SUNDAY LIVE STREAM 3/22

Psalm 121:1-4 (ESV)

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;

    he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

John 5:1-17 (NLT)

Jesus Heals a Lame Man

5 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” 8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” 11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God 16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing[c] Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” 

Jesus’ 7 Miracles Performed on the Sabbath

Jesus Heals Simon Peter’s Mother-in-Law (Mark 1:29-31) 

She was ill with a fever 

Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her 

The fever left her body 

She immediately served them 

She didn’t need to rest after she was healed and before she started serving them

Jesus heals a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:1-6) 

The Pharisees were waiting to see if Jesus would perform miracles on the Sabbath to accuse him. 

Jesus challenged the Pharisees with asking whether it was against the law to do good or do evil, or to save a life or kill on the Sabbath. 

Jesus was angry because of their hard hearts. 

He told the man to stretch out his hand, the man did and his hand was restored.

Jesus heals a man born blind (John 9:1-16) 

The disciples asked Jesus “who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind?” 

Jesus answered that no one had sinned the man but that he was made so that God’s works could be displayed through him. 

Jesus spit on the ground and made mud. He put the mud on the man’s eyes and told him to wash in a pool. 

The man did, he could now see. 

This is the ONLY recorded miracle in which the person Jesus healed was born with the disease. A common belief was that sin caused health issues. 

Jesus heals a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17) 

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue 

The woman had a debilitating spirit for 18 years 

She was bent over and could not stand up at all 

She was immediately made straight when Jesus laid his hands on her. 

She glorified God immediately 

The ruler of the synagogue said to the others that there were 6 days in which work was supposed to be done, come be healed on those days. 

The Lord called them hypocrites because they lead their oxen and donkeys to water on the Sabbath 

All of their adversaries were shamed and the people rejoiced.

Jesus heals a man (Luke 14:1-6) 

Jesus dined at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees 

Jesus asked the pharisees if it was against the law to heal on the Sabbath and they stayed silent. 

He also asked them if their son or ox fell into a well, if they would get the son out on a Sabbath? 

They didn’t speak.

Jesus drives out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28)

The man asked Jesus if he came there to destroy them. 

They were in Capernaum. 

He taught in the synagogue with authority.

Jesus heals a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (Read: John 5:1-18) 

In Jerusalem 

The man had been lame for 38 years 

Jesus told the man to take up his bed and walk 

The Jews saw this and questioned the man 

The Jews began to persecute Jesus because he healed on the Sabbath. 

Jesus said that because God was working, he was working. 

The Jews decided to kill him because he worked the Sabbath and he made himself equal to God.

Jesus came not to do his will, but His father’s will.

John 4:31-34 “Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

God has been at work since the world began.

God is always at work.

God invites us into His story, or into His work.

So many times we ask, what is God’s will for my life?

A better question to ask is “What is God’s will?

 And am i willing to adjust my life to be used of him in accomplishing His will.

What is the will of God?

Obstacles that keep us from recognizing God’s activity

We don’t know God (Salvation), which keeps us from having spiritual eyes to see.

We don’t look for it. 

We’re too distracted

We mistake it for something else

When we do see it, we ignore it because of fear, or disobedience.

A spiritual conversation that your co-worker starts to have with you, but you quickly change the topic due to fear.

You get this impression on your heart that you should help this homeless person, but you ignore it because you're too busy to stop and help, etc.

Lessons to be learned

If you want to see God at work, ask Him to help you see through His eyes.  To see people through His eyes, His heart. Pray for opportunities.. 

If you want to see God at work around you, be intentional to look for it.

If you want to see God’s activity, cut back on the distractions.

If you want to see God at work, consider your situation from a new perspective.

Earlier we read from Psalm 121 and it said, I look up to the hills, where does my help come from.  What are you looking at for comfort, what are you listening to.  Some of you may need to listen less to the news feeds if that is causing fear and anxiety and spend more time in His Word (Renewing your mind).

Satan: I will cause anxiety, fear and panic. I will shut down businesses, schools, places of worship and sports events. I will cause economic turmoil.

Jesus: I will bring together neighbors. I will restore the family unit. I will bring dinner back to the kitchen table. I will help people slow down their lives and appreciate what really matters. I will teach my children to rely on Me and not the world. I will teach my children to trust Me and not their money and material resources.