Called From Death to Life: Mending the Broken

Devotional

Day 1: God’s power to bring new life from death.

The story of Lazarus is a profound testament to God’s ability to bring life where there seems to be only death. It is a reminder that no situation is too far gone for divine intervention. Jesus called Lazarus by name out of the tomb, demonstrating that His power transcends even our deepest despair. This narrative invites us to trust in a God who specializes in resurrection. We are encouraged to believe that new beginnings are always possible through Christ. [35:29]

“Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’” (John 11:43-44 NIV)

Reflection: What is one area in your life—a relationship, a dream, or a part of your own heart—that feels like it has been closed off or has “died,” and how might God be inviting you to believe in the possibility of new life there?

Day 2: Hope is found in what God makes possible.

The world often presents us with limitations and impossibilities, but God’s kingdom operates on a different principle. When Jesus raised Lazarus, He shattered the expectation of what could be. This act was not just a miracle for one family but a sign for all of God’s power to do the unimaginable. Our hope is not rooted in our own strength but in the God for whom nothing is impossible. Seeing what God has done renews our faith for what He can do. [41:29]

“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?” (John 11:25-26 NIV)

Reflection: Where have you stopped hoping for change because a situation has felt impossible for too long, and what would it look like to offer that situation to God in prayer this week?

Day 3: Our call to participate in God’s mending work.

We are not called to be passive observers of the world’s brokenness but active participants in God’s work of restoration. The call to “take away the stone” was an invitation for Martha and the community to participate in the miracle. God often uses our hands and hearts to bring about healing and new life. We are invited to offer intentional acts of love and care, trusting that God uses them to mend what is broken. [19:32]

“Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone.” (John 11:40-41 NIV)

Reflection: What is one “stone”—a practical obstacle, a fear, or a reluctance—that God might be asking you to help move so that His life-giving power can be more clearly seen in your community?

Day 4: God’s grace reaches us even in our decay.

There is no place so dark and no heart so hardened that God’s grace cannot reach it. The phrase “he stinketh” from the King James Version highlights the reality of decay, yet Jesus was not deterred. This is a powerful metaphor for the parts of our lives that feel beyond repair—our compassion, our zeal, our love. God’s specialty is calling these dead things back to life, offering us redemption and renewal no matter how far gone we feel. [57:47]

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’” (John 11:23-25 NIV)

Reflection: Is there an aspect of your faith—like compassion for others or a desire to share God’s love—that has felt dormant or “dead” for a while? What would be one small step to invite Jesus to breathe new life into it?

Day 5: Believing God’s promise for the present moment.

Jesus challenged Martha to move her faith from a future hope to a present reality. He declared, “I am the resurrection,” emphasizing that God’s power is for here and now. We are often tempted to relegate God’s promises to a distant future, but Christ calls us to live in the reality of His kingdom today. This means actively trusting in His power to bring life, hope, and restoration into our current circumstances. [47:51]

“Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’” (John 11:40 NIV)

Reflection: In what practical area of your life—your work, your family, or your own spiritual journey—is God inviting you to stop waiting for a future “someday” and to start living in the “okayness” of His presence and power today?

Sermon Summary

Baseball optimism opens the reflection, using opening-week hope as an image for the Christian life: everyone has a chance, and hope pushes possibilities into view. Announcements about Lenten study, soup-and-sermon, special one-service Sundays, and a youth leader’s successful fundraising set a practical context of community care and shared purpose. A quoted insight—“all things break and all things can be mended, not with time but with intentional love and care”—frames the central ethic: respond to brokenness not with despair but with deliberate acts of love that stitch life back together.

John 11’s Lazarus narrative structures the central theology. The story insists that resurrection belongs to the present as much as to the future: “I am the resurrection and the life” claims immediate, actionable hope rather than deferred consolation. The text’s emotional core—“Jesus wept”—and the dramatic command to unbind Lazarus emphasize both God’s compassion and God’s power to call the dead back into life. That power reaches into places already decaying; even what “stinketh” remains within reach of renewal.

Historical and personal anecdotes reinforce the pattern: once people witness possibility—Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile, or a do-it-yourself video demystifying car maintenance—the formerly impossible moves within grasp. Seeing new life accomplished cultivates confidence to attempt transformation. The gospel therefore demands a present response: do not postpone the work of the kingdom by relegating change to a distant eschaton. Scripture exerts power when its claims alter behavior and spur communities toward concrete acts of care.

The narrative closes by declaring that nothing lies beyond God’s reach. Decayed compassion, deadened zeal, or buried gifts can revive because calling from death to life constitutes Christ’s specialty. The congregation receives an invitation to practice resurrection: unbind what constrains, tend what seems beyond repair, and act now to mend a fractured world through intentional love and faithful work.

Key Takeaways

1. Intentional love mends brokenness Intentional acts of care make mending practical rather than theoretical. When attention, time, and deliberate service meet a fracture, repair becomes real and measurable. The work of healing demands disciplined, repeated gestures rather than passive waiting, and each sustained act reorients communities toward life. [18:05]
2. Resurrection belongs to the present Resurrection language in John 11 asserts present transformation, not only future hope. The claim “I am the resurrection and the life” pushes believers to expect and enact renewal in ordinary time. Waiting for a distant resolution risks abdicating responsibility; believing in present resurrection mobilizes immediate compassion and justice. [33:10]
3. No one lies beyond God’s reach Lazarus’ return after four days demonstrates that decay does not define finality. What appears irrecoverable still answers to a voice that calls by name; grace penetrates the depths of apparent ruin. This conviction reshapes mission: outreach must target the most hopeless places because divine initiative persists there. [58:19]
4. Seeing possibility unlocks action Witnessing one person succeed or one miracle completed alters communal imagination and expands what people dare attempt. Once the barrier falls in a single case, others adopt new standards of possibility and invest effort accordingly. Spiritual renewal often follows visible examples that reconfigure belief into practice. [37:52]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:28] - Baseball, hope, and predictions
[02:28] - Lenten study and events
[04:20] - Lily’s fundraising celebration
[08:14] - Call to worship and hymns
[11:40] - Opening prayer: faith vs doubt
[14:33] - Scripture readings (Romans & Psalm)
[30:23] - Gospel reading: Lazarus account
[37:52] - Bannister story: possibility revealed
[43:35] - Resurrection: present and urgent
[60:30] - No one too far gone
[66:36] - Offering, hymn, and benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading: John 11:1-45 (NIV)

Observation questions

In the story of Lazarus, what were the two different understandings of resurrection expressed by Martha and Jesus? (John 11:23-26)
What was the physical condition of Lazarus when Jesus arrived, and what was Martha's practical concern about moving the stone? (John 11:39)
According to the sermon, what happens to our belief about what is possible once we see someone else accomplish it? [41:05]
The sermon suggests that a common tendency is to push the "okayness" of God's kingdom to a future time. What effect does this have on our present responsibility? [48:09]

Interpretation questions

Jesus states, "I am the resurrection and the life" in the present tense. How does this statement challenge a view of resurrection that is only about a future event after death?
The story emphasizes that Lazarus had been dead for four days and that there would be an odor. What does this detail communicate about the extent and power of Jesus's life-giving call?
The sermon connects the story of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile to this passage. How does seeing a miracle or a breakthrough change a community's imagination and willingness to attempt the seemingly impossible? [39:49]
If the power of Scripture is realized when it changes our lives and perspective, what might be the difference between simply reading John 11 and incorporating its claim that resurrection is for the present? [50:12]

Application questions

"All things break and all things can be mended, not with time, but with intentional love and care." [18:05] What is one specific, broken situation in your life or community that you have been dismayed by or passively waiting to improve? What is one small, intentional act of love or care you could perform this week to begin mending it?
What is one area in your life that feels "dead" or has started to decay—perhaps a compassion that has withered, a zeal that has faded, or a gift that has gone unused? [54:47] How can you actively invite Jesus to call that part of you by name back to life?
The claim that "resurrection belongs to the present" means we have a responsibility to build God's kingdom now, not push it to the future. [47:51] Where have you made excuses by thinking a problem is just "the way it is until Jesus comes"? What is one practical step you can take this week to instead be an agent of that present resurrection?
Who do you know that you or others might consider "too far gone," either in their circumstances, their beliefs, or their actions? [57:47] How does the story of Lazarus challenge that perception, and how might it change how you pray for or interact with that person?
Just as seeing a DIY video made car maintenance seem possible, seeing Jesus bring life changes what we believe we can do. [42:28] When have you witnessed God bring new life—either in a person, a situation, or in your own heart? How does that memory give you confidence to believe God can do it again in a current challenge?

Sermon Clips

Death to life is Jesus' specialty, and it doesn't matter how far gone we are. He stinketh. Sometimes, we stinketh. And yet, the god who calls us from death to life calls to us even today, even now. Friends, may you believe that it's possible to be called from death to life? May you believe that you are never too far gone to be reached by the grace, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ. May you hear Jesus call you by name, and may you enjoy this new life. Amen. [01:00:56] (60 seconds) #DeathToLifeNow

Jesus' specialty is offering a new life to you and to me, and there's no one that is too far gone. And once we see it, once we know it's possible for Jesus to call us from death to life, we can experience the same thing, and we can experience it day after day over and over and over again because we know what it looks like. We know I once was dead, but now I live. We know I once was blind, but now I see. Once we see Jesus do that for us or for someone close to us, we believe it's possible. And when we believe it's possible, it's easier for us to claim ourselves. [00:59:14] (55 seconds) #BelieveAndClaimLife

There is no one who is so far gone that they are out of the reach of the grace, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ. No one. No one is too far gone. No one. And this scripture points to that. He stinketh. He'd been dead for four days. By this point by this point in in scripture, Jesus had already raised two others from the dead, but none who had been laid in a tomb for four days. Neither of the other two had been decomposing in a grave for four days. They had just died. But Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and that proves once and for all that there isn't anywhere or anyone that god can't reach. [00:57:35] (54 seconds) #NoOneTooFar

But Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and that proves once and for all that there isn't anywhere or anyone that god can't reach. No one. No one. No one is too far gone for Jesus to reach. No one is out of the reach of god's grace, not even you and not even me. And so those parts of us that are decaying, those parts of us that might be starting to decompose because we haven't used them in such a long time, there's still hope for us. There's still hope for us. Because death to life is Jesus' specialty. Death to life is Jesus' specialty. [00:58:19] (54 seconds) #RestorationHope

We've pushed off the thing that we want to see changed. We've pushed it off to some time in the future. When? But we've pushed it off to some other time in the future. And then we say it's going to be like that until Jesus comes, meaning that when Jesus gets back here, it will all be fixed. And you know who that lets off the hook? You and I. Well, we can't do it, so Jesus is gonna have to. And Jesus in this passage is saying, well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The okayness isn't for some faraway time all these years down the road. The okayness is for right now, and you're going to have to help build it, Mary and Martha. [00:48:34] (45 seconds) #TakeResponsibilityNow

As I look closer into this passage, I think this could be a main point. This could be a main point of what God is trying to say to us and through us for thousands of years. God has been calling people to a higher level of existence and calling people into new life. So I don't think that that's the only point. I don't think that's the only point. That has already been happening. But this whole Lazarus thing, the whole Lazarus thing proves that God can reach into anyone and anything to call us out into new life. There is no one who is so far gone that they are out of the reach of the grace, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ. [00:56:55] (49 seconds) #GodReachesEveryone

He's alive. He's alive, and he walks out of the tomb. What an amazing example what what an amazing example of God bringing people new life. In this case in this case, at least according to the to the text, it seems that we are to take this literally. We can have plenty of discussions on whether now we should take this as a metaphor or if we should believe this as true events that happened, we can have great discussions about that. But for this for this purpose for this purpose, either literally or metaphorically, Jesus brings people new life. [00:45:51] (57 seconds) #NewLifeIsReal

God brings people new life. Here's Mary and Martha and their brother, Lazarus. Lazarus dies, and when both Mary and Martha see Jesus, they say what we say all the time. Jesus, if you would have been here, this bad thing wouldn't have happened. If you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And Jesus almost seems to brush it off. He almost says, yeah. Yeah. Don't worry about it. Everything's going to be okay. Do you believe what I told you? And Mary and Martha, they say, yes. Yes. We believe. [00:44:36] (38 seconds) #DoYouBelieve