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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Keala Thompson

Remove the Stone

This afternoon is the last presentation of 3 and it's entitled, Take Away the Stone.

So if you have your Bibles with you, would you please turn to me to a story in John chapter 11, John chapter 11, verse 38.

John chapter 11 verse 38 we're living in a time where the external is everything and the internal is not so important.

Because of this that we have put up a front as to who we really are just so that others will like us.

So every time we go out somewhere, we like to put on our best.

But unfortunately that is only a mask and that mask usually comes off at home or with our roommates.

For it is at home or in our rooms that everyone sees who we really are except of course for the deep dark secrets that no 1 knows about.

And so this is what I want to address at because I feel that this is a situation that's plaguing our churches.

And because of the everyone wears these masks that we meet so many nice people out there, so many nice Christians out there, and yet we wonder why their homes are falling apart.

We wonder why there's brokenness in there, and we wonder why their children are rebelling.

See, if there ever was a time when we needed healing in our homes, our schools, and our communities, then that time is now.

Satan is attacking our institution of our family in these last days, destroying it, and there is such a need for healing I believe in our homes and when I realized this is the pastor I realized you know we inspiration says that our churches is made up out of our homes because everything happens in the home and what happens in the home is brought to the churches so I used to work at the church level and try to do programs and planning and events and I realized this was not the answer to the solution to our problems I felt that I need to go back to the, remember cause and effect we've been learning all weekend I need to go back to the root cause again and that is let's deal with the homes and the home is made out of individuals and as each individual experiences healing then God can do a powerful work eventually in our churches.

But before we can be healed we must first realize who we really are and thus take the mask off that we wear because when we wear masks we start to believe those masks like we put the mask on that everything's all great everything's going good and when we put these masks on eventually we start to believe these masks as if we are good.

And so because of that when you start believing what you are putting on so people will like you, sooner or later you start to believe that everything is okay, therefore you don't seek healing because only those who are sick need a what?

So that's the danger of having mask and that's what we're talking about here.

It's almost like post-modernism has you know young people you know they don't like authority the postmodern mindset right and that's bad but they can be good in that too that's another sermon but the danger in that also is that they're basing their dependence and they're looking at being influenced by their peers, right?

So they may not listen to what you say but post on Facebook to their friends about something and they're quickly you know change because of that, right?

So they're looking to their peers in a lot of ways.

And a lot of times because of that the fear of being different from their friends is so powerful that they will become people that who they are not.

They are put on masks, you know, especially educational institutions.

A lot of young people are, there's a heavy pressure to fit in with their friends or to be a certain way or to look good or to look professional, whatever it may be.

It's a very strong temptation to go that direction and I've seen that everywhere in our educational institutions.

I gave this presentation in Phoenix this past year in 1 of my seminars And an older man came forward and he was quite upset at my presentation.

And the reason why he's upset, he says, what do you mean we have to be real?

I said, why do you say that we have to be real?

So if everyone is doing it, does that make it okay?

So as we learn about the mask that we all wear, may the spirit of a loving God search and convict us as to who we really are.

And maybe some of us here may discover for the first time who we really are.

Father, thank you for your word and Lord, grant freedom of speech and soften hearts is our prayer in Jesus name.

So we're going to look at the story of Lazarus.

And his family had called for Jesus and Jesus had waited how many days before he came to see Lazarus?

So Lazarus had been dead how many days though?

So 4 days before Jesus got there you know Jesus purposely waited, right, for this to happen, for for Lazarus to die.

Now John chapter 11 verse 38 when Jesus came to Lazarus tomb what did he come across?

Notice what the Bible says here in John chapter 11 verse 38 because you know don't believe a word I have to say but believe what the Bible has to say.

Let's look at a story about this putting on a mask to show.

The Bible says, then Jesus again groaning in himself came to the tomb.

Stone lay against it so Jesus came to Lazarus tomb and there was a stone covering it Now in order for the light to come into this dark tomb, what first had to happen?

Now Jesus is the light of the World, the light, right?

So the light of Jesus to come into the dark tomb.

And also the Bible says that 1 John 4 verse 8 that God is what?

God is 1 John 4 verse 8 says God is what?

So here we have Jesus being light and being love But before the light of love was to shine into that dark tomb The stone first had to be removed if that's clear.

Amen you see this stone represents the many different ways we try to keep things covered up so that we can then fool others and ourselves into believing that we're okay.

In other words, the reason why the light doesn't come into our dark souls is not because the light does not want to come in, but because we ourselves are put on a covering or a mask so that it cannot come in.

Because as long as we have that mask, like I said, we will actually believe that we are okay.

And like the Pharisees, they believed they were okay.

And Jesus said, because you know, you say you see, but really you're blind, right?

So to think that you're actually, you're okay, you see, you're not blind, everything's great, everything's going good, you will never seek healing from the great physician.

And that's why having a mask on is so dangerous.

And I've seen that this is 1 of the greatest dangers I see in our churches today.

Is that everyone is wearing such a mask and no 1 is being real anymore.

It's very few and far between I come across a group of people that's actually real.

I was making some presentations in Seattle, Washington.

And I asked him, first of all, I asked him, what do you think of the presentations?

And he said, you know, I really was blessed by them.

You know, I thought, well, you know, it'd be like, you know, maybe something I said, or it was like some interpretation of the Word of God.

And he said to me, but you know what it really was?

Those messages of being real and transparent and open.

And I realized that for myself, the more I share, the more I need to be transparent.

Because once you hear who I am, I can no longer change my message, right?

I can no longer pretend because once I'm transparent you're like hey wait a minute I know how you are I heard your testimony you can't you can't run from who you really are anymore right you can't pretend to be something you're not anymore.

And so I see there's a great need to that.

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Remove the Stone

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