REVEAL: Refocus

Miracles. The Gospels are riddled with these amazing acts of compassion and mercy. It's so easy to get caught up in the "miracles" (WHAT), that we miss the main point of the miracle itself (WHO)... glorifying God.

The greatest miracle... the champion of all miracles? That's an easy discussion... Jesus' death and resurrection. Think of it: God died. Actually died. Not "went to sleep". Not "went into a coma". He died. And, 3 days later, He rose from the dead. And why? So that you and I could have a relationship with Him. 

The miracle of Jesus’ resurrection refocus’ us on the WHO through the WHAT 

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we begin to identify with His death and resurrection. But there are 2 foundational expressions of that identity that we practice... that may be minimized more than we intend to:

1. Communion
• Communion is a way that we have been called to remember what Christ did for us on the cross. It's intent is to refocus us and remind us what it means to be identified with Christ and the miracle of His death. 
• It's not intended to be something that we only remember once a month when we take it as a church... whenever we "break bread" or drink something that reminds us of His blood and body that was punished and poured out for us... we should remember His sacrifice
2. Baptism
• Baptism is a way that we identify with Christ's resurrection. We are following Him and identifying ourselves with Him through an act of testimony and obedience.
• It's not just for those who are "Christians" or just our church... it can be a great expression for our non-christian friends to see what is most important to us.

READ: Galatians 2:20 & Ephesians 4:20-25

Discuss:

• What could communion look like on a daily basis for you and your family?
• What do you and your family feel about baptism?
• If you haven't been baptized... what's holding you back?
• If you have... what's a way you can continue to identify with Jesus' resurrection?
• This week, sit as a family and watch "The Passion". It's an incredible visual reminder of what Christ went through and what we are identifying with...

REVEAL: Reconnect

So we missed last week... but here's the gist: "A miracle reveals how good God is"... and last week we said "A miracle reminds us who God is." Remember, a miracle is not about the WHAT, it's about the WHO. The miracle itself doesn't matter if God is not glorified. Last week, we talked about a miracle that usually isn't seen as a miracle: Jesus (God in the flesh) washing the feet of the disciples. Think about it... God washing feet! And then, Jesus says that those who follow Him will do "greater things" than He has done. We looked at the Greek word for "greater things" and it is a word that is more about compassion, acts of mercy, and teachings than it is healing, raising from the dead, and feeding people with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. There's a lot more to it... but that's where we got to up to this past Sunday... 

So this Sunday, we discussed another miracle that isn't usually thought of as a miracle: The Holy Spirit in us! Ok.. time to blow our minds: God... in Spirit... inside of us! Pastor Craig's question of "would you rather have Jesus beside you or the Holy Spirit inside you?"... that's a big question. A miracle that while the universe cannot contain God, He can dwell inside of you and I! So what does that miracle reveal?

A MIRACLE REVEALS GOD'S DESIRE TO CONNECT WITH US

Look at John 15-17... it's all about Jesus' sharing His desire that you and I be connected to God! If that doesn't blow your mind... think of it this way: 1 little sin... 1 slight "white lie" forever separates us from God. But Jesus' death and resurrection and our belief, somehow, is enough for God to see us as "sanctified" (holy, set apart). I would think that if someone sinned against me, and then I had to send my only son to die for them, I'm not sure I would want a relationship with that person... and yet that's exactly what God wants from us... He even pursues us!

And that's the role of the Holy Spirit... to guide us and bring us closer to God. 

Discuss:

• Would you rather... have Jesus beside you for 1 day or the Holy Spirit inside you for the rest of your life? (duh)
• Would you rather... have Jesus beside you every day or the Holy Spirit inside you for 1 day?... tougher question
• What blows your mind about the Holy Spirit?

Reveal: Redfine

This month, we continue through John as we look at what the different miracles that Jesus performed... why did he perform miracles for some and not others? What was the real purpose of those miracles? What kind of miracles happen today?

To start, we need to refine what a "miracle" really was about... it was not to show how cool Jesus was. The miracles were not intended to point people at Jesus... What we see throughout the scripture is that every Miracle that was performed was to reveal who God was. Many times, we get hung up on "the miracle". When your perspective on something is mis-guided, it's easy to misunderstand the intent. A miracle was meant to show and prove the glory and "goodness" of God in a time when both of those things were in question. We get so focused on the "WHAT" that we miss the "WHO". Jesus was constantly trying to get get people to look past the "WHAT" that had just happened... He always tried to point people to the "WHO"... God. 

A MIRACLE REVEALS HOW GOOD GOD IS

A Miracle only fully accomplishes it's purpose when it points back to God. Think of it this way... in each miracle, did the individual eventually die? Like Lazarus... one day, he's alive... then he's dead for 4 days... then he's alive. For how long, we don't know he lived after that, but it's a pretty safe guess that eventually, he died again. The miracle wasn't permanent. But God is... and the intent of every miracle was to promote the goodness and glory of God.

Look at John 11 (and the previous chapters)

Discuss:

• What are some miracles that we see in the Bible?
• What are some miracles that we have seen, in our everyday lives?
• What are some miracles we would like to see, today?