Our Best Days Start Now
“and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first
and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink;
but you have saved the best till now.” John 2:9
Intro: We start today with the first miracle that Jesus performed.
It was at a wedding.
And if you don't know the context, it was an incredibly embarrassing situation for the host
The host of this wedding ran out of wine
and Jesus's mom said, "Jesus, go do something about it".
And so, he said to the servants, go get these jars, these massive jars,
and what I want you to do is, I want you to fill them full of water.
These were not ordinary quart jars, or half gallon jars, these were 20 or 30 gallon jars.
And Jesus said to the servants,
what I want you to do is draw the water out of the jar
and then go give to the master of the banquet.
And God's word tells us this in John chapter eight, John 2:8,
the servants did what Jesus said to do.
and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
And he didn't realize where it had come from
though the servants who had drawn the water, they knew where it came from.
Then master of the banquet called the bridegroom aside and said,
everyone brings out the best wine first,
and after the guests have drunk then they bring out the cheaper wine.
Now, I always thought the next line said, “but you saved best for last,”
but that's not what God's word says.
What God's word says is this, "but you saved the best till now".
The title of today's message is, "Our Best Days Are Now".
Would you look at the person next to you and say, "Our Best Days Are Now".
One of the most striking qualities about the way that Jesus lived,
is no matter who he interacted with,
no matter what he was doing,
he was always present in the moment,
he was fully present.
He lived with an undivided attention in the moment.
What I want to do is show you two back-to-back stories in scripture
that illustrate his heart for the people right in front of them
being fully engaged in the moment.
And in fact, the first one we find in Luke's gospel
and Jesus was walking into Jericho,
and if you can imagine, there were large crowds all around.
I visited the city of Jericho several years ago.
I imagined Jericho with its walls standing tall and strong.
I imagined tall watch towers
I imagined this magnificent walled city
What I saw was only the footer or the foundation of the walls of the city.
Why? Because about 3500 years ago the walls of Jericho fell.
Now when Jesus was walking into Jericho it was more of a village than it was a fortress
and Certainly, there were crowds of people gathering around him,
with crowds fighting to see Jesus and to get his attention,
and as he's walking in,
a blind beggar named Bartimaeus cries out, "Jesus Son of David have mercy on me".
And the disciples were offended,
Jesus doesn't have time for this beggar,
Jesus is going somewhere else,
Jesus is too important,
Jesus is too busy,
Jesus has an agenda.
Jesus isn't going to stop for some guy who's begging on the side of the road.
And the disciples rebuked the blind beggar
and said go away,
But then Jesus turns and rebuked the disciples
and He speaks to this single…, hurting…, person…, Jesus is fully engaged in the moment.
And Jesus stopped, gave him all of his attention.
Jesus didn’t just speak and move on.
Jesus didn’t just give a glance or a wave in this man’s direction
No, Jesus gave him his full attention.
and he said, "What would you like for me to do for you"?
And the man cries out, could you heal me?
Could you please heal me?
I haven't been able to see my whole life.
And Jesus…, spoke a miraculous word…, and healed the man.
The first thing we notice is it is a miracle…, Jesus healed him,
The second thing we notice is that, Jesus stopped for a guy that no one else would have stopped for.
Jesus fully engaged this person in front of Him.
The second story, we see in John 19:1, mentions Jericho again.
As Jesus entered Jericho, But this time, Luke tells us that He was actually going somewhere else,
Jesus was just passing through
Jesus was just moving through, He was on his way somewhere else.
As Jesus entered Jericho and as he is passing through
a man was there by the name of Zacchaeus,
Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector
Zacchaeus he was very wealthy.
Now, if you notice,
Jesus had already been interrupted one time by a very poor blind beggar,
now he's interrupted by a very rich corrupt tax collector.
What I love about Jesus is He's got time for the down and out,
He's got time for the up and out,
He's got time for anyone
He’s got a heart for anyone,
it doesn't matter where you come from,
how bad your baggage is,
how dirty you are,
how rich you are,
Jesus cares and takes time to care about you.
I have been the pastor of a lady who when I went to visit in her home
All she had was dirt for the floor.
I have been the pastor of a people who were multi-millionaires…
What I have learned first of all is that Jesus treats everyone the same
Because everyone has sin to deal with.
It is the same red blood of Jesus that it takes to forgive the poor beggar’s sin
As it is the same red blood of Jesus that it takes to forgive the wealthy ruler’s sin
So, Jesus stops for this guy named Zacchaeus.
Now, if you don't know who Zacchaeus was,
I wanna tell you about Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he,
who climbed up into a Sycamore tree to see what he could see.
If anybody was in Sunday school as a kid,
you knew who Zacchaeus was,
Well, he was a tax collector,
which may not mean a whole lot to you in this culture
because a tax collectors now a days are very respectable,
although you probably don't enjoy paying taxes.
But during ancient times,
Tax collector were thought of as the most corrupt of all people,
a tax collector would have been a person who would charge you what you owed
and then add to it an amount…,
and then he would keep the difference for himself.
And so this was one of the most despised,
most hated people around.
And Jesus sees this guy
and He calls him by his name, Zacchaeus
And essentially Jesus invites himself over to Zacchaeus’s house for dinner,
and as he was going somewhere
after he'd already been interrupted once before,
he gives…, a no good rotten…, tax collecting sinner…, his full attention.
And when he's talking to Zacchaeus,
Zacchaeus has this moment of deep conviction and repentance in the presence of the Son of God.
And he says something like, "I've sinned…, I have sinned so many times
I have hurt so many people
and I am so sorry,
I'll do anything I can to make it up"
and then he just blurts out…,
You can almost feel his anguish and sincerity,
"I'll give half of my possessions to the poor,
and I'll pay back four times to anyone that I stole from".
And Jesus looks at this man and says,
"today…, TURN to the person beside you and say “TODAY”
Today…,in this moment…, right now…, salvation has come to your home".
Jesus had the undivided attention of this man in that moment
and he stops
and gave him the greatest gifts he could give…,
his attention,
his love,
his forgiveness
and his eternal life
Jesus was fully present in the moment,
I want to be like that.
This week I had a 86 year old member of the church tell me
That she had been a United Methodist all her life
But she believes the “Best is yet to come.”
I agree with that whole heartedly.
But I want to add to that.
OUR BEST DAYS START NOW!!!
I am gonna believe it
I am gonna claim it
I am gonna live in it
We are living in an historic moment in the life of this church.
The best days ahead begin today!!!!!
Today we memorialize the closing of Cattletsburg United Methodist Church
Last Sunday December 4th it was made official.
The doors of that church have closed.
But that was only one page in one chapter in the book of this church.
The moment that chapter ended.
Was the moment Catlettsburg Community Church was opened.
Today we honor the opening of the Catlettsburg Community Church.
What a privilege and joy it is to part of this gathering and celebration.
The bible says in Ephesians 3:20 “No unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to that power that worketh in us.”
Were it not for the Lord our God we would not be able to celebrate here today.
Let us take time in this precious moment to thank God our Father in Heaven
for being able to celebrate this important occasion of the church.
I am convinced that God wants us to receive His best now.
I believe when one door closes God opens another one.
Many years ago, I went to buy a new riding lawn mower.
I had looked at the sales paper and there were basically three different models
One was cheap and didn’t have any options.
Another was pretty expensive and had everything I wanted but cost more than I was willing to pay
There was one in the middle that had most of what I was looking for
And so, I had decided to buy it.
When I got to the store the first mower I saw was the most expensive one that I could not afford.
Then I looked around and saw the cheap one that he didn’t want.
A sales rep noticed I was looking at the lawn mowers and came over and began to talk to me.
I explain my situation.
The sales rep told me that he could order the one that was out of stock
But it would take several weeks…, almost to the end of summer before it would come in.
I left very disappointed.
I felt discouraged.
I wasn’t going to spend the extra money for the expensive one
And I just didn’t want the cheap one that was left.
I had no more than got home when the phone rang.
It was the salesman I had talked with.
He said he had spoken with his manager.
And there was a rebate on the most expensive mower
I could have it at the same price as the one out of stock.
What’s my point?
How many times in your life has one door closed
And another one opened to something that was even better than before.
There have been many times in my life when I knew that was why God shut the door.
As I was working on this sermon…
I asked my wife Gina, “Can you think a time in your life when you experienced God closing one door and opening up another one.
And without hesitation she answered,
“Yes, when we left Paintsville and moved to Cannonsburg and Catlettsburg.”
You see God’s plan for us are better than our own.
What we think is the best, many times is far less than what God has in mind.
Put God first place.
Believe and trust in God’s supernatural provision.
God will provide.
Also, think about this…,
The only way to fully be present in the moment is to let go of a past that you can't change
I love the way James the half brother of Jesus puts it in James 4:13,14 he says, come now,
Come now He says,
you who say, today or tomorrow, we're gonna go into such and such town
and spend a year there
or trade and make a profit,
For you life is like a morning fog. It is here for a little while and then it is gone.
Turn to person beside you and say “NOW.”
It is good to make plans
But ask God for guidance.
Seek God’s will and direction in your planning and you want be disappointed.
There's three things about this that are interesting to me.
The first thing is how fast time passes.
The second thing is no matter what you do, you can't stop the sands of time from flowing,
time is passing, time is passing, time is passing,
every day is a gift from God,
today is a gift from God, and some of you are wishing it away.
The third thing is once time is gone is at the bottom, you can never get it back, you can never get it back.
When you think about Jesus,
He was whipped…, flogged…, bleeding…, hanging on a cross,
nails through his feet,
nails through his hands
trying to get a breath,
as people cursed him and spit on him.
And right at that moment.
What looked like the darkest, saddest, day
Turned out to “The Start Of Our Best Day.”
For Jesus looked down from the cross and said,
Father forgive them….
Now, that was a moment of Grace.
And you can experience His grace…, right now…, in this moment,
you can experience his mercy…, right now…, in this moment,
you can experience His forgiveness…, right now….
His power is here,
His goodness is here,
oh, His grace is here.
This is a holy moment, God is with us now.
And God sent me to tell you that Our Best Days Start Now.
And he wants you to be fully engaged in this church…,
Your best moment can start right now.
You and I may never see the fullness of this promise.
Of what has started here today.
Hebrews 11 is the Faith Chapter.
It lists all the saints who were there in the beginning and early days of God’s promise to Abraham, Issacs and Jacob, and Sarah, Joseph, and Moses, and Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson and David and Samuel
and all the the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms,
But they died in the faith, never seeing the birth of the Messiah…
Hebrews 11:13, KJV: These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Those people died hearing the prophecy of the coming of the messiah but not living to see the birth of Jesus.
In other words we are part of the beginning of this, but it may be future generations who will look back and see what began today as a new work.
There are some here today…, you are living in the edge of the promise, of the future of this church, and you might not in your life time see it full, and the Sunday school rooms running over capacity.
But let me tell you I believe we can see it from afar.
I can see it with a glimpse.
I can see it when I close my eyes in faith.
I might not experience it in my life time. But we have opened the door.
Our Best Days Start Now.
Heavenly Father, forgive us all our sins.
Jesus make us new,
Give us an overflow of your holy spirit
so we can show your love
and show all that you do,
my life is not my own,
I give it to you in Jesus name I pray.
