angel spoke to them. "Don't be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus." Now, the great thing is that these women were coming and they were looking for Jesus.

I thank God that when I come to church, you ought to come and we ought to come to church looking for Jesus. We come to church looking for Jesus, not looking for people I know. You've got all kind of dating apps and I know we've got all kind of business ways of connecting, but when you come to the house of God and I'm looking around because we've got big-time politicians in the house, we've got all kind of great professionals, we've got a whole lot of success stories and great testimonies.

But when we come to the house of God, we drop off all of that at the door because when we come through our doors, we are looking for Jesus. We're looking for the Lord to speak a word into our life. We're looking for the Lord to give us strength and confidence that we can make it. And somebody can come and you are reminded about the times when somebody brought you to church and you didn't really want to come.

But I'm thanking for God that now you can come and they're on the other side. But thank God for every seed they planted in our life. I wish I had a witness here. But it said the angel said, "Don't be afraid. I don't want fear to be a factor in your life. Don't be afraid." Oh yeah, I know because this region is still shaking from what happened on Friday.

On Friday as we looked at Jesus hanging on the cross and as I mentioned last night in the Saturday experience, I told them that in Max Lucado's book, *Six Hours on the Cross*, it was longer than many times we talk about twelve to three. But Max Lucado said it might have been from 9:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon. Well, I've come to tell you that that event had shaken the region just like this region has been shaken now by the bridge going down in Baltimore.

And I know that's some folks' "And that's why I don't like to drive over bridges and that's why I don't like all that water." And my God, but the angel says to all of us, "Don't be afraid." Oh, you've got to depend on God. And why am I not going to be afraid? Because the angel said he isn't in here. He is risen from the dead just as he said would happen.

And I'm, as a matter of fact, I'm going to take you now where he was. Oh yeah, his body was lying there, but he got up and he's gone now. But I want you to know, and now I want you to go. I know you came in here and you thought that you were going, I don't know what they thought. They thought there might when they came there was a boulder out front and guards were out front.

But here they are when they come there. The guards are frozen like statues and the rock, the boulder, the stone has been rolled away. Like if you go out in our hallway, you can see a depiction of that. All week long there was a rock in front of that cross, but that rock has been rolled away. And the angel said, "Come see where the body was lying."

"And now I want you to go quickly and tell his disciples." I don't know why brothers got so much problem with the sisters and even some places where they say I don't believe in women ministers and women doing this and that. Well, look here in the word of God because when you look at that seventh verse, the question would be if we were depending on the brothers, where would we be?

Do we have a witness here? Because, my God, it was two women who came out there. And then when they got it, it said the angel spoke to them and said, "Now go quickly and tell his disciples. Tell them that he has risen from the dead and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. And when you get there, you're going to see him. And when you see him, I want you to remember what I have told you."

That's what the word of God. Because sometimes you're going to read the word of God and you're not really going to understand it. But then as life will come along, some of the things that you read, some of the things that you were taught, some of the things you heard in a revival or a church service, I'm going to remember what you told me. I'm thanking God that I can look back over my life and celebrate how far the Lord has brought me and the Lord is not through with me.

And that's why I'm going to give God some praise. I want you to remember. Now, now let me say it this way. Sometimes remembrance can be a great thing. You can just think about what the Lord has done. Look back over your life. Thank God for what the Lord has done. Not one of us is worthy to be in this room this morning. Not one of us, I don't care how special you think you are, not one of us earned to get here.

We are here by the grace of God. And since I'm here on resurrection morning by the grace of God, I'm going to give God all the glory, all the praise, all the adoration. I can't keep it to myself. He said you're going to remember what I told you. And my God, sometimes we had a parent who told us, you're going to remember this someday.

I'm trying to get you, keep you out of trouble and as a matter of fact, that's the struggle we have in our children and our grandchildren because we don't want them to go down some of the roads that we went down. We don't want them to make the same mistakes that we made. So therefore, we love them, we pray for them, and sometimes they think we're mean and all that kind of stuff.

And some of y'all grew up and you had curfews and you had to be in at a certain time and my God. And I had the kind of parents they would sit there and wait for you to come in. I mean, my God, they would just sit and wait. If they gave you a time, they intended for you to come in at that time. And I can remember trying to get to my room and I would have to pass their room and we had some creaky floors and you would be trying to tiptoe, trying to get past their room and then you hear a voice calling out of the darkness, "Is that you?"

Do I have a witness here? As a matter of fact, I'm not the only one. You had some voices calling to you too when you were trying to slip in, my God, and you were trying to tiptoe down the hall. But I've come to tell you, he says you're going to remember when I told you. I'm thanking God that you were pouring into our lives. I'm thanking God that you are speaking truth to power.

I'm thanking God that anytime you show up, you are going to show out. Oh, hallelujah. And so we realize that no matter how difficult things might get, you need Jesus. And somebody's here today. You've tried to do it on secular humanism. You've tried to do it on mother wit. You've tried to do it on old wives' tales, but I need to tell you, you've got to depend on the word of God.

Some people got what I'm trying to live a lucky life. No, I'm not trying to live a lucky life. I want to live a blessed life because a blessed life is the best kind of life that I can ever live. And the second thing I've got to tell you is that God is still rolling stones away. Somebody can shout about that. That you've had some stones in your life and God can roll them away.

He is roll- He's rolling, he's rolling. We talked about that donkey last week and we talked about the mule and how difficult the mule can be. Oh, but God dealt with a mule and God can deal with you and I. Yes, he can. And right here in the word of God, it says that these women came early in the morning. But verse 2 said suddenly there was a great earthquake. Yes, they came and then the angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away, sat on it.

My God, rolled the stone away and sat on it. There's a great image there. Number one, they were excited or frightened to see all of this happen right before their eyes. And some of you have been around and you have been in the presence of an earthquake. An earthquake can shake you up when the ground starts shaking under your feet and the china starts falling down.

I had a friend of mine who was out in Los Angeles at a bad earthquake time and he said to me after that one, he said, "I'm getting out of here. I'm not going to live anywhere where it's going to be this much shaking going on." But here these women come and then there's a great earthquake. And then while they were frozen right there, the angel comes down.

And the angel of the Lord, I need to say, and the angel rolls the stone away. My God, rolling the stone away. It didn't say he had to push it. He didn't have to pull it. He didn't need ten folk. He didn't need an army. All it was was one angel who had to come and look at what the angel does. He rolls the stone away. That doesn't seem too hard, does it?

Because when you're connected to God, the things that would be hard otherwise are not hard with God because nothing is too hard for God. And you can roll- As a matter of fact, somebody's looking at you now, trying to figure out how do you get through what you get through? How do you roll those problems roll off the back? How do you deal with difficult things?

Well, you do it because of the power of the Lord in your life. And somebody's out there and you're trying to do it yourself. You're trying to push it. You're trying to deal with it, but it's too hard, it's too heavy for you. You've got issues in your life and you really need to turn it over to the Lord. Somebody ought to be saying, "Reverend, you need to stop that sermon right now because I have some things I'm trying to push out of the way."

"I've got some things I'm trying to deal with and if I turn it over to you, you can send an angel and the angel can roll the problems away." And then it says, "His face was shining like lightning. His clothing was as white as snow." And the guards shook with fear when they saw him. And then it says, "They fell into a dead faint." My God, in other words, they were frozen right where they were.

And God, my God, is an awesome God. My God can step in. My God can free us up. And I'm free to give God praise. Like I said last night, I've got to repeat it this morning. At my thought, he can liberate you. He can give you a joy that the world can't give to you and a joy the world can't take away. Thank you, Jesus. Those guards were standing there in a dead faint.

But I'm thanking God today that as I lift up the name of Jesus, there's love in that name. There's power in that name. There's thanksgiving in that name. Looking for something? Yeah, I'm looking for something. I'm looking for a miracle. I'm looking for a breakthrough. I'm looking for a breakout. I'm looking for a break-up. Satan, we breaking up. We not hanging out anymore.

I know you tried to stain my life. I know you tried to give me a sad life, a depressed life, but Satan, you can't have my joy because the joy that I have, the world didn't give it to me and the world can't take it away. Well, there's one more thing I've got to tell you, that once you receive clarity, you need to act with urgency. Thank you, God. When you got your clarity, you've got to move quickly.

Thank you, God. I can't keep it to myself. I've got to run on a little while longer, see what the end is going to be. Thank you, God. And that what happens here in the 28th chapter of Matthew. Highland Park, it happens right there. They had a conversation with an angel. And then it says that the women ran quickly from the tomb. They were frightened, very frightened, but also filled with great joy.

And they rushed. That's for you, Francis. They rushed to give the disciples the angel's message. I'm thanking God, you've got to be in a rush. You've got to be in a hurry. Because when you think about what the Lord has done, what the Lord is doing, and potentially what the Lord is going to do, I can't sit down on my praise. I can't hold back on my praise. I've got to let go and let God.

I've got to run on. And as they went, Jesus met them. I'm thanking God, they were moving fast, but no matter how fast you move, Jesus can meet you right where you are, just when you need it. I'm thanking God. It said Jesus met them, greeted them, and then they ran to him, grabbed his feet, and worshiped him. I'm thanking God that they were excited. Yes, Lord.

That the angel told them that Jesus had risen, but now seeing is believing. Thank you, God. It's one thing for you to tell me, but it's another thing for me to see it happen. Do I have some witnesses out there? You've seen the Lord move in your life. You've seen doors open in your life. You saw the door shut, but now the door gets open. And that's why I'm going to praise his name.

I grabbed him at his feet. Hallelujah. They didn't grab him up top. They grabbed him down low. They grabbed him at his feet. And I'm thanking God because the Bible says in order for me to grab him at his feet, they probably more than likely had to fall on their knees. If I'm going to grab Jesus at his feet. But the Bible says every knee is going to have to bow. Every tongue is going to have to confess that Jesus is Lord.

Do I have a witness here? They grabbed him at his feet. We've got too many arrogant folk. We've got too many stuck-up folk. They can't kneel for anybody. But I'm thanking God that these women, they saw Jesus, that same king who rode into the city seven days ago on a mule. But I'm thanking God that now, after all this week, looking at the fig tree, cursing the fig tree, turning the tables over, dealing with Judas, turning his back on him, going from judgment hall to judgment hall, and then hanging on a cross, nails in his hand.

And before he could get to that cross, he had to carry the cross. And then Simon of Cyrene, an African brother, stepped out of the crowd, say, "I want to carry it too." And Jesus, "I'll let you carry it for a little while." The brother ought to shout right there because there's a place for you, an African brother named Simon from Cyrene. And I'm thanking God that Jesus went to that cross. He hung, he bled, he died.

They took his limp body. Thank you, God. They took him to a borrowed tomb because there was a rich man say, "I don't need it right now." And Jesus said, "I only need it for a weekend stay." Because after the weekend, I'm going to be checking out. And as a matter of fact, I don't need a late checkout. I need an early checkout. Early Sunday morning, Jesus checked out. The stone is rolled away.

Do I have a witness? But the other thing about that story, they said the stone is rolled away. The angel was there. Don't miss this because many times we read this scripture and we talk about the stone being rolled away, but here's the other thing that many of us don't get, that when they rolled the stone away, Jesus was already gone.

Come on, come on. They were a little slow over there. When they rolled the stone away, it was early in the morning and they looked in there. Jesus was already gone. Do I have a witness? Do I have a witness? That's what the Lord can do even while the stone was still in place. Jesus could still move. Hallelujah.

Some of you think I can't move until the stone gets moved, but when you get Jesus, the stone can stay right there and God, God can still bless you. Some of you are still dealing with some stones that have not moved. You're praying that they move. Move on your job, move in your family, but God can bless you even with the stone still there. That's my word, Highland Park. Let's give God some praise. Let's give God some praise. He's a mighty, mighty, mighty good God.

Oh, oh, oh, yes he is. Yes he is. And when I get clarity, I can't stay still. But the Bible says I've got to move. I've got to move. I've got to move. Is there anybody here? Is there anybody here? I've got the word. Looking for something? Anyhow. All right. All right. All right.

You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655 or visit us on the world wide web, fbhp.org. And remember, there's power at the Park.