What Will They Show After Your Death?

11. GOD RAISES SOME, GOD KEEPS SOME (37-39, 40-41): I now begin to wonder why Dorcas was raised from the dead while someone like Stephen was not. He was publicly martyred in Jerusalem and it seems to me that it would have been incredibly powerful if he had been brought back to life in a very public way in the capital city. But he wasn’t. And yet here’s a quiet woman raised to life in a private upper room in a small town. Why was she raised? Was it because she was a great teacher that could never be replaced? Was she a huge financial contributor? Was she a miracle worker? She was raised because God does not want compassion to die in the church! James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

12. WHAT DID SHE DO AFTER BEING RESURRECTED? We don’t hear about what happens next but I don’t think she went out on a speaking tour. I’m convinced that after she regained her strength, she went right back to her quiet and unassuming service. Miracles always magnify God and work to spread the good news of His glory. When you hear of someone claiming a miracle and all they’re doing is focusing on themselves, your guard should go up. Look at verse 42: “This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.”

CONCLUSION: WHAT MUST WE DO PASTOR?

1. Hug People Like You’ll Never See Them Again - Holy Kiss. Romans 16:16 (Hugs).

2. How We Address Each Other: Titles with which We Greet Each Other Matters.

3. Encourage Each Other. Hebrew 10:24-25; 3:12-13.

4. Demonstrate Personal Interest & Care. Romans 12:15; 1 Corinthians 12:25-26.

5. Care For People In Crisis - Matthew 25:34-40.

6. Refrain From Gossip. James 1:26; Proverbs 6:16-19; 16:27-28; Romans 14:19.

7. Show Tolerance & Forgiveness. Ephesians 4:2, 32; Colossians 3:13.

8. Restore The Erring. Galatians 6:1.

9. Give Your Life To God: Everything will pass, what you do for Christ will last.

BIBLE VERSES TO HELP CLOSURE

1. 1 PETER 1:22: 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living & enduring word of God.

2. 1 PETER 2: 1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

3. JUDE 1:24: Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.