1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,680 Good morning. It's a man named Dietrich 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Bonhoeffer. He died in a Nazi war prison. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,600 He was a pastor in World War 2 or during World War 2 that 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,080 turned rebel against the German army. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,200 And he wrote a lot during his time in a prison camp. 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,560 Here's one of the things he wrote on his way to execution. 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:27,440 It said only the suffering God can help. 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,960 A God who is invulnerable cannot save us, for he cannot truly 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,440 understand us. But Christ suffered, Christ 10 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:43,840 wept, Christ died, and therefore Christ can meet us in our 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:50,200 darkest hour facing execution. Bonhoeffer didn't need a 12 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:55,440 distant, powerful God. He needed a God who understood 13 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,360 his suffering. In our story today, we're going 14 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,440 to be back in John 11. Jesus tears at the tomb of 15 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:06,440 Lazarus. Show us a God with both power 16 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,760 and compassion. Welcome to Resurrection Church, 17 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,280 whether you're a regular here or you just showed up and, and 18 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,400 you're not even sure if you believe any of this stuff that's 19 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,680 in the Bible. Today, today, today, we're going 20 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:23,080 to see some things about Jesus that I, I think will change how 21 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,840 we understand his heart and his power. 22 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,320 So if you're, if you're skeptical about Christianity or 23 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:34,920 welcome, I want to introduce you to a man named Jesus, the son of 24 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,280 the living God. We're in a week 3 of a series 25 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:39,760 that we called What If There's more? 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,120 And we're going to be back in John 11. 27 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:43,960 We're kind of tracking this story. 28 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,200 Jesus finds out that a really good friend of his is sick and 29 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:53,080 he actually delays going to see him and Lazarus dies. 30 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,640 And so it's, it's kind of a wild story because Jesus is actually, 31 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,800 you know, up until this point, been doing all these miracles, 32 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,080 healing people. He heals people of leprosy, 33 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,480 heals people of blindness. He's doing miracle after 34 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:05,920 miracle. And then all of a sudden he 35 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:07,840 finds out his really close friend is sick. 36 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,480 And he intentionally waits and doesn't go. 37 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,280 And he even tells his disciples that he's waiting so that his 38 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,080 friend Lazarus can die and that because of that, they will get 39 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,240 to see God's glory in that moment. 40 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,120 And if you think, man, that sounds kind of weird, it is. 41 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,600 But but there's a method here. There's a method to the madness. 42 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,320 You'll see it kind of just a minute as we walk through it, I 43 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:31,640 hope. Here's the big idea. 44 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:33,400 If you get nothing else from today, if you're going to take 45 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,640 one thing away, I just just think about this. 46 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:39,520 You got to risk a mess to expect a miracle. 47 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,560 You got to risk a mess to expect a miracle. 48 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,640 We're going to pick this up last week when Shawn was preaching, 49 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,680 Jesus has met and talked to 1 of Lazarus, 2 Sisters. 50 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,280 Her name was Martha and we're going to see the other one Mary 51 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,760 today here starting in verse 28 of John 11. 52 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:58,640 If you're in the Bible, go ahead and open that up. 53 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:00,360 Otherwise we'll put on the screen. 54 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,800 Here's what it says. When she Martha had said this, 55 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,400 she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, the 56 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,600 teacher is here and is calling for you. 57 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,520 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 58 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,520 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in 59 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,120 the place where Martha had met him. 60 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,440 When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw 61 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,040 Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing 62 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,000 that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 63 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,720 So in the 1st century in this in this culture, grieving was a 64 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,280 communal affair. The whole community is grieving 65 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,800 over Lazarus death. And it's not just her or the 66 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,360 family, it's the neighbors, it's the community, it's a host of 67 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:40,000 people. They see her leave, they're 68 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,760 going with to grieve. Verse 32 Now when Mary came to 69 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:49,200 where Jesus was and saw him catch this, she fell at his feet 70 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:57,600 saying to him, Lord, if you'd been there, my brother would not 71 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:03,320 have died. Now Mary and Martha are sisters, 72 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,160 but they have vastly different personalities. 73 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,960 Anyone have kids where man they are not like at all. 74 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:12,160 That's him for kids. He got some very different 75 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,200 personalities. Mary and Martha very different. 76 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,800 We know this because we there's a whole story about them in Luke 77 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,399 10. Martha is the Super logical, 78 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:25,040 very rational, like taskmaster get stuff done and and Mary is 79 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,320 the feeler, the empath, very emotional. 80 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,040 But in this moment, what Mary says, Lord, if you'd been here, 81 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,480 my brother would not have died is exactly the same as her 82 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:39,960 sister. If you go back to verse 21 last 83 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,000 week when we covered that, the logical sister said the exact 84 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:44,840 same thing. She said, Lord, if you'd been 85 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:46,880 here, my brother wouldn't have died. 86 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,840 What they're actually saying in this is this moment is this 87 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,320 Jesus? You had the power to stop this 88 00:04:54,280 --> 00:05:00,240 and you didn't do anything. It's a question inside that 89 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,760 statement. You didn't do anything. 90 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:11,120 Verse 33, When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had 91 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:16,920 come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved. 92 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,880 You can underline that in your Bible, deeply moved in His 93 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:25,760 spirit and greatly troubled. Now in the original language 94 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,320 this was written in that term, deeply moved was one word. 95 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:35,960 That word is Embry Maomi, and that word literally means snort 96 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:42,120 like a horse. It means righteous indignation. 97 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,880 He's angry. He's mad. 98 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:57,000 Who's he angry with? He's not angry with the sisters. 99 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,440 They're his friends and he understands the grieving that 100 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:02,560 they're going through and even the questions. 101 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:04,800 But who's he? Why is he angry? 102 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,120 You see, he's not angry at at the sisters at all. 103 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,280 He he's angry at death. You think that seems weird? 104 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:17,920 Well, death is the enemy that Jesus came to defeat. 105 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,600 Death is the ultimate consequence of sin. 106 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,480 The Bible says we live in a fallen world and the consequence 107 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,520 of our disobedience to God is that death entered the world and 108 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,840 that was the consequence. And we couldn't fix death. 109 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:32,000 We couldn't solve death. So he sent Jesus. 110 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,760 And so in this moment, and Jesus is, is both fully man and fully 111 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:39,520 God, right? This is a, this is a, a 112 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,160 beautiful nature about Jesus, which means that he's come to 113 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,200 earth for this eternal supernatural purpose of 114 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,680 conquering death. But in this moment, he's also 115 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:55,400 faced with this this the human result of this cosmic struggle. 116 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:01,800 Death has has taken his friend, he hears the Son of God, but he 117 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,000 has human friends, human relationships. 118 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,680 He's dealing with the human consequences of this, this 119 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,360 eternal, this huge thing. And so here's what Jesus is 120 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,680 going to say, verse 34, he's going to look at this and he 121 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:16,880 says, where have you laid him? Where is it? 122 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,120 Take me there. They said to him, Lord, come and 123 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,800 see. And then verse 35, Jesus wept. 124 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:32,600 So the Jews said see how he loved him, but some of them said 125 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:38,320 could not he who opened the eyes of a blind man also have kept 126 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:43,120 this man from dying. Jesus wept. 127 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:44,600 It's the shortest verse in the Bible. 128 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,360 Now, not only do we know if you've read the story, but but, 129 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,200 but Jesus knows in this moment that he is about to raise 130 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,600 Lazarus from the dead. And so it's it's kind of here. 131 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:57,920 Here's I guess the question I have. 132 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:00,840 I think a lot of people ask this when they see this, if Jesus 133 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,320 knows that he's about to fix the problem and, and everyone's 134 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,800 about to be overjoyed because Lazarus is going to be alive, 135 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,920 then why in the world is Jesus crying? 136 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,400 Nothing weird, right? Why don't you just go raise 137 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,480 Lazarus and everyone can cheer and we can have a party. 138 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:17,880 Why is he going to why does he cry? 139 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:19,440 And so here's here's where I want you to stop. 140 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,040 I don't want you to gloss over or miss this and read this too 141 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:23,560 fast. Just press pause. 142 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,240 I don't care what you know about Jesus, what you think you've 143 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,200 heard about Jesus, your, your current understanding of Jesus. 144 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,400 You need to understand this. Jesus is not some puppet master 145 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,200 who's just off in some distant place controlling all of our 146 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,720 lives like some cold, irrational, logical person. 147 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,640 Jesus is not distant at all. Jesus is right here, today, in 148 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:50,760 this place. He has a heart. 149 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:57,360 It is gentle and lowly. It beckons us to come to Him and 150 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,320 seek comfort and rest and protection. 151 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:07,760 Jesus doesn't just love the Instagram you, the 1 you put out 152 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:09,320 there to make everything seem like it's OK. 153 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:17,160 Jesus loves us deeply in our grief, in our failure. 154 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,120 He's not cold and calculated in this moment. 155 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,360 He he, he. We see his empathy and his 156 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:32,440 compassion for this family. Now here's why. 157 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,760 Because Jesus loves them just like he loves us. 158 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:42,160 And love is a choice. It's not an emotion, it's not 159 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,760 feelings, it's a choice. And and when you choose to love, 160 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:49,880 there's always a cost involved. This is a couple weeks ago. 161 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,520 My wife and I had our opportunity, first opportunity 162 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,240 ever, to welcome a foster kid into our home. 163 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:58,520 And so we we drive down on Saturday night to the Jameson 164 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,480 Center where they're keeping these kids for emergency 165 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:02,720 placement. And before we walk in the room 166 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:07,160 to meet this 11 year old boy, we've already chosen to love 167 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,680 him. We haven't met him. 168 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,560 He hasn't earned it, hasn't done anything. 169 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,680 We're making a choice to love him. 170 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:22,840 That's why it's so silly when people talk about like, oh, I 171 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:24,720 fell in love. You can't fall in love. 172 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,720 Billions are emotions. They rise and fall like the 173 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,320 ocean waves. This isn't a Hallmark movie. 174 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:37,480 This is real life. We choose to love by doing so, 175 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,520 that means we can love in good moments and in bad moments, in 176 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:42,400 difficult ones. And it's going to cost us 177 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:47,000 something to make that choice. And because love is a choice, I, 178 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,480 I choose to wake up every day and love my wife. 179 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,280 Now she makes that relatively easy, but I'm still choosing. 180 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,840 When I choose to love someone, that means I, I, I, I laugh with 181 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,120 them, but I also cry with them. I go through the good and I go 182 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:07,160 through the bad and I'm opening myself up to the risk of 183 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:14,720 betrayal, to the risk of of failure to the to hurt the ups 184 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:16,520 and downs of their life, not just mine. 185 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:21,880 That's what Jesus has done with this family, but that's also how 186 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,880 Jesus chooses to love us. He opens his heart up to what 187 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,920 you and I are going through. That means that that you haven't 188 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:37,280 tasted failure and shame on your own that that horrible, 189 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:41,840 scandalous mistake that you made Jesus, Jesus saw that you didn't 190 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:49,720 hide that from anyone. He weeps, he comforts, he mourns 191 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:55,360 and while he does, he calls us into the light into repentance 192 00:11:55,360 --> 00:12:00,360 while walking with us. So that that horrible secret 193 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,360 that I, I think I hid from everyone, that is, not only does 194 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,440 he know all about that, He's calling me to repentance to a 195 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:08,600 better way. You know why? 196 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:12,480 Because His grace is more scandalous than my sin. 197 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,840 Do you understand how scandalous this love is? 198 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:24,600 That he would know my every thought and my every deed and 199 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:32,640 love me anyway. So he weeps with them, even 200 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,880 though he's about to move in power and change everything 201 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,800 because he loves them. We sing this like, oh, every 202 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:49,120 Sunday we sing this and. Oh how he loves us. 203 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:58,720 Oh, oh, how he loves us, how he loves us. 204 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:04,080 All sing with me. He is jealous for me. 205 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,920 Love's like a hurricane. I am a. 206 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:13,400 Tree bending beneath. The weight of his. 207 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:20,840 Wind and mercy, when all. Of a sudden, I am unaware of 208 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:28,000 these afflictions eclipsed by glory, and I realize just how 209 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,440 beautiful you are and how great your affections are. 210 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:39,320 For me and. Oh how he loves us. 211 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:49,000 Oh, oh how he loves us. How he loves us all. 212 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,960 Jesus loves you, He loves you so much more than you think he 213 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:04,240 does. And in this moment he chooses to 214 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:10,280 walk through this with them and he weeps just like he does with 215 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:17,160 you and I, but he also moves. Verse 38 Then Jesus deeply moved 216 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,320 again, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone lay 217 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,840 against it. And Jesus said, take away the 218 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:32,320 stone, Martha, the logical one, the sister of the dead man said 219 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:38,240 to him, Lord, by this time they'll be an odor because it's 220 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:45,240 been 4 days. And Jesus said to her, did I not 221 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:50,640 tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? 222 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,000 Practical, Martha, think about it. 223 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,080 Jesus, the author and creator of all things. 224 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,160 It says that all things that were made were made and are held 225 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,560 together through him by the power of his word. 226 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,320 He's standing in front of death, eye to eye. 227 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,920 That tombstone moment, right? I'll be here. 228 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:27,480 Huckleberry. He's like, move away the stone 229 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,360 and Martha's like Jesus, I don't know if you know this or not, 230 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:39,480 but it's going to smell. Jesus. 231 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,320 I don't know if you know this or not. 232 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:46,800 It's too late. It's going to be a mess. 233 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:53,440 Jesus, he's far too gone. I can relate to Martha really 234 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,440 well. My life is a constant struggle 235 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,600 between wanting to be expectant that God is going to move in 236 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:06,080 power and and my my rational worldly intellect telling me 237 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,120 that God can't break the laws of the universe, the ones he 238 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:13,920 created. God can't do that. 239 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,600 God can't make me gentle. God can't save marriages. 240 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,040 God can't fix my finances. God can't change that person 241 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:25,160 that I love. God can't. 242 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:34,080 How often do you and I sit in a moment where God is about to 243 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,760 move in power and all he's doing is waiting for a simple act of 244 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,120 obedience from us and we stall and we drag our feet and we make 245 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:42,400 excuses. God can't. 246 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,680 The reality for Martha is the reality for us. 247 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,200 You got to risk a mess, to expect a miracle. 248 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,760 This is the formula of the gospel. 249 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:02,480 Jesus doesn't ask me to fix myself, to fix my situation, to 250 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,880 save my marriage, to resurrect something from death. 251 00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:08,440 I can't. If I could, I'd have done it 252 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,119 already. It gives you and I the same 253 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:14,359 simple steps that he gave Martha. 254 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,839 Take it to Jesus. Choose to believe. 255 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:22,240 Move the rock, take it to Jesus. Choose to believe, move the 256 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,160 rock. And for the Lord's sake, can we 257 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,040 stop telling Jesus what he can't do? 258 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:34,480 He's Jesus. Can we start acting and living 259 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,560 like he's God? We sing it every Sunday. 260 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,440 What if we lived life like it were true? 261 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:47,960 If you're you're watching online or you're here today and you 262 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,520 called Jesus King and, and I realize not everyone here does, 263 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,320 but but listen, if you, if you do, that's you, then there was 264 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:58,400 at least one moment in your life where you emotionally and 265 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,680 intellectually just surrendered everything to God and you 266 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,080 dropped to your knees and you just cried out God, I that's it. 267 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:05,520 I'm not enough. I can't do it. 268 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,640 I need help. And at that moment, God was 269 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:10,960 like, yes, now I got something to work with. 270 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,480 You see, up until then you kept thinking you just needed a 271 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,400 little Jesus. And at some point you finally 272 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:20,760 went, actually, I think I need all Jesus. 273 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,880 And that was the moment. And in that moment you met the 274 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,480 God of the impossible. You realize that's the way the 275 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,360 Bible talks about him, that he is the God of the impossible, 276 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:33,960 right? Like it's what he does. 277 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,680 He is in the business of the impossible. 278 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:43,880 And friends, business is good. All of the Bible OK from the 279 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:48,080 beginning to the end is story after story of God architecting 280 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,480 the situation to be more impossible so that you would 281 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,680 understand that when he shows up, it wasn't you, it was him. 282 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,960 So from Abraham to Moses to David to the ragtag disciples 283 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:03,080 that are like all rejects, he does it on purpose. 284 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,600 If you turn to Judges chapter 6, there's a story about a guy 285 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,440 named Gideon. Now here's the thing, Gideon is 286 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,360 a complete coward in the moment. He's hiding in a wine press. 287 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,760 And if you ever think that God is not sarcastic, read Judges 6. 288 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:24,920 An Angel shows up to Gideon and goes hail mighty man of valor. 289 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:27,640 And Gideon's hiding and he's like what? 290 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:28,120 Who? What? 291 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,040 And he's like, yeah, I'm going to choose you to lead a 292 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:37,320 rebellion against this invading army of 135,000 soldiers. 293 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:38,760 I'm sorry. What? 294 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,800 And so Gideon spends like 2 chapters being like, running 295 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,000 away, coming up with excuses, all the reasons he can't do it. 296 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:46,360 I wasn't called. I'm not gifted. 297 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:47,880 I'll prey on it. All that stuff that you say. 298 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:54,880 I'm sorry. You meddling now, Pastor, And he 299 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,440 finally does it and and he, he calls people to war and he'd get 300 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,000 32,000 men to fight. 135,000 men. 301 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,000 You don't have to be a math major. 302 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,520 No, that's not very good. And God's like, yeah, too many. 303 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,280 He says, listen, if you're scared, go home. 304 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,440 Well brothers, I'm out. So there's only 10,000 people 305 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:15,080 left. That gets 135,000. 306 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,240 It's 14 to one odds. And God's like, yeah, you got 307 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:24,360 too many men. He leaves him with 300 men to 308 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,560 fight 135,000 and not the 300 from the movie. 309 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,600 They don't have the cool ABS or all the baby oil or anything. 310 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,440 No, these are guys that are such rejects they can't even drink 311 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:43,760 water properly. 300 why? Why? 312 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:49,960 Because the purpose is that when God moves, there would be no way 313 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,280 you could miss the fact that it was Him. 314 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:58,160 He's showing you His glory. There's no way Gideon gets to 315 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:06,360 take credit for that. If you're sitting here, look 316 00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:08,040 around for just a second. Go ahead and look around. 317 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:17,240 Look around, over the past 18 months, over 100 people have 318 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:25,280 come to Christ here. We didn't do that. 319 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,280 Are you kidding me, man? I can't change someone's heart. 320 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:31,520 I can't even get my kids to wash the dishes. 321 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:43,400 God started moving and we saw it and went, let's move the rock. 322 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,160 That's what happens. This is the formula. 323 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,000 Just like Gideon, obedient coward, really good God, 324 00:21:55,240 --> 00:22:00,360 miracles. Look what happens. 325 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:02,880 Verse 41. They obey. 326 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:07,720 So they took away the stone. You know what they did? 327 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:12,960 They moved the stone. They didn't fix Lazarus, they 328 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:16,400 didn't go like do CPR on him still dead. 329 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,320 They just obeyed in the little thing God asked them to do and 330 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,600 they risked a mess. They risked a smell, they risked 331 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,200 that it wasn't going to go well. They chose to believe. 332 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,880 And God responds by revealing His glory. 333 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:36,320 Listen, in how many ways of my life, of your life are we 334 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,080 fighting and delaying and slowing God down to move in a 335 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,920 supernatural way? Because I choose not to believe, 336 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,080 I choose to doubt. I choose worldly thinking. 337 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,680 I choose not I, I choose to place my faith in, in the 338 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,640 thinking of this world rather than the next World. 339 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:57,320 What if I chose to believe? And Jesus lifted his eyes up and 340 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:02,080 said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 341 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,400 I knew that you always hear me. But I said this on account of 342 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,760 the people standing around that they may believe that you sent 343 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:10,000 me. I love that he's captioning his 344 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,200 own moment. When he had said these things. 345 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:17,520 He cried out with a loud voice. Lazarus, come out. 346 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,600 The man who had died came out. OK, hold on. 347 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:24,360 I want you to see two things here. 348 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:26,880 First, he didn't have to touch him. 349 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,800 He didn't need a magic wand. This was no like Wingardia, 350 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:36,000 Leviosa, Harry Potter moment. He's the Lord of Lords and the 351 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,640 King of Kings. His voice has power that holds 352 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:38,560 all things together. He said. 353 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,240 Lazarus come out and a dead man came alive. 354 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,160 OK? Number two, it was a family 355 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:48,760 tomb, so he doesn't say Lazarus. It's possible we got, like, the 356 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,680 zombie apocalypse going on. Could have been like a family 357 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,880 reunion right there. So he's very specific. 358 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:55,720 Lazarus, come out now. Here's what it says. 359 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:02,920 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with 360 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,240 linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. 361 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:12,720 OK. Can you, I mean what? 362 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,400 And not, you're thinking probably like white stuff. 363 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,560 No, no, no. This cloth would have been the 364 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,840 throwaway stuff. It'd been the worst of the 365 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,440 worst. The stained, gross garments. 366 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:25,520 That's all they had leftover. Most, most of these folks were 367 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:28,400 poor. It's the leftover nasty garments 368 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,680 that are all wrapped all around this body. 369 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,400 And I don't care if he was dead or not, or he stunk or not. 370 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:38,560 But those kind of garments in Palestine, Jerusalem, in the in 371 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:44,240 for four days are nasty, OK? And here he comes. 372 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:51,560 Here what Jesus says, unbind him and let him go. 373 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,800 Now I want you to see that picture right here, OK? 374 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,000 And here's why. Because when God called my name 375 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:05,120 and he woke me up from death to life, I still stunk. 376 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,720 I was clothed in death. I was walking the path of this 377 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,360 world. I had old habits and old hurts 378 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:15,720 and old hang ups. And I might have been saved, but 379 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,440 I sure didn't look like it or act like it, or probably smell 380 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,720 like it. So even though God had freed me 381 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,200 from the bondage of sin, I needed other people to teach me 382 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,600 how to live life in the freedom of Christ, how to pursue 383 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,520 holiness, how to walk in the light, how to live surrendered 384 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,440 to Jesus, not the flesh. See, not only did Lazarus not 385 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:40,360 have the power of raising himself from the dead, even 386 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:43,880 after he's been raised, he's stuck and bound and needs help 387 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:51,080 getting loose. He needed help becoming unbound. 388 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:52,800 He needed others. And you know what? 389 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,120 You and I do too. I had someone ask me the other 390 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,200 day who holds you accountable? And I was like, oh, and I have a 391 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,640 list of people. People ask me hard questions in 392 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,320 my life to help me walk in freedom, to help me pursue 393 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,160 holiness, to encourage me when I'm struggling, to poke at me 394 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,280 when my life is getting a little too close to the guardrails. 395 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,160 They know I struggle with gentleness, so they ask me about 396 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,000 those things. They know I struggle with 397 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,240 control issues and wanting to. I have to get out of my way 398 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:22,840 sometimes. I want to control everything. 399 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,240 When I quit drinking, they asked me about it every single week 400 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:32,320 because I needed it. So they're watching, they're 401 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,440 checking on me, they're listening, they're keeping a 402 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,200 close eye on areas that I struggle. 403 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:38,720 I got 2 calls this week just checking on me. 404 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,080 Probing questions. Hey, what's your schedule like? 405 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,080 Are you pursuing your wife? Why? 406 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,440 Because they love me. And here's the facts. 407 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:51,400 I need Christ and I need his church. 408 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,760 I need Christ and I need his church. 409 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:02,160 And you do too. Maybe Lazarus could have freed 410 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,080 himself eventually all by himself, but man, what a 411 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,960 frustrating and dumb way to go about it. 412 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:09,960 Like, no, no, I got it. I got it. 413 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:17,120 Like people are here to help. Can you imagine, guys? 414 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:20,280 The Christian life is not a solo event, it's a team sport. 415 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,560 There going to be days in our lives when we stop being 416 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:26,880 expectant that God's going to move and we get all tied up in 417 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,040 our old nature depending on the flesh, not being expected that 418 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,240 God's going to move. And in these moments, we need 419 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,520 others to speak truth into our life. 420 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:41,920 What about you, believer in Christ? 421 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:48,000 What's that thing that you've given up for dead and gone and 422 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,360 stopped expecting God to move? You see, the formula of the 423 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:53,920 Bible is actually really consistent. 424 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,960 We're going to take it to Jesus, choose to believe and then obey 425 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,520 in the little things. Just move the rock and this 426 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:05,840 formula, it is the gospel. It's how the gospel works. 427 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,080 If you're not familiar with this term, the gospel, give me two 428 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,600 minutes as we wrap this up to explain what that means. 429 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,480 The Bible says that every one of us lives in a fallen world, dead 430 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,160 in our sin. Dead is Lazarus in the grave, 431 00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:24,600 enslaved to sin, worse than he was wrapped up in those 432 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:31,000 garments. But God, in mercy and grace, 433 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,400 sent his Son Jesus to do what we could not do. 434 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,560 To live a perfect life, blameless, and then to go to the 435 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:42,120 cross and die as an innocent man in order to pay the debt that we 436 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,960 had accrued through rebellion. So that we could be forgiven, So 437 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,000 that we could be made clean, so that we could have a 438 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,080 relationship with God that had been broken. 439 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,040 And that's what happens when we surrender our will and life to 440 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:59,880 Jesus. The Bible tells us how to do 441 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:04,760 this in Romans 10/9 and 10. It says this because if you 442 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,720 confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in 443 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,040 your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be 444 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,800 saved. For with the heart 1 believes in 445 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,000 is justified, and with the mouth 1 confesses and is saved. 446 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,520 So if you would like to surrender your life to God 447 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,880 today, I want to give you an opportunity to take a next step. 448 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,120 Would you all please bow your heads and close your eyes for 449 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:32,240 just a brief moment? If you're willing to ask God for 450 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,720 forgiveness and salvation with every eye closed and every head 451 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,120 bowed, I just want you to to quietly or even just silently 452 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:47,000 repeat this prayer after me. Jesus, I know I'm a Sinner and I 453 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:55,000 can't save myself. I want you to save me and adopt 454 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,760 me into your family, so I surrender everything to you. 455 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:06,160 Be my Lord. Please Jesus, if you prayed to 456 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,680 surrender your life to Jesus for the very first time right now, 457 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:11,840 would you be brave and raise your hand for me to see? 458 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:21,800 Thank you, thank you, thank you. Put your hands down in Jesus 459 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,280 name, Amen. Real quick right up here. 460 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:32,600 If you have given your life to Christ in the service or in this 461 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,080 last week, I just want you to hear something. 462 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:42,680 Welcome to the family in a moment. 463 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:44,760 When we respond to this service, we're going to sing a song. 464 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,120 Our prayer team is going to be up here doing some prayer work 465 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,800 with you guys. And, and if you've given your 466 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,560 life to Christ and not told anyone about it or it just 467 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,360 happened, there's going to be some tables in the back that say 468 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,400 I raised my hand. We'd love for you to run back 469 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,920 there during our song and say hi and tell somebody the decision 470 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:02,920 you made. We have a gift for you. 471 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:04,520 We want to walk with you and celebrate with you. 472 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,120 But for those of us that have followed Christ maybe for a 473 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:12,440 while, I have a challenge for us and I have an encouragement. 474 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:13,520 It's a challenge and encouragement. 475 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,400 Here it is. Once you ask these questions, I 476 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:17,680 think they're at the bottom of your hand out. 477 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:21,400 What is something you're treating with logic instead of 478 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:27,400 expectation? You're being Martha instead. 479 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:29,600 We need to look to Christ. What is something you're 480 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,320 treating with logic instead of expectation? 481 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,800 You should think about that. Here's the second thing. 482 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,200 What is something you've written off as dead and gone that you 483 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:43,880 need to give to Jesus, the God of the impossible? 484 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:51,560 I challenge you to choose to believe, to give it to Jesus. 485 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,760 Then move the rock, obey him in the small promptings, and expect 486 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,680 the Creator of all creation to come do the miraculous. 487 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:05,320 It's worth it. Taking it to Jesus might mean 488 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:10,320 stop trying to figure it out and actually pray, write it down, 489 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,440 confess it out loud, get on your knees and say I can't fix this 490 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:18,200 but you can. I've been so many areas of my 491 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:24,200 life that this is true. When the financial struggles of 492 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,560 the church did a couple months ago, like I don't wanted to jump 493 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,400 in and just fix everything all by myself. 494 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,120 And I had to come to this realization that I didn't have 495 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,680 the power to control at all. What I needed to actually do is 496 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:39,720 pray to the God of the harvest and obey God in the small things 497 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:44,040 that He's asking me to do. And I expect that God will 498 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,600 continue to do great things through this church, not because 499 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:51,160 we've earned it, but because we believe and we expect that He 500 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,520 will do that. And so we're going to show up, 501 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,120 expect that God's going to do something impossible, and we're 502 00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:01,080 going to move the rock. Maybe for you, you've been a 503 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,640 believer for some time, but you realize that your pursuit of 504 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:06,600 Christ has not been what you want it to be. 505 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:10,560 And today might be a day that you want to rededicate your, 506 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,640 your life, your your journey, your pursuit of Christ. 507 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,120 And so that's you as as our prayer team comes up, we're 508 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,080 going to pray for people we love praying for you. 509 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,280 Whether you're hurting, whether you need healing for any reason, 510 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,560 we want to pray for you. But if you feel like today's the 511 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:28,600 day you need to rededicate your life, we'd love if you come down 512 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:29,960 and we'll pray for you for that as well. 513 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:31,600 Our prayer team is going to be up here. 514 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,440 You move as the Lord leads you. Would you stand? 515 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,000 We're going to sing a song and then we're going to participate 516 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,840 in the Lord's Supper. If you made a decision for 517 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,400 Christ, once you go to those back tables, if you need prayer, 518 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,360 love to pray for you, you move as the Lord leads you.