April 9, 2025 • 37 mins
What if the most profound miracle isn't the one you're desperately seeking, but has been right in front of you all along? In this powerful conclusion to the "I Need a Miracle" series, we explore the awe-inspiring truth that we're not just searching for miracles—we're living within them every moment.
From the scientific wonder of our bodies (DNA that could stretch to the moon and back 150,000 times) to the cosmic dance we're part of (our galaxy spinning at 468,000 mph), miracles surround us constantly. Yet we often overlook these wonders while fixating on specific interventions we've requested from God.
Through the transfiguration account in Matthew 17, we witness Jesus revealed in His divine glory alongside Moses and Elijah, giving us a pattern for experiencing the seven miracles we often miss: the miracle of Jesus Himself, His glory, God's Word, Jesus' mission, the gospel, worship, and His continuous presence. When the disciples fell on their faces in fear, Jesus' response encapsulates everything we need: "He touched them, saying, 'Rise, have no fear.'" And when they looked up, "they saw no one but Jesus only."
This message provides a transformative framework for approaching our miracle-seeking: believe God can do it, pray He will, praise Him if He does, and worship Him regardless. When God performs miracles, it displays His power; when He chooses another path, it reveals His wisdom.
The testimony of a parent who overcame addiction, fought through court battles to regain custody of their children, and found their way back to faith reminds us of Jesus' unfailing presence: "No matter how far you have fallen, Jesus, your Good Shepherd, is always ready to bring you back."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hey, first Baptist Church, family and
friends and online audience, weare continuing in and actually
ending up our series togetherthat we have called I Need a
Miracle, as we are lookingthrough Jesus's miracles during
his earthly ministry, andactually last Sunday I thought
that would be the last one, butI really felt like that God was
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calling me to preach one more.
Maybe he wanted me to study onemore for my life.
I believe it's for me, but alsoI felt like that God was
calling me to preach one more.
Maybe he wanted me to study onemore for my life.
I believe it's for me, but alsoI believe it's for you.
I was going through a book thatwas written by a pastor.
His name is Mark Batterson, helives in Washington DC and this
book is called A Million LittleMiracles, and he was talking
about how we are all living amiracle.
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Listen to some of these factsthat he was talking about, that
we're not even aware of, thatare happening all around us.
All of these miracles that areright in front of us, that we're
experiencing, that are allaround us, that we're not even
aware of.
Mark Batterson said did yourealize that the earth is
spinning a thousand miles anhour on a Texas and you are on
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that earth.
The earth is also speedingthrough space at 67,000 miles an
hour.
So here we are, a thousandmiles an hour spinning.
We're speeding at 67,000 milesan hour and you still have a
good hair day.
I still have a good hair dayevery single day.
He said that we are traveling1.6 million miles through space
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every single day.
What a trip.
Sometimes you feel like thatyou're staying at home and
you're not going anywhere doinganything.
Nope, you traveled 1.6 millionmiles through space any given
day.
He said did you realize thatour galaxy is spinning at
468,000 miles per hour?
We're in this galaxy, the MilkyWay galaxy, that's also moving
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at a speed at 1.3 million milesper hour.
And you're not even dizzy, youknow.
Sometimes we feel like that.
Again, we're not doing anything, but yet so much is happening
around us.
You're living a miracle.
But not only are you living amiracle.
Have you thought about this?
That you are a living miracle,the way in which that God has
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created you and designed you?
Mark Batterson said that ifyour double helix DNA were
stretched from end to end, itwould reach from the moon and
back nearly 150,000 times.
Right now, you just inhaled aliter of air containing 25
sextillion molecules.
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Did you realize?
What you just inhaled is moremolecules than all of the sand
on all of the seashores of allof the earth, shores of all of
the earth.
He said that with everyheartbeat God designed you that
six quarts of blood wouldtransport oxygen throughout.
Listen to me 60,000 miles ofveins and arteries and
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capillaries.
That is twice the circumferenceof the earth.
Not only are we living amiracle, but also we are a
living miracle, and that's whatI want to talk about is is I
want to talk about the lastsermon in the series that I want
to call the miracle that isright in front of you.
The miracle right in front ofyou, and that's going to be from
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Matthew, chapter 17.
You can open up with me thereright now.
But I think it's justfascinating that if we're not
careful as we're praying forthis miracle I need a miracle
we're praying for a miracle thatif God doesn't do the miracle,
then what will end up happeningis often we'll get disappointed,
and then we'll get frustratedat God and our frustration can
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turn to anger toward God.
And so when we get caught up inour praying for a miracle.
And if God doesn't do themiracle, I don't know about your
sinfulness, but my sinfulness.
What I can often do is measureGod's goodness in my life
according to whether or not hedoes the miracle, when I think
that God is saying but look atall of the miracles that I'm
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doing around you, chip, you'reliving a miracle.
You are a living miracle.
So we've been going through thisseries together.
I Need a Miracle.
We talked about when your stormwon't stop and how Jesus
brought peace to the storm thatthe disciples were in.
We talked about when your sinwon't stop, when Jesus casted
the demons out of the man.
We talked about when you'rewaiting on a miracle, when Jesus
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fed the 5,000 people maybe evenupwards of 30,000 people with
five loaves and two pieces offish.
We talked about when you needhealing and the paralyzed man by
the pool and how God bringshealing into our life.
Last week we talked about whenour miracle seems impossible,
when people died three times inthe New Testament and Jesus
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walks on the scene and he raisesthem from the dead.
And today we're ending it withwhen the miracle is right in
front of you.
I just want to stop and saythank you.
Thank you for every story thaty'all have sent in that I've
been able to tell over theseries.
I've got one more story I wantto share with you today.
I want to say thank you foreverybody who came to the night
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of prayer and worship lastSunday night and where we got to
anoint people with oil and prayover them.
I've heard a Southern Baptistbefore say I've never seen
somebody anointed with oil.
He said I've seen biscuitsanointed with gravy but not
somebody anointed with oil.
And what an honor it was toobey James 5 and to see people
anointed with oil, marking themout, saying Lord, we ask that
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you would heal them from theirsickness.
I just want to remind you thatGod has been doing miracles
among us.
He has even for decades, as somany of our church members have
prayed that we would be able topurchase Mr Mellenchamp's
property adjacent to our churchproperty and Mr Mellenchamp
apparently had always said thechurch will never have my house,
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the church will never have myproperty.
From what we understand, mrMellenchamp died several months
ago and before he died he toldhis lawyers, unbeknownst to us
at the time, let the church haveright of refusal of our
property.
That is a miracle of God.
In fact, I want you to knowthat we gave you an opportunity
to give up through the month ofMarch, and the opportunity is
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still there, and so far, in amonth's time, god has used you
to raise over $117,000 for thisproperty.
And so we just want to saythank you.
We want to say praise the Lordfor all of the miracles that he
is doing among us.
In fact, if I could sum up andboil down this entire series
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into one slide, this is what itwould be what do you do when you
need a miracle?
Number one I want to encourageyou that you believe that God
can do the miracle.
Why?
Because God can do whatevermiracle it is that you need,
because God is all-powerful.
Number two I want to encourageyou to pray that God will do the
miracle.
You believe that he can and youpray that he would.
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You pray that it would be apart of his will in your life.
Number three I want toencourage you that you would
praise God if he does themiracle.
If God does the miracle in yourlife, you give him all the
glory, not doctors, not medicine, not procedures.
You give God all the glory.
And number four if he doesn'tdo the miracle, you worship God
anyway.
Worship God if he won't do themiracle.
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Why?
Because when God does miracles,it displays his power.
When God doesn't do the miracle, it displays his wisdom,
because God can and always willonly do what is best.
And even when we pray for themiracle and God decides not to
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do it, it's because he has abetter will, he has a better
plan, he has a better agendathan we do, and we get to
worship God, even for his wisdom, when he decides not to do the
miracle that we ask for.
So here we go, our last sermon.
You can open up to Matthew 17,and I just want to praise the
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Lord Jesus because he's beenwith us in such a powerful way.
He's been speaking to me and Ipray that he's been speaking to
you, and I want to talk to youabout how do we experience Jesus
on an everyday basis, likewe've been experiencing him so
powerfully together on Sundaymornings that we see all of
these physical miracles, that weare living and that we are a
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living miracle, but also we'vebeen experiencing all these
spiritual miracles of salvationsand baptisms and people
rededicating their life to Jesusand all this restoration and
reconciliation that has takenplace.
And so I want you to see themiracle that is right in front
of you For Matthew 17, numberone.
I want you to see the miraclethat is always right in front of
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you as you're praying for yourmiracle, that you don't miss the
miracle Number one, the miracleof Jesus.
Matthew 17, one says and aftersix days, jesus took with him
Peter James and John, hisbrother, and led them up on a
high mountain by themselves.
Just go on the scene with methat Jesus takes Peter James and
John up on a high mountain bythemselves.
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You know Hebrews chapter 12says that every time we come to
church together, we gathertogether as church, as the body
of Jesus Christ.
On the Lord's day on Sunday, itis like us going to Mount Zion
together.
It is a miracle.
The Bible says that it's likethat we are worshiping with the
angels, we're worshiping withthe saints that are all over the
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earth, and the Bible says it'slike we're worshiping with the
saints that have already passedon before us.
It's a miracle when we gettogether and we gather in
worship.
But also notice that Jesus tookwith him just Peter James and
John, his inner circle, hissmall group.
Every time that you get in agroup, a small group, a Sunday
school, a Bible study, whateverit is, god is doing a miracle.
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Don't miss that miracle in yourlife.
And it says that Jesus tookthem by themselves.
Don't underestimate, don't missthe miracle of when you get by
yourself with Jesus.
That is one of the mostimportant miracles that you can
experience on a daily basis.
When you get alone with Jesus,and in fact, I would say, how do
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you not miss the miracle ofJesus in your life?
I want to encourage you to makesure to get alone with him, by
yourself with him, on a dailybasis, so that you can
experience him on your own.
Get together with others inworship, get together with
others in group, get alone withhim in devotion, in the word of
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God, in prayer, so that youdon't miss the miracle of Jesus.
Jesus, the greatest miracle thatwe could ever experience.
This Jesus, that is the Son ofGod, and he came down from
heaven and he took on humanflesh.
He remained as fully God, hebecame fully man.
The Bible says that everythinghe did was sinless and he was
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righteous in everything.
And Jesus suffered for our sinand he died on the cross and he
bore our sin.
He took on our sin.
He died for our sin.
The Bible says that he was deadfor three days.
And the miracle of theresurrection he rose from the
dead and Jesus is alive.
He's at the right hand of theFather and he is coming back
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again to rescue us, to deliverus, to reestablish his kingdom
that we get to experience forall of eternity.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus in
your life and get with him andspend time with him and be alone
with him and learn from him andlove him.
And number two, I want you tosee the miracle of Jesus' glory.
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Matthew 17 2 says and Jesus wastransfigured before them.
What does that mean?
Well, it says that his faceshone like the sun and his
clothes became white as light.
What is happening in thispassage?
What is happening is, for thefirst time, they're getting to
see Jesus' divine glory.
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They've been seeing Jesus'perfect humanity, but now they
get to see Jesus for who he wasfor all of eternity past and who
he will be for all of eternityfuture.
Do you realize that even John17, 5, jesus said Father, would
you glorify me like the glorythat I have had with you
throughout eternity past.
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Do you realize?
In Genesis it says that Godcreated light, let there be
light on the first day, but hedidn't create the sun until day
four.
What was the light?
I believe it was the light ofthe glory of Jesus Christ.
It says in Revelation, chapter22, for all of eternity and all
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of heaven, that there will notbe any need for a son there,
because the Lord, your God, willbe your light.
What is that light?
I believe that it is the gloryof the divinity of Jesus Christ.
And what a reminder that that'swhat we get to live by on a
daily basis.
But that's not all.
Jesus also shares that glorywith you.
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It's the miracle that Jesus issharing with you.
In 2nd Corinthians, 3, 18, itsays and we all, with unveiled
face beholding the glory of theLord, are being transformed into
the same image from one degreeof glory to another.
For this comes from the Lord,who is the Spirit.
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Don't miss the miracle of theglory of Jesus.
It says that we are called tobehold his glory, to take in his
glory to look upon, to fix oureyes upon his glory, and when
you do that is when Jesus startsto transform you.
You're being transformed intothe same image.
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That's the goal of God in yourlife that you're being
transformed into the image ofJesus, the likeness of Jesus, he
says, from one degree of gloryto another.
What does that mean?
We are all at a differentspiritual step.
We're all at a differentspiritual place, and don't
compare yourself to where theyare spiritually.
You look to Jesus and you justtake your next step toward him,
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spiritually becoming like him,and it all happens.
It says this comes from theLord, who is the Spirit.
It all happens by the power ofthe Holy Spirit.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus' glory
.
And how do you not miss it?
You see him for who he is.
So then, the question is well,how do you see Jesus for who he
is?
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Well, number three is themiracle of God's word.
Don't miss the miracle of God'sword in your life.
Matthew 17, 3 says and behold,there appeared to them Moses and
Elijah talking with Jesus.
The miracle of God's word.
Think about it.
The miracle of God's word isthat God has written down for
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you and for everyone in the pastand now, for everyone in the
future, every single word thathe wants you and all of humanity
to know for all of eternity.
This is the word of God and itnever changes.
It's never less, it's nevermore.
It is perfect, it is complete,it is sufficient for your life.
That is a miracle, and don'tmiss the miracle of God's word
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in your life.
There appeared to them.
So if you could go on the scenewith me, you've got Jesus,
you've got Peter James and John,and you've got now Moses and
Elijah, who had died, and herethey are back from the dead on
this mountain out of nowhere.
So Peter James and John areobviously freaking out right.
And so here's what you havePeter James and John, who are
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three disciples, three apostlesand three authors of New
Testament books, and then you'vegot Moses and Elijah.
Moses, who authored the firstfive books of the Old Testament,
and Elijah, who is representingas one of the great prophets of
God.
He's representing all of theprophets throughout all of the
Old Testament.
So here's what we have we havethe Old Testament, we have the
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New Testament and we have Jesus,who's the center of it all.
And here's what Jesus is sayingis don't miss my word.
He's saying Old Testament, newTestament.
Jesus saying when you get intothe miracle of my word then it
is you see that it's all aboutme.
So don't miss the miracle ofJesus.
By beholding his glory and theway that you behold his glory is
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you get into the word of God.
And the three things I wouldtell you about the secret to not
miss the miracle of being inthe word of God is pick a time,
pick a place and pick a plan.
Pick a time every day, pick aplace every day and pick a plan
every day that you have aroutine, a rhythm, a habit, a
discipline, that you are gettinginto God's word the same time,
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the same place and the same plan.
For me, I have to get up at 5am so that I can get into God's
word.
I always go to the same seat inour love seat in our living
room, and you know that it'smine because it has my
indentation.
It's got the curvature of methat I always sit there and I
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love just getting into theone-year Bible, because I can't
think of anything more importantthan reading God's word on an
annual basis, year after yearafter year.
I don't do it because I'm apastor and I don't do it because
I'm a good person.
I do it because I'm a sinnerand I'm desperate to spend time
with Jesus, because I don't wantwhat Chip can get, I want what
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Jesus can give.
I don't want to miss themiracle of God's word.
Number four is the miracle ofJesus' mission.
And isn't this what God's worddoes in our life?
As we don't miss the miracle ofJesus so that we can behold his
glory in the word of God, thenwhat does the word of God turn
us out to do?
It turns us out to live ourlife on mission.
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Matthew 17, 4,.
The Bible says that Peter saidto Jesus Lord, it is good that
we are here.
If you wish, I will make threetents here one for you, one for
Moses and one for Elijah.
In the gospel, luke says thatPeter's just got a ramble in
here.
Like Peter doesn't even reallyknow what he's saying, he's kind
of talking out of his mind.
Why?
Because here's what we have.
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We've got Peter, james and John.
We've got Jesus.
We've got Jesus who is showinghis divine glory.
We've got Moses and Elijah.
I mean, they literally cannotbelieve their eyes what is
happening, what they're gettingto experience right now.
So Peter doesn't even know whathe's saying.
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He just feels like he has tosay something and his words may
be wrong, but his heart is right.
I wonder if Peter thinks thisis the beginning of heaven.
People are raised from the dead.
They get to see Jesus in all ofhis glory.
They're up on a high mountain.
Maybe this is the beginning ofthe end.
And Peter says can we just stayhere, can we just never leave?
Like we'll make three tentshere for y'all we don't even
need a tent.
Like I'll sleep on a rock, Idon't care, I just don't want
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this experience to end.
You ever felt that way.
You remember going to churchcamp, maybe as a kid or maybe as
a teenager, and you just didnot want that week to end.
Or maybe you've been a part ofa revival that God was just
working in your life and in thelives of others and you didn't
want it to stop.
Maybe you've been to a churchconference before, or maybe just
on Sundays you wish that youcould experience Sunday every
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single day of the week.
And Peter's like can we juststay here forever?
And the whole point of thepassage is no, why can't you
stay here?
Why can't you stay here?
Because, while it is importantthat we are gathered to worship
on a weekly basis on the Lord'sDay, as the body of Jesus, the
bride of Jesus, together.
It is important that we gatherto worship.
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It is equally important that wescatter to witness.
We gather to worship and wescatter to witness.
It's the miracle of the missionof Jesus.
Why do we do that?
Because not everyone will go tochurch, but the church can go
to everyone.
So we are called to people whohave not experienced Jesus, so
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that we can witness the gospelto them, so that they can
believe in Jesus, so then theycan be a part of the church, so
then they can experience Jesuslike we get to experience Jesus.
So I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus,
don't miss the glory of Jesus.
How do you behold the glory ofJesus In the word of God?
What does the word of God do inyour life?
Sends you out on the miracle ofthe mission of God.
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And then, number five don'tmiss the miracle of the gospel.
What do we do on mission?
We spread the gospel of JesusChrist, matthew 17, 5.
He was still speaking when,behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them and a voicefrom the cloud said this is my
beloved son, with whom I am wellpleased.
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Listen to him.
Can you imagine the scene?
You're Peter, james and John.
Jesus calls you up on a highmountain.
You behold his glory, and Mosesand Elijah come up.
And if that's not enough, nowthe Shekinah glory, the very
presence of God, like a brightcloud, comes and overshadows or
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envelops you.
Luke says that they entered intothe cloud, or the cloud moved
not just over them but also ontop of them and it surrounded
them.
And so now they can't seeanything because of the
brightness and the cloudiness.
And even when they're blinded,they hear the very voice of God.
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And what does God say?
It's amazing that God says thesame thing that he said at the
baptism of Jesus.
They had only heard the voiceof God one other time, and he
said the exact same thing.
In other words, if you couldhear the audible voice of God,
this is the one thing that hewould want to say to you.
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This is my beloved son, withwhom I am well pleased.
Listen to him.
Just to break that down for asecond this Jesus, jesus of
Nazareth, fully man, is God's,is my God, says my beloved son.
He's the son of God, he's fullyGod.
Then God says I am well pleasedwith him, with whom I am well
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pleased.
Jesus never did anything wrong.
Everything that he did wasright.
So when God looks at Jesus, hefinds pleasure, full pleasure,
complete pleasure in Jesus.
And that's the beauty of thegospel.
When you put your faith inJesus, then God saves you.
You're not saved by your works,you're saved by Jesus's works.
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So when you put your faith inJesus, then your salvation is
found in him.
And the same thing is true ofthe pleasure of God in your life
.
The pleasure of God, god beingpleased with you is not based on
your works.
It's not based on yourobedience or your disobedience.
He's not pleased with you anddispleased with you, but because
that he is pleased in Christ,he, if you are in Christ, then
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he is pleased with you.
The pleasure of God on yourlife is not because of you, but
it's because of his Son, withwhom he is well pleased.
And I don't know about you, butthat makes me want to listen to
Jesus all the more.
God says listen to him.
I have to wonder if God allowedthis event to happen in Jesus's
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life, this transfiguration,because Jesus was going to the
cross and Jesus is even about topray here in a few days.
He's about to pray.
Lord, if it be your will, letthis cut pass from me, but not
my will.
Let your will be done.
Jesus was obviously dreadingthe cross, dreading the
suffering, dreading the pain,dreading the persecution,
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dreading the torment.
Could it be that God allowedhim, in this moment, to be
transfigured, so that Jesuswould be reminded of the glory
to come?
Could it be that God allowedthis to happen in the disciples'
life because of all thesuffering that they were gonna
go through because they followJesus, that he gave them a
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glimpse of the glory of Jesusthat they would get to
experience forever, and it wasan encouragement and empowerment
to them?
Could it be for you and for methat God put this in his word so
that we can understand theglory of Jesus that we have to
look forward to, that we can gothrough any suffering, that we
can go through everything thatGod has called us to, every
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hardship, every difficulty,every trial, every persecution,
because we can live for theglory of Jesus.
That's why we want to invitepeople to Good Friday of Jesus.
That's why we want to invitepeople to Good Friday, april
18th, that evening, 530 andseven o'clock, because we want
people to, with us understand,comprehend and experience the
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suffering of Jesus for our sin.
That's why we want to invitepeople to Easter Sunday morning
so that they can experience theglory of Jesus in the
resurrection.
I want to encourage you toinvite as many people as you can
Personally, invite themVerbally, invite them Share our
social media posts, not becausewe want them just to come to our
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church, not because we thinkwe're a great church, a better
church.
But here's the deal is, we knowwe're going to preach the
gospel, we know we're going tosing the gospel, we know that
we're going to give them thegospel.
I want to encourage you tospeak them because I believe
that Jesus wants to speak tothem.
God said listen to him.
Hebrews 1, 1 through 3.
Long ago, at many times, inmany ways, god spoke to our
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fathers by the prophets, but inthese last days, god speaks to
us by his son.
God's no longer just speakingto us through other men.
God uses men, god uses women,but ultimately he's speaking to
us even when he uses people.
He's speaking to us through thevoice of Jesus Christ, saying
he is the radiance of the gloryof God and the exact imprint of
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his nature.
We want people to hear Jesusand we want people to see his
glory.
Do you realize that Peter, inhis own book, 2 Peter, that he
recounted this experience up onthe mountain with Jesus, 2 Peter
, 1, 17, says for when hereceived honor and glory from
God, the Father, and the voicewas born to him by the majestic
glory, saying this is my belovedson, with whom I am well
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pleased, we ourselves heard thisvery voice from heaven, for we
were with him on the holymountain.
And listen to verse 19.
So we have the prophetic wordmade more sure.
Here's what Jesus, here's whatPeter is saying.
Peter is saying I've heard theaudible voice of God and I have
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the written prophetic word ofGod, the scriptures.
He said I am more, even more,confident in the written word,
and here's why Because anybodycould say anything that they
heard God say.
But when we have the miracle ofthe word of God, we can be sure
that these are the words of God.
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This comes from the voice ofGod.
This is exactly what God wantsus to know.
He says don't miss the miracleof the word of God, where we
find the miracle of the gospelof Jesus Christ.
How do you not miss the miracleof the gospel.
You just keep believing inJesus and you keep listening to
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him.
Every time you meditate, you'relistening to him.
Every time you get in the wordof God, you're listening to him.
Every time you pray, you'relistening to him.
Every time you come and be apart of the worship service, you
hear the preaching of God.
You're listening to him.
Every time you come and be apart of the worship service, you
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hear the preaching of God.
You're listening to him.
Every time you go to your group, your Bible study experience,
you're listening to him.
Because what do we do when weexperience the miracle of the
gospel?
Number six we experience themiracle of worship.
The gospel drives us intoworship.
We can't help but worship God.
Don't miss the miracle ofworship in your life.
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Matthew 17, 6 says when thedisciples heard what God said
this is my son, in whom I'm well.
Please listen to him.
They've experienced the cloud.
They're up on the mountain.
They've seen the glory of Jesus.
Moses and Elijah are there.
There's only one thing thedisciples could do.
When the disciples heard this,they fell on their faces and
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they were terrified.
They were overwhelmed with whatJesus had allowed them to
experience in their life.
And I don't know about you, butsometimes that just happens in
my life, not all the time, butthere are times where I want to
worship Jesus.
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But there are times that Idon't even have a choice,
because of God's grace, becauseof God's mercy, because of God's
goodness, because of God'spower, because of God's glory
that he allows me to be a partof, and there are times that I
just have to get on my knees,get on my face or put my hands
in the air and just worship him,and God loves putting those
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moments in our lives.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of worship in
your life, where you are just soin awe of Jesus, in all that he
is, in all that he's done, inawe that he's doing, in awe that
he's promised to do, that youjust stop and you just worship
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him, this genuine worship ofJesus in your life.
Don't miss the miracle of Jesusby the miracle of worshiping
him, by just getting on yourknees and getting on your face
and just saying Jesus, I worshipyou, jesus, I love you, jesus,
I praise you, jesus, I glorifyyou.
And then, lastly, the last pointof the whole series.
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I just wanted to end it in thisway, like a bookend the miracle
of Jesus, number seven, matthew17, seven To finish it all up.
But Jesus came and he touchedthem, saying rise, have no fear.
And they lifted up their eyesand they saw no one but Jesus.
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Only, if you can go there,jesus has called you up on this
mountain, peter, james and John.
Jesus is transfigured into allof his glory.
Moses and Elijah show up fromthe dead.
The cloud, the presence, theShekinah glory of God envelops
them.
They are terrified and theyhave fallen on their faces in
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complete worship of the entiremoment.
And what happens next?
They feel the hand of Jesus ashe just lays his hand on them
and he touches them and he saysrise, have no fear.
I don't know what you're goingthrough in your life, but Jesus
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just wants you to hear him as hetouches your life and he says
just get up to rise, don't haveany fear, be bold, be of good
courage, listen to me and followme.
Here's what Jesus is saying.
Don't miss the miracle of me.
Jesus is saying I've got you.
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So they get up.
And it says they saw no one butJesus.
Only, don't miss the miracle ofJesus.
That it's all and it's onlyabout him.
He is all you need and he isthe miracle right in front of
you.
He wants to touch your life, hewants to raise you up and he
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wants you to live in courage andin the boldness that he has
called you to accomplish Hiswill.
One of you wrote in a story andsaid this I grew up in church
but I eventually strayed from myfaith and fell into a 10-year
battle with a drug addiction,said my relationship at the time
was toxic.
Neither of us walked with Godand both of us were battling
addiction.
Things hit rock bottom when ourchildren were replaced into
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foster care, but that's when Godstepped in.
By his grace, I overcame myaddiction, spent two years
fighting through court battlesand opposition to get my
children back.
He said God never left my side.
He gave me strength, hesurrounded me with support and
ultimately restored my family.
He said I now have full custodyof my two beautiful children
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and they have been the veryinstruments that God used to
bring me back to him.
He said they led me back tochurch, back to healing, back to
the love of Christ.
And here are the final words hesaid no matter how far you have
fallen, jesus, your goodshepherd is always ready to
bring you back To close theseries.
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Jesus is the miracle right infront of you.
Don't miss his glory by gettinginto his word, which will send
you on mission to spread thegospel, which the gospel then
leads us and leads the peoplethat we're ministering to into
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worship of him.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus, who
is always right in front of him.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus, who
is always right in front of you.
As you pray for your miracle,never forget and don't miss that
the one you're praying to isthe miracle, and there's no
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greater miracle thanexperiencing him on a daily
basis in your life and all thathe wants you to experience from
him.
Let me pray for you, heavenlyFather.
I just pray for everyone rightnow, god, I pray for myself and
I pray for them, everyone who'slistening.
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And God, I just ask that wewould not miss the miracle of
Jesus.
May we continue to experiencethe miracle of Jesus.
God, I pray that we wouldcontinue to experience the
miracle of his glory, themiracle of his word, his mission
, his gospel, his worship.
We thank you that we are livingin miracles, that you have
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miracles happening all around us, that we are a living miracle,
that Jesus is the greatestmiracle and God, even as we
experience him.
We have other miracles thatwe're praying for, that we're
asking for that, god, we praythat you would perform these
miracles and God, if you don't,we'll worship you.
If you do, we'll praise youBecause, jesus, you're the
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miracle that we all need.
In Jesus' name, I pray Amen.
And maybe you've been listeningand you want to invite that
Jesus into your life right here,right now.
You can do that.
I can't save you and I can'tpray this for you, but if you
want to finally and fully andforever give your life to Jesus,
then right here, right now, inyour own words, in your own
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heart, in your own words, youcan pray to Jesus.
You can say Jesus, I need youand Jesus, I believe in you and
Jesus, I believe that you diedon the cross for my sins and I'm
asking you to forgive me of allof my sin.
In Jesus, I believe that yourose from the dead.
Because you're alive.
I want to turn from my sin andI want to turn and I want to
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live my life for you.
I can't do it in perfection,but I can do it in direction.
I just want to follow you withmy life.
And the Bible says Romans 10, 9,that if you confess with your
mouth that Jesus is Lord andbelieve in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, youwill be saved.
So confess Jesus right now.
Jesus be the Lord of my life,and the Bible says you will be
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saved.
And if you just prayed that,I'm going to be the first one to
say congratulations, welcome tothe family, the family of God.
We're here to serve you.
It's the best decision youcould ever make.
We love you but, even moreimportantly, jesus loves you.
I pray that this series andthis sermon has been a blessing
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to your life and if we can everdo anything for you, never
hesitate to let us know.
We love you, we're praying foryou.
We'll see you soon.
Well, hey, first Baptist Church, family and
friends and online audience, weare continuing in and actually
ending up our series togetherthat we have called I Need a
Miracle, as we are lookingthrough Jesus's miracles during
his earthly ministry, andactually last Sunday I thought
that would be the last one, butI really felt like that God was
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calling me to preach one more.
Maybe he wanted me to study onemore for my life.
I believe it's for me, but alsoI felt like that God was
calling me to preach one more.
Maybe he wanted me to study onemore for my life.
I believe it's for me, but alsoI believe it's for you.
I was going through a book thatwas written by a pastor.
His name is Mark Batterson, helives in Washington DC and this
book is called A Million LittleMiracles, and he was talking
about how we are all living amiracle.
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Listen to some of these factsthat he was talking about, that
we're not even aware of, thatare happening all around us.
All of these miracles that areright in front of us, that we're
experiencing, that are allaround us, that we're not even
aware of.
Mark Batterson said did yourealize that the earth is
spinning a thousand miles anhour on a Texas and you are on
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that earth.
The earth is also speedingthrough space at 67,000 miles an
hour.
So here we are, a thousandmiles an hour spinning.
We're speeding at 67,000 milesan hour and you still have a
good hair day.
I still have a good hair dayevery single day.
He said that we are traveling1.6 million miles through space
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every single day.
What a trip.
Sometimes you feel like thatyou're staying at home and
you're not going anywhere doinganything.
Nope, you traveled 1.6 millionmiles through space any given
day.
He said did you realize thatour galaxy is spinning at
468,000 miles per hour?
We're in this galaxy, the MilkyWay galaxy, that's also moving
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at a speed at 1.3 million milesper hour.
And you're not even dizzy, youknow.
Sometimes we feel like that.
Again, we're not doing anything, but yet so much is happening
around us.
You're living a miracle.
But not only are you living amiracle.
Have you thought about this?
That you are a living miracle,the way in which that God has
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created you and designed you?
Mark Batterson said that ifyour double helix DNA were
stretched from end to end, itwould reach from the moon and
back nearly 150,000 times.
Right now, you just inhaled aliter of air containing 25
sextillion molecules.
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Did you realize?
What you just inhaled is moremolecules than all of the sand
on all of the seashores of allof the earth, shores of all of
the earth.
He said that with everyheartbeat God designed you that
six quarts of blood wouldtransport oxygen throughout.
Listen to me 60,000 miles ofveins and arteries and
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capillaries.
That is twice the circumferenceof the earth.
Not only are we living amiracle, but also we are a
living miracle, and that's whatI want to talk about is is I
want to talk about the lastsermon in the series that I want
to call the miracle that isright in front of you.
The miracle right in front ofyou, and that's going to be from
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Matthew, chapter 17.
You can open up with me thereright now.
But I think it's justfascinating that if we're not
careful as we're praying forthis miracle I need a miracle
we're praying for a miracle thatif God doesn't do the miracle,
then what will end up happeningis often we'll get disappointed,
and then we'll get frustratedat God and our frustration can
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turn to anger toward God.
And so when we get caught up inour praying for a miracle.
And if God doesn't do themiracle, I don't know about your
sinfulness, but my sinfulness.
What I can often do is measureGod's goodness in my life
according to whether or not hedoes the miracle, when I think
that God is saying but look atall of the miracles that I'm
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doing around you, chip, you'reliving a miracle.
You are a living miracle.
So we've been going through thisseries together.
I Need a Miracle.
We talked about when your stormwon't stop and how Jesus
brought peace to the storm thatthe disciples were in.
We talked about when your sinwon't stop, when Jesus casted
the demons out of the man.
We talked about when you'rewaiting on a miracle, when Jesus
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fed the 5,000 people maybe evenupwards of 30,000 people with
five loaves and two pieces offish.
We talked about when you needhealing and the paralyzed man by
the pool and how God bringshealing into our life.
Last week we talked about whenour miracle seems impossible,
when people died three times inthe New Testament and Jesus
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walks on the scene and he raisesthem from the dead.
And today we're ending it withwhen the miracle is right in
front of you.
I just want to stop and saythank you.
Thank you for every story thaty'all have sent in that I've
been able to tell over theseries.
I've got one more story I wantto share with you today.
I want to say thank you foreverybody who came to the night
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of prayer and worship lastSunday night and where we got to
anoint people with oil and prayover them.
I've heard a Southern Baptistbefore say I've never seen
somebody anointed with oil.
He said I've seen biscuitsanointed with gravy but not
somebody anointed with oil.
And what an honor it was toobey James 5 and to see people
anointed with oil, marking themout, saying Lord, we ask that
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you would heal them from theirsickness.
I just want to remind you thatGod has been doing miracles
among us.
He has even for decades, as somany of our church members have
prayed that we would be able topurchase Mr Mellenchamp's
property adjacent to our churchproperty and Mr Mellenchamp
apparently had always said thechurch will never have my house,
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the church will never have myproperty.
From what we understand, mrMellenchamp died several months
ago and before he died he toldhis lawyers, unbeknownst to us
at the time, let the church haveright of refusal of our
property.
That is a miracle of God.
In fact, I want you to knowthat we gave you an opportunity
to give up through the month ofMarch, and the opportunity is
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still there, and so far, in amonth's time, god has used you
to raise over $117,000 for thisproperty.
And so we just want to saythank you.
We want to say praise the Lordfor all of the miracles that he
is doing among us.
In fact, if I could sum up andboil down this entire series
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into one slide, this is what itwould be what do you do when you
need a miracle?
Number one I want to encourageyou that you believe that God
can do the miracle.
Why?
Because God can do whatevermiracle it is that you need,
because God is all-powerful.
Number two I want to encourageyou to pray that God will do the
miracle.
You believe that he can and youpray that he would.
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You pray that it would be apart of his will in your life.
Number three I want toencourage you that you would
praise God if he does themiracle.
If God does the miracle in yourlife, you give him all the
glory, not doctors, not medicine, not procedures.
You give God all the glory.
And number four if he doesn'tdo the miracle, you worship God
anyway.
Worship God if he won't do themiracle.
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Why?
Because when God does miracles,it displays his power.
When God doesn't do the miracle, it displays his wisdom,
because God can and always willonly do what is best.
And even when we pray for themiracle and God decides not to
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do it, it's because he has abetter will, he has a better
plan, he has a better agendathan we do, and we get to
worship God, even for his wisdom, when he decides not to do the
miracle that we ask for.
So here we go, our last sermon.
You can open up to Matthew 17,and I just want to praise the
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Lord Jesus because he's beenwith us in such a powerful way.
He's been speaking to me and Ipray that he's been speaking to
you, and I want to talk to youabout how do we experience Jesus
on an everyday basis, likewe've been experiencing him so
powerfully together on Sundaymornings that we see all of
these physical miracles, that weare living and that we are a
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living miracle, but also we'vebeen experiencing all these
spiritual miracles of salvationsand baptisms and people
rededicating their life to Jesusand all this restoration and
reconciliation that has takenplace.
And so I want you to see themiracle that is right in front
of you For Matthew 17, numberone.
I want you to see the miraclethat is always right in front of
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you as you're praying for yourmiracle, that you don't miss the
miracle Number one, the miracleof Jesus.
Matthew 17, one says and aftersix days, jesus took with him
Peter James and John, hisbrother, and led them up on a
high mountain by themselves.
Just go on the scene with methat Jesus takes Peter James and
John up on a high mountain bythemselves.
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You know Hebrews chapter 12says that every time we come to
church together, we gathertogether as church, as the body
of Jesus Christ.
On the Lord's day on Sunday, itis like us going to Mount Zion
together.
It is a miracle.
The Bible says that it's likethat we are worshiping with the
angels, we're worshiping withthe saints that are all over the
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earth, and the Bible says it'slike we're worshiping with the
saints that have already passedon before us.
It's a miracle when we gettogether and we gather in
worship.
But also notice that Jesus tookwith him just Peter James and
John, his inner circle, hissmall group.
Every time that you get in agroup, a small group, a Sunday
school, a Bible study, whateverit is, god is doing a miracle.
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Don't miss that miracle in yourlife.
And it says that Jesus tookthem by themselves.
Don't underestimate, don't missthe miracle of when you get by
yourself with Jesus.
That is one of the mostimportant miracles that you can
experience on a daily basis.
When you get alone with Jesus,and in fact, I would say, how do
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you not miss the miracle ofJesus in your life?
I want to encourage you to makesure to get alone with him, by
yourself with him, on a dailybasis, so that you can
experience him on your own.
Get together with others inworship, get together with
others in group, get alone withhim in devotion, in the word of
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God, in prayer, so that youdon't miss the miracle of Jesus.
Jesus, the greatest miracle thatwe could ever experience.
This Jesus, that is the Son ofGod, and he came down from
heaven and he took on humanflesh.
He remained as fully God, hebecame fully man.
The Bible says that everythinghe did was sinless and he was
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righteous in everything.
And Jesus suffered for our sinand he died on the cross and he
bore our sin.
He took on our sin.
He died for our sin.
The Bible says that he was deadfor three days.
And the miracle of theresurrection he rose from the
dead and Jesus is alive.
He's at the right hand of theFather and he is coming back
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again to rescue us, to deliverus, to reestablish his kingdom
that we get to experience forall of eternity.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus in
your life and get with him andspend time with him and be alone
with him and learn from him andlove him.
And number two, I want you tosee the miracle of Jesus' glory.
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Matthew 17 2 says and Jesus wastransfigured before them.
What does that mean?
Well, it says that his faceshone like the sun and his
clothes became white as light.
What is happening in thispassage?
What is happening is, for thefirst time, they're getting to
see Jesus' divine glory.
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They've been seeing Jesus'perfect humanity, but now they
get to see Jesus for who he wasfor all of eternity past and who
he will be for all of eternityfuture.
Do you realize that even John17, 5, jesus said Father, would
you glorify me like the glorythat I have had with you
throughout eternity past.
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Do you realize?
In Genesis it says that Godcreated light, let there be
light on the first day, but hedidn't create the sun until day
four.
What was the light?
I believe it was the light ofthe glory of Jesus Christ.
It says in Revelation, chapter22, for all of eternity and all
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of heaven, that there will notbe any need for a son there,
because the Lord, your God, willbe your light.
What is that light?
I believe that it is the gloryof the divinity of Jesus Christ.
And what a reminder that that'swhat we get to live by on a
daily basis.
But that's not all.
Jesus also shares that glorywith you.
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It's the miracle that Jesus issharing with you.
In 2nd Corinthians, 3, 18, itsays and we all, with unveiled
face beholding the glory of theLord, are being transformed into
the same image from one degreeof glory to another.
For this comes from the Lord,who is the Spirit.
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Don't miss the miracle of theglory of Jesus.
It says that we are called tobehold his glory, to take in his
glory to look upon, to fix oureyes upon his glory, and when
you do that is when Jesus startsto transform you.
You're being transformed intothe same image.
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That's the goal of God in yourlife that you're being
transformed into the image ofJesus, the likeness of Jesus, he
says, from one degree of gloryto another.
What does that mean?
We are all at a differentspiritual step.
We're all at a differentspiritual place, and don't
compare yourself to where theyare spiritually.
You look to Jesus and you justtake your next step toward him,
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spiritually becoming like him,and it all happens.
It says this comes from theLord, who is the Spirit.
It all happens by the power ofthe Holy Spirit.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus' glory
.
And how do you not miss it?
You see him for who he is.
So then, the question is well,how do you see Jesus for who he
is?
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Well, number three is themiracle of God's word.
Don't miss the miracle of God'sword in your life.
Matthew 17, 3 says and behold,there appeared to them Moses and
Elijah talking with Jesus.
The miracle of God's word.
Think about it.
The miracle of God's word isthat God has written down for
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you and for everyone in the pastand now, for everyone in the
future, every single word thathe wants you and all of humanity
to know for all of eternity.
This is the word of God and itnever changes.
It's never less, it's nevermore.
It is perfect, it is complete,it is sufficient for your life.
That is a miracle, and don'tmiss the miracle of God's word
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in your life.
There appeared to them.
So if you could go on the scenewith me, you've got Jesus,
you've got Peter James and John,and you've got now Moses and
Elijah, who had died, and herethey are back from the dead on
this mountain out of nowhere.
So Peter James and John areobviously freaking out right.
And so here's what you havePeter James and John, who are
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three disciples, three apostlesand three authors of New
Testament books, and then you'vegot Moses and Elijah.
Moses, who authored the firstfive books of the Old Testament,
and Elijah, who is representingas one of the great prophets of
God.
He's representing all of theprophets throughout all of the
Old Testament.
So here's what we have we havethe Old Testament, we have the
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New Testament and we have Jesus,who's the center of it all.
And here's what Jesus is sayingis don't miss my word.
He's saying Old Testament, newTestament.
Jesus saying when you get intothe miracle of my word then it
is you see that it's all aboutme.
So don't miss the miracle ofJesus.
By beholding his glory and theway that you behold his glory is
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you get into the word of God.
And the three things I wouldtell you about the secret to not
miss the miracle of being inthe word of God is pick a time,
pick a place and pick a plan.
Pick a time every day, pick aplace every day and pick a plan
every day that you have aroutine, a rhythm, a habit, a
discipline, that you are gettinginto God's word the same time,
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the same place and the same plan.
For me, I have to get up at 5am so that I can get into God's
word.
I always go to the same seat inour love seat in our living
room, and you know that it'smine because it has my
indentation.
It's got the curvature of methat I always sit there and I
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love just getting into theone-year Bible, because I can't
think of anything more importantthan reading God's word on an
annual basis, year after yearafter year.
I don't do it because I'm apastor and I don't do it because
I'm a good person.
I do it because I'm a sinnerand I'm desperate to spend time
with Jesus, because I don't wantwhat Chip can get, I want what
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Jesus can give.
I don't want to miss themiracle of God's word.
Number four is the miracle ofJesus' mission.
And isn't this what God's worddoes in our life?
As we don't miss the miracle ofJesus so that we can behold his
glory in the word of God, thenwhat does the word of God turn
us out to do?
It turns us out to live ourlife on mission.
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Matthew 17, 4,.
The Bible says that Peter saidto Jesus Lord, it is good that
we are here.
If you wish, I will make threetents here one for you, one for
Moses and one for Elijah.
In the gospel, luke says thatPeter's just got a ramble in
here.
Like Peter doesn't even reallyknow what he's saying, he's kind
of talking out of his mind.
Why?
Because here's what we have.
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We've got Peter, james and John.
We've got Jesus.
We've got Jesus who is showinghis divine glory.
We've got Moses and Elijah.
I mean, they literally cannotbelieve their eyes what is
happening, what they're gettingto experience right now.
So Peter doesn't even know whathe's saying.
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He just feels like he has tosay something and his words may
be wrong, but his heart is right.
I wonder if Peter thinks thisis the beginning of heaven.
People are raised from the dead.
They get to see Jesus in all ofhis glory.
They're up on a high mountain.
Maybe this is the beginning ofthe end.
And Peter says can we just stayhere, can we just never leave?
Like we'll make three tentshere for y'all we don't even
need a tent.
Like I'll sleep on a rock, Idon't care, I just don't want
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this experience to end.
You ever felt that way.
You remember going to churchcamp, maybe as a kid or maybe as
a teenager, and you just didnot want that week to end.
Or maybe you've been a part ofa revival that God was just
working in your life and in thelives of others and you didn't
want it to stop.
Maybe you've been to a churchconference before, or maybe just
on Sundays you wish that youcould experience Sunday every
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single day of the week.
And Peter's like can we juststay here forever?
And the whole point of thepassage is no, why can't you
stay here?
Why can't you stay here?
Because, while it is importantthat we are gathered to worship
on a weekly basis on the Lord'sDay, as the body of Jesus, the
bride of Jesus, together.
It is important that we gatherto worship.
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It is equally important that wescatter to witness.
We gather to worship and wescatter to witness.
It's the miracle of the missionof Jesus.
Why do we do that?
Because not everyone will go tochurch, but the church can go
to everyone.
So we are called to people whohave not experienced Jesus, so
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that we can witness the gospelto them, so that they can
believe in Jesus, so then theycan be a part of the church, so
then they can experience Jesuslike we get to experience Jesus.
So I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus,
don't miss the glory of Jesus.
How do you behold the glory ofJesus In the word of God?
What does the word of God do inyour life?
Sends you out on the miracle ofthe mission of God.
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And then, number five don'tmiss the miracle of the gospel.
What do we do on mission?
We spread the gospel of JesusChrist, matthew 17, 5.
He was still speaking when,behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them and a voicefrom the cloud said this is my
beloved son, with whom I am wellpleased.
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Listen to him.
Can you imagine the scene?
You're Peter, james and John.
Jesus calls you up on a highmountain.
You behold his glory, and Mosesand Elijah come up.
And if that's not enough, nowthe Shekinah glory, the very
presence of God, like a brightcloud, comes and overshadows or
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envelops you.
Luke says that they entered intothe cloud, or the cloud moved
not just over them but also ontop of them and it surrounded
them.
And so now they can't seeanything because of the
brightness and the cloudiness.
And even when they're blinded,they hear the very voice of God.
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And what does God say?
It's amazing that God says thesame thing that he said at the
baptism of Jesus.
They had only heard the voiceof God one other time, and he
said the exact same thing.
In other words, if you couldhear the audible voice of God,
this is the one thing that hewould want to say to you.
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This is my beloved son, withwhom I am well pleased.
Listen to him.
Just to break that down for asecond this Jesus, jesus of
Nazareth, fully man, is God's,is my God, says my beloved son.
He's the son of God, he's fullyGod.
Then God says I am well pleasedwith him, with whom I am well
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pleased.
Jesus never did anything wrong.
Everything that he did wasright.
So when God looks at Jesus, hefinds pleasure, full pleasure,
complete pleasure in Jesus.
And that's the beauty of thegospel.
When you put your faith inJesus, then God saves you.
You're not saved by your works,you're saved by Jesus's works.
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So when you put your faith inJesus, then your salvation is
found in him.
And the same thing is true ofthe pleasure of God in your life
.
The pleasure of God, god beingpleased with you is not based on
your works.
It's not based on yourobedience or your disobedience.
He's not pleased with you anddispleased with you, but because
that he is pleased in Christ,he, if you are in Christ, then
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he is pleased with you.
The pleasure of God on yourlife is not because of you, but
it's because of his Son, withwhom he is well pleased.
And I don't know about you, butthat makes me want to listen to
Jesus all the more.
God says listen to him.
I have to wonder if God allowedthis event to happen in Jesus's
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life, this transfiguration,because Jesus was going to the
cross and Jesus is even about topray here in a few days.
He's about to pray.
Lord, if it be your will, letthis cut pass from me, but not
my will.
Let your will be done.
Jesus was obviously dreadingthe cross, dreading the
suffering, dreading the pain,dreading the persecution,
(23:37):
dreading the torment.
Could it be that God allowedhim, in this moment, to be
transfigured, so that Jesuswould be reminded of the glory
to come?
Could it be that God allowedthis to happen in the disciples'
life because of all thesuffering that they were gonna
go through because they followJesus, that he gave them a
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glimpse of the glory of Jesusthat they would get to
experience forever, and it wasan encouragement and empowerment
to them?
Could it be for you and for methat God put this in his word so
that we can understand theglory of Jesus that we have to
look forward to, that we can gothrough any suffering, that we
can go through everything thatGod has called us to, every
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hardship, every difficulty,every trial, every persecution,
because we can live for theglory of Jesus.
That's why we want to invitepeople to Good Friday of Jesus.
That's why we want to invitepeople to Good Friday, april
18th, that evening, 530 andseven o'clock, because we want
people to, with us understand,comprehend and experience the
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suffering of Jesus for our sin.
That's why we want to invitepeople to Easter Sunday morning
so that they can experience theglory of Jesus in the
resurrection.
I want to encourage you toinvite as many people as you can
Personally, invite themVerbally, invite them Share our
social media posts, not becausewe want them just to come to our
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church, not because we thinkwe're a great church, a better
church.
But here's the deal is, we knowwe're going to preach the
gospel, we know we're going tosing the gospel, we know that
we're going to give them thegospel.
I want to encourage you tospeak them because I believe
that Jesus wants to speak tothem.
God said listen to him.
Hebrews 1, 1 through 3.
Long ago, at many times, inmany ways, god spoke to our
(25:25):
fathers by the prophets, but inthese last days, god speaks to
us by his son.
God's no longer just speakingto us through other men.
God uses men, god uses women,but ultimately he's speaking to
us even when he uses people.
He's speaking to us through thevoice of Jesus Christ, saying
he is the radiance of the gloryof God and the exact imprint of
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his nature.
We want people to hear Jesusand we want people to see his
glory.
Do you realize that Peter, inhis own book, 2 Peter, that he
recounted this experience up onthe mountain with Jesus, 2 Peter
, 1, 17, says for when hereceived honor and glory from
God, the Father, and the voicewas born to him by the majestic
glory, saying this is my belovedson, with whom I am well
(26:12):
pleased, we ourselves heard thisvery voice from heaven, for we
were with him on the holymountain.
And listen to verse 19.
So we have the prophetic wordmade more sure.
Here's what Jesus, here's whatPeter is saying.
Peter is saying I've heard theaudible voice of God and I have
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the written prophetic word ofGod, the scriptures.
He said I am more, even more,confident in the written word,
and here's why Because anybodycould say anything that they
heard God say.
But when we have the miracle ofthe word of God, we can be sure
that these are the words of God.
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This comes from the voice ofGod.
This is exactly what God wantsus to know.
He says don't miss the miracleof the word of God, where we
find the miracle of the gospelof Jesus Christ.
How do you not miss the miracleof the gospel.
You just keep believing inJesus and you keep listening to
(27:13):
him.
Every time you meditate, you'relistening to him.
Every time you get in the wordof God, you're listening to him.
Every time you pray, you'relistening to him.
Every time you come and be apart of the worship service, you
hear the preaching of God.
You're listening to him.
Every time you come and be apart of the worship service, you
(27:35):
hear the preaching of God.
You're listening to him.
Every time you go to your group, your Bible study experience,
you're listening to him.
Because what do we do when weexperience the miracle of the
gospel?
Number six we experience themiracle of worship.
The gospel drives us intoworship.
We can't help but worship God.
Don't miss the miracle ofworship in your life.
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Matthew 17, 6 says when thedisciples heard what God said
this is my son, in whom I'm well.
Please listen to him.
They've experienced the cloud.
They're up on the mountain.
They've seen the glory of Jesus.
Moses and Elijah are there.
There's only one thing thedisciples could do.
When the disciples heard this,they fell on their faces and
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they were terrified.
They were overwhelmed with whatJesus had allowed them to
experience in their life.
And I don't know about you, butsometimes that just happens in
my life, not all the time, butthere are times where I want to
worship Jesus.
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But there are times that Idon't even have a choice,
because of God's grace, becauseof God's mercy, because of God's
goodness, because of God'spower, because of God's glory
that he allows me to be a partof, and there are times that I
just have to get on my knees,get on my face or put my hands
in the air and just worship him,and God loves putting those
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moments in our lives.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of worship in
your life, where you are just soin awe of Jesus, in all that he
is, in all that he's done, inawe that he's doing, in awe that
he's promised to do, that youjust stop and you just worship
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him, this genuine worship ofJesus in your life.
Don't miss the miracle of Jesusby the miracle of worshiping
him, by just getting on yourknees and getting on your face
and just saying Jesus, I worshipyou, jesus, I love you, jesus,
I praise you, jesus, I glorifyyou.
And then, lastly, the last pointof the whole series.
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I just wanted to end it in thisway, like a bookend the miracle
of Jesus, number seven, matthew17, seven To finish it all up.
But Jesus came and he touchedthem, saying rise, have no fear.
And they lifted up their eyesand they saw no one but Jesus.
(30:02):
Only, if you can go there,jesus has called you up on this
mountain, peter, james and John.
Jesus is transfigured into allof his glory.
Moses and Elijah show up fromthe dead.
The cloud, the presence, theShekinah glory of God envelops
them.
They are terrified and theyhave fallen on their faces in
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complete worship of the entiremoment.
And what happens next?
They feel the hand of Jesus ashe just lays his hand on them
and he touches them and he saysrise, have no fear.
I don't know what you're goingthrough in your life, but Jesus
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just wants you to hear him as hetouches your life and he says
just get up to rise, don't haveany fear, be bold, be of good
courage, listen to me and followme.
Here's what Jesus is saying.
Don't miss the miracle of me.
Jesus is saying I've got you.
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So they get up.
And it says they saw no one butJesus.
Only, don't miss the miracle ofJesus.
That it's all and it's onlyabout him.
He is all you need and he isthe miracle right in front of
you.
He wants to touch your life, hewants to raise you up and he
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wants you to live in courage andin the boldness that he has
called you to accomplish Hiswill.
One of you wrote in a story andsaid this I grew up in church
but I eventually strayed from myfaith and fell into a 10-year
battle with a drug addiction,said my relationship at the time
was toxic.
Neither of us walked with Godand both of us were battling
addiction.
Things hit rock bottom when ourchildren were replaced into
(32:00):
foster care, but that's when Godstepped in.
By his grace, I overcame myaddiction, spent two years
fighting through court battlesand opposition to get my
children back.
He said God never left my side.
He gave me strength, hesurrounded me with support and
ultimately restored my family.
He said I now have full custodyof my two beautiful children
(32:22):
and they have been the veryinstruments that God used to
bring me back to him.
He said they led me back tochurch, back to healing, back to
the love of Christ.
And here are the final words hesaid no matter how far you have
fallen, jesus, your goodshepherd is always ready to
bring you back To close theseries.
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Jesus is the miracle right infront of you.
Don't miss his glory by gettinginto his word, which will send
you on mission to spread thegospel, which the gospel then
leads us and leads the peoplethat we're ministering to into
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worship of him.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus, who
is always right in front of him.
I want to encourage you don'tmiss the miracle of Jesus, who
is always right in front of you.
As you pray for your miracle,never forget and don't miss that
the one you're praying to isthe miracle, and there's no
(33:27):
greater miracle thanexperiencing him on a daily
basis in your life and all thathe wants you to experience from
him.
Let me pray for you, heavenlyFather.
I just pray for everyone rightnow, god, I pray for myself and
I pray for them, everyone who'slistening.
(33:48):
And God, I just ask that wewould not miss the miracle of
Jesus.
May we continue to experiencethe miracle of Jesus.
God, I pray that we wouldcontinue to experience the
miracle of his glory, themiracle of his word, his mission
, his gospel, his worship.
We thank you that we are livingin miracles, that you have
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miracles happening all around us, that we are a living miracle,
that Jesus is the greatestmiracle and God, even as we
experience him.
We have other miracles thatwe're praying for, that we're
asking for that, god, we praythat you would perform these
miracles and God, if you don't,we'll worship you.
If you do, we'll praise youBecause, jesus, you're the
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miracle that we all need.
In Jesus' name, I pray Amen.
And maybe you've been listeningand you want to invite that
Jesus into your life right here,right now.
You can do that.
I can't save you and I can'tpray this for you, but if you
want to finally and fully andforever give your life to Jesus,
then right here, right now, inyour own words, in your own
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heart, in your own words, youcan pray to Jesus.
You can say Jesus, I need youand Jesus, I believe in you and
Jesus, I believe that you diedon the cross for my sins and I'm
asking you to forgive me of allof my sin.
In Jesus, I believe that yourose from the dead.
Because you're alive.
I want to turn from my sin andI want to turn and I want to
(35:16):
live my life for you.
I can't do it in perfection,but I can do it in direction.
I just want to follow you withmy life.
And the Bible says Romans 10, 9,that if you confess with your
mouth that Jesus is Lord andbelieve in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, youwill be saved.
So confess Jesus right now.
Jesus be the Lord of my life,and the Bible says you will be
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saved.
And if you just prayed that,I'm going to be the first one to
say congratulations, welcome tothe family, the family of God.
We're here to serve you.
It's the best decision youcould ever make.
We love you but, even moreimportantly, jesus loves you.
I pray that this series andthis sermon has been a blessing
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to your life and if we can everdo anything for you, never
hesitate to let us know.
We love you, we're praying foryou.
We'll see you soon.
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