Resurrecting Power of Community
Ephesians 4:16-18 NLT
He makes the whole body FIT TOGETHER PERFECTLY. As each
part does its own SPECIAL WORK, it helps the other parts grow, so
that the whole body is HEALTHY AND GROWING AND FULL OF
LOVE. With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the
Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly CONFUSED. Their minds are full
of DARKNESS; they wander far from the life God gives because they
have closed their minds and HARDENED THEIR HEARTS against
him.
Jesus Can Resurrect But …
- You need someone to know you’re falling asleep.
John 11:11 NLT
Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go
and wake him up.”
Acts 20:7-9 NASB
On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to
break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next
day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many
lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there
was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking
into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by
sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.
Eutychus Made Two Mistakes:
- He shouldn’t have been hanging out at an exit.
- He should’ve had someone close enough to wake him up.
Even if you are in a church of 10,000 people, you still need those 10
people whoa re close enough to have their eyes fixed on you.
Acts 20:10 NASB
But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he
said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.”
2. You need someone to have you on their prayer list.
John 11:20-22 NASB
Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to
meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus,
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even
now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
James 5:16 NLT
… the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and
produces wonderful results.
Proverbs 17:17 NKJV
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
3. You need someone to help you get delivered.
John 11:38 AKJV
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to THE GRAVE. It
was a CAVE, and a STONE lay upon it.
1 Peter 5:8 NKJV
Be sober, BE VIGILANT; because YOUR ADERSARY the devil walks
about LIKE A ROARING LION, seeking whom he may devour.
Oftentimes, the whisper of a kitty cat turns into the roar of a lion
inside the cave of isolation.
You can be resurrected but not delivered.
It was God who resurrected Lazarus from the dead, but it was people
who delivered him from the grave clothes.
4. You need to be that someone.
A good neighbor will keep watch.
1 Peter 5:8 NKJV
Be sober, BE VIGILANT …
1127 grēgoreúō – literally, “stay awake”; (figuratively) be vigilant
(responsible, watchful).
Mark 14:36-37 NASB
And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You;
remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” And
He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are
you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?”
Revelation 3:1-3 NASB
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven
Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that
you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and
strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I
have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So
remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and
repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and
you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”
Romans 13:9-14 NKJV
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall
not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,”
“You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all
summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the
fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when
we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore
let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of
light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and
drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill
its lusts.