Breakthrough From Dragons Series

Breakthrough from Dragons

You may be thinking – “That’s a crazy title for a sermon - dragons?” “Really Pastor Mike?” Believe it or not dragons are mention more than 35 times in the Bible especially in the Old King James version of the Bible! Yes dragons! Red dragons and one reference to fire breathing ones.

Introduction:

“Here be dragons” is a writing found on a famous copper globe -The Hunt-Lenox Globe of circa 1510 bears the phrase “HC SVNT DRACONES” (here are dragons) near the coast of eastern Asia - today this ancient globe is found in the New York public library. The origins of the phrase “Here be dragons” have circulated since maps were originally designed – it was popularly used to refer to the unknown edges of a map when its geographical area was unknown or unexplored. On old ancient maps you would not see this phrase expressed in words but in symbols of dragons, sea serpents and other icons warning of the danger of the unknown of the unexplored. “Here be dragons!”

Thesis: Today even in May of 2020 we need breakthroughs from dragons – yes – the evil ones (especially the Red dragon – Satan referenced in Revelation) – but we also need breakthroughs from the unknown dragons of the future or in the unknown charters of life. These dragons could be called Evil Political parties or empires, Covid19, Economic hardships – Job loss - Cultural change which highlights evil – Cancer - Political oppression and suppression of Christian churches and there could be many other unknown dragons that could be added to the list. But Scripture makes it clear that you can have victory over these dragons with faith expressed in action with the word of our testimony and a commitment to Jesus. Jesus is the dragon slayer!

Scripture from Revelation “They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11 NIV, 1985 ed.). This phrase is placed in the middle of a chapter in Revelation speaking of dragons – specifically it references Satan – The Devil. But dragons come in many shapes and sizes as I discovered when we watched a new movie which recently came out.

Illustration: Reference the movie: “I Still Believe” by Jeremy Camp

In the movie Jeremy Camp and his fiancé Melissa battle the dragon of cancer – we see them have short wins over it – they call them miracles in the movie – One miracle happened when they went to do surgery and found no cancer in her body which they saw through scans this miracle enabled the two of them to get married - but eventually Melissa succumbs to the Dragon of Cancer – Jeremy always believes she will be healed - at her point of death she wakes up to tell Jeremy she is healed – he needs to believe that – don’t doubt and then she literally dies – he had always believed she would be healed but his faith is rattled – devastated – throughout their uncharted journey of life together God answers many prayers for the both of them and orchestrates various miracle God moments to encourage them to press forward. The movie which is a true life story is so filled with faith in the midst of Cancer and death and it shows how God gave both of them the victory over this unforeseen dragon – this unchartered area of life and death – Melissa found her healing in her death – she said at one point in the movie that a star has to die to get brighter – because Jeremy told her she was a bright star who out shown others – they came to accept that her death was for the purpose to help others which Jeremy would share in his music – telling their story to the world – Jeremy after her death had a breakdown and smashed his guitar – his hope and faith were crushed – this God moment in the movie reveals how God intervenes to help us defeat the dragons – in this unforeseen circumstances he finds a note from Melissa – saying when you are ready pick up your guitar and tell our story – he is blown away by God’s presence in the room and it led him to write two of his biggest hits “Walk by faith” and “I still believe!”

The true to life story which goes into more detail in Jeremy’s Biography - “I Still Believe” written by Jeremy Camp and Phil Newman. Shows why Jeremy is sharing their story – the tag line in the book is “Discovering hope and healing in the midst of life’s deepest valleys.” The movie which is available for rent today on cable channels and red book is a must watch at such a time as this - for me it was riveting – inspiring – encouraging – it is deeply anointed by the Holy Spirit. It brought encouragement to me as I have been battling dragons over the last few months – those unforeseen dragons of life!