Women's Bible Study - October 30th, 2024 - Living in the Power of the Resurrection

October 30, 2024 · Deborah · Root It

Scripture referenced 14 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

1 Corinthians 15 Paul's account of what he passed on: Christ died for sins, was buried, and raised on the third day, and appeared to Peter, the twelve, five hundred, and James

1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.
15 Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27 For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.
28 When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?
30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?
31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
34 Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?”
36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.
37 That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.
38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers,…

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Acts 23

Paul on trial, telling former Pharisee friends he is being tried because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead

1 Paul, looking steadfastly at the council, said, “Brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience until today.”

2 The high priest, Ananias, commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

4 Those who stood by said, “Do you malign God’s high priest?”

5 Paul said, “I didn’t know, brothers, that he was high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”

7 When he had said this, an argument arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the crowd was divided.

8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these.

9 A great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ part stood up, and contended, saying, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let’s not fight against God!”

10 When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.

11 The following night, the Lord stood by him, and said, “Cheer up, Paul, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome.”

12 When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

13 There were more than forty people who had made this conspiracy.

14 They came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great curse, to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.

15 Now therefore, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case more exactly. We are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

16 But Paul’s sister’s son heard they were lying in wait, and he came and entered into the barracks and told Paul.

17 Paul summoned one of the centurions, and said, “Bring this young man to the commanding officer, for he has something to tell him.”

18 So he took him, and brought him to the commanding officer, and said, “Paul, the prisoner, summoned me and asked me to bring this young man to you, who has something to tell you.”

19 The commanding officer took him by the hand, and going aside, asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”

20 He said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though intending to inquire somewhat more accurately concerning him.

21 Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, looking for the promise from you.”

22 So the commanding officer let the young man go, charging him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.”

23 He called to himself two of the centurions, and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen, and two hundred men armed with spears, at the third hour of the night.”

24 He asked them to provide animals, that they might set Paul on one, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

25 He wrote a letter like this:

26 “Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.

27 “This man was seized by the Jews, and was about to be killed by them, when I came with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman.

28 Desiring to know the cause why they accused him, I brought him down to their council.

29 I found him to be accused about questions of their law, but not to be charged with anything worthy of death or of imprisonment.

30 When I was told that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him to you immediately, charging his accusers also to bring their accusations against him before you. Farewell.”

31 So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

32 But on the next day they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the barracks.

33 When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.

34 When the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. When he understood that he was from Cilicia, he said,

35 “I will hear you fully when your accusers also arrive.” He commanded that he be kept in Herod’s palace.

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Galatians 1

After Paul's conversion, Jesus sent him to the desert for three years and taught him personally

1 Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),

2 and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia:

3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,

4 who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—

5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

6 I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different “good news”;

7 and there isn’t another “good news.” Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Good News of Christ.

8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.

9 As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any “good news” other than that which you received, let him be cursed.

10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.

11 But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the Good News which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.

12 For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my way of living in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the assembly of God, and ravaged it.

14 I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of my own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15 But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace,

16 to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,

17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia. Then I returned to Damascus.

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days.

19 But of the other apostles I saw no one, except James, the Lord’s brother.

20 Now about the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I’m not lying.

21 Then I came to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

22 I was still unknown by face to the assemblies of Judea which were in Christ,

23 but they only heard: “He who once persecuted us now preaches the faith that he once tried to destroy.”

24 And they glorified God in me.

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Acts 4

Peter and John in trouble with temple guards and Sadducees for teaching resurrection of the dead through Jesus

1 As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them,

2 being upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

3 They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening.

4 But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

5 In the morning, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem.

6 Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest.

7 When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

9 if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,

10 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole.

11 He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’

12 There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.

14 Seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can’t deny it.

17 But so that this spreads no further among the people, let’s threaten them, that from now on they don’t speak to anyone in this name.”

18 They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,

20 for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”

21 When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done.

22 For the man on whom this miracle of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

23 Being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

24 When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;

25 who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?

26 The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take council together, against the Lord, and against his Christ.’

27 “For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together

28 to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.

29 Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness,

30 while you stretch out your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.”

31 When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

32 The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

33 With great power, the apostles gave their testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Great grace was on them all.

34 For neither was there among them any who lacked, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet, and distribution was made to each, according as anyone had need.

36 Joses, who by the apostles was also called Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, Son of Encouragement), a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race,

37 having a field, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

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Acts 7

Referenced in context of Paul in Athens with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers being called a babbler for preaching a risen God

1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”

2 He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’

4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living.

5 He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child.

6 God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

7 ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.’

8 He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him,

10 and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

11 Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.

12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.

13 On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s race was revealed to Pharaoh.

14 Joseph sent, and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.

15 Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers,

16 and they were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.

17 “But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

18 until there arose a different king, who didn’t know Joseph.

19 The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive.

20 At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father’s house.

21 When he was thrown out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son.

22 Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works.

23 But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

24 Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian.

25 He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.

26 “The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?’

27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

28 Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’

29 Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

30 “When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came to him,

32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled, and dared not look.

33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

36 This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

37 This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’

38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us,

39 to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’

41 They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.

42 But God turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

43 You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;

45 which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David,

46 who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.

47 But Solomon built him a house.

48 However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with…

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John 14

Jesus tells his followers he is leaving but they will see him again because he lives and they will live

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

2 In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.

3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.

4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.

13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.

15 If you love me, keep my commandments.

16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,—

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.

18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

24 He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

25 I have said these things to you, while still living with you.

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

28 You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.

29 Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.

30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.

31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

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2 Chronicles 7:14

If God's people humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from wickedness, He will hear, forgive and heal their land

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

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1 John 5:4

Everyone born of God overcomes the world, and the victory is their faith

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.

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John 16

Jesus tells his followers they will have trouble in the world but can have peace in him because he overcame it

1 “I have said these things to you so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble.

2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.

3 They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.

4 But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

6 But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart.

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

8 When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;

9 about sin, because they don’t believe in me;

10 about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more;

11 about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.

12 “I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now.

13 However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.

14 He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you.

15 All things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine, and will declare it to you.

16 A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.”

17 Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?”

18 They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he is saying.”

19 Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’

20 Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

21 A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world.

22 Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

23 “In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

24 Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.

25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you,

27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God.

28 I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”

29 His disciples said to him, “Behold, now you are speaking plainly, and using no figures of speech.

30 Now we know that you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.”

31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?

32 Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

33 I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”

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Philippians 1:6

God who began a good work in you will continue it until the day Christ Jesus returns

6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

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2 Corinthians 5:8

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, used to explain the immediate transition to heaven

8 We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.

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Revelation 21:4

There will be emotions in heaven but no sad crying, Jesus will wipe away all tears

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”

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Isaiah 25

Vision of a coming feast the Lord Almighty will prepare: rich food, aged wine, best meats and finest wines

1 Yahweh, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth.

2 For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built.

3 Therefore a strong people will glorify you. A city of awesome nations will fear you.

4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall.

5 As the heat in a dry place will you bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the dreaded ones will be brought low.

6 In this mountain, Yahweh of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of well refined choice wines.

7 He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.

8 He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.

9 It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”

10 For in this mountain Yahweh’s hand will rest. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.

11 He will spread out his hands in the middle of it, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands.

12 He has brought the high fortress of your walls down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.

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1 Peter 1

Born again by God's mercy through Christ's resurrection, we have a priceless inheritance in heaven and joy ahead through trials

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,

5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials,

7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—

8 whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory—

9 receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,

11 searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.

12 To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.

13 Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ—

14 as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,

15 but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior;

16 because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”

17 If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear:

18 knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers,

19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ;

20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,

21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

22 Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:

23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.

24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;

25 but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Deborah brought the fall Root It series to a close with a message on the resurrection of Jesus, why it is the hinge on which everything in the Christian faith turns, and what it means for how we live right now. She moved from historical evidence for the resurrection to its personal implications, ending with a reflection on heaven drawn from a conversation with her dying friend Jane.

What was said

Deborah opened by drawing a distinction that comes up whenever people raise other accounts of people coming back to life. Those, she said, are resuscitations, a return to the same body to die again. The resurrection of Jesus was categorically different: He returned in a glorified body and has not died since. That difference is why it divided history into BC and AD, and why Tim Keller's line landed the way it did for her: if Jesus rose from the dead, you have to accept everything He said.

She then walked through the evidence she finds most persuasive. The body was never produced, even though the Pharisees had every political and financial resource to find it and every motive to display it. Non-Christian writers, Josephus and the Roman governor Pliny, both recorded the stubborn, widespread claim that Jesus was alive after death. And the disciples, who had hidden in the upper room convinced it was over, became people who could not be silenced or stopped, even by death.

From there Deborah turned to what the resurrection is supposed to do in ordinary life right now. She pointed to the war she sees being waged against marriages, families, and the Christian character of the country, and said the resurrection means followers of Jesus have access to the same power that raised Him. That is not passive comfort; it calls for commitment and courage, and sometimes for fasting alongside prayer. She described fasting Sunday evenings and praying Scripture, specifically Acts 17 and 2 Chronicles 7:14, over her daughter in Los Angeles and her grandsons.

She pressed on the question of whether women in the room are actually living out of that resurrection power, or are still pinned under guilt, shame, and condemnation. Her argument was simple: the cross dealt with all of that, and Jesus is not on the cross anymore. Staying stuck there is not humility; it is a failure to believe what He said. She described writing out verses about God's love until that became the narrative playing in her mind, and said the feelings follow the narrative, not the other way around.

The final section grew out of her visits to Jane, a close friend diagnosed with ALS. She described flying back to see Jane when Jane could no longer speak and could only move one thumb, and feeling the Holy Spirit prompt her to tell Jane what was next. She had spent a weekend researching heaven and brought those notes. When Jane's husband and daughter stepped out, Jane's first words through her app were that she needed to know all of it was real. Deborah walked through what Scripture says about the transition at death, the continuity of the self, the recognition of loved ones, emotions, purpose, and even eating. A week after Deborah returned home, Jane texted that she was ready and at total peace. She died the next day.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

Deborah drew a distinction between resuscitation and resurrection, saying Jesus came back in a glorified body to never die again. How does that distinction change the way you think about what Jesus actually did, and what it means for your own future?
Deborah said our faith is not blind faith, and walked through several pieces of evidence for the resurrection, from the missing body to non-Christian historians like Josephus to the eyewitness accounts that turned frightened disciples into people who could not be silenced. Which of those pieces of evidence landed most personally for you, and why?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Read the full transcript 8,390 words

Find in this transcript

Good morning, ladies. Grab your goodies and find your seat if you would. We'll get started this morning. Let's stand together this morning. Let's worship together.

Let's sing together. He's a safe place this morning. His presence is a safe place. You know, in the world and in our daily lives, it's it's you know, we don't use language like being overwhelmed as a good thing. We see it as a negative thing, but when we are overwhelmed by the presence of God, he just takes all the worry, takes all the fear, takes all the anxiety.

Just let his the presence of who he is, the king of kings, the Lord of lords. Let his presence just overwhelm you. Let it in the midst of Just our hearts surrendered to him this morning. Are Maybe you've never experienced his presence before and you would just have the courage to cry out and say, Lord, I've never felt your presence in a tangible way. Let his Holy Spirit just come and speak to you today.

He is as close as your very breath. We sing Holy Spirit, you're welcome here. Just put your hands on your heart and just say Holy Spirit, you're welcome to come and speak to me today. To and the midst of the space today. Just right where you are, just close your eyes.

And if you are comfortable, just put your hands out just as a gesture that you are opening your heart to what the Holy Spirit has, to what the Lord has for you today. I'm just gonna have bee sing this this part over you. Just let those these words just wash over you and just let them be a prayer before we dig into the message today that we would be a vessel ready to receive from the Lord today. Lord, that's our prayer that our hearts would be open this morning to your word, to your revelation. We thank you for this study.

We thank you for Deborah. We thank you that you continue to speak to us something fresh, something new every day by your spirit that you're never finished with us. Let us be an open space today to receive from you. We pray all this in Jesus' name and everybody said, amen. Amen.

Thank you, Lisa. Thank you, Bee. Thank you, Carl. Thanks, guys. Beautiful vessels.

Alright, ladies. Is it extra dark in here today? Where's the light? I'm bringing the light. I'm bringing the light today.

Alright. So does everyone have a handout? If you don't have a handout, where's Casey? Casey, always make sure we have our handouts. Does anyone need a handout?

Raise your hand. Oh, Casey. Barbara needs a handout. Okay. Compared to last week You know what?

I'm just gonna open in prayer because y'all are just so excited. This is the last day. So let's just ask the Lord to anoint his word. Father, thank you for this powerful message on the resurrection. Thank you that, we're gonna end today with a glimpse of heaven, and I just thank you for every soul in this room.

I pray you speak directly to each one of us personally because that's what you do. That's the kind of God that you are. Your word is alive and it's powerful and it changes us and may it change us today and form us more into your likeness. And we just give up this morning to you and we thank you for bringing us here. In Jesus' holy name, Lord, amen.

Okay. So it was very hard to figure out what to talk about today. The the crucifixion, the resurrection. Can I just see a show of hands? How many of you have seen the passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson Mel Gibson starring James Caviezel?

Okay. For those of you who have not seen it, it's streaming, so you can still see it. I highly recommend it. I highly recommend it even if you have seen it. It's a game changer.

It completely shifted my heart and just made me realize the depth of suffering that Jesus voluntarily did for us. But today, I'm not going to talk about the the crucifixion. We're gonna talk about the resurrection. And before we jump into it, one of the things that people will often say to me about the resurrection is, well, I mean, why was Jesus so special? Other people have come back to life, and that's true, isn't it?

Do you know what the distinction is though? When other people have come back to life, that's a resuscitation. They come back from the dead in their same body to die again But the resurrection was something completely different. Jesus came back to life in his glorified body, a different body to never die again in his humanness. He's still alive.

He's alive sitting at the right hand of the father interceding for us. Cindy Day is like, woo. And because of that, he tells us you and I are never going to die either. That's pretty encouraging news. And consider the fact that the resurrection was so significant in human history that it literally divided time.

Today, we still two thousand years later divide time by what? BC and AD. And this is a fun fact, I always thought BC meant before Christ, which it does, and I thought a d meant after death, which it doesn't. Do you know what a d means? It's a Latin word that means in the day of our Lord because we have to account for the time he was on earth, right?

So it's really from the time he was on earth forward. Tim Keller says about the resurrection, he says if Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept everything he says. You have to accept the entire Bible. The issue on which everything hangs is not whether you or I agree with the teachings of the Bible or even understand it. The issue on which everything hangs is whether or not he rose from the dead because that was something that was impossible.

And did he do it? And don't you think it's crazy? Like I was thinking about this. Okay. Two thousand years later, there's this one horse town that pretty much everyone has heard of especially in the Western world.

Have you heard of Nazareth? Yes. Well, have you heard of Timurah or Iqsal? They're much larger towns near Nazareth. You and I have never heard of those towns.

I mean, I live in a one horse town of Kelly. Most people outside of Jackson, even in Wyoming, have never heard of Kelly. But two thousand years later, you and I know about this little tiny Kelly of a town called Nazareth because that's where Jesus was from. That's where this resurrected God came from. Paul, when he was Saul, the Pharisee, who was persecuting and killing Christians, saw the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus and became Paul, the sold out follower of Christ who gave think about this.

He gave everything up. I mean, if today the Lord said, Paula, I want you to sell your house, you're hitting the road for missions for me, you have nothing but the clothes on your back, you're gonna depend on the body of Christ to support you, you give up your title, which was being a pharisee was a big deal. Paul gave it all up and this is what he wrote in first Corinthians 15. He says, I passed on to you what was most important and what had been passed on to me and these are the hills that we die on. Paul said, I passed on to you that Christ died for us, for our sins, he was buried, he was raised on the third day.

And then Paul said, and he went to Peter, and I love how Paul first mentions Peter because Peter was struggling. He betrayed Jesus in the worst kind of way and he hated himself for it. He's one of the first people that Jesus went to. He went to Peter and then he went to the 12 and then he went to 500 of his followers at one time and then he went to James. I love how Paul calls out James.

Who was James? He was Jesus' brother and we're told in other parts of scripture that Jesus had brothers but they didn't believe he was Messiah. Another brother was Jude. Jude wrote the book, a book in the Bible. James wrote a book in the Bible.

So why is Paul telling us that he went to James? Because when James saw the resurrected Christ, when Jude saw the resurrected Christ, there was no question in their mind that this was God, that everything he said was true. And they got a glimpse of Jesus in his glorified body of what was coming for them. And nothing in this earth mattered anymore compared to that. And James and Peter and all the disciples gave their life for Jesus after that.

It changed everything. Paul was on trial in Acts chapter 23. He was on trial for following Jesus and Paul looked out and he saw his friends, pharisees, his former friends and he says to them, he says, brothers, I get you. I was a Pharisee. I was a descendant of Pharisees.

We're from the same tribe. I understand you, but you need to know I am on trial today because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead. Paul's like, we're never gonna die. There's such hope in this resurrection. Paul saw Jesus on that road to Damascus, and Galatians one tells us when Paul converted, Jesus sent him out to the desert for three years, and Jesus himself taught Paul.

So Paul is saying, yeah, I'll go on trial. I'll give my life because I can't unsee what I saw. I can't unsee the Lord is alive and we know he was dead. He was buried three days and he walked out of that grave. So the question is, have you thought about the importance of the resurrection and the power that's in the resurrection?

Before I get to that, I wanna tee it up with just some evidence for you because I know we like evidence, don't we? I mean, I always say we have to live by faith but our faith as followers of Christ is not blind. It's not blind faith. We have a lot of evidence. I'm just gonna slightly touch on this this morning because last year in Root It, I really unpacked this.

So if you need more evidence, if you're the kind that just likes a lot of evidence, go back on jacksonholewomen'sbiblestudy.com and you can watch the teaching from the first teaching in September and root it for more evidence. But the evidence I wanna unpack with you first today is we have no body. We have no remains of Jesus. Now think about this, ladies. The Pharisees did everything in their power to discredit Jesus.

And remember, I just thought it was so interesting how Matthew brought out exactly what we see today. They couldn't deny his incredible miracles and how good he was, so what how did they attack him? Personally, they're like, well you're the devil. And he's like, well that doesn't even make any sense because I'm casting out the devil in people so I'm definitely not the devil. And don't we see that today when we can't come up with a good argument, we just attack personally.

But we have no remains, we don't have the body. Don't you think that the pharisees who had the Roman government on their side, they had money, they had power, they had every resource available to them. Do you not think they would have gotten Jesus' body as evidence that he really wasn't God? Because he told them, I'm gonna raise them the third day. If you read Matthew, the end of Matthew this week, you know that the pharisees went to the soldiers and said, he said he's gonna rise again.

So just if he's not there, we're gonna pay you to tell a lie that the disciples came in and stole the body. But that's crazy, the Pharisees had the resources to get that body, and they would have gotten the body. I mean, think about today, you can go to Saudi Arabia and see the remains of Mohammed, you can go to India and see the ashes of Buddha, and I think this is so weird, but apparently you can go to Sri Lanka and see a tooth of Buddha. We do not have a tooth of Jesus. Why?

Because Jesus is alive. He's not dead. There are no remains. And isn't this so interesting? There's 260 chapters in the New Testament, and within those chapters, there are 300 verses on the resurrection.

The early church focused on teaching the resurrection, and I thought that's so interesting. They didn't focus on the crucifixion, they focused on the resurrection because that was the big game changer. In Acts chapter four, we're told that Peter and John were getting in trouble with the temple guards and the Sadducees because what were they teaching? They were teaching that through Jesus, there is resurrection of the dead. They were teaching this and the Sadducees says, stop teaching that.

And did they ever stop? They they couldn't be stopped. In Acts chapter seven, Paul's in Athens and he's with the Ivy League of Intellects. He's with the group of Epicurean and stoic philosophers and they're like, Paul, do you know how crazy you sound? They called Paul a babbler, which apparently back in the day meant crazy.

And they're like, you sound so crazy. You're talking about this God that you worshipped that was killed, buried for three days and now he's alive. That's crazy talk, Paul. And Jesus gives us this promise in John 14. He's talking to his followers.

He says, before long, you're not gonna see me anymore. I'm leaving the earth but you will see me. You will see me because I live and you're going to live. Why would Jesus say that? Because as followers of Christ, we have something inside us.

We have a piece of him called the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit inside us which brings the power of Christ into our lives. The second, evidence that we have because when you're especially if you're talking to a non believer, they don't care that there are 300 verses about the resurrection in the Bible because they don't believe the Bible. Right? So I think it's really important to point out that we have non christian evidence.

We have Josephus, the Jewish historian. And what did Josephus write? He said there after the resurrection, we have his writings where he said there are just these multitudes of people that claim this God, this prophet that they were worshiping who was crucified is alive. And Josephus is like, this is very unusual that there are so many of them claiming this. We have a Roman governor, we have his writings, his name is Pliny.

And Pliny wrote to emperor Trajan and he said, I'm not sure what you want me to do here because we have these people and there are so many of them that will not worship you as God because they claim they saw their God alive after death and they will not deny him even with the threat of death. So should I keep killing them? What should I do? There were so many of them. We also have thousands and thousands of eyewitnesses whose eyes were changed forever.

I love how the Lord set up the crucifixion. He set it up during the Passover time, which meant we know from historical writings that a minimum of a quarter of a million pilgrims would ascend upon Jerusalem. Some historians believe it was closer to a million pilgrims would come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, and this was the time that Jesus was crucified. And we know that thousands of those pilgrims saw him, and it changed their life forever. I mean, consider what it did to the disciples.

We're told in scripture after the crucifixion, and you can imagine this, they were terrified. They went back into the upper room, and they're like, oh my gosh, this isn't how we thought it was gonna play out. He's dead. It's over. It's it's over.

We were wrong. What are we gonna do? And we're told they were afraid. And then Jesus just walks through the door, like without the door open. He just walks through, and he's like, it's okay, I'm here.

Okay, the impact that had on even doubting Thomas, every single disciple, is unbelievable. They hit the pavement. They didn't care what happened to them after that. They were stoned. They were starving.

They were beaten. They just would not give up on that message because they saw a glimpse of eternity before them. They saw the hope of eternal life. They saw their risen Lord, and they would not be silenced. And it wasn't just the disciples, millions of Christians were brutalized during this time, and they would not give in.

I think that's a powerful testimony. John Mark Comer says, people who are not afraid of death are a threat to the power brokers of our world, both the spiritual and human power brokers of our world. What are you and I so afraid of? We should be a threat to the dark forces of our world. What do we have to fear?

What is the worst thing that could happen to us? We die and go to be in this beautiful heavenly place with Jesus forever? Peter wrote, we are not making up stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own two eyes. So why does the resurrection matter so much?

Because Jesus is saying, I'm gonna give you some of that power that brought me back to life because you see that today? We are in war for our marriages. We are at war for the soul of our country. And I was thinking about this, I've gone on many missions trips. I've been to Asia, to Africa, to Mexico.

And you know what's interesting? Outside of our borders, the rest of the world looks at America and thinks we're a Christian nation. They think we're a Christian nation, and I think it's because we're still a nation like no other nation who shows up to help with aid when people get in trouble, and we're also a nation that sends out more missionaries to share Jesus than any other nation. So they still view us as a Christian nation. Do you think the enemy is gonna be like, oh, that's great.

That's okay with me. Maintain your values. Maintain your your Christian roots. No. He is digging a way to uproot those roots.

But here's the thing, if I really believe who Jesus says he is, if I believe he's sovereign, he's good, he loves me, and that he's alive and that his word is alive and powerful, then I'm gonna pick up my sword of truth and I'm going to war against these dark forces. And I will just tell you this is gonna take two things from us. It's gonna take commitment and it's going to take courage. Okay? It's gonna take some courage because you're not gonna see answers immediately.

So you have to stay committed. I was in the small group I sat with last week. You know, one of the things is the ladies were like, well, we're ready but our kids aren't ready. And I said, I'm I'm in this battle with you. I have a daughter who lives in LA who works in Hollywood and she claims Jesus but I don't see her following Jesus.

And I know it's there, I know it's there and I'm going to war for her. I I'm going to war for my grandsons to grow up and follow Jesus. And sometimes when the war is is up on us because the dark forces have been emboldened in this country because so many people just invite them into their house, they don't care. Okay, so sometimes prayer isn't enough, we have to fast and pray. And I will tell you what I've started to maybe encourage you because I hate fasting as much as anyone else but every Sunday night, Sunday after lunch, I'm not eating until Monday morning and I'm taking my verses, I'm taking Acts 17, I'm claiming this over my kids.

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on your descendants, your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Okay, I'm gonna see that in my lifetime. Do you believe that? Take it and and take it as a sword of truth and say, Lord, I'm going through the dark forces. Julia will prophesy.

Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams. And we need to pray this for our old men. Our men retire and then what do they do with their life? They need a new dream. They they their retirement's not in the Bible.

God still has purpose for them. Okay. And for you and me, this is my prayer for me that I pray. Acts twenty six eighteen, in the last days, I will pour out my spirit on my followers, men and women alike. And this is a promise, they will prophesy to open eyes and turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ.

That is our job, ladies. And I was texting friends yesterday saying second Chronicles seven fourteen, write this down, second Chronicles seven fourteen. That prayer is on repeat for me. Okay? Because throughout scripture, God says, if you, then I will.

If you, then I will. He says, if my people will humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, what will God do? I will hear you from heaven, I will forgive your sins and I will heal your land. That is a promise. Are we gonna fight for that?

We're gonna fight for that. John Stott says, you know, Matthew talks about being salt and light. John Stott says, God intends us to penetrate the world. Christian salt has no business to remain snugly and elegant little church salt sellers. Oh my gosh.

Hallelujah. Thank you, John Stott. Our place is to be rubbed into the secular community as salt is rubbed into meat. Why is salt rubbed into meat? To keep it from going bad.

And when society goes bad, we throw up our arms in horror. Instead, we should ask ourselves well, me back up and say, we throw up our arms but should we rather not reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad because it can do nothing else. Right? It can't.

The real question is, John Stott says, where is the salt? Where is the witness? Where is the fragrant aroma of Christ? Are you praying? Greg and I pray together every morning.

Well, sometimes we skip some mornings, but pretty much every morning, we pray together. Lord, give us an opportunity to plant a seed today. Bring someone into our life either by phone, by text, or by person, and give us an opportunity to say something that would draw them to you or encourage them in you. Is that your prayer? You wanna punch the devil in the face?

Yes, someone said yes. Well, hallelujah. Well, we do that by getting on our knees. Okay? And then we get up and we be the salt.

That's how we do it. Okay. So last week, the question was, does Jesus know you? Does he know your name? That was the week the question last week.

Do you know what this week's question is? This is something we have to answer. If we're saying we're followers of Christ, am I living out of the power of Jesus Christ alive within me? Am I living out of the power of Jesus Christ alive in me? And I know some of you are thinking I'm not sure, I don't know, how do I know, how do I know this?

Well, I say this with complete tenderness and absolutely no condemnation. Okay? Just know my heart in this. I've just had too many conversations for thirty years with women in Bible study to know this. You are not living out of the power of Christ.

If you are stuck under this cloud of shame and guilt and condemnation and doubt, you are not living out of the power. And how do why do I say that? That's what the cross was about. Jesus overcame all of that on the cross And he's not on the cross anymore, ladies. He's alive.

So why are we stuck at the cross? Nail it to the cross and believe what Jesus says about you. You too are an overcomer. Merriam Webster says an overcomer is one who succeeds in dealing with or gaining control of some problem or difficulty. So how do we do that?

Okay, how do we do it? I will tell you, I was raised I was raised knowing the truth, but it was kind of legalistic, not a lot of love and mercy and grace. That that was just nonsense. I mean, that that wasn't part of it. So when I came back to the Lord in my early thirties, I had a really hard time with the narrative in my head that was guilt and shame and never good enough.

Okay? That was the narrative that played. So you know what I did? Because I wanted to be an overcomer. I wrote down verses about how much God loves me and how worthy I am and that he died for me, he died for me.

Okay, I love you guys but I don't know if I would die for you. I mean, he died for me. And I said those verses until that was the narrative that began to play in my mind. And I don't struggle with that anymore. I don't struggle with that.

It starts in our mind. You might be thinking, don't feel worthy. I don't feel valuable. Okay. I get it.

But if you wanna change those feelings, you've gotta change the narrative. The narrative changes the feelings. It might take a minute, but it will change the feelings. Jesus says in John 16, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace and the world, you're gonna have trouble, girls. Some translations say tribulation, and I wanna just go back to next week.

I believe the timeline I gave you, but I understand not everyone follows that timeline. And so I just wanna repeat what I said. If we see a temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem, if we see Israel sign a peace treaty with some smooth talking charismatic leader who promises peace to the world, then we're going through some of the tribulation, if not all of the tribulation. That is a possibility. Okay?

But just know that everything in the Bible is a foreshadowing of what's coming. So when Jesus says in the end times it's gonna intensify earthquakes, wars, famines, these things are gonna intensify whether we go through the seven year tribulation or not, it's going to get ugly on earth. And he says, you can have peace in me because I overcame it all and he tells us how in first John five four. First John five four says, everyone who's been born of God, are you a born again believer? Do you have the spirit of Christ in you?

Okay, if you do, then Jesus says, this is the victory, This is the victory that has overcome the world. It is your faith. It's your faith. It's not some good work. It's your faith.

You've got to learn to trust him. And I know of only one way to trust him. Only one way, you have to put him to the test. I've been married to Greg Buckingham for forty years. I trust Greg.

I trust Greg with my life. Why? Because I know him, and we've had a lot of experiences together. There's only one way you're gonna trust Jesus, you have to know him. Do you spend time knowing him?

You've gotta put his narrative from the word of God into your mind. That's how you're gonna trust him and then put him to the test. Ask him for a promise over whatever issue you're dealing with. Take that promise and visualize it and say, Lord, this is your promise to me. I'm believing you for it.

I'm believing you for it. He is faithful. He is so faithful. You can trust him. But you're not gonna trust him if you don't put him to the test.

And I'm not saying you ever arrive this side of heaven where you're not struggling or you don't go through a dark night of the soul of going, what the heck is going on here? This hurts. We're we're all gonna have that until heaven, but we claim the promises over our doubts, and we put them to the test. Philippians one six says, I am certain that God who began the good work within you, the minute you received him, you said, yes, Lord. I want you to be my Lord and savior.

I invite you into my life. It's not me behind the driving behind the driver's wheel anymore, it's gonna be you. Paul says the minute that happens, he began a good work in you, and he will continue his work until the day it is finished when Christ Jesus returns. Now, whether or not Christ Jesus returns before you die, remember the point from last week that the the wise servants, the faithful servants, they understood this time as a human is short but it matters. It's we're all gonna die.

I mean, I hate to be the bearer of that news but we we are all going to die. I know you guys know that whether Jesus comes back or not. I mean Erwin Lutzer tells a story of a pastor who said, raise your hand if you'd like to go to heaven. And everybody raised their hand except the lady up front and he's like, what? You don't wanna go to heaven?

She goes, oh, I do. I I thought you were gathering a group to go right now. And and I think that most of us feel that way. We're like, yeah, we're in. We wanna go to heaven.

We just don't wanna go right now. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. So I need a drink before I go into this next session.

Luke, can you put my friend Jane up there? I've showed you all this picture before. Jane wasn't ready either, and I have not shared this with her family. But this is my friend I I shared about earlier how last summer twenty twenty three, she came to visit, and she had had this limp for, like, four months. And I said, what the heck?

Why why haven't you healed? Like, she was in really good shape. And she said, well, Deborah, I'm going back to Orange County and get the test results, and the doctor thinks I have ALS. And I just was like, I'll never forget it. I was on Gros Ventre Junction Road, and I said, Jane, that is crazy talk.

You do not have ALS. And she said, Deborah, I think I do. She said, have you noticed how I'm slurring my words? And I was like, yeah, I I have noticed that. So we pulled over in Antelope Flats at this spot right here, and we prayed together.

And it it the sun was, like, shining so beautifully. You know one of those epic Jackson days? I said, Jane, you've gotta get out of the car. I wanna take your picture. And that was the picture I took.

Well, over the next year, I was able to visit Jane several times, and she digressed very quickly. Every, like, three months, I would go back, and my heart would just stop because it was now she can't walk, and now she can't talk at all. And a week before we started Bible study, I said to Greg, I have to go back one more time. And he's like, okay. He goes, okay, I'll go online and get you a ticket.

And then I started making dinner and I felt this anxiety rise up within me because I was like, Lord, okay, I'm scared because she can't talk, she can still move like one thumb. So she would text, and then she had an app on the phone that would speak a voice. I'm like, what am I going to say to her? Everything is going to be okay? I mean, I know everything is going to be okay, but it's not going to be okay until it's okay.

And I was so stressed out, and I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, Deborah, you tell Jane what's next. And I spent the entire weekend buns in the chair, researching heaven, every question I could think of to share with Jane. I went back, and we had spent, like, several hours just talking about great memories. She was my first mommy friend. She was my friend of many firsts, my first time to Hawaii with her family, first time with Halloween praise with our kids.

We had both gotten away from our faith in our twenties, so she was my first friend I went back to church with before my husband was even a believer, and our family stayed at that church until we moved here. So we talked about all that, and then through her app, Jane asked her husband and daughter who were with us if she could have some time alone with me because she was getting tired. And I had been praying that whole time. I was like, okay, Lord, you guys know me. I have 10 pages on heaven to share with Jane.

And what do I do? Just rip this out? Like, I need an open door. You you have to give me an open door. So when Jane said that to her husband and daughter, I'm like, okay, this is the open door.

But I was like, Lord, can

you just make it really clear that Jane wants to hear this? Like, I I hope I got this right. The second they walked out on her app, she looks at me and she says, Deborah, I need to know all this is real. I need to know heaven is real. I said, oh my gosh, Jane.

Well, Jesus loves you because he told me to prepare this for you. And we went through the whole thing, and then I sent it to her, and before I left, we had a real heart to heart, and she was sobbing. And through her app, she told me, I'm not ready. I'm I'm really angry, Deborah. I don't get to see my grandkids.

There's so many unrealized dreams. I mean, I'm just in my early sixties. This is when you get to have fun in life. I get that that's been taken from me. And I grabbed her and I said, Jane, I get it.

I get it. I promise you one thing. If you seek the Lord, if you cry out to Jesus, he's gonna meet you in this place, and he's gonna ready you. He's going to give you peace about this. I said, do you promise me every day you're gonna do that?

I came back home, and I texted her every day, and she would just give me a heart most days. Then a week later, on Tuesday, the day before Bible study started, she texted me, and she said, I want you to know, I'm ready. I am at total peace now, and she passed the next day. And it just left such an impact on me because Jesus met her in that place and readied her, and that is his promise to all of us. And I wanted to share a couple things about heaven that I shared with her because of time.

I want you to have some time in your small group. But later, Julia is going to send you I did try to condense the 10 pages down. She's gonna send that to you via email so that you guys have it. But one thing that Jane was worried about is what is the transition to heaven? And I said, Jane, it's just a very thin veil.

There's no waiting period. There's no long dark tunnel. Scripture tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and that verb to be is a connective verb. Do you know what that means? It means there's no disconnect between my dying body and my living soul.

I am immediately face to face with the Lord in eternity. And I said, Jane, you've moved so many times in your life. This is just another move. It's you moving to a new location, but it's you. That's another thing that kind of weirds us out as human beings.

Are we gonna still be the same us? A 100%, yes. Without the sin. Hallelujah. Death is just a relocation of the same person to a new location.

Second Corinthians five eight says, we are confident that we'd rather be away from these earthly bodies for then we will be at home. We'll be at home with the Lord. And you know Paul wrote that after the Lord gave Paul a glimpse of heaven and you know what Paul said about his glimpse of heaven? He said, I cannot put to words what I saw. It was just so incredible, and this always stuck with me.

Paul said, I can't even put to words what I heard. It was so glorious and amazing. Tim Keller says, the resurrection of the body means restoration of it. That's the hope we have from Jesus being resurrected. We not only get the bodies and lives we had, but we get the bodies and the lives we always wished for.

That is amazing. And this is the other thing Jane was worried about, would she see her family again? We have memories in heaven, ladies. There is no indication anywhere in scripture that we get a memory swipe. Thanks be to God, we get a sin swipe, but we do not get a memory swipe.

We will know one another. We will recognize one another. David wrote of his son. I will go to him, but he will not return to me. David knew he would recognize his son.

That's the whole story of the transfiguration. I think it's interesting, Moses and Elijah were not told they had name tags on. How did James and John and Peter recognize them? Because they knew Torah. They knew what Moses and Elijah were like, and they knew they were Moses and Elijah, and they're still called Moses and Elijah because there's still Moses and Elijah in heaven.

Will we experience emotions in heaven? Absolutely. We are made in the image of God and we're told in scripture that God himself laughs and takes delight in and rejoices over us. Revelation twenty one four says that we will have emotions, but there will be no sad crying, that Jesus will wipe away all of our tears. And David wrote, in my eternity, I will be filled with joy and pleasures.

And I just had to include this one because I personally love this one, that we're gonna eat and drink in heaven. I love that. I love that. And how do we know? Because Jesus in his resurrected body, he ate with the disciples.

And Isaiah 25 is a vision of what's to come. Isaiah wrote, on this mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all people, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats, and the finest of wines. And you know what's gonna be so great about it? No more tummy aches, no more being worried about being overweight or underweight. We will be perfectly healthy and perfectly whole.

And the other thing about heaven, we have this misconception that it's just so boring because we're just floating on white fluffy clouds singing boring old hymns. That is not heaven at all. We will have purpose in heaven. Randy Alcorn says, the smartest person God ever created in this world may have never learned how to read. The most musically gifted person may have never touched a musical instrument.

The greatest athlete may have never competed in a game. The sport you're best at may be a sport you've never tried or your favorite hobby, one you never even thought of. Living under the curse living in this world means we miss a lot of opportunities. But the reversing of the curse, the resurrection of our bodies and our earth, means we regain it all, all the lost opportunities and we inherit so much more. That's what we have to look forward to.

I'm gonna close with first Peter one. Peter wrote, all praise to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we've been born again. Because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, now you and I should live with an expectation that we have a priceless inheritance that is preserved for us in heaven. So be happy, my friends, because there is wonderful joy ahead.

Even though you're gonna suffer on this earth, these trials only show us how genuine our faith is. So when your faith remains strong through all these trials, it's going to bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. So you hang in there because there is heaven awaiting us and you have the power to get yourself there through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen? Amen.

Great word, Deborah. Let's just wrap all that up. And let's just close our eyes and let's just ask the Lord just like Deborah's friend like she had to do and allow the Holy Spirit to do a real searching. Am I ready, lord? Am I ready?

And then just ask him. Ask him to make you ready. Ready for you. That's our time. We you thank time.

Office waiting where we're just sitting there idle, bored, and whenever we get called, we get called, but waiting, anticipating, ready, looking with our lamps full of oil because of the time we've spent in intimacy with you. That's the only way that we can buy oil. Thank you, Lord, that it doesn't matter if we've been walking with you for fifty years or we surrender right now in this moment. You fill our lamp with oil when we ask. And I feel like as just like Deborah said, as the days get darker, the tribulation begins to come in our own lives, that the exchange for oil is the best deal going.

Lord, thank you that you are so gracious to us, that you do not withhold from us. I just pray right now over everyone in this room peace, a healthy cross, And we would put our fear and our anxiety. Just like Deborah said, pin it to the cross and believe what you say about us and then walk in victory. Close to you always. Close to you.

Get us ready, Lord. Get us ready through intimacy with you. We tell you we love you, Jesus. We love you. Amen.

Can I just say something really quick? I I don't know how many of y'all have been, like, to I'm

to changing my life forever. And,

like,

I used to place so much emphasis on community where and I'm like, yeah, God works through the body and whatnot, but this group has pushed me to to just let Jesus be Jesus. You know, let him be my savior and let him be my safety and when I think of before when I'm like, oh, I need to be ready. I'd go and do it on my own and then when I'm ready to for the Lord to see me. I'm like, okay, here I am. I'm like, I guess I'll I'll receive it but that's but I was going to wash my hands in muddy water.

But he's like, whatever emotion you're feeling, whether you're angry or hurt or sad, heartbroken, lost. He says bring that to me because he is the one who can fix it all. Because in the earth, in this world, we can only put band aids on bullet wounds. And he's like, no. I wanna heal you wholly and entirely and completely.

And it's so much more work to go and get yourself ready for him. And he's like, I just need you to come as you are. And I've learned to take all of the negative stuff I felt like this time, like, I feel like every day I woke up, I'm like, God, I wanna be grateful, but here's a list of things why this season sucks. I'm like, here's what's making it hard right now. I don't have a job.

I don't have a place to live. Like, all of the things, and you're telling me to stay right here. But he says, even when it doesn't make sense, he's still working. And being in that special place of where you're not in the driver's seat is incredible because I've been trying to walk the middle of the road like, hey, God. I'm just gonna do my thing.

And if you, you know, choose to do a miracle, that'd be awesome, but I'm still gonna try to make it work the best way that I see fit. And he's like, girl, get in the back seat. He's like, you don't get passenger seat prince oh, like, passenger seat privileges anymore because you're just reaching over and be like, let me just get on the gas real quick. But hopping in the back seat and letting him take it was just the best thing. Amen.

But thank you guys for that.

Amen. We need community. Amen? Amen.

Okay. I'll just oh, there we go. Alright. Ladies, just a couple quick announcements. First, thank you, Bea.

That was just wonderful testimony. Thank you. And let's also give Lisa and Bea of all the weeks and work they put in. Thank you, ladies, so much. So on September 4, I opened the study assuring you that you were attending the Bible study because you felt moved to do so, and the act of showing up was one of obedience.

You listened. You trusted. You kept coming back, and and you got yourself here every time that you have attended since that first lesson. And by doing so, I know that you've grown in your faith, you've grown in relationships, and that you've come to know Jesus better. And those meaningful relationships that you're building in your small group now will hopefully continue during this break we're going to take.

So please reach out to one another and keep in touch. Don't let that enemy cause you any doubt that you should come back during the winter study, please. I hope that you have built some new disciplines studying the word, making it a priority to seek to know God better and grow closer to him. The study has certainly brought us all encouragement, so please don't let it slip away. And continue to practice meeting, use that Lectio three sixty five app, be conscious of the audiovisual going on in your world, and stay centered on Jesus.

I'd like to thank many of you for your generous love offerings. Those go a long way for us, and we are very, very appreciative. And then I'd also like for Ann Marie Trawick, who was out there every week. Is she still in here? Anne Marie, where are you?

Oh, there she is. Hi. Stand up, Anne Marie. And Susie B, where are you, Susie, who made the coffee along with Casey every week for you to come in and enjoy. And then I'd also like our small group leaders to stand one last time.

These women have been so faithful, true disciples, and we we this is your church. This is how the church is supposed to work. So thank you, ladies, all of you. Last thing, please mark your calendars for the annual Christmas luncheon, which will be December 11. It's a Wednesday.

You, by being in this room and study, will get the invitation a day before everybody else. So watch for it. And when you see it, please go online right away and RSVP. The seating will be limited. It always is pretty tight.

So if you want to make sure you have a seat, get right on that because the next day, the RSVP is gonna go out or the invitation will go out to about 500 people. So get yourself your little seat. Okay. That is it for now. At this time, please go directly to your small groups, and thank you again for all attending.

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