Opening: Jesus Still Walks Into Graveyards
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” — John 11:25
There are graveyards made of stone, and there are graveyards hidden inside the human heart. A person can be breathing, working, smiling, and going through the motions of life—yet be dead inside. Sin has buried dreams. Shame has sealed doors. Addiction has wrapped souls in chains. Grief has rolled a stone across hope. Religion has sometimes dressed the outside while the inside remained lifeless.
But I came with good news: Jesus Christ is not afraid of graveyards. He does not stand far away from broken people. He walks directly toward the tomb. He speaks where everyone else has given up. When His voice enters a place of death, death must surrender its claim.
The devil may have written your obituary, but Jesus has not finished your story. The same Lord who called Lazarus out, delivered the man among the tombs, and breathed life into a valley of dry bones is still moving people from the graveyard to glory.
1. Sin Is a Graveyard
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” — Ephesians 2:1
The Bible does not describe the sinner as merely sick, confused, or needing improvement. It says we were dead in trespasses and sins. A dead man cannot revive himself. Education cannot raise him. Money cannot raise him. Good intentions cannot raise him. Church membership alone cannot raise him. We need the life of God.
Sin promises freedom but produces chains. It promises pleasure but leaves pain. It promises control but becomes a master. It separates us from God, and no human effort can bridge that separation.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” — Romans 6:23
Notice the contrast: wages are earned, but a gift is received. We earned death, but God offers life. Salvation is not a reward for good people; it is a rescue for lost people. Grace reaches down into the grave and says, ‘You do not have to stay here.’
2. The Man Who Lived Among the Tombs
“And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.” — Mark 5:5
In Mark chapter 5, Jesus crossed a stormy sea and met a man living among the tombs. Society had tried chains, but chains could not change him. People feared him, avoided him, and counted him hopeless. He was isolated, tormented, and destroying himself.
Then Jesus stepped ashore. The demons recognized what many people had forgotten: Jesus has authority. One command from Christ was stronger than a legion of devils. The man who had been naked, violent, and out of control was soon sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
Somebody needs to hear this: what people cannot control, Jesus can deliver. What counseling alone cannot reach, Christ can touch. What years of bondage have damaged, the Son of God can restore. No chain is too strong, no night too dark, and no soul too far gone.
Jesus then told the man to go home and tell his friends what great things the Lord had done for him. Deliverance became testimony. The graveyard became a pulpit. The man once known by his bondage became known by the mercy of God.
3. Lazarus, Come Forth
“And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” — John 11:43
Lazarus had been dead four days. The stone was sealed. The mourners had gathered. Martha believed Jesus could have prevented the death, but she did not yet understand that He could reverse it.
Jesus told them, ‘Take ye away the stone.’ God would do what only God could do, but the people had to obey in the thing they could do. Sometimes our stone is unbelief. Sometimes it is bitterness, secret sin, pride, or fear. We ask God for resurrection while protecting the entrance to the tomb. Roll the stone away.
Then Jesus called Lazarus by name. His voice entered the darkness, passed through the stone chamber, and found a dead man. Life rushed back into his body. The heart beat. The lungs breathed. The feet moved. Lazarus came out.
Jesus still calls people by name. He is not giving a general invitation to someone else. He is calling you. Come out of condemnation. Come out of addiction. Come out of secret compromise. Come out of hopelessness. Come out of dead religion. Come forth!
4. Take Off the Grave Clothes
“Loose him, and let him go.” — John 11:44
Lazarus was alive, but he still wore the clothing of death. Jesus commanded the people around him to loose him. Salvation gives new life, and discipleship teaches us to walk in it.
Some have come out of the tomb but still carry the old labels: failure, drunk, addict, unwanted, unforgiven, useless. Those are grave clothes. Some are still bound by old habits, old relationships, old resentments, and old ways of thinking. They are alive, but they are trying to walk while wrapped in yesterday.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17
Your past may explain where you have been, but it does not have the authority to decide where you are going. In Christ you receive a new name, a new nature, a new family, and a new future. Let the Holy Ghost unwrap what the grave put around you.
5. Can These Bones Live?
“So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” — Ezekiel 37:10
Ezekiel stood in a valley full of dry bones. They were not recently dead; they were very dry. Humanly speaking, there was no possibility. Then God asked, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ Ezekiel wisely answered, ‘O Lord God, thou knowest.’
The prophet spoke the Word of the Lord. Bone came to bone. Sinew and flesh appeared. But there was still no breath. Structure is not enough. Organization is not enough. A beautiful church program is not enough. We need the breath of God.
When the breath came, they lived and stood as an army. The Holy Ghost does not merely make dead things look better. He gives life. He restores purpose. He turns casualties into soldiers and ruins into testimonies.
Maybe your family looks like a valley of dry bones. Maybe your prayer life has dried up. Maybe the fire that once burned in you has become an ember. Speak the Word, welcome the Spirit, and believe again. Dry bones can live.
6. The Road to Glory Goes Through the Cross
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree... by whose stripes ye were healed.” — 1 Peter 2:24
We do not pass from death to life by human effort. We pass through the finished work of Jesus Christ. At Calvary, He took our sin, judgment, shame, and curse. He entered death, but death could not hold Him. On the third day, the stone was rolled away and the grave was empty.
Because He lives, forgiveness is available. Because He lives, chains can break. Because He lives, the backslider can come home. Because He lives, the sick can pray in faith. Because He lives, the grieving have hope. Because He lives, the grave is not the end for those who belong to Him.
The cross tells us the price was paid. The empty tomb tells us the payment was accepted. Pentecost tells us the risen Christ still fills His people with power. We are not serving a memory; we are serving a living Savior.
7. From the Graveyard to Glory
The man among the tombs went home with a testimony. Lazarus left the grave and sat at the table with Jesus. The dry bones stood on their feet as an army. That is the Gospel: God finds us in death, calls us by name, gives us life, removes the grave clothes, and sends us out as witnesses.
Glory is not only heaven someday. Glory begins when Christ becomes Lord today. It is the glory of a forgiven conscience, a restored mind, a healed family, a clean heart, and a life filled with the Holy Ghost. And when our earthly journey ends, we have this promise: to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Do not decorate your tomb. Do not make peace with bondage. Do not accept the devil’s verdict. Hear the voice of Jesus: ‘Come forth.’ The stone can move. The chains can break. The bones can live. Your story can move from the graveyard to glory.
Altar Call
If you are away from God, spiritually dead, bound by sin, or carrying the grave clothes of your past, Jesus is calling you now. Do not wait for a better feeling or a more convenient day. Today is the day of salvation.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” — Romans 10:9
Come honestly. Come humbly. Come believing. Jesus already knows the worst thing about you, and He still went to the cross for you. Repent means to turn—to turn from sin and turn toward God. If you will turn, He will receive you.
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I come to You just as I am. I confess that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. I believe You died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. Forgive me. Wash me in Your blood. Come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I turn from my sin and give my life to You. Make me a new creation. Fill me with Your Spirit and help me follow You from this day forward. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Prayer of Rededication and Deliverance
Father, I have wandered, but I am coming home. Break every chain that has held me. Remove every grave cloth from my life. Heal my mind, restore my joy, and renew a right spirit within me. I renounce every work of darkness and submit myself fully to Jesus Christ. Let the breath of the Holy Ghost fill me again. Use my life as a testimony of Your mercy. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
Closing Prayer
Lord, let resurrection life enter every dead place. Call the lost, restore the backslider, deliver the bound, comfort the grieving, heal the broken, and fill hungry hearts with the Holy Ghost. Turn graveyards into testimonies and dry valleys into armies for Your kingdom. May every person who hears this message know that Jesus Christ is alive, mighty to save, and coming again. In the name above every name, Jesus Christ, amen.
Michael Cunningham Evangelist
Mike Cunningham Ministries
