Sermon Central
-
A Goat Named Shrek
Contributed by Bruce Ball on Feb 12, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: Christians can do great things - through the One who was sent to save us. But first ...... (Text, audio, and Communion meditation will be placed at www.sermonlist.com)
We look for heroes today, and we only find them in comic books, but there used to be a real hero. He lived a long time ago. His name was Jesus, and He led a very action-packed life.
Jesus had just healed a man in a cemetery from being demon possessed, and then when he got home, there was a crowd already gathered to welcome Him back. As I would imagine it would have been a happy occasion, one with many smiles, as he began to walk through the streets among the people.
Then, a man named Jairus appeared out of the crowd and fell at the feet of Jesus. He was the ruler of the local synagogue, and he began to plead with Jesus to come and heal his 12-year old daughter.
As He was on his way there, a woman appeared out of the crowd, kneeling down and touching His robe. Now, understand that everyone there knew that Jesus was a healer; a hero that defied local logic. This woman had an issue of blood for many years, but as soon as she touched the garment of Jesus, the bleeding stopped! Can you imagine how she felt? She had been constantly bleeding for 12 years, and now she was instantly healed.
When she touched Him, Jesus felt some of His power go out of His body, and He turned to ask who touched Him. When He said that, Peter thought that Jesus had just felt some in the crowd touch Him as He passed by. But Jesus knew somebody touched Him and His healing power had flowed out to that person.
The lady then came forward, afraid she might be in trouble. When she confessed that it was she who touched Him, Jesus said something every Christian should take to heart and use as their guiding light. He said, “Woman, your faith has healed you.”
“Your faith has healed you!” What awesome words! Jesus was all about healing. He continued on His way to see Jairus’ daughter, and on the way, a servant came and told Jairus that the girl had already died.
I think he must have reacted as any father who loves his child would. I think his heart immediately started to break and his grief was probably more than he could bear. But Jesus told him to not be afraid, that she would be healed. Jairus was probably a lot like us today. He was probably numb with the news of his daughter’s death, and from that point he probably followed mechanically.
And when Jesus came to where the girl was, He brought her back from death, once again defeating the limited powers of Satan.
Shortly thereafter, Jesus called the Twelve together. Now, at this time, Jesus had many disciples, but the core group of disciples was called The Twelve. They were His inner-circle, so to speak.
And Jesus gave them …
1. POWER IN HIS AUTHORITY
Have you ever wondered what the American Christian has done with the power and authority that God has given us? I believe that we have thrown it away because we either do not believe it exists, or we don’t want to take the responsibility for having it.
I read several years ago about a small Oklahoma town that had two churches and one bar. The bar owner was a self-professed atheist, and the church congregations were both very much against the evils of alcohol.
So the churches began having a daily prayer vigil, asking God to intervene and get rid of the bar. One night, while they were praying, a fierce thunderstorm raged over the city and lightning struck the bar and burned it down.
The next day, both churches were celebrating when the news came that the bar owner was suing them for causing damage to his bar. Well, it finally went to court where the bar owner testified that the two churches had conspired to have God burn down his bar. But the two churches, in their testimonies, denied they had any part in it.
What grabbed my attention in this story was that an atheist claimed a belief in God’s power, while two churches denied that same power!
Let me tell you a living truth. God has power, and through our belief in Jesus Christ, He has given that power to us – so that we can use it for His kingdom! Any denial of that is a denial of our belief and faith in God.
‘When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.’
Jesus gave them the power they needed to go into pagan areas and preach the gospel of salvation. But in order for the people to listen and believe, they had to see the power of the gospel, too, so Jesus gave them the power to cast out demons and to heal the sick.
