So second chances. I can imagine all of those answers is quite a variety. Second chances are of all different kinds. Um, maybe it could be just, you remember one time that you took a test and you did bad and the teacher said, I'm gonna let you retake that. Or it could be someone who's had a, a health diagnosis and then now you no longer have that diagnosis, kind of a second chance with your life. Or, you know, maybe, maybe it's a, a thing of forgiveness where you had a relationship with someone and something happened and, and you needed their forgiveness and they gave it to you and your relationship came back together. Or maybe you just got a speeding ticket one time and the officer just let you off with a warning. That's my story because my, my dad was the chief of police, so it helped, right? It helped. So, um, you know, second chances, they're for everyone. They're for everyone. I know some of you think, I don't know, I don't know if a second chance would be for me. I kind of need one maybe now, and I'm not sure that that God would give it to me. But let me just say to you, God is the giver of true second chances, and they're born out of his grace, and his grace is abundant. And so there is no one in this room to far gone to receive God's grace and receive a second chance in scripture. There's a woman, her name is Mary Magdalene, and she got a second chance. And I assure you, she is a woman who never thought she would, but she did. Now, you might have heard of Mary Magdalene. There, there are, uh, a lot of times that she is a, she's a prominent part of the story of Jesus and his people. Um, and she often appears in movies and documentaries and novels and that kind of thing. And I can remember over the years I've heard a lot of things about Mary Magdalene and I've questioned that and I've had to go kind look it up and study it to say what you know, and, and so I don't know if that's been part, if you've heard of her, if that's part of your journey or not. I mean, I don't know if, like, when I was a young girl, when Jesus Christ Superstar, I came out on Broadway, uh, they, they like to say that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were romantically involved. Um, I'll just tell you, there's just no evidence of that. Uh, if you read the bestseller Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, he said they were married, Jesus and Mary Magdalene. And, and that's, there's just no evidence that, that there's that, that's true whatsoever. You know, and then some people have said, I think maybe Mary Magdalene might have been the woman caught in adultery, or maybe she was the prostitute who washed the feet of Jesus with her hair. And the fact is those women are unnamed and there's just no reason to think that's Mary Magdalene. So, so who is Mary Magdalene? Now, before we get to that, you might be saying, who are you? I have never seen you in my life up there. And, um, you know, I, I've appreciate, you know, I mean, Greg said, you know, my name is Kimberly, and that is true. And I'm on staff here at The Crossing, uh, been here in St. Louis about two and a half years. I'm married today. We're both on staff. If you've been here since December, you might remember him. He's Mr. Alcatraz. Uh, he's the guy that did the swim from Alcatraz. Uh, some of you have been so very kind to ask me, do I too do triathlons? I do not. No, I take the pictures, I buy the hamburgers afterwards. That's my role in that. Um, but most Sundays I'm at Fenton. So hi to Fenton and welcome to Grants Trail and Mid Rivers are other campuses. And for those of you who are here and in the hub at Chesterfield, we are so glad that you are here. So, who is Mary Magdalene? Really? I think sometimes in those stories, people have felt the need maybe to dramatize something or even sensationalize it to get people's attention to the story. And I will just say the God, the story of God, the story of Jesus and his people is the greatest story ever told. It really doesn't need any adding to. And so here at The Crossing, one of our core values is that we believe the Bible. This book right here tells us everything we need to know about God and his people. Now, you might be here and you have questions about this book. Let me say to you, welcome to The Crossing, because we love questions like that. And we would love to discuss that with you before today. We're gonna look right in here and see who was Mary Magdalene's. So lemme say a quick prayer and we'll get started. So Father God, I thank you for this opportunity. We have to be together, all of us, every campus. And Lord Jesus, we ask that you would speak to each one of us. Now, what do you need each of us to hear? We are listening. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So Mary Magdalene first mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, we learned that she is a follower of Jesus, but we also learned a little bit about her story. It says, soon afterward, Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages preaching and announcing the good news about the kingdom of God. He took his 12 disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. And among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. Now, we don't know anything about Mary Magdalene before this, but right here we learned that she was once demon possessed and Jesus healed her. I mean, it's a big second chance now, I just wanna, I just wanna say out loud, and I realize we, when we talk about demons, when we start talking about evil things, um, I know that that can be uncomfortable. It can elicit some fear. We wonder what that is all about. We get different ideas. Um, but we wanna acknowledge that scripture is clear. It does talk about evil. It does talk about how God is greater than that. And we don't wanna be people who make too much of evil, but we don't wanna be people who make too little of it either. Mary was possessed by seven demons. This was an absolutely without a doubt, a supernatural matter. And we don't know how it came about, that she was possessed by demons during the time of Mary. People dabbled in occultic practices in astrology, and they, it was prevalent among people to do this. And when they did, it created some spiritual problems for them. You know, even in this day and age, I mean, I can say I meet people who dabble in different things like that, looking for answers about God answers to life. And I would just say to you in this moment, uh, it's something we really need to be cautious of. I would, I would caution you in that, in Mary's case, it's possible that she did engage with the occult and somehow she opened herself up to darkness. And however it happened, what we know is Mary ended up with a stronghold in her life that she could not get out of people who experienced this kind of condition they suffered, they were isolated. It was kind of an inner torture, really, to have that kind of darkness consume you was really an indescribable bondage. And a person could only be delivered from this supernatural spiritual condition by God himself. And Jesus did that for Mary. He healed her. And we don't know what it looked like in that moment, but we know that she was free. We know that Jesus looked beyond her condition. We know that Jesus saw her for who she was. He reached past and he healed her, delivered her from it. And she began to follow him. I mean, it was a big, big second chance. Now, I just wanna show you a couple points here about what it does say in scripture about it. What do we really know? And, uh, I'm gonna use the fancy computer. Um, people said, are you nervous following the guest speaker from last week? Yeah. Uh, not as nervous though as I am I using computer while people watch, but that's just me. Here's what we know. I said this, she was healed by Jesus. We know that right after that, she followed Jesus. Then her name really is not mentioned until the cross. Mary Magdalene was at the cross. She saw Jesus crucified. Bible tells us she was at the tomb. She was there when his body was laid in the tomb. And then she was there at the empty tomb. She was there all of those times. The scripture tells us about this encounter she had with Jesus at the empty tomb. It was early in the morning. She came to the tomb. The stone was rolled away. She ran and found Peter and John and told them the body was missing. She didn't know where it was. They went to the tomb. She was right. Then Peter and John went home and Mary stayed. And she stood outside of the tomb crying. And so you might remember, 'cause Greg read this on Easter. If you were here, She Turned to leave and she saw someone standing there. It was Jesus. But she didn't recognize him. Dear woman, why are you crying? Jesus asked her, who are you looking for? She thought he was the gardener, sir. She said, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him. Mary Jesus said, he said her name. She turned to him and cried out rabbi, which is Hebrew for teacher. And the scripture tells us from there she was overcome with emotion. She clung to him. Can you imagine here she is overcome, not just with relief that he's there but overcome with worship because everything he had said was true. At this point she goes running and verse 18 says, Mary Magdalene found the disciples. And she told them, I have seen the Lord. And then she gave him his message. So I want you to think about this. Not long ago, Mary Magdalene was a woman isolated, was a woman possessed by darkness. And now she is the first to witness Jesus resurrected Italian philosopher and scholar. Thomas Aquinas was the first one to call Mary Magdalene the apostle to the apostles. So what's that mean, apostle? I know they'll churchy words. So let's go over that, that an apostle is one who is sent out to tell the message of Jesus Christ. And for Mary in this moment, as she's the first to bear witness to the resurrected Jesus, he commissions her to go and give the message to the disciples who will also be sent out as apostles, making her the apostle to the apostle, the sent one to the scent once. Now, this is more remarkable than you might understand, to be called the Apostle to the apostles. For a woman in Mary's day, women were not allowed to study the Torah. What we know as part of the Old Testament today, women were not allowed to to study. So the idea that Jesus has chosen this moment to choose the one who is there, who stayed, who is the first to see the resurrected Jesus, she is the one to go and tell the 12 and everyone else. It is amazing. And Thomas Aquinas, who gave her the name first, if you've ever heard of or know anything about him, he's not a fan of women. He's not, uh, I won't tell you everything he says, but he thinks man is the perfect creation of God. And that women were just accidents. Hmm, my favorite, my favorite guy. So, so do you understand Thomas Aquinas, even with that viewpoint, when he gets into the scriptures, when he's a, that doing his scholarly study, he still says the evidence cannot be denied. Mary Magdalene is the apostle to the apostles. So what I wanna know is how did this woman, once possessed by demons become the apostle to the apostles? I mean, when we look at that timeline, there's this middle piece. How is it that her second chance was one that stuck, that she became a follower of Jesus, that she was steadfast, that she was devoted? How did it happen that she was a willing to give it all kind of disciple of Jesus? What was it that took her to that point? Here's what we know from scripture. We follow Jesus on his journey as he spreads the word. And he takes the 12 and this entourage of women with him, Mary Magdalene being one. There's Joanna, there's another Mary, of course. 'cause there's lots of Mary's and then Susanna and others. And these, these 12, the 12 and the women, they followed Jesus in such a way that they were separated from the crowd. They stood out. They did what Jesus told them to do. They, they were there to minister to the people. And together they listened to the teachings of Jesus and they took it to heart. So I imagine Mary on this journey with them, they believed Jesus when he said, if you trust me, you are trusting God who sent me when He said, blessed are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice. They obeyed him one day. They heard him say this, when you obey my commands, you remain in my love. Just as I obey my father's commands and remain in his love. Mary knew the love of God and she wanted to stay in it. She wanted to experience it over and over. And I believe that she obeyed what Jesus was saying. And I'm sure it was not perfect, but she had an inner circle that she traveled with. They cared for the entourage. They loved the people. As I said, they helped to spread the message those women even gave from the financial resources that they had. Whatever it was, they gave an offering. It says in scripture, Mary Magdalene brought an offering to invest financially in the ministry of Jesus. They took Jesus at his word One day. And I want you to imagine this happening. They're in, they're, they're traveling. They stop. Jesus is gonna say something. The crowd is pressing in. And this happens right here. Jesus', mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn't get to him because of the crowd. Someone told Jesus, your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wanna see you. And Jesus replied, my mother and my brothers are all those who hear the hear God's word and obey it. Mary heard Jesus say that. Can you imagine what it was like for a woman who had been isolated so long to now know that she belonged, she was part of a family, the family of God. I think that made a difference for her. I don't know if she ever thought that she would feel anything like that again. Now, I don't know much about Mary's family before that. I wonder what it was like when she got her second chance, when she got healed. Did they celebrate it? Was her community excited or were they skeptical? I don't know. I don't know what that was like. But I would like to know because I think that this is a place where sometimes second chances get stuck. For one, a person who's getting a second chance is not sure they can really do it. They're not sure they can change in the way that's going to happen. At the same time, sometimes the people around them are also not sure if they can change in the way that God is gonna lead them. Now sometimes this is totally understandable because oftentimes people in need of second chances have have had a life journey that possibly, maybe they have hurt some people along the way, right? Or they've had a second chance, third chance. Maybe they're in the fourth one and everybody's like, I don't know. And I wanna tell you, I get that. I totally get that. But the fact is, it it all still matters. What the person thinks, where the people around them are. I'm gonna, I'm gonna tell you, I would've thought originally, oh, I'm thinking I just want people to have second chances. But, uh, I learned something about myself watching television because I watch tv. I know it'd be much more respectable if I said I was a reader. I'm not really, I I just say I like to read. I don't read a lot of books. Those of you posting on Facebook that you read 50 books last year, God bless you. I love it. Maybe some of your movie people you love, the deep, the deep stuff. Uh, that's great. I I'm just regular TV one hour, maybe a Netflix Limited series. I started learning some years ago. I had a little problem. I couldn't adjust one actor in one show too, the actor in another, maybe. You know what I mean? I used to watch, uh, Keefer Sutherland in, uh, 24. He was Jack Bauer Counter Terrorism unit. He was fantastic in that. Do you know that the series after that was called Touch, he was a neighborhood father whose wife had passed and he was working to help his child to succeed in school. Has has anybody ever heard of that? No. It didn't fly because he's Jack Bauer. It didn't work. People were like, I'm sorry, you, you don't get, you can't be the guy in the neighborhood. Or, or maybe, how about, um, John Krasinski? Oh, you office people, he's in the office. He's a sales rep at a paper company. Now he wants to be Jack Ryan, a CIA deputy director. No, the the paper guy is not saving the world. No, no, I can't, I can't get there. I don't know if you've ever seen this show good behavior that it's Ill named. I'll tell you that with Michelle Dockery. Michelle Dockery in Good Behavior is a drug addict con artist who's dating a hitman. She does not get to be Lady Mary in Doubt Abbey Uhuh. You, you see what I'm saying? Uh, now for those who are a little bit younger, the Peyton List is in a current thing called school spirits. Um, she's a ghost, okay? It's a dark drama. She's a ghost. You can also find her in the Disney special Jessie. She's a preppy young teenage girl of an affluent family. Let me tell you something, if I've seen you as a ghost, we're done there. That's it. Because you know what I know about myself in that situation, you can't change because I can't let you, because I only know you one way. And I think sometimes that happens. Maybe we only know ourselves one way. We can't imagine. Or maybe there's someone right, right in front of you and they're on the verge of a second chance, and you're not sure how you feel about it. Let me say to you, It's not your job to give a second chance. God is the giver of true second chances. He's the one who will do it. But I do believe that God is asking all of us to make space for him to do it. And no matter the situation, if we will allow that to happen, we will get a front row seat to seeing God at work. When I think of all of the movies that are made about second chances, and there are so many, there is always that moment where darkness gives way to light. And it is inspiring and we live to see it. We love to see it. So I want you to think about that another second chance. Have you ever watched a movie and it is your favorite? It tells the story of a second chance. And when you saw it, it was like having a front row seat to something really incredible. So I want you to turn to each other. What is your favorite second chance story movie? So go ahead, talk about that for a minute. All right? I don't know what movie you chose. Uh, I looked up some different lists. Shawshank Redemption is always on the list, right? Oh, listen, there, uh, I thought maybe The Greatest Showman. That is a movie I've actually seen. I liked that. Uh, top Gun was on the list. That's what Dave said. But that's his answer to every movie question. So I don't know, but it was on the list. And you know what, you know what else is on the list? Uh, star Wars, of course, because it's on every list. You Star Wars people. Um, and of course, may the fourth be with you. I got lucky on that one. Someone told me last night I didn't know. But, you know, in all of these movies, I mean all these different settings, all of these different stories, there's always that moment where darkness gives way to light. Jesus talked a lot about darkness and light in that space where Mary was traveling with the disciples and with him. He talked about it all the time. He talked about darkness and the enemy, the leader of demons, the father of lies, the one who wants to separate God from people and keep them in the darkness. And I picture Mary Magdalene leaning in close 'cause she knew all about that. Jesus said that everything that is concealed in darkness will be brought into light. Jesus talked about lamps. He said, no one likes a lamp to hide it. It needs to be seen. He said, your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. In John 12, he said, I have come as a light to shine in this dark world so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. Mary had put her trust in Jesus, in the light that changed her life. But I would dare say that everything was not necessarily smooth sailing from there. I mean, she was a new follower of Jesus. And there's bound to have been moments when she just felt like she wanted to be smarter, better, more spiritual. I don't think we should be naive to think that the enemy did not want her back, that he did not try to lure her back into darkness. But here's the thing. God was not giving Mary back. She had chosen him. Jesus was with her. She had the spirit of God. And so what was that like for her to to to know Jesus, to walk with him, to be in this middle, to be learning and growing and then still to feel that tension, to wrestle with the darkness At times, I would say that I feel like I've known some of the best Christian people in the world, and they will tell me they are still tempted. They will tell me they still doubt at times. They will. The people who are deep with Jesus still, still have, have to wrestle with darkness. And, and I don't think Mary would've not would've been any different. Now, I've not watched the chosen, uh, but apparently there is a scene in the film that shows this. It shows her maybe wanting to go back to her old life and they gotta go get her. This is not in scripture, but I get it because it Mary's human and she had regrets and she had an old life. And we can, we can all testify to some who, those who follow Jesus. You kind of know what, what that is. We are not perfect at that point. God is growing us and changing us, and we do still live in a world where darkness is trying to lure us in. And sometimes we are tempted, tempted to sin, tempted to do something. We ought not do something that God wants us to do, we don't do. One thing I know about temptation in my own life is that it's oftentimes the same thing. I think there are, it is like a pattern of my weakness. I am tempted to do or not do the same things. It's the same thing that I struggle with. Same with my heart and mind. I'm, I have some still false beliefs or doubts. These things that we struggle with, whether it be a temptation or something in the, in the false belief or a doubt we have, they are known as strongholds. It's something that is keeping us from our second chance or keeping us from growing with God. These, these patterns in our lives is something that is, that is, that is impeding me from seeing how God really sees me. It's the stronghold, the thing that keeps my life in some chaos. And I, and I can't see God's purpose. For me, a stronghold distorts the truth and keeps us from God. One stronghold that people often talk about is shame. Shame Keeps us from seeing ourselves as God sees us. Maybe shame would be a stronghold for you. Sometimes guilt is a stronghold. Those of you who call yourself Christ followers, the Bible says those in Christ are no longer condemned. But I think sometimes we live like we're still condemned. We still feel guilty for something that God has forgiven us for. Pride can be a stronghold. That might be, someone's in here right now, pride, because God wants to give you a second chance, but you're just not sure you need it. Or you're so found up by pride. You're afraid to say that you really want it. This is not in the Bible, but this column, Ms. Guy says this, swallowing your pride. Occasionally it's okay 'cause it's not fattening. It's not in scripture. But I like the truth of it, right? We can sometimes swallow our pride in order to make room for God to do his work. For me, one of the strongholds that has been in my life is I would say perfectionism. I like to hope that I'm a recovering perfectionist. But there are a lot of reasons that I became this. There's a lot of reasons that I tend to towards it. And while it serves me well, sometimes, a lot of times it does not. It's a stronghold in my life because it kind of keeps me from God's grace, from understanding that I'm not still earning my way. That everything doesn't have to be perfect. Maybe some of you in here can relate to that. You know, where we're like the eight, I could get an eight on this. It's just not a, it's not good enough. If I could get a nine, it's not good enough. 'cause you know what? I want an 11. I want an 11. So what do you think? What's the stronghold in your life? If I had you fill in the blank, the stronghold in my life is, Is it one of the ones I mentioned? Would it be fear or worry? Maybe jealousy, Maybe Comparison. What is that? Sometimes when we know what our stronghold is and, and if we've wrestled with it over time, we find ourselves in prayer begging. God, take this away from me. Lift this stronghold off of me. And we're telling God, look, I need you to take this away. I need you to lift the stronghold outta my life. I've prayed desperate prayers like that before. You know what I found out? God was trying to lift the stronghold outta my life. I was the one holding onto it. He was doing his part. I'm the one who had to grip on it. I'm the one who wouldn't let it go. So I ask you, when you think of that, fill in the blank one, your stronghold. Would you be willing to surrender that to him? Even today in two Corinthians, the Apostle Paul talks about taking captive every thought that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And in the message paraphrase, it says it this way, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. See, I think that that's what Mary was learning when she was walking with Jesus, Tearing down the barriers, erected, erected against the truth of God, and taking all of those things, all of those strongholds and turning them over to Jesus. So before we go, I got one more thing to tell you. We talked about strongholds, but in the scripture it also talks about strongholds in a different way. Now, when I said earlier that Mary Magdalene was not allowed to study the Torah, one of the things that women were allowed to study and read were the Psalms. She would've known some of the Psalms. And the Psalms speak of strongholds. Now, you might have already been aware of that definition when you came in, when we're talking about a battle, the the, the, the battle, the size, they always have strongholds. It's the place of refuge. It could be a tower, it could be a mountain, a fortress could be a cave is a place of refuge in a battle repeatedly. The Psalms tell us that what's most important about a stronghold is not what it is, but who it is. The Bible tells us that God himself, God's presence is our true stronghold. And that he is the one that we wanna hold onto and that he is the one that we want holding onto us. And maybe if Mary Magdalene were here, she might read to us from Psalm 27 that says this, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? So Elena is gonna sing a, a short closing prayer over us. But I wanna say this to you. Mary Magdalene, possessed by demons, given a second chance, becomes the apostle to the apostles. How she received Jesus, she followed him. She listened to his teachings, she trusted in him. And when struggles came, she turned herself back to the light. When she met Jesus, she was never, ever the same again. And I would say if Mary Magdalene's life can change in such an amazing way, imagine who God could make you if you surrendered to him.