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Going from Grave Clothes and Delayed Promises to Freedom in a Resurrected Life
Have you ever found yourself wrapped up in something or battling something, where you almost felt dead, immovable, and incapable of worship, freedom or maybe even living?
If not, maybe you have found yourself waiting, waiting and waiting on a promise that God has given you that seems like it will never happen. You know God is capable but you question why He delays…as you wait, you feel your hope, faith and trust is dying.
If so, then God has a word for you today. He wants to show you how you can go from Grave Clothes and Delayed Promises to Freedom in a Resurrected Life!!!
Today we are going to chat a little bit about a story in the Bible you have probably heard of.
It is my prayer today to open up the Word of God to you in such a way that you will embrace Christ and live in His FREEDOM!!!
Turn in your Bibles to John 11:1-44.
Instead of reading 44 scriptures to you today, let me just give you a brief synopsis of the story.
Story Summary:
v. 1 - Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were friends of Jesus.
v. 3 - When Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
v. 4 - When Jesus heard the news, he waited two more days before going to Lazarus' hometown of Bethany. Jesus knew that he would do a great miracle for God's glory and, therefore, he was not in a hurry.
v. 17 - When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days.
v. 20 - When Martha discovered that Jesus was on his way, she went out to meet him.
v. 21 - "Lord," she said, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
v. 23 - Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will rise again."
v. 24 - But Martha thought he was talking about the final resurrection of the dead.
v. 25/26 - Then Jesus said these important words: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
v. 28 - Martha then went and told Mary that Jesus wanted to see her.
v. 30 - Jesus had not yet entered the village, most likely to avoid stirring up the crowd and calling attention to himself. The town of Bethany was not far from Jerusalem where the Jewish leaders were plotting against Jesus.
v. 32 - When Mary met Jesus she was grieving with strong emotion over her brother's death. The Jews with her were also weeping and mourning.
v. 35 - Deeply moved by their grief, Jesus wept with them.
v. 38 - Jesus then went to the tomb of Lazarus with Mary, Martha and the rest of the mourners. There he asked them to remove the stone that covered the hillside burial place.
v. 41-43 - Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed to his Father, closing with these words: "Lazarus, come out!"
v. 44 - When Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus told the people to remove his grave clothes.
There are three points in this story that I want to point out to you today that I feel each one of us relate to in some shape, form or fashion.
• Don’t you wish you could instantly solve all your personal problems?
• If you are a believer and still have problems, is something wrong?
• Are all of our ‘issues’ resolved instantly when we are saved or baptized?
• Are there issues that could be hanging on that we need to deal with after we have been born-again?
Read v.43 – 44 (NASB) – “43When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." 44The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
I. ‘Take off the grave clothes…’
A. When we are born-again and accept Jesus, we become clean in the Father’s sight. When the Father sees us, He sees Jesus!
B. However, all of us still have some grave clothes on.
1. There is still evidence that we once lived a ‘dead life’ – a life that was part of the world, rather than the kingdom of God.
2. What do you and I need to lay down?
3. What grave clothes do we continue to wear?
a. Religion, Failure, Depression, Debt, Fear, Low Self-Esteem, Regret, Sexual Sin, Disobedience, etc.
C. We wonder why we struggle at times, why we don’t worship freely, why we aren’t blessed and trust God without limit… How can I freely worship Him and love Him without limits, if I am bound and struggle to move?
1. We cannot share these spiritual privileges, if we retain the love of sin in our hearts and keep wearing our Grave Clothes.
D. It is time to rip off those Grave Clothes. Nothing from our dead lives is worth keeping us from living in our Resurrected Life!
Some of you may say – ‘Well, I’m not struggling in the bondage of my grave clothes’ but you dwell in disappointment because you have not received the promises that you’ve hoped for.
II. You ‘see’ Delayed Promises:
A. You have waited and waited for that new job, that son to come to Christ, healing, ministry opportunity or even a new church building…so you live in that prayer doubting stage – where you pray, but your mind is swarmed with ‘if onlys’.
1. If only I had gotten that job and not her, if only this would happen or that would happen now.
a. In verse 21 and 32 – Mary and Martha expressed their ‘if onlys’ – if only you were here Jesus, our brother wouldn’t have died.
2. It is interesting to read that in verse 5 & 6 it says that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. SO when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
B. Jesus responds to our ‘if onlys’ by saying that He’s glad (v. 15) it doesn’t always work out the way WE plan, because now He will be glorified in a greater way.
1. When you are believing God for His promises – you must believe that He can do what He says He can do.
2. Believe it or not, Jesus knows what lies ahead for you. He is not surprised by circumstances or your future.
a. v. 4 - Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.
b. Even though it may seem that God delays, that He isn’t listening or responding…trust that He IS and He knows the greater plan that He has for you.
3. It would have been a good miracle for Jesus to have come and healed Lazarus before He died…but He had a greater plan.
a. He would raise Him from the dead and show that He has ALL power over life and death.
4. Now, you choose – good or great?
a. WE could rush God (like Sarah and Abraham) and create a good plan or we can trust God and wait for His Great Plan.
5. v. 37 - Even when others are saying “could not have Christ answered you by now”…you need remember that what appears as a delay to us is the orchestration of God…for what seems dead to us, is ALIVE IN CHRIST!
V. 39 (NASB) – “Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
III. The church plays a role.
A. Jesus did not remove the stone. He asked the people around the tomb to remove the stone.
1. An important part of our spiritual life and as the church is helping non-believers remove the stone from their grave!
a. God calls us to pray for them and love them in ways that will remove the barriers between them and Jesus!
2. We can remove the stone for people but we cannot bring them to life!
a. Eph. 2:1, 4-5 (NLT) – “1Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 4But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)”
b. Jesus calls us to life through His grace.
c. According to 2 Cor. 5:17, this involves a ‘spiritual creation’ therefore can only be accomplished by the Creator!
B. John 11:44 (NASB) – “…Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
1. Even when we have the grave clothes removed, we still need to be let go.
2. Sometimes there are things in our life that we need others to help us to be free.
a. Church, we need to be there to pray with them and help others to be let go from those past things that bind them.
3. I’m sure Lazarus did not smell too lovely…he had been dead for four days! Sometimes church, you are going to have to reach out and touch the stinky, get out of your comfort zone and be Jesus with skin on to others…help let them go!
Closing:
• When you have removed your Grave Clothes, when you have embraced God to see what is Alive in Him and not delayed…then you experience Freedom and Christ in such a way that not only do you tell your story but it is just simply known.
• The fact that Lazarus was alive spread all over and as a result of this incredible miracle, many people put their faith in Jesus.
Psalms 66:19 (NASB) – “But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.”
• We should declare what He has done for our souls, and how He has heard and answered our prayers, inviting others to join us in prayer and praise.
• Christ alone raises us from our spiritual death and gives us life and life abundantly…which is why we must remove the grave clothes, believe in His promises and help others become ‘let go’.
• So, rip off those Grave Clothes, confirm in your heart that what may seem dead to us IS ALIVE in Christ! Live in FREEDOM in the Resurrected Life.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Going from Grave Clothes and Delayed Promises to Freedom in a Resurrected Life - Cheri Osberg
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Jonah, Part 3 - Pastor Kenneth Woolf
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New Life Church on the Rock
Sunday March 30, 2008
Jonah (Part 3)
INTRODUCTION: Go over Jonah Chapters 1 and 3.
1. God asks us to do things we don’t want to do.
2. There’s always a boat going in the opposite direction
3. God may send a storm to get our attention.
4. Jonah’s worst nightmare was just what he needed.
1. God is a God of second chances.
2. Go NOW!
3. To go you might have to let go.
Today we are going back to Jonah Chapter 2.
Jonah 2:1- “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to Lord his God.”
Jonah had stopped praying, like many people who claim to be Christians have done. During the storm while all the sailors were calling on their gods Jonah was asleep in the bottom of the boat.
But in Jonah 2 Jonah remembers the POWER OF PRAYER.
***Story of a small town church who prayed against a local nightclub. ****
From inside the fish Jonah PRAYED to the Lord his God. In other words, God got his attention! Some of you God has finally got your attention and your prayer life is about to come alive.
Jonah 2:2- “He said: In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
Can we even begin to grasp that we have the opportunity to call on the creator of the universe? The One who hung the stars in the sky! The First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending, the Almighty, all knowing, all powerful God. The supreme judge of all mankind!
WE CAN CALL ON HIM AND HE WILL ANSWER US!
After Jonah said forget you God, Jonah called on God and God in His mercy answered him! DON’T LET THE POWER OF THAT PASS YOU BY!
But how many people have said this? “Things are so bad, we’ve tried everything! All we can do now is pray!
How insulting that must be to the heart of God.
Hebrews 4:16- “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
YOU CAN CALL ON GOD AND HE WILL ANSWER YOU!
(Jonah 2:2) Jonah said, “In my distress…”
Distress- the travail of childbirth, the distress of labor.
In my agony I called on God and He answered me!
(Jonah 2:2) “From the depths of the grave I called for help..”
Grave- the realm of the dead, out of the belly of hell. From this place I called on God and he answered me.
From the place I was farther from God than ever I called on Him. From the place I was miserable, helpless, and desperate, I called on God and He answered.
When I had no place to turn, when I needed God the most but deserved it the least.
HERE’S WHAT VERSES ONE AND TWO ARE SAYING
I was as good as dead but God in His mercy caused me to be born again. I was as good as dead in my own power, I was helpless, I couldn’t contribute a thing.
Even though I didn’t deserve it, God in His mercy and love heard my cry and He caused me to rise from the dead so that I could be born again.
At any point in this story God could have changed things. He could of calmed the storm. He could have allowed the sailors to take Jonah to the shore. God could have sent a giant turtle so Jonah could have rode on its back to shore.
God could have sent a really good looking mermaid.
But God didn’t do any of those things but notice that God was actively working in Jonah’s life. Even though Jonah was in pain!
God was involved in Jonah’s life in every phase.
DON’T MISS GOD WORKING IN YOUR LIFE IN EVERY PHASE!
God is working in our lives even when we don’t recognize it. He’s preparing us for our future.
Don’t forget to embrace the phase your in now and celebrate what God is doing enroute to your ultimate destiny.
Jonah 2:3- “You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me..”
Technically the sailors threw Jonah in the sea but Jonah recognized the hand of God behind everything.
Jonah 2:6- “To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.”
Jonah was saying, “I’m a dead man, there’s no hope for me, It’s over.”
Some of you your life is seems like that. Spiraling downward!
NEVER FORGET THE BUT GOD MOMENTS!
My life was out of control BUT GOD intervened!
My marriage was in trouble and I thought it was over BUT GOD changed my heart and healed our marriage!
The doctor says it’s over, BUT GOD!
DON’T FORGET THE BUT GOD MOMENTS!
Luke 1:37- “For nothing is impossible with God.”
When Jonah was at a point that every physical thing said you will never survive, BUT GOD!
Jonah 2:7- “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.”
When things are going well do we remember God or just put Him on a shelf until the next big crisis?
Jonah 2:8- “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
Jonah shifts his tone and gives a warning and basically he’s saying, “Don’t do what I did.”
Whatever you do don’t run from God! Whatever you do don’t neglect God and disobey Him!
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
Grace- loving kindness, the pursuing love of God!
Those who cling to the stupid things of this world that don’t matter, they are unable to receive the pursuing love of God.
WHAT WERE JONAH’S IDOLS?
1. Prejudice
2. Self- I heard God but I don’t care what He said, I’m going to do what I want to do.
We need to surrender the idol of self. If there’s one thing we need to do is lay down the idol of self. I know what God’s Word says but I don’t care!
Jonah 2:9- “But I, with a song of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.”
Some of you are going to make something good today. I don’t know what it is but you do. God has put it on your heart and today you need to make it good.
God has put it on your heart to give a radical generous offering. But this has been your prayer. “Satan, is that you again trying to get me to be like Jesus.”
“God’s called me to be a good steward, so I can’t give that generous offering to the church.” Like giving to God’s church makes you a bad steward.
CONCLUSION: Now look at the last phrase of verse 9.
“Salvation comes from the Lord.”
Remember Jonah couldn’t contribute anything from the belly of that fish. Salvation comes from God.
Ephesians 2:8- “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no-one can boast.”
WHAT DID IT COST GOD FOR YOUR SALVATION? HIS SON JESUS CHRIST!
The only reasonable response to the Salvation of God is this, “HERE’S MY LIFE.”
Jonah 2:10- “And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry ground.”
Whether you’re on the top of the world or in the depths of hell, when you call on the Lord He will answer you!
Let’s pray!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
What Difference Does Easter Make - Pastor Kenneth Woolf
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New Life COTR
Sunday March 23, 2008 (Easter)
“What Difference Does Easter Make”
Matthew 12:38-40(NIV)- Turn and Read
These religious leaders were not coming to Jesus with a heart of humility but instead with a heart of arrogance. Show us a sign!
Really what they were saying was, You claim to be the Son of God, show us your credentials Jesus. We want you to validate who you are.
Prove to us that you are who you say you are!
Jesus says, “The only proof I’m going to give to you looks like the absence of proof.”
I’m going to die! “I’m going to be three days in the heart of the earth.”
When there’s an absence of proof that God loves you, God is about to prove to you He loves you.
When there’s an absence of proof that God will deliver you, He’s about to deliver you.
When there’s an absence of proof that God is going to provide for you, God is about to provide for you.
WHEN IT APPEARS GOD IS UP TO NOTHING, HE’S UP TO SOMETHING!
Matthew 16:13-21 Turn and Read
Absence of proof- Jesus Died.
Matthew 27:62-66- Absence of proof He was the Son of God
If Jesus was a deceiver and was not who He claimed to be why would they need to seal the tomb?
Proof- The Resurrection- Just like Jesus Said!
84% of people who never go to church believe that Jesus died and rose again. It’s a historical fact.
There are at least 15 historical references to Jesus meeting people, touching people, and talking with people. One time He cooked breakfast for a group of people. One time He talked to 500 people after He had risen from the dead!
TRANSITION: What does that mean today for you and me?
I. JESUS IS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE
Jesus made some outrageous claims.
John 11:25- “Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live even though he dies.”
John 14:6- “Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
II. JESUS HAS THE POWER HE CLAIMED TO HAVE
John 10:17-18- “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down My life, only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again….”
Matthew 28:18- “All power in heaven and earth is given to me…”
III. JESUS DOES WHAT HE PROMISES TO DO
Matthew 28:5,6- “The angel said to the women, DO not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus; who was crucified. HE is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where He lay.”
TRANSITION: From the absence of proof Jesus proved He was who He claimed to be because He had the power He claimed to have and He did what He promised He would do.
Why does all this matter to us?
I. MY PAST CAN BE FORGIVEN
Have you ever been halfway through a project and wished you could start over?
Have you ever felt like you were going to have to spend the rest of your life sitting in the penalty box?
Colossians 2:13,14- “When you were dead in your sins and in the Uncircumcision of you sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away nailing it to the cross.”
Many people can’t get on with the present and the future because they’re stuck in the past.
Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross so I can stop nailing myself to the cross!
Romans 8:1- “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
JESUS DIDN’T COME TO RUB IT IN HE CAME TO RUB IT OUT!
II. MY PRESENT PROBLEMS CAN BE MANAGED
Maturity is when you figure out that you can’t have it all figured out! BUT GOD CAN!
Ephesians 1:18-20- “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparable great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…”
Philippians 4:13- “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
III. MY FUTURE CAN BE SECURE
Everybody has a deep longing to know about the future. Not just the future of the is earth but the future of eternity.
People don’t like to talk about death but it’s inevitable.
John 17:3- “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
1Peter 1:3-5- Turn and Read
Hope means you don’t have anything to fear. You don’t fear death anymore. YOU’RE NOT READY TO LIVE UNTIL YOU’RE READY TO DIE!
YOU CAN’T REALLY LIVE UNLESS YOU’RE NOT AFRAID TO DIE.
YOUR FUTURE CAN BE SECURE!
CONCLUSION: I think this is what God wants to say to you today. “You matter to me, I understand everything about your life. I know you. I made you, remember! You matter to me. I want to have a relationship with you. I sent my Son to die for you. I want you to get to know me.
1. Jesus is who He claimed to be.
2. Jesus has the power He claimed to have.
3. Jesus does what He promised to do.
1. Your past can be forgiven.
2. Your present problems can be managed.
3. Your future can be secure.
