The Resurrection And The Life

Amen. You know, some of you may wonder what is so special about Easter Sunday. It's a good question. As you make your way back to your seats, maybe I can sum this up as simple as I can. Easter is the moment when the worst day in human history turned into the most beneficial and helpful day. When a man named Jesus who healed the sick and loved the broken, who claimed to be God, was executed like a criminal. Those that followed him, even those that were the closest to him, they assumed everything was over. But 3 days later, the tomb was empty. And everything changed. Easter is proof that death doesn't have to win when God says so. Easter is about this. Humanity has a sin problem that we can't fix. We can't. Death is something that you and I we cannot escape. Easter is God's answer to both. Jesus died for our sins on Friday and he proved on Sunday that death cannot hold him down. That's the God we serve. Easter means that your past doesn't have the final word. Your sin, your failure, your mistakes, they don't have the final word. Even death doesn't have the final word. You know why? Because Jesus walked out of that grave. He walked out of that grave. If the resurrection didn't happen, Christianity is just another philosophy. But if it did happen, then it changes everything about life, about death, and about eternity. So, you want to know what's special about Easter?

It's this, that I have hope of something bigger than just this life. I have hope in the life that's to come. That even if my life isn't the way I want it to be right here and right now, let's be honest, there's plenty of us in this room that probably would have written our narrative a little differently. I want you to know something. Hope's not lost. There's something far greater than just what we're living in right now. I'm living for something bigger than just this moment. I'm living for what's to come. Because he's a God who keeps his promises. That's what Easter Sunday's about. It's a God who says that he would and he did. They didn't understand that on that side. It's a God who said he would and he did. He did. No one else could. Now, here's the deal, all right? We get hung up often times in all of the negativity, especially us in North American culture, and we have all this accessibility and all this news and all this information that comes at us and bombards our minds and has a way of just sticking to us. Anybody ever feel like it just sticks to you? I want you to know the church is the biggest thing on the planet. The church is the biggest thing going around. There are some 2.4 to 2.6 billion people who claim that Jesus is who he said he was. Let that sink in.

That's bigger than China and the United States and Australia all combined and most of Europe. It's the biggest thing going right now. Again, that's a lot of flavors that are going on. That's a lot of people, but here's the common thread. Every one of those people believe that he got up out of that grave. So, I know there's a lot of negative in the world, but I'm here to tell you this is a day of hope. This is a day of hope because the tomb is empty. Nobody else gets to claim that. No other religion gets to claim that the tomb is empty. Everybody else serves somebody that's dead. I DON'T BELIEVE IN DEAD DEITY. MY GOD IS NOT DEAD. HE HAS NEVER BEEN. HE'S ALIVE AND WELL, AND WHILE THE BODY MAY HAVE BEEN in the grave, he was about his business. He was going down to hell and saying, "Give me THE KEYS BECAUSE SOMEDAY MY CHILDREN ARE GOING TO COME BACK AND THEY'RE GOING TO KNOCK on that door, AND YOU'RE GOING TO OPEN it so THAT THEY CAN RECLAIM EVERYTHING YOU STOLE FROM HIM. THAT'S WHY WE CELEBRATE ON RESURRECTION SUNDAY CUZ MY GOD IS ALIVE. HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ALIVE. BUT FOR TODAY, I WANT to visit another grave. Another tomb that has something special for us. John chapter 11, verse 17 reads this way. So, when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb 4 days.

So, everybody say, "Oh my." Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, about 2 miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. Now, Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know whatever you ask of God, God will give it you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." But Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into this world." Easter Sunday. Man, as pastor, you just love Easter Sunday. Because some of you I haven't seen since last Easter Sunday. Welcome to church. We're so glad you made it. You look good today. You really do. Look at your neighbor and say you look good. Now, I hope you didn't lie cuz you're in the house of God. We like Easter Sunday. I like Easter Sunday. I like seeing everybody all dressed up, and I like all the things that come.

I even I even enjoy that it was a little bit brisk this morning when I left the house. Because I know heat's coming, but not today. Today God has been good to us. Today here on Easter Sunday we're here to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But this passage I just read to you kept sticking out to me in my mind. It kept causing me to revisit it and to process and think about what was going on. So I'll put this together for us today and I feel like the Lord has a word for us. I was taken back by Jesus' words to Martha when he said this to her, "I am the resurrection and the life." Today we're celebrating his resurrection, the conquering of death, hell, and the grave, but I want to bring our attention to what he spoke to Martha. When we also celebrate the resurrection, you have to celebrate life as well. They're tied together. They come as a package deal. Now our text today is one of the more popular stories in the Bible, maybe one of your favorite stories as well. It's a story about Lazarus being raised from the dead. Now for a little bit of context today for those of you that maybe are not super familiar with the story, let me remind you that Mary and Martha and Lazarus were friends of Jesus. They were some place that he would often times find himself going to as he was traveling.

He would go to Bethany and stay at their house. This was something that wasn't just a casual acquaintance. He had a he had a very deep relationship with what was going on there and it was something he was very familiar with. I think all of us can identify about having close friends. These were close friends of Jesus. So it's surprising when you read this story that someone who is so close to Jesus would have such a tragic event take place and transpire in their life. In fact, if you go back and read the story, you'll realize that Jesus was actually forewarned that Lazarus was sick and he stayed still on purpose. He says, "Look, there's something bigger at play because I love when things are not going the way we want them to that our God always has a different narrative at play in the background of our life. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Yes. Anybody had had life throw you a curveball? Anybody ran into the ditch before? Yeah. Yeah, I know I have plenty of times. I'm so thankful that I have a God that always has a plan. Even when my plan doesn't work, he has a plan. Even when I have something well scripted out and I think it's perfect, he doesn't always listen to me. Have you noticed that before? I feel like that's what taking place in this story. In fact, we see in the story that Jesus shows up and he's already told his disciples Lazarus was just sleeping.

The reality was he was long gone dead. He was 4 days in the grave. Now, I want you to know this at 4 days back then, there was no embalming process. Guess what was taking place after the fourth day? No, it was pretty nasty. It would be one of those things. You ever You ever driven by a road kill before and it's all bloated up there on the side of the road? Are you guys okay? Did I say something bad? You guys have seen that before, right? All right. Now, I'm not calling Lazarus road kill. That's all I'm saying. I'm trying to give you an image though of what takes place after so many days have passed by. So, we need that visual in our minds that he's been dead. He's dead dead. He's doornail doornail dead. You guys okay with that? I feel like everybody's looking at me funny today. Did I Make sure I'm buttoned up right. Does anybody ever felt like Jesus at times has put you and I in a place where we feel like we've been waiting too long? Yeah, anybody be willing to raise their hand on that one? Yeah. Yeah, look at that. Most of the room raised that up. You know, there there's that song we used to sing. He may not come when you want him to, but he's always right on time. Now, I don't know about you, but there's times when I feel like he waits to the literal last second.

Now, I don't know about you, but I like being early. Any early birds in here? Anybody feel like I do? I was raised if you showed up on time, you were late. On time was at least 5 minutes early. Now, how many of you that are wired that way, you married someone who feels the opposite? Yeah. And it gets you a little worked up. Anybody get a little worked up over that? Anybody start and you're like, you know what like we you know what time we need to be there. And my wife sometimes will remind me, "It's going to be okay. We're going to get there we're going to get there on time." But I don't like that on time business. I want to be before time. Now, the problem with that is when that translates to me talking to God because I'm like, "God, you know you could. I know I know you can. It's not me doubting your ability. You've proven yourself to me many many times that you can do it. But God, why do we have to wait till the last second?" Trust. That's something you and I struggle with, isn't it? Trust. We have to trust. I can remember a lot of times when he didn't show up when I wanted him to, but I have a lifetime of examples when he showed up right on time. Now, this is important for me for just a minute. If that has been you, if God has showed up on time, right on time, I want you to raise your hand.

Now, leave it up for just a second. I want you to look around the room. Now, either we're a bunch of liars, I don't think that we're a bunch of liars, or that God has done that for us. Thank you for being willing to help me out there. Jesus shows up. Now, I want you to listen to this because I feel like this is where you and I oftentimes find ourselves. We're a lot like Martha. There's a lot of Marthas and there's a lot of Marys in the room. Now, for the Marthas, I'm a Martha. Take it the way I mean it. John 11:21 says this, "Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'" What she was saying is, "I had a plan. We have a relationship. You and I are close. You're close to my family. I sent word to you that my situation's not good. I gave you, Lord, advanced notice of my circumstances. I didn't wait till the last minute to say, "I've messed up." I didn't wait till the last minute to say he's getting sick. I sent ahead of time notice to you so that you could therefore be moving in my direction. Anybody ever prayed like that? God, I see it coming. I'm not a doomsday Chicken Little kind of guy, but God, I can add two and two, and this is coming together or something that's going to be unpleasant.

It's not going to be good. I need your help. So, if you don't mind, start walking my way, God, and it seems like you stood still instead of moved. I don't like when God does that. So, this is what Martha is saying is I had a plan. I had this worked out. I knew how this would best work, and yet you didn't show up. IF ONLY YOU WOULD have been here, my brother wouldn't be dead. God, why? Why did things not work out the way we wanted? Anybody ever notice that sometimes the miraculous has a way of sneaking up on you? Yeah. Yeah, you should've been here last Sunday. Oh, my Last Sunday, God walked in this place and did some mighty miracles among us. You're going to hear more about that. I don't want to get ahead of myself. But God was with us and did some amazing things. Lives were forever changed because he's the God who always shows up when you need him. He's the God of the resurrection and life. Resurrection and life. So, we're back to our story here. She gets the answer from Jesus who says, "I'm the resurrection and life." And Martha was shaking her head in agreement saying, "Mm, I understand. I understand." Have you ever been around somebody that you're trying to tell them something and they're already shaking their head like Usually the shaking of the head is, "I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. If you'll stop talking, I can continue to tell you why you're not doing what I need you to do. I've been guilty of that. I may have even been guilty with someone in the room doing that. So, I apologize in advance if you've seen me go this like this before. I probably was trying to fast forward you. It'd be great if we had little buttons on our forehead, wouldn't it? Like, let's get to the point. There's some people who like to tell a to tell a full full story. My brother-in-law, Josh, he I love Josh. We all love Josh. But, there is no quick conversation with Josh. He doesn't know what that means. When he could just say yes, 17 minutes later, he's still trying to tell you yes. Now, he builds a beautiful story. Now, Martha's here, and she's talking to Jesus. She's not talking to me. She's not talking to you. She's not talking to Josh. She's talking to Jesus. And she's going Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the resurrection. I know I know one day, Lord. I know when the resurrection comes, he's going to go. But, you missed my point. You missed my point, Jesus. As I was trying to tell you that my plan was well laid out. Perfectly written and scripted. And I was hoping that I wouldn't have to wait to see him again in heaven. I was hoping that maybe he would just not die.

That's what I was hoping. I was hoping that he wouldn't die. Have you ever hoped that something wouldn't die in your life? And you're having a conversation with Jesus. This is what's going on. He says, "I'm the resurrection life." She knew there was going to be resurrection. But, I'm here to tell you on this Easter Sunday, standing this pulpit to tell someone today not some far-off service, not some crazy life circumstance, but today you can experience a life that only comes from God. The giver of life was telling her, "I am the resurrection and the life." And she was missing it. I wonder how many times you and I have missed what God wanted to do because we were too busy wanting to do it our way. I wonder how many times I have maybe even paused what God was wanting to do because I was being so stubborn and wanted to do it my way. You're like, is it Frank Sinatra? I want it my way. Is he the one who wrote that song? Yeah. Yeah, quit being Frank. Stop being Martha. Don't be Frank and Martha. Stop for a minute. Listen to what I'm trying to say. The reason we're here celebrating Resurrection Sunday is because he is the resurrection and the life. And he is in this room today to meet whatever needs you have. Whatever needs you have. Now, I know you're saying, "Yeah, well, Pastor Kevin, I've heard these messages.

I've been around church my whole life and I know what you're going to say and I know the tomb is empty. Won't you just hurry up because we have an appointment at a restaurant and we need you to fast forward." You're trying to push my fast forward button. Mine's broke. I want you to I want you to really stop for just a minute and process these words I'm saying to you. The resurrection and the life is here. Is here. He's in this room right now. Now, you can do something. You can be Martha. If that's what you choose today, you can be Martha. And what I mean by that is you can choose to not listen. You can choose to give me a good nod. You can choose to throw your hand up every now and then. You can choose to do all these things. What was going on is she was not engaging in what he was saying. She was lost in her own narrative. Did you hear what I was saying? She was She heard the words. But she didn't process what he was saying. Had she fully comprehended, there would have been a celebration inside of her. Instead, she was just acknowledging, "Yeah, yeah, I know one day it's going to happen." And there's a lot of people in this place today who's going to say, "Yeah, yeah, one day I know you're going to come back and we'll go to heaven." But you're missing the resurrection and the life that's in this room.

That there's a lot of things that you brought in as Pastor Hank said earlier that you don't have to carry out with you. It's your choice. You can be like Martha and be like, "Yeah, yeah, I know one day it's all going to be better." No, I'm telling you right now it can be better. Right now. Right now it can be Why? Because the resurrection and the life is in this room. You have to determine in your mind whether or not you're going to fall back into your old doubts and your own anxiety and your own hiccups and hang-ups that you have that you brought into this room with you OR IF YOU'LL PAUSE LONG ENOUGH TO listen to what the resurrection and the life is trying to do for you in your life. The decision is yours. What do you want to do with it? We're not here today to celebrate the Easter Bunny. Now, I like a good peanut butter egg. Just going to say. If you choose to bless me with one of those things, I would be very appreciative. I like those. Both white chocolate and regular chocolate. We're not here to celebrate eggs. A bunny and egg never did anything for me. That's not what we're here. We're not here for that. We're here to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to celebrate that God is in our life. That God is in our life. That God, did you ever stop for a minute to think that the God of all wants to be involved in your life?

Who are you? Who am I? That he would desire to be a part of my life. That's what kind of God we have. If you're here just because someone invited you or you're here because it's Easter and you feel like it's what you're supposed to do on Easter because you were raised in the South and you had a mom or a grandma that told you that you're going to go to hell if you didn't. I want you to know that Jesus is here. And he brings with him the resurrection and life. Cuz there's so much that comes when you acknowledge it. There's resurrection and life. He's here to bring life. Life where there's been much death. Life where there's been no hope. Life when light has gone dim. Life where addiction has taken over. Life where relationships have been broken. Life where the darkness of depression rules the day. Life for you and I, life here in his name is Jesus. He brings with him the resurrection life. I'm preaching the gospel. When you preach the gospel, things change. These are not my words. These are the words that he gives us to live by in our life. Jesus came and he came on time. Whether or not you believe that or not, I promise you it is a truth that you can live your life by. He's an on-time God. Today is the day of salvation. It is now the acceptable time to believe and trust in our Lord Savior.

Amen. Amen and amen. Jesus came and he was on time even though they didn't see that at first. He was on time. Lazarus, as I said, has been dead 4 days. Martha comes and what she gets is a sermon. Mary comes a bit later in a more secret way. It matters not so much how you come to Jesus. The point is that you go to Jesus. Whether you're Mary or a Martha or even a Frank, you need Jesus. There's a powerful lesson in what Jesus does. Jesus takes up the groaning of Mary and Martha. I want you to pay attention to the scriptures. I want to show you something here. Jesus seems to be absorbing the grief of that they were having for Lazarus. As we start to see a glimpse into his life, we see the redemptive power of the almighty God. We see Jesus taking on their sorrows. I love this because this goes directly into what Paul said in Romans chapter 8 verse 26. Likewise, the spirit also helpeth helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray as we ought, but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. You see, the spirit of God will start to pray through and turns our sorrows into something different. You know what it turns our sorrows into? Somebody said it. What's what does he do with our sorrows? He turns them into joy. What other God does that?

What other what other thing in life gives you that? You know, there's a lot of things out there in this world that will bring you a moment of relief. Right? It brings you a moment of relief. But what do you know in life that takes your sorrow and turns it into joy? Nothing but God. Nothing but Jesus. Oh, you can go get high. There's a lot of you in this room who have been high. There's a lot of you who have been at one time or another have been bound by addictions in your life. Let me ask you, did any of those addictions bring you joy? They may have brought you happiness for a moment, but did it bring you lasting joy? The answer is no, it wrecked your life. But thanks be to God, he found you one day. He didn't leave you in the mess where he was at. Thanks be to God that he was willing to stoop down into the mess and the wreck that you made out and didn't want you to stay in that situation. And he says, "I'll take the messed up brokenness of your life. Bring it to me. Bring me the ashes of your burned out life and I will turn it into something beautiful and I WILL GIVE YOU JOY FOR YOUR SORROWS." WHAT A GOD WE SERVE. He's the God of the resurrection and the God of life. I'm so thankful for the outpouring of his spirit and the benefit that comes from that.

Did you know in our world today Now, I'm going to kind of speak to the church. I know we got some guests here today, but I'm going to speak to the church for just a minute. Look look at me. Well, this thing is bigger. This is bigger than the UPC. This is bigger than the apostolic movement. This thing is bigger. Look, I got word just this past week that in our state, in our county that God is pouring out his spirit in denominational churches. Look look, I'm telling you we're in the last days, guys. This isn't time to be playing patty-cake with Jesus. The reality is the revival that has already been set in motion, what's taking place is bigger than we can fit in this building. It's bigger than we can fit in any building in this entire county. You took every church that's in this county and everybody decided today they wanted to go to church, we don't have enough seats for them. So, it's not about buildings. It's about not about names on the outside of the building. It's not about organizations. I'm telling you this is the church of Jesus Christ and it's the biggest thing going on right now. He brings the resurrection and life. I'm telling you there are denominations who have drifted away from what was true and they've lost their mind, but God is finding these little small churches where people are hungry because society and culture has lost its mind.

I'm here to tell you whenever somebody's hungry for God, God meets them where they're at. Whether it says Pentecostal or Methodist or Baptist or Church of Christ, IT DOESN'T MATTER. WHEREVER SOMEBODY'S HUNGRY GOD SAYS, "I WANT TO GO THERE. I WANT TO BE THERE." AND WHEN THEY'RE GENUINELY HUNGRY BEFORE HIM, HE FILLS THEM WITH HIS SPIRIT. PEOPLE ARE RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST ALL ACROSS THE COUNTY, NOT JUST IN UPC CHURCHES, BUT I'M TELLING YOU IN DENOMINATIONAL CHURCHES God has a wave of revival THAT'S TAKING PLACE. IT'S THE LAST DAY. DON'T MISS THE BOAT. HE'S THE GOD OF THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. I need that spirit working in me. Back to our story. We see Jesus was groaning with them and then we see that there's a verse of scripture that all of us have memorized in John 11:35. We all know it. What is it? We know that one, don't we? We know that one and judge not lest you be judged. Somehow we got those our back pocket, we whip them out. Jesus wept. Two words. Yet so powerful. In that moment he was meeting them where they were at. He could feel their sorrow and their loss. He could identify with that they were not fully processing what he was trying to do. They were caught up in the moment. There was a lot of stuff that was bigger at play in that moment than it was. So he weeps for them.

I believe it's powerful because we see the almighty God in flesh weeping with those who weep. He's a God as the writer Hebrews says in Hebrews 4:15. For we not have for we do not have a high priest which cannot sympathize with our weakness but is in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. I love the next verse. Let us therefore come boldly. Boldly. Why? Because he's the God of resurrection and life. He's a God who can identify and see he's not a some far off God that doesn't understand sorrows and pains and frustrations and hurts and betrayal. He does he can identify with those things. He has a way of connecting with you in those moments. Something that you feel like is off for God and nobody cares about you. He cares. He's concerned. Now here's the deal. We have convinced ourself and I heard this so many times over my years of being involved in ministry. Well, I know I need God. I know I need to get right. I know I need to get back in church but I got to fix some things first. It doesn't make any sense. Help me with this. If I have pain and I have pain I got a shoulder surgery coming up on the 21st of this month. They're going to go in there and with they got some things they're taking out. That's all I know. I can't do this with this arm without really hurting.

But here's the deal. I didn't say to my wife who is tired of me complaining about it. You know babe I got to fix a few things before I go to the doctor. You know I got to get it right. I mean I want to go in there be embarrassed and right it'd be so embarrassing to go in there say look I'm kind of hurting and I think something's wrong in there but I'm embarrassed about it. No, why why do you go to the doctor? Nobody in their listen to me. Nobody in their right mind wants to just go to the doctor. Just like nobody in their right mind just wants to go to the dentist. No one wants to do that. Now we're thankful they're there. Right? I know there are some folks in here that like going and getting your teeth cleaned. We pray for you, people. We pray for you. But the why do why do you why do you why do you go to those professionals? Cuz they need to fix something in you. Right? So, for you to say, "I got to get better before I go to church." That doesn't make sense because why do you go to church? It's because something's not right with you. And you need to go to a God who has the ability to help you fix what is wrong with you. So, to say that you could fix the problem without him, then you wouldn't need God.

Now, I know some of you keyboard MDs love getting online and self-diagnosing yourself. But at the end of the day, you still got to have a doc in your life. Now, a lot of you want to get these self-help books and you want to you want to read up on this or read up on that and you want to you want to kind of diagnose yourself. I'm here to tell you, you can't do it without God. You can try. You can try, but I promise you you're going to fall short every time. Every time. So, I don't understand if you know you need him, why wouldn't you reach out to him? Now, Pastor Kevin, you don't know my story. You're right, I don't know your story. You're a unique person. You're probably the one person that God can't reach. All the rest of us he can reach, but not you. Not you. You're unique. When he created you, he's like, "Oh, wow, I messed up on that one." Yeah. You're a piece of work, all right. No, I promise you there's nothing that you have done. Listen to me. There's nothing that you have done that has disqualified you from his love. Now, you may have convinced yourself that. You may have You may have convinced yourself, but I'm telling you you're wrong. You're wrong. You're just wrong. Have I said you're wrong yet? The reason I say that is because we have this ability to convince our self that I'm so far removed, that I'm so far gone, that God doesn't care.

And you could not be further from the truth. There has never been a moment he's loved you less. And there's never been a moment he's loved you more. He just loves you. You can't escape it. You can't hide from it. You can't get rid of it. His love is there. When I see what happened when Jesus what I'm thinking to myself, what a powerful moment that is. That God cares for us. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 7:6, "Nevertheless, God that comforted those that are cast down." How wonderful is that verse? Okay, there's have been some times, man, things haven't went the way I wanted them to go and I got a little discouraged. there's been some times where you whether you believe this or not, I've thrown myself a pity party. And nobody showed up. I mean, I had party favors and hats and little thing and nobody showed it. It was just me. That made it even worse. Nobody joined my pity party. God cares about those that are depressed and oppressed and suppressed and bench pressed. He cares about you. Just making sure you're listening. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in one of the most dramatic ways. You know how it was dramatic? You know why it was dramatic? It's because he simply just walked in. Shannon, he just walked in and said, "Hey Lazarus, come forth." Cuz he's God. He can just look at your situation and call your name out.

And everything changes. You can happen in the most unsuspecting way. You think you've got it figured out and because he didn't show up when you were when you wanted him to, that it's not going to happen for you in life. And I'm here to tell you the resurrection and the life is in this room today. And all he has to do is say your name and your life will tear up forever change. That that has been dead will come alive. That that has been broken will be mended and fixed. Those relationships that have been destroyed, HE CAN PUT THEM BACK TOGETHER. WHY? BECAUSE HE'S THE GOD OF THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. After the dramatic moment, Lazarus is mentioned a few more times in the scriptures. He had a huge impact in the community. So much so that the religious elite of the day decided, "Hey, we got to do something with this guy cuz he's turning too many people into converts for Jesus. We should go kill him." What? The guy who just came back from the dead, you're going to go in there and say, "You know what? We're going to kill you." I can just see Lazarus going, "Bring it." I mean, I don't know about you, but if I come up out of the grave, I'd have some swagger. I'd have big boots on. I'd be walking around saying, "Hey, I came back. What are you going to What are you going to do to me?

You kill me, he'll bring me back again. Guess who's back?" Man, he was He is popularity was on the rise. Everybody's wearing t-shirts. I seen him. Lazarus is my homeboy. Do you know why they wanted to kill him? Do you know why? Cuz of his testimony. See, here's what the enemy doesn't want. The enemy doesn't want you to be encouraged. He doesn't want you to get right. He's going to discourage you at every opportunity he can because he wants to silence your testimony. Cuz he can't stop it. Nobody can stop what God has done for you. Nobody can stop it. Nobody. The only one that can stop what God has done for you is you. Is you. Nobody else can. Now, they may try to hurt you. They may try to take you down and out. They may try to discredit you, but if God has done something for you, if God has performed a miracle for you, nobody can take that away. And if he has filled you with his spirit, has he filled you with his spirit? Oh, what a testimony you have. You don't have to be raised from the dead because you have been raised from the dead. You guys are a little slow. I'm going to go over here. You don't have to be raised from the dead because you were raised from the dead. You were dead in trespasses and sin. But, he met you. He stepped into the mess of your world and said, "I don't want you to be down there.

I want to pull you up and show you how you can live a new overcoming life with me." That's what I HE'S THE GOD OF THE RESURRECTION AND LIFE. THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET THROUGH you today is you don't have to stay discouraged. You don't have TO STAY HUNG UP, ADDICTED, and bound. I REBUKE ALL THOSE THINGS IN JESUS' NAME. The God of the resurrection AND LIFE IS HERE IN THIS ROOM TODAY. IF YOU'LL JUST BE AWARE FOR A MOMENT, HE'S STANDING BEFORE YOU. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BOUND BY, BUT THROW IT AT HIS FEET AND LET GOD DO A REDEMPTIVE WORK. HE WILL BRING you back to life. It's a fear to bring this to a close today. Jesus says to Martha in John chapter 11, Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection life. He who believes in me, though he may die So, listen to the words. If you believe in me, you may die, Lazarus. He shall live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? I'm here to ask you today, do you believe this? Do you believe this on Resurrection Sunday? Do you believe that God loves you enough that he died for you? That the reason he went to Calvary's hill was for you? He had no guarantee that you would give your life to him, but he went anyway. He didn't stop. There's a lot of people that go to church on Easter Sunday.

A lot of people that want to celebrate the resurrection. People who celebrate this event and then walk out and go on with life as if nothing ever happened, but I'm here to say to you, I'm telling you this Easter Sunday that resurrection affects your life. It's impossible to come in contact with him and not be changed. Now, you can come have a little experience, right? But we're not about the experience. I'm about the life. I'm about the resurrection and the life. This isn't a box for me to check. This is me coming from something that's not just come and see. But he's calling me to come and die. And what I have in this room today, what I know is here, is people in every walk with God. From people that are just here, you're here today to come and see. You're here because somebody invited you. You're here because somebody said they'd buy you lunch. You're here because somebody going to give you a peanut butter egg. That's a good reason to come. But there's so much more than come and see. Cuz when you really get to know him, and you experience the resurrection of life, you will see there's something great about coming and saying, "God, here's my life." Lord, I don't have near as much to give you as you gave me. In fact, my mine is shot full of holes, and it's broken, and it's duct taped together, and it's it ain't much.

And he says, "You know what? I think it's worth a lot." He says this, and this sounds cliché and kind of cheesy, but I like it anyway. So, go with me and act like it's the first time you say it you ever heard me say it. He thinks you're worth dying for. Let me ask you a question. You say you believe in the resurrection. But has the resurrection begun the process of changing who you are? In other words, go with me. I I'm really me They can come. Music can come. We're getting ready to call I'm going to give you some hope, okay? They're going to come out. But let me ask you this question for my last 2 minutes I have. Has the resurrection made it to your thoughts? Has it changed the way you talk? Has it changed what you do? Has it changed what you look at and what you listen to? Has the resurrection made it to your tongue yet? Has it made it to your hands? Has it made it to your feet? Is it flowing from your belly yet like living waters? Has the resurrection made your appetites and your dreams and your habits, has it made it to those places? Has it? The resurrection brings with it a change in the way that you live life. Always has. You can't read this and come with any other conclusion that it changes you. You're never ever the same. Now, you can go back to your own selfish ways.

You can choose because God's not going to take away you the freedom for you to choose because in doing so he would take away your ability to love. He hopes that you see and sense and feel and understand and know how much he loves you and then turn you choose to love him back by saying, "God, please take my life." You see the first area that God works on your life is the resurrection of what's inside of you. The Bible says that the power of life and death are in the tongue, giving life or death. So I'm going to ask you, when you leave here, will you take life or death with you? I'm reaching for somebody today. Let me close this Easter sermon like this. Easter isn't just a moment we celebrate. It's a reality we live in and that we lead from. Jesus didn't say this. He didn't say I will give resurrection. He said, "I am the resurrection." This means it isn't just an event. Resurrection is a person. And if he's in us, then resurrection power is not behind us. It's within us everywhere where we go. Everywhere you and I go, he goes with us. So, if that's the case, and you heard me say this a few Sundays ago, everywhere I go, he goes. That means everywhere I go, I have the ability to do what he does. Not me, right? It's not me. I can't I can't help I can't heal anyone.

I can't I can't give anyone the Holy Spirit. I cannot do that. I don't have that ability. I can't I mean, I might could help you change a flat tire or something, but that's you know, I can't do anything beyond that. But his spirit in me has the ability to open deaf ears. To see blinded eyes open. To see marriages restored. To see families brought back. That that same spirit that got him up out of the grave that word that Bible says it's in me. So, what death couldn't do to him, it can't do to me. So, let me ask you. When you leave and you leave here today to go to your functions, to your family events, to wherever it is you go this afternoon, are you going to carry life or are you going to carry death? See, Martha was looking at a dead situation. But Jesus was looking at a living possibility. And see, that's the tension that you and I live in every day of our life. We stand in front of things that look dead. Dead passions, dead marriages, dead faith, dead relationships, did health, but Easter reminds us that we don't lead from what we see, but we lead from who he is. We walk by faith, not by If I only went by sight, everything would be disqualified, but he says, "Why don't you trust me?" I'm reaching for somebody today you think is too far gone. I'm just going to ask you, can you just let your faith operate for just a minute?

Jesus didn't ask Martha for a strategy, he didn't ask her for an explanation, he simply said, "Do you believe?" Who, as brother Vic said last week, faith doesn't need details. Yeah, you can try to get Yeah, why why why is it you have to have everything explained to you? Why can't you just say, "God, I don't know how. I don't know. I don't know how, but I choose to believe that you will. I don't know how. I don't I don't I've got I've tried everything I know to do. I've tried I've tried I've tried I've tried. So, now I'm just going to say, "I don't know, God, but I know you." So, today here's the challenge. Stop living like it's over. Stop talking like the tomb is still sealed. Sunday came and he's alive. Live with hope when others quit. Speak life when others stay silent, and expect God to move even in impossible places in your life. Will you stay with me right now? Jesus, you are the God of an empty tomb. You are the resurrection and the life. I pray today, Lord, in this most special moment of this service, God, that you would draw men and women back into a right relationship with you. Lord, I know in this room, I know firsthand of stories of brokenness that are here. But God, you take broken things and make them beautiful. I pray, God, for courage in this moment to step out and trust.

Even if I don't see how it can work, Lord, I'm going to operate in faith and trust that you are going to do what you do. You bring resurrection and life with you. In Jesus' name. This altar is open. I think it's only appropriate on Easter Sunday to give an opportunity for someone to come in and work on their relationship with God. So, if you'd like to come, we're going to pray with those that do come for a few minutes. Thank you for being mindful of this. Church, it's prayer time. Let's find a place or someone to pray with in Jesus' name.