Lazarus

Well, good morning. I am so excited and honored to be here. My name is Jeffrey. I am the lead pastor here and I love every chance we get to be together, every chance we get to chase after what God has for us.

Uh, before we kind of jump into our text and our sermon series that we are in, I did want to take just a moment and uh, things have been pretty chaotic in the world. Um, things are messy and there is, uh, I mean, it's just there is a lot going on. And I had a conversation with one of our elders this week just talking about this is this is the best time for the church to rise up and pray like this. A lot of us can't do anything else. Like, I've, I'm me, so I'm not, no one wants me flying a B1, but we know people who are. And I mean, I, we, we have an opportunity as the church to just partner with heaven and the kingdom and God, whatever you have. And I always think in times like this, two things.

One, in the book of Daniel, it says that God himself places kings and rulers on their throne. And so that's what's happened. Like that's who he is. He is the one who, there is no king or ruler that gets on any throne that God is like, "Wow, that was surprising." Uh, but two, that every person involved in everything going on right now is made in the image of God and is precious to him and that he crafted them in their mother's womb. And so there is a responsibility on the church to just stand up and go, God, we want you to move. We want you to move in peace. We want you to move quickly. And so that's what we're going to do. So both campuses, online campus, if you will, let's just spend a couple of moments praying.

God, we thank you that you are in control. God, even in times like this that feel like things are out of control, you are in control. It is who you are. You are not a God who's ever been surprised by anything. You are not a God who lost the ability to be victorious. It is who you are. It is your very nature. And so God, right now, we ask for you to move. We ask for you to move through broken leaders. We see all over scripture that you move through faulty leaders. Leaders who aren't following you, have no relationship with you. You still are in control and can move through them. And so God, we ask for you to move. We ask for peace in our world, God. We ask that this, everything that is going on right now, would it end swiftly? Would you protect our people? Would you protect the people that you love, the people made in your image? And we just ask for you to move. We trust you in areas where we're struggling to trust you. We ask for deeper trust for those who feel this at a different level than some of us. Those who are connected with the military community and DAS community. We ask that you be, would you be present with them in ways that maybe you have never been before? You tell us that you are near to us and we ask for your nearness in the midst of uncertainty, worry, anxiety. We ask for you to be near. It's in your name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Uh, so in 2019, our elders set forth a vision for our church. Uh, it is, it was a 10-year vision. It was called the 2030 vision. Um, and we, we felt like God called us to do some specific things. We felt like he called us to be a part of baptizing 4,000 people, which is a, was an overwhelming thing at the time because we had never baptized 400 people a year. And like, I'm not great at math, but 4,000 divided by 10 is 400 a year. We'd never done that. And at the end of last year, we were almost, we were just a shade under 2,800 people had been baptized at Beltway Park. That was awesome.

We felt like God called us to be a part of planting five churches. And you know how many of we've been a part of planting five churches. Uh, we felt like God called us to step into the foster care space because it is such a big issue in, in our nation right now, but also specifically in our area. And we have seen God move in that way in, in really incredible ways. Uh, we felt like God called us to start a ministry school, um, that people could go through and get, get ready for vocational ministry. Uh, and that is going strong. And, and we felt like God called us to do two other things. We felt like God called us to step into the daycare space because in our area, there was a backlog for people to get into daycare. One of the primary reasons that people don't do foster ministry is because they don't have somewhere to take the kids that aren't available to go to school. So, we felt like God calls us to do that and that God called us to step into the counseling space for specifically for kids and teenagers because those age people at the time when we stepped into this space, they were waiting up to two months just for counseling. And you know what a kid or a teenager doesn't need when they need counseling to wait two months. So, we felt like God calls to do that.

So, we began to look for a space and we looked and looked and looked and finally the Lord opened up a door for a church that, that they were needing to move into a different space and they were needing to get out of the space they were in and, and there was parts of it that, that they were using. There were other parts that they weren't using. And so, it had kind of gotten a little dilapidated and a little bit rundown. And so, we felt like God opened this door. We got the building. We started renovation and it started to look a little bit like this. That's the kids area. Uh, one of the kids areas. That's another one that you get to see. And then it now looks like this. Look how cool that is. That is a legit playground right there. And then this right here is the counseling group. It is really funny to walk from one building to another. The juxtaposition as you go through the kids area and it smells like diapers and chaos. And you walk into the counseling center, it smells like essential oils. You're like, "This is wild." Like these two things don't feel like they go together. But it's under one building. It is one of the most unique spaces. It's awesome. It was so well done. The, like, it's got four playgrounds. It's got turf. It's got all this great beautiful covered areas. The counseling center's got ping pong tables and play therapy, sand therapy for kids. Like, it is awesome. I love it. I love that we got to do it.

How weird would it have been though if we did all that? And by we, I mean people who are good at that. If they did all that and we had this incredible facility ready to go and we took pictures of it to show the before and afters and then we did nothing with it. Just looked at it. Looked at this beautiful building ready to be used with a purpose in mind and we'd never hired a counselor. We didn't have any kids that were going to be a part of the daycare. How, how weird would that be? What a, what a waste. What a tremendous waste that would be.

What if I were to tell you that that is often how we live our lives? Like we're the before photo often. And we, we're needing the after photo, but we don't just need the after photo. We need the after photo with the purpose. And every one of us at some point was, was like that. We were needing restoration. We were needing renovation. We were needing purpose poured into our life. And yet so often instead of doing that, instead of living the life God has, instead of walking in forgiveness, we live full of shame. Instead of living in freedom, we stay stuck in bondage. Instead of stepping into our calling, we settle for duty. Instead of living bold faith, we live controlled by fear. And maybe you're sitting there, you're like, "That's not me." That's great for you. It has been me for sure. I grew up in the church. I have been at church every Sunday that I can remember for my entire life. I, my dad was a pastor. So, we lived there. I, I was, I became a Jesus follower when I was eight. I went on my first mission trip, uh, out of the country when I was going into 8th grade and fell in love with missions and have gone overseas and gone, done missions. Like, it is one of the core things in my life that I love as much as anything else that I get to be a part of. I started serving in our student ministry when I was a high school kid. I came on staff and have done every role that I can imagine here except for kids pastor. I've lived in this place. Like, I, I've done the faith stuff and every one of those examples that I just gave is a personal example, not a general example. Every one of them is a thing that I have struggled with and not just like in, like forever ago. It's easy for us to drift back into that. Instead of the life God has, we settle for something different. And it's easy for us to stay stuck in the before photo or maybe even the after photo without the purpose that God calls us to.

And Easter declares something different. Jesus brings dead things to life and invites us to walk in freedom. Not, not partial freedom. There is no partial freedom. You are free or not. So Jesus invites us, like there is an opportunity. He came to this earth so that we could be raised to life and then we could live free. And we see this in a family that Jesus is really close to. I want us to look at it together for the rest of our time. It's in John 11. So, if you will grab a Bible, we're going to be in a bunch of scriptures today. So, find a Bible, open up to John chapter 11. If you're at one of our physical campuses, there's a Bible around you. Online campus, there's a Bible icon right there.

Let me tell you, while you turn there, let me tell you a little bit about where we're at, uh, in this text. So, this is the seventh miracle that we see recorded. What we're about to read is the seventh miracle that we see recorded in John's gospel. It is the last public miracle that we see Jesus do before he is going to go to the cross. And that is going to happen anywhere between four and eight weeks from this story. So, we're pretty close to Jesus going to the cross. We're pretty close to him going into the grave. We're pretty close to him being resurrected. Like, we are in that really narrow window. And there is this family that Jesus is very close to, is Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. And these are not just like acquaintances with Jesus. These are people he knew that knew him that followed him that he cared for immensely, that they cared for him. And that's where we get in our text in John 11, starting in verse three.

So the sisters sent to him saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. When Jesus is approached by the messenger to be told that Lazarus was sick, Jesus is like a decent little ways away. He's not really close to where they are. And he is told, like, the one whom you love is ill. And this word in the Greek is not like, like for God to love the world. It is like a personal friendship love. It is somebody like, "Hey, the one who you love, not like general love, like you love this guy, Jesus. He is close to you. The one whom you love is ill." And what we expect, like what I would expect if somebody came to me and they were like, "Hey Jeffrey, this person who you love is ill." I would expect, like, my response to be, "Okay, I will go to them." And we see the complete opposite. We see Jesus told, "Hey, the one who you love is ill." And Jesus is like, "Thanks for telling me. I'm going to stay here two more days." That makes no sense. And we see why. If you go back a verse, it says that all this is going to happen for God's glory. Think about that. That this, what we're going to read over the next few verses, everything that happens is so that people see the glory and the power of God. Sometimes the difficulties we go through are opportunities for us to see the power of our Savior. Doesn't mean every single thing is that way. But sometimes when we go through hard seasons, when we go through suffering, when things aren't easy, when there is sickness or there is difficulty, sometimes the very purpose of those difficult seasons is so that we can see God show up and show off. Cuz you know what happens when we see that? Our faith is built for the next time we go through the difficult thing. And what Jesus says in this moment is, "Hey, yes, the one who I love is ill. I'm going to stay here for another couple of days, but just trust me. This is all meant so that people can see the glory of God."

Lazarus ends up dying. Then Lazarus. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died. For your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him." He tells them, "I'm glad I wasn't there when the person I, a person that I loved died so that you may believe deeper in me. So that you may believe in my power. So that you may believe in who I am at a deeper level. So that your faith may grow. Probably so that you may believe that in a few weeks later when I'm the one in the tomb, when I'm the one that's dead, you saw me raise Lazarus from the dead, you know, I can do it. Like, you, you know Lazarus was gone. And so I'm, I'm glad I wasn't there so that you know when it's me in that tomb, I still have that resurrection power."

Our text goes on. Now when La, now when Jesus came, he found Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. But Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." And Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I, I know he will rise again. Again in the resurrection on the last day." And Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live. And everyone who 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 is coming into the world."

By the time that we get here, Lazarus has been dead four days. And this is important for two reasons. One, it is important because after four days, you know what the body does? He stinks. Like, it's, he's dead. Real dead. And he's dead four days. And the Jewish people at this point in time, they would believe often that the, the spirit might stay around for like a day, two days, maybe even up to three days in case it was a misdiagnosis or the person was just in a coma. Like, they, they would believe that like three days was the mark that the spirit would fully leave the body. And it, and this is day four. Lazarus is gone. And you hear the, the hurt in Martha's voice. "Jesus, if only you'd been here." You ever prayed that? "God, if only you'd done this. If only you'd shown up in this way, God. If only." What we see in Martha's question is that God's delays are not his denials. Now, sometimes his delays are different than, sometimes his delays are because his answer is different than mine. But just because God's timing and my timing don't coalesce doesn't mean that his delay means he has said no.

And then we see this super interesting interaction between Martha and Jesus. We see them have one conversation that is two conversations, like they're saying different things. Mary's like, and Martha's like, "Jesus, if, if you'd been here, like, it would have been different." And Jesus goes, "But I'm the resurrection and the life. He's going to rise again." And Martha's like, "I know he's going to rise again in the last day when everyone rises again." Jesus like, "That's me. I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe me?" The audacity of that question. Lazarus is dead over here. His grieving sister goes to Jesus and says, "Jesus, if only you'd been here." And Jesus goes, "But you know me. I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe in me?" And then we see the most beautiful display of faith. Mary goes, Martha goes, "Yes, I believe you." It's easy to say, "Yes, I believe you're going to do the things you're going to do, God, whenever things are going our way." Her brother's dead right now. And do you still believe that I am the resurrection and the life? Faith, like Martha, leads to a life that looks different. When our faith is not just built on all of God's yeses, but sometimes on his nos or his maybes or his in the futures. Martha in this moment shows us what faith looks like. "I'm the resurrection and the life. Will you still believe?" And she says, "Yes."

Our text continues, "Now when Mary came to Jesus and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.' When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' And Jesus wept." We see Mary wrestle with the exact same thing that her sister did. "Jesus, if, if only you'd been here, he wouldn't have died." What, I, I love about what we learn in both Mary's question and Martha's question is that God is big enough to meet us in our doubts, our questions, and our wrestles. This is Jesus they're talking to. Yeah, it's somebody they're close to, but it's also somebody who they've seen do the miraculous. Like, it's the one who they believe is the Son of God who came to save humanity. This is Jesus and they felt close enough and comfortable enough to go to him with their wrestles and their questions and their doubts. And one of the reasons I think I am convinced that we see so much deconstruction happening in the church world right now of our, of faith, of like tearing down of faith, is because we stop going to the right person who has the answers with our questions. We stop going to the one who has the answers because we feel like, well, you know, I can't go to God with my doubts. And he's like, "Hey, I'm God. I'm big enough. I am big enough to deal with any question, any doubt, any wrestle you have." The invitation from him is to come to him with those questions just like Mary did, just like Martha did. They had questions. Why didn't you do it? Why didn't you show up? You hear the hurt in their voice. Yet still, they went to Jesus. They didn't go post about it on Facebook, which they didn't have at that time. Same thing. They didn't gossip about it with their friends. They didn't go search everywhere else for an answer. They went directly to the source and said, "Jesus, I'm wrestling with this. Why weren't you here?"

And then you know what we see Jesus do? He weeps. Have you ever thought about this? Jesus knows the end of the story. Like, I'm convinced that Jesus in this moment knows in mere minutes he is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Yet still, he sees Mary hurting. He sees Martha hurting. And he feels their pain because he cares about them. That's right. They matter to him. And even though he knows the end of the story, he still cares about the pain they're experiencing in the moment. And so he weeps. "Jesus wept" is not just a fun trivia question. Like, it's not just the answer to something that we learned when we were growing up. It is a, it is an illustration of the heart of God for his kids that he cares about the things that move you, the things that move me, they move him. And in this moment, Jesus weeps because of their pain.

Our story goes on. "Then Jesus, deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, 'Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.' And Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?' So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you, I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you have sent me.' And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out.'"

Lazarus is like dead. Dead. Real dead. Four days dead. The King James version says that he stinketh, which is hilarious. Like, that's where the ESV messed it up. Like, I, Jesus probably, they, they said he stinketh. Like, he's super dead. And then he wasn't. Like, I think sometimes we forget that the power and the magnitude of our Savior. I don't know if it's because we've heard, we hear stories like this or because we get desensitized because of things we see in the news or things we see in movies or TV shows. Like, Lazarus was dead and then he wasn't dead. That is incredible. Imagine being there. Imagine you're standing there and you're mourning and you're hugging Mary and you're hugging Martha and then Lazarus not dead anymore. That would be a wild experience. And then we see this glimpse into prayer and we see Jesus tell the Father, "Thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me, but thank you for hearing me so that people know that it was you that did this." And that same Jesus who raises Lazarus from the dead in just a minute. That same Jesus is the same today. Hebrews says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." The same Jesus who could stand at the tomb and look into the tomb and say, "Lazarus, come out," and a dead body who stinketh for four days can walk out of that tomb. That same Jesus is the same Jesus in your life, as it is in my life, as it was in Lazarus's life. He has not changed. He still has the same power. He still has the same miracle-working opportunities. It is who he is. Jesus brings dead things to life. But then he invites us to walk in freedom.

As he says, "Lazarus, come out." Lazarus walks out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus said to them, "Go unbind him and let him go." Lazarus walks out of the tomb alive, still bound. We like to tell this story from other people's perspective. Imagine being Lazarus. Like, the last thing he remembers, he was, you know, real sick, laying in a bed. And every parent knows that weird experience where you're jolted from something. Like, when my youngest, Ellie, was probably three, I was asleep in our bedroom, just enjoying a good sleep, dreams, everything's fine. And I get the tap, tap, tap, "Dad," which at 3:00 in the morning is not what you want to hear. And then she immediately projectile vomited on me. And I still love this kid. If you ever want to know, like, parenting, like, that is the, how you love somebody that did that to you. I don't know. But like, that was a really weird experience. I was in a very different place. I was dreaming. I was comfortable. And then I was pulled out of that place into something different. Lazarus was dead. He was dead and then he wasn't dead. And he walks out, but he's still bound. Like, he's alive, but it is important that it is written that he is still wrapped in his grave clothes. He is still bound. Often in our lives, we receive the grace of Jesus but stay wrapped in the grave clothes of our old life. We can say yes to Jesus and still let our old life keep us bound. We can say yes to his saving grace and still not walk in freedom. And what I love about this story that I probably have never thought about until this week is that Jesus calls Lazarus, "Lazarus, come out." Lazarus comes out. He's bound in his grave clothes and he stands there. And you know who doesn't unbind Lazarus in this moment? Jesus. He tells the people around them, "Go unbind him." Because there's a reality that if we're going to really walk in freedom in our lives, it's not going to happen on an island. If you want freedom, it doesn't just happen just by the saving grace of Jesus. We got to figure out what that looks like. And it happens in community. James says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed." The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Notice this verse in James doesn't say we are saved by confessing our sins to one another. Saving grace happens in one place. It is Jesus calling us out of the tomb. "Jeffrey, come out." That's the only place. But he does say that healing happens in confession. Healthy community helps us walk in the freedom God has for us. I'll go so far as to say you will not walk in freedom outside of healthy community. That's right. We need healthy community. Scripture says pretty clearly, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." We need healthy community to help us get our grave clothes off. Salvation is only the beginning. Jesus wants us to walk in freedom. He wants it for you. And the question I feel like the Holy Spirit laid on my heart for me this week and for you, "Do you still have your grave clothes on?" Like, if you found Jesus, you've said yes to Jesus. He's called you out of the tomb. And you still are wrapped in the grave clothes of fear. When he says in him there is no fear. Wrapped in the grave clothes of identity issues. When he says you are a son or a daughter. Wrapped in the grave clothes of shame. When he says you are covered by the blood of the Lamb. Wrapped in the grave clothes of addiction. When he says in him you are free. Like, fill in the, whatever. Do you still have the grave clothes of your old life, the old you? Those grave clothes still have you wrapped up so that you don't walk in freedom in the way that God has for you. Jesus did not save us so we could keep living bound. That's right. Jesus didn't go to the cross so that we could stay stuck in bondage. Jesus wants us to come out of the grave first. Like, he wants us to walk out of the grave. But then, after that, he wants us to live free lives. He came that we might live like that, not waddling around in our grave clothes of our old life. He's going, "Hey, I got something better for you. I got a life you can live. I got freedom for you."

And maybe that's not you. Maybe, maybe you, you are not the one that's come out of the grave still living bound. Maybe you're still in the grave. The invitation for you today, and I feel like we talk about this every week. You know why? Because I want nothing more than for you to find Jesus by walking out of that grave. And maybe you're still in the grave. He's going, "Hey, come on." Like, you're dead. If the option is dead or not dead, I'm giving you not dead. I'm giving you life in your marriage. I, I got this for you right here. Like, in your friendships, in your identity, in your purpose, in every area, I'm, I'm calling you. Hey, come out of the grave. Yeah. What I have for you is so much better than anything you might be settling for. He says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." He's calling us out of the grave.

And you know what happens when we do that? We begin to live lives like this. So, my name is Justin Riley. I've got a wife, Emily Riley, and three little boys. I've experienced Jesus in the last three years just completely transformed my life. So, as a kid, I was raised in the church and it was more about religion. It was about going to church on Sundays, but outside of that, I really had no relationship. I had an encounter with God, um, really through decades of sin in my life and just building up and building up and really maybe even going back through generations' sins that have been passed down through family members and it all just kind of came to a head for me and in that moment of, you know, my absolute low, Jesus was right there and he said, "You've been driving this car, you've been going through a storm," and I was at that point where I, you know, I had to pull over and just, "Jesus, take the wheel." That was it. I was like, "Jesus, I can't do it. I, you know, I'm trying to be a good dad, a good husband, a good friend, and a good follower of Jesus, but I, I just don't know how to do it." I started reading the word, and thanks to my wife, she had, she had been reading the word. She had made it all the way through the Bible. And she invited me in on that and I was a little resistant at first, but, um, I dove right in and I got into the word and it just completely changed my life. I'd heard about boot camp before and it never really sounded that appealing to me, but man, was I ready to go to boot camp and see what that was about. And I went to boot camp and it was just a slingshot for me into my faith and my walk with Jesus. So in that sin and, and shame that I had, Emily and I, not just myself, but my marriage was also in a low because I had a strong wife, um, who could encourage me. Um, we, we really just were able to work together and reality was catching up with me and I was looking at my family falling apart and I found Jesus and it was able to save my marriage, save my family. I was able to become the leader of my household because of Jesus. I put Jesus first. I quit trying to, I wanted to be a great husband. So, I kept putting my wife first. And, um, I realized that I need to put Jesus first. It's about my relationship with Jesus first. Re-engage also, um, just began, began to pop out and every time I heard the word re-engage, I was like, I felt the pull. I felt the pull to go to re-engage, take my wife there. And so, we dove off in it. Came home and told my wife, you know, we're going to go, we're going to do re-engage and she was a little nervous about it at first. You know, she, she didn't want to just go and air out all of our dirty laundry, but she prayed about it and thought about it a bunch. We talked about it and we decided that was the right thing to do. We are not tied down by the decisions that I made or that we made together. We were able to lay that stuff down. And once again, it was only by the blood of Jesus. We're going on 10 years of marriage now and our marriage has been pretty good, but the last couple years have been the absolute best two years of our marriage. It's no longer an emergency phone call to God. It's something I starve for. It's something that, that I, I can't wait to crack that Bible open and, and hear what God has to say to me and what God wants me to do. A lot of times it can become about heaven, about going to heaven. Well, God has something to offer to you here now. God wants to have an encounter with you now. So, don't wait. I invite you to ask him into your heart now and, and experience that. Man, I want to invite you into that as married couples or even dating. I just want to invite you in to a relationship with God and putting God first so that your marriage and your family can be in the spot where it needs to be.

Amen. You heard it. You heard it in there. He said, uh, it's not just about going to heaven. I mean, it's about going to heaven, right? I, I want that. I, I want heaven. I want to spend eternity with the one who says, "Every good and perfect gift is found in him." So that means heaven is going to be every good and perfect thing more than we could ever imagine. Like, I, I want that. It's just not just about that. Because when we walk out of that grave and then we get unbound of our grave clothes, we begin to walk in freedom. We only come out of that grave because Jesus says, "Hey, come out." But then once we do it, we begin to walk in freedom. It, it makes the world take notice. And freedom was never meant to stop with us. If I carry freedom and you don't have freedom, I want you to have freedom. The people around me aren't walking in freedom like I want them to have it. And often the way they have it is they see people that have it and they go, "Huh?" It's why Matthew says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." People are drawn to Jesus when they see what resurrection life looks like in someone else. When we live free, people go, "Hey, I, what is happening with your marriage? How do, how do you two like each other still? Like, how do you not yell at your kids all the time? How, how are you, things are going hard in your life? Like, how are you joyful? Like, I know this used to be an area that you didn't love about your life and it's different now. What, what happened?" Free people are attractive. They are. When you see free people, you go, "Whatever that person has, I want that. I want more of that." And Jesus came and called Lazarus out of that grave. And he didn't do it so that Lazarus could stay bound in his grave clothes. He did it so that Lazarus could live free. And Jesus calls each of us out of the grave of our previous life. He's saying, "Hey, come out and then once you get out, walk in freedom." He came to raise dead things to life and then let us walk in the freedom found only in him.

Let's take just a minute and spend some time in prayer. If you will, if you just bow your heads, put your stuff down. Hear whatever he's calling you to today. The beauty of what Jesus did on this earth is that we get to sit right now in Abilene, Texas, and hear his voice. Maybe he's calling you out of the grave. You've never answered that, "Lazarus, come out." And maybe you're feeling that. You feel the grave in your life. You feel the dead things, the lack of life, the lack of purpose, clarity, understanding. Hear the call and come out. Life is found only in him. Maybe you're standing there bound in your grave clothes of your old life. He wants freedom for you. He didn't raise dead things to life so they could stay bound. He's got bigger plans and purposes. So maybe there's some grave clothes you need to lay at the altar today. Maybe you need to physically walk up after service and get prayer. Maybe you just need to lay those things at his feet and trust that the cross was enough. And then do what James says. Find people who are running in the same direction. Confess your sins one to one, one to another so that you may be healed. Bring those grave clothes to light and go, "I'm ready for them to be off."

Jesus, we thank you that because of your irrational love for us, you call us out of the grave and you offer life and you offer freedom. Things we don't deserve, things we can't earn on our own. We thank you. Would we walk in the life you have for us and in the freedom you offer us? It's in your name we pray. Amen.