The following three “Ten” minute talks, all on the subject of “Miracles”,
are from the 9:30am in Bracknell.
If you heard other messages, discuss the following three questions:
- What
did the preachers say?
- What
did God say to you as you listened?
- What
are you going to do about it?
Dan McNab - Jesus carries the weight of your miracle
Dan has taken over leading the Friday night LIFE youth event since September
(although Liam Parker is still the youth pastor).
Dan saw a miracle this last Friday night at LIFE. A girl came
along because she heard that if she came she would be healed. She was on crutches, and was unable to climb
stairs and had difficulty walking. Dan
and others prayed for her and by the end of the evening she was completely
healed, and walked up the stairs onto the platform to tell everyone what God had
done.
Jesus says ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.’ (Mt 11 v 28-30).
Dan held up a glass filled half full with water. It felt heavy to
hold, not so much because of how heavy the water in the glass actually was, but
rather because of how long he held it up for. Pressure, difficulty and trouble
in life are like the water in the glass, and the longer we hold onto those things
the more they weigh us down.
God does not intend us to hold onto this weight. We forget that Jesus is the miracle worker
and wants to carry the weight. We cannot
do miracles ourselves anyway, so let Jesus take the weight, and expect his
power to be at work within us (Eph 3 v 20).
Question
Where are you weighed down by the need of a miracle, and must hand that burden
over to Jesus for Him to work the miracle?
Mich Bindley - Kindness is a key to a
miracle
Micheline is married to Rod and has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. She has lived in South Africa and Spain for
most of her married life.
Mich read us the story of Jesus healing a man with a shrivelled hand in
the synagogue on the Sabbath, and the opposition that arose because He did this
(Mk 3 v 1-6).
Jesus demonstrates kindness and compassion to the man, seeking him
out and being willing to heal him despite the opposition that would arise.
Mich knows what it is to be in need of friends and kindness, once having
moved 11 times in 3 years. She responded to the love and kindness shown
by a group of Christian women, who drew her into being part of their church. If she had not been shown such kindness then,
she might not be speaking to us today.
Although Jesus was angry with those who opposed His act of kindness, He
was sad that their hearts were stubborn, and had compassion for them. We also need to have compassion for those who
oppose us, to be gracious to them and discern their need.
Kindness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit; it is not natural but rather supernatural. Kindness shows itself in helping, listening, and
allowing others to come first. Jesus’
kindness to us means that He restores our relationship to Himself, and in many different
areas brings miracles to us.
Question
Who can
you show kindness to so that Jesus has the opportunity to work a miracle? Perhaps a family member, a colleague, a
stranger or even an enemy?
Alison Green - The miracle of walking
by faith
Alison had been in her previous church for 20 years, serving full time there
for 6 years, but heard Jesus calling her to move on. She has been in Kerith now for a couple of
years.
Alison read us the account of Jesus walking on the stormy lake, and
calling Peter out of the boat to do the same (Mt 14 v 22-33).
Jesus calls Peter to get out of the boat, out of familiarity and safety.
We also tend to stay in the familiar and
comfortable, but Jesus wants to stretch our faith and grow our relationship
with Him. Jesus has a plan for each of
us, but usually reveals it to us gradually as we obey his call and move forward
one step at a time.
Like Peter we need to know it is Jesus’ voice we are hearing, before we
act. To walk by faith can be scary, has
a risk of failure, and we can be afraid.
When Peter started to sink Jesus did not let him drown, but reached out
and lifted him up. Jesus also knows our
limitations and will reach out and lift us up.
We must not wait for calm waters, or until we have a life jacket, but
trust Jesus and step out. He has
authority over the wind and waves, and also over all the circumstances we are
in.
John Ortberg writes “Your boat is whatever represents safety and
security apart from God himself, whatever you are tempted to put your trust in especially
when life gets stormy, whatever keeps you so comfortable that you don’t want to
it give it up even if it is keeping you from joining Jesus in the waves,
whatever pulls you away from the adventure of extreme discipleship”.
Questions
Where do you need to move in faith, to take a step forward, and see if
God will work a miracle?
What do you need to be willing to leave behind in order to follow Jesus?
Do you need to take time to be in Jesus’ presence to hear his voice calling you
to move forward?
No comments:
Post a Comment