It's Time to Come Alive
Sermon Blog 4/6/26
There's something profound about the breath of God. In the very beginning, when humanity was formed from the dust of the ground, it wasn't until the Creator breathed life into that form that man became a living soul. This wasn't a casual act of creation—it was intentional, purposeful, intimate. While everything else in creation came into existence through spoken words, humanity required the touch of divine breath.
This tells us something critical about our design: we need the breath of God to truly live.
When Life Loses Its Quality
Many of us walk through our days physically alive but spiritually dead. We go through the motions—work, relationships, responsibilities—yet something essential is missing. The quality of life that God intended has been contaminated by sin, disappointment, trauma, and the weight of this world.
Perhaps you remember a time when your faith was vibrant, when you believed God could do anything. But somewhere along the way, something happened. A prayer went unanswered. A relationship fell apart. A dream died. And slowly, you began to bury the things you once hoped for, sealing them away in a tomb of disappointment.
But here's the revolutionary truth: God never intended for those things to stay dead.
The Encounter with Nicodemus
In the Gospel of John, we find a highly educated religious leader named Nicodemus coming to Jesus under the cover of night. This wasn't a man lacking knowledge or religious credentials. He was a scholar, a ruler, someone who had spent his life studying sacred texts. Yet when he encountered Jesus, everything he thought he knew was challenged.
Jesus told him something that defied logic: "You must be born again."
Nicodemus, with his analytical mind, couldn't wrap his head around it. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time?" Jesus wasn't speaking about physical birth. He was revealing a spiritual reality: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." There are two kinds of life—the physical existence we all experience, and the spiritual life that can only come through God's Spirit.
Many of us are like Nicodemus, trying to understand spiritual realities with natural minds. We want everything to make sense, to be logical and reasonable. But faith sometimes requires us to embrace what doesn't make sense, to trust that God can work beyond our understanding.
Creating an Atmosphere for Resurrection
When Jesus went to raise a young girl from the dead, He did something significant before speaking life over her. He cleared the room of critics, doubters, and naysayers. He understood that an atmosphere of faith was necessary for resurrection power to manifest.
This is why worship matters. This is why praise isn't just noise or empty ritual. When we lift our voices to God, when we create an atmosphere of faith through our worship, we're making room for God to do the impossible—not just for ourselves, but for those around us who desperately need a touch from heaven. Your praise might be the very thing that creates the atmosphere for someone else's breakthrough.
The Story of Lazarus
Perhaps the most powerful demonstration of resurrection power came when Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. His body had already begun to decompose. When they rolled away the stone, the stench of death filled the air. Everyone knew it was too late. The situation was beyond hope, beyond help, beyond any human solution. But Jesus stood before that tomb and called out, "Lazarus, come forth!" And the impossible happened. A dead man, wrapped in grave clothes, walked out of that tomb.
Notice what Jesus did next: He told the people to "loose him and let him go." Lazarus needed help removing the grave clothes, the burial wrappings that kept him bound. This is a picture of what God wants to do in your life. He can call you out of death and into life, but you'll need help removing the grave clothes—the old mindsets, the destructive patterns, the painful memories that still bind you.
Don't Bury What God Can Resurrect
Many of us have buried things that God meant to resurrect. We've given up on relationships, on dreams, on ministry, on people we love. We've suffered through extended seasons of difficulty, cried countless tears, and finally decided to bury our burdens because we couldn't carry them anymore.
But what if God never intended for those things to stay buried?
The question Jesus asked when He arrived at Lazarus's tomb echoes to us today: "Where have you laid it? Where did you decide to stop believing that I am the resurrection and the life?"
God is asking you to roll away the stone, to open back up the things you've sealed off, to give Him access to the areas you've declared hopeless. You might be thinking, "But it's been too long. The situation stinks. It's decomposing. No one wants to go near it anymore."
That's exactly the kind of situation where God does His best work—when things are so far gone that only a miracle will do.
The Power of God's Voice
When Jesus called Lazarus by name, something specific and powerful happened. There were probably many people named Lazarus at that time, but only one responded. When God calls your name, it doesn't matter who else shares it—something will rise up inside of you.
God knows where you are. He knows who you are. He knows your name. And when He speaks to your situation, dead things come back to life. This is why we need the Word of God. It's not just ancient text or religious instruction—it's the very breath of God carrying life to places of hopelessness. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you today.
A Global Testimony
This resurrection power isn't limited by geography, circumstance, or past mistakes. In Angola, a self-proclaimed thief encountered God at a beach baptism and immediately wanted to change his identity. In Mongolia, established pastors humbled themselves to receive a fuller understanding of truth. In a Tennessee women's prison, drug dealers found freedom and became ministers. These stories remind us that no one is beyond God's reach. No situation is too far gone. No life is too broken.
Your Invitation to Life
You must be born again—of water and of Spirit. This isn't optional. It's not just about securing a place in heaven someday; it's about experiencing real life right now.
Maybe you've been going through the motions of religion without experiencing the reality of relationship. Maybe you've given up on God because prayers seemed to go unanswered. Maybe you're standing at the tomb of your own dead dreams, wondering if anything can ever change. Today is your invitation to come alive.
Roll away the stone. Open up what you've sealed. Let God breathe on the dead areas of your life. Allow His voice to penetrate the hopelessness and call you by name.
It's time to come alive—not just physically, but spiritually. It's time to experience the abundant life that Jesus came to give. It's time to stop merely existing and start truly living.
The same power that raised Jesus from the grave is available to you today. Don't settle for less than the fullness of life God intended for you.
It's time to come alive.
There's something profound about the breath of God. In the very beginning, when humanity was formed from the dust of the ground, it wasn't until the Creator breathed life into that form that man became a living soul. This wasn't a casual act of creation—it was intentional, purposeful, intimate. While everything else in creation came into existence through spoken words, humanity required the touch of divine breath.
This tells us something critical about our design: we need the breath of God to truly live.
When Life Loses Its Quality
Many of us walk through our days physically alive but spiritually dead. We go through the motions—work, relationships, responsibilities—yet something essential is missing. The quality of life that God intended has been contaminated by sin, disappointment, trauma, and the weight of this world.
Perhaps you remember a time when your faith was vibrant, when you believed God could do anything. But somewhere along the way, something happened. A prayer went unanswered. A relationship fell apart. A dream died. And slowly, you began to bury the things you once hoped for, sealing them away in a tomb of disappointment.
But here's the revolutionary truth: God never intended for those things to stay dead.
The Encounter with Nicodemus
In the Gospel of John, we find a highly educated religious leader named Nicodemus coming to Jesus under the cover of night. This wasn't a man lacking knowledge or religious credentials. He was a scholar, a ruler, someone who had spent his life studying sacred texts. Yet when he encountered Jesus, everything he thought he knew was challenged.
Jesus told him something that defied logic: "You must be born again."
Nicodemus, with his analytical mind, couldn't wrap his head around it. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time?" Jesus wasn't speaking about physical birth. He was revealing a spiritual reality: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." There are two kinds of life—the physical existence we all experience, and the spiritual life that can only come through God's Spirit.
Many of us are like Nicodemus, trying to understand spiritual realities with natural minds. We want everything to make sense, to be logical and reasonable. But faith sometimes requires us to embrace what doesn't make sense, to trust that God can work beyond our understanding.
Creating an Atmosphere for Resurrection
When Jesus went to raise a young girl from the dead, He did something significant before speaking life over her. He cleared the room of critics, doubters, and naysayers. He understood that an atmosphere of faith was necessary for resurrection power to manifest.
This is why worship matters. This is why praise isn't just noise or empty ritual. When we lift our voices to God, when we create an atmosphere of faith through our worship, we're making room for God to do the impossible—not just for ourselves, but for those around us who desperately need a touch from heaven. Your praise might be the very thing that creates the atmosphere for someone else's breakthrough.
The Story of Lazarus
Perhaps the most powerful demonstration of resurrection power came when Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. His body had already begun to decompose. When they rolled away the stone, the stench of death filled the air. Everyone knew it was too late. The situation was beyond hope, beyond help, beyond any human solution. But Jesus stood before that tomb and called out, "Lazarus, come forth!" And the impossible happened. A dead man, wrapped in grave clothes, walked out of that tomb.
Notice what Jesus did next: He told the people to "loose him and let him go." Lazarus needed help removing the grave clothes, the burial wrappings that kept him bound. This is a picture of what God wants to do in your life. He can call you out of death and into life, but you'll need help removing the grave clothes—the old mindsets, the destructive patterns, the painful memories that still bind you.
Don't Bury What God Can Resurrect
Many of us have buried things that God meant to resurrect. We've given up on relationships, on dreams, on ministry, on people we love. We've suffered through extended seasons of difficulty, cried countless tears, and finally decided to bury our burdens because we couldn't carry them anymore.
But what if God never intended for those things to stay buried?
The question Jesus asked when He arrived at Lazarus's tomb echoes to us today: "Where have you laid it? Where did you decide to stop believing that I am the resurrection and the life?"
God is asking you to roll away the stone, to open back up the things you've sealed off, to give Him access to the areas you've declared hopeless. You might be thinking, "But it's been too long. The situation stinks. It's decomposing. No one wants to go near it anymore."
That's exactly the kind of situation where God does His best work—when things are so far gone that only a miracle will do.
The Power of God's Voice
When Jesus called Lazarus by name, something specific and powerful happened. There were probably many people named Lazarus at that time, but only one responded. When God calls your name, it doesn't matter who else shares it—something will rise up inside of you.
God knows where you are. He knows who you are. He knows your name. And when He speaks to your situation, dead things come back to life. This is why we need the Word of God. It's not just ancient text or religious instruction—it's the very breath of God carrying life to places of hopelessness. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you today.
A Global Testimony
This resurrection power isn't limited by geography, circumstance, or past mistakes. In Angola, a self-proclaimed thief encountered God at a beach baptism and immediately wanted to change his identity. In Mongolia, established pastors humbled themselves to receive a fuller understanding of truth. In a Tennessee women's prison, drug dealers found freedom and became ministers. These stories remind us that no one is beyond God's reach. No situation is too far gone. No life is too broken.
Your Invitation to Life
You must be born again—of water and of Spirit. This isn't optional. It's not just about securing a place in heaven someday; it's about experiencing real life right now.
Maybe you've been going through the motions of religion without experiencing the reality of relationship. Maybe you've given up on God because prayers seemed to go unanswered. Maybe you're standing at the tomb of your own dead dreams, wondering if anything can ever change. Today is your invitation to come alive.
Roll away the stone. Open up what you've sealed. Let God breathe on the dead areas of your life. Allow His voice to penetrate the hopelessness and call you by name.
It's time to come alive—not just physically, but spiritually. It's time to experience the abundant life that Jesus came to give. It's time to stop merely existing and start truly living.
The same power that raised Jesus from the grave is available to you today. Don't settle for less than the fullness of life God intended for you.
It's time to come alive.
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