Well, welcome to those of you that will be watching
this online and those of you that will be watching
this at the 930 in Prescott. You may be wondering
why you're watching a video today. It's because
I'm actually at Prescott Valley Live today and
we're just honoring what we've set up for the
summer with Prescott Valley and our location
there. And so you get a video today. So you get
to honor them and in the same time we get to...
We get to walk this together. So welcome to those
of you at 930. Welcome to those of you in the
online family, Baghdad, Paulding, at our locations.
That's you. We're grateful for you. Welcome to
those of you again in the room. Just so, so fun
to do this together, right? Like, I don't know
about you, but I love summer. Summer just brings
different rhythms. For starters, I love not having
to drive my kids to school at the crack of dawn.
Like, that's just a nice switch up in the whole
thing. Summer, the rain has been amazing. The
change in, instead of it being blazing hot, we
now have these things called monsoons that show
up. And I also love summer because some of the
rhythms, I don't know about you, some of the
rhythms I love and some of them I'm like, eh.
And it comes and goes because it messes up for
when the fall comes, right? But one of the things
I love about summer is that we, as a family,
get to take vacations. But our vacations have
turned into where are our kids right now? And
that's where we're going to plan our vacation.
So we were gone for a week. We were in Long Beach
and getting to see our kiddos. And the way the
trip was planned was our younger kiddos were
going to go stay with their older sister and
her husband for the first couple of days because
they get so excited about that. They love the
time together. And I'll be real honest with you.
I love the time with Cindy without them. OK,
so let's just be clear on that. Now, it still
exists, by the way, like time with your spouse
when you have kids. It's amazing. You know, sometimes
it feels like it doesn't exist anymore. But but
getting that getting to spend time with her.
So we got an Airbnb the first thing and we're
like sitting on a peninsula on the beach with
a book. And I'm like, I can't even read my book.
And she's like, why? Why can't you read? And
I'm like, well, there's just so much to look
at. She's like, what is there to look at? And
I'm like, there's houses and boats and like things
moving and all kinds of things to distract me.
Like little kids. You ever watch little kids
run on a beach? At some point they are going
down. You just know it. They just bounce back
up and they're in the water. And so we're sitting
there and we just get to be for a couple of days.
And that was like just. And then we moved, the
second part of it, we moved to a different Airbnb.
We kind of planned the trip kind of last minute.
And so things were a little chaotic. And so the
place we stayed in, we were upstairs. And downstairs,
somebody lived there, but they're not the person
that owned the upstairs. So it's kind of this
whole thing, right? So I decided I was going
to get up in the morning and I was going to walk
down to the pier and the beach and take a book
and cup of coffee and just sit and read. And
so I leave the Airbnb. I walk down the stairs.
And of course, I forgot something because that's
just me. So I go back up the stairs. And on my
way back up, I see something move behind the
grill. And I'm like, the neighbor has a cat.
I mean, it wasn't small. OK, so let me just clarify,
like size of a cat. I'm like, well, the neighbor
has a cat. Well, then I just stood there to wait
to see if this thing was going to come out. It
comes out and I'm like. That's like no cat I've
ever seen in my life. Take a look. I think we
have it. I mean, that guy's just hanging on.
He's just making it. I ain't never seen that
in my life. I mean, I'm not even joking. When
the thing first came out, I went, who shaved
their cat like that? And then I realized I was
looking at him like, I can get my phone. And
I'm watching. And so then I send that video to
my family and I'm like, good morning from a hardworking
mama. And so then I'm like, okay, chat, I know
nothing about what I just seen. How long do raccoons
carry their? Chat goes, possums carry their young
through adolescence. I was like, thanks, chat.
Needed that. Grateful. Oh man, it's so good.
But here's something, right? Like you see, I'm
watching this happen and I came back from my
walk and she was back in the front yard walking
through again. Looked like she'd lost a few,
so I don't know what that means. And there's
just something you feel inside. Like just seeing
it, you're like. First of all, I feel her pain
of carrying children around. You know what I
mean? Well, I don't, but if you're a mother,
you're like, I get it. Like, I look at that and
I go, that's motherhood. That's the picture of
motherhood. You feel like you're just carrying
them all the way through, right? And they just
keep hanging on. And you're like, let go. And
they keep hanging on. And I also feel just this
beauty of this moment. of our mama and our babies
and we're meant to feel. We're meant to feel.
And especially like just the idea of when we
read the scriptures, when we read a story in
scripture, understanding what is it I'm supposed
to, why does this exist in scripture? Why did
God preserve this? And there's a story in Luke
chapter seven. Some of you are like, we only
sang one song. You realize that, right? Like,
did you miss something? Because the band was
still here. I didn't miss nothing. I didn't miss
nothing. And I'll give you something. Well, I'll
tell you something in a little bit. We'll get
there. But in Luke chapter 7, there's a story.
And I found myself asking the question, why?
Why this lady? Why this mama? Why did God, out
of all the women, That Jesus could have had an
interaction with why this one at this time. And
it says in verse 11, Luke 7, verse 11. Soon afterward,
Jesus went to a town called Nain and his disciples
and a large crowd went along with him. OK, so
the context before the story is Jesus was in
Capernaum and in Capernaum. There's a centurion,
a Roman soldier, a leader of the Roman soldiers
that came to him and he's got a sick servant.
And due to the illness of the servant, the centurion
basically gets to the point he sent people, but
Jesus is coming and he goes, hey, I don't deserve
to have you under my roof. Just say the word
and my servant will be healed. To which Jesus'
response is, I haven't seen this kind of faith
in... Faith this great in all of Israel. And
the servant is healed. The very next story is
this one. And it says that Jesus, soon after,
Jesus went to a town called Nain. I just think
sometimes words are so important that Jesus went.
There was movement from Jesus from where he was
to where this is happening. And sometimes I think
we give the wrong messages when it comes to...
comes to Jesus and it's like, you've got to come
to Jesus. You have to come to Jesus. That couldn't
be more wrong. Jesus has been coming to you the
whole time. Jesus is the one on the move. We
just get to realize he's always been moving towards
you. Right? Like sometimes we get this false
narrative of gospel of like, well, Jesus is over
there and I'm over here. And when I choose to
stop doing what I'm going to do, I'm going to
go find Jesus. I'm going to go to him. No, no,
no. Jesus comes to where you are in the midst
of what you are and finds you where you are.
Why is that so important? Because the other one
makes it a work that I do versus a work that
Jesus is doing. And it says that Jesus went to
a town called Nain. And his disciples and a large
crowd went along with him. So the picture being
given is that Jesus is going, his disciples are
going, and there is a large crowd. Okay, so on
one side of it, you've got this person who is
Jesus, who is life, who is God incarnate. And
now around him, you've got people that are following
him that are close followers, but you also have
a crowd of people. that are the extra ring around
that, if you like, that are following because
he's been doing all these moments and miracles
and they don't want to miss what could happen.
They got FOMO, basically. They don't want to
miss what's going to happen. Verse 12 says, as
he approached the town gate, a dead person was
being carried out, the only son of his mother.
So he's approaching this town. And as he's approaching
this town and he's got his crowd around him,
he's approaching and what's coming out is a death
march from this town, from this village. There's
a march of death. Death has done what death does.
Death always wants to kill, steal, destroy. Why
do we know that? Because that's what the enemy
is about. So we know that the end game of the
enemy is this idea that life would not exist
as God intended it. And so now this death march
is coming out of this village and we're told
that it's the only son. And then it adds another
layer to it, right? The only son of his mother
and she was a widow. Why this widow? There are
many other widows. If you're familiar with scripture,
Elijah, who was a prophet, and he goes to a widow
who's lost her son, and scripture specifically
says there were many other widows he could have
gone to, but he went to that one. Jesus could
have gone to many widows. Why this one? And I
think the purpose of this is that we would feel,
that we would feel what is happening in the narrative.
That we would feel what's actually happening
within the story. What do I mean by that? Well,
we're told, we're given the clue that she's a
widow. That she has already suffered loss. She's
already suffered the loss of her partner who
she thought she would build a life and a future
with. That she would grow old with. She's already
in the midst, she's already experienced, and
we don't have times, dates, we don't know ages,
we don't know at what point or why. All we know
is that the context we're given is she has suffered
loss already. And in the midst of that loss,
it says that the only son of his mother. Well,
now she's suffered complete loss. Because now
she's socially alone. I don't know how you enter
the room, but aloneness in our culture and our
time is an epidemic. Feeling isolated, feeling
unseen, feeling alone is something that in 2026
we can resonate with. She suffered complete loss
in the sense of anyone relationally that could
have been a support and that she could build
a life with is gone. So we know from that that
there's deep pain because of loss. And I, you
guys, I just, the amount of people we'll have
in rooms this weekend, the amount of people we'll
have across screens this weekend. The amount
of people that are sitting where this lady is
sitting, they go, I get it. I get it. I'm sitting
in the midst of pain. I'm sitting in the midst
of loss. And I'm sitting in the midst of what
she also loses is her future. A lady in this
culture, in this context, she would have had
her plans of how things were going to stay stable
and they've all been removed. She would have
not been able to work more than likely or find
work very easily. There wouldn't have been a
lot of opportunities. And so now she's going
to be dependent maybe on the charity of others,
if not end up begging. Her whole future just
got lost in this moment. You ever had a moment
in your life where you had your plans and you
had your future laid out and then all of a sudden
that shifts? Maybe you're sitting in that right
now that you're going, I didn't think life would
end up where it is. And I'm sitting in the midst
of an unknown future. That's where this lady
is. This lady is sitting in what is fresh grief.
How do we know that? Because we see the body
being carried out. The death march is happening.
And as the death march is happening, what we're
told by that is that he has died recently and
now has to be buried by sundown. So this is fresh.
This is not something where they've waited a
certain amount of time and that time has passed.
This is, it has happened and she is in the moment
of the pain. And all of those things are crashing
down on her in this moment. That she is now feeling
hopeless, right? You ever go to the town as you're
driving to California, it's called Hope and you
get to the other side and they go, you're beyond
hope, right? She's hit the point where she's
now beyond, beyond hope. Like why this widow?
Because there's so much here that we can connect
to. The financial struggle that she now enters
or has been thrust into. The lack of future.
The loss of social, the loss of relationships,
the loss of, And I think, I think we're supposed
to let us, let ourselves feel what this lady
is feeling to understand the story. I think sometimes
we gloss over and we go, well, she's the only
son, widow, okay. But I think we're supposed
to slow down and go, no, this is a mom that has
lost everything. And it's in that context, it's
in that context. That it says, and a large crowd
from the town was with her. What the large crowd
from the town that was with her, what that's
doing is it's actually emphasizing their pity
towards her. Now, there was a time in this culture,
it was you could hire mourners like it was. You
went out and you hired a group of people to mourn
with you for a certain amount of time because
that was appropriate. This is not who that is.
They don't believe that this was a group that
was paid. This is a group that has such sorrow
because they feel her pain that they are walking
with her. But look what they're following. They're
following death itself. It's a death march. It
is everything that death represents. And when
we talk about what's happening around us, when
we talk about death in our lives, this is what
death wants to produce. Hopelessness, loss. It
wants to put us in a place where we don't know
how we make it through. And it's in that context
that there's a crowd who are following death
along. Verse 13. When the Lord saw her, when
Jesus saw her, his heart went out to her and
he said, don't cry. When the death march is going
and they're coming out of the town and on the
other side, Jesus is coming, life is coming to
meet death head on. As life comes, Jesus sees
her. And when we say this a lot, but you guys,
we can't say it enough, that Jesus sees you today.
That whatever it is that you're sitting inside
of, whatever questions, whatever struggles, whatever
hurt, whatever pain, that Jesus, Jesus here in
Prescott, Jesus in this moment sees you and sees
where you are within your pain. That's also true
of Baghdad. That's also true of Paulding. That's
also true of the 930 gathering here. Jesus sees
you. You're not lost to him. He's got eyes on
you today. But notice, Jesus sees her, verse
13, when the Lord saw her, when Jesus sees her,
his heart went out to her. Now I've sat in counseling
enough, there's a question I absolutely cannot
stand. I love it and I hate it all at the same
time, if that's possible. I like it and dislike
it instantly. And as I'm sitting in counseling,
and at some point she goes, could you show me
physically where you feel that? And I'm like,
ah, there's the right answer. Because that's
my performer in me. And inevitably, I'll show
her where I feel the pain of the thing we're
talking about. And she goes and connects all
the dots for me of why that spot is where I would
feel it. Jesus, it says, his heart went out.
If we could ask Jesus, Jesus, where do you feel
the pain? You see this lady, where do you feel
the pain? He would say, he would point to, he
put his hand on his gut. Because the word here
is in his gut, in his bowels, in the deepest
part of who he is. He feels this lady's pain.
He sees her and he feels her pain. And then notice
what he says. Don't cry. Now that sounds completely
tone deaf to me. I'll be honest with you. She's
got fresh grief coming out. She's lost everything.
And Jesus goes, don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
That would be completely tone deaf if not for
what happens next. Then he went up and touched
the buyer. They were carrying him on and the
bearers stood still. He said, young man, I say
to you, get up. He went up. He went up. Notice
what Jesus does. He went up. Jesus enters. Jesus
enters the pain. He sees and he feels. And when
he feels it, he doesn't just go, don't cry. Come
on, boys. It's a little late. Let's go to Chick
-fil -A. It's closed on Sunday. Go somewhere
else. He doesn't have something where he goes
and he sees and he moves. He enters into. Why?
Because Jesus is in the pain with you today.
Jesus is in the pain. This is theologically.
Really important that we grasp that Jesus is
in the midst of your pain. God himself is in
the midst. He's not moving away from your pain.
He's moving into your pain. Sometimes we think
God's back here like a puppet master and he's
the one causing the pain. God does not cause
pain. He uses pain. How? By stepping into the
pain with you and walking with you in the midst
of the pain. And in the midst of the pain, look
what he does. Verse 14, then he went up and touched
the buyer. Now, if you were here a couple of
weeks ago, you know where I'm going because we
had a story about a leper. If you remember the
story about the leper, he touches the leper and
leprosy should have got on him, but it doesn't
because he reverses it, right? Like it's this
whole Jesus thing. And he touches something that's
completely unclean. The buyer would have been
like, if you've ever watched soccer, this is
the best picture I got for you, okay? If you
ever watched soccer. Player goes down and he's
actually hurt. Not the ones that roll around
for five minutes. Those guys, you know, we all
hate those guys just so you know, right? This
guy's actually hurt. He broke his leg. Four guys
come on with a little drop it. He gets on. They
carry him out, right? That's the same idea as
what's happening here. There's four poles. There's
two poles. And in the midst of those poles, there's
four people carrying it. And it's kind of like
a hammock in the middle. And they're carrying
him along. The dead body is on it, which means
that this, this. buyer that he's on is now unclean
to touch. And what does Jesus do? He touches
it. He touches it. He's now scared of what death
can do. And notice what happens, you guys. The
death march, when Jesus enters, the death march
stops. It says, touch the buyer. They were carrying
him on and the bearers stood still. They stopped.
The whole entire death march stops. Why? Because
Jesus entered it. And when he touches it, he
then says, young man, I say to you, get up. Young
man, can you imagine that moment for that guy?
It says next verse, verse 15, the dead man sat
up and began to talk. What was that like? I mean.
We can imagine what it was like for everybody
else. What was it like for him? Because more
than likely, they've wrapped his body at this
point. They've washed him, wrapped his body,
and laid him on there, and they're taking him.
The grave's been dug, by the way. The grave is
there, and Jesus robs the grave. Why? Because
Jesus is a grave robber. Just so you know, Jesus
is a grave robber. Next tattoo, that's what you
can get. Jesus is a grave robber, right? Because
the grave is dug. He's on the way to the grave.
Jesus stops, and he robs the grave. Because that's
who Jesus is. The point of this whole summer
is that you would see who Jesus is. The reason
we're spending time in these stories is that
you would see Jesus for who he is and experience
him for who he is. This moment that is helpless
and hopeless, this boy, can you imagine? He's
wrapped. He sits up. He's like trying to pull
it apart to look around. He's probably like,
how'd I get here? Why are we doing this? He sat
up and he talked. They were saying in commentaries,
that's proof of the miracle. Why did he include
he sat up and he talked? Because it's proof of
the miracle. The miracle has happened. I want
you to catch something. Because up to this point
in the book of Luke, you got guys that rip open
this roof and they lower people down inside,
right? You've got that that happened. It goes,
when Jesus saw their faith, right? You got the
man, the centurion, the story before him. What
does he say? He has such great faith. I haven't
seen this kind of faith in all of Israel. There's
no mention of faith in this story. There's no
one. It's not that he comes along and he sees
the mama and he goes, oh man, her faith. It's
so great. Even through the tears, I'm going to
go. And he doesn't say that. It says that Jesus
saw her, felt her pain, moved into the pain and
created a miracle. He did it void of faith. This
is really important because we got some things
where we begin to project to one another. If
you just had enough faith, that's not what's
in this story. What is in this story is Jesus
is who Jesus is. And Jesus enters into it void
of whether there's faith or not. Why? Because
he's going to be who he is. And who is he? He
is a grave robber. And he's going to raise the
dead to life. And sometimes, sometimes we, we,
we want to project that it was someone's faith
in the story is why this happened. That is not
what the story says. Jesus was being Jesus. And
notice what he does at the end of verse 15. Jesus
gave him back to his mama. That's beautiful.
That's amazing. That's who Jesus is. Jesus restores
the things that are dead. That's who he is. That's
his whole plan. Why this widow? Because it was
hopeless. She had no hope of restoration until
Jesus. Why this widow? Because this widow had
reached a point of complete loss. And what does
Jesus do? As death is marching in all of its
power and all of it, Jesus maneuvers through
death. Why? Because he feels the pain. He goes,
he touches, he raises the dead. Why? Because
Jesus is a grave robber. He turns graves into
gardens. That's what he does. I mean, you want
to talk about a king that's worth hailing, it's
Jesus. But I got a question for you because I
believe that scripture is also supposed to read
us. I believe we're supposed to feel it and it's
supposed to read us and we're supposed to find
ourselves within it, right? That's how these
stories come to life in our life. And so I got
a question for you. Which character in this story
are you? Which character are you? And what I
mean by that is this. There's groups of people
in here. Like clearly you're not Jesus, just
so we're clear. Jesus is Jesus in the story.
Let's just set that one aside. But there's a
crowd. With Jesus. There's a crowd with Jesus,
and then there are disciples, it says. And the
crowd with Jesus are there because they're just
looking on. They got FOMO. They don't want to
miss out. It's a good place to be. It makes me
feel good. I like to see him do this. I just
wonder, are you on that outer crowd today? That
you're just following Jesus, but it's from a
distance. It doesn't cost you anything. Can I
just kind of, I'm going to be honest because
I'm honest anyways. You guys, if your faith doesn't
cost you anything, you're doing it wrong. If
it doesn't cost you something because it said
to be a disciple of Jesus, it was going to cost
you. Pick up your cross and follow me. That does
not sound like it's cheap. And there's some of
us, we're just in the crowd. We're just hanging
out. I got FOMO. I don't want to miss what they
do today because somebody might ask me about
it. Then you got those, the disciples, they'd
left everything and they're following them. They're
in. But on the other side, you have a death march.
But you realize a death march also had a crowd.
There are some of you that are following the
march of death to your death. What do I mean
by that? You're enjoying all of the things that
go wrong with having fun as the world calls fun,
right? All the ways of enticing and all the things
that the enemy loves to do and all the ways that
he loves to make things shiny for us and really
they're leading us to death. Death has a crowd
and you may be in it. You may be following things
that promise life, but they're actually bringing
death. I mean, maybe you're the mom today. And
you walk through the door and you're like, man,
I am at complete loss and it is hopeless today.
Life just hurts. The pain is overwhelming. I
need restoration. I need some kind of hope. And
what I love is here comes Jesus. If that's you,
here comes Jesus. The Jesus who is in your pain.
The Jesus who meets you there. The Jesus who
is for you. You may be one of the people who
are holding the buyer. You're carrying death
for others. You're carrying others pain. You're
carrying, you've got those in your life and you're
carrying their, and you're in the midst of the
march carrying the pain and you're tired and
it's heavy. And it's making you unclean and it's
hard and it's difficult. And you just need to
know, you just need to know that if that's you,
if that's you, just own it. That's where I'm
at. I'm tired. And I want to be honest with God
with where I'm at. There's also the son. And
you may be the son today that you need Jesus
to look at you and go, get up, get up. I came
to give you life. I came to rob. Get up. I came
to turn your grave into a garden. Get up. But
what it all begins with, whatever character you
find yourself in, and I'm going to be, I'll tell
you something in a second. As this death march
is happening, what changes the death march? is
King Jesus. There's nobody else in the story
that changes the death march. The death march
has to stop when it meets who? Jesus. This moment
has to change when it comes face to face with
life. And whatever you're in today, the beginning
point is that we just recognize this is where
I'm at, God. There may be a group of you that
it's okay. You're in the disciple crowd and you're
seeing the miracles and you're seeing the graves
being robbed and you get to celebrate today.
You get to declare all hail this King Jesus.
And you get to tell stories of how he's transforming.
But you may also be on the other side and you're
like, John, I am in the midst of the struggle.
then I want to encourage you. We're going to
worship, and the reason we're going to worship
is because what happens is you get to declare
for yourself in the midst of your pain things
that are true. You get to sit and let the words
wash over the moment that you're in. You get
to use your voice to declare, this is where I'm
at, but this is also true, that even in the pain,
he's still king. Even in the pain, he's still
a grave robber. Even in the pain, he changes
graves into gardens. Even in the pain, we'll
say all hail King Jesus. I just feel like I have
to say something. We have a habit as a church
is we just leave early. And I'm not throwing
shade on anybody. But we're going to sing a little
bit and I'm going to come back and I'm going
to wrap this thing up and we're going to sing
one more time. Please don't miss it. Because
I think God's got something for you to experience.
God's got something for you today. Where you
are, he wants to speak. And so if you would stand
in song, we're going to let God speak to us.
The Holy Spirit speak in this moment and work
right where we are and work it out for us. So
we answered the question, why this widow? But
why this town? We've seen Jesus who is. Present
in pain. The Jesus who stops the death march
in its tracks. The Jesus who is in it void of
whether I have enough faith or not. The Jesus
who robs the grave. But why this town? Why did
he choose to do it here? And sitting on that
question, the town itself, is roughly about 25
miles from the last story we had. So it's about
a day's journey. But it's kind of out of the
way. And so to go there would have been an intentional,
this place matters. And the town itself was built
into a hillside. And as it was built into a hillside,
they put a wall all the way around it so that
when it says there's a gate, there was only one
way in. and one way out of this gate. And the
picture we're given is from the village, the
town of Nain, where the word Nain in the Hebrew,
transliterated, means beautiful, delightful,
and pleasant. That this place that is named after
beautiful, what is beautiful, what is delightful,
and what is pleasant, What is coming out of it
is death. What should have been beautiful is
producing death. And what you have meeting it
on the other side is life itself. And there is
one way in and one way out. Did you get the picture
yet? Planet Earth. That God goes, it is very,
very, very good. It's very good. What's been
created is beautiful. It is pleasant. It is delightful.
And what's coming out of planet Earth? Death.
Pain, struggle, hurt. This place is nuts. And
the picture we're given is there's one way out.
And it's death. And there's one way in and you're
born. And what does God do? He goes, I'm going
to be born into what is beautiful. I'm going
to show up into what is beautiful and I am going
to stop the march of death. Once and for all,
I'm going to show up and I'm going to stop the
march of death. Why? Because I am just that good.
And the picture that's captured, I don't know
about you, but there's so many moments in my
life. One happened on Friday in my backyard.
My mouth is running towards my wife. And I know
I shouldn't be saying what I'm saying and I can't
stop it. Why? Because what should be beautiful,
this thing of marriage, that is a picture of
Jesus and his church. What's coming out is death.
But I am so thankful to know that I have a savior
who is Jesus, who is restoring. Remember the
purpose of the story is that the boy is brought
back to who? His mother. There's relational restoration
that is happening. Why? Because he is just that
good. There is restoration of life that is happening
in your life today. Why? Because he's just that
good. And I can't think of any better way to
finish. A story about Jesus who is in our pain.
A story about Jesus who is going to do it whether
we have faith or not. A story about Jesus who
showed up the one way he could, born on this
earth to be a savior to us. So if you would stand
where you are, we are going to party as we leave
the place, okay? Because he's just that good.