Finding Hope and Community in Grief with Jesus
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Yeah, Zach and Vanessa asked us to share with everyone, because they actually went through this two years ago already, and so this baby was a promise fulfilled, and so it's been really painful, as you can imagine. But I think one of the hardest things is, I'm sure all of you have experienced in times of loss in your life, one of the hardest things is having to tell over and over again. And so they just asked us to share with everyone. And so we're just asking you to pray for them, for their families, and for just for Jesus to be near." [00:31:03] (34 seconds)
"But as you do that, just especially when you're in conversation with them, something that I've experienced when I lost my mom is the best kind of support is just allowing them to know that you're there for them, and you're praying for them, and whatever they need, you can do. But so often, I think we try to then share advice, or ask questions, and that can be really hard. So I just want to encourage you just to pray for them, and to be there for them, and when you see them next, hug them, love them, but also just allow them time to process themselves. We really appreciate that." [00:31:48] (39 seconds)
"So I was reminded of first Thessalonians 4 that says that we do not grieve like people with no hope and that's the amazing thing about Jesus and his blood is that even when we face the inevitable pains and struggles of life that we actually get to find our life in his life and that we get to actually live within the hope that is Jesus not only not only the hope for eternity and the hope for everything that he's set up for us for all of eternity but also the hope for right now that he walks with us that he's with us and I was led to really spend time in John 11 where one of Jesus close friends passes away and forgive me because I have a new bible and it's not cooperating with staying open for me." [01:00:23] (61 seconds)
"The reality is that when we become troubled greatly troubled by what's going on in the world when we become angered when we see the death in the world or when we face death in our own lives that anger that we feel is actually just a love for life it's actually just a love for what it was supposed to be and for what god is putting together again but i want to just point out a few things from this story and maybe you've heard this before and maybe you haven't but either way i pray that it just reaches you today but when you are going through times of struggle and for you today maybe you are maybe you're not maybe you're in the best time of your life but the reality is jesus says that times of trouble will come, and it's way better that we go in prepared." [01:08:56] (51 seconds)
"One of the most important things we can learn from the story is to keep the wrong people out of your mind and of your life. You know, Jesus is here, and he knows what he's about to do. And it says a second time that he is greatly troubled when the people started to question him, and he knew what they were doing. You know, because some of them were like, wow, look, he weeps, and they see his heart, and they go, wow, he loves them. He loved Lazarus so much. And yet others, instead of looking at his grief and seeing his heart, instead stood in judgment. And they spoke out against him, saying, well, if he could heal the blind man, then why couldn't he keep him alive?" [01:09:00] (47 seconds)
"And so I want to encourage you, especially all the time, but especially if you're in a time where you're trying to make a big decision, or you're going through a hard time, you're struggling, you're facing loss, be really careful who you let into that space. Be really careful who you allow to speak to you. It is so important that we speak life over each other. It is so important. You see, sometimes Jesus, like in this situation, he obviously recognized that this is what they were saying, speaking against him, and he chooses just to ignore it and go and do what he was going to do, right? He just ignores them and he moves on. And sometimes he does that. And sometimes that's what we need to do. We just need to ignore the naysaying voices." [01:10:34] (54 seconds)
"Sometimes you just need to ignore them and block them out. Other times you actually need to remove them. You need to completely remove those voices from your life. There's a story about a father who, he was one of the rulers in the synagogue. His name was Jarius. And he had a daughter. And his daughter was on death's bed. And so he comes to Jesus. And he says, Jesus, please come. Please come and heal my daughter. And so as Jesus is on the way, some other cool miracles happen. And then a servant comes out, one of Jarius' servants, and he says, don't bother the teacher anymore. Your daughter's already passed away. She's already gone. And Jesus overhears them. And he says to them, no, don't listen to that. Your daughter is only asleep." [01:11:34] (56 seconds)
"But because he could tell that there were going to be people who were not going to actually believe, he chose to leave behind everyone who was walking with him, including most of his disciples. And he only took with him the closest ones. If you want to open to Mark 5, verse 36 through 40. But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. He only allowed his closest friends, maybe because he knew that they had the faith for this. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he entered, he said to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping? This is one of the moments that he didn't allow them in their grief for very long. The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. And then the next sentence is profound. Jesus. The son of God, the creator of the world, put them all outside." [01:12:56] (79 seconds)
"And he took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in there where the child was. Taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha kum, which means, little girl, I say to you, arise. In that moment, Jesus knew that the lack of faith in the room would somehow get in the way, and so he actually removed it. Now, I want to say to you, when you are in a time of struggle, don't isolate. It's okay to take time, and like we said, Zach and Vanessa, we sent them with blessing because sometimes we need to take time and solitude with the Lord to process. And speaking with Vanessa's dad, Tony, today, he said being there in that hospital, the most profound thing was to see Zach and Vanessa's faith. That they know the goodness of God, even when they are not seeing goodness right in front of them." [01:14:45] (64 seconds)
"And so it's okay to take time and to process and to be with the Lord and take time out from all the distractions of the world. But what I want to encourage all of you is that when you're going through a hard time, do not isolate yourself. It's okay to separate yourself from the people who have negative voices, from the people who are not speaking life over you, but then make sure you find the ones who are. Make sure you find the community, like in this community, who are going to speak life over you. There are people in this room who will fight for you. They will fight for you in prayer. They will fight for you. They will sit with you. They will be with you. Find your people. Find your tribe. But make sure that they are speaking the truth of the word and not just the facts of life." [01:15:19] (54 seconds)
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"But as you do that, just especially when you're in conversation with them, something that I've experienced when I lost my mom is the best kind of support is just allowing them to know that you're there for them, and you're praying for them, and whatever they need, you can do. But so often, I think we try to then share advice, or ask questions, and that can be really hard. So I just want to encourage you just to pray for them, and to be there for them, and when you see them next, hug them, love them, but also just allow them time to process themselves. We really appreciate that." [00:31:48] (39 seconds)
"So I was reminded of first Thessalonians 4 that says that we do not grieve like people with no hope and that's the amazing thing about Jesus and his blood is that even when we face the inevitable pains and struggles of life that we actually get to find our life in his life and that we get to actually live within the hope that is Jesus not only not only the hope for eternity and the hope for everything that he's set up for us for all of eternity but also the hope for right now that he walks with us that he's with us and I was led to really spend time in John 11 where one of Jesus close friends passes away and forgive me because I have a new bible and it's not cooperating with staying open for me." [01:00:23] (61 seconds)
"The reality is that when we become troubled greatly troubled by what's going on in the world when we become angered when we see the death in the world or when we face death in our own lives that anger that we feel is actually just a love for life it's actually just a love for what it was supposed to be and for what god is putting together again but i want to just point out a few things from this story and maybe you've heard this before and maybe you haven't but either way i pray that it just reaches you today but when you are going through times of struggle and for you today maybe you are maybe you're not maybe you're in the best time of your life but the reality is jesus says that times of trouble will come, and it's way better that we go in prepared." [01:08:56] (51 seconds)
"One of the most important things we can learn from the story is to keep the wrong people out of your mind and of your life. You know, Jesus is here, and he knows what he's about to do. And it says a second time that he is greatly troubled when the people started to question him, and he knew what they were doing. You know, because some of them were like, wow, look, he weeps, and they see his heart, and they go, wow, he loves them. He loved Lazarus so much. And yet others, instead of looking at his grief and seeing his heart, instead stood in judgment. And they spoke out against him, saying, well, if he could heal the blind man, then why couldn't he keep him alive?" [01:09:00] (47 seconds)
"And so I want to encourage you, especially all the time, but especially if you're in a time where you're trying to make a big decision, or you're going through a hard time, you're struggling, you're facing loss, be really careful who you let into that space. Be really careful who you allow to speak to you. It is so important that we speak life over each other. It is so important. You see, sometimes Jesus, like in this situation, he obviously recognized that this is what they were saying, speaking against him, and he chooses just to ignore it and go and do what he was going to do, right? He just ignores them and he moves on. And sometimes he does that. And sometimes that's what we need to do. We just need to ignore the naysaying voices." [01:10:34] (54 seconds)
"Sometimes you just need to ignore them and block them out. Other times you actually need to remove them. You need to completely remove those voices from your life. There's a story about a father who, he was one of the rulers in the synagogue. His name was Jarius. And he had a daughter. And his daughter was on death's bed. And so he comes to Jesus. And he says, Jesus, please come. Please come and heal my daughter. And so as Jesus is on the way, some other cool miracles happen. And then a servant comes out, one of Jarius' servants, and he says, don't bother the teacher anymore. Your daughter's already passed away. She's already gone. And Jesus overhears them. And he says to them, no, don't listen to that. Your daughter is only asleep." [01:11:34] (56 seconds)
"But because he could tell that there were going to be people who were not going to actually believe, he chose to leave behind everyone who was walking with him, including most of his disciples. And he only took with him the closest ones. If you want to open to Mark 5, verse 36 through 40. But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. He only allowed his closest friends, maybe because he knew that they had the faith for this. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he entered, he said to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping? This is one of the moments that he didn't allow them in their grief for very long. The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. And then the next sentence is profound. Jesus. The son of God, the creator of the world, put them all outside." [01:12:56] (79 seconds)
"And he took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in there where the child was. Taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha kum, which means, little girl, I say to you, arise. In that moment, Jesus knew that the lack of faith in the room would somehow get in the way, and so he actually removed it. Now, I want to say to you, when you are in a time of struggle, don't isolate. It's okay to take time, and like we said, Zach and Vanessa, we sent them with blessing because sometimes we need to take time and solitude with the Lord to process. And speaking with Vanessa's dad, Tony, today, he said being there in that hospital, the most profound thing was to see Zach and Vanessa's faith. That they know the goodness of God, even when they are not seeing goodness right in front of them." [01:14:45] (64 seconds)
"And so it's okay to take time and to process and to be with the Lord and take time out from all the distractions of the world. But what I want to encourage all of you is that when you're going through a hard time, do not isolate yourself. It's okay to separate yourself from the people who have negative voices, from the people who are not speaking life over you, but then make sure you find the ones who are. Make sure you find the community, like in this community, who are going to speak life over you. There are people in this room who will fight for you. They will fight for you in prayer. They will fight for you. They will sit with you. They will be with you. Find your people. Find your tribe. But make sure that they are speaking the truth of the word and not just the facts of life." [01:15:19] (54 seconds)
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