Latest / REZ CHURCH Podcast / When Everything Feels Hopeless - October 12, 2025

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When Everything Feels Hopeless - October 12, 2025 · REZ CHURCH Podcast

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  It is good to see all of your faces, a lot of new faces too,
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  which is amazing to see. Hey, my name is Sean Stevens.
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  I am on the teaching team here at Res Church.
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  My wife and I have been coming here for about 5 years.
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  Man it is. It is always a blessing to be
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  here with you today. We are going to continue in our
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  series and John, we are going to be looking at John 1117 through
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  27. So if you guys want to turn
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  there now, you can go ahead. But we're going to be looking at
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  the life, death and ultimately the life of Lazarus as it
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  pertains to his two sisters, Martha and Mary.
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  I would say that it is safe, that there are moments in life
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  that feel so outer body, so confusing, so filled with
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  suffering, that we begin to ask the question, why?
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  Why do these things happen? Where were you, God, in my time
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  of need? It may be a moment of actual
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  loss, like what we're going to see in our reading today.
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  Or it might be just that the rug got pulled out from under you
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  and it's confusing and you don't understand it.
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  I myself have had many of these moments.
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  Some are from the Lord sovereignly and others are
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  created by our own bad decisions and then we have to live in the
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  consequence of that. So just for kind of a frame of
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  reference, so you know who I am a little bit.
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  Most of you know my story, but I am about 2 1/2 years sober
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  today. 2 1/2 years. Yeah.
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  Praise the Lord. God is so faithful.
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  Yeah, well 2 1/2 years ago I got Volun told to come to an elder
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  meeting where I got sat down by all the pastors and the elders.
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  And there was a non negotiable requirement of my life at that
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  time, which was for the sake of my marriage and for the sake of
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  me being a part of Rez church, that I had to go into sober
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  living for three months. So I find myself in this
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  position where I'm an addict, I'm an alcoholic and all of the
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  things that come with that. I'd lost my job, I'd lost where
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  I was living. My wife was 8 months pregnant, I
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  had a 2 year old daughter. Everything was burning to the
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  ground around me. I mean, it is safe to say that I
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  was completely hopeless in that moment.
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  And I remember going into this sober living facility and you
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  have guys that are tattooed from their toes to their head, their
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  felons, their convicts. They've lived rough lives.
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  I go into my little room and I sit on my squeaky and stained
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  twin bed with a guy that I'm living with in that room who has
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  visible signs of PTSD in his life.
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  And I remember sitting on that bed and everything just became
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  silent where I had to kind of re evaluate if there was even a
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  plan for my life. Was God absent in these moments
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  or was there a purpose to what I was going through?
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  And ultimately I had to choose to believe right then that in
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  the midst of my suffering that God still had a plan for my
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  life. And that what we are going to
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  see is that in the midst of all of our suffering, God has a plan
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  for hours. The big idea today is that when
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  everything feels dead, it's where hope in Jesus begins,
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  where everything feels dead, it's where hope in Jesus begins.
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  So we're going to be in John 1117 through 27, starting in
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  verse 17, it says now when Jesus came and found Lazarus had
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  already been dead for four days in the tomb.
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  Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of
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  the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning
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  their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was
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  coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the
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  house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if
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  you had been here, my brother would not have died.
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  But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God
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  will give you. And Jesus said to her, Your
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  brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that
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  he will rise on the resurrection on the last day.
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  And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
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  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and
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  everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
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  Do you believe this? And she said to him, yes, Lord,
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  I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is
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  coming into the world. Let's pray Father, we pray for
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  your word as you promised to not come back void, that you would
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  do the work in our hearts that only you could do and that we
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  could ultimately see Jesus for who he is, that He is good, who
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  has a purpose for our life, He has a plan and that He can be
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  trusted. We pray these things in Jesus
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  name, Amen. So as Justin explained last week
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  in his sermon, Jesus knew that Lazarus was on the precipice of
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  death, that it was imminent Lazarus was going to die.
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  And what Jesus decided to do in that moment was not rush to
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  Martha and Mary and Lazarus to make sure that Lazarus didn't
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  experience this physical death. But what he does is he
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  intentionally delays and inevitably Lazarus dies, Lazarus
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  dies. Jesus explains this on his
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  reasoning on why he says that one, that the power of God would
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  be shown and two, that God would receive glory when he resurrects
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  him. The problem or the challenge at
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  this moment is you still have Martha and Mary bearing the
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  weight of losing a loved one. It is real, it is overwhelming.
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  I I can imagine the confusion, the hurt in this moment.
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  But as we will see, there is a purpose to his dealings with
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  Martha and there is a purpose to his dealings with us as we find
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  ourselves in similar situations. Because when everything feels
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  dead, it's where hope and Jesus begins.
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  So point number one, God is at work.
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  God is at work. Jesus is coming into Bethany.
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  He's riding in, Mary stays in the house, house.
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  Martha sprints out to meet him. And Martha says to Jesus, Lord,
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  if you would have been here, if you would have been here, my
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  brother wouldn't have died. Do you hear the question?
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  I know, I hear it. I can feel it.
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  I think we've all felt it. What Martha is asking is why?
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  Why did you let this happen? Why in my greatest time of need
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  were you absent in this moment? Why did my brother have to die?
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  Do you know those moments? I know them where God feels so
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  absent, where you begin to question everything.
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  I mean, I just turned 39 and I've had a specific suffering in
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  my life, my entire life. So 39 years.
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  I have insomnia. And I don't mean like I can't
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  sleep a little bit. I mean my mom tells stories.
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  When I was a baby, I didn't sleep.
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  When I was a toddler, I didn't sleep.
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  Some of my first memories in life is being 5-6 years old and
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  I'm just sitting in my room playing with toys and it's 3:00
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  in the morning. It's silent in the house, it's
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  dark in the house, it's dark outside.
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  I'm just awake. These are some of my earliest
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  memories I have prayed to God, Lord, please give me sleep.
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  Some days I I feel like a zombie.
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  I feel like I'm walking on the moon.
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  I'm queasy, I'm angry, I'm all of these things and I see God
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  and say, please remove this. And God has not removed this
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  thing. And the truth is that although I
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  know, I know it, that he is good and he could be trusted.
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  I know it. Man, is it hard to believe it
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  sometimes? Man, is it hard to to see God in
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  the middle of our suffering? Martha is experiencing this same
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  kind of disconnect. She knows that the issue is the
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  belief at this moment. Listen to what Martha says in
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  John 11/22 she says, But even now I know that whatever you ask
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  of God that he will give you, but right before she says but
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  why did my brother have to die? I know that you have a plan, but
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  this tragedy has befallen on me and I don't understand why.
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  And what a natural response that is in a moment like this.
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  That when life hits so overwhelmingly where it feels
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  like you are outside of your own body, when tragedy strikes, that
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  we are struck by fear and doubt and confusion, despair.
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  Will there ever be hope again? But as the Bible begins to speak
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  to us about the character of Jesus, we see as we get to know
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  Him that it is for our good. He does have a plan.
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  We see that it is promised in the Bible, suffering and there
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  is a purpose behind it. One of those reasons is to draw
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  us closer to God. He wants to draw us in.
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  Listen to what Hebrews 415 and 16 says.
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  It says we do not have a high priest who is unable to
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  sympathize with our weaknesses. Hey, Hallelujah, Hallelujah that
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  He knows where I'm at right now, but one who in every respect has
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  been tempted as we are, and yet He is without sin.
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  Let us then, with confidence draw near the throne of grace,
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  that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of
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  need. Family, he knows where you're
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  at. He knows what you're feeling.
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  He knows that this world chews us up and tries to spit us out
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  and leave us. For that He knows and how He
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  knows, because He has hurt, He has suffered.
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  He knows our confusion. He knows our weariness.
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  Jesus has been suffered and tempted with everything that we
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  have and more, and He understands our hardships.
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  And He desires to give us a greater revelation of Himself
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  that we would know Him and that we can find peace in the middle
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  of whatever we are going through.
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  We follow a suffering Saviour. He wants us to know the full
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  counsel of His character, and part of that is suffering.
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  The second one is it is to refine and strengthen.
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  It is to refine and strengthen. Listen to first.
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  Peter 4 says, Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery
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  ordeal that has come on you to test you as though something
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  strange were happening to you. The fire is supposed to test our
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  faith. What a good God we serve that He
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  tests our faith so we know that it is proven and real.
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  He allows us to go through this so we can see the weight of our
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  hardships and still trust him in it, and that our suffering is to
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  grow our affection for Jesus brighter and that we would be
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  refined and strengthened through the fire.
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  So that's number one, is that God is at work #2 God offers
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  resurrection power. He offers resurrection power.
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  First, we're going to see a physical resurrection.
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  He is talking about that. This is great news.
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  This ain't your best life. Now family, Hallelujah.
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  I got 2 little kids and it does not take me much to get to the
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  point where I pray Jesus just come back right now, please, and
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  just take me to heaven because I'm I'm done with this.
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  Like literally I took in groceries two weeks ago.
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  Simple task, right? Groceries are at the door, the
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  counter is 12 feet away and I just have to get these groceries
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  to the counter. The problem is I have a four
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  year old and a 2 year old and they saw string cheese in the
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  bag that I was holding and that's all it took.
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  So now they're standing in front of the door like armed guards
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  and they're just staring at me. And I'm trying to tell them
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  like, hey, if I can get this bag to that counter, I'll give you
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  the string cheese. But then they did this thing and
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  I know parents will understand, especially parents with young
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  kids. This thing never works that kids
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  try to do, and if anything, it hinders.
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  They did this thing where they try to help you.
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  Ever seen that? Or they try to start helping
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  you. My son drags a bag out.
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  Oranges fly on the ground. There's avocados.
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  I slip on the bag, I knock him over.
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  My daughter is in the kitchen trying to take a single shoe
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  off. She's having a meltdown.
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  And in that moment I'm just like, Lord, come back now, right
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  now, take me to heaven. That's all it takes.
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  But that's the truth is that if you have put your faith in
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  Jesus, this isn't your best life.
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  Now. There is going to come a time
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  when you either die or at the second coming of Jesus where all
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  of your pain, all of the hardship, all of those questions
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  that you have had your entire life, why did that have to
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  happen to me? Why did it unfold that way?
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  Why wasn't my dad around? Why did he have to die?
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  All of those questions are going to be absolved in the goodness
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  of God and we will spend eternity with Him in the
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  fullness of joy. The first one is pointing to a
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  future resurrection. The second one, praise the Lord
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  as he's pointing to spiritual life now, spiritual life right
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  now. Martha is rightfully devastated.
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  Her brother is dead. She is experiencing the grief
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  over this and in this moment Jesus comment to her could seem
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  cold. She asked the question.
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  She says if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have
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  died. Jesus doesn't respond to it.
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  You ever pray to the Lord? Why, why, why?
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  And he doesn't answer. He just lets you stay in it.
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  That's where Martha's at. She is in the middle of it.
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  Jesus says in that moment when he is looking at Martha, he
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  says, I'm not going to tell you why I let him die and I'm not
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  even concerned about the future. He stands right in front of her
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  and says I am the resurrection and the life, it stands in front
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  of her in that moment. Heavenly life, eternal life,
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  these things stand in front of her.
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  Satisfying life in God can be found in that moment.
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  And this is amazing that no matter what befalls on us, your
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  marriage, your health, your finances, that the resurrection
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  is in front of you at this moment.
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  But the truth is that resurrection power, seeing it
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  for what it is, takes work. It takes a lot of work to see
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  Jesus for who he is. It takes a lot of work to see
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  Jesus in the suffering. Those parts of your life that
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  are dead, it's hard to see life in it.
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  There are some people in this room that have surrendered parts
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  of your life to death, but there's this area that just
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  hasn't been given over to the Lord.
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  And he calls and he beckons, and he wants to heal it and give you
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  peace in it. I mean, as I was preparing in
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  this message, I began to think of all of the moments that I
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  have experienced death in my life.
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  And I know for a fact that there are men in this room right now
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  where your marriages are dead. They're dead.
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  You've ascribed them to death, and the Bible would speak to our
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  marriage the same way that it would speak to every area of our
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  life that we should care about our marriage.
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  Listen to what Ephesians 525 through 28 says.
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  It says, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the
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  Church, and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her,
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  having cleansed her with the washing of the Word, so that he
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  might present the Church to himself in splendor, without
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  spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, that she might be holy
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  without blemish. In the same way husbands love
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  your wives. He who loves his wife loves
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  himself. The Jesus as we are the bride
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  cleanses us and purifies us. He spent so much time and so
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  much effort building us up to ultimately present us to
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  Himself. He does the work and then He
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  presents us to Himself. Men, we are going to have to
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  present our wives to a holy Creator who is also the Father
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  of your wife. Is he going to look at you in
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  that time and say, man, she looks exactly like I hoped she
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  would look like? Or is he going to say, I wish
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  you would have spent more time, sacrificed more, cared more,
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  done the hard work more? I'm living this right now in my
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  life. I'm 2 1/2 years sober.
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  This wall of trust takes years to build.
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  And in one moment I pushed it over.
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  It's gone. So now I got to go find all the
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  bricks and slowly start putting these things in place.
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  But it takes time to get there. And I remember I'm a year into
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  sobriety and I'm I'm holy and I'm doing everything I should be
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  doing. And I'm having this problem.
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  Like, man, my wife doesn't. She's not showing me the
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  respect. I'm doing everything I need.
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  And I would bring this to the men in my life and I'd say, what
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  am I supposed to do? And all of them would say, get
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  over it, seek God, stay accountable, die to your old
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  ways, sacrifice more, sacrifice more, pursue her more, love her
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  more. That I would have to bring it to
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  the cross. God had the power to send His
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  Son to die on our behalf, to win our hearts.
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  He will give us the power to sacrifice ours to win hers
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  through the power of the Holy Spirit.
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  He will empower you to do things that you are didn't even think
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  capable. Listen to what AW Tozer says in
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  the pursuit of God. Speaking about the cross dying
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  to our old ways. He says that the cross is rough
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  and it is deadly, but it is effective.
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  It does not keep its victim hanging there forever.
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  There comes a moment when it's work is finished and the
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  suffering victim dies and after that is resurrection.
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  Glory and power in the pain is forgotten.
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  And I'm not so naive to think that the pain might be your
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  marriage and maybe it's not. Maybe your Martha moment isn't
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  that and praise the Lord, but maybe it is your health.
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  Maybe it is. Man, I have to see doctors every
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  single week and it doesn't look like this is going to end well.
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  And why God? Maybe it's parenting challenges.
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  Hello anybody. Am I the only one that sits in
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  my living room sometimes and like, I don't know what I'm
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  doing? Or it could be the actual loss
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  of a loved one. But all of these things can be
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  brought to the cross of Christ so that in our hardship we can
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  receive a greater revelation of His goodness and His glory, and
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  that we can find joy in it. It is painful beyond imagination
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  and it is totally worth it. It is totally worth it.
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  Jesus loves you so much you can't even fathom It is totally
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  worth it. Because when everything feels
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  dead, it is where hope in Jesus begins.
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  And then #3 belief awakens new life.
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  Belief awakens new life. In the life of Martha.
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  This was an absolute testing of her faith.
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  She didn't understand why she had all of these questions,
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  questions. Jesus didn't answer them as
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  Jesus does a lot of times. But in that moment, Jesus stood
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  before her and he said, Martha, your brother will rise.
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  I'm going to resurrect him physically and he's going to
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  rise at the second coming. He will rise again.
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  There will be resurrections. But what he said to her is the
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  resurrection and the life stands before you today.
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  And then Jesus asked the question, do you believe it?
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  Do you believe it? Do you believe that I am capable
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  of giving you the things that you are desiring, the questions
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  that you need answers? Do you believe that it can be
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  found in me? There is a passage in John 9
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  just two chapters before about a blind beggar.
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  And I don't know if you guys have read this, but this man has
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  been blind for decades. It's his entire life he's been
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  blind and Jesus miraculously heals this man after being blind
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  his whole life. And leading up to this moment,
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  there are so many different parties involved and all these
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  things going on. You have the disciples asking
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  Jesus, was this guy blind because of his sin or his
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  parents sin? And Jesus addresses that and
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  then he heals them. And then people, his neighbors
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  walk by and then they're looking at the blind guy saying, is this
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  him? Some say yes, some say no.
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  The Pharisees get wind that Jesus has healed on a Sunday.
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  So then they get involved and they're trying to put these
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  claims on Jesus. And then the Pharisees call in
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  the blind guys, mom and dad, and say, is this the guy?
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  And you have all of this commotion.
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  He's just healed this man. And it's said that they kicked
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  him out of the temple, the blind man.
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  So he goes out and listen to this.
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  It says Jesus followed him. And I imagine this moment with
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  this blind man, as he's standing there, he's received this
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  miracle. He just got ostracized from the
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  temple and everything becomes silent.
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  He's standing face to face with Jesus.
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  All of his hardship from the past, all of the brokenness that
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  he's experienced, all of the opinions of others, his
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  neighbors, his friends, his mom and dad, it's all just quiet.
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  And Jesus looks at this man and says, do you believe in the Son
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  of God? And at that moment that man had
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  to make a choice to believe. And it says, he said, I believe.
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  And he began to worship the Lord, began to worship the Lord.
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  He had lost sight of all of his trauma, all of the years of
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  hardship, the suffering, all of those moments asking God, why
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  did you let this happen? And all he could see was Jesus.
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  I spent so many years looking at the past injustices that have
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  happened in my life, all of the trauma, my own decisions, and I
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  couldn't see Jesus because my eyes were fixed on them.
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  But I had to make a choice to look at Jesus.
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  The blind man had to make a choice to look at Jesus.
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  Martha is in the same situation. She couldn't see God, but then
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  she chose to believe that Jesus had a plan and it was for her
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  good. And you may be experiencing a
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  Martha moment today where life is so upside down, so backward,
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  so confusing, so it's all burning to the ground that you
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  cannot see God and what He is doing and you have not trusted
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  the Lord with your life. But it's also become too
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  overwhelming to continue. Or you may be sitting here
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  today, like Me 2 1/2 years ago, where you look forward, you look
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  backward, you look left, you look right, it's all cinder and
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  ashes, It is all just gone. And you've known, you've
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  reasoned that God is good, that he is maybe has a plan for your
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  life. You've seen him work in other
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  people's lives. But you have not yet got to the
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  point of believing. And if you are feeling that call
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  today, I want to give you an opportunity to accept the Lord
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  as your Savior if He is beckoning you and calling you
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  today. This is what Romans 10-9 would
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  say. It simply says, if you confess
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  with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and here it is, if you
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  believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
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  will be saved. You don't have to work for
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  salvation. You don't have to put all of the
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  pieces together. You just have to believe.
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  Martha had to believe that God had a plan.
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  If we all could, if we could all bow our heads and close our
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  eyes. If you believe that God is
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  calling you and this life has become overwhelming, it's
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  unmanageable. And although that you have known
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  about this Jesus person, you have not yet trusted him.
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  But you know in this moment God is calling you to eternal life
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  in heaven and also eternal life in this moment.
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  I want you to pray this prayer after me, either silently or to
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  yourself. Father, I know that I am a
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  Sinner and I cannot do this life on my own.
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  Today I choose to believe that through Jesus life, his death,
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  his resurrection, that I will be saved.
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  Help me live a life that is marked by trusting you in every
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  situation in Jesus name, Amen. Keep your heads bowed real
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  quick. If you prayed that prayer for
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  the first time, can you be brave and just raise your hand for me
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  to see? Thank you, Lord.
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  Thank you, Lord. All right, you could put your
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  hands down if you prayed that prayer.
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  OK, you guys could put your heads up now.
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  Sorry. If you prayed that prayer for
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  the first time and you believed in your heart for the first
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  time, I want to say welcome to the family of God, Praise the
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  Lord. We're going to have a gift for
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  you who all accepted the Lord. They're going to be on the back
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  tables and on the way out. You guys can grab that gift.
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  So application. So what does this look like?
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  So what if today we chose to believe?
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  What if today we say, hey, I have been through the wringer,
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  it is real, it's valid, but I am choosing today to believe that
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  God is good and he has a plan. What would that look like?
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  Point #1 It would look like living your life around people
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  who believe. OK, I'm going to offend some
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  people right now and it's OK. I don't mean people who go to
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  church. I don't mean people who've been
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  baptized. I mean people in every and all
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  situations of their life, the answer of their heart is praise
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  God. Do you know those people?
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  I know them. I see them a mile away and I'm
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  like, man, I just want to be in their shadow to like rub the
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  holiness off on me. Get around those people that if
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  it's hardship, the response of their heart is joy.
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  Jesus is so good. It's joy if it's blessing, it's
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  joy if it's the mundane. They're just like, hey, praise
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  God. I do the same thing every day,
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  Praise the Lord. Be around those people.
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  What does that look like? You get plugged into a small
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  group. We do community here at RES.
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  It's small groups. You can come up to one of the
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  leaders or one of the staff after and we can get you guys
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  plugged in. And when you get into that small
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  group, man, you get like, like thermal vision, and you find the
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  people who are seeking God in that group and you go, man, I
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  want to believe more. I want to get through this
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  situation more. I want to see God and all of it.
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  And that happens by hanging out with people utterly filled with
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  the Spirit of God. And they will encourage life
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  into you. Get around people who believe #2
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  the word of God begins to change you when you decide to believe.
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  It is nearly impossible. And I say this from experience,
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  OK? It is nearly impossible to trust
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  God and suffering if you don't have spiritual eyes, but instead
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  you got a worldly mind. We do not conform to the
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  patterns of the world. Listen to what Romans 12/2 says.
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  Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be
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  transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you
• 29:16
  may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable
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  and perfect. We don't want to do what the
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  world does. I don't want to act the way the
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  world does. It offers me nothing.
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  There's death, it's death out there and they wrap it in a
• 29:28
  pretty box and they say, here you go, take it as I'm dying
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  from depression and anxiety. No, I don't want to be conformed
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  to the pattern of this world. I want to be transformed by the
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  word of God. As I encounter Jesus.
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  That's what I want. It's Jesus.
• 29:46
  Faith comes by hearing. You want to grow your faith.
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  You want to grow belief. It's through the Word of God.
• 29:49
  Bible reading plans are amazing. Watch the word of God begin to
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  change your heart. But you approach the word and
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  not in cold rigor. And you just check your boxes
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  and I've done it for today. But you open the word and you
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  say, Lord have mercy on my heart for I am broken and feeble and I
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  can't do this on my own. And I'm so fleshly I can't even
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  see you have mercy on me. And you know what God will do.
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  He'll show himself to you. It says draw near to the Lord
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  and he will draw near to you. Our prayer team is going to come
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  up at this time. Thank you prayer team.
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  We want nothing more than to pray for you.
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  I mean, you guys are like me. I know that I'm having
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  situations all day long where I'm like, Lord, I need prayer.
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  Help me, help me with the kids, help me with having joy in my
• 30:40
  job, joy when I'm broke. The finances don't make sense.
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  I don't know how I'm going to make it the next month.
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  We want to pray for you. Our goal is that you would
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  encounter Jesus. He doesn't just offer you
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  resurrection. He is the resurrection.
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  He doesn't just offer you life, He is the life and He stands
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  before you today. The altars are open.
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  You all move as the Lord leads. Thank you.