Elevate Monroe
Easter at Elevate APR 5
How does it feel when the people with power have no URGENCY for your EMERGENCY?
John 11:1-6
Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
Jesus Delays.
Lazarus Dies.
John 11:14-17
So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.”
Day Three.
There’s Still Hope.
Day Four.
All Hope is Lost.
John 11:20-23
When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
What happens when you die?
Nothing.
The good news of atheism — the gospel of atheism — is essentially: nothing; that nothing happens after death.
— Sam Harris
There is no heaven or afterlife … that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
— Stephen Hawking, The Guardian, 2011
Atheism does not have an answer to that question that connects all the emotional dots (death) … I think we just have to admit that there is nothing that’s truly rational to believe that could pay us the same kind of emotional dividends.
— Sam Harris
What happens when you die?
Nothing.
Something.
I was an atheist. I thought that lives were short and sweet and then you die...
— Howard Storm
Our heart is restless until it rests in Thee
— St. Augustine
John 11:23-24
Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
You Already Have a Philosophy About Life After Death
Martha's answer is philosophically and theologically correct … and insufficient for this moment
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:32-35
Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see…
Jesus.
Wept.
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Elevate Monroe
I Am the Vine (17th Birthday) MAR 29
Abide in Me
- Jesus
John 15:1, 5
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener... I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
Jeremiah 2:21
But I was the one who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine?
Vine analogy on the OT:
Isaiah 5 : Wild Vines produce Sour Grapes
Hosea 10 : Spreading Vine that Serves Itself
Ezekiel 15 : A Fruitless Vine is only Fit for the Fire
John 15:1-10
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit…
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Abide in Christ
Faithful
Faithfulness flows from CONNECTION not PERFORMANCE
Abide
Greek: menō = to stay, remain, or dwell as an active, deliberate, continuous choice.
Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellence and endowments of humankind
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
2 Timothy 2:13
If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
Abide in Christ
Faithful
Fruitful
John 15:16
I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.
Fruitfulness is for the benefit of OTHERS
Whatever is done out of pure love, be it ever so little or contemptible in the sight of men, is wholly fruitful; for God measures more with how much love one works than the amount he does.
- Ellen White
Abide in Christ
Faithful
Fruitful
Fulfill the Law of Christ
John 15:12
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Abide in Christ to become what we were always meant to be:
FAITHFUL, FRUITFUL, and FREE to LOVE.