1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Let us pray. Who is he that overcometh the world? 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,080 Speaker 1: But he that believeth that Jesus is the son of 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: God First John five five. It is by faith in you, 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,319 Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, that I can overcome this world. I was 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,959 Speaker 1: born into a sinful world, with a sinful nature, and 6 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: without your divine intervention, I had no hope. You showed 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: me the truth of what you did on the Cross 8 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: to deliver me from the corruption of this world. I 9 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: surrendered to your lordship and came under your protection by 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: the blood of Jesus. No demon in hell can stand 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: against the power of your name and the innocent blood 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: that covers me. You have given me the authority to 13 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: overcome this world. Because you already defeated the enemy on 14 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: the cross. He no longer has any power over me. 15 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: Thank you Jesus, Amen. Thank you for listening to today's 16 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:06,119 Speaker 1: daily prayer for more inspiration and an incredible message from 17 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: our feature pastor stay tuned to pray dot COM's Sunday service. 18 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 2: Are you in pain after walking, running, or even just standing. 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 2: It's not your feet, it's your shoes. 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We've also helped redeem those communities 39 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 3: from their centuries long tradition of forced prostitution by offering 40 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 3: other alternative The House of Palms, where eighty six children 41 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 3: are cared for, Disciple and educating gem and Tamra also 42 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 3: dedicated a second campus which will house, train and care 43 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 3: for one hundred more children. God is at work in 44 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 3: India and there's still much work to be done. Consider 45 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 3: partnering with us by giving online at a significant life 46 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 3: dot com. 47 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 5: Thank you so much for being with us today. You know, 48 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 5: we've given our adult lives that our passion of ministering 49 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 5: God's presence wealth of people's heart, and the story that 50 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 5: we're going to study today really illustrates why we've found 51 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 5: so much joy in doing that. 52 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 4: Yeah, we're going to learn why miracles happen for people 53 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 4: who learn to be moved by God in their hearts. 54 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 4: It's easy to come to the point where our problems 55 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 4: paralyze us, and we see people living with that spirit 56 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 4: all around us every day. Today we'll learn why God 57 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 4: makes a huge difference in the lives of those who 58 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 4: delight in His work in their hearts. Let's enjoy this 59 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 4: word together. 60 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 5: All of us have faced chatchallenges that stick he long 61 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 5: around longer than we wish right, and sometimes it's not 62 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 5: too bad. Because you think, well, I know some things 63 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 5: I can do to turn this challenge around. Or other 64 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 5: times maybe we're okay because we find some people who 65 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 5: can help us, and as they help us, we start 66 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 5: having hope that things can turn around. But then there 67 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 5: are those challenges that stick around a long long time, 68 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 5: and if you're honest, you don't know what in the 69 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 5: world you're going to do. And today we're going to 70 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 5: study the story of a man where the Bible tells us, listen, 71 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 5: this is what you do. And not only does it 72 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 5: tell us this is what we do, but it shows 73 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 5: us how to experience God's promise in a wonderful way 74 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 5: whenever we find ourselves in the midst of the pain. 75 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 5: I want to start with the challenge that began to 76 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 5: turn everything around in this man's life. And then we're 77 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 5: going to come back and we're going to study fourteen 78 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 5: verses today that teach us how it's getting moved inside 79 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 5: by the Holy Spirit that causes us to start experiencing 80 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 5: miracles in our life. The Bible says that Jesus saw 81 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 5: a man in verse six of John chapter five, and 82 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 5: he learned about him that he had been in this 83 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 5: condition for a long time, and then he asked the man, 84 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 5: do you want to get well? Now? That sounds like 85 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 5: a crazy question to ask a man who later we're 86 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 5: going to learn this man had been an invalid for 87 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 5: thirty eight years of his life. As a matter of fact, 88 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 5: I beg to believe today that if I walked into 89 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 5: the sanctuary today, and if I walked by a person 90 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 5: who had been an invalid for thirty eight years, and 91 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 5: if you saw your pastor look at him and say 92 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 5: do you want to get well, that your heart might think, 93 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 5: you know what, he's a bit insensitive. Does pastor lack compassion? 94 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 5: But there's a reason that Jesus asked this question, and 95 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 5: it's because he understood how easy it is for us 96 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,679 Speaker 5: to do what I hope you remember from this message 97 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 5: if you don't remember anything else today, and that is 98 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 5: whenever situations linger for a long time, and whenever it 99 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 5: looks like there's nothing we can do to change these 100 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 5: situations in our life, it's so easy for us to 101 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 5: lose hope and to lie down and to settle in 102 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 5: the midst of what we're going through. And God wants 103 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 5: us to learn how to love him and to let 104 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 5: him lead us into experiences we could never experience if 105 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 5: it wasn't for the grace of God. And that's why 106 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 5: Jesus looked at this man and he said, do you 107 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,840 Speaker 5: want to get well? And the invalid replied, I have 108 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 5: no one to help me into the pool when the 109 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 5: water stirred, But while I'm trying to get in, someone 110 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 5: else always goes down ahead of me. And then Jesus 111 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 5: said to him, I want you to get up, I 112 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 5: want you to pick up your mat, and I want 113 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 5: you to walk. In other words, Jesus said, I care 114 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 5: enough about you that I want you to understand there 115 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 5: is a decision that you can make right now that's 116 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 5: going to fill your heart with you down the road. 117 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 5: I want you to understand that you know what you're feeling, 118 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 5: the emotion behind this difficulty in your life is not 119 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 5: the best choice you can make, because God has dreams 120 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 5: of doing something beautiful in your life. You know, a 121 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 5: number of years ago, I went to my fortieth high 122 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 5: school reunion and I hadn't been to any of them, 123 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 5: so this was my first one after forty years. And 124 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 5: I don't know at what point they start doing this, 125 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 5: but they put these name tags on you when you 126 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 5: walk in and they have your picture from when you 127 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 5: were a senior in high school. And the reason is 128 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 5: nobody would have recognized a lot of people if it 129 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 5: wasn't for that picture that was, you know, around their neck. 130 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 5: And it was so funny because to me, what I 131 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 5: enjoyed most was watching people like squint while they were 132 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 5: trying to see somebody's name, because nobody wanted to admit 133 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 5: they didn't know the person or that their eyesight was 134 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 5: was struggling. But anyway, there was one guy in my 135 00:07:57,360 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 5: class and I felt sorry for him when we were 136 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 5: in school because he was built with kind of a tall, 137 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 5: gangly weak body. And then he just lived down the 138 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 5: road from me, and when we were in the minor 139 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 5: leagues of baseball, he got hit with the baseball and 140 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 5: his mother was so protective of him that she made 141 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 5: him quit baseball because he got hit by the ball. 142 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 5: And it seemed like for the whole time I knew him, 143 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 5: he was ridiculed because of his weakness. And I remember 144 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 5: when I met him at my reunion. He was strong, 145 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 5: he was handsome. I heard that he was probably the 146 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 5: richest guy in our class because of a computer company 147 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 5: that he'd built out in California, and you know what, 148 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 5: I left home thinking, thank God. At some point in 149 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 5: this man's life he learned that weakness didn't have to 150 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 5: define him. Something beautiful can happen to us on the 151 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 5: other side of our bad right, and that's what this 152 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 5: story is about. Jesus challenged him, because if we're not careful, 153 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 5: we're gonna lie down, we're gonna lose hope. Whenever, we 154 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 5: need to let God love us, and we need to 155 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 5: learn how to let God lead us. So let's go 156 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 5: through the story. It starts in verse one when it 157 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 5: says sometime later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one 158 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 5: of the Jewish festivals. And we don't know which of 159 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 5: the three festivals this is, but three times a year 160 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 5: God would have people come from all over Jerusalem. And 161 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 5: during one of these festivals, the Bible says that there 162 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 5: is in Jerusalem near the sheep Gate, a pool, which 163 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 5: in Aramaic is called Bethesda, which means house of mercy. So, 164 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 5: first of all, the sheep Gate existed because during the 165 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 5: feast of Passover there would be thousands of lambs that 166 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 5: would be sacrificed for the sins of people. And you 167 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 5: can imagine you don't want these lambs just coming from 168 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 5: all over the city, or you'd have a mess all 169 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 5: over the city, right, But what you want is the 170 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 5: lambs to come through one sheepgate. And this sheep gate 171 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 5: was right beside the temple in Jerusalem, and it says 172 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 5: by this sheep gate there was a pool that was 173 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 5: called Bethesda, which means house of mercy, and it was 174 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 5: surrounded by five covered colonnades. Now history says this was 175 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 5: a beautiful pool. In fact, it was really more like 176 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 5: a country club of a pool. And the reason that 177 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,959 Speaker 5: it was such a beautiful pool is because there were 178 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 5: two springs that fed water into Jerusalem, and this one, 179 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 5: the Gihan Spring, fed the purest, clearest, most beautiful water 180 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 5: to the people of Jerusalem. And it was also by 181 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 5: the temple. So you can imagine that the richer people 182 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 5: wanted to live by the temple. They wanted to have 183 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 5: the cleanest water, and so this beautiful country club atmosphere 184 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 5: kind of developed. But then something happened before Jesus was born, 185 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 5: and the spring quit delivering water and the water became stagnant. 186 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 5: And this next part of the story I can't tell 187 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 5: you is true for sure. But it's part of Christian 188 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 5: legend or Christian tradition, and that is that they say 189 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 5: right before Jesus was born, and throughout his time on earth, 190 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 5: an angel would stir the pool, and at times there 191 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 5: would be a moving of the waters. And they also 192 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,200 Speaker 5: have said that had only happened during the three times 193 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 5: of the feast in Israel. So here's Jesus and he's 194 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 5: gone by the pool, and it's not a country club anymore. 195 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 5: But the Bible says in verse three that here a 196 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,079 Speaker 5: great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, 197 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 5: the lane, the paralyzed, and one who had been an 198 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 5: invalid for thirty eight years was lying by the pool. 199 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 5: And I want to say this this morning that often 200 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 5: as a pastor, I can teach you Bible principles and 201 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 5: I can say, man, I can show you exactly what 202 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 5: to do. But in this message this morning, I'm not 203 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 5: going to be able to show you your ultimate answer, 204 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:53,679 Speaker 5: but I can show you how to find the answer. 205 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 5: That God has too difficult seasons you go through in life. 206 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:00,679 Speaker 5: And here three things I want us to learn this morning. 207 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 5: Number one, we see in this story that God knows best. 208 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 5: The Bible starts by saying here, a great number of 209 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 5: disabled people used to lie. And the Bible says, of course, 210 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 5: that one man had been there for a long time, 211 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 5: and Jesus said to him, do you want to get well? 212 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 5: Some of you know this that we have two campuses 213 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 5: in India that minister the precious little girls. And these 214 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 5: girls are the only girls I know of in the 215 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 5: world who have their own parents and their own brothers 216 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,239 Speaker 5: who are pimping them to people. When you become thirteen 217 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 5: among this group of girls, you enter into a lifestyle 218 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 5: or your service in ten min a day to provide 219 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 5: income for your family. And what's interesting is it wasn't 220 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 5: our plan really to build those homes in the beginning. 221 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,200 Speaker 5: But our initial plan was to go to the girls 222 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 5: who'd already been prostitutes, and over fifty percent of them 223 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 5: have a because of their lifestyle. And we thought, what 224 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 5: we're going to do is we're going to take care 225 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 5: of these girls medically. And as we take care of 226 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 5: these girls medically who've been through the difficulty in their life, 227 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 5: we're going to teach them about Jesus. And the very 228 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 5: people that the enemy has oppressed are going to be 229 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,959 Speaker 5: the ones that God blesses who bring deliverance to this people. 230 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,320 Speaker 5: And so we went to all of these ladies who 231 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 5: had lived such oppressed lives, and lady after lady said, no, 232 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 5: I don't want to do that. And the missionary said 233 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 5: to me, he said, Jim, it's like they would rather 234 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 5: punish people who are coming to them for their services 235 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,119 Speaker 5: than they would to be a part of this revolution 236 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 5: we're talking to them about. And at first I thought, 237 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 5: how could they do that? And then I thought about 238 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 5: how many times we choose bitterness, we choose our pain, 239 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 5: we choose something outside of the good that God wants 240 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 5: to do in our life. And if you don't remember 241 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 5: anything else in this message, listen, whatever happens to you, 242 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 5: don't you lose hope, don't you lay down, because God 243 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 5: loves you and he wants to lead you into good 244 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 5: purposes if you'll give him his way in your life. Amen. 245 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 5: It's not just girls like that. I think about. You 246 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 5: know a girl that came to our church years ago. 247 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 5: She was so fired up for God, she was so 248 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 5: in love with God. She brought her father, who was 249 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 5: an alcoholic, and her dad came to the church and 250 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 5: he got delivered and he got set free, and her 251 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 5: dad's a joyful worshiper of God in our church to 252 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 5: this day. But the girl went through a divorce and 253 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 5: when that happened, she got upset, she got hurt, and 254 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 5: she just laid down because she thought, God, God, why 255 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 5: would this happen to me? And can I say this? 256 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 5: Things happened to us because we live in a world 257 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 5: where sin brings a lot of pain into all of 258 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 5: our lives. But when it brings it into your life, 259 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 5: don't lay down, don't lose hope, but remember to love 260 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 5: God and to let God lead you into his purposes. Amen, 261 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 5: Because the first lesson we can learn is God knows best. 262 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 5: That's why God would speak to this man and say, 263 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 5: do you want to get well? I heard Rick Renner, 264 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 5: who's a great man in the Greek language. He said 265 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 5: that literally this phrase, it could be read this way. 266 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 5: Do you want to get your life back? And that's 267 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 5: what Jesus does. Whenever things have happened in our marriage, 268 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 5: maybe or maybe we're fighting something physically, here's what the 269 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 5: Lord wants to say to you. Do you want to 270 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 5: get your life back? Because I know how to restore 271 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 5: life to you. If you want to get your life back, 272 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 5: here's the second thing this story tells us, and it's 273 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 5: that God doesn't just know best, but God knows how. 274 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 5: The Bible says that after the invalid said to him, 275 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 5: I have no one to help me into the pool 276 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 5: when the water's stirred. But when I'm trying to get in, Lord, 277 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 5: somebody goes to down ahead of me, Jesus said to him, 278 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 5: get up, pick up your mat, and walk. And at 279 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 5: once the man was cured, and he picked up his 280 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 5: bed and he walked. Now, why do we come to 281 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 5: the point of this man. Well, first of all, we 282 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 5: exempt ourselves from faith and obedience when hard times happen. 283 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 5: I can tell you as a pastor, there have been 284 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 5: so many times whenever someone would come to me and 285 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 5: they'd be in pain, and if I would try to 286 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 5: speak hope into their life, they would say things like this. 287 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 5: But Pastor, listen, I know God heals people who have 288 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 5: severe marriage problems. But let me tell you about my marriage. 289 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 5: Because what they're doing is they're exempting themselves from the 290 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 5: reality that God can do something. Because when they exempt himself, 291 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 5: then you know what, we don't have to live with 292 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 5: the kind of hope that we're supposed to or think 293 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 5: about this man. He said, you know what, I try 294 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 5: to get in the pool, but there's always somebody who 295 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 5: gets in front of me. Now, obviously he had somebody 296 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 5: who was bringing him to the pool, right, so there 297 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 5: was somebody who cared about his life. Why would you 298 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,679 Speaker 5: not just have them put you on the edge of 299 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,880 Speaker 5: the pool. That's what I would do, and I don't. 300 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 5: I would say, like, put me halfway over the pool 301 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 5: and when the water start, I'm going to roll and 302 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 5: I'm gonna get in the pool before. I just did that. 303 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 5: So you didn't fall asleep in my sermon on Sunday morning, 304 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 5: all right, But I'm just saying they have listen, I've 305 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 5: done it, or I exempt myself. Yes, you know, I 306 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 5: know the Bible says this, but my circumstance is just 307 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 5: too tough, or we excuse ourself. I weigh two hundred 308 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 5: and twenty pounds this morning, and I told Tamar that 309 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 5: I want to weigh two hundred and five pounds, and 310 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 5: every time I eat a piece of chocolate cake and 311 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 5: it's too big, she looks at me like, do you 312 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 5: want to get Well, how many of you know what 313 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 5: I'm talking about? Because I have this think in me 314 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 5: that I exempt myself, and Jesus looked at this man 315 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 5: and listen, I want to get back to the message 316 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 5: because I know there's some pain in the room, and 317 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,639 Speaker 5: I've sat right where you sit, and I know what 318 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 5: it's like to have pain. And Jesus looked and he said, 319 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 5: I need you to get up, I need you to 320 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 5: pick up your mat, and I need you to walk. 321 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 5: Why did Jesus say that, because Jesus knew that we, 322 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 5: as human beings, are masters at coming up with these 323 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 5: little scenarios in our mind that keep God from working. 324 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 5: I'm going to give you two that I think are predominant. 325 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 5: That there are people I'm sure that are fighting us 326 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,120 Speaker 5: in this room right now. Some of us were raised 327 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,440 Speaker 5: in faith expressions where we were taught something it's called 328 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 5: the Satianist doctrine, and what that means is that the 329 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 5: Holy Spirit worked powerfully through the apostles, but once the 330 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 5: church was launched, the Holy Spirit didn't need to work 331 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 5: that way anymore. And so now we shouldn't expect people 332 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 5: to doracles like that. And if that's your tradition, I 333 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 5: would encourage you to do two things. All of you 334 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,680 Speaker 5: know this that people come to faith family Church from 335 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 5: all different backgrounds and traditions. And I'm a big believer 336 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 5: in honoring peoples of faith traditions because most of them 337 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 5: have some truth in them, all of them have some 338 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 5: error in them, and we're just all here trying to 339 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,159 Speaker 5: get better. Can say. Men, But if you were raised 340 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 5: in that tradition, I'd encourage you to hang around some 341 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 5: people who you obviously see the Holy Spirit working powerfully 342 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,920 Speaker 5: in their life. And I promise you if you hang 343 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 5: around those people, you're going to see that they both 344 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 5: seek the Holy Spirit more and they receive more, and 345 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 5: it's going to make you hungrier to receive more from God. 346 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 5: Another thing I'd encourage you to do is there's a 347 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 5: great book called Miracles, and it's written by a guy 348 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 5: named Craig Keener who's a very respected theologies and he 349 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 5: teaches at Asbery Theological Seminary, and his book, Miracles Today 350 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 5: the Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World, is 351 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 5: just a great book because being a scholar, everything he 352 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 5: does he documents medically in this book and so he 353 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 5: talks about how he didn't believe that the Holy Spirit 354 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,879 Speaker 5: did miracles in the world, and then he was in 355 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,640 Speaker 5: seminary and he got involved in a nursing home Bible study. 356 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,719 Speaker 5: And while he was in this nursing home Bible study, 357 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 5: there was a lady named Barbara Kaminski who was in 358 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 5: this Bible study. She had MS and it progressed so 359 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 5: bad that her bowels became paralyzed and she had to 360 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 5: wear a bag. She literally spent three fourths of her 361 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,439 Speaker 5: life from ages fifteen to thirty one in the hospital. 362 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,719 Speaker 5: She came to the point where her body was curled 363 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:47,399 Speaker 5: up like a pretzel. It became so bad and she 364 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,639 Speaker 5: could no longer even attend the Wesleyan church that she 365 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,200 Speaker 5: went to. But one day she was in her house. 366 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 5: She was on hospice care and she was sent home 367 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:00,879 Speaker 5: to die, and she said she heard a voice with 368 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:03,639 Speaker 5: her friends in the house in the other room, she 369 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 5: heard a voice, and this voice said, my daughter, get 370 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 5: up and walk. And you can imagine, she got up 371 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 5: out of her bed, her pretzel body became straight. She 372 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 5: came walking into the room with her friends and they 373 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 5: were stunned. I mean, they didn't know if they saw 374 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,879 Speaker 5: a ghost or a person. And then the doctors testify 375 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 5: to this miracle. Their names are doctor Adolph, Doctor Marshall, 376 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 5: and doctor Coolbaba, who were working on her case. Now 377 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 5: here's my point to you this morning. When you go 378 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 5: through a trial and when the enemy does something that 379 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:41,439 Speaker 5: really brings you pain in life, here's all I'm asking 380 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 5: you to do. I want you to realize there's a 381 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 5: God who loves you more than you ever knew you 382 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 5: could be loved. There's a God who has so much 383 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 5: power to bless you, it's beyond our comprehension. So don't 384 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 5: lay down, don't lose hope. Let God love you however 385 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 5: he loves you, and you walk into what his leaders 386 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:02,160 Speaker 5: can bring the past in your life. Can you say, 387 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 5: a man, don't let your view of the Holy Spirit 388 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,120 Speaker 5: limit what God can do in your life. The other 389 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 5: people are what i'll call creed believers. And what I 390 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 5: mean by that is I'll see when they go through 391 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,479 Speaker 5: a hard time that they just want to tell you 392 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,119 Speaker 5: they believe the right thing. They'll confess the right things, 393 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 5: they'll believe the right things. But remember, when it comes 394 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:26,959 Speaker 5: to the work of the Holy Spirit, it's not just 395 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:30,639 Speaker 5: how much education you have, it's about how much experience 396 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 5: you have. Can you say, a man, we need to 397 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 5: experience what he's saying to us. That's why lots of 398 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 5: times I'll ask people what's God saying to you? And 399 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,199 Speaker 5: I deeply respect people like Joni Erickson, who's beautiful and 400 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 5: she jumps in a pool and is seventeen years old. 401 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,959 Speaker 5: She's paralyzed for life, and if you talk to her, 402 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 5: she will tell you that I hate what happened to me, 403 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 5: but I feel like God has allowed me to win 404 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,440 Speaker 5: millions of people to Christ. And she used her mouth 405 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 5: to draw and she's married and the ladies just she's 406 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 5: amazing what she's done for people in the world. And 407 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 5: here's what I'm going to tell you. Don't lay down, 408 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 5: don't lose hope. Remember whatever you go through in life, 409 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 5: God loves you, and God wants to lead you into 410 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,879 Speaker 5: something good. Can you say, man? And then here's the 411 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 5: final thing. God knows you. Everybody say, God knows me. 412 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 5: This is interesting to me. It says the day on 413 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 5: which this took place was a Sabbath. And so the 414 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 5: Jewish leader said to the man who'd been healed, it's 415 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,200 Speaker 5: the Sabbath and the law forbids you to carry your mat. 416 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 5: What a sad state that religion had come to the 417 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 5: point where a man was supernaturally healed by God. And 418 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 5: they were more concerned about whether people were a part 419 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 5: of them and obeying their religious rules than they were 420 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 5: the redemption of this man. And the Bible says that 421 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 5: the man replied something so good. He said, the man 422 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 5: who made me well said to me, pick up your mat. 423 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 5: And in other words, this man was saying, all I 424 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 5: know is God knows best, God knows how, and God 425 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 5: loves me. And I'm going to listen to the man 426 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 5: who told me that this is what I'm supposed to 427 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 5: do in my life. Now, I want to close this 428 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 5: morning by reading you a scripture that we've all heard. 429 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 5: I'm sure we've quoted it at times in our life. 430 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 5: But for me, when I really think about this message 431 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 5: and I think about what Jesus did, it made me 432 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 5: realize that for many years I quoted this with way 433 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 5: too shallow of a perspective. Here's a part of the 434 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 5: scripture we know. I'm going to read your Romans eight, 435 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 5: verse twenty six to twenty eight. And here's the part 436 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 5: we hear all the time, and we know and in 437 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 5: all things God works for the good of those who 438 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,360 Speaker 5: love Him who've been called according to His purpose. Now 439 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 5: many times all wes say in churches, I know God's 440 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 5: going to work for good. Can I ask you a 441 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,000 Speaker 5: question this morning, how many of y'all have ever heard 442 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 5: anybody say I know God's going to work for good, 443 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 5: and God was and doing much good? Would you be honest? 444 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 5: Would you wave your hand? In fact, how many of 445 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 5: you have ever heard somebody say I know God's going 446 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 5: to work for good? And look like they swallowed a 447 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 5: bottle of lemon juice before they were talking to you, right, 448 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,120 Speaker 5: there wasn't much joy on the inside of their heart. 449 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 5: So what I want to do is I want to 450 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,719 Speaker 5: take you through this whole progression of the Scripture, and 451 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 5: I want you to ask yourself if you're in a 452 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 5: difficult time, if you're facing problems that have lingered longer 453 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 5: than you wish. And the truth is probably all of 454 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 5: us here have some problems that have lingered longer than 455 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,479 Speaker 5: we wish, and we're believing God. And I want you 456 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 5: to ask yourself. It's every part of this scripture working 457 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 5: in my life. Okay. It starts by saying, in the 458 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 5: same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Now 459 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 5: in the same ways referring to creation that has been 460 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 5: affected by sin, and Paul said that creation groans because 461 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,360 Speaker 5: it knows it has this potential, but sin is causing 462 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 5: it not to have the fruitfulness and the joy that 463 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,160 Speaker 5: it wishes it had. And Paul said, in the same way, 464 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,920 Speaker 5: you as a Christian are going to have your weak 465 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 5: moments in life. So first I want to encourage you. 466 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 5: If you're in a weak moment of life, You're okay. 467 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 5: God loves you and he can do something about this 468 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,080 Speaker 5: weak moment of life that you're in. Next, he says, 469 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 5: we don't know what we ought to pray for. How 470 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 5: many of y'all have ever been to the point where 471 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 5: you didn't even know how to pray anymore? You didn't 472 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:27,400 Speaker 5: even know what to do anymore with what was going 473 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 5: on in your life. You and I want to say 474 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 5: to you, you're okay if you're feeling weak and you're 475 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 5: feeling like you don't know what to do and you 476 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 5: don't even know how to pray about what you're going 477 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 5: through in your life. And then he says, but the 478 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 5: Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Everybody say 479 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,919 Speaker 5: wordless groans. There are times that were groaning. Life is 480 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 5: so hard, things are so difficult. And let me tell you, 481 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 5: if you ever see a mature Christian with a smile 482 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 5: on his face, it doesn't mean there's nothing difficult going 483 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 5: on in his life. Here's what it does mean. They've 484 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 5: learned not in some things, but in all things. God 485 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,119 Speaker 5: can turn our groans into gratefulness for the great things 486 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 5: he does. Can say a man, so we're we we 487 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 5: don't know what to pray for, we're groaning. But the 488 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 5: Spirit himself, somebody steps into our life, like Jesus stepped 489 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,399 Speaker 5: in to the life of that man by the pool 490 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 5: that day. He steps in our life. And this is interesting. 491 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,800 Speaker 5: But he who searches our hearts knows the mind of 492 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,679 Speaker 5: the spirit. In other words, there has to be some 493 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 5: heart searching that goes on. If we're not careful, we 494 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 5: try to make it too easy. We try to think, 495 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,639 Speaker 5: because we believe the right things, that things are just 496 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 5: going to turn around. But it's not always not about education. 497 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,600 Speaker 5: Sometimes it's about how well we're experiencing the Holy Spirit 498 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,880 Speaker 5: in our life. Amen. But he said, the Spirit intercedes 499 00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,679 Speaker 5: for us according to the will of God. And then 500 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 5: if all those things are happening, if we understand. Sometimes 501 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,239 Speaker 5: we're weak, if we understand. Sometimes we don't know how 502 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 5: to pray. If we understand, sometimes we're groaning. But you 503 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,439 Speaker 5: know what, when we're groaning, imagine what this man felt. 504 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,880 Speaker 5: Imagine what it was like to be a part of 505 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 5: a group of people powed up around a pool with 506 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:27,159 Speaker 5: needs and hurts, and you feel like nobody cares about 507 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,239 Speaker 5: what's going on. You feel like nobody can help you 508 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 5: with what you're going through, and then all of a sudden, 509 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 5: this person called Jesus walks up to you and he says, 510 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 5: do you want to get well? And how many of 511 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 5: you know? You might be grown in today because sins real, 512 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 5: but you're going to be shouting if the Holy Spirit 513 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 5: intercedes for you and God starts doing powerful things in 514 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 5: your life. 515 00:28:53,320 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 4: Can say, man, message blessed you like it did me. 516 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 4: As a child, we sang the song I shall not 517 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 4: be moved. It reminded us not to be moved by 518 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 4: circumstances more than we're moved by God's promises and his 519 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,959 Speaker 4: presence in our hearts. Jesus taught us whatever we desire 520 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 4: when we pray, we're to believe that we have received 521 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 4: it and it will be ours. Paralyzed people start finding 522 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,480 Speaker 4: far more answers to prayer once they start believing for 523 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 4: where God knows this possible instead of being paralyzed by 524 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 4: the present. 525 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,800 Speaker 5: And when we minister to people like Jesus did, instead 526 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 5: of being as pessimistic as they are, we get to 527 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 5: share in the joy as God moves them forward in life. 528 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 5: Now we're called to do that is the Body of 529 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 5: Christ and a world where sin brings so much pressure 530 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 5: and so many problems into people's lives. Like Jesus, we're 531 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,560 Speaker 5: called to help people get up and do what causes 532 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,160 Speaker 5: them to move forward through faith in God. 533 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 3: At a significant life. We believe it reaching overlook places 534 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 3: with the hope of Jesus Christ. One such place is 535 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 3: Madia Pradation, Dear. This state alone accounts for nine and 536 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 3: a half percent of the unreached people groups. 537 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 5: In the world. 538 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 3: Through the generosity of believers like you, we've helped plant 539 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 3: five hundred forty churches that have led over twenty one 540 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 3: thousand locals to Christ. We've also helped redeem those communities 541 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 3: from their centuries long tradition of forced prostitution by offering 542 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 3: other alternative. The House of Palms, where eighty six children 543 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 3: are cared for disciple and educated. These girls are now 544 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 3: serving God and there studying to become flight attendants, pharmacists, 545 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 3: and nurses. Jim and Tim are also dedicated a second 546 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 3: campus which will house, train and care for one hundred 547 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 3: more children. God is at work in India and there's 548 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,239 Speaker 3: still much work to be done. Consider partnering with us 549 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 3: by giving online at a significant life dot com. 550 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 6: The podcast The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham 551 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 6: is a moving and inspiring Biblical audio experience that will 552 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 6: help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In 553 00:30:56,560 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 6: each episode, you'll learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life. 554 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 3: Each cinematic episode is a journey through the Bible's most 555 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 3: profound stories that will strengthen your appreciation of the Word 556 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 3: and inspire you to keep learning. 557 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 6: Listen to The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham 558 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 6: on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.