Glenmore Temple Live

oh [Music] oh so [Applause] do [Applause] do [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] you [Music] you [Music] good morning everyone welcome to glenmore temple we're so excited that you're here this morning for those of you who are joining us online welcome we're so happy to have you with us as well and uh we're just excited to be able to be in the house of the lord on this long weekend and i know some of you are probably camping or vacationing or whatever and you may be joining us from there and that's great so welcome um we're gonna open with a prayer so if you'd like to bow your head with me let's pray together lord the eyes of all look to you in hope and you give them what they need you open your hand and satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing we too turn to you again longing to be filled to eat the bread of life to drink from your life-giving streams to taste your goodness and live may the time we spend together in your presence nourish our hearts and minds may it strengthen our relationship with you and renew our commitment to live in this world as your faithful disciples for you alone are god the source and sustainer of life in jesus name amen um i would like to mention that uh if you um you might have seen a messenger out on the little thing out there on the side uh there's some messengers there with announcements and different things in there so if you'd like to grab one of those if you don't have one um and they also come in your email if you get emails from us um and we do have some things coming up we are having our rally weekend and a couple of weeks and we are going to be still going ahead with that hopefully and we will take precautions and make sure we keep people safe but we still want to be able to celebrate um being back together so that's on the 18th and 19th so there was a slide on the screen before and there's information about that in your messenger so you can check that out we're going to begin this morning with a song with the band and it's number 73 in the song book so if you'd stand with me we're going to sing all hail the power of jesus name let's worship him together as we sing [Music] so [Music] wow uh [Music] you can be seated we're going to continue in worship and we're going to sing a few more songs together um i wanted to give you a little break so you wouldn't have to stand the whole time um i'm going to read from exodus chapter 15 and it says who is like you o lord among the gods who is like you majestic and holiness awesome and glorious deeds doing wonders you stretched out your right hand the earth swallowed them you have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode and so i was i wanted to read that because it says who is like you majestic and holiness awesome and glorious deeds and this song talks about how we shouldn't have any fear if we're standing in his love and i love the bridge that says there's power that can break off every chain there's power that can empty out the grave there's resurrection power that can save there's power in your name so let's stand together and let's declare that this morning let's believe in the power of jesus christ [Music] when darkness when darkness tries to roll over my bones [Music] when sorrow comes to steal the joy i own oh [Music] [Music] [Music] doesn't [Music] and shane no longer has a place to behind oh oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] there's [Music] is [Music] [Music] doesn't [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] let's declare this this morning i believe in the sun [Music] i believe in the reason why i believe i overcome by the power of his blood oh man [Music] [Music] let my song join the one that never [Music] [Music] i was dead in the grave i was i was covered in sin and shape i heard mercy call my name [Music] oh man for me [Music] i can face tomorrow [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] because [Music] [Music] amen because he lives you can be seated we are just going to take a few moments this morning for some reflective prayer and as we do we're going to listen to a video and we're going to take some time to reflect on hope the hope that comes from scripture and so we're going to listen to some scripture this morning so let's just close our eyes and let's meditate on him as we do [Music] for i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future [Music] so do not fear for i am with you do not be dismayed for i am your god i will strengthen you and help you i will uphold you with my righteous right hand [Music] [Music] create in me a clean heart o god and renew a steadfast spirit within me do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me open my lips lord and my mouth will declare your praise you do not delight in sacrifice or i would bring it you do not take pleasure and burn offerings my sacrifice o god is a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart you god will not despise [Music] [Music] [Music] i praise you because i'm fearfully and wonderfully made your works are wonderful i know that full well [Music] taste and see that the lord is good blessed is the one who takes refuge in him he lifted me out of the slimy pit out of the mud and mire he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand he put a new song in my mouth a hymn of praise to our god many will see and fear the lord and put their trust in him [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] our scripture passage today comes from john chapter 11 verses 17 to 27. when jesus arrived he found that lazarus had already been in the tomb four days now bethany was near jerusalem some two miles away and many of the jews had come to martha and mary to console them about their brother when martha heard that jesus was coming she went and met him and while mary stayed at home martha said to jesus lord if you had been here my brother would not have died but even now i know that god will give you whatever you ask of him jesus said to her your brother will rise again martha said to him i know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day jesus said to her i am the resurrection and the life those who believe in me even though they die will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die do you believe this she said to him yes lord i believe that you are the messiah the son of god the one coming into the world may the lord bless the reading of his word uh thank you to cadet tamara for reading the scripture for us all the way from winnipeg she's back at train college now so it's nice to be able to hear from her again we're going to sing a song just before major denise comes with the word this morning and this song says we call out to dry bones come alive and just as the psalmist said in the video we come with a broken spirit and so we call out to god help us to come alive fill our hearts with your spirit so that's what this song is saying so let's just make it a prayer as we sing it through the eyes of men it seems there's so much we have lost as we look down the road where all the prodigals have walked and one by one [Music] [Music] but we know that you are god yours is a victory we know there is more to come that we may not yet see so with the faith [Music] [Music] [Music] come alive [Music] [Music] [Music] come on [Music] of oh breathe the breath of [Music] god now be the breath of god free the breath of god now breathe the breath of god [Music] [Music] is amen well good morning everyone and what a delight it is for me to be here i'm i'm back i'm home it's been a long time uh i uh had some cadets here for the summer and gave them an opportunity to do some preaching and then i took a month's holiday and headed home to ontario and oh it was so good to be there and to just again be with family and friends and catch up on all kinds of things and then of course i had the honor of doing my niece's wedding uh just officiating her her wedding and i don't do we have a picture we do have a picture there we are she's my beautiful niece ashley and her husband nick and i have to tell you it was at a a a wedding venue in brussels ontario this little town in the middle of nowhere and this barn which you can't really tell is a barn was built specifically for weddings and it is just gorgeous and so everyone was feeling very good and i thought okay maybe i better go get my hair done you know i maybe should try to put an effort into it for my niece's wedding and i went and i got my my hair done but it just so happened that ontario is insane with uh humidity at the moment and so with humidity it felt like 40 42 degrees celsius like it was warm so i'm in the car i'm in the van the air conditioning is going i feel good my hair looks good i'm like yes it's going to be a great day and i pick up my sister and my nephew and we get to the place and i step out of the car and instantly the humidity went on my hair right back to this i was like okay but it was a good day anyway and uh we celebrated uh this love that has been they've been in love for 10 years and finally got married and so it was a beautiful day but it is good to be back isn't it uh i have to say uh it's good to be here even though we seem to be still dealing with the challenges of the pandemic oh how i wished we could start into september with it being different but it's not but we have learned this throughout the past year and a half haven't we that no matter what our circumstances god is with us he is here in this building and he is there with you wherever you are and he is still moving in our hearts he has not lost sight of us and we are still his children well we've been on a journey to get to know jesus better by looking at some of the i am statements that are found in the book of john and these statements or images have been have given us a glimpse into who jesus says he is and what his mission is these are his words that he tells us he says you want to know me well i am the bread of life the light of the world the gate for the sheep and the good shepherd he is the way the truth and the life and here today we're going to learn i am the resurrection and the life and again we want to look at uh the statement in the context in which it was spoken and so we need to look at what was happening where was jesus and why did he say what he said so we head to bethany to the home of martha and her siblings and i had to say i i like martha and mary and lazarus i like them we see them often in the bible a number of times and they weren't disciples they weren't jewish leaders they weren't even key people in that day but they were significant to jesus they were dear friends they were like family to him and we hear it over and over every time they're mentioned how jesus loved them in fact one of my favorite passages in the whole bible is in john chapter 12 verses 1-3 it's six days before the passover six days before jesus will go to the cross and will be crucified and die for our sins he's focused he has been intentionally moving towards jerusalem for a long time and he's very close and the closer he gets the more his mission is on his mind and yet here we are six days before and he stops in bethany at the home of his dear friends martha mary and lazarus and they are so happy to see him they're so excited that they throw a party for him they invite other friends in and there's lazarus and the disciples and jesus reclining at the table and they're laughing and telling stories and enjoying each other's company and there's martha in the kitchen doing what she does best what she loves to do she's cooking up a storm and making sure everyone has enough to eat and enough to drink but they're just really content and happy that they feel welcome and then of course there's mary and she comes in with this beautiful jar of of perfume and she kneels down at jesus feet and she pours it out on his feet and then very lovingly she takes her hair and she dries and washes his feet with her hair it's it's an amazing scene for me i love this scene because it's so close to the end there's jesus just days before his crucifixion and he's there with no agenda there's no teaching happening there's he's not desperately trying to communicate last-minute instructions to his disciples he just sets all of that aside and for a few hours he just simply enjoys being with his friends loving them as they love him that's the kind of relationship that i want to have with jesus but in this text in john chapter 11 which happens before the story i've just told you we find that it's a far less festive situation martha and mary are beside themselves with worry because their beloved brother is sick and he's really sick and he has just taken a turn for the worse and their first reaction is to send word to jesus verse 3 in chapter 11 the one you love is sick and here's where we see where jesus really is a close friend of lazarus because the sisters they're not just sending word to the miracle worker as if they would for calling a doctor they're actually sending word to a friend they're calling him home as they would call a family member he's sick this isn't good get home as soon as you can and then they waited they did everything they could to keep jesus alive until jesus arrived to keep lazarus alive until jesus arrived jesus meanwhile has a a different than expected response to this call to come home in verse 4 we read 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 and we're thinking yeah okay that's right yep he's concerned he's gonna get there he's gonna do something woohoo but then he says then it says now jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus so when he heard that lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days and then he said to his disciples let us go back to judea if it were you or i we'd have already booked our flights home wouldn't we we'd already be in the car trying to get there as quickly as possible but not jesus it seems a bit awkward to our sensibilities i mean it seems like maybe he's not getting the urgency of it and yet at the same time it appears that he has some knowledge of a future outcome and of course we know what that outcome is we've we've got the advantage of hindsight don't we we we know what's happening we know what will happen we are assured that jesus loves his friends and that in fact this sickness will not take lazarus's life we know jesus knows what he's doing but the sisters didn't know that can you imagine what it must have been like for them in those days waiting for jesus to come there they are at home waiting and waiting and worrying and and wondering will he ever get there will he ever make it in time will they be there to heal lazarus and they're constantly looking and listening has he come has he come wondering looking for any glimmer of hope but then in the end jesus didn't make it in time and lazarus did die in fact when jesus finally makes it there he arrives he's told that lazarus has already been dead for four days it didn't take anyone long to to see that martha had actually kicked into high gear i mean she was taking care of everything she'd arranged for all the details of the funeral and the burial she'd sent words to the friends in in jerusalem she'd arranged for the mourners to come she'd arranged everything and when she heard jesus was just up the road while she headed running straight towards him verse 21. lord if you had been here my brother would not have died now however you say that her greeting is a rebuke it comes tumbling out of her before she can think of what she's saying and before she can stop herself was she grieving yes very much so very deeply she was grieving was she angry probably i mean we know martha right we know she has a temper we saw that back in another encounter where martha came storming out of the kitchen angry that her sister mary wasn't back there helping her we know she got angry martha doesn't hold back if she's mad you know it but i think there was more to it i think there was also this genuine disappointment like jesus had let her down if only you had arrived earlier if only you had been here the jews believed that when a person died their soul hovered over and around their body for three days before it finally departed so even though jesus didn't get there in time to heal lazarus if he had arrived even just one day sooner mary figured there was a good chance that he could have asked god to bring her brother back to life she knew jesus well enough that he would do it could do it in fact he had brought other people back to life she knew that but after four days after four days it was too late the soul had already gone and the body had begun to stink martha's reaction is a bit uncomfortable for us should you rebuke the lord should you be angry with god martha's response is honest and real and if we're honest our initial response can often be similar when in a crisis and we've prayed and prayed and pleaded with god to intervene and things haven't turned out how we expected or wanted them to and we experienced that initial wave of grief and anger and sometimes disappointment and we ask where are you jesus how come why martha's next response is also how many people of faith respond and react in those kinds of situations you see her faith kicks in almost instantly it's obvious that martha has not spent all of her time in the kitchen she's been listening and learning she is aware of the traditions and teachings of her faith she knows what i would call the sunday school answers of her faith because she instantly goes into a series of of answers that where she's just simply stating what she knows to be the truth what she has learned is the truth and even though in that moment it may not feel like it's the truth she knows what she knows that she knows and she hangs on to that a very good thing to do right i mean we we understand that we do the same thing you hear me repeating it all the time god is good god is for us god loves us he hears and answers prayer he has not forsaken us he has not forgotten us he is with us we know those things those are basics of our faith and we say them to encourage one another and while i often challenge people to think beyond sunday school answers because there is so much more to know there are times when standing on the foundations of our faith is the only thing that keeps us going is the very thing that keeps us going so here's martha verse 22. but i know that even now god will give you whatever you ask jesus said to her your brother will rise again and martha answered i know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day in other words what she was saying was you're right there's not going to be a miracle happen today but years from now just as god will bring back to life all the righteous people my brother will be brought back from the dead to live life once more you see that was their understanding they didn't have a clear picture of any kind of afterlife but they did believe that at the end of days when the messiah would come all israel would be redeemed and god would bring the righteous back to life to live in that new kingdom martha knew that there was a day of resurrection coming that the almighty god had the power to bring his people back to life but that was a long way off that wasn't here and now jesus looks at martha and he says in verse 25 i am the resurrection and the life the one who believes in me will live even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die do you believe this suddenly it all makes sense doesn't it i mean this is why jesus waited two days before starting out for bethany this is why 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 jesus had intentionally arrived on the fourth day so that there would be no question that lazarus was dead dead dead beyond hope dead every time i read this i think of the remember that movie the princess bride did anyone ever see the princess bride where and and you've got billy crystal is miracle max and he explains that he's able to help wesley because he's only mostly dead which means that he's partially alive but then again if he's dead dead that's a whole other story jesus arrived when there was no question that lazarus was dead and it's here that jesus makes some huge and shocking and significant claims he's not saying hey it's not too late i can still ask the father he'll bring him back don't worry he's not saying that what he's saying is he's actually declaring that he is the divine power that brings the dead back to life he is the divine power that brings the dead back to life he is the divine power that death cannot hold he says i am the resurrection and then he declares that he is also the divine source of all life not just for the living but for the dead i am the life the one who believes in me will live even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die in other words he's saying if you believe in me your spirit will live even if your body dies and if your spirit is alive because of me death will not be your end you will live forever why is that important because every single one of us was born dead in sin while our bodies are alive our spirits we're not we have adam and eve to thank for that and it's only when we've accepted this gift of salvation this gift of life that jesus offers us that our sins are forgiven and that the holy spirit comes in and breathes new life into our spirits and brings them to life and when our spirits are alive in christ we have life here on earth and when our earthly bodies die we instantly then have life in heaven with jesus in our new bodies bodies that are fit for eternity bodies that won't break down and won't get sick and won't grow weary what a great day that's going to be i'm telling you we are welcomed into the fullness of life dale moody a famous preacher from the victorian era once said someday you will read in the papers that d.l moody of east north field is dead don't you believe a word of it at that moment i shall be more alive than i am now the apostle paul puts it this way in ephesians 2 but because of his great love for us god who is rich in mercy made us alive with christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved and god raised us up with christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in christ jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in christ jesus the sickness will not end in death no it is for the glory it is for god's glory so that god's son may be glorified through it martha instantly believed what jesus was telling her i love her faith i want that kind of faith i hope i have that kind of faith but to help the others know the truth as well jesus asked to be taken to the tomb and when he saw mary and the others weeping in his humanness he too was overwhelmed with the grief and pain of the situation and he broke down and he wept with them it wasn't just crying it wasn't just you know a few tears he wasn't just choked up a little he was wailing and weeping and sobbing he wept and grieved with them and then he went to the tomb and he ordered the stone to be removed from the entrance and of course there's martha again being very practical going oh hey no no jesus wait you don't want to do that it is not good in there you don't want to go there but jesus insists and in verse 41 we read so they removed the stone then jesus raised his eyes and said father i thank you that you heard me i know that you always hear me but because of the crowd standing here i said this so that they may believe you sent me and after he said this he shouted with a loud voice lazarus come out and the dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth and jesus said to them unwrap him and let him go i am the resurrection and the life do you believe this have you experienced that moment of salvation when the holy spirit has breathed new life into your spirit if you're not sure you can know for sure today it's simple jesus says believe in him believe that he is who he says he is believed that he did what he said he would do that he died on a cross in atonement for our sins and he made it possible for you to be forgiven and made holy and welcomed into the family of god today is the day that invitation is being given jesus is asking do you believe this and this morning you may want to respond yes and if that's so i would simply invite you to come and to pray or you can pray where you are and let us know jesus will not turn anyone away this is why he came because he is the resurrection and the life and if you have experienced that moment if you are sure of your salvation how's life how's this kingdom living going for you today how's your soul life's been a challenge i mean in the last two years this pandemic has really been hard on everyone especially on our soul it's been oppressive and exhausting and at times extremely disappointing right we came with great expectations that in the next few weeks we'd have everybody back where we belong and we're disappointed to know that we're gonna have to keep on working towards the goal and that can be really discouraging and hard on us and this morning it might be that you are feeling a lot like lazarus wrapped in the grave clothes and needing to be set free today is the day the invitation is for you as well jesus is shouting your name come out and this morning you may also want to respond and the invitation for you to pray is for you as well jesus said i am the resurrection and the life jesus is the one who brings the dead back to life jesus is the one who is the true source of life jesus is the one who unwraps the grave clothes and sets you free to live the fullness of life here in this moment and in every moment we face in the days coming do you believe this do you need this to be set free and have new life breathe in again new strength given from the inside out do you need a resurrection morning in your soul today we want to take a time to pray and to reflect i'm going to ask the worship team to come and this can become our prayer the the song that they're going to sing that we're going to sing with them can become our prayer because it simply says just as i am just as i am and it can be our step of faith to say yes jesus i believe you and even though it might feel difficult it might feel challenging we might feel exhausted and disappointed we believe what we know that we know so we want to turn once more to him i was told colonel bill last week talked on the story of lazarus as well and i'm glad to say that our message is the same that there is resurrection power in the name of jesus christ that it is in the resurrection power of jesus christ that we are set free that freedom is ours to take and so this morning i just want to encourage you if you've been feeling weary or dry or just uncertain or afraid that this morning jesus invites us to come to him to be resurrected resurrected again to be breathed life into us again to be reminded that he is here that all that he's told us is true his promises are firm and that we are indeed his people and in his hands let's pray heavenly father we want to thank you so much for this day and we do want to thank you because we do know you love us jesus we know you love us we know that we are your chosen people and we're so very grateful for that moment when your spirit breathed new life into our spirits and brought us alive again and we want to thank you for your faithfulness to see us through every day of our faith ever since and so we come to you this morning in complete trust in who you are and your ability to resurrect new life in us again new strength in us again new hope in us again new comfort and joy in us again and so we come before you just as we are with our needs with our weariness with our discouragements knowing that you hear us that you care for us and that you will indeed breathe this new life into us and so as we pray as we reflect as we come before you this morning we ask and father indeed that you would draw close and revive us again let this be our resurrecting morning and we pray this in the name of jesus amen but [Music] [Music] of god just i am so [Music] oh [Music] to be here [Music] i praise god [Music] just as i am [Music] my [Music] day [Music] god [Music] you [Music] is [Music] two [Music] is [Music] whenever [Music] arms praise god just amen i hope you feel that this morning i hope that from major denise's um message this morning that you have realized that there is so much power within us because that resurrection power that comes from jesus christ and so this morning as we leave we're going to sing it's the song that says i'll go i'll go in the strength and we believe that this morning we believe that no matter how we come he meets us and he sends us out with his strength and so this morning i hope that you have felt that that you've come just as you are and you've asked god to receive you as you are and whatever you're going through he takes that and he just gives us his strength and we're so thankful for that this morning so i'm going to ask that you would stand with us and we're going to sing with the band i'll go i'll go in the strength i'll go in the strength of the lord [Music] so [Music] do [Music] so [Music] amen now from ephesians 3 chapter verses 20 to 21 it says now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think according to the power at work within us to him be glory in the church and in christ jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen go in the strength of the lord and i hope you have a wonderful week god bless you you

Channel: Glenmore Live

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Id: XCJArGcNvZs

Length: 74min 46sec (4486 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021