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Big Jesus wins award for the ‘Best Community Entry’ in the parade.
We had a unique perspective on Jesus, His fame and renown. If the crowds were silenced even the stones would have cried out to Him.
This must be what it was like for Jesus to enter Jerusalem, re-enacted for the benefit of his LGBT people…What does this say for us and for Him?
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“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (Ro 6) Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
“The old man is not in process of dying. He is dead.” Anon
“We think God is up there somewhere when He’s right here, as your very life.” Anon
“Rejoice that the Lord Jesus has become your strength and your song.” Charles Spurgeon
“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” Oswald Chambers
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Extract from Jim’s Preach ‘Two Daughters’
Extract from Luke 8: 41-48. A man came up to Jesus whose name was Jairus. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his home because his twelve-year-old daughter, his only child, was dying. Jesus went with him, making his way through the pushing, jostling crowd.
In the crowd that day there was a woman who for twelve years had suffered with constant bleeding. …She slipped in from behind and touched the edge of Jesus’ robe. At that very moment the bleeding stopped.
Jesus said…….”Someone touched me. I felt power go out from me.”
When the woman realized that she couldn’t remain hidden, she knelt trembling before him. In front of all the people, she blurted out her story—of why she touched him and how at that same moment she was healed.
Jesus said ‘Daughter, celebrate! your faith has made you well; go in peace’.
Jesus was delayed from going to the little girl who is dying by a woman who needed healing. Then the little girl died but Jesus later went to Jairus’ house and brought the child to life again.
So there are two daughters healed by Jesus: one, a woman who is dying of her bleeding, the other, the little girl who is, dead.
One daughter slowly dying for 12 years the other daughter is aged 12 years when she died.
One daughter touched Jesus and the other daughter is touched by Jesus.
One daughter has faith and the other daughter has no faith whatsoever.
Sometimes among Christians, when someone is prayed for healing, and does not get healed the ill person is told the fault is theirs. Lack of faith or sin is blamed, a favourite is unforgiveness.
Yet the greatest of miracles required no faith whatsoever on part of the little girl. The girl was restored to life because of God’s grace, God’s undeserved favour.
No one has strong faith all the time. Our human nature sees to that.
Where was faith after the flood when Noah got drunk to drown his sorrows,
Where was faith when Abraham gave Pharaoh his wife to save his own skin?
Where was faith when Jacob was lying through his back teeth to get his own way?
And David, a king and a man after God’s own heart, often went through times of sorrow and despair; read the Psalms. Where was his faith at those times?
In the garden of Gethsemane where was faith when Jesus was desperate, where was faith when he cried out, ‘My God My God why have you forsaken me?’
There is a story in the Old Testament 1Kings 20, we can relate to the highs and lows of faith. Israel is at war with Syria and, against the odds; Israel defeats the huge Syrian army in the mountains. The King of Syria is told that the God of Israel is in the mountains so ensured the victory but He has no power in the valleys. The Syrians attack again, this time in the valleys but again were defeated. The Syrians found that God was God in the mountains and in the valleys.
In scripture mountains refer to our peak experiences, times when we sense God’s presence strongly and our faith is strong. Valleys refer to the times when we find it very hard to know God’s presence and our faith is weak. God is the God of our mountains and of our valleys,
CS Lewis referred to one of his valleys during a time of grief feeling “as if God had gone away and left the phone off the hook”
Sometimes we can think that God is the God of our strong, faith filled times, but He is not there when we are weak and struggling in our faith or even feel that our faith is non existent.
Life as we all know has ups and downs. When we are in a particularly tough valley it can feel like God has left us to face it alone. When we feel alone it is hard to trust that he is still with us.
But the Lord says of those times, ‘I am the God of the mountains and I am the God of the valleys’
A lesson from the story of the two daughters; one child of God had the faith to reach out to touch Jesus and
another child of God had no faith but Jesus reached out to touch her.
Be encouraged by tonight’s story and know whatever our circumstance or whatever we are feeling, God is still God. His grace is there for us in abundance even when our faith is weak.
There will be times of faith in our lives when we can reach out and touch Jesus. There will be
times when we can’t and Jesus will reach out and touch us.
Full Notes in Preaching
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