TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Jesus said to her, “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
Read: John 11:17-26
Listen: John 11
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Jesus had become good friends with three siblings named Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Lazarus died when Jesus was not around, and they began the funeral process. A few days later, Jesus arrives and speaks first with Martha. He shares that he is the resurrection and the life, and then he gets to a point of decision for her. He asks her, “Do you believe this?” He seems to point to at least two critical things in this interaction. First, it’s not over. Even death doesn’t have the final say because Jesus has power over death itself. Second, what Mary believes about Jesus is important.
We have seen this week that whatever we are facing doesn’t have the final say. Jesus’s resurrection tells us, “It’s not over.” Our failures are not fatal, our pain has a purpose, death is not our destiny and our faith is not futile. We see in John 11 that what we believe about Jesus matters. We each need to decide who we believe Jesus is. It’s the most important decision any of us will make. If we have not decided to follow him, there is a move we can make. We can put our trust in him and find forgiveness, victory and new life.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Consider taking the step to follow Jesus for the first time. To do that, pray something like this, “God, I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose on the third day. Thank you for giving me hope. Please forgive me for my sins and help me to follow you. I give you my life.” If you gave your life to Jesus for the first time, contact us at btw@adabible.org. We would love to talk with you.
2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.
August is PRAYER. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
