How many of us give thanks to the Lord? I thank the Lord because I really don't deserve to be here. I really don't deserve anything that the Lord has allowed us to experience today, but His great love has been so immense that it has reached us. Today, we can enjoy His presence. We can enjoy His love. We can enjoy His company! How many of us enjoy the Lord’s company? It's such a wonderful thing because the Lord calls us to this so that we can enjoy His presence and the blessings that He has for those who trust in Him. Amen! He calls us because He wants to fill us and because He wants to supply what we need. Amen! How many of us here have a need? I think that everyone has different needs, but for the Lord, nothing is impossible! God can fill every need! God can supply everything, but there is something we have to do. We need to keep our eyes on Him, amen? We need to keep our trust in Him, because without Him we can do nothing.

Today we're going to look at a Word in Luke. This is a passage that most of us are familiar with. I want us to go to Luke 24:13-25. It’s titled, “On the Road to Emmaus.” How many have been called to walk with the Lord? We’ve been called to walk with the Lord and here we see two of Jesus' disciples walking after the crucifixion of Christ. You may say, “But the crucifixion has already passed”—but really the Lord is still talking to our hearts through His Word, amen. Let's read to understand better. Luke 24:13: “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.” What had happened at that moment? The time of Jesus's crucifixion had already passed, and they were truly hopeless because they had their hope in Jesus. But three days had gone by and Jesus had not risen. They believed He hadn’t risen, but Jesus truly kept his Word. He said that on the third day He was going to rise again, and that is what happened! Amen! How many of us believe it? That's what happened because the Word says so. It says they were heading to Emmaus, and they were talking, right? It says they were talking about what had happened.

Let's continue reading verse 15, “As they talked and discussed these things with each other...”—what were those two doing? Talking and discussing, right? They were having a long conversation on the road, right? I imagine many of them were scared and they were talking about what had happened. I imagine one of them was saying, “No, but he said this,” or “No, but he said that.” I imagine, paraphrasing the passage a bit, that they were arguing, and Jesus himself approached them and began to walk with them, but they didn't recognize Him. Their eyes were—how were their eyes?—They were veiled. I think we should all look at this again so that we can see what was going on with them. How did their eyes look? They were veiled. They couldn’t recognize Jesus even though they were told that He had risen; they didn't believe it. They couldn't believe it.

It says that the women came to where they were and told them, “Some angels appeared to us and said, ‘Why are you looking for the one who lives among the dead? He is alive!’” Amen, He is alive! But it says that they didn’t believe—but it wasn’t because they didn’t want to believe. It was because their eyes had been veiled. Imagine how little time had passed and they had stopped believing in the Lord Jesus. They had stopped believing in the Lord's promises and had forgotten what the Lord had told them. And the Word says that Jesus had already told them, “I am going away, but then I will return, and this must happen, because the Son of Man must be crucified, but also raised on the third day.” Amen. And many times we are left with the pain of the crucifixion of Jesus. How often has this happened to us? We continue to mourn because Christ died on the cross. But truly, the sacrifice on the cross had a purpose! And that was for Christ to die, but also to rise again, amen?

"It's not just believing that He can feed us, that He can heal us, and that He can cure all our ailments, but that He can also resurrect us!"

So we see here that they have lost hope, but I love how Jesus is. It says that they're on their way, walking and discussing, and Jesus intervenes. While they are on the road He joins the conversation and asks them what they’re talking about. “What are you discussing? What are you talking about?” And since they didn't recognize Him, they say, “Oh, You're the only one who doesn't know what has happened!” Do you think Jesus didn't know? He was the author of the story! He was the author of that great story they were talking about. Many times that happens to us when we talk about Jesus. We can talk about Jesus, but often we don't understand in our hearts what Jesus has done for each of us. And I said to Him, “Lord, that has happened to me many times when I've talked and discussed with people about what happened on the cross of Calvary.” It can often happen to us like it did with these disciples who were walking with Jesus. These two were walking with Jesus, but they couldn’t recognize Him. We saw what the problem was; their eyes were veiled and they couldn't recognize Jesus. They knew Christ—the One who had walked with them, the One who had performed miracles, the One who had fed them, the One who had healed the sick—but they didn't know the risen Christ. Amen. They didn't know this resurrected Christ. And that's why The Word says that if we believe that God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved, amen. It's not just believing that He can feed us, that He can heal us and that He can cure all our ailments, but that He can also resurrect us! Amen? That He can raise us up no matter our condition. When He comes into our lives He removes the blindfold and opens our eyes. Then we begin to see and we begin to consider the wonders that He can do. Amen. But we see what they couldn't see Him—they couldn’t see Him even though He was walking with them and He was right beside them. He was talking to them. He was there. Look beside you—maybe Jesus is sitting next to you!

Imagine that this can happen to us: being seated with Jesus and not recognizing Him, and not knowing who this Jesus is that they're talking about—the One we've often heard about. That’s not how it should happen. We shouldn’t be sitting with Jesus and not recognize Him. But I love how Jesus reveals himself. He starts walking with them along the road and begins talking to them. Look at verse 19. See the question mark. Jesus asks the question, “What happened?” They responded, “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.” (Luke 24:19b-21)

What are they saying? Three days have passed and they've lost all hope. They said, “Our hope was in Him, but it’s no longer in Him. Our hope is no longer in Jesus.” They’ve lost hope. “Our hope was that He would redeem us; our hope was that He would liberate our people, but three days have passed since He died, and nothing has happened.” Look at what it says beginning in verse 22 and ending in verse 23: “In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.” So they were surprised, weren’t they? They still couldn't believe it. They still doubted that Jesus had been resurrected! When I meditated on this, I said, “Lord, how often do I struggle to believe what You’ve done or what You can do?”

The title I give this sermon is, “Don't Lose Sight of Jesus.” They had already lost sight of Him, and they had already lost hope. But why? Because they stopped looking at Him. They no longer saw Him because their eyes were veiled. They stopped seeing Him, why? Because now Christ had risen with a glorious body. Now He was Spirit, and only those who walk in the Spirit can see Him, amen? He says we approach Him through the Spirit and truth; there is no other way we can see Him. Yet they couldn't see Him and He was in front of them. He was walking with them. He was talking with them, and they didn't recognize Him. Look at verses 23-24. It says, “...but [they] didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” What did they tell them? That He was alive. And look at how Jesus answers them beginning with verse 25, “‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” This struck me because we see the patience and love of Jesus even in our foolishness. How many of you were foolish? And slow to believe? So often, how hard is it for us to believe? Some might say, “Yes. Yes, I’m foolish. Yes, I admit it.” In many ways I'm very foolish, but I loved seeing this from the Lord. I thank Him for it because even when I find it hard to believe, He, in His love and patience, often sits down to teach us and explain things we don’t understand. I look to Him and say, “Lord, it’s wonderful that You sit with us and explain things to us that You don't have to, because we don't deserve any explanation.”

"There's something you and I cannot do—and that is to lose sight of Jesus."

Jesus takes the time and begins to speak to them. Imagine everything that happened on that road. Imagine everything that happened while they were on their way! How many of you have ever gone on a trip? How many of you have fallen asleep on a trip? I don’t know about you, but I can't fall asleep when I'm on a bus. I can't; everyone else is asleep and I’m wide awake. How many of us, when we travel, miss out on the beautiful things along the way because we are distracted? It often happens to us, right? We get distracted by our phones, our sleep—and this causes us to miss such exceptionally wonderful moments. This is how the life of a Christian is. We're on our way. We’re on the journey. We're on the road, but there are many things we can experience along the way. There's something you and I cannot do—and that is to lose sight of Jesus. I want you to repeat that with me. What is it that we can’t do? We can’t lose sight of Jesus! Losing sight of Jesus is a mistake. We can’t let ourselves be distracted; we can’t let anything distract us. We can’t fall asleep, because if we do, we might miss having an encounter with Jesus. Because today you and I can have an encounter with Jesus. But how many of us are here, and our minds are at home? This is especially true for women, right? We are physically present, but many times our minds are far away. We think, “I forgot to sweep before I got here. I have to wash the dishes when I get home. The laundry is piled up. Oh, what a mess I left at home!” And the preacher keeps going on and on with the Word, but our minds are far away. So, there’s something we need to remember: to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Amen! If something is distracting us, we need to say, “This is no time to be distracted.” The church can't be distracted, amen? Otherwise, we might miss something that happens along the way and say, “When did that happen?” And we might say, “A miracle happened and I didn’t even realize it.” But church, the miracle is that you and I are here, amen! And without even noticing, we didn’t see how we got to this place, but the Lord drew us with His cords of love. Amen. So, imagine what happened to these two men. They were with the resurrected Jesus, but they couldn't recognize Him. And today the question is, “How many of us have lost sight of Jesus?” How many of us have been distracted by the things of this world? How many of us, by arguing along the way, have missed the opportunity to encounter Jesus?

"Christ died so that we could come out of darkness, so that you and I would no longer live in lies, and so that we could enjoy the life that He poured out on the cross of Calvary!"

There are many things that can distract us, but one of the things I noticed was distracting them was their argument. They were arguing. They were fighting. They were bickering. I don't know what they were doing, but Jesus had to intervene and He says, "What are you talking about? Didn't that have to happen? Didn't the Son of Man come to give His life so that others might have life with Him?” Imagine that. It says that Jesus explained to them—from Moses to the prophets—everything that was said about Him, and everything Christ fulfilled when He did it. Amen! This reminds me of the Passover sacrifice, right? When they sacrificed that lamb. Imagine that Jesus had to explain all of that to them on the way, and teach them. Do you remember what it says in Exodus? When the people of Israel came out of the desert, they had to sacrifice a lamb and they had to put the lamb's blood on the altars. That had to happen so they could be freed. A lamb had to be sacrificed. A lamb had to be offered once, for all, to free humanity, to free those who believe in Him, amen? Christ died, but He died with a purpose. Just as that lamb in the Old Testament was sacrificed so that the people of Israel could be delivered from captivity, so too are you and I delivered through Christ. Christ died so that we could come out of darkness, so that you and I would no longer live in lies, and so that we could enjoy the life that He poured out on the cross of Calvary! Imagine everything that the Lord had to explain to them. I said to Him, "Lord, how many times, as I walk along the road, has my heart ceased to burn for your Word?”

What happened to these men in Luke 24:25-32, caught my attention when Jesus said to them, “‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’” This was another thing that caught my attention in this passage.

How many of us have lost the burning passion for the Word of the Lord? How many times? How many of us find that the Word no longer excites us as much? But for these men, when they heard Him, it says that their hearts burned within them and their hearts pounded. They said, “Who are you?” They didn't know him. But as they listened to what He was teaching them, and what He was explaining to them along the way, something was happening in their hearts. Something was taking place in their hearts, and they began to be moved. We sang that song earlier, asking the Holy Spirit to move our hearts. How much do we want that movement in our hearts today? How much do we need that movement in our heart today? And how many of us today need to return to the Scriptures? The Lord had to explain the Word to them and He had to start all over again—telling them everything that had to happen. Many times because we were distracted and lost sight of Jesus, we miss out on those exceptional moments with Jesus. I don't know how many of you have ever lost something valuable; raise your hand if you’ve ever lost something valuable. Have any parents ever lost their child? Have they ever gotten lost, or have you lost sight of them? What do you do when you can’t see your little one? You start looking for them, right?

Something similar happened to me. I remember when Junior was little. We went to the stadium. They were giving away toys, and I was giving out tortillas; and he was with some sisters. And I remember when they told me, "Don't you know what's happening at the stadium? They're killing children there." And I said, "My son’s there!" And I ran to the stadium. I got there and stood by the Alonso Suazo Entrance and there was a huge crowd. I couldn't see the people who were with him and I couldn’t find him. I started looking for him among the people, but I couldn't see him. I couldn't see him. And how do you think I was? I was distressed and desperate, but that didn't stop me from trying to keep looking for him. And over there in the distance, they were by Gate 8 which is right there by the Alonso Suazo Entrance. And I stood there and saw a woman who said to me, "There's your son!" And I was looking at him. But then more people arrived and I fell further and further back and I lost sight of him. And there came a moment when I couldn't see him at all. And then I looked back and I realized that I couldn't go backwards anymore. Then that crowd started pushing me forward and I kept trying to see him. I wanted to find him because I couldn't see him anymore. And I didn't even see the woman who was holding him because when I looked at her, she kept saying, "Don't worry, he's here. We're taking care of him." And she kept saying and motioning to me that she had him. And those who were with her were lifting him up. What was happening at that moment was so terrible. I can imagine the anguish of a parent losing their child.

And I understood Mary and Joseph when they lost Jesus, when they were coming back from celebrating the feast. The Word says that Jesus got lost while they were on their way home and they went back to look for Jesus. I kept thinking, “How many times can we lose sight of Jesus?” His parents lost sight of Him, and they had to go back and look for Him. They found Him in the temple, and it says that He was there teaching the Scriptures. Imagine. And when they arrived, they said to Him, "Son, but why did you do that?" And Jesus said to them, “Don’t I have to be in My Father’s house?” So imagine, just imagine the anguish they felt. The desperation—they had to find Him. What do you think they did? They said to Him, “Son, why did you do that?” But it caught my attention. I was thinking, "What are we willing to do?" If we have stopped seeing Jesus, what are we willing to do to see Him again? These people started looking for Jesus.

Peter—when he was walking on the water with Jesus—began to walk on the water, but when he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink. That's why we shouldn't take our eyes off Jesus. Many times circumstances can come into our lives to try to drown us. But if our gaze is on Jesus, He takes our hand and helps us, amen? After a long time of waiting and searching for my son for a long time in that place, I was starting to get crushed. I got knocked down and I saw other people fall and I couldn't help them because if I tried to help them, I would also be trampled. I was crying, and I wanted to get up and go to him. And then when I finally got up, I saw him standing in a corner crying. And we ran and hugged and kissed each other, and I kept saying, "Son, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me." And I just kept kissing his forehead and saying, "Son, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me!" And that's what happens when we lose sight of Jesus, but we find Him again. You begin to say, "Lord, forgive me, forgive me, because I left you, because I strayed, because I got distracted for a moment, Lord. But here I am, here I am today, Lord. Focus my gaze, focus my heart on you, Lord, so that I don't stray from the path again." From that time on, I never separated from my son again. I never let him go to places alone where I wasn’t there too. I never lost sight of him again. Something so difficult had happened, something that had hurt so much and I told Him, "Lord, just like that time, Lord, when I couldn't see You. Lord, it doesn't matter if I'm crushed, if I'm pushed, but I want to see You, Lord. I don't want to lose sight of You ever again in my life, Lord. No matter what happens around me, Lord, I want to keep my eyes on You.”

"Christ is alive, and He has the power to raise up those who believe in Him."

How many of us want to keep our gaze on the Lord? But we see here that only the Word of the Lord has the power to do something new in our lives. It says that when Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and then they recognized him. But Jesus didn't stay there, He disappeared. He left again, but the lives of these men after the resurrection were never the same again. After the resurrection, these men took the Gospel to other places, and although they had to go through difficult circumstances, their lives were never the same again. Something had happened in their lives. Jesus had revealed himself to them as the resurrected Christ. Today, Christ is alive, amen? Christ is alive, and He has the power to raise up those who believe in Him. We read here that Jesus tells them, “But you are slow to believe.” Many times, we find it hard to believe that Jesus can do a work in us, the same way He died and rose again.

Let's look at Colossians 3, at the beginning. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,” What should those who have been raised with Christ do? Seek! Colossians says that those who have died and been raised with Christ “Set their minds on things above, and not on earthly things.” Those who have experienced that death and resurrection through Christ Jesus no longer seek the things of this earth, but they seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. So those who have died to their fleshy desires and have been raised now set their sights on things above. The things of this world no longer distract us. Why? Because our gaze is on Jesus, amen? We read in Hebrews 12:2—let's read this entire passage, please—“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! That is the Christ whom you and I praise; the One who triumphed on the cross of Calvary, the One who rose from the dead and now lives and is seated at the right hand of the Father, clothed in glory and majesty! That is the Christ we praise! But we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We must not let the things of this life or the things of this world distract us.

We can’t allow lies, circumstances, problems, arguments, or disputes to prevent us from seeing Jesus.

And I was saying, it was difficult what the disciples were going through. They were going through a time of pain because they had lost their teacher. Sadness had overwhelmed them in their hearts and minds, and that is why they had stopped believing. I was telling someone who was having a difficult time to not let sadness prevent them from seeing Jesus—because sometimes when we go through difficult times, we stop seeing Jesus and we focus on the problem, the need, the circumstances, or the illness that we're experiencing more than on Jesus. But the Word says, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith,” that's where our gaze must be—on Him, on the joy that was set before Him. Many say that the cross of Christ is foolishness. But for those of us who believe in Him, it is the power of God manifested on the cross of Calvary. It is the love of God manifested through Christ Jesus. For many people, the cross is shameful, but for those of us who believe in the power of God, what He did in that place is something powerful! He not only died but rose again, and now He lives! I want you to look at your neighbor and tell him, “Christ is alive.” Christ is alive, and He is doing a marvelous work in our lives. We can’t allow lies, circumstances, problems, arguments, or disputes to prevent us from seeing Jesus. So many times the Lord is right there beside us, but because we're distracted by other things, we miss out on those wonderful moments with Jesus. And you might ask me, “Maria, what conference have you been to? What preacher has shared the Gospel with you? Tell me the miracles you've seen.” I can tell you that I have seen the Lord here. I have seen the Lord in my own home. How many of us have seen Him? How many of us can recognize the power of God in our lives? It's not by chance that we are here today. How many of us could have died from COVID?

But we are alive today! The Lord gives us the opportunity to see His wonders one more day, amen? And today we can rejoice in Him. I know that many times we have lost some things in our lives, including people who are important to us. But let's not let those things prevent us from seeing what the Lord can do today. Look at your neighbor next to you and tell him, “How good it is that we are all here! It's good that we are all here. It's good that we can enjoy God's mercy.”

The Word our pastor has been speaking to us recently is about giving thanks to the Lord—giving thanks to the Lord because we have seen His mercy and we have seen His goodness. We have seen how abundant His mercy has been for us and how good the Lord is! How good the Lord is that we are here one more day and that we can celebrate the Lord together! These are the wonders of the Lord! Because I shouldn't be here today, but here I am. I am happy to see you all. I am happy to see what the Lord has done up to this day including the miracles that have truly happened here—miracles of transformed lives, miracles of families transformed by the power and love of Jesus Christ. So we have reasons to give thanks to the Lord. But if some of us, for whatever reason, have lost sight of Jesus, I think today is a good day to say to Him, “Lord, remove the blindfold. Lord, remove what is hindering me. Lord, remove this resentment. Lord, remove this unforgiveness from my life because it prevents me from seeing You. Lord, it prevents me from recognizing that it is You who is doing the work." How many of us want to see Jesus today? It’s very few and it's sad. It's sad because if you go to a conference and ask, "How many of you want your money multiplied?" everyone raises their hand and says, "Amen." And how many do you hear say, "Come, come to the altar because today the Lord is going to multiply your money if you need a house. If you need a house, God’s going to give you a house.” Many people run for material things, but who runs just for Jesus? In the past, they would say, “Come, receive Jesus,” and people would run to the altars, and those places would be filled with people who wanted to see salvation. But now, “Come to the altar” is no longer practiced; because if you don't say, “Come, the Lord will supply your needs,” then no one comes.

But how many of us want to see Jesus? How many of us need to have an encounter with Jesus in our lives? How many of us today want the Lord to remove the veil from our eyes? Today you can say, “Lord, take it away; Lord, take it away.” The Word says that when Christ died on the cross of Calvary, the veil was torn. That veil is cut away in Christ Jesus—those things that prevent you from seeing Jesus can be removed from your eyes. They can be removed from your hearts. Today, I want to extend an invitation. If you want to see Jesus, today is the day! Today is the day! You just have to have faith and believe that He is here, and that He sees you, and that He is the One who can do the work in your hearts.

I want you to close your eyes now. In Psalm 121, the Word says, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains–where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip–he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord. Thank You, beloved Jesus, thank You. Thank You so much, Father. Thank You, Lord; thank You, thank You, Holy Father. Thank You for being here, Lord!