Episode Details

The tomb was never meant to be your permanent address.

In this message from Matthew 17:22–23, Jesus tells His disciples He will be killed — and on the third day raised to life. Pastor Mike shows that what exposed the disciples wasn't their grief, it was what they stopped at. They heard death and went no further. The same negativity bias that drove Sarah to laugh at a promise, Peter to rebuke the Messiah, and Mary to arrive at an empty tomb carrying embalming spices — is the same pull that keeps people circling graveyards of disappointment, looking for evidence that confirms what they've already decided isn't coming back.

Pastor Mike traces the pattern through Scripture — from Adam hiding in shame from the God who gave him everything, to Cleopas walking beside the risen Jesus talking only about His death, to Judas, who had seen every prediction come true and still couldn't hold on for the third day. The tragedy is always the same: two realities are presented, and we camp in the lesser one. But death was never the design — the tree God never forbade was the tree of life. And the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, which means nothing in your life has to stop at the grave either. Whatever sin and death have taken, resurrection has a claim on it.

Because the grave is just a place — emptied. He is not there, and you don't have to be there either. Stop looking for what died. Start looking for the One who lives — and look until you find Him in everything.

We'd love to hear how the messages are transforming your view of God and your life.