Summary5 min read

The Wake-Up Call – Episode Summary

Title: Jesus Raised the Dead; We Can Too
Host: Dan Wilt (Seedbed)
Date: June 8, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the powerful—if initially unsettling—idea: Jesus raised the dead, and, as his followers, the Church is called to believe that such miracles can and do happen through us today. Host Dan Wilt leads the audience through Scripture, personal reflection, and prayer, encouraging listeners to embrace what it means to live in resurrection hope, fostering faith both in God’s sovereign power and in the global body of Christ.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scripture Focus: Matthew 9:23-26

Dan reads the story of Jesus raising the synagogue leader’s daughter, emphasizing the shock and power of resurrection:
“Go away, the girl is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand and she got up.” (04:15)
Reflection on how this act remains one of the most profound demonstrations of God’s presence.

2. Global Stories of Resurrection

Dan shares a striking account from John Wimber and Kevin Springer’s Power Evangelism (Sri Lanka):
“When a foursquare missionary had the opportunity to pray for the child, the little one came back to life and approximately 40 extended family members came to Christ through the experience.” (05:15)
Acknowledges these miracles often happen in “other parts of the world,” raising questions about Western faith (“may say more than I’d like to admit about the state of faith in my part of the planet”). (06:10)

3. Personal Experience & Vulnerability

Dan candidly shares his own attempts at praying for the dead (“Nothing happened”) and speaks of his longing to witness this miracle:
“I’ve even spoken to the dead to rise again... Still nothing happened. It’s still not in my personal experience.” (07:20)
He keeps praying, trusting it’s “his [God’s] to work out.”

4. Learning Community and Faith in the Global Church

A mentor challenges Dan’s perspective, shifting his focus from individual achievement to collective faith:
“The Holy Spirit is healing people through his church all over the world. Why does it have to be happening through you for it to be happening?” (08:00)
Dan realizes:
“Our ‘all the things’ ministry is a team sport. We are a family. We are winning. God is raising the dead. God is healing bodies. It doesn’t have to be through me every time—or even any time—for me to believe it.” (09:05)

5. Discipleship as Embodied Practice

Dan likens spiritual life to an “embodied practice” (e.g., learning tennis or pickleball): faith grows by “doing it with the Master” (11:10)
Encourages listeners not necessarily to start seeking to literally raise the dead, but to first “have the faith to believe that God raises the dead today through his church.” (12:30)
Invites reflection on how embracing global Church stories can enlarge personal faith.

6. Owning the Global Church Story

Dan gives this charge:
“I own all that God is doing through his entire church. Globally, I own it. We are together a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” (13:15)
Urges listeners: “Own that the whole church’s experience is your experience. Just own that and move into the world with thankfulness.”

7. Practice: Move in Love, Not Just Power

A pastoral note on discernment and humility in ministry:
“Everything we do, we want to do with love leading, rather than power being the first language group that we use around how—what God does.” (15:30)
Encourages listeners to prioritize love and compassion, being sensitive in both public and private times of prayer.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Of all the things that Jesus did, perhaps none of them is as powerful or shocking as him raising the dead.” (04:50)
“Why does it have to be happening through you for it to be happening?” (08:00)
“It doesn’t have to be through me every time—or even any time—for me to believe it, to have my faith stirred by it, and to keep on praying for it.” (09:05)
“We are together a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” (13:15)
“Everything we do, we want to do with love leading.” (15:30)

Important Timestamps

00:04 – Opening, welcome, introduction to the topic
03:35 – Communal prayer of consecration
04:15 – Reading of Matthew 9:23-26
05:15 – Story of resurrection from Sri Lanka
06:15 – Reflections on global vs. Western church miracles
07:20 – Dan’s personal experience praying for resurrection
08:00 – Mentor’s wisdom on collective ministry
09:05 – The Church as a family/team
11:10 – Discipleship as “embodied practice”
12:30 – Journal prompts and call for reflection
13:15 – Owning the global story
15:30 – Pastoral note on moving in love and humility
17:20 – Encouragement to “own” the Church’s experience
18:05 – Worship: the doxology

Reflection & Action Prompts

Write a personal prayer for faith to believe God still raises the dead through His Church.
Reflect on stories you’ve heard of resurrection; consider how they challenge or grow your faith.
Embody the practice: Let the faith of the global Church nurture your hope—and move forward with humility and compassion.
Prioritize love as the lead when serving or praying for others.

Conclusion

Dan closes with worship (the doxology), reminding the community that “God is moving through his church. You and me, we are a part of seeing all the things that Jesus wants to do being done in us and through us in the world.” The episode’s core message: You are part of a global, miraculous story—believe, participate, and lead with love.

For more stories or to share how God is moving in your life:
seedbed.com/holyspritstories

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Transcript1 lines

[00:04]
A
Good morning Sower Nation. Today is Monday, June 8th in the year of our Lord 2026. I'm Dan Wilt and this is your Wake Up Call. We are beginning another week with a meeting with Jesus. Thank you for joining in today. Thanks for joining in with JD every day in the Wake Up Call. Thank you for joining me today. I really regard it as an honor that we get you walk with Jesus together through the text considering things that as David said, things that are too wonderful for us as he said in the Psalms. And I'm just really excited about all that we're learning in all the things everyday Ministry in the power of the Spirit. We're living in the Gospels and we've really been in a season of considering all that Jesus did and does and then wants to do through us because that's the way this works. It's not us doing it, it's the Spirit moving through us. So I am also excited about all the stories that are coming in and all the things that are happening among us. I would just ask you if you would seedbed.com holy spiritstories share with Us. Share with me those stories. They can be very short. They can be longer. Just share what God is teaching you. As you say, may I pray for you or as you pray for others and God gives you words to text or to share with them through your unique personality and gifts. As you experience Jesus answering that prayer, let your kingdom come. Your will be done. Our kingdom traveling prayer as you are seeing signs and wonders and expressions of the kingdom all around you as you learn to partner with the Father in what the Father's already doing, moving in the gentleness, the humility, the compassion of Jesus as you hear his voice and then act on it. So bless you. Send in those stories. We'd love to hear them. All right, wake up sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Let's pray our prayer of consecration together as we begin today and this week. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you and we're praying in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Well, today's entry is titled Jesus Raised the Dead. We can too. And there's a pretty powerful lesson for us in today's entry about the church and how God uses all of us. So our text is from Matthew 9:23 26 Hear the word of the Lord When Jesus entered the synagogue leader's house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, go away, the girl is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand and she got up. News of this spread through all that region. The Word of the Lord. Consider this. Of all the things that Jesus did, perhaps none of them is as powerful or shocking as as him raising the dead. If we're going to talk about doing all the things that Jesus did with him, we have to talk about Jesus raising people from the dead. John Wimber and Kevin Springer tell this story in their book Power Evangelism in Sri Lanka. Buddhist culture creates an unresponsive and resistant environment for kingdom ministry. A middle aged couple lost an infant son after an illness. When a foursquare missionary had the opportunity to pray for the child, the little one came back to life and approximately 40 extended family members came to Christ through the experience. It's difficult for me as a Westerner to get my mind around this sign of Jesus power over death. It's the most profound sign of the presence of God's future I can imagine. As I've traveled around the world in my own journey of ministry, I've heard at least a dozen stories of someone being raised from the dead as a result of the prayers of God's people. Those stories always seem to emerge from parts of the world other than where I'm from, which may say more than I'd like to admit about the state of the faith in my part of the planet. But the miracle is real and I believe those stories. Once I prayed a prayer of command, like Jesus saying get up to the little girl in Mark 5 for a relative who was dying in the hospital. I did that in front of others in my family. Nothing happened. I've even spoken to the dead to rise again. Not so that others could hear though. Still nothing happened. It's still not in my personal experience to see someone raised. I've asked the Lord that I would see it one day before I see him face to face. But that is his to work out. A good friend and mentor of mine once taught me a valuable lesson. I was lamenting that I had seen so few physical healings and no raisings of the dead to that point in my life. And my friend who had seen God do incredible miracles around the world looked at me with brotherly compassion. Damned. The Holy Spirit is healing people through his church all over the world. Why does it have to be happening through you for it to be happening. Wow. That was a profound word for me. God is doing amazing things through his entire church and then he does particular things through you and through me. We can own that God is moving through his body around the world. He was so right and I needed that word of exhortation. My more mature brother in the faith was reminding me that our all the things ministry is a team sport. We are a family. We are winning. God is raising the dead. God is healing bodies. It doesn't have to be through me every time or even any time for me to believe it, to have my faith stirred by it, and to keep on praying for it. Let's pray our prayer for today. Lord Jesus, part of our story as your apprentices is that you raise the dead in the now of the kingdom, just as you will one day in the not yet of the kingdom. Show me the part I am to play and give me opportunities to pray in situations where death can be visibly overcome by life. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. And here are our journal prompts for today. Write a prayer. We're going to just step back one, because remember what we're doing is it's like learning to play tennis or pickleball or something. This is an embodied practice. We don't just learn from reading that discipleship apprenticeship with Jesus is learned by doing it with the master. But I want to have us just take a step back on this one. Lest you think today's activation is to start praying for the dead to be raised, though that's an option, of course. Write a prayer that you would have the faith to believe that God raises the dead today through his church. Then think about stories you may have heard about someone being raised and reflect on on how believing that God is raising the dead through his body across the world changes your faith. Now let me just add something here. Since my friend said that to me, I have carried that with me now for decades. I own all that God is doing through his entire church. Globally, I own it. We are together a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. He is moving through us as those mediators between God and people that God is reconciling people to himself in all the ways. He's doing it through all the things that are part of the ministry of Jesus. And he's doing it through people who are willing and saying yes to Him. So I encourage you own that the whole church's experience is your experience. Just own that and move into the world with thankfulness that God is doing all that God is doing through others. Now, let me just make a note. When I'm praying for situations, sometimes I do things publicly and sometimes I do things privately. I would encourage you to discern that because we're talking about moving in the humility and gentleness of Jesus. We're moving in the fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control. I've been in situations where people are oblivious to what others are thinking and feeling around them. And I know sometimes God will do things in those situations. But I'm aware that I'm caring pastorally for people as I enter any situation, whether I want to see someone raised from the dead or whether I want to see someone healed of something. So I'm just aware of it. It doesn't mean that that's the only way that God moves. But I'm really aware that everything we do, we want to do with love leading rather than power being the first language group that we use around how go what God does. So let's in this situation where we might be in a situation where we sense faith for that, or whether we're in some other situation or a private environment, let's just be aware of keeping love and compassion and care in the lead. Because I believe that Jesus, in his authority also was very aware of everything happening in the space. And in this scripture, he even chides people and says, get out. There's something else that God wants to do. So it's fascinating how this whole thing works. And let's just believe God for him to do great things. He said, we'll do greater things than these as the church so own that you are part of the body of Christ. All right, so let's sing together our Monday song of worship, the doxology. It is 682 in our great Redeemer's praise. Let's worship with it. Open our hearts to Jesus as this week begins. Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise him, all creatures here below Praise him above ye heavenly Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. Okay, well, God is moving through his church. You and me, we are a part of seeing all the things that Jesus wants to do being done in us and through us in the world. So let's get our seeds together. I'll see you on the field for the awakening. I'm Dan.