The Resurrection & Life | Pastor Jeremy Saylor | Easter Sunday

Good morning, church family.

You guys, as I said earlier, you look good, you sound good today.

And before we jump into the word this morning, I just want to take a moment and and just celebrate our worship and media team.

Can you put your hands together for what they do every week?

It's phenomenal.

Time and the effort they put into it in the end.

Miss Jamie.

Your painting was absolutely incredible.

You're a wonderful artist.

And I know you're like quit making quit pointing out me, but you did a phenomenal job.

Will you just honor her church family for sharing her gift with the body of Christ?

It's amazing.

You know, here on Easter Sunday, it's real easy to celebrate the resurrection.

It's what this day is about.

And and it feels very real in this moment.

But I wonder this morning, if we're real honest with ourselves, that when we think about the resurrection, we think about it in two ways.

We think about it as something in the past that happened two thousand years ago, when Jesus rose from the grave.

Or we think about it as something ahead of us in the future at the end of time when Jesus makes all things right.

But I want to tell you today that the resurrection isn't something that just happened in the past or will happen in the future.

The Bible is clear that where Jesus is, resurrection happens today.

Resurrection is a present reality wherever the risen Savior is.

And this morning, as much as we're going to look back at the resurrection that happened 2,000 years ago, what I believe is going to happen in your life this morning is that resurrection life is going to happen in any dead area of your life today, right now, because Jesus is here.

Would you stand with me where you are this morning as we honor the reading of God's word?

John chapter 11, verse 17, the Bible tells us a story about a couple of sisters and a brother that were very dear to Jesus.

John 11:17

It tells us of a man named Lazarus who became sick and died.

And we pick up the story with Jesus' delayed arrival on the scene in verse 17.

Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Bethany was two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.

And when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him.

Mary stayed at home.

Lord, Martha said, If you had been here, my brother would not have died.

Lord, if you had been here, if your presence would have showed up when I needed it, this situation would not have unfolded the way that it's unfolded.

Has anybody else ever said something like that to God?

God, if you'd have been here, I wouldn't have made that decision.

God, if you would have been here, that situation wouldn't have unfolded.

If you would have been here, this would look very, very differently.

That's what Martha says to Jesus.

She goes on to say, but I know that even now, God, you will give whatever you ask.

Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again.

Your brother will rise again.

Now listen to Martha's answer.

I know he will rise in the resurrection at the last day.

Everybody say last day.

She's talking about something out in the future.

And then Jesus answered her with these powerful words.

He said, I am the resurrection and the life.

Will you say that after me this morning?

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life.

What is Jesus doing?

He's moving a future hope into a present reality.

Wherever he is, resurrection life flows.

I am the resurrection, the life.

The one who believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?

Yes, Lord, she replied.

Church, this is God's word, and the title of my message this morning is simply this: Let there be life.

Will you say that after me this morning?

Let there be life.

Turn to your neighbor and say, Let there be life.

Turn to the other neighbor and say, Let there be life.

Turn around to the person behind you and say, Let there be life.

Father, we thank you for your word this morning.

Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

It shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely.

And I pray this morning that we would not just be hearers of your word, we would be doers of it.

In Jesus' mighty name, everybody said, Amen.

You may be seated.

Thank you, Caleb.

Cannot get past the fact that Jesus, when Mary declared, I know there will be a resurrection one day, Jesus says, That day is today.

You know what Jesus really does is this passage, He shifts our perspective.

He shifts our perspective on the resurrection from something that is an event that may have happened in the past or will happen in the future.

He shifts it from an event to a person.

Jesus says, wherever I am, resurrection life happens.

Dead things come to life wherever Jesus is.

Come on, somebody.

Anyone else here has some dead areas in your life that Jesus brought resurrection life to?

Any areas in your life where you are going one way, but by the grace of God, He turned you around and went the other way.

That's resurrection life, church.

Had a situation, maybe a habit or an addiction in your life that was holding you captive.

And Jesus stepped in and freed you from that thing, reversing the course of your life.

That's resurrection life at work through the power of Jesus.

I've started reading scripture in light of this revelation.

I've started reading scripture in light of Jesus' statement, I am the resurrection and the life.

And when I read it in light of that reality, it completely changes how I read scripture.

What I begin to see is that wherever people were living less than God's best, and God stepped in and reversed it, that's resurrection life at work.

In Canaan, the very first miracle that Jesus performed, they had run out of wine, and Jesus stepped in and made it abundantly flow.

That's reversing the curse of death.

He finds a woman in John chapter four at a well that's broken, bruised, and battered.

She's been rejected over and over and over again.

And Jesus steps in and reverses the death of rejection that has held her captive with his gracious, loving acceptance.

And that's resurrection life at work.

All throughout the gospels, blind eyes are opening, hungry mouths are being fed, bound souls are being freed.

That's resurrection life at work.

Wherever God is reversing the curse of death, it's because of the presence of resurrection life.

And we see this throughout the Gospels.

And not only do you see this throughout the Gospels, and when you realize that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and this whole book is about Jesus, you all of a sudden begin to see that resurrection is from Genesis to Revelation.

That resurrection life isn't just what happens, it's who he is.

And wherever he is, life flows.

Even we have this promise even in the very beginning of the book.

In Eden, after Adam and Eve sinned, God made a promise that though sin has entered, one day there would be one who would arise that would reverse the power and the curse of sin and death and hell and the grave.

There would be one that though the enemy would strike his heel, he would crush his head.

And the Bible is clear from beginning to end that from Adam to Jesus, death reigned.

Not just physical death, emotional death, relational death, financial death.

Anything less than God's intended best is a result of the curse of death.

And it rained from Adam to Jesus.

But in Jesus, death has been defeated.

The grave opened up and let him walk out because he conquered death, hell, and the grave.

Church, don't miss the significance of this event.

All of history literally turns on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Because death has been defeated.

John chapter 11, the story with Martha and Mary and Lazarus, we see what resurrection life in Jesus does for us today.

John 11 · chapter mention

Not tomorrow, not at the end of your life, not at some time in the future, but today.

And before I even get into this, I just got to prophesy over your life this morning.

I believe that you're in the right place at the right time because God's going to resurrect some dead things in your life this morning.

When I conclude my message, we're going to have a time of worship and prayer and ministry at the end.

And I've just been praying for you all week.

I've been praying, God, resurrection power flow, resurrection life flow.

And wherever there's an area of your life that's not at the intended best that God has for you, I'm declaring resurrection life over that this morning.

Here's the first thing that the resurrection life tells us in John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

It tells us that Jesus shares our grief, that Jesus shares our grief, that resurrection life steps into our present sorrow.

He, church, is God with us in everything that we're going through.

The Bible tells us that Jesus arrived at Bethany four days late.

The tomb is sealed.

The casseroles have been eaten by now.

And Mary and Martha come running out to Jesus with this heartfelt emotional brokenness.

Lord, if you would have been here, our brother would not have died.

Lord, if if you would have been here, this would not have happened.

And I love that Jesus doesn't scold them.

I love that that he doesn't say, you shouldn't talk to me that way.

I love that he doesn't say something overtly spiritual that sounds good but really hurts.

Like, where is your faith?

He recognizes the brokenness of their heart.

And he doesn't dismiss it.

He's the resurrection and the life.

He's getting ready to raise Lazarus from the grave.

He knows what's getting ready to go down.

And he doesn't dismiss their grief.

He doesn't dismiss their sorrow.

He doesn't say get over it.

Somebody said amen to that.

He actually does something that's somewhat astonishing.

The Bible says that they take him to the tomb and they're crying and their crowd is crying and he surveys the situation.

And he doesn't rebuke them.

He weeps with them.

Shortest verse in all of scripture.

It's conveying to us this wasn't a whimper.

This wasn't a tear or two.

This was sorrow from the depths of his being that is pouring out of him, that tears are flowing, that there's this groaning that he is experiencing with those that are weeping.

Why in the world does Jesus weep this way?

These people, yes, they were close to him, but he knows what he's getting ready to do.

I think the reason that Jesus weeps, that he groans, is because he's looking firsthand at the effects of death.

That he's yes, he's groaning over Lazarus, but he's groaning over the empire of death that's been reigning since Adam, and it's breaking his heart.

He's seeing what death is doing in lives and in families and in hearts.

He's looking at marriages that have been destroyed.

He's looking, looking at finances that have evaporated.

He's looking at the the the kaleidoscope of human experience that is peppered with death, and he begins to groan.

This may be the world I created, but this is not the world I intended.

Never intended for death to reign.

I'm the God of life, not the God of death, and Jesus begins to weep.

Can I tell you the good news?

Part of the good news of the gospel.

The Bible tells us that we have a God who's been touched with the feelings of our infirmities.

Every human experience and every human emotion.

Our God has felt its impact.

It's breaking his heart.

And the good news of the gospel is that we can carry our cares to him for he cares for us.

Can I tell you one of the problems that we make with our pain is we try to take our pain to people who can't do anything about it.

We go to a family member, or we go to a friend, or we go to a colleague, we go to somebody about the pain that we're walking through.

I'm going to tell you what, they can't do anything about it, but there is one who can.

And he's the resurrection and the life.

He's the one that can speak into the darkest night of your soul and say, I understand it.

I've been there and I'm with you.

I'm holding your hand right now.

And the good news is you don't have to stay there.

Just walk with me out of that grave.

The grief, Jesus doesn't dismiss it.

He embraces it and helps us walk through it.

Maybe you're here today and you're grieving the loss of a family member.

You're grieving the loss of a career.

You're grieving the loss of a relationship.

You're grieving the loss.

I want to invite you this morning to stop holding on to that grief and bring it to the feet of Jesus.

Stop trying to carry it by yourself.

You weren't intended to carry it alone, but there is one named Emmanuel, God with us, who will walk with you through it and bring you to the other side where there's resurrection in life.

Second thing that we learn, John chapter 11, is that Jesus shifts our hope that there's resurrection life moves from a future theory to a present reality.

John 11 · chapter mention

After Martha's lament, Jesus speaks, your brother will rise again.

And Martha gives the right theological answer.

I know he will one day.

I know it will happen at some point.

She believes in the future resurrection at the end of the age moment.

Her theology is good, but her hope is still far off in the future.

Can I tell you, we don't need just a good theology that is far off in the future.

We need a present hope today.

Jesus, the resurrection and then the life, shifts our hope from the future to the present.

He says, I am the resurrection and the life.

I am the one that has been promised would come that would overthrow death, hell, and the grave, and bring in life and it everlasting.

The one that y'all have been looking for, the one you've been praying for, the one you've been dreaming for is standing right in front of you today.

Jesus brings the Resurrection life into our present reality.

Church, that's good news.

It means that you're already reconciled.

You're already adopted into the family of faith.

It means you're already children of God.

You're already made alive with Christ.

You're already raised with him and seated in heavenly realms.

You're already living the future now today.

In Jesus, because where he is, resurrection life flows.

That means church.

No failure so final.

No prodigal so far gone.

No diagnosis so damning.

No confusion so cloudy.

No poverty so pervasive that the resurrection life of Jesus can't restore.

This isn't something that we're looking forward to in the future.

It's here now, today, wherever resurrection life flows.

Resurrection life guarantees our future is secure.

Verses 41, we pick up what happens when Jesus gets to the tomb with Mary and Martha.

So they took away the stone, and Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

I know that you always hear me, but I say this for the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.

What is he saying?

He's saying, I'm the promised, I'm the promised one guaranteeing your future.

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face.

And then Jesus said this.

Take off the grave clothes and let him go.

Some things that have bound you, prevented you from walking in the fullness that God has for your life are being unwound from you today.

Because there's resurrection life wherever Jesus is.

Days before he walked out of the grave, he gave all those there in Bethany a sign that he was exactly the one that they had been looking for.

See, Lazarus was a signpost, he was a marker for all of the followers of Jesus in Bethany, of what he himself was going to do in the days ahead.

He was declaring for all time, I am the resurrection and the life.

For all time.

He who believes in me shall live.

He who believes in me, resurrection life shall flow.

See, see, the cross church became the new tree of life.

Resurrected all dead things for all time.

I don't know what area of your life you're dealing with something that's less than God's best.

I don't know what area of your life you're dealing with, an area that if you were real honest, you would say it's probably dead.

But I do know this.

The presence of Jesus is here this morning.

To resurrect dead things.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I just have a couple questions I want to ask you in conclusion today.

How many of you would say, Pastor, I've got an area in my life that I'm I'm grieving?

I'm grieving a loss.

The loss may be a relationship, maybe a dream.

The loss may be a family member, the loss may be hope that has become deferred.

But there's a loss in your life that you're grieving.

If that's you this morning, I want to pray for you.

We just with every head bowed and every eye closed.

If that's you, would you just raise your hand and say, yeah, Pastor, that's me.

I've got a loss.

Thank you for that hand.

Thank you for that hand.

Thank you for that hand.

Thank you for that hand.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, absolutely thank you for your honesty this morning.

I believe that God is going to be present with you in a way you've never known this morning.

Thank you for your honesty.

How many of you would say, Pastor, I'm not grieving a loss, but I feel stuck?

Maybe through decisions that you've made and circumstances that have unfolded, you feel stuck.

And and you know that God has more, but you can't, you can't seem to break through into the future that he has for you.

You feel like it's something far off, and and you need resurrection life today.

If that's you, we just raise your hand right when you're standing.

I want to pray for you this morning.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Hallelujah, Lord, thank you for your goodness.

Telling you this morning, you're gonna get unstuck today.

If you're here today and you've never given your life to Jesus, you want to step through the doorway to resurrection life, but you've never done that before.

I want to pray for you as well.

Would you just raise your hand right where you stand and say, I wanna, I wanna step through the doorway into resurrection life and commit my heart and life to Jesus.

If that's you, just raise your hand right where you stand.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

I want to ask my prayer team to join me to my right and to my left this morning.

The worship team is gonna lead us in a song here at the end of our service.

If you raised your hand this morning in response to the word of God, I want to invite you to take a step of faith this morning.

I know it's Easter Sunday, but God's here, church.

And I want you to take a step of faith and get out of your seat and go partner with one of our prayer team members and pray.

The Bible says there's power in agreement.

That where if two or three are gathered in his name and they agree upon anything, that it is done in heaven and earth.

And I'm declaring to your life today the grief is over.

The future is now.

Jesus is here to meet you in your situation and bring resurrection life to you in whatever way that you need it.

I'm gonna pray over us and then I want you to respond, and the worship team is gonna lead us in a song.

God, we ask you right now, in this moment, to be more real than you've ever been before.

God, I ask for resurrection life to flow in every heart and in every life this morning.

I rebuke the curse of sin and death, and I release the resurrection life of Jesus.

I release his river to flow into every heart, into every life, every man and every woman.

I release life over you this morning.

In Jesus' name, I declare the old is gone and the new is coming because he is here today to meet you in your greatest point of need.

If you raise your hands, would you step out of your seat this morning and take a step of faith and allow God to meet you exactly where you are this morning?

Would you lead us?