“From Death to Life!” - Luke 7 - July 6th, 2025 - Pastor Scotty Brown

All right, you may be seated. If you have a Bible, get that book open to Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

We finished up chapter 6, looking at, excuse me, the first part of chapter 7,

when we see the Jesus healing of the centurion servant, the power of his authority,

that not only that Jesus had, but that he gives to those who follow him.

As many as received him, to them he gave the authority to be the sons and daughters of God,

not be you and I. And it's powerful in that eyes were opened and that leprosy was healed and that

we're going to see today that the dead are raised from this authority that we see in the Lord Jesus.

At your word. At your word. And really, it's amazing to me how many people will throw the word of God aside

when they have an opinion that differs with it. Right? People will put God's word aside when they,

and they'll say, I don't believe that. You don't believe God's word? How's that work?

Right? Because the psalmist writes, he says, listen, the Lord esteems his word even above his name.

And is there any name like Jesus? There's no name like Jesus. It's the powerful name.

It has power over the wind and the, and the rain and, and, and you and me and, and even a donkey.

I had this, uh, this thing happened to me. I was, I was riding colts and trying to make a little extra money,

putting food on the table for my family. I was fairly young. I was in my thirties and,

and I'd ride from my house into work. It was about 13 miles. And if I hit a good trot,

I could do it in about 45 minutes to an hour and five or 10 minutes. And I was, I was trotting along

there and I was leading one and riding one. And all of a sudden I go past this pasture and I see this

mule out in this pasture. And as I'm going along there, just to trotting along and, and, uh, all of a

sudden behind me, I hear wire stretching. Who's ever heard the sound of wire stretching? There's something

about that sound. I just don't like because it's usually means that something's going to be bleeding,

right? Sometimes it's a person. Sometimes it's a horse. And, uh, so I, I, so I look back and this

mule had tried going over the fence. And when it did, it put one foot inside the wire on this side.

Then it tipped over the fence and the wires had it figurated its front feet. It was on its back and

it's had it front feet, uh, figured eight together. And I thought, oh, so I thought, well, I'm going to help

the poor mule. Bad idea. So I went over and I got the mule out of these, out of the fence and, uh, it

jumped up and it jumped up and it stayed right with me. It's shaking there for a little bit. And so I jumped

on my horse and took off and pretty soon the mule, it was a John mule that had not been castrated.

Who knows what that is? Okay. He had not been castrated. So he was a John mule with, what do

they call it? Intact. That's a nice way of saying, you know, he had some cojones.

Okay. We're a cowboy church. All right. That's this mule jumps on the horse. I'm riding

jumps on it. And I'm like this. And I, so I try punching this mule and hurt my hand. And I got

in the soft part of his nose and got him off. And then he came again on top of me and I hit him hard

enough. The next time, then he just started jumping on the horse that I was leading. And I didn't know I

was beside myself. I didn't know. Why did I let this mule go? I should have just left him there to die.

And so I finally, it just dawned on me. Oh, there's power in Jesus name. I said, in Jesus name, I rebuke

you. And that donkey threw his tail in the air and took off running away from me as fast as he could run.

I said, wow.

If it'll work on a donkey, what else will it work on?

Now we do live in grizzly bear country. So please remember the name of Jesus. Would you?

If you're up there hiking, right? Because I think they kind of like the taste of pepper spray.

But there's power there, right? There's authority. There was power. And, you know,

and Jesus was in awe by this guy's great faith when he just said, yeah, all you have to do is say the word.

And great faith means, it means much faith or priceless. This guy's faith to Jesus was priceless.

What's your faith like towards Jesus? Is it priceless? Is it weak? Is it little?

He condemns his disciples. Oh, ye of little faith.

And Peter, when he sunk in the water, why did you doubt?

I don't know about you, but I'm a doubter. Do you doubt?

That's something we have to ride herd on constantly in our lives is these doubts.

We pray one thing. We pray and God does it. And then we go, can you believe what God did?

It's like you're shocked. Well, didn't you pray for that?

Well, yes, but what?

Pray, not doubting.

That's like a double-minded man.

So, it's interesting that in the book of Luke here in chapter 7, it does not tell us what Jesus said.

It doesn't say what his words were.

But it does in Matthew.

And Jesus says this,

Go your way as you have believed, so let it be done for you.

And his servant was healed that same hour.

So, go your way.

As you believed according to your faith, so be it unto you.

Without faith, folks, it's impossible to please God.

And we truly walk by faith, not by sight.

And this man called on Jesus with his servant being at death's door.

And he was healed at the word.

Why? Because he believed it.

He recognized the authority that Christ had.

And so it is with us.

We must recognize this authority that Jesus has.

And not only in the world, but in our lives personally.

He has the authority to do what he wants to do.

And so, I entitled this message today,

Death Meets Life.

Read with me.

We're going to start in verse 11.

We're just going to read through verse 17.

And it says,

Now it happened the day after that when that he went into a city called Nain.

And many of his disciples went with him and a large crowd.

And when he came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out.

The only son of his mother.

And she was a widow.

And a large crowd from the city was with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her,

Do not weep.

And then he came and touched the open coffin.

And those who carried him stood still.

And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise.

So he who was dead sat up and began to speak.

And he presented him to his mother.

Then fear came upon all.

And they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has risen up among us.

And God has visited his people.

And this report about him went through all, throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

Shall we pray?

Father, thank you.

Thank you for this story.

Lord, it's so full of life.

And yet it has death in it as well.

And life is that much greater simply because death is present.

And Lord, we love you.

We thank you for this authority that you have even over this.

As we look at it, Lord, I pray that you being the God of all comfort would comfort our hearts.

Lord, that we would be in a place where we are trusting you fully.

Lord, not leaning on our own understanding, but acknowledging you in all of our ways.

And so, Lord, speak to us from this passage, we pray.

Just truths that bless our heart, Lord.

Things that encourage us in our faith, Lord.

And maybe just help us to get one day closer to seeing you return.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So, notice it starts off.

And that happened the day after.

The day after what?

The day after the healing of the centurion servant.

Jesus is shifting gears here.

And it's amazing.

He's created quite the buzz by healing the centurion servant.

And people are looking at this guy going, wow, could this be?

No doubt the Jewish people have the mindset of a Messiah coming.

That there's a Messiah coming.

Still today, they have this idea that Messiah is coming.

He's coming.

All right.

And he's coming very soon.

And this young carpenter, by trade, has become this itinerant rabbi.

And he is stirring everybody up.

Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary on this, says this.

He says, Jesus came along.

Or this story is where two crowds met.

Two sons met.

Two sufferers met.

And two enemies met.

Right?

And so, we're going to look at that kind of with that mindset.

First, it's the two crowds.

Right?

The people, the disciples are following Jesus.

But he's created quite a crowd.

Probably those who would be counting the costs.

Really checking Jesus out.

Maybe that's you today.

You're just here.

You're just kind of checking Jesus out.

You're not all in yet.

Right?

You haven't jumped in with both feet.

He's not everything to you.

But you're thinking about it.

Good on you.

It's a good start.

That's better than somebody that, you know, gives him the finger.

Because a lot of people do that all the time.

They'll even come do it in church.

And so, but this crowd is growing.

It's quite large.

And they come to this place called Nain.

Now, Nain is just a few miles south of the town of Nazareth where Jesus grew up.

But it's right on the thoroughfare between Capernaum all the way to Jerusalem.

And then you go right by Nain.

And she's coming into the city gate, it says there.

And there was another group.

Another crowd.

But they weren't excited.

Right?

They were in a place of mourning and weeping.

And in that culture, they would hire those to weep and wail.

I guess it was an expression of how much love the people had for those who have died.

You know, it's kind of like the people that go to a funeral.

There's different motives.

Right?

Some of the mourners would come to just get paid in this situation.

I know some people that go to funerals just to make sure the person whose funeral it is is really dead.

Heard the story of a guy that he had a guy that he'd known his whole life.

And they got sideways.

Because the one guy owed the other guy 40 bucks.

And so the guy died that owed the 40 bucks.

And the other guy refused to go to his funeral.

And when everybody asked, I said, why won't you go to his funeral?

Because he owes me 40 bucks.

Really?

That's funny.

Has some of you not gone to a funeral because somebody owes you money?

I don't know.

I think I could forgive 40 bucks.

Don't you?

Anyway.

So there's two crowds.

One seems to be jubilant.

The other one's in mourning.

And there's kind of a kind of clash here.

Now, Ecclesiastes 7.

I always read this passage when I do funerals.

It says,

Going to a funeral is a good thing.

Why?

Because it reminds you and I that this will be us someday.

And you can't get past that.

That's the power of death.

That's the power that death has.

That it reminds us that this life is brief.

The psalmist writes, right?

Man at his very best is but a vapor.

You're reminded of that when I remember doing my grandpa on my mother's side, my grandpa Jones,

I doing his funeral.

Grandpa was 91.

And when my little brother asked him about, you know, he says, Grandpa, what would you want?

You know, a service, you know.

A service.

He says to Rick, nobody's coming to my service.

Because everybody I know is dead.

Right?

It's like, you live long enough and it's, but you ask him about his life and all the things that he saw.

He was born in 1913.

And all the things that my grandpa had saw in his life.

And he said, it sure went fast.

At 91.

I don't know about you.

I don't think I want to get there.

63 is plenty.

That's all I need.

But it's this place of mourning and the living taking it to heart.

And it's kind of weighty at times.

You're thinking, yeah, there is a day when I'm going to take my last breath.

And what's that going to be like?

Those of us who are walking by faith, there's a kind of a giddiness about it.

There's an expectation that it's going to be good.

And that we're going to be like the Old Testament saints.

We're going to be gathered to our people.

And we're going to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.

And that most of life's woes for the believer are over.

Thank you, Lord.

It's a great thing to look forward to, isn't it?

Psalm 30 verse 11 says,

Psalms 30:11

You have turned me from my mourning into dancing.

And that's what's going to happen here.

You have turned me from my mourning into dancing.

If we could see our loved ones that are on the other side.

And we can't.

But we would rejoice for them.

I'm telling you, they wouldn't want to come back here.

I love what Pastor Chuck Smith used to say.

He said, if something happens to me and I die and you revive me,

the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to punch you right in the face.

You just leave me alone.

Don't revive me.

He'll turn our mourning into dancing.

And so that's where two crowds met.

The mourning with those who are celebrating or excited about this person

that very well could be the Messiah.

Secondly, we have two sons meeting.

Right?

Notice their only sons.

This was this woman's only son.

And he was a young man.

So we don't know how old this woman was, but we do know that she was a widow.

So she's already buried her husband.

And so these two sons meet.

Jesus sees the casket and he walks up and he doesn't know.

No, he touches it.

You're not just supposed to do that.

In the law, it was forbidden.

You weren't to touch a carcass or something that had touched a dead carcass.

You weren't to do that.

No doubt that pallbearers are going, like, what's this guy doing?

Right?

And he comes up and he touches the casket.

And being a rabbi?

Breaking the law?

By touching this dead man's box?

And so he sits up and he starts talking.

That would be pretty freaky, wouldn't it?

I have sat behind a pulpit like this and had a lot of caskets down below me that are open.

And I'm telling you, it would freak me out if somebody sat up and said,

Hey, preach, what's up?

Just sits up and starts talking.

Could you imagine the bewilderment on people's faces watching this dead person just sit up?

I did hear the story of a guy's mother-in-law who had passed away and they were taking her down.

It was back at the turn of the century.

And they were taking her down this dirt road and they come to this little rough spot.

And the casket wiggled back and forth.

And all of a sudden an arm came up.

And they went over and looked in the casket.

She goes, what happened?

What are you guys doing with me?

She wasn't dead.

And so about 20 years later, she ended up dying.

And so they start going down the same road.

And the guy takes a shortcut.

He says, what are you doing?

He says, I don't want to get to that rough spot again.

I know what happened last time.

But do you think this guy ever talked about Jesus after this?

Seriously.

What do you think his take on Jesus was after this?

Is this the same take that you have?

That he actually brought you from a place of death to life?

I'm thinking this dude was probably pretty bold.

He might have jumped in with the 12 apostles somewhere along the line.

And he's talking to the only begotten son of the father.

This only son.

He could identify as the only begotten of the father.

Notice what it says in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

It says that God gave his only begotten son.

That whosoever would believe it in him would not perish but have everlasting life.

Are you a whosoever?

Somebody's got that shirt.

It's a pretty cool shirt.

I'm one of the whosoever's.

Right?

This guy became the whosoever.

That believed in Jesus.

After Jesus raised him from the dead.

And I could imagine this testimony and how powerful it was.

And how could you argue with this guy?

Oh, that Jesus.

Yeah, he raises the dead.

Because I was dead and he raised me.

I think sometimes we don't realize the power of our testimony.

How Jesus changed our life.

Do you realize it's yours?

It doesn't belong to anyone else.

And who can argue with it?

Who can argue with how Jesus Christ has affected your life?

Nobody can.

It's like Paul there.

I was just reading it this morning in Acts chapter 21 when he recounts to the people.

Acts 21 · chapter mention

He says, I was just going along, persecuting the way, the believers in Jesus.

And all of a sudden, kaboom!

Right?

He's knocked to the ground.

He's blinded for three days.

And Jesus goes, what?

Dude, why are you persecuting me?

It's a powerful testimony.

Your testimony is powerful.

It displays the authority of Christ Jesus when you share how God has changed your life.

You say, well, I'm not good at that Bible stuff.

Then share your testimony.

If you really love him and you've given your life to him, share your testimony.

No doubt this guy did.

Secondly, we see two sufferers.

Jesus could identify with this woman.

Because no doubt, Jesus suffered like no one else.

Reading through Isaiah here this last month.

There in one of the most powerful verses, I think, in the Old Testament about Christ's sacrifice for us.

Says that, I believe it's Isaiah 54 or 52, 14.

That says he was marred more than any man.

Jesus was.

He was marred more than any man.

That's because he's the one who chose the moment of his death.

You couldn't take his life from him.

His life was his own.

Unlike ours.

You can take my life from me.

This life that I know here on this earth.

You can't take my eternal life from me.

But you can take my life from me.

But this woman, she no doubt had been so affected and devastated by death.

The death of her husband and now the death of her son.

Isaiah 53 says, Jesus is a man of sorrow.

He was acquainted with grief.

He knew what it was like.

So when you're going through grief, please don't think the Lord don't know what you're going through.

Because he does.

And to a very great degree.

And she's crying.

She's crying.

And Jesus says, don't cry.

Really?

This kind of struck me.

Jesus said, don't cry.

But what about Jesus when he was at Lazarus' tomb?

And the shortest verse in the Bible.

Many can remember this verse.

Because it's only two words.

Shortest verse in the Bible.

If you've never memorized a Bible verse.

Memorize this one right now.

It's John 11, 35.

Right?

It says, Jesus wept.

Jesus wept.

At the tomb of Lazarus.

He wept.

Why did Jesus weep?

Why did he weep?

He knew he was going to call Lazarus out of the grave.

So why did he weep?

I think everybody.

You know, commentators.

They give their thoughts and opinions about why Jesus wept.

But you have to remember that all Bible commentators are just that.

They're just commentators.

It wasn't that bad?

Okay.

Maybe they're all from Idaho.

I don't know.

Common taters.

But I think he wept about the whole death thing.

The death.

This death thing that we all have to deal with.

You know, it was God's promise to Moses way back when.

When he tells him, today I set before you life and death.

Choose life.

The thing about it is, is it is, is it's in front of us every single day.

You have a choice to make every day.

We have a choice to make.

Either to live in that life that God has given us or to go the other way.

It's one or the other.

You can choose your attitude for the day.

You can choose what you do with those first moments in the morning.

I'm finding the older I get, the more important it is for me to be reading the word and to be encouraged.

Otherwise, death overwhelms me.

But when I'm, when I'm reading the words of life that come from Jesus, then death has no hold on me.

Jesus tells her not to cry because he knows that joy is just around the corner.

It's just around the corner.

It's.

No doubt heartbreaking for her.

And she can't see what he's going to do.

She realizes, oh, no, I'm all by myself now.

So my neighbor right across the street from me, he just passed away last week.

And my wife was standing in the kitchen and looked across.

And she was all by herself, his widow.

Just walking around.

Kind of walking around the yard all by herself.

Just stopping momentarily.

No doubt was like this woman.

Just in a place of, you know, loss, mourning.

And just wondering if she's ever encountered Jesus.

Because he's the one who can, can bring joy.

He's the one that has compassion.

It says, and he had compassion on her.

I love that word there.

Compassion.

It means to be moved in the inward parts.

That it's real.

Right?

It's a, it's a love that can be felt.

It's tangible.

And that's what Jesus had for people.

And that's what he calls you and I to have for people.

It's to love them.

Have compassion.

Right?

We see a world where that's, it's just not, I don't know if it's not popular or if it's unknown.

And can you really know genuine compassion without knowing the, the one who is love?

God is love.

The Bible tells us.

Can you really know that?

I don't know that you can.

Not honestly, not like, not like this.

Willing to give your life towards somebody.

Share the love of God that he puts in our hearts.

So Jesus, you think about it.

He makes it all better.

Or at least he makes it bearable.

I know many of you.

I've stood with some of you next to the casket of your loved ones.

And it's, it's not easy.

It's hard.

But even in the midst of the sorrow, there's joy.

There's joy knowing that we don't mourn as those who have no hope.

So Jesus could totally identify with this lady suffering.

Thirdly, fourthly, excuse me, we have two enemies, death and life.

Death and life.

And they're totally opposed to one another.

First Corinthians chapter 15, 26 talks a lot about death and resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

About death and life.

And it says our last enemy will be destroyed is death.

It's the thing that you and I have to deal with.

We do deal with the death of loved ones, friends, and then ultimately your own.

You know, I do a lot of funerals and pretty soon I'm going to show up at my own.

Right?

Maybe in a little baggie, about that big.

That's about how much ashes are.

Because I've told my family, or I told my wife anyway, I said, I think I want to be buried.

Because we've always talked about cremation, right?

I said, I think I want to be buried.

She goes, where at?

Either file or abuse.

That's where I committed most my sin.

That's where this sinful flesh should dwell.

Is in the magic valley.

And so, regardless, I just need to be ready for that day.

And it's going to happen.

Just as surely as the sun comes up every morning, it's going to happen.

But notice, this enemy will be totally destroyed.

It no longer will have an effect on us.

Like it does now.

Why does it now?

I get to thinking about my loved ones that have passed and I just get weepy and I miss them and I long to see them.

And maybe that's just God's way of using death to get you and I ready to go.

Because, you know, we all know God doesn't waste anything.

Those times of mourning are good.

Because it makes us get ready for the day that we die.

1 Corinthians 15, 54 says,

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality,

then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,

Death is swallowed up in victory.

Jesus comes along and swallows death up for this lady.

Just swallows it up.

Says, give me that.

And puts life into that body of her son.

And so really, I'm serious.

Somebody who truly, honestly walks in faith with the Lord Jesus,

they're not affected by this in that way.

It doesn't totally destroy their life when somebody passes.

Because they believe this.

They believe that Christ swallowed death up.

This funeral service got swallowed up by life.

And so no longer were there two groups.

There's just one going, looking at Jesus.

Looking at Jesus going,

Wow.

They said it backwards, sideways, upside down.

Wow.

I guess that'd be mom, but.

So the whole group began, no doubt, to rejoice.

Why?

Because Jesus, listen,

Jesus is the inventor of life.

The inventor.

Peter calls him the prince of life there in Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

He's the prince of life.

Three thoughts in closing here as we read the last couple verses here that we read.

Verses 16 and 17.

It says,

Then fear came upon all,

and they glorified God,

saying,

A great prophet has risen up among us,

and God has visited his people.

And this report about him went throughout all Judea

and all the surrounding region.

No kidding.

It's not every day that a dude crawls out of a coffin

and goes to a party.

So, first of all, fear.

That word fear there,

I mean, it can mean fearful,

fears,

intimidation,

respect,

respectful.

No,

some people were scared to death of what they saw.

They're going,

Oh my gosh.

If this guy can do this,

what else can he do?

And what can he do to me?

And I think that's a really important thing to have

when it comes to your relationship with God.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

I fear God for what he could do to me.

And I love him for not doing it to me.

Right?

So I fear God and I love God.

Those two things are intention.

You can't have one without the other.

Paul says,

I work out my own salvation with fear and trembling.

Paul knew that he should be under the judgment of God

for what he did.

He himself said,

I wasted the church.

I killed people that believed in Jesus.

And so

the Lord made him pay up.

Right?

He had the thorn in the flesh.

God said,

my grace is sufficient.

God's grace is sufficient for all of us.

And Jesus overcomes death with a word.

When he says to the boy,

I say to you,

arise.

That's all he had to do.

And I'm sure those two words that that woman heard from her son

were pretty sweet.

Hi,

mom.

So first,

there was a fear of the Lord.

Secondly,

they glorified God.

That means to magnify,

make,

make God big,

uh,

in,

in your sphere of influence.

saying that a prophet,

a prophet,

no kidding.

You think this guy's a prophet?

Most,

most Jewish minds would go back to Deuteronomy chapter 18.

Deuteronomy 18 · chapter mention

Right?

Where it says that

the Lord,

your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.

this is Moses speaking from your midst,

from your brethren,

him,

you shall hear.

Having a hear,

ear to hear this one who could raise the dead is,

is probably an important thing.

That may be really important for you today.

Saying God has visited his people.

God's here.

They also,

well,

something that's interesting

that one commentator talked about

is they believe that this was the same area,

the same geographical area

where Elisha and Elijah both raised dead people.

And that Jesus does the same here

with the,

the widow's son there at Nain.

God has visited his people.

this is truly something only God can do.

Raise the dead.

Because it is truly man's greatest fear.

It's this fear of death.

And,

and how,

how God brings life out of death.

That's just the way he works,

right?

Think about it.

All the,

this agrarian society we live in,

you go and you drive around

all the fields here

in Southeast Idaho.

And what do you see?

You see seeds that fell into the ground

and they did what?

They died.

And then they brought forth life.

That's what Jesus said,

right?

Unless the seed falls into the ground and dies,

it doesn't bring forth life.

And so it is with us.

Paul tells us in Ephesians,

listen,

you all

and me,

we're all dead in our sins and trespasses.

We're all dead.

Until what?

Until the life giver comes along

and says,

turn,

turn from your sin,

the thing that kills you

and brings death to your life.

The wages of sin is death.

Turn

to the one who can give you life.

God brings life out of death.

So let me ask you this.

We're just about done.

Has the life of Jesus swallowed up death for you personally?

Has the life of Jesus swallowed up death for you personally?

Because if not,

if not,

Revelation 3.20 says this.

Listen.

It says,

behold,

behold,

behold,

I stand,

the words of Jesus are written in red.

And he says,

behold,

I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come into him and dine with him and he with me.

The three people that we see Jesus raising from the dead in the New Testament,

right?

The little,

little girl,

Jairus' daughter,

and,

and,

and Lazarus and this,

this guy.

He speaks to all of them as though they are alive.

Why?

Because the spirit doesn't die.

It's only the body that dies.

He speaks to them.

Specifically,

one guy says,

one commentator said,

if Jesus hadn't said,

Lazarus come forth,

he said,

every grave in the area would have opened and all the dead would have come up out of the grave.

I don't know about you,

but I believe that.

That's his power.

That's his authority over death.

And it says,

and this report about him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

This one who can raise the dead.

I'm going to close with the scripture this morning or this now afternoon.

And it's found in John chapter five.

It's one of my favorite scriptures.

And it's all about this.

He says,

most assuredly,

I say to you,

this is John chapter five,

verse 24.

He says,

most assuredly,

Jesus speaking,

I say to you,

he who hears my word

and believes

in him who sent me

has everlasting life

and shall not come into judgment.

Listen,

but has passed from death to life.

Have you passed from death to life?

Because you still might be dead in your sins right now.

And you haven't cried out

to the one who can wash your sin away

and raise you out of a grave.

that's who

Jesus is.

The one who

gives us a pass

from death

to life.

Pray with me.

Father,

thank you

that you are the one

that gives life.

Your words,

you tell us,

are spirit

in their life.

Father,

I just pray that

there's anyone here today

that hasn't

cried out to you,

recognized your authority

over death

and hell

and the grave.

Lord,

that they would just call

on the name of Jesus

even right now.

And if that's you

and you believe

and you just call

on that name,

that name

will give you life.

Much like the

Philippian jailer.

What must I do

to be saved?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord,

thank you.

Thank you for your power.

Lord,

that you're willing

to give it to us weaklings

that can do nothing

about

the day

that we pass over

from

this time

into eternity.

And yet,

you've done everything

we need

to

look towards

that day

with expectation.

Oh,

Lord,

that we might hear

those precious words.

Well done,

thou good and faithful servant.

Enter into the joy

of the Lord.

So,

Lord,

we love you.

We praise you.

We worship you.

And,

Lord,

increase our faith.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's all stand,

shall we?

Thank you.

Thank you.