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Signs Pt 7 - Come Out | Dave Snyder · Reach Church Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome to the Reach Church Podcast. This is
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  Speaker 1: Dave Snyder, pastor here at Reach Church. Each week we
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  Speaker 1: share messages from our Sunday gatherings to help you discover
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  Speaker 1: the love of God, be empowered for purpose, and impact
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  Speaker 1: your world. We pray this message encourages you and helps
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  Speaker 1: you grow in your walk with Jesus. Let's get into
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  Speaker 1: today's message. At the final sign, if you have your
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  Speaker 1: Bibles with you, go to John chapter 11. And we're
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  Speaker 1: going to look at that in just a moment. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, as we've been going through these different signs,
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  Speaker 1: you've seen Jesus step into some challenging situations, right? You've
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  Speaker 1: seen Jesus walking on water. You've seen Jesus multiplying bread.
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  Speaker 1: You've seen Jesus healing the blind man. You've seen all
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  Speaker 1: these different miracles, broken people being restored. But now this
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  Speaker 1: is a different kind of miracle this morning. that we're
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  Speaker 1: going to look at. This miracle is about a dead man.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know, you know, you think about this
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  Speaker 1: kind of a situation. This is really a hopeless situation,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it? This is the story of Lazarus. This doesn't
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  Speaker 1: get much more hopeless than this kind of a situation.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know about your life, if you've ever
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  Speaker 1: looked at something and thought, man, it's over, right? There's
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  Speaker 1: no hope. I don't know if you've got that kind
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  Speaker 1: of a hopeless situation. going on in your life. But
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  Speaker 1: here's what I want you to know. With God, all
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  Speaker 1: things are possible. And what do you do when life
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  Speaker 1: looks impossible, when the situation looks impossible? And that's where
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  Speaker 1: Jesus steps in. So look at John chapter 11. In
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  Speaker 1: verse 1, it says, Now a man was sick, Lazarus
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  Speaker 1: from Bethany, And he tells you it's the village of
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  Speaker 1: Mary and her Martha. If you remember this story, okay,
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  Speaker 1: this is the same family. Mary was the one who
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  Speaker 1: anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with
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  Speaker 1: her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick.
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  Speaker 1: So the sister sent a message, Lord, the one you
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  Speaker 1: love is sick. And when Jesus heard it, he speaks
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  Speaker 1: these words, this sickness will not end in death, but
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  Speaker 1: it is for the glory of God. so that the
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  Speaker 1: Son of God may be glorified through it. Now listen
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  Speaker 1: to verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.
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  Speaker 1: So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed
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  Speaker 1: two more days right where he was. And I don't
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  Speaker 1: know about you, that sounds to me a little contrary.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus loved them, so he stayed. Jesus loved them. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: they know Jesus loves them In fact, they sent the message.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't say, Lazarus, the one you love is sick.
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  Speaker 1: So they know Jesus loves them, right? They could have
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  Speaker 1: written this song. We don't know. Yes, Jesus loves me.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible tells me so. They knew Jesus loved them, right?
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  Speaker 1: There was no question. But when Jesus gets the message,
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  Speaker 1: he spoke those words. Go back again to verse 5,
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  Speaker 1: this sickness of will not end in death. Oh, sorry,
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  Speaker 1: maybe verse four. I'm just guessing up here. This sickness
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  Speaker 1: will not end in death, but it's for the glory
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  Speaker 1: of God, right? So he releases the word of God
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  Speaker 1: over the situation. He speaks his word, and then he
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  Speaker 1: stayed right where he was for two days, right? So
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  Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but to me, it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: sound like love. To me, love should come running. right? Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: the one you love is sick. Jesus should have dropped everything.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it doesn't even tell us he's doing some
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  Speaker 1: great miracles or he's, it says he's out in the wilderness.
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  Speaker 1: He's out in the same place where John the Baptist
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  Speaker 1: had been baptizing. He's out in the deserted places. It
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  Speaker 1: doesn't say there's crowds. It doesn't say there's all this.
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  Speaker 1: It just says he's in this place and he waits.
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  Speaker 1: He waits for two days. Why doesn't Jesus come running?
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  Speaker 1: Why does he stay right where he is? Why doesn't
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  Speaker 1: he hurry up? And I don't know if you've had
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  Speaker 1: that kind of question in your heart. Why don't you
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  Speaker 1: come running? Have you ever prayed a prayer and you
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  Speaker 1: need God right now? It's a right, God, I need
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  Speaker 1: you right now. And it feels like he's off somewhere waiting.
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  Speaker 1: Why is there a wait? Lord, I thought you loved me, right?
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  Speaker 1: I thought you cared about me. And yet here I am,
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  Speaker 1: I feel like I'm just waiting. And if you look
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  Speaker 1: what happens in the story, you might think that it
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  Speaker 1: looks like Jesus doesn't care, right? He could have been fishing.
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  Speaker 1: He's just fishing and he's too busy. He's, oh, I'll
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  Speaker 1: get to it later. Don't worry, I'll give you my word.
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  Speaker 1: The sickness won't end in death, but I'm busy fishing
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  Speaker 1: right now. And when I'm done, I'm just speculating. He
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  Speaker 1: was by a river, so maybe he was fishing. But listen,
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  Speaker 1: so we might think he doesn't care, but we know
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  Speaker 1: he cares, right? Because it says he loves him. And
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  Speaker 1: so even though he loves him, he waits. And here's
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  Speaker 1: what I want you to think about this morning. His
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  Speaker 1: timing is not your timing. And his ways are higher
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  Speaker 1: than your ways. His thoughts are higher than your thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: And sometimes I think God doesn't care because I don't
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  Speaker 1: see him moving right now. Now listen, sometimes, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of the times in these stories we've been looking at,
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  Speaker 1: and maybe in your own life, God's done things immediately.
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  Speaker 1: Praise God. He does that sometimes. He did that all
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  Speaker 1: through the other stories we're looking at. It's like you
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  Speaker 1: need some bread, multiply, boom, here's bread, multiply. You need
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  Speaker 1: a miracle for your eyes, and he spits and makes mud,
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  Speaker 1: go wash up and you'll be healed. And we see
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  Speaker 1: immediate things happening, but yet in this situation where he
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  Speaker 1: has an intimate relationship with this family... who needs a
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  Speaker 1: miracle right now, he steps back and he waits. And
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever felt like that before, like, God,
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  Speaker 1: where are you? Why are you just waiting? I don't
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  Speaker 1: wanna wait, I want it now. I don't know about you,
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  Speaker 1: I like things now. I like, if I'm hungry and
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  Speaker 1: I go to the fridge and we've got some leftovers
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  Speaker 1: in there, I don't even wanna wait for the microwave,
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  Speaker 1: I'll eat it cold. Right, is anybody like me? Pizza.
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  Speaker 1: I love cold pizza. Why would you warm up pizza?
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  Speaker 1: It's so delicious when it's cold. I had a hamburger
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  Speaker 1: the other day, freezing cold. It was, but I was,
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  Speaker 1: I'm in a hurry. I want it now. And I
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  Speaker 1: don't know if you've ever felt like you're waiting on
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  Speaker 1: God and you wonder why, but listen, God had a plan.
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  Speaker 1: God had a plan and his plan was to bring
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  Speaker 1: about the glory of God. And in your life, Listen,
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  Speaker 1: it might feel like he's waiting, but I have to
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  Speaker 1: believe because his word is true. I have to believe
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  Speaker 1: he's got a plan. In fact, he says in Jeremiah 29, 11,
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  Speaker 1: I know the plans I have for you. I don't
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  Speaker 1: have plans for bad because some people feel like, God,
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  Speaker 1: why is all this bad? You've just got plans for bad. No,
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  Speaker 1: I've got plans for good. I've got plans for good
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  Speaker 1: for you. I know the plans I've got and they're good,
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  Speaker 1: but Lord, why am I waiting on this plan? Why
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  Speaker 1: am I waiting? And it feels like it's never going
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  Speaker 1: to happen. What's And here's what we got to understand.
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  Speaker 1: God wants to bring glory in your life, but his
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  Speaker 1: timing is not your timing, but he will get the glory.
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  Speaker 1: But listen again, back to that verse four, Jesus spoke
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  Speaker 1: a word. This sickness will not end in death. Now
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  Speaker 1: I want you to imagine something because he's about a
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  Speaker 1: two days journey away from Lazarus and he spoke the
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  Speaker 1: word and he waited two days and And maybe by
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  Speaker 1: the time the messenger got to Mary and Martha and
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  Speaker 1: he delivers the word, maybe Lazarus was about to die.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe it was just a few moments later. Maybe a
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  Speaker 1: few moments before he spoke. Imagine what that would have
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  Speaker 1: looked like. You're Mary and Martha. You're so concerned about
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  Speaker 1: your brother Lazarus and you're worried he's going to die. Quick,
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  Speaker 1: send somebody to Jesus. He'll come running. And instead he
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  Speaker 1: sends a message. Mary and Martha, don't worry. This won't
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  Speaker 1: end in death and he dies. What do you do
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  Speaker 1: with a word from God when death comes? What do
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  Speaker 1: you do when a word from God comes but hope
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  Speaker 1: has died? What do you do when all you have
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  Speaker 1: is this word but it looks so impossible? This will
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  Speaker 1: not end in death, but Lord, I'm looking at it.
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  Speaker 1: I'm looking right at, this will not end in death.
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  Speaker 1: He's already dead. Let's make preparations for the funeral. Let's
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  Speaker 1: have the funeral. There's no hope left because Jesus wasn't here.
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  Speaker 1: He sent the word, but then he died. Again, sometimes
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  Speaker 1: it feels like it's too late, right? And I don't
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  Speaker 1: know if you felt that way. You're not waiting on
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  Speaker 1: God anymore. It's already too late. It's too late for
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  Speaker 1: a word God gave you a word, but it looks impossible.
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  Speaker 1: And in this story, Mary and Martha might have thought
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  Speaker 1: Jesus made a mistake, or I guess his power couldn't
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  Speaker 1: work all the way across this distance, or I guess
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  Speaker 1: it's just something happened and Jesus is wrong, right? And
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if it's ever a like God's wrong
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  Speaker 1: in your life. Maybe there's something in your life that
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  Speaker 1: looks like Lazarus, like it's dying, or it's already dead.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe it's a marriage and you think this is falling apart.
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  Speaker 1: I believe God, but yet it feels like this is hopeless, right?
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  Speaker 1: Maybe it's a health situation. Maybe And you have the
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  Speaker 1: word of God, but it seems like it's impossible. You're
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  Speaker 1: holding on to a word, but the situation looks like Lazarus.
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  Speaker 1: There's no hope. So what do you do when it
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  Speaker 1: looks like hope has died? That's the question. And here's
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  Speaker 1: the thing. I believe this sign is pointing to a
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  Speaker 1: Savior who still calls dead things to life. And in
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  Speaker 1: your life and in your situation, He's still able to
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  Speaker 1: raise the dead. Come on, somebody. The thing that has
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  Speaker 1: looked hopeless, the thing that has looked like it's over,
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  Speaker 1: the story is done. He's still able to raise the
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  Speaker 1: dead in your life. Don't give up hope. Don't stop
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  Speaker 1: believing the word of God. Because when it looks like,
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  Speaker 1: put that slide, when it looks like hope has died,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus gets the final word, doesn't he? He gets the
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  Speaker 1: final word in your life. He gets the final word
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  Speaker 1: in your situation. He gets the final word in your family.
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  Speaker 1: He gets the final word in your marriage. If you've
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  Speaker 1: submitted your life to him, you've given your life to him,
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  Speaker 1: he gets the final word. Death isn't the final word
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  Speaker 1: because Jesus' word is greater than death. Death doesn't get
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  Speaker 1: the final word because the name of Jesus is greater
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  Speaker 1: than death because he defeated death, hell, and the grave
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  Speaker 1: and he still lives and he's still alive in us
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Amen. And so he came to show us
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  Speaker 1: That when everyone else says it's over and then it
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  Speaker 1: looks like death has won, death doesn't get the final word.
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  Speaker 1: Go to verse 17 for me up there, brother. When Lazarus, sorry,
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  Speaker 1: when Jesus arrived, my eyes get blurry. When Jesus arrived,
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  Speaker 1: he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb
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  Speaker 1: four days. And as soon as Martha heard Jesus was coming,
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  Speaker 1: she went to meet him. But Mary remained seated in
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  Speaker 1: the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you'd
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  Speaker 1: been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Sounds like a
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  Speaker 1: little bit of a rebuke, doesn't it? But I don't
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  Speaker 1: know that it is. I think it's faith coming out
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  Speaker 1: of her. Like, Jesus, I know if you'd been here,
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  Speaker 1: there's nothing impossible for you. You could have done something
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  Speaker 1: about this. Maybe it's a little passive-aggressive. You know, she's Jewish.
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  Speaker 1: I've got some Jewish family. They can be passive-aggressive. Right?
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  Speaker 1: But Then Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you've been here,
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  Speaker 1: my brother had died, yet even now, listen to that word,
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  Speaker 1: even now, I know whatever you ask from God, God
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  Speaker 1: will give you. Now listen, we could get hung up
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  Speaker 1: on verse 21. Jesus, if you've been here, this wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: have happened, but I think you can still, even in
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  Speaker 1: those words, you can still hear two things. You can
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  Speaker 1: hear Martha's pain, and you can hear her faith. You
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  Speaker 1: can hear kind of, she's grieving pain, but she's still believing.
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  Speaker 1: Even now. That takes some faith to say, Lord, even now.
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  Speaker 1: Because she says, Lord, if you've been here, you could
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  Speaker 1: have done something, but even now. Even now, in the
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  Speaker 1: face of death, Jesus, I know God still hears you. Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: even after four days, even after the funeral, even after
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  Speaker 1: everybody has gone home, even after death has already spoken,
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  Speaker 1: you have the final word. And you know, I think
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  Speaker 1: about some stories in here that have happened. I think
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  Speaker 1: about last week we had, was it last week we
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  Speaker 1: had Maverick up here? Was that just last week? Man,
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  Speaker 1: time flies. Okay, last week Maverick was up here and
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  Speaker 1: you saw what God did in that young man. How
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  Speaker 1: he took him from where he looked hopeless to God
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  Speaker 1: is just restoring his body. I think about even Lee
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  Speaker 1: this week. Maybe one day he'll get to share his
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  Speaker 1: testimony up here, what God did for him. But even
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  Speaker 1: just this past week, God did a miracle for him,
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  Speaker 1: didn't he? And he, God see, listen, death doesn't get
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  Speaker 1: the final word. Jesus does. And maybe somebody in here,
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  Speaker 1: you need to start praying the kind of prayer like
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  Speaker 1: Martha did and say, Lord, even now, even now in
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  Speaker 1: my situation, even now, even though it looks like hope
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  Speaker 1: is gone. Come on. Even now, God, I know things
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  Speaker 1: don't look good and things look impossible, but even now
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  Speaker 1: I know you're able to do the impossible. Lord, I
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  Speaker 1: know it looks like there's no way, but even now
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  Speaker 1: I believe you're still a God who makes a way. See,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you need to start praying some even now kind
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  Speaker 1: of prayers. Even now, despite how things look. Listen to
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  Speaker 1: what Jesus tells us. That's a faith declaration, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: Even now. Listen to what he says in verse 22,
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  Speaker 1: or verse 23. Your brother will rise again, Jesus told her.
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  Speaker 1: And Martha thinks... Jesus is giving her a theological comfort
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  Speaker 1: here that there's going to be a resurrection in the
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  Speaker 1: last day, right? Listen to what she says. She said,
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  Speaker 1: I know. I know there's going to be a resurrection, right?
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  Speaker 1: I know there's an end times and all this kind
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  Speaker 1: of stuff. I know that's coming at the last day.
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  Speaker 1: But Jesus says, I am. Listen, I am. Say that
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  Speaker 1: with me. I am. See, Jesus is saying, he's not
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  Speaker 1: just saying, again, I am. He's saying, it's the covenant
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  Speaker 1: name of God once again, just like he spoke on
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  Speaker 1: the sea as he was walking out to his disciples.
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  Speaker 1: He said, I am, I am. See, listen, he's saying,
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  Speaker 1: I am the resurrection and the life. The one who
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  Speaker 1: believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Jesus said, I,
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  Speaker 1: oh yeah, I'm starting over. Everyone who lives and believes
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  Speaker 1: in me will never die. Do you believe this? Listen
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  Speaker 1: to verse 27. Yes, Lord, I believe. You're the Messiah,
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  Speaker 1: the son of God who comes into the world. So again, listen,
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  Speaker 1: she thinks he's talking about the end of time. Jesus said,
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  Speaker 1: your brother will rise again. She thinks he's talking about
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  Speaker 1: the end of time and praise God there's coming a
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  Speaker 1: day when we will rise again. Amen. Everyone who has
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  Speaker 1: gone before us who believed in Jesus will rise again.
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  Speaker 1: I praise God for that, but that's not what he's
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  Speaker 1: talking about. You know, Martha thinks she's got to wait
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  Speaker 1: for this event at the into time for waiting for
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  Speaker 1: the resurrection. And Jesus tells her, no, the resurrection's here, right?
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  Speaker 1: She thinks she's waiting for a day and she doesn't
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  Speaker 1: recognize the one who makes the day possible is standing
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  Speaker 1: right in front of her. He is the resurrection. Now listen,
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  Speaker 1: he hadn't even gone to the cross yet, had he?
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  Speaker 1: This is before the cross. This is before he's been resurrected.
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  Speaker 1: And even before he was resurrected, he said, I am
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  Speaker 1: the resurrection. In other words, even while he was walking
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  Speaker 1: around on this earth, before he was resurrected, he already
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  Speaker 1: was walking with resurrection power everywhere he went. And he
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  Speaker 1: wants you to know that he is life. He's the
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  Speaker 1: resurrection and the life. And wherever Jesus' life is, see,
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  Speaker 1: put that slide up. When life walks in, Death walks out.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know what in your life you need
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  Speaker 1: to invite life to walk in. Invite Jesus to walk
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  Speaker 1: into your situation today. Invite him to walk into your home,
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  Speaker 1: into your situation that you're facing at work, whatever it
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  Speaker 1: might be. See, Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
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  Speaker 1: But he asked that important question, do you believe this?
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  Speaker 1: Because There's always these questions. It seems like almost every
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  Speaker 1: sign has been asking a question, and the question isn't, hey,
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  Speaker 1: do you like this miracle I've just done? Would you
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  Speaker 1: like me to do a miracle? Would you like this?
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  Speaker 1: That's not the question. The question is, do you believe
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  Speaker 1: he's able? Do you believe? What does this sign show
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  Speaker 1: you about Jesus? Who do you believe Jesus is? See,
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  Speaker 1: you have to believe in him. Jesus said there's only
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  Speaker 1: one way to the Father. He said he's the way,
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  Speaker 1: the truth, and the life. He's the only way. There's
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  Speaker 1: not many ways. You go to some places, they'll tell
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  Speaker 1: you there's lots of ways to get to God. You
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  Speaker 1: can follow this person. You can follow that person. You
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  Speaker 1: can follow this religion or that religion. Jesus said, I'm
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  Speaker 1: the only way. There's only one way to the Father.
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  Speaker 1: And that's not to hate on everybody else. It's to
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  Speaker 1: invite people to truth. You've got to come into the
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  Speaker 1: truth of who Jesus is, the reality of who he is.
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  Speaker 1: that he's the only way to God. And so she says, yes, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: I believe. So she confessed her faith, and now Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is about to prove who he really is. I want
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  Speaker 1: you to look at verse 32. Verse 32, he says,
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  Speaker 1: as soon as Mary came, so this first was Martha,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: now it's Mary. Mary came to where Jesus was because
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: she heard he was there, and she saw him. She
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: fell at his feet. Lord, if you'd been here, my
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: brother wouldn't have died. Where have we heard that before?
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: They must have been talking. These sisters got talking. Watch
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: out for sisters when they get talking. Verse 33, Jesus
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: her were crying, and he was deeply moved in his
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: spirit and troubled. Where have you put him, he asked. Lord,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: they told him, come and see. And then the Bible verse,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: every child can memorize. Jesus wept, right? Jesus wept. So Jesus,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: but listen, why did he weep? I've thought about this.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Jesus knew what he was about to do, didn't he?
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: He already told her, your brother's going to rise again.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: This will not end in death. He knew what was coming.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: And I feel like if I was Jesus, I might
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: not have cried. There's a lot of things I'd do
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: different if I was Jesus. It's a good thing I'm
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: not Jesus. And that's one of the things these signs
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: show us is that there's a God and it's not us. Okay?
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: Jesus stands there and cries. I would have been like,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: why are you all crying? I'm about to go raise,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: I told you I'm going to raise this guy. What
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: are you doing sitting here crying? Let's all, everybody stop it.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: A bunch of faithless people. He doesn't do that. He
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: stands there and he weeps with the people who are weeping.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Why does he do that? And here's what I believe.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: He doesn't stand at a distance from our pain. He
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: doesn't rebuke us for times when we have emotion. He
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: enters it. He comes in and joins us. Comes in
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: and embraces us in our weaknesses. You know, he's powerful
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: enough to raise the dead. And yet he's compassionate enough
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: to weep with the brokenhearted. See, I want you to
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: catch this. He meets you in your pain. And maybe
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: there's some in here today, you say, I've been in
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: some pain. I know what it is to weep. I
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: know what it is to suffer. I know what it
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: is to have these emotional things and you've felt like
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: you've got to stay kind of away from God. I
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: can't bring this to God because he'll think I don't
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: have faith. You know, faith doesn't mean I always hold
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: it together. It means I know who holds me together.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean I've got to make sure I look good.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: It means I know God is able to hold me
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: in my suffering. I can bring it to him because
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: he cares for me. That's why the word of God says,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: cast your cares, cast your concerns, cast your anxiety, cast
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: your fear, cast it all on him because he cares
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: for you. I know I can trust him. And I
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: want you to know today, you can trust him with
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: whatever it is you're going through. You can pour it
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: out to him. He's not afraid of your suffering. But again,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: sometimes you're going through something and you wonder, God, do
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: you care? God, why didn't you come running if you'd
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: been here? Lord, you could have done something. And so
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: we ask these kind of questions, but just because there's
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: a delay doesn't mean he's far from you. Look what
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: it says in Psalm 34, verse 18. The Lord is
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: near the brokenhearted. He's not far from you, especially... when
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: you feel broken, especially when you are suffering, especially when
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: you're going through something and it's been so challenging and
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: you just don't, God, where are you? Why didn't you
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: come run? No, he's near. Now we have the encouragement.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: He's always with us. He never leaves us. He never
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: forsakes us in the New Testament. But even so, this
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: truth is still true that he's near you when you're broken.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: He comes to you in a special way. And this morning,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody in here, you're going through
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: something in your life. I want you to know God's
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: close to you right now. His delay does not mean
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: he's distant. You can bring him your grief, your disappointment,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: your tears. The word of God tells us, mourn with
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: those who mourn. Don't you think God does the same thing?
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: He wouldn't tell us to do something he doesn't do.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I'd be like me telling my children, hey, make sure
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: you guys are polite and that I'm rude to everybody.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Make sure you use please and thank you. I'm just
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: rude and I say what I want. No, I have
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: to lead by example. God is the ultimate parent who
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: will lead by example. Amen. Look at verse 38 now.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: was a cave and a stone was lying against it.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Remove the stone, Jesus said. Martha, Lazarus' sister, told him, Lord,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: I love this part of the verse, right? Because it's
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: so real, this part of the story. Because it's just
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: so real. I can just see some, I can see
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: one of us. I can see me. I'll just be honest. Hey, Jesus,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you something right now. You probably
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: didn't consider this. Dead bodies stink. All right? Lord, he's been,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: you may not realize, he's been in there for four days.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: And after four days, it's going to smell something awful, right?
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: So she's being really helpful, given this information. Listen to
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: what Jesus said. Didn't I tell you, if you believed,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: you'd see the glory of God? Right? So Jesus comes
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: to the tomb. They say, Martha's like, this is not
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: a good idea. And I don't know if you've ever,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: if you can relate to this, right? Because I think
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: smells are an interesting thing. Have you ever walked into
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: a room and you thought, what's that smell? And you
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: realize it's you? Right? It stinks. It stinks. And what
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: happens in that situation, especially if you're in a place
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: where there's people around, you want to hide. You want
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: to try to take care of this situation. You want
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: to run away. But listen, do we act like that
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: with God sometimes? There's something in our lives that stinks.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: And we say, God, don't go there. You don't want, Lord,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: don't ask me about that relationship. Lord, don't ask me
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: about this thing in my life. this addiction, this wound
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: that I have from the past. I don't want to,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: it stinks, right? Don't open that thing up because then
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: we'll have to deal with it. Do we act like that?
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: But what God wants to do is expose the things
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: in our heart and understand Jesus isn't afraid of anything
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: in your life. Verse 41, so they removed the stone
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: you that you heard me. I know you always hear me,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: but because of the crowd standing here, I said this
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: so they may believe you sent me. And then after
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: praying that prayer, he shouts with a loud voice, Lazarus,
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: come out, right? Now, again, remember, Lazarus had been dead
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: for four days. And in the Jewish mind, they believed
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: a body, a spirit rather, would hang around its body
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: for about three days, hoping death. to return hoping to
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: have an opportunity to return that of course is nonsense
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: right but they believed it so this has been four
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: days there's no hope of anything happening in their minds
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: this is impossible if jesus had waited three days they
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: might have thought well the spirit was hanging around and
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: just have no it's been four days right there's no
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: possibility there's no hope the funeral's over the tomb is
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: sealed he stinks he's rotting right And so I think Jesus,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: I think he might have waited those extra two days
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: just to prove something. To all those people who said
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: this is impossible, to all those people who thought God
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: can't do this, I think he waited those extra days
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: to show something to them and to show something to
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: you and to me. That no matter what the situation is,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: he can still step in and do the impossible. He
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: can give a command. He can speak a word, and
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: dead bodies can raise. And there's coming a day when
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: a trumpet's going to sound, and the bodies are going
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: to raise one more time. See, there's nothing impossible for
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: God this morning. Do you believe that in your life?
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: So he shouts a command, Lazarus, come out, and a
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: dead man. He's talking to a dead man. Lazarus, come out.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: And when things look impossible, all things are possible. And
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: here's what I want you to catch. His word is
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: greater than your situation. You know, all these signs that
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: we've seen, we've seen the water obey him as he
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: walked on top of it and told it, don't let
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: me sink here. I'm going to walk on top of you.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Bread obeyed him when he multiplied it, right? Wind obeyed him.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Blind eyes obeyed him. And now a dead body, a
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: corpse obeys him. And he's showing you something that he
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: has authority over. even over death itself. See, the sign's
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: revealing something. Just like all the other signs, this sign
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: is revealing a savior who calls dead things to life.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: And I want you to think about this because the
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: same voice that said, Lazarus, come out, is the same
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: voice that said, let there be light. Let there be light,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: and it obeyed. Light obeyed. Just appeared out of nowhere,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: out of thin air, Because he spoke a word. Let
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: there be light. And even though his body was rotten,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: even though, I mean, imagine what that must have looked like.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: You had a rotten body. And I don't know, medically speaking,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: what that might have looked like as far as the blood.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: Maybe the blood's been drained. I don't know what that
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: looked like. I don't know what the organs would have
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: looked like after four days of sitting lifeless. but it
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: didn't matter because Jesus spoke a word. Lazarus, come out.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: Verse 44, the dead man came out, bound hand and
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: foot with linen strips. He looked like a mummy, right?
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: His face was wrapped in cloth. And Jesus said, unwrap
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: him and let him go. He came out of the grave,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: but he's still wrapped in the grave clothes. He's alive,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: but he's wrapped up. I think there's something here. He's
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: been made alive, but he's still got things on him
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: that look like death And I don't know, this morning
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: you probably didn't get up and say, I think I'll
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: wear my clothes I mowed in yesterday to church. Right?
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: If you mowed in the wetness, I don't know. But
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: yet that's how some Christians act. They've been made alive,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: but they're still wrapped up. Right? They're wrapped up in
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: stuff from their past. They're wrapped up in their old sin,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: their old ways. They're wrapped up in the things they
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: used to do before they met Jesus. And listen to
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: what Jesus said. Get that stuff off him. He didn't
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: tell Lazarus, take that stuff off. He told the people,
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: get that stuff off him. And see, sometimes we need help.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: We can't do everything on our own. We like to
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: think we can. I can handle this. I can handle that. No,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: you need community. You need it. That's why it's so
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: important to be a part of a church, the body
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: of Christ. Because there's things that we struggle with. That's
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: why it tells us in the Gospels, pray one for
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: another so that you can be healed. Because sometimes I'm
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: waiting on something for God and I'm praying and God's like, no,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: you need to pray one for another. There's something that
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: happens when you're with another. Confess your sins one to another.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Why am I supposed to do that? I don't want
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: to sit up here and tell you every bad thing
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: I've ever done. That's not what he's saying. One to another.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: When I tell you my struggles and you tell me yours,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: there's healing. Because I find out the things I struggle with,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: you might have struggled with too. And we can pray
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: for each other and encourage one another just like iron
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another. See, we're supposed
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: to be together in this. And I believe that's the
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: illustration when he's saying, take off those grave clothes. See,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: sometimes you come to church and you find Jesus and
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: you're made alive, but your life still stinks because you
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: still got the past on you. You're still living like
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: you used to live and you need help learning how
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: to be free, how to find freedom. And that's why
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: I think life groups are so important. Let me make
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: a plug for life groups here. I'll do a little commercial.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: If you're not in a life group, And I know
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: sometimes we work and things like that, but if you
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: can come on Wednesday nights, you need to get there
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: because it's not just about having a class. It's about community.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: It's about being together. It's about encouraging one another. It's
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: about praying for one another. It's about identifying with each
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: other's struggles and how we can move forward in our
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: walk with the Lord. It's so important that we come
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: together like that. And so this morning, I want you
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: to think about this as we get ready to wrap up.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: I want you to bow your heads for a moment
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: And just kind of think about this. You know, Jesus
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: stood in front of a tomb where everyone else had
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: given up. Right? Four days went by. There's no hope.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: And Jesus calls Lazarus by name. Lazarus, come out. That's
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: the sign. It's revealing a Savior who calls dead things
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: to life. And again, as I was thinking about this message,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: I was thinking about how many different Lazarus stories are
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: in this room. How God has made changes in your lives.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: How God has done miracles in your life. How God
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: has done the impossible. And I thought, man, if we
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: could have everybody come up here and share, we would
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: be here all day. Hearing about what God has done.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: But it all comes down to this. Jesus calls dead
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: things to life. And here's what I want you to
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: catch this morning. He's still calling people from death to life. See,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: apart from him, apart from Christ, we're dead in our sins. Right?
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: Maybe you've tried to fix your own life. You've tried
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: to make things right. You've tried to be a better person,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: but you can't do it on your own. Jesus is
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: the one who gives life. And he's calling you. I
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: want you to imagine for a moment, just with your
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: eyes closed, that you're standing there at that tomb. And
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: Jesus calls your name. Because that's exactly what it's like
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: when we're dead in our trespasses and sins. The Bible
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: says Jesus made us alive. So it's like we're dead
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: before we know him. But when Jesus calls your name,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: you come alive. And this morning, maybe you're here and
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: you say, I'm away from God. Why would God want me?
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: God wouldn't care about me. No, listen, we heard this
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: morning about a God who cares about us. We heard
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: about a God who meets us right where we are
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: in our weakness, in our infirmity, in our suffering, in
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: our pain. He steps right in. And if you're here
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: this morning and you say, I'm away from God. My
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: life is not right with Jesus Christ. This morning, I
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: want you to imagine Jesus calling your name. He's calling
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: you from death to life. This morning, if that's you,
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: you say, I need to respond. I can't stay where
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: I am. I can't stay in my tomb. I need
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: to get up out of my grave. This morning, if
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: that's you, I want you right where you are. Raise
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: your hand and wave at me this morning and say,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: I want to get up out of my grave. I'm
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: not going to embarrass you. I want to pray with
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: you right where you're sitting this morning. Yes, I want
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: to get up out of my grave. Yes, I see
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: your hand. This morning, if you say, I'm away from
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: God and I want to step up out of my grave,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: he's calling my name. I want you with your hand
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: raised to just to repeat this prayer with me. Say, Jesus,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: forgive me for my sins. Forgive me for my past
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: and make me a new person today. I give you
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: my life, Jesus. I want to step out of the
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: grave from death to life. Thank you for what you've
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: done for me. Thanks so much for listening to today's
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: message from Reach Church. If this encouraged you, we'd love
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: for you to share this podcast and leave a review.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: It helps more people hear the good news. For more
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: information about Reach Church, our ministries, or how to get involved,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: visit us at reachchurch.world. We love you, we're praying for you,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: and we'll see you next time right here on the
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Reach Church podcast.