Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, September 8, 2024

Removing Stones.

Today, Duncan Crook is delivering the message, about “Removing Stones”.  Jesus is at the tomb of Lazarus, seeing the sadness of those at the tomb.  His death will show God glorified and increaed faith in Jesus. 

At this point, the disciples faith in Jesus still needed further strengthening.  Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, reinforces the disciples faith, as well as glorifying God. 

The sickness and eventual death of Lazarus teach us many things:

1. That bad things do happen to good people.
2. There is no question that Jesus loved Lazarus.
3. The death of Lazarus teaches us about prayer, especially prayer that seemingly is unanswered.
4. When you face difficult times, realize God may be pruning you for further growth or to glorify His name.
5. When you face difficult times, don’t conclude that He doesn’t love you!
6. When you face a trying time, don’t ever give up on God or prayer.

So, remove the stone, meaning the tomb entrance stone.  Jesus chose to include people in this miracle; He could easily have moved that stone.  Here, no one is a spectator; those folks participated in the miracle.

Jesus wants us to trust Him for what we cannot do and loves sharing with us.

Roll away the stone, and God will raise the dead!

(CSB Bible Notes) 11:43 Jesus raised Lazarus not by magic, incantations, or spells, but by the power of his word.

Today’s verses can be found in John 11: 38 - 48. 

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.