Christian Chapel

When Jesus calls us to life, it includes a command to leave our old dead way of life behind us. If we want to remove our grave clothes and move forward, we need to ask others to help us and then let them help!

We are all products of our environment. Where we live, when we live, and who we live with all impact the way we experience the world. When Jesus brings new life, he reveals everything in our lives that is incompatible with his kingdom. Our job is to let him reveal the grave clothes of culture, time, and place and remove them.

Paul in Galatians 6 encourages the church to “steady on” in doing good works for their brothers and sisters in Christ and to everyone. Because of the law of sowing and reaping, they would reap the spiritual benefits of bringing glory to God and advancing His kingdom if they don’t quit.

When Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, he also instructed others to help get the grave clothes off of Lazarus so he could enter into his new life. When say yes to Jesus, it still involves a process of leaving many parts of our old way of life behind us. Thankfully, Jesus sends others our way to help us get the grave clothes off and follow him.

In John 11:43-44 Jesus calls Lazarus back to life and then out of the grave. When Jesus speaks life he follows it up with direction that requires obedience. Come out of that grave and start walking the path that Jesus is laying out in front of you!

Today we picked up the Lazarus story in John 11:41-43 where Jesus prays to the Father for Lazarus’ resurrection. In this passage we see Jesus demonstrating his connection to the Father but we also see that Jesus knows Lazarus. Just like Lazarus, Jesus knows your name, He knows your situation and has a plan for your life. When Jesus speaks your name, he speaks life.

This week we looked at John 11:38-41, the part of the Lazarus story where Jesus tells them to roll back the stone at Lazarus’ grave. Pastor Chris explains that Martha tries to stop him, just like when we try to stop Jesus accessing our unclean places, but Jesus is not afraid. Jesus already knows what is in the grave, in your grave, so roll back the stone and let Jesus work.

Continuing with the sermon series Lazarus Life, Pastor Chris spoke on John 11:21-27. In this passage we read about the moment when Jesus tries to explain to Martha that He is the resurrection and the life. Martha doesn't fully understand this but she chooses to stick with Jesus. Like Martha you won't always understand fully, but you don’t have to understand to believe. Regardless of your circumstances He is still resurrection and life!

This Easter Sunday we continued our Lazarus Life series by looking at two words from Martha, ‘EVEN NOW’ - John 11:22. Resurrection Sunday is the foundation for all of our EVEN NOW moments, we believe that if He can beat death, then He can accomplish His plans in my life. Don’t let your frustration cancel your faith, because even when things go wrong, He is always working, EVEN NOW.

This week for Palm Sunday, Pastor Chris continued the Lazarus Life series by speaking about how Jesus has a different perspective. In John 11:7-16 we read about how Jesus has a different perspective of death to His disciples, and is not afraid of it, because He knows God’s power. We learn that in our most difficult moments, Jesus maintains a different perspective than us because He knows His plan and His power.

This Sunday we were blessed to be able to hear from Larry and Sharon Smith, missionaries in Bangladesh. Larry spoke from Mark 14:3-9 about how, as Christians we should be like Mary and give what He is worthy of, even if it doesn't make sense to others.

This week Pastor Chris continued the sermon series, Lazarus Life by speaking about how Jesus works in our waiting. Looking at John 11:5-7 we see that Jesus made Mary and Martha wait for him to perform the miracle of resurrection. We learn that everyone waits, even those closest to Jesus and when we are waiting we should trust in God. We should trust that He is writing our story and not try to run ahead of God’s timing.

For the second message in our sermon series, Lazarus Life, Pastor Chris spoke on our lives being God’s stage. Looking at John 11:4-5 we see that Lazarus’s sickness and death is a stage for Jesus to be glorified in the world and from this story we learn that there are experiences of God’s strength and power that are only visible on the stage of our weakness.

This morning we kicked off our new message series, Lazarus Life with a message from Pastor Chris about When Bad Things Happen. Looking at the first part of the Lazarus story in John 11:1-3 we see that bad things can happen to anyone, but when bad things do happen, we should go to Jesus first.

This Sunday, Pastor Chris finished off our Valentines mini series, Love and Marriage. This week focusing on Marriage, he spoke about how God's plan for marriage is to unite a husband and wife.

This is week 2 in our mini series, Love & Marriage!

This Sunday, Pastor Chris took us into a Valentines mini series, Love and Marriage. This week focusing on Love, he spoke about how Jesus restores our relationship with God and our relationships with each other.

For 2021’s Kingdom Builders Sunday, Pastor Chris spoke on Kingdom Investments. Looking at Matthew 6:19-21 we see that God’s Kingdom is the only thing that lasts and because of this, it is where we should invest.

This Sunday we continued our message series, Kingdom Builders with a message from guest speaker Kirk Priest, a missionary in Heidelberg, Germany. We heard some amazing testimonies of what God is doing through their ministry and were challenged to find our part in Gods global mission.