{"id":8527,"date":"2017-05-25T01:04:17","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T06:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/?p=8527"},"modified":"2017-05-25T01:04:17","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T06:04:17","slug":"john-443-54-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/john-443-54-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"John 4:43-54 – Your miracle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Jesus<\/strong>How many of you would like to participate in a miracle this morning?<\/p>\n

What?\u00a0 Only a few of you?<\/p>\n

Let me see your hands: how many of you would like to participate in a miracle this morning?\u00a0 (Hmmmm.\u00a0 It\u2019s more difficult to count virtual hands than I\u2019d anticipated!)<\/p>\n

Good!\u00a0 Keep that in mind as you hear the Word of the Lord this morning, because this morning God is offering you a chance to participate in a miracle He is waiting to perform.<\/p>\n

Signs or miracles are one of the ways that God reveals Himself and one of the ways that God evokes belief in Him.\u00a0 In this morning\u2019s lesson, the sign and wonder performed was the healing of the nobleman\u2019s son.\u00a0 This was truly a miracle, something we don\u2019t see these very often today (and which I think have never been very common).\u00a0 I\u2019m not talking about what are sometimes called miracles but about the instantaneous, public, visible healings and events beyond what is normally possible.<\/p>\n

While we often think of miracles as being the epitome of testimony to faithful people, miracles are actually for the weak of faith.\u00a0 As Jesus says, \u201cUnless you sees signs and wonders you will not believe\u201d (verse 48).<\/p>\n

However many believed when they saw Jesus\u2019 miracle, many believed because of the testimony of the Samaritan woman at the well, and many more believed because of Jesus\u2019 word (verse 41.)\u00a0 Jesus ultimately commends those who believe and have faith \u2013 without signs: \u201cBlessed are those have not seen and yet who have believed\u201d (20:29.)<\/p>\n

Thank God that we have miraculous words in our lives today: they are the words of Holy Scripture!\u00a0 The fact that the words of mere men \u2013 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, and Paul \u2013 can truly become the Word of God is a miracle that we often miss.\u00a0 Equally miraculous is how you and I can read the Bible and have it be the Word of God in our lives by which He speaks to us.\u00a0 Perhaps most miraculous of all to me is how my meditations on God\u2019s Word in Daily Bread<\/em> can bring the Word of God to you \u2013 in essence, communicating God Himself to you!\u00a0 And truly the effect of the Word of God on our lives is miraculous.<\/p>\n

But have you noticed that the miracle of true, lively, zealous faith in the lives of people in the Bible always leads to a multiplication of the miracle?\u00a0 Faith begets faith, and those who are faithful are to produce more who are faithful.<\/p>\n

The Samaritan woman went and told the Samaritans what she had seen and heard.<\/p>\n

The nobleman father went and told his household all that he had seen and heard.<\/p>\n

This early church went and told of their experiences with God, and we can do no less.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the miracle of John 4 that we see and hear this morning: it\u2019s John\u2019s faithful telling of it.\u00a0 Every time the story of Jesus Christ in the life of the woman at the well or in the life of the nobleman is told, it multiplies faith, by our hearing it, reading it, and by it being shared in the Church.<\/p>\n

The sharing of a miracle 2000 years old can still strengthen our faith and make it grow.\u00a0 How much more when we share the things God has done in our<\/em> lives.\u00a0 How much more when we share the miracle of faith that God has given each of us!<\/p>\n

When you share your faith, it is a proof of your faith, it is a confirmation that your heart is filled with God to the point of overflowing.\u00a0 When you share your faith it nourishes your faith and that of others as well.\u00a0 This is such a true principle that even counterfeit Christianities such as Mormonism<\/a> and Communism have benefited by having their people go out and share their faith passionately with others.<\/p>\n

Your faith, your story of your life with God, must be shared, or else it will not e passed on.\u00a0 Parents who talk about God and go to church and pray with their kids and share their life in God with their kids end up with kids who have a life of God that they can then share with others.<\/p>\n

You story, our<\/em> story, need to be shared.\u00a0 And (believe it or not) people actually want to hear it.\u00a0 In this postmodern age people are keenly interested in hearing your story, which for you means the story of your life with God.\u00a0 They will want to know that before they will want to know why you believe and before they hear your reasons why they should believe.<\/p>\n

Many people wonder if God still works today.\u00a0 They wonder, \u201cIf God still exists and still works, how will I know?\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer to that question has been among us all along.\u00a0 God has given you the miracle of faith, and He is asking you to share it with others, that they, too, may believe.<\/p>\n

God has performed the miracle of salvation in your life.\u00a0 And now God is asking you to be part of a miracle in someone else\u2019s life.\u00a0 He\u2019s asking \u2013 no commanding<\/strong> you \u2013 to share your faith with others, and so partake again of His miracle of faith.<\/p>\n

Do you know why there are 18 million Anglicans in Nigeria today, and fewer and fewer in the United States?<\/p>\n

In Nigeria, they have a plan called \u201c1 + 1 +3.\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s the plan: \u201c1 person is to bring one person to Christ in 3 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is how God will grow Christianity in America again, and this is how God will grow Anglicanism in America again.<\/p>\n

God has performed the miracle of faith in your life \u2013 in our lives.\u00a0 We must share that miracle with one another and with others.<\/p>\n

For this is how we obey the will of the Master.<\/p>\n

And this is our way of giving thanks for the miracle of faith.<\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 Father, I ask that, through Your Word and by Your Spirit, you may open doors for me to share the story of Your life in me with others, that I may proclaim the mystery of Christ and proclaim clearly.\u00a0 Let me make the most of every opportunity and make my conversations always full of grace, so that I may know how to answer everyone.\u00a0 <\/strong>I pray that whenever I open my mouth, words would be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, of which I am an ambassador.\u00a0 Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.\u00a0 May I be prepared in and out of season to give an account of the hope that is in me.\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Points for Meditation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Think about the various ways God has worked in your life that you might share with others.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Start the habit of sharing what God has done in your life with someone every day (it\u2019s easiest to do this with other Christians!)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Resolution:\u00a0 I resolve to share the story of my life with God this week (it could be with another Christian.)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well<\/a> \u2013\u00a0Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    How many of you would like to participate in a miracle this morning?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2856,"featured_media":8522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,732,754,1558,1623,1624,1970,1991,2032,2175,2605],"class_list":["post-8527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1-1-3","tag-evangelism","tag-faith","tag-miracle","tag-nigeria-church-growth","tag-nigerian-anglicans","tag-samaritan-woman","tag-scriptures","tag-share-your-faith","tag-story","tag-word-of-god"],"yoast_head":"\nJohn 4:43-54 - Your miracle - Give Us This Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How many of you would like to participate in a miracle this morning?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/john-443-54-miracle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John 4:43-54 - Your miracle - Give Us This Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How many of you would like to participate in a miracle this morning?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/john-443-54-miracle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Give Us This Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-25T06:04:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/731\/2017\/05\/Jesus-and-the-Samaritan-Woman-at-the-Well.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"599\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"317\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. 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