Christ our Resurrection and Life

Transcription

1 April 4, 2013 Christ our Resurrection and Life Home Time is a weekly devotional that follow s Dr. Brooks weekend message. If you d like to listen to the message, please to go How to use Home Time: Home Time can be used as a daily devotional throughout the week for your person quiet time, with your family or Bible study group. Home Time includes suggestions for families with preschoolers, elementary children, and teenagers. Memorize: John 11:25, Jesus said to her (Martha), I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? Read: John 11:21-27 Paul says "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" And we like to agree with him and even sing that line in songs. Unfortunately, there are times when we don't fully agree with that verse and we feel the sting of death. Mary and Martha were feeling that sting in this passage. Their brother, Jesus' friend, Lazarus was dead! And even more startling was the fact that Jesus did not come to their assistance right away. In fact, he waited two days and by the time he arrived, Lazarus was already in the tomb! Could it be that at times we must face suffering as followers of Christ? To follow in his footsteps, the one who suffered for all our sins? The beauty of the passage is that Jesus has the last say on death! He is the resurrection and life. Worship Suggestions: Worship is loving God in all of our life. Below are suggestions you can apply to your life through upward, inward, and outward worship. Upward Worship. Upward worship is giving praise and adoration to God. It is recognizing and confessing who God is, in His nature and power. (Hebrews 13:15) Attribute of God: God is Holy

2 Scripture: Acts 3:13-15, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over to be killed, and you disowned Him before Pilate, though he had decided to let Him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. In our Easter service we sang the hymn, He Lives. Worship Jesus by singing the hymn and reflecting on its lyrics. He Lives by Alfred H. Ackley, Hymn number 269 from the Tallowood Hymnal. I serve a risen Savior, He s in the world today; I know that He is living, whatever men may say; I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him, He s always near. Chorus: He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life s narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart. An additional song of worship is Matt Maher s song, Christ is Risen. Worship God with Matt Maher singing, Christ is Risen. Click Here for the YouTube video. Inward Worship. Inward worship refers to worshiping God through our personal behavior. Ephesians 5:8-10 gives an example of worshiping God through our goodness, righteousness and truth. Inward Attribute: Believe that Jesus gives life. John 11:25, I am the resurrection and the life. John 1:1, 4, 14: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Galatians 5:1, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Reflect: Do you believe that Jesus is your resurrection and the life? He can give you eternal life (John 3:16) and the refreshing joy of living water every day (John 7:37-38). Do you live bound by the shame of past sins? If so, Jesus has come to set you free! Lazarus was dead for 4 days before Jesus arrived. He was wrapped in grave clothes, lying in a tomb with a stone rolled in front of entrance. Jesus knew of Lazarus illness and death (John 11:11, 13). Jesus planned and performed a miracle!!! He gave life to Lazarus! He ordered that the stone be rolled away, Martha stated that the tomb would stink, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! Lazarus came out with grave clothes wrapped around his hands, feet, body and head. Jesus ordered for the grave clothes to be taken off. We have promises from our precious Jesus. He is life, He gives life, He resurrects life. He showed us life in Himself. He demonstrated the resurrection of life in Lazarus. What

3 were the first words Jesus spoke after He told Lazarus to come out? He said, Take off the grave clothes and let him go. (John 11:44). Jesus said He was the resurrection and life (John 11:25). We can believe that Jesus resurrects us from eternal death and from our sin, but do we live daily in the new life He gives us? Some of us may be walking around with stinky grave clothes of our past sin and shame that we can t let go of. Jesus ordered for Lazarus s grave clothes to be taken off, for him to be unbound from the wrappings that hold him. As you continue reflect on Jesus life and resurrection in your life, ask yourself what may be keeping you bound in grave clothes of your past rather than walking in the newness of life that Jesus gives. Jesus has set you free! He truly lives! Outward Worship Outward worship reflects our love for God and others through our actions. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16. Outward Attribute: Service. Galatians 5:13, You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Share Jesus by serving your family, co-workers, and neighbors with love this week. Here are some ideas for service: o Bake some goodies to share with your neighbor. Put a pretty ribbon around the goodies and include a note of appreciation with a Bible verse. o Go to your nearest garden store to buy a blooming plant to give to someone special. Include a note of appreciation with a Bible verse. o Take out the trash without being asked. o Ask your friend or co-worker how you can help lighten their load of responsibilities this week. Additional Home Time Suggestions are given below for families with preschoolers, children and teenagers. For Families with Preschoolers: Talking with your preschool child about Easter is something many parents are intimidated to do. It may help you to know that at Tallowood we don t begin introducing the idea of Jesus dying on the cross and raising again on the 3 rd day until Pre-Kindergarten. With children 3 years old and younger we emphasis that yes, Easter is about Jesus. Easter is about how special Jesus is, how much He loves us and how we love Him. With all children, it is important to emphasize that while it is fun to eat chocolate and hunt Easter eggs, that really isn t what Easter is all about. Easter is about Jesus! Use these questions below to figure out what your child understands about Easter. Try not to prompt them or give them more information than they can handle. Allow them to set the pace for

4 the conversation. If they have questions, great! If they only listen to you for 2 minutes and want to run off and play, that is fine too. When I say Easter what comes to mind? (expect answers like bunnies, Easter lilies or pretty dresses) Do you know what events happened in the Bible on Easter weekend? Do you know what a miracle is? A miracle is something only God can do! After Jesus died on the cross (an indepth explanation of salvation is more likely for an older child), he rose again on Easter Sunday! That s a miracle! In his sermon this past Sunday, Pastor Brooks mentioned another miracle. Jesus raised a man named Lazarus from the dead. That is another great miracle! This week find time to do this activity together. 1. Gather these supplies: crescent rolls, large marshmallows, melted butter, cinnamon & sugar mixture 2. Dip the marshmallow in the melted butter, then the cinnamon & sugar 3. Wrap the marshmallow in a crescent roll, pinch the sides around the marshmallow very tightly, you don t want the marshmallow to ooze out! 4. Bake according to instructions on the crescent roll can. 5. When done, open the roll to find that the marshmallow is gone! Just like Jesus tomb was empty! It s a miracle! For Families with Children (Grades 1-5): Read John 11:25 together. Recall with your child how Jesus took the punishment for our wrongs by dying on the cross. Explain that God made Him alive again just a couple of days later. We celebrate this on Easter Sunday. What amazing news! But before Jesus died and was made alive again, He said and did some incredible things that showed us what God is like and how He hopes we will live. One of the awesome things Jesus did had to do with His friend, Lazarus. Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha were good friends of Jesus. They spent time together and enjoyed hanging out. One day when Jesus went out of town, His good friend Lazarus got sick. He got so sick that he died. When Jesus came back to town, Martha went to meet Him. She was so sad. She missed her brother. She told Jesus she knew if He had been around, Lazarus would still be alive. She knew Jesus had the power to do all things. Martha talked some more to Jesus, and then Jesus told her that when someone believes in Him that person s body might die just like Lazarus had died. But God will make their inside person alive and they will live forever with Him. Jesus then went to where Lazarus had been placed when he died. He was buried in a tomb which is mostly like a little cave with a big rock door to close it up. At the tomb, Jesus cried. He was sad because He loved Lazarus. But then Jesus did something really different. He told the people

5 with Him to move away the stone in front of Lazarus tomb. The people thought this was weird because Lazarus had been dead for four days. But they did what Jesus asked. Jesus said in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. And even though Lazarus life had ended and he had been dead, there he was again! He came out of that tomb because Jesus had made him alive again! Can you picture how happy everyone must have been? Can you imagine how Lazarus must have felt? The rest of Lazarus life, he must have thought every day about how Jesus had made him live again. Mary and Martha must have remembered how their brother had been dead but Jesus changed that when He made Lazarus live again. This story is great news! Not just for Lazarus and his family, but for us too! When we love and trust Jesus, we can know He never leaves us. We can know He loves us and we will someday live forever with Him in Heaven. For Families with Students (Grades 6-12) Hey Student! It is Easter! Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! Before we begin our time together, please click on the link in Upward Worship to listen and worship God with Matt Maher and his song Christ is Risen. Isn t that an awesome song?! It speaks of wonderful truth of our Jesus. Dr. Brooks taught the story of Lazarus in his Easter sermon. Take a moment to read John 11: Our memory verse from this reading is John 11:25, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live. Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary and Martha. They were His friends. Jesus was grieved and full of compassion when he saw Mary and Martha s sorrow over Lazarus death. Jesus demonstrated His love by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus said in a loud voice, Lazarus Come out! (John 11:43). He came walking out with his grave clothes on. And the next command Jesus gave was, Take off the grave clothes and let him go. Jesus gave Lazarus life again! What a miracle! Jesus gives us life too! We are bound by our sin like Lazarus was bound by his grave clothes. Jesus offers forgiveness of our sin and gives us a new life with Him. In closing, worship Jesus with the chorus of Matt Maher s song, Christ has risen from the dead, we are one with Him again! Come Awake, Come Awake, Come and Rise up from the Grave.