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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.
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John 11:1. Now a certain man was sick. In a few verses, we're going to find out that this man had a very close relationship with Jesus. But how many of you live long enough to know that just because you love Jesus doesn't mean that you're not going to face pain in your life? Someone said, hurting is feeling and feeling is living. So when it hurts, I've learned to say to myself, at least I'm still alive. How many have some people in your life that didn't make it this far, some folks you love that you thought would be here always, but they're not. And it may hurt, but at least I'm still here. And what I've learned in my journey is God doesn't always shelter me from hurts, but he'll always get me through them. If I look to Him. If I look to Him. If I look to Him. A very familiar Psalm, Psalm 23:4, says, Though I walk through the valley, the shadow of death, more times than you realize, God has taken you around that valley. But every now and then, God chooses to take you through, through the valley. And some days just require more in our lives. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are what with me. God's presence is the only thing that makes me okay when I'm not okay. The reason I'm here for the worship part of every service we have, whether we have four services, five services, three services on the weekend is not just to be on time, but because I need another experience in the presence of God to keep me sane in this crazy world. Folks done lost their mind. I need a touch from God. Now, a certain man was sick. Lazarus of Bethany. His name literally means God who has helped. But how many know that life has a way of testing what we call ourselves? Many of us are okay being called Christian as long as actually being a Christian is not required. Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. Now notice the town was not identified based on Lazarus. It was identified based on Lazarus. Two sisters. These women were emerging rock stars in the Jesus movement. And Bethany was like Gary, Indiana for some of who's from Gary, Indiana. Yeah, my references are aging out. How about Hope, Arkansas? Nobody voted for Clinton. All right, this one should be easy. Dumfries, Virginia. Grace Church. Grace Church. Grace Church. Some places get identified by the people who live there. And in fact, more is said about these two women than many of the 12 disciples in the Bible. And it was that Mary. Mary was one of the it girls, if you will, spiritually speaking, who anointed the Lord with expensive, fragrant oil. The oil was so fragrant and so expensive that when she gave it, Judas got mad because he wanted her to give in cash so he could steal some of it. Listen, there will always be pretenders in church that will never, ever go away. I mean, even with Jesus as the pastor, there were pretenders in church. But don't let the Judases of this world keep you from getting to know the Peter, the James, and the Johns of the kingdom. And she wiped his feet with her hair. Mary really challenged the status quo. She was a mover and a shaker. But in my experience, perfectly behaved women never make names for themselves. Say so, Bishop. Say it. And whenever you care too much about what people think, you begin to care less about what God thinks. And Mary and Martha were living for an audience of one. She didn't care what nobody thought about her hair and how she was worshiping and how she was behaving. It was all about her Jesus and this woman whose brother Lazarus was sick. Now we have this generous, this celebrated and radical worshiping woman. But despite these incredible qualities, we see she still faced issues. She still faced problems. And you won't like this, but problems are a sign of life. Often the more problems you have, the more you're alive, the more people, the more problem. Well, you heard the saying. I'll put it this way. The more money, the more problems. Yeah, problems are a sign of. Why did I have to go to money before y'all got it all right? Therefore, the sisters sent to him. They had problems, but these two women were wise enough to bring their troubles to Jesus. And even though you know something bad had happened, they still called him Lord. Can you still call him Lord when you're hurting? Can you still call him Lord when you're disappointed? Can you still call him Lord when things have not gone the way you wish they would have gone? Say, Lord, behold you, whom he love is sick. Their difficult, painful. I mean, real loss. I know we're reading it in the narrative here, but it was deeply personal. But it did not make them doubt Jesus love for their brother or for him. And just because you're in trouble doesn't mean God does not care for you. When Jesus heard that, he said something that they didn't immediately get. He said, the sickness is not Unto death. The NIV reads the this sickness will not end in death. And what we see is he's saying, even though you got to go through will not end in it. Don't confuse the through with the end. But we got to learn to put a comma instead of a period in our places of hurt. Your situation, he's saying, will not end it. But listen, you're going to go through it. But then he says something that really bothers me. But it's for the glory of God. And what you're facing this Resurrection Sunday may not only be about you, but it might be about God trying to show you something bigger if you pay attention. But it's for the glory of God that the Son of God may be Watch this. Glorified and hears that word again through its. God will get you through it. He doesn't always stop it, he doesn't always block it, but he will get you through it. When I was a kid, we had to read Mark Twain. And Mark Twain was a little bit different when he was younger than when he got older. And the age Mark Twain said this, he said, I had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happen. Most of the obstacles in life melt away when we make up our minds to boldly go through them. Jesus said here that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Little adversity, little glory. Jesus actually preached and teached and lived speaking Aramaic, and then it was translated into our Greek Bible. And the word glory here in Aramaic literally means weighty. So he's saying that the Son of God may be made weighty through it. Lightweight problems are for lightweight people. If you're facing heavyweight opposition, it may be that God moved up your weight class and you just didn't know it. Now Jesus loved. They're in pain. They lost somebody they loved. But Jesus loved Mary and loved Martha and Lazarus. It seems like a contradiction. God, if you love me so much, why is my family in such crisis? I mean, God, if you're really with me, how could this have happened? So when Jesus had heard that he was sick. Watch this. Jesus is tough. You don't play with Jesus. He heard it, and here's all the emotion. And he stayed two more days in the place where he was. They're thinking, God, I'm dying here. Where are you, Lord? You love me? Here's the deal. God has not abandoned you. That. That's not what happened this year. It's just that the teacher is always quietest during the test. Verse 11. These things he said. And after that, he said to them, our friend Lazarus, please. First he said, it will not end in death. Now he says that he sleeps. And sometimes it could seem like God is making light of our situation. He's not taking it seriously. He acts like our problems are not as much as they seem to us. And he calls, you know, I mean, come on. They're weeping and they're mourning, and they're remembering their times with Lazarus. And he looks at the situation and he said, he's just sleeping. Insensitive. This is a funeral. Sleeping. But I need you to understand. God sees things differently than we do. He's the alpha and the omega. He sees the end from the beginning. And because he sees the end at the beginning, he's calm all the way through. There have been times in my life I was like, God, if you really cared, man, you would fall off your throne. You don't know what just happened to me. You don't know. But see, God sees the end from the beginning. And Paul caught onto that. And he said, these momentary affliction or working a greater weight of glory. Now he was talking about, you know, being shipwrecked, being beat, being stoned, and being with rob, all different types of things. And he called them momentary afflictions because he understood that God saw the end of the thing. And there's nothing that happens to you in this life. God can't reward you in this life and the next. He believed that God kept the ledger, so he just called it momentary while you're in it. It seems like forever, but from God's perspective, he sees the end, so he's not troubled. God never gets depressed. He knows how your story is going to end. He said, but I go that I may wake him up. Jesus was trying to tell them that Lazarus situation was not permanent. It was temporary. If he slept, guess what he wake up. A famous comic said. He said this nothing is permanent in this wicked world. Not even our troubles. Then his disciple said, lord, if he sleeps, he will get well. And I think Jesus shaken his head a little. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he was thinking about taking a rest in life. He's like, guys, you've been with me three years now. You should have a sense of what I'm trying to say and how I look at things. But they still didn't get it. And here's another truth. If you're going to lead anything, I don't care mom, dad, boss, or what have you, you got to accept the fact that there are times you're going to be misunderstood. And Jesus here was misunderstood because it comes with the territory. But then he understood. Okay, okay, I know where your head's at. I know where mine was, but I know where your head's at. He said, listen, guys, let me say, explain. Lazarus is dead. Faith is not denying the facts. It's simply trusting God despite the facts. He said, I'm glad for your sakes. Whose sake? Your sake. Everything for us that I was not there. Now again, how insensitive people are mourning. He say, I'm glad I wasn't there. And there will be moments that God doesn't look sensitive. He doesn't look patient. He doesn't look kind. He doesn't look loving. But are you going to believe his word or are you going to believe what you feel at the moment? Jesus was nobody to play with. He will tell you the truth. He's the way, the truth and the life. He cares about your emotions, but he's more concerned about truth. That's truth with an F at the end. I mean, he tells the truth. I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there. Watch this. That you may believe the delay was intended to deepen their faith. When God takes longer than you expect, he might be working on something deeper. I want Johnny on the spot. I want to rub God's belly a couple times. And he, you know, but God is God. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And Jesus says, nevertheless, I got it. Let us go to him. He may not come when you want him. But what? Verse 17. So when Jesus came, he found out that he had already been in the tomb. How many days? Four days. Jewish tradition held that a human spirit might stay around a grave or death site for up to three days before it went to its final rest. But here's what I'm about to say is important. Sometimes God waits because it's not impossible enough yet. Because if he would have did this miracle on the first, second or third day, they might have thought he resuscitated because you know what? His spirit was around. But he intensely waited till the fourth day. Until there was no natural explanation for what was about to occur. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews, and it appears that these were the Jerusalem Jews, these are the who's who of the religious elite. I mean, these are serious folks, had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. So right now the stage is set for Jesus to do a miracle that no one could deny. When it's hardest, that's when God can show himself the strongest. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him again, deeply disappointed, deeply grieving over her brother's death. But she still knew who to run to. And you got to remember who to run to when things go sideways. Now Martha speaks up. And she said to Jesus, lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Now, are Martha and I the only ones who ever blame God for loss? But what I want you to notice here is she may have been wrong, but at least she did one right thing. She brought it to Jesus. A lot of times when stuff goes wrong, we run from God. We run from the church, we run from prayer. I'm done with all that. But these women were rock stars because they understood something about God. And when they were in trouble, in water above their head, they learned to bring it to Jesus. Then Jesus again, meaning he'd been doing this for a little while now, groaning in himself. Real prayer is not always pretty. Sometimes you got to groan. Sometimes you'll scream. Other times you'll cry. Other times you'll be angry. But you gotta bring it to God. Jesus did care. And just because he didn't put his emotions before truth didn't mean he didn't have emotions. Because he's groaning, he's disturbed, he's bothered, he's hurting. Groaning. He came to the tomb, and John says, it was a cave and a stone lay against it. How many of us in this room feel like you're right now, deep down in a cave with a huge load blocking, a huge weight blocking your way out? If you are, I want you to know you're in the right place this morning. Because God wants you to bring it to Jesus. Jesus said, take away the stone. This is important. If you're going to walk with Jesus, you've got to understand something about his ways. He doesn't operate the way we operate. He requires faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. So before he did the miracle, he required the people around him to demonstrate faith. Faith before they saw the result. Okay, you might have missed that. Take away the stone. Listen, that's a lot of work. I mean, there were several guys had to get together, risk the stone falling on them at that. To move this stone, they had to trust Jesus's command to do it. Why would you just move a stone for God that's been dead four days? As a matter of fact, we're going to see some more Here, he said, take away the stone. And by the way, if you're willing to move it, Jesus will bring it. Yep, he will. He will. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, lord, by this time, there's a stench, for he's been dead four days. This is the Middle East. It's hot and they didn't have refrigeration. I mean, he's dead. He's not only dead, he's dead dead. Completely dead. And they're like, lord, it's too late to fix it. But in order for God to move, they had to take a step of faith. They had to at least remove the stone. They were in a situation. They were like Jesus, you know, my situation not only looks bad, it's decomposed. It's gone from bad to worse. It's thanks God. Sometimes God waits because it's not impossible enough yet. Now, when he had heard or when he had said these things, watch Jesus, he whispered, no, he cried with a loud voice, lazarus, come forth. It said that if Jesus didn't call Lazarus by name, everyone who had ever died would have started walking out that tomb and they'd probably still be walking out today. But why did he call Lazarus by name? Because this was a miracle with Lazarus name on it. Your miracle may not look like everyone's else's, but if you bring it to Jesus, he will fix it his way. There was a famous hit gospel song, There's a miracle in this room with my name on. There is a miracle in your life. It may not look like Shannon's, it may not look like Jerry's, it may not look like Anna's, but a miracle with your particular name on it. I'm talking about God choosing to not always protect us from, but take us through. But Resurrection Sunday is about God showing us the worst day of our life. Doesn't have to be the last day of our life. It was a horrible Friday night, but Sunday morning there was a getting up. You might go through something. Jesus had to go through the cross and the grave to get to the crown. Just because you're going through doesn't mean that God is surprised and. And somehow he's not working his purpose. He said, I'm glad that I was not there. And sometimes to deepen us, God's like, I'm glad, not. Not because I'm insensitive, but because I gotta grow you. I'm not always gonna stop everything, but I will help you get through anything and everything. Back to verse 44, and I'm done. For the morning. And he who had died came out. You better believe it. If you bring it to Jesus, you're going to come out too. I don't know exactly, exactly what it's going to look like for you. I mean, when it came to the widow at Nain, you know, the boy died, he touched the coffin, he came up, but this time it's hid behind a rock. Other people, you know, he healed them before they died. You know, a little girl was just about to, you know, actually she did die. The girl I was just talking about. She died, he raised up. But another person was basically on the deathbed. Jesus raised the person up. I don't know when or how he's going to do what he's going to do. But I do want to tell you. God cannot create a stone he cannot lift. It's just not possible. There is. He can't create a demon he can't defeat. There's no problem he can't solve. A setback he can't reverse. Resurrection Sunday, it's about God showing us the worst day of our life. Doesn't have to be the last day. Give God a hallelujah in a hand clap. Come on. Think about what God's about to do for you. It might look different than your neighbor. I know how I sound like a broken little record, but it might look different than your neighbor. It may not look like what he did for me, but he has a miracle. You with your name on it, specially custom made for your situation to get your attention. That God might be glorified through it. I know it's dark and like God, how could it get so dark? And you supposed to be the light of the world. God's working on something. If I lit a torch outside in the bright sun it'd be like what's the value? But when you light a light in, in a dark room, oh my God. So he often waits until it's darkest before he does his greatest miracles.
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Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word to the world. Get started by visiting Derekre.com by clicking the link in the description.