Believe Again

The thing s that God has for you are for you, not for God. He wants you to live a fulfilled life and you will never feel fulfilled until you know why you are here.

Church is not where you come get your weekly spanking. You will not hear me doing that.

Jesus did not come to bad people good, he came to make dead people alive.

Jesus did not come so you could be good. He wants to take every place in you that’s dead and make you alive.

Funerals - I think that the person who is dead is actually more alive and anyone of us there.

On day you will hear that I have died. Don’t believe it because in that moment I will be more alive than ever! Billy Graham.

Boudreaux joke - Thibidoux - I want people to say he was a good family man… loved his wife, kids,..

Guidry - He made a difference in community

Boudreaux - Look he’s moving...

Romans 8:11 NLT

11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

It was never intended just to be a holiday for us to enjoy, it was mean to give live to every part of your life.

The resurrection of Jesus gives you the power to close the gap between the life you are living and could have.

I have just a little time to convince you of that… to get you to believe again.

“Easter is death working backwards.” CS Lewis

Instead of going from life to death, you can go from death to life…

Whats the catch? What do I have to do to make this happen. People think that God is requiring more of you than he is. You see the apostles and think that you can’t relate to them.

You will find that you relate better than you think… listen to Paul

2 Corinthians 1:8–9 The Message

8 We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. 9 We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!

Abraham

Romans 4:17 NLT

17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

What do you have to do for the death process to be reversed? for your life to be better?

Not a lot. You just have to believe.

Look at this story… one of the people he raised from the dead… Lazarus

John 11:1–6 NIV

1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,

The one Jesus really loved was sick… one of his best friends. Point -

God is not motivated to help you based on your love for him, but on his love for you.

He waited two days… sometimes God seems to move slow. But God is using the situation to do something bigger in us.

John 11:11–16 NLT

11 Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” 12 The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” 13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14 So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.” 16 Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”

Sometimes we reason with God based on what we understand and we have no idea what God is doing on our behalf.

so that you may believe…

When Jesus does something that boggles our mind, he doesn’t want us to figure it out, he wants us to believe.

John 11:17–26 NLT

17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18 Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

Jews believed the spirit hovered over the body for 3 days so Jesus waited until the 4th day so Lazarus was really dead.

Ressurection is not an event… it’s a person -Jesus.

Do you believe this?

That’s the question to us today… do we believe?

Death Valley Story -

Death Valley is the hottest, driest place in our country. It’s desert, it’s cracked.

December 2004, 7 inches of rain fell in a few days and by Easter 2005 flowers were there. Death Valley wasn’t dead, it was dormant. right beneath the surface of what looked so dead, was potential… where life could happen.

Beneath the surface of your messed up life… are seeds waiting for a resurrection.

Pray -

Ephesians 1:19–20 The Living Bible

19 I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is that same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in heaven,

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ABCD

A - I’m already in a rela relationship with Jesus

B - I’m not sure. I’m beginning a real relationship with Jesus

C - I’d like to consider it a bit more first. Can I just come and sit and listen and consider what you are talking about?

D - I don’t ever intend on making that decision.

A - I’m already in a real relationship with Jesus

B - I’m beginning a real relationship with Jesus

C - I’d like to consider it a bit more first.

D - I don’t ever intend on making that decision.

Pray

Lord let this moment the moment that changes everything… where death comes to life. Since you gave your life for me, today, I am giving my life to you.