[0:00] We've been having a blast this week. Remember, who have we been talking about all week? Do you guys remember his name? His name is? Jesus. That's right. We have been talking about Jesus.
[0:10] And the first night, remember, we looked at how Jesus had power over sickness, right? That guy, his friends, they brought him into that building and they tore the roof off and they let him down and Jesus healed him and he walked away.
[0:22] And the next day, remember what happened? Jesus and the disciples, they got into a boat. That's right. And they're going along and they're sailing across the water. And then that storm comes in, right?
[0:33] And then Jesus says, remember what he said? He said, peace, be still. And it just calm and they sailed right across. And yesterday, there was that man who had that evil spirit living inside of him.
[0:45] And Jesus tells him to depart and cast him out and he cleanses him. Now, today, we're going to see Jesus have power over one more thing. And this is actually the biggest enemy that we all face.
[0:58] You know what that is? The Bible calls it death. You know, there's something that we all have to face eventually. And that's this thing called death. And, you know, Jesus came so he could defeat death, hell and the grave.
[1:13] And we're going to see how Jesus does that. This does this in a man's life. And that through this, he's showing us that he wants every one of us in the room tonight to believe on Jesus.
[1:24] You see, there was a guy in the Bible. His name was Lazarus. And Jesus knew Lazarus. He knew Lazarus' family. He had some sisters named Mary and Martha.
[1:35] And one day, Jesus with his disciples, they're sitting there. And there's a messenger that comes up to Jesus and says, Jesus, Jesus, you got to hear this.
[1:46] Listen up. He says, what's going on? He says, well, Lazarus, the guy that you love, well, he's very sick. We need you to come. You see, they knew Jesus was powerful.
[1:57] They knew he was God. They knew he could heal him. And they said, Jesus, come quick. We need your help. Well, Jesus stays there a couple more days. And then he says, you know what? We're going to go see Lazarus now.
[2:08] And the disciples say, OK, this is great. Let's go see him. But he says, guess what? Lazarus, our friend, he's actually asleep. They say, well, that's good. He's taking a nap. But he said, no, he actually died.
[2:20] And we're going to go to wake him up. We're going to raise him from the dead. So Jesus and his disciples, they travel down there to Mary and Martha's house. And man, it was a sad day.
[2:32] Martha was there. She's crying. And then Mary's there. She's crying. And, you know, Martha hears that Jesus is coming into town. So she runs out. She runs out to meet Jesus and says, Jesus, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
[2:48] And Jesus says this in John chapter 11, verse number 23. Jesus says unto her, Jesus saith unto her, thy brother, your brother shall rise again.
[3:03] See, he was trying to comfort her. And she thinks, OK, this is great. I mean, we believe that, you know, we've trusted Jesus. We're following Jesus. And so when we die, we're going to come back to life one day.
[3:14] But Jesus says, no, no, no, Martha. I'm telling you something that's going to happen right now. Martha says unto him and says to him in verse 24. I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
[3:26] At the very end of time, you're going to raise him up. I know that. But Jesus says this. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
[3:39] And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believest thou this? He said, you know, we've been talking about believing on Jesus. And he says, you know what? If you believed in me, if you believed on me, you will never die.
[3:52] Now, that sounds kind of crazy, right? Like you never die. You never have a funeral. But what he's saying is you're going to have eternal life. Eternal life.
[4:03] This body might pass away, but there's more to you than just your body, right? There's more to you than your hands or your feet. There's the real you. The real you that people don't see. The real you inside of you.
[4:14] He says, that you, it will live forever if you believed in me. So, Martha, she's hearing this and she's trying to make sense of this thing that she's talking about.
[4:26] Not dying. What's going to happen? He's going to rise again? And so she says, well, let's, let me go get Mary and see what she thinks about this. So she calls her sister Mary. And it says, when he's, when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, the master has come and call us for thee.
[4:45] And as soon as she heard that, she arose and came unto him. Now, Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. So these people, they're there with Mary.
[4:56] They're trying to comfort her, trying to comfort the family, be with them. And all of a sudden, you know, Mary's crying. She's sad. But then she hears it. Hey, Jesus is calling me. So she gets up and she, she begins to run out to see Jesus.
[5:08] And the people, they think, oh, she's going to go cry at the grave. We've got to do something about this. And so here's what Jesus says to Mary. Jesus says this. When Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou has been here, if you were here, my brother had not died.
[5:29] She said, Jesus, if only you had been here in time, none of this would have happened. We wouldn't have had to deal with any of this. It would have been all great. Because you weren't here, my brother died.
[5:42] If you had only been there, and there's so many times in our life, we think if only things had worked out the way we thought they were. If only God came in to help me at this time, everything would have been great.
[5:53] But it didn't work out the way I imagined, the way I planned. It didn't go according to my plan. But Jesus says this. He says, where'd you lay him?
[6:06] Where'd you put him? Where'd you put my friend Lazarus? And he goes up to this grave, and he sees that his friend Lazarus is now dead. And he begins to cry. He begins to weep.
[6:16] He's so sad that his friend died. You see, we weren't made for this. But this thing called sin entered the world. And death came upon all men. It came upon everybody.
[6:27] Because all have sinned against God. And that's the penalty for our sin. And Jesus is crying. And you realize, man, Jesus loved this guy.
[6:38] Just like he loves every single one of you. He says, man, he loved him. But you know what's crazy? Jesus doesn't cry and go home. Because that's what we do at funerals now, right? Someone we love, someone we know.
[6:49] They're gone. We might not see them. And it's like, man, I'm sad. But we've got to keep going. But Jesus says, no, I'm crashing this funeral. You better get your refund. Because we're doing something big here today.
[7:01] He goes up. And he tells the sisters. He says, Jesus says, they go up to this cave. There's a stone on the cave. Probably as big as this Rubik's Cube, okay?
[7:13] This huge stone covering this grave. And do you know what he tells them to do? He says, get that thing out of here. Roll that stone away. Now, it's been four days since Lazarus has been dead.
[7:25] And do you know what Martha says? This is what she says. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh.
[7:38] Pee-hoo. All right, everybody, hold your nose. He stinks, all right? By this time he surely stinketh. For he hath been dead four days. Woo! You want me to open that up?
[7:49] I've taken the trash out long enough to know that's stinky in there. And he's been dead four days. I don't know about this. But Jesus says this. He says, believe me. Trust me.
[8:01] Said I not unto thee, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God? He says, didn't I tell you you're going to see something big today? I need you to trust me on this. They go, all right. Whatever you say, Jesus.
[8:12] And they roll that stone away. And he begins to pray to God. And he says, God, I'm so thankful that you let me be here and that you're going to do this thing today.
[8:25] And I want you to do this, not for me, but for these people that are here around me so that they will believe. And do you know what Jesus says? He looks into that tomb and he says, Lazarus, come forth.
[8:37] And he begins to walk out. Now, I've been looking at this section over here. And I've been thinking that it kind of looks like a cave. You know, there was a cave and Lazarus comes forth. So we're going to try this together today.
[8:50] Okay. We're going to say, Lazarus, come forth together. And we're going to see what happens, what comes out of this cave. Okay. We're going to try this and see what it was like. You guys ready? We're going to say, Lazarus, come forth.
[9:01] On the count of three. You ready? One, two, three. Lazarus, come forth. And the Bible says, and when he had thus spoken, and he that was dead came forth, came forth and was bound hand and foot with grave clothes.
[9:20] And his face was bound about with a napkin. Now, I need some volunteers. I need some volunteers. I need me some volunteers. All right. You guys get up here. One, two, three, four. Yes.
[9:31] Five, six. I need six volunteers. And do you know what he told them? He said, loose him and let him go. So loosen Mr. Greg up. Get him out. Get him free. Break him free.
[9:41] Yes. Yes. He said, get that out of here. Yeah. All right. You guys can have a seat. Careful there.
[9:55] Jesus calls out to this grave. He calls into this cave and says, come forth. And just like that, Lazarus walked out.
[10:08] Can you think about that for a second? Maybe you can think of someone that you love that might have died already. And, you know, you say your goodbyes. They had already said their goodbyes four days ago. But Jesus shows up on the scene and says, Lazarus, come forth.
[10:21] And he comes back from the dead. You see, what Jesus was trying to do was show these people that they needed to believe in him. You see, Jesus wants people to believe on him.
[10:33] He wants you to believe on him. You know, when Jesus and his disciples were there and that messenger came up, the Bible says that when Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
[10:49] He said, you've heard about this. You think it's going to be really bad. But guess what? They're going to realize. Everybody who sees this is going to realize how big I really am. How big God really is.
[11:01] See, sometimes God allows things to happen in our life that we might think aren't very good at all. Right? None of us would think a funeral is a good thing. But Jesus said, no, God's going to use this to show us how big he is.
[11:17] And you know what? In verse number 15, he says, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there. I'm glad that I wasn't there when he was still sick and still alive. I'm glad I was not there. He said, no, I could have been there.
[11:35] I could have helped him. I could have healed him. We wouldn't have had to deal with this. But I'm glad because I'm going to do something. And you're going to believe that I am God. That I can save.
[11:47] One more thing that happens at the very end of the story. When Jesus says, Lazarus, come forth. Can we say that one more time? Lazarus, come forth. He comes out of that tomb.
[11:58] And they see him walking. They see him alive. These people, they know him. And then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
[12:09] Like, ain't no way this guy is a normal guy. If he can do that, he must be everything he says he is. Mary and Martha, they believe that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Savior, the sacrifice that God promised for us.
[12:25] See, we all deserve to die because of our sins. But Jesus died in our place on the cross. So Jesus' power over death is not just something that's in the future, though.
[12:38] It's something right now. And so you can believe on him. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. I am. Not, I will be. I hope to be. Maybe. He says, I am the resurrection and the life.
[12:50] You know, if you believe in Jesus, you're set. You're saved. You have the resurrection, the power of God in your life. Now, he's talking not about your physical body, but your spiritual body.
[13:04] He says, in a different part, he says, If you hear my word and believe on him that sent me, you have everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
[13:16] It's a done deal if you believed on Jesus. Now, because of all this, we've been talking about this all week, but because Jesus has power over spirits, over sickness, over the seas, even over death, what does that mean for us today?
[13:34] What does he want from you and me today? He wants us to believe on him. He's not just a great guy. He's not just a guy we talk about. He is God who came to die for us in our place.
[13:49] And he shows us how powerful he is by raising Lazarus from the dead. And you know what else he does? He actually dies and comes back from the dead himself. He doesn't need anybody else to raise him up.
[13:59] He does it all by himself, by his own power. And you can trust that power to save you. You realize that, man, I can't do this. I'm not good enough. I've stolen.
[14:11] I've lied. I've talked back to my parents. I've done all these things. Man, I have sinned. But Jesus came and died on the cross and rose again. Just like he raised up Lazarus, he rose again.
[14:23] To show us that he did what he came to do. Jesus wants you to believe on him this evening. We've been talking about Jesus. And that's what this Vacation Bible School has been all about.
[14:36] Yes, we've had some fun. We've had a boat ride. We've had a Greg come out of the tomb. Maybe we should put him back in there. I don't know. But at the end of the day, we want you to know Jesus.
[14:51] And you might already believe in Jesus. Mary and Martha, they already believed in Jesus. Jesus, God might want to use something in your life. You know, we think if God will just come in and my timing and he'll step in and swoop and save the day.
[15:03] And he'll be okay. And all the suffering will be gone. All the problems will be gone. And my life will be great. And Jesus says, no, I'm going to use this for my glory. I'm going to use this so others will believe. Do you see that suffering that way?
[15:15] Do you see those trials and those tribulations in your life to further the gospel? Because God is wanting people to believe on him. And he wants to use you to do that.
[15:27] So if you're here this evening and you've never placed your faith and trust in Jesus. You say, I've never really believed in Jesus. I know about him. I've heard about him. We've heard the rumors. We've heard the stories. We've heard the Bible. I've gone to church.
[15:37] Gone to vacation Bible school. But I've never trusted Jesus to save me. That's you this evening. Today's the day. Today's the last day of EBS. Yes, today's the day for you to do that.
[15:49] Maybe you're not sure yet. Maybe you have some questions. Any of your small group leaders, they want to talk to you. If you're over here in this section, we would love to talk to you and tell you how you can know for sure that you're on your way to heaven. That Jesus is your God.
[16:03] But maybe you are saved. You say, I'm going through this situation right now. I'm going through this problem right now. And I've been asking God to come in and swoop in and save the day. But he's not coming. It's like he's been stalling for 20 days.
[16:16] Where is he? Could you ask yourself in the Lord this evening? God, who do you want to reach with the gospel through this? It's not about me. Let your name be lifted up.
[16:27] Let your name be glorified. Let you be lifted up. That's what this is all about. Because Jesus wants to see people saved. As Mr. Greg is coming, let's pray. Father, thank you so much.
[16:38] Jesus, thank you so much. You come to our problems. You come to us. You run to us. And you work through us because you are saving people. And there's some kids here tonight.
[16:50] They need to get saved. Maybe there's some big adults here that need to get saved. God, you want to save. That's been your mission. That's been your purpose. That's been your heart. And you desire them to be saved.
[17:00] I pray if there's someone here this evening, all those this evening who don't know for sure that if they died, that they would go to heaven. That they would get that clear tonight. That they would swallow their pride that's holding them back from saying, you know what?
[17:13] I need to talk to somebody. Because today is the day to get that settled. Thank you for dying on the cross. Thank you for coming back from the dead. Thank you for proving, proving over and over and over that you are God.
[17:27] Jesus, thank you. And now I pray that we would be like the disciples. That we would be like the crowd there with Mary. And that we would see what you have done. That we would hear what you have done.
[17:37] And that now we would believe it and go forward trusting you. I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Everyone's eyes closed. Everyone's heads bowed. Everyone's eyes closed.
[17:47] Everyone's heads bowed. All week you heard it. Jesus is the only one with power. Only one with power over storms. Only one with power over evil spirits. Only one with the power over death. But Mr. James taught it clear from the Bible.
[17:58] One day all of us will die. That's a scary thing. But the only way to get to heaven. The only way to be forgiven of your sins. The only way to see God work in our lives. Is we need to believe on Jesus.
[18:10] And that's the only reason we have Vacation Bibles. Because God wants to save you kids. God wants to save people. So if you're here tonight. I want to give you an opportunity to get saved. If you're here tonight and you haven't trusted Jesus.
[18:21] I want to give you an opportunity to put your faith in him to save you. So here's what I'm going to do. If you're here tonight. And you have not trusted Jesus to save you. I want you to slip your hand up real quick. If you put your hand up.
[18:32] I want you to grab your small group leader. I want you to go talk to him. If you are here tonight. And you have trusted Jesus to save you. He has done so much in your life. He has brought you to an awesome Vacation Bible School. He has placed you in your community.
[18:43] And we get the opportunity to tell our friends. And tell our loved ones. And tell our brothers and sisters. About how to get saved. And about who Jesus is. It's a really awesome thing. As Miss Audrey plays the piano. I'm going to give you guys just a second to pray.
[18:54] We'll finish up the service here. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thank you.