Sunday Morning Worship- "The Struggle With Faith"- Pastor Michael O. Oyedokun II

The passage from John 11 is used to explore the tension between belief and experience, tracing how faith behaves when needs go unmet and answers are delayed. The narrative of Lazarus becomes a mirror: sisters who call for Jesus, a Savior who delays, and a moment of dramatic reversals that exposes three recurrent postures of faith. First, faith is often activated by helplessness—when human resources are exhausted, people turn decisively to God. Second, spiritual growth frequently comes through perplexing delays; Jesus’ deliberate wait is portrayed as a pedagogical act designed to deepen trust and remove any rival explanation for the miracle. Third, faith that endures doubt becomes delivered faith when it rests not on circumstances but on the character and love of Christ.

Practical examples surface throughout: the sisters’ determined summons, Martha’s candid rebuke and subsequent confession (“but I know”), Mary’s different posture of grief, and the crowd’s eventual witness to the resurrection power. The preacher emphasizes that God’s intervention is motivated by love, not human merit, and that God sometimes allows a situation to reach a point of no return so that divine power—and not human ingenuity—receives the credit. The resurrection of Lazarus is held up as the ultimate demonstration that God has authority over time and death, and that the maturational purpose of delay is to increase faith for future, greater responsibilities. The call at the close presses listeners to respond: to move from passive worry to active trust, to accept help, and to let testing shape a more resilient, dependent faith capable of stewarding larger spiritual assignments.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Determined faith rises in desperation When human solutions run out, faith often becomes resolute rather than theoretical. This determination is not mere optimism but a focused surrender: confessing inability and petitioning God with clarity. The moment of true calling is usually when pride and self-reliance have been exhausted, leaving space for divine action and dependence. [49:07]
• 2. Faith is tested by delay Delay should be read as spiritual formation, not divine absence. A postponement can expose idols of control, force reliance on God’s timing, and remove alternative explanations so that the miracle is unmistakably his. Endurance under delay refines trust and prepares the soul for greater assignments. [55:26]
• 3. Deliverance rooted in God's love God’s interventions flow from his character—particularly love—rather than human merit or performance. Recognizing that God acts because he loves dislodges transactional expectations and cultivates grateful dependence. That awareness reorients prayer from bargaining to relationship. [68:57]
• 4. Powerlessness awakens true dependence The crucible of inability is where faith becomes practical and operative. When people cannot “fix” their circumstances, they are compelled to lean into God’s ability, which is the primary catalyst for sustained spiritual growth. This dependence shifts the posture from self-sufficiency to stewardship of God’s power. [52:31]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [38:11] - Opening Prayer and Worship
• [41:15] - Reading John 11
• [42:14] - Introducing the Struggle with Faith
• [49:07] - Determined Faith: Calling on God
• [52:31] - Powerlessness and Activated Faith
• [55:26] - Discouraged Faith: Jesus Delays
• [68:57] - Delivered Faith: Martha's Confession
• [85:37] - Invitation and Altar Call
• [89:57] - Closing Prayer and Blessing

1. In John 11:3, what specific message do Martha and Mary send to Jesus about their brother Lazarus, and what does their wording reveal about their relationship with Him? [49:25]
2. What reason does Jesus give in verse 15 for His deliberate delay in going to Bethany?
3. Compare the reactions of Martha and Mary when they hear Jesus is coming in verses 20 and 28. What are the differences in their initial responses to the same situation? [01:04:11]
4. In her statement to Jesus in verse 22, what does Martha affirm that she knows, even in the midst of her grief and disappointment? [01:09:17]

1. Jesus states that He is glad He was not there to prevent Lazarus's death "so that you may believe" (v. 15). How does a delayed answer to prayer, which allows a situation to worsen, ultimately serve to strengthen faith and reveal God's character more fully? [56:44]
2. Martha expresses a mixture of disappointment ("if you had been here") and faith ("but I know"). How can these two seemingly contradictory emotions—honest grief and steadfast belief—coexist in a person's relationship with God during a crisis? [01:03:55]
3. The sermon emphasizes that God's intervention is motivated by His love (John 11:5), not human merit. How does this truth change a person's approach to prayer, shifting it from a transaction based on performance to a conversation rooted in relationship? [01:11:06]
4. Why was it significant that Jesus waited until Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, a point beyond the cultural belief that the spirit might return? What does this tell us about how God sometimes operates to remove all other possible explanations for His work? [55:41]

1. Faith is often activated not by an abundance of God's power, but by a complete lack of our own. [51:47] What is a current situation in your life where your own resources, plans, and strength have been completely exhausted, forcing you to lean on God's ability alone?
2. God's delays can feel like divine absence, but they are designed for spiritual formation. [55:26] Recall a time when God seemed to delay answering your prayer. Looking back, how did that season of waiting expose areas where you were trusting in your own control or timing rather than His?
3. Recognizing that God acts because He loves us, not because we deserve it, dislodges transactional expectations. [01:11:06] How might you pray differently about a need in your life if you truly believed God's response would be based solely on His love for you rather than how "good" you've been?
4. The crucible of inability is where faith becomes practical. [52:31] What is one step you can take this week to actively demonstrate your dependence on God in an area where you feel powerless, moving from passive worry to active trust?
5. Endurance under delay refines trust and prepares the soul for greater assignments. [55:26] What "greater assignment" or responsibility might God be preparing you for through a current challenge or season of waiting? How can you cooperate with that process?
6. Martha's confession, "but I know," demonstrates a delivered faith that reaffirms trust in God's character despite circumstances. [01:08:57] What is a specific truth about God's character (e.g., His love, power, faithfulness) that you need to verbally reaffirm today, even if your circumstances haven't changed yet?