WEBVTT 00:00:04.319 --> 00:00:09.679 Howdy. There's a moment when something might 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:13.259 seem wrong, but you're not ready to say it yet. 00:00:14.179 --> 00:00:18.339 So you check, you look at your phone again, and 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:20.460 you wait a little bit longer for them to respond. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:23.519 You tell yourself, you know, they're probably 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:26.800 just busy, but the longer the silence stretches, 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:31.230 the louder your imagination gets. I remember 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:34.770 a time in my life when if I did not answer my 00:00:34.770 --> 00:00:38.530 phone, my mom did not assume that I was busy. 00:00:39.270 --> 00:00:41.609 She assumed I was dead in a ditch somewhere. 00:00:42.549 --> 00:00:46.549 Always, always, every moment. And one night when 00:00:46.549 --> 00:00:50.210 I didn't respond to her phone call at the age 00:00:50.210 --> 00:00:54.130 of 21 at 11 p .m. on a weeknight, she called 00:00:54.130 --> 00:00:57.450 the police because in her mind there was no other 00:00:57.450 --> 00:01:00.329 explanation whatsoever. but that I was dead. 00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:03.130 Now, I tried to explain that there could always 00:01:03.130 --> 00:01:05.370 be possibilities when someone is not replying. 00:01:05.769 --> 00:01:08.310 I might be working late, or maybe I didn't hear 00:01:08.310 --> 00:01:10.689 my phone, or, you know, I might actually have 00:01:10.689 --> 00:01:13.150 friends and be out with people. Yeah, my mom 00:01:13.150 --> 00:01:16.469 didn't believe that. But, and all the mamas in 00:01:16.469 --> 00:01:18.670 the congregation are like, you just don't know. 00:01:18.890 --> 00:01:21.790 You just don't know. But, you know, once that 00:01:21.790 --> 00:01:25.090 fear sets in, it's hard to shake it. Because 00:01:25.090 --> 00:01:28.030 when you don't know, your mind fills in the gaps. 00:01:28.189 --> 00:01:31.370 We all do it. When we don't have answers, we 00:01:31.370 --> 00:01:34.469 create the explanations. And sometimes we assume 00:01:34.469 --> 00:01:38.409 the worst. Sometimes we try to convince ourselves, 00:01:39.310 --> 00:01:42.689 well, it's either the worst or maybe it's not 00:01:42.689 --> 00:01:46.650 that bad. But either way, we keep trying to make 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:49.810 sense of what feels uncertain. And that works 00:01:49.810 --> 00:01:54.719 until the uncertainty disappears. until maybe 00:01:54.719 --> 00:02:00.000 there's just no more maybe. Until something or 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.780 someone is no longer possibly gone, but definitely 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:07.840 gone. And that's exactly the tension that we 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.240 see in the story of Lazarus. At the beginning, 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.460 you see, there's still hope. You know, talking 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:17.539 with his disciples, you know, he's sick, you 00:02:17.539 --> 00:02:19.939 know, and someone could get better. You know, 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:23.490 that's not the same as Lazarus being dead. It's 00:02:23.490 --> 00:02:27.370 a very different feel. I feel bad, I'm hurting, 00:02:27.550 --> 00:02:31.490 but at the same time, being sick, that's okay. 00:02:32.129 --> 00:02:35.389 And we've seen what Jesus can do. We've seen 00:02:35.389 --> 00:02:38.650 how Jesus can heal. And you know, there's still 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:41.650 time, there's still possibility, there's still 00:02:41.650 --> 00:02:43.949 the sense that maybe things will turn around. 00:02:44.150 --> 00:02:46.949 We were on the boat, everything was rocking, 00:02:47.150 --> 00:02:48.870 all the waves were tossing, we were supposed 00:02:48.870 --> 00:02:51.750 to trust him. Walking on the water, you're supposed 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:57.449 to trust him. But you see, time passes, and Jesus 00:02:57.449 --> 00:03:02.370 delays, but not by accident. He does it deliberately. 00:03:03.689 --> 00:03:06.509 It's almost as if he's trying to tempt fate, 00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:10.689 as if he's pushing what might happen. You know, 00:03:11.509 --> 00:03:15.210 we see what's going on here with Lazarus, but 00:03:15.210 --> 00:03:18.650 Jesus seems to be pretty confident. I'm sure 00:03:18.650 --> 00:03:22.009 it'll turn out okay, right? But then the message 00:03:22.009 --> 00:03:29.129 comes, Lord, He's dead. And everything shifts 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:31.409 at a moment like that. You see, that moment, 00:03:31.430 --> 00:03:33.669 whenever you know that you were expecting something, 00:03:33.909 --> 00:03:35.710 and then you realize that what you're expecting 00:03:35.710 --> 00:03:37.949 is no longer even on the table, you know, those 00:03:37.949 --> 00:03:39.909 things where you hadn't really thought about 00:03:39.909 --> 00:03:42.310 it, but it was in the back of your mind, and 00:03:42.310 --> 00:03:45.669 then it's taken away, and you realize what you've 00:03:45.669 --> 00:03:49.289 lost. See, this is no longer a situation that 00:03:49.289 --> 00:03:53.050 needs healing. It's a situation that is final. 00:03:54.389 --> 00:03:57.770 And yet, even then, there's still a part of us 00:03:57.770 --> 00:04:02.210 that resists the finality. There's a part of 00:04:02.210 --> 00:04:04.150 us that holds back from believing what it is 00:04:04.150 --> 00:04:06.949 that we have heard. You've felt that before, 00:04:06.949 --> 00:04:12.030 I'm sure. Stages of denial, anger, bargaining, 00:04:12.710 --> 00:04:18.240 depression. Finally, though, acceptance. When 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:20.800 something happens that just doesn't seem possible 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.540 Your first instinct is not to accept it. It's 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:26.759 oftentimes to question it. There's got to be 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.740 a mistake You misunderstood that cannot be right 00:04:30.740 --> 00:04:34.459 there has to be another explanation You see God's 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:36.279 people have always wrestled with that tension 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:39.379 the tension between what we see and what we trust 00:04:39.379 --> 00:04:43.399 Because fear and faith between the grave that 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:46.800 seems final and the promise that is absolute 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:51.399 See, even in our doubt, God calls us to stand 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:55.180 before the tomb and to hear His Word. It's like 00:04:55.180 --> 00:04:57.899 hearing something so unlikely that your mind 00:04:57.899 --> 00:05:02.399 refuses to process it. It's as if someone were 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.779 to come in and tell you that Chuck Norris passed 00:05:05.779 --> 00:05:09.500 away. And you would not immediately accept it, 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:12.399 would you? You'd think, no, there's got to be 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:15.079 a misunderstanding. See, this is the guy who 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.100 never did a push -up in his life. because he 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:23.060 always pushed the earth down. The man who was 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:25.939 bitten by a king cobra, and after four very difficult 00:05:25.939 --> 00:05:31.519 days, the king cobra died. The man who gave death, 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:35.259 as we had once heard, a near Chuck Norris experience. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.699 See, a man whose Christian faith has been known 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:41.899 for a long time, and for which, at a moment like 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:45.360 this, we are truly grateful. But you see, that 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.980 instinct... That resistance, that reaction. This 00:05:49.980 --> 00:05:52.860 cannot be true. Where you keep trying to confirm 00:05:52.860 --> 00:05:55.060 it. You see, that's exactly the kind of tension 00:05:55.060 --> 00:05:58.339 around the tomb of Lazarus. What would it have 00:05:58.339 --> 00:06:01.860 been like to be walking there, on the way to 00:06:01.860 --> 00:06:04.339 this place, to be one of the disciples wondering, 00:06:04.620 --> 00:06:08.139 maybe, maybe Jesus knows something that we don't. 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:11.459 Right? Maybe he's not actually dead. Maybe it 00:06:11.459 --> 00:06:13.360 is that as we're getting there, Jesus is going 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.319 to reveal that everyone was wrong and Lazarus 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:18.980 was just sick and everything is really okay. 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:23.639 He knows more than any of us do, right? By the 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.699 time Jesus arrives at Lazarus' tomb with those 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:31.839 disciples, there is no uncertainty left. Lazarus 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:37.250 is gone. So then why did Jesus still come? He 00:06:37.250 --> 00:06:39.470 doesn't avoid the religious leaders that everyone 00:06:39.470 --> 00:06:42.129 knows is trying to arrest him, and apparently 00:06:42.129 --> 00:06:45.310 we have found out that they do have plans for 00:06:45.310 --> 00:06:49.910 him to die. He doesn't hesitate because of Thomas 00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:52.350 or the others wondering if this is when they 00:06:52.350 --> 00:06:56.069 too will lose their lives. See, Lazarus had been 00:06:56.069 --> 00:07:00.490 in the tomb for four days. Not hours. Not recently. 00:07:01.089 --> 00:07:05.509 Four days. You see, by Jewish belief, a spirit 00:07:05.769 --> 00:07:09.810 hovered over the body for three days. Maybe even 00:07:09.810 --> 00:07:12.970 possibly could be revived or restored. But beyond 00:07:12.970 --> 00:07:16.870 that, though, death was final and by day four 00:07:16.870 --> 00:07:22.769 decomposition had begun. The tomb smelled. The 00:07:22.769 --> 00:07:25.449 friends, they'd all lost hope. Mary and Martha, 00:07:25.449 --> 00:07:28.850 they were grieving deeply. But what happens? 00:07:30.009 --> 00:07:33.449 Jesus says, take away the stone. And the response 00:07:33.449 --> 00:07:39.500 is immediately, Lord, Don't. Just don't. You 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:42.439 see, they've already accepted what is happening. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.500 This is Martha speaking. The same Martha who 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:49.019 had just confessed, I believe that you are the 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:52.379 Christ, the Son of God. And yet, here she is 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:55.139 standing at the tomb saying, please don't open 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:59.680 it. Because if we're honest, faith and fear, 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.379 they sit right next to each other. You see, It 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:08.579 happens with us all the time. See, she believes 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:11.100 in Jesus, but she also knows what's inside of 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:15.540 that tomb. She knows what four days means. She 00:08:15.540 --> 00:08:20.360 knows what four days smell like. Mary, she had 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:22.879 been at His feet earlier weeping. She could hear 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.240 it in her voice, Lord, if You had been here, 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.959 my brother would not have died. See, we can hear 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:32.929 the anger, the accusation. but it's actually 00:08:32.929 --> 00:08:36.690 grief wrapped in a faith that doesn't understand 00:08:36.690 --> 00:08:39.009 what's supposed to be happening next. This is 00:08:39.009 --> 00:08:42.029 not how the story goes. Jesus, we saw how it 00:08:42.029 --> 00:08:46.590 went for so many others, but Jesus doesn't correct 00:08:46.590 --> 00:08:54.029 them. He doesn't rebuke them. He weeps. Not because 00:08:54.029 --> 00:08:56.309 He doesn't know what He is about to do. Not because 00:08:56.309 --> 00:08:58.629 He doesn't think that everything is under control, 00:08:58.750 --> 00:09:03.309 but because this is not... what God created people 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:08.429 for. This is not what the original plan had been. 00:09:09.509 --> 00:09:12.029 And he also knows what his friend had just been 00:09:12.029 --> 00:09:16.909 through. And standing there between faith and 00:09:16.909 --> 00:09:21.690 fear, Jesus still says, take away the stone. 00:09:23.090 --> 00:09:26.909 Because by now, The reality, it seems undeniable. 00:09:27.190 --> 00:09:29.669 There's no life left. There's nothing to check. 00:09:29.809 --> 00:09:31.649 There's no pulse. There's no breath. And if we're 00:09:31.649 --> 00:09:34.289 honest, that's the part that we try to avoid 00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:37.870 too. You see, we as people, we don't mind dealing 00:09:37.870 --> 00:09:41.269 with things that are struggling. We don't mind 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:43.750 fixing things that are broken. Whenever something 00:09:43.750 --> 00:09:47.330 is just having a difficult day, whenever something 00:09:47.330 --> 00:09:50.210 just needs a little oil, a little grease, whenever 00:09:50.210 --> 00:09:53.629 someone just needs an encouraging word or just... 00:09:53.419 --> 00:09:55.799 Just a moment. Maybe if someone just needs an 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:58.639 extra can or an extra box of food, if someone 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.779 just needs an opportunity to have a smile put 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:03.240 on their face, we don't mind dealing with those 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:06.860 struggles. But when something feels completely 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:10.980 dead, like all people are without Christ Jesus, 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:15.120 we don't want to face that. Because as long as 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.860 that tomb stays closed, there's a little space 00:10:17.860 --> 00:10:23.809 for denial. Maybe beyond that denial, we could 00:10:23.809 --> 00:10:28.090 finally just let go of the hope. But you see, 00:10:28.250 --> 00:10:30.610 even Lazarus is not the furthest point of hostlessness 00:10:30.610 --> 00:10:34.350 in our story today. Because at least with Lazarus, 00:10:34.370 --> 00:10:36.289 there's still a body. There's still a place to 00:10:36.289 --> 00:10:38.549 go. There's a tomb. There's a name. There's a 00:10:38.549 --> 00:10:41.909 memory. Whatever they were struggling, there 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:44.230 was still somewhere they could come to. But we 00:10:44.230 --> 00:10:48.350 see in Ezekiel, we don't even have a body. The 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:51.269 prophet is brought to a valley of dry bones. 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:54.279 These are not recently dead. They're not freshly 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:57.379 buried, dry, scattered, disconnected. There are 00:10:57.379 --> 00:11:00.860 no bodies. There are no faces, just the remains 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:04.440 of what used to be. There's not even a person 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:09.379 anymore. See, Israel had been conquered. They'd 00:11:09.379 --> 00:11:11.840 been exiled. They'd been removed from the land. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:17.179 Years had passed. God's promises felt lost. These 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:19.399 were not the bodies of people that they had known 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.259 individually, but this image was meant to communicate 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:25.740 what Israel had gone through. In that imagery 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:29.340 of Ezekiel, the exposed dry bones, they mattered 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:32.919 even more than we might realize. These bones 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:36.480 were not abandoned just by themselves. They were 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.720 also dishonored because burial had been denied, 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:43.840 dignity had been denied, identity had been denied. 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.789 We don't even know who they are. They don't even 00:11:46.789 --> 00:11:50.190 have names because bones, they weren't supposed 00:11:50.190 --> 00:11:53.529 to be left out like that. Even after battle, 00:11:53.750 --> 00:11:56.549 you're still supposed to be buried. Because burial 00:11:56.549 --> 00:12:00.190 means dignity. It meant you belonged to a people. 00:12:00.230 --> 00:12:03.009 It meant that your story mattered. But these 00:12:03.009 --> 00:12:05.830 bones, they're just left out there. They're exposed. 00:12:06.250 --> 00:12:09.669 They're forgotten. This isn't just about death. 00:12:09.690 --> 00:12:11.789 This is what it looks like when people believe 00:12:11.789 --> 00:12:14.570 that even God's promises don't come through for 00:12:14.570 --> 00:12:17.610 them. When not only life is gone, but whenever 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:20.970 people think that meaning feels like it's gone 00:12:20.970 --> 00:12:24.629 as well. I'm sure none of us have ever struggled 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:26.730 with the feeling that maybe we've been exposed 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:29.029 or vulnerable. I'm sure none of us have ever 00:12:29.029 --> 00:12:31.950 felt forgotten or none of us have ever felt like 00:12:31.950 --> 00:12:35.210 we've had no meaning. I'm sure we've all got 00:12:35.210 --> 00:12:38.350 it figured out, right? But you see, God brings 00:12:38.350 --> 00:12:41.149 Ezekiel into that valley and asks the most absurd 00:12:41.149 --> 00:12:47.539 question, can these bones live? What? Okay, the 00:12:47.539 --> 00:12:50.840 honest answer is no. No, God, there's not a chance 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:52.879 that these can live. They're bones. What do you 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:56.659 expect? Not after this long. Not in this condition. 00:12:57.080 --> 00:13:01.200 Not with nothing left to work with. Not after 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:05.100 this long in our lives. Not when we are in this 00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:08.539 condition. Not when we have nothing left to work 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:12.919 with. But you see, God tells Ezekiel to speak 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:16.059 bone to bone. Structure where there was none. 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:19.620 Sinu, flesh, skin, bodies coming back together. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.899 It feels like a horror movie at first. Strange, 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:25.840 unsettling, kind of unnatural. Because they look 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:29.399 like bodies, but they're still not alive. How 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:32.360 often is it that we feel like a body and the 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:36.799 breath just is not inside of us until God says 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:41.000 breathe. And the breath enters them and they 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:48.440 live. but we need to go back to that tomb. Because 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.419 in that moment, Jesus doesn't just stand there 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:52.279 in front of death and observe it. He doesn't 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:55.419 just accept it and what's happened as if nothing 00:13:55.419 --> 00:13:58.899 can change it. He speaks into it. And not abstractly, 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:02.360 not some general epithet. He speaks by name. 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:09.279 Lazarus, come out! And the man who is dead walks 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:14.639 out. He's still wrapped, He's still marked by 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:17.980 death, but He is undeniably alive. And that's 00:14:17.980 --> 00:14:20.080 when everything begins to come into focus because 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.519 somewhere in that moment the person who said, 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.580 Lord, just don't, is now standing face to face 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:28.500 with what Jesus can do because... While we're 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:30.980 seeing this moment, this is not some personal 00:14:30.980 --> 00:14:34.399 improvement. This is not some recovery. This 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.840 is not things just getting a little bit better 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:39.759 in life. This is not about taking something that 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:42.299 is just weak and making it strong. It's taking 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:46.299 something dead and making it alive. That's where 00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:48.519 this becomes something more than just a dream 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:52.500 or a vision, because let's just be honest. Most 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:55.080 of us don't think of ourselves or of our lives 00:14:55.080 --> 00:15:00.490 that way. I'm just here to do a little bit better. 00:15:01.289 --> 00:15:03.710 I've got a few things I need to work on, so I'm 00:15:03.710 --> 00:15:05.389 just going to get the encouragement from the 00:15:05.389 --> 00:15:07.970 pastor. Wish he'd get over all this resurrection 00:15:07.970 --> 00:15:10.049 stuff so we can get the good stuff right. I'm 00:15:10.049 --> 00:15:12.929 not exactly where I think I should be. You know, 00:15:13.029 --> 00:15:16.070 the scripture doesn't describe, though, any of 00:15:16.070 --> 00:15:19.529 our conditions that way. It doesn't say we're 00:15:19.529 --> 00:15:22.879 struggling. It says we're dead. We're dead in 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.419 our sins. We're dead in our ability to fix ourselves. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:27.799 We're dead in our capacity to create life where 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:33.039 there is none You cannot improve something that's 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:39.500 dead You cannot coach bones into making themselves 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:43.399 into a body And you cannot encourage a corpse 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:47.110 to wake itself up Life has to come from outside 00:15:47.110 --> 00:15:49.649 all of our power, and it's even more so with 00:15:49.649 --> 00:15:52.429 what we see in Jesus, because with Lazarus, Jesus 00:15:52.429 --> 00:15:56.029 interrupts death from the outside, and then in 00:15:56.029 --> 00:16:00.529 his own resurrection, he breaks death from the 00:16:00.529 --> 00:16:04.649 inside. See, the people when they saw Jesus, 00:16:04.730 --> 00:16:07.129 they didn't wonder on that cross if maybe he 00:16:07.129 --> 00:16:09.350 had avoided death. They didn't think he just 00:16:09.350 --> 00:16:12.870 got a little sick. They saw the crucifixion. 00:16:12.889 --> 00:16:17.179 It was finished. He was done. So when He rose, 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:19.080 it wasn't a question of whether He might have 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.799 avoided death in the first place. This was a 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:25.220 declaration. Death does not get the final word. 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:28.360 That changes everything. Because now the question 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:31.659 is no longer can God do something with what's 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:34.120 left over in our lives. The question is when 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:37.159 there is nothing left and He still calls it to 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:40.200 life. And that's where this becomes personal. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.379 Because every one of us has those places in our 00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:46.039 lives that feel like the valley. Places where 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:48.720 something has dried up. Where hope has seemed 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:53.539 thin. Where it's been gone. Places where it doesn't 00:16:53.539 --> 00:16:56.960 just feel broken. It feels over. Sometimes it's 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.360 not just painful. Sometimes it feels like something 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:02.639 was missed. Like something that was supposed 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.859 to happen and it didn't. Like maybe we stepped 00:17:05.859 --> 00:17:08.380 outside of what God was going to do and there's 00:17:08.380 --> 00:17:13.000 nothing left. And now we're just left with nothing. 00:17:13.809 --> 00:17:15.809 Because maybe there was never anything in the 00:17:15.809 --> 00:17:20.349 first place Maybe we also think about that with 00:17:20.349 --> 00:17:24.569 the people in our lives Sometimes for those who 00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:26.849 don't know Christ we just assume that maybe we 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:31.930 just need to leave dead alone They don't know 00:17:31.930 --> 00:17:36.470 Christ just leave it be But the promise of the 00:17:36.470 --> 00:17:38.849 gospel is not I will help you fix what's broken 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:43.329 it is I will bring life where there is None. 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:47.089 The same voice that called Lazarus calls you. 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:50.170 The same breath that filled the dry bones is 00:17:50.170 --> 00:17:52.470 given to you. And it isn't about becoming a better 00:17:52.470 --> 00:17:55.890 version of yourself. It is about being made new. 00:17:56.049 --> 00:18:00.670 It is about the old is gone. And good riddance. 00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:03.430 Because that new life is not something that we're 00:18:03.430 --> 00:18:08.700 just waiting for some day is begun now. the faith 00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:10.720 that you have, the life in you, the trust in 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:13.460 Christ. That is not self -generated. That is 00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:16.880 resurrection at work right now. And that is the 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.619 same resurrection, not just for your life, not 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:22.319 to get rid of the old, to move into the new. 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:25.299 That is for every person that you know in Christ 00:18:25.299 --> 00:18:27.539 as well. Because even the ones that you think 00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:30.059 have no hope of ever coming to trust Him, it's 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:31.920 supposed to be for them too, because that's what 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:35.400 the Word of God does. It brings dead people and 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:39.009 makes them living people. And as much as we love 00:18:39.009 --> 00:18:42.710 to joke about it, it's exactly what we're hoping 00:18:42.710 --> 00:18:48.849 for with everyone. See, people love to joke about 00:18:48.849 --> 00:18:51.930 Chuck Norris. We talk about all the amazing ways 00:18:51.930 --> 00:18:54.309 in which he defied all logic and he counted to 00:18:54.309 --> 00:18:59.609 infinity twice, caused the man to check his closet 00:18:59.609 --> 00:19:02.450 every night, and destroyed the periodic table 00:19:02.450 --> 00:19:06.329 because he only recognizes the element of surprise. 00:19:09.379 --> 00:19:13.160 But you see Chuck Norris is in Christ. And he 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:15.299 will stand with us in that resurrection too. 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:18.460 And that's what we care about. Because not because 00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:20.700 of strength, not because of reputation, but because 00:19:20.700 --> 00:19:23.200 the same voice that calls the dead to life, calls 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.220 all who belong to Him by faith. So the question 00:19:26.220 --> 00:19:28.339 for you today is not, is there still a little 00:19:28.339 --> 00:19:31.380 life left to get up and get going again? The 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:35.740 question is, do you hear his voice? Because he 00:19:35.740 --> 00:19:39.859 is calling. He is speaking. He is bringing life 00:19:39.859 --> 00:19:41.660 out of death for you and for everyone in this 00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:44.960 world. So one day, that voice will call again, 00:19:45.779 --> 00:19:48.680 and the graves will open, and what feels final 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:52.859 now will never be final again. Because death 00:19:52.859 --> 00:19:56.819 does not win. Christ does. And in Him, so do 00:19:56.819 --> 00:19:57.500 you. Amen?