IMPACT Recap

This Is How Miracles Come Into Being

July 10, 2023 · 0:36:58

FaithMiraclesHope

Recap

Pastor Leo Bigger opened by thanking Pastor Travis and Natalie for their faithful example through a long season of health challenges, and the church's parking team for their service. He then taught on how miracles come to pass, emphasizing that a miracle requires a problem. Using the story of Lazarus from John 11, Pastor Leo explained that God is a miracle-working God, but His timing and methods can be surprising. He addressed the common experience of disappointment when prayers seem unanswered, sharing a story from his own church where one family experienced healing and another did not. He taught that faith must be mixed with God's Word for it to be effective, and that our hope must be anchored in the person of Jesus Christ, not just in a desired outcome. Pastor Leo outlined four types of faith present in the Lazarus story: disbelief, preventive faith, resurrection faith, and fighting faith. He encouraged the congregation to never give up, even when a situation seems 'dead' for four days, because God can speak one word of life. He illustrated this with a personal story about his son, whose seemingly dead dream of making films for Jesus was resurrected in a powerful way during the pandemic. The message concluded with a call to lay down disappointment, stir faith into God's promises, and believe for God to speak a life-changing word to every 'Lazarus' situation.

Main Points

  • A miracle requires a problem, and God is a miracle-working God who can speak life into any seemingly dead situation.
  • Our hope must be anchored in the unchanging person of Jesus Christ, not just in a specific outcome, especially when prayers seem unanswered.
  • We are called to a 'fighting faith' that persistently stirs God's promises into our circumstances and never gives up, believing God can change any situation.

Verses Mentioned

  • John 11:3, 6 - "So the sisters sent word to Jesus, 'Lord, the one you love is sick.'... So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days." (NIV)
  • Hebrews 4:2 - "For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed." (NIV)
  • Hebrews 11:39-40 - "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." (NIV)
  • John 11:33-44 - "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled... Jesus called in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face." (NIV)
  • 2 Kings 20:1-6 - "In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, 'This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.'... 'I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life.'" (NIV)

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