A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH

 John 11:1-44

I.    SETTING THE STAGE

1.  Mary and Martha expected Jesus to come immediately.  He didn’t.

2.  Jesus was never at a funeral because where he is there is life!

II.   A MATTER OF DEATH

1.  “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died” (vs 21).   

2.  Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise but she, like you and me, wanted immediate results.   

III.  A MATTER OF LIFE

1.   “I am the resurrection and the life.”  What do Jesus’ words mean for us today in 2010?   

2.   In Jesus the resurrection is present and evident in our lives.

3.   All people will have either two births or two deaths.   

IV.  RESURRECTION POWER

1.   Belief must take place before we can experience resurrection power.

V.   WHAT THAT MEANS FOR US

1.   Jesus is eternally the Resurrection and the Life.   

2.   Death is swallowed up by life, not life swallowed by death.  

3.   We live in the land of the dying.  We look forward to entering the land of the living.

4.   It tells us that personality persists beyond physical death.  

5.   Resurrection power becomes available the moment we commit our lives to him.

6.   It tells us that this mortal being can put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:50-57). 

7.   It tells us that victory over death has been won.