Bring Series

Bring

August 6, 2017

Mark 9:14-29

1. When people aren’t experiencing God’s power, they begin to argue

2. When Jesus shows up, arguments turn to amazement

3. When we suffer in this broken world, the result can be excruciating

4. When we try to overcome brokenness in our own strength, we fail

5. When we bring our faith, God shows up in miraculous ways

Jesus is the omnipotent God.

Jesus, the omnipotent God, responds to our faith

Jesus, the omnipotent God, doesn’t demand perfect faith

Jesus, the omnipotent God, is listening for your call

Margaret Feinberg, author of, Wonderstruck: Awaken to the Nearness of God, (pic of book)

“Have you ever had one of those seasons where everything goes wrong, and when you think it can’t get worse, it somehow finds a way? My husband, Leif, and I had just gone through one of the roughest years of our lives. In the aftermath, as we processed the pain and loss, I had an unexplainable desire in my heart. I began praying for the wonder of God. In essence, I said, “God reveal yourself, your whole self to me. I want to know you as Wonderful. I want to know you as I’ve never known you before and see you in places I’ve never recognized you before.”(build) God did not disappoint.”

Turn to Mark 9:14-29. This morning we begin a new series entitled, “Wonder”. And we begin with a passage that informs us that to see the Wonder of God, we need bring our faith. Feinberg says, “Faith invites us to live wonderstruck—a journey marked by holy courage & irrepressible hope

We’ve chosen this series because we believe that many of us have lost contact with the wonder of God. So we’ve chosen 4 miracles of Jesus to reacquaint ourselves with the wonder of God.

READ Mark 9:14-29 (on screen)

As we read through this well-known passage, some interesting observations present themselves.

1. When people aren’t experiencing God’s power, they begin to argue

Argument between the disciples and the scribes; both were religious folks. What was causing the argument? In all probability, the scribes were taunting the disciples because they couldn’t heal the young man.

What I’ve noticed about church folk is that when they’re not letting God work in their lives, they tend to start griping and complaining and arguing. Because God’s not at work in their lives, they begin to become self-absorbed and unhappy. This is what is tearing churches apart all over the U.S.

One of the things that I appreciate about Rush Creekers is your refusal to become complainers. I owe that to the fact that so many of you are experiencing the power of God in your life and you see His power at work all around you. I see it. I sense it. But I want more of His power at work in me, my family, and my church, don’t you?

2. When Jesus shows up, arguments turn to amazement

Did you notice what v.15 said? “All of a sudden the crowd saw Him and were-- amazed”

We throw that term amazing around nowadays and apply it to some not so awesome things. I googled amazing things and here were the top amazing facts:

Google’s owners were willing to sell their business to a company for under $1M in 1999—and the company turned them down! Today Google is worth over $1.2 Trillion dollars. What do you say to that? Amazing!

Everyone knows about Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were 2 of the 3 of the founders of Apple. The 3rd guy, Ronald Wayne, sold his share of the business in 1977 for $800. Here’s a picture of Mr. Wayne at his house http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/ronald-wayne-apple.jpg What do you say to that? Amazing!

A California woman tried to sue the makers of captain crunch (pic http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/crunch-berries.png) because Crunch Berries didn’t really have any berries. What do you say? Amazing!

Really? What’s really amazing is that Colossians 1 says that (pic http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/hubble120112/h03_hs201013.jpg) all things were created by Christ, all things were created for Christ, and by Christ, all things hold together. That’s amazing.

What’s really amazing is that the Bible was written by 40 different people over a period of at least 1500 years, and yet it has one central theme: God revealing His glory and His love to a broken and hurting world. That’s amazing!

What’s really amazing is that God would become one of us, God incarnate, God in the flesh, so that He could be the Lamb of God and pay for our sin and create a way to know God and love God in this life and the life to come. That’s amazing!

What’s really amazing is that when Jesus showed up on the scene and began His earthly ministry, people flocked to Him: to listen to Him teach, to sense His love, and to see Him work mighty works.