Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Hosts Pastors' Lee and Jim.
It's Time to Inspire, Uplift, and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now!
Beyond Sunday
When Jesus Brings the Dead to Life
What do you do when something in your life seems utterly hopeless? In this deeply moving episode of Beyond Sunday, Pastors Lee and Jim dive into the transformative story of Jairus from Mark 5—a synagogue ruler who humbled himself before Jesus when his daughter was dying.
The narrative unfolds with unexpected turns as Jairus receives devastating news that his daughter has died. Yet in this moment of crisis, Jesus offers two simple yet profound commands that have the power to revolutionize our approach to life's darkest moments: "Do not fear, only believe." These words cut through centuries to speak directly to whatever impossible situation you're facing today.
We examine how Jesus saw beyond the professional mourners and their theatrical grief, focusing instead on the miracle he was about to perform. His dismissal of the doubters before raising the girl to life reveals a crucial truth about our spiritual journey—who we surround ourselves with matters profoundly when we're seeking breakthrough.
Perhaps most powerfully, Pastors Lee and Jim challenge us to consider what we've already pronounced "dead" in our lives. Whether it's relationships, dreams, or hopes for loved ones who seem far from God, Jesus specializes in resurrection. Through personal stories and biblical insights, this episode reminds us that when Jesus enters our desperate situations, death is never the final word.
Ready to see resurrection power in your seemingly hopeless circumstances? Listen now and discover how faith that goes beyond Sunday can transform your Monday through Saturday reality. Your miracle might be just one act of faith away.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week With your hosts, pastors Lee and Jim. It's time to inspire, uplift and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2:Hey, what's going on everybody? This is Pastor Lee and I'm here alongside Pastor Jim and we are the pastors of Christ Family Outreach Church, located in Amelia, virginia, and we thank you and welcome you to our podcast Beyond Sunday. Pastor Jim, how you feeling, brother, feeling good?
Speaker 1:Excited to be here another week, man. We're pushing close to nine or ten weeks now of going strong on this podcast and I love every single one of them. I love the process. I love the opportunity to just go before the Lord and prepare for this thing. There's nothing better than being in the Word of God. There's nothing better than talking about the Word of God. There's nothing better than being impacted and transformed by the Word of God. Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen, brother. Yeah, we're going to get right into it. If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Mark, chapter 5, and we're going to begin, my friends, with the 21st verse. So let's go. And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live. All right, guys.
Speaker 2:So let's break this down. You know, this dad has a daughter. She's at home and she's not doing too well, she's sick, and he sees the problem and then he looks for the answer. And when I read God's Word, I want to know the context in which it was written and I also want to know how can I learn from it and how can I apply this Word and take this message into my everyday way of living.
Speaker 2:So when I read this passage, I see a dad who wants his daughter well and I cannot help but think of the parents who don't see their children as sick, because they see them physically healthy, mentally healthy, but spiritually. The question is what is their spiritual condition? Do we have our children in church? Are we teaching them the word of God? What type of home environment are we giving them to live and grow in? Are we pointing them to Jesus Christ as the answer for all things in life? And it was this dad's responsibility to go and get help for his sick daughter. And it's our responsibility to be sure we're putting our children, our grandchildren, in the right situations to receive help from this very same.
Speaker 1:Jesus, amen. That's such a good opening statement, man, and it's powerful because it's our responsibility. I love that and really this story verse 21, is going to unpack simply with this, setting the stage for what's about to happen. So Jesus now has just calmed the storm, he's healed the demon-possessed man over in the other region of Gerasenes and now he's back in this other territory. And as soon as he steps off the boat, this crowd begins to gather around him.
Speaker 1:And the crowd is significant in more than just one way, because it's not just a crowd of people looking for Jesus. These are people who are excited, but they're also distracted. They wanted to see miracles, but not all of them truly even understood what Jesus was here to do. But in the middle of all the excitement, there was one man, jairus, who stood out. Why? Because he's not just a part of the crowd. He was someone who, despite all of the noise and despite all of the distractions, he came with a heart of faith and he's about to take a bold step that's going to demonstrate what true faith looks like. He's going to take a bold step, pastor Lee, to do exactly what you just opened with. He's going to say my family is important and I know that you're the one that can heal. Let's talk about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you know this crowd, including Jesus in the crowd, they all begin to make their way to Jairus' house and on their way, well, this is when the woman with the issue of blood right, If our listeners remember this, this is when the woman with the issue of blood reaches out and touches the garment of Jesus and instantly she's healed. And then someone from Jairus' house comes up with a message and this brings us. We advance a little bit in the scripture. We get to Mark, chapter 5, verse 35, and Mark 5, 35 through 37, says this while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said your daughter is dead, why trouble the teacher any further? But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue do not fear, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. So this dad gets the message right that his daughter has died. Hey, great try, you tried your best, you gave it your all, you did what you could do, but it's over, Right, she's passed.
Speaker 2:Jesus looks at the man, he looks at this dad and he gives him two commands, and I want you guys to pay close attention to this. Jesus gives his dad two commands. Here it is. Number one Jesus tells the man do not fear. Do not fear. Number two he says only believe. And, Pastor Jim, I'm telling you, man, and to our listeners as well, if we could take these two commands, if we would choose to live by just these two commands, it would drastically and dramatically change our lives forever. Do not fear and only believe.
Speaker 2:I'm reminded of 2 Timothy, chapter 1, 7, where Paul writes the following for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. You see, friends, fear is what the enemy wants you to focus on in order to get your eyes off of God. So I want to encourage you today do not fear and only believe. Hebrews 11.1 tells us Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11.6 goes on to tell us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Think about that, friends. If we don't have faith, there's no way we can please the Heavenly Father. So the world may be presenting you one message and the Word of God is going to present to you another message, and it's up to you to decide whose report, whose message, you're going to believe, but through it all, we've got to take these two commands that Jesus gives to this dad and he says do not fear only believe, and I want to talk about this dad for just a moment, because who was Jairus?
Speaker 1:He's not just any man. He's actually a synagogue leader, he has status and he has authority, and why I want to bring this up? It's important because he would have been respected by everybody in his community. What's remarkable to me, though, is, despite all of that, when it was his daughter who was on the brink of death, this man humbles himself, he falls at the feet of Jesus, and it's that act that speaks volumes. It's desperation, yeah, but it's more than that. It shows a deep faith and recognition of who Jesus is.
Speaker 1:Jairus knows that Jesus is the only hope, even if it's his last chance or his last hope. He understands that it's Jesus, and it's in this moment of crisis. He's not hesitating, he's falling at the feet of Jesus, and it's this powerful symbol of humility. You know, this is an act of reverence. This is a man, jairus, who is a man of status, humbling himself to his knees before the Lord. Even those with power and influence need to come to Jesus, amen. Even those people in power need to surrender, especially when faced with some of their most desperate situations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great point right there, pastor Jim.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and really right in verse 23,. It says and goes on to say and implored him earnestly, saying my little daughter is at the point of death, come and lay your hands on her so that she may be well and live. Can you hear the urgency in his voice? Yeah, I mean, I hear it. At the point of death, I can't imagine my children, jairus. He's fully aware of how serious the situation is and there's not any sugarcoating it. His daughter's dying and he believes that Jesus is the only one who can save her. Notice this he doesn't just want words. He wants Jesus to come. He wants Jesus to lay hands on her. Jairus believes in the power of Jesus's touch. The power of this request is profound. Jairus isn't just asking for a simple healing. He's asking for life. And this isn't just about making someone feel better. It's not. It's about resurrection and, as we read in John 10, 10, jesus, he comes, that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Jairus is asking for that kind of life. Only Jesus can give.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so. Good brother, we're going to press on. In Mark, chapter 5, verses 38 through 40. And this is what it says. Let's go, good brother, we're going to press on. In Mark, chapter 5, verses 38 through 40, and this is what it says. Let's go on there together. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when they had entered, he said to them why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and he went in where the child was.
Speaker 1:That's a bold statement. Yeah, jesus, he's not denying that the girl's dead. He's showing that in his presence, death ain't the final word, amen, it's just sleep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, amen. You know this brings me to this thought. You know who you put yourself around absolutely matters. You know Jesus put everyone out of the house that did not have the faith to see the miracle take place. You know, maybe you're listening today and you needed to hear that the people you're hanging around, the people you're putting yourself with that are keeping you from going to another level in your faith walk. They're keeping you from walking up and out, from going from one level of glory to the next. I'm telling you it does matter. Your circle does matter. I don't want people in my inner circle holding me back. I want the people I spend my personal time with lifting me up, and that's exactly what I want to do for them as well. I want to be able to lift them up in return. So when the doubters left the room, jesus gets rid of all of them. He puts them out the house. When the doubters leave the room, then Jesus begins to pray and the miracle begins to take place.
Speaker 1:And that's verse 37. I mean, that brings us to that point where he allowed no one to follow him. This is what the word says. And he allowed no one speaking of Jesus to follow him except Peter, james and John, the brother of James. You know why did Jesus only take them, these three men? This is why they formed Jesus's inner circle. They were given privileges, they were given access, they were allowed to witness some of the most incredible moments, and it was because of their faith. They're all intimate moments where faith was required, not just in the miraculous, but in the deeper, more personal moments of Jesus's ministry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great point, brother. Marching on, we find ourselves in the 41st verse. So here we go, friends. Mark, chapter 5, verses 41 and 42, says this taking her by the hand, he, jesus. He said to her Talitha Kumi, which means little girl, I say to you, arise. And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age. And they were immediately overcome with amazement. Man, pastor, jim this is so beautiful right here, man, the dad chose faith over fear and he received the miracle he had asked Jesus for His daughter is healed. She is not dead. Not only is she alive, but she's alive and well. She's not sick anymore. Amen. I don't know what you're going through today and I don't know what you need God to do in and through your life today. I don't know your needs, right, but can I remind you of the words of Jesus Christ and just trust in our great Lord that this is going to lift your head today. Here it is. We need to do as Jesus instructed Jairus do not fear, and only believe.
Speaker 1:You know, jesus speaks directly to the little girl and there's tenderness, there's love, there is authority all wrapped into that one moment where he calls her to life. Jesus speaks life when there's so much doubt. But she gets up immediately and the crowds, they left in awe, yeah, you know. And verse 42 says and immediately the girl got up and began walking for she was 12 years old and they were immediately overcome with amazement. Jesus didn't just heal her, he brought her back to life. I mean, could you imagine being in that moment? Not a gradual recovery? Not, oh, she took some medicine, not, she spent some time in the hospital and got better, she came back to life. There is an immediate and complete resurrection. And the people were amazed. Yeah, and rightly so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they had just witnessed the power of Jesus over death itself. I can't help but think that this household of Jairus has been forever changed, forever impacted. And you know, I opened up this podcast talking about our children and our grandchildren's condition. Physically they may be well, mentally, emotionally they may be well, mentally emotionally they may be well. But moms and dads, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, can I present something to you today? What kind of spiritual condition do you have? Are our children in our homes in, and what can we do to make them well? You know, jesus says do not fear, only believe. And this same Jesus that turned Jairus' house upside down is the same Jesus that, if we trust him and we accept him, we'll make his way into our homes, we'll make his way into our hearts and minds and we'll flip our homes, pastor Jim, upside down as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, when I was doing the study on this, I kind of researched a little bit about what mourning was like back in this first century. And you know, if I can just real quickly, I just want to paint this picture because it speaks to how Jesus sees past the surface on a lot of things in our lives. But back in verse 38, the Word says that they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogues and Jesus saw a commotion. People were weeping and they were wailing loudly. Well, during my study time I learned that in Jewish culture, mourning it was a really, really, really big deal and it wasn't just about the family privately grieving. It was an actual spectacle. It was a public event that they made public. Where they would actually hire—and this was interesting to me they would hire professional mourners to wail loudly, express the grief of the situation.
Speaker 1:And so when the Bible says that Jesus walks into a house full of noise and tears and hopelessness, he sees beyond all that. Yeah, praise God, he does. He sees beyond all of it and he's not moved by the grief of the crowd. Instead, he looks deeper at the faith. Number one of Jairus, right. So it speaks to our faith.
Speaker 1:But the reality is this and this is what I get excited about most is that death is not the end when Jesus is present. Death is not the end. When Jesus is present, death is not the end. So we can't get so caught up in our feelings and trying to be loud and boisterous with so many things and expect Jesus not to see right through that. So what we need to do is focus on the truth. What we need to do is focus on what's real and the love of Christ. And then, and only then, when we surrender all of the rest of it, all of the theatrics, when we surrender all of that, then Jesus can come in and say okay, look, guys, this is the real deal and I want to bless you and I want to provide for you, but get rid of the theatrics and just focus on the Word.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, that makes me think of this man. As you're talking, I'm listening and the Holy Spirit's just ministering to me right now. You know, just kind of taking personal inventory of my life, and I want to put this out there so other people can do the same in theirs. What do we have in our lives that we've already, we've already, proclaimed as dead? And the truth of the matter is, is that maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but the Lord wants to resurrect it, he wants to continue to use it. You know, we've got a.
Speaker 2:We've got a bush out back behind our house, um, and it's beside a sidewalk. And a few years ago my wife and I were walking down the sidewalk true story, she, she looks over at it and she says that bush is dead. You need to dig that up. Well, I've seen it still has some life in it, you know. So I told her that. I said, girl, that thing's still living. We ain't digging that thing up.
Speaker 2:You know, part of me didn't want to do it because I knew if I dug it up it was going to take work and once I got rid of it, she was going to expect me to. You know, go out and purchase a new bush new plant, put it in his place, and so I knew it was going to require work of me. Yeah, girl, don't you know? Faith in Jesus brings life, hey, so that's what I said to her, right, I'm like, hey, look, I'm not speaking death over that plant, you know. Yeah, it looks like the majority of it is dead, you know. But I still see some life in there, I still see a little bit of hope, you know. So the, the, the fall comes, the winter comes and the following spring shows up, and that that bush just doubled in size and every, every limb on this thing just put off a beautiful color, in, in, in, in in its leaves, just this really bright, vibrant green, right, and I told Erica, I said, girl, look at that. You done said my bush was dead and you wanted me to dig it up and just trash it, just get rid of it. And because we gave it a chance, hallelujah, because we gave something a chance that someone had already proclaimed as dead, you know. But we've seen a little bit of hope in it, right, I've seen a little bit of hope in it, and maybe you're listening today and you can relate to that in your personal life.
Speaker 2:Maybe you think a relationship is over. Maybe you think your children will never come to the Lord. Maybe you think your spouse will never get it together. Maybe you think you'll never see your spouse or your family in church, ever with you. Can I just tell you if they're still kicking, if they're still living and breathing. I want to encourage you in the Lord. Listen to me, you still got hope. You still got hope and I'm believing and we're just going to pray in just a moment about this I'm believing for you, that that little bit of hope mixed in with a great faith on the inside of you, that you will see the results that you're looking for, that it is not dead and there will be life, and it will be life abundantly, as Pastor Jim mentioned earlier, in its fullness, that God has for every one of us yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:When we face impossible situations, whether it's literal death or, for your case and in your story, the death of a plant, or maybe it's the death of a relationship, maybe it's the death of hope. What's important to remember and I love this is that Jesus is the one who calls us back to life. He can call our hope back to life, he can call the plant back to life, he can call our relationships back to life. But it takes faith, and not a faith that's just on Sundays. It's an everyday faith, it's an every circumstance faith. Like Jairus, when he faced the impossible, he fell at Jesus' feet. Are we doing that in our lives today? Are we believing that he has the power to heal? Are we believing that Jesus brings?
Speaker 2:life. So good, man, so good. I tell you what, brother, let's go ahead, man. I just feel the anointing here. Let's go ahead and pray for our listeners. You good with that, pastor.
Speaker 1:Jim, yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, father, I lift up every listener that is struggling with a situation that they feel is dead. Whatever the problem, whatever the circumstance, the relationship, whatever the people, whether it be children, a boss, somebody that they're ministering to they keep sharing the gospel with, and they just keep giving them the cold shoulder. You know whether it be someone in the immediate family spouse, maybe their parents. Father, we just lift these situations over to you and where the enemy has tried to convince us that it's dead, that it's done, that it's over, that it'll never happen, father, we just place these things in the care of your hands. That's where they're going to flourish, that's where they're going to come to life, that's where they're going to be vibrant and turn red hot for you, father.
Speaker 2:So, lord, I'm praying for every spouse that wants to see their loved ones sitting in church with them. Father, in the name and the blood of Jesus, may it happen. Father, I lift up. I lift up everything that has been believed to be dead and we trust you. We trust you to show the life that still remains in it. And, god, what once looked like it was floundering, we're trusting, in the name of the blood of Jesus Christ, that it will flourish for your glory, not ours, in the name and the blood of Jesus, for you are mighty to save. All God's people said friends, amen.
Speaker 1:Hallelujah amen. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Beyond Sunday. Remember this Jesus is always with us. He has the power to turn our moments of despair into miracles of life. We'll see you next time. God bless you.
