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Hear current audio messages by Pastor Scott Burr at:
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Thursday, June 11, 2015

It's all about Jesus: Healing Miracles (Pt. 1)


(Pt.1)
“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.”-Matthew 4:23-24.
Of the nearly 40 recorded miracles Jesus performed in the gospels; two-thirds of them were healing in nature. Why did Jesus do so many healing miracles? Sickness has a way of draining us physically, emotionally, and spiritually; because of this healing is uniquely personal.
Each time Jesus performed a miracle he demonstrated that he had the power to address those things affecting a person from the outside; whenever Jesus would heal he demonstrated that he was also able to address those things afflicting them on the inside as well. Each healing, like other miracles, demonstrated Jesus’ divine nature, was designed to bring people to the saving message of redemption, and bolster the believer’s faith.
However, healing also communicates a distinct message of its own:
-Healing communicates the compassion of Christ towards those who are hurting:
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”-Matthew 14:14.
-Healing communicates a covenant benefit of a child of God:
Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”-Psalm 103:1-3.
-Healing confirms and fulfills prophecies concerning Jesus Christ:
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet he considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”-Isaiah 53:4-5.
-Healing communicates and proves His mission by demonstrating Christ’s ability to forgive sins:
Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins…”He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”-Mark 2:9-11.
-Healing communicates Jesus’ power over the devil:
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”-Acts 10:38.
-Healing, above all else, communicates the Glory of God:
Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking and the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.”-Matthew 15:30-31.
Healing is still significant today because it is very much a part of the Kingdom message!
 Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

Thursday, June 4, 2015

It's all about Jesus: His Miracles (Pt.2)


(Part 2)
“A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.”-Mark 2:1-2
As we study the miracles of Jesus, we find that another reason he performed signs and wonders was to draw people near to hear the life-giving message. Miracles were not some marketing ploy designed to draw people out in large numbers; Jesus was just as willing to heal one man privately as he was the masses. This is because he was moved by compassion to help those who were lost, sick, and hurting. Matthew 14:14 declares:
When Jesus landed and saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”
These miraculous works, however, had to take a back seat the gospel message of repentance and forgiveness of sins. In Mark 2 as Jesus was preaching some men came to him carrying a paralyzed man. Unable to reach him, because of the sheer number of people crowded around him, they made an opening in the roof and lowered the man down. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man: “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
This began a stirring among the teachers of the law seated around Jesus. They murmured against and mocked the idea that Jesus could forgive sins. Jesus sensing their disdain asked:
Which is easier; to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”-Mark 2:9-11.
Ultimately we learn from this passage that Jesus’ miracles confirmed his ability to forgive sins; which is at the heart of the gospel message.
Finally, miracles were also designed to bolster the believer’s faith:
“One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake,” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”-Luke 8:22-25.
Romans 10:17 assures us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So then, miracles do not produce faith.  However, miracles can certainly bring lift to our faith; especially in times of adversity. They remind us that our God is not confined to our finite understanding or the laws of nature. They embolden us when we feel we have reached the end of ourselves and can’t go on. They renew our passions when our drive and pursuit of God has grown cold. They cry out that there is more of God to be experienced and seen.
Jesus was and always will be in the miracle working business as long as there are lost, sick, and hurting people that need to hear the gospel message.

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
 

It's all about Jesus: His Miracles (Pt.1)


(Part 1)

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”-John 20:30-31.

There are over 35 miraculous signs performed by Jesus or associated with him recorded in the gospels. It would be virtually impossible to have a dialogue about him without mentioning the supernatural events that characterized his life and ministry.

However, anytime you have extraordinary activity, there is the danger of people becoming fascinated with the supernatural act rather than the originator of the miracle. Jesus warned these miracle chasers in Matthew 16:4 that it is a corrupt and perverse generation that seeks miraculous signs. In order to properly appreciate Jesus’ miracles we must first understand what a miracle is, why they are important, and discover their purpose.

A miracle is an unusual or significant event which requires the works of a supernatural agent and is performed for the purpose of authenticating the message or the messenger. These are not parlor tricks performed to impress an audience, but demonstrations of divine power confirming the deity of Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 28:18, Jesus declared: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” For this statement to be true Jesus had to demonstrate that he had power over the human body to heal the sick, power over the spiritual world to cast out demons and forgive sins, power over the physical world to defy nature, and power over death!

With each miracle that Jesus performed he confirmed his divine nature:

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”-John 14:11.

If Jesus was who he claimed to be; he would have authority over all creation. Time and time again these demonstrations of power confirmed his Lordship!

In John 2:1-22 he proved he was Lord over the molecular by turning water into wine. In Luke 8:22-25 he proved he was Lord over nature by calming the storm. In Mark 6:45-52 he proved he was Lord over natural law when he walked on water and in Matthew 21:18-21 proved he had the power to give and take life when he cursed the fig tree.

In every instance Jesus’ miracles established his claims of divinity and relationship with God.

 

 Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church