As I was looking at Luke chapter 7, what’s going on in Japan and right now, really ties in with what God is going show us today in the scripture, I believe. So open your Bible to Luke chapter 7. And the title of this morning’s topic is The Powerful the Powerless and the Prophet; The Powerful the powerless and the prophet. So Luke Chapter7, Jesus has just preached the greatest sermon of all time, the Sermon on the Mount.
And in Luke chapter 6, you can read that. And these are huge ideas. I mean, big kingdom ideas are presented in Luke chapter 6. And then Jesus goes for a walk. He starts -- goes on a stroll. And He ends up in front of a roman centurion who has a servant who is sick and He ends up in a small town where a widow has just lost her only son. And we see the Kingdom of Heaven coming to both places.
What kind of people do you think that Jesus really pays attention to? How do you think that the Kingdom of Heaven comes to a group of people? Do you think that maybe the Kingdom of Heaven comes to a group of people who know all the right things to say? Follow all the rules? Who have their lives in order? Know all the Bible verses? Does the Kingdom of Heaven come to people like that? Sure. Absolutely, the Kingdom of Heaven comes to people whose lives are in order; lives seem perfect. They’re following the rules. They’re doing the best they can. They might have influence. Their lives might be productive and fruitful.
But does the Kingdom of Heaven come to people who aren’t seeking Him? Does the Kingdom of Heaven come to someone who is broken and lost and not seeking God? Caught up in their own mess? Does the Kingdom of Heaven come to people like that? Yes He does. Yes it does.
And so this morning we’re going to look at a roman centurion, a man who was powerful. Who was leading a garrison of soldiers, who the only person he’d answer to was the general, the leader of the army in Cessoria. This man was powerful yet the Kingdom of Heaven came to a powerful man; a man who had his life in order, who had everything going for him, who was successful.
And then we’re going to look at a widow, whose life was broken and miserable and she was experiencing probably the darkest day of her life. And she was not really seeking God. She didn’t make any request from God, yet the Kingdom of Heaven came.
Now in the first service, this first gathering this morning, I want to tell you how it’s going to end. I’m going to tell you how this is going to end. So I’ll going to prepare you for it. We probably prayed for hundreds of people this morning, for healing. And we’re going to pray for hundreds of people in this gathering for healing because I believe God is present today to heal.
So I want to encourage you this morning if you’re here and you need healing in your body. In just a few minutes, we’re going to pray for healing. So I want you to prepare your heart not only to pray for healing but to receive healing in your own bodies.
Let’s look at this story, okay? Luke chapter 7 verse 1, “When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to heal his servant.”
Notice, it’s the elders of the Jews. Most likely, these were men who sat at the city gates settling disputes among the people of the city. These were men of good reputation. They knew about Jesus. They knew about the roman centurion. And literally, quite honestly as we see in the story, they wanted to do a favor for this guy. Let’s keep reading, all right?
“The centurion…” verse 4, “…when they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with Him, ‘This man deserves to have You do this.” Let’s stop here for a minute. Notice that the Jewish people still had not caught the Heart of Dad; the heart of the Father. They based their request on how -- on his good behavior. They said, “This guy deserves this. This guy has done good deeds. His life is in order therefore, he deserves something good to happen to him.” Notice that they had not caught, Grace. They had not caught the Heart of Dad yet.
Let’s keep reading. Look what Jesus does, “… because he loves our nation and he has built our synagogues.” So Jesus went with them. And He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, don’t trouble Yourself for do not deserve to have You come under my roof.” Immediately, that was exactly what God was looking for. This is exactly the heart and the message that Jesus was trying to tell the crowds. It’s not about being clean or unclean. It’s not about being deserving or undeserving. It’s about Grace.
And this roman centurion, although he had a right to demand that Jesus come to his house, he had a right to demand something to happen, he said, “Listen, I don’t even deserve this. No matter what they say to You, I don’t deserve for You to come under my roof.” Notice the humility in this man’s voice. Notice the brokenness in this man’s words.
Listen to what he says. “I don’t deserve to have You come under my roof.” Verse 7, “That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You. But say the Word …” Can we all say that? “Say the Word.” He says, “But say the Word, and my servant will be healed for I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one ‘Go.’ and he goes and that one ‘Come.’ and he comes. I say to my servant ‘Do this.’ and he does it.”
Now listen to verse 9, this is very important. “When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him and turned into the crowd following him, he said, ‘I tell you, I have not found such great faith, even in Israel.” This is one of the rare times in scripture that Jesus was amazed at something that someone else did. Throughout the Bible, we read where everybody else was amazed at Jesus, right? Everyone marveled at Jesus. Everyone was amazed about Jesus. This is one of the few times in scripture that Jesus Himself was amazed; amazed at this man and what he said.
This word amazed means to marvel, to admire. It’s a big word. And Jesus said -- it’s almost like He was taken aback about what this man said. Now what do you think the point of the story is? We read this; this is just something that really happened. What do you think the point of the story is? Is it that a servant was healed? I mean that happened in the story. Is that the point of the story though? No?
The servant did get healed. We’ll read in a minute that, they went back to the house, the servant was found well. Jesus never actually even went into the house. Jesus never actually touched the guy. He just says that the servant was well. What’s the point of the story then?
Great faith is right but what is it that Jesus saw in this man that said -- He didn’t say anything about faith. The centurion didn’t say anything about faith. What surprised and amazed Jesus was how well this man submitted to authority? I had a man ask me before the 9:00 service, “Pastor Brady, why is it we don’t see more healings? Why is the Kingdom of Heaven not coming among us? Why do we not see more broken people healed and restored? Why are we not seeing the stuff, the miracles?”
I said, “Hey, listen to the talk. I’m about to explain some of that.” Because I do believe one of the reasons we don’t see the power, the presence, the awe of God is because we wrestle with God too much. We question God so often instead of just saying, “God, say the Word.” And I’m not even talking about delegated human authority, although I believe that you have to submit to both. I believe to submit to God, His Lordship, His Kingship. And I also believe you have to submit to delegated authority, in order for this Kingdom of Heaven to come.
I think one of the reasons we don’t see healings the way we want to see healings, is because we argue and debate with God instead of just saying, “God, I’m the sheep of your pasture, You’re the Shepherd of my soul, I can hear Your voice. Lord whisper to me. Whisper and I will obey.”
How quickly do we respond to the written word of scripture just to the things that God’s already said to us, much less the things that God might want to whisper and add? I believe God is continuously articulate. God is speaking. God is breathing. And he’s looking for a group of people who will listen and obey; who are quick to listen, sensitive to His voice, and quick to obey the Word of God, the presence of God.
Just say the Word, and I’ll do it. That’s the kind of people that the Kingdom of Heaven comes to. Just say the Word. Notice the tone of his voice. “God, Jesus, I don’t want to waste Your time. You just say the Word.”
And I said this in the first service and nobody rushed to the stage. So I’m hoping for the same response here. Are you ready? You’re not going to rush to the stage, are you? All right. Thank you.
God is not an American. I’m as patriotic as anybody sitting in this room. I love our country and I’m thank you for the democracy in the republic in which I live. But we can’t make God an American. He will not be made into an American. Heaven is not a democracy. Heaven is a theocracy. And if you’re going to be a part of this Kingdom of Heaven, if you want the Kingdom of Heaven to come to the earth, you cannot make God into a democratic God. You can’t vote Him out. You can’t vote Him in. You can’t change His policies. You can’t dictate His policies. He is to be obeyed and worshipped. That’s it. [clapping]
And so we tried to melt God down into these democratic principles in which we live in our country and I’m thankful for those. But God will not be made into our image. He is trying to make us into His image. And God is to be listened to. God is to be worshipped. God is to be obeyed. God is to be explored, certainly. I don’t understand everything about God. I have more questions than answers.
But I know this; I want to be a man who listens to His voice, who is quick to obey. I want to be a sheep that’s easy to lead because those are the people in which the Kingdom of Heaven comes. That’s the place where God tends to show up a lot. Those are the kind of people where God just comes and does miracles; where He’s always among them; these people who have pushed aside their own ideologies, who don’t worship their own theology. They’re just exploring God. They’re looking for God. They’re listening to God. They’re obedient to God.
And this powerful man, this man who certainly had a right to demand things said, “Listen, I just calmly -- this humility and brokenness, I come. I’m responding to you God. Just say the Word. I love this servant. I want this servant to be healed. So God, just show me what to do. I’ll do whatever You tell me.”
Notice that Jesus literally stepped back and go, “Wow! Finally someone has caught the Kingdom of Heaven.” And it’s not even someone from Israel. He’s quick to point that out because He’s trying to convert the hearts of the people of Israel.
He said, “Listen Israel. Listen Jewish people. If you want Me to come, if you want the Kingdom of Heaven to come, pay attention to this man. Don’t pay attention -- I’m grateful that he rebuilt your synagogue, I’m grateful that he is kind to you instead of abusive but that’s not what I want to point out. I want to point out the contrition, the humility in which this man is living because it’s among these kinds of people that I come. This is where I insert my influence. This is where the Kingdom of Heaven comes; these people who are broken, who don’t think of themselves all the time.”
I love C.S. Lewis’ definition. At least he’s getting credit for this. I think that’s who said it. But the definition of humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s not self-deprecation. It’s in fact, you can be completely confident in who you are and still be a humble person. You can be aware of your strengths and still walk in humility. So it’s not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less. It’s simply thinking of yourself less often, thinking more about the Kingdom of heaven, asking God to come into our brokenness, into our humility. It’s about putting ourselves to the low side and putting God above everything. It’s about living it out.
This is why Jesus Himself said, “Listen, it’s not about being clean or unclean.” By the way, if Jesus had gone into the house, He would have become ceremonially -- that’s a really hard -- could we all say this together, just help me…ceremonially. I can’t even say it. Forget it. [laugh]
He’d have been unclean. He’d have been unclean yet He was headed there. He was willing to go into the house of a gentile. It was not being clean or unclean, deserving or undeserving. The Kingdom of Heaven is about coming into a place of brokenness and humility. It’s in that place where people are healed.
I have watched be healed. I believe in it. I pray for people to receive healing. And the people who receive healing have come to a place of brokenness most often; humble, broken, desperate sometimes, asking God; knowing that it’s God or nothing else. It’s got to be God. And that’s where the centurion was.
Listen to this scripture in Isaiah 66 verse 1. This is what the Lord says, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house you will build for Me?” In other words, God is saying, “Listen, I live in heaven. Heaven’s kind of like a big deal and you’re going to build me a house? So where’s the house I’m going to live in? Where will My resting place be? ‘Has not my hand made all these things, so if they come into being’, declares the Lord.”
And then listen to what He says, “This is the one. This is the person. This is the kind of people I esteem, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My Word.” Notice the trembling, the fear, the word awe. This fearful expectation that the Living God could somehow leave heaven; the supernatural God can enter our natural realms. The awareness that that could happen.
Let me ask you a question. Did you come here this morning -- and this is a fair question and I ask it of myself first. Did we come here this morning hoping to be entertained? Did we come here this morning wanting some cool new songs or listen to some guy talk? Or did we really come here this morning with a fearful expectation that the living breathing continuously articulate God might come among us? That the living breathing continuously articulate God might come among us this morning? That there might be someone who is broken that might need healing? That there could someone be lost that could be found?
Marriages that are broken could be healed this morning. Bodies that are broken could be healed this morning. You see this is where the Kingdom of heaven comes, people that have a fearful awareness, an expectation, who trembles at the fact that God is among us. God is among us. Do you believe that? And it’s not just a feeling that we have, it’s a reality that we have. God is among us.
And so I want us to change the way we gather. And this is not the only gathering. I hope you’re gathering on a regular basis with people, Christ-followers where you share life together and food together. But every time Christ-followers come together in our minds and our hearts, we should have this expectation and awareness that the living breathing continuously articulate God might want to come among us. He might want to do something miraculous in us and through us.
Let’s pick up the story now in verse 11 because He leaves the powerful, the powerful roman centurion. And then it says a short time later, verse 11, “Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called, Nain.” Which is only about five miles away from Nazareth. Had a big basketball rivalry there. Nazareth and Nain, they didn’t like each other in basketball. But only five miles away from where Jesus grew up. So most likely, the people of Nain knew who Jesus was because His fame was spreading. It was a short distance from His hometown.
“And His disciples and a large crowd went along with Him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out. The only son of his mother and she was a widow. And a large crowd…” Notice here, “… a large crowd from the town was with her.”
That’s a big deal in our culture for a parent to lose a child. It’s a big deal in their culture for a parent to lose a child. There is nothing more awful than a parent having to bury their children; any of their children. It’s something that no parent wants to do. No parent wants to even think about that. The unimaginable sorrow that comes to a parent who has to bury a child is something that I can’t even think about. It’s devastating. And this town, this entire town was aware of this widow’s plight that she had just lost her own son and they’re all walking out.
Put yourself in this story. They’re all walking out with a big crowd with each other, walking out of the town, most likely headed to a small cave, which is where most people were buried; little small caves in the mountains. They said that the widow had already lost her husband so the husband’s body is already in this cave, most likely. And there’s a place -- they’ll build a little platform over the husband’s body for the next body to be laid. And the wife always thought it would be her body, not her son.
She always imagined that she would be the next person in that cave. Her body would be the next one. She had -- no way, that she’d want to take her son out there. But here she is the unimaginable both happened. The darkest day of her life, walking out of the town ready to lay this boy’s body in the cave and close up the tomb. And then they would put another place for her. There will be a third place, a third ledge that they would build before they left the boy’s body. And then she knew that she would be put there one day with her husband and her son.
Could you imagine the heaviness and the grief, the sorrow, the despair as this woman’s walking out with the large crowd of people. And in this crowd, there were professional mourners and wailers, criers, people who would sob loudly. And the reason that these people would sob loudly is it would make room for the family to grieve respectfully. They would cry loudly so the family could cry and not draw attention to themselves. It was a way of honoring the dead. They may not even know the boy. They may not even know the mom, but they knew that the family needed space to grieve so they would do the wailing, the sobbing, loudly so that the family could mourn privately and not draw unneeded attention to themselves.
What a beautiful picture of a city surrounding a woman. Isn’t that great? That’s what the church should be, right? When one of us mourns, we all mourn. When one of us rejoices, we all rejoice. When there’s a wedding going on, we’re all there to celebrate.
I was at a wedding last night for one of our New Life members. And there was a huge celebration, little girls in dresses and punch and food and fun. And I’m sure that I’ll be at some funeral soon. You know where these funeral are happening, we are mourning. This is the beautiful picture of church and the family, what we should be together.
Let’s keep reading here. “So the large crowd from the town was with her.” Verse 13 is one of my favorite in this whole passage. “When the Lord saw her …” All right, let’s stop here for a second. We read past this. Remember I’ve asked you to read the scriptures as if it were the first time. “The Lord saw her …” The Lord saw who? The widow. Let me ask you a question, on your darkest day when God seems so distant, do You believe He sees you? Do you believe that He’s aware of what’s going on in your life right now? The Lord saw her. The Lord saw her. He zoned in on her, this widow.
“So the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her. And he said, ‘Don’t cry.’ And then notice what He does here. “He went up and touched the coffin.” And if you know anything about Jewish tradition He again made Himself -- I’m going to try this one more time. He just made Himself ceremonially unclean. He goes and touches a coffin. He can’t go into the temple now. He has to go through all these purification rites. He has to go through these cleansing ritual and order because He just went -- what did He do? Why did Jesus go touch the coffin? He was saying something.
It’s not being clean or unclean. It’s not being deserving or undeserving. I’m entering into your mess. I will touch that which I have been forbidden to touch. He’s trying to say something to the Jewish crowd. He’s trying to say something to us. It’s not about being clean. It’s not about having you all right. It’s not about having all the rules down pat. I touched it. It became unclean and then miracles happen.
Listen to what happens. He touched the coffin on purpose. So we read this, we just blow right through this. Why did he touch the coffin? Jesus didn’t go touch Lazarus. He didn’t go touch the tomb of Lazarus, did He? No. He said, “Come out of there.” And Lazarus came out. He didn’t have to touch the coffin to raise this boy from the dead. He did it on purpose. It’s not about being clean or unclean. It’s not being deserving or undeserving. It’s about Me. It’s about Grace.
Let’s keep reading here. “He goes and touches the coffin. And those carrying it stood still.” They were shocked in surprise. I can’t believe this Jewish man just came and touched something that’s unclean. And they stood there. It said, “They stood still. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk. And Jesus gave him …” I love this phrase, “And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”
Can I tell you something that -- I want to challenge you. Jesus doesn’t take people to heaven. If you’ve lost a loved one, Jesus didn’t take them to heaven. He received them. Jesus is not the killer. Jesus is not the person who causes death. Jesus is life. Jesus receives our loved ones into heaven. He doesn’t take them into heaven.
Some of our language, we need to change the way we talk around people and say, “My loved one my dad, I have lots of loved ones in heaven. Jesus didn’t take them to heaven. Jesus receives them. Jesus gives. Notice what He did. Jesus doesn’t take. Jesus gives. Jesus receives. They said, “He gave him back to his mother …” verse 16 … “and they were all filled with awe.”
There’s that word again. That word’s going to pop up all through the Bible because I’m just telling you we have lost our sense of awe in some cases. “They were all filled with awe.” I don’t know about you, I’ve never seen anybody raised from the dead. I’ve never seen it. I know people who have but I’ve never seen it. I can tell you, when I do see it, I will be filled with awe, a sense of wonder. And they praised God.
Then their language shifts to very familiar Jewish language. They’re now going to use language that would be found in the Book of Exodus or maybe a very, very Exodus-type language. “A great prophet has appeared among us.” But that would be the language of Elijah. You know they were all anticipating Elijah to return. Do you know that? They were anticipating the prophet Elijah, coming back and doing miracles as a sign that the Messiah would come. They just missed that John the Baptist was that man.
Many of them were longing for the return or Elijah, who would then usher in the Messiah. “A great prophet has appeared among us’, they said. God has come to help His people.”, the language of Moses. They were very familiar with that being redeemed; being released. “And this news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.”
Here’s a woman that didn’t ask for any healing. She was so overwhelmed by her grief. She was so overwhelmed by their circumstances. She didn’t ask Jesus to raise her son from the dead but Jesus was there. Jesus was among them. Jesus was with her.
I’ve got good news, two groups of people sitting in the crowd today. There are some of you who are so hungry for God; you’re really hungry for God. You’re seeking after God, like the centurion. The centurion was seeking after Jesus. “Please Jesus, come to me. Please Jesus, come near to me. Go find Jesus. Bring Jesus to me.” He was hungry for Jesus. He wanted to meet Jesus. And the Kingdom of heaven came.
And there are some of you who are overwhelmed right now with circumstances. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one. Maybe you’ve just lost your house. Maybe you’ve lost your marriage. Maybe things are so heavy and dark right now, you can’t see but a few feet in front of you. I’ve got good news for you. Jesus is with you. Jesus is among you. Jesus is walking with you.
There’s a young woman and I’ve to ask permission to tell this story. There’s a young woman that I know who as a 20 something, got married to a young man. This young man became a youth pastor at a very big church. And this youth pastor on the outside looked like the great young youth pastor, fun loving, nice, good looking guy, married this beautiful young girl. The perfect church couple except for one problem; when they went home at night, the perfect youth pastor beat up his perfect young wife on a regular basis. And she would come to church and sit in a crowd like this and wear long sleeves and things that cover up the bruises.
But this youth pastor on the outside looked perfect, bubbly and nice and warm and friendly, except that he’s beat his wife up when they went home. And finally, she became so desperate; she divorced him because she was fearful for her life. She left him. She should’ve. She did. But then she’s sitting in a counselor’s office, mad at God because she thought that God had led her to this perfect young man. She thought it was her dream to marry a pastor and this guy seemed so perfect. And she’s questioning God saying God, where were You? Why did I find myself in this dark place?
And this counselor’s brilliant. I know this counselor. She is brilliant. She’s led by God, number one and she’s brilliant, which is a dangerous combination. If you ever get that combination down, you’re good. This woman’s brilliant. She’s a spirit-led woman and she said, “I want you to close your eyes for a moment and I want you to ask yourself, where was Jesus when you were getting beat up?
I want you to go back to that house in your mind. I want you to go back to a night where he’s beating you and I want you to ask yourself the question, where was God? It’s favorite fair question, isn’t it? Where were you, Jesus? And then suddenly big tears started coming down her eyes and … “What are you hearing?” She said, “I see Jesus right there with me.” Jesus was there.
I saw a catholic priest on one of the news channels this weekend and the news anchor said, “Why did God let that happen in Japan?” And a brilliant response he said, “Oh God was there. Don’t blame God. Celebrate the fact that God is with us in the time of hardship. We don’t blame God for natural disasters. But we are certainly thankful that God is with us in natural disasters.” That was a brilliant response.
God’s with us. See what we’re longing for is this new heaven and this new earth that is coming. The new heaven, the new earth, where there is no sorrow, there is no sadness, there is no sickness, there is no disease, there is no death. That place is coming. It is being ushered in right now and all of creation is longing for the new heaven, longing for the new earth. Our souls are longing for that place. And we have a role to play. We can bring justice to the oppressed. We can be a defender of the widows, the orphans and the poor.
And a lot of the evil that we see would not be happening if the church would only mobilize. [clapping] We have a role to play in this justice being brought into our land. We should be activated. We should be a defender. We should be out there and then we should pray like nobody’s business for the heaven, the new earth. I long for the return of Christ. I really do. And I might very well see it.
But in the meantime, I’m going to be a defender. I want to be a praise -- one who prayerfully defends kindly and compassionately defends the rights of those who can’t defend themselves. And I’m going to pray for this new heaven, this new earth to come, Lord Jesus. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. I’m going to pray for those who are sick, asking God to supernaturally intervene into our natural world for Him to bring healing, for Him to bring it to our lives. Yes. Yes. We’re going to pray for that, believe for that.
What if every prayer’s not answered? I’m going to keep praying. What if every person’s not healed? I’m going to keep praying. I’m going to keep believing. I’m going to keep standing beside Him. I’m going to bring food to them when they’re sick. I’m going to comfort them when they’re not well. And I’m going to pray. And I’m going to believe. I’m going to trust along with you because the Kingdom of Heaven comes to the powerful and the Kingdom of Heaven comes to the powerless. The Kingdom of Heaven comes to those who want it and those who are not even looking for it.
So in just a moment, we’re going to have people come down and pray at the front. And some of you are really hungry for this. Some of you really want God to heal. You want God to intervene into your world right now. And some of you are going to dismiss everything you’ve heard and go back out to your car and go back into your world. I know that. I pray for that number to get fewer and fewer but I’m under no pretenses this morning.
I know some of you are going to dismiss this and walk back into your world. I’ve got good news for you though; Jesus is going to pursue you. Jesus is going to be with you. Jesus is going to surround you. Everywhere you turn, you’re going to find Christ. And for those of us who are hungry, and ask and seek like the centurion, the Kingdom of Heaven will come. For those of us who are caught up in our brokenness and are not looking for God, the Kingdom of Heaven will come, to the powerful and the powerless.
Shall we pray this morning? What do you want from God? The centurion said, “Just say the Word and I’ll do it.” So I think the question for us this morning to ask -- all of us should ask this question, God, what do you want me to do? That’s the first step in becoming this obedient person who is captured by humility.
Just say, “God …” Just wake up every morning and say, “God, how can I cooperate with You? What are You doing, God that I can cooperate with?” We try to make God a part of our plans when God’s wanting us to be a part of His plans. So this question this morning we should ask is, “God what are You doing? What are You doing in my life that I can cooperate with You? Lord, are You here today to heal me? I’m here to cooperate if You are. Lord, you just say the Word.”
Imagine a group of people who just say to God, “Just say the Word, Lord.” And meant it. What if it’s mysterious? What if it’s risky? What if it’s dangerous? Yes, it will be sometimes. Wish I could paint this Disney experience for you but it’s not in the Bible. A Disney experience is sterile. A Disney experience is not -- I can’t paint that picture for you because it’s not a picture that’s painted in scripture.
We’re in a messy dangerous risky world in which God is with us. We’re in the palm of His hand and no power of hell, no scheme of man can take us from the palm of His hand. We are the sheep of His pasture; He’s the Shepherd of our soul. And even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we don’t have to fear any evil for He is with us. His rod and His staff, they comfort us. He makes a table for us in the presence of our enemies.
That’s beautiful, isn’t it? The beautiful picture is to see yourself there in the palm of His hand, captured by God, surrounded by God. No matter what the world does around us, we’re in the palm of His hand.
Earthquake, tsunamis, nuclear reactors, Japan’s in the palm of His hand. Every Christ-follower in Japan right now is in the palm of the Lord Jesus’ hand no matter how many waves pound them, no matter how many earthquakes and aftershocks strike, no matter how many nuclear reactors meltdown, they’re in the palm of His hand today. And that’s why we can rest. That’s why we can have peace. That’s why we should keep praying for them and supporting them but it gives us comforted at the end of the day, knowing that Christ is with them. Amen.
So ask yourself the question this morning. What is it that God wants to do in your life? Just say, “Lord what are You doing in me or do You want to do in me? Because in just a moment we’re going to have some people down here that would love to pray for you. And maybe you need to come. Just say, “Pastor Brady, I’ve just been -- people had prayed for me for years about this.”
So I prayed for a lady this morning who’s had a disease in her eyes since 1993. She’s had this disease that’s causing her temporary blindness. Since 1993 she’s been asking and praying and it was a privilege to pray again this morning. Let’s keep praying. Keep asking. All right?
Let’s pray, “Father in heaven, we want to be a people who are quick to obey, who listen for your voice and are quick to obey. Father, we are the sheep of Your pasture and You said that we would hear Your voice that we would be lead by You. So father would you lead us today? We make our plans but You direct our steps. And Father, we are here as a people knowing that You have the ability to heal and we believe that and we receive that.
So Lord among those who are seeking You, I pray that the Kingdom of Heaven would come. For those of us in the room who feel powerless today, who feel overwhelmed today, I pray that the Kingdom of Heaven would come; in Jesus’ name, amen, amen.
Let’s stand on up this morning. Those of you who are pastors, our altar team, we need a lot of you because we have a lot of people for service. So there are many of you who can come and pray who are part of our altar team, our pastors, our leaders, all group leaders, please come down and be ready to pray.
Here’s what the Book of James says, “If any among you are sick, call for the elders of the church.” Now we have governmental elders here. But every one of these people down here, have been commissioned by the elders to pray. It doesn’t necessarily mean an elder. We’re happy to pray for you but if you can’t have someone pray for you this morning. All right?
You can come right now if you’re ready to be prayed for. If you’ve made up your mind and you want somebody to pray for you, you’re probably best to beat the crowd. Come on down. Let us pray for you right now. Come down right now. Let us pray.
And then for the rest of you, that picture in Luke 7 of the whole town surrounding the widow, instead of just rushing out today, there are a lot of people coming down here with serious -- this is our family that’s getting prayed for, right? Is this our family that’s being prayed for down in the front today? The answer is yes. Then pray for your family right now before you leave, okay? Maybe extend your hand toward them. If you know some of them down here, come down and pray with them. Put your hand on their shoulder.
If you know some of these people, come down and pray together as a family. And if you need to leave, I understand. Okay? But don’t just rush out. Let’s pray together. These are serious things that are getting prayed for. Barry, Terry, come out and pray if you can and we need some more people if you want.
So let’s pray together, “Father, thank you for what you’re doing right now. I want to thank you for the answered prayers. Lord we believe it today, we receive it. We welcome Your work today. We welcome the work of the Holy Spirit. And thank You for it in Jesus’ name, amen.
