SPEAKER_01: Say hello to somebody around you as you're heading back to your seats.
SPEAKER_01: We are a family here at the collective.
SPEAKER_01: Shake someone's hand, say hello.
SPEAKER_01: Woo! Collective, it is so good to see you guys.
SPEAKER_01: I missed you all so, so, so much.
SPEAKER_01: I hope you all had an incredible summer break real quick.
SPEAKER_01: We need to do something.
SPEAKER_01: So if you have your phone on you, can you take it out real quick?
SPEAKER_01: Take it out real quick.
SPEAKER_01: If you have your phone, we're gonna throw something on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: Can you go ahead and throw that up?
SPEAKER_01: If we have it, the collective text collective to sweet.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: I need all of you to do me a solid and text the collective to 9700.
SPEAKER_01: The collective, can you keep that up, please?
SPEAKER_01: The collective to nine seven zero zero zero.
SPEAKER_01: So this is gonna put you in our text chain for the entire semester so you don't miss any events, you don't miss any special things we got going on this year.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're a new student, it'll send you a form for you to fill out.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're brand new, please fill out that form so we can get some information.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe we'll get to take you out to a free coffee, free lunch.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a new student, we would love to bless you for coming and spending time with us today.
SPEAKER_01: So everyone text that number.
SPEAKER_01: We'll also have it available after service if you need it.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys so much.
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you are a new student here and we've never met, my name is Zach Hudson, and I serve as the college pastor here at Definition Church.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't know, the collective is a part of Definition Church.
SPEAKER_01: We absolutely love Definition.
SPEAKER_01: We worship under a church that has just given their whole identity to serving and helping the next generation come to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And we are just so thankful for that because I don't know if y'all know a lot of churches they may have given up on you, or may have forgotten about you, or maybe have written you off as a lost cause.
SPEAKER_01: But we are so thankful that Definition does not do that.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, they empower and lead the next generation boldly into Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So we are just so thankful for Definition Church.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've been leading here at the collective for a little bit over a year, and it's been one of the biggest blessings of my entire life.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just so thankful.
SPEAKER_01: I love what God is doing at the collective and seeing all the new faces here in the room just makes me so excited.
SPEAKER_01: At 17 years old, I had an encounter with Jesus in my bedroom.
SPEAKER_01: I was not a believer until I turned 17.
SPEAKER_01: I was from a divorced family, porn addiction, sex addict, mental health was just running rampant in my life, anxiety problems, all the things.
SPEAKER_01: And when I was 17, I had this encounter with Jesus on the bedroom floor of the house that I grew up with.
SPEAKER_01: And ever since then, I've given my life to the ministry for the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I haven't been perfect, I've not always gotten it right, but I know that there is a real God up there who cares for each and every single one of you individually.
SPEAKER_01: He loves every single one of you individually.
SPEAKER_01: And I believe that the Lord who encountered me on my bedroom floor when I was 17 is the exact same God that is in this room tonight, and he is speaking to every single one of you.
SPEAKER_01: You may not know it if you're a new student here, but you are sitting amongst students who have had their lives changed by Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, walk up to just about any student here at the collective who's been here for a while and they will tell you about how Jesus has changed their lives.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we've got porn addicts, sex addicts, completely dependent on alcohol, weed, pills, everything that you can possibly imagine.
SPEAKER_01: The worst of the worst, our students have walked through.
SPEAKER_01: But they have encountered Jesus and has changed their lives.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not because of good sermons, fancy lights, or free food, those are all amazing things, but it is because they encountered a real God who loves them deeply and a real community who has walked them through the darkest seasons of their lives.
SPEAKER_01: So, to any new or returning students in the room, I don't care what you brought in here, what you carried with you when you showed up tonight, I don't care what you were running from this summer or any struggles that you are having, our God is big enough to handle anything and everything.
SPEAKER_01: His shoulders are big enough to carry any problem, doubt, fear, insecurity that you may have.
SPEAKER_01: And this community, we just want to love and support you and push you back to Jesus every single time, no matter how dark it feels.
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to see what God has in store for us this year at the collective.
SPEAKER_01: We have some amazing things coming down the pipeline.
SPEAKER_01: So now is the time to get connected in this community so you can learn about all the awesome things we've got coming.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not sure how you got here tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're a returning student, brand new student.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe a friend invited you or one of our student leaders handed you a water bottle or an energy drink.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know college students love energy drinks so much.
SPEAKER_01: I did not buy enough when we were handing them out.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe our college students handed you an energy drink or a snack.
SPEAKER_01: However, you got here tonight, you are here for a reason.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure that all of us in this room have dealt with a very similar struggle in our lives that I want to talk about.
SPEAKER_01: And it's especially rampant in this college season.
SPEAKER_01: It's this feeling of losing control.
SPEAKER_01: The feeling of losing control.
SPEAKER_01: You see, I'm only 24, I was a college student not too long ago.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember I just felt swamped with decision after decision after decision in college.
SPEAKER_01: Like I showed up, I thought my life was going one way, and then in one moment it would 180 and go a completely different direction.
SPEAKER_01: And if we're not careful, all of these decisions can begin to suffocate us to where we feel like we don't even know where to go or what next step to take.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want all of us in this room, whether you're a freshman entering college, or you're a senior about to graduate, or you're just attending here, you don't go to college.
SPEAKER_01: I want all of us to know something simple.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in control.
SPEAKER_01: It is that simple.
SPEAKER_01: Every single decision we make, Jesus is in control.
SPEAKER_01: And so today I want us to look at a story where in the midst of chaos, frustration, confusion, fear, Jesus was in control.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when you came in here, there should be a Bible uh around you in a seat somewhere.
SPEAKER_01: If you have, if that if you don't have a Bible, grab that one.
SPEAKER_01: Or if you have your Bible, go ahead and grab it.
SPEAKER_01: We have a little tradition here at the collective.
SPEAKER_01: So if you have your Bible, go ahead and hold it up for me.
SPEAKER_01: Let me see it, let me see it.
SPEAKER_01: Awesome, awesome.
SPEAKER_01: I love seeing those books.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You can put them down.
SPEAKER_01: We believe in the living, active, breathing word of God here at the collective.
SPEAKER_01: We believe in a physical Bible.
SPEAKER_01: So if you need a physical Bible, let me know.
SPEAKER_01: I will give you one for free, or take the one that was in your seat.
SPEAKER_01: You can take it completely for free if you need it.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be in John 11, 38 through 44.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to go ahead and turn there.
SPEAKER_01: John 11, 38 through 44.
SPEAKER_01: Sweet.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go ahead and read this for us.
SPEAKER_01: Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.
SPEAKER_01: It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, Take away the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead for four days.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?
SPEAKER_01: So they took away the stone.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
SPEAKER_01: I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.
SPEAKER_01: When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.
SPEAKER_01: The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go.
SPEAKER_01: God, we thank you for the real word of God that is sharper than any double-edged sword.
SPEAKER_01: God, may it pierce the hearts of these students.
SPEAKER_01: May it pierce my own heart as I preach it.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, may we just be changed from the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: We love you.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Now, anytime we read the Bible, we gotta make sure that we read in context.
SPEAKER_01: Say that with me.
SPEAKER_01: Context.
SPEAKER_01: One more time.
SPEAKER_01: Context.
SPEAKER_01: Context is key when you're reading scripture.
SPEAKER_01: You can't just take a verse and then apply it to your life.
SPEAKER_01: It may not be exactly what you think it means.
SPEAKER_01: It may mean something entirely different, and you may not want that verse to define your life.
SPEAKER_01: So let me set some context for what's going on here.
SPEAKER_01: So we joined Jesus here towards the end of his public ministry.
SPEAKER_01: In the previous chapters, he's been healing people, preaching, casting out demons, you know, all the things that he's really known for.
SPEAKER_01: But the cross is getting closer and closer and closer to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're entering into his final stage of public ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Just before this, in John 10, Jesus stood up among the Jews and said that he was the Son of God, which back then would have been a very not okay thing to say because they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: And so Jesus begins planting these seeds that would eventually lead to why the Jews felt the need to crucify him, because they felt that he was blaspheming.
SPEAKER_01: And so they pick up stones and they're trying to like throw stones at Jesus and kill him.
SPEAKER_01: So he just leaves.
SPEAKER_01: Like they didn't even, it doesn't even say he just left.
SPEAKER_01: Like it was that easy.
SPEAKER_01: Just avoided all the stones.
SPEAKER_01: So he leaves and begins crossing over the Jordan River.
SPEAKER_01: And while he's on the Jordan River, he gets news that his friend Lazarus is sick.
SPEAKER_01: And so they begin rushing Jesus, like trying to get him to Lazarus so that he can heal Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But by the time Jesus arrives at the situation, Lazarus has been dead for four days.
SPEAKER_01: And so everyone begins freaking out.
SPEAKER_01: They start blaming Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They're just angry, afraid, all the things because they felt like if Jesus would have got there sooner, then Lazarus would be okay.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is right where we join Jesus in the midst of chaos, people beginning to doubt his supernatural ability.
SPEAKER_01: That's the context for us today.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you spend any time in Christian circles, this message right here is a go-to evangelistic sermon, right?
SPEAKER_01: Unbelievers are Lazarus, Jesus raises them from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: It's simple 101 gospel.
SPEAKER_01: But we should not count ourselves out of the story just because we are saved or have been believing in Jesus for a long time.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's another character here in the story that I want to draw our attention to, and that I would dare say a lot of us in this room probably relate to, and that's Martha.
SPEAKER_01: Martha.
SPEAKER_01: The moment that Jesus arrives on the scene, Martha begins freaking out.
SPEAKER_01: She starts blaming him, she starts making excuses.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, she is just sporadic about Lazarus.
SPEAKER_01: And understandably so.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, her friend has just died.
SPEAKER_01: Martha knew who Jesus was.
SPEAKER_01: This is Martha, whose sister was the girl who let her hair down to wash Jesus' feet, who Jesus had defended to the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: So Martha knew all about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: She knew what he was capable of.
SPEAKER_01: But when it came time for Martha to experience a personal miracle, and it wasn't experienced the way she expected, she turned to anxiety and fear.
SPEAKER_01: She couldn't wrap her mind around that although her expectations for how Jesus should move were not met, Jesus was still in control.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in control.
SPEAKER_01: And so some of you, you came in this room and like Martha, you have a Lazarus in your life.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what this means.
SPEAKER_01: It could be a literal person that you've been praying for for so long and you are just waiting and waiting.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, when are you gonna answer this prayer?
SPEAKER_01: When are you gonna save my Lazarus?
SPEAKER_01: When are you gonna help me with this situation?
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe your Lazarus is like something from your past that you just have never got full clarity on Jesus' understanding about it.
SPEAKER_01: You've never really understood why that happened to you, where Jesus was within the midst of it all, and you just feel like Martha.
SPEAKER_01: You know what he's done, you know what Jesus is capable of, but because it hasn't matched your expectations, you're starting to grab it with your own hands so that you can take control.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the temptation we feel with Martha.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you, maybe you are literally Lazarus.
SPEAKER_01: Like you feel like you are in a grave, dead, sealed off to the world, and no one would care, and no one bats an eye.
SPEAKER_01: You feel like you, your situation, it's too far gone, it's lost forever.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you're in this room and you are an unbeliever, you just showed up to church because someone invited you, and you just want clarity and understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Wherever you are at on the spectrum, we fit into this story.
SPEAKER_01: And truth be told, like this is Jesus we're talking about.
SPEAKER_01: If anyone has the full ability and capability to just, you know, pull out his spiritual resume and start comparing with everyone else around him about why he's so great, it's Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He could have looked Martha dead in the face and said, Martha, do you know who I am?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I've done?
SPEAKER_01: I've walked on water, I've raised other people from the dead, I've casted out demons, I've healed the blind, I've healed the sick, I've done all of these things.
SPEAKER_01: Do you not know who I am?
SPEAKER_01: But that's not what Jesus does here.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, what Jesus does is he responds in a few ways.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I want us to look at tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Because I want you to remember our main point.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in control.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what Jesus does here.
SPEAKER_01: From the moment he steps on the situation, he's in control.
SPEAKER_01: There's no arguments or bitterness from Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He just steps onto the scene and reminds everyone that he is in control.
SPEAKER_01: But what specifically is Jesus in control of?
SPEAKER_01: Well, in light of this story, the three things I see is Jesus is in control of our present, or our past, our present, and our future.
SPEAKER_01: And I want us to look at those three things tonight.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in control of our past, our present, and our future.
SPEAKER_01: First, Jesus is in control of our past.
SPEAKER_01: The biggest temptation to be like Martha is when it comes to situations from your past.
SPEAKER_01: Where you have just been asking, Jesus, where are you in this situation?
SPEAKER_01: You're like, Jesus, this thing happened to me, and I don't understand why it happened.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know where you are.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've dealt with anxiety your whole life, and you're like, you know, I thought when I got saved, all this anxiety would just kind of go away.
SPEAKER_01: I've been dealing with this since I was a kid.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe there's this addiction from your past that just keeps creeping its way back and back into your life, and you're just asking yourself, Jesus, where are you?
SPEAKER_01: You feel like your sin is taking control of your life, your sin has dominated your past, and that Jesus was nowhere to be found.
SPEAKER_01: Because you see, before this, Martha was freaking out on Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: She's like, Jesus, where are you?
SPEAKER_01: My brother would have been alive if you had been here.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you in this season of your life, you feel connected to the Lord, you feel close to the Lord, you feel alive in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But there is this part of you that still kind of feels like it's in a grave.
SPEAKER_01: It still kind of feels like it's sealed off from the rest of the Lord, the world.
SPEAKER_01: You may show 98% of your life with Jesus to everyone else, but there's still that part of you that feels too gross, too far gone, and too nasty to show Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so I ask you, what part of you still kind of feels like Lazarus?
SPEAKER_01: Dead for a while, grave already sealed, where it feels like it's gone and forgotten.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's the thoughts that you have when no one else is around.
SPEAKER_01: It may be what has happened to you in your past from someone you trusted.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's what your parents have said to you or what others have said to you in the past that has defined your identity for so long.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's something that happened to you when you were a kid.
SPEAKER_01: Let me remind you again, Martha has already seen the miracles of God already.
SPEAKER_01: It's nothing new to her.
SPEAKER_01: She has celebrated with them.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not just the witnessing of Jesus' miracles that sets us free from our past.
SPEAKER_01: It is our willingness to tell Jesus that we doubt he can heal that one thing, that one fear, that one doubt, that one thing that happened in our past that we hide from everybody.
SPEAKER_01: It's our willingness to tell Jesus, like Martha, confront him with those feelings that allows us to see him move in supernatural ways over our lives.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to look at what Martha said earlier in the story.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
SPEAKER_01: This is frustration and anger towards the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And I love how Jesus handles this.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't snap back, he doesn't correct.
SPEAKER_01: What Jesus does is he sits and receives all that Martha has for him.
SPEAKER_01: Sits and receives all the feelings that she has, and he doesn't judge her.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, I love how he responds.
SPEAKER_01: He looks at her and he says a few simple words.
SPEAKER_01: Move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Just move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: You see, when it comes to our past, things in our past that we are running from, Jesus doesn't need a big show.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't need the stage.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't need the lights.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't need the cameras.
SPEAKER_01: He needs a few simple words because all darkness must flee in the presence of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: The stone was already sealed when Jesus arrived.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone around them had completely given up on Lazarus, sealed the grave away.
SPEAKER_01: They were ready to move on.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus walks up, and what does he say?
SPEAKER_01: Move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Just move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Wait, wait, but Jesus, Martha says here, he's gonna smell bad.
SPEAKER_01: He's been dead for four days.
SPEAKER_01: Just move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Wait, Jesus, you can't save someone like me who's done these things in my past.
SPEAKER_01: Like, do you know what I've said, what I've witnessed, what I've been a part of?
SPEAKER_01: Move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Wait, well, Jesus, do you know where I come from?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what my parents will think?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what my friends will think?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what my siblings move the stone?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, like, I don't think you really want someone like me in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm not a pastor, I don't have all the answers, I don't even know how to read my Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Just move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Again and again, move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus cuts through all the noise, he cuts through all the excuses.
SPEAKER_01: We bring everything to him, all our fears and doubts about who we are in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus looks at us in our situation and he just says, Move the stone.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus changes the circumstances of our past.
SPEAKER_01: He moves the stone that we thought was a sealed-off tomb.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus is in control of our past, but also Jesus is in control of our present.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you walked into this room and it's not something from your past that is holding you back or weighing you down.
SPEAKER_01: It's something today, right now, that you've been experiencing.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you carried it in this room with you right now, that just that thought in the back of your mind that you've been carrying with you all day.
SPEAKER_01: And you thought if I just go to college, it'll go away.
SPEAKER_01: If I can get in my friend circles, it'll go away.
SPEAKER_01: I won't have to worry about it anymore.
SPEAKER_01: There's something you are running from.
SPEAKER_01: And you came to college thinking that you could escape it.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know what that thing is in your life.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's in your mind right now as I'm talking.
SPEAKER_01: I know that Jesus is in control of it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when I say Jesus is in control of it, I don't mean that he is a controlling, angry, tyrannical leader who just wants you to sit down and obey him and know how to act right.
SPEAKER_01: That is not Jesus' heart.
SPEAKER_01: Six different times in this passage, it says Jesus is moved with compassion for the people around him.
SPEAKER_01: Moved with compassion.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' natural language is compassion for the people around him.
SPEAKER_01: He's not judging us, he sees us exactly as we are, and his natural language is compassion.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is showing compassion to Lazarus even though he's already dead.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus can't hear him, but Jesus is still showing compassion.
SPEAKER_01: What does this mean?
SPEAKER_01: This means it's not our performance that allows Jesus to move in compassion.
SPEAKER_01: It is simply who he is because he loves us.
SPEAKER_01: And so a lot of us were like, I'll get freedom once I read my Bible for a week straight and memorize all these verses.
SPEAKER_01: Or I'll get freedom once I get connected to a small group and actually start showing up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Or I'll get freedom when I learn how to worship like everybody else, or I listen to the right amount of podcasts, or I memorize the right amount of verses, or I go to the right church.
SPEAKER_01: We start equating our present freedom with our level of present performance.
SPEAKER_01: And that is not Jesus' heart.
SPEAKER_01: He looks at us in the midst of brokenness and fear and doubt and worry, and he has compassion upon us.
SPEAKER_01: He has compassion upon us.
SPEAKER_01: He weeps over us.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know that Jesus is just as broken as you are over the sin that you're hiding from everybody else?
SPEAKER_01: It says earlier in the scriptures, it's the shortest verse in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus wept.
SPEAKER_01: When he showed up on the scene and he realized Lazarus was dead, Jesus wept.
SPEAKER_01: This shows his heart for his creation.
SPEAKER_01: He knew he was going to raise him from the dead, but yet he still wept over the situation.
SPEAKER_01: So although Jesus may know that you're a believer, that you care for Jesus, that you're doing the best you can, his heart still breaks as yours breaks for your sin.
SPEAKER_01: He's just as distraught and hurt over it and wants freedom for you just as much as you want freedom for you.
SPEAKER_01: He's not waiting for you to get freedom, standing back with his arms crossed and then saying, Now I hug, now I'll hug you, son.
SPEAKER_01: He's reaching down into our mess with compassion, weeping with us and pulling us out into a new life.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' natural language is compassion.
SPEAKER_01: He's compassionate, he changes the circumstances of our past.
SPEAKER_01: But not only that, he establishes a relationship with us by calling us by name.
SPEAKER_01: He calls us by name.
SPEAKER_01: It says it in the passage.
SPEAKER_01: The stone is moved, everyone's standing around, and Jesus looks into the tomb and he says, Lazarus, come out.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus, come out.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the world is loud, and there are a lot of people around you who are going to be yelling a lot of different things at you, trying to fill the gap in your heart, trying to lead you into temptation into another life.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus Himself, the creator of the world, is calling you by name.
SPEAKER_01: He is calling you by name.
SPEAKER_01: He is looking into your situation and he's saying, I see you.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't just want glory from this.
SPEAKER_01: I want to call you by name and have a relationship with you.
SPEAKER_01: I want to love you for who you are.
SPEAKER_01: I don't look at you and wish you had another name.
SPEAKER_01: I don't wish at you and look you at wish you had the name of a pastor or some other amazing Christian that you think you should be.
SPEAKER_01: I want your name.
SPEAKER_01: Your name is written in my Lamb's book of life.
SPEAKER_01: Your name is etched into all eternity.
SPEAKER_01: He looks into our situation and calls us by name to establish a relationship with us in spite of our circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus is in control of our past.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in control of our present.
SPEAKER_01: And finally, Jesus is in control of our future.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is in control of our future.
SPEAKER_01: So we reach the pinnacle of the story.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, he moves the stone, he settles everyone around him.
SPEAKER_01: He's standing in the midst of all of that.
SPEAKER_01: And he looks into the grave and says, Lazarus, come out.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus, come out.
SPEAKER_01: And then all of a sudden we just hear the stomping of feet.
SPEAKER_01: And out comes Lazarus.
SPEAKER_01: He still got his linens on for they would wrap a dead person in linens when they would die.
SPEAKER_01: To like seal and put like, I don't know, like herbs and stuff on it.
SPEAKER_01: It was like a ritual of that time.
SPEAKER_01: He still got his linens on when he comes out of the grave.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says, unwrap him, he's free.
SPEAKER_01: And so that leaves us with one question.
SPEAKER_01: The stone is moved.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has said the promises in his word.
SPEAKER_01: He know we know freedom is possible for us because of what it says in scripture.
SPEAKER_01: It's real for us.
SPEAKER_01: The stone is moved, he's calling us by name.
SPEAKER_01: That leaves us with one question.
SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna get up?
SPEAKER_01: Are you going to get up?
SPEAKER_01: You see, Jesus won't truly be in control of your future until you take the risk and you get up.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus could have stayed in the grave.
SPEAKER_01: He could have hung out in the grave and not gotten up.
SPEAKER_01: But he chose to get up.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's hard.
SPEAKER_01: I know you don't want to confront who you will be if you get up.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's easy to stay in the grave.
SPEAKER_01: You've probably made a home there for a long time.
SPEAKER_01: And you're used to it.
SPEAKER_01: It's been a lot longer than four days that you've been in this grave.
SPEAKER_01: And you don't know who you'll be without it.
SPEAKER_01: And you're wondering if you could even get out of that grave if you've tried.
SPEAKER_01: Students, graves are for dead things, and Jesus has called you to be alive.
SPEAKER_01: He has called you to be alive.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of new students in the room, you may not know my story.
SPEAKER_01: I was exposed to pornography when I was six years old.
SPEAKER_01: I battled an addiction until I was around 19, 20.
SPEAKER_01: For most of my life, this completely defined me.
SPEAKER_01: And you know why?
SPEAKER_01: Because I'd become so comfortable in my grave.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know who I would be without it.
SPEAKER_01: My biggest fear was not getting free from porn.
SPEAKER_01: My biggest fear was who am I gonna be if I don't have this addiction?
SPEAKER_01: I don't even know what freedom looks like.
SPEAKER_01: I've been dead for so long, the linens are wrapped around me.
SPEAKER_01: If I am told that I am free, I don't know what I'm gonna do, I don't know who I will be.
SPEAKER_01: I'm afraid of who that person is.
SPEAKER_01: But when I was 20 years old, I was working in ministry and still dealing with the pornography addiction.
SPEAKER_01: And I had an encounter with the Lord in my closet, and I finally just told him all these things, all of these fears, all of these doubts about who I was and who I would be if I was free.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus looked at me, he said, Zach, get up, and I got up and I've been free ever since.
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what your grave is, what's holding you down.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's sleeping with your girlfriend or boyfriend, or weed or alcohol, or pills, some form of mental anxiety or fear.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you struggle with validation from the opposite sex.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's this desire to perform.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: But I know that Jesus has a beautiful plan for your life.
SPEAKER_01: Zach, you don't know me.
SPEAKER_01: I know the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: I know the word.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know your situation, but I know Jesus has called you and he is here for you.
SPEAKER_01: So are you going to get up?
SPEAKER_01: Are you going to get up?
SPEAKER_01: Because the things that you are doing are going to lead you back into a grave.
SPEAKER_01: Time and time and time and time again.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus was wearing linens, which represented dead things.
SPEAKER_01: You know, other things can pull you out of a grave.
SPEAKER_01: Community can pull you out of what feels like darkness.
SPEAKER_01: Weed can pull you out of what feels like darkness, but only Jesus can look at you and say, take the linens off.
SPEAKER_01: He's not dead anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Take the linens off, unwrap him.
SPEAKER_01: That is true freedom.
SPEAKER_01: It's not enough just to get up out of the grave.
SPEAKER_01: It is truly a life-changing way when you walk away from the grave, take your linens off, and never look back.
SPEAKER_01: That is freedom.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, the testimony of a dead man is powerful.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine if we went to the graveyard out here and raised someone from the dead in the name of Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: How powerful their testimony would be.
SPEAKER_01: They would lead hundreds and thousands to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what Lazarus did.
SPEAKER_01: And that is you.
SPEAKER_01: You are a dead man, but Jesus is calling you by name, and you have the power to change the world with your testimony.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what your grave is, it may be addiction, but when you become free from your addiction, you become a dead man walking alive, casting lies into the pit of hell, pulling people out of their own graves.
SPEAKER_01: Because you said, I was dead, I don't know how I'm alive.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus couldn't hear or understand Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: All he knows is he woke up.
SPEAKER_01: He woke up.
SPEAKER_01: He I was dead, now I'm alive.
SPEAKER_01: That's all he knows.
SPEAKER_01: And that is your testimony.
SPEAKER_01: That can be your testimony.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus died again, but his testimony still lives.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you, you have the opportunity tonight to create a testimony that will be passed from generation to generation to generation to generation about who you are and what you overcame.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let the grave define you.
SPEAKER_01: Get up and walk out of it tonight.
SPEAKER_01: For your kids, your future kids, for the millions of generations of Christians that can be brought to life because of you.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a dead man raising from the dead that changes things.
SPEAKER_01: It is the man who raised him from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus didn't get up by his own power.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus didn't get up from his own power.
SPEAKER_01: You see, there's a reason that I'm not in here worshiping and talking about Lazarus, right?
SPEAKER_01: There's a reason I'm not talking about Lazarus because Lazarus died again.
SPEAKER_01: Lazarus died again.
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus in this moment is looking across and knowing this is a reflection of what is to come for him.
SPEAKER_01: He knows that he is the greater Lazarus.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is the greater Lazarus.
SPEAKER_01: He knows I can raise Lazarus from the dead because soon I will stand and receive a cross.
SPEAKER_01: And I will be dead, sealed, and people will think that I'm gone.
SPEAKER_01: But in three days I will wake up, and from the inside of the tomb I will roll the grave the stone away, and I will walk out, declaring freedom for all people who call on my name.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus did that for you.
SPEAKER_01: So my question for you tonight is are you going to get up?
SPEAKER_01: Every week here at the collective, we do a confession.
SPEAKER_01: Because I just live under this conviction that it is one of the most powerful things a Christian can experience.
SPEAKER_01: It is one thing to live in Christ, it is another thing to experience Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And so I don't know what you came in this room carrying, but I just want to give you the opportunity to confess it.
SPEAKER_01: Now we do this practice here, it's called radical honesty.
SPEAKER_01: And radical honesty means we're not just gonna go up and show up at the altar and confess 80%.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna say the 100% that we're afraid to tell anybody else about.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna tell God, hey God, I actually kind of enjoy this sin that I'm sinning against you with.
SPEAKER_01: Hey God, I'm actually really afraid of who you are and what you say about me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe the identity that you have for me.
SPEAKER_01: We say the full 100% because so many of us expect a hundred percent freedom from 70% confession.
SPEAKER_01: And we just refuse to live that way here.
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna be honest time and time and time again.
SPEAKER_01: Our altars will always be open at the collective.
SPEAKER_01: And just want you to know that Jesus is with you.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm gonna count to three.
SPEAKER_01: We don't close our eyes here.
SPEAKER_01: We believe in a step of boldness.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let the enemy keep you in your seat if you know you need to be free.
SPEAKER_01: Don't do it.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna count to three.
SPEAKER_01: And if you need freedom from something, you need to just come confess something.
SPEAKER_01: Come forward.
SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
SPEAKER_01: One God loves you.
SPEAKER_01: Two, you're here for a reason.
SPEAKER_01: Three.
SPEAKER_01: If there's anybody in this room, you just need to get up and confess something.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, come forward.
SPEAKER_01: Come forward.
SPEAKER_01: Our prayer team is right here at the front.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody, anybody.
SPEAKER_01: If there's any executive or staff members in here who can come pray, please come pray.
SPEAKER_00: We got a lot of students.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone who needs prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody else?
SPEAKER_00: No shame here.
SPEAKER_01: There's no shame for those who are in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: Alright.
SPEAKER_01: Altars are gonna stay open.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna transition back into worship.
SPEAKER_01: But if you need freedom, or you need to just come up here and you need to kneel at the front of the stage, feel free to do that.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna transition back into worship.
SPEAKER_01: If you guys want to go ahead and get on your feet with me all across this room, altars are still open as long as you need them.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go ahead and transition back into worship.
SPEAKER_03: My soul teach to save Jesus to be a lot of people.
SPEAKER_03: I love you.
SPEAKER_03: Say how I love you.
SPEAKER_03: We just lift up a song of praise.
SPEAKER_03: We just lift up a song of worship.
SPEAKER_03: We adore you.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, how we love you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: How we love you, God.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, Jesus, you be the center of it all.
SPEAKER_03: My heart belongs to you.
SPEAKER_03: My Savior, all at all.
SPEAKER_03: You're the one I hold on to for the beauty of your name.
SPEAKER_03: My soul will live to say.
SPEAKER_03: And Jesus, I love you, my soul will live to say.
SPEAKER_03: And Jesus, I love you, my soul will live to say, and Jesus, I love you, my soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you.
SPEAKER_03: Oh how I love you.
SPEAKER_03: How I love you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We are so thankful for you.
SPEAKER_00: Students, can we just give it up for Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: There are students who are set free from things tonight.
SPEAKER_01: There are students who confess things for the very first time.
SPEAKER_01: I don't ever want us to get tired of this moment.
SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of temptation in this Christian world we live in nowadays is to just kind of show up, consume, and leave.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes it's good for us to be confronted with the reality that there are people who need to be set free.
SPEAKER_01: And that we still need to be set free, and that we serve a perfect God who stood in our place.
SPEAKER_01: So let's just give it up for Jesus one more time all across this road.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Sweet.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I got a couple announcements for us before we just go hang out, eat some good food.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys so Lord, we pray for gluttony.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys so much for being here tonight.
SPEAKER_01: It truly, I'm just so thankful that you would spend some time with us.
SPEAKER_01: I would love to meet you if you're a new student.
SPEAKER_01: But a couple announcements first.
SPEAKER_01: Can we throw it on the screen?
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember what's first.
SPEAKER_01: First, every single Sunday at the 1115 service, we all sit right here in the college section.
SPEAKER_01: So you do not want to miss it.
SPEAKER_01: We don't just worship like this on Mondays.
SPEAKER_01: We worship like this on Sundays.
SPEAKER_01: So don't miss it.
SPEAKER_01: Come hang out with us in the college section every single Sunday before the next announcement.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, never mind.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, small group kickoff is September 14th.
SPEAKER_01: So, if you don't know, we are all about small groups here at the collective.
SPEAKER_01: We believe that your life is changed when you are able to sit around people and just talk about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So we launched small groups September 14th.
SPEAKER_01: So make sure you show up then so you can connect it to a small group.
SPEAKER_01: We would love to see you there.
SPEAKER_01: Next, we are selling these shirts outside.
SPEAKER_01: Ignore that announcement for a second.
SPEAKER_01: We are selling these shirts, they say run the race on on their super fire.
SPEAKER_01: Please buy one.
SPEAKER_01: Comment on the Instagram and I'll give one away.
SPEAKER_01: You can add us there at the Collector Judge GSL.
SPEAKER_01: They're 30 bucks.
SPEAKER_01: They're outside at the table.
SPEAKER_01: If you want one, we got a bunch of sizes, so don't miss out.
SPEAKER_01: Get a shirt.
SPEAKER_01: We go back to the student leader application.
SPEAKER_01: So our ministry is ran by student leaders.
SPEAKER_01: We have an amazing student leadership team.
SPEAKER_01: So if you are interested in being a part of the student leadership team here at the collective, it is for sophomores and above.
SPEAKER_01: Sophomores and above, scan that QR code, submit your application.
SPEAKER_01: Application is closed September 14th.
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss out on that.
SPEAKER_01: Is that it?
SPEAKER_00: That's it.