Dan Lawrence - funeral 3-29-2025 - I am the Resurrection and the Life! John 11:25-26

Welcome -

Good afternoon - Welcome everyone - My Name is Scott Richerson - I am the lead and Planting Pastor of Stonewater Fellowship in New Braunfels Texas.

I have the great privileged of serving today, as we all gather together to worship the Lord Jesus celebrating the life that God has given to all of us- a life that we all have been impacted by - the life and person of our brother Dan Lawrence!

Lets open our time together in prayer

Adoration - Creator - Loving - Sovereign -

Confession - weakness - lack of understanding - Trust

Thanksgiving - Gathering together - Dan’s life and family - Allowing us to know him and improve our life through Him

Supplication - Comfort in Grief - trust in your sovereignty - Strength in weakness - bless you!

In Jesus Name -

Obituary

Don Popkess

Opening Hymn

“How firm a foundation” - David Morris

Family Sharing

Zack Guess

Daniel Watson - Excerpts from Spurgeon

Steven Lawrence

Hymn

Amazing Grace - David Morris

VIDEO

Message - I am the resurrection and the Life -

So when our time together this afternoon began - I shared with you that I serve as a Pastor in a local church located in New Braunfels - which is a couple of hundred miles south of here.

Some of you here might be thinking - Why is a guy from south Texas doing Dan’s funeral. What is the connection.

Well I have not always lived down there and I have not always been a Pastor.

I used to live up here in the North Ft worth and I did something completely different for a living.

Dan and I met some 13 years ago in the same place He met many people and that was attending a local Church.

I think our first conversation EVER was over some aspect of the Book of Romans that I had begun teaching through on a Wednesday bible study class that He was attending and we became fast friends.

over the years Dan and I got to spend some great quality time together.

I would classify Dan’s and my relationship as one of quality and not quantity. In the last 8 or so years we did not get to spend much time together but what time we did spend it was deep times of friendship.

In 2023 Dan had asked has Brandi and I up to Dan’s family home town Mena to spend one of our weeks of my Summer break there with them - This was one of many Trips to Mena we would have made over the years.

One of the things that Marked Dans and my relationship is the only thing we ever asked of each other was time - And when one asked the other for time - The other gave it.

this particular one was the first one that was Just Dan and Michelle, Brandi and I and out two youngest boys.

Previous times were just father son trips!

On this trip - Along with seeing Issac and family, Riding on 4 wheeler’s - shooting guns and playing in the supper cool creek and revisiting the Old homestead as we have done so many times before - all so much fun.

One of the excursion days that we did while there was to go to the place where Dan’s ancestors were buried at a local cemetery off in the back woods - Marked by a dirt road exit.

when we got there we saw His family and looked for the oldest marker we could find - 1858 I think was the oldest date we could find.

It was a great trip and one that we will hold dear as that would be the last time that Dan and I would see each other face to face.

And little did We know that would be the last time we saw each other face to face and He was sharing with me the place we would bury him less than two years later.

And although we have not been able to see each other and I have missed our face to face time.

Since that summer We have spoken multiple times - Prayed with each other - Shared our fears - our hopes our anxieties and our faith in Jesus -the sovereign God we worshiped together.

And God is sovereign -

And it is times like this week with the passing of loved ones - When death come as it does and will to all of us -

When our desires for what we want in this life directly collide with the planned out calendar of God -

It is very easy, in times such as these that we wonder about God’s sovereignty. And the reasoning for events like these.

On Sunday when Issac called me - and Michelle called Brandi - we had a feeling that we would be jetting up to Ft Worth -

and so when Issac called on Monday about mid day with an update - i dropped my day and jetted up to ft worth to hopefully see dan and Michelle and everyone -

On my way up for the three plus hour drive - My mind and heart were flooded with the great memories of our time together - and I knew if Michelle and the guys asked me to speak a message I knew exactly what Passage of Text the Holy Spirit had placed on my heart to share.

PRAYER

This afternoon I pray that what we will hear from the passages of the Scriptures - Jesus Speaking to all of us in a way that will bring Hope to all of us this afternoon

as what the Lord Jesus will tall us is there is something far greater beyond the limited view we see right in front of us, in the events of this last week or even this last nearly 2 years.

BACKGROUND

The Historical Narrative that is recorded for us through the Apostle John comes out of Chapter 11 from the Gospel Named after John.

In this chapter what the Apostle John Record for us is this historical narrative about a tragic event that hit a family that the Scriptures tell us that Jesus Loved.

The family is a family that consists of three people - Mary, Her sister Martha and their brother Lazarus.

These three lived together and we might well remember when Jesus came to visit the first time - Mary was sitting at the Feet of Jesus - Martha was doing the dishes - busy serving - and Martha complains to Jesus about Mary sitting and not helping - and Jesus makes a correction in Martha thinking.

This visit where Martha was “Distracted with Serving”

Dis- Attracted from Jesus with serving - She found Jesus at that moment Dis attractive to serving.

Beginning with this scene and for the next months and years Jesus would develop a relationship with Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus.

A relationship that John the Apostle characterizes by the words “Jesus Loved them”!

The scene in Chapter 11 of Johns Gospel is later than the scene where Martha gets Dis-attracted with Serving”

and what has happened is that Lazarus Has become Ill.

Jesus is not with Mary and Mathat and Lazarus - They send word to Jesus and disciples -

Jesus is back in the river Jordan - Doing what Jesus does - Making more believers.

He stays there longer after he says Lazarus will not die - Jesus takes His time -

Mary Martha and Lazarus lived in a place where Jesus had made some people pretty mad and they wanted to Kill him and His disciples.

after a couple of days he looks at his disciple and says lets Go back there and see Mary, Martha and my friend -

IN the midst of all of this conversation - The Holy Spirit confirms to Jesus that Lazarus has died-

He share this with His disciples -

His disciples are not very excited to say the least - Thomas is actually a downer about the whole thing -

And Right Here in the narrative we can clearly see a conflict -

A collision-

A desire on the part of the Disciples to maintain safety and comfort - and the Sovereign Plans of God.

So they go back to Bethany a couple of miles away from Jerusalem.

When they get there they find a crowd of people gathered at the house to console Mary and Martha.

as Lazarus has been dead and in the tomb for 4 days!

Martha hears from someone that Jesus was arriving and she heads out to meet Him.

When Martha get to Jesus -

She says to Jesus:

John 11:21–22 ESV

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

Right here - When Martha speaks to Jesus what we can hear from her words is this Collision -

This collision between Martha having this desire to not have to endure the death of her Brother - Her heart felt desire to Not navigate those waters -

And the Supreme sovereignty of GOD.

Martha goes to let Mary know that Jesus had arrive -

The story tells us that when Mary hear this she arose quickly and ran to Jesus and when we read this narrative we can see the same Collision -

Mary didn’t want her brother to die -

She did not want to loose Him

She did not want to go through the suffering and she did not want to navigate the season of Grief that death can bring.

And those desires were good desires of the Heart of both Mary and Martha and they collided head on with the Sovereign plans of God.

Jesus, a little later in this narrative, sees Martha’s weeping, sees Marys weeping and sees the weeping of all the friends and family that is there to console Him and the Text says to things about Jesus:

1 - That Jesus was deeply moved - Jesus was weeping with them in their moment of Grief - He was experiencing the grief in His humanity - He was suffering with them.

2- That Jesus was Greatly Troubled - Many Many times I have read this text and wondered “what was Jesus greatly troubled about?”

and It dawned on me that Jesus had made a comment about who He was earlier - and people didn't get it.

They thought that death had won for the moment and that loss and grief were the only thing they were left with -

and the Narrative says that Jesus Wept - and He was weeping becasue of the grief he was sharing with His loved ones - The grief they were facing and He was weeping becasue they didn't get it.

And what they were not getting at the time was that Jesus had come to Bethany - Meeting with the family that He loved -

and Jesus Spoke that He is the giver of eternal life - and they just didn't get it.

and so He Wept

APPLICATION - STICKY POINT - GOSPEL

Loved ones - God is Sovereign - He has a Plan and He knows what He is doing!

It is likely that many of us today- in our friendship and relationship with Dan desired and dreamed and thought we would be able to enjoy our full life time with Him and what a blessing that would be.

Many of us when we heard that Dan and Michelle had recieved a diagnosis of Cancer many of us Prayed and Prayed and Prayed that God would heal Him.

On Sundays, when the people of Stonewater Fellowship gather for worship- Any person at any time can get a prayer card to me - and we will stop what we are doing and we will pray-

Several times since early last year - I would stop Sunday morning and all of the people who were attending Raised up their hands in Unity and agreement and prayed the God would send the gift of the Holy Spirit of healing and remove all the cancer Dan’s body.

And Monday - I am sure many of us - Felt the collision of all of these our desires and our hopes - all collide against the Sovereign will of God -

I know driving up Monday I certainly spoke like Mary and Martha both - “Lord if you would just have Showed up, If you would have Just sent the Gift of Healing that we prayed for - If you would have been here our brother Dan would not have died.

And Yet Loved ones God is Sovereign, He has a plan, He knows what He is doing, and God is good, even in the midst of our suffering!

And loved ones - This afternoon I pray we get it.

I pray that we hear the Promise of Jesus that is right in the middle of this Story -

I pray loved ones we do not miss this declaration by Jesus that was to Bring Hope and Healing to Mary and Martha - And it Sure to bring Hope and Healing to us this afternoon -

You see what troubled Jesus was that He had Made a declaration and the people didn't get it.

What was the declaration? -

Jesus said to Martha - when Martha was speaking to Jesus that God sovereignty and Her desires were in collision to gether -

Jesus said to Her - Your Brother will Rise -

In other words Death is not permanent here Martha

Death has no victory here Martha -

and She said “I get that” -

He came back to her and Said - Ahhh maybe you don’t -

This is what Jesus said -

John 11:25–26 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

CONCLUDE WITH FINAL THOUGHTS -

Believe this?

Trust This?

Believe is Trust?

Paralyzed Tongue difficult to understand - New Tongue Now!

Time in heaven - We will see ya in a second!

The Gospel to unbelievers

Hymns

(3x) - Kenny Dalton

a. From the Dust of the Earth – Lawrence family song

b. Jesus Lover of my Soul – Upbeat tempo!

c. Sometimes a Light Surprises

Closing Prayer

Jack Watson

Final Instructions

Steven Lawrence / Scott Richerson