WAIT FOR IT

Text: John 11

PHOTOBOMB

A family narrowly avoided disaster after posing for photographs next to an unexploded World War II mine they thought was a buoy.
Kelly Gravell was on a beach near Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, with her two children in 2015 when they discovered the seaweed-covered object.
The 32-year-old mother was left stunned when the beach was closed five days later after Carmarthenshire Council rangers spotted the 70-year-old bomb and called in the bomb squad to blow it up.
Footage from the scene showed a huge explosion on the far side of the harbour after experts detonated the device.
Gareth, the children’s father, tweeted his surprise and shared the photographs of Erin, six, and Ellis, four, online.
The 34-year-old wrote: ‘So the buoy my kids were jumping on all weekend turns out to be a WWII bomb. Oops.’
Ms Gravell said the children were more interested in the barnacles on it than what the object actually was.
She said: ‘The tide was up so we discovered what we later learned was the bomb – we just thought it was a buoy.
‘We were more interested in the barnacles on it and the kids were looking at them while Gareth noticed that it had a chain on.
‘I even made the joke that it was a big bomb at the time but did not think anything of it. It’s only afterwards when the reality has set in that we were actually very lucky.
‘We were close to disaster – it’s shocking.’
The couple, who run a waste management firm, insisted they would return to the beach.

JOHN 11

1Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
3Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
4When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
5Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
6When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
7Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
8His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
9Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
10But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
11These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
16Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
18Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
19And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
28And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
29As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
30Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35Jesus wept.
36Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
37And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
38Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
40Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
45Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
46But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
47Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
49And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,
50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
51And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
52And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
53Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
54Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.
55And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.
56Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?
57Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him. —John 11:1-60 (KJV - King James Version)

WHEN LOVE WAITS

Years ago, a small town in Maine was proposed for the site of a great hydroelectric plant. Since the dam would be built across the river, the entire town would be submerged. When the project was announced, the people were given many months to arrange their affairs and relocate.

During the time before the dam was built, an interesting thing happened. All improvements ceased. No painting was done. No repairs were made on the buildings, roads, and sidewalks. Day by day, the whole town got shabbier and shabbier. A long time before the waters came, the town looked uncared for and abandoned, even though the people had not yet moved away. One citizen complained, “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power for the present.” The town was cursed with hopelessness because it had no future.

Have you ever been discouraged? Discouraged because it seems like God is taking too long to do what God said He would do. This is the case with Mary and Martha in our text. They knew what Jesus was capable of, and the disciples knew he could heal…but Jesus wanted them to see something even more powerful.

So many times we don’t understand why God does things in His time and not ours.

A few years we had a situation happen in our church.
The trusses in our sanctuary were failing, the insurance wouldn’t pay to have it fixed, and we were struggling because we were told we couldn’t meet in our sanctuary because it was not structurally sound.

We prayed and fasted and waited…and no answers came to magically make it better.

God just told me that He would give us double for the trouble.

My family prayed, alot…the members in our church prayed, …we were serious, we were desperate.

We got a loan to fix the issues, and do the renovations, and we took out a lawsuit on the insurance company and the truss manufacturer…and we started a stewardship campaign to pay for the renovation loan.

For almost two years our church faithfully sacrificed with really no word on anything good happening.
We got the sanctuary fixed, and we were paying for it…making two mortgage payments with the help of the stewardship campaign.

Then we got word that the insurance company was ready to discuss a settlement.

After several months and unheard-of concessions by the insurance company…we were able to settle out of court for all the costs of the legal fees and renovations.

We also saw over 90% of the stewardship campaign pledges come in…so when it was all said and done,
we had double for our trouble, but God wasn’t done yet.

Through more prayer, sacrifice and struggle, now God has blessed us with a beautiful building that houses Apostoli Coffee in it, and we are making a difference in our community with this building.

WAIT FOR IT!

What do you do when LOVE waits to show up? - You WAIT FOR IT, because something GREAT IS COMING!

Paul said with perseverance you must wait on the promise of the Lord and many time as we wait on God we allow it to be a weight on us.

Your W A I T on God was never attended to be a WE I G H T on you.

[28] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
[30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. – Matthew 11:28–30 KJV

From Chris Gibbs our Missionaries to Malawi

One preacher in Malawi had the missionary pray for his wife to have children and soon after she was pregnant.
They asked him and his wife to name their son
They picked Asher from Israel.
Two months after his birth Asher had swelling of the brain.
Before they could get Asher into surgery he died.
The young preacher came into his room with the doctor and picked his son up and prayed for him..
Two minutes later Asher sneezed and came back to life
The preacher put his son into the doctors hands and then laid hands on him and prayed that God would help him to make his son well.
The doctor left the room and took Asher to surgery and a week later he went home well and back to normal.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
—Romans 8:28 (KJV)

EXPECTATION OF GOOD

HOPE - What is it…what does it mean? (WAIT WITH EXPECTATION)
It might not be good right now, the situation doesn’t look good right now, but I expect it to get better!
Hope suggest it won’t be this way all the time. Hope says things are going to get better.
Hope says God’s got a plan and He’s working it out for you.
Hope says if you trust and never doubt God will surely bring you out, Hope says trouble don’t last always.
Hope says something good is going to happen to you, Hope says the Lord will make a way somehow.
Hope says the best is yet to come, Hope says what coming is better then what has been.
Hope says it’s not over till God says it’s over, Hope says for we know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.
Hope says I am who God says I am.

GREATER THAN MY PROBLEM

Lazarus was Dead, but the Power of God goes beyond the Grave
Your family may be in a mess right now,
Your Finances may be overdrawn,
Your problem is not outside of God’s Power Realm
If it was fixable or doable by you, You wouldn’t need hope
HOPE is believing and trusting good for something we cannot see
WAIT FOR IT!

Whenisia’s Testimony - from The Ritchies, Missionaries to the Windward Islands

“Whenisia Robin was born in the Windward Islands on February 5, 2019, to the son of a longtime member of our headquarters church in Martinique.

The baby girl was seriously deformed.

Sis. Gloria was totally heartbroken when she heard that her newborn granddaughter’s knees and feet were facing the wrong direction.
The news came when we were in the second week of special prayer in Fort-de-France, and every night we placed Whenisia before the throne of grace.
On Tuesday, February 12th in the evening, Sis. Gloria called me in tears.
She had just had another conversation with her son, and she was suffering.
She said, “Sis. Ritchie, please, please, tonight, you and Bro. Ritchie, I know you know how to pray, just pray again for my granddaughter.
. .” I assured her that we would pray, and we again placed the baby before the Lord.
We just prayed a simple prayer to our all-sufficient God.
Early the next morning, the telephone rang.
It was Sis Gloria in a state of great excitement.
She said, “Sis. Ritchie! God did it! God did it!
This morning when they woke up, the baby’s legs were straight! Her feet were straight!
There is no more deformity!! God did it in the night!!”

When she gave the testimony that evening in service, the place exploded in praise.
On March 24th, we had the joy of presenting Whenisia to the Lord.
She certainly had no deformities.
It was hard to even imagine the healing that had taken place, for all we could see was a perfect baby girl.

We asked for photos, and when we saw them, it was then that we really understood what a great work the Lord had performed in the night!”~
The Ritchies, Missionaries to the Windward Islands
Photo 1 – first week of Whenishia’s life
Photo 2 – after the healing!
Photo 3 – Whenisia’s dedication

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. —Romans 15:4 (KJV)

GOD SAID IT - THAT SETTLES IT!

Jesus said…I AM THE RESURRECTION and the LIFE - HE THAT BELIEVES ON ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD…YET SHALL HE LIVE!
I’m just going to be REAL with you here!
A Dead person can’t believe…
Dead people don’t believe NOTHIN - THEY DEAD!
What Jesus was talking about here is that someone who is dead spiritually in their sinful life, can believe on Him and find LIFE!
If you can just BELIEVE what JESUS SAID!
HE LOVES YOU, HE DIED TO SAVE YOU!
YOU ARE LOVED, YOU ARE FORGIVEN!
BY HIS STRIPES YOU ARE HEALED!
What you need to do is get you a “God said”.
Get you one good God said and stand on it… don’t you go anywhere, let that be what fills you with joy, peace and hope while you are WAITING!

A TALE OF TWO FROGS

Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl,
One was an optimistic soul
But the other took the gloomy view,
“I shall drown he cried, “and so will you.”
So with a last despairing cry,
He closed his eyes and said, “Good-bye.”
But the other frog, with a merry grin,
Said, “I can’t get out, but I won’t give in!
I’ll swim around till my strength is spent.
For having tried, I’ll die content.”
Bravely he swam until it would seem
His struggles began to churn the cream.
On the top of the butter at last he stopped
And out of the bowl he happily hopped.
What is the moral? It’s easily found.
If you can’t get out–keep swimming around!