Making Church Miraculous Again | Debleaire Snell

if God has been good to you won't you say Amen if he's been real good once you shout hallelujah if he's an aunt I'm God will you say thank you Jesus and if you're glad he's coming again can we put our hands together for the King of Kings and the Lord of lords to give his name a great praise today I don't know y'all seem a little sleepy today but Bible says that our Lord is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations and that the redeemed of the Lord are not be silent we ought not be ashamed of the gospel but the redeemed of the Lord ought to say so do I have a witness that this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it somebody said I came to praise the Lord I didn't come to praise the Lord but I came with praise for the Lord because he was good before I got into his house today he was good when he woke me up this morning he was good when he started me on my way and so you don't need to wait for somebody to push you you ought to just praise him because he's been good to you let the redeemed save and today amen amen amen [Music] I just want you to know that I'm very excited and and very like elated to be here with you at miracle city praising the name of our great God and just encouraging you further in the faith this weekend I just want to begin by just taking a moment to affirm the great leadership of your pastoral staff starting with your pastoral leader dr. Franklin can we give him a hearty amen today I understand that he is away spending some time with family and we thank God that God has blessed you with a creative spirit filled energetic leader who's gonna follow God's command we praise God for him and the first lady in their family can we affirm them once again with a hearty amen we thank God for them and we praise God for the new addition of pastor Higgins and all that she's gonna bring to the work here at miracle City and also I just want to praise God for this congregation I don't know if you guys know it but the way you all serve this community the way that you all impact this society here in Baltimore I want you to know that it is noised abroad we get worried about what's going on here way down in Huntsville Alabama and I need you to know that what you do is significant not just in your community but what it does is it puts an appropriate peer pressure on the rest of the body of Christ to to do likewise and to impact our communities in the same way and so we want you to know that we thank God for this church I think for God for this church personally for those that have been here a miracle for a little while probably about 10 11 years ago you all used to host a pastors conference called innovative impact anybody been around long enough to remember that I remember about 10 11 years ago I was at a place in ministry where it just had not gone in the way I had expected I was contemplating other things I remember coming here that Sabbath and worship and spending all that week long and y'all would have these powerful prayer meetings on Wednesday night and I remember I was right back there by where the camera was just way down wondering what the future was gonna be and I remember exactly who it was but some very godly Saints gathered around me and prayed the power of God into my life and I remember that Wednesday the Byrd and being lifted and God just giving me a refreshing from on high and so you all moved I will forever be in the debt of this congregation because what you all done here has made a difference in my life and so again I'm thankful and grateful to be here with you I wish my wife could join me and because she couldn't be here I'm gonna be back on a plane at 5:30 this evening come on and say Amen I got three kids and you can't leave them at home by themself with the kids for too long do I have a witness in this room amen and so I've been married now for 14 years for five months about ten days about 11 hours and 22 minutes I got a witness today and every day with her gets a little sweeter than the day before and so we are we are looking forward to getting back home with him and again I just want to affirm again your great pastoral staff ray your first elder for the way you've received me and show me hospitality and I've not met her but your assistant Cassandra I'm not sure if she's in the house but Cassandra handles business I know I know y'all know that already but she handles business and does things the right way and represent your church in a way that you would be proud of and so today we want to go ahead and jump into the Word of God today is that Alright and someone invite you to stand to your feet for the reading of God's Word this morning and I'm gonna have us go ahead and peek into the Book of Luke chapter 17 Luke chapter 17 and verse 11 this sermon today is taken from a series of messages I'm preaching a series at my church called making Church great again and yeah yeah we're making it great again and this is a particular passage that I thought would be important and relevant and relevant for those here at the miracle City Church the title of the series making church great again but this is just for you all here in miracle City the Bible says in Luke 17 verse 11 when you get there for me let me hear you say Amen Luke chapter 17 and verse 11 and I'm reading from the New King James Version of the Bible the Bible says that now it happened as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee then as he entered into a certain village there met him ten men who were lepers who stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said Jesus master have mercy on us so when he saw them he said unto them go show yourselves to the priests and so it was that as they what went they were cleansed and one of them when he saw that he was healed returned with a loud voice and glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet giving him thanks and he was a Samaritan so jesus answered and said were there not ten cleansed but where are the nine where there not any who were found to return to give glory to God except this foreigner and he said unto Him arise and go your way your faith has made you well but for emphasis I want to read verse 14 so when he saw them he said unto them go and show yourselves to the priests and the Bible says that as they went they were clans today I want to talk to you under the subject making church miraculous again making church miraculous again let's pray together father I pray that in this little while that you would say much I pray for permission to join my weakness my frailty my lack to your divine strength I pray that in the hearing of the world that faith would be multiplied exponentially and so lord I pray that you would hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen that Christ alone would be heard and that Jesus alone might be praised bless us father in this time is our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ let all of those that believe say together amen and amen you may be presence you may be seated in the presence of the Lord today making Christianity your church miraculous again one of the problems with contemporary Christianity is that we have lost our sense of the miraculous I believe that every one of us ought to have what I call double vision meaning that with these eyes I am able to look out and rightly assess the situation of the flesh but then with a spiritual set of eyes I discern the presence of a God who is greater than any reality I might face you see you've got to be careful beloved about allowing your faith to become too academic to reasonable and too realistic because you realize you can't be realistic and of faith at the same time and can I suggest Saints that you're in a bad place if everything in your life can be explained you see I believe that when God is truly at work there come some instances in your life where you just can't explain what God is doing you see the truth is when God is working there ought to be some times when you're trying to explain how God moved you just find yourself at a loss of words because certain things that God does cannot be explained is there anybody in this room that just ever tried it where you can't explain how the bill got paid you can't explain how you got through school you can't explain how you pass the class some of y'all can't explain how you still married some of us can't explain how you walked away from the car accident some of us can't explain how we still in our right minds is there anybody that got some stuff that you can't explain how God did it but you just praise God that he did it anyhow and my prayer is that we would remain convinced that God is still in the blessing business and the fact is that some of us live with a needless tension because we can't see how we'll make it beyond our own capability you see the truth is that some of us can't see beyond our bank account some of us can't see beyond the doctor's prognosis and we live with this impending sense of doom because we relieve we're facing a reality that's greater than our capacity to handle it and the thing I want to say is that no Christian ought to live without a sense of the supernatural we've got to maintain our sense of the divine we've got to hold on to our double vision but the problem with the church is that we trust in medicine more than the Messiah we trust in science more than the Savior we look to government more than we look to God we assess more than we pray and we rehearse the problems more than we rehearse the promises of God and it's no longer it is no wonder that we're so easily discouraged and so easily worn out because we are living without a sense of God's divine intervention but how many of us know today beloved that when God steps into a situation that situation automatically begins to change is there anybody of faith that understands that when God steps in the normal rules and the normal wisdom does not apply are y'all here be Saints in other words in the natural world when you touch a sick person you're supposed to get sick but when Jesus touch a sick person the sick person got well in the natural a few fish in five loaves feeds about six people but with Jesus a few fish in five fees five thousand in the natural you have to ride out a storm and wait for it to pass but when Jesus broke the winds and the waves obeyed him in the natural when you need money you have to go to a bank but with Jesus he made a fish's mouth his personal ATM machine in the natural when you're sick you've got to go to the doctor but with Jesus he carried oxycotin into him of his garment in the natural you need a bomb to knock down fortified wall but with God all Israel had to do a shout and the walls came tumbling down and what I'm saying today beloved is sometimes you've got to throw out your wisdom forget your plan pray big trust more because with Jesus the normal rules don't apply can you say Amen today and so let's go a little further back here to verse 11 unpack this a little further if you don't mind today the Bible says now it happened that as he went through to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee and as he entered into a certain village there were ten men who were lepers who stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said Jesus master have mercy upon me now since I need you to get that the implications of this story are very powerful for our consideration today here the text says that we find Jesus on his way to Jerusalem and the Bible says that he travels through the midst of Jew Samaria and Galilee but a better rendering of the text reads that he travels along the border between Samaria and Galilee which means that Jesus is not traveling down Main Street but Jesus is going down a back road he is on the outskirts of town Jesus is in the backwoods of the city where he's most likely to run upon lepers that were quarantined according to Leviticus 1346 on the outside of town and as I surveyed this story Saints there are three things about these lepers that I like you see the first thing about these lepers I love is that they have a sense of urgency about their opportunity you see when Jesus gets to their village did you notice that they're not indifferent about their requests they're not casual about their approach in fact the Bible says that as Jesus enters into Galilee and the reason we believe it's Galilee is that there are only not there are nine Jews and only one Samaritan in the group and the Bible says that as he enters the Bible says that they met him there I don't know if you got that in other words they meet him there as those who are anticipating his revival in other words this is the moment that they have been waiting for in other words beloved you got to realize that when Jesus shows up they don't let him go in and get his feet wash they don't let him go in and get something to eat they don't let him stop and get a bathroom break but the word says that they stopped him at the front and they began making their requests known to the Lord and see I love this about them but the Bible says that they met him there as those who are anticipating his arrival and see the thing I like about these lepers beloved is that even though they don't know when he's going to show up they've got anticipation that God is going to show up and can I suggested a Saints that if we're gonna live in miracle territory you've got to learn to have an anticipation that God is gonna move in your life are you hearing me saying in other words the problem with some of us is that we are hoping God shows up some of us are wishing that God is going to show up but are there anybody in this room that's anticipating the move of God in your life in other words is there anybody anticipating that you're going to be healed are you anticipating that God will provide are you anticipating that God will come through in other words as a believer I'm not hoping I'm not wishing but I have such a faith conviction that I'm anticipating the move of God at work in my life and see the thing I love about these lepers beloved is that even though they don't know when God is going to show up they have learned the discipline of waiting indefinitely in other words there are times where we want God to move in a certain window we want God to show up within a certain hour but how many of us know that real faith learns how to cling to the premises of God even when I don't know when or where God is going to show up you see the problem is some of us want God to say that I'm going to show up in such a such place at such as such time but if you've been walking with God any amount of time how many of us know that sometimes you gotta wait on God not knowing exactly when God is going to show up where am i preaching today see see some of us think that faith dies on the operating table but most time faith dies in the waiting room and the thing somebody's got to learn how to do is that after you've made your request to God you don't allow your anticipation to fade because he's taken a little while but you learn how to hang out in anticipation until God shows up are y'all hearing me Saints in fact let me say it this way I have three kids and my youngest son he just turned three years old and man he is a tank of a boy he is like and a hundred percent tire of his growth I believe that his spiritual gift is eating anybody know what I'm talking about today and it's crazy how my youngest son man every day he is the first one to wake up and ask for something to eat and so I remember one day I was on the phone and and he came and asked daddy can I have some cereal and because I was in a crisis call I just kind of pushed him away and engaged in what I was doing and so he came again and he made his request known and I said son I'll be with you in just a little bit but the thing I love about my son is he's got a spirit of anticipation so that when I didn't respond to his request I see him in my peripheral vision he goes into the pantry gets the cereal and put them on the table he gets a plastic bowl and he puts it on the table he gets a spoon and he puts it on the table and he goes and simply sits down at the table and his attitude simply says daddy I don't know when you're gonna come I'm just gonna sit here at the table until you show up and I just need to know is there anybody that will grab the bowl of faith today sit at the table of faith and say God I don't know when you're going to show up but I'm gonna sit here in faith until you show up are you hearing the word today beloved and see one of the things beloved that will not allow these lepers to miss out on their opportunity is that they realize that might be their last opportunity to see Jesus you see the Bible says that as Jesus makes this journey the word says that he is on the way to Jerusalem you realize that the purpose of this trip to Jerusalem is crucifixion in other words they don't know if Jesus is gonna be back this way again and I don't know if they're thinking along this lines but they've got to get connected with Jesus now because this might be their last time to have a connection to see Jesus and I need us to get that the same thing that was true for them is the same thing that's true for us because how many of us know that you never know when it's gonna be your last time to get connected with Jesus are you hearing me Saints and see one of the signs of spiritual maturity is that you share that sense of invincibility because a part of maturity is understanding how fragile life can sometimes be see how many of us understand that you can be sitting up feeling good here in church right now and be sitting up in the emergency room later on this evening and understand that I'm not trying to get you to live with the fear but to live with an understanding that every day you make it safely home it's because the mercy of the Lord guided you there are y'all hearing me Saints is there anybody that is aware that there are satanic agencies looking for a chance to kill you in your sin do you realize that tragedy is built into every single day that there are weapons formed against you that are not permitted to prosper and the only reasons those weapons haven't prospered is because the invisible hands of God just steps in and intercept some stuff but lot some stuff redirect some stuff how many of us realize that the only reason you are here today is because of the grace of the Almighty God and the reason I'm saying this beloved is that you got to wake up every day and live spiritually like every day is your last way all that today church you see say this greatest greatest deception is the presumption of more time see see that's why in the book of James the Apostle says that you ought not even walk around talking about where you gonna go next year or what you're gonna do two years from now you can't say what you're gonna do tomorrow or next week because the truth is that none of that is guaranteed to you and so I've gotta live each day with a sense of urgency about seeking the face of God because today might be my last day and let me just say this beloved when you recognize that every day could be your last day what it causes you to do is to live every day with a sense of gratitude and praise on your lips are you hearing me Saints in other words I'm just at this place in my life where every day I wake up with pain I said without pain I say thank you Jesus if you can wake up this morning and they're seeing in your eyes you are the shop if there's hearing in your ears you are the shout if there's clapping in your hands you are the shout every time you get home without crashing you are the shout every time your plane lands you are the shout if you can use the bathroom unassisted you are the shout if you can stand up and praise you are the shout if you got strength in your legs don't you sit up here with an attitude talking about why praise team lasts so long you ought to stand up and just say God thank you that I got enough strength in my being that I can give God a praise are y'all hearing me today science and see that's why I beloved man you got to live every day like it's your last because you don't know when it's gonna be your last time to get connected with Jesus are y'all hearing me Saints and see what it calls for us to live with a sense of urgency i I remember Saints when I first started flying a long time ago I didn't quite understand the culture of flying at the time and so I remember I was in flight getting ready to go to Bermuda and the flight was supposed to leave at 11 o'clock now this was one of my first time flying and so I just assumed wrongly that because my flight was scheduled to leave at 11 I'm hanging out at the airport and thinking I just need to get to the gate at 11 o'clock but see how many of us there fly understand that when the departure time that there is a door that closes about thirty minutes before the departure and the departure time they try to have the wheels up off of the ground and so you've got to get to the gate before the door closes or you might miss your flight how many of us understand beloved that the door our probation is still open but you got to get to the gate before the operation closes you can't just wait till the departure time to try to get right you got to get to the gate of heaven right now are you hearing me today saying second thing I love about these lepers beloved is these men they don't just accept their fate see you got to get something about these lepers is that these men literally carry around in their flesh the sentence of death that every time they look at their being and they see those scales are shingles crawling across their body it is a reminder to them that death is imminent so you got to understand that leprosy was a degenerative disease that had neither cure nor vaccine in fact leprosy back then was called the stroke or the of God for it was seen as a divine judgment against those who are not really living right in the day and because they could not cure leprosy they just did their best to try and contain it so what they would do is they would create a lepers colony on the outside of the city and you got to understand that because no one has been healed of leprosy leprosy has a ring of permanence to it so what some say here in the ancient cultures we do when when leprosy had gotten down to a certain point what they would literally do is they would have a funeral service for you while you were still alive so while you were still living your family would give their final reflections while you were still alive they would sing songs of remembrance while you were still alive they would make you dig a hole for you to be buried in before they ship you to the outside and the reason they would do that was because up until this point ain't nobody came back from something like this and their culture at that point in time had left them in a place where there was no encouragement there was no hope because at that point nobody has come back from something like this and understand that once it reached a certain point there was no return from the issue of leprosy and some of us beloved are at a place where our hope has expired now and I'm not trying to get us riled up today because the truth is that there are some of us in this room that are like Paul are gonna have some thorns in our flesh that are not going to be removed we'll have to live with certain things and the answer to prayer is that God is simply going to give you strength to bear it but some of us are accepting things that are not God's will we've simply accepted temporary assessments as permanent CC has anybody in this room may be determined prematurely that maybe you've accrued so much pain in your marriage that you can't come back from this maybe some of us spiritually have made so many mistakes and earth that you feel that God can't save that you can't come back from this maybe some of us have made so many mistakes in our career that we feel like we can't come back from this and you've got to maintain the disposition of the lepers the lepers are simply like I hear the assessment I understand what you're declaring I know what you said the end is gonna be but I've got to go and see that man named Jesus because my end doesn't come until he actually declares it to be the case and the thing I need somebody to get is that it doesn't matter what man says you've got to realize that God has the final say because your destiny is not tied to the assessments of man but your destiny is tied to the will of the Almighty God and see the thing I need somebody to get is that sometimes you can't always base life on what you see sometimes you got to pray to the point where you leave room for God to move miraculously in your life are you hearing me today saying when you say this way I remember I'm that's about 1213 years ago my wife and I had come above some really difficult financial times we were in one of those stretches where we had a bunch of medical bills that all came due at the same moment and we were in one of those stretches I don't know if you ever been there where you were so broke you couldn't pay attention do I have at least one cousin where your money was funny your change was strange and your credit couldn't get it y'all know what I'm talking about today and I remember man we had gotten down where we were about eight hundred dollars short of what we needed to make it to the end of the month and I remember I was getting ready to call home and ask my parents for money for the first time since I had gotten out of school and I remember man before we got ready to call home my godly wife said listen why don't we take the time and pray about it one more day and so I remember we got down on that night and I unnies and we got down on our knees and prayed and I don't know if you've ever prayed one of those prayers when you pray you claim every promise in the Word of God well we got down on our knees and say Lord you said you would open up the windows of heaven Lord you said that the righteous would never be forsaken you said you would supply all my needs according to your riches and glory Lord you said that the righteous will always be provided for and so I remember going out to the mailbox the very next day and I remember getting an envelope from the Kentucky Department of Revenue and my head fell down I said Lord I asked for blessing and you sent another bill with my name on it and so I remember opening up the envelope Church and the letter read this way it said mr. Snell on the previous year we overcharged you for the property taxes on your house on the inside is a refund check in the amount of $1,100 or you're not y'all not with me today and in other words what God did was God took it from me the year before put it in Heaven's and strong account allowed it to mature with my name and before I even called him prayer he starts sending it in the mail away all that church so that on the very day I prayed it would show up right on time are y'all hearing me say and the thing I'm saying is that sometimes beloved when you can't see how God is gonna make away you've got to leave room for the miraculous in your life are you hearing me saying third thing I like about these lepers is that these men they take the matter to Jesus Christ you see I like about these boys is they make their requests known to him they tell Jesus all about their problem so you see these boys you got to get they are in need of divine intervention and see they teach us something very powerful that when you need divine power you can't go to human constructs see they've come to the right conclusion that the only chance that we have is to be able to take this thing over to Jesus Christ and the things somebody's got to get is that your life can only be as miraculous as you are prayerful see the problem with us is that we're too self-sufficient we're too independent we're too industrious we got too much under our control and there are some of us that have some situations that only God is able to move but the problem is we've taken it to the doctor we've gone to the bank we've seen the therapist you told your cousin you didn't call Pookie and ray-ray em you didn't call LaShawn to try and help you but the problem is we take the matter to everybody but Jesus Christ and see the word that God told me to say to somebody today is that the thing that you worry about the most is usually the thing you pray about the least hmm see see I need somebody to get that you can't rest as long as you trying to be in control as long as you depended upon your hustle your ingenuity your connections and your bank account you got to get into a posture or prayerfulness where you give the matter wholly over to Jesus Christ it is why the songwriter says oh we're peace we often forfeit Oh what needless pain we bear oh because we do not carry everything to God in prayer see some of y'all looking at me brand-new today but but the truth is look at your own life and measure your situation there's some of us that are worried endlessly about the married situation but have you spent an hour this week interceding for your husband or your wife that the light might be illuminated in their heart some of us are worried all the time about our children but have you taken the time to pray with them at the start of the day and the close of the day and to pray the wicked spirit out of them some of us are praying about financial concern but have we taken the time to really pray for God's provision to come to pass in our lives and what I'm saying today beloved is that there sometimes we complain about it what we do is we mention it in the presence of God but have you really made the request consistently known to the Savior today it's funny you guys know I said I have a number of kids now my oldest son he'll do something that's very funny he's eight years old that that when he wants something what he has a bad habit of doing is he has a way of mentioning it in my presence without asking me for it so so he'll say something like this he'll say say daddy my friend's mama they took them to Chuck E Cheese and I'll say something like that's good for them or they'll say you know what's the name dad they took them bowling last week and I look at here and say congratulations and he'll say something like you know my friends they went to Disney World this summer and what they're doing he's missing it in my presence and it's not that I don't want to do what he wants but the problem is sometimes I just need him to ask and God's Word to somebody is you have not because you ask not but he says ask and it shall be given seek and it shall be found knock and it shall be opened unto you are you hearing me beloved and see beloved and one of the things I want to say to us as we grow in the faith especially those of us who are young adults one of the things you're gonna learn and the faith experience is what Luke 18 teaches that man ought to always pray and not faint so they're going to be certain things that you gonna have to pray for not just once but has anybody been living low enough to know that there are certain things you got to pray about for a long time that one of the things that I've learned how to do in my faith journey is I've learned how to pray the promises of God in other words I don't just repeat the problem but I've learned how to pray the promises where I prayed the promises of God back to him and I remind God what he said until his word comes to pass in my experience are y'all hearing me today Saints like I remember when I was pastoring re down in Columbus Mississippi and in this little small town we didn't have very many places and shopping so there was this one little store called McRae's that that sold is one kind of dress shirt that was very light and I wouldn't sweat too much when I wore it and so I remember one day I got a coupon in the mail for this dress shirt and the coupon said I get 50% off of this dress shirt so I took my coupon to the store and say it praise the Lord as I go shopping I need you to get that I am that brother you can look down on me if you want when I go into a store I don't go to the front with the regular stuff I go all the way back first to the clearance rack I got at least one relative in this room today all right when y'all get some kids young hope you'll be there too come on and say Amen I go all the way back to the clearance rack and so I see that this shirt is already knocked down 50 percent and so I got a coupon that's 50% it's already knocked down 50% I got like three shirts and I go to the corner counter and I say praise God and so as I get there to the counter what happens is that the store clerk looks at the shirts then she looks at my coupons and then she said sir you know I want to apologize for the inconvenience but our store policy is you can't get fifty percent off of that which has already been knocked down 50 percent I said well ma'am my coupon says I get 50% off of all originally priced items and sale price items she said sir I understand what the coupon is but the policy says you can't get fifty percent off of that which has been knocked down 50 percent I said well the coupon says I get 50% off of our regularly priced items and sale price items she said sir certainly I don't want to seen I don't want to seen but the policy is you can't get fifty percent off of that which has been knocked down 50 percent I said I don't want to see it either but my coupon says I get 50% off of all regularly priced items and sale price items and by this time I see the manager coming by and the way I know it's the manager he's got the keys on the side of his hip you see sometimes when you can't get no help from those in front of you you gotta call the man that got the keys so so they go over in the corner and they have a consultation so I leaned on the counter so they know ain't going nowhere I'm big and I'm black come on as a man and sometimes that's not a good thing but today I was gonna make it work for my benefit and so they go over and they have a huddle and then the manager comes back and says sir we want to apologize for the mistake but our policy is you can't get 50% off of that which has been knocked down 50% said sir I understand but my coupon says I get 50% off of all regularly priced items and sale price items so they go back and they have another consultation I leaned on the counter so they know ain't going nowhere and so then they come back and they said sir our policy is that you can't get 50% off of that which has been knocked down 50% that is our policy but because we see you ain't going nowhere we go make an exception this one time and give you 50% off of that whizzers been knocked down 50% and God just wants to see will there anybody hang on the counter of faith and you will lean on the counter and rehearse his promise and stain it back to him and be still until the promise becomes a reality are you hearing me today beloved so we got to learn how to be still and know that God is God are y'all hear me today love it and so the word says here at Luke chapter 17 and verse number 14 we don't try to make it before this clock runs out Luke 17 verse 14 the Bible says that when he sought them he said unto them go and show yourself to the priest and so it was that as they went the Bible says they were healed now the thing I want to say real quick beloved and I hope that somebody gets this is that you can't have maximum miracles with minimal obedience CC this is is the miracle moment that we too often miss out on is there anybody that's read the scriptures long enough to know that most miracles require some type of action on your behalf see see see the problem is that they wanted Jesus to just speak the word right then and there and all of a sudden things get better but notice that the word says that he speaks a word declaration but after he declares it they still got leprosy on their skin pain in their joints and discomfort in their being and the Bible says that as they went the Bible says that they are cleanse and see the thing that I need somebody to get is that there's some of us that are in this room that are embarking upon a miracle moment and some of us are frustrated saying Lord I'm waiting on you to move and God's Word to you is that he's waiting on you to move because rarely is there a case where a miracle happens without some human effort demonstrating faith okay come here man by the Pool of Bethesda rise take up your bed and walk and then you will be healed remember what God told Moses he said grab the serpent then it's gonna turn into a rod it's not gonna turn into a rod until you reach down and grab it come here Peter come to me on the water understand that the water didn't get hard Peter couldn't do like this a way to church that today see he couldn't wait and see if it was gonna hold him he simply had to step out on the word he had to step out on the word and move to Jesus Christ in fact the Prophet says that the word of Jesus becomes an invisible bridge that carries him to Jesus so that the word of Jesus becomes a bridge over troubled water so y'all y'all not hear me in other words Joshua you gotta step into the waters then the waters are going to part see the problem is that there are some of us we just want blessings to fall out of the sky while we sitting on the couch in our mancave watching our 65 inch television but God is saying that some of us that there are certain blessings that will not be revealed until you start taking some steps of faith in action are you hearing me and in the word literally says that he says go and show yourselves to the priest now you gotta realize what's happened here Saints you gotta realize that what happens is that when you contracted leprosy and you were excommunicated from this society it was only that once you went and saw the priest and he inspected you or judge you that he would give you entrance or access back through the gates of the city now you gotta get that this is a terrible thing for Jesus to tell these lepers he says go show yourselves to the priests now scholars suggest that from where they are on the outskirts of town so the priests office is like four miles and you gotta realize this is a devastating thing because leprosy has set all the way in you realize that what leprosy is it is an attack on the nerve trunks of the body and when leprosy attach the nerve trunks where it is specifically painful is on the extremities of your body in your hands your nose and in your feet and your nerves will be damaged so badly that every time you took a step it would feel like a thousand nails were piercing your body and he just said go take a four mile journey and see the priest weigh all that today Church say I need you to get that every and they will obey the Word of God that these first steps are going to hurt like the devil that these first steps are going to be painful as they go these first steps are going to want to make them be still these early steps are going to want to make them go back the way that they came and the thing I want to say to somebody as that as you obey God I need you to know that sometimes the hardest steps are the early steps in other words it is the first steps to reconciliation it is the first steps to starting your business it is the first steps to going back to school that wind up being the hardest steps that you have to take but you can't be discouraged by the early steps but the Bible says that as they went as they went cells were reconstructed as they went stuff was rebuilt as they went they were healed and as they begin their limping as they begin their dragging as they begin their hurting but as they win things get better I say when things feel good as they win they get some swag as they quit they begin took up as they win they begin to move with it and rock with it and the Bible says it as they wet they got healed are you hearing me Saints and say I need to understand that would change their disposition was not what they saw or what they felt the only thing that changed their disposition was the word that was spoken by Jesus see this is the miracle moment see their some of us we think a miracle is gonna always be accompanied by some type of sensation or some type of momentum some type of buildup that says God is about to do something but how many of us know that sometimes miracle is not that place where you see how God is gonna move a miracle situation is when you can't see how God is gonna show up and so this is a crazy thing where he's telling them to go but they feel the same way he's telling them to move and they don't see any change in their body and guess what the only evidence they have is the word that was spoken see this issue the reason we don't detect miracles well it's because we're looking for momentum we're looking to see how a crack in the door but you realize that the thing that ought to change your disposition is simply whatever Jesus says to us it is word that's the only evidence that we have that things are going to change let me let me say this way it's kind of like this my my kids the other day back in January you know we were having one of those snow days in Huntsville now if you ever been in Huntsville you realize that we cancel the whole city for just a little dust up of snow everybody's gonna be out of school and it's crazy because like one day the news came on and the kids were watching the news and they said it's gonna snow tomorrow now the crazy thing about it is that the kid starts slapping high five I mean I mean the kids start rejoicing they go outside and play they not gonna take no bath tonight and the reason they getting all lit is because they've already determined that there's not gonna be no school tomorrow now the crazy thing about it is that while they're celebrating it's sunny outside it's 65 degrees in the temperature in other words there ain't no evidence that there's gonna be snow in anywhere in our being but guess what their whole disposition change not because they saw clouds not because they saw flakes but they put a whole lot of weight in the word of the weatherman and the reason I say how do you know it's gonna snow you can't see any snow but they've learned just enough in class that they can trust the weatherman because he's not looking from below up at the weather but he is looking from on high and seeing the storm is about to come and what I'm saying is beloved don't look at the forecast today to try to determine the weather to tomorrow you've just got to go according to what's written in the word are you hearing me saying let's see this is amazing stories that mama's getting ready they'll be done I need you to get something powerful about this story is that Jesus is go to the priests right the Bible says as they went they are cleansed and said you got to avoid something because what they're doing you got to realize what this is symbol of that's the beginning with Jesus speaks the word when they first meet him he declares them clean which is what you call justification in other words before you did any work before you obey the command before you intervention chop let I need you to know that you're clean before you perform your declared righteous declare clean even while you're still unclean justification but then the Bible says that as they went they are cleanse on the way that's called sanctification and so you not understand you got to see what happens and this is why you got to be careful you realize that there are some of them that start getting cleanse at about a quarter mile some of them don't get it to about a half a mile some of them don't get it till about mile - some of them done get it to about mile three and see while they're traveling they got to be very careful not to look at when somebody else is getting theirs you got to be really careful not to see when they got blessed or how they got it you just got to maintain your focus on the word and be obedient to what God told you to do because sometimes you'll lose your faith because other people get blessed before you do are y'all hearing me Saints and see and that's why beloved when somebody else gets a husband or somebody else gets a house or somebody else gets the car you can't allow yourself to get discouraged you gotta just stay on the path that God puts you on and it doesn't matter if they got it at the quarter-mile when you turn 28 or when you turn 35 you just got to be faithful to the command that God has given you are you hearing me Saints and you know what I see beloved I see in this a promise to any struggling Center in this room anybody that struggle in this room today Oh y'all brand-new y'all some spiritual people up here in Baltimore I'm talking about some folk that mess up not just every now and then but you mess up all the time do I have a witness today you know what this is this is a guarantee that if you abide in Jesus that you gonna get the victory before he comes all right how do you see that past he says go show yourself to the priest now the priest had this unique job where they would inspect the skin to see if they were cleansed so if pretty tone and they're not cleanse the law would actually command for them to be stoned or killed on the spot and they cannot read entrance or access back to society you don't get it so Jesus says way back here you're gonna be cleanse some of them gonna get it on the quarter-mile some of them gonna get it at the half mile some of us are almost to the priests house and they still got spots on their skin some of them are almost there and they still got scales on their skin and because they're almost at the end and they're not cleanse there's a temptation for them to go back the way they came because they don't want to be condemned when they show up but I need somebody to get that we are almost the priest is almost here in other words and you still got some issues but Jesus is giving a guarantee that by the time the pre shows up that's going through the judging you gonna be cleansed by the time he arrives so that some of them don't get cleanse until they walking into the front yard going into the front door some of their cleansing our victory does not come until right there to the very end what am I trying to say Saints there's some of us look at me and saying pastor you don't know my struggle you don't know how many times I said I'm not gonna do it again and I did it again you don't know how many times I said I would never mess up and I messed up again I don't know if I can ever get right I don't know if I'll ever get the victory this is the word for somebody that he which has begun a good work in you he shall continue it and complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ it is what first John says that it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him and see him as he is are you hearing me today Saints and I need somebody to understand as you play something for me I need somebody to get an understanding this truly that the God who has began a powerful work on the day that you first received him on that first day he justified you declared you are clean when he simply applied the merits of his death burial and resurrection to your life right then and there he simply applied it all right there at the beginning but some of us are on that journey what we call sanctification I need somebody to understand that as you go that he's gonna make you more and more like him as you make that journey toward the second coming and it doesn't matter if you got the victory today it doesn't matter if you still struggle today because I need you to understand that the victory that you fighting for it's not your victory it's his victory that's one on the inside of your life and you've got to make sure that you don't spend too much time looking at somebody else seeing when they got free when they got picked or you just got to make sure that you remain on the path that God has put you on because the God who began the good work in you is gonna continue it until the day of Jesus Christ how many us believe the Word of God today listen and and the word for somebody today is simply it's to simply understand that God is still in the blessing business God wants somebody to understand today as you receive the Word of God there's somebody in this room that we gotta start taking a different approach as we walk through life God has said to somebody you gotta maintain a sense of the divine you gotta cling to your faith you can't just operate according to the axioms of this world but you gotta still leave room for God to do that exceedingly and abundantly above all you can even ask for or think anybody in this room with me today Saints well you gotta get back to that place where you say man I have to have an urgency about this opportunity because it may be my last time to get connected with Jesus Christ there's somebody in this room they're like these lepers you gotta stop accepting your faith or man's assessment this the crazy thing about the body of Christ our problem is we believe more about what people say about us more than jeez what jesus promises say to us and it doesn't matter what they say the end is gonna be I need somebody to get that it's not over until God says that it's over there are some temporary assessments that we've accepted it's permanent but I need somebody to understand that God could turn the marriage around he can turn the help condition around he can turn the sin problem around God can turn the accusations around God can turn all of those things upside down there's somebody that you worried about some stuff but the problem is not that you have a concern the issue is just that you've taken it to everybody you've taken it to everybody but Jesus Christ and goddess anything that you worry about the most he usually nine times out of ten it's using the very thing that you pray about beliefs and there's somebody there's God is saying listen I put you on a journey and a path toward obedience you know what your instructions are but you always lose out because those first steps are usually so painful those first steps to breaking up with him or her those are the hardest steps the the first steps are getting back with your husband or wife those are usually the hardest steps so there are some of us that have some sicknesses in our bodies and God is literally giving you another chance to come to a place where you make some changes in your lifestyle well maybe you got to put some things out of your life were you putting down cigarettes putting down tobacco putting down alcohol some of us are making changes in the way we eat and listen I'm a living witness that when you're trying to change your health those first steps are always the hardest steps and sometimes those early steps that first day back in the gym can be so hard you don't make you just want to go right back to your couch and be comfortable and see this is a thing y'all understand about change beloved is that you'll never start changing until the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain you have to go through in order to change and God's Word to somebody as you are maneuvering through life according to your education your skill your experience what you have in the bank God is saying the reason that you don't see that Ephesians 3:20 that exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think is that you haven't even made room in your life for the divine you you're too realistic and as I said earlier you can't be realistic and have faith at the same time those two things can't occupy the same space but I want somebody to leave understanding that there is still healing for your body there is still healing for your home there is still a regeneration a boom in this church and outpouring of the Holy Ghost that exceeds anything that we've ever fathom our company I have you considered but we gotta leave room for the miraculous and I just need to know miracle city are y'all still leaving room for the miraculous in your lives today like like when the sister gave the testimony about the five thousand we ought to rejoice and praise God but you know we ought to be anticipating that kind of stuff all the time we ought to be expecting God to show up we ought to be expecting bills to get paid we ought to be expecting kids to come back to church we ought to be expecting the kids this church to fill up we ought to be expecting to be able to blow this city up for the kingdom of God where is our expectation these things we're too logical too realistic we've been shaped by what is normal and God is wanting to shape us in the image of the supernatural and I'm simply at this place beloved where this is where God has leave me Saints where I'm in this place where I either have to believe God can't do all things I just stopped believing in God altogether you realize there ain't no in-between see I can't serve a god that can do most things I can't do I can't serve a god yes they can just do some things I gotta come to that place where I believe he can do everything oh I might as well just take my name off the membership role are young hear me say but but we've gotten to this place where we're if we don't do it we don't think it can happen we only ask for what we already have we only expect what we've always seen and God says all things are possible that just Billy did you notice he didn't say all things are possible to everybody that lives perfectly he says all things are possible to them that just believe and there are some of us that don't believe that God can do something supernatural because we've been imperfect in our behavior we don't do everything right but how many of us understand that God never blesses us because of our faithfulness God blesses us because of his faithfulness are you hearing me saying because if he did based on my faithfulness I could pat myself on the back and give myself the credit but God works in such a way that I never get to Pat myself on the back or say job well done it is because of his faithfulness that we are not consumed and if you're saying pastor I'm gonna join you I want to agree with you I want to go to this place where I'm simply in this Polish and my spiritual development where I believe that God can do all things I invite you to stand to your feet as we get ready to close this service out today as we close this service out today and maybe there's somebody today that like these lepers you've been trying to do life on your own you've been trying to handle things on your own might some of us have taken the issue to everybody but Jesus some of us have stopped living with a sense of the divine the supernatural the supernormal and there's somebody like these ten lepers who who you you're not gonna say let me wait till next week to get connected let me let me wait till next month to surrender to Jesus because see these lepers I don't know what their theology was but they had a sense of urgency about that encountered I don't they realize it or not that was gonna be the last time Jesus was gonna be passing their way and there's somebody today hearing the gospel for the first time and there may be somebody that's hearing the gospel for the very last time but you got to make a decision for Jesus Christ you gotta have some urgency about this opportunity and today beloved I present to you Jesus not just a form of religion not just a sit up set of rules and regulations but the experience of the Almighty God who is both transcendent and powerfully intimate and close by and near and maybe you're in this room today and you've just been contemplating your spiritual journey and you've been saying I've been wanting to decide for Christ but I'm scared I'm gonna mess up again I got news for you you are gonna mess up again the Bible says it just paying fall seven times but he rises up again this mess if I would say pass in your life I need to get some stuff right before I come to Jesus no that's not how this works you can't get nothing right you come to Jesus just like you are and Jesus transforms you so you hited a computer God is moving upon your heart and he didn't start in the sermon he started way before you got here that's why you're here today cuz the Spirit has been wooing you drawing you he's been making your life a little bit more disenchanted because he's trying to draw you into a relationship and you're here today you want to make this experience with Jesus one that is lasting and permanent you want to say all to Jesus I surrender you want to come to faith in Jesus to the point where you want to join this family of God maybe you're coming back to the family of God if you're here today and you want to make that connection with Jesus you want to be urgent about this opportunity will you just tell your neighbor excuse let's come down to the front get one of the pastor's her hand give Jesus Christ your heart today you're here today to pray to God is moving upon your heart it's fear of God it's directing you wooing you you realize that you're here today not by chance not by accident but because the Spirit of God has been moving upon you will you come and submit yourself fully to the Lord Jesus Christ today if you here today won't you come young person older person first time in church or first time in church in a long time you just know what it is that you need to do you just know what it is the decision that needs to be made it is a choice that has haunted you it is a choice that that is continuing to bother you it is a choice that keeps you awake at night that wakes you early in the morning it is the decision for Jesus Christ and today you want to say I'm not gonna leave undecided I'm not gonna leave and bevel it but today I'm gonna leave very sure that my anchor holds and grips the solid rock

Channel: Miracle City Church

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Length: 66min 3sec (3963 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 19 2018