Jesus' raising of Lazarus from the dead is more than a miraculous event; it's a powerful demonstration of His identity as the Son of God and the source of eternal life. This account challenges us to examine our faith, especially in difficult circumstances. Do we truly believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? His power over death offers hope not just for this life, but for eternity. Even when all seems lost, Christ calls us to trust in Him, for He has conquered death and offers life to all who believe.
The sermon emphasises the importance of truly knowing Jesus beyond mere belief in God or adherence to religious practices. The preacher recounts an anecdote about a bumper sticker and explores how superficial expressions of faith can sometimes misrepresent our deeper convictions. Through key scripture references, including a poignant interaction between Jesus and His disciple Philip, the sermon underlines that being a Christian is fundamentally about having a personal, transformative relationship with Christ. This relationship goes beyond simply knowing about Jesus or following religious rituals; it involves an intimate, experiential knowledge that impacts one's entire life and identity. The sermon invites listeners to reflect on the depth of their faith and encourages a journey towards truly knowing and experiencing Jesus.
"He claimed to be the good shepherd. He claimed to be the one that spoke from God. He did it with authority as we've been learning in the morning surfaces. And, looking at the Beatitudes there, and Jesus, this one, was somehow not accepted by the Jewish leaders, and they couldn't grasp the fact that when they challenged Him. Tell us plainly tell us plainly whether you are the Christ or not and his answer was basically don't my works display when you see the Father's works turning up through me, when you see I'm doing the works of my Father, doesn't it show you who I am. My identity with the father. By identity I mean that the Father's the Father, and He's the Son."
"People say to me coming into the church that this season it's great to see the idea of joy being expressed by the church and our singing people have done that for us today in leading us and it was excellent and we thank you. And that's a part of why Christmas carols are so loved and utilised around the world... Now I like the one that we just sang because it's capturing another point of the truth of why Jesus came. He came to bring an answer to a problem that we had and it's been a very honest worded song. Come all you unfaithful."
"Have you ever wondered why the Gospel calls us to make a confession of Christ? And it's rather interesting in evangelism when you know that the message itself is asked for people to believe. But the way that Jesus talked to the crowds, he sometimes finished up with calling on them to make a response."
"When I came here, I was full of crises, and I want to share with you some of the things that God did in my life, from the Book of James."